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Chapter 2744 War is all about money!

Time flies, and so many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Cao Cao is already dead, and the Han Dynasty is about to be unified again.

Liu Bei felt a surge of joy in his heart, and then said with a smile, "I have prepared fine wine in the city. Why don't you generals come in with me and have a drink?"

Seeing that Liu Bei had no intention of killing him, Cao Zhen smiled and nodded, saying, "How could I dare refuse the invitation from Lord Xuande? Please!"

As he said this, he dismounted and placed all his weapons on the horse before walking to Liu Bei's side.

Cao Zhen was actually paving the way for the Cao family. If Liu Bei could have tolerated him, the Cao family would not have been wiped out.

Cao Zhen felt that as long as the Cao family line continued, he would have done right by Cao Cao.

Seeing that Cao Zhen had already surrendered, Zangba, Zhang He, Yue Jin, and others had no choice but to lay down their weapons and follow Liu Bei into the city.

Sima Yi was puzzled when he didn't receive anyone, so he sent people to search along the riverbank while he went to Chaoge City.

As a result, Sima Yi had already arrived at the city gate when he suddenly sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere inside the city, and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Guo Huai, who was with Sima Yi, asked with some confusion, "What's wrong?"

Sima Yi remained expressionless, his lips didn't move, but he uttered a sound, "Something's wrong in the city, we must retreat quickly! If we don't leave now, it might be too late."

Guo Huai didn't understand at all, but he knew that Sima Yi was very shrewd, so he silently turned around and backed away.

"Now that you two are here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Suddenly, a string of soldiers appeared on the city wall, which had been deserted before.

The leading scholar was somewhat pale, while beside him stood a general with piercing, fierce eyes.

Sima Yi didn't recognize the two people on the city wall, so he shamelessly asked, "I've taken the wrong path. Can you let me out?"

Fa Zheng was amused. He shook his head and said with a smile, "If you can escape from the archers' volley, you can leave if you want. I won't stop you."

Sima Yi looked up at the city walls of Chaoge and saw that the walls and the edges of the walls were full of soldiers with bows drawn and arrows nocked.

He knew that if he continued to resist, he would surely die, so he said very decisively,
"Then I surrender!"

In Sima Yi's view, as long as he didn't die, he would definitely be spared.

After all, the Sima family was quite powerful. Although they couldn't compare to the Yuan family, which had been in power for four generations, they still had to be given some face. So he wasn't worried about his wife and children in Ye City.

Fa Zheng was surprised that Sima Yi was so sensible. When he thought of Wang Yue's letter to Liu Bei mentioning Sima Yi's forbearance and treachery, he became wary and felt that he must kill Sima Yi in the future to avoid leaving any bad influence on the Han Dynasty.

However, he calmly said to Zhao Yun, "General Zhao, please arrest all these surrendered soldiers."

After hearing this, Zhao Yun instructed several other soldiers to protect Fa Zheng, then descended from the city wall and personally approached Sima Yi, saying with a smile, "I'll have to trouble you to order your men to surrender!"

Sima Yi was surprised that the general actually dared to follow him back to the army, so he said with a smile, "That's only right. May I ask what your name is, so I can tell my men?"

Zhao Yun didn't see through Sima Yi's intentions and simply smiled, saying, "I am Zhao Yun!" Upon hearing this, Sima Yi immediately abandoned any hope of escape and finally understood why Fa Zheng dared to send this general to accept the surrender.

He said very respectfully, "So it's General Zhao, my apologies! I'll take you to subdue those soldiers right away."

When he said this, it was as if he were on the Han side, without any psychological burden whatsoever.

After following Liu Bei, Zhao Yun met mostly loyal and righteous people. This was the first time he had encountered such a shameless person, and he couldn't help but frown.

But thinking of the important matter at hand, Zhao Yun nodded and urged, "Let's go!"

Sima Yi dared not delay and hurriedly walked towards the city gate, pondering in his heart who the mastermind behind this ambush was.

He originally thought it was Zhuge Liang, but Zhuge Liang hasn't even come out of Yizhou yet.

So he assumed it was Fazheng, but now that Fazheng has appeared in Chaoge, he must not be the one in charge.

Guo Huai didn't think that much about it; he was just a deputy commander and could only obediently follow along.

However, thinking of his family still in Ye City, he was still somewhat unwilling. Taking advantage of the fact that Zhao Yun was a few steps late in gathering the troops, he asked in a low voice,

"Brother Sima, shall we seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack and retake Chaoge?"

Sima Yi was startled and didn't have time to think further. He quickly shook his head and said cautiously, "This general is on Liu Bei's side. His martial prowess is no less than Guan Yu's. Back then, at Changban Slope, he was able to rescue Liu Bei's son from the middle of the army all by himself."

Do you really think those good-for-nothings under our command can protect the two of us?
Let's just surrender.

Guo Huai was speechless upon hearing this, but he knew Sima Yi's character; he always did things with a purpose, so he could only reluctantly agree.

Of these ten thousand soldiers, apart from Sima Yi and Guo Huai's personal guards, the rest were just there to eat and drink, fighting for whoever paid them. Now that their commanders Sima Yi and Guo Huai had surrendered, these soldiers had no burdens and laid down their weapons.

Therefore, Fa Zheng immediately sent someone to inform Liu Bei that the original plan needed to be changed, and also informed Guan Yu.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Bei was overjoyed and immediately dispatched troops to reinforce Fa Zheng.

Liu Bei understood that as long as Chaoge was held, any other Wei troops that wanted to go to Ye City for reinforcements would have to detour elsewhere.

Under these circumstances, the possibility of taking Ye City is very high. After all, Wang Yue's catapult battle that time completely shattered his worldview.

So this is how you fight a war!
Of course, Liu Bei also heard Wang Yue's report and learned how much money the battle had cost. This made him realize another truth: war is all about spending money.

Of course, Liu Bei used to think money was important, but he thought people were more important. As long as you win people's hearts, money and other things will come. But if you lose people, you lose everything.

But now Liu Bei feels that money is just as important as people's hearts.

For example, the ambush that Wang Yue set up for Cao Zhen lasted less than six days. If you calculate the price of all the stones and arrows used, it would be enough for Liu Bei to rearm 30,000 troops, along with several months' worth of training supplies.

However, Liu Bei felt that this battle was worthwhile.

(End of this chapter)