Within the Chinese army's tent, Yuan Fang had already received the good news before Zhang Lu that Zhang Wei's reinforcements were ambushed and the entire army was annihilated.
"The reinforcements have been destroyed and the retreat has been blocked. Zhang Lu is desperate and it's time to surrender." Yuan Fang said, showing the victory to the generals.
When the generals had no time to get excited, Yi Cong outside the tent reported urgently, claiming that Zhang Lu had sent an envoy to surrender unconditionally.
Zhang Lu, I want to surrender!
In the big tent, all the civil and military ministers were in great spirits. They all looked at Yuan Fang with joy and admired Yuan Fang's ability to recognize people.
Although Yuan Fang had expected it, he was secretly relieved when he heard the news.
Zhang Lu surrendered, Nanzheng was defended, and Zhang Wei at Yangping Pass must surrender. This meant that the entire Hanzhong would soon fall into his hands.
At this time, the situation in Chengdu is unknown. If Cao Cao has not captured Chengdu, the situation in Shu will be very favorable to Yuan Fang. After capturing Hanzhong, he can immediately go south to compete with Cao Cao for Xichuan.
At that moment, Yuan Fang sent an envoy to his account, comforted him, rewarded him generously, and promised to make Zhang Lu a Marquis of Shunyi and lead the governor of Qingzhou from afar. He would also be treated favorably by the Zhang family.
The envoy thanked him and left. In the afternoon of the same day, the city gate of Nanzheng was opened wide. Zhang Lu held the seal in his hand and led the Han and Chinese civil and military officials out of the city to surrender.
Yuan Fang led a large group of cavalry to the south gate of Nanzheng. He opened his telescope to scan the situation in the enemy city. He soon realized that Zhang Lu was sincerely surrendering and did not set up an ambush secretly or play any tricks.
Yuan Fang then raised his whip and rode his horse, heading straight for the south gate.
"The general of the town, Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanzhong, is willing to surrender to His Highness the King of Qi. All the seals are here. Please accept them."
Zhang Lufu knelt on the ground, his voice trembling and his expression gloomy.
Yuan Fang dismounted from his horse, stepped forward to help Zhang Lu up, and said with a slight smile: "Gongqi has governed Hanzhong for more than 20 years. He has ensured the safety of the country and the people, and is a good example of an official. I can win Gongqi's obedience. It¡¯s a great blessing.¡±
Zhang Lu, who was originally feeling sad and uneasy, saw Yuan Fang being so friendly and praising him so much. I couldn't help being surprised. I felt flattered.
Yuan Fang is not acting. He really admires Zhang Lu for winning people's hearts.
The world is in chaos, and the princes have risen together. The killing was so intense that the sky was dark and the earth was dark, and the people in all directions were tortured.
However, Zhang Lu used the barren land of Hanzhong and only tens of thousands of soldiers to maintain peace, attracting refugees from all over the world to flee to Hanzhong to avoid disaster. In the past few decades, he seemed to have built Hanzhong into a paradise.
Zhang Lu allowed the people to have clothes to wear, food to eat, and to avoid the disaster of war. This is true benevolence and righteousness.
This kind of true benevolence and righteousness is tens of thousands of times better than Liu Bei's false benevolence and righteousness that actually harms the people.
If Yuan Fang was not eager to compete with Cao Cao for Yizhou, unify the world, and end this troubled times, he would have been more patient and persuaded Zhang Lu to surrender in a peaceful way, instead of forcing Zhang Lu to surrender with the force of his troops like today. drop.
"Let's go into the city and have a few drinks." Yuan Fang was in a happy mood, so he merged with Zhang Lu into Nanzheng with great courtesy.
At this time, all the people in Nanzheng were kneeling on both sides of the street, fearfully welcoming the arrival of Yuan Fang, the new master.
When they saw that Yuan Fang, the heroic master, actually entered side by side with Zhang Lu, the old master, and were treated with such courtesy, they were all relieved and relieved.
The army entered the city, and Yuan Fangjing entered the military mansion.
The first thing Yuan Fang did was to ask Zhang Luxiu to write a letter to Zhang Wei at Yangping Pass, Yang Bai at Ziwu Valley, and Yang Ren at Luo Valley, ordering his three generals to give up resistance and surrender to the Qi forces on the spot.
The second thing was that Yuan Fang, in his capacity as the King of Qi, sent people with letters bearing Zhang Lu's seal to all counties and checkpoints in Hanzhong to announce the news that Zhang Lu had surrendered, so that the county officials would not have to do anything. Panic, everyone keeps to their duties.
The messengers were everywhere, expecting that the remnants of the enemy would no longer dare to resist when they saw that the situation was over, and the entire Hanzhong would surrender in only a few days.
Yuan Fang was in high spirits and was in a good mood, so he held a banquet in the military mansion. On the one hand, it was to celebrate his achievements, and on the other hand, it was to reward and appease Zhang Lu for his submission.
A good wine was enjoyed by all the generals, and it was not until the lanterns were hung that the banquet ended.
The half-drunk Zhang Lu was about to retire when he suddenly thought of something extremely important and his mind immediately became clear again.
Zhang Lu moved closer, lowered his voice, and said with cupped hands: "Your Majesty, I have a secret matter that I want to report to your Majesty."
"It doesn't matter if you say it, Gongqi." Yuan Fang said casually while drinking wine.
Zhang Lu frowned and said sternly: "This matter is confidential and should not be known to anyone. Please tell me."Report separately above. "
It¡¯s a matter of confidentiality. Report it separately?
Yuan Fang raised his head and saw that Zhang Lu looked solemn and worried, as if he had something extremely important and confidential.
Yuan Fang was suspicious, so he responded to Zhang Lu's request and ordered all his attendants to retreat.
There was no one around, Yuan Fang waved his hands and said: "If Gong Qi has any secrets, you can tell them now."
"That's it." Zhang Lu cleared his throat and whispered: "Not long ago, before the king sent troops to Hanzhong, my Taoist brother Yu Ji suddenly came to Nanzheng to visit me"
"Yu Ji, are you talking about the Yu Ji who preached in Jiangdong?" Yuan Fang interrupted Zhang Lu.
"It's this person."
Yuan Fang¡¯s eagle eyes immediately lit up with a strange color.
He is familiar with history and naturally knows that there is indeed a person like Yu Ji in the world. He just remembers that this person preached in Jiangdong and was very popular. In history, Sun Ce was afraid of him and had him executed.
But now, Yuan Fang learned that this Yu Ji was not dead and actually ran from Jiangdong, thousands of miles away, to Hanzhong in the valley.
¡°Moreover, this Yu Ji is actually Zhang Lu¡¯s senior brother!
This is something that Yuan Fang has never heard of.
"I didn't expect that you and Yu Ji are from the same sect. Then what is your senior brother doing all the way to Hanzhong when he is not preaching in Jiangdong?" Yuan Fangshi became more and more interested.
"Yu Ji preached in Jiangdong and was very popular, but Sun Ce was jealous of him. In order to avoid disaster, he left Jiangdong a few years ago"
Hearing this, Yuan Fang suddenly remembered that Yu Ji in history would rather risk being killed than leave Jiangdong until his death.
Now, Yu Ji seems to have suddenly enlightened and fled Jiangdong, avoiding death.
Yuan Fang guessed that this was probably because his appearance disrupted history, and thus indirectly affected Yu Ji's movements.
"When Yu Ji came to Hanzhong, I thought he was short of money and wanted me to help him with money and help him preach in the north, but who would have thought"
Zhang Lu paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "But who would have thought that Yu Ji didn't just want to preach. I followed Yu Ji and discovered something extremely unusual."
Zhang Lu's tone became more solemn, and Yuan Fang even saw traces of lingering fear in his expression.
"Just tell Gongqi what unusual thing it is," Yuan Fang urged.
Zhang Lu took a deep breath, seemed to collect his thoughts, and then spoke slowly.
Yuan Fang listened quietly to Zhang Lu's narration. His originally curious expression turned serious, and a strange color quietly flashed between Yingwu's brows.
After a long while, Zhang Lu finally finished speaking. He breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands and said, "I feel that this matter should not be taken lightly, so I decided to inform the king. I know that this matter sounds a bit ridiculous, but I swear to God. , I definitely didn¡¯t lie, please, Your Majesty, please believe me.¡±
"Whether you are lying, I will know soon."
Yuan Fang stared intently at Zhang Lu's eyes, and under the influence of his thoughts, his mind-reading pupils opened silently.
In an instant, Yuan Fang had quietly invaded Zhang Lu's thoughts.
A huge amount of memories and a huge amount of information poured into Yuan Fang's mind like a tidal wave bursting from a dam.
Yuan Fang searched for useful memories from Zhang Lu's memory. The first thing he determined was that although Zhang Lu was forced to surrender, his surrender was out of sincerity.
Immediately afterwards, Yuan Fang searched for Guan Ji's memory, and finally found what he wanted to see in the memory fragments wrapped in that terrifying atmosphere.
"Zhang Lu really didn't lie. Could it be that"
Yuan Fang's expression became even more suspicious.
After a moment, Yuan Fang closed his mind-reading pupils, and Yuan Fang instantly escaped from Zhang Lu's thoughts.
"Your Majesty, I really didn't lie. Please trust me, Your Majesty."
Seeing Yuan Fang's frown, Zhang Lu thought that Yuan Fang thought he was lying, his face was gloomy and angry, but he had no idea that Yuan Fang had silently penetrated his thoughts.
Yuan Fang took a breath, waved his hands and said, "Don't panic, Mr. Qi, I believe what you say."
Zhang Lu was relieved.
Yuan Fang pondered for a moment and then said: "Remember this matter and don't mention it to anyone again. I will handle it on my own, do you know?"
"I will remember the king's instructions and will never tell others about it." Zhang Lu said solemnly.
Yuan Fang nodded: "Okay, it's getting dark too."Go down and rest.
Zhang Lu then resigned.
After Zhang Lu retreated, Yuan Fang stood up and walked in the hall. After thinking for a long time, he ordered Zhao Yun to be summoned to meet him immediately.
Zhao Yun had just finished the banquet and returned to his camp. Hearing that Yuan Fang had summoned him, he quickly turned back.
"I wonder if Wang Chuangyun has returned, what important orders do you have?" Zhao Yun asked with his hands raised.
Yuan Fang summoned Zhao Yun to the front, then moved the left and right screens away again, and solemnly said: "You are a general that I trust. I have called you here late at night because I have something to tell you."
With that said, Yuan Fang told Zhao Yun what Zhang Lu had said.
Zhao Yun became more and more surprised as he listened, and his expression changed uncertainly, as if he couldn't believe what Yuan Fang said.
But he also knew that as the king of Qi, Yuan Fang would not make such a meaningless joke with him.
??Suppressing his surprise, Zhao Yun frowned and said: "I didn't expect that such a strange thing would happen. Then the king called Yun here, and I don't know what he wanted Yun to do."
Yuan Fang took a deep breath and said slowly: "I order you to return to the north overnight and investigate this matter secretly. If you have any clues, please report to me at any time." (To be continued)