Plan to cut off the nine states

Guo Shifeng rode in a car and brought another car to carry treasures. The King of Wu allowed him to take whatever he wanted from the official storehouse in the East Capital. He was not polite at all and picked up valuable and light things, filled a full car, and was pulled by four horses.

"A counselor uses money like a general uses soldiers. The more the better. If you can't use it all, it means you are not capable enough." He said this to the King of Wu before leaving, and made a promise with his hands, "If I have only one pearl left, I will apologize to the King of Wu after I come back. No matter how great my achievements are, they can be wiped out."

Guo Shifeng threw down this unique and bold statement, and under the escort of a hundred guards, he boarded the car and set off, deliberately bypassing Wushang Garden to avoid meeting the Ning army heading east. As a result, he was stopped shortly after nightfall that day.

The roadblockers were more than 30 knights, wearing various armors and holding torches. They looked like both soldiers and bandits. Guo Shifeng didn't take it seriously and smiled to the guard leader, "You are luckier than me. You can make merit before you even reach Huaizhou."

Hundreds of guards galloped to meet them. Before they could fight, they saw a large group of knights emerging from the depressions on both sides of the road. Everyone was shocked and turned their horses around, only to see that there were also interceptors behind them. Mr. Guo, who was calm just now, sat in the car like a wooden chicken and didn't dare to say a word.

The guard leader found some people familiar, "Hey, you...you are all subordinates of King Ning, why...you are here?"

It's better to make friends than to fight. From the leader down, all the guards reined in their horses and put down their weapons.

The other side drove over, looked around a few times, and asked coldly: "Are you Wu army? Liang army? Shu army? Jin army? The world-destroying army?"

"The world-destroying army, we are all the world-destroying army." The leader said immediately. Everyone knows that King Ning's subordinates hate Wu soldiers.

The other side's expression eased a little, "This road is blocked, you can't go."

"No problem, we will take a detour." The leader smiled apologetically.

The other party shook his head, "You will definitely leak the news after you leave. Please come with us and let King Ning deal with it."

"This... We have urgent matters, and we will definitely not leak the news. Can you make some concessions..."

"Make some concessions? King Ning's order is to kill anyone you see. I saw that you are from the Jiangshi Army, so I showed mercy and took you to see King Ning. What else do you want to make concessions?"

The head of the guards did not dare to bargain anymore, and smiled: "King Ning is also from the Jiangshi Army. It's no problem to see him. I have also toasted King Ning. My wife's third sister married a nephew of Niu Tiannv. We are all relatives."

Guo Shifeng fell into the hands of the Ning Army. His heroic spirit was immediately lost by 70% or 80%. It was not until he saw the camp in the wilderness that he regained his confidence and said to himself: With my eloquence, I don't believe I can't get past King Ning.

The camp was extremely crude, but it was heavily guarded. There were sentinels ten miles away. There were no passes or secret codes. It all depended on acquaintances and being able to call each other by name.

Vehicles and horses were confiscated, and Guo Shifeng and others were penned in a fence like livestock. People came and went outside, looking at them with cold and ruthless eyes.

After waiting for a long time, Guo Shifeng's confidence began to decline again. The head of the guards kept thinking about his relationship with King Ning, hoping to save his life.

"King Ning is really daring to kill." The leader said to everyone.

He didn't need to say that. King Ning had just set fire to thousands of Wu soldiers not long ago. If we talk about cruelty, no king can match him.

As the night deepened, there were only two torches around to illuminate. Although the deep winter had passed, the night wind was still cold, and everyone was huddled together and shivering.

At nearly three o'clock in the morning, someone finally came and shouted, "Who is Guo Shifeng?"

"I am Guo Shifeng." Guo Shifeng walked out with his head held high. This is one of the most basic qualities of a counselor: no matter where you are, you must maintain a calm demeanor in the face of danger, otherwise, even the best words will lose some of their luster.

Guo Shifeng was taken to a large tent.

Ning Baoguan sat in the middle, with three generals sitting on each side, all of them bowed their heads to drink and eat meat, all with expressionless faces, as if they had just had an awkward moment.

Guo Shifeng took a step forward, bowed deeply, and said, "Guo Shifeng, the counselor of King Wu, greets King Ning."

Ning Baoguan swallowed the meat in his mouth, drank the wine in the bowl, grabbed the hem of his cotton coat and wiped it twice, "Have you surrendered to King Wu?"

"I have always been loyal to King Wu and worked hard for him." Guo Shifeng smiled, "This time, I am also going to do something big for King Wu."

"Well, it should be a big thing. You brought a lot of jewelry. Who are you going to give it to?"

"Give it to someone who is destined to be with you, such as King Ning."

"Hey, those things can't be eaten or used. What's the point of me coming here? It's better than the horses you ride."

"The horses will also be given to King Ning. As for the jewelry... Queen Mother Luan might like it." Guo Shifeng took the risk to say this, and immediately shut up, carefully observing Ning Baoguan's expression.

Ning Baoguan looked away and said to the generals on both sides: "Did you hear that? That cart of jewels is for the Queen Mother."

Among all the generals, Luo Hanqi had followed King Ning the longest and was the most trusted. But at this time, he showed no mercy. He threw the bones in his hand to the ground, stood up, and said angrily: "She is just a woman. Is it worth King Ning's care? I'll chop off her head and see how many jewels she can still wear!"

The atmosphere in the tent suddenly became tense. Guo Shifeng didn't dare to participate. He stood quietly, thinking that the king and the general were at odds. Maybe this was his chance.

Ning Baoguan was not angry, nor did he stand up. He sat there and said calmly: "If you chop off her head, I will chop off your head. One for one. What do you think?"

Luo Hanqi's face flushed red, "I'm blind and followed the wrong person!" After saying that, he walked out of the tent without saying goodbye. It was unknown whether he was going to sulk or really chop off the queen mother's head.

A general was afraid that the matter would get out of hand, so he hurriedly followed him out. Ning Baoguan waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

The generals bowed and said goodbye.

Guo Shifeng bowed to King Ning again, "King Ning has a good plan in mind, but the generals don't know it. When they understand, they will apologize to King Ning and admit their mistakes."

Ning Baoguan sneered, nodded to the guards at the door, motioning them to go out, and then said: "Mr. Guo, don't waste your eloquence. I want to ask you, how is the situation in Dongdu?"

"Everything is fine. King Wu is going to conquer the world."

"What a coincidence, I also have this idea. Mr. Guo, who do you think is stronger between me and King Wu? Who will win and who will lose in the future battle?"

"King Ning has 6,000 cavalrymen, King Wu has 300,000 elite soldiers, King Ning has no fixed place to live and is committed to the wilderness, King Wu fights alone in Dongdu and shocks the world, how can we compare?"

"Hey, three hundred thousand, with your advisers' mouths, a few words can unify the world."

"King Ning also knows the importance of advisers."

"You don't have to cover up for King Wu. Although I'm hiding in the wilderness, I'm not isolated from the news. I've heard that the siege of Dongdu has only eased slightly. Yecheng has contacted the heroes and will siege Dongdu again. This time there are more troops. Even if King Wu has three heads and six arms, he can't hold on for long. What's more, there is a shortage of food in the city. In a few days, King Wu will collapse without a fight."

"Dongdu is short of food, which is richer than King Ning's camp-King Ning eats horse meat, right?"

Ning Baoguan took away a thousand horses. He has always valued cavalry. When he reached the point of eating horses, it means that the food and grass are running out.

"It's a waste if you don't eat a tired horse." Ning Baoguan suddenly raised his right index finger, signaling Guo Shifeng to listen, and said after a moment: "Did you hear it?"

There were faint screams outside the tent, and Guo Shifeng's face turned pale, "Those people are not from Wu..."

"They just came at the wrong time."

Guo Shifeng's face turned even paler, "King Ning...want to take advantage of the fire?"

"Haha, smart people understand quickly. So are you willing to tell me the real situation of Dongdu? My people can only watch from afar and dare not enter the city."

Guo Shifeng swallowed his saliva. Ning Baoguan was another kind of person. He was a little unsure, "The situation in Dongdu is critical, there are Jingzhou troops in the south. , there are Jizhou, Bingzhou and He Rong's troops in the north, and Sheng's army in the east..."

"You are going east to persuade Sheng's family?"

"Persuade Sheng's family to surrender to King Wu, at least they will not help each other."

"What does King Wu plan?"

"He sent King Liang to guard Mengjin, General Jiangshi to fight against the Jingzhou army, and sent envoys to Qinzhou and Hanzhou to recruit Jiangshi's army..."

"Distant water cannot quench near thirst. If King Wu had any wisdom, he should have taken advantage of the opportunity when the enemy armies had not yet joined together and led the entire army to break through Jingzhou first. If the south collapsed, the north would naturally not dare to approach."

"I don't know what King Wu thinks. When I left, he was still in the city." Guo Shifeng didn't dare to lie.

Ning Baoguan thought for a while, "The King of Wu will definitely go all out to fight the Jingzhou army. He sent you to Huaizhou not to win over the Sheng family, but to confuse the Sheng family and make them think that the King of Wu will take a defensive position."

"King Ning has a good idea."

"But the King of Wu doesn't know that I'm hiding nearby. When he leaves, I'll go to his lair. What do you think?"

"A good plan."

"I'm not as soft-hearted as the King of Wu. After taking the city, I'll immediately distribute it to the soldiers. Then no one will blame me for rescuing the queen mother."

"Is that so? I thought the King of Ning had another good plan to take the queen mother away."

"Really? Tell me what good plan you think it is, I can compare it."

There were screams coming from outside. Guo Shifeng forced himself to remain calm and spoke He said: "Emperor Tiancheng was kidnapped by the Liang and Lan families to Shitou City in Jiangdong. Although he was not supported by the counties, he at least had the name of orthodoxy. The Queen Mother is the biological mother of the emperor. I think Prince Ning took the Queen Mother away for this reason and wanted to conquer Jiangdong in her name."

"When the emperor fled, he did not bring his biological mother with him. He was also kidnapped by a foreign family. Why would he care about the life and death of the Queen Mother at this time? The counties in Jiangdong did not even obey the emperor, so how could they obey the emperor's mother?"

Guo Shifeng was anxious to save his life and smiled: "Why doesn't Prince Ning return the Queen Mother and use this as a name to pacify the counties in Jiangdong for Emperor Zhang?"

"Why should I do it for..." Ning Baoguan suddenly realized that it would be extremely difficult to conquer Jiangdong with only thousands of river workers. He was lucky to get to Jiangdong.

He needed a "name", and the Queen Mother was an excellent choice. More importantly, kidnapping the Queen Mother suddenly became a brilliant plan, rather than a short-term quick move, which could ease the dissatisfaction of the generals.

"Wouldn't I be a natural minister? And be bullied by the Liang and Lan families?"

"Liang and Lan can hold the emperor hostage, so with Prince Ning's wisdom and courage, why can't he hold the two families hostage?"

Ning Baoguan stared at Guo Shifeng and thought for a long time, "It seems that I really need a counselor - OK, I will take the Queen Mother to Jiangdong, "return" her to Emperor Zhang, and be his godfather by the way."

Guo Shifeng breathed a sigh of relief, "If Prince Ning wants to go to Jiangdong, it's better to go sooner rather than later..."

"No hurry, wait two more days. If Prince Wu leads his troops out of the city early, I still have a chance to seize Dongdu and add some supplies before going to Jiangdong."

Guo Shifeng smiled and nodded, not knowing how to remind Prince Wu that there are powerful enemies hidden in Dongdu's elbows and arms.