Plan to cut off the nine states

The Sheng family in Huaizhou is famous for its filial piety. Although the family is large and has many descendants, the father is strict and the sons are filial, the brothers are harmonious, and they are courteous and courteous to each other. If there are occasional disputes among the clan members, they ask the senior and virtuous person to intervene in the decision. Everyone is ashamed to report to the official position. .

Therefore, when the world was in chaos, the officials and people of Huaizhou invited the Sheng family to send people to take charge of state affairs. Even the Mu Shou and the governor gave up their positions one after another, not daring to compete with the Sheng family.

The Sheng family refused and reluctantly took over the power. However, unlike heroes elsewhere, the Sheng family was ruled by three people, of the same clan but different fathers. They were ranked by brothers, namely Sheng'an of Xingsan, Shengkuo of Xing8, and Shengkuo of Xingtwelfth. of shade.

Not long after Xu Chu entered Huaihe, he encountered the Sheng family's army. By coincidence, Sheng Yin was in the army. When he heard that the Liang King's envoy had arrived, he immediately ordered him to be brought there.

When Liang Jun attacked Runan City, the Sheng family was not indifferent. They sent a large army to watch from a distance, but the camp location was closer to Wuzhou.

Sheng Yin was in his thirties, with a long beard hanging from his chin. This was one of the symbols of the Sheng family. There was even a legend that the Sheng family determined their status by the lushness and length of their beards.

This is of course nonsense. Xu Chu would not believe it. He knew that the Sheng family had many scholars, but not many who were good at handling soldiers. There was only one famous veteran, Sheng Xuan, whom he had met in Jizhou.

When Xu Chu entered the tent, Sheng Yin was looking at the name sticker that had been handed in earlier.

"I am here, Xu Chu, the envoy of the King of Liang, pays homage to General Sheng Twelve." Xu Chu cupped his hands and said.

Sheng Yin put down the name sticker and asked, "Isn't this Xu Chu from the Lou family?"

"Exactly."

"Yes." Sheng Yin nodded and looked at the dozen generals in the tent, "He is still alive."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "General Sheng Twelve seems a little surprised."

"It's not an accident, but a sigh. I lament that the highway has collapsed, loyal ministers and filial sons have died on the roadside, and no one cares about them, but rebellious ministers and traitors can travel around the world and are treated with courtesy wherever they go."

"In troubled times, there really is no reason to explain." Xu Chu also sighed.

Sheng Yin laughed and said, "No matter what, the Sheng family will not treat the envoy badly. Mr. Xu, just say it directly. After saying it, go back to the King of Liang immediately and bring my reply: Although Huaizhou is weak, it has thirty soldiers." Wan, although the Huai people are stupid, they will not be bullied by others. Please ask the King of Liang to prepare for the battle. The children of the Sheng family will be here in a moment. "

Xu Chu showed a hint of surprise, "General Sheng Twelve replied to King Liang without first listening to what I had to say?"

"Mr. Xu can make a lot of noise. The Sheng family will follow the path and his answers will not change with time."

Xu Chu smiled, looked around, and saw that Sheng Yin had no intention of retreating the generals, and said, "Where is General Sheng Xuan Sheng?"

"The old general is not in this army. I am the one who makes the decision here. Mr. Xu asked him what he should do?"

"General Sheng Twelve said that the Sheng family followed the path. I would like to ask General Sheng, which path did they take when they entered Jizhou?"

Sheng Yin laughed and said, "Mr. Xu, there is no need to insinuate. Whether the Sheng family went west to Qinzhou or later to the north to Jizhou, they followed the right path. It was the heroine of Yecheng who was in power, corrupted the cadres, disrupted the government, and the Sheng family had no choice but to take advantage of it." It’s a pity that God was not kind to us. When He Rong entered the fortress, there were people like Mr. Xu who were eloquent and obstructed, causing General Sheng to return without success. "

"That's what General Sheng said?" Xu Chu showed a hint of surprise again.

"Master Xu, it's better to save your energy and don't ask about the affairs of our Sheng family. Just talk about Prince Liang's intentions."

"The King of Liang invited the Sheng family to do another 'cheap move'."

Cheng Yin was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed out loud, "The King of Liang wants to attack Jizhou, so he should go north. Why go south to Runan?"

"Runan is the city of Luozhou, where King Liang went to recruit troops."

"The Lord of Bao City has long been dominated by the Sheng family, and Runan already belongs to Huaizhou."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "The boundaries of the Kyushu are clearly defined. Although the imperial court is weak, the emperor is still there. The Sheng family traveled across the states to seize the city. Which right path did they follow?"

Sheng Yin said coldly: "Prince Liang wants to use the Sheng family again. Tell him to stop dreaming."

"It's a pity. It was a match made in heaven. Both sides benefited. General Sheng Twelve..."

"I won't send it away." Sheng Yin didn't want to talk nonsense anymore.

"It's getting late. Can I stay here for one night and leave early tomorrow morning?"

Sheng Yin snorted and said, "Leave as soon as daybreak."

"Thank you."

Xu Chu lived in an ordinary tent. Fortunately, there were only two of him and Chang Yan, so it was not crowded.

Changyan was not surprised at all about the attitude of the Sheng family, "The last time the coalition forces entered Hebei, it started but ended in a tailspin. This time, King Liang ignored old friendship and came to attack Runan. It would be strange if the Sheng family could forgive him. Actually, let me say, My visit was in vain. I finally entered Huaizhou and solved my worries. Now I am the only one who has not been to Wuzhou."

"There is no harm in getting to know the Sheng family."

"I read in a book that counselors can analyze the world's situation without leaving home, and can judge someone's strength, weakness, good or evil based on just one or two deeds. Only the young master must see it with his own eyes."

"There is a way to see from a distance. The Sheng family's deeds are outstanding, so we can actually judge based on this. But after seeing it with my own eyes, I feel more at ease. It's a pity that I only saw one person, and I don't know who the other two are."

"Master, do you think the Sheng family has a future?"

"Looking from afar, the Sheng family wants both the reputation of being a Taoist and a tyrant, and their future is worrying."

"I think Prince Liang is actually pretty good."

"Haha, are you still worried that I will defect to Prince Ning?"

Chang Yan said sternly: "I really don't want the young master to be used by Prince Ning, but when I said Prince Liang was good, I meant it sincerely."

"What's a good idea?"

"I know that many people often laugh at King Liang's phrase 'Emperor of the Liang Dynasty'. In the past, I thought it was a joke, but now I think it is rare. Why? In troubled times, some people take advantage of the situation and claim to be kings and hegemons, but When it came time to take risks, they all retreated in order to protect themselves. Following the young master, the only ones who dared to face the difficulties were Hanzhou Tower Chief Shi, Jingzhou Chen Bingcai, Dongdu Liang Wang... Jiang Dongning. There are only a few kings. To be honest, although the building manager Shi and the young master are brothers, they have no brotherhood. Chen Bingcai has no trust in the young master. King Ning is cruel and arbitrary. I don’t need to say more. Only the king of Liang is the king. The emperor thinks of himself, has high aspirations, and can use the strategies of the prince."

"What you said made me excited." Xu Chu said with a smile.

"But the young master still has other plans."

"I have no plans, I just haven't made up my mind yet."

Chang Yan sighed and was about to continue talking when someone outside said, "Junior from the Sheng family, please see Mr. Xu."

Chang Yan opened the curtain and welcomed a young man in.

The young man's beard just covered his throat, he had a pair of very bright eyes, and he was amiable. After entering the tent, he cupped his hands and said, "Sheng Ai, I would like to pay my respects to Mr. Xu."

Xu Chu remembered that this person was one of the generals around Sheng Yin, and returned the courtesy: "General Ai is a rare visitor, please take a seat."

Sheng Ai was sitting on the bunk opposite, while Chang Yan was pouring tea. Seeing that the man was carrying a knife, he decided to stay at the door and did not leave.

Sheng Ai had no intention of talking alone. He took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Mr. Xu may not remember, but we were classmates in the Lu Xue School."

Xu Chu said unexpectedly: "Sorry for my poor eyesight, I really can't remember."

"I don't blame Mr. Xu, that happened five years ago. I only stayed at the Yuxue Hall for less than a month, and then I went home to mourn. At the end of the three-year period, the Yuxue Hall was no longer there."

Even if there is no chaos in the world, the Yuxue Academy will be canceled by the court. Xu Chu asked: "Since we are classmates, General Ai seems to be older, I definitely don't dare to be called 'sir'."

"Mr. Xu does not need to be humble. Although I left the Yuxue Hall, I often exchanged letters with the teachers in the hall, especially the scholar, who once praised Mr. Xu's talents in his letters."

"Does General Ai know the whereabouts of Wenren Xuexue?"

"We haven't contacted you for a long time. I have always had a guess that Wen Renxue learned early that the troubled times were coming, so he found a place to take refuge in advance."

"It's possible." Xu Chu smiled.

The two talked about the past events in the library. Although Sheng Ai had only stayed for a month, he was very familiar with the students in the library. Even Xu Chu didn't recognize some of their names.

"Brother, your army is now in Guangling City. I'm going back in a few days. Do you want to send me a message, Mr. Xu?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "It's enough to know where Lou Zhongjun is."

The two chatted for a long time, and Sheng Ai finally got down to business, "To be honest, I heard Prince Liang's suggestion in the tent and was very interested in it. I didn't feel comfortable talking about it at the time, so I specifically asked to see Mr. Xu and wanted to hear the details."

"General Sheng Twelve has made up his mind. General Ai...can you persuade him?"

"The three masters of the Sheng family, the twelfth general, it doesn't make sense, and there are two others."

Xu Chu thought for a while and said: "The Liang King's attack on Hebei is different from the last time. The weather, location, and people have all been taken into consideration. The plan is thorough and there is a 90% chance of winning. However, without the help of the Sheng family, it will be difficult to succeed." ”

Xu Chu gave an overview of Ma Wei's plan, especially how to defend against the counterattack of He Rong's army after success, but omitted part of King Ning's plan. "The King of Liang has few soldiers. If the Sheng family can help, he can capture Bingzhou together." , after the completion of the matter, Luozhou returned to the Sheng family, the king of Liang occupied Ji and merged with the north, and then joined forces with the heroes in the south of the Yangtze River. The Herong people were attacked on several sides, and they were bound to flee. "

Sheng Ai nodded while listening, "The plan is indeed thorough, but what our Sheng family is most worried about is not the He Rong people, but Ning Baoguan in the south. It was also the Sheng family's carelessness that allowed Ning Baoguan to sit in Jiangdong. Big. When King Guangling was recruiting troops in Wuzhou, after his death, the troops were divided into various counties, and all of them were captured by Ning Baoguan. Even though the Sheng family wanted to go north, it was difficult to solve their worries. "

Xu Chu was silent.

Sheng Ai smiled and said, "Is there anything else that Mr. Xu can't say?"

"There is indeed something. We should wait until the Sheng family slightly agrees with King Liang's plan before talking about it. Now...it's a bit early."

"Mr. Xu is overly concerned. It's a bit difficult to convince the person in charge of the Sheng family while refusing to speak clearly."

Xu Chu thought for a while and said, "King Ning attacked Huaihe out of suspicion, but his intention was actually Jingzhou. He wanted to rely on the river to protect himself."

Sheng Ai let out a long sigh, "So, even Liang Jun is a suspect?"

Xu Chu smiled and nodded, "So the Sheng family has no worries and can go north to attack Hebei with King Liang."

Sheng Ai stood up, cupped his hands and said: "I have understood that considering the situation, it is indeed a good idea to join forces to invade Hebei. I will try my best to persuade the principal and ask Mr. Xu to go back and tell King Liang to let him prepare for going north first, and the Sheng family will come later. "

Xu Chu sent Sheng Ai outside the tent and laughed several times when he came back. Chang Yan was extremely confused, "Is what the young master just said all the truth?"

"It's true to every word."

"But... I'm afraid the Sheng family won't believe it if you tell the truth so quickly, right?"

"I came here to help Prince Liang get rid of future troubles, not to make the Sheng family trust me."