Plan to cut off the nine states

Sun Yalu came to visit and brought a special invitation - just an invitation, but she didn't want the other party to accept it.

"On the 17th of this month, the prince will get married and marry the noble lady of the Herong tribe."

"That is... the day after tomorrow?"

Sun Yalu nodded and handed over an invitation.

Xu Chu was a little surprised, "Does the King of Jibei really want me to go?"

Sun Yalu shook his head, "I am the staff of the King of Xiangdong."

Xu Chu laughed. If the King of Jibei really wanted his son-in-law to attend the wedding, he would send his own trusted steward to invite him, instead of asking others to do so.

"Please tell the two princes that I am ill and cannot attend the wedding. Please forgive me. I will prepare a small gift to express my gratitude. I wish the prince a son soon."

Sun Yalu smiled and nodded, "There have been many happy events recently. I also let Master Xu know that the old Khan of Herong tribe passed away. The sons competed for the throne and tried to win over Yecheng. The situation has reversed. Now it is not Yecheng that needs help from Herong tribe, but Herong tribe needs help from Yecheng."

"Congratulations."

"Ma Wei, who occupied the Eastern Capital, surrendered to Jiangdong before. Recently, he finally saw the situation clearly. The day before yesterday, he sent someone to deliver a letter and changed his mind to become a vassal of Yecheng."

"Congratulations."

"The thief entered Hanzhou. It has been rumored that Hanzhou is completely gone. It turned out to be a misunderstanding. There are still more than a dozen large cities in Hanzhou that are intact. The envoy sneaked and rushed to Yecheng yesterday to ask the two princes for help - he asked for help from Yecheng instead of Jiangdong . "

"Congratulations."

"The Bingzhou Army is advancing to Qinzhou, and the Jingzhou Army is moving to Hanzhou. After the prince's wedding, the Jizhou Army will march side by side with the Huaizhou Army. Now that they have the Hanzhou Army as an internal support, the rebellion will be quelled in no time. "

"Congratulations."

"Even Mr. Xu's family has a happy event."

"Oh?"

"General Lou Qiang of the Central Army settled in Huaizhou and will follow the army to Qinzhou to quell the rebellion. Many descendants of the Lou family fell into the hands of the rebels in the Eastern Capital. Several of them escaped halfway and also came to Yecheng. Among them was Lou Jilou Xiaoqi."

"This is a happy event for the Lou family, and it is... a happy event for Princess Huanyan. In short, congratulations."

"Mr. Xu still refuses to recognize it?"

"I am used to the surname Xu."

Xu Chu did not ask much, but he knew that if it was just to convey an insincere invitation, there was no need for Sun Yalu to come in person.

"I heard that Master Xu has left the table?"

Xu Chu nodded, "I'm just about to go out and stretch my muscles. Does Mr. Sun have time to go to the valley with me?"

"I've always wanted to pay tribute to Mr. Fan."

The last time Sun Yalu came with the prince, there were so many people and things to do that he didn't have the opportunity to pay tribute alone. This time, only Xu Chu was with him. He bowed several times in front of the grave, pulled out the weeds nearby, and looked at the stone tablet erected by the disciples of Fan Sect, "Master Xu, don't you plan to have it carried away?"

"Not erecting a tablet is most in line with Mr. Fan's last wish, but since the tablet has been erected, it doesn't have to be carried away."

Sun Yalu smiled and said, "This does sound like something Mr. Fan would say. Kou Daogu was defeated the day before yesterday, but the disciples of Fan Sect still refused to acknowledge Master Xu as the orthodox of Fan Sect?"

"I haven't seen anyone come again." Xu Chu didn't care about this matter.

Sun Yalu nodded and finally got down to business. "Mr. Xu, do you have anything to say about the happy events I just mentioned?"

"Congratulations."

"No, no, except congratulations."

Xu Chu thought for a while, "Mr. Sun wants me to say something 'unpleasant'?"

"Haha, Mr. Xu's insight and strategy, I have always admired it. This time I came to visit, one is to send an invitation, and the other is to listen to Mr. Xu's views on the general situation."

"Well... I really have a few questions."

"Excuse me."

"The sons of He Rong's tribe are fighting for the throne, and they all want to win over Yecheng. For Yecheng, this is a good thing. It is the opportunity to divide and rule. Why are you in a hurry to marry the noble lady for the prince?"

"Although the sons are fighting for the throne, the situation is already roughly clear. The noble lady's brother He Rong has the support of all tribes, and it is difficult to divide and rule."

"I see."

"That's it?"

"If the situation of He Rong's army is as Mr. Sun said, then Yecheng seems to have no choice, and I have nothing to say."

"Mr. Xu left the table, I think he must have understood everything, why hide it?"

"Even if I understand everything, I can't speculate out of thin air."

"Mr. Xu wants to know anything else, just ask me, I will tell you everything I know."

"Well...how did the old Chanyu die?"

"He died of illness, old and weak, and he was ill all year round. The people around him were prepared."

"Even so, his death was really a coincidence, just in time to call back the cavalry that entered the pass, and Yecheng didn't need to use any tricks anymore."

"Haha, I understand what Mr. Xu means, but as far as I know, it's really a coincidence."

"As far as I know", Sun Yalu saved himself from a lot of trouble.

Xu Chu smiled, "What's even more 'coincidental' is that the old Chanyu was old and frail, and he had not yet designated a successor son, which caused disputes after his death."

"The barbarians outside the Great Wall are not influenced by etiquette and have always been like this. They think that the strongest sons will win the throne when they compete for the throne."

"In this case, I really have nothing to say. Yecheng has the strong support of He Rong's tribe. As long as it is slightly restrained, it will be able to dominate the world with this."

"I feel much more at ease to hear this from Mr. Xu."

"Unless——"

"There is another unless?"

"Things in the world are unpredictable, there is always unless."

"I would like to hear the details."

"Unless the King of Jin is also trying to win over the He Rong tribe."

"Haha, Mr. Xu is overthinking. The King of Jin is self-aware and has already led his entire army to surrender to Yecheng. The many years of friendship between the Shen family and the He Rong tribe have all been used by Yecheng."

"In this case, congratulations."

Sun Yalu waited for a while and asked, "Does Master Xu have anything else to say?"

Xu Chu let out a breath, "Yecheng is separated from Qin and Han by thousands of mountains and rivers. Even if the rebellion is quelled, the land is not large and the people are not numerous. It seems inappropriate to advance westward at this time."

Sun Yalu was about to speak, but Xu Chu did not give him a chance and continued, "Yecheng quelled the rebellion, and Jing and Bing provinces benefited. This is quite suspicious. King Liang must be afraid that Yecheng will attack Dongdu again in the name of quelling the rebellion, so he is willing to be a vassal. Since Yecheng has accepted King Liang's submission, I guess that the target of this westward expedition is not Dongdu."

"Placing the rebellion of Qin and Han is the last wish of the Emperor of All Things. The two princes must complete it. Dongdu is Tiancheng's old home and will be taken back sooner or later. Master Xu Because neither of these two is the target of the Western Expedition - the idea is unique, worthy of the name of Master Xu. "

"Suppressing the rebellion and conquering the Eastern Capital are all matters of 'sooner or later', but they are not the top priority."

"In Master Xu's opinion, what is the top priority of Yecheng?"

"Jiangdong Stone City."

"Haha." Sun Yalu laughed. Emperor Tiancheng was stranded in Stone City and was held hostage by the Liang and Lan families. As long as the little emperor was in power, Yecheng would not be able to legitimately establish a new monarch. "What else did Master Xu think of?"

"The troops are on the Western Expedition, and Stone City is in danger and will have no reinforcements. This is all I can think of. As for who will attack Stone City, I can't guess."

Sun Yalu put away his smile, "Yecheng will definitely not send troops south. There is Huaizhou in the middle, and Yecheng had no intention of killing the king. Even if there was chaos in Jiangdong, it was just a coincidence. "

"As 'coincidental' as the death of the old Chanyu?"

"Things are hard to predict." Sun Yalu answered with a sentence Xu Chu once said, "Having said that, it is inevitable that Master Xu has such speculations. I am afraid that others have similar ideas and will ruin the reputation of my Yecheng."

"Yecheng should immediately appoint governors from Qin and Han states to accompany the army on the westward expedition."

"Wouldn't it cause dissatisfaction among the Shen and Xi families if the governors were appointed at this time? The reason why these two families agreed to the westward expedition was that one regarded Qinzhou as its own backyard, and the other regarded Hanzhou as something that must be obtained. They would never agree to the appointment of governors by Yecheng, and Jincheng really couldn't manage the two states across thousands of mountains and rivers. Once this appointment was made, the states would think that Yecheng was eager to To pacify the world - Yecheng does have this ambition, but it does not want to make it public too early. "

Xu Chu smiled and said: "The heroes will only become suspicious because they are too satisfied. If Yecheng wants to eliminate suspicion, it can only do the opposite and make them dissatisfied. "

Sun Yalu was slightly startled, and then bowed his hands and said: "I understand. Thank you for your advice. The princess will also be grateful. "

"The princess is smart and easy to be satisfied. Mr. Sun, as an aide, should make a gap for her. "

Sun Yalu bowed his hands, "I got this from Mr. Xu, which opened my eyes."

Sun Yalu came here to test whether Xu Chu still had the heart to be king. As a result, he really got some very useful reminders. He admired him in his heart and said goodbye in a hurry. He wanted to go back to Yecheng to advise Princess Huanyan and make a few small "gaps" in the perfect plan.

Xu Chu used "knowing everything" to gain the other party's trust, but he knew that this was an expedient measure.

In the room, Feng Ju Niang was writing again, more seriously than before.

Xu Chu did not bother him and asked the old servant to call Wang Pei.

Wang Pei came in sweating. He had just wrestled with Chang Yanzhi, but still couldn't decide the winner.

"Master Xu called me?"

Xu Chu sat at the table and hummed but didn't speak.

Wang Pei had to wait and secretly glanced at Feng Ju Niang. Like everyone else, he wondered what the relationship between the two was.

After Feng Ju Niang finished writing a whole page, she smiled and said, "I find that only here can I write wholeheartedly - do you want me to leave?"

Xu Chu shook his head and said to Wang Pei, "The guest who just came is called Sun Yalu, and he is the most trusted staff member around the King of Xiangdong."

"Ah, I met this person when I was a guard for Master Xu in Dongdu." Wang Pei didn't understand why Xu Chu told him this, "It seems that the King of Xiangdong was taken away by him, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, then he must be very trusted."

"The King of Xiangdong will discuss military and national affairs with him."

"Oh." Wang Pei was a little uneasy.

Xu Chu fell silent again, and Feng Ji Niang began to write a new page. She was curious at first, but she slowly focused on her writing and no longer cared about what the other two said.

Wang Pei became more and more uneasy. After waiting for a while, he asked in a low voice: "What is this Mr. Sun... doing here?"

"He invited me to attend the wedding of the prince of Jibei and revealed some of the situation in all directions to me."

"Really?" Wang Pei's eyes were evasive.

"The Golden Saint was indeed defeated in Qinzhou. It was not as tragic as the rumors said, nor as easy as General Dai said. There were some casualties and some people were captured."

Wang Pei glanced at Feng Ji Niang, who was a woman and not to be feared. Xu Chu was equivalent to being alone and unarmed... He thought so, but his body was out of control and trembled slightly.

Xu Chu stood up and came to Wang Pei barefoot. They were only a few feet apart and completely defenseless. "If you want to stay, stay. There will be a place for you in the valley."

Wang Pei knelt on the ground.