By the river, there is a dilapidated small temple on a towering mound. The Qi army, who tried to cross the river but failed, used this mound as the central army.

The small temple is just a small house, offering dilapidated statues of gods, and is the River Temple.

In front of the temple, the central army tent was located, and the soldiers used the laid starting barrier as the wall. The commander, the King of Xianyang, Huluguang, met the envoy of Chu.

He sat in the upper head with his knife, and the generals lined up left and right, looking at the gate of the courtyard surrounded by foot barriers.

At the door, Sima Xiaonan, dressed in casual clothes, walked in slowly, with only two followers following him, without weapons.

Sima Xiaonan saw Hu Luguang and greeted him: "Ha Lu Gong, are you safe?"

Sima Xiaonan's father Sima Ziru and Hulujin, the father of Huluguang, were both Gao Huan's old friends and were founding ministers of Qi.

Sima Xiaonan and Huluguang are of course familiar with each other as sons of honorary ministers.

Huluguang looked at this acquaintance and asked, "Sima Gong is so happy in the south. Do you still remember his hometown?"

"Remember, so, I came to find an old friend to reminisce about the past." Sima Xiao couldn't laugh, and Huluguang asked again: "Is Sima Gong coming here to persuade him to surrender?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals stared at Sima's trouble.

After this man was a hero, the prince-consort of the State Administration of China defected to other countries. Such behavior is disgusting.

If there is no speculation in the conversation, as long as the coach gives the order, he will drag Sima out and kill him.

Anyway, we can't live, you traitor, don't even think about living!

Sima Yingnan did not rush to answer, but told the old friend a message: "On New Year's Eve, the Chu army captured Liyang, Lanling King, and the following generals, most of them were killed."

Hu Luguang and the left and right generals changed their expressions: Did Li Yang lose? Did he lose more than ten days ago?

"This is the seal of King Lanling, so Mr. Hulu can take a look."

After Sima Xiaonan finished speaking, he asked his followers to hand over a package to a general of Qi army. The general opened the package and indeed saw a golden seal and handed it over to Huluguang.

Huluguang looked carefully and confirmed that this was the seal received by King Gao Changgong of Lanling when he led his army to the war. He suddenly felt uncomfortable.

What Sima Xiaonan said may not be all the truth. The seal here may be stolen, but...

He looked at Sima Xiaonan: "What? More than ten days have passed, and with the power of the Chu army, has it taken down Yecheng now?"

"The Chu army is approaching Yecheng, but the king-supporting troops from all over Hebei gather in Yecheng. Now, they are probably confronting each other in the suburbs." Sima Xiaonan said slowly and asked:

"Mr. Hulu, next, is it a fight or a departure?"

"Let's go?" Hu Luguang noticed the other party's words, "How to go? Please let Sima Gong say it clearly."

Other generals also noticed this statement, and looked at Sima Huan's gaze, with less sharpness.

"In this way, I came to negotiate a deal with Mr. Hulu on the order of the Emperor of Chu." Sima Yingnan got to the point. In order to avoid stimulating the other party, he did not call the Emperor of Chu "Your Majesty".

"If the transaction is successful, Mr. Hulu can bring his soldiers and cross the river calmly."

Hu Luguang scoffed at this condition: "Is that right? Did Mr. Sima think I was a three-year-old child and I was sent away in just a few words?"

Sima Xiaonan replied: "The emperor is very disappointed. Mr. Hulu's performance in going south this time was worse than expected, and he could not fight a decisive battle."

He smiled as he spoke, but when others heard what he said, they felt that the smile was sarcastic.

"The emperor felt that perhaps Mr. Hulu was in poor condition, so he was very excited to fight with Mr. Hulu again next."

"What does this mean?" Hu Luguang was a little annoyed and looked down upon. Anyone else would be angry.

Sima Xiaonan shrugged: "The emperor asked someone to negotiate a deal with Mr. Hulu to replace someone with a horse. As long as Mr. Hulu handed over the horse in his hand, two people could leave for every three horses."

"Ma? You want a horse..." Huluguang felt that this condition was a bit funny. He looked at Sima Yingnan and saw that the other party looked serious and shook his head:

"You are afraid that our soldiers will kill horses and fill their hunger, so they came up with such tricks."

"Our army handed over the horse, and you let us go? Let the tiger return to the mountain? How is this possible!!"

Sima Xiaonan waved his hand: "No, no, Mr. Hulu has been too worried."

"Yecheng, in the emperor's opinion, is about to decline, but Jinyang is probably taken by the Zhou people..."

"So, the emperor really wants to fight with Duke Hulu in Jinyang City in the future and fulfill his wish."

"You..." Hu Luguang said at the beginning and couldn't continue.

Sima's meaning of eliminating difficulties (Li Li) is very obvious. The Chu army may be anxious to destroy Qi during this northern expedition, but it is determined to win Yecheng.

When the king and ministers of Qi saw that Yecheng was in danger, they would inevitably retreat to Jinyang.

The Chu army occupied Yecheng, but it might not be able to gain a foothold in Hebei immediately, so they had to deal with their troops everywhere, without much force to cross the Taihang Mountains and attack Jinyang.

Then, the State of Zhou would take advantage of the situation and take directly to Jinyang and occupy all the land in Hedong.

Li Li didn't want to take such an advantage for Zhou Guo, so he wanted to let him go back so that he could reorganize his team and stay in Jinyang.

After all, he is the emperor's father-in-law and has a high position and a powerful position. He can firmly suppress the arrogant soldiers and generals in Jinyang and reorganize his military.

Under the current situation, I'm afraid only he can do it. Otherwise, if He Shikai and others were in trouble, how could the young emperor be misled?

Of course, this may also be a scam. Li Li was afraid that they would kill the horses to satisfy their hunger, or that the two armies would fight to the death, and the Qi army suffered too much casualties, so he wanted to trick the horses out.

After all, Chu State was short of horses compared to Qi State, especially war horses. His tens of thousands of troops had tens of thousands of horses of all kinds, which was not a small number.

"If you regret it, what if you do?" Huluguang asked, Sima Xiaonan replied: "Take three horses and two people will be able to cross the river immediately."

Huluguang asked back: "I'm afraid there were ambushes waiting for the North Bank, right?"

This is also what other generals are worried about. If they use horses to exchange their lives, even if they reach the north shore, they will have to surrender when facing the ambush that has been waiting for a long time.

Sima Xiao couldn't laugh: "First of all, the emperor will not break his promise. After all, he is determined to be the world and should establish faith in the public. Otherwise, how can he conquer the hearts of Hebei people next?"

"Secondly, does Mr. Hulu have to choose? Which one is more important, dying here or having the opportunity to go back and regroup? "

Huluguang retorted: "Why are there no choice? I would rather fight to the death than be deceived by you!"

"Why?" Sima Xiaonan still smiled, "The emperor wants horses more and is willing to make an exchange. At present, he does not want Hulu Gong's head. He hopes Hulu Gong will defend Jinyang next."

He was looked down upon again, and Huluguang was furious, but he didn't want to break up: "Let me discuss with the generals."

"Mr. Hulu is worried, okay, I'll swear to the sky..." Sima Xiaonan finished speaking and pointed to the small dilapidated temple behind.

It is just a temple of a small house. In front of the dilapidated statue of the gods in the room, there is a dilapidated stone incense platform.

Sima Yingnan was watching everyone, and burned it with some of the paper I found temporarily.

Then, facing the Yellow River to the north, pointing to the sky as an oath.

What he said, "I am willing to guarantee his own life, and the Emperor of Chu will definitely fulfill his promise and release the horses after receiving them."

Seeing that Sima Yingnan was so confident, Huluguang felt funny: Who should he deceive, whoever he believes is a fool!

I will hand over my life and tens of thousands of soldiers just because of your words and let others die?

But he planned to delay time and find a way to make a plan to see if he could find a way out for himself and his soldiers.

Sima Xiaonan vowed to finish his swearing and agreed with Huluguang that he would give a correct letter after an hour, so he asked a follower to leave and report the letter to the Emperor of Chu. He stayed by himself to show sincerity.

Seeing that Sima Yingnan looked open and honest, Huluguang felt uneasy. He was afraid that the other party would stay, so he secretly contacted the generals in the army, which would shake people's hearts.

He also made a frank statement: "Sima Gong does not need to be a hostage, and go back to report to the king of Chu. After an hour, I will send an envoy to give a reply."

Sima Xiaonan said nothing, and left quickly. Huluguang walked to the gate of the foot barrier and watched Sima Xiaonan get off the mound, rode his horse and left, heading eastward, gradually moving away.

Within an hour, you must come up with a way to survive with the soldiers.

He did not believe in any promises, nor would he hand over the horses, and the warriors could not put down their weapons, horses, bow to the enemy, begging the other party to give up their hands.

"Li Li wants us to share a way out, haha, everyone..." Hu Luguang stopped halfway through his words.

His eyes fell on the dilapidated stone incense platform in front of the temple.

Just now, Sima Huan was burning paper in the incense table. The fire has now been extinguished, but smoke is still coming out in the incense table. What's going on?

Strange...

But he soon remembered the serious business and looked at the generals again: "Transferring the war horses will only bring shame on yourself, and placing the expectations of returning on the other party's so-called promises is stupid!"

"Li Li must have been cunning, so he wanted to delay time so that the Chu army could join the encirclement, so..."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet.

It seemed as if time had passed slowly, Huluguang felt the foot trembling violently, and then a huge force burst out from the ground, pushing him upwards.

He saw the dust in front of him, mixed with fire and smoke, wrapping everyone present and flying upwards.

He saw many people's bodies start to rotate, fragmented, and then his vision also rotated.

The body seemed to have lost consciousness, and he flew into the sky in a spiral.

While rotating, he saw the thick smoke rolling ground, and he was getting farther and farther away from the ground, and a large number of soldiers and horses were distributed around the mound like ants.

He seemed to have turned into a wild goose, soaring in the sky, looking down at the vast earth.

Before the loss of consciousness, Huluguang sighed in his heart: It turns out that the feeling of flying is like this...

In the distance, Sima, who was riding a horse, was buzzing with his ears by the huge thunder just now. He turned around and looked at the mound where the small temple was located, and saw thick smoke rising from the entire mound.

The top of the hill disappeared into the smoke, but fortunately he walked fast, otherwise...

According to the emperor's request, he came to see Huluguang under the name of "negotiating transactions", and then found a way to light a fire on the incense table in front of the small temple to create this "thunder" that shakes the world.
To be continued...