The waiters in the banquet hall dispersed like birds and beasts, and were replaced by groups of warriors holding swords and shields.
"How brave!"
When Li Shu's lieutenant saw that Liu Ye actually dared to assassinate Li Shu, he came directly with a sharp sword and wanted to stab Liu Ye to death to avenge Li Shu.
Liu Ye pulled the dagger out of Li Shu's chest, and in a hurry to meet the enemy, his jaws were numb from the shock, and the dagger was also ejected.
Seeing that he was about to die on the spot, He Yan quickly pulled out the ring knife from Li Shu's waist and stabbed the deputy general in the waist with lightning flashes.
"Ding dong!"
There was a sound of metal colliding. Although He Yan's ring-headed sword did not pierce the deputy general's armor, it still caused his body to tilt, giving Liu Ye time to get out of the way.
"You deserve to die too!"
When the deputy general saw He Yan running away, he looked back and slashed at He Yan's neck with another knife.
He Yan did not dodge at all, and after stabilizing his lower body, he raised his knife to block the blow.
"Do you really want to kill me?"
Naturally, He Yan's strength was not as good as that of the battle-hardened lieutenant on the opposite side, but He Yan's momentum was astonishingly strong at this moment.
He Yan was seen lying on his sword with both hands, glaring at the deputy general: "Sun's army is outside the city! Sikong's reinforcements are also in the north! If you dare to kill me, you will be attacked from two sides, and you will definitely die!"
"It's true that Li Shu wants to separate the Lujiang River, but you are just seeking wealth! Instead of tying your head to your belt, why not lead your soldiers to surrender to Duke Cao? With your contribution to a county, say less.
It’s also the title of a Marquis within a Pass, isn’t it better than following Li Shu?”
The deputy general's anger just now was actually just a kind of fear. He was afraid that he would be liquidated by the Sun family after Li Shu's death, so he wanted to kill the culprit who killed Li Shu first out of desperation.
But now after hearing He Yan's words, the deputy general's head started to turn, and the strength in his hands became much lighter.
He Yan felt the other party's hesitation, so he directly put away the Huanshou knife and threw it aside.
"The general is not a person who doesn't know the general situation. How much achievements can you make by following Li Shu? Why not take this opportunity to serve the imperial court? With the imperial court's blessing, your family can be stable even in troubled times. Why not receive such treatment?
Why?"
If you are willing to be a lieutenant general, this person's ambition will not be too big.
The best way to deal with someone who has little ambition is to give him a stable job and support his family at the same time.
This trick is basically a sure thing!
The lieutenant general's face was uncertain, but after thinking about the hard and fierce battles of the past few days, he chose to throw away his weapon and presented He Yan with the military talisman and the letter and seal of the Lujiang prefect.
"Open the city gate! Let my soldiers in!"
He Yan asked Liu Ye to lead the soldiers to recover the soldiers in Wan County. He Yan gathered a group of senior officials in Lujiang City together and read the emperor's edict in front of them——
"Li Shu, the prefect of Lujiang, was killed. He engaged in serious provocations. He was deposed or used for justice. He attacked and killed the governor. His crime is unforgivable! I am here to order Captain He Yan of Yao to punish him!"
After reading one letter, He Yan took out another imperial edict appointing Liu Ye as the prefect of Lujiang and read it out.
After reading the two edicts, these senior officials learned about Li Shu's death.
Although they were frightened, but now that Cao Jun had entered the city, and there were Xu Hu and Xu Bao guarding He Yan, they naturally did not dare to move.
"Everyone."
After He Yan read the edict, he also gave reassurance to these Li Shu's old subordinates: "Li Shu's crime lies with one person and has nothing to do with the others! Anyone who reports on Li Shu's family will not only be innocent, but will be rewarded!"
Having said that, everyone understands it.
Without He Yan's orders, they rushed to Li Shu's mansion and dragged out all Li Shu's family members.
In addition to family members, there are also Li Shu’s clan members, brothers, and uncles.
These people were placed in various secret positions in the army by Li Shu. After they were eliminated, the army in Anhui County had no backbone and was completely reduced to fish to be slaughtered.
Dozens of Li Shu's family members were taken to the prefect's mansion and all beheaded in public display.
The bloody scene made those who had other thoughts give up their minds and stayed in the crowd, not daring to show their faces.
With He Yan's iron-blooded skills and Liu Ye's reputation in Lujiang County, Cao Jun quickly took control of the situation in Anhui County and replaced all the flags on the wall with his own flags.
…
"Damn it!"
Zhou Yu, who had been paying attention to the developments in Wan County outside, soon saw the fluttering flag, and immediately punched the surrounding tree stumps in frustration.
"Li Shu, that loser!"
What should Sun Quan do if he changes his banner?
You can fight Li Shu however you want, and Cao Cao will turn a blind eye.
But if Yuzhang has become Cao Cao's territory, and Sun Quan goes up to fight, then he will not take Cao Cao, or even Han Ting, seriously.
Sun Quan also hurried over after hearing the news, and looked gloomy after confirming that He Yan's flag had indeed flown in Wan County.
We can't continue fighting in Wan County!
In other words... this Lujiang County will also fall into the hands of others!
That's not the worst.
Sun Quan's attack on Li Shu was originally intended to establish his power, and its political significance was greater than its strategic significance.
If Li Shu is captured, it will definitely scare some Xiaoxiao and make the forces in Jiangdong afraid to cause trouble.
Taking advantage of this gap, Sun Quan also had a chance to breathe, resolve the conflicts within his forces little by little, and stabilize his political power.
But now that the peach has been picked, who knows what those people in Jiangdong will think?
You must know that since Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, many people have secretly contacted Cao Cao, hoping to offer Jiangdong.
Now that He Yan has come to capture Lujiang without any bloodshed, doesn't this further demonstrate Cao Cao's power? Wouldn't such an action embolden the arrogance of those who surrendered?
Sun Quan gritted his teeth and came up with a vicious plan that was not suitable for his age: "Gong Jin! How about we pretend not to know and take advantage of the changes in the city to directly attack Wan County!"
"As long as He Yan is kept here and the charges are framed on Li Shu... then the final winner will still be us!"
Zhou Yu was a little moved by what Sun Quan said, but after thinking about it for a while, he still gave up this exciting proposal.
"Even if we can capture Wan County and kill He Yan, what will happen to his remaining soldiers?"
Although the soldiers He Yan brought were not many, they were definitely many.
As long as one person is missed and brings what happened in Lujiang County back to Xuchang, it will be an absolute nightmare to welcome Sun Quan!
Cao Cao and Sun Quan's quarrel was nothing more than opening up one more battlefield.
But if Sun Quan and Cao Cao break up, what will happen to him will be absolute disaster.
Sun's small political power was originally unstable. If he continued to provoke Cao Cao at this time, it could only be said to be asking for death.
"What should we do?"
Sun Quan also ran out of ideas, his eyes wandering aimlessly, obviously thinking of the consequences of the failure of this battle.
"This matter can't possibly end like this!"
Zhou Yu had already come out of his previous depression, staring intently at the flag over Wan County.
"He Yan, he must give us an explanation!"
Zhou Yu has a delicate appearance, but in fact he is extremely strong in his heart.
Now that there is nothing we can do about Li Shu's matter, we must think of other ways to help Sun Quan rule Jiangdong.
otherwise……
"The worst possible outcome is that the fish will die and the net will be broken!"
——————————
——————————
"hehe."
"He, Zhou Yu, really regards Yangzhou as his territory? How dare he write a letter to question me?"
At this time, He Yan, who had taken control of Wan County, sat across from him in the prefect's mansion and handed the letter in his hand to Liu Ye.
Liu Ye took it and took a look and found that Zhou Yu's letter did not mention anything about Li Shu. Instead, it was a letter bragging about He Yan.
The letter focused on describing He Yan's achievements in the Battle of Guandu, with such gorgeous rhetoric that it even put Liu Ye to shame.
However, Liu Ye also understood Zhou Yu's little thoughts after reading it. He couldn't help stroking his beard and said with a smile: "What a Zhou Gongjin, he actually dares to threaten Sikong at this time. It seems that he is really forced to have no choice."
Zhou Yu's letter, on the surface, is praising He Yan, but in fact, it is a reminder to He Yan——
"Your biggest enemy now is still Yuan Shao!"
No matter how beautifully He Yan did it, Yuan Shao was still the behemoth dominating Hebei and the force most capable of threatening Cao Cao.
He Yan has now rashly intervened in the south, and he undoubtedly cannot distinguish priorities.
Taking Lujiang will not only not help defeat Yuan Shao, but will also cause Sun and Cao Cao to turn against each other. Such consequences need to be carefully considered!
"Zhou Gongjin was still rational. He did not directly send troops to capture Wan County, but planned to use diplomacy."
"The question is...if I wasn't prepared, how could Sikong allow me to come to Lujiang?"
He Yan touched the other edict in his arms and smiled knowingly with Liu Ye.
"Since we have captured Lujiang County, there is no reason to let it go! Sun Quan and Zhou Yu don't have such great dignity!"
"However, it would be very annoying if these people were allowed to cause trouble behind my back."
Now that He Yan has captured Lujiang County, it can only be considered as completing half of the task.
The remaining half is to ensure that the Sun family continues to stay in Jiangdong obediently and not to cause trouble while Boss Cao is unifying the north.
"Brother Ziyang, I will leave Wan County to you for the time being. If you encounter any trouble, just go directly to Mr. Yuanying. Sikong must have already greeted him."
Duke Yuan Ying was Liu Fu, the second governor of Yangzhou appointed by Cao Cao after Yan Xiang.
Although due to the relationship between the Sun family, the Yangzhou controlled by Liu Fu was only in Jiujiang County, north of the Yangtze River, but this does not mean that Liu Fu was not capable enough to govern a state.
After Liu Fu became the governor of Yangzhou, he began to develop production and build water conservancy projects, which greatly restored the prosperity of the Jianghuai area.
In particular, in order to guard against the Sun family, Liu Fu specifically changed the administrative seat of Yangzhou to Hefei, and built Hefei into a lifelong nightmare for Sun Quan...
With Liu Fu's help, stabilizing Lujiang County is just a piece of cake, so He Yan can safely complete his task——