A day had passed since Xiahou Dun's so-called death-defying night attack, but no movement was seen behind Xiaofengkou. How could the soldiers who were abandoned in the camp not guess the root cause in such a field? As rumors spread, people in the entire military camp were panicked, and deserters inevitably appeared. During the day, only a few soldiers escaped from the military camp by taking advantage of the opportunity of patrolling. At night, the phenomenon of desertion began. They were completely unable to contain themselves, and groups of deserters slipped out of the camp and walked toward the mouth of the valley. By the morning of the next day, only less than 8,000 of the more than 20,000 soldiers who had survived were left. Those who stayed in the camp have disappeared.
"Report, General, it's bad, the bandits are coming from the north in large numbers!"
Since Xiahou Dun broke through, Cheng Yu has been the only general in the army, but he has no intention of being a director at all. As soon as he returned to the camp, he plunged into his tent and never showed his face again, even if it was The guards came to report that a large number of deserters had appeared in the camp, but he ignored it. After two nights and one day, he sat in front of the desk like a clay sculpture, until a worried guard came to call the police. At this moment, Cheng Yu just raised his head in confusion, but didn't express anything, just sighed sadly.
"Gongsun Ming is here, how about asking General Cheng to come out and talk?"
After Zhang Wu returned and surrendered, there were actually no dangers along the way. The Youzhou army should have arrived yesterday, but the number of deserters who came to surrender along the way was so large that the Youzhou army had to wait and see. After gathering the troops and surrendering, they only traveled more than fifty miles. They actually walked for two days and one night. Fortunately, they finally arrived at the end of the field and organized their formation in an orderly manner at a distance of more than 150 steps from Cao Jun's camp. Gongsun Ming did not delay, and rode his horse to the front of the military formation. He raised his voice and greeted Cao Jun's camp.
"Cheng has met General Gongsun."
After a full stick and a half of incense, Cheng Yu finally walked out of the camp gate tremblingly. He didn't care at all about the swords and guns of the soldiers of the Youzhou Army. He came to Gongsun Ming's horse unhurriedly. He bowed and saluted very respectfully.
"Old Master Cheng, you are very polite. I have admired your name for a long time, so I just got to meet you today. How late is it?"
Gongsun Ming didn't care about the winner's airs. He quickly got off the horse, put his hands on Cheng Yu's arms, and greeted him warmly.
"It's just a cheap name, but it's really insignificant. Cheng is just a general of a defeated army, so he should not be recommended by the general."
Cheng Yu originally thought that Gongsun Ming would be an arrogant and arrogant person if he succeeded as a young man, but when he saw that he actually looked like a gentle gentleman, he couldn't help but feel surprised. However, he had no intention of surrendering to Gongsun Ming. During the ceremony, Although he was respectful, his words clearly conveyed the meaning of rejecting people thousands of miles away.
"This defeat is not the fault of the old master, it is the general trend of the times. As the saying goes, there is much help for those who are in good ways, and there is little help for those who are unjust. Cao Ahao pretended to be a Han prime minister, but in fact he was a Han thief who acted perversely and brazenly killed my 80,000 children from Hebei. How is it different from Bai Qi? , Such evil deeds are the wrath of heaven and the resentment of people. Since the will of heaven and the people are gone, not to mention you, the old master, even if Cao Ahao comes to marry him, he will definitely fail."
Gongsun Ming still admired Cheng Yu's talent and wanted to use it to his advantage. It was because of this idea that he did not hesitate to use his words to deceive him.
"Successful kings and defeated bandits have always been like this. The general can say whatever he wants. Cheng just wants to die quickly. However, I beg the general to forgive the lives of thousands of soldiers in my camp. Cheng will die." Thank you for your great kindness."
Cheng Yu considered himself to be a good judge of people, and had long recognized that Cao Cao was the only candidate to bring peace to the world, so he had always been loyal to Cao Cao. At this moment, hearing Gongsun Ming belittle Cao Cao in this way, Cheng Yu's face couldn't help but become gloomy. After that, he wanted to defend Cao Cao, but what Gongsun Ming said was true. Even if Cheng Yu wanted to argue, he couldn't do it, so he had no choice but to trick Wang Gu and talk about other things.
"I am not a person who likes killing, and I have never had the habit of killing prisoners. Even if the old master does not mention this, I will not follow Cao A's trap and kill the prisoners of war. But if the army is willing to put down their weapons, I will be properly placed. Please rest assured about this, old master."
Cao Cao actually had no choice but to kill prisoners. His own army was short of food and pay. How could he have the ability to support the 80,000 prisoners captured in the Battle of Guandu? Under the circumstances, the only option was to kill them all, but Gongsun Ming was different. Due to the large amount of smuggled salt, Youzhou had already stocked up a large amount of grain. Now it was short of people, so of course he was reluctant to kill prisoners.
"That's good, Cheng can rest in peace."
Cheng Yu is already fifty years old this year. He doesn't want to change his master when he gets old. He has only one thought in his heart, which is to win a name of loyalty and be recorded in history.
"Confused! I am a man who has read a lot of poetry and books. You should know that righteousness can be divided into great righteousness and small righteousness. Loyalty to one person is just a small righteousness. Loyalty to the country is the big righteousness. What is the country? It is not the world of one person or one family. But tens of thousands of common people, the old master has the talent of the world, and does not want to work hard for the country, but only seeks the selfish interests of Cao A and concealing one person. This is foolish loyalty, how ridiculous it is. Although a certain person is a late-born descendant, he also deeply believes in it. This old master is not worth it!”
Cheng Yu closed his eyes and waited for death, but Gongsun Ming did not follow his intention. He glared and scolded him unceremoniously.
"Cheng, Cheng..."
Being slapped in the face by Gongsun Ming, Cheng Yudang was knocked unconscious and wanted to defend himself, but for a moment he didn't know where to start, and he was so worried that he was sweating profusely on his forehead. .
"Does the old master think that Wan Sheng's actions are similar to those of Cao A'gan? Then the old master is looking down on me. Yes, he also has selfish interests. However, everything he does is based on the people, whether it is the three chapters of the agreement or various new policies. , all with the purpose of protecting the people. If I don’t believe it, go to You and Bo to see the people’s mood under a certain rule. If the time comes, I still want to serve Cao Dufu, I won’t dare to force myself to do so. Keep the old master here and send him back to Yingchuan as a gift, do you think this can be done?"
After beating the stick, it was natural to give him a sweet date. Gongsun Ming was extremely familiar with this kind of skill. His words soon caused a subtle deflection in Cheng Yu's mind.
"Since General Gongsun is so confident, I will go and have a look. I hope the general will not break his promise."
Cheng Yu had always boasted that he was unparalleled in eloquence and planning, but when he met an eloquent person like Gongsun Ming, he realized that the saying that there is a world beyond the sky was true. When he was speechless, besides borrowing the donkey from the slope, he also really I don't know how to deal with it.
"Haha...Okay, then it's settled."
Gongsun Ming had always believed that as long as the temperature was high enough, there would be no iron that could not be melted. Now when he saw that Cheng Yu had fallen into the trap, he laughed heartily...
