Chapter 112: War or Peace, Wen Hou Makes His Own Choice It's true that men don't shed tears easily, but they do until they are sad. Since Sun Jian's death, Sun Ce never cried again. At the age of eighteen, he crossed the river to the north to prepare for revenge for his father, and at the age of twenty-one, he dominated Jiangdong. He is usually very generous and open-minded in front of his subordinates. No matter how angry or sad he was, Sun Ce never cried. But now, Sun Ce was crying, howling loudly! It was not because of the crushing defeat, but because he was sad to see his subordinates dying one by one for him. That feeling of powerlessness really made him feel desperate. Seeing Sun Ce like this, Zhang Hong and others naturally couldn't stop crying. It can be said that he has never experienced such a setback since he started his business. It's not just one failure, but failure after failure.

Until now, only one out of ten soldiers has survived, and even the fate of many colleagues is unknown. In this situation, it is impossible for them not to be sad! Only Zhou Yu looked at the people in front of him, his eyes full of regret and said: "This great defeat is all my fault. After such a great defeat, how can I have the face to return to Jiangdong with my brother?" Having said this, he drew out his sword and was about to commit suicide. Fortunately, Jiang Qin was quick-witted and quickly stopped Zhou Yu and said: "This is not the general's fault. How can the general do this?" When Sun Ce heard this from a distance, he stopped crying, crawled forward, and grabbed Zhou Yu: "Now that things have come to this, will Gongjin also leave me?" Seeing Sun Ce like this, Zhou Yu's nose was sore and he shed two lines of tears. "I am sorry, brother. I am sorry, brother!" As he spoke, he also cried out loud, feeling extremely sorry for Sun Ce. Seeing Zhou Yu like this, Sun Ce knew that Zhou Yu felt guilty, so he wiped away his tears and cheered himself up: "Gongjin, don't act like a little girl. It's just a small defeat. We can regroup and fight again tomorrow. How can we be worthy of Zilie and the others if we continue like this?" After hearing this, Zhou Yu nodded repeatedly even though he couldn't stop crying. Until now, he still can't forget Chen Wu's last look. Just as Sun Ce said, although they were defeated, they had a chance to start over. If he died now, how could he be worthy of Chen Wu and others? Thinking of this, he forced himself to wipe away his tears. Seeing this, everyone also reacted. Zhang Hong hurriedly said: "My lord, we are not safe yet. We must retreat first to avoid being caught up by the enemy!" You know, a range of more than ten miles is still within the pursuit range. They now have less than a thousand soldiers and horses. If they are caught up by the enemy, they will all die! Sun Ce heard this, and although he felt sad, he had to suppress his sorrow and ordered his soldiers to continue marching south.

After marching like this for half an hour, they saw another group of defeated soldiers coming. Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the dam troops were attacked by Chen Dao at the same time as Sun Ce was attacked. More than 2,000 soldiers were almost wiped out, with only a hundred people escaping. Seeing this army coming, Sun Ce became even more angry, but Zhou Yu was distraught and said: "We fought a great battle, and attacked from all directions. The enemy had less than 20,000 soldiers, but our army was defeated everywhere. Qin Zhen's tactics are not as good as mine!" "The enemy is too powerful to fight. We should leave quickly and not let them catch up!" He then advised Sun Ce to continue moving southwards, and only stopped to rest after he had retreated more than thirty miles. At the same time, outside Shouchun City, a great battle was coming to an end. As Sun Ce left, the troops under his command no longer had the power to resist. In this battle, under the joint attack of Liu Bei and Lu Bu, Sun Ce's army suffered heavy casualties. Not only did they lose a large amount of baggage and prisoners, but their troops were also completely dispersed. Among them, Song Qian died in the city while covering Sun Ce's retreat. Chen Wu was caught up by Liu Bei, fought to exhaustion and died on the battlefield. In order to protect Sun Ce, Zhou Tai and his men went to meet Lu Bu, but all the generals were killed by Hou Cheng and other generals who caught up with them. Only Zhou Tai, who was wounded dozens of times, fought desperately and escaped, and his whereabouts are unknown. These people can still be named. Many more middle and low-level generals were either killed or injured and were trapped here. In contrast to Sun Ce's disastrous defeat, Liu Bei and Lu Bu each suffered losses and gains. On Lu Bu's side, the casualties were nearly a thousand, but more than three thousand soldiers were captured. Liu Bei attacked everywhere, suffering a terrifying casualties of over 3,000 people, but he also captured as many as 9,000 prisoners! Among them, a considerable number were soldiers from Sun Ce's army, and some were soldiers from Yuan Shu's army who were captured by Sun Ce. In addition to the captives, they also obtained a large amount of supplies from Sun Ce's military camp. Money and food are secondary, the main things are armor and weapons! Compared to Liu Bei's miserable life in Pei State, Sun Ce can be considered a local tyrant! The soldiers under his command were equipped with a large amount of armor. Cloth and leather armor are secondary, there are more than 3,000 sets of armor! You must know that in this era, the only ones who can be called elite in an army are the soldiers! With these more than 3,000 sets of armor, Liu Bei would have two to three thousand more elite soldiers under his command. Combined with the weapons and armor he had obtained in Yuan Shu's city before, Old Liu can now form an elite force of more than 6,000 people. Therefore, it is hard to say who gained the upper hand and who suffered the loss between Liu Bei and Lu Bu. This time, Lu Bu rarely had any objections and returned to the camp with his troops. The two families returned to the city in tacit understanding and each counted their gains. The next night, Liu Bei held a banquet and summoned Lu Bu into his mansion again. With Sun Ce's departure, the two families naturally had no external enemies, so everyone came.

During the banquet, there was drinking and the joyful feasting never stopped. Liu Bei raised his glass and toasted Lu Bu: "Our army can now achieve this victory, all thanks to the help of Marquis Wen!" "I should drink this cup to express my army's gratitude!" Lü Bu gained a lot from defeating Sun Ce this time, so he naturally smiled and said: "Xuan De has a huge appetite, so Bu should drink with him." The two of them drank in a harmonious atmosphere. When they started drinking, Qin Zhen came to Xu Si Wang Kai with a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Zifa, Zishan, long time no see, how are you?" It has been almost three years since he and Xu Si and Wang Kai last saw each other. Once upon a time, they all worked under Cao Cao, but when they meet again now, they have separated into two factions and are both hostile to Cao Cao, which is quite sad. His arrival naturally made Xu Si and Wang Kai feel complicated. Because when they were under Cao Cao's command, they were not on good terms with Qin Zhen, and both sides had an attitude of never having any contact with each other again. In the process, they even schemed against each other and became enemies. I never thought that we would be attending the same banquet together. However, Wang Kai was a kind person. When he saw him coming, he raised his cup and smiled, saying: "Lao Zixuan is worried about us, but we are doing fine!" He was laughing like this, but Xu Si next to him couldn't laugh. To be honest, he still feels like he is dreaming until now. After all, after he knew Qin Zhen's identity last night, he was fully convinced that Qin Zhen would most likely die in Shouchun this time. Unexpectedly, in the end, Qin Zhen still turned the tables! Could this guy really be a monster? In such an extreme situation, can Lu Bu be persuaded? Looking back on the past, it seemed that Qin Zhen was able to turn danger into safety every time. Therefore, compared with Wang Kai's kindness, Xu Si raised his cup and said in a deep voice: "Qin Zixuan, what are your plans?" He was more sober than Wang Kai and knew that Sun Ce's departure was not the end! With Qin Zhen around, Liu Bei would never be as kind as he appears to be! But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "I really don't know what Zishan means by this!" "Now that the enemy has gone, our friendly forces are here, what else can we plan?" "Zishan must be drunk, he needs to drink a few less cups!" Having said this, he drank the wine in the glass, smiled at Wang Kai, and slowly walked towards his seat.

Just then, Lu Bu laughed and said: "Where are you going, Zixuan? Come and have a drink with me!" When Qin Zhen heard this, he picked up the wine glass and turned back to say: "I was just about to offer a toast to Lord Wen, why did Lord Wen invite you?" As he said this, he raised the cup and walked forward to toast Lu Bu. Seeing Qin Zhen finish drinking the wine in the cup, Lu Bu raised his lips and said: "To be honest, we were able to defeat Sun Ce this time thanks to you, Mr. Xuande. How lucky is he to have you assist him!" "Xuan De is also very tight-lipped. He still kept silent even though he got such a talented person like you. But it was really hard for Bu to hide it!" When Liu Bei heard this, he knew that Lu Bu was still complaining about Qin Zhen's hiding his identity, so he raised his cup and smiled: "I didn't hide Zixuan's identity on purpose. It was just that the situation was such that I had no choice but to hide it. I hope Lord Wen will forgive me!" Seeing this, Lu Bu nodded and smiled: "Well, now that our two families are on good terms, I don't blame Xuande!" "It just so happens that you are all here now!" "In front of Xuande, I would like to ask you a question!" "Your army previously said that Sun Ce had joined forces with Cao Cao to plot against our two families. Because of the friendship between our two families, I will help your army defeat Sun Ce!" "Now that Sun Ce has gone, may I ask what your army's next plans are?" "How should I give you the money and food you promised me?" This time, Lu Bu learned his lesson. He thought that since he couldn't get it by force and he couldn't make enemies with Liu Bei, he might as well ask for it openly and see what Liu Bei's attitude was! As soon as he said this, everyone present stopped drinking and looked in their direction. People like Hou Cheng naturally looked concerned. Zhang Fei, Chen Dao and others all looked grim. The harmonious atmosphere just now disappeared instantly. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. With the departure of Sun Ce, the relationship between Liu Bei and Lu Bu became delicate again. Both families are in Shouchun City, so how the profits will be distributed in the future is very important to both families. If the division is good, it will be beneficial to both families. If it is not good, I am afraid the two families will resent each other! When Liu Bei heard this, his smile froze: "How can we talk about state affairs when we are celebrating now?" Lu Bu smiled coldly and said: "It's not that I don't know how to be funny, but I'm afraid of Zixuan's plan!" "If your army doesn't explain clearly, I won't be able to rest easy!" As the two talked, they looked at each other, and the air froze on the spot. Only Qin Zhen saw this and stepped forward to fill Liu Bei's glass with wine, and then added some wine for Lu Bu, saying:

"Originally, I discussed this matter with my lord, and will discuss it with Marquis Wen in a few days." "Since Marquis Wen has asked, I might as well ask him, does he still want to march into Xincai?" Facing Qin Zhen's actions, Lu Bu sneered: "If your army can take Xincai, I will follow you!" But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "What Lord Wen said is untrue. Our army treats Lord Wen with sincerity, and we hope Lord Wen will treat our army with sincerity!" "You must know that it is hundreds of miles from here to Xincai. If you go by land, it will take at least half a month." "If we take the water route, we must first take Yangquan and Liaoxian!" "There is a severe drought in Huainan right now. It has been more than a month since Marquis Wen sent out his troops. The soldiers are exhausted. There are also many captives and money and food. How can they follow our army?" As he spoke, he poured himself a drink. Seeing this, Lu Bu frowned and said: "Then according to your words, I can't go to Xincai and get the money and grain?" There was a natural coldness in his words. Although he had thought that Liu Bei might do this, Qin Zhen's explicit words still made him a little unhappy. As his voice turned cold, the generals under his command reached for their swords. Seeing this, Zhang Fei glared at the other party, ready to attack at any time. Seeing this situation, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "If we follow Marquis Wen's words, then we can't go to Xincai, and our army has no obligation to give Marquis Wen money and food!" "You must know that the money and food that our army owes to Marquis Wen are the money and food in Shouchun City. We have already handed them all over to Marquis Wen. So when our army captures Xincai in the future, the money and food will have nothing to do with Marquis Wen!" "However, our army has always kept its word and we also want to be on good terms with Lord Wen, so we can let Lord Wen make his own choice. I think Lord Wen currently has three options." "First, if Marquis Wen insists on taking Xincai, our army will not move, and Marquis Wen can go to take Xincai independently, and our army will guard the retreat for Marquis Wen. In this way, Xincai will be taken by Marquis Wen independently, and it will have nothing to do with our army, and all the money and food can belong to Marquis Wen." "Don't worry, Lord Wen. After you take the city independently, our army will definitely not share money and food with you." "Secondly, our army is already exhausted and it is difficult to go on a long expedition. However, my Lord has ordered General Guan to go south and reinforcements will arrive soon!" "If Marquis Wen feels that it is difficult to conquer Xincai, he can march together with General Guan. After conquering Xincai, the money and grain will be divided equally between the two families!" "Third, Marquis Wen will withdraw his troops and return to Xuzhou now. Xincai will be captured by our army independently. After the success, our army is willing to pay 10,000 gold as a thank you gift!" "But other than that, no matter how much money and food we seize, it will all belong to our army!" At this point, he raised his wine glass and smiled at Lu Bu: "There are only three ways. Wen Hou also knows that our army has many prisoners now, and we have to prevent Sun Ce from making a comeback. We need to rest as soon as possible." "Our army has already made enough concessions. If Marquis Wen really wants to force our army, then I will not plot anything. Marquis Wen will lead the army and we will have a battle in the city!" "If Marquis Wen wins, not to mention the money and food, the entire Huainan will belong to him!"

"But if Marquis Wen is defeated, don't blame our army for being ruthless. Once General Guan arrives, it will be the time for a decisive battle between our two families. We will both perish together, and let others gain the advantage!" "Whether to cooperate or not, and whether we can drink together at the same table, is up to Wen Hou to decide!" Having said this, he poured the wine into Lu Bu's mouth and drank it all. When Liu Bei saw this, he drank up the wine himself. Qin Zhen's intention was exactly what he meant, and now he didn't want to make any calculations anymore. Lu Bu had his own choice: either capture the city by himself, take the money and leave, or perish together with them. There is no other choice. Now he is no longer the person who was manipulated by others. He has soldiers and generals, and Lu Bu can choose whatever he wants! While Lu Bu was holding the wine, looking at the king and his minister, his eyes became somewhat deep. What choice can he make now? Just as Qin Zhen said, neither family has the strength to advance now. If he continues to force them, he will be forcing Liu Bei to fight him. If he could win, he would certainly be able to win, but he can't win now! While those three choices seemed to give him autonomy, in fact only the last one was reality! But Yuan Shu’s wealth must be more than 10,000 gold! If he leaves with ten thousand gold alone, it would be a bit of a loss! So for a moment he looked at the wine in the glass and fell into a dilemma. Is it war or peace? (End of this chapter)