Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 344

Almost at the same time, Xiangzhuang, thousands of miles away, also received a letter from Wumuya.

Xiang Zhuang immediately summoned Xiang Ta, Xiang Tuo, Zhou Yin, Huan Chu, Ji Bu, Wu She, Bai Lixian and other ministers to the palace for a banquet. Congratulations?
After drinking for three rounds, Xiang Zhuang said with emotion: "In the early days of high school, you are really the tiger general of the world."

"Who says it's not?" Wu She echoed again and again, "Peng Yue can be regarded as a generation of heroes, and his army of [-] is a tiger and wolf division, but he was destroyed in a battle in Lvyeze. General Gao Chu is truly worthy of the title of tiger general! .”

Zhou Yin also said with emotion: "After such a big defeat, Liang Guo is probably doomed."

"That's needless to say." Bailixian said, "Let's not talk about whether Peng Yue can escape back to Dingtao, even if Peng Yue can escape, the state of Liang is in irreversible decline. Liu Bang, Han Xin, and Ying Bu are all leaders in the world. Xiongxiong, they will never let go of such a good opportunity, if nothing else happens, most of the sixty counties in the five counties of Liang State will be divided up."

Huan Chu said: "Your Majesty, shouldn't we also share a share?"

"Hey, I can't chew too much." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said, "My big priority is to try to defend Bashu and Jingxiang, and then slowly digest it. As for Liang, it's up to them to fight for it." Let's go, besides, although Peng Yue is defeated, Liu Bang will never let it go, and Liu Bang will never give up easily because of the big granary in Bashu."

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The Lvyeze battle finally ended, and the Chu army won a complete victory.

It took three whole days just to capture Liang Jun prisoners of war. The [-] navy troops of Zhongli Mo alone obviously couldn't catch all Liang Jun prisoners of war. The water bandits who came out were excellent in water, but when they finally got ashore, they found that there were still a large number of Chu army cavalry waiting for them.

At the head of Jiangling City, Gao Chu was patrolling the city defense accompanied by Zhong Limei, Zi Che Shi, Bu Bi, Xu Jiang and others.

The Liang army is finished, and the only road that enters Jingxiang from the north has been flooded, and now it is the rainy season, and most of the trails in the counties are muddy and difficult to walk. The possibility of the Han army attacking again is very low. At least until the end of the rainy season, the Han army is unlikely to invade the country, but Gao Chu did not relax at all.

It's not easy to be a general in the Duzhen side, he can't live up to the trust of the king at the beginning of his high school.

Amidst the continuous sound of horns, the cavalry of the Chu army appeared in the field outside the city. It was a cavalry team of more than a hundred riders, escorting three or four hundred Liang army prisoners of war, and was winding towards Jiangling.

Gao Chu turned around and asked Xu Jiang, "Shunzhi (Xu Jiang's name), how many prisoners have you taken?"

Xu Jiang hastily cupped his hands and said, "If you go back to the general, there are almost 4 people arrested."

Gao Chu nodded, thinking that Liang Guo seemed to be doomed. One hundred thousand elites, more than 4 people were captured, and if the drowned ones were removed, there would never be more than [-] people who could escape back to Liang Guo alive. There are still some left-behind troops in the country, but how many can there be?Looking around Liang Guo, Liu Bang, Han Xin and even Yingbo are all not good.

It's a pity that the state of Chu couldn't catch up. After the great Chu captured Bashu and Jingxiang, it was impossible to send troops to compete in the Central Plains in a short time, but it was cheaper for Liu Bang, Han Xin, and Yingbu.

Xu Jiang said again: "General, how to deal with these more than 4 prisoners of war?"

According to the military system of the Qin army, the people of the enemy country were not killed, but none of the soldiers were left behind. Most of the anti-Qin armies at the end of the Qin Dynasty followed the military system of the Qin army, but they were even more tyrannical in killing and surrendering, whether it was Xiang Yu, Peng Yue, Han Xin, or even Liu Bang , all have records of massacres, that is, regardless of military or civilian, male, female, old or young, all are killed.

However, since Xiang Zhuang returned to Jiangdong and became the king of Chu, the situation in Chu State has changed.

Due to the lack of population in Jiangdong, especially the shortage of strong men, Xiang Zhuang has always opposed the killing of prisoners. For this reason, Xiang Zhuang even specially promulgated a new reward mechanism for military exploits, stipulating that the military exploits of beheading the enemy's head are only half of that of capturing the enemy alive!Xiang Zhuang did this because he wanted to plunder the enemy's strong men through war, so as to strengthen himself.

At that moment, Gao Chu replied: "How to deal with it? Of course, it will be escorted to Ziling and handed over to the Lingyin Mansion."

Xu Jiangwei complied politely, but he was relieved in his heart. He was really worried that Gao Chu would be disobedient because of his outstanding military exploits. These more than 4 Liang Army prisoners were not ordinary prisoners. It is a division of tigers and wolves. If Gao Chu detained them in Jingxiang and reorganized them on the spot, then things would be troublesome.

While patrolling, Po Jun suddenly chased after him, and said with a strange expression: "General, there are Han envoys outside the city asking to see you."

"Han envoys?" Gao Chu was stunned. The Chu and Han countries are at war now. Why did Liu Bang send envoys here?Persuade surrender?Or summation?But no matter what the Han envoy is here for, it's always okay to meet him. Could he still be afraid of an envoy in his junior high school?Immediately ordered Po Jundao, "Go, ask the Han envoy to come up, the general will meet him here."

Po Jun took the order, and after a while, he led an old man led by E Guanbo to the top of the city.

Holding the talisman, the Han envoy came to Gao Chu with his head held high and proudly, without bowing, he said proudly, "Old man Liu Jia, which one of you is Gao Chu?"

"Liu Jia?!" Gao Chu nodded and said coldly, "The general remembers you, you are old man Liu Bang's cousin, and Shu Xianghou (Zhou Yin) betrayed Chu Touhan because of your bewitching back then. , yes or no?"

"Marquis Shuxiang?" Liu Jia said proudly, "Are you talking about Zhou Yin, governor of Jiujiang County?"

Gao Chu let out a muffled snort, and asked, "Old man Liu Jia, why are you here?"

"By the order of the King of Han..." Liu Jia bowed to the northwest, and said, "Come to Jiangling to read out the imperial edict. Gao Chu, why don't you go back to the mansion quickly, take a bath and change clothes, set up the incense table, and kneel down to meet the edict of the King of Han?"

"Edict of the King of Han?" Gao Chu sneered, "Hehe, you still bathe and change clothes, burn incense and kneel to greet you? It's a joke! The general is busy with military affairs and has no time to spare. If you have any nonsense, just talk about it here. If you don't want to say it, then Get out of Jiangling as soon as possible, and get out of Jiangling before this general changes his mind."

"You?!" Liu Jia was furious, but when he saw the murderous Po Jun and dozens of soldiers standing behind Gao Chu standing with sabers behind him, he suppressed his anger and took out Liu Bang's edict from his sleeve. , Chanting aloud, "Shangyu: At the beginning of the Gao Dynasty, he guarded the land well and made outstanding military exploits... Now you are named the King of Jing, and you are among the princes to show your respect."

Silence, Jiangling city suddenly became deathly silent, Gao Chu's eyes widened, he couldn't believe it.

Xu Jiang, Zhong Limei, Zi Che Shi, Bu Bi and others were also staring at each other, unable to believe their ears. Old Liu Bang actually wanted to make the general King Jing?Still among the princes?
After a long while, Gao Chu finally came back to his senses, and laughed loudly: "Hahaha, thanks to the King of Han's praise."

Xu Jiang, Zhong Limei, Zi Che Shi, Bu Bi and the others suddenly sank in their hearts. Regardless of whether the King of Han made Gao Chu the King of Jing or not, but if Gao Chu was really moved, he followed the example of Han Xin back then and presented himself to the King of Chu. Please seal King Jing, then it will be a big trouble, let alone whether the Chu Congress will collapse, a civil strife is inevitable.

When everyone was worried, Gao Chu suddenly turned his face and said coldly, "Where is Pojun?"

With a fierce look in his eyes, Po Jun stepped forward with a murderous look, and said boldly, "The end is here!"

Gao Chu stretched out his hand and pointed at Liu Jia, and said grimly, "Drag this old man down, chop him up, and put his head in a wooden box!"

"Here!" Po Jun responded loudly, and with a wave of his hand, two soldiers rushed forward like tigers and wolves, and held Liu Jia down.

Liu Jia was startled, and struggled hastily, "Gaochu, my husband is an envoy of the King of Han. It is said that the two countries will fight without beheading the envoy. How can you kill the envoy without authorization? No, you can't kill the old man..."

"Damn it, don't kill the envoy." Gao Chu said coldly, "This general killed envoys like you!"

Before the words were finished, Po Jun had already led two soldiers to push Liu Jia to the side of the female wall. At that moment, one soldier held Liu Jia down, and the other soldier raised a knife and fell. Liu Jia's big head fell It had already rolled and landed on the top of the city, and with another kick from Po Jun, Liu Jia's headless body fell to the city like a sack.

Xu Jiang breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Gao Chu: "General, the matter of becoming a king is no small matter. The general is of course upright and has a clear conscience. The king also trusts the general very much, and he will definitely not meet the suspicious general. There will be treacherous people causing trouble, so, will the general take Liu Jia's head to Ziling to explain a thing or two?"

"No need." Gao Chu waved his hand and said disapprovingly, "Explain what? What is there to explain? Your Majesty is wise and wise like no one can match, how can old Liu Bang deceive him with such a back-and-forth plan? After this pause, Gao Chu said again, "Besides, even if I Gao Chu really wanted to be king, but I have no soldiers or generals in my hands, what should I be king?"

Xu Jiang, Zhong Limei, Zi Che Shi, Bu Bi and others all looked at each other with sympathy, Gao Chu dared to say this, but for others, even Pang Yu, who was also guarding one side, would never dare to say it in order to avoid suspicion , but what Gao Chu said is true, since the Chu State implemented the forbidden military system and the military military system, the generals who command the troops no longer have any military power.

For example, Gao Chu, although there are 1 cavalry and [-] sailors under his command, but [-] of them are forbidden soldiers, who are the elites who are absolutely loyal to the king of Chu. It's just temperance at the beginning, and the remaining [-] cavalry are soldiers from various counties. If Gao Chu really dares to become king, he only needs to fold a piece of military order from Chongfu, and the [-] cavalry will immediately abandon Gaochu, and even break the law. The army and the [-] soldiers under his command may not follow Gao Chu to rebel against Chu.

After thinking about it, Xu Jiang said again: "In this case, why not take a trip to Ziling?"

"No need." Gao Chu shook his head and said, "Old Liu Bang wants to make me the King of Jing, he has a heart to punish, if I don't explain, the matter will be over, but if I explain, maybe it will really become a matter Those treacherous people in the court have something to say, although the king will not believe it, but it is always troublesome to talk about it, so it is better not to say it."

(End of this chapter)