Cheriji has always been closer to Cao Wei, when Cao Cao was alive, Cherrigi paid tribute to Xu Du every year, and now Cherrigi, the king of Qiang, is still canonized by Cao Pi. []

Hearing that it was an envoy sent by the Wei State, the Qiang people did not dare to be the slightest slack, and respectfully invited Deng Ai in.

Deng Ai walked into the tent, his nose inhaled slightly, and the smell of wine and rouge that permeated the tent suddenly rushed into Deng Ai's nostrils. Deng Ai immediately understood what Cherrigi was doing.

Cherrigi looked at Deng Ai, and the envoy of Wei in front of him was twenty-six or seventeen years old. Cherrigi's heart moved slightly, according to Cherrigi's understanding of the Han people, to be able to hold an important position at such a young age must be from those prominent families.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Cherrigie's face, and he said, "General Deng, please sit down, come here, watch the tea!" ”

The waiter immediately brought tea, generally. The Qiang people are not accustomed to drinking tea, but Deng Ai is an envoy of the Wei State, so Cherrigit specially sent someone to cook tea. And it is made from the best tea stolen from the Han Chinese.

Deng Ai was born poor and didn't have tea for it. The requirements are too high, and Deng Ai came from afar, and he was a little tired, so Deng Ai poured the tea into his mouth in one gulp, and he didn't taste it after swallowing it, but he just felt very thirsty.

"General Deng, I didn't know you came this time. Why? Cherrigi asked with a smile.

Deng Ai put down the teacup and said, "I came here for this Guzang City in front of me." ”

"Guzang City? General Deng Ai has a clever plan to help me capture Guzang? ”

"My lord, I need to make a trip to the city." Deng Ai spoke.

"Into the city?" Cherrigi nodded: "In that case, the general will rest here. One day, tomorrow I will send someone to escort the general into the city.

……

The east gate of Guzang City.

"General Deng Ai, there is Gu Zangcheng in front, let the last general go and call the door!".

"No need, I'll just go by myself, General Burning Ge has worked hard." Deng Ai said. finished, said goodbye to Burn Ge, and headed for the north gate of Guzang.

The guard on the city of Guzang. Although Deng Ai was only one person, the soldiers on the city wall still came to the back of the battlements very carefully and were on guard.

"Stop coming, if you go any further, I'm going to shoot an arrow!" The generals of the city shouted.

Deng Ai stopped the horse, and then shouted: "I am Deng Ai, the envoy sent by the Wei State, I have come to see General Ma, dare to ask you if you are General Ma?" ”

The future shook his head: "The general is in the mansion now, and I will pass it on to you." ”

"This general, dare to ask you if you are General Ma Dai?" Deng Ai then asked.

"The second general is now at the south gate, you wait a minute, I'll go and pass it on to you."

"Don't bother the general, I'll go to the south gate in person!" Deng Ai said, riding his horse and running north.

"Hey, you wait...... " shouted the castle guard, but Deng Ai didn't seem to hear it, and walked straight north.

"Hmph, how did Wei send such a person, I can't even tell the direction, I told General Ma Dai at the south gate, he just went north, he couldn't scream, what a fool......" The guard at the east gate of Guzang said.

It didn't take long for Deng Ai to appear at the north gate of Guzang City.

"I am Deng Ai, the envoy of Wei, and I want to see General Ma......" Deng Ai shouted again.

As a result, the city guard was about to report immediately, but was stopped by Deng Ai again.

"Since General Ma Dai is not here, and you can't call the shots, then I will go to the south gate to find General Ma Dai." Deng Ai said, and then walked west.

The same thing was born at the West Gate, and the guards were about to report it, but Deng Ai made an excuse and went straight to the South Gate.

……

Inside the city of Guzang.

The General's Mansion is where Ma lives, and in this General's Mansion, there is a small school field, which is where Ma practices martial arts on weekdays.

"Bang Bang"

The sound of weapons colliding sounded from the small school yard, where the two were fighting. One of them was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing silver inner armor and a bright silver spear in his hand, while the other was a young man in his twenties, shirtless and wielding a large knife in his hand. I saw the knives and guns back and forth, and the two fought equally, but gradually, the middle-aged man who used the gun had the upper hand.

"Father, be careful!" The young man shouted, and the big knife in his hand suddenly rolled and went straight to the middle-aged man.

"Bang!" The middle-aged man blocked the broadsword with his spear, and then the latter turned sideways, and the butt of the rifle was picked up, hitting the young man in the abdomen.

The young man took a few steps back, then stopped, and stood there with a dejected expression, while the middle-aged man smiled and said, "Qiu'er, yes, your sword skills have been practiced quite well, it is estimated that even your cousin may not be able to defeat you!" ”

"But I'm still not as good as my father...... Back then, my father, you were fourteen years old in Liangzhou, and no one was invincible, far worse than you and me. The young man said.

"Hahahaha...... I don't like to use knives since I was a child, so I abandon knives and use guns, but our Ma family's knife technique is handed down by the ancestor Fubo General Ma Yuan, the power is not trivial, your cousin Ma Dai just learned some fur, this Ma family knife is still your grandfather Ma Teng! ”

This middle-aged man, that is, Ma Dao, showed a trace of sadness in his eyes, and then said: "It's a pity that your grandfather was killed by Cao Cao's traitor, if your grandfather is still there, he will be able to give you a good point." ”

"Brother!" Ma Dai's voice sounded, and then I saw Ma Dai hurriedly break into the school yard and said, "Brother, there is a person outside, claiming to be a messenger sent by Cao Pi, and he wants to see his brother." ”

"Cao Pi's messenger? Who is it and what is it called? The horse asked.

"It's a young man, twenty-six or seventeen years old, called Deng Ai, he looks like a military general, and his martial arts seem to be not weak." When Ma Dai said this, his voice paused, and then he continued: "Also, he came alone. ”

"Alone! Daring! The horse snorted lightly, and then said, "Take him to the hall, and I'll be over in a moment." ”

"Father, I'll go with you too!"

"Well, it's okay, wipe your sweat first, put on your clothes and then go over, lest people say that our Ma family is rude."

……

In the hall, Deng Ai sat there quietly, his eyes closed, looking like he was closing his eyes again.

The scene of just entering the city kept coming to Deng Ai's mind, and the arming situation at the city gate and on the city wall kept flashing in Deng Ai's mind, and even the shops on both sides of the road along the way were firmly remembered by Deng Ai.

The city defense situation arranged by the horse was deeply imprinted in Deng Ai's mind, although it was not possible to open the whole picture, but in many places, Deng Ai could speculate that slowly, the three-dimensional map of the city defense of Guzang City appeared in Deng Ai's mind.

Just now Deng Ai from the east gate to the north gate, then to the west gate, and finally to the south gate, just to investigate the deployment of the four gates, as Deng Ai expected, the west gate and the south gate of Guzang City have a lot more defenders than the other two, and when Deng Ai came in from the south gate, he also deliberately paid attention to the layout of the south gate defense.

If it is an ordinary person, it is impossible to completely record the deployment of Guzang City, and if the people who come do not know the military affairs, it is difficult to see the clues, but Deng Ai is different, Deng Ai is extremely smart, and he is familiar with the art of war, so he only needs to take a rough look, and then slowly ponder, you can speculate about the defense situation of Guzang City.

No matter how good the defense is, there will be flaws, so Deng Ai began to slowly recall the situation of entering the city just now, and at the same time began to look for the flaws, and at this moment, the sound of footsteps came from outside.

Deng Ai opened his eyes violently, looked at the door, and saw three people coming from afar, the one on the left was Ma Dai he had just seen, the one on the right was a young man in his twenties, and in the middle was a middle-aged man in his forties, who was handsome and dignified, even Deng Ai had to sincerely admire, this middle-aged man was indeed very handsome.

The horse is notoriously handsome, otherwise there would not be a nickname of "Jinma", at this time, Deng Ai had already guessed that this middle-aged man must be a horse. Deng Ai hurriedly stood up, took a few steps, and bowed: "Deng Ai has seen General Ma. ”

"Sit down!" Ma replied lukewarmly. Because Deng Ai was sent by the Wei State, and Ma had a grudge against the Cao family to kill his father, Ma only looked at Deng Ai coldly.

"Your name is Deng Ai, what's the matter?" Ma said with a cold face.

"I'm here to save the general!"

"Hmph, look at your sturdy appearance, and your martial arts are not bad, I thought you were a general, but I didn't expect you to be a lobbyist!" Ma's face suddenly became gloomy.

Ma doesn't like lobbyists very much, and Ma suffers a lot from lobbyists. When Ma attacked Cao Cao for the second time, Yang Fu of Liangzhou was a very eloquent person, but with his three-inch tongue, he turned the horse around, and finally caused the horse to lose Jicheng, and even killed two sons of the horse. That's why Ma Da hates lobbyists in his heart.

According to Ma's experience, lobbyists will generally start by making alarmist remarks, such as if you are in danger, a catastrophe is coming, another person is not in the future, and then put on a savior. So today, when Ma heard Deng Ai's sentence "Come to save the general", a trace of disgust rose in his heart.

Deng Ai is very good at observing words and feelings, although Deng Ai doesn't know that horses don't like lobbyists, but looking at Ma's expression, Deng Ai knows that the opening sentence he just said is something Ma doesn't like to hear. So Deng Ai hurriedly swallowed the words he had thought of before into his stomach, and instead said: "General Ma, I don't hide it, I came from Tongguan below." General Ma has been surrounded by the Qiang people in this Guzang city for a long time, and there is no news with Yongzhou, so General Ma must not know what the battle situation in Yongzhou is. There are some latest news from Yongzhou here, I wonder if General Ma is willing to listen to it? ”

After the Qiang people surrounded Guzang City, there was basically not much news from Yongzhou, especially in the past year or so, Ma did not get any news from Yongzhou, and now Ma did not know that the army of Xianbei and the Xiongnu had been wiped out, nor did he know that Liu Bei had died, let alone that Adou had ascended the throne now.

Deng Ai's words really aroused Ma's interest, Ma was indeed very eager to know the news of Yongzhou, but Ma looked at Deng Ai's calm and relaxed appearance, and a feeling of unease rose in his heart. Deng Ai, who was Cao Wei's envoy, seemed so comfortable, which made Ma feel that the situation in Yongzhou might be very bad.

Ma took a deep breath, prepared to hear the worst news, and then asked, "May I ask how the battle situation in Yongzhou is now?" Did the Xianbei people and the Huns retreat? ”

"Hehe, the combined forces of the Xianbei and the Huns did not withdraw from Yongzhou." Deng Ai had a triumphant smile on his face.

The horse probably expected this answer, so he was not too surprised, but went on to ask, "What about my lord?" ”

"Is General Ma talking about Liu Bei? Liu Bei, he's dead! Deng Ai continued.

"What did you say?" Ma stood up violently, and at this time, Ma first thought that Liu Bei was defeated and killed by the Hu people.

Suddenly, a cruel smile appeared on Ma's face, and then he pointed at Deng Ai and said, "I didn't expect Cao Pi to send you here to spread rumors and disturb the hearts of our army!" Come, push him out for me, behead him, and hang his head on the gate of the city as an example! “

More than a dozen wolf-like Liangzhou soldiers immediately rushed in and went straight to Deng Ai, but Deng Ai was not panicked at all, but said: "General Ma, and listen to me again, after listening, you will kill or chop, listen to it, I Deng Ai will never complain!" ”

"Okay, if you have any last words, just say it!" The horse waved his hand and motioned for the men who rushed in to withdraw.

The so-called confrontation between the two countries, do not kill the envoy, Deng Ai is a messenger anyway, in the hearts of the ancients, killing the envoy is a manifestation of unkindness and cowardice. In Ma's view, benevolence and righteousness are not important, but if Ma is said to be cowardly, Ma will definitely have to turn his face, so if Deng Ai is really killed, it will also damage Ma's prestige if he says it, and Ma does not want to kill Deng Ai, the messenger, unless it is absolutely necessary.

Deng Ai was slightly relieved to see that his life was saved for the time being, and then said: "General Ma, what I just said is the truth, I think General Ma misunderstood what happened." The reason why the Hu army did not withdraw from Yongzhou was because they had been completely annihilated. ”

"What did you say?" An incredible expression appeared on the horse's face.

"The combined forces of Xianbei, Xiongnu and Qianren have been wiped out." Deng Ai repeated.

"Is that true?"

"No lie!" Deng Ai nodded affirmatively, and continued: "Zhuge Liang led the reinforcements out of Qishan, reached Tianshui, and then decided Weishui, and the 300,000 troops of the Hu people were all flooded by the water, and the whole army was annihilated. ”

"Well drowned! Hahaha...... It's so well drowned! Ma laughed.

"General Ma, the annihilation of the entire Hu army is a fact, and what I said just now that Liu Bei is dead is also true!"

Deng Ai's words immediately interrupted Ma's Yaxing, and at this time Ma also believed a little that what Deng Ai said was true.

"What the hell is going on?" Ma asked.

"That's right, according to the news we came back from our inquiry, Liu Bei died of illness in Chang'an after defeating the Hu army. When I came, the crown prince Liu Chan had already ascended the throne. Deng Ai said.

Hearing the news of Liu Bei's death, Ma suddenly froze there, although Ma felt that Deng Ai was from the enemy and his words could not be trusted, but intuitively, Ma could feel that Deng Ai was not lying.

"Your Majesty, he's really gone......" Ma muttered to himself.

For horses, this came too suddenly. Among the five tiger generals, Ma followed Liu Bei for the shortest time, and his relationship with Liu Bei was far less deep than that of the other four, so when he heard the news of Liu Bei's death, Ma didn't feel much sadness. However, there was an indescribable feeling in Ma's heart, with a trace of hesitation, a trace of sadness, a trace of uneasiness, and a trace of confusion about the future.

"Liu Bei is dead, what should I do?" This sentence suddenly sounded in Ma's heart.

Deng Ai saw that the time was almost up, and then said: "General Ma, there is one more thing I want to tell you. In fact, a few months ago, after Zhuge Liang flooded the Hu army, he sent people to aid Liangzhou, and the people who led the troops occupied Jincheng in only ten days. ”

Deng Ai's words brought Ma back to his senses, and when he heard that the reinforcements had occupied the city, there was a hint of joy on Ma's face, Jincheng was not too far from Guzang, and Ma even felt that the reinforcements were just a stone's throw away.

"General Ma, I advise you not to be happy, Jiang Wei and Yang Yi, who led the troops, have stagnated since they recaptured Jincheng from the Qiang people, and have been in Jincheng for a long time now. Look, they won't come! Deng Ai continued.

"What did you say?"

"General Ma, Jiang Wei and Yang Yi, the leaders of the Shu army, have already arrived in Jincheng, why don't they continue to march west to support Guzang?" Deng Ai said, secretly looked at Ma's face, and continued: "As far as I know, that Jiang Wei is just a young man who is just over twenty, and he was just an unpopular official in Tianshui City before. Such a small official, after capturing Jincheng, did not support the general, Jiang Wei alone, would not dare to do such a thing, there must be someone behind it. And that Yang Yi was originally engaged in General Zuo's Da Sima Mansion, and later was promoted to participate, and went out with Zhuge Liang, it can be said that Yang Yi is Zhuge Liang's descendant, and with that Yang Yi came with the army, it should not be difficult for the general to guess that the person behind the command is none other than Zhuge Liang. ”

"Prime Minister? Why did he do that? Unconsciously, Ma had already left according to the train of thought Deng Ai said.

"Why did Zhuge Liang do this? Good question! General, Zhuge Liang can't tolerate you! He ordered Jiang Wei to deliberately not move forward, just to let the Qiang people break through Guzang, Zhuge Liang wanted the general to die! Deng Ai said excitedly.

"The prime minister wants me to die?"

"Yes, then Jiang Wei will not advance when he hits Jincheng, it must be on the order of Zhuge Liang, otherwise, even if he Jiang Wei has the courage to do so, he will not dare to put General Ma and such a dangerous situation."

"I have no grievances with the prime minister, and he can't harm me!" The horse spoke, but there was a hint of hesitation and uncertainty in his voice.

"Couldn't it hurt you? So if Jiang Wei's reinforcements don't come to Guzang, what is the explanation? ”

"This ......," the horse was completely speechless.

Deng Ai saw that there was a play, and when he struck iron at night, he didn't wait for the horse to react, and then said: "General Ma, the so-called people don't hurt the tiger's heart, the tiger hurts people's hearts, although the general and Zhuge Liang are innocent and have no enmity, but after Liu Bei's death, that Zhuge Liang will definitely not be able to tolerate the general." ”

"What do you mean by that?" There was finally a hint of sincerity in Ma's tone.

"General, then Zhuge Liang is afraid of you!" Deng Ai secretly looked at Ma's expression again, and now Ma was listening carefully, so he continued: "General, think about it, now that Liu Chan has ascended the throne, but that Liu Chan is just a child less than twenty years old, how can he support this great cause, so Liu Chan must rely on your ministers." Among the ministers, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Zhang Song are the three people, and among the three, Zhuge Liang is respected. Among the generals, there are five tiger generals and Wei Yan six people, looking at the five tiger generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are over sixty years old, and Huang Zhong is nearly eighty years old, these three people are not allowed to go to the battlefield, and Zhao Yun is also over half a hundred years old, and he will not be able to fight again in a few years, only the general and Wei Yan are in their prime.

The general is the general of Fubo, after Ma Yuan, who is a famous family, a general, and a prince's family. That Wei Yan is just a white Ding background, how can he be as good as a general, so in the future in the Shu army, you will definitely be respected as a general.

That Zhuge Liang had long wanted to control the government, monopolize the military and political power, and do the actions of Lu Buwei and Huo Guang, Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang were the same door, and Zhang Song's power was far inferior to Zhuge Liang, so Zhuge Liang had no objection to controlling the government; But in this army, Zhuge Liang is not easy to meddle, but now that Guan Zhang and Huang are old, Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang are quite friendly, Wei Yan has always been afraid of Zhuge Liang, if Zhuge Liang wants to monopolize military power, you are the biggest obstacle, general!

So Zhuge Liang will inevitably look for an opportunity to get rid of the general. But the general, you have a lot of credit, the deep military heart, and the official to the hussar, Zhuge Liang can't kill the general on the surface, so Zhuge Liang made a move in secret, deliberately did not help the general, and got rid of the general by the hand of the Qiang people, this is a plan to kill people with a knife! “

After the tirade, Deng Ai took a slight breath, Deng Ai has a problem with stammering, and his speech is often not smooth, but now he has said so much, and his tongue has become a little knotted. Then Deng Ai peeked at the horse's face again, and the horse's face became rosy at this time, but Deng Ai could sense that this ruddy was aroused by anger.

"Zhuge Villager, my horse has no grievances with you, and you actually hurt me like this!" There was a flame of anger in the horse's eyes.

It's time! Deng Ai was secretly happy in his heart, but his face showed a look of sadness and indignation, and then said: "General Ma, my lord Cao Pi admires the general as a hero in the world, and he can't bear the general to die at the hands of that villain Zhuge Liang, so he specially sent me to tell him." ”

"Hmph......" Ma snorted coldly, obviously looking unappreciative.

Deng Ai continued: "General, that Zhuge Liang intends to kill the general to control the government, and that Liu Chan is young and ignorant, even if the general can return to Chang'an, he will be persecuted by Zhuge Liang's traitor. In my opinion, the general might as well take advantage of this opportunity to set up his own door! ”

"Self-reliant portal?"

"Yes, General. If the general is willing to raise troops and set up his own door, he is willing to rely on his three-inch tongue to say that he will move Cheriji outside the city and help the general. With the prestige of the general, Liangzhou must be in the general's pocket! At that time, the general will support Liangzhou, and with the help of Qiang King Cheriji, he will at least be able to be the overlord of one side, which is better than being harmed by Zhuge Liang's villain! Deng Ai said impassionedly.

The horse lowered his head and fell into deep thought, at this time, the horse was a little moved.

Deng Ai sensitively sensed that the horse was already tempted, and Deng Ai decided to add another fire.

"General, you are the hero of the world, and that Liu Bei is just a weaving boy, the general is committed to this weaving boy, it's really not worth it for the general! Looking at the five tiger generals again, Guan Yu was a felony who killed and fled back then, Zhang Fei was just a butcher, Zhao Yun was once a bandit and bandit, Huang Zhong Lao'er was just a mountain hunter, and after you were a famous general, you deigned to be in the company of these four market people, hey...... It's really a tiger falling in Pingyang! ”

Deng Ai's words belittled the other four of the Five Tiger Generals as worthless. Guan Yu killed someone and fled to meet Liu Bei; Although Zhang Fei's family background is good, he is indeed just a butcher; Zhao Yun once occupied Zhoucang's cottage and did businessless business; As for Huang Zhong, he also used to be a hunter when he was young. Deng Ai deliberately brought out the things when these four people were down.

Deng Ai said this, Ma himself also felt that he was not worth it, after all, Ma was born in a famous family after Ma Yuan, the general of Fubo, after Deng Ai was so **, Ma also felt that he was very cheap.

"General, that Liu Chan is just a yellow-mouthed child, how many things do you know? Presumably, in the future, the power will fall into the hands of Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang is just a village man in the mountains, can the general bear to be committed to a village man and be bullied by him? Deng Ai then added fuel and vinegar to say.

"Father!" Next to him, Ma Qiu suddenly stood up and said, "Father, the child begs you for something." ”

"Huh?" Ma didn't expect Ma Qiu to jump out at this time.

"Father, the child is going to Chang'an!" Ma Qiu said.

"Go to Chang'an, what are you doing in Chang'an?"

"Just now, this General Deng Ai said that Zhuge Liang wants to monopolize the power and do the way of Lu Buwei, maybe Zhuge Liang is more ambitious and wants to be Wang Mang for a while, so count, His Royal Highness the Prince...... Oh no, your majesty is in danger today! Before Jia Mengguan that year, it was His Majesty who offered a plan to exchange Yang Ren for the child's life, and later the child gave up for the prince, and His Majesty also treated the child well. The child wants to be Chang'an and help His Majesty to eradicate Zhuge Liang's traitorous villain! Ma Qiu said.

"No, Chang'an is too dangerous, if you go to Chang'an, Zhuge Liang will attack you, you can't go!" Ma immediately refused.

"Father, you once taught me that when grievances and grievances are clear, Your Majesty is kind to me, and I cannot ignore Your Majesty's safety. Besides, even if Zhuge Liang wants to be Lu Buwei, Your Majesty and his martial arts are especially better than the first emperor back then, although the child does not have the wisdom of Li Si, but he has the martial arts of Wang Ben and Mengtian, and the child is willing to return to Chang'an to help His Majesty eradicate the traitors and help Sheji. ”