Chapter 114: The tacit understanding between Chen Deng and Lu Yan
Chen Deng was born into the Pi Chen family. His great-grandfather served as the prefect of Guanghan. His grandfather Chen Qiu was a famous scholar in the late Han Dynasty.
Xiaolian was appointed as the magistrate of Dongyang County.
Although he was young and came from an aristocratic family, it was rare that he was able to understand the sentiments of the people, care for the weak and raise orphans, and won the respect of the people.
Chen Deng's father, Chen Gui, even had some relationship with the Yuan family of the Fourth and Third Dukes. When Yuan Shu first proclaimed himself emperor, he wrote a letter to Chen Gui and Chen Deng, hoping that they would help him in the past. He would be a high-ranking official with great honors and wealth.
Next words.
But in the eyes of Chen Gui and others, Yuan Shu is just a grasshopper after autumn, and he won't be able to jump around for long.
Although Yuan Shu took Chen Gui's second son as a hostage, he was eventually scolded by Chen Gui, and the two sides formed a grudge.
Chen Deng had the ambition to help the world and the people when he was young. More importantly, Chen Deng was a practical man, not a "celebrity" like Kong Rong who could only talk.
Before the Battle of Pengcheng, what everyone saw was Chen Deng's ability to govern the local area and conduct diplomacy. After being appointed as the prefect of Pengcheng by Liu Bei, after experiencing the siege of Pengcheng, he unexpectedly showed his super military ability.
.
The Chen family originally supported Liu Bei, otherwise Liu Bei would not be able to take the position of Xuzhou Mu.
But because Chen Deng was the most important member of the family, Liu Bei was afraid to reveal his true feelings, so he just made him the prefect and did not enter his decision-making circle.
Chen Deng was not angry at all, he just did his job diligently and professionally.
Chen Gui and Chen Deng had actually seen through Chen Gong's previous scheme, but they did not take action to destroy it because it did not harm their fundamental interests.
Now it seems that Cao Cao is unstoppable.
Although Cao Cao suppressed the gentry, there were many emerging things, which also provided various opportunities for the gentry to supplement and grow. Chen Deng and his son had extraordinary eyes, and of course they could see the opportunities.
Therefore, compared to Liu Bei and Yuan Shu, Chen Deng felt that Cao Cao's victory over Xuzhou might be a better result.
Yuan Shu's four armies besieged Pengcheng. Chen Deng relied on his own strength and the full help of the people to barely block Yuan's army's siege.
But if this continues, within half a month, Pengcheng will definitely be destroyed due to lack of food and people will die.
Just when Chen Deng was worried, suddenly a messenger came to report: "Report! Prefect! There is an army outside the city fighting with Yuan's army!"
Chen Deng stood up suddenly and asked, "Can you tell which army it is?"
In fact, Chen Deng had already vaguely guessed in his mind that in this situation, who else would be there besides Cao Jun?
Sure enough, the messenger said: "It is the flag of Cao and Xiahou!"
"Xiahou Dun?!" Chen Deng was very surprised, "Wasn't he defeated by Ji Ling?"
"Could it be Xia Houyuan?" But Chen Deng quickly shook his head.
Just when Chen Dengzheng was confused, the messenger suddenly remembered something and said: "Go back to the prefect, I also saw the big flag with the word "Lu"!"
"Lu!!!" Chen Deng was suddenly shocked. There was only one leading general named Lu in Cao's army!
He immediately blurted out: "It's Lu Yan who's here!!!"
"That's right! It must be Lu Yan!" Chen Deng's thinking suddenly became clear. "Lu Yan must have reunited with the defeated Xiahou Dun as quickly as possible, then defeated Ji Ling, captured Xiaopei, and finally came to Pengcheng!"
"If it's Lu Yan, Ji Ling is really no match for him!"
"Prefect, what should we do?" the messenger asked.
Before Chen Deng could reply, another messenger came in and reported: "Report! Prefect, that army retreated after charging for a while."
Chen Deng frowned, a little confused, "What is Lu Yan doing? He just made contact with Yuan Jun and then withdrew???"
Suddenly, a flash of lightning seemed to flash across Chen Deng's mind, and he quickly asked: "How many people are there in Cao's army?"
"It seems that there are less than 10,000 infantry and cavalry."
"It seems that Lu Yan only brought a small number of troops to join Xiahou Dun. Their manpower may be somewhat insufficient..." Chen Deng murmured to himself, lost in thought.
But Chen Deng still thought through the joints, "I know, they are greeting me and telling me that they have arrived!"
"Report! Prefect, a sharpshooter in Cao's army shot up a letter!" The third messenger came to report.
Chen Deng quickly took it. After reading it, he laughed and said: "Sure enough! Cao Jun wants me to cooperate inside and outside!"
"But you, Lu Yan, are so sure that I will help you?" Chen Deng was a little curious. He didn't know why Lu Yan was so sure that he would help Cao Cao.
But no matter how Chen Deng weighed the pros and cons, in the end, only cooperation with Cao Jun could maximize the benefits. Chen Deng said with a helpless smile: "For the sake of the family... I was pinched to death by Lu Yan..."
Chen Deng only had a few small school commanders under his command and no capable generals, but this also gave him the opportunity to use his ingenuity.
After walking back and forth in the hall several times, a plan slowly took shape in Chen Deng's mind, "Come here, go and summon the generals to discuss matters!"
"Here!"
...
Huang Zhong shot the letter written by Lu Yan onto the city wall from a distance of two hundred steps. Such a sharp shot shocked Xiahoulan, "Huang Zhong's archery skills are probably rare in the world, and there is also Wei Yan.
..Where did you find so many monsters, sir?”
Even Zhao Yun, who is also a top archer, couldn't help but feel ashamed after seeing Huang Zhong's archery skills. After hearing Xia Houlan's emotion, he also said: "Not only rare, I'm afraid it is the best in the world!"
"
"But Chen Deng may not be such a powerful marksman. How could he pass on the letter?" Xiahou Dun asked.
"There is no need for him to spread the word. Our intentions have been conveyed to Chen Deng. He naturally knows how to act." Lu Yan's confidence in Chen Deng surprised the people around him.
Xun You has long known that Lu Yan has a unique skill in recognizing people. Whether it was Zhao Yun, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia in the early days, or Huang Zhong and Wei Yan recently, they are all top talents.
He seems to have an indescribable and somewhat inexplicable confidence in Chen Deng now. Then maybe Chen Deng is really a great talent who has not yet revealed himself.
The next day.
Yuan Shu's four armies once again approached Pengcheng.
However, Chen Deng ordered his soldiers to cease their troops and drums to show the enemy's weakness, and then sent someone to deliver his letter of surrender.
After Zhang Xun, Li Feng, Lejiu, and Chen Ji took turns reading Chen Deng's letter asking for surrender, they couldn't help but look at each other in awe.
"You think... how much of what Chen Deng said is true and how false?" Zhang Xun asked hesitantly, holding the surrender letter.
"Cao's army only showed up yesterday, and Chen Deng surrenders today? I'm afraid it's a scam!" Chen Ji replied.
"But Chen Deng said that he deeply hated Cao Jun and would rather give up Pengcheng to the lord than to that Cao thief. I think it is somewhat credible." Li Feng put forward his own idea.
"Cao Cao suppressed the aristocratic family, and Chen Deng did not want to associate with Cao Cao. It is indeed understandable." Le was in line with Li Feng's thoughts.
Now it was 2 to 2, and the situation fell into a see-saw moment.
The four leaders of the Yuan Army were having a heated discussion about the value of this letter of surrender. Over there, on the city tower, Chen Deng was carefully observing the enemy's formation.
Chen Deng had people deliberately spread the news that he wanted to surrender. Yuan Jun's soldiers did not know whether it was true or not, but the tense atmosphere before the war gradually disappeared.