Chapter 408: No Way to Sell Out the Country
The news of the fall of Jiameng Pass also spread rapidly throughout Shuzhong and Langzhong.

At the southern end of the Jianshan Road plank road, Meng Da was ordered to lead his troops to repair the plank road.

His troops consisted of only more than 300 people, most of whom were from Fufeng.

The original plank road was demolished and the materials were ready-made, but even so, repairing the plank road is a complicated project.

It can only be laid from the south to the north, and cannot be constructed in multiple sections or at multiple points.

Meng Da was the supervisor with a calm expression.

He was nearly eight feet tall, of solid build, and of good appearance.

Compared with him, Fa Zheng standing next to him looked a little thin, like an ordinary person, and was not outstanding at all.

But the friendship between the two men was deep and there were no outsiders around, so Fa Zheng still looked around as usual: "I don't believe Wu Kuang repaired the plank road to meet the enemy. That Grand Marshal has never been defeated in his military campaigns, and he is definitely not someone Wu Kuang can resist. How could a veteran like Wu Kuang not have this self-awareness?"

Meng Da also nodded: "Yes, the fall of Jiameng Pass is more like a rumor. I suspect Wu Kuang spread and encouraged this rumor in order to plan something big. He should be trying to stir up trouble in Shu, so as to win in the chaos and welcome the Grand Marshal to Shu."

The two were silent for a moment, and Fa Zheng continued, "When I left Chengdu, I saw that many of the big families in Shu were uneasy. The events in Taiyuan and Hedong counties made them quite worried. Some advocated gathering troops to resist, while others begged to surrender in order to protect their families and foundations."

After Fa Zheng finished speaking, Meng Da asked, "How are the Luocheng defenders doing?"

Luocheng is the traditional seat of government of Yizhou. The city is tall and solid, and it is a strong city between Chengdu and Mianzhu.

Mianzhu raised troops to welcome the northern troops into Shu, but it only opened the door; but if Luocheng could not be captured quickly, Chengdu would still have time to gather troops and prepare for war.

"I don't know yet. Luocheng is dominated by the Shu army. If Chengdu makes a decision, Luocheng will not disobey."

Fa Zheng considered his answer and proposed: "A great change is imminent in Shu, and the people of my hometown should unite as one. Zi Jing and I are weak, so I want to visit the She brothers."

"Thank you, Xiaozhi."

Meng Da suggested: "Ride my horse, it's fast, if anything goes wrong, Xiaozhi can get away."

"Yes, Zijing, take care of yourself. If you encounter northern soldiers, you must not act rashly and make sure you remain useful."

Fa Zheng gave some advice and then bowed to Meng Da and said goodbye.

The situation was urgent now, and after the discussion, Fa Zheng turned and left.

The She brothers did not command troops. The eldest, She Jian, was the Imperial Court Minister. When the Three Prefectures were in turmoil, he fled to Sichuan and attached himself to Liu Zhang. After Liu Zhang became king, he appointed She Jian as the Secretary of State. His younger brother, She Yuan, was the son-in-law of Huangfu Song and now served as a clerk.

Although the two brothers have no military power, they are important figures in the Liang Wang court and are familiar with the core dynamics.

When Fa Zheng set out from here, rumors of the fall of Jiameng Pass also spread to Chengdu.

Zhang Song has not gone out yet and is drinking morning tea at home.

When he heard his subordinates reporting the matter in panic, he immediately realized the danger.

Regardless of whether the incident was true or not, it was abnormal that Wu Kuang in the north failed to block the news.

The garrison commander of Mianzhu on the Shu front was Wu Kuang, and the garrison commander of Langzhong, Pang Xi, was also from Dongzhou, like Wu Kuang.

Pang Xi was once a counselor, and his native place was Henan Yin. When Liu Yan's son was defeated, he gave up his family property to rescue Liu Yan's grandsons, and then fled to Shu with these children, his fellow villagers.

Over the years, Pang Xi had been on the front line of the resistance against Zhang Lu, and had also illegally recruited many Ba people as his followers.

Because they had been fighting all the time, the quality of the troops under Pang Xi was relatively high.

If Jiameng Pass was lost, Pang Xi in Langzhong would most likely become an unstable factor.

In the past two years, Pang Xi's unauthorized recruitment of Ba people to expand his army has aroused suspicion. The county magistrates below followed the instructions of Chengdu and refused to execute Pang Xi's recruitment orders.

If Zhang Lu had not been on the offensive and Pang Xi had not been suspected of nurturing the enemy, Pang Xi would have been removed long ago. Previously, Zhao Wei, a senior official in Yizhou, had forcefully supported Liu Zhang to succeed him, but later Zhao Wei's rebellion failed and he was killed by his subordinates... How can we explain this matter? Only ordinary officials and people believed this statement.

From the perspective of Zhang Song and Pang Xi, what they saw was Liu Zhang's decisiveness in killing and his ruthlessness in turning his back on others.

In this situation, how could Pang Xi not have a sense of crisis?

Both Wu Kuang and Pang Xi might bring wolves into the house, and Zhang Song felt extremely pressured.

How could he be willing to let Yizhou, which is so big and fertile, be sold to people from other states?

He was the prime minister of the Kingdom of Liang, which was a huge and heavy burden.

If things go wrong, it might crush him to death and bring disaster to the family.

After thinking it over again and again, Zhang Song immediately called his brother Zhang Su, and the two brothers had a secret discussion in the study.

Then Zhang Song summoned Wang Fu, Huang Quan and other officials in the prime minister's residence and asked them, "Rumors are spreading in the city, saying that the Grand Marshal has captured Jiameng Pass. Do you think this is true or false?"

Everyone present had a serious expression. There is no smoke without fire. Now it was a matter of life and death.

Wang Lei stood up and said sternly, "This is nonsense! Jiameng Pass is protected by the Baishui River. The Grand Marshal came suddenly, and the surrounding boats had already been confiscated. How could he cross the Baishui River? I think that Wu Kuang, the garrison commander of Mianzhu, has rebelled. We should send a large army to Mianzhu as soon as possible. If Wu Kuang has not rebelled, we should also seize his military power and let our people guard Mianzhu. If he rebels, his army will be unstable and we can defeat him in one fell swoop!"

Zhang Song turned to look at Peng Ying, who was of a lower rank. Peng Ying immediately stood up and said, "Who will be the general? Which army should he lead? If we mobilize the Dongzhou troops, I'm afraid disaster will come. If we mobilize the provincial troops during the day, there will be changes at night, and we will become prisoners and be at the mercy of others."

The Dongzhou soldiers near Chengdu belonged to Liu Mao. Since the death of Zhao Wei, Liu Mao rarely had contact with his own troops. His Dongzhou soldiers only carried out military settlement around Chengdu and did not participate in the garrison of Chengdu.

In the past two years, did Liu Mao and his Dongzhou soldiers have no complaints?

Wang Lei glared at Peng Ying angrily, while Peng Ying looked at Wang Lei calmly.

As for the King of Liang, after the status of monarch and subject is determined, Wang Lei will be loyal to him, but some people disagree, and more people seek benefits and avoid harm, and act according to the circumstances.

The hall was quiet. At this time, Huang Quan stood up and said, "Prime Minister, why not send an envoy to invite the Prince of Wangfu?"

Several people looked at Wang Fu. Wang Fu's cousin Wang Shang is the current governor of Shu County. He was the second-in-command who, together with Zhao Wei, forced Liu Zhang to succeed to the throne.

Zhang Song said, "I'll have to trouble Guoshan with this matter."

Wang Fu stood up and bowed: "Yes, I will go to see him and consult him about this matter."

These people in the prime minister's mansion only have influence. If they want to mobilize troops, they either mobilize their fellow villagers and servants, or illegally mobilize troops through relatives, students, and former officials. Even so, they can only mobilize small-scale troops, which is difficult to change the overall situation.

At least, the garrison in the city is not something they can easily mobilize.

However, the county magistrate Wang Shang could mobilize the county troops. Although the size of the county troops was suppressed, it was still an exclusive army.

Seeing that these people were trying to act alone, Wang Lei could only sit down angrily.

He and Wang Fu were both from Guanghan County, but from different counties.

If Wang Fu and others get into trouble because of his betrayal, he will not be able to escape.

He could be loyal and die for his country, but he could not interfere with the decision of his fellow villagers.

If he ruined the plans of his fellow villagers, even if this group of villagers were destroyed, let alone revenge, his family would be abandoned by the villagers, refused to interact with them, and completely isolated.

As a result, before Wang Shang gave a definite answer, Liu Zhang suddenly mobilized the troops stationed in the city, led his troops south before dark, and abandoned the city.

The gates of Chengdu were opened, and groups of urgently mobilized Dongzhou soldiers holding torches began to enter the city and take over warehouses.

(End of this chapter)