He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Zheng Bao has been having a tough time lately. He was doing well in Chaohu, but Yuan Shu, with whom he had been living in peace, suddenly asked him to go and cause trouble for Liu Bei in Xuzhou.

Zheng Bao was naturally unwilling to leave his stronghold, but considering how generous Yuan Shu was, he still led his troops to wander around the western border of Xuzhou.

Just as he was making a scene, a burly man with a red face suddenly appeared, leading a group of men. He immediately killed Zheng Bao's vanguard. With a series of quick moves, Zheng Bao and Guan Yu were evenly matched. In three minutes, Guan Yu wiped out more than 700 of Zheng Bao's men and captured a number of prisoners.

Zheng Bao was terrified. "Oh dear, why would Liu Bei's second brother, Guan Yu, be here?"

He ran back with all his might, only to find out that Yuan Shu had given away tens of thousands of his men for nothing. It was a good thing that Liu Bei wasn't coming to deal with Yuan Shu.

Zheng Bao was naturally unhappy about this. It wasn't because he had lost many men, nor because Yuan Shu hadn't informed him of the retreat after his defeat. After all, Zheng Bao considered himself a reasonable person. If he had been beaten up, he would have only cared about escaping and wouldn't have informed anyone.

Zheng Bao was dissatisfied because Yuan Shu only gave a deposit and didn't make any follow-up payments.

Yuan Shu was still recovering from the dizziness he had just experienced, and the high command of Yuan Shu's army focused all their energy and resources on conscripting men, completely forgetting that there were people waiting for them to pay the final installment.

Zheng Bao, who had been waiting in Xiang County for a week, tried every possible method. First, he went to the local magistrate, who said he had not received any instructions from his superiors. Then he went to the prefect, who said the same thing.

After several rounds of back and forth, Zheng Bao broke down.

Yes, I sympathize with and am shocked that you, Yuan Shu, suffered a defeat, but you still have to pay me for hiring my brothers. At the very least, you could give me a bribe, and I'd accept that.

What does it mean to not give a single cent? Are you trying to get something for nothing from a thief?

Zheng Bao's personal value realization path failed to align precisely with Yuan Shu's organizational granularity, resulting in a severe imbalance in his underlying mental accounting. To deconstruct the existing value distribution paradigm, Zheng Bao initiated asymmetrical countermeasures. Through various underhanded tactics, he forced management to reassess his individual value.

To put it simply, Zheng Bao directly raided Yuan Shu's Jiujiang Commandery.

They marched south from Xiang County in Pei State towards Chaohu Lake, burning, killing, looting, and raiding county towns along the way. Not content with just taking and eating, they also set fires before leaving.

The local garrison initially thought it was Liu Bei, Cao Cao, or Lü Bu who had arrived. They were about to abandon the city and flee when, under the guidance of their companion, the strategist Wang, they realized that since Yuan Shu's army was already on the verge of collapse, why not join in and make a quick buck?

Zheng Bao continued to kill and plunder along the way. By the time he reached the central part of Jiujiang County, he had gained many more men. After some calculation, Zheng Bao realized that he had not only not lost money on this trip, but had actually made a fortune.

Now that things have come to this, Yuan Shu has already been thoroughly offended. It might be better to push things to the extreme and launch an uprising directly at Chaohu. If the previous plundering of Zheng Bao was to compensate for the losses incurred during the previous military campaigns, this is to prepare supplies in advance for the future establishment of a separatist regime.

Zheng Bao then set his sights on the counties surrounding Chaohu Lake. However, after the local garrison heard about the mess Zheng Bao had made in other places, they began to defend with all their might. The two sides went back and forth, with each side winning and losing.

Just as Zheng Bao was causing chaos in Jiujiang, Lü Bu's army also reached Yuan Shu's northern counties.

Zhang Liao realized too late as soon as he arrived that Huainan had become impoverished and there was no more profit to be made from it.

The Bingzhou cavalry initially thought they were heading south to raid for supplies. They had heard that Huainan was rich back in their hometown, but upon arrival, all they saw was ruins. There were still some embers in the county town, telling the story of what had happened there.

Such a city, lacking supplies and manpower, cannot be defended, which means that Lü Bu's idea of ​​expanding his territory has failed.

Along the way, there were starving refugees everywhere. Lu Bu's army didn't even bother with these poor refugees, but Wei Xu and others who accompanied the army were unwilling to give up. They had come all this way, and they couldn't go back empty-handed. So they began to crack down on the local wealthy and powerful families.

Most of the powerful families in the area have built fortified villages for defense, but the design is not very sophisticated, not even reaching the level of defense that would have been difficult for regular armies to handle during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Zheng Bao's troops, in order to move quickly, completely ignored these scattered fortified villages, which initially relieved the wealthy families. However, it now seems that these wealthy families will ultimately not escape this calamity.

Wei Xu and others then gathered refugees from all over the country to serve as cannon fodder in their sieges of the fortified villages. The idea behind the construction of these fortified villages was not that they were invincible, but rather that they would inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, making them believe that attacking the fortified villages was a losing proposition, and thus causing them to abandon the idea of ​​besieging them.

However, Lu Bu's army is currently using refugees to attack cities. In other words, this is an investment without any initial investment. Lu Bu's army only needs to provide some food to obtain a fearless and valiant force.

Even though Zhang Liao had seen countless people with no bottom line, he still felt uncomfortable seeing this scene: if the fortified village was not captured, the refugees would keep dying; if it was captured, the people inside the fortified village would be captured to attack the next fortified village, and they would die anyway.

But he had no choice. The Bingzhou army was so poor that if he told his soldiers to stop trying to make extra money, they might suddenly get shot in the back during the next battle.

Yuan Shu's regime can now be said to be completely dead. Only in Shouchun are there still people who listen to the orders of Yuan Shu's military leaders. The two major foundations on which he relied for survival—his large loyal army and the powerful clans that cooperated with him—have both been directly or indirectly destroyed by Liu Bei.

When it rains, it pours; when the boat is broken, it encounters a headwind.

Wu Jing, Sun Ben, and others who had previously abandoned Ji Ling and fled south all the way to Guangling. Wu Jing had already made up his mind to betray Yuan on the way and had notified his family in advance to come to Guangling.

"Uncle, do we really have to do this?" Sun Ben had never doubted Wu Jing on the battlefield, but now he was more afraid than ever before.

Wu Jing knew that the die was cast and there was no turning back. Abandoning his teammates and running away was no small crime, and the warrant for his arrest might already be in the hands of the garrison commander.

"There's no other way, let's just do it."

……

At this moment, the garrison commander of Guangling was heading to the banquet with his guards. He didn't find anything strange about it. It wasn't easy to save his life, so celebrating was the right thing to do.

Upon entering, all his guards were relegated to other seats reserved for those of lower status, while he was led into the room alone by a servant.

Upon entering the house, the guard tried to run out, but the door was immediately closed.

Although the room was brightly lit, everyone was wearing armor, and even an idiot would know that something was wrong.

The garrison commander knew that today's outcome was likely dire, but he still steeled himself and looked at Wu Jing, saying, "Does Lord Wu intend to kill me?"

Wu Jingdian nodded: "Yes, Yuan Shu's reckless command led to today's disastrous defeat. This man has always shirked responsibility, and he will surely come to take my life one day. I was forced into this situation."

The garrison commander sighed and said, "I understand Lord Wu's intentions, but I hope you will not make things difficult for my family. I have one more thing to say: what you rise to power through is what you will also perish through. That's all I have to say. I hope you take care, Lord Wu."

Wu Jing did not answer, but stepped forward and stabbed the guard to death with his sword. He then ordered that the guard's entire family be exterminated immediately.

Wu Jing followed Sun Jian back then, learning Sun Jian's command skills bit by bit, and now it's time to put them to use.

First, eliminate the guards of the general in the side room. After that, all the troops should immediately go to the targets that their respective teams are responsible for and take control of important targets such as the state capital, armory, and city gates.

In less than half an hour, Wu Jing had wiped out all the resistance forces in the city.

At the same time, Wu Jing's documents were also being rushed to the recipient, Sun Ce.

Wu Jing didn't think he was cut out to be a leader; on the contrary, he had high hopes for his nephew, Sun Ce. Previously, when Sun Ce tried to persuade him to join him in developing Jiangdong, Wu Jing had refused, feeling the risks were too great. Now, it seemed his nephew's judgment was correct; associating with Yuan Shu would only lead to further decline.

The reason for writing this letter to Sun Ce is that he hopes to join Sun Ce's forces, and he will consider Guangling City as a gift to his nephew.