Chapter 206 Sympathy

"A-choo!" Pang Tong, who was riding on a horse, sneezed violently again.

Zhang Fei, who was standing beside him, looked at him with some concern and said:

"Since the military advisor has caught a cold, then don't come out."

The temperature in Hanzhong is much lower than that in Chengdu, and Pang Tong's physique is relatively weak, so he became like this less than a day after returning to Hanzhong.

After waving his hand to indicate that it was okay and wiping it clean with a handkerchief, Pang Tong said in a muffled voice after his stuffy nose:

"In the letter from Ma Mengqi the day before yesterday, a few words mentioned that there was a conflict between the leader and the ministers in Han Sui's army, and it was a good time to send troops."

Zhang Fei was thoughtful. After returning to Hanzhong, he was busy with military affairs, so he went to inspect the military camp after listening to the military advisor Pang's oral statement that day. He didn't expect that there would be so many twists and turns in the meantime.

After blowing his nose twice, Pang Tong felt much better and explained:

"Three years ago, Han Sui sent an envoy to visit Cao Cao."

"This envoy sent his parents to Xudu and persuaded Han Sui to give his son to Cao Cao as a token of his loyalty."

"He is a man who knows how to save trouble."

Zhang Fei commented:

"Let Cao Cao honor his parents on his behalf?"

Pang Tong glanced at Zhang Fei and shook his head:

"This envoy's name is Yan Xing. People say he is brave and Han Sui trusts him."

Zhang Fei tried to keep up with the military advisor. Thoughts:

"So the military advisor suspects that Yan Xing has already secretly surrendered to Cao Cao?"

Pang Tong shook his head: "It's not suspicion, it's conviction."

"Holding parents to seek a reputation of filial piety with Cao thief, lobbying Han Sui for Cao thief is to seek loyalty and fame."

"Han Sui is old and cruel, Ma Chao is brave but not kind, both are tyrants, Yan Xing is not as good as them."

"If you can be both loyal and righteous, you can let Han Sui drive you. If you can't be both loyal and righteous, you must abandon the reputation of loyalty and keep the reputation of filial piety."

Zhang Fei translated it in his mind:

Yan Xing, for the sake of his parents, wants to borrow the general's head!

Shaking his head in his heart, Zhang Fei straightened up and looked into the distance:

"Here they come!"

A group of people riding horses in the distance, each of them is dressed in a felt hat and fur coat to keep warm.

Zhang Fei glanced at the military advisor who still had the "style of a celebrity", shook his head in his heart, and felt that there was a reason why the military advisor caught a cold.

Zhang Fei took a breath and then shouted:

"I am the Han general Zhang Yide! Please tell me your name!"

The group of people from the north stopped immediately. After a while of talking, one of them stepped out of the line:

"I am here to visit the governor of Hanzhong by order of the general who conquered the west!"

"I am the lieutenant of the army, Cheng Gongying!"

Cheng Gongying's visit was polite and he greeted Zhang Fei and Pang Tong separately.

Afterwards, after going to the Hanzhong government office, they recalled the battle of Tongguan last year.

From him, Zhang Fei and Pang Tong also learned how Ma Chao did not listen to the orders of the governor, which led to the gradual defeat of the Yongliang Hedong coalition.

And after finally retreating to Yongliang, how Ma Chao exploited the people, how he intimidated the famous scholars of the aristocratic families, and how he lost the heart of Yongliang.

Although everything seemed to be said seriously, Zhang Fei intuitively felt that Cheng Gongying seemed to have something to say.

Finally, Cheng Gongying also proposed Han Sui's conditions:

"General Han heard that Liu Yizhou cares about the people. Now Yongliang is ravaged by horse bandits. Please send troops to fight the bandits and relieve the people's distress."

"General Han is willing to help Liu Yizhou enter Yongliang and report to the court to promote Liu Yizhou's merits!"

Zhang Fei seemed to have heard nothing, but just kept introducing food:

"General Cheng, try this lychee. It's not easy to eat this in winter!"

Cheng Gongying was helpless: "General Zhang, my surname is Chenggong."

Then he didn't look discouraged, just talked and laughed with Zhang Fei, toasting.

Until the banquet was over, Zhang Fei shook his head: "Send troops thousands of miles to rule Yongliang together?"

This Han Sui didn't even want to call his brother "big brother", but he had a good plan!

Pang Tong smiled: "There are many people at the banquet. I see that Cheng Gongying is well-spoken. There should be a turning point in this matter."

As Pang Tong expected, Cheng Gongying's personal followers came to quietly pass on the news in the evening.

After dinner at night, Zhang Fei and Pang Tong, who were sitting in the main hall of the government office, saw Cheng Gongying again.

But this time, only Cheng Gongying was there, and after meeting him, Cheng Gongying bowed down:

"General and military advisor, please save my master!"

Pang Tong twisted his beard thoughtfully, and Zhang Fei was curious and helped Cheng Gongying up:

"What do you mean?"

Then Cheng Gongying told the story.

It turned out that Han and Ma had already had a grudge against each other when they were under Tongguan, and they blamed each other after being taken advantage of by Cao.

Han Sui hated Ma Chao for not listening to the governor, and Ma Chao scolded Han Sui for not having the courage to face Cao Cao.

"Hateful that Yan Xing!" Cheng Gongying seemed to be quite contemptuous of this man:

"He rose from humble beginnings thanks to Han Gong's promotion, but after being sent to Yecheng, he became a loyal general of Cao thief!"

"Before the battle of Tongguan, he persuaded Han Gong to surrender and let Yongliang surrender. After the coalition forces, he was tired and led to Han Gong's defeat!"

"Now he is shameless enough to persuade Han Gong to surrender again to save his own luck!"

Zhang Fei glanced at the military advisor who closed his eyes and said nothing, and then He asked Cheng Gongying:

"Among you, there is a confidant of Yan Xing who wants to leave the team in disguise and go to Chang'an to show his loyalty to Xiahou Yuan?"

Cheng Gongying said admiringly: "General, you are very insightful!"

"This Yan Xing violated Han Gong's intention and wanted to contact Xiahou Yuan privately to open up the Long Road and offer it to Cao thieves in Yongliang."

"Please kill the thieves to prevent Cao thieves from becoming stronger!"

Cheng Gongying bowed down, which made Zhang Fei a little embarrassed. He could not help but look to Pang Tong for help.

On the contrary, Pang Tong seemed to wake up suddenly. He helped Cheng Gongying up with his own hands and sighed:

"There is an old man who has lived in Tianshui for a long time. Now he sees war in Yongliang again..."

Cheng Gongying understood immediately, thought for a while and asked:

"I wonder what the old name of the military advisor is?"

In this regard, Pang Tong had already secretly inquired about the news, pretending not to care and said:

"His name is Jiang Ji, and he is now serving as the chief minister of Tianshui County. I love the wisdom of my old son very much."

"General Han is pursuing thieves for the sake of the country and the people, but he is just afraid of this..."

Cheng Gongying felt relieved. The meritorious service was not even the meritorious service. Wouldn't that be easy to handle?

So he immediately patted his chest and said, "Tomorrow I will send my relatives back to Liangzhou. In less than half a month, I will definitely send the general and his old family to me."

Then a big smile finally broke out on Pang Tong's face.

Looking at Cheng Gongying's leaving figure, Zhang Fei was a little confused:

"Military advisor, do we really want to listen to Cheng Gongying?"

Pang Tong nodded: "Everyone takes what they need."

Then he asked, "What would Yide think if Yan Xing was allowed to contact Xia Houyuan and attack Ma Chao?"

Zhang Fei quickly understood:

"If Xia Houyuan sends troops to attack Longshan, my troops can only take Baoxie Road and station in Wuzhangyuan or Yi County. It will be difficult to attack Chang'an."

"And Wuzhangyuan is quite close to Longdao. Xia Houyuan can return to defend at any time."

Pang Tong nodded and said: "Since last year, we have been pacifying Hanzhong in Yizhou. The foundation is unstable, the soldiers are tired, and we can no longer raise weapons."

Pang Tong had a very straightforward idea in his mind:

This Ma Chao was considered a good sword in Yongliang, but now he is not very obedient, so he just asked Han Sui to sharpen the sword.

And if Xia Houyuan is brought in, the knife may be broken by one mistake.

After understanding the logic, Zhang Fei looked in the direction of Cheng Gongying and sighed:

"I didn't expect that Han Sui would have such loyal people under his command."

Pang Tong sneered: "Yide thinks Yan Xing really went against Han Sui's wishes by contacting Xia Houyuan?"

Zhang Fei didn't expect this possibility, and his eyes widened, feeling that he couldn't understand Han Sui's situation even more.

After laughing, Pang Tong sighed:

"Han Sui is a man of both ends, but he has such a loyal and brave minister."

According to Pang Tong's speculation, the inside story is not complicated.

Yan Xing wanted to invest, so he pushed hard.

Han Sui wanted to go into danger and use Xia Houyuan's power to kill Ma Chaoba Yongliang first, and then talk about other things.

Cheng Gongying believed that once the Long Road was restored and Xia Houyuan entered Yongliang, it would be difficult to drive him away.

As for Cheng Gongying's apparent invitation to his lord to take action against Ma Chao, Han Sui probably had no hope.

After all, the journey is far away, and the Qishan crossing is guarded by Han Sui. If Han Sui cuts off the retreat after sending troops, the Han soldiers in Yongliang will become a source of water.

The two sides have no basis for trust. How can we fight and send troops?

And... Xia Houyuan must not only have Yong Liang in his eyes.

…

In Yecheng, if Li Shimin saw Cao Cao at this time, he would laugh loudly and feel sympathy for him.

Cao Cao was lying on his side on the gorgeous couch, with a wet cloth on his forehead. A maid and concubine stood by carefully to relieve his headache.

He hadn't had such a headache in a long time.

Even if Chibi was defeated, it was more of a heartache that burned the ships and baggage.

Although Nanjun was lost later, it happened a long time after Red Cliff, so I accepted it after feeling sulky at the time.

Last year, forcing Ma Chao's son to rebel was a conspiracy he set with great ambition.

Ping Yongliang, force Hanzhong, and suppress Yizhou.

Liu Jiyu was just a boneless man, and he had shown many good intentions before, so Cao Cao and his advisers agreed after studying it:

As long as Hanzhong is captured, it is equivalent to acquiring Yizhou.

In order to plot Hanzhong, the safest way is undoubtedly to pacify Yongliang first.

Things were originally so smooth. Although Tongguan had twists and turns, it won in the end, but...

Cao Cao turned to look at the silk letter he threw on the ground. The letter was written by Xiahou Miaocai himself, so although the news made his eyes darken, Cao Cao did not doubt its authenticity.

"Liu Jiyu is mediocre! Zhang Lu is incompetent! The great plan of the southwest was destroyed by the hands of two people from the other generation!"

Cao Cao finally yelled.

After scolding him, he calmed down and signaled his concubine to pick up the letter again.

After I calmed down, I was finally able to finish reading it calmly.

In the letter, Xiahou Miaocai said that he was preparing to conquer Yongliang in the west. Although Ma Chao guarded the Longshan Road, his troops were weak and not good at guarding the passes, so he had no worries.

No, it's not important. Cao Cao quickly passed it and looked behind him.

The incident happened after Zhengdan. There was a great uproar in the west of Chang'an. Zhang Lu came to surrender, saying that Hanzhong had been occupied by Liu Bei!

Liu Bei! This name once again burned Cao Cao's heart like fire.

In Liu Bei's opinion, he had been driven around by Cao Cao for half his life, and his life was very miserable.

But it was the same in Cao Cao's view: Why didn't he end this trouble with one sword in the first place?

When he heard that Sun Zhongmou had lent Jiangling to Liu Bei, Cao Cao had already lost his temper because he felt that trouble would result.

But relying on the four barren counties to go upstream and capture Yizhou?

Will Yizhou be able to defeat Yangping Tianxian and drive Zhang Lu out of Hanzhong?

In the end, Cao Cao could only curse bitterly again:

"Sun Quan is so incompetent as a child that he lets his generation become the boss!"

"Incompetent people ruin my plans!"