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The courtyard gate was lost and the south gate of Bingzhou was opened.

Wang Gai and others were panicked and immediately withdrew their troops that were preparing to invade Jizhou, strengthened the defense of Huguan, Jingxingguan and other fortresses, so as not to be attacked and destroyed like Tianjing Pass due to insufficient troops.

Wang Gai was very confused. Linghu Shao was not an incompetent person, and Tianjing Pass was not an easy place to capture. Even if Linghu Shao underestimated the enemy because he had not fallen from the city, the loss of Tianjing Pass was enough to prove that the Wu army was good at fighting, and the possibility of defending Bingzhou was invisibly reduced by three points. He wanted to surrender, especially when he heard that Shi Sun Rui and his son were appointed by Sun Ce, but the news that came immediately made him hesitate.

It is puzzling that Sun Ce wanted to kill Sima Yi and did not even give him a chance to surrender, but one thing can guarantee that Sima Yi would not sit still and wait for death. There must be a fierce battle in Bicheng. Even if the Wu army got Tianjing Pass, it is unlikely that it would enter Bingzhou in large numbers.

Things may have a turnaround, so why not wait.

Wang Gai discussed with Feng Ji, and Feng Ji came forward to contact Sun Ce to see if there was a chance of a peaceful solution, even if it was delayed. The loss of the courtyard gate and Feng Ji was also very confident. He was just living in a foreign land and his troops were limited. He could not make the decision. Seeing that Wang Gai was shaken, he was naturally happy to see it. So he entrusted Hua Xin to see Sun Ce to see what Sun Ce was and what conditions could be given.

Hua Xin did not refuse and agreed readily. However, he reminded Feng Ji that you are different from Wang Gai. You are just serving Zhongshan and have no grudges with Sun Ce himself. Liu Bei is dead, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun have surrendered. The King of Wu should not make things difficult for you. Wang Gai is different. The King of Wu is the culprit of Yuan's murder. The King of Wu may not agree easily. You must be prepared for separate negotiations and find a way to separate Wang Gai.

Feng Jishen agreed and nodded in agreement.

Hua Xin rushed to Mengjin. When he passed by Tianjing Pass, he stopped for a while and checked the terrain of Tianjing Pass on the spot. The more he looked, the more incredible it became. How did Sun Shangxiang conquer such a dangerous terrain?

The guards were a fortress. The soldiers guarding the pass did not know about Hua Xin's secrets and were very vigilant about him. Not only did they not tell him anything, but they also restricted his range of actions and did not let him inquire about it. After leaving the Taijing Pass and arrived in Hanoi, Hua Xin heard some rumors, but these rumors were obviously unreliable. According to the words of those Min Ji who were fortunate to witness the war, the third general Sun Shangxiang fell from the sky and landed directly at the Taijing Pass. Linghu Shao was kicked down the mountain by her, so there was no battle to say.

What's more, the Sanguquan also became the Sanjunquan of the Three Generals. Some people said seriously that the Three Eyes Spring was stamped out by the Sanjun. If the water was drained, you could still see the footprints at the bottom of the spring.

Hua Xin was ridiculous and felt that these people were too ignorant and unreasonable. But one thing was that he was deeply touched. The autumn harvest had not yet ended yet. The pavilions in various townships in Hanoi were already issuing notices to inform the people to pay rent for land and provide for the army to fight. The notice was posted every mile, and almost every person knew how much grain they should pay. If someone collected more, who could they ask for complaints. It is said that the prefect of Hanoi Mao Jie had an order that all counties must handle the complaints of the people in a timely manner, and the postponement would be severely punished.

Hua Xin was skeptical. When he passed by the Ye Wang, he went to the county temple to take a look. Sure enough, he saw an announcement posted at the gate of the county temple, saying that what matters need to be responded within a few days, and what kind of punishment will be punished if they are postponed for a number of days. He inquired and heard that these regulations were newly drafted and were in the trial stage. Prefect Mao said that in a few months, he would convene the old and virtuous people in each county and township to discuss the details, carve into a monument, and follow it.

Hua Xin disagreed. He did not object to treating the people well, but such strict laws had a strong sense of Legalism, which obviously violated the Confucian way of benevolence and forgiveness. He wanted to meet Mao Jie and discuss this issue, but Mao Jie was inspecting various counties, urging the implementation of the new policy and urging the autumn grain to pay. Hua Xin had to put it aside for the time being and rushed to Mengjin camp.

When he learned that Hua Xin was coming, Sun Ce met him as soon as possible, held a banquet to greet Hua Xin, and invited Chen Lin to accompany him. Chen Lin and Hua Xin were old friends. They had come and go when Yuan Shao was in charge of Jizhou, and they had poetry and essays to each other. When old friends met again, Hua Xin was very excited. When he talked about his experiences along the way, the topic turned to the new policy in Hanoi without realizing it, and then raised his own questions.

Is the Legalism in the New Deal too strong?

Sun Ce laughed and said, "There are indeed some objections to this issue. If Hua Gong is interested, you might as well participate in the discussion together."

Chen Lin also said: "With you as the leader in the battle, we will have another chance of winning."

Hua Xin didn't quite understand, so Chen Lin roughly explained the recent big discussion. I hope Hua Xin could also participate in the discussion. It would be better to write a few articles to strengthen the momentum. Hua Xin heard that his fighting spirit had soared and wanted Chen Lin to immediately ask him to bring the articles he had already expressed so that he could criticize him. Chen Lin was a little embarrassed. He knew that although Sun Ce did not judge the current big discussion, Lu Cui's opinion was obviously more in line with Sun Ce's opinion, so they only said it was a discussion and did not mention criticism. Criticizing Lu Cui was equivalent to criticizing Sun Ce, which could easily cause unnecessary resistance.

Sun Ce didn't care. While asking Hua Xin to drink, he ordered someone to prepare a collection of articles. He had all the articles here, so it was not difficult to prepare a copy for Hua Xin.

Seeing Sun Ce so frankly), Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't think of Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was generous on the outside and was jealous on the inside, so he would never be able to treat different opinions so kindly. Even if he didn't die in Guandu, he would not be the opponent of the King of Wu.

Sun Ce immediately asked about the situation in Bingzhou.

Hua Xin talked about the situation in Bingzhou and finally asked Sun Ce a question: How to treat the Wang family? After Liu Bei died in battle, Zhongshan Kingdom was in name only. Now he controls Shangdang and Taiyuan are the Wang brothers, and Feng Ji's influence is limited. If the king is willing to let Wang go and pardon Wang Gai and others, Bingzhou can be established. Otherwise, he can only attack and take the lead. With the terrain of Bingzhou, this battle will never be easy. After the fall of Tianjing Pass, the Wang brothers attached great importance to it and strengthened the troops of each pass, so there was no chance of sneak attack.

Sun Ce was unable to make a decision for the moment. These days, he has been considering this issue, whether to attack Bingzhou, resolutely eliminate the Wang brothers, and take this opportunity to train the team, or negotiate with the Wang brothers and accept their surrender? These two choices have their pros and cons, and the issues involved are also very wide, and they cannot be decided in just one sentence.

The advocates were mainly Jiangdong faction, and Shen You, Zhu Huan, Quan Rou and Xu Kunke were all eager to make contributions. The advocates were mainly Ruying faction and Jizhou faction. First, most of them were related to the Bingzhou family, and second, if war started, they would have to transport money and grain from Jizhou and Yanyu. If negotiations were possible, they could avoid a lot of losses.

Personally, this is also a dilemma: Bingzhou is the most fiercely contested place between the agricultural ethnic groups in the Central Plains and the nomadic ethnic groups on the plateau. The rise and fall of the Central Plains directly affects the security of the Central Plains. Now Bingzhou has been remnants, only Taiyuan is left. The two counties of Shangdang still have some strength. If a fierce battle is fought, the losses of the two counties will be too great and cannot be restored in a short period of time. It will be difficult to face the nomadic ethnic groups on the grassland. But if you accept surrender, Bingzhou can certainly preserve some vitality, but he has no chance to breathe, and he will win consecutively and be in a row with a rainbow of morale. If you attack Yizhou, you will immediately put on the agenda.

But he knew very well that he did not have the conditions to attack Yizhou at the moment, and it was inevitable that he would be blocked. If he was frustrated, he would not be surprised.

Now that it is Cao Cao, who is not Gongsun Shu, he will not leave him any chance to win unexpectedly. Instead of just chewing on the hard bones in Yizhou, it is possible that he will have a broken teeth. It is better to try Bingzhou first. Compared with Cao Cao), the Wang brothers are much inferior after all.

Sun Ce asked Hua Xin and Chen Lin’s opinions.

Chen Lin suggested that you can talk about it and touch the bottom line of the Wang brothers. If the negotiation can be completed, at least you cannot leave people with a sense of military force. Of course, what should be prepared must be prepared, and using war to promote peace is also a way. He also said that Hua Xin should not be a representative of the Wang brothers. It is better to send a letter to Wang Gai and ask him to send a formal envoy to talk directly with the King of Wu, and take this opportunity to see the sincerity of the Wang brothers.

Hua Xin agreed. As long as Sun Ce agreed to the negotiations, his task would be completed regardless of whether it could be completed in the end.

Sun Ce repeated the pros and cons, and felt that what Chen Lin said was reasonable and agreed.

——

Hua Xin stayed in Mengjin for two days, read the articles he had published, communicated with Xun Yu and others, and then wrote a letter to Feng Ji, explaining the situation of Wu in detail and conveying the attitude of the King of Wu.

The King of Wu could accept negotiations, but some conditions would not change, such as implementing the new policy in Bingzhou. If Wang Gai wanted to negotiate, he should be mentally prepared and not be reluctant to give up on existing interests. Judging from what he understood, the new policy may have shortcomings, but in the long run, the benefits of the new policy outweigh the disadvantages, and the same is true for aristocratic families.

In addition, for the Wang Gai brothers, there is another problem that must be faced: that is, the king must bear the direct responsibility for the more than 50 Yuan family being killed. Considering that Yuan Shao himself was not dug, Sun Ce should not do so well under normal circumstances, but there must be a point in the history books. Of course, if the Wang brothers knew the current affairs and surrendered to Bingzhou, they could occupy a place in the new dynasty, even if they were written in the history books, they would have saved some face. If the Wang brothers refused to face the reality, the result would only be even worse.

In short, Hua Xin hopes that Feng Ji can persuade Wang Gai and others to accept peace talks. For Feng Ji himself, this is also a merit. The Wu court is full of talents, but without merit, it is difficult for Feng Ji to gain a foothold.

Sun Ce sent Qin Yi to deliver the letter, and then stayed in Fengjibian to assist in the operation, rescued Liu Chan when necessary, leaving a trace of blood for Liu Bei.
Chapter completed!