Only two days apart, the cavalry sent by Mu Wu braved the ice, snow and severe cold to deliver the letter to Yangguan and to Meng Zhong.

At first, Meng Zhong thought that this was some kind of bad news, but he didn't expect that after reading it, he found that this was actually good news, that is, Mu Wu and the others were sixty percent sure that after the beginning of spring next year, they would severely damage the two thousand cavalry under Bai Qi's command, and even possibly wipe them out.

Isn't that good news?

The 2,000 cavalry under Bai Qi's command is not too much, but it cannot be denied that if the commander of this cavalry has sufficient experience in leading troops, then these 2,000 cavalry can play a very big role - think about the cavalry under the command of Meng Zhong during the Battle of Yique, only 1,000 cavalry, but they harassed tens of thousands of Qin troops and were so annoyed that they even took advantage of the victory to pursue and fled to Wuguan with tens of thousands of Qin troops.

Therefore, for the enemy's cavalry, it is better to eradicate it as soon as possible if there is a chance, and now on the side of Meng Zhong, as long as the 2,000 cavalry of Bai Qi is eliminated, his Wei army may be able to repeat the scene when he was in Yique last year, with 6,000 cavalry constantly harassing the 200,000 Qin-Chu coalition army, intercepting and killing its scouts, cutting off its grain routes, and making the 200,000 Qin-Chu coalition army unable to advance or retreat.

However, Meng Sui was worried about this matter, worried that Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu were too optimistic.

However, in Meng Zhong's opinion, since it has been confirmed that the cavalry of the Qin army is not equipped with bilateral stirrups, it is indeed as Meng Hu and Hua Hu believed, the victory of the cavalry of other cities is extremely great.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong immediately wrote a reply letter to Mu Wu, asking Mu Wu, Meng Hu, and Hua Hu to be careful and careful, and be sure to annihilate all those Qin horses as much as possible, and not miss a single person.

You know, Bai Qi is not a fool, this person's wisdom and strategy even Meng Zhong felt jealous, as long as the surviving Qin cavalry fled back to his army, and told Bai Qi the original story of the defeat, Bai Qi would naturally sense that something was wrong: this cavalry was obviously formed after the cavalry under Meng Zhong's command, why was it so vulnerable in the end?

After thinking about it repeatedly, Bai Qi may not discover the mystery of the bilateral stirrups, and once Bai Qi realizes this, then the next time Bai Qi reorganizes the cavalry, the cavalry of other cities will no longer have an advantage in horse warfare.

So, you only get one chance.

At the beginning of November, in view of the ice and snow blocking the road, the Qin-Chu coalition army had retreated to Wancheng and was stationed, and Meng Zhong was also able to breathe a rare sigh of relief.

He handed over the affairs of Yangguan to Meng Sui, Le Jin, and Zheng Zheng, and went back to Wuyangyi for one night, but was driven back to Yangguan by his mother Ge the next day.

In Ge's view, the Wei army in the city below is united to defend Yangguan, and his son Meng Zhong, as the chief general of tens of thousands of Wei troops in Fangcheng, how can he abolish the public because of private affairs?

During this period, Ge Shi used the allusion of Dayu to control the water and visit the house three times without entering to persuade his son, which made Meng Zhong laugh secretly in his heart, and he didn't know where his mother heard the mythical story.

But in the end, Ge still allowed his son to stay at home for a night, but this was not for the sake of his son's face, but for the sake of his daughter-in-law Le Yan's face, although Ge said it very vaguely at that time, but Le Yan still blushed.

The matter of the young couple that night was naturally not enough to tell outsiders.

And in the past two days, Deng Dian has also arrived in Chuying with Meng Zhong's letter in the ice and snow.

In view of the fact that Deng Dian himself is a Chu native of Deng County, and speaks an authentic northern Han dialect, the Chu soldiers guarding the city gate naturally did not suspect it, and they waved their hands to let them go without even a simple check, so that Deng Dian did not use any excuses that he had thought of in advance.

After entering Chu Ying, Deng Dian immediately defected to the mansion of the scholar Zhuang Xin.

At that time, Zhuang Xin was idle at home with nothing to do, and suddenly heard a report from the servants in the house, saying that a young man named Deng Dian had come to ask for a meeting, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

Of course, he knew a young man named Deng Dian, this young man had a very good heart, when he went to Yeyi to visit Qu Yuan in disguise, his brother saw that he was old, so he asked Deng Dian to guide the way, and later after seeing Qu Yuan, Zhuang Xin did not forget to say a few words about the difficulties of Deng Dian's family in front of Qu Yuan, so Qu Yuan asked Deng Dian to be an errand in the county capital of Yeyi.

"How could this young man come to Chu Ying? Could it be that Qu Yuan sent him to deliver news to me?'

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin immediately asked the servant to invite Deng Dian to the study.

Seeing each other again after a few months, Deng Dian had already learned that the old man in front of him was not an ordinary person, and seeing that this mansion was big and deep, he was inevitably a little restrained, and respectfully called "Doctor Zhuang".

Seeing this, Zhuang Xin blinked and smiled: "This Doctor Zhuang is not as good as the old man of the kid that day." ”

Seeing that Zhuang Xin was so approachable, the apprehension in Deng Dian's heart gradually faded.

After chatting casually, Zhuang Xin asked Deng Dian's intention: "Little brother braved the ice and snow to come this time, could it be something important?" ”

Hearing this, Deng Dian took out a bamboo book from his backpack, respectfully handed it to Zhuang Xin, and said, "The old man will know it at a glance. ”

Zhuang Xin didn't ask, took the letter and spread it out, only to see that the content of the letter was that a person who called himself Zhuang Zhong and claimed to be a junior wanted to seek a military position, and asked him to help see if he could talk to the doctor in charge of the army about this matter, and make an appointment with each other to meet.

I have to say that this letter is really ordinary, and at a glance, I know that this young man named Zhuang Zhong is just asking the elders of the clan for help, even if this letter is turned out by Chu Ying's Chu Jun to check it, he can't find any flaws.

But Zhuang Xin is the only one who knows very well that there are no descendants called Zhuang Zhong in his clan at all, after all, the name Zhong will only appear among civilians with low culture in most cases, and the big family will rarely use this kind of obviously ranked character as the name of the clan.

In Zhuang Xin's impression, the name Zhong, and it has something to do with the surname Zhuang, is only Meng Zhong of Fangcheng, because Meng Zhong's mentor Zhuang Zhou is Zhuang's family, as the so-called teacher is like a father, Meng Zhong borrowed his teacher's surname, it is not a problem at all.

Of course, although these were guessed by Zhuang Xin in a blink of an eye, in fact, there was no need to guess at all - since the person who sent the letter was Deng Dian, then the person who wrote him this letter was either Qu Yuan or Meng Zhong, so this is still guessing?

It's just that even if in order to assist Qu Yuan in saving the Chu State, he volunteered to be Fang Cheng and Meng Zhong's internal response in the Chu State, but so far, Meng Zhong has never signaled him to do anything, which makes Zhuang Xin really surprised to receive Meng Zhong's letter today.

Since it was a letter sent by Meng Zhong, the content of the letter would naturally not be as it appeared to be, Zhuang Xin pondered it carefully, and understood Meng Zhong's purpose: Meng Zhong wanted to meet with Zhao Ju and ask him for help.

Even, even why Meng Zhong asked him for help, Zhuang Xin could guess a few points.

At this time, he turned his head and asked Deng Dian, "Boy, have you read the contents of the letter?" ”

Deng Dian didn't hide it, nodded and said truthfully: "Fang ...... Well, when the one ordered me to send this letter, he showed it to his subordinates, and said that the content of the letter was only understood by the old man, even if it was interrogated and searched by Chu Pawn. ”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin nodded secretly, and secretly praised Meng Zhong for being really cautious and careful in doing things, not as frizzy as ordinary young people.

"Uncle, do you really understand? I mean, does this letter really mean something else? Deng Dian asked curiously.

"Haha." Zhuang Xin smiled, and immediately said to Deng Dian: "This is not what you should know, don't ask." ”

"Oh." Deng Dian nodded, and then stopped asking.

At this time, Zhuang Xin glanced at the letter in his hand again, frowned and fell into deep thought.

As far as he knew, Zhao Ju was currently in the land of Wanfang, and if Meng Zhong wanted to make an appointment with Zhao Ju, he only needed to send a soldier, but Meng Zhong wanted him to come forward, of course, part of the reason why he was worried about the leakage of the news, most of it was because of Zhao Ju himself - this guy has never forgotten to care about the interests and harms, how can he take risks easily?

"It seems that I must find a way to meet Zhao Ju in person and convince him to make an appointment with Na Meng Zhong."

Looking at the letter in his hand, Zhuang Xin thought secretly.

But the question is, on what grounds?

As soon as he thought about it, he suddenly had an idea in his heart.

Immediately, Zhuang Xin summoned a domestic servant and ordered to prepare wine and food to entertain Deng Dian, while he himself said goodbye to Deng Dian and went straight to the palace to ask Xiong Heng, the king of Chu.

At this time, Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, was drinking and having fun in the palace with two beautiful women in his arms.

I still remember that when Sima Coo's capture of Wujun a while ago, Xiong Heng, who learned the bad news, was full of sorrow, did not drink, and did not approach women, and convened the ministers many times to discuss countermeasures, but he did have a little bit of the appearance of being the king of Chu, but after he married the Qin woman and made the two countries of Qin and Chu conclude diplomatic relations, this one immediately returned to his old state, and threw the national government to his younger brother Zilan, and frolicked with beauties in the palace all day long.

However, this is not surprising, anyway, in Xiong Heng's opinion, the crisis of his Chu State has been resolved, and he has concluded an alliance with Qin State, since the country is no longer a threat, why can't he drink and have fun.

"The king, the scholar Zhuang Xin asks to see you." The courtiers came to report.

Hearing this, Chu Wang Xiong's face sank, and he subconsciously said, "I don't see." ”

The confessor was stunned for a moment, but did not dare to disobey, and turned to retreat.

However, before he took two steps, the hesitant voice of King Xiong Heng of Chu came from behind him: "Slow down." ”

I saw King Xiong of Chu frowning and pondering for a moment, and the expression on his face changed repeatedly, but in the end, he still sighed helplessly, and said unwillingly: "Forget it, summon him into the hall." ”

"Whoa."

I have to say that there is nothing that the king of Chu Xiong can do when he encounters Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin, the two direct ministers with iron heads.

Qu Yuan is okay, anyway, the Qu clan has declined, even if he ordered Qu Yuan to be exiled, the Qu clan has no confidence to resist the king's order, but this Zhuang Xin is different, because the Zhuang clan has a rebel Zhuang Ji.

It may be that in the eyes of Qin generals such as Sima Cuo and Bai Qi, there are no generals in the Chu State who have the ability to lead the army in battle except for a Zhaoju, but in fact, Zhuang Ji was the deputy general of the former Chu State Commander Yin Tangyu during the Battle of Chuisha, and this person's ability to fight is far above that of Zhaoju.

The problem is that after Tang Yu was defeated in the Battle of Drasa that year, Zhuang Ji took the opportunity to rebel for some reason, and once led the rebels to capture Chu Ying, which dealt a heavy blow to the Chu State.

In recent years, Zhuang Ji has been encouraging the commoners to rebel against the royal family and the public office in the Chu State, and even openly shouted the slogan "The current king is mediocre, and a new monarch needs to be chosen", and with this slogan, he attracted many commoners of the Chu State who were strongly dissatisfied with the Chu royal family, the public office, and the nobles.

Fortunately, Zhuang Xin insisted on standing on the side of Xiong Heng, the orthodox state of Chu, and appeased Zhuang Ji with good words, which made the court of Chu and Zhuang Ji's rebels in a delicate balance.

It is precisely because of this that neither Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, nor Ling Yin Zilan, dare not offend Zhuang Xin, lest Zhuang Ji use this as an excuse to launch a rebellion against the imperial court again.

In short, for this Zhuang Xin, King Xiong Heng of Chu can avoid it, if he really can't avoid it, then he can only be counted by Zhuang Xin.

No, after a while, when Zhuang Xin walked into the hall, he saw two beautiful women kneeling beside Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, and there were many drinks and dishes on the table in front of the three, Zhuang Xin couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

After arching his hand horizontally towards the king of Chu, he said in a disappointed tone: "A while ago, seeing that the king was not a drunkard, not close to women, and personally inquired about the danger of the country, the old minister thought that it was the ancestor who appeared and finally made the king repent in the face of the national disaster, but he never thought about ......it."

Speaking of this, he sighed in disappointment again, and couldn't help but say, "Is it necessary that the day when my Great Chu arrives at the end of the country will the king repent?" ”

Listening to Zhuang Xin's counting, Chu Wang Xiong Heng was also secretly angry in his heart, but it was not easy to attack, after waving his hand to signal the two Meiji to retreat, he said curtly: "Isn't this nothing? ”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin frowned and said, "The king of a country, how can there be nothing to say? ”

"Zhuang Qing, state affairs have their own order Yin ......"

"The King." Interrupting Xiong Heng's words, Zhuang Xin sincerely advised: "The king of a country, all things can be allowed to his courtiers, only the name and the instrument can not be dummies, now the king has appointed Ling Yin to deal with all kinds of state affairs, and acquiesce in his rewards and punishments and canonization of his courtiers, this is the way to take trouble!" ”

"Zhuang Qing's words are serious, Zilan and I are brothers......"

"Although they were siblings in the old days, from the moment the king sat in this position, the king was the king, and the minister was the minister, and there was no brotherly affection, only the courtesy of the king and the minister......"

"Okay, good, the king knows it's wrong." Seeing that Zhuang Xin was about to start admonishing himself again, Xiong Heng hurriedly diverted the topic: "Zhuang Qing asked to see the widow today, he won't be in order to count the widows, right?" I don't know what Zhuang Qing is about? ”

Zhuang Xin smacked his lips unsatisfied, he wanted to persuade a few more words, but considering that the king in front of him might not listen, and he also had other important matters today, he felt that it was better to stop at the point.

If the king were provoked again with his words, and he was swept away, would he not have mistaken a great deal?

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "Indeed, the old minister invited him today, and he does have something important to discuss with the king......

As soon as he heard this, King Xiong Heng of Chu suddenly swept away the gloom on his face.

In his opinion, as long as Zhuang Xin didn't come to blame him, then it didn't matter.

Zhuang Qing said.

"That's the ......" After a deep groan, Zhuang Xin Zhengse said: "A few days ago, didn't Doctor Zhao implore me to send another batch of baggage?" ”

"Oh?"

Xiong Heng was slightly stunned, and immediately after noticing Zhuang Xin's frowning action, he immediately changed his words and said: "Well, indeed, the widow seems to have heard Zilan mention it, but the specifics ......."

As soon as Zhuang Xin heard it, he knew that this monarch did not pay attention to this matter, and for the sake of the overall situation, he patiently explained: "That's the case, some time ago, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi of the Qin State led the army to attack Fangcheng with Doctor Zhao, but they never thought that the three of them fell for the tricks of the Wei general Meng Zhong, causing the baggage of the Qin army and our Chu army to be burned by the Wei army. Because I lost a lot of winter clothes in the army, Sima mistakenly entrusted Dr. Zhao, hoping that I would prepare some more ......."

"That's what happened." At this time, Xiong Heng also remembered, nodded and said, "It is true, Zilan did report it to the widow." How? Are there not enough of those winter coats? ”

Zhuang Xin nodded and said, "Yes." …… As far as the minister knew, because of the rush of time, Ling Yin only collected a part. ”

Speaking of this, he deliberately sighed and said, "I didn't think it a few days ago, but after the old minister got up this morning, I felt that the weather was extremely cold recently...... Then Lao Chen couldn't help but think, if most of the baggage was divided by the Qin people, how would my Dachu soldiers survive this winter? ”

"Hmm......"

Xiong Heng thought for a while and asked, "So what does Zhuang Qing think about this?" ”

I saw Zhuang Xin arch his hand and said: "The old minister suggested that it is better for the old minister to be the messenger and bring some clothes, meat, and wine to Wancheng to reward the army. ”

Xiong Heng was stunned, and then his eyes widened slightly.

He couldn't hide the joy in his heart.

What did he hear? Zhuang Xin took the initiative to leave Chu Ying?

That's a good thing!

Let's talk about it or not, as long as this annoying old man is not in Chu Ying, who will talk about him drinking and having fun?

Thinking of this, Xiong Heng hurriedly said: "What Zhuang Qing said is very true, the matter of the army, the widow will hand it over to Zhuang Qing, and Zhuang Qing can go to Zilan to ask for the army's things." ”

“……”

Looking at the unconcealed joy on the face of the monarch in front of him, how could Zhuang Xin, who had lived for half his life, not guess the thoughts of this monarch?

It's just that the goal has been achieved, and he doesn't bother to care about it anymore.

After bidding farewell to Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, Zhuang Xin immediately went to see Ling Yin Zilan and talked about the army.

Zilan is more difficult to fool than Xiong Heng, as soon as she heard Zhuang Xin propose to sacrifice the army, Zilan guessed that there must be some reason inside.

But there is one thing that Zilan's thoughts are the same as Xiong Heng's, that is, he also sees that Zhuang Xin, the old man, is annoying, since he can send this old man away from Chu Ying with the matter of sacrificing the army, why not do it?

So, Zilan agreed to this matter, and in order to tell Zhuang Xin, an annoying old man, to leave Chu Ying quickly, he also sent someone to instruct the officials of the treasury to prepare the supplies for the army as soon as possible, so that Zhuang Xin could leave early.

In this way, only two days later, Chu Ying prepared a batch of supplies for the army, and sent hundreds of Chu soldiers to follow Zhuang Xin and escort them to Wancheng.

Due to the ice and snow blocking the road at this time, the road was difficult to travel, and it took 40 days, Zhuang Xin arrived in Wancheng with this batch of materials in late December, and it was logical to see Zhaoju.

Knowing that Zhuang Xin led the troops to escort a batch of rewards to Wancheng, Zhao Ju was also very happy, and immediately ordered the soldiers to stew wine and meat to catch the wind for Zhuang Xin.

However, when the wine had passed the third round, Zhuang Xin said to Zhao Ju mysteriously: "Doctor Zhao, please retreat left and right, and tell you something important below." ”

Zhao Ju naturally didn't suspect Zhuang Xin, and when he even signaled the left and right guards to retreat, he immediately asked with a little drunkenness, "I don't know what Doctor Zhuang has to tell you?" ”

I saw Zhuang Xin glance at the doors and windows of the wooden house where he was located, and then lowered his voice and said, "Meng Zhong wants to see you." ”

Hearing this, Zhao Ju was shocked, and his face was so frightened that the wine on his face disappeared, only to see him look nervously outside the house, and then looked at Zhuang Xin with a frightened gaze: "Who?" Who are you talking about? ”

Zhuang Xin repeated: "Meng ......"

But before he could finish speaking, Zhao Ju interrupted him: "Okay! ”

I saw Zhao Ju swallowing his saliva and looking at Zhuang Xin in disbelief.

He had long known that Zhuang Xin was secretly communicating with Fangcheng, and he also knew that his brother-in-law Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin were secretly planning a big event, but to be honest, he didn't want to participate at all.

He was only responsible for leading troops to assist Sima Cuo and Bai Qi in their crusade against Wei and Han, either defeating Wei and Korea, or being defeated by the combined forces of Wei and Han, and he Zhaoju didn't know anything else, and he didn't want to know.

With his wisdom, could he not have guessed Meng Zhong's purpose in wanting to see him? - What else can Meng Zhong do? It is nothing more than hoping that he will act as an internal response and give the Qin army a blow at a critical time, and the two sides will join forces to inflict heavy losses on the Qin army under the command of Sima Cuo and Bai Qi.

But what good does this do for him?

To win this war, he is nothing more than more fiefdoms; The defeat in this war was at most blamed by Xiong Heng and Zilan, the kings of Chu, and he was still him, the current patriarch of the Zhao clan.

But the United Wei army can turn against the Qin army as an ally, this situation is bad, the Qin State will not spare him, and the king of Chu, Xiong Heng and Ling Yin Zilan, will not spare him, since there is no harm and no benefit, why would he do such a stupid thing?

If that Meng Zhong has the ability to defeat Sima Cuo and Bai Qi, then he doesn't mind touching the fish and releasing the water at a critical time, but if he wants to make a big fanfare to unite the Wei army to attack the Qin army, sorry, he still has the entire family behind him to take care of.

Seeing Zhao Ju's categorical refusal, Zhuang Xin was furious in his heart, and said in a low voice: "Doctor Zhao, you don't know that my Great Chu helped the Qin State to crusade against Wei and Han, just like a craftsman sitting on a tree pole sawing wood, once the big tree falls, the craftsman on the tree is bound to fall down...... Once the Qin State annexed Wei Han, no one in the Central Plains countries was its opponent, and at that time, it was difficult to guarantee that the countries would not be destroyed and annexed by the Qin State one by one. Since King Hui of Qin, the covenant of the Qin people is no longer credible! Think about how Zhang Yi deceived me Da Chu! ”

"Zhang Yi is a Wei ......"

Sighing helplessly, Zhao Ju lowered his voice and said: "What Doctor Zhuang said is understood below, but now the Qin State and my Chu State have an alliance ......."

"I'm not asking you to defect, I'm just persuading you to meet with Na Meng Zhong......"

"I know what he wants to do without seeing me...... My Great Chu betrayed the Qin State at the beginning, and was frequently retaliated against by the Qin State for the next twenty years, what were Wei and Han doing at that time? What is Qi doing? Isn't the lesson of the Battle of the Hanging Sands enough? ”

“……”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xin's face inevitably showed hesitation.

Indeed, although he and Qu Yuan both had the intention of uniting Wei and Han against Qin, Wei and Han may not be willing to accept him sincerely.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin whispered to Zhao Ju: "In any case, let's see that Meng Zhong first, since he was able to defeat Qin generals like Sima Cuo and Bai Qi for a time, he must also understand the current situation of my Chu State, and it may not be impossible to propose a way to get the best of both worlds......"

"What if he just wants me to betray the Qin army?" Zhao Ju snorted coldly.

Zhuang Xin thought for a while and said, "Then refuse!" …… But I don't think that Meng Zhong will be so superficial. ”

Being forced by Zhuang Xin to be really helpless, Zhao Ju thought for a while and said, "Okay, then let's have a private meeting with him and see what he will say." However, I was very closely watched by Sima Cuo and Bai Qi, and it was difficult to leave, so if Meng Zhong had this intention, he would ask him to come in person, and I would send a henchman to meet him. ”

After that, he saw Zhuang Xin frowning, and added: "It's not that I deliberately made it difficult, it's actually that Sima Cuo and Bai Qi are guarding against me, so you can try to convey my words to that Meng Zhong." ”

"This ...... All right. ”

Seeing that Zhao Ju's expression didn't look like a fake, Zhuang Xin could only nod and try to relay Zhao Ju's response to that Meng Zhong first.

As for whether that Meng Zhong dared to come......

Mixed into the 200,000 Qin-Chu coalition army alone to meet Zhaoju?

No matter how bold you are, you wouldn't dare to do that, right?