Plan to cut off the nine states

The gates of the eastern capital were open, and people came and went in groups. Many people did not want to escape, but just wanted to test whether the city gates could really be passed through at will. Some people simply wanted to get out of the city to breathe.

Spring is just around the corner, and there is already a hint of warmth in the wind. The snow on the road has melted, and there is mud and water everywhere. Although it is dirty and difficult to walk, it cannot stop the pace of many women, children, the elderly and the weak, pointing excitedly, probably focusing on just one thing. The grass has just some green roots.

Seeing this scene, Ma Wei was extremely surprised, and became more and more confused about King Wu's intentions, so he speeded up, and the guards cleared the way in front and ordered pedestrians to give way.

There were more people in the city, blocking the streets. Ma Wei and his party had to slow down a little, and the advance guard shouted louder.

Even the gate of the Fourth Prince's Mansion barracks was open, and there were no soldiers guarding it. Ma Wei dismounted and ordered people to go in and report.

Not long after the soldiers entered, King Wu came out, dressed as a scholar, but with a sword hanging on his waist. He led a horse in his right hand. Behind him, Tang Weitian led two horses, one for riding and one for carrying luggage.

Tang Weitian's face was even more confused than that of King Liang. He looked left and west, as if he no longer recognized where this place was.

"King Wu...are you going out?" Ma Wei stepped forward to greet him.

Xu Chu was indeed about to go out, "Please ask Liang Wang to lend me a moment to speak."

Xu Chu casually tied the reins to the horse bolting stone and led King Liang into the gatehouse of the palace.

Xu Chu cupped his hands and said, "The King of Liang came just in time. The Eastern Capital belongs to you."

"King Wu...what do you mean?" Ma Wei didn't feel excited. Instead, he felt a little scared, thinking that King Wu was suspicious of him and deliberately said something sarcastic.

"I will not be the King of Wu, but I will be Xu Chu, a commoner."

"King Wu...what do you mean?" Ma Wei was even more frightened.

Xu Chu did not intend to explain more and said with a smile: "The eastern capital belongs to the King of Liang, but the city gates will be kept open for three days, allowing the people to come and go at will. The armies on the north route will not dare to go south easily when they find out the news. The King of Liang can take the opportunity to join forces." Vertical and horizontal, make a plan for yourself.”

"It turns out that the King of Wu wanted to use a trick to confuse the enemy... What does it mean to unite vertically and horizontally? The Jingzhou army..."

"The armies of Jing, Bing, Ji, and Huaizhou will retreat, or at least station their troops, but they will come back sooner or later. Without me as their enemy, they will not sincerely unite. This is the opportunity for King Liang. The Eastern Capital is connected in all directions, and the emperor's residence It is used to control the world, but it is not suitable to use it as a basis to compete for the world. If King Liang is serious, he can use the Eastern Capital to trade for a foothold. "

Ma Wei was speechless, feeling less frightened and more confused.

Xu Chu cupped his hands and said goodbye, "We'll say goodbye today. I don't know when I'll see you again. I just hope that Brother Ma...Brother Ma has his own ideas and I don't need to say anything more. Farewell."

Xu Chu came out of the house, called Tang Weitian, and led the horse out of the house.

Ma Wei stayed in the room, and it took him a while to come back to his senses, and murmured: "He is... crazy."

Ma Wei is not crazy, and his ambition has not changed at all. No matter how big the change is, he can quickly adjust his mentality. He suddenly wakes up and realizes that King Wu is right. This is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, possibly the biggest opportunity in his life. .

He brought not many soldiers, only more than a hundred, and he immediately called them all over. He first inspected the four princes' palaces, and then patrolled the whole city. He also collected nearly a thousand soldiers. They all came back with Tian Jiang or King Wu, and they were busy They plundered the palace and noble houses without even knowing that King Wu had left.

Ma Wei reiterated the military order and brought all the soldiers to the northeast gate, leaving the other gates alone for the time being. He sent dozens of soldiers to inquire about information in different directions, and recalled some of Meng Jin's troops.

Soon after, Ma Wei roughly figured out the situation: the Jingzhou army fled; King Ning was shot by an arrow, his life and death are unknown, and he probably would not dare to come again: the Advent Army seemed to be leaving the Eastern Capital and returning to Qinzhou, and many family members were carrying boxes on their backs. Dan headed outside the city to try to get the first step...

The news that Ma Wei was most concerned about was that the more than 20,000 Luozhou soldiers were without their masters. They did not break up and were still under the control of Guan Changling and others. However, without King Wu, they immediately seemed embarrassed. They were unwilling to follow the Shishi Army to the west. Because the general killed Wang Tiemei, the general of Jizhou, he did not dare to defect to Yecheng.

This was the real opportunity, even more important than Dongdu. Ma Wei did not dare to come forward in person for fear of running into the World Army and being killed by the Golden Saint, so he sent his confidant General Pan Kai to persuade the Luozhou soldiers to submit. Staying in the Eastern Capital, they coaxed, deceived, invited and threatened all the family members of the descending army except Liang Jun and cleared them out of the city. It was called seeing them off, but in fact they did not want the descending army to enter the east capital again.

Ma Wei did not listen to King Wu's advice before he left. He began to close the city gates before opening the black gate and requisitioned people to clean a corner of the palace.

Even if he only occupied the Eastern Capital for one day, Ma Wei still wanted to be king again in the palace. He had been coveting the throne for a long time. He thought it would take a long time before he would have the opportunity to sit on it, but he did not expect that the opportunity would be handed to him.

"King Wu is crazy." Ma Wei murmured to himself again, sitting on the throne, looking at the empty but spotless hall, feeling ecstatic in his heart, and began to believe that he had really received help from his ancestors, sects, gods and Buddhas.

Only once, when he glanced at the shadow on the ground, Ma Wei mistook it for a pool of blood, and became horrified, thinking that the ghost of the fallen king had come to take revenge.

"The Xue family will be a trouble after all." Ma Wei thought for a long time and decided to tolerate it for a while. There were too many descendants. Now he could only defend the city and could not challenge the Golden Saint.

Ma Wei refused to surrender to King Jingshi, so he remained on the throne, believing that he understood the thoughts of Luozhou soldiers better than King Wu, and was better able to use this powerful force.

Ma Wei had one thought after another, each one was enough to push him higher.

Dozens of miles away, Xu Chu and Tang Weitian were riding horses on the dirt road, going slower and slower.

It was already dark, and there was no shelter ahead. He could only find a dry place to rest on the roadside. Tang Weitian walked a long way, picked up a few dry firewood, and barely lit a small fire, which was better than nothing.

Xu Chu ate a few mouthfuls of dry food and said to Tang Weitian: "You have traveled dozens of miles and you can leave."

Tang Weitian fiddled with the bonfire silently, waited for a while and then said stiffly: "I won't leave, I am the guard of the Governor."

"I am not the King of Wu now, nor am I the Governor."

"Then I'll follow you."

"You should join the Ming Lord. With your ability, you will become famous all over the world and become a fierce general in the future. Just be careful..."

Tang Weitian raised his head and grinned, "The Governor said I will become a fierce general?"

"Your legs and feet are flexible and you are strong. You are just young. Depending on your appetite, you will definitely grow taller and stronger in two or three years. As long as you are careful and don't be too aggressive, you will be able to make achievements on the battlefield."

Tang Weitian smiled even more happily, "That's great. My parents used to say that I don't like studying or farming. From now on, I won't be able to make a living. I will have to beg for food sooner or later. When I become a general and steal countless belongings, I will definitely have good luck." Go back to my hometown and show my dead parents that not only am I not begging for food, but I also have great abilities."

"But if you follow me, you won't get any of these."

Tang Weitian put down the poker in his hand, "Grand Governor..."

"Stop calling me that."

"Mr. Xu? Alas, I didn't think anything of it before, but now it's really awkward. Is Mr. Xu really no longer the King of Wu?"

"It's inappropriate."

"But... so many people are following you, and those who oppose you are already dead. Why? Why exactly?"

"Because not all those who oppose me are dead, there will be more in the future, and more, and I have to kill them all."

"Then kill no one." Tang Weitian made a beheading gesture.

Xu Chu smiled and said: "That's the problem, I can't do it."

"Killing is not difficult at all. If you don't want to do it, you can come to me."

Xu Chu shook his head, thought for a while, and said, "Now I ask you to kill me, are you willing to do it?"

"Of course I won't, and I will never agree again. You are my master!"

"But what if you sense that I'm going to do something bad to you?"

"How is it possible? Why would Mr. Xu do anything against me?"

"if."

Tang Weitian's eyes rolled around and he finally said: "No, Mr. Xu wants to kill me, so go ahead. I will not kill Mr. Xu in advance. I can do even more things that General Meng can do."

Mentioning Meng Nilun, Xu Chu suddenly felt heartbroken. If thousands of Wu soldiers were burned to death, it was his unintentional mistake, but forcing Meng Nilun to death was an evil he did with his own hands, without any excuse.

Xu Chu fell into silence, and Tang Weitian said: "Master Xu, don't you believe me? I will die for you now."

Tang Weitian had a stick on one side and a knife on the other. He held the handle of the knife and pulled out half of it.

Xu Chu hurriedly said: "Take it back. What I mean is that if I am still the King of Wu, I cannot wait until someone objects to take action. I must take precautions in advance and get rid of this person as soon as there are signs."

"What's wrong with doing this?"

Xu Chu sighed softly, "The signs are just signs. Many people may just complain temporarily and are not truly rebellious, but I can't tell. For the sake of safety, I can only kill them all. King Wu will kill many innocent people, and in the future There will be more and more, and even you, King Wu can’t guarantee that he will not kill you forever.”

"But I am loyal to King Wu..." Tang Weitian whispered.

"Being loyal to the King of Wu will only make you die faster, like General Meng."

Tang Weitian understood a little better, picked up the poker and continued to fiddle with it, but the bonfire gradually extinguished. Poking it back and forth, only a few sparks could rise.

"Where are Mr. Xu going?"

"First, I have to go to the King of Jin to persuade him to withdraw his troops, and then go to Yecheng to persuade the princess to stop."

"What about next?"

"In the future...if I'm still alive, I'll find a place to wait."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Just gotta find out what I'm waiting for."

Tang Weitian stayed silent and said nothing. He liked the ruthless and resolute governor, but disliked the hesitant and misty Mr. Xu.

The two were silent for a long time when the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the road. Xu Chu didn't want to cause trouble, but Tang Weitian was in a very bad mood. He stood up without asking for instructions. He drew his sword and jumped onto the road, shouting: "Those who are passing by, please stay if you know what you are looking for." Buy road money."

The moonlight was bright and clear. The visitor reined in his horse and stared at it for a while, "Aren't you Tang Weitian from King Wu's side? Why did you end up living here as a robber? Where is King Wu?"

"Are you...are you Tie Yuan, the general of the King of Shu?"

"It's me."

"King Wu... He no longer wants to be the King of Wu, but now he is Mr. Xu again."

Tie Yuan glanced at the roadside, cupped his hands and said: "In my eyes, the King of Wu is always the King of Wu."

Xu Chu didn't respond.

Tang Weitian put away the knife, "Where are you going?"

"I was looking for the King of Shu. I heard that he was heading towards Mengjin. I just came there, so we probably missed him."

"Why are you looking for the King of Shu?"

Tie Yuan thought that Tang Weitian was asking questions on behalf of the King of Wu, and replied honestly: "The Shu army is still there, although there are not many people, but they are still willing to follow the old master. Wherever the King of Shu goes, we will go."

Tang Weitian hummed, "Wait for me for a while." He walked back to the bonfire, "Mr. Xu, do you really want me to leave?"

"You are following the King of Wu. In the absence of the King of Wu, you and I are no longer on the same journey. It is time for us to go our separate ways."

Tang Weitian knelt down, kowtowed three times respectfully, stood up and said: "When Master Xu has figured it out, ask someone to tell me something, and I will follow you."

"Very good."

Tang Weitian said no more nonsense, took one of his horses, left all the luggage behind, and returned to the road, saying to Tie Yuan: "I will go with you to find the King of Shu. If he likes me, I will go to him."

Tie Yuan laughed dryly: "Welcome, the King of Wu..."

"There has never been any King of Wu, it's all our imagination. Let's go, it's just right to travel at night."