Brother, stop curling up! You're curling up like the founder of the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 245 Tian Yu Comes to Surrender, Liu Bei Turns His Hands to Turn Things Around (Seeking Follow-up and Monthly Tickets)
"After waiting for so long, Yuan Shao finally agreed to send his army out of the city."

"Order the three armies to retreat thirty li and establish a camp."

Instead of confronting Yuan Shao, Liu Bei chose to retreat thirty li and establish a camp.

Skilled anglers know that fish will test the waters when they bite; lifting the rod too early will scare the fish away.

Even when luring the enemy deep into your territory, you must present a well-founded strategy rather than a feigned defeat. You must give Yuan Shao the impression that "Liu Bei appears to be retreating but is actually looking for an opportunity."

Therefore, the armies of Chunyu Qiong, Guo Tu, and Feng Ji did not change their tactics just because Liu Bei retreated. They continued to advance step by step, supporting each other, while compressing their formation to increase their defensive capabilities, in order to avoid being counterattacked by Liu Bei.

Seeing that Yuan Shao's army was so cautious, Liu Bei once again chose to retreat thirty miles.

Liu Bei's two retreats greatly boosted the morale of Yuan Shao's troops.

Even Feng Ji, who initially opposed the decisive battle, gained confidence.

"As long as we proceed cautiously and maintain control of our formation, we have nothing to fear from Liu Bei."

Feng Ji's gaze was piercing as he urged Xianyu Fu and the others not to be arrogant or careless.

Yuan Shao also supported Feng Ji's assessment, believing that as long as he didn't act recklessly, he could overwhelm Liu Bei with their numerical advantage.

After the third advance, Liu Bei chose to retreat again, but this time he retreated directly to the outskirts of Chaoge City and set up camp.

Because Liu Bei still had over ten thousand troops in Chaoge City, Chunyu Qiong, Guo Tu, and Feng Ji's armies did not continue their advance.

After carefully scouting the location where Liu Bei would set up camp, the three armies advancing rapidly on the left, front, and right were arranged in an arc to increase their overwhelming numbers and power.

While deploying the deer antlers, they also invited Yuan Shao to join the vanguard to decide whether to continue the siege or take back Dangyin while things were looking good.

In Liu Bei's large camp.

Even though Zhang Fei repeatedly requested to fight, Liu Bei did not allow Zhang Fei to go into battle, but only ordered the camps to be strictly guarded.

During the stalemate, someone reported that Tian Yu, an official under Xianyu Fu, requested an audience.

Tian Yu came around Luchang Mountain, thinking that Yuan Shao would hold Dangyin City, but unexpectedly Yuan Shao had advanced all the way to the outskirts of Chaoge City.

Upon seeing Liu Bei, Tian Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If the war had started prematurely, this trip would have been in vain.

"You say that Xianyu Fu and others are willing to surrender along with Liu He. Is there any written documentation?"

Liu Bei narrowed his eyes slightly, not lessening his wariness simply because the young man before him was named Tian Yu with the courtesy name Guorang.

The world situation has changed long ago, and the Tian Yu before us is not the same Tian Yu who sought refuge under Liu Bei's command; he may also be here to carry out a counter-espionage plot.

The surrender to Liu Bei was a private affair between Tian Yu, Xianyu Fu, and others in Shangyu, and Liu He was unaware of it, so there was naturally no written record.

Moreover, if documents are prepared, they might be discovered by Yuan Shao's henchmen. In that case, the plan would be compromised and they would be killed. Not only would Tian Yu and others be in danger of losing their lives, but the grand plan would also be ruined.

Upon hearing Tian Yu's explanation, Zhang Fei couldn't help but sneer: "Without any documents, and coming empty-handed, you expect my elder brother to believe you? What makes you think you can?"

If it weren't for Tian Yu's polite demeanor, Zhang Fei would have drawn his sword and killed this man who dared to claim surrender but brought no written agreement or token of surrender.

"Third brother, you mustn't be rude."

Liu Bei gently stopped Zhang Fei and carefully examined the young man before him.

a long time.

Liu Bei chuckled and immediately gave Tian Yu a task: "Without documents or tokens, it is indeed difficult for me to appoint you. How about another way? Xianyu Fu and the others are currently outside Chaoge City. You can go find Xianyu Fu and the others and bring Feng Ji's head here. Naturally, there will be no need for documents or tokens."

Unless Yuan Shao also resorted to the trick of offering his son's head, Feng Ji's head was enough to prove Xianyu Fu and others' determination to surrender.

If Yuan Shao had truly used Feng Ji's head as bait, even if Liu Bei had lost, he would have had to praise Yuan Shao for his "great courage"!
However, Liu Bei's request made Tian Yu hesitate.

It wasn't that Tian Yu was afraid to kill Feng Ji, but rather that he worried that killing Feng Ji would enrage Yuan Shao, preventing Tian Yu and his men from returning to Ye City to surrender with Liu He.

Tian Yu and his group planned to return to Ye City with Xianyu Fu and others as inside agents, as long as Liu Bei agreed.

When Liu Bei attacks Ye City, they can coordinate with Liu He to surrender, instead of killing Feng Ji now as a pledge of allegiance.

Gritting his teeth, Tian Yu truthfully told him the plan, saying, "Although we are willing to surrender, we do not want Liu Gong's son to be harmed by Yuan Shao. We beg Your Majesty's understanding to allow us to surrender together with Liu Gong's son after we return to Ye City."

Seeing that Tian Yu didn't know what was good for him, Zhang Fei's temper flared up again: "You scoundrel, you have nothing and you want my brother to grant your request? My brother told you to send Feng Ji's head, so you can only send Feng Ji's head. Don't try to take shortcuts."

This time, Liu Bei did not stop Zhang Fei. His gaze toward Tian Yu was sharp and cold: "Whether you assassinate Feng Ji or not, it will not affect my defeat of Yuan Shao. Why should I agree to your conditions? I have given you the opportunity; how to choose is up to you."

Tian Yu fell silent.

Liu Bei was able to lure Yuan Shao's army out of the city, so he must have had a way to defeat Yuan Shao. He wouldn't have given up on his strategy just because he didn't agree to Tian Yu's conditions.

Killing Feng Ji is at best adding insult to injury.

Not killing Feng Ji would not affect Liu Bei's overall plan.

After a moment's thought, Tian Yu gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please give me three days."

"One day!" Liu Bei emphasized, "I will not wait three days for a trivial agreement. If it weren't for the fact that we are both from Youzhou, I would not give it even one day."

Liu Bei's unquestionable words once again sent a chill down Tian Yu's spine.

Tian Yu knew that they were not in a position to negotiate terms now!

Either agree to Liu Bei's offer of Feng Ji's head, or be killed by Liu Bei like Feng Ji.

"Then let's do it for one day!" Tian Yu said without further hesitation, cupping his hands in greeting as he left.

Zhang Fei's eyes were filled with suspicion: "Brother, do you really believe this guy named Tian Yu?"

"Anyway, I'm just idling around." Liu Bei chuckled. "Right now, Yuan Shao is the one who's attacking while I'm the one who's on the defensive. It's Yuan Shao who's anxious, not me. Whether it's one day or three days, or whether Xianyu Fu and the others are afraid of Yuan Shao and dare not assassinate Feng Ji, it won't affect my plans. I just need to sit here and wait for Yuan Shao to show a weakness."

Liu Bei didn't care whether Tian Yu and the others could kill Feng Ji.

The first step was to lure Yuan Shao out of the city; the second step was to wait for Yuan Shao to reveal a weakness.

To avoid being defeated piecemeal by Liu Bei, Yuan Shao's camp deployment this time was quite sophisticated, and for a time, even Liu Bei could not forcibly break through it.

However, wars are not something that can be ended in a day or two. It's a contest of who is more composed, who can lead the other by the nose, and who can better control the overall situation.

Although Liu Bei could not forcefully break through Yuan Shao's camp, Yuan Shao could not break through Liu Bei's camp either. Chaoge City and Liu Bei's camp were in a pincer movement.

Xianyu Fuying.

Seeing Tian Yu sneak in, Xianyu Fu, who had been anxious for several days, finally smiled and asked, "Has Guo Rang seen Liu Bei?"

Tian Yu's expression was serious: "I have seen him, but..." Upon hearing Tian Yu state Liu Bei's requirements, Xianyu Fu's expression also changed drastically.

At this moment, assassinating Feng Ji completely deviates from the original intention of surrendering along with Liu He.

"Is there a time limit?" Xianyu Fu lowered his head and considered, wanting to delay, perhaps until after returning to Ye City before assassinating Feng Ji.

“We only have one day to consider this!” Tian Yu emphasized.

Xianyu Fu couldn't help but feel a surge of anger: "Does Liu Bei not care at all if we offer to surrender and become his inside agents? If we were in Ye City to persuade His Majesty to surrender, Liu Bei could easily seize Ye City!"

True.

From Xianyu Fu's perspective, persuading Liu He to surrender the city would allow Liu Bei to destroy the pseudo-dynasty in Ye City.

However, Liu Bei himself never paid attention to the pseudo-court in Ye City. What Liu Bei cared about was how to wipe out all the powerful families and clans in Hebei.

Just as Zheng Bo defeated Duan at Yan, Liu Bei needed to keep this pseudo-dynasty.

If Liu Bei directly destroyed the pseudo-dynasty, he would still need to find an opportunity to incite the powerful families and clans of Hebei to collude with the Wuhuan people in rebellion before he would have a sufficient reason to destroy it.

Even if they are wiped out, they can only wipe out a group of the bold.

As for those who are good at hiding their true intentions, Liu Bei couldn't use mind-reading techniques to expose them.

Liu Bei's northern expedition was not aimed at destroying the puppet regime, but rather at suppressing and weakening it to prevent the puppet regime's army from launching a southern expedition in the event of a year of natural disasters.

If Liu Bei truly wanted to destroy the false dynasty, he could have captured Liu Yu alive during the last surprise attack on Ye City. Why wait until today?

Tian Yu sighed, "Although I'm reluctant to believe it, Liu Bei really doesn't care whether we're inside agents or not. He's only doing this because we're both from Youzhou. Besides, Liu Bei has always been a skilled warrior. He must have a winning strategy to lure the General's army out of Dangyin!"

Xianyu Fu frowned: "I want to know Guo Rang's intentions. Does he want to kill Feng Ji and surrender, or wait until he reaches Ye City to become an inside agent?"

After a moment of contemplation, Tian Yu said, "To be honest, I also find it difficult to make a decision."

Xianyu Fu then consulted with Qi Zhou, Xianyu Yin, and Tian Chou. Their ideas were largely the same: not taking Liu He along and choosing to assassinate Feng Ji directly would not align with their initial objective.

However, they were all unwilling to fight against Liu Bei.

After all, having fought with Liu Bei, there would be no chance to surrender to him in the future.

“I have an idea,” Tian Chou suddenly said. “Although Liu Bei has a winning strategy, he also needs to wait for an opportunity to launch an attack. Why don’t we suggest to Feng Ji that we pretend to surrender? If Feng Ji adopts this suggestion, he will surely recommend it to the General.”

"At that time, we will pretend to be defeated and let Feng Ji die in the chaos of battle. If we do that, we can not only present Feng Ji's head, but also return to Ye City in the process."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

He assassinated Feng Ji directly, making it impossible for him to return to Ye City.

But since Feng Ji died in the chaos of battle, it had nothing to do with them.

During the discussion, Feng Ji sent word to the main tent for the meeting.

As the military supervisor, Feng Ji also felt considerable pressure.

Now that the main army has left the city, Liu Bei is holding firm and refusing to come out. Yuan Shao just cursed Liu Bei for being cowardly in the front tent and asked his civil and military officials to think of a good plan to lure Liu Bei into battle.

But if Liu Bei refuses to fight, how can we provoke him into a battle?

Feng Ji advised Yuan Shao to stop while he was ahead and return to Dangyin City to wait for Liu Bei to retreat. Yuan Shao then gave Feng Ji a severe scolding.

Should we quit while we're ahead?

Can spilled water be taken back?
If they retreat back to the city, and Liu Bei advances again, should they defend or attack?
In fact, that was exactly what Liu Bei thought.

In contrast, Yuan Shao's army of 100,000 was already a huge strain to mobilize even once, and if he had to send them back, they might not be able to return to the city safely.

After returning, Liu Bei began giving speeches again, essentially returning to the starting point before the expedition.

Liu Bei firmly held the initiative on the battlefield. Yuan Shao's willingness to attack or defend depended on Liu Bei's mood.

To break the deadlock, Yuan Shao had to come up with an unexpected plan!
"Greetings, Supervisor!"

Xianyu Fu, Xianyu Yin, Qi Zhou, and Tian Chou all went to Feng Ji to inquire about etiquette.

Feng Ji didn't mince words and asked directly, "Currently, Liu Bei is holding his ground and not coming out. Does anyone have a good plan to lure Liu Bei out?"

The four were secretly delighted.

Whatever you think comes true!
However, the four did not immediately offer any suggestions, but instead pretended to be deep in thought.

Offering advice too early might provoke Feng Ji's interest.

a long time.

Tian Chou cautiously suggested, "To lure Liu Bei into sending troops, we need to make him believe that victory is assured. Previously, Liu Bei distributed proclamations in various counties, claiming that the late emperor was killed by the Grand General. Why not use this as a pretext to send someone to feign surrender? If Liu Bei believes it, he might send troops to respond."

Feng Ji's eyes instantly sharpened as he stared intently at Tian Chou and asked, "Liu Bei has always been wise; how could he easily believe a feigned surrender?"

Tian Chou pondered for a moment and said, "Among the prisoners Liu Bei released earlier, there must be Liu Bei's spies. The supervising officer can use the self-inflicted injury ruse!"

Feng Ji's sharp gaze then turned to Xianyu Fu: "If we use the self-inflicted injury ruse, then we'll have to make things difficult for General Xianyu. I wonder if General Xianyu is willing?"

“This—” Xianyu Fu feigned hesitation.

Feng Ji raised his voice: "General Xianyu, are you perhaps unwilling? Or perhaps, General Xianyu truly believed the slander against the Great General in Liu Bei's proclamation?"

Xianyu Fu feigned fear: "Supervisor, you misunderstand! It's not that I'm unwilling, but I'm afraid that the self-inflicted injury ruse won't fool Liu Bei. If that's the case, wouldn't all my suffering have been for nothing?"

"I know exactly how to proceed," Feng Ji said, softening his tone. "General Xianyu, I'm doing this for your own good. If you cooperate with the self-inflicted injury ruse, the General will no longer doubt you. If you refuse, your future is uncertain."

Hearing Feng Ji's words, which were a mix of kindness and severity, Xianyu Fu felt a surge of anger, but he suppressed it, pretending to grit his teeth and struggle. Finally, his eyes hardened and he said, "This humble general is willing to help the supervising officer carry out the self-inflicted injury scheme. I hope that the supervising officer will speak well of this humble general in front of the general in the future."

Seeing Xianyu Fu back down, Feng Ji laughed heartily: "General Xianyu, rest assured, if you help me achieve great success, how could I not reward you in the future? You all wait in the camp, I will go to the front to find the general."

Watching Feng Ji leave in a hurry, Xianyu Fu could no longer contain his anger: "Arrogant fellow, how dare you threaten me! Zitai, if you're going to use the self-inflicted injury scheme, you should at least inform me beforehand."

Tian Chou stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "It's not that I didn't want to inform you in advance, but I didn't expect Feng Ji to have such suspicions about me just now. I can only offer this self-inflicted injury ruse again. Even so, we must be wary that Feng Ji might use this self-inflicted injury ruse and feigned surrender as an opportunity to actually kill us."

"In the past, Han Fu and Qu Yi assisted the General in attacking Gongsun Zan, but they both died tragically in Yuyang City. It must have been Feng Ji who secretly used tricks. We must not be careless!"

Xianyu Fu sneered: "Perfect, we also want Feng Ji's life, let's see who can strike first."

(End of this chapter)