Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 389
After taking Julu City as he wished, whether to pardon Zhang Er and his son is just a trivial matter. The real test of Xiang Kang's political ability is the handling of the problem by Zhao Wang and Zhao Xie.

In fact, as early as on the way from Puyang to Julu, Xiang Kang had repeatedly considered how to deal with the thorny issue of King Zhao and Xie. After successfully breaking through Julu, Zhao Xie's life was killed with a single blow, and then the Zhao State was completely abolished, and the prefecture and county system was implemented again on the Zhao State's land, allowing him to directly control the land, cities and people of the Zhao State.

Various objective reasons forced Xiang Kang to give up this tempting idea. The first reason is that there are three independent forces around Zhao, Zang Tu, Tianjia and Tiandu, who have done things too badly and don't show them The hope that they can continue to be kings will definitely force them to the side of the Western Chu Army, which will greatly increase the resistance of the Han Army to rule the world—Zang Tu, Tian Jia and Tian are not fools, and of course they will not hand over the king willingly. Jue, territory and city, once Xiang Kang touches their core interests, they will of course fight Xiang Kang to the end.

The second is that with the understanding of the specific situation of this era, Xiang Kang has gradually discovered that the half-county and half-feudal system implemented by Liu Laosan in history after the unification of China was not because Liu Laosan was stupid and did not know what is under the sky. Could it be the land of the king, the shore of the land, the minister of the king, let alone Liu Laosan who has no foresight and does not know what is the legacy of raising a tiger, but a helpless move limited by the background of the times, and it is also a very clever expedient measure.

At present, China's Kyushu has no way to fully implement the centralization system. This is an objective reality that Xiang Kang has to admit. There are many reasons. The most critical reason is also the main reason for the death of Qin Dynasty II, that is, cultural Contradictions and conflicts between regions and political systems!
In order to eliminate these contradictions and conflicts, Qin Shihuang did a lot of things, unifying the writing, currency and weights and measures, writing the same text, using the same track and walking in the same way, which laid a solid foundation for the unification of China, but no matter how hard Qin Shihuang tried, he was still unable to quickly eliminate Qin. The cultural differences and contradictions between China and the six countries outside the pass, and the forced promotion of the military system of the Qin State were still unacceptable to the people of the six countries outside the pass. The soldiers of the garrison immediately rallied to respond, which also caused Chen Sheng and Wu Guang to raise their righteousness in Daze Township, and the western part of Chu State was immediately full of flames.

In addition, the Six Kingdoms Restoration Movement was surging. Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu's uncle and nephew, who supported the king of Chu, appeared on the stage, and the old nobles of the six countries took the opportunity to make troubles one after another. It was all because the Qin Dynasty could not completely assimilate the six countries outside the pass with the native culture of Qin. However, the common people outside the pass still regard themselves as Zhao people, Yan people, Qi people, Chu people, Korean people, and Wei people. As the Qin Dynasty suppressed the legacy of the Six Kingdoms, it also supported the enfeoffment system they were familiar with.

The current strength of Xiang Kang and the Han army is indeed very strong, but no matter how strong it is, it is impossible to be stronger than the army of the Qin Dynasty that just swept across the six countries. Forcibly unify the cultural systems of the six countries outside the pass, then there must be only one end, and that is to repeat the mistakes of the death of Qin Dynasty II, and completely fall into the military dilemma of pressing the gourd and floating the gourd. At the same time, it will only be cheap and firm support Xiang Yu under the enfeoffment system completely forced the beneficiaries of the enfeoffment system, the princes outside the Guan, to Xiang Yu's side. Even if he forcibly unified the world, he would have to continue to face the successive Six Kingdoms Restoration Movements.

Xiang Kang's correct choice is to imitate Liu Laosan in history. First, he will make political concessions, implement a system of enfeoffment to allow counties and states to coexist, and wait until the reputation of China is unified, and then he will be like Liu Laosan and others. Just like his successors, while eliminating the dissident princes and kings, he spent time slowly assimilating the people of the six countries outside the pass, and then weakened and eliminated the remaining princes and kings through various political and military means, and finally truly unified China. True centralization.

Of course, it is bound to take a long time to do so, and it will take several generations to complete the real unification like the old Liu family, and it is not impossible.But fortunately, compared with Liu Laosan in history, Xiang Kang has much greater advantages. First of all, Xiang Kang is much younger than Liu Laosan, and he is not as greedy and lustful as Liu Laosan. In the first year of the year, he drove west to Hexi, and there was plenty of time to slowly complete the real unification; secondly, Xiang Kang was much stronger than Liu Laosan in history, and he didn't need to be like Liu Laosan. In order to complete the unification of reputation, he had to Huge concessions have to be made to Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu and other princes and kings who hold heavy troops, and it will be much easier to eliminate princes and kings who have dissenting intentions in the future.

The third point is the most important point. No matter how poor Xiang Kang’s history is, he also knows how to establish a centralized power system in the future, and what kind of county system should be established to effectively control the local area. In addition, Xiang Kang’s science, technology and culture Advantages, you can avoid countless detours to complete the real unification of China. ——Not to mention anything else, Xiang Kang's superiority in productivity and technology alone is enough to crush the princes outside the customs who are still on the tail of the Bronze Age in terms of strength.

It is precisely because of these reasons that Xiang Kang also had to make up his mind to make temporary concessions, intending to temporarily learn from Liu Laosan's prefectures and states in parallel with the half-feudal system, and temporarily tolerate Zhao, Qi, Yan and other vassal states The existence of Zhao Guo temporarily dispels the idea of ​​directly abolishing Zhao Guo.

Zhao Wang and Zhao Xie also lost their luck because of this, so Xiang Kang made up his mind early on, deciding that as long as he can come to him alive, he will continue to be Zhao Wang, and indirectly control the people and cities of Zhao through him land.

Xiang Kang also made this decision against his will after careful consideration. There are two key reasons. One is that Zhao Xie has never really controlled the real power of Zhao Guo. He is weak and easy to control in Zhao Guo. deal with.

The second is that Xiang Kang could not find a more suitable candidate than Zhao Xie to be the King of Zhao. Like Liu Laosan in history, it is of course impossible to use Zhang Er who was just defeated by the Han army as the King of Zhao. Among them, Uncle Zhou, who led an army to conquer the four kingdoms of Wei, Jin and Zhai, is qualified to be king, but Uncle Zhou is too capable. Once he is crowned king, Xiang Kang will definitely be difficult to control. Relying on Uncle Zhou to fight, if he is crowned king too soon, it will definitely be even more difficult in the future.

So Xiang Kang thought again and again, but he could only dispel the idea of ​​killing Zhao Xie, and he was going to continue to regard him as the king of Zhao. Fortunately, the Han army sent troops to Zhao State before, and the banner of sending troops was to crusade against the Western Chu army. Zhang Er, the treacherous prime minister of Zhao State who usurped the law, continued to regard Zhao Xie, a descendant of the orthodox Zhao royal family, as king.

Zhao Xie's dog flying luck was indeed good. Although the Julu War was in full swing, it inevitably affected Zhao's palace in Julu City. After arriving in front of Xiang Kang, Zhao Xie obediently greeted Xiang Kang as a courtier and expressed his willingness to serve Xiang Kang as a courtier. Xia Shuo, who had surrendered to the Han army, was made the prime minister of the state of Zhao, and let the Zhao army follow the Han army to fight as a servant, which temporarily solved Zhao's political problems.

However, this does not mean that the Battle of Julu has come to an end. The remaining troops of the Western Chu Army led by Zhou Yin, as well as the surviving Qi Army, are still stationed on the only high ground outside Julu City. The tactics of fighting against the city once again weakened the rest of the Western Chu Army and taught the Qi army a lesson. However, it is conservatively estimated that the remaining troops of the Western Chu Army are still more than [-] troops. Therefore, if the Han army cannot quickly eliminate these two groups of enemies, once Xiang Yu personally leads his tiger and wolf division to rescue, the Chu Qi army will not only be able to escape easily, but Xiang Yu may still be overthrown by Xiang Yu on the Zhao battlefield. ——After all, in a head-to-head contest, even if Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou joined forces, they would not dare to say that they are sure of victory in front of Xiang Yu.

This is not enough, what worries Xiang Kang even more. Before that, in order to prevent any emergency, the Zhao army had transferred part of the food and grass to the Qi and Chu army in advance for hoarding. Ten days is definitely not a big problem. At the same time, the Julu battlefield is too close to Daluze, and the surrounding water network is dense. It is still difficult for the Han army to kill the Qi-Chu coalition army by cutting off the water. Therefore, it is still an impossible battle in front of the Han army. The fierce battle to avoid is still a fierce battle that must be won before Xiang Yu arrives.

"If we can instigate Zhou Yin's rebellion as soon as possible, we can definitely win this battle easily. But if we can't do this and rely on a frontal attack, not only will we not be sure of victory, but even if we barely win, the loss will definitely not be too small! "

This is the unanimous conclusion reached by Xiang Kang, Uncle Zhou, Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and other decision-makers of the Han army. It is precisely because of this that it is too important to arrive at noon on the second day when Julu City was taken, even before the Han army cleaned it up. After finishing the Julu battlefield and appeasing the people in the city, Xiang Kang accepted Cui Guang, an important minister of the Han army, to volunteer, and asked Cui Guang, an old man in Shangshan, who is well-known all over the world, to carry a letter of persuasion to the Western Chu army camp. The third persuasion may be shaken. Zhou Yin, the great Sima of the Western Chu Army, surrendered.

In addition, in order to reduce resistance to persuading surrender, Xiang Kang personally wrote a letter to his cousin Xiang Guan, who had been tough in front of the Han army envoys before, telling him about his brotherhood, and persuading him to surrender and come and enjoy it with him. Prosperous and rich, he also promised Xiang Guan a great reward of being a marquis and a city.

Cui Guang, who set off at noon, did not come back until half past Shen time. Xiang Kang inevitably began to worry in the camp. The only option left is to attack the Western Chu army camp head-on.As a result, at this time, Zheng Bu suddenly came to Xiang Kang happily, and shouted as soon as they met: "Your Majesty, I found it. It turns out that I made an idea to sneak attack on the last general's camp and let Lord Guangwu lure the enemy. It turned out that the one who gave up all his previous efforts was Xiao Zhuzi, Yu Ling, the general of Tianbu Pifu, and now the general has finally found someone to take revenge on."

"Yu Ling?" Of course Xiang Kang had never heard of this name before, he just asked with a smile: "General Zheng, what's the matter, haven't you killed so many Qi thieves yesterday, and you haven't got enough anger yet? You must make you ashamed." The enemy is picked out and cramped and skinned?"

"Of course." Zheng Bu replied confidently, gnashing his teeth and said: "It's a bad idea to kill so many of our loyal and brave soldiers, and if you don't grab that little Yuling Lizi to cramp up and peel off his skin, of course it will be hard to get rid of the hatred in the heart of the last general. .”

Xiang Kang smiled, and said casually: "I think this leader Yu is a little bit capable. He was able to deceive you and Mr. Guangwu more than once. He is a talent. If he can use it for us, he will definitely help us a lot."

Zheng Bu was a little displeased when he heard this, and when he was about to say something more, a guard from outside the tent flew in to report that Cui Guang, who was on an envoy to the enemy camp, had returned to the Han camp. Greet Cui Guang who was born and died for himself.Unfortunately, after meeting Xiang Kang outside the tent, Cui Guang bowed his hands to Xiang Kang and said, "My lord, forgive me, I have let you down this time and failed."

"It's okay, it's okay." Xiang Kang shook his head quickly, and said with a smile: "As long as Xia Huanggong can come back safely, how is it? You haven't suffered any grievances, have you?"

Cui Guang shook his head in denial, but the entourage behind him boldly said: "Your Majesty, Dr. Cui was beaten, and he was beaten out of the camp of the Chinese army by the Western Chu bandits."

Xiang Kang was shocked when he heard that, he quickly asked about Cui Guang's health, and asked who gave the order to beat Cui Guang out of the Western Chu army camp. It's just a little skin trauma, and I blame the old man for speaking too directly and not tactfully enough, which angered your cousin, General Xiang Guan, your majesty, so he ordered the old man to be kicked out of the Chinese army camp."

Hearing this, Xiang Kang had no choice but to quickly apologize to Cui Guang on behalf of his brother, personally take Cui Guang back to the Chinese army tent to rest, and then quickly ordered the military doctor to check Cui Guang's injuries. Cui Guang waved his hand again to say no, Then he said: "My lord, let's talk about the business first. I am old and incompetent. After seeing Zhou Yin, because General Xiang Guan was always by his side and acted very tough, so many things are inconvenient for me to say directly. I can only say yes to Zhou Yin." Zhou Yin understands it with reason and moves with profit, and he also sees that Zhou Yin is indeed a little shaken, but he still has no way to make him make up his mind, so in the end he can only return empty-handed, disappointing you, Your Majesty."

After all, Cui Guangcai told Xiang Kang and others the details of how he met Zhou Yin, and especially introduced that although Zhou Yin tried his best to conceal it, his expression was still obviously shaken, and Xiang Guan's expression was aggressive, which was obvious to Han. The army was very hostile, and even smashed Xiang Kang's handwritten letter to him face to face, and scolded Xiang Kang's soldiers for killing Xiang Sui, vowing to avenge Xiang Sui.

Xiang Kang didn't speak all the time, and it was only after Cui Guang finished introducing the situation that Xiang Kang sighed helplessly: "It seems that brother Xiang Guan really hates me to the extreme, the sibling relationship between me and him Mutual killing is also doomed to be unavoidable."

"Who told you to send him back to Pengcheng on purpose?" Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and the others beside him murmured in their hearts, "You think it's inconvenient for you and Xiang Yu to turn your face and become king by staying with your brother. Deliberately sending him back to Pengcheng, and now that you are so prosperous, can your cousins ​​hate you and envy you?"

"Your Majesty, there should still be a chance." Cui Guang said again: "Based on Zhou Yin's wavering response, as long as we can find a way to find an opportunity for our envoy to meet Zhou Yin in private and explain the interests to him alone, we should There is great hope that he will be turned around."

Xiang Kang tugged at the sparse beard on his lips to figure it out, and said after a while: "I'm afraid it will be difficult. We are famous for instigating rebellion and persuading surrender. My brother Xiang Guan may not be unable to see Zhou Yin's vacillating reaction. Just in case, my elder brother will definitely keep a close eye on Zhou Yin, and our envoy may hardly have the opportunity to meet Zhou Yin alone."

"Even if there is such an opportunity, it will be difficult for us to make Zhou Yin make up his mind." Zhang Liang, who had not made a statement on this matter before, also stood up and poured cold water on this matter, saying: "Our greatest hope of persuading Zhou Yin to surrender is just because He suffered repeated defeats on the battlefield of Zhao State, causing heavy losses to the Xichu bandit army. Xiang Yu would never let him go lightly when he returns. But Zhou Yin will definitely consider this, if he can redeem his merits and bring the Xichu bandit army with him The rest of the army persisted until Xiang Yu led the reinforcements to arrive. Not only would Xiang Yu not kill him, he might even let him continue to lead the army and continue to be on his own. As long as he still has such luck, our envoy will find a chance It is difficult to persuade him to surrender alone, and it is difficult for him to make up his mind completely."

"After all, Your Majesty, you just agreed to make Zhou Yin a county lord and bestow thousands of households in the city." Zhang Liang added: "Zhou Yin must also think so. Once he wins, the rewards for him will definitely be more than these."

Xiang Kang nodded helplessly, and had to admit that even if the self-army envoy found an opportunity to persuade him to surrender alone, it might not be able to prompt Zhou Yin, who still had hope, to make up his mind to surrender.After thinking about it for a while, Xiang Kang could only change his words and said: "It seems that we can only use attack instead of persuasion. Let our army rest for a while, then concentrate our forces, and give priority to attacking the camp of the Western Chu bandit army. Unable to do so, the bandit army of Qi State went out to fight, and forced Zhou Yin to learn from Zhang Er, Duke Gan, and Liu Jian of the bandit army of Zhao State, and surrendered to us at the last moment.”

"Your Majesty is going to give up at this point?" Chen Ping, who had previously proposed to recruit Zhou Yin, said with a smile, "I think that since Zhou Yin's husband has obviously wavered, we just need to push him behind the scenes. The purpose of recruiting and surrendering."

"Mr. Chen Ping, do you have any clever ideas?" Xiang Kang asked quickly.

"I have another way." Chen Pingran replied, and said more calmly: "But I must speak first, this plan is too insidious, and it is very likely to put your cousin, General Xiang Guan, your lord, in danger. Your life is in danger, so whether you want to use this plan, you must first ask your majesty to make up your mind and be prepared to take the risk of losing your flesh and blood."

Xiang Kang vaguely understood what Chen Ping meant, and his expression obviously began to hesitate. After a long time, he said: "Back then, King Zhao Huiwen did not hesitate to starve to death his biological father, King Zhao Wuling, in order to prevent the country from being divided. Imprisoning his biological mother and killing his younger brother Chengjiao, in order to restore peace to the people of the world as soon as possible, so that the king's people Qianshou can live and work in peace and contentment, and no longer suffer from the torment of war, this king can't take care of so much. So, Mr. Chen Ping, please speak."

"I will make excuses, it's high-sounding." First, he praised Xiang Kang's hypocrisy in his heart, and then Chen Ping slowly revealed his sinister plan, a despicable despicable plan that even Xiang Kang and Zhang Liang heard. Poison...

(End of this chapter)