Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 286 The Enemy's Reinforcements

The discussion among the decision-makers of the Han army did not end because of Mr. Shusun’s temporary departure. Xiang Kang himself turned the conversation back to the topic, and said to Tang Bing and Wu Shi who refuted him: "What Dongyuan Gong and Mr. Qiliji said Extremely, Xiao Wang is indeed ill-considered, and we cannot blindly rely on force to contend with the princes outside the pass, no matter how small our confidence is, we must try our best to win over our allies and weaken our enemies through diplomatic means, this is the best policy."

"My lord, if I accuse you arrogantly again, my lord, please don't underestimate yourself." Wu Shi rarely flattered Xiang Kang and said, "If you are willing to raise the flag of righteousness, your lord, you will openly fight against your cousin, the king of Western Chu." , the grasp is not small, but very large.”

"The reason is also very simple." Tang Bing took over the conversation and said: "The king of Western Chu is cruel, your majesty has a magnanimous character; the king of Western Chu is greedy for profit and despise justice, and never likes to consider others, your majesty, you despise profit and value righteousness." , able to understand the difficulties of others; the king of Western Chu is brave but not scheming, and only knows how to use his strength in everything. Your majesty is both wise and brave, and you like to think twice when encountering problems; Compassionate. In contrast, the princes outside the pass will only be more willing to form an alliance with you in their hearts, and they are not willing to be driven into cattle and horses by the King of Western Chu."

"So on the issue of vertical and horizontal maneuvers, your majesty, just feel free to contact the princes outside the pass." Wu Shi continued: "The princes outside the pass are not fools. Now that they have seen the strength of the Han army with their own eyes, they will definitely understand that Chu and Han are fighting each other. The king of Chu may not be sure of victory, and then he came up with the idea of ​​sitting on the wall and watching the wind. As long as you lure them with generous profits, you can at least make them remain neutral, or even openly defect, and join hands with you to fight against Western Chu. king."

Xiang Kang smiled and said: "I hope the situation can be like what Mr. Dongyuan and Mr. Qiliji said. I will win a few more allies and reduce a few enemies for me. Oh, by the way, as far as the current situation is concerned, Dongyuan and Mr. Mr. Qiliji, Mr. Zifang and Mr. Chen Ping, what other ideas do you have?"

"Your Majesty, this old man thinks that we should try our best to stabilize Shen Yang and fight for Zhao State." Wu Shi replied immediately: "Shen Yang and Sima Ang are both from Zhao State's army, and they often fight hand in hand. They must have a good friendship with each other. It is very difficult to win him over, so for Shen Yang, we'd better find a way to keep him neutral, and don't go north to Sanchuan to make trouble for us, this is the most sure of success."

"The Kingdom of Zhao can fight for it with all its strength." Tang Bing said immediately again: "The King of Western Chu divided the world, and the one who suffered the most was the Kingdom of Zhao. Not only was the army divided into three by the King of Western Chu, but most of the land was lost. The entrustment was given to Wei Bao, Sima Xin, Zhang Han, Sima Ang and others. Zhao Xie must have hated the King of Western Chu deeply in his heart, but he had to bow his head to the King of Western Chu because he was afraid of his might. Now our army has Showing the strength enough to fight head-on with the King of Western Chu, Zhao Xie's ears will not fail to repeat his thoughts. As long as the king has the right means and the benefits promised are enough to make Zhao Xie tempted, Zhao Guo is likely to change course again and change course again. Form an alliance with our army."

Xiang Kang nodded again, and then asked again: "Then how should we proceed?"

When he asked this question, Xiang Kang looked at Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, because Xiang Kang had already seen that Shangshan Sihao was far-sighted and thoughtful in terms of strategic theory, but when it came to specific operations, he was far-sighted. Still not as good as Zhang Liang and Chen Ping.

Neither Zhang Liang nor Chen Ping was in a hurry to answer Xiang Kang's question. Instead, they discussed in a low voice, and then Chen Ping cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, as long as we make three promises to Zhao Guo, we should be able to do so." Hope to win them back."

"The three promises?" Xiang Kang hurriedly asked again.

"First, return Handan County to Zhao State, and recognize Shangdang County as Zhao State's territory." Chen Ping replied: "Second, when Zhao State has the power to counterattack Taiyuan County, send troops to help Zhao State take back Taiyuan County. Third , Sworn an oath of blood with the state of Zhao, and formed a mutual aid alliance. In the future, if other princes attack Zhao, we must send troops to attack Zhao's enemies, and vice versa, if other princes attack us, Zhao also has an obligation to send troops to attack our enemies."

"Does Zhao Guoguo believe in our promise?" Xiang Kang said with some concern: "The reason why Zhao Guo broke off the alliance with us is because we refused to send troops to help them keep Taiyuan and Daijun. Now will they doubt that we will speak? And no letter?"

"Your Majesty, you can ask our envoys to tell King Zhao clearly that we didn't save Taiyuan and Daijun because we were not strong enough, and we didn't have enough food, grass, soldiers and horses." Zhang Liang said, "There is another point, that is, The covenant we concluded with Zhao Guo before was just an ordinary covenant of goodwill, and there was no express stipulation that we must send troops to rescue the other party. Now we directly pledge blood with Zhao Guo, and expressly agree to send troops to help each other. With your credit, Zhao Guo will not I won’t move my heart.”

"There is another very important point." Chen Ping added: "Our army sent troops to Sanchuan, and the border with Western Chu is imminent. When the king of Western Chu sent troops to counterattack, he must attack us first, not Zhao Guo first, and directly attack us. Pengcheng's opportunity. As long as Zhao Xie and Zhang Er understand this, they must understand that they have the opportunity to take advantage of opportunistic opportunities, and they are more likely to choose to repair the relationship with us and re-conclude the covenant."

Xiang Kang has always acted decisively. Hearing that Chen Ping and Zhang Liang said it was beneficial, he immediately nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it like this. Let Chen Hui contact Zhao Guo and try his best to win Zhao Guo to us." return."

After making up his mind, Xiang Kang smiled and said, "The most important thing is Shenyang. He sent troops from Yangdi, and he could arrive in Luoyang for reinforcements in less than ten days. How can we temporarily stabilize him and try to make him neutral?"

"Shen Yang's affairs are very difficult." Chen Ping replied: "Sima Ang has a lot of friendship with him, and he has a close relationship with him. Now that Sima Ang is in a critical situation, he must have promised a lot of money to lure him to send troops. Going north, if we just lure Shen Yang for profit, it may be very difficult to succeed. The only way is to explain our interests to Shen Yang, let him understand that going north to rescue Sima Ang is just a death in vain, implying that he stands still and sits on the sidelines. Success or failure, we will make another plan when the King of Western Chu returns to attack Sanchuan."

"You can try this." Xiang Kang nodded unsurely, and said: "As long as we can temporarily stabilize him, so that we can quickly take down Luoyang without distraction, the next thing will be much easier to handle. See Standing still in Shenyang gave us a chance to quickly attack Simayang and take down the important place of Aocang, which is very important to the princes outside the pass. With my brother's unruly temper, we will definitely take our anger out on Shenyang, and we will also This will give you a chance to sow discord and win over Shen Yang. But..."

"But who should we send to lobby Shenyang?" Xiang Kang frowned, and said hesitantly, "This person has outstanding eloquence and let Shenyang know how powerful we are. Sending troops to the north will definitely lead to death in vain, and he has to be careful with his words. As for provoking Shen Yang, it is counterproductive, and under my account, there are not many people with this ability."

It was also a coincidence that at this time, Mr. Shusun, who was convenient for going out, carefully poked his head in from outside the tent to peek at the situation in the tent. Xiang Kang happened to see it, and his eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly greeted: "Uncle Sun Sir, it's just in time for you to come back, come in quickly, this king has a big matter for you to do."

"Isn't it? What a coincidence?" Mr. Shusun groaned in his heart, and said to himself, "Don't be on an errand in the enemy's camp. It doesn't matter what I ask the old man to do. As long as it is a mission to the enemy's camp, I will definitely not Willing to do it!"

The next thing is of course very simple. Xiang Kang just announced that he would entrust Mr. Shusun with the heavy responsibility of envoy Shen Yangjun, and Mr. Sunsun immediately collapsed on the ground, crying and yelling that he would not take the risk of beheading. It is a pity that Xiang Kang firstly considered that Mr. Uncle Sun's eloquence was outstanding, and he would not completely anger Shen Yang when he showed off the might of the Han army to intimidate Shen Yang; The most hopeful person to complete this difficult task, even though he did not want to change the candidate for the emissary, insisted on letting Mr. Uncle Sun handle this errand, and because of Mr. Uncle Sun’s repeated refusal, he rarely lost his temper.

In the end, it was Chen Ping who gave Mr. Uncle Sun a reassurance, saying that although Sima Ang's allies would be dangerous, the Han army had no enmity with Shen Yang. In the fight, it is absolutely impossible for Shen Yang to kill the envoy of the Han army. Mr. Shusun's trip will definitely not be dangerous. It is hard to say that Mr. Shusun, who dare not completely anger Xiang Kang, changed his words and accepted it this difficult task.

The matter was not over yet, and after thinking about it for a long time with a sad face, Mr. Shusun said again: "Your Majesty, since you insist on letting me go to see Shen Yang, I dare not refuse, but I have something to say. First, I really don't have the confidence. If you can't say Shen Yang, I hope that the king will not blame you. Second, I want to ask the king to give him a little autonomy. If you can make decisions for the king and promise to give Shen Yang a little benefit, so that the minister may have a little confidence in his words Shen Yang."

"Okay, no problem, as long as you do your best, of course I won't blame you if you can't." Xiang Kang agreed, and then said: "As for the benefits promised to Shen Yang, you can do it yourself. As long as you don’t promise to give up the land and city we have already acquired to Shen Yang.”

Mr. Shusun agreed with a frowning face, and followed Xiang Kang's arrangement with a frowning face. Early the next morning, he took a few entourages to disguise himself as ordinary people and went south to Yingchuan via the Gou family, which was still under the control of the Henan Army, with his head tied to his belt. Go up to work as a cow and a horse for Xiang Kang.At the same time, Xiang Kang sent another envoy to Henan County to persuade the Henan County defenders who were trapped in the isolated city to surrender in Kaesong.

To Xiang Kang's surprise, he had already witnessed the main force of the Henan army fleeing to the west. The defenders of Henan county flatly rejected Xiang Kang's surrender, and even recruited some of the defeated Henan army who fled into the city to hide, and defended the city with all their strength. , blatantly shouted the slogan of coexistence and death with Henan County.Xiang Kang was furious, and immediately ordered the soldiers of the Han army to make all kinds of siege weapons and attack the city by force.

In the end, the isolated and helpless Henan town was of course captured by the Han army. However, the main force of the Han army wasted another three days under the city of Henan, giving the remnants of the main force of the Henan army a chance to reorganize and survive the disastrous defeat. During the dangerous period, they took the time to repair the city defenses and hoarded more supplies for defending the city. When Xiang Kang led the main force of the Han army to move to the city of Luoyang, not only four days had passed, but the Henan army had already taken Luoyang, which was already extremely strong. The city defenses were built to be more difficult to attack.

Seeing this scene, Xiang Kang was of course worried, and said secretly: "I don't know how long this battle in Luoyang will last. Now it's up to Shu Suntong. If he can't persuade Shen Yang to remain neutral, Shen Yang is really frank." The army goes north to reinforce Sima Ang, and Luoyang does not know when it will be taken, and Sima Ang persists until my brother returns to the army to counterattack, I am afraid it may not be impossible."

…………

Perhaps Xiang Kang shouldn't imagine that he can temporarily stabilize Shenyang, Simayang's neighbor, because on the same day, an unexpected emissary, surrounded by ten servants, swaggered into Shenyang's capital, Yangdi City, and directly Came to the gate of Shenyang's palace to ask for an audience. This emissary was none other than Xiang Kang's most dangerous enemy, who left a strong mark in the history books.
When Xiang Yu led the princes outside the pass to make an alliance outside Luoyang City, except for the two unlucky Xiang Kang and Zhao Xie, all the princes in the world formed allies, and Shen Yang and Liu Laosan were of course no exception. After their respective capitals were established, Shen Yang never had any conflicts with Liu Laosan. This time, Liu Laosan sent an envoy to seek an audience, and said that he had important matters to discuss with Shen Yang. Out of curiosity, Shen Yang quickly responded. So he summoned Suihe, Liu Laosan's envoy, and asked him what he wanted.

"King Han, the foreign minister has something unclear and wants to ask for advice in person." Why didn't he answer the question instead, and said with a rather surprised expression: "Yangzhai and Sanchuan are close at hand, and the news that Xiang Kang's rebels sent troops to attack the King of Henan, King Han You should have known it a long time ago, right? With such a good opportunity in front of you, why hasn’t your army, King Han, set out to go north to accept the gift that God has bestowed upon you, King Han?”

"A great gift from heaven to this king? What do you mean by this, sir?" Shen Yang asked in a very confused manner.

"Why does the King of Han know what to ask?" Sui He said with a smile: "Xiang Kang's traitor is looking for his own death, and he dares to take the initiative to send troops outside the pass, just to give the princes outside the pass the opportunity to avoid the danger of the mountains and rivers in the pass, and annihilate him in one fell swoop. King Han If you can capture and kill Xiang Kang’s rebels in this battle, not only can you capture countless money, food, and supplies, but in the future, the King of Western Chu will reward you for your meritorious deeds, and a fertile enclave in Guanzhong will definitely be indispensable to you, King Han! If it’s not a great gift from heaven to King Han, what else could it be?”

Shen Yang laughed straight away, and said, "That's so easy. You probably don't know that Mr. Xiang came from far away. After Xiang Kang's son went east, he won consecutive battles and won victories. Not only did he quickly win Xin'an, Mianchi, and Shan County, but he He defeated the King of Henan several times in Hanoi and Sanchuan, and his troops were sharp and unstoppable."

"So powerful? No wonder our king must encourage Shen Yang to send troops to dispel Shen Yang's idea of ​​preserving his strength. Without Shen Yang's help, Sima Yang would not be able to last long."

Su He was vigilant in his heart, but his face remained calm, and he immediately said: "I didn't expect Xiang Kang's traitors to be so rampant. King Han, the ministers' humble opinion, the more Xiang Kang's traitors are like this, the more you should send troops immediately. Help the King of Henan to resist Xiang Kang's rebel attack, otherwise, once the Henan King is captured by Xiang Kang's rebel, you will be in great trouble immediately, King Han."

"King Han, don't think that the ministers are scaremongering." Sui He continued: "The king of Han and the king of Henan are close to each other, and the reason why the lips are dead and the teeth are cold, there is no need for the ministers to explain to you the king of Han. The ministers just want to Remind King Han of two points. The first is that you, King Han, are very close to the King of Henan. If you, King Han, sit back and watch the King of Henan be destroyed by Xiang Kang’s rebels, then the King of Western Chu will definitely be angry when he returns to counterattack in the future. When it comes to you, King Han, when the time comes, the King of Western Chu will send someone to question you, or even directly ask the teacher to question you, how will you explain, King Han?"

Shen Yang didn't say a word, but he knew very well in his heart that with Xiang Yu's unruly temper, if he saw Sima Ang being destroyed by Xiang Kang, and he kept standing still, he would definitely not let him off lightly.Sui He observed the words and expressions, and said: "There is a second point, the King of Han must not know it. If Xiang Kang's rebel is allowed to sit on the throne, and he has the strength to fight against the King of Western Chu, Xiang Kang's rebel may fight against the people outside the pass. Any prince who is willing to form an alliance, but only with you, the king of Han, he must get rid of it quickly! I don’t know why the king of Han wants to know this point?”

"Mr. please advise." Shen Yang was indeed aroused by Sui He's curiosity.

"The first is that your territory, King Han, is too important. If you send troops from Yangcheng to the north, your army, King Han, can go straight to the hinterland of Sanchuan, cutting off the connection between Xiang Kang's rebel frontline army and the rear of Guanzhong. Such a big hidden danger, Xiang Kang How could the traitor sit idly by?"

Sui He said eloquently: "Secondly, you should also know, King Han, that Han Cheng's Situ Zhang Liang has always worked under the account of Xiang Kang's traitor, and he is very much loved and trusted by Xiang Kang's traitor. He has never forgotten to rejuvenate the old country and let the Korean clan rebuild the old country. Xiang Kang's rebels have also sent troops several times to help Han Cheng restore the country. The rest of the Korean clan will rebuild the old country, what will you do then, King Han?"

Shen Yang, who relied on Xiang Yu to become the king of Han, gradually became serious, and Su He said: "Don't worry, King Han, you will never fight alone, and you dare not deceive King Han. The envoy came here under the order of King Jun of Nanyang. This is to inform you, King Han, of an important event. Our king is already gathering troops. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Xiang Kang’s rebels going east, we will go north to attack Wuguan. Make every effort to break through Wuguan, enter Guanzhong, and take down the rear of Xiang Kang's rebels. In addition, our king has sent envoys to contact Linjiang King, please immediately enter Fangling, attack Xunguan, and let Xiang Kang's rebels It is hard to look at the beginning and the end, so your Majesty marching into Sanchuan this time to help the King of Henan resist Xiang Kang's rebels is absolutely sure of winning, and there will be no danger."

Still after finishing these words, Sui He presented the letter of credence written by Liu Laosan to Shen Yang. Shen Yang took a look and saw that Liu Laosan had indeed expressed his attitude in the letter of credence, saying that he would attack with all his strength. Wuguan made Xiang Kang, who has done many evil things, difficult to care about. He couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly nodded and said: "Okay, I didn't expect the King of Nanyang to value morality so much. Don't worry, sir, the king's troops are already ready to stop, and they will be dispatched soon. Go north to help the Henan king resist Xiang Kang's bandit army."

Shen Yang was overjoyed when he heard this, and he also understood that Shen Yang was trying to extort a sum of money from Sima Ang before he sent troops to rescue Sima Ang, so he quickly bid farewell and wanted to go north immediately to represent Mr. Liu Three times, I went to see Sima Yang and advised Sima Yang to pluck the iron rooster and buy Shen Yang with more money and food to send troops as soon as possible.Unexpectedly, at this time, another envoy from outside the palace gate reported that Sima Ang had sent his servant Cheng Lian to ask for an audience, so why did he shut up and help Sima Ang's envoy persuade Shen Yang to send troops immediately.

The following situation is relatively simple. After Cheng Lian, the envoy of Sima Yang, went to the palace, of course he immediately presented the letter of credence to Shen Yang, promising to reward Shen Yang with 50% of the grain stored in Ao Cang and [-] gold. Sima Ang only encountered minor setbacks in the city of Henan. He took the initiative to retreat to Luoyang for the safety of the capital, and he still had the capital to continue to compete with Xiang Kang.Coupled with the fact that Sui He continued to help, desperately encouraging Shen Yang to send troops to the north immediately, and Shen Yang, who coveted Sima Ang's generous reward, quickly made up his mind and ordered: "Pass down the decree and let our army do it immediately." Get ready to go, this king will personally lead the army northward tomorrow to rescue the Henan king."

Sui He and Cheng Lian were overjoyed when they heard that, and hurriedly thanked Shen Yang together, but Sui He, who had followed Liu Laosan for many years, was still not at ease, and hurriedly said: "King Han, if there is no accident, the traitor Xiang Kang will see you." When you send troops to the north, you will definitely send envoys to deceive the king of Han to stay neutral and retreat south, so please be careful not to fall into the tricks of the traitor Xiang Kang and make a big mistake."

"Is this king so easy to be deceived?" Shen Yang snorted confidently, and then said: "Xiang Kang, don't send envoys to cheat on this king. If his envoys really dare to come, this king will He must cook his thieves to death in public! To show the determination of this king and Xiang Kang'er!"

(End of this chapter)