Chapter 32 Zhu Shuo

When the Licheng army reported to Jicheng, it was also sent to Cao Chong's desk. Hao Zhao reported that he successfully took the defense and had contacted Jiang Xu, and also reported a bad news. Meng Da and Deng Zhi, who entered Wudu County from Guanghan, had already swept the Qiang land and rushed westward to the Xiqingshan area, but failed to receive Cao Chong's orders to move closer to Hanyang County. Now, Licheng only has his 3,000 troops and Jiang Xu's more than 3,000 troops, totaling more than 6,000, less than 7,000 people. If Ma Chao's army exceeds 10,000, even if Jiang Xu is an insider, he will not be able to take it down, and he will be very likely to be defeated by Ma Chao.

Cao Chong was a little annoyed. Meng Da and Deng Zhi did not receive his military order. This was originally expected. The two places were five or six hundred miles apart, and there were steep mountains. The transportation was extremely inconvenient. Thousands of people hid in the mountains. It was not easy for the soldiers who sent the order to find their whereabouts. Not only did they not receive the military order, but Li Yan from Shu County also had no news. It was probably impossible to rely on their appearance in Wudu County to block Ma Chao's retreat.

At this moment, the scout heard the news that after receiving Jiang Xu's request for help, Ma Chao left Ma Zong to defend the city. He personally brought 20,000 troops to save Licheng. When Cao Chong heard this, he sighed. It seemed that it would be impossible to severely damage Ma Chao in Licheng. Once Ma Chao discovered that only Hao Zhao's three thousand troops outside Licheng, he would not only send people to retake Wudu County, but also likely to doubt Jiang Xu's intentions. This depends on whether Hao Zhao and the others can change the plan appropriately in a timely manner.

Cao Chong summoned the generals to discuss the matter. Wei Yan, Ma Zhong, and Huang Chong took three thousand private guards to Jieting, and are now confronting the 10,000 Xiliang cavalry who were staying in the west of Jieting. In Shanggui City, there are only four thousand dragon cavalry led by Pang De and Chen Dao, one thousand tiger guards led by Dianman, four thousand guards just added by Deng Ai, and four thousand Zhu Shuo, a total of ten thousand people. If you have to calculate it carefully, of course, there are two hundred Qiang women and female guards led by Sun Shangxiang, Guan Feng, and two hundred Qiang women and female guards formed by one hundred Qiang soldiers.

.Add to the other generals' personal guards, there were less than 14,000 people in total. It was not a big problem to defend Shangri-ming City with these forces, but if you want to divide your troops to save Licheng, you have to deal with Ma Chao's 20,000 cavalry. However, if you don't save Licheng, Ma Chao will easily recapture Wudu. Once he is stationed in Wudu, it will be even more difficult to encircle him. It is too close to the Qiang tribe, and there are also many Di people in the local area. Ma Chao's power is far greater than in Hanyang.

"Everyone, tell me what you think and see how to deal with it now?" After Sun Shao finished talking about the current situation, Cao Chong glanced at the positions and generals, and said in a bad mood. Jia Xu frowned slightly, twisted his beard and pondered without saying anything, and didn't know what he was thinking. Pang Tong was looking at Zhang Song, and the two of them muttered softly. Fa Zheng stared at the map in embarrassment, scratching his eyebrows and smacked his lips. Deng Ai looked at the silent Pang De and Chen Dao opposite him, without saying a word. Zhu Shuo and Sima Yi sat quietly aside, lowering their heads, like clay puppets.

Cao Chong was speechless. It seemed that the situation was too bad. There was no other way except to inform Hao Zhao and Jiang Xu to be careful. He had a headache. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples that were a little swollen and painful, pinched his nose bridge, closed his eyes and calmed down and thought about it. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhang Song suddenly left his seat, got up and walked out hurriedly. Cao Chong glanced outside and saw that Shi Kang, who was always so busy, was hiding behind a tiger soldier and looking in his direction.

Zhang Song came back soon, and he leaned over Cao Chong and said a few words. Cao Chong raised his brows, glanced around everyone's faces, shook his head, and waved his hand and said, "Since everyone has no good ideas, let's disperse for the time being. Please guard the city, keep the scouts away, and wait for the troops to return to help."

"Here." Everyone responded and stood up to say goodbye. Cao Chong also got up and went back to the back hall. Zhang Song seemed to have something to say to him, and followed him into the end. Sima Yi and Zhu Shuo looked at each other, stood on the side at the same time, waved to Jia Xu, Deng Ai and others, and signaled them to go first. Jia Xu, who was twisting his beard, glanced at them, suddenly smiled, then nodded and walked out with relaxed steps. Deng Ai also smiled and nodded, indicating that they would go together. Zhu Shuo refused, so he had to follow him at the end. After the two of them gave in, everyone had already walked out. Sima Yi was walking at the end and saw a tiger soldier hurried out and said a few words to Jia Xu who was almost at the door of the mansion. After hearing this, Jia Xu turned around and entered the backyard from the side door next to him.

Deng Ai bowed to Zhu Shuo and Sima Yi, turned over and jumped onto the war horse and galloped away. Sima Yi and Zhu Shuo looked at each other, smiled, and bowed and said goodbye, and walked in two different directions separately.

Zhu Shuo climbed up the city wall and inspected his defense zone. He was in charge of the west gate. He was always involuntarily frightened when he looked at the Wei River winding north of the city and Zhu Yu Mountain in the southwest. Cao Pi's letter had been here for more than a month. In addition to common greetings, he also told Zhu Shuo that he had visited Zhu Shuo's hometown and felt that their old house was really simple, so he brought Zhu Shuo's family to Chenliu and arranged a good yard for them.

,They are living a stable life now. He asked Zhu Shuo to obey the orders under Cao Chong's tent, cooperate with Cao Chong to win a victory and strive to make great contributions. Cao Pi spoke affectionately, but Zhu Shuo was shocked to see every word. Of course, he would not only see the superficial meaning in the letter, which was prepared for Cao Chong to show. Cao Pi was definitely not asking Zhu Shuo to cooperate with Cao Chong to win a victory and make great contributions, but was using his family's lives to remind Zhu Shuo that the time for you to make a contribution is just for him, Cao Pi.

Zhu Shuo was very hesitant. To be honest, although he had a good relationship with Cao Pi, it was because Cao Pi had been in the army for a long time. He was a local rich man, without a background in classics, and had no special talent for military use. If he didn't support himself, how could he be a general today? He was different from aristocratic families like Chen Qun and Sima Yi. He didn't have so much resistance to Cao Chong's new policy, but he felt a little happy, but he was Cao Pi's confidant, which is what everyone knows. Although Cao Chong did not discriminate against him and even asked him to take on the important defensive responsibility of Ximen, he obviously did not trust him as much as Deng Ai, Liu Pan, and Lei Tong. Zhu Shuo could understand these, and he had no opinion. He just did what he should do carefully and hoped to slowly adjust his impression in Cao Chong's mind.

I don't know if Cao Pi felt his changes, but he actually detained his family and gave him such an almost impossible task. Although the current situation has developed step by step to what he expected, Cao Chong obviously has no intention of taking the risk of attacking Jicheng. He would rather give up and let Ma Chao escape back to Qiang land than take these 10,000 people to attack Jicheng. For Cao's army, this is of course the safest way, but for Zhu Shuo, it is a failure. If he doesn't seize this opportunity, he may not have a chance next time.

"General, I'm back." Ma Shi appeared behind him quietly.

Zhu Shu did not look back. This Ma Master was Sima Yi's man. Although they pretended not to know anyone, Zhu Shu was not a fool, and he could feel it. He even felt that maybe Sima Yi told Cao Pi about his changes.

"What's the situation?" Zhu Shuo lowered his voice. Although he was surrounded by his confidants within twenty steps, it was necessary to be careful. He didn't look back, just because he didn't want Cao Chong's people to have the opportunity to see his lips move.

"Ma Chao brought 20,000 people out of the city. There are still 10,000 people in the city. He has arranged people to monitor Yang Fu and others, and is preparing to use them to lure General Cao into the city and then take it down in one fell swoop."

"Silly, will General Cheqi enter the city easily?" Zhu Shuo laughed disdainfully: "He brought 20,000 people to save Licheng. Hasn't everything been exposed?"

"No, only 10,000 people went to Licheng, and there were 10,000 people in Shehu Valley. He was afraid that the road back to Jicheng would be cut off."

"It seems brave and timid, it is hard to become a great man." Zhu Shuo shook his head gently and patted the battlements with his hand, helplessness and regret.

"When you came back, you weren't seen?"

"No, I sneaked back in the middle of the night and came back with the scouts sent by the general." Ma Shi smiled softly.

"You go down and have a good rest." After Zhu Shuo said that, he did not look back at Master Ma, and continued to patrol with his personal guards. He checked very carefully and carefully checked all the places in the defense zone. Not only did he check whether the amount of the supplies was sufficient and whether the placement was correct, but he also pulled some out of them to see if the quality met the requirements. Even if there was some dust on the city guard crossbow at the top of the city, he had to wipe it out to ensure that it was foolproof and could be put into use at any time. After patrolling the defense zone, Zhu Shuo did not return to the mansion in the city. He had a rest room under the city wall. It turned out to be a place for the soldiers guarding the gate to rest, but now it has become his office.

As soon as Zhu Shu entered the door, he saw Sima Yi sitting inside drinking tea. He couldn't help but be stunned: "Zhongda, why are you... here?"

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I came here because of official duties. General Cheqi and Cavalry wanted to check the defense of each section of the city walls. My military strategy of the general's mansion was sent to you."

Zhu Shu nodded expressionlessly, then sat down and talked about the situation on the city wall. Sima Yi listened quietly, occasionally making a few words, and finally said: "Yuan Ming, if you guard the West Gate like this, even if you have 30,000 troops attacked, your city wall will be foolproof."

Zhu Shuo grinned, then lowered his face: "Zhongda, do you think there is a chance to attack Ma Chao with 30,000 troops?"

"Of course not." Sima Yi replied without hesitation: "If everyone is as loyal as Yuan Ming, he will have no chance at all."

Zhu Shu shook his head: "You don't need to say that to me. What I am worried about now is that Ma Chao will not take this risk at all. He will not attack Shangji with just one or two words. Even if I don't defend Xicheng, only the personal guards of General Cheqi and Cavalry and Deng Shizai's men are enough to defend Shangji. If his 30,000 troops want to capture Shangji, the losses are not something he can bear."

"You're right, so you're going out of the city." Sima Yi paused and said, "Of course, the best way is to let the general of the chariot and cavalry go out of the city to fight Ma Chao in the field, so that Ma Chao won't worry."

Zhu Shuo shook his head: "Zhongda, don't think that if I am so attentive, General Cheqi can believe me. You saw it, and he summoned Jia Wenhe to discuss matters again. I can't sleep every day now, and I can see Zhang Yongnian's face as soon as I close my eyes. I don't know how long I can hide it from him. Maybe he discovered our affairs and was also using us to seduce Ma Chao."

Sima Yi smiled, and he shook his hand: "Yuan Ming, don't think so much about them. The Ma Master you sent out was as a scout. He was not the one who went to Jicheng far away. Why are you so worried about it? Being careful is good, being too careful, but being cowardly. If they really find out, do you think you will still be guarding Ximen? You have already withdrawn."

Just as Zhu Shu was about to speak, Sima Yi raised his hand again: "I know you are not at ease, so I asked you to volunteer to guard the city of Yuan. Wangyuan City is only a hundred miles away. It is the first stop to discover Ma Chao's attack. If they are not at ease, they will definitely not let you go."

"I'll go to watch the earth? Then Ma Chao is here, how can I enter the city?" Zhu Shuo shook his head and disagreed with Sima Yi's opinion.

Sima Yi smiled: "Ma Chao will not believe you. He only has the possibility of attacking Shangji, but not the possibility of entering the city. If you leave Shangji, there are only seven or eight thousand troops in the city, then he will attack. Otherwise, he will not have come to Shangji City at all."

Zhu Shuo's eyes flashed and he did not agree immediately. Sima Yi smiled again, "Aren't you worried? You just took this opportunity to test it. If the General of the Cycling and Cavalry can still agree to your request, then you are safe. Otherwise, you should stop as soon as possible, deal with Master Ma immediately, and destroy all the evidence."

Zhu Shuo thought for a long time, nodded and said, "It's up to you."

When Cao Chong heard that Zhu Shuo volunteered to look in the city and strengthen Wangyuan's defense, he immediately shook his head and said, "Yuan Ming, your idea is good. If you are in Wangyuan, there will be an additional line of defense in Shangji. However, I have too few troops in Shangji City. If you take people away, there will be only 8,000 people left in the city. If Ma Chao kills the city, it will be dangerous. There are already more than 1,000 people in Wangyuan City, and the purpose of early warning can be achieved. No matter how many thousands of you are, you can't stop Ma Chao, why bother you to take this risk again?"

Zhu Shuo said sincerely: "General, although Wangyuan City is small, the terrain is good. One thousand people can't stop Ma Chao. If I go to Wangyuan, I can at least block him for one day and have enough time to prepare for the general. Besides, I don't need to take all four thousand people away. Just take two thousand people to go there. In this way, there are still 10,000 people in Shangji City, and there should be no accidents if the general guards the city. After these ten days, when the general leads back to the rescue, Ma Chao will be too busy to take care of himself, and Shangji will be completely safe."

Cao Chong considered Zhu Shuo's suggestion. He looked at it in front of the map and was a little hesitant. Fa Zheng suddenly said, "General, what General Zhu said makes sense. Although Wangyuan has a thousand troops of the commander-in-chief, his strength is too weak, and the buffering time it can give us is still too short. If General Zhu brings another two thousand people, he can block Ma Chao for a little more time. As for the problem of military strength in the city, the military rations in Hanzhong can be transported soon. Leave the soldiers who protect the grain here for the time being to help defend the city, so that General Zhu can replenish General Zhu's manpower."

Cao Chong glanced at Fa Zheng, but was still a little worried: "How many days will the military rations in Hanzhong be left?"

Fa Zheng smiled and said, "It should be just these two days..." Before he finished speaking, Zhang Song walked in with a middle-aged general with a medium figure and strong physique. As soon as he saw Cao Chong, he smiled and said, "General, the military rations from Hanzhong have arrived, and they are the foods that Niu Junwei personally lent."

The middle-aged general stepped forward to salute Cao Chong: "Niu Jin, the magistrate of Hanzhong County, escorted 30,000 shi of military rations and arrived safely."

Cao Chong laughed loudly, stepped forward and grabbed Niu Jin's hand and said, "I haven't seen you for many years, is your prefect?"

Niu Jin smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, my prefect is doing well."

"That's good, that's good, how many people have you brought?"

"There are 3,000 civilians who transported grain and 1,500 soldiers who protected grain." Niu Jin replied loudly.

Cao Chong smacked his lips and touched his chin and said, "There are fewer people, but it is a good thing that you come here. This is how you don't rush back. Just take the civilians and the grain-protecting soldiers to help me defend the city."

Niu Jin was stunned and responded quickly: "Yes, everything follows the general's order."

Cao Chong shook his head regretfully, turned around and said to Zhu Shuo, "Yuan Ming, just take two thousand people to Wangyuan. Shuai Huairou, who guards Yuan, is Shi Zai's subordinate. Don't look at him as handsome as he is, he will be very cruel when he kills people. When you get there, he will cooperate with you."

Zhu Shuo nodded quickly: "Thank you for reminding you that the military situation is urgent, so we will set off now."

"It's a good job." Cao Chong bowed to Zhu Shuo and said sincerely. Zhu Shuo didn't dare to be too late, so he quickly got up and left, then explained the military affairs, took all the food, grass and weapons, and quickly left the city with two thousand people. Cao Chong looked at Zhu Shuo out, then turned around and pulled Niu Jin, and smiled and said, "How about it, are all the things I want??"

Niu Jin showed a slight smug smile on his face and bowed and replied: "Everything is prepared as the general ordered. If the general is free, I will take the general to see now."

"What you want to see, what you want to see." Cao Chong couldn't help but feel excited.

Licheng, south of Qishan, west of Lizhong Mountain, the Qingni River, a tributary of the Western Han Dynasty, passed around the city. Except for a flattering place in the south of the city, there are towering mountains on the other three sides. The city is built between two mountains, and there is a dangerous situation where one man can pass by ten thousand men.

After Jiang Xu and Hao Zhao learned that Meng Da's troops could not come, they hesitated for a long time and had no full confidence in dealing with Ma Chao with the more than 6,000 people in their hands. However, they considered Cao Chong's overall arrangement, and also felt that with the steep terrain here and the confusing nature of Jiang Xu, they felt that even if the troops who could not take down the support could at least be held back and share some pressure for Cao Chong to take down Jicheng, so they decided to ask for help from Ma Chao. When they learned that Ma Chao brought 10,000 troops to aid, they prepared an ambush on the mountain in the north of the city, and waited for Ma Chao to pass through the valley to enter the city, Hao Zhao first launched a raid on it, forcing Ma Chao into the city, and then Jiang Xu in the city found an opportunity to kill him.

What surprised them was that Ma Chao stopped in Luojiagou, ten miles away from the city, and sent someone to summon Jiang Xu to greet him. Jiang Xu couldn't figure out the details for a while. After thinking for a long time, he decided to go to see Ma Chao. When Ma Chao saw Jiang Xu, he was very enthusiastic and pulled him in front of him and sat down. The Qiang girl next to them filled them with wine. Ma Chao raised his wine glass and persuaded him: "Bo Yi, although we don't meet much, we have been in harmony for a long time. I feel very relieved to meet him today. Come on, let's be respectful."

Seeing Ma Chao so polite, Jiang Xu felt a little calmer. He quickly raised his glass and smiled, "General Tian is more heroic than others, Xu is just a man. How dare he be so polite to the general? Xu first respects the general and uses this wine as a general's life." After that, he raised his neck and flew it all out, and showed his heart to Ma Chao to the bottom of the cup to show his sincerity.

Ma Chao laughed and drank it dry. The two of them drank wine and ate grilled mutton, and expressed their admiration for each other. Ma Chao patted his thighs and said, "Bo Yi, speaking of it, I really admire your Jiang family. When your brother Jiang Gongcao was defending Jicheng to the death and died in the battlefield, although I was an enemy of him, I admire him very much. After Licheng many times, you guarded Licheng so strictly, and I have no chance at all. Although I was very annoyed, I also like a man like you. Today you can abandon the darkness and turn to the light. I have the opportunity to sit with you and drink with you to fight against Cao thieves, instead of fighting on the battlefield. This is also a happy ending for everyone."

Jiang Xu was contemptuous, but he had to pretend to be kind and feel sad, and he was accompanied by Ma Chao. Ma Chao reached out and picked up the short knife that cut the flesh, cut a small piece from the sheep and put it into his mouth, and asked, "Bo Yi, how many people have come to Cao's army? Even you can't stop it?"

Jiang Xu had already discussed with Hao Zhao before coming, so he quickly replied: "Return to the general, there are more than 3,000 people in Hao Zhao's army and more than 7,000 people in Mengda's army, totaling more than 10,000 people. They also forced a lot of Qiang Di to help. I was really worried that I could not defend Licheng, so I asked the general for help. As soon as the general's Tianwei arrived, they naturally retreated. The scout said that Hao Zhao and Mengda had retreated a hundred miles away. Those Qiang Di always believed in the general's power, and when they heard that the general was coming, they also scattered. Now the danger of Licheng has been resolved."

Ma Chao glanced at Jiang Xu and laughed: "Bo Yi is over, that's because you guarded the city well. By the way, I have always had a mind to ask Bo Yi to fulfill his wish. Can Bo Yi give up? "

Jiang Xu smiled faintly and bowed and said, "The general's words made Xu feel ashamed. Liangzhou belong to the general, so why bother with the sacrificial love? As long as the general likes it and what Xu can do, nothing is wrong."

Ma Chao narrowed his eyes and smiled more enthusiastically. He sighed and said, "Bo Yi, I said just now that although my compatriot Jiang Gongcao was once an enemy, I admire him very much. I heard that he had a son named Jiang Wei who had a hard time following his widow. I felt quite unbearable. I wanted to bring him by my side so that he could earn some money to support his family to show my respect for Jiang Gongcao. I hope Bo Yi would not go against my kindness."

When Jiang Xu heard this, he was shocked all over, and a trace of horror swept through his eyes. Jiang Wei was already on the shore now. Why did Ma Chao suddenly mention this? He has occupied Jicheng for more than half a year and has not mentioned it. Why did he mention it suddenly now? Not long after Jiang Wei just went to the shore? Could it be... A trace of ominous feeling arose in Jiang Xu's heart. He glanced at Ma Chao. Although Ma Chao had a smile on his face, his eyes were staring at him, showing a sense of ruthlessness.

"Duocheng the general's love, but unfortunately, my nephew is fifteen years old. He just went out for study tour two days ago. If the general came two days earlier, he might have a chance to accompany the general. General, look at this matter..." Jiang Xu smiled a little reluctantly. He rubbed his hands, looking really regretful, "Why should I send someone to find him immediately and let him come to Jicheng to see the general as soon as he returns?"
Chapter completed!