It is hateful to say, urging Xiang Kang to return to Pengcheng as soon as possible, in fact, it was the idea of Wang Yong, the former Pengcheng County commander of Xiang Kang's old department, after Xiang Yu and his party successfully forced Xiong Xin to make comprehensive concessions, Wang Yong, who had decisively turned his back on Xiang Kang and took refuge in Xiang Liang, repeated his old tricks, and immediately ran to Xiang Yu, who was booming, and was courteous, in order to please the new master Xiang Yu, Wang Yong also tried his best to persuade Xiang Yu to recall Xiang Kang as soon as possible, and then slowly find a way to annex Xiang Kang's army.

Wang Yong persuaded Xiang Yu like this: "Former general, after the fiasco of our army, the main force was greatly damaged, but the army of General Right was unharmed, and the army expanded very rapidly. Therefore, Wei Chen believes that the former general, it is better for you to transfer the army of the right general back to Pengcheng as soon as possible, and not give him the opportunity to continue to grow and expand the army, and then slowly find a way to take back the military power of the right general and incorporate his army, so that the former general can ensure that your position in the Chu State is as stable as Mount Tai. ”

Of course, Wang Yong was really thinking about Xiang Yu, but unfortunately his fart was slapped on the horse's leg, not like Xiang Kang, who was hopelessly bad, Xiang Yu, who attached great importance to family affection, not only did not applaud the case, but gave Wang Yong any reward and reward, but on the contrary, he scolded Wang Yong for a bloody head, and forced Wang Yong, who provoked the relationship between the brothers of the Xiang family, to slap himself more than a dozen times.

Having said that, Wang Yong's words still took a little root in Xiang Yu's heart, he was already a little afraid of Xiang Kang's strong soldiers and strong horses, and the strength of his descendants' army, and he felt that Wang Yong's words actually made a little sense in his heart, plus Old Man Fan and Cao Ji and others also hoped to recall Xiang Kang's army as soon as possible, so as not to make Xiang Kang's tail even bigger, so after forcibly driving Song Yi away the next day, Xiang Yu found Xiang Kang's accomplice Chen Ping and asked him to return to Suiyang as soon as possible with his letter, and urged Xiang Kang to return to the division as soon as possible for himself. I'm going to get Xiang Kang back to Pengcheng first, and then cook slowly.

Of course, what Xiang Yu didn't know was that as early as when he loosened his mouth to support Xiong Xin's seizure of power, Xiang Kang, who had insight into human nature, had already understood that he had become jealous of himself, and he had long expected that he would definitely be like Xiong Xin, urging him to return to Pengcheng immediately after returning to power. Therefore, although Xiang Kang's right-hand man Chen Ping agreed to Xiang Yu's request, before leaving, he seized the time to secretly visit one of his former friends, Gao Qian, who had served as a strategist under Xiang Liang's tent, and once again sent Gao Qian a very generous gift to Gao Qian, just like he asked Gao Qian to help persuade Wei Bao......

Then, Chen Ping quietly met with Xiang Kang's good friend Feng Zhong, and secretly made a plea to Feng Zhong on behalf of Xiang Kang......

In the next few days, with the help of Fan Zeng, Cao Ji and others, Xiang Yu not only firmly grasped the main force of the Chu army through various personnel adjustments, but also continuously transferred local troops from various counties and counties controlled by the Chu army to Pengcheng to strengthen the main force, and never forgot this matter. But fortunately, Xiang Kang should also be a very affectionate person, eight days later, the direction of Dangjun finally came to the good news, saying that Xiang Kang, who had been relying on Suiyang before, had raised troops to the east, and was evacuating to Pengcheng through Li County, Xiang Yu heard the great news, and immediately made the good news public, and decided early to lead the Chu army to go out of the city ten miles to greet Xiang Kang when he withdrew to Pengcheng.

Chen Ping's friend Gao Qian was also waiting for this opportunity, just arrived in the evening of the same day, Gao Qian ran to Xiang Yu's residence to ask for a meeting, the result is that although Gao Qian's official position is not high, in Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu's account is not very important, but Chen Ping is the same as the same hill of the raccoon dog Gao Qian just to the guard guarding the door stuffed a piece of gold, the news he asked to see was quickly reported to Xiang Yu in front of Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu, who had already eaten dinner and was bored, heard that Gao Qian had an important event to report to himself, so he also nodded and agreed to meet Gao Qian.

After a while, Gao Qian was led to Xiang Yu's face, and after saluting respectfully, Gao Qian asked Xiang Yu straight to the point: "Former general, Xia Guan heard that General Right is already on the way to lead the army back to Pengcheng, I don't know if this matter is true or false?" ”

"Of course it's true." Xiang Yu said casually: "In four or five days at most, General You's army should be able to withdraw to Pengcheng." ”

"It's real?!" Gao Qian's face showed a shocked look, and he hesitated for a moment before asking: "Dare to ask the former general, call the right general back to Pengcheng, I don't know if it is your decision by the former general, or the suggestion made by others?" ”

"Why do you ask this?" Xiang Yu asked strangely.

Gao Qian's expression was even more hesitant, and he bowed to Xiang Yu, and said cautiously: "Former general, the lower official has some heartfelt words, and please don't blame, calling the right general back to Pengcheng is not only of no benefit to you, the former general, but also extremely disadvantageous." ”

"Extremely bad for me? What do you mean by that? Xiang Yu's face changed slightly.

"Former general, Xia Guan is an old man under the account of the general, and he can be regarded as your old department of the former general, I sincerely hope that the former general can inherit the will of the general, lead the soldiers and horses of the Chu State to break through the tyrannical Qin, and restore the Chu State."

Gao Qian continued to answer the question, first expressed his loyalty to Xiang Yu, and then said: "The former general announced that the right general returned to Pengcheng, he must have forgotten an important matter, the king has openly promised in front of the ministers that whoever can avenge the general will replace Wu Xinjun as the general and command all the Chu army, and our civil and military officials of the Chu State have always supported the king's decision." Therefore, the former general, you were careless for a while, and ordered the right general to be summoned back to Pengcheng, giving the right general a chance to compete with you for the general of the Chu State. ”

Xiang Yu's face changed, and he commanded with a gloomy face: "Speak carefully, what does it mean?" ”

"Former general, why don't you think about it, when General Right returns to Pengcheng, how can he not participate in the crusade against Zhang Handipip?" Gao Qian said very sadly: "Although the former general is the brave champion of the three armies, and you have the courage to be unstoppable, the right general may not be able to capture Zhang Han in front of you, but what if?" In case General You's luck is better than you, and he captures and kills Zhang Handpifu before the former general, wouldn't the position of General General of Chu be taken away by General You? What will you do when the time comes, former general? ”

Xiang Yu was silent, knowing that time was precious, he seized the opportunity, and hurriedly said: "Former general, in the opinion of the lower official, former general, it is better for you to use the excuse of continuous heavy rain and inconvenient army mobilization, let the right general be stationed in Dangjun on the spot, and make other arrangements after the rainy season." In this way, when the main force of our army is rebuilt and the army is restored, the former general can directly raise troops to the north to avenge the general, and at the same time arrange another mission for the right general, or ask him to serve as an assistant, or let him go west to capture Sanchuan Yingchuan, and the right general will have no chance to compete with you for the position of general of Chu State anyway. ”

Gao Qian grasped the opportunity very well, and as soon as he finished speaking, Xiang Yu, who likes to show people with an upright face, took a few shots and shouted angrily: "Shut up!" I and General Right are brothers of flesh and blood, so don't sow discord here! ”

"The lower official should die, the lower official should die." Gao Qian hurriedly kowtowed and pleaded guilty, and said tremblingly: "But the lower official said these heartfelt words, it is really out of loyalty to the former general, and it is definitely not to sow discord!" ”

"Slap your own mouth!" Xiang Yu roared: "Shameless rats, you dare to use your villain's heart to spend the belly of this general's gentleman!" General Ben clearly tells you that if General Right can really avenge the general with his own hands, General Ben will only be overjoyed, and willingly respect him as the general of the Chu State, and there will definitely be no jealousy! Slap your mouth, give me a hard beating! ”

took people's money, eliminated disasters for others, and once again received a lot of benefits from Chen Ping, so he could only quickly and desperately slap himself, plead guilty while beating, and swear that he would never dare to say such a thing in the future, and finally let Xiang Yu's anger rest for a while, and roared: "Get out!" In the future, if you dare to say that I and the right general are in close proximity, be careful of your head! ”

According to Xiang Yu's instructions, his cheeks were red and swollen, but Xiang Yu sat alone and didn't speak, thinking carefully in his heart, and even had such a thought, and said secretly: "Wang Yong, who persuaded me to recall my brother's soldiers and horses as soon as possible, wouldn't it be in my heart towards my brother, and wanted my brother to come back quickly with the army and compete with me for the position left by my uncle, right?" ”

Except on the battlefield, Xiang Yu is famous for not being assertive in other aspects, and he feels that Gao Qian's words may really be thinking about himself, but whether to adopt Gao Qian's suggestion to let Xiang Kang stop retreating, Xiang Yu did not immediately make up his mind, and his heart was just extremely shaken.

The night passed quickly, and after the court meeting ended the next day, Xiang Yu had just led Old Man Fan and Cao Ji and others back to their residence, and was about to discuss how to further replenish the soldiers of the main army, when someone suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that Feng Zhong, the general who had been very important to Xiang Liang before, came to the door to ask for a meeting, and there was still something very important to present to Xiang Yu.

Although he was Xiang Kang's former sworn friend, Feng Zhong, who was relatively honest and did not have much ambition, was not very popular among the people of the Jiangdong faction of the Chu Army, and the official status obtained in exchange for military merits was placed there, so Xiang Yu did not put up any fights, and immediately ordered to summon him. As a result, after Feng Zhong was led in front of Xiang Yu, seeing that Old Man Fan and Cao Ji were both on the scene, he said with some joy: "Fan Gong and General Cao are also here, great, the last general is going to present the matter to the former general, I just want to ask you to discuss it together." ”

"General Feng, please sit down, sit down and say something." Xiang Yu commanded with a smile.

Feng Zhong thanked him, and first sat in the position that Xiang Yu asked him to arrange for him, and then said straight to the point: "The former general, Fan Zuoshi, General Cao, and the last general are here for the right general to return to Pengcheng." The last general had the courage to feel that the decision of the right general to return to Pengcheng was a little inappropriate, not only the empty labor of military strength, but also the possibility of wasting fighters in the future, I would like to ask the former general to reconsider it and see if you should persuade the right general not to rush back to Pengcheng? ”

"Why does General Feng think that General Right shouldn't go back to Pengcheng?" Xiang Yu asked strangely.

"The last general is a little foolish, if you say something wrong, please don't blame the former general." Feng Zhong was very modest and pleaded guilty first, and then said: "Now that Zhang Handpifu's troops are in the Puyang area, it is not that they don't want to immediately go south to attack Pengcheng, but because of the continuous heavy rain, the roads are muddy and the grain and grass are difficult to transport, so they have to suspend the troops for the time being. However, after the rainy season, Zhang Handpifu will definitely make some moves, and if our army does not take precautions and arrange countermeasures in advance, it will inevitably be in a hurry and miss the opportunity at that time. ”

Seeing Xiang Yu and the others nodding and agreeing with their analysis, Feng Zhongcai continued: "Since this is the case, then we should not be in a hurry to let General Right return to Pengcheng, we should let him continue to garrison Dangjun, and be ready to march westward or deploy defense on the spot at any time." As for the reason, I think the former general you all know, Zhang Handip's grain and grass all rely on Ao Cang supply, if from Puyang directly south to Pengcheng, his rear will be empty, the right general of the troops in Dang County can take the opportunity to enter Ao Cang, cut off Zhang Handip's grain road, and also take the opportunity to coerce Guanzhong, so that Zhang Handpuff is difficult to take care of, once Zhang Handipf is forced to withdraw his troops, the main force of our army will pursue, not only can he achieve a complete victory, but even hope to break the enemy in a battle, and directly avenge the general! ”

Speaking of this, Feng Zhong paused for a moment, and then said: "If Zhang Handpifu does not go south directly from Puyang, chooses to return to Sanchuan, take advantage of transporting grain by water, and march to Pengcheng along Suishui or Gushui, the army left by General Right in Dangjun can also play a vital role, and we can immediately deploy defenses on the spot, prevent Zhang Handpifu from directly entering our hinterland, and also win time for our main force to react, and then our main force can see the opportunity to act, or immediately rush to Dangjun for reinforcements, Or first ask the right general to rely on the favorable terrain to confront Zhang Handipfu for a long time, and then suddenly strike when the old man is tired, and give Zhang Handan a fatal blow with a thunderous momentum, and take the initiative! ”

Directly clarifying his opinion in one breath, Feng Zhong paused again, and then said with a smile: "This is a little foolish opinion of the last general, I don't know what you think of the former general?" ”

Feng Zhong's opinion was completely based on the overall strategic consideration of the Chu army, and Xiang Yu, who was very good at military ability, applauded when he heard it, and said: "General Feng is modest, is this a foolish opinion?" This is Takami! That's right, Adi's army can't waste time and strength marching back and forth, and should be stationed in Dangjun for a long time in order to meet the decisive battle with Zhang Handpifu in the future! ”

"Ahem." Old man Fan coughed suddenly, first hinted to Xiang Yu, and then said slowly: "General Feng's proposition is indeed good, but there are now 40,000 troops under General You, and Zhang Handpifu may not withdraw to Sanchuan and go to Dangjun to march to Pengcheng, if all 40,000 troops are stationed on the battlefield of Dangjun, it will be too much of a waste of our troops." ”

Xiang Yu understood Old Man Fan's voice, and knew that Old Man Fan wanted to recall Xiang Kang's army, and then try to take away some of Xiang Kang's military power, but the preventive injection given to Xiang Yu last night played a role at this moment, in order to prevent Xiang Kang from coming back to compete with himself, Xiang Yu immediately said: "It's not a waste, if Zhang Handpifu goes south directly from Puyang, then we let Ah Di send some troops back to reinforce the main force, and this problem can be solved." ”

To Xiang Yu's surprise, Feng Zhong actually stood on the side of Old Man Fan, nodded and said: "What Fan Gong said is extremely true, if all General You's troops are stationed in Dangjun, there will be some waste of troops, and if Zhang Handpifu really goes south directly from Puyang in the future, if General You's army can't return in time, our main force may be a little passive." However, this matter is not difficult to solve, if the former general is willing, the last general is willing to go to Dangjun to explain the reason to the right general, and ask him to allocate some troops out and transfer them to Pengcheng to be incorporated into our main army, so that we can have the best of both worlds. ”

"General Feng, are you sure to convince my brother to allocate some troops to supplement our main force?" Xiang Yu's joy is not trivial.

"I dare not say." Feng Zhong smiled and said: "But General You's temper must be known to the former general, everything is based on the overall situation, at the beginning, for the sake of the affairs of the Chu State, he was even willing to hand over all the military power, and now it is also for the sake of the overall situation, the last general will persuade him to allocate some troops to supplement the main army of our Chu State, he should not refuse." ”

"Okay, let's ask General Feng to make a hard trip." Xiang Yu was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "I'll write a letter to my brother, asking him not to rush back to Pengcheng for the time being, and to deploy defense on the spot in Dangjun." ”

Feng Zhong agreed, and although Old Man Fan and Cao Yu still had some doubts in their hearts, they refused to listen to Xiang Yu no matter how they persuaded them, and they no longer wanted Xiang Kang to return to Pengcheng immediately.

A few days later, Feng Zhong not only brought the 5,000 troops allocated by Xiang Kang to his command, but also asked Xiang Guan to return to Pengcheng with 3,000 cavalry, and handed them over to Xiang Yu's command. Seeing this scene, don't say that Xiang Yu was overjoyed and praised Xiang Kang's righteous deeds, even Old Man Fan and Cao Ji nodded again and again, they had no suspicion of Xiang Kang, and no longer doubted Xiang Kang's true purpose of stationing in Dangjun.

Under the joy, Xiang Yu of course did not hesitate to hand over the 5,000 troops allocated by Xiang Kang to Feng Zhong directly to Feng Zhong, but Feng Zhong was not satisfied, and said to Xiang Yu: "Former general, there is another very important thing, the grain and grass of the right general is already a little insufficient, and the Dangjun side has been severely damaged by the war before, and it is very difficult to raise food, plus winter is coming, and the right general's army is short of winter clothes, so the right general asked the last general to bring a letter, and I want to ask the former general to send him some food from the rear of Pengcheng. Quartermasters and winter clothes passed. ”

Still after finishing speaking, Feng Zhong carefully presented Xiang Kang's letter, but Feng Zhong was obviously worried in vain, and Xiang Yu, who was already dizzy, didn't think about it, so he immediately waved his hand and said, "Don't look at it, isn't there a shortage of food, grass and winter clothes on my brother's side?" Directly tell him how much he wants, and I will send someone to him immediately. ”

Feng Zhong hurriedly opened the letter and read out the amount of grain, grass and military supplies requested by Xiang Kang, Xiang Yu also did not think about it, and immediately arranged for manpower to organize the transportation without consulting anyone, and sent it to Dangjun to hand it over to Xiang Kang as soon as possible. Feng Zhong thanked Xiang Kang for him, and originally wanted to say something more, but seeing that Old Man Fan, Cao Ji and others were present, and Xiang Bo was also beside him, his nose was not his nose, and his eyes were not eyes, and he was ready to jump out and embarrass Xiang Kang at any time, Feng Zhong still swallowed the words back into his stomach, and said secretly: "Brother, it seems that I can't be in a hurry, if I continue to talk about it, I'm afraid that they will be suspicious again, so I can only wait for the opportunity in the future, and then persuade your brother to send your wife and sister-in-law to Dangjun to reunite with you." ”

After saying it in his heart, Feng Zhong couldn't help but be a little puzzled, and said in his heart: "But brother, why do you want your wife and sister to go to Dangjun to reunite with you?" There won't be anything unpleasant between the two of you, right? ”

On the same day, Feng Zhong also did a big thing, that is, to fulfill his promise and recommend his own Han surname to Xiang Yu, although Xiang Yu was very face-saving and left the Han surname soldier by his side to listen to it, but he was only named the halberd Langzhong, and he still used the Han surname as his own personal soldier. Fortunately, the soldiers surnamed Han were not anxious, and said in their hearts: "As long as I can express my opinions in front of Xiang Yu at any time, I don't believe it, the descendants of Wu Xinjun of Chu State will be more illiterate than Feng Zhong's small pavilion chief." ”