Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1089: Seizing Hanzhong
In the hall, Meng Da paced back and forth with a frown on his face, while Zhang Song sat aside and drank by himself.

After a while, Meng Da suddenly turned around. At this time, he no longer looked like the high-spirited general. Instead, he looked very haggard, with red and swollen eyes, pale lips, and he looked listless.

"I still have one thing I don't understand, could you enlighten me, sir?"

Zhang Song seemed to be in a good mood: "You can talk about it."

Meng Da swallowed his saliva and said, "Although Sichuan is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Liu He has unified the north and is now at the peak of his power. It is only a matter of time before he annexes Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Jiaozhou. Although you hold a high position in Yizhou, it is reasonable for you to abandon the dark and join the light for the long-term benefit of your family. It's just..."

He looked up and looked directly at Zhang Song: "How could you have guessed that the person who would stay in the city tonight would be me, Meng Da? You must know that if it was Zhang Ren, Yan Yan and other Yizhou generals, they would never surrender given their character. However, judging from your words and actions, it is clear that you have been prepared for this. I am extremely confused about this matter, and I hope you can explain it to me."

When Zhang Song heard this question, his expression suddenly became very proud. He held his head high and almost looked at Meng Da with his nose up.

"What's the difficulty in this matter? Zhang Ren thought that his plan to ambush Zhang Liao was successful, so he could take advantage of the victory to pursue and capture Wudu. When he achieved great success, he would definitely take all his trusted generals with him. However, you, General Meng, are the only one in the army, and you have always been at odds with them. If he doesn't keep you to guard the city, who else can he keep?"

Meng Da's face suddenly became enlightened, and then his expression changed. "Sir, do you think I will surrender? If I capture you, the traitor, and hand you over to your majesty, I will definitely be given an important position. Isn't that better?"

Zhang Song, however, did not take his threat seriously at all.

"Haha, if the general thinks that he can still escape from Hanzhong after doing this, then he can give it a try."

He stretched out his hand, pointed to the door, and made a "go ahead" gesture to Meng Da.

When Meng Da saw this, he suddenly became suspicious.

At this moment, a soldier came running over in a panic.

"General, something is wrong... Outside the city... Suddenly a large group of enemy troops appeared outside the city..."

Meng Da's pupils instantly dilated, and he walked over quickly: "Zhang Liao has really come back to fight?"

The soldier shook his head repeatedly: "It's not Zhang Liao... it's the infantry, the infantry... they have dozens of stone-breaking heavy crossbows, and they are deployed outside the city gate, but they are not attacking the city, but... they are asking you, the general, to come out of the city to meet them..."

Meng Da's heart almost jumped out of his chest. He turned around to look at Zhang Song and saw that he was still drinking leisurely. He knew that all this was part of their plan.

"Okay, I know. Go tell them that I will be there soon."

"Here."

After the soldiers left, Meng Da immediately turned around and knelt in front of Zhang Song.

"I was blind and did not recognize the great man. Please forgive me, sir."

"Hahahaha..." Zhang Song was very proud. He stood up and walked in front of him.

"Hey, General, there is no need to be like this. In the future, you and I will be colleagues of the Han Dynasty. Why should we be so distant? Come on, follow me out of the city and welcome the Han army into the city."

Outside the city, Du Xian and Zhuge Liang stood on their horses, at the forefront of the army.

Different from Zhuge Liang's calmness, Du Xian, a veteran of the battlefield, was a little nervous at this moment.

He looked at the city gate anxiously, then turned to look at Zhuge Liang.

"Kong Ming, little kid, are you really sure that the enemy will surrender on their own initiative? Hanzhong is the gateway to Sichuan and Shu, and Nanzheng is the capital of Hanzhong. The city is high and deep, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If I guard this city, with 20,000 elite soldiers, I can defend it tightly, and even his 100,000 troops will not be able to do anything to me. Will the enemy really surrender such a strong city?"

"Haha." Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan, calm and confident.

"General, rest assured. I will definitely fight for you to get this first achievement in entering Sichuan."

Du Xian blushed, "Hey, what's the first merit? I have followed Your Majesty for more than ten years. Now I have an official position, a title, a family property, and a reputation. What else is there to fight for? But this matter is of great importance, so I dare not be careless." Zhuge Liang's eyes were shining with wisdom. He pointed to the city gate and said, "How about I make a bet with the general? When the enemy general leaves the city later, he will kneel down and surrender without a word, and give this great city to our army. As for the bet... I heard that the eldest son of the general's family loves to collect rare ancient books. If I win, I will go to your son's study and pick three ancient books at random. How about it?"

Du Xian was about to clap his thigh and agree, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

"Well... no, no, I'm a rough guy, I don't have as much wisdom as you scholars. Especially you, kid. Even military advisor Xun You said that you are very smart and amazing. I, Old Du, will not be fooled by this. I believe what you say."

"Hahaha... People say that General Du Xian is a rough but meticulous person, and it's true."

As the two were chatting, they suddenly heard a "creak" and the city gate slowly opened.

"Boom..."

The drawbridge over the moat was lowered, and two men rode over on horseback. They were Zhang Song and Meng Da.

Zhuge Liang bowed from a distance and said, "You two must be General Meng Da and Chief Clerk Zhang Song, right? I am Zhuge Liang, and this is our army's commander, General Du Xian, who has been waiting for you for a long time."

Zhang Song came forward and said with a smile, "I have heard of General Du and Mr. Zhuge's great names for a long time. I am just an insignificant person in Shu. I am really humbled to have you two personally welcome me."

Zhuge Liang said, "You are too modest. Four years ago, when Your Majesty first contacted you secretly, I told Xun Wenruo that Zhang Song was extremely talented, magnanimous, and had a photographic memory. He was loyal to the Han Dynasty and was truly a great man of the time. Fa Xiaozhi was also very intelligent and Mencius was both brave and resourceful. They were all unparalleled heroes. If the court could get a few of them to help, it would be better than ten or a hundred cities."

When the two heard this, they were so moved that they got off their horses, knelt on the ground, faced north, and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Your Majesty has shown such great kindness, how dare Zhang Song not do his best to repay you with his death?"

"I, Meng Da, have been wandering for half my life, and today I finally meet a wise master!"

Meng Da then took out a seal and said, "I have already killed the governor of Hanzhong. This is the governor's seal. I present it to Your Majesty."

Du Xian stepped forward, took the seal, and asked casually: "I heard that there is a Five Pecks of Rice Sect in Hanzhong, and the leader is named Zhang Lu. Before leaving, Your Majesty took special care of this person. I wonder where he is now?"

Zhang Song replied, "Zhang Lu was originally the governor of Hanzhong, and the Five Pecks of Rice Sect was growing stronger and stronger, with a tendency to break away from Yizhou's control. However, in recent years, the imperial court has pacified Liangzhou and is planning to march south. Zhang Lu was frightened and resigned from his post to go to Shangyong to recruit followers. I think he was ready to flee to Jingzhou at any time if things went wrong."

"Hehe, this old guy is quite clever."

Du Xian was very disdainful.

"In that case, we will enter the city first, find this person, and kill him. We must not let him go."

"General, rest assured. Song has a plan to get rid of this man. There is a man beside Zhang Lu who is quite favored. His name is Yang Song. This man is greedy and lustful by nature. We can send someone to give him some money and bribe him to tell Zhang Lu that your majesty has captured Hanzhong and is interested in exploring the way to immortality. After he comes to Hanzhong, you want to escort him to Luoyang. Zhang Lu is very ambitious and will definitely be excited about this matter. He will definitely have no doubts. When he arrives, we can kill him or cut him into pieces, isn't it up to us to decide?"

"The Chief Secretary's plan is indeed brilliant." Zhuge Liang said with a smile, "In that case, I will have to trouble the Chief Secretary to plan this matter."

"Haha, General and Mr. Kong Ming don't have to worry. In less than half a month, Song will definitely teach Zhang Lu to come and die. Well, the sky is about to dawn. You have traveled all night and it is very tiring. Please go into the city and rest. Tonight, Song will prepare a banquet to welcome you all."

"Thank you, Mr. General."

As a person of later generations, Liu He naturally knew the character of Zhang Lu. He had hundreds of thousands of followers in the Five Pecks of Rice Sect. Over time, he had political ambitions and wanted to dominate one side and even tried to interfere in state affairs with his doctrine. Liu He would naturally not tolerate such a person. Therefore, before Du Xian and Zhuge Liang hurried to Luoyang, he issued such an edict to them.

At this moment, Zhang Ren, who knew nothing about Hanzhong, was leading his army. After galloping all night, they finally got out of the mountain road. At the same time, the early morning sun finally shone on the earth.

"Xu..."

Zhang Liao shouted, and the five thousand purple-gold dragon riders stopped fleeing instantly, changed direction, and looked back at Zhang Ren's army, which had been left behind for more than ten miles and could only be vaguely seen as a dark shadow.

“Hehe…” Zhang Liao raised his lips, “You are the most famous general in Shu, but you are just like this. This day next year will be the anniversary of your death…”

(End of this chapter)