Father and son looked at each other, sharp.

Ma Chao couldn't persuade Ma Teng to settle down to pursue an opportunity with a bleak future and unpredictable safety, and Ma Teng couldn't rely on his father's majesty to calm the young and brave Ma Chao to calm the burning ambition in his heart.

The final result was that Ma Teng scolded loudly, and the blamed Ma Chao blushed, shook his hand angrily, turned around and left the military tent.

After Ma Chao left, the entire camp was quiet again.

The tent was so silent that even the sound of autumn wind and falling leaves outside the tent could be heard clearly, and after reprimanding Ma Yue in anger, Ma Teng, whose chest was constantly rising and falling, and gasping for breath, slowly began to calm the tumbling breath in his chest.

After being scolded by Ma Chao, he has been silent, and Ma Yi, who has been sitting and watching the verbal confrontation between Ma Teng and Ma Chao, stood up again at this time and said:

"Brother, look at Meng Qi—"

"Don't care about this rebel, he thinks that if he is strong in force, he can be strong in the world, if the world is like this, the heroes of the cool land will already drink the great river, why should they stay in that bitter cold place."

Ma Teng didn't want to mention Ma Chao again at this time, and turned around angrily, Ma Yi rolled his eyes when he saw this, and sighed.

"Actually, what the virtuous nephew just said is not unreasonable, if he negotiates peace with Hedong, he will become fish and meat on the knife in the future, so before making a decision, brother may as well test Hedong's mind."

"Huh?"

Ma Teng snorted, but did not turn around.

Ma Yi has always been the only strong representative of the clan in the army, after the defeat of Chen Cang, he tried his best to instigate Ma Teng to seize the kingdom, and then went to Han Sui to invite merit, but was eager to win the hearts of Ma Teng A whip, blinded one eye, this has become the current state of squinting.

At present, Ma Yi is still a faction advocating refuge in Hedong, why did he suddenly raise objections at this time.

Ma Teng thought in his heart, and after a while, he asked in a deep voice:

"And what do you mean, how do you tempt?"

"The envoy from Hedong said that he invited his brother to go to Fufeng County together to break Han Sui. Just in case, it is better for me to divide thousands of soldiers and horses to Meng Qi, and let Meng Qi go to Fufeng County with him to test the inside story of the Hedong army, while my brother is still stationed in Fengyi County, waiting to see what happens, once something happens, he will not be unable to get out! ”

According to Ma Yi's meaning, this is to eliminate the strongly opposed faction among the generals first, and then everyone can unanimously surrender to Yan Xing, and at the same time, Ma Chao's proton identity can be used as a bait to see Yan Xing's attitude towards their Ma family army.

This plan can be described as killing two birds with one stone, but Ma Teng still has the affection of an old cow licking calves after all, and Ma Chao is a popular general in the army, which made Ma Teng listen to Ma Yi's suggestion, and did not say anything in agreement, but immediately turned his face sideways and shook his head.

"No, Meng Qi is rigid, easy to cause trouble, and he is a strong general in the army, how can he leave the army."

As soon as Ma Yi heard Ma Teng's refusal, he exchanged glances with several other Ma clansmen who had surrendered, and then looked at Ma Xiu and Ma Tie.

Since Ma Teng, who is a clan brother, is reluctant to have his eldest son Ma Chao, they can only find another way to squeeze Ma Chao out of the army, and then choose a proton candidate from Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, or the younger Ma Teng's younger son.

Although Ma Xiu and Ma Tie were young, they had been listening to them for so long, and when they saw their uncle Ma Yi and the others looking at them, they didn't understand the meaning written on their faces.

After the two looked at each other, they could only grit their teeth, leave their seats with their heads, bow down in front of Ma Teng together, and say in unison:

"My lord, the child is not talented, he can't be like his brother to champion the three armies, break the army, and be willing to use his weak body to hostage the enemy camp, first, to exchange a way for the army to survive, and secondly, to test the mind of the adult to understand the inner thoughts of this Hedong."

"No way!"

As soon as Ma Teng heard that his two children had rushed to his knees and asked for hostage, his heart suddenly softened, and he immediately rejected the request of Ma Xiu and Ma Tie.

Although he joined the rebels, raised troops to fight for ten years, and caused many killings, but people are not grass and trees, who can be ruthless, his wife and children have died at the hands of the enemy, how can he let the two children risk entering the enemy camp as hostages at this time.

Ma Teng's vicissitudes of life showed a rare tenderness, leaned over and pulled his two children up, caressed their backs lovingly, and motioned them to retreat.

After Ma Xiu and Ma Tie also withdrew from the tent, when Ma Teng looked at Ma Yi and the others again, he had already changed into a serious and cold face.

"The second and third sons are struggling with each other today, don't they want my father and son to separate, and then they can replace them?"

Seeing Ma Teng's authority against the clansmen in the tent, Ma Yi and the others secretly said badly, and hurriedly bowed down one after another, showing Ma Teng that he had no evil intentions, and that he was completely for the future of the army, so he did his best to play the role of such a wicked person.

Ma Teng snorted coldly, but ignored everyone.

When the future of Ma Jiajun was good, many clansmen in the tent naturally wholeheartedly supported Ma Teng, but once the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, Ma Teng's authority would be damaged correspondingly, and some of their surrender factions would also take the opportunity to pry everyone and put pressure on Ma Teng together, preventing Ma Teng from insisting on going his own way, and disrespecting the interests that everyone believed.

Ma Teng understood this, so he just wanted to give Ma Yi and the others a shock, and the rest didn't say anything more, but waved his hand and said:

"That's it, I'm in a mess today, you all quit, let me calm down and think about it, and then make a decision!"

Seeing that Ma Teng was a little upset, he waved his hand to let the clansmen who were discussing in the tent retreat, and Ma Yi and the others could only respond to the promise and withdraw outside the tent one after another.

It's just that some of them, such as Ma Yi, saw Ma Teng's tired face that couldn't be concealed when he saw Ma Teng sitting alone in the tent, and he couldn't help but think to himself in his heart:

"Brother is really old!"

···

"Father is really old!"

Ma Chao, who returned to the tent, was still indignant in his heart, he angrily punched the low table, turned to complain to Ma Dai who came over.

"A few years ago, he still had ambitions, wanting to compete with Han Sui, sweep away the heroes of Liangdi, and then divide one side and look at Guanzhong. But now, look at it, where is there still a little ambition, he actually wants to return to Yan Xing with soldiers and horses, isn't this self-destruction of the foundation and the head of others? ”

Ma Dai, who originally ran to tell Ma Chao about his surrender, softened his attitude after the controversy in the account at this time, he felt Ma Chao's indignant emotions, sighed, said goodbye:

"After all, my uncle has to think about all the soldiers in the army. As soon as he entered the stability, Qiang and Hu attacked each other, Yang Qiu was on the side, and the future was unpredictable, so my uncle wanted to return to Yan Xing in Hedong and ask for a good place for the soldiers in the army to go in the land of Guanzhong. Moreover, brother, you also know that the blow to my uncle's heart has always been there. ”

What Ma Dai said was that Ma Teng failed to attack and kill Han Sui, but was defeated by Han Sui's army, and his wife and children died in the chaos.

This incident is usually a taboo between the father and son of the Ma family, and everyone tries not to talk about it. But today, hearing that Ma Dai used this incident as a reason for Ma Teng's surrender, Ma Chao couldn't help but get excited, and he said angrily:

"Okay, Bo Zhan, do you think so too? Survival in the north is unpredictable, but surrendering in the south, and the life is in the hands of the enemy, won't it be unpredictable? The big husband competes for the world, where can he still look forward and look backwards, Liu Bang and Liu Xiu are not beaten until there are only a few horses left, and they still refuse to give in, and finally they can seize the world. ”

"As for his wife and children, Liu Bang fights for the world, and he doesn't even want his own father, so where can he take care of his wife and children."

Hearing Ma Chao say such a ruthless thing, Ma Dai's face was a little ugly, and Ma Chao also realized this after blurting it out, so he had to pause and add:

"My meaning will not change, if you die, you will live, and if you are lucky, you will die. I would rather go away and settle down and die in the Qiang fight, than be a dog and a horse, sue for peace, and lead the army to surrender, I will never agree. ”

Seeing that Ma Chao was so stubborn, Ma Dai didn't know what to persuade for a while, so he could only sit down on the Hu bed, and after glancing at Ma Chao, who was angry, he muttered:

"I've always listened to my brother, but in this matter, I think my brother should still listen to my younger brother, don't forcibly disobey the will of the people, you have also seen the situation in today's account, there are very few people in the clan who agree with the stability of going north."

"And the uncle will soon reply to the envoy from Hedong, and promise to lead the army to surrender. If I continue to fight like this, I'm only afraid that the situation in the army will be unfavorable to my brother-"

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"What did I say?"

"Say what you just said again!"

"I said, if I continue to fight like this, I'm just afraid that the situation in the army will be unfavorable to my brother-"

"No, it's the first one."

"I said that my uncle would reply to the envoy from Hedong soon, and promised-"

"That's right!"

Ma Chao interrupted Ma Dai's words again, and at this time, as if he had seen a shortcut passerby, he strode back and forth in the tent, and said excitedly:

"As long as I get rid of those two demagogic envoys from Hedong for my father, I can strengthen my father's determination, and I can also force others who cannot surrender to go north with me to settle down. Yes, you must kill the messenger sent by Hedong! ”

Seeing the excitement on Ma Chao's face mixed with killing intent, Ma Dai was frightened, he got up in horror and pulled Ma Chao's arm and said:

"Brother was joking just now, kill, kill the Hedong envoy, this will cause a big disaster!"

Ma Chao, who was held by Ma Dai's arm, stopped his steps, but the excitement on his face did not subside at all, and his backhand tightly clasped Ma Dai's arm, and the strong force in his hand grabbed Ma Dai's arm with a faint pain.

"I just want to cause a big disaster, as long as this is the only way to make my father and the generals in the army lose the heart of surrender, go north wholeheartedly to settle down, and create a new foundation. Bo Zhan, you don't know, this is Ban Dingyuan's strategy to pacify Shanshan back then. ”

"Didn't you want to learn from Ban Dingyuan to establish Qixun and prestige in a foreign land? Now this is also an opportunity. ”

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Ma Dai, who still had a childish look on his face, was so frightened by Ma Chao that he couldn't speak, but Ma Chao pressed him back into the Hu bed, stared at his eyes, and said word by word:

"Bo Zhan, this matter is related to the lives of the whole army, you will definitely help me, right?"

"I, I..."

Ma Dai's heart was in a mess, and he instinctively wanted to refuse, but the decisive look in Ma Chao's eyes frightened him, and he couldn't think of anything to refuse.

After a while, he settled up and said indiscriminately:

"But the messenger from the east of the river lives in his uncle's other tent!"