The most powerful emperor Liu Bang

Chapter 20

A few years ago, after the King of Han entered Guanzhong, his general Wei Wuzhi recommended to him a talented person, Chen Ping from Henan.Wei Wuzhi introduced to Liu Bang: "This man is very smart and good at using tactics. Maybe he will help you in the war."

Liu Bang was very happy when he heard that, and said: "Okay, I just need talents in this field, let him come."

Chen Ping was first appointed as the captain, and he really did a good job in all aspects of affairs.But there is one bad thing, that is, when someone asks him to help or pleads with him, he will not do things without seeing the benefits, which will cause dissatisfaction among the people around him over time.

There are several people who went to Guanzhong to join Liu Bang with Chen Ping.Seeing Chen Ping being reused, they were jealous at first, and Chen Ping recognized his money but not his people when he spoke and acted, so they offended these people.Chen Ping's bad things in his hometown were quickly revealed.They said: "This man is greedy for money, he likes to do some petty theft at home, and he has been committing adultery with his sister-in-law, and he pissed off his brother to death. I didn’t expect it to be reused.”

After these words reached Liu Bang's ears, he called Wei Wuzhi to reprimand him: "I heard that Chen Ping is a man who steals money and steals his wife. Why do you recommend such a person to me?"

"I recommend people who can come up with ingenious schemes. As for whether he steals gold or not, it has little to do with the king. Gold is not enough, and no one is perfect. You use his strengths to care whether he is perfect or not." What are people doing?" Wei Wuzhi replied.

Liu Bang laughed when he heard it, nodded and said, "That makes sense. Since he is a talented person, and he is not tolerated by ordinary people, let him come to me and be a lieutenant in the guard."

Xiang Yu had several generals under his command, including counselor Fan Zeng, generals Zhong Limei, Long Qi, and Zhou Yin.Counselor Fan Zengchang followed Xiang Yu for a long period of time, and was very resourceful. Many of Xiang Yu's decisions came from his suggestions, and he rarely miscalculated.Speaking of this old man really made Liu Bang timid. If he followed his advice at the Hongmen Banquet, Liu Bang's life would have been lost.Several other military generals have made great achievements in battle, and almost no one in the Han army can match them in individual combat.Because of these few people, Xiang Yu has rarely lost a battle since the uprising.Now that these people have gathered in Xingyang, Liu Bang really feels that he is in big trouble.

After Chen Ping came to Liu Bang's side, after a period of observation, he had a general understanding of the situation of the Chu and Han armies.He said to Liu Bang: "My lord, the Chu army is very powerful now, and they can't fight them hard. Instead, why don't you think of other ways?"

Liu Bang saw that Chen Ping, who had entered the shogunate, had not spoken much, and was wondering if he was really resourceful. At this time, he was very interested in hearing that he had thought of another way, and said, "Tell me, what's the trick?"

Chen Ping said: "Whether the army is strong or not depends on the generals. The so-called raging soldiers are raging generals, and vice versa. The reason why Xiang Yu's team has always been unstoppable and invincible is not only because of his personal bravery, but also because of his invincibility." There are generals such as Fan Zeng, Zhong Limei, Long Qi, and Zhou Yin. However, Xiang Yu is very suspicious and self-willed. If a method can be adopted to make them suspect each other and cause internal strife, it will definitely weaken the strength of the Chu army. Combat power."

"That's a wonderful remark, but I don't know what to do?" Liu Bang asked.

Chen Ping leaned closer and whispered his thoughts.

Liu Bang nodded in approval.

On the second day, Chen Ping received 4 taels of gold from the treasury at one time, and at the same time selected dozens of qualified small schools from Cao Shen's men for use.After returning to the residence, I thought about it in the middle of the night before I came up with a plan.Reporting to Liu Bang, Liu Bang said: "Just let it go, I don't care how you spend your money."

In a few days, the spies sent by Chen Ping spread all over the Chu camp.He first handed over 3 taels of gold to the envoys, and asked them to choose more than a dozen middle leaders of the Chu army, and each bribed them with 2000 taels of gold. Zhong Limei made the most contribution, so he should have been crowned king long ago. The Overlord of Chu was jealous of his talent and suppressed General Zhong everywhere. Chu, in order to be crowned king as soon as possible."

When they spread these words, they deliberately avoided Zhong Limo, so that Xiang Yu, Fan Zeng, Long Qi, Zhou Yin, etc. knew about it, but he was still in the dark.At this time, Han Xin's reinforcements had just arrived in the southeast of Xingyang, and their goal was to prevent the Chu army from advancing westward to Xianyang.Zhongli Mo asked Xiang Yu to fight: "I am the overlord, Xingyang is now an isolated city, and it will be conquered soon. Liu Bang wanted to save the defeat, so he urgently dispatched Han Xin's troops to support the periphery. Now the reinforcements have just arrived, and the roots are not stable. Please give [-] troops. Attack it by night."

"Now the army is in a hurry to besiege Xingyang, and withdraw 10 troops to attack Han Xin, who is dozens of miles away. Isn't this a relief for Xingyang? The general has made great achievements, and I don't reward enough, which makes the general feel wronged. Is it because I want to be king in a hurry? ?" Xiang Yu said with a stern face without looking at Zhong Limei.

Zhong Limei saw that King Xiang was not joking like in the past, what he said was neither yin nor yang, and he didn't know what he meant, Monk Zhang Er was a little confused, thinking that he was a little dizzy and talking nonsense because he couldn't rush to take Xingyang, so he didn't think much about it , but to further clarify our point of view: "We have agreed that we will advance westward from Yiguan and Wuguan, and go straight to Liu Bang's lair, Xianyang, to form a four-sided siege to the Han army. The westward advance of our army poses a great threat, so I think it should be eliminated as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty, among us, only General Zhong can fight. You should grant his request." Long Qi and Zhou Yin winked at each other.

"The two generals made fun of each other. Every time they win, they rely on the majesty of the king, and rely on General Fan's strategy." Zhong Limo thought, what happened today, they all came to run on me.

Fan Zeng carefully observed Zhongli Mo's demeanor, he didn't seem to be taking credit for himself or having two ambitions, on the contrary, he was as humble as ever.What's more, going west to Xianyang is also a plan they have agreed on long ago.At that time, I realized that rumors cannot be believed, but actual actions.So he said to Xiang Yu: "General Zhong is right. Han Xin's reinforcements should be broken quickly. We all know that Han Xin's soldiers are clever and clever. If he is deployed, it will be more difficult to conquer. So I think, it is better to call Giving General Zhong [-] elite soldiers may be decided in one battle."

Hearing what Fan Zeng said, because Xiang Yu didn't have enough evidence and couldn't find out the reason, he insisted on dismissing Zhong Limei's opinion, so he could only say: "According to Yafu's words, I hope the general can do it himself!"

It is said that there are 5 elite soldiers, but Xiang Yu actually selected a poor team and handed it over to Zhong Limei to command.Zhong Limei led troops to attack Han Xin overnight.Han Xin's soldiers have always been like gods, especially where the troops are newly stationed, they must first arrange defenses and prepare for the enemy's sneak attack.This place was surrounded by Chu troops, how dare Han Xin set up an ambush, so that when Zhongli Mo arrived, he was surrounded.There were also traps and hidden arrows around. After the Chu army came in, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to. Most of the [-] horses were wiped out overnight.Relying on a group of guards to block from left to right, Zhong Limo managed to escape, but was still shot in the back by an arrow.

When Tianming returned to the army tent, Xiang Yu had to be ridiculed and reprimanded: "You always win more than you lose in wars. This time I gave you [-] elite soldiers, and lost half of them overnight. What's the matter? Are you not thinking about fighting? You How to deal with it?"

Zhong Limei said: "I just want to take advantage of Han Xin's army before he has established a firm foothold, and launch a sneak attack on him overnight. I didn't expect him to be prepared. I didn't think carefully, and I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Hmph, it's too late to punish you. You lost tens of thousands of soldiers overnight, so you should be beheaded. Considering your military exploits in the past, you were saved from death, so you should be appointed General Qixi." Xiang Yu said angrily.Zhong Limei was originally a general of chariots and cavalry, but was changed to a general of Qixi, and his position was lowered by three ranks.

Fan Zeng felt that this was a bit unfair to Zhong Limo. In the past, he had suffered defeats in wars, but for the commanders of the three armies, he mostly comforted him and let him learn a lesson.Today, Zhong Limei was negligent in the first battle, and he was demoted to three ranks. It was really unreasonable, and he said to Xiang Yu: "General, calm down. It's not that General Zhong is not working hard, but Han Xin's soldiers are too cunning. Many generals of our Chu army confronted him. It plotted. In view of this, General Zhong is still injured by an arrow, so he is exempted from accountability, let him pay attention in the future."

Xiang Yu thought, what happened to you, Fan Zeng?It's not that I don't know the rumors in the army. I'm taking this opportunity to weaken his power to prevent accidents. I insisted: "He used troops this time too hastily, and he should be punished. Now that the siege of Xingyang is urgent, let him take the crime and make meritorious service. If he behaves Very good, it will not be too late to reinstate the official."

Fan Zeng was speechless.

Soon thereafter, rumors within the Chu army resurfaced.It is said that Long Qi and Zhou Yin also want to take refuge in Liu Bang.These words reached Xiang Yu's ears, which made him upset and even more irritable.Fan Zeng realized that there might be ghosts in it, and secretly sent people to the army to investigate and investigate the source of the rumors.

The people sent by Fan Zeng caught up with a few people who spread rumors within a few days, and he personally interrogated them.At first these people did not recruit, but after dozens of batons were beaten, a man named Yuan Hou recruited: "I have a fellow who served under General Long and gave me 200 taels of gold. He told me to say so." .”

Fan Zeng used the same method to interrogate other people, and the recruits were similar.He tracked down the clues and tracked down the person who took out the gold, but there was no shadow, it was not from the Chu army at all.When Chen Ping was handling this matter, he had already taken precautions against this. First, he grasped the characteristics of the large number of soldiers in Chu. Even if soldiers were fellow soldiers, it was impossible for them to be in the same barracks. .The second is a one-line operation, so that the person who gets the gold only knows that he is involved in this matter. Once the incident happens, the Chu army will have no clues to patrol.

After all, Fan Zeng is a man of extraordinary intelligence.After interrogating several people, one day, several generals were suddenly summoned to conduct a surprise search by the soldiers under their opponents, and all those who hid gold were arrested.In one day, hundreds of people were arrested.However, there were too many soldiers in Chu, so how could they not leak the news. Some soldiers buried people on the spot or simply threw them away when they heard that those who had gold were searched.Those leaders who got a large amount of gold transferred the gold to other places long ago, and none of them were caught.

At this point, the rumors about the betrayal of Xiang Yu by several generals have finally been clarified.Fan Zeng reported to Xiang Yu: "Recently there have been rumors in the army. One will betray the general, and the other will join Liu Bang. I think these people have followed the king for many years. Now that the Chu army has the upper hand, how can they abandon the Ming Dynasty? What about casting a shadow? After I secretly checked, someone did something tricky and gave each of these rumormakers 200 taels of gold. This must be done by the Han army, otherwise who else would be willing to do this?"

When Xiang Yu heard it, he suddenly realized, but he couldn't lose face, so he pretended to be surprised and said: "Is there such a thing? Yafu did a good job, otherwise he was almost fooled. But when two armies confront each other, anything can happen. We also have to be on the safe side.”

Having said that, Xiang Yu still realized that it was impossible for his generals to betray him at this time, because there was no reason.Coincidentally at this time, Zhong Limei led his troops to attack the two defenders of Liu Bang near Xingyang. Xiang Yu took the opportunity to reinstate his official and was named a general.

Liu Bang was caught in a countermeasure for Xiang Yu and demoted Zhong Limei's post.Xingyang is getting more and more dangerous.Liu Bang spent 4 taels of gold, but it didn't work at all. He couldn't help feeling upset, and he didn't bother to answer Chen Ping.

Zhang Liang said: "Fan Zeng is such a shrewd person. With him around, these schemes would be difficult to succeed."

"This old man is over seventy, why is he still alive!" Mentioning Fan Zeng, Liu Bang gritted his teeth and said bitterly.

Chen Ping frowned and said: "It seems that if you want to drive a wedge between Xiang Yu and his ministers, you must put the medicine on this old man, otherwise no other good method will work."

"Then try again, if the first plan fails, then try again, I don't believe that we people can't make him fall for it!" Liu Bang said cruelly, knowing that there is no other good way at this time.

More than a month later, almost everyone had forgotten about the rumors, and the upper echelons of the Chu army heard rumors again: "General Fan said, Liu Bang accepts advice with an open mind, is generous and benevolent, and the world will definitely belong to him in the future. King Xiang will not listen to other people's words." Otherwise, Liu Bang should be killed several times, and now we are all affected."

Later, it was rumored: "Liu Bang gave General Fan 10 taels of gold, so that he would stop giving advice to the Overlord. The gold was sent to Fan Zeng's hometown, and he readily accepted it."

When these words reached Xiang Yu, he didn't believe them at first, thinking that just like last time, it was the Han army's countermeasures.But there are some words that only Fan Zeng can say. For example, after the Hongmen Banquet, he said many times before and after: "Shuzi is not enough and a conspiracy!" Suspicious, he began to observe Fan Zeng's every move carefully.

When Xiang Yu just besieged Xingyang, Liu Bang once proposed to draw a boundary with him and rule, the east of Xingyang belonged to Xiang Yu, and the west belonged to Liu Bang.At that time, Liu Bang had just been defeated, and Fan Zeng proposed to take advantage of the victory to pursue and eliminate Liu Bang in one fell swoop. Xiang Yu listened to Fan Zeng's words.After several months of siege, Xingyang was captured and captured by the Han army. After several repetitions.Xiang Yuyuan was overworked, and the supply in the rear often couldn't keep up.And Liu Bang is backed by Hanzhong, with sufficient food and grass, and a steady stream of team replenishment, and it is gradually possible to change from weak to strong.Seeing this, Xiang Yu felt that the stalemate could no longer continue, and he should make peace with Liu Bang.So he sent Zhang Ke and several envoys to the Han camp to reopen the peace talks.

When Chen Ping heard the news, he immediately felt that the opportunity had come, and hurriedly said to Liu Bang: "So so."

Liu Bang asked people to arrange the Chu army's envoy to stay in the best post house, and treat each other with the above courtesy.The waiters took care of them in every possible way, there was something to eat, something to drink, and something to play. They had a lot of fun, thinking that they would be sure to complete the mission this time.

On this day, several envoys were notified that the King of Han would receive them.Entering the living room, one can see that the layout is neat and elegant, the guards are majestic, tea sets, wine sets and fruits are all available. It can be seen that the King of Han received them grandly.Liu Bang bowed to them one by one with a pleasant face, sat down, and said to them: "The distinguished guest is here, and he should have received him as soon as possible, but because he went down to work on the teachers and treated the guests slowly, it is a sin."

Zhang Ke hurriedly replied: "Thanks to the hospitality of the King of Han, the envoy is very flattered, and I am very grateful. After returning, I will definitely convey your kindness to King Xiang. The purpose of this visit is to resume peace talks with the Han army. King Xiang agrees with you." In the past, the plan of demarcation and governance was put forward, and the two sides stopped fighting. I hope the king of Han can agree with this opinion..."

Before the envoys had finished speaking, Liu Bang suddenly changed his color and said in astonishment: "Why, you are not envoys sent by General Fan, but envoys sent by Xiang Yu? Then what am I talking to you about!"

Zhang Ke said, "We were sent by King Xiang. Did General Fan also send someone here?"

Liu Bang deliberately ignored the envoys, looked at the eunuch and said angrily: "This kind of thing can be wrong, you can talk about it, I have other things." He got up and went out.

Seeing that Liu Bang had left, the waiters at the side immediately removed the wine utensils and fruits from everyone's tables, leaving only one tea set.The atmosphere of the peace talks fell into a stalemate for a while.

The servant said embarrassingly, "Look, how could this happen? How did I know that there were two groups of people here?" Then he said to several envoys, "The King of Han doesn't want to talk about it, so what's the point if we talk about it well?" Yes. You go back to the post house first. I will report this matter to Xiao Xiangguo and see what he has to say."

When the envoys returned to the post house, the place where they lived had already changed. The bedding was replaced by dirty things, and the things they used were either missing or lacking in a blink of an eye.At noon, there is no big fish or meat, only some rotten vegetables and brown rice, which is really hard to swallow.The people I saw were not as warm and friendly as before, but all of them were cold.After a few more days, there was almost nothing left to eat.Asked for negotiation again, the person in charge of reception said: "Your Majesty does not want to see you again, you go back. If you don't go back, you will be locked up."

Seeing that there was no point in staying any longer, the envoys had no choice but to go back.They told Xiang Yu what they had encountered, Xiang Yu was furious, and immediately cut off Fan Zeng's military power and made him a military officer.

Fan Zeng didn't know what was going on, and wanted to ask why, but Xiang Yu didn't see him.One day Fan Zeng broke in, but Xiang Yu still ignored him.Fan Zeng said angrily: "The overall situation of the world has been decided. I, an old fellow, are of no use to you. Okay, I'll go!"

Xiang Yu didn't want to stay, and let Fan Zeng leave alone and sad on a skinny donkey.After the state of Chu established its capital in Pengcheng, Fan Zeng also moved there, thousands of miles away.He walked on the road for a few days, but due to the hot weather and extremely bad mood, he died of a sudden ulcer on his back.

(End of this chapter)