Chapter 369: The life-saving straw becomes the last straw that breaks the camel's back? Don't be so self-indulgent, just surrender in Kaesong!

Envoy Zhang Yan?
Offer a surrender?

At this moment, when the news was heard, there was silence in the tent.

From Liu Bei to Zhang Fei, everyone's eyes were wide open, with a look of disbelief on their faces.

Everyone thought that Zhang Yan led 40,000 Black Mountain troops south to rescue Yuan Shao.

Who would have thought that Zhang Yan would come to surrender!

Everyone suddenly woke up and turned their eyes to Xiao Fang, their eyes instantly filled with excitement and amazement.

Then it exploded.

"When did my mouth become so clever that I told Zhang Yan to surrender, and he really surrendered?"

"Zhang Yan, did he get kicked in the head by a donkey? Why did he want to surrender to our king?"

Zhang Fei was the first to explode, shouting excitedly.

The generals were immediately excited and there was a great uproar of surprise in the tent.

"Third brother, this is not because of your eloquence, but because of Prime Minister Xiao's wisdom and insight into people's hearts."

"He had expected that Zhang Yan would surrender to the king."

Guan Yu suppressed the surprise on his face and reminded him.

Zhang Fei suddenly realized and looked at Xiao Fang in surprise:
"Prime Minister, how can you be so sure that Zhang Yan will surrender to the king?"

Xiao Fang smiled but said nothing.

Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, was indeed not impressive enough in the eyes of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and even Lao Liu.

Even Yuan Shao, his neighbor from Hebei, didn't know much about Zhang Yan, or rather, he didn't care to know much about her.

Xiao Fang knew this man's life very well.

This man was able to step forward when the Black Mountain bandits were being suppressed by the government army and were leaderless, and he integrated the various bandits and dominated the Taihang Mountains. He was able to survive for so long under Yuan Shao's nose. It can be seen that this man not only has the ability to command troops, but also considerable political ability.

In history, Zhang Yan sent troops to Yijing to rescue Gongsun Zan when he was about to fall, in an attempt to prevent Yuan Shao from unifying Hebei.

The purpose is naturally very simple, which is to ensure that Hebei cannot be unified and to maximize the maintenance of their own actual interests in separatist Taihang.

However, after Yuan Shao died of illness, the sons of the Yuan family fought for the throne, and Cao Cao invaded Hebei, Zhang Yan keenly realized that the demise of the Yuan family, the return of Hebei to Cao, and the unification of the north were inevitable.

So this time, he did not choose to help the Yuan family resist Cao Cao, but decisively chose to lead his people to surrender to Cao Cao before the Yuan family was destroyed.

From this we can see that although this person has the intention to secede, he also has the ability to understand the overall situation and has a very good political vision. He can see the general trend and can adapt to it.

With Liu Bei's current power far stronger than Cao Cao's back then, Zhang Yan could naturally see that the Yuan family's demise was inevitable.

Then isn't it reasonable for him to make the same choice as in history and lead the Black Mountain Army to surrender to Lao Liu?
What's more, if you surrender to Lao Liu when Yecheng has not been conquered, it would be like providing timely assistance, and the benefits would be far greater than surrendering after Yecheng has been conquered and the overall situation has been decided.

Even Xiao Fang had to admit in his heart that Zhang Yan had a very keen political sense and his ability to take sides was first-rate in the world.

"Yuan Shao was trapped in an isolated city, and his two sons had ulterior motives and refused to come to his rescue. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Yuan family's demise was inevitable."

"Zhang Yan knows the current situation and follows the trend to surrender to the king. Isn't that reasonable?"

Xiao Fang did not give too much explanation and just turned the page lightly.

Then he changed the subject, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised:

"At this time, Yuan Shao must have been mentally devastated when he learned that his two sons would not come to rescue him, and the defenders in the city were also in a panic."

"I guess in the eyes of Yuan Shao and the Wei army, Zhang Yan is their last straw."

"Now that Zhang Yan has surrendered, why don't you let Zhang Yan, Yuan Shao's lifeline, become the straw that breaks the camel's back?"

Hearing Xiao Fang's words, Liu Bei's eyes lit up.

...

Two days later, at the Royal Palace of Yecheng.

In the dim hall, hysterical curses were echoing.

"Rebellious son! Beast! Unfilial man!"

"You are my sons, and now you see me in trouble, yet you all stand by and do nothing to help me!"

"You are worse than beasts!"

Yuan Shao was pounding the ground with his cane, his face turned purple with anger, and he was gritting his teeth and roaring and cursing.

All the Wei ministers in the hall were covered in dust and sighed sadly. The feeling of despair was spreading wildly among them.

"I have calculated everything, but I never expected that the Second and Third Young Masters would be so greedy."

"They are all waiting for the other party to rescue the king, so that they can use Liu Bei to consume the other party and reap the benefits."

"Our Great Wei has reached such a critical moment of survival, but I didn't expect that they are still fighting for the position of the Crown Prince, scheming against each other and disregarding the survival of our Great Wei!"

Ju Su let out a long sigh of helplessness, clenched his fists, and no longer concealed his grief and anger in his words.

Yuan Shao felt as if his heart was stabbed by a knife. He felt a piercing pain and cried out to the sky:
"Oh my God, what did I do wrong to give birth to such ruthless and cruel sons who are worse than animals!"

"What did I do wrong that you have to treat me like this~~"

Yuan Shao's sad and heartbroken voice echoed in the hall.

After Ju Su pondered for a long time, he gritted his teeth and bowed his hands, saying:

"My king, it is a foregone conclusion that the Third and Second Young Masters are unwilling to come to the rescue."

"Without these two external aids, how can we defend Yecheng with only more than 10,000 troops?"

"Continuing to defend Yecheng is no different from waiting to die."

"I think it would be better for us to take advantage of the fact that the Chu army has just set up its encirclement camp and has not yet attacked the city, and we should concentrate all our forces and attack with all our strength—"

He wanted to persuade Yuan Shao to abandon the city and break out.

Before he uttered the word "encircle", the personal guards outside the palace rushed in excitedly.

"Your Majesty, General Zhang said that the flags of the Black Mountain Army appeared in the north of the city. It could be that Zhang Yan's reinforcements have arrived and broke through the Chu Army's northern encirclement!" Ju Su's words stopped abruptly and he swallowed them back, a look of surprise flashing across his face.

He obviously did not expect that even his own sons Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi watched him die and refused to come to the rescue. How could Zhang Yan, the former enemy of the Yuan family, actually lead his army to rescue him?

And in one fell swoop broke through the Chu army's encirclement in the north and reached the outskirts of Yecheng?

For a moment, Ju Su couldn't believe that the news was true.

Yuan Shao instantly recovered from his grief, anger and despair, with endless surprise on his face.

"I didn't expect that Zhang Yan would come to save me?"

"And broke the Chu army's siege?"

"This really is a sign that Heaven will not abandon me, Yuan Shao, hahahaha!"

"I will reward Zhang Yan greatly. I will make him a marquis and a general!"

Yuan Shao was so ecstatic that he even spoke incoherently. He began to confer titles and honors on Zhang Yan's men before they even met him.

Although Ju Shou was also surprised, he still remained somewhat calm and reminded:
"Your Majesty, we haven't seen it with our own eyes yet, so we shouldn't be too happy. Why don't we go to the north gate and see what's going on first?"

"Let's go, Fu Gu and head to the north gate right now!"

Yuan Shao struggled to get up, and rushed to the palace gate in a hurry with the help of his crutches, wishing he could fly to the north gate immediately.

So the Wei king and his ministers immediately left the palace and headed straight for the north gate.

Before they climbed up the city wall, they could hear the cheers of the Wei army soldiers on the top of the city wall, which were deafening.

They were obviously cheering the arrival of reinforcements.

Yuan Shao was even more delighted, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and he climbed up the city wall in two steps at a time.

"Where is the Black Mountain Army? Where is Zhang Yan?"

Yuan Shao climbed up the city wall, panting and shouting impatiently.

"Your Majesty, it is just outside the city. Please take a look."

Zhang He came forward with a happy face, helped Yuan Shao to the battlement, pointed forward and shouted.

Yuan Shao looked carefully.

Sure enough, there was a thick dust and fog in the north, and countless soldiers were walking through the Chu camp openly and gathering in battle array outside the north gate of Yecheng.

On each of the large flags, the word "Zhang" was clearly written.

If this wasn't Zhang Yan leading the Black Mountain Army to break through the encirclement of the Chu Army, then what else could it be?
"May God bless our Great Wei, and may God bless Yuan Shao!"

"I didn't expect that the person who finally came to the rescue was Zhang Yan!"

"This is truly a pleasant surprise, a pleasant surprise!"

Yuan Shao was absolutely certain and no longer had any doubts. He was so excited that he laughed out loud again.

Ju Su, standing aside, stared at the Black Mountain Army, but the joy on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by some doubt.

"My lord, something is wrong."

"The Chu army couldn't have been unaware that Zhang Yan was leading his army southwards. How could they have been so easily defeated by Zhang Yan in the north camp?"

"Besides, even if Zhang Yan broke into the Chu camp, he should have immediately repaired the camp wall and prepared to deal with Liu Bei's troops coming to seize it."

"But why did he lead his army to line up at our north gate? Not only did he not defend against Liu Bei, but he was actually attacking the city?"

Ju Su pointed outside the city and pointed out all the doubts.

After this bucket of cold water was poured down upon him, Yuan Shao suddenly calmed down a bit, and the ecstasy on his face instantly faded a lot.

But soon, Yuan Shao said with a firm look:

"Why do you care why Zhang Yan is lining up in front of the city? All you need to know is that the troops outside the city are the Black Mountain Army."

"He came down from Taihang Mountain to Yecheng. If not to rescue me, what else could he be doing?"

Ju Su was speechless.

Even as the two were talking, tens of thousands of Black Mountain soldiers had already lined up in front of the city.

In front of the central army.

Zhang Yan immediately drew his sword and looked at the north gate tower from afar with a cold gaze.

When Yuan Shao's figure vaguely appeared on the top of the city wall, Zhang Yan raised a sarcastic sneer at the corner of his mouth.

"This is really the cycle of fate."

"Yuan Shao, you forced Gongsun Zan to death in Yijing. You were so arrogant."

"Have you ever thought that one day you would be trapped in a desperate situation and be surrounded and killed in this lonely city?"

After sneering, Zhang Yan rode his horse, sword in hand, and headed straight for the city.

Then he stood on top of the city wall, pointed his long sword at the city wall, and shouted loudly:
"I am Zhang Yan, where is Yuan Benchu?"

This powerful shout, as loud as thunder, instantly drowned out the cheers of the Wei soldiers on the city, causing them to unconsciously become quiet.

Yuan Shao poked his head out, waved slightly towards the city, and laughed loudly:
"Mr. Zhang, I have been waiting for you here for a long time. You finally come to save the king!"

"You are the most meritorious minister in the revival of the Wei Dynasty. Come into the city immediately. I will reward you handsomely!"

Obviously.

Yuan Shao had not yet realized anything was wrong from Zhang Yan's words "Yuan Benchu".

Zhang Yan sneered, pointed his long sword at him, and said sternly:
"Yuan Shao, don't be so self-indulgent. I, Zhang Yan, am not here to save you."

"I have surrendered to the King of Chu. Now I am here on his orders to persuade you to open the city and surrender!"

The smile on Yuan Shao's face froze instantly.

(End of this chapter)