Chapter 31: Liu Bei Don't Cry, Stand Up!(2/2)
Liu Ye said: "Xu Shu and Liu Bei have a strong friendship. Now they are in the army. Why not order him to go there?"
Xu Shu, whose courtesy name is Yuanzhi, was from Yingchuan.
When Liu Bei stationed troops in Xinye, Xu Shu went to join him. He served in Liu Bei's tent for a while, and he was Zhuge Liang recommended to Liu Bei.
Later, because his mother was captured by Cao Cao, Xu Shu had no choice but to say goodbye to Liu Bei and enter Cao's camp.
However, after joining Cao Cao's camp, Xu Shu was disgusted with Cao Cao and was loyal to Liu Bei, and never made any plans for Cao Cao throughout his life.
The famous allusion in later generations, "In Cao's camp and the heart is in Han", refers to Xu Shu!
Cao Cao knew Xu Shu's attitude towards him. When he heard that Liu Ye recommended Xu Shu, he frowned and said, "He is afraid he will never come again."
Liu Ye smiled and said, "Lord, don't worry. If he doesn't come, he will only make a laughing joke."
Indeed, Xu Shu had first defected to Liu Bei and "returned to" Cao Cao. If he rebelled against Cao Cao and surrendered to Liu Bei, this would only make him laugh.
Cao Cao nodded, agreed with Liu Ye's suggestion, and ordered someone to recruit Xu Shu.
"I wanted to trample on Fancheng, but I would rather pity the orders of the people and have a plan for the people. Why not go to Liu Bei to tell him: If I am willing to surrender, I will be exempted from punishment and title. If I am obsessed with it, the military and civilians will be killed together and the jade and stone will be burned."
Cao Cao said to Xu Shu earnestly: "I know Yuan Zhi's loyalty and righteousness, so I asked Yuan Zhi to go there. I hope Yuan Zhi will not let him down."
When Xu Shu heard Cao Cao's false words, he sneered in his heart, but calmly expressed his feelings on his face and agreed to Cao Cao.
Xu Shu was ordered to go, and in the afternoon, he came to Fancheng and met Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.
After telling the old feelings, Xu Shu expressed Cao Cao's intention: "Cao Cao ordered Shu to recruit the envoy to surrender, but he was just a pretext to buy the people's hearts. Now he has divided his troops into eight directions and filled the Baihe River and advanced. Fan City is probably not to be defended, so the envoy should make plans quickly."
Liu Bei was very moved, and Xu Shu was a rare talent, so Liu Bei wanted to keep Xu Shu.
But as Liu Ye said, Xu Shu was a shameless person and would not be a repetitive villain, so he politely rejected Liu Bei.
However, Xu Shu also promised that he would not contribute to Cao Cao for life, so that Liu Bei could let him leave with peace of mind.
When Cao Cao heard the news brought back by Xu Shu, Liu Bei did not surrender, and he was furious and advanced to attack Liu Bei...
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Chapter completed!