Just when Han Zhan and others were discussing sending people to Beijing to make a counter-plot against Li Dao, Guo Yan and others, Ma Teng and Han Sui's soldiers and horses had already surrounded Chang'an City. Facing the tens of thousands of Xiliang troops outside the city, Li Dao, Guo Yan, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou gathered in the court to discuss countermeasures.

Zhang Ji was cautious, he first opened his mouth and said to Li Wei: "General, the morale of Ma Teng and Han Sui's soldiers and horses is booming, we need to hold the city to avoid its edge, and when their food and grass are exhausted, we are leading troops to chase after them, and we will definitely capture the two." ”

Without waiting for Li Dao to speak, Li Meng and Wang Fang walked out of the queue and said loudly: "General, the last general is willing to lead 10,000 elite soldiers out of the city to fight with Ma Teng and Han Sui, and he will definitely take the heads of the two of them and present them in front of the general's hall." ”

"Mr. Wenhe." Li Wei knew that the reason why he was able to enter Chang'an was because Jia Xu made great contributions, so he humbly asked him for advice at this moment: "I don't know if we should fight or defend?" ”

Jia Xu heard Li Dao asking him for advice, and hurriedly replied: "If you fight today, you will be defeated." ”

When Li Meng and Wang Fang heard Jia Xu say this, they were immediately anxious, and the two shouted: "If the two of us are defeated, we are willing to be beheaded; If I win, the prince will also lose to me. ”

Jia Xu saw that the two were eager to fight, and Li Dao and Guo Yan seemed to agree to go out of the city to meet the enemy, so they could only sigh and retreat from the queue, no longer making any remarks.

Seeing that no one objected to sending troops, Li Wei took out an arrow from the order box on the table and said loudly: "Li Meng and Wang Fang obey orders!" ”

"The subordinates are here!" The two of them heard Li Dao calling themselves, and hurriedly agreed loudly.

"I'll wait for 15,000 soldiers and horses, and go out of the city to meet Ma Teng and Han Sui."

Li Meng stepped forward and took the arrow from Li Dao's hand, and then the two replied in unison: "Subordinates obey orders!" ”

The two of them left the palace, and after only two incense sticks, a soldier rushed in with a panicked expression. reported to Li Weiyu: "General Qiyu, Li Meng, Wang Fang, two generals went out of the city to meet Ma Teng and Han Sui, and as a result, a young general was very brave, first picked General Wang Fang with a gun, and then captured General Li Meng alive, and is fighting under the city at the moment." ”

The soldier's words made Li Wei break out in a cold sweat. He looked around at the crowd and asked, "I don't know which general is willing to lead his troops to meet the enemy." ”

The generals present all knew that Li Meng and Wang Fang's martial arts were good, and they went out to meet the enemy, only a few face-to-face, they were either captured or killed, and they didn't follow in their footsteps when they went out. Therefore, everyone remained silent, as if they had not heard Li Dao's question at all.

Of course, there are also those who can't hold their breath, for example, Li Dao's nephew Li Bei is one. Seeing that no one was speaking in the hall, he hurriedly walked out of the queue and saluted Li Dao with a fist: "Uncle, the little nephew is not talented, I am willing to lead the troops and horses to meet the enemy." ”

"Nope." As soon as his words came out, he was rejected by Li Dao. Li Dao still remembers that when he led the troops to attack Chang'an, Li Bei fought the defeated battle, not to mention the loss of the army, and almost put his life into it. Therefore, he decisively rejected Li Bei's proposal and continued to ask: "Which general is willing to lead his troops to meet the enemy?" ”

I asked a few times in a row, but there was no speech in the hall. Seeing that everyone was reluctant to fight, Li Wei realized how stupid it was that he had just rejected Jia Xu's advice. He looked at Jia Xu with a sideways face, and said with some embarrassment: "Wenhe, it seems that you are right." The morale of Ma Teng and Han Sui's soldiers and horses is booming, and we have not been able to hold out to avoid their edge. ”

Then, Li Dao stood up and said to the civil and military officers in the hall: "Pass on the general's order, the four doors are closed, if there is no order from the general, whoever dares to fight without permission will be killed!" ”

The generals standing in the hall couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they heard that there was no need to go out of the city to face the battle, and hurriedly said in unison: "Follow the general's orders." ”

When Ma Yu heard the news of Li Wei's defeat, he couldn't help but applaud, he hurriedly called his housekeeper and ordered: "You quickly go and invite Zuo Zhonglang to invite Liu Fan and Doctor Chong Shao to the mansion, I have something important to discuss with them!" ”

Hearing his master's instructions, the housekeeper did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly left his mansion to invite Liu Fan and Chong Shao to come as guests.

Not long after, Liu Fan and Chong Shao came to Ma Yu's mansion. After the ceremony, Liu Fan opened his mouth and asked, "I don't know if Ma Shizhong sent someone to invite the two of us to come, what is the important matter to discuss?" ”

"Today, Li Meng and Wang Fang, who are under Li Dao, lead their troops to battle." Ma Yu said a little proudly: "As a result, Wang Fang was killed by Ma Teng's junior generals, and Li Meng was also captured alive." According to the soldiers on the city tower, Ma Teng had beheaded the captured Li Meng and hung his head in the gate. ”

"As soon as Li Meng and Wang Fang died, it was like breaking one of the arms of Li Guo and other thieves." When Chong Shao heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and he hurriedly said, "Ma Shizhong, I don't know what we should do?" ”

Ma Yu looked at the two of them, sighed and said: "But we are all Wenchen, and we have no soldiers and horses to mobilize, otherwise as long as we take advantage of the night to kill the defenders of the city gate and open the city gate to welcome the Xiliang army into the city, we can eradicate Li Guo and other thieves." ”

Knowing that Ma Yu wanted to be an internal response, Chong Shao said cautiously: "Ma Shizhong, this matter is not trivial, you have to think about it carefully." Once the matter leaks, it will kill you and me. ”

"That's right, it's a long-term matter." Liu Fan, who was still a little excited after listening to Ma Yu's plan, also became cautious: "I think we still secretly sent someone to contact Ma Teng and Han Sui, and discuss with them the time and method of breaking the city." What do you think? ”

"That's a good idea." Regarding Liu Fan's proposal, Ma Yu immediately nodded in agreement: "Let's write a letter to Ma Teng and Han Sui first, and make an appointment with them." At the same time, we will find a way to buy the city gate guards, and when the time is ripe, we will immediately open the city gate and welcome the Xiliang army into the city. ”

"But," Chong Shao said with some embarrassment: "Sending a letter is a trivial matter, but the guards of the city gates are all the henchmen of Li Guo and other thieves, and it may not be an easy thing to bribe them and let them open the city gates obediently." ”

"Money can make ghosts grind," Ma Yu said coldly: "As long as we grasp the weaknesses of these guards and prescribe the right medicine, we will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort." After he finished speaking, seeing that Liu Fan and Chong Shao did not express their opinions, he added, "For example, if you are lustful, we will send them beautiful singers; Those who are greedy for money, we will give more jewels and jade; If you like power, we will promise them a future......" After listening to Ma Yu's strategy, Liu Fan and Chong Shao both nodded, and then began to discuss how to write the letter to Ma Teng.

That night, a man in black carried a burden on his back, quietly climbed down the city wall from a section of the city wall that was uninhabited, followed the rope, and then ran towards the camp of the Xiliang army.

As a result, there were still two or three miles away from the camp, and they were captured by the soldiers on the road. Seeing the bright knife in front of him, the messenger in black was frightened, and hurriedly shouted: "Don't kill me, I was sent by the city to deliver a letter to General Ma and General Han." ”

Hearing that it was a messenger, the chief who led the team hurriedly ordered his subordinates to put away their weapons, and after blindfolding the man with a black cloth, he took him to the outside of Ma Teng's tent. Ma Teng, who was discussing with Han Sui and Ma Chao, sneered when he heard the report from his subordinates, and said, "Bring him in, I want to hear what kind of rhetoric Li Guo and the other thieves will say." ”

A moment later, the messenger, whose hands were tied behind his back, was escorted by two soldiers to Ma Teng's tent. Ma Teng waited for the black-clothed man kneeling below, and asked coldly, "Who is here?" ”

The messenger hurriedly knelt down, and replied in the direction from which the voice came: "I am a servant of Ma Yu's family, who has come to contact the general on the orders of my master. ”

"If you want to fight, you can fight, and if you want to fall, you want to fall." When Han Sui heard this, he said impatiently, "Where do we have the heart to talk to them about something?" ”

"Wen Youdon't have to be in a hurry," Ma Teng raised his hand to stop Han Sui, and then ordered the soldiers, "Untie the black cloth that blindfolded him." After the soldier had untied the messenger and untied the black cloth from his eyes, he continued to ask, "What does your master want to say to us?" ”

The messenger hurriedly took out a letter from his bosom, stepped forward and put it on Ma Teng's table, and said, "Two generals, this is a letter from my master to you, please take a look." ”

Han then picked up the letter and unfolded it, carefully reading the contents on it. After reading the letter, he couldn't help but smile, and he said to Ma Teng with some excitement: "Shoucheng, good news, Ma Yu and Zuo Zhonglang will Liu Fan and the counselor to plant Shao, and prepare to make an appointment with Neiying, open the city gate for us and welcome the army into the city." ”

After saying this, Han Sui's gaze at the messenger softened a lot, and he asked with a smile, "This brother, I don't know when Master Ling plans to open the city gate for us?" ”

"Replying to the general's words," the messenger couldn't recognize which one was Ma Teng and which one was Han Sui sitting on it, so he could only call it vaguely, and continued: "Li Guo and the other thieves were worried that someone in the city would respond internally, so they opened the city gate to welcome the Xiliang army into the city, so the guards of the gates he arranged were all his confidants. My master needs to take time to buy these guards, and it is estimated that it will take about a month at the earliest before he can open the city gate and welcome the two generals into the Beijing division. ”

Ma Teng and Han Sui never dreamed that the two of them were worried about how to break the city, and someone actually took the initiative to sacrifice the city, and they were overjoyed. Ma Teng ordered the messenger to be rewarded, and handed him a makeshift letter, saying, "This is my reply to the master of your house." When you return to the city, be careful not to be discovered. ”

"Thank you two generals for your concern." The messenger hurriedly bowed to the two of them, and said, "The little one will surely bring the letter back to the city without any problems." ”

When the messenger returned to the city, it was already the third watch, but Ma Yu's study was still brightly lit. And Liu Fan and Chong Shao have never left, but just as the son of today does not know where to go, before the new Son of Heaven, there was no major event in the court, and whether they went to the court or not was no longer important, so the two stayed in Ma Yu's study and waited for the arrival of the messenger together.

Ma Yu took the letter handed to him by the messenger, and after reading the contents quickly, he handed it to Liu Fan and Chong Shao to circulate, and said with some excitement: "Two adults, in Ma Shoucheng's reply, he made an appointment with us to open the west gate when the third son is in the beginning of the next month, so that he can lead the army into the city." ”

"Simon Guard?!" After reading the letter, Liu Fan frowned and thought: "Whether this person is Li Dao's confidant, and Li Dao's nephew Li Bei is also a good friend, I am afraid it will not be easy to win him over." ”

Han then picked up the letter and unfolded it, carefully reading the contents on it. After reading the letter, he couldn't help but smile, and he said to Ma Teng with some excitement: "Shoucheng, good news, Ma Yu and Zuo Zhonglang will Liu Fan and the counselor to plant Shao, and prepare to make an appointment with Neiying, open the city gate for us and welcome the army into the city." ”

After saying this, Han Sui's gaze at the messenger softened a lot, and he asked with a smile, "This brother, I don't know when Master Ling plans to open the city gate for us?" ”

"Replying to the general's words," the messenger couldn't recognize which one was Ma Teng and which one was Han Sui sitting on it, so he could only call it vaguely, and continued: "Li Guo and the other thieves were worried that someone in the city would respond internally, so they opened the city gate to welcome the Xiliang army into the city, so the guards of the gates he arranged were all his confidants. My master needs to take time to buy these guards, and it is estimated that it will take about a month at the earliest before he can open the city gate and welcome the two generals into the Beijing division. ”

Ma Teng and Han Sui never dreamed that the two of them were worried about how to break the city, and someone actually took the initiative to sacrifice the city, and they were overjoyed. Ma Teng ordered the messenger to be rewarded, and handed him a makeshift letter, saying, "This is my reply to the master of your house." When you return to the city, be careful not to be discovered. ”

"Thank you two generals for your concern." The messenger hurriedly bowed to the two of them, and said, "The little one will surely bring the letter back to the city without any problems." ”

When the messenger returned to the city, it was already the third watch, but Ma Yu's study was still brightly lit. And Liu Fan and Chong Shao have never left, but just as the son of today does not know where to go, before the new Son of Heaven, there was no major event in the court, and whether they went to the court or not was no longer important, so the two stayed in Ma Yu's study and waited for the arrival of the messenger together.

Ma Yu took the letter handed to him by the messenger, and after reading the contents quickly, he handed it to Liu Fan and Chong Shao to circulate, and said with some excitement: "Two adults, in Ma Shoucheng's reply, he made an appointment with us to open the west gate when the third son is in the beginning of the next month, so that he can lead the army into the city." ”

"Simon Guard?!" After reading the letter, Liu Fan frowned and thought: "Whether this person is Li Dao's confidant, and Li Dao's nephew Li Bei is also a good friend, I am afraid it will not be easy to win him over." ”