Eat first

The spring breeze and drizzle were still falling outside the pavilion, and the sky was gloomy. It seemed that this drizzle was just a prelude, and a bigger storm was still to come.

The atmosphere in the pavilion suddenly solidified with Deng Hong's words. Deng Hong was also very nervous at first.

He stared at Zhang Xiu's face intently, fearing that if he was not careful, he might suddenly draw his sword and slash him, so he would also glance at Gan Ning sitting next to him.

Gan Ning was still sitting cross-legged normally, but his hands had quietly touched his waist, which made Deng Hong's nervous mood relax a little.

Looking at Zhang Xiu again, he clenched his fists and the veins on his face jumped, as if he was on the verge of some kind of rage.

Hu Che'er was also furious and looked at Deng Hong angrily.

However, after saying the words, Deng Hong put aside the frightened mood, gradually regained his composure, and said to Shen Chen calmly: "Ah Chen, serve the wine."

Shen Chen thought that his uncle was pretending, but he did not refute. Instead, he took out a bottle of wine and a few porcelain bowls from the bag he brought with him.

Zhang Xiu watched as Shen Chen placed a bowl on everyone's table, and then poured wine into the bowl for everyone.

He and Hu Cheer actually regarded Shen Chen as a servant boy. This kind of thing is very common. In the article "Children's Agreement" written by Wang Bao during the Western Han Dynasty, the working life and slave-partner relationship of the slaves at that time were described.

It wasn't until Shen Chen poured all the wine that Zhang Xiu slowly said, "Since the meritorious officer is issuing a letter of war on behalf of Ambassador Liu, why do you need to invite me to drink with you?"

"Forehead"

Deng Hong glanced at Shen Chen, this was different from what he had promised in advance.

Shouldn't Zhang Xiu be furious, then laugh a few times to himself, say a few words, and discipline Zhang Xiu to surrender, and the Xiliang army will retreat without a fight?

Why aren't people angry?

However, although he did not follow the script, Deng Hong reacted quickly and said immediately: "This is because the envoy and I cannot bear the loss of lives of the people in Nanyang due to the war, so we came to have a detailed discussion with the general."

"Really?" Zhang Xiu picked up the wine glass and took a sip. The aroma of the wine was indeed very tempting, but he did not dare to drink it before Deng Hong drank it.

"certainly."

Deng Hong naturally knew Zhang Xiu's concerns, so he also picked up his wine glass, took a sip with Gan Ning, and then put down his glass and said: "General, do you know that after learning about the death of General Hussar, many of our officials in Jingzhou invited Liu Do you want me to take advantage of the victory and pursue you?"

Zhang Xiu said coldly: "Pursue while you are victorious? You are just taking advantage of the defense of the city. We are fighting fiercely in the wild. I will kill as many as you come."

"hehe."

Deng Hong smiled and said: "Of course we know how powerful the Xiliang army is, but the general doesn't know that Nanyang is just the place where Jingzhou has the fewest troops. Most of Jingzhou's elite soldiers are guarding against Liu Zhang and Liu Shijun in the Yiling area. There are more than 100,000 armored men under his tent, can the general defeat him?"

Of course Liu Bian does not have more than 100,000 people now, but 70,000 to 80,000 are as powerful as the sky.

However, this was the case in ancient wars. If you only had 10,000 people, you would have to boast 40,000 to 50,000.

When Cao Cao's army of more than 200,000 went south to fight the Battle of Red Cliff, wasn't it also called 800,000?

So whether the enemy believes it or not, let’s blow it out first and then talk about it.

What's more, Jingzhou is indeed very peaceful now. Not only is it prosperous but it also has sufficient troops. If it is said that there are more than 100,000 people, others will probably believe it.

Just like now, Zhang Xiu fell silent immediately after hearing Deng Hong's words.

Although he thought that he had the same number of enemies and the elite Xiliang army under his command could fight fiercely in the field without fear of anyone, the other party did not show martial ethics and only sent the same number of troops to compete with you.

Now they only face the more than 20,000 Jingzhou troops stationed in Nanyang, which is very difficult. If Liu Biao really mobilizes the main force, then their situation will be very difficult indeed.

At present, Zhang Xiu has only seven to eight thousand men under his command. When he originally came south from Guanzhong, he still had less than ten thousand men, but he suffered heavy losses in the attack on Rangcheng.

With the death of his uncle, his morale also dropped sharply. Facing Liu Biao's siege, he was afraid that it would be difficult to move forward.

This is also the reason why Zhang Xiu remained silent when Deng Hong made provocative remarks.

Really, their situation has reached a very bad point.

Therefore, in the face of Deng Hong's words, Zhang Xiu did not refute. He just held the porcelain bowl and took a sip as usual.

"Pfft."

Zhang Xiu felt the pungent taste entering his throat, and he immediately spat out a mouthful of wine and said horrified: "What did you put in the wine?"

Deng Hong laughed and said: "This is just an ordinary strong drink. It is more intoxicating than ordinary drinks. The general was born in Xiliang. I heard that Xiliang people are good at drinking. It seems that this amount of alcohol is not good."

Zhang Xiu put down the wine bowl, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said in a deep voice: "You don't have to speak loudly to make people understand you. Since you said you are here for peace talks, you have to say something. It's so convoluted and confusing.

Happy, please say it plainly."

Deng Hong glanced at Shen Chen again and thought that his grandson had made a miscalculation this time. People in Xiliang were all straight people, so there was no need to talk about those nonsense, just go straight to the point.

Shen Chen on the side was also embarrassed.

It was indeed a miscalculation.

He has an engineering background and is engaged in architectural design.

My knowledge of history is average. As for the history of the Three Kingdoms, I learned it from watching the 1994 version of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" when I was a kid. Many real histories are different from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

In the past, when watching TV dramas, the lobbyists would usually irritate the other party, laugh a few times, and then argue their interests.

So I wanted to learn from it, but it turned out to be a copycat, and people were not impressed at all.

For a while, he was also reflecting on himself, and he still didn't take the TV series seriously as history.

Sometimes this trick may work, but if you encounter an unreasonable master, it will be useless no matter how loud you laugh. They may even think you are mocking him, and if you don't agree, they will push you out and chop him.

When Deng Hong saw that Zhang Xiu didn't want to go around in circles with him, he began to say seriously: "Actually, the purpose of meeting with the general this time is to make peace with the general. The general thinks that if Jingzhou wants to annihilate the general's power, can it be done?"

Zhang Xiu immediately said: "Maybe it can be done, but our Xiliang army is brave and good at fighting. Even if we are defeated by you, you will definitely pay a heavy price."

Deng Hong laughed and said: "But Jingzhou has a lot of money and food. Now it has a population of one million households, but there are countless young men who can be recruited into the army, and the general's soldiers will lose one if they die. Even if I exchange 20,000 for your 10,000

, at worst, we can recruit another 20,000 people, what loss can Jingzhou have?"

"this"

Zhang Xiu's legs, which were originally sitting cross-legged, suddenly jumped up. He originally wanted to refute, but he couldn't refute the words, so he raised his hands in the air. In the end, he could only sit down helplessly, with a slumped expression on his face.

Deng Hong then said: "So if the general continues to be an enemy of Liu Shijun, it is tantamount to seeking death. Now there are only two roads in front of the general. One is to retreat to Guanzhong, so the general will think again

"What is Guanzhong like now? After returning to Guanzhong, will there still be a place for generals?"

Zhang Xiu said silently: "Guanzhong is already in a mess, and Li Jue and Guo Si are here, so how can I still have a foothold?"

"That's it."

Deng Hong spread his hands and said: "The general has only the last way to go. Liu Shijun is generous and magnanimous and knows the general's difficulties, so he is willing to accept the general. The land of Nanyang is fertile and has many small towns. If the general surrenders to

Isn’t it a good thing for Jingzhou to stop in Wancheng?”

Surrender to Liu Biao?

Zhang Xiu has actually considered this issue.

But what he was most worried about was that after the surrender, Liu Biao would strip him of his military power.

Zhang Xiu knew this very well, because there was a general in the Xiliang army named Fan Chou who was killed by Li Jue last year and took away his army.

In today's world, military power is the foundation for survival. Without the protection of the army, no matter how brave you are, you are just a lost dog.

Isn’t that what Lu Bu is?

Although he was brave enough to win the three armies, after Dong Zhuo's death, he was counterattacked by the Xiliang army and finally had to escape from Chang'an in embarrassment.

Zhang Xiu asked himself that he was neither as brave as Lu Bu nor as good as Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu.

If he doesn't even have military power, then he is completely at the mercy of others.

Therefore, he said with some hesitation: "I also know that at this point, I can't talk to Liu Shijun about anything, but I want to know, after stationing in Wancheng, will my army be at my disposal?"

"It's natural."

Deng Hong said: "Many people said that they would return the general's troops to another place, but I argued with reason and believed that the general was familiar with the Xiliang army's tactics. If he returned it to another place, how could he have combat power? This made Liu Shijun reluctantly

Yes."

Zhang Xiu was overjoyed, raised his hands to Deng Hong and said, "Thank you very much for your merit."

Deng Hong said seriously: "I am not doing this to gain the gratitude of the general, but for the stability of Nanyang. And I also urge the envoy to help the general allocate food and grass for the general to rest and recuperate in Wancheng. Unless it is absolutely necessary, try not to dispatch the general.

, Only in this way can the general’s heart be at ease.”

Zhang Xiu's eyes widened. He originally thought that after the surrender, there would be many conditions, but he didn't expect that Liu Biao actually let him station in Wancheng and even allocated food and grass to him. This was a great thing.

For a moment, he was in disbelief and said in shock: "Is this really true?"

"nature."

Deng Hong nodded and said: "These are all matters that I personally agreed to."

Zhang Xiu immediately stood up, walked to the center of the hall, bowed his hands to Deng Hong respectfully and said, "Sir, I can't repay your kindness, so please accept my courtesy."

After saying this, he would kneel down and kowtow.

You must know that the kowtow ceremony was not popular in the Han Dynasty. Only the emperor and masters of heaven and earth received the kowtow ceremony. This so-called kowtow ceremony became the later kowtow ceremony. It was a very big etiquette at that time. Even the emperor only had very high standards.

Only when there is a court meeting or when offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the ministers will bow their heads.

Deng Hong immediately went up to stop him and said with a smile: "Liu Shijun has always been benevolent and righteous. He also wanted to prevent the people of Nanyang from suffering unwarranted military disasters. However, the sage said: "What you ask for is close by, so you can get it without working." The general should be

You won’t get it for nothing.”
To be continued...