Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 198
That night, Xiang Zhuang asked Gao Chu to lead troops to collect a large amount of white silk, white Luo, and white cloth from nearby Liyang County, and arranged the entire Chu army camp into a huge mourning hall. They were all plain, and under the leadership of Xiang Zhuang, they were divided into left and right teams, and came to offer condolences in front of Wei Liao's coffin.

Xiang Zhuang even kneeled down three times and kowtowed nine times to Wei Liao's coffin.

Three kneeling and nine kowtows is the highest etiquette in ancient China. Generally speaking, three kneeling and nine kowtows are only done to heaven, earth, emperor, relatives, and teachers. Obviously, Xiang Zhuang has already regarded Wei Liao as his father or master up.

After hanging the filial piety, Xiang Zhuang guarded Wei Liao's spirit for three days and three nights to show his respect.

After the funeral was over, Xiang Zhuang immediately broke free from the grief and started to deal with business. According to Wei Liao's last plan, the first thing to do was to send some veterans across the river.

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Huanchu, Zhonglimei, Jibu, and Yuziqi four generals filed into Xiangzhuang's big tent.

Although Ji Bu is now a nominally great general at the end of Chu, Zhong Limei still walks ahead of him, and Ji Bu is also calm about this, which shows that some old rules cannot be changed at once.

"See General!" The four generals Huan Chu lined up and bowed to Xiang Zhuang.

Xiang Zhuang knelt down from the table, got up and bowed his hands in return, and solemnly invited the four generals to take their seats, and then said: "Lao Huan, Zhong Li, Lao Ji, Ziqi, do you remember when you were in Shouchun?"

"I remember, why don't you remember?" Huan Chu sighed.

"If it weren't for the general, we would have died in Shouchun." Huan Chu also said.

Zhong Limei was not emotional, and said: "The final general did not expect that the general led three thousand solitary troops thousands of miles away, and not only was he not defeated by old Liu Bang and the princes from all walks of life, but in less than a year, he even brought his army with him. With [-] iron cavalry killed and returned, if the former king had spirits in heaven, he would have smiled at Jiuquan."

Yu Ziqi didn't say anything, but the same emotion showed on his face.

In all fairness, when he was in danger in Dong'e County, Yu Ziqi never imagined that the general would not only be able to lead troops into the Kanto, not only would he be able to retreat completely, but he would even be able to pull such a huge cavalry to fight against the enemy. Come back, even if it is the former king, I am afraid that he may not be able to do better than the general, right?

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said, "Do you still remember what I said to everyone in the Shouchun military camp?"

Huan Chu, Ji Bu, Zhong Li Mo, and Yu Ziqi all showed solemn expressions. Xiang Zhuang took a breath and said, "I said, as long as I, Xiang Zhuang, are here, the sky of Great Chu will not fall. One day, I, Xiang Zhuang, will take everyone back to Jiangdong, and now, Jiangdong is close in front of our eyes, we are home, and the soldiers are finally home!"

All of a sudden, Huan Chu, Ji Bu, Zhong Li Mo, and Yu Ziqi were all trembling.

The four of them couldn't help recalling the critical moment in the Shouchun military camp. At that time, the news that the former king committed suicide in Wujiang suddenly spread, and the morale of the three thousand remnants was floating. It was only after this word that everyone's fighting spirit was reawakened, and then the general angrily beheaded Fan Kuai outside Shouchun City, stabilizing the morale of the army at once.

Looking back now, this scene seems to have happened yesterday, which really makes people feel deeply moved.

Xiang Zhuang said again: "Of the 1000 veterans who participated in the Shouchun Battle, there are still about a thousand left. You will take these [-] veterans across the river tomorrow and go home to visit your relatives. Thousands of soldiers have crossed the Wujiang River, and the soldiers have not returned home for nine years, it is time for them to go home and reunite with their relatives."

Huan Chu nodded vigorously, and suddenly asked, "General, what about you?"

Xiang Zhuang said: "I want to stay here to guard the spirit of the army division. After three months, I will cross the river before it is too late."

Huan Chu and Ji Bu nodded silently, both of them knew about the friendship between Xiang Zhuang and Wei Liao, they also deeply thought that Xiang Zhuang wanted to give Wei Liao a gift from his son and nephew to keep filial piety for three months, Zhong Limo was a little surprised, Yu Ziqi fell into deep thought. Obviously, among the four, only Yu Ziqi vaguely guessed Xiang Zhuang's intention.

Xiang Zhuang said again: "Also, remember to give each veteran a good horse, and then pay according to his title, [-] yuan for a gentleman, [-] yuan for a master, and [-] yuan for a hairpin owl... Every time the title increases At the first level, the salary will be increased by ten thousand yuan! Also, the pensions of the soldiers who died in battle will also be taken back, and together with the documents granting titles, they will be handed over to their families."

Wu She, who was sitting at the bottom writing the paperwork, reminded in a low voice: "General, the money is not enough."

The Chu army plundered Luoyang, Xianyang, and Guanzhong counties, and took a lot of money, gold and silver. However, due to the large number and weight of the money, most of them were thrown away.

Without hesitation, Xiang Zhuang said: "If you don't make enough money, you can convert it into gold. If you don't have enough gold, you can use horses to make up for it. No matter what you say, you can't let the families of the fallen soldiers suffer." Said in a tone, "We can't let our soldiers of Dachu bleed and cry."

Can't the soldiers of Dachu bleed and cry?The four generals of Huan and Chu were shocked.

"Here!" Wu She was also slightly moved, and immediately he respectfully agreed, and then he dug out the list of veterans, followed Huan Chu four generals out of Xiang Zhuang's tent, and headed straight for Gao Chu's pro-army camp.

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Sanglin Village is a large village in the eastern outskirts of Wu County, with more than a hundred households. Most of the villagers make a living by farming and raising silkworms. Although the world is not peaceful recently, they can still live well.

Because it was a rush day, there was an endless stream of pedestrians on the dirt road at the entrance of the village.

Among the crowd, an old woman who is nearly sixty years old is carrying a bamboo basket, struggling to drive towards the county seat. The old woman's basket is full of eggs. It is estimated that she has been saving for a while, and she is planning to go to the city. Eggs were exchanged for some New Year's goods, and it was going to be Chinese New Year. Behind the old woman, there was an eight or nine-year-old child.

"Grandma, the rest of you need to wear new clothes." The child said in a childish voice, pulling at the skirt of the old woman's clothes.

"Be good, leftover, when grandma sells the eggs, I'll tear two feet of cloth and make you a beautiful new dress." Grandma was holding a basket, and looked back at the child with loving eyes.

As he was walking, an eighteen or nineteen-year-old green-skinned young man suddenly ran wildly from the front.

The old woman was taken aback, and hurried to the left side of the dirt road with a basket on her shoulder and dragged her grandson. It seemed that this eighteen or nineteen-year-old young man should be a bully in the village, and the old woman seemed quite afraid of him.

Unexpectedly, the young man with green skin had sharp eyes, so he saw the old woman at a glance.

At that moment, the green-skinned young man rushed forward and shouted loudly: "Aunt Qianmen, your dog leftover brother is back!"

"What, what did you say?" The old woman didn't hear clearly, and asked subconsciously, "Qingpi, what did you just say?"

Qingpi Housheng said: "Aunt Qianmen, your leftover brother is back, he is riding a tall horse, wearing iron armor, carrying a long knife, and a dozen soldiers are following behind him, he is so majestic!" Come on, Qing Pi's young man stretched out his hand to point to the front again, and said, "Here, look, Qianmen lady, isn't that your dog leftover brother?"

The old woman looked up, and she saw a tall horse riding on the road. The man on the horse was wearing armor and carrying a knife, followed by more than a dozen soldiers, so imposing. The man was still facing the neighbor on the dirt road all the way. Grandpa, Houwutou Auntie, and Qiancun Limao kept saying hello, but if it wasn't her dog leftover, who else would come?

At that moment, the old woman put the basket full of eggs on the ground, pulled up her grandson, and ran forward to meet her. It was still the young man with green skin, so she quickly picked up the basket from the ground and chased after him.

As the old woman walked, she raised her hand and shouted: "Goose left, my dog ​​left..."

"Grandmother?!" The man on the horse saw the old lady in the crowd, immediately rolled off the saddle, walked a dozen steps to the old lady, hugged the old lady's thigh and cried loudly, "Grandma, you are not filial. The dog is back, the dog is back, your old man is suffering, ouch..."

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back." The old woman was also in tears, and stretched out her withered hands to caress the man's face, and said in a trembling voice, "God left, let grandma take a look at you, let grandma take a good look at you Look at you..." After taking a closer look at the man, the old lady said with distress, "God left, you've lost weight, but you've grown stronger."

"Mother, you are much older." The man burst into tears.

The old woman wiped away her tears, suddenly pulled out the child who was shrinking behind her, and said softly: "Leftover, your father is back, this is your father, quickly call daddy."

"Father." The child called out anxiously.

"This is the leftover, how big is it?" The man was pleasantly surprised.

I remember when he left home, the remaining son was still in his infancy.

"The leftover is so good, he suffered a lot with me." The old woman began to wipe away her tears as she spoke.

"Mother, Gou'er is now a person with a title. From now on, you don't have to work as hard as before. You old man can sit at home and enjoy the happiness, hahaha..." As he said, the man took the child He picked it up and put it on the horse's back, then walked back with the old woman's arm, "Grandma, go home, let's go home."

The folks around gave way one after another, looking at the grandparents and grandchildren with envy in their eyes, and an old man with a white beard said with emotion: "The old man said a long time ago that Gou Sheng is not an ordinary person. You guys, look, it's only been nine years, and this kid is already a big shot, haha."

Among the crowd, the green-skinned junior squeezed forward with a basket in hand: "Brother Gousheng, these are your eggs."

The man took the basket, handed it to a soldier behind him, and said, "Are you Qingpi?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I am Qingpi, Brother Gousheng, do you still remember me?" Qingpi's young man was overwhelmed with surprise, looking at the horse behind the man, and at the dozen soldiers following him, he said enviously, "Brother Gousheng, Are you developed now?"

"That's right." The man said carelessly, "Now we are also officials, doctor, do you know what a doctor is?"

Naturally, the younger Qingpi didn't know, but enviously said: "Doctor? What a great official, brother dog leftover, let me follow you to serve as a soldier after the Chinese New Year, okay?"

"Success." The man said without thinking, "After the Chinese New Year, you can come with me."

(End of this chapter)