Plan to cut off the nine states

The non-stop offensive lasted for ten days. Although it caused serious damage to the Xijing city wall, and at one point soldiers even tried to climb the city wall, they were all repelled. The Sanzhou Army suffered heavy casualties and had to stop for a while to recuperate.

The siege continued, but only at certain times during the day.

Chanyu ordered to recruit more civilians and soldiers from the surrendered counties and counties of Qinzhou and the adjacent Bingzhou area, and arrived within a time limit.

He Rong's cavalry was not idle either. One of them divided his troops and headed north. They were invincible and were about to open a road to the outside of the fortress.

Xu Chu still had nothing to do. He was occasionally called to listen to discussions between Shan Yu and the Central Plains generals, but rarely had the opportunity to talk to Shan Yu again.

Shan Yu only has Xijing in his eyes now.

Xu Chu especially wanted to hear the news about Song Qizhu, and wanted to find out whether he was an ignorant fanatic or a sure hero, but he never did so. The Central Plains generals occasionally mentioned Jingzhou, and they only talked about it. In the Xi family, there has never been a Song Qizhu or a Chu king.

At a meeting, Xu Chu met the King of Jin.

Shen Dan nodded slightly to him and said nothing. Instead, Shanyu reminded the King of Jin during the discussion: "Xu Chu is your sworn brother. When you abandoned the dark and turned to the light, you appointed him as the envoy to explain the deep friendship and why you came to Xijing." I’ve never heard of you visiting Xu Chu since then?”

Shen Dan replied respectfully: "Military affairs are my priority and I have no time to care about personal affairs."

"The more times like this, the more you need the company of friends. Friends always help a lot." Shanyu looked at a few young people nearby and said something in He Rongyu. Those people stood up straight and looked proud and proud. Excited, one of them even turned slightly red.

They are the "friends" that Chanyu should keep by his side when he is busy. Xu Chu has been in the camp for a long time and can recognize some characters. He knows that these "friends" are the best among the Nine Heroes and the Twenty-Four Riders. When he divided his troops and raided four places, he performed outstandingly and quickly became Shanyu's favorite general.

Shen Dan could only say: "The Shanyu's lesson is correct, and I feel guilty in my heart."

Xu Chu said nothing.

After the discussion, Shen Dan sent Xu Chu back to his residence. On the way, he smiled bitterly and said, "Fourth brother must understand my difficulties."

"I stayed in the He Rong camp for many days, and was often called by the Shanyu as a consultant. In fact, it was just for show. Can I not understand the difficulties of the third brother?"

Shen Dan nodded sympathetically. He was very cautious. Even when he was sitting in the tent with no outsiders around, he never mentioned sensitive things. He only talked about people and things in the past and drank a few glasses of bad wine.

"Second brother is still guarding the border?" Xu Chu asked.

"Second brother is probably too disappointed in me. I called him over, but he refused."

"Second brother still has the guts?" Xu Chu said with a smile.

"He said there were few soldiers in the north and no one could be entrusted to him, so he couldn't come to see me. Please forgive me."

"Third brother, don't worry, at least the second brother's loyalty will not change."

"I don't care, it's just..." Shen Dan lowered his voice and said quickly: "Second brother is good at using strange tricks. He refuses to come. He probably thinks that I have no chance of surviving the desperate situation and there is nothing I can do."

"What do you think, Third Brother?"

Shen Dan didn't want to talk about it. He shook his head with a smile, drank the remaining wine in the cup, and stabbed his heart twice with the empty cup.

Xu Chu understood the meaning of this action. After the King of Jin arrived with his troops, he was immediately pushed to the front to attack the city. In just two or three days, thousands of people were lost. If this continues, after Xijing is captured, he will become a real A loner.

"Second brother may be conserving his troops. No matter how small they are, they are still soldiers of the King of Jin."

"What are you talking about? Drink!" Shen Dan's pride suddenly rose, he threw away the cup and drank heavily.

Even if Shen Dan has a plan in his heart, he will hide it deeply and will not reveal it to Xu Chu.

When leaving, Shen Dan reminded Xu Chu: "I will mention this meeting to Shan Yu. It is best for the fourth brother to find an opportunity to talk about it, so as not to arouse suspicion."

Xu Chu was already drunk on the bed, muttering: "Remember, remember..."

After waking up, Xu Chu didn't mention anything about Shan Yu when he saw him again, and Shan Yu didn't ask about it.

That night, Chanyu called two advisers and asked Kou Daogu to write him some letters.

He wrote a letter to the heroes in the south, ordering them to lead their troops to participate in the battle of Xijing today. Those who arrive first will be rewarded, those who arrive last will be punished, and those who do not arrive will perish. Shanyu said to Kou Daogu: "Don't be secretive like you people in the Central Plains. , this is a decree and an order, and it must be clear and unmistakable. Tell them that it is not enough to submit a letter of surrender, and it must be done in person to be sincere. He Rong people care about sincerity most, and if outsiders treat me with sincerity, they will be treated with courtesy. If you treat me with false intentions, you will get destruction and disgrace."

Kou Dao was writing rapidly alone, and Shanyu said to Xu Chu: "The north is about to be pacified, and I have to start choosing the next target."

"Although the north is secured, the Shan Yu's rear is getting wider and wider. If he rushes southward, he is afraid of future troubles."

Shan Yu smiled and nodded, "You are right. Ever since I entered the fortress, what I have been thinking about day and night is that my retreat has been cut off. King Jin's threat really hit home for me. If I had led my troops back outside the fortress, People like to be calm rather than disturbed. It will be even more difficult for me to lead all the troops into the fortress. If I don't return, I will be completely destroyed outside the fortress, and the kings and lords will not let me go."

Shan Yu took a long breath and said, "Fortunately, I survived. Now King Jin is my minister. Since he only threatened at the beginning and did not actually send troops to the border, I can forgive him for his past crimes."

"But the hidden dangers in the rear are still there."

Shanyu leaned forward slightly, "Do you think I attacked Qinzhou on a whim? No, Qinzhou is the place I want most. It's just because the Herong people here have no allies and no one wants to come, so I went to Jizhou first. , After a lot of trouble, we entered Qinzhou. In the future, the world will be unified and the emperor will govern the eight states. Qinzhou will be left to the Herong people. Xijing will be the first walled capital of our Herong people. "

Shanyu spoke to more than ten Lord He Rong in the tent, and they all nodded in praise.

"It's not just the He Rong people." Chanyu couldn't help but show off his grand plan, "Kiuzhou is a vast territory, and the people must have become scarce after years of war, but there are still dozens of times more people than the He Rong people. , hundreds of times. It doesn’t matter, there are many places, especially the three states of Qin, Bing, and Hebei in the north. I will invite some guests to come and live as the emperor’s people, protecting the outside of the wall for me, so that the people of He Rong will not have to worry about the future. "

"Guest?" Xu Chu was surprised.

Seeing the change in Xu Chu's expression, Chanyu became more and more proud, "There are many tribes on the grassland, and my He Rong tribe is the strongest. The other tribes either surrendered or fled far away. I sent people to invite them before entering the fortress. The Qinzhou Passage is prepared for them. Similarly, those who come first will be granted good lands, and those who come later will be given bad lands. Those who do not come, when I pacify Jiuzhou, I will definitely send troops to punish them. Even if I chase them to the end of the world, they will never be able to do it. Don’t let it go.”

Xu Chu had never seen anyone with such ambitious ambitions.

Chanyu was immersed in fantasy and turned to talk to his own people, which became more and more enthusiastic. The young adults He Rong did not hide the reverence in their eyes.

Kou Daogu was still writing letters, turning a deaf ear to the conversations around him.

Shan Yu turned to Xu Chu again, "Since entering the fortress, although we have encountered some accidents, the progress is still smoother than I expected. I have written to a total of nineteen Central Plains leaders this time. How many of them can you guess will come? Meeting?"

"They all sent people to deliver letters of surrender?"

"Um."

"Come in person instead of sending troops?"

"certainly."

"Nineteen, I don't know many of them."

"It doesn't matter, I want to listen to your 'general remarks'."

"I said there will be no more than five, and they are all heroes from Hanzhou and Luozhou. They are relatively close to He Rong's army, so they dare not not come."

"Hey, you think highly of these characters. Mr. Kou, what do you think?"

"Sooner or later, everyone will come and kneel to Shanyu in person." Kou Daogu said without raising his head.

Shan Yu smiled and said: "Five is too few, and all of them are too many. I will choose the middle one, ten to fifteen. Among them, King Liang will definitely come, but King Ning will not. He was the first to send a letter of surrender, which made it clear You are trying to take a trick, you will never dare to come see me in person..."

Xu Chu said: "Chanyu thinks these nineteen families are the heroes of the world?"

"There are still some in the north who have either surrendered or are about to surrender. There may be more in remote places outside the Nine Provinces? I will know when He Rong's cavalry gallops there."

"Maybe the hero who submitted the letter of surrender will come, or maybe he won't. Where is the person who submitted the letter of challenge?"

"War letter? Where did the war letter come from?"

"Oh, maybe I heard it wrong, it's just a rumor."

The Chanyu looked at his people and asked sternly. Everyone in the tent didn't know about this. Some people went out and called a few people in.

After those people made their presentations, Shanyu was furious. It was obviously the first time he heard that someone had actually sent a letter of challenge.

Those people were quite embarrassed, and they tried to defend themselves. Finally, Shan Yu's expression softened. One of them went out to get the so-called letter of war, while the others stayed behind, and when Shan Yu wasn't paying attention, they threw it at Xu Chu. With hateful eyes, they already knew who had leaked this matter.

It took a while for the war letter to be delivered. Shan Yu took it in his hand and read it over. He couldn't help but smile. He ordered He Rongren to step back and said to Xu Chu: "No wonder they refused to send it to me. It turns out he is just a fanatic. He claims to be the King of Chu, but he is actually a famous mountain bandit. Do you recognize this person?"

Kou Daogu stopped writing and raised his head in surprise, "Song Qizhu?"

Shan Yu smiled and said: "It's rare for Mr. Kou to know a hero."

"He is not a hero, but he is not a bandit either. I have never seen this person, but I have heard that he was originally a heroic knight from Jingzhou. He once went to Siguo Valley to seek advice from Fan Guan. He can be regarded as a disciple of Fan Clan. It is said that he and Xu They buried Fan Guan's body together."

"It's rare to be a scholar." Shanyu read the letter of war again. "Looking at his diction, he doesn't look like a scholar. So, Xu Chu, you and he are old acquaintances?"

"A one-sided relationship."

"Hey, this is strange. Since we are old friends, why did you send him to me? You must know that after capturing Xijing, this Song Qizhu will be the target of my attack. It is not to seize the city or occupy the land, nor to kill him. Killing generals is a declaration to Jiuzhou: Those who do not surrender will only have one fate!"

Xu Chu took a deep breath and said, "Since Song Qizhu has sent a letter of challenge, he must also hope to get Shan Yu's attention."

Shan Yu sneered and said to Kou Daogu: "Write a letter to Song Qizhu."