"Your envoy can go and rest first, and let me discuss a matter with the hussar general."

After Wang Ling finished speaking, there was silence in the arena for a while.

Finally, Zhuge Liang spoke up.

Wang Ling knew that the two needed to discuss, so he got up and bowed and left.

After he left, Shen Chen said: "Sima Yi is cunning and cunning, this move is to advance and retreat, first put forward two conditions that we cannot agree to, and then retreat to the second. ”

"Hmm."

Zhuge Liang nodded, this was also something he wanted to understand during the negotiation process.

Sima Yi wants to be a loose official, a lord and a knighthood above the second rank, which is impossible. He retreated to the next best thing, wanting to keep the land and population of the clan, which was even more impossible.

At this time, Sima Yi estimated that he would make his last request, and after the first two refuses, as long as the last time was not too much, he would generally agree.

This is the so-called broken window effect, which can also be said to be a retreat.

Obviously, the other party is still well versed in negotiation skills, which is to fight for the best interests of themselves and their family.

Shen Chen asked, "Then in my brother's opinion, what is the ultimate purpose of this guy?" ”

"What could it be? It is nothing more than the hope of obtaining the title of the scattered official lord of the descendants of the family, plus a certain population and land to ensure the continuation of the family. ”

Zhuge Liang smiled indifferently.

He knows too well what the family is thinking, everything is in the interests of the family, Sima Yi knows that the general trend is inevitable, so he will definitely find a way out for himself and the family.

Population and land are the bottom line of the Han and cannot be shaken. At present, the only way up the ladder of the Han Dynasty is the imperial examination, the door shade and the conquest.

Even the conquest is only qualified for the opening level like Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Yu, and ordinary officials below the second grade cannot be recruited at all.

The imperial examination is full of uncertainties, and Sima Yi cannot guarantee that the heirs of his family will be able to pass the imperial examination, so he can only find a way to let his descendants enter the official position 100% - Menyin.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang knew with his toes that Sima Yi's ultimate goal was to obtain a way for high-ranking loose officials and knights to obtain the shade of the door.

Between Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang's status as scattered officials and knights, it is estimated that the level he wants is probably between the third and fourth grades, so as to ensure that future generations can easily enter the ranks and be able to occupy a position in the court all the time, which is a more reasonable conjecture.

After all, Sima Yi is a demoted general, and the possibility of having real power is very small, so he will naturally consider other interests. And in order to appease the generals, Liu Chan will probably give him some land and property for him to enjoy.

Considering that the surrender of the 120,000 Cao army avoided a large number of casualties for the Han army, and allowed the Han to sweep Hebei overnight and restore the Han dynasty, this request is actually not excessive.

"As long as the Loose Officers and Knights?"

Shen Chen smiled: "The old thief can think clearly about the way back. ”

Zhuge Liang fiddled with the brush on the table, lowered his head and said, "I don't really care about his ultimate goal, he is going to die anyway."

"Oh?"

Shen Chen was in awe, leaned back tactically, looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "Brother wants to kill him?" ”

"Naturally, since Xiaoqing said that he wanted him to die, then he will definitely die."

"What exactly is my brother going to do?"

"Borrow a knife to kill."

Zhuge Liang only said this sentence.

Borrowing a knife to kill?

Shen Chen thought for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed in the direction of the tent entrance and said, "This Wang Ling? ”

"Not bad."

Zhuge Liang smiled.

Shen Chen pondered for a moment, and then said, "Can it be done?" Sima Yi sent him, and he must be his confidant. ”

"What henchmen can Sima Yi have who are too close?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head: "His family members are all in Yecheng as protons, and they came to Henan alone in danger, and I have long been clear about this." Even if there are a few cronies in the barracks, can't they still be tempted? ”

"I see, I see"

Shen Chen muttered to himself.

He didn't think of this method, but he ignored it.

The reason is that Shen Chen has an information deviation, and he instinctively feels that for such an important matter, Sima Yi will definitely send a trusted cronies over.

If you want to move the people inside the Wei army, one is to write directly to the generals of the Wei army, Sima Yi may perceive that once he finds out that they are going to kill him, then the possibility of the fish dying and the net will be broken is very high, and the Han army is not very risky.

Second, if you want to use the envoy sent by the Wei army to carry out this plan, if this envoy is Sima Yi's confidant and confidant, and immediately tell Sima Yi about the matter after returning, the plan will still fail.

Therefore, considering that it is best to liberate peacefully, and not to cause extraneous branches, Shen Chen has never thought about the possibility of using the internal personnel of the Wei army to do it.

But Zhuge Liang confronted Sima Yi in Henan for more than half a year, so he naturally investigated Sima Yi's situation clearly, knowing that he had no foundation in the army, and there were almost no confidants, and Wang Ling was still one of the senior generals, so it was unlikely that Sima Yi was a diehard loyalist, so he had a plan to kill people with a knife.

"The Wei army was angry because of uneven interests, and Sima Yi died violently in the chaos, which is quite pleasant to hear."

Shen Chen touched his chin and said with a smile: "Brother is very strategic, but since you want to provoke internal strife in the Wei army, you must have a suitable bait, what bait does my brother think should be thrown?" ”

Zhuge Liang lightly tapped the desktop with his fingertips, looked at Shen Chen with a smile and said, "With Xiaoqing's wisdom, can't you think of it?" ”

Shen Chen said helplessly: "I have been fighting in Guanzhong, and I really know very little about the Wei army in Henan. ”

"You'll see me talk later."

Zhuge Liang smiled and shouted outside, "Someone." ”

Ma Liang came in and said, "Prime Minister." ”

"Call the messenger."

"Yui."

Maleonn went out again.

After a while, Wang Ling came in again.

This time, he took the time to bow his hand to Zhuge Liang and said, "Prime Minister, Metropolitan Governor." ”

"Hmm."

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly and said, "Sit." ”

Wang Ling sat down.

Then Zhuge Liang said: "It's a good thing that Sima Yi can take into account the overall situation and surrender to us. After consulting with the hussar generals, I plan to ask His Majesty to give the Huangmen Shilang, the Liedu Pavilion Marquis, the Guide General, and the Protectors, and give 10,000 acres of land and 800 households of food, what do you think? ”

"Thank you, Prime Minister!"

Wang Ling was overjoyed, this was already much beyond his and Sima Yi's expectations.

The rank corresponding to the knighthood of the Southern Han Dynasty is that the Guogong corresponds to the first product, the county marquis corresponds to the first product, the township marquis corresponds to the second rank, and the pavilion marquis corresponds to the third product. Among them, there is also the distinction between the townsmen from the second rank and the pavilion marquis from the third grade.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the capital of the township refers to the location of the county seat where the fief is located, which is commonly known as the seat of governance, such as the governance of a county is located in a certain county, the governance of a county is located in a certain township under the jurisdiction of the county, and the governance of a township is located in a certain pavilion under the jurisdiction of a certain county.

However, the rank of the Duxiang Marquis is lower than that of the normal Xianghou, and there are many examples in the history books where a certain Duting Marquis turned into a Pavilion Marquis, and Duxiang Hou turned into a Xianghou. For example, in 205 A.D., Cao Ren was named the Marquis of Duting, and during the Battle of Nanjun in 209 and 210 of the park, Cao Ren was transferred to the title of Anping Tinghou.

In addition, "Huayang National Chronicles" also mentions that during the Liu Chan period, there were such hierarchical rankings as Xianghou, Duxiang Hou, Tinghou, and Dutinghou, so the title should be county marquis, township marquis, Duxiang marquis, Tinghou, Duting marquis, and Guannei marquis.

And Guan Nei Hou is the fourth product.

As for the Guide generals and the guards, one is a loose officer of the military rank, and the other is a commander, both of whom are from the third rank. can shade the heirs, so that the heirs can directly enter the official position from the seventh grade.

Sima Yi felt that the Southern Han was so stingy with the loose officials and titles, and he was satisfied that he could ask for one from the third grade, and the rest were all from the fourth grade.

I didn't expect Zhuge Liang to be so generous, not only did the three of them come from the third grade, but he also gave a real official from the fourth grade.

Huangmen Shilang is a Lang official who belongs to Shangshu Province, although the real power is not very high, and he is dispatched by Shangshu's order and Shangshu's left and right servants, and although the grade is above Shangshu's left and right, it is not like the left and right Cheng has the power to deal with government affairs, but the emperor can often be seen.

Therefore, after Sima Yi passed, the starting point could not be considered low, and the Han Dynasty did give full sincerity.

After getting Zhuge Liang's promise, Wang Ling gave up his hand again and said: "It's just that the governor still has some concerns, hoping to have the edict promise of the Son of Han Tianzi, what does the prime minister think?" ”

Zhuge Liang smiled: "Don't be so troublesome, if Sima Yi doesn't believe it, I can open an altar by the river and swear by the river, what do you think?" ”

"That's fine."

Wang Ling felt that there was no problem, although it was more secure to have Liu Chan's edict, but at that time people also believed in credit, if Dahe swore an oath, it would be a matter known to everyone in the world, and there would probably be no problem.

After this matter was done, Wang Ling was about to say goodbye to Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang and leave.

But unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang looked at him with a smile, Wang Ling suddenly remembered something, so he cautiously asked again: "By the way, Prime Minister, I want to ask, Sima Dudu has a home, so I'll wait?" ”

"Oh?"

Zhuge Liang glanced at him and chuckled: "What, do you want to give it too?" ”

Wang Ling frowned: "Isn't Prime Minister playing tricks on me?" ”

"But when you came over this time, you only asked about Sima Yi's arrangements, and didn't ask about you."

Zhuge Liang said with a smile.

Wang Ling remembered what Sima Yi had told him before he came, and they did ask Sima Yi about his arrangements first, but did not ask about themselves.

The main thing is that they instinctively feel that since even the boss Sima Yi has been arranged, then they must also have their own arrangements, so they went straight to the point from the beginning, and Sima Yi, who asked first, would get it.

I didn't expect the other party to answer like this, but fortunately, I asked again.

Wang Ling then said: "May I ask the prime minister, how should I and many other generals be placed?" ”

Zhuge Liang frowned and groaned.

"Amount"

There was silence in the audience, and when Wang Ling saw that he didn't speak, he asked again, "Prime Minister?" ”

Zhuge Liang put aside the feather fan he was playing with, and said with some heaviness: "Regarding your arrangement, it is indeed not easy to handle. Let's think about it, now the honors, loose officials, and titles in the south, which are not exchanged for their lives, and even many generals do not, as surrendered generals, they will be placed in high positions immediately, and the rest of the generals of the Han Dynasty know about it, what should they think? ”

Wang Ling hesitated slightly, and replied, "Just ask if we can get the position of Zheng Sipin?" Even just one will do. ”

"It's hard."

Zhuge Liang sighed.

This is really not nonsense, although Sima Yi surrendered with an army of 120,000, which can be regarded as a meritorious service, but it is already the limit to be able to place the position from the third grade.

The generals of the Han Dynasty can't live and die, and work hard, it's not as low as the reward received by this group of generals.

So Wang Ling's people are really not easy to arrange.

Wang Ling's face was not very good-looking.

As a family member, they naturally hope to get a way with a low threshold for entry. However, the loose officials, honors and titles below the fourth grade are not qualified to enter the office.

That is to say, if they can't get a position above the fourth grade, and Liu Chan just sends them an idle position with no real power, then they and their families will be completely finished.

Without high-ranking officials, without clan population and land, everything will return to square one.

From a high-ranking official of Cao Wei to a middle- and lower-level official in the Han Dynasty, and there is no way to rise in the future, I can only hope that the descendants of the family can have an outstanding son to enter the examination, and this opportunity is really slim.

In the future, the clan will decline more and more, and they will naturally not be able to guarantee their power, which is more uncomfortable for people like the Taiyuan Wang clan who are from a high-grade family in Cao Wei than killing them.

Wang Ling asked in an almost trembling voice, "Then the last. What kind of role will we arrange in the end? ”

Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said: "This matter still depends on the placement of the three provincial ministries, but if nothing else, it is probably an idle official position of five or six grades, as for the honorable officers and knights. Hehe. ”

Wang Ling only felt that his eyes were dark, and he almost fainted, it was over, and the family was completely finished.

"You can't say that."

Shen Chen looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "I heard my brother say before, it seems that there is a way?" ”

"Is there a way?"

Wang Ling suddenly came to hope, looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "Prime Minister, please show the way." ”

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a moment, then stroked his chin beard and thought, "Do you know why the position assigned to you is so low?" ”

"Why?"

Wang Ling asked hurriedly.

"First, you are a general, if you are treated too well, the generals may have objections. Coming on."

Zhuge Liang lowered his head and looked at the table.

"Two for what?"

Wang Ling asked.

"Second, Sima Yi can be crowned because he is the chief general of the three armies, and the 120,000 Wei troops are all under his disposal, and he is willing to submit to the Han Dynasty, which is naturally a great merit, you are his subordinates, and you do not have as much power as him, so most of the rewards you can get are taken up by him alone."

Zhuge Liang raised his head and looked at him and said: "You also know that the Han Dynasty is extremely cautious about the knights, scattered officials and honorable officers above the fourth grade, and he alone accounts for three from the third grade, if he does not get the reward, this merit, I am afraid that at least a dozen positive four grades can be born." ”

"What do you mean?"

Wang Ling was a smart person, and he was immediately shocked: "If Sima Yi dies, we can all be sealed?" ”

"Approximately. That's right. ”

Zhuge Liang picked up the feather fan placed on the table, shook it gently, and looked at him with a smile.

Although it was freezing outside, it was warm as spring inside the tent.

Pots of smokeless incense charcoal were burning, and the flames were swaying, reflecting Wang Ling's uncertain face, and at that moment, he seemed to have some enlightenment.

Originally.

Prime Minister Zhuge meant to let Sima Yi die!