Chapter 644: Shen Zhi Returns to Surrender

After convinced Murong Ke, Xuan Yi sent someone to inform Yan Xiong secretly. However, in order to better conceal Yan Xiong's true identity, Xuan Yi also asked Murong Ke to send an envoy to the Machistan to persuade Chen Zhi to surrender, which was just a pretext for Yan Xiong. Otherwise, if the Deng army had not started to persuade Chen Zhi to surrender, Yan Xiong would go up to persuade Chen Zhi to surrender, it would probably arouse Chen Zhi's suspicion.

The next day, Murong Ke sent Ling Jing to Murchi City. When the generals guarding the city saw that Deng Jun sent someone to him, they did not dare to be negligent, so they quickly sent someone to ask Chen Zhi for instructions. Chen Zhi was very confused. He knew very well what Murong Ke sent someone to see him at this time, but after hesitating for a moment, Chen Zhi decided to meet him.

"Ling Jing, the military advisor of the Great Deng Jinwu Guard, met General Chen!" In the Machi County Government, Ling Jing bowed to Chen Zhi with a smile on his face.

Facing Ling Jing's smile, Chen Zhi nodded expressionlessly and said, "Mr. Ling doesn't have to be too polite, please sit down!"

After Ling Jing sat down, Chen Zhi asked with a cold face: "Military Ling, now that your army is at the city, our two sides are enemies of water and fire. Military Secretary Ling dares to come to Shichi City alone. Are you not afraid of not being able to get out?"

Faced with Chen Zhi's threat, Ling Jing disagreed, smiled and said, "General Chen is joking. Let's not talk about the two armies fighting and not killing them. Even if General Chen is a person, he will definitely not do such a thing. What else can I worry about?"

"Haha!" Hearing this, Chen Zhi smiled and said, "Mr. Ling is indeed a wonderful person. I admire him. I wonder if Military Advisor Ling is here to issue a letter of war to me today?"

Ling Jing shook his head and said, "Otherwise, as General Chen said, our two armies are already enemies of water and fire. If our army wants to start a war, we can attack the city directly. Why do we have to do this forever? To be honest, I came here this time to save the general's life!"

"Save my life? Military Advisor Ling is joking. As the chief general of the Thunderchip, I hold tens of thousands of elite soldiers in my hand. Why should Military Advisor Ling help me?" Chen Zhi said.

"General, don't deceive yourself. Although the general has a city of Fengchi and holds 10,000 elite soldiers, what about it compared to our 100,000 elite soldiers outside the city? Could it be that the general still expects that only 10,000 people can defeat our 100,000 elite soldiers?" Ling Jing said.

"Can you have to fight before you know!" Chen Zhi stopped his back and said arrogantly.

"The general is the mainstay of Qin. I admire him for being so passionate. However, now Zhao has shrunk his defense line and gave up the rescue of Qin. Without the help of Zhao's army, Qin's destruction will only be destroyed day and night. He said that even if the general can repel the 100,000 troops outside the city, can he still compete with our hundreds of thousands of elite troops? Under the general's power, even if the general is able to reach the sky and the earth, he cannot do the reversal of the universe." Ling Jing said.

"I understand. Military Advisor Ling is trying to persuade me to surrender?" Chen Zhi asked back.

"It cannot be said that surrender. As the saying goes, those who know the times are heroes, and good birds choose trees to live in. Now that Qin is about to be destroyed, the general is a knowledgeable man. I really can't bear to be buried with Qin. Moreover, once Guanzhong is annexed, my great Deng swept across the eight deserts. Even if the Zhao State, which is a powerful capital, is just a dry bone in the tomb. In the future, my great Deng's elite troops will go north, and the king and ministers of Zhao will have to surrender. If the general can surrender to my great Deng, it will be no problem to be a marquis and generals in the future. I hope the general will think twice!" Ling Jing said.

"No need to say more!" Chen Zhi interrupted Ling Jing without thinking and said, "I am a minister of the Great Qin and have been deeply favored by the Great Qin State. I am not a person with two hearts. Even if the Great Qin cannot escape this disaster, I will never live in vain. Military advisor Ling, I am thinking of fighting between the two armies and not killing the envoys. Today I will spare your life, and you can go!"

"General!"

"Mr. Ling, don't say too much, don't force me to kill you!" Chen Zhi said directly.

"Oh..." Seeing this, Ling Jing knew that there would be no result today. He sighed and said, "Well, I know that it is difficult to make a decision suddenly. Then I will take a leave first, and I hope the general can make a wise choice." After that, Ling Jing turned around and left.

When he reached the door, Ling Jing suddenly turned around and said to Chen Zhi: "General Chen, General Murong asked me to tell the general a sentence, if the general is worried about his family in Chang'an, I, Da Deng, would like to take the general's family out of Chang'an and send it to the general!" After that, he went out.

After Ling Jing left, Yan Xiong, who had been outside the door, walked in and said to Chen Zhi: "You have met the general!"

Chen Zhi nodded, then raised his head and looked at Yan Xiong and said, "You should have heard the conversation between me and Ling Jing outside just now!"

Yan Xiong nodded, indicating that he had heard it.

Chen Zhi said: "Although I have known you for a short time and have not had a deep friendship, after getting along during this period, I will know that you are a talented person. Tell me, what should I do?"

Yan Xiong replied: "When the general, the lower officials and the general fell in love with each other at first sight. They trusted the general very much. No matter what decision the general made, the lower officials would support him. However, Ling Jing's words made a very reasonable point. That is, with the current situation of the Qin Dynasty, even if Wu'an Jun personally led his army to guard Chang'an, it was difficult for a skillful woman to cook without rice. There were only a few elite troops left in the Qin Dynasty. How could he compete with hundreds of thousands of Deng troops? Even if the general fought to the death in the Minatoi and refused to surrender, and even defeated the Deng army that invaded Minatoi with his own strength, it could not change the reality of the Qin Dynasty's destruction."

Chen Zhi was silent after hearing this. After a long time, he sighed and said, "Mr. Yan, Ling Jing said that he could pick up the family of our general from Chang'an. Do you think they can do it?"

When Yan Xiong heard Chen Zhi's words, he was very happy because since Chen Zhi cared about his family, it meant that Chen Zhi had already become interested in the surrender of Kaicheng. If Chen Zhi made up his mind not to surrender, he would never ask such a question.

Although he was happy, Yan Xiong still held back and remained silent for a while, and replied: "It should be possible. I have heard that Deng State has a spy organization Mingjing. This bright mirror has a great magical power and has its own spies in all counties in the world. When Wu'an Jun attacked Bashu, it was because of the existence of the bright mirror's spy. The news was leaked in advance, resulting in failure. Therefore, if Mingjing took action, it would be no problem to take out the general's family."

Chen Zhi nodded. He had also heard of Mingjing's famous reputation. Mingjing's power spread across all countries. Qin also made many measures against Mingjing, but they all returned in vain. First, Mingjing was hidden too deeply. Unless it was exposed on its own initiative, it would be difficult to find out. Second, most members of Mingjing entered various countries using caravans. Although Qin and Zhao were hostile to Deng, they could not refuse Deng's business activities and were difficult to investigate. Therefore, although Qin and Zhao knew that there were members of Mingjing in their territory, even under their noses, they could not do anything.

"I understand. County Magistrate Yan will go down first. Some things will be something that I need to be quietly understood by myself, but don't worry, I will never harm County Magistrate Yan!" Chen Zhi said.

"The Xiaguan believes in the general, so the Xiaguan will take his leave first!" Yan Xiong nodded and left.

In the next few days, the Deng army did not launch an offensive against Machi City, and the Qin army in the city did not make any abnormal movements. Both sides fell into a strange calm.

On April 20, in the fifth year of Tiantong, news came from Wugong County that Li Siye and Deng Han led a large army to break through the Qin army's star-destroying crossbow formation, annihilated thousands of Qin troops guarding Wugong County, and killed Qin Ping, the chief general of the Qin army. Once Wugong County fell, there would be no barrier west of Chang'an, and Deng's army could reach the city of Chang'an every night.

Wugong County was in a fall and Chang'an was about to enter martial law, so Murong Ke invited Xuan Yi as soon as possible.

"Mr. Xuanyi, now General Li and His Highness King Jin's army have captured Wugong County and will arrive at the city of Chang'an soon. In order not to give our army an opportunity to take advantage of it, Bai Qi will definitely clear the solid walls and fields inside and outside Chang'an City in advance. If the martial law in Chang'an City is imposed, it will be difficult to pick up Chen Zhi's family. Therefore, I invited Mr. Xuanyi to come today, hoping that Mr. Xuanyi could inform Chang'an Mingjing and ask them to pick up Chen Zhi's family as soon as possible and send it to the pond." Murong Ke said to Xuanyi.

Hearing Murong Ke's words, Xuan Yi hesitated and said, "General, now that Wugong County has been destroyed, Chang'an City will definitely be on high alert. At this time, it may be difficult to take Chen Zhi's family out. I cannot guarantee that it will succeed."

Wugong County was destroyed, and Deng's army could go to Chang'an City every night. In order to better defend the city and avoid any mistakes, the Qin army would definitely put martial law on Chang'an City. In addition, there were famous generals like Bai Qi. It was too difficult to pick up Chen Zhi's family under Bai Qi's nose. Even Mingjing could not guarantee that he would succeed.

Murong Ke also knew the difficulty of this matter, so he said, "Do your best and leave it to fate. If you really can't do anything, you can only do this."

"Okay, I will notify the people from Chang'an Mingjing as soon as possible." Xuan nodded and said.

On April 27, in the fifth year of Tiantong, a riot occurred in Chang'an City. Mingjing specially created it, and at the same time he also took the opportunity to rob Chen Zhi's family. Yes, it was robbed, because the Shen family did not cooperate at all, but Mingjing used tough methods to force the Shen family out of Chang'an City, but this also attracted the attention of the Qin army, resulting in Mingjing's multiple strongholds in Chang'an City being suppressed by the Qin army. If it weren't for the timely reaction, I'm afraid that Chang'an Mingjing would have been uprooted.

After suppressing the riot, Bai Qi found that all Chen Zhi's family members were missing. Bai Qi knew that this must have been done by Mingjing's people. Although he didn't know what Mingjing's people wanted to rob Chen Zhi's family members, now that Deng Jun is about to come to the city, he can't take care of so many things, so he has to give up.

On April 30, in the fifth year of Tiantong, Li Siye and Deng Han led their troops to capture Huaili, the capital of Fufeng County. The troops arrived at Kunmingchi, which was only one step away from Chang'an City.

On the second day of the fifth year of Tiantong, Murong Ke's Shen family, whom Murong Ke was obsessed with, finally arrived at the Deng Jun camp outside the city of Miaochi.

"General, fortunately, Mingjing has fulfilled his fate and has sent all the Shen family!" Xuan Yi and Murong Ke said in the central army's tent.

"Mr. Xuanyi, thank you for your hard work. After the troops return to the court, I will definitely tell Your Majesty Mingjing's contribution." Murong Ke also knew that Mingjing paid a great price to bring the Shen family out of Chang'an City. Murong Ke was also very guilty about this. Just because of Shen Zhi, Mingjing paid such a great price. Is it worth it? But now that things have happened, Murong Ke cannot tolerate regretting it. I just hope that these efforts can be rewarded.

"General Xie, Mingjing is His Majesty's hawk. We will do whatever is beneficial to His Majesty and Da Deng at all costs. A mere loss is nothing. I just hope that the General can get what he wants." Xuan Yi said.

Murong Ke nodded, then said to Ling Jing: "Mr. Ling, you can go there yourself and return the Shen family to Chen Zhi."

"General, now Shen Zhi has sent his family back before he surrendered. Isn't it appropriate? If Chen Zhi refuses to surrender after he takes his family back, then wouldn't we be worth the loss? Keep these people and can threaten Chen Zhi in the future?" Ling Jing was very puzzled when he heard Murong Ke was going to send the Shen family back. Now he doesn't know whether Shen Zhi will surrender. If Chen Zhi is willing to open the city to surrender, then everyone will be happy. If Chen Zhi refuses to surrender, then these Shen family members can also become existences that threaten Chen Zhi.

Murong Ke shook his head and said with a righteous spirit: "Military Ling, we generals are pursuing real skills. Such despicable means are definitely not used. Besides, if Chen Zhi refused to surrender, these Shen family members would be useless. It would be better to send them back. First, we can express our sincerity to Chen Zhi, and secondly, we can also let Chen Zhi not worry about it. In the past, Chen Zhi's family was in Chang'an City, and even if Chen Zhi was willing to surrender, Chen Zhi had some concerns. Now that Chang'an's system is gone, Chen Zhi can decide his own destiny. If it is too stubborn, then don't blame me. I have given him too much time."

Before, Murong Ke only promised to give Chen Zhi ten days, but later Yan Xiong heard that Chen Zhi had already moved, and he was a little attached to his family in Chang'an. That's why Murong Ke asked Mingjing to bring the Shen family to the pond and gave Chen Zhi a few more days. If Chen Zhi was still unwilling to surrender, then Murong Ke didn't have to think too much and just ordered the siege.

"Here!" Ling Jing responded, and then took the Shen family to Shichi City.

In the Fengchi City, Chen Zhi was also very surprised to see the arrival of his family. He did not expect that Deng Jun really brought his family out of Chang'an City, and sent his family back to him without surrendering. He immediately felt admiration for Murong Ke. He was in a change of place. If he held the family of the enemy general in his hand, he would never be sent back so easily. With this alone, Murong Ke deserves Chen Zhi's admiration.

But this made Chen Zhi feel a little embarrassed. Murong Ke sent his family back to him. In addition to expressing sincerity to him, the meaning of this is an ultimatum. If he is still unwilling to open the city to surrender, it will not take long before Deng's army will attack the city. Chen Zhi also knew that it was time for him to make a decision.

So after comforting his family, Chen Zhi asked someone to invite Yan Xiong over.

As soon as Yan Xiong arrived, Chen Zhi said, "Mr. Yan, do you know that just now, Murong Ke sent someone to send my general's family back."

"What? I didn't expect Murong Ke to be so stunning. He is really a famous general in the world!" Yan Xiong said in surprise. As a person with a clear mirror, he was also surprised by Murong Ke's decision.

"Yes, this also made me see the gap between me and Murong Ke. However, County Magistrate Yan, Murong Ke's move, also told me that he was impatient. If I refused to surrender, he would attack the city." Chen Zhi said.

"Then I wonder what the general is going to do?" Yan Xiong asked.

Chen Zhi did not answer Yan Xiong's words positively, but asked: "Mr. Yan, I wonder where your family is?"

Yan Xiong didn't understand why Chen Zhi suddenly asked about his family, but he still replied truthfully: "General, Xia Guan's family came to Wuchi County Magistrate when Xia Guan took office as the magistrate of Wuchi."

Although Qin State had restrictions on military generals, it had never had many requirements for civil servants, and most of them took office with officials.

"That's good!" Chen Zhi smiled and said, "I'll be relieved. Over the past few days, I've already figured it out. The Qin Dynasty is no longer helpful. The reason why I've never surrendered is because I can't convince myself. After all, I've been in the army at the age of 18 and have been twenty years since then. From a small soldier to a heavy general today, Daqin has given me too many of them. I can't give up for a while. Secondly, my family is in Chang'an. The fate of the Ma family in the past is very clear. But now Murong Ke has sent my family back, so that I can see the mind and pattern of Deng's country. Since that's the case, then I'll surrender!"

The Ma family refers to the descendants of Ma Sheng in Chang'an City. When the Ma clan of the Western Liang surrendered to Deng State, Emperor Qin was furious and confiscated the Ma family's family and destroyed the clan.

"Since the general has made a decision, it is hard for the officials to say anything else. As for the same sentence, no matter what decision the general makes, the officials will support it." Yan Xiong was overjoyed and said hurriedly.

"Thank you!" Chen Zhi said to Yan Xiong with a smile. Chen Zhi didn't know Yan Xiong's true identity, so he was very grateful for Yan Xiong's support!

On the third day of the fifth year of Tiantong, Chen Zhi opened the city gate and submitted a letter to Murong Ke to surrender. After Murong Ke personally appeased Chen Zhi, he took over the city of Fengchi City. For ten thousand Qin troops surrendered, Murong Ke did not dare to use it for the time being, so he had to leave them in Fengchi and leave a group of troops to guard him. Chen Zhi was taken by him and went to Hangu Pass together.

On the fourth day of the fifth year of Tiantong, Li Siye and Deng Han led their troops to Chang'an City. Nearly 300,000 troops were stationed under Chang'an City.

In the fifth year of Tiantong, on the sixth day of the April 19th, Murong Ke led his army to capture Xin'an, but the Qin army's food and grass that had been hoarded in Xin'an had already been transported to Hangu Pass by the Qin army, so all Murong Ke got was an empty city.
Chapter completed!