Chapter 394: Execute Yuan Shang and send an edict to Youzhou! Qin has the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, let's rebuild the White Horse Volunteers and prepare to destroy Qin!

Yuan Shang, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled violently when he heard the word "last words".

A feeling of despair, helplessness and exhaustion instantly enveloped my whole body.

Just a moment ago, he still held out a glimmer of hope.

He thought that he was not his father Yuan Shao after all, and he also believed that Liu Bei was at least known for being kind, righteous and gentle.

If I fall into Liu Bei's hands, as long as I am willing to surrender, Liu Bei may not necessarily give me a way out.

But now, the fantasy is shattered.

Liu Bei was not even given a chance to surrender and his death sentence was directly announced.

His decisiveness in killing and his domineering tactics are completely different from the image of the good old Liu Bei back then.

"King of Chu~~"

Yuan Shang raised his head tremblingly and looked at Liu Bei with an almost pleading look:

"The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. I, Yuan Shang, have been defeated by you. I am convinced."

"Hebei is already yours. I, Yuan Shang, surrender and submit to you, the King of Chu. Can you spare my life?"

Yuan Shang was scared.

There was no enthusiasm at all, nor any character and courage of the King of Wei.

Just because of the words "last words" from Liu Bei, he was frightened and threw away all his self-esteem and the glory of the Yuan family, and chose to surrender to Liu Bei in a servile manner.

He even climbed up and adjusted his kneeling position to the most standard posture.

Liu Bei's face remained stern and there was no mercy in his eyes.

Now, after experiencing the teachings of Xiao Fang, who was half minister and half teacher, he had already understood a truth:
Benevolence and righteousness should not be abused.

If you, Yuan and your son, had not usurped the throne and declared yourself king, you would not be considered traitors to the Han Dynasty.

At least, he is not a traitor in name.

But your nature changed from the day you and your son became kings.

Emperor Gaozu left a legacy: If anyone other than a member of the Liu family becomes king, the whole world will attack him together!

If you, father and son, claim to be kings, you will become traitors and rebels against the Han Dynasty, and everyone has the right to kill you.

As a descendant of the Liu family and a prince of the Han Dynasty, if I don't kill you, wouldn't that be betraying the teachings of Emperor Gaozu?
So whether you are Yuan Shao or Yuan Shang, whether you kneel or not, whether you are cowardly or not, the ending will be the same.

"As the King of Chu of the Han Dynasty, how can I forgive you, a traitor who usurped the Han Dynasty and plotted treason?"

"Yuan Shang, please save some dignity for yourself and your Yuan family, and go on your journey with peace of mind."

Liu Bei's eyes were as sharp as steel, and he waved his hand without hesitation:

"Drag this Han traitor Yuan Shang away, cut off his head, and display it to all the counties in Youzhou!"

The death sentence was handed down.

Chen Dao waved his hand, and the Bai Li soldiers on both sides rushed forward and dragged Yuan Shang up.

Yuan Shang's spirit was completely crushed at this moment, and he collapsed to the ground.

The Bai Li Guards picked up Yuan Shang and dragged him away like a dead dog.

"Father, you shouldn't be king. You killed us. You killed our Yuan family..."

Yuan Shang's sad, desperate and resentful voice gradually faded away.

The stern look on Liu Bei's face turned into a smile, and he immediately issued an edict, appointing Zhao Yun as the General of the Auxiliary Army, and commanding the Royal Guard Corps together with Chen Dao.

He was promoted to General of the Yijun Army just after joining the Great Chu camp, and was also entrusted with the important task of commanding the Royal Guard Army. This trust and reward was indeed great.

Huang Zhong and other generals were convinced and no one had any objection.

Putting aside Liu Bei's personal friendship for Zhao Yun, Zhao Yun's achievement in capturing Yuan Shang alive alone can be regarded as the greatest achievement in the Battle of Yijing.

After all, Yuan Shang was the king of Wei.

Capturing the enemy leader alive, as the ruler of a country, is a well-deserved first achievement in any dynasty throughout history.

Zhao Yun's contributions were worthy of Liu Bei's heavy reward, so naturally all the generals were convinced.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will protect you at the cost of my life and serve you wholeheartedly!"

Zhao Yun was grateful for Lao Liu's trust in him and bowed again immediately.

Then he changed the subject and said:
"Your Majesty, I have another request. I hope Your Majesty will grant it."

Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "If Zilong wants anything, just ask."

Zhao Yun took a deep breath and said seriously:
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to issue an edict, allowing me to rebuild the White Horse Volunteers for you, so that you can wipe out the false Qin and unify the world!"

Rebuild the Baima Yicong!

These six words lifted Liu Bei's spirits.

That was the Baima Yicong, a cavalry corps that once dominated the world and made all the Hu people tremble in fear.

Unfortunately, this cavalry was destroyed by Yuan Shao's vanguard camp in the Battle of Jie Bridge.

Even so, it cannot change the fact that the White Horse Volunteers are elite cavalry.

"Now that Cao Cao has taken Liang Province, he must have formed a powerful Western Liang Iron Cavalry. When Your Majesty leads his troops westward to destroy Qin, he will inevitably have to fight against the Western Liang Iron Cavalry."

"Using cavalry to counter cavalry is the best strategy. Therefore, after our Great Chu recaptures Youzhou, a horse breeding area, the first thing we must do is to build a strong cavalry."

"The White Horse Volunteers, like the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, are elite cavalrymen. They will surely be of great use to the king in his future battle against the Western Liang Iron Cavalry."

"I think the king can approve Zilong's proposal."

Xiao Fang immediately made suggestions to Liu Bei, and with a more far-sighted vision, he was already planning to wipe out the false Qin.

Liu Bei agreed with him and nodded heavily: "Jinglue's words make sense. To deal with the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, I really need a stronger cavalry."

"Okay, as Jinglue said, I will allow you, Zilong, to rebuild the White Horse Volunteers."

"Also, now that we have acquired the horse breeding land, we should expand not only the White Horse Volunteers, but also Wenyuan's Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry."

Liu Bei immediately issued an edict, ordering Zhao Yun to rebuild the White Horse Volunteers. At the same time, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry led by Zhang Liao should also be expanded.

In addition, the Youyan Iron Cavalry, which originally belonged to the Pseudo-Wei, was also rebuilt by Zhang He and Zhang Yan based on the original Black Mountain Cavalry and the surrendered cavalry of Yuan Wei.

Although the Liangzhou cavalry led by Zhang Xiu could not recruit people from Liangzhou, they could still use the tactics of the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry and also needed to be expanded.

Yuan Shang had been killed, and the decision to build a large number of cavalry was made.

Liu Bei was in great joy, so he jumped on his horse and laughed heartily:
"Pass on my imperial decree. Today we will give a great reward to the three armies to celebrate the victory of conquering Yijing!"

"Tonight I want to get drunk with Zilong and all of you!"

All the generals laughed heartily.

...

Bingzhou, Jinyang.

"The Third Young Master has less than 40,000 soldiers and horses under his command. It is impossible for him to defend Yijing. Even if he gets help from the Wuhuan people, he won't be able to hold out for long."

"If the Second Young Master fails, the Yuan family will only have the Second Young Master and this small corner of Bingzhou left."

"How can the Second Young Master resist Liu Bei's army of hundreds of thousands with only 20,000 soldiers and horses? How can he defend this barren land of Bingzhou?"

"Yi thinks that for the Second Young Master, he should immediately lead his army out of Jingxing Pass to attack Jizhou, threaten Liu Bei's rear, and help the Third Young Master contain the Chu army and help him defend Yijing!"

Sima Yi spoke incessantly and sternly, doing ideological work for Yuan Xi.

This was the first time he had persuaded Yuan Xi to send troops to attack Jizhou since he came to Jinyang and met Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi's ears were almost callused from hearing so much, and his eyes showed nothing but annoyance.

Yuan Shang, relying on Yuan Shao's favor for him, always looked down on his brother and openly expressed his contempt for him in front of others and behind their backs.

You ridiculed and disdained me in the past, but now that you are in trouble, you want me to send troops to help you?
You have a beautiful idea.

"Although Liu Bei used his main force to attack Yijing, he still left tens of thousands of soldiers in Jizhou. It is obvious that he was guarding against me leading the army to attack."

"I only have 20,000 soldiers and horses. I am afraid that not only will I be unable to help my third brother, but I may also lose these 20,000 soldiers and horses."

Yuan Xi naturally could not explain the reason why he refused to help because he wanted to take revenge on Yuan Shang, so he could only give the second reason.

To put it bluntly, he was afraid of Liu Bei and did not dare to fight with him.

This is not shameful. After all, even his father Yuan Shao and elder brother Yuan Tan died at the hands of Liu Bei, let alone him.

Yuan Xi still had a clear idea of ​​his own worth.

Sima Yi's previous admonitions were all brushed off by Yuan Xi with the same rhetoric.

Yuan Xi thought that the effect would be the same this time.

But Sima Yi coughed a few times and suddenly changed the subject:
"Second Master is right to worry. With Liu Bei's strength, even if Second Master and Third Master join forces, they are no match for him."

"If the Second Young Master sends out troops now, it will probably be like an egg hitting a rock."

"In addition to sending troops to help the Third Young Master, Yi actually thought of another way for the Second Young Master."

Another way to go?

Yuan Xi's heart was shocked and he looked at Sima Yi in surprise.

Sima Yi had never said this before.

"Which way? Zhongda, tell me quickly."

"Subdue Qin!"

Sima Yi raised his hand and pointed to the west, saying two words clearly and concisely.

Yuan Xi was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

"The destruction of the Third Prince is inevitable, and the destruction of the Wei State is irreversible."

"I dare to guess that the second young master has no ambition to restore the Wei Dynasty. All he wants is to protect himself and leave a bloodline for the Yuan family."

"Then submitting to the Qin State and becoming a vassal to the King of Qin is the only option for the Second Young Master to save his life and maintain his wealth and glory!"

Yuan Xi's heart was shocked, and he suddenly came to his senses.

Sima Yi continued calmly:
"After Liu Bei killed the Second Prince and took Youzhou, his next step will be to lead his army across the Taihang Mountains and capture Bingzhou."

"With the troops in the Second Young Master's hands, it is impossible for him to defend Bingzhou. If he fails, he will either be killed by Liu Bei or flee westward to Qin."

"If I flee to Qin and seek refuge with the King of Qin, I will be seeking refuge as the ruler of a fallen country, and I will certainly not receive much courtesy from Qin."

"But if the Second Young Master offers the entire Bingzhou to the King of Qin first, it will be a great achievement, which is equivalent to bringing a generous gift to Qin."

"With the King of Qin's generosity, even if he doesn't dare to let the Second Young Master continue to command the troops and hold power, he will certainly confer a high title on the Second Young Master and give you a life of wealth and glory for the rest of your life."

"Isn't this kind of ending exactly what the Second Young Master wants?"

After a long period of preparation, Sima Yi finally revealed his true colors.

With the merit of persuading Yuan Xi to surrender to Qin, he joined Cao Cao, which was a great achievement.

How could Cao Cao not value him?
"Submit to Qin, surrender to Qin..."

Yuan Xi paced in the hall, muttering to himself, his eyes changing and it was obvious that he was moved.

A playful sneer quietly appeared at the corner of Sima Yi's mouth.

(End of this chapter)