The next day, Sima Lang, who had a plan in mind, asked Cao Ren to set up a high platform in the big tent of the Chinese army and set up an incense table in the specifications of receiving the holy decree, and on the other hand, accompanied by Cao Pi, he went to Sun Quan's residence to visit the young Wu envoy. Facing Sima Lang and Cao Pi, who came uninvited early in the morning, although Sun Quan beat a drum in his heart, he still politely invited the two into the camp tent on the surface.

After some greetings, the two sides sat down. Looking at Sun Quan, who was still tired, Sima Lang sighed and sighed, "Gongzi rushed to Nanjun from Pei County day and night, and he worked hard all the way. ”

Speaking of the arduous march of the past ten days, Sun Quan still feels a dull pain in the muscles of his inner thighs. However, in front of Sima Lang and Cao Pi, he still pretended to respond lightly, saying, "The heavy responsibility is on your shoulders, and you can march for thousands of miles, so why worry about it." ”

"Childe is really a general." Sima Lang quietly flattered Sun Quan, and then turned the conversation to the point, "However, Pei County and Nan County are thousands of miles apart, and the middle waterways are crisscrossing the mountains, so it is inconvenient to march back and forth. It is reported that the Marquis of Wu and the Marquis of Qi still need to march for a month before they can arrive in Nanjun. But I don't know if before the son went south, did Wu Hou have an explanation for the situation of Dangyang? ”

Hand over? Hindering Cao Liu's reconciliation? For the benefit of the Sun family? Of course, Sun Quan will not say these big truths. Seeing that Sima Lang was here to find out, Sun Quan immediately sold Guan Zidao, "Hui Lang, Yu Nan's brother did instruct four words. ”

"Oh? Which four words? Sima Lang asked with interest.

Sun Quan folded his sleeves and gently spit out four words, "Obey the holy decree." ”

Sima Lang was obviously waiting for Sun Quan's words. Seeing his long sleeves and stroking his palms, he smiled. "Good! Since this is the case, please ask Gongzi to go to the big tent of the Chinese army with Yu and others to receive orders. ”

Sun Quan was slightly stunned, thinking that he would go to receive the holy decree. Isn't it a Hongmen feast? But he thought about it again in the next year, now that Cao Cao was still trapped in Dangyang City, Cao Ying really set up a Hongmen banquet, and his Sun Quan was just a companion at best. So Sun Quan replied quietly, "But it's up to Yilang to decide." ”

After Sima Lang communicated with Sun Quan, he sent someone to the other end of the camp to invite Zhuge Liang into the big tent of the Chinese army. At this time, how did Zhuge Liang know that just because of Cai Ji's "prophecy", it set up many obstacles for his next negotiations. After a short time, he was kept in the dark, so he led Ma Liang and Chen Zhi to be invited.

As soon as he stepped into the big tent of the Chinese army, Zhuge Liang keenly felt that the atmosphere at the scene was wrong. But I saw that there was already a circle of people sitting in the big tent. But I didn't see Kong Rong who Zhuge Liang knew. In addition, the main seat facing the tent door was empty, and in its place was an incense table placed on a high platform.

Cao Jun's posture is obviously not as simple as "deliberation". Thinking of Kong Rong's reminder yesterday, Zhuge Liang suddenly had a plan in his heart. I saw him look around the scene with blazing eyes. Then the long-sleeved raised his hand and asked, "General Zhuge Liang, the commander of the military division under General Zuo, came to discuss the matter on the order of the lord of my family, and dare to ask where General Zhengnan is?" ”

Cao Ren saw Zhuge Liang's abundant spirit. The air is magnificent. couldn't help but restrain his contempt, and then got up to greet him, "It's Cao Ren, the general of Zhengnan." Sir, you may be seated. ”

Zhuge Liang nodded reservedly, and led Ma Liang and Chen Zhi to sit down under Cao Ren's guidance. Then he looked at Sun Quan's body carefully, and then turned to the other party and asked, "This Lang Jun is the younger brother of Wu Hou?" ”

Sun Quan, who was exposed to his identity, was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that Zhuge Liang had gone to Wuying to mourn Sun Ling in person in order to match the alliance of the four families in the past, and he also had a relationship with Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. Sun Quan expected that Zhuge Liang must have asked this question because he saw that he and his brother were somewhat similar in appearance. However, considering the appearance of the elder brother gritting his teeth when he mentioned this "Zhuge villager". Sun Quan returned the salute cautiously, "Mr. has good eyesight." A certain is Sun Quan, the younger brother of Wu Hou. ”

Zhuge Liang after confirming Sun Quan's identity. He moved his gaze to Cao Pi, who was about the same age as Ma Liang. But this time, before he could ask a question, he heard someone outside the tent door preach in a loud voice, "The Holy Decree has arrived!" ”

Hearing this, everyone gathered their own careful thoughts, and knelt down to meet the holy decree. The next moment, Kong Rong was seen striding into the tooth tent with the holy decree in his hand, and Sima Lang, who was the deputy envoy, followed closely with the Son of Heaven Fashion Festival in his hand. When the two walked past Zhuge Liang, Kong Rong secretly glanced at Zhuge Liang, but the latter only lowered his head and did not make any eye or physical contact with him. So, Kong Rong had to pretend to be reserved all the way to the incense case located in the main seat, turned around and raised his neck to sweep the kneeling people in front of him, and then unfolded the holy decree and chanted in a pure Luoyang Yayin voice, "I have reigned for four years, and I have been overthrown by the world, but fortunately, thanks to the spirit of my ancestors, I have survived in danger......

Liu Xie's edict came from the hand of Kong Rong, with beautiful rhetoric and magnificent momentum, but aside from the lengthy length and piled up rhetoric, the essence of the edict is actually very simple, that is, to call on the princes, including Liu Bei and Cao Cao, to stop the war and go to Beijing together to escort the Son of Heaven to move the capital to the government. It is no wonder that Sima Lang had previously clapped his hands and laughed when he heard Sun Quan's assurance that he would "abide by the holy decree", after all, this holy decree itself was already biased towards Cao Cao, and obeying the decree was to fight on the same front as Cao Ying.

After a short time, Kong Rong had already read the entire edict, and in the sound of "obeying the decree" chanted by everyone, he offered the holy decree to the incense table of the main seat. And he and Sima Lang sat in front of the incense case, as if they were respecting the holy decree. In addition, it is worth mentioning that sitting on Kong Rong's left hand side at this time is Cao Ying's civil and military forces headed by Sima Lang and Cao Ren. On his right-hand side sat Zhuge Liang, Sun Quan, and Cao Pi. Among them, Sun Quan and Cao Pi subconsciously kept a distance from Zhuge Liang.

In the face of such a delicate seat, even Ma Liang and Chen Zhi, who were sitting behind Zhuge Liang, had already seen that they were completely isolated this time. Ma Liang, who faced such a situation for the first time, couldn't help but sneak a glance at Zhuge Liang with trepidation. Seeing that Zhuge Liang was sitting in a heroic posture, calm and calm, he had the potential to fight the heroes with his tongue. The young Ma Liang suddenly felt that his cheeks were feverish, and in shame, he hurriedly pressed the anxiety in his heart, and then puffed up his chest.

Zhuge Liang's unfazed demeanor also made Sima Lang deeply admired. However, appreciation is appreciation, and the two are their own masters after all. Plainly. Sima Lang was busy all morning in order to catch Zhuge Liang off guard. Because according to Cai Ji's comment that "ambition is big but not opportunity, more scheming and less decisive, good soldiers but no power". Zhuge Liang doesn't seem to be a person with quick wit. But at this moment, the other party's reaction showed that this trick did not seem to work. Or that Sima Lang's move did not exceed Zhuge Liang's expectations. So Sima Lang, who couldn't make a plan, immediately came up with another plan. I saw him raise the banner of the "Holy Decree" and asked loudly, "The Son of Heaven issued an order for all princes to call off their troops and truce war, I don't know when the princes will respond?" ”

Cao Ren, who had already conspired with Sima Lang, took the lead in singing in a high-pitched voice, "Hui Lang, Cao Jun will be exempted from war from now on. ”

After Cao Ren, Sun Quan also clenched his fists and echoed with interest, "It has been more than a month since my brother and Cao Jun had a truce, please rest assured." ”

With Cao Ren and Sun Quan successively expressing their positions. Sima Lang looked back at Zhuge Liang and smiled slightly, "I wonder when General Zuo will withdraw his troops from Dangyang?" ”

Facing the pressure exerted by the Cao and Sun families, Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows. evoked a sneer, "Yilang, the holy decree in the hall really came from the hand of the Son of Heaven?" ”

Zhuge Liang's voice just fell, and he didn't wait for others to react. Kong Rong couldn't wait to scold. "What do you mean by what Master Zhuge said!"

Following Kong Rong's words, Zhuge Liang raised his hand and pointed directly at the holy decree on the case, and said proudly, "Everyone in the world knows that the Cao family and his son are arbitrary, how can Yu know that the holy decree comes from the true heart of the Son of Heaven?" ”

As soon as Zhuge Liang said this, there was an uproar in the tooth tent, and Cao Ren's face turned even darker. Everyone could hear Zhuge Liang's words, which seemed to refute Kong Rong, but in essence, he was accusing the Cao family of coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes. However, Sima Lang had expected that Zhuge Liang would question the authenticity of the holy decree with the arbitrariness of the Cao family's father and son. Therefore, at this moment, he secretly waved his hand under the case to signal Cao Renmo to take the other party's radical strategy, and on the other hand, he refuted Zhuge Liang in a heartfelt tone, "Zhuge Junshi's words are wrong. The Son of Heaven has long been in power. How to hold Jinwu dictatorship. What's more, Qi and Wu Erhou have already been called south, how dare they fake the holy decree in Xia and Kong Shaofu? ”

Sima Lang's words were reasonable. caused the civil and military forces present to nod their heads in agreement. In fact, the polemic is about the word "reason", and Sima Lang occupied the commanding heights of "acting according to orders" at the beginning, so naturally there was "reason" in everything he said. Zhuge Liang, who is well versed in the way of debate, knows that if he is entangled more on the issue of the authenticity of the holy decree, it will only appear that he is "unreasonable and stirring up three points", and may even fall into the handle, which will make people criticize Liu Bei for disrespecting the Son of Heaven. What's more, it was not Zhuge Liang's original intention to resist the decree and disrespect, and seeking the greatest benefit for Liu Bei was the real purpose of his trip. And Cao Cao in Dangyang City is Liu Bei's biggest bargaining chip, and Zhuge Liang will naturally not return to the mountain lightly.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang decisively changed his strategy and offered the word "drag" and said, "Liang has lived in Jingzhou for a long time and doesn't know the actual situation of Xu Du, Sima Yilang has said that Qi and Wu Erhou have been called south, so why don't you wait for Qi and Wu Erhou to arrive before making a decision." ”

However, Sima Lang would not let go of any opportunity to rescue Cao Cao, in the face of Zhuge Liang's prevarication, he immediately said-for-tat without thinking, "Qi and Wu Erhou have sent envoys to the scene, if Zhuge Junshi has any questions, he can inquire on the spot, why do you need to go far." ”

"Qi and Wu Erhou have sent envoys to the scene? Liang has only seen envoys of Wu, how can he come to envoy Qi? Zhuge Liang asked knowingly.

Sima Lang raised his hand and pointed at Cao Pi and introduced, "Envoy Qi is here." ”

"Oh? Qi envoy? Zhuge Liang then set his eyes on Cao Pi and asked with interest, "What is Lang Jun's name?" ”

Cao Pi hurriedly surrendered his hand and replied truthfully, "Hou Cao Pi in the Guannei." ”

Zhuge Liang laughed silently, "If Liang is not mistaken, the Hou of Guannei is the second son of Prime Minister Cao, how can he claim to be an envoy of Qi?" ”

"The Marquis of Guannei is the Marquis of Qi, and he went south on the order of the Marquis of Qi, how can he not be regarded as an envoy of Qi?" Sima Lang was not to be outdone.

"Do you have credentials?" Zhuge Liang asked.

This time, Zhuge Liang really stopped Sima Lang, because Cai Ji really didn't give Cao Pi any written authorization. In fact, Sima Lang himself did not regard Cao Pi as an envoy. He just wanted to use Cao Pi's special identity to suppress Zhuge Liang. At this moment, seeing that Zhuge Liang was stunned that the diesel did not enter, Sima Lang reversed his previous gentle and elegant demeanor, and shouted loudly, "Zhuge Junshi really wants to resist the order!" ”

Zhuge Liang replied with the same tough attitude, "The truth of the holy decree is difficult to argue, and it is difficult to obey the fate!" ”

As the controversy between Sima Lang and Zhuge Liang gradually escalated, the atmosphere at the scene also plummeted to the freezing point. Kong Rong was unable to go into battle in person due to his identity, and spoke directly for Zhuge Liang. Sun Quan was happy to sit back and watch the Cao and Liu families not give in to each other. As for the Cao Ying generals led by Cao Ren, they were anxious to roll up their sleeves and go on the field to teach the white-faced scholars on the other side a good lesson, but they didn't dare to destroy Sima Lang's arrangement.

Just when the negotiations reached an impasse, Cao Pi interrupted the dispute between Sima Lang and Zhuge Liang with his hoarse voice unique to a teenager in the voice-changing period, "The two of you are at ease, and listen to Pi's words." ”

Facing Cao Pi's horizontal insertion, Sima Lang and Zhuge Liang were stunned for a moment. To be honest, whether it was Sima Lang or Zhuge Liang, they didn't take the second son of the Cao family in front of them seriously. However, Cao Pi's interjection invisibly eased the atmosphere, allowing Sima Lang and Zhuge Liang to go down. After all, today is only the first round of negotiations between the two sides, and it is not a good thing for either side to have a real stalemate. So at this time, Sima Lang and Zhuge Liang invariably chose to stop arguing and wait for Cao Pi to speak.

Facing the sights of everyone from all directions, Cao Pi took a deep breath, and then bowed down to Zhuge Liang earnestly and said, "My father has been trapped in Dangyang for nearly three months, and the grain and grass in the city will definitely be insufficient. ”

The reason why Cao Pi made a request to transport grain into Dangyang was mainly inspired by the siege of the white wolf. It must be known that the reason why Cai Ji was able to hold on to the White Wolf River in western Liaoning for three months was not only because Zhao Yunshan used his life as a soldier, but also because Cai Ji brought enough grain and grass. In fact, if Cai Ji at that time had rewarded the grain and grass to Bandun early, or if Bandun had endured for a little more time to deceive the grain and grass from Cai Ji, then the Qi army would never have survived for three months. In short, those difficult years made Cao Pi fully realize the importance of grain and grass to the army. On the other hand, Cao Cao fled from Huarong's defeat to Dangyang, and most of the baggage around him had already been lost. Although there is also food in Dangyang City, it is obviously a little stretched to support the uninvited Cao army and the people who were besieged by the flood at the same time. Therefore, in Cao Pi's opinion, regardless of whether Liu Bei withdrew his troops or not, the top priority should be to send a batch of grain into the city first to solve the urgent need of the Dangyang defenders.

Sima Lang was so dialed by Cao Pi, and suddenly came back to his senses, and hurriedly echoed Cao Pi and said, "The Hou of Guannei is reasonable!" Zhuge military division, your army is ignoring the filial piety of the Marquis of Guannei, how can you bear to sit back and watch the people of Dangyang starve? (To be continued......)