Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 309: Young Master Should Write a Letter of Surrender Earlier
On April 23rd, the Qingzhou army's Huben Cavalry, Xiandeng Camp, Shengshe Camp, Ruichong Camp, Hengqiang Camp, and Tiejia Camp had a total of more than 23,200 combat soldiers and 46,733 auxiliary soldiers, not including military officers, legal officers, clerks, grooms, doctors, etc., as well as a traveling merchant cavalry composed of many merchants from Qing, Yan, and Xu.

Merchants were used to sell items captured by soldiers on the battlefield, or to help them mail them back home.

Since the campaign against the princes was not carried out locally, outside of the states of Qing and Yan, every place needed to build post stations, pavilions, and relay stations to deliver documents and urgent messages by fast horses.

Especially after local officials and civilians fled, officials accompanying the expedition had to set up relay stations as quickly as possible.

Clerks and servants in various places were short of manpower, and they wished one man and one horse could be used as several people. They were barely enough to deliver the documents, so how could they have time to help the soldiers fighting in the front and deliver all kinds of items back to their hometowns?

Therefore, in war-torn areas, one can only rely on traveling merchants to sell the seized items on the spot. If one really likes the items, one has to pay more money to let the merchants make a profit and then ship the items back.

In other words, Liu Bei did not allow the trade of slaves, and any wives and daughters of the enemy soldiers who resisted stubbornly would be uniformly managed after the city or manor was captured.

After the truce, the government will verify and select those soldiers in each state and county who do not have wives yet to marry them.

All the men in the clan were imprisoned and later forced to work as laborers to reduce the burden on the people.

Before Liu Bei set out to conquer Hebei, he issued an order that anyone who resisted the Han army and was imprisoned, regardless of age or number, would not be allowed to serve as an official for five generations.

The kindness of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations, and the kindness of a villain will be cut off after five generations. The same applies to open resistance today. Even if the person in prison is a male under the age of ten, he cannot be an official, a clerk, or a merchant within five generations.

Before Liu Bei led his army to the battle, he said to Xun Yu with a smile: "This time I am going to attack Hebei. I have the same view as Liu Zhang, the King of Chengyang in the early Han Dynasty. The poem says: 'Deeply plow the fields to plant seeds, and when the seedlings are about to stand, weed them out. If they are not suitable, weed them out. When we go to attack the counties, weed out all those who are not submissive to the Liu family of the Han Dynasty, regardless of their status. This is the time to rebuild the world."

Xun Yu could only smile bitterly and shake his head upon hearing this. Fortunately, Xun Youruo brought the Xun clan who had migrated to Jizhou to seek refuge with the King of Han in time, otherwise they would have been affected by the weeding.

Thinking of Tian Feng, Guo Tu and others who were still in prison, Xun Yu bowed and asked, "How will the king deal with Tian Yuanhao and Guo Gongze?"

Liu Bei smiled, as if he had thought of something, and said, "Lock them together with Yan Liang, and wait until I catch the rest of Yuan Benchu's staff, and then I will deal with them all together."

"Let them continue to argue in prison first. It would be best if they can come to a conclusion and understand why Yuan Shao was defeated. When Guo Tu's legs and hands recover, give him land and let him cultivate it in the fall. Then make up for the cost of the herbs as soon as possible."

……

On May 15, just as Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi were leading their troops to suppress the separatist officials in Julu and Zhongshan and were making some progress, Yuan Shang, who was stationed in Xindu, sent a fast horse to bring the news.

King Liu Xuande of Han led his army to build a pontoon bridge and cross the Huan River. It took only three days to capture Guangchuan County, the only prison city in front of Xindu. Ignoring the defenders of Guanjin and Wuyi, he led his army to the northwest and crossed the Tunshi River again. He arrived at the city of Xindu and only gave the enemy two days to consider whether to surrender or not.

If they don’t surrender, I will chop off all the heads of the Yuan family when the city is captured.

Faced with such a cold letter of surrender, Yuan Shang and his mother Liu were so panicked that they didn't know what to do. There were not many soldiers defending Xindu to begin with, and after the two brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi took some of them away, defending the city became even more difficult.

What Yuan Shang never expected was that Liu Xuande's advance was so fast. When he learned that the Qingzhou army was attacking Guangchuan and confirmed the number of Han troops, he knew that he would not be able to defend Xindu. He prepared to persuade his mother, Liu, to abandon Xindu and flee to the border county of Youzhou to seek refuge with the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun.

After Liu Xuande conquered Youzhou in the future, he would take the money and flee to other places. In short, he did not want to suffer in a bitter and cold place farther away than Liaodong County.

When dozens of carts of money and fine silk were ready, Liu Bei also arrived.

Seeing that the carriage could not get out, they had no choice but to send someone to ask Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi for help, although the messenger was seen rushing out without any hindrance.

But Yuan Shang was not very happy. In his opinion, Liu Bei was coming with great momentum, and his army was several times larger than the defenders of Xindu, which was a place where they would definitely die according to military tactics. Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi had no time to escape, so how could they come to fight against the rocks with eggs and do something that would bring about their own destruction.

"Shen Jun, Liu Xuande's army has surrounded Xindu. What should the Yuan family do?"

Yuan Shang and Liu quickly invited Shen Pei, Ju Shou, Xun Chen and Xin Ping from the city to discuss countermeasures.

Yuan Shang, with a pale face, sat on the couch where A Weng usually discussed matters with his trusted aides. He stared at the desk in a daze and heard hurried footsteps coming from outside.

He quickly looked up and saw that it was Shen Pei who arrived first. He suddenly stood up and asked anxiously.

Shen Pei could not care less. At this moment, life and death were at stake, so he got straight to the point and asked, "Sir, does Yuan want to die in glory rather than live in disgrace, or does she want to keep her life alive? The choice is in the hands of you and Madam Liu."

"If I want to die, I would rather go with Yuan!"

As Shen Pei spoke, he made up his mind, fixed his eyes, and spoke in a loud voice.

Yuan Shang was so frightened that his face changed. He waved his hands and said, "No, no, you are a loyal minister of the Yuan family. How can you be so careless?"

"Don't mention this matter again!"

You want to die to preserve your reputation, but don't drag me, Yuan, down with you. It's not that I don't want to surrender the city, but I just don't want to suffer in the bitter cold of the border counties.

If the King of Han was willing to be more lenient, I would have taken the opportunity to surrender long ago, and there would be no need to wait until the enemy is at the gates.

Yuan Shang glanced at Shen Pei with a somewhat dissatisfied look on his face, and muttered in his heart.

How could Shen Pei not see that Yuan Shang was already planning to live in peace and security? He simply tested him and easily found out.

The Yuan family of Runan was known by people all over the world as the family with three dukes in four generations, and the descendants of the three dukes were called "Prince" and "Grandson".

But at this moment, how could Yuan Shang behave like a young master? Although they looked similar on the outside, his character was far inferior to Yuan Gong's.

He swallowed back the words he wanted to say. The light in Shen Pei's eyes faded. He bowed reluctantly and stood there waiting for others to arrive.

Seeing Shen Pei with his eyes downcast and silent, Yuan Shang felt relieved.

If the other party tried to use Yuan to pressure him, he would not know how to refute it.

The two did not have to wait long, as Xin Ping and Xun Chen came together, while Ju Shou walked at the end with a frown on his face.

Yuan Shang asked Shen Pei the same question again.

Xin Ping and Xun Chen looked at each other, both bowed and said, "Liu Xuande has ascended the throne of Han, and many people in the world are following him. Jingzhou Nanyang and Yuzhou Chen and Liangju counties are all in favor of each other, which shows that the situation is in his hands. Now that the troops have not yet been deployed to fight, you should surrender early, offer Xindu, and protect the Yuan family. This is a matter of life and death."

(End of this chapter)