On the right day, when Qu Yuan made his suggestion, Meng Zhong and Gong Zhong hit it off, and the three immediately concluded an alliance.

In view of the fact that Gong Zhongxuan is currently only white in Korea, and Qu Yuan is even more of a criminal body who was exiled in Chu State, both of them recommended Meng to be recommended to be the longitudinal chief of the "three-person joint column".

And Meng Zhong was not too humble in this regard, and accepted the false name of this longitudinal chief, and after discussing with Qu Yuan and Gong Zhongxuan, he gave this so-called "three-person joint longitudinal" a name, called "Fangcheng Council".

Considering that there are only three people in the Fangcheng Council, Meng Zhong, and Gong Zhong, the rules formulated by the three are relatively relaxed, and they can be summed up in one sentence: do not do anything harmful to each other's country.

Take Meng Zhong as an example, that is, he could not do anything harmful to Korea and Chu, and if the king of Wei ordered him to attack Korea or Chu in the future, he must notify Gong Zhong Xuan or Qu Yuan in advance, and the two sides will work together to find a way to resolve the war as much as possible.

Of course, the "try to find a way" here must be Qu Yuan to find a way to reduce the losses of Chu, such as ceding land to make peace with Wei, and what Meng Zhong has to do is to cooperate with Qu Yuan and find a way to persuade the King of Wei to "accept it when he sees it".

After all, they are both adults, and it would be unrealistic to think that this so-called verbal covenant would make Meng Zhong desperate to prevent Wei from attacking Korea or Chu.

In addition to working together to maintain peace among the nations, the members of the Fangcheng Council are also obligated to do their best to help each other achieve their goals.

For example, if Meng Zhong wants to become the Great Sima of Hedong Shou or even the Wei State, Gongzhong Xuan and Qu Yuan have to find a way to help him achieve his goal; At this stage, Gong Zhong Luxury's goal is to bring back his son lice, who is a proton, from Chu State, and Meng Zhong and Qu Yuan must also try their best to make Gong Zhong Lu achieve his goal.

Members help each other and benefit each other, exchange news, this is the essence of the "Fangcheng Council", and it is also the biggest regulation.

Although in the future, as the Fangcheng Council continues to recruit members, while its influence gradually increases, there may not be the drawbacks of conflicts between members, but for the time being, the formation of this covenant is greatly beneficial to Meng Zhong.

Don't underestimate Gongzhong and Qu Yuan.

Although Gong Zhong Xuan is currently white, he is a great talent who has been the prime minister of Han at all, and the current minister of South Korea, Gong Zhong Min, is his brother, as long as Gong Zhong Xuan praised Meng Zhong in front of the King of Wei when he was on an envoy to the Wei State, this is more effective than Tian Di and Duan Ganyin praising Meng Zhong in front of the King of Wei.

Qu Yuan is the same, although he was degraded and exiled, his connections in the Chu State are not small, and he has acquaintances and friends in the Zhao and Jing clans, which is also the reason why the Chu State made Yin Zilan jealous of him and tried every means to exile Qu Yuan to Jiangnan, which was thousands of miles away.

In short, as long as it is used properly, Meng Zhong may not be able to use the momentum of Han and Chu to fight against Xue Gong Tianwen in the future, even if Tian Wen cannot be driven out of Wei, it can at least strengthen the Wei king's attention to him.

After a brief discussion, the three-person alliance that had begun to take shape was finally formed, and Meng Zhong, Gong Zhong Luxury, and Qu Yuan were all very happy, and couldn't help but drink some wine to cheer up.

Since the three of them had formed an alliance with each other, Qu Yuan was naturally more concerned about Gongzhong's extravagance, and the next day he wrote a letter, entrusting a few Chu pawns who were supposed to escort him to Jiangnan to return to Chu Ying, and handed it to his brother-in-law Zhao Ju, entrusting Zhao Ju to take care of Han Gongzi's lice, and if he had the opportunity in the future, he persuaded Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, to release Gongzi lice, so that Gongzi lice could move to Yeyi to live.

For this, Gong Zhong was very grateful, and immediately asked Meng Zhong again, imploring Meng Zhong to allow Han Gongzi to live in Yeyi when the time was ripe in the future.

Like this kind of favor, Meng Zhong naturally would not refuse, and immediately agreed happily.

As for when it was considered "ripe", Meng Zhong didn't ask, but he could guess it in his heart: it was probably when the Qin State attacked the Chu State.

In his opinion, Gong Zhongxuan must have planned to use this matter to achieve his goal at that time, even if Gongzi Lie was out of the control of the Chu State.

However, considering that Gong Zhong did not plead with him, Meng Zhong did not plan to interfere for the time being, he was still weighing the pros and cons, hoping to gain some benefits from this "Qin-Chu War" that was destined to break out.

For example, the population of the state of Chu.

Once the Qin army invades the state of Chu, the people of the state of Chu will inevitably flee in terror, and if he Meng Zhong intervenes sideways, he may be able to get tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people at once - without paying at all, he will get tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, and this cheaper good thing?

The only thing worth worrying about is Qu Yuan's opinion on this.

However, according to Meng Zhong's hint to Qu Yuan, Qu Yuan did not resist this matter.

Also, Qu Yuan is a sensible person after all: if the current Chu State is still rich and powerful, he will naturally resist Meng Zhong's bad behavior of abducting his Chu people in every possible way, but the problem is that now the people of his Chu State are overwhelmed by the heavy taxes, and they are attacked by the Qin State, even if Meng Zhong does not want to find a way to abduct those Chu people to Yeyi, those exiles from his Chu State will probably die in the wilderness because of hunger and cold, in this case, what position does he Qu Yuan have to stop Meng Zhong from doing good, Let more Chu people survive in Yeyi?

If he wants to hate, he will hate Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, and hate Yin Zilan's nobles who only care about selfish interests and don't know the country, how can he blame Meng Zhong?

After learning of Qu Yuan's attitude towards this, Meng Zhong became more sure in his heart, and immediately discussed the matter with Meng Sui.

I have to say that after listening to Meng Zhong's words, Meng Sui was taken aback.

After all, in his opinion, Meng Zhong wanted to take the opportunity to absorb those fleeing Chu people when the Qin army attacked the city of Chu, wouldn't this be a fire in the fire? - Will the Qin army watch him and the Wei army take Chu Min away?

Not to mention that the soldiers of the Qin army worked hard to attack the city of Chu, and they also counted on looting from the Chu people in the city, let's just say that the Qin generals who were responsible for leading the Qin army, how could they allow themselves to only capture one empty city?

Three-year-old children know this truth: an empty city has a fart?!

Thinking of this, he shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that the Qin army may not let me succeed." …… If the Qin army has a tough attitude, it may cause Qin and Wei to become hostile, so Ah Zhong, I am afraid it will be difficult for you to explain to the king of Wei. ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong immediately said: "Therefore, I will make the banner clear in advance, I don't want to be an enemy of the Qin army, just to protect the innocent Chu people, but if the Qin army takes the initiative to invade us, it will be the Qin army's, I can call on the soldiers of the world to denounce the Qin army!" ”

I have to say that Meng Zhong is indeed very confident when it comes to "denunciation", after all, he is quite well-connected on the Confucian side, the Confucian sage Mencius of Zou State is his teacher, and the Confucian sect of Xihe in Wei State also has a very good relationship with him, as long as he gives an order, Confucian scholars all over the world are bound to rise up and denounce Qin.

Of course, the condemnation of Confucian scholars is actually useless, after all, those Confucian scholars are not all Tian Zhang, at most they write a few articles condemning the Qin State, so that the Qin State, which is not very good in reputation, will become more disliked.

But in the grand scheme of things, these denunciations may not be able to lead to a new round of "joint expedition against Qin", at least the Qi State will be willing to participate in the affairs against the Qin State, if the Qin State is too self-serving, the Qi State may use this matter as a handle and call on all the countries in the world to jointly crusade against the Qin State.

Therefore, Meng Zhong felt that the Qin State would have some scruples.

Listening to Meng Zhong's words, Meng Sui nodded in agreement, but Xuan even raised his doubts: "Ah Zhong, what you said is indeed feasible, but I think that we should first ensure that our city will not be retaliated against by the Qin army. …… As soon as the Qin army conquered a city, you took the men and horses to receive the fleeing Chu people, as if the Qin army made a wedding dress for us, and if you were the general of the Qin army, you must be on fire in your heart. Therefore, I think that if you want to snatch people from the Qin army, you must first have the force that the Qin army fears. In our city, there are only more than 1,000 cavalry and more than 5,000 soldiers who can still fight, and this amount of strength is far from enough. ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong nodded slightly.

Immediately, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said: "By the way, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu, aren't they stationed in the area of "Xudi (Xuchang)" and "Yuncheng"? I can write a letter to the two of him, asking the two of them to organize a drill with our city, by the way, you can also call Han Xiao from Wancheng, so that we can raise thirty or forty thousand troops here, which is enough to make the Qin army have some scruples. ”

"This ......," Meng Sui pondered, frowning.

He didn't doubt that Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu would sell Meng Zhong's face, after all, after the Battle of Yique, these two military horses were quite convinced of Meng Zhong, and the question was on the side of Daliang - would Da Liang's side allow this?

After Meng Sui raised the concerns in his heart, Meng Zhong said with a smile: "It's just a joint exercise in Fangcheng, Xudi, and Yuncheng, the purpose of which is to improve the combat capability of the three armies and Wei soldiers. ”

Hearing this, Meng Sui looked at Meng Zhong with some consternation.

But it is undeniable that Meng Zhong is indeed right, as long as the armies of Qin and Wei do not fight at that time, then even if Meng Zhong gathers thirty or forty thousand troops to operate in the Wandi area, it is only a joint military exercise between Wei and Han, even if Tian Wen can't use this matter against Meng Zhong.

The same is true for the two military generals Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu in Xudi and Yuncheng, as long as they can ensure that Xudi and Yuncheng are still as calm as usual, even if they bring their troops to Fangcheng to cheer for Meng Zhong, they can indeed use "training" to prevaricate.

Neither the "Zhou Li" nor the "Wei Law" had a hard and fast rule that the military commander must train his soldiers near the garrison city.

As long as you don't exaggerate too much, for example, invite Gongsun Zhu, Wei Qing, Dou Xing and others from Hedong to Fangcheng, which is nearly thousands of miles away, to "train troops", no one will say anything.

The distance between Xudi and Yuncheng is only about 300 miles away from Fangcheng, and even if you don't order a rapid march, you can reach it within five days, which is not far away.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong immediately wrote two letters and sent them to Xu Di and Yuncheng respectively, and handed them over to the garrison Sima of the two places, namely Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu.

Only two days later, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu received a letter from Meng Zhong, in which the latter invited them to Fangcheng and Yeyi for a drink.

The generals at the level of military Sima originally had contacts in private, such as Tang Zhi and Jiao Ge, one garrison was in Yecheng, and the other was in Fangling, but they still got together to drink every once in a while, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were also the same.

Even, in the past, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were good friends, and there were several military horses stationed in Henan, but it was a pity that those people died in the battle of Yique, although Daliang recently appointed a new general, but after all, he has not come together with Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu.

After receiving Meng Zhong's letter, Zheng Zheng went to Yuncheng to get together with Cai Wu, and saw that they had received Meng Zhong's letter, and his heart was even more happy.

I have to say that if it was invited by others, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu would probably have to weigh it and see if they could get along with each other, but in front of Meng Zhong, they wouldn't dare or put on any show.

After all, they all understood that a mere "Fangcheng Order" was not enough to reflect Meng Zhong's talent, and the latter was fully capable of taking on such a position as Hedong Shou - maybe Meng Zhong would be the next Pang Juan!

Yes, the Wei army in Hedong has Gongsun Xi, the Wei army in Hanoi has Zhai Zhang, and the Wei army in Henan (Yingnan), they also have their pride, that is, the famous Wei general who once swept the surrounding countries, Pang Juan!

For this reason, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu once talked happily in private, Hedong missed Meng Zhong, so that the King of Wei sealed Meng Zhong to Fangcheng, could this be the harbinger of the rise of his Yingnan Wei army?

At least in the eyes of Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu, Meng Zhong is fully capable of competing with Pang Juan!

Because Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were in a hurry on the way, only two days later, they both arrived in Yeyi, and then came to Fangcheng along the avenue.

The two of them came so quickly, it was completely unexpected by Meng Zhong, after all, he invited Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu to come as guests in the letter, only saying that when it was convenient for these two military horses, he would not stipulate any date, but he didn't expect that only five days after the two letters were sent, these two military horses rushed to Fangcheng, which made Meng Zhong quite useful.

Seeing that Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were covered with wind and snow, Meng Zhong hurriedly confessed: "I bothered the two of you to come to Fangcheng hard, and I really didn't want to go ...... it."

Hearing this, Zheng Zheng said with a smile: "What is Master Meng talking about? Invited by Shishuai, don't say that the two of us are in Xudi and Yuncheng, even if we are in Hedong and Hanoi, we have to rush to the meeting......"

Before the words fell, Cai Wu corrected with a smile on the side: "What is Master Meng, it should be called Fangcheng Order now!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Zheng Zheng woke up like a dream.

Meng Zhong smiled at this.

In all fairness, did Zheng Zheng really call Meng Zhong's official position wrong?

How can it be!

In this era of paying attention to fame and honor, how can it be possible to call the other party's official position wrong? Not to mention that the other party is still something you deliberately want to woo.

In the final analysis, the reason why Zheng Zheng called Meng Zhong "Meng Shishuai" is just to continue the relationship between the two sides in the battle of Yique, if Meng Zhong also recognizes this robe, then when Meng Zhong is promoted to Hedong Shou or even Da Sima in the future, he may transfer Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu to his direct command and regard them as confidants - this is a tacit understanding between people.

Although Meng Zhong is young, he is not unaware of the world, seeing that Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu are interested in showing favor to him, of course he is happy in his heart, and immediately invited the two to the county government, ordered the soldiers to prepare sumptuous wine and food, and called Meng Sui to accompany and entertain the two.

The four of them chatted while drinking, and the topic of small talk at the beginning was naturally the battle of Yique, which made the Wei army raise their eyebrows, after all, the Wei State almost lost 180,000 troops in that battle, but they didn't expect to be able to reverse the victory and defeat the Qin army in the end.

I have to say that Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were also stained with Meng Zhong's light, and they became heroes of Wei State.

After three rounds of drinking, Zheng Zheng asked Meng Zhong why he invited them to Fangcheng this time - after all, they were both adults, and Zheng Zheng didn't believe that Meng Zhong invited the two of them to come for no reason.

Seeing that Zheng Zheng took the initiative to ask, Meng Zhong did not hide it, and said truthfully: "A few days ago, the Korean storm kite came to Wancheng, during which he went to Fangcheng to meet me, according to what he said, Qin State is preparing to attack Chu State......"

Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were stunned when they heard this, and while looking at each other, Cai Wu asked cautiously: "Fang Cheng Ling, do you want to intervene in the war between Qin and Chu?" This...... I'm afraid it's not appropriate. ”

Of course, Meng Zhong understood Cai Wu's concerns, and said with a smile: "Without the king's order, how dare you make enemies with the Qin army without authorization and worsen the diplomatic relations between Wei and Qin?" I just want to take the opportunity to kidnap some Chu people from Chu State to my Yeyi. …… The two of you also know that I have been ordered to seal Fangcheng, and although the King of Wei has allowed me to prepare an army of 50,000, only the people of Fangcheng, Yeyi, and Wuyang are not enough to select 50,000 soldiers, so I intend to absorb the Chu people for my Wei State......"

On the side, Meng Sui also added: "I am afraid that the Qin army will see that our city has few soldiers and take the opportunity to attack our army, so I invite two military commanders today to seek their help." ”

"I see."

Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu suddenly realized, and after glancing at each other, Zheng Zheng clenched his fists and said: "Since it is entrusted by the Fangcheng Order, the two of us should give a helping hand, but the ...... of the beam"

Meng Zhong said with a smile: "Just think that Fangcheng, Xudi, and Yuncheng are jointly training in Wancheng, and training is the internal business of our military commanders, how can Daliang blame?" ”

"Join forces to train the troops?"

Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu suddenly came to their senses, and secretly praised Meng Zhong for being thoughtful.

Now that the biggest concern has been lifted, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu are naturally willing to sell favors to Meng Zhong, and immediately agreed, saying that after the spring of next year, they will each lead at least seven or eight thousand soldiers to Fangcheng to assist Meng Zhong.

Meng Zhong was overjoyed in his heart, and did not forget to solemnly promise: "The hearts of the two of you are grateful, and there will be a good reward in the future!" ”

Hearing this, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were also happy in their hearts.

After all, to be honest, if it weren't for Meng Zhong's favor, how could the two of them agree to this matter? There is no shortage of people in the cities they are stationing, and there is no need to abduct any Chu people.

That night, Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu stayed in Fangcheng temporarily until dawn the next day, when they said goodbye to Meng Zhong and Meng Sui and set off to return to Xudi and Yuncheng.

At this time, Meng Zhong rode straight to Wancheng and met Han Xiao, the guard of Wancheng.

In order not to cause any changes, he also brought Gong Zhong Luxury, so that when Han Xiao rejected him, Gong Zhong Lu could come forward to persuade Han Xiao.

Unexpectedly, Gong Zhongxuan said with a smile after learning what had happened: "Han Xiao originally advocated "uniting Wei to resist Qin", and Han Xiao is also a person who knows right from wrong and understands reason, how could he not know that after Qin attacked Chu, the next one to suffer was Han and Wei? ”

Seeing this, Meng Zhong said with a smile: "But I didn't have the royal order of the King of Wei, and I didn't dare to fight with the Qin army without authorization, so this time I just joined forces with Han Xiao's army to train the troops, the purpose was to make the Qin army jealous, not to start a war with the Qin army...... Therefore, Han Xiaojun may not cooperate with the willfulness of the subordinates. ”

"I see." Gong Zhong nodded extravagantly, and then swore solemnly: "I can still speak in front of Han Xiao, and I will help Fang Chengling persuade him." ”

"Thank you."

Sure enough, at first, seeing that Meng Zhong secretly contacted the two military horses of Xu Di and Yuncheng, as if he wanted to take the Qin army, Han Xiao, the defender of Wancheng, was still a little interested - I have to say that the victory in the battle of Yique successfully inspired the confidence of the generals of Wei and Han to fight against Qin.

However, when Han Xiao figured out that Meng Zhong's original intention was to snatch some Chu people in the hands of the Qin army, this Han general would inevitably appear to be lacking in interest.

Fortunately, in the end, Gong Zhong came forward to persuade Han Xiao, so that the latter was finally willing to agree to cooperate with Meng Zhong's intention, which can be called "taking chestnuts from the fire".

On the way back to Fangcheng, Meng Zhong said to Gong Zhong, "Thanks to Mr. Gong Zhong this time. ”

Gong Zhong smiled and waved his hand and said, "Between us and others, mutual benefit and reciprocity, don't say anything more thanks...... The matter of the lice son, he still has to rely on the assistance of Fang Chengling. ”

Of course, Meng Zhong knew what Gong Zhong was referring to, and immediately nodded.

In the blink of an eye, it was December, the weather was getting colder and colder, and the areas around Wancheng and Fangcheng were covered by snow, but on the Yeyi side, there was still a group of enthusiastic people who seemed to be able to melt the snow, still sneaking out of the city with hoes, braving the frost to reclaim the wasteland, just to open a few more acres of land.

Ye Yi was helpless against the guys who were greedy to this extent, after all, they had already sent people to persuade them, but these people were driven by interests and refused to listen to the advice.

Since they refused to listen, Ye Yi let them go.

It's no wonder, after all, Meng Zhong, Xiang Yi and others are Taoist disciples, and the purpose of Taoist governance is to "go with the flow", to put it bluntly, "obey the will of the people", "the government does not do superfluous things (implying to restrain the people)", as long as the people of Yeyi do not go too far, Meng Zhong, Xiang Yi and others don't bother to care about them and let them go.

In the first month of the new year, Meng Zhong finally reached the age of twenty and could perform the crown ceremony, according to the etiquette of the nobility, only a man who had done the crown ceremony would be regarded as a true adult man.

However, at this time, Meng Zhong didn't care about any crown gifts, because he had already received the news sent by Han Xiao, the guard of Wancheng, and learned that the army of Qin had already gathered outside Wuguan Pass, and was obviously waiting for the spring to attack Chu after the beginning of spring.

As for the commander of the Qin army on this road, I believe that Meng Zhong will never be unfamiliar with it, it is the Qin general who confronted him in the Yique area half a year ago, Bai Qi.

"Is it him? Scold! ”

Muttering, Meng Zhong felt a little incredible, because he didn't expect that he would meet Bai Qi again so soon.

And just when Meng Zhong was muttering to himself, Bai Qi, who was promoted to "Zuo Geng" for killing the famous Wei general Gongsun Xi in Yique, sneezed fiercely in the Qin camp outside Wuguan Pass.

"I wonder who's thinking about me?"

Bai Qi muttered to himself.

For some reason, he had a faint premonition in his heart that it was not very good.

It was as if a voice was telling him that it would not be smooth sailing for him to lead the army to attack Chu this time.

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