Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1208 Layout
When the three friends heard Yang Xiu say this, they also began to murmur in their hearts. Having reached this position, they naturally would not be foolish enough to think that the other party would respond to their requests just because the four of them were in such a miserable state. Negotiations require both parties to exchange interests. What else can they give to the other party?
The four of them discussed for a long time, but they still had no clue. Finally, Yang Xiu said, "Never mind. It's useless to speculate. Let's talk to them first."

He walked to the corner of the secret room and pulled a rope. The vibration of the rope was transmitted to the top. After a while, the rope was pulled above as well, and the vibration was transmitted back.

Yang Xiu was covering his mouth and nose at this time. This corner was used for daily excretion and it already had a foul smell. Although there were ventilation holes, the room was small and the unpleasant smell filled his nasal cavity all the time. It was nothing compared to the scented toilet in Yang Xiu's mansion.

Yang Xiu was sensitive to smells. He and his three friends had been hiding in this isolated underground secret room for the past few days. Smelling these unbearable smells, he was on the verge of collapse and wanted to get out immediately. This was one of the reasons why he chose to take the initiative.

After a long while, the secret door on the ground opened, and a masked man in cloth walked down. He closed the secret door and said to the four people, "What can I do for you?"

Yang Xiu told us his plan and said in a deep voice: "I hope the King of Jin can give us enough strength to cooperate with us."

The man narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why does Yang Zhubu think that we are not the princess's people, but the Prince of Jin's people?"

Yang Xiu said in a deep voice: "We don't need to hide it. Although the princess has done a lot of matchmaking, she is definitely not capable of such a thing."

"We want to see the person in charge of King Jin in the city."

The man smiled slightly, "No need, it's the same if you tell me."

"I understand your thoughts, but I really don't understand why you have the qualifications to take the lead in this matter and ask us to cooperate with you."

"Don't you think this is a bit distracting?"

Ding Yi shouted, "Yecheng is our territory. You are the ones who are afraid of the light. Who is the guest and who is the host?"

The man smiled slightly, "Then I would like to ask, how many soldiers do you have now?"

"How much do you know about the defense arrangements within the city walls?"

"Do you have any information about the current movements of Cao's camp in the city?"

The four friends were speechless, and the man added one last blow, "Most importantly, how can we trust you?"

Yang Xiu sighed inwardly, thinking to himself that it was just as expected, he had a good idea on his side, but when it came to action, whether it was sending people or putting in effort, it was the Jin King's spies who were taking the risk, and he was just reaping the benefits, no wonder the other side didn't trust him.

He said aloud: "I understand your concerns."

"So I can go with you guys when we take action."

"If this fails, you will die, but I will not survive either."

"Would this be a way to show my sincerity a little?"

The Ding Yi brothers were surprised and asked, "Why did Emperor Dezu do this?"

"This is a rebellion. If you are not careful, you will die!"

Yang Xiu said in a deep voice: "If you want to cooperate, you must show corresponding sincerity."

“This is all I can give now.”

The man was slightly moved and said, "I will convey Yang Zhubu's intention."

"As for the plan..."

Yang Xiu explained his idea again in detail, emphasizing a few key points. The man took it in his mind and said, "Okay, wait for my news."

He pushed open the secret door and climbed up, then the door closed and the room fell into darkness again, just like the sky in Yecheng today.

After Zhuge Liang received the message from the spy in Yecheng, he found Ju Su and Tian Feng and told them what Yang Xiu and the other three thought. Finally, he asked, "What do you two think?"

Ju Su pondered for a while and said, "I know what Kong Ming is up to. If we can use these four people to disrupt the situation in the city and weaken the morale and defense of Yecheng, it will be much easier to attack the city next time."

"This move can also test the strength of Yecheng. From its response, we can see whether Cao Cao is really sick or just pretending to be sick, and how much spare strength Yecheng has. This will undoubtedly be very beneficial for the next siege."

"but……"

Tian Feng replied: "But the timing is not good."

"The siege of Yecheng has not yet been completed. If the city launches an attack in advance, Cao's camp will have enough time to respond and suppress it. Instead, it will alert the enemy and allow the Wei army to find loopholes in the city and repair them."

"When we actually attack the city, these loopholes may not exist anymore. Isn't this self-defeating?"

Ju Shou also nodded and said, "That's what I mean." "Now the Cao army has deployed its troops on the outer defense line of Yecheng, and built a large number of camps relying on the town. No matter where we attack, they can dispatch troops from several directions to rescue us in time."

"With our current offensive, it will be difficult to reach Yecheng in a short period of time. There is chaos in Yecheng right now, and we cannot coordinate our offensive outside the city. If the situation in the city fails, the king's spies in ambush will also suffer a lot of losses, right?"

Tian Feng nodded and said, "That's right. If we want to make the most of Cao Zhi's four friends, when the enemy is at the gates of the city, we can let them cooperate with us from inside and outside to cause the greatest damage to Cao Cao. It's really too urgent now."

Zhuge Liang listened and said, "What you two said is also what I think in my heart."

"Indeed, if an uprising breaks out in the city at this time, it might give the Wei army a chance to prepare for it, which would have a counter-productive effect."

"But think about it from another perspective. If we just hide the four of us and wait until sometime later to launch the attack, there will be many variables in the process."

"Let's not talk about whether the whereabouts of the four people will be discovered by then. After a month or two, Cao Pi's faction will be able to completely eliminate the power of Cao Zhi's faction and consolidate their power to face the outside world."

"Under this situation, regardless of whether Cao Cao is really seriously ill or not, the people in Cao's camp will be united as one, and it may be more difficult for us to attack the city."

"If we help the four friends rebel now, there is a possibility of failure, but if we succeed, we can take the opportunity to cause internal strife in Cao's camp. If the effect is good, we can reduce a lot of casualties when attacking Yecheng."

After listening to this, Ju Shou and Tian Feng thought about it again and had to admit that what Zhuge Liang said made sense. After all, the outer defense line of Yecheng was already very difficult to attack. Both sides lost thousands of soldiers' lives every day. If they attacked Yecheng, one of the strongest cities in the world, it was unknown how many people would die.

Tian Feng said: "But the situation in Yecheng is so dangerous that ordinary spies from the Procuratorate would find it difficult to do the job."

"In the Procuratorate, those who can plan are not strong enough in terms of military strength, and those who are strong in terms of military strength cannot command the overall situation. Especially for people who need to connect the forces of Jin and Wei, it is even more difficult to find them."

Ju Su said: "I heard that Yang Feng, the Black Mountain Captain that the lord relies on the most, is the best at infiltration. How about..."

Tian Feng sneered, "Gong Yu is really confused. She is powerful, but it was she who killed Ding Chong in Huaicheng back then. If the Ding brothers among the four friends saw that it was her, wouldn't they immediately turn hostile?"

Zhuge Liang thought about it for a while, but couldn't find any clue. This matter was really difficult to deal with!
Ju Su sighed, "When Xu You was alive, he was the best at this. It's a pity that he was killed by Cao Cao like that. What a pity."

Tian Feng sneered, "Cao Cao appears to be recruiting talented people from all over the world, but in fact he is lenient on the outside but cautious on the inside, and he is particularly harsh towards a certain type of people."

Zhuge Liang also became interested and asked, "Who is it?"

Tian Feng said, "When Cao Cao was young, he knew all the people who knew him well. In the end, they were betrayed by Cao Cao and died."

"From Benchu ​​Gong to Xu You, from Lü Bushe to Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, weren't they all harmed by other people in the end?"

"It's ridiculous that Cai Mao of Jingzhou still thought he could rely on his previous friendship to rely on Cao Cao. I'm afraid he won't be able to escape death in the future."

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it to heart. Zhuge Liang seemed to be thinking about something and asked, "Do you think Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu can be used?"

Ju Shou and Tian Feng were both startled, then they seemed to understand something and said, "Kong Ming's ideas are really different from others."

Ju Su said: "Your Majesty may not use someone like Ma Chao, but Zhang Xiu is very likely to be used."

Tian Feng added: "Although Ma Chao cannot surrender, as Cao Cao's adopted son, his status is very sensitive at this time. If we can stir up the relationship between him and Han Sui, it may plant the hidden danger of conflict in Xiliang. Who knows."

Zhuge Liang said: "In this case, I will mobilize the spies of the Procuratorate to act in Yecheng and spread rumors."

"Especially some Wei ministers with unclear attitudes, use this incident to drag them all into the water. It depends on how the Yingchuan faction responds."

"As for the person in charge of the city, the lord has already made some arrangements and they are already in the city."

"Wait for me to write a letter and see if I can get the camera to cooperate. If they don't move, that's fine. As long as the water in the city is muddy enough, chaos will naturally arise."

At the same time, Zhuge Liang sent an urgent letter to Yuan Xi, who was almost at the border of Yanzhou, explaining the situation and asking Yuan Xi about his next plan.

At this time, with the help of the luxurious combination of Lu Xun, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong and Wen Pin, Yuan Xi broke into Qiao County with great momentum and conquered the entire Yuzhou.

Now half of Yuzhou had fallen into Yuan Xi's hands, with only the two counties of Yingchuan and Chen in the east still resisting stubbornly. However, their army had already been routed, and the officials of Cao's camp fled in many directions with their families.

At this time, Liu Bei was not willing to be outdone. Guan Yu had already trapped Cai Mao in a corner of Jingzhou, forcing him to retreat. Liu Bei took the opportunity to have all his troops cross the Han River and launch a fierce attack towards Xu Du in the north.

Liu Bei's goal from the beginning to the end was to capture Xu Du and rescue Liu Xie. Now that he saw a good opportunity, how could he let it go?
But in this way, his defense in the direction of Changsha became much weaker. At that time, Zhang Fei went to pacify the Southern Barbarians, and there was a big gap in the original defense line of the Yuan Xi and Liu Bei coalition forces. Only Gan Ning was left to guard it alone.

At this time, the Wu State, which had been jumping back and forth, finally saw the opportunity and prepared to attack again.

(End of this chapter)