In order to believe in the sincerity of his surrender, Meng Da wrote five letters to Cao Ren.

On Cao Ren's side, Shen Yi, who had just settled down and led the remnants to surrender, received a letter from Meng Da who wanted to surrender, and he was a little caught off guard. was caught off guard, but it was Cao Ren's surprise.

In the letter, Meng Da cried about his identity, and he and Zhang Song were friends and welcomed Liu Bei into Shu together. Unexpectedly, Zhang Song was brutally killed by Liu Bei because of the loss of his tongue. After Zhang Song was killed, he was suspicious of outsiders because of his close relationship with Zhang Song.

Now he plays for Liu Bei, assists Liu Feng, and defeats Shen Yi. However, Liu Feng had an arrogant temperament, took him to preach, and even bullied him with words.

Meng Da said in the letter that Cao Cao was wise and martial, and Gai could be compared with Gaozu Liu Bang. Liu Bei and his people, although they are lenient, but the rewards and punishments are unknown.

Liu Qi died of illness, and Huo Jun welcomed him into Jingchu. However, Liu Bei was suspicious of Huo Jun because of the affairs of the King of Huainan and his high achievements, so he stayed in Wuhan and treated him as a vacant post.

The incidents of Zhang Song, Huo Jun and his Meng Da mostly show that Liu Bei's name is like a believer, but because of the improper position, there is a lot of jealousy of these meritorious ministers.

Now he Meng Da is unwilling to serve Liu Bei, and now he wants to raise troops to sacrifice Fang Ling and Cao Cao, and then go down to the three eastern counties as a vanguard.

Under the sincere and emotional narration, in order to win Cao Ren's trust, Meng Da directly informed Cao Ren of the military deployment of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Nanjun Metropolitan District, Guan Yu and Lü Meng have 30,000 soldiers; Jiangxia County, 10,000 soldiers; Hanzhong Metropolitan Governor's District, Lu Xun and Yang Ang had 20,000 soldiers; Jiangzhou Metropolitan District, Zhang Fei, Wu Lan, Fu Kuang and other generals 30,000.

At present, Liu Bei's focus is to integrate internal forces, and wants to recover the four counties of Jiaoling and the three counties of Shangyong. In his current three eastern counties, his strength is only more than 10,000 people. If Cao Ren raised Jingxiang's troops to the east, and he led his troops to rebel, he could easily take the three counties of Shangyong, and there would be more than 100,000 people, open up the territory, and use the capital to advance.

Even after taking the three eastern counties, you can send the troops of Guanzhong and Longyou to attack Hanzhong on three sides, or you can send troops to Hanzhong.

On the couch, Cao Ren kept flipping through Meng Da's three letters in his hand, and there was a lot of hesitation in his heart.

"Ziyuan, what do you think Meng Da asked to surrender?" Cao Ren asked.

Hu Xiu pondered and said: "Meng Dayu's words in the letter are sincere, and there is something in his words, and there should be no deception. And the letter is attached to the arrangement of the water thief's military force, which should not be a fraudulent surrender. ”

Hu Xiu, the word is far away. He has been the assassin of Jingzhou for a long time, and he is unkind and violent, and he governs the people too hard, and it is difficult to say that he has won the hearts of the people in Jingxiang. However, there are pros and cons to everything, and Cao Ren, with his support, built a deep Xiangfan city wall, so that Guan Yu did not dare to commit a rash offense.

"Governor, Liu Bei can win the hearts of the people under his rule, Meng Dayan wants to sacrifice the city and rebels, I am afraid that there is a false intention."

Shen Yi, who had not long since returned, actively offered advice to Cao Ren and said: "Yi is a mediocre person, and he knows the terrain of Fangling, the road is narrow, and it is inconvenient to enter, so it is difficult to get in and out. If the thieves surrender and set up an ambush in the meantime, the three divisions will be overturned, and Jingxiang will be in danger! ”

Cao Ren glanced at Shen Yi, but didn't say much.

Meng Da is not credible, and Shen Yi is also not credible. Who knows if Shen Yi is a deceitful soldier sent by Liu Bei, after all, his brother and family are all in the Southern Han Dynasty, and it is unbelievable to lead his troops to flee alone.

Suspicion is suspicion, Shen Yi is the head snake of the three eastern counties, and Cao Ren asked him to participate in this military meeting, which was also a last resort, because he really didn't know much about the specific situation in the three eastern counties.

"Junli, do you have a high opinion?" Cao Ren asked.

Zhu Zhi stroked his gray beard and said: "Qi Qi conquered the south, Meng Daju surrendered the county, and let the general send troops into it, thinking that it was not trivial to seek the three counties." It is true that Meng Da surrendered, but the transfer of Jingxiang's troops to the west still requires His Majesty's consent before it can be implemented. ”

"In the opinion of governance, why don't you send Meng Da's letter to Yecheng and attach the general's opinions. so as not to act rashly and fall into the enemy's tricks. ”

After Sun Wu was destroyed, not only Sun Quan was sent to Xiangyang, but even loyal veterans like Zhu Zhi were sent to Xiangyang. and Cao Cao surrendered Liu Cong, and after subduing Xiangyang, he not only reused Sun Quan, but also appointed and promoted Zhu Zhi, Cheng Pu and other former ministers of the Sun family to attack Jiangdong.

Since serving Cao Cao, Zhu Zhi was promoted by Cao Cao to Xiangyang Taishou by virtue of his performance in managing troops and his ability to be familiar with water warfare, and he was dispatched by Cao Ren.

Jingzhou under Cao Cao's account today, there are four counties of Xiangyang, Zhangling, Nanxiang and Nanyang, and its Taishou is Zhu Zhi, Lu Chang, Fu Fang, and Dongligon four people.

Cao Ren read Meng Da's letter and said: "As Jun Li said, even if Meng Da intends to surrender, now because Guan Yu's troops are in the south, he can't easily move his troops. Xiangfan is the fundamental place, without Xiangfan to defend the frontier, Chang'an and the Central Plains are afraid of being plundered by water thieves. At this time, it is necessary to present the letter to His Majesty, and then observe the situation and use the troops. ”

To tell the truth, Cao Ren has been in charge of Xiangfan for ten years, and there is almost no use except for repairing the city and building a wall, which makes him eager to make contributions. The successive surrenders of Shenyi and Meng Da today made him more motivated. Even for Meng Da's plan to send troops to the three eastern counties, he is willing to choose to believe it.

Zhu Zhi had a calm temperament and said: "Today, the letter is delivered to Yecheng, and it takes a lot of time to travel. The governor may have written to Meng Da, detailing his words of reassurance. At the same time, in order to prevent Meng Da from surrendering, he ordered scouts to investigate the movements of Liu and Meng. ”

"Good!"

Cao Ren bowed his head slightly and said, "When General Lao Shen sends a shrewd person to go deep into the three counties of Fangling, see if that Meng Da has the intention of surrendering. ”

"No!"

Needless to say, Cao Ren sent the letter to Yecheng and sent people to the three eastern counties to investigate Meng Da's movements.

At present, Guan Yu, Lu Meng and other generals in Nanjun are discussing the details of the use of troops.

Guan Yu stared at the map and said with a sigh: "Meng Da has sent the letter to Cao Ren, but the soldiers in Xiangfan where Cao Ren is stationed are unmoved, and they are afraid that Zidu's false surrender strategy will be seen through by him. If the strategy of deception fails, I am afraid that the plan for months will be in vain. ”

Since Liu Bei agreed with his strategy for the Northern Expedition to Xiangyang, Guan Yu did not dare to make mistakes, and often did it himself, striving for the success of the strategy.

Now the plan for the surrender has been decided, the route of the march has been arranged, and the resources needed for the Northern Expedition have been deployed. But since the beginning of the deception strategy, Guan Yu has been up and down in his heart, after all, whether he can win the plan lies in the enemy, not in himself.

Lu Meng seemed to sense Guan Yu's concern, and said comfortingly: "Prince, although Cao Ren is a general of Zhengnan, he is in charge of Jingxiang's troops. But without Cao Cao's order, how could Cao Ren dare to send troops? ”

"It is expected that Cao Ren has submitted the letter to Yecheng now, and the scouts need time to travel, so it is difficult to know in the short term whether Cao Ren is willing to raise troops to the west and attack the three counties of Shangyong and Fangling from Mengda's strategy."

Guan Yu stroked his long beard in his hand, thought and said: "Ziming, now I have 30,000 sergeants in Jiangling, and the soldiers under my supervision. Is it possible that Cao Ren is afraid of my Jiangling troops and does not dare to enter Fangling at will? ”

Lu Meng pondered for a while and said: "What the governor said is not as reasonable, there are 30,000 soldiers in Jiangling, even if Cao Ren is convinced of Meng Da's intention to surrender, but he does not dare to reduce the crowd of Xiangfan. In Meng's opinion, why might the prince and prince take the strategy of arrogance against the enemy, so that Cao Ren can rest assured that he will go west? ”

"Where does the strategy come from?" Guan Yu asked.

"Cao Ren is brave and aggressive, and he is not good at scheming. can guard Xiangfan, thanks to Cao Cao's weapons, and cannot be compared with the prince. Junhou Zhenjiangling, Cao Ren was afraid and did not dare to send troops to commit it, for fear of defeat. ”

Lu Meng pointed to the map and said: "The current monarch is nearly sixty years old, and he was very unhappy in the past. At this time, why don't you take the name of illness and take a boat east to Wuhan and return to Beijing to recuperate. and cut some of the sergeant garrisons to make Cao Ren feel at ease to go west. ”

"The prince has the courage of a bear and a tiger, and he lives in front of people in battle, and never leaves Jiangling without relatives. Today, he recuperated and left his post and returned to Beijing to rest. Cao Ren will believe it, so he despises Jiangling, and is willing to lead the army into Fangling. ”

"Every time Cao Ren goes west, the prince takes a boat, and goes against the river day and night, and he can arrive in two or three days. Meng was the vanguard, leading the army to cross the mountains and mountains to wait for the prince's department. When the soldiers and horses fought Cao Ren together, defeated his army, defeated his division, entered Nanxiang, plundered the entire territory of the Han River, went down the river, and the water and land converged, and Xiangyang could be taken directly. ”

Lu Meng's words were not so detailed, in his eyes, Guan Yu was rigid and self-conscious, and his heart was so arrogant, with his character, he probably couldn't do it, and showed weakness to Cao Ren. At this time, he suggested that Guan Yu recuperate and show weakness, mostly because of a sense of surprise.

As for why Guan Yu agreed now?

Gai is Guan Yu has been luring Cao Ren to fight for a long time, and the sunk cost is too high. If Meng Da's strategy of luring him to surrender fails, Cao Ren will not fight, and it will be almost impossible to take Xiangfan in this life.

Sure enough, after being silent for a long time, Guan Yu said: "In the name of recuperation, leaving Jiangling and reducing the garrison is mostly a good policy. ”

As he spoke, Guan Yu paced with his hands behind his waist and said, "Ziming, can you get in touch with the righteous people of Nanyang today?" ”

"Yes!"

Lu Meng pondered for a while and said: "Nanyang Shou General Hou Yin has a grudge against Hu Xiu, and now he admires the name of the Marquis, and is willing to be rewarded by the king." When the prince besieged Xiangyang, Hou Yin was willing to start an incident in Wancheng, thinking that it would echo. ”

Guan Yu shook his head and said, "Wancheng is too far away, Hou Yin is in trouble, I'm afraid I won't be able to answer it." Unless you can quickly go down to Xiangfan, go up through the new wilderness, and go straight to Wancheng. Between Xiangfan, can there be people who are willing to surrender? ”

Lu Meng's face was helpless, and he said: "Cao Ren and Zhu Zhi are good at raising soldiers and can win the hearts of the army. Most of the families of the sergeants under his account are in the Central Plains, and it is difficult to say that his generals rebelled into chaos. And the contact is also mostly inconvenient, such as the Marquis of Wancheng, only two or three times of contact, about the Marquis of Xiangfan to start an incident. ”

"That's it!"

Guan Yu thought for a long time and said: "The situation is not divided now, Cao thief is powerful, and there are few people who are willing to surrender today." If the situation in Xiangfan is clear, there should be many people who are willing to surrender. ”

"Exactly!" Lu Meng responded and said.

Guan Yu looked at Xiangfan Yutu, sighed, made up his mind, and said: "Ziming's strategy should be feasible, after I return to Beijing after I am sick, I should be the king of the southern county, and the military affairs of Jiangling are in charge of Jun, don't let someone down." ”

Lu Meng's expression was serious, and he said: "Now the prince and the marquis can rest assured, Meng will definitely deploy the military. When Cao Ren raised his troops into Fangling, the prince could march west to take over the army. ”

"Good!"

ps: Guan Yu taught Lu Meng to read Spring and Autumn, which is purely a spoof. If someone doesn't like it, forgive me.

(End of chapter)