The Shu army won several times and captured many prisoners. The one that defeated Sima Yi alone captured more than 8,000. Wei Ba told Lu Xun that there were too many prisoners and the food was consumed too quickly. Although it was blackmailed, it was not entirely false. Those who were slightly injured or were not injured at all and did not affect their work were sent to Fangling for care by Wei Ba. Those who were seriously injured and became disabled were basically still in Fangling. It was useless to get them to finish Fangling with hard work. Wei Ba just wanted to return them to Cao Rui.

These people gave Cao Rui another reason. Cao Rui's military strength would not increase, and he would have more than a few thousand more mouths to eat. More importantly, these people were more or less shocked by the battle situation that day. After they returned to Cao's camp, they would have a certain impact on Cao's morale. In addition, they could also let the soldiers who had not yet participated in the war feel the tragic battle.

Wei Ba was not afraid that Cao Rui would not accept these people. He was as smart as Cao Rui. Even if he knew it was a poison, he had to eat it honestly.

After a night of preparation, the next day, the Wei army had just finished breakfast. Without any preparation, the north gate of Fancheng suddenly opened wide, and a group of Wei prisoners walked out of the city. Some of them had broken one leg, some had broken hands, almost everyone was wrapped in bandages, some were holding each other, and even more serious were just carried on a stretcher. None of them were wearing armor or weapons, almost everyone was very thin, but they were in good spirits.

These people slowly walked out of the city gate, walked across the floating bridge, and slowly came to the Wei army's camp. They were all disabled and did not walk fast, so the Wei army had enough time to spread the news to the former army commander Sima Yi.

Sima Yi was having breakfast. He was worried and ate very slowly. Last night, Cao Rui rejected his plan and insisted on attacking Fancheng first. He was a little depressed. What made him frustrated was not Cao Rui did not adopt his plan, but Cao Rui felt at ease with him.

Rest assured is not because of trust, but because of harmlessness. He suffered several consecutive defeats, and has confirmed his evaluation of not knowing the military and has no military achievements, so he naturally cannot further control the military power. The harm to the imperial power has been weakened, so the emperor is very relieved of him.

If it were the past, Sima Yi would be very pleased with this and willing to accept it because it would be more conducive to him to protect himself. But now the situation is different. The emperor believed that he would not be able to fight, so he would not hand over the military power to him, but would choose others. He asked him to continue attacking Fancheng, just because he could only do such a thing, and the more difficult tasks would be handed over to others.

This is not good news. Retreat as advance is a strategy. If you really withdraw and passively withdraw from the military, it will be very unfavorable to his career. Therefore, not only Sima Yi was a little uneasy, but even Sima Shi was frowning. Without military power, how can you ensure that Sima in Hanoi can still go smoothly?

Just when the father and son were speechless, they came outside to report that a group of prisoners were released from Fancheng.

When Sima Shi heard this, he couldn't help laughing out loud: "This man is so sinister. What else can he do to put these prisoners back besides wasting food and damaging morale?"

Sima Yi gave him a blank look: "What benefits do you still expect Wei Ba to give you?"

Sima Shi couldn't help but twitch the corners of his eyes and closed his mouth tightly.

Sima Yi put down the bamboo chopsticks, stroked his beard and thought for a while: "It's good that this is the smarter Wei Ba acts, the more beneficial it is to us. Ziyuan, immediately report to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to decide."

"Here." Sima Shi understood the truth and immediately rushed to the central army. Sima Yi sent someone to stop the prisoners outside the camp, waiting for the emperor's will. The prisoners stopped quietly in front of the camp. Wei Guang, who was the envoy, stood at the front with pleasure, looked at Sima Yi's camp with interest, and talked to the soldiers around him from time to time, pointing and talking very happily.

After listening to Sima Shi's report, Cao Rui raised his eyebrows and then smiled disdainfully. He pondered for a moment: "Send the captured soldiers to the baggage camp, and provide independent battalion for a long time to treat them well. Don't let them contact outsiders. Uncle Emperor, please come and let the messengers of the Shu army come to see me."

The father-in-law Cao Yu, who was standing aside, was stunned for a moment. He didn't know what Cao Rui was trying to do. He was the king of the Great Wei Kingdom. It would be a bit too much to pick up an envoy from Shu Kingdom? If he was very confident in Cao Rui's scheming, he would immediately respond. Sima Shi was also a little surprised, but he said nothing and turned around and led Cao Yu out of the tent.

Cao Yu rushed to the front camp, conveyed Cao Rui's order, arranged for people to lead the prisoners to the baggage camp, and then quickly walked to Wei Xing and coughed. Sima Shi immediately stepped forward and introduced that this is our father Shan of the Great Wei, who will lead you to meet His Majesty the Emperor.

Wei Xing followed Wei Ba for a long time and was a little generous, but when he heard that the young man in front of him was Prince Shan, he instinctively lowered his posture and bowed respectfully: "I have seen Your Highness."

Cao Yu looked at Wei Xing and couldn't help but be curious. Wei Xing looked very tender and seemed to be less than twenty years old, but Wei Ba arranged for him to take on such an important negotiation task. I don't know if he is indeed capable or Wei Ba is nepotist.

"Who are you?"

"I am here to be the personal guard of Wei Ba, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty." Although Wei Xing was nervous, he still smiled calmly: "On the order of General Meng and my young master, he returned the captured soldiers of the army to return to their hometown to reunite with their families, with the intention of being kind and filial."

Cao Yu's cheek twitched, "Junren's filial piety is really magnificent. It seems that this kid is indeed a bit eloquent and can tell such a dirty thing without any mistakes, so that people can find out what is wrong. Cao Yu was not in the mood to talk too much with Wei Xing, so he turned around and took Wei Xing back to Cao Rui's central army tent.

Seeing the prince was already a little nervous, and seeing the Emperor of Wei, Wei Xing was so nervous that his legs almost cramped. He grew so big that he had never seen the Emperor of Shu before. He never thought of following Wei Ba to fight, but actually met the Emperor of Wei first. The excitement and tension were intertwined. He no longer had the calmness he had before, so he naturally restrained himself and went forward to salute honestly.

Seeing Wei Xing so embarrassed, Cao Rui was not surprised, but seemed very kind.

"Get up and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wei Xing stood up and stood carefully aside.

Cao Rui played with Yu Ruyi in his hand and said slowly: "Is it the young master of your family's idea to send back the prisoners?"

Wei Xing nodded: "Yes."

"Why? He is not just thinking that Jeon In-hyuk is as simple as that."

In front of Cao Rui, Wei Xing did not dare to talk anymore and said in a very honest way: "My young master's move has two meanings. First, these people are all disabled and have nothing to do. Instead of staying in the city to waste food, it is better to return it to His Majesty."

Cao Rui nodded: "You are really good."

"It's not that I'm real, it's that my young master." When Wei Ba mentioned, Wei Xing suddenly felt a little relieved and even laughed. "That's what my young master said in the original words."

Cao Rui said in surprise: "What else is there?"

"My young master is mainly showing kindness to His Majesty."

"Show goodwill?" Cao Rui's eyes tightened, and then he laughed again: "You and I are in a hostile relationship, why should he show goodwill to me?"

"Because attacking Fancheng was not the original intention of our army, it was just to buy time for the Wu people to win Xiangyang." Wei Xing licked his lips and said seriously: "With our army's strength, we can't defend Fancheng at all. Our army did this because of the situation and had to accept the conditions of the Wu people. The two evils were the least. Since it was inevitable that we would be enemies with Wei, attacking Fancheng and winning over Wu countries would be a last resort. Your Majesty is wise and can definitely understand the difficulties of our army."

Cao Rui snorted coldly and shouted sternly: "You first deceived Guanzhong and then attacked Xiangyang, but now you tell me if you have the right to do so? Do you think I can't see that you are delaying the army?"

Wei Xing was silent for a moment, bowed and bowed again: "If Your Majesty sees this way, then we have no choice but to fight with Your Majesty to the end."

Cao Rui was stunned. Wei Ba sent someone to see him, so naturally it would not be as simple as sending prisoners. There must be other meanings. The reason why he was so harsh was just to give this young man a warning and then bargain. Unexpectedly, just after the start, the young man gave up the negotiations and simply said that he would fight to the end.

Is this the attitude that the negotiation should have? Cao Rui was amused and cried, and didn't know how to proceed.

The scene in front of him looked a little weird, as if Wei Xing was shocked by Cao Rui's anger. In fact, Cao Rui was interrupted by Wei Xing's confession and could not speak for a while, so he could only stare at Wei Xing awkwardly.

Fortunately, there was Cao Yu next to him. Seeing Cao Rui being speechless, Cao Yu hurriedly said, "Since you know that you are an enemy of our Great Wei, you hit the stone with eggs, why not abandon the darkness and turn swords into jade and silk?"

Wei Xing laughed: "If Your Majesty is willing to withdraw his troops, that would be great."

"Retreat troops?" Cao Rui's mood just got better. After hearing this, he couldn't help laughing and crying again. "Don't you think this is too ridiculous?"

Even Cao Yu couldn't help but shout, "Nonsense, our army came from thousands of miles away, how could we retreat just by saying you and hand over Fancheng in Xiangyang?"

Wei Xing shook his head: "Your Majesty misunderstood. My young master didn't want you to give up Xiangyang and Fancheng. Xiangfan is the gateway to the Central Plains, and no one will give up after changing it. My young master just hopes that you don't focus on Fancheng."

Cao Rui and Cao Yu looked at each other and immediately smelled the meaning. They pondered for a moment, and Cao Yu took the lead and said, "Why do you say that?"

Wei Xing smiled and said, "Because Fancheng is small, it is not easy to conquer, so it is no problem for our army to defend for ten days. Sun Quan, the King of Wu, led an army of 30,000, and was on the way to Xiangyang. According to the schedule, it is about five to six days before it can reach Xiangyang. Once he arrives at Xiangyang and the 80,000 Wu troops will meet, you will have to confront each other across the water and there is no chance. Xiangyang will inevitably fall into the hands of the Wu army. If Xiangyang falls, what's the point of taking Fancheng?"

"What if your young master wants?"
Chapter completed!