Plan to cut off the nine states

Tan Wuwei stood holding his sword, like a proud and stubborn thief who would not bow his head to admit his mistake or reveal his accomplices even if he was caught by others.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "What is the second brother thinking about?"

Tan Wuwei didn't seem to hear it. After a long time, he sighed, "Oh, I didn't expect that I would be here today."

"What happened today? Second brother doesn't want to stay with me?"

Tan Wuwei shook his head and sighed, somewhat similar to Cao Shenxi after being captured.

"Does King Jin know that you are advising me?" Xu Chu guessed. He could not think of any other reason for Shen Dan to send Tan Wuwei as a gift.

"I blame me for talking too much. I persuaded the King of Jin to choose an opportunity to go to war, but he refused, so I said, 'If he had not listened to my idea, the King of Wu would not have captured the Eastern Capital.' This is the result."

"If I had known this, I should have announced this from the beginning so that the second brother could come to my side."

"Alas, it's a pity that I have been waiting for so many years. I thought the opportunity had arrived, but I didn't expect... alas."

"I'm counting on my second brother to continue to give me advice. Let's show off our talents together."

"no."

"Why not? The second brother has already given me some advice. Going a little further, when we were in Jinyang, the second brother even proposed to go to Jiangdong with me."

"At this time and that time, I was a guest without an owner in Jinyang, waiting for a price, just to choose a good owner. When Jinyang raised troops, I was a minister of the Shen family, how could I change my family again? As for the sneak attack on the Eastern Capital - in fact, I If the King of Wu can capture Dongdu, it will be great. If he cannot capture it, he can also lure away the officers and soldiers and reduce the pressure on the Jin army. "

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Fortunately, I captured Dongdu. No matter what, it is still the fault of my second brother."

Tan Wuwei still sighed, "It would have been better if you had become the King of Wu earlier. I can choose at will. Maybe I can become the King of Wu. Now that I am a minister of the Jin Dynasty, even if I am demoted, I can only think about it silently and have nothing else to think about. I will never think about it again." I won’t give advice to King Wu.”

"Even if it's an 'unwell-intentioned' idea, you won't say it?"

Tan Wuwei shook his head and expressed his refusal.

Xu Chu didn't force it, "Okay, second brother, it's up to you. Since King Jin has left you here, you must obey his orders and be a guard by my side."

Tan Wuwei nodded reluctantly.

"Second brother won't be loyal to the King of Jin wholeheartedly and prepare to assassinate me, right? There are so many assassins nowadays that it's difficult to guard against him." Xu Chu thought of Fei Zhen. Although he was not injured, he was still frightened.

"A soldier is deceitful; a minister is straightforward. If I am on the battlefield, I will use all possible means. Outside the battlefield, don't say I am an assassin. Even if the King of Jin wants to send an assassin, I will persuade him to give up. If If assassins can solve the problem, why do heroes need to recruit troops? If you can conquer the world with just daggers, what else do you need to read? "

Xu Chu himself had been an assassin, and when he heard these words, he felt a little ashamed, "What the second brother said is absolutely true. Although assassins often exist, they are not the right way. Since ancient times, there has been no one who relies on assassins to rule the world."

Tan Wuwei looked at Xu Chu and said, "Even if the King of Wu and the King of Jin rise up on the same day, I will most likely choose the King of Jin."

"Because I once assassinated the Emperor of All Things?"

"Um."

"Second brother, you think the Emperor of All Things shouldn't be killed?"

"The emperor of all things should be killed, but the person who kills him is unlucky. It is like a piece of gold at the bottom of the toilet pit. Although it is valuable, whoever takes it out will be ridiculed."

"Second brother's metaphor is really...unique."

"King Wu's assassin is obviously an impatient person. After assassinating him, he fled. His plan was obviously poor. There was only the first step, not the second step. This is the reason why I will not join the king of Wu."

Although Tan Wuwei's words didn't sound good, they were very true. Xu Chu thought for a while, "Is there a way to change everyone's view of me?"

"Yes, but King Wu can't do it."

"Second brother, come and listen. Anyway, this is not giving me advice, it's just chatting."

"It's very simple. Abandon stratagems, abandon dangerous tactics, and only pursue the right path. It is better to be benevolent and righteous than to forget justice without seeing benefits. But I say that King Wu can't do it, because when heroes rise up, what they compare is conspiracy. King Wu just uses How can we abandon our own strengths when we know so much?”

Xu Chu laughed, of course he would not give up, "Just wait a little longer, at least I have to save my life so that I can have a chance to practice 'benevolence and righteousness'."

"Who would believe in King Wu's 'benevolence and righteousness' if he didn't have the heart to sacrifice his life for righteousness?"

"Why did the second brother suddenly talk about benevolence and righteousness?" Xu Chu asked with a smile.

"You asked me how to remove the stigma of the past."

"If we talk about stigma, King Jin also has it, right? Did my second brother persuade him to practice benevolence and righteousness?"

"What's the reputation of Prince Jin?"

"Second brother really thinks Shen Mu Shou was killed by someone sent by Shen Cong?"

"What I talk about benevolence and righteousness is not the benevolence and righteousness of defenders of morality, but the benevolence and righteousness of strategies. The name of King Wu's assassin is known all over the world, and King Wu himself has not denied it. Therefore, it needs to be cleaned up with benevolence and righteousness. The name of King Jin's murder of his father is right and wrong. It’s hard to tell, there are only a few believers, and they are deliberately trying to correct the name but confirm the facts, so there is no need to clean up.”

Xu Chu was speechless. Knowing that Tan Wuwei was unwilling to be used by him at this time, he nodded, "Second brother, let's discuss it some other time. Come with me to patrol the camp."

Tan Wuwei tapped the hilt of his sword, "Let me be clear first. Although my sword has grown, it is relatively brittle. It will break with one blow and cannot kill anyone. I can serve as a guard for King Wu, but you don't expect me to protect you. "

Xu Chu laughed, went out and called other guards, patrolled the camp, and returned to the front hall of the Guangling Palace. This place had been transformed into the Chinese Army Shogunate, where Xu Chu handled military affairs.

The kings said that they regarded him as the leader of the army, but in fact they had their own troops. There were not many things that really needed to be asked for instructions. Only the King of Shu asked about everything. After the break between the King of Liang and the King of Jin, he often sent people over. King Ning only knew how to ask for permission. When important people wanted things, the King of Jin rarely sent people to inquire.

Xu Chu quickly handled the matters at hand and dismissed everyone, leaving Lei Dajun and Dai Pohu behind to discuss with the two generals how to send the King of Jin to break out of the encirclement.

Lei and Dai were so flattered that they didn't even ask the King of Jin why he wanted to break out of the encirclement, but they couldn't think of any clever plan. All they said was that they were just pretending to surrender or forcing a breakthrough. Xu Chu analyzed the pros and cons: "Forcing a breakthrough is definitely not possible. There are many cavalry in Jizhou. Chasing death and defeat is what he is good at. Even if the King of Jin gets through the first hurdle, it will be difficult every step of the way. If he cannot reach Bingzhou, he will have to exhaust his troops. It is safer to pretend to surrender, but I don’t know whether he can deceive the officers and soldiers..."

"Let King Jin go south first and take a detour back to Bingzhou?" Dai Pohu suggested, "I can send soldiers from Jingzhou to lead the way for King Jin."

"Well, this is also a way." Xu Chu nodded, "Let's think about it again and make sure that King Jin returns to Bingzhou safely."

The three of them talked about each other for a long time, but they still couldn't escape from the two methods of forced invasion and false surrender.

Tan Wuwei listened as a guard. He was indifferent at first, then gradually showed disdain, and finally became impatient. He hesitated to speak several times. Xu Chu saw this and pretended he didn't know.

Half an hour later, Xu Chu asked the two generals to go have lunch first, "Let me think about it carefully."

As soon as the two generals left, Tan Wuwei finally couldn't help but said, "There is a ready-made strategy in front of you, how could King Wu not think of it?"

"Is there any ready-made strategy? Impossible. If there is, why doesn't Prince Jin use it?"

"Because this strategy must have the cooperation of King Wu."

"Really? Second brother, please tell me a little more. This is for King Jin, not for me. I won't go against second brother's decision."

Tan Wuwei thought for a while and felt that this was the truth. He couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said: "The King of Wu is the leader of the army. He ordered the kings to take turns to attack. If you follow the strategy I gave you before, the officers and soldiers will definitely be exhausted. It is the turn of the Jin army. When attacking, choose the opportunity. If the officers and soldiers are weak in defense, the King of Jin will immediately lead his troops to break out. If the King of Wu orders the kings to attack in all directions, the officers and soldiers will naturally be unable to divide their forces to pursue the King of Jin. "

Xu Chu had actually guessed this move a long time ago. If not, Shen Dan would not have lowered his stature and sent Liu Youzhong to ask for help, even treating Tan Wuwei as a "gift".

He thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Although I am the military leader, I have no authority over the Central Army and the Xicheng Army. King Ning will not listen to my orders. If King Liang knew that the attack was to help King Jin break out, he would not agree. ”

"The King of Wu does not need to tell the truth to the kings, just say it is a tactic to tire out the troops."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Second brother just now suggested that I give up strategies and dangerous moves, but now you want me to use tricks against the kings?"

Tan Wuwei was stunned, "Well... King Wu doesn't intend to accept my suggestion anyway, so there's no harm in using another trick."

Xu Chu shook his head, "It's not that I don't want to use tricks, or that I don't want to help King Jin, but I have other plans, which are completely different from the second brother's suggestion."

"Plan to defeat the officers and soldiers? It's useless. The strategy of exhausting the troops is the safest. There can't be any better way to fight than this."

"I was hesitating, so I asked my second brother to think about it for me. Someone told me that the only people Jizhou relies on are cavalry, and most of the infantry are recruited temporarily. The cavalry is good at flat ground, not dangerous areas, so it can lure troops into the city, on the streets and alleys Defeat it."

Tan Wuwei shook his head, "What a joke, who gave King Wu this idea? Kill him immediately as punishment. He is clearly framing the rebels!"

"Although this plan is not guaranteed, it is not without merit, right?"

"There are three things that are wrong: First, the weather. The officers and soldiers came from afar under the banner of retaking the Eastern Capital. Their morale was high. Once they entered the city, their morale became even higher. How could they be stopped by dangerous terrain? Second, the geographical advantage. The rebels had not yet occupied the Eastern Capital. Who is willing to fight if they are not familiar with the streets and are unable to advance and retreat? The third is harmony. The kings all have different ambitions. If one side is defeated and the whole city is defeated, the so-called dangerous place is the dangerous place for the rebels, not the officers and soldiers. "

"What if I use several strategies together? First, I attack in turns to tire out the enemy troops and weaken their morale. Then the King of Jin pretends to surrender and invites officers and soldiers to enter the city. I use the Wu army to set up an ambush, take the lead, and supervise the generals to fight hard. At the same time, the kings still go out of the city. In a battle, there is no need for internal and external cooperation. If one side loses, the other side still has a chance. If one side wins, the whole army will win."

Tan Wuwei still shook his head, but did not open his mouth to refute. After a long time, he said: "The rebels are defending the city, and the king of Wu divides his troops to fight against the enemy. This is a taboo for military strategists."

"If I don't divide the troops, the kings will divide their own forces. Instead of forcing them to join forces, it is better to fight separately."

Tan Wuwei suddenly remembered his decision, "I won't give you any advice. King Wu will decide for himself. As long as King Jin can successfully break out of the encirclement, I don't care about anything else."

"This is my decision. I ask my second brother to go back to the Jin camp and explain my intentions to the King of Jin. If the King of Jin has no objections, I will implement it as soon as possible."

"King Wu really decided like this?"

"I would rather do something wrong than not do it. Second brother, go ahead. I have made up my mind."

Xu Chu has made up his mind, but this is not all he has in mind. He has long since distrusted anyone.