Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 243 Concluding a Covenant
Outside Xu County, the Huainan Army Camp.

The Chu envoy had already left, but Yingbo was still hesitating whether to agree to the conditions of the Chu army. Kuai Che persuaded him from the side: "My lord, don't hesitate any longer. The conditions offered by the Chu army are already very generous. If the king refuses If you agree, you may anger Xiang Zhuang, and if Xiang Zhuang joins hands with Liang Jun secretly, the consequences will be disastrous."

Yingbo heard the words in awe, and Kuaiche's worry was not unfounded. He remembered that when Xiangzhuang led the Chu army southward, he had donated nearly ten thousand horses to Peng Yuejin. There was such a relationship between the two of them. The first time they really joined forces, once the Chu army and the Liang army joined forces, the Huainan army would really have to take care of one and lose the other.

Moreover, it was a surprise for Huainan Kingdom to get the four counties of Yinling, Quyang, Zhongli, and Dongcheng. From the very beginning, Yingbo never thought of acquiring the entire Jiujiang County. He knew it was unrealistic, and he would go to Offending Xiang Zhuang and the state of Chu, Yingbo actually just wanted to mediate the dispute between Liang and Chu as a mediator, and then seek some benefits.

But now, Xiang Zhuang has become a mediator to mediate disputes, which is really a trick of luck.

"Okay." Ying Bo finally nodded and said, "Minister of the State, you should send someone to reply to Xiang Zhuang. The siege of Xushan can be solved, and Jin She and Li Zuoche can also be released, but Liang Jun must compensate for being killed by Jin She. , the five thousand shi army rations burned by Li Zuoche, and Jin She and Li Zuoche must also be punished accordingly, otherwise, I, Huainan's [-] soldiers will never agree!"

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In Liang Jun's camp, Liu Kou is discussing with Zhao Yan how to deal with it.

The envoy of Chu had already gone down to rest. The envoy of Chu finally offered the condition that the Chu army could put pressure on the Huainan army to force the Huainan army to lift the siege of Xushan. The losses caused by the Huainan Army must be compensated, and the Liang Army must withdraw from Jiujiang County unconditionally.

Seeing that Zhao Yan was silent, Liu Kou asked, "Military Master, what do you think?"

Zhao Yan didn't answer but asked instead: "General, if you follow your temper, what would you do?"

Liu Kou said viciously: "If my temper is to be followed, then put on airs and fight with the Chu army and the Huainan army. Don't think that we are afraid of their allied forces fighting. You need to know that our Liang army soldiers are not frightened. If our army wins a battle, Jiujiang County will naturally belong to our Daliang, and if we lose, there is nothing to say, it belongs to them."

Zhao Yan sighed: "But, General, do you know that there is not enough military rations in the treasury? Although this year's summer rations are a bumper harvest, after repaying the borrowed rations of the Qi State, there is not much left. Thirty thousand It’s okay for the army to go out for ten days and half a month, but if it lasts for more than a month, the army’s rations will not be enough.”

Liu Kou is silent. Of course, he knows Liang Guo’s current difficulties and embarrassment. Otherwise, the king would not let the Prime Minister Xia talk about implementing reforms, and he would not let the [-] elite Liang troops disarm and return to the fields to plant grain. Liu Kou said helplessly: "Military division, do you want to send an urgent message and ask the king for instructions?"

In any case, abandoning the eastern and northern counties of Jiujiang is a major event, and Liu Kou dare not be good at it.

"This is not necessary." Zhao Yan said, "Before I left, the king once ordered that all affairs in Jiujiang should be handled by the general."

"Okay." Liu Kou nodded, then raised his head and shouted, "Come here, please invite the envoy of Chu."

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Half an hour later, the Chu army camped.

Wu She's white clothes were fluttering, and he entered Xiangzhuang's big tent casually, bowed his hands to Xiangzhuang, and said, "Your Majesty, fortunately, I did not disgrace your order. Liang Jun has already escorted three thousand shi of rations to the Huainan Army camp."

"Okay, the doctor has worked hard." Xiang Zhuang smiled and stopped, "Let's take a seat and drink."

Wu She bowed again, and then walked to the lower right side of Xiang Zhuang and sat down. The soldiers had already served wine and meat, and poured half a glass of clear and transparent shochu into the Kuaiche wine glass.

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Half a quarter of an hour later, the Huainan army camp.

Li Jixing, the pro-military school, hurried into the big tent and reported to Yingbu: "My lord, the three thousand shi army rations escorted by Liang Jun have arrived outside the gate."

Ying Bu frowned and said, "Why are there only three thousand stones?"

Bai Lixian, who was sitting at the bottom left of Yingbu, just smiled and said nothing.

Kuai Che, who was on the lower right, stepped forward and gently tugged at the corner of Yingbu's clothes, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, it's almost enough. What's the difference between three thousand shi and five thousand shi? The loss of our army has been compensated, and the king's face is justified."

Yingbu muttered, and immediately ordered Li Ji: "Head the order, all armies and battalions get out of the way to the west of Xushan, and let the Han army go."

"Here!" Liji suddenly agreed, turned around and walked away.

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Another half an hour later, Liang Jun camped.

Chu Chun strode into the tent, bowed to Liu Kou and reported: "General, these two idiots, Jin She and Li Zuoche, are back, and they are outside the gate now. Do you want to let them in?"

Liu Kou said coldly: "Go, bring them in."

Chu Chun took the order and left immediately, Zhao Yan said with some concern: "General, Jin She and Li Zuoche should have surrendered falsely, and their intentions were extremely vicious, but they also followed orders, so we can't blame them for this matter. , Therefore, it is better not to expose them face to face, lest they become angry and cause mutiny."

"Mutiny? I'm afraid they won't have this chance." Liu Kou sneered, "Except for the thousands of remnant soldiers brought by Jin She and Li Zuoche, I have replaced all the generals above Sima in the rest of the series, stationed in Quyang and Dongcheng The more than 2 parts of the "Golden Song" are now under the firm control of General Ben, so what are they using to mutiny?"

Zhao Yan couldn't help looking sideways, thinking that the reason why Liu Kou was able to become the general of the Liang Kingdom was not due to luck. This kind of ruthless determination alone is beyond the reach of others. If it were someone else, they might not dare to do such a big thing. It is impossible to do the action, and only a famous general like Liu Kou can suppress Jin She and Li Zuoche's trilogy.

After a while, Chu Chun led Jin She and Li Zuoche into the tent of the Chinese army. Behind Jin and Li were four soldiers of the Liang army standing with their swords. Seeing this battle, Jin She's eyes rolled. Jumping straight, Li Zuoche secretly sighed in his heart, knowing that the King of Han's intention had already come to nothing, if Li Zuoche couldn't even see this, then reading so many military books was really wasted.

Liu Kou glanced coldly at Jin She and Li Zuoche, and suddenly shouted: "Come on, I'm tied up for this general!"

The four soldiers of the Liang army who stood by their swords rushed forward, knocked Jin She and Li Zuoche to the ground and tied them up.

"General, what do you mean by this?" Jin She looked around at the soldiers of the Liang army standing on the left and right, and said sternly.

"What do you mean? Don't you know?" Liu Kou sneered coldly, and shouted, "Don't think that you are the only ones who are smart, and everyone else is a fool. Hmph, you are too immature if you want to play our king like a monkey!"

"Ah?" Jin She wilted like a deflated ball when she heard the words.

On the other hand, Li Zuoche looked calm and said calmly: "Since the general already knows what happened, we don't have anything to explain. If we want to kill or cut, I will listen to you. I just hope that the general can let the lieutenant general go." , They are just following orders, but they don’t actually know the whole story.”

"You can rest assured about this, the general has already sent someone to send them back to Guanzhong." Liu Kou said after a pause, "But you two have to go back to Dingtao with the general and wait for the king's punishment."

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Ten days later, the eight hundred miles from Nanyang County were urgently sent to Longxi Daying.

After reading the emergency report sent by the Nanyang governor, Liu Bang couldn't help sighing, and said in a low voice: "Zifang, the plan you set up for the three tigers to compete for food still didn't work, and Peng Yue, Yingbo and Xiang Zhuang still failed to fight each other. Ah, what a pity! Moreover, Yingbo has also concluded an alliance with Xiangzhuang, which is really unexpected."

After reading the urgent report, Zhang Liang also sighed, "Your Majesty, Guanzhong is too far away from Jiujiang."

Chen Ping nodded, and said: "Yes, the distance is far away, and it takes a lot of time to transmit the news. When we got the news, the situation over there had already changed beyond recognition. Let's say Zhou Yin, if we had known earlier He has descended to Chu in secret, so why should the king give him another secret edict, which would reveal our intentions in vain, alas."

Liu Bangdao: "But in this way, the situation around Chu State will be greatly eased."

Hengshan Kingdom and Dongou Kingdom perished one after another, and Minyue Kingdom was not enough to threaten Jiangdong. The only Huainan King Yingbu who could pose a threat to Chu Kingdom now also took the initiative to form an alliance with Xiangzhuang, plus Xiangzhuang, Yingbu and Peng Yue A compromise was reached, and the chaos in Jiujiang was also solved. Now, Chu State can recharge its energy and make every effort to govern.

Zhang Liangdao: "Your Majesty, the current situation cannot be reversed by manpower. Since the development of the Chu Kingdom cannot be stopped, let it take its course. In any case, the population and wealth of Guanzhong and Bashu are not comparable to that of Jiangdong. Therefore, both If both sides concentrate on development at the same time, the gap between Chu and Han will only become wider and wider, rather than shrinking."

"Forget it." Liu Bang nodded, and then asked Chen Pingdao, "Chen Ping, have you found those two Korean horse dealers?"

For the cavalry owned by the Chu army, which is wrapped in iron armor, Liu Bang is particularly concerned, which is also normal. Sun Tzu said: Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you fight a hundred battles without danger. Troops will also be sent to the Guandong, and the Chu and Han armies will definitely meet on the battlefield. How can Liu Bang not figure out the details of this cavalry?

Chen Ping hurriedly said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the two Korean horse dealers have been found, but according to them, they have not seen the heavy armored cavalry of the Chu army, and they are actually just hearsay."

"What?" Liu Bang frowned when he heard the words, and said, "Are they also hearsay?"

Zhang Liang suddenly said: "Your Majesty, although Peng Yue suppressed Jin She and Li Zuoche and compiled their trilogy, hundreds of generals who were loyal to the King were sent back to Guanzhong. In the battle of Liyang, I must have seen the heavy armored cavalry of the Chu army, why don't you call a few people to ask about it?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Liu Bang nodded again and again, "How did the widow forget this?"

After that, Liu Bang turned back and told Xia Houying: "Xia Houying, immediately send an edict to Xianyang to let the hundreds of generals and schools who came back from Jiujiang come to Longxi camp immediately."

(End of this chapter)