Plan to cut off the nine states

Xu Chu and Kou Daogu had to admit that the strong-armed Shanyu's plan was superior to both of them.

By attacking Yecheng, Emperor Tiancheng gained the reputation of "revenge" and the He Rong people gained the city. At the same time, the He Rong people gained the reputation of not being able to merge with the state, and the King of Jin gained the reality that the crisis was suspended. All parties were satisfied, at least on the surface. Satisfied.

Perhaps the only person who was dissatisfied was King Liang.

Chanyu still sent a part of his cavalry back to the outside of the fortress, just in case. He led the emperor and a large army, bypassed Yuyang and went straight to Yecheng. He sent decrees to all the cities along the way in the name of the emperor to surrender. Those who do not obey orders will be massacred.

No city dared to resist. Even before the emperor's "will" arrived, officials came out of the city and surrendered, spending everything in the city to supply food and grass.

A few days later, He Rong's cavalry met the Huaizhou soldiers who were ordered to Fuxun County and fought a battle. This Huaizhou army was small in strength and only persisted for a very short time before beginning to retreat.

This was all the fighting before Yecheng. Huaizhou troops from all over the country withdrew from the occupied towns and fled to Yecheng, and even went straight to their hometown of Huaizhou further south.

Chanyu still kept Xu Chu and Kou Daogu by his side, and once said very bluntly: "Speak out all your thoughts, be more and be true. I may not use your strategies, but I can use this to understand the intentions of the people of the Central Plains. That's enough."

Kou Daogu had a sullen face at that time, as if he had been humiliated, but after that he always answered every question and never kept secrets. He had long forgotten that he was the envoy of King Liang not long ago.

Xu Chu only offered one or two tips every day, and then he never spoke again, just listening and occasionally smiling.

Shanyu didn't care about it, but in his spare time every day, his conversations with Kou Daogu increased day by day, not only asking about advice, but also about the customs, customs and cultural schools of the Central Plains.

At noon that day, He Rong's army rushed outside Yecheng, and Shan Yu personally led more than a hundred riders to check the terrain.

Xu Chu stood in the camp and looked in the direction of Yecheng. He couldn't see anything from him, and could only imagine the panic and fear in it.

Someone came up from behind. Xu Chu thought it was Chang Yan and said, "The King of Liang must have thought he was deceived."

"Do you still have the energy to care about others? Think about yourself and me." Zhang Shiyu walked to Xu Chu and looked into the distance, "Yecheng, alas, Yecheng, I thought this would be a place This is a place where I have lived for a long time. I will come here often when I return to the Eastern Capital in the future. I have many plans to build a palace, but I have not had time to implement them..."

Zhang Shiyu looked frustrated, sighed, and said: "You stay with Shanyu every day, can you persuade him to put me back? The entire Tiancheng court is in Yuyang, but the emperor is in exile. What's going on? "

Xu Chu shook his head, "The Chanyu can let anyone go, but he won't let you go."

"That's why I need you to think of a solution. Where's your clever calculation? Where's your sharp tongue? Aren't you the best at giving advice?"

"If I had such ability, He Rong's cavalry would have returned to the outside of the Great Wall by now, instead of going deep into Jizhou."

"At least tens of thousands of cavalry must be left for me. Without them, I will not be able to live my life as an emperor."

"Qinzhou still has hundreds of thousands of troops, why do you have to borrow troops from He Rong's tribe?"

"It's different, it's very different." Zhang Shiyu was reluctant to tell the truth, and after waiting for a while, he lowered his voice slightly and said: "Qinzhou is too far away, and it is unknown whether and when the Jizhou army will come back. Even if they come back - they are not an army loyal to me."

There was a hint of resentment in Zhang Shiyu's voice, and he was still unable to get rid of He Rongren's control, which made him increasingly dissatisfied with Princess Huanyan.

"Borrowed cavalry will be more loyal?"

"Their hometown is outside the Great Wall, and they will have to go back sooner or later. As long as I give them a heavy reward when they are in the Central Plains, who will they be loyal to if they are not loyal to me?"

"Well, that makes sense." Xu Chu smiled, not wanting to argue.

"Have you got any news about my sister?" Zhang Shiyu asked again.

Xu Chu shook his head, "The Chanyu has sent an order to all the counties in Jizhou. Anyone who hides the princess secretly and refuses to hand her over will be killed in the city. But there is no news so far."

"But you always know something, right?"

"What can I know?"

"My sister ran away because of you. Didn't she send you a message?"

"The princess was kidnapped by Master Tang. This is what you said."

"That's for Shan Yu." Zhang Shiyu came closer, "We all know in our hearts that you are the reason why my sister escaped. She hides her whereabouts from others, but she won't do it to you."

"But I really haven't heard from her."

"You won't tell me even if you get it." Zhang Shiyu muttered in a low voice, turned around and walked away without saying goodbye.

Zhang Shiyu wanted to please Shanyu so much that he even wanted to betray his own sister. Xu Chu watched his back go away and sighed softly.

Shan Yu returned to the camp in the evening, first had dinner with the adults and discussed military affairs. After the second watch, he was free and still full of energy, and ordered two "advisors" to be summoned.

The Chanyu seemed to be in a good mood and ordered someone to give him wine.

While He Rongpingshan was still being punished, he was still a "servant" beside Chanyu, holding a wine bag and pouring wine. When it was Xu Chu's turn, he looked at him more.

Shanyu looked at Kou Daogu, "Are you familiar with Yecheng?"

"Very familiar."

"I will attack the city tomorrow. In your opinion, will Ye City surrender immediately, or hold on for a few days?" Chanyu believed that Ye City was already within his grasp, and "holding on" was not his concern.

Kou Daogu thought for a while and said, "Ye City is impregnable. If it is guarded by elite soldiers and good generals, it can be protected for a year."

"Haha, you think too highly of Ye City, but this is exactly what I thought of. You said that if we have good soldiers and generals, the people who defend the city today are not good?"

"The King of Liang has not long occupied Yecheng, and the people have not yet joined him. Moreover, most of his subordinates are from Huaizhou. They are borrowed troops and have no loyalty to the King of Liang. With such soldiers, the city can only hold on for a month at most." ”

Shan Yu shook his head, "One month is too long. Yecheng is just a place for my He Rong Department to stay, and it's not worth spending too much energy on my part."

"The Chanyu does not need to delay. He can send troops to occupy the counties. Yecheng will never dare to open the door and come out to challenge."

"This strategy is not good. Division of troops is always a hidden danger."

"Simple, the Chanyu divided his troops to occupy the counties, immediately recruited the local people, and transferred them all to Yecheng. His troops did not decrease but increased, and asked them to attack the city. This is called driving sheep to attack tigers."

Shan Yu nodded, "Well, that's interesting."

Xu Chu interjected: "Jizhou has been conquered several times, and all the victorious people are in Qinzhou. Where are the remaining civilians?"

Kou Daogu immediately said: "Otherwise, the Tiancheng court did not expect that it would lose Yecheng. It has been operating carefully all the time. Although Jizhou has been requisitioned many times, the people's power has not been exhausted. There are at least 100,000 people available, and it can be completed in ten months." "Zhengqi."

"Tiancheng manages his affairs carefully, but if Shanyu conquers them all in one go, he will lose the support of the people."

Kou Daogu sneered and said: "Tiancheng was careful in his management, but he failed to defend Yecheng. If Mr. Xu thought that Tiancheng's court had won the hearts of the people, why did he bother to assassinate him in the first place?"

"Just because Tiancheng wanted to win the hearts of the people but failed to do so, does not mean that Shan Yu should not care about the hearts of the people. For example, if it rains heavily and a man holds up an umbrella but it leaks, those who see it can laugh at him, but he must at least hold up a good umbrella instead of There’s not even an umbrella handle.”

Shanyu waved his hand, "I don't care whether it rains or not. I agree with Mr. Guan's statement. There are still people in Jizhou who can be conquered. What's more, they are not attacking the city for me, but for their own emperor. Even Xu Chu admitted that the Tiancheng court had no control over Jizhou. Yes, 'manage with care', it's time for the people of Jizhou to repay their kindness. Pingshan, please note this matter and remind me tomorrow."

"Yes." He Rongpingshan responded. Although he was a humble servant, he could participate in important tasks, which was different from that of a real servant, and even surpassed that of some adults.

Kou Daogu took two steps back, straightened his body, and lowered his eyes slightly. In front of Chanyu, he rarely showed his hatred for Xu Chu.

Shanyu said to Xu Chu: "You haven't said a single useful word today."

"I said a few things the day before yesterday. I can make up for it today."

Shanyu thought for a while and said with a smile: "Well, indeed, you can make up for it today, but it will be gone tomorrow."

"I'll figure something out tomorrow."

"Okay, you're not in a hurry, and neither am I." Shanyu turned to Kou Daogu again, "Mr. Kou has repeatedly presented good opportunities these days. I can't take them one by one at the moment, but I will implement them one by one in the future. He Rongbu has clear rewards and punishments, and Kou Sir, do you want to be an official or do you want property and money? Just ask."

"A thousand-mile horse has to meet Bo Le, so I just want to gallop to the fullest. Although I am not a thousand-mile horse, if the advice I offer can be adopted by Shanyu, my wish is fulfilled."

Shan Yu was stunned for a moment, "What is Bole?"

"Bole is a person from the Central Plains who is good at looking at horses. If a thousand-mile horse does not meet this person, it is often not allowed to show its power." Kou Daogu explained.

"Haha, everyone in our He Rong tribe knows horses and we don't need Bole - I understand what you mean. Although you don't mention it, I have to reward it. After Ye City is captured..."

Xu Chu interrupted again: "What can the Chanyu reward me with?"

Shan Yu looked askance, "Reward means merit, punishment means guilt. What merit do you have, and you dare to ask for a reward from me?"

"I'm different from Mr. Kou. He just wants to 'run as fast as he can', but I'm a greedy person who refuses to make meritorious deeds without seeing rewards."

Chanyu laughed and said to He Rongpingshan: "People from the Central Plains are treacherous, but it is rare to be so straightforward."

He Rongpingshan reminded: "Xu Chu is particularly treacherous. If he says such words, there must be something behind him, so be careful."

"When you say that, I want to learn more." Shanyu likes to "face difficulties" and said to Xu Chu: "First of all, what reward do you want?"

"Not much, I want Yecheng."

Shan Yu laughed even louder, "The city that General He Rong worked so hard to capture is going to be given to you - the contribution you want to make must be quite big."

"I don't want the city. As long as Yecheng is alive, after the Chanyu enters the city, he will restrain the soldiers and not harass and rob the people in the city. This will be my reward."

"After entering the city?" Chanyu grasped at these four words, "Do you have any way to help me seize the city?"

He Rongpingshan reminded again: "We can seize the city without his help."

"But I won't waste a single soldier, just with this mouth, I can make Yecheng belong to Shan Yu before dark tomorrow."

Shan Yu smiled and shook his head, "I've heard that you have a close friendship with King Liang, but when King Liang originally attacked Yecheng, you failed to persuade him to retreat, but now you can persuade him to surrender?"

"The King of Liang would not surrender, so he did not stay in Yecheng at all. If Shanyu stays here for one more day, the King of Liang will become stronger elsewhere."