Plan to cut off the nine states

There are many soldiers under his command, and Yecheng is just around the corner. Ma Wei is at a peak that no one could have imagined a year ago, but there is no trace of excitement in his voice. Instead, he reveals extreme frustration and confusion.

It would be a lie to say that he was not afraid at all. Xu Chu had been secretly worried on the way here. If the opportunity he was waiting for didn't happen, or if it came too late, he would have no way to save his life.

Therefore, after discovering Ma Wei's frustration, the first emotion that came to Xu Chu's heart was not sympathy, but happiness. The anger in his heart rose and leaked from the corner of his mouth, making a snigger-like puff.

Xu Chu hurriedly held back, but Ma Wei still heard it and couldn't help but became furious. He stood up in a hurry. Under the lift of the stage and the shadow, he looked much taller than usual. A figure even reached Xu Chu's feet.

"Laugh at me, Xu Chu. This is your only means. When you stand under the city and are tied to a shelf in public, I hope you can still laugh. I..."

Xu Chu quietly avoided the candles on the ground, took a few steps forward, and interrupted Ma Wei's roar: "This is not ridicule, but relief, because you did scare me before."

Ma Wei swallowed the last part of his words and changed his words: "You should be afraid, because I want to use you in exchange for Yecheng's surrender. Whether Princess Huanyan really cares about you will be proved soon."

Xu Chu sighed softly: "Why does everyone think that Princess Huanyan has an affair with me? Just because she is a woman, she cannot cherish talents for a young man? For example, the King of Liang also cherishes talents. No one will make random guesses..."

"Presumptuous! Your little talent was lost long ago when you chose to abdicate. I am here now to see how you persuade me to retreat and to see if your 'talent' is still useful."

Xu Chu's hands were tied, but he could still raise his hands and salute, "It is King Liang's choice whether to retreat or not. I have nothing to say. King Liang must not have seen me for this, and I am not here for this."

Ma Wei sat down slowly.

Xu Chu continued: "If King Liang wants to see me for the last time, I have a lot to say." Xu Chu waited a moment, "If King Liang wants to see me for the last time, I also have something to say."

"You said." Ma Wei was deliberately vague.

"When I was a student in the Yuxue Academy, Brother Ma was the only one who thought I was talented and was willing to befriend me."

Once he talked about the past, Ma Wei's tone became even gentler, "You can't say that. The old gentlemen in the library, especially the educated ones, have always praised you very much."

"That's Mr. Ma's praise for his disciples. It's to urge everyone to study hard. Only Brother Ma can be regarded as a close friend."

Ma Wei let out a sigh, like a sigh or a sneer, "I know you, but you don't know me."

Xu Chu took two more steps forward, "Is it true? Others think that Brother Ma is very proud and is about to make great achievements, but I know that Brother Ma has so many things in his mind that I don't know how to sort them out."

"I shouldn't have said that as soon as I saw you." Ma Wei regretted that he had revealed his feelings too early.

Xu Chu shook his head, "I knew it from the beginning. I knew it even before I met Brother Ma. I knew it when we were walking on the road."

"Are you just guessing?"

"No. If everything goes well and the future is bright, with the friendship between you and me, Brother Ma will never deliberately neglect and make me wait for a long time. Instead, he will summon me as soon as he hears the news and let me go as soon as possible. See Liang Jun’s majesty.”

"Hey, you talk about our friendship so well, are you afraid that I will kill you?"

"No. In order to seize the world, Brother Ma dares to abandon his wife and children, let alone an old friend? But you and I are friends of the poor and the humble. If anyone becomes noble, the first person they think of will be the other person."

Ma Wei let out a weird laugh, and slowly the laughter disappeared. He said, "I asked you here, not because of friendship, but because you tell the truth. Guo Shifeng and I are also old friends, and we know each other better than you." Earlier, but he is loyal to Prince Ning——" Ma Wei burst out into laughter again and quickly stopped, "Even if he is willing to be loyal to me, he is not a person willing to tell the truth."

"Those who live up to and down with the world have no truth or falsehood in their hearts."

"What I want now is not 'up and down'. As long as the truth is told, even if it means slapping me, it is better than flattering lies."

Xu Chu raised his hands and said, "I can't slap you, I can only tell the truth."

"It's better to keep your hands tied." Ma Wei said coldly, and then sighed, "Yecheng must be captured, but how can I keep it in the future?"

"Can't keep it."

"The 'truth' spoken out in such a hurry actually sounds like a lie."

"Brother Ma, listen to me first. If what I say is full of flaws, it is a lie. If it is a secret agreement with Brother Ma, it is the truth."

Ma Wei waved his hand in the shadow, indicating that Xu Chu could speak.

"Brother Ma led an army to attack Ye City, but most of his soldiers were from Huaizhou. Although the Sheng family claimed that they only wanted Dongdu and not Jizhou, it was not credible. Behind the sweet talk, there must be a sword hidden in the belly. The Sheng family sent troops and food to capture the city. How could he give up his famous city to others so easily? Brother Ma hesitated and marched slowly on the road. "

"Being wary of Huaizhou has been my intention for a long time. Guessing this is nothing."

"There is also King Ning of Jiangdong. King Ning often acts unexpectedly and is ruthless, but this time he is willing to give in and join forces among the heroes. All he wants in exchange is that the Huaizhou army does not go south to cross the river. It is not trustworthy."

"Of course, I have never believed in Prince Ning, especially when Guo Shifeng gave him advice. You have suffered from Prince Ning, so it is normal not to believe in him."

"There is also the King of Jin. In terms of ambition, no one among the kings is greater than him. How can he sit back and watch the fall of Ye City and not come to share the spoils? Brother Ma was the one who captured Ye City, but there were people who came to share the spoils afterwards. If there are multiple families, any one of them is a strong enemy, so Brother Ma cannot defend Yecheng."

Ma Wei was silent for a long time, "What about you? You once defended Dongdu, how will you defend Yecheng? Don't talk about attacking Yuyang, I only ask you about Yecheng."

"If I had the means to defend Yecheng, why would I come to persuade Brother Ma to retreat?"

"It's different. There are few soldiers in Yecheng, but I have many soldiers. Even without the support of the Huaizhou Army, I still have 80,000 people under my command..."

"Eighty thousand soldiers can't make Brother Ma feel at ease, so there is no 'truth' in this world that can satisfy Brother Ma."

"Hey, the actual number is more than 32,000 people, and the elite is 7,000. It's not many, but it's several times stronger than Yecheng right now. What's more, Yecheng may not accept the plan proposed by Brother Chu, but I can."

Ma Wei was also called "Brother Chu" without knowing it.

Xu Chu thanked him and said, "I still have to say 'no', because Brother Ma still has something he hasn't told me."

"What does it have to do with you thinking of ways to defend the city?"

"The weather, the right location, and the right people, whether fighting or defending, are inseparable from these three. If I can't have a comprehensive understanding of the situation in Yecheng, how can I make suggestions? What's more, judging from the news I have received so far, Yecheng will not be able to be defended. principle.”

Ma Wei laughed, this time it was a normal smile, "Brother Chu always thinks more than others. There has been some news in the past two days, which is quite disturbing: First, in Qinzhou, Yin Fu is not very fast. , people have rushed to Xijing. It is said that the Jizhou army has retreated for dozens of miles. After seeing Yin Fu, they did not retreat but advanced. I don’t know what the purpose was; secondly, to merge with the state, the King of Jin increased his troops to Feihukou. It is said that he wanted to attack Yuyang and replace him. He Rong's troops took back the fugitives, which is obviously an excuse. Once the Jin army enters Jizhou, they may never leave again. "

Hearing the movements of the Jin army, Xu Chu's lips twitched slightly, and when Ma Wei stopped talking, he said: "The intention of Lord Yin and the Jizhou army is very obvious. Since it is too late to return to Yecheng to aid, we might as well stay in Qinzhou and deal with the enemy there first. question."

"How to solve it? Capture Xijing? Without the help of Jingzhou and Huaizhou, and the Bingzhou army has ulterior motives, how can the Jizhou army defeat hundreds of thousands of worldly soldiers alone?"

"Don't fight if you can't defeat them. The Jizhou Army can turn enemies into friends with the Jizhou Army and drive out the Bingzhou Army together."

"Hey, Brother Chu is a little whimsical, isn't he?"

"Before I sent it, Yecheng had sent peace envoys to Qinzhou."

Ma Wei was startled, stood up, and sat down again, "Really?"

"I don't have to say it, but what I say must be the truth."

Ma Wei was silent again and said after a long time: "The King of Jin will be angry if he cannot get the land of Qinzhou and the troops of Jizhou."

"But the King of Jin will not immediately retaliate against Qinzhou. Instead, he will enter Northern Hebei from Feihukou and seize a piece of territory first."

Ma Wei hummed heavily. If he lost Jibei, he would not be able to escape the situation of being surrounded by enemies even if he defended Yecheng. It would not be much different from when he was in Dongdu.

"As for the so-called 'fugitive', I may just know about it." Xu Chu added.

"I just got the news, do you know?"

"Because I know the fugitive. His name is Tian Jiang and he is also from Dongdu."

"I know this guy."

"To make a long story short, when Tian Jiang came with me to Yecheng, he greatly offended He Rong Pingshan, the left divine guard king of the He Rong tribe. Pingshan came to Yecheng to propose marriage and captured Tian Jiang. If my guess is correct, Tian Jiang He escaped again and hid in Yuyang City."

"Why did He Rong Pingshan have to take Tian Jiang back to the outside of the fortress? Wouldn't it be easier to kill him with a knife when he was caught? How could the Yuyang defenders have the courage to hide the fugitives from He Rong's tribe?"

"Something must have happened over there. Maybe it's not that Yuyang doesn't want to make friends, but that He Rongbu doesn't."

"The King of Jin found an excuse to enter northern Hebei, and the He Rong tribe also found an excuse to fall out with Yecheng. It turns out that there is no trustworthy person in the world."

"To survive in troubled times, the more you trust, the more miserable you will be."

"What should I do?" Ma Wei murmured, showing the frustration and confusion he felt when he first met Xu Chu.

"The enemy cannot be trusted, nor can the allies. If Brother Ma wants to break out of the encirclement, he will be even more untrustworthy."

"Um?"

"Brother Ma must be unexpected, so that the heroes' original plot can't be carried out, and chaos becomes more chaotic, or there may be a slight turning point. If we have to act according to the original plan, then every step will be unexpected by others. How to escape from the trap?"

"Chaos adds to chaos..."

"Among the heroes, King Liang is hardly the strongest, if not the weakest."

"Brother Chu, there is no need to be polite. Except for those bandits who take advantage of the situation, I am the weakest among the heroes."

"The weaker you are, the more chaos you need. It's natural, Brother Ma..."

"Stop talking."

Xu Chu shut up in time.

Ma Wei huddled up unknowingly on the ancestral chair, his tallness gone, and he murmured: "No one can be trusted... chaos adds to chaos..."

Xu Chu knew that he had half succeeded, but the remaining half was beyond his control.