As night fell, on the east gate tower of Chang'an, Li Jue took Li Huan, Li Ying and others to look at Cao Jun's camp from a distance.
They had already received reports from the detective horses and knew that new soldiers and horses had joined Cao Zhang's camp, so they came to check it out in person.
Looking at the bright lights in Cao Jun's camp in the distance and the soldiers and horses busy setting up camp, Li Jue became nervous and asked the soldier in charge: "Whose soldiers and horses are here? Have you found out? "
The soldier hurriedly responded: "Go back to the general, we have already checked it out. They are five thousand soldiers and horses led by General Duan Xuan of Ning Ji."
Li Jue's brows quickly furrowed and he murmured in a low voice: "Duan Xuan, this bastard really came with troops! He really wants to fight me to the end! It seems that we received a letter from Dong Cheng before, saying that Cao Cao is planning to It is true for the emperor to arrange envoys to recruit all the princes in Guanxi to deal with me."
Li Huan said disapprovingly: "So what if he is right? He is obviously dissatisfied with Cao Cao and said that he wants to cooperate with us inside and outside to deal with Cao Cao and let us send troops."
"But now, we sent troops, but we were beaten back, and Cao Zhang blocked us at the door of our house. Apart from writing a few letters to inform the news, what else did Dong Cheng do? What kind of cooperation between inside and outside? I think it is clearly taking advantage of We just want to use our hands to deal with Cao Cao and fight for his own interests!" Li Huan became more and more angry as he spoke, seemingly expressing his dissatisfaction with Dong Cheng, but in fact he was obviously complaining about Li Jue.
Of course, Li Jue heard the hidden meaning of Li Huan's words, but now he needed to share the same hatred and deal with Cao Zhang together, so he endured the attack.
"Brother, you can't say that. Even if Dong Cheng doesn't write us a letter inviting me to send troops, don't we want to get the emperor back? If Dong Cheng abandons us now and doesn't inform us in advance and tell us Cao Cao How can we prepare in advance for Cao Zhang's plan? Isn't that just a matter of sitting back and waiting for death?" Li Jue tried to keep his voice calm as he responded to Li Huan.
After listening to Li Jue's words, Li Huan's resentment subsided slightly, and then he said worriedly: "Brother, do you think your letter to Ma Teng and Han Sui will be effective? Can they really rely on your letter to Refuse the court’s favors and rewards?”
Li Jue said confidently: "How many times have we dealt with them over the years? I still know their tempers. They are just profit-seeking villains. In the letter I gave them, I promised to give them They have a lot of benefits, and the two of them should be tempted."
"These two guys are not only greedy, but also care about their own gains and losses and whether they are in danger. I also told them in the letter that Cao Cao's so-called recruitment was actually just a trick to deceive them and wanted to use their hands to get rid of me first."
"Once Chang'an falls into Cao Cao's control, they will lose a barrier and will face Cao Cao directly. Cao Cao will then defeat them one by one and completely control Kansai. I think they should understand the truth of the death of lips and the coldness of teeth!"
"In addition, Dong Cheng will also write to them, stating that all this is just Cao Cao's strategy. I believe that Ma Teng and Han Sui will not dare to believe the emperor's edict."
"As long as the two of them don't accept it, Liang Xing and Zhang Heng will definitely not dare to go against us, and Cao Cao's plan will naturally fail!"
Li Jue explained his arrangements to Li Huan in detail, expressing his confidence.
After listening to Li Jue's explanation, Li Huan pondered for a moment before slowly nodding: "Then what should we do next?"
"Cao Zhang just added Duan Yan's 5,000 soldiers and horses, which is nothing to be afraid of. With their few soldiers and horses, it is impossible to attack Chang'an. We only need to be prepared to defend the city in advance, and we will be able to sit back and relax!" Li Jue said confidently.
Li Huan originally wanted to remind Li Jue, but seeing his arrogant and confident look, he held back the rest of his words...
…
A few days passed. Cao Zhang, Zhong Yao, Duan Xuan and others had been waiting for news about Ma Teng and Han Sui, and were not in a hurry to launch an attack on Chang'an.
"Back, the messenger sent by Shizhong Zhong is back." The soldier guarding the door hurried into the tent to report to Cao Zhang.
"Hurry up and tell him to come in!" Cao Zhang was anxiously waiting and urged him.
After a while, the messenger walked in with his head hanging down in shock, walked up to Cao Zhang and Zhong Yao and saluted.
"How is the situation? Have you ever given my letter to Ma Teng and Han Sui and invited them to come to Chang'an?" Zhong Yao asked anxiously, seeing something was wrong with the envoy's expression.
"Reporting to the servants, after Ma Teng and Han Sui read the letter, they said that the imperial court did not really intend to recruit them and reward them. In fact, it was..." The envoy said this, choked back his words, looked at Cao Zhang and did not dare to say anything more.
"Say, why are you hesitating?" Xiahou Ba was impatient and slapped the table to urge the envoy.
The messenger said in a panic: "They said this was actually Cao Cao's plan to lure them. He wanted to trick them into Chang'an and kill them with one knife, so they would not be fooled! Ma Teng's son Ma Chao wanted to kill me at that time. It was me. Only after begging hard did Ma Teng spare my life and come back!"
"What?!" Cao Mian clearly didn't expect such a result, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Bold! These Ma Teng and Han Sui are really evil. They actually questioned the emperor's rewards and recruitment. How abominable!" Xiahou Ba cursed angrily.
Zhong Yao obviously didn't expect such a result.
He was secretly glad that he had arranged for a fast horse messenger to meet the two of them first. If he had gone directly to deliver the decree, he didn't know whether he would have come back alive.
Cao Zhang frowned. He did not expect that Ma Teng and Han Sui would suspect that the emperor refused to recruit troops. This was completely beyond his expectation and disrupted his overall plan.
"Yuan Zhi, what do you think about this matter?" Cao Zhang asked Xu Shu for his opinion.
"Young Master, I believe there must be a problem at some point. Ma Teng and Han Sui have not even seen the Holy Envoy, so they have such great resistance and hostility. They must have been provoked in advance." Xu Shu stroked his beard. Analysis was made.
"It makes sense. It seems that someone had already provoked Ma Teng and Han Sui to refuse to accept the recruitment before Zhong Shizhong's messenger arrived." Cao Zhang calmed down and immediately thought of the crux of the problem.
"It's impossible. Before I set off from Xudu, Sikong specially summoned me to explain the matter. I immediately wrote a letter in my own hand and told the messenger to set off. How could anyone be faster than him?!" Zhong Yao obviously didn't believe this analysis. .
Cao Zhang and Xu Shu looked at each other, but they already had the answer in their hearts.
Although Zhong Yao was indeed very fast, if someone had sent an expedited horse to Yongliang before he set off, the current result might have occurred.
Who is this person? The answer has already been revealed.
Duan Xuan got up angrily and said to Cao Zhang: "Sir, Ma Teng and Han Sui are villains. Since we can't count on them, we don't have to force them. The general will lead the army to attack the city tomorrow. He will definitely break through Chang'an and behead Li Jue. Send it to the young master."
"I am very moved by the general's mood of asking for war for the country. But "The Art of War" says: The first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the third is to attack the city. Siege battles are often long-lasting and consume a lot of money. It’s not easy to succeed yet.”
"Li Jue has led the Xiliang army to occupy Chang'an for many years. He has already built the place extremely strong. If you rush to attack the city, you may not be able to win. I think the general should be calm and calm. Let me think of a way to persuade Ma Teng and Han. So he and others came together to besiege Li Jue." Cao Zhang hurriedly persuaded Duan Xuan.
"Young master said this, does it mean you don't believe in the general? Without Ma Teng and Han Sui, we can't attack Chang'an and kill Li Jue!?" When Duan Xuan heard this, he not only did not calm down, but became even more angry.
Cao Zhang realized that Duan Xuan had misunderstood him, and hurriedly wanted to explain: "General, please don't misunderstand me. I don't mean that. I just don't want the general to waste his troops in vain."
"Duan Yan accepts the kindness of the young master, but I have made up my mind. Tomorrow morning, I will lead the troops to attack the city. I must capture Chang'an and kill the Li thief!" Duan Yan said firmly.
Seeing Duan Xuan's persistence, Cao Zhang knew that it would be useless to persuade him, so he could only nod helplessly: "Okay, then I will personally cheer for the general to raid the formation tomorrow!"
