Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Guanghan Prefecture, Mianzhu County, and the Prefectural Governor's Office.

The council chamber was lit, and the candlelight flickered so brightly it made one's eyes dizzy.

Liu Yan sat in the main seat, having not slept a wink all night. His eye sockets were sunken like two black holes, his face was as sallow as paper, and even his beard was sticking up in a messy manner.

The only thing missing from his eyes was the panic from yesterday; instead, there was a sense of resignation, as if he had given up entirely.

On the table was Liu Ce's letter, and next to it was the map of Yizhou that he had been drawing all night.

He circled Guanghan County again and again, and then crossed out the rest of his territory...

Standing below, Dong Fu, Zhao Wei, Liu Mao, Wu Yi, and Wu Ban hadn't slept much all night, and each of them had dark circles under their eyes, their hearts pounding with anxiety.

They all knew that the reason they were called here today was to make a life-or-death decision: whether to fight to the death or to surrender quickly and save their families' lives.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the only sound was the crackling of the candlelight, which made it hard to breathe.

Liu Yan spoke first.

He sighed heavily, and his first words immediately captivated everyone:

"Don't stand, sit down. I haven't slept a wink all night, going over the accounts eight hundred times. I called you all here today to say one thing: we will submit to His Highness Prince Yan."

Upon hearing this, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Two seconds later, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Several people's shoulders slumped visibly, and the anxiety that had been hanging over them for days finally subsided.

Zhao Wei was the first to jump out and agree.

He didn't want to fight from the beginning, fearing that if war broke out, all his farmland and houses would be destroyed.

Upon hearing Liu Yan's decision to submit, he immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands, and exclaimed:

"My lord is wise! This is the safest approach! We are all subjects of the Han Dynasty, and His Highness the Prince of Yan is a member of the Han imperial family and a wise ruler who has pacified the realm. Submitting to His Highness not only aligns with the general trend but also protects the people of Yizhou from the ravages of war and safeguards the lives and wealth of our entire clan. It is entirely beneficial!"

Dong Fu stroked his gray beard, nodded repeatedly, and said with a relieved expression:

"My lord has finally come to his senses! This destiny rests with His Highness the Prince of Yan, not in this corner of Shu. Submitting to His Highness will not only preserve your reputation as a member of the Han imperial family, but also allow you to enjoy wealth and honor in peace. It's far better than fighting and ending up disgraced!"

The Wu brothers, Yi and Ban, exchanged a glance, then stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"We will obey our lord! We pledge allegiance to His Highness Prince Yan, and have no other intentions!"

Only the third son, Liu Mao, had his face flushed red. He took a step forward, his neck stiff, wanting to argue a few more words:

"Father! Are we just going to surrender like this?! The land of Shu is fertile and vast, and we still have tens of thousands of troops. Even if we can't hold Guanghan Commandery, Shu Commandery, Ba Commandery, the Shu Commandery's dependent kingdom, and the Guanghan Commandery's dependent kingdom, we can still flee south. Why do we have to surrender?!"

"Run? Where to run?"

Liu Yan glanced at him sideways and retorted irritably.

He slammed his hand on the table and poured out all the accounts he had compiled overnight:

"Those barbarian tribes in the four southern commanderies, we've tried to control them for so many years and still can't manage them. If you run over there, you'll be lucky if they don't tie you up and hand you over to Liu Ce!"

He grew increasingly agitated as he spoke: "Tens of thousands of troops? If a real war breaks out, less than ten thousand will truly fight alongside us to the death!"

He counted them off one by one on his fingers:

"I didn't sleep a wink all night, and after thinking it over and over, I came up with only three paths."

First, let's fight. But what will we use to fight? Liu Ce has hundreds of thousands of elite troops, and his fierce generals could stretch from Luoyang to Hanzhong.

Our meager resources aren't even enough to fill their teeth. To fight would be suicide; our entire family would be buried with us.

The second point is defense. But what can we use to defend it? We've already lost Hanzhong, and the natural barrier of the Shu Road is now someone else's.

Their army is coming down the Jialing River, and they'll be at the doorstep of Guanghan County in just a few days!

We control Guanghan Commandery, Shu Commandery, Ba Commandery, Shu Commandery's Dependent State, and Guanghan Dependent State. The remaining commanderies and counties either obey orders but not proclamations, or are completely beyond our control.

Before they even attack, our backyard is already on fire.

Hold out? You'd be lucky to hold out for three months!

The third condition is demotion. Liu Ce's terms are clear: retain your titles, reward you with gold and brocade, and you brothers can even serve as officials in the court.

Like Liu Yu of Jingzhou, he lived a peaceful and comfortable life, enjoying wealth and honor.

Aside from not being able to be a local tyrant in Sichuan, he lacks nothing.

He paused, looked at Liu Mao, and added a hurtful remark:

"My biggest dream in this life has always been to be a local tyrant. But now the situation is beyond my control, and I have no choice but to accept my fate! I, this old man, don't want to end up like Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, locked up in that 'Merit Forest' or something, shoveling manure every day... Where would I put my face then?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mao also became dejected.

He lowered his head, retreated dejectedly, and never shouted for war again.

He knew in his heart that what his father said was all true.

There was no other way out but to surrender.

Seeing that no one objected, Liu Yan slammed his hand on the table, definitively setting the tone:

"Alright! It's settled then!"

He began assigning tasks:

"Mr. Dong, go and write the surrender document now. The wording must be respectful, and we must express our sincerity in surrendering. We shall say that the counties of Guanghan, Shu, Ba, Shu Commandery and Guanghan Commandery in Yizhou, including their household registrations, treasuries, troops and provisions, have all surrendered to Your Highness the Prince of Yan, and we have no other intentions! As for the remaining counties, we will have to rely on Your Highness the Prince of Yan to send troops to recover them."

"Wu Yi, Wu Ban, go and reorganize the troops. Withdraw the city defenses from all counties in Guanghan Prefecture and await His Highness Prince Yan's arrival for the handover. Don't engage in any underhanded tactics that could cause unnecessary trouble!"

"Yes, sir! We obey!"

Everyone bowed and accepted the order, their faces showing relief. They were finally relieved that they no longer had to live in constant fear, wondering when Liu Ce's army would attack.

Everyone accepted the order and went about their tasks.

Liu Yan was the only one left in the council chamber.

He strolled outside and looked at the street scene of Mianzhu County.

The winter sun hangs lazily, not hot, but warm.

He let out a long sigh, a mixture of relief and resentment.

In the end, it all boiled down to a self-deprecating remark:

"Sigh, after struggling for most of my life, my dream of becoming a local tyrant has been shattered. But it's all for the best; at least my family's lives have been saved, and we can live out our old age in peace. It was worth it."

That afternoon, the letter of surrender, bearing the seal of the Governor of Yizhou, was sent to Luoyang by fast horse.

...

A week later.

In the study of the Prince of Yan's residence in Luoyang.

The timetable has been lowered.

Liu Ce sat in the council hall, read the surrender document, and couldn't help but laugh.

He handed the surrender document to Guo Jia beside him and said, "Fengxiao, take a look. Liu Yan has finally come to his senses."

Guo Jia took it, glanced at it, and smiled, saying:

"This surrender document is written very respectfully. It seems Liu Yan has figured things out and knows he can't win, so he might as well surrender quickly."

Xi Zhicai said slowly, "With Liu Yan's surrender, we've taken half of Yizhou. However, we still need to send troops to take over the counties outside of Guanghan, Shu, Ba, Shu Commandery, and Guanghan Commandery. Especially the four commanderies in Nanzhong, those barbarian tribes need to be dealt with properly."