The ministers were very surprised that Cen Peng, who had been in Juyang for half a year, did not surrender to the power of the 100,000 army, nor was moved by the persuasion of Sun Yi, Deng Feng and others. Why did he immediately surrender the city as soon as he received the letter from Emperor Jianshi?

Some people speculated that the emperor promised high officials and generous salaries and was awarded a marquis. Some people speculated that the emperor threatened Cen Peng's family and threatened him not to surrender again, so he wanted to destroy the Cen clan after entering Handan.

In fact, there was nothing. The emperor neither promised anything nor used the Cen clan to control him.

Liu Yu really just started from the friendship and persuaded Cen Peng to surrender.

This is based on Liu Yu's understanding of Cen Peng, and history enthusiast Liu Yu has studied the famous generals in the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Cen Peng was originally the county magistrate of Jiyang in the new dynasty. Liu Yan raised an army and conquered Jiyang. Cen Peng was defeated and fled. Later, he and Yan Shuo held on to Wancheng. Liu Yan besieged the city for several months, and Wancheng had no choice but to eat each other. Cen Peng had no choice but to surrender.

The Han army suffered heavy losses in Wancheng and suffered all the hardships of Cen Peng. After the city was broken, the generals wanted to eat Cen Peng's meat and unanimously demanded to kill Cen Peng, but only Liu Yan tried his best to stop it.

Liu Yan was generous and did have a demeanor. He loved Cen Peng's talents and valued his loyalty and righteousness. He advised Liu Xuan to pardon Cen Peng and take him under his command. From then on, Cen Peng was devoted to Liu Yan.

When Liu Yan was killed, Cen Peng was very sad and often cried secretly. He was highly valued in Gengshi Dynasty and was appointed as the prefect of Yingchuan. Before he took office, Yingchuan was captured by Liu Mao. Cen Peng had to take his subordinates to Han Xin, the prefect of Hanoi. When Liu Xiu pacified Hebei, he urged Han Xin to surrender, and from then on he followed Liu Xiu to fight south and north, making great contributions.

When Cen Peng joined Liu Xiu's command, he once said: "Peng Xing Meng Situ saw Quanji, but he did not repay his kindness. He was suddenly in trouble and was hated forever. Now he encountered it again, and he hoped to be self-reliant."

Mr. Situ is Liu Yan. Cen Peng said that he was able to protect his wealth because of Liu Yan. Before he could repay him, Liu Yan was killed. Only then did he "hater forever".

Liu Yu inferred that Cen Peng was originally valued by Liu Yan, and the reason why he followed Liu Xiu was largely because Liu Yan projected his affection for Liu Yan onto his brother Liu Xiu. This is also the reason why many of Liu Yan's subordinates turned to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu did inherit the legacy of his brother Liu Yan.

The death of Liu Yan's two sons Liu Zhang and Liu Xing caused huge losses to Liu Xiu. Not only did the internal strife reduce his strength, but the people's hearts also changed.

Originally, Liu Xiu was one of Liu Yan, who was Liu Yan's heir and representative of interests after his death. After this incident, Liu Xiu and Liu Yan were completely separated and clearly stood opposite each other. Although he only dealt with two nephews and did not involve his dead brother, Liu Yan's title was still the same, but it is undeniable that it was because Liu Xiu made Liu Yan a loser, which made some of the original fans of Liu Yan dissatisfied with Liu Xiu.

Cen Peng was trapped in Juyang for half a year. Although he had some news about Handan, he knew nothing about it. Liu Yu started with this infighting in the Hebei court, and started with Liu Yan's purging by Liu Xiu, and explained in detail that Liu Yan was affectionate and righteous. Now his descendants died at the hands of Liu Xiu. Cen Peng did not want to avenge his kindness, but instead devoted himself to his enemy Liu Xiu, and his righteousness was incompatible.

This was a large-scale sow discord, but it was logically understandable and in line with the moral standards at that time. Cen Peng would naturally think about it more when he saw it. As for his success, Liu Yu was not sure at that time. Therefore, Cen Peng's surrender was an unexpected joy for Liu Yu.

Because of this incident, Emperor Jianshi was even more deified. The ministers all said that he clearly saw Wanli, and was a hero who was rarely seen in a century.

Even Banden, who often talked indifferently, was amazed by this matter, "Your Majesty, you are so amazing. A letter is more effective than a hundred thousand troops."

"Nothing strange, I just found a step for Cen Peng."

Liu Yu flicked his sleeves, turned around and left with his hands behind his back, hiding his merits and fame, and his back was so cool.

Banden looked at his back and curled his lips habitually, "This person is so fat that he is panting... But I still don't understand, how did you find this step?"

"Your head is 90% new when you are old." Wu Gai, who has never criticized others, pointed at Bandeng's head and laughed at him once. "Cen Peng is in a desperate situation, either die or surrender. He is a famous scholar. He is bound by the righteousness of the monarch and minister. He really would rather die than surrender. But, doesn't he really want to live? Are his subordinates willing to follow him to die?"

"Who is willing to die if he can survive? Alas, this person can be called a tough guy, a person who is loyal to righteousness." Banden sighed.

Wu Gai said: "Your Majesty's letter was dictated by him, and I wrote it on my behalf. There was no mention of reward in the letter. And Your Majesty promised that no matter whether Cen Peng was willing to surrender or not, the Han army would protect the safety of the Cen clan after entering Handan. In other words, Your Majesty did not use high-ranking officials to win him over, nor did your family members to threaten him, but just let him judge and make decisions on his own. The most important thing is that Your Majesty opposed Liu Yan and Liu Xiu, breaking the righteousness that Cen Peng adhered to, and breaking the moral barriers of his surrender. According to Your Majesty, Cen Peng's surrender did not damage his name of loyalty and righteousness, but instead reflected Liu Yan's love and friendship. With this step, he would of course come down."

"Speaking of this, I don't think it's anything great!" Banden immediately didn't think the emperor was magical.

"This is exactly what Your Majesty is. It is impossible for ordinary people to put themselves in the shoes of others and find ways to solve problems. It is not easy to send a ladder or build a staircase."

"You scholars have so many intestines!"

Wu Gai suddenly laughed, making Bandon feel irritated. Because Wu Gai has always been a gentle and elegant image, at most he smiles with a curved corner of his mouth. This tooth-showing laugh is really rare.

Banden looked at him in confusion and said, "What the hell are you seeing? You smile like this."

Wu Gai smiled and said, "I think you and Your Majesty are really two extremes. Your Majesty specially sends ladders to build steps for others. You are just removing ladders and dismantling platforms!"

"Where do I have it?" Banden retorted with no confidence, thinking to himself that it seemed to be true, and he was a specialist in destroying the emperor.

It is really rare to dismantle the platform and be granted the title of marquis!

With Cen Peng's surrender, the war south of the river came to an end. Ji Zun could not withstand the attack of Liu Mao's army and withdrew back to Hebei, deployed defenses along the river, and was still resisting stubbornly. Lai Xu was still fighting alone in Chenliu and refused Liu Yu's surrender. It seemed that this man would not cry until he saw the coffin.

King Zhang Bu of Qi was still fighting with the prefect of Taishan appointed by Liu Xiu and others, but the backbone general, the fifth reincarnation, had already led the pioneer troops to enter the game. The three forces fought in Qingzhou, and it was difficult to tell the difference.

After the emperor accepted Cen Peng's surrender, he immediately entrusted him with important tasks and appointed him as the general of Pingqi, allowing him to lead his army into Qingzhou and pacify Qi. Liu Yu believed that Cen Peng's original prestige in building Wuhan would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Sure enough, as soon as Cen Peng's army entered Qingzhou, the county magistrates and local tyrants immediately surrendered. Cen Peng's army was in Qingzhou and persuaded him to surrender everywhere. The troops were not bloody and he went to several cities in a row. The situation in Qingzhou immediately reversed, and Cen Peng occupied the dominant position.

Several large armies of Jianshi Han advanced northward, crossed the river, and pointed directly to Hebei, and had the potential to sweep Youji. However, Geng Yan, the general of the cavalry who was originally in Hebei, who was determined to lead his army into Handan, received a saint order to change the direction of his march, turn eastward, block the Liu Xiu army who was walking in Liaodong, and strive to eliminate it in Hebei and completely end the war between the two Han Dynasties.

Geng Yan immediately left his infantry army and personally led 26,000 elite cavalry, turned from Julu to the east, almost chasing Tian Wuji's Eastern Expedition Army, and advanced wildly, heading eastward.

He knew that this was a speed battle. If Liu Xiu could not be stopped in Hebei, it would be difficult for him to destroy him when he entered Youzhou and moved to Liaodong.

With the cavalry's journey, it was only a matter of time before it caught up with the Liu Xiu army, which was a combination of infantry and cavalry. The problem was supply. Geng Yan could not expect to get supplies from the west of Taihang Mountain. The transportation line across Taihang Mountain was too far and too difficult to walk.

He could only supply locally, and the local area was still in a state of mixed forces between the Han Dynasty, and the politics of counties was relatively chaotic. It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be to replenish supplies to such a large-scale army and court.

Geng Yan advanced and raised grain while raising troops, and his speed was much slower.

In fact, compared to Geng Yan, the closest one to Liu Xiu should be Tian Wuji. He had led his army eastward to Xindu County. At this time, Liu Xiu's army had just marched to Bohai County, and Tian Wuji was less than 300 miles away from him.

Tian Wuji led 10,000 Yulin Army to fight eastward, conquering cities and land, and surrendering and acquiring rebels. The number of troops had more than doubled. However, with the size of his army, it is easy to imagine how difficult it is to confront Liu Xiu's more than 100,000 troops.

He should have been stable in the local area, raising food and grass, and waiting for Geng Yan, who was behind him, to compete with Liu Xiu after the two armies met. However, Tian Wuji was young and energetic, and seeing that he was invincible in front of him, how could he be willing to give him to others?

He could not watch Liu Xiu sway north from two or three hundred miles away, so he ordered the entire army to accelerate and must catch up with the clouds. After several days of rapid march, Tian Wuji finally caught up with Liu Xiu's army.

He knew that the strength of the enemy and us was very different, so he did not dare to come forward to challenge him. He just wanted to bite Liu Xiujun's tail, hold him up to advance north, and slowly look for opportunities. But before he could gain a foothold, Liu Xiu's army suddenly arrived from all sides and launched a strong attack on him. Handan's elite troops were strong, Tian Wuji was outnumbered, and suffered a big defeat and almost wiped out the entire army.

This was the first defeat that Tian Wuji, the General of Pingliang, encountered since the Eastern Expedition. However, this time he was defeated extremely badly, with most of his troops losing their troops, and he only led the remaining defeated generals to break through the siege.
Chapter completed!