Plan to cut off the nine states

There was a give and take, Xu Chu sent out Queen Mother Luan, and Yecheng sent Zhang Shiyu, and the trust between the two sides deepened a lot.

Xu Chu personally sent Zhang Shiyu to the city gate and watched the car leave. He felt guilty and contemptuous of guilt. He felt that he thought too much and was not worthy of being an entrepreneurial emperor.

When he turned around, Xu Chu's heart had returned to calm, and he said to Meng Senglun: "Go to Nancheng and tell him that I want to meet the King of Jin."

"Now?" Meng Senglun felt that it was really dangerous to meet the King of Jin so late.

"Well, you go and inform, I will be there soon."

Meng Senglun wanted to persuade him, but Xu Chu said coldly: "When I need to discuss with General Meng, I will ask you."

Meng Senglun had to take his leave. As soon as his figure disappeared, Song Xingcai came with a large group of guards.

Xu Chu didn't like being "taken care of", but he didn't say anything. He said to Tang Weitian who had been staying by his side: "You stay."

"Why?" Tang Weitian asked in surprise, thinking that since he was back, he should stay by the side of the Grand Commander.

"At least one of me and the World-Adventing Stick must stay in the camp."

"Then I..."

"Go back to the Four Princes' Camp and protect the World-Adventing Stick as if you were protecting me."

"Okay." Tang Weitian left in a huff.

Xu Chu thought it was about time, so he took his guards to the South City. On the way, he happened to inspect the soldiers he had stationed between the East and South City.

The East City was extremely quiet at night, even the barking of dogs was rare, and hundreds of thousands of people seemed to be hiding underground.

The families of the World-Adventing Army were all placed in empty mansions or temples and palaces. They didn't have to hide. The greater the threat outside the city, the more they had to revel in order not to miss this last opportunity.

Many soldiers did not stay at their posts, but secretly returned to their families, or drank and had fun with a few friends, ran around the streets, knocked on the closed doors, insulted and threatened the residents with dirty words.

Xu Chu had killed a leader in front of the battle because he went home without permission. Now he could only turn a blind eye. There were too many soldiers who left the barracks, and he could not tell who they belonged to, so he could not punish them.

Song Xingcai and King Wu were on the same level, and they also despised this group of people, saying: "A group of rabble, the same as the soldiers of the surname."

"Give me a month, and I can make these people become real soldiers." Xu Chu sighed. He had ready-made candidates and ready-made methods, but he didn't have time to implement them.

Song Xingcai said: "You are both wise and brave in governing, and the righteous army should belong to you. The kings are ignorant of the times and delay important things."

If everyone thinks like Song Xingcai, things will become extremely simple.

Xu Chu smiled. He never thought that what he was doing would be accomplished overnight, but he also didn't expect it to be so difficult. "No hurry, no hurry."

A group of drunkards jumped out from the front. There were twelve or thirteen of them. They were all from the Jiangshi Army. They were drunk and bolder than on the battlefield. They actually stopped the Wu Army and shouted, "Who are you? Tell me your name!"

Song Xingcai rode forward and said, "The King of Wu is here. Make way."

"King of Wu... Which King of Wu?"

"There is only one King of Wu." Song Xingcai was very angry and signaled the soldiers around him to draw their swords and spears.

The other drunkards knew their limits and turned to leave. However, one of them was so drunk that he didn't know how high the sky was and the earth was thick. Instead, he took a few steps forward and met the swords and spears. "It turned out to be the King of Wu who recognized the Jiangshi King as his father-in-law and master, but did not save him. You're here just in time. Call him out. I want to ask him why he didn't save the Jiangshi King in the first place?"

"The Jiangshi King voluntarily ascended to heaven and didn't need anyone to save him." Song Xingcai didn't have the order of the King of Wu, so he could only threaten but couldn't really do it.

"Bah, this kind of nonsense may fool cowards, but it won't work on me. Let King Wu hand over the stick of advent, and I will be the king of advent. All those who have stained the blood of the Xue family, one..."

The other drunkards were scared and dragged him away. This man was not convinced and was still shouting from a distance.

The team continued to move forward. Song Xingcai returned to the King of Wu and whispered, "We shouldn't indulge such people."

"We can't argue with him. They are not my opponents." Xu Chu paused for a while, "Send someone to follow them. After knowing where they live, give each of them a jar of wine, a piece of meat, and a bag of grain."

"It's fine if you don't punish them, but do you want to reward them?" Song Xingcai couldn't understand. As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly understood and bowed his hands and said, "Yes, Prime Minister, I will send someone to follow you."

Meng Senglun was waiting on the road, "King Jin asked King Wu not to bother, he will go to the camp to meet King Wu in person."

"It's already halfway, let's go to Jin camp."

Meng Senglun was originally a general of the Wu Kingdom's imperial army. His main responsibility was to welcome and see off. He was familiar with the etiquette between kings and princes. He said yes and immediately went back to see King Jin to express King Wu's intentions.

Soon, Liu Youzhong accompanied Meng Senglun to arrive, dismounted to greet him, and claimed that King Jin had left the camp and was coming to greet him in person.

Xu Chu and Liu Youzhong hadn't called each other brothers for a long time, and they didn't feel embarrassed.

A few miles away from the Jin camp, Jin Wang Shen Dan led his men to stop by the roadside and performed very respectfully.

The two men were inevitably polite when they met. Shen Dan was much more enthusiastic than Liu Youzhong and still insisted on calling him the fourth brother. Xu Chu naturally called him the third brother.

No matter how many grievances and doubts there were between them, Shen Dan could always turn a blind eye to them, and his friendship was as good as before. Xu Chu deeply admired him.

The two kings entered the Jin camp hand in hand. Most of the guards of the King of Wu stopped outside the camp, and a few followed in and guarded the door of the meeting hall.

Song Xingcao immediately recounted what happened on the road in detail. Meng Nilun nodded and whispered: "Although the ruler is young, he thinks more thoughtfully than us. After those drunkards get rewards, if they don't go there in person It’s really stupid to kneel down and apologize.”

"I don't think they are very smart." Song Xingcao curled his lips.

"Well, I'll find someone to give them some guidance." Meng Nilun walked away, went to find two confidants outside the camp, explained it, and returned to the door of the meeting hall.

Song Xingcai had nothing to say to Meng Sulun, and whispered: "I have roughly understood the intention of governing. Now the kings of Liang and Shu are easy to talk about. The king of Jin will be sent away, but the king of Ning is the most difficult to deal with. Every time When I heard that King Ning was disobeying orders, I felt angry for the ruler."

There were other people outside the hall. Meng Senglun took Song Xingcai out a few steps and said in a deserted place: "King Ning loves to take risks and often leads his troops out of the city in person. I see what the officers and soldiers want, and I am also very angry with him. It's true." Set a trap to lure him into the trap. I would say the biggest threat is the officers and soldiers. Tiancheng is our sworn enemy of the Wu Kingdom. It’s okay to pretend to surrender, but I will never accept a true surrender.”

"Of course, but I think it's like being in power..."

Meng Nilun smiled and said: "Don't worry, the ruling party will never surrender sincerely. I can guarantee this, and I have also made some preparations."

"oh?"

The generals of the seven clans were as close as one family, so Meng Senglun naturally would not hide it from Song Xingcai, and whispered: "In fact, it was also a plot laid by the ruling party. He asked Wang Dian to lead his troops to temporarily seek refuge in Yecheng, and stationed them not far away. . I appealed to the king of Xiangdong and the king of Jibei, asking them to summon Wang Dian. It is good to govern anywhere, but sometimes you are not firm enough and think twice, so you miss the opportunity..."

Song Xingcai nodded, "If the ruler hesitates again, let's give him a push - General Meng has contacted Wang Dian?"

"Of course, it was not Wang Dian's wish to seek refuge in Yecheng. He was very willing to do something."

Song Xingcai was in a good mood, "To monopolize the eastern capital, repel the officers and soldiers, with the wisdom of governing and the bravery of Wu people, how can we not only restore the country of Wu?"

Meng Nilun sneered, "Reviving the country comes second, revenge is the first priority. When the time comes, I will risk my own life to avenge Emperor Wu and Princess Wu! This matter cannot be done to anyone." Ruling revealed, understand?”

"I understand, it's just... that King Wu can kill Chang Shunzhi, it may not..."

"My life belongs to the ruler a long time ago. If he wants to kill me, I will never resist. As long as I can take revenge and avenge the shame -" Meng Nilun raised his eyes and looked around, "The Eastern Capital is the prison of Princess Wu. I didn't have it when she was alive. If she can be rescued, I will destroy the entire prison for her. Unfortunately, the Lou family escaped cleanly, leaving only an old woman... No, there is still one Lou family member left in the Yecheng army."

Meng Nilun gritted his teeth as he spoke, and Song Xingcai felt respectful and said with emotion: "We Wu people must avenge our enemies."

Outside the hall, the two generals discussed quietly, and inside the hall, Xu Chu also reached a consensus with Shen Dan.

"The morning after tomorrow?" Shen Dan confirmed again.

"The day after tomorrow, I made an appointment with Crown Prince Yu. The rebel army will attack from all sides. They will not fight. The officers and soldiers will leave three sides alone and only deploy the army in the north to surround and annihilate King Ning's cavalry."

Shen Dan's face was filled with joy and he cupped his hands and said, "This is a clever plan for my fourth brother. It kills two birds with one stone. It not only allows me to break out of the encirclement, but also takes the opportunity to get rid of Prince Ning. Prince Ning is arrogant and disobeys control. Sooner or later, his fourth brother will miss important events."

"I have different ambitions and different ways from King Ning, so I have nothing to say. It's not my fault. I really don't want to see the victory that the rebels have won so hard to be destroyed by his own hands." When Xu Chu said these words, There is no trace of guilt in my heart.

Shen Dan immediately said: "Of course, it was the fourth brother who won the Eastern Capital. King Ning enjoyed the success. It's okay not to be grateful. Instead, he disobeyed orders again and again. Is this tolerable? Which one is intolerable? Alas, if Jinyang had not been in danger, I would have thought Stay and help the fourth brother achieve a great cause. The dragon shape of the fourth brother is revealed. After this battle, it is only a matter of time to win the world. Please don't worry about the fourth brother. As soon as I return to Jinyang, I will send someone to declare my vassalship. "

Xu Chu smiled and said, "What are you talking about, third brother? You and I are sworn brothers, how can we distinguish between monarch and minister? From now on, I will concentrate on going south and all the northern states will belong to third brother. I will never send a single soldier northward."

"But I want to personally lead the troops south and conquer the world with my fourth brother for a small service."

The two laughed, and Liu Youzhong interrupted at the right time, making the atmosphere even more lively, just short of another incense-burning sworn ceremony.

Xu Chu said goodbye and did not return to the camp. Instead, he went straight to Liang Camp in the east city.

Ma Wei's mind was not yet stable. Xu Chu had visited King Jin and had to come again to appease King Liang.

Sure enough, Ma Wei had heard about King Wu's night visit to King Jin, and he was confused and restless. When he received the notice that King Wu was coming to Liangying, he immediately turned his fear into joy and went out to greet him personally.

What Xu Chu wanted to say to Ma Wei was very simple, "The King of Jin is eager to return to Bingzhou, but he will not leave like this. He must lead the officers and soldiers into the city. Firstly, the officers and soldiers will be unable to pursue them. Secondly, both the officers and soldiers and the rebels will suffer losses. It will not hinder the He will compete for the title in the future.”

"I guess that's the case, Shen Dan is a smiling tiger, you have to listen to what he says."

"I don't plan to stop King Jin. Let him return to Jinyang to stop He Rong's tribe, so that the Central Plains can get some breathing space."

"Just let him go like this?" Ma Wei felt deeply regretful.

"I'm going to use the plan. The King of Jin will bring in officers and soldiers, and we'll set up an ambush in the city. I need Brother Ma's full help in this matter."

Ma Wei nodded, "One hundred thousand Liangjun, all assigned by Brother Chu."

Liang Jun did not have one hundred thousand, Xu Chu only needed Ma Wei's words.

In the meeting hall of the South City, Shen Dan and Liu Youzhong repeatedly analyzed the intentions of the King of Wu, and finally concluded that the King of Wu must not be allowed to defeat the soldiers, and even the King of Wu must not be allowed to get rid of the King of Ning.

That night, the people of Dongdu hid in their homes and were uneasy, but many people were running around on the street, passing on true or false news.

Xu Chu left Liangying, and before dawn, he had one more thing to do: he had to win the trust of Ning Baoguan, even if it was only temporary.