At the beginning of November, when Meng Zhong and others were engaged in protracted negotiations with the Qin State in the Zheng County and Yin and Jin Regions, Meng Sui, who was in the position of a false guard in Fangcheng on the southern border of the Wei State, received two pieces of news about the "disturbance in the border city."

The border market mentioned here refers to Xianghe, which is about 30 miles south of Yangguan.

Xianghe, also known as Xianghe Pass, is located on the north bank of the Xianghe River, when this place belonged to the land of the Zhangguo, the Zhangguo built a pass here, and it was called "Zhangguan" at that time.

Later, in order to resist foreign enemies, the state of Chu built the Great Wall of Chu and incorporated Xianghe as part of the city of Chufang, but after the Battle of Chuisha, Wancheng, which was the core of the city of Chu, was broken by the coalition forces of Qi, Wei and Han, and the strategic significance of the city of Chu became negligible.

After the "Battle of Wei, Qin, and Wanfang", both Fangcheng and Chu acquiesced to the Xianghe River as the boundary between the two places, and the northern part belonged to Fangcheng County under the jurisdiction of Wei, while the southern part belonged to Chu State, and the well water on both sides did not interfere with the river water.

However, with the gradual development of Fangcheng County, more and more Chu people tried to pass through Yangguan and go to Yeyi to do business, and transported some of Yeyi's goods to the hinterland of Chu and even Chu Ying for sale, and the trade route from Yangguan to Xianghe gradually became lively.

After learning of this situation, some of the generals stationed in Xianghe increased the local tariffs and profited from it.

Meng Sui heard the news of Xianghe's increase in taxes very early, thinking that this move would have a negative effect on Yeyi's attraction of foreign merchants, but considering that Xianghe belonged to the land of Chu, and Meng Zhong, Qu Yuan and others planned to join Chu to fight against Qin in the future, Meng Sui finally acquiesced to this matter.

Fangcheng's acquiescence made Xianghe's collection of tariffs an established fact, but fortunately, the Chu army on the opposite side was not the kind of fool who fished for everything, on the contrary, with the acquiescence and support of the local garrison Chu army, Xianghe soon developed into a small-scale border city, and a large number of Chu merchants collected tradable goods from Jingdi, and then transported them to Yeyi.

Occasionally, these merchants would be entrusted by the local army to buy grain and grass from Yeyi.

Knowing that Chu State was short of grain, Meng Sui moved his mind at that time, you must know that Fangcheng County owed a lot of money for construction and other things, and Fangcheng, as a completely militarized border army Tuntian City, of course there is no shortage of grain and grass, but only money, so after weighing for a long time, Meng Sui selected a few people from Mengyi's children to go to Xianghe to sell grain and grass instead of Fangcheng.

Since a large amount of grain and grass was to be sold, Fangcheng was bound to garrison in Xianghe, and after negotiations with Xianghe Chujun, the other party agreed that Fangcheng would send an army of about 300 people to Xianghe to guard the granaries and grain stores of Fangcheng.

Since then, Fangcheng and Xianghe have traded grain, grass, furs, animal skins and other things in private, during which Mengsui used the money from selling grain and grass to repay the debts previously owed, and at the same time did not forget to order swords, shields, arrows and other things from Korea and even to Chu, gradually, Xianghe became the border city of Fangcheng and Chu, although it was not recognized by Wei or Chu, but even the armies of both sides also made private transactions here.

Originally, the two sides got along quite well, but last night Meng Sui suddenly got news that there was a group of Chu people on Xianghe's side who clashed with the garrison of other cities.

This news was sent by the Fangcheng army stationed in Xianghe, saying that winter was approaching, and a group of refugees from Chu flocked to Xianghe, and it seemed that someone deliberately instigated during the period, saying that there was a large amount of rice grain in the granaries and grain shops to which they belonged in Fangcheng County, so a large group of refugees poured into the granaries and grain shops of the Fangcheng army and robbed the rice and grain in them.

As for the second piece of news, it was sent by Xianghe's stationed Chu army, accusing Xianghe's Fangcheng army of suppressing it by force in order to prevent the refugees from grabbing food, resulting in nearly 100 casualties and the anger of the refugees.

Comparing the two letters, Meng Sui immediately felt that something was wrong.

He didn't dare to guarantee that the Fangcheng army stationed in Xianghe would never use force to suppress the refugees who had looted their food, but he was sure that if the Fangcheng army over there really did this, then they would definitely not hide it and would not dare to hide it, but Meng Sui did not see the relevant description.

Moreover, for those refugees, Meng Sui also felt a little strange.

You must know that other Fangcheng counties have never excluded foreign populations, if there are desperate Chu people who defect to other Fangcheng counties, Fangcheng County will arrange for them to work in Fangcheng, Yeyi, Yuncheng and other places, in exchange for labor rations, even if it is to please that Qu Yuanqu doctor, other Fangcheng County has not changed this decree for many years.

But the group of refugees in Xianghe seemed to have never heard of this decree in other cities, and actually gathered a crowd to storm the granary of the army of other cities in Xianghe, and looted all the grain and grass in it......

"No matter how you look at it, it doesn't feel right."

Comparing the descriptions in the two letters, Meng Sui frowned and thought.

I don't know how long it took, and suddenly a soldier entered the inner hall and said: "Fake guard, Meng Hengmeng is here." ”

Meng Sui nodded: "Yes, please." ”

After a while, Meng Heng stepped into the house, clasped his fists and called: "Meng Heng, I've seen the fake guard." ”

Meng Sui nodded, and then smiled and said to Meng Heng: "Brother, please take a seat, I asked Brother Clan to go to Xianghe yesterday to see what is going on, I don't know what Brother Clan has gained." ”

Meng Heng Zhengse said: "I have been to Xianghe and questioned the gang of cubs fiercely, and they said that they did not point their blades towards the refugees of the Chu State from beginning to end, but among those so-called refugees, a few of them were armed with short blades, sneaky, and with bad intentions. ”

Meng Sui frowned and asked, "Really?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Heng's face turned pale, and he said with a bit of eagerness and anger in his eyes: "Those cubs are all trained by me, how dare they lie to me?" ”

Seeing that this clan brother was in a hurry, Meng Sui hurriedly reassured: "Of course I believe in the clan brother, and I also believe in the soldiers brought out by the clan brother......

Speaking of this, he changed his words, frowned and continued: "But if this is the case, then there will be a big problem. ”

As he spoke, he handed the letter to Meng Heng.

Meng Heng took a closer look at the letter, his face changed slightly, and he immediately shook his head and said, "This is impossible! The guys told me that they tried to avoid hurting the group of refugees, otherwise how could they break the group of cubs and plunder the grain and grass of our army? ”

Indeed, although the news said that there were as many as 2,000 refugees from the Chu State who rioted, and the Fangcheng army stationed in Xianghe was only 300 people, but if you think about it carefully, you also know that if the 300 Fangcheng troops are ruthless, not to mention the 2,000 refugees, the 3,000 refugees from the Chu State are not enough for them to kill, after all, the difference between the combat effectiveness of ordinary civilians and regular soldiers is too great, not to mention that the Fangcheng army is also equipped with crossbows, crossbows and other military weapons, how can it be easily overwhelmed?

After pondering for a moment, Meng Sui said in a deep voice, "This matter ...... Something is not right, it seems that someone is deliberately trying to create a dispute between the Chu people and our city. Brother, can you send someone to withdraw the soldiers over there first......"

"Okay." Meng Heng nodded, but then asked again: "What about that batch of grain and grass?" …… Ah Sui, I didn't say that in this riot, I suspect that those Xianghe Chu troops also participated. Do you know how much grain and grass our army has stored in Xianghe, even if there are more than 2,000 refugees, how can it be possible to empty the entire granary? There must be ghosts among them! ”

Meng Sui thought for a while and said, "You just have to withdraw the soldiers over there, and I will take care of the rest." ”

Seeing Meng Sui say this, Meng Heng didn't want to say anything, nodded and took the order to leave.

In the afternoon of the same day, the 300 Fangcheng troops stationed in Xianghe withdrew to Fangcheng, and Meng Sui randomly selected a few people for questioning, but the result of questioning was the same as what Meng Heng said.

Even, several Fangcheng soldiers said that at the time of the riot, there were some elephants like He Chujun who were disguised and mixed in.

These people swore by what they said, which made Meng Sui a little stunned after hearing it.

Xianghe's Chu army...... Are you so not afraid of death?

You must know that even Zhao Ju, the general of the Chu State, was polite on their side of Fangcheng.

After thinking about it, Meng Sui personally wrote a letter to the generals of the Chu army stationed in Xianghe, on the one hand, indicating that the soldiers of the other city did not harm the refugees of the Chu State, and on the other hand, asking the Xianghe Chu army to be responsible for recovering the grain and grass.

Meng Heng was right, that batch of grain and grass was not a small amount, and the more than 2,000 refugees had nowhere to hide, but his three hundred Fangcheng soldiers couldn't find out the whereabouts of those grain and grass afterwards, and they must have been involved in the Hechu army.

And the main purpose of Meng Sui writing this letter is to tell the other party that the acquaintance point will send it back, after all, the amount of grain and grass is not small, and Meng Sui will feel distressed if he really loses it.

The next day, the Xianghe Chu army sent a reply, not only did they admit that they had withheld the grain and grass of the city army below, but framed Fang Cheng, saying that Fang Cheng would withdraw the three hundred Fangcheng soldiers because of his weak heart, and finally, the Xiang He Chu army also asked Fang Cheng to return the murderers who hurt the refugees.

When he saw this letter, he was furious.

But in the end, after thinking about everything, he decided to put the matter aside for the time being.

Unexpectedly, the Xianghe Chu army did not give up, and sent a team of Chu troops to Fangcheng the next day, insisting on handing over the 300 Fangcheng soldiers.

Ignored it.

After this incident spread, the Fangcheng soldiers and generals in Fangcheng and Yangguan were in an uproar, even if you don't return that batch of grain and grass, you dare to frame our city army for indiscriminately killing innocents? Are you really a bully in my Fang City?

Immediately, led by Meng Heng, Meng Min and other Meng's children, the generals of the Zhufang City Army expressed their desire to seek justice.

Even Meng Heng swore to Meng Sui and said: "Although Yuncheng Jun took away more than 20,000 soldiers, there are still more than 30,000 troops in Fangcheng, Yangguan, and Yuncheng. ”

However, the opinions of these people were forcibly suppressed by Mengsu.

Defeating Xianghe is naturally not enough to worry about, but the question is, Fang Cheng took the lead in attacking Xianghe, will the Chu State be indifferent?

There is no need for a riot caused by refugees to cause a big war between Fangcheng and Chu, or even between Wei and Chu, right?

Meng Heng and the others wanted to persuade again, and Meng Sui shouted in a deep voice: "When Ah Zhong leaves, I will be appointed to take charge of the city, and anyone who does not obey the general's orders will be dealt with by military law!" …… Meng Heng, don't think that you and I are of the same clan, I won't dare to deal with you! ”

Seeing that Meng Sui was angry, Meng Heng, Meng Min and the rest of the generals from Mengyi's children didn't dare to say anything, and left in a huff.

That night, Meng Sui invited Qu Yuan from Yeyi to Fangcheng and told Qu Yuan everything that happened to Xianghe.

Qu Yuan had lived in Yeyi for several years, so he naturally knew the temperament of Meng Zhong, Meng Sui, Xiang Yi and others, and he also knew the military regulations of the Fangcheng army, of course he would not believe that the Fangcheng army would actually do something to a group of unarmed refugees, let alone that three hundred heavily armed Fangcheng soldiers would be chased and beaten by more than two thousand bare-handed refugees - this is ridiculous.

He said to Meng Sui: "The Chu army on Xianghe's side, the main general is named Lian Ji, when he set the tariff, I sent someone to find out the details of this person, according to the news revealed by Zhuang Xin, this Lian Ji is from Zilan's side......"

Meng Sui frowned slightly and asked, "Doctor Qu is saying that this matter is Xiong Zilan's ghost?" ”

Qu Yuan stroked his beard, nodded and said, "Very likely." ”

"But what's in it for him?" Meng Sui asked puzzled.

"I don't know about that for now." Qu Yuan stroked his beard and said suspiciously: "As far as I know, in the border market of Xianghe, Zilan can also get a lot of money every year, and it stands to reason that there is really no need for him to make it like this......

"Could it be that the State of Chu is preparing to use troops against the State of Wei?" Meng Sui guessed.

Qu Yuan shook his head: "I haven't heard such a rumor...... In this way, I immediately sent someone to the state of Chu to ask Zhao Ju and Zhuang Xin about the situation and see what was going on. ”

"There's Dr. Lauwar."

"Where is it, this time Fangcheng has suffered a huge loss, but the fake guard can be so restrained, Qu should be grateful to the fake guard."

"Dr. Qu is serious......"

In view of the fact that the matter of inquiring about the matter was handed over to Qu Yuan, Meng Sui also put the matter aside for the time being.

Unexpectedly, only a few days later, that is, on the ninth day of the first month of November, Meng Sui received another letter, which was sent by Cai Wu under the order of Yuncheng.

It is believed that on the seventh day of the first month of November, an army of about 3,000 men of the Chu State finally arrived in the vicinity of Yuncheng after passing through Yiyan and Shangcai, and the general of the Yuncheng army, Wei Xu, learned of it and led his army out of the city to repel this Chu army.

When he saw this letter, Meng Sui was also stunned, three thousand Chu soldiers committed Yuncheng? With 3,000 troops, this can already be regarded as a crime, right? But why did this happen, but he, the false guard of Fangcheng County, didn't know anything?

Enraged, Meng Sui took a dozen guards and immediately went to Yuncheng overnight.

After a day and a night of traveling, Meng Sui finally arrived in Yuncheng.

Knowing that Meng Sui was coming, Yuncheng ordered Cai Wu, Wu Ying, Wei Xu and other generals to go out of the city to greet him.

Meng Sui accepted the greeting of this group of people with a straight face, and did not attack on the spot, but after everyone came to the county capital in the city, Meng Sui immediately couldn't bear it, and glared at Cai Wu, Wu Ying, and Wei Xu and asked: "Three thousand Chu troops invaded the territory, I don't know anything about the cause and effect in Fangcheng, you deliberately conceal it, what are you going to do?!" ”

Cai Wu is a mixed county order, in fact, he doesn't care, but some situations are generally clear to him, seeing that Meng Sui was angry, he hurriedly persuaded him: "Fake Shou to calm his anger, Yuncheng Jun appointed you as a fake guard before the expedition, and govern Fangcheng, Yangguan, Yeyi, Yuncheng and other places, how dare I Yuncheng deliberately conceal it?" It's really a thing...... Let's just say it, I didn't expect this to be so big. ”

looked at Cai Wu, then at Wu Ying and Wei Xu, and Meng Suihu asked, "What's going on?" ”

"Let's tell it from below, after all, this incident was caused by below."

Arching his hand towards Meng Sui, Wei Xu Zhengse said: "About twenty days ago, I learned that a group of thieves had appeared on the road from Yuncheng to Yiyan...... Can you know how to burn if you keep it? ”

Meng Sui nodded.

Of course, he knew about Qi Yan, after all, it was a well-known county town in Chu State that produced cast iron, and most of the iron ore purchased by Fang Cheng County from Chu State came from the two places south of Yun City, Qi Yan and Tangxi.

Especially since the Wei Wangjun rewarded Yuncheng to Meng Zhong, they set up a military workshop in Yuncheng, and privately purchased ores from Qiyan and Tangxi for smelting.

Seeing Meng Sui nodded, Wei Xu continued: "Qiyan, Tangxi, my Yuncheng has purchased a batch of iron and stone from those two counties from time to time, but last time there was a batch of iron and stone, but it was robbed by a group of thieves who came out of nowhere, and killed dozens of my soldiers who escorted iron and stone. Therefore, when I heard that the thieves were hiding in the mountains on the south side, I led my army to encircle and suppress ......."

Seeing that Wei Xu paused as he spoke, Meng Sui asked suspiciously, "Something is wrong?" ”

"Hmm." Wei Xu, Cai Wu, and Wu Ying glanced at each other, and then looked at Meng Sui and said, "That's a group of thieves pretended to be by the Chu army. …… They tried to ambush our army, but they were defeated by our army...... Well, a lot of people died. ”

"Chu Jun?" Meng Sui frowned and asked, "Is there any evidence?" ”

Wei Xu shook his head and said, "The reason why I learned that they were soldiers of the Chu State was because some people showed their identities when they begged for mercy......"

"Where are these people now? Take me to see it. ”

"This ......" Wei Xu tilted his head and scratched his hair, and whispered, "Kill ...... all"

"What?" Meng Sui's eyes widened: "Kill them all?" ”

"Hmm." Wei Xu explained in a vague tone: "At that time, the brothers said that they wanted to avenge the dead brothers, and I couldn't stop ......."

"Can't stop it? Or did you simply not think about stopping it? Or is it just you who take the lead?'

Meng Sui frowned and stared at Wei Xu for a while, what kind of character Wei Xu is, he knows very well, impulsive, short-sighted, affectionate, and unstoppable!

But thinking about it, the soldiers under his command were killed for no reason, and no one could swallow this breath, and Meng Sui could understand Wei Xu's approach, but he didn't approve of it, after all, there was a lot of trouble.

No, didn't the Chu State send an army of 3,000 people to retaliate a few days ago?

"It's strange, whether it's Xianghe's side or Yuncheng's side, I feel that the Chu State side is deliberately trying to create disputes...... But even if the state of Chu wants to start a war against Wei, there is no reason to choose it in winter, right? It's almost late November, and it's freezing cold, so I sent an army to invade Yuncheng County...... I don't understand.'"

After thinking about it but unable to think of an answer, Meng Sui had no choice but to play the matter on the spot.

After all, if the state of Chu is determined to start a war again, the remaining cities and counties of other countries may not be able to stop the army of the state of Chu.

It's just that he doesn't understand why Chu Guo wants to do this.

Half a month later, at the beginning of December, a messenger sent by Meng Sui braved the wind and snow to arrive in Daliang and delivered the letter to the great Sima Zhai Zhang.