When the news of Ziying's rebellion and capture was delivered to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang was already on his way back to Guanzhong, and the main force of the Western Chu army led by Xiang Yu had also withdrawn to the direction of Pengcheng, so that the Chu-Han War, which had lasted for more than a year, came to an end temporarily.

Originally, Xiang Yu was never willing to take the initiative to retreat to show weakness, but there was no way, the three main forces of the Han army had been concentrated in the middle of the battlefield, and the accumulation of strength completely overwhelmed the Western Chu army, although the old man Fan also re-pulled up some troops for Xiang Yu in the rear of Western Chu, but these troops are still scattered all over the Western Chu for training, and it is difficult to complete the assembly and formation in a short period of time.

Xiang Kang, who is not sure of destroying Chu, is too lazy to pay attention to Xiang Yu, and released the news that he is seriously ill in Xu County, and confirmed that Xiang Yu has withdrawn from the chasm, Xiang Kang took the initiative to withdraw to Yangzhai with the central corps of the Han army, and withdrew to Sanchuan through Yangcheng, and the Zhou Shu corps of the Han army also took the initiative to withdraw to Puyang, preparing to return to the northern line to sweep away the remnants of the enemy, and by the way, to prevent Zhao Wangxie, who was forced to surrender to Han, from having any dissenting intentions.

Not to mention, when he heard that Xiang Kang was seriously ill, Xiang Yu really believed it, and subconsciously gave birth to the idea of turning around and cleaning up the scum cousin, but fortunately, Kui Che and Liu Laosan stopped him, and said that if Xiang Kang's illness was true, they were willing to lose their heads to Xiang Yu as a night pot, and at the same time, Xiang Zhuang, Ji Bu and Xiang Sheng and other generals of the Western Chu Army also strongly objected, and they also refused to believe that Xiang Kang would really be seriously ill.

However, Kuaicher and Xiang Zhuang and others were also scolded for this, and it didn't take long for the news that Xiang Kang took the initiative to withdraw to Sanchuan, believing that the scum cousin must have done so because of illness, Xiang Yu immediately scolded Kuaicher and Xiang Zhuang and others who opposed his counterattack, and scolded them for being cowardly as rats and delaying their precious fighters.

There is no way to scold, the scum cousin has already slipped away shamelessly, the Han army has both the advantage of troops on the middle battlefield, and the danger of mountains and rivers, taking the initiative to attack and seek a decisive battle not only has no chance of winning, but also the danger of being dumpled by the Han army, so Xiang Yu has no choice, he can only listen to Kui Che's suggestion with patience, and decide to temporarily withdraw to Pengcheng to regroup, and let the soldiers of the Western Chu Army who have been fighting for many years take a break, and wait for the future to find the scum cousin to take revenge and settle accounts.

Xiang Kang still did not take care of the actions of the Western Chu army, and after withdrawing to Sanchuan, Xiang Kang quickly completed the adjustment of the middle road deployment, reassigned Zhong Liwu, who owed Zheng Bu favors, to Zheng Bu's command, strengthened the strength of Zheng Bu's corps, and returned to Puyang to be responsible for confronting the Western Chu army head-on.

It is worth mentioning that during this period, taking advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the Western Chu Army being pinned down by the Han army, Peng Yuejun, who had been heavily damaged by the Western Chu Army, not only gained a precious respite, but also took the opportunity to seize several small towns around Juyeze under the banner of the Chu army, somewhat recovered some vitality, recruited the rebels and did not refuse, and re-raised an army of six or seven thousand people. Help him retake the land of Chu.

Prior to this, Chen Ying, who had been temporarily attached to Xiang Kang, was also a member of the Young Marshal's Army, and met Xiang Kang again after a few years to meet Xiang Kang, who had become the King of Han, Chen Ying of course sighed and sighed at the impermanence of life, but fortunately, Xiang Kang did not care about the previous things, and greeted him very politely, received him with the corresponding specifications, and did not hesitate to agree to help Peng Yue, and try to provide Peng Yue with the help he needs.

After repeatedly thanking Xiang Kang, Chen Ying said cautiously: "King Han, the foreign minister has a presumptuous reluctant request, our King Chu and Shangzhu have heard that there is a new trebuchet among your army, which can directly smash the city wall and be indestructible, if our Chu army wants to recover the old land, it must be necessary to attack the city, if it is convenient for the King of Han, I don't know how many craftsmen who can build this kind of trebuchet to us?" ”

Seeing Xiang Kang's displeasure, Chen Ying hurriedly took the initiative to change his words and said: "Please rest assured King Han, we also know that such a weapon cannot be easily displayed, if King Han feels that it is impossible, we will not force it." ”

"Count you smart." Xiang Kang snorted coldly in his heart, and then said: "Lord Lingyin, it's not that this king is reluctant to give it to you, there are two reasons, one is that this trebuchet material is too rare and too time-consuming to manufacture, even if it is given to you, it is difficult to use it in your current situation." The second is that the vitality of the Western Chu thief army is still alive, and if the process of trebuchet spreads and is obtained by the Western Chu thief army, it will definitely bring us big trouble. So I can't help you, I can help you with anything, but the new trebuchet can't give it to you. ”

Chen Ying hurriedly nodded in understanding, and took the initiative to withdraw the request very smartly, Xiang Kang nodded, and then casually ordered: "Lord Lingyin, you go down to rest first, how to support you, and I will give you an answer after this king and the ministers discuss it." ”

Chen Ying hurriedly agreed, and took the initiative to retire with knowledge and interest, and Xiang Kang snorted coldly at his back: "I have a lot of appetite, I even want a counterweight trebuchet, and when you really become the climate, do you even want our gunpowder?" ”

"The king is angry." Chen Ping persuaded beside him: "Peng Yue and Jing Jia are indeed a little insatiable, but they are still useful to us now, there is no need to have the same knowledge as them for such a trivial matter." ”

It is precisely because Peng Yue and Jing Jia are still a little useful at the moment that Xiang Kang did not take this matter to heart, and after a little discussion with Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others, Xiang Kang also quickly decided to send Peng Yue a batch of grain and grass, ordnance and weapons to help Peng Yue continue to make trouble under Xiang Yu's nose, and also decided to let Zheng Bu send troops to attack Zhencheng, Duguan and other Dongjun cities, and take the initiative to open up contact with Peng Yuejun, so as to send the heavy weapons urgently needed by Peng Yue's army to Peng Yue.

"King, we can't blindly help Peng Yue Jingjia without trying to reciprocate, we have to let Peng Yue help us a little." Zhang Liang suggested: "Previously, the main force of the Western Chu thief army was concentrated on the Xingyang battlefield, and Peng Yue relied on Ju Yeze to constantly harass and attack Dongkaidao and the cities along the way, which really helped us a lot. But now that the Western Chu thief army has withdrawn to the mainland, if he is still active in the south of Juyeze, not only will it not help us much, but it may also affect our future invasion of the Western Chu mainland, His Majesty believes that we should designate an offensive direction for Peng Yue, not only to let him pose an effective threat to the Western Chu thief army, but also not to waste the money, food and weapons that we support him. ”

"Mr. Ovary has a point." Xiang Kang immediately nodded, and asked again: "Then in Mr. Zifang's opinion, in which direction should we let Peng Yue develop?" ”

"Xue County directly east of Junozawa." Zhang Liang immediately replied: "Xue County is the only way for the Western Chu thief army to connect with Jibei, General Zhou Shu He is about to enter the army again, let Peng Yue mainly attack Xue County, not only can weaken the national strength of the Western Chu thief army, but also indirectly support General Zhou, when Qi is in an emergency, the Western Chu thief army will also be affected if they want to rescue Qi Di." ”

"Brilliant idea." Xiang Kang applauded and said: "Let Peng Yue enter Xue County, not only can you help Uncle Zhou, but maybe you can also make my short-tempered brother angry, and personally lead the army to Xue County to find Peng Yue to settle accounts, which will consume the national strength of the Western Chu thief army even more." ”

After making up his mind, Xiang Kang handed over the list of materials for the Han army to support Peng Yuejun to Chen Ying at the banquet for Chen Ying that night, and also asked Peng Yue to focus on the development of Xue County and cooperate with the Han army's Zhou Shu Corps to march into the land.

It was only after sending Chen Ying away that Xiang Kang remembered an important question, and said worriedly: "We let Peng Yue focus on entering Xue County, shouldn't we have inadvertently helped Liu Ji's puppeteer?" Liu Jipifu's hometown is close to Xue County, and he has been active in Xue County for a long time after he raised his army, and he is very familiar with all kinds of situations in Xue County. If my brother just asked him to give someone a hand, it would be better to say, if he was to let him lead the army alone, then this traitor would be a dragon returning to the sea. ”

"King, it's impossible, right?" Lou Jing said a little strangely: "Not long after Liu Ji just returned to the tent of the King of Western Chu, there are so many heroes and generals in the Western Chu thief army, and he led the army to reinforce Xue Jun alone, so maybe it will be his turn?" ”

"It's hard to say, don't underestimate this traitor's ability." Xiang Kang shook his head and replied: "Don't underestimate the ability of Father Fan Zeng to recognize people, as well as the insatiable greed of my Uncle Ji Xiang Boxiang. ”

"King, then we can't let General Peng Yue give up entering Xue County because of a Liu Ji Pifu, right?" Chen Ping asked with a wry smile.

Of course, Xiang Kang couldn't be the most advantageous choice for Peng Yue to focus on entering Xue County because he was worried about giving Liu Laosan a chance, but this incident also gave Xiang Kang a wake-up call, so that Xiang Kang had to say in his heart: "You can't relax your vigilance against Liu Laosan, even if there is no way to clean him up now, you must make some preparations in advance so that you can clean him up in the future." ”

When thinking about how to deal with Liu Laosan, a name that had been forgotten for a long time suddenly jumped into Xiang Kang's mind, although the hope was not very great, whether that person was still alive was also a big question, but with the intention of trying his luck, Xiang Kang still beckoned Chen Ping to the front, and whispered in the ear of Chen Ping, the head of the Han army's spies: "Arrange special manpower to go to Pengcheng to inquire whether one of Liu Jipifu's subordinate generals named Cao Wushu is still alive?" If this Cao Wuxian is still there, he will ....... ”

After doing these things, Xiang Kang, who had not returned to Guanzhong for more than a year, led Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, and set off from Xingyang to return to Guanzhong under the protection of 5,000 elites, intending to go back to appease the army and the people, inspect all kinds of work in the rear, deal with many major military and political affairs that must be decided by himself, and prepare to recruit soldiers in Guanzhong, where the potential is still deep, and organize and train a new force to continue to strengthen the Han army, so as to meet the future decisive battle between Chu and Han.

By the way, in order to disgust Han Xin, when he set off, Xiang Kang still did not forget to let people spread rumors everywhere, saying that he decided to return to Guanzhong to recuperate and rest because his illness had not healed.

On the way, Xiang Kang finally received the news that Ziying was arrested for rebellion in Guanzhong, in this regard, Xiang Kang, who had already been psychologically prepared, was of course not surprised, on the contrary, many Han soldiers including Tang Bing, the old man of Shangshan, were furious, and they persuaded Xiang Kang to use this to cut Ziying to the roots, once and for all, Xiang Kang smiled slightly, and replied: "Don't worry, give Uncle Ya and them an order, first cut down Ziying's two sons and his entire family of the same party, and let Ziying go to watch the punishment, as for Ziying himself, Wait for the king to return to Guanzhong and then send it in person. ”

It was only after crossing the Taolin Fortress and officially returning to the Guanzhong Plain that Xiang Kang really knew how much of the Guanzhong people's hearts had been bought by the new agricultural tools he had invented in advance. Even if Xiang Kang did not deliberately ask, but under the organization of local officials along the way, countless people in Guanzhong still rushed to meet Xiang Kang and his party on both sides of the road, from Ningqin to Xianyang, Xiang Kang's car passed through every place, and all the people on both sides of the road were crowded with people, and most of the people who welcomed the road also had sincere happy smiles on their faces, and thanked Xiang Kang, a hypocrite who had avoided the disaster of war and lived a good life.

In return, Xiang Kang, who is good at acting, of course, also got out of the car from time to time, personally picked up the old man who was kneeling beside the galloping road, and repeatedly told the local officials to let the people of Guanzhong use the field method to cultivate in the spring ploughing that is about to begin, so that they can have a better harvest in the coming year. As a result, of course, this hand was exchanged for the gratitude of countless people in Guanzhong, and many old people who were picked up by Xiang Kang broke down and cried bitterly.

The climax is, of course, when Xiang Kang returned to Xianyang, just after crossing the Bashui pontoon bridge, Xiang Kang saw that the west gallop road was densely packed on both sides, all of them followed Zhou Zeng and Chao Zhi and others to greet their Xianyang soldiers and civilians, Xiang Kang's carriage stopped in front of the crowd, Xiang Kang himself just stood up on the carriage, tens of thousands of Xianyang soldiers and civilians cheered and worshipped all over the place, and the voice of the king was like a tide.

Seeing this scene, in addition to excitement and emotion in Xiang Kang's heart, he couldn't help but say to himself in his heart, "Although it is not like Liu Laosan to sit back and enjoy the success, waiting for Xiang Yu to burn Xianyang into a ruin and then come to buy the hearts of the people, it is much more difficult than him to get the support of the people in Guanzhong, and there will be some hidden dangers." But to be able to do this, to be able to save Xianyang and countless cultural treasures, and to be able to save so many innocent people from the butcher's knives of my brother and the princes outside the Guanwai, I should also be content. ”

On the evening of the second day after returning to Xianyang, Xiang Kang took time out of his busy schedule to see Ziying once, and the last time he surrendered to Xiang Kang in Yidao, when he met, Ziying's face was also full of despair and confusion, and he was so depressed that he was like a walking corpse, and he was kicked by the guards before he remembered to bow down to Xiang Kang.

"Yonghou, how does it feel to see your two sons a few days ago, as well as the last few loyal ministers of your tyrannical Qin and their entire family, being beheaded in front of you?"

The first to speak was Xiang Kang, and Xiang Kang's words also made Ziying immediately recall the tragic scene, her whole body began to tremble, and her lips began to tremble. Xiang Kang said again: "Do you know that it wasn't this king who killed them, it was you who killed them." ”

"This king treats you well, when the Qi country did not make any resistance, the whole country surrendered, your uncle Yingzheng starved the king of Qi to death, your Qin country was desperate to surrender to the king, this king not only did not kill you and starve you, but also named you Yonghou, clothes and food, never lacked, and never owed a little money and food you deserved, but how did you repay this king? If it weren't for your refusal to give up and your illusions, how could Wang Ming and Gao Jia, the former Qin ministers, die because of you? How could their more innocent family members be implicated? ”

"This king killed them in self-defense, because if this king doesn't kill them, they will help you kill this king, and kill the courtiers and soldiers under this king's command, so this king has to kill them. Tracing back to the roots, the person who really killed them is you. If you don't act against it, they are still the courtiers of the Han Kingdom, and their innocent family members can still live happily in this world. ”

Xiang Kang's heart-wrenching words made Ziying unable to refute, and he didn't dare to refute, his heart was like a knife and extremely desperate, Ziying could only bow to Xiang Kang again and again, and said with tears in his eyes: "The guilty minister please die, please ask the king to punish the ......guilty minister, the crime deserves!" ”

"This king doesn't really want to kill you." Xiang Kang sighed, and said from the bottom of his heart: "This king originally planned to demote you to a concubine and move to live outside the Guan, so that you can know how much the six countries outside the Guanwai hate your tyrannical Qin royal family." But there is no way, your sin is too heavy, and you even wrote a blood edict to encourage the people of Guanzhong to rebel against this king, if this king still spares your life, others will follow suit, and this king, the king of Han, will not be able to be the king. ”

"For the sake of you surrendering on your own initiative and saving countless lives, this king will leave you a whole corpse." Xiang Kang sighed again and said: "Give you a white silk, take a bath tonight, eat whatever you want, change into clean clothes tomorrow, commit suicide in front of the mausoleum of your eldest father King Qin Zhuang Xiang, and then bury you next to your doctor's mausoleum, do you think this king has done his best to you?" ”

"Thank you, the guilty minister bows to thank the king for his heavenly grace."

What else can Ziying say? Xiang Kang waved his hand and asked the guards to escort Ziying out, and then turned to Xu Ji next to him and said: "This king really doesn't want to kill him, but there is no way, if you spare him and start the rebellion, more people will die innocently in the future." ”

"Your Majesty, you have been merciful enough." Xu Jibi replied respectfully: "If it was someone else, how could it be possible to leave a whole corpse for such a thief?" ”

Xiang Kang, who really didn't want to kill his child, sighed for the third time, then stood up and commanded in a big way: "Go, go back to the harem, and hand over the public grain." ”

"King, what do you mean by paying public grain?" Xu Ji asked a little strangely.

Xiang Kang, who accidentally used modern words, smiled bitterly and didn't explain, just said casually: "Xu Ji, you seem to only have one wife and one concubine, right?" Reward you two beauties, work them when you have time, you are my confidant, and the son you gave birth to is of course my son's henchman, we all have to work harder. ”

In this matter, Xiang Kang really accepted his fate, the remnants of the feudal system were not removed, and he was forced to admit that Zhao Xie, Yingbu and Zang Tu, these princes and kings continued to be kings, if they wanted to complete the great cause of unification, Xiang Kang could only follow the example of Liu Laosan in history, give birth to more sons and create more people, replace these princes and kings with his own sons, and then gradually weaken his grandchildren and great-grandchildren with the Tui'en system, and use time to eliminate the residual influence of the backward system of the feudal system.

Therefore, Xiang Kang has an important mission when he returns to Guanzhong, that is, he will go back to the harem to sleep when he has time!