After the arrangement was completed, Yuan Shu waved his hand to dismiss these people and let them go down to arrange, leaving only Jia Xu.

"Wen He. How do you think you should deal with the alliance with Liu Bei this time? Yuan Shu asked.

"Don't avoid, don't fight, don't grab. What Liu Bei did when he was in alliance with Cao Cao before, the lord did what he did. Jia Xu said lightly.

The corners of Yuan Shu's mouth hooked when he heard this: "You always speak so sharply." This time Liu Bei wants to use us as a gun, why don't we use it? Capture Tongguan even if a certain pays him a reward, and then take Si Li, and withdraw the army. ”

Jia Xu bowed and said: "The lord is wise. ”

Yuan Shu squinted and looked in the direction of Tongguan: "Liu Bei wants to drive the tiger and devour the wolf, why don't I want to take advantage of the fisherman?" This time, we'll see which of us is the better at calculating. ”

......

Before Tongguan, the heavy snow drifted for several days, and then subsided again. The warm sunlight shone on the thick layer of snow below, and it was white and dazzling. The cold north wind was still howling, and it was cold to hear.

Cao Xiu, the son of Cao Cao, Cao Hong's nephew, was regarded by Cao Cao as his own, and his temperament was cautious. When Cao Cao raised volunteers to fight against Dong Zhuo in Yanzhou, the young Cao Xiu changed his name and returned to the Central Plains from Wudi, which was thousands of miles away, through Jingzhou, and defected to Cao Cao.

At this time, Cao Xiu was not the battle-hardened Wei State Sima in the future, and he was entrusted with the important task by Cao Cao when he was just starting out, guarding the main road of Tongguan. Although there is a reason why Cao Cao raised troops to attack Lu Bu and good generals came out, it also shows that Cao Cao attaches great importance to and is optimistic about him.

Standing on top of Tongguan, looking at the white snow scene after the heavy snowfall, Cao Xiu was very calm and enjoyable, and closed his eyes to feel the tranquility between heaven and earth.

After taking a deep breath and sobering up for a few minutes, he stood on the city wall wearing a black cloak, looking at the little fires in Liu Beijun's camp in the distance, and a trace of jealousy and vigilance flashed in his eyes unconsciously.

He has been stationed here for more than a month, and Liu Beijun has not moved at all, it seems that he has compromised so easily, and there is no action. But Cao Xiu's heart became more and more uneasy, the quiet camp in the distance was like a bottomless deep altar, and bloodthirsty beasts were surging out at any time.

"How many days has it been since the lord sent his troops?" Cao Xiu stared at Liu Bei's camp in the distance and asked lightly.

"General, it's been five days." The guards Cao Xiu's own soldiers replied.

"Oh, it's been five days. Presumably Liu Bei also knew the news. Cao Xiu muttered softly.

"Where are the envoys sent to reward Liu Bei and Yuan Shu?" Cao Xiu asked again.

"It's expected to arrive tomorrow."

Cao Xiu nodded slightly, and his tense mood eased a little. Although the title of the Son of Heaven is just a false name, it is enough to stabilize Liu Bei. After all, Liu Bei has always relied on the name of a descendant of the Han family, and he will not easily disobey the order of the emperor of the Han family.

Just when Cao Xiu was about to go down the city wall to rest. Suddenly, there was some movement outside Liu Bei's military camp in the distance. Cao Xiu hurriedly took a closer look, and sure enough, a large army slowly walked out of Liu Bei's camp.

"What's going on? Is Liu Bei planning to attack the city? Cao Xiu was vigilant for the first time.

The adjutant general on the side looked at the army shaped like a black snake in the distance, shook his head and said, "General, if the other party rushes over without forming a formation, it shouldn't be to attack the city." ”

The inexperienced Cao Xiu's face turned slightly red, he realized that he was a little too nervous, and hurriedly explained: "If the other party takes action, we must be vigilant, Liu Bei will definitely not be good." ”

"The general's words are reasonable." The adjutant general nodded and said, "But I don't know why the other party came in such a hurry?" Don't you want to negotiate with us? ”

Many thoughts flashed through Cao Xiu's mind in an instant, and then he took a few steps back: "You send someone to keep an eye on it, report to me as soon as there is any situation, and I'll wait below." If Liu Bei wants to negotiate with Yu, you will say that I occasionally feel cold and bedridden. ”

A hint of appreciation flashed in the adjutant general's eyes, this airborne boy brother is also a little knowledgeable.

"General rest assured."

After that, Cao Xiu slowly descended from the city wall with his guards and went to the inside of Tongguan to wait for news.

For a long time, the sound of the negotiation request that he expected did not appear, but the faint sound of some iron and wood things rubbing.

"What's going on?" Cao Xiu frowned.

Then he saw a soldier running down from the city wall and reported to him: "General, Liu Beijun has sent more than a thousand soldiers to clear the snow under the city wall for some reason. ”

"Clearing the snow?" Cao Xiu was puzzled: "Could it be that Liu Bei plans to attack my Tongguan?" ”

"Is Liu Bei among these thousand?" Cao Xiu seemed to remember something and asked.

"Liu Bei was not found."

Cao Xiu nodded, and walked out directly: "Take a look at the city wall, and you will quickly pass this information to Xun Shizhong." ”

"No!"

When he came to the pass, Cao Xiu lay on the side of the city wall and looked closely, and sure enough, a group of people in front of the pass were using rough tools to clear the snow in front of Tongguan.

At the same time, the deputy general also came up and said vigilantly: "General, these people are doing this, Liu Beijun may have variables." ”

Cao Xiu's heart was also full of vigilance, and he said with a solemn face: "I understand." ”

Then Cao Xiu tentatively shouted at these people: "Who are you waiting for? What is the intention? ”

The person under the city wall, who was obviously a general, raised his head and replied loudly when he heard this: "General, we are all under the command of Liu Yuanjun, and we have come to clear the snow before Tongguan. ”

"What do you do with clearing the snow? Could it be that you want to turn your back on the alliance and attack Tongguan? ”

The generals under the city hurriedly said: "General, we don't dare to do this. The king ordered us to do this also to avoid the wind and snow being too heavy and blocking the pass. Our army will return to Yuzhou in a few days, so prepare in advance and be prepared! ”

Cao Xiu snorted coldly when he heard this: "There are still more than a month before the time agreed between the two of us, and Liu Yuanjun is really in a hurry!" ”

Hearing Cao Xiu's mocking words, the generals under the city hurriedly complained: "We are also acting on orders!" I hope the general can be Haihan! ”

The adjutant general was furious when he heard this, and said in a low voice: "General, these people obviously have bad intentions. There were only more than 1,000 of them, and if someone sent troops to drive them away or take them into custody, Liu Bei would not dare to attack the city. ”

Cao Xiu pondered for a moment and said decisively: "No! The lord has just sent troops, and our army is empty, and it is not easy to make such a big enemy. ”

The deputy general said anxiously: "But they are so unscrupulous, they obviously want to attack Tongguan!" ”

Cao Xiu's eyes suddenly brightened, and he said confidently: "I understand!" ”

"What does the general understand?"

Cao Xiu pointed to Liu Bei's soldier who was clearing the snow below: "Liu Xuande did this on purpose." He wanted us to think that he had bad intentions and that he would attack them. In this way, he can use this as an excuse to force us to shorten the retreat and buy more time for him to return to Yuzhou. After all, our army is empty internally, and it is not appropriate to be an enemy with it, so we can only choose to compromise when we are at a loss. ”

When the adjutant general heard this, he suddenly realized: "The general is wise! Liu Bei is really cunning, if it weren't for the general's name, we would have really fallen for the trick. ”

Cao Xiu seemed to have Zhizhu in his hand, and said confidently: "The more he is like this, the more we will ignore it and see what tricks he has in his hand." ”

Looking at the ground below that was constantly being cleaned up, the adjutant general hesitated: "But general, what if the other party really wants to attack the city?" ”

Cao Xiu waved his hand confidently: "Impossible, Liu Bei's army is only 40,000 people, we are 30,000 elites, and there is a risk of Tongguan, unless Liu Bei is crazy, he will never do it." Even if he does it, we can easily repel it. ”

Although the deputy general faintly felt a little uneasy, seeing Cao Xiu's confident appearance, he nodded slightly hesitantly: "The general is wise." ”