Plan to cut off the nine states

After being imprisoned in Kuimen for five days, Xu Chu couldn't wait any longer. Li Shengguo had no choice but to see him off. He specifically told him on the riverside: "Jingzhou is in chaos, and all parties are fighting. Once the big ship leaves, it will be attacked. There is no choice but to send a message." It’s a small boat, Master Xu. This is the boat of the water bandit Yang Moyu. It’s not that I don’t want to use my own boat, but his is safer.”

"I'm very grateful to General De Li for his warm hospitality and escort. General Li is familiar with the situation on both sides and will definitely make the right decision." Xu Chu was indeed very grateful to Li Shengguo.

Li Shengguo took out a letter, "This is what Yang Moyu wrote to me, asking me to allow him to pass on the river. I heard someone read it to me, and he was very polite and willing to pay. I think this is the best of both worlds. Qi Mei's matter, so I agreed to allow his ship to enter Yizhou to purchase goods. I can't write, so I asked someone to write it for me. Yang Moyu may not believe it, so I asked Mr. Xu to bring his original letter, and he would read it. I understand what I mean, and I don’t dare to neglect Mr. Xu. If he is being mean, please tell me Mr. Xu, and I will teach him a lesson. I don’t need to send troops, but just cut off his waterway, and Yang Moyu will have to beg for mercy.”

Xu Chu thanked him again, and he and Chang Yan had already boarded the ship. Li Shengguo said loudly on the shore: "I almost forgot, don't call him Yang Moyu in person, he has a big name, what is it called..."

A soldier on the ship smiled and said: "Yang Qinzai, it is said that he has a good origin and is a name that can only be used by the emperor."

Li Shengguo waved his hand and nodded.

You can sit and rest on the boat, which is much more comfortable than riding a horse. Chang Yan patted his bulging belly and said, "I have been worthy of you these days, and you must be worthy of me in the future." He added, "This fisherman Yang Qinzai is a bit The meaning of the Advent Army.”

"You haven't even met this man yet, and you can already tell that he looks like the Advent Army?"

"If nothing else, it's very similar to changing names. They both don't like their old nicknames, so each new name becomes more exaggerated than the last."

"Ha ha."

Li Shengguo sent two soldiers to escort them. One of them glanced at the boatman and whispered in a low voice: "Not all of us are on board."

Chang Yan shut up immediately.

This is Yang Moyu's boat. In order to show that he has no malicious intentions, there are never many people on the boat. There are only four people on this boat, but there is a lot of cargo. They are all bags of grain, and there is not much room left. But Xu Chu was still given a cabin, and the others could only sleep on the deck.

The four boatmen were extremely respectful to Xu Chu, but they didn't speak much. The two Yizhou soldiers, however, talked more and more as they got further away from Kuimen Pass. They were natives of Yizhou and didn't know much about Xu Chu. What he talks about are all anecdotes from Yi and Jing.

Xu Chu listened with great interest and took the opportunity to ask: "Do you recognize all the heroes in Jingzhou?"

"I can't tell you whether I recognize them all. At least I've heard about them."

The two soldiers rushed to speak. For fear of offending others, they said little to Yang Qinzai. They called him "King of the River" and said that he had lived on the river since he was a child and had dominated one side since he was a teenager.

"Among the heroes in Jingzhou, Chen Bing is a special figure. He is actually not from Jingzhou..."

"He is from Jingzhou. He went to the south to serve as an official. He took advantage of the chaos and led his troops back to Jingzhou." Another soldier corrected.

"I said he is not an official in Jingzhou."

The two argued for a while, and Xu Chu could roughly understand that Chen Bingcai was originally a court official. Because he had no backer in the court, he was sent to the far south as an official. He changed places every three years, either Xiangzhou or Guangzhou. The officialdom has been ups and downs for nearly twenty years, but he can't move north.

The world is in chaos, give him a chance.

Chen Bingcai was in the scattered states in the south. He was familiar with the terrain and had many contacts. He quickly assembled an army. Still using the banner of the Tiancheng court, he claimed to go north to King Qin, but in fact he plundered everywhere, so he was called a southern bandit.

Jingzhou is the hometown of Chen Bingcai. After the scattered states in the south grew, he led his troops back to his hometown with the intention of crossing the river to conquer the Central Plains. However, he did not dare to directly attack the Xi family in Jiangling. He planned to occupy Yiling in the west as a ferry, but Yi Ling was Yang Moyu's territory, and the two sides fought a war.

Chen Bingcai somewhat underestimated the enemy, thinking that he could easily defeat a group of water bandits due to the large number of soldiers on his side. After a few small victories on land, he even regarded Yiling as his treasure, and set up a deep ambush every step of the way. Self-aware.

On the river, Yang Moyu's ships were several times more than Chen Bingcai expected. The unprepared Southern soldiers were defeated and forced to retreat to the shore.

The Xi family had been paying close attention to this army coming from the south. Although they all claimed to be the imperial army, they did not trust each other, so they took the opportunity to send troops and launched another major attack on Chen Bingcai on land.

To make matters worse, the Southern Army almost perished. Fortunately, another reinforcement arrived from Xiangzhou. Chen Bing was able to regain some of his strength and gain a foothold on the south bank. He faced off against Yang Moyu on the water and Xi Jiajun on land. The fighting continues, and there are no plans for a decisive battle for the time being.

The two Yizhou soldiers stood on Yang Moyu's side, so they had a derogatory view of Chen Bingcai, as if he was just an incompetent man who relied on many soldiers. The four boatmen occasionally interjected a few words, and even described Chen Bingcai as useless. .

"He has always been a civil servant, how can he know about war? He defeated a few villages in Hunan and Guangzhou, and thought he could compete with the heroes of the Central Plains. As a result, he was defeated miserably as soon as he entered Jingzhou. Haha."

Xu Chu listened patiently and said: "It is said that there was another Chu king Song Qizhu in the Battle of Jingxi. Why haven't I heard a few people mention it?"

"Song Chujia? He... didn't participate in the battle much." A soldier said.

"At best, we're just watching the battle," another person said.

"Yes, he doesn't have many people, but he boasts that he wants to unite all the armies to fight against the He Rong people. He is really crazy."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "He Rong is the common enemy of the nine states. Song Qizhu's idea is right. Why is he a madman?"

"Who says what? For example, who will the King of Shu marry as his queen, and it is our turn to speak? I'm afraid Mr. Xu is not qualified to make irresponsible remarks, right?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "Indeed not."

"So, we can't talk about beating He Rongren, Mr. Xu can't talk about it, and Song Chujiao can't talk about it either."

"Who has such qualifications?" Xu Chu asked.

The two soldiers looked at each other and had a rare agreement: "At least they must be from the Xi family. The most qualified person is my King of Shu."

A boatman turned around and said: "My King Jiang is also qualified. He doesn't like to be nosy, but he said that as long as someone takes the lead, he will follow."

"Song Chu leads the way, will you follow?" said a soldier.

The boatman curled his lips, "You all said that he is not qualified."

Xu Chu said: "The Hanzhou Army and Yizhou Army are resisting the Herong people."

The people on the boat laughed, and the Yizhou soldier said: "That doesn't count. Sooner or later General Tie will lead his troops back to Yizhou. He is a general of the King of Shu. How can he go against the King of Shu?"

The boatman said: "The Hanzhou people are dissatisfied with the Xi family being the shepherd guards, that's why they are making such a fuss. Just watch, as long as the Chanyu recognizes the Hanzhou people as the shepherd guards, they will surrender immediately."

Everyone was talking a lot, and the more they talked, the more lively they were. Everyone had an opinion on the situation in Hanzhou, but Xu Chu, who regarded himself as a counselor, had nothing to say.

After nightfall, Xu Chu and Chang Yan slept in the cabin. The bumps of the boat were worse than the back of a horse. The two were not used to it and couldn't sleep for a while. Chang Yan turned back and forth and finally said: "Young Master always asks about Song Qizhu these days. He Are you the one who buried Mr. Fan with the young master in Siguo Valley?"

"It's him."

"Master, are you familiar with him?"

"We're not familiar with each other, we only have a one-time relationship."

"The young master seems to have high hopes for him."

"Well, it's not that I have high hopes for him, but I have high hopes for him and no one else can place them. It's rare for someone to have similar ideas to me - I feel a little panicked and have no choice."

"Young master always likes to say 'wait a little longer', and I think we should wait and see especially for Song Qizhu."

"What have you heard?"

"No, but I remembered that when I was thinking about the valley, we were waiting outside and the young master entered the valley alone. After the Song Dynasty took the bamboo burial master, he did not take the main road out of the valley."

"He has been involved in a lawsuit and is wanted. He is afraid to take the main road."

"Isn't he just a bandit? What big thing can he achieve? And he doesn't even have a few soldiers, but he is the first to become king - although I don't know how to judge people, I always feel that he can't do it."

"You are right, but if there is a chance, I still hope to see him."

"Young master must have your own reasons. If you say go, we will go. I just ask you not to have too high hopes, and don't be too anxious. Finding reinforcements is not something that can be done in a day or two."

"Wait a moment." Xu Chu smiled.

Chang Yan yawned, "I've been waiting for so long anyway, I don't care if I wait a little longer. How can I sleep when I'm wandering around?"

Having said that, Chang Yan fell asleep even after being extremely sleepy.

Xu Chu was still awake. What troubled him was not the rocking of the ship, but a mess of thoughts.

"Wait a little longer." Xu Chu reminded himself in a low voice.

From Kuimen Pass to Jingzhou, we went down the river and crossed the gorge in a few days.

There began to be more ships on the river, no matter how big or small, and they were all owned by Yang Qinzai's navy. The war was not over yet, and powerful enemies were stationed on the shore. People on the river needed to be vigilant at all times.

On the boat, after being directed by the captain, Xu Chu saw the Confederate Army camp in the distance. He only saw a large area of ​​tents and flags, and nothing else could be seen clearly.

Chang Yan said with a smile: "Except for the He Rong people, this is the first time I have seen someone camping on the ground. Even the World Army knows how to find a place close to mountains and rivers."

"I guess Chen Bingcai is showing off that he has many soldiers and generals," Xu Chu said.

Suddenly a group of soldiers appeared on the shore. They were not riding horses, holding swords, guns and crossbows. They were shouting and cursing from a distance. The navy on the river did not give in. They scolded and shot arrows towards the shore.

Seeing Xu Chu's surprised expression, a boatman explained: "It's been going on for a while. We don't go ashore and the Confederate army doesn't enter the water. They provoke each other every day, but they rarely start fighting."

Sure enough, the Confederate troops on the shore yelled and cursed for a while, shot dozens of arrows, turned around and left.

"It's a bit of a joke." Chang Yan said in a low voice.

Xu Chu smiled and said nothing.

When they arrived at Yiling City, Yang Qinzai happened to be away, but he sent his trusted subordinates to greet the guests. The two Yizhou soldiers saw this and completed their mission, so they took another ship back to Kuimen Pass.

As soon as they entered the city, Chang Yan whispered to Xu Chu: "It seems that the fighting here in Jingzhou is very fierce."

The city was in a mess, with many soldiers and few people. It was very different from Yizhou, but quite similar to Qin, Bing and other states.

Xu Chu and Chang Yan were warmly entertained. Many naval leaders came to meet them and drank a lot of wine. Xu Chu was now too drunk and was defeated early, so Chang Yan could only stop him from drinking.

He was not drunk, he just felt extremely uncomfortable and would vomit if he drank any more.

After a few drinks, another group of guests came. They entered without introducing them and went straight to the food and drinks. Only one person came directly to Xu Chu, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Seventeenth Young Master, long time no see."

Xu Chu forced a smile and said, "Why is General Xi here?"

Xi Yuan, a son of the Xi family, said suspiciously: "We will deal with the Southern bandits together." After a pause, he added: "It is also to wait for Mr. Xu to arrive."