Plan to cut off the nine states

More than a dozen soldiers raised their knives to cut the King into pieces, each holding a piece and walking out of the hall, leaving a large pool of blood behind.

Outside the palace, the massacre was going on. None of the relatives and friends of the Xue family were spared. No matter whether they begged or scolded, they were not forgiven.

Ma Wei did not leave, but still stood in front of the throne, holding a bloody knife in his hand, his face glowing with excitement, "It's that simple, it's that easy."

"Why?" Xu Chu was very confused. He couldn't stop the incarnation army outside. At this moment, he just wanted to know the reason.

Ma Wei glanced at the bloody knife in his hand, took out the silk handkerchief, wiped it clean carefully, put the knife into its sheath, and said with a smile: "I have already told you the reason. Brother Chu is such a smart person, why don't you understand?"

"Replace the King of the World? Killing him won't do it..."

Ma Wei shook his head, "Simplicity and ease are the biggest reasons."

"Just because...you can kill the King of Avatar, so you have to kill him?"

"To others, I will give high-sounding reasons. To my brother, I am willing to tell the truth. After all, we have known each other for many years and once assassinated the Emperor of All Things together."

Xu Chu was silent. He hadn't talked to Ma Wei alone for a while, and he suddenly felt strange.

Ma Wei was in a state of excitement and wanted to express his feelings directly. He glanced outside the hall, turned to look at the throne on the steps, and sighed: "It's just such a thing. You think it's out of reach, but you can't see it from a distance." Kneel down, you think it is unattainable, a mountain that ordinary people can never climb in their lifetime. In fact... it is just a chair, anyone can sit on it, and anyone can tear it down when you and I participated in the ceremony. At that time, never thought that there would be a lowly person sitting on it, drinking wine, eating meat, and even defecating around it?"

Xu Chu could not have imagined that he had participated in court ceremonies before, but his position was too far back and he could not even see the door of the main hall, let alone the throne inside.

"Anyone can sit on it, but not everyone who sits on it is an emperor." Xu Chu said, beginning to understand what Ma Wei meant.

"I knew Brother Chu and I had the same mind, and it was clear at the first glance." Ma Wei hesitated for a moment, climbed up the stairs, and stood in front of the throne. He lightly traced his fingers on the chair, as if he was going to sit on it, but in the end he changed his mind. He turned around and said with a smile: "No matter what, we have been Tiancheng's ministers, and there is a rope in our hearts that restrains our hands and feet. A person like Xue Liujia, who is so humble to the core, is not restrained, so he dares to rebel and call himself a disciple of Maitreya. Dare to take the throne.”

Ma Wei walked down the steps, "But that's not courage, but ignorance. Xue Liujia didn't understand that he personally broke all the people's awe of the throne and reduced himself to dust. He personally proved that everything is simple and everything is easy. It's easy. Killing him is just an old magician. It's not more complicated than killing other people. It turns out that it is."

"The external difficulties have not been eliminated, sir, there is internal strife..."

Ma Wei interrupted Xu Chu, "Brother Chu is a smart man, but there is only one shortcoming. He relies too much on resourcefulness and always wants to have everything ready, and is unwilling to put all his efforts into it. Remember? When you assassinated the Emperor of All Things, you always raised many objections. I will make up for everything that was wrong, but what happened in the end? It was so easy for you to kill the Emperor of All Things, and all the plans you prepared in advance were redundant."

"It's not superfluous at all. Without those plans, the assassination would never have happened, and I wouldn't have had the chance to do it."

"But those plans were too complicated, and in hindsight, there were many things that could have been omitted."

"Of course it feels complicated when I think about it afterwards, but it was a different situation at the time. We knew almost nothing about the Emperor of All Things..."

"It's enough to know that he is a person." Ma Wei interrupted again, "You and I are still too restrained. The assassin has given us a revelation, but we have not woken up until now -"

Ma Wei looked at the bloodstain not far away, "The World Army was assigned by my younger brother, and almost no one came to defect to Xue Liujia. At that time, I knew that he was just a fool, nothing special. We respect him, Worrying and speculating are all self-deception. For people like him, every extra day or hour is a humiliation to themselves."

"Xue Liujia defiled the throne but failed to become the emperor. Even if you kill him, you cannot become the King of the World."

"Haha, that's because Xue Liujia is too stupid. After all, he is just a commoner from a remote rural area. He can't recognize the treasure when he picks it up, and he doesn't know how to use it. I understand."

Ma Wei pulled out the knife again and murmured: "The more you think about it, the less likely you are to succeed. Sometimes, you have to have an idea."

Xu Chu suddenly felt panic and stretched out his hand to hold his knife. "Brother Ma has an idea. I won't say more and say goodbye."

Ma Wei laughed twice, "Don't be afraid, brother Chu. Friendship between close friends is of some value after all. I won't attack you. Besides, you will definitely bring many subordinates with you. The people of Wu are loyal to you, just like the people of Liang are loyal to me. Only For this reason, you and I should be courteous to each other.”

Xu Chu nodded and did not want to say more. There are people in the world who can be persuaded and people who cannot be persuaded. There is also a kind of person who cannot be persuaded but will cause disaster.

Xu Chu already regretted that he had spoken too much.

He had just taken a few steps when Ma Wei suddenly said loudly: "Brother Chu always thought that I didn't have the qualifications to be an emperor, right?"

Xu Chu stopped, without turning around or speaking.

"One moment you defected to King Jin, the next you wooed King Ning, and you even tried to please Xue Liujia, but you just refused to come to me. In your eyes, I am just a foil to King Jin. Sooner or later, I will surrender to him. That's right. no?"

Xu Chu still didn't answer.

"You are wrong!" Ma Wei's voice was full of anger, "You are all wrong! I am the Emperor of Daliang, and I am more qualified to be emperor than all of you. Do you think you are smart? Wake up, Wu people are right You are loyal not because of the princess of Wu, but because you are far away from home. As soon as you return to Jiangdong, they will immediately become disloyal. "

Xu Chu stepped out, but Ma Wei's voice became louder and louder, following him closely, "Where do you think the troubled times come from? From the four words 'simple, easy', everyone became simple , so everyone can be killed, everything becomes easy, so everything can be changed. You kill the Emperor of All Things, and I kill the King of the World. I am willing to ride the wind and waves, but you have to go against the wind..."

Xu Chu walked out of the hall, finally leaving Ma Wei's voice behind him. The scene he saw in front of him seemed like Ma Wei's evidence.

For these "rebellious" soldiers of the World Army, everything is indeed simple and easy. They have hated the Xue family for a long time, but they dare not resist. Once the first knife is cut, nothing can restrain their hands and feet.

All members of the Xue family, regardless of age or sex, were killed, and blood flowed like a river. The murderers were already red-eyed and walked through the blood, showing off to their companions the number of people they had killed, especially those who divided the King of the World. He held one as if it were a shield or a magic weapon that could protect him from death.

At the entrance of the palace, a large group of Wu soldiers lined up, watching the massacre in horror. Finally seeing King Wu approaching, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

For these onlookers, there is still a little restraint left in their hearts.

Xu Chu mounted his horse and immediately led his men away, hoping that this "restraint" could be retained for a longer time.

The news that King Liang broke into the palace and killed King Jingshi spread quickly. After being shocked, many people really wanted revenge. The whole city was in chaos. Soldiers gathered everywhere, shouting or crying, but No one really dared to ask the King of Liang for guilt. Without the guidance of the kings, they could not even form an army.

The coalition forces were immediately broken up, and the kings could only firmly control their own troops, each guarding a city wall. If the officers and soldiers launched a siege, the rebels could only use more than 10,000 soldiers.

Fortunately, the officers and soldiers did not know what was happening in the city, and were still erecting fences and digging ditches in an orderly manner, preparing for a long siege.

Xu Chu returned to the Wu army camp in Xicheng and wanted to summon the kings, but he knew that no one would come, and he would not go to see anyone else.

For Ma Wei, things were simple and easy, but for Xu Chu, the situation became more complicated and difficult.

Guo Shifeng was still there and had already heard about what happened in the main hall. As soon as he saw King Wu, he said, "King Liang is crazy."

Xu Chu sat down to relieve his fatigue, "He is either crazy or too smart."

"Prince Liang is too smart?" A smile appeared on Guo Shifeng's face, "Even if he is smart, it belongs to others, such as Prince Jin."

Xu Chu looked at Guo Shifeng. Although he despised this man's character, he had to admit that many times their thoughts were surprisingly consistent.

"The Advent Army is divided, the King of Liang gets the King Killer, and the King of Jin gets the Avenger - they want to abandon the Eastern Capital and lead their troops to leave." Xu Chu had already figured it out on the way.

Guo Shifeng nodded, "Jizhou and Bingzhou are adjacent. They are either allies or enemies. Since Jizhou has sent troops, Jinyang is in danger. The King of Jin must return to his hometown as soon as possible. As for the King of Liang, he has been living under others for a long time and is dissatisfied. He has long wanted to monopolize one side. Not under the control of the kings. According to his wishes, I don’t want to go to Huaizhou, but I want to lead troops to Qinzhou to border with the King of Jin and support each other.”

"The Advent Army is willing to follow him back to Qinzhou."

"Of course, King Liang has been secretly wooing the soldiers of the World Army for more than a day or two. He understands their thoughts best."

Xu Chu suddenly remembered that Ma Wei once said that Gan Zhao, the king of Shu, consolidated his position by adopting his adopted son and daughter and marrying the leader. Now that he thought about it, it was clearly Ma Wei's "confession", but the method was slightly different from Gan Zhao's.

"But how do they get out of the city?" Xu Chu asked.

"Simple." Guo Shifeng said this word, which surprised Xu Chu, but Guo Shifeng didn't mean anything else. "The king of Jin and the king of Liang must have secretly communicated with the officers and soldiers, asking the officers and soldiers to let go of a corner, and they offered the east and south." Gates on both sides.”

Xu Chu smiled bitterly. This was almost an inevitable choice. Shen Dan and Ma Wei could only maintain their power by betraying the other three kings.

Thinking about it this way, Ma Wei's killing of the King of the World was actually not simple at all. He was trying to show off to the officers and soldiers outside the city.

The officers and soldiers will soon know about the chaos in the city. If the commander is more courageous, he will immediately launch a siege. As for whether they are willing to let go, it depends on the abilities of Shen Dan and Ma Wei.

Xu Chu looked at Guo Shifeng again, "Why doesn't Brother Guo follow the two kings?"

Guo Shifeng smiled and said: "The King of Liang can't live without the King of Jin, and the counselor beside the King of Jin is Liu Youzhong, so I'd better get out of the way. The King of Wu seems to be short of a counselor, so I will follow suit."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "It seems that there is really a need for a counselor like Brother Guo. The current situation is like this, what is Brother Guo's clever plan?"

"It's not a clever plan, just an idea. The King of Jin and the King of Liang wanted to borrow roads from the officers and soldiers, and the King of Wu had only one choice left."

"surrender?"

"It can't be said to be surrender, it should be regarded as surrender. And -" Guo Shifeng smiled, "There are rumors that King Wu and Yecheng have been in constant contact. I guess you have this intention, right?"

Xu Chu laughed and said, "Brother Guo is the one who knows me. But don't worry. The two kings are ahead and the city is in chaos. Taking refuge in Yecheng at this time is tantamount to begging for food. The situation in the city must be calmed first, so that Yecheng will find it difficult to make the east capital. It’s worth taking refuge.”

"King Wu is right." Guo Shifeng said with a bow.

Xu Chu did not want to rely on anyone, but just wanted to adapt to the situation and modify the original plan, a huge modification.