Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 513
At the foot of Taishi Mountain, two horses are galloping along the mountain road.

On the horseback were two vigorous young knights, the one behind was wearing a bright yellow brocade robe, and his momentum was a little calmer, and the one in front was wearing a vermilion brocade robe, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and a face like a powder.

On top of the red-robed young man's head, there was also a huge golden eagle.

"Woo..." The red-robed knight galloping in front reined in the steed, stretched out his right arm, and the golden eagle hovering above his head retracted its wings and landed on it. Turning around, he said to the yellow-robed knight, "Zihe, I haven't gone hunting with you for a long time, and I don't know if your archery has improved?"

This yellow-robed knight is none other than Xiang Zheng, Crown Prince of Chu State. Xiang Zheng had just performed the crowning ceremony not long ago. The character Xiang Zhuang bestowed on him was "He", which was taken from Zhengtong Renhe. As for the other red-robed knight But he is Xiang Zheng's staunch buddy, the eldest son of Wei Guogong Gaochu, Gao Lang, whose nickname is Ziliang.

"Brother's archery has only improved slightly, but it is incomparable to yours." With Gao Lang, Xiang Zheng was not at all cramped and nervous when he was with Xiang Zhuang. After a pause, Xiang Zheng said again, "Zi Liang, I heard that half a month ago in Dang County, you personally led troops to suppress a group of thugs?"

"That's right." Gao Lang was young after all, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud when he talked about it, "You don't know, that group of gangsters are really tough. He is very skillful and extremely cunning, my younger brother led three hundred fine riders and drove them six counties for eight hundred miles before destroying them."

After finishing speaking, Gao Lang raised his right arm again and released the golden eagle into the air, saying: "It is thanks to Xiao Jin that we can exterminate these gangsters, otherwise we would not be able to catch their whereabouts at all."

Xiang Zheng was fascinated when he heard it, and said in a low voice: "Ziliang, you are so lucky to be able to go out with your father often, but I don't know when my father will let me go to the battlefield?"

Gao Lang said, "Zihe, soon."

Xiang Zheng said, "How do you know?"

"My father said." Gao Lang squinted at Xiao Jin who was flying higher and higher in the air and was about to enter the clouds, and continued, "The king once told my father that in our Great Chu, the prince who has never been to the battlefield is You cannot succeed to the throne, so the king will definitely arrange for you to go to the battlefield, either this year or next year, and it will not be later than the year after the next year at the latest."

Before the words fell, he was already chasing along the mountain road on a fast horse, and there was a black-clothed knight on the horseback. ..."

Xiang Zheng and Gao Lang, who were galloping on their horses, stopped their horses one after another.

After a while, the Xuanyi guard chased after him, panting, "Prince, Your Majesty tells you to return to Luoyang immediately."

Xiang Zheng exchanged glances with Gao Lang and said, "May I ask, did any major events happen in Luoyang?"

Xuan Yiwei gasped and said: "King of Qi, Han He, proclaimed himself emperor, and the Hezong and Lianheng alliances have decided to join forces to attack. Your Majesty hastily summoned the prince back to the capital for the purpose of attacking Qi."

"Understood." Xiang Zheng waved his hand to push Xuan Yiwei away.

"Haha." Gao Lang looked up to the sky and laughed, excitedly said, "How about it, let me talk? Zihe, this time the king will probably use you as the main general to lead the army to crusade against Qi!"

General Xiang Zheng doubtfully said: "No way, even if it is true, the second brother should be the chief general."

"Ah Zhi?" Gao Lang waved his hand and said disapprovingly, "He is a reckless man, he can only be a general, not a commander, the king knows it well, Zihe, just look at it, you are the one who will defeat Qi. belong!"

Xiang Zheng's face couldn't help flushing, and said: "Alang, if my father really chooses me as the main general, you can definitely help me, and I will definitely recommend you to my father as a lieutenant general."

"That's needless to say." Gao Lang laughed loudly, "The king has a general by his side, so how can the prince be without me, Gao Lang?"

"Alang, let's go back to Luoyang!" Immediately, the two reined in their horses and turned back one after another, galloping back along the rugged mountain road.

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In the spring of 182 B.C., King Han He of Qi proclaimed himself emperor, which attracted the attention of the world.

In the spring and February, the six countries of the two alliances dispatched a total of 15 troops to attack Qi.

The Chu army, with Crown Prince Xiangzheng as the main general and Gao Lang as the deputy general, led [-] troops to attack Xue County; the Han, Han, and Zhao countries sent a total of [-] troops, with Zhou Yafu, the Tongguan school lieutenant of the Han Dynasty as the main general, crossing the river from Nanpi and attacking Lixia; The Yan Army and the Bei Diao Army combined [-] troops, crossed the frozen sea in winter, landed in Jiaodong, and attacked Mi County.

These three armies are like three sharp knives, coming straight to Linzi, the capital of Qi.

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"The country harms me, the country harms me!" Han He roared and swept the arrows, inkstones, and pen holders on the gold case to the ground, grabbed a brocade box, and was about to throw it on the ground, only to realize that it was Chuan Guo Yuxi hurriedly and carefully put it back on the case, then continued to point at Lou Jing and cursed, "Master Guo, this time you have made me suffer."

Lou Jing said calmly, "Your Majesty, the so-called Allied Forces of the Six Nations are actually nothing to worry about."

"It's nothing to worry about? The Prime Minister's tone is so loud!" Han He said angrily, "The Chu army in Xuejun and the Yan army in Jiaodong are nothing more than [-] to [-] armored soldiers, but the Han, Han, and Zhao armies that have attacked the history have a total of ten. There are thousands of people, and all of them are elites who have experienced many battles, what should I do, what should I do?"

Lou Jing said calmly: "Your Majesty, I recommend one person as a general who can retreat from the Han, Han, and Zhao armies."

"Oh?" Han He suddenly regained his energy when he heard this, and asked impatiently, "Who can be the general?"

"Langye Colonel Shentu Jia." Lou Jing said solemnly, "General Shentu is familiar with strategy and bow and horse. If General Shentu leads the army to go out, he will surely defeat the enemy and make great achievements and keep the country safe."

"Okay, the Prime Minister will immediately draw up an order for me." Han He said without hesitation, "Add the title of Shen Tujia to the general, lead [-] troops, and go to Lixia to meet the enemy." After thinking about it, Han He said again, "But apart from Li In addition to the Han, Han, and Zhao allied armies, what about the Chu army in Xue County, the Yan army in Jiaodong, and the Bei Diao army?"

Lou Jing said: "The two armies are few and far between, so there is nothing to worry about. By the time they go deep into the territory of Qi, General Shentu may have already defeated the combined forces of Han, Han, and Zhao. The Yan and Northern Raccoon armies were destroyed under the city of Linzi, and once the Allied Forces of the Six Nations were destroyed, it would be an irreversible trend for the world to return to Qi."

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Xiang Zhuang walked into a ridge of land, stretched out his hand to push away the foot-thick snow, and the green seedlings were exposed underneath.

The sheriff of Dangjun stepped forward, pointed to the vast snowfield in front of him and said, "My lord, this hundred hectares of land has already been planted with winter wheat. As long as there are no natural disasters, at least 20 shi of wheat can be harvested next summer! After the wheat, we can sow soybeans, and in autumn we can harvest another crop of grain.”

Xiang Zhuang gathered the snow back to cover the young crops, and asked: "Mr. Yang, how much land has been cultivated in Waihuang?"

The prefect of Dangjun was surnamed Yang, and his name was Wubing. He was a member of the first batch of imperial students. A large number of young and vigorous officials headed by Wu Bing were ordered to go to various counties and counties in Weidi to serve as local chief officials. It has been more than two years.

Yang Wubing cupped his hands, and said respectfully: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Waihuang has a total of more than [-] hectares of arable land, and most of them are high-quality land. Unfortunately, after a long period of war in Wei, the population loss is serious. Some fleeing people returned to their hometowns, and many bandits borrowed, but the population was still too small, so the recultivated land was less than [-] hectares."

Xiang Zhuang's face changed slightly when he heard the words, and he said, "What, there are nearly ten thousand hectares of high-quality land in Waihuang County alone?"

100 hectares of land equals 200 million mu. Even if it is calculated on the basis of two stones per mu, there will be a harvest of two million stones. Waihuang is only a medium-sized county in Weidi. If the agricultural potential of the entire Weidi can be developed, then How impressive should it be?It seems that it is no accident that Weidi can become the most densely populated area of ​​the Huaxia people.

Yang Wubing nodded, and said worriedly: "My lord, there is something I don't know if I should say it or not?"

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, and said in a loud voice: "If you have something to say, I came to Dang County this time to understand the people's sentiments."

"That minister spoke boldly." Yang Wubing said, "The winter wheat in the counties of Dang County is growing fairly well. If there is no accident, this summer will definitely be a bumper harvest, but it is only the beginning of February, and there are still three days before the harvest It took more than a month, but most of the people in the county have already run out of food, if the government cannot provide food relief, there may be a famine."

"The widow has already made arrangements for this matter." Xiang Zhuang interrupted Yang Wubing with a wave of his hand, "You can send people to Ao Cang to collect food from the Governor Yang."

"Ao Cang?" Yang Wubing shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I went to Ao Cang to borrow grain half a month ago, but the order of Ao Cang bid farewell to me. There is no more grain in the warehouse to borrow."

"That was half a month ago." Xiang Zhuang said with a smile, "Now Ao Cang has food."

With Han He ascending the throne and proclaiming the emperor, the attention of Han and Zhao has been completely attracted by the battle against Qi, and the monitoring of Chu's border has been greatly weakened. A few months ago, a group of "thieves" ransacked the Feng family's large granary near Yanchi. After looting thousands of shi of grain, they gave up the entire grain store.

Of course, this is just a cover-up. This group of "thieves" were actually the dead soldiers of Xuanyiwei pretending to be dead soldiers. The food they burned was only a few hundred shi. The batches were secretly transported to a cottage near Hangu Pass at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain, and then secretly transported back to Ao Cang by water.

So far, Xiang Zhuang's grand strategy of looting Guanzhong has finally come to a satisfactory result. Although this operation failed to achieve all the strategic goals, the purpose of looting the wealth of Guanzhong and looting Han, Han, and Han's Taicang grain was achieved. , It also greatly alleviated the food shortage caused by Chu's forced development of Wei.

(End of this chapter)