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Guan Changling is not young, riddled with injuries and illnesses, when the weather is cold, the joints of the whole body are faintly painful, neither standing nor lying, like a never-ending torture, tormenting him all the time, but the executioner refuses to ask, so many years later, he still does not know what to confess.

Perhaps this was simply punishment, punishment for the excessive killing of his youth.

"If you have the ability, come directly to me." Guan Changling whispered to himself, challenging the invisible enemy, twisting his neck with great effort, the joints of his bones gurgling, and soon after, he was defeated, and said angrily to the guards at the door: "Bring a few more charcoal basins, that thing is for burning, what's the use of keeping them?" ”

The guards hurried out of their tents to find more charcoal basins.

Guan Changling sat leaning on the chair and tilting his head slightly, a posture he had tried many times to find, which could reduce the pain slightly.

More charcoal basins were sent into the tent and placed in a circle around the old general, the heat steamed, filling the entire tent, but it could not penetrate Guan Changling's body, his skin was roasted to dry for a while, but the pain in his bones was not relieved much.

"It knows it's winter outside, it knows, and nothing can fool it." Guan Changling gritted his teeth and whispered.

The two young guards guarding the door did not hear them, they were accustomed to the old general's muttering, and never answered.

"The last general Xi Yuan is suspicious and asks to see General Guan." There is humanity outside.

Guan Changling waved his hand, and the guards lifted the curtain to let the seekers in.

Xi Yuanyi is in his twenties, from the Hengguo Gong Xi family, with a tall figure, born with a pair of long arms, bending bows and dancing lances are good hands, and he tends to salute forward, and was just about to speak, Guan Changling said coldly: "Come to persuade me to go to war again?" Excuse me, I have made up my mind, since Runan City has fallen, and the rebels have something to rely on, it is not advisable to force it too quickly. The rebels succeeded in the night attack, and their ambition was arrogant, and our army showed weakness, waiting for the rebels to attack, and then they were all wiped out. ”

Xi Yuan said suspiciously: "Military affairs are decided by General Guan, and I have other matters." ”

"Hmm." Guan Changling was jealous of the young man's energy and health, and wanted to cut off those arms and keep them for himself.

"There are rebel generals who have come to surrender."

"Killed."

"Huh?"

"I said kill those who surrendered, and those who came to surrender at this time must be spies."

Xi Yuanzhi took two steps forward, "This person is different, his name is Meng Shenglun, he was brought back by Zhou Lu, the son of the Marquis of Dongyang, plus the rebel soldiers who surrendered before, the statements of several parties are the same, it should be true." ”

"The son of the Marquis of Dongyang is still alive?"

"Alive, captured by the rebels, imprisoned for two days, Meng Seng Lun rescued him."

"Dongyang Hou has a good relationship with me, and once specially begged me to take care of his son...... Bring him in first. ”

Xi Yuansu quickly brought Zhou Lu into the tent.

Zhou Lu stepped over the charcoal basin, pounced in front of General Guan, knelt down, and cried, "Uncle Guan, I almost didn't see you." ”

Guan Changling said angrily: "I know that I am not dead, so I don't need you to remind me." Let's talk about it, everyone else can run back, why did you fall into the hands of the rebels? ”

"I'm not the only one who was arrested, there are hundreds of people, and I'm also unlucky, I ran in the wrong direction, and I'm colliding with the rebels in the face......"

Xi Yuanyuan interjected: "General Zhou can escape back, even if he is lucky, not to mention bringing back a general of the rebel army." ”

Zhou Lu reacted, this is not the time to complain, but to turn defeat into victory and turn into success, and immediately said: "Yes, yes, I brought back a general, he is willing...... Uncle Guan, do you know who the leader of the rebels is? ”

"This is the barracks, and I'm not anyone's 'uncle'."

"Yes, General Guan, the leader of the rebels is someone we all know."

"I heard that it's called Xu Ji, but I don't remember this person."

"He changed his surname to Xu, but his original surname was Lou."

The surname Lou is uncommon, Guan Changling was startled, and temporarily forgot the pain in his body, "That Lou Seventeen?" ”

"yes, that's him."

"Are you sure?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, and I also said a few words to him, we are classmates in the Temptation Academy, and we have known each other for many years."

"Hey, he is worthy of being the son of the general, but why did he change his surname to Xu? Oh, that's the mother's last name. In this way, he was really accepted by the Jiangdong people. ”

"Yes, the people of Jiangdong regard him as the governor of the capital. Get me back...... The Meng monk I brought back was originally a general of the Wu State, and he thought that he had the grace to know Xu Ji, so he killed seven leaders in his name. Xu Ji was very angry, not to mention the removal of him from his position, but also humiliated him in public and beat him with more than a dozen strokes. Meng Seng Lun was not angry, so he was willing to come to the camp with me and surrender. ”

"What's going on, you tell me in detail."

Zhou Lu told everything he saw and heard, Meng Seng Lun knelt in front of Xu Ji's tent for half a night, and was still not forgiven, and the next morning he was beaten with more than a dozen sticks, which he could accept, but Xu Ji actually sent him to a soldier surnamed Xiao as a servant, Meng Seng Lun, as a child of the Seven Clans, couldn't bear such humiliation anyway, so he went to release Zhou Lu that night and took him out of the Wu army camp.

Zhou Lu was afraid of being deceived, and struggled for a long time before leaving with Meng Senglun, he hid this experience and did not say anything, but claimed that he saw that the rebel generals were not in harmony, so he waited for an opportunity to provoke and persuade Meng Senglun to defect.

Guan Changling chuckled, raised his head and asked Xi Yuan: "How can it be so easy to rebel?" Popularity, intelligence, and the art of war are all indispensable. After all, the young man can't hold his breath, Lou Ji is a smart person, but he has lived in the Eastern Capital since he was a child, and it is ridiculous that he wants to obtain the loyalty of the Jiangdong people just by virtue of his mother's identity. As for the art of war, he is a scholar and can only talk about it on paper. Zhou Lu, did you learn the art of war when you were in the Temptation Hall? ”

"If you don't learn, it's all about nominal knowledge, and it's very boring."

Guan Changling sighed again, "The sons of Jiangmen should have been influenced by the family style, but unfortunately, they only enjoy the benefits brought by their fathers and ancestors, and they have not experienced the hard work of their fathers and ancestors, and they don't know how difficult it is to lead soldiers and how complicated it is to fight. ”

Xi Yuansu knew that these words were for himself, his face turned red, and he didn't answer, but Zhou Lu, who was also behind the door, didn't care, and nodded frequently in agreement.

Guan Changling sighed and said to Zhou Lu: "What is the use of the surname Meng except surrendering?" ”

"He said that he could help the officers and soldiers defeat the Wu army and recapture Runan City."

"The rebels, no matter how they call themselves, are just a gang of thieves in the eyes of the imperial court." Guan Changling corrected.

"Yes, yes, it's all rebels."

Guan Changling thought for a while, "Bring it in and let me take a look." ”

Meng Seng Lun entered the tent and knelt down at the door, "Descend to General Meng Seng Lun, knock on General Guan." ”

"Well, take off his clothes."

The two guards couldn't help but say, stripped Meng Shenglun's clothes, held his head, and exposed his scarred buttocks.

It must have been a new injury caused by a stick, Guan Changling recognized it, nodded, and the guards got up and allowed Meng Shenglun to dress.

"Can you help the officers and soldiers take the city?" Guan Changling asked coldly.

"Yes. I am loyal to Xu Ji, and I ...... to ensure his safety."

"I'm not interested in talking about the seizure of the city."

"Wu's army claims to be 100,000, but in fact there are only 50,000 people, half of whom are family members, and there are some old, weak, sick and disabled, and there are less than 20,000 people who can really fight. And soon after the creation of the Wu army, internal discord, the seven clans and the small surname are on the same footing, the generals of Jingzhou have just arrived, and they are always worried that they will be annexed, Bao is a local native, deceived by Xu Ji, thinking that the eastern capital has fallen, only to agree to sacrifice the city, but less than two days, the officers and soldiers came. ”

"According to you, the rebels should have collapsed without a fight."

Xu Ji has no other skills, but he is really good at his words, he talks about people when he sees people, he talks nonsense when he sees ghosts, he never blushes when he lies, and he loves Xu Yikong the most, so he barely keeps Wu Jun. In fact, he was vulnerable, and he stationed the camp outside the city, not really wanting to fight a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers and bluff people. ”

"A night raid was also his idea?"

"Yes, but the person who led the night attack was the general of the Seven Clans, and Xu Ji chose the advantage afterwards."

Guan Changling said with a smile: "The general told me that his son loves to take risks, which is a big trouble, and sooner or later he will be ruined and the entire Lou family will be ruined." Knowing the son is more than the father, it is indeed true. ”

Meng Seng Lun said: "As soon as the officers and soldiers arrived, the officers and soldiers of the Wu army knew that they had been deceived by Xu Ji, and they regretted it in their hearts, but there was no way to escape, and there was no way to surrender. ”

Guan Changling said suspiciously to Xi Yuan: "It's the same as your previous idea, it seems that you guessed right." ”

Xi Yuan hurriedly said: "I didn't guess that the rebels were so unbearable, they just blindly braved." ”

Guan Changling said: "The rebels are a rabble, and it is useless to win, what I want is Runan City, a complete Runan City." ”

Meng Seng Lun kneeled forward, "The city lord Bao Dun was originally defending the city for the imperial court, and was deceived by Xu Ji before mistakenly defecting to the Wu army, I am willing to sneak back to the city, persuade Bao Dun to surrender, open the city gate, accept officers and soldiers, and only ask the general to avoid his family from the death penalty afterwards." ”

Guan Changling has been cautious all his life, and he is known for being old under the command of the general, and he doesn't like intrigues and tricks, and after listening to Meng Shenglun's words, he was silent for a long time.

Xi Yuansu couldn't help but persuade: "Don't miss the opportunity, General Guan, the cold winter has come, and the soldiers urgently need to go into the city to recuperate, not to mention that the eastern capital is in a hurry to wait for General Guan to lead the troops back." ”

"That's not how the battle was fought...... Guan Changling sighed, and pondered for a while, "The general can't be put back again, and send someone to contact the city defenders, and observe for two or three days, if the rebels are really broken, it's not too late to attack again." ”

Meng Shenglun said: "Once Xu Ji finds out that I and General Zhou have fled, it is likely that he will be angry and corrupt, and he will suppress the soldiers by force, and there will be even more discord inside, but he can't see it outside. ”

Guan Changling snorted twice, the pain all over his body returned, he missed the family house in the Eastern Capital, only thick walls could block the winter cold, better than a hundred charcoal pots.

"Xi Yuanske."

"The end will be."

"Take the generals down, gather the other generals, discuss a plan, and then come and tell me."

"Yes." Xi Yuan's suspicious face was happy, and a quick solution has always been his strategy.

"Anyway, Lou Ji is the son of the general, try to spare his life and bring it back for the general to dispose of."

"Yes."

Xi Yuan suspiciously took Meng Seng Lun out of the tent, and said at the door: "Go to the camp tonight, and return the favor to the other person, the more people you recruit, the greater your merit, not only to avoid death, but also to get a heavy reward, understand?" ”

"Xu Ji is ruthless, don't blame me for being unrighteous. I don't want anything else but that the court will absolve me of rebellion. ”

Xi Yuan believed Meng Shenglun, but after the victory, he did not intend to absolve anyone of his crimes.