Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 166: Open the door and send kindness
The false emperor Yuan Shu, who committed atrocities, favored treacherous officials, and harmed the people without limit, instructed his nephew Yuan Lin to poison the people of Guangling in an attempt to frame Bai Gong...
Fortunately, the prefect Yuan Huan, although very loyal and brave, could not bear to see the people being harmed by the evil Yuan Lin. He took prompt action to punish the traitors and eliminate the evil. He captured Yuan Lin, listed his crimes, and then burned him to death.
Later, he wanted to entrust Guangling to his adjutant, and tied himself up to plead guilty to Shouchun. The people cried on the road and blocked the city gates, begging Yuan Huan to open the gates and welcome Bai Gong into the city.
Yuan Huan felt that the people had suffered from him for a long time, so he opened the city gates. Bai Gong was touched by his sincerity and wanted to let him continue to govern Guangling. However, Yuan Huan felt that he had betrayed his master and surrendered to the general, and he was ashamed to be the governor of a county again, so he declined again and again.
…
Nonsense! Guangling will then be the front line in the battle against Yuan Shu and even the Central Plains.
How could Yuan Huan be allowed to take charge of this place?
Yuan Huan himself understood this logic. After a fake show, Chen Gong temporarily took over the position of Guangling prefect. Yuan Huan, who "temporarily" wanted to retire to the mountains, went to Hefei under the introduction of Chen Gong to meet Bai Tu.
That’s right… Not only in Guangling, there were also armies delivering food outside Hefei and Qichun cities—that’s why Yuan Huan came directly to the outside of Hefei city to meet Bai Tu.
Among the three relief armies, Chen Gong was in charge of Guangling, Sun Ce was in charge of Qichun, and Hefei was led by Bai Tu himself, with Lu Bu as his deputy. They had the most luxurious lineup and were the last to arrive.
Bai Tu and Lu Bu were stationed outside the city three days before Yuan Huan surrendered the city.
Because before the troops were sent out, the staff of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion did not think that Hefei would voluntarily surrender the city. After all, the person guarding Hefei at that time was Yuan Yin, the son of Yuan Wei and a cousin who had a very close relationship with Yuan Shu.
Yuan Huan's surrender will directly affect Qichun, every city under Yuan Shu's rule, and every general under Yuan Shu's command stationed outside the city!
However, as Yuan Shu's confidant, Yuan Yin was too much of a member of the Zhong royal family to surrender...
Moreover, as a general of the Zhong clan, Yuan Yin has elite troops from Nanyang under his command. These are Yuan clan's assets, and their morale is much more stable than that of ordinary Huainan troops.
On the contrary, the situation in Qichun City was no better than that in Guangling before.
And after Guangling Yuan Huan had set an example by himself, Lu Mian's life became even more difficult.
After a rain of relief food fell, Lu Mian's deputy general advised: "General, if this continues, there may be chaos in the city..."
Xu Xing was Lu Mian's deputy general, and was more accustomed to calling Lu Mian "General" rather than "Prefect".
After all, Lu Mian, the prefect, was only in name only - less than one-fifth of the entire Jiangxia was within the sphere of influence of Yuan Shu, mainly Qichun County.
"Wait... a little longer." Lu Mian said strugglingly.
Hearing this, Xu Xing also understood what Lu Mian was hesitating about. He regretted and advised: "If the general wants to continue defending the city, please replace me to be responsible for the defense of the central army of the city!"
Lu Mian looked at him and nodded in agreement - Xu Xing was his most trusted deputy general.
Sure enough, within two days, riots broke out in the army. A Sima from another army suddenly attacked Lu Mian's central army camp in the city wall. Fortunately, Xu Xing never let his guard down and put down the rebellion in time.
However, Lu Mian also realized that if he did not surrender the city, he would have no way to survive. Not only had the people lost their hearts, but he didn't know who he could trust in the Huainan army under his command, except Xu Xing and his own personal soldiers.
That night, after Lu Mian gave Xu Xing instructions, he tied himself up in the mansion, while Xu Xing went up to the city wall and shouted to Sun Ce, hoping to surrender the city.
"Surrender the city? Hahaha, do you need me, Sun, to enter the city alone?" Upon hearing this, Sun Ce laughed and shouted from under the city wall.
Xu Xing: ???
Seeing Sun Ce's eagerness to try, Xu Xing felt a little moved...
But in the end Xu Xing decided to open the door honestly. If he angered Sun Ce, it would be no joke.
Given the current situation, even if we could trick him into the city and successfully surround and kill him, it would only make our death more miserable, right?
"General Sun, you are joking. I'd better go out and deliver the letter of surrender..." Xu Xing said.
After Sun Ce saw him open the city gate and come out, he asked curiously, "Where is Lu Mian? Did you capture him alive or kill him?"
Xu Xing was originally worried that Sun Ce would make things difficult for Lu Mian because of some previous grudges, so he said apprehensively: "General Sun, General Lu's family is in Shouchun, so... he tied himself up in the mansion and asked me to surrender on his behalf. General Lu also mentioned before that when General Sun visited Qichun before, he was quite impressed by the heroic spirit of the young man..."
Yuan Huan was a famous scholar, and Lu Mian was a general under Yuan Shu. It would be difficult for Yuan Shu to detain the former's relatives, but... Lu Mian's wife and children were all in Shouchun!
Now Lu Mian's army was in chaos and he had no choice but to surrender. It could be considered as a non-violent act. But if he openly joined Bai Tu's camp, I'm afraid Yuan Shu would not be as righteous as Liu Bei.
"Hahaha, Lu Mian would be moved by me? I can't tell, I can't tell! What about your wife and children?" No matter how straightforward Sun Ce was, he knew that Xu Xing was just being polite.
Xu Xing smiled shyly and said, "I am an orphan and single."
If it was any other commander who was so alone, Yuan Shu might have arranged a marriage for him, but Xu Xing was only a deputy commander, and Yuan Shu might not even recognize him.
After Sun Ce entered the city , he first issued a routine notice to reassure the people, then took over the treasury and arranged for the distribution of relief grain. As for the grain in the treasury? Of course, it had to be processed into "bricks" first...
However, Sun Ce did not vent his anger on Lu Mian because of what happened during the previous hostage exchange. Instead, he prepared beef and wine and sent Huang Gai to deliver them to his mansion.
He deliberately did not go there in person so as not to embarrass Lu Mian.
Later, according to Huang Gai, after Lu Mian received the beef and wine, he burst into tears and ate and drank to his heart's content in front of Huang Gai - with practical actions, he accepted Sun Ce's reward and expressed his intention to submit to him.
Of course, until Yuan Shu was completely defeated and Lu Mian's family was welcomed back, he could only continue to be under "house arrest".
When Yuan Huan arrived in Hefei, the news of Qichun's surrender also reached Hefei.
When meeting Bai Tu, Yuan Huan always put himself in the position of a celebrity who "had no choice but to speak up for the people."
"Yao Qing is truly a noble man! If I could get Yao Qing's help..."
Before Bai Tu could finish, Yuan Huan took the initiative to refuse and said, "I only wish to live in a thatched cottage near Jinling and work as a farmer."
Yuan Huan knew in his heart that his "noble character" had created a lot of convenience for Bai Tu, but he never took any credit for it.
There is no need for Bai Tu to have more relatives... Well, that's not right. It means he doesn't need to win over more people.
After all, Yuan Huan’s positioning is one of the “investment” chips of the Chenjun Yuan family... and given the current situation, they have naturally placed their bets on Bai Tu.
Although according to Bai Tu's mental ranking, the trust index can only be ranked in the third tier, but... it is still within the "trustworthy" category under the condition that "as long as Bai Tu is not defeated, is not at a big disadvantage, and has no fierce conflict of interest."
Considering his abilities as a whole, he could be in charge of a less important county, or serve as an official in one of the six ministries for some non-confidential posts.
Of course, Yuan Huan was a famous scholar, how could he possibly offer his city as a gift in exchange for an official position?
No matter what... I have to wait and see for a while before taking up my post next year!
Yuan Huan’s contribution... no, it should be said to be his "noble character". Bai Tu will naturally remember it in his heart. After all, Yuan Huan’s righteous act this time did give Bai Tu a lot of room for maneuver.
Just as Bai Tu said before, this time it was the people who took the initiative to surrender the city, and they "cried bitterly on the road and blocked the city gates" to beg Yuan Huan. The latter, "driven by the greater good", opened the city gates and welcomed the Jiangdong Army into the city...
In other words, if the defenders of Hefei and Qichun were unwilling to open the gates, it would be unkind and unjust to stop the people from opening the gates to welcome them. Then... we would need some small help from the Jiangdong Army - could this be considered as forcing them with swords? Obviously not!
Before, some people could use Bai Tu’s own words to stop him, but now... Bai Tu can openly "give kindness".
Bai Tu also expressed his support for Yuan Huan's idea of going to Jinling to farm, and sighed: "Alas, Xu Xing of Qichun yesterday also tied up Lu Mian and surrendered to Qichun under the inspiration of righteousness... But it is sad that now when the people of Huainan are in great trouble, there are still some evil people who want to stop the chariot with a mantis arm!"
Yuan Huan was a little uncomfortable with this, and at the same time he was a little confused. How could the incident in Qichun yesterday spread to Hefei so quickly... But he still echoed: "Mr. Bai is benevolent."
"I'm just doing my best for the people." Bai Tu waved his hand casually, indicating that these were nothing.
At the same time, he thought: "Before Yaoqing goes back, why not take a look at how I can send Rende to Hefei, where Yuan is imprisoned?"
"That's what I wish for." Yuan Huan nodded.
Unlike the thousands of people who went to deliver food to Chen Gong and Sun Ce, those who arrived outside Hefei were 30,000 elite soldiers from Jiangdong. After all, Bai Tu knew from the beginning that it would be impossible to win Hefei without a bloodbath, and he was just waiting to see who from Qichun and Guangling would take the lead first - Chen Gong's previous prediction was correct, and Yuan Huan was indeed smart.
Yuan Huan accompanied Bai Tu and took a final inspection of the army's catapults - no more relief food would be thrown here today. Yuan Huan had already seen the simply polished stone bullets prepared nearby!
And... Yuan Huan always felt that the catapults in Bai Tu's army seemed a little different from the ones he saw outside Guangling City.
Although Yuan Huan had never seen the catapults from a distance when he was in Guangling, he had looked down at them from the city wall. Those catapults should have throwing arms that looked like "slanted spoons".
However, the catapults outside Hefei not only have longer throwing arms, but also have their middle sections fixed on taller frames, as if both ends of different lengths can be loaded with heavy objects...
At this time, the Jiangdong Army was also preparing for battle. Yuan Huan vaguely discovered that there seemed to be many eloquent officers in the army. They were talking to groups of grassroots officers about the significance of this battle, just like... the people who read the notice when it was issued to reassure the people. However, these people seemed more down-to-earth.
Bai Tu made a painful decision about Yuan Yin, who was stubborn, harmed the people, and shut Bai Gong's kindness outside the city gate - I must give this kindness to you!
If you don't open the door, I'll force my way in!
