Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 217 Seven Routes Allied Forces
A month later, a ten-foot-high platform was built in the northern suburbs of Wuzhong.

Xiangzhuang worshiped the ancestors of heaven and earth on the high platform, and then held a grand coronation ceremony under the auspices of the aristocratic grandson Shuguan, formally inheriting the throne and becoming the second king of Western Chu.

Immediately Xiangzhuang issued an edict to change Western Chu to Dachu, take Wuzhong as its capital, change Zhang County to Danyang County, and divide Ji County into two. The five counties are still Kuaiji County.

The second imperial edict issued by Xiang Zhuang was the appointment and removal of personnel. Xiang Ta was appointed as Ling Yin to fully preside over the political affairs of the Great Chu, and Xiang Tuo was appointed as the general to fully preside over the military affairs of the Great Chu. Xiang Zhuang's successful succession to the throne is inseparable from the strong support of Xiang Ta and Xiang Tuo, and of course Xiang Zhuang will reciprocate.

A mature politician and a brilliant commander never take all the benefits into his arms. If you want to eat meat yourself, you have to give it to others, right?Or people will sacrifice their lives for you?
Xiang Ta and Xiang Tuo's support for Xiang Zhuang can be said to be spared no effort, and the two people's prestige in Jiangdong is also very high. If Xiang Zhuang appoints his cronies as Ling Yin and general of Da Chu, it is inevitable that he will give the facts, and even more so. It gives people a bad impression of nepotism and short-sightedness. Once this impression is formed, the Jiangdong aristocratic and noble families should be divorced.

The third imperial edict issued by Xiang Zhuang was the appointment and removal of personnel. Uncle Sun Guan was appointed as the prefect of Wujun, Qu Yi was the prefect of Danyang, and Wu Qi was the prefect of Kuaiji. More than 100 young talents were recruited to serve as magistrates and county lieutenants in various counties.

This edict is again the result of political compromise.

Xiang He and Xiang Tuo are not bare-bones commanders, but there are clans and gentry who follow and support them. If Xiang Zhuang wants to stabilize the situation in Jiangdong as soon as possible, he has to rely on these clans, gentry, and the Jiangdong clan that originally supported Xiang Guan. Charge into the battle, Xiang Zhuang's arrogant soldiers really can't do this.

The benefits of political compromise are obvious. With an edict, the situation in Jiangdong will be calmed down immediately. Not only the political situation in Danyang County and Wu County will quickly get on the right track, but also the clans in Kuaiji County who were clamoring for revenge for Xiang Guan. The flags and drums were silenced, and everyone rushed to recommend the children of their respective clans to Xiang Zhuang.

After all, these clans are not Xiang Guan's retainers. In their eyes, ensuring the interests of their own clans is the most important thing. They shouted to avenge Xiang Guan, but they were just bargaining chips with Xiang Zhuang. At the beginning, they never thought about revenge for Xiang Guan, but Xiang Zhuang chose to compromise, and they were satisfied.

Of course, such a political compromise cannot have only advantages, but also disadvantages.

With Shu Sunguan, Qu Yi, and Wu Qi as the three major county guards, and selecting young talents from the old Chu family, Jiangbei gentry, and Jiangdong clan to serve as county magistrates and county lieutenants in each county, it will inevitably encourage their power and thus An intricate power network has been formed in the three counties of Jiangdong. From then on, it is difficult for even Xiangzhuang to shake this big network easily.

However, for now, Xiang Zhuang can't take care of these things for the time being. The top priority is to stabilize the situation in Jiangdong as soon as possible, so as not to give the hostile forces an opportunity to take advantage of it, because Xiang Zhuang knows very well that the reason why the forces of all parties did not move before is just to hope that all parties Xiang can kill each other, but now that Xiang Zhuang has succeeded to the throne and the situation in Jiangdong is basically calm, it's time for them to make a move.

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Xiang Zhuang's worries are by no means superfluous, at least Liu Bang has never relaxed his attention to Xiang Zhuang.

Half a month ago, Liu Bang had led the army back to Longxi from Shangjun. The contest between the Han army and the Huns finally ended in a draw. Lu Tai defeated the Huns at Baiyu Mountain Pass, beheaded more than [-] ranks, and captured the Zuoda Huns alive. Dong Muhe, but the main force of Maodun's Huns also smashed the Guanying cavalry army near Fushi, beheading five thousand!

Mao Dun and Liu Bang confronted each other in Shangjun for more than half a month, and finally returned without success.

Liu Bang took advantage of the situation and recruited more than 2000 remnants of Guan Ying's cavalry, and according to the agreement before the expedition, Guan Ying was demoted to the captain of the cavalry, and Lu Tai was promoted from the captain of Changle to the general of Changle.

On this day, Liu Bang got up early as usual and was practicing sword in the backyard.

When Liu Bang was young, he was also a well-known hero in Peixian County, and his body was quite good. Otherwise, Fan Kuai and Xia Houying would not regard him as a big brother. However, since the garrison in Longxi, Liu Bang's body quickly returned to its former toughness.

Liu Bang didn't put away his sword until his forehead was sweating, and Xia Houying quickly handed over the cloth towel.

Liu Bang wiped his sweat, then twisted his neck, and the neck joints made a painful "click" sound.

Xia Houying couldn't help looking sideways, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, your bones are getting stronger day by day."

Liu Bang shook his shoulders, and said casually: "Whoever says no, you go and call Lao Fan, the widow can even beat him now..." At this point, Liu Bang's voice suddenly stopped, and his face showed a look of sadness.

Xia Houying's expression darkened as well, and he said in a low voice, "My lord, Lao Fan has already gone."

Liu Bang's facial muscles twitched, and he said fiercely, "Xiang Zhuang, I'm going to kill you!"

As soon as the words were finished, hurried footsteps came from behind. When Liu Bang and Xia Houying looked back anxiously, they saw Zhang Liang and Chen Ping hurriedly walking into the backyard of Xingyuan.

"My lord, Jiangdong has broken the game!" Zhang Liang waved his hand, panting.

After stationing troops in Longxi, Liu Bang's body became stronger and stronger because he stayed away from drinking and sex, but Zhang Liang became thinner and thinner. Now he would be out of breath after walking for a few miles. Zhang Liang obviously contracted a hidden disease, which made Liu Bang very worried. , and specially invited the former Qin imperial doctor from Xianyang to check Zhang Liang's pulse, but he couldn't find any symptoms.

"Zifang, walk slowly, the sky still won't collapse." Liu Bang's eyes were full of indescribable worry.

Zhang Liang strode up to Liu Bang, waved his hands, and said with a casual smile: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I know your body, I don't dare to live a hundred years, but I can't die in ten or eight years, ha ha."

Liu Bang shook his head with a wry smile, and said again: "You just said that Jiangdong has broken the game?"

"Well, Jiangdong has broken the game." Zhang Liang nodded and said, "Xiang Zhuang has successfully inherited the throne."

"Xiang Zhuang!" Liu Bang couldn't help clenching his fists, and after a long while, he let go again, sighing, "Xiang Zhuang's son is really not a fuel-efficient lamp, such a complicated situation, you can solve it just by saying it? After saying this, Liu Bang said again, "It seems that Xiang Zhuang's son's political skills are much better than Xiang Yu's."

Chen Ping took it seriously and said, "Xiang Zhuang is indeed more difficult to deal with than Xiang Yu."

To deal with Xiang Yu, it is more of military pressure, but to deal with Xiang Zhuang, relying on military means alone is not enough to solve the problem, and it has to be dealt with politically.

Liu Bang nodded, and asked Chen Ping again: "Chen Ping, do you have a countermeasure?"

Chen Ping pondered for a moment, then said: "Your Majesty, Guanzhong has suffered catastrophe and its vitality has been seriously injured. Just now, Shangjun was burned, killed and looted by the Huns. In at least three years, our army may not be able to send troops to Kanto. However, we You can't just watch Xiang Zhuang grow up, you should at least cause him some trouble."

"Looking for some trouble?" Liu Bang said, "What trouble?"

Zhang Liang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, we are not the only ones who don't want Xiang Zhuang to sit on the throne."

Chen Ping continued: "Yingbo, Zhou Yin, and Wu Rui who are next to Jiangdong are probably more nervous than the king."

Zhang Liang waved his hands, and said: "It's not just Ying Bu, Zhou Yin and Wu Rui, but also Si Luoyao, king of Dongou, and Si Wuzhu, king of Minyue. These two are also deadly enemies of the Jiangdong Xiang family!"

Chen Ping nodded lightly, and said: "In addition to the Li Zuoche and Jin She who the king stayed in Huaisi, that is the Seventh Route Allied Army. If the Seventh Route Allied Army sends troops to Jiangdong, even if it cannot destroy Chu, it will be enough to support it. Zhuang has been busy for a few years?"

"Seven-way allied forces?!" Liu Bang was greatly moved, but soon he said in confusion, "But the traitor Yingbo just turned against me, will he listen to my orders? And Si Luoyao, Si Wuzhu, It is more appropriate to say that they are the descendants of the King of Yue, and it is more appropriate to say that they are the people of Shanyue, and Xiangzhuang's soldiers are so powerful, how dare these people take them lightly?"

Liu Bang's worry was not unreasonable. It is true that Yingbo, Wu Rui, Zhou Yin, Si Luoyao, and Si Wuzhu faced the threat of Chu State, but they might not dare to jump out to confront Xiang Zhuang. It's not easy to provoke, back then in the Dabie Mountains, the 70 coalition army could not destroy his [-] remnant soldiers, but now that Xiangzhuang has tens of thousands of troops, it is even more difficult to provoke.

Zhang Liang smiled slightly, and said calmly: "Xiang Zhuang's military front is prosperous, but how does it compare to the tyrant winning the government?"

Liu Bang frowned and said, "This is naturally incomparable. Winning the government and swallowing the six countries, the prosperity of the soldiers, no one can match in ancient times!"

Zhang Liang said again: "The Chu Kingdom only has two counties in the east of the Yangtze River. How does it compare with the Great Qin Empire that has already perished?"

"This is even more incomparable." Liu Bang was confused and said, "Zifang, what do you mean?"

Zhang Liangdao: "Your Majesty, what I mean is very simple. Although Xiang Zhuang's army is strong, it is far inferior to Ying Zheng. No matter how strong Chu is, it is far from being able to compare with the former Great Qin Empire. The Great Qin that Ying Zheng created Didn't the empire perish by Emperor Yi's edict of 'the first to enter the pass is the king'?"

Chen Ping's eyes lit up when he heard the words, and he thought about Zhang Liangduan's good plan!
Zhang Liang paused, and then said: "Why don't your lord follow the example of Emperor Yi and go down to Jiangdong first?"

Liu Bang stroked the curled beard at the corner of his lips, and thoughtfully said: "Zifang, what do you mean, whoever captures Jiangdong first, I will be canonized as King of Chu?"

"Exactly." Zhang Liangdao, "The Great Qin Empire was so powerful in the past, but under the temptation of the King of Guanzhong, didn't the princes from all walks of life swarm up and attack Guanzhong? Today the King is the head of the kings, and the king of Xu Chu Just wait, how can Yingbu, Wu Rui, Zhou Yin, Si Luoyao, Si Wuzhu and others hold back?"

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PS: The word politics has already appeared in "Shangshu" and "Zhouli", but it is not a modern word.

Besides, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps blowing. Although my mother has been discharged from the hospital, things with the mother-in-law have not settled down, and the situation is getting more and more complicated. There may be some minor problems recently, but two changes a day should be able to ensure.

(End of this chapter)