Chapter 189 Abandoning Xiaopei, Death of Yuan Shu With Zhang Xun's surrender, Liu Bei took the opportunity to move into the city of Song. Even though Yuan Shu still occupied several cities, the only one who could truly stop Liu Bei's troops was Zhang Xun's troops from the State of Song. Now that the State of Song surrendered, Liu Bei would have destroyed Yuan Shu's last foundation. After entering the city, the first thing to do as usual is to meet the prisoners. Since Yuan Shu's troops were scattered, the only people whose names could be remembered were Zhang Xun, Yan Xiang, Shu Shao and others. Among them, the one who was most familiar with Liu Bei was naturally Zhang Xun. As soon as Liu Bei entered the city, he saw Zhang Xun quietly standing under the city gate. Seeing this, Liu Bei smiled, dismounted, walked up to Zhang Xun, grabbed his hand and said with a smile: "General, you are about to surrender. Why are you so late?" These words not only expressed joy at Zhang Xun's surrender, but also asked what Zhang Xun was thinking.

Zhang Xun was already somewhat ashamed, and upon hearing this, his face flushed and he said: "Although I have received the kindness of the envoy, I have also received the kindness of Lord Yuan!" "Lord Yuan has asked me to guard this place. I will not surrender without your permission." "However, you have won the hearts of the people. Now you are using Han songs to persuade them to surrender. The soldiers are loyal to you and cannot resist. I don't want to kill more people, so I surrender!" When Liu Bei heard this, he smiled and said; "This is Yuan Gonglu's fault, not the general's!" "General, you are truly a righteous man. You can enter the city with me!" After saying that, without waiting for Zhang Xun to refuse, he took Zhang Xun's hand and entered the city together. To be honest, if Zhang Xun had surrendered at the beginning, Liu Bei would definitely not have treated him like this. Because Zhang Xun was now the person entrusted by Yuan Shu to take care of his son, these few cities were handed over to Zhang Xun to lead. If Zhang Xun saw a powerful enemy coming, even though he had been favored by the enemy in the past, it would be disloyal to surrender like this. Even if the situation is stronger than the person, it will leave a thorn in his heart. But Zhang Xun did not choose to surrender at the beginning, because he was loyal to his lord. Later, when he saw that things were not going well, he surrendered, because that was his duty to his subordinates. Although such a loyal and righteous person is not as good as Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, he is also a rare talent. Therefore, after Liu Bei confirmed Zhang Xun's thoughts, he decided not to pursue Zhang Xun's fault. Zhang Xun felt touched when Liu Bei held his hand. I was defeated and captured twice, and Liu Bei treated me like this both times. If he wasn't kind by nature, who would behave like this? He no longer worried about Yuan Shu's kindness and followed Liu Bei all the way to the mansion. After entering the hall, he met Yan Xiang, Shu Shao and others one after another.

When asked if they were willing to surrender, everyone said yes, except Shu Shao, who looked sad and bowed to Liu Bei and said: "We have long heard of Liu Mu's virtuous name. Now that he has been captured here, we must surrender to him." "But Lord Yuan has been kind to us all. Now that he has surrendered, I hope Liu Mu will show some mercy and not kill him!" If someone else said this, Liu Bei would be very angry. Because Yuan Shu's nature was different from others, and he was guilty of the serious crime of plotting to usurp the throne, if he was captured, he would naturally be killed. However, Shu Shao had a good reputation. When his relatives and friends were killed in the past, Shu Shao took revenge personally. Later, the matter was exposed, and he vied with his brother to take the blame, which later became a good story. Not to mention that some time ago Shu Shao went against the wind and used food and fodder to help the people. He was a true hero. Old Liu has always valued righteous men. When he heard this, he was not surprised. Instead, he personally supported him and said: "I have also heard about Zhong Ying's sacrifice of his life for justice. Since you are asking for mercy, I will give him some leniency." "If Yuan Gonglu surrenders, I will not kill him." "But if you continue to resist, I will be sorry for my soldiers if I spare you!" After hearing this, Shu Shao knew that Liu Bei had already shown mercy, so he stopped trying to persuade him. At this point, Liu Bei had stabilized the overall situation in Song State. Seeing that there was no news from the west, Liu Bei asked Qin Zhen: "Now that our army has conquered Song, Yuan Shu's foundation has been destroyed. Should our army go to Chen County to support Zi Yang before Cao's army sends out troops?" But when he said this, Qin Zhen shook his head and said: "At present, there is no military report from the west, which does not necessarily mean that Cao's army has not yet dispatched troops." "Our army is unaware of Cao's movements and is moving hastily, making it easy for the enemy to control us!" "Now that our army has stabilized Song and other places, we should seize the opportunity to pursue and kill Yuan Shu completely." "We must not let Yuan Shu get a chance to revive!" In fact, whether Cao Cao has sent troops is still an unknown to them. But as the founder of an intelligence organization, he was well aware of how efficient the organization he had established was. According to his estimation, even if Liu Ye concealed the news of Liu Chong's assassination, he would not be able to hide it from Cao Cao for many days. If the news spread quickly, it would only take two days from Yangxia to Xu County. Therefore, counting from the time Liu Ye left Yangxia, Cao Cao might have received the news before they arrived in Song State. In this case, if Cao Cao sent troops from Xuchang again, they might have reached the city of Chen County by now! In this situation, if Liu Ye can hold on, then these ten days or half a month won't matter. If Liu Ye can't hold on, then even if they go, it will be of no use. Therefore, their best choice now is to eliminate Yuan Shu first, and wait until the news comes from the west, so that they can know the next move. While thinking, he suggested to Liu Bei: "I heard from the soldiers in the city that Yuan Shu has been sending out his troops for more than half a month." "If we are defeated now, we may march south from Xiangxian and Yilu, or we can divide our forces into two groups and set up an ambush. We can wipe out Yuan Shu completely here while he still doesn't know that Song has fallen!"

"In addition, in case Cheng Yu in the north mobilizes his troops, we can have Chen Dao quickly march north and have Yuan Zhi send troops to Qiao County to block Cheng Yu's reinforcements!" In addition to Cao Cao, Cheng Yu is also a big problem! Ever since their last deal with Liu Chong, Cao Cao had Cheng Yu lead an army of 20,000 to garrison in the territory of Liang State, north of Chen State! Compared with other people under Cao Cao, Cheng Yu was ruthless and had a certain degree of autonomy. Once they discover that they are plotting against the State of Chen, they might send troops to support Cao Cao. At this time, only Xu Shu can stop Cheng Yu! Liu Bei frowned when he heard this and said, "But Yuan Zhi is in charge of the defense of Pei State. If we allow him to enter Qiao County, Xiaopei will be empty. What if Cheng Yu takes it?" When Qin Zhen heard this, he smiled and said: "Although Xiaopei is a strategic location, it is also the gateway to Xuzhou. Our army's base is all in the south, so why should we care about the gains and losses of Xiaopei!" "In my opinion, we can just give Xiaopei to Cao Cao, and let Lu Bu share the pressure of our army!" The terrain of Xiaopei is indeed very important, almost equivalent to the key for Cao Cao to attack Xuzhou. If Cao Cao didn't take Xiaopei, he would need to send troops from the north to capture Taishan County first if he wanted to attack Xuzhou, which would not pose any threat to Lu Bu at all. And that’s the problem: Xiaopei’s terrain is so important, but it is in their hands. They were just Lu Bu's allies, not Lu Bu's mothers. They had been guarding Xiaopei before because their territory was too small. Now that the territory is mainly in the south, there is naturally no need to help Lu Bu guard the back door. On the contrary, their battle line is now too extended. If they pull back a hand, Cao Cao and Lu Bu will be at odds with each other. Having Lu Bu to withstand the pressure from the north is actually a good thing for them! Liu Bei naturally reacted after hearing this and couldn't help but laugh: "Our army started from Xiaopei in the past, so Xiaopei has always been important to me." "Now that I have heard what the military advisor said, I know that Xiaopei and our army are of no use." "Well, let's follow the military advisor's advice and give it to Cao Cao!" Smiling like this, he secretly thought that he was afraid of being poor. In fact, Xiaopei is not even as big as the Song State they have captured now. Exchanging Xiaopei for stability in the north is naturally a profitable business! Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated and hurriedly sent orders to the east, asking Xu Shu to abandon the area north of Xiao County and focus the defense on Qiao County and other places. After this order was issued, Liu Bei divided his troops into two groups and marched towards Xiang County and Yilu City. As soon as the troops arrived in Yilu, they heard news from the west that Yuan Shu's troops had been defeated and were fleeing eastward. Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei personally took Zhang Fei to ambush outside the city. At this time, Yuan Shu's remaining troops were heading towards Yilu. However, after Yuan Shu was defeated that day, he fled all the way towards the State of Song. After hearing what Yang Hong said, the man came to his senses, divided his horses among himself and ate with his soldiers. This stabilized the army for two days.

But after all, the army had no food. If they wanted to advance, they naturally could not survive only on wild vegetables and grass roots. So after marching for two days, as soon as they came across a village, Yuan Shu ordered his troops to massacre it. It was also because the State of Chen had been stable for too long, and any village had one or two thousand people. After Yuan Shu's troops slaughtered them, they looted a lot of food and fodder. Yuan Shu saw that he had gained a lot from the massacre and his morale was restored. He smiled and said to Yang Hong: "No wonder Cao Cao always loves to massacre people. Now that we have no money or food, we can just massacre the whole village. We can still gain a lot!" "The Art of War says: One catty of enemy food is worth twenty catties of our own; one shi of enemy straw is worth twenty shi of our own." "I have always heard this truth before, but now I see it as the truth!" But as he said this, Yang Hong sighed and said: "When Sun Wu wrote the book, it was still the chaotic time of the Warring States Period. The six kingdoms had not yet been unified, so it was natural!" "The people your majesty has kidnapped are all Han people. If you continue like this, the world will be ruined!" He had thought about what Yuan Shu would look like after he mended his ways, but now it seemed that he was worse than before. Why do you have to compare with Cao when there are so many people to compare with? Don’t you see how bad Cao’s reputation is now? When he said this, Yuan Shu became angry and said: "Could it be that Cao Cao is allowed to massacre a city, but we are not allowed to massacre a village?" Seeing this, Yang Hong dared not say much and could only sigh: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am not scolding you. I am just thinking that we are still in enemy territory. If we massacre the whole village, we will definitely reveal our whereabouts." "If the enemy knew about this, they might come after us, which would be disadvantageous to our army." When Yuan Shu heard this, he stroked his beard and said: "I also know this, but now that they are approaching our territory, even if there are pursuers coming, I am not afraid!" After saying this, he led the remaining troops with great complacency and marched towards Yilu. It turned out that Yang Hong's words came true. Yuan Shu's massacre of the village just exposed the whereabouts of his army. As soon as the spies reported back, Liu Bei knew that Yuan Shu was coming. When he heard that he was going to massacre another village, he became furious and said: "Yuan Gonglu is really not a good son. If there is no food, he can just rob. Why kill people?" He was too lazy to ambush and just led his troops to attack Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was about to return to Song, but on the way he saw Liu Bei in the way and he shouted at him: "How dare you, a mat weaver and shoe seller, deceive me so many times!" When Liu Bei heard this, he drew his sword and said coldly: "You are a traitor and I have come to punish you in compliance with the imperial edict!" "I didn't expect you to be so stubborn and unyielding that you will die here!" After saying this, he led his troops to fight against Yuan Shu's troops. At this time, Yuan Shu had no generals under his command, so how could he be a match for Liu Bei? The two armies stood together and were killed in an instant. Seeing this situation, Yang Hong hurriedly shouted:

"Protect the emperor, protect the emperor, follow me to protect the emperor!" As he was shouting, a black man suddenly came rushing towards him. It was Zhang Fei. Before Yang Hong could react, he was stabbed to death by a spear. When Yuan Shu saw Yang Hong's tragic death, he howled and rushed towards Liu Bei. However, he was indulging in pleasure all day long and had no skills in martial arts, so he was no match for Liu Bei. In an instant, the two horses crossed each other and Liu Bei was killed on the spot! With Yuan Shu's death in battle, his troops were scattered, but were gathered together by Liu Bei and captured. At this time, Shu Shao, Zhang Xun and others were all in the army. When they saw Yuan Shu's body, they held the corpse and cried uncontrollably. Only Yan Xiang looked at the bodies of Yuan Shu and Yang Hong without saying a word. It was not until Liu Bei brought his body back to the city that he asked for permission to bury Yuan Shu's body properly. Seeing that Yuan Shu was pleading for his former master, Liu Bei could not refuse, so he simply kept Yuan Shu's body intact and buried him outside Yilu City. At this point, the great hero Yuan Shu came to an end, leaving only a desolate grave outside Yilu City. (End of this chapter)