The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 220 Cao Cao: The longest road I have traveled in my life is Li Yi’s routine
Jizhou was the most valuable property of the Yuan family, and it was also the territory that Cao and Liu were destined to fight for in the battle for Hebei.

According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, by the fifth year of Yonghe, the minimum population of Jizhou was over eight million.

Although there was a wave of population movement due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

However, considering that the political situation was relatively stable after Yuan Shao became the governor of Jizhou, a large number of Heishan population was incorporated.

Therefore, the population of Jizhou was still among the highest in the late Han Dynasty.

Whoever controls Jizhou controls the north.

Cao Cao spared no efforts in a bloody battle with the Yuan family, which was unacceptable in any way. In the end, he only managed to get two counties in Jizhou.

"This idea is absolutely not feasible!"

"Liu Xuande has already taken Qingzhou, and my troops have only just managed to take over Shangdang County."

"Now that my army has surrounded Weijun and Zhao, how can I only aim for these two places?"

Cao Cao's words were fierce and his neck was red. He was rarely so excited.

It was because Li Yi's conditions were too harsh that Cao Cao could not accept them.

But Li Yi was also a veteran in the political arena. He was not at all afraid of Cao Cao's rage and remained calm.

"This is the bottom line of Xuzhou. Lord Cao can judge for himself."

"But now Yuan has not been destroyed yet. Since I defeated it, it has been reorganizing its troops in the north of Jizhou."

"I also heard that Yuan Xi was mobilizing troops in Youzhou and heading south from time to time."

"By then, I'm afraid that Duke Cao won't even be able to take over Weijun and Zhaodi."

Cao Cao heard the threat from Li Yi and sneered:
"Let Yuan'er come, I will lead the troops to resist!"

Cao Cao was not someone who could be frightened. Even if Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi really came, they would not only threaten Cao Cao and his family.

Li Yi's troops will also be affected.

By then, it will only delay the time for Jizhou to seize the city.

Cao Cao believed that with Li Yi's intelligence and talent, he would not allow the second Yuan'er to regain control of Jizhou.

This is just his bluff and exorbitant price.

"In that case, Yi has nothing to talk about!"

"Farewell!"

Li Yi waved his sleeves and left the table angrily.

Cao Cao was startled and was about to speak out to stop him.

But after hesitating for a moment, he hardened his heart and held back from saying anything.

He also wondered to himself whether Li Yi was just bluffing.

Did he really intend to take so much land?

Li Yi's bluffing was real, and his leaving was also real.

He himself knew that if he asked for half of Jizhou, Cao would definitely fight him to the death.

Now the Yuan family has not been dealt with yet, and it would be absolutely not worth it if we encounter a Cao Cao who is determined to fight to the death.

So in the end it was decided to resolve the Jizhou issue through negotiations.

Over the years, Li Yi has also met with many officials from other states and dealt with all kinds of people.

He was well versed in negotiation skills and knew how to gain the greatest benefits from political veterans like Cao Cao.

Leaving the meeting angrily was just a pretense that the negotiations had broken down.

As long as the two sides do not go to war, there is still room for maneuver.

Anyway, Yecheng is still surrounded, so not negotiating will just be a waste of time and will not delay anything.

As soon as Li Yi returned to the camp, Xu You came up to him and asked what the situation was.

Li Yi shook his head. "The negotiation process was far from ideal."

hiss……

Xu You took a deep breath, stroked his beard, and said:
"I am very familiar with Meng De."

"If they take over Wei territory first and fail to eliminate the threat from Bingzhou, they will definitely take over Jizhou."

"They will not just aim at Weijun and Zhao."

Li Yi nodded and said with his hands behind his back:

"I also know this, but in any negotiation, you can't reveal your details first."

"If they knew my bottom line, they would ask for an exorbitant price."

"I pretend to be tough just to gain more territory."

Xu You asked again:

"What is Mr. Unknown's bottom line?"

Li Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, looked around, and whispered in Xu You's ear:

"This is a military and national matter and should not be disclosed to too many people."

"But Ziyuan is my close friend and my trusted confidant."

"I'm only telling you this, please don't tell anyone else."

Xu You immediately patted his chest and guaranteed:

"Zi Yu, don't you understand me?"

"My foolish brother has always been known as an honest man, so you can speak frankly."

"I will never reveal it to outsiders."

"If Ziyu can tell me the truth, I can help him with some advice."

Li Yi smiled and said:

"I have always known that you are a man far away from home!"

So, he whispered in Xu You's ear:

"In Jizhou, in addition to the territory of Zhao and Wei, Changshan, Ganling, and Julu can also be ceded."

Well……

Xu You was stunned, even though he already knew Li Yi's bottom line.

But the negotiation is still very difficult.

After all, even if Changshan, Ganling and Julu were all given to Cao Cao, he would only get half of Jizhou.

Some people may say that half of Jizhou is divided into 50 and 50, so what is there for Cao Cao to be dissatisfied with?

That’s right, if you only look at the size of the territory, it is true that Cao Cao got half of Jizhou.

But you have to look at it from a demographic and economic perspective.

The only good territories that Cao Cao actually obtained were Ganling State and Wei County.

The Bohai County and Hejian County in the east of Jizhou and the Zhongshan State in the north were all counties with large populations.

If you divide it based on geography, it is fair that Liu Bei takes the eastern part of Jizhou and Cao Cao takes the western part of Jizhou.

But the eastern part of Jizhou is much richer than the western part of Jizhou as a whole.

Not to mention Anping County in the central part of Jizhou, which is also a populous county, Li Yi did not give it up.

But then again,
Isn’t the bottom line that Li Yi set for the division of Jizhou also Cao Cao’s bottom line?

Because Cao Cao was in a weaker position in the negotiations, a situation where both sides did not want to see a fight to the death was a situation that neither side wanted to see.

So in Cao Cao's plan, at least half of Jizhou in the west must be taken.

What he additionally hoped to obtain was Anping County in the central part and Zhongshan State in the north.

Two days later,

Cao Cao invited Li Yi again and asked him to come for negotiations.

Li Yi arrived at the appointment on time, and the two sides once again had a heated discussion at the negotiating table.

But the final result is still not very good.

Li Yi always held on to Weijun and Zhaoguo and refused to let go, and was only willing to give up these two pieces of land.

The negotiations ended in a bad mood again.

Three days later,

The third round of negotiations continued, and this time Li Yi finally gave in.

He expressed his willingness to give up Changshan State and said that this was his last bottom line.

But the "bottom line" given by Li Yi is still far from the bottom line in Cao Cao's mind.

So the third negotiation ended in a bad mood again.

However, Cao Cao keenly noticed that Li Yi brought Xu You with him during the next two negotiations.

Cao Cao thought to himself:

"Xu You is an old friend of mine, and now he and Li Yi are traveling together, so why not ask him for help?"

So he told his subordinates about this idea.

Cheng Yu immediately analyzed and suggested:
"I heard that Li Yi sent troops to Hebei this time and used Xu You as his strategist, and he relied heavily on his advice and strategies."

"Now that Jizhou is divided into two major events, and he is brought with him, I believe he will be trusted and reused."

"I heard that this person values money as his life. We can make something of it."

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed:

"I also know that Xu Ziyuan loves money, so you can quickly prepare money and silk and be on good terms with me."

Everyone followed his advice and immediately prepared a cart full of money and property.

At night, he secretly sent someone to deliver it to Xu You.

As soon as Cao's envoy saw Xu You, he presented him with valuables.

Xu You's eyes lit up and he said hurriedly:
"…How can this be allowed? Meng De is really too polite!"

So he secretly invited Cao's envoy into his tent.

As soon as Cao entered the account, he got straight to the point and said:
"Mr. Cao sent me here to express his longing for my old friend."

"Second, I'm in trouble and I want to ask an old friend for help."

Xu You asked hurriedly, "What help?"

Envoy Cao said:

"It has been nearly half a month since the Jizhou talks, but there is still no result."

"It's because Li Tanhou asked for an exorbitant price and refused to compromise."

"Cao Gong will never accept that countless soldiers were killed or injured, but only three places, Changshan, Weijun and Zhaoguo, were taken."

Upon hearing this, Xu You couldn't help but sigh.

"...Yes, even though I am not a member of Cao's camp, Li Ziyu's move is too overbearing."

“No one can accept this condition.”

Seeing this, Envoy Cao took the opportunity to say:
"So Lord Cao sent me here to ask Mr. Xu for advice."

"Mr. Xu is the trusted adviser of Marquis Li Tan, and he follows him around every day."

"…He must know something about the inside story."

"...This is it."

Xu You looked embarrassed and shook his head.

"Although I know a little bit about the inside story, I dare not disclose such an important matter without permission."

When Cao saw that Xu You did not reject him immediately, he knew there was hope and said quickly:

"Mr. Cao has missed you for a long time and has always wanted to invite you over."

"But Mr. Xu has already secured a high position under General Liu. Lord Cao often sighs and laments when he thinks of this."

"Although I can no longer fulfill my duties as a ruler and a subject, I can still fulfill my friendship as a good friend."

"If Mr. Xu is willing to help me, Cao Gong will never forget your kindness today."

After saying this, the envoy of Cao handed a list of gifts to Xu You.

Xu You took it, glanced at it indifferently, and then put it into his sleeve calmly.

"...cough cough cough."

Xu You clenched his fist and put it to his lips and coughed a few times, "Meng De and I are old acquaintances. Now we each serve our own masters, so we shouldn't talk too much."

"It is just my humble opinion that if the Jizhou talks are delayed for too long, both sides will suffer losses."

"In the end, it was the Yuan family that benefited."

"Kuang You is also from Henan, so he should consider the overall situation of Henan."

Xu You first issued a series of disclaimers, then leaned over to the messenger's ear and whispered:
"Just tell this to Lord Cao, and don't let anyone else know about this."

"The bottom line for Marquis Tan is to give up Changshan, Julu and Ganling."

The envoy Cao nodded repeatedly, thanked him hurriedly, and hurried back to Cao's camp.

He relayed Xu You's original words to Cao Cao truthfully.

Cao Cao finally knew where Li Yi's bottom line was, but his mood did not improve much.

Normally, once you know the other party's bottom line, it will be easier to negotiate the price.

It turns out that Li Yi's bottom line is also Cao Cao's bottom line.

So after Cao Cao handed over his underwear, there was no room for negotiation at all?
“…This is outrageous!”

Cao Cao complained, but still sent someone to invite Li Yi to the fourth round of negotiations.

The next day, negotiations between the two sides were held as scheduled.

Cao Cao's attitude was very tough this time, and he said indignantly:

"My soldiers have lived and died thousands of times to get to where we are today."

"If the Marquis of Tan is determined to give me only Changshan, Zhaodi, and Weijun, then I am willing to fight to the death."

Faced with Cao Cao's ultimatum, Li Yi, who had always been tough, surprisingly gave in.

"I don't know where Lord Cao wants to go."

"In addition to the above three places, I also want Julu, Ganling and Anping!"

Although he already knew Li Yi's bottom line, Cao Cao still wanted to make one last attempt.

Let’s see if we can capture Anping County in the central part of Jizhou at the same time!
"Humph!!"

Li Yi slammed the chair, turned around and left without saying a word.

The general behind him made a gesture, as if to teach them to be prepared for fighting at any time.

Cao Cao was shocked, and hurried forward to grab Li Yi, shouting:
"I was just joking!"

"Mr. Li, if you have something to say, just talk it over. Why get angry?"

After paying the apology, Cao Cao secretly slapped himself in the face.

He secretly cursed himself for being a bad guy, since he already knew where Li Yi's bottom line was.

Why did you have to be so naughty and annoy him?
If the negotiations between the two sides break down and a fight breaks out, it will definitely be a lose-lose situation.

Even a calm person like Li Yi could not accept the cession of Anping County and would rather suffer a double loss.

It can be seen that he had really reached his bottom line just now.

"...Okay, don't be peaceful."

"I only want Ganling and Julu."

Cao Cao nodded and prepared to face Li Yi's counterattack.

After all, although this is Li Yi's bottom line, given his personality he will definitely continue to ask for more.

Therefore, Cao Cao must hold his position well and protect the two territories of Julu and Ganling for himself.

Just when Cao Cao thought that Li Yi would let him choose between Julu and Ganling, Li Yi actually sighed:

"…Well, if we continue to procrastinate like this, there will be no result."

"Julu County and Ganling State can be given to Cao Sikong."

"The remaining counties and states will belong to Xuzhou."

Um……?
When Cao Cao saw Li Yi agreed readily, he immediately realized something was wrong.

Isn't this Li Yi's bottom line? Why did he agree to it so decisively?

While Cao Cao was thinking, Li Yi had already ordered someone to bring pen and ink.

He asked Cao Cao to write a document, and the two places were demarcated in Jizhou.

Cao Cao signed the book in a daze, and felt more and more that something was wrong.

When he looked at Li Yi again, he saw him smiling with a look of success, and suddenly he understood what he had planned.

"...What a good little Li Yi!"

"I have fallen into your trap again!"

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and realized that it was a trap set by Li Yi.

What Xu You gave was definitely not Li Yi’s real bottom line.

Based on Cao Cao's understanding of Xu You, although Xu You was greedy for money, he would really do things when paid.

Therefore, after Xu You received benefits from me, it is impossible for him to sell false information to me.

But what Cao Cao got was definitely not Li Yi's true bottom line.

Then there is only one truth, Li Yi had included Xu You in the conspiracy.

He deliberately spread false information to Xu You, deceiving himself into thinking that was his real bottom line, so that Cao Cao revealed all his secrets and was unable to gain any advantage from him.

"...Haha, today I finally agree with you."

Some were happy and some were sad. Cao Cao was depressed again because of Li Yi.

But Li Yi was in a good mood, as he knew clearly what he had just received from Cao's camp.

"Why is Zi Yu so happy?" Xu You asked hurriedly.

"...Hehe, nothing happened."

Li Yi patted Xu You on the shoulder and said, "I have to thank Ziyuan for his advice, so that I can come to Wei."

According to Li Yi's idea, his lowest bottom line was actually to give up Anping County and Zhongshan State together.

He only wanted Bohai County, Hejian State and Boling County in the eastern part of Jizhou.

Although Cao Cao's territory was large, the two most backward counties in Jizhou were under his control.

That is, Changshan State and Zhao State.

The reason why it is poor and backward is because of another old acquaintance.

——Zhang Yan, leader of the Black Mountain Army.

If you don't know where the Montenegrin Army's sphere of influence is.

Then take out the map of Jizhou and draw a vertical line in its west.

This means that among the Jizhou territory that Cao Cao took, three counties were threatened by the Black Mountain Army.

Among them, the most influential were Changshan State and Zhao State.

Because Weijun was the seat of Yuan Shao, who once led his troops to sweep the Black Mountains, the impact on Weijun was relatively small.

However, due to the outbreak of the Battle of Guandu, Zhang Yan repeatedly violated the alliance with the Xuzhou army and sent troops to harass Yuan.

This meant that the Black Mountain Army's sphere of influence once again extended into Wei County.

Therefore, the negotiation for the Jizhou territory this time seems to be a 50-50 split.

In fact, it is 70% to 30%.

70% belongs to Old Liu, and you, Cao Cao, only take 30%!
Cao Cao knew that he had suffered a loss, but it was too late to regret now.

For now, we can only focus on the war in Wei County.

It just so happened that the Xuzhou army was also here, so Cao Cao immediately invited Li Yi to come and discuss the strategy of breaking Ye.

Anyway, the territory has been divided, so it’s time to think about how to defeat the enemy, right?

"It has been more than a month since our army arrived in Ye. The city of Ye is high, the troops and horses are numerous, and the equipment is sufficient."

"It's difficult to take it at the moment, I wonder what clever plan Li Tanhou will come up with to make it happen?"

Cao Cao truthfully recounted his offensive against Yecheng over the past month.

He first built earthen hills around the city and shot arrows from above.

He also formed an army of diggers to dig tunnels and break into the city.

From top to bottom, it can be said to be a two-pronged approach.

However, they were all defended by Shen Pei's tactics and issued strict orders, so they were unable to attack.

It was discovered by Shen Pei when the tunnel was being dug previously.

Shen Pei carried stones and piled them on the city wall, then smashed them down with great force, killing more than 300 of Cao Cao's soldiers at once.

This made Cao Cao feel distressed for a long time.

Just as everyone was actively expressing their opinions and discussing how to quickly capture this fortified city.

Xu You suddenly laughed, walked out of the crowd and said:
"Don't worry, gentlemen. I have a plan to conquer Ye!"

Everyone hurriedly asked what the plan was.

Xu You suggested:
"Why not open the Zhang River to flood the city?"

Before he finished speaking, Cao Ren immediately retorted:
"You think we have never thought of this plan?"

"Yecheng is not like Xiapi. The terrain here is flat."

"Even if the water of the Zhang River were breached, it would be difficult to flood into the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals in Xuzhou, including Li Yi, glared at Cao Ren.

I thought to myself, you kid are still thinking about flooding our Xia Pi, right?

Xu You stroked his beard and smiled:

"There is no need to pour the Zhang River into the city."

"Just tell people to dig trenches outside the city and pour water into the trenches to cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the city."

After listening to Xu You's explanation, everyone immediately understood the significance of opening the Zhang River.

As I said before,

The ancient siege we often talk about does not really mean surrounding the city.

Instead, outside each side of the city, a large camp similar to a "city-state" was set up.

If someone came out from outside the city, he would not break through the blockade of thousands of troops.

Instead, they had to avoid the ambushing troops sent out from various camps outside the city.

Therefore, the larger the city, the more difficult it is to besiege.

Xu You proposed the plan of opening the Zhang River in order to cut off the connection between Yecheng and the outside world, thus depriving it of external assistance.

As a result, unless there is enough food in Yecheng, all the soldiers and civilians in the city will starve to death.

And what did Xu You do before?
Specializing in "finance" in Yecheng!

Xu You was well aware of the reserves in Yecheng and knew that he had to support the military and civilians in such a large city.

The daily expenditure is huge.

It is impossible to be self-sufficient just by relying on the city itself.

As time went on, the Henan army didn't need to take any action.

The residents of Yecheng will definitely take the initiative to rebel!

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, and Li Yi also agreed with his plan.

The two armies each sent soldiers, Cao's camp was responsible for the southeast and Liu's camp was responsible for the northwest.

A large trench was dug outside the city, connecting the two places at one point, and it was forty miles long.

Shen Pei was on the city wall and saw the allied forces digging trenches outside the city. He knew that the allied forces wanted to dig water from the Zhang River to flood the city.

But he also found that the Allied forces had dug very shallow trenches, and he couldn't help but sneer:
"The enemy wants to drain the water from the Zhang River to flood our city, but the moat is deep enough to flood, and this shallow moat is of no use!"

So, I didn't take it seriously.

The left and right counselors persuaded Shen Pei to send troops to attack the enemy and interfere with the allied forces in digging trenches.

Otherwise, they would use the water from the Zhang River to flood the city, and the communication between the inside and outside of the city would be immediately cut off.

Shen Pei said:
"Cao Cao and Li Yi are both good at using troops. Although we have many soldiers, they are not as strong as the soldiers from Henan."

"If we rush into battle rashly, and if things go wrong, it will dampen the morale of the people of Henan, which is exactly what they want."

"Just defend the city and wait for the reinforcements from the lord and Yuan Youzhou."

Shen Pei rejected the proposal to send troops, firmly believing that the only way for Yecheng to escape was to hold out and wait for help.

That night, Cao Cao and Li Yi added ten times more soldiers and worked together to dig trenches.

Everyone worked all night, and by dawn the trench was complete.

It was more than two zhang wide and deep, so the water from the Zhang River was diverted to pour into the trench.

The water was several feet deep and people could not cross.

Yecheng was completely surrounded by the Zhang River.

At that time, after Yuan Shang was defeated in Bohai, he fled northward and raised some troops from Zhongshan and Hejian.

Together with the remaining troops and horses gathered along the way, the total number of troops was 30,000.

Prepare to fight with Cao and Liu for Jizhou again.

As the troops were on their way, they heard that most of the counties and prefectures in the southern part of Jizhou had surrendered to Henan.

Yuan Shang had no idea of the current situation in his old nest, Wei County. If he advanced rashly, he might be ambushed by Cao and Liu.

They had no choice but to send a troop to Wei County to investigate.

When they arrived in Wei, because they were outnumbered, most of them were defeated by the troops from Cao's camp and Liu's other camps.

Those who managed to escape did not dare to go deeper.

He could only report to Yuan Shang that many counties in the south had indeed surrendered to Henan.

As for the situation in Wei County, no one was allowed to enter because the allied forces were guarding it tightly.

When Yuan Shang saw this, he thought that Ye City had been lost and dared not advance rashly.

The left and right said:
"Your wife, children and mother are still in Yecheng. It would be better for you to lead the troops to investigate."

"If Yecheng doesn't fall, wouldn't that harm the old lady?"

Yuan Shang pondered for a while and finally shook his head.

"Li Yi alone is already difficult to deal with, not to mention Cao Cao is also there."

"If these two join forces, it will be impossible to win with my current military strength."

"I intend to first withdraw the troops to Zhongshan and rest the troops for the time being."

"After my second brother has prepared his troops in Youzhou, we will gather our forces together and fight the enemy together."

“This is the best policy.”

People on both sides asked:

"If the general abandons Yecheng and does not save it, I will let the general's wife fall into the hands of Cao and Liu."

"What to do then?"

Yuan Shang was slightly startled, took a deep breath and said:
"Although the Yuan family and Cao and Liu have been at war to the death."

"However, Cao Cao and my father are old friends, and Liu Bei is also related to my Yuan family by marriage."

"He will never harm my wife, children, or elders."

"Don't worry, sir."

He then ordered his troops to return to Zhongshan State and refused to rescue the siege of Ye City.

Shen Pei held out in Yecheng for several days, but because he was surrounded by the Zhang River, he had no idea what the situation was like outside.

I couldn't even send anyone out to investigate.

We can only hope that Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi will come to rescue Yecheng.

Shen Pei went up to the city wall every day to give speeches to encourage the morale of the military and civilians.

At first, for two or three days, everyone could still endure it.

However, after ten days, the city ran out of food and the supply of daily necessities was insufficient.

People's lives are becoming increasingly difficult.

Shen Pei was in charge of the military and political affairs of Yecheng. In order to defend the city, he had to give priority to the soldiers with all supplies.

To prevent the soldiers from becoming mutineers.

In a short period of time, several people in the city starved to death.

Many of the common people’s relatives and friends were soldiers defending the city.

So they complained to them one after another.

Wearing military uniforms, they are soldiers defending the land.

Without their military uniforms, they become family members of the people in the city.

Friends and relatives confide their true feelings to each other, and word spreads from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

As a result, the morale of the soldiers in the city changed drastically.

Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong immediately reported the situation to Shen Pei.

Shen Pei said:
"The people in the city are suffering now. Is it just one family?"

"Everyone is suffering, so just bear with it."

"As long as reinforcements arrive, all problems will be solved."

Shen Rong said seriously:
"Now the soldiers in the city have mutinied, and the people have died tragically. Everyone is angry."

"If you can endure for one or two days, it's fine. But if you wait for three or five days, there will be chaos!"

Shen Pei said loudly:

"Within five days, the lord will lead reinforcements to rescue us!"

Hardly had he finished his words when he heard loud shouting from below the city.

Everyone looked and saw that it was Li Yi who personally led his troops to the city.

"Uncle, look, that's...!"

Shen Rong exclaimed loudly and pointed to the city.

Li Yi's soldiers were seen using their spears to pick up Yuan Shang's seal, ribbon and clothes, and shouting for the soldiers and civilians in the city to surrender.

The rest of the soldiers showed the tokens, axes, cymbals and other items they had seized to the soldiers defending the city.

These are Yuan Shang’s clothes and belongings.

It was captured by Li Yi during the last Battle of Bohai.

The defenders of Yecheng were unaware of this and, as they had cut off contact with the outside world, they only thought that these clothes and supplies were recently seized.

They thought Yuan Shang had led his troops to help, but they were defeated by Li Yi.

Shen Pei was shocked and angry, and shouted loudly:

"You dog! Where is my master?"

Li Yi replied loudly:

"I thought I was a prisoner."

Of course Shen Pei didn't believe it, and shouted again:
"You can ask my Lord to come to the front of the battle to answer the question!"

Li Yi replied, "Come down to the city and I will teach you how to meet the king and his subjects."

Shen Pei gritted his teeth and cursed:
"My Lord is not with you, and you falsely claim to have defeated Him."

"Are you trying to disturb the morale of our army?"

"...Why aren't you here?"

Li Yi smiled coldly, snatched the spear from the soldier beside him, and used the spear to pick up Yuan Shang's seal.

"Isn't your Lord here?!"

Shen Pei was furious and personally took out a bow and arrow to shoot Li Yi.

However, the arrow only fell into the water and could not get close to Li Yi's body.

Faced with Shen Pei's anger and humiliation, Li Yi smiled even more and asked the soldiers to shout even louder.

Seeing this, the soldiers and civilians on the city wall became even more panicked and restless.

Shen Pei became furious, and suddenly remembered that Xin Ping's family, old and young, were still in Yecheng.

He then ordered his men to tie up all of Xin Ping's family members, more than 80 people, and chain them to the city wall.

Shen Pei whipped and scolded:

"It is all because of Xin Ping and Guo Tu's corruption in Jizhou that the Yuan family has fallen to this point!"

"As family members, you cannot escape blame!"

So, he ordered them all to be beheaded.

Shen Rongsu was close to Xin Ping's brother Xin Pi. Seeing this, he spoke up to persuade him:
"Xin Ping's mistakes are not worth his family's business."

Shen Pei angrily scolded:

"Yuan Tan has betrayed his master and surrendered to Liu Bei."

"Xin Ping was a minister of Yuan Tan, so isn't that also a betrayal to the enemy?"

He then pushed Shen Rong away, refused to listen to him, and insisted on killing Xin Ping's entire family.

It was a pity that all the more than 80 members of the Xin family were beheaded on the city wall.

They also threw down the heads to show the Allies their determination to resist.

Seeing this, Li Yi sighed and said, "This is not what I meant!"

Xu You seemed very happy and said to Li Yi:
"Zi Yu, don't be sad. Shen Pei has lost his mind."

"The people in the city are uneasy right now. Instead of thinking of ways to stabilize the situation, they are committing this atrocity."

"This will surely make the people in the city even more restless."

"I predict that Yecheng will be captured within two days!"

Li Yi nodded and raised the corners of his lips:
"What Ziyuan said makes sense. If Yecheng is conquered, Ziyuan will be credited with the greatest achievement."

"I will report this to General Liu."

Xu You was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to Li Yi:
"Then I would like to thank Brother Ziyu first!"

Yecheng was the seat of Yuan family’s government. The amount of wealth accumulated there was so great that it made one’s eyes water just thinking about it.

In the past, Xu You could only be admired from afar and not touched.

...But now, haha.

Turn over and sing!

(End of this chapter)