Faced with Pang Tong's face-to-face persuasion to surrender, Liu Cong did not respond immediately.
Pang Ji and Kuai Liang couldn't help but look at each other. They both had a bad feeling in their hearts. Liu Cong's reaction was indeed beyond their expectations. This was not a good sign.
The two secretly exchanged glances, and Kuai Liang stood up first and said: "Although Xiangyang City is small, it is strong. Although there are few soldiers, there are thousands of soldiers. The monarchs and ministers work together and work together. Although the army in Jingnan is strong,
You can still fight."
"That's right!" Pang Ji stood up and said: "In the past, Liu Anyuan defended Lingxian County alone and defeated the state army, and then he conquered Jingnan. Now we may not be able to repeat Liu Anyuan's past story."
Pang Tong shook his head repeatedly after hearing this and retorted: "The king and his ministers work together, and the superiors and subordinates are of one mind? Master Kuai's words are a bit deceptive. If it were true as you said, the city gate captain led his troops to surrender across the city last night.
It’s over.”
"Right now, the people in Xiangyang are panicked and the army is disorganized. It is impossible to defend Xiangyang. To defend it forcefully is to bring about self-destruction."
Pang Tong threatened the kings and ministers of Jingzhou and said: "Not only does the general have 50,000 tigers and wolves under his command, his ingenuity is comparable to that of Luban and Mo Zhai in ancient times. The Linchong, flying stones, and crossbows are all used as siege weapons to destroy the city."
Breaking the stronghold is as easy as turning the palm of your hand. It is difficult to hold on to the stronghold of Jiangling, let alone Xiangyang?"
"otherwise……"
Pang Ji and Kuai Liang were not easily intimidated by Pang Tong's words and continued to argue with them.
Except for the two of them, everyone else remained silent. Even Zhang Yun, who had always had an arrogant personality, seemed extraordinarily quiet.
Some of them were originally inclined to surrender, some were sitting on the fence and watching, and some saw Liu Cong's unclear attitude and were not eager to speak out for the time being.
Pang Ji and Kuai Liang are both eloquent people. The former is a lobbyist, and the latter also has Yong Ji's arguments. However, Pang Tong, a rising star, is obviously more skilled. Within a few rounds, he completely refuted the two.
Speechless.
Of course, Pang Ji and Kuai Liang are also clever women who cannot make a meal without rice. The current situation in Xiangyang makes it difficult for them to have the confidence to argue with Pang Tong.
Pang Tong bowed to Liu Cong and said sincerely: "What I say comes from the bottom of my heart. I also hope that the emperor can make an early decision and abdicate in favor of a worthy person, so that peace can be restored in Jingzhou. The general will treat the emperor with kindness. I hope that the emperor will not have any doubts."
"
Liu Cong was silent, his eyes swept over the courtiers one by one, and finally turned back to Pang Tong, and slowly said: "Now the Han Dynasty is in decline. Anyuan and I are both members of the same clan. If brothers fight against each other, won't it cause pain to the relatives and happiness to the enemies?
On the day General Anyuan arrives in Xiangyang, I will personally lead the officials and people of Xiangyang out of the city to greet him."
After saying these words, Liu Cong felt that most of the heavy pressure on his heart had dissipated, and he felt relaxed like never before.
"General..." Pang Ji and Kuai Liang both lost their composure and stood up, trying to persuade Liu Cong to withdraw his orders.
Liu Cong raised his hand to stop him and said: "To give way to virtue, this is the meaning of "Spring and Autumn", which is highly valued by the ancients. General Anyuan is ten times more talented and virtuous than me. Now he abdicates the throne to make way for the virtuous, with the reputation of Quanquan. This is my heart.
Don’t persuade me.”
Pang Ji and Kuai Liang sighed sadly, Liu Cong had already made up his mind, what else could they say.
Pang Tong praised: "The ruler of Fu is so righteous, and everyone in Jingzhou will be grateful for his kindness."
Liu Cong nodded lightly, and then said to Pang Ji and Kuai Liang: "Zhizhong, in charge of the bookkeeping, I will leave the funeral of the late king to you."
Now that we have decided to surrender, there is no need to hide the news of Liu Biao's death.
Pang Ji and Kuai Liang agreed with tears.
Liu Cong then said to Liu Xian, "If you can't hold my seal and ribbon, you and Pang Shiyuan will go south to meet General Anyuan to show your sincerity."
Liu Xian was from Lingling County in southern Jingnan, and Biejia was also a "half-provincial governor". He was the most suitable person to represent Liu Jing in front of Liu Cong.
"No." Liu Xian accepted the order happily.
After arranging things, Liu Cong immediately ended the meeting, and all the ministers resigned one after another. Only his cousin Zhang Yun stayed, and he was the only one who knew Liu Cong's decision in advance.
But he said that Liu Bei was excluded by Liu Cong and had no idea about the arrival of Liu Jingjun's envoy. If someone hadn't tipped him off privately, he would have been kept in the dark.
"Shu Zi!" Liu Bei was naturally shocked and angry at this. Yesterday Liu Biao had left him alone, but today Liu Cong turned his back on him?
Liu Bei wanted to go to the state headquarters immediately and question Liu Cong face to face, but his reason eventually overcame his impulse, but he was unwilling to wait and mobilized all his connections to find out the news.
Liu Bei is a hero in the world, he is generous, courteous and courteous, and is very popular among the people. There are many people in the state who are willing to inform him. Even shortly after the meeting, they received the news that Liu Cong decided to surrender Jingzhou.
This time Liu Bei couldn't sit still anymore, so he immediately took Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and more than ten riders and rushed to the state headquarters.
We rode at high speed all the way and arrived in front of the state department. The head of the gate guard looked at the menacing Liu Bei and his party. He was so frightened that he was so frightened that he had to stand up and stop him, otherwise he would be punished afterwards.
Liu Bei was not in the mood to talk nonsense with the gatekeeper, so he shouted: "Get out of the way!"
While the gatekeeper was hesitating, he suddenly saw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei behind Liu Bei and glared at him. The gatekeeper couldn't help but secretly swallowed his saliva and moved out of the way knowingly.
Liu Bei marched straight into the state headquarters without stopping.
The prefecture is an important central place in the prefecture. Liu Bei's ten or so men galloped inside without any scruples, causing the prefectural officials to stop and watch.
Liu Qi knew that his decision to surrender would definitely arouse Liu Bei's dissatisfaction, so he was prepared for it. Not only did he hide back in his official residence, he also asked his brother Zhang Yun to mobilize hundreds of elite spearmen and crossbowmen to guard the left and right sides to ensure safety.
When Liu Bei came outside the official residence, he saw that there were heavy soldiers guarding him, but he didn't know that they were targeting him.
Liu Bei took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, got off his horse, and walked to the gate of the official residence. The leader of the guard was Zhang Yun's general, whom Liu Bei happened to know, and said: "Please go in and inform Liu Jingzhou. Said Liu Bei came to ask for an audience."
"General Zuo, please wait a moment. I'll go in and report." The guard leader agreed happily and walked into the official residence.
Liu Bei stood outside the official residence, waiting left and right, but he did not return. As time went by, Liu Bei's face became more and more ugly. He realized that continuing to wait was just a waste of time, and he tried his best to suppress his anger. , it suddenly exploded.
"Liu Zhongyu! Why don't you dare to see me?!" Liu Bei yelled with blazing eyes.
"'Father's hatred cannot be shared with heaven; brother's hatred cannot be fought against.' Liu Zhongyu, your father and brother both died because of Liu Jing. Not only do you not want to avenge your father and brother, but you want to kowtow to the enemy and wag your tail. Aren't you afraid of the ridicule of the world for begging for surrender?!"
Liu Bei was still upset and continued to curse: "What a hero Liu Zhennan is, to give birth to a son like you, Du'er!"