Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 327 Cao Cao's troops are in my hands, and Xiapi is handed over to me [6000]

[To my dear brother Li Junwu, it is as if we are meeting in person.]

In the past, I led the charge into battle alongside you, sharing hardships and dangers, wielding weapons together. This old friendship remains in my heart, and will not change with time.
Now, Lü Bu is stubborn, fickle, and rebellious, declaring himself king and courting his own death.

Gao Shun was stubborn and unyielding, blindly loyal and trusting, only knowing how to fight to the death and not caring about saving his own life.

After the defeat at Xiaopei, many of us brothers followed the Han and all achieved wealth and success. It is still unknown whether we will achieve great things together in the future and be granted titles and honors.

If we follow Gao Shun, it will be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. With only ten thousand men, we will be no different from the King of Han's army of eight hundred and thirty thousand. We will only bring about the annihilation of our clan!

Yuan Shu, the King of Han, ruled from the south, with his territory being vast and his food supply plentiful.

Furthermore, a golden platform was erected to treat those who surrendered generously. Since leaving Huainan, many have surrendered to the Han, and none of them have regretted their decision.

I have now entered Xiapi. Those who secretly communicate with me within the city are as numerous as carp crossing a river, and the fall of the city is only a matter of tonight.

If you lead your troops back to him and return to his command, you will surely receive official rank and reward, and your descendants will be blessed with good fortune. Wouldn't that be better than suffering the humiliation of Lü Bu and being bound by Gao Shun here?

Considering our past friendship, I urge you to make a quick decision. If you hesitate any longer and someone else gains the upper hand, even a tremendous achievement will be wasted, and you will miss this opportunity to save your life and bring wealth to your family!
Now that you have received this letter, you should act as you see fit tonight, and not disappoint me.

Li Jun took the letter and examined it carefully. He saw that it was nothing more than a plea for him to follow the Han dynasty. He remained calm for the time being, looked at the messenger in front of him, and sneered.

He was about to say "Take it down!" when he looked around and realized that no one was around. He thought that if secrets were not kept, things could go wrong. The fewer people who knew about it, the better, so as to avoid causing trouble.

He then drew his long sword from his waist, stepped down himself, and pointed the sword at them, saying:
"You traitor, how dare you test my heart?"
They all greatly admired General Gao and were utterly loyal to King Qi. Now that you have come here, you have fallen into my hands.

Tell me honestly, who's behind you?

Who exactly was colluding with Yuan Shikai?

Facing his pointed sword, the messenger neither dodged nor retreated, but simply smiled and said:

"General, there's no need to test him. General Gao's temperament is such that he wouldn't think of such a way to test your heart."

As for the person behind me?

He suddenly smiled brightly, "Have you not heard the rumors circulating in the marketplace: 'Who in the world doesn't know Yuan?'"

Countless examples exist, including Jiang Gan, Xiahou Dun, Yue Jin, Li Dian, Yang Feng, Huang Zhong, Xing Daorong, Cai Mao, Wei Xu, Zhang Liao, and many more.

The Han king's reign is a testament to the will of Heaven, and countless people throughout the land admire him. How could the general possibly inquire about each and every one of them?

This is the inevitable trend, and heroes will use it in different ways!
General, you must understand one thing: when you see someone who is in league with Yuan Shikai, it means that countless righteous men who are in league with Yuan Shikai are hidden in the shadows around you.

And now that the first person in Xiapi has stepped forward to ally with Yuan Shikai, the competition among the rest of the city will be:

Who can gain access to Yuan Shao faster, who has a stronger will to serve the Han, and who can create greater value for the King of Han?

No matter how big Xuzhou is, it still has a price. Selling it faster and more aggressively will bring tremendous success, while selling it slowly and in small quantities will result in moderate or minor success.

Those who hesitated, only to find themselves with nothing left to sell after others had sold off the entire city of Xuzhou, were left with no place to stand and had no choice but to serve the King of Han.

General Wei Xu sold the goods the fastest and acted the most ruthlessly. As a result, he gained several great merits in the Battle of Xiaopei, was appointed as a General of the Central Army, and became a guest of the Golden Terrace. Even if he did not reap the rewards, he could still enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory.

Even so, he is willing to take the risk of entering this city to sell you, and to sell even more.

General Zhang Liao, although he did not sell himself as quickly as General Wei Xu, sold himself to the King of Han, and his prestige in Xuzhou was second only to the King of Qi.

He was willing to go through fire and water to help the King of Han conquer the entire Xuzhou and gain all the resources of the King of Qi, so he personally entered the city and became the King of Han's adopted son.

"And now, General Li, don't you understand?"

He smiled faintly as he sized up Li Jun.

"You have been sold to the King of Han by General Wei. This is a gluttonous feast to divide up Xuzhou!"
Join us, or share the spoils with us. General, you have no third choice. Under the might of the King of Han, Xuzhou has no other option either.

Or does the general believe this letter is only for you?

Li Jun remained silent for a long time before coldly uttering a sentence.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll capture you now, reveal all your schemes to General Gao, ruin your grand plan, and arrest you and all those behind you?"

The envoy simply looked at him calmly, smiled without saying a word, and after a long while asked a question.

Does it make sense?
Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or an ant trying to shake a tree—it's laughable and shows a lack of self-awareness.

Small trends can be changed, but major trends cannot be reversed.

With 830,000 Han troops outside the city, the loyalty of Xuzhou to the Han Dynasty had never been so firm.

How many millions are truly united with us?

General, it is easy for you to kill me, but can you kill all the loyal and righteous people of Yuan Han in this city?

If the general can ruin tonight's grand plan, can he ruin tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and all the days before?
With your strength alone, and Gao Shun's blind loyalty, you are like a moth drawn to a flame. With the strength of a pile of eggs, how can you withstand the collapse of the Qi state?
With the Han king's edict issued, the destruction of Qi was inevitable; whether Li Jun was present or not made no difference.

History records that our meeting, or even our names, is not enough to leave a single line of record in history.

Historical records state: "In the spring of the third year of Jian'an (200 AD), the King of Han attacked Qi and destroyed the country." That is all.

General Li, do not think too highly of yourself. We are only helping you out because of General Wei's letter, or perhaps, we are graciously allowing you to join us at the banquet!
You should be filled with utmost respect and fear, and be able to distinguish right from wrong.

The envoy's expression was cold and stern. It was clearly Li Jun who pointed his sword at him, and his life was in someone else's hands.

On the contrary, Li Jun's expression changed several times, as if his life was being held in someone's hands.

Looking back, although Wei Xu treated Gao Shun well when he took over the command of the vanguard, he had tried to win him over.

But after all, he was a soldier personally trained by Gao Shun, and had followed Gao Shun through thick and thin, fighting several bloody battles together. It's impossible to say that there were no feelings between them.

This was his beloved superior officer, his comrade-in-arms!

But what is the current situation?
All the thoughts and schemes in his mind seemed so pale and powerless in the face of Chen Ming's well-founded and meticulously analyzed interests and consequences.

If he could fight to the death alongside Gao Shun and have even a sliver of hope of victory, he wouldn't hesitate to fight another battle for that admirable general.

But it was despair!
What defeated him was not loyalty or treachery, not interests, nor the kindness Wei Xu had shown him in the past, but naked despair.

When the entire city is filled with people who support Yuan Shikai, how many people would still be willing to risk their lives to fight a battle they cannot win?

On the contrary, the faster one joins and the more ruthless one is towards one's companions, the more benefits and achievements one will gain.

If you don't side with Yuan, others will. If you don't side with the Han, those who do will pounce on you like hyenas, devouring you to win the favor of the Han King.

Even if you can stay true to yourself and not do anything to collude with Yuan, how can you be sure that your comrades, soldiers, and even your superiors are not loyal to Yuan?
Even if you can trust them, who knows if they will trust you?

In this game of selling Xuzhou, where it's first come, first served, whoever trusts others will lose, lose everything, and die without a trace.

At this moment, a series of horrifying images began to surface uncontrollably in Li Jun's mind.

Under the moonlight tonight, messengers in black like this one are like fireflies, flying into countless generals' mansions, eventually turning into a prairie fire that will completely set the entire city of Xiapi ablaze, to demonstrate the glorious virtue of the Han Dynasty!

And standing in the way of this overwhelming force, there was probably only Gao Shun, who was loyal to his duty and never regretted his actions even in the face of death.

Thinking of this, Li Jun couldn't help but sigh.

General Gao, you are an admirable person, but why are you so blindly loyal to a false king?

Although I am willing to risk my life to follow him, I cannot do this for myself alone. The lives, honor, and disgrace of the hundred men under my command who are fighting on the front lines, and the survival of their families, all rest on my shoulders. I truly cannot risk my life to accompany him.

After a moment, having convinced himself, Li Jun threw his sword to the ground and smiled broadly.

"Li has long desired to serve the Han, but unfortunately he has no way to do so."

Fortunately, General Wei offered his guidance, and Mr. Meng enlightened me; otherwise, I would have died for the false Qi regime, bearing the infamy of a traitor, and causing the extinction of my entire clan—it would have been too late for regrets.”

Seeing that Li Jun was acting out of character, addressing him as "sir" and behaving with great respect, the envoy repeatedly said, "I dare not."

"I am unworthy of the title 'sir'."

It was merely to explain to the general the secrets given to him by his master. Tonight, there are nearly a hundred of my messengers. How can they possibly be treated with the respect due to a general?
The general's timely awakening is a sign of great fortune; he will surely achieve great things tonight and attain wealth and honor.

Li Jun thought to himself, "As expected, a hundred envoys are enough to persuade a hundred generals in charge of troops in the city."

In his view, he was already extremely loyal to General Gao and had the sentiment of sharing life and death. If he could be persuaded to change his mind, how much more so would he be persuaded to change his mind to others?

When the Han army arrives in battle, hundreds of generals in the city will defect. With such overwhelming force, who can stand against them?

He then felt even more certain that his decision was correct, and his loyalty to the Han Dynasty became even stronger.

Li Jun was unaware that even the words spoken by the envoy were instructed by Chen Deng to deceive people.

Let alone hundreds of people, the messengers sent tonight number less than ten.

Firstly, the Chen family cannot produce many talents like the envoy before Li Jun, who can remain calm in the face of danger and righteously and eloquently recount the words taught by Chen Deng.

Secondly, with such a large number of people, there are bound to be loyal and righteous individuals who leak secrets. The envoys sent by Chen Denghui were all former subordinates whom Wei Xu and Zhang Liao had carefully considered and who were most likely to defect and be controlled.

Therefore, Li Jun thought, "If even he, with his loyalty and righteousness, could be persuaded, then others will surely follow suit and join Yuan."

It's nothing more than judging others by one's own standards and wishful thinking about "loyalty and righteousness."

The elite garrison had eight hundred men, and Wei Xu had been in charge of it for many years, replacing Gao Shun. Li Jun was one of only two people willing to accept Wei Xu's favor of gold and silver.

To be honest, if Wei Xu hadn't strongly recommended Li Jun to highlight his own achievements,

Otherwise, in Chen Deng's original plan, he had never considered the possibility of persuading the Trapped Camp to turn this die-hard loyalist of Gao Shun to defect.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, they secretly sent people to open the city gates and welcome the Han army into the city.

On the one hand, they sent messengers to carefully select people in the city who showed signs of defection and visit them one by one.

Finally, through alarmist rhetoric, they created an atmosphere of impending doom, as if the whole city was on the verge of the Han King's arrival.

This made those who were already fickle-minded judge the loyal and upright with their own fickle minds, and they felt that it would be too late if they did not surrender to the Han.

If I do not surrender to the Han and betray others, others will surrender to the Han and betray me. I cannot hesitate any longer and must surrender to the Han immediately.

This would unite these traitors, cooperate with the Chen family's influence in the city, and assist the Han army that entered the city after the city gates were opened.

This is the real plan that made Chen Deng dare to advise the King of Han to break through the city tonight and offer up Xuzhou.

As for Wei Xu and Zhang Liao, who took the initiative to suggest entering the city, it was merely icing on the cake for him.

It must be said that by tricking the two men into entering the city and sending the adopted son of the King of Han to Gao Shun as a hostage, Gao Shun not only trusted Chen Deng more, but also became convinced of the deception and delaying tactics.

The two of them truly tied up most of Gao Shun's attention and suspicions. After all, two traitors who had surrendered to the Han Dynasty had entered the city, and just a few days before, these two traitors had held high positions and wielded considerable power in Xuzhou, commanding countless former subordinates. It would be strange if Gao Shun didn't deploy a large number of men and troops, treating them as a monstrous threat and guarding the city with utmost vigilance.

However, the troop strength in Xiapi City is limited. Outside the city, we need to guard all four city gates, and inside the city, we need to be wary of Wei Xu, Zhang Liao, and the three hundred Han soldiers they brought into the city under the pretext of protecting the adopted son of the King of Han.

In addition, some people must be allowed to sleep at night to ensure they have enough energy to defend the city the next day.

Gao Shun's current manpower is already stretched thin, especially now that Wei Xu has performed exceptionally well, getting a large number of loyal officers drunk.

Chen Yuanlong has far more room to maneuver than originally planned.

In a secret room of the Chen residence, Chen Deng and Chen Gui sat facing each other, sipping tea. When they heard a report from a servant that Gao Shun had sent three thousand armored soldiers to secretly surround and watch the place where Wei Xu and Zhang Liao were resting, ready to kill the two as a sacrifice to the flag if they made any move.

Chen Deng couldn't help but smile. "Father, the overall situation is settled."

Chen Gui raised his glass and took a sip, his eyes darting around, as if his thoughts were no longer focused on the present moment.

He didn't inquire at all about whether tonight's events were going well or discuss the details; instead, he seemed to ask a completely unrelated question.

"Yuanlong, how was your trip to the Han camp?"

When the Han camp was mentioned, Chen Deng's smile, which had been going quite smoothly in the city, suddenly froze.

After a long pause, he finally replied, "Unlike Liu Bei's camp, which admires Liu Bei and is willing to sacrifice for his ideals, and like Lü Bu's camp, which is intimidated by the unparalleled martial prowess of the King of Qi and follows him, so too are we different."

The Han camp is full of talented people, their words are witty and subtle, some are as swift as clouds, some are as gentle as water, and their thoughts are all different.

The King of Han was like a celestial fire soaring through the sky, illuminating not the sun or moon, revealing the unenlightened hearts of the people; though clouds and water may separate them, none would dare disobey him.

Chen Gui looked up at him and nodded slightly.

"The Yuan family produced three high-ranking officials for four generations, and half of the world's most talented people came from their school."

It's only natural that the King of Han has more talented people under his command.

Yuanlong, now that you've joined the Han camp, you still need to be cautious. My Xuzhou family is a newcomer. If we want to hold our heads high in front of the families of Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou...

You must not follow the example of Liu and Lü's camps in concealing their talents. You must establish more merits and earn more achievements. If you can rank among the top ten noble families next year, then arranging for a woman from your clan to marry the King of Han would be truly a great thing.”

Chen Deng quickly bowed his head and said, "I will follow Father's teachings."

Meanwhile, in the Trapped Camp, Li Jun carefully put away Wei Xu's letter and chatted happily with the envoy. Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction, and he waited for the right opportunity.

Finally, as the sound of the clapper echoed in the dead of night, the messenger's face lit up with joy, and he informed Li Jun:

"The time has come; General, you may make your move."

"it is good!

"Li will take action now!"

As soon as the word "take action" was uttered, Li Jun did not hesitate, drew his sword, and stabbed it into the envoy's heart.

Caught completely off guard, the envoy coughed up blood and stared at Li Jun with disbelief in his eyes. He opened his mouth several times, but could not utter a single word.

He didn't understand, and couldn't figure it out. Hadn't Li Jun been persuaded? Hadn't he had a pleasant conversation with him and expressed his support for Yuan Han?

why?
Could it be that he was actually a loyal and devoted follower of Lü Qi, wholeheartedly following Gao Shun, causing the head of the family and Wei Xu to misjudge him?

But that's not right!

If that were the case, he should have reported himself to Gao Shun long ago. Why wait until tonight, when the grand plan was about to be launched, to suddenly make his move?

Seeing his confusion, Li Jun chuckled and answered him.

"Tonight, all the hyenas in Xiapi City will be devoured."

Whoever acts quickly and ruthlessly gets full and eats more.

"This is a principle you just taught me, sir. You haven't forgotten it already, have you?"

As he spoke, he bent down and slowly closed the messenger's unseeing eyes as he lay on the ground.

"Rest assured, sir. After you have eaten, I will take your share and work together to contribute to the cause of the King of Han."

"Since Cao Cao has fallen into my hands and Xiapi has been handed over to me, why should I share it with the rest of the people?"

As he spoke, he immediately gave the order to gather his two closest centurions and a group of deputies.

The generals had already gone to bed, but Li Jun summoned them late at night. They all opened their sleepy eyes, looking puzzled.

Upon arriving at this place, seeing the black-clad corpse on the ground, bleeding profusely, everyone was horrified, not understanding what was going on, and looked at the person at the head of the table with suspicion and uncertainty.

In the dim candlelight, Li Jun's expression flickered. He narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and spoke in a low voice.

“There are traitors in the Trapped Camp who are secretly colluding with Yuan Shikai. You should all follow me to fight against the rebels.”

"What? How is this possible?"

"We, the elite troops, have fought alongside General Gao through thick and thin, sharing life and death. Who would dare to collude with Yuan?"

"The will to charge into battle is to die rather than live! Though the Han army is powerful, at worst we will all perish!"
I have always hated those who are greedy for life and cowardly, and who betrayed General Gao.

"Who exactly is colluding with Yuan? General, you may speak freely, and I will execute him immediately, to uphold the name of our vanguard."

"That's impossible, General. Isn't there some misunderstanding?"
We, eight hundred men, charged into battle, each one fearless of death, following General Gao to the death. How could there be such a shameless, disloyal, and treacherous person who colludes with Yuan Shikai?

Upon hearing Li Jun's words, everyone was shocked and dismayed. Some did not believe him, while others were indignant. Yet, everyone was generous, loyal, and righteous.

Li Jun had anticipated this, and gestured for everyone to be quiet before continuing.

"What you may not know is that times have changed."

In this city, those who are on Yuan's side share the spoils with those who are not. Those who are on Yuan's side early get to eat early, while those who are on Yuan's side late get to eat.

In this situation, even amidst the chaos of battle, it's inevitable that one or two scoundrels will emerge, their rotten apples staining our loyal souls.

He spoke in a serious tone, almost repeating the same principles that the messenger had previously told him, and then relayed them to the crowd.

The only difference is that this time Li Jun spoke as an absolutely loyal and righteous person, standing on the side of a loyal minister who was on the front lines.

As Li Jun explained the reasons behind this, all the generals looked up at him with awe and wonder!
"As expected of a general, no wonder he can be a centurion, he actually thought of this."

"A general who loves to charge into battle will devise a far-reaching plan for him."

"The general is right. Under such circumstances, we must be on guard if one or two scoundrels emerge."

"What you say is very true."

Although we are determined to fight to the death, the eight hundred men are divided in their own thoughts. If even one bad apple appears, our heroic reputation will be ruined, and General Gao will no longer trust us.

"Fortunately, the general has profound wisdom and insightful understanding."

Seeing everyone's faces turn red, and after hearing these words, they displayed a generous and loyal demeanor.

Li Jun didn't find anything unusual. In any case, after he made his stance as a loyal subject who was willing to fight on the front lines clear, these people, regardless of their inner thoughts or whether they had the same intention of collaborating with Yuan Shikai as he had, would not care what they thought.

At least on the surface, everyone has to act as loyal subjects on the front lines; this is the spirit of fighting on the front lines, the politically correct attitude of risking death for survival.

Knowing that the groundwork had been laid, he nodded slightly, pointed to the black-clad corpse below the hall, and said to the crowd:
"To be honest, this man is the envoy who communicated with Yuan Shikai, and he was just about to speak against me!"
But my loyalty and righteousness are as clear as the sun and moon, as bright as the heavens and earth; how could this person possibly know them?

With the will to charge into battle, even at the cost of death, though facing thousands, I will go.

This person is trying to intimidate me with words; it's utterly laughable!

As he spoke, in order to increase credibility, he took out the letter of persuasion to surrender written by Wei Xu and showed it to everyone before burning it to ashes.

Everyone who saw this admired Li Jun's loyalty and righteousness.

General Li is truly righteous!

"Fortunately, General Li was there, otherwise the Trapped Camp would have been in grave danger."

"It was also the messenger's bad luck that he thought that someone as loyal and righteous as General Li would surrender to the enemy and Yuan. That was just wishful thinking."

At this moment, Li Junzhong's image as a loyal and righteous man was deeply ingrained in people's hearts, and there was no one who did not believe him.

There's really nothing to doubt, after all, the envoys who communicated with Yuan were all killed by Li Jun, and the letters of persuasion to surrender were taken out and burned in public. How could it be fake?

There is no one more loyal and righteous than Li Jun in the entire Trapped Camp!
Li Jun was very satisfied with this, and then, revealing the true nature of the plan, he said:

"Previously, I feigned politeness with this envoy to Yuan and tested him with my words, thus obtaining a great deal of intelligence."

It was only then that we learned that there was more than one envoy from Yuan Shikai who had entered our camp; another had gone to General Zhang Cheng's camp and had not yet left.

"General Zhang Cheng? How is that possible?"

He's General Gao's confidant, how could he be in league with Yuan?

Everyone was both surprised and suspicious. General Zhang Cheng was none other than another centurion in the Trapped Camp, the most loyal and upright, and a confidant of Gao Shun.

Seeing everyone's astonishment, Li Jun sneered.

"What's impossible about that?"
The more someone is in league with Yuan Shikai, the more of a traitorous villain they are, the better they will pretend, and the more they will act as if they are a loyal and righteous person.

Otherwise, everyone would be able to see clearly who is loyal and who is treacherous at a glance. How could these traitors who colluded with Yuan Shikai hide themselves?

Upon hearing this, although everyone felt that what Li Jun said made a lot of sense, they still felt that something was not quite right because Zhang Cheng's previous image of loyalty and integrity was deeply ingrained in their hearts.

Li Jun then seized the opportunity to speak.

"In that case, you shall immediately lead your troops with me to surround Zhang Cheng's forces and test his resolve."

If he refuses to hand over the envoys who entered his camp and communicated with Yuan Shikai, it's obvious who is loyal and who is treacherous.

This thief must be forced by the current situation and his heart is with the King of Han.

We will execute him immediately to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

As Li Jun spoke, he sent his trusted men to inform Gao Shun of everything that was happening here. Seeing how open and honest he was, how could the generals not believe him without a doubt?

Everyone agreed, saying, "It's a matter of great righteousness!"

(End of this chapter)