Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 364 The Widow Wants to See Xiang Zhuang

Surrounded by a few minor officials and dozens of soldiers, the King's Tomb of the Prime Minister of the State of Qi is patrolling the city defense.

Standing on the top of the city and looking down, I saw that the streets and alleys in the city were full of nearby people who could not escape into the city. If the conditions were good, they could build a shack on the street corner to keep out the sun and rain. Being able to sleep on the street, enduring the scorching sun during the day and being bitten by mosquitoes and flies at night, it is even more miserable when it rains.

As he walked, Wang Ling asked a lieutenant of the Qi army accompanying him, "Have the reinforcements from the surrounding counties arrived yet?"

"Still not here." Captain Qi shook his head, and then said worriedly, "Minister of the State, the general is worried that the surrounding counties may have been captured by the Chu army, so there probably won't be any reinforcements coming."

Wang Ling frowned immediately when he heard the words. Without reinforcements, Wang Ling really didn't know how long he could hold on with only 8000 people in Linzi city. You must know that the Chu army outside the city has a full [-] cavalry!Fortunately, the Chu army did not launch an attack after besieging the city for ten days. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Another small official approached Wang Ling and said in a low voice, "Minister of the State, the Chu army has besieged the city for ten days, and the food in Taicang will not be able to last for a few days. The clear soup and little water can't be boiled anymore, there are too many people who have fled into the city, and the villain really has nothing to do."

Wang Ling just walked forward silently, food shortage, this is a big problem.

Half a year ago, there were still millions of stones of grain stored in Taicang, Linzi, but the king conquered Huainan first, then conquered Liang, and conquered Zhao State more than a month ago. It was almost exhausted. Before the siege, another 10,000+ refugees flooded into Linzi City. These people had to open their mouths to eat.

After a long while, Wang Ling said: "First support it with clear soup and little water. If it can last for a few days, if the king has not returned to his teacher after the food is exhausted, he will ask for food from the nobles of the aristocratic family and relatives."

The clerk nodded and said, "That's the only way to go."

When he said this, the little official felt a little bit pained. The little official's family is quite rich, and there are six or seven stockpiles of millet. If the imperial court orders grain requisition, those few stockpiles of millet in his family will definitely be confiscated. Can he not feel distressed? ?

Wang Ling inspected the land for a few miles, and suddenly saw refugees rioting in the street below. Although the rioting dozen or so refugees were quickly suppressed by the soldiers who heard the news, Wang Ling realized the potential danger. Dangerous, immediately ordered the accompanying school captains to say: "There may be spies from the Chu army among these refugees, and they must be strictly controlled!"

The Qi military school lieutenants who accompanied him responded politely, and immediately took orders.

Wang Ling inspected for a while, and sighed in a low voice: "I don't know when the king will come back?"

The little official was also upset, but he still comforted Wang Ling and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister, the king's army may have already arrived outside Linzi City by this time."

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Han Xin's army has not yet reached Linzi, but it is not far from Linzi.

At this very moment, Han Xin was standing on the ruined city wall of Gaoyi, angry. Gaoyi is a small city in the west of Linzi, with about [-] residents in the city. Suddenly, a city that was considered prosperous in the past was burned down by the Chu army.

Moreover, this is not the only city that was burned. On the way back to Linzi, Han Xin has seen at least a dozen burned cities. In addition, there are even more villages in Zhendian that were burned!What made Han Xin especially angry was that the Chu army not only set fires everywhere, but also trampled all the good fields along the way to a mess.

How is the behavior of the Chu army different from that of the Liang army who went deep into the Chu land?
If you have to find out the difference, it is that the Liang army burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of crimes, while the Chu army did not kill people.

However, Han Xin felt that the Chu army's non-killing was more hateful than the Liang army's killing people. If the Chu army killed all the people along the way, it would be fine, but the Chu army did not kill people, but killed all these refugees. Has rushed into a few great cities, but it has added a great burden to Qi!

Lou Jing sighed, and said, "Your Majesty, Chu Jun's tactics are very poisonous."

The Chu army's actions were indeed very vicious. Although they did not kill people, they burned down the houses of all the people along the way, took away all their rations, and even trampled this year's millet seeds and beans. In this way, a huge burden It just fell on the heads of the monarchs and ministers of Qi State out of thin air. Will these hundreds of thousands or even millions of refugees be saved or not?

Don't save it, it's a trivial matter to be cast aside by the people. The key is that after so many people die, Qi's manpower, national power and military power will be severely weakened. Zhuang is fighting for the top, which is what Han Xin doesn't want to see anyway.

It can be saved, where can the country of Qi get so much food?
You know, these are not thousands or tens of thousands of refugees, but tens of millions of refugees!

From Xue County to Jibei County, and then from Jibei County to Linzi County, the cavalry of the Chu Army has poisoned dozens of counties in three counties. It is conservatively estimated that the number of homeless refugees has exceeded 30, and this incident It's not over yet, the Chu army will definitely continue to flee, and the number of homeless refugees may exceed one million in the end!

There are millions of refugees, so many people open their mouths to eat, the pressure is really not small!
There is no grain in Taicang, Linzi, and it is impossible for the rest of the vassal states to lend grain to Qi. If Han Xin wants to save these millions of refugees, there is only one way, which is to forcibly confiscate the rich and powerful families in Qi. grain!But in this way, Han Xin also offended the powerful families in Qidi!
"That's right." Han Xin nodded and said with deep conviction, "Xiang Zhuang'er's move is really poisonous!"

Lou Jing pondered for a moment, and then said: "Your Majesty, there is no other way to think about it now, but to destroy this Chu cavalry before the situation is completely corrupted, otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Han Xin nodded silently, this, Lou Jing thought of going with him.

As long as one's own army can annihilate the cavalry in Xiangzhuang in time, the number of refugees in Qidi can be controlled within an acceptable range. Injury to the foundation of Qi State, Qi State still has the confidence to compete with Chu and Han.

However, it is not easy to annihilate the Chu army, because the Chu army is all cavalry and comes and goes like the wind, while the Qi army is infantry and moves slowly. More importantly, Han Xin lacks an intuitive understanding of Xiangzhuang. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. For an opponent of Xiang Zhuang's level, Han Xin must know both himself and the enemy.

Kneading the debris in his hands into powder, Han Xin suddenly said, "I want to see Xiang Zhuang."

"Your Majesty, don't do it!" Lou Jing's face changed greatly when he heard the words, and he hurriedly dissuaded, "Xiang Zhuang is a mighty general in the world, even Fan Kuai died under his halberd, it is too dangerous for Your Majesty not to face him."

"No problem." Han Xin waved his hand and said calmly, "I have my own arrangements."

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On the east bank of the Zishui River, the Chu army camp.

Xiang Zhuang held up the ox horn cup and respected Baili Xian from a distance: "Ziliang, come, let's taste the water and wine from Qidi."

Bai Lixian also raised the ox horn glass to pay respects to Xiang Zhuang, then covered his sleeves and drank the water and wine in the wine glass. Putting down the wine glass, Bai Lixian said: "My lord, the water and wine in this place are tasteless. It’s far worse than our Chudi Baijiu.”

"That's right." Xiang Zhuang was not without complacency, if it wasn't for Xiang Zhuang, how could people in this era drink baijiu?

Bai Lixian picked up his feather fan again, and said thoughtfully, "My lord, the siege has been going on for ten days, and it's almost time for Han Xin's army to come back. The key is that there is no more food around Linzi. Should we go?"

Since the Xiao cavalry army entered Qi, they have been relying on looting to maintain their food supplies. Forty thousand war horses and [-] thousand mules and horses are nothing more than fodder. Mongolian horses have always been very adaptable and can only eat grass. The rations for ten thousand soldiers were really not a small amount. Although the surrounding area of ​​Linzi was the most fertile area in Qi, it was only enough for the Chu army to rage for ten days.

Now ten days have passed, and the food that can be grabbed near Linzi has basically been robbed. If they don't transfer in in time, the soldiers will starve.

Xiang Zhuang put down his horn cup and said, "Should there be news from the scouting cavalry?"

As soon as the words fell, Hu Yan suddenly entered the account and reported to Xiang Zhuang: "Your Majesty, report back from the expedition, Han Xin's army has arrived in Gaoyi, and it is less than fifty miles away from Linzi."

At that moment, Xiang Zhuang and Bai Lixian looked at each other with a smile, and said: "The speed of the Qi army is not slow, but Han Xin is back, but the widow is leaving, I hope he will not blame the widow, ha ha."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Xiang stepped inside again, and said proudly: "Your Majesty, an envoy from the State of Qi is asking to see you."

"Emissary of the Qi State?" Xiang Zhuang was slightly startled when he heard the words, and then said again, "He came from Linzi City?"

"No." Jin Xiang shook his head and said, "He came from the west bank of the Zishui River, and he said that he was ordered by King Qi to deliver the letter of state."

"Secretary of the State?" Xiang Zhuang turned his head and exchanged glances with Bai Lixian, and immediately ordered Jin Xiang, "Please come in."

Jin Xiang took the order to go, and soon led a slender middle-aged scholar into the big tent. The middle-aged scholar entered the tent, but he just bowed to Xiang Zhuang and said loudly: "In Xia Tianxiong, You are one of the detainees under King Qi's tent, and now, under the order of King Qi, I have come here to hand over the letter of credence to the king of Chu." After finishing speaking, Tian Xiong took out another letter of credence from his pocket.

Hu Yan snorted, took two steps forward, took the letter of credence, and handed it to Xiang Zhuang.

Xiang Zhuang unfolded the national book, but there were only a few lines of words on it: People say that Xiang Zhuang, the king of Chu, is a hero in the world. Waiting for each other, talking about soldiers across the water, is also a great joy in life, and I hope you can make the appointment on time.

(End of this chapter)