"PS: In the previous chapter of the book review, someone asked whether "Xi Wu" and "Gongsun Xi" were one person or two people, and I would like to explain that rhino head and rhino wu, these are the two martial positions of Wei, but in most cases (including historical books), rhino head refers to Gongsun Yan, and rhino Wu refers to Gongsun Xi, because these two people are the most famous and representative. In addition, the rhinoceros was a symbol of bravery at the time.

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Gradually, more and more generals of the military Sima level came to the tent to participate in the military meeting.

The military system of the Wei State also continued to the Jin State, and the Jin State adopted the establishment of the "Zhou Li", that is, an army of 12,500 people, so the 180,000 Wei troops here were converted into about 14 to 15 military Simas.

At this moment, there were fifteen Wei generals seated, and even one of them, Meng Zhong, was not a stranger, that is, Gongsun Zhu, the general of the rear camp.

When Gongsun Zhu walked in, he saw Meng Zhong sitting near the tent at a glance, and the veteran was stunned for a moment, but even Meng Zhong was surprised that instead of demolishing him and expelling him from the tent, Gongsun Zhu looked at him with great interest, smiled at him, nodded, and acted full of kindness.

I have to say that this incident surprised Meng Zhong, after all, in the "Houying Incident" a while ago, he Meng Zhong broke into the Houying without authorization and made a big fuss, and the Houying is precisely the jurisdiction of Gongsun Zhu - it is hard to imagine that this veteran has no ill will towards him.

"Maybe it's because of the Duan Gan clan or the Xihe Confucianism?"

Meng Zhong is self-aware, but he will not arbitrarily think that Gongsun Jian has a love for him.

But even so, he didn't mind, and even wished that Gongsun Xi could reuse him in the face of Duan Gan's clan and Xihe Confucianism.

However, it is a pity that according to Meng Zhong's careful observation recently, Gongsun Xi is still biased towards Xue Gongtian Wen's side after all, and he is more or less targeted at him.

"Anyway...... Gongsun Xi hasn't noticed it yet, has he?"

Meng Zhong turned his head to look at Gongsun Xi, who was sitting on the main seat in the tent, and saw that the latter was holding a pen and burying his head on the low table in front of him, and he didn't know what he was drawing or writing.

It may be that he was drawing a map of the garrisons of the armies of Qin, Wei, and Han.

However, Gongsun Du, the guard who was standing next to Gongsun Xi, had discovered Meng Zhong's arrival early, and was staring at Meng Zhong intently at the moment.

And Meng Zhong was not stunned at all, and made eye contact with Gongsun Du several times.

Just as Meng Zhong was secretly observing the people in the tent, the military horses who were already sitting in the tent were also secretly observing him.

I remember that after these people entered the tent, they had already seen Meng Zhong sitting in the seat near the tent, and they all showed surprised expressions on their faces.

Some military simas didn't recognize Meng Zhong, so when they saw Meng Zhong, they couldn't help but think in surprise: This kid looks so young, is he actually a colleague at the level of a military sima?

And some military commanders recognized Meng Zhong, so when they saw Meng Zhong, they were more surprised than others: This kid, I remember that the commander named Meng Zhong, right? Xiwu summoned the military Sima to discuss the military situation, how did this kid get in?

But even if he recognized Meng Zhong's military Sima, no one debunked Meng Zhong at this moment, after all, the "Houying Incident" a while ago had spread among the 180,000 Wei troops, so that the whole army learned a news, that is, this division commander named Meng Zhong had an extremely hard background, and he himself was also quite strong, and it was especially unwise to offend such a young man for no reason.

And considering that Meng Zhong himself also knew each other, he chose a seat close to the tent to sit, so no one bothered him.

Seeing this, Jun Sima Jiaoge was surprised, and whispered to Jun Sima Tang who was sitting beside him: "This kid actually really got in......

Tang Zhi smiled faintly, waved his hand to signal Jiao Ge not to make a noise, and at the same time turned his head and glanced at Xi Wu, who was sitting on the main seat in the tent.

As far as he could see, Xi Wu was sitting on the main seat at this moment, bowing his head and drawing a map, so he had never noticed Meng Zhong's arrival.

It's just that if it's like this, how long can it be confused?

Tang Zhi was very much looking forward to what would happen when Gongsun Xi saw Meng Zhong later.

It's not aimed at Meng Zhong, he is just quite curious about it, who made Meng Zhong's methods in the "Houying Incident" a while ago really cunning, so he wants to see if Meng Zhong has any way to convince Gongsun Xi this time.

After about a moment, Gongsun Xi put down the pen in his hand, and on the low table in front of him at this moment, sure enough, there was a march map that had just been drawn, which roughly depicted "Yique Mountain", "Yishui", "Xiangshan", and the garrison locations of the armies of Qin, Wei, Han, and Eastern Zhou.

Before explaining this map, it is necessary to explain the meaning of "Ique".

Que, as the name suggests, is the door que, therefore, the popular interpretation of Yique is "located in the water of the gateway to the natural risk".

Originally, there are two mountains in the area of Yique facing each other, there is Yique Mountain in the west, there is Xiangshan Mountain in the east, Yishui flows through it, and it looks like a natural gate from a distance, so it is called Yique. [PS: Yique Mountain is also known as Longmen Mountain, Longmen Grottoes are on the cliffs of Yique Mountain and Xiangshan on both sides of Yishui, but it was carved in the Northern Wei Dynasty. 】

Today, the 100,000 troops of Korea and the nearly 10,000 troops of the Eastern Zhou State are deployed on the plains west of Yishui and south of Yique Mountain, and the armies of the two countries have built barracks and strong defenses in this area to resist the more than 100,000 Qin troops from the "new city" in the southwest.

As for the 180,000 Wei troops under the command of Gongsun Xi, they are now stationed about ten miles north of Yique Mountain, about thirty miles away from the combined forces of Korea and Eastern Zhou—of course, considering the need to bypass Yique in a roundabout way to support the Korean and Eastern Zhou armies, the distance between the two armies is not more than thirty miles.

But then again, the reason why Gongsun Xi stationed his army on the north side of Yique Mountain was not entirely to let the Korean army and the Qin army consume each other first, he was also guarding against the Qin army.

After all, he once followed Tian Zhang with the violent kite to conquer the Qin State, and he knew more about the vast land south of the Great River, taking the Yique area as an example, he knew that the opposite bank of the Yique Mountain was Xiangshan, and the height of the two mountains was similar, it was difficult to guarantee that the Qin army would not send people to occupy Xiangshan, climb the heights to peep at the deployment of the armies of Wei and Han, if the Wei army was too far ahead, it was difficult to ensure that the Qin army would not sneak from the north side of Xiangshan to quietly cross the river, sneak to the north side of Yique, and launch a two-sided attack on the armies of Wei and Han.

Famous generals of the Qin State, such as Wei Zhang, Zhu Liji, and Sima Cuo, are all people who are extremely good at this tactic.

It's just that Gongsun Xi didn't expect that this time the Qin State actually sent Xiang Shou to lead more than 100,000 Qin troops, which made him a little surprised, after all, Xiang Shou led the troops to fight in a step-by-step manner, although the ability to command the troops was not weak, but rarely used any tricks, so Gongsun Xi was not worried that the violent kite would be defeated by the Qin army.

After all, the allied army of Korea and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty also had 110,000, and the Qin army was only between 120,000 and 150,000.

"It's all here, right? This is a map of the march around Yique that I have just drawn, and I will circulate it all. ”

As he spoke, Gongsun Xi casually handed the piece of cloth with a map in his hand to Konoe Gongsun Du.

I saw Gongsun Du hand this map to Gongsun Zhu, who was sitting in the chief, returned to Gongsun Xi's side, and whispered a few words to the latter.

At this time, Gongsun Xi turned his head to look near the tent, and saw Meng Zhong sitting there with a calm expression, his face suddenly sank, and he said in a deep voice: "Meng Zhong, what are you doing?" ”

Meng Zhong had already expected that Gongsun Du would expose himself to Gongsun Xi, and he was not surprised to see this, so he said to Gongsun Xi calmly when he heard this: "Go back to Xiwu and come down to participate in the military meeting." ”

Hearing this, Gongsun Xi sneered: "The order I gave was to recruit the military Sima in the camp to discuss the military situation, you are just a division commander, why don't you obey the general's order and mix into the commander's account?" ”

"This kid turned out to be just a master, huh?"

『…… Then again, this kid is too bold.'

After hearing Gongsun Xi's words, the military horses in the tent who were not familiar with Meng Zhong all looked at Meng Zhong in surprise and astonishment, and they were secretly stunned by Meng Zhong's audacity and recklessness.

And those military horses who knew Meng Zhong's details at the beginning, such as Jiao Ge, were quite gloating at the moment - among these people, Tang Zhi was not included, after all, after the "Houying Incident", his hostility towards Meng Zhong had already dissipated a lot, and he just wanted to see if Meng Zhong had any way to persuade Gongsun Xi to allow him to stay in the tent today.

Seeing that under the gaze of nearly twenty pairs of eyes, Meng Zhong said unhurriedly: "Jun Sima is the commander of each army, but he is above the bottom, but there is no military Sima under his jurisdiction, so he defaults to being the commander of an army, so he came to participate in the military discussion......"

“……”

Gongsun Xi was suddenly angry.

Default to being the commander of an army? The commanders of other armies are all generals at the level of military commanders, and they are in charge of 15,000 troops, but you are only a division commander with only 2,500 people in your hands, only one-fifth of the strength of the first army, and you dare to arrogantly acquiesce to yourself as the commander of an army?

"Meng Zhong, you are too arrogant!" Gongsun Xi shouted with a calm face.

Hearing this, Meng Zhong's face showed a little puzzlement: "Huh? Is there a misunderstanding? I thought that the reason why Xiwu was not under the jurisdiction of a certain military Sima was to take care of the face of Duan Gan's clan and the face of the King of Wei, after all, no matter how I said it, it was also recommended to the King of Wei by Duan Ganyin, Tian Di, and Gongyang Ping, several great sages of Xihe Confucianism......"

"Wow! This kid is so big!'

After hearing Meng Zhong's words, the military horses in the tent, mainly those of the 100,000 Hedong Wei army, were really shocked at this moment.

Maybe Tian Huang and Gongyang Ping are a little less famous, maybe these generals in the Wei army may not have heard of it, but the Duan Gan clan, that is the out-and-out big family of the Wei State, it is the big family of the Wei State that sells livestock, and it is also responsible for the teaching of the children of the Wei royal family and the public family.

If the fame of the Duan Gan clan is not enough, the fame of Xihe Confucianism is enough, right? Nowadays, at least thirty percent of the officials in Wei are from Xihe Confucianism, or have studied in Xihe Confucianism, don't look at Xihe Confucianism has no background in the Wei army, but in the court, even Xue Gongtianwen has to give Xihe Confucianism face.

What's more, Xihe Confucianism is also responsible for teaching Wei Yu, the prince of Wei, Gongzi Wuji and others, so offending Xihe Confucianism is tantamount to offending the new monarch in the future.

"Bang!"

Gongsun Xi slapped the table in front of him suddenly, and asked with a calm face, "Meng Zhong, what do you mean by this?" Do you threaten the old man?! ”

Gongsun Xi is not stupid, who could not guess that Meng Zhong deliberately mentioned Duan Gan's clan, Xihe Confucianism, and Wei Yun, the king of Wei, in front of him, in order to put pressure on him.

"Don't dare. It's just a matter of facts. ”

Meng Zhong said calmly: "Could it be that you have said something wrong?" ”

“……”

Gongsun Xi was speechless for a moment, staring at Meng Zhong with a sinking face.

At this time, Gongsun Zhu smiled and said, "Okay, okay, it's not a big deal." …… Meng Shishuai is a virtuous talent recommended by Duan Gan's clan to the king, and it should not only be awarded the position of marshal, but Meng Shishuai is still young, and he is afraid that he will not be able to convince the public, but it will damage the face of Duan Gan's clan and the king, so he was temporarily granted the post of marshal, and he sharpened it a little......

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Meng Zhong and said with a smile, "Meng Zhong, don't misunderstand Xi Wu's kindness." ”

In fact, Meng Zhong certainly knew in his heart what Gongsun Xi's attitude was towards him, but since Gongsun Ji said so, he was also happy to push the boat along the river, first, if it was not necessary, he didn't want to completely tear his face with Gongsun Xi; Second, Gongsun Zhu has no ill will towards him, and there is no need to make enemies for no reason.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong said with a smile: "What General Gongsun said is extremely true, he naturally understands the good intentions of Xiwu, but he is eager to make meritorious contributions, and he has no choice but to live up to Xiwu's care." …… The kid is young and vigorous, and he hopes that Xi Wu will forgive him. ”

As soon as he said this, it was as if Gongsun Xi was deliberately restrained in order to take care of him, which made Gongsun Ji listen and nodded secretly: This kid understands the world and knows how to behave.

So Gongsun Zhu smiled and said to Gongsun Xi: "Xi Wu, it is inevitable that young people will seek merit, although Xi Wu has been entrusted by Duan Gan's clan, but it is not too protective of Meng Shishuai." ”

"Huh?"

Meng Zhong glanced at Gongsun Jian with some surprise.

At the same time, Gongsun Xi also frowned and looked at Gongsun Zhu, because he knew that Gongsun Zhu's words were deliberately said to everyone present.

After taking a few deep glances at Gongsun Zhu, Gongsun Xi snorted lightly and no longer pursued the matter of Meng Zhong pretending to be a military Sima and sneaking into the marshal's tent to participate in the military meeting.

The Lord will deliberately expose this matter, and the military Simas in the tent will naturally not bring it up again without knowing each other.

But I have to say that even if Gongsun played a round game, the vast majority of the military simas present could still vaguely see one thing, that is, Xiwu Gongsun Xi and Meng Zhong, the commander of the division, did not deal with each other.

And the ingenious thing is that Meng Zhong's kid is very big, even if it is Gongsun Xi, there is nothing he can do for a while.

A moment later, the map drawn by Gongsun Xi himself was circulated throughout the armies in the tent, including Meng Zhong, the only general.

Immediately, Gongsun Xi rearranged the deployment of the various armies under his command, mainly with the 100,000 Hedong Wei troops under his command as the main force, and the remaining 80,000 Wei troops as auxiliary troops, deployed in the area on the west bank of Yishui, in case the Qin army might cross the river and steal them from behind.

"Do you have any doubts about that?"

After the arrangements were made, Gongsun Xi asked the armies in the tent.

Hearing this, Meng Zhong clenched his fists and said, "Xi Wu, I am a little puzzled. ”

As he spoke, he didn't wait for Gongsun Xi's permission, and said to himself: "Xiwu, according to what you said, the Qin army is only 120,000 to 150,000, while the alliance of our army, South Korea, and Eastern Zhou has a full 300,000, why don't the three parties join forces to attack the Qin army?" ”

"This kid ......"

Gongsun Xi glanced at Meng Zhong and said lightly: "Master Meng has to obey the general's orders." ”

"But I am very puzzled by this, please Xi Wuwei to solve my doubts." Meng Zhong hugged his fists and asked: "This time, Xiwu was ordered by the King of Wei to lead the army to rescue South Korea, but Xiwu deliberately delayed on the way, and now it is garrisoned here, so it is not intentionally delaying the fighter?" ”

"Damn boy......

Gongsun Xi scolded secretly in his heart when he heard this.

But it is undeniable that he is a little jealous of Meng Zhong at the moment, because he feels that Meng Zhong has already made plans to tear his face with him, otherwise how could he move out of Duan Gan's family, Xihe Confucianism and even Wei Yun, the king of Wei, in front of everyone's eyes?

Fortunately, Gongsun erected a round in time at that time, otherwise, he would definitely punish this Meng Zhong.

Don't think that punishing Meng Zhong even if his grandson Xi has the upper hand, will he dare to kill Meng Zhong for this little thing? Can't!

But Meng Zhong suffered a loss, and he was bound to send someone back to Daliang to inform Duan Gan's clan.

After Duan Ganshi learned of this, he might slander him in front of the King of Wei, and then the King of Wei might listen to the rumors and transfer Zhai Zhang, who was stationed in Yecheng, to Yique to replace his Gongsun Xi.

At that time, his Gongsun Xi may be recalled to Daliang by the King of Wei, and Zhai Zhang will replace him in charge of the 180,000 Wei army here.

This is also the only place that Gongsun Xi is afraid of Meng Zhong, that is, Meng Zhong has the means to counter him, especially when Meng Zhong is caught "deliberately delaying the fighter".

Thinking of this, even though Gongsun Xi was extremely unswerving, he could only endure his anger and explain to Meng Zhong: "The ending of the alliance of Wei, Han, and Eastern Zhou to attack the Qin army is nothing more than the Qin army retreating to the new city. Xincheng is a city built by South Korea to resist the invasion of the Qin army, and it is extremely strong, if more than 100,000 Qin troops retreat to Xincheng, this battle will be difficult to distinguish the winner even if it is fought for a year and a half. Rather than this, it is better to ask the armies of Korea and the Eastern Zhou to consume the Qin army first, no matter whether they win or lose, the number and morale of the Qin army will be reduced, and whether our army enters the army to attack the Qin army or attack the new city, it will be much easier. …… Are you satisfied with this explanation? ”

"I see."

Meng Zhong nodded in realization.

He had to admit that Gongsun Xi was worthy of being a famous general of the Wei State, and he was really thoughtful about the problem, and even the "new city" behind the Qin army at this moment had been taken into account.

As for whether these words would be Gongsun Xi's nonsense, Meng Zhong didn't think much of it, after all, Gongsun Xi's words were told very smoothly, and he thought that he had been thinking about it for a long time in his heart.

"Xiwu is far-sighted, and it is not as good as below." Meng Zhong praised from the bottom of his heart.

"Humph!" Gongsun Xi snorted coldly when he heard this, and then said: "In addition to telling the Qin army to rest assured that it will fight with the armies of Korea and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, our garrison here is still to prevent the Qin army from outflanking our army from behind...... There is a Xiangshan on the east bank of Yishui, if I am not mistaken, at this moment the Qin army has already occupied Xiangshan, peeping at our moves, if I drive the army and the violent kite to join forces, the Qin army will inevitably retreat to the new city, but while our coalition army is marching into the journey, try to outflank the back of our coalition army, and carry out front and rear flanking attacks...... Is Meng Shishuai satisfied with this explanation? ”

What else can Meng Zhong say at this time?

He could only clasp his fists and say, "Xiwu is far-sighted." ”

"Humph!"

With a light snort, Gongsun Xi looked around at the generals in the tent and asked, "Who else has doubts?" Put it forward together, and the old man can solve your doubts one by one. ”

The armies in the tent looked at each other, but no one answered.

First, when Meng Zhong raised that question, the military Sima had no other doubts in his heart, and second, don't look at them as military Sima, but he didn't want Meng Zhong's background to be big, even if he was facing Gongsun Xi, he was not afraid at all.

"Good!"

Seeing that no one responded, Gongsun Xi nodded and said, "Since this is the case, it will be deployed according to the old man's arrangement." As for Master Meng......"

He turned his head to look at Meng Zhong, thinking about how to deal with this annoying boy.

He had previously planned to send Meng Zhong to the main road between Gongcheng and Yique, and let Meng Zhong be responsible for protecting the transportation route of grain and grass and baggage, so that this kid would stay away from the front line of the battlefield, but considering that Meng Zhong was ready to turn his face against him, Gongsun Xi also had some scruples in his heart.

If he sent Meng Zhong to the rear at will, maybe Meng Zhong secretly sent someone to send a letter to Daliang in anger, and if it was not good, Duan Gan would slander him Gongsun Xi in front of the King of Wei - although it was taboo among the generals who changed commanders in battle, it was not possible for the King of Wei to listen to Duan Gan's slander and send Zhai Zhang to replace him.

But stay by your side, Gongsun Xi annoys this kid from time to time against himself.

After a few deep thoughts, Gongsun Xi suddenly had an idea, and he said to Meng Zhong in a deep voice: "Meng Zhong, since you are sincere for meritorious service, I will give you the opportunity to make meritorious service." …… You immediately led your soldiers to the top of Yique Mountain and stationed them to monitor the Qin army's every move...... Well, that's a critical task, right? ”

Of course, Meng Zhong knew that Gongsun Xi wanted to send him away, but after careful consideration, Meng Zhong felt that this task was not bad.

First, it is more free to lead troops alone, and secondly, he can also use this to grasp the direction of the entire battle situation, if the Qin army is really as Gongsun Xi said, or it is possible to cross the river from the Xiangshan area to outflank the Wei army, then he can also remind Gongsun Xi in time.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong clenched his fists and said, "Obey the order!" ”

Seeing this, Gongsun Xi's face was slightly pale.

After the end of the military council, the army commanders, including Meng Zhong, left one after another.

At this time, Gongsun Xi asked Gongsun Zhu: "Zhu, why did Fang Cai mention in front of the generals that I was entrusted by the Duan Gan clan to take care of Meng Zhong?" Did you know that this would cause misunderstanding among the generals? ”

Gongsun Jian said with a smile when he heard this: "It's good to misunderstand, in this way, no one thinks that there is any contradiction between Xiwu and Duan Gan's clan, let alone ......."

Speaking of this, he restrained the smile on his face, stroked his beard and said with deep meaning: "What's more, Meng Zhong is this person, I think he has a clear intention to come today, if Xi Wu expelled him at that time, he would definitely turn his face on the spot...... Can Xi Wu really kill this person? ”

Hearing this, Gongsun Xi also nodded.

I have to say that he also took this into account, so he reluctantly suppressed the anger in his heart.

Immediately, he smiled and said, "All in all, I finally sent that kid away...... At the moment, he is stationed in Yique Mountain, and as long as I don't give him the opportunity to fight, he won't get much credit. ”

Hearing this, Gongsun Jian shook his head helplessly.

He didn't want to have a stiff relationship with Meng Zhong, who had Duan Gan's clan and Xihe Confucianism as the backstage, but Gongsun Xi insisted on doing so, and he couldn't do anything.

For the next half month, the armies of South Korea and Eastern Zhou still confronted the Qin army with similar strength, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

All this, just as Gongsun Xi predicted,

Until April, a major event occurred in the Qin army.

The commander of the Qin army, Xiang Shou, was deposed, and he was replaced by the young general who had conquered the new city and was unknown before that.

Qin Jun, change the commander on the verge of battle!