Three years later, in the autumn of the ninth year of Tai'an, Xi'ou set off another war, swept the border passes, and slaughtered the people. The Emperor received the war report, but he did not intend to continue to swallow his anger as he had done in previous years. The imperial court has been fighting for many years, raising soldiers for thousands of days, and using soldiers for a while, and finally decided to take the initiative to face the battle.

The emperor wanted to take advantage of the fact that the troops of Xiou were marching on our border and the rear was empty, so that our army would avoid its edge, make a detour to the rear, directly attack its royal court, and lead the enemy back to help.

This time, with Gao Wei as the commander, Li Hongyi and Zhang Ling as the left and right vanguards, they attacked in three ways. Run a long distance, go deep into the enemy territory, and smash the Yellow Dragon.

Therefore, the key to this battle is how to avoid the main force of Xiou and find out where the royal court is.

After the emperor waited anxiously for nearly a month, there was finally good news that Gao Wei had successfully broken through the sideline, led the three armies, and pointed his sword straight at the Xiou royal court.

※※※※※

It's night, Prime Minister's Mansion.

An old man over half a hundred years old walked into the study and saw Shao An hanging his wrist and pen under the lamp, so he stood beside him, waiting for Shao An to review the folds. The man had a thin face and a dark complexion, and at a glance he knew that he had gone through hardships and weathers. But the dark brown eyes in his sunken eye sockets shimmered with shrewdness.

"Uncle Qin." Shao An finished reading the fold in his hand, put down the pen, looked up and saw the person coming, and said hello with a smile.

Compared with when he was exiled, Uncle Qin's complexion was much better, and as soon as he cleaned up a little, he became much more energetic and looked less haggard.

That year, he ascended the throne and granted amnesty to the world, and Uncle Qin was also among those who were pardoned and returned to his hometown in the first year of Tai'an. Because of his crimes, Uncle Qin didn't mix well in his hometown. After Shao An learned about it, he invited him to come to the capital and became a housekeeper in Shao Mansion incognito, but in fact, he was giving advice to Shao An and being a staff member. And the only people who really know his identity are Shao An and Ah Rui.

Uncle Qin said: "I heard that General Gao has successfully attacked the royal court, and now Xi'ou is in chaos. ”

Shao An nodded, "The battle report only arrived in Zhongshu Province in the evening, and I just learned that your news is fast." ”

Uncle Qin took out a note from his sleeve and handed it to Shao An, "It's not that I'm fast, it's that someone can't sit still." ”

Shao An didn't bother to guess the secret words on the note, and asked Uncle Qin directly: "What does he want to know?" ”

"General Gao's marching route." Uncle Qin asked, "How are you going to reply this time?" ”

"Tell me the truth."

"The first time he asked about the combat target, you hinted that it was the royal court, but he did not increase the royal court. It can be seen that he does not believe the words of the prime minister. ”

"Of course he doesn't believe it, he thinks that our cavalry is still the same, how can he believe that our army can go deep into the hinterland, across the desert, and across the enemy's territory for four hundred miles?"

"The emperor suddenly adopted new tactics this time, appointed new generals, and made the enemy scratch his head, which is really clever."

Shao An unfolded a piece of letter paper, picked up the pen and said as he wrote: "The emperor has long had the intention of fighting a big battle with Xiou, and this time the employment and tactics have been secretly prepared for many years. ”

When Uncle Qin saw that Shao An wanted to reply to the letter in person, he was immediately startled, and hurriedly stopped: "Prime Minister should be cautious, this crime of collaborating with the enemy is enough to ruin people's reputation, and even the nine clans." ”

"I know."

"It's better to write it on the next generation, in case the letter falls into the hands of others, it will not give someone a handle on the handwriting." Uncle Qin proposed. After all, he ghostwrote the first reply, and it was nothing to write again.

Shao An had his own plans, shook his head and smiled: "If it wasn't for me, how could he believe it." ”

"If you wrote it yourself, he would believe it?" Uncle Qin asked rhetorically.

Shao An looked indifferent, and said casually: "Anyway, I said everything I should have said, believe it or not, it's up to him." ”

※※※※※

The vast grassland, as far as the eye can see.

This is the first time Li Hongyi has come to this turquoise ocean, and it is also the first time that our army has stepped into the territory of Xiou; Going deep into the hinterland and stepping on the royal court, in the past, it was unthinkable. And now, the lush grass of Xiou is under their horses' hooves.

After a night of fighting, Gao Wei led the three armies to a rapid retreat. This time, we used the method of fighting quickly and quickly, and ran after the fight without delay. After running for dozens of miles, Gao Wei gave orders to Li Hongyi and Zhang Ling to run separately.

"As when we came, we still returned in three ways." Gao Wei gestured with the map he carried with him and commanded, "Ben Shuai retreats from the middle road, Zhang Ling returns along the western front, and Li Hongyi retreats eastward." If you encounter a small group of enemy troops on the way, you will fight, and if you encounter the main army, you will leave, understand? ”

Li Hongyi asked: "Before leaving, the emperor decreed that I and others should seek fighters on their own." It's finally time to enter the grassland, so I'm busy retreating, and I won't fight a few more battles? ”

"Our army has traveled a long distance and has limited energy, so it is better to retreat to the border counties first and rest and recuperate."

"The last general thinks that our army has not suffered much attrition and can be put into battle at any time." Li Hongyi felt good about himself, and felt that he could fight with Xiou for another 300 rounds.

"People are not tired, our war horses are not as good as Xiou, they can fight and attack continuously."

"But the Holy One ...... say"

"Will be outside, the king's order will not be affected." Gao Wei directly interrupted Li Hongyi's words and said very responsibly, "You retreat first, and the marshal will report this matter to the saint at the meeting, and all the consequences will be borne by the marshal." ”

"But ......"

"If you want to withdraw, you will withdraw, nonsense." Gao Wei's fiery temper came up, and he was too lazy to play the piano to the cow again, and issued a retreat order authoritarianly.

Zhang Ling tugged at Li Hongyi's cuffs and motioned him to shut up. Li Hongyi had no choice but to reluctantly nod yes.

After Shao An handed over the secret letter to Uncle Qin, he got up and walked outside the study, indifferently looking at a few servants and maids who were cleaning the courtyard seriously, and thinking about the guards and gatekeepers outside, they probably had also gotten up and were working diligently. However, I don't know how many of them were spies who were sent to oversee the transmission of the message. He secretly thought that when this matter was over, he would definitely clean up the portal.

Because of the delay in writing the letter for a long time, Shao An stayed awake all night, but he had to go to court again, so he could only go back to the study and sleep for a while. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about this kind of thing. Since Xiou can secretly contact the Prime Minister's Mansion, he naturally has the ability to pass on the letter.

However, Shao An overestimated Xiou's means in the end, and this time the message really went wrong and was discovered.

Fortunately, the person who intercepted the letter was the hidden guard - Zhang San.

※※※※※

After Zhang San found out about Shao An's letter of collaboration with the enemy, he went directly to the prime minister's mansion without saying a word, and said earnestly: "There are seven hardships in life, birth, old age, sickness, death, resentment, love and parting, and can't ask for it." Some people are hateful, but when is the time for retribution? As the saying goes, the non-being of a thought is a cause of evil, and the cause of a thought is a good result......"

"Stop, stop, I don't want to be a monk yet, can I stop chanting here?" Shao An was dizzy when he saw the excerpt, and suddenly a Zhang San jumped out of the window, and he seemed to have to say something about Zen, which was simply inexplicable.

Zhang San glanced at him sadly, and continued to chatter: "It's a good thing to be smart, but if people are too smart, they will rely on their own intelligence, ignore everyone else, and feel that everything is under control." Pity...... How can a person walk by the river without getting his shoes wet? ”

Shao An understood this, slowly put down the pen in his hand, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, if you have something to say, let's talk directly." Such a roundabout cliché is not your style. ”

Zhang San knew that he couldn't take advantage of Shao An, the little fox. So he touched his nose and asked briskly: "That, recently, the war in the northwest is in full swing." Well...... You and Xiou ......"

"You want to call me a collaborator?"

"I naturally don't believe that you will collaborate with the enemy, but ......" Zhang San raised the secret letter in his hand, "This morning, my subordinates discovered this thing. ”

Shao Anxin sank, the hidden guard was really not a vegetarian, so he intercepted the letter so quickly.

"Aren't they just place names?" Shao Anxin replied humbly, he even suspected that the last time the message was sent back, it was very likely that the hidden guard had also intercepted it. It's just that because it's the names of some drugs written on it, I guess I didn't understand the inner meaning, so I let it go.

But this time, the place name is really not good. Besides, with the friendship between the two, how could Zhang San not recognize whose handwriting it was.

Zhang San was angry, "This is the name of the place over there in Xiou!" ”

Shao An was silent.

"You give me a reasonable explanation for this thing." Zhang Sanyi shook his hand and put the letter on the table, and threatened him with teeth and claws, "Otherwise, I will tell the emperor." ”

But Shao An didn't eat his set at all, and said leisurely: "It's your freedom to tell or not; It is my freedom to explain or not to explain. ”

The threat failed, and Zhang San asked extremely depressedly: "You and Gao Wei are just a political dispute above the court, how can you make trouble on the battlefield?" ”

"I didn't want him to die in battle, I just didn't want him to make too many achievements."

"Are you going to pull down Gao Wei and let your brother take the position?" With Zhang San's brain, he could only think of this reason.

"If Gao Wei is smart, retreat as soon as he can retire now, don't get to the end, a dilemma."

"Huh?" Zhang San was stunned, "What do you mean?" ”

Shao An shook his head helplessly, pulled Zhang San over, and whispered in his ear.

※※※※※

An eagle's cry suddenly sounded in the cloudless sky, and Ouyang Zhenyu, the king of Xiou, heard it familiarly, and walked out of the big tent and looked up. I saw a small black shadow in the distance, walking against the wind and soaring. After a while, he flew in front of him, flapped his wings, and slowly landed on the shoulders of his master, constantly rubbing his beak against his master.

The eagle struck the sky, traveled thousands of miles a day, and finally brought back the most important information in the shortest possible time. Ouyang Zhenyu hugged the eagle, untied the small wooden pipe wrapped around its feet, and then raised his hand, and the eagle obediently flapped its wings and took off.

Ouyang Zhenyu walked into the big tent and took out the secret letter from the small wooden pipe. Sure enough, Shao An listed several important place names. But Ouyang Zhenyu looked at it, and suddenly turned out the letters of exchange between the two countries in recent years, and found the official document written by Shao An. Comparing the two, I found that the secret letter was actually written by Shao Xiang.

However, getting such a conclusion not only did not alleviate the suspicion in Ouyang Zhenyu's heart, but made him even more suspicious. King Xiou paced anxiously in the big tent, shook his head and said, "Impossible, he can't be so careless, King Gu doesn't believe it." ”

When the military master of Xi'ou heard this, he picked up the secret letter and read it carefully, stroked his gray beard, and said, "The minister thinks it is credible." After all, the information Shao An gave last time was right. This second letter should be correct. ”

Ouyang Zhenyu still didn't believe it, "He is already a supreme minister, what reason is there to collaborate with the enemy and commit treason?" ”

"But within them, there will be discord." The military advisor's words hit the nail on the head, "Besides, people's hearts are like the sea, who knows if he has the ambition to seek power and usurp the throne?" ”

"Shao An would believe in the Lone King so much? Isn't he afraid that we will hand over this letter to the Han emperor? ”

The military advisor was stunned, but he couldn't find a reason to refute it.

However, Ouyang Zhenyu's reaction had already been expected by Shao An. Uncle Qin was puzzled and asked him with a smile: "How does the prime minister know, he won't believe it?" ”

"The so-called, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent, will not be defeated in a hundred battles. I know him, but he doesn't know me. Shao An smiled and explained, "Back then, he was in the enemy camp, but he was not shocked and was calm. I know that he is arrogant and arrogant. However, every soup and food, every word and deed, are all cautious, which shows that they are suspicious. ”

Uncle Qin listened silently on the side, thinking that Shao An and King Xi'ou were only a few sides apart, but they could detect this, which showed how similar their minds were. They were so intelligent and so cautious, so conceited and so sensitive and suspicious. Therefore, the caution of King Xiou will definitely not believe Shao An's handwritten letter. But because of the conceit of King Xiou, he will make him believe the letters that followed.

And the third letter is on its way......

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The lower part (volume 5) began.,It's three years later if you're not careful.,Hahaha~~~.