I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 380 Fa Rectification
Baidi City is built against the mountain, and its overall defense line is long and narrow, running from north to south.

At this moment, Huang Zhong followed the path over mountains and ridges, heading towards the Xiaodongmen gate, which is closer to the north.

The soldiers of Changsha under Huang Zhong were skilled in mountain warfare. They generally wore only light armor, and then wrapped their feet and lower limbs with a layer of mugwort leaves soaked in sesame oil, which served as leg wraps and also had the effect of repelling mosquitoes.

He trudged along, stepping on the decaying leaves and dead wood, never quite finding solid ground. Coupled with the humid heat of the mountains, Huang Zhong began to pant heavily when he saw the small east gate.

"Take a short rest, then we'll fight our way out together!"

They dared not light a fire in the forest, but fortunately, the soldiers were not picky. They not only carried some dry rations, but some of them had also picked up some wild plums on the road and put them together with a few snakes they had killed, treating them as an extra meal.

"You dare eat this! It's poisonous!"

A soldier nearby disgustedly poked the snake's body with his finger, only to find that even though the snake had no head, its body still twisted and turned around, which frightened him so much that he immediately withdrew his finger.

"Hahaha!"

The soldiers mocked him for being a coward.

"Grandpa's stomach is made of iron! This thing, once it falls into Grandpa's stomach, whether it's poisonous or not, it will just become a pile of feces!"

To tease their comrade, the soldiers threw a dead snake at him.

The companion dodged in time, and the dead snake grazed past his scalp before landing directly in the bushes.

"Hey, why are you hiding..."

"what!!!"

Before the soldier could finish speaking, a scream suddenly came from the bushes.

The sound immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding Han soldiers, who drew their swords and looked warily into the bushes.

There was a rustling sound in the bushes, and soon a figure emerged from within, looking disheveled.

"enemy!"

Upon seeing the style of the armor worn by the enemy, the Han soldiers immediately reacted, rushing forward and pinning him to the ground, causing him to struggle continuously.

Huang Zhong arrived upon hearing the news and was immediately alarmed to see that the other party was indeed wearing Shu army armor!
"Could it be that the enemy has already seen through our plan?"

Unexpectedly, the Shu soldiers who were being held captive spoke with a Guanzhong accent: "General! General! I have come to surrender to the Han army on the orders of my master!"

surrender?

fart!
Is there really such a sneaky way of surrendering?
Seeing that Huang Zhong had already raised his broadsword, the man quickly struggled and gestured, "I have a letter in my arms! General, take it to His Majesty, and His Majesty will surely know my master's intentions!"

Huang Zhong ordered his soldiers to take the letter from the other man's arms. After glancing at it, he saw that the seal on the letter was intact. Although he did not believe it completely, he still ordered his soldiers to release the other man.

"If you're surrendering, why are you doing it so secretly?"

"Zhang Ren, the garrison commander of Baidi City, still has doubts about my master, so he sent soldiers to monitor him. Only I can come here to make contact!"

What is the name of your master/master?

"Fufeng Fazheng!"

He is not from Sichuan.

Based on the man's Guanzhong accent, Huang Zhong's trust in him increased from 10% to 20%.

Seeing that Huang Zhong's attitude had softened, Fa Zheng's servant hurriedly said, "General! In fact, Zhang Ren has already guessed that you will launch a sneak attack on Baidi City through these small paths."

"My master led you elsewhere to avoid being discovered by Zhang Ren's soldiers! Listen to my advice! Retreat quickly, lest you be found!"

Huang Zhong was unable to distinguish between the genuine and the fake.

But one thing is certain: their whereabouts have indeed been exposed. Staying any longer would be harmful and offer no benefit.

"Tie this man up and bring him before His Majesty for His Majesty to decide his fate!"

Huang Zhong looked around at the silent woods, as if he felt that a poisonous snake might suddenly jump out and bite him at any moment.

"withdraw!"

Just a quarter of an hour after Huang Zhong led his soldiers away, Fa Zheng and the Shu army hurriedly arrived.

"Strategist! The trees here are all broken, and the grass and trees are all trampled flat. There must be traces of the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, Fa Zheng was filled with remorse: "So it seems the enemy really did come here! But I wonder what alerted them that made them turn back!"

Fa Zheng waved his hand and chased after them into the depths of the forest, but was ambushed by some of the soldiers left behind by Huang Zhong, suffering heavy losses. Even Fa Zheng himself accidentally fell down the mountain path, injuring his foot and becoming unable to walk.

Back in Baidi City, Fazheng felt quite guilty, but Zhang Ren comforted him, saying, "The generals under Liu Miao are all veterans of countless battles! Perhaps the general in this battle was a meticulous person who noticed the clues in time and began to retreat. Xiaozhi, there is no need to blame yourself too much."

the other side.

Liu Miao also attacked from the front, providing cover for Huang Zhong.

When Liu Miao saw that Huang Zhong had returned empty-handed, he naturally sounded the retreat and went to ask Huang Zhong why he had suddenly withdrawn his troops.

"Fa Zheng?"

Upon hearing this, Pang Tong immediately became suspicious.

"Could this be Fazheng's scheme to lure the enemy?"

I have never heard of any relationship between Liu Miao and Fa Zheng.

How could the dignified Deputy General of Baidi City so easily defect to Liu Miao? This doesn't make sense! Even Lü Meng and Lu Yi thought Fa Zheng's letter was quite suspicious and advised Liu Miao to ignore it.

Liu Miao ignored everyone and chuckled after reading Fa Zheng's letter.

"I believe that Fazheng is sincere!"

Liu Miao looked at Pang Tong: "What did Shi Yuan say to me when he was in Jingzhou?"

Pang Tong and Liu Miao had naturally exchanged many words, but considering the current situation with Fa Zheng, Pang Tong vaguely guessed some of the reasons.

"Does Your Majesty mean that there are too many powerful clans in Shu nowadays, and that outsiders like Fa Zheng cannot be promoted, so they want to join the lord?"

Liu Miao snapped his fingers: "That's exactly right!"

Then, Liu Miao picked up Fa Zheng's letter and showed it to everyone.

"In Fa Zheng's letter, although the beginning was filled with grand rhetoric about supporting the Han Dynasty, the end revealed his dissatisfaction by saying that Liu Zhang was weak and incompetent in his power."

"Such a person must have extremely high ambitions."

"And he also knew that as long as Shu was still Shu, and the powerful clans of Shu were still the same powerful clans, he would never be able to be given important positions."

Liu Miao saw right through Fa Zheng's thoughts.

Liu Miao especially remembered that compared to Fa Zheng's wisdom, his character was completely indescribable...

They are vengeful and make no attempt to hide it!
As a member of the gentry who fled from Guanzhong to Shu, Fa Zheng's treatment was certainly not worse than that of ordinary people. However, precisely because of this better treatment, he ended up taking away some of the benefits from the powerful clans of Shu, so it's no wonder that these native Shu people didn't treat Fa Zheng well!

Fa Zheng must have been holding back for years! He's been waiting for an opportunity to change his stance and then take a small leather whip dipped in salt and teach those powerful clans in Shu who had previously given him attitude a lesson!
Liu Miao praised Fa Zheng's actions once again.

Although Fa Zheng wanted to rely on Liu Miao to advance further and at the same time take revenge on those who had humiliated him, Liu Miao did indeed need someone to help him pry open the gateway to Shu, Baidi City.

In particular, Fa Zheng cleverly positioned himself in opposition to the powerful clans of Shu, which naturally fostered a sense of goodwill towards him in Liu Miao's heart.

Nowadays, with aligned interests, sometimes a bridge of trust isn't necessary. Fazheng also wouldn't worry that Liu Miao wouldn't accept him.

"He truly is a wolf-like figure!"

Fortunately, Liu Miao didn't dislike people like Fa Zheng; on the contrary, he found his temperament quite endearing.

What's more...

Liu Miao was a man of ravenous ambition, and he certainly didn't lack someone like Fa Zheng by his side.

We can't expect everyone around us to be a saint like Zhuge Liang, can we?
"Zhongda, what do you think of Fazheng's matter?"

Sima Yi, who had remained silent, held opinions completely opposite to those of Pang Tong, Lü Meng, and Lu Yi.

“Fa Zheng truly and sincerely pledges allegiance to the Han Dynasty and to His Majesty.”

"The Shu region has always been isolated. After Liu Yan used refugees from Guanzhong, Nanyang, Jingzhou and other places to form the Dongzhou Army, it aroused the dissatisfaction of some powerful clans in Shu. This is why there was the rebellion of powerful clans like Zhao Chi a couple of years ago."

"They would naturally dislike a foreign gentry like Fazheng. Therefore, it is normal for them to ostracize Fazheng, which is why Fazheng would naturally feel dissatisfied."

Without a doubt, Sima Yi had a profound understanding of human nature.

Moreover, perhaps because he felt the same way, Sima Yi seemed to be deeply immersed in the conversation when he said this, and he was unusually absent-minded in front of Liu Miao.

"What? Could it be that someone is bullying our Zhongda too?"

Liu Miao's teasing remark summoned Sima Yi, who quickly shook his head at Liu Miao.

“What’s so hard to admit? You are all from Hebei. In the previous war with Hebei, there were bound to be casualties. It’s normal for the people in the south to dislike you or even hate you.”

"Especially since you were tricked by Gongwei into the trap of the Hundred Schools of Thought, the scholars in the south will definitely not like you, and your Sima family will definitely not have a good time in the south."

"Forehead……"

Hearing Liu Miao so openly expose his past wounds, Sima Yi felt a mix of embarrassment and apprehension, fearing that Liu Miao might also see him as a righteous man.

"I understand these principles, which is why I must launch a northern expedition as soon as possible, so as not to create a greater divide between the people of the north and the south."

Liu Miao patted Sima Yi on the shoulder.

"As for the matter of the 'various scholars,' I am on your side. Therefore, I did not regard Zhongda as Fazheng."

Although it was meant to be reassuring, Sima Yi felt both gratified and inexplicably filled with apprehension, deepening his awe of Liu Miao.

"Therefore, we should study Fazheng's letter carefully for now."

Liu Miao stroked his beard—

"The letter from Fazheng said that because Zhang Renlai was anxious, the supplies and provisions had not yet arrived and were insufficient to support the soldiers in Baidi City in a prolonged battle."

"Three days later, Yan Yan, the governor of Jiangzhou, will personally escort the grain supplies to Baidi City. As long as I send troops to launch a surprise attack, Zhang Ren will surely send troops as well, and then only Fa Zheng will be left in Baidi City."

Liu Miao was, if not completely satisfied, extremely satisfied with Fa Zheng's plan!

They summoned the servant of Fazheng who had delivered the letter.

"Go back and tell Fazheng that I have given my permission."

"Once this is accomplished, I am willing to treat him as a prefect with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain)!"

(End of this chapter)