Plan to cut off the nine states

This is a strange team of envoys. The two deputy envoys never talk to each other. Yu Zhan is nominally Xu Chu's follower, but he always has an expression of gritted teeth on his face. As an envoy, Fei Zhan wants to do everything. He said it twice separately, which made him very angry. The whole team had no morale at all from top to top. The ordinary soldiers accompanying him often whispered and seemed to want to flee.

On the night of departure, the team rested at the inn.

The post station still belongs to Jizhou, and they felt the atmosphere of war earlier than Yecheng. Yi Cheng and others are all nearby villagers, and they are usually very respectful to the officials who come and go. However, today was uncharacteristically different. Seeing that Fei Zhen was a senior official, several people came forward. They surrounded and grabbed the reins, not to help the master off the horse, but to question: "Is Liang Jun really going to attack? Are there still soldiers in Yecheng? Do you want to defend the city behind closed doors, or come out to meet the enemy? Please tell us the truth, sir." , we are not escaping, we just want the family to be prepared..."

Fei Zhen responded vaguely: "I was ordered to send Liang Jun as an envoy to resolve the misunderstanding and welcome back the two kings. As for how Yecheng will respond, I don't know."

Xu Chu jumped off his horse and said to everyone: "We will persuade King Liang to retreat. This battle cannot be fought."

"Really?" Everyone didn't believe it.

Xu Chu smiled and said: "This is Lord Fei Zhenfei, a veteran of the Eastern Capital, who is famous all over the world. Whenever he opens his mouth, the King of Liang will give him four points of noodles. And this one -" Xu Chu pointed to the carriage behind him, "is The famous scholar Kou Daogu, although not an official, has a better reputation among scholars than Master Fei. The King of Liang is also a scholar, so he should be given five points of thin noodles, which adds up to nine points, which can be said to be a sure shot. "

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "Master Fei and Mr. Kou will go out together. This matter will be done, so we don't have to worry about it."

Fei Zhen glared at Xu Chu several times, but failed to stop him from talking nonsense.

After moving in, Fei Zhen sent someone to invite Xu Chu to his room. Without being polite, he said directly: "Let's talk about it."

"What did you say?" Xu Chu said in surprise.

"Young Master Xu has made such a fuss, you should feel a little confident, right?"

"It's not me who is causing trouble, it's Kou Daogu. As for persuading King Liang to withdraw his troops, the reputations of Master Fei and Kou Daogu are my greatest confidence."

"Hey, don't be modest. When it comes to reputation, the two of us together can't compare to you. What's more, in this time of chaos, what's the use of reputation? King Liang is not a man with a good reputation. To persuade him to retreat, he must be promised real benefits, Ye The city is unwilling to give in. Princess Huanyan's approach is very correct. If she wants to bribe, she will try her best to bribe the family. As long as the Sheng family changes their mind, the King of Liang will retreat. On the contrary, even if the bribery of the King of Liang is successful, Huaizhou may not be able to do so. Recalling soldiers may also anger the Sheng family."

"Well, it's really troublesome."

Fei Zhen said in shock: "Does Mr. Xu just know that there is trouble? Where are your plots and tricks? It's time to put them to use."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Is it better for the 'conspiracy' to be tangible and traceable, or invisible and invisible?"

"Of course it is better to be invisible and traceless. If there are tangible traces, the other party will see through it in advance."

"So there is no 'conspiracy' or 'trick' now. Everything will have to wait until we see King Liang."

Fei Zhen was startled, "You are risking everyone's lives. In this case, why do you...why do you say anything to the people at the inn that you are '100% certain'? Wouldn't it be better if they were prepared in advance? If these people die In the hands of rebels, you need to take responsibility."

"Master Fei still loves the people as before. Well, I am not unprepared. The general trend is here. If King Liang still retains his former wisdom, even if he only has six or seven points left, he may withdraw his troops and send the two kings back to Yecheng."

"What's the general trend?" Fei Zhen asked.

"The general trend is what Mr. Fei just said."

"Which ones?" Fei Zhen was confused and a little angry.

"Yecheng concentrates on winning over Huaizhou. After the Sheng family is satisfied, they will recall Huaizhou soldiers. King Liang has few soldiers and dare not attack Yecheng."

"You mean to make King Liang think that the Sheng family has been bribed, and then persuade him to retreat in the face of difficulties?"

"This is a general trend that is not good for King Liang. How to use it depends on the opportunity."

"What is the general trend that is beneficial to King Liang?"

"The Sheng family in Huaizhou will probably not be won over by Yecheng. The Jizhou army is blocked in Qinzhou, and its survival is uncertain. Yecheng is already a lamb to be slaughtered, and it is difficult to protect itself. The so-called bribery is nothing more than empty promises. Sheng The family may not accept it. The strength of Yecheng is suddenly weakened, and yet another emperor is elected at this time. The ambitions of the states are not happy, and the king of Liang is in line with the public opinion by sending troops at this time."

Fei Zhen glared and said: "It is said that you urged the new emperor to ascend the throne as soon as possible. Is it true that you are harboring evil intentions as Kou Daogu said?"

Xu Chu shook his head and said with a smile: "There are advantages and disadvantages, and blessings and disasters always depend on each other. Don't you understand this? Master Fei? Of course there are advantages to being the emperor first, especially now. If it is later, someone else will establish another descendant of the Zhang family elsewhere." , what to do about Yecheng? How to get rid of it? There are pros and cons to becoming emperor, it all depends on how Yecheng uses it. In the same way, Liang Wang's attack on Ye also has pros and cons, depending on how well Liang Wang does it. The King of Liang has grown from weak to strong, and he can stand with the heroes. If he does not do well, the King of Liang will only make wedding clothes for others and will not get any land. Instead, he will become the next coveted target. "

Fei Zhen finally realized, "Everything has advantages and disadvantages. The so-called persuasion is nothing more than making the other party see more advantages or disadvantages according to one's own wishes."

Xu Chu nodded.

Fei Zhen shook his head and said, "This is the way of the Zongheng family. One time he talks about the east and another time he talks about the west. Each one has his own reasons and each has his own secrets. Alas, if Zongheng comes out, the world will be in chaos. It's true."

"When the world is in chaos, Zongheng will emerge." Xu Chu said.

"I can't win against you, and I won't fight with you. No matter what, at least you know what's going on, and I can rest assured. I don't care what the general situation is, and I don't care about the pros and cons. The court is in Yecheng, and it must be preserved."

"Master Fei never cares how the emperor of Jiangdong died?"

Fei Bing glared again, "If I care about 'how he died', I will kill you first."

Xu Chu smiled and said goodbye.

Everyone has his own "pros and cons" judgment. Without others' persuasion, he knows how to suppress the other and promote the other in order to feel at ease.

The next day, they walked for another whole day. The Jizhou soldiers they met on the road were more panicked than the other. In front of the envoys from Yecheng, some people openly fled, and the captain couldn't suppress them at all. In fact, even they themselves wanted to escape.

There were even fewer people, and the villages and towns were all deserted, forming a very sharp contrast with the bustling and prosperous surroundings of Yecheng.

On the third day, they ran into the enemy army.

This was a pure Liang army, not a borrowed Huaizhou army. They were not marching fast. They had already set up camp before dark, and it seemed that they were going to approach Yecheng step by step.

Fei Bing revealed his identity, and the group was sent to the camp to wait for the summons of King Liang.

King Liang was still in the rear, and no one knew when he would arrive.

The enemy was so close to Yecheng that Fei Bing was a little anxious. He hoped to meet King Liang under the escort of Liang soldiers, but he was not allowed to do so. The captain guarding outside the tent refused to pass on his message.

The three envoys shared a tent, and the two deputy envoys had to meet.

Fei Bing had no intention of mediating. He paced back and forth constantly, muttering: "It's too late to win over Huaizhou. Yecheng is in danger, in danger."

Xu Chu and Kou Daogu sat opposite each other, one with a smile on his face, and the other cold and arrogant.

Fei Bing turned around and looked at each of them, "Enough, now is not the time to settle personal grudges. If you two consider yourself to be envoys from Yecheng, quickly think of a way to meet King Liang as soon as possible. If your heart is not here, please find another place to go and don't bother me here."

Even when facing high-ranking officials of the court, Kou Daogu's tone was still calm and proud, "There is a very simple way."

"What can Mr. Kou do? The soldiers outside are unwilling to pass on the message..."

Kou Daogu did not answer, but stood up and walked out of the tent. He said something outside and came back in a sentence or two, "Someone will come later."

Fei Bing was shocked. Facing Xu Chu's wisdom, he could say that he disdained it, but for Kou Daogu, he couldn't figure out where he was inferior.

Xu Chu knew it clearly and said with a smile, "Is the word 'King of Wu' still useful?"

Fei Bing suddenly realized that he and Kou Daogu could not be taken seriously by the Liang soldiers, but "King of Wu" could. This was indeed a very simple method. Fei Bing had long forgotten Xu Chu's identity, and even if he thought of it, he would not use it.

Someone came into the tent and took a look, uttered "ah", and turned away.

Xu Chu said, "I recognize this person's appearance, but I forgot his name."

Not long after, there were hurried footsteps outside. A man came into the tent, took two quick steps, and knelt down to Xu Chu, "King of Wu, please forgive me, I didn't know that King of Wu was here."

Xu Chu hurriedly stood up and supported him, "I am no longer King of Wu, but the deputy envoy of Yecheng. General Pan must not perform such a great ceremony."

Pan Kai was born in the old Liang family. He was the most relied-upon general of Liang Wang Ma Wei. He was quite familiar with Xu Chu. Although he did not kneel in the end, he still saluted respectfully and called him "King of Wu".

Xu Chu said, "I don't deserve the title of 'King of Wu', I just want to be called 'Master Xu'."

"This... is a bit strange."

"There are many strange things in the world, I don't care if there is one more."

"Yes, Master Xu... Is Master Xu really an envoy sent from Yecheng?" Pan Kai glanced at the other two people, and his meaning was very clear. Xu Chu didn't need to be afraid of him.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Yes, I am the deputy envoy. This is the chief envoy, Lord Fei Bing, and this is another deputy envoy, Mr. Kou Daogu Kou."

Pan Kai had heard of both of them, and bowed and said, "Excuse me." Then he said to Xu Chu, "Mr. Xu, do you want to see the King of Liang?"

"Yes, and the sooner the better."

"Mr. Xu, don't worry, just stay here, the King of Liang will be here tomorrow afternoon, and I will send someone to deliver the letter."

"That's great, let's wait patiently."

Pan Kai still found it unbelievable, "I didn't expect to see Mr. Xu here again."

"General Pan is ordered to go out, and he is busy with military affairs. You don't have to waste time here."

Pan Kai was indeed very busy, and bowed and said goodbye. Soon someone else came and assigned a tent to each of the three envoys.

The Liang army did not understand the complex relationship among the envoys, and thought Yu Zhan was an ordinary follower, so he arranged him in Xu Chu's tent.

Xu Chu did not explain. After eating and washing, he lay down on the bed and said to himself: "I have been riding for a whole day. I need to rest."

Yu Zhan could not rest. He had been patient for a long time and could not bear it any longer. He had to ask: "Xu Chu, why... why..."

"Why did I bring you out?"

"Yes."

"Because among the disciples of Fan Sect, you are more in line with Mr. Fan's expectations."

Yu Zhan was stunned.

Xu Chu sat up, "The learning of Fan Sect has never been about sitting and talking, but about practicing."

"But..."

"Born at the wrong time, that's what Mr. Fan said. He accepted Song Quzhu as his disciple, and what he saw was that this person dared to act. Mr. Yu also dared to act, although it was to kill me." Xu Chu smiled.

"There are many people who dare to act. In this military camp, you can easily find hundreds of them."

"Practicing what you preach is the way, and the important thing about daring to act is 'daring': being ignorant and fearful is cowardly, being ignorant and fearless is reckless, knowing but fearless is greedy, knowing but fearful but still acting is daring."

Yu Zhan hesitated, "Can Master Xu really persuade the Liang army to retreat? But... why? You are obviously not loyal to Yecheng."

"Saving the world is for fame, saving one person is for truth. I have sought fame, and now I only seek truth." Xu Chu blinked his eyes. Regardless of whether the other party understood or not, this sentence was said to himself.

(End of this volume)