Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 61: All is fair in war, Lü Meng's series of strategies to win hearts and minds
Seeing that Dong Hui was wavering, Lu Meng took a step closer and said, "Mr. Dong, I don't have any deep hatred with Lord Guan. The reason I came to attack is that Lord Wu is angry that Lord Guan stole the rice from Xiangguan."

"So I have been trying to capture cities as bloodlessly as possible, just to avoid causing more casualties."

"To be disrespectful, the people who suffered the most in the dispute between the Marquis of Wu and the King of Hanzhong were actually the soldiers in the army. Just like a few years ago when I was ordered to seize three counties, many soldiers on both sides died, but the final result was that the Marquis of Wu and the King of Hanzhong drew a boundary and negotiated."

"So I think the result this time will also be that the Marquis of Wu and the King of Hanzhong will demarcate the border and negotiate."

"If you don't want to change your allegiance, I won't force you. I just hope that when you go back, you can tell Lord Guan and the other soldiers what you saw in Jiangling City. Peace is the most important thing, and you must not resort to war rashly."

"Otherwise, if the Marquis of Wu and the King of Hanzhong negotiate peace in the future, the soldiers of both sides will have died in vain."

Lu Meng's offensive words made Dong Hui even more shocked.

If Lü Meng enters the city and plunders and harms the families of the soldiers, the soldiers will hate Lü Meng and become a desperate army.

The attack on Jiangling was unstoppable.

And now.

Lu Meng enforced military discipline, and after entering the city he did not harm anyone and treated the families of the soldiers well.

If the soldiers knew that their families were safe, they would not be too sad, and how could they still have the will to fight to the death?
Even if Zhao Lei and other generals claimed that it was difficult to choose between loyalty and filial piety, it was impossible for them to completely ignore the families in the city.

In addition, Lu Meng's view that "the result will be that the Marquis of Wu and the King of Hanzhong will draw a boundary and negotiate peace", will further weaken the morale of the soldiers.

Dong Hui is a meticulous person.

At this moment, he had already guessed Lu Meng's sinister intentions.

If this was a less clever envoy, he might have fallen into Lu Meng's trap.

Think of this.

Dong Hui took a deep breath to calm his inner fear and said, "General Lu, this matter is of great importance. I dare not make a decision on my own. Please allow me to consider it. I cannot stay in the city for long. I must return to Maicheng to report."

Lü Meng did not expect to convince Dong Hui in one go, and said with a smile: "Mr. Dong, don't worry. Just treat my words today as a joke."

"Please report to Lord Guan that I feel guilty for taking Jiangling, and I really don't want to fight with Lord Guan again. Lord Wu is angry now, and I can't persuade him."

"If Lord Guan is willing to show sincerity and negotiate with Lord Wu, that would be the best. I also hope that the next envoy I meet will still be Mr. Dong."

After sending Dong Hui out of the city.

Lu Meng's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he ordered his men, "Spread the news that Guan Yu, relying on the fact that his family is not in the city, sent messengers to challenge the enemy without caring about the families of his soldiers trapped in the city. Then select a few simple-minded people from the families of these people and send them to Maicheng to look for their relatives."

It is not difficult to pick out a few simple-minded ones from the families of Guan Yu's generals.

After all, not everyone has the brains to see through lies.

Even Hao Pu and Fu Shiren, veterans of the battlefield, could be deceived by Lu Meng, let alone the families of the generals and soldiers.

soon.

Several young men with resentful faces were sent out of the city by Lu Meng to go to Maicheng to find their relatives.

Dong Hui returned first.

Before he reached the city gate, Dong Hui was surrounded by Liu Feng's troops.

Liu Feng saw Dong Hui's surprised expression and bowed: "Xiu Xu, don't blame me for my mean heart."

"Many people in the army know that you went to Jiangling City. When they see you return, they will definitely come to you to ask about it. If everyone knows about the situation in Jiangling City, it may hurt the morale." Dong Hui breathed a sigh of relief and said, "General, please be cautious. I dare not do that. As you expected, Lu Meng did not harm the people in Jiangling City. He treated the families of the generals well to win their hearts and persuaded me to surrender to Sun Quan."

Dong Hui told Liu Feng everything he saw and heard in the city.

After listening to Dong Hui's narration, Liu Feng couldn't help but frown.

No wonder history records that after Guan Yu returned to the army, he not only did not mobilize a single soldier, but instead sent envoys to Jiangling many times.

Lu Meng first deliberately hinted to Guan Yu through the messenger to negotiate with Sun Quan, in order to lower Guan Yu's vigilance and make Guan Yu mistakenly believe that the problem could be solved through negotiations.

While Guan Yu was hesitating in sending envoys back and forth, Lu Meng bribed Guan Yu's envoys and eventually let all the officers and soldiers in Guan Yu's army know that their families were treated well by Lu Meng. This trick successfully undermined Guan Yu's military morale.

Although Guan Yu was more brave than Lu Meng in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, he was far inferior to Lu Meng in terms of mentality.

Liu Feng pondered for a moment and said:

"Xiu Xu, tomorrow when you enter Jiangling City again, tell Guan Junhou that he wants to negotiate peace. Find a chance to see Pan Jun, the official in charge of the Central Affairs Office, Wang Fu, the official in charge of the Council of Ministers, Liao Hua, the former chief clerk of the general, and Mi Fang, the governor of Nanjun."

"In my opinion, Lu Meng will not let you see Pan Jun, but you can see at least one of Wang Fu, Liao Hua and Mi Fang. No matter who you meet, you only need to say that Guan Junhou and I have arrived in Maicheng."

"The rest can be dealt with on the spot, but don't say too much to avoid arousing Lu Meng's suspicion."

"If it was just Lü Meng who invited you, you should neither agree nor refuse; if it was Sun Quan who invited you personally, you could pretend to agree."

"Recently, there is news outside the city that 'Sun Quan is a lewd man who loves beauty. Not only did he force his former master Yuan Shu to marry his daughter, he also imprisoned his late brother Sun Ce's concubine in a golden house to satisfy his lust. He also attacked Jiangling in anger because he failed to covet the daughter of the former general. His bandit habits are outrageous.'"

"You can take this opportunity to pass this news to Sun Quan. If Sun Quan asks, just say that I sent someone to pass it on."

Liu Feng once again briefed Dong Hui on the military affairs of the diplomatic mission.

Sending the envoy was not only to inquire about the situation in Jiangling City, but also to delay time and give Guan Yu an opportunity to secretly capture Lukou.

As for the military information that "Lu Xun captured Zigui" deliberately leaked by Lu Meng, Liu Feng didn't believe a word of it.

No matter how incompetent Meng Da was, he would not abandon the city and flee like Fan You.

not to mention.

Liu Feng also specifically requested the "power to take advantage of opportunities" for Meng Da. As long as Meng Da was not stupid and had ambitions to make progress, he would definitely use the "power to take advantage of opportunities" to defend Zigui and seize this rare credit.

Although Lu Xun was powerful, he was fighting away from home and was the attacking side. It was not easy for him to capture Zigui, which was guarded by Meng Da, who had stayed in Yidu for seven or eight years and had the "power to act on the spot".

The Jiangdong army's weakness in siege and capture of strongholds could not be easily compensated by Lu Xun's wisdom and strategy.

Liu Feng didn't even let Dong Hui enter the city.

After allowing Dong Hui to rest in a temporary camp outside the city for one night, he was ordered to go to Jiangling City again.

After Liu Feng returned to Maicheng, Zhao Lei brought a few young men to look for Liu Feng: "These are the sons of military officers, and they came to Maicheng to look for their relatives."

Liu Feng raised his eyebrows: "From Jiangling City?"

Zhao Lei nodded: "As the general expected, they are all from Jiangling City. I have just interrogated them. They heard that the prince sent an envoy to challenge the war, and they were angry that the prince did not care about the safety of the soldiers in the city, so they came out to look for their relatives."

Liu Feng frowned: "How many people in the city have seen these people?"

(End of this chapter)