Chapter 377 If he still doesn't surrender, he's stupid! The Yuan family is finished, it's time to run away!
An old minister of Yuan Shao?

In jail?

And he has close relationship with the scholars in Youzhou?

Liu Bei looked confused, so he asked, "Who is Jinglue referring to?"

"Tian Feng."

Xiao Fang slowly gave a name.

"Tian Feng?"

After Liu Bei's eyes turned a few times, he suddenly realized.

The Tian family is a large clan in Hebei, distributed in Youzhou and the northern counties and kingdoms of Jizhou.

Among them, Youzhou was the main place where the Tian family settled. People like Tian Chou of Youbeiping and Tian Yu of Yuyang were both leaders of the Tian family in Youzhou.

Tian Feng was a native of Bohai and the leader of the Tian family in northern Ji.

As they both share the same surname, Tian, ​​Tian Feng naturally has friendships with the Tian family of Youzhou, and his influence is enough to sway the hearts and minds of the Tian family of Youzhou.

And with the Tian family's foundation in Youzhou, they can naturally influence the people of Youzhou.

Xiao Fang's intention was to ask him to persuade Tian Feng to surrender, and then use Tian Feng's influence on the Tian family of Youzhou to make the scholars of Youzhou give up their support for Yuan Shang.

They could even unite and rise up against Yuan's rule in Youzhou.

In this case, even if Yuan Shang retreated to Yijing, with wars raging in his backyard and the people rebelling, and with hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Chu State attacking from the front, how could he resist?
Yuan Shang wanted to emulate Gongsun Zan and use the Yijing defense line to fight a protracted war to wait for changes in the world, but his plan was futile.

"What the Prime Minister said makes sense. If we can persuade Tian Feng to surrender, it will indeed help the king to win over the people of Youzhou, and help us quickly destroy Yuan Shang, completely take over Youzhou, and completely take over Hebei!"

Pang Tong's eyes also lit up and he spoke out in support of Xiao Fang's strategy.

But Pang Tong changed the subject and said:
"But I heard that Tian Feng has always been upright and honest, and his temperament is somewhat similar to Ju Shou."

"I am afraid that he will follow the example of Ju Shou and would rather die than submit to the king, and be buried with Yuan Shao."

Liu Bei's eyes, which had been bright, couldn't help but frown slightly.

Ju Su was a man of extraordinary wisdom and talent, and a rare loyal and righteous man. He had admired him for a long time.

Originally, in the battle to capture Ye City, he had ordered that Ju Su must be captured alive, intending to recruit him to serve his own purposes.

However, he did not expect that Ju Su would be loyal to Yuan Shao to the end, and when the city was broken, he chose to commit suicide and die for Yuan Shao.

After learning about Ju Shou's fate, he was naturally quite regretful.

Tian Feng and Ju Shou had similar personalities, and Pang Tong's reminder made him worried.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. It was originally very difficult to persuade Tian Feng to surrender, but we should thank Yuan Shao for helping Your Majesty."

Xiao Fang's smile had a special meaning.

Liu Bei's brows relaxed and he asked curiously, "What does Jinglue mean by that?"

Xiao Fang waved his feather fan lightly and said slowly:

"Previously, a person who escaped from Yuecheng confessed that Yuan Shao was so angry at Tian Feng's honest advice that he almost wanted to execute him himself. After repeated persuasion from others, he only put Tian Feng in prison."

"I will order Zhong Kang to lead a group of soldiers to the prison in Yecheng today when the city is captured. I will make sure they keep Tian Feng safe."

"Just now, Zhongkang sent someone to report back that Yuan Shao had actually told the jailer to strangle Tian Feng once Yecheng fell."

"At that time, the jailer was about to strangle Tian Feng, but fortunately Zhong Kang arrived in time and saved him."

"With this accidental rescue, and the fact that Your Majesty has personally gone to the prison to recruit him, are you still afraid that Tian Feng will follow Ju Su's example and would rather die for Yuan Shao than surrender to Your Majesty?"

Liu Bei suddenly realized, and surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes.

He really didn't expect that when his attention was all on the siege, Xiao Fang actually thought carefully and thought of sending Xu Chu to rescue Tian Feng.

Yuan Shao imprisoned Tian Feng because Tian Feng gave honest advice.

No matter how loyal Tian Feng was, he couldn't help but feel disappointed and resentful.

The most crucial thing is that Yuan Shao was so cruel and ruthless that he actually arranged for people to strangle Tian Feng to death when the city was broken.

Yuan Shao was determined to take Tian Feng with him to death, rather than let Tian Feng live and laugh at his mistakes.

Even though Tian Feng was so cold-blooded and heartless, if he was still not completely disappointed with Yuan Shao and was still willing to die for him, then he was not just blindly loyal but extremely stupid.

Tian Feng was disappointed with Yuan Shao, but was rescued by the people arranged by Xiao Fang, which was equivalent to being rescued by him.

Yuan Shao wanted to kill Tian Feng, but he saved Tian Feng.

One has grievances, the other has gratitude.

At this time, he extended an olive branch to Tian Feng and recruited Tian Feng with courtesy and humility. How could the other party not surrender?

"That's it, that's it!"

"I didn't expect you, Jinglue, to be so far-sighted. Before I even conquered Yecheng, you had already laid out plans for me to wipe out Yuan Shang, take over Youzhou, and save Tian Feng!"

"Okay, okay, I'll do as Jinglue said. I'll go to the prison right away and personally recruit Tian Yuanhao!"

Liu Bei clapped his hands in praise, stood up happily and went straight to the prison.

...

Nanpi, the county seat.

Yuan Shang was pacing in the hall with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, and the word "anxiety" was clearly written in his eyes.

Sima Yi, who was standing aside, glanced at Yuan Shang from time to time, with a hint of guilt in his eyes.

The two were in such a state because of the development of the battle situation in Yecheng, which was completely beyond Sima Yi's expectations.

Originally according to Sima Yi's deduction, in order to prove that he was worthy of the position of crown prince, Yuan Xi would lead the Bingzhou Legion to Yecheng to support the king.

At that time, Yuan Shang will sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers, using the knife in Liu Bei's hand to weaken the strength of his second brother.

But what Sima Yi did not expect was that Yuan Xi did not play according to the script he had written. Instead of going to rescue Yecheng, he went to Jinyang to fight with the Huns.

The Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan did go to Yecheng, but he actually surrendered to Liu Bei, dealing a fatal blow to Yuan Shao and the defenders in the city.

As his son was not saved, Zhang Yan surrendered to Liu, and Yecheng was already in danger.

Yuan Shang was very anxious.

He was not worried about the safety of his father Yuan Shao, but he was worried about who would protect him if Yecheng was lost?
There is no doubt that he will be Liu Bei's next target.

"Zhongda, it seems you have miscalculated. My second brother is not that stupid. He also wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight!" "Now Yecheng is in danger. Tell me, what should I do?"

Yuan Shang stopped, turned around and glared at Sima Yi, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.

"this…"

Sima Yi was speechless and didn't know how to respond to Yuan Shang's question.

Seeing this, Shen Pei, who was standing by, took the opportunity to snort coldly:
"Sir, I have already said that Zhongda's plan has flaws. I underestimated the Second Young Master's wisdom."

"Ye City is in imminent danger. If Liu Bei were to capture it, the people of Hebei would be in great fear, and our Wei would be in danger!"

"How can you resist the attack of the big-eared thief with only 40,000 soldiers and horses in your hands?"

Shen Pei obviously seized the opportunity and deliberately incited Yuan Shang to blame Sima Yi.

Sima Yi had no way to refute and cold sweat ran down his forehead.

"Zhengnan, then tell me, what should I do?"

Yuan Shang shook his head in disappointment and turned to Shen Pei for advice.

Shen Pei was prepared and immediately bowed:

"I think if Yecheng is lost, Nanpi will certainly be lost."

"Now, while Yecheng has not been conquered, you should quickly gather all your troops and march westward along the Zhang River to rescue the king and save Yecheng!"

Yuan Shang remained silent.

He was really reluctant to spend his own troops to rescue Yuan Shao.

But if he didn't save Yuan Shao and Ye City fell, he would probably die.

"Forget it, saving the old man is saving myself!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Yuan Shang gritted his teeth and shouted:

"Tell my generals to gather the troops immediately and follow me to Yecheng at full speed—"

The word "king" had just been uttered.

Wen Chou looked solemn and rushed in hurriedly.

Looking at his expression, it was as if the sky was falling.

"Second Master, Yecheng is finished!"

"The news just came back that Liu Bei had captured Yecheng two days ago."

"Ju Su committed suicide for his country, Zhang He defected to Liu Bei, and our defending army was completely wiped out."

"Your Majesty, he was captured by the enemy, and Liu Bei gave him, gave him..."

After much hesitation, Wen Chou said angrily with tears of grief in his eyes:

"The king was killed by Liu Bei!"

The hall was suddenly as silent as death.

Yuan Shang's body froze, and his anxious expression was instantly replaced by astonishment.

Be it Shen Pei or Sima Yi, they all looked shocked and stunned, and froze in place.

Yecheng, the capital of Wei and the heart of the four states of Hebei, has been lost!
Yuan Shao, the King of Wei, has died at the hands of Liu Bei!

This devastating news came too suddenly, catching Yuan Shang and his ministers off guard and plunging them into deep shock.

"Father, you are so incompetent that you lost Yecheng so quickly~~"

Yuan Shang regained consciousness, gritted his teeth, and hit the table hard with his fist.

He was not sad about Yuan Shao's death. Instead, he blamed Yuan Shao for failing to hold Yecheng and losing the capital of Wei, making him Liu Bei's next target.

"My king, my king!"

"Why don't you hold on for a few more days? The young master is about to take us to the king's rescue~~"

Shen Pei was the first to recover from his shock and burst into tears.

Yuan Shang was awakened by his exaggerated crying and suddenly realized that his father had been murdered. His current state clearly did not conform to the image of a filial son.

"Father, Father~~"

"I was a step too late. I was unable to save you, my father, from the knife of the big-eared thief!"

"I swear to heaven that I will kill Liu Bei and avenge my father~~"

Yuan Shang fell to his knees on the ground and immediately burst into tears of grief and anger. Tears rolled down his eyes like raindrops.

Sima Yi, who was standing by, took a few deep breaths and came back to his senses from the shock.

He looked towards the direction of Yecheng and let out an imperceptible sigh of helplessness.

"Yuan Benchu, ah Yuan Benchu, you didn't make it until we went to the king's defense. It seems that your Yuan family has really run out of luck."

"It seems that I have to find another way out for myself. I can't stay here and wait for death with Yuan Shang...

Sima Yi's eyes rolled a few times, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

Then he bowed and said seriously:

"My lord, please accept my condolences. Yecheng has been lost, and the big-eared bandits will definitely attack Nanpi in a little while."

"The Chu army has more than 200,000 soldiers, five times larger than ours. If we hold on to Nanpi, we will surely repeat the mistakes of Yecheng."

Yuan Shang shuddered and suddenly woke up. The grief and anger on his face immediately turned into fear.

"Zhongda, then tell me, what should I do?"

Yuan Shang didn't even bother to wipe away the tears from his eyes, he hurriedly grabbed Sima Yi's hand and asked.

Sima Yi looked calm and said slowly:

"The only solution now is for you to lead your army to retreat to Yijing immediately, relying on the defense line of Yijing and backing up to Youzhou to resist the big-eared thieves."

"At the same time, I am willing to take the risk of going to Bingzhou to persuade the Second Young Master to temporarily put aside the quarrel between brothers, to think about the survival of the Yuan family, and to join hands with you to fight against Liu Bei!"

"Only if you brothers join forces, can we hope to preserve the foundation of the Wei Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)