A gentleman can be deceived, but a villain cannot understand. Chen Sangliang asked Sun Fuga to write a letter for him to Wang Shichong, congratulating his father-in-law for defeating Li Mi as his son-in-law, and hoping to maintain a friendly relationship with his father-in-law Wang Shichong. The purpose was just to go through the motions of polite exchanges, and to appease the prickly head. Father-in-law, in order to avoid big surprises on the eastern front when the main force of our own army moves north, other than that, I have no other intention. However, what Chen Sangliang probably never imagined was that his formal letter would lead to some unbelievable consequences. "There is an order of elders and younger ones, and there is a distinction between the superior and the inferior. My son-in-law only wishes that he could not serve his father-in-law at his knees and fulfill his filial piety? He only wishes that he was burdened by the late emperor and could not respect his father-in-law as the master, but he is also willing to share his share with his father-in-law. Land, how about a permanent alliance? "The main thing that caused Wang Shichong to misunderstand was these two polite words. Although Wang Shichong was used to these sweet words this morning, where was Chen Sangliang's current status after all? Seeing the words of his son-in-law in the letter With these words, Wang Shichong, who was already very proud after his victory over Li Mi, could not help but feel even more proud. He immediately handed Chen Sangliang's letter to a group of his close associates and ordered them to read it, so that all the accomplices and lackeys would know that his son-in-law was treating him. How much respect. Needless to say, after reading this almost flattering letter, everyone in the Wang family who had already despised Chen Sangliang was naturally even more elated. They all believed that this was a sign that Chen Sangliang wanted to break away from the old Wang family. Dai Zhou, Li Shiying and other officials with foreign surnames saw at a glance that this was not Chen Sangliang's politeness, so they all admonished Wang Shichong: "Mr. Zheng, Chen Yingliang has always been known for his treachery and humble words in letters, but it is only because of his main force The soldiers are on the northern front, and the eastern front is relatively empty. The reason for being so low-key is to ensure the safety of the eastern front. His intentions may not be good. I hope Zheng Gong will investigate clearly and must not take it lightly, giving Chen Yingliang an opportunity to take advantage of. " " What kind of person is Xiang's son-in-law? How could he take him lightly?" Wang Shichong was indeed quite wary of his unscrupulous son-in-law. He nodded and acknowledged that Dai Zhou and Li Shiying were right to remind him, and then said with a smile: "It's okay. , this is also an opportunity. Since it turns out that the unfilial son-in-law intends to divide the territory and form an alliance forever, then you might as well send someone to talk to him about this matter. It would be best if we can divide the territory and permanently stop fighting. Even if we can't, we We can also temporarily stabilize him and free up our hands to recapture Hulao Pass, completely eradicate the traitor Li Mi, and eliminate Yu Wenhua and the traitors in the north. " "What Zheng Gong said is that priority should be given to eradicating Li Mi and Yu Wenhua. and these two traitors, and then we can be free to deal with other changes." Dai Zhou agreed with Wang Shichong's correct decision, and then suggested: "Mr. Zheng, strike while the iron is hot. Don't dare to take advantage of the fact that Chen Yingliang's main force is currently on the northern line. If there is an opportunity to fall out with our army, we should send people north to contact and negotiate with Chen Yingliang as soon as possible, and sign a non-aggression peace treaty using the existing territory as the boundary. Chen Yingliang is quite trustworthy. With the peace treaty in hand, our western front will be easy to do immediately. "A lot." Before Wang Shichong could consider Dai Zhou's proposal, Wang Shiyun and Wang Renze and his son had already shouted, "No! Can Xin'an and Yiyang be robbed by Chen's army? Xin'an is less than 70 miles away from Luoyang, and there is no danger to defend between the two places. Didn't we suffer a big loss by dividing the territory like this? Xin'an, Yiyang and Mianchi were all returned to us!" Dai Zhou rolled his eyes. He almost doubted whether Wang Shichong and Wang Shiyun were brothers. Why was one so cunning and the other stupider than a pig? He actually wanted Chen Sangliang to spit out the fat in his mouth. Isn't this a daydream? However, Dai Zhou soon discovered that Wang Shichong and Wang Shiyun were indeed brothers from the same mother. After listening to the whimsical proposal of Wang Shiyun and his son, Wang Shichong not only did not scold him, but actually nodded and said: "Xin'an and Yiyang guards the main road of Xiaohandao and the small road of Xiong'er Mountain respectively. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It poses a huge threat to Luoyang, the eastern capital. If these two cities are not taken back, I won't even dare to sleep a wink. I have to take advantage of this. We will try to get these two important cities back if we have the opportunity." After saying that, Wang Shichong thought for a moment and said, "Let's do this. Send Sun Anshi to go north to Taiyuan on my behalf, and take the opportunity to negotiate with Chen Yingliang on the pretext of thanking you. He returned the three counties of Xin'an, Yiyang and Mianchi. Of course it would be best to get Mianchi back. It doesn't matter if it doesn't come back, but Xin'an and Yiyang counties must be taken back. With only these two cities in hand, our army can't. Only then can we sit back and relax." Dai Zhou smiled bitterly. He knew that the objection was useless and did not insist. He let Wang Shichong dream in broad daylight. Wang Shiyun and his son were still very dissatisfied. They still felt that Wang Shichong's concession was too big. Fortunately, Wang Shichong ignored them and persisted. Act like this. However, after being sensible enough to stop Wang Shiyun and his son from further talking nonsense, Wang Shichong suddenly smiled and said:"My lords, when it comes to my unfilial son-in-law, I am really not convinced. I have helped the imperial court support the country and swept away the bandits. I am still just a little duke. However, my son-in-law has already been punished at a young age. Being granted a title of king, the title is still higher than the original status, isn't this? "Although Wang Shichong didn't finish his words completely, he had already said such explicit words, how could a group of jackals, tigers and leopards under Wang Shichong still be able to do it? Don't understand his true intentions? At that moment, Wei Jie, Yang Xu and other sycophants did not even blink an eyelid, and immediately saluted and said: "What Mr. Zheng said is absolutely true. Mr. Zheng is more meritorious than Yao and Shun, and his virtue is spread all over the world. He deserves to be granted the title of king and the prime minister." Wang Shichong was pretending to be modest. , but Li Shiying, who was relatively upright under him, immediately objected: "No! Although Duke Zheng has made great contributions to the court, at present, Li Mi has not been destroyed, Yu Wenhua has not been destroyed, and the land in Henan is still shared by three families. At this time, Duke Zheng Not only is it too early to claim the throne, it will also alienate the soldiers and make them laughable all over the world. " Wang Shichong looked at Li Shiying with dissatisfaction and said coldly: "I just complained about being under the juniors, why should Zuo Lang do this. Nervous? Besides, His Majesty has the final say as to whether I am qualified to be crowned a king. How can anyone else do this? " Li Shiying had no choice but to shut up, but the flatterers like Wei Jie and Yang Xu understood it. The result had just arrived. In the afternoon of the same day, under the direct instruction of Wang Shichong, more than ten civil and military officials headed by Duan Da went to the palace to pay homage to Yang Tong. In the name of Wang Shichong's outstanding achievements, they asked Yang Tong to canonize Wang Shichong as King Zheng and Prime Minister of the country, which was even better than that of Chen Sang. Liang went even further and asked Yang Tong to grant Wang Shichong Jiuxi. Yang Tong, who had a strong personality, flatly refused. However, what Yang Tong said now was no different from Wang Shichong. So on the next day, an edict that even Yang Tong himself had never seen was announced to the court, canonizing Wang Shichong as King Zheng, Xiangguo, plus Jiuxi, sealed the land of Henan as the land of Zhengguo, and Zhengguo established a prime minister and hundreds of civil and military officials. Before the matter was over, Wang Shichong, who had fulfilled his wish and proclaimed himself queen like his son-in-law, was still unwilling to be satisfied. He immediately set his sights on Yang Tong's throne of emperor, which was already in name only, and hinted to his subordinates to persuade Yang Tong to give up the throne to him. However, this time, even Duan Da, who had betrayed Yuan Wendu and others, couldn't stand it any longer. He urged Wang Shichong to wait and at least take back Hulao Pass to regain control of the battlefield in Dongdu. At the same time, he also first After settling the peace treaty with Chen Sangliang and then thinking about this matter, Wang Shichong could barely listen to what Duan Da said. He tried hard to suppress his desire, and while preparing to counterattack Hulao Pass, he waited for his unscrupulous son-in-law. news, and at the same time, he couldn't wait to arrange various auspicious signs to pave the way for usurping the throne. Wang Shichong was still able to use people and seize the opportunity, and sent his eldest grandson Anshi north to negotiate a peace treaty with Chen Sangliang. There were two reasons. First, the main force of the Sui army was currently on the northern battlefield. If he was unable to go east, he would have to tolerate Wang Shichong. Second, Wang Shichong had to tolerate Wang Shichong. He is the eldest grandson Anshi, who is the direct cousin of Chen Sangliang's eldest grandson Xiaoluoli. He has a close relationship with Chen Sangliang, so it is easier to talk to him. But what Wang Shichong never expected was that when his envoy eldest grandson Anshi arrived in Taiyuan, Chen Sangliang had already accepted Li Jiancheng's surrender and captured the east and west cities of Taiyuan. He had completely freed up his hands and was already making preparations. Leading the main force back to Guanzhong. For the sake of his eldest grandson Xiaoluoli, Chen Sangliang received his eldest grandson Anshi very politely and gave him a banquet. After drinking for three rounds, the eldest grandson Anshi, who was shouldering the heavy responsibility, carefully made Wang Shichong's request. As a result, Chen Sangliang was stunned as soon as he heard it. He smiled and said with a smile: "My father-in-law is really imaginative. These three places, Xin'an, Yiyang and Mianchi, were recaptured from Li Mi's traitor with blood and sweat by my soldiers. So what? Why should I hand it over to others for no reason? Also, Yiyang is where my ancestral home is, and my ancestors¡¯ tombs are all in Yiyang. How can I hand over the tombs of my ancestors to others?¡± ¡°What Your Highness said is extremely serious. Yes, but after all, Your Highness, you are the son-in-law of our King Zheng" Changsun Anshi still wanted to try to persuade, but he was interrupted by Chen Sangliang, who waved his hand and said: "No, It is true that Wang Shichong is my father-in-law, but the land of the Sui Dynasty is owned by the imperial court, and not a single inch can be ceded to others. Go back and tell my father-in-law that you can negotiate a peace treaty, but it must be based on the existing control area! We can also take Yiyang, let¡¯s see if he can take it by force! Let¡¯s see if he can take Xin¡¯an Yiyang or I can take his eastern capital Luoyang!¡± Changsun An Shi was stunned, never expecting Chen. Sang Liang would speak so eloquently and directly say that he was ready to start a war. Chen Sang Liang's new favorite minister Feng Deyi who was accompanying him was also speechless. He also did not expect that Chen Sang Liang would directly threaten with force. So after Chen Sangliang sent his eldest grandson Anshi away, Feng Deyi immediately asked Chen Sangliang in surprise: "Your Highness, although Wang Shichong's request for land in three counties is excessive, we can temporarily stabilize him by pretending to bargain. Why did Your Highness refuse so firmly and even attack Luoyang?Did you say everything? Not long after the main force of our army captured Taiyuan, our troops and horses were exhausted and military supplies were huge. It was only appropriate to save supplies. How could we immediately conquer the Eastern Capital? " "Our soldiers and horses are very tired, and the military expenditure is very huge. "Chen Sangliang replied with a smile: "But Wang Shichong's situation is a hundred times more serious than ours. His troops and horses are more exhausted, and the military supplies are even more consumed. To turn against him and start a war at this time will do more good than harm to us, but not to Wang Shichong. It does more harm than good. " Feng Deyi is a smart man after all. After hearing Chen Sangliang's answer, he carefully considered it. He quickly came to his senses and asked hurriedly: "Your Highness, are you deliberately trying to lure Wang Shichong to send troops to attack our army on the Eastern Front? Our army on the eastern front has been recuperating for a long time. Even if it is not strong enough to attack the eastern capital, it can still protect itself. Wang Shichong sent troops to storm our eastern front. The main force of our army stayed still to recuperate and allowed the eastern front to face the enemy alone. When Wang Shichong's traitor army was exhausted, it could no longer be strengthened. , the strength is exhausted until there is nothing left, and if the main force of our army suddenly sends troops to march eastward, we can break through the Eastern Capital in one fell swoop and wipe out Wang Shichong's bandit army. " "Feng Neishi is really a smart man, he can tell the truth at a glance. Chen Sangliang praised Feng Deyi with a smile, and said with a smile: "Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi and regained Luokou Cang. He has no worries about food and grass. He also annexed a large number of Li Mi's troops and his strength was greatly increased. If he is given too much time to integrate If the results of the battle are digested internally, it will become a serious problem for our army over time. The only solution now is to immediately drag him into the quagmire of a war of attrition, and let him continue to fight one after another, keep fighting everywhere, and have no time to integrate internally and recuperate. After the main force of our army has calmed down, If you want to break him again, it will be easy! " After suddenly realizing it, Feng Deyi quickly flattered Chen Sangliang, and then asked cautiously: "Your Highness, what if Wang Shichong is not fooled? With all due respect, Your Majesty, your father-in-law is a cunning old fox and cannot fail to see such a danger. " "He has no choice but to be fooled. "Chen Sangliang waved his hand, raised two fingers and said with a smile: "There are two reasons. First, the strategic location of Xin'an and Yiyang is important. If he cannot take it back in one day, Wang Shichong will not sleep well in one day. If he wants to protect himself, At the very least, we have to take back Xin'an so that we won't be left without any danger when the main force of our army leaves the border. " "Second. "Speaking of this, Chen Sangliang smiled extremely ferociously and evilly, and said with a sinister smile: "Since it is beneficial to our army to go to war with Wang Shichong at this time, then it is up to us to decide whether to go to war - Old General Yun Dingxing Yun, in this regard, But he's very good at it. " Feng Deyi laughed and hurriedly volunteered to write a letter to Yun Dingxing on behalf of Chen Sangliang, asking our old general Yun to try to provoke a war between the two armies and lure Wang Shichong to take the initiative to send troops to attack Xin'an Yiyang. But Sun Fujia next to him laughed. Then he told Feng Deyi and said: "Feng Neishi, there is no need to trouble you to write. On the third day after our army captured Taiyuan, after the situation became slightly stable, His Highness had secretly ordered General Yun to try to provoke a war and lure Wang Shichong to send troops to Xin'an. And Yiyang. If everything goes well, General Yun might be able to form a deep hatred with Wang Shichong within a day or two. " Feng Deyi was speechless. He bowed to Chen Sangliang for a long time and praised Chen Sangliang for being prepared and foresighted. After flattering him, Feng Deyi added in his heart, "Wang Shichong, you found such a person. Son-in-law, it¡¯s really your mother¡¯s eighteenth lifetime of bad luck! ¡± Our General Yun really reassured Chen Sangliang in this regard. On the same day that Chen Sangliang directly threatened his father-in-law¡¯s envoy eldest son Anshi with force, a major event happened in our defense zone of General Yun¡ª¡ª I didn¡¯t know that those damned army soldiers disguised themselves as bandits and robbed a caravan that set out from Luoyang, the eastern capital, to sell salt in Hedong. Not only did they steal all the cloth and silk that the Dongdu caravan used to exchange for salt. , and also killed many caravan guys! At the same time, unfortunately, several caravan guys who had a chance to escape saw with their own eyes that after the robbers succeeded, they changed into Sui army uniforms and transported the stolen goods into Xin'an City! What¡¯s even more unfortunate is that although this Dongdu caravan appears to be a caravan belonging to the Luoyang Zhiji Company, in fact the real bosses of the Zhiji Company are Wang Shiyun and Wang Renze, father and son! ¡ª¡ªBefore Wang Shichong¡¯s wife remarried, The whole family was named Zhi. As a result, it was like poking a hornet's nest. The furious Wang Shiyun and his son did not even ask Wang Shichong for instructions. They immediately brought a team of cavalry to Xin'an Xingshi to interrogate the crime and demanded that General Yun hand over the perpetrators and return them. Stolen goods! Our old general Yun insisted that he was strict in running the army and that such a thing would never happen to his subordinates. Not only did he refuse to hand over the person, but he also revealed that Wang Shicheng sent someone to pretend to be a Xiaoguo army to assassinate his precious nephew Yun Fu. Then he said that it was Sergeant Wang Shichong who did it himself. Then, Wang Renze, whose brain was squeezed by his muscles and had little space, got angry and pointed his horse at General Yun, yelling and threatening him. The general also took the opportunity to fire the first shot. With an order, arrows were fired from the city, and Wang Shiyun and his son were almost killed by random arrows.After the father and son fled, Xian Yuzhi led his army to pursue them without hesitation, killing and injuring many Wang Shichong's cavalrymen. The cavalry pursued them all the way to Cijian, until they saw a large group of Wang Shichong's troops coming to meet them. The Sui army The cavalry then fled back to Xin'an. Things got so big that Wang Shichong was relatively patient at first. While scolding Wang Shiyun and his son who led his troops to cross the border privately, he sent an envoy to contact Old General Yun and asked General Yun to explain the matter - even if you, Old Man Yun, If you have some sense, you don't need to be so heavy-handed, right? As a result, our old general Yun rolled his eyes upwards and replied: "No explanation! Wang Shiyun and Wang Renze slandered our soldiers who pretended to be thieves and committed robberies before leading their troops across the border. At the end, they insulted and threatened me. This matter I want him to give an explanation to Wang Shichong!¡± The envoy brought General Yun back to Luoyang. Wang Shichong was furious and almost wanted to send troops to attack Xin¡¯an. After being held back by Duan Da, Dai Zhou and others, Wang Shichong reluctantly suppressed him. Holding back his anger, he once again sent people north to contact his son-in-law, asking him to come forward to deal with the shameless General Yun, and was ready to wait for his son-in-law's reaction - of course, if Wang Shichong could know that this matter was completely instructed by his precious son-in-law, he would definitely not Wouldn't have any hope anymore. Before Chen Sangliang reacted, and before Changsun Anshi gave a heartless reply, there was another shady agent who added fuel to the fire - Li Mijun's craftsman reported the news of the conflict between Chen and Wang to Li Mi, who was recovering from his injuries in Baima Li Mi only thought about it for less than five minutes and immediately gave the order: "Send someone to give Yang Jishan an order to abandon Hulao Pass and evacuate to the east, and withdraw to Guancheng to get food." "Teacher, did you hear me right, student? You want to Abandon Hulao Pass?" Wang Bodang next to him exclaimed, "Why give up Hulao Pass? Is that our last hope to counterattack Luokou Cang?" "Do we still have the strength to counterattack Luokou Cang?" Weakly said: "Including the Hulao Pass garrison, our army has only more than 20,000 troops left. Moreover, it lacks food, grass and weapons, the soldiers are weak from injuries and illnesses, and there are few elites. How can there be Wang Shichong's opponent? Unless a miracle occurs. , otherwise we will never get back Luokou warehouse." "But we don't have to rush to give up Hulao Pass?" Wang Bodang insisted: "As long as Hulao Pass is in our hands, we will still have a chance. The hope of retaking Luokou Cang, Hulao Pass is high and deep, and we can hold on to it for a long time. There is no need to give up in vain?" "Don't you understand?" Li Mi smiled and said lightly: "Actually, we were the only ones who gave up on Hulao. The hope of recapturing Luokou Cang is greater, because after we hand over Hulao to Wang Shichong, Wang Shichong no longer has to worry about his lifeblood, Luokou Cang, being attacked by us, and can rest assured to concentrate his main force on the eastern front. To seize Xin'an and Yiyang, two strategically important places. In order to facilitate the invasion of the Central Plains, the traitor Chen Yingliang will definitely not give up Xin'an and Yiyang, the two bridgeheads for the Central Plains. If they fight together, won't our chances be greater? "Really?" Wang Bodang suddenly realized that he no longer opposed Li Mi's decision to abandon the border. Li Mi, whose injury has not yet healed, sighed softly, looked at the beams on the roof and murmured: "Chen Thief, don't be too complacent. Don't think that I can no longer threaten you. It won't be long." I will definitely appear in front of you again and fight to the death!"