Luo Rucai, Zhang Xianzhong and others had dined and dined, and it was already the fourth watch.
Ji Gui had already ordered his soldiers to arrange rest rooms for Zhang Xianzhong, Xu Yixian, Zhang Dingguo and others, as well as the accompanying soldiers, and was leading them there respectively.
Luo Rucai held Xu Yixian's hand tightly and fell behind everyone, quietly hiding under a big tree in the courtyard, and asked him in a low voice: "Zhangfu, tell us the truth, what are your plans here?"
When Xu Yixian saw him asking, he no longer kept it secret. He only saw him speak softly: "Commander Cao, don't tell lies to the real person. I understand that King Chuang is very angry with our commander, and his generals also hate us, but
We had no choice but to think about it again and again and decided to come look for you.
You think about it in your heart, if Zicheng can tolerate our respect, we will stay with you for three months to half a year, so that the soldiers can recover from their injuries, restore some morale, and then gather back all the scattered troops.
If Zicheng cannot accommodate us, please lend us some men and horses. We will just rest until dawn and then leave, and there is no need to see Li Shuai again."
Luo Rucai had already thought about this in his heart, and immediately replied: "Since you have arrived at our place, don't leave in a hurry. You must meet Li Shuai first.
Since you trust me, Cao Cao, you can sleep peacefully now. I will arrange everything for you and take you to see Li Shuai personally.
As for whether we can stay together, we have to wait until we meet Li Shuai and see the situation before making a decision. I, Luo Rucai, am trying my best to save my friends. You just have to sleep peacefully and have to get up later tomorrow morning.
"
Xu Yixian knew that the matter was serious and was worried that Luo Rucai was careless about the matter, so he continued: "Shuai Cao, we are here to see you, and we don't necessarily have to see Li Shuai.
If he, Liu Jiexuan and others do not forget their past grievances and harbor grudges, it would be better not to meet each other. Jingshuai alone is responsible for the survival of Xiying, why should he put himself in danger?"
Luo Rucai didn't take it seriously and said casually: "Since you are here, why don't you go see him?"
Xu Yixian had to tell the truth at this time: "Our commander-in-chief said he wanted to see Li Shuai, but he really had to bite the bullet and take risks in order to save Xiying from the predicament.
But as his military advisor, I will die for my confidant and go through fire and water myself, and my body will be shattered to pieces, so I have no hesitation. However, unless I have a perfect plan, I will never let the commander-in-chief enter the tiger prison in the body of a Buddha!"
Luo Rucai listened to his words and secretly laughed in her heart: "Buddha's body is a piece of shit!"
But on the other hand, he was moved by Xu Yixian's loyalty to protect his master. He nodded gently. After pondering for a moment, he asked in a low voice: "Old Xu, what do you think?"
Xu Yixian held Luo Rucai's hand tightly and said to him: "In my humble opinion, there is no need to go to see Li Shuai, Commander-in-Chief. Precisely because we don't plan to meet Li Shuai, we came here late at night to avoid causing trouble."
.
If Commander Cao is willing to lend us hundreds of fine cavalry to give Xiying a little capital to revitalize, we will leave tonight. This is the safest strategy. I also ask Commander Cao to consider it and make a decision quickly to avoid leaking the news!
"
Luo Rucai glanced at Xu Yixian very shrewdly, and saw that his face was full of gloomy expression. He replied almost without thinking: "This is a bad idea. Midges fly by and they cast shadows. How can there be something airtight in the world?"
wall.
How can you hide this from King Chuang when you come to my Cao camp tonight?
Of course you are very dedicated to your plans for Commander-in-Chief, but not for me, Cao Cao!"
When Xu Yixian heard this, he immediately woke up and said quickly: "Ah, Commander Cao, forgive me for being flustered. This matter is indeed poorly planned and has almost caused endless trouble for Commander Cao."
Luo Rucai couldn't help but smile slightly and said: "Zhangfu, you are what the saying goes, 'A wise man will make a mistake after thinking a lot!'"
After a pause, he continued: "Since you and Jingxuan have come to our village, you have to listen to our arrangements. Don't worry about it. We will take care of everything. Please go to rest early, Zhangfu."
"
…………
Here, after Luo Rucai settled Zhang Xianzhong, Xu Yixian and others, he immediately sent people to ride to Chuang Wang Laoying in Yushan, report the news of Zhang Xianzhong's arrival to King Chuang, and said that he would go to see King Chuang after dawn.
Then he went directly to the place where Ji Gui lived, woke up Ji Gui who had just fallen asleep, and told Ji Gui everything about what Zhang Xianzhong and others had done.
Sure enough, Ji Gui exclaimed in shock after hearing this: "Oh, Zhang Jingshuai and the others really shouldn't have come!"
Luo Rucai also felt the same way: "But he is already here!"
Ji Gui was silent for a moment, then spoke again: "Based on the current situation, if we can keep Commander-in-Chief safe and sound and regain our strength as soon as possible, it will indeed be beneficial to our Cao camp.
If Commander Jing dies, Cao's camp will be isolated. If isolated, there will be no help. If there is no help, it will be in danger.
Since Commander-in-Chief has come to our camp, Commander Cao must do everything in his power to enable him to leave safely. Do you think that with our strength, we can ensure Commander-in-Chief's safety in front of Commander Li?"
Luo Ru just thought about it for a while and replied: "It's been a long time and I really don't dare to say it. I want to go see King Chuang first at dawn and persuade him to put aside his old grudges and meet with Jingxuan, and then help Jingxuan collect some money."
The men and horses sent Jingxuan to Huguang to make good plans.
If he, Jiexuan and others still hate Jingxuan deeply, I can't force them to meet Jingxuan and send Jingxuan away as soon as I come back.
Anyway, if I can't come back before breakfast, when Jingxuan and the others get up, you can accompany him on my behalf and tell him that I went to see King Chuang early in the morning and will be back before noon."
Ji Gui heard this and said with concern: "Cao Shuai got a difficult question today, and the rhyme is also dangerous. I hope he can successfully solve this problem."
Luo Rucai didn't take it seriously. He smiled and said, "Although the question is difficult, I have to hand it in before noon."
…………
On the second day, when the sky was dimming, General Luo Rucai, the great general who was so virtuous for the people, led a large group of soldiers and rode out of the camp.
On the other side, Li Zicheng had just finished washing when he heard from his soldiers that Luo Rucai had sent a general to report something. He ordered his soldiers to bring Cao Ying's general to him. After hearing the report, he smiled.
He said: "When you report back to the general, just say that I am very happy that Zhang Jingshuai came safely.
I also need to arrange a place for the soldiers coming from Xiying to have a good rest. The food and fodder they need can be collected directly from the general manager of the camp, and I will also send people here to take care of them.
Please Zhang Shuai, please come and meet me early after you have some rest!"
At this moment, military advisor Song Xiance came to King Chuang's tent and prepared to teach King Chuang about classics and history. He also learned the news. After the general sent by Luo Rucai left, he asked King Chuang: "
When Zhang Jingxuan is defeated, how will the Generalissimo deal with it?"
Li Zicheng did not say what he was thinking, but simply asked: "I want to discuss this matter with you. What does Military Advisor Song think?"
The two returned to the house and sent someone to invite Niu Jinxing. It happened that Li Yan came to the old camp last night to do business and stayed behind. Liu Zongmin, the general sentry of the other camp, and Gao Yigong were also invited.
Li Guo was all in Yushan Village, so Zicheng simply sent someone to invite them all over.
After everyone arrived, Li Zicheng said to everyone: "Today is the first day of September. We were originally scheduled to leave for Runing on the night of the third day of the lunar month. We only had two days to stay here, but we didn't expect that Jingxuan would come defeated.
We have arrived at Cao Ying in Rucai at night, and you want to see me today.
You all know what Jingxuan is like. Last spring I came out of Shangluo Mountain and went to Fangzhu Mountain to look for him. At that time, he had just suffered a defeat at Agate Mountain, and our strength was also very weak.
I originally thought that it would be good for both our families to join forces and fight side by side, but unexpectedly he took advantage of my small army and planned to eat us in one bite, which was a very vicious plan.
If Wang Jiyuan hadn't risked his life to return to the camp to report the news, our Laoba Team would no longer exist today, and even Jiexuan and I would have died long ago.
Please discuss with all of you, what should we do about Jingxuan?"
Liu Zongmin was the first to speak: "If you don't kill Jingxuan, you will definitely raise tigers. If you take this opportunity to kill him, it will alienate Cao Cao. There are pros and cons to killing or not to kill."
Li Guo also followed up and said: "The commander-in-chief is right, there are pros and cons to killing or not. What happened in Fang and Zhushan last year is still bitter in our hearts by our veteran soldiers.
If we are afraid that killing him will chill Cao Cao's heart, that's not necessarily the case. Cao Cao and we are not of the same mind. Sooner or later, we are not on the same path, and we know each other very well.
It is beneficial for him to come to stay with us now. If he leaves us and becomes his own, he will be completely wiped out by the army sooner or later. Therefore, killing Jingxuan at this time will make him and Luo Rucai lose foreign aid. Don't have second thoughts and be honest.
Follow us on the ground.
Jingxuan came here at night and met Cao Cao first, which shows the close friendship between the two of them. Who knows what they were talking about in secret?"
Gao Yigong already had different views on this matter, and now he saw Li Zicheng glance at him, which seemed to have a profound meaning, and he couldn't help but muttered: "It would be too early to get rid of Jingxuan now."
Li Zicheng ignored what he said, but asked to the side: "What do Mr. Niu and the military advisor have to say?"
Niu Jinxing thought for a while and then said: "Zhang Jingxuan was not willing to be subordinate to others, and his left and right people also looked up to him as an emperor. I once saw it written by Pan Du'ao, Xu Yixian and others at Ji Ziyu's place.
I still remember several poems very clearly.
Xu Yixian even regarded himself as a national scholar under Jingxuan, and he followed him to the end, and came up with some insidious and vicious ideas for him, which he called the "Six-Character Mantra". Pan Duao was captured but survived, and after defeating Xiangyang, he returned to Xiying.
He is still a close advisor to Zhang Shuai. I even heard that Zhang Kewang and others only have Zhang Shuai in their eyes and are willing to fight to the death.
Therefore, not only Zhang Shuai himself is willing to succumb to others, but also his close associates will never let him succumb to others.
If the general doesn't want to conquer the world, that's fine. If you want to conquer the world, please don't be benevolent and righteous and end up with endless troubles.
If the Generalissimo really kills Zhang Jingxuan, it is indeed not the right time. Let's leave him, Zhang Kewang and others in the camp for the time being, treat them with courtesy and kindness, and prevent them from leaving. This is indeed a way.
Jingxuan's wounds have not yet healed, and his men and horses have been completely damaged. He is probably willing to stay temporarily, but in a few months, he will definitely leave me.
And when he left, he either escaped privately or played tricks and tricks, and even seduced Cao Ying to leave with him.
At that time, he will be punished and killed, and even his diehard loyalists in the Western Camp will come to kill them all. This will not only eliminate future troubles forever, but also make the leaders of the various rebel armies have nothing to say.
Just like Cao Mengde who went there at the beginning, he knew that Liu Bei was one of the heroes in the world, but let him go, thus giving him an additional rival to compete for the country. He must have regretted it in his heart.
However, Cao Mengde’s mistakes can serve as a lesson for us!
Zhang Jingshuai was temporarily out of position as a hero, like a bird of prey, unable to fly, and he made a miscalculation in his busy schedule, so he came to look for Cao Cao. If we take advantage of this opportunity, if we don't get rid of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, how long will it take?"
Song Xiance also praised on the side: "Qidong's plan for the marshal is really scheming and very clever. He foolishly thought that Zhang Jingxuan came to join me in the camp after his failure.
Therefore, no matter what his future plans are, he must be made to serve King Chuang as his master and be willing to serve as a general under King Chuang. Now that this name has begun to be repaired in sections,
Although King Chuang can still treat him with courtesy, in terms of status, he is still his subordinate, not a guest."
Liu Zongmin suddenly interrupted: "Is Jingxuan willing?"
Military advisor Song Xiance said: "Although he is cunning, he is also flexible and flexible, just like when he surrendered in Gucheng, he bribed the imperial court and Prime Minister Xiong Wencan's Yamen.
He was even groveling towards Lin Mingqiu. Others may not be able to do these things, but he was able to do them. Now that he was defeated and defeated, the situation was already very difficult.
From this, I venture to guess that in his heart he will never be willing to serve as King Chuang's subordinate, but on the surface he will really serve King Chuang as his master. This is the cunning point of Zhang Jingxuan, and Cao Cao will also encourage him to pretend to serve King Chuang.
For the Lord, just wait for the opportunity and then look for other plans.”
Li Guo said disapprovingly: "Since we know that he is doing one thing and another, and is treating us cunningly, why not get rid of him as soon as possible, instead of raising a tiger to cause trouble!"
Song Xiance smiled and said: "The general's words are wrong. He, Zhang Jingxuan, was originally a friend of King Chuang. Now that he was defeated, he came to surrender and killed him. Even if he wanted to impose a crime, there is no excuse for it, but it is difficult after all.
If you make people come back and convince them, others will say that the king's weapon is not very powerful.
And if Zhang Jingxuan once takes King Chuang as his master, if he wants to plot to leave, he will be killed for treason. It is just and justified, and others will have nothing to say."
At this time, King Chuang looked at Li Yan again and continued to ask: "Lin Quan, what do you think?"
Li Yan owed his fortune and said, "This is a big thing, I'm thinking about it too."
Niu Jinxing added: "I think what the military advisor said is true. Since Zhang Jingxuan has come to agree with us, he must serve us as king Chuang as the master, just like Cao Cao..."
At this time, a soldier quickly came to the door and reported: "The general is here!"
Niu Jinxing had no choice but to stop what he was about to say and said to Zicheng in a low voice: "Please act according to the military advisor's words and do not miss this opportunity."