Chapter 200 Chapter Twenty-Eight

It was not all smooth sailing when Cao Jun entered Yangping Pass.Xiahou Dun started a street fight with Zhang Lu's general Yang Ren.Yang Ren's strength is infinite, and he can fight three against one on horseback. Xiahou Dun loved his bravery, and persuaded him to surrender outside the circle: "General Yang, I admire your loyalty and appreciate your martial arts. If you join Duke Cao's command, you will be of great use." Yang Ren scolded loudly: "Don't talk about the one-eyed man! Yang is a real man, he is only loyal to my lord, and he is not a traitor!"

Xiahou Dun was furious, and led ten of his own soldiers to rush forward, stabbing wildly with knives.Yang Ren lost to all hands, was injured and fell off his horse, and was stabbed like mud with knives and guns. Zhang Wei's army was defeated, abandoned Yangping Pass and fled to Nanzheng where Zhang Lu was stationed. This victory was an accident.Cao Cao couldn't believe his eyes when he received the letter full of joy from Liu Ye. It was only when he entered Yangping Pass surrounded by valiant generals that he believed it was true.But he couldn't help crying in his heart: "It's so dangerous!"

Cao Cao's troops entered Yangping Pass and found that there was a large amount of grain, live cattle, live pigs, and live sheep in the pass. fishy. Cao Cao also gave a big banquet to the generals, and gave Xu Chu three bowls of wine. The generals also toasted to Xu Chu one after another.At this time, Cao Cao was also drunk and blinded, beating the bowl and singing, and the generals sang with his hoarse and desolate voice, letting go of their throats, venting the breath they had pent up during the one-year war. In 202 Zhang Wei fled to Nanzheng where his elder brother Zhang Lu was stationed, and there were only a thousand people left.

Zhang Wei went outside Zhang Lu's residence, knelt down and told his brother about the defeat in detail.Zhang Lu helped him up and comforted his younger brother, but he knew that Yangping Pass had been lost, and Nanzheng had no dangerous pass to defend. Cao Cao sent his troops here, and he would be defeated, so he made up his mind to surrender to Cao Cao for the second time. His counselor Yan Pu advised him: "If Shijun surrenders in a crisis-ridden situation, he will be considered by Cao Cao as insincere and surrender, he will be despised by him, and he will not be treated well, because the money you exchanged with him The bargaining chip——Hanzhong, will be in his hands. Now it is better to temporarily flee to the mountainous area of ​​Yizhou for refuge, expressing his vow not to give up, determined to fight to the end, and then negotiate with Cao Cao, so that it is very likely to get a more favorable What the master wants."

After Zhang Lu heard this, he thought it was reasonable, and according to his words, he planned to cross Nanshan and flee to the mountainous area of ​​Yizhou.Zhang Lu held a meeting to withdraw troops.At the meeting, many officials suggested that Zhang Lu burn the treasures, food and some military equipment accumulated in the warehouses in the city, so that Cao Cao, who then entered the city, would only get an empty city. Zhang Lu refused: "I originally wanted to dedicate these things to the imperial court, but I have never found a good opportunity. Now it is only an expedient measure to go far away in the mountains. I don't really want to fight the imperial court to the end. The treasures and materials in the mansion belong to the state. How can you destroy everything with malicious intent!"

Zhang Lu's words evaded the officials who hated Cao Cao. If he didn't destroy the treasury, he was nothing more than flirting with Cao Cao politically. Sure enough, Zhang Lu sealed up the treasury properly, sent some old and weak soldiers to guard it, and then retreated into the mountains of Yizhou. When Cao Cao conquered Hanzhong, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang in Chengdu also got this information.Zhuge Liang once said to Liu Bei: "Cao Cao wanted to conquer Hanzhong first, because he was afraid that the lord would go north from there and threaten Guanzhong. It seems that Zhang Lu in Hanzhong is difficult to fight alone. Why don't the lord send envoys to Zhang Lu? Where's Cao?"

Liu Bei had just established Yizhou at this time, and the military and political power had not yet been completely stabilized. He did not dare to send troops to Hanzhong to fight for land. . However, the road to the northwest of Shu was rough, and the envoy had traveled for several months before arriving in Hanzhong. At this time, he heard the news of Zhang Lu's defeat. When Zhang Lu fled without a fight, Cao Cao occupied Nanzheng without abandoning a single soldier, and got all the precious food in Zhang Lu's treasury.Cao Cao praised Zhang Lu's virtues to Zhang Lu's soldiers guarding the treasury, and sent envoys to the mountains to condolences to Zhang Lu.

It took nearly a year to seize the Hanzhong area. The soldiers had been fighting outside for a long time, and the feeling of returning home became stronger and stronger.Cao Cao decided to convene counselors to discuss the meeting of returning to the court and governing the Hanzhong area. The main staff officers Liu Ye, Xin Ping, Sima Yi and others were all present. After sitting down, Cao Cao asked everyone to express their opinions so that he could make a decision. Sima Yi said: "Zhang Lu has become a bereaved dog. He lives in fear all day long in the old forest and deep in the mountains. He is exhausted and Hanzhong can be settled. But Liu Bei in Yizhou is afraid that he will get rich in Hanzhong. My lord needs to send a strong army to garrison here."

After listening to Sima Yi's words, Liu Ye was inspired, thought for a while, and said: "The biggest enemy of Hanzhong is Liu Bei. Zhongda proposed to send a powerful force to garrison here. I think it is very necessary. Zhang Lu has run Hanzhong for many years, and the local strength The factions are under his command, so why not use the method that the prime minister has always used to recruit them and make them officials? But their military power must be removed." Liu Ye's words made all the advisors nod their heads unanimously.Cao Cao pondered for a while, stroked his beard and said, "Liu Bei is not afraid to go out of Sichuan for the time being, and Zhang Lu's surrender is not a problem. But the powerful faction and rich gentry in Hanzhong will support Zhang Lu to lead the rebellion at any time, and Zhang Lu will not do it at that time. After being destroyed by war, Luoyang is still a lifeless city. I want to move the tens of thousands of wealthy households in Hanzhong to Luoyang, so as to facilitate the administration and enrich Luoyang. What do you think?"

The counselors naturally praised him as good.Then they divided the labor to do what Cao Cao said. In September, Cao Cao spent a lot of money to buy seven army generals who accompanied Zhang Lu to hide in Daba Mountain, and these generals surrendered to Cao Cao.Zhang Lu himself supported it until November. Under the urging of several sincere letters from Cao Cao, he led his generals Pang Zhi, Cheng Yin, and Hou Xuan to surrender to Cao Cao's base camp guarding Nanzheng. Cao Cao led civil and military officials out of the camp to meet Zhang Lu.Zhang Lu saw a man in a cloth robe, with piercing eyes, short body and long beard, surrounded by the crowd and greeted him. Knowing that it was Cao Cao, he hurried forward a few steps, knelt on the ground, and arched his hands together. Said: "Prime Minister, Zhang Lu is here to apologize!"

Cao Cao stepped up a few steps, helped Zhang Lu up, and said softly: "Please get up quickly, I will kill the old man." Zhang Lu was carried by Cao Cao and turned back to the base camp.The governor had already slaughtered pigs and cattle, cleaned up old wine, and entertained Zhang Lu and his subordinates who had returned from the hunger and cold in the mountains. At the banquet, Cao Cao persuaded Zhang Lu to drink alcohol, not to talk about the war, but to talk about politics, the words were big and useless, empty and mysterious. On the second day, Cao Cao named Zhang Lu General of Zhennan, Langzhong Hou, Yi Wanhu, and Zhang Lu's five sons were also named Liehou.Although Yan Pu, Zhang Lu's adviser, prevented Zhang Lu from surrendering, Cao Cao believed that he could stick to his position, make the best plan for the commander, share the joys and sorrows with the commander, and fulfill his duties, so he was also named Liehou.