Under his personal supervision, the strong camp built by the soldiers of the Zhao army at the west entrance of Jingcheng had been completed, but the newly appointed supervisor Zhao Wu only circled around the camp wall, but put forward the harsh requirements of increasing the camp wall by eight feet and thickening it by five feet.

In this regard, the soldiers of the Zhao army who worked hard to build the wall of course had quite a lot of complaints, and several middle-level generals of the Zhao army objected, saying that the originally built camp wall of two zhang six feet high and one zhang eight feet wide was enough, and there was no need to waste huge manpower and material resources to continue to strengthen and thicken, but Xia Shuo persuaded them to understand in turn, saying: "Zhao Jian Jun is also for our good, although it is a little tiring to continue to increase the height and thickness of the wall, but if the Han thieves really fight, the higher and thicker the barracks, the more beneficial it will be to us." ”

In addition, in order to appease the soldiers of Zhao who worked hard to build the wall, Xia Shuo also ordered to add food to the soldiers for several days in a row, and finally ensured the smooth completion of the project.

However, even so, Zhao Wu was still not satisfied with Xia Shuo's work, and felt that the military discipline of Jing Cheng Zhao Jun was too lax, and the training was not serious enough, and all of them must be strengthened. Often the whole body is drenched in rain, and he doesn't dare to be lazy, and he sets an example to encourage Zhao Jun's soldiers to practice their physique diligently.

Fortunately, Zhao Wu is not a particularly difficult supervising army, seeing that Xia said meticulously executing his orders, military discipline and training have indeed improved, Zhao Wu no longer has a bone in the egg, and when he personally visited the training of Zhao Jun's soldiers, it was rare to praise the faithful and obedient General Xia Shuo, and said: "It is worthy of General Xia, after personally grasping the training of soldiers, the training of our army is indeed much more decent." The general can rest assured that if there is an opportunity, this official will definitely report this matter to Zhang Xiangyu, and ask Zhang Xiang to reward you seriously. ”

"The last general will not dare." Xia Shuo hurriedly and humbly, and said with flattery: "These are all things within the last general's responsibility, and it is all because Zhao Jianjun supervised strictly, and found hidden dangers in the army for the last general in time, which gave the last general the opportunity to make amends. ”

"General Xia doesn't need to be humble, these are what you deserve." Zhao Wu smiled and said: "Those who have merit are rewarded, and those who have faults are punished, our Zhang Xiang has always had clear rewards and punishments, how can it be compared to Chen Yupifu, who betrayed the Lord and betrayed the country?" ”

Hearing Zhao Wu mention his old boss, Xia Shuo's eyelids moved slightly, and he nodded hurriedly and said: "What Zhao Jianjun said is extremely true, Zhang Xiangguo's rewards and punishments are clear, and he is indeed a hundred times more than Chen Yu's husband. The last general was confused before, and acted for the tiger under the account of Chen Yupifu, which almost made a big mistake, but fortunately Zhang Xiangguo was magnanimous and gave the last general the opportunity to make meritorious service and atone for his crimes. ”

"It's all in the past, what are you talking about him?" Zhao Wu smiled, patted Xia Shuo's shoulder and said: "General Xia, don't worry, as long as you work hard and serve the country loyally in the future, our king and Zhang Xiang will definitely not care about your previous affairs, and they will definitely not treat you badly." ”

Xia said that he was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly thanked Zhao Wu, and swore that he would be loyal to Zhao Xie and Zhang Er, but at this time, the captain of his own army suddenly ran close at a hurry, and said with a very small look: "General Xia, the detailed work we sent to Jinyang to inquire about the enemy's situation has returned, and has brought a very important news. ”

"What's the important news?" Xia Shuo asked casually.

"On the side of the Han thief, an edict from our king was suddenly announced." The captain of the pro-soldier replied truthfully: "The edict said that our Zhao State's Zhang Xiangguo continued to join the party, bullied the monarch and seized power, and colluded with the Western Chu thief army to prepare to rebel and claim the king. ”

Before the captain of the pro-soldier finished speaking, Xia Shuo and Zhao Wu had already opened their mouths together, and then Zhao Wu hurriedly asked, "Is there the original text of the edict?" ”

"Back to Zhao Jianjun, there is." Knowing that his boss was desperately trying to curry favor with Zhao Wu, Xia Shuo's personal captain did not dare to slack off, and quickly took out a document and explained: "The Han thief posted our king's edict on the city gate and made it public, and our detailed work was secretly copied, and Zhao Jianjun was asked to take a look." ”

Zhao Wu snatched the edict that Zhao Jun had secretly copied, and quickly took a closer look, and Xia Shuo also hurried up to look at it, but saw that Zhao Xie did issue an edict as the king of Zhao, and counted the crimes of Zhang Er bullying the monarch and abusing power in the edict, and invited the Han army to send troops to Zhao State, crusade against Zhang Er to help him regain power, and then asked the loyal ministers and righteous soldiers of Zhao State to raise troops corresponding to the Han army, help the Han army clean up Zhang Er and his henchmen, and also govern Zhao Xie.

Before the so-called edict was fully read, Zhang Er's absolute henchman Zhao Wu had almost exploded his chest and roared: "False edict!" A shameless false edict fabricated by a thief! How can we be like that? How could our king issue such an edict to lure wolves into the house?! ”

"The thieves are so powerful that they can even find such a high-sounding excuse for sending troops." Xia Shuo praised it in his heart, but he echoed it: "Yes, it is definitely a false edict, how holy our king is, how virtuous is our Zhang Xiangguo, how could the king issue such an edict?" No need to ask, this edict was definitely fabricated by the Han thief to divide our king and Zhang Xiangguo! We absolutely can't believe it! ”

Holding the so-called edict tightly in his hand, after thinking about it with a blue face, Zhao Wu suddenly remembered a major event, and hurriedly asked: "On the side of the Han thieves, did they say where they got this edict?!" ”

"Returning to Zhao Jianjun, I said." The captain of Xia Shuo's personal soldiers replied truthfully: "The Han thief claimed that it was our king who secretly hid this edict in a cloth belt and handed it over to a loyal minister of our Zhao State, and our loyal minister of Zhao State took the opportunity of the Han thief's envoy Shusun Tong to envoy Jing Cheng, and secretly handed over this edict to the Han thief envoy Shusun Tong!" ”

Before the words of the captain of the pro-soldier were finished, Xia Shuo was already dumbfounded, and subconsciously quietly looked at Zhao Wu, and then as Xia Shuo expected, Zhao Wu's sharp gaze had indeed turned to himself who was once a confidant of Zhang Er's political enemy Chen Yu! And then, Xia Shuo, who was quite brainy, also immediately understood, and said secretly: "Oh no, it must be that the Han thief knows that I am not Zhang Er's cronies, and I used to be Chen Yu's confidant, so he deliberately put the basin on my head and used rumors to drive a wedge between me and Zhang Er!" ”

It's still okay, Zhao Wu is still reasonable, and he also thought that this was likely to be the Han army's deliberate discord, so he immediately said to Xia Shuo: "General Xia, don't worry, this official is familiar with the shameless methods of the Han thieves, and knows that this must be their deliberate discord, and I will definitely not fall for them, Zhang Xiang's side, I will definitely explain it for you." ”

Xia Shuo hurriedly nodded and thanked him, and swore to be loyal to Zhang Er forever, while Zhao Wu pondered for a moment, and then said quickly: "Since the Han thieves announced this forged shameless edict and completely tore our faces, it means that they will definitely send troops to Jingcheng soon." General Xia, you hurry up and organize our soldiers to prepare for battle, and this official will send a fast horse to report this matter to Zhang Xiangguo, and ask him to send you reinforcements as soon as possible to help you resist the attack of the Han thieves! ”

Xia Shuo hurriedly agreed, but before he finished speaking, another fast horse rushed into the camp of the Zhao army, galloped in front of him and Zhao Wu, and loudly reported that Uncle Zhou had personally led 30,000 Han troops to the east the day before yesterday, and was killing Jingcheng along the galloping road left by Qin Shi Huang! Xia Shuo and Zhao Wu were even more shocked when they heard this, and hurriedly went their separate ways, organizing their soldiers to prepare for war with all their might, and sending fast horses to ask Zhang Er for help.

said that he absolutely trusted Xia Shuo, but Zhao Wu was also quite military, and knew that Uncle Zhou personally led part of the main force to suddenly send troops east under the condition of insufficient preparation, and he was definitely not making a big gamble with no chance of winning, and he must have been a little sure to dare to make such a heavy bet, so Zhao Wu didn't dare to be careless, in order to prevent accidents, he just returned to his military tent, and immediately ordered his subordinates to secretly keep an eye on Xia Shuo......

The Han army is indeed making a big gamble, although the troops were sent suddenly, and the attack was launched before the Zhao army increased the number of troops in Jingcheng, but the Han army was also not ready for a large-scale eastward expedition, and there was no way to guarantee the grain and grass and military supplies, if it could not quickly take the important land of Jingcheng that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, or it would definitely be forced to withdraw in a few days, this reason Uncle Zhou understood, but Uncle Zhou had to gamble, because once he could not seize the only opportunity he inadvertently found to take Jingcheng in one fell swoop, then wait for the reinforcements of the Zhao army to arrive, The Han army didn't know how much it would cost and how long it would take to get to the bottom of the well—it might not be absolutely sure.

Xia Shuo also understands this truth, just found out that the Han army came lightly, and the food and grass with the army could not support it for a few days, Xia Shuo understood that the Han army was betting on himself, so Xia Shuo also had to consider such a question - is it to decisively defect and take this opportunity to surrender to the Han army? Or continue to swallow their anger and be cattle and horse slaves to Zhang Er's father and son forever, in exchange for a little leftovers from their reward?

"The thief will definitely send someone to contact General Ben!"

On the contrary, when the Han army was still more than a day away from Jingcheng, Zhao Wu suddenly came to meet him and said happily: "General Xia, good news, our reinforcements are about to arrive, our son Zhang Xiangguo's son, General Zhang Ao, led an army of 40,000 troops, and is rushing to Jingcheng day and night, and within three days at the latest, we will definitely be able to rush to Jingcheng to reinforce us!" ”

"So fast?" Xia Shuo's face was full of joy, and he asked with some surprise that he couldn't believe it: "We just received the news that the Han thieves sent troops before yesterday, and our emergency messenger has just arrived at Julu at most?" How did our reinforcements arrive so soon? ”

"Our Zhang Xiangguo is far-sighted, knowing that after the Han thieves take Jinyang, they may suddenly send troops to Jingcheng at any time, in order to prevent accidents, so we organized reinforcements to come over to help us early." Zhao Wu said with a smile.

"Zhang Xianggaoming, now the general doesn't have to worry about it anymore." Xia said that he smiled happily, and his happy smile was definitely from the bottom of his heart, and he secretly praised in his heart: "The Han thieves are really powerful, even if they send troops two days late, this general will not have any chance even if he wants to defect!" ”

Zhao Wu also laughed happily, and said: "General Xia, don't worry, when the young general arrives, this official will definitely report your performance during this period to him truthfully, and ask him to reward you heavily!" ”

Xia said that he was very happy, and quickly thanked Zhao Wu again, and then took the initiative to leave his military tent under the pretext of internal urgency, so that Zhao Wu could look through his account Chinese books at will, and also inquire about the situation with his close attendants. However, when the water was released, the captain of the pro-soldiers who accompanied him was very surprised and asked, "General, what's the matter?" Why did the major general personally lead the army to reinforce us, and it was Zhao Jianjun who received the news first? ”

"What do you do with so much?" Xia Shuo's face was expressionless, and he said: "For the sake of you following me for many years, I will give you a word of advice, don't mention this matter in the future, let alone ask why, I am for your good." ”

Xia said that the captain of the personal soldiers was not too stupid, and when he heard that Xia had something to say, he quickly closed his mouth, and when Xia said that he finished putting the water to tie the clothes belt, he suddenly remembered the matter of the clothes and belts, and couldn't help but sigh lightly in his heart, "Zhang Ao has arrived, I should also hand over the military power, what happened to the wrong person at the beginning." ”

Another day passed quickly, and in the afternoon of the next day, the 30,000 Han troops led by Uncle Zhou finally arrived near Jingcheng, but because Xia Shuo chose to set up camp at the intersection of Xiguan Road, the road blocked the road of the Han army, so that the Han army had no way to enter the Jingcheng Basin, so the Han army could only set up camp ten miles away from the Zhao army's camp.

Zhao Wu also understands this truth, so from early in the morning, Zhao Wu used the excuse of helping Xia Shuo take care of military affairs, and did not leave Xia Shuo from morning to night, and always took his guards to guard Xia Shuo's side, monitoring all Xia Shuo's actions with a smile, Xia Shuo knew the reason very well in his heart, but there was no way.

When it was close to evening, the patrolman of the Zhao army really came to Xia Shuo in person to report, saying that the scout of the Zhao army caught a suspicious man on the mountain road, Xia said that he had no choice but to close his eyes, but Zhao Wu next to him was like a chicken blood, and couldn't wait to ask: "What did you ask?" ”

As Xia Shuo was worried, and as Zhao Wu expected, the Zhao army patrol officer really looked embarrassed, hesitated and didn't dare to answer immediately, or after Zhao Wu asked again, the patrol officer replied hesitantly: "Back to Zhao Jianjun, that suspicious man claimed to be your friend, said that there was an important event I wanted to meet with you, our scout was still ......, and a letter was found from him." ”

Xia said that he opened his eyes in surprise, but Zhao Wu suspected that his ears had heard it wrong, and asked in surprise, "Are you here to meet this official?" And a letter was found from him? What Epistles? ”

"Back to Zhao Jianjun, it is a letter written to you by Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han thief." The sentry took out a sealed letter written in a simple form and said, "It has the words "Please accept it in person, as well as the signature of Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han thief." ”

Zhao Wu jumped up in surprise, rushed to the front of the patrol officer and was about to grab the letter, but the patrol officer hurriedly took a step back, dodged Zhao Wu's snatching, and said with an embarrassed expression: "Zhao Jian Jun forgives the crime, according to the rules, this letter should be handed over to General Xia for disposal." ”

Zhao Wu froze, Xia Shuo, who had long hated him so much, showed a smile at the corner of his mouth, and then pretended to be polite and asked, "Zhao Jianjun, if it's inconvenient, why don't you take a look at it first?" ”

Zhao Wu also bullied Xia Shuo into a habit, after listening to Xia's kind words, he really snatched the letter, opened the seal and took a closer look, Xia Shuo was secretly angry in his heart, but he was still silent, just carefully observed Zhao Wu's expression, and what surprised Xia Shuo was that he quickly looked at the letter written by Uncle Zhou to himself, Zhao Wu's face turned from blue to white, and then from white to black, and finally simply smashed Jian Mu, and roared with red eyes: "Shameless thief!" Despicable rats! ”

"Zhao Jianjun, calm down." Xia Shuo hurriedly dissuaded and asked, "What did the letter say?" ”

"It's all brazen nonsense!" Zhao Wu roared with red eyes: "Shameless rats, they dare to slander that this official betrayed Zhang Xiang and secretly colluded with the Han thieves!" ”

Xia said that the corners of his mouth showed a smile again, and he thought about it with an embarrassed expression, and then he snorted his mouth at his own soldiers, and pointed at the Jian Mu that was broken by Zhao Wu. ”

"Zhao Jianjun forgives his sins." Xia Shuo replied: "Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han thief, has a letter to you, and the last general clearly knows the situation, if you don't read the content of the letter, there is really no way to explain it to the king and Zhang Xiang." ”

Zhao Wu was speechless, he could only let Xia Shuo's personal soldiers pick up the broken letter, and put it back together in front of Xia Shuo, Xia Shuo couldn't bear the excitement in his heart, and quickly read the content of the letter carefully, but saw that Uncle Zhou vigorously praised Zhao Wu's deep understanding of righteousness on the letter, and Shuntian secretly asked the Han army to surrender, and provided the Han army with important military information about the Zhao army of Jingcheng, and said that the current situation was urgent, and the Han army must take Jingcheng as soon as possible to open the way to enter the hinterland of Zhao State, and asked Zhao Wu to slander Xia Shuo as a prisoner of rebellion, took Xia Shuo down to take over Jing Cheng Zhao Army, and then led Jing Cheng Zhao Army to surrender himself, and also said that he would deliberately send someone to contact Xia Shuo tonight, falsely accusing Xia Shuo of rebellion, so that Zhao Wu could justifiably take Xia Shuo down.

In the end, of course, Uncle Zhou had to make a heavy promise, promising to make Zhao Wu the Marquis of Quyang after the matter was completed, with thousands of households and gold, jade and jewelry.

After reading the letter, Xia Shuo was of course in deep thought, but Zhao Wu's eyes were even redder in a hurry, and he hurriedly said: "General Xia, you have to believe me, how loyal I am to Zhang Xiangguo, how could I do something that secretly colludes with the Han thieves?" You have to trust me! ”

Xia said silently, and suddenly said after a while: "I'm in a hurry." ”