On February 26th, it was also Yuan Shao, the envoy of Yuan Shu, who met Liu Bei a day before.

However, Liu Bei himself had already arrived in Huayin County, 240 miles west of Chang'an in advance.

According to administrative divisions, this county town belongs to Hongnong County. A few months ago, it was the jurisdiction of Weiwei and General Andong Duan Wei.

However, more than ten days ago, the fake Jingzhao Yin Qiaorui sect of Yuan Shu sneaked into attacks and took down Tongguan, forty miles away from the eastern suburbs, and temporarily isolated the news from Guanzhong and Luoyang.

Eight days ago, Liu Bei and Guan Yu personally led the army here to fight, restored Huayin County, and were preparing to attack Tongguan.

In addition, due to the problem of message transmission rate, when Liu Bei and Guan Yu came to restore Huayin County, they actually only heard that Yuan Shu had "restormed the king" and had not received the news of the emperor's death. However, Liu Bei still had enough excuses to send troops, which was to attack Qiao Rui's crime of "isolating the king's way".

Qiao Rui made the princes in Guanzhong cut off the path of tribute to the emperor, which could be conquered itself. However, this excuse for siege cannot be used to start a full-scale war against Yuan Shu's camp. If you really want to fight Yuan Shu in a full-scale war, you must have subsequent excuses to make up for it.

This world is not a pure warlord melee without political ethics. Every step of justice is very important.

This is also why Yuan Shu was covered with the fig leaf "The emperor was killed by Dong Cheng, and I avenge the emperor, and at most I just failed to protect the hostages." All parties must spend their energy and use strategies in the diplomatic process to break Yuan Shu's fig leaf and "form a consensus on refusing to accept Yuan Shu's lies", so that they can completely let go and attack Yuan Shu by any means.

If the name is righteous, the words are smooth. Only such a siege can be regarded as a king's army and a great righteous army.

If you don’t even claim the guilt and beat the turtle with one punch, you won’t be beaten up in groups. As for the time, it’s not a matter of ten or eight days.

Nowadays, counterweight trench technology has basically become popular among the major princes in the country. As the first player to use this technology, Liu Beijun even has more ways to break the city, such as digging tunnels to bury a large amount of black gunpowder, and so on. In theory, the ability to attack is definitely not to be underestimated.

However, the reason why he failed to break the pass after several days was that on the one hand, it was because Tongguan was indeed a dangerous place in the world, and on the other hand, it was because Liu Bei did not want to spend too much strength on such a level and lose the lives of soldiers.

In his opinion, Tongguan was temporarily captured by Qiao Rui's partial army, and his foothold was not stable, and the entire Hongnong County behind him was in the hands of Duan Wei. If Duan Wei could attack forward and backward, the efficiency of breaking through the pass could suddenly increase several times.

However, since Liu Bei's army arrived here eight days ago and began to prepare for the breakthrough, Duan Wei did not cooperate. This made Liu Bei a little suspicious: Could Duan Wei really surrender to Yuan Shu after Yuan Shu captured Luoyang? It is impossible.

In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Liu Bei decided to take diplomacy first, and let Fei Shi, the envoy who had said he had surrendered Duan Wei three years ago, go for another trip and talk to his old friend about conditions. If he can not die, he will take Hongnong and conquer Tongguan at a lower price. It would be the best.

Fei Shi has been a local official in Yizhou in recent years. He was transferred back from Yizhou at the beginning of this year, so he was to prepare for the future, considering that an old acquaintance needed to deal with Duan Wei again.

Before leaving, Liu Bei also roughly thought about what Duan Wei might want, so he generously promised Fei Shi several sets of spare conditions. If Duan Wei requested, he could agree as long as Liu Bei expected, and Duan Wei surrendered as soon as possible.

Five days ago, Fei Shi was ordered to get a few boats to get the guards to prepare, from the mouth of the Wei River, and bypass Tongguan through Fengling Ferry, heading towards Hongnong, waiting for the opportunity to land in search of Duan Wei for negotiations.

After two days along the way, Fei Shi finally met Duan Wei on February 24th.

Duan Wei met Fei Shi in the palace in Hongnong County. This palace is naturally the residence of Liu Bian, the king of Hongnong, who was not completed many years ago. More than two years ago, he served as Liu Xie's residence for a few months. After Liu Xie moved the capital to Luoyang, he was vacated here and Duan Wei took it to work again. Anyway, Duan Wei paid for it to repair it here, and there were not so many things to pay attention to in troubled times.

Fei Shi went straight to the point: "General Duan, Yuan Shu ordered Qiao Rui to isolate the king's road. Recently, he heard about the great changes in Luoyang and the emperor was in trouble. As a loyal minister of the court, you worked together with the King of Hanzhong to work hard for the king three years ago. Why are you afraid of going forward now?

The army of the Hanzhong king has arrived in Tongguan and attacked for several days. If General Duan is from behind, even if Tongguan is strong, it will be broken every day. Did the general hesitate when this critical moment? When he came down, the king has given me full authority. General Duan has any doubts, even if he says it."

Duan Wei hesitated for a while and asked someone to treat him with wine. He was quite polite to Fei Shi. After drinking a few drinks, he sincerely said: "The Luoyang Incident was really unexpected. No one expected that Dong Cheng and Yuan Shu would be so popular that it would cause a disaster.

Your Majesty once asked for help from me, but I did not know the situation in Luoyang at that time, for fear of acting rashly to help the thief. Your Majesty's actions to go to Yique Pass in person were indeed unreasonable, and it is difficult for people not to doubt whether Your Majesty was acted upon by Dong Cheng for outsiders to see.

Therefore, I just replied to Your Majesty that if he was willing to come to Hongnong in person, I would definitely use Hongnong soldiers to protect him, but I really dare not act rashly. I believe that the King of Hanzhong can understand my difficulties."

Fei Shi knew what the other party was worried about and immediately explained this point: "Don't worry about this point. When it is, who can predict it beforehand? General Duan's willingness to promise to protect the emperor is a manifestation of loyalty and righteousness. In the case of His Majesty's murder, the blame lies with Dong Cheng and Yuan Shu. Who would blame the general for not saving him when he was killed? The general has done his best, and the King of Hanzhong will also praise the general in the future."

Duan Wei nodded, and he felt that this condition was not difficult to negotiate. Now the dispute between the princes is getting worse and worse, and no one wants to win him over. He waited for Liu Bei to send an envoy to confirm the conditions again, and he also took insurance to confirm that his interests are the same, and historical issues have also been positively affirmed.

Soon, Duan Wei put forward the second condition: "If the son is in trouble today, the country cannot be without a king for a day. I think within ten months, each person will make an independent move. The world is in a recession of war and several emperors and emperors attack each other, which is inevitable.

I am nearly 60 years old (55 years old), and my ambitions are no longer the same as before. What I doubt is that this land of Hongnong belongs to the King of Hanzhong, and will inevitably become the front line for the war with the princes of Kanto again.

Hongnong is already poor and mountainous. I have 30,000 to 40,000 people and half of them are relatively old and weak. In recent years, they have been farming and returning to farming, and their combat effectiveness is not good. The remaining 20,000 elite soldiers have been fighting in the border areas since the time when Huangfu Gong was a former general, and they have been in the army for more than ten years.

I can't bear to see these troops consumed and died in the civil war between the princes. If the King of Hanzhong would like to grant me a fertile place to avoid war and spend my old age, I would like to lead these 20,000 troops to guard the borders of the Han Dynasty and no longer care about the disputes between the princes."

Duan Wei is old. A few years ago, when Li Jue and Guo Si were fighting for power, he was only fifty-one or two years old and had no ambitions. Now, the other old people in the Xiliang system are finished, and he also knows that if he is an old Xiliang army, if he is used as cannon fodder, it will be easy to end up with nothing left.

He also knew that with his own strength, he could not get more things, so he would retreat bravely.

After hearing Duan Wei's request, Fei Shi's first reaction was that he felt that "the king is really far-sighted. Before I sent me on the mission, I roughly expected what Duan Wei would make."

Duan Wei's proposal at this moment was within several conditions that were allowed to be promised before Liu Bei sent an envoy.

Fei Shi immediately took out a copy of Liu Bei's handwritten book, of course, it was taken out of the several conditions given to him by Liu Bei. There was no need to take out the other Duan Wei that he didn't want.

Fei Shi explained: "The king had long expected that the general might want to ask for a later life, and had already told me in advance that if he felt that Hongnong was poor and the land of four battles could be transferred to the magistrate of Yinchuan County."

"Yinchuan County?" Duan Wei was stunned. He didn't know much about Yinchuan County, a new county that had just been established for a year, and was afraid that Liu Bei would send him to a bitter and cold place.

Fei Shi knew what Duan Wei was thinking when he saw his expression, and explained: "Don't worry, General Duan, although Yinchuan County was a new county that General Pingxi only set up last year, it was located near Diannong City, Hetao, which was the Emperor Wu of the previous Han Dynasty.

Now that it has been rectified for two years, it has been found that the local area has 30 to 40 million mu of fertile paddy fields for cultivation, and millions of mu of fertile acres have been reclaimed.

In addition to the above-mentioned basin paddy fields, there are alkaline mineral salt flats in the Hetao area east of the Yellow River. Tens of millions of acres of sparse pastures can be grazed. In the west, Helan Mountain is bounded as the boundary, and the Qiang, Hu Xianbei on the Helan Mountain are almost expelled.

And the most important thing is that in previous years, Yinchuan County was fertile but could not last long. This was because of the unfavorable shipping in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and the shortage of materials. Now, General Guan was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou, he rectified the shipping around Lanzhou County, overhauled the water conservancy and Guangxing Industry and Commerce, and the iron, salt, tea, cloth, cotton, and various industrial and commercial materials needed by Yinchuan County can be transported directly from the Yellow River.

The caravan promoted by the Right General was used in the northwest for several years. Trade and shipping between Jingshui and Qingshui in Anding County is also very convenient. The caravan can cross the gentle slope of Longshan from the source of Jingshui to enter Qingshui, and from the southern part of Yinchuan County to the Yellow River, reaching directly under Yinchuan City.

In the future, the properties of Guanzhong can also be exchanged with Yinchuan County, and it will never become a place of scarcity and poverty. General Duan is willing to go, so he regards it as a contribution to the Han Dynasty's border guard. Moreover, the king can promise General Duan to serve this position for life. Behind General Duan, you will also be allowed to submit a report to replace him."

Duan Wei became solemn and serious when he heard this.

This condition is very generous. Not to mention that Hongnong is poor and mountainous, the entire county is only 12 million acres of land, or sloping fields and dry fields. If Yinchuan County has such a large grain field for reclaiming or fertile paddy fields, its economic value will be tripled, and this is not counted as the alkaline ore and grazing grassland next to it.

As for allowing him to serve for life and give him a chance to die, it would be equivalent to allowing him to inherit his generation. If he starts to cultivate a reliable young son from now on, and then he dies and his young son is only 20 or 30 years old, the Duan family can work in the local area for another 30 or 40 years. Including that he can live for more than ten years, it is no problem to guard Yinchuan County for a total of 50 years.

Duan Wei was already willing to accept this condition, and he only confirmed the last one: "I am willing to help the Hanzhong King attack back and forth to take back Tongguan and sacrifice Hongnong County. However, after the Battle of Tongguan, all my soldiers and horses can follow me to Yinchuan County, right? No need to fight with the Second Yuan anymore?"

Fei Shi: "We kings will fulfill our words."

Duan Wei: "Fei joins the army and waits for a while, I will raise an army to attack Tongguan."

...

The timeline returned to February 26, the day before Liu Bei met the envoys of the Two Yuan outside Tongguan, two days after Fei Shi persuaded Duan Wei.

On this day, Liu Bei finally waited for Duan Wei's reinforcements to attack Tongguan from Hongnong. With the fire preparations of the catapults several days ago, the consumption of the defenders at the gates was carried out. The generals of Tongguan, Chen Lan, and Li Feng, under Qiao Rui, finally lost to surrender, and Tongguan was captured by Liu Bei.

Mainly, after Duan Wei completely showed his attitude towards Liu Bei, Chen Lan and Li Feng and others became desperate about the meaning of continuing to stick to it:

There are enemies in front and behind a level, and there are not much reserves in the pass, and Duan Wei did not surrender to Yuan Shu because the emperor was killed. So what's the point of continuing to defend with military force?

Another day later, Yuan Shu's envoy Yuan Huan and Yuan Shao's envoy Xin Ping also arrived in Huayin County.

However, what they saw was that Liu Bei had already broken up with Yuan Shu's army, at least conquered Huayin and Tongguan, and conquered Duan Wei. This situation really made it difficult for Yuan Shu's envoy to ask for peace, and negotiated the conditions for the "oral edict of the late emperor on his death" that did not exist.

Yuan Shao's envoy basically concluded that Liu Bei chose to attack hard like Cao Cao. So the only point left that can be lobbyed is to see if Liu Bei is willing to admit the King of Yan as the emperor.

After hearing the news of the arrival of the two Yuan envoys, Liu Bei's first reaction was to directly push Yuan Shu's envoys to behead the flag, but he was persuaded by Xun You, a strategist who accompanied the army.

Xun You said rationally: "The king should not kill him rashly. Yuan Shu is guilty, and his envoy is not guilty. And he just uses his envoy's mouth to convey the crime of criticizing Yuan Shu and wait for an opportunity to expose the lies that Yuan Shu claimed to the outside world."

Liu Bei thought about it for a while and let Yuan Huanjin meet.

After Yuan Huan entered the country, Liu Bei was too lazy to take care of him personally, so he let Xun You ask directly: "Yuan Shu did something wrong, which caused His Majesty to be troubled, and he still had the face to shirk his guilt. What did he do when he sent you here this time?"

Yuan Huan did not dare to hide it and told him bluntly: "General Wei heard Ji Ling and Le waited for others to say that before His Majesty was killed by Dong Cheng, he might have left an oral order. However, because there was no physical evidence and no other respected court officials heard it in person, he was afraid that the generals from all over the country would not want to believe it, so he sent a young envoy to pay homage to the King of Hanzhong."

After thinking about it for a while, Xun You had roughly guessed that Yuan Shu’s so-called “oral order” could definitely be fabricated to fabricate a condition that was beneficial to Liu Bei and test it out.

Xun You asked in place of Liu Bei: "Let me tell me, the king of Hanzhong candles can naturally distinguish between true and false."

Yuan Huan: "I heard that the will was the 'pass on the throne of King Hanzhong'."

Liu Bei didn't say anything, and after hearing this, he slapped the table. His reaction was similar to Yuan Shao: "Bold! He dared to fabricate the will and tried to escape the blame. There is no master in the world. If the destiny of heaven really needs to save the people of the world, why do we need the will?"

Yuan Huan was deeply ashamed of being scolded by Liu Bei so righteously and felt a little shaken of reporting and exposure.

PS: The above is already four thousand words, so I will say a few words.

I know some people want to watch a fighting scene, but it’s not that I’m delaying the pace. Diplomacy and righteousness are very important, because I don’t want to write Yuan Shu as an idiot who does good deeds for others. It is impossible to just claim the crime of regicide and betray the world. There must be a process of arguing and being exposed.

To emphasize again, Yuan Shu was not so mentally retarded that he went directly to kill the lord. He was forced to this point because of his plan's distortion and lack of flexibility.
Chapter completed!