Chapter 870 No one who talks to me about the conditions will end well
Julu City.
Three days ago, Liu Bei led his listless troops of less than 40,000 to retreat to this important town at the southernmost tip of Julu County and stationed themselves here.
Although Liu Bei was stationed in Julu, his family members such as Queen Liu, his concubine Chen, and his son Liu Chan had already moved north from Julu and retreated further north to Zhongshan Kingdom.
Today is different from the past. Like Cao Cao and other former enemies, even if Liu Bei left his family to them, these people would treat him well and kindly.
Yan Liang was different. Liu Bei could not tolerate his family falling into Yan Liang's hands and being ravaged and humiliated by Yan Liang no matter what.
After Liu Bei retreated to Julu, he waited impatiently for Zhang Fei and Sima Yi to lead their troops to join them, but after waiting for several days, there was no news.
On this day, a report finally came from Pingyuan, saying that it was Zhang Fei who led his army northward.
Liu Bei was greatly surprised when Zhang Fei led his army north to Julu to meet him.
Liu Bei has made preparations. Once Zhang Fei arrives, he will order Zhang Fei to lead his army to guard Julu, and he will station his troops outside the city to form an horns with Zhang Fei.
However, the next news shocked Liu Bei.
Zhang Fei did not follow his orders to go to Julu, but retreated to Nanpi, the seat of Bohai County, and stayed there from then on, standing still in the name of eating.
Now that the harsh winter is coming, once spring comes and flowers bloom, General Yan Liang will most likely end his truce and continue his attack on the northern part of Han.
Liu Bei was eager to build his Julu defense line before Yan Liang sent troops, but the delay in Zhang Fei's troops arriving severely delayed Liu Bei's plan.
In desperation, Liu Bei had no choice but to send envoys to Nanpi and repeatedly urged Zhang Fei to lead his army to join forces.
Not long after, the visitor reported that the Chariot General was attacked by the Chu Navy in the eastern part of Bohai Sea, so he had no choice but to lead his troops to conquer. Therefore, he could not come to join Julu.
Later, when Liu Bei's visitors went to Nanpi, Zhang Fei avoided them for various reasons, and Liu Bei's imperial edict could no longer be conveyed to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei's unusual behavior made Liu Bei realize that Zhang Fei was probably dissatisfied with him because of Guan Yu's incident, so he refused to come to Julu to help.
Liu Bei was very angry, but he had no choice but to send emissaries to Bohai again and again to try to persuade Zhang Fei.
Yecheng.
The winter snow has gone, and the sun has rarely risen above Yecheng.
The frozen city walls are thawing, and the people of Yecheng who were once abandoned by Zhuge Liang finally began to return to their hometowns one after another.
In the palace, Yan Liang summoned all the troops to discuss the next strategy of advancing northward.
"According to reports from scouts, Zhang Fei retreated to Nanpi recently, and did not go to Julu to join Liu Bei. Instead, he headed east of Bohai to attack Ling Tong's troops who were harassing the coast of Han Dynasty. You guys
What do you think about this?" Yan Liang looked around at the soldiers and asked loudly.
Pang Tong stroked his beard and smiled and said: "In my opinion, Zhang Fei's behavior was probably because Liu Bei shot Guan Yu, which chilled his heart. Therefore, Zhang Fei was afraid and decided to avoid Bohai."
Yan Liang nodded slightly, and what Pang Tong said was in line with his thoughts.
"Liu Bei has lost Zhang Fei's troops. It's like breaking an arm. I'm afraid he can only rely on Sima Yi's troops now. I think your majesty might as well send someone to Jinyang to say that Sima Yi has been surrendered. If this man
If you are willing to unite the state and surrender to Your Majesty, Liu Bei's left and right arms will be cut off, and defeat will be just around the corner."
Fa Zheng presented a strategy to Yan Liang.
"Speaking of surrendering to Sima Yi..." Yan Liang murmured to himself, thoughtfully.
Sima Yi is indeed a man who is very aware of current affairs. Otherwise, he would not have served Cao Cao in history.
And this person is also a very scary person, a person with super endurance and subversive power.
It's okay for Yan Liang not to know about this kind of person. Since he knows, he will never keep him as a hidden danger to his Chu Empire.
However, if the hidden danger has surrendered, it would not be a bad idea if we could successfully persuade him to surrender and then kill him as an excuse.
Thinking of this, Yan Liang had an idea, and he agreed to Fazheng's request and sent an envoy from Yiji to Hedong to persuade Sima Yi to surrender.
Yi Ji left on the same day, headed west of Yecheng, crossed the Taihang Mountains, passed through Shangdang County, and headed for Jinyang.
Sima Yi was ordered to guard Bingzhou. Since he left the town, he spent a year carefully planning and replaced all the key points in Bingzhou with his Sima family's confidants.
Because the terrain of Bingzhou was dangerous and it was not a wealthy and powerful area of the Han Dynasty, the Chu army's attack on Bingzhou was never violent. Only a partial division of Zhang Liao feigned an attack on Bingzhou to contain Sima Yi's troops.
Therefore, after Sima Yi took control of Jinyang, he vigorously expanded the new army under little military pressure. After a year, he expanded the number of Bingzhou legions to about 30,000.
When Yan Liang destroyed the five tribes of the Southern Huns, there were still many scattered tribesmen who had not gathered in the Fenyang area. After Sima Yi arrived in Jinyang, he gathered many Huns cavalry in the name of tribal revenge.
After a year of operation, Sima Yi's Bingzhou Army has grown to a considerable scale.
Not long after the fall of Yecheng, Sima Yi received an imperial edict from Liu Bei from Julu, ordering him to divide the Bingzhou army and go to Julu to increase defense.
After Sima Yi received Liu Bei's imperial edict, like Zhang Fei, he used various excuses to refuse to send troops.
Not long after Liu Bei's imperial edict arrived, Yi Ji arrived at Jinyang City, where Bingzhou was located, with Yan Liang's "sincerity" to surrender.
Sima Yi did not refuse Yi Ji, but received Yi Ji as a guest.
Yi Ji then handed Yan Liang's surrender letter to Sima Yi, and he did not hesitate to speak eloquently to Sima Yi to surrender.
Sima Yi did not reject Yi Ji on the spot, but he also did not agree. Instead, he sent Yi Ji to the embassy and ordered him to be treated well.
Later, Sima Yi called his brother Sima Lang to discuss the surrender of the Iraqi people.
"Zhongda, you didn't reject the Iraqi citizenship on the spot. Could it be that you wanted to return to Yan Liang?" Sima Lang asked suspiciously.
Sima Yi only smiled faintly: "As long as the interests of our Sima family can be protected, it doesn't really matter who we are loyal to."
Sima Lang fell silent, seeming a little shocked by Sima Yi's calmness and "profit-seeking" attitude.
After pondering for a long time, Sima Lang sighed: "Now Yecheng has been lost. The Liu family is in an embarrassing situation, and it seems that it is difficult to reverse the defeat. In this case, there is really no need for our Sima Yi to accompany the Liu family to the funeral."
Seeing that his brother could figure it out, Sima Yi smiled and expressed his relief.
"However, since the Han Dynasty has been destroyed and the domination of the world by Dachu has become a foregone conclusion, Zhongda, why don't you just agree to Nayi's citizenship on the spot. By merging the state and surrendering to Dachu, it can be considered as a great contribution to surrender. In the future, our Sima family will
There will also be a place for you to gain a foothold in the Chu Kingdom."
Hearing Sima Lang's words, Sima Yi frowned slightly: "Brother, with the talents of your generation and the Sima clan, coupled with our surrender, it will not be a problem to gain a foothold in the Chu Kingdom, but brother wants to
Think about it, what if it is the next generation, and the next generation after that?
Sima Lang was stunned. He didn't expect that his brother had such profound thoughts. He didn't know what Sima Yi meant.
"Our Sima family is in the Han Dynasty. Due to our status as a wealthy family, we follow the nine-level official system. We can be officials forever for generations to come."
"But as for Chu State, Chu State's imperial examination system is based on meritocracy. If we, Sima Yi, have mediocre qualifications and withered talents in a certain generation and cannot pass the imperial examination, wouldn't the Sima family be expelled from the officialdom?
What will we use to protect our interests?"
Sima Yi's words made Sima Lang frightened. At this moment, he finally understood what his brother was worried about.
In fact, there was no grudge between the Sima family and Yan Liang. The real enemy of the Sima family was the imperial examination and official selection system implemented by Yan Liang.
In other words, this system is not only the enemy of the Sima family, but also the enemy of the powerful families.
The Sima family is the representative of the Hebei family. Of course, it is not only for the Sima family, but also for the benefit of the family.
"What Zhongda said makes sense. The day the Chu State does not abolish the imperial examination system, it will be a threat to our Sima family. Whether to surrender or not should be carefully considered." Sima Lang, who had figured it out, naturally agreed with his younger brother.
.
But after thinking about it, Sima Lang frowned again, "But the destruction of the Han State is now a foregone conclusion. Even if we don't surrender to Chu, Yan Liang will definitely turn to attack Bingzhou after destroying the Liu family. At that time,
Besides surrendering, do we have any other choice?"
Sima Yi sneered: "Although Yan Liang's power is strong, he has suffered two bitter sieges since last year. I believe his vitality has been greatly damaged. It will not be easy for him to quickly destroy the Liu family. So why did Yan Liang send people to surrender to us?
, I believe they just want to take advantage of our return to quickly pacify Hebei. Since Yan Liang has this intention, we have room to bargain with him."
bargain?
Sima Lang was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but look confused again.
A cunning smile appeared at the corner of Sima Yi's mouth.
…
A few days later, Yiji left Jinyang and returned to Yecheng.
Yi Ji's return brought back Sima Yi's reply to Yan Liang's surrender.
What is gratifying is that Sima Yi did not refuse to surrender. On the contrary, he showed great sincerity in surrendering.
But what made Yan Liang unhappy was that Sima Yi also set a condition for his surrender.
"Anyone in the world who dares to negotiate terms with me will end up badly. I would like to hear what terms Sima Yi, the wolf, offered to me." Yan Liang said with disdain, gesturing for Yi Ji to continue.
Yi Ji then said: "Your Majesty, Sima Yi has said that as long as your Majesty can abolish the imperial examination and switch to the nine-rank official system, he will unconditionally surrender the state to your Majesty."
I see.
In history, the Sima family was able to replace the Cao family and establish the Jin Kingdom precisely because of the support they received from the family.
After the founding of the Jin State, major reforms were immediately carried out to the nine-rank official system of the Wei State, and family status was used as the only criterion for selecting officials.
The Jin State has completely become a country that safeguards the interests of the family.
It can be seen from this that Sima is the spokesperson of the family through and through.
Yan Liang was well aware of the dangers of the nine-rank official system, and he would certainly not be stupid enough to use this system to wait for a powerful official from a noble family to usurp the throne of his descendants.
Sima Yi's condition can be said to have touched Yan Liang's bottom line and threatened the fundamental interests of the Chu State.
With a cold snort, Yan Liang's expression suddenly changed, and a fierce look of anger emerged.
He turned around suddenly and said sternly: "Tell Sima Yi that if he dares to negotiate terms with me, he will wash his neck clean and wait until I finish killing Liu Bei, then go and kill his entire Sima family!"
