Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

For Xu Xiang, if you are in the enemy camp, you have to bow your head, even if you are an envoy. Not to mention that Xu Xiang came with a serious mission from Sun Quan.

Given the current tense situation between Wei and Wu, even if Zhang Hu killed Xu Xiang right now at the south gate of Jingnan Xiwu, as long as he could make up a plausible reason, such as Xu Xiang's rude remarks and usurpation of power, he would be able to deal with it in the Wei court and might even be commended.

It is not easy to be a diplomatic envoy.

"It's our first meeting. May I ask your name, General?" Xu Xiang said politely with a bow.

Seeing Xu Xiang being so polite, Zhang Hu snorted and raised his hand casually to return the greeting: "I am the Great Wei's General Zhang Hu, responsible for guarding this place to prevent bandits from taking over."

Who are the bandits? Aren’t they referring to the Wu State?

The people of Wu still knew Zhang Hu's name, as he was Zhang Liao's son! However, Zhang Hu's title of General Po Lu sounded a bit funny to Xu Xiang.

Sun Jian, the father of Sun Quan, was given the title of General Po Lu in the Han Dynasty. And everyone knows that Zhang Liao defeated Sun Quan in Hefei. Now the Emperor of Wei gave Zhang Liao's son the title of General Po Lu...

Xu Xiang understood the general idea and after a brief thought, he bowed and praised: "A tiger father and a tiger son, General Zhang has an extraordinary demeanor. Today I saw that it was indeed the case. In the 22nd year of Jian'an, I was ordered by the Lord to meet Cao Gong and saw your father's face. His eyebrows, eyes and body shape were so similar to yours. Sixteen years have passed in a flash."

Even if Zhang Hu wanted to be arrogant in front of the Wu envoy, when he heard Xu Xiang change Sun Quan's "Emperor" to "Lord", and heard Xu Xiang mention his father, Zhang Hu restrained himself a lot and began to look at Xu Xiang in the right eye:
"I have also heard of the name of Minister Xu. He has been sent on diplomatic missions to and fro across the country, mending differences and gaining a great reputation. I wonder what you want to do in my city? It would be better if you could explain it clearly so that I can report it to the court."

"Sir," Zhang Hu added, "whether you are allowed to come to the court for an audience is not something I can decide alone. It still needs the court's decision."

Xu Xiang nodded: "I understand what General Zhang said."

"The Lord sent me here, firstly, to pay New Year's greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of Wei and Concubine Sun, secondly, to deliver a letter to His Majesty the Emperor of Wei, and thirdly, to present a proposal to His Majesty the Emperor in order to seek an alliance between the two countries."

Zhang Hu's face, which had just been a little kinder, turned cold again.

He understood Xu Xiang's words clearly: Sun Quan wanted to seek peace!

But Zhang Hu, as a general with a title, although only a general of miscellaneous title, also knew the imperial court's major strategy of conquering Wu the year after next. And it was said to be the year after next, but now it was the end of the seventh year of Taihe, so no matter how you counted it, it was only one year.

After saying this, Xu Xiang unhooked a short sword from the horse of his attendant behind him, rubbed it for a few times, and handed it to Zhang Hu with both hands:
"General Zhang, Wuyue is famous for its fine iron and precious swords. This sword is sheathed in fish skin and inlaid with nine gemstones. Please accept it. It is a small token of my respect to you and my father."

As Zhang Liao's son, Zhang Hu had been in the army for 20 to 30 years. He knew his limits before a major event. Seeing Xu Xiang's condition, he said coldly:

"I am only a minor general of the Wei Dynasty, not worth mentioning. Your Excellency wants to bribe me with such a precious sword, which shows that your request is very great. How can I accept such a gift from the Wu people?"

"Left and right!" Zhang Hu waved his hand and said, "Let them live in the barracks first. I will report to His Majesty and then make a decision! Let them live in the barracks for a few days first!"

Zhang Hu did not speak directly to Xu Xiang, but Xu Xiang already knew what Zhang Hu meant. And from Zhang Hu's words, Xu Xiang also heard some other information.

There had long been rumors and spies reporting that Wei had promoted Shouchun to one of the five capitals, and that Wei had moved its central army to Huainan at the end of last year.

Zhang Hu said he would report to His Majesty and asked him to wait for a few more days, which meant that the Emperor of Wei was in Shouchun! What could Cao Rui do in Shouchun? Wasn't it to attack Wu? The last time the Emperor of Wei came to Shouchun, the Great Wu had suffered a defeat in Wancheng!
Xu Xiang's mood became increasingly heavy.

Seeing Zhang Hu turn around and leave, the soldiers who received Zhang Hu's order were not in a good mood. Xu Xiang calmed down, still greeted them with a smile, and stayed in the barracks as requested.

...Ruxu and Wujie were the focus and core of the disputes between Wei and the two countries of Wu and Shu respectively. They were located in the east and west, thousands of miles apart.

However, the military deployment in Guanxi at this time was not the same as what Cao Rui and his ministers had guessed. After checking some of them, they found that the difference was even huge.

Zhuge Liang led 35,000 troops out of Baishui Pass. After a small victory over defending general Cao Ping in Wujie, he sent Wu Yi with 7,000 soldiers to lock the city, and the remaining 28,000 troops were divided into two groups.

One group was led by General Wei Yan, who led his own army and the troops of Generals Wu Ban and Ju Fu, totaling 10,000 people, and marched northward from Wujie to attack Dazhong. The other group, totaling 18,000 people, was led by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Later Han Dynasty, and marched northeastward from Wujie, encountering Wei Zhen's 15,000 troops on October 20th.

In the war in the fourth year of Wei Taihe, which was the eighth year of Ji Han Jianxing, although Zhuge Liang won with great losses, it was enough for Zhuge Liang and the prime minister's office to build momentum and boost the morale of Ji Han's small court. Wei Yan's original position of Zhenbei General was immediately changed to Zhengdong General. The Zhengbei position was occupied by Wu Yi, so he had to give him the title of Zhengdong General.

According to Zhuge Liang's initial division, Wei Yan did lead his troops to attack Dazhong. The Protector of the Qiang, Zhou Duo, saw that the Shu army was too powerful to be defeated, so he retreated to the Niutou Mountain area as Lu Xun expected. However, after the two sides had been fighting for nearly a month, in mid-November, Wei Yan, under Zhuge Liang's order, withdrew his troops back to the vicinity of Wujie.

This means reducing the number of troops.

Zhuge Liang also assigned Wang Ping's 4,000 men to Wu Yi's command, ordering him to block the Wei army in the north of Wujie.

After this operation, Zhuge Liang's military strength reached 24,000.

Therefore, in this remote mountainous area in Longnan, within a few dozen miles, nearly 50,000 troops from Wei and Shu gathered here.

December 23rd.

At the confrontation point, in the Shu army camp, inside the central army tent.

Yang Yi, the Prime Minister's Chief Secretary, walked quickly into the tent and presented the military report to Zhuge Liang in front of his desk with both hands:

"Prime Minister, Wujie reported that at midnight yesterday, the Wei army sent Qiang cavalry to try to attack from behind and set fire, but they were stopped by General Wang and his troops, and forty-eight cavalry were killed. This is the third time the Wei army has attempted a night attack in the past ten days. The number of Wei cavalry killed has reached nearly a hundred."

"Zhou... The Wei bandits' Protector of the Qiang is called Zhou Duo, right?" Zhuge Liang asked slowly.

"It's Zhou Duo, Prime Minister." Yang Yi responded, "He was once the chief secretary of Lu Xun. I guess that the reason why he wanted to launch a night attack with fire was because he was influenced by Lu Xun, but he just didn't learn it like Lu Xun."

Zhuge Liang said softly, "I am absolutely relieved that Wang Zijun (Wang Ping) is there. He and Wu Yi have a total of 11,000 soldiers. They will attack the city and slowly wear down the morale of the defenders. This is the correct way of war. It seems less important for me to lead the army to hold off Wei Zhen here."

"You are joking, Prime Minister." Yang Yi also smiled. "Most of the Wei bandits are here. If the Prime Minister does not personally lead the army to coordinate, how can they attack the city safely?"

Zhuge Liang nodded gently: "I am here to stop Wei Zhen in the field battle, so that the rear can attack the city calmly. I have 24,000 troops here, which can suppress the Wei bandits here. In a few days, we will increase our strength and completely force the Wei bandits to retreat to the east bank of the West Han River, and they will be powerless."

Yang Yi silently calculated the time and responded, "Prime Minister, it's almost the end of the year. Should we repel the Wei thieves before the New Year?"

"There are still seven days." Zhuge Liang said calmly, "Look for an opportunity to fight within these seven days. I will lead the army to attack the Wei army again. Wei Zhen is just a mediocre man who helps to raise grain and supervise transportation, but he was sent by the Wei Kingdom to serve as a general of chariots and cavalry. This is God's will for the Han Dynasty to succeed."

"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right." Yang Yi also agreed with Zhuge Liang: "Then I will write back to General Wang and order him to continue to defend the camp?"

"Okay." Zhuge Liang only said one word, and then continued to look down at the documents on the table, as if he had made up his mind. (End of this chapter)