Time was running out, and Chen Sangliang had already prepared for the worst. As soon as he retreated to Li, he asked the army to set up camp and immediately prepare siege weapons, giving priority to the construction of two necessary weapons: trench bridge vehicles and flying ladders. Supplemented by a small amount of pointed wooden donkeys and gunpowder to blast open the city gate, this tactic became a helpless choice for Chen Sangliang - this tactic was not very reliable. Chen Sangliang had previously ordered Yuan Tiangang and Cui Hongdan A secret experiment was carried out, but because the power of the explosion was too widespread, only one of the three attempts barely succeeded, barely breaking half of the city gate. While preparing for the worst, Chen Sangliang did not give up using his expertise in deception and abduction to steal Hulao Pass. Dai Zhou, an important minister of the Zheng Army who was sent to Hulao Pass by Wang Shichong, was a good target - he once served for Wang Shichong had made great achievements in defeating Li Mi, and he was reprimanded and banished because he opposed Wang Shichong's proclaimed emperor. Isn't this the best material to cause discord? They can use any stratagem to make Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben suspicious of Dai Zhou. It would be best to force the aggrieved Dai Zhou to rebel. If not, Dai Zhou can also use the hands of Yang and Wang to get rid of this danger. Elements, causing chaos within the Hulao Pass garrison, can also create opportunities and reduce resistance for the Sui army to break through the city. The target has been found, but how to do it has become a big problem, especially now that Chen Sangliang's reputation in this area is already extremely bad. If he wants to frame Dai Zhou with some forged documents and letters, I am afraid that even a battlefield like Wang Xingben's Brother Chu would not be fooled easily, so after returning to the camp, he kept plotting until dark. Chen Sangliang did not come up with any new tricks to trap Dai Zhou. After racking his brains and still finding nothing, Chen Sangliang had no choice but to put this matter aside for the time being and make up his mind to inspect the camp and the army situation first. The new camp that was hastily built today is very simple in terms of fortifications. It just cut down trees to set up a stronghold, and built a few sentry towers to get out of the base. There was no time to dig trenches. And because it was only five miles away from Hulao Pass, after a round of inspection, it was found that it was too dangerous. When the army was quite exhausted, Chen Sangliang had to arrange for an army to be on guard for the night. Fortunately, the bird thief cousin Li Keshi was also very considerate of his nephew and volunteered to lead his relatively strong men to take on the hard night duty. Chen Sangliang accepted his cousin's kindness and at the same time ordered Cui Hongdan to build trench bridge cars and flying ladders overnight. Always available. After patrolling the camp and returning to the Chinese army's tent, Chen Sangliang, who was still thinking of a way to break the city, was worried. Hao Xiaode, who was newly named Pingyuan County Duke, took the initiative to come to the door and said to Chen Sangliang: " Your Highness, I heard that Zhang Sheng, who surrendered to Wang Shichong after Li Mi's defeat, is also in Hulao Pass. When I was under Li Mi's tent, I had some friendship with Zhang Sheng. If Your Highness does not give up, I am willing to step in and replace him. His Highness persuaded Zhang Sheng to come and surrender. If he succeeds, Zhang Sheng can lead his troops to suddenly open the city gate, and then our army will take advantage of the momentum to enter the city, and our army will be able to successfully enter the Hulao Pass. " Even if you do this. Still not too sure, but having hope is better than having no hope. Overjoyed, Chen Sangliang hurriedly asked Hao Xiaode about Zhang Sheng, only to learn that Zhang Sheng was a bandit leader in Huanshui County. After dinner, the subordinates took the initiative to lead their troops to submit to Li Mi, who was occupying Luokou warehouse at that time, and met Hao Xiaode under Li Mi's tent. The relationship was relatively close and they were barely friends. There was indeed hope of encouraging him to open the city gate to welcome the Sui army into the city. Chen Sangliang was even more overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly asked Hao Xiaode to write a letter on the spot to persuade Zhang Sheng to surrender. He also asked Sun Fuga to draft a letter for him, promising to win over Zhang Sheng with many rewards. Even Chen Sangliang didn't expect such a coincidence in the world. At this moment, a guard suddenly came to report outside the tent, saying that a man claimed to be a confidant of Zhang Sheng, the general under Wang Shichong, and came to see Chen on Zhang Sheng's order. Sang Liang has a confidential report to report and asks Chen Sang Liang to meet him in person. Chen Sangliang, who was discussing how to recruit the little bandit surnamed Zhang, was overjoyed when he heard this and subconsciously agreed to meet him. However, just as the guard turned around, Chen Sangliang came to his senses and shouted quickly: "Wait a minute! Wait a minute. !¡± The guard turned around in surprise, and Feng Deyi next to him also asked in confusion: ¡°Your Highness, what happened?¡± ¡°This is too coincidental,¡± Chen Sangliang said with a sneer, ¡°I and General Hao were just here. We were discussing how to recruit Zhang Sheng, and Zhang Sheng's envoy came to the door on his own. How could such a coincidence happen in the world? This envoy was probably sent by the Hulao Pass bandit army to find out whether the king personally led his troops here. That's right." After finishing his sneer, Chen Sangliang thought for a moment and then told Feng Deyi: "Feng Neishi, please go and see the envoy on behalf of me to see what's going on with him. , You might as well deliberately reveal some flaws in your words to let the messenger know that I am not here, and then don't send him away in a hurry, let him wait for my news in the guest tent. " Feng Deyi agreed and hurried to represent Chen Sang. Liang received the envoy, and then Chen Sangliang asked Hao Xiaode to follow him outside the guest room to peek and eavesdrop on the negotiation between Feng Deyi and the envoy, and take the opportunity to screen the envoy to see if he was a subordinate of Zhang Sheng. Hao XiaodeYe De agreed and hurriedly went out of the tent with Chen Sangliang to inquire about the situation. Mulan followed Chen Sangliang without hesitation. When Feng Deyi arrived at the guest tent, the so-called envoy Zhang Sheng had been invited to wait in the tent. After meeting, Feng Deyi first introduced himself, and then took a closer look at the envoy's appearance by the light. Feng Deyi immediately Seeing that he looked familiar, he couldn't help but asked the envoy doubtfully: "Have we met before? Why do I seem to have seen you somewhere?" "Master Neishi has a good memory, and the villain Shen Jian has indeed met you by chance. Sir, how many times?" The envoy respectfully replied: "But the villain was just a small follower at the time, and the sir would not remember the villain's identity." "Shen Jian?" The envoy obviously underestimated the fact that he was forced to eat by Mr. Fan. Feng Deyi, who had bought more than ten kilograms of stones, had just heard the messenger tell him his surname. Feng Deyi, who was extremely smart, recalled it carefully and immediately asked: "Who are you, Marquis Shenyue of Cai County? Are you the head of your family?" I remember that you appeared next to Marquis Shen in the Eastern Capital." Shen Jian opened his mouth and said in surprise: "Master Neishi, what kind of memory do you have, you are just outside the imperial city gate? I have seen you once or twice, but you can still remember that the villain is with the master?" "I can recite it word for word even after reading it once, let alone a person?" Feng Deyi said very proudly, Then Feng Deyi was stunned again and asked hurriedly: "You are a family member of Shen County Marquis, how could you become the confidant of the thief general Zhang Sheng?" Shen Jian smiled and replied: "I don't dare to deceive Feng Nei. Shi, the villain was recommended by the head of the family, Shen County Marquis, and was instructed by the two thieves Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben. He pretended to be the envoy of the traitor general Zhang Sheng and came to see His Highness the Tang Dynasty. On the surface, he falsely claimed that he was ready to sacrifice Hulao Pass City. In fact, I was here to spy on the two thieves, Prince Yang, to see if His Highness Prince Tang was here." Shen Jian's words were so direct that Feng Deyi couldn't help but open his mouth. He didn't know what to say for a moment, but Jian took the initiative to take it. A letter came out and said: "History, this is the so-called secret letter of Zhang Sheng, but this letter is fake. Even Zhang Sheng, the thief general himself, doesn't know about it. It doesn't matter whether you read it or not." After that, Shen Jian put down the fake letter and said "offense", then took off his trousers in front of Feng Deyi, took out a hidden letter from the secret pocket of his trouser leg, held it up with both hands and said respectfully: "Feng Neishi, this letter is It is a truly important letter. The reason why the head of the family recommended this villain as this messenger is just to send his own letter to your military camp while sending the fake letter. It does not matter whether His Highness the Prince of Tang is here. Just ask Feng Neishi to submit this letter to the current commander-in-chief of your army." After being speechless, Feng Deyi finally came to his senses and quickly wrote to Shen Jian to wait, but before Shen Jian could agree, Chen Sangliang had already walked in from the back door of the guest house, and said with a smile: "No need, just look here. I, the Marquis of Shen County, also remember that the nephew of the last queen of the Chen Dynasty, Shen Wuhua, was the Marquis of Meng Zuyin. When the king stayed in Dongdu, he served as a member of the imperial court and was not very prominent in the court. But I never thought that Marquis Shen would be so loyal to the country. " ¡¡¡¡Sending such envoys to spy on the Sui army¡¯s intelligence, the military intelligence intelligence reports received by Zheng Jun in Hulao Pass were of course as absurd as possible. In the middle of the night, Shen Jian successfully returned to Hulao Pass City. First, he had a quick meeting with the family leader Shen Yue, and then he was immediately sent to the city headquarters to wait. Then it was still dark, and Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben didn't even have time to eat breakfast. He immediately summoned Shen Jian and asked him: "How is it? Have you seen Thief Chen?" "His Royal Highness King Jing, General Yang, no." Shen Jian shook his head and said honestly: "Come out to meet the young man. The person is Yu Wenxin, a subordinate of Chen Thief. The villain has requested to meet with Chen Thief several times, but he has not agreed. He just asked the villain to just tell him if he has anything to say. The villain said that General Zhang is preparing to dedicate the city, and Yuwen Xin did not allow the villain to meet Chen Zei, but repeatedly asked him about many things about General Zhang's presentation of the city. He did not see Chen Zei himself until the villain left the camp. " Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben were both disappointed and said this time. It was just that all the hard work was in vain, but Shen Jian said: "Your Highness, General, this villain's trip should not be in vain. After the villain handed the letter to Yu Wenxin, when Yu Wenxin took him out of the tent, the villain heard that he was Outside the tent, he told the villain to keep an eye on it, but he also let slip that he was going to submit the letter to General Qu Tu. " Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben were overjoyed when they heard this, and hurriedly asked for the details. Shen Jian made another nonsense. Yu Wenxin accidentally let out the details. Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben were also overjoyed. They suspected that Chen Sangliang had not actually come to Hulao Pass in person. The Sui army commander outside the city was actually the old man Qu Tutong. The army is not facing the most dangerous and insidious enemy. Then Yang Gongqing hurriedly asked: "Then you gave the letter to Yu Wenxin? Regarding Zhang Sheng's dedication to the city, do you have any reply or reply?" "No reply." Shen Jian shook his head and said: "Yu Wenxin just asked the villain to bring a message to General Zhang, saying that since General Zhang is willing to surrender the city, then after success, the Chen thief will definitely reward General Zhang heavily. , but now there is no need to take risks and take action directly, and there is no need to send people out of the city to prepare with Chen Thieves. You only need to prepare in advance. In a few days, changes will naturally occur in Hulao Pass City, and then General Zhang will help open the city. , this will make you much more confident." "What does this mean?" Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben were both surprised, "Does it mean that someone in Hulao Pass is already preparing to welcome Chen Thief into the city?" "The villain is like this too? "Ask Yu Wenxin." Shen Jian said hurriedly: "But Yu Wenxin obviously doesn't trust the villain enough and refuses to introduce it in detail. He just smiled and said that good people will get more help but bad people will get less help. Our Majesty behaves in the opposite direction and alienates heroes with unclear rewards and punishments. Naturally, Someone said that if His Highness hadn't been lucky enough to hide in Luokou Cang City, Chen's army would have captured him alive this time. " Shen Jian is talking nonsense. There is no mention of Dai Zhou, but it is more serious than directly stating that the traitor in Hulao Pass is Dai Zhou, because in the entire Hulao Pass, Dai Zhou suffered the most injustice in front of Wang Shichong. After being driven out of the capital, his relationship with Wang Shichong is most worthy of the comment that rewards and punishments are unclear and alienated heroes. At the same time, what is even more terrible is that Dai Zhou had previously urged Wang Xuanying to give priority to guarding Hulao Pass. He repeatedly suggested that Wang Xuanying move the Eastern Front Headquarters to the city of Hulao Pass. He almost captured the Sui army alive in Hulao Pass. Wang Xuanying¡¯s words. So naturally, after carefully considering and savoring these words, Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben also focused their suspicion on Dai Zhou. Poor people must also be hateful. Just when Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben were full of suspicion, the subject of suspicion, Dai Zhou, came to the handsome hall in a big way. When he came to the hall, he said with a smile on his face: "I heard that I will go and fight with you." The person Chen Ze contacted is back? You must not have seen Chen Ze in person, right? Who is Chen Yingliang? Don't worry if you don't contact him, you won't be able to see him. , are you even more confused and worried?" After exchanging glances, Yang Gongqing humbly tolerated for the time being and admitted that Dai Zhou had expected it, and the envoy who pretended to surrender had indeed not seen Chen Sangliang. Then Yang Gongqing asked cautiously: "Shilang Dai, the strength of Chen's army is unknown, and Hulao Pass is weak. I intend to ask His Highness the Crown Prince to send an army back to Hulao Pass to reinforce the troops. What do you think? "It's too late." Dai Zhou shook his head and said with a sneer: "It's too late now. The Chen bandit army is stationed outside the city. If our Luokoucang defenders return to Guancheng, they will be intercepted by the Chen bandit army. It will only make the soldiers sacrifice in vain." "Then how can we defend against the enemy according to Dai Shilang's plan?" Wang Xingben looked at Dai Zhou and asked. "It's simple, just close the door tightly and don't go to fight." Dai Zhou said very relaxedly: "I said yesterday that the Chen bandit's army marches seventy miles a day, and the army must not have much food and grass. We only need If we don't fight, Chen Thief will definitely retreat within ten days." Wang Xingben nodded, and then suddenly said: "What if a traitor opens the city gate to welcome Chen Thief into the city?" It's human nature to be as smart as Dai Zhou. I couldn't help but change my face at this. I was stunned for a moment before saying in surprise: "A traitor? There is a traitor in Hulao Pass? Who is the traitor? Have you found out?" Suspecting a neighbor to steal an axe, Dai Zhou's normal reaction In the eyes of Wang Xingben and Yang Gongqing, this naturally became irrefutable evidence of his guilt and cowardice. He was even more suspicious. Although Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben didn't speak, their eyes were still fixed on Dai Zhou's face. Dai Zhou was confused at first, then gradually woke up and asked in surprise: "Yang General, His Highness King Jing, do you suspect that your subordinate is the traitor of the Chen bandit? " There is still no direct evidence. No matter how suspicious Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben are, they cannot prove that Dai Zhou is the traitor who is preparing to surrender. After a while, Yang Gongqing said: "Shilang Dai, you have misunderstood. How can we suspect that you are a traitor? But there is something strange to us. When Chen's army was still in Luoyang and did not advance eastward, Shilang Dai, you couldn't wait. What is the purpose of instigating His Highness to move to Hulao Pass? " "For what?" Dai Zhou was stunned by this question, and then he immediately came to his senses and said angrily: "I suggest that His Highness move to Hulao Pass. Pass, of course because Hulao Pass is a hundred times more important to our army than Luokou Cang! Only by ensuring the safety of Hulao Pass can we ensure that Dou Jiande's reinforcements can reach Luoyang City to relieve His Majesty! Give Luokou Cangbai to Chen Ze? "I'm afraid you don't just want to give Luokou Cangbai to Chen Ze?" Shen Yue, who had been silent before, suddenly said, "I'm afraid"?You also want to give His Highness the Crown Prince to Chen's army? " "Shen Yue! Who are you talking about? ! Dai Zhou was furious when he heard this, and immediately pointed at Shen Yue's nose and asked, "Who are you referring to?" Are you saying that I persuaded His Highness the Crown Prince to move to Hulao Pass because I wanted to dedicate Hulao Pass and His Highness the Crown Prince to Chen's army? ! " "I don't dare to lower my rank." Shen Yue replied politely: "I didn't dare to mention your name, Minister. Minister, please don't be nervous." " "you? "Dai Zhou was choked by Shen Yue. He glared at Shen Yue with a look that almost wanted to kill someone. However, Shen Yue took note of Dai Zhou's upright temper and deliberately smiled at the bridge of Dai Zhou's nose. His eyes were therefore devoid of any emotion, which further angered him. Dai Zhou was arrested, causing Dai Zhou to roar and roar: "You said that I am a traitor, where is the evidence? " "Shilang Dai, please forgive me for reminding you. I didn't say a word that you were a traitor. Shen Yue smiled and said: "You are so nervous, Minister, but it seems a bit like, like" " "It's like you're just asking for it, right?" " Dai Zhou roared and finished speaking for Shen Yue. Then Dai Zhou turned to Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben and said angrily: "General Yang, His Royal Highness King Jing, Commander Shen Yue has slandered this official, please make the decision for me. " "Shilang Dai, did Shen Sibing say that to slander you? Wang Xingben asked strangely: "He neither mentioned your name nor said you were a collaborator, so how could he slander you?" " Looking at the expressions of Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben, seeing their distrust of him clearly on their faces, Dai Zhou finally realized it and said angrily: "General Yang, His Royal Highness King Jing, are you also doubting me? Do you also think that I am secretly communicating with Thief Chen? My loyalty to Your Majesty can be seen in the sun and the moon, don¡¯t you know? " "Shilang Dai is indeed loyal to His Majesty. Shen Yue took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire and said with a sneer: "That's why when His Majesty decided to accept the Zen position of the previous emperor, Shilang Dai fully supported it." " " Common man! I'll kill you! " Dai Zhou, who was stabbed in the center with a scar on his head, couldn't bear it anymore and immediately went to pull out the sword from his waist in anger. However, Shen Yue was well prepared. He ran towards Wang Xingben in a single step, hid behind Wang Xingben, and then Dai Zhou went to hold the sword. When he chopped Shen Yue, it naturally severely threatened the life and safety of Wang Shichong's beloved nephew Wang Xingben. The guards in the hall did not dare to be negligent at all. They immediately rushed forward and knocked away Dai Zhou's sword, and also held Dai Zhou down. Dai Zhou struggled and roared. He shouted, but unfortunately no one paid attention to him. With the excuse of assassinating King Jing Wang Xingben, Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben also had an excuse to eliminate this hidden danger. After discussing in a low voice, Yang Gongqing announced to Dai Zhou: "Shilang Dai. , please calm down first. Regarding your matter, we will naturally report it to His Majesty and ask His Majesty for your judgment. But now, you should go down and rest first. We will arrange a room for you to have a good rest. If you need anything, just ask the guards and we will try our best to satisfy you! " "I was wronged! Dai Zhou roared angrily, "Why do you suddenly doubt me?" You want to lock me up again? Without me to advise you, how can you resist Chen Thief's army? " No matter how much he roared, it was useless. Dai Zhou's arrogant truth further angered Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben, causing him to be forced down the hall by the guards and put under house arrest. However, Shen Yue, who was bullied by his superiors, continued to stay in the hall and was given She received the kind words of Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben, but Shen Yue was an ungrateful person. She talked perfunctorily about Yang Gongqing and Wang Xingben, but in her heart she couldn't wait to start thinking about it, and said to herself: "It's done this time, His Highness Prince Tang. At least you have to give me a county official, right? There is also an official position, why should I be given a real position with authority? "