In the next few days, Lin Feng went to the barracks during the day to train and sweat with the newly selected elite troops, but he also ended up quiet, but as soon as he returned to Huangfu at night, he was overwhelmed, and the invitations of Ma Xicao and Ma Xichong brothers must be there every day, and the invitations of the civil and military ministers of Chu State and the famous squires of Tanzhou City were also endless, so that the first thing Lin Feng did when he returned to the house was to throw the invitation.

On the evening of October 21, as soon as Lin Feng returned to the small courtyard of the Huang Mansion, Fang Mingzhu held a stack of invitation cards in one hand and a blank piece of paper in the other, asking him for instructions.

Lin Feng pointed to the thick pile and ordered to throw it away directly, only pointed to that one, and said, "Isn't this one more fun?" ”

"Lord Lin is really wise! This one said that the invitation was not like an invitation, and that the famous thorn was not like a famous thorn, so he wrote eight inexplicable words and drew a very bad map. Fang Mingzhu smiled and handed over the piece of paper.

Lin Feng took it curiously.

The eight characters were written in a sloppy manner, but Lin Feng still recognized them at a glance, it was "skillfully occupying the magpie's nest and secretly crossing Chen Cang." ”

Lin Feng immediately became interested, and carefully observed the painting, the level of the painting was not high, it was a very simple map of the Chu State, like the shape of a pear. In the middle of the map, a river with branches and forks is drawn, which should be the Xiangjiang River, with only one Tanzhou in the north and a Guizhou in the south, and a circle drawn on Guizhou.

Lin Feng immediately smiled, raised his head and instructed Fang Mingzhu: "Keep an eye on it, if this person comes again, he must stay, and I will talk to him." ”

Fang Mingzhu smiled and replied: "Lord Lin, that person told Huang Sheng when he left this piece of paper, he will always wait outside the mansion gate, if Lord Lin doesn't see him today, he will leave for Jiangbei tomorrow." ”

Lin Feng immediately became interested, and instructed Fang Mingzhu to find Huang Sheng to find this person to come in, and take a bath first.

When Lin Feng came out after changing into clean clothes, he found a thin white-faced scholar already waiting in the hall. The scholar held his hands behind his back, his eyes slightly closed, and he was actually closing his eyes to recuperate.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the scholar slowly opened his eyes and stared at Lin Feng for a long time before raising his hand to salute slightly, and said in his mouth: "Xiao Ke Xi Mucheng has seen Lord Lin!" ”

Lin Feng smiled, stretched out his hand to signal him to sit down, and poured him a cup of tea before he spoke: "Isn't it okay to compare us to a dove that occupies other people's comfort nests?" ”

Xi Mucheng immediately smiled, and solemnly bowed his hand and said, "Please forgive Lord Lin!" The behavior of the small and considerable Lin is like a lion fighting a rabbit, but it is more straightforward and appropriate to occupy the magpie's nest! ”

Lin Feng smiled, pointed at Xi Mucheng and said with a smile: "Then could you please tell me about it next, what does Chen Cang refer to?" ”

Xi Mucheng also smiled, stomped lightly on the ground with his foot, pointed to the south with his hand, and spit out four words in his mouth: "Chu State, Southern Han State!" ”

What a smart man! Lin Feng immediately asked rhetorically: "Do you think the key lies in Guizhou (now Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)?" ”

"Yes!" Xi Mucheng said in a deep voice.

"How did you come up with this?" Lin Feng intends to take the test for this discerning scholar.

Xi Mucheng took a sip of tea, and then said slowly: "Xiao Ke is originally from Yunzhou, the capital of Chu State, and he has been studying in Tanzhou for more than half a year. Previously, Ma Xicao raised troops from Langzhou and then attacked Tanzhou, Lord Lin suddenly appeared, led his subordinates to raid twice, first defeated the Tanzhou Naval Army, and then took Yiyang lightly, Xiao Ke began to pay attention to Lord Lin.

When Tanzhou City was besieged, Xiao Ke made a deduction on the map and came to the conclusion that this Tanzhou City would be broken, so he focused all his energy on Lord Lin. But unexpectedly, Lord Lin was besieged and turned against the Langzhou tribal army, and then, held a public trial meeting and gave disaster relief money to the people of Tanzhou, Xiao Ke immediately thought that Lord Lin's series of actions were definitely not just for the help of the Chu State, and the plan must be big. Since then, it has been rumored that if you surrender to Datang and reduce the rent for three years, the elite soldiers of Datang will soon enter the country, which just confirms Xiao Ke's idea.

Yesterday, Xiao Ke overheard a few soldiers talking about the selection of people for the United Elite Army, and Xiao Ke suddenly had an idea: Lord Lin's goal on this trip is not even the Chu State, but the Han State in the south, and even the governance of the Queen of Chu is also in your plan! ”

"Smack!" Lin Feng couldn't help but applaud softly, Xi Mucheng could deduce from these facts and rumors that these things were really rare, and he was smarter than the vast majority of the upper echelons of the Chu State!

Seeing Lin Feng's appreciative smile and eyes, Xi Mucheng smiled, and lowered his voice a little: "I am from the south of Chu State, and I naturally know about the seizure of Guiguan by the Southern Han Dynasty in the first two years, and the wolf son of the Southern Han Dynasty is a thief, and he is always thinking about my land in the north of Lingbei, but I am afraid that I will hit the stone wall this time!" ”

Lin Feng arched his hand and sighed: "The dispute between the Southern Han and Chu has many twists and turns, can you please ask Mr. Xi Mu to tell Lin about it." ”

Xi Mucheng coughed lightly and told the past of the grievances between the Southern Han and Chu:

In the fourth year of Liang Zhenming (918 AD), Liu Yan, who succeeded his brother Liu Yin, who succeeded to the king of Nanyue, changed the name of the country to Han, and the Southern Han Dynasty was founded from the beginning.

Since Liu Yin, the Southern Han Dynasty has formed an old enemy with the Chu State, and they have been fighting endlessly. After that, Hou Liang sent Wei Jian, a regular attendant of the right scattered cavalry, to mediate the conflict between Ma Yin and Liu Yan, and Liu Yan accepted mediation. Subsequently, Liu Yan took the initiative to show goodwill to Ma Yin, married his daughter, and became the queen, and the north and south of Wuling maintained peaceful coexistence for a period of time. This is also the origin of Ma Xicao and other brothers who are actually the uncles of Liu Sheng, the current Zhongzong of the Southern Han Dynasty.

In the fifth year of Tiancheng of the Later Tang Dynasty (930 AD), after Ma Xifan succeeded to the throne of Chu, the relationship between the Southern Han and the Chu State became tense again, and the Southern Han army broke the Chu army in Fengzhou Heshui, which began to change the defense to the offensive of the Chu State. Since the dispute between the Ma brothers, in the sixth year of Qianhe (948 AD), Liu Sheng, the Zhongzong of the Southern Han Dynasty, sent Zhong Yunzhang, a waiter of the Ministry of Labor, to be hired in Chu and proposed a marriage to Chu, but Ma Xiguang did not allow it; Liu Sheng was furious and sent troops to attack Chu. From December of the same year, Wu Huaien, the chief servant of the Southern Han Dynasty and the three divisions of Kaifu Yi and the third division, recruited envoys to the northwest, and commanded Wu Xun to attack Chu, attack Hezhou (now Hezhou City, Guangxi), and pull it out; With a trap strategy, the decisive commander Xu Zhixin and others, the Han soldiers took advantage of the victory to attack Zhaozhou (now Pingle County, Guangxi) and trapped. Wu Xun sent troops to plunder the whole state and returned.

"Commander of the Elephant?" Lin Feng couldn't help but interject and asked.

This is a common way of fighting in Lingnan, with elephants lined up in front of the battle, and on the back of the elephants sat a number of soldiers with sticks in their hands. Because of its huge size, it is very powerful under the rampage! Xi Mucheng explained.

When he said this, Lin Feng remembered the elephant battle at the end of the famous "Lord of the Rings" in later generations, and immediately thought of a strategy to deal with the giant elephant, and continued to ask: "What is the trap meter?" ”

"The trap is mainly set up by Wu Xun, the commander of the Han giant elephant, this person is exhausted, it is expected that Chu will send troops to rescue, lead the troops to attack, and conquer Hezhou City before my Chu reinforcements arrive, and order the soldiers to dig a big well outside the city, the mouth of the well is covered with a bamboo curtain, and the curtain is camouflaged with soil. A mechanism is set under the trap, and the hole is pierced through the hole in the trench. Waiting for the decisive command to make Xu Zhixin lead reinforcements to approach and lure him to attack the city; The Han soldiers were closed from the cave, the Chu soldiers fell into traps, the Han Hou took advantage of the situation to send troops, two attacks, thousands of my big Chu boys died, Xu Zhixin was defeated and killed by Ma Xiguang. Xi Mucheng shook his head and sighed, and slowly explained the process of the defeat of the Chu State.

Lin Feng smiled silently, but there were waves in his heart, no wonder when the Northern Song Dynasty unified the world later, only Hou Shu and the Southern Han dared to resist! Houshu relies on the benefits of natural danger in Sichuan, but this Southern Han can attack and fight well, and it is not easy to deal with!

"At present, Wu Huaien is still stationed in the north of the northwest of the Southern Han Dynasty, always waiting for an opportunity to attack our Chu State! Ma Xiguang once sent the commander Peng Yanhui to lead the troops, and the deputy envoy of Jingjiang, the governor of Guizhou, Ma Xiyintun Guizhou to guard! Xi Mucheng later used such a sentence as the conclusion of the history of relations between the Southern Han and the Chu State.

Lin Feng looked at Xi Mucheng's calm face, and suddenly asked, "Mr. Xi Mu, if you want to keep you by my side to discuss important matters, what conditions do you have?" Xi Mucheng recommended himself to come to the door like this, needless to say, he must want to enter the scene, and for this talented person, Lin Feng didn't want to go around in circles anymore.

"No conditions!" Xi Mucheng blurted out, seeing Lin Feng's face with a little surprise, he immediately continued, "Lord Lin's kindness to his subordinates is famous all over the world, so I naturally don't need to worry!" ”

It's called killing! Lin Feng shook his head with a smile, stretched out his right hand and gestured, and said, "The monthly routine is three times, just like the other guests in my house, the reward is different, is Mr. Xi Mu satisfied?" ”

Xi Mucheng immediately got up, knelt on the ground, and knocked lightly, even if he officially entered the curtain!

Lin Feng waited for him to get up after kowtowing, and then said: "Mr. Xi Mu, the first rule in my house is not to kneel, today is the only exception, don't kneel in the future!" ”

Xi Mucheng was really surprised at this time, and bowed deeply to Lin Feng again. Smart people are proud of their talents, and Xi Mucheng is no exception. It was only at this time that he truly realized how easy it could be to get along with Lin Feng.

Now that he has become his own family, Lin Feng no longer conceals it, and points to the guide and says: "Before the city of Tanzhou was broken, I had already sent capable generals to infiltrate the southern border and spy on the information. A large number of elite soldiers from my Datang Dynasty entered the country, mainly for the Southern Han Dynasty! ”

The Southern Han Dynasty is the main target of Lin Feng's entry into Chu! Now that he is here, it is impossible to allow the Southern Han to easily divide the land of Lingbei and force himself to return an incomplete Chu State to the Southern Tang! This is the main reason why Lin Feng sent Lin Renzhao, Feng Jingyun, Chen Desheng and other top masters to the south before the destruction of Tanzhou City, and it is also the main reason why he asked Wuchang Jiedu to send Liu Renzhen to send 20,000 elite soldiers!

Xi Mucheng looked at Lin Feng dumbfounded, and only after a while did he sigh: "Lord Lin is really far-sighted, Xiao can be admired!" ”

Lin Feng smiled lightly and approached Xi Mucheng, and the two of them carefully planned the next step.