Zhang Liao said: "If you go to die now, you will have three sins." Guan Yu smiled and said: "Tell me how I have three sins."
Zhang Liao nodded, talked eloquently, and said: "You and Liu Bei have a brotherhood. When you were brothers, you swore to live and die together. Now Liu Bei has only been defeated and has not heard about his death in battle. If he I am not dead anymore, I need your help, but you have already gone to die. Isn’t that a betrayal of the oath you made back then? This is your first sin. In addition, Liu Bei entrusted his family members to you. You will die in battle now. , the two ladies have no one to rely on. You have betrayed your elder brother's trust. This is your second sin. You are excellent in martial arts and read classics and history. You don't want to help the Han Dynasty and serve the court, so you are ready to go through fire and water. How can you say that you achieve your own heroic feats for the sake of loyalty? This is your third sin. As your friend, I really can't bear to remind you."
After hearing this, Guan Yu felt that it made sense, so he asked: "You have accused me of three crimes, and I don't deny them. What should I do?"
Zhang Liao said: "Now there are Cao Cao's troops on all sides. If you don't surrender, you will die. But such a death is not worth it, so you might as well surrender to Cao Cao for the time being and go to him to inquire about Liu Bei's news." , if you find out where he lives, go and join him. Firstly, you can save the two wives, secondly, you will not violate the covenant between the four Taoyuan brothers at that time, and thirdly, you can keep a useful body. With these three benefits , is there anything else you can’t figure out?”
Guan Yu was also a smart man, and he immediately heard the implication of Zhang Liao's words. He knew that these remarks must have been taught by one of Cao Cao's counselors, so he said: "You said these three things, just to ask me to temporarily surrender to Cao Cao, so I also have three agreements. . If the Prime Minister can agree, I will surrender and disarm. If he does not agree, I would rather endure these three crimes and die."
Zhang Liao said: "The Prime Minister likes your loyalty and bravery very much. You have always been magnanimous and can tolerate nothing. I am willing to listen to you to talk about your conditions."
Guan Yu said: "First, Uncle Liu and I made an oath together to support the Han Dynasty, so now I can only surrender to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, not to Cao Cao. Second, my eldest brother's family still hopes to give him the emperor." Uncle’s salary, arrange some servants to serve them, and other soldiers cannot come near. The third is, if I know the whereabouts of my elder brother Liu Bei, no matter where he is, I will leave immediately. If only one of these three conditions is not met , I will not surrender and would rather die in battle. I hope Zhang Liao will repay you soon."
After hearing this, Zhang Liao bowed his hands, mounted his horse and went down the mountain to find Cao Cao. He first told Guan Yu that he wanted to surrender to the Han Dynasty, but not to Cao Cao. After hearing this, Cao Cao laughed and said: "I am the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. If he surrenders to the Han Dynasty, he will surrender to me. I can agree to this."
Zhang Liao said again: "Guan Yu asked for a salary for the two ladies and some servants, and the soldiers were not allowed to come to the door." Cao Cao said: "This is a short answer. I will give him double the salary of the emperor uncle. , As for strictly prohibiting entry from inside and outside, that is a family law, so why are there any doubts?"
Zhang Liao put forward the last condition Guan Yu said and said: "He said that if he knew that Liu Bei was alive, then no matter where Liu Bei was, he would definitely go back." After hearing this, Cao Cao only shook his head and said: "If this is the case, surrender What’s the point? I really can’t agree with this.”
In fact, on the way back, Zhang Liao also considered Guan Yu's conditions and knew that Cao Cao would definitely not agree to the third clause. He also came up with a way and said: "Can't we just let everyone debate on their own like the ancients did? Liu Bei vs. Guan Yu But the kindness is very strong. After the Prime Minister keeps Guan Yu, as long as he treats him better than Liu Bei, it will be easy to conquer his heart, and he will not be afraid that Guan Yu will not change his mind."
Cao Cao thought about it and thought it made sense, so he said: "Zhang Liao, what you said is quite right. I agree to his three conditions. Go back and tell him quickly."
So Zhang Liao returned to the mountain and told Guan Yu about the situation.
Guan Yu said: "Even so, let the prime minister retreat for the time being, and let me go into the city to see the second sister-in-law, tell them about this, and then come and surrender in person."
Zhang Liao naturally couldn't make the decision in this matter, because if Cao Jun avoided it, Guan Yu would have the possibility of escaping, so he went back to report to Cao Cao again.
Cao Cao could understand this, so he ordered the army to retreat thirty miles. Xun Yu came out and warned: "Prime Minister, you can't do it. It may be Guan Yu's plan. He went to Xiapi to pick up Liu Bei's family and maybe escape."
Cao Cao shook his head and said: "You are worrying too much. Guan Yu is a rare loyal man. If he breaks his promise, I don't think there will be anyone who can be honest." So he led his troops and horses to retreat.
After Guan Yu saw Cao Jun retreating, he knew that the communication had been successful, so he entered Xiapi with the few remaining troops and horses. When he saw that the residents showed no traces of war, he sighed at the fame of Cao Jun. He came to the mansion and met Two sisters-in-law.
Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi heard that Guan Gong was coming and hurriedly went out to greet him.
Guan Yu felt ashamed, bowed and said, "I am really guilty of frightening my two sisters-in-law. Please punish me."
The second wife was more interested in her husband's whereabouts, so she asked, "Do you know where Uncle Liu Huang is now?"
Guan Yu said: "I really don't know where I am going."
The second lady asked again: "Now that Cao Jun has occupied Xiapi, what is the second uncle going to do?"
Guan Yu felt a little ashamed and said: "I just left the city to fight with Cao Jun and was trapped on the mountain. Zhang Liao persuaded me to surrender. In order to save the lives of the two ladies, I restricted them with three conditions. Cao Cao has agreed now, so They specifically asked me to come and meet with the two ladies. When I made this decision, I didn't get the consent of the two ladies, so I came to ask for instructions."
He replied: "What three things did you promise Cao Cao?"
So Guan Yu told his sister-in-law the three agreements in great detail.
Mrs. Gan was a little dissatisfied, but she wanted to save Liu Bei's son, so she said: "Yesterday, Cao Cao's army entered the city. We all thought that Cao Cao would kill us to vent his anger. Unexpectedly, he did not touch us at all, and no soldiers broke into the army. The second uncle actually We have already negotiated these three agreements with Cao Cao, why do you need to ask us again? What we are worried about is that although Cao Cao agrees to the third condition of the second uncle now, if he changes his mind in the future and does not let you go to Uncle Liu, then what should we do? ?”
Guan Yu knew that the two of them had some concerns, which was reasonable, but the brotherly love, no matter what language they used to make a promise, seemed very pale, so he said: "Please believe me in this matter, two sisters-in-law, I have my own opinion."
The second lady nodded and said, "Second uncle, if you have any ideas, just make your own decision. There is no need to ask us about everything."
