After Fei Yi returned, he reported the situation. Yu Yi felt a little more at peace and prepared to convene everyone to discuss whether to raise troops from Jingzhou to coordinate with the Northern Expedition, attack the Central Plains together, and work together for a great cause! After Fei Yi left, Kong Ming wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sighed: "Now the first battle is unfavorable. We have lost tens of thousands of troops. We cannot tell your majesty this news, otherwise he will definitely worry about me and cancel the Northern Expedition."
A close confidant said: "Now that we have left Qishan six times, we are still struggling to gain an inch of land. What should we do next?"
He replied: "I have a letter here. You just need to make a trip for me and deliver the letter to Soochow."
The confidant bowed and said: "How can I refuse the Prime Minister's order? Don't worry, this matter is left to me!"
So Kong Ming gave the letter to his cronies, who came to Jianye with the letter, met with Sun Quan, the Emperor of Wu, and presented Kong Ming's letter to Sun Quan. Sun Quan opened it and read it. The content was: The Han Dynasty was unlucky, Wang Gang was abnormal, Cao Cao The traitorous usurpation has continued to this day. I have been entrusted by Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty and have not slackened off. Now I have left Qishan and stationed the Shu army there. The traitor will die in the Wei River. I hope that your majesty will take care of the loyalty of our alliance. , jointly conquer the Central Plains, and divide the world equally. There is no way to express more meaning in the content of the letter. I hope your Majesty can adopt it.
So Sun Quan summoned Lu Xun and asked, "What does it mean that the Prime Minister of Shu wrote directly to me?"
It happened that Lu Xun's soldiers and horses had been practicing for a long time and wanted to conquer, so he said to Sun Quan: "I watched the sky at night and found that the way of heaven was not conducive to Western Shu. Prime Minister Kong Ming may be afraid that the new emperor of Western Shu would be worried, so he wrote directly to Soochow to send troops. .”
Sun Quan said: "Actually, I have wanted to conquer the Central Plains for a long time, but I just haven't had a chance. Now the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty has written to me, and the Emperor of the Han Dynasty has come to attend the appointment in person, showing his sincerity. I have no reason to refuse anymore."
On the second day, he summoned Kong Ming's cronies and expressed his willingness to send troops. At the same time, he personally marched into Juchaomen and attacked Wei's new city. He then sent Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin to station troops in Jiangxia and Miokou to cooperate with Jingzhou to attack Xinye. Sun Shao, Zhang Cheng and others sent troops to Guangling and captured Huaiyang and other places. Three groups of troops, totaling 300,000, chose a good date to go out.
When the confidants heard Sun Quan's order, they thanked him and said, "If this is the case, then the Central Plains will be conquered soon!"
Sun Quan set up a banquet to entertain his cronies. While drinking, Sun Quan asked, "When the prime minister is in front of the army, who should he use to attack the enemy?"
He replied: "Wei Yan is the vanguard."
After hearing this, Sun Quan laughed and said: "This man is somewhat brave, but his mind is not right. If one day there is no Kong Ming in Xishu, he will definitely become a disaster. Doesn't Kong Ming know?"
He replied: "Your Majesty is right. When I go back now, I will definitely convey your Majesty's words to the Prime Minister." After saying goodbye, he said goodbye to Sun Quan and returned to Qishan. He met Kong Ming and said that Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, was willing to raise an army of 300,000 men. , attack in three directions, and he will also lead the expedition himself.
Kong Ming asked: "Did he say anything else?"
The confidant told Sun Quan's evaluation of Wei Yan, and Kong Ming sighed: "Sun Quan is really a smart man. It's not that I don't understand Wei Yan, I just think he is very brave and has some uses!"
The confidant bowed and said: "The Prime Minister should deal with it in advance."
Kong Ming nodded and said: "Of course I will find a way."
At this time, Yu Yi was convening everyone for discussion. Suddenly, soldiers came to report that Soochow was preparing to raise a three-pronged army, totaling 300,000, to attack the Central Plains.
Yu Yi felt strange. When he was confused, a soldier suddenly came to report that an envoy from Soochow had arrived. Yu Yi quickly called in and asked why. The envoy told the story about Kong Ming's cronies going to Soochow as an envoy. Yu Yi nodded. Head, let the Soochow envoy retreat first, and prepare to send a video to Kong Ming to inquire about the situation. Suddenly the soldiers came to report again, saying that there was military information on the Qishan front line. Yu Yi took it apart and took a look, and then he realized that the first battle between Kong Ming and Sima Yi was successful. He was very depressed and lost his troops. Because he was afraid that Yu Yi would be worried, he kept it secret and wrote directly to Sun Quan of Soochow.
Yu Yi sighed and said, "Kong Ming is like this. He always likes to carry everything. Sooner or later there will be problems." After that, he ordered everyone in Jingzhou to join Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin and send 100,000 troops to prepare to set off from Xiangyang City. , crossed the Xiangjiang River, and directly attacked Fancheng. At the same time, Tan Bowen and Xu Da were sent to stay in Nanjun, Jingzhou.
Kong Ming began to discuss with the generals the plan for the Northern Expedition. Suddenly, a Wei general came to surrender. Kong Ming called him in for questioning and replied: "He is Zheng Wen, the partial general of the Wei State. He was recently with Qin Lang and his troops. After hearing Sima Yi's call, he Unexpectedly, Sima Yi showed favoritism and appointed Qin Lang as the general, and treated him like a fool. Therefore, he felt unbalanced, so he came to Xishu, hoping that the prime minister could take him in." At this time, someone reported that Qin Lang was at the camp with his troops. He challenged Zheng Wen by name and asked him to come out.
After hearing this, Kong Ming smiled and said: "So how does your martial arts compare with Qin Lang?"
He replied: "I can kill it!"
Kong Ming stood up and said: "Okay, if you can kill Qin Lang, then I will accept your surrender and I will not be confused."
So Zheng Wen happily mounted his horse and left the camp to fight with Qin Lang. Kong Ming came out to watch in person, only to see Qin Lang holding a gun and riding a horse, and cursed: "The rebels stole my horse and came here, you can return it to me quickly!" After speaking, go straight to Zheng Wen.
Zheng Wen swung his sword forward and the two horses clashed. Zheng Wen killed him in just one turn. The Wei army was scattered. Zheng Wen took the head into the camp. Kong Ming had already returned to the Chinese army camp and sat down. When Zheng Wen arrived, he became furious and scolded the people around him, saying: "Push him out and behead him!"
After hearing this, Zheng Wen panicked and shouted loudly, "The young general has no crime!"
Kong Ming laughed and said: "I have met Qin Lang before. The person you are killing now is not Qin Lang at all. Why did you deceive me!"
Zheng Wen bowed and said: "Actually, this person is not Qin Lang, but his younger brother Qin Ming."
Kong Ming said: "Sima Yi sent you to pretend to surrender to Xi Shu, and then secretly dealt with it, but how could you hide it from me? If you don't tell the truth, I will definitely kill you!"
Zheng Wen could only tell the truth, admitting that it was a fake surrender, and crying to be spared from death. Kong Ming said: "I can give you a way to survive. You have to write a letter and ask Sima Yi to come and rob the camp, and I will spare your life. If Sima Yi is captured, you will be the first to succeed, and I will report it to the new emperor Yu Yi and put you to good use!"
Zheng Wen had no choice but to write a letter as required and handed it to Kong Ming. Kong Ming asked the soldiers to lock Zheng Wen up first. Fan Jian asked: "How did the prime minister know that he was pretending to surrender?"
Replied: "As far as I know, Sima Yi will not use people lightly. If Qin Lang is appointed as a former general, his martial arts must be great. Now he is fighting against Zheng Wen and he was killed in one round. I guess he is not Zheng Wen, not to mention Zheng Wen's My martial arts skills are poor, so I knew he was pretending to surrender." After hearing this, everyone was convinced.
