Chapter seven hundred and twelve benevolence to justice
Deng Feng recruited troops from various counties in Nanyang, but he could not recruit any new soldiers at all. This situation was something Deng Feng never expected.
You must know that it was easy for Deng Feng to recruit troops in Nanyang in the past. When the recruitment order was issued, there was an endless stream of young and strong men who came to seek refuge. Because of his own limited money and food, many young men who came to join the army were turned away.
But now when he is in urgent need of troops, he can't recruit even one person, which is really incredible.
This was the result of Liu Xiu's drastic measures. He promulgated preferential policies to suppress Deng Feng's resurgence and cut off Deng Feng's foundation in Nanyang.
Deng Feng could not recruit new soldiers in Yuyang, so he could only rely on the existing remnants to resist the Han army. However, with these few troops, including a large number of wounded soldiers, how could they withstand the menacing Han army?
When the Han army was about to approach the city, Deng Feng found Yan Guang and asked him to take Deng Zijun and leave Yuyang first. Yan Guang frowned and asked, "Do you know how many soldiers and horses you have in your army now?"
Deng Feng smiled bitterly and said, "There are thirty thousand."
Yan Guang reminded: "But nearly 10,000 of them are wounded soldiers!" In other words, Deng Feng had only 20,000 combatable soldiers. He also asked: "Do you know how many soldiers and horses the Han army had in Yuan Dynasty?"
?”
Deng Feng thought for a while and said, "It should be no less than two hundred thousand!"
Yan Guang asked: "With 20,000 people against 200,000 people, Yuan Zhi thinks he can win?"
After all, he still had to persuade himself to surrender. Now when he heard the word surrender, Deng Feng wanted to draw his sword and kill someone. He waved his hand to Yan Guang and said, "Mr. Yan, there is no need to persuade me anymore. I, Deng Feng, absolutely do not want to."
Will surrender to Liu Xiu!"
Yan Guang looked at the stubborn Deng Feng, anxious but unable to do anything about it. He felt that Deng Feng had fallen into a dead end, and he was still stubborn and could not pull ten cows back.
He sighed meaningfully: "The Yuan Dynasty used the land of one county to fight against a country!"
Why does Liu Xiu have a strong foundation? Everything north of the Yellow River is basically under Liu Xiu's control now. He needs people, money and food, so Liu Xiu can afford to lose and fail.
As for Deng Feng, he only had Nanyang County in his hands. Now even Nanyang County was gradually out of his control and fell to Liu Xiu's side. What capital did he have to fight against Liu Xiu?
Deng Feng would not understand such a simple truth, but he just didn't want to admit defeat.
As the saying goes, a good horse never turns back. Since he rebelled against Liu Xiu in the first place, it is impossible for him to surrender to Liu Xiu now. He can only grit his teeth and persevere to prove that his original choice was not wrong.
Yan Guang could not persuade Deng Feng, and Deng Zijun could not persuade Deng Feng. In the end, under Deng Feng's insistence, Yan Guang could only take Deng Zijun to leave Yuyang and return to Xinye.
On the way to Xinye, Deng Zijun frowned and asked: "Ziling, if the eldest brother insists on refusing to surrender to Liu Xiu, then in the end, the eldest brother..."
Yan Guang said: "As long as Yuan Zhi is willing to surrender, there is a glimmer of hope!"
"But the problem is, the eldest brother refuses to surrender!" Deng Zijun said worriedly.
Yan Guang thought for a while, smiled calmly, and said: "Maybe it's better not to be forced to do so! If the remaining 30,000 troops under Yuan Zhi's command are also wiped out, Yuan Zhi will have no choice but to surrender."
Deng Zijun blinked and nodded thoughtfully.
Now, she suddenly hoped that her eldest brother could be defeated and surrender to Liu Xiu as soon as possible. Otherwise, the longer the war dragged on, the deeper the grudges between the two sides would become, and the eldest brother's situation would become more and more dangerous.
Not long after Yan Guang and Deng Zijun left Yuyang, the Han army led by Liu Xiu arrived in Yuyang.
More than 200,000 Han troops came to the city. If Yuyang was not adjacent to the Feishui River to the east, the army of more than 200,000 would have been enough to surround Yuyang.
The Han army did not immediately launch an attack on Yuyang. Now Liu Xiu indeed had no intention of killing Deng Feng.
First of all, Deng Feng is the veteran of the Zhutiandu Tribe, and he is one of the first people to join the Zhutiandu Tribe following his eldest brother.
Secondly, don’t look at the Buddha’s face and look at the monk’s face. Deng Feng is Deng Chen’s nephew, and Deng Chen is Liu Xiu’s brother-in-law. In addition, the second sister Liu Yuan and three daughters all died in Xiaochang’an, Liu Xiu’s relationship with Deng
Chen has always been filled with guilt.
Third, when Yin Lihua was in Nanyang, she received a lot of care and protection from Deng Feng. Even when Yin Lihua went to Luoyang, Deng Feng escorted her all the way there.
For these reasons, Liu Xiu valued Deng Feng very much. Even if Deng Feng rebelled against him, he did not expect to kill Deng Feng.
After the Han army set up camp outside Yuyang City, Liu Xiu specially took a group of personal followers out of the camp and went straight to Yuyang City.
When Liu Xiu and his party were about a hundred paces away from Yuyang City, an arrow flew down from the top of the city and nailed to the ground with a snap. This was an arrow warning, warning Liu Xiu and his party not to go any further.
gone.
Liu Xiu said to the generals of Wu and Han: "You stay here!"
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. Wu Han hurriedly urged his horse forward and said, "Your Majesty, it's dangerous!"
Liu Xiu waved his hand disapprovingly and said, "Zhiwen and Long Yuan can just go with me."
He left all the Wu and Han generals a hundred steps away from Yuyang City, and took only Fu An and Long Yuan with him, and rode slowly toward Yuyang City.
Seeing that only three people entered within a hundred steps of Yuyang City, the defenders on top of the city did not shoot any more warning arrows.
It wasn't until Liu Xiu and the others got within fifty steps that another arrow flew down from the top of the city. A soldier with a loud voice lay on the arrow stack, stuck his head out, and shouted loudly: "Who is coming? What are you coming for?"
meaning?"
Liu Xiu tightened the reins of his horse and stopped it. He raised his head and said to the soldiers on the city wall: "I am Liu Xiu, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. Please ask Deng Feng to come out and talk to me!"
Hearing Liu Xiu's name, the expressions of Deng Fengjun's officers on the top of the city changed. Who would have thought that Liu Xiu would dare to come within fifty steps of Yuyang City with only two followers.
The garrison officers looked at each other in confusion, and the leading general among them was the first to come to his senses and said urgently: "Don't be stunned, go and report to the general!"
A soldier agreed and ran down the city wall to report the news to Deng Feng.
Hearing from the soldiers who came to report the news, Liu Xiu came to Yuyang City with only two followers, even within fifty steps. Deng Feng was also startled, and was secretly shocked. Liu Xiu's
He was brave enough, wasn't he afraid that he would order an arrow to be fired and shoot him outside the city?
Even though the two sides were now in a state of hostility, Deng Feng had to admire Liu Xiu's courage.
He didn't delay much. After putting on his helmet and wearing a robe and wearing a belt, he rode to the North City on horseback and ordered the defenders guarding the city gate to open the city gate.
The generals around Deng Feng looked at each other and said: "General, now is a good opportunity to kill Liu Xiu!" "Yes, general, Liu Xiu is arrogant and does not know whether to live or die. It is easy to kill him now!"
Listening to the chattering of the surrounding generals, Deng Feng turned his head and glanced around them. His sharp eyes made the surrounding generals subconsciously close their mouths and lower their heads, not daring to say anything more.
He said in a deep voice: "As a human being, you should be moral. If not, what's the difference between you and Wu thieves?"
The generals were so scolded by Deng Feng that their faces turned red and their heads lowered one by one. Deng Feng ignored the people and watched the city gate being opened little by little and the suspension bridge was gradually lowered. Deng Feng urged his horse out of the city gate and arrived at the city.
Outside, he suddenly remembered something, stopped his horse, turned around and said to the generals who followed him out: "You guys wait here, no one should follow!"
Liu Xiu dared to come to Yuyang City with only two followers. He, Deng Feng, could not lose to Liu Xiu. Didn't Liu Xiu bring two followers? He didn't bring any.
Deng Feng left his generals behind and headed straight for Liu Xiu outside the city alone. Less than fifty steps away, in an instant, Deng Feng came to Liu Xiu and reined in his horse.
This was the first time since Deng Feng's rebellion that Liu Xiu and Deng Feng met face to face. Seeing that Deng Feng's face was a little haggard, Liu Xiu raised his head and asked, "How is Yuan Zhi?"
Deng Feng had a cold face and said in a deep voice: "Uncle Wen, why do you ask questions knowingly?" Deng Feng directly addressed Liu Xiu by his first name, indicating that he no longer recognized him as the emperor of the Han Dynasty.
After hearing what he said, the expressions of Fu An and Long Yuan changed. The latter scolded angrily: "Deng Feng, be brave!"
Deng Feng ignored Long Yuan and just looked at Liu Xiu intently. Liu Xiu waved his hand to Long Yuan, indicating that he did not need to be angry.
He met Deng Feng's aggressive eyes and said: "Yuanzhi, you are now trapped in Yuyang and have no way out. If you don't surrender now, how long will you wait?"
When Deng Feng was about to speak, Liu Xiu continued: "If Yuan Zhi is willing to lead his troops to surrender now, I can forget all the past grudges and grudges. What will Yuan Zhi think?"
"Haha!" After hearing this, Deng Feng suddenly threw his head back and laughed. After laughing for a while, he stopped smiling and said, "Uncle Wen is so tolerant and generous! By letting go of the past, may the dead be resurrected?"
Of course Liu Xiu also knew the reason for Deng Feng's rebellion. He knew that it was because the woman Deng Feng loved died in the massacre of Wu Han.
He took a deep breath and said: "Yuanzhi, people cannot be resurrected after death. We could have sat down and talked about this matter."
"Talk?" Deng Feng laughed angrily and said, "Uncle Wen said it so lightly! If someone killed Lihua, would Uncle Wen sit down and talk slowly with the murderer?"
When Liu Xiu heard this, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes flashed with light.
Deng Feng said: "Uncle Wen wants me to lead my troops to surrender. That's fine, but I have two conditions."
Liu Xiu suppressed his anger and said softly: "Yuanzhi, tell me what the conditions are."
"First, deliver the head of Wu Han, the culprit!" Deng Feng looked at Liu Xiu and said, "Second, Uncle Wen named me King of Nanyang!"
The two conditions he offered were equivalent to directly rejecting Liu Xiu's personal recruitment and surrender, because Liu Xiu could not accept either of these two conditions.
Wu Han, like Deng Yu, Jia Fu and others, was Liu Xiu's favorite and one of the ministers he relied on most. Asking him to offer Wu Han's head was completely impossible for Liu Xiu.
As for granting Deng Feng the title of King of Nanyang, that is even more impossible. The ancestral precept left by Liu Bang states that no one with the surname Liu can be the king. Liu Xiu also respected the Han system and Han law in his succession and did not grant kings with different surnames. As the emperor, he
How can we take the lead in destruction?
And once this precedent is set, there will be no end. Deng Feng was made king, so should Deng Yu also be made king? Cen Peng, Geng Yan, Jia Fu, Feng Yi, Zhu You, Kou Xun, Yao Qi Wait, ministers, which one's merit is not far greater than that of Deng Feng, then should they all be crowned kings?
As a result, not only the court would be in chaos, but also the whole country would be in chaos. Liu Xiu would definitely not accept such a move that shakes the foundation.
Seeing that Liu Xiu had not said a word for a long time, Deng Feng straightened his chest and said loudly: "Uncle Wen, these are my conditions! As long as Uncle Wen accepts these two conditions, I will immediately lead my troops to surrender and continue to respect Uncle Wen as our leader." Emperor, if Uncle Wen can't accept it, then there is nothing left to say between us. We can only compete on the battlefield and decide whether to live or die!"
The Clay Bodhisattva still has three parts of earth nature, not to mention Liu Xiu, who is the emperor.
Liu Xiu had a gentle temperament, but he was by no means weak and easy to bully. At this time, Deng Feng's aggressiveness made Liu Xiu angry. He raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said: "Yuan Zhi thinks that I am asking you to respect me as a man." Emperor?"
Deng Feng raised his eyebrows and did not answer the question.
Liu Xiu said word by word: "There are countless thieves in the world. They may not respect me, the great emperor, but I will beat them until they respect me! You, Deng Feng, are not the first, and naturally you will not be the first." the last one."
After saying this, Liu Xiu glanced at Deng Feng again, said nothing, turned his horse's head, and returned to the main formation.
