Plan to cut off the nine states

Shen Dan was suffocated by the pressure, but he refused to show any worries. He even made an exception to allow geishas to join the army. Occasionally, he ordered them to play music and dance to entertain the audience.

He said to his soldiers: "The Shen family has been dealing with He Rong's tribe for decades and understands the thoughts of these barbarians best. You can have fun. The two families will not fight."

As the war started, he said: "It's just a small misunderstanding. Even brothers fight."

He Rong's cavalry approached the front. The two sides fought hard for half a day. The Jin army was defeated and forced to retreat behind the fence to protect themselves. Shen Dan was still not in a hurry. He smiled and said: "This battle is well fought. Tomorrow I will go out in person to challenge the Chanyu. The soldiers don't have to work hard."

Only Liu Youzhong knew the fear and urgency in the heart of the King of Jin.

The most important reason why the Jin army barely managed to hold together was not that the King of Jin pretended to be calm, but that the Shen family had been operating in Bingzhou for many years, with deep roots and loyal soldiers. However, as the war progressed, the foundation of the Shen family had shown signs of loosening.

When no one was around, Shen Dan would grab Liu Youzhong's arm and ask again and again: "What are the people outside talking about? Are they going to abandon me and run away?"

"The soldiers are willing to fight for the King of Jin until they die."

"Calculate again, can I survive this disaster?"

"Emperors don't come out often, and they must be helped by heaven when they are born. Although they have experienced hardships, their fate has not changed. This is a minor disaster and will not harm the King of Jin's great cause."

Shen Dan never asked when the old man of He Rong's tribe, whom he invited, would arrive at the Shanyu camp from outside the Great Wall, because he had his own intelligence and did not need Liu Youzhong to calculate.

When the news finally came, Shen Dan was overjoyed. He turned and jumped in front of Liu Youzhong in the tent, and stopped to say: "It is just as Mr. Liu said, God is helping me!"

Although the elders of He Rong's army could persuade peace, they could not change the situation between the strong and the weak. Shen Dan had to ask for peace and only made one request, asking Xu Chu to come and greet him.

When Xu Chu arrived at the Jin camp, most people had not heard of the news of the peace, and did not recognize Xu Chu's appearance, so they all looked coldly at the He Rong envoy.

Shen Dan personally went out of the tent to greet him. In front of many soldiers, he introduced Xu Chu's identity, affectionately called him "fourth brother", and insisted that he call himself "third brother".

Most of the Jin army generals recognized Xu Chu, and suddenly saw him in a cloth and as an envoy of He Rong's army, they were all shocked. Although they had heard the news a long time ago, seeing him in person still made them feel uneasy. When they came forward to meet him, many people did not know how to salute and speak.

Xu Chu smiled and bowed to everyone, knowing that he would become the hero and sinner who "persuaded" the King of Jin to seek peace with He Rong's army. This was the only reason he was invited.

Shen Dan took Xu Chu's hand and entered the tent side by side. Except for Liu Youzhong, no generals followed him in.

"Why don't you see the second brother Tan?" Xu Chu asked.

Liu Youzhong smiled and said, "The four of us are sworn brothers. The friendship between the fourth brother and the second brother Tan is always deeper. Whenever we meet, we always ask. Tan Wuwei was sent to guard the northern border, which is crucial to the safety of Bingzhou. The King of Jin is worried if he doesn't hand it over to Tan Wuwei."

Xu Chu smiled and nodded, knowing that Tan Wuwei must have offended the King of Jin again. In all likelihood, he insisted on going out of the border to attack the He Rong's lair, but was sent to guard the border.

Shen Dan said, "It's not easy to get together with my fourth brother. We should have a drink and chat happily, but the situation does not allow us to take a break. Let's get drunk after the business is over."

"I'm ordered to invite King Jin to negotiate peace. Are you leaving now?"

Shen Dan was not in a hurry. "We agreed to go before dark. There's no need to rush. I haven't thanked my fourth brother for saving my life yet."

"I just passed on the message. It doesn't seem to be a 'life-saving grace'." Xu Chu smiled.

"I'm not talking about today, but a few days ago outside Yuyang City. If it weren't for my fourth brother's reminder, I would have almost fallen into the trap. My second brother often told me that my fourth brother's words are worth a fortune. I was able to get one of them, which is really God's help."

"Third brother, you are too flattering."

"This is the truth."

The three of them praised each other and were humble to each other. After about half an hour, Shen Dan said, "Please wait here for a while, fourth brother. I will go out and tell the generals, and we can set off."

Shen Dan left the tent, and Liu Youzhong stayed and asked, "How is the Chanyu? Is he a little angry? Will he use the trick to trick the King of Jin into the camp again, and then..."

Xu Chu shook his head, "I can't guess, what do you think of the Chanyu's face?"

"Haha, physiognomy can predict a lifetime, not a moment. Looking at the Chanyu's face, he is calm and generous, brave and resourceful, and quite heroic. Unfortunately, he grew up in a wild place and lacks a bit of heaven-given talent. Although he can disrupt the chaos Original, it is difficult to build a great cause after all. "

Xu Chu smiled, "Third brother seems to have given me too much time."

"Hmm? What do you mean by this, fourth brother?"

"With my reputation and the current situation, I should be able to persuade King Jin to negotiate peace in just a few words, and there is no need to stay in the tent for so long."

Liu Youzhong smiled awkwardly, "I said I couldn't hide it from fourth brother. Please understand, fourth brother, King Jin is in a difficult situation now, and he can't let his subordinates know that he has planned to negotiate peace from the beginning. Fortunately, this will not cause any loss to fourth brother. In fact, the soldiers of the Jin army also want to negotiate peace, and they wish someone would mediate between them. "

"Anyway, I don't have a good reputation, so I'm not afraid of losses."

Liu Youzhong laughed, came closer, and whispered: "Neither King Jin nor I are ungrateful people. We will remember the kindness of fourth brother's enlightenment last time and the virtue of this peace negotiation. No matter when and where, fourth brother is the guest of honor of King Jin, and he will do whatever he asks for. "

After all, Liu Youzhong was not the King of Jin himself, so his promise had little effect, but Xu Chu did not care about it anymore and whispered back: "The words of the eldest brother are enough. I would rather be my brother than be an honored guest. "

Liu You finally breathed a sigh of relief and tried his best to flatter Xu Chu.

Another two-quarters of an hour passed before Shen Dan came back from outside. Apparently, he had convinced the soldiers to accept the peace negotiation "brought" by Xu Chu, "Let's go see Shan Yu."

Liu Youzhong cupped his hands and said, "Fourth brother, when we get to Shanyu, I will have to worry about King Jin's safety..."

Shen Dan interrupted: "Brother, don't force others to make things difficult. If Chanyu wants to kill me, it will be useless to persuade him, and he will be implicated instead. If there is an emergency, fourth brother must not speak, save one life, and sprinkle a cup on me during the festival. Wine is good too.”

Xu Chu said: "I will avenge my third brother."

Shen Dan laughed and said, "With what my fourth brother said, I will have no regrets even if I die."

Shen Dan called a small number of followers and went to the He Rong camp with Xu Chu, leaving Liu Youzhong to command the army together with an old man from the Shen family.

When King Jin entered the camp, many He Rong people came forward to watch. Shen Dan lowered his head cautiously, not showing any proud or expectant expression, so as not to arouse Shan Yu's anger.

In the big tent, Shanyu sat in the middle. On both sides were many elders, all of whom were brothers and nephews of the old Shanyu. They had been grazing outside the Great Wall for most of their lives. It was the first time they came to the Central Plains, where they tasted delicious food and talked in low voices. Further down, there were those who followed the army. The kings also had wine and meat in front of them, but they did not eat and drink as much as usual. They all sat upright. Occasionally, when their names were called, they would immediately crawl over and answer respectfully.

After entering the tent, Xu Chu stepped aside. King Jin took a few steps to kneel down to Shan Yu. He would say a few words of congratulations and apologize sincerely.

As soon as they saw King Jin, several elders stood up to greet him, surrounded him, held his arms and prevented him from kneeling, then dragged him to Shan Yu and made them sit across from each other.

Many Su Lao were chattering away, while Shanyu and King Jin nodded, smiled, hugged, drank, and even shed a few tears in the end.

Xu Chu still didn't understand a word and stood watching from a distance, trying to figure out Shan Yu's thoughts.

The peace talks seemed to be successful, and the King of Jin was not in danger. The nobles came forward to congratulate him, and Xu Chu walked out of the tent and returned to his residence.

Chang Yan had been worried. When he saw the young master coming back, he immediately asked, "Is everything going well?"

"Um."

After Xu Chu sat down, Chang Yan said, "Young Master seems not very happy."

"The Shan Yu has only been in power for a short period of time, but he is still unable to convince all the tribes. He needs the support of the elders to be able to respond to everything at once."

"Is this a good thing? Shanyu has strong soldiers and horses. If everyone works together, the heroes of the Central Plains will be even more powerless to resist."

Xu Chu shook his head, "This peace negotiation goes against Shan Yu's true intentions. He must get rid of Mr. Su's constraints as soon as possible."

"Will the Chanyu kill those old guys?" Chang Yan asked in surprise.

"If he could kill, Shanyu would have done it long ago and would not have waited until now." Xu Chu smiled, "Killing will only bring division. If he wants to offset the influence of Su Lao, Shanyu must establish his own prestige as soon as possible. If the minister is loyal to him alone, he will no longer be constrained. Originally, Shanyu wanted to seize the states steadily, but now he will become impatient - King Jin escaped, and I don't know who will be the unlucky one for him. "

Chang Yan said with a smile: "I thought it would be something. In troubled times, either I hit you or you hit me. At this moment, there may be a war somewhere else. The young master can't handle this distraction."

"Haha, you're right. Do you have any wine? I heard a lot of good things today. My ears are happy, but my mouth is filled with dust."

"Only the bad wine of the army."

"Bring it here."

"There isn't much left. He Rong people are not generous enough to us."

There was only half a bag of bad wine, and there were no cups or bowls. They took turns drinking, Xu Chu took a big sip, Chang Yan took a small sip, and they drank it with cheese.

"The King of Jin and Shan Yu have negotiated peace. Can the Emperor still return to Yuyang?" Chang Yan asked.

"He didn't come to me to complain. It's probably because his plan hasn't changed and he can still go back to Yuyang."

"Well, even the emperor has left. When can we... leave? To be honest, I don't like the He Rong camp. The food is poor and the living is simple. Forget it, there is no one to talk to. Every time I go out to inquire about news, I have to listen carefully. Master, do you know that I have learned a lot of He Rongyu, but talking to them is still very tiring."

"You are better than me, and I haven't learned a word."

"Young Master has too many things to think about and has no time to study. Have you thought about how to leave, right?"

"I've thought about it. First of all, I have to ask Shan Yu to dissolve his marriage to Princess Fang De. If this doesn't happen, I won't leave."

"It's a bit difficult." Chang Yan whispered.

"Secondly... at least I need to know that there is someone among the heroes who can resist He Rong's cavalry."

"Isn't Prince Ning successful? Oh, Prince Ning even sent a letter of surrender."

"It doesn't matter if you submit a letter of surrender. In the future, every family will send a letter of surrender. A true hero can also bend and stretch. When he is 'able to bend', outsiders often don't recognize him. As for Prince Ning, he is not satisfactory. I hope there will be a better one."

"I don't like Prince Ning either. It would be nice if the Golden Saint was a man." Chang Yan sighed, "She has heroic spirit."

"If that happens, I will have nightmares for the rest of my life."

"Haha, where did the young master go? If the Golden Saint was a man, she would naturally not have gotten married."

The two were just chatting, but no one expected that news came early the next morning that He Rongjun had taken a short rest and was about to march westward to Qinzhou with the Jin army.