Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Pang De's hand trembled slightly, and a few drops of wine splashed out of the wine glass that was brought to his mouth.

"Wenhe, you——"

Pang De suddenly raised his head and looked at Jia Xu in surprise.

From Jia Xu's meaningful look, he suddenly guessed the real purpose of Jia Xu's visit today.

Jia Xu took a deep breath and said seriously:

"Ling Ming, now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore."

"This is a handwritten letter from the Emperor of Han to me. Please read it for yourself."

As he spoke, Jia Xu took out Liu Bei's handwritten letter from his arms and handed it to Pang De.

Pang De was stunned at first, then he picked up the letter and opened it impatiently to read it.

Pang De's eyes gradually widened and his hands began to tremble slightly.

"The Emperor of Han actually...actually surrendered to you?"

Pang De raised his head again and looked at Jia Xu in surprise.

Jia Xu nodded slightly and answered solemnly:
"I have accepted the Emperor's offer of surrender and am determined to submit to the Han Dynasty and help the Emperor to recapture Chang'an."

"I came here today to invite you, Lingming, to join me in the uprising and lead my Xiliang men to defect to the Han Dynasty!"

Facing a straightforward warrior like Pang De, Jia Xu did not beat around the bush and chose to speak frankly.

Pang De was so shocked that the letter in his hand fell to the ground. He pointed at Jia Xu, not knowing what to say.

"Ling Ming, the situation is now clear, the fall of Qin is inevitable!"

"Even if the Qin State survives, it can only retreat to a corner of Yizhou and live in misery."

"If the Qin State perishes, and you and I continue to serve Cao Cao, we will surely die under the blade of the Han Emperor and be buried with Cao Qin!"

"If Qin retreats to Yizhou, Cao Cao will surely rely on the Shu people headed by Zhang Song. With Zhang Song's false accusations against you and Cao Cao's suspicion of you, do you, Pang Lingming, still have a chance to survive?"

"Not only you, but also the people of Xiliang, I'm afraid that because Xiliang belongs to the Han, we will be suspected by Cao Cao and excluded by Zhang Song and other Shu people. All of us will have a bleak future."

"Lingming, for our sake, and for the sake of our Xiliang men, follow me back to Han!"

Jia Xu appealed to his emotions and reason, and painstakingly analyzed the pros and cons to him.

The initial surprise on Pang De's face gradually faded, and he fell silent for a long time.

Jia Xu knew Pang De best. If Pang De had no intention of surrendering to the Han Dynasty, Pang De would surely be furious and scold him on the spot as soon as Jia Xu uttered these words of rebellion.

They would even arrest him and send him directly to Cao Cao to report him for secretly communicating with Liu Bei.

Therefore, Jia Xu's trip to Pang Mansion was actually a life-and-death risk.

Fortunately, he made the right bet.

Pound did not fly into a rage or become furious. Instead, he fell into silence.

Obviously, Pound was persuaded by him, his will was shaken, and he was making a final ideological struggle.

"Lingming, I know you are a man who values ​​righteousness, and I cannot bear to let Cao Cao down for his kindness to you."

"But this so-called kindness has disappeared since he believed Zhang Song's slander and became suspicious of you at the Wei River."

"Ling Ming, there is an old saying that goes, if the ruler is unjust, the ministers will defect to another country!"

"You, Pang De, are a loyal and righteous man, but you are not a foolish person. I believe you will make the wisest choice!"

Jia Xu said all the big and small truths that could be said, paved the way for Pang De, and waited for him to take advantage of the situation.

Pound stood up suddenly, clenching the empty wine glass in his hand tighter and tighter, the sound of metal cracking echoing in his ears.

"Crack!" The copper cup in his hand was finally crushed.

Pang De's eyes also turned into enlightenment, so he bowed deeply to Jia Xu:
"Thank you Mr. Wenxian for your words of enlightenment. I, Pang De, have made up my mind and am willing to follow you and abandon Qin and return to Han!"

Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief, a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, and a smile finally appeared on his solemn and old face.

"Okay, I was right. Ling Ming, you are not a foolish and loyal person!"

Jia Xu laughed loudly and pulled Pang De to sit down:

"Come on, let's discuss how to proceed..."

...

East of Chang'an City, Han Camp.

Inside the imperial tent, Liu Bei had already received Jia Xu's handwritten letter.

"Prime Minister, You Chang, you are right. Jia Wenhe is willing to be an insider and return to the Han Dynasty in order to protect himself!"

"Moreover, he gave me an unexpected surprise. He actually persuaded Pang De to surrender!"

Liu Bei was filled with joy and showed Jia Xu's handwritten letter to his ministers.

There was a great excitement in the imperial tent.

Xiao Fang looked at Jia Xu's handwriting, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

He naturally expected Jia Xu to be able to see the current situation, but he was somewhat surprised that Pang De was instigated to rebel.

After all, Pang De in history was captured alive by Guan Erge's seven armies, but he would rather die than surrender and died loyal to Cao Cao.

Now Pang De would actually be fooled by Jia Xu and surrender to the Han Dynasty?
"There are rumors that after Pang De lost the previous battle at Weishui, Zhang Song accused Pang De in front of Cao Cao, saying that Pang De was secretly in contact with the Han Dynasty and intended to lose to Ma Mengqi."

"Cao Cao actually believed Zhang Song's words and became suspicious of Pang De."

"Now it seems that this rumor is most likely true. Jia Xu took advantage of Pang De's injustice and his dissatisfaction with Cao Cao to instigate him to join the Han Dynasty."

Fa Zheng made this speculation based on previous intelligence.

After he mentioned this, Xiao Fang realized that the Battle of Weishui had such side effects.

If you calculate it this way, it makes sense why Pang De returned to Han.

A stubborn and reckless man like Pound would go through fire and water for anyone who did him a great favor.

Similarly, if anyone tries to make things difficult for him or looks down on him, he will feel resentful and will not hesitate to fight back.

Cao Cao had openly expressed his suspicion of him in front of so many people. Given Pang De's fiery and straightforward temper, it would be strange if he did not betray Cao Cao.

"I didn't expect that I failed to wake Pang Lingming up on the battlefield, but now he has been persuaded by Jia Wenhe's eloquence."

"No matter what, it's not too late for him to come to his senses and submit to the Han Dynasty."

Ma Chao sighed with emotion, his face and eyes full of relief.

Xiao Fang wrote the letter and looked at Liu Bei with a smile:
"Among the Qin troops currently stationed in Chang'an, there are at least 20,000 soldiers from Xiliang."

"With Pang De's influence, he can mobilize at least 7,000 Xiliang troops to follow him in the uprising against Qin."

"If we can also get help from anti-Qin scholars like Liu Ye, and put together a force of nearly 10,000 anti-Qin troops, it will be no problem."

"Your Majesty, Jia Xu's plan is feasible. It's better to wait until the next day and then dream about it. Your Majesty can immediately agree to Jia Xu's plan and act according to his suggestion. We will work together inside and outside in two days to recapture Chang'an!"

Liu Bei's heroic spirit and fighting spirit were instantly ignited by Xiao Fang's words.

After a loud laugh, Liu Bei stood up and slammed the table, and said happily:
"Just follow what the Prime Minister said and quickly reply to Jia Xu. Two days later, we will attack from both inside and outside and capture Chang'an!" (End of this chapter)