One

Since Xu Wen monopolized the power of Huainan, he reused Yan Keqiu and Luo Zhixiang, and made Huainan quickly recover from the wounds of war in military, political and economic terms, making Huainan a peaceful and prosperous place in the country. Although Xu Wen's ability to govern the country has been recognized by many people, Liu Wei, the envoy of Zhennan Jiedu, Tao Ya, and Li Yu, the observer of Xuanzhou, these people have their own unique old merits and look down on Xu Wen. Especially Li Yu, because he and Yang Xingmi are in-laws, he tries his best to protect the Yang family. Li Yu once said to the people around him, "What is Xu Wen, when Lao Tzu was bleeding on the battlefield, he didn't know where to mix, he killed Shizhong (referring to Yang Wu, Yang Wu called himself Shizhong), such a national thief, and still want me to obey him?" It was these words that completely angered Xu Wen, who knew that if Li Yu was allowed to continue to be presumptuous, not only would his prestige be damaged, but he might also condone other Yang clan generals to unite against him. Therefore, Xu Wen decided to crusade against Li Yu after discussing with Yan Keqiu, Luo Zhixiang and others, firstly, to extinguish his arrogance and make an example of the monkeys, and secondly, to take the opportunity to observe the movements of the DPRK and China to see how much support he could get in the DPRK.

After some thought, Xu Wen decided to salute first and then soldier. He sent the embassy envoy Xu Yu to Xuanzhou to see Li Yu and ask him to return to the court to report on his work, Li Yu had already smelled Xu Wen's hostility towards him, so he didn't dare to go back. But if he didn't go back, Xu Wen would inevitably attack him on the grounds of disobedience, so after sending Xu Yu away, Li Yu began to prepare for defense, and sure enough, Xu Wen saw that Li Yu did not return to the dynasty on the grounds of rebellion, and decided to send the general Chai Zai to lead the troops to fight. Chai Zaiyong is a tiger general under Yang Xingmi, who is good at using soldiers and invincible. It is said that once when Chai Zaiyong was sitting in the hall to discuss the matter, a mouse suddenly ran up to him and stood with his hands, as if to greet him. Left and right want to drive the mouse away, but the mouse does not go, still against the firewood again used as a pinch, then the firewood then used to stand up to catch the mouse, just out of the seat of the beam suddenly broken, is falling where he is sitting, the bed is crushed, firewood then used to escape a catastrophe, so everyone thinks he has the gods to bless.

However, Xu Wen gave Chai another lieutenant, that is, Xu Zhihe. Xu Wen's intention to arrange this is obvious, that is, he intends to train him and cultivate him. Xu Zhihe understood from the moment he received the order that his adoptive father was not only giving himself the opportunity to learn and make meritorious contributions this time, but also testing himself, and he secretly made up his mind that he must perform well, because this is the first time he has led troops to fight, and his martial arts can finally come in handy.

Two

After Xu Zhihe received the order, he quickly went to the military camp to meet Chai Zaiyong. The soldiers were fast, and the army soon arrived at the city of Xuanzhou, and Li Yu had already learned the news that Xuanzhou had been under martial law in the whole city, and the soldiers on the city wall were waiting for it. Chai Zaiyong decided to surrender first, and then send troops if it didn't work. When Li Yu received the letter of surrender, he scolded: "I, when I attacked the city and made meritorious contributions, he Xu Wen would only send me grain and grass in the back, a smuggled salt seller, and now he wants to control the government, he is simply a national thief, I am not ashamed, I am the former minister of King Wu, I only recognize the Yang family, not Xu Wen." Seeing that the surrender was fruitless, Chai Zaiyong decided to start attacking the city on the fourth watch day the next day, because this time was the most relaxed time for the other party's thinking, Chai Zaiyong achieved it overnight with hope, Xu Zhihe took the initiative to ask to be a pioneer, Chai Zaiyong did not agree at first, but he couldn't resist Xu Zhihe's insistence.

As soon as the fourth watch arrived, the siege horn sounded, and Xu Zhihe took the lead and went straight to the city. The defenders of the city were unguarded and were caught off guard by the sudden attack, but Li Yu was well prepared, and the soldiers in the city quickly came to their senses and quickly entered the state of response. Arrows flew by Xu Zhihe's head from time to time, next to his ears, and on his arms, and he dodged left and right, making it difficult to move forward. The charging soldiers kept falling, and the defenders of the city kept throwing down wood and stones, smashing the soldiers who had finally rushed to the city to death and wounding them. The ladder of the siege was ignited by the oil poured from the city, and many soldiers were burned alive, and for a time the sound of horns, horses, fighting, cannons, and wails mingled and resounded throughout the world. Xu Zhihe is young and vigorous, and his blood is strong, although it is the first time he has been on the battlefield, he is earnest, fearless, and has no intention of retreating at all. Seeing this scene, Chai Zaiyong, who was watching the battle from the rear, decided to withdraw his troops to avoid excessive casualties.

Back to the big tent, Chai Zaiyong said to Xu Zhihe: "Li Yu really knows how to use troops, the city wall is well defended, there are no dead ends, the morale of the defenders is strong, and it is difficult for our army to capture it for a while." ”

"They're well prepared, as if they're waiting for us to storm the city." Xu Zhihe said.

"Well, Li Yu has been leading the troops for a long time, and we can't recruit him, so he expected that we would attack next, so he was prepared."

"General, why don't I take someone to attack again!" Xu Zhihe was a little unsatisfied, and he was still excited.

"I know that Gongzi is brave, the so-called one drum, then decline, three and exhaustion, our army's morale has just been frustrated, the opponent's morale is booming, and another strong attack is not good for our army, which can only make the casualties greater."

"General, what should we do next?"

"Stop the siege first, and then make a good plan." Chai Zaiyong said solemnly to the generals.

Three

After breakfast, Chai Zaiyong summoned all the generals to determine the next offensive plan, "Everyone," Chai Zaiyong said, "Xuanzhou City is tightly defended, resulting in the failure of our army's previous attack, this time, I decided to attack from both sides, the main gate feints, and the side gate main attack." Li Yu makes good use of soldiers, we need to be ready for a tough battle, let's go back and prepare! "No!" Humane.

After dark, Chai Zaiyong gave the order to attack the city, ordering Xu Zhihe to attack the side gate, and he made a feint at the main gate to attract the attention of the other party. Xu Zhihe is looking forward to fighting now, he can't wait to attack now, and then take Xuanzhou in one go, and present a big gift to his adoptive father Xu Wen. After dark, Xu Zhihe led the troops to quietly approach the side door, as soon as the time came, Chai Zaiyong issued an attack order, the army first bombed the city with firearms, the defenders of the city were killed and injured countless, the other party fell into a chaos, but the defenders did not retreat, in order to mobilize the defenders of the side gate to create a fighter for Xu Zhihe, Chai Zai ordered the army to begin a fierce siege of the city, the battle between the two sides entered the daylight, the casualties were very large, and the other side kept being reinforced. Seeing this, Xu Zhihe immediately ordered the siege of the city, he took the lead as last time, the defenders of the city were caught off guard, first panicked for a while, and then quickly stabilized the position and put up stubborn resistance. They fired firearms at the city, and the siege soldiers fell one after another, and the attack was greatly hampered. The army advanced to the city with difficulty, and the city began to shoot arrows, set fires, and smash stones, many ladders were directly burned by the fire, some people fell from the ladders and died, those who did not fall to death were seriously injured and lost their combat effectiveness, occasionally a few people climbed to the top of the ladder, and before they had time to attack the city, they were killed by the defenders of the city, and everyone kept banging on the door, but the door could not be opened, and the two sides entered a tug-of-war. The city can't be attacked, the door can't be opened, and more and more soldiers are falling, Xu Zhihe sees it in his eyes and is anxious in his heart. In order to create opportunities for Xu Zhihe, Chai Zaiyong organized several sieges in a row, wanting to continue to attract the attention of the other party, but the effect did not seem to be obvious, and Xu Zhihe still made no progress. The soldiers besieging the city were very brave, none of them retreated, but the casualties not only increased, Chai Zaiyong saw all this, admired Li Yu on the one hand, and gave the order to retreat on the other, and the attack failed again.

After returning to the camp, Xu Zhihe and all the generals felt that they were on fire, and they reused firewood to comfort everyone: "Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, you don't have to blame yourself, Li Yu is good at using soldiers, he has been running Xuanzhou for many years, and the city is strong." Besides, Xuanzhou is his base camp, and Xuanzhou is lost, so where else can he Li Yu go? So he will definitely resist to the end. Li Yu is well prepared, if we attack again in the future, I'm afraid the chances of winning will become more and more slim! ”

At this time, one of the generals said, "General, what should we do next?" ”

Chai Zaiyong looked at everyone and said, "Do you have any good ideas?" ”

Everyone, you didn't say a word to me, and you didn't say a satisfactory way to make Chai use it again, and then Xu Zhihe suddenly said:

"General, Xuanzhou City is impregnable, since the initiative to attack cannot be achieved, then if we can lure Li Yu out of the city to fight him, we may have a chance to win."

Chai Zaiyong's eyes lit up after listening, "Xu Gongzi's idea is not bad, if Li Yu can get out of the city, we have a chance to win, after all, we have the advantage of troops, but how to get Li Yu out of the city?" And will he go out of town? Everyone discussed for a while, some said that they scolded him under the city and scolded him out, and some said that Sun Bin "increased troops and reduced stoves" lured him out of the city, but in the end they didn't think of a method that satisfied everyone.

There was no movement on both sides for several days, Xu Zhihe found firewood and used it again, saying that he could lead troops to lure the enemy, create the illusion that our army would not be able to defeat Li Yu, and lure him out of the city to pursue. Chai Zaiyong felt that he could give it a try, after all, it would have a great impact on morale if he couldn't attack for a long time, and Xu Wen was still waiting for news, and if it dragged on, he couldn't explain it, so he agreed to Xu Zhihe's suggestion. Chai Zaiyong led the troops to hide outside the city of Xuanzhou, Xu Zhihe pretended to attack, retreated after attacking for a while, and ordered to throw the military flag and baggage under the city to lure Li Yu out of the city to pursue. However, a few times in a row, Li Yu only repelled Xu Zhihe's attack, and did not go out of the city to pursue, Chai Zaiyong said to Xu Zhihe: "Li Yu seems to be not going out of the city, he is very aware of the current situation, his troops are at a disadvantage, and he can hold on to the city, after leaving the city, he will lose his support, there is no danger to defend, and he also expected that we would set up an ambush outside the city." "The lure of the enemy failed, after which the two sides entered the phase of confrontation.

Four

Xu Wen in the court learned that Chai Zaiyong was not going well with attacking Li Yu, and also convened a group of people to discuss countermeasures, so far, Xu Wen must take Li Yu, otherwise not only some people in the court gloat, but those who are not satisfied with their old Yang family will be ready to move and take the opportunity to make trouble.

At this time, Xu Jue offered a plan: "My lord, Li Yu's son is currently in Guangling, so he just doesn't do anything, and he is afraid that Li Yu will be arrested if he arrests his son?" ”

Xu Wen thought that there was no better way, so he could only use his son to blackmail Lao Tzu, although Li Yu's son was Yang Xingmi's son-in-law, but now he couldn't take care of it much, so he ordered someone to arrest Li Yu's son and send him directly to the front line. Li Yu liked this son very much, and when he saw his son being tied to his heart like a knife in the city, he scolded:

"Xu Wen, an old horseman, is despicable and shameless, and he actually uses this kind of indiscriminate means, which is my business from beginning to end, what does it have to do with my son?"

Seeing that Li Yu cared about his son very much, Chai Zaiyong decided to persuade Li Yu again, and he sent a lobbyist to tell Li Yu: "Xuanzhou City is strong, but with Xuanzhou City alone, you can't hold out for long, if you are still obsessed, the day the city is broken, the jade will be burned, can you still protect your whole family at that time?" Li Yu had no way out, his son had to surrender in the hands of Xu Wen, although he was disgraced, but he could save the lives of his family, but Li Yu said to the lobbyist:

"It's okay if you want me to surrender, but I only surrender to King Wu, and never surrender to him Xu Wen, so I want to see King Wu's surrender letter with my own eyes, and it is written that I will not kill my family, as for me Li Yu, presumably Xu Wen will kill me a long time ago, and I will dispose of it with him."

Chai Zaiyong sent someone to pass Li Yu's words to Xu Wen, and Xu Wen agreed to Li Yu's request. He drew up an edict of surrender to Yang Longyan, Yang Longyan knew that Li Yu was towards his own Yang family, but the court had been controlled by Xu Wen, so he had to listen to Xu Wen, so he directly stamped the big seal and handed it to Xu Wen. Li Yu, who received the surrender letter, was full of emotion, thinking that he was born and died with Yang Xingmi Jinge Iron Horse back then, Xu Wen was not a character at that time, but he didn't expect to be forced by him to have no way out today. However, fortunately, his family's life was saved, and he was a little relieved, although he was reminded to be careful of fraud, but Li Yu told him that "King Wu will not lie to me." But Li Yu never thought that on the day he surrendered, when he was in great trouble, King Wu would not lie to him, but what King Wu said didn't count! Xu Wen secretly ordered Chai Zaiyong to kill Li Yu's father and son immediately after entering the city, and then killed his family, Li Yu scolded before he died: "Xu Wen Pifu, a sinister and treacherous villain, you can't die well, and Lao Tzu won't let you go if you're a ghost!" ”

Xu Wen was so ruthless that the ministers were frightened, and Xu Zhihe was also shocked. Xu Zhihe only now understands that his adoptive father is a person who either doesn't do it, but does it cleanly, cuts the grass and eradicates the roots, and never gives the opponent any chance to fight back. From abolishing Yang Wu, to killing Yang Wu, to killing Zhang Hao, and now to killing Li Yu, all reflect his character, Xu Zhihe secretly reminded himself that he must be cautious everywhere in front of his adoptive father in the future.

Xu Wen killed Li Yu, which greatly increased his deterrent power, played the effect of killing chickens to show monkeys, shocked the old ministers of the Yang family, and put everyone in danger, and no one dared to openly disagree with him again. However, Xu Wen pretended to be humble in front of the other old generals of the Yang family, and deliberately behaved kindly, seeing these people was like seeing Yang Xingmi, respectful, and the generals were relieved, after all, the world was still very turbulent, and Xu Wen still needed them to help defend the city.

Five

Xu Zhihe went to Guangling to see Xu Wen before returning to Shengzhou, and he hadn't come back for almost two years, Xu Wen was very happy to see Xu Zhihe, praised Xu Zhihe for his bravery, and gave him a long face. Xu Zhihe said modestly: "Dad has won the award, the child just did what he did, and it was all the opportunity that the father gave the child." ”

"Hey......" Xu Wen stretched the word very long, and raised his tone upward, "If you can do things well, it's not simple, how many people can't even do things well, He'er, you didn't disappoint your father, your father is very optimistic about you, and he believes in you very much, in the future, if there is anything, tell your father directly." ”

"Thank you, Dad, the child must cherish the opportunity, share his worries for Dad, and never disappoint Dad's expectations."

Xu Zhihe lived at home for a few days, he still greeted Xu Wen and his wife on time in the morning and evening as before, and talked to Mrs. Xu when he was fine, Mrs. Xu originally liked Xu Zhihe, and now that he has made meritorious contributions, he is even more happy, and said in front of Xu Zhixun's brothers:

"If only you had half of the filial piety." Xu Zhixun has always disliked Xu Zhihe, when he was a child, he didn't like it because he wasn't a brother, and now he doesn't like it because there is a conflict of interests, Xu Zhihe has made military merits now, and he is very favored by his father and mother, Xu Zhixun is very jealous in his heart, he feels that with Xu Zhihe's ability, it will be his own trouble in the future, and he will even compete with him for the power of the Xu family. So he said to Xu Zhihe:

"Zhihe, you have just made a meritorious service, but you can't get carried away and be complacent! Don't forget your duties. Xu Zhihe understood that Xu Zhixun wanted to drive him away, so he said:

"What the eldest brother said is that I will return to the state tomorrow."

"Know, it's not my brother who poured cold water on you, you can make this contribution, it was given to you by your father, don't think that you are capable, you must know gratitude." Xu Zhixun deliberately dragged the last "En" for a long time.

"What the eldest brother said is that this time it is all up to our father to successfully take Xuanzhou, how dare I be self-righteous!"

"Also," Xu Zhixun continued, "There are me and Zhixun at home, as well as other younger brothers, we will take care of it, you can be your official with peace of mind, don't run back and forth if you have nothing to do, so as not to break your heart." After saying that, he held his head high, turned around and left haughtily. Xu Zhihe is used to seeing it, because Xu Zhixun has been in front of him since he was a child.