Chapter 165 Jia Xu’s conspiracy

At the end of November in the fifth year of Jian'an, in the early morning, everything in Nanyang was silent. Although it hadn't snowed yet, the sky and the earth were already freezing to the bone.

In the wilderness outside Rang City, the land is vast and mosaic of yellow and brown. The mountains in the distance are looming in the mist. Only the city in the southwest looks dark and solemn under the green wheat fields on both sides of the post road.

About four or five miles southeast of the city, there are several camps standing upright, showing a faint encirclement, seeming to surround half of the city.

There was a big word "Liu" written above the camp.

Shen Chen was riding on horseback. Gan Ning was not with him. Only Shen Tao and more than a dozen clan generals and cavalry were with him. Zhang Xiu's son Zhang Quan was not with him this time to question Zhang Xiu. Now Zhang Quan was considered a hostage. Naturally, It won't be sent back to him.

Soon more than ten knights had arrived in front of the camp. There were people waiting at the entrance of the camp. Seeing Shen Chen coming down, a young general in his mid-twenties stepped forward and said, "General Shen!"

"Captain Liu!"

Shen Chen turned over and dismounted, raised his hands in return and said, "Have you notified Zhang Xiu?"

The young general's name was Liu Hu, who was Liu Biao's nephew and the cousin of Liu Qi and Liu Cong. Historically, he and Liu Biao's general Han Xi were defeated by Sun Ce and Sha Xian died in battle.

But in the current battle of Shaxian, Liu Biao was only defeated but not killed due to his increased strength, so he is still alive.

At this time, Liu Hu, on Liu Biao's order, led an army to come and see Zhang Xiu.

Although Zhang Xiu wrote to Liu Biao, saying that he would not rebel again, but now in the period of confrontation between Cao and Liu, Liu Biao would not trust a capricious person.

At first, Liu Biao took Zhang Xiu in because his uncle Zhang Ji died in the battle. However, in the Battle of Nanyang, Zhang Xiu surrendered without a fight and went directly to Cao Cao. If Cao Cao had not been able to control his lower body, he would not have turned against him.

However, he originally thought that Zhang Xiu would not talk about betrayal since there was a blood feud between him and Cao Cao, but now he was about to surrender in the blink of an eye. No matter how stupid Liu Biao was, he wanted to kill a person like Zhang Xiu who had no faith.

It's just that Cao Cao's army is stationed in Kunyang now, watching with eagerness. He is afraid that when Zhang Xiu is destroyed, Cao Cao will respond and attack Nanyang, so he has not taken action for the time being. After Cao Cao withdraws his troops, he plans to deal with Zhang Xiu.

Shen Chen also hated Zhang Xiu's capriciousness at critical moments, so he came to question him.

Liu Hu pointed to the pavilion in the distance and said, "Over there."

"Thank you Captain."

Shen Chen mounted his horse again and headed towards the pavilion.

When he arrived at the pavilion, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu were already outside to greet him.

"General Ah Shen."

Zhang Xiu looked quite embarrassed. When he first came to Nanyang four years ago, he had also been favored by Shen Chen and his grandfather Deng Hong. It was only after their persuasion that Liu Biao allowed him to establish himself in Nanyang.

As a result, he betrayed his trust and tried to take refuge with the strong several times. In the end, the strong man he considered had his family burned down by a young man, which was shameful.

"General Zhang!"

Shen Chen turned over and did not salute. Instead, his face was as dark as water. He looked at him and said: "I have already told you the pros and cons of joining Cao Cao, but you have relapsed and betrayed your alliance. How can you not be trustworthy?" If you don't stand, is this the way to be a human being?"

He spoke unceremoniously and looked like he was going to accuse someone.

But people's respect is mutual. He once respected Zhang Xiu very much and patiently explained to him that after joining Cao Cao, Cao Cao might be able to tolerate it for the sake of the overall situation, but in the future, Cao Cao's heirs and Cao Ang brothers may not be able to tolerate it, so Zhang Xiu still has a lot of problems. Big danger.

However, when Cao Cao spent a lot of money to win over his legitimate son and daughter, he still broke the covenant. To a certain extent, Zhang Xiu was a complete villain, and naturally he no longer needed any respect for villains.

Zhang Xiu looked unhappy, but he was the first to make up his mind. He had no choice but to look at Jia Xu, lowered his posture and said with his hands in his hands: "General Shen, I am confused about this matter. I am willing to make an alliance with the general through blood."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Chen interrupted with a stern face: "I don't dare to believe the general's oath anymore. In the eyes of the world, the general has no faith."

"Shen Chen you!"

Zhang Xiu was furious, and the clay figurine was also furious, not to mention Shen Chen's rush.

But he forgot that he was obviously unjust first. Historically, he betrayed Liu Biao and defected to Cao Cao. Moreover, he first defected to Cao Cao, then defected to Liu Biao, and then defected to Cao Cao. It can be said that he repeatedly jumped between Liu Biao and Cao Cao. .

If it hadn't been for Mrs. Zou's incident, even if it happened for a reason, he would probably have ended up like Lu Bu, who was evaluated as "cunning, repetitive, and only focused on profit."

"General Shen!"

At this moment, Jia Xu finally spoke, and he raised his hands and said: "The ancients said: "A good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a wise minister chooses his master to do his work." We all know that Liu Biao, Yuan Shao and his like are not Ming masters, and we will wait for him. To surrender to Cao Cao is to comply with the destiny of heaven, so please don't blame me, general."

Shen Chen thought for a moment, looked at him with a half-smile and said, "So is Cao Cao still his destiny now?"

"Yes and no."

"How do you say this?"

"It's all because of General and General Zuo."

Jia Xu said sternly: "Cao Cao has the emperor's righteousness, and he originally obeys the destiny. However, he was too murderous and slaughtered too many lives in Xuzhou, so God sent a general to punish him, which destroyed his foundation. General Zuo is also famous for his benevolence and righteousness. All over the world, if people from all over the world look after me, it may be destiny."

He said that he had destiny, not to find a reason for him to seek refuge with Cao Cao. But at that time, people believed in the so-called destiny. A large number of princes, such as Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu, believed in this, but they just felt that destiny was on them.

Even after Chunyu Qiong was captured by Cao Cao, when Cao Cao asked him why things ended up like this, Chunyu Qiong replied dejectedly, saying something like "win or lose is determined by fate."

Therefore, when Zhang Jiao launched the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he had to first deny the destiny of the Han Dynasty and launch a peasant uprising on the grounds that "Heaven is dead and Huang Tian is here to stand."

Jia Xu did not necessarily believe in destiny, but Cao Cao was talented and strategic, and Liu Xie was in his hands, so he believed that he was destiny.

Because in a sense, Liu Xie is the concrete embodiment of the destiny of the entire Han Dynasty. Most of the people and powerful families still recognize Liu Xie as the common leader of the world. They all think that Cao Cao is Huo Guang, who saves the Han Dynasty. An important minister of the country.

So there was Shen Chen's fight with the capitulators and the so-called royalists in Jingzhou, and at the same time, Jia Xu believed that Cao Cao could unify the world with Liu Xie's "destiny".

What he never expected was that he guessed the beginning correctly, but not the ending.

Jia Xu thought that Cao Cao was like a savior in troubled times, and in the name of Liu Xie, he finally defeated Yuan Shao, gained the entire north, and then swept the world, sweeping away all the princes and achieving hegemony.

In the end, he won the battle of Guandu, but his hometown was also stolen. Now he is evenly matched with Yuan Shao, and no one took any advantage.

The future situation is unpredictable, so Jia Xu now understands that the number of days may not be on Cao Cao's side.

"Manifest Destiny?"

Shen Chen fell into deep thought.

Historically, Cao Cao was considered five-ninths of his destiny.

Originally, if he fought better in the Battle of Chibi, he might be able to unify the world and unite the Nine Cauldrons.

In the future, there will be no need for Cao Pi to usurp the Han Dynasty, he will do it himself.

But there are still Liu Huangshu and Sun Zhongmou.

It is easy to know the nature, but it is difficult to go against the nature.

Ji Han's group of idealists are actually going against nature.

With a mortal body, he stubbornly violated the destiny and extended the man's life for another 42 years.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's great ambitions were rewarded by what Zhouyi said: "Man is stronger than nature."

Isn't it touching to change one's fate against the will of heaven?

Perhaps it is this spirit of knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, preferring to go to the tiger mountains, and supporting the country in the name of benevolence and righteousness that makes people admire.

Thinking of this, Shen Chen's face showed a ferocious expression, and he said viciously: "Does a butcher like Cao Cao deserve destiny? If he does, I will tear this destiny away!"

Boom!

In the early morning, the Funiu Mountains in the distance were shrouded in heavy fog and overcast clouds. It seemed like there was thunder and rain. Suddenly, a thunderbolt sounded for more than ten miles, which startled Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu.

Both of them looked at Shen Chen in horror, feeling that his words had disturbed the heavens.

However, Shen Chen remained unmoved at all. He pointed his index finger to the sky and looked directly at them and said, "Look, even God agrees with what I said. If I disobey the destiny, thunder should strike me to death, right?"

Zhang Xiu remained silent.

Jia Xu smiled bitterly and said: "The general is so brave."

Shen Chen said: "Now that I have burned many of Cao Cao's capitals, if you still want to surrender, I will not stop you, but General Hussar can no longer stand your repeated defections. If Cao Cao hadn't been in Kunming, Yang, he has already sent troops to destroy you."

Jia Xu pondered: "We also know this. Last year, I was on good terms with Cao Cao. Duan Xuan joined his army and sent my family over. I plan to let them go to Xiangyang. What does the general think?"

"General Zhang, it would be nice to have a home in Xiangyang."

Shen Chen looked at Zhang Xiu and chuckled: "I also heard that Zhang Quan is very good at riding. I am short of a cavalryman under my command. What do you think?"

Zhang Xiu clenched his fists, veins throbbed on his face, and he felt extremely aggrieved.

The other party made it clear that they wanted hostages.

But after a moment, he relaxed like a deflated rubber ball and said bitterly: "Do I have any choice?"

"When a general is capricious, he should know the consequences of being controlled by others."

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "In this world, people must have credibility."

"I see."

Zhang Xiu said softly: "I will send my wife, daughter, and aunt to Xiangyang, and my son will be under your command."

"If I had known this, why did I do it in the first place?"

Shen Chen turned around and walked to the horse, got on it, looked at them condescendingly and said, "I advise you to take care of yourself and never go astray again."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Jia Xu suddenly said from behind: "General, I have something unclear."

"What's the matter?"

Shen Chen turned around and asked.
To be continued...