If it was replaced before, Xun Chen, who was a traitor of the Yuan family, dared to come to negotiate with Yuan Tan Gongzi, then let alone enter the big tent to sit down and talk with Yuan Tan Gongzi, I am afraid that he would be cut by the grumpy Yuan Tan Gongzi just after meeting.

But now it's different, first, Xun Chen's new thighs are too thick, and second, the howitzers claimed by the Xuzhou Army have already frightened Yuan Tan Gongzi just by rumors, so Yuan Tan Gongzi, who is still smart, can only choose to forget Xun Chen's betrayal, and invite Mr. Xun Chen into the camp with an expressionless face, please enter the big tent of the Chinese army and sit down with Xun Chen to talk. Mr. Guo Tu, who used to have an average friendship with Mr. Xun Chen, is also very familiar with current affairs, not only did he not have a bad idea to let Yuan Tan Gongzi kill the Xuzhou envoy, but also talked about the old friendship in front of Mr. Xun Chen, and there was a vague taste of friendship in his words.

Uncle Liu Huang and Zhuge Liang watched coldly, seeing that Yuan Tan agreed to negotiate with Xun Chen, although his attitude was cold on the surface, he didn't care about Xun Chen's previous betrayal, and his heart was suddenly very vigilant, knowing that Yuan Tan Gongzi had become timid, in order to prevent accidents, Liu Huang Uncle and Zhuge Liang were cheeky to follow up on the big tent, and took the initiative to accompany Yuan Tan Gongzi to meet Xun Chen, fortunately, Yuan Tan and Guo Tu and others didn't mind, so that Liu Huang Uncle and others easily mixed into the big tent.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, the guests and hosts sat down, and before Yuan Tan Gongzi could speak, Mr. Guo Tu, who was a military advisor, had already preemptively ordered: "Come on, quickly prepare a banquet, serve the best wine and food, and wash the dust for Mr. Youruo." ”

Hearing this, Uncle Liu's eyes suddenly changed, and he couldn't help coughing, venting his unhappiness, and Yuan Tan Gongzi, who had been pretending to be cool over there, also felt that Guo Tu was a little down, too much to please the enemy's envoy, so he also coughed, and said: "I'll talk about the banquet later, first serve tea for Mr. Youruo." Mr. Youruo, since you have abandoned me Jizhou and fled to Xuzhou, now that Jixu is fighting, why did Mr. come to meet me? ”

After finishing speaking, Yuan Tan also glared at Guo Tu and motioned Guo Tu to pay attention to his identity and attitude. Xun Chen over there didn't care at all, but just bowed his hand to Yuan Tan and said: "The eldest prince, Chen's intention to come before is to save the lives of the eldest prince and thousands of Jizhou soldiers. ”

"Coming to save me?" Yuan Tan Gongzi sneered even more coolly, and said with a sneer: "I'm sitting here now, what do I need to be saved by Mr. Youruo?" ”

"Childe is indeed sitting here today, but he may not continue to sit in a few days." Xun Chen said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "The 150,000 Xuzhou army has already arrived in front of the Gongzi camp, just waiting for my lord's father-in-law to give an order, and the Gongzi's camp will be all powdered. ”

"Powder?" Yuan Tan continued to sneer and said, "If Tao Ying can really do this, then he can come, and the prime minister will accompany him to the end!" ”

"Childe's camp is indeed well built, even my family's lord Gongtao Envoy Jun and the world-famous Mr. Wenhe are full of praise, and they admire Childe's skills in guarding the camp." Xun Chen put on a high hat for Yuan Tan, and then said with a smile: "But it's a pity that the times have changed, and no matter how strong the Gongzi's camp is and how tightly it is guarded, it is useless." ”

"Times have changed?" Yuan Tan Gongzi heard the term era for the first time, and felt quite fresh.

"Times have indeed changed." Xun Chen nodded, smiled and said: "Just as my family's Tao envoy Jun pioneered the tactics of the Junzi Army and swept the previous cavalry tactics into the garbage heap, and just like the thunderbolt pioneered by my father-in-law, which drove the trebuchet out of the battlefield in the Spring and Autumn Period, the howitzer pioneered by my father-in-law again also made the son's camp tactics invisible." Please think about it carefully, if our army erects hundreds of howitzers in front of Gongzi's camp, and uses this howitzer that can shoot 800 paces and the howitzer that once broke the main force of Cao Thief, to bombard your army's camp day and night, how many days can Gongzi's Guandu camp hold on? ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi closed his mouth, and his eyes also showed timidity, but Mr. Guo Tu nodded his head over there, and said with some flattery: "Tao Envoy Jun is indeed good, a gentleman army of more than 1,000 people can sweep the invincible opponents in the world, and a seemingly simple thunderbolt can beat the towers of the world's cities into decorations, and the breadth of knowledge is unparalleled." ”

"Guo Gongze took the wrong medicine today? How did you become so sycophant? Isn't that the kind of person he used to be? ”

Xun Chen stole a glance at Guo Tu, suspicious in his heart, wondering why Guo Tu, who had always been extremely hostile to Deputy Director Tao, had changed so much? But now is not the time to explore these, so Xun Chen quickly put this matter aside for the time being, and just said to Yuan Tan Gongzi: "Please think about it again, once your army can't withstand the bombardment of our army's howitzers, the Xuzhou army will take the opportunity to launch an attack on the camp, wouldn't it be easy to break through the Guandu camp?" After the camp is broken, where will Childe go? ”

"Of course, it's to fight him to the death!" Yuan Tan Gongzi replied arrogantly, but he also indirectly admitted that the army could not stop Deputy Director Tao's 'howitzer'.

"Fighting to the end and martyrdom to the death is indeed impassioned." Xun Chen nodded, and asked again: "Then I would like to ask the eldest prince again, in this way, wouldn't the foundation of the four states that the ancestor had worked hard for more than ten years be destroyed by the hands of the prince?" Under the Nine Springs, what face did the prince have to meet the ancestors of the Yuan family of the fourth and third dukes? ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi was silent again, Xun Chen observed his words, and took the opportunity to say with a sincere attitude: "Childe, although Chen's new lord Tao Envoy Jun is at war with you, he is also because the Son of Heaven has an edict, and you are secretly conniving with the old lord's mortal enemy Cao Thief, Tao Envoy Jun has no choice but to do it. Now the Xuzhou army is in front of the Gongzi camp, the Gongzi soldiers are widowed, and the seemingly solid camp is also undefendable, and the fall is on the verge of death, even so, Gongzi you rather than sit and wait for death, the camp is broken and killed to the ancestors of the Yuan family, it is better to open the camp door and lead the army to surrender, at that time, Tao will make Jun Daxi will treat the son well, tear the soil to seal the son, so that the son can not only protect the life of the whole family, but also get a foothold, and also save the lives of thousands of soldiers, isn't it wonderful? ”

Yuan Tan still refused to speak, but Uncle Liu Huang was anxious and quietly stabbed Zhuge Liang next to him, but Zhuge Liang signaled Uncle Liu Huang to be calm and impatient, because Zhuge Liang could see that Xun Chen's words could not move Yuan Tan, and Yuan Tan's son was not the kind of person who was willing to live under others. However, Mr. Guo Tu was a little anxious, and couldn't help asking: "Mr. Youruo, then can Tao Envoy promise to seal the land with my lord?" ”

"And the two states." Xun Chen replied: "After the surrender of the eldest prince, my lord not only allowed the prince to lead the army to leave Yanzhou and go to Bingzhou, but after entering Xuchang, he will ask the Son of Heaven to forgive the prince's previous sins, and ask the Son of Heaven to canonize the prince as the pastor of Youzhou and govern the land of the two states. As for the other conditions, as long as the son is interested, they can be discussed. ”

Guo Tu's face showed some joy, and he wanted to persuade Yuan Tan to accept it, but he didn't expect Yuan Tan Gongzi to suddenly laugh, and he clapped his hands and laughed and said: "Wonderful, wonderful, Mr. Youruo's words are really wonderful, when Mr. Youruo persuaded Han Fu for my father, he said these words, right?" I didn't expect that after ten years, my husband would use these words to talk about me again, it really seems to be a repeat of the old thing! ”

"It's a pity!" Yuan Tan Gongzi suddenly suppressed his laughter, and roared with a hideous expression: "It's a pity that I, Yuan Tan, am not Han Fu!" If you are defeated and die, you are ashamed of your ancestors, and if you surrender on your knees, you are not ashamed of your ancestors? Go back and tell the pottery thief that he wants me to surrender and dream! ”

Uncle Liu Huang showed joy, but Zhuge Liang sneered in his heart, which he had expected. But Xun Chen was not in a hurry, nodded and said with a smile: "What Gongzi said is very true, Chen's previous words are indeed words, and they are indeed similar to the words he used to persuade Han Fu to sacrifice Jizhou. ”

After that, Xun Chen put away his smile and said solemnly: "The eldest prince, what Chen said as a courtier in Xuzhou, what should have been said has been said, in fact, Chen already knew that these words could not impress the resolute eldest prince, but the lord sent him, so he had to say it." Okay, now that the words have been said, it's time for Chen to say something as an old minister of the Yuan family, and ask the son to listen to it. ”

Seeing that Yuan Tan Gongzi did not object, Xun Chen stood up, bowed to Yuan Tan, and said with a solemn expression: "Eldest Prince, Chen is now with the identity of Yuan's former minister, I advise you, only by accepting Tao Envoyjun's conditions and leading the army to withdraw to Bingzhou, this is the most beneficial to you and the old lord." Because Chen is very clear about the purpose of Tao Yuanjun's army this time, he did not want to destroy you in Yanzhou, but just wanted to drive you to the state, weaken part of your strength, and balance the power between you and the third prince, this is the real purpose of Tao Yuanjun. ”

"The pottery thief just wants to balance the power between me and Yuan Shangpifu? What do you mean? "Yuan Tan Yileng.

"Of course, in order to finally swallow the land of the three states." Xun Chen replied calmly: "Although the current strength of the Xuzhou Army has surpassed that of Jiyou and Sanzhou, it is definitely not so easy to take Jiyou and Sanzhou in one fell swoop. In this way, Tao Yuanjun naturally hopes that the eldest prince and the third prince will be in the end, and he will sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman, but the eldest prince is not only the eldest son, but also the successor designated by the old lord, and most of the military and civilian officials in Jiyou and the three states are all interested in you, and the third prince is not your opponent at all, so Tao Zhijun chose to send troops to Xuchang, the purpose of which is not only to encircle Wei to save Zhao and share the positive pressure of the third prince, but also to weaken the power in your current hands of the eldest prince, so that you can not quickly eradicate Yuan Shang, and then drive you to the state and merge with the third prince to the end. It is difficult to distinguish the winner from the loser, and at that time, Tao Envoy Jun will send troops to the north again, and it will naturally be easy to take the land and city of Jiyou and Sanzhou. ”

"Sure enough, the thief!" Yuan Tan Gongzi gritted his teeth and scolded.

"Sure enough, the thief." Mr. Guo Tu scolded, and then couldn't wait to ask: "Mr. Youruo, then what is the matter with the pottery thief you said that he doesn't want to destroy our army?" ”

"It's very simple, it's still to balance Yuan Shang." Xun Chen spread his hands and replied: "If you die in the hands of Tao Yuanjun, then Yuan Shang will naturally inherit Jiyou and Sanzhou legally and reasonably, and it will be difficult for Tao Yuanjun to take the land of Jiyou and Merge at that time." Therefore, Tao Yuanjun never wants to see the eldest prince die, what he hopes most is that the eldest prince you flee to Bingzhou with a part of the army, to contain and consume Yuan Shang's strength for him, so that it is in the best interest of him Tao Yuanjun. Eldest Prince, you should understand what the old minister means by now, right? ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi's face began to darken, his fists crackled in his joints, and he scolded again: "Thief! The world's first thief! ”

Mr. Guo Tu echoed again, and Cui Yan, who had always been silent, finally spoke, sighing: "Such a vicious intention, I can't imagine that Tao Ying not only wants to deal with our army, but even Yuan Shang, who is close to him like a brother, he will not let go." It is no wonder that in just a few years, a Xuzhou salted fish on the verge of extinction turned over, and then dominated the world, really good intentions, good means. ”

"Eldest prince, Chen will persuade you again with the old ministers of the Yuan family, seize this opportunity and preserve some more strength to go to the state." Xun Chen said sincerely: "Chen didn't dare to deceive Gongzi, Tao Yuanjun ordered the old ministers to come to persuade him to surrender, but he just wanted to go through the motions to buy people's hearts, so that Gongzi's soldiers would appreciate his benevolence, righteousness and kindness." ”

"But in fact, Tao Yuanjun didn't expect Gongzi to surrender at all, he has now ordered the craftsmen to make six hundred howitzers, in order to break through Guandu and dampen Gongzi's strength, and then surrender again, under the pretext of seeing Uncle Lang's affection or for the sake of the safety of the Son of Heaven, magnifying Gongzi, you fled to Bingzhou, and let the eldest prince you go to contain Yuan Shang for him, this is the real purpose of Tao Yuanjun."

"The eldest prince, it is impossible for Guandu to hold, six hundred howitzers will be fired together, and within three days, Guandu will be broken!" Xun Chen said more sincerely: "Instead of being weakened by Tao Envoy Jun and unable to form an overwhelming advantage over Yuan Shang, it is better to take advantage of this opportunity to accept the conditions offered by Tao Envoy Jun and withdraw to Bingzhou as much as possible. ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi was finally tempted, changed his sitting to sitting cross-legged, and began to bow his head to weigh the pros and cons, Guo Tu couldn't wait to say: "Lord, Mr. Youruo's heartfelt words are for your sake, rather than being weakened by the pottery thief, it is better to preserve the strength and retreat to Bingzhou, and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback." The ghost place of Yanzhou has been broken anyway, so give it to the thief if he wants, and go to Bingzhou, and we will still have hope of making a comeback. ”

"Shut up!" Yuan Tan, who was calculating, rudely interrupted Guo Tu and scolded: "What did I say before, telling you to talk less and have less bad ideas, you forgot?!" ”

Mr. Guo Tu closed his mouth in shame, his face was extremely ugly, and Xun Chen next to him wondered in his heart, "Isn't Guo Tu Yuan Tan's most trusted confidant?" How could it suddenly fall out of favor? ”

At this time, Yuan Tan turned his gaze to Cui Yan, who was currently the most trusted, and asked, "Mr. Ji Qi, what do you think?" ”

"My lord can consider accepting Mr. Yuruo's heartfelt words!" Cui Yan replied categorically: "Since Guandu can't be defended for a long time, it's better to preserve your strength!" Tao Ying has always been hypocritical and righteous, and he made a promise of a thousand gold, and took advantage of this opportunity to preserve the strength of our army, abandon the broken Yanzhou, which is surrounded by enemies, and retreat to the dangerous state of Taihang to defend the river, which is also the best choice for a poisonous snake to eat his wrist and a strong man's broken arm! ”

Xun Chen quietly showed some joy, Yuan Tan Gongzi also nodded lightly, and Mr. Guo Tu, who was as good at observing words and expressions as Yang Changshi, spoke impatiently again, and took the initiative to ask: "My lord, I am willing to go to contact and negotiate with the pottery thief and strive for the maximum interests ......of our army." ”

"Hahahaha, hahahahahaha............!"

Seeing that Jia Lao's vicious annihilation plan was about to succeed again, there was a crisp applause and hearty laughter in the big tent, and when Yuan Tan Gongzi, who was about to be deceived, and everyone looked at it in surprise, they saw that the person who applauded and laughed turned out to be Zhuge Liang, the cripple military master of the emperor's uncle's army, and said while applauding and laughing: "Good strategy!" Sure enough, what a plan! Such a clever bluff is comparable to intimidating my father-in-law with a wheat noodle head under Xiaopei City. ”

"How does this cripple know I'm just bluffing?" Xun Chen was shocked in his heart, but his face was silent, and he asked calmly: "Dare to ask this gentleman with a big name, what is his opinion?" ”

"I don't dare to be a big name with a high surname, I have a surname of Zhuge and a single name of Liang." Zhuge Liang replied politely, and said with a smile: "Liang has heard the name of Mr. Youruo for a long time, like thunder, and now I can see it, and it is really worthy of the name, what a bluff, what a false intimidation, it really opened Liang's eyes!" ”

"Zhuge Liang? The most feared person of the lord?! Xun Chen's pupils contracted slightly, and after a little nodding, he said with a smile: "It turned out to be the famous Mr. Kong Ming, Chen has also admired the name for a long time, I heard that Mr. Huang Chengyan intends to give his beloved daughter Mr. Xu Yi, but the daughter of the Huang family is bent on Chen's current lord Tao Yuanjun, and is willing to be a concubine. ”

Zhuge Liang didn't take Xun Chen's stubble to change the topic, but just smiled and said: "Mr. Youruo, your words are very ingenious, and the words you made up are also perfect, which is definitely reasonable and seamless, but it's a pity that among Mr. Lies, there is a flaw that Mr. himself doesn't know!" If Liang is not boasting, if Liang is not just present, I am afraid that none of the 40,000 people in this Guandu camp will be able to see this flaw and expose Mr.'s lies! ”

"Oh?" Xun Chen pretended to be surprised and asked, "Then dare to ask Mr. Kong Ming, where is the flaw that even I don't know?" ”

Zhuge Liang smiled confidently, and suddenly asked: "Dare to ask Mr. Youruo, how much saltpeter did your army carry in this expedition to the west?" ”

"Why do you ask this?" Xun Chen asked suspiciously.

"Of course, I exposed the lie of the gentleman." Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "As far as Liang knows, it seems that saltpeter is not produced in Xuzhou, right?" The nitrate used by the people is also all made of old bricks, right? ”

Xun Chen hesitated for a moment, nodded and replied, "Yes, it's true." ”

"That being the case, why hasn't your army refined a large amount of nitrate for more than half a year? And also did not purchase saltpeter in large quantities from the private sector? Zhuge Liang smiled and asked, "Could it be that your army doesn't need saltpeter to start a fire?" ”

Xun Chen was completely confused, and asked again, "What are you asking for?" ”

"Of course, I am worried that your army's so-called 600 howitzers are running out of gunpowder." Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "When your army used howitzers before, Liang smelled a smell of saltpeter and sulfur burning, and saw fire spewing out of the muzzle, it can be concluded that the howitzers used by your army must be loaded with gunpowder before they can be fired, this lighting is not wrong, right?" ”

Xun Chen didn't dare to make a sound, and vaguely guessed that it must be his casual boasting that revealed a flaw. Zhuge Liang said quickly: "The howitzers used by your army are more than one zhang long, and if they are all filled with gunpowder, they will need at least ten catties!" Liang is half, only five catties of gunpowder, and the formula of gunpowder Liang also knows, one nitrate, two sulfur and three charcoal, that is to say, every time your army fires a cannon, it needs thirteen taels and three cents of saltpeter (ancient scale sixteen taels)! ”

"In this way, the problem comes, if the six hundred howitzers that Mr. Youruo boasted of are fired together, then one launch will require four hundred and ninety-nine pounds of saltpeter, about five hundred pounds! Ten shots are 5,000 catties of saltpeter! Twenty cannons are 10,000 catties of saltpeter! ”

Zhuge Liang quickly calculated the amount of ammunition used by the Xuzhou army, and then asked with a smile: "Finally, I dare to ask Mr. Youruo, how can your army make so much gunpowder without purchasing or refining expensive and scarce saltpeter in large quantities?" For your army to bombard our army's camp for three consecutive days? If you don't have enough gunpowder to open fire, how can your army quickly take the Guandu camp?! ”

Xun Chen, who had not studied gunpowder, finally changed his face, and Cui Yan also stood up over there, and said loudly to Yuan Tan Gongzi: "Lord, Mr. Kong Ming is reasonable, this thing is wrong, sulfur is easy to find and nitrate is hard to find, our army used it for the army before the expedition, and I searched all the city's medicine shops in Xuchang, but only found dozens of catties of saltpeter, if the Xuzhou army wants to get tens of thousands of catties of saltpeter, it must mobilize the people to refine a large amount of nitrate!" It is impossible for our army to be unaware of such a big event, but our army has never reported this matter, which is enough to prove that this is nothing more than the enemy's bluff! ”

Yuan Tan's eyes rolled a few times before asking, "Mr. Youruo, what else do you have to say now?" If you can come up with 10,000 catties of saltpeter, I will surrender immediately! ”

Xun Chen, who was boasting about it, really had nothing to say, and finally came up with an excuse and replied: "Chen is not in charge of the arsenal, I don't know the details, this matter must be reported to the lord, please make it public." ”

"Good excuses." Zhuge Liang sneered: "If the Marquis of Ji is gracious, release Mr. back to the camp, and ask Mr. to report to Tao Envoy, it is useless to bluff, it is not easy to build such a strong Guandu camp, and our army will not give up easily, without the cover of the camp, our army may not be the opponent of the world-famous villain." ”

Xun Chen glanced at Zhuge Liang expressionlessly, and scolded in his heart, "Dead lame!" Bad for me! ”

"Xun Chen, you can get out!" Yuan Tan Gongzi changed his tone and said viciously: "For the sake of the future, this time you will not die!" Next time you dare to come and deceive the pottery thief, even if you are a messenger, I will kill you! ”

Xun Chen raised his legs and left without saying a word, regretting in his heart, and heard Yuan Tan Gongzi scolding again: "Piff! Tell you to speak less, you don't have long ears, do you? Today, if it weren't for Mr. Kong Ming's cleverness and exposing the pottery thief's tricks, I would have almost been harmed by your bad idea again! ”

Xun Chen turned his head slightly, but saw that he was scolded so much that he didn't dare to breathe, and it turned out to be Yuan Tan Gongzi's number one henchman Guo Tu.

(To be continued)