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

Chapter 233: Just a joke

After learning that Yuan Shu had occupied Xiangyang, Cao Cao persuaded Wen Ping to return to Luoyang with him.

The two sides, with a combined force of 40,000, abandoned the counties of Jiangxia and hastily retreated to Nanyang.

Fortunately, Zhang Xun's troops were mostly Yellow Turban soldiers supported by the common people. Although they were numerous, they could still fight in the city, but they could not pursue and attack in open field battles.

He then hurriedly sent a message to Yuan Shu, and while waiting for Cao Cao's army to withdraw, he occupied one place after another.

Cao Cao's army was unaware of Zhang Xun's true strength. Seeing him pursuing them, they feared being held back. If they had not yet escaped to Nanyang before Yuan Shu's encirclement, they would all be trapped like caged beasts.

Therefore, the more Zhang Xun pursued, the more urgently Cao Cao's army fled. In just a few days, Zhang Xun successively occupied the entire territory of Jiangxia, creating the impression that he was chasing Cao Cao's army in a panicked escape.

As a result, good news kept coming in, saying that Zhang Xun had defeated the allied forces of Cao Cao and Wen Pin in a head-on battle, and that Cao and Wen had fled, resulting in a great victory at Jiangxia.

Zhang Xun's ability to defend and counterattack was renowned throughout the world, and he was widely regarded as a master of defense.

On that day, Cao Cao's army marched to the banks of the Yu River. Cao Cao stood on the riverbank, gazing at Wancheng, and said to Xun You:

"Have you sent the letter to Wancheng to comfort our weary troops?"

Has Zhang Xiu's side issued a response?

Mentioning this matter, Xun You nodded slightly and replied with a smile:
"The reply has not yet arrived, but I heard that Yuan Shu also sent an envoy here not long ago, but he was scolded away by Jia Xu."

Furthermore, given the precedent of Your Excellency passing through Wancheng without entering and without committing any offenses, this matter should not be difficult.

We have now reached the outskirts of the city. We will only need to wait a short while; Zhang Xiu will surely send someone to welcome us.

"That's very good. It seems that Jia Xu is indeed a loyal man."

Cao Cao's gaze darkened slightly, and his tone became quite solemn.

"We returned defeated from Lujiang, our mission was fruitless, and we fled here in panic. The morale of our troops has plummeted."

"We must not engage Zhang Xiu's army in a prolonged battle. We should seize the opportunity when they welcome us into the city, catching them completely off guard, and launch a sudden attack to crush them in one fell swoop!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly summoned Dian Wei, Xiahou Yuan, and others to arrange the ambush, and agreed that all the generals of the three armies should take his drawing of the sword as a signal and act in accordance with his instructions.

All the generals exclaimed, "Yes!"

Before long, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard coming from afar.

"Report!"

A messenger fell off his horse and shouted his report.

"Upon hearing that our lord is about to enter the city to reward the troops, Zhang Xiu showed no sign of refusal. He has now come out of the city with Jia Xu to welcome him. We urge our lord to enter the city."

"it is good!

"All generals, heed my command! Follow me to meet him."

Cao Cao raised his thick eyebrows, waved his hand and gave the order to immediately lead the army forward. Sure enough, outside Wancheng, they saw a general with a silver spear and a white horse, leading his troops to meet them. Who else could it be but Zhang Xiu?
Seeing Zhang Xiu with a beaming smile, leading his men to greet them, seemingly without any precautions.

Cao Cao knew the time was right. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he tapped the hilt of his sword at his waist. He was about to draw his sword as a signal to order his army to move!

At this moment, Dian Wei and Xiahou Yuan had also secretly led their troops to their designated positions, their eyes fixed on Cao Cao's hand on his sword.

It seemed that as soon as he drew his sword and gave the order, he would immediately launch a charge and take Zhang Xiu's head.

However, at that very moment, Zhang Xiu dismounted and came forward to pay his respects.

"Zhang Ji's nephew, General Jianzhong Xiu, pays his respects to Prime Minister Cao."

I have long admired Your Excellency for serving the Emperor and commanding the disobedient.

I hereby lead the entire Nanyang region in a declaration of our willingness to submit to the imperial court.

If Your Excellency does not despise me, I am willing to be the vanguard to attack Yuan Shu and serve you to the death!

From then on, he would serve as the king's vanguard, braving fire and water, with unwavering loyalty.

Cao Cao: “???”

His hand on his sword froze. People around him, such as Dian Wei and Xiahou Yuan, were about to lead their troops out to fight. For a moment, the entire Cao army was silent, and the atmosphere was strange.

Cao Cao was genuinely bewildered at this moment.

No, I was just using this as a pretext to ambush you, but before I could even make a move, you surrendered. What's going on?

But in any case, achieving strategic goals without losing a single soldier is always a good thing.

However, since Zhang Xiu was about to surrender, Cao Cao did not dare to dismount and greet him without any precautions. What if Zhang Xiu was feigning surrender and wanted to capture him alive?

So he simply sat high on his horse and answered loudly:

"General Zhang, why have you come to this?"

Having long heard of General Huo Qubing's tireless efforts and even unto death in his efforts to bring the emperor back to the east, Cao Cao still had some doubts.

Seeing General Zhang's loyalty and righteousness now, I realize that your Zhang family is full of loyal and virtuous people, generation after generation. You are judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person.

Since General Zhang wishes to return to the rule of the king, this is a cause for great joy, so how could we refuse?

The Emperor would surely be overjoyed to learn of this.

Cao Cao's words were a way of returning the favor. In the name of the court, he let bygones be bygones the matter of Zhang Ji escorting the emperor back to the east, but abandoning the emperor halfway and running away. He defined the Zhang family as a family of loyal martyrs.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiu already harbored doubts about Cao Cao because of Jiang Gan's parting words. Now, seeing him sitting high above on horseback, he felt even more that Cao Cao had no sincerity and no respect for him whatsoever.

In particular, he caught a glimpse of Dian Wei and Xiahou Yuan, who had secretly led their troops to surround him, seemingly intending to attack.

He was immediately alarmed, his face paled with shock, and he pointed at the two men, angrily rebuking them.

"Prime Minister Cao!"

Zhang sincerely came to surrender to the imperial court, and the whole prefecture was submitted to the royal family. He was full of enthusiasm and loyalty.

"What does the Prime Minister mean by this? Does he intend to take someone's head and chill the hearts of the people?"

Cao Cao: "."

Logically speaking, he should have drawn his sword at this point, ordered the army to surround and behead Zhang Xiu.

But he was genuinely embarrassed when Zhang Xiu surrendered first without warning.

We definitely can't kill him now. He came to surrender in good health, what kind of thing would it be to kill him on the spot?

How will the world view Cao Mengde? Who will surrender to him again in the future?

Moreover, the reason for killing Zhang Xiu was to seize Nanyang, and now that Zhang Xiu has surrendered Nanyang, there is no reason to kill him.

Therefore, Cao Cao had no choice but to force a smile and reluctantly explain to Zhang Xiu.

"The three armies have been trekking for many days and have rushed here. They are eager to rest."

I told them: We will reward the three armies in Wancheng, with plenty of wine and meat.

Thus, the three armies regained their strength and did not feel tired. This was my strategy of "seeing the enemy's fatigue."

Now that Wancheng is in sight, the soldiers are anxious, so they have bypassed us and moved faster, which is only human nature.

General, have no doubt.

Cao Cao spoke nonsense with a straight face, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, while constantly glancing at Dian Wei and Xiahou Yuan.

The two generals, having received his signal, knew what to do. They immediately ordered their soldiers to feign laziness, abandoning their armor and weapons, and instead stir up trouble, saying they wanted to enter the city to reward the inhabitants, and continued to crowd towards the city gate.

Seeing this, Cao Cao seized the opportunity to give orders to Zhang Xiu.

"General Zhang must have seen it too. This army is exhausted from its journey here, and half of them are Wen Ping's troops from Jingzhou. They were promised something by me before, and now they are full of resentment. The only way to appease them is to reward them. Even I cannot force them to obey."

Now that the general has surrendered, why not allow us to open the city gates and reward the troops?

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiu still had doubts, but Cao Cao had already said so much, and it might really be a misunderstanding, so he couldn't make a scene on the spot.

In any case, a testing plan has already been prepared to test Cao Cao's mind, so there is no need to rush things now.

Therefore, Zhang Xiu maintained a fake smile and took the initiative to welcome Cao Cao and his entourage into the city.

Cao Cao originally intended to take this opportunity to kill Zhang Xiu and control the army in Wancheng, but Zhang Xiu took the initiative to surrender. The specific handling of the Wancheng army would have to be discussed later.

At this moment, he also couldn't be hasty and directly try to seize Zhang Xiu's military power. If he acted so greedily, he would only force people to rebel on the spot, turning a good thing into a bad thing.

Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu both waited to discuss the matter at length, each with a smiling face but harboring their own ulterior motives, and together they entered Wancheng.

Wancheng, Cao Cao's temporary residence.

"What do you mean by calling Zhang Xiu a brat?"
"I haven't even made a move yet, so why would he suddenly surrender? Could it be a ruse to lure me into the city and ambush me?"

Inside the main hall, Cao Cao paced back and forth, his face showing great confusion.

He didn't believe in free lunches, and the more things went smoothly and unexpectedly, the more uneasy he felt.

Xun You stroked his beard and laughed, “My lord, why worry? If there really was an ambush, it would have already broken out when we entered the city, so why wait until now?”

Moreover, Jia Xu had long intended to submit to the imperial court, and a few days ago he even drove away Yuan Shu's envoy. It seems that Zhang Xiu has thoroughly offended Yuan Shu and, having nowhere else to turn, might be persuaded by him.

Cao Anmin was disliked by Cao Cao because of Zhang Xun's escape last time, so upon hearing this, he said some nice things to curry favor.

"Yes, what is there for Uncle to worry about?"
Back then, Liu Bei was able to obtain Xuzhou for free, so what if my uncle obtains Nanyang for free now?
In my humble opinion, this is a good thing; it reflects your illustrious reputation and the widespread benevolence you have brought to the people.

“What you say makes sense, but I still feel uneasy and something is not right.”

Seeing the lingering doubt on Cao Cao's face, Xun You offered him advice.

"Since our lord is not at ease, why not summon Jia Xu? When the time comes, our lord will know why Zhang Xiu surrendered."

Cao Cao nodded and said, "Good."

Meanwhile, at Zhang Xiu's residence on the other side, Zhang Xiu was also pacing in the hall, plotting with Jia Xu.

"Now I observe that Cao Cao, who is extremely arrogant. He only speaks to me on horseback, and I'm afraid he may not truly take me seriously."

Moreover, the generals Dian Wei and Xiahou Yuan are treacherous in their military tactics and may harbor ill intentions towards us; we must indeed be on guard against them.

"Sir, do you still wish to persuade me now?"

Zhang Xiu had already harbored doubts about surrendering to Cao Cao because of Jiang Gan's words. Now, with Cao Cao's army behaving strangely and a great omen of danger emerging, Jia Xu already knew his intentions. How could he possibly persuade him otherwise?

He could only sigh deeply, secretly hoping that Cao Cao could withstand the test and live up to his reputation as a hero.

On the surface, he bowed deeply to Zhang Xiu, saying, "I am grateful for General Zhang's trust and guidance, and I always listen to your advice and follow your suggestions in important matters."

Today is the day I repay the Zhang family's kindness.

Please rest assured, General. My previous advice to surrender to Cao Cao was only to secure a stable future for you in the court.

Yuan Ying's camp was now like a flower in full bloom, burning like oil on a raging fire. Although it could bring him a lifetime of wealth and honor, its success or failure was still unknown. It might rise like a dragon or a phoenix, or it might suddenly fall from the clouds. In the end, it was not stable.

Enough, enough! Since the general has decided to test the waters, let's hear what Xu has to say next.

Whether Cao Mengde is a dragon or a snake, let's test him.

Zhang Xiu was overjoyed upon hearing this!

During this period of time, Jia Xu was trying to persuade him, but how could he not be trying to persuade Jia Xu?

After all, Zhang Xiu was not good at such tricks to test people's hearts, and it was inevitable that he would make mistakes if he did it himself. It would be safe to hand it over to Jia Xu.

The only problem here is to convince Jia Xu to genuinely help him. However, thanks to the goodwill that the Zhang family has accumulated with Jia Xu over two generations, they have managed to persuade this gentleman to help them this time.

Thus, the game of Wancheng had become a grand scheme orchestrated by Yuan Shu, with Jia Xu controlling smaller aspects of the game, Zhang Xiu playing white and following orders, while Cao Cao, playing black, was unaware that his large dragon was about to be trapped.

After all, no matter how meticulous Xun You was, how could he have imagined that Jia Xu, who had been frequently corresponding with him recently, saying that he wanted to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender, and had even made Zhang Xiu take practical actions such as pretending to pass through Nanyang and surrendering the whole prefecture.

By sheer coincidence, they cooperated with Yuan Shu's plan, working together from within and without to test Cao Cao.

Just then, a servant came from outside the hall to report:

"General, Cao Cao's camp has invited Mr. Jia to come over."

"okay, I get it."

Zhang Xiu nodded slightly and looked at Jia Xu, who understood.

"General, rest assured, I know what to say, and I will arrange everything tonight."

"With your generous help, I have no worries."

Rest assured, sir. I know that I am not very talented and capable, and I am not a place for you to stay for long.

"I await your assistance this final time. If I find that Cao Cao is indeed a wise ruler, then we will sincerely surrender to him. You may then enter Cao Cao's camp yourself, and do not worry about Xiu."

"The Zhang family has shown me great favor for two generations; I will certainly not fail the general's trust."

Jia Xu bowed deeply, then rose and headed towards Cao Cao's camp.

In the temporary council hall of Cao Cao's camp, a refined scholar slowly approached. Cao Cao stared at him for a moment, then suddenly laughed loudly and personally took the scholar's hand.

"Mr. Wenhe is a man of great talent, and I have long heard of him! With his assistance, I am like a tiger with wings!"

"The name of Cao Cao is renowned far and wide."

After exchanging pleasantries and compliments, Cao Cao finally brought up the real business.

He gently stroked his long beard, leaned close to Jia Xu's ear, and suddenly whispered a question.

"Zhang Xiu's surrender was feigned, but was his true intention to plot against me? I have already seen through it. Mr. Jia, why don't you tell me directly? Are you in cahoots with Zhang Xiu?"

Jia Xu was extremely surprised, his expression one of utter horror.

"My general has come to surrender with sincere intentions, why does Lord Cao say such a thing?"

Cao Cao feigned a cold laugh, "You and Yuan Shu's envoy staged a ruse, pretending to curse him away, but in reality you conspired to harm me."

This is just one of Yuan Gonglu's usual tricks!
"It just so happens that recently, everyone in our camp, both civil and military, has thoroughly studied Yuan Gonglu's strategies and is familiar with his character. Therefore, we have already seen through this plan, so please stop pretending, sir."

"Could it be that some villain is trying to sow discord between Lord Cao and my general? Why not bring him out so that I can confront him?"

Jia Xu was extremely surprised, frowned in confusion, and rebuked him.

“Unfounded speculation must be supported by evidence. I hope the Prime Minister will explain his reasoning in detail so that I may defend myself.”

Cao Cao carefully observed his expression and saw that he did not seem to be faking it, as if he really did not conspire with Yuan Shu to harm him. Only then did he laugh loudly.

"I was just joking!"

Jia Xu: "."

Seeing Jia Xu's cold expression, Xun You, who often corresponded with him, quickly greeted him with a smile.

"It is truly because General Zhang Xiu surrendered without cause that we are uneasy. That is why we tested him. We had no intention of harming him. We hope you will not take offense."

Jia Xu outwardly said "It's alright" and "I understand," but inwardly he was already sneering.

I have no intention of harming anyone. I am merely testing Cao Cao today, and I hope you will not take offense!
(End of this chapter)