Since Emperor Huafu died in battle, all countries have called the king, I don't know how many wars have broken out in the past hundred years, divided and combined, the war has stopped, and there has never been that country to show strong dominance, the four big countries of the four families, Daheng, Xihua, Zhao, Daewoo, are still the main axis of this troubled era, and the ten small countries also have disputes with each other, all want to annex each other to strengthen their own power, hoping to have the strength to compete with the four countries, for the four countries to bow down on the surface, in fact, to win more time for themselves, As for the four countries, although the ten small countries are not a big threat, they cannot be left alone, but the four countries contain each other, and no one dares to really take action to destroy the small countries, so the four countries are also happy with the attitude of the ten small countries towards themselves, focusing on how to enhance their national strength.

"Your Majesty, this time Zhao provoked our country and returned defeated, the minister thought that he could not negotiate peace, and he should take advantage of the situation to attack Zhao, although he could not destroy Zhao this time, but at least one-third of Zhao State's land ministers were sure to let Zhao Wang give up, and let Zhao have no available army within ten years, King, the opportunity must not be lost!"

The speaker is the first person of the Daheng military general, Mengjing, Mengjing is about forty years old, eight feet long, full of beard, thick eyebrows and big eyes, rough appearance, majestic, he is bold, resolute, brave and resolute in leading troops, resolute, and takes the lead in every battle, plus he is skilled in the art of war, excellent in martial arts, very prestigious in the army, and also has a very high status in the court. At this time, Mengjing had just rushed back from the eastern battlefield, half a month ago he broke the Zhao army that entered the provocation, and after recovering the lost territory, he was preparing to attack Zhao in one go, and smashed the capital of Zhao Dongding, and as a result, he received three urgent documents sent by King Heng, saying that Zhao sent an envoy to negotiate peace, telling him to temporarily hold his troops still, how could he not be anxious, so he arranged the battle situation ahead, and secretly rushed back to Heng'an to report to King Heng in person.

Hengwang Dugu Ling sat on the throne at this time, his eyes were facing the sky, and he didn't seem to hear Mengjing's eager words at all, and then sighed lightly, slowly lowered his head, his eyes were closed lightly, but he still didn't answer Mengjing. Hengwang Dugu Ling is thirty-five years old, nearly eight feet long, only a little shorter than Mengjing, he is the fourth generation of Heng Wang, with a beautiful appearance, a face like a crown of jade, humble, sleek, very popular, and ambitious, knowing people well, Mengjing is he pulled up.

"Your Majesty!" Seeing that King Heng was silent, and Mengjing was anxious at this time, he reminded King Heng loudly. But King Heng still maintained his posture, still closed his eyes and said nothing, although Mengjing was anxious, he didn't dare to disturb King Heng again, so he could only stand aside anxiously.

"General, do you know why there are only three of us in the main hall today." In the end, Prime Minister Wei Zilian broke the deadlock. Wei Zilian is the prime minister of Daheng, aged around fifty years old, seven feet five inches long, born with thin eyes and long hair, wearing a special scarf, is the grandson of Wei Ning, the founding father of Daheng, he was already very old when he was young, thoughtful, smart and suspicious, political, economic, and military are very proficient.

Mengjing turned his head and glanced at Wei Zilian, and snorted, "Why should Minister Wei ask knowingly, I am secretly returning to the court, and the fewer people who know, the better." ”

"The general's secret return to the DPRK is naturally a secret, and it is related to the front-line battle situation and even the survival of Daheng." Wei Zilian was very dissatisfied with Mengjing leaving the front line without permission and secretly returning to the court, and King Heng didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter, and now Mengjing himself dared to hold him accountable in the court, obviously unwilling to listen to the arrangement, or it was aimed at his dissatisfaction with the prime minister who had a lot of power in the court and could influence King Heng. In his opinion, the army takes obedience as the primary duty, even if there is no understanding, it should be implemented first, and then ask about the cause and effect when the army returns to the court, and cannot let go of the unfinished war because of the unclear personal thoughts, and return to the court alone, although he said that it is a bit exaggerated to affect the survival of Daheng, but the battlefield is changing rapidly, and anything can happen is indeed true. "But that's one of them." Seeing Mengjing's frowning eyebrows, just about to attack, Wei Zilian also felt that he should not worry too much about this matter at this time, and changed his words, "The general knows that the king received a secret report twenty days ago that Xihua and Daewoo have formed an alliance to gather heavy troops on the southwest border of our country. ”

Before Wei Zilian's words fell, Mengjing was already violently shaken, and he couldn't believe it, "How is it possible, Zhao Guo has provoked our border for more than a month, and it has only been more than 20 days since the minister was ordered to lead the troops to retreat from the enemy, how can Xihua and Daewoo react so quickly, and Chen Bing on my southwest border twenty days ago?!" What's more, it's still a coalition of two countries?! Mengjing's shock is indeed very big, in his opinion, from Zhao Guo to send troops, to Xihua and Daewoo to be aware of it, and then to react, it will take more than two months at the earliest, and the alliance of the two countries, from the formation of ideas, to diplomacy, court meetings, leading troops, the discussion of details to the final dispatch of troops, it will take at least three months, why is it so fast? The two countries formed a coalition in ten days and threatened the southwestern border. But seeing the reactions of King Heng and Wei Zilian, Mengjing also understood that this matter was categorically true, "Besides, Xihua and Zhao Guo are feuds, and Daewoo has always been friendly with my country, how can they stand up for Zhao Guo and besiege my Daheng?" ”

Mengjing's shock King Heng and Wei Zilian were not surprised, because after confirming that this line report was indeed correct, they were also shocked, so King Heng and Wei Zilian forcibly blocked the news, and even Mengjing did not notify them, on the one hand, they didn't want Mengjing to be distracted and concentrate on dealing with Zhao Guo, on the other hand, the two wanted to figure out the ins and outs of the matter as soon as possible, and they didn't want to tear their faces with Xihua and Daewoo for the time being.

"General calm down," King Heng finally opened his eyes, took the words from Wei Zilian's mouth, and patiently explained to Mengjing, "According to the analysis of Gu and Prime Minister, Xihua and Daewoo did not react after Zhao sent troops, but reached a tacit understanding a long time ago. King Heng and Prime Minister Wei Zilian exchanged glances, and Wei Zilian made a gesture of arching his hand, signaling King Heng to continue, instead of relaying it himself. King Heng sighed lightly and continued to Mengjing, "At that time, the reason why the ancestors chose Daheng, a place where soldiers must fight, when the founding of the country, Wei Xiang's grandfather, General Wei Ning, also suggested that although Daheng is a fertile land, rich people, and complete materials, it can be easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it is not a place to use troops for a long time, but the ancestors worked hard at that time, the country was the strongest, and he intended to reunify the world in his hands, so he looked more at the current land of Daheng, but people counted that and the heavens, how could the troubled times be ended by the efforts of a generation, Therefore, although the ancestors had great ambitions, they finally died depressed, leaving us the most fertile land and the most powerful enemy for our Dugu family. Speaking of this, King Heng sighed again, "The Xihua Murong family prides itself on being the inheritance of the Hua Dynasty, so it is natural to make a deep hatred for the Zhao State, saying that it is a feud, but in fact there is no actual grudge, not to mention that it has been nearly a hundred years since the fall of the Hua Dynasty, and many people's anti-China attitude towards Zhao Tong at that time is no longer blindly spurned, but said that he dared to be the first in the world and did what the three major families wanted to do but did not dare to do... Therefore, the relationship between Da Zhao and Xihua is not as incompatible as the world says, but Xihua has had a lot of friction with our country in the past ten years due to the conflict of interests, although it has not really torn its face, but the relationship has been quite sensitive; As for Daewoo, he has never used troops with foreign countries for a hundred years, he has been recuperating, focusing on governing the country, only normal diplomacy with various countries, and the national strength and national conditions are quite mysterious, no one knows how they plan to do it, but if you think about it carefully, it is not known that the national strength is currently the most powerful of the four countries. ”

Although Mengjing is not sensitive to politics, he is by no means a mediocre person, at this time he has calmed down, and he feels the seriousness of the situation even more, and at the same time he is even more puzzled, "Since the three countries of them have already premeditated, why don't they attack our country at the same time, so that we can't echo the beginning and the end, and only let Zhao State provoke our border, but they don't move, and they still send troops secretly?" Moreover, the situation of various countries is indeed as the king said, but who can persuade the Triple Alliance to deal with our country, this person is not only extremely knowledgeable, but also eloquent, and is a very terrible person. ”

"We don't know who this person is for the time being, but the scheming methods are really beyond the reach of ordinary people," Wei Zilian very much agreed with Mengjing's opinion on the opponent, he was also very jealous of this person, and at the same time he was also very interested, "However, in my opinion, the three countries have only reached a tacit understanding, and it cannot be regarded as a real alliance to invade our country, and the two countries secretly sent troops obviously do not want to turn against our country immediately, but at the same time, they do not want to let go of a good opportunity, so they will care more about the direction of the war situation than anyone else at this time." ”

"Then according to the prime minister, how will the three kingdoms act next?" Hearing Wei Zilian's analysis, Mengjing felt a little relieved and sincerely asked Wei Zilian for advice.

"This is the reason why the king prevented the general from continuing to use troops against Zhao State," Wei Zilian was extremely smart, knowing that Mengjing had understood the overall situation, so he pushed the decision to discuss with King Heng to King Heng, so that he would not fight for merit, and at the same time let Mengjing step down better, and smiled, "But the general can break the Zhao army within seven days after leading the army, I think this is what the Three Kingdoms never thought of beforehand, Zhao was newly defeated, and at this time he only wanted to protect himself, so he sent envoys to negotiate peace, and Xihua and Daewoo must have been caught off guard at this time, and did not dare to move, But if the general continues to use troops against Zhao at this time, or even directly attack Dongding, the two countries will definitely not sit idly by, even if there is no benefit, they will never look at our country to become bigger, break the balance of this troubled world, and then the two countries will join forces to attack, and Zhao will fight to the death, we can't care about each other, then the victory or defeat is unpredictable, and Daheng will be really dangerous. ”

After hearing this, Mengjing broke out in a cold sweat behind his back, glad that the big mistake had not yet been made, he was originally an open-minded person, his hands were folded forward, first he bowed deeply to Wei Zilian, and then turned to King Heng, kneeling on the ground with both legs, "The minister is not aware of the front, and he returned to the court without permission, please punish the king!" ”

King Heng hurriedly picked up Mengjing and said softly, "The general doesn't have to blame himself, in a hundred years of troubled times, there is such a good opportunity, how can the general miss it, how can he not know." "Besides, if it weren't for the general's seven days to break the Zhao army, it is estimated that the Three Kingdoms Alliance has invaded my Daheng now..."

"Please ask the general to work hard and immediately rush back to the eastern battlefield, the battlefield is changing rapidly, if the battle situation changes, and the general is not there, the consequences will be unimaginable." At this time, Wei Zilian was the most calm, and the matter was clear, but the crisis had not yet passed.

"The king and the prime minister, please rest assured, this matter started because of me, let alone the hard work, set off immediately, wait for the ministers to stabilize the eastern border, and then return to the king to ask the king for guilt after the ministers stabilize the eastern border and deter the southwest," and then turned to Wei Zilian, "Then find the prime minister to drink and talk!" After that, he saluted to King Heng and retreated, and strode out of the hall, he came back this time, although he did not change anything, but his state of mind was completely different, at this time he felt that there were countless motivations and strength in his heart, and he vowed to vent on the battlefield in the east.

The southwest border of Daheng, outside the Xiyu Pass.

"General, after receiving the military report, Da Heng and Da Zhao have signed an armistice agreement, Da Zhao will compensate Da Heng 100,000 taels of silver, and marry the county lord and make peace with him, and the two sides will sign an agreement, and within ten years, they will not offend each other."

"Got it, you stand down." Zhang Mu waved his hand and said lightly, but there was no expression in his eyes.

"General, how can you not be surprised at all?" After the scout retreated, the deputy general Sun Zhou was very puzzled.

"For the general, he doesn't know the overall situation, he doesn't know the time, he doesn't know how to judge the situation, he doesn't know the changes in the situation, he is a mediocre talent!" Zhang Mu stood outside the hillside of the barracks and looked at Xiyuguan from afar, his eyes full of melancholy. "Sun Zhou, do you think I'm a mediocre talent?" Zhang Mu did not answer the rhetorical question.

"Why did the general say that?!" Sun Zhou didn't expect Zhang Mu to have this question, in his opinion, Zhang Mu was a young man, brave and strategic, and the two got along for two months, Zhang Mu was strict in governing the army, self-disciplined and disciplined, and had extraordinary knowledge, almost an all-rounder. "This time the Three Kingdoms Alliance is all promoted by the general, and strategize, dominate the overall situation, if it succeeds this time, even if it can't destroy Daheng, it will inevitably change the situation in troubled times, I Daewoo can also shock the world, chase the Central Plains, and it is obviously Zhao Guo incompetent, Xihua saw that Zhao Guo was defeated, and went back on his word, what does it have to do with the general?" Sun Zhou was very angry, this coalition was obviously the first to be proposed by Zhao at the beginning, and Zhao Guo's army was defeated like a mountain, and he sent an envoy to negotiate peace without greeting, just to protect himself; Seeing the wind, Xihua not only withdrew the troops without authorization, but now also asks Daewoo to compensate for the money and grain consumed by the mobilized army.

"The alliance of interests of the three countries only seeks interests, not concentricity, and the monarchs and ministers of Daheng are single-minded, the national strength is strong, and I am dedicated to promoting the alliance, but I did not hit the right time, I really don't know the overall situation, and this is one of them; Li Jin of Zhao Guo is not a mediocre talent, he can only blame Mengjing for being too powerful, and he was able to predict in advance the heavy rain that happened once in ten years, so that Zhao Guo's iron cavalry was useless, but he caught a turtle in an urn, which was caused by my ignorance of the time, and the other was also; Li Jin was defeated, as the commander-in-chief, I still felt that Zhao Guo would fight to the death, Mengjing would take advantage of the situation to advance eastward, and our curiosity to attack the southwest, as a result, Zhao sent an envoy to sue for peace, and Mengjing did not move, resulting in the loss of our fighters, which was caused by my ignorance of judging the situation and not knowing the changes in the situation. With these three mistakes, how can I not be responsible? After a pause, Zhang Mu turned his head and faced Sun Zhou, "When I knew that Mengjing was not moving, I knew that the alliance of the Three Kingdoms had become futile, and the peace between Heng and Zhao would be successful, it was just a matter of time and details." ”

After listening to Zhang Mu's analysis, Sun Zhou analyzed the battle situation in detail, thought clearly, and was broad-minded and dared to take responsibility, not only did he not feel that the young commander was incompetent, but he admired it even more, but he couldn't think of words of comfort for a while.

Zhang Mu was born in a noble family, but he did not have any anger, he was only thirty years old, eight feet long, and he was born with a majestic style and a lofty spirit. It is the young friend of Li Da, the king of Yu, before Li Da inherited the throne, the two often talked about state affairs together, looking for teachers and visiting friends, after Li Da inherited the throne, he once lost contact with him, until Zhang Mu was twenty-three years old The two reunited, Zhang Mu was invited by Li Da to enter the court as an official at the age of twenty-five, first as a civil official, and then as a military attaché, the official to the unranked Tianhui position Suzaku General, low-key, solid work, very trusted by King Yu, although the official time is not long, in the court is also quite prestigious;

"General, you said that our Three Kingdoms Alliance, does Daheng know about it?" Sun Zhou suddenly remembered something and asked anxiously.

"If you don't know, how could Mengjing stand still and let go of this golden opportunity to deal with Zhao Guo." Zhang Mu smiled bitterly in his heart.

"Then now that Heng Zhao has made peace, will Daheng use troops against me Daewoo?"

"Don't worry about this, Heng Zhao and the peace council are also an alliance of interests, this peace and discussion of Daheng is just for us Daewoo and Xihua to see, before we don't know our motives and strength, with the wisdom and forbearance of King Heng, I will never easily raise troops; However, this time the Three Kingdoms Alliance made Daheng a false alarm, and we will naturally be jealous, and the Northern Expedition to Daheng will be more difficult in the future, and this time our Daewoo ambition has been known by all countries, and it is impossible to stay out of this troubled world. ”

"Then what are we going to do next, General?"

"Retreat!" Zhang Mu glanced at Xiyuguan again, turned around and said firmly.