Chapter 844 Choice

Talking nonsense depends on the depth of your relationship; in other words, if the relationship isn't close enough, you don't have the privilege of being spoken nonsense to.

Chen Yang didn't think he had that deep of a relationship with the Prince of Pingxi, especially since the matter of Li Fusheng still stood between them.

Besides,

this wasn't the place for idle chatter.

So…

Chen Yang raised his head and looked at Zheng Fan;

For a moment,

he felt both admiration for the other man's courage and a general's instinctive fear.

The two emotions intertwined, causing this veteran, who had spent most of his life on the battlefield and, like Zheng Fan, had rarely stood in the imperial court, to lose control of his expression.

His face twisted, and he was unable to form coherent words for a short time.

Fortunately,

the Prince of Pingxi was looking down at the map at his feet;

And fortunately,

Xue San was in shock,

A'ming was in shock,

Even Fan Li,

was stunned.

There was no warning, no build-up,

His Lordship just sat down, pondered for a moment,

How did he suddenly come up with this idea?

However,

the shock of the Demon Kings was fleeting, a natural reaction as they digested the information;

Immediately afterward,

the Third Master, sitting in his chair, excitedly wiggled his three legs;

"Oh my, are we saying goodbye to the boring life of circling around on the march?"

A'ming's face broke into a smile.

As everyone knew, the finest wine in Qian was best enjoyed with fresh blood mixed in—truly one of life's great pleasures.

Moreover, even the best wine lost its flavor after a long journey, and wine, like a beauty, would become weary and dusty after much travel.

Fan Li shouted:

"Let's charge into the capital and seize the official's throne for our Lord!"

Chen Yang, having regained his senses, was about to speak when Zheng Fan raised his hand to stop him.

Zheng Fan said:

"I know you're going to try to dissuade me, and you probably think it's risky, but I'm feeling suffocated right now. I'm tired of continuing to circle around with the Qian-Chu allied forces, and I'm even more tired of watching them leave Liang to return to their countries;

From the moment the Liang coup happened, the entire pace of the war has been controlled by Qian and Chu;

I tried several times to regain control of the rhythm after our army left Nanmen Pass and went south, but I failed. The enemy has become slippery and unified in their thinking;

It's almost impossible to find a flaw in their strategy and successfully exploit it."

Flaws arose from greed, but the other side was already "satisfied" and unwilling to "complicate matters," truly "having no desires makes one strong."

"So, this Prince has decided to jump out of their rhythm and start a new rhythm of my own."

One "rhythm" after another churned in Chen Yang's mind,

But,

"Your Highness, this humble general believes…"

"What you believe is not important."

"Yes."

Chen Yang didn't argue.

"Just obey the orders."

"This humble general obeys."

"Come, first draw the last marching route for this Prince."

"Yes."

"San'er."

"Your subordinate is here."

"Tell Liu Dahu and the others to prepare some food."

"Your subordinate obeys."

Chen Yang sat down and began to draw the route. There were some errors in the details of the map, which was unavoidable. Chen Yang corrected them as he drew.

"You remember it clearly."

Zheng Fan, who was also sitting on the ground, said.

Chen Yang replied, "The old Prince once took this humble general along."

Zheng Fan nodded.

Chen Yang added, "Later, the old Prince stopped taking this humble general and only took you, Your Highness."

Immediately afterward,

Chen Yang realized he had misspoke. After all, there seemed to be a hint of jealousy in the air.

But the Prince of Pingxi didn't get angry because of these words.

After all,

the favored are always fearless.

At this moment,

Chen Xianba brought Liu Dahu and Zheng Man, two generals, with the food.

After the three of them put it down, their eyes darted back and forth between the map at their feet and the Earl of Yishan kneeling there, but their bodies turned and left.

Zheng Fan took a steamed bun and said:

"Sit down and take a look together, give your opinions."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

The three brothers immediately sat down around Chen Yang with great excitement.

Chen Yang raised his head and looked at the three of them. He was, after all, an earl. It wasn't really appropriate for him to sit with these guards.

Zheng Fan didn't look at them. Instead, he turned to the side, picked up a bowl of soup, and said:

"Chen Xianba, you've beheaded a pillar of Chu in front of the battle, and you and the Earl of Yishan are from the same family."

Chen Xianba understood and cupped his fist in salute to the Earl of Yishan:

"Greetings, Earl of Yishan."

Chen Yang nodded to this "relative" and continued to draw.

Zheng Man brought a lamp stand, careful not to let any wax drip.

Liu Dahu was responsible for sharpening charcoal pencils with his saber for Chen Yang to use.

Chen Xianba was concentrating, lying there and carefully looking at the map.

Zheng Fan ate and drank for a while, silently lit a cigarette, and said;

"Xianba, ask if there's anything you don't understand."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Chen Yang handed out the charcoal pencil in his hand and took a newly sharpened one from Liu Dahu. In the gap, he couldn't help but take another look at Chen Xianba;

He could feel that the Prince of Pingxi valued this young man extremely highly.

Chen Xianba didn't hold back, nor was he timid, and asked questions directly.

To Chen Yang's surprise, the questions the young man asked were all to the point. In particular, the other man was extremely familiar with the terrain of this area. "Have you been to Zhao?"

"Replying to the Earl, I have not."

"Then how are you so familiar with this terrain?

And you seem to have a deep understanding of it."

Liu Dahu said, "Brother Ba even brought out all the books about geography from the Zhao imperial palace."

The Prince of Pingxi, who was sitting there looking at his fingernails, couldn't help but glance at Chen Xianba out of the corner of his eye when he heard this.

Silently, he was consciously making so many preparations;

Zheng Fan subconsciously thought of himself back then. Heh, compared to Chen Xianba, he was truly lazy.

However, he no longer felt jealous. He was too lazy to engage in the twisted struggle of wanting to train someone while worrying about whether they would threaten him in the future.

"Brother Ba, what are we doing?"

Zheng Man asked. He had tried hard, but he still didn't understand.

The barbarian youth was excellent at riding and shooting, but he got a headache every time he saw a map. He was the kind of freak who would never get lost in reality but could never distinguish east, west, north, or south on a map.

Chen Xianba looked back at Zheng Fan sitting there and replied:

"His Highness intends to enter Qian."

"Enter Qian?" Zheng Man tried hard to think.

Chen Yang put down the charcoal pencil and rubbed his hands. Liu Dahu immediately got up and brought a washbasin for the Earl to wash his hands.

Immediately afterward,

Chen Yang said; "Back then, the old Prince and the old Prince of Zhenbei led troops through Qian to attack Jin. After that, the Qian people also built some fortifications on their northeastern border and established several cities."

Zheng Fan said; "It wasn't because the old Prince passed through that they were built. Originally, Qian had no problem dealing with these small countries. Moreover, Qian's relationship with the Wenren family was always good."

The division of Jin into three states meant that the Wenren family had a much better image in the eyes of scholars than the other two, which could be called a classic example of Qian's "cultural export."

Therefore, with the northern three-border defense system able to contain the Yan army, the Qian people originally didn't need to deploy anything else here, but since the Jin territory was annexed by Yan, the Qian court began to fill this loophole.

"Xianba, tell me your thoughts."

Zheng Fan continued to sit there leisurely, acting as if he was giving young people a chance to speak and promote them.

Chen Xianba said; "Entering Qian is a brilliant move that can revitalize this game of chess."

This fisherman youth's chess skills were very poor, but that didn't prevent him from liking to use it as a metaphor.

Chen Yang glanced at Chen Xianba and said; "Deep into enemy territory…"

Chen Xianba immediately said, "It's not like we haven't done that before."

"The Qian of back then and the Qian of now are a little different."

"What the Earl said is true. In recent years, Qian has been training its troops and even formed several new armies, which are quite powerful;

But…"

"But what?"

"But aren't most of the new armies and those few generals who can really fight currently in Liang?"

"This…"

Chen Xianba continued; "His Highness's intention is for our army to turn passivity into initiative. Since the allied forces in Liang won't reveal any flaws, we'll create flaws for them ourselves.

After our army enters Qian, the Qian three-border region in the north can be completely ignored. We can go south all the way, repeating the old story of those two former Zhenbei army commanding officers;

If the Qian army in Liang returns to aid, our army can choose to intercept them after they've been drawn out."

Chen Yang pointed to the map in front of him and said:

"Liang, Zhao, and our left and right armies are still in Wei and Qi. If our army enters Qian again, how can such a large battlefield be managed?"

Chen Xianba didn't speak;

Zheng Fan smiled and said;

"Back then, the Marquis of Huwei liked to personally lead the assault camp to break through the front line in every battle. At that time, this Prince didn't understand and even advised him that a general should consider the overall situation.

But the Marquis of Huwei said that the various adjutants, guerrilla generals, and even the lowest-ranking captains under him all knew clearly how to fight and cooperate in a battle, when to do what, and they all knew it very well.

This Prince trusts Luo Ling and Ren Juan in the left and right armies."

"But Your Highness, the probability of this interception succeeding depends on luck."

"No, even if the interception fails, it's worth it for this Prince to go to the capital and reminisce with that Qian official.

Isn't Qian trying to boost military morale with the death of the Marquis of Huwei? Then this Prince will personally ride around under the capital again and knock his morale back down.

This Prince can come and go as I please in the capital of a country. I don't believe the Qian people's knees can continue to be so tough."

"Your Highness, how should our army coordinate?" Chen Yang asked.

"The Qian-Chu allied forces want to circle around Liang with us, so we'll continue to circle with them. First, inform Ren Juan and Luo Ling of the strategy and let them continue the previous steps in Wei and Qi;

This Prince's army has the most of the original Jingnan army.

You, Chen Yang, will mobilize your own troops and draw elites from this Prince's central army to make up 50,000.

We'll enter Qian with these 50,000.

The remaining troops will be entrusted to Bei, this Prince's strategist in the capital of Zhao, to continue pretending on the surface, so that the Qian-Chu allied forces in Liang don't realize that the main force of this route has been transferred away."

"What about Nanmen Pass, Your Highness?" Chen Yang asked, "Originally, our three armies formed suppression from three directions. Unless our army suffers a setback and is defeated in Liang, Nanmen Pass can still be safe even if there is no main force stationed there at this time.

But now, once the main force is transferred away, if the feint on the Zhao side fails and the Qian-Chu allied forces see the clues, they can completely detour north from Zhao and take Nanmen Pass directly."

"Do you believe it?"

"I… This humble general…"

Zheng Fan shook his head,

"This Prince can afford to gamble, but they can't.

Earl of Yishan, Chen Yang, receive the order!"

"This humble general is here!"

"Quickly gather the troops and prepare to enter Qian with this Prince."

"This humble general obeys!"

Immediately afterward,

Chen Yang stood up,

and laughed "Hahahaha."

The previous advice and persuasion were out of a sense of responsibility as a subordinate general, just going through the motions. In reality, he himself was most worried that the Prince of Pingxi would really stop and cancel this plan because of his advice.

For him, who had once been committed to supporting the Prince of Jingnan on the dragon throne, it seemed that a large part of the flavor of life had been lost after the Prince of Jingnan left.

Zheng Fan took a mint from the iron box, put it in his mouth, looked at Chen Yang, and said:

"Do you think this Prince is crazy?"

"Your Highness, this humble general sincerely wants to go crazy with you. Back then, although this humble general accompanied the old Prince to fight in Jin, later, whenever I met with Li Fusheng and Li Bao, especially Li Fusheng, they would always boast to this humble general about how prosperous the capital was.

He seemed to have seen the world all of a sudden, and looked at this humble general as if he were a country bumpkin from the countryside.

In fact, this humble general was also a little envious.

I also want to see what the Qian people's… beautiful land is like."

After speaking,

he bowed apologetically and retreated to prepare the troops.

Zheng Fan continued to sit there, feeling a little hesitant but also somewhat relieved.

He didn't actually have much experience in large-scale troop operations. He tried his best to do what he could, but found that he couldn't achieve the desired results.

Then,

he came up with this decision.

He was the commanding Prince, responsible for the entire war, so logically, he had great responsibility, but he changed the entire strategic plan on a whim.

Not only did he abandon the two armies still in Wei and Qi, but he also left all the allied forces in Jdong and Nanwang City and other places in the lurch.

However, although he hesitated, he wasn't really that panicked.

Because as a commander, there was only the difference between winning and losing. If you lost, even if you had done well before, you could only hope for a meaningless "glorious defeat" title;

But once you won, it was an affirmation of everything before.

Sitting in this position, his attitude towards fighting was more like… a lottery.

At this thought,

Zheng Fan reached out and scratched his chin,

If Lao Tian was here right now and heard his analogy, he would probably punch him in the face and scold him for being useless and unpromising.

"Sigh."

He sighed,

and stood up.

Chen Xianba was still concentrating on the map in front of him,

Liu Dahu and Zheng Man didn't quite understand, but they were still watching very seriously.

Zheng Fan walked past them and went out to get some air.

When he walked outside the hall, he saw the Sword Saint standing at the door.

As he was about to greet him, he saw Xu Chuang standing in the courtyard in front.

A saber and a sword were stuck in the ground in front of him.

"Your Highness, this subordinate wants to leave."

"Where are you going?"

"Back to Wenming Mountain."

Xu Chuang was from Liang, and he had practiced martial arts on Wenming Mountain since he was a child. Later, he ventured into the martial world and was instructed by someone to steal Tiantian, but he was caught.

In the battle to assassinate Zhao Jiulang on Xiping Street in Yanjing, Zheng Fan promised him that as long as Zhao Jiulang died, the previous debt would be written off.

Later, Xu Chuang thought it was good to continue staying in the Prince of Pingxi's mansion, so he stayed.

In fact, ever since entering Zhao territory and seeing the Yan army collecting grain under Zheng Fan's orders, the Sword Saint's eyes had never left Xu Chuang.

Zheng Fan stood with his hands behind his back,

and said;

"This Prince will also go to Wenming Mountain. Won't you wait?"

Xu Chuang knelt down and saluted:

"This subordinate doesn't dare to wait."

"Why?"

"Because this subordinate knows that Your Highness is angry, and Liang is also responsible for this anger. This subordinate knows what Your Highness will do to Liang after Your Highness's army reaches Liang."

"This Prince has always been benevolent."

"This subordinate understands Your Highness's benevolence."

"What will you do when you return?"

"This subordinate will go up Wenming Mountain."

"What if this Prince comes?"

"This subordinate will invite Your Highness up the mountain for tea, kill a pheasant, and personally grill chicken skewers for Your Highness."

"Heh, what if this Prince doesn't come to drink tea and eat?"

Xu Chuang was silent,

and said:

"Chuang only has this saber and this sword."

"I didn't see that before. Fine, you can go."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your fulfillment!"

Xu Chuang kowtowed three times to Zheng Fan very seriously;

Then, he got up and left.

The Sword Saint was a little strange and said to Zheng Fan: "I thought you would say, if you walk out of this courtyard, Wenming Mountain, from top to bottom, will be left with no chickens or dogs." (Total annihilation)

"I wouldn't say such a thing. I'm very benevolent.

If he wants to leave, let him go. Everyone has their own ambitions. A forced melon is not sweet."

"Okay." The Sword Saint nodded, "You certainly are like that today."

As he spoke,

Xu Chuang came back.

The Sword Saint said, "Did you forget something?"

Xu Chuang shook his head, looked at Zheng Fan, knelt down, and said:

"Your Highness, this subordinate is not leaving."

"This Prince didn't force you," Zheng Fan said.

"Yes, Your Highness has always been benevolent."

"Hmm." Zheng Fan looked at the Sword Saint, "See, isn't he back after being moved?"

The Sword Saint frowned slightly. Things weren't that simple, and it was a bit too trivial.

Earlier,

When Xu Chuang just went out, he ran into Xue San;

Xue San smiled and said to him:

"After you leave, when the army arrives at Wenming Mountain in the future, from top to bottom, there will be no chickens or dogs left." (Total annihilation)

————

I need to adjust my state. There will only be one update tonight.

Hugging everyone!