Just because of Mr. Uncle Sun's unintentional words, Xiang Kang suddenly found that the opportunity had come, and he made up his mind on the spot without hesitation, and decided to personally lead the main force of the Han army in the middle to launch a southern expedition to meet the Nanyang army that took the initiative to send him to death and deliberately exposed his flaws, but among Xiang Kang's accomplices and lackeys, not everyone agreed with Xiang Kang's decision.

At least Zhang Liang, who had far-reaching strategic foresight, was one of them, and on the way to accompany Xiang Kang to lead the army to retreat south, Zhang Liang rode to Xiang Kang's carriage, and while advancing with him, he said to Xiang Kang: "King, from the personal point of view of the foreign minister, of course the foreign minister hopes that you will launch a southern expedition as soon as possible and recover the foreign minister's home country, Handi, but from the perspective of your interests, the foreign minister still hopes that you can reconsider the decision to go south." Because launching the southern expedition at this time is not urgent for you, the king, and it is possible to lose the big one because of the small and slow down the time for the king to dominate the world. ”

"Mr. Zifang is worried that if we launch a southern expedition now, it will give our enemy on the northern front a chance to breathe?" Xiang Kang's strategic vision was not very bad, and he immediately understood what Zhang Liang meant.

"Exactly." Zhang Liang nodded calmly and said: "After you launch the southern expedition, with the ability of General Zhou Shu and the strength of the army under his command, it is indeed not a big problem for you to block the Western Chu thief army, but in this way, we will not have the spare strength to continue to attack on the northern front, and take advantage of the victory to defeat the Jibei thief army and the Qi thief army who have been greatly injured, and then even if we successfully end the southern expedition and free up our hands, the Qi Ji thief army will definitely recover a certain vitality, and if we want to launch an attack on the northern front and seize Qidi, it will definitely be more difficult,"

After directly pointing out the drawbacks of launching the southern expedition now, Zhang Liang admonished again: "Therefore, the foreign minister thinks that it is best for the king to reconsider the southern expedition plan, and it is best to follow our original plan, and our main force in the middle will continue to contain the Western Chu thief army, so that our main force on the northern front can free up their hands and take advantage of the situation to destroy the Qiji thief army that has been greatly injured, and then free up their hands to deal with the enemy on the southern front." ”

Zhang Liang's words only made Xiang Kang nod again and again, but did not let Xiang Kang accept it humbly, after Zhang Liang finished speaking, Xiang Kang also sighed lightly and said: "Mr. Zifang, I know that you are saying this for my interests, and I also know that it is too prudent to launch the southern expedition now, and it will definitely give our enemies on the northern front a chance to breathe." But Mr. Zifang, I have to do it. ”

"The king is so wary of Liu Ji, he would rather waste time on the northern line than give Liu Ji the opportunity to take a big seat?" Zhang Liang also understood what Xiang Kang meant.

"Not bad." Xiang Kang nodded calmly and said: "Tian Jiao of Qi State and Tian Du of Jibei (not dead yet), but they are just two loaches, no matter how they toss, it is absolutely impossible to stir up any decent wind and waves." Liu Ji is different, this traitor is a dragon, if we give him enough time to sit up, it will be equivalent to letting him enter the sea and fly the dragon to the sky, and then we will only be ten times more difficult to deal with him than now, and it may even be more difficult than us to destroy the Xichu thief army! ”

"Especially now, he has a tendency to gradually get bigger." Xiang Kang added: "Yingbu's main force has been annihilated by him, and most of the land of Linjiang has been owned by him, if we don't hurry up and seize this opportunity now, seize the time to kill him, give him time to digest the territory of Linjiang, and then wait for him to gather the manpower and material resources of Linjiang and Nanyang, not only will it be difficult to get rid of him, but he will immediately become our henchman, making it even more difficult for us to sweep away the Qiji thief army and eliminate Xichu." ”

Zhang Liang was silent, and he never understood why Xiang Kang was so hostile and wary of Liu Laosan, but seeing Xiang Kang's resolute attitude, Zhang Liang did not continue to persuade him, so he could only change his words and said: "Since the king is so worried about Liu Ji's big seat and is determined to annihilate the Nanyang thief army first, then the foreign minister can only fully support it." ”

"What is Mr. Zifang's plan for this king's southern expedition?" Xiang Kang asked with a smile.

Zhang Liang didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately replied: "King, the foreign minister suggests that the king had better send someone to contact Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, as soon as possible, and ask him to send troops to attack the Nanyang thief army. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Xiang Kang applauded and praised: "Although Wu Rui is not afraid, if he wants to coerce Liu Ji to send troops, how can it be a trouble for us, the best way is to try to keep him neutral, and then after we have eliminated the Nanyang thief army, it will definitely be much easier to force him to bend his knees and submit." ”

"And." Zhang Liang hesitated for a moment, and then said: "King, the foreign minister has another suggestion, both for you and for the foreign minister's mother country, Yingchuan is originally a Korean land, and there are many Korean remnants, and there are not a few people who miss their mother country so far, the foreign minister suggests that the king may wish to canonize Han Xin, who returned with General Feng Zhong, as a Korean general, let him lead an army, play the Korean banner, and seize Yingchuan and Han land for the king, so that the remnants of the Korean land will inevitably correspond, which can reduce countless resistance for the king to go south, and at the same time add countless helps. ”

Xiang Kang, who was reluctant to implement the sub-feudal system, smiled bitterly when he heard it, but considering that he was allowed to continue to exist even in Zhao State, not to mention South Korea, which was notoriously weak and easy to bully, so after thinking about it, Xiang Kang quickly smiled and said: "Mr. Zifang, this king can make Han Xin the captain of South Korea and let him lead the troops to re-play the Korean flag, but this king has one condition, you have to ask Mr. Zifang to agree first." ”

"King, do you want the ministers to promise you conditions?" Zhang Liang was a little dumbfounded, and asked in surprise: "King, what conditions do you want the foreign minister to promise you?" ”

"Mr. Zifang, please stop calling yourself a foreign minister in the future, and officially join our Han army." Xiang Kang replied with a smile: "This king has appointed you as a servant of the Han State, ranking in the Ninth Qing. ”

Zhang Liang suddenly realized, and immediately smiled embarrassedly and bitterly, and said: "I have followed the king for so long, and I have been participating in the king's military affairs all the time, if it wasn't for the king's reminder, the ministers would have almost forgotten that I have not been canonized by the king until now, and have officially become your subordinates." ”

"Is that okay?" Xiang Kang stared at Zhang Liang and asked, and said very sincerely: "Mr. Zifang, Xiao Wang sincerely hopes that you can officially join our Han Army." ”

Xiang Kangdu has already said it to this point, in fact, what else can Zhang Liang, who has already completely integrated into the Han army, say? So Zhang Liang did not hesitate, immediately to restrain the war horse, dismount to Xiang Kang to salute the ground, claiming to be a subordinate, and officially joined the ranks of the Han army, Xiang Kang was overjoyed, and quickly got out of the car to put Zhang Liang's hands together, comforted Zhang Haoyan, and pulled Zhang Liang into his own carriage, let Zhang Liang go with him, and did his best to envelop him.

In fact, it was just a change of title, in front of Xiang Kang, Zhang Liang still spoke very directly, and quickly reminded Xiang Kang: "King, although the Nanyang thief army is currently taking the initiative to send them to death, they are still fighting by dividing their own troops to fight each other, giving us a chance to defeat each of them." However, His Majesty is worried that if the Nanyang Thief Army knows about our current situation on the northern front, and if you hear that the king has personally led the troops south, I am afraid that they will be alert and immediately make strategic adjustments. ”

Xiang Kang nodded, admitting that this possibility was not impossible, and then asked: "That Mr. Zifang thinks, how should we act in order to temporarily stabilize the Nanyang thief army and let them not rush to make strategic adjustments?" ”

"Your Majesty suggests that the king might as well come and hide a knife in a smile." Zhang Liang proposed: "The king may wish to send an envoy with your letter to contact the Nanyang thief army, pretending to persuade Liu Ji to abandon Chu and return to Han, and turn against us to help us crusade against the Western Chu thief army, promising that as long as Liu Ji agrees, we will not only return his family and family immediately, but also recognize Linjiang as Liu Ji's territory, and no longer help Yingbu recapture it." ”

"In this way, the Nanyang Thief Army will inevitably believe that we will attack Xichu first, and we will not be able to free up our hands to launch the Southern Expedition for the time being, so naturally we will not be in a hurry to make strategic adjustments, and when our army suddenly moves south, we can kill the Nanyang Thief Army by surprise, and create opportunities for us to break the Nanyang Thief Army individually!"

If it weren't for Liu Laosan and Han Xin's plan, then needless to say, Xiang Kang would definitely applaud immediately and immediately adopt Zhang Liang's strategy, but there was no way, as a traverser, Xiang Kang knew too well how difficult Liu Laosan and Han Xin were. So after thinking about it for a long time, Xiang Kang slowly shook his head and said, "You must not do this, it will only backfire." Liu Ji and Han Xin are too cunning, and they know very well that we like to use tricks and tricks, if we laugh at them, we are afraid that they will immediately understand that we are ready to attack them, and our next target is actually them! ”

Still didn't understand why Xiang Kang looked down on Liu Laosan and Han Xin so highly, Zhang Liang could only ask strangely: "Wang, you look up to Liu Ji and Han Xin so much?" Think we can't fool them even with a knife hidden in our laughter? ”

"I can't fool you." Xiang Kang shook his head and said: "Don't forget what happened to Wancheng at the beginning, our divisive plan was not only easily seen through by Liu Ji, but also by him, killing our main force in Nanyang, we can't repeat such a mistake." In front of the two traitors, Liu Ji and Han Xin, we try not to fight for any opportunism, we can only win by strength and crush them with our overall strength, so that it is the safest. ”

Zhang Liang had no choice but to continue to change his words, and said: "Since this is the case, then we can only prepare in advance, and it is naturally best to take advantage of the opportunity of the Nanyang thief army to divide their own troops to defeat each of them, if not, we will take the Han land first, and then join forces with our Hanzhong army to fight into the hinterland of Nanyang, and work together to flank the Nanyang thief army." ”

Xiang Kang is also very fickle sometimes, and after rejecting Zhang Liang's suggestion to hide a knife in his smile, Xiang Kang suddenly had an idea again, and said secretly: "Since I definitely can't fool Liu Laosan and Han Xin, why don't I come and do the opposite?" Pretending to intimidate Liu Laosan and Han Xin to make them think I was bluffing, and then suddenly make a move to catch them off guard? ”

After having this idea, Xiang Kang, who was good at scheming, just thought about it for a moment, and quickly came up with an idea, and immediately sent someone to pass on his good brother Feng Zhong to meet him, and then it didn't take long for Feng Zhong to be led to Xiang Kang, and he saluted Xiang Kang and said, "Your Majesty has seen the king." ”

"Brother Feng doesn't have to be polite, please start writing now and ...... for me."

After only half of the words, Xiang Kang, who had been deducing the details of the strategy in his heart, suddenly changed his mind and said: "Brother Feng, if I forget, after we cross the river, you must remember to remind me, just say that I have something very important to explain to you." ”

"Your Majesty obeys." Feng Zhong sang in confusion, and muttered in his stomach: "As far as your memory, do you still need me to remind you?" When you were in Shiling Pavilion, the blacksmith shop we co-opened, the merchants in the city gave you two less money, and then you chased after it to come back, not to mention important events? ”

From Julu to Puyang all the way is a gallop, the Han army's marching speed is naturally extremely fast, and the Han army is in a hurry to launch a southern expedition, so only six days have passed, the Han army Zheng Bu Corps arrived at Baimajin under the leadership of Xiang Kang, and the Han army that stayed here has already prepared a river crossing boat for the Zheng Bu Corps, and the Han army only took one day to cross the Yellow River and officially returned to the middle battlefield.

Then, as Feng Zhong expected, after crossing the river, without his reminder, Xiang Kang took the initiative to call him to the front, and couldn't wait to ask the guards to prepare a silk pen for Feng Zhong, and then instructed Feng Zhong: "Brother Feng, work hard, write a letter to your original soldier Han Xin, in addition to reminiscing about the past, and then tell him in your tone, just say that I have made up my mind and decided to temporarily slow down our offensive on the northern front, so that our northern army can take on the task of containing the Western Chu thief army, and personally lead the army to launch a southern expedition, Crusade against Liu Jipifu, who shamelessly framed me in Hangu Pass, and persuade him to be smarter and quickly lead the Nanyang thief army under his command to lay down their arms and surrender to us. In addition, when I told him again, I said that I had agreed, and as long as he surrendered, I would make him the Marquis of Zhuyang, and eat 2,000 households. ”

Before Xiang Kang's words were finished, Feng Zhong and Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and the others next to him had already widened their eyes together, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty heard you right, right?" Write such a letter to Han Xin? ”

"Only such a letter can temporarily stabilize the Nanyang thief army." Xiang Kang replied very directly, and urged Feng Zhong again: "Big brother, don't be embarrassed, write quickly, in the letter, by the way, tell Han Xin about our current strategic situation, if there is anything you don't understand, ask me directly." ”

Seeing Xiang Kang's insistence, Feng Zhong had no choice but to quickly pick up the pen and write a letter to his former confidant Han Xin according to Xiang Kang's request, but Xiang Kang refused to rest assured, and personally stepped forward to instruct, asking Feng Zhong to tell Han Xin the current strategic situation of the army through the letter, and for the first time not to play the slightest falsehood, deliberately let Han Xin clearly know the current strategic situation of the Han army. After the letter was written, Xiang Kang asked Xu Ji to arrange a capable messenger, asking the messenger to return to Sanchuan with the letter first, and go south to deliver the letter to Han Xin, and repeatedly told the messenger to deliver the letter to Han Xin as soon as possible.

Chen Ping, who was also good at scheming, was the first to see through Xiang Kang's intentions, and had to remind Xiang Kang worriedly: "King, is it too rash?" Although the bluff can indeed cover our voice to attack the west, but in fact, it is actually a surprise to kill the Nanyang thief army, but through this letter, Han Xin and Liu Jipifu may see the strategic choice of launching the southern expedition now? ”

"Of course they could see through it, even if they didn't have this letter, but they would never believe that I would make such a strategic choice." Xiang Kang replied: "Because in our current strategic situation, it is our right choice to give priority to the use of troops on the northern front, and launching the southern expedition now will only miss the good situation of the northern front, plus we have always liked to use tactics, so after reading this letter, Han Xin and Liu Ji will definitely think that we are just bluffing, and will not deliberately waste the good situation on the northern front, and launch the southern expedition now!" And then they just have to be fooled, and our good chance comes. ”