Wang Shichong was deep in thought for half a day. Finally he spoke in low voice, "You guys were willing to brave death to save Xiao Ni, I, Wang Shichong, is eternally grateful. Say your request now!”
Kou Zhong knew Wang Shichong did not trust him; he laughed indifferently and said, "My request is the demise of Li Mi.”
Wang Shichong was stunned. He stared at Kou Zhong for half a day before frowning and said, "Right now I have internal trouble and external aggression, I am facing enemies in front and behind me. I am afraid I cannot help you accomplishing this wish.”
With a card up his sleeve, Kou Zhong said, "Wang Shangshu is wrong. The fact is that there has never been a better time like right now, where your side have the opportunity to crush Wagang Army.”
Displeased, Wang Shichong said, "In all my life, the kind of people I hated the most are those who use favor to threaten. What have I, Wang Shichong, never seen? How could I listen to anybody who wanted to manipulate me?”
Kou Zhong calmly said, "This time Wang Shangshu sent your troops to Yanshi, I wonder what is your intention?”
Wang Shichong's eyes flickered with sharp lights; he said coldly, "Now is now, then is then. Right now my top priority is returning to Luoyang to clean up a clique of traitors.”
Kou Zhong smiled and asked, "And then what?”
Wang Shichong proudly replied, "Once the inside is pacified, naturally going out to fight foreign aggression. Li Mi and I cannot exist together.”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, "This time Wang Shangshu sent your troops, is to observe and confirm that after defeating Yuwen Huaji, Li Mi's strength took a big blow; therefore, you wanted to seize the opportunity to thoroughly and swiftly cut him down. But now you want to pacify the inside first and let the opportunity slip away for nothing, giving Li Mi the opportunity to recover. Won't it be a grave miscalculation?”
In daze, Wang Shichong stared at him for a long time, as if he had never seen Kou Zhong before. And then he said seriously, "So Kou Xiao Xiong believes that I ought to put Li Mi in order first, and then return to base to deal with Yang Dong and Dugu Feng?”
Kou Zhong shook his head, "Not quite,” he said, "Even if there was no problem in the Eastern Capital, if this time Shangshu rashly attack Li Mi, I have no doubt you will still be defeated.”
At first Wang Shichong wanted to probe whether Kou Zhong had an ulterior motive, i.e. wanted to exploit Wang Shichong to deal with his archenemy Li Mi. But now, after hearing him said so, he was taken aback, and asked modestly instead, "I'd like to hear the details.”
Thereupon Kou Zhong told Wang Shichong how Li Mi was going to deal with him, but naturally he said it as if it was his own speculation.
Wang Shichong's countenance changed slightly; for quite a long while he did not say anything, evidently Kou Zhong had hit the target.
Half a day later, Wang Shichong sighed and said, "I am originally from the Western Region. Because of my admiration of the Celestial Empire's [tributary title conferred on imperial China] civilization, I followed my father to the Sui Dynasty. Since childhood I love to read history books, I love to study the art of war. Finally I arose to become the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and quite obtained Yang Guang, that muddleheaded ruler's high regard. After the battle against Meng Rang, my name shook the land under heaven. I thought that nobody in the world surpassed me, Wang Shichong, in the art of war. Who could have thought that I came across that Li thief, to whom I am inferior in every aspect? Were it not for Kou Xiao Xiong warning me, this battle will only result in defeat with no chance of victory. So you think I ought to immediately return to the Eastern Capital?”
Kou Zhong knew that Wang Shichong's mind was in turmoil; he smiled and said, "Like I said just now, to destroy the Wagang Army, this is a chance one in a thousand years. There are two reasons: one, currently Li Mi's strength is greatly wounded, his troops weary his generals tired. Two, Li Mi is still in euphoria after defeating Yuwen Huaji recently; inevitably he will have condescending thought toward you and will be underestimating you.”
After a short pause, he continued seriously, "Forgive my bluntness, but speaking about military strength, your side is not Li Mi's match, plus your repeated defeat has made Li Mi's despises you even more. Therefore, if Wang Shangshu is showing your weak front, and we fabricate ingenious circumstances, luring Li Mi's entire nest to come out, with our meticulous planning and setting up traps, I guarantee that Li Mi will fall headlong and take serious tumble that henceforth he will be powerless to press toward the Eastern Capital.”
Hearing that, Wang Shichong's heart was pounding with eagerness, his doubt toward Kou Zhong diminished significantly, while his trust soared. "How can we show a weak front?” he asked.
Kou Zhong asked in return, "May I know how many men Wang Shangshu has in your disposal right now?”
Wang Shichong hesitated for a moment before making up his mind; he replied, "This time I only brought twenty thousand men, but not a single one is not a trained elite troop.”
Kou Zhong slapped the table and said, "That will do. Sun Tzu said: troops are valued by their quality, not quantity. Because we have fewer soldiers, Li Mi would look down on us even more. Now if he also mistakenly thinks that we do not have enough provision, I don't believe the recently-victorious Li Mi could bear not to lead his army to indulge in another war.”
Shaking his head, Wang Shichong said, "He can always wait until we are really short on provision before attacking. This ruse may deceive others, but definitely not Li Mi, who has rigorous schemes and deep foresight.”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, "That's why I said we need to fabricate ingenious circumstances to force Li Mi so that he won't have any choice but to fight.”
Wang Shichong was astonished, "What circumstances?” he asked.
Kou Zhong said, "This operation can be carried out in two phases. First, we create a fake situation of supply shortage; for example, send your men everywhere to rake in army provisions, also broadcast a rumor that you are returning to the Eastern Capital soon. It would be strange indeed if Li Mi does not come to intercept.”
And then he leaned forward and lowered his voice, "For the next phase, we mend fences with northern forces whose power is not under Li Mi's: Dou Jiande; ask him to send troops to attack Li Mi. Naturally we leak this information to Li Mi. I won't have to worry that he won't take the initiative to attack first.”
Although Wang Shichong was a conceited and talented field commander, he could not help slapping the table and exclaimed in praise, "That is indeed a brilliant plan! But there are a lot of details that still need to be considered.”
Soon after his eyes shot sharp rays; fixing his gaze on Kou Zhong, he said, "Everybody knows that Kou Zhong is ambitious; you managed to turn the south upside down. And now you help me like this, what's in it for you?”
Kou Zhong calmly met his eyes, "Because,” he slowly said, "If I don't kill Li Mi, he would kill me. I don't care who will become the Emperor, as long as it's not Li Mi. Is Wang Shangshu satisfied with my answer?”
Wang Shichong spoke in heavy voice, "You are indeed a rare talent. If you are willing to throw your lot with me, I, Wang Shichong, definitely won't treat you meagerly.”
Kou Zhong cheerfully replied, "Thank you for Wang Shangshu's guidance. But in everything I still want to wait until Wagang Army is destroyed before making any decision. Although dealing against Li Mi is important, but the Eastern Capital must be grasped firmly in our hands. As long as we can hold out against Li Mi's forces, we can attack the King of Yue's imperial palace, pulling all who oppose you by the root. At that time Wang Shangshu may think that the King of Yue's throne will be more desirable. Besides, you have at least half of the people in the world already in your pocket!”
This speech went straight to the bottom of Wang Shichong's heart, making him forget that Kou Zhong did not immediately declare his allegiance to him. Greatly delighted, he said, "Dugu Feng's forces in Luoyang cannot be ignored. If I am not in Luoyang, I am afraid it would be difficult to have control over the general situation.”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, "That is precisely one crucial point in the show-your-weakness phase. Wang Shangshu may want to select several elite troops to ride with you back to Luoyang to settle the situation in Luoyang, and then play it by ear. As soon as Li Mi makes unusual move, Shangshu immediately slip back here to take charge of the general situation. Won't that work?”
Wang Shichong was staring blankly for half a day. Finally he heaved a deep sigh, shook his head, and said with a smile, "Other than that, do I have a better choice?”