Plan to cut off the nine states

Ever since he saw Xu Chu alive, Guo Shifeng began to feel uneasy and thought about it over and over again along the way. Therefore, he couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the Song Army flags all along the river from a distance.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Guo Shifeng murmured, "Song Qizhu doesn't have the courage, Xu Chu doesn't have the guts, this is courting death..."

A group of knights came towards them, and Guo Shifeng and the guards stopped.

"Who is coming?" shouted the other side.

"Guo Shifeng, the staff of King Ning, has come to see the King of Shu. Which general is your Excellency under the King of Shu?" Guo Shifeng asked knowingly. He could see clearly that the person opposite was a soldier of the Southern Army.

There were more soldiers from the Southern Army, and they surrounded Guo Shifeng and others. Even the guards became nervous this time, but with King Ning at their back, they were not too scared.

Guo Shifeng bravely drove his horse forward and said with a smile, "What do you mean? Don't you believe in our identity?"

A young general stepped out from the crowd, raised his hands to Guo Shifeng and said: "I am the deputy general of Xiangzhou, Mao Yuanti. Mr. Guo has come just in time to give us a review."

"Ah? I'm just a staff member..."

"Mr. Guo is a close confidant of Prince Ning. His name is known to everyone, so why should he be humble? We are about to go to see Prince Ning. Since Guo Shifeng is here, please save us some time."

"General Mao, please speak." Guo Shifeng had no choice.

"The King of Shu promised to borrow a boat to take us across the river, but as soon as the boat left the shore, he made all kinds of unreasonable demands and forced us to surrender and follow him back to Yizhou. Can Mr. Guo tolerate this kind of thing?"

"I think I can't bear it, but I don't know what the purpose of King Shu's move is?"

"What else is there? To coerce us into surrendering. The Southern Army had a bad start and lost consecutive battles. It finally returned to King Ning's command and fought a hearty and victorious battle. Everyone admired and was loyal to King Ning, no two. Heart, the same is true for Mr. Guo, right?"

"Of course, there is no second intention."

"So we kill the King of Shu, imprison the Yizhou generals, and wait for King Ning's death. Is that okay?"

Although Guo Shifeng had expected it, he was still shocked when he heard that the King of Shu had been killed, but he did not dare to show it on his face. He nodded and said: "No problem, you all have meritorious service. When King Ning knows about it, he will definitely reward you heavily."

"Forget about heavy rewards or anything like that. We were ordered to pacify the countryside. More than half of the people had already crossed the river and did not dare to turn back without reason. So we asked Mr. Guo to report to King Ning on our behalf. We said that the King of Shu was dead and that the ships and Yizhou soldiers were all left on the shore. Please ask King Ning to pick it up and decide for yourself.”

"Okay." Guo Shifeng agreed blindly, not daring to ask any more questions.

Mao Yuanti patted his horse and came forward, crossed his horse's head with Guo Shifeng's, and threw a baggage hanging on the saddle, "Mr. Guo, please bring this to Prince Ning."

Guo Shifeng took it in his hand, his heart trembled, and he asked smoothly: "What is this?"

"The head of the King of Shu." Mao Yuanti turned the horse's head and led the soldiers back to the river.

Guo Shifeng was stunned as he held the bundle. The Confederate soldiers had already gone away, and then he came to his senses and handed the bundle to a guard leader, "Take it with you."

The leader took the baggage with a horrified look on his face. He was not afraid of the head, but was surprised by the audacity of the Confederate army, "They... they don't want to live anymore? When King Ning heard this letter, he would be furious and sent troops to chase him. None of these people will survive. Can Song Qizhu control Nan Bing? Or is he also involved? "

"Prince Ning has made his own decision. Let's... go back to see Prince Ning as soon as possible."

"On the way back, we will pass Song Qizhu's camp again..."

"Let's... take a detour."

Guo Shifeng was a little panicked. The leader saw this and decided not to ask for advice anymore. He asked several Jingzhou soldiers about the route and directly led everyone around.

After walking a few miles, Guo Shifeng suddenly shouted, and all the guards were startled. They reined in their horses and stopped. The leader looked around and saw no ambush, so he asked, "What did Mr. Guo find?"

"No, I suddenly remembered something. I must go back and ask that Mao Yuanti for clarification. Otherwise, if Prince Ning asks and I can't answer, I will cause trouble."

"Then what should we do? Go back again? Fortunately, it's not far."

"The incident happened suddenly. We need to let Prince Ning know as soon as possible. You go see Prince Ning, and I'll go find Mao Yuanti."

"I'll leave a few people for Mr. Guo..."

"No need." Guo Shifeng shook his head repeatedly, "Looking at the situation, neither the Southern Army nor Song Qizhu have openly rebelled against King Ning, so it will be easier for me to escape alone."

Guo Shifeng was a well-known strategist in the army. The leader believed his words and said, "Okay, Mr. Guo, take care. We will rush to return to King Ning."

"I'll be there later."

After the guards left, Guo Shifeng looked at their backs. Seeing that no one looked back, he patted his horse and left. Instead of going to the Confederate Army, he galloped in the opposite direction, hoping to find a small boat that had slipped through the river and send him across the river.

The river was vast, with no shadow of ships, but there was green smoke rising from the roadside. Guo Shifeng came closer and found that there were seven or eight soldiers warming up in a circle. He was secretly thinking that something was wrong. He turned around and was about to run away, but those people had already seen him. , said loudly: "Is this person Guo Shifeng?"

"No, a business traveler passing by."

"The war here is chaotic, but there are still merchants?" "And you can also ride a horse?" The soldier laughed and got on his horse calmly.

Guo Shifeng hesitated for a moment and stopped where he was.

The soldiers came close on horseback. One of them looked at it for a while and said with a smile: "Isn't this Mr. Guo? Why don't you admit it?"

"You recognize me?"

"Mr. Guo is a noble man who forgets things. I am a guard of General Song. I just met Mr. Guo not long ago."

"oh."

The soldier turned to his companions and said, "We are lucky. We just started the fire and received Mr. Guo."

"You...are waiting for me here?"

"General Song said that he had not talked enough with Mr. Guo, so he sent several people to wait everywhere, just to ask Mr. Guo to go back again no matter what."

Guo Shifeng smiled awkwardly, "General Song's kindness is hard to refuse..."

Everyone set off. Not long after walking, Guo Shifeng said, "General Song's camp doesn't seem to be here."

"General Song is probably crossing the river by now. Let's go to the south bank to meet him."

Guo Shifeng said nothing more.

The group just caught up with the last group of soldiers crossing the river. There were thousands of them in total. Mao Yuanti was on guard and waited on the boat for a while. He called back all the scattered Song soldiers and ordered them to set off.

The boat rowers were still soldiers from Yizhou. After landing on the south bank, Mao Yuanti bowed to the boat and said, "Thank you for seeing us off. We are the subordinates of King Ning. You can ask King Ning for a reward later."

The soldiers from Yizhou had been terrified. Once they were free, they left the shore immediately. A small number of boats headed upstream, eager to return to Yizhou, while most of the boats headed north to join their imprisoned companions on the shore.

The southern army had few horses, and Guo Shifeng could only walk with the reins on his horse. He arrived at the camp after nightfall.

Guo Shifeng was sent to a tent, and the food prepared was no different from that of ordinary soldiers. Guo Shifeng had no appetite at all, and kept pacing back and forth in the tent. He was not sleepy until almost midnight.

Song Quzhu finally came, smelling of alcohol, holding a half-burnt candle, and smiled, "I guess Mr. Guo didn't sleep."

"I dare not sleep because General Song invited me." Guo Shifeng bowed.

Song Quzhu placed the candle on a stool beside him, looked at Guo Shifeng, and said nothing for a long time.

Guo Shifeng forced a smile on his face, "General Song invited me here, what's the important matter?"

"It's not an important matter. Mr. Guo promised to have a long talk with me before, remember?"

"Ah? It seems so."

Song Quzhu sat on the bed and smiled at Guo Shifeng, "Mr. Guo, please sit down."

There was a candle on the only stool. Guo Shifeng thought for a while, picked up the candle and held it in his hand, and then sat down.

"Let's talk by candlelight at night, right?" Song Quzhu smiled.

"Yes." Guo Shifeng tried to speak as little as possible.

"Actually, I don't have anything I need to talk about. Let's just chat. Mr. Guo, do you think my trip to Hunan and Guangdong will go smoothly?"

"It's hard to predict everything, but I think General Song will be able to pacify the two states in the end."

"Mr. Guo, I want to ask what the key is?"

"It's these Southern Army soldiers under General Song. I think they are quite loyal to General Song. This is a good sign."

"Just a 'sign'?"

"The Southern Army soldiers are eager to return home and obey General Song in everything. Once they return to Hunan and Guangdong, they will return home. The feelings of the local people are stronger, and there are local officials, heroes, and elders who are willing to recruit them, so they may have different ideas. "

"I thought of that, so I tried my best to meet the requirements of the Southern Army soldiers, hoping to keep their hearts."

Guo Shifeng laughed and said, "General Song's move may be counterproductive."

"Please advise, Mr. Guo."

"The Southern Army is easy to be scattered, and General Song is lenient to them now, which makes them more scattered."

"If you punish them with strict laws, I am worried that they will rebel now."

"General Song, why don't the Southern Army soldiers rebel when they were in Jiangbei?"

"Chen Bingcai is dead, and the Southern Army has no There are generals leading them."

"That's all?"

"They are afraid of King Ning."

"That's right. The further south we go, the farther we are from King Ning. The less afraid the Southern Army is. There are frequent incidents. No matter how lenient or strict General Song is, I'm afraid it will be useless."

"What should we do according to Mr. Guo's opinion?"

"Find a powerful enemy for the Southern Army as soon as possible, so that they will be afraid again and naturally dare not leave General Song easily."

"King Ning? I dare not openly resist King Ning. I think killing King Shu this time is beneficial to King Ning."

"Well, King Ning will be angry, but he They will not chase us and cannot become enemies of the Southern Army. They must be local tyrants in Hunan and Guangdong. "

"That's difficult. If they are local tyrants, why are they not good for local soldiers?"

Guo Shifeng said with a smile: "General Song is a hero from Xiangyang. He often travels in the nine states and seems not very familiar with the southern land."

"Indeed, I am not familiar with it. Please give me more advice, Mr. Guo."

"There is a Mr. Yu Liu under Chen Bingcai's account who is most familiar with Hunan and Guangdong. Unfortunately, he died with his master, but I have had many correspondences with him and know the local customs..." Guo Shifeng suddenly stopped talking.

Song Quzhu bowed and said, "Why did Mr. Guo know but didn't say anything? Are you blaming me for forcing Mr. Guo to come here and not hosting a banquet?"

"I want to see Xu Chu, and after talking to him, I can decide what to say to General Song and how much to say."

"Haha, this is easy, I will go and invite Mr. Xu to come and see him." Song Quzhu stood up, "I have benefited a lot from having a long talk with Mr. Guo. Tomorrow morning, Mr. Guo can leave or stay if he wants, it's up to you, I won't force you."

"I... Alas, I am in Xu Chu's hands, and it all depends on his words to stay or go."