Cui Liang, the prefect of Anding, heard in the city that the Shu army had surrounded Nan'an and trapped Xiahou Mao. He was very panicked. He counted four thousand soldiers and horses and strengthened the city defense. Suddenly, a man came from the south and claimed to have secret information. Cui Liang quickly called him to him and replied: "I am the general under the Xiahou Dudu's camp. My name is Pei Xu. Now, on the orders of the Dudu, I have come to ask for help from Tianshui and Anding counties. Nan'an is under siege and is in danger. , there will be flames on the city as a signal every day, hoping that the two counties will send reinforcements, but there has been no news, so I sent me to break out of the siege and come here specifically to report the emergency. You can raise troops overnight as assistance. If the governor sees you two counties When the soldiers and horses arrive, they will definitely open the city gate to meet them." Cui Liang was a little suspicious and asked: "Do you have the governor's document?"
So he took out the document, which was already wet with sweat. He reluctantly took it out and looked at it. Still not sure, he asked his subordinates to switch to fast horses and run towards Tianshui. Within two days, a scout came to report that it was Tianshui. The prefect has already sent troops to assist Nan'an, asking An Ding to respond quickly.
Cui Liang summoned all the officials to discuss, and they all advised together: "If we don't go to rescue, we lose Nan'an and Xiahou's consort, then our two groups will be guilty of a great crime, and we can only send troops and horses to rescue. "So Cui Liang could only gather his troops and leave, leaving only civilian officials to guard the city.
They headed towards Nan'an Road. They saw flames soaring into the sky in the distance. They urged the soldiers and horses to advance overnight. When they were still fifty miles away from Nan'an, they suddenly heard loud shouts from behind. They came to report: "Guan Xing intercepted them in front." On the way, Zhang Bao is coming to kill you from behind!"
Anding's soldiers and horses had fled in all directions. Cui Liang was very surprised, so he took hundreds of his men and fought to the death on the alley to escape. After returning to Anding, he came to the edge of the city trench. Arrows shot down from the city, and the Shu army general Wei Yan shouted: "I have taken the city, why didn't you surrender earlier?" It turned out that Wei Yan pretended to be An Ding's soldiers and horses, tricked the civil servants into opening the city gate overnight, and gained An Ding.
After Cui Liang learned about the situation, he quickly changed direction and walked towards Tianshui County. Less than half way, suddenly a group of people rushed out in front and lined up. Sitting on the four-wheeled vehicle, he saw that it was Kong Ming, the Prime Minister of Shu, who quickly turned around and prepared to escape. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao's troops arrived and shouted: "Surrender as soon as possible!"
Only then did Cui Liang realize that he was surrounded by Shu legions on all sides, so he surrendered as a last resort and returned to the camp. Kong Ming treated him like a distinguished guest and asked, "Do you have a good relationship with the governor of Nan'an?"
He replied: "This man is Yang Ling, Yang Fu's younger brother. He and I are neighboring sages and we have a good relationship."
Kong Ming said: "Then we have to go into the city and persuade Yang Ling to capture Xiahou Mao. Is that feasible?"
He replied: "If the Prime Minister sends me, he can withdraw his troops temporarily and let me go to the city to lobby."
So Kongming agreed to his suggestion and immediately sent an order for the troops and horses on all sides to retreat twenty miles to the stronghold. Cui Liang rode to the city to call the door, entered the mansion, and greeted Yang Ling.
Yang Ling said: "We have all been favored by Lord Wei. How can we betray him now? We can use his plan to his advantage." So he took Cui Liang to Xiahou Mao and explained the matter in detail.
After Xia Houmao found out, he asked, "What should we do?"
Yang Ling said: "Let me enter the city and let the Shu soldiers come in. Then we will close the city gate, ambush them in advance, and kill them!"
So Cui Liang followed this plan and went out of the city to see Kong Ming and said: "Prefect Yang Ling is ready to sacrifice the city and let the Shu army enter to capture Xiahou Mao. Yang Ling originally planned to capture Xiahou Mao himself, but he did not have enough soldiers and did not dare to do so. act rashly."
Kong Ming said: "If this is the case, now there are hundreds of surrendered soldiers under the foot. Some Shu army soldiers and horses have been sneaked inside to pretend to be Pingding's army horses. They entered the city and first went to Xiahou Mao's mansion to ambush, and then secretly made an appointment with Yang Ling. Wait until midnight, open the city gate, and let us cooperate inside and outside."
After Cui Liang heard this, he thought to himself: "If you don't take the generals of the Shu army, because you are afraid that Kong Ming will have doubts, then take them with you. When they enter the city, I will kill them. I will raise fire as a signal to let Kong Ming enter, and then I can kill them." Yes." So he agreed.
Kong Ming ordered: "I will send my confidants Guan Xing and Zhang Bao to follow you, pretending that they are rescue troops and rush into the city. This can appease Xia Houmao's mood. If you can raise a fire as a signal, I will go to the city to capture him myself." "
It was dusk at that time. Guan Xing and Zhang Bao also listened to Kong Ming's plan. They mounted their horses and held weapons. They were mixed with An Ding's troops and horses. They followed Cui Liang and entered Nan'an City. Yang Ling was propped up in the air above the city. Ban, leaning against the heart-protecting railing, asked: "Where did the soldiers and horses come from?"
He replied: "We are stable rescue troops." After saying that, with a move of his right hand, a soldier shot an arrow up to the city wall. There was a letter on the pruning branch. The content was: Now Zhuge Liang first sent two of his henchmen. When the love general comes, we must cooperate inside and outside, and we must not be alarmed, for fear that the plan will be revealed. We will wait until we enter the house to plot.
Yang Ling reported the letter to Xia Houmao and analyzed: "Since Zhuge Liang has fallen into the trap, we can have hundreds of swordsmen and axemen ambush in the mansion. If the two of them follow Cui Liang and come to the mansion, we will close the mansion." Gate, kill him, then set fire on the city wall to trick Zhuge Liang into entering the city, ambush him and capture Zhuge Liang."
After making simple arrangements, Yang Ling returned to the city and said, "Since we are stable soldiers and horses, let's come in."
Guan Xing followed Cui Liang first, followed by Zhang Bao. Yang Ling came down from the city wall and greeted him at the door. Guan Xing raised his sword and killed Yang Ling under his horse. Cui Liang was very surprised. Knowing that the matter was exposed, he quickly turned his horse around. Heading back to the suspension bridge, Zhang Bao shouted: "Where are the thieves? How can you deceive the prime minister with your tricks!" After saying that, he shot Cui Liang to death under the horse. Guan Xing came to the city. Raising fire as a signal, Shu troops from all sides came one after another and entered the city.
Xia Houmao was caught off guard. He opened the south gate and prepared to fight out. He was stopped by a group of men. The leader was Wang Ping. The two men exchanged horses for only one round and captured him alive. The others dispersed.
Kongming entered Nan'an to recruit soldiers and civilians, but Qiu was not violated. Everyone came to offer their services, and Kongming locked Xia Houmao in a prison car. Deng Zhi felt strange and asked, "How did the Prime Minister know that Cui Liang was deceitful?"
Kong Ming smiled and said: "I have judged that this man has no intention of surrender, so I sent him into the city deliberately. He will definitely report the situation to Xia Houmao truthfully, so I used the trick. Later, when I saw him coming, I knew there must be a scam, so I Let Guan Xing and Zhang Bao go together to stabilize his mood. If this person sincerely surrenders and knows that I have sent my trusted generals, he will definitely stop me. The Shu general I sent first deceived him into the city, and it was not too late to assassinate him. He also told us to go in with confidence. So when we got here, everything was obvious, so I asked Zhang Bao and Guan Xing to kill him at the gate of the city. In this way, the city must have had no time to prepare, and our army arrived shortly afterwards, taking it by surprise."
