The baggage carts on both sides of the checkpoint are already full of Cao Jun's weapons, and knives, guns, swords, and halberds are placed on different vehicles. Whenever a cart was full, the Jiaozhou army would drive the war horses away, and those war horses were also captured from Cao Bing. In this crowded battle, the cavalry played almost no role, whether it was the Cao army or the Jiaozhou army. It was not until after the war that the cavalry had a place to use, but it was overused as labor.

Li Ru and Cao Zhang walked to the baggage cart and lowered the spears in their hands, and then walked towards the checkpoint. Two Jiaozhou soldiers stepped forward and slapped them on them, but they didn't find anything special, so they looked at the two Cao soldiers who were participating in the inspection together. Cao Zhang's heart had already risen to his throat, and he couldn't help but look at his two relatives.

The two Cao Zhang's relatives had already recognized Cao Zhang and Li Ru, but they were no different from checking the performance of ordinary Cao soldiers, and shook their heads at the Jiaozhou army, indicating that they were not the commanders of the Cao army. This made Cao Zhang's heart breathe a sigh of relief.

Jiaozhou Jun saw Cao Bing shaking his head and was about to let go, when suddenly a voice said behind him: "Wait! ”

The two Jiaozhou soldiers looked for prestige, and saw Nan Ye walking from behind the checkpoint, followed by a group of guards. The two Jiaozhou soldiers hurriedly saluted, and the surrounding Jiaozhou troops each held weapons and surrounded Li Ru and Cao Zhang in the core.

Nan Ye had actually discovered Li Ru and Cao Zhang with the two skills of star-seeking and star-seeking, and no matter how much makeup they put on, they couldn't hide under Nan Ye's skills. Nan Ye set up a card to check just to paralyze the two of them, so that they could lay down their weapons by themselves, otherwise it would probably take a lot of work to capture the two.

As soon as Cao Zhang and Li Ru were surrounded, they knew that the general trend had gone. At this time, Cao Zhang didn't know how Nan Ye found out, and thought that the two guards were secretly informing, and at that time, he glared at the two guards, and the frightened two guards hurriedly shook their heads, indicating that they had nothing to do with him. Seeing that the two relatives had also been controlled by the Tengjia Army, Cao Zhangcai believed that it was really not the two who were informing.

Li Ru shook his head helplessly when he saw Cao Zhang's performance and said: "Your Highness doesn't have to blame them, the national teacher of Nanye has the skill of knowing people, but it's ridiculous that I still want to fish in troubled waters, so that the national teacher can see and laugh." With that, he bowed to Nan Ye.

Seeing that Li Ru could still remain calm at this time, Nan Ye was also very impressed in his heart, and returned the salute and said: "Wen Xiansheng is resourceful, if it weren't for my slight skills, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be able to keep Mr." ”

Li Ru looked at Nanye's soldiers and horses, and sure enough, it was not much different from what he expected, but there were more than 10,000 people, so he sighed and said: "The national teacher has a good way to command the troops, and he wins more with less, I am convinced." I don't know what the national teacher is going to do with us. ”

Nan Ye has always treated captives preferentially, and as long as the generals are sincerely obedient, they will not be blamed for the past. Li Ru, as Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, has been able to serve Cao Cao for many years, which shows that he is not inflexible. Nan Ye felt that Li Ru and Jia Xu should be regarded as the same kind of people, they would be loyal to the lord, but they would not lose their lives for loyalty.

In the eyes of the ancients, this limited loyalty was a manifestation of disloyalty, but in Nan Ye's view, this kind of loyalty, which is second only to life, is very rare. Nan Ye, who has already had a big family, understands a truth, no matter how strong a leader is, he can't make everyone under his command work for himself without considering his personal safety. Nan Ye believed that once he persuaded Li Ru to surrender, as long as he was not allowed to fall into such a desperate situation as today, he would not rebel against him, which Nan Ye was still confident to do.

Nan Ye smiled at Li Ru and said: "The two armies are fighting each other, and now that the victory and defeat have been divided, if Wen Xiansheng is willing to surrender to me with these soldiers, I will naturally not embarrass Mr." If the gentleman does not surrender, I will not let him be my enemy again. I wonder what Mr. thinks? ”

Li Ru's understanding of Nan Ye is not ordinary, and he knows that Nan Ye has both a bodhisattva heart and thunder methods, and is by no means an indecisive person. But before Li Ru could answer Nan Ye, Cao Zhang said on the side: "Nan Ye, you don't have to talk in vain, we will never surrender." ”

Nan Ye glanced at Cao Zhangdao with idiot-like eyes: "Ziwenxian nephew, when did I persuade you to surrender?" Even if you are willing to surrender, I can't use you, so it's better to persuade you to keep your mouth shut. lest they lose their lives. ”

Cao Zhang's face turned red with anger from Nan Ye, but he also knew that what Nan Ye said was right. He is the son of Cao Cao and the younger brother of Cao Pi, and he is not even qualified to surrender with such a sensitive identity. Cao Zhang was not afraid of death, and he wanted to fight Nan Ye with his fists, but he was knocked to the ground by the Jiaozhou sergeant with a gun.

Seeing that Cao Zhang had suffered, Li Ru sighed and said, "That's it!" So I surrendered to the national teacher. I just asked the national teacher to promise me. ”

Nan Ye was overjoyed when he heard Li Ruken's heart, and said: "Wen Xiansheng can speak as bluntly as he can." ”

Li Ru looked at Cao Zhang, who was lying on the ground, and said: "If the national teacher can let His Highness have a way to live, I am willing to surrender, otherwise I will only die." ”

Cao Zhang's heart was moved when he heard that Li Ru wanted to descend Nanye for himself, and he couldn't help but cry and got up and said: "Mr. doesn't have to compromise for me, I am equivalent to death, and I am also a good companion on the Huangquan Road." ”

Li Ru shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The matter has come to this point, and there is no intention to die in vain." If the national teacher can comply with my request and save the lives of the two of us, there may be a day when we will meet in the future. ”

Cao Zhang's heart moved when he heard this, in his opinion, Li Ru must not be sincere in surrendering Nan Ye for himself, as long as he leads the army to defeat Nan Ye and rescue Li Ru in the future, it will not be the day Li Ru said to meet! Thinking of this, Cao Zhang glanced at Nan Ye viciously and said to Li Ru: "I already know what Mr. means, if I can survive, I will go back to avenge today's revenge, and one day I will rescue Mr." I'm afraid that Nan Ye won't dare to let me go. ”

How did Nan Ye not know that Cao Zhang was using the method of agitation. He weighed it in his heart and found that it was okay to let Cao Zhang go. The value of Li Ru cannot be ignored, if this battle was not arranged by Nan Ye in advance, and Minzhuang rebelled in front of the battle, it is not yet known who will win and who will lose, so it is known that Li Ru's value is definitely greater than Cao Zhang. Besides, although Cao Zhang is a general, Cao Pi has little chance of letting him lead the army, and even if he is put back, the threat to Nan Ye is limited.

After thinking about it, Nan Ye said to Cao Zhang: "I can arrest you once, naturally I can arrest you twice, why don't you dare to let you go?" Today, for the sake of Wen Xiansheng, I will let you go, and if you are captured again next time, you will not be spared. ”

Cao Zhang heard Nan Ye willing to let go of his heart and said: "If there is a next encounter, I will capture you." After that, he said to Li Ru: "Wen gives priority to life and relaxes, I will lead troops to rescue Mr. when I return to Xuchang." ”

Li Ru didn't expect Cao Zhang to come to the rescue, and he estimated that Nan Ye would win this battle, and Xuchang would be more than lucky. Li Ru's intercession for Cao Zhang actually had another purpose, but he didn't expect Nan Ye to let Cao Zhang go so happily in order to surrender himself, which made Li Ru feel that Nan Ye attached great importance to him, and suddenly found that surrendering to Nan Ye was also a good choice. Li Ru said to Cao Zhang: "Once this battle is lost, Xuchang can no longer be defended, and His Royal Highness should return to Yecheng as soon as possible." If Your Highness sees Your Majesty, please argue for me, if you can save my family's life, I will be grateful. ”

Cao Zhang heard that Li Ru had the intention of entrusting the future, and he was even more moved in his heart: "Sir, rest assured, as long as I, Cao Zhang, do not die, I will make Mr.'s family worry-free." ”

Li Ru whispered to Cao Zhang: "Nanye, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan have already divided their troops to take Yan, Qing, and Sanzhou. His Royal Highness has a lot of risks along the way, and he should let Nan Ye be the guarantor. The two relatives are commendable for their loyalty, and His Highness can also ask for it together. ”

When Cao Zhang heard Li Ru's plan, he said to Nan Ye: "If the national teacher really lets me go, he will return my personal guard and give me the paperwork to pass the customs." ”

Nan Ye even let Cao Zhang go, so he didn't care about putting two more guards, so he ordered someone to release the two relatives who refused to identify Cao Zhang, wrote down the customs clearance documents, and gave Cao Zhang three war horses, but Cao Zhang's white crane BMW was detained.

Looking at Cao Zhang's distant back, Nan Ye asked Li Rudao: "Wen Xiansheng pleaded for Ziwen, but is it for the sake of Yecheng's family?" ”

Li Ru smiled faintly and said, "Yes and no." Confucianism successively worked for Dong Zhongying and Cao Mengde, and was the enemy of the national teacher, and he knew that he was deeply guilty. To test the national teacher with His Royal Highness's life is to find out whether the national teacher is really useful. ”

Nan Ye smiled when he heard this: "I don't know what the result of the temptation is?" ”

Li Ru arched his hand and said: "The national teacher is generous and does not blame the past, and Confucianism admires it to the fullest. ”

Nan Ye laughed and helped Li Ru up and said, "Wen Xiansheng is willing to help me, it's really like a tiger with wings." ”

With Li Ru's help, Cao Bing and Minzhuang were quickly integrated. Li Ru saw that Nan Ye did not doubt the use of people, and he admired it even more in his heart. said to Nan Ye: "If the national teacher takes Xuchang, this is the time, I should help the national teacher to take Xuchang overnight." ”

Nan Ye said with a smile: "Don't give priority to Lao Wen, Xuchang is already in the hands of our army at this time, and we will camp and rest." ”

Li Ru was surprised when he heard this, and he didn't understand where Nanye still had soldiers and horses to take Xuchang. Nan Ye didn't say anything, he just said that he would know when he returned to the city tomorrow. Li Ru saw that Nan Ye was so sure, so he didn't ask more, but he was even more respectful in his heart.

However, it was said that Xiahoude and Deng Yi were guarding the city in Xuchang, and Li Ru led the troops to leave the city on the first day without incident. ”

Xia Houde was still recuperating from his injuries at this time, and everything in the city was decided by Deng Yi. When he heard that soldiers were coming from outside the city, he asked the sergeant, "How many soldiers are there outside the city?" What's the urgency? ”

The soldier replied truthfully: "There are about 1,000 soldiers outside the city, and they only say that there are confidential and important things to tell. However, the villain saw that they were untidy and untidy, like defeated soldiers. ”

Deng Yi heard that there were only 1,000 people outside the city, and they were not neatly dressed and armored, so he thought that he was not a besieger, so he came to the city with the sergeant. Sure enough, I saw that about 1,000 people gathered outside the north gate, about half of them were holding torches, not only their clothes and armor were not neat, but they were also covered with mud and bloodstains, and many of them were wounded and carrying weapons, which really looked like a defeated army.

Deng Yi leaned over and asked, "I am Deng Yi, the general of Xuchang." Who are you? Who will be the general? And what is the need to repay it? ”

One of the defeated troops under the city stepped out and said: "Return to General Deng, the last general is General Zhang Ji, the general of Chen's stay-at-home guard, and Zhou Shun, the general of the tooth." The army of Nanye has already entered Yanzhou and besieged Chenliu. The general of my family specially ordered us to break out of the city and ask for help from Xuchang. ”