Ma Wei was so anxious that he forgot that there were other people around him for a while, and kept repeating a sentence in a whisper: "Strategists can make mistakes, but kings can't." ”

Gao Shengze stood behind King Liang, and after listening to it a few times, he couldn't help but say, "The emperor can let others make mistakes." ”

Ma Wei was startled, turned his head to look at the old eunuch, and his face changed suddenly.

Gao Shengze understood that he was talking too much, and immediately knelt on the ground, and gently put his hands on King Liang's knees, this action can be understood as intimacy and convenience of speaking, and it can also be turned into apology at any time, and he knows what words can always arouse King Liang's interest, "When I was guarding the door in the palace, I heard the Emperor of All Things say that the emperor is above tens of millions of people, and he must use the power of tens of millions of people, otherwise he will lose his authority, and his subjects will have no owner, and they will become a plate of scattered sand." ”

This trick often worked, and Ma Wei's face softened, "The Emperor of All Things really said such a thing?" ”

"How dare I deceive King Liang? I am not the only one who heard this, and King Liang can call me over and ask. ”

"It doesn't matter, it's not who says it, it's whether it makes sense." Ma Wei never expected that he would care so much about the Emperor of All Things, but the longer he lived in the Eastern Capital Palace, the more he wanted to know everything about that "tyrant", and regretted that he had not been able to serve the Emperor of All Things.

"I've just heard it, I don't think it's special, does King Liang think it makes sense?"

"Makes sense? There is a lot of truth in this. Ma Wei smiled, not saying what the reason was.

Gao Shengze secretly breathed a sigh of relief, pinched King Liang's legs, and then got up and quietly stood back in place.

Ma Wei fell into deep thought again, and Gao Shengze, who had escaped, didn't even dare to breathe this time.

"General Pan, please."

"Yes." If Gao Shengze was pardoned, he immediately ran out of the military tent, and soon invited the general Pan Kai, while he stayed outside to wait.

Pan Kai was the highest-ranking and most important general of the Liang army, but he cared very much about etiquette in front of King Liang, and knelt down even if he was wearing armor.

"Excuse me, sit down." Ma Wei was more polite than usual.

Pan Kai clasped his fists and saluted, sat on the small stool next to him, put his hands on his knees, and looked up at King Liang.

"I have an extremely difficult matter, I think about it, no one can entrust it, it must be General Pan."

"King Liang, please say, no matter how difficult things are, I will do my best." Pan Kai said angrily.

"I want you to guard the Eastern Capital."

"It is incumbent, but Jizhou"

"I personally led the troops to attack Jizhou."

Pan Kai's face was slightly red, although he was a general, he had never experienced a battle in the face so far, and he was a little out of character, and he thought that he could not be trusted by King Liang because of this.

Ma Wei said: "It stands to reason that it should have been General Pan attacking Hebei and I was defending the eastern capital, but after I thought about it carefully, I felt that it was inappropriate." ”

"King Liang's talent, with soldiers like a god, the great cause of attacking Hebei should be conquered by King Liang himself, King Liang will be able to succeed immediately, I would rather be the pawn of King Liang in front of the horse, in order to work for a small effort."

Hearing the words "Ma to success", Ma Wei smiled, and then said: "Qinganti, it is easier to attack than to defend—what?" Jizhou after several wars, and was plundered by the He Rong people, is now empty, Yecheng bears the name of the big city, the defenders are only thousands, and the Yuyang defenders are slightly more, but they are not afraid. As long as you can conquer all the checkpoints before the heavy snow closes the road, it will be a big deal. Guarding the eastern capital is different, the Liang army has not been able to capture the entire territory of Luozhou, there is still Mengjin in the north, there is no danger in other directions, the enemy is driving straight in, and it is necessary to reach the city in a short time. ”

"King Liang is worried that He Rong's army will enter Luo from Qinzhou?"

"It's not that I'm worried, He Rongren will definitely come to attack the eastern capital, but Jizhou is not stable, so there are not too many soldiers left, and there may be no way to return for reinforcements throughout the winter, so it all depends on General Pan to hold on alone."

Pan Kai arched his hand and said: "King Liang, don't worry, there is only the news that I died in the Eastern Capital, and there is no possibility for me to give up the Eastern Capital." ”

"General Pan can't die, the eastern capital is very important in Daliang, once the eastern capital is lost, Jizhou is also in danger, and I will leave the princess and all the sons in the eastern capital, please take care of General Pan."

Pan Kai was shocked, "How can this work?" The princess and the prince went to Yecheng"

Ma Wei raised his hand, "As soon as the princess left, everyone thought that I was going to give up the eastern capital, and I would have no will to stick to it, but it was General Pan's two sons, and the crow would go to Jizhou with me. ”

Pan Kai left the bench and knelt down, "King Liang, I want to die or I can't die, no matter what, I want to keep the capital!" ”

Ma Wei didn't support him, and said with a smile: "I believe in General Pan, and although there is no danger to defend in the eastern capital, but the walls are high and the pool is deep, and there is no match in the world, I am not afraid that I can't defend it, but I am afraid that I dare not defend it, or I am afraid that the enemy will be treacherous." ”

"Da Liang is in danger, in this move, I don't dare to claim to be good at fighting, but I still have a little courage, and I will never dare to defend it. As for the enemy's tricks, I will only concentrate on defending the city, and will not go out of the city to meet the battle under any circumstances. ”

Ma Wei pressed Zikai's shoulder, "I hope General Pan will remember today's words, don't go out of the city no matter what, if the enemy army goes around the city to the north, let them pass, don't stop it, even if there is no soldier outside the city, don't go out of the city to pursue." Or if someone calls the door, even if the other person is alone, do not open the gate, unless I am there in person. ”

"Keep in mind that the eastern capital is the capital of the Liang kings, and it will never fall into the hands of others."

Ma Wei nodded, helped Pan Kai up, asked him to sit down, chatted a few more words, and when the military order was fired, the king seal was stamped, and he handed it to Pan Kai with his own hands.

Ma Wei only told Xu Chun personally, of course, it is best to hold on to Dongcan, and it doesn't hurt to keep it, but he must hold on for a long time to give him a chance to breathe.

Pan Kai is a good candidate.

Ma Wei called in Gao Shengze and ordered him to invite Bao Dun.

Bao Dun ordered the people to recruit troops in the city, and there were enough 8,000 soldiers, and more soldiers stayed behind to guard Runan, and he has been in the camp of Zongliang for the past few days to show his loyalty.

He also came quickly, and he was about to kneel down, so Ma Wei got up and stepped forward, stretched out his hand to hold it, and walked and talked with him in the tent.

"Although I and General Bao are new acquaintances, but at first sight, when I was in the Eastern Capital, I often said that the name of the third master of Runan Bao was not the same, but I hated not to see it."

Bao Dun hurriedly said: "Bao San is only, in front of King Liang, how dare you be called the 'third master'?" I have also heard many deeds of King Liang, but I am dizzy, I just want to stick to my hometown, I am on the side of the real dragon without knowing it, and I went to Huaizhou in a panic. ”

Ma Wei smiled: "Xu Shu can look at people. ”

"I feel guilty about Mr. Xu."

"Xu Ji won't care, and General Bao doesn't need to worry about General Bao, there is a matter to discuss, and he is close to Xu Cong."

"King Liang, please say, I am clumsy, but I have the strength and strength to run for King Liang."

"General Bao is too modest. Before Xu Ji went to Huaizhou, he offered me a plan, saying that Jizhou was difficult to defend alone and must expand outward. Jizhou is connected with three states, Huaizhou in the south, Xu Window to talk about peace, think there is no big problem, Luozhou in the southwest, I sent the general Pan Kai to stick to the eastern capital, there should be no big trouble, only the west of the state, although there are mountains in Jizhou, but there are many passages, since ancient times, it is easy to merge from Hebei into Hebei. ”

"Mr. Xu thinks long-term."

"So I want to divide my forces and go to conquer the state."

Bowton looked surprised.

Ma Wei said with a smile: "I understand General Bao's thoughts, the Liang army's attack on Ji is already a risk, and it is actually necessary to attack and merge, swallowing two elephants with one snake, I am afraid it is wishful thinking." ”

Bao Dun immediately said: "Those who do great things do not retreat, Liang Wang has a far-reaching plan, and it is Mr. Xu's plan, I was shocked for a while, but I never thought it was 'wishful thinking', and after thinking about it, I felt reasonable." Ji, and are all driven by the single, Jizhou is empty, and the state is also empty, why can't it be attacked? What's more, King Liang only wanted to consolidate Jizhou, and it seemed that he didn't have to occupy the entire territory of Jizhou. ”

"Exactly, General Bao won my heart, so I intend to ask General Bao to lead his troops to attack and merge, I don't know if it's possible?"

Bao Dun had already guessed King Liang's intentions, but he was still shocked at this time, and arched his hand: "Bao Sanban has been farming for half of his life, and by chance, he is trusted by everyone, and he is self-proclaimed the lord of a city. ”

"I value General Bao, but he is true to his word and has the style of an elder. After General Bao entered the annexation, he could fight and retreat, or return to Runan, or go to Jizhou to join me, in short, if the state is not a place that the Liang army must get, how much can be captured, even if an inch of land is not obtained, I will not blame General Bao. ”

Bao Dun was slightly moved, "How many troops can King Liang divide?" ”

"There are 8,000 soldiers in Runan, I will allocate another 7,000 troops, and make up 15,000, I don't know much, but the Liang army can only divide these people"

"Enough, I can't promise anything to King Liang, but it's always okay to go to Bingzhou to make peace."

Ma Wei was overjoyed, held one of Bao Dun's hands tightly, and said with a little excitement: "General Bao's words are better than thousands of troops." ”

"King Liang is not suspicious of employing people, and he entrusts me with great trust, and I will never live up to King Liang's trust."

Mavi personally sent Bowton out of the tent, and when he saw him go away, he turned around and returned to the tent.

Gao Shengze noticed that King Liang was in a good mood, so he followed up, and after being busy, he made sure to let King Liang sit more comfortably.

Ma Wei accepted it calmly, "The Emperor of All Things used human sentences to let his courtiers make mistakes, but he died at the hands of Buyi, which is also a big mistake." ”

"The Emperor of All Things is not a Ming Jun, his words don't have to be taken seriously." Gao Shengze said.

Ma Weiyu, "The Emperor of All Things is not a Ming Jun, but what he said must be taken seriously, he is wrong to distinguish between public and private, and to confuse the way of the emperor with the art of making friends." ”

Gao Shengze nodded again and again, "King Liang hit the nail on the head, the people in the palace said that the Emperor of All Things made friends too casually, the people who liked them rose to the sky in one day, and those who didn't like them should be killed and hated, no one could tell him what was going on with him, although there were many guards, but they didn't know how to protect them, so they gave the disciples a blackmail."

Gao Shengze's heart trembled, and he almost had to kneel down again, but he actually forgot that it was rumored that King Liang was also one of the plotters of the assassination of the Emperor of All Things.

Ma Wei didn't care, "Well, there are laws of rewards and punishments for merit and demerit, and even the emperor can't decide at will—you reminded me, Xu Ji"

"Will Xu Chui come back?"

"He'll come back, but it's a problem, I hope he won't embarrass me again, no, no, I can't hope for him."

"There are laws of reward and punishment for merit and demerit." Gao Shengze whispered.

Ma Wei nodded.