When Sima Bao saw Chen An for the first time, the person in front of him was different than he imagined, although he was not very burly and majestic, but it was like a sword out of the sheath, unable to hide the sharp aura. Especially in those narrow triangular eyes, they are sharp and calm, which makes the man's capable complexion without dragging mud and water more obvious.

Coupled with the fact that it was an old ministry that his father used with confidence, Sima Bao's first impression of Chen An was very good. When people interact with each other, the first impression is very important, and once it is implemented, it is difficult to change. So in the years that followed, although he had also heard Zhang Chun's slander and had suspicions, Sima Bao had always valued and trusted Chen An in his heart, until he was betrayed by Chen An and even attacked against him, and he still had illusions, only saying that Chen An was forced to come to this point, and he didn't want to be too harsh.

"Chen An, you used to serve the first king Chiqi, and now you have traveled far away to join Yu Gu, your loyalty can be learned, and Gu will now promote you to be a loyal and brave captain, I hope you will be loyal to Gu and make meritorious contributions to win fame."

On the main hall of carved beams and paintings, Sima Bao's voice was endless, and the aftermath trembled. He sat high on the throne in the middle, wearing the crown of the princes and kings, and the extremely wide silk robe was covered over the fat body, and the gold silk was inlaid with gold thread, which was extraordinarily luxurious.

At the bottom of the stairs, Chen An knelt on the ground and bowed his head to thank him. He thought in his heart that this hall was not smaller than the palace of the old prince of Chang'an, and the momentum was equally magnificent, showing the demeanor of a king. Coming to vote for the king of Nanyang, it is also an affirmation of himself in terms of identity, just after meeting, he was immediately promoted to a position, this step should be the right step.

"The minister bows to thank the king for his appreciation, and the minister must be loyal from now on and swear to follow him to the death."

After Chen Ansan knocked, he stood up, bowed his head respectfully and said solemnly: "The two hundred people brought by the minister were also the loyal subordinates of the former king, and now they come with the ministers to vote for the king, all of them are like ministers, and they have a heart that regards the king as a parent. ”

When he decided to come to the king of Nanyang, Chen An also promised his subordinates that he would try his best to fight for some benefits for them. If he can't be promoted and make a fortune alone, the brothers who have worked hard to follow him will not have the benefit of a penny, which cannot be said anywhere, and people's hearts will be cold, and it will be very difficult to warm up. Besides, Chen An was originally a person who treated his subordinates very well, so at this moment, he took advantage of the good mood of King Nanyang and made a small request.

Sure enough, Sima Bao grinned and piled up the meat on his face, "Okay, this can also be called two hundred righteous soldiers, loyal and commendable, and lonely hearts are very comforting, so everyone will be promoted to a military rank and rewarded with silver ......."

Before he could finish speaking, a voice interrupted him, "King, this person has led a new investment in his troops, and he has not made an inch, and all the rewards are thought to be received." If it is indiscriminately sealed, then the original veterans, who were originally loyal to the king, and have made various meritorious deeds on the battlefield, how can they be comforted? Is there a feeling of favoritism over the other and disrupting the order? ”

As soon as this voice sounded, many people in the hall just listened to it, and they didn't even have to look back to know that it must be Zhang Chun, the general of Pingxi. Sure enough, Zhang Chun flashed out of the two classes under the stairs, and said with a heart: "The ministers have a fair heart, and they are all out of their hearts, and I hope the king will adopt it." ”

When Sima Bao heard this, he hesitated a little, and felt that Zhang Chun's words seemed to be reasonable. But he had already said half of the words of the official reward in front of him, and it was difficult to take it back, and he couldn't find anything to cover up and make up for it, so he was a little embarrassed for a while, and he was stunned and didn't know what to say.

Sima Bao's life, the biggest criticism is not that he has two hearts and refuses to be diligent to the king; It is not that he supports the army and respects himself and sits back and watches the temple fall, but that he has studied diligently since he was a child, but he has always been weak and indecisive, and finally died because of it. On this occasion, if it is a normal master, he will definitely reprimand Zhang Chun for his rudeness in interjecting at every turn, and then understand that he must be very general about new investment talents at extraordinary times, and will not accept Zhang Chun's advice. Not to mention tyrants like Fu Sheng and Shi Hu, Zhang Chun would have been dismantled on the spot.

Changshi was in a fixed position, observing words and feelings, and knew that Sima Bao was in a dilemma at this time, and he was poor in words, so he came out of the crowd and said: "The king, the minister suggested that two hundred righteous people should be attached, and each person would be rewarded with ten taels of silver as encouragement. The military rank is not promoted for the time being, and it is also a fair and fair intention to leave it for meritorious service in the future and then reward for meritorious service, I don't know what the king wants? ”

Sima Bao was secretly happy in his heart, straight and honest to the old man really understood me, he was a wonderful person. He made a helpless look on his face, sighed at Chen An under the steps, and said: "I wanted to treat Qing and others favorably, in order to show the love of the lonely king, but it is a fair plan, and the military rank is really inconvenient to teach each other easily, so in addition to the promotion of Qing to the captain, he will be wronged by Qing's two hundred subordinates, and he will make plans in the future." ”

The king of Nanyang himself opened his mouth and set the tone for this matter. Chen An had no choice but to kowtow and thank him, but he comforted himself in his heart, it was better for the brothers to have ten taels of silver each, than empty-handed.

Sima Bao was fat, and after sitting for a little longer, he felt that he couldn't support it. But at the moment, the occasion is to meet the new people on the main hall, and they must be solemn and serious, and they must not make people feel frivolous and rude, so Sima Bao had to grit his teeth and hold on for a while.

"Now Qing is a lonely minister and a member of the family, and there are some things that can be said openly. Longxi Gaoyue, increasingly strong, if he is not under the jurisdiction of my Qinzhou, where will he take care of him, but if you sit back and watch him develop like this, within a few years, the position of the Lone King Qinzhou Thorn History, I am afraid that it will be given to him, and the Lone King gradually feels uneasy in his heart. ”

Sima Bao moved his buttocks, leaned back again, and suddenly felt more comfortable, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, he hurriedly took his eyes to see, Chen An did not look up, he still stood with his head bowed, Sima Bao was very satisfied.

"Everyone says to plan ahead, and this is not a lie. Previously, I also mentioned in my letter to Qing that I hoped that Qing could conquer Yinping for the Lone King, and now although Yinping is still a separate county, it has actually been held by Gao Yue in his hands, and this kind of behavior is difficult for Lone King to bear. Qing go, lay down Diebu City, the Lone King appointed you to be the lord of Diebu City, if you have the ability to lay down the entire Yinping, the Lone King will give you the Yinping Taishou! How is it? ”

Sima Bao did say in his letter that he would allocate 1,000 elite soldiers to Chen An and let him lead him to fight the Diebu. But this is exactly where Chen An is difficult. It's not that he's not afraid of fighting, on the contrary, he's a little eager to try. What he struggles with is that the goal is too big, and the strength that can be achieved is very small.

Yinping is far away from Shangqi City in Tianshui County, and it is currently under the actual control of the other party, if the matter is above board, it must pass through the territory of Longxi County, how could Gao Yue let them go. If you take a hidden path along the border, you will go around in a big circle, and the fatigue of the division's veterans and the lack of food and grass alone can destroy an army that is originally high-spirited. Therefore, if you only bring 1,000 people, you will bring 5,000 people, and Chen An is not sure that he will be able to lay down the Yin Ping.

However, Chen An has already planned for this. He stood at the foot of the stairs and said calmly: "The king asked, and the ministers did not dare to answer truthfully. Yinping was far away, the Longxi army was strong and defensive, and the minister thought that if he only led a thousand soldiers to Yinping, he would definitely be defeated. ”

"Oh? Do you think that the number of troops is scarce and not enough to get things done? ”

"Definitely. The minister believes that the Longxi army is strong, and there are Wudu people to help, that is, to give the minister five or six thousand men, the victory or defeat is only five or five, and the success or failure is unknown. ”

As soon as these words came out, it was really a big morale sweep. Suddenly, the eyes of the entire hall were all focused on Chen An, some were surprised, some were regretful, but most of them were contemptuous eyes.

Sima Bao was a little displeased, he wanted to set an example of impassioned generosity, after hearing his instructions, he was ordered to go, and then conquered the city, beheaded the generals and captured the flag, and the good news flew up again and again. Unexpectedly, Chen An opened his mouth in a tone of fear of the enemy, which was really a bit disappointing.

"Wen Qing was under the account of the former king back then, and he was known for his bravery. Why are you so afraid of the enemy now? Don't let the Lone King look down on you. ”

Then Zhang Chun was the first to stand up, snorted heavily, and reprimanded loudly: "Such a cowardly and cowardly, I am embarrassed to come to the king, and talk about it in this hall, it is really shameless, why don't you get out by yourself?" ”

"Grow other people's morale and destroy your own prestige, what kind of waste is this."

"I must have heard that the king is benevolent, and he wants to come to the tent to eat, it's too shameless!"

Zhang Chun's cronies also scolded one after another, and a few of them were filled with righteous indignation, if it weren't for the main hall, there would really be a posture of drawing a sword to kill Chen An to thank the king.

Listening to Sima Bao's direct change from calling 'Qing' to 'you', the noise around him was endless, Chen An's face did not change, and he didn't care. He consciously has the scheming and courage in his chest, where can these philistines think of. Besides, he has experienced all kinds of hardships and hardships, and frustration and embarrassment have never extinguished the flame in his heart.

Chen An raised his head to look at Sima Bao and said loudly: "The minister has the courage to ask the king for something." ”

"Tell me."

"Minister, may I ask the king, regarding the current situation in Longxi, does the king want to just teach Gao Yue a little lesson, let him be honest and obediently become the king's minister, or do you want to annihilate the dissident forces in Longxi in one fell swoop?"

These words were asked more sharply, tearing off all the camouflage coats, and directly poking out the core question: whether or not they can accept the emerging forces in Longxi County, and to put it more concisely, is to want Gao Yue to live or Gao Yue to die.

And all the people in the temple turned their heads to each other. Zhang Chun said sharply: "Why bother to ask? Longxi Gaoyue Yin and Yang are violated, with ill intentions, it is of course the best to get rid of it as soon as possible, but it is not a last resort, or don't attack him in a big way, otherwise why would the king be worried? ”

Chen An glanced at him coldly, and said to Sima Baoyan: "Actually, if you want to achieve your goal, you may not need too many troops. ”

Sima Bao suddenly came to his senses, "What, what is the best plan for Qing?" ”

"In the past, the minister heard that the king had also sent an army to forcibly take over Yinping and thus weaken Gao Yue's power, but the result was unsuccessful. Now Gao Yue is training military horses, and the people of Nanjie are becoming stronger and stronger. If the king division is a large-scale conquest, it can also rely on superior forces, to achieve victory, but our army will also have losses, so that the elite soldiers lost their lives in vain, now the Huns are preparing to break through the Tong Pass and come to the east, this is when our army is accumulating energy to support the army and wait and see, so send a large army to attack Longxi, it is really a last resort. ”

Sima Bao thought to himself which pot was not opened, and frowned slightly: "Everyone knows the truth of this, and it is also the dilemma of the lonely king, what solution do you have?" ”

Chen An suddenly raised his tone and said categorically: "The minister has a plan, I am willing to personally lead two hundred subordinates, march lightly to Xiangwu City, take advantage of its unpreparedness, attack the city in one fell swoop, and directly enter the palace to hack Gao Yue to death, and completely eliminate the trouble of the king's henchmen!" ”