Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 167 Wenze, we came here to make contributions, but he is blocking our future!
After taking up residence in Wenyang County, Zhu Miao immediately sent men to escort two scholars under Chen Yi's command, Chen Yi's head preserved in lime, and all the physical evidence to Luoyang.

As for the affairs of the State of Lu, before the court sends a new prime minister of Lu, the chief clerk Hua Xin temporarily assumes the powers of the prime minister of Lu, leading one thousand soldiers and one thousand five hundred Lu soldiers to garrison Wenyang.

In the carefully crafted strategic plan of the imperial court, Wenyang was an important logistical hub for the army, using the Wen River to continuously transport supplies to the army conquering Taishan County.

The army rested peacefully in Wenyang for two days. Just as the army was ready and the soldiers were in high spirits and about to break camp, a messenger came galloping up with a battle report from the front.

The case in Juping County was solved in just two days!
Nominally, it was two days, but the actual time used for the siege was only one night, and the battle report recorded that our side suffered only sixty casualties.

The primary credit for the capture of Juping should go to Yu Jin, a colonel under the command of Bao Xin, the Prefect of Pingyuan.

Cao Cao, acting on the decree of the Crown Prince, dispatched Bao Xin, the Prefect of Pingyuan, with 2,000 troops to march south from Pingyuan to support Zhu Miao.

Yu Jin happened to be from Juping County, and his more than 400 soldiers were all from Juping County.

The magistrate of Juping County was Wang Zheng, a retainer of Zhang Ju. Although he had followed Zhang Ju for many years, he had little intention of resisting him.

Seeing that the imperial army had five thousand vanguard troops to quell the rebellion, with more than ten thousand elite troops following behind, while the city only had five hundred weak and easily defeated soldiers from various prefectures and kingdoms and two thousand temporarily recruited young men, Wang Zheng immediately decided to surrender and prepared to send an envoy to the Han army camp the next day to discuss the surrender.

Unexpectedly, there were many people in the city who wanted to join the ministry, and that very night, some of them secretly went out of the city to visit Bao Xin outside the city.

Are you kidding me? If you want to die, go ahead and do it yourself. Zhang Jiao's rebellion, which swept across the nine provinces with hundreds of thousands of men, was quelled by the imperial court in half a year. You, Zhang Ju, could throw your 30,000 men into the fray and they wouldn't even make a ripple. You didn't even give them any rewards. Why should we brothers follow you in rebellion?

The people of Juping County had not surrendered initially, but they were worried that the imperial army would plunder the city and punish them afterward. They urgently needed a clear guarantee.

But upon seeing Bao Xin, a native of Taishan County, and Yu Jin, a fellow townsman from Juping County, the visitor's worries immediately vanished, and he actively cooperated with the plan devised by Bao Xin and Yu Jin.

The following day, Bao Xin and Wang Zheng's envoy held preliminary talks on the matter of opening the city gates. Bao Xin offered to surrender unconditionally and spare Wang Zheng's life.
Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng's envoy's face instantly turned extremely ugly, but even though he was dissatisfied with the harsh conditions offered by Bao Xin, he dared not offend him in the slightest.

After all, Bao Xin dared to make such demanding requests, which must have been backed by considerable confidence and strong resources.

After receiving the messenger's reply, Wang Zheng sat on the couch with a furrowed brow, constantly rubbing the hem of his clothes with his hands, feeling quite hesitant.

He was naturally unwilling to give up everything just to save his life, so he wanted to continue bargaining with Bao Xin.

Negotiations are inherently a back-and-forth process, much like street vendors haggling over prices—it's a perfectly normal procedure.

However, he was unaware that Bao Xin had never intended to take over Juping County through negotiations from the very beginning.

In the plains army camp
Yu Jin frowned slightly, looking hesitant. He looked at Bao Xin, who had just finished discussing the city-seizing plan with Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, and Liu Hong, the governor of Shanyangjun. He hesitated, lowered his head, and looked up at his benefactor several times. His lips parted slightly, but he could not speak.

Seeing this, Bao Xin smiled gently and stepped forward with light steps, saying, "Wenze, we are both from the same hometown of Taishan County. I am seven years older than you, so I am your elder brother. What is there that you dare not speak to your elder brother about?"

Bao Xin naturally valued Yu Jin, a young man with considerable military talent, and also because they were from the same hometown, otherwise he wouldn't have forcibly taken him from his friend Cao Cao.

“My lord, if the king is willing to surrender, we can simply offer him some benefits and he can enter the city without losing a single soldier. Wouldn’t that be better?” Yu Jin lowered his head after speaking, not daring to meet Bao Xin’s gaze.

Although Bao Xin encouraged him to speak frankly, Yu Jin, facing this superior who usually took good care of him, restrained his words considerably and was not as straightforward as he usually was.

Just as he was about to look up to see if Bao Xin was angry, a broad, warm hand gently patted his shoulder, and he heard Bao Xin's hearty laughter: "Wenze, you can just say that your brother is despicable and heartless."

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin immediately became anxious, his face showing worry. He was about to speak in his defense, but Bao Xin stopped him by waving his hand.

"No need to explain, being despicable and heartless is my self-assessment." Bao Xin looked at the anxiety and simplicity in Yu Jin's eyes, and couldn't help but smile with a nostalgic expression.

He thought of his former self, and it was precisely because many of Yu Jin's actions were so similar to his own when he was young that he took such good care of his fellow townsman, Yu Jin.

"As for you, is it really a good thing for our Han Dynasty that Wang Zheng, such a despicable man, has been exploiting the people in the past, has now surrendered without a fight?"

"Personally, if he surrenders, the credit for the fall of the city will not go to us, but to the king who will lead the people to righteousness."

“Wenze, we’re here to make a name for ourselves, but he’s blocking our future.” Bao Xin patted Yu Jin on the shoulder, looking at his younger brother’s bewildered expression as if his worldview had been turned upside down, and said nothing more.

My younger brother may have exceptional talent in leading troops, but he seems to be politically naive. As his elder brother, I should naturally give him some guidance, even if he doesn't understand it yet.

When he reaches my age, he will surely understand, no... he should understand even sooner than I do. Back then, he had no one to guide him and stumbled and struggled in his official career alongside Mengde.

Even when Yu Jin encountered setbacks in his official career, he had his elder brother by his side to help him.

The two never spoke of the matter again. That night, an inside agent in the city lit a fire as a signal to open the city gates wide, allowing Bao Xin to lead his troops into the city.

Yu Jin, clad in double armor, wielding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, personally led four hundred Juping villagers to attack the county government office, killing Wang Zheng in battle. His own side suffered only a dozen or so casualties.

As for the other forty-odd casualties reported in the battle report, they were former members of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou who violated military orders by robbing civilians. They were shot dead on the spot by Yu Ling's archers to uphold military law, which also deterred the Dongjun and Shanyangjun soldiers who had some ulterior motives.

Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, and Liu Hong, the governor of Shanyangjun, had no objections to this, since it was already common knowledge that the crown prince valued military discipline.

Moreover, since the Crown Prince was willing to provide military pay and rewards to the troops of the commanderies and kingdoms, these troops naturally had no reason to plunder cities. Bao Xin and Yu Jin were on equal footing.

Furthermore, it's only fair and reasonable for everyone to give Bao Xin and Yu Jin some face.

Bao Xin and Yu Jin were both from Taishan County, and Juping County was Yu Jin's hometown. Moreover, the city was captured by them with the help of their fellow villagers. The battle report also mentioned the two of them and shared some of their military merits. Under no circumstances should they engage in plundering again.

Yu Jin bowed to the two prefects without saying a word. He stood alone on the city wall, facing the spring breeze and warm sun, looking at the head of Wang Zheng that he had personally cut off and hung on the city gate tower. Bao Xin's words still echoed in his mind.

“We’re here to make a name for ourselves; he’s blocking our future.”

(End of this chapter)