"Mr. Qiliji, Mr. Qiliji, I have heard Mr. Qi's name for a long time in Xia Cao, like thunder, I only hate Fu Bo and I can't see it, I really didn't expect Mr. to be able to visit the barracks in person today, and I have no regrets in this life."

Out of respect for the famous Shangshan Sihao among the scholars, Cao Zhi not only really came to the door of the camp of the Western Chu Army to greet Wu Shi in person, but also saluted Wu Shi as soon as he met, and bowed to the ground, without putting the temporary commander of the Western Chu Army on the shelf.

The host is still so polite, as a guest, Wu Shi will certainly not be rude, in addition to smiling and courteous with Cao Qi, he asked Kui Che quite curiously: "Doctor Kuai, your honorable name is Kui Che, then it must be the Zhao Di master who said for King Zhao Wuchen that he descended to Yan Zhao more than 30 cities?" ”

"It's down, but the master doesn't dare to be." Kui Che replied with a polite smile: "Compared with the famous Mr. Shangshan Sihao Qili Ji, he is not even a junior in the next year. ”

"Doctor Kuai is humble." Wu Shi smiled more politely and said: "When Lao Yu was living in seclusion in Shangshan, when Lao Yu and Dongyuan Gong and Mr. Lu Li talked about the wise men in the world, Dongyuan Gong and Mr. Lu Li both praised you and the same as Lao Yu, and they all thought that among the wise men in the world, there were definitely only a few people who could reach the realm of Doctor Kuai. ”

Kuaicher is not an easily obedient words, even if Wu Shi's words are quite sincere, not deliberately flattering, Kuaiche is still smiling modestly, not excited at all because the famous Shangshan Sihao thinks so highly of himself, on the contrary, Cao Zhi next to him looks faintly unhappy, obviously has a detailed disdain for Wu Shi's praise of Kuaiche, Wu Shi, who volunteered to be a spy, also noticed this, his face was silent, and deliberately added a few more words of praise to Kuaicher, taking the opportunity to observe Cao Zhi's reaction.

After a moment of politeness, Cao Zhi respectfully invited Wu Shi to enter the camp to speak, Wu Shi was not polite, and said thank you and followed Cao Zhi and Kuaiche into the camp, and the entourage made up of the Han army's capable and meticulous rebranding hurriedly followed, but because Cao Zhi did not speak, the Western Chu soldiers did not dare to stop it, but just monitored Wu Shi's entourage into the camp according to the rules, took them to the guest tent to rest, and also gave the Han army the opportunity to take the opportunity to peek into the internal situation of the Western Chu army camp.

On Wu Shi's side, as Cao Zhi entered the big tent of the Chinese army and sat down, Cao Zhi just opened his mouth to ask Wu Shi's intentions, and Wu Shi immediately took out a letter of persuasion written by Xiang Kang to Cao Ji, and went straight to the point and said that he was ordered by Xiang Kang to persuade Cao Ji to take the initiative to lead the Western Chu army to surrender to the Han army, and promised Xiang Kang to be the Marquis of Qi and receive the fiefdom of the five counties. As a result, Cao Ji didn't even answer the letter, and immediately waved his hand and said: "Mr. Qiliji, it seems that this time you can only run for nothing. Therefore, the king of Han should not say that he is the marquis of Qi under the seal, even if he is the king under the seal, he will never have two hearts to the king of Western Chu in the next. ”

"It won't run in vain." Wu Shi smiled and said: "Cao Sima, in fact, our Han King has long been very clear, with Da Sima's personality and your loyalty to the King of Western Chu, he will not accept our persuasion to surrender no matter what, so this persuasion letter is just a pretense, Cao Sima, if you don't read a word, our Han King will not take it to heart." The King of Han sent Lao Yu here, in fact, he wanted Lao Yu to bring a word to Da Sima for King Han. ”

"What did King Han ask Mr. Qili Ji to bring to his subordinates?" Cao Qi asked curiously.

"This is the original words of our Han King." Wu Shi replied: "The King of Han said, although Cao Sima you are now his enemy, but he never dared to forget Cao Sima, your kindness to our Han King's uncle Wu Xinjun Xiang Lianggong, and Xiang Liang Gong has a great kindness to our Han King, so no matter when and what happens, Cao Sima, as long as you change your mind and go to our Han King, our Han King will definitely welcome you backwards and still respect Cao Sima and you as an elder." ”

Cao Ji laughed, laughing quite gratifying, and indeed believed that Xiang Kang would do this, no matter what happened under what circumstances, as long as he changed his course and went to Xiang Kang, thinking that he had saved Xiang Liang back then, Xiang Kang would definitely not treat himself badly.

After laughing, Cao Ji bowed his hand to Wu Shi and said: "Thank you Mr. Qili Ji for bringing the message of the King of Han, and please also ask Mr. Qi Li Ji to bring a message to the King of Han, just say that his kindness Cao Ji has received it, but Cao Ji is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, since he has chosen to follow the King of Western Chu, he will never vote for the second master again in this life and this life, so when he arrives in the two armies, the King of Han does not have to show mercy to Cao Ji's subordinates." Correspondingly, Cao Ji will never care about the old feelings, and show mercy to King Han and his subordinates. ”

"Wealth can't be tempted, Jue Lu can't change his mind, and Cao Sima is really a husband!" Wu Shi is actually quite good at sycophants sometimes, first complimented Cao Ji a few words, and then patted his leg and said: "Okay, please rest assured that Cao Sima, the old man will definitely bring your original words!" If there is a chance in the future, the old man will definitely invite Cao Sima to drink a few cups to pay tribute to Cao Sima's ambition! ”

"Don't wait for the future." Cao Ji said with a smile: "Mr. Qili Ji deigned to come, does the younger generation have a reason for not having wine to entertain?" Come here, serve the best wine, the best food, and Ben Shuai will personally pick up the wind and wash the dust for Mr. Qili Ji. ”

Wu Shi was waiting for Cao Ji's words, pretending to excuse two moves, then changed his mind to accept Cao Ji's kindness, the guards in the tent hurriedly went down to prepare, Wu Shi smiled and said: "Cao Sima's fierce generals are like clouds, and the strategists are drizzling, just you and I are drinking with Doctor Kuai, it is lonely, if Cao Sima doesn't mind, can you invite the heroes under your command to drink together, and by the way, let the old man see the heroic majesty of the characters in Western Chu." ”

"Absolutely."

Cao Yi agreed, and was about to open his mouth to send someone to give an order, but Kui Che next to him immediately stopped him and said, "Da Sima, you don't need it, right?" Xiang Kang's army is only a day or two away from Puyang, and gathering people to drink at this time is afraid that it will delay official business. ”

Wu Shi glanced at Kui Che, and knew in his heart that Kui Che must have doubted his purpose of requesting a meeting with the important civil and military forces of the Western Chu Army, but Cao Zhi did not listen to Kui Che's dissuasion at all, and said, "What are you afraid of?" In Xingyang before, we were close to Xiang Kang's army, and we were not drinking as usual, not to mention that Xiang Kang's army was still more than a day away from Puyang? ”

Kui Che did not give up and persuaded again, but Cao Zhi still did not listen, insisted on ordering Gong Ao, Xiang Han and Huan Chu and other Chinese army tents to accompany Wu Shi to drink in the future, Wu Shi was naturally even more happy when he saw it, and said secretly: "Okay, although this Kui Che is difficult, Cao Zhi obviously ignores him, which is definitely good news for us." ”

After learning Wu Shi's identity, Gong Ao and others were full of hostility towards Wu Shi, but for the sake of Shangshan Sihao's illustrious reputation, Gong Ao and others were still very polite to Wu Shi to greet each other, Xiang Han also inquired about Xiang Kang's recent situation with great concern, Wu Shi also took the opportunity to discover the internal situation of the Western Chu Army, knowing that the generals Xiang Yu left to help Cao Ji were almost all diehards of the Western Chu Army, It is very difficult to surrender or buy.

After talking calmly and drinking with the Western Chu Army, Wu Shi remembered another important matter, and simply asked Cao Ji directly: "Dare to ask Cao Sima, don't you know that Li Zuoche, the former Zhao Guoguang Wujun who is famous all over the world, can be in your army?" Can you also invite him to meet the old man? ”

"Yes, he and the king of Henan are in our army." Cao Zhi's answer made Kui Che's face change, and he casually ordered: "Come on, go and invite the King of Henan and Guangwujun to drink." ”

"Why don't you just invite this Mr. Qiliji into your sleeping tent and let him read your military Chinese books at will!"

Kuaiche roared in his heart, but the guards in the tent did according to the order, and soon invited Sima Wei and Li Zuoche, who had been parasitic in the ranks of the Western Chu army for a period of time, to the big tent of the Chinese army, and let them sit down with Wu Shi to drink, and then needless to say, Sima Wei, who was robbed by Xiang Kang in the turf city, naturally did not have a good face for Wu Shi, and Li Zuoche was calm, while being hypocritical and polite with Wu Shi, he tried to test the military situation of the Han army in turn, but it is a pity that the four old men of Shangshan are all from the sect of Guiguzi, and they are all good at strategy. Li Zuoche naturally didn't get anything useful from Wu Shi's mouth.

The matter was almost not over, after being full of wine and food, out of etiquette, Cao Zhi even wanted to leave Wu Shi in the camp of the Western Chu Army for one night, but this time not only did Kui Che not do it, but even Gong Ao and other generals of the Western Chu Army did not do it, all under the pretext of worrying about Xiang Kang's thoughts, insisted that Cao Zhi immediately send Wu Shi away, Wu Shi also knew that the people of the Western Chu Army were suspicious of him, so he also ordered it, and took the initiative to thank Cao Zhi for his kindness, and left the camp of the Western Chu Army.

After being personally sent out of the camp of the Western Chu Army by Cao Ji, he had just walked away with a retinue, and Wu Shi couldn't wait to ask the Han army who had changed his appearance as an entourage: "Have you found anything useful?" ”

"Back to Shangqing, I found a few things that might be useful to our Han King." The captain of the entourage replied: "First, there are many new recruits in the ranks of the Western Chu Thief Army, and many of them have obviously not been on the battlefield a few times, but the discipline in the camp is okay, and it should be strictly controlled. Second, the defenders next to the camp of the Western Chu thieves are equipped with significantly more bows and arrows than crossbows, if this is the case, we must be careful of the bows and arrows thrown by the Western Chu thieves when attacking the fortifications. Third, the Western Chu thief army hoarded a lot of wood in the camp, which may be to prepare for temporary weapons to defend the camp, or it may be used to light a fire and prepare to hold on for a long time. In addition, we also secretly measured the camp of the Western Chu thief army, which was two and a half zhang high and eight feet thick. ”

"Where's the water source?" Wu Shi was most concerned about the water intake of the Western Chu army, and he hurriedly asked: "What does the Western Chu thief army mainly rely on to get water?" Did you dig a well in the camp? ”

"The Western Chu thief army keeps a close eye on the small ones, and the small ones have no way to steal the situation of their wells." The captain of the entourage sold a pass, and said quite proudly: "But the little one thought of a way, let the brothers deliberately use all the water to wash their feet and wipe their bodies, and pretended to be thirsty, and asked the soldiers of the Western Chu Thief Army to lead the way and let us go to fetch water by ourselves, but although the Western Chu Thief Army did not agree, the little one heard them say something very important." ”

"What's important?" Wu Shi hurriedly asked.

"The hundred commanders of the Western Chu thief army who received us asked his men to go down and fetch water." The captain of the entourage replied proudly: "Then his subordinates said that the queue at the well could be a mile long, and I don't know when it will be, and the hundred leaders of the Western Chu thief army said that they should run farther away and go to the ditch next to the camp to get water, and said that their people all drink the water in the ditch, and it doesn't matter if we guests drink some." From this small point, it can be concluded that even if the Western Chu thief army has some wells in the camp, the number is definitely not much, and when the weather is particularly hot or a large amount of water is taken, it is definitely not enough, and it must often take water from the ditch in ordinary times. ”

"Very good, you have brains, you can come up with this way to test the military situation of the Western Chu thief army, and I will definitely reward you when I go back." Wu Shi praised him with satisfaction, and urged: "Quick, go back to see King Han immediately, we didn't run in vain this time." ”

The next morning, when Wu Shi and his entourage returned to Xiang Kang's side, the main force of the Han army had successfully arrived at the White Horse City, which was strategically abandoned by the Western Chu army, and at the same time, the Han army's partial division Zheng Bu's department had also begun to cross the river south in Baimajin under the response of the main force of the Han army, preparing to meet with the main force first, and then join forces to open to the Puyang battlefield.

Hearing that Wu Shi had returned, Xiang Kang of course personally went out to greet the old fox who was nearly eighty years old and was still running back and forth for himself, and respectfully invited him to sit under the umbrella in the flag array, and then asked about Wu Shi's envoy, Wu Shi replied one by one, and told Xiang Kang all the important enemy information, and when he learned that Xiang Yu actually left Kuaiche and Li Zuoche in Puyang to help Cao Zhi, Xiang Kang inevitably frowned and said: "It's a little troublesome, Li Zuoche is already more difficult, Why did my brother still leave Kuacher behind? Our meticulous work has already found out the news, and it was this Kui Che who came up with the idea to let my brother separate Li Shang and Wang Ling, and the person who can come up with such a bad idea will definitely not be easy to deal with. ”

"Don't worry, the old man is almost certain that your Uncle Cao won't completely listen to that Kui Che."

Wu Shi smiled and comforted, and then told Xiang Kang that he found that Cao Zhi was quite disdainful of Kui Che's expression, Xiang Kang nodded when he heard this, first kept this matter firmly in his heart, and then said: "And that Li Zuoche, Cao Zhi set up a banquet to entertain you Mr. Qili Ji, but did not invite him to accompany him, or Mr. Qili Ji, you opened your mouth, Cao Zhi called him and Sima Wei, it can be seen that my Uncle Cao does not attach much importance to this Li Zuoche, even if Li Zuoche has any good plans, my Uncle Cao may not adopt it, That's good news for us as well. ”

"King, can you make some fuss about that Sima Wei?" Zhong Liwu, who was taken away next to him, proposed: "Sima Wei is now just an empty king of Henan, and he can't see the slightest hope of getting back the land and city, if we promise him something, we should be sure that we can win him over?" ”

"Unrealistic." Xiang Kang immediately shook his head and said, "First, the Western Chu thief army is too heavily guarded, and it is very guarded against our envoys, so we can't contact Sima Wei at all. The second is that Sima Wei is now just an empty prince, except for a few retinues around him, there is not even half a soldier left, even if he is reversed, it will not play a role. ”

Zhong Limo shut up in disappointment, and Tang Bing, another old man from Shangshan, glanced at Wu Shi, who was smiling easily, and said with a smile: "Mr. Qiliji, since you are smiling so happily, there must be something important to discover, don't sell it, say it quickly and surprise the king and us." ”

"In the end, it's Dongyuan Gong, I really can't hide it from your eyes."

Wu Shi laughed, and then told Xiang Kang about the water source problem of the Western Chu Army that he discovered, and especially introduced the important situation that the number of wells in the Western Chu military camp discovered by the Han Army was definitely insufficient. There are 120,000 thieves in Western Chu, and there can be a small lake just by drinking water every day, and now it is summer again, and it is so hot every day that people can't breathe, and Puyang City is five or six miles away from the big river, so the army can be stationed, and if we cut off their water source, ....... ”

"King, don't blame the ministers for pouring cold water on you, it's even more unrealistic to cut off the water source of the Western Chu thief army." Zhang Liang interrupted Xiang Kang, and said in a very helpless tone: "Puyang is close to the big river and has abundant groundwater, even if we cut off the water source of the Western Chu thief army, as long as the Western Chu thief army seizes the time to dig more wells in the camp, the water source problem can be solved immediately." If the foreign minister's expectations were correct, it was probably because of this that Cao Ji was relieved to let his army temporarily draw living water from the camp trenches. ”

Xiang Kang, who was not particularly proficient in hydrology, closed his mouth, but Chen Ping, a well-known poisoner in the world in this era, was thoughtful, and suddenly asked: "Mr. Zifang, you are familiar with history books, have you ever read the part of the battle of Qin Jinggong?" ”

"Read." Zhang Liang immediately replied, and recalled again: "During the reign of Qin Jinggong, the Qin and Jin countries were at loggerheads, and the Jin State contacted the Central Plains princes to attack the Qin State, and the Qin army was lonely, and was forced to stick to the camp and did not dare to fight, and the princes allied forces crossed the Jingshui to set up camp, and the Qin army seized the opportunity to poison a large number of people in the upper reaches of the Jingshui, and the princes' allied forces drank the poisonous water by mistake, so they suffered heavy casualties and ....... ”

Before Zhang Liang's words were finished, his eyes were already lit up, and Xiang Kang and Han Jun Wenwu next to him all had their eyes shining, and they all patted their legs and said happily: "What a good idea!" We can follow suit! Even the amount of water as large as Jing Shui, poisoning can play a role, how wide and deep can the ditch dug by the Western Chu thief army be, and the poisoning effect is not better? ”

"But so much poison from there?"

The words of Tang Bing, the old man of Shangshan, brought Xiang Kang and the Han army back to reality, and Xiang Kang and the Han army also remembered that there were indeed some poisons such as aconitum strychnine in the army, which were prepared to be used to poison the enemy under the arrow weapon at a critical moment, but the quantity was too small, even if it was all put into the upper reaches of the water source of the Western Chu army, it was just a handful of salt sprinkled into the big river, which did not have much effect.

Finally came up with a strategy to break the enemy, of course Xiang Kang refused to give up, and after a little calculation, he hurriedly asked Chen Ping and Zhang Liang: "Mr. Chen Ping, Mr. Zifang, if we send a fast horse back to Sanchuan now, are we sure that we will collect enough poison in a short time?" ”

Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were greatly embarrassed, and then Chen Ping replied: "King, I'm afraid it's difficult, poison is not common in the first place, Sanchuan County has experienced repeated wars, and the people's livelihood has withered, I'm afraid that even if we collect the poison in all the medicine shops in Sanchuan City, the amount may not be much." ”

Xiang Kang had no tricks at all, but secretly hated himself for being too loyal and honest - at least Xiang Kang himself thought that he was a kind person, and he did not stock up on enough poisons in the army and missed this rare opportunity. However, at this moment, a crisp woman's voice suddenly sounded, and said with a smile: "King, if you want poison, why do you need to send someone back to Sanchuan to find it, why can't you think of another way to solve this problem on the spot?" ”

The woman who can speak in the decision-making level of the Han army is, of course, the only female official in the Han army, Taizhu Xu Cheng, when Xiang Kang turned his head in surprise, he saw Xu Cheng smiling, and seemed to have a bamboo in his chest, and hurriedly asked: "Xu Taizhu, do you have a way to solve this problem?" ”

"Absolutely." Xu Cheng replied with a smile: "Although it is too damaging to Yin Virtue, since the subordinates eat the king's fortune, they have to be loyal to the king, so they can't take care of it so much." Since the king wants poison, then his subordinates have a way to make the king have as many poisons as he wants, and he can guarantee that it will not take much time. ”

"Xu Taizhu, do you have a way to get so many poisons in a short period of time?" Zhang Liang was also surprised and asked: "The area between Puyang and Baima, it seems that I haven't heard that there is a lot of poison there?" ”

"Who said that? Who said that Puyang and Baima can't be rich in poison? Xu asked rhetorically, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zifang, have you forgotten, what season is it now?" What is being produced in this season? ”

Zhang Liang slapped his forehead, and suddenly realized that Xiang Kang and Chen Ping were all remorseful, secretly hating how they forgot that kind of thing? Then they said in their hearts: "Sure enough, it's the most poisonous woman's heart, when it comes to poisoning, we men are really not women's opponents." ”