Plan to cut off the nine states

Guo Shifeng really wanted to help King Wu return to Yecheng. For him, this was a great achievement.

Xu Chu was not in a hurry. He first sent Xue Jinyao back to the camp of the Four Princes' Mansion, and then invited Guo and Fei to patrol the city with him. Fei Zhen refused because he had not forgiven King Wu for his deception.

Xu Chu took Guo Shifeng to the Nancheng battlefield first, and then to Liang Jun's camp to meet Ma Wei and absolve everyone of their sins, especially the murder of the Xue family.

Xu Chu told Xue Jinyao that no one was allowed to use "magic power" anymore. In the blink of an eye, he was about to break his promise. He had to do this to put King Liang and his men at ease.

In fact, he didn't have to do anything. He just brought a few guards into the camp to show his trust in King Liang. That was enough.

Liang Jun fought with officers and soldiers in the city, suffering the most heavy casualties. The soldiers regarded it as punishment from the coming king, but the survivors also felt that their sins had been cleared, and the arrival of King Wu was equivalent to the final proof.

Ma Wei sat tiredly on the chair and could hardly stand up. When he saw King Wu, he could only hold his hands for a moment and said with a smile: "I hope King Wu will be satisfied."

Xu Chu stepped forward, personally helped King Liang up, and said to the dozens of generals in the hall: "In today's battle, Liang's army has made more achievements than all other armies. Maitreya Buddha and King Ancestor are very satisfied."

The generals looked at each other with relieved smiles on their faces.

Ma Wei also laughed, chatted a few more words with Xu Chu, and turned his gaze to Guo Shifeng's face, "Isn't this Mr. Guo who drifted with the crowd? Why did he drift back again?"

As early as more than ten years ago, Guo Shifeng had mastered the Iron Skin Kung Fu and would not be embarrassed by anything. This was not a superficial cover-up. From the bottom of his heart, he did not feel that he had done anything wrong. He stepped forward and cupped his hands and smiled: "You will become famous in one battle. The name of the King of Liang is also said by soldiers in Jizhou, "I hope Ning will meet the water, but not the mountains." This means that King Ning leads his troops like water, flowing endlessly, and will eventually be able to capture it. It is difficult first and then easy. King Liang is like a mountain during the battle, unable to move even an inch. Let’s face it, the more we fight, the more discouraged we are, as the saying goes: first it’s easy and then it’s hard.”

Knowing that this was Guo Shifeng's fabricated words, Ma Wei still found it useful and said to Xu Chu: "King Wu, don't be fooled. This man's only ability is to adapt to the wind. If the officers and soldiers are strong, he will go to the officers and soldiers. If the rebel army is strong, he will run back." Look for opportunities.”

Guo Shifeng said with a smile: "The King of Liang has given me the reward, but I do have some ability to identify the strong and the weak. My coming here is enough to prove that the rebel army has been quite successful in this battle."

Ma Wei laughed and still spoke to Xu Chu: "I am very tired, but I still have a little strength left. I can chop off another head for King Wu, especially the head with a weak neck."

Guo Shifeng touched his neck, "My neck is indeed fragile. It doesn't need to be chopped with a knife. A few harsh words can scare it into breaking. So please, King Liang, please spare me. My mouth is open on my head. If How can I send a message to the King of Wu and the King of Liang if his head is lost?"

Ma Wei knew that King Wu would not kill Guo Shifeng at this time, so he sneered, "It's enough to pass the message for King Wu alone. I only obey King Wu's orders."

Guo Shifeng noticed the change in King Liang's attitude early on. At this time, he was sure that King Liang had surrendered to King Wu and said with a smile: "The wisdom of King Wu just needs the courage of King Liang. Only with both wisdom and courage can we be complete."

Ma Wei let out a hey, Guo Shifeng put the name "Yong" on his head, which was too perfunctory and lost his usual level of eloquence. He said to Xu Chu: "The King of Wu does not need to stay with me for a long time. You are talking about war. Liang Jun still has more than a dozen strong soldiers." Wan, if you make peace, everyone in Liang Jun will have no objection."

"Brother Ma, please rest early. We will discuss it tomorrow morning." Xu Chu said goodbye and left with Guo Shifeng.

The two of them circled the city for a short half time, returned to the camp, and went to watch the ceremony of worshiping the gods.

I don’t know who started it, but there is a rumor in the city that everyone must offer sacrifices to the ancestor king. The method is to throw a piece of dry wood into the bonfire, and then silently recite the names of yourself and the whole family. Sincerely, go straight to heaven, and you will be blessed by the ancestor king in the future. So much.

The soldiers in the city lined up to throw firewood, and even those who were not from the Incarnation Army came to worship. Their piety was no less pious than others.

The bonfire never goes out and burns ever brighter.

Guo Shifeng was surprised by such a scene. Seeing no one around him, he whispered: "This is really a strange thing. Xue Liujia was a rogue magician when he was alive, but he became a god after his death... According to this calculation, will the Emperor of All Things be able to Can he become a saint?"

"If Tiancheng is resurrected, the emperor of all things will become a god and a Buddha." Xu Chu had no doubt about this.

"Haha, that must be the case. King Wu had expected such a thing to happen before?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "In my plan, if Xue Liujia dies, he is dead, and there will be no further impact. But things are unpredictable, and there are always changes you can't think of."

"Wang Wang will continue to use this banner?"

Xu Chu still shook his head, "It is enough to use it as a temporary measure to boost morale in troubled times. When I free up my hands a little bit, I will remove Xue Liujia's shadow little by little until no one mentions the World Army anymore."

Guo Shifeng nodded, "I understand. Let's go back and talk about business."

This was not a meaningless wandering. After a short circle, Guo Shifeng's impression of the rebel army changed greatly. This was no longer the ragtag group he had been divided into in the city, but a large army that was condensing.

Fei Zhen was not there, so he left a message saying that he would go to the palace to see Cao Shenxi and would be back soon.

Guo Shifeng did not wait for Fei Zang and said directly: "The situation over there in Yecheng is like this: Although a lot of troops were lost in this battle, the foundation is still there. The King of Jibei and his son temporarily lost power because they misjudged you. Now the King of Eastern Hunan In charge, Wang Tiemei is in charge of the army. The two of them have the same idea. They are not in a hurry to recapture the Eastern Capital, but want to keep the siege until the rebels can no longer hold on. "

"Is the food and grass in Jizhou enough?" Xu Chu asked. The rebel army's food and grass is not a problem for the time being. It is much more abundant than the officers and soldiers who came from afar.

"It's not enough. It could have lasted for more than ten days, but now it can last for a few more days."

"Um?"

"Too many people died today." Guo Shifeng said with a smile.

"The Rebels will definitely hold out longer."

Fei Zhen was sent back by the guards with a much calmer expression. He nodded to Xu Chu and sat next to Guo Shifeng without saying a word.

Guo Shifeng did not shy away and continued: "The King of Eastern Hunan understood this truth, so he personally sent an envoy to Hanzhou and invited the general to lead his troops back to the Eastern Capital."

"Hey, the general doesn't have enough food and grass there. He has to search for food in Hanzhou, and he won't be able to come back until spring at least."

"That's right, so the King of Jibei went south to Jingzhou and invited the Xi family back."

"The Xi family fled all the way back to Jingzhou, but they don't have enough troops. What will happen if they come back?"

"There are no soldiers in Jingzhou, but there is some food and grass stored. If it can be transported, it will be enough to support the officers and soldiers until the beginning of spring, just in time to wait for the arrival of the general with strong troops and horses."

Xu Chu thought for a while, "When the two kings go to Hanzhou and Jingzhou, who will go to Jiangdong to invite the Lan family and Liang family?"

"We did send an envoy, just as a gesture. Both kings believe that Jiangdong will definitely put forward harsh conditions, so it's okay not to invite him."

"The natural and upright emperor is in Jiangdong, and the two princes abandoned Jiangdong and invited Han and Jingzhou. I can't think of why the general and Xi Yun agreed."

"The general is related to the King of Xiangdong..." Guo Shifeng smiled, "The general does not have much ambition at the moment. As long as he is promised a heavy bribe and a little guarantee from Yecheng, it will be enough to tempt him. As for Jingzhou , Xi Yun's troops are sparse, and he is most afraid that the rebels will turn south after occupying Luozhou. From this point of view, there is an 80% chance of victory. "

Xu Chu was thinking about finding loopholes in Yecheng's plan when Fei Zhen, who was opposite him, suddenly spoke and became indignant again, "It's another conspiracy. You lie to me, I lie to you. Whoever gives his trust first is the loser. The world is like this. If things get messed up, I don’t think any of you can win the world, and you will all perish in the end.”

Guo Shifeng was walking with Fei Zhen, but he disagreed with his statement at this time and said with a smile: "At this moment, the master of conspiracy today may not be able to become the master of benevolence and righteousness in the future. Mr. Fei has experienced many things. Emperor Zhang Xi back then , using conspiracy and tricks, wouldn’t he still become the founding king?”

Fei Zhen sneered, "You are conspirators, so you only see the late emperor's skills, but not his uprightness. Alas, it's not about how many conspiracies and tricks are used, but -" Fei Zhen looked at Xu Chu, "You If you take conspiracies too seriously and call them expedients, you will be reluctant to throw them away in the future. If you are good at conspiracies, people around you will naturally think that conspiracies are a good thing and follow suit. After you have tasted the benefits, you can still stop it. ”

Guo Shifeng still replied: "It's like fighting. Manpower is exhausted. If you fight a few times, the strong and weak will naturally be distinguished. The weak will bow to the strong. This is the way of nature. The same is true for fighting of wits. Many people want to play tricks, but they may not be able to do so. If you come out, you will be defeated sooner or later.”

Fei Zhen only looked at Xu Chu, "If everyone retreats when faced with difficulties, no one will rebel. If you convince others with conspiracy and tricks, there will always be unconvinced people who think they are smart and challenge you."

Guo Shifeng laughed several times and was about to open his mouth to argue when Xu Chu said: "This is not a school. Let's talk less. Tomorrow the officers and soldiers will sacrifice Wu Jun to the God of War. They must have something to ask for. You two might as well say it clearly."

Fei Zhen kept silent while Guo Shifeng said: "The king of eastern Hunan has no hope for the king of Wu. Although the king of Jibei went to Jingzhou, he still regarded the king of Wu as his own family. He said, 'After this battle, the king of Wu I must have completely won over the morale of the army, and there is no longer any excuse to refuse to submit. I hope you will do your best and seize the last opportunity. If you really don't want to submit, don't use weapons again. After the snow melts in spring, the two sides will have a decisive battle to determine the outcome. '"

Fei Zhen couldn't help but add: "To put it bluntly, the Wu troops staying outside the city are the hostages. If you attack, the officers and soldiers will immediately kill the hostages in front of the formation. It's that simple. Nowadays, it is difficult to distinguish between the officers and the robbers, and everyone uses them at all costs." Extremely."

Xu Chu once again heard "Do your own thing" and smiled: "Mr. Guo Xian came to be a lobbyist, why did Mr. Fei come with you?"

"Let me take a look at your face." Fei Zhen shook his head, obviously disappointed, "I would like to thank General Cao for his previous help - can you let him out of the city?"

Fei Zhen, who had always had a stiff attitude, suddenly made such a request. Xu Chu smiled and shook his head, "Sending the Queen Mother is useful. Freeing General Cao, I can't imagine how it will help me. On the contrary, it will increase the number of officers and soldiers with a general."

"Yecheng will not reuse General Cao. I just don't want to see him ruined and die in vain in the city."

"Then I can't let him go. The one who will ruin General Cao's reputation must be Yecheng."

Fei Zhen said nothing again.

Guo Shifeng stood up to say goodbye. In fact, he had nothing to say. When he followed King Wu to patrol the city, he already got the answer, "I am just a messenger. I hope King Wu will not treat me as an outsider. The King of Jibei and his son never forget King Wu. Before the grain and grass arrive from Jingzhou, King Wu still has a chance."

"Before my next attack, the officers and soldiers also have the opportunity to return to Jizhou safely." Xu Chu said with a smile. This time, the initiative was not in the hands of the officers and soldiers.

As for Wang Dian and others, Xu Chu deeply regretted it, but did not think it was an unacceptable loss, especially compared with today's casualties.