My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

They refused to kneel, refused to beg for mercy, and faced death with equanimity.

The generals, including Zhang Bao, felt a sense of respect for this unknown Wei general.

"He's quite a man..."

Xiao He secretly praised him, and then smiled:
"Hao Zhao, I'll give you a chance to live. If you can tell me the real reason why you lost Luoyang, I won't kill you."

Hao Zhao suddenly opened his eyes, looking at Xiao He with surprise.

He clearly hadn't expected that this Grand Commandant of Chu would actually leave him a sliver of hope.

Humans are not plants or trees; who does not fear death?
It's just that some people have strong willpower and can overcome the fear of death, willingly facing death without fear.

But that doesn't mean they don't want to live.

Hao Zhao offered his neck for execution based on the premise that he believed Xiao He, as the garrison commander of Luoyang, would not spare him.

Now that Xiao He is saying he'll spare his life, how could he possibly refuse such an opportunity?

After a moment of contemplation, Hao Zhao sighed:
"My loss of Luoyang was not due to my incompetence, nor to the ferocity of your Chu army, but rather to the fact that my King of Wei has lost the hearts of the people."

Xiao He waved his hand, signaling him to continue.

Hao Zhao took a deep breath and then said:
"In the battle of Yuzhou, our King of Wei, in order to stop your northward advance and to defend Yanzhou, did not hesitate to breach the Ji River, turning the counties and kingdoms south of the Ji River into a vast swamp, completely disregarding the lives of hundreds of thousands of his people."

"The King of Wei's actions have long been known throughout Henan. Not only are the people of Yanzhou chilled to the bone, but the people of Henan, the governor of Sizhou, are also deeply shaken."

"Your Chu state has not yet attacked, but in reality, the people of Henan are already disloyal and disappointed with the King of Wei and even the Wei state."

"The equal-field system implemented by the King of Chu, which distributed the land seized by powerful families and the unclaimed wasteland to the poor, was a stroke of genius in winning people's hearts."

"The people of Wei have been allocated land. How can we not be grateful to your King of Chu? How can we not betray Wei and return to Chu?"

"With this shift in power, the King of Wei lost the hearts of the people, while the King of Chu gained their hearts."

"The army is formed by the people, and the people's hearts are the army's hearts. If I, King Wei, lose the hearts of the people, how can my soldiers, even if they are all fierce warriors capable of fighting ten against one, fight to the death for King Wei and for the State of Wei?"

"Losing the hearts of the people is the fundamental reason why I lost Luoyang!"

Hao Zhao stated his judgment in one breath.

Judging from his expression and tone, his disappointment and dissatisfaction were clearly implied.

Who are you disappointed in?

Whom are they dissatisfied with?

It was Cao Cao, of course.

Clearly, although Hao Zhao was a general of Wei and was grateful for Cao Cao's support, he had long harbored resentment towards Cao Cao's cruelty and inhumanity, and his treatment of the common people as mere weeds and enemies.

Xiao He's mouth corners slightly raised.

Could an ordinary person utter such a statement, evaluating the outcome of a war from the perspective of public opinion?

Regardless of Hao Zhao's ability to defend the city, his insightful and penetrating understanding of the situation alone is enough to demonstrate his extraordinary talent.

Wouldn't it be a pity to kill such a talented general?
Furthermore, his words clearly expressed dissatisfaction with Cao Cao. Since he was dissatisfied, he would not be loyal to Cao Cao to the death, which made it possible for him to persuade Liu Bei to surrender.

"Good, good, good! I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

Xiao He clapped his hands in praise and then ordered his men to untie Hao Zhao.

The soldiers on either side quickly stepped forward and untied Hao Zhao.

This untying naturally meant that Commander Xiao meant what he said and intended to spare his life.

Hao Zhao was secretly relieved to have escaped with his life, but he was also uneasy, wondering how Xiao He would deal with him.

"Hao Bodao, I see that you are also a man of benevolence and righteousness, and you and that traitor Cao are of different paths and cannot work together."

"The traitor Cao is cruel, while my lord is benevolent and righteous. This is known to everyone in the world, and you are well aware of it as well."

"Since that's the case, why don't you abandon Wei and return to Chu, submit to my King of Chu, help him destroy Cao Wei, rebuild the Han Dynasty, and bring peace and prosperity to the people of the world?"

Xiao He extended an olive branch.

A door god who is as famous as Huo Jun, a person with benevolence and righteousness who can distinguish right from wrong, is qualified to join their camp and work together to restore the Han Dynasty.

Hao Zhao raised his head, but his surprised gaze fell on Xiao He.

Only then did he realize that Xiao He had laid so much groundwork for this very moment, in order to persuade him to surrender.

How could the Grand Commandant of the Great Chu, a military genius who was renowned throughout the world, value such a nobody as himself?
At this moment, Hao Zhao was naturally shocked and felt a sense of being flattered.

Forcibly suppressing the surging emotions within him, Hao Zhao remained silent for a long time before sighing:
"King Chu is indeed a benevolent and righteous ruler. Grand Commandant Xiao's high regard for him is truly flattering to Zhao."

"However...though King Wei has many faults, he has ultimately shown Zhao kindness and support, and Zhao's family is all in Wei. I'm afraid..."

Before Hao Zhao could finish speaking, he let out another helpless sigh.

Xiao He understood perfectly well that he was considering surrendering to Lao Liu, but he was conflicted and had concerns.

Firstly, he was worried about being branded as ungrateful, and secondly, he feared that his family members in Wei would be implicated and punished by Cao Cao.

"Bo Dao, there's no need to rush into submitting to the King of Chu. We have plenty of time to consider it."

"Someone, take General Hao to rest first."

Xiao He didn't force him. He put Hao Zhao under custody first, and there was plenty of time for him to make up his mind.

Hao Zhao did not resist, bowed to Xiao He in greeting, and was then invited down from the city wall.

Xiao He's gaze returned to the imperial capital beneath his feet, and he smiled contentedly.
"Send the order to seize all the stored wine and meat to reward the soldiers."

"After we've eaten and drunk our fill and rested our strength, we'll wait for the King to arrive so we can go to Hulao Pass for a decisive battle against Cao Cao!"

Cheers, thunderous and deafening, erupted once again both inside and outside the city.

...

East of Hulao Pass. At dawn, the Wei soldiers, having eaten their fill, began to regroup, preparing to march out of their camp to attack the city.

Chinese military tent.

Cao Cao stood with his hands behind his back at the tent entrance, gazing at the majestic Hulao Pass in the distance, his brows furrowed and his face grim.

The intelligence he held in his hand tightened its grip even more.

That was intelligence from the Governor of Henan, claiming that Xiao He had implemented the equal-field system in the counties under Governor of Henan with lightning speed and force.

The people of Wei in each county who received land all sang praises to Liu Bei and wholeheartedly submitted to him.

Cao Cao naturally understood that Xiao He was trying to win hearts and minds and undermine the fighting spirit of the Luoyang defenders.

He was fully aware of the power of this move, yet he was helpless against it.

The only way is to break through Hulao Pass as quickly as possible and send the army straight to Luoyang to relieve the siege.

What drove him crazy was that Zhang Liao, that traitorous general, had defended Hulao Pass with only 7,000 soldiers, making it an impregnable fortress.

He attacked for ten days, suffering countless casualties, but not a single soldier was able to scale the city wall.

If they can't break through after this long, who can guarantee how much longer Hao Zhao can hold out?

"To think you could win people's hearts by giving land to those unruly people, Xiao He, your tactic is truly despicable and shameless..."

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, tearing the intelligence report in his hand to shreds. He then waved his hand and shouted:

"Pass down the order: send out the entire army and continue the fierce attack on Hulao Pass."

"Anyone who climbs to the top of the pass will be rewarded with one hundred gold pieces."

"The general who made the greatest contribution to breaking through the pass, I hereby bestow upon him the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"

Cao Cao had no choice but to go to great lengths to entice the Wei army to fight to the death.

The generals were greatly encouraged and readily accepted the order.

Just as Cao Cao was about to mount his horse, a rider galloped up.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from Luoyang."

"Xiao He captured Luoyang the day before yesterday, and our defending army was completely wiped out. Hao Zhao has been captured by Xiao He!"

The officials of Wei were all horrified.

Cao Cao, who had just gotten halfway up the horse, slipped and fell off his horse, landing hard on his backside.

"Your Majesty!"

Ignoring their shock, the crowd rushed forward to support Cao Cao.

"Everyone get out of here!"

Cao Cao shoved the crowd aside and roared hoarsely at the messenger:

"What did you say? Say it again!"

The messenger, trembling with fear, could only repeat in a trembling voice:

"Your Majesty, the Chu army has captured Luoyang. My five thousand soldiers collapsed without a fight, and General Hao has been captured by Xiao He!"

boom!
A thunderbolt struck Cao Cao on the head.

His face contorted in shock, his body trembled violently, and he staggered backward.

The crowd had no choice but to step forward again and forcibly support Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's forehead veins bulged, his face turned purple, his teeth were clenched as he gasped for breath in anger.

"Zixiao, is this the city-defense genius you recommended to me?"

Cao Cao's face contorted with rage and disappointment as he questioned Cao Ren.

Cao Ren's forehead was covered in sweat, and he stammered:

"Hao Bodao's ability to defend the city should be beyond question. I believe it must be because Liu Bei has already won over the hearts and minds of the people of Henan, and those five thousand soldiers defending the city are all from Henan, which is why..."

Before Cao Ren could finish speaking, Cao Cao flew into a rage and shouted:
"You mean that I am unpopular, and that all my soldiers have betrayed me and joined the traitor Liu Bei, which is why Luoyang fell?"

Cao Ren was startled and quickly shook his head, saying:

"That's not what I meant. I meant to say that I..."

Cao Ren stammered, unsure how to explain.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that Luoyang's five thousand soldiers collapsed without a fight because Cao Cao had lost all popular support, and it had nothing to do with Hao Zhao's abilities.

But could he really say such a blunt truth in front of Cao Cao?

This is not a slap in the face to Cao Cao, but rather blaming the loss of Luoyang entirely on Cao Cao's lack of popular support.

After hesitating for a while, Cao Ren had no choice but to grit his teeth and kneel on one knee before Cao Cao:

"Your Majesty, what I want to say is that although the fall of Luoyang was partly due to the fact that the traitor Da'er had won over the hearts of the people, the root cause must be that Hao Zhao was not determined. When he saw that our reinforcements were not arriving for a long time, he gave up resistance and surrendered to the pseudo-Chu."

"It is my fault for failing to judge people properly, which has led to such a grave mistake. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Cao Ren had no choice. Since he couldn't let Cao Cao take the blame, he had to put all the blame on Hao Zhao.

As Hao Zhao's recommender, he could only swallow his bitterness and reluctantly step forward to apologize.

Cao Cao had managed to shift the blame, but his anger was far from appeased, and he cursed:

"You are bad at judging people, but Hao Zhao is an ungrateful wretch. I valued him so much, promoting him from a lowly county magistrate to the position of garrison commander of Luoyang, and he actually betrayed me!"

"How could I possibly forgive such a disloyal, unjust, and shameless scoundrel!"

"By my order, immediately execute Hao Zhao's entire family, exterminate his three clans, and spare neither the old nor the young!" (End of Chapter)