The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 648 Righteous Man
Wang Ji led more than a thousand of his men by water to Jiaozhou where Shi Bao and others were.

If you travel by water, the journey is much shorter.

Shi Bao and Huo Yi had already been standing at the dock, waiting for Wang Ji to arrive.

When Wang Ji's warship came alongside and he led his men down, Shi Bao hurried forward to pay his respects.

"General Wang!"

Wang Ji returned the greeting to the two men and then asked about the situation on the front line.

This is Nanhai County, and ahead is Longchuan County.

Huo Yi and Wang Ji had no close relationship and they did not exchange letters on weekdays. At this moment, he just stood there indifferently without saying a word, but Shi Bao could not help but start telling the story.

"General Wu stationed here is truly brave!"

"Among the oldest is Zhongli Mu. He fought in Jiaozhou for many years, pacifying the Shanyue and defeating the Wuxi Yi tribe. He was diligent and thrifty, and loved his soldiers. He shared all the rewards he received with his officers and soldiers, earning their respect and love. The local barbarians also respected him."

"The young ones are Tao Huang and Xue Wei. They are both brave and upright, good at fighting. They followed Zhongli Mu to fight against us. The people of this county, including the barbarians, are willing to follow them. I really can't defeat them."

Shi Bao's words were all blood and tears.

How come the Wu State stuffed all of its most capable young men into Jiaozhou?

If you are so good at fighting, why not put it on the front line?

These people are not only good at fighting, but also have high personal morals, and are deeply respected by local people, soldiers, and even barbarians.

Afterwards, Shi Bao and the others were restricted everywhere, and they couldn't even find a guide willing to lead the way for them. They finally spent money to find a local barbarian, but he deliberately led them to a place where there was an ambush.

If Huo Yi hadn't been a good fighter, they would have almost died there.

Shi Bao didn't dare to act rashly again.

After hearing Shi Bao's words, Wang Ji took this matter more seriously.

After conquering the State of Wu, it is of course necessary to develop further south. When it comes to developing the south, who can compare to those who have blocked Shi Bao in Nanhai County today?
If we can get the service of these three people, it will be easy to govern Jiaozhou in the future.

Shi Bao looked at Wang Ji, who was lost in thought, and spoke again, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Their forces are not numerous. We are blocked here because our army is too small. Once Your Majesty's army arrives here, they will be no match for us."

"Even if more people come to help, they will still die."

Wang Ji shook his head. "I didn't come with a large army. I only had these three warships, and no other troops."

Shi Bao was stunned. "What does the prince mean?"

"I want to meet these three in person."

"Your Majesty, the letter of surrender from the King of Wu has been delivered to them, but they are absolutely unwilling to surrender."

"No problem, I can discuss this matter with them in detail."

Shi Bao wanted to say something, but Huo Yi said thoughtfully, "Maybe it's possible."

Shi Bao looked at him in astonishment.

Huo Yi explained, "These individuals are all upright and righteous men. To be so respected and loved by the local people, they must be virtuous men who can serve Your Majesty. Your Majesty will definitely govern Jiaozhou in the future. If Shi Gong has such people around him to help him, wouldn't it be very beneficial?"

Shi Bao thought about it from another angle, what if these guys were his subordinates?
Hmm, that seems pretty good?

These guys can make the local barbarians fight for them desperately. They have such great appeal. If they can be used by themselves, wouldn’t it be very convenient to govern Jiaozhou?

But he looked at Wang Ji again and said worriedly, "I'm afraid these people don't know your kindness and might offend you."

Wang Ji shook his head. "It's okay. They won't. Just arrange it."

Shi Bao had no choice but to agree.

Soon, Wang Ji arrived outside Longchuan County. The generals of Wu State were wearing armor and surrounded by several armored soldiers. They slowly walked out of the military formation and looked at this side cautiously.

Wang Ji said to his attendants, "No one is allowed to follow me."

Then, he rode his horse and headed towards the three people alone. Shi Bao wanted to stop him, but it was too late.

Wang Ji quickly came to the three of them and saluted them.

When the three men saw that the person coming was an elderly person, they had no choice but to return the greeting.

"I am Wang Ji, the General of the Southern Expedition of the Wei Dynasty. I have come here specially to speak with you generals."

Hearing this, the three of them looked at each other in bewilderment. Zhongli Mu rode his horse a little further out and sized up Wang Ji. "General Wang, you're so brave! You dare to ride here alone? Aren't you afraid we'll take you hostage?"

Wang Ji shook his head. "You generals are all benevolent and righteous gentlemen who love the people. How could you do such a thing?"

"If I fail here, won't the entire Jiaozhou population suffer the wrath of Your Majesty?"

These people suddenly fell silent.

Zhongli Mu asked again, "General, what did you come here to discuss with us?" Wang Ji said, "If you, the generals, don't care, why bother sitting down and chatting?"

Before Zhongli Mu could speak, Tao Huang said, "General, we are fighting right now. If you have anything to say, just speak up!"

Wang Ji then said, "I am here to save the people of Jiaozhou."

"The Wu Kingdom has been destroyed, yet several generals are unwilling to surrender. I really don't understand the reasoning behind this."

"The people of Wu have suffered greatly over the years, especially in Jiaozhou, where rebellion even broke out."

"Now that the world is unified and the Lord of Wu has become a vassal of Wei, why don't you surrender?"

"In Jianye, I met your old boss. He's very worried about your situation now, afraid that he'll be implicated because of your affairs and people will think it was his suggestion."

"You are all capable generals, and are quite favored by Lord Wu."

"Don't you care about Lord Wu at all now, and only care about your own reputation?"

Wang Ji frowned and said seriously, "Moreover, the people of Jiaozhou love you so much, yet you insist on fighting us for some false reputation. When General Hu learned of the situation here, he was extremely angry and wanted to gather a large army to pacify Jiaozhou."

"Hundreds of thousands of Wei troops are coming here. Can you really stop them?"

"By then, the entire Jiaozhou will be razed to the ground!"

"You all don't care about promoting your former master, and you don't care about the people who follow you. You insist on opposing us. What is your reason?!"

Wang Ji's tone became increasingly firm, and by the end of his words, it was already questioning.

At this moment, the spear in Xue Wei's hand suddenly fell.

The sound of the spear falling to the ground made the other two generals look at him.

Xue Wei said, "If my lord had not surrendered, I would have fought to the death. But now my lord is in their hands. If I insist on fighting, wouldn't that be a plot to murder Your Majesty?"

"This is really inappropriate."

Tao Huang sighed deeply at this moment. He glanced at the city behind him and said, "If the Wei army attacks, we won't be in any trouble, but the people in this city... Cao's army has a tradition of massacring the people. If we anger them, I'm afraid the entire Jiaozhou region will be implicated."

Zhongli Mu hesitated for a long time before finally releasing his weapon. He looked at Wang Ji and said seriously, "We are not here because we are afraid of your powerful army, nor because we cannot uphold the integrity of our subjects. We are here simply because we care about Your Majesty and the people of Jiaozhou!"

Wang Ji smiled and nodded, "That's right."

The three men then dismounted and surrendered.

Shi Bao and Huo Yi walked forward. Shi Bao was very surprised by all this.

Just recently, the envoy brought Sun Hao's letter, but failed to make these three people surrender. Who would have thought that their general's nonsense could actually make them surrender?
Huo Yi stepped forward and helped them up.

Huo Yi looked at them and felt as if he saw himself in the past.

Huo Yi was very similar to them. He was also sent to guard the border and was deeply respected by the local barbarians. He was also loyal to the emperor and only surrendered after receiving two imperial edicts.

He addressed the group before him, "Generals, my name is Huo Yi. Perhaps you have heard of me. Your Majesty is a benevolent ruler. After my former master surrendered, he was treated kindly by Your Majesty. Now, in Luoyang, he enjoys ample food and clothing, and has not suffered any persecution."

"Don't worry, everyone. Lord Wu will be fine."

After hearing Huo Yi's words, the generals who had been fighting with Huo Yi to the death also hurriedly saluted.

"Thank you, General."

They were originally the same kind of people, and soon they started chatting enthusiastically, and even began to exchange experiences in governing the border. Shi Bao and others then entered Longchuan.

Listening to their words, Wang Ji couldn't help but frown.

This Sun Hao is very different from Liu Chan.

Liu Chan surrendered voluntarily without even fighting, and he was a simple and honest person, much like the nephew of a former general.

Therefore, Your Majesty did not make things difficult for him and directly conferred the title of Duke of Anle on him.

But Sun Hao surrendered only after being captured alive. In addition, he was not a person like Liu Chan, a guy who was prone to trouble.

His Majesty hates such wanton killing of innocent people the most. When Sun Hao arrives in Luoyang, will His Majesty forgive him?
Can he be treated as well as Liu Chan?
If not, will it cause resistance from these Wu people?
Wang Ji was very worried about this, so he immediately decided to write a letter to the emperor, hoping that the emperor would pay attention to the overall situation and not neglect Sun Hao. Even if he didn't like him, he had to forgive him, and even for the sake of these talents in Wu, he had to be patient with him.

With the disappearance of the last resistance force, the entire Wu Kingdom bowed its head.

The Three Kingdoms era officially ended.

The world once again ushered in great unification.

The people of Wei, far away on the other side of the strait, were also celebrating at this moment.

The world has been in chaos for over a hundred years, and finally, everything is over!
At this moment, there was constant laughter in the Taiji Hall. Emperor Cao Mao sat on the throne, and the ministers sat in front of him. The envoy was reading aloud the memorial from Hu Zun.

Cao Mao hadn't been so happy for a long time.

(End of this chapter)