Chapter 159: Strategies for Danyang (Five)

Under the city of Jingxian.

The soldiers from Yi County seemed to be in an exhibition, allowing Liu Bo and others on the city tower and Jingxian defenders on the city wall to see it. Then, an archer took out a long bow from his back and took out a long arrow from the archer. He set his bow, set an arrow, aimed, and let his right hand loosen. A whistle shot straight to the wooden pillar of the city tower.

"Sir, there is a letter on the bow and arrow." County magistrate Li Ri walked quickly to the wooden pillar, carefully took down a letter tied to the sound arrow, and handed it to Liu Bo.

Liu Bo opened the letter and saw several lines of vigorous and powerful words appear on the paper: "Zhou Yu, the prefect of Lujiang, Han, came to Liu Bo, the magistrate of Jingxian County. Today, the downfall was chaotic and the court was inappropriate. Wu Jing, the former prefect of Danyang, did not obey the order and dominated the country, causing trouble to the south of the Yangtze River. He was the ruling of the court. Yu Jing ordered the prefect of Danyang, Zhou Shang, to restore the throne. Now that the army is in the forefront, he takes Jingxian in the hands of his hands, I hope that the people should be the most important and return to the orthodox, the people of Jingxian will be blessed, and it will be a blessing for the people."

After reading it, Liu Bo sighed long, put the letter into his sleeve, and walked slowly down the city tower without saying a word.

At this moment, there were only two roads in front of him. One was to defend the city wall to the end. However, just the few troops under his command, without reinforcements outside, how long can he be collected? The day when the city was broken, it is probably time for the people in the city to suffer. His wealth and life were probably difficult to protect. The most important thing is why he fought to defend the city? Who should he be loyal to? The prefect of Danyang appointed by the court was Zhou Shang, and Zhou Yu came in the name of the Zheng Chaogang. He had already lost a point morally.

The other way is to open the city and surrender, but if you surrender before you fight, you will be able to surrender. If you hear your face, scholars will always have some backbone.

Liu Bo was undecided, and his heart was like a mess, and he couldn't cut it. He walked to the county government office and saw an old woman with white hair staggering by. It was early spring, and she was still wearing a torn fur coat, which was dirty. I think the old woman had no energy to care about these things. At this moment, there was only a fire of hunger in her eyes. She was leaning on a crooked wooden stick in one hand and a big slutch pottery bowl in the other hand. She actually walked straight towards Liu Bo, muttering to herself: "Okay... let's eat..."

The personal soldiers beside Liu Bo raised their eyebrows and shouted roughly: "Where did the shrew come from? How dare I block my adults' words? Go and go! Go away!"

The personal soldier stretched out his big hand and pushed the old woman hard, which immediately pushed the old woman staggeringly and almost fell to the ground. The old woman didn't care. She thought she had experienced too many similar things. There was no resentment or discomfort in her eyes, but only a hole in her eyes and a disgust on her face.

"Okay... Let's have a meal..." The old woman turned around and left slowly. Liu Bo looked at her staggering back and left alone, and suddenly thought of her mother. She was also from a poor family. Her mother raised her brother and sister with great difficulty. She studied hard since childhood, but she had no way to serve the country due to her family's background. Fortunately, she was appreciated by Zhang Dahou in the neighboring village. She married her daughter to him and paid for him to operate. After many twists and turns, she found the position of the county magistrate.

Liu Bo became an official, but his mother still lived a quiet life in the countryside and was weak and sickly. Liu Bo repeatedly invited her to live in the city, but his mother refused because she was used to the countryside life. She thought she was afraid of dragging her down.

"For the people and the people's livelihood..." Liu Bo suddenly thought of the letter Zhou Yu sent. Yes, as a scholar, he always takes the world as his responsibility, but isn't the ultimate goal of struggle for everyone to live a stable and happy life?

When fighting each other and fighting to the death, the creatures are in trouble, isn’t this what Confucian scholars do? The highest standard for governing the world, including filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, forgiveness, courtesy, knowledge, courage, respect, lenientness, trustworthiness, agility, and favor. It seems that Zhou Yu’s ambition is consistent with our Confucian scholars. Since Jingxian cannot be defended, it is also an optional method to surrender the city for the safety of the people in the city.

Liu Bo's thoughts couldn't help but become more alive.

Gao Shun's troops still did not attack the city. However, they sent many scouts to explore the horses, and the movements within a radius of hundreds of miles were in their hands.

Two days later, Dong Xi led his troops to escort the food, supplies and prisoners of She County, and returned to the city of Jing County in a mighty manner. He joined forces with Gao Shun's army. When the guards of Jing County saw that the enemy had increased their troops, they hurried to report to Liu Bo.

Liu Bo was already in a dilemma at this moment. In fact, he was already inclined to surrender, but he always wanted to find a way out for the Confucian scholars.

When he heard the news that the enemy had increased troops, he was quite shocked. He felt that if he did not make a decision as soon as possible, the ending of the defeat of the city might have been staged in a few days.

When Liu Bo was sitting alone in the county government office and repeatedly weighing the gains and losses, he suddenly heard someone report: "Sir, the She County Magistrate Wang Hong is looking for a meeting outside the city."

"Wang Hong..." Liu Bo's heart was trembling. Didn't he lead the troops and disappeared? Why did he suddenly appear again? Liu Bo asked anxiously: "How many soldiers have Lord Wang brought?"

The school guarding the city gate reported: "He is the only one who is alone."

Liu Bo was immediately delighted. He was smart enough to guess that Wang Hong must have been defeated and captured, and he is here to be a lobbyist at this moment.

"Open the city gate and invite him into the city quickly!" Liu Bo hurriedly ordered.

Half an hour later, Wang Hong rode a red horse into the city. He had been persuaded by Gao Shun and surrendered to Zhou Yu in conscience. In order to make achievements, to avoid the disaster of the guards in Jingxian County, and to the life and future of his friend Liu Bo, Wang Hong volunteered to enter the city alone to persuade Liu Bo.

As soon as he entered the county government office, Liu Bo hurriedly came up and asked anxiously: "Brother Wang, why are you here alone? Where are your men?"

Wang Hong lowered his head slightly and sighed: "Oh~~ It's a long story. She County has fallen, and my thousand men have also been annihilated."

Liu Bo suddenly smiled and said, "Was Brother Wang here to be a lobbyist?"

Wang Hong stared at Liu Bo for a few glances and said sincerely: "Brother, to be honest, I have surrendered Zhou Yu. Since ancient times, good birds choose trees to live in, and wise ministers choose masters to work. Zhou Yu has a broad mind and takes the people of the world as his responsibility. He has no talented soldiers and strong generals. He is the wise master we can serve."
Chapter completed!