When Xu Ji came in, Guo Shifeng had already put the candle on the ground and sat on a stool to eat, the food was cold, but he ate with relish after being hungry for a day.

"Xu Ji, Xu Ji, Xu Ji." Guo Shifeng put down the dishes and chopsticks and said three times in a row, as if this was a dish for dinner.

Xu Ji stood at the door, smiling but not speaking.

"You've hurt me." Guo Shifeng sighed, picked up the bowl and ate a few bites, got up and showed Xu Ji the empty bottom of the bowl, "No wine and no meat, in your eyes, I'm so cheap?" ”

Xu Ji said with a smile: "Those who have money will pay, and those who have things will give money, I have no money and no things, so I don't bribe Brother Guo with wine and meat." ”

"What do you have?"

"I have a big trend."

"Hey." Guo Shifeng sneered, "What a coincidence, I also have a general trend, the general trend is that you are going to be finished, you don't know King Ning's temper, under the rage, he will inevitably lead troops to ask for guilt - you didn't even destroy the boat, just left it to King Ning." ”

"In that case, why did Brother Guo run away?"

"I didn't run away, I ...... I'm looking at the riverside. ”

Xu Ji just laughed, and Guo Shifeng sighed, "After all, we have known each other, why did Mr. Xu hold me up?" ”

"When I was in the Eastern Capital, did Brother Guo ever have the heart to let me go?"

When Guo Shifeng persuaded Pan Kai to surrender to King Ning in the Eastern Capital, he was bent on killing Xu Ji, and he did not deny it at this time, "So Brother Ji is for revenge?" ”

"Although Brother Guo has the intention of killing, I don't have the heart of revenge, I just feel that Brother Guo is full of talent, and it is a pity to abandon it, so I asked General Song to recruit him and give Brother Guo a place to show his strength."

"Hey, how do you know I have nowhere to go?"

"Where is Brother Guo going?"

"Not here, anyway."

"General Song commands 100,000 troops, and he is also the hero of one side, where does Brother Guo think he is missing?"

"Mr. Xu should see it better than I can."

"Well, the Song army claims to be 100,000, but in fact there are only more than 30,000, more than half of them are southern soldiers, homesick, and the rest are Jingzhou bandits, with mountains and mountains, which are difficult to tame."

Guo Shifeng laughed, "That's all? ”

"General Song was ordered to pacify Hunan and Guangzhou, it seems easy, but in fact, it is extremely difficult, even if it is successful, the two states are far away from the Central Plains, and there is never the capital to win the championship, and Chen Ill can be a lesson for the future."

"Chen Aicai didn't dare to be the king, he was smart, since he crossed the river but retreated in fear, he was stupid. But General Song's problems are not limited to these two points. ”

"General Song killed the king of Shu and crossed the river by boat, but he has not yet gained a foothold, he has already shown his ambition and will become a nail in the eyes of King Ning."

"I understand your thoughts, I thought that King Ning was eager to attack Jiangling City and return to Shicheng, and he didn't have the energy to retaliate against General Song at the moment, so he had to endure this evil breath, and even rewarded General Song."

"If Brother Guo stays with King Ning, he must persuade him like this, right?" Xu Ji said with a smile.

"As a strategist, I must persuade King Ning to endure for a while, and as a strategist, I know that King Ning will not endure it, he will mobilize Yizhou soldiers and generals to encourage them to avenge King Shu."

"The Yizhou soldiers will want to take revenge, but they must also endure for a while, they must return to Yizhou immediately and pacify the Jindu City."

"What happened to Jindu City again?"

"The king of Shu left his favored minister Che wholeheartedly to defend the city, and Che wholeheartedly did not agree with the Tie family, once he heard the news of the murder of the king of Shu, he must seize power first. Iron Kite fled back to Yizhou from Hanzhou, has become a prisoner, his brother Tie Eagle is the general of the Eastern Expedition of the King of Shu, the King of Shu is not there, he is in charge, revenge and save his brother, he can only choose one, I bet that he chose to save his brother. ”

Guo Shifeng didn't know much about Yizhou's internal situation, but he believed that Xu Ji would not lie about this kind of thing, so he was silent for a moment and said: "That's not too much to delay, if the Tie family wins, they will still come to seek revenge, if the Tie family is defeated, it will be difficult for Che Quanyi to support it alone, Yizhou will return to King Ning, King Ning's situation is stable, and he will not let General Song go." ”

"It can be postponed for a while, and when King Ning's situation is stable, he has more urgent enemies."

Guo Shifeng thought for a while, "In this way, General Song doesn't plan to be an enemy of King Ning?" ”

"Not yet."

"Then he must go deep into Hunan and Guangzhou, to show that he has no intention of returning north."

"Yes, yes."

"In this case, not only should I not stay, but Mr. Xu should not either, as you just said, Nanzhou is far away, and there are those who occupy one side and claim the king, and there is never one who can compete with the Central Plains."

"Therefore, the Song army wants to go deep into Hunan and Guangzhou, but General Song wants to stay."

Guo Shifeng was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "This goes back to the first question, the southern army and the group of thieves, one is more difficult to tame than the other, and General Song personally takes charge of the army and it is difficult to reconcile, if he stays, who will he send to lead the troops deep into Hunan and Guangzhou?" ”

Xu Ji gave his hand.

Guo Shifeng exclaimed: "Me? Mr. Xu joked again, how can I lead the troops? ”

"Brother Guo is in charge, General Mao Yuanti leads the troops, and they are all dispatched by Brother Guo."

Guo Shifeng was even more surprised, "You mean really? ”

"Why lie?"

Guo Shifeng shook his head with a smile, "No, a strategist is a strategist, and I can't be the one in charge." ”

"As Brother Guo said, although Hunan and Guangzhou have no capital to compete for the crown, they are easy to claim the king, Brother Guo has these two states, and use them to persuade people to be invincible, and then he is willing to submit, which is a great achievement, and he is unwilling to submit, and he also has a foothold, which is better than wandering in the rivers and lakes."

Guo Shifeng still smiled, "Mr. Xu himself is not called the king, but he uses the title of king to tempt me?" ”

"Brother Guo is not tempted, but he can tempt others with two states."

Seeing that Xu Ji was really not joking, Guo Shifeng began to take it seriously, "For the sake of General Song, the two states cannot be handed over to the same person, nor can they both be handed over to outsiders or locals, they need to be one outside and one inside, and they should restrain each other." ”

"I am not familiar with General Song in Hunan and Guangzhou, so Brother Guo has to go out in person, and it is up to Brother Guo to decide who to belittle, and General Song does not say a word."

Guo Shifeng couldn't help but feel excited, "But I don't be the one who is in charge publicly." ”

"The southern army is led by Mao Yuanti, and the group of thieves is commanded by Dai Pohu, and General Song will issue strict orders, requiring the two of them to obey all the arrangements of Brother Guo, if Brother Guo wants, he can be the general of the supervision army or the protection army."

"It's better to let me be the chief of the Song army."

"Yes."

Guo Shifeng shook his head again and said with a smile: "It's not proper, it's very inappropriate, General Song handed over his troops to me, why did he win the Central Plains?" I'm afraid I can't even gain a foothold in Jingzhou, right? ”

"General Song will leave thousands of people to lie dormant in Jingzhou, waiting for the opportunity."

"What if the time is delayed?"

"General Song swears not to enter Hunan and Guangzhou."

Guo Shifeng still shook his head.

Xu Ji turned around and invited Song Zhuzhu, who was waiting outside, in.

As the head of an army, Song Zhuzhu stood outside the tent like a soldier, on call, still smiling, "How are the two talking?" ”

Guo Shifeng said: "I have a way to pacify Hunan and Guangzhou, but General Song must personally take charge of the army, and no one else can do it." ”

Song Zhuzhu showed a hint of embarrassment, "This ...... It's a little difficult, I have sworn to Mr. Xu that I will never enter Hunan and Guangzhou, and if I violate this oath, I will not die well. ”

Only then did Guo Shifeng believe Xu Ji's words, and thought for a moment, "I told General Song that if you want to stabilize the morale of the army, you must first find a strong enemy for the southern army. ”

"I've been thinking about it outside, but I'm really not familiar with Hunan and Guangzhou."

"There are a lot of fangs in Hunan and Guangtu, but they are scattered and live in discord with each other, and they are not in a big climate, and if they want to set up an enemy for the southern army, they must be Xiangzhou Thorn Shi Beizhen, he and Chen Yicai have always been at odds, and they were forced to give in before, and when they heard the news of death, they would rebel nine times out of ten. I spread the news in the army, and then sent people to Xiangzhou to carry out divisive plans. Pei Zhen is arrogant and talentless, and he is very inward-looking, so it is better to choose him as an enemy. ”

Song Zhuzhu was overjoyed and arched his hand: "Mr. Xu is right, if Mr. Guo is not, it will be difficult for the two states to be peaceful." ”

Guo Shifeng waved his hand and said: "This is all a dangerous move, and it may not be effective." Pei Zhen may have a master around him to guide him, if he attracts the returning Hunan soldiers, I can't compete, if he holds on to the city, I can't afford it, all in all, the odds of winning are less than forty percent. What's more, there is also a Guangzhou, which I am not familiar with and the odds of winning are even lower. ”

Song Zhuzhu said with a smile: "The odds of winning forty percent are already very high, and I stay in Jingzhou, and I don't even have a chance of winning one percent." ”

"General Song doesn't care?"

"Wealth is in danger, and doing business is a life of death, so why care about the odds of winning? I only look at people, and with the help of two gentlemen, it is a ninety percent chance for me. ”

Guo Shifeng still couldn't make up his mind, and felt that it was better to say some things in advance, "If I am lucky enough to pacify the two states, General Song will count on me to provide troops and food, right?" ”

"Of course."

"What if I don't want to?"

"That's because I saw the wrong person, and the responsibility lies with me, so I have to find another way." Song Zhuzhu said with a smile.

"General Song, please take a seat." Guo Shifeng let Song take bamboo to the shop.

"Mr. Xu, please take a seat." Guo Shifeng let Xu Ji on the stool, stood up to face the two of them, and arched his hand: "I roughly understand the intentions of the two: He Rongren was defeated, King Ning had just risen, and he had not yet gained a firm foothold, so he wanted to establish a hero in the Quartet to contain King Ning, and General Song was waiting for the opportunity to move." ”

Xu Ji and Song Zhuzhu nodded at the same time.

Guo Shifeng continued: "King Ning is only one step away, whether it is to defeat the Xi family in Jiangling City, or to take advantage of the victory to pursue He Rongren, any successful battle can allow King Ning to gain a foothold, and it will be difficult to have an opponent from now on." The reason why I fled from King Ning was for no other reason, King Ning also knew that he was about to succeed, his heart was arrogant, and he was difficult to tolerate people, he complained that I lost the king of Liang before, and now I lost the king of Shu, and I was already dissatisfied. In these troubled times, since the king does not believe in the minister, the minister does not have to be loyal to the king. ”

Song Zhuzhu nodded and said: "The heroes are competing, and the chances of winning forty percent are already quite a lot, but King Ning wants ten percent." ”

"That's exactly what I mean, so I don't promise anything to General Song, and General Song doesn't have to ask me, if I am defeated, I should die in Hunan and Guangzhou, if I succeed, I must also rely on the heroes of the Central Plains, please General Song work hard, so that I can rely on and be worthy of support."

Song Zhuzhu got up and laughed, "When Mr. Guo pacified the two states, if I was still dormant, I would not have the face to rely on Mr. Guo." ”

"Okay, then I'm not welcome, please General Song to make me a long history, entrust me with a large army, I will raise the banner of General Song to go south, and I will let the world know, especially King Ning. One south and one north, everyone works hard, what about Mr. Xu? ”

"I'll go north." Xu Ji said generally, and Guo Shifeng didn't ask much.

The three of them chatted for a long time, and it was almost dawn Xu Ji and Song Zhuzhu said goodbye, and after the account, Song Zhuzhu said: "Mr. Xu originally said that he would recruit a strategist by my side, but he gave away all my old books." ”

"General Song, don't worry, Guo Shifeng will return to General Song sooner or later."

"Mr. Xu said in the tent that he was going north?"

"The north is in turmoil, I want to set up an enemy for King Ning and make allies for General Song."

"So what do I do?"

"To do what needs to be done, Guo Shifeng and I both need a proof to prove that General Song is worthy of support."

Song Zhuzhu sent away the soldiers and strategists, but he wanted to prove his ability, he couldn't help laughing, and then said with a straight face: "I will prove it, and the three of us will prove it separately." ”