Nanyang County, Wudang County.
After Cao Cao captured Jingzhou in the 13th year of Jian'an, he divided Nanxiang, Wudang and other counties in the west of Nanyang County to establish Nanxiang County.
But just last year, former Han general Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan. During the process of flooding the Seventh Forbidden Army, Nanxiang Prefect Fu Fang and Jingzhou Governor Hu Xiu surrendered to Guan Yu.
Cao Cao was very angry after learning about this.
Later, after the Han River armistice, Cao Cao considered that Nanxiang County would become a strategic location, so he abolished Nanxiang County.
The counties under the jurisdiction of Nanxiang County were re-integrated into Nanyang County, and Cao Ren was asked to lead troops to garrison Nanyang and defend the south.
In Wudang County, Xiahou Shang was looking at the first letter sent by Meng Da in his hand.
Not long ago, Wei Jun scouts in Wudang County discovered Deng Xian and Li Fu who were sent by Meng Da to contact Xiahou Shang.
After Deng Xian and Li Fu were captured by Wei army scouts, they immediately shouted that a secret message had been delivered.
When the Wei army scouts saw this, they did not dare to neglect, and immediately escorted Deng Xian and Li Fu to Xia Houshang.
The Wei army scouts also handed the secret letter from Meng Da found on Deng Xian's body to Xia Houshang.
After Xia Houshang read Meng Da's secret letter, his first reaction was not surprise, but hesitation.
He didn't know much about Mengda, so he summoned Man Chong.
After Man Chong arrived, he introduced Meng Da to Xia Houshang in detail.
After having a general understanding of Meng Da's life story, Xia Houshang picked up the letter of surrender written by Meng Da and read it carefully.
At this time, when he read the contents of Meng Da's letter, he no longer had much hesitation, but had a hint of belief.
When victory in the attack on Dongsan County was in sight, Liu Bei suddenly sent Liu Feng to seize his military power.
After the Battle of Xiangfan, he was implicated by Liu Feng and was deprived of all his troops, and was demoted to a small army Sima under Mi Yang's tent.
These various past events all verify the authenticity of the sixteen words in Meng Da's letter: "The reputation is not guaranteed, the song is not preserved, the eagle cannot soar, and the five inner feelings are sad."
Using oneself to save others, if Xiahou Shang himself was suddenly harmed unnecessarily by the monarch, then his heart would naturally be full of resentment.
Moreover, Meng Da was not a pure minister of Liu Bei.
The most important thing is that Xiahou Shang summoned Shen Yi's cronies who had escaped from Xicheng.
Shen Yi had many contacts with Meng Da before, and Shen Yi's cronies may know Meng Da's nephew Deng Xian and his cronies Li Fu.
Later, through the identification of Shen Yi's cronies, the identities of Deng Xian and Li Fu were confirmed.
Moreover, according to Shen Yi's confidants, Deng Xian and Li Fu were inseparable from Meng Da in the past and were Meng Da's closest minions.
After hearing what Shen Yi's cronies said, Xia Houshang's heart was already filled with waves.
At least judging from the information gathered so far, it is possible that Meng Da wrote this letter to him sincerely.
Thinking of this, Xia Houshang felt a little hot in his heart.
Meng Da is now one of the three battalion commanders under Mi Yang, and has been entrusted by Mi Yang with the important task of garrisoning the Hanshui Water Village.
If he surrenders, then there will be no obstacles for his army to enter the West City, and it will be unobstructed.
This echoes the hidden ambition in Xiahou Shang's heart.
Surrendering depends not only on the sincerity of the surrendering person, but also on whether the surrendering person has the capital to be accepted.
But soon the fire in Xiahou Shang's heart was extinguished by Man Chong.
Man Chong admonished Xiahou Shang: "It is common sense for Meng Da to be resentful of Liu Bei, but Meng Da is good friends with Mi Yang's mentor Fa Zheng.
Moreover, Mi Yang has placed great trust in Meng Da since he joined Mi Yang, so this matter needs long-term consideration. "
After hearing Man Chong's advice, Xiahou Shang also nodded.
What Man Chong said makes sense, and judging from Meng Da's first letter, it means that he made friends in advance. This is also in line with Meng Da's character - preparing his own escape route in advance.
But although he still had doubts in his heart, Xiahou Shang did not completely forget about Meng Da's intention to befriend and surrender.
What he did was to keep Meng Da's close nephew Deng Xian in Wuzhong, and send Li Fu back to continue to be his father-in-law.
Meng Da contacted his messenger.
When Li Fu returned to Meng Da, although Meng Da had a sad look on his face, as if he was worried that Xia Hou still didn't trust him, in fact, he was already happy inside.
Just as Mi Yang had told him before, Xia Hou was not an unwise person.
Even if Xiahou Shang is not wise, he will not lack wise people around him, so it is difficult to convince Xiahou Shang with just a letter.
Therefore, whether the strategy of pretending to surrender to lure the enemy can be successful is not a day's work, but also depends on Xiahou Shang's reaction after receiving the first letter.
And now Xiahou Shang's reaction has proved that he has some belief in his heart.
Otherwise, his approach would not be to keep Deng Xian as a hostage and then put Li Fu back as a messenger.
After knowing this, Meng Da soon asked Li Fu to send a second letter to Wudang County as a messenger.
This letter was written by Mi Yang to Meng Da before. If Xiahou is not interested yet, then this second letter will be useless.
In order to keep it secret and for the sake of his own future, Meng Da followed Mi Yang's strict order and did not tell anyone else about his conspiracy with Mi Yang that night. Not even Deng Xian and Li Fu knew about it.
Precisely because Deng Xian and Li Fu did not know that Meng Da was pretending to serve Xiahou Shang, when they sent a letter to Xiahou Shang, they faced the cross-examination of Man Chong and Xiahou Shang, and all their answers were in line with normal reactions.
Xiahou Shang and Man Chong did not notice anything unusual.
When Li Fu came to Wuzhong with Meng Da's second letter, Xia Houshang met Li Fu impatiently.
He took the second letter from Meng Da to him from Li Fu and read it carefully:
"Da is far away in the border area, and the Han River is cut off. I have not been blessed with kindness and enlightenment, but I am in the mountains, respectfully displaying my feelings. I am afraid that the past is despicable, and I am not convinced.
The husband is grateful for things, and the plan changes due to changes, which is the same in ancient and modern times. Now that he is in charge of a camp, his remaining wishes are enough. He should have set his heart to repay it, and it will last forever.
Unexpectedly, Yang had never trusted him. Many lieutenants and generals in the army were out of the police. Recently, slanderous words were circulated, and Yang gradually became suspicious.
The eldest surname in the county was Shen, and people in the past often saw Yang transporting grain and grass to Yang. Unexpectedly, Yang hated the Shen family and condemned him many times. The Shen brothers tried their best to defend themselves, but in the end they were puzzled.
In order to get rid of Yang's tyranny, Shen Yi made a secret plan and wanted to return to the north. Unfortunately, something happened, and then there was chaos in the west city, thousands of people were massacred, and a baby was killed!
When Da saw Shen's sadness with his own eyes, he was cautious on the outside and taboo on the outside, cruel and murderous, he was panic-stricken inside and sweating like rain.
Although he is still alive, he is worried and anxious, not knowing when he will die.
Human beings live in this world, like a white horse passing through the gap, and they are always in danger and fear, how can it be described!
Although the people of this county today are afraid of Yang's power and surrender, most of the people are hiding in the mountains and grass, watching for gaps, hoping to return to chaos.
Yang has hidden dangers and often plans to advance northward, build ordnance, and use chariots to transport grain as a military reserve.
Now Yang ordered Da to take charge of the army because he wanted to punish him for the consequences and to kill him for fun.
After the overthrow of the Shen family, Yang was unprepared. If Ming Gong sent ten thousand troops from Wudang to enter the Han River, Da would open a large water fortress as an internal response.
In the past, the Shen family had done things before and after, and those who succeeded but failed had no external help;
If the Northern Army were to make a sudden attack on the border and send a message to the city, who would not hesitate to send a message to the people?
Misfortunes lie in omissions, dangers lie in throwing eggs, advancing means a bright future, retreating means false accusations and wasted death. Gains and losses are obvious, no more hesitation.
If Daruo suffers unexpected consequences, one thing will be fulfilled, and the other thing will be to prevent the hearts of those who return from the north.
I hope Ming Gong will see clearly and give you a secret report as soon as possible. When Da is waiting for action, he must respond immediately. "
After reading the second letter Meng Da asked Li Fu to send, surprise appeared on Xia Houshang's face.
He has not forgotten Man Chong's previous advice, and he himself has doubts about this.
But now Meng Da has stated in his second letter the reason why he betrayed Mi Yang.
Meng Da is saving himself!
What Meng Da said in his letter is reasonable and well-founded, and many of the contents can be investigated.
This made Xiahou Shang even more convinced of Meng Da's surrender.
In addition, Xia Hou was still here before
When he arrived at Wancheng, Cao Ren told him that Shen Yi had sent him a letter asking for help.
At that time, because Xicheng fell too quickly, Cao Ren's army had not yet set off.
Because of this past incident, Cao Ren showed his anger in front of Xiahou Shang.
In Cao Ren's view, because of his delayed march, a good opportunity to capture Hanxing County was lost.
Now Meng Da has become Shen Yi's second, and intends to serve as an internal support for the Wei army in Hanxing County. This makes Xia Houshang more trustworthy, and at the same time, the fire in his heart becomes stronger and stronger.
If all this is true, then his chance to become famous is now!
After Xia Houshang read Meng Da's second letter, he immediately began to write a reply to Meng Da.
As Meng Da said in his letter, he is now in a state of constant worry.
Even if Xiahou Shang does not immediately send troops to cooperate with Meng Da, he should reply with a letter to Meng Da, expressing his intention to accept his surrender, so as to temporarily appease Meng Da.
Otherwise, as Meng Da said, if he showed his flaws and was discovered by Mi Yang because he saw no hope, Xiahou Shang would regret it later.
After Xiahou Shang finished writing his reply to Meng Da, he immediately asked Li Fu to take the letter back to the water village and hand it to Meng Da.
After Li Fu left, Xiahou Shang immediately summoned the generals and began to seriously discuss Mengda's surrender.
After Man Chong among the generals read Meng Da's letter, some of his original doubts were gradually relieved.
But even after reading Meng Da's letter and feeling a little shaken, he still advised Xia Houshang to investigate more carefully and not fall into Mi Yang's plan.
Man Chong has a very stable personality.
Faced with Man Chong's repeated dissuasion, Xia Houshang no longer respected Man Chong as usual.
When Cao Ren wanted to send troops to Xicheng, he was dissuaded by Man Chong.
After two consecutive attempts to dissuade him, Xiahou Shang felt that Man Chong was too conservative.
When the two armies are facing each other, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. How can we focus on stability in everything? If that is the case, should we wait for the enemy to kill himself?
As a general, you should be good at seizing the opportunity and attacking bravely, so that you can achieve unparalleled achievements.
Just like Mi Yang's battle with the police.
Now Xiahou Shang's trust in Meng Da has overcome his doubts about him.
Man Chong saw that Xiahou Shang had thoughts of attack in his words, and he knew that he could not stop him.
Therefore, he hoped that Xiahou Shang would report the matter to Cao Ren so that Cao Ren could make a decision.
Cao Ren was personally appointed by Cao Pi and was the highest officer in the three theaters.
Xiahou Shang was under the jurisdiction of Cao Ren, so if he wanted to take military action, it was necessary to report it to Cao Ren in advance.
Although Xiahou Shang was a little reluctant, he knew that even if he did not report it, according to Man Chong's character, he would report the matter to Cao Ren.
Moreover, he still has doubts in his heart now, and he has not really made up his mind.
Therefore, Xiahou Shang followed Man Chong's suggestion and ordered someone to report Meng Da's surrender to Cao Ren.
But Xiahou Shang not only submitted a letter to Cao Ren, he also sent someone to carry a secret memorandum and quickly sent it to Luoyang to report to Cao Pi.
When Li Fu returned to Meng Da with Xia Houshang's reply, Meng Da couldn't wait to open Xia Houshang's reply and read it.
In Xiahou Shang's reply, he began to reveal his concern for Meng Da. At the same time, he also revealed in his words that he wanted Meng Da to persist for a while.
From Xiahou Shang's reply, we can know that he has become more and more trusting in Meng Da's surrender.
However, most of Xiahou Shang's replies were just words of comfort and comfort, and did not start discussing "working together on major issues" with him, which shows that Xia Houshang still has doubts in his heart.
After learning about this situation, Meng Dal ordered Li Fu to go down and have a good rest.
Then he left the water village alone late at night and went to the county town to meet Mi Yang.
After learning that Meng Da asked for an audience, Mi Yang immediately received him.
In front of Mi Yang, Meng Da respectfully presented Xia Houshang's reply.
After Mi Yang read Xia Houshang's reply, he kept thinking about the next step.
At present, Xia Houshang is obviously tempted, but Cao Wei still has many talents and cannot be taken lightly.
After thinking for a while, Mi Yang whispered to Meng Da.
After Meng Da listened to Mi Yang's words, an incredible look appeared on his face.
He never expected that Mi Yang would let him do this.
But when Meng Da looked at Mi Yang's firm and expectant look, he thought that he had even sent his nephew away. At this time, he had no way out, so he could only bow to Mi Yang to express his acceptance.
Mi Yang then ordered Meng Da to go back to the water village to have a good rest and wait for his next order.
After Meng Da left, Mi Yang immediately summoned Ding Feng.
Ding Feng was the postal supervisor in Hanxing, and his main task was to patrol the counties in the county and detect women who were guilty of treachery.
However, because there were not many counties under the jurisdiction of Hanxing County, and because Mi Yang was both the prefect and the commander-in-chief of an army, Mi Yang also asked Ding Feng to assist Wang An in detecting illegal activities in the army.
The rumors about Meng Da's infidelity that had been circulating in Hanxing County were released by Ding Feng under Mi Yang's instruction.
After Ding Feng arrived, Mi Yang said to Ding Feng: "If someone is disloyal to me, what will Chongye do?"
Facing Mi Yang's inquiry, anger immediately appeared on Ding Feng's face.
He guessed that the person Mi Yang was talking about might be Meng Da.
Previously, Mi Yang asked him to spread rumors about Meng Da's infidelity, and Ding Feng felt that Mi Yang might have sensed Meng Da's disloyalty in some ways.
So he asked himself to create public opinion first so as to prepare for his capture of Meng Da next.
Mi Yang was his benefactor. To Mi Yang's question, Ding Feng answered decisively:
"I am willing to die for the general!"
After hearing what Ding Feng said, Mi Yang smiled and nodded.
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