The sky was faintly bright, and there was a faint sound of drums in the camp of the defenders of Lingdong, and the soldiers got up lazily, and the supreme commander of this camp, Jiang Rulong, was already dressed neatly and rode to the gate of the camp.

A group of soldiers had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw him coming, they immediately surrounded him.

"General, why is it so early today?"

Jiang Rulong straightened his waist knife and scolded: "It's not the grandsons of the Northern Dynasty, yesterday the Ministry of War issued a document, saying that there is a Wei army going north, let the cities do a good job of defense, and I Lingdong is 108,000 miles away and have to suffer." ”

"General, will those thieves from the Southern Dynasty really come to our Lingdong?"

A pro-soldier asked.

Jiang Rulong shook his head: "Who knows, with the prince here, what are you afraid of?" Don't talk nonsense, hurry up and count the number of people on the street, and eat Lord Hou's row when it's late. ”

A group of pro-soldiers hurriedly lined up to report the number, a total of twenty-one people, one less.

Jiang Rulong frowned: "What about Wang Laosan, went to gamble again?" ”

"General Qiyu, Tang Zhenye, who was guarding the door last night, invited guests to eat and drink, and Wang Laosan drank too much and didn't get up."

A pro-soldier said.

Jiang Rulong snorted coldly and was about to have a seizure, and another personal soldier hurriedly diverted the topic and said: "General, I heard that Tang Zhenye took a reward from a big man yesterday and sent it!" This guarding the city gate is thick oil and water, eating, drinking and listening to music, how can it cost seven or eight yuan after a meal. ”

Another pro-soldier said: "Who can give a reward of seven or eight dollars in one go?" It's hard to find a reason to invite guests to dinner, his brother-in-law is still in Nanchuan, and he has always wanted to be transferred back, but now that there are wars everywhere in these years, how can he be adjusted? General, did you say? ”

After a gag, Jiang Rulong didn't have the heart to delve into Wang Laosan, and pouted: "I also received the post yesterday, and I have a drink with him tonight, nine times out of ten it is what you said, everyone is a robe, and if you can help, you can help, and you dare not say whether it will be successful or not." ”

"General Gao Yi!"

"The general really loves soldiers like a son!"

After a sycophantic shot, Jiang Rulong waved his hand happily in his heart and said: "Okay, don't talk nonsense, let's hurry up on the street, it should be bright in a few days, just Lord Hou's careful eyes, beware of small shoes." ”

The pro-soldiers agreed, lined up in a line, and trotted all the way behind Jiang Rulong.

The team patrolling the city yawned, and just a few steps away, Jiang Rulong suddenly grabbed the reins, looking at the dark streets and alleys and frowning slightly.

"Where's the outpost?"

"Isn't it peeing? Let's take a look. ”

The pro-soldier who spoke hurriedly rushed out, ran into the darkness in one breath, and saw a few figures leaning against the wall and napping, and said hurriedly: "Ouch, brothers, don't sleep, get up quickly, why did you forget that the general patrolled the city today, get up, hurry up...... Hey? ”

The soldier impatiently pushed one of them, and several figures suddenly fell to the ground like building blocks, he only felt that his hands were a little slippery, and when he looked closer, it was dark red blood!

Looking at the fallen people, they all had long cuts in their necks, and blood flowed all over the ground, and they were already exhausted.

"Ahh

The soldiers were startled, screamed strangely, and rushed towards Jiang Rulong.

"General, blood, it's blood, brothers are dead!"

Jiang Rulong's eyes froze, his legs clamped the horse's belly, he pulled out his waist knife, and rushed towards the darkness, at this time the sun gradually rose, the morning light slowly dispelled the darkness, and his vision was much better than before.

I saw three or five people lying on the ground, all of them were night guard posts, and there was a large pool of blood under everyone's feet, and there were a lot of papers scattered around the corpses, which were densely written with words.

Jiang Rulong looked around to make sure that there were no thieves hiding in the dark, so he jumped off the horse, picked up a piece of paper and looked at it carefully, only looked at it a few times, his face suddenly changed, and shouted: "Come on, follow me to see Lord Hou, quickly!" ”

In the early morning, the gate of the Lingdong County Ya was closed, and there were many officials and officials with names and surnames, all of whom gathered in the lobby.

Hou Rong, the county magistrate in his forties, sat on the top, his face was pale, Jiang Rulong sat beside him, his face was as black as coal, and the other officials also had their own positions, whispering in twos and threes.

In the middle of the lobby, the 50-year-old master stroked his beard in one hand and held the inscription in the other, shaking his head and reading it.

"I, Emperor Hongwei of Great Wei, was ordered by heaven to send me a million heroes to dominate the north and south, and the army was invincible.

On October 16 of the fifteenth year of Hongwei, our army broke Wuling Xiao'er and annihilated 100,000 enemies......

Now our army is pointing to the southeast, and the army is pressing the border, and it is scheduled to attack the city in the morning after five days, and it will be broken in a battle at that time!

However, God has the virtue of a good life, Jingwu Marquis in order to avoid the misery of life, the special network opened, so that the Lingdong defender will open the city and surrender, the Great Wei Wang Shi Biqiu did not commit any crimes, if the city is not opened within five days, as soon as the army arrives, the jade will be burned, please do not mistake yourself ......"

"Enough!"

The county commander Hou Rong slammed the table and jumped up.

"How can this be true? Even the date and hour of the siege are clearly written, is there anyone more rampant in the world? ”

The county magistrate was angry, and the officials immediately quieted down, waiting for the official to speak.

Hou Rongyu was still angry, pointed at Jiang Rulong and scolded: "Overnight, the streets and alleys in Lingdong City are all plastered with the barbarians of the Northern Dynasty. ”

Jiang Rulong's face was black and he didn't speak, Hou Rong was even more angry, and asked the county officer: "Can all these documents be taken back?" ”

The county man hurriedly got up: "Lord Houhou, they have all taken it back, but the text has spread, and now all walks of life in the city are discussing this matter." ”

"How can it be!"

Hou Rong stomped his foot, pointed at Jiang Rulong and said, "You say, what's going on?!" ”

Jiang Rulong said: "I think the city is mixed with the Northern Dynasty spies, adults don't need to panic, the prince is my Great Wu Soldier Saint, how can he be defeated by a few Northern Dynasty monkeys?" There is a bunch of nonsense on the text, and after a while, the lower officials will take people to investigate, and they will definitely catch all these thieves! ”

Hearing this, Hou Rong was a little angry, and asked coldly, "Is that really the case?" Can traces of the Wei army be found outside the city? ”

Jiang Rulong hugged his fists and said: "The last general has never said half a lie, the scouts have been far away for twenty miles, and no trace of the Wei army has been found!" ”

The officials in the lobby suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, although the content of the text was nonsense, but it spread all over the streets and alleys overnight, and the specific time of the siege was clearly written, which still caused a great psychological burden on the officials.

Hou Rong thought about it, but he didn't feel very safe, and said to the county Cheng: "Send people to a few nearby counties to ask clearly, and see if they have found any traces of the Wei army." ”

After speaking, he turned his head to Jiang Rulong and said: "Investigate the spies in the city as soon as possible, strengthen the defense of the city, close the city gate these days, and do not allow idle people to enter and exit!" ”

"The last general obeys!"

"Your Excellency can't do this, once the city gate is closed, the merchants will be in chaos, in case this matter is false, when the court investigates it, we can't escape an incompetent comment."

When the chief bookkeeper heard that the city gate was going to be closed, he quickly got up to persuade him.

Hou Rong glanced at him and snorted coldly: "What if this matter is false?" What if it's true! Lord Qin, I know that your grain shop has a large number of goods to be sent to Northern Qi, but now is an extraordinary period, and if something happens, you and I will not be able to protect our heads, so you can weigh it yourself! ”

After speaking, regardless of everyone's reaction, Hou Rong snorted heavily and brushed his sleeves away.

The officials looked at each other, the chief bookkeeper's face was pale, and Jiang Rulong was covered with cold sweat.

At noon, the gate of Lingdong City was closed, and the merchants complained, but soon they couldn't complain, because Jiang Rulong took more than 2,000 defenders to the nest and began to investigate the merchants, but anyone who couldn't tell the ins and outs was immediately arrested and put into prison.

Those who do illegal business usually use money to dredge up relationships, and the officials and gentlemen have always greeted the door with a smile, more affectionate than the girls in the building, but today they suddenly changed their faces, and they did not recognize their six relatives, and they treated everyone equally, so that everyone was in danger, and they were even cautious when they spoke.

Originally, few people believed the content of the text, but they were frightened by the rumors and officials, and they couldn't help but believe it.

Of course, there are exceptions among the merchants who have been investigated, that is, the caravan of Zhu Guogong.

With that genuine waist card talisman, even if it is waiting for the county order, he does not dare to forcibly inspect it.

On the contrary, Hou Rong was surprised and delighted to learn that the seventh son of Zhu Guogong was in Lingdong, he was just a seven-pin county commander, no one in the court, and he stayed in Lingdong and other frontier places for more than ten years.

Moreover, Hou Rong's heart is very small-minded, and he is a suspicious person, a big incident just happened last night, and today he learned that the seventh son of Zhu Guogong was in the city, so he couldn't help but suspect it.

Under the effect of various reasons, he immediately came to the inn and personally visited Xu Rui, who knew that the score of the seventh prince was not ordinary, and he didn't even have to enter the door after paying the post, only in exchange for a cold sentence "The county is safe, no need to be polite." ”

Hou Rong still didn't give up, licked his face and went to Steward Cui in person, and proposed to set up a banquet to entertain Xu Rui, Xu Rui put up enough shelves, but he didn't eat, but Steward Cui took money to do things, and under his mediation, he reluctantly agreed.

During the banquet, Xu Rui's eyes were higher than the top, and it was good to answer one sentence in three sentences, but fortunately, Steward Cui was a wonderful person, and the upper and lower rounds did not embarrass the county master too much.

Hou Rong is also cautious, taking advantage of the dishes to toast, and quietly speaking and tempting several times, there is foreshadowing in and out of the words, and the slightest carelessness will reveal the horse's feet.

But Xu Rui had already been prepared, whether it was the military and political affairs of the Southern Dynasties, or the unspoken rules between the powerful, or even the secret affairs of the palace, all of them were answered, not only did Hou Rong not see the slightest flaw after a meal, but even made him sure that Xu Rui was the descendant of the Cui family.

After the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves, Xu Rui and his entourage just returned to the inn and received a large amount of materials from Hou Rong, which was called the friendship of the landlord.

Xu Rui naturally excused himself, smiled in his hand, and according to his words, "Hou County is stupid and has a lot of money, if you don't take it for nothing, you should pay your brothers." ”

Xu Rui didn't take any of this money, all of it was distributed to the brothers who accompanied him, everyone saw it in their eyes, remembered it in their hearts, and still carried the silver in their arms, so he was naturally grateful to Xu Rui, and he silently bought his own hearts with other people's money.

"Young master, I didn't expect these Southern Dynasty barbarians to be so easy to deceive!"

Before closing the door, Mei Chuang immediately sighed with a red face.

Xu Rui seems to be the protagonist in today's dinner, but in order to serve the shelf, he can't steal the show too much, so the most important thing is Cui Guan played by Mei Chuang.

Xu Rui had already thought of almost every detail of the dinner beforehand, corresponding to the training of Mei Chuang's how to deal with it, although Mei Chuang was old-fashioned, he was not stupid, after a night of training, he acted well, and talked about everything Xu Rui wanted to say through his mouth, which was out of the limelight and saved Xu Rui a lot of trouble.

Seeing that Mei Chuang was a little too excited, Xu Rui said angrily: "You only think they are easy to deceive, but I don't know how much thought I put into my back, as long as I made a mistake at the dinner just now, we will not only lose our previous efforts, but also lose our lives!" ”

Mei Chuang patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Now you are talking dangerously, you didn't look like this just now, look at your arrogant and uninhibited stupid statue, if I didn't know you, I would have thought that you were the seventh son of the Cui family!" I don't know who you learned from, and I don't dare to believe your words in the future. ”

Xu Rui rolled his eyes and said lightly: "Deceiving the enemy is a compulsory course for generals, the art of war is cloudy, but the truth is false, and the virtual is real." Between the virtual and the real, there is a killing machine. ”

Mei Chuang poured a sip of tea and said with a smile: "You compile the art of war by yourself, I heard General Liu say that no one has heard of the art of war in your kid's mouth, but I think that sentence just now has a little meaning." ”

What do you mean by being a little interesting? That's "The Art of War", this illiterate idiot!

Xu Rui scolded him, didn't bother to talk to him again, changed the topic and asked, "By the way, you didn't drink too much, did you?" ”

Mei Chuang shook her head.

Xu Rui smiled: "That's good, I'm going to give them a second good play tonight!" ”

"The second good show?!"

"Of course, it's not just a lie."

"So what do you have to rely on?"

"Potential!"

"Potential?"

Mei Chuang scratched her scalp and listened a little blindly.

Xu Rui snatched the teacup from his hand, drank it dry, and then said: "Deceiving people is actually to make the other party make a wrong judgment, and the judgment is based on the understanding of things, and lying is to enter the wrong understanding to the enemy, so that he can make a wrong judgment."

However, the perception that lies can affect is limited, because the other party can correct the distorted understanding through all kinds of information that they see, hear, and analyze, and only by creating an illusion in all directions that what they see and hear is wrong, can it be seamless.

And this illusion that can be compared to illusion is potential! What I'm trying to do is create a momentum that will lead them into a misinformation weave so that it's hard for them not to be fooled, you know? ”

Mei Chuang glared and shook her head weakly.

Xu Rui suddenly lost his momentum.

"You can't teach a child! Forget it, let's do it together in the evening. ”

Hearing the action, Mei Chuang finally reacted, nodded stunned, looking like a dementia, Xu Rui was amused and angry.