38, Offensive and defensive battles
"Haha, OK!"
After listening to Pei Wan briefly describe Cao Cao's handwritten book, Yan Xing immediately laughed and said three good things before continuing:
"Cao Mengde's writing is powerful and his writing is as good as his own. This handwritten letter can really be an army of 100,000!"
Yan Xing's words were half admiration and half satirical. What was praised was naturally Cao Cao's talent and extraordinary mind. This article can show the gaps in his heart. No wonder when he went to Jiangnan, a letter could scare the monarch and ministers in Jiangdong to make him tremble.
What is ironic is of course the obvious coercion in Cao Cao's letter. Anyone with a discerning eye knows whether there is a 100,000 army in Yanzhou. Yan Xing just regards this letter as the 100,000 army in Cao Cao's words.
However, after talking about Cao Cao's writing skills, Yan Xing also sneered and continued:
"Cao Mengde said that I was in a place where both sides were trapped. Don't I know that he was in the four battles, with Liu Biao and Yuan Shu in the south, Liu Bei and Lu Bu in the east, if he really dared to use troops in Henan, he would have led his troops to come long ago. Why would he make some generals bluff and send Wang Bi to Beijing to deliver this handwritten letter?"
Yan Xing sneered contemptuously, and his advisers could only laugh twice. However, when Xi Zhicai laughed, he frowned.
He has followed Yan Xing for a long time and has already understood Yan Xing's style of dealing with things. The better the situation is, the more serious he should take it and not dare to take it lightly. On the contrary, the more critical the situation is, Yan Xing will talk and laugh and feel at peace.
I'm afraid that Yan Xing knew in his heart that Cao Cao's current situation was better than himself.
To the east of Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, who owns Huainan, Lu Bu, who takes the lead in the guest, and Liu Bei, who lives in Pei County, are both strong or weak in the power of these three parties, fighting openly and secretly and entangled in order to occupy the entire territory of Xuzhou. Therefore, although these three families have been enemies of Yanzhou, they will no longer pose a threat to Yanzhou and Yuzhou for the time being.
The remaining Liu Biao in the southwest, judging from the direction of his recent military use, it seemed that he was much more interested in the chaotic Guanzhong than in Runan County, where Cao's soldiers had already entered.
Xi Zhicai thought about it, but he continued to say:
"As Cao Mengde said in his handwritten letter, the king must come to the envoy this time because he wanted to discuss the matter of welcoming the emperor and stopping the military and making peace. I don't know what Ming Gong agreed to, and should we continue to talk with the envoy of Yanzhou?"
After listening to Xi Zhicai's words, Yan Xing nodded, turned to look at everyone and asked:
"You guys think you should continue talking?"
"Ming Gong, Wan thought that even if the conversation was difficult, he would have to continue talking to the envoy of Yanzhou."
The talented Pei Wan is not inferior to these adults who are over thirty years old. He has a bright vision and a bright voice, and he said loudly:
"The reason why Cao Cao in Yanzhou took advantage of our army's expedition to the west and sent troops in Luoyang was to take advantage of the power of Yuan Shao in Hebei, to write books and intimidate, and to send envoys to discuss peace, all of which showed that he was harsh and weak on the outside. He wanted to take advantage of the situation and welcome the emperor to leave the capital without the effort of one soldier."
"On the other hand, I have eight gates and strong soldiers and horses. It is extremely beneficial for the Hedong side to delay time. As long as I promise verbally, I will be vulnerable to the envoys of Yanzhou. After the Guanzhong Western Expedition Army defeated Ma Teng, Ming Gong will free up his hands to deal with Yanzhou. Let's see how Cao Mengde dares to be rampant!"
Pei Wan, the youngest son of the Pei family, is Yan Xing's wife's brother-in-law, the most brilliant among the younger generation under Yan Xing. At this time, when he heard Pei Wan's bold analysis and establishment, although Yan Xing did not say anything in praise, his eyes were filled with smiles. Obviously, his wife's brother-in-law's performance did not disappoint the high expectations he had given to him to teach him by his side.
However, Xun You, who had not spoken, still spoke at this time.
"Ming Gong, You, once served as an official in the same dynasty as Cao Mengde, and he knew him a little. He seemed frivolous and unpowerful on the surface, but he was very resourceful and decisive, and had a broad mind and insight. He was far beyond ordinary people. You thought that Cao Mengde was not a person with a fierce and weak appearance."
Xun You stopped when he pointed it, but his meaning was also very clear. Although Pei Wan's strategy seemed feasible, it was too wishful thinking. He believed that Cao Cao was a man of a harsh and weak person at the beginning, and believed that Yanzhou would only take advantage of the situation and pick up soft persimmons. However, according to the current specific situation, although Yanzhou would not rashly attack Henan with all its might, he still had the strength to dispatch 10,000 or 20,000 troops. If he only thought that delaying time could solve the problem, he would probably fall into a bigger dilemma.
Xi Zhicai heard Xun You's rebuttal and smiled faintly. In order to avoid the embarrassment of Pei Wan, who was just starting out, he took the conversation and said:
"Well, Gongda said very well, but Pei Shuzuo's words also make sense. We might as well talk while talking, and make some concessions first, and let the court issue an edict to enthrone Cao Mengde, allowing him to control the military and political affairs of Yanzhou and Yuzhou. However, some tugs were made in the negotiations to welcome the emperor, which would not only prevent the Yanzhou envoy from turning against each other, but also gain a certain amount of time for the Western Expedition Army to defeat Ma Teng."
After listening to Xi Zhicai's words, Zhou Liang then agreed. Xun You did not refute this point. He nodded, as he agreed to Xi Zhicai's compromise method, which seems more appropriate at present.
However, after listening to the opinions of his advisers, Yan Xing smiled, turned around and walked back to the map, pointed to the Luoyang location on the map, greeted Xi Zhicai, Xun You and others and said:
"Have you ever thought that in fact, Luoyang's civil strife, taking advantage of Hebei and threatening, these are all superficial means of power and conspiracy. Cao Mengde dared not move a soldier and a soldier, and wanted to use the three-inch tongue of the envoy to welcome the emperor and the court. What was he relying on? It was just that the army of the Western Expedition gathered in Guanzhong, thinking that Hedong was unable to look east, and under heavy pressure, he would have to surrender, and could only agree with the conditions proposed by Yanzhou."
Speaking of this, Yan Xing stretched out his finger and tapped the Zhongmu location on the map, and continued:
"Therefore, we must use both soft and hard skills and work together to work together. We must not only use the power-making methods of the temple, but also use military means to let Cao Mengde know that even if our Hedong army marched westward, his Yanzhou troops and elite soldiers and generals left behind in Henan still cannot get any benefits. As long as we realize this, the Yanzhou envoy will be willing to put down his aggressive momentum and bargain with us again."
After saying the words were rough and rational, Yan Xing turned around and faced his adviser, stretched out his two fingers and said firmly:
"So I decided to talk and pull and fight and talk!"
···
After Yan Xing set the tone of "talking while talking, fighting while talking", the meeting in the military tent gradually came to an end.
The counselors and generals in Hedong were ordered to devote themselves to the corresponding military and political affairs one after another. Xi Zhicai had to rush back to Luoyang to continue negotiations, and other officials from the Bafushi also had to prepare for the next military affairs, so Zhou Liang stayed in the military tent.
He rushed to Hongnong and had another important thing, that was, Yan Xing had to report the results of his school investigations on three major cases in Luoyang at the end of May.
In the military tent, Yan Xing had already moved from the map to the front of the case table. He reached out to open the sect file brought by Zhou Liang. While carefully examining the investigation process records on the sect file, he asked Zhou Liang out loud:
"Let me talk about the investigation results around the emperor!"
Zhou Liang, who was waiting quietly, immediately responded and began to say:
"The eunuch who planned to assassinate the emperor has carefully investigated the school affairs. The people of Jingzhao were poor and lonely. They had been in the palace for three years and were an eunuch who served the emperor personally. In addition, they combined the interrogation of other eunuchs and the information of the people around us. After moving the capital to Luoyang, this eunuch did not enter the palace. There were no external letters and communications between the three months before the incident, and his words and deeds were not abnormal."
"If you really want to say something wrong, it is that the eunuch was taken by the emperor all day long by the emperor, and the emperor did not go to the queen and concubine Dong's bedroom that night."
After hearing Zhou Liang's words, Yan Xing paused on the text on it after hearing the fingers of Zhou Liang's words:
"Where is Ju Jun's assassination case?"
"Why did Ju Jun go out at night? Is it a vendetta or a man-killing? The school affairs also interrogated Ju Jun's family and servants in the mansion in detail, but they all didn't know the truth. However, the suspicious thing about the entire assassination was that the school affairs learned from the maids in Ju Jun's mansion that before Ju Jun went out at night, Ju Jun had specially guided his young son's knowledge, but when he went out with his entourage, his face was silent and he was silent about where he went."
"At the scene where the four followers were stabbed, all from behind, and a knife was killed on the side. The expressions on their faces were either painful or surprised. Only the trauma suffered in Ju Jun's chest was a sword injury. The sharp sword was stabbed into his chest, and Ju Jun's expression was calm and there was no panic or horror."
"Although the Northern Army Captain is now without any troops to lead, Ju Jun himself is quite brave. However, when he was stabbed, Ju Jun did not act like a horse to call, nor did he draw his sword to resist strongly. From the scene, he seemed to be dismounting calmly at that time and was subjected to this sword!"
Zhou Liang said this and subconsciously stopped talking, but Yan Xing, who was frowning, waved and asked him to continue speaking. Zhou Liang had to speak again:
"The thief Cao Lishi of Yin of Henan judged that Ju Jun and his entourage died at the hands of an acquaintance. The school affairs conducted a questioning and comparison with the front and back, and believed that Ju Jun had already had ambition to die before leaving home. The assassin and Ju Jun's entourage were walking together on the street and attacked and killed the four followers of Ju Jun on the spot. Ju Jun was calm and did not escape, and got off the horse and died calmly. This was why the assassin was able to retreat calmly after the assassination."
"In other words, these two assassinations were known to people beforehand, and even conspired to voluntarily, in order to make a wise and wise ministers stage a bitter plan and point the public opinion at the lonely person who entered the capital, so that the loyal and righteous people in Kanto could know about the civil strife in Luoyang City, and inform the people of the world that they would hold the emperor hostage and manipulate the court!"
Yan Xing's eyes hit Zhou Liang directly and said with a cold smile.
ps: Pei's notes on "Jiangbiao Zhuan" recorded Cao Gong and Quan's letter: "The recent ones were punished for reprimanding and ordered the south to command the south, and Liu Cong stopped his hand. Now he is 800,000 naval troops, and then he will join the general to hunt in Wu." Quan received a letter to show his ministers that all the ministers were shocked.
Chapter completed!