Chapter 370 The fault is not mine, it's your fault, Yuan Shao! This is the law of nature! You deserve this honor for a thousand gold coins to buy a horse bone!
"Did I hear wrongly?"

Yuan Shao turned his head tremblingly and looked at Ju Shou and Zhang He with a dazed and confused look.

At this moment, the two men's bodies had been frozen into ice, and their expressions were stiff and frozen in a moment of horror.

Along the city line, the Wei army defenders, who had been cheering and rejoicing, were all stunned, as if their souls had been shattered in an instant.

On the city wall, there was deathly silence.

Under the city.

Seeing that Yuan Shao remained silent, Zhang Yan raised his voice and shouted:

"Yuan Shao, are you deaf and blind? Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Then I'll say it again, I'm here on the orders of my king, King Chu, to persuade you to open the city and surrender."

"Yecheng is already a dead city. No one will come to save you. With the King of Chu's order, our army of more than 200,000 people can flood Yecheng with just a spit from each of us."

"Kaesong surrenders, it's your only way to survive!"

"Follow the will of heaven and surrender to the Great Chu!"

"Our King of Chu is kind and righteous. Considering your understanding of the current situation, we will definitely spare your life!"

Zhang Yan's thunderous roar rang out again.

This time, it is crystal clear.

I, Zhang Yan, have surrendered to King of Chu, Liu Bei. I am here on the orders of King of Chu to recruit you, Yuan Shao, to surrender and give you an ultimatum!

The Wei army soldiers on the city wall were finally awakened by the noise, and were suddenly in a state of panic.

Yuan Shao felt as if he was hit on the head with a heavy hammer. He felt dizzy instantly and staggered backwards and fell down.

"Your Majesty!"

Ju Shou and Zhang He screamed in surprise, and they both rushed forward to support Yuan Shao.

At this time, Yuan Shao's face had turned red and his facial shape was distorted. Big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. His eyes were filled with extreme fear and anger, and they seemed to be about to explode.

"why?"

"Why would Zhang Yan surrender to that big-eared thief?"

"Isn't God protecting me?"

"Why does that heartless and heartless thief God want to play tricks on me like this?"

"Why, why on earth is this?"

Yuan Shao's voice trembled as he muttered to himself. He seemed to have gone mad and was incoherent.

Ju Shou and Zhang He looked at Yuan Shao, who was so grief-stricken and angry, and wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to start.

Sudden.

Yuan Shao suddenly turned around, grabbed Ju Su, and asked angrily:
"Ju Shou, is this the brilliant plan you came up with for me?"

"What about three armies coming to the king's aid and lifting the siege of Yecheng? What about internal and external cooperation to defeat Liu Bei?"

"Why didn't any of them come to save me in the end?"

"That bastard Zhang Yan even surrendered to the big-eared thief?"

"Are you worthy of my trust in you?"

Yuan Shao lost his mind and took out all his anger on Ju Shou, scolding him fiercely.

Ju Shou felt both ashamed and innocent. His face flushed and he stood there frozen, and could only allow Yuan Shao to scold him.

Zhang He couldn't bear to watch it any longer. After hesitating for a while, he resolutely bowed his hands:

"Your Majesty, when I offered the proposal that day, Ju Gongyu also said that this plan could not be guaranteed to be foolproof."

"Even if he was extremely wise, how could he have expected that the two princes would be so greedy that they would abandon their father and king, abandon their country and family, and disregard the life and death of our Great Wei and the King!"

"As for Zhang Yan, I really can't figure out why he surrendered to Liu Bei."

"He should understand the principle of the lips and teeth being cold, otherwise he would not have saved Gongsun Zan back then."

"Wasn't he the one who wanted to rule his own territory? Why did he surrender to Liu Bei and give up the good life of ruling his own territory?"

"It is understandable that Lord Ju could not have anticipated this."

Zhang He originally wanted to say something fair on behalf of Ju Su, but every word he said was like a knife stabbing Yuan Shao's heart.

Yuan Shao's face was distorted, his eyes were wide open with anger, and he asked Zhang He:
"Zhang He, what do you mean?"

"Are you mocking me for not being a good parent and raising a bunch of disloyal, unfilial, and beastly sons?"

"Are you trying to say that I have lost the support of the people, that even a bandit like Zhang Yan disdains to follow me, and instead joins Liu Bei, a mat weaver and shoe seller?"

"You still want to say that Liu Bei has a destiny, and I am destined to be abandoned by heaven and deserted by my friends and relatives?"

Zhang He was stunned with shock.

He had good intentions and wanted to defend Ju Su. He was just saying something fair, but he didn't expect Yuan Shao to misunderstand him like this.

In front of all the soldiers, he actually questioned himself so angrily.

Zhang He felt a chill in his heart and was also stimulated. He gritted his teeth and said seriously:
"That's not what I meant. I just wanted to remind the king that the situation of our Great Wei has fallen into such a desperate situation today. Whether it's Duke Ju or me, we, as ministers, have done our best!"

"Even though Great Wei has fallen into such a predicament, we still remain loyal to the king. The king actually blames us like this, which really chills the hearts of us as his subjects!"

Yuan Shao was so shocked that his eyes widened. He never expected that Zhang He, who usually looked honest, would have the courage to openly confront him.

"Zhang He, you, you, you——"

Yuan Shao pointed at Zhang He angrily, with a rage in his heart that he wanted to vent, but it was stuck in his throat and he couldn't vent it for a long time. As the anger accumulated, Yuan Shao became more and more suffocated and his breathing became more and more difficult.

"what--"

He suddenly let out a loud scream, his eyes turned black, and he fainted from anger.

"Your Majesty!"

Ju Su, who was originally feeling aggrieved, saw Yuan Shao faint from anger, and all his grievances disappeared, and he rushed forward to support Yuan Shao.

He held Yuan Shao in his arms and glared at Zhang He:
"Have you said enough? As subjects, we should endure even if the king is wrong. How dare you refute the king like this?"

"You know that the king is in such a physical condition, yet you still dare to irritate him like this. Do you want to anger him to death?"

Zhang He was stunned on the spot.

He really didn't expect that he would make Yuan Shao so angry that he fainted.

He never expected that he had clearly spoken fair words for you, Ju Shou, but you, Ju Shou, were not grateful at all, but instead turned around and blamed him!
What kind of logic is this?
Are you, Ju Gongyu, a born masochist? Do you like being wronged and scolded by Yuan Shao?
"Ugh……"

Zhang He shook his head and sighed, his eyes full of helplessness and bitterness. He secretly blamed himself for being so rude and why he said such a fair word for Ju Shou.

"You stay and guard the city, I will take the king back to the palace!"

"Someone, call the imperial physician immediately!"

After giving Zhang He a fierce glare, Ju Su picked up Yuan Shao and hurried towards the palace.

Zhang He turned around and looked weakly outside the city.

At this moment, Zhang Yan completed the task assigned by Liu Bei. The fact that he and 40,000 Black Mountain troops surrendered to Chu dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Wei army, and then he turned around and left.

The 40,000 Black Mountain Chu troops did not launch a strong attack on Yecheng, but slowly retreated to the northern camp.

"King Wei, you seized Jizhou from Han Fu and forced him to die of fear. Now you are trapped and killed in Yecheng by others."

"Could it be that this is the law of karma, the law of cause and effect?"

"I am Zhang He, a man of seven feet tall. Do I really want to accompany you and die in this lonely city?"

Zhang He muttered to himself and pounded the battlement with his fist, with a look of helplessness and unwillingness between his brows.

...

South of the city is the King of Chu’s tent.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhang Yan, pay my respects to you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yan, who rode alone into the camp, was naturally flattered to see Liu Bei personally waiting for him at the camp gate. He dismounted and knelt at Liu Bei's feet.

"Zi Yu, please get up quickly."

Liu Bei stepped forward, helped Zhang Yan up, stroked his shoulder and said with a smile:

"Zi Yu, I have heard of your great name for a long time. Today I finally get to meet you. You are truly worthy of your reputation."

"If I conquer Ye City, you will be the first to achieve the credit!"

Zhang Yan felt flattered after hearing these words, and was even more moved by Liu Bei's approachable attitude. He finally put his mind at ease.

Liu Bei immediately pulled Zhang Yan into the tent, where fine wine had already been prepared to welcome Zhang Yan.

After the welcoming wine, Liu Bei appointed Zhang Yan as General of Anbei, conferred him the title of Marquis of Ting, and made him the governor of Weijun County.

When this reward was announced, Zhang Yan was stunned.

General Anbei, one of the Four An Generals!

He went from being a despised and looked-down leader of the Black Mountain bandits to being appointed one of the Four An Generals. What a great honor!

What shocked and surprised Zhang Yan even more was that Liu Bei actually appointed him as the prefect of Weijun!
Yecheng belonged to Wei County, which was the heart of Jizhou and the most important county among the four states in Hebei.

Liu Bei actually appointed him as the prefect of Weijun, which was equivalent to appointing Guan Yu as the prefect of Yingchuan where Xudu was located.

What a great importance and trust this is.

"Your Majesty, your subject, your subject..."

Zhang Yan was so surprised that he was at a loss for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

Such a high title and such trust and respect from Liu Bei were completely beyond his expectations!
But in Xiao Fang's opinion, Zhang Yan deserves such a high title from Lao Liu.

They didn't just come to surrender, but brought 40,000 soldiers, which was equivalent to investing.

Moreover, the surrender of the Black Mountain Army and the surrender of Yuan Shao on the battlefield were tantamount to the most fatal blow to the defenders in the city, which completely brought the morale of the Wei army to the bottom.

With such a great contribution, isn’t he worthy of the title of General Pingbei or the prefect of Weijun?
Zhang Yan was from Hebei, so Liu Bei gave the post of prefect of the most important county in Hebei to Zhang Yan. This was also an opportunity to show the heroes of Hebei that after Liu Bei destroyed Wei and seized Hebei, he would not neglect the people of Hebei.

As long as you recognize the current situation and are willing to betray Wei and surrender to Chu, I, Liu Bei, will make use of you people from Hebei just as I made use of Zhang Yan.

Furthermore, in history, after Zhang Yan surrendered to Cao Cao, he was also entrusted by Cao Cao with the important task of guarding Yecheng.

Zhang Yan also worked diligently and conscientiously, using his loyalty to prove his sincerity in surrendering to Cao.

Since Old Liu trusted his people and ordered Zhang Yan to guard Wei County, I believe Zhang Yan would certainly perform his duties loyally and would never let Old Liu down.

"Zi Yu, this is the king's trust in you. Don't tell me you are not worthy of the king's trust?"

Xiao Fang saw Zhang Yan's shock and reminded him with a smile.

Zhang Yan suddenly came to his senses, and the shock and helplessness on his face instantly turned into deep gratitude.

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Yan bowed resolutely:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust in me and for entrusting me with such an important task."

"From today on, my life belongs to the king. I will go through fire and water for the king to repay his kindness!"

(End of this chapter)