Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Faith and Conflict

The Prime Minister's Mansion of Prime Minister Zhuge is located in the south of Nanzheng City. It is separated from the outside city by a tall wall;The outside of the mansion is connected to all the main roads in the city, and there are four nineteen-foot-tall sentry towers at the four corners, which are monitored by guards day and night.It used to be the place where Zhang Lu offered sacrifices to heaven, and later it was changed into the residence of the Prime Minister's Mansion in Hanzhong.The earliest office of the Prime Minister's Mansion was Zhang Lu's bedroom in the middle of Nanzheng City. Later, the cautious Prime Minister Zhuge moved from the bedroom to the current place in order to avoid being said to have a separatist heart.

The capital of the Kingdom of Shu is Chengdu, but whenever Prime Minister Zhuge goes to Hanzhong to preside over state affairs, this is the real heart of the entire Kingdom of Shu.However, the building itself is not as gorgeous as its function. It is just three rows of ordinary brick and stone bungalows connected by plain tile-roofed corridors, all painted in cool colors.Three mulberry trees are planted between each house, and there are fast horses and messengers in front of the gate at twelve hours of the day and night.This shows from one aspect the administrative efficiency and pragmatic attitude of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

When Yang Yi came to the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, it was almost midnight.However, according to the schedule of the Prime Minister's Mansion, it was still office hours, so when Yang Yi asked to see Prime Minister Zhuge, the guards did not show any surprise at all. Yang Yi walked into the gate after being checked, and walked down the long corridor to Zhuge Liang's study with ease, full of anger.What happened to Xun Xu in the sixth crossbow machine workshop made him extremely annoyed.Yang Yi is a person with a small mind and a sensitive mind, and he cannot tolerate even a little doubt about his sphere of influence.This embarrassing incident is especially unacceptable to Yang Yi, because behind the military that confronts Si Wencao is his deadly enemy Wei Yan.

The grievances between Wei Yan and Yang Yi can be traced back to the period of the First Lord Liu Bei.At that time, Yang Yi was a staff member of the former general Guan Yu, who was in charge of the Jingzhou military area in the Shu Han Dynasty. Later, he was appreciated by the former master Liu Bei and was promoted to General Zuo Bing Cao Jun;Around the same period, Wei Yan, who had been unknown in the army, suddenly emerged and was entrusted by Liu Bei with the important task of defending Hanzhong. He jumped from a mid-level officer to a general who guarded Hanzhong.His legendary experience has become the focus of the public, making Yang Yi's story forgotten.

From then on, Yang Yi began to harbor jealousy and hatred towards Wei Yan.After the war between Shu and Wu, Yang Yi offended his immediate superior Shang Shu Ling Liu Ba, and was appointed as the prefect of Hongnong for "health reasons"-this is a title with black humor, because Hongnong is in the sphere of influence of Cao Wei; at this time Wei Yan, who presided over the defense work on the northern border of the Shu Han, has won a high reputation in the army, and his status is rising day by day, which makes Yang Yi's jealousy increase several times. After Liu Bei defeated Baidi City, the Kingdom of Shu officially entered the era of Zhuge Liang.Zhuge Liang took a fancy to Yang Yi's logistics planning ability, so he transferred him to the Prime Minister's Mansion to handle trivial logistical matters such as farming, material transportation and management; while Wei Yan was included in Zhuge Liang's staff as a military expert in Hanzhong and Longxi.This was the first time the two of them worked together face to face, and Wei Yan hated Yang Yi extremely from the very first sight, so the two became incompatible almost instantly.

Zhuge Liang has been trying to make up for this rift, but at most he can only make these two people restrain themselves a little bit in front of him, and secretly try their best to embarrass each other.Once, the helpless Zhuge Liang asked Wei Yan: "Why do you hate Wei Gong (Yang Yi's character) so much? Is it natural?" "It's natural." Wei Yan replied seriously. Huang Xi beat the investigators of the Jing'an Division. From Yang Yi's point of view, this was tantamount to Wei Yan slapping his face. He even felt that his face had started to twitch. "This damn slave must pay the price!" Yang Yi murmured viciously to herself, and then spat on the ground.

He walked to Zhuge Liang's study and saw that the lights were still on in front of the study. Prime Minister Zhuge was a rare hardworking bureaucrat who had to work until the early hours of the morning every day without taking a break.So he asked the doorman to report, and the doorman looked at him with a strange embarrassment on his face: "Yang Canjun, the prime minister has been waiting for you for a long time." Yang Yi was slightly surprised, then raised her legs and walked into the room.He hadn't stepped over the threshold with his other leg, and as soon as he raised his head, he immediately understood why the doorman had such a strange expression.

I saw Prime Minister Zhuge sitting behind a red sandalwood table, wearing a fleece fur to keep out the cold, and holding a white goose fan; standing next to him was a black-faced man in armor, Wei Yan and Wei Wenchang. "..." Yang Yi and Wei Yan's eyes intertwined, neither of them spoke.Different from Yang Yi, Wei Yan had an unconcealable pride on his face.Prime Minister Zhuge put down the goose feather fan, spread his hands and waved them downwards, signaling for the two to sit down.Yang Yi reacted quickly and knelt to the left first, Wei Yan had no choice but to choose the right.

"Wei Gong, I've heard about what happened in the Sixth Crossbow Machine Workshop today." Prime Minister Zhuge said kindly, Yang Yi leaned forward and said anxiously: "Prime Minister, don't listen to Wei Yan's one-sided words. He is protecting his subordinates to commit crimes!" Wei Yan's eyes widened, and Huo Di stood up and shouted: "Mice, do you want the villain to sue first?" Yang Yi ignored him, and continued to say to Prime Minister Zhuge: "The people in the Jing'an Department followed the normal procedure to request the inspection of the household registration. The attackers made things difficult for various reasons, not only wounded the investigators, but also illegally detained them, simply ignoring the law."

"Stop talking nonsense here! It is clear that you are going to force your way in and interfere with our army's preparations for combat." Wei Yan yelled, looking at his expression, it was as if he was about to eat Yang Yi.Prime Minister Zhuge hurriedly picked up the goose feather fan and placed it between the two of them, his tone became more serious: "You two, calm down!" The two of them knelt back angrily, and Wei Yan still pressed his hand on the handle of the saber, as if to pull it out. The sword scares Yang Yi. "Now our biggest enemy is Cao Wei in the north. We need the whole army to be united in order to win. The two of you fight each other all day long and create confrontation within the Shu army. Wouldn't this make relatives feel pain and enemies feel happy?" Prime Minister Zhuge's tone was gentle, but his attitude was very strict. "Although the division of labor between the Jing'an Division and the Military Armament Workshop is different, they are both loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. The matter of the crossbow machine workshop is just a misunderstanding."

Prime Minister Zhuge decided on the nature of this matter, but Yang Yi was not reconciled, and still argued: "Prime Minister, you probably don't understand the seriousness of this matter. Currently there are unidentified Wei Guo spies operating in Nanzheng, waiting for the opportunity Steal the latest crossbow technology from our army. If he is not caught as soon as possible, the consequences will be disastrous." Wei Yan sneered, and made a disdainful gesture: "Then what have you achieved so far? I have more dogs than you have caught... Prime Minister, in order to prepare for the upcoming spring offensive, crossbows and other technical weapons have been deployed in various places. The proportion of military equipment must reach 40% to 45%, and the production progress of the military workshop cannot be delayed for a moment." This time it was Yang Yi's turn to be disdainful: "Mediocre people, if I manage, this target has already been reached." "Bah! Many people in Wang Ping's Wudang army got food poisoning the day before yesterday. Who supplied the food and who was in charge of the quality control?" "Who knows, maybe someone is jealous of General Wang Ping's achievements and deliberately poisoned him." Yang Yi squinted at Wei Yan meaningfully, her beard curled up and down, obviously very proud of her counterattack.During the two Northern Expeditions, Wang Ping was the only general in the Shu army who was promoted, while Wei Yan not only had his own military plan rejected, but was also demoted due to the defeat of the Shu army.There have been rumors in the army that Wei Yan is dissatisfied with Wang Ping. Hearing his words, Wei Yan flew into a rage, got up and kicked the case away, rushed to Yang Yi with two big strides, stretched out his giant palm and grabbed Yang Yi's slender neck, with a "shua" sound He pulled out his saber and laid the blade across his throat. "You dog slave! You say it again?!" Bing Feng was at her vital point, Yang Yi's face turned pale green all of a sudden, her lips trembled greatly, but she couldn't say anything.Prime Minister Zhuge didn't expect Wei Yan to move so fast. He was startled at first, and then hurriedly shouted: "Wei Yan! What are you doing! Put him down!" Hearing the prime minister's scolding, Wei Yan swiped his sword at his throat before letting go.Yang Yi suddenly collapsed on the ground, struggled to climb to the side of Prime Minister Zhuge, hugged his calf in shock and gasped, "Prime Minister save me, Prime Minister save me..." He who was still complacent just now burst into tears, embarrassed To the extreme.As a technocrat who only deals with paperwork in the rear all day long, the real sense of threat with the blade in his throat magnifies his fear infinitely. "Master Wen, you are threatening officials with weapons, you should know the consequences, right?" Zhuge Prime Minister reprimanded with a sullen face, this reckless guy actually did such a thing in front of him, and the Prime Minister felt that even his own authority was challenged.After hearing what the prime minister said, Wei Yan obediently put down his saber, knelt on the ground with one leg, and made a gesture of pleading guilty, but kept his eyes on Yang Yi, admiring his ugly appearance with relish. Prime Minister Zhuge looked down at the squirming Yang Yi, and sighed silently... This incident spread like wildfire in Nanzheng City the next day, and soon everyone knew that Yang Canjun of the Prime Minister's Mansion was frightened and cried by General Wei Yan, and it became the most popular topic in the streets and alleys.Prime Minister Zhuge didn't want to make this matter public, so he only punished Wei Yan internally; however, Wei Yan and other soldiers seemed to regard this as a kind of honor and showed it off repeatedly. On the contrary, the entire Siwencao and Jing'an Division felt that they couldn't hold their heads up, and it was ashamed to follow this boss.But this is not entirely a bad thing. As one of the consequences of this incident, the military finally approved Jing'an Division to enter the Sixth Crossbow Machine Workshop to investigate the files of craftsmen. Some people said that this was due to the pressure of Prime Minister Zhuge, but the military personnel Insist that it's because "there's always a bill to be paid after watching the sideshow". In any case, this has a positive impact on Xun Xu's work.It happened that two intelligence analysts from the Military Advisory Department sent by Hu Zhong to support the work also came to report, so on February 27, Xun Xu sent them to the Sixth Crossbow Machine Workshop to do a new household registration analysis. After sending them off, Xun Xu immediately sent his confidants to secretly summon Pei Xu, the captain of Jing'an Division.He has been brewing a plan in his heart. The current work has not made any real progress. He needs a big breakthrough, so he must take the initiative. Pei Xu is twenty-five years old this year, and his native place is Wenxi in Hedong. He moved to Yizhou with his parents when he was a child, and joined the Jing'an Department two years ago.In addition to his sense of humor, Pei Xu has a tacit understanding with his boss; he is meticulous in his work, good at calculation, and has been in charge of the planning and design of the action team.In addition, he also knows some fighting skills and Danqing drawing, which is said to be an ancestral skill. "Xun Zong, are you looking for me?" Pei Xu asked as soon as he entered the door, and Xun Xu nodded.Pei Xu is wearing a plain skirt today, the cuffs and elbows are stained with ink, obviously he was busy with his homework just now. "How is your work over there?" Xun Xu asked someone to serve him a cup of tea. "It's going well. The maps of the three urban areas of Nanzheng have been drawn. It's just that the progress is relatively slow because the score rate is set too high." "Hehe, your drawing skills are really superb, even Prime Minister Zhuge praised you." Pei Xu smiled embarrassedly, and replied humbly: "No, these are the 'six bodies of cartography' passed down from generation to generation in my hometown in Hedong, and I am just applying them." They didn't know that in Wenxi, more than a thousand miles away from them, a five-year-old boy named Pei Xiu from Pei Xu's clan would carry forward the "six bodies of drawing" decades later. After drinking a cup of tea, Xun Xu got to the point and revealed his plan to Pei Xu.After hearing this, Pei Xu was quite shocked. He looked at Xun Xu in disbelief, and didn't speak for a long time. "Do you think this plan is feasible?" Hearing Xun Xu's question, Pei Xu nodded with difficulty: "Technically, there is no problem. But you also know that in this environment, the risk is too great. Just yesterday, Yang Canjun The matter? Now go to stimulate the military..." "The risk is always lower than sending troops out of Meridian Valley." Xun Xu said with a smile.Soldiers leaving Ziwu Valley is an allusion in Sichuan: Before the first Northern Expedition began, Wei Yan once proposed a plan to attack Chang'an via Ziwu Valley in the lower reaches of the Western Han Dynasty. This plan was rejected by Prime Minister Zhuge because it was too risky.Since then, "Soldiers from Ziwu Valley" has become synonymous with high risk in Shu. "But it involves the Five Dou Rice Sect, does Lord Feng know about it?" "I told him that I wouldn't touch Wudou Rice Cult..." Xun Xu smiled slyly, "But I didn't promise not to investigate them." Pei Xu began to feel sweat streaming down his forehead, and his boss was a little too courageous. big. Xun Xu poured him another cup of tea, and said sincerely, "Uncle Zhi, I just want to catch the mouse out as soon as possible. All other problems are secondary. You must help me." Faced with this request, Pei Xu After a moment of hesitation, it was the young man's passion that finally prevailed: "Okay, I'll do my best." "Very well, thank you. You immediately go to the action team to find a few reliable people, say to perform a confidential task, and call them over. You will form an independent action team, and you will only be responsible to me." "Understood." "You estimate the possible situation, and draw up several action records in different situations as soon as possible. I will allocate the necessary equipment to you." "Okay, need details?" "I don't need it for the time being, I will personally handle the preliminary work, and you will discuss the specific details of the action after completion." Xun Xu said here, emphasizing: "All this must be done in a confidential state, even if it is the other departments of the Jing'an Division. People can't know about it. If Master Feng finds out, he will definitely die...Of course, don't worry, I will take all the responsibilities." "Everything is for the revival of the Han Dynasty." Pei Xu replied solemnly.Since the first Northern Expedition, this slogan has been liked by the officers and officials of the young and strong faction. "Very well, you go and get ready." "still have a question." "What is it?" "What is the code name of our operation team?" "...Uh, Channel 5." The Jingan Department has a total of four stations. The first station is in charge of tracking, surveillance and intelligence collection; the second station is in charge of handwriting identification, documents and psychological portraits; the third station is responsible for specific pursuit operations; Liaison and reception work of other divisions.Xun Xu's meaning is obvious, Pei Xu's group will be the fifth invisible station in the Jing'an Division. After Pei Xu left, Xun Xu took care of several other tasks. Currently, the work of checking the household registration in various places has not been completed, and there are no reports of suspicious persons at the checkpoints. It is scheduled to arrive in March.Xun Xu's eyes were sour, he had to put down the file and rubbed his eyes, and couldn't help sighing: He always thought that Jing'an Division's work was like a scavenger. It was immediately apparent. He looked at the sky outside, got up and took out a wooden box from the bamboo stand behind him, which contained a stack of humble silks cut into eight-inch squares, which was Xun Xu's personal collection that he had saved from his salary all along.He took out a modest sheet and carefully spread it on the desk, then picked up the brush and started writing.This is neither an official document nor a report, but a home letter to his wife and children in Chengdu. For Xun Xu, this is the best rest. In the afternoon, Xun Xu ordered someone to pass a post to Cheng Fan, saying that he hoped to have a drink together.The latter happily agreed. Xun Xu chose to eat at his own home.He lived alone and never started a business. He directly ordered food and drinks from outside and delivered them to his home.Cheng Fan and Jiu Cai arrived at about the same time, and praised the aroma of Jiu Cai as soon as they entered the door.After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two began to exchange glasses. After drinking for three rounds, Cheng Fan's face was reddish, he opened his front, and raised his glass to Xun Xu: "Xiaohe, why did you think of looking for me for dinner today?" Xun Xu smiled and picked up the copper spoon and poured it for him again After drinking a glass of wine, he said, "To be honest, I want to ask you for a favor this time." "Oh, tell me, as long as my wife doesn't object, I will help you to the end." "That's right, you have a good relationship with General Ma Dai, right?" "Yeah, I'm also from Fufeng Maoling. But my branch entered Sichuan very early, unlike Ma Chao and Ma Dai's clan, who almost died, haha." Seeing that there was no one around, Xun Xu said to Cheng Fan, "I would like you to introduce General Ma Dai to me. I want to make friends with him." "What?!" Cheng Fan was shocked when he heard the words, and raised his head to look directly at Xun Xu, "Xiao and you..." "how?" "Didn't you hear what happened to Yang Yi yesterday? Now the relationship between the military and Si Wencao is troublesome enough. If you go to see General Ma, wouldn't that add to the trouble? Neither Yang Yi nor General Wei can spare you." .” "Hey, it's okay, don't you think we both drink together too? It's just a personal matter for me to find General Ma." "This……" Seeing Cheng Fan's hesitation, Xun Xu said, "As long as Brother Cheng doesn't say anything, I don't say anything, and General Ma Dai doesn't say anything, isn't it all the same? Come, drink this cup." "But..." Cheng Fan still couldn't make up his mind. He was afraid that Wei Yan would find out that he would retaliate against him, and he was also afraid that Yang Yi would put on his shoes—he was responsible for all the supplies of the Nanzheng garrison—this man The spirit of joining the army is well known throughout the Shu Han. "Actually, you don't need to come forward, Brother Cheng. You only need to write a letter with General Ma Dai, and I will go to visit myself." "Then, that's fine." Only then did Cheng Fan make up his mind. On February 28th, Xun Xu got up early, came to the "Taoist Temple" to explain his work, took some documents, and went to General Ma Dai's residence with two Jing'an Department officials in military uniform. Ma Dai's apartment is a very ordinary house, which is quite shabby compared with other generals' residences.The painted surface of the pillars in front of the door is broken, the outline of the lintel is blurred, and there are not even the red lanterns and auspicious ears of grain that ordinary people hang.People walking in the alley may miss this house if they are not paying attention, because it is so inconspicuous.Either the owner is extremely poor, or he is autistic and afraid of attracting attention. In addition to emphasizing the collection of empirical evidence, the Jing'an Department of the Shu State also regarded psychological research as an important field.A person's mental state can be analyzed from his behavior, expression and speech, which is very useful for counter-espionage work and interrogation.The earliest advocate of this theory was Xu Shao, a famous scholar from Runan in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.At that time, Xu Shao was famous for his knowledge of people. In fact, he judged the psychological state of the other party by observing their behavior, and then evaluated the character of the whole person.This theory was only used to judge characters at first, and was later introduced to Shuzhong by Jingzhou scholars who followed Liu Bei, and gradually developed into a unique auxiliary technology by Shu Han Si Wencao. From the first time he noticed Ma Dai, Xun Xu felt that this person had been under a lot of pressure, and this pressure came from inner fear.Xun Xu was even more convinced of this after the two of them went to the Military Technical Department together last time.A few days ago, he asked special staff to make a psychological portrait of Ma Dai, and he concluded that Ma Dai is currently in a state of anxiety, lacking sufficient sense of security and trust in his situation.His cautiousness, autism and low-key are self-protection in order to avoid attracting excessive ideas from the outside world and increasing his sense of insecurity.He may be suffering from some kind of stomach problem or insomnia. However, the psychological portrait also points out that this psychological state is unlikely to be derived from Ma Dai's history.Although Ma Dai has a background in political exile and was once suspected, that kind of psychological shadow is not enough to explain his current situation.The conclusion is that there must be a factor that makes Ma Dai restless.Xun Xu knew what it was. When the three of them came to the door of Ma Dai's house, Xun Xu stepped aside first, letting the two minor officials in military uniforms knock on the door first.After the door rang five times, Ma Dai opened the door himself. When he saw that there were two military uniformed officials standing in front of the door, his expression was not quite right. "General Ma Dai? The humble post belongs to Siwen Cao Jing'an." One of them took out his token, and when he heard the name, Ma Dai shook his body, managed to calm his mind, and forced a smile: "What's the matter, both of you?" "That's right, we want to ask you something about the illegal organization of Five Dou Rice Sect." "This... I have never had any contact with them." "However, there are witnesses to prove that you had contact with at least two believers on September 26 last year." "..." Ma Dai looked as if he was about to faint, and he could barely stand while holding on to the door frame with his right hand.Xun Xu felt that the time was almost up, so he walked over pretending to be ignorant, and said hello heartily: "Hey, General Ma, stay safe!" Ma Dai looked up at him, then at the two officials, his face became even paler.Xun Xu said to the two petty officials, "Huh? What are you doing at General Ma's house?" The two petty officials told the whole story, Xun Xu's face darkened, and he shouted, "Presumptuous, General Ma is the pillar of the country. How did you suspect the senior general without investigation?" The two petty officials were submissive by Xun Xu's training, Ma Dai heard from the side, and finally regained a little bit of energy. "How can you be careless about this kind of thing, give me that record, and I will handle it myself, you guys go back!" After Xun Xu finished speaking, he reached out to take out the surveillance record from their waists, waved them away, and then turned around to give Ma Dai a comforting smile.Ma Dai hurriedly welcomed him into the house and locked the door again. Ma Dai's room is furnished in the same style as the outside, they are as simple as possible.The only thing that stands out are the two portraits hanging in the middle of the hall, one is Ma Teng and the other is Ma Chao. The two are on horses, with spears in their hands, in a heroic posture.Below the portrait is an incense burner and two tablets. Ma Dai deliberately took out a carpet and put it on the upper seat, asked Xun Xu to sit down, rubbed his hands and asked: "Why did Lord Xun suddenly think of coming to visit me?" "Oh, I was introduced by Master Chengfan Ma. Last time, the Military Technician was taken care of, and I have been wanting to have a good talk with you." Xun Xu said while handing Chengfan's letter to Ma Dai from his bosom.After reading the letter, Ma Dai felt a little more at ease.It's better to know a friend of Jing'an Division than not at all. The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, and Xun Xu cleverly used the gap in the conversation to get to the point: "However, how did Mr. Ma get involved with followers of the Five Dou Rice Sect?" "It... doesn't have anything to do with it." Ma Dai lifted his heart just now.Xun Xu glanced at him suspiciously, then looked at the surveillance record in his hand, and sighed softly. Xun Xu's strategy of applying pressure slowly has obviously worked. Ma Dai is an extremely sensitive person who likes to judge the opponent's hints from the details of his movements, so he can transmit the pressure to the On Ma Dai. "General Ma, you know my responsibilities. If there is no explanation that satisfies all parties, it will be difficult for me to cover up this matter... Especially recently, there has been a little misunderstanding between Si Wencao and the military. Things seem to be more interesting." These half-truths, half-false, half-soft and half-hard words broke Ma Dai's psychological defenses.Ma Dai didn't know that this surveillance record had long been marked as "not transferred"; he also didn't know that Xun Xu was doing this behind Feng Ying and the entire Jing'an Department.If there is a little carelessness, the first unlucky one is not Ma Dai, but Xun Xu.Xun Xu is like a juggler from the Western Regions, using Ma Dai's panic to balance on the psychological tightrope. Ma Dai cautiously moved the tea cup and fruit plate towards Xun Xu, and said in a low voice: "Master Xun...cough...Actually, things are not as you imagined." Xun Xu knew that the other party had loosened up, and he succeeded in this adventure. "So, what is the truth?" "It's like this..." After Ma Dai knelt back to the desk, he said in a dry and dry tone, "At the beginning of September last year, I found a leaflet in front of my house one day, which said five buckets of rice. The runes, probably, I don't know. I was shocked at the time, and I burned the thing, and no one said anything. After a few days, these things appeared every day, and I was a little scared, you know Yes... on September 26th, suddenly two people came to visit me, a man and a woman." "Well, it matches the record." Xun Xu thought to himself. "They claim to be the ghost soldiers of the Five Dou Rice Sect, and they claim to have a letter from my colleague Pang De on them." "Pang De died in Jingzhou in the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an." "It's like this, I know it very well, so I didn't believe it at all. The purpose of those two people is to hope that I can secretly contact Cao Wei, act as an insider for them, and promise to take the title of Governor of Liangzhou and the title of Township Marquis. I am very impressed. The Former Lord and Prime Minister Zhuge are so kind, how could they listen to their words, of course they refused. They left, that's all." "Why didn't you report it immediately?" Ma Dai smiled wryly: "Master Xun, I'm telling you the truth. I'm afraid that after I report it, I'll be censored by your Jing'an department all the time. Even if I can't find anything, I will be suspected. I'm afraid." "Oh, Brother Ma, you are really worrying too much." Xun Xu comforted him, thinking to himself: "The people of the Five Dou Rice Sect have really poisonous eyes. They figured out that Ma Dai would not report, so they came here in a big way. Then he swaggered away. It seems that the fact that Wei Guo used the remnants of the Five Dou Rice Sect to establish an intelligence network in Hanzhong has been confirmed once again." "I told you all, Mr. Xun." "Oh..." Xun Xu slowly picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, "Brother Ma, what's missing?" "No, it's really gone?" "Didn't they leave you any secret contact information when they left?" One of the basic common sense of espionage work is to keep the intelligence channels open.For a person like Ma Dai who is indecisive and dare not reveal his secrets, even if the spy in charge of wooing him fails this time, he will definitely leave a one-way contact method so that he can reconnect in the future when the target changes his mind.It is impossible for Ma Dai to hide these things in front of a senior intelligence officer like Xun Xu, and Xun Xu can tell that he is not clean just by his wandering eyes. "Oh, yes, yes, I forgot." Ma Dai laughed awkwardly, "They said that if one day there is a willingness in this regard, they will go to the phoenix tree next to the Xuanwu Pond next to Zhumadian in the west district of Nanzheng City to use red wine The cloth strips are entangled in the tree roots beside the stele. Someone will contact me." After saying this, Ma Dai wiped the sweat off his neck and said, "Master Xun, I really said everything this time." "Oh……" Xun Xu knew that Ma Dai had indeed confessed everything this time, but technically speaking, he still had to be skeptical in order to maintain the pressure.Xun Xu drank tea leisurely under Ma Dai's uneasy gaze, wiped his mouth with his cuff, closed his eyes for a while, and then said slowly: "Brother Ma, our Jing'an Division knows that you are loyal. It's just that the public opinion is still undecided, and you also know that the rumors are fierce. The three of them can become a tiger. No one knows what will happen when the time comes. Personally, I don't know. May you bear these stigmas, Brother Ma." "Extremely true, extremely true." "So, I came up with a good idea. Brother Ma, you might as well cooperate with our Jing'an Division. As long as you attract those two believers of the Five Dou Rice Sect, I guarantee in the name of the director of the Jing'an Division that your file will be dry. Clean, not a single blemish." At this time, Ma Dai had already obeyed Xun Xu's words, and just nodded "yes" and "yes".Xun Xu thought with some self-mockery: "In addition to my charges of acting without authorization, I'm afraid I can add another charge of intimidating senior officers. If Wei Yan finds out, he must cut off my head." At this time, Ma Dai hesitated and said: "But...Master Xun, I have a request. The matter of my cooperation with you must never be made public, and no one can say anything about it." "Of course, as long as we cooperate happily, no one else will know about it." Xun Xu nodded with airs, but secretly smiled inwardly: "Even if you don't say this, I will let you keep it a secret. If it is made public, I will die earlier than you." "Then when will it start?" Ma Dai asked, for him, the sooner the better, so that he doesn't have to worry about it. "I will send someone to inform you of the specific details of the operation later...don't worry, they are all reliable people inside, and their mouths are very tight." After saying this, Xun Xu got up and said that he was about to leave. Ma Dai, who didn't know the inside story, hastily sent him off behind. After walking out of the gate, Xun Xu let out a long breath. It seemed that he had won the gamble this time.But this is just the first one, and the gambling game is still not over.From Ma Dai's thread, he could find the remnants of the Five Dou Rice Sect, so did those remnants really collude with the spies sent by Cao Wei?If not, then Xun Xu is doing useless work in a direction that has no results. "But it doesn't matter, anyway, everything you do now is useless." Xun Xu said to himself, and then he was relieved. It is rare to see an optimist like him in the intelligence department. On the same day, two military advisers sent by Xun Xu arrived at the Sixth Crossbow Machine Workshop, but they had to ride their horses and stand on the side of the road, holding their noses and waiting patiently, because a team was carrying pigs, pheasants, ducks and their The wagons of stinky excrement are driving into the workshop camp.This is a convoy that regularly delivers food supplies to the workshops. The drivers and handymen are all farmers from nearby villages and towns who are on duty for this year's corvee. After the convoy stopped at the school yard of the workshop, the farmers wearing cloth scarves jumped out of the car one after another and began to carry food according to the instructions of the officials on board the car.In order to increase efficiency, the person in charge of the workshop also sent some craftsmen to help.Many of these craftsmen are of Hanzhong nationality, and they are fellow villagers with the farmers on mission, some of them are even relatives, so they chatted and shouted excitedly to each other while working, or asked each other to bring a message to their families; , the hogs driven out of their comfortable pens screamed loudly and huddled together; the wild ducks with loud voices could not flap their wings bound by ropes, so they also roared out their anger; He snorted in disgust and wanted to leave as soon as possible.For a time, all kinds of voices rang out in the entire school grounds, both lively and chaotic. Among them, more than a dozen farmers were responsible for carrying the vegetables, and each of them carried a bag of dried vegetables, and they lined up in a single file and walked towards the granary.Suddenly, a guy in a tattered black shirt in the team stepped on a pile of pig feces, his whole body slipped heavily on the ground with an "oops", and rolled under a nearby cart.After a while, the unlucky ghost got up unsteadily from under the cart, picked up the dry vegetable bag from the ground and continued to carry it, but his clothes were much cleaner than before the fall.After a while, from the other side of the same cart, a muddy farmer also slowly got up, and he joined in the labor as if nothing had happened.In the chaos, no one noticed this detail at all, and the guards were already dazzled by just looking at the pigs and ducks. The loading and unloading work lasted for half a day, and finally the chaos finally ended before lunch began.The exhausted farmers ate the rough food distributed in a few mouthfuls, and then climbed into the car one after another to sleep soundly.The coachmen, who had no rest, lifted the feed trough under the cart and put it back on the cart while cursing, ready to set off.These gray wooden troughs, which are only one size smaller than the thin coffins, were originally placed at the back of the cart to store feed. The driver hoisted them to the bottom of the cart before departure to make room for the goods. When the empty cart returned, these heavy and bulky troughs were reinstalled. After the guy put it back in the car. One of the carts had only one-third of the fodder in the feed trough, obviously less than the other carts.A tired farmer has already spotted this good place, and as soon as he got in the car, he climbed in and lay down in the soft grass to snore.When the convoy left the workshop, the conscientious guards carefully counted the number of people entering and leaving, and they were consistent, and then waved and opened the wooden fence to let them leave. In the granary of the Sixth Ballista Workshop, Mi Chong, who was dressed in black, quietly hid among the piles of dried vegetables and corn bags, waiting for the night to fall.