Because Li Sheng himself had ambitions for Liangzhou and had put such ambitions into action, Li Sheng was very interested in everything that could attract Cao Cao's attention. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info Originally, he planned to use the battle at Yangping Pass to attract Cao Cao's attention. But this matter was quickly resolved due to Wei Yan's intervention, so that Li Sheng had to find another bright spot again. Soon, the negotiations between Li Sheng and Cao Cao, which had restarted in Xuchang, fell into Li Sheng's eyes. After discussing with Xu Shu for a while, a secret letter was sent from Hanzhong to Xuchang.

And the two people in Xuchang City at this moment, Deng Zhi and Deng Ai were in a state of extreme surprise: Cao Cao said that he had won the battle against the lord, and he also issued such a grand proclamation, but his side never got more accurate news from his family. This made Deng Zhi and Deng Ai very puzzled. "Is everything really as Cao Cao said? It's impossible! Neither Deng Zhi nor Deng Ai believed this. They clearly knew what arrangements their lord had made in Hanzhong. If the lord would still lose under such an arrangement, wouldn't Cao Cao have unified the world more than ten years ago? "Lies, this is definitely Cao Cao's lies." Both of them thought so. But in the face of outsiders' doubts, their thoughts are a little pale. After all, they have nothing left in their hands to justify their beliefs.

"Damn, everyone outside believed Cao Cao's nonsense. Even the people in the entire post house were a little arrogant towards us. Deng Zhi, who returned to his residence from outside, sat down on the group garden with a scolding, but he still slapped the table in front of him with a heavy anger, his face full of anger. He wasn't such an irritable person, but he was worried about his own battle situation at the moment, and being treated like this by others really made him feel guilty.

"The people outside are saying infuriating things again?" A note was gently moved to Deng Zhi's face, and Deng Ai's question was written on it. Deng Ai is not good at conversation, so he hides in his room and reads books these days. As for understanding the changes in the external situation, it was completely entrusted to Deng Zhi.

"Yes, a whole nostrils are facing the sky, and it is really annoying to let them pour a pot of water and procrastinate!" Deng Zhi said annoyedly.

Deng Ai glanced at Deng Zhi and shook his head kissingly. On the surface, he did make him angry because the subordinates in the post house snubbed him, but in fact, Deng Ai naturally knew what Deng Zhi was angry about. He wrote directly on the paper: "There is still no news from the residence? Do they still refuse to say? ”

"yes!" Deng Zhi nodded tiredly, and suddenly spread out on the table very unimpressively: "God knows what the lord's side thinks." Why do you have to cover such a fair and honest thing? ”

"The lord has the lord's considerations. Tactics are meant to be in line with strategic planning. Deng Zhi is not good at words, so he can only comfort his companion with words, "Don't worry, the truth will be revealed one day." When the time comes, I think we'll see the wonderful expressions on the faces of Cao Cao's people. Although I don't know what the lord is planning, I know that this plan is earth-shattering. I think Cao Cao is very likely to be angry to death after learning the news. ”

"Huh? Let's laugh. Deng Zhi couldn't believe this, he looked at Deng Ai's still somewhat immature face: "Shizai, you are really funnier than me." He thought Deng Ai was joking.

"Funny? Is that what you think? Deng Ai quickly wrote on the white paper: "You and I don't know what kind of person the lord is. Although from an outsider's point of view, he sometimes does something incomprehensible, but he will never do things without a single reason. He's not a funny guy. I think he must have kept us from telling us all the details for some necessary reason. We should understand this...... Moreover, the lord will never say anything to us. If you think about it, you might be able to figure it out. There is no explanation on the surface, but there will definitely be a hint in the secret. But the lord is the one who observes: 'Let the people know'. For the sake of speed, Deng Ai's handwriting was a little sloppy, but it could still be understood in Deng Zhi's eyes.

"Hint? Secretly? Deng Zhi thought about it carefully, he searched his memories exhaustively, and seemed to find such a sentence for him: "...... Please don't worry, things are normal on the lord's side...... Is this what a hint is? Deng Zhi frowned and asked his brother.

"Quite possibly." Deng Ai nodded affirmatively and explained: "For some reason, the lord's side can't announce the results of the battle normally, which is no problem for their side, but for those of us who don't have a smooth connection, this is likely to make us worry and cause all kinds of accidents." In order to avoid this kind of accident when the information is not completely transmitted, the lord chose to hint secretly. It takes time to deliver complete intelligence, and prompts are just a single sentence. The Lord thinks that we are all elites and can fully understand such words. ”

"That's right." Deng Zhi was persuaded by Deng Ai, and he was already smart, and confirmed with a slightly inquiring tone: "All we have to do now is wait?" ”

"It's just waiting. The Lord can't keep us confused. The words written by Deng Ai undoubtedly gave Deng Zhi great comfort.

"Then let's wait." Deng Zhi understood, and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

The wait didn't last much. Three days after that conversation, Deng Zhi and Deng Ai, who had settled down a little, got the news they wanted to know most: the battle situation in Hanzhong and the whole battle situation. This is a very important piece of information in Li Shengjun's army, and out of the stipulations of secrecy, it was not transmitted all at once, but was written in a cipher and split into several copies, which were sent to Xuchang separately, and the result of on-site decryption and translation in front of Deng Zhi and Deng Ai and the top leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch.

The declassified documents were copied down on three blank sheets of paper, on which all these things were recorded clearly. In the face of these records, Deng Zhi and Deng Ai finally felt a little less worried about their own families. However, after they learned that the reason for all this was to implement the plan to attack Liangzhou, they originally jumped up again: "Is it sure that the lord will do this?" This was something that would have been going on years later. Now that I mentioned the present, is it done? What do I need to do? ”

"The lord doesn't do things that he is not sure of. Although it was a bit early, as long as I followed the lord's plan, my chances of winning were still very good. The leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch explained with a smile that as the "intelligence chief" who was far away, he was not the kind of person who only knew how to analyze and record intelligence -- not to mention anything else, but only to talk about this strategic analysis, he was also very capable, and the reason was not for him to feed him. In the face of Deng Zhi and Deng Ai's inquiries, he replied very clearly: "According to the original plan, we planned to use the battle of Yangping Pass to attract Cao Cao's attention, so that he had no time to care about the affairs of Liangzhou. However, due to the emergence of certain problems, the battle of Yangpingguan ended prematurely. This is not what we want to see, and there is no way to continue the war that has been stopped, so we must find a new thing that can attract Cao Cao's attention. After much investigation, we finally decided to use the negotiation to attract Cao Cao's attention. After all, compared with what happened in Liangzhou, what happened in Xuchang is the easiest to be paid attention to. These are all things that require your cooperation. ”

"Cooperation? That's a matter of course. But what needs to be done is something you need to remind me. Deng Zhi asked.

"What exactly? That's not easy to say, you can do whatever you want. Well, as long as the end is achieved, the means don't need to think too much. My request to you is to drag out this negotiation, and from time to time make some news, so that Cao Cao and the others are always nervous. The leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch said.

"I see." Deng Zhi nodded understandingly, and at the same time made a request to the white side: "I will do our best to complete the task." But there are times when I think I need your help. ”

"That's fine." The leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch shook his head with a smile: "The lord has conveyed an order to let all our men and horses in Xuchang cooperate with your actions." In other words, before the plan for the entire Liangzhou is not completed, and the negotiations between you and Cao Cao have not been brought to a conclusion, you have absolute control over us."

"That's great." Deng Zhi jumped up, "In this way, we can have many first moves in intelligence." Hey...... Didn't Cao Cao keep saying that they had won? Then let's talk to them about this victory. Negotiation is meant to be done slowly. As he spoke, he laughed, but it was terrifying.

Of course, among the people who had this terrifying feeling, there was absolutely no one who was the leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch, after all, they were people who were accustomed to the dark, and they always had further resistance to such a sinister voice. When Deng Zhi laughed like that, he laughed, but without any smile, as if he was purely coping - it was clearly a kind of "politeness" on their part. However, this "politeness" did not last long, as he quickly interrupted Deng Ai's laughter: "Lord Deng, what do we need to do next?" He asked.

"I need the whole picture of Cao Cao's battle in Hanzhong. Including how many troops they sent, when they sent troops, how long they stayed in Yangping Pass, why they retreated, how many people returned to Chang'an, etc.......," Deng Zhi thought about it and said. These are all related to what he wants to do next to expose Cao Cao's war report as a pretense. Although he has now obtained the real war report, in order not to threaten his own intelligence network, he cannot put the war report on the surface, he can only use other means to prove that all this is false. Of course, this proof requires a lot of corroboration.

As for what Deng Zhi said, Deng Zhi himself understood, Deng Ai beside him also understood, and the leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch who listened to his instructions also understood. At the moment, he didn't have any discounts, and he didn't ask why, so he nodded silently, estimated a little, and estimated how much time it would take to find out this information, so he clenched his fists and threw his hand to Deng Zhi: "Please rest assured, Lord Deng, in three days at most, I can deliver what you need to your hands." ”

"That's good." Deng Ai smiled, and also arched his hand to the leader of the white-clothed Xuchang branch: "Since this is the case, then I will wait for Your Excellency's results." At the moment, the two sides are separated, but they are quietly silent.

The movements of the white clothes are still very fast. It was said that it was three days, but only one day later, they sent Deng Zhi and Deng Ai the information they needed to Deng Zhi's hands. That night, Deng Zhi, Deng Ai, and Xiang Pet bowed their heads and studied for a night, and finally understood Cao Cao's arrangement and why Cao Cao quickly withdrew his troops after achieving a fairly good result. As for how to talk to Cao Cao and them next, Deng Ai and the others already had a general idea.

Such a sleepless night, but everyone is still in good spirits, this is the result of excitement. When Cao Cao sent someone to propose to reopen the negotiations again, they did not refuse again, but quickly agreed and asked to start immediately.

"After all these days...... You guys...... Are you going to accept our request? After calming down and researching, Deng Ai, who was already confident, began the game that had already been discussed - as if he did not know Cao Cao's declaration of victory, he still lazily insisted on his own point of view, arrogant and fearless.

"Hmph...... Accept? I remember you saying that only the victor can make a claim. In Xuchang, haven't you ever seen the battle report released by my lord? General Xiahou Yuan has achieved a major victory. If it weren't for the kindness of my father-in-law, I don't want to take the foundation of your father-in-law, I'm afraid that you will lose even Yizhou. How can you still be so stubborn in your opinion in such a situation? Aren't you worried about continuing this war? Xun Yu said reasonably. He pointed out Deng Ai's mistakes from the front, his words were not very sharp, but his momentum was very upright. If it weren't for Deng Zhi, they would have known the real battle report a long time ago, and the two of them would probably really be impressed by Xun You's current righteousness.

It seems that this Xun You is also very ghostly, and he can tell this lie without blushing and without panic as if it is true. Hmph, it's really easy to deceive. But you met me. Deng Zhi smiled on his face and nodded his head, as if he agreed with Xun You's words, of course, this approval was only superficial, in fact, he was slanderous against Xun You. But the belly slander is the belly slander, just talk about the things at the bottom, now is not the time to tear your face, Deng Ai is naturally still smiling on the bright face, gently pursing his mouth, and listening quietly, until Xun You finished this lie, he pretended to be very surprised: "Did Gong Cao release a war report?" This is the first time I've heard of it. ”

"...... you" Seeing Deng Zhi pretending to be crazy and stupid like this, Xun You was obviously stimulated, and his face suddenly changed a little. He originally thought that his side was making such an arrangement, and Li Sheng's side did not react further, he completely acquiesced to his own idea, he could use the fake as the real to force Deng Zhi and them to change their original requirements, so that they could obtain more benefits at the minimum cost, but they didn't want Deng Zhi to give himself such a scoundrel trick, but it was not at all like what he thought, he was really going to kill people alive.

"Really...... How could Deng Zhi suddenly say such a thing? Didn't he perceive something? But even if he notices it, it should be their lord who will uncover all this...... How so? Xun You can't think about it on his own. He was a wise man, but he was also a cautious man, and he always wanted to think of a reason for this.

Xun You suddenly entered into thought, and naturally stopped talking. In order to make this scene no longer cold, Jia Xu on the other side spoke: "Your Excellency, isn't it because you don't hear what's going on outside the window?" It's been talked about all day long. Don't you really know? Jia Xu's words were also true, and they didn't involve anything in the ghost domain, but maybe it was because he usually dealt too much with conspiracy, even such serious words, coming out of his mouth, had some sinister flavor.

"Oh? Is that really the case? That's when I was alone. Alas, I'm so sorry. Deng Zhi snorted, with an apologetic look on his face: "By the way, can you tell me about the battle report?" I'd like to know what's going on. ”

"Actually...... Xun You will be angry with Deng Zhi's pretending to be crazy and stupid, but Jia Xu will not. To be honest, his face is much thicker than Xun You, and at this moment, listening to Deng Zhi still pretending to be so puzzled, he smiled slightly, but he directly explained to Deng Zhi all the things on Cao Cao's side in this battle - of course, all of these are Cao Cao's side of the family. As for what is really going on, they will never say.

"I see." After listening to what Jia Xu said, Deng Zhi pretended to be abrupt, and then closed his eyes and began to think. He thought for a long time, and finally opened his eyes again, he looked at Jia Xu, and said leisurely: "I just thought about your lord's communiqué, and found that there are still some strange existences in it. I don't know what the hell is going on. I hope you both can give me answers. ”

"What's the problem?" When Jia Xu heard Deng Zhi say this, he suddenly had some bad feelings in his heart. He didn't know what this feeling meant, and he didn't understand what Deng Zhi's intentions were at the moment. Regarding Deng Zhi's question, he can only adopt a policy of adapting to changes with no change, and make do with it first.

"This expedition to Hanzhong by Duke Wei used the 100,000 soldiers and horses commanded by General Xiahou Yuan, right?" Deng Zhi opened his mouth slowly.

"Oops......" As soon as he heard Deng Zhi say this, Jia Xu suddenly understood in his heart: this Deng Ai didn't deliberately pretend to be crazy and stupid, he knew everything. He knew that if he accepted the defeat of the war, it would be very detrimental to future negotiations. Therefore, he was unwilling to admit his defeat. It's just that their side has been slow in the battle report, although it is not clear what is the reason for this slowness. But after slowing down, it is not easy to change, but it is a fact. That's why he speaks, trying to overturn our assertions through this fine information. "Hmph...... This guy really has a heart. It seems that Li Sheng's intelligence network in Xuchang has formed a certain scale. Jia Xu thought so in his heart, and couldn't help but admire Deng Zhi's plan a little. He knew that he had lost the lead in this matter now, and there was no way, so he could only follow Deng Zhi's words first. After all, the matter of how many soldiers and horses Xiahou Yuan commanded to the south was also clearly written in his battle report.

"That's right, it's the 100,000 people." Jia Xu nodded very boldly. He didn't add words like "elite" and "tough" to the 100,000 people, because he had already guessed some of what Deng Zhi was going to say next. For those who have been around for a long time and finally belittled themselves, there is no way to refute them from the details, so naturally they can only deal with it as much as possible.

"These 100,000 people went to Yangping Pass for more than two months. Not...... You say it's a big threat to us. Well, we admit it, but the threat seems to be relative. May I ask Mr. Wenhe, when you finally returned to Chang'an City, how many people were left in the army? Deng Zhi pondered for a moment, as if he asked tentatively.

"Hehe, there's not a lot left. Yangping Pass, that's a deep place in the city, and it's normal to be difficult to fight. However, although our losses were somewhat large, we only lost some ordinary soldiers. Our elite has suffered nothing, and we can still use our remaining men to pull up a team of 100,000 men if we need to. Jia Xu replied lightly. He said half of it with the truth, and with the other half with the words of fright. It's really easy to confuse people when this half-truth is said. Of course, the people here refer to ordinary people, as for Deng Zhi and Deng Ai, they are not included in it, because Deng Zhi and Deng Ai both understand what kind of situation Xiahou Yuanjun is in at the moment.

"I admit that you can afford to pull back a team if you want to. After all, there are a lot of you! Deng Zhi pursed his lips disdainfully: "But you still need time to train when you pull up new people." It seems that the water is far from quenching the thirst of the near. In case you have any imminent needs, can you really raise these 100,000 combatable troops in the Northwest? Qingzhou soldiers don't seem to be so easy to train. Deng Zhi said with a smile, but his soft words refuted Jia Xu's words cleanly.

"It's our own business. As long as you know, we still have the ability to destroy you in one go. Jia Xu said lightly.

"Ha, we have never doubted whether Duke Wei has the ability to destroy us in one go. As long as you do this desperately, you can get this result. But ......" Deng Zhi said with a smile and paused slightly, seeing that Jia Xu's face seemed to have some curious color, he continued: "However, is it really possible for you to do this?" The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind. I think you must be very reluctant to be praying mantises. Although there is a saying that a commander cannot be without passion, a commander who is completely full of passion will definitely lose the battle. The world's major events are not something that can be done with enthusiasm. ”

"I know......" Jia Xu's words were still light, and he seemed to have plans to give Deng Zhi a cold treatment.

For such a cold treatment, it was not something Deng Zhi was willing to see, and he quickly turned the topic back again: "After talking about so many off-topic things, let's talk about something useful." According to what we know, General Xiahou Yuan brought 100,000 troops this time, but only a little more than 30,000 returned to Chang'an in the end. It's a huge loss. However, even if you sacrifice so many men and horses and consume so much money and food, you still haven't even seen the city wall of Yangping Pass. As for what you said, such as cleaning up the valley road...... Don't you know that we've never set up any outposts or anything like that in the valley? Alas, although I have long heard that your Cao Wei side is good at scheming, I never imagined that your scheming would be like this. Turning defeat into victory, and death into life, and still not changing your face, only you will be like this. I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the people who come after. Alas......" Deng Zhi said, and couldn't help but sigh again.

was so unceremoniously said by Deng Zhi, even the "thick-skinned" Jia Xu was a little unbearable, he sank his face, didn't say much, just said coldly: "This may have nothing to do with today's negotiations." ”

"It's okay?" Deng Zhi shook his head gently: "It has a lot to do with it." Didn't you ask us to revise our terms? The reason you say that the conditions were changed is that you are the victors in the battle of Hanzhong. According to the prerogative of the victors, you have the right to do so. Therefore, I am discussing these things with you now--if you can still call a victorious battle in which you have lost more than half of your troops and have not achieved your strategic goal of attacking Yangping Pass, then I have no more words. After all, that already shows that you are shameless to the extreme. The words have already reached this point, and Deng Zhi is naturally quite unkind.

"We don't count as victories? So what does it mean to be victorious? Mr. Bo Miao, please take me to greet your General Wei Yan. Just when Deng Zhi stimulated Jia Xu with extremely sharp words, Xun You finally turned out of his thoughts, and when he heard Deng Zhi's words, he smiled slightly, but he said this very calmly and naturally.

"Say hello? It's not as simple as saying hello. Hearing Xun You say this, Deng Zhi quickly grasped Xun You's meaning from Xun You's words: Our Cao army did lose troops under Yangping Pass, and finally did not defeat Yangping Pass and retreated, but since we said that we won, it is not completely without reason. For example, we have consumed a large number of your men and horses under Yangping Pass, and we have completely annihilated some of your nearly 10,000 troops who ambushed us, so that your general Wei Yan almost can't go back. Although these are far from our original requests, at least in some respects we still have the upper hand, not to mention anything else, as far as our Wei Yan section is concerned, which is directly aimed at you, can we not be considered victorious? I guess that's it. We're just exaggerating this victory, not talking nonsense.

"Damn Xun You, he's pretty good at this." Deng Zhi understood Xun You's words, and couldn't help admiring Xun You's old spiciness: "I'm not very good at refuting this." After all, they also knew what General Wei Yan's situation was. Deng Zhi knew that Jia Xu's intelligence organization was also very good, they might not be as powerful and effective as their own white clothes, but they could still obtain some superficial information, similar to all kinds of information about Wei Yan.

Since I can't refute it, I have to do something else to make today's matter over. Deng Zhi looked up at the sky and found that it was almost noon, and he immediately planned to put things aside and fix his belly first. So, he also cheekily played back: "Do you want me to say hello to General Wei Yan?" I will convey it to you on your behalf, but I don't know whether General Wei Yan accepts it or not. After all, I won't be able to go back to Yizhou for a while. But your kindness deserves my admiration. Well! I think I should respond to your kindness. I'm going to help you find something that's important to you. ”

"What kind of kindness?" Jia Xu and Xun You were both curious about this: "What exactly are you going to help us find?" ”

"General Xiahoudun himself, it is also possible that his corpse." Deng Zhi said with a smile.

Deng Ai said very easily, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him, but Deng Ai's words made them all tremble when they heard the thunder and lightning that flashed out of thin air in Jia Xu and Xun You's ears. "Threat...... This is definitely a threat! Jia Xu and Xun You both thought so. They all thought that Xiahoudun had fallen into the hands of Li Shengjun, Deng Zhi said this, but he gave himself a choice: If you agree to do what I say, then I will return General Xiahoudun to you directly intact, but if you don't follow my words, then maybe we will give you a head.

"Damn it......" Xun You frowned when he heard this, he and Jia Xu glanced at each other, but there was nothing they could do. After all, they didn't have anything in their hands that could threaten Li Shengjun's side - the two of them still couldn't come up with a solution for Deng Zhi's move that was so akin to a scoundrel for a long time. They all understand the relationship between the Xiahou family and the Cao family, and naturally they are very clear that Xiahou Dun, a general who is in the hands of Li Sheng, is not decided by his own words.

"Hey...... I'd better leave this matter to my lord. They finally decided that there was no way to do it. At this moment, they have realized that the enemy in front of them will be much more troublesome than they imagined.