The strength of Wu's naval army was beyond Li Cunmiao's expectations, which also made him worry about whether the two iron cables could block the Wu army and protect the safety of the pontoon bridge.

Once the pontoon bridge is destroyed, then the Jin army can only transport troops by boat, and the efficiency will definitely be greatly reduced.

Fortunately, so far, both the iron cables and the pontoon bridges have withstood the onslaught of enemy troops.

"Your Majesty, although our army is currently mainly defensive, if we blindly defend, the morale of the soldiers will inevitably be low and it will be difficult to last. Therefore, the last general felt that at this time, our army should send a small army to constantly challenge the enemy army to boost the morale of the soldiers. If the king allows, the last general is willing to lead the army to attack, and he will return victorious. At this time, Shi Jingjiao said again.

Li Cunmiao said happily: "The general has such a determination, and Gu is deeply gratified, how can it not be allowed?" What's more, Gu Ye had heard of King Wu's name a long time ago, and now it was time to go and meet with him. The general leads the troops into battle, and Lone personally presses the battle for you. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shi Jingjiao said with joy on his face.

At this time, he was just a fierce general who did not avoid hardships and dangers and was dedicated to serving the country, and who would have thought that it was this person who ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun to the Khitans in history, thus causing the catastrophe for hundreds of years to come.

……

Soon after, a war letter was sent from the Jin army camp and sent directly to the Wu army camp.

"King Jin wants to meet with Gu in front of the battle?" After reading the war book sent by the Jin army, Yang Wu was full of surprise.

For Li Cunqing, the king of Jin, he has also been famous for a long time, and even heard of his reputation for a long time in his last life.

In history, after ascending the throne and becoming emperor, Li Cunmiao indulged in his voice, lacked skills in governing the country, had no way to employ people, connived at the queen's interference in politics, reused servants and eunuchs, neglected to kill meritorious heroes, expropriated tyranny, and spared money, so that the people were poor, the feudal town was resentful, and the soldiers were separated, and finally died.

It can be said that this person is a complete mess in governing the country, but I have to admit that this person's achievements in military affairs can be said to be the strongest in the five generations.

It was under his leadership that the Jin State destroyed the Liang State and annexed the Qi State, thus completely unifying the north; No matter how the five dynasties changed, the north basically maintained unity, laying the foundation for the later Song Dynasty.

Such a bull man, even if he is a little incompetent in governing the country, it is enough to make Yang Wu feel admired.

"The king, I don't know if the king wants to agree to the proposal of the king of Jin?" Seeing that Yang Wu was silent, Guo Chongtao stepped forward and asked.

"Go! Of course you have to go. The king of Jin proposed to meet in front of the battle, if he was lonely, wouldn't he seem to be afraid of him? What's more, the lone pair of King Jin is also famous for a long time, how can you not see it? As he said, we will meet tomorrow before the battle! Yang Wu replied.

"This ......" Guo Chongtao hesitated: "It's okay to meet him, but how to ensure safety?" According to the proposal of the king of Jin, the king and he each brought only one retinue. The minister heard that the king of Jin had a fierce general Li Shaorong by his side, and this person was extremely brave. This time, King Jin will definitely take it with him, and the king can't be careless! ”

Li Shaorong was Yuan Xingqin, the confidant of Liu Shouguang, the original king of Yan.

At the beginning, Liu Shouguang and his brother Liu Shouwen competed for the position of Jiedu envoy, Liu Shouguang was repeatedly defeated, and proposed to meet with Liu Shouwen in front of the battle, but the result was that Yuan Xingqin suddenly came out and captured Liu Shouwen alive, thus reversing the situation.

In the face of such a person with a "criminal record", no matter who it is, you have to guard against him.

Yan Keqiu added: "Not only Yuan Xingqin, but also the minister heard that the king of Jin himself was also a horse archer, and often went into battle in person, if the king met with him, ......"

Although he did not finish, everyone understood what he meant.

Although Yang Wu often personally led the troops into battle, he almost never went into battle in person, and most of the time he sat in the rear to command.

So if he has a live-action duel with Li Cunqing, everyone is more optimistic about Li Cunqing.

Yang Wu smiled bitterly: "Don't worry, Li Cunqiao can personally go into battle to kill the enemy, but Lone is not a scholar who is helpless." What's more, as long as you block him for a moment, won't you come forward to answer him? ”

He looked at the crowd and continued, "When the meeting is almost over, the Lone Society will signal to you, and you will rush up together to answer when the time comes." As long as King Jin was not completely sure, he would not dare to act rashly. After all, he is also the lord of one party, and he has the world in mind, so this basic reputation still needs to be taken into account, right? ”

Guo Chongtao and the others nodded when they heard this, agreeing with his statement.

If you are completely sure that Yang Wu will be taken down, I am afraid that Li Cunqiao will not be able to resist this temptation. confused, but if he is not completely sure, he will not dare to act rashly, lest stealing chickens will not be lost, not only will he fail to take Yang Wu down, but he will damage his reputation.

When the soldiers of the Jin army saw that their king was so unscrupulous, they were afraid that their morale would also be damaged.

"So, the most important thing now is who will accompany Lone to the meeting? Do you generals want to go with the orphans? ”

Originally, it should be Cheng Xun's duty to be the guard, but Cheng Xun is now old, and he happened to be sick before this expedition, so he stayed in Luoyang and did not go with the army.

The generals did not answer rashly, no one dared to take on such a heavy task as guarding Yang Wu easily.

Li Chengding even smiled bitterly: "King, if you let the minister lead the troops to attack the opponent's city, the minister will never hesitate. But this guard task, I'm afraid the minister can't do it! ”

Li Chengding is more of a wise general than a fierce general, and it is indeed not his forte to take on the task of escorting like this.

At this time, the veteran Zhou Ben stood up and said: "King, the old minister is willing to go with the king, and he will be able to protect the king's safety!" ”

"General Zhou?" Yang Wu hesitated.

If it was Zhou Ben when he was young, Yang Wu would definitely believe that he had enough ability to protect safety, after all, Zhou Ben back then was more famous in the army for his bravery.

As a descendant of Zhou Yu, Zhou Ben did not have the elegance of his ancestors, but was known for his strength, and when he was twenty years old, he killed a tiger with his bare hands, and was famous in the township.

Later, after entering the army, he was the first in every war, and even the wounds were all over the body during the battle, and after the war, he burned his own soldering iron and scalded his wounds, and he still talked and laughed freely, without fear, and the officers and men in the army were all admired.

Such a fierce general can be regarded as the number one person in Wu Guojun.

However, after all, it was him back then, and now Zhou Bendu is sixty-two years old, does he still have the courage and force he had back then?

Seeing Yang Wu's hesitant expression, Zhou Ben said loudly: "King, although the old minister is old, he is not yet able to lift the spear. Not to mention anything else, there is definitely no problem in blocking Yuan Xingqin's kid for the king and guarding the king's safety! ”

Yang Wu frowned, it wasn't that he didn't believe that Zhou Ben couldn't protect him, after all, it was enough to block Yuan Xingqin for a moment; What Yang Wu was worried about was that Zhou Ben was old after all, and if there was any mistake, it would be a big loss for Wu Guo.

However, Zhou Ben's attitude was resolute, and Yang Wu was not good at going against his will, not to mention that Zhou Ben's body was still very tough, maybe he was too worried.

After determining that Zhou Ben would be the guard, Yang Wu then confirmed the contact code with the generals, and agreed that once Yang Wu made the code, the guards behind would rush up together to protect Yang Wu and retreat.

The next day, Li Cunmiao, the king of Jin, personally led his army across the Yellow River and arrived at Yang Liu Nancheng, where he agreed to meet with Yang Wu, the king of Wu, before the battle.

At the same time, the Wu army also began to line up to meet each other, and the two armies were separated by a distance of 100 paces.

"Is that King Wu Yang Wu? Sure enough, it was extremely majestic, and it didn't disappoint Lonely! Looking at Yang Wu, who was gradually coming to the front of the formation in the distance, Li Cunqiao squinted his eyes and sighed.

The age of Yang Wu, the king of Wu, was only one year younger than him, and when the two were young, one was the eldest son of King Jin and the other was the eldest son of King Wu.

However, when Li Cunmiao had not inherited the throne of King Jin and was unknown in the world, Yang Wu had already led the Huainan Army to conquer the east and west, and established a supreme prestige.

At that time, Li Cunqiao thought that he would not lose to this person in the future, and he would have to establish a grand career.

Later, he did it, and in the past ten years, he led the Jin army to conquer the east and west, and his reputation in the world was no worse than that of Yang Wu.

It's a pity that no matter how strong his prestige is, it can't change the fact that the state of Wu has now pacified the entire Central Plains, while the state of Jin has to challenge the state of Wu when the internal situation is still unstable.

On the side, Li Shaorong, or Yuan Xingqin, did not have so much emotion, he proposed to Li Cunqiao in a low voice: "Great King, the last general heard that King Wu has never been known for his bravery. When we meet later, why don't we rush directly to capture King Wu and end this war in one fell swoop? ”

Just as Guo Chongtao and others were worried, Li Shaorong did propose to Li Cunqiao to make a move in front of the battle and kill Yang Wu in one fell swoop.

However, what Guo Chongtao didn't expect was that in the face of Li Shaorong's proposal, Li Cunqiao vetoed it without thinking about it: "How can this work?" It was Gu who proposed the meeting before the battle, and if Gu did such a thing, what was Gu's faith? How will you command the generals in the future? Don't mention this again! ”

"Yes, the Admiral is reckless." Li Shaorong was a little disapproving, but in the face of Li Cunxuan's resolute veto, he could only press the impulse to do his own thing.

"Okay, let's go forward, don't let the lonely guest wait for a long time."

Different from Wu Guo's various arrangements, Li Cunqiao did not make special arrangements for his own security and security, but only let Li Shaorong guard the side according to the previous agreement, and at the same time ordered Shi Jingjiao to lead the troops behind, preparing for the fight after the meeting.

It's not that he doesn't care about his own safety, but his character is like this, impulsive and reckless, he is confident that having himself and Li Shaorong is enough to ensure safety, and he doesn't need to make too many escort arrangements.

On the other side, Yang Wu saw that Li Cunqiao and Li Shaorong had already come to the front of the formation, and he also squinted and carefully observed each other.

When Li Cunmiao was about to arrive at the center of the two armies, Zhou Ben reminded on the side: "King, it's time for us to step forward." ”

"Hmm." Yang Wu nodded, turned around and looked at the many guards behind him, and saw that they were ready, so he immediately urged forward with Zhou Ben.

When they were still ten steps away from Li Cunmiao and the others, Yang Wu stopped and took the initiative to speak: "Yang Wu has long heard of the prestige of His Royal Highness King Jin, and it is really worth the trip when I see it today. ”

Li Cunmiao also replied: "His Royal Highness King Wu's prestige Gu has long heard of it!" ”

Both of them have a tacit understanding to call each other "Your Highness", obviously seeing each other as the prince of the Tang Dynasty.

For Yang Wu, although he has now reached the eve of becoming emperor, he knows that even if he becomes emperor, it is impossible for him to make Li Cunqiao surrender; The same is true for Li Cunqing.

Instead of making an unpleasant fuss, it is better to call it "Your Highness" directly, anyway, now both of them are still orthodox in name to Datang.

After saying hello, Li Cunqiao seemed to be opened into a chatterbox, and said, "Does Your Highness know?" When you led the army to eliminate Qian Biao, the king of Yue, Lone heard of your name, and it has been seventeen years since then. ”

"Really?" Yang Wu was a little surprised, and said, "At that time, Gu was only the prince of King Wu!" ”

Li Cunmiao smiled and said: "You can lead the army to fight east and west before you succeed to the throne, but I didn't have the opportunity to lead the troops in person until after I succeeded to the throne." I'm not as good as you in this regard. ”

……

To everyone's surprise, Li Cunqiao and Yang Wu did not have tension after the meeting, let alone discuss the current situation, but the two recalled the past with great interest, as if they were two old friends who had not seen each other for many years.

After a long time, Yang Wu spoke: "Your Highness, this Jin army's raid on Yunzhou is completely contrary to the friendship between you and me for many years. It is better for His Royal Highness to abandon Yunzhou and Yang Liu to cross the southern city, while Gu will return Weizhou to the Jin State, and the two families will be bounded by the Yellow River and keep peace. What does His Highness think of Lone's proposal? ”

"Exchange Weizhou for Yunzhou?" After hearing this, Li Cunmiao's heart moved, and he was almost ready to agree.

At present, although the Wu army seems to be helpless against Yang Liudu, the overall situation is in the hands of the Wu army, and the Jin army can only defend for the time being, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.

Whether the Jin army can win the next battle or not, he has no bottom in his heart.

Especially after seeing the strength of Wu's navy, he was a little skeptical about the previous choice of crossing the river to attack, and he was hesitant about Yang Wu's sudden proposal.

However, this hesitation only lasted for a moment, and then he shook his head and said, "Your Highness is also the one who leads the army into battle, don't you hear that the two armies fight each other, and only the brave can achieve victory?" If you retreat this time, I am afraid that you will have to retreat step by step in the future, and there will never be a day to turn over! ”

He did not argue with Yang Wu about which family was wrong in this war, let alone try to persuade Yang Wu to withdraw from the army.

Now that the two have started a war, the next thing to compare is which side is stronger, which side can grasp the fighter, and thus lay the victory in one fell swoop.

As for struggling to argue which side is righteous, Li Cunqiao has always been dismissive of this kind of thing.

Yang Wu saw that he directly rejected his proposal, and immediately said no more, he understood that today's meeting was about to end, so he was ready to gesture to the guards behind him to come up and answer.

At this time, Li Cunmiao pointed to Zhou Ben, who was following Yang Wu, and said, "Your Highness, I don't know who this old general is?" ”