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

Xiao Fang has a plan.

Liu Bei was refreshed and asked hurriedly:
"What ingenious plan did the Prime Minister have to quickly capture Lueyang City?"

"The key to quickly defeating Lueyang lies in one person."

Xiao Fang took a sip of wine and slowly said a name:
"Yan Xing."

Yan Xing?

Liu Bei's eyes became confused.

Of course he knew Yan Xing.

He was from Xiliang, an old subordinate of Han Sui, and a fellow countryman of Jia Xu and Pang De, who were all from Liangzhou.

How is the rapid capture of Lueyang related to this Yan Xing?
"Could it be that the Prime Minister wants to persuade Yan Xing to surrender so that the Qin army can be disintegrated from within and Luoyang City can be captured without a fight?"

Naturally, Fa Zheng's reaction was the most acute. He guessed Xiao Fang's intention based on just two names.

"As expected of you, Fa Xiaozhi."

Xiao Fang nodded slightly and continued:

"According to what I know, of the 10,000 Qin troops in Lueyang, half are from Yizhou and the other half are from Liangzhou."

"The commander of the Liangzhou troops is none other than Yan Xing."

"This Yan Xing is from Xiliang. He is not a loyal minister of Cao Cao. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the Liangzhou soldiers under his command is higher than that of the Yizhou soldiers."

"So, as long as we can persuade Yan Xing to surrender, Lueyang will fall without a fight."

Discussions immediately arose inside the imperial tent.

"Now that my army has entered Longxi, everyone with a discerning eye knows that Cao Cao cannot hold it. There is no doubt that Longxi and even the entire Liangzhou will belong to the Han Dynasty."

"Besides, Jia Wenhe, Pang Lingming and other Liangzhou heroes surrendered to the Han Dynasty as an example. It is reasonable for Yan Xing, a Liangzhou native, to surrender to the Han Dynasty in order to find a way out for himself."

After agreeing, Fa Zheng changed the subject and looked at Ma Chao.

"However, Yan Xing and Cheng Gongying are both former subordinates of Han Sui. Han Sui was destroyed by Ma Gong back then, so they have a grudge against the Ma family."

"Before that, when Cao Cao plotted to murder Ma Gong, Meng Qi raised an army in Longxi and fought a bloody battle with Cao Cao at the Wei River. However, Yan Xing and other former Han Sui subordinates turned against him, causing Meng Qi to be defeated and retreat from Longxi."

"Meng Qi naturally has hatred towards Yan Xingcheng and Gong Ying."

"I'm afraid Yan Xing is afraid of Meng Qi and doesn't dare to follow the trend and surrender to Your Majesty."

As soon as these words came out, Ma Chao's eyes moved, and the old grudges were immediately brought up, and hatred suddenly ignited in his eyes.

Liu Bei's brows furrowed slightly, and he looked at Xiao Fang:

"Prime Minister, what Xiaozhi said makes sense. I'm afraid Yan Xing may not be willing to surrender."

Xiao Fang seemed to have been prepared, and said slowly:

"As far as I know, Cheng Gongying is Han Sui's military advisor and is deeply trusted by him. It is reasonable for him to harbor hatred towards Ma."

"However, although Yan Xing was a subordinate of Han Sui, he was suspected by Han Sui because of his great prestige in the army."

"I also heard that when Ma Gong and Han Sui were fighting, Wen He had used a strategy to sow discord for Ma Gong, causing Han Sui to suspect that Yan Xing wanted to secretly surrender to Ma Gong."

"So Han Sui forced Yan Xing to marry his daughter."

"When Hou Magong attacked and destroyed Han Sui, Yan Xing chose to watch coldly and do nothing."

"Wenhe, is what I said true?"

Xiao Fang turned his gaze to Jia Xu again.

Jia Xu stroked his white beard, nodded and said:
"The Prime Minister is truly insightful about the affairs of the world. He even knew clearly about my plan to sow discord between us."

"Yes, everything the Prime Minister said is true."

"Although Yan Xing is Han Sui's former subordinate and Han Sui's son-in-law, he has a grudge against Han Sui. He does not harbor any hatred towards Ma Gong and the Ma family just because Han Sui was killed by Ma Gong."

Xiao Fang smiled and continued to say to Ma Chao: "Speaking of the battle in Longxi, I heard that Cheng Gongying lied to you that you, Meng Qi, had succeeded in the rebellion and would kill all of Han Sui's former subordinates after occupying Longxi."

"So Yan Xing and the others were so afraid that they had no choice but to raise an army under Cheng Gongying's instigation to attack you from behind."

"After all, Yan Xing is just trying to protect himself."

"Meng Qi, you are a great hero. I don't think you will hate Yan Xing to the core because of this incident. Even if he surrenders to the Han Dynasty, we can't tolerate him, right?"

Liu Bei and Fa Zheng looked at each other.

Xiao Fang is trying to enlighten Ma Chao.

Only if you, Ma Chao, are broad-minded and forgive the past grudges against Yan Xing, can Yan Xing surrender with confidence.

But what impressed the emperor and his ministers was that Xiao Fang knew all the secrets of the battle in Longxi.

Even Cheng Gongying lied to Ma Chao that he wanted to kill all of Han Sui's former subordinates, inducing Yan Xing to protect himself and stab Ma Chao in the back. He knew all of this clearly.

After hearing what Xiao Fang said, Ma Chao felt as if he had been enlightened.

The hatred in my heart towards Yan Xing has now disappeared.

In fact, with the dignity of Prime Minister Xiao Fang, as long as he opened his mouth, unless it was revenge for the murder of his father, Ma Chao would naturally give him face and would not dare to make a fuss about it.

However, Xiao Fang did not use his status to pressure Ma Chao, but instead explained the situation to him, which gave him enough face.

Ma Chao smiled without hesitation:
"Prime Minister, you underestimate me, Ma Chao. Am I a person who doesn't understand the truth and has a narrow mind?"

"This Yan Xing was deceived by Cheng Gongying and he has no hatred towards my Ma family. Naturally, there is no need for me to be so picky with him."

"If your majesty nods, I can write a personal letter to persuade Yan Xing to surrender, so that he can put aside his concerns."

Xiao Fang smiled.

He was waiting for Ma Chao to say this, and immediately smiled and praised:
"Meng Qi has an extraordinary temperament and a broad mind. He is able to put the overall situation first. He is truly a true hero!"

Receiving Xiao Fang's personal praise, Ma Chao couldn't help but show a hint of pride on his face.

Liu Bei no longer had any worries and smiled happily:
"Okay, okay, since Mengqi is so magnanimous, I will use the Prime Minister's plan and have you write a letter to persuade Yan Xing to surrender!"

Ma Chao did not hesitate and wrote a letter of surrender on the spot.

So the next thing is how to deliver this letter of surrender to Lueyang City and into Yan Xing's hands.

If it were usual, he could send someone to sneak across the city into Lueyang to secretly meet Yan Xing.

But the problem now is that the walls of Lueyang are all covered with ice on all four sides, as smooth as a whetstone. How do you climb the city?

If he can't even climb up, how can he sneak into the city and deliver a letter to Yan Xing?

"I have a candidate. There is no need to send him into the city secretly. You can open the city gates and send a letter to Yan Xing."

While everyone was discussing, Xiao Fang suddenly said this.

Liu Bei and his ministers were all shocked, and they all looked at Xiao Fang with curiosity.

"Prime Minister, who are you referring to who was able to enter Lueyang openly?"

Liu Bei asked with curiosity in his eyes.

"This man's name is Yan Mao, and he is the son of Yan Xing."

"Yan Mao was originally held hostage in Chang'an. When Your Majesty captured Chang'an, he fell into the hands of our army."

"When I first looked through the list of prisoners, I learned that this man was the son of Yan Xing, so I ordered him to be treated with courtesy, thinking that he might be useful in the future."

"Now it seems that Yan Mao has been put to good use. We can use him to enter Lueyang in an open and aboveboard manner to persuade his father to surrender."

Xiao Fang gave the explanation calmly.

There was a surprise in the imperial tent.

Liu Bei suddenly realized and couldn't help but exclaimed:
"So the Prime Minister was so far-sighted that he had laid such a foreshadowing for the conquest of Longxi long before the fall of Chang'an?" (End of this chapter)