Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 567 Both jade and stone are destroyed
To recapture Changsha, Guan Yu mustered 20,000 troops, calling for a total force of 50,000 to advance eastward, his army poised to strike at Yiyang. Zhou Yu urgently appealed to Cao Ren for help and ordered Zhou Tai to trek upstream to Qianse to garrison the area and prevent Guan Yu from crossing the river to attack his camp. Seeing that Qianse was already defended, Guan Yu had no choice but to move his position to the riverbank, where he confronted Zhou Yu.

After several days of stalemate, Cao Cao led a large army to Yiyang, with 50,000 victorious soldiers.

Inside the main tent, Cao Cao was in a good mood and said with a smile: "The proclamations for Changsha and Guiyang have been sent down, and Southern Chu only has Guan Yu's army. Zixiao and Gongjin, you two have made meritorious contributions in leading troops in battle, and now I hereby appoint you two as governors. Zixiao is the governor of Changsha, and Gongjin is the governor of Nan Commandery, to encourage your achievements."

"Thank you, Prime Minister!" The two generals rose and acknowledged the order.

"What is the current state of the military?" Cao Cao asked, pointing at Zhou Yu.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the Southern Chu army numbers approximately thirty to forty thousand. Guan Yu hastily mobilized twenty thousand troops to meet the enemy." Zhou Yu cupped his hands and said, "Now that Liu Bei is imprisoned by the Prime Minister, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have a deep bond with him, I think it would be better to persuade Guan and Zhang to surrender, and then move Liu Bei to Kuaiji, build grand palaces, and bestow upon him many beautiful women and treasures to sway his mind."

"Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both fierce and powerful generals. If they surrender, we can place them in different regions and send General Ru Yu or General Zixiao to lead the expedition. Why worry about Guan Yu and Zhang Fei turning against us? At that time, the six commanderies will surrender without a fight, and the people of Chu will naturally submit to the Prime Minister!"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's bravery was evident in their battles against Chen Yuan, so Zhou Yu valued them highly and hoped to use Liu Bei as a hostage to control them.

"Prime Minister, Liu Bei has always been ambitious and is a ruthless and ambitious man."

Liu Ye stepped forward and objected, saying, "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are like brothers to Liu Bei. Now that they have surrendered because of Liu Bei, how can they be loyal to the Prime Minister? In times of crisis, they will surely betray the Prime Minister and flee. Therefore, in my opinion, it is feasible to persuade Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to surrender, but whether to appoint them as generals should be carefully considered!"

"Ziyang is mistaken!"

Zhou Yu emphasized, "The talents of China are as numerous as carp crossing a river, while the Southeast is confined to a corner, growing up in a land of reeds. How can it compare to China? If the Prime Minister wishes to contend with China, he should recruit more talents. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are generals as fierce as bears and tigers; there are few in the Southeast who can rival them. How can we not recruit them as vanguard?"

“The Prime Minister imprisoned Liu Bei and seized Jingzhou. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei must be indignant. If we keep them as generals now, it will be dangerous!” Liu Ye shook his head and said.

Seeing Liu Bei and Zhou Yu arguing over the handling of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Cao Cao asked, "Ziyang and Gongjin have different opinions. Can you explain them in detail?"

Liu Ye bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, according to my knowledge, Guan Yu is arrogant and domineering. Before the expedition, Li Yan advised to establish Liu Feng as a hostage so that he could control the Prime Minister. However, Guan Yu publicly rebuked Li Yan, causing him to lose face, and also humiliated Liu Feng by calling him an adopted son."

"Therefore, in my opinion, rather than persuading Guan Yu to surrender, it would be better to recruit Li Yan and persuade Liu Feng. If the two submit to the Prime Minister, they will act as internal collaborators. Our army can then launch a surprise attack, causing the Chu army to collapse and surrender. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei will be beheaded, and then there will be no need to worry about the six commanderies being uneasy."

Cao Cao stroked his beard, deep in thought, considering the merits and demerits of Liu Ye's and Zhou Yu's strategies.

Zhou Yu hoped to seize the six commanderies of Jingzhou without bloodshed and appoint Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as generals. Liu Ye, however, was not optimistic about winning over Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and instead wanted to persuade Li Yan and Liu Feng to surrender. Li Yan, as Liu Bei's military advisor and overseeer of taxation in the various commanderies of Jingzhou, held a position no less important than Guan Yu's. If Li Yan surrendered, the officials of the six commanderies would inevitably submit.

Cao Cao greatly admired the bravery and strategy of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but he also worried that they would not submit to him. Therefore, considering the stability of his regime, it would be best to persuade Li Yan to surrender, since Li Yan did not hold military power.

"Hmm~"

Cao Cao considered for a long time and said, "What you two have said has its advantages and disadvantages. Please allow me to think about it!"

"promise!"

As everyone else withdrew, Cao Cao kept Cheng Yu behind to consult him on which strategy was more suitable.

Cao Cao said, "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both incredibly brave and invincible, each capable of taking on ten thousand men. What do you think of using Liu Bei to force them to surrender?"

Cheng Yu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then said, "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have followed Liu Bei for over twenty years, from the northern frontier to this miasma-ridden land, without ever betraying him. This shows the depth of their bond. Now, Prime Minister, you have devised a plan to imprison them, using Liu Bei to control Guan Yu and Zhang Fei—this is a brilliant scheme!"

"However, I observe that Liu Bei possesses great talent and enjoys the support of the people, and he is unwilling to remain subservient to others. If we do not kill him now, he will surely cause trouble with remaining enemies. Therefore, I spared the generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, is this not to provide a precedent for Liu Bei's resurgence?"

"The Prime Minister is an outsider, while Liu Bei is a general. If the Emperor were to show favor to Liu Bei, wouldn't that cause chaos within the country?" Cheng Yu asked.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's expression changed slightly; he was persuaded by Cheng Yu's last reason.

He held the emperor hostage and commanded the feudal lords, and his greatest fear was the emergence of a force under his control that could then threaten him using imperial power. Although Liu Bei was 'imprisoned' in Jiangdong, his detention was nominally on the grounds of welcoming a bride.

If Liu Bei were to establish a connection with the emperor, and the emperor, intending to break free from his control, were to issue an edict officially recognizing Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had surrendered to him, would likely side with Liu Bei directly. This would create an army beyond his control, thus threatening his rule.

After all, power rises from the bottom up, not the top down. An emperor becomes emperor because the people of the land submit to him. Wasn't Cao Cao able to control the government precisely because of the army loyal to him?
"Zhongde is right!"

Cao Cao sighed and said, "Liu Bei is unwilling to be subordinate to anyone. If we try to recruit Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, I'm afraid they will be difficult for me to use. Therefore, after thinking it over, Ziyang's plan is the best strategy."

Cheng Yu said, "That may be true, but Prime Minister, you should still send someone to persuade Guan Yu to surrender. Once Guan Yu leads his troops to surrender, we can seize his troops and imprison him together with Liu Bei in Kuaiji."

Cao Cao said, "Then we need to send two envoys, one to persuade Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to surrender, and the other to persuade Li Yan to surrender."

After considering for a moment, Cao Cao said, "Lu Su is gentle on the outside but firm on the inside; he can persuade Guan Yu with loyalty and righteousness. Jiang Gan is eloquent; he can persuade Li Yan to surrender by valuing fame and fortune!" "The Prime Minister is wise!"

Not to mention Cao Cao's strategy of sending envoys to persuade Guan Yu and Li Yan to surrender. Because they were closer in distance, Lu Su met Guan Yu first.

When Guan Yu learned that Cao Cao's envoy had come to pay his respects, he arranged for axemen to stand on both sides of the tent in an attempt to intimidate Lu Su.

Led by his attendants, Lu Su, with a Han sword at his waist and dressed in Confucian robes, walked slowly and steadily, undeterred by the two rows of axemen with fierce eyes.

Guan Yu sat on a stool, his sword laid horizontally on the table, his gaze icy. His officers on either side gripped their sword hilts, all of them indignant.

"Han envoy Lu Su, on the orders of Chancellor Cao, paid homage to General Guan!"

"Ah!"

Guan Yu raised his phoenix eyes and said sternly, "Your lord tricked the governor into going to Jiangdong and imprisoning him, which violated the great principles of the state. Now you have raised an army to seize our territory. How can you have the face to see me? Do you think my Jingchu soldiers are incompetent?"

Lu Su, neither humble nor arrogant, said, “Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king. Today, the land under heaven does not belong to you, General, but to the Han emperor. Lord Liu went to Wu to welcome the bride and was invited by His Majesty to stay in Jiangdong. How can you say that he was deceived or imprisoned?”

"As for raising troops to seize territory, it was His Majesty who appointed the prefects of various commanderies to assume their posts. However, General refused to accept the appointment, and it was only then that Lord Cao raised his troops to meet the enemy."

Seeing Lu Su's silver tongue, Guan Yu angrily said, "You're distorting the truth and spouting nonsense. Don't try to fool me by saying my sword isn't sharp!"

As he spoke, Guan Yu drew his long sword from its sheath and forcefully plunged it into the ground.

"kill!"

The executioners shouted in unison, their voices sharp and menacing; a timid person would surely be intimidated by the sound. However, Lu Su, bold and courageous, met Guan Yu's murderous gaze head-on.

“General, killing me is as easy as killing a chicken, but it won’t change the overall situation!” Lu Su said calmly.

Guan Yu narrowed his eyes, raised his hand to stop the intimidation from those around him, and asked, "What brings you here today? Speak up at once!"

Lu Su bowed slightly and said, "Since Lord Liu is in Jiangdong, why doesn't General Guan obey the Prime Minister's orders? If he doesn't, Lord Liu's future will be uncertain!"

Guan Yu sneered and said, "Why beat around the bush? You just want to use the governor's imprisonment to force me to lead my army to surrender to Cao Cao."

Lu Su said, “With two rulers ruling the world, you have devoted yourself to the Han Dynasty for many years. Now you serve in the capital and enjoy the wealth and honor of a high-ranking official. Isn’t that wonderful? If you were to submit to the Prime Minister, he would like to appoint you as a general. In that case, you would not only be able to serve the Han Dynasty but also fulfill your brotherly bond. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Guan Yu's eyes were sharp as he coldly said, "Don't mention surrendering. The foundation of Jingchu was built by the governor himself. Now Cao Cao is trying to seize it through treacherous means. How could I possibly comply!"

"I have something to say, Mr. Lao, please report it to Cao Cao!"

Guan Yu said in a deep voice, "I have 20,000 elite naval troops under my command, which can still hold off your army. However, when two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. Now the Tang people are spying from the north, so if your army refuses to hand over the governor, don't blame the Tang army for profiting!"

"To show my sincerity, I am willing to cede two counties east of the Xiang River to Cao Cao in exchange for Lord Liu. However, if Lord Cao does not agree, then don't blame me for going down with him!"

Guan Yu made his stance clear to Lu Su: either return the two counties east of the Xiang River to Liu Bei and maintain the alliance, or he would fight Cao Cao to the death, allowing the Tang people to profit for nothing.

After days of deliberation, Guan Yu finally found a way to break the deadlock: he gambled that Cao Cao would not dare to wage war against Zhang Yu in the north while simultaneously fighting him. After all, once the Tang people were involved, they would inevitably aim to eliminate the southeastern regime. Therefore, to prevent the Tang people from joining the battle, Cao Cao had to agree to his demands.

Upon hearing this, Lu Su's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected Guan Yu to be so willing to risk everything.

"Your Excellency is loyal to the Han Dynasty, how could you possibly want the Tang people to benefit?" Lu Su said, trying to ease the tension.

Guan Yu rose from his stool and said bluntly, "I serve the Han Dynasty, not because the world belongs to Han, but because my relationship with you, my lord, is like that of brothers. If you cannot return alive, what good is the Han Dynasty to me?"

Zhang Fei opened his eyes wide and said, "Go back and tell Cao Cao that my brother cannot return, and both armies will perish. Anyway, my brother is willing to give up Jingchu, let's see if Cao Cao is willing to give up Yangzhou!"

"The two commanderies of Changsha and Guiyang, east of the Xiang River, are ceded to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will return you, my lord, and the alliance between the two families will remain unchanged!" Guan Yu said, "Say no more. If you do not comply, then we shall all perish!"

Lu Su had thought he could force Guan Yu to submit, but he was unexpectedly outmaneuvered by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. He smiled bitterly to himself and said, "I will report the general's intentions to the Prime Minister."

"May Lord Cao take good care of himself!"

(End of this chapter)