Guan Yu was shocked. When he turned around to look, he saw Liu Bei's raised hand slowly lowering it. Hundreds of archers emerged from the mountains and forests on both sides, all soldiers from Pingyuan County.
Liu Bei waved his hand, told the soldiers to retreat, and put his horse forward.
Guan Yu recovered from the shock and asked: "Brother, Sun Jian has promised to hand over the jade seal, and I have promised to let him go. Why do you still order him to be shot to death?"
Even when Guan Yu forced Sun Jian to the river, Liu Bei had already arrived with his army. Seeing that the surrounding terrain was conducive to hiding, he ordered the archers to sneak into the mountains and forests to watch his gestures. Guan Yu and Sun Jian were both focused.
The opponent did not notice Liu Bei's actions at all. Just when Sun Jian was about to hand over the jade seal and relax his vigilance, Liu Bei suddenly ordered an arrow to be fired. In an instant, Sun Jian was hit by dozens of arrows and died on the spot.
Liu Bei heard some complaints in Guan Yu's words, but he was not annoyed and said calmly: "Sun Jian himself said that if he had a jade seal to pass down the country, he would be pierced by thousands of arrows and die. I just helped him fulfill his oath.
"
As he spoke, he came to Sun Jian's body and jumped off the horse. He saw Sun Jian's eyes staring, and he never closed his eyes until his death. His left hand was still tightly grasping a yellow cloth package around his waist. Liu Bei forcefully opened Sun Jian's fingers.
He took the package and opened it gently. Inside was a small vermilion box. Inside the box was a four-inch jade seal with five dragons carved on it. A corner was missing on the side, which was inlaid with gold. There were eight.
Seal characters: If you receive orders from Heaven, you will live a long and prosperous life.
Seeing these words, Liu Bei's eyes shone, and his hand holding the jade seal began to tremble involuntarily.
Guan Yu also dismounted and came closer. He did not look at the jade seal in Liu Bei's hand. Instead, he bowed deeply to Sun Jian's body. Then he turned to Liu Bei and said, "Brother, should we give the jade seal to Yuan Shao first?"
?”
Liu Bei was still immersed in inexplicable excitement. It was not until Guan Yu asked again that he came back to his senses and said seriously: "No! Yun Chang, can't you see that Yuan Shao and those princes already have different ideas?
"Putting the jade seal in their hands is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. I will look for opportunities to hand it over to the emperor with my own hands."
Guan Yu thought for a while and felt that what Liu Bei said made sense, so he nodded and said: "Then let's go back now and don't let Lord Kong and the others worry."
Liu Bei played with the jade seal for a while, then carefully put it back into the box, wrapped it in yellow cloth, hid it around his waist, got on his horse, and said to Guan Yu: "The fact that the jade seal is in my hands must not be leaked.
Come out to avoid attracting the secret hands of the princes."
Guan Yu also jumped on his horse and said: "If Lord Kong and others ask about Sun Jian's whereabouts, how will we answer?"
As Liu Bei rode his horse forward, he said without thinking: "I just said that I couldn't catch up and he escaped."
But Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang were attacked by the Xuzhou Army and the Northern Navy. They broke out in separate ways. It was not until more than an hour later that they reunited. There were only a dozen cavalry left, and all of them were injured.
, especially Han Dang was the most seriously injured, his face was pale and even his mind was a little unclear. As for Sun Jian, he didn't know where he had fled.
Cheng Pu and Huang Gai did not dare to be careless. While helping Han Dang bandage his wounds, they looked around for Sun Jian's whereabouts. Along the way, dozens of remnant soldiers were gathered one after another. Some of the surviving soldiers pointed to the dense forest in front and said
It seemed that they saw their lord being chased and escaping into the forest. Cheng Pu and Huang Gai didn't care about rest, and immediately led everyone into the forest. Han Dang, who had just recovered some strength, also held on.
Searching in the forest.
Suddenly, the soldiers in front shouted loudly: "Come quickly, my lord, my lord has already..."
Before the soldier could finish his words, he was already bursting into tears. Cheng Pu and others were all worried and hurried over, only to see Sun Jian's body covered with arrows on the beach by the river. With the support of these arrows, his body was not injured.
He fell down and remained in a half-kneeling position.
When Cheng Pu saw this, he shouted: "Lord!" His eyes darkened and he fainted.
Huang Gai endured his grief, stepped forward, reached out and wiped Sun Jian's face, and closed his eyes, but tears were already streaming down his face.
The city of Xuzhou was full of joy and laughter. Tao Qian hosted a banquet in the hall to entertain Kong Rong, Liu Bei and his party. All the civil and military officials in Xuzhou were very excited about today's victory. They drank happily and frequently paid tribute to Kong Rong, Liu Bei and others.
People were toasting, but Tao Qian frowned and sighed.
Kong Rong asked in confusion: "Sun Jian has been defeated, why is Tao Shijun still frowning?"
Tao Qian sighed: "Although we won a great victory this time, Sun Jian and others all fled and the jade seal could not be retrieved. Sun Jian is a brave man and will never swallow this bad breath. He will definitely come back when he regains his strength in the future."
Revenge. We in Xuzhou lack good generals, how can we resist in the future? Just because Tao was careless for a moment, the entire city's soldiers and civilians were harmed. How could Tao tolerate this!"
After Liu Bei heard this, he came up with a plan. He stood up and saluted and said: "Shijun Tao, don't worry. Liu's brother Guan Yu is very brave, and Sun Jian is definitely not his opponent. If you can trust Liu, Liu is willing to stay."
Come down and help the envoy guard Xuzhou."
Tao Qian couldn't help but be overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, gave a deep salute and said, "It is a blessing to the soldiers and people of Xuzhou that Mr. Liu is willing to step forward. Tao is here to thank Mr. Liu for the soldiers and people of the whole state."
Liu Bei hurriedly supported Tao Qian and said, "Liu is also a member of the Han clan. It is his duty to protect the country and the people."
Ever since he told the princes meeting that he was a member of the Han clan, he always talked about this identity, as if he was not reminding others, but worried that he would forget it. However, as soon as he said it now, he
Thinking of Liu Xin, she couldn't help but blush slightly. She glanced at Kong Rong secretly and saw that he had no reaction, so she felt relieved.
Unexpectedly, Tao Qian was so excited that he took Liu Bei's hand and said, "Tao is old, weak, sick, and overwhelmed. Although he has two sons, he has no talents. Liu Gong is a descendant of the imperial family and has a reputation far and wide.
Tao is willing to take leave to recuperate and give up the position of state pastor to Liu Gong, and I hope Liu Gong will not refuse."
Liu Bei offered to help Tao Qian guard Xuzhou, but he just wanted to find a place to stay first, and then gradually plot his plans. Unexpectedly, Tao Qian actually offered to give up his position, which surprised him. Liu Bei's mouth twitched slightly, and he almost
He was about to agree, but suddenly he remembered that these were Tao Qian's probing words, and hurriedly said: "Liu came to help Tao Shijun out of loyalty, how could he take it for himself instead? Wouldn't he be laughed at by everyone in the world? This matter is absolutely inevitable
No!"
Mi Zhu knew that the world was about to be in chaos, and Tao Qian alone could not defend Xuzhou. Liu Bei was a suitable candidate for the pastoral care of Xuzhou, so he stood up and persuaded: "Listen to me, Mr. Xuande. Xuzhou has always been rich, with a household registration of one million.
Since Xuande is a clan relative, he can lead this state to contribute to the Han Dynasty, so he cannot refuse!"
Guan Yu knew that Liu Bei had great ambitions, and if he could get Xuzhou, it would be a good opportunity. He also stood up and said: "Since Tao Shijun has given up, why don't I temporarily act as state affairs, so that Tao Shijun can rest in peace and recover."
Although Liu Bei also wanted to occupy Xuzhou, he had already spoken his words and simply maintained his tall image, so he refused to agree.
Tao Qian had no choice but to say: "Then please ask Mr. Liu to station troops in Xiaopei first. Once the grain and grass are needed, Xuzhou will supply them."
Liu Bei had no objection to this arrangement and readily agreed.
On the way to Xiaopei with his army, Guan Yu asked in confusion: "Brother, it's not Xuzhou that we force him to do. Why didn't eldest brother agree to such a good opportunity?"
Facing Guan Yu's question, Liu Bei just smiled and shook his head without saying a word, then galloped forward on his horse.
Just when Tao Qian surrendered to Xuzhou, Liu Xin also led the army to leave Yique Pass and came to Yingchuan City. Yique Pass was defended by Zhang Ren, so Liu Xin naturally did not have to worry. Before leaving, he just repeatedly told Zhang Ren that if
If people from Luoyang are fleeing south, don't stop them, just let them out.
Although Liu Xin did not waste a single soldier when he attacked Yingchuan, Yingchuan suffered first from the Yellow Turban Rebellion and then from the Xiliang soldiers, and was already in dire straits. In the past few days when Liu Xin went north, Jingzhou's
The engineering team has all been mobilized and is working hard to repair the city and roads. The farmers have also learned about the new tax policy, and their enthusiasm is unprecedentedly high. They have come to the fields and devoted themselves to intense work. The whole area of Yingchuan is
It was very busy, and even the continuous spring rain did not stop the work from being carried out.
Liu Xin rested for the night at the Yingchuan County Government Office, and early the next morning took Chen Gong, Kuai Yue, Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun and others to revisit the Yingchuan Academy in the suburbs. Along the way, Yingchuan Academy
When the people saw the Jingzhou army passing by, they would burst into cheers.
These people welcomed the Jingzhou Army very much. Many of them had fled to Xiangyang, and the last group of Yellow Turban troops in Yingchuan were also wiped out by the Jingzhou Army. In the past few days, some Jingzhou troops have left Nanyang one after another.
Nanxiang and other places were transferred over to help them repair their houses, plant crops, and distribute food, but they refused to even drink a sip of water from them. This increased the Yingchuan people's goodwill towards the Jingzhou Army. When they learned that these Jingzhou Army
Most of them were newly recruited soldiers this year, and many young people in Yingchuan had already begun to inquire whether they could join the Jingzhou Army.
Liu Xin looked at these simple people, turned to the civil and military people around him and said: "Have you seen that the people are the kindest people? Their requirements are not high. As long as you are good to them, they will support you. We people
Although they all hold high positions, they must keep the people in their hearts at all times."
Chen Gong and others nodded after hearing this, silently thinking about what Liu Xin said.
Liu Xin looked up at the sky and continued: "People should always be in awe. Even the emperor should not do whatever he wants. There is a truth that everyone must keep in mind. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.
.The imperial court is like a big ship on the river, and the people of the world are like the surging river water, which can either lift up the ship or capsize it. Therefore, we must always care about the sufferings of the people."
Speaking of this, Liu Xin couldn't help but think of a poem.