Plan to cut off the nine states

The victory came so suddenly that the rebel army fell into chaos. They were all busy chasing the officers and soldiers and robbing property. The generals lost their soldiers and the soldiers were far away from their companions. They did not reunite until dawn and returned to the Eastern Capital happily with the spoils.

The captured officers and soldiers were not happy. They were defeated inexplicably and did not understand what was going on until they surrendered.

The Wu people were not happy either. Many people's relatives and friends were burned to death. At first, they thought it was the officers and soldiers who set the fire, so they killed hundreds of prisoners. When they learned the truth, they were even more indignant. However, King Ning had already fled with his soldiers. They could not catch up and could only vent their anger on the wife of King Ning who stayed in the city.

Xu Chu was even happier. Although no one mentioned a word in front of him, he could not help but blame himself: the death of these Wu soldiers was directly related to him. If he had not agreed to King Ning's return to the city and sent King Ning to attack Runan, the tragedy would not have happened.

He thought he had calculated everything, but unexpected things happened: the death of the general made his plan to repel the enemy unnecessary, and Ning Baoguan's return killing made him regret it even more.

Regret could not recover any losses. Xu Chu summoned the captured officers and soldiers, comforted them a little, and promised that as long as they were willing to join the rebels, they could enter the city and reunite with their families.

The general was dead, and the Luozhou soldiers were leaderless and surrendered one after another.

The situation was becoming more and more favorable for the rebels. At this time, news came from the city that a group of Wu soldiers were going to burn King Ning's wife and children to death, but were obstructed by the general Jiangshi, and were now making trouble.

For the Wu people, bad news came one after another. The news of the death of Meng Senglun and Lei Dajun had just come out, and the children of the seven clans suddenly became leaderless. They acted quickly and chose a new leader in a short time.

Meng Yingbo was Meng Senglun's younger brother. He never intended to fight for power. He was reluctantly pushed to be the leader. The first thing he had to do was to seek justice from the King of Wu.

Meng Yingbo was in his thirties, with a young appearance, looking just in his early twenties. He was easily excited. He came into the hall alone to see the King of Wu. He bowed first, then knelt down, touched his forehead to the ground, and cried loudly without saying a word.

Xu Chu stood up and helped him up, "General Meng, please stand up. I already know..."

"The governor doesn't know!" Meng Yingbo stood up, but still refused to stand up. He wiped away his tears and said sternly: "My brother died unclearly, but I don't ask why, because my brother has his own reasons. But Wang Dian and others..." Meng Yingbo cried again, wiped his tears three times before wiping away his tears, "Since the destruction of the country, the people of Wu have never suffered such a disaster. If the governor does not make decisions for us, he is unworthy of being called the King of Wu!"

Meng Yingbo's words were disrespectful, but Xu Chu didn't care about him and said: "General Meng, don't worry, Ning Baoguan is dead, let him be proud for a few days, within five days, I will send troops to encircle and suppress him, and use his people "Head, pay tribute to the spirits of the Wu soldiers in heaven."

"And those river workers, not one can be left alive!"

"No."

Meng Yingbo was about to get up, but remembered something and knelt down again, "Ning Wang's wife and children are in the city, taken away by General Jiangshi, please ask the governor to hand them over and let us avenge them."

"I have sent someone to summon General Jiangshi, and she will give you an explanation when she comes."

Meng Yingbo stood up, "We believe in the governor, my brother left a suicide note, and asked us to be loyal to the governor. The governor must avenge us, otherwise, my brother and those Wu soldiers will die in vain."

Xu Chu comforted him softly and finally sent him out, exhausted physically and mentally.

Guo Shifeng had been staying with the King of Wu, and at this time he stepped forward and whispered, "Things are a bit troublesome."

Xu Chu signaled the guards to withdraw and let Tang Weitian go to rest. He was no longer worried about Guo Shifeng. At least at this moment, Guo Shifeng had no one to rely on in the inner and outer parts of Dongdu, and he was trustworthy.

"What's the next plan, King Wu?"

"First negotiate peace with Yecheng, then chase Ning Baoguan. If I don't kill him, I'll be ashamed of the people of Wu."

"Ning Baoguan fled eastward, and the King of Wu chased him, and he would have to enter the borders of Huai and Wu states, and I'm afraid there would be a conflict with Yecheng."

Xu Chu's original plan was to negotiate peace with Yecheng and temporarily give Huai and Wu states to Yecheng to ensure that there would be no worries in the east, so that he could concentrate on expanding westward, and after the foundation was solid, he would turn to the east to compete for supremacy.

Ning Baoguan's fire destroyed the entire plan.

Xu Chu gritted his teeth and said, "No matter how much it costs, I will kill Ning Baoguan. I made the mistake first, so I have to correct it." Seeing that King Wu insisted, Guo Shifeng nodded and said, "King Xiangdong is in King Wu's hands, it should not be difficult to persuade Yecheng." "I'd like to trouble Mr. Guo to go there in person." "I have no choice but to do it. But I think hunting down Ning Baoguan is not a top priority..." The guards outside the hall came in and reported, "The general is here." Guo Shifeng bowed and said goodbye, whispering, "There are at least 20,000 soldiers in Luozhou. Although it's not a lot, it's enough for King Wu to make room..." Xu Chu was stunned. Before he could ask clearly, Xue Jinyao stepped in. Guo Shifeng quickly stepped out and said nothing more. Xue Jinyao was alone. Seeing that there were no guards in the hall, she took off her sword and put it at the door. She came with only the stick of the world. Before the King of Wu could speak, she said, "Ning Baoguan deserves to die, but Niu Tiannv is innocent, and those children are even more innocent."

Xu Chu looked at Xue Jinyao and suddenly understood the intention of Guo Shifeng's words: as long as the Luozhou soldiers can be taken as their own, the number of the world-defining army is large, but its position in the righteous army is no longer so important.

"If the Wu people want revenge, they don't ask whether they are guilty or not. Niu Tiannv is the wife of Ning Baoguan, and the children are Ning Baoguan's children. That's enough. When the world-defining army broke through the city in Qinzhou, they didn't just seek revenge on the corrupt officials themselves, right?"

"That's different..." Xue Jinyao still couldn't argue with the King of Wu. After thinking for a while, he simply said, "I can't hand them over."

"Niu Tiannu has done you a favor?"

"It's not a favor, but she used to be very good to me, sometimes even closer than my mother. Now she asks me for help, I can't refuse." Xue Jinyao took two steps forward, untied the stick of descent, and held it with both hands, "I am willing to use the stick to exchange the lives of Niu Tiannu and her four children."

Xue Jinyao attached great importance to the stick of descent, and was willing to hand it over, which was a great determination.

Xu Chu didn't want this stick, he would rather stay away from the King of Descent and Maitreya.

"You put me in a very difficult position. As the King of Wu, I must make the decision for the people of Wu."

"You are the King of Wu, so you can't... Forget it." Xue Jinyao carefully placed the stick of advent on the ground, and then took off his helmet. "I will no longer be the advent general. I will use it to exchange for the lives of Niu Tiannv's family of four. If you don't agree, I can only exchange my own life."

Xu Chu stared at his wife, "Do you know that if it was you who was in trouble and asked for help, Niu Tiannv would never go against her husband's wishes to protect you. She would hand you over with her own hands."

"I know, Niu Tiannv wholeheartedly supports Ning Baoer and is willing to die, let alone my life? But I am not her. I always want to distinguish between gratitude and resentment. If it is you who is in danger..." Xue Jinyao paused for a while before saying, "I will go to save you immediately. I will take as many people as I can. If no one follows, I will go by myself. I am not as smart as Niu Tiannv, and I may not be as obedient as her, but I..."

Xue Jinyao is not good at speaking, and he can't say anything after thinking for a long time.

"You go back to the camp first."

"Niu Tiannu..."

"This matter is not over yet, take the descent stick and wait for my news."

Xue Jinyao knew that this matter really embarrassed the King of Wu, picked up the descent stick and helmet, and said: "At least I let the King of Liang go."

"Hmm?"

"You don't really believe in Maitreya's descent, you all don't believe it, all the worship and praying to the gods are fake, just to make everyone forget the cause of my parents' death and save the King of Liang's life. The life of the person who killed the King of Descent can be saved, but Niu Tiannu, who didn't have a drop of Wu soldiers' blood on her hands, has to take the blame. If this is the world that the King of Wu wants to establish, please come to the North Camp in person and kill Niu Tiannu and her son in person, I won't stop you."

Xue Jinyao turned and left, and the last few words he left were unexpectedly unable to refute Xu Chu.

Xu Chu called in Meng Yingbo and other Wu generals and said to them: "Five days later, I will personally lead the troops to chase Ning Baoguan and kill his wife and children in front of the battle. I want to see if Ning Baoguan really doesn't care about them at all."

The generals looked at each other and were willing to accept this result.

Meng Yingbo said: "Why wait for five days? The Wu people have been prepared and can set off at any time. Moreover, if we wait one more day, Ning Baoguan will run farther away. Can we catch up?"

"Ning Baoguan has no foundation in the east. He will either be trapped in a bitter battle or surrender to the Zhun and Wu soldiers. In these five days, I will lay a net to make Ning Baoguan have nowhere to go, and then take the prepared troops to encircle and suppress Ning Baoguan who has no way out."

"You are too cautious in governing. It seems that the death of so many Wu people can't move you." Meng Yingbo blurted out without considering the consequences.

Xu Chu's face darkened, "Since General Xiao Meng thinks I am too cautious, please lead your troops to chase Ning Baoguan, set off immediately, and take as many people as you can. When you bring back Ning Baoguan's head, I will kneel in front of the army to thank General Xiao Meng, and I am willing to give up the throne of King of Wu and become General Xiao Meng's vanguard from now on."

Meng Yingbo blushed. Although he was impatient, he knew that even if the troops were equal, he was not Ning Baoguan's opponent. Moreover, with his status, he could not gather many people. Going to chase him would only lead to his death.

"I made a slip of the tongue, please don't take it seriously. We all know that Zheng Zheng is a master of strategy and will definitely avenge the Wu people. I will follow Zheng Zheng and fight wherever he points, without any hesitation."

Xu Chu waved his hand and ordered the Wu generals to retreat, feeling even more exhausted.

Guo Shifeng waited outside for a long time, and came in and said, "King Liang wants to see you."

"Please come in."

Ma Wei hurried in and bowed, saying, "After this battle, King Wu has made a name for himself. Please forgive me for being frank. Compared with the fight for the tripod, Dongdu is only a county, and Ning Baoguan is only the revenge of one man, which is not enough to disturb King Wu's heart."

Ma Wei had obviously talked with Guo Shifeng. The two despised each other, but they had the same idea on this matter.

"If I don't kill Ning Baoguan to avenge him, how can I convince the people of Wu? If the people of Wu are not convinced, how can I convince the people of the world?"

"More than half of the Wu soldiers have been consumed. As long as King Wu persists, they can't accomplish anything big, but they provide an excellent opportunity for King Wu to lead the entire army alone, and there will be no more words of "coming to the world" from now on."

Xu Chu said nothing.

Ma Wei cupped his hands, "King Wu must think I have selfish motives, and I do, but it's more than that - General Jiangshi is a scourge after all, and King Jiangshi's family must be eradicated without leaving a single branch or leaf. Besides, King Wu can't always let a famous woman lead the army, right?"