In the south of Zhengcheng in Hanzhong, Zhang Lu was so anxious that he was like an ant on a hot pan paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands on his back. He had just received the news that 40,000 Yizhou troops headed north from Jianmen Pass and pointed to Hanzhong. This news was enough to make Zhang Lu frightened.

He never expected that Liu Zhang, who had always been cowardly, would send troops to Hanzhong. This completely disrupted his plan. More importantly, in order to fight against the Jingzhou army, he sent most of his troops to Shangyong. Hanzhong County was empty and his Nanzheng City had only 4,000 defenders. How could he resist the attack of the 40,000 troops in Yizhou?

At this time, Zhang Lu was very regretful. He shouldn't have taken temporary benefits to capture Shangyong in Jingzhou. He thought that Liu Jing's main force was trapped in Jingnan and could not withdraw for the time being, but he did not expect that Liu Jing immediately mobilized 30,000 naval and army troops to attack Shangyong. This result was unexpected to Zhang Lu.

Zhang Lu did not expect that Liu Zhang would take advantage of the situation and suddenly sent troops north when he was empty in Hanzhong. If he might have a risk of geographical advantage over the Jingzhou army, he had no advantage over the Yizhou army unless he had enough troops to be distributed in various dangerous passes, but in order to deal with the Jingzhou army, he almost took the troops from all passes.

What should I do now? Zhang Lu was anxious but had no choice but to do anything. At this time, a guard reported in the hall: "Report to the prefect, the master of the plan is here!"

"Please come in quickly!" Zhang Lu quickly ordered that at this time, the counselor Gu Pu became his life-saving straw.

After a moment, Guanpu quickly walked into the lobby, and he bowed and said, "Why are you so anxious?"

Zhang Lu hurried forward and bowed and said, "The situation is not good, please save me, Mr. Gu!"

"What happened?"

Zhang Lu sighed and said, "I just received an emergency military information. About 40,000 Yizhou troops broke through Mingyue Pass and entered the hinterland of Hanzhong. They were coming to Nanzheng. At most, the troops were coming to the city in one or two days. However, there were only 4,000 troops in the city. It was too late to mobilize troops from Shangyong. What should I do?"

This news surprised Gu Pu. Why did the Yizhou army suddenly move north without any signs? Zhang Lu said annoyed again: "When Yizhou leaked the news that the Jingzhou army was going north to me, I should have thought that Yizhou would take advantage of the situation to rob. I just thought that Liu Zhang was cowardly and did not have such courage, but I didn't expect that he would really send troops."

Gu Pu thought about it and asked again: "Where should the Yizhou army go now?"

Zhang Lu took out a topographic map of Hanzhong and pointed to a pass: "Mingyue Pass is the northern starting point of Jianmen Shu Road. At least yesterday afternoon, they were captured by the Yizhou army, so there would be no resistance all the way north. Then there is Dingjun Mountain. They should be there now. There are two thousand garrisons in Dingjun Mountain. If the Yizhou army conquers Dingjun Mountain again, they can reach Nanzheng City within half a day."

Speaking of this, Zhang Lu pointed to Ankang County in Weixing County. "The recent 10,000 troops are two hundred miles away, and there are 30,000 defenders from Shangyong. If they are transferred back, Weixing County will have to go there for two days, and Shangyong will have to come by at least three days. The problem is that I send people to urgently dispatch troops, and it will take time on the road, so I'm afraid it will be too late!"

Gu Pu was not panicked. He pondered for a moment: "The most urgent task now is to block the news and not to confuse the people. The prefect can make preparations. First, we must buy time to transfer 10,000 troops from Weixing County back first, and at the same time make preparations to evacuate Nanzheng. Once the Yizhou army reaches Nanzheng, it can evacuate eastward in time. It doesn't matter if the city of Nanzheng is lost. As long as the army is there, it can be taken back."

Zhang Lu sighed again, "That's all I can do!"

At this time, Yan Pu asked again: "I wonder who the commander of the Yizhou army is?"

"I heard it was Liu Wei, and the deputy general was Wu Yi."

Yan Pu thought about it and laughed, "I heard that Liu Wei is mean, greedy, sinister and stupid. I can bring more golden pearls to seek peace and delay their entry as much as possible. The prefect is ready to evacuate as soon as possible and send the generals' families to Weixing County first. The city can be lost, but people cannot be captured. If you are lucky, you may be able to drag them until our reinforcements arrive."

"Although Liu Wei is stupid, Wu Yi is a powerful character, and he may not be fooled!"

Yan Pu thought about it and said, "You may as well send your eldest son to the other party's army as a magistrate, so that you will be more confident."

Zhang Lu looked embarrassed. How could he let his eldest son die?

Yan Pu whispered: "The rich young master's appearance is not unique. You can find a soldier who looks like him, Xu Yu is profitable, and let this person pretend to be a prince. The other party may not recognize it. As long as we gain a few days, we can turn the situation around."

One sentence reminded Zhang Lu that he did have a personal guard who looked like his son. More importantly, he had to buy time. Even if reinforcements could not come, he had to send away the families of some important officials and generals first, and his wives, concubines and children, he had to send them away immediately, otherwise it would be too late.

Thinking of this, he bowed to Yan Pu with gratitude, "I'll ask you for everything!"

Liu Wei and Wu Yi led 40,000 Yizhou troops to set off from Chengdu. Liu Wei adopted Wu Yi's suggestion. The army hid in the daytime and walked through the Jinniu Road in extreme seclusion, and succeeded in the raid on Mingyue Pass, the key pass of Hanzhong.

Hanzhong's defense was far more relaxed than they thought. They broke through more than a dozen dangerous barriers in a row, but they did not encounter any resistance. The poor defenders all fled to the wind.

What Zhang Lu even more unexpected was that Qin Jian, the leader of the Dingjun Mountain camp who was the only hope, surrendered to the gate of Xian Pass because of the strength of the Yizhou army.

At the second update, the night was dark and 40,000 Yizhou troops were resting in the Dingjun Mountain Bing Village. Liu Wei was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He ordered people to buy a table of wine and food and drink it himself.

Now they are north of Dingjun Mountain, close to the Mianshui River Valley, and walk 80 miles southeast along the Mianshui River Valley to reach Nanzheng City, which is the largest city in Hanzhong and Zhang Lu's capital. Taking Nanzheng City means they have seized Hanzhong.

At this time, Liu Wei had already regarded Hanzhong as his fief. Even if he could not seize the position of governor of Yizhou, he could proclaim himself the Marquis of Hanzhong and seize Hanzhong as king. At this time, soldiers outside the tent urgently reported: "Your Majesty, the Zhang Lu Sect's planner Yan Pu came to the camp, saying that he was here to ask for peace from the young master."

Liu Wei was stunned, and he sneered immediately. Zhang Lu actually sent Yan Pu to ask for peace. Isn’t this telling himself openly that they are powerless to resist?

He immediately ordered, "Take him in!"

Soon, several soldiers brought Yan Pu into the tent, and a personal soldier stepped forward and whispered to Liu Wei: "He brought hundreds of large boxes."

Liu Wei nodded and looked at Yan Pu with a smile. Yan Pu stepped forward and knelt down to salute, "Yan Pu paid homage to Mr. Wei and disturbed Mr. rest in the middle of the night. It was a matter of no choice."

"Mr. Yan is here to ask for peace?" Liu Wei asked with a slight joking tone.

Yan Pu nodded sincerely, "That's right! Please give us a chance."

"Of course I can give you a chance, but what about your sincerity? Just talk about it?"

Liu Wei was not stupid at all. The other party brought a large box with a hundred gulp. At this time, he didn't want to alarm Wu Yi. He wanted to take a look. What did the other party bring?

Yan Pu hurriedly said, "My prefect gives some gifts and wait outside the camp."

"Move things to my side account!"

Soon, the soldiers moved nearly a hundred large nanmu boxes to the side tent, almost filling the two side tents. At this time, Liu Wei followed Yan Pu into one of the side tents. Most of the box covers were opened, and the entire tent was jewel-like and dazzling. The box was filled with large pieces of gold, and the two boxes were filled with jewelry and jade, which made Liu Wei's eyes narrow.

Yan Pu stepped forward and smiled and said, "There are 50,000 taels of gold and 3,000 pieces of jewelry here, all of which my prefect presented to the young master Boli. I hope the young master will allow us to negotiate peace."

Liu Wei was extremely happy. There were 50,000 taels of gold and so many gems and jade. He felt aroused his greed and asked with a smile: "How do you want to negotiate peace?"

Yan Pu felt Liu Wei's greed thoughts, and he was secretly happy, so he bowed and said, "I wish to talk to the young master to the big tent."

Liu Wei nodded, "Sir, please!"

The two walked back to the tent and sat down. Yan Pu smiled respectfully and said, "Premier Zhang is willing to present Nan Zheng to the young master, but he begged the young master to allow us to retreat to Shangyong and give us a foothold."

Liu Wei thought to himself, 'This is not bad. Let Zhang Lu guard Shangyong for him and defend the Jingzhou army to Hanzhong north.'

Thinking of this, Liu Wei asked again: "What should I do specifically?"

Yan Pu begged: "Please give us three days to retreat, mainly because the family members want to withdraw. We promise not to withdraw the people and close the treasury. The young master can even send someone to supervise us. In three days, Nanzheng City will be given to the young master."

Liu Wei was concerned about the population and property. He could accept that they closed the treasury and did not withdraw the people, but how could he explain it to Wu Yi?

He pondered for a moment, and Yan Pu took the opportunity to say, "If Mr. Wei still doesn't believe in our sincerity, I am willing to persuade the prefect Zhang to send the eldest son Zhang Fu as a hostage to the young master. This should be fine!"

Perhaps the brilliant golden lights obscured Liu Wei's heart, but he didn't realize that the other party was delaying the time. With Zhang Lu's eldest son as a hostage, Liu Wei felt relieved. He thought about it and finally agreed, "For the sake of Zhang Taishou's sincerity, I will promise you that from tomorrow, three days later, I will bring my troops into Nanzheng City."

Yan Pu was overjoyed. He didn't expect the other party to agree so easily. He praised Liu Wei's kindness and righteousness, saying that if Liu Wei was the lord of Hanzhong and Zhang Lu was willing to be his guardian dog, he praised Liu Wei for being so arrogant. Yan Pu then said goodbye and left.

Liu Wei came to two side tents and re-tasted the gold nuggets and pearls. He was the son of Liu Zhang, not the kind of poor child who had never seen money. However, because he raised thousands of corpses in the manor, he was always worried about insufficient money and food. Now he has obtained 50,000 taels of gold at once, how can he not make him happy?

At this moment, a soldier reported outside the tent: "General Wu is here and asks to see the young master!"
Chapter completed!