Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2566 Internal Strife in Mount Tai, Defang Surrenders to Jin

During the Central Plains War, Li Guangyi surrendered to the Han. The Jin army and the Zhao army both understood the true situation, but it was just an unspoken understanding.

Ultimately, both sides achieved their goals in this incident.

Therefore, this time, when Li Guangyi went to Mount Tai, Zhao Defang, Tian Dan, Zhao Pu and others, even if they were not exactly the same as before, would not treat Li Guangyi as an enemy.

Zhao Defang still held considerable respect for his second uncle, Li Guangyi.

Furthermore, Zhao Defang is not very ambitious, and he is also a good person.

Li Guangyi's attempt to persuade Zhao Defang was essentially taking advantage of his nephew's reputation as a good person and morally blackmailing him.

After all, Zhao Defang represented not only himself, but also the many loyal ministers and generals who followed him, and the tens of thousands of brave and loyal soldiers who followed him.

Even if Li Guangyi's military capabilities were questionable, he was still quite capable in other areas. Since he dared to take the initiative to request permission to take on this task, he must have a certain level of confidence in this field.

Indeed, a person with certain moral standards is easily manipulated by Li Guangyi using such methods.

If he were only representing himself, Zhao Defang would not be afraid of death.

However, he couldn't bear to let so many people die with him.

He believed that his abilities were far inferior to those of his father, Zhao Kuangyin, and that when he was sent to Tian Dan, Tian Dan held absolute power.

After Zhao Kuangyin died, if Tian Dan had been willing, he could have easily taken his place.

At that time, Zhao Pu even suggested that Zhao Defang hold a trap.

The struggle for power has always been incredibly brutal.

However, Tian Dan did not replace him, nor did he even consider becoming a powerful minister. Instead, he returned military power to Zhao Defang.

He certainly remembered this kindness.

And then there's Zhao Pu. Although he suggested that Tian Dan host a trap, it was essentially for Tian Dan's benefit.

Therefore, Zhao Defang could not get over the thought of so many loyal ministers and generals dying with him.

However, the Jin army was his mortal enemy. His father, brothers, and countless clansmen all perished in the Central Plains War of that year.

He wouldn't be able to get over his conscience if he surrendered to his enemy.

It is precisely because of this that Zhao Defang has always been in a state of indecision.

Li Guangyi wasn't in a hurry. As long as Zhao Defang wavered, there would be room for negotiation. The real danger was that the other party wouldn't even bother to talk to him.

Therefore, he did not intend to achieve success overnight and waited for news from various battlefields. As Lian Po continued to advance in the north, Qinghan was in a precarious situation, and Zhao Defang's attitude became increasingly wavering.

In fact, Li Guangyi felt quite helpless.

His nephew was not only unsuitable to be a ruler in a chaotic era, but he was completely unsuitable for the profession of ruler.

Those who aspire to great achievements are, frankly speaking, people with the lowest moral standards in the world. A good person cannot be a good ruler.

However, it is precisely because of this that he has the potential to succeed in this field.

At the same time, Li Guangyi used the life and death of his subordinates to constantly undermine Zhao Defang. On the other hand, he also placed the heavy responsibility of passing on the Zhao clan's legacy on Zhao Defang's shoulders.

Zhao Kuangyin's lineage is now reduced to a single heir, Zhao Defang. If he dies, their bloodline will truly be extinguished. Although the Zhao family still has three branches—Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Ji, and Zhao Gui—both direct and collateral branches, they have been granted the imperial surname and are no longer Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Ji, and Zhao Gui, but rather Li Guangyi, Li Ji, and Li Gui.

Therefore, Zhao Defang truly carries the heavy responsibility of passing on the bloodline.

Li Guangyi knew his nephew too well; every word he spoke struck at his weaknesses, and with Zhang Yi's help, Zhao Defang's attitude constantly wavered.

Zhang Liang and Xue Rengui were worried that Guo Ziyi's failure would affect Li Guangyi's situation.

In fact, Li Guangyi had no worries at all.

Guo Ziyi's defeat did not have a significant impact on him, though not entirely.

Guo Ziyi's defeat was indeed a crushing one.

But, so what?

In order to lure Guo Ziyi into a trap, Liu Bei had previously lost 20,000 soldiers.

The importance of these 20,000 troops to Qinghan today is far greater than the 60,000 troops lost by Guo Ziyi, and even more important than the Great Jin Dynasty.

Having already lost Qinghan north of the Yellow River, this victory can at most slightly delay their demise, but cannot change their fate.

Moreover, even if Guo Ziyi lost 60,000 troops, it was nothing to the Great Jin Dynasty; they could afford to lose them!
But what is the situation with Qinghan?

Can they afford to lose 20,000 troops?

Even if they manage to defeat Guo Ziyi on the southern front, Lian Po's northern front still awaits them!
Zhao Defang can be described as a good person, but he is definitely not a fool.

Even if Li Guangyi and Zhang Yi didn't analyze it for him, he could see it himself.

Therefore, Li Guangyi's mission was destined to succeed.

However, although Zhao Defang made the decision to surrender to Jin, not all of his subordinates were willing to do so.

Tian Dan and Zhao Pu were unwilling, but they were loyal to Zhao Defang. They were unwilling, but Zhao Defang had already made his decision, so they could only follow him.

Those associated with black robes and black lotuses are considered supporters.

During the Central Plains War, they simply didn't have the opportunity to surrender to Jin.

Now that their master has voluntarily surrendered, they are spared the infamy.

So delicious...

People like Liang Fang and Xia Geng had formed a blood feud during the Central Plains War, whether it was the Jin army's blood feud against them or their blood feud against the Jin army.

The former feared retribution later, while the latter was a deep-seated hatred that had to be avenged.

After all, not everyone has such a heavy psychological burden as Zhao Defang.

This category consists of those who resolutely resisted Zhao Defang's surrender to Jin.

Over the years, Liu Bei also divided and won over a group of people. Most importantly, a small portion of these people actually wanted to serve Liu Bei to the death, which shows how charismatic Liu Bei was.

As Zhao Defang's surrender to the Jin dynasty became increasingly apparent, this group of people finally prepared to follow Ban Dingyuan's example...