Chapter 31 Section VI

According to the "gentlemen's agreement" between the two parties, Ma Kuo went to find Liu Di early in the morning the next day (this was a very important day). Liu Fan of the "Gentleman" broke the agreement first and was not at home.Ma Kuo was told that Staff Liu had an urgent business and had gone to the front line early in the morning, and Lian Ziyu was not at home.Of course, Ma Kuo couldn't be the tail student of Baozhu, he always waited at his house, afraid that he would find some new tricks when he went to the front line, so he hurriedly rode out of the city and rushed to the command headquarters.Sure enough, Zhong Shidao told him that Liu Fan had come to put pressure on him early in the morning.

"Officer Liu came to urge the withdrawal of troops again," Zhong Shidao said angrily, "He is aggressive and unreasonable. How can I speak against him? If Yue Zhao is here, teach him a lesson. A meal will make you happy!" "Jia Yue also has a fiery temper. If he disagrees with him, he slaps the table and yells at each other. He can't help convincing others." "Staff Liu kept saying that it was Tong Xuanfu who asked him to pass on the order of the class teacher. If there is anything wrong, I'm the only one who asks. He just blindly pushes people with power, and I don't see where he thinks of the word "convincing people with reason."

"This is strange!" Ma Kuo said in amazement, "Yesterday Tong Xuanfu repeatedly told my nephew Yu that as long as Staff Liu can be persuaded, he himself still advocates the idea of ​​entering the army. This is either Staff Liu lying to his face, or Tong Guan is deceitful. Nephew Yu doesn't think Tong Guan is like this." Then Ma Kuo told Zhong Shidao about his conversation with Tong Guan. "Listen to his words and watch his deeds," Zhong Shidao shook his head, admonishing Ma Kuo with a skeptical attitude, "That guy Tong Guan has said a lot of good things, so which time is he right? Nephew Don't trust him too much." On the one hand, there is also a glimmer of hope because of Tong Guan's performance.

"Could it be that Tong Guan is also afraid that the imperial court will be surprised and it will be difficult to pay an account, so he wants me to stand up and see the effect?" Thinking of this, Zhong Shidao agreed to Ma Kuo. If Liu Fan came to urge him again, he must use Ma Kuo. The relayed words pushed him back.Attitude seems to be more determined than yesterday. After getting the promise of being a teacher, Ma Kuo hurried back to Xiongzhou to see Tong Guan.Tong Guan's attendant told him with a firm but somewhat suspicious attitude that Xuanfu was having secret talks with the overseer sent by the imperial court in the inner room, and that he was not allowed to see anyone else at this moment.

"Where is another supervisor sent?" Ma Kuo asked strangely. "Cui Shi, the military supervisor, is Yifu's old colleague in Jiangnan." "Is there anyone else talking in there?" "There is also Xueshi Cai." "Staff Liu is also in there?" The attendant shook his head and said he didn't know. Ma Kuo was helpless.I had no choice but to turn around and come out, and then went to look for Liu Fan, and still came to find him.Ma Kuo took this time to go to the hotel to deal with Wang Jieru.Wang Jieru is a seasoned diplomat, he has known the situation on the front line for a long time, but with a calm attitude, he only asks to meet Tong Guan earlier.Ma Kuo spoke politely with him, and agreed to act on camera.This is of course empty talk, Wang Jieru nodded and stopped talking.

Ma Kuo entrusted a follower yesterday to inquire about Zhao Jie's family.The attendant came back today and said that no one could be found.It turned out that the army retreated in a panic, and everyone was too busy to take care of themselves. Of course, no one would take care of the people outside the city and the Han'er returning from the south. Ma Kuo was worried, and when he went out of the city for the second time, he went to inquire again.When I met a few Nangui people, they all said that they didn't know where the people from the Zhao family had gone. "I got away and came back," Ma Kuo recalled with a very heavy heart, "but I don't know where the elder brother and the Sha brothers are trapped? Even the elder sister-in-law is gone, which makes me worry about it, and I can't let it go. I have to stop In two days, go inquire again."

There are countless things to consider in Ma Kuo's mind, and countless things to do in his hands.For example, regarding the defense plan of Xiongzhou City, when he entered and exited the city gate twice, he drew up a plan in his mind. He had to form horns with the army outside the city in order to have both defense and defense.This Tong Guan did not entrust him, but entrusted the Shengjie Army. After the defeat on the 26th, this army withdrew into the city to protect the Xuanfu Division.This is an unreliable army. Ma Kuo was chilled when he saw that they were doing nothing but not doing what they were supposed to do.

But on the second day of June.Ma Kuo tried to exclude everything else and concentrated on what he considered the most critical issue of troop withdrawal. War is a means of resolving the general contradiction between the enemy and ourselves.But not only on the enemy's side, but even within one's own side, there are various contradictions, which often have the counterproductive effect of weakening the sum of our own forces and hindering the smooth resolution of the general contradiction between ourselves and the enemy.When the situation is smooth, this internal contradiction is temporarily covered up, and its reaction is temporarily suppressed to a minimum.But when the situation develops in the opposite direction, it will be fully exposed, and sometimes it may even produce a powerful destructive effect that the enemy cannot produce, and become the main cause of overall failure.However, in most cases, those who make such counterproductive efforts are not necessarily conscious, and they may not be able to realize that their own efforts have just led the war to the opposite of their subjective wish for victory and become a failure. main garden.

Ma Kuo has now become an aspect of this internal contradiction. During this day, he drove around the city and outside the city, visited Zhong Shidao twice, Wen Tongguan and Liu Fan three times each.Except for meeting Zhong Shidao himself for the first time, all other visits were in vain.When he didn't see himself, he dealt with the generals of the command, the officials of the Xuanfu Department, the guards, Liu Ziyu, Xin Yongzong and others, talked with them, inquired about news, exchanged opinions, debated and argued, and exerted his energy to the max.He used the twelve hours of the day as twenty-four hours. As long as he could convince someone to agree with him, it would not be a waste of time.But the effect he got was still zero.

Ma Kuo didn't know that his opponent—another aspect of the internal conflict was also doing the opposite of him with the same vigor and energy, coupled with their experience, sophistication, and favorable objective conditions, to destroy his activities.They cleverly evaded him, managed to get rid of him, and took advantage of his fruitless interviews and arguments to divide his time period by section, and "imprison" him in a cage of house arrest.It was an advanced form of "snap-and-go" that sent him running around, bumping into walls everywhere, and spent the day playing hide-and-seek and finding nothing.It looks like it's flying all over the sky, but in fact it can't move at all.

Ma Kuo was very angry. In the middle of the night, he couldn't bear it anymore. He ran to the Xuanfu Division for the fourth time, pushed away the guards on duty, opened the door and went straight to Tong Guan's bedroom. The sound of Tong Guan's bodyguard arguing with him woke Tong Guan from his sleep. "It's so late at night," Tong Guan heard Ma Kuo's voice clearly, separated a screen, and asked deliberately annoyed, "Who dares to come here to make noise?" "It's my Ma Kuo," he replied loudly. "This kid," Tong Guan thought, "this year's Xinzheng, he went wild in the political affairs hall, and actually confronted Wang Dazai face-to-face. Thanks to our efforts to protect him, he was able to step down. Now it's making trouble in our bed. No wonder they said he was lawless and he didn't know the heights of the heavens and the earth!" "What's the point, what's the point!" Tong Guan muttered a few words, and then asked obviously unhappy, "What's the business of Ma Xuanzan coming here at night?" "There is no conclusion yet on the question of marching troops," Ma Kuo's voice became even louder. "In the evening, Commander Xin sent a message to me, saying that Xuanfu had something to call, and he came and came to see you. Staff Liu didn't know where he went. I haven't found him for a day, and I don't know what kind of medicine is sold in the boring gourd. Now that the overall situation is in danger, and the catastrophe is about to happen, how can Xuanfu be at ease? I came here to have a talk with Xuanfu decision." Tong Guan groped for a while in the dark night, and shouted: "Bring fire!" He seemed to want to get up, but later changed his mind, lay down again, and said angrily, "Xuan Zan is really too young to do anything, withdraw troops and advance. What's the matter?" It’s a big deal, how could it be settled in just a few words! Xuan Zan should go back and rest, we can discuss tomorrow.” "I'm not leaving!" Ma Kuo replied more resolutely, hearing the sign of a change of mind in Tong Guan's words. "Xuan Zan really won't leave?" Ma Kuo simply pulled up a bench and sat down outside the screen.His actions and voice expressed great firmness. "How can I be told to go back to sleep before such a big matter has been negotiated? At noon, Xuanfu and the supervising army discussed it for more than an hour. Can there be a conclusion? Does the imperial court have a different purpose? I can't say a word from Xuanfu tonight. Just sit here overnight and never go back." As Ma Kuo's density became stronger and stronger, Tong Guan softened. "Xuan Zan is really short-tempered," he laughed again, "Xuan Zan couldn't sleep by himself, so why don't you ask us to accompany him? He came to receive Cui Jianjun at night, and only slept for one more time after the trouble. Being woken up by Xuan Zan, this day is really hard." "Who asked Xuan Fu to take on this heavy burden? As things stand today, if the troops are withdrawn into the city, disasters will happen in a matter of seconds. If the discussion fails, the morale of the front line will be shaken, and the defeat will only take a few days. If there is a slight difference in handling, the overall situation It’s unbearable to hear about it, and Xuanfu will never think about having another banquet in the future. Everyone quickly agreed on a plan to attack the army, turn the crisis into peace, and let the supervising army return to the court, so that the instructors can rest assured.” In the end Tong Guan became very gentle.He took the initiative to propose a solution, which was actually a solution to Ma Kuolai's not leaving here so that he could not sleep well. "In this case, Xuanzan and please go back. I will inform Chief Liu tomorrow that they will all come to meet me at the right time. We will discuss it on the spot and make a plan for advancing and retreating. Wouldn't it be great!" He considered "the plan for advancing and retreating." "The four words were too tactful, and Ma Kuozhi might not be able to meet Ma Kuozhi's request and sent him back, and then he added flatteringly, "My original intention for the withdrawal of troops remains the same, Xuanzan can go back at ease." In the dark night, separated by a screen, Ma Kuo could neither see Tong Guan's face nor hear his sincerity from his words.But as the governor, since he said "the original intention remains unchanged", he will not completely renege on his debt.It was impossible for Ma Kuo to get a more satisfactory guarantee at this time, so he had to say: "Since Xuanfu's original intention has not changed, I am also relieved, and I will definitely come here at the right time tomorrow to discuss with Xuanfu and the staff." After finishing speaking, he said goodbye in a disgruntled manner. Ma Kuo believed that the dignified Xuan Fu envoy, who was a high-ranking member of the imperial court, would never lie to his face, because he had not fully learned the experience and lessons.Don't you guys lie?The example before us, for example, Yeluchun and Empress Xiao, as the king and queen, wouldn't they swear by the Yaoguang Palace at the time of their surrender?After the victory in the first battle on the front line, the credentials were changed, and the change was reduced to a peace negotiation.What's more, the "heart" of the big officials is an abstract thing that moves inside but has not yet been shown outside. It can change according to his own needs and changes in the situation. How can you, a small staff member, be so unpredictable? it accurate? Even so, Ma Kuo still felt that the weather was not good, and an abnormal wave of air hit him. This is an anxious night where people's internal organs are roasted and moxibustion until they smoke.He went back to the lower place, where he could not sleep, he just tossed and turned on the pillow mat. After the first watch, the weather changed drastically, the lightning flashed, and the sound of thunder rolling from a distance was like a burst of fire, bombardment, and shouts of killing coming from the front line.Amidst the howling and intensifying wind, the torrential downpour shook the small room where he lived like half a broken eggshell floating on the water.There used to be several leaks on the roof, and the rain poured straight in, soaking his clothes and bed.He didn't want to sleep at first, so he simply got up at this moment, went outside the courtyard, and let the cold rainwater pour directly on his head and body, washing away the accumulated anger of the day.

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