Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 173

It sounds hateful to say that urging Xiang Kang to return to Pengcheng as soon as possible is actually the idea of ​​Wang Yong, the former magistrate of Pengcheng under Xiang Kang's former department. Yong Yong repeated his old tricks, and immediately ran to Xiang Yu, who was so popular, to show his hospitality. In order to please the new master Xiang Yu, Wang Yong also tried his best to persuade Xiang Yu to recall Xiang Kang as soon as possible, and then slowly find a way to annex Xiang Kang's army.

Wang Yong persuaded Xiang Yu in this way: "Former general, after our army's disastrous defeat in Dingtao, the main force of our army was greatly damaged, but the army of the right general was not injured at all, and the army was expanding very rapidly. If this continues, the strength of the right general The army is afraid that sooner or later it will become the main force of our Chu State, forcing your former general's army to serve as an auxiliary. This matter must be guarded against. Therefore, I think that you, the former general, should call back the right general's army as soon as possible. Pengcheng, don't give him the opportunity to continue to grow and expand his army, and then slowly find a way to take back General Right's military power and incorporate his army, so that you, the former general, can ensure that your position in Chu State is as stable as Mount Tai."

Wang Yong's words are of course sincerely thinking about Xiang Yu, but unfortunately his flattery was patted on the horse's leg. Unlike Xiang Kang, who is so bad that it is hopeless, Xiang Yu, who attaches great importance to family affection, not only did not applaud him, but gave Wang Yong What kind of reward? Instead, he scolded Wang Yong bloody, and forced Wang Yong, who provoked the relationship between the Xiang family brothers, to slap himself more than a dozen times.

Having said that, Wang Yong's words still took root in Xiang Yu's heart. He was a little afraid of Xiang Kang's strong soldiers and horses. The old man, Cao Jiu and the others also hoped to recall Xiang Kang's army as soon as possible, so that Xiang Kang would not be more vulnerable, so after forcing Song Yi out the next day, Xiang Yu recruited Xiang Kang's accomplice, Chen Ping, and asked him to take him with him. The letter returned to Suiyang as soon as possible, to urge Xiang Kang to return to the teacher as soon as possible for himself, and planned to get Xiang Kang back to Pengcheng first and then take care of it slowly.

Of course, what Xiang Yu didn't know was that as early as when he let go of his support for Xiong Xin to take power, Xiang Kang, who had an insight into human nature, already knew that he had already developed jealousy towards him, and he had already expected that he would be like Xiong Xin , Immediately after regaining power, he urged himself to return to Pengcheng.Therefore, although Xiang Kang's right-hand accomplice, Chen Ping, agreed to Xiang Yu's request without hesitation, but before he left, he took the time to secretly meet with an old friend of his, Gao Qian, who had served as a counselor under Xiang Liang's tent, as if he had invited Gao Qian at the beginning. Qian helped persuade Wei Bao, and once again gave Gao Qian a very generous gift...

Then, Chen Ping quietly visited Xiang Kang's good friend Feng Zhong, and made a secret request to Feng Zhong on behalf of Xiang Kang...

The matter of letting Xiang Kang return to the army has always been on the mind of Xiang Yu. In the next few days, with the help of Fan Zeng, Cao Jiu and others, Xiang Yu, in addition to making various personnel adjustments, firmly grasped the main force of the Chu army. , In addition to the continuous deployment of local troops from the counties and counties controlled by the Chu army to come to Pengcheng to reinforce the main force, this matter has never been forgotten.But fortunately, Xiang Kang should also be a very affectionate person. Eight days later, good news came from Dang County, saying that Xiang Kang, who had been staying in Suiyang until now, had raised his troops and was going eastward by way of Li The county withdrew to Pengcheng, and Xiang Yu was overjoyed when he heard the news. He immediately announced the good news to the public, and decided early on that when Xiang Kang withdrew to Pengcheng, he would lead the Chu army, civil and military, out of the city ten miles to meet him.

Chen Ping's good friend Gao Qian was also waiting for this opportunity. Just in the evening, Gao Qian went to the door of Xiang Yu's residence to ask for an interview. As a result, although Gao Qian's official position was not high, he was not very good under Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu's accounts. It needs to be reused, but Gao Qian, who is the same as Chen Ping, just stuffed a lump of gold for the guards guarding the gate. The news of his request to see him was quickly reported to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu, who had already had dinner and was bored, heard that Gao Qian Qian had something important to report to herself, so she nodded and agreed to meet Gao Qian.

After a while, Gao Qian was led to Xiang Yu, and after respectfully saluting, Gao Qian asked Xiang Yu straight to the point: "The former general, I heard that the right general is on the way to lead his army back to Pengcheng. I don't know if this is true. Fake?"

"Of course it's true." Xiang Yu said casually, "In four or five days at most, General You's army should be able to withdraw back to Pengcheng."

"It's actually true?!" Gao Qian was horrified and hesitated before asking: "Dare to ask the former general about calling the right general back to Pengcheng. I don't know if it was your decision or someone else's." suggestion?"

"Why are you asking this?" Xiang Yu asked strangely.

Gao Qian looked even more hesitant, bowed down to Xiang Yu, and said cautiously: "The former general, I have some words from the bottom of my heart, and please don't blame me. Calling the right general back to Pengcheng is not only nothing to you, the former general. It’s not beneficial, on the contrary, it’s extremely detrimental.”

"Extremely unfavorable to me? What do you mean?" Xiang Yu's face changed a little.

"The former general, the lower official is the old man of the senior general, and can be regarded as your former subordinate, the former general. I sincerely hope that you, the former general, can inherit the legacy of the senior general and lead the troops of Chu to defeat the tyrant Qin and restore Chu. "

Gao Qian continued to answer irrelevant questions, first expressed his loyalty to Xiang Yu, and then said: "The former general must have forgotten an important event when he called the right general back to Pengcheng. Whoever succeeds Wu Xinjun will be the general and command all the Chu troops. Our civil and military officials in Chu have always supported the king's decision. That's why you, the former general, were careless for a while and ordered the right general to return to Pengcheng and gave the right The general competes with you for the opportunity to be the general of Chu."

Xiang Yu's face changed even more, and he ordered with a gloomy face, "Speak carefully, what exactly do you mean?"

"Former general, why don't you think about it, the right general returned to Pengcheng, how could he not participate in the battle against Zhang Han's peasants?" Unstoppable bravery, the right general may not be able to capture and kill Zhang Han before you, but what if? What if the right general has better luck than you, and captures and kills Zhang Han before the former general you Man, isn’t the position of general of the Chu State taken by the right general? What will you do then, the former general?”

Xiang Yu fell silent, and Gao Qian, who knew that time was precious, seized the opportunity and hurriedly said: "Former general, in my opinion, former general, you'd better excuse the continuous heavy rain and the inconvenience of army mobilization, so that the right general can be dispatched in Dang County." to garrison in the ground, and make other arrangements after the rainy season. In this way, when the main force of our army is rebuilt and the army regains strength, the former general can directly raise troops to the north to avenge the upper general, and at the same time arrange another mission for the right general. Either ask him to serve as an assistant, or let him go west to attack Sanchuan Yingchuan, in any case, the right general will have no chance to compete with you for the position of Chu general."

Gao Qian seized the opportunity very well. Just after finishing this sentence, Xiang Yu, who likes to show people his integrity, took a picture of the case and shouted angrily: "Shut up! I and General You are brothers of flesh and blood, don't sow discord here!"

"The lower official deserves to die, the lower official deserves to die." Gao Qian hurriedly kowtowed to plead guilty, and then said tremblingly: "But the lower official said these words from the bottom of his heart, really out of his loyalty to the former general, and definitely not to sow discord!"

"Slap your own mouth!" Xiang Yu roared: "Shameless rat, how dare you use your villainous heart to save this general's gentleman's belly! This general will tell you clearly, if the right general can really avenge the general with his own hands, this general I will only be overjoyed, respect him as the General of Chu willingly, and will never have the slightest bit of jealousy! Slap me and beat me hard!"

Taking people's money and eliminating disasters for others, Gao Qian had no choice but to take a lot of benefits from Chen Ping again, so he had no choice but to slap himself desperately, plead guilty while beating, and swore that he would never dare to say such things in the future. It was easy to let Xiang Yu's anger rest for a while, and roared: "Get out! From now on, if you dare to say that I have a close relationship with General You, be careful with your head!"

According to Xiang Yu's instructions, Gao Qian with red and swollen cheeks rolled and crawled away, but Xiang Yu sat alone and did not speak. After careful consideration, he even came up with such an idea, secretly said: "Advise me to recall brother as soon as possible. Wang Yong, who is a soldier, doesn't mean that he wants brother to come back quickly with the army, and compete with me for the position left by my uncle, right?"

Except on the battlefield, Xiang Yu is notoriously indecisive in other aspects. He felt that Gao Qian's words might really be for his own sake, but Xiang Yu didn't immediately make up his mind whether to adopt Gao Qian's suggestion to make Xiang Kang stop retreating. , I was just extremely shaken in my heart.

The night passed quickly, and after the court meeting ended the next day, Xiang Yu had just led old man Fan, Cao Jiu and others back to his residence, and was about to discuss how to further replenish the main force when someone suddenly came outside the door The newspaper said that General Feng Zhong, who had been highly valued by Xiang Liang before, came to ask for an interview, and there was still a very important matter that needed to be presented to Xiang Yu.

Although he was Xiang Kang's former best friend, Feng Zhong, who was relatively honest and not too ambitious, was not bad among the people of the Jiangdong faction of the Chu Army. Xiang Yu didn't put on any airs, and immediately ordered to be summoned.As a result, after Feng Zhong was led to Xiang Yu, he saw that old man Fan and Cao Jiu were both present, and he said with some joy, "Fan Gong and General Cao are also there, that's great, the general is going to present it to the general." I just want to ask you to discuss it together.”

"General Feng, please sit down, sit down and talk if you have anything to say." Xiang Yu smiled and ordered.

Feng Zhong thanked him, first sat in the seat assigned to him by Xiang Yu, and then said straight to the point: "The former general, Fan Zuoshi, General Cao, and the last general came for the return of the right general to Pengcheng. The last general dared to think that the decision of the right general to return to Pengcheng was a bit inappropriate. Not only was the military force exhausted, but it might also waste fighter opportunities in the future. I would like to ask the former generals to reconsider and see if we should persuade the right general. Tell him not to return to Pengcheng in a hurry?"

"Why does General Feng think that General You should not return to Pengcheng?" Xiang Yu asked strangely.

"It's my humble opinion. If you say something wrong, please don't blame the former general." Feng Zhong apologized first, and then said: "Now that Zhang Han is stationed in Puyang, it is because he doesn't want to go south immediately to attack Pengcheng. , but affected by the continuous heavy rain, the roads are muddy and difficult to transport food and grass, so we have to temporarily suspend our troops. But after the rainy season, Zhang Han will definitely take action. If our army does not plan ahead and arrange countermeasures in advance, when the time comes It is inevitable that you will be in a hurry and miss the opportunity."

Seeing Xiang Yu and the others nodding and approving their own analysis, Feng Zhongcai went on to say: "Since this is the case, then we should not be in a hurry to let the right general return to Pengcheng. We should let him continue to station troops in Dangjun, and prepare to march westward at any time Preparations for ground defense. As for the reason, I think you all know the former generals. Zhang Han’s food and grass are all supplied by Ao Cang. If he goes directly south from Puyang to Pengcheng, his rear will be empty. General You, who is stationed in Dangjun, can take the opportunity. Enter the Ao Cang, cut off the grain roads of the Zhang Han people, and take the opportunity to intimidate the Guanzhong, making the Zhang Han people difficult to care about. Once the Zhang Han people are forced to withdraw their troops, our main force will pursue them. Not only can we win a complete victory, but there is even hope Destroy the enemy in one battle, and directly avenge the general!"

Speaking of this, Feng Zhong paused, and then said: "If Zhang Han does not go directly south from Puyang, but chooses to return to Sanchuan, take advantage of the waterway to transport grain, and march to Pengcheng along the Sui River or Gu River, the right general will stay. The army in Dang County can also play a vital role. It can immediately deploy defenses on the spot to prevent Zhang Han from directly entering our hinterland. It can also give our main force time to respond, and then our main force can act according to circumstances. , or immediately go to Dangjun for reinforcements, or ask the right general to rely on the favorable terrain to confront Zhang Han for a long time. , take the initiative!"

He directly clarified his opinion in one breath, Feng Zhong paused again, and then said with a smile: "This is just a little stupid opinion of the last general. I don't know what you think of the former general?"

Feng Zhong’s opinion was entirely for the Chu army’s overall strategic consideration. Xiang Yu, who has excellent military capabilities, naturally applauded when he heard it, and said: “General Feng is modest, is this a fool’s opinion? This is a good opinion! That’s right, Brother's army can't waste time and energy marching back and forth, it should be stationed in Dang County for a long time, so as to meet the decisive battle with Zhang Han in the future!"

"Cough." Old man Fan coughed suddenly, first hinted at Xiang Yu, and then said slowly: "General Feng's proposition is indeed good, but General You now has [-] troops under his command, and Mr. Zhang Han may not withdraw to Sanchuan Going to Dangjun and marching towards Pengcheng, if all [-] troops are stationed in the Dangjun battlefield, it would be a waste of our troops."

Xiang Yu understood Old Man Fan's implication, and knew that Old Man Fan wanted to recall Xiang Kang's army, and then try to distribute some of Xiang Kang's military power, but the vaccination Gao Qian gave Xiang Yu last night played a role at this moment. Asking Xiang Kang to come back to compete with him, Xiang Yu immediately said: "It's not a waste, if Zhang Han goes directly south from Puyang, then we can ask Brother to send some troops back to reinforce the main force, and this problem can be solved. "

To Xiang Yu's surprise, Feng Zhong actually stood by the old man Fan's side, nodded and said: "What Fan Gong said is very true, if all the troops of General You are stationed in Dang County, it would be a waste of troops. Puyang goes directly to the south. If the army of the right general cannot return in time, our main force may be somewhat passive. However, this matter is not difficult to solve. If the former general is willing, the final general is willing to go to Dang County to explain the truth to the right general. Ask him to allocate some troops and transfer them to Pengcheng to incorporate into our main force, so that we can get the best of both worlds."

"General Feng, are you sure you can persuade my younger brother to allocate some troops to supplement our main force?" Xiang Yu's joy was no small matter.

"I dare not say for sure." Feng Zhong smiled and said: "But the temper of the right general must be known to the former general. Everything is based on the overall situation. Back then, he was willing to hand over all the military power for the sake of the big affairs of Chu State. , Now it is also for the sake of the overall situation, the general will persuade him to allocate some troops to supplement the main force of our Chu State, he will not refuse."

"Okay then, please General Feng to work hard." Xiang Yu was overjoyed and said hastily: "I'll write a letter to my younger brother, telling him not to rush back to Pengcheng for the time being, and to set up defenses on the spot in Dang County."

Feng Zhong agreed without hesitation, and although old man Fan and Cao Jiu still had some doubts in their hearts, they refused to listen to Xiang Yu no matter how much they tried to persuade him. They were determined not to want Xiang Kang to return to Pengcheng immediately. I had no choice but to let Xiang Yu mess around.

Xiang Yu was overjoyed when Feng Zhong went to Dang County to negotiate with Xiang Kang. A few days later, Feng Zhong not only brought the [-] troops assigned to him by Xiang Kang, but also let Xiang Guan return to the army with [-] cavalry. Pengcheng was also handed over to Xiang Yu to lead and command.Seeing this scene, don't say that Xiang Yu was overjoyed and praised Xiang Kang's righteous deeds, even old man Fan and Cao Jiu nodded, no doubts about Xiang Kang, and no doubt about Xiang Kang's real purpose of stationing in Dang County.

Under the joy, Xiang Yu of course did not hesitate to hand over the [-] troops allocated by Xiang Kang to Feng Zhong directly to Feng Zhong's command, but Feng Zhong was not satisfied, and said to Xiang Yu: "The former general, there is one more important thing to do. The most important thing is that General Right's food and grass are already a little insufficient. Dang County was severely damaged by the war before, and it is very difficult to raise food. In addition, winter is coming, and General Right's army is short of cold clothes, so General You let Mo The general brought a letter, and I want to ask the former general to send him some rations, military supplies and cold clothes from the rear of Pengcheng."

After finishing speaking, Feng Zhongcai carefully presented Xiang Kang's letter, but Feng Zhong was obviously worried in vain, and Xiang Yu, who was already dizzy with joy, waved his hand immediately and said: "Don't read it, Brother, there is no need to read it." Isn’t there a shortage of food, grass and cold clothes? Just tell me how much you want, and I’ll send someone to deliver it to him right away.”

Feng Zhong hurriedly opened the letter and read out the quantity of food, grass and military supplies Xiang Kang requested. Xiang Yu also didn't think about it, and immediately arranged for manpower to organize the dispatch without discussing with anyone, and sent it to Dang County to Xiang Kang as quickly as possible.Feng Zhong thanked Xiang Kang on behalf of Xiang Kang, and wanted to say something else, but seeing old man Fan, Cao Jiu and others present, and Xiang Bo also beside him, the nose is not the nose, the eyes are not the eyes, ready to jump out at any time to make things difficult for Xiang Kang , Feng Zhong swallowed the words back into his stomach again, and secretly said: "Brother, it seems that there is no need to rush. If I continue to talk, I am afraid they will become suspicious, so I can only wait for a chance in the future to persuade you." Brother sent your wife and sister-in-law to Dang County to reunite with you."

After speaking in his heart, Feng Zhong was unavoidably puzzled, and said to himself: "But brother, why did you call your wife and sister to reunite with you in Dang County? There will be no shameful things between the two of you." Bar?"

On the same day, Feng Zhong also did a major event, which was to honor his promise and recommend his own soldiers surnamed Han to Xiang Yu. Ji Langzhong still uses the soldiers with the surname Han as his own.Fortunately, the soldiers surnamed Han were not anxious, and said in their hearts: "As long as you can express your opinions in front of Xiang Yu at any time, I don't believe it. The descendants of Lord Wu Xinjun of Chu State will be worse than Feng Zhong, a small pavilion chief." know the goods."

(End of this chapter)