Lao Kui has been defeated militarily, isolated politically, and encroached on the strategic hinterland, and is gradually heading towards a desperate situation.

What he felt even more annoying was that in addition to these visible and tangible failures, such as the loss of troops, the loss of cities and land, and the departure of cadres, after the provocation of horse aid, he felt that the hearts of the people in his camp had dispersed: everyone generally thought that how long could he last by working against Liu Xiu like this?

What's even worse is that after being beaten for a while by Liu Xiu's combination punches, Lao Kui felt that not only was he really difficult to parry, but he couldn't find a way to break the enemy.

He felt that in the past few years, he had played with Liu Xiu, and the most handy thing that had a good effect was to talk nonsense and fool Liu Xiu.

In desperation, he decided to use this trick again to conduct a fake review.

This time, Kui Huan did not passively wait for Liu Xiu's letter, but took the initiative to write to Liu Xiu and sincerely apologized:

"When the cadres of Xizhou heard that the army had suddenly arrived, they panicked and sought a way to protect themselves. Although the minister's troops won the battle for a time, the minister did not dare to forget the courtesy of the monarch and the minister, and personally pursued them. In the past, when Yu Shun served his father, if his father beat him with a big stick, he would run away, and if he was beaten with a small stick, he would bear it alone. Although the minister is not smart, how dare he forget the outline of the father and son and the righteousness of the monarch and the minister! Now, the fate of the minister is in the control of the imperial court, and if His Majesty gives the minister death, he will die, and the punishment will serve the sentence. If His Majesty is gracious, the minister will definitely change his mind and will not forget it until he dies. ”

Lao Kui's words seemed to be sincere, but in fact, even he didn't believe it. But since it's a fool, let's just say it first, anyway, it's a delaying tactic.

Liu Xiu took this letter and discussed it with the cadres around him, everyone was very annoyed, Kui was arrogant and reckless, disobedience was already unforgivable, military confrontation was a typical rebellion, and he seemed to be sincere in his words, but in fact his attitude was arrogant. It's better to say it's an apology, but it's better to show off. Simply, continue to beat him and kill his son Kui Xian!

As for the real intentions behind Kui's hustle and bustle, Liu Xiu saw through it at a glance.

He really couldn't bear to kill Kui, and he also hoped to use this letter as a step for Lao Kui to give him another chance.

Of course, his tricks must be broken.

After careful consideration, Liu Xiu wrote a reply letter to Kui Huan, and specially sent Lai She to arrive in Huangcheng to pass a message to Kui Huan.

In this letter, Liu Xiu recounted the words of General Chai to Han Xin in the letter of the former Chao Chai, saying that he would deal with this matter with a generous, benevolent, and kind attitude towards others; clearly put forward the conditions, if you really want to surrender to sincerity, ask Kui Huan to send his other son, Kui Xun's younger brother, to Luoyang to express his sincerity, and he will definitely treat him well; In the end, Liu Xiu clearly told Lao Kui that he was not confused, he had been fighting horses for 10 years, and he hated hypocrisy and pompous rhetoric very much, and he had to take practical action in everything, otherwise, you should not reply!

Although Liu Xiu didn't want to use the knife on people easily, he did use up his patience with Kui Huan!

Lao Kui, you don't have to fool around, for the matter between us, I didn't want to do things and talk about it, if you want to show sincerity and win the trust of others, send your other son to the capital, I will treat him well. We're not children anymore, don't play with those useless things, if you're not sincere, don't reply, I'm busy!

When Kui Huan saw Liu Xiu's reply, he was both frightened and worried.

Obviously, Liu Xiu has already seen through his mind, and it will be very difficult to fool him again. In the face of Liu Xiu's tight moves, he really didn't have any good methods.

However, if he really submits to Liu Xiu, he will never have the opportunity to stand on his own; Besides, after fooling Liu Xiu for so many years, and just cutting each other face to face, not only is it impossible for him to gain Liu Xiu's trust, but even his subordinates will not make him feel better.

Yes, Gongsun Shu has strength, but his ability is worse than Liu Xiu's, so let's submit to him first

Lao Kui racked his brains and finally came up with a way, that is, to return to Gongsun Shu first, join forces to deal with Liu Xiu, get through the current difficulties, and look for opportunities to turn the tables and stand on his own feet in the future.

So, Lao Kui secretly sent people to Chengdu to tell Gongsun that he was a low-key minister.

(Knowing that the emperor tried his deception, he sent an envoy to call him a minister to Gongsun Shu.) ）

Lao Kui thought to himself, this world can really play tricks on people!

Thinking about the beginning, Gongsun Shu's soldiers pressed the border, coerced and lured, and had to give me Lao Kui's high-ranking official Houlu, I was annoyed, I didn't want it, and I also cut down other people's envoys.

Now, I am almost desperate myself, and I have to beg people obediently and shyly.

Alas!

Anyway, to join him is to leave a way back for himself for the time being, so be it.

This is Lao Kui, although he is very talented, he is always indecisive and sneaky in what he does.

Gongsun Shu didn't think about it so much, he was desperate to become emperor.

At this time, although Gongsun Shu was the emperor in Chengdu, his sphere of influence was only in the Bashu area, and he felt that this was inconsistent with his ambitions.

A few days ago, he launched an attack on Liu Xiu's Sanfu area, but he was always repulsed, and now is the time to recruit heroes and expand his power.

Kui Huan is not a good bird, just based on what happened some time ago, I can send troops to fight him!

However, now is not the time, let's deal with Liu Xiu first.

Therefore, he gladly accepted Kui Huan's annexation.

However, he wants to deal with the relationship with Kui Huan in a high-profile manner.

In the spring of the following year, in March 31 A.D., Gongsun Shu Feng Kui Huan was the king of Shuoning.

In this way, Gongsun Shu and Kui Huan sent troops to and fro with each other, strengthened military exchanges and offensive and defensive support, and joined forces to fight against Liu Xiu.

For this situation, Liu Xiu also has expectations and a response plan.

Then there is nothing to say, the military situation has become very simple, the camp of the enemy has become very clear, and the only option for the next step is one word, fight!

For this, Liu Xiu, Gongsun Shu, and Kui Huan all thought so.

Gongsun Shu said to Kui Huan, King Shuoning, you are closer to Liu Xiu, you go first.

Because Liu Xiu was thoughtful, took effective measures, and used his subordinates to use his life, Kui Huan did not take advantage.

In the autumn of 31 A.D., Kui Huan personally led his troops to attack Anding County.

His infantry and cavalry amounted to 30,000, and his advance reached Yinpan (now Jingchuandong, Ningxia).

Feng Yi, the acting Taishou of Anding County and the general of Zhengxi, commanded from the front and gave Lao Kui an effective block, making it impossible for him to advance at all.

Lao Kui divided some troops and horses, and sent his generals to attack Huangcheng, but was intercepted by the general Xi Zun, who was stationed in Wangcheng, and fled in defeat.

At the same time, according to Liu Xiu's arrangement, the work of cooperating with Ma Yuan to fight against the rebellion also achieved good results.

On the basis of the preliminary work, I came to see that the time had come, and wrote a letter to the burly general Wang Zun.

Wang Zun understood, and took his family and cronies to Luoyang and defected to Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu immediately fulfilled his promise and named the king Zun Taizhong Doctor and Xiang Yihou.

At this moment, there was a wave in the hustle and bustle of the ranks again, and the people's hearts were once again in turmoil, and many soldiers were thinking about a realistic question: whether to attack or surrender?

Lao Kui saw that the momentum was not right, and this battle could not be fought at all, so he hurriedly led the army to retreat.

It was at this time that Liu Xiu had already begun to prepare for the royal expedition.

Just when Kui Huan led the army to attack and settle down, Liu Xiu wanted to set off for the expedition.

In order to defeat the enemy with one move and ensure a complete victory for Kui, Liu Xiu issued an edict to Dou Rong, the Liangzhou Mu who controlled the five counties of Hexi, saying that he would personally drive the expedition in person, and asked him to personally lead the army to the south, give full cooperation, and agree on the date of the meeting.

Dou Rong gladly accepted the order and immediately led the troops to set off: he had already made preparations and waited for Liu Xiu to summon him.

Unexpectedly, it rained heavily, for days and days, the roads were cut off, the bridges were blocked, and Dou Rong's troops could not be pulled out for a while.

It also happened that at this time, Kui Huan's troops were repelled by Feng Yi and Xianzun, and Liu Xiu temporarily put aside his personal expedition, and there was no need for Dou Rong to go south for the time being.

However, taking advantage of this moment when Lord Yu is idle and does not need soldiers, we solemnly launch Dou Rong to introduce this outstanding talent to everyone.

Rest assured, as long as we have the opportunity, we will try our best not to let go of the main actors of the social life drama directed by Liu Xiu.

Come on, give Dou Rong a close-up of the actor.

In fact, he has been on the scene for a while, and that was when Kui Huan's senior staff and a generation of Confucian Ban Biao defected to him.

It's just that at that moment, the stage was too chaotic, the other main actors were arguing, and we were too busy to introduce him.

Come on.