Plan to cut off the nine states

Xu Chu returned to Yecheng again. The weather became colder and colder, and the sound of the soldiers' armor became louder and clearer. Xu Chu was wearing a thick robe, but still felt a little cold. He stopped on the roadside on horseback and refused to move forward.

Liang Jun's vanguard attacked for two days and two nights, leaving many marks on the city wall. Smoke was rising in some places, and the corpses and blood stains had not had time to be cleaned.

The intelligence obtained by Ma Wei was very accurate. There were not many defenders in Yecheng. Although they resisted very resolutely, they were ultimately outnumbered and the response was hasty. Seeing that the enemy was about to board the city, the defenders in the city opened the door and surrendered.

Ma Wei led his army to arrive just in time. He was overjoyed and immediately rewarded the whole army. He named the forward general as the champion general, divided his troops and horses, and ordered him to continue going north to attack Yuyang. He would enter Yecheng and tell the soldiers and people of Jizhou: Liang The king is coming.

Xu Chu did not want to enter the city.

Chang Yan had a lot of affection for Yecheng, so he still advised: "Young Master, please go to the city. This is a helpless matter. Ye City should be in trouble. The King of Liang has entered the city and will definitely summon the Young Master later. If you go too Late, there will be discord."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "What I am thinking of is not Yecheng, but the King of Liang."

"What happened to Prince Liang?" Chang Yan asked in a low voice, looking back and forth to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"The King of Liang claimed that he would capture the entire Jizhou within one month, but he..."

"Someone is coming." Chang Yan reminded.

A small group of men rode up and stopped to say hello.

Qiao Zhisu was originally a staff member of the general. He came to the side of King Liang. After staying for a long time, he gradually became loyal and never wanted to leave. He bowed his hand to Xu Chu and said, "Why don't Mr. Xu enter the city?"

Xu Chu replied: "Don't dare to enter."

"Why?"

"I thought Liang Jun was coming to seize Jizhou, but everyone in the audience looked happy. It seemed that the capture of Yecheng was complete. I was doubtful, fearing that I would accidentally reveal it after entering the city and offend others."

Qiao Zhisu smiled and said, "I understand, Mr. Xu, please stay here for a moment."

Qiao Zhisu led people into the city, and Chang Yan asked doubtfully: "What does he understand?"

"He is a minister of King Liang. It's time for him to remonstrate."

"The King of Liang has obviously sent a large army to attack Yuyang. Why do the young master and Mr. Qiao say that the King of Liang seems to be complacent? Isn't it okay to capture a big city and not even look happy?"

"The soldiers in the front were working hard to attack the city in the hope of getting a heavy reward, so they looked happy. The soldiers in the rear were spared a hard battle and their lives were safe, so they looked happy, which is all right and blameless. But the king of Liang showed no joy at all. , the general's heart will be three points, and the soldiers will be six points. Everyone is happy. Who wants to leave Yecheng? Moreover, the forward soldiers have just captured the city and were sent to attack Yuyang again. The only people they rely on are the army at the rear. Once you have a lazy mind, you will have no fighting spirit ahead.”

Chang Yan said with a smile: "Just listening to the young master's reminder, Mr. Qiao can think of these things?"

"He had thought of these things for a long time. After listening to my reminder, he decided to go to Liang Wang to remonstrate."

"Haha, I kind of understand the tactics of counselors, which is to make small things big and big things small. When you persuade people to fight for the world, everything seems to be at your fingertips. When you persuade people to pay attention to their words and deeds, it seems that every smile can cause big disasters. "

Xu Chu nodded, "You learn quickly."

"No wonder people like you are willing to be counselors - you try your best to spur others, but you don't have to bear the responsibility and consequences. As long as the King of Liang keeps moving forward, counselors will follow."

"Haha, you learned too fast, but you forgot the saying, accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger. It is not a simple and easy task to spur a tiger. When a tiger is running happily, he will not care about the small pain on his body. Once you stop, you will remember everything from the past and have the intention to attack the counselor."

"No wonder the young master asked Mr. Qiao to persuade him not to go." Chang Yan nodded repeatedly and immediately added: "I'm not saying that the young master is timid, but that the young master understands human feelings and can seek good fortune and avoid disaster. In troubled times, don't do anything. No choice.”

"Where do I have 'knowledge'?" Xu Chu murmured and sighed lightly.

The general galloped out of the city and ordered the entire army to turn around and camp outside the city. Everyone was disappointed. But not long after, King Liang led a large group of people out of the city and wanted to stay outside the city, which stopped the frustration among the army in time. .

As soon as the tent was set up, Xu Chu was summoned.

Ma Wei was discussing with the generals, arranging for someone to defend the city, someone to go to Yuyang, someone to supervise the transportation of grain and grass, someone to spread the word to all counties and counties, and recruit surrender in the name of "Tiancheng Emperor"...

Everything was urgent. Some people set off immediately after receiving the order, while others delayed at most one night and had to leave early the next morning.

The generals retired one after another. Ma Wei sat on a chair to rest for a while, then turned to Xu Chu and said, "Are you satisfied?"

"As long as you are satisfied with King Liang's great cause." Xu Chu said with a smile.

Ma Wei waved his hand and ordered Gao Shengze and other attendants and guards to step back, and then said: "Why don't you come to persuade me yourself and insist on using Qiao Zhisu's mouth?"

"Mr. Qiao said it was my idea?"

"He didn't say anything, but you refused to go into the city, so I knew it was you who was behind it."

"The King of Liang only cares about whether what he said is right or not, so why care about who is instigating him? Besides, Mr. Qiao knows his own truth and doesn't need me to teach him a word."

Ma Wei stared at Xu Chu and sighed softly, "Don't think that I don't understand. You are unwilling to go to the city to persuade me, because you still regard yourself as a guest, not as my counselor."

"The King of Liang treats guests with courtesy and makes me feel at home."

"Hey." Ma Wei originally had a lot to say, but now he was completely uninterested, "Step back."

After all, Xu Chu couldn't achieve Guo Shifeng's understanding.

Early the next morning, the army broke out of camp and headed straight for Yuyang.

The weather was cold and the march was quite hard, especially at night. It was too cold to sleep and it was difficult to fall asleep. Getting up early in the morning became a greater test. The generals had to go to their tents and beat gongs to wake up the soldiers.

Ma Wei's fighting spirit became more and more high. He would rest in the middle of the night every day, get up as soon as dawn, urge the army to move forward, and make various promises to the soldiers, "We will spend the winter in Jizhou this year." At the beginning of each time, he would say Say this.

However, as soon as the sky turns cloudy, Ma Wei will become restless and call the astronomical officer accompanying the army to ask if it will snow heavily. Anyone who provokes him at this time will be severely punished or even executed.

Xu Chu didn't see Ma Wei much for several days, as if he was deliberately ignored.

Chang Yan began to worry about the health of the young master, because Xu Chu's face became increasingly pale, he ate and drank less, and spoke less. Chang Yan often ran out of words to talk to.

That night, Xu Chu was lying in bed and had just warmed up, ready to have a good sleep, when a soldier came to summon him.

Xu Chu had no choice but to stand up and said, "I don't envy the counselors anymore. In the end, the tiger will eat the meat, not the man with the whip. Alas, we should be able to reach Yuyang tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. No matter how the war goes, the young master will always Can have a good rest.”

It was even colder outside and the cold wind was howling. Xu Chu wrapped up his clothes tightly and followed the soldiers to King Liang's tent.

There was a charcoal fire burning in the tent. It was not as warm as spring, but at least it was not bone-chilling. Xu Chu immediately felt much more comfortable.

Ma Wei was reading a pile of official documents and motioned Xu Chu to sit down. Then he continued to talk quietly with Gao Shengze, Qiao Zhisu and others. Soon the others left, leaving only an old eunuch and a staff member. The old eunuch stood by, The staff found a stool and sat across from Xu Chu.

"Mr. Qiao, tell me, I'll take a rest." Ma Wei closed his eyes and took a nap while Gao Shengze rubbed his shoulders.

Qiao Zhisu said to Xu Chu: "Yuyang wants to negotiate peace. The envoy sent is on the way and will arrive soon. The King of Liang hopes that Mr. Xu can receive the envoy together."

"good."

Qiao Zhisu glanced at the official documents on the table and said, "There has been a lot of news from various places in the past two days. Mr. Xu, do you want to hear it?"

"There is Mr. Raucho."

"Let's talk about Jizhou first. The progress is very smooth. All counties and counties have surrendered one after another. The army in front has also surrounded Yuyang and is about to attack."

Qiao Zhisu was an aide to the King of Liang. What he said about Liang Jun's progress was hard to distinguish from reality. Xu Chu nodded and said nothing.

"The Sheng family in Huaizhou has learned that the Liang army entered Hebei and captured Yecheng, but there has been no movement. There are not many additional troops in Huaibei. It seems that they are going on the defensive. The Sheng family's army is still concentrated in Huainan. King Liang speculated that the Sheng family But he made the mistake, abandoned the Yuyang court, and concentrated on preparing to attack Wuzhou. "

"I guess so."

"King Ning invaded Jingzhou and won great victories one after another. He was almost at Jiangling City. It is said that the Xi family asked Shan Yu for help, but water from afar could not quench the thirst of the people nearby."

"Xiangyang is still not lost?"

"While Xiangyang was still there, the heroes of Jingzhou supported the King of Xiangdong as the emperor and faced off against the Bingzhou army. The outcome has never been decided."

"Didn't the Chanyu send more troops to Xiangyang?"

"Chanyu is in Hanzhou now."

Xu Chu's expression changed.

"He Rong's army pretended to increase its troops in Xiangyang and suddenly attacked Ziwu Road and won a complete victory."

"Ziwu Road is guarded by Chang Shi Louyun. Didn't he destroy the plank road?"

"There is no specific information here. In short, Shanyu has led his army into Hanzhou. I don't know whether he wants to divide his troops to capture the whole territory, or reinforce the Bingzhou army. In any case, Xiangyang will not be able to support it until next spring, and it is likely to be destroyed within a month. Will fall."

Xu Chu sighed. Lou Yu said that Hanzhou could survive the whole winter, but as soon as early winter arrived, the army was defeated. Xu Chu didn't even have a chance to keep his promise and bring reinforcements. "Is there the whereabouts of Building Commander Shi and General Tie?"

Qiao Zhisu shook his head, "There is very little news over there."

"When Liang Jun entered Hebei, how did Chanyu respond?"

"That's the strange thing. Shan Yu didn't respond at all. He seemed to have no idea about the situation here."

"Where's General Bao?"

"General Bao led his troops into Bingzhou, but the news is not very smooth. We will have to wait until the checkpoints on both sides of the mountain range fall into the hands of Liang Jun before we can know the progress of Bingzhou. It will be soon, which will only take ten days."

"The Chanyu will never be indifferent, he must have a plan." Xu Chu said.

Ma Wei opened his eyes and pushed Gao Shengze away, "Chan Yu just wants to sneak attack on Dongdu and force me to return to defense. I have sent someone to remind Pan Kai that he should not go out of the city to fight under any circumstances and just defend the city."

Xu Chu was silent.

Ma Wei smiled and said: "What else can Chanyu do? Send troops to help Yuyang? That's too late, not to mention he still has many unfinished matters in Hanzhou and Jingzhou."

"I don't know." Xu Chu couldn't guess Shan Yu's plan.

A soldier came in and announced, "The Yuyang envoy has arrived."

Ma Wei stood up and said, "Can you please meet the envoy for me? I have nothing to say."

Ma Wei took Gao Shengze away, and Xu Chu and Qiao Zhisu stood up to see them off.

The envoy arrived soon. After entering the tent, he didn't see King Liang. He was stunned for a moment, and then he was stunned again when he saw Xu Chu and Qiao Zhisu. "Are you two... ministers of King Liang?"

The envoy sent by Yuyang was Sun Yalu, who was very familiar with Xu and Qiao. After asking, he chuckled and said, "I am talking nonsense. Please tell King Liang for me that Shan Yu has prepared preparations in Yuyang." A large army is waiting for Liang Jun to enter."