Plan to cut off the nine states

Zuo Jun was filled with indignation and repeatedly called "Xu Chu, see me" until his mouth was gagged and he refused to accept it, making a whooshing sound in his throat.

The Zuojia stronghold was almost deserted, and the Yizhou army took advantage of the situation. Xu Chu released several Zuojia soldiers and asked them to deliver a message to the Qiang King, announcing the arrival of "50,000" Yizhou troops.

Soon after the soldiers left, Xu Chu ordered the entire army to set up camp outside the stronghold. The flags were spread all over the inside and outside. They did not choose dangerous places, but just lay across the road. Looking from the direction of Liangzhou, what they saw was an extremely huge camp. , some of them even "crowded" into the main road.

Every order from Xu Chu was issued through Tang Weitian. After the arrangements were made, he sent someone to bring Zuo Jun.

The cloth on Zuo Jun's mouth had been untied, his hands were still tied behind his back, and he had been shouting silently for a long time. He was already a little tired. When he saw Xu Chu, his anger burned again and he shouted: "Xu Chu, you villain, betrays your trust and repays kindness with hatred." , shameless and obscene..."

Xu Chu listened to him with a smile and asked, "Is there more?"

"I have given way, why...why..."

Xu Chu was silent.

Zuo Jun suddenly sighed, "It's my own fault. The Yang family was originally on good terms with the Zuo family. To avenge my family's blood feud, I led the Qiang soldiers into Liangzhou. I am also a treacherous person."

"There were still some people in the village last year. Where have they gone now?" Xu Chu asked.

Zuo Jun was stunned for a while, "What do the people of my Zuo family village have to do with you?"

"Just curious."

"When I led my troops to attack Liangzhou, the people all fled because they were unwilling to take refuge with the Qiang people."

"And General Zuo is willing."

"I have no choice but to keep my promise!" Zuo Jun shouted with a red face.

"What is General Zuo's promise?"

"Promise... The Qiang people will help me take revenge and recapture Zuojiazhai, and I will take them into Liangzhou..."

"Did the Qiang people do it?"

"Of course you were there."

"It is said that the Qiang people occupy three-fourths of Liangzhou. General Zuo is true to his word."

"The Qiang King wants to seize the entire Liangzhou, not 'three or four out of ten'."

"Has General Zuo ever sworn allegiance to King Qiang?"

"I'm not a Qiang person."

"That means it's gone?"

"No..." Zuo Jun replied hesitantly.

"In that case, I can do General Zuo a favor."

"Um?"

"Now that you have been captured, you have to surrender to the Yizhou Army. This move does not break your promise."

Zuo Jun was stunned for a while, "You want me to surrender?"

Xu Chu nodded, "General Zuo can lead the Qiang people into Liang, and he must also be able to guide the Yizhou army."

"I...I..." There was still anger in Zuo Jun's heart, which finally turned into a long sigh, "There are more than 500 soldiers of the Zuo family. I have been with you for a long time. Please ask Mr. Xu to let them live."

"Of course, they can join the Yizhou Army and still be led by General Zuo."

Zuo Jun sighed again and knelt down with great effort, "I'm Zuo Jun, please forgive Mr. Xu."

Xu Chu stood up and stepped forward to help Zuo Jun up. He ordered his men to untie the rope and said with a smile, "General Zuo, please don't bear any grudge against me."

Zuo Jun said: "Soldiers never tire of deceit. Mr. Xu used a trick, and I fell into the trick. I have no regrets. What's more, the Zuo family has few soldiers and the Yizhou army is large. If there is a fight, the Zuo family will definitely suffer heavy casualties. Mr. Xu used the trick, but he saved a few people." Hundreds of lives.”

"The Zuo family has taken advantage of the terrain, and I don't dare to trespass."

The two chatted for a while and put aside their previous suspicions. Zuo Jun told everything he knew about the situation in Liangzhou without hiding anything.

The situation in Liangzhou was more complicated than rumored. The Qiang people occupied a large territory. After a series of victories, disputes broke out among the tribes, and they even fought against each other. Qiang King Xu Qiu quickly took action to quell the civil strife, but his strength was damaged as a result. Lost the opportunity to quickly occupy Liangzhou, and became a confrontation with the Yang family.

The Yang family was not at peace either. Zuo Jun heard reliable rumors that the old Liang King Yang Ke was imprisoned. Several sons were fighting for power and had no strength to expel the Qiang people.

Xu Chu asked about the Jishi Army in the north. Zuo Jun also heard some news, but he did not have a good impression of the Jishi Army and still called him "stick bandit". "The stick bandit fought with the tribes outside the Great Wall and won by luck. It is said that A son of the Yang family led troops to help, I don’t know whether it is true or not. Although the He Rong people were defeated in Jingzhou, they still have strength and are about to wipe out the bandits. I guess..."

Tang Weitian walked in from outside and walked silently to Zuo Jun without saying a word.

Xu Chu and Zuo Jun sat across from each other, glanced at Tang Weitian, and said nothing because they wanted to hear news about the World Coming Army.

Zuo Jun nodded to Tang Weitian and was about to continue speaking when he suddenly felt a pain in his waist and was shocked to find that he had been stabbed by a sharp blade, "You..."

"Thinking about what you have done, you should know that your death was not unjust." Tang Weitian continued to exert force on his hands, and Zuo Jun made several ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, and stopped breathing with a look of surprise on his face.

Xu Chu was even more surprised than Zuo Jun. He stood up and shouted: "Tang Weitian!"

"Don't worry, Master, I will explain to you later."

"Stop, he is of great use..."

"It's too late." Tang Weitian slowly pulled out the knife, pushed the body and fell it on the table. He picked up Zuo Jun's sleeve to wipe the knife, "Master, follow me."

"Why did you kill people?" Xu Chu was a little angry.

"Young master, you will understand at a glance."

The man was already dead, and it was useless to be angry. Besides, Tang Wei was a genius and a general in an army, and Xu Chu was just a guest. He could only sigh and said: "No matter how serious his crime is, you should ask me before taking action."

"Young Master sometimes has a soft heart and is embarrassed to let me kill people. Come on."

Xu Chu had no choice but to let the guards guard the tent. No outsiders were allowed to enter, and no information was revealed to avoid scaring the captive soldiers. He asked Tang Weitian: "Where are you going?"

"In the stockade."

There were horses outside. The two mounted their horses and led a group of soldiers to Zuojiazhai. The soldiers who had been carrying food from the village had gloomy faces at this time, as if they had been hit by an accident.

Xu Chu began to believe that something was indeed happening in the village and did not ask any more questions.

After entering the stronghold, all the soldiers stopped and refused to go any further. Tang Weitian led Xu Chu to a warehouse alone.

The warehouse door opened. Xu Chu went in and took a look. He came out immediately, his face turned livid, "Have you asked clearly?"

"I asked at least ten Zuo family soldiers, and they all said the same thing."

What is stored in the warehouse is not food, but a large number of corpses, most of which have rotted. But judging from the clothes and clothing, they are all common people, men, women and old women. What is strange is that the corpses are tied to wooden boards, sitting or standing, and very few are lying down. of.

Zuo Jun claimed that the people in the village were fleeing, but he was actually killed by him.

Many soldiers of the Zuo family saw it with their own eyes and said that Zuo Jun seemed to be a different person after borrowing troops for revenge. He was suspicious and always said that the ghosts of his family were still wandering in the village, telling him how miserable he was and how he lacked this and that.

Zuo Jun initially burned clothes, beds and chairs, but gradually became more and more crazy and began to kill people and sacrifice them.

He once personally killed the fifth sister-in-law who was insulted by the "bandit". He was most concerned about this matter. He always felt that someone was talking behind her back. Many times, just because he heard a pronunciation similar to "five", he would draw a knife to kill her.

Zuojiazhai was not big, and all the people were killed quickly, but they still pretended to serve the Zuo family. Some soldiers died as a result, and the remaining people were frightened. Fortunately, after the winter ended, Zuo Jun killed less people, and they were able to A little peace of mind.

Tang Weitian killed Zuo Jun without blinking an eye on the battlefield, but he was angered by this scene. After asking for the reason, he went into the tent and stabbed Zuo Jun to death.

Xu Chu suggested that Tang Weitian set fire to Zuojiazhai, and then go to see Zuojia soldiers in person to announce Zuo Jun's death to them.

The soldiers were not angry about this. Instead, they were all relieved and knelt down to thank him. Tang Weitian asked in confusion: "There are so many of you, why do you let him kill at will? Can't we just chop him down together?"

The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. No one could explain why no one resisted. In the end, only one person gave the reason: "This is Zuojiazhai."

Back in the tent, Tang Weitian still couldn't forget the scene he saw in the village. He kept walking back and forth. He couldn't bear it anymore and ran to Xu Chu's tent next door. As soon as he came in, he asked: "Is Zuo Jun crazy? Why? To kill someone like that?"

Xu Chu was equally uneasy, but he didn't show it on his face, "You have experienced many massacres of cities, so you should be used to killing people, right?"

"That's different. The purpose of massacring the city is to rob property. There must be a reason. What reason does Zuo Jun have? Does he really believe that the ghosts of his family are still in the stronghold? When we took the stronghold, we didn't see the ghosts coming out to stop us. Maybe it's because there are still ghosts in the stronghold. It's not evening yet..." It was getting dark outside, and Tang Weitian couldn't help but shudder, "Young master is so smart that you didn't camp in the stronghold. Did you notice something was wrong early on?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "I don't have that ability. In short, don't be Zuo Jun in the future."

"Definitely not!" Tang Weitian said loudly, and he was a little unsure after he finished speaking, "I have killed many people, but when I saw the common people who were killed... Young Master, is there any difference between Zuo Jun and me?"

"Yes, you are a soldier who kills for self-protection and victory on the battlefield, but Zuo Jun kills for ghosts and for his own selfishness."

Tang Weitian breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, I'm not someone like Zuo Jun."

"But you are not too far away from him. You need to be careful not to go to his side."

"Isn't it far enough away from him? Let's change campsites tomorrow."

"That's not what I meant." Xu Chu thought for a while, "Don't kill the surrendered soldiers or the common people. You will never be like Zuo Jun."

"I have killed common people, and just now I killed Zuo Jun who surrendered." Tang Weitian's face changed slightly. He originally thought that the more people he killed, the more capable he would be, but now he was deeply shocked and changed his mind.

"Don't do this kind of thing again from now on."

"Don't kill the surrendered troops, don't kill the common people..." Tang Weitian repeated it several times, "I'm not afraid, nor angry, but...but disgusted. Master, can you understand?"

Xu Chu nodded, "Everyone feels the same."

Tang Weitian breathed a sigh of relief and chanted "Don't kill" several times. "Young master said before that Liangzhou would not fight often. I was quite disappointed. Now that I think about it, it would be better to fight less or not at all. I think that Zuo Jun would have been killed if he hadn't suffered Even if the family members were killed during the war, it wouldn’t be like this.”

Xu Chu raised his hands to Tang Weitian and bowed deeply, "If General Tang has such a heart, he is worthy of being a general."