Chapter 185: Battle of Chen County, Defeat of Yuan Shu But Luo Jun was originally from Wushang County, Kuaiji Prefecture, and had both literary and military talents. When he was young, he worked as a minor official in Kuaiji County. Later, he was selected as a filial and honest official and was appointed as a Shangshu Lang. Later, Chen Guoxiang Shi Qian reported Liu Chong's usurpation of the throne in offering sacrifices to heaven, which led to Shi Qian being transferred to Luo Jun's place. During his tenure, he used both kindness and force to help Liu Chong gather more than 100,000 refugees, making the State of Chen prosperous. But although Luo Jun had such ability, he was as slow and unresponsive as Chen Gong in dealing with major events. Until he was called into the mansion by Liu Xian, he had not yet realized that he had been to the gates of hell. Seeing that Liu Ye had arrived in Chen County, Luo Jun's first reaction was to frown and say: "Now the king is still in Yangxia, and Ziyang is not in Yangxia to help him. Why is he in such a hurry to return to Chen County?" "Let me ask you, where is the king? Is he alright?" When Liu Ye heard this, he sneered: "If Ye hadn't returned, Prime Minister Luo would have died today from Yuan Shu's scheme!"

"Prime Minister Luo, you should know that your plan of false surrender has been discovered by Yuan Shu, who is using it to plot to kill you!" "Why are you still talking about you and me here?" He knew that Luo Jun was wary of him, and naturally he was displeased to see him still like that. When Luo Jun heard this, he was shocked and said: "Why do you say that? How could my plan be seen through by others?" Having said this, he naturally looked at Liu Xian. Seeing this, Liu Xian had no choice but to tell Luo Jun what had just happened, and said directly to Luo Jun: "Just now, I mistakenly believed Yuan Shu's plan and almost summoned Prime Minister Luo to question him." "If Zi Yang hadn't returned in time, my mother and I would have fallen into his trap!" It would have been fine if he hadn't said anything. As soon as he said this, Luo Jun's face flushed and he said angrily: "Yuan Shu is a treacherous boy. When did I ever collude with him to assassinate the king?" "But I don't know where that dog slave is, but I will call him here and I will confront him myself!" Seeing that he was angry, Liu Xian was naturally frightened and pointed to the back hall and said: "That person is in the back hall. Minister Luo wants to see him. I will go and call him over!" When Luo Jun heard that the servant who betrayed him was in the backyard, he was naturally angry and immediately went to the back hall. But as soon as he took a step out, Liu Ye grabbed him and said: "Wait a minute, Prime Minister Luo. This man has most likely been bribed by Yuan Shu. It will only take one person to kill him." "It seems like the mastermind Yuan Shu, but it's hard to hurt him!" "Now the great enemy is Yuan Shu. Why would Lord Luo be reluctant to spare his life in exchange for Yuan Shu's defeat?" Luo Jun was so angry that he wanted to kill someone. When he heard these words, he stopped in his tracks. After all, he has been in power for many years, so he still has some common sense. When he heard Liu Ye's words, he turned around and said seriously: "According to what you said, what else can we do?"

Seeing this, Liu Ye said seriously: "If you believe what I say, Luo Jun, you will have to suffer!" "Earlier, Luo Jun's plan to feign surrender was discovered by the enemy. This was because Luo Jun had great prestige and a good reputation. Yuan Shu naturally did not believe Luo Jun's false surrender." "So he planned this plan to kill Luo Jun first and then divide the people in the city!" "From this we can see that Yuan Shu's heart is all on Luo Jun. If Luo Jun is here, Yuan Shu will be afraid. If Luo Jun is not here, Yuan Shu will definitely fall into the trap." "Therefore, if we want to defeat Yuan Shu, we must follow his wishes and imprison Luo Jun first, so as to create an impression that the people in the city are in chaos and unable to defend the city." "When I went south this time, I persuaded General Lu to give me several thousand soldiers. Now the soldiers are still outside the city, and Yuan Shu doesn't know about it!" "As long as we can lure Yuan Shu into the city, we can defeat him with external forces!" After hearing this, Luo Jun pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice: "If it can be accomplished, I am willing to do it, but I don't know how to respond?" Seeing that he agreed to this, Liu Ye smiled and said: "Mr. Luo, just surrender and I will take care of the rest!" After saying this, he glanced at Liu Xian, who understood and immediately shouted: "Luo Jun, my father treated you so well, but you dared to contact an assassin to kill him!" "Come here, help me capture Luo Jun and put him in jail!" Luo Junzi didn't expect Liu Ye to act so quickly. Before he could react, several guards rushed in from outside the mansion and held him down. However, Luo Jun was a smart man after all. When he saw this, he shouted: "My Lord, this is unfair, this is unfair!" "I am a loyal subject and have no second thoughts. This is a frame-up by Yuan Shu!" However, as he shouted all the way, Liu Xian and Liu Ye did not move and allowed him to be dragged out of the mansion. It would have been fine if someone else was treated like this, but Luo Jun was very popular among the people, and when he was escorted out of the mansion like this, it immediately caused an uproar. Upon hearing this, officials and people in the city came to the outside of the palace to plead for mercy. The whole street was filled with people coming in an endless stream. In such a situation, Liu Xian was terrified and asked Liu Ye: "If the officials and people in the city act like this, there will be chaos!" Seeing this, Liu Ye was also frightened by Luo Jun's prestige, but he was a bold and careful man, so he immediately said to Liu Xian: "If not, we can't lure Yuan Shu here!" Then he ordered Liu Xian to act according to the plan and at the same time ordered Zang Ne to ambush outside the city. At this point, news of the chaos in the State of Chen reached Yuan Shu's army. When Yuan Shu heard that Luo Jun had been imprisoned, he was overjoyed and said to Yang Hong: "Thanks to your brilliant plan, the enemy has gone, and it is God who has helped me to conquer the State of Chen!" Seeing this, Yang Hong stroked his beard and smiled:

"Luo Jun is still a man of ideas, but Liu Chong's son is like a pig and a dog. Now that Luo Jun is imprisoned and Chen County is in chaos, we can go straight there!" "By your majesty's divine power, the soldiers and civilians in the city should bow down and pay homage to you!" Yuan Shu followed his advice and immediately reorganized his army to continue his advance, while at the same time sending people into the city to persuade them to surrender. However, before he reached Chen County, he received news that the envoy had been beheaded. Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu became furious and said: "Guinea pigs dare to stop the army? Come to the city and I will see how they resist!" Then he led the army all the way to the city of Chen County, but found that the city gates were closed and there were many soldiers patrolling back and forth. Yuan Shu also knew military knowledge, and seeing how well-defended the enemy was, he could not help but secretly exclaim: "I have often heard that Luo Jun, one of Liu Chong's subordinates, is very capable. Apart from Luo Jun, there is no other capable official." "Now that Luo Jun is imprisoned, who will guard the city?" He immediately ordered his subordinates to inquire, and soon learned that Liu Ye had returned to Chen County. Hearing the name Liu Ye, Yuan Shu was immediately annoyed and asked, "Who am I thinking? It turns out to be this Huainan Liu Ziyang!" Seeing this, Yang Hong stepped forward and said: "My lord, this Liu Ye is a famous scholar in Huainan. Before Liu Bei entered Shouchun, he sought him as an advisor!" "Later, I heard that the two families often visited each other, and Liu Bei asked this person to buy military equipment here, which might be his intention to annex the State of Chen." "I've heard that this man has great strategies and is known as a talent for helping the world. Now that he's in the city, it may be difficult for our army to enter the city!" Yuan Shu had lived in Shouchun for a long time and had heard of Liu Ye's name. When he saw Liu Ye doing bad things, he said angrily: "When we get to Chen County, the city will surely be opened. Now that Liu Ye is in charge, what should we do?" When Yang Hong heard this, he was hesitant. At this moment, he heard someone come to report that someone was coming from the city. When Yang Hong heard this, he immediately said to Yuan Shu happily: "Although Liu Ye has his abilities, he is not as popular as Luo Jun." "Now that Luo Jun is in prison, people in the city are uneasy. This person must be coming here to seek refuge!" When Yuan Shu heard this, he called the man from outside the camp to ask him about it. He then learned that this man was from the Yin family, a prominent family in Chen County. He handed him a secret letter and said: "Liu Xian is an unjust man who has been plotting to kill Prime Minister Luo. Now that I have heard that Lord Yuan's troops are coming, I am willing to be their internal support. At three o'clock in the morning, I will light a fire on the city wall as a signal. Then you can enter through the north gate." It is nothing new for people in the city to plot against each other. The situation most similar to our current situation is the Battle of Puyang in the novel. Facing Cao Cao's attack, Chen Gong designed a plan to let the nobles in the city offer a letter of surrender, in order to lure Cao Cao into the city and then defeat him. However, this is ultimately a novelist's words, and the Battle of Puyang did not take place on this timeline. Seeing that there was a wealthy family in the city who could serve as an insider, Yuan Shu was overjoyed, thinking that his family's reputation of having three officials in four generations was indeed valid. Even if we are defeated to this point, there are still old nobles willing to work for us! He immediately ordered his men to prepare and attack the city at night. Yang Hong felt that something was amiss and quickly advised Yuan Shu: "Liu Ye is a man of great strategy. I'm afraid he is up to something. Our army must not enter the city easily!"

"We can divide our troops into two teams, one team can enter the city and the other team can provide support. This will ensure that there will be no trouble!" Yuan Shu followed his advice and ordered Chen Ji to lead 5,000 troops as the vanguard, while he himself led the troops to cover the rear. In terms of bravery and strategy, he is not as good as Cao. Naturally, he cannot personally go into the city to scout the enemy, which is a dangerous task. After making these arrangements, they left the camp at the beginning of the night and headed straight for the city of Chen County. After waiting for a long time, around three o'clock in the morning, there were shouts and screams from inside the north gate. Soon, torches on the gate were lit, the city gate opened wide, and the drawbridge was lowered. When Yuan Shu saw this, he was overjoyed and ordered Chen Ji to charge into the city. It is also said that Chen Ji was originally from Danyang, Yangzhou, and followed Yuan Shu in his early years. In the past, Sun Ce followed Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shu promised to make Sun Ce the prefect of Jiujiang if he conquered Jiujiang. As a result, after Jiujiang was taken, Sun Ce was replaced by Chen Ji. From then on, Sun Ce began to secretly hate Yuan Shu, but it could also be seen that Chen Ji was quite trusted by Yuan Shu. Even though Yuan Shu was close to death, Chen Ji remained loyal and personally led his troops into the city gate. Before he got deep into the city, he heard a loud shout: "The enemy has fallen into our trap!" After a shout, a large amount of hay was thrown out from the city, and as soon as the torches fell, a fire started. Chen Ji was shocked when he saw this and ordered his troops to withdraw. However, when he turned back, he found that the north gate was blocked. He was also shocked when he saw soldiers rushing out from all directions and rushed towards the east gate. At this time, Yuan Shu was dreaming of entering the city. Unexpectedly, as soon as his men entered the city, they fell into the enemy's trap. Yuan Shu cried out, "Ah!" and then shouted: "How dare you deceive me? Let's attack the city!" As soon as the shout was given, his men rushed towards the city. Just as I reached the city wall, I heard a loud shout from the city wall: "All troops, listen up! Open your crossbows and shoot!" The reason why Liu Chong was able to defend the State of Chen for more than ten years was because Liu Chong was not only good at archery, but also liked bows and crossbows. There were thousands of powerful crossbows in Chen County. At this time, there were shouts from the city, and the soldiers started shooting. In an instant, a large number of crossbow arrows were shot towards Yuan Shu's army. As soon as Yuan Shu's army rushed into the city wall, most of them were killed or wounded. Upon seeing this, Yang Hong's face turned pale and he said to Yuan Shu: "The enemy is guarding the gate with powerful crossbows. Our army cannot enter the city. We should retreat quickly!" Yuan Shu was tricked and blocked by a powerful crossbow, so he turned around and shouted angrily when he heard this: "Now that Runan and Huainan have been lost, if we withdraw our troops, where will we go?" As soon as he said this, Yang Hong was stunned. Yes, they only have so few cities under their command now. If they can't take Chen State now, where can they retreat to? Without food and supplies, they would have no way of survival even with soldiers and horses! While he was thinking about this, he heard shouts and screams from behind, and soon someone came to report: "Something bad is happening. Our rear troops have been attacked by the enemy!"

These were the 7,000 troops led by Zang Ne. Once they arrived, they threw Yuan Shu's rear army formation into chaos. When Yang Hong heard the noise, he was frightened and tried to persuade Yuan Shu: "Now there is no way out in front, and there are pursuers behind. If I don't retreat, will I die here?" He knew that he and his men had nowhere to retreat, but Yuan Shu, do you really want to die here? When Yuan Shu heard this, he was speechless for a moment. As for whether to die or not, he naturally did not want to die here! The situation is so serious now. If he doesn't retreat, wouldn't he be seeking his own death? Thinking of this, in order to save his own life, Yuan Shu gritted his teeth and led his troops to retreat to the east. But Yuan Shu's retreat made life difficult for Chen Ji, who was trapped in the city. His troops were not strong enough to begin with, and now they fell into a mess, with crossbows shooting at them from the city walls. He rushed out from the east gate and was surrounded by Liu Ye outside the city. Just as he was about to break out, he heard a loud shout from the city: "Yuan Shu's army has been defeated and retreated!" This shout immediately undermined the resistance of Yuan Shu's army. As Liu Ye persuaded them to surrender, the remaining 3,000 soldiers and horses abandoned their troops and surrendered, and Chen Ji was captured. The next day, because he hated Yuan Shu's vicious plot to harm Liu Chong, Luo Tong ordered Chen Ji to be beheaded and hung on the city gate for public display after he was released from prison. Seeing that Liu Ye had won another great victory in one battle, Luo Jun urged Liu Ye to pursue and kill Yuan Shu completely. However, Liu Ye directly rejected the proposal upon seeing this: "Now that Prince Chen has been killed, even though I have blocked the news, it is still difficult to stop Cao Cao's spies!" "Now that my lord has led his army here, it will be difficult for Yuan Shu to escape. If we pursue him, it will inevitably give Cao Cao an opportunity to take advantage of him." "We should deploy our troops here to welcome the king south to protect the foundation of the Chen Kingdom!" When Luo Jun heard this, he knew that Cao Cao was not someone to be trifled with, so he had no choice but to follow his advice. (End of this chapter)