After listening to Adou's words, Zhuge Liang said with a straight face: "Your Majesty." Now we attack the road of Wei, only to the east into the division, even if we take Nanyang, but also to go east, Sun Quan is different, if Sun Quan captures Nanyang, you can go north and south from Huai to Xuzhou, or from Nanyang east to Xudu, so Nanyang to Sun Quan, far more important than us, Nanyang, Sun Quan is bound to win, so we might as well send Nanyang to Sun Quan, but also to stabilize Sun Quan's heart. However, Nanyang is only separated from Chang'an by a military pass, so we must hold this martial pass in our hands. ”

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he looked at Adou who was still hesitating, and then said: "Your Majesty, this is the way to choose, if you want to take something." There will inevitably be some abandonment. The minister thought that Nanyang could give Sun Quan, and our soldiers were subordinate to the division, which was the right way. As long as Sili is captured, the Yellow River can be attacked and annexed to the north, and Yanzhou can be broken by going east out of the tiger prison. ”

"Si Li? Prime Minister, do you think Sun Quan will compete with us for the division? Adou asked.

"Hehe, this Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, I expect that Sun Quan will definitely not compete with us for subordination. If we give up Nanyang, the only way to send troops is to go east to Sili, if Sun Quan occupies Sili, it is equivalent to blocking the way for us to send troops, and at the same time Sun Quan's battle line is also stretched, so Sun Quan has to worry not only about Cao Wei, but also about us, which is equivalent to harming others and not benefiting himself for Sun Quan. So even if Sun Quan attacked Luoyang City, he would still give up Si Li to us. Zhuge Liang continued.

"Then in this way, Sun Quan only got one Nanyang, but we can get Si Li, isn't Sun Quan a loss? This is a loss-making business, will Sun Quan do it? Adou asked again.

"Your Majesty, Sun Quan is not at a loss. Don't forget Jiangxia! If Cao Wei loses Nanyang, Jiangxia can't defend it alone. And Xinye, Yiyang, Anfeng and Hefei can be connected into a line, and the entire south bank of Huaishui, from upstream to downstream, is owned by Sun Quan! ”

Adou then remembered. There was also a Jiangxia in the hands of the Wei state.

Although Sun Quan successfully occupied Shouchun, Wen Ping also captured Jiangxia. Yiyang and other counties in the upper reaches of Huaishui were still within the control of Wei. If the 6 Xun occupies Nanyang, Jiangxia will become an isolated city, which will inevitably be unprotected, which will make the upper reaches of Huaishui and other places also fall under Sun Quan's control, so that the 6 Xun Corps in Jingzhou and Sun Quan in Shouchun can be refined into a line through the 6 roads, and at the same time, Sun Quan's battle line will be greatly shortened, which is of great strategic significance to Sun Quan.

Pang Tong next to him also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, what Kong Ming said is extremely true, now we only have the only way to go east. Sili is the center of the world, as long as the Tiger Prison Pass and Xingyang are captured, they can be attacked and retreated. Back then, Dong Zhuo was able to block the coalition of the princes of the Eighteenth Route if he held the Xingyang and Tiger Prison Passes. And by Si Li's north attack and annexation of the state, it can directly threaten Jizhou, and Si Li is the place I must occupy. On the other hand, if we occupy Nanyang, it will be equivalent to blocking Sun Quan's path, and then we will still have to attack Luoyang in the east, but Sun Quan can only attack Cao from Huainan. In this way, Sun Quan will inevitably be angry, and he will definitely peep at my Huainan, and if he is not careful, he may also cause a disaster in Jingzhou. Besides, this Nanyang is not something that Sun Quan can take down if he wants to, although there are not many Cao Jun in Nanyang, but Sima Yi is not an ordinary person, Sun Quan wants to gnaw the hard bone of Nanyang, maybe he will have to knock off one or two front teeth! ”

Adou nodded slowly, and then said, "Then according to the meaning of the two of you, I will promise Sun Quan first?" ”

"Your Majesty will agree to come down first, and when it is time to attack Cao Wei, Your Majesty can divide your troops into two ways, all the way to attack Tongguan, all the way to attack Wuguan, Tongguan all the way to wait for the opportunity to attack Sili, as for Wuguan all the way, you don't have to be too serious, you don't have to move forward if you take Wuguan." Pang Tong said, thought about it carefully, and then continued: "If we attack with Eastern Wu, Cao Ei will be difficult to resist, if the minister expects it to be good, Cao Ei will definitely send a small number of generals to guard Tongguan and Wuguan, relying on the terrain checkpoints to negotiate with us, with the intention of gaining time, and the army is mainly sent to Jingzhou and Huainan to resist Sun Quan." As long as Sun Quan is invincible, he retreats. It is difficult for our army alone to succeed, so in this battle, we must be quick and capture Tongguan or Wuguan with lightning speed in order to break the enemy. ”

"Now it is Guo Huai who guards Tongguan, this Guo Huai's father was the Taishou of Yanmen back then, and he once repelled many attacks by the Xianbei people, so this Guo Huai is very good at guarding; As for Wuguan, the guard general is Xiahou Ba, the son of Xiahou Yuan, and he is also a famous queen......" Pang Tong said here, and secretly looked at Adou.

Counting it up, Adou and Xiahouba are still relatives, Zhang Fei's wife is Xiahouba's sister, so Adou should also call Xiahouba an uncle, so when it comes to Xiahouba, Pang Tong secretly glanced at Adou.

"Guo Huai? Xiahou Ba? Neither of them is a fuel-efficient lamp! Thinking of these two, Adou couldn't help but have a headache.

"Your Majesty, compared to it, the minister thinks that it will be better for us to let Zhang He come to guard Wuguan." Pang Tong continued.

"Zhang He? Zhang Henai is a general of the Wei State, a martial arts group, and his resourcefulness is even better, but he is far stronger than Xiahou Ba! Adou said puzzled.

"Your Majesty said yes. Zhang He is the general of Cao Wei, since following Cao Cao, he has repeatedly made military exploits, when Cao Cao commanded the Cao brothers, the Xiahou brothers and the five good generals, now only Zhang He is left. When Cao Cao was alive, Zhang He was the first general under his command, and Zhang He was faked, but after Cao Pi usurped the throne, he only made Zhang He a left general and a capital marquis. Now, years later, there is still no promotion. On the other hand, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi are already extremely popular ministers, and the officials of Xiahou Shang and Cao Xiu are already higher than Zhang He, even Guo Huai, who used to be Sima under Zhang He, has now been promoted to General Yang Wu, Yongzhou Thorn History, and Sheyang Pavilion Marquis, compared to Zhang He, the left general, although the official position is slightly lower, but the power in his hands is three points greater! ”

"So I expect that Zhang He must be dissatisfied with this now. Others are okay to say, they are all members of the Cao family, and it is understandable that they are extremely popular ministers, but that Sima Yi is now an official residence and a governor of one party, Zhang He must be resentful of Sima Yi. Wuguan is under the jurisdiction of Nanyang, that is, Sima Yi's defense area, if Zhang He comes to guard Wuguan, first, it will inevitably be at odds with Sima Yi, and second, Zhang He's heart of quick success and quick profit can be used to break through Wuguan! ”

"Makes sense." Adou nodded in satisfaction.

Zhang He has not mixed well in recent years. Since Cao Pi ascended the throne, he has appointed newcomers on a large scale, such as Sima Yi, Guo Huai, Deng Ai, Xiahou Shang and others, who have been promoted by Cao Pi one by one.

But the key thing is that Zhang He's former wave is not old, and he doesn't want to be photographed on the beach yet. Seeing Sima Yi's gradual rise to the top of the world, Guo Huai, the Sima under him back then, and the official also caught up, Deng Ai, a stammerer from the people, also became the general that Cao Zhen Sima Yi relied on, and himself, although the official was the general of Zuo, but this false title was more than the actual power. Zhang He has long been unhappy in his heart, and he has a feeling that he is full of ambitions and has nowhere to show.

In the past, when he was under Cao Cao, Zhang He was designated as the vanguard when he set out on the expedition. And most of the coaches Xiahoudun and Cao Ren are Cao Cao himself, such an arrangement, Zhang He also recognized it, originally thought that Xiahoudun is now Xiahoudun. Cao Ren is dead, and it should be his turn to be the coach this time, but he didn't expect that the coach became Cao Zhen and Sima Yi, and he wanted to go back to be a pioneer, and this pioneer was replaced by Deng Ai, Xiahou Shang and others. More often, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi don't use Zhang He, especially Sima Yi, and simply put Zhang He as a mascot. This made Zhang He depressed in his heart, but also a trace of helplessness, but more resentment, resentment towards Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, and resentment towards Cao Pi.

In fact, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi can't be blamed for this. After all, Zhang He was the general that Cao Cao relied on back then, and he was also an official general Zuo, and he was also a first-class official in the court, and on weekdays, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi commanded at the highest level were just miscellaneous generals, and a Zuo general popped up all of a sudden, and he was the kind with deep qualifications, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi just wanted to command, but they were also afraid that the command would not move, and at the same time, they were even more afraid that if there was a mistake, Zhang He would be injured or die, which would affect the morale of the army. In comparison, even if you die three or five miscellaneous generals, it is not as good as the death of one left general to have a greater impact on the morale of the army.

As a result, there is often a situation, that is, every time there is a big battle, when the enemy is charged head-on, there is nothing to do, and when the victory is about to be won, it is Zhang He's turn to play, and when he retreats, it is Zhang He who retreats with the Chinese army, and the queen is always handed over to others.

Zhang He had almost no chance of engaging the enemy, which also greatly reduced Zhang He's chances of making meritorious contributions, on the contrary, people such as Deng Ai and Guo Huai rushed up like rockets.

After all, Cao Zhen is the clan of the Cao family, and Zhang He can only endure Cao Zhen's dissatisfaction, but it is different for Sima Yi. In Zhang He's eyes, Sima Yi is not as good as himself in terms of qualifications, leading troops to fight, Zhang He thinks that he will not lose to Sima Yi, Sima Yi sits on Zhang He's head, and Zhang He has long been unconvinced. Secretly, Zhang He's orders to Sima Yi are always a little disobedient, and because of Zhang He's status as an official, Sima Yi can't do anything with Zhang He, but this contradiction is rooted.

In terms of the ability of military generals alone, Zhang He must be several times more difficult than Xiahou Ba. But Zhang Hejiu has been out of battle for a long time, and he must be eager to make meritorious contributions in his heart, which happens to be the easiest point to take advantage of. On the other hand, Xiahou Ba knows that he is not capable, and eighty percent will stick to it honestly. If he is replaced by Zhang He, he will inevitably try his best to kill and injure the Shu army and gain credit, which is Zhang He's biggest weakness.

As a defensive side, the most taboo is not honest defense, always think of some strategies to retreat from the enemy, if you are outwitted, there is a certainty of victory, if you are smart but are clever mistakes, it will be self-defeating. It's like when Cao Ren and Zhou Yu were fighting, the two sides wanted to rob the camp back and forth, but every time the party who robbed the camp failed and lost the initiative.

……

Zhuge Liang next to him coughed dryly and said, "Your Majesty, what Shi Yuan said is right. Xiahou Ba's age, experience, and ability are far inferior to Zhang He, so he will definitely stick to the end, not seeking merit but no fault; And if Zhang He is here, he will definitely not settle down to Xiahou Ba, this is the opportunity for our army to win! The so-called drowning people are mostly waterproof, which is the truth. ”

Under normal circumstances, novices are cautious in doing things, not seeking merit but seeking no fault. Just like swimming, those who can't swim know that they can't swim and don't dare to approach when they see the water, while those who have just learned to swim dare to splash twice in shallow water at most, and only those who are good at water dare to swim into deep water, and the chance of accidents will be greatly increased.

Now Xiahouba is the person who has just learned to swim, and he is naturally cautious when entering the water, and Zhang He is the person who has good water nature, and he plays trick swimming and diving when he gets out of the water. This so-called careful sailing of the ship of ten thousand years, in this way, even if people like Xiahouba can't take too much advantage, they won't suffer much.

I only heard Zhuge Liang continue: "Your Majesty, why don't we spread some rumors and lure Zhang He here!" Besides, on the Yecheng side, His Majesty can also let that person walk around. ”

The "man" in Zhuge Liang's mouth is Xu Shu.

Xu Shu's undercover identity, Zhuge Liang knows. Back then, "Yuan Zhi went to Ma Zhu Ge", and when Xu Shu left, he had already told Zhuge Liang what had happened, so Zhuge Liang knew Xu Shu's identity. On the other hand, Pang Tong didn't know, after all, Pang Tong still wanted to take refuge in Jiangdong at that time, so Xu Shu didn't recommend Pang Tong.

Pang Tong can also be regarded as the core minister of Shu, and he also vaguely knows that there is a spy sent by Shu at the top of the Wei State. Pang Tong's ingenuity had already guessed that the spy was Xu Shu. However, Pang Tong was not stupid enough to ask Liu Bei, and Pang Tong had to continue to pretend that he didn't know about this matter even if he knew about it.

……

Adou replied to Jiangdong's envoy, saying that he would not compete with Sun Quan for Nanyang, and at the same time, in order to relieve Sun Quan's doubts, he also agreed that even if the Shu army captured Nanyang, he would give it to Sun Quan with both hands.

Sun Quan is a long and a wise, and he made a verbal agreement with Liu Bei at the beginning, but he was stunned that it took a lot of effort to get Jingzhou back after more than ten years, and this time Sun Quan's envoy said that he also wanted Adou to write down a note as proof. At the same time, in order to prevent Adou from delaying time, or to prevent Adou from taking words out of context, the time and scope were indicated on the note. It was stipulated that if the Shu army occupied any county in Nanyang, it needed to be returned to Eastern Wu within one year, and each county in Nanyang was marked.

However, this does not include Wuguan. And the envoy sent by Sun Quan was obviously entrusted by Sun Quan, so Wuguan didn't want it. After all, Wuguan is the gateway to Chang'an, and Sun Quan also knows how to make trade-offs, so the door of others is left to others.

In this way, Sun and Liu can be said to have reached a joint willingness to defeat Wei, and Shu has an opportunity to seize Sili, and in the future, he can rely on Sili to march into Hebei; Jiangdong took Nanyang, connecting the battle line, and at the same time accumulating capital for the future capture of Yanzhou, Xuzhou and other places, which can be described as a great joy.

……

Ten days later.

A news suddenly circulated in Chang'an, that is, Adou was going to take advantage of Cao Pi's new funeral to go east to the Wei State.

At the same time, as if to confirm the accuracy of this news, the army of Shu also began to assemble in the direction of Chang'an.

Then in the streets and alleys of Chang'an, two pieces of news also circulated.

The first news is that Emperor Liu Chan once said after a drunkenness that fortunately it was Xiahou Ba who guarded Wuguan, so the Shu army would definitely be able to take Wuguan without blood. And if Wei sent Zhang He to guard Wuguan, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the Shu army to capture Wuguan.

And another news is that Adou intends to worship Zhang Fei as the commander and attack Wuguan.

The combination of these two pieces of news can't help but make people think about it.

Adou drunkenly said that he took the Wuguan, and it was a bloodless blade, and there was only one way for this soldier to attack the city without a bloody blade, one was that the defenders of the city fled, and the other was that the defenders surrendered. It is naturally impossible for Xiahou Ba to escape, and Adou's implication is that Xiahou Ba will surrender.

At the same time, Zhang Fei, who attacked Wuguan, was related to Xiahou Ba. Xiahou Ba is Zhang Fei's brother-in-law, and at the same time, Xiahou Ba is also the uncle of Liu Chan, the emperor of Shu Han. In terms of the relationship between relatives and relatives, Cao Cao and Cao Ren and others are cousins, and they are separated by another layer from the Xiahou brothers. In this comparison, it seems that Xiahou Ba and Adou are closer than Cao Ei.

The associations of the common people are very rich, plus Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others have added fuel to the fire, and soon there are many different versions circulating among the people, and the central idea of most of them is that Xiahou Ba wants to take refuge in this nephew on the side of Chang'an, so he wants to sacrifice Wuguan. And the official title that Adou Xu gave to Xiahou Ba was much higher than that given by Cao Rong!

Under the spread of well-intentioned people, the news quickly spread to Yecheng.

……

Changan.

Not long after the Jiangdong envoy left, Adou ordered the reorganization of the troops and horses, and all the courtiers in the court had already realized that there was another war. Then the grain and grass began to be mobilized in Chang'an, which confirmed everyone's thoughts.

Adou was busy and took advantage of this time to go to Yongzhou to inspect all parts of the country, one is to see the reconstruction of Yongzhou, and the other is also because the war is imminent, to start to stabilize people's hearts, especially the Di people who have just migrated to Yongzhou, the sense of belonging is not very strong, and it is easy to be used to cause turmoil, so Adou personally went to several places where the Di residents are concentrated, and talked with several Di chiefs to settle down the Di people.

After returning to Chang'an, Adou rested for a day, and early the next morning, he went to the morning court.

On the main hall. The civil and military officials are like troops under review, standing neatly below.

"Ahem......" Adou cleared his throat and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have invited you here today, mainly for one thing, Cao Pi of Wei State is a rebel and a thief will die, so I plan to ...... Hey! ”

Adou said, and suddenly appeared, in the row of Wuguan, behind Guan, Zhang, and Zhao, there was still an old man standing, his head, beard, and eyebrows were all white, but his waist was straight, and he was standing there energetically.

Seeing this old man, Adou immediately took back the words on his lips, and at the same time secretly shouted in his heart: This old ancestor, why did he run over!