On November 25 of the first year of Jianxing, the Wei army stationed in the Dangyin area of Hanoi officially surrendered to the Han Dynasty.

At the surrender ceremony, Zhuge Liang praised Sima Yi and many Wei generals for their resourcefulness in understanding current affairs and tomorrow, and also expressed regret for Sima Yi's sudden illness before the ceremony.

After a series of sacrifices, oaths, and retributions to the heavens, Zhuge Liang announced on the spot that he would present his table to the Son of Heaven and ask for the title of many Cao Wei generals who surrendered.

The list of requests for sealing was naturally provided by Wang Ling in a letter afterwards, and those who secretly participated in the execution of Sima Yi would basically get a position of positive four grades.

The rest of the generals who were kept in the dark and didn't wake up until Sima Yi died, couldn't help but complain about Wang Ling. said earlier that Zhuge Liang wanted Sima Yi to die, then they would all participate enthusiastically.

However, in order to block Youyou's mouth, Wang Ling also promised afterwards that as long as everyone kept their mouths shut and said in a unified voice that Sima Yi died violently, then in the future, everyone entered the Han Dynasty together, and they would huddle together to keep warm, and they would definitely fight for everyone's interests.

After some pacification, this matter can be regarded as ending with Sima Yi's death. More than 100,000 Wei troops surrendered on the spot, accepted the reorganization of the Han army, and the old, weak, sick and disabled should be put back, and when they were young and strong, they were temporarily reorganized into an army and went north.

However, at this time, it didn't make much sense to go north again, because as early as mid-November, Cao Zhi, who was still involved in the country, heard that Xiahou Yuan had committed suicide and Guan Yu had broken the news of Cao's army on the eastern front, so he hurriedly retreated back to Yecheng.

At the same time, all the soldiers and horses of Xiangguo were withdrawn, and he hoped to gather some troops to fight a final defensive battle with the Han army at Yecheng.

But Cao Zhi was still on the way, and most of the soldiers and horses were scattered.

Cao Wei's soldiers and horses are mostly family soldiers and horses, the Han army is now about to fight outside Yecheng City, Sima Yi's side has also accepted the surrender, and the news quickly spread throughout Hebei, no matter how stupid many families are, they know that there is no hope.

Therefore, the generals of the family who led the team fled with their respective subordinates, and Cao Zhi was able to bring back to Yecheng, only a few thousand diehards remained.

On the side of Guan Yu, Shen Chen, and Zhuge Liang, there are hundreds of letters sent by the family every day, and a large number of Hebei families have submitted their invitations to surrender, expressing their willingness to submit to the Han Dynasty.

At this moment, Cao Wei has no possibility of turning the tables at all, and after Cao Zhi returned to Yecheng, there were basically less than three or four thousand people left. Now the entire Yecheng is in chaos, a large number of powerful people have fled, the people have also left frantically, and Yecheng is in chaos.

Cao Zhi did not stop the people from leaving, some of the Cao family fled, some committed suicide, he, the emperor, has now become a loner, many people in the palace are fleeing, and chaos fills the whole city.

By the end of November, the armies of Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Guan Yu surrounded Yecheng, the gates of Yecheng were closed, and the people who should have run were almost the same, and the entire city became empty.

"Prime Minister, Xiaoqing (Hussar General)!"

"Generalissimo, General Che Cai, General Wei, Zilong (uncle)."

Outside the south gate of Yecheng, on the country road about ten miles away from the city, a convoy is slowly coming.

Guan Yu took Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun to wait under the pavilion on the side of the road.

After the convoy arrived, Zhuge Liang got out of the carriage, and Shen Chen, who was riding a horse next to him, also turned over and dismounted.

The six of them greeted each other.

Zhang Fei had always been a general on Zhuge Liang's side before, and he was the number one fierce general under Zhuge Liang, and when he confronted Sima Yi Yingchuan, he repeatedly led the army to challenge.

This time, when Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen collected and surrendered 120,000 Wei troops, he heard that Guan Yu had already hit Yecheng, so he hurriedly came over first.

After collecting and surrendering the 120,000 Wei army, because the army was bloated and there were many aftermath things to deal with, Zhuge Liang planned to deal with these things first, let Guan Yu's side capture Yecheng first, and then go north to sweep Hebei and Youzhou, and take Liaodong directly.

As a result, he didn't expect Shangshutai, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Temple to send Liu Chan's edict, asking him to go to Yecheng.

Now Liu Chan has gone to Luoyang to personally supervise the war, although the capital has not yet been moved to Luoyang, but the three provinces have also arrived at the old capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty with the Son of Heaven Luan, so the message transmission speed is still very fast, and it can be sent back and forth in almost three days.

After receiving Liu Chan's edict, Zhuge Liang ordered Wu Yi to temporarily be the main general, leaving Zhou Budo, Ma Liang, Huang Quan, Cai Du and others to assist, and he and Shen Chen only took a few thousand people to Yecheng non-stop.

The reason why he was in such a hurry was because Cao Zhi gave Liu Chan a table and was willing to surrender and submit, which was also one of the main reasons why Guan Yu, Ma Chao, and Zhao Yun besieged but did not attack.

At this moment, everyone gathered.

Shen Chen raised his head and looked at Guan Yu, who he hadn't seen for more than a year.

He saw that Guan Yu really needed to raise his head, because Guan Yu's height was two meters and seven, and his height was one meter eighty-six, which was about the same as Zhuge Liang, and people were a head taller than him.

However, in the past, when Guan Yu stood in front of Shen Chen, Shen Chen would feel that the other party was like a giant, full of oppression.

Now there is no such feeling at all, Guan Yu's hair and beard are white, wrinkles crawl all over his face, and his originally straight body and waist pole are unconsciously a little rickety, making his body more than two meters tall seem to be a few centimeters shorter.

Time does not forgive, time will dilute everything, and it will change everything. Even if it is an emperor and a general, a talented and beautiful woman, in the end, it is just a handful of loess, and there will be no difference from others.

"Uncle Yun."

Shen Chen looked at Guan Yu and hesitated to speak.

Guan Yu smiled, also patted Shen Chen's shoulder, and did not speak.

He is already sixty-seven years old, and even Zhang Fei is sixty-three years old, and at their age, many things have already been seen.

"Let's go."

Guan Yu said.

The group followed the road and headed in the direction of the camp.

At this time, the Han army was close to 200,000 men and horses outside Yecheng, and the camps were continuous, and the banners covered the sky and the sun, and the Yecheng was surrounded by water.

After arriving at the commander's tent, everyone sat in columns, no one sat in the main seat, there were all giants here, even Ma Chao and Zhao Yun, who were one size smaller, were General Wei and the other were former generals.

Theoretically speaking, although Guan Yu is the generalissimo, this position is an honorary position, but in fact, his position is still a general, that is, the generalissimo and the general, in the official rank of the Han Dynasty, these two positions are the same product.

And Zhuge Liang's position as prime minister is also a good product, and the two should be equal.

However, the prime minister is the head of the hundred officials, has the government and military power of the whole country, and is really above 10,000 people under one person, so in a sense, Guan Yu has to be dispatched by Zhuge Liang.

It's just that Zhuge Liang is more humble, so there is no main seat, everyone sits opposite each other according to the order of position, the Han Dynasty respects the right, Zhuge Liang sits in the first position on the right, followed by Shen Chen, opposite him is Guan Yu, opposite Shen Chen is Zhang Fei, followed by Ma Chao and Zhao Yun.

After everyone sat down, Zhuge Liang asked, "Generalissimo, what has become of Yecheng now?" ”

Guan Yu said: "Cao Zhi fled back to Yecheng, the people of the huge city fled one after another, we did not stop it, nor did we hurt the people, now what has become in the city, we don't know, some officials who escaped said that Cao Zhi's people are in the palace, and the city gates are not guarded." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty has to let us surround the city first, otherwise, according to my intentions, we will directly enter the city, tie up that Cao Zhi'er and send it to Luoyang, why do you need to do so much trouble, we can directly recover the world."

Zhang Fei spread his hands and shouted: "Now we are still waiting outside the city, as if Cao Zhi'er is still some Great Wei Emperor, do you want to be so troublesome?" ”

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Yide doesn't need to be impatient, there should still be a process." ”

Although Cao Zhi expressed his willingness to surrender, the ancient emperors had a set of procedures for surrendering, just like when Liu Chan and Sun Hao were destroyed in history, they all expressed their expressions.

First of all, it is necessary to prepare for the gift of the death of the country, a plain car and a white horse, a meat and a face binding, a sheep with a title, a doctor in decay, a cowardly scholar, and lead his relatives out of the city. Those who accept the surrender must come and untie them personally, accept the treasure, and burn the coffin, and this set of rituals will end.

Zhuge Liang is now representing Liu Chan to come over to accept Cao Zhi's surrender ceremony.

At that moment, Zhuge Liang sent someone to Yecheng to send a notice to Cao Zhi, and at this moment in Yecheng, Cao Zhi was still sitting alone in the palace hall, with more than 30 ministers, as well as his wife and concubines and children, a total of more than 50 people.

After a while, a small yellow gate hurriedly came in and reported to him: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhuge has arrived outside the city with the edict of the Emperor of Han. ”

Cao Zhi let out a long sigh, stood up and said, "Let's go." ”

The things used for the ritual outside were all ready, and Cao Zhi should have taken off his clothes, tied his hands, held a jade pendant in his mouth, and then led the sheep, but he didn't do it, but let a teenager take his place.

More than fifty people slowly walked out of the palace, the street was empty, there was no one, only the direction of the city gate in the distance, stood in two rows of Han soldiers.

A middle-aged Han official, surrounded by soldiers, approached, saluted Cao Zhi first, and then led them out of the city.

Outside the city, Zhuge Liang and others have been standing in the north wind, the snow has stopped recently, but the weather is still very cold, the young man who took off his clothes instead of Cao Zhi is only more than ten years old, shivering from the cold, Cao Zhi saw this, sighed, held him in his arms, and continued to move forward.

Soon they came closer, and the middle-aged official pointed at Cao Zhi and said to Zhuge Liang: "Prime Minister, this is Wei Tianzi." ”

Zhuge Liang looked at Cao Zhi with some confusion and asked, "What does this mean?" ”

Cao Zhiling stood up and said: "The Han Dynasty is Sanxing, and the Mandate of Heaven is also." Wei does not have the mandate of heaven, and it is a matter of course to destroy the country. My throne was forced to do by Cao Rong before he died, and he wanted me to be the king of the dead country, but I don't owe Cao Pi and his son, so today I have passed the throne to my nephew Cao Lin, and I hope you can treat him well. ”

Zhuge Liang frowned.

He felt that there was something wrong with Cao Zhi's character, and he passed the throne to his nephew before destroying the country, obviously because he didn't want to be the king of the country, which seemed a bit unkind.

However, Shen Chen understood Cao Zhi better, and he said in Zhuge Liang's ear: "Cao Pi's father and son are quite harsh on Cao Zhi, not only strictly guarding against him, but also repeatedly suppressing him, almost killing him. Seven steps into a poem, have you heard of it? ”

"I see."

Only then did Zhuge Liang understand why Cao Zhi did this.

Cao Pi's father and son treated Cao Zhi so badly, Cao Rong was about to destroy the country, and he was still thinking about persecuting his own imperial uncle and passing the throne to him as the king of the dead country, although Cao Zhi reluctantly accepted it because of Cao Cao's affection, but at this point, he didn't want to continue to be a grudge against Cao Pi's father and son.

So it is a matter of course to do this, but the responsibility that should have been borne by Cao Pi and Cao Ei's father and son was forced to be pressed on Cao Pi's youngest son, Cao Ei's younger brother Cao Lin, and it was indeed a little pitiful.

Originally, under normal circumstances, Liu Chan's edict was read out first, and then the process continued. Seeing this situation, Zhuge Liang went up to help Cao Lin untie the rope, accepted the jade seal, asked Cao Lin to put on clothes, burned the coffin, and then read the edict.

The content of the edict is very simple, first of all, it says that the Han was ordered by heaven and was returned to the mandate of heaven, Cao Cao conspired against him, Cao Pi usurped the Han, and the crime could not be punished. But as the so-called mandate of heaven belongs to virtue, the virtuous do not condemn those who are willing to surrender, and Cao Cao, Cao Pi and other chief evils are dead, so they will not condemn Cao Zhi, and they will be named Hou Yunyun.

Cao Zhi accepted this edict on behalf of Cao Lin, and the Cao family and many ministers knelt on the ground to thank them, and the ceremony ended.

Zhuge Liang was about to order someone to send them to Luoyang, Cao Zhi looked at the sword on his waist and said, "Prime Minister, Zhi has something to ask for." ”

"What's the matter?"

Zhuge Liang asked.

Cao Zhi smiled bitterly, raised his head to look at the sky, and said softly: "Cao Pi is the brother of my mother's compatriots, but I have been jealous of him all my life, and I have lived on thin ice. ”

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "Han is a country of benevolence, righteousness and etiquette, since you have accepted your surrender, it will naturally not harm them, please return to the Hou at ease." ”

"In this way, I have nothing to be nostalgic about."

Cao Zhi walked up to Zhuge Liang, tidied up his clothes, bowed to him, and said, "Prime Minister, please borrow the sword on my waist and allow me to cut myself." My father eats Hanlu, but he is sorry for the big man. My brother was bequeathed by his father, and I am sorry for all the people. They are all dead, and I should bear the responsibility for this sin, so as to thank the world. ”

Zhuge Liang was surprised: "Why is this so? ”

Cao Zhi shook his head and said resolutely: "The will to die has been decided, even if the prime minister does not agree, I will walk up to the city tower and jump down, and ask the prime minister to borrow a sword." ”

"Ugh."

Zhuge Liang let out a long sigh.

He knew that it was useless to persuade people who were bent on death, so he untied the sword at his waist and handed it over with both hands, which could be regarded as a respect for Cao Zhi.

Shen Chen looked at Cao Zhi on the side, and Cao Zhi also looked at him, his eyes full of death.

He then held the sword in both hands, bent down and saluted Shen Chen, "Hussar General, the Cao family is sorry for you Deng Shen Er. Although I was only two years old that year, I also heard about my father's massacre of Xuzhou, the Cao family can have today, this is God's punishment for us, I hope that the hussar general can see the sake of self-judgment to atone for the crime, do not embarrass the rest of the Cao family's descendants. ”

Shen Chen said coldly: "I have killed enough of your Cao family, the only pity is that I didn't behead Cao Cao's old thief with my own hands." Do you think your head can be worth the blood debt of more than 100 villagers gathered in Jinyang and hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou? ”

Cao Zhi sighed and said, "Then how can the general let go of the descendants of the Cao family?" ”

“.”

Shen Chen hesitated for a moment when he asked back, not knowing what to say.

The direct enemies who slaughtered Xuzhou were basically dead, Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Yuan, Le Jin and others, several of them were executed by him personally, and the second generation of the Cao family was also killed by him.

Before Pang Hui opened the door to revenge, the atmosphere at that time was that if the princes were at war or the country was at war, it was basically not very popular to kill them all. Even the descendants of Yuan Shao were not killed by Cao Cao, and many of the descendants of Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and others survived, such as Yuan Shuji, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, who was the descendant of Yuan Xi.

Therefore, if the direct enemy has been killed, and the descendants of the enemy are still angry, they may be criticized in later generations for cutting down the grass and not eradicating the roots, but at least in the Han Dynasty, this is an indiscriminate killing of innocents, after all, unless the major crime of rebellion is to be exterminated, it will basically not harm the family.

Thinking of this, Shen Chen sighed and said: "After all, I am not a cruel person like the Cao thief, the mastermind and implementer of the slaughter of Xuzhou are basically dead, I will not embarrass the descendants of the Cao family, but you must tell me the tomb of the Cao thief." ”

Cao Zhi was surprised: "Does the general plan to dissect the coffin and kill the corpse?" ”

"This is what the thief owes me."

Shen Chen looked at him indifferently, he may not necessarily dissect the coffin and kill the corpse, but why can Cao Cao be buried in a grand manner, and hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou have to be floating corpses in Surabaya?

At the very least, he had to throw his bones out and throw them on the side of the road to make him the "white bones exposed in the wild" in his poem to eliminate the hatred in his heart.

Cao Zhi's face was like ashes, and finally said, "Okay, I'll tell you." ”

As he spoke, he informed Shen Chen of the address.

Finally, he took a few steps back and said to Shen Chen, "I hope the general can keep his promise." ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded.

Cao Zhi raised his sword in both hands, walked outside the south gate of Yecheng, raised his head, and looked at the capital of Cao Wei.

Suddenly, I don't know why there are so many emotions in my heart.

The city was once the seat of the Yuan family, but was later occupied by the Cao family and became the capital of the Wei state. Now, it's time for it to come to an end.

I have never owed Cao.

Cao Zhi looked back at his wife, a little reluctant, but he was determined to die, and he had already told his wife and children about these things, so that they should not be sad, and it was also worth it to exchange their lives for the peace of the future generations of the Cao family.

It's a pity.

Obviously, he didn't do anything wrong, but in the end, he still had to pay off his debts for his father and the brother who persecuted him everywhere, in this world, there is really no heavenly reason.

Without hesitation, Cao Zhi drew his sword and wiped it heavily against his neck without any hesitation.

"Poof!"

The sharp sword that Liu Bei gave Zhuge Liang instantly slashed his throat and cut the artery in his neck, sending blood gushing out.

"Husband!"

Although Cao Zhi's wife knew that her husband was going to commit suicide, she was still heartbroken when she saw this scene, and rushed over and fell on Cao Zhi's body.

Cao Zhi fell to the ground, still out of breath, his eyes softly looked at his wife and children who were crying, and after a while, there was no sound.

"I'm leaving, brother help clean up the aftermath."

When Shen Chen saw this scene, he didn't know why he felt bored, and he felt a little interested.

The Cao family's blood debt, it seems to be a bit cheap to write it off like this.

But look up at the heavens and the earth.

There are no more people in this world who have an enmity with him, basically all of them are dead, and there are even many people who have nothing to do with his grudges, but those surnamed Cao have suffered.

At this moment, Shen Chen felt like he was at a loss when he drew his sword and looked around, not knowing who he wanted to take revenge on.

No wonder Wu Zixu wanted to dissect the coffin and kill the corpse.

Only some of the enemies died in their own hands, and the feeling that Cao Cao, the first evil, died of natural illness was really uncomfortable.

But that's life, isn't it?

Shen Chen stepped on the wet mud and walked in the direction of the camp.