On the Jialing River in the south of Guangyuan City, Sichuan, Cao Bianjiao and Gao Jie only brought a dozen personal soldiers into a pavilion by the river.

There were already people waiting in the pavilion, including Chen Shiqi, deputy envoy of Sichuan soldiers, Qin Yiming, general of Sichuan, Zhao Guangyuan, general of Qiang and Han garrison, Zeng Ying and more than a dozen others.

After seeing each other, Chen Shiqi invited Cao Bianjiao and Li Chengdong to sit down. Behind the two, Wu Dading and Li Chengdong stood each.

Chen Shiqi talked about his purpose of inviting the two of them to come, hoping that they would let go of their past grudges and serve the court together.

After hearing this, Gao Jie smiled faintly, "I never thought of being an enemy with General Cao, but General Cao didn't seem to think so."

Cao Bianjiao hugged his hands in front of his chest and said coldly: "If you don't want to be an enemy of me, what do you mean by your troops in Jianmen? Gao Jie, I will tell you that the only way to enter Sichuan is through Jianmen. Can you stop each of them?"

Gao Jie smiled and did not answer, but turned to Chen Shiqi and Qin Yiming and said, "Mr. Chen, General Qin, you see, it's not that I don't want to reconcile with General Cao, but that he has no intention of giving me a chance! Please report back to Liu Futai and Zhongzhen Hou, I am really powerless in this!" Liu Futai refers to Sichuan Governor Liu Zhibo, and Zhongzhen Hou refers to Qin Liangyu.

Chen Shiqi frowned and asked, "General Cao, do you have to enter Sichuan?"

Cao Bianjiao looked at Gao Jie and replied in a calm tone: "I had no intention of entering Sichuan, but I just wanted to defend Hanzhong to resist the Manchu Guards. Otherwise, I could lead my troops directly into Sichuan from the beginning. How could it be Gao Jie's turn to send troops to guard Jianmen? But if you do this, it is clearly the way to intercept my retreat. If I fight with the Manchu Guards in Hanzhong, and Gao Jie, you suddenly rebel against the enemy and surrender to the Manchu Guards and sneak attack our army from behind, then all my nearly 20,000 brothers will be killed here."

Gao Jie's face changed slightly and he stood up suddenly. "Cao Bianjiao, how dare you insult me? I am a seven-foot man and was named Xingpingbo by the imperial court. How could I surrender to the Tartars?"

Cao Bianjiao snorted coldly: "Wu Sangui was still named Marquis! At this moment, the Tartars had appointed him as the King of Pingxi, wouldn't they still surrender? Whether the Tartars surrender or not, is it enough to pay the price of the Tartars? In the Battle of Nanyang, you led your troops to escape first, resulting in the collapse of the entire army. How do you tell me to believe you at this moment?"

Gao Jie glared at Cao Bianjiao and said, "Cao Bianjiao, don't throw any dirty water on me. Did I cause the great defeat that day? I led less than 10,000 soldiers to block Li Guo's tens of thousands of troops on the Hundred Mountains. The main army was defeated first, and no one could change the defeat at that time. What was wrong with leading my troops to evacuate at that time?"

Seeing the two of them getting angry, Qin Yiming hurriedly said, "General Cao and General Gao, don't be angry. If you have any questions, we can discuss them carefully! Don't fight for the will. The late emperor died for his country and the prince ascended the throne. In this crisis, we should unite and never hurt each other's feelings because of the little things before."

Cao Bianjiao looked up at Qin Yiming, "General Qin, I will tell the truth. If Zhongzhen Hou sent troops to Jianmen, I would not only not feel that someone intercepted my retreat, but instead thought that my back was guaranteed. But Gao Jie was not good, I could not trust him."

Gao Jie hummed twice, sat down calmly, without saying anything.

Chen Shiqi thought for a moment and said, "General Gao, you were named Xingping Bo by the new emperor. There are many complaints inside and outside the court. If you don't do anything, you will probably be honest and say that your uncle is not worthy of his reputation. General Cao, although you have nearly 20,000 soldiers under your command, you are not enough. If you enter Sichuan to fight General Gao, you may not be able to win. Besides, the Manchus occupied Shaanxi at this moment and may march into Hanzhong at any time. If the two tigers fight, there will be one injury. If the Manchus benefit, wouldn't they be loved by their relatives?"

Gao Jie moved his body and said, "Mr. Chen just said whatever he meant! Don't be treacherous like this."

Chen Shiqi said: "The thieves captured the capital, and the Manchus invaded the Central Plains. Now news came from the court that someone had proposed to use the thieves to destroy the thieves. But I had a doubt in my heart. What should I do if the Manchus did not plan to leave after they came?"

Cao Bianjiao said angrily: "What kind of stupid person is this a plan proposed by a fool. Manhu has always been thieves in the Central Plains. If they enter the pass, how could they leave easily? If they seek skin from the tiger, they will definitely be eaten in the end."

Chen Shiqi nodded, "I think so too. At present, the treacherous robbers occupy the northern land, the Longwu army occupy Huainan, tens of thousands of mankind captives invaded the Central Plains, Zhou Xian occupied Shandong, and the Ming Dynasty was divided into pieces. Whether it was General Gao or General Cao, they were all the mainstays of the court. At this time, we should work together to fight against foreign enemies. This is Liu Futai's meaning, and it is also the meaning of Zhongzhen Hou. General Qin, tell me about Zhongzhen Hou's suggestions!"

Qin Yiming nodded and said to the two: "General Qin, General Gao, my general means to block the Manchus in the north to prevent them from invading Sichuan. In the east, we must recover Jingzhou to connect Sichuan and Huguang to protect half of our Ming Dynasty. Since the two are in conflict, why not separate directly? General Cao leads his troops to Hanzhong to resist the Manchus. General Gao leads his troops to east Sichuan to recover Jingzhou. I wonder what the two think this method?"

Cao Bianjiao said directly: "The Zhongzhen Hou is a pillar of the country. At this moment, he was appointed as the governor of Sichuan by the new emperor and was promoted to all the troops in Shu. This is a wise move by the emperor. I am willing to obey the order."

Qin Yiming clasped his fists and said, "I thanked General Cao on behalf of my general."

Cao Bianjiao bowed his fists and returned the greeting, turned to Gao Jie and said, "Gao Jie, give me a happy word, agree or disagree?"

Gao Jie frowned and thoughtful, and did not speak for a while.

Shu was rich, with a dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was a rare place to stand on his own. Since Gao Jie entered Shu, he had the idea of ​​taking it for himself.

But at this moment, Cao Bianjiao was outside. Although his troops were not large, he knew Cao Bianjiao's ability to fight. Inside were Liu Zhibo, Chen Shiqi, the deputy envoy of military preparation, Zhao Guangyuan, Zeng Ying, Yang Zhan and others. Each of them had few troops, but together they were a force that could not be ignored.

Especially the loyal Hou Qin Liangyu, the Baigang Soldiers she led are powerful soldiers in the world. Now that Chen Shiqi has brought Qin Yiming here, the meaning is clear.

If Gao Jie continues to occupy Chengdu, he will be besieged from all sides.
Chapter completed!