Three Kingdoms King of the North

Guo Si died, Li Jue fled, and the defenders loyal to them in the city were leaderless. Facing the joint encirclement and suppression by the Jizhou army and the city's internal forces, they knew that it was meaningless to fight any longer, so they began to abandon their weapons and surrender.

By dawn, except for a few places in Meiwu City and sporadic Li Jue troops making futile resistance, the rest of the city was under the control of the Jizhou Army.After Guo Jia entered the city, he went out to appease the people, and at the same time sent people to persuade Li Jue's army who were still resisting to surrender.

Chapter 312

Just when Guo Jia and others came out to comfort the people, Zhang Chong knew that two military princes under him, because he was worried that he would be punished, he ran away with his own men.He was furious, and after killing several soldiers who made small mistakes, he couldn't help thinking to himself: If Li Jue is let go, General Zhao will not let me go, should I also run away with the soldiers?

Just when he was indecisive, Huangfu Li came to the city under the escort of a group of soldiers.Seeing the dejected Zhang Chong at the gate of the city, he couldn't help asking curiously: "Lieutenant Zhang, why are you so depressed? Could something serious happen?"

Seeing Huangfu Li's appearance, Zhang Chong grabbed the opponent's arm as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, and said excitedly: "Mr. Huangfu, please show mercy and save a certain life."

Huangfu Li was frightened by Zhang Chong's reaction, and quickly asked: "Lieutenant Zhang, what happened? Tell me quickly, so that I can give you advice."

Zhang Chong hurriedly made himself eager for success, and after leading people into the city, he rushed directly to the camps of Li Jue and Guo Si. On the way, he had a misunderstanding with Wu Xi's soldiers and horses, and a scuffle broke out. Huangfu Li explained it in detail.Finally, he said: "Later, I heard from General Zhao that Li Jue, Guo Si and others might escape from the city due to the chaos, so I hurriedly ordered two of his soldiers to lead the troops to the city gate to rescue them. But they came a step late , Li Jue had led his men out of the city. He ordered the two of them to lead the troops to chase after him, but they escaped with their own men."

After listening to Zhang Chong's narration, Huangfu Li also realized the seriousness of the problem.He hurriedly asked: "Lieutenant Zhang, did Li Jue escape, but what about Guo Si? Did he die among the rebellious army, or did he also escape from the city?"

"I don't know." Zhang Chong shook his head and replied, "It is said that after Wu Xi ordered his subordinates to open the city gate for General Zhao, he led his men to attack Guo Si's mansion, but I don't know what the situation is now. "

Huangfu Li was quite disappointed with Zhang Chong when he asked three questions.However, considering that the other party is a newcomer, you can't be too harsh on him, and you can only persuade him: "If Wu Xi really led his troops to attack Guo Si's mansion, Guo Si's life must be in danger. Captain Zhang, let me follow the old man Go see General Zhao and Mr. Guo."

If Zhang Chong was alone, he definitely wouldn't dare to meet Zhao Yun and Guo Jia.But now with Huangfu Li's company, the situation is quite different. Even if Zhao Yun and others were furious because they let Li Jue escape, Huangfu Li could stand up and say something nice for him.So he readily agreed: "Since that's the case, I'll go with Mr. Huangfu."

Zhao Yun and Guo Jia are in the conference hall, discussing what to do next.Zhao Yun sighed and asked Guo Jia: "Mr. Feng Xiao, after Wu Xi killed Guo Si last night, he himself was also seriously injured. I originally planned to keep him to guard Hei Wu, so I have to reconsider the candidate."

"Although Wu Xi is seriously injured, it is not difficult to find the people who stayed behind in Meiwu." Guo Jia said confidently: "Not only Meng Dai, Cheng Yi, Hou Cheng and others can take on this important task, even Zhang Chong, who has just joined our army, can also stay at Meiwu."

"Let Zhang Chong guard Meiwu?" Hearing what Guo Jia said, Zhao Yun couldn't help frowning: "This person has just arrived, so he hastily entrusted him with a heavy responsibility. If he has a different heart and uses Meiwu to stand on his own, we have to do it again." It is unavoidable to send troops to attack him."

Before Zhao Yun could finish speaking, Guo Jia interrupted him: "Zilong has to worry, but after clearing out the remnants of Li Jue's army in the city, we have to move the people in the city to Yecheng one after another. Even if Zhang Chong has Yixin tried to occupy Meiwu to support himself, but there are no people in the city, where did he get taxes and soldiers?"

Seeing that the problem he was worried about was solved by Guo Jia so lightly, Zhao Yun felt more at ease.But he then thought: Although Guo Si is dead, Li Jue's whereabouts are unknown due to Zhang Chong's negligence. When Zhang Chong comes later, how should he deal with him?

Zhao Yun was thinking about this in his heart, when suddenly a soldier came to report: "General Qi, Mr. Huangfu and Captain Zhang are waiting outside the residence."

"Invite them in quickly!" Zhao Yun waited for the soldiers to leave, then turned to Guo Jia and said, "We were talking about him, but he came unexpectedly."

Soon, Huangfu Li and Zhang Chong came together.Zhao Yun first greeted Huangfu Li, and then asked Zhang Chong with a straight face: "Lieutenant Zhang, I wonder if you can capture Li Jue?"

"Forgive me, General Zhao!" Hearing Zhao Yun's question, Zhang Chong was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground and said in a low voice, "When the last general led his troops to the north gate, Li Jue's dog thief had already led people out. The two military marquises under him led their troops in pursuit, but they saw that they could not catch up with Li Jue, and they were worried that the general would blame him, so they ran away."

Although Zhao Yun knew in his heart that Li Jue had already escaped, he heard that two military marquis under Zhang Chong, because they could not catch up with Li Jue, worried that Zhang Chong would blame him, and led his troops to escape in private, he couldn't help being furious. Pushing aside the table in front of him, he pointed at Zhang Chong and said, "Last night you were greedy for meritorious service, violated a certain military order without authorization, and led troops into the city to kill each other with Wu Xi's soldiers and horses; now, you not only let Li go, Hey, there are still subordinates who escaped with soldiers and horses. What should you do?" After finishing speaking, Zhao Yun shouted outside, "Come here!"

Hearing Zhao Yun's shout, four soldiers with big arms and round waists rushed in from outside immediately.The four of them stood in the hall and asked loudly, "What orders does the general have?"

Zhao Yun pointed at Zhang Chong who was kneeling on the ground, and ordered his subordinates: "Drag this person out and behead him!"

With a promise, the soldiers stepped forward to support Zhang Chong, lifted him from the ground, dragged him and walked outside.Zhang Chong didn't expect that Zhao Yun would push him out and behead him if he didn't agree with him. He was frightened out of his wits and shouted hastily: "General, please forgive me." Huangfu Li shouted, "Mr. Huangfu help, help!"

"Wait!" Huangfu Li shouted, stopped the soldiers who were dragging Zhang Chong outside, and then said to Zhao Yun: "General Zilong, please read that Captain Zhang is the first offender, so let him be spared."

Hearing Huangfu Li's pleading, Zhao Yun was unmoved, waved his hand at the soldiers, and said in a stern tone: "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and push him out and behead him."

"Mr. Guo!" Seeing the soldiers pulling Zhang Chong and continuing to walk out, Huangfu Li hurriedly said to Guo Jia: "Lieutenant Zhang has just arrived, and he is eager to do meritorious service. There must be some mistakes. Please take care of Mr. Guo." For the sake of the old man, spare his life."

Guo Jia didn't want Zhao Yun to kill Zhang Chong. The reason why he didn't persuade Zhang Chong at first was to give Zhang Chong a disgrace. Now when he heard Huangfu Li speak, he turned around and said to Zhao Yun: "General Zilong, who is studying in Zhang Chong Wei's first crime, in Jia's opinion, let's bypass him this time."

After Guo Jia finished speaking, Zhao Yun asked the soldiers to bring Zhang Chong back, and said with a straight face: "Zhang Chong, since you have violated the military order, although Mr. Guo and Mr. Huangfu interceded for you, the death penalty can be avoided and the living penalty cannot be escaped." .Left and right, drag him out quickly, and punish the fifty army sticks."

Huangfu Li heard that he was going to be beaten with a military stick, so he couldn't persuade him anymore, so he could only watch Zhang Chong being dragged out.Soon, the dull sound of the military stick hitting the body and Zhang Chong's screams came from outside the meeting hall.

After the execution was over, Zhang Chong was brought into the chamber by two soldiers.He knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Zhao Yun, and said, "Thank you, General Zhao, for not killing him!"

"Zhang Chong, I hit your army stick because the military law is ruthless." Zhao Yun looked at Zhang Chong who was kneeling in front of him, and said to him, "Since you have already been punished, let this matter go. From now on, you It’s the guard of Meiwu, and you are fully responsible for the safety of the city. If there is anything wrong, this general will only ask you.”

"Here!" Zhang Chong never dreamed that Zhao Yun would appoint himself as the guard of Meiwu after beating him up with the army stick, and said hurriedly and gratefully: "Please rest assured, General Zhao, the general will definitely serve in the end." Break the crime, fulfill your duties, serve Jizhou, and guard Meiwu."

Chapter 313 Dedicated to Hongnong

Besides, after Li Jue escaped from Meiwu, he headed west all the way.When he fled to dawn, he looked back and saw that there were only forty or fifty horses left beside him.Thinking of his nearly [-] soldiers and horses, there are only so few left now, and he can't help but feel sad.

Seeing Li Jue's sad face, his captain quickly persuaded him: "Grand Sima, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. Although we were defeated by Zhao Yun and the traitor Zhang Chong this time, as long as we return to Xiliang , Re-recruit troops and buy horses, and it won’t be long before we can pull up another large army.”

Li Jue looked at his subordinates and said: "I escaped in a hurry this time, and I didn't bring any dry food. The journey to Xiliang is long, and there are no villages along the way to replenish food. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to return to Xiliang."

The captain of the personal army said cautiously: "Da Sima, why don't we go to Hongnong and vote for Zhang Ji?"

"Go to Zhang Ji?" Li Jue couldn't help hesitating when he heard the captain's suggestion. He thought that when he planned to kill Fan Chou, Zhang Ji might have been killed by him if Guo Si hadn't persuaded him.Zhang Ji must be well aware of this, so he went to join him. Who knows if he will make trouble and take the opportunity to get rid of him?

Seeing that Li Jue was silent, as the captain of the soldiers who personally participated in the action of beheading Fan Chou, he then said to Li Jue: "No matter what you say, you are the Grand Sima appointed by the imperial court. General, forgive him for not daring to kill you."

The captain's words convinced Li Jue, he knew very well that although going to Hongnong was dangerous, it was better than fleeing back to Xiliang in such a hurry.You must know that it is a long distance, and you can't get any supplies along the way. Even if no one chases you, your group may starve to death on the road.

Thinking of this, Li Jue nodded and ordered, "Turn around and go to Hongnong."

After walking on the road for a day, I finally came to a place twenty miles away from Hongnong.Seeing that Hongnong City was already in sight, Li Jue's heart became uneasy again. He was always worried that Zhang Ji would be unfavorable to him, so he called the captain of the soldiers and said to him: "Take two people into the city and tell them Zhang Ji, just say that the great Sima has arrived outside Hongnong City, let’s see how he responds." The captain of the guards agreed, and then led two more clever cavalrymen to ride to Hongnong.

When the three of them came to the gate of Hongnong, Du Bo, the gatekeeper, stopped him and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing in the city?"

The captain of the personal army has always been arrogant and domineering, not to mention a small Dubo, even a school lieutenant or general Pi, he doesn't look down on him.He said to Du Bo: "Go into the city and tell General Zhendong that Da Sima has already arrived outside the city, and ask him to lead his people to meet him immediately."

"What big Sima, I don't know him." Unexpectedly, after Dubo heard this, he said displeasedly: "Quickly explain your identity and origin, or don't blame me for being rude to you." The gatekeeper behind him waved, and dozens of soldiers rushed forward, surrounding the captain and his two subordinates.

Seeing the knives and guns pointing at him, the captain of the personal army couldn't help but felt a wave of fear. He waved his hand at Du Bo quickly, and said with a smile: "Don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, I'm the subordinate of Da Sima. Please, brother Go and inform General Zhendong that Da Sima has arrived outside the city."

Seeing this person bowing forward and then respecting him, Du Bo guessed that it might really be that Li Jue had gone outside the city, if such a thing was not reported to Zhang Ji.Once something goes wrong in the future, his head may be lost.Thinking of this, Du Bo ordered the soldiers around: "Come here, show the three of them to someone. Now, someone will go to the mansion and report to General Zhendong to see if he knows any great Sima."

"What, Li Jue is here?" Zhang Ji was taken aback when he heard Du Bo's report, he quickly got up and walked to Du Bo, bent down and asked Du Bo who was kneeling on the ground: "Are you sure it's Da Sima who's here?" Hongnong?"

"That's right, General." Hearing Zhang Ji's question, Du Bo quickly replied, "The man kept saying that he was the subordinate of Da Sima, and said that Da Sima had already arrived outside the city, and asked the general to go out to meet him."

"You bastard!" Zhang Xiu, who was standing on the side, burst into a fit when he heard what Du Bo said, "What is he, Li Jue, who should ask his uncle to go out to meet him? Uncle, anyway, Li Jue was defeated by the Jizhou army. There are not many people left around, so we simply do nothing, kill him, and avenge the dead Uncle Fan."

"General, don't be reckless." Jia Xu heard Zhang Xiu shouting for beating and killing, and quickly persuaded him: "Although Li Jue was defeated by Jizhou, Guo Si's whereabouts are unknown. Don't look at the two of them fighting some time ago." It's inextricably linked, but once they join forces, even a general is no match for them."

Zhang Ji was conflicted about whether to take the opportunity to get rid of Li Jue. Hearing what Jia Xu said, he immediately realized that although Li Jue had already been defeated, this was not the best time to get rid of him.So he humbly asked Jia Xu: "He, what do you think we should do?"

Although Jia Xu had advised Li Jue, Guo Si and others in the past, since the two started a scuffle outside Chang'an City, Jia Xu gave up on them.His heart was the same as Zhang Xiu's, and he wished to get rid of Li Jue immediately, but at present they only knew that the Jizhou army captured Meiwu, but Guo Si's whereabouts were unknown, so he felt that it was not appropriate to get rid of Li Jue at this moment, so He persuaded Zhang Ji: "Anyway, the general was Li Jue's subordinate in the past. Now that he is in trouble, the general should go out of the city to meet him."

Zhang Ji couldn't make up his mind on how to deal with Li Jue. Now when he heard Jia Xu suggesting that he go out of the city to meet him, he stood up and said, "Since I said so, then the general will go out of the city to meet Li Da Sima in person."

"Uncle!" Zhang Xiu felt unwilling to hear that Zhang Ji wanted to go out of the city to meet Li Jue, and wanted to continue persuading him, but was stopped by Zhang Ji raising his hand.

"Okay, the general has made up his mind, you don't need to persuade him anymore." Zhang Ji ordered loudly: "All follow the general to meet Da Sima."

The captain of the guards who was waiting at the gate of the city couldn't help feeling a little flustered when he heard that Du Bo had not returned.He was deeply afraid that Zhang Ji would be like Du Bo, the gatekeeper, and would not accept Li Jue's account.If the other party asked Du Bo to come back and kill him, then he would have to sit and wait for death.He wanted to escape, but he saw that there were many swords and guns around him, and all Hongnong soldiers were staring at him with vigilance. Once he made any changes, he would be cut to pieces.

Just when he was discouraged and desperate, he suddenly heard a rush of horseshoes from the streets in the city.Then he saw Zhang Ji leading a group of people riding towards the city gate.