Chapter 426: I will kill anyone who colludes with the barbarians! Am I worrying about nothing? You have suffered too little from Liu Bei!
Chen Dao waved his hand, and the Bai Li Guards rushed forward and dragged Yu Fuluo away.

Death was beckoning him.

The Xiongnu Khan finally woke up from his shock, and regardless of the pain in his body, he struggled desperately.

"Liu Bei, I have surrendered to you, why do you still want to kill me?"

"Your ancestors were magnanimous and accepted the surrender of the Xiongnu people. Why do you want to kill me?"

"Liu Bei, you are not worthy of being a descendant of the Liu family!"

"You are a cruel man. You are not worthy of being the emperor of the Han Dynasty. You are not worthy of--"

Yu Fulu was extremely angry and roared hysterically, trying to wake Liu Bei up and force him to withdraw the killing order.

Liu Bei waved his hand in disgust.

Chen Dao personally stepped forward, grabbed Yu Furuo's head, and dragged him away like a dead dog.

"Ah-"

With his scalp torn, Yu Furuo could no longer curse and could only howl as he was dragged away.

Finally, at a certain moment, the howling and cursing stopped abruptly.

Yu Fuluo was beheaded.

The cheers and applause of the Han soldiers rang out on the plain.

The disgust on Liu Bei's face turned into heroism, and he pointed his whip to the north:
"Pass on my order. The army will continue to pursue northward. I want to flatten Baibo Pass and capture Jinyang in one fell swoop!"

"I will personally kill Cao Ren, the man who colluded with the barbarians!"

...

Baibo Pass.

A small banquet was going on inside the military mansion.

As soon as Xun You returned to Baibo Pass, Cao Zhi, who stayed behind, specially arranged a small banquet to welcome Xun You.

Although Cao Cao forced Xun Yu to death, it did not mean that he abandoned the Xun family.

The Xun family was a wealthy family in Yingchuan, a top family comparable to the Hongnong Yang family. How could Cao Cao just give up on them and push them all to the opposite side of him?

In fact, not everyone in the Xun family supported the Han Dynasty like Xun Yu. There were also many people who supported Cao Cao in abolishing the Han Dynasty and establishing the Qin Dynasty.

For example, among the ministers who came to Chang'an to persuade the emperor to ascend the throne, Xun You, as the representative of the Xun family, signed his name in the letter of persuasion.

Even when Cao Cao deposed the emperor and proclaimed himself emperor, Xun You did not promptly reveal the matter to his uncle Xun Yu who was inspecting Liang Province, and he even participated in persuading him to ascend the throne without telling Xun Yu.

Therefore, although Cao Cao forced Xun Yu to commit suicide, he still valued and trusted Xun You to show his appeasement and win over the Xun family.

Carrot and stick, this is Cao Cao's usual imperial tactic.

In view of the status of Xun You and the Xun family in Qin, Cao Zhi naturally wanted to win them over, thinking that it would give him more bargaining chips in the competition with Cao Pi for the throne.

However, the situation in Bingzhou had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and everyone's attention was focused on resolving the crisis. Cao Zhi wanted to get close to Xun You but never had the chance.

Now that the danger at Baibo Pass has been resolved, Cao Ren has led 70,000 coalition forces south to pursue the retreating Han army, leaving him and Xun You to guard Baibo Pass.

Now that they had some free time and were in a relaxed mood, Cao Zhi took advantage of the opportunity to hold a banquet to win over Xun You.

"My brother often told me that Guanzhong is a place of outstanding people and hidden dragons and crouching tigers. It is a place where the world's elites gather."

"I don't quite agree. In my opinion, Guandong, especially Yingchuan, is truly worthy of the words 'outstanding people and beautiful scenery'."

"Especially Xun Qing, your Xun family is full of talented people, and can be regarded as the top scholars in the world!"

"If I have the opportunity to realize my ambitions in the future, I will lead my Great Qin army back to the Central Plains and recapture Yingchuan, so that you, Xun Qing, can return to your hometown and let the talented people of the Xun family show their abilities in my Great Qin Dynasty."

Cao Zhi praised Xun with great pride.

The implication of his words was naturally to hint to Xun You that his brother Cao Pi preferred the scholars from Guanlong more.

But I am different. I trust the scholars in Guandong, especially your Xun family.

If I become the crown prince and inherit the throne of the Qin Dynasty in the future, I will definitely return to the Central Plains and help your Xun family regain your hometown of Yingchuan.

Moreover, if I were in power, I would make important use of your Xun family and make all of you ministers.

Xun You was so smart that he would surely understand Cao Zhi's intention to win him over, but a shadow fell on his face.

"I am honored that Your Highness thinks so highly of me and my Xun family."

"But now Bingzhou is in danger, and our Great Qin is in danger of life and death. I think we should work together and put all our thoughts on fighting Liu Bei and protecting our Great Qin."

"We must learn from the previous experience of the Pseudo-Wei."

Xun You did not give a direct response to Cao Zhi's attempt to win him over, but instead gave Cao Zhi some tactful advice.

The implication of this, of course, is to advise Cao Zhi not to follow the example of the Yuan family, who were troubled by the quarrels between brothers and were eventually taken advantage of by Liu Bei, resulting in the destruction of their country, the ruin of their family, and their death and reputation.

After hearing this, Cao Zhi frowned slightly, with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

Xun You's words clearly seemed to be comparing him to Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

He is the King of Chenliu of the Great Wei, the son of the Cao family, and a genius.

What do you mean by comparing me with mediocre and incompetent people like Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang?
"Lord Xun is a man of foresight, which I admire."

"But now that the Xiongnu are helping in the battle, Liu Bei's offensive has been contained, and now they are retreating. Bingzhou's crisis has been resolved."

"As soon as General Huoqi captures Anyi, the situation of the Han army in Hedong will take a sharp turn for the worse, and our army will be able to recapture Hedong without any suspense."

"The situation has reached this point, and it is clear as day. The most dangerous moment has passed. It is a foregone conclusion that Bingzhou and even our Great Qin will be saved from danger."

"Then next, it will be time for our Great Qin to turn from defense to offense and recover the Central Plains."

"But as the saying goes, to resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal affairs. If the emperor wants to destroy the false Han and recover the Central Plains, he must first stabilize the internal affairs and make all the ministers work together, rather than fighting each other and harboring their own evil intentions."

"Lord Xun is an important minister of the state, and is deeply trusted by His Majesty. Your attitude and position are of vital importance."

Yang Xiu acted in time and spoke eloquently.

Although his words were euphemistic, his meaning was clear:
The outcome of the Qin-Han War is already clear. We have defended Bingzhou, so you, Xun You, should stop worrying about it.

To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal affairs. What is stabilizing the internal affairs? Naturally, it means appointing a crown prince. With a crown prince appointed, there will be no more disputes over the throne, and the ministers will not divide into camps, form cliques for personal gain, and fight openly and secretly with each other.

In this way, our Great Qin can unite as one and concentrate all its efforts on attacking the Han Kingdom.

So, you, Xun You, should stand up decisively at this time and support our Prince Chenliu to be the crown prince and promote the overall goal of "maintaining internal stability".

Cao Zhi nodded slightly, secretly praising Yang Xiu's beautiful words, and turned his gaze to Xun You again to see his attitude.

"Yang Dezu, I think it's too early to say that Bingzhou has turned from danger to safety."

"Although we have the Xiongnu to help us, don't forget that Yuan Shang also had the Wuhuan to help him in the battle of Yishui."

"Don't you remember how the Wuhuan people died?"

Xun You was not as optimistic as Yang Xiu, and immediately brought up the lesson of the Yuan family.

Yang Xiu's eyes changed slightly.

In the Battle of Yishui, Liu Bei defeated the Wuhuan cavalry with the Queyue Formation and killed the Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun!

Xun You implied that Yu Fuluo would also follow in Tadun's footsteps.

"That Xiao Fang is very smart and has never failed once since he assisted Liu Bei."

"Besides, the Han Kingdom is now full of talented people. Liu Bei has more than one Xiao Fang under his command, and there are many people with extraordinary strategies."

"Yang Dezu, how dare you conclude that the General of the Cavalry will be able to capture Anyi?"

"What tricks and schemes does Liu Bei have this time?"

Xun You raised his head and asked Yang Xiu with a stern expression.

Yang Xiu was speechless.

He always prided himself on his eloquence, but when asked by Xun You, he was speechless and didn't know how to respond.

Seeing this, Cao Zhi smiled disapprovingly:
"Xun Qing, you underestimate my uncle Zixiao."

"He has 70,000 allied troops and 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry. The Han army in Anyi is only 30,000. How could he fail to capture it——"

The words have not yet fallen.

A personal guard rushed in and half-knelt on the ground.

"Your Highness, our defeated troops have been spotted in the south of the city, heading towards Baibo Pass!"

Our army was defeated!

The four words were like thunder, bombarding Cao Zhi and Yang Xiu's heads.

The master and his servant were shocked and their expressions changed suddenly, with the smiles on their faces instantly replaced by shock.

"Defeated soldiers?"

"Could it be that Uncle Zixiao actually...actually lost?"

"This is impossible~~"

Cao Zhi's voice was already trembling, and the hand holding the wine glass began to shake.

"Could it be that the thing I was worried about has finally happened..."

Xun You sighed, put down the wine glass, jumped up and strode away.

Cao Zhi and Yang Xiu finally reacted. Without caring about being shocked, they quickly got up and ran straight to the city gate.

Climb up the city wall and look south.

really.

On the southern road, tens of thousands of Qin troops were rushing towards the city gate.

With their weapons and armor thrown away and their flags tossed to and fro, what else could it be but a crushing defeat?
The defenders on the city walls were all shocked and horrified when they saw this scene.

"This, this, this..."

Cao Zhi was so shocked that he couldn't finish a sentence and turned his trembling eyes to Yang Xiu.

Yang Xiu's forehead was soaked with cold sweat, his face was filled with shock and confusion, and he was unable to give an explanation.

The city gates were opened and the defeated soldiers entered the city.

Not long after, Cao Ren, with a gloomy expression, also climbed up the city wall covered in dust.

"Uncle Zixiao, what is going on?"

"Are you really defeated?"

"But we have 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry. Even if we have 50,000 pigs, we can't be defeated so quickly, right?"

Cao Zhi stepped forward to support Cao Ren and started asking him a series of questions.

Cao Ren let out a long sigh, sat down on the steps, and was too embarrassed to speak.

All the generals were in a state of dismay. They shook their heads and sighed, and no one said a word.

Only Guo Huai sighed softly and bowed, saying:

"Reporting to Your Highness, our army originally wanted to attack Anyi, but who would have thought that Liu Bei would personally lead the army to guard Anyi, and even lead the army out of the city to fight with its back to the city."

"When the battle was about to begin, Liu Bei actually used the legendary Fire Bull Formation and defeated the Xiongnu cavalry!"

"Fifty thousand Xiongnu cavalry were almost wiped out!"

"Yu Fuluo was also captured alive by the Han army, and Liu Bei ordered him to be beheaded in public!"

"Liu Bei is leading a large army to pursue us at Baibo Pass!"

The truth came out.

Cao Zhi's face turned pale with horror, his legs went limp, and he fell down next to Cao Ren.

(End of this chapter)