Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 268
Originally, Sima Ang didn't want to get involved in the muddy water between Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang, especially now that he had become the king of Henan, Sima Ang was even more unwilling to use his national reputation to make a wedding dress for Xiang Yu, but Xiang Yu's emissary came again Tell Sima Ang clearly that this is also Xiang Yu's test for Sima Ang. Only when Sima Ang honestly does what Xiang Yu asks can Xiang Yu believe that Sima Ang will not secretly collude with Xiang Kang, and he can be more confident and bold in the future. Give it to Sima Yang.

Still, evil is rewarded with evil. Although there was no grievance with Xiang Kang in the past and no enmity in recent days, Li Zuoche, who has become Sima Ang's chief adviser, carefully weighed the pros and cons, and persuaded Sima Ang: "Your Majesty, you should still follow the law of the west. Let’s do what the King of Chu asks. Xiang Yu is strong and Xiang Kang is weak, and we are caught between them. There is no chance for us to be alone. Only when the strong bully the weak can we benefit the most. If not, it will be regarded as flattering Xiang Kang, formed an alliance with him, and he also sent troops to help us, but we are determined not to be able to resist the attack of the Western Chu army."

Considering that the consequences of offending Xiang Yu, who has a fiery temper, must be more serious, and Xiang Yu is really good to himself. Among the princes and kings he entrusted, he is the only one who can directly obtain the canonized land and city without using force. In the fertile land of the Central Plains, Sima Xin had no choice but to arrange secret envoys to go to Hangu Pass to negotiate and contact the Han army against his will, and to use tricks for Xiang Yu. He also deliberately did not tell his secret envoy the real truth , Use Xiang Kang's best dead time to deal with Xiang Kang in turn.

The distance is the closest and there is a fast road. The secret envoy of Sima Yang, who was traveling in a light car, rushed from Luoyang to Hangu Pass in just over three days. After showing his identity certificate, he explained his intention to the Han army guarding Hangu Pass. Knowing that Sima Ang sent secret envoys to contact Xiang Kang, the Han army officers and soldiers guarding Hangu Pass did not dare to neglect, so they quickly sent someone to escort Sima Ang's secret envoys to Xianyang. Xiang Kang was also quite surprised when he heard the report. Time led Chen Ping and Zhang Liang, who had already returned from Wuguan, to meet Sima Ang's secret envoy.

After the meeting, Xiang Kang and Sima Ang's secret envoy only had a few polite words, and immediately asked Sima Ang's purpose for contacting him. To avoid leaking information, our Majesty did not ask the envoy to bring the letter of credence, but only asked the envoy to bring a message. Our Majesty has received absolutely reliable news that the King of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, has sent his doctor Wu She as an envoy to Julu contacted the State of Zhao to persuade the State of Zhao to sever the covenant with you, the King of Han, and to fight against you, the King of Han.”

"Is there such a thing?" I have long been used to seeing all kinds of alliances, and Xiang Kang was not too surprised, but just asked: "Then, does your envoy know how the King of Western Chu intends to persuade Zhao Guo to break the alliance and break up with the King?" Turn your face and start a war?"

"No longer pursue Zhang Er and his son's previous faults, and return Shangdang County to the State of Zhao." Sima Ang's secret envoy replied: "As for the other specific details, our king and young envoy have no way of knowing, but our king estimates , the possibility of Zhao Guo betraying your country is extremely high, and I ask the King of Han to take precautions early, so as not to be caught off guard and suffer a big loss."

After exchanging glances with Chen Ping and Zhang Liang calmly, Xiang Kang politely thanked Sima Ang's secret envoy: "Thank you for your envoy who traveled thousands of miles to report to the king, and I would like to ask your envoy to clearly report to the king of Henan." , let’s just say that this favor has been received by the king, and if there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay you twice.”

"The king of Han must not be polite." Sima Ang's secret envoy hurriedly said: "Don't dare to deceive the king of Han. Our king did this for the benefit of our own country. Our king has been at odds with Zhao since he proclaimed himself king. Now Western Chu The king made good friends with the state of Zhao alone without informing our country, and no one can guarantee whether we will sacrifice our Henan state to please the state of Zhao in the future, so our king hopes that the king of Han can know that it is not impossible for our country and the state of Han to become friends."

Sima Ang's secret envoy's explanation was completely reasonable. Xiang Yu did not consider the interests and situation of his allies, so he chose to make peace with Zhao Guo behind Sima Ang's back. No matter who was in Sima Ang's position, he had to guard against Xiang Yu Suddenly stabbing himself in the back, everyone can understand Sima Ang secretly showing his favor to Xiang Kang in order to protect himself.So Xiang Kang immediately hit the snake with the stick, and said: "Don't worry, your envoy, please understand and report back to the King of Henan. If he is willing, he can send someone to discuss the details of the alliance with the king at any time. The king is always there."

"Thank you, King of Han." Sima Ang's secret envoy hurriedly thanked him, and said, "There is one more thing. Our king has sent an order to the border to order our troops stationed on the western front to exercise restraint and not allow any conflicts with your country's soldiers and civilians. Business travelers are allowed to come and go freely. Can Your Majesty do the same?"

Xiang Kang laughed loudly and said: "Of course it's no problem. This king will go to Ling's border right away, handle it as usual, and keep it so that your country doesn't have to go all the way to buy salt from Qi, and you can buy cheap Hedongchi salt nearby."

Sima Ang's envoy quickly thanked him again. When Xiang Kang was about to order a banquet in honor of him, he never thought that Sima Ang's envoy said: "Han Wang, there is one more thing. Although our king is not sure whether it is true or not, this matter is very important to your country. It's too important for you, our king will tell you to let the envoy report to you, so that you can know the situation, king of Han."

"What important news did the king of Henan ask your envoy to bring to this king?" Xiang Kang asked casually.

"Unconfirmed news." Sima Ang's envoy replied: "Your country's Xincheng Lord, General Li Shang, sent a secret envoy to Pengcheng to ask Emperor Chuyi and King Xichu to release his elder brother Li Shiqi, as well as others. Confer the land of Hanzhong Bashu to him to establish a country and become king, and in exchange, General Li Shang will rebel against Han and lead the troops of Hanzhong Bashu to help the King of Western Chu to attack you King of Han."

Good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil. It's not that there is no retribution, but before the time comes, Xiang Kang's retribution has finally come.Hearing what the envoy Sima Ang said, no matter how treacherous Xiang Kang was, no matter how witty Chen Ping was, and how far-reaching resourcefulness Zhang Liang was, all of them couldn't help but change their expressions. If Kang Lian thought about it, he immediately snorted, "Is your envoy going too far? There is no proof, why did you frame General Li Shang? Could it be that your envoy is here to set a wedge between the king of Western Chu and the king of Henan, and to provoke our country of Han?" Monarchs and ministers are at odds?"

"King of Han, our Majesty knows that you will misunderstand." Sima Ang's envoy said helplessly: "But our Majesty really has good intentions, so we must report this matter to the King of Han. If the Majesty doesn't believe me, there is nothing the little envoy can do. .”

Xiang Kang's eyes were sharp, and he kept staring at the eyes of Sima Ang's envoy, while Sima Ang's envoy, who had no regrets in his heart, looked openly, letting Xiang Kang observe his expression, Xiang Kang, the master of Yongjian, quickly understood that this Either the messenger didn't tell lies, or he didn't know the inside story at all, so he couldn't ask the real truth no matter what.Then, for the sake of caution, Xiang Kang couldn't help asking: "How did the king of your country know this news?"

"Of course it was found out by our king's emissary in Pengcheng." Sima Ang's emissary replied calmly, and then said: "However, our king is not sure whether the news is true or not. Report from the King of Han."

Xiang Kang was silent, and only after a while did he give instructions: "Your envoy go down to rest first, come here, please invite the envoy of the King of Henan to rest in the building, so that I can entertain you."

The guards in the hall sang promises, and immediately stepped forward to lead Sima Ang's envoy down to rest, but Xiang Kang asked Chen Ping and Zhang Liang immediately after the envoy left the hall, "Mr. Chen Ping, Mr. Zifang, what do you think?"

After quickly exchanging glances with Zhang Liang, Chen Ping replied: "There are two possibilities, one is that it really happened, and the other is that there are some experts around King Xichu who saw our weakness and carefully designed it to make us internally chaos."

Xiang Kang didn't say a word, and after a while he said bitterly: "It's disgusting, Li Shang is indeed our biggest weakness. Although most of the cities surrendered voluntarily, Hanzhong Bashu was indeed taken by Li Shang for us. The situation along the line has been critical, so we can only let Li Shang, who is most familiar with the local conditions, stay in Hanzhong Bashu for a long time, but we did not expect to leave such a hidden danger and give the enemy an opportunity."

Chen Ping nodded helplessly, and had to admit that the enemy did target the biggest weakness of his own army this time.Zhang Liang was calmer, and asked Chen Ping: "Mr. Chen Ping, you are the captain of the guard army, and you are responsible for supervising the officials and generals of your country. Have you found any clues?"

"If there is, I will of course have reported it to the King of Han." Chen Ping smiled wryly, and said, "But with such a long distance and such narrow and difficult roads, I'm not sure whether my subordinates are competent or not. , did you take care of General Li Shang for the King of Han?"

Without God's perspective, and the distance was too far, Zhang Liang didn't dare to make any guarantees for Li Shang—especially Li Shiqi was now held hostage by Xiang Yu.In desperation, Zhang Liang could only say this: "King of Han, now that Chai Wu is dead, Liu Ji and Yingbo are busy seizing their fiefs, and your southern front has turned the corner. To be cautious, it is better to put Transfer General Li Shang back to Guanzhong."

Xiang Kang was very moved, but after thinking for a while, Xiang Kang quickly shook his head and said, "At this time, you must not touch Li Shang. The person who can see for my brother that Li Shang is our greatest weakness, secretly arranges The divorce plan is definitely not as simple as arranging for Sima Ang to come forward to sow discord. There will definitely be other corresponding arrangements. It backfired, making Li Shang feel that he has lost my trust, and he really has a different heart."

After that, Xiang Kang added in his heart, "Especially now, I'm not sure if Li Shang has a different heart. If he really has a different heart, and I suddenly transfer him back to Guanzhong, it's hard for him not to rebel immediately." gone."

"How about strengthening the surveillance of General Li Shang?" Zhang Liang suggested again: "While sending people to keep an eye on General Li Shang, at the same time give orders to reliable people to prepare them, and find that General Li Shang really has different intentions." , take him down right away?"

"It's more prone to accidents that way!" Xiang Kang shook his head decisively, and said: "The enemy will definitely set up all kinds of false appearances to lure us into being fooled if they want to alienate General Li Shang. If you are ready to kill Li Shang at any time, once Li Shang finds out, you may really push him back."

Zhang Liang also finally realized the disgusting power of being alienated—he neither dared to believe in him, nor dared to take it lightly. If he handled it a little improperly, the fake traitor might turn into a real traitor.At his wit's end, Zhang Liang could only say to Xiang Kang: "King of Han, you have always been good at alienation schemes, and you should be the best at solving them, right?"

"There is only one way to break the estrangement." Xiang Kang frowned and said, "It is to be open and honest, and sit down with Li Shang face to face, but there must be a prerequisite for doing so, that is, Li Shang really has no disagreements, otherwise , it will only be counterproductive.”

"Maybe it is possible to prompt Li Shang to act earlier." Chen Ping added for Xiang Kang: "If Li Shang is really dissatisfied and learns that the news has leaked, he will definitely act immediately, and he will act first, so as not to leave us any relief. hidden danger."

Zhang Liang is indeed not good at intrigue, but his comprehensive view of the overall situation is unmatched in this era. After a little calculation, he said: "Han Wang, the foreign minister thinks that you should be open and honest with General Li Shang, tell him the details of the matter directly. , let him choose how to handle the matter."

"The reason is also very simple. If General Li Shang really has a different heart, and the distance is so far away, no matter what you do now, you can't stop him from launching a rebellion. Instead of hiding, it's better to go straight in and let him know the truth. Then If he has no dissent, of course he will find a way to prove his innocence. If he has a dissent and initiates a rebellion directly, King of Han, you can send troops to suppress the rebellion immediately. It is worse than being suspicious and suspicious with General Li Shang!"

To wake up the dreamer with one word, after listening to Zhang Liang's suggestion, Xiang Kang discovered that the best way at present is to cut through the mess quickly and tell Li Shang the truth directly, so that Li Shang can prove his innocence, and can also Make it impossible for the enemy to continue fishing in troubled waters, and arrange all kinds of false appearances to destroy the unity of the Han army—especially when Xiang Kang arranged for Li Shang to be in charge of the Western Expedition to Hanzhong, he had already left behind and arranged many loyal and reliable young commanders and old men If Li Shang were to fight, even if Li Shang really rebelled, Xiang Kang would be very sure to put out the rebellion quickly.

At this point, Xiang Kang nodded without any hesitation and said, "Mr. Zifang's words are very true. Since the enemy has already targeted Li Shang and intends to use him to set up alienation schemes, we can only be honest with Li Shang. Absolutely You can't hide it and give the enemy a chance to further sow discord. Let's do this, immediately send someone to tell Li Shang about the situation, and let him choose how to act."

"Your Majesty, it is best to send someone who is worthy enough to be honest with General Li Shang." Chen Ping said: "If a subject arranges a riposte against General Li Shang, he will definitely send an envoy to contact General Li Shang secretly, and tell him what to do. Interests, use Mr. Li Shiqi as a threat, intimidate and lure him to rebel, and will definitely offer enough bribes to General Li Shang. If we want General Li Shang to resist such a temptation, we can only do our best Our ability shows our sincerity, and sending only an ordinary envoy is definitely not enough."

"That's right." Xiang Kang nodded, and immediately remembered Mr. Uncle Sun who had successfully helped him invite Sihao back to Shangshan. Kang immediately dismissed the idea—send Mr. Shusun to go. If he is frightened by others, Mr. Shusun might turn around and persuade Li Shang to rebel!
"King of Han, let the foreign ministers go." Zhang Liang stepped forward and said, "The foreign ministers are Han Situ, and the weight is not bad. At present, our Korean king is being imprisoned in Wancheng by Liu Ji. Let the foreign ministers go for you." Being open and honest with General Li Shang will allow General Li Shang to understand that you have absolute trust in him, the King of Han, and you are not at all worried that he will collude with the guest, the foreign minister, to rebel."

Of course, Xiang Kang was reluctant to let Zhang Liang take risks, but considering that his two most trusted civil servants, Zhou Zeng and Chen Ping, could not get away, and the others were either not enough or unreliable, he quickly nodded and said: "Since that's the case, it's hard work for Mr. Zifang."

After saying that, Xiang Kang discussed with Chen Ping and Zhang Liang hastily, and decided on how to make Li Shang understand his sincerity, and then arranged for people to escort Zhang Liang to the south, and rushed to Hanzhong to be honest with Li Shang, so as to prevent the enemy from further instigating Divorce, instigate rebellion, Li Shang, a general of the Han army who is currently fully capable of initiating a rebellion and even becoming king himself.

The matter was not over yet, a few days later, Xiang Kang received two important news successively. The first one was that the Han army had obtained accurate information. The land of Hanzhong Bashu originally granted to Chai Wu was changed to Li Shang, and Li Shiqi was named Puyanghou, and he was publicly sent to Hanzhong to reunite with Li Shang.The second is that Xiang Yu really sent Wu She, the traitor of the Marshal Army, as an envoy to Julu to persuade Zhao Guo to sever the alliance with the Han army, and turned his face to fight Xiang Kang.

In this regard, Xiang Kang had to worry more about Zhang Liang's safety and Li Shang's position, and couldn't help but said to Zhou Zeng, Chen Ping, and Shangshan Sihao who had already started to help him with government affairs: "My brother It really made a lot of progress. Not only did it manage the timing very well, it gradually aggravated my suspicions about Li Shang, and even asked Sima Ang to give me a half-truth and half-true warning, while taking the opportunity to fan the flames. If it was a change If someone else is in my position, I’m afraid I’ve already fallen for his tricks.”

Everyone nodded, and they had to admire Xiang Kang's composure and self-confidence. The situation was so critical that he could still trust Li Shang more.Then Chen Ping said: "Judging from the previous behavior of King Xichu, he and his confidantes absolutely do not have such ability. If there is no accident, it should be that King Xichu appeared beside him A new capable person. After passing this hurdle, we must find out the truth as soon as possible and find a way to counter it, otherwise we will only be more defenseless in the future."

"Of course." Xiang Kang nodded without thinking, and then asked casually, "What's unusual about the envoy sent by Sima Ang?"

"No." Chen Ping shook his head, and said, "As far as the current situation is concerned, ninety-nine percent of the messenger is dead, and he doesn't know the truth of the matter."

"The dead room is good, the dead room is the easiest to use." Xiang Kang said gloomyly: "Show him to me, this dead room is of great use to me."

(End of this chapter)