No one wants to know how Liu Laosan and Han Xin bullied and abused poor Peng Yuejun, so let's take a look at the situation on the side of the Han Army's Northern Front Corps led by Uncle Zhou.

The situation on Uncle Zhou's side is also very complicated, after joining forces with Zheng Bu's corps to pacify Zhao Di and basically annihilating the Northern Line Corps of the Western Chu Army, although the Han Army also hit the Qi Army and the Jibei Army with great ease, but the Qi Army and the Jibei Army are hundred-legged insects after all, dead but not stiff, plus there is a natural danger of the Yellow River to defend, and Xiang Yu has also rushed to Qi with the main force of the Western Chu Army at that time, so even if Xiang Kang personally sat on the northern front, the Han Army did not dare to risk launching an eastward crusade, and missed the opportunity to beat the two Qi warlords, Tian Jiao and Tian Da, to the water dogs.

Immediately afterwards, Xiang Kang decided to personally lead the army south to crusade against Liu Laosan for the sake of flattery, even though he knew that Xiang Kang's strategic choice was unfavorable to him, he resolutely chose to support Xiang Kang's decision, resulting in the Han Army's northern front corps having to leave spare strength to protect Xiang Kang's back, and he couldn't spare his hands to go eastward in a big way, and it also gave Tian Da and Tian a chance to breathe and recover.

Uncle Zhou's decisive obedience to Xiang Kang's decision also attracted some complaints to himself, including the old man of Shangshan Cui Guang and Zhou Shu, including the Han army's civil and military forces, all complained in front of Uncle Zhou, and they all felt that Uncle Zhou should fight with Xiang Kang a few words, and should not sacrifice the strategic opportunity of the northern line for the sake of the southern front, Uncle Zhou replied very directly, and said: "There is no need to fight, the king's vision is long-term, far above us, since he thinks that the southern line is preferred, then naturally he has his reason." Even if the king made a wrong decision on the spur of the moment, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping would naturally advise the king, as the generals of the northern front, if we quarrel with the king for the interests of the northern front, in addition to discord within our Han army, it will also make people feel that we have no courtesy to the king. ”

After saying this, Uncle Zhou, who was far less ambitious than Han Xin, added in his heart, "The lessons of Wu Zixu and Bai Qi, I dare not forget them at any time." ”

Seeing that Uncle Zhou refused to make people feel that they were disrespectful to Xiang Kang, Cui Guang, Zhou Shu and others could only keep their mouths shut, but out of duty, Zhou Shu, who had the same name as Uncle Zhou, quickly said: "General Zhou, since you have decided to support the king's choice, and you are not in a hurry to march into the land for the time being, then the old man will not object." However, the old man thinks that we can't ignore it in this way, it is better to take advantage of the fact that we have enough time now, and take precautions to make some preparations in Qidi earlier, and it will definitely be much easier for us to free up our hands to enter the land in the future. ”

"What do you think we should do in advance?" Uncle Zhou hurriedly asked.

"I heard that when Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu, went north to attack Tian Rong in Tianshi, he committed atrocities indiscriminately in Qidi, buried prisoners alive at every turn, connived at soldiers to kill innocents indiscriminately, plundered people's property, robbed women, and committed heinous crimes, causing the leaders of Qi to constantly gather people to resist and refuse to surrender, but because his army was strong, and he canonized Qi Wang Tian to pretend to help him abuse, Qi Min's resistance was all suppressed by him."

Zhou Shu continued: "But even if the Western Chu thief army and Tian Jiao can suppress the rebellion, they will definitely not be able to suppress the hearts of the people, and among the Qi land, there must be countless people who hate the Western Chu thief army and Tian Jiao who is abusive, in this case, why don't we send a fine work to infiltrate the Qi land?" Secretly looking for and contacting the capable and prestigious Qi heroes, promising their official titles, encouraging them to lead the Qi people to rebel against Qi Wang Tianjiao, and also in the future to receive our troops into Qidi, if this move can be successful, in the future, we will be able to enter the Qi land, it will definitely be much easier. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Uncle Zhou applauded and rejoiced, and said: "But this thing is easier said than done, we don't know much about the situation in Qidi, I don't know who has such prestige and ability to lead the people of Qi to raise troops, there is no specific goal, just relying on careful work to find and inquire, not only is it time-consuming and labor-intensive, but it may not be able to find such a suitable person?" ”

"Don't worry, general, leave this matter to the old man." Zhou Shu volunteered: "We have captured a lot of prisoners of Qi on the Julu battlefield, among which there are many middle-level generals of Qi State, people who are familiar with the situation of the Qi royal family, the old man seized the time to inquire carefully among them, and he will definitely be able to find a suitable candidate for you, general." ”

Uncle Zhou was even more overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately asked Zhou Shu, the old man of Shangshan, to entrust this matter to the old man of Shangshan, and then not to mention, after some hard work, Zhou Shu really found a very suitable candidate for Uncle Zhou - Tian Heng, the younger brother of the former Qi Xiangguo, and also heard that Tian Heng moved to the Chengyang area on the coast of the East China Sea with Tian Rong's son Tian Guang after Tian Rong's defeat and death. Uncle Zhou was also very satisfied when he heard this, and immediately arranged for a secret envoy to sneak into Qi to contact Tian Heng, and made Tian Heng a general, and also made Tian Heng a marquis for Xiang Kangxu, so that Tian Heng could raise troops in Qi to create a rebellion against Tian Heng, and in the future, he would take the Han army to the east to take Qi land.

It's a pity that Uncle Zhou and Zhou Shu's kindness fed Tian Heng's donkey liver and lungs, and it took a lot of effort, after the Han army secret envoy finally found Tian Heng on the edge of the sea, Tian Heng categorically refused Uncle Zhou's request to let him raise troops, and also made it clear that he had no intention of power, just wanted to plough in Chengyang and live in troubled times, no matter how the Han army secret envoy persuaded him to refuse to accept the general seal letter sent to him by Uncle Zhou, the Han army secret envoy could not force it, and had to submit his resignation.

But the matter is not over, when he personally sent the Han army's secret envoy out of the gate, Tian Heng said to the Han army's secret envoy very casually: "Dare to ask the Han envoy, have the Han kings and Zhou generals ever said that if they take Qi land in the future, who do they plan to crown as the king of Qi land?" ”

"It's ......." The secret envoy of the Han army was asked by Tian Heng for a while, and then replied: "Forgive me Tian Zhuangshi, our King of Han and General Zhou have never mentioned this matter, so the villain doesn't know." ”

Tian Heng nodded, and said: "Then please ask the Han envoy to ask General Zhou this question for Zaixia, and if there is a chance in the future, I will ask you for advice in person." ”

agreed to Tian Heng's request, and the secret envoy of the Han army also fulfilled his promise, and after returning to Julu, he really told Uncle Zhou, who was still stationed in Julu at the time, about this matter, but the old Shangshan old man Zhou Shu and Cui Guang also immediately heard Tian Heng's voice, and immediately sneered together and said: "I have a lot of appetite, listening to this tone, it is obviously implying that we should crown him as the king of Qi and directly let him replace Tian Jiao." ”

"Think beautifully!" Uncle Zhou snorted coldly and said, "An insatiable person like this can not cooperate!" Pick one more person and let the others raise up to meet us in the same place! ”

It was also a coincidence that on the second day, Xiang Kang sent someone to send an order from Ye County, asking Uncle Zhou to immediately take the main force of the northern front to help him, and Uncle Zhou, who knew the way of the ministers, had to put this matter aside, and hurriedly began to arrange the matters of going south, and within a few days, he took the main force of the northern line to Puyang, and rushed to the Yingchuan battlefield to cooperate with the other two main forces of the Han army according to the order, and also gave Tian Da and Tian Jiao more time to recover.

As we all know, when Qin Shi Huang swept away the six countries outside the Guanwai, the Qi State surrendered without putting an arrow and fighting a battle, although this made the last Qi Wang Tian Jian fed up with the ridicule of the world, but also let the people of Qi avoid a huge catastrophe that was doomed to failure, and the population loss was minimal, so strictly speaking, the population war potential of Qi was actually above the vast Chu State. - In history, even after repeated wars, Han Xin was able to raise 300,000 troops in Qidi to help Liu Laosan win the battle of Qixia, and it was for this reason.

Tian Da and Tian Jiao both firmly grasped the opportunity of the Han army's northern front being forced to repeatedly postpone the eastward march to Qidi, desperately recklessly fighting on their territory, stockpiling grass and grain to expand the army, and rushing to repair fortifications to prepare for war, so when Zhou Shu returned to Zhao Di with the main force of the Han army's northern front again to prepare for the Eastern Expedition, the Jibei Army, which was once dying, had re-expanded the size of the army by more than 60,000, and in the Qi State Tian Jiao, who was injured by Julu, also expanded his army to more than 100,000, At the same time, the Jibei Army also rushed to repair a large number of river fortifications in the plains, which made it more difficult for the Han army to advance into the land.

Fortunately, after gradually digesting the victories of Zhao and Jindi, the size of the northern line of the Han army has reached more than 140,000, and at the same time, under the persuasion of Li Shiqi, Zang Di, the king of Yan in the further north, has also surrendered to the Han army, and promised to do his best to help the Han army when the Han army needs it, Uncle Zhou was not polite at this point, and on the way back to the division Julu from the middle road, he asked Xiang Kang to give Zang Di an order, so that Zang Di could send at least 30,000 steps to help him. Therefore, in terms of total strength, the Han army on the northern front does not have to worry about being at a disadvantage for the time being.

It's just that don't worry for the time being, Uncle Zhou, Zhou Shu and the others don't need to think about it to understand that when the self-army really attacks Qidi, the Western Chu army will definitely not sit idly by, and the situation will definitely change again. Moreover, once the Han army on the northern front could not break through the Yellow River held by the Jibei army before the Qi army and the Western Chu army reacted, giving the Qi army and the Western Chu army time opportunity to reinforce the Yellow River defense line, then the Han army on the northern front would not be able to take Qi, but it would be difficult to cross the Yellow River.

It is precisely because of this that after leading the army back to Julu, in addition to desperately arranging various preparations for the Eastern Expedition, Zhou Shu and others learned from the successful experience of the last time the Han Army's Zheng Bu Corps broke through the Yellow River, and prepared to organize fleets in Sanchuan, Puyang and other places again. In addition, attacking the plains openly and secretly taking the county or Gaotang is also in Uncle Zhou's consideration.

"It's freezing cold, and our soldiers are going back and forth from the south to the north, and we need to rest and rest, so that our army can spend the winter in Julu, and then march to Qidi after the spring ploughing is over, and the spring flowers are blooming." This is a rumor deliberately released by Uncle Zhou, the purpose of which is of course to paralyze the enemy in Qi, so that the Qi army will not send reinforcements to the Jibei army too early, making it more difficult for the Han army to cross the river. As for whether this will work, to be honest, even Uncle Zhou is not sure - because whether it is Xiang Kang or Uncle Zhou, their reputation in this regard is really too stinky.

At the same time as giving birth to this worry, Uncle Zhou certainly regretted that he had delayed the matter of encouraging Qi Di Haojie to raise troops - if there was a sufficient amount of Qi Di Haojie to raise troops to create Tian Jiao at this time, even if Tian Jia saw through the intentions of the Han army, he would definitely not be able to fully reinforce the Jibei Army.

When I was sleepy, someone sent a pillow, and it happened that at this time, a mysterious man who claimed to be called Tian Di suddenly came to Julu and asked Uncle Zhou to see him, and said that he was the same clan of Tian Heng, the former general of Qi State, and came to see Uncle Zhou on the order of Tian Heng, and said that there was a very important situation to report to Uncle Zhou in person. - Don't ask so many people surnamed Tian from Qi Di, Tian Chengzi, the ancestor of Tian Qi, asked the guests to help, and gave birth to more than 70 sons surnamed Tian in one go.

Out of curiosity, and a little hope, Uncle Zhou took time out of his busy schedule to personally meet Tian Heng's secret envoy Tian Di, and then not to mention, after the meeting, Tian Jian really presented Uncle Zhou with a very important piece of Qi information - that is, Tian Jia had decided to send 20,000 troops to the plains to help the Jibei Army guard the Yellow River defense line, and once he received the news of the Han army's eastward advance, Tian Jia would immediately send at least 50,000 reinforcements to Jibei.

After carefully reading the information of Qi that Tian Heng took the initiative to leak to himself, the first thing Uncle Zhou asked was, of course, "Tian Zhuangshi, are these messages reliable?" How do you know? ”

"Please rest assured that the general is absolutely reliable." Tian Jian replied with a smile: "As for how brother he knows these news, there is no need to deceive the general, although brother he has now lived in seclusion, but in Linzi City, there are still many of our eldest brother Tian Rong Tian Xiangguo's old departments, among which there are still many people who have been used by Tian Jiao as a confidant, so it is definitely not difficult for Brother Zai to get such news." ”

"Thank you Zhuangshi, please return to General Tian Heng, just say this favor, General Ben remembers, if there is an opportunity in the future, he will definitely double the reward." Uncle Zhou thanked him quietly, and asked seemingly very casually: "By the way, Tian Zhuangshi, has General Tian Heng explained anything else?" ”

"General Zhou is quick to talk, there are indeed other things." Tian Di nodded, and said cautiously: "General, my brother heard that when the King of Han was the general of the Northern Front, he allowed the general to respond to the situation on the spot, make his own decisions, and take life and death, all of which can be decided on behalf of the King of Han. Tian Guang, the eldest son of Tian Rongtian Xiangguo, has a valuable character and is extremely prestigious in Qi, just raise his arms and exhale, and the Qi people who miss his homeland will respond one after another, I don't know if the general can think about it for the King of Han and let Tian Guangtian succeed to the throne of Qi? ”

After speaking, Tian Ji hurriedly added: "Of course, after Tian Guanggongzi is crowned King of Qi, he will definitely serve the King of Han with the courtesy of a courtier, and let the King of Han dispatch and dispatch." ”

"It's a good idea, and Tian Guang is the king of Qi, and the power of Qi is not in the hands of his uncle Tian Heng?" Uncle Zhou snorted coldly in his heart, but of course he didn't break it on his lips, he just made an excuse and said: "Tian Zhuangshi, the king gave me the right to make decisions on the spot, but the matter of sealing the king is too big, and this general will not dare to make decisions without permission no matter what." In this case, how about you go to the pavilion to rest first, let me think about it, and then give you an answer? ”

Tian Di hurriedly agreed, Uncle Zhou nodded, first asked the guards to invite Tian Di to the pavilion to rest, ordered the good students to be treated, and then ordered: "Send someone to invite Dr. Li Shiqi, as well as Mr. Lu Li and Xia Huanggong, just say that I have something important to ask them to discuss." ”

It was still a coincidence, when the guards went to invite Li Shiqi and the old man of Shangshan, Mr. Shusun Tong, who was sent to the northern line by Xiang Kang, happened to have something to report to Uncle Zhou, because Mr. Shusun was also an important minister of the Han army, of course Uncle Zhou immediately agreed to meet him, but to Uncle Zhou's surprise, after entering the door, Mr. Shusun asked very curiously: "General Zhou, who is the person who went out of you just now?" How come you've never seen it? ”

Again, Mr. Shusun is also an important minister of the Han Army and is qualified to participate in the military aircraft of the Han Army, so Uncle Zhou, who was thinking about it in his heart, replied casually: "The person sent by Tian Heng, the former general of Qi State, took the initiative to send us an important piece of information, so I asked him to entertain him." ”

"Tian Heng? Is that the last time we sent someone to the Qi country to find that person? Mr. Shusun asked curiously, "What?" That puppet changed his mind? Are you willing to accept the official position we have given him? ”

"It would be so easy." Uncle Zhou smiled bitterly, casually told Mr. Uncle Sun what happened just now, and said: "It looks like Tian Heng, this horseman, is determined to take advantage of the fire to rob, forcing us to make his nephew the king of Qi, so that he can actually control the power of Qi." ”

After listening to Uncle Zhou's words, not only did he not scold Tian Heng as brazenly as usual, but after thinking for a while, Mr. Uncle Sun was still very rare to care about the military situation, and said: "General, can you let the lower officials take a look at the news of the Qi thief's military intelligence sent by Tian Heng's husband?" ”

Immediately asked Tian Heng to take the initiative to send the news to Li Shiqi and Zhou Shu and others, of course Uncle Zhou casually handed the letter written by Tian Heng to Mr. Shusun, Mr. Shusun took it and looked at it carefully, and suddenly said: "General Zhou, you said that this Tian Heng puppet, will he be secretly ready to suddenly start an army?" Just wait for us to promise to make his nephew Tian Guang the king of Qi, and then immediately start to raise troops? ”

"Probably so." Uncle Zhou replied casually: "Otherwise, this puppet would not dare to open his mouth to rob us." ”

"Since that's the case, then we still need to give Tian Guang's little vertical son what King Qi is?" Mr. Shusun was shocked, and said: "As long as you tell Tian Jiao the news of finding a way, let Tian Jiao know that Tian Heng is holding back and preparing to rebel against him, you must immediately find Tian Heng to fight hard, Tian Heng is ready to raise troops, and he will definitely not be captured, the two of them will fight dog-eat-dog, wouldn't we be able to use Tian Heng's power in Qi without being crowned king?" ”

Uncle Zhou opened his mouth and looked at Mr. Uncle Sun for a long time, and then hesitated and said: "It's a good way, but how much preparation Tian Heng has made, we can't know now, if Tian Jiao takes the lead and loses Tian Heng's life, it doesn't matter, it would be a pity to miss the opportunity to use him." ”

"Oh, it's too easy." Mr. Shusun immediately said: "General, you will summon the messenger sent by Tian Heng Pifu tomorrow, and say that this letter written by Tian Heng Pifu to you was stolen by someone tonight, and it was found that it was stolen by a guard who was bought by Qi thieves, and he had already told the letter and news to Qi Guoxizuo, so that Tian Heng's messenger hurried back to report the news, and Tian Heng Pifu heard it and absolutely had to start immediately!" At that time, Tian Fake Pifu didn't know the news, and he would definitely have to be caught off guard by Tian Heng's Pifu! ”

"There is a trick to do this, if Tian Heng still refuses to make an accident, we will really deliberately leak this news to Tian Jiao, and let Tian Jiao force him to make trouble! When the time comes, it will be interesting to see if he dares to force us to make his nephew the king of Qi! ”

"And!" Uncle Sun is sometimes as bad as Xiang Kang and Chen Ping, and he quickly whispered in front of Uncle Zhou: "General, if you refuse to bear the infamy of leaking secrets, so that others will no longer dare to take the initiative to contact us like Tian Heng, we can also do the same......." As long as we succeed in doing this, Tian Heng will not only have to start the matter immediately, but also thank us in turn! General Zhou, do you think this idea is good? ”

When Mr. Uncle Sun said a word, Uncle Zhou's mouth opened a little wider, and finally when Mr. Uncle Sun finished speaking, Uncle Zhou's jaw was almost dislocated, and then when the old man of Shangshan Cui Guang and Zhou Shu came to the hall, Uncle Zhou said with a smile: "Mr. Uncle Sun, you and our king, as well as Mr. Chen Ping, the lieutenant of our Han army, must have a little kinship, right?" ”