Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 517
Zang Tu's rebellion was indeed much more convenient and easier than Zhao Xie's. With just one order, the six counties of the Yan State immediately began conscription, expanded the army, and dispatched food and grass and various military supplies to be hoarded in key cities. , almost directly preparing for rebellion with a big face.

In this regard, although the officials directly under the Han court in the country of Yan also immediately realized that the situation seemed wrong, Zang Tu's excuse for doing this was to prepare to resist the Xiongnu's invasion of the Central Plains. In the battle, the Han army in Daijun and Yanmen and other places are also preparing for the battle desperately. , to remind Xiang Kang to be on guard against Zang Tu.

Seeing that something was wrong, there was also Zang Yan, the crown prince of Yan Kingdom, whom Xiang Kang replaced Zang Tu. For the sake of his own future, Zang Yan also carefully reminded Zang Tu not to go too far, so as not to arouse the suspicion of Xiang Kang and the Han court. Of course, Zang Tu not only refused to listen, but also asked Zang Yan to shut up and not interfere with his decision-making. Zang Yan, who did not have much real power in his hands, had no choice but to pray for God's blessing and not let Xiang Kang treat Zang Tu's actions. He overreacted, allowing his father Yan Wang to do whatever he wanted.

During the busy preparations, accurate news about Zhao Xie also came from Xianyang, saying that Xiang Kang had changed the title of Zhao Xie to the Duke of Donghai and rewarded ten cities including Tancheng, the governor of Donghai County. The crimes of Zhao Xie's son were pardoned, and it was rumored that Xiang Kang originally did not want to abolish Zhao Xie's throne, but Zhao Xie repeatedly kowtowed to plead guilty and repeatedly begged to abolish the king. He named his son who had just turned one year old the King of Zhao.

Of course, Zang Tu's party scoffed at such rumors. Apart from laughing at Xiang Kang's hypocrisy and shamelessness behind his back, he had already made preparations to instigate Zhao Hui, the governor of Julu County, Zhao Xie's fellow clan. Immediately sent people to Julu to persuade Zhao Huiyi to be independent, and proclaimed himself King Zhao to fight against the Han court.At the same time, the envoy sent by Zang Tu to contact Han Xin also went south to Huaiyin with a lot of gifts, Han Xin, who was sure to be of great help to the Yan army.

Of course, the envoys to contact the Xiongnu Shanyu had also been sent long ago. As for the plan to instigate Wu Rui, Zang Tu adopted Zhang Sheng's suggestion and planned to send someone to contact Wu Rui after the date of the army was confirmed, so as to prevent Wu Rui from This scumbag who could even sacrifice his own son-in-law defected and secretly reported to the Han court, ruining his own rebellion.

Zang Tu was quite surprised. On the second day after receiving Zhao Xie's news, a Han court envoy suddenly came to Ji County with Xiang Kang's edict. Ting was vigilant and welcomed the arrival of the Han Ting envoy very enthusiastically. According to the rules, he bowed down in front of the Han Ting envoy and listened respectfully to Xiang Kang's so-called bullshit edict.

The content of the bullshit edict surprised Zang Tu even more. In the edict, Xiang Kang actually announced that the Fanyang Iron Mine in Yixian County in Guangyang County, State of Yan State, would be brought under the direct control of the Han court, and he also asked Zang Tu to choose a suitable location next to the Fanyang Iron Mine. , built a small city before the first month within a limited time, and handed it over to the Han court.Fortunately, Xiang Kang didn't want Zang Tu's iron mines for nothing, and announced in the imperial edict that the two cities of Gaoyang and Aling in Julu County would be assigned to Yan State as compensation for the Han court's acquisition of Fanyang iron mines.

They are all ready to rebel. Of course, Zang Tu will not mind temporarily assigning the Fanyang Iron Mine, which does not have a large output, to the Hanting. What interests Zang Tu is why Xiang Kang is willing to exchange two cities for one. Iron ore, so after respectfully accepting the decree, Zang Tu inquired about the reason for this matter with great curiosity while setting up a banquet for the envoys of the Han court.

The envoy of the Han court did not hide anything from Zang Tu, and told Zang Tu the truth after a few cups of yellow soup, saying, "Your Majesty, in fact, the imperial court has been paying attention to the Fanyang Iron Mine for a long time. Although the ore output of the Fanyang Iron Mine is not very large, The iron content is not particularly high, but the iron produced is the most suitable for making weapons and armor, especially for the sabers used by our Han cavalry, and the armor used by our Han heavy armor, the quality is far better than other iron mines. Your saber and heavy armor are the best, so the imperial court is willing to exchange two cities for your Fanyang Iron Mine."

"Is there such a thing?" Zang Tu, who didn't know how to smelt, was surprised when he heard it, and asked in surprise, "Is the iron smelted from Fanyang Iron Mine so good?"

"It's absolutely true." The envoy of the Han court replied truthfully: "Yang Buyang's internal history personally reported to His Majesty, saying that he organized a manpower to mine all the iron from Kyushu for comparison, and found that the saber made of the steel produced by Fanyang Iron Mine can be broken. It cuts iron like mud, and its toughness is far higher than the sabers that our big Han cavalry used to equip. Even if the heavy armor it creates is a little thinner than the heavy armor we used before, it can still be invulnerable. You can't even shoot a crossbow, so after the emperor heard this, he immediately decided to requisition your Fanyang Iron Mine."

Yang is not one of Xiang Kang's oldest lackeys. He has been responsible for supervising the manufacture of various weapons for the Han army for a long time. The saber, steel armor and gunpowder are all from the workshop he manages. He is one of the important behind-the-scenes heroes of the Han army's unification of the world. Of course Tu had heard of his name.Because of this, Zang Tu couldn't help being more joyful in his heart, and hurriedly said: "It turns out that this is the case. No wonder His Majesty personally issued an edict to let the widow build a city next to the Fanyang Iron Mine. It seems that it is specially used to hoard Fanyang Iron Mine. The ore from the mine is used."

"Your Majesty misunderstood." The envoy of the Han court shook his head while drinking wine, and said, "Although the iron in Fanyang Iron Mine is of good quality, it contains little iron. It would be too much to mine the iron ore and transport it to Guanzhong for smelting and forging." It consumes manpower and material resources, and wastes a lot of time, so in order to save cost and time, the emperor and Yang Neishi planned it this way."

"How did you plan?" Zang Tu hurriedly asked.

"Build a large workshop in Fanyang Iron Mine to directly forge sabers and heavy armor." The envoy of the Han court said casually: "There are several coal mines around Fanyang, and the coal produced can be transported to Fanyang for direct ironmaking, so Yang Neishi suggested that Fan Yang directly set up a workshop, transported coal nearby to smelt steel, and forged weapons and armor for the imperial court, so as to save time and cost, and His Majesty the Emperor agreed, so there is a matter of asking your majesty to send people to build the city."

After finishing speaking, the envoy of the Han court added: "Your Majesty, please hurry up on this matter. As early as when the ministers set off, Yang Neishi had already dispatched manpower to prepare the craftsmen to move to Fanyang Iron Mine. Before the first day of the first lunar month, you have to rush to Fanyang to build a new workshop, don’t let the craftsmen come with those objects for making iron, your city hasn’t been built yet.”

Zang Tu laughed loudly, and said: "So it's like this, it's a trivial matter! I would like to ask pedestrians to report back to the court, and just talk about the important affairs of the soldiers and the country. In order not to delay the important affairs of the court, the first month will not be used. Before December, I must I will build a new city next to Fanyang Iron Mine for the imperial court!"

The envoy of the Han court was overjoyed, and quickly thanked Zang Tu, and said: "After I go back, I will definitely report the situation to the court on behalf of the king, and ask Yang Neishi to send the craftsmen in advance so that Fanyang Iron Mine can be used as soon as possible. The imperial court produced sabers and heavy armor."

Zang Tu nodded with a smile, smiling very happily, and after sending away the envoys from the Han court, Zang Tu of course immediately summoned several of his confidants and told them about this important event.As a result, Zang Quan, Zhaoshe Huawei and the others were of course very pleasantly surprised when they heard this, and they all said, "Is there such a thing? The iron produced by Fanyang Iron Mine is actually the most suitable for making sabers and heavy armor?"

"Really?" Zhang Sheng was very suspicious, and said suspiciously: "What a coincidence? The Fanyang Coal Mine, which is very close to Ji County, can produce such good iron? How come I have never heard of this before? "

"Shangdoctor, I'm afraid you are ignorant about this." Zhai Xu, the governor of Shangyang County, said hurriedly: "Although the Fanyang Iron Mine is not very big, there were craftsmen there who built iron mines long before the Tyrant Qin conquered the six countries outside the pass. It is said that the sharpness of a good sword is comparable to that of the famous Yuchang sword, but the skill was lost later.” (No fiction, the oldest steel weapon in China was unearthed in Yanxiadu, Yi County, Hebei.)
"Does this really happen?" Zhang Sheng was stunned, and then said pleasantly: "In this way, this story should be true? If the imperial court really sends craftsmen who can make sabers and heavy armor to Fanyang to build workshops, we only need to put Once that workshop is taken down, you won’t have to worry about losing to the sabers and heavy armor used by the imperial army in the future.”

"This is also the reason why the widow brought you here." Zang Tu said excitedly: "The widow has decided to postpone the date of our military recruitment and slow down the speed of our conscription. Don't arouse the vigilance of the court for the time being. Wait. The imperial court sent those craftsmen to set up the big workshop in Fanyang, and we will do something about it!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and they all thought that it would not be too late to raise troops until the key iron workshop was built. Only Zhang Sheng expressed his concern, and said: "My lord, the opportunity is rare. Postponing the date of raising troops will not only risk leaking information, Missing the best time to raise troops in winter, the situation may be unfavorable to us?"

"There are not enough sabers and heavy armor, and the situation is also not good for us." Zang Tu said: "Before this, we spent countless manpower and material resources to imitate sabers and heavy armor, and we have never succeeded once, let alone tough and sharp. All our cavalry have sabers to fight on horseback, but we can’t even make a piece of heavy armor, and now that little Zhuzi Xiang Kang has given us such a big gift, of course we can’t miss it.”

On the one hand, it is relatively the most suitable date for raising troops, and on the other hand, it is the saber and steel armor that can greatly enhance the fighting power of the Yan army's cavalry. He made a decision and said: "Let's do it like this, put off the action, and expand the army to [-] first, so as not to arouse the court's suspicion. Hurry up to build Fanyang New City, and let the court send craftsmen who can make sabers and heavy armor as soon as possible, and wait for Fan Yang's work. After the workshop is completed, it will not be too late for us to raise troops again."

Zang Quan, Zhao She Tuowei and others agreed together, Zhang Sheng hesitated again, and obediently bowed his hands and sang promises, and then said: "My lord, what about the Huns and Han Xin? Our envoys to contact the Huns have already been sent out." Now, there is also Han Xin, the people we went to find him have already been sent out?"

"It's okay, it doesn't affect anything." Zang Tu said casually: "Let's not say that our envoys are likely to bargain with the Huns for a while, even if the Huns agree, they will definitely wait for us to have trouble before sending troops. I don't believe it. The Xiongnu Chanyu would sell us such a good friend. As for Han Xin, it’s easier to deal with, Yan Guo is so big, he came to Yan Guo, what’s the problem of hiding for a while?”

In this way, because he coveted the treasures of the Han army, the cavalry saber and infantry armor, Zang Tu not only resolutely postponed the time to rebel against the Han, but also sent his prince Zang Yan to Fanyang to build a new city by the Yishui River. Zang Tu also told his dear son Zang Yan who was more pro-Han: "This is a good opportunity to show your loyalty to the emperor. No matter what you think, before the first day of December, you must build Fanyang New City for me! If possible, build more houses in the city so that the craftsmen sent by the emperor can live in them directly!"

…………

Let’s also take a look at how Zang Tu sent people to contact Han Xin. The envoy Zang Tu sent to Huaiyin to ask Han Xin to leave the mountain was called Zhang Xin. He was the brother of Zang Tu’s favorite minister Zhang Sheng. He changed his identity incognito and arrived at the end of October. After Huaiyin, without much effort, Zhang Xin found Han Xin, who had returned to his hometown and lived in seclusion by the Huaishui River. You can find the famous Han Xin.

Zhang Xin, who was fat and fat, was as cunning and cunning as his brother Zhang Sheng. After finding Han Xin, Zhang Xin did not rush to contact Han Xin, but waited patiently until Han Xin routinely went fishing every day when no one was there. Holding the gift from Zang Tu to Han Xin, Zhang Xincai came to Han Xin with a smile on his face to show his identity, presented a letter written by Zang Tu to Han Xin, and invited Han Xin to return to Yandi with him to serve Zang Tu.

Han Xin is not completely a political idiot, just after reading Zang Tu's letter that praised him so much, Han Xin already understood Zang Tu's intention, and after a little calculation, he asked: "The king of Yan wants to invite me to Yandi, he is not afraid Arouse the suspicion of the court and the emperor?"

"General, if you were afraid, our majesty would not have sent officials all the way here to look for you." Zhang Xin replied very directly, and then said with a smile: "Please don't worry, general, not only will you be safe, but our majesty will also be safe." I will definitely treat you as a guest of honor and promise to obey your words."

Han Xin gently stroked the simple fishing rod in his hand. After thinking for a long time, Han Xin suddenly dipped the invitation letter written by Zang Tu into the river, and rubbed the words on the silk with both hands. Seeing the misunderstanding, Zhang Xin hurriedly said: " General, what are you doing? Our king is sincere to you."

"I know that your king is sincere, so I have to destroy this letter."

Han Xin replied calmly, and at the same time continued to scrub the words on the silk until all the words on the white silk were washed away and no remaining words could be seen. Then Han Xin wrapped a stone with white silk and threw it into the Huaihe River in the distance. In the waves of the water, he said: "Leave ten gold as travel expenses for me, and we will go separately."

"General, did you agree?" Zhang Xin asked pleasantly. Seeing Han Xin nodding, Zhang Xin hurriedly said, "Then why split up? The officer has already prepared the chariot and horse for you, and also prepared the introduction. We can go together go?"

"You want to court death?" Han Xin asked coldly: "I have a special status, and I have been targeted by the pavilion chiefs and pawns here. If I take the car with you, we can't get out of Huaiyin County, and we have already been taken down." Yes. Give me the ten gold, and leave the forged introduction you gave me, and we will split up and meet up in Ji County."

As soon as Zhang Xin wanted to find out that it was true, he quickly took out the forged biography of the Yan official and gave it to Han Xin. He also wanted to give Han Xin some more travel expenses. On the way back, if you were taken down, you must say that you are my old department, and visit me when you pass by Huaiyin. Second, if you arrive in Yandi before me, you must tell your king. If you want to take any action, you must Do it in winter, don't delay it until spring! Otherwise, even if I arrive in Yan Country, I'm doomed to be useless!"

Zhang Xin quickly agreed, and then looked carefully at the surrounding people, and then bid farewell to Han Xin. Said in the language: "A man was born between heaven and earth, he would rather die a vigorous death than live alone by the Huaishui River for the rest of his life."

By the way, if Tai Shigong did not intentionally slander, Han Xin, who was unwilling to be lonely after being changed to Huaiyin Marquis, was indeed planning to rebel when Chen Xi rebelled, but he was not cautious enough. Hou and Xiao He act first to be strong.

(End of this chapter)