Chapter XXXV. Negotiations

Qingqi Mountain is lush with trees, and there are many "flag trees" on the mountain, so it is named Qingqi Mountain. Qingqi Mountain is steep, behind the mountain is a bottomless cliff, and the cottage of the Qingqi Mountain bandits is built on the top of the mountain, and the only way up the mountain is also very rugged. As dawn approached, scouts surveying the terrain returned to the barracks. Zhang He ordered people to beat drums to gather generals, and when he heard the drums, Cao Shuang washed his face with cold water, and also went to the barracks tent with the information collected by bad people.

"Generals, what do you think about the suppression of bandits?" The person sitting on the main seat of the big tent is Zhang He, and I saw Zhang He's burly appearance, quite a Confucian general.

"Directly lead the troops to rush up and destroy them." A bearded general in the tent shouted. Zhang He smiled without saying a word, gently brushed the three strands of beard under his chin, and his eyes aimed at Cao Shuang from time to time. When Zhang He led the troops, Xun Yu specially instructed that although Zhang He led the troops to suppress the bandits, in fact, Cao Shuang was the last person to make the decision.

"General Zhang, the last general also thinks that what General Sun said is right, it's just a group of bandits." Another black-faced general also clenched his fists and said, and Cao Shuang's ears, who were sitting on one side, were buzzing. Zhang He raised his hand and motioned for the black-faced general to sit down, "The two generals are calm and don't be impatient, I don't know what Gongzi Cao thinks?" ”

Cao Shuang, who hadn't slept all night, rubbed his astringent eyes, "Generals, this group of bandits is hateful, but it may not help to directly send troops to suppress the bandits." Listening to Cao Shuang's words, Zhang He had no expression on his face, but General Sun and the black-faced general with a beard on their faces were very dissatisfied and snorted coldly. Although the rest of the people did not directly express their dissatisfaction, they inevitably muttered in their hearts and expressed doubts about the child in front of them.

These people are all veteran generals in the army, and when they killed the enemy on the battlefield and made meritorious contributions, Cao Shuang was not yet born, so of course they had doubts about Cao Shuang's qualifications. Cao Shuang smiled calmly, didn't take these things to heart, and continued, "Qingqi Mountain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. We attacked the mountain rashly, fearing heavy casualties. As General Sun said, they are just a group of bandits, and the word that the casualties are too heavy will be spread, which will damage the prestige of our army. After hearing this, General Sun was thoughtful, and his face was slightly embarrassed. But the black-faced general was not convinced by Cao Shuang, and continued to shout, "Then what do you say you can do?" ”

Cao Shuang smiled slightly, and arched his hand towards Zhang He, "Shuang thinks that we can send someone to negotiate with the bandits, one side of the mountain to find out the truth of the bandits, so that we can use the troops, and the other is to see if there is any possibility of persuading them to surrender." ”

Zhang He saw that Cao Shuang said this, so he could only support and nodded, "Who does the son think can take on this important responsibility?" ”

"This trip is from Shuang." Cao Shuang pointed at himself, his face full of confidence.

Zhang He shook his head, "This matter is not appropriate, let's choose someone else." Cao Shuang waved his hand, "The bad people on this trip still have important tasks, and only You Shuang can go." Zhang He was also one of the few people who knew that Cao Jie was captive, and when he came, Xun Yu instructed that Cao Shuang was mainly responsible for rescuing Cao Jie and asking him to fully cooperate. But Cao Shuang is Cao Cao's grandson, and Cao Cao has a tendency to love this grandson more and more and reuse this grandson. In addition to school affairs, bad people were set up to let Cao Shuang, a six-year-old child, control it, which shows that Cao Cao reused Cao Shuang. If there is an accident in the negotiation this time, he Zhang He will not be able to bear this responsibility, and Zhang He will also be in a dilemma.

"Zhang Qi has never dared to go down the mountain to rob, but this time he took the risk to kidnap so many people. It's just to threaten the government, either for money or for life. Shuang went up the mountain this time, not only is it not dangerous, but I am afraid that he will become Zhang Qi's honored guest. Cao Shuang saw Zhang He's worries, so he analyzed the matter to Zhang He and the generals present.

Seeing that Cao Shuang was so persistent, Zhang He had no choice but to agree to Cao Shuang. Zhang He originally wanted Cao Shuang to bring his own soldiers, but Cao Shuang refused. Cao Shuang felt that bringing too many people would easily make the thieves misunderstand, but it would be bad for himself. Cao Shuang took Qi Fei and climbed Qingqi Mountain. After Cao Shuang went up the mountain, Zhang He asked the generals below to prepare for attacking the mountain, and once there was a problem, he would immediately attack the mountain to ensure Cao Shuang's safety.

"One husband should be closed, and ten thousand people should not be opened." Cao Shuang stood on the narrow mountain road and sighed inexplicably. Qi Fei didn't speak, just walked cautiously and protected Cao Shuang from accidents. The mountain road of Qingqi Mountain is narrow, and there is only one mountain road leading to the cottage on the top of the mountain, so the government's extermination in recent years has not been effective. The mountain is full of "flag trees", which makes Cao Shuang sincerely admire the magic of nature. If you are a good student of geography, you will know at a glance that the so-called "flag tree" is actually a flag-shaped canopy, because the valley is windy, the wind direction remains unchanged all year round, the wind force damages the branches on the windward side, and the branches on the leeward side continue to grow, forming a flag-shaped canopy.

After walking for a long time, the mountain road in front of Cao Shuang and Qi Fei became smoother and smoother, and a cottage appeared in front of the two. When the two of them were still more than ten meters away from the cottage, an arrow shot from the arrow tower in the distance and stuck it on the ground in front of Cao Shuang. There was a whining horn sound from the arrow tower, and I saw many people in the village holding weapons to gather in front of the gate of the village, and the archers on the arrow tower will also build and draw the bow, ready to shoot Cao Shuang and the two into hedgehogs.

"Heroes, please tell your village owner, just say that the bad guy Cao Shuang came to discuss something with him." Qi Fei shouted at the top of his voice so that the bandits on the arrow tower could hear.

"Don't say that the eldest brother is really clever, sure enough, someone came up the mountain. Wu Laosan, go and report to the eldest brother, I'm here to watch. The thief who blew the horn on the arrow tower urged the thief named Wu Laosan to report to the cottage brother Zhang Qi.

After a while, the door of the cottage opened. The bandits came out of it, and the wings of the geese were lined up. A big man in a blue robe came on horseback, this person had clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, but there was a three-inch-long scar on his face, which passed from his forehead through his left eye, which made people feel that it was a fly in the ointment. The blue-robed man arched his hand in the air, "Under Zhang Qi, I have long admired the name of Cao Gongzi." ”

"Being able to meet Master Zhang Zhai is also Cao Shuang's blessing." Cao Shuang also learned Zhang Qi's movements and arched his hand towards Zhang Qi. Zhang Qi originally thought that Qi Fei, who was blocking in front of Cao Shuang, was Cao Shuang, but as soon as Cao Shuang spoke, Zhang Qi knew that he had made a mistake. Many of the thieves behind Zhang Qi laughed, "Is there no one in the official mansion, and they actually sent a child." Kid, haven't you been weaned yet? Hahaha! ”

Zhang Qi frowned, and expressed his displeasure at the government's teasing of him. I, Zhang Qi, am also the owner of a village, and I am also famous in the rivers and lakes, but I even sent a child here, which is a joke for Zhang Qi. Cao Shuang was very helpless, why did these people have to hold on to their age.

"Zhang Zhai arrested so many people, just to find a way to survive for the brothers of Qingqishan. Unfortunately, Ben Gongzi can show Zhang Zhai a way, so Ben Gongzi came. Cao Shuang walked to the front and shook the Xuantie token in his hand. Listening to Cao Shuang's words, Zhang Qi was also surprised, and then he was also relieved. There are many masters in the Cao family, and it is normal for someone to see through his mind. Seeing the token in Cao Shuang's hand, although Zhang Qi was extremely reluctant to believe that the child in front of him was the famous Cao Shuang, he still had to accept the reality, because the purpose of his kidnapping was just as Cao Shuang said.