Chapter 263: Abandoning the Darkness and Joining the Light, Persuading Zhang Liao to Surrender Naturally, the news of Lu Bu's arrival at Yinling could not be concealed from Qin Zhen. Strictly speaking, Yinling City is located directly behind Qin Zhen. A series of important towns in Huainan, along the south bank of the Huai River, are Shouchun, Quyang, Yinling and Zhongli. Zhongli, where Qin Zhen was located, was located at the easternmost end of Jiujiang’s border. Under the lure of Chen Deng, Lu Bu fought his way into Huainan from Dongcheng, then turned around and went around behind Qin Zhen's troops, thus blocking Qin Zhen's connection with the west. Faced with this news, Qin Zhen's strategy was to stand firm. Or maybe he wanted to pretend that he was afraid to engage in a head-on battle with Lu Bu and continue to let Lu Bu advance westward. Since the capture of Zhang Liao and Gao Shun that day, the number of troops under Qin Zhen's command has been reduced to more than 9,000, but the number of prisoners has reached 6,000. Under such circumstances, if he kept his troops in place, it would not arouse Lu Bu's suspicion.

Taking advantage of this period of recuperation, Qin Zhen began to persuade Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to surrender, well, or rather, to persuade Zhang Liao to surrender. Because Gao Shun was exhausted in this battle, he was besieged by Xu Sheng, Lei Bu and Xiahou Lan and was seriously injured. And this person is obviously a die-hard fan of Lu Bu, so Qin Zhen does not hold much hope for the moment. On the contrary, Zhang Liao was trapped in the mountains and captured by him through strategy. Although he was defeated miserably, he did not suffer much injury. Therefore, on the second day after Zhang Liao was captured, Qin Zhen met with Zhang Liao in person. I saw that Zhang Liao was a burly man, about eight feet tall, with a heroic figure, short beard, and a face like a tiger or leopard. At this moment he was in prison, in shackles, looking listless, no different from his past self. When Qin Zhen saw this, he ordered the jailer to take away the shackles and chains. Zhang Liao was freed, his back immediately arched, and he stared at Qin Zhen with a malicious look on his face and said: "Sir, you came here alone and removed my shackles. Is that like letting a tiger go free, without fear of being hurt by it?" When Qin Zhen heard him say this, he smiled leisurely, had someone bring down the wine and meat, and said: "The general and I are old acquaintances, and we are both Han officials. I have never harmed the general, so why did the general harm me?" "I think the general is a loyal and righteous man, he would never do such a mean thing!" Having said this, he knelt down in front of Zhang Liao, poured two glasses of wine himself, and motioned Zhang Liao to sit down. Seeing Qin Zhen like this, Zhang Liao's eyes flashed with hesitation. After pondering for a moment, he sat down in front of Qin Zhen and said: "Sir, you are treating me with such courtesy, but are you trying to persuade me to surrender?" "That's right, General, are you willing to surrender to our army?" Qin Zhen picked up the wine glass and took a sip, then raised his hand to signal Zhang Liao to drink. Seeing this, Zhang Liao swallowed his saliva for a moment, then gritted his teeth and drank from the cup. The wine wet his beard, but it also made him open the conversation: "This time, Liao's skills were inferior to others. We were defeated by you, sir. I am convinced." "But if you want me to surrender, I won't!"

When Qin Zhen saw him drink the wine, he smiled, stood up and poured him more wine himself, saying: "I know that Lu Bu treats you well, and it is reasonable for you to remain loyal and not surrender." "But I don't know how to get the general to surrender. Can you tell Yu Zhen?" When Zhang Liao heard this, he was stunned and didn't know what to say. To be honest, if Qin Zhen threatened him as soon as he arrived, or pretended to be kind and righteous as soon as he arrived, he could deal with it. It's just a death anyway, at worst I can drag Qin Zhen down with me. But Qin Zhen invited him to drink wine and eat meat right from the start, and seeing that he refused to surrender, he did not force him. Instead, he was asked what conditions he would have to meet in order to surrender. How should he respond? Did he surrender only after Lü Bu died and he had no master to serve? Or did he surrender only after Qin Zhen captured Xuzhou? The former reply made him seem heartless and disloyal, while the latter reply was too utilitarian! But Qin Zhen had already poured the glass of wine into his hand, and it would be impolite for him not to respond. So for a moment he looked at the wine in the glass, frowned and was speechless. Seeing him like this, Qin Zhen smiled again, sat down, filled his own glass, raised it and said: "Well, if the general doesn't want to answer, I won't force him to do so!" "I came here today for no other purpose than to have some conversation with the general." "Since Zhen treats me with such courtesy, I'm sure the general will not refuse!" Zhang Liao saw him raise his glass again, his expression became more complicated, and he thought that he really didn't understand Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen had tried to persuade him kindly when they were outside the city before, and now that he was a prisoner, Qin Zhen still treated him with such courtesy. Why is this? You must know that he is not considered a close confidant of Lu Bu! The reason why his status is higher is that he leads troops into the company, similar to Hao Meng, a general under Lu Bu. Strictly speaking, Lu Bu's real direct descendants include Wei Yue, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng, Song Xian and others. And with Qin Zhen defeating his troops in this battle, he became a general of no use at all. Qin Zhen is such a powerful person, is it necessary to spend so much time and effort to interact with him? "Sir, why do you think so highly of me? Such behavior is definitely not something you would do to a surrendered general!" While thinking, he asked his doubts and drank another glass of wine from Qin Zhen. Seeing him like this for a while, Qin Zhen leisurely tore off a piece of roasted chicken leg and handed it to him: "It is because I admire the general's loyalty and bravery. I refused to surrender even when I was in danger. I am eating your salary and taking on your worries." "However, although the general is so loyal and brave, there is no wise leader who can recognize him. It is really a pity!" Zhang Liao listened to this, took the chicken leg and looked thoughtful, then heard Qin Zhen say: "General, you may not know this, but I have asked someone to investigate your life story since the battle in East County." "I heard that the general is the descendant of Mr. Nie. I wonder if this is a false rumor?" As soon as he said this, Zhang Liao paused and looked at Qin Zhen in surprise. The fact that he was Nie Yi's descendant was a top secret, but Qin Zhen actually found out even this? When talking about Nie Yi, we have to mention a famous event in the Han Dynasty - the Ma Yi Conspiracy! Originally, the Huns and the Han Dynasty had a marriage alliance during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. However, after the marriage, the border was still uneasy and there was always the risk of invasion by the Huns.

So Zhang Liao's ancestor, the wealthy merchant Nie Yi, offered advice to the court and decided to use himself as bait to personally lure the main force of the Xiongnu southward into the encirclement of the Han army. Things were going smoothly at first, and Nie Yi successfully led the main force of the Xiongnu into the encirclement of 300,000 Han troops. But when the Xiongnu troops were marching south, the Xiongnu Chanyu discovered something unusual and sent troops to capture a fortress. They discovered the Han army's plan from the captives and found an ambush, so they retreated hastily. This led to the failure of a siege battle that could determine the country's fate. From then on, Nie offended the Huns and lost the opportunity to change his fate, and thus sank into decline. In order to avoid resentment, Nie Yi changed his surname to Zhang, and his family gradually declined. This matter was originally a family secret of Zhang Liao, and even those close to him were unaware of it. But now that it came out of Qin Zhen's mouth, Zhang Liao was naturally surprised. He didn't know that Qin Zhen had historical books as a source of information. He only felt that Qin Zhen in front of him was becoming more and more mysterious! But his surprised expression made Qin Zhen see the clue, and he sighed: "It's a pity to say this. Mr. Nie's plan was originally a great plan that would benefit the country and the people." "Unexpectedly, the news was leaked to the mouth of a villain, causing our Han Dynasty to lose a great opportunity and later suffered a great loss of money and manpower." "Every time I hear about this, I feel it's a pity that the Nie family's loyal and righteous deeds could not be carried out, and instead their descendants have to change their names and surnames, making it difficult for them to trace their ancestry back to their roots." "So when I learned that the general was the descendant of Mr. Nie, I admired him very much, thinking that the bloodline of the loyal ministers and righteous men of the Han Dynasty would not be cut off." "I am honored to meet you today, General, so I want to make friends with you. General, please don't have too many ideas!" "Come, come, let us drink this cup again, and help our great Han Dynasty to revive soon!" After saying this, he raised his wine glass and handed it to Zhang Liao. But when Zhang Liao saw this and looked at the chicken leg in his hand, he didn't know what to do for a moment! He is not stupid, so how could he not understand the hidden meaning behind Qin Zhen's words? First, he respected his loyalty and bravery, talked about his eating the emperor's food and sharing the emperor's worries, and then talked about his ancestors. Although the words were full of praise, in reality they were full of sarcasm every moment. He is now loyal to Lu Bu and refuses to surrender. What kind of loyalty is that? His ancestors were so righteous and loyal, serving their country without regrets! His ancestors were just merchants, yet they were willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. He is now a prisoner, but he still considers himself loyal and righteous, and is in the mood for drinking and eating meat. How can he be called a loyal and righteous person? What would his ancestors think if they knew that their descendants had become like this? It can be said that not a word Qin Zhen said was disparaging him, but he felt more and more ashamed. I just felt itchy all over my body and wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into and hide there. Thinking about his attitude towards Qin Zhen just now, he felt embarrassed for a moment. People came to him with good intentions to persuade him to surrender, but not only did he not surrender, he threatened them instead. It sounds very cool, but it brings shame to his ancestors of the Nie family! Isn't it laughable that the descendants of the Nie family do not think about reviving their family and tracing their roots, but instead behave like such despicable people? Thinking of this, Zhang Liao looked at the cup Qin Zhen raised again, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. "Sir, please don't say anything more. I am already ashamed of what you said." "If I continue to listen to your words, I will probably commit suicide here today!"

Qin Zhen naturally didn't want to kill Zhang Liao, so upon hearing this, he smiled and said: "General, you must not have such a wish. A real man is not afraid of death, so why should he be afraid of a word?" "The reason why I say this today is that the general has the talent of a general, and I cannot bear to kill him." "I have come to give you this advice, hoping that you will work hard. If you can escape from prison in the future, you should make great achievements and bring honor to your family." "If the general commits suicide here, wouldn't it be a shame to our ancestors?" "Well, I know the general needs time to think carefully, so I won't persuade him!" "General, just eat and drink the wine and meat here. If it's not enough, I'll send more in the evening!" Having said this, he stood up, bowed to Zhang Liao, and turned to leave. Zhang Liao saw this and looked at the wine and meat on the ground and felt that he had no appetite. Before Qin Zhen arrived, he felt that not surrendering was the right choice, which was in line with his understanding of loyalty and righteousness. But after listening to Qin Zhen's words, he felt that it would be meaningless if he did not surrender now. After all, Qin Zhen now represents Liu Bei, and Liu Bei represents the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty! This is not something that can be compared to princes like Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. There is no moral pressure to surrender to Liu Bei. On the contrary, it was Lu Bu who broke the alliance and attacked, which was an unjust act. Helping Lu Bu was aiding the unjust. Now that he has been captured by Qin Zhen, he would rather die than surrender despite such preferential treatment. This cannot be considered loyalty at all. Moreover, Qin Zhen is treating him very kindly now. If one meal is not enough for him, he will provide him with enough wine and meat for every meal. How is this the treatment for a prisoner? If I continue to refuse to surrender and stick to my self-proclaimed loyalty, what kind of person would I be? After thinking it over, he sighed, bowed from a distance in the direction where Qin Zhen left and said: "Sir, please wait. Liao is willing to follow your advice and surrender to your army!" When Qin Zhen heard this, he smiled imperceptibly, turned around and walked forward quickly, saying: "It is a great blessing for the country that the general is willing to give up his evil ways and join the good!" "Now that we have the general's help, how can our Han Dynasty prosper? Get up quickly, and stop being so polite!" Zhang Liao was helped up by him, his expression was still complicated. Although he surrendered, he did not feel relieved at all. He said: "Sir, I feel very ashamed. Although I surrender this time, I do not want to be an enemy of Lord Wen. I hope you will accept my request!" Qin Zhen had never intended to send Zhang Liao to fight Lu Bu, so upon hearing this he said: "General, rest assured. Zhen never forces others to do anything. After you surrender, I will just train the troops!" "As for the battle against Lu Bu, there is no need for you to go into battle!" Zhang Liao felt better after hearing this, and then asked: "Thank you, sir, but I have another question!" "May I ask, sir, how do you intend to deal with Marquis Wen after this battle?" But when he asked this, Qin Zhen showed a rare hint of hesitation. (End of this chapter)