Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 42: Zhang Xun is captured and Zhang Fei surrenders

Zhang Xun was eventually captured, and this was another event that Qin Zhen changed.

In the original process, Lu Bu also used the strategy of Chen's father and son to instigate Han Xian and Yang Feng to rebel, resulting in Zhang Xun's defeat and escape.

The army was driven to the bank of the Si River, with countless casualties and drownings, but Zhang Xun managed to escape.

Because of the appearance of Qin Zhen, Liu Bei's army joined and directly blocked Zhang Xun's retreat.

Although Zhang Xun was a general under Yuan Shu, he was not a die-hard fan. Seeing that his way was blocked, he had no intention of resisting and had to surrender.

However, a question remained in Zhang Xun's mind. Although he was arrested, he asked:
"Whose army do you belong to?"

There was one thing he couldn't figure out.

Logically speaking, even though Han Xian and Yang Feng defected, Liu Bei and Lu Bu's troops should not be enough to set up ambushes everywhere!
Since Lu Bu broke in from the front camp and Liu Bei was lying in ambush in the south, he concluded that there was an ambush in the west. It was impossible for so many people to be ambushed in the east!

But the reality is that the enemy is lying in ambush here.

In other words, there was most likely no ambush in the west, and the enemy had predicted his escape route.

How is this done?
As soon as he asked, a familiar voice came forward:

"General Zhang, are you all right?"

Zhang Xun looked at the person coming and was immediately shocked:
"Liu Bei, is that you?"

The person who came was Liu Bei, whom Zhang Xun had met before.

Because when they were in Xuzhou before, Yuan Shu led a large army to attack Xuzhou, and Liu Bei led his troops to resist. The two armies won and lost against each other in Xuyi and Huaiyin, and they met several times at that time.

However, Liu Bei's hometown was robbed later, and Zhang Xun's status under Yuan Shu became increasingly high, so they never met again.

He didn't expect that when they met here, he would become the other party's prisoner.

When Liu Bei saw Zhang Xun, he smiled:

"It seems that the general didn't expect it to be our army!"

Seeing that Zhang Xun was tied up tightly, he said to his attendants:
"Someone, untie the general!"

Chen Dao was behind them and said as soon as he heard it:
"Lord, no!"

"Don't try to dissuade me!"

Liu Bei smiled slightly and looked at Zhang Xun:

"I treat the general with courtesy, and the general must return the favor with courtesy!"

Zhang Xun heard this and thought that calling him by his name was quite rude, and he felt ashamed:
"You are just a defeated general, why bother with this? Just tie him up!"

"But I have a question, and I hope you can help me solve it!"

Liu Bei saw it and nodded in agreement:
"General, you may ask me anything!"

Zhang Xun saw this and said after a while:
"I just want to ask you, Lord Envoy, why are you ambushing here?"

"Did you know that I would pass by here?"

As soon as he finished asking, Liu Bei couldn't help but smile:
"To be honest, General, it is true!"

"Our army is here thanks to the military advisor!"

"In fact, before this battle began, the military advisor had already predicted that the general would escape from here, so he set up an ambush to capture him!"

As he spoke, he told Qin Zhen's analysis before their separation.

When Zhang Xun heard this, he looked up to the sky and sighed:

"There is such a master among your army!"

He still had some hope, thinking that Liu Bei had come here by accident.

I didn't expect that my escape route had been predicted. It would be strange if I could run away!

"Our army was defeated today, and it was not unfair!"

Seeing him like this, Liu Bei knew that he was convinced, so he asked:
"In this case, General, are you willing to surrender to our army?"

Although he now has Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under his command, he is still short of generals. Zhang Xun is a brave and resourceful man, so he should be recruited.

But Zhang Xun shook his head when he heard it:

"It's not that I don't want to surrender, but my family is all in Shouchun, and I can't surrender to you, sir!"

After hearing this, Liu Bei also knew that Zhang Xun had his own difficulties, so he stopped trying to persuade him and ordered his men to take him back to the camp.

At the same time, in Yuan Shu's army.

But it is said that Lü Bu, with Han Xian and Yang Feng as his guide, charged into Zhang Xun's camp, beheaded several generals along the way, and frightened all the soldiers of Yuan Shu's army.

Later, he heard that Zhang Fei and others in the rear camp had gone to pursue Zhang Xun, so he hurriedly sealed up the baggage in the camp and collected the surrendered soldiers from all directions.

After a quick count, he found that there were seven to eight thousand surrendered soldiers, as well as a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, money, food and supplies looted by Yuan Shu's army. He was very happy.

Although most of this money was collected from Xuzhou, Lu Bu didn't care about it and just collected it back into the treasury.

Later, I heard that Zhang Fei was returning to the army to gather the surrendered soldiers, so I went to find him and asked:

"Has Yide captured Zhang Xun?"

Zhang Fei had never been in a good mood towards Lu Bu. When he heard him mention Zhang Xun, he became even more angry. He turned his head away and was unwilling to reply.

Fortunately, there was Fu Shiren who smiled apologetically:
"I dare to let Lord Wen know that our army was unable to catch up and Zhang Xun escaped!"

"But we did capture Qiao Rui, so it's not a complete loss!"

When Lu Bu heard that Zhang Fei had captured Qiao Rui, he said:
"I wonder where Qiao Rui is now? Please call him over to see me!"

Fu Shiren did not dare to offend Lu Bu, so he ordered his soldiers to escort Qiao Rui forward. When Qiao Rui arrived, he saw Han Xian and Yang Feng and started to curse:

"How dare you, you traitor! I wish I could kill you and eat your flesh!"

"But if I had known earlier, I would have killed you!"

Seeing Qiao Rui like this, the two of them were both annoyed and said to Lu Bu:

"This man is rude, he should be killed!"

At this time, Lu Bu wanted to win over the two of them to serve him, so he nodded and said:

"Come here, drag this man away and behead him in public!"

But when Zhang Fei saw it, he took a step forward:
"How dare you do this? I have captured this man. Who dares to kill him before my elder brother gives the order?"

His glare scared Han Xian and Yang Feng so much that they jumped. Lu Bu also knew that Zhang Fei was not someone to be trifled with, so he said with a smile:

"Well, since Yide doesn't want to, may I ask where Xuande is now?"

Zhang Fei said unhappily:

"My elder brother is waiting in the camp!"

Hearing this, Lu Bu smiled slightly:
"In that case, Yide, go and tell Xuande that I will hold a banquet in the city, and invite Xuande to come to the banquet!"

After hearing this, Zhang Fei snorted coldly and left.

Upon seeing this, Fu Shiren apologized to Lu Bu and ordered someone to take Qiao Rui away with him.

Seeing the two of them leaving, Han Xian said in a deep voice:
"We are willing to help in this battle. We all admire the bravery of Wen Hou. Who is Liu Bei? How dare he be so arrogant? Why don't we rush into his camp and let him know how powerful we are!"

Yang Feng nodded in the same way. When Lu Bu heard this, he was a little tempted, but after thinking about it, he was afraid of ruining his reputation, so he shook his head and said:

"No, Liu Bei helped me, how can I harm him?"

"You can go back to the city first and make plans later!"

Although he said this, he was actually secretly calculating in his heart.

Now that he has the help of Yang Feng and others, perhaps the amount of money he promised to Liu Bei before can be reduced!
Or he could just refuse to pay. I guess Liu Bei wouldn't dare to say anything!
After making up his mind, he led everyone back towards the city.

As for Zhang Fei, he felt more and more uncomfortable after leaving Lu Bu's camp.

It was a good battle, but because of his greed for merit, Zhang Xun was not captured and the money and food were taken away by Lu Bu.

Now we only have three or four thousand prisoners. Even if we capture Qiao Rui, how can we report back?
When he thought about how he had always been at odds with Qin Zhen, he wondered how he would be ridiculed when he returned to the camp.

Even though Zhang Fei had a carefree personality, he couldn't help but sigh.

Fu Shiren, who was watching from the side, knew that Zhang Fei must be afraid of being punished by the military advisor, so he laughed and said:
"General Zhang, there is no need to do this. I have seen that the military advisor has always enforced the law impartially and has never been biased. He will definitely not blame you for this!"

Zhang Fei listened and shook his head:
"I am not afraid of his punishment, but I am afraid of his mockery of me!"

"Because I made a bet with him in the camp before, and agreed to capture Zhang Xun. If he fails, I will do him a favor!"

"He has been contradicted by me many times, so he must be resentful. Although I won't punish him now, I can still mock him!"

Fu Shiren was unaware of the bet between Zhang Fei and Qin Zhen. Hearing this, he frowned and said:

"Is there still such a thing?"

After thinking for a while, he said:

"Even so, I see that the military advisor is not a petty person. If the general speaks kindly, how can the military advisor blame him?"

"Instead of letting the military advisor take the initiative to bring it up, why not let the general personally go and admit his mistake!"

"In this way, the military advisor can forgive the past grudges and let the general go this time!"

After listening to this, Zhang Fei also felt that it made sense. Although Qin Zhen was strict in disciplining his army, he was also fair in his actions. As long as he took the initiative to admit his mistakes, perhaps Qin Zhen would forgive him this time!
After thinking it over, he came up with an idea. He led his troops into the camp and let Fu Shiren and Xiahou Bo settle down. He took the initiative to go outside Qin Zhen's camp.

But when he really got here, he hesitated again.

Thinking about how I have done bad things to him many times, it is really embarrassing to apologize now.

At this time, after a night of fighting, it was already dawn.

When the guards outside Qin Zhen's camp saw Zhang Fei, they asked:

"Why is General Zhang here?"

Zhang Fei shuddered when he heard this, turned around and said with a smile:

"I have come to see the military advisor. I wonder if he is in the camp?"

The guard said hurriedly:

"The military advisor is still resting. Wait for me to enter the camp and report!"

"no, I'm fine!"

Zhang Fei waved his hand hastily and said:
"I'll wait here!"

He stopped the guard from calling Qin Zhen, but walked back and forth at the door a few times, feeling more and more annoyed. He sighed and prepared to leave.

But then a voice called out from inside the tent:

"But General Zhang is outside the tent?"

Hearing this, before Zhang Fei could say anything, the guard said:

"It is General Zhang who is waiting outside the tent!"

As soon as this voice fell, another voice came from inside:

"If General Zhang is coming, why don't you inform him?"

As the voice sounded, Qin Zhen was seen already dressed and walking out of the tent.

Zhang Fei saw this and hurriedly bowed and said:
"General Zhang Fei pays respect to the military advisor!"

Qin Zhen saw this and smiled brightly:
"General Zhang has returned victorious and is here to fulfill his promise to me?"

Zhang Fei heard this and shook his head sadly:

"We haven't captured Zhang Xun yet, I hope the military advisor will punish us!"

Qin Zhen heard it and stepped forward:

"So, General Zhang is here with a defeated army?"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said:
"No, this battle was a great victory. The enemy army was completely defeated and thousands of prisoners were taken!"

Qin Zhen asked again:

"Did General Zhang suffer heavy losses?"

Zhang Fei shook his head again:

"Our army won with only a few hundred casualties!"

By this time, Qin Zhen had already walked up to Zhang Fei and helped him up:
"The general has only merits, what crime has he committed?"

When Zhang Fei heard this, his heart trembled and he said hurriedly:

"But I didn't capture Zhang Xun and didn't deliver the military order. Doesn't the military advisor blame me?"

Seeing Zhang Fei like this, Qin Zhen smiled.
"That's a private matter. It's not a military order!"

"As a military advisor, I must clearly distinguish between public and private affairs. How can I sacrifice public affairs for private ones and not reward meritorious service?"

Zhang Fei listened to it and thought that it was just as Fu Shiren said. He felt warm inside.
"Military Advisor is truly a kind and noble man. I hope you will forgive me for any disrespect I may have shown you in the past!"

When he thought about how disrespectful he had been in the past and how Qin Zhen had not taken it to heart, he felt even more guilty!

But Qin Zhen saw this and said with a smile:

"Wait a minute, General. Although military law doesn't apply, our bet still counts. According to the bet, you must do something I ask!"

Zhang Fei lowered his head and said:

"Military Advisor, just tell me, even if it's one thing or a hundred things, I won't complain!"

"Only in this way can one be a great general!"

Qin Zhen laughed and said directly:

"Then listen carefully, General. My task is simple. When you return, copy the Analects three hundred times, the Spring and Autumn Annals three hundred times, and the Art of War three hundred times. Copy them one by one and give them to me for review!"

"what???"

Zhang Fei immediately raised his head, his eyes wide open.

It's okay to ask him to draw pictures, but asking him to copy books, isn't that like asking him to die?

This punishment is even more painful than killing him!

(End of this chapter)