Plan to cut off the nine states

Ma Wei did not escape Yecheng, but "locked" himself in a house that was not too big or too small. It was too small to hide, and too big to guard. What he cared about most now was his own safety, and he had to retreat even to defending the city. Secondly.

Xu Chu was sent outside the gate, and three people came out to check. After confirming the identity of the visitor, they allowed him to enter. The veteran Sheng Xuan was not invited and looked a little embarrassed. He looked up at the sky and said, "I'd better go and prepare." , If the He Rong people attack the city, we can't all sit and wait to die. "

As soon as Xu Chu entered the palace, he saw several statues with human height erected in the courtyard. They were not yet completed, and they could vaguely be seen dressed as emperors.

The person leading the way was Qiao Zhisu. He slowed down slightly, forced a smile, and explained: "Liang Emperors of the past dynasties."

Xu Chu nodded and understood what was going on.

Ma Wei was sitting in a study room. It looked like he hadn't slept well for a long time. His eyes were red and his cheeks were slightly sunken. Except for the old eunuch Gao Shengze, there were no servants around him.

"It's really unexpected. Isn't this the famous Mr. Xu? The one who persuaded me to reconcile with the Tiancheng court, claimed that he was going to Yuyang to save people, and also supervised Tiancheng and He Rong's attack on Bingzhou, isn't it you?"

"It's him, it's him." Gao Shengze whispered in Prince Liang's ear.

Qiao Zhisu closed the door from the outside.

The room was sparsely furnished, Ma Wei was still sitting on the ancestral chair, and there was no other seat. The windows were closed and covered with curtains. Even with candles lit, the whole room looked very dark.

"Everything in the world is unpredictable." Xu Chu said. He wanted to come closer to speak, but was stopped by Gao Shengze and could only stand in the middle of the house.

"For Young Master Xu, who knows everything well, what else can't be expected?" Ma Wei said in a strange tone.

"Many. For example, I didn't expect Brother Ma to stay in Yecheng."

"King Liang." Gao Shengze corrected him immediately, then turned to his master and said, "King Liang unexpectedly deceived the enemy."

Ma Wei nodded slightly.

Xu Chu said: "He Rongbu doesn't care who is defending the city, they will launch an attack today."

It was Gao Shengze who spoke again: "Don't be afraid. Ye City is so strong that it is unparalleled in the world. Even if the He Rong people have a million troops, they still can't attack it. Besides, He Rong has many cavalry and is not good at attacking the city..."

"There are craftsmen from the Central Plains in He Rong's army. They have sufficient equipment and are arrayed outside the city. Has Brother Ma never gone to the top of the city to watch?"

"Prince Liang." Gao Shengze corrected again, with a slightly harsh tone.

Ma Wei chuckled lightly, "Princess Huanyan lied to me. You helped her lie to me, kept an old woman as a hostage, and then brought foreigners to attack the city. I am not afraid, because I have expected this move. So I went everywhere to recruit food and men, but I didn't let the Huaizhou soldiers get too far away from me. Now there are 200,000 elite soldiers in the city. The food and grass are piled up in mountains. The morale of the soldiers and generals is high. The people do not want to become slaves of foreigners and are willing to work for me. Serve."

After a moment of pause, Ma Wei pointed to the sky with his right hand, as if to declare an oath, "I will first let the He Rong people attack the city. When they can't attack for a long time and their morale is low, I will open the door and fight decisively with them. I will attack the east and west and lure the enemy deep... These strategies I will use them all.”

"Do you want to defend Dongdu again?" Xu Chu asked in surprise.

"Prince Liang!" Gao Shengze's voice became more severe, with a hint of anger.

Xu Chu suddenly took action, twisted Gao Shengze's right arm behind his back, and pushed him out.

Gao Shengze was horrified, but he was restrained by others and was old, so he had to take a step forward, shouting, "Xu Chu, what do you want to do? King Liang save me... No, no, King Liang, be careful, he wants to assassinate me, I will do it for him." Liang Wang stopped..."

Xu Chu opened the door with his other hand, pushed the old eunuch out, closed the door and fastened the latch to prevent outsiders from entering.

When Xu Cugang made a move, Ma Wei was also surprised. He lifted his buttocks and reached out to touch the knife. Then he sat back down and ignored Gao Shengze's yelling, neither getting up to help nor speaking to stop him.

Gao Shengze outside was panicked. He pushed the door several times and found that it could not be opened. He said loudly: "Don't worry, Prince Liang. I will call someone right away..."

"Get away!" Ma Wei snapped.

Gao Shengze was obviously shocked, he let out a whimper and didn't dare to say anything again.

Xu Chu nodded, "It's finally quiet."

Although Gao Shengze was driven away, the expression on Ma Wei's face did not change and remained cold, "What tricks are you going to use to deceive me this time?"

"I'm here to save your life."

"Hey, I know this trick: to preempt others, whether it's true or false, first say something that interests the other party the most, to attract attention and interest, and then say anything else, the other party can listen. So, do you think I'm interested in 'saving my life' Most interested?"

Xu Chu smiled, "We learned the same thing, I forgot it for a moment. Okay, no need for these tricks, just talking. Why did you stay in Yecheng?"

"If you don't stay here, where else can you go?"

"Dongdu, you have been camped there for nearly a year."

"Eastern Capital?" Ma Wei shook his head slightly, "It's almost an empty city there, there's not enough food and grass, the people are all old, weak, sick and disabled, and everyone who can run has run away." His voice suddenly became cold, "The people are just a bunch of people. The mob can't start with worry, but can only succeed. They must wait for me to establish a foothold, and then they will flock to me and come to pledge their allegiance. "

"You haven't given up the eastern capital to Huaizhou yet, have you?"

"Of course not. I used the excuse that my wife and children are still in Dongdu, and asked the Sheng family to give me a few days' grace. As long as King Ning invades Huaizhou, the Sheng family will naturally not be able to ask for it anymore - but where is King Ning? This is one of yours too. Lie, trick me into sending the best general under my command as an envoy."

Appointing Pan Kai as the envoy was all Ma Wei's idea, but at this time he was angry with others.

"The He Rong people attacked the city at noon," Xu Chu said.

"Let them come, I'm waiting."

"The Huaizhou Army will not defend the city sincerely."

Ma Wei's face changed slightly, and he was silent for a while before saying: "The Sheng family sent someone to send an order, asking the Huaizhou soldiers to defend Yecheng to the death..."

"Is this what you rely on to defend Yecheng?"

Ma Wei suddenly stood up, his eyes became redder, and he roared: "Don't think that you are the only one who can defend the city. I have at least 100,000 Liang soldiers under my command. They are loyal to me and are willing to fight to the death for Liang!"

In everyone's mouth, troop strength is just a figure that comes out of the mouth. Xu Chu no longer paid attention to it. He walked up to Ma Wei and put his hand on the table. "You want to imitate my strategy when I defended the Eastern Capital?"

Ma Wei was furious, "In your eyes, I'm always inferior to you, right? Who proposed the assassination in the first place? It was me, not you. Without me, you would still be an unknown member of the Lou family. Unless you mention Wu Princess, no one cares who you are. When the King of Jin killed his father and wanted to blame you, I was the one who saved your life. When you were guarding the Eastern Capital and had no help, I was the first to form an alliance with you. Help you. All your success is inseparable from me! And you still think that I am inferior to you? "

Xu Chu said: "I keep all the help from Brother Ma in my heart, and I have never felt that Brother Ma is inferior to me. At least you are still king, and I retreated in spite of the difficulties."

Ma Wei slowly sat down and his voice returned to normal, "You have your ability, but you lack the heart of an emperor. I don't blame you. You don't even want to admit your own surname, let alone call yourself king or emperor? I Unlike you, I am the real Emperor of the Liang Dynasty, and I have the supervision and expectations of my ancestors behind me. I must embark on this path, I must, I have no choice..."

"How does Brother Ma plan to defend the city?" Xu Chu brought the topic back.

Ma Wei was stunned for a moment, then broke away from the glory of "ancestors" and said, "I have already said that we will hold on for a few days and wait for the enemy's morale to be weakened before we can counterattack in one fell swoop."

Xu Chu shook his head, "I want to hear your real plan."

"Then you take it back to claim credit from He Rong?" Ma Wei sneered.

"Okay, if you don't want to say it, let me start by saying that there are three things that cannot be defended in Yecheng..."

Ma Wei sneered, "It's like the counselor's trick again, 'three things that cannot be defended', 'five things that cannot be expressed', 'seven things that cannot be regretted'..."

Xu Chu continued talking on his own, "When guarding the Eastern Capital, the main force was the Shishi Army. They were chased by officers and soldiers all the way and had no way to go, so they decided to defend to the death. The defenders of Yecheng were from Huaizhou, far away from their hometown. Not far away, if the war doesn't go well, Brother Ma will be unable to stop him, and Sheng Xuan will have no choice but to comply with the public sentiment. "

"Do you think I didn't think of it? I'm going to use the plan. The Huaizhou soldiers are guarding the city, but the Liang soldiers are all guarding the gate. The only exception is Beicheng. The Huaizhou soldiers can surrender or escape. This is just the right way to lure the He Rong people. Entering the city, they are cavalry and are not conducive to street fighting. I will personally lead the Liang soldiers..."

Xu Chu interrupted him: "Although there were two kings in charge of the Jizhou Army when they besieged Dongdu, the real commander was Wang Tiemei. The top and bottom had different opinions. Wang Tiemei was not a general, and he often made unintelligent moves, so Dongdu defended the city. Fang De succeeded. The strong-armed Shanyu outside Yecheng is a powerful figure, and he will definitely not fall into the trap unless Wang Tiemei can compare with him."

Ma Wei showed a trace of jealousy, "Because of this, you would rather work as a counselor for the barbarian king of the alien race?"

Xu Chu still didn't explain and continued: "At the beginning, the Jizhou army wanted to retake the eastern capital, but the He Rong tribe just wanted to clear the obstacles. One was merciful, and the other was unscrupulous. These are the three things that cannot be defended."

Ma Wei suddenly became angry again, "What do you want me to do? Surrender the whole city? The Daliang royal family has already surrendered once, and there will never be a second time, at least not with me!"

"You don't have to surrender. I will send Brother Ma back to the Eastern Capital. Then you will contact Prince Ning immediately and serve him as master for the time being..."

"What's the difference between that and surrender?"

"Listen, if you want to be the emperor, you must first endure the humiliation and bear the burden. Prince Ning is my enemy, but among the heroes of the Central Plains, he is the only one who can compete with the strong arm Shan Yu. Prince Ning is still a little weak now, and he will be very weak. If you are happy that someone will defect to you, he will treat you differently. When the time comes, you don’t need to persuade King Ning. Let him do his own thing. Whether he wants to fight or make peace with the Sheng family in Huaizhou, it’s up to him. Don’t give him any advice. Don’t even give any hint. Once King Ning feels confident, he will go north to expel the He Rong tribe.”

"I'm going to keep submitting to Prince Ning like this?"

"I can't predict what's going to happen further ahead, but this is the best choice at the moment. At least you can keep your title of King of Liang."

Ma Wei thought for a long time, "There are people from He Rong outside the city, and Huaizhou soldiers in the city. How can I escape?"

Xu Chu smiled slightly, "You have escaped back to Dongdu, but many people haven't discovered it yet."

Ma Wei couldn't understand it.