Chapter 187: Instant Meat Mince, a Quick Victory Let’s not talk about Cao and Liu’s advance, let’s just say that since Qin Zhen defected to Liu Bei, Yuan Shu’s life has been like a Mercury retrograde period, and nothing has gone well for him. He did not have the powerful intelligence system like Cao Cao, and still did not figure out where the problem lay. Is it because Yuan Shu really did not have the Mandate of Heaven and proclaimed himself emperor without authorization, thus incurring divine punishment? Or was it because Liu Bei sucked away his luck, causing him to become increasingly decadent? Or was it really bad luck that caused Liu Bei to be ahead in everything? To be honest, Yuan Shu couldn't figure out what the reason was. But he knew one thing: every time he was defeated, Liu Bei would appear! Faced with Liu Ye's sudden appearance, Yuan Shu suffered another defeat. Of his 15,000 troops, only less than 5,000 retreated with him. Fearing that Liu Ye would hunt him down, Yuan Shu led his troops on a run of more than thirty miles overnight. As the morale of the soldiers under his command had dropped, the soldiers fled as they walked. By daybreak, there were less than 2,000 men left, all their baggage had been lost, and they had no strength to fight again. Seeing this, Yuan Shu cried out in grief: "Will Yuan Gonglu go to this extent?"

In a trance, he seemed to see the past in Luoyang City, when he had just been appointed as a captain, dressed in fine clothes and riding a fast horse, passing through the street, and no one dared to look him in the eye. But now the army is weak and the road is over, with no hope of life anywhere. How did Yuan Shu, a child of a top wealthy family, get to where he is today? As he shouted loudly, his eyes became blurred and two lines of tears flowed out. People like Yang Hong were all very sad and heartbroken when they saw this. But the soldiers looked at him like this with numbness and indifference. Fortunately, it is early spring now and the weather is not dry. After shouting this, Yuan Shu did not ask for honey water. He just ordered his soldiers to rest on the spot and the kitchen to cook. However, an embarrassing situation arose at this time. They escaped along the way, their baggage had been scattered, so where could they get food? As a last resort, the soldiers had to look for food everywhere, digging up some wild vegetables and grass roots. The soldiers were all born in poverty and could eat even grass roots, but Yuan Shu was used to a luxurious life and could not swallow it. He spat out and cursed as soon as he took a bite: "Where did this come from? It's really bitter. Is there any broth?" As soon as he spit it out, he saw the surrounding soldiers looking at him, still expressionless. Only Yang Hong was standing by, serving wild vegetable soup with millet cakes and saying with a wry smile: "Where can I find meat soup in this desolate wilderness?" "Your Majesty, soak the cakes in soup and make them into millet paste, which will be easier to swallow!" "We'll hold a grand banquet once we get back to the city!" At this point, he was really afraid that the soldiers would mutiny. After all, most of these soldiers were conscripted by Yuan Shu and have no loyalty at all! The order can be maintained now because the concept of hierarchy still remains in people's hearts. If Yuan Shu continues to seek death, a mutiny will be triggered as long as a few soldiers rebel. Yuan Shu was no fool. Seeing this, he no longer asked for meat.

However, Yang Hong's words also focused his attention on the millet cake in Yang Hong's hand. Seeing Yang Hong eating the cake and soup very happily, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. Are these pancakes and soup really that delicious? Subconsciously, he picked up the cake again, took a bite of it, and then drank the soup again. Then he felt a bitter taste again, frowned and spat out the millet cake, saying: "How can we eat this kind of food, which is extremely bitter?" Seeing him spit it out again, Yang Hong sighed: "Your Majesty only thinks this is hard to eat, but don't you know that people all over the world rely on it for their livelihood?" "It's good enough for people like us to have millet cakes to eat, but now that Huainan is hit by a disaster, the people can't even eat grass roots!" "How many people have eaten each other's children, eaten the soil and died of hunger and cold." "Even our soldiers eat a mixture of chaff and millet and are hungry all day long." "This thing is hard to eat, what else can I eat?" As a wise man, he probably already knew his own ending. Therefore, it was a rare opportunity for him to speak out his true feelings to Yuan Shu. Although he did not ridicule Yuan Shu, he also told Yuan Shu the truth. When Yuan Shu heard this, his expression became quite complicated as he looked at the hard-to-swallow millet cake in his hand. At this moment, he seemed to understand where the problem lay! When he thought of this, he murmured to Yang Hong: "I heard that when Liu Xuande was in Pingyuan, he often sat at the same table with the common people. Could it be that the food he ate was similar to this?" Seeing this, Yang Hong shook his head and said: "I don't know about this either, but Liu Bei, Cao Cao and others all dislike extravagance." "We have been in the army for many years, eating at the same table with the soldiers, so the two families are quite popular, and the soldiers are willing to follow us!" After hearing this, Yuan Shu fell into silence. He silently ate two bites of millet cake and forced himself to swallow them. After eating for a while, he suddenly stood up and said to his snow-white horse without a single stray hair: "Come here, help me kill this horse and share it!" When these words came out, everyone was shocked. Yang Hong stood up quickly and said: "Your Majesty, you must not do this. This horse is worth a thousand gold coins. Now it is a long journey to Song State, a hundred miles away. Without this horse, how can you go there?" When Yuan Shu heard this, he said in a deep voice: "Even if I have a fortune, I cannot buy the hearts of the soldiers. I cannot share the suffering with the soldiers, but I am willing to share the joy with you!" "Since there is no food in the army, let's eat this horse!" "If I can escape today, I will change my ways. If I can't escape, I will die here, and I will not let you down for following me here!" After saying this, without waiting for anyone to stop him, he stepped forward and stabbed Ma to death on the spot with a spear. When the officers and soldiers under his command saw this, they were somewhat moved.

Seeing him like this, Yang Hong lamented that if Yuan Shu had done this earlier, they would not have been defeated so quickly. Even if I act like this now, what can I do? But after all, the horse had already been killed, and he could not persuade him any further. He could only let the chef skin the horse and take out the meat. After sharing the food with a horse, Yuan Shu finally had a meal of barbecue, gathered his energy, and led his army to the south. At this time, Liu Bei's troops had already arrived at the city of Song. After Qin Zhen's plan that day, they immediately advanced along the waterway. As the ice and snow melted in spring, the Huaihe River gradually thawed, and coupled with the rains last autumn, the river water has become unblocked. In order to arrive as quickly as possible, they traveled light this time. After replenishing food and grass in Ruyin, they joined forces with Wen Ji and headed towards the State of Song with a total of more than 12,000 soldiers and horses. After arriving at the city, Liu Bei saw that the city gate was closed, so he ordered Wen Ji to go and challenge him. However, after shouting for a long time, no one in the city came out to fight. Seeing this, Qin Zhen smiled at Liu Bei and said: "Now that Yuan Shu has sent troops to Chen State, the city is full of newly recruited soldiers and horses, so the enemy will not dare to come out." "But the defender Zhang Xun in the city has received favors from our army. If we want to take the city now, we should call him out to see us!" When Liu Bei heard this, he naturally led his guards to the foot of the city with shields and asked to see Zhang Xun. At this time, only Yan Xiang and Zhang Xun were in charge in the city. When they heard that Liu Bei wanted to see Zhang Xun, Yan Xiang said to Zhang Xun: "I heard that Qin Zhen is good at sowing discord. Now that the master is not here, the general must not treat him lightly!" But Yan Xiang didn't know that Zhang Xun had been captured by Liu Bei. Now that he heard that Liu Bei wanted to see him, even though Zhang Xun knew it was a trick, he couldn't change his attitude and could only say to Yan Xiang: "Most of the soldiers in the city are newly recruited. If we don't fight, our army will lose its fighting spirit." "If we continue to avoid them, the soldiers will think we are cowardly and will inevitably change!" "I will go to the top of the city and observe, and then I will know the enemy's true intentions!" After saying that, regardless of Yan Xiang's refusal, he went to the top of the city wall. Since Song was not a big city and its walls were low, as soon as they arrived at the city, they saw Liu Bei deploying his troops outside. Seeing that Liu Bei had already reached the city, Yan Xiang suggested: "Liu Bei is unprepared, you can order the strong archers to kill him!" However, Zhang Xun, thinking of the past kindness, naturally refused and just said loudly: "I heard that Liu Mu came here and wanted to see me. I wonder what his intention is?" Liu Bei looked at Zhang Xun on the city wall and said with a smile: "The general said he wanted to surrender to our army, but his family is not here!" "Now that your family has been captured by our army, why are you still leading your troops to resist?" Hearing this, Zhang Xun suddenly felt ashamed, thinking that Liu Bei had indeed treated him well when he was captured. At the moment, their troops are no match for Liu Bei, so it is really wrong for them to resist so stubbornly. But thinking of Yuan Shu's kindness, he could not surrender just like that. He could only sigh and step aside. Yan Xiang had already felt something was wrong when he saw Zhang Xun's behavior. Now that Zhang Xun did not answer his question, he was immediately shocked and said: "When did the general collude with Liu Bei to surrender?"

Zhang Xun heard this and hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, I have never betrayed my lord!" Yan Xiang was very smart. When he heard this, he became angry and said: "Since this is not the case, why don't you refute it, General?" The current situation is such that he can't help but have wild thoughts. If you have no problem with it, you should refute Liu Bei instead of keeping silent! Now he doesn't even refute a single word like this and just says that he didn't betray Yuan Shu. Who would believe him? But Zhang Xun was now like a mute eating bitter herbs, unable to express his grievances in words. He could only sigh and walk towards the city. Liu Bei saw this outside the city and laughed: "If the general doesn't answer, he must be willing to surrender. I will wait for the general to return outside the city!" After saying this, he retreated towards the army among the guards. Seeing the good opportunity slipping away, Yan Xiang stamped his feet and sighed, then followed Zhang Xun into the city. In the evening, Liu Bei's army raised the tent. Seeing that Zhang Xun did not move, Zhang Fei said: "Brother, Zhang Xun is a traitor. Why don't you let me lead the troops to attack fiercely? We will be able to capture the city within three days!" He hadn't been to a battle for a long time, so this time he was eager to go. But Liu Bei is no longer the man who relied solely on bravery. He now prefers to fight smart battles. Seeing Zhang Xun so ashamed today, he shook his head and said: "Although Zhang Xun has not surrendered, his heart has been moved. We cannot attack him forcefully!" Then, he looked at Qin Zhen and asked: "I wonder if the military advisor has any good strategy to defeat the enemy?" Seeing this, Qin Zhen stood up and said with a smile: "I have my own strategy, but I also need to pool the wisdom of others." He naturally turned his gaze to Zhuge Liang who was accompanying the army and said: "In Kong Ming's opinion, how should we take this city?" Since he began to study under Qin Zhen, Zhuge Liang became Qin Zhen's deputy, and not only began to handle civil affairs but also military affairs. At this time, he was no longer as immature as before. Upon hearing this, he stepped out and said: "In my opinion, although our army is attacking Yuan Shu this time, the main enemy is on the west side!" "So this city should be taken quickly, and it is not advisable to attack it by force." "Now I see that you have asked Zhang Xun to come to see you, which has caused discord among the generals and ministers in the city." "Zhang Xun's behavior will surely arouse the concerns of the generals in the city. We can use psychological warfare to win their hearts and minds!" "Why not follow the strategy of the enemy surrounded on all sides? First, spread the news that Yuan Shu is dead outside the city, and then ask the people in the surrounding villages to shout outside the city." "In this way, the will to fight in the city will be lost, the army's morale will be dispersed, and we can win without fighting!" After hearing what Kong Ming said, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "What a great strategy to be surrounded by enemies on all sides! If we want to win quickly, we must use this strategy!" Liu Bei looked at the two of them and nodded. I thought that Qin Zhen had done a good job in training Kong Ming. Not only could he handle both military and civil affairs, but he could also offer advice in a competent manner! After thinking about it for a while, he nodded and said: "Kong Ming's plan is fine, but the people cannot be driven around at will. You can take some food and money and go to the village to talk to them, but don't force them." After that, he ordered Zhang Fei and Wen Ji to lead 3,000 troops each to shout outside the city, and asked Sun Qian and Kong Ming to take money and food to the village to gather the people for help.

At night, when the soldiers in the city had just changed their guard, they heard a loud shout from outside the city: "Yuan Shu has been tricked and killed. If he resists, he will be killed. If he surrenders, he will be spared." The sound was strange, like a surging tide, endlessly stretching out, frightening the new recruits in the city. When the commander guarding the city gate saw this, he was afraid that the soldiers would mutiny, so he hurriedly sent the news to the inside of the city. (End of this chapter)