Chapter 132 Human hearts are nothing. I will kill anyone who disobeys me! Going down this path to the end? Only Liu Bei can save us!
Zhou Yu's heart trembled.

As he expected, Sun Ce's bloodthirsty nature had not changed at all. When he pacified Jiangdong, he massacred several cities to vent his anger and establish his authority.

Now it seems that Xiakou will not be able to escape the disaster, and the entire Jingzhou will probably be slaughtered by him.

Zhou Yu could only smile bitterly and said, "Since Bofu wanted to kill Huang She and exterminate the entire Huang family, why did he swear an oath by the river?"

The Han people value trust, and this was especially true when they swore an oath by swearing by the Yangtze River.

He was naturally worried that something bad would happen if Sun Ce broke his oath.

Sun Ce, however, looked disdainful and sneered arrogantly:
"I, Sun Ce, have always believed in the sword in my hand, not in any oath."

"Don't worry, Gongjin. In this world, no one who can kill me, Sun Ce, has been born yet!"

Seeing how arrogant Sun Ce was, Zhou Yu knew it was impossible to persuade him to take back his decision.

After rolling his eyes a few times, Zhou Yu changed the subject and said:
"Huang Zu killed our ancestor Wen Tai, so it is only natural for you, Bofu, to exterminate his entire family to avenge your father."

"But after we capture Xiakou City, we will use it as a springboard to defeat Liu Bei and then seize Jingzhou."

"If we massacre Xiakou at this time, I am afraid that everyone in Jingzhou will be in danger. From the nobles to the common people, everyone will be willing to fight to the death for Liu Bei."

"This will not be conducive to our capture of Jingzhou."

"So I thought, why not temporarily not massacre Xiakou to calm the people of Jingzhou?"

Zhou Yu spoke earnestly and analyzed some profound truths.

The murderous intent on Sun Ce's face faded slightly, but he still snorted disdainfully:
"I was able to pacify Jiangdong not by relying on the people's hearts, but by the sharpness of my sword and the number of people I killed."

"If the people of Jingzhou dare not submit, I will kill them until they submit. Why bother trying to win them over? It's really troublesome!"

Zhou Yu laughed dryly and said:

"With Bofu's unparalleled bravery and Yu's advice, defeating Liu Bei and making the people of Jingzhou convinced is a piece of cake."

"But now Cao Cao has defeated Lu Bu and will soon capture Xuzhou. After taking Xuzhou, he will surely turn his troops south to destroy Yuan Shu and take over Huainan."

"If we can take Jingzhou as soon as possible, we can withdraw to the east in time and go north to Huainan to get a share of the pie. Why not do it?"

Zhou Yu's subtext is that we don't need to make things more difficult for ourselves. We should take Jingzhou as soon as possible and go back to divide up Yuan Shu's inheritance. Isn't that great?

Sun Ce compared Zhou Yu to his reincarnation of Zhang Liang, so since Zhou Yu gave him such advice, he had to give him some face.

After a moment of hesitation, Sun Ce said:

"In that case, I will take a step back and kill all the Huangshe soldiers in the sect. I will kill all the remaining defeated soldiers left by Huang Zu!"

"As for Xiakou City, I will kill half of them, and those below the wheels will be spared!"

Zhou Yu frowned slightly.

After all, Sun Ce still wanted to massacre the city, but he made a slight concession and spared the children.

"Gongjin, don't you understand?"

"I want to establish my authority by killing. I want the people of Jingzhou to think clearly about what will happen if they follow Liu Bei and become an enemy of Sun Ce!"

"I only slaughtered half of them to establish my authority, and I spared them from death as a favor."

"Gongjin, don't you always say that a wise ruler should use both kindness and power? I am doing exactly what you said, using both kindness and power on the people of Jingzhou!"

Zhou Yu was stunned.

He obviously did not expect that his lord and good friend had such a unique way of thinking and had such a different understanding of the four words "use both kindness and severity".

Although he did not quite agree with Sun Ce's approach, Sun Ce was his lord after all. It was not the way for a minister to repeatedly question and oppose his lord's decisions.

What's more, Sun Ce was extremely powerful and brave. He killed people all the way to Jiangdong, but still took it.

"Well, it's not unreasonable for Bofu to use killing to establish his authority."

"If he wants to kill me, then let him. At most, after we take over Jingzhou, we can persuade him to stop killing and show kindness to the people. It's not too late..."

After he made up his mind, Zhou Yu immediately bowed:

"Bofu, you know the art of using both kindness and power as an emperor. You are worthy of the title of hero. Why should you worry about not accomplishing your great cause?"

"I, Zhou Yu, will do my best to assist you, Bofu, in defeating Liu Bei and taking Jingzhou, so as to realize our strategy of occupying the entire Yangtze River!"

Sun Ce's lofty ambitions were ignited by Zhou Yu's compliments.

He looked towards Xiakou, a sneer of determination appearing on the corner of his mouth.

"Liu Bei, you want to snatch Jingzhou from me, Sun Ce, then let's see whose sword is sharper!"

...

Xiakou, the main hall of the county government.

One by one, the trusted guards were moving baskets of salted fish into the inner room.

Although it is almost the end of autumn, the power of the autumn tiger is still there. If Huang Zu is not buried in time, his corpse will inevitably give rise to a foul odor.

Huang She had no choice but to order a large amount of salted fish to be secretly transported in to cover up the stench emanating from Huang Zu's body.

In the main hall.

Huang She was pacing anxiously, while Su Fei and other generals had changing looks in their eyes, each of them had something on their mind.

Only Kuai Yue was leisurely drinking tea, looking calm and relaxed.

Footsteps were heard, and Zhang Shuo walked into the hall with excitement on his face.

Everyone immediately moved and stood up at the same time.

"Major General, I'm back!"

Zhang Shuo took a step forward and bowed down at Huang She's feet.

Huang She hurriedly helped him up and asked impatiently:
"How was your trip? Did you meet Sun Bofu? What was his attitude?"

Zhang Shuo smiled and bowed:

"Congratulations, General. Everything is just as Kuai Biejia expected."

"Sun Bofu is indeed a great leader. After I expressed my intention to surrender, he swore on the spot on the Yangtze River that the grudges between the Huang family and the Sun family would be wiped out and there would be no retaliation later."

"He also said that if the young general surrenders Xiakou, he will be the chief contributor to his conquest of Jingzhou, and he will never treat the young general unfairly!"

Huang She felt relieved, as if a heavy burden had been weighing on his mind. The big stone that had been hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.

"Zi Rui, I've said it before, this Sun Bofu has the spirit of a heroic leader, and his ambition is to rule the world!"

“Those who aspire to rule the world fight not only for territory, but also for people’s hearts and minds.”

"Being kind to you, Zirui, the Huang family, and us surrendered ministers is a godsend opportunity for him to win the hearts of the people in Jingzhou!"

"Zi Rui, you should be relieved now."

Kuai Yue stroked his thin beard, feeling relieved again, with the expected smile on his face.

Huang She showed a long-lost smile on his face, and immediately bowed:
"Thank you, Kuai Biejia, for pointing out a clear path for She." "Otherwise, if She had been confused for a moment and surrendered to Liu Bei, wouldn't he have been branded as an unfilial person and laughed at by the world!"

Kuai Yue's mouth corners slightly raised, and he hurried forward to help Huang She up.

"My dear nephew, you and I, the Huang Kuai family, are of the same blood. We prosper together and suffer together."

"After we submit to Sun Bofu, our two families must support each other. From now on, Jingzhou will depend on our two families."

Kuai Yue painted a big picture for Huang She, implying that in the future, with the protection of Sun Ce, the Huang and Cai families would replace the original Cai and Kuai families and become the two dominant families in Jingxiang.

Huang She immediately understood what he meant, but without pointing it out, he just laughed out loud.

The two of them were laughing heartily, while Su Fei, Deng Long and other Jiangxia generals were looking at each other, each with their own thoughts in their minds.

The decision to surrender to Sun was made, and Huang She arranged for the generals to lead their own troops to hold Xiakou and wait for Sun Ce's army to arrive.

At the same time, he instructed all the generals not to disclose the secret that Huang Zu was dead and that he had chosen to surrender to Sun, so as to prevent Liu Bei from knowing and launching an attack on Xiakou City in advance.

The generals had no choice but to obey the order and retreat.

Half an hour later, Su Fei and Deng Long appeared on the west gate tower.

"Brother Su, do we really want to follow the young general and join that little tyrant?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Deng Long asked in a low voice.

Su Fei sighed and said silently:
"The young general has been instigated by Kuai Yidu and has decided to surrender to Sun Ce. We cannot stop him."

"But recently there have been rumors in the city that Sun Ce wants to avenge his father. If he takes over Xiakou City, he will not only slaughter the entire family of the young general, but also massacre the entire city to vent his anger."

"I'm afraid that the young general will miscalculate and cause harm to all the soldiers and civilians in the city. We will all pay for his mistake."

Deng Long shuddered, his face immediately alerted, and he said hurriedly:
"But didn't Zhang Shuo say that Sun Ce swore by the Yangtze River that he would not embarrass the young general, let alone massacre us at Xiakou?"

Su Fei shook his head and frowned:
"That's hard to say. I heard that when Sun Ce attacked Yan Baihu, he killed the enemy's envoy Yan Yu!"

"Think about it, he can even kill the messenger. Who can guarantee that he won't break his promise and massacre the city to vent his anger?"

Deng Long's body shuddered, and he broke out in a cold sweat, with fear in his eyes.

"If that's the case, then won't we all die under Sun Ce's butcher knife?"

"Brother Su, you are the oldest and most experienced elder brother in our Jiangxia Army. You have to give us some advice."

Deng Long was thrown into confusion and begged Su Fei for help.

Su Fei remained silent, looking at Liu Jun's camp outside the city, thinking about something.

at this time.

The personal guard behind him went up to the city and whispered:

"General, a man has entered my camp, claiming to be entrusted by an old friend of yours to save you and the lives of the soldiers and civilians in my city!"

Su Fei's expression suddenly changed.

...

Outside Xiakou City, Liu Jun’s camp.

"Huang She sent a letter saying that Huang Zu had been persuaded by him and decided to surrender to me."

"Right now, Huang Zu is trying every possible way to persuade the Jiangxia generals and will wait for an opportunity to capture Liu Cong and Kuai Yue."

"Jinglue, what do you think of Huang She's reply?"

Liu Bei showed Xiao Fang the letter sent by Huang She.

"Huang Zu has great prestige in Jiangxia. If he decides to surrender, his subordinates will definitely obey unconditionally. Why does he need to spend time persuading them?"

"Besides, Liu Cong and Kuai Yue are two thieves, they don't have any soldiers under their command. If Huang Zu really wants to take them down, he only needs to talk. Why does he need to look for an opportunity?"

Xiao Fang exposed the flaw and said decisively:
"I think Huang Zu must have died from his injuries, and Huang She has probably surrendered to Sun Ce in secret. His letter is just to delay the siege, so as to buy time for Sun Ce's army to come to Xiakou!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Bei immediately became alert and hurriedly lowered his head to look at the letter in his hand again.

"Well, the military advisor is right!"

"What Huang She said in this letter seems reasonable, but upon closer inspection, it is full of loopholes!"

Liu Bei clutched the letter tightly, a look of annoyance flashing across his face:

"It seems that this thief really regards his oath as nothing as Aliang said, and is really stupid enough to surrender to that little bully!"

The generals in the tent were immediately enraged.

Huang Zhong stood up angrily and said,

"Huang She, this fool, actually wanted to take the Jiangxia Huang family to surrender to Sun Ce, bringing disaster upon himself and his clan. How hateful!"

"My lord, please give the order. I, the Changsha soldiers, will be the vanguard and help you break through Xiakou!"

All the generals stood up suddenly and asked for battle angrily.

Amidst the shouting, Wen Pin reminded:

"There are still more than 10,000 soldiers in Jiangxia City. If Huang She is determined to defend the city, we may not be able to break through the city easily in a short time."

"If he has surrendered to Sun Ce, the Jiangdong navy must be marching westward day and night to Xiakou."

"We have to attack the city, but we also have to be prepared for the possibility that if we fail, Sun Ce's army will arrive and kill us."

Wen Pin's words immediately poured a bucket of cold water on the heads of the generals, and their excited emotions subsided to a certain extent.

"Zhongye is right. If the situation really comes to that, it will be quite unfavorable for our army..."

Old Liu's eyes fell on the map, and a look of fear flashed between his brows.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and said:

"My lord, have you forgotten Aliang's strategy? Who says that the generals of Jiangxia are united and stupid enough to follow Huang She to join Sun Ce, the mad dog?"

The words trailed off.

Gan Ning, who was originally training the navy, rushed into the tent excitedly.

"My lord, there is news about Su Ziyi!"

Gan Ning held up the letter in his hand and said excitedly:

"Huang Zu was indeed shot dead by me. Huang She was indeed unfaithful and secretly defected to Sun Ce under the instigation of Kuai Yue."

"Su Ziyi and his men are afraid of being killed by Sun Ce, so they decided to abandon Huang She and join forces with our army to attack Xiakou!"

The tent was suddenly in an uproar.

Liu Bei's originally frowned head suddenly relaxed and his spirits suddenly lifted.

(End of this chapter)