Plan to cut off the nine states

Guo Shifeng was about to return to Jiangdong and strongly invited Xu Chu to go with him. "Prince Ning has many shortcomings, but we are not choosing a saint, but betting on who can conquer the world. I have seen many heroes in these years of traveling here and there. In the end, I still feel that Prince Ning is worth assisting.”

"Brother Guo has not seen all the heroes in the world."

"Haha, I don't have the energy, and there's no need. There's always someone who can come up behind. When I see them one by one, I'm afraid the chaos will be over. If I go and join them, they won't want me. Brother Chu, think about it again, you and I By assisting Prince Ning together, Jiangdong’s chances of winning will increase.”

"Prince Ning is murderous..."

"It's exactly what you need in troubled times, and if Brother Chu is by Prince Ning's side, you can at least save some people."

Xu Chu smiled and shook his head, "I still have unfinished business in Dongdu, so I can't go to Jiangdong."

"Brother Chu has his own idea. I won't force him. I just want him to know that I sincerely invite you to Jiangdong. Prince Ning also misses brother Chu. If he knows that you are in Dongdu, he will definitely invite you there."

"Jiangdong is my mother's country. I will go there sooner or later."

Guo Shifeng bowed his hands and said goodbye, "King Liang occasionally hesitates. Since Brother Chu is staying, please take good care of King Liang and advise him not to have any objections. Although I assist King Ning, I have no intention of harming King Liang, so I have taken great pains to guide the two kings." Joining forces, there is no better choice for King Liang.”

"clear."

Guo Shifeng said goodbye, and Chang Yan was sent outside the house. He came back and said, "Master, are you going to Jiangdong?"

"Won't go for the time being."

"It's just for now, what about in the future?"

Seeing Chang Yan's expression was different, Xu Chu smiled and said, "You don't want to go back to Jiangdong?"

"If the young master just goes to Jiangdong for a visit, I am willing to accompany him. If he goes to defect to King Ning, I am sorry that I cannot follow him. King Ning burns and kills Wu soldiers. Although this revenge cannot be avenged, I will never surrender to him. Even if Ning one day If the king really can rule the world, I would rather escape to the wilderness than become one of his people."

"You are indeed from Wu." Xu Chu said with a smile.

"Master, don't laugh, I'm serious."

Xu Chu put away his smile, "I am not willing to go to Prince Ning, but -" Xu Chu thought for a while and continued: "If Prince Ning really takes over Jingzhou and openly fights against He Rong, I have to Go and help. If Prince Ning doesn't use me, I'll hide in the wilderness. If he does, I'll put my personal grudges aside first."

"With Ning Baoguan's temper, he doesn't need a son. He will definitely kill you to eliminate future troubles and will never let you go."

"Then you will have to go to the wilderness alone."

"I really have a place to go. I remember when the Kingdom of Wu was defeated by Tiancheng, the seven tribes were divided into two factions. One faction stayed and intended to revive. The other faction swore not to be a subject of Tiancheng and took a boat to avoid the sea. There were still exchanges in the past few years. Maybe I can find them."

"Things haven't gotten to that point yet."

Chang Yan put away the tea sets on the table, "Can Prince Ning really capture Jingzhou?"

"King Ning is very likely to capture Jingzhou, but I doubt whether he dares to be an enemy of the He Rong people. He may be asking to divert the river to rule."

"Will Shanyu agree?"

"King Ning and Guo Shifeng will try their best to stir up trouble in the states north of the Yangtze River, so that Shan Yu will have no time to care about anything else and has to negotiate peace with King Ning."

"Hey, everyone makes their own plans, no one really cares about the safety of the world."

"Guo Shifeng is right at least in saying that in troubled times, what everyone chooses is not a saint."

Early the next morning, the eunuch came to invite Xu Chu, and the King of Liang wanted to see Guo Shifeng off with him.

It can be said that Guo Shifeng returned home satisfied. When he bid farewell to King Liang ten miles away from the pavilion, he swore to the sky, "As soon as I returned to Jiangdong, I immediately asked King Ning to send his eldest son over. After King Liang saw the person, he also sent his eldest son over. In a few years, when they grow up a little, they will choose a good wife from among the princes and daughters, and the two kings will marry and become as close as one family. "

Ma Wei said calmly: "Just wait for the good news. If Prince Ning's eldest son comes, he can get engaged first and then get married in a few years."

Guo Shifeng nodded in agreement, kowtowed to King Liang on the road to thank him, stood up and handed over to Xu Chu, then got on the road and drove to Jiangdong under the escort of a group of guards.

Gao Shengze pointed to another "old friend" of King Liang with his eyes.

Xu Chu just pretended not to see it.

Watching Guo Shifeng go away, Ma Wei turned to Xu Chu and said, "Do you think Prince Ning will really send protons here?"

"If King Ning wins Jingzhou, he will definitely give away the protons. If he is defeated, he will not give them away."

"This is strange. If King Ning is defeated, he will need allies even more. Why don't you send me a proton?"

"King Ning is eager to attack Jingzhou before he has a stable foothold in Jiangdong. Once he fails, it will be a landslide. No allies can save him, so he will not send a proton. If it succeeds, he will stabilize the morale of the army internally and expand the territory externally, but also As a result, he will become Shanyu's formidable enemy. He is in urgent need of allies in Jiangbei to disperse the pressure, so he must send protons to strengthen the ambition of King Liang."

"Haha, Mr. Xu's words are still to the point. It's hard to get out of the city. I'm going hunting. You can come with me."

"Okay, let's go to the Supreme Garden? I don't know how many birds and animals are left there."

"I have already closed the Supreme Garden, and it has been restored to at least 40 to 50%."

Ma Wei followed a large number of people, nearly 2,000 of them, and headed straight for the Supreme Garden. Outside the garden, soldiers went to drive away wild beasts, and qualified hunters put on their military uniforms, received arrows, and carved their own names on the arrow shafts. Name and position to distinguish.

The best hunting season has just passed. All the large beasts in the Supreme Garden have fled, and there are still many foxes and rabbits left. Everyone lines up to enter the garden and shoot arrows in order. Gradually, the atmosphere becomes heated, and the young followers roar.

There are more than fifty followers, all of whom are young people under the age of twenty. Without exception, they are all brothers and nephews of the generals of Liang Jun. It is both an honor and a supervision to serve the King of Liang.

Xu Chu fired two arrows, but none of them hit. Looking at the cheering teenagers, he couldn't help but think of the Emperor of All Things back then.

Ma Wei was not known for his riding skills, but at this time he was galloping around on horseback, firing arrows frequently, and hitting seven or eight times out of ten. Although the soldiers drove the prey in front of him, his accuracy was really good, which always attracted cheers.

For more than a year, Ma Wei did not sit on the throne doing nothing every day.

Xu Chu couldn't help but wonder if Ma Wei was imitating the Emperor of All Things. What's interesting is that Ma Wei had never met the Emperor of All Things in private, but he still heard some things from Xu Chu's mouth, and now he does everything he does.

Ma Wei himself didn't seem to notice, and Xu Chu didn't intend to point it out.

The hunting team went further and further away. Seeing that it was too late to return to Dongdu, Ma Wei ordered to choose a place to camp.

Only then did Xu Chu realize that hunting was just an excuse and Ma Wei had another purpose for his trip.

Dinner was all kinds of game, accompanied by fine wine. Chang Yan kept his promise and only ate meat without drinking alcohol. Xu Chu drank two glasses of wine and was called to the king of Liang's tent after the meal.

The weather was already very cold at night. Ma Wei, wrapped in a thick fur cloak, asked Xu Chu to sit down and said, "Do you know where I am going?"

"Prince Liang even brought the tent with him, presumably to go to the front to supervise the battle."

Ma Wei smiled and said, "What do you think Liang Jun has to win in this battle?"

"I know nothing about the strength of the Liang and Huai armies and the terrain of the battle, so I can't say victory or defeat."

"Half a year ago, I wanted to borrow troops from Huaizhou to attack Yecheng, but now the number of troops has not increased much - Dongdu is short of food and dare not recruit too many troops. As for Huaizhou, the troops borrowed at the beginning did not suffer many casualties, and the Sheng family was in Huaizhou has been operating for many years, and there is no shortage of food and grass, let alone soldiers. If we compare the number, it is at least five times that of me. "

"In this case, why did King Liang attack Huaizhou?"

"Although Huaizhou is strong, it has a lot of troubles: it borders Jizhou to the north, and is always worried about the invasion of He Rong's cavalry there, and borders Wuzhou to the south. King Ning frequently feints to attack, so the Sheng family has to divide heavy troops to guard the north and south pass to fight against the Liang army. There are not many troops left. And I don’t need to capture the entire Huaizhou. I just need to capture Runan City and shake Huaizhou so that I don’t dare to send troops into Wu. "

"I see, will Runan City or Bao Dun be the city lord?"

"Well, it seems that this person has betrayed Mr. Xu?"

"Everyone finds a way out, which is not considered betrayal."

"You can think about it. General Pan has received my order. If Bao Dun is willing to surrender, I will spare his life and even allow him to continue to be the city lord. If he does not know what is good and what is good, no one will be left alive in Runan City."

"There seems to be no need to massacre the city."

"Actually, Liang Jun cannot defend Runan City. Once the Sheng family sends a large army to seize the city, Liang Jun will have no choice but to retreat. By then, even Runan City will be destroyed, let alone the people in the city? Mr. Xu is too soft-hearted and cannot be like Wu. king."

"I feel the same way." Xu Chu still couldn't find the words to persuade Ma Wei.

"After this battle, the Sheng family and I have completely broken off, and we will be mortal enemies from now on. Master Xu, let me guess, can Prince Ning really gain a foothold in Jiangnan?"

"It's hard to say. King Ning's attack on Jing is quite risky, and Jingzhou is in chaos. Even if King Ning takes Jiangling, he won't be able to command the whole of Jing. What will happen next is unpredictable."

Ma Wei smiled and said: "Master Xu has been lobbying everywhere, but he is unwilling to tell me the truth?"

"If I don't want to tell the truth, why should I come to see Prince Liang?"

"You want to take away the two kings of Eastern Hunan and Northern Ji from me. That's all. You don't feel the need to persuade me."

"If I try to persuade King Liang, King Liang will not like to listen."

Ma Wei closed his eyes, "You only care whether you want to say it or not. Why do you care whether I like it or not?"

"He Rong has won consecutive battles, and he is bound to capture all nine states. Several states in the southeast are fighting each other. No matter whether they win or lose, they are just hanging on. I advise the king of Liang to move his troops south to defend Xiangyang."

"Jing and Luo are connected by mountains and rivers. If the He Rong people encounter obstacles in Xiangyang, they must take a detour from Luozhou. For example, if there is a fire in the neighbor's house, I go to put out the fire, but my own house is affected. What do I do? I hope the He Rong people go through a hard battle. After that, I was able to capture Xiangyang and meet King Ning. The two heroes faced off and gave me some breathing space."

"Prince Ning hopes that the people of He Rong will fight hard, why not let Prince Yi go to Xiangyang to take charge?"

Mavi opened his eyes, smiled and shook his head.

"Even if everything goes as King Liang expected and Jingzhou becomes a confrontation between two heroes, Luozhou will still be a battleground, so why should we take a breather?"

"You finally got to the point. Although the Eastern Capital is good, it is not the land of Longxing. It is surrounded by enemies on all sides and is very precarious. I went to attack Ye City before, hoping to have a place to build a foundation." Ma Wei was silent for a while. He seemed to be hesitating whether to say it or not, but finally said, "I'm going to try again."

"Attack Yecheng?" Xu Chu was shocked.

"First Yecheng, then the whole Jizhou."

"In this way, King Liang will completely offend Shan Yu."

"Isn't it just as you wished? And you gave me a good idea."

"I?"

"Before you came, I had not figured out how to use the two kings. It was only after you came that I realized that the two kings were not useless waste. They were actually of great use. Jingzhou wanted to establish a separate court, why couldn't I? Take the emperor and go north to compete. Liang Jun’s direct attack on Hebei is more justified, right?”