Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 130 How can Yang Gong teach me his great principles?
With Sun Qingbing's defeat and retreat, Yuan Shu once again united all his troops, joining forces with Sun Ce, Xu Chu, and others who had returned after defeating Xu Huang, totaling approximately 30,000 men.

The entire army rushed to Mao Jie's location, joined forces with Yuan Yin and Huang Gai's 5,000 troops, and easily defeated Mao Jie.

Looking at Mao Jie, who had been captured, Yuan Shu chuckled and asked him a question.

"General Mao, are you willing to surrender to me?"

Although Mao Jie was a prisoner and bound, he had a loyal and righteous expression on his face and cursed Yuan Shu.

“The Yuan family of Runan has produced three high-ranking officials for four generations, enjoying the Han dynasty’s stipends for generations. Now you are the head of the Yuan family, yet you do not think of serving the country. How are you any different from beasts?”
My lord, Lord Cao, serves the Emperor above and brings peace to the common people below. He is ordered to punish the traitors and suppress the rebels.

My defeat and capture are a testament to my incompetence and failure to live up to your expectations.

You traitor to the country in this chaotic era, you treacherous and wicked ruler, kill me if you want, skin me if you want!
You want me to surrender? Absolutely not!

Upon hearing these generous and loyal words, Yuan Shu remained unfazed, and with a face full of joy, said to the crowd:

"My acquisition of Mao Jie is like Emperor Gaozu's acquisition of Xiang Bo!"
This is like a fish in water, like a tiger with wings; what great thing cannot be accomplished?

Mao Jie: "???"

Before Mao Jie could react, the surrounding officials understood, and they all said:

"Mao Jie has been demoted!"
Mao Jie has been demoted!
Mao Jie has been demoted!!!

The three armies shouted in unison, their voices reaching the heavens.

Mao Jie was shocked: "???"

“Lord Yuan is a hero of our time. He kills people without a second thought. Why do you humiliate me like this?”
I hope that Mr. Yuan will treat the world with sincerity and not tarnish my reputation for innocence.

Yuan Shu wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "Minister Mao speaks frankly and offers advice, and I always heed it!"

Therefore, everyone said:

Mao Jie directly criticized Yuan Gong for his mistakes, and Yuan Gong gladly corrected them.

Mao Jie: "!!!"

Will the one who first spoke of this have no descendants?

Are you even speaking human language?
"I didn't lower my price!"

I didn't lower my price!!

You're talking nonsense!!!

However, his desperate cries were utterly pale and powerless in the face of overwhelming public opinion.
Looking up at Yuan Shu in his six-horse carriage, Mao Jie's eyes were filled with terror as he faced the faces of Yuan's ministers around him.

He seemed to see a monster that devoured people's hearts, with Yuan Shu as its head and its ministers as its claws, trying to turn the world from white to black and black to white!
The bewitching, demonic eyes atop those twin dragon heads were fixed on the imperial capital of Luoyang, slowly devouring the hearts of its lord, Lord Cao, like a dull knife cutting flesh.

The evil dragon lowered its head and smiled at him.

"Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the whole land, all people are subjects of the king."

As the Grand General, I govern the court and the country on behalf of the Emperor, and Minister Mao is naturally my subject.

Now, Minister Mao has led five thousand garrison troops to defect from their lord. I shall petition the Emperor to appoint Minister Mao as the General of the Garrison Troops and escort him back to Shouchun to manage all matters related to the garrison troops.”

Whether Mao Jie agreed willingly, or even his reaction, has been ignored.

Yuan Shu then said to Lu Xun in front of him:

"Boyan, arrange to send Minister Mao back to Shouchun, have Yan Xiang settle him in a courtyard, and send someone to keep an eye on him and take good care of him."

By the way, make the courtyard bigger, send all the rare treasures and gold and silver from my palace there, and decorate it as extravagantly as you want.

It is estimated that many more people will stay there in the future, so the name of the courtyard will be proposed as: Golden Terrace!
The following couplet reads:
"To repay your kindness, I would gladly die for you!"

Upon hearing this couplet, Mao Jie's tiger-like eyes filled with tears, and he felt utterly heartbroken.

Yuan Shu looked down at him with unfathomable eyes, his gaze carrying a profound meaning.

Whether it's voluntary or not doesn't matter. From now on, any people from Cao Cao's camp who come will surrender and be sent to the Golden Terrace.

This move was not only aimed at Cao Cao's suspicions, but more so at Cao Cao's camp. If the people in Cao Cao's camp heard that after surrendering to Yuan Shao's camp, they would not only have no burdens, but would even be able to live in the Golden Terrace and be appointed as a high-ranking official, just like Mao Jie.

So, when a soldier is defeated and desperate, how many would not be tempted to surrender?

Just as King Zhao of Yan spent a fortune to buy a horse's bones, Mao Jie is now the very horse's bones he has placed on the Golden Terrace.

After settling matters concerning Mao Jie's surrender, Yuan Shu led his army to Cao Chun's location.

However, at this time, Cao Chun's 10,000 troops had already been taken over by Xu Huang with dozens of cavalrymen after he arrived to deliver the message. Cao Chun then personally led his troops to break out of the encirclement.

Li Feng and Han Dang, having escaped Cao Chun, led their men to apologize to Yuan Shu.

"Reporting to my lord."

We were following orders to delay Cao Chun's troops as much as possible when Xu Huang suddenly led dozens of cavalry to attack and assist Cao's army. General Han and I fought bravely but were no match for them.

Moreover, he was an extremely experienced military commander. After he took control of Cao Chun's troops, we could no longer suppress them. We tried our best to delay them several times, but in the end, he led his troops to escape.

Yuan Shu did not blame them too much, after all, Xu Huang was a famous general of the time, and Cao Chun was a young rising star of the Cao family.

Xu Huang must have brought Cao Chun news that his troops had been completely wiped out and that the Black Mountain bandits under Sun Qing's command were also in imminent danger.

Under these circumstances, the two sincerely cooperated.

The troops they led were not a rabble like the Black Mountain bandits, but rather Cao Cao's elite forces. Given their determination to leave, it was normal that Li Feng and Han Dang were unable to hold them off.

In any case, this battle has already been a great victory. Even if Xu Huang reacted just as quickly and managed to rescue Cao Chun, it would be difficult to reverse the fate of the Liang Kingdom.

At this very moment, the Liang Kingdom's war, which spanned seventeen battlefields, lasted a day and a night, and involved more than 200,000 soldiers from both sides, was finally drawing to a close.

Xu Huang's entire army of four thousand men was wiped out, and Xu Huang, the commander-in-chief of Liang, barely escaped with his life.

The 100,000 Black Mountain bandits were almost completely wiped out, with only Sun Qing leading a retreating force of over 10,000 soldiers to escape.

The Right Wise King of the Xiongnu, Huntuye, and his 5,000 Xiongnu cavalry were all wiped out and their bodies were piled up on the banks of the Sui River.

Of the 5,000 troops under Mao Jie's command who were stationed at the agricultural settlements, some were killed and others captured, while Mao Jie himself "surrendered."

Only Cao Chun's 10,000 troops managed to escape after receiving news from Xu Huang and making a desperate breakout.

Thus, in the Liang Kingdom at that time, Sun Qing led more than 10,000 defeated soldiers, Cao Chun led nearly 10,000 Cao soldiers, and joined forces with Xu Huang and Yang Feng's 1,000 troops guarding Meng County, and deployed troops in Meng County.

Meanwhile, Yuan Shu, having gathered the 5,000 men previously led by Yuan Yin and Huang Gai against Mao Jie, and the 10,000 men led by Li Feng and Han Dang against Cao Chun, restored his total strength to over 45,000 men. He then annexed all the counties of Liang and besieged Xu Huang in Meng County and Jian Yong in Suiyang, the last two cities of Liang.

In this battle, Yuan's army, with 70,000 men against the allied army of 130,000, suffered 25,000 casualties but annihilated the 100,000-strong allied army.

Now, the entire Liang Kingdom only has a total of over 20,000 troops under Xu Huang in Meng County and 8,000 troops under Jian Yong in Suiyang City.

Although they still had the strength to defend the city, the tide had turned and the balance of power shifted.

At the city gate of Meng County, Yang Feng looked at Xu Huang, who was returning with his army looking dejected and disoriented, and shook his head and sighed.

"Gongming! See what I told you? Those who do not heed the advice of their elders will suffer the consequences. Don't say you weren't warned."

Xu Huang was filled with shame and remorse. "I underestimated the enemy and acted rashly. I regret not heeding Yang Gong's advice."

People were surprised and hurriedly asked why.

Sun Qing and Cao Chun learned that Yang Feng was actually the first to see through the Yuan army's true strength and weaknesses, and that under those circumstances, he was loyal, righteous, and stern in advising Xu Huang to make the wisest decision.

Everyone was greatly astonished by him.

Given the current difficult situation, everyone had no reservations and hurriedly asked:

"What should we do now? Can Master Yang offer us any guidance?"

Yang Feng: "."

I'm ready to surrender, and you're asking me?

(End of this chapter)