mesbooks Chapter 139 Everyone in Jiangdong Curses Lü Meng
Chapter 139 Everyone in Jiangdong Curses Lü Meng
Although Zhu Zhi did his best to rescue them, he could only save a small number of people on the ladders. As for the group below the city who had not yet climbed the ladders, they were all scared away by a single charge from the Han army.
Two quarters of an hour later, Deng Zhi arrived and immediately ordered the prisoners to be sent to a camp three miles away. At the same time, he sent a letter to Zhu Zhi to arrange a meeting.
Two quarters of an hour later, Deng Zhi appeared by the moat under the protection of his personal guards. He looked up at Zhu Zhi, clasped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "Deng Zhi of Xinye pays his respects to Prefect Zhu."
Society is structured like a pyramid, with fewer people at the top. Even if they haven't met each other, they've heard of each other, so Deng Zhi and Zhu Zhi are not strangers.
Zhu Zhi clasped his hands in greeting to Deng Zhi and said, "I have long admired Prefect Deng's name. What brings you to my Wu County today, Prefect Deng?"
Deng Zhi laughed and said, "Brother Zhu, why pretend to be ignorant? Lü Meng and Zhang Zhao have already withdrawn. You have been abandoned by the Wu army. Do you still intend to continue to serve Sun Quan?"
Zhu Zhi shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I haven't received any news of the Grand Commander's withdrawal. If Brother Deng wants to persuade me to surrender, please refrain from doing so, lest it damage our friendship. If you want to attack the city, feel free to do so."
What kind of friendship is there between them?
Deng Zhi inwardly complained but remained unperturbed, and continued with a smile: "Lu Meng has indeed withdrawn, but the news has not yet reached Wu County. If the governor does not believe me, he can send scouts out of the city to investigate. I guarantee that I will not make things difficult for him."
"Furthermore, Deng promised not to attack the city within seven days. Prefect Zhu, please use this time to carefully consider your own situation."
"Wu's army has retreated to Jingzhou, and the restoration of Jiangdong is a foregone conclusion. Brother Zhu is left with only two paths: surrendering to Wei or surrendering to Han. Although Cao Wei is strong, it is far away, while the King of Hanzhong is weak and close at hand. I believe Brother Zhu will make the right decision. Farewell."
After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Zhu Zhi frowning on the city wall.
Zhu Zhi did not receive news of Lü Meng's retreat, but Zhang Zhi's attack on the city was enough to prove many things. If Lü Meng had not retreated, Zhang Zhi would never have dared to attack Wu County, so he believed Deng Zhi's words.
So here's the question: after Lü Meng retreated, he really only had one option left—to surrender. But to whom should he surrender?
He was inclined to surrender to the Han Dynasty for a simple reason: Guan Yu was so badly beaten at Maicheng, yet he still managed to turn the tide, which was enough to prove that the Mandate of Heaven was with the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, Guan Yu was right in front of us. To surrender to the Han Dynasty in front of Guan Yu would be like courting death, sitting on a stove or a heated brick bed.
If he had truly surrendered to Wei, he would probably have been killed by Guan Yu before the Wei army even arrived; Zhang Zhi is the best example of this.
Zhu Zhi thought for a moment and decided to surrender to the Han, but not now. He asked for an excuse to give him a way out. Didn't he have any pride?
Deng Zhi returned to the camp safely. Before he could even stand still, Li Feng rushed over and asked, "General, I saw that Zhang Zhi's army had already climbed the city wall. Why don't we just take advantage of the momentum and attack directly?"
Deng Zhi explained, "It's no use. Wu County is a large city with two or three hundred thousand people. We can't possibly take it down with our small force."
"Moreover, there is no need to attack, because Zhu Zhi only has the option of surrendering. The reason he hasn't surrendered is simply because he lacks a way to save face. Once General Guan arrives and personally persuades him, Zhu Zhi will surrender."
With this in mind, Deng Zhi set up camp and waited for Guan Yu to arrive. However, instead of Guan Yu himself, he received good news from him.
At noon that day, several fast horses arrived at the camp, delivering Wang Fu's secret letter to Deng Zhi.
When Deng Zhi opened the package, she was almost speechless with shock. After a long moment of stunned silence, she exclaimed in astonishment, "What the hell? General Guan actually married Xiao Qiao? Xiao Qiao didn't retreat to Jiangling with Lü Meng?"
After briefly learning about the situation from the messenger, Deng Zhi excitedly said, "We've reached the stepping stone! Come with me to see Zhu Zhi."
Soon Deng Zhi reappeared at the gates of Wu County. Zhu Zhi, having received the news, rushed over and greeted Deng Zhi with a fist and palm salute, saying, "Prefect Deng, it seems the seven-day deadline hasn't arrived yet?"
Deng Zhi waved the letter in his hand and said, "Prefect Zhu, this is a letter that Wang Fu and Wang Zhizhong just sent. They have some good news for us, and I think you will be interested."
After saying this, he ordered someone to send the letter to the city. Zhu Zhi lowered the basket, pulled the letter up to the city wall, unfolded it, and immediately flew into a rage, roaring furiously, "That damned Lü Meng, how dare he leave Old Madam Zhou in Jianye?"
Although Zhu Zhi was older than Zhou Yu, he respected the young man greatly and was very dissatisfied with Lü Meng's decision to abandon Zhou Yu's family.
Moreover, he did need a way out, so he held the letter up to the sky and cursed Lü Meng, using the most vulgar language imaginable.
Zhu Zhi cursed for a full quarter of an hour before slamming the letter to the ground and roaring angrily, "If Lü Ziming is so unrighteous, then don't blame me for being unrighteous. I've surrendered to the Han! Open the city gates and welcome the Han army into the city!"
Soon the city gates opened, and Zhu Zhi went out alone to bow to Deng Zhi, saying, "This sinful general, Zhu Zhi, pays his respects to Prefect Deng."
Deng Zhi quickly reached out to help him up and said with a warm smile, "Prefect Zhu, please get up. The King of Hanzhong will be extremely pleased to hear that you have abandoned darkness for light."
Zhu Zhi got up without inviting Deng Zhi into the city, but continued to chat idly while waiting for the Han army to arrive and take over.
Deng Zhi was there to deliver a message, so he only brought a dozen or so people with him. Under these circumstances, he certainly wouldn't dare to enter the city easily, as a hasty invitation would offend or even arouse Deng Zhi's suspicion.
Zhu Zhi, being an experienced and shrewd man, would not make a mistake in such a matter. He talked to Deng Zhi about the arrival of the Han army, then personally led the way, handed over the city wall to the Han army for defense, and then pulled Deng Zhi to the prefect's mansion.
Once the prefectural capital of Wu County is captured, there's no need to pursue the other counties; Zhu Zhi can simply write a letter to inform them.
After completing the takeover, Deng Zhi settled down in the city, checking the land and population of various counties in Wu County while waiting for Guan Yu to arrive. Little did he know that while he was busy in Wu County, a major event was taking place at Ruxukou.
Wu's army camp at Ruxukou.
Recently, the Wei army has been frequently moving towards Juchao, showing signs of another southern expedition. Therefore, the Wu generals dared not slack off and stayed at their posts to guard against the enemy.
That noon, Zhu Huan personally inspected the various defense lines as usual. After finishing his work, he returned to his tent and had just sat down when his personal guard, Zhu Yong, delivered a letter, saying, "General, this was sent by the Grand Commander."
Zhu Huan opened the package, frowned, and asked, "The Grand Commander actually summoned me back to Jianye just when the Wei army was about to launch its southern campaign. Has he gone mad?"
Zhu Yong replied, "It is indeed somewhat surprising, and we haven't received any news from the family for half a month. Could something have happened to Jianye?"
The aristocratic families all have their own channels of communication. As the clan leader, Zhu Huan would exchange information with his family from time to time. He usually received letters from his family every six or seven days, but recently he had not received any for half a month, which made him very anxious.
Zhu Huan frowned and asked, "Has the messenger sent back to Jianye returned?"
Zhu Yong shook his head and said, "It's not that fast. What should we do now? Should I go back myself?"
Just as Zhu Huan was about to agree, the tent flap was suddenly lifted, and two messengers helped a wounded soldier into the tent.
Upon seeing the wounded soldier, Zhu Huan immediately exclaimed in surprise and asked incredulously, "Zhu Sheng, weren't you in Jianye? How did you end up in Ruxukou, and injured? Who hurt you?"
The wounded soldier in front of them was a member of the Zhu clan and also Zhu Huan's cousin, so Zhu Huan naturally recognized him.
Zhu Sheng said with difficulty, "Reporting to the patriarch, the Grand Commander has blocked all roads leading to Ruxukou these days, and we can't send any messages."
"Ten days ago, Zhang Cheng was once again defeated by Guan Xing and his entire army was wiped out. After receiving the bad news, the Grand Commander led his troops to place all the aristocratic generals under house arrest, and then ordered the abandonment of Jiangdong and retreat to Jiangling."
"This is a matter of great importance, and the family dares not neglect it. They instructed me to deliver the message to the family head at all costs. However, the road to Ruxukou is still blocked by the Grand Commander, so..."