"General, something bad has happened!" Han Qiong was lost in thought when he saw a general rushing into the tent and loudly said: "Then Huang Zhong suddenly brought troops and horses to the outside of the camp and claimed that he wanted to see the general."
"I know." Han Qiong stood up slowly and sighed: "You guys will guard the camp, and I will go out to see him alone."
"General, if Huang Zhong is not good for you..." a general said worriedly.
"Then surrender." Han Qiong said a little tiredly. Once the army was defeated, even if he returned to Yuan Shao's side, I'm afraid it would be of little use. Thinking about Zhang He's situation, he might be accused of collaborating with the enemy.
In addition, Guangzong fell, his own army was destroyed by Gao Shun, Chu Nan's siege of Li Yang and Chaoge was completed, the Jizhou army's north-south communication was completely cut off, and there was no way to go back. In fact, the outcome was already doomed.
He asked his guards to put on his armor, mounted his horse, and rode out of the camp gate. He saw the Black Mountain Army led by Huang Zhong in the distance. Only Huang Zhong was waiting in front of the camp. Under the night, Huang Zhong looked at
I look high-spirited, just like myself ten years ago.
"Old general, Huang is so polite!" Huang Zhong cupped his fists at Han Qiong and said, "Looking at the general's expression, he should know what happened."
"It's a good idea. I don't want me to fight all my life, only to suffer such a huge defeat at the end." Han Qiong sighed and said with a lonely look on his face.
"The battle has been fought to this day, and it is no longer the fault of the general." Huang Zhong looked at this veteran who was older than himself, and said with emotion: "Old general, you and I have also lived a lifetime. There are some things that we should be able to look away from.
Today I won’t talk about whether Yuan Shao is the master of the Ming Dynasty or how good my lord is. Considering the current situation, the general has tried his best. The one who kills Yuan Shao is not my lord, let alone me, but God’s will. Since God’s destiny is like this,
The general trend has been achieved, the veteran has tried his best, and now Yuan Shao's general trend is over, why do you want to go against the trend with this residual body?"
Han Qiong looked at Huang Zhong and shook his head with a smile: "I have come to this point, and I don't ask for anything else. I just want to leave a good reputation so that future generations can't hold their heads up."
"That's wrong!" Huang Zhong shook his head and said: "As the saying goes, good birds choose trees to roost, and good ministers choose their masters to serve. The general has fulfilled his duty as a minister, why should he sacrifice his life? My lord and Yuan Shaozhi
Struggle, in the final analysis, is just a quarrel between princes, not for national justice, and the loyalty of generals is actually foolish loyalty!"
"Furthermore, the generals under my lord are as good as those who have crossed the river. Which one has a bad reputation?" Huang Zhong said seriously: "Does the general have any heirs or grandchildren? Does it mean that the general only wants to be loyal to Yuan Shao, but does not want to see his children and grandchildren get married and establish a career?
"
At Han Qiong's age, not to mention his sons, his grandsons all have sons. Although the Han family is not a wealthy family, it is also a family of generals in Jizhou. It would be a lie to say that they don't want to enjoy the happiness of a family for a few days. The older a person is, the more likely they are to have sons.
The more you pursue a family full of children and grandchildren.
Han Qiong was silent.
"The general should also live for himself. Our lord has always been good at surrendering generals. The general should know this. Besides, the general should also know about Yuan Shao and Zhang He. Even if the general is sent back, can Yuan Shao really treat the general well?
To be held accountable for defeat? If the family is implicated because of this, why should the general suffer?"
"Stop talking." Han Qiong sighed, looked at Huang Zhong and said, "The general is willing to surrender! But there is one request!"
"General, please speak!" Huang Zhongsurong said.
"First, if there is a decisive battle with Mr. Yuan, the veteran will not be able to take action against Mr. Yuan; second, the veteran hopes that after this battle, the blood of Mr. Yuan can be preserved and the blood of Mr. Yuan will not be cut off." Han Qiong Surong said.
"The first one is easy to say. My lord will never force others to do anything. As for the second one, I'm sorry that I can't make the decision. Why don't you, general, follow me back to Yecheng and ask your lord face to face?" Huang Zhong said seriously.
"Okay!" Seeing that Huang Zhong did not agree directly, Han Qiong was relieved. If he directly accepted everything, Han Qiong would not be able to believe him.
At that moment, Han Qiong asked the camp to open the door and surrender. Until now, Han Qiong's troops have been losing consecutively and their morale was not high. In addition, now that Ye City has been destroyed, people are panicked. Now that Han Qiong has chosen to surrender, most people feel relieved.
The feeling of taking a breath.
After collecting the surrendered troops, Huang Zhong sent someone to inform Gao Shun that Gao Shun would take over Guantao and that Han Qiong had surrendered. Gao Shun's next task was to block the north-south connection between Jizhou and Huang Zhong returned with Han Qiong and the surrendered troops.
Yecheng returned to Chunan.
Yecheng, General's Mansion.
When Huang Zhong returned, it was already the third day after Han Qiong surrendered.
"Don't worry, old general, I'm not a bloodthirsty person. If not for Yuan Gong's aggression, this battle wouldn't have happened today. The eldest son Yuan Tan and I are still close friends. Let's not talk about it. Even if we think about our old friendship, we will never fight again.
I will not take action against him, and even if Mr. Yuan is willing to surrender, I will never kill him!"
With Yuan Shao's pride, he probably won't surrender.
Han Qiong sighed secretly and saluted Chu Nan: "In this way, I will thank you on behalf of Lord Yuan."
"Old General, there is no need to be polite." After Chu Nan bowed to him, he stood up and helped him up and said, "I have something I want to ask the old general for help with."
"My lord, please speak," Han Qiong said, cupping her fists.
"Zhang He and Zhang Junyi, I heard that he once learned shooting from the old general?" Chu Nan asked with a smile.
"Well, I have many years, and most of the generals in the army have had some shootings. Junyi is very talented and has studied with the veteran for three years. However, his marksmanship is a family tradition, so the veteran only has some shootings to keep him away.
There are some detours." Han Qiong nodded. As the oldest general in the Jizhou Army, his official position may not be the highest, but most generals have to call him teacher.
"I love Jun Yi very much, but unfortunately he has been living in seclusion since he left Yuan Shao. He has nothing to do. Can the old general introduce him to you? Whether he succeeds or not, he will be credited to the old general." Chu Nan said with a smile.
Thanks to Han Qiong, he was not in a hurry to attack Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan. He first took advantage of what he could get at the moment.
"How dare you take credit for such a trivial matter?" Han Qiong said quickly.
"To the general, it may be a small matter, but to me, it is a big general." Chu Nan stood up and said with a smile, "This is a big deal!"
"Okay, I don't know when my lord will be free. I will take my lord to find Junyi." Han Qiong said, cupping his fists.
"I'm free now, please ask the old general to lead the way!" Chu Nan said with a smile.
So urgent?
Han Qiong was somewhat impressed by Chu Nan's attitude towards talents, so she took Chu Nan and Huang Zhong out of Yecheng and walked east for about thirty miles to find a villa.
"This is Jun Yi's family home in Yecheng. His ancestral home is Hejian. After he surrendered to Duke Yuan, he brought his family to Yecheng and bought a property here." Han Qiong explained to Chu Nan as they walked.
This was regarded as the Zhang family being locked up. Chu Nan nodded in understanding and followed Han Qiong to a mansion and exchanged names. After a while, Zhang He came out quickly.
"Teacher is not fighting on the front line, why are you here..." Zhang He was quite surprised to see Han Qiong, but when he saw Huang Zhong, his expression changed.
"I lost, and now I have surrendered to my lord." Han Qiong sighed, looked at Zhang He and said helplessly.
"Teacher, are you here to capture me?" Zhang He took a step back and said harshly.
"No," Chu Nan said with a smile, "I am here just to visit General Zhang, and I have no intention of offending him. If General Zhang does not want to see us, I will leave now without any further disturbance!"
"This is..." Zhang He looked at Chu Nan. He was obviously the youngest among the three, but it felt to Zhang He that he was the one who made the final decision among the three. Although he was young, he had an imposing figure, even though he had a gentle smile.
, but there is always a sense of oppression when looking around, making people dare not look directly.
"Chun Nan, the general should have heard this." Chu Nan smiled.
"Chu... Your Majesty?" Zhang He's eyes narrowed.
"I feel thirsty after walking all the way. The general just doesn't want to let me wait in. Can you give me a bowl of water?" Chu Nan said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, please!" Zhang He stepped aside with complicated eyes, made an invitation gesture, welcomed the three of them into his home, and ordered his servants to serve them drinks.
"Thank you!" Chu Nan looked at the surrounding environment and said with a smile: "I have also heard about the general. Do you have any plans in the future?"
Zhang He's eyes were a little complicated. He didn't expect that when he met Chu Nan for the first time, he would actually be in such a friendly atmosphere. Hearing this, he shook his head, looked at Chu Nan and said, "There is something I want to ask you."
"About rumors?" Chu Nan smiled.
Zhang He nodded: "But what did you do?"
"Well, I ordered him to take a walk." Chu Nan nodded: "As an opponent, is it wrong to do this?"
Seeing Chu Nan admitting so frankly, Zhang He didn't know what to say. After a long time, he said: "Your Majesty is a hero in this world, how could you carry out such a conspiracy?"
"First of all, I am not a hero. I have already told many people. Secondly, this is a war. I was in the enemy's camp with Yuan Shao at the time. The general was the only general beside Yuan Shao. I tried to alienate the relationship between you and your ministers. What's wrong with this?
?This plan is considered a common thing among any princes. Under my rule, there are still many rumors about me trying to instigate my father-in-law's power and evade my father-in-law. It should also be Yuan Shao's handiwork. In terms of viciousness, these rumors are even more vicious. Why doesn't the general condemn Yuan Shao?
Chu Nan looked at Zhang He and said.
Fighting with etiquette, and even informing the other party before fighting, are the rules of aristocratic fighting in the Spring and Autumn Period. Don't say it is noble or despicable. War has never been noble. War itself always brings pain and misfortune, so
It is unreasonable to require the enemy to follow propriety, justice and integrity on the battlefield.
If Chu Nan had followed the so-called rules and gentleman's etiquette in everything he did, it would have been impossible for him to have grown from a mere merchant to the position where he now dominates the world.
"If Yuan Shao believes you, the general doesn't need to care about these rumors at all. But if he doesn't believe you, the result will be the same whether there are these rumors or not. It's just that these rumors give him an excuse." Chu Nan looked at Zhang He and sighed: "You
My hands are stained with blood, so the general won't be so naive, right?"
Zhang He nodded bitterly. He understood the truth, but it was still a little uncomfortable for Chu Nan to say it so bluntly.
"The general is now white. It was Yuan Shao who personally drove you out. So I came to the south today to sincerely invite the general to join me. Don't worry, the general will not take action against Yuan Shao. I can guarantee this. I don't know the general's intentions."
How about it?" Chu Nan looked at Zhang He and said with a smile.
What else?
If only Han Qiong comes to persuade, Zhang He may not agree. Even if the relationship between the two parties is good, Chu Nan personally comes to invite him. In his current capacity, Chu Nan invites him in person, which is already enough sincerity. If Zhang He really has no intention of pursuing an official career, he will not agree.
That's fine, but Zhang He was still young, so he was naturally not willing to live in seclusion in the mountains for the rest of his life. Chu Nan showed his sincerity, and Zhang He was now white, so he naturally had no reason to refuse.
"I am willing to serve my lord!" After a moment of silence, Zhang He saluted Chu Nan.
Chu Nan smiled. With Han Qiong and Zhang He, two people who have great influence in the Jizhou army, although they cannot deal with Yuan Shao, they can deal with Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan. With the two of them joining, Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan can also