Finally coaxed the little girl Qi Min to wait in other tents, Chen Ping hurriedly came to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang was not polite, and immediately told Chen Ping about the arrival of Xiang Yu's envoy, and said that he lied that he was not there, and asked Xiang Yu's envoy to wait in the guest tent first. Chen Ping was confused when he heard this, and asked very strangely: "General Right, the former general took the initiative to send someone to contact us, and we also happened to know the latest situation on the Central Plains battlefield, how could you make an excuse not to see us?" ”

"Mr. Chen Ping, have you forgotten the news we heard in Ye County?" Xiang Kang asked rhetorically and said: "Some of the tyrannical Qin officials who were captured by us confessed that the king of our Chu State had issued an edict announcing that whoever could lead the army to enter Guanzhong first would be the king of Guanzhong. If this rumor is true, I am afraid that the letter sent by my brother will have something to do with this matter. ”

Chen Ping's heart froze, and he immediately understood what Xiang Kang meant, and said: "Isn't General Right worried that the former general is going to force you back to the Central Plains, and you are not allowed to enter the army directly?" ”

"It's hard to say." Xiang Kang's face was solemn, and he said: "It's not that I, who is a brother, slander my brother behind my back, my former general brother is indeed a little wide and jealous, indicating that he is bold and generous, in fact, he is a little small-bellied, when he was in Baima, if he listened to my advice, he would have divided an army in advance to attack Dangyin, and joined forces with us to cut off the retreat of the main force of the tyrannical Qin, Zhang Han and Wang Li These horsemen have long been annihilated by us in the territory of Handan County, but he is afraid that I will seize the opportunity to capture Zhang Han and replace my uncle as the general of Chu, Deliberately missed that rare opportunity. Now, if the king of Chu really issued an edict that the first to enter the pass will be the king, how can you say that he could watch me enter the army from Wuguan and kill him in the pass? ”

Recalling the incident of Dangyin, Chen Ping nodded slightly, and then asked, "General Right, then how should we deal with it?" ”

"That's why I brought you, sir, here." Xiang Kang replied: "I want to ask Mr. to come forward, first go to meet the messenger sent by my elder brother for me, help me find out the purpose of his coming, and let me have a preparation first, so as not to be caught off guard after the meeting, and I will not be able to explain to my elder brother in the future." ”

Chen Ping agreed, and immediately went to see Xiang Yu's envoy for Xiang Kang, but Xiang Kang stopped him and said: "Sir, for the sake of prudence, you just find a way to get my elder brother's envoy drunk, and then quietly bring my elder brother's letter and let me read it first, so that everything can be prevented." ”

"The right general is really cautious." Chen Ping smiled bitterly, but still replied: "General Right, rest assured, wrap it up on your body." ”

…………

Let's take a look at the situation of Xiang Yu's envoy, the messenger sent by Xiang Yu to contact Xiang Kang is called Hao Loss, who is the middle trickle in Xiang Yu's tent, and also won Xiang Yu's trust, after leading two entourages from the Central Plains battlefield to the south, Hao Yu and his party were quite lucky, and they did not encounter the careful investigation of the Qin army along the way, and they also avoided the current number of thieves and rogues in Yingchuan County, and they went south to Ye County with Xiang Yu's letter, and got in touch with the young marshal army stationed in Ye County, and after indicating their identity, Immediately, he was sent to Wancheng by the military salute of the young marshal of Ye County.

Or after entering the camp of the main force of the young marshal army, Hao Loss, who had been smooth all the way, encountered a little twist and turn, Xiang Kang, who was ordered to come to visit, happened not to be in the camp, fortunately, Hao Loss did not have to worry, and temporarily lived in the guest tent of the young marshal army and waited with peace of mind, but just when Hao Loss was waiting a little bored, the curtain suddenly opened, and Chen Ping, a young marshal army minister whom Hao Loss had seen once, walked in with a smile, Hao Loss hurriedly got up and saluted, and said respectfully: "Hao Loss, the former general's account, has seen Lieutenant Chen. ”

"Where does Hao Zhongjuan know?" Chen Ping asked in surprise.

"When I was in Pengcheng, the villain had the honor to meet Lieutenant Chen." Hao Qi explained with a smile, and said: "It's just that the villain is in a humble position, so Lieutenant Chen shouldn't remember the villain." ”

Chen Ping patted his forehead, but he really didn't remember this Hao loss beside Xiang Yu, and hurriedly said: "Forgive me, Zhongjuan, I really don't have this impression in the next place." Zhong Juan, please sit down, come on, quickly prepare wine and meat, I will entertain the messenger sent by the former general for the right general. ”

After instructing the sergeant to prepare the wine and meat, Chen Ping said apologetically: "Hao Zhongjuan, it's really unfortunate, our right general happened to enter Wancheng for something, and it is estimated that he will not come back until the evening, I am afraid you will have to wait for a while." By the way, is there a hurry? If you are in a hurry, I will send someone to urge the right general. ”

"It doesn't matter." Hao Yu hurriedly said: "General Right is busy with official business, and the villain doesn't dare to disturb, so it's not too late to let the villain meet when General Right comes back." ”

Chen Ping nodded with a smile, and casually asked about Hao Loss's origin, and when he joined the Chu Army, after learning that Hao Loss was the same as himself was a Wei person, Chen Ping immediately showed joy, and Hao Loss set up a fellow villager, Hao Ping never expected that Chen Ping, who was very reused by Xiang Kang, would look up to himself so much, and was flattered by of course, he was close to Chen Ping, and he was soon coaxed to be happy and happy by Chen Ping, who was good at communicating.

Then, after the wine and meat came up, Chen Pingcai persuaded Hao Yu to drink, and casually tested Hao Yuan's intentions, Hao Bao was also straightforward, honestly admitting that he was ordered by Xiang Yu to go south to urge the young marshal army to return to the Central Plains, and help Xiang Yu to attack the Qin army in the Central Plains before and after. Chen Ping nodded, and casually asked about the current situation of the Central Plains battlefield, and Hao Ping also knew everything and said everything.

There is also an unexpected gain, that is, when Chen Ping casually asked about the current situation in the rear of the Chu State, Hao Qi said casually in addition to a truthful introduction: "By the way, there is another important thing I forgot to mention, our king has issued a decree announcing that whoever can lead the army to enter Guanzhong first will be the king of Guanzhong." ”

"Is there really such a decree?" Chen Ping was taken aback in his heart, and hurriedly asked: "Hao Zhongjuan, the one who enters the customs first is the king, this matter is hearsay?" Or has the king already made his decree clear to the world? ”

"Of course, it's already clear to the world." Hao Qi said with a smile: "Our King Chu also sent someone to send this edict to the front line, telling the princes outside the Guan, encouraging the princes to fight bravely and overthrow the tyrannical Qin as soon as possible, the princes outside the Guanxi are also a sensation, and many people persuade our former general to enter the army as soon as possible." ”

Chen Ping blinked his triangular eyes, then raised his wine glass, and said: "King Shengming, promulgating such an edict not only solves the problem of the subordination of the Qin land after the destruction of Qin, but also stimulates the morale of the anti-Qin coalition forces in the whole world, killing two birds with one stone, what a wonderful strategy!" Come, Hao Zhongjuan, let's have a drink for this decree of the king! ”

Hao Ping agreed, raised his glass and saluted Chen Ping, and drank all the wine in the cup, but Chen Ping stopped tasting it, and then after putting down the wine glass, Chen Ping glanced at the two entourages behind Hao Ping again, and smiled at them: "The two of you have also worked hard, let's go out for a drink." ”

After that, Chen Ping immediately asked someone to prepare wine and meat in other tents, and asked the two entourages brought by Hao Ping to drink in the past, and the two entourages had already been very slanderous, so they hurried to see Hao Ping's reaction, Hao Ping waved his hand generously and agreed, and the two entourages were overjoyed, and hurriedly thanked Chen Ping, and happily went out of the tent to drink and eat meat, leaving Chen Ping and Hao Ping to continue drinking in the guest tent.

Then, of course, Chen Ping is a lotus flower, constantly saying all kinds of good things to Hao Ping, although Hao Ping, whose status is far inferior to Chen Ping, also refused, but still couldn't resist Chen Ping's enthusiasm, it didn't take long for Chen Ping to be poured into a red face and a thick neck, and he couldn't speak well, Chen Ping saw that the time had come, so he used the excuse to go to the toilet and temporarily leave the guest tent, and then it was not as Chen Ping expected, after there were no outsiders present, Hao Ping, who was already drunk, quickly lay down on the seat and snored loudly......

…………

Hao Yu fell asleep drunk, but what he never expected was that not long after he fell asleep, the letter from Xiang Yu he put in the package was quickly taken into Xiang Kang's military tent by Chen Ping and presented to Xiang Kang. As a result, although there was a mud seal on the letter, Xiang Kang didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately picked up a knife to pry the mud seal, Chen Ping hurriedly stopped: "General Right, pay attention to the mud sealing." ”

"It's okay, if this letter is good for me, I will go to the guest account, say that I can't wake up the messenger, and open the letter directly, if it is not good for me, I will find another way to deal with it."

Xiang Kang replied casually, and at the same time quickly pried off the sealing mud pressed on the knot, and took out the letter that was sandwiched by two blank slips to read, and then only after a cursory reading of the gist of the letter, Xiang Kang breathed a sigh of relief, and said extremely happily: "Fortunately, I was careful and found a way to read this letter first, otherwise if I opened this letter in front of my brother's envoy, things would not be easy." ”

"General Right, what did the former general say in the letter?" Chen Ping asked curiously.

"Let me think that my uncle's revenge is the most important thing, don't care about personal gains and losses, and immediately return to Sanchuan to help him flank the tyrannical Qin army." (See Chapter 201 of this book for details.) ）

Xiang Kang replied casually, and handed the letter directly to Chen Ping, Chen Ping took it and took a closer look, and saw that Xiang Yu first directly told Xiang Kang in the letter that the one who entered the customs first was the king, and then he was moved by Xiang Kang, and asked Xiang Kang to take the brotherhood of the Xiang family as the priority, first consider the major matter of avenging Xiang Liang, and immediately return to the Central Plains battlefield, and then promised to take the young marshal army as the vanguard after defeating the main force of the Qin army, and directly enter the pass from Hangu Pass.

As soon as he read the letter, Chen Ping immediately understood why Xiang Kang was so happy, and said with a sneer: "The former general is so scheming, he obviously doesn't want you to enter Guanzhong and snatch the throne of Guanzhong, and he said it so high-soundingly, it is clear that he wants to use brotherly affection to force us not to go to Wuguan to enter the army, and not to give General Right a chance to become the king of Guanzhong." Then as long as we attack Hangu Pass, we can't succeed immediately, his main force quickly rushed to Hangu Pass, and the throne of the king of Guanzhong is his. ”

"He saw my weakness." Xiang Kang Yi sneered and said: "Among the children of the Xiang family, my age is on the young side, the eldest and youngest rank is very low, and I am not from a long family, so I have to give three points to him, the lobby brother, and he also played the banner of avenging his uncle, if I refuse his request and insist on continuing to enter the military pass from Wuguan, a coveted throne, ungrateful, unfilial piety and disrespect for the elder will not be able to run away immediately, and it will be extremely passive morally, and it will give others an excuse to turn their faces and start a war with me." ”

Chen Ping nodded, and also knew that if Xiang Kang didn't pay attention to Xiang Yu's letter, he would indeed be very passive in moral public opinion, and at the same time, Xiang Yu was angry, and he could also use this excuse to encourage other princes and the young marshal's army to go to war, and even directly take the main force of the Chu army and the young marshal's saber soldiers to meet each other - only greedy for the throne and disregarded the overall situation, and refused to join forces with the children of the Xiang family to give priority to avenging Xiang Liang, such an excuse to turn the face is reasonable no matter where he goes.

Understanding Xiang Yu's vicious intentions, how to deal with the aftermath made Xiang Kang feel broken, frowned and said, "What should I do about this?" I definitely can't agree to my brother's request, but if I don't agree, I won't be able to explain it to the world. ”

"General Right, there is only one way now." Chen Ping said: "Let this letter disappear, anyway, the messenger sent by the former general doesn't know the details of the letter, only knows that the former general asked him to invite you back to the Central Plains, as long as this letter disappears, you can pretend not to know that the former general knows your reason, move with affection, and justifiably find other excuses to refuse." And then by the time the former general sends another letter, we should have already entered the pass. ”

"Wonderful." Xiang Kang smiled and pouted at the charcoal stove used for heating in the tent, Chen Ping understood, and immediately threw Xiang Yu's letter into the charcoal stove, and the wooden slip burned rapidly, just like Xiang Yu's sinister intentions, and gradually turned into a wisp of green smoke.

…………

In this way, of course, it was a pity for the messenger sent by Xiang Yu Hao Loss, when Xiang Kang sent someone to wake him up and let him go to the Chinese army tent to meet him, Hao Loss opened his package and found that Xiang Yu's letter was missing, and immediately the three souls were scared away, and he quickly shook off his belongings and searched carefully, but no matter how Hao Loss and his entourage searched, Xiang Yu's letter was nowhere to be found. In the end, Hao Yu had no choice but to run to Xiang Kang with a sad face to report, saying that Xiang Yu's letter had been lost.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang is a good general with a gentle personality, and he was not angry because Hao lost his cousin's letter, and asked very gently: "Hao Zhongjuan, where did you lose the letter?" Can you remember the last time you saw my brother's letter, where was it? ”

"This ......." Hao Qi tried hard to recall, and only after a while did he reply with a sad face: "General Right forgives the sin, the villain really can't remember, the villain only remembers the last time he saw the letter of the former general, it seems to be when he was in Yangcheng." ”

"Then it's troublesome, it's so far from Yangcheng to Wancheng, where can I find it on Brother's letter?" Xiang Kang said in embarrassment.

"The right general spares his life! The right general spares his life! In extreme fear, Hao Yi simply knelt down on Xiang Kang's knees, and said again and again: "The villain didn't deliberately lose the letter of the former general, the villain really didn't deliberately lose the letter of the former general!" The villain was just careless, so he lost the letter from the former general. ”

"Then do you know what my brother's letter says?" Xiang Kang asked again.

"I don't know, the former general's letter is sealed in mud, and the villain doesn't dare to peek." Hao Qi replied truthfully, and said: "The villain only knows that the former general hopes that the right general will immediately return to Sanchuan to help us flank the main force of the tyrannical Qin." ”

"There's no need to be so troublesome." Xiang Kang refused very directly, and said: "I am ready to go west, and the day after tomorrow I will take the main force to Wuguan, and when I go directly from Wuguan to Guanzhong, the Tyrannical Qin Imperial Court will definitely have to recall their army outside the pass to rescue Guanzhong, and then Brother can take the opportunity to enter the army, and I will be flanked back and forth to destroy the tyrannical Qin." ”

"But the right general, the former general, he ......." Hao Yu was still loyal to his duties, and said boldly: "The former general wants you to return to Sanchuan directly." ”

"Will be outside, the monarch's order is not subject to anything, and I will write to explain to him what Brother asks." Xiang Kang refused very simply, and said: "Don't worry, I will intercede with Brother Ah on your behalf for you about losing your letter, and ask him not to punish you too much." ”

Hao Qi was helpless, so he could only hurry up to salute and thank Xiang Kang, and Xiang Kang immediately asked Zhou Zeng next to him to write a letter to Xiang Yu for himself, introducing the current situation of the young marshal army in the letter, claiming that he entered the army to save Zhao from Wei and shared the pressure for Xiang Yu at the strategic level.

Early the next morning, Xiang Kang first sent someone to send away Hao Qi and his party, and then immediately made public the decree that Xiong Xin entered the pass first as the king, not to mention the results, they all hoped that the young marshal soldiers who followed Xiang Kang to get glory and wealth saw that there was a better opportunity to appear, and none of them were not cheering, and they all hoped that Xiang Kang could take the young marshal army to successfully enter the Guanzhong and become the new Qin King of Guanzhong, so that the meritorious ministers of the young marshal army could be crowned marquis and become wealthy, and their morale was greatly boosted, and they also strengthened their determination to directly enter the Guanzhong.

…………

While the young marshal soldiers were cheering, on the battlefield of Hanoi, hundreds of miles away, after finding out the important information that Zhao Gao was crazy and divided the main force of the Qin army into two, Xiang Yu also took the main force of the Chu army and the princes' coalition army to re-advance to the front line of the flood, and also adopted the suggestion of Chen Yu, a famous scholar at the end of Qin, and sent an envoy to contact Zhang Han to persuade Zhang Han, who had been divided a large amount of military power, to surrender, but Zhang Han categorically rejected Xiang Yu's surrender, continued to stick to the flood defense line, and successfully repelled the attack of the Qi army.

The defeat of the ally Qi army made Xiang Yu very angry, and Xiang Bo, who had always disliked Xiang Kang, also ran out to fan the flames, saying: "It's all Kang'er, if he doesn't go farther and farther south in a blind way, at this time help us directly enter the hinterland of Sanchuan, so can we be so passive?" ”

was reminded by Xiang Bo of the young marshal army in the south, Xiang Yu calculated the time a little, and quickly said: "Don't worry, count the time, my envoy should also contact Ah Di, Yingchuan Nanyang does not have that violent Qin army can be his opponent, he should be able to return to the Sanchuan battlefield soon." ”

"Virtuous nephew, it's not me who is an uncle who said you." Xiang Bo sneered and said: "With just a messenger and a letter, you want to persuade Kang'er, who has always been disobedient, to return to his teacher to help you, is this possible?" Besides, the king has now issued an edict, saying that whoever can advance Guanzhong will be the king of Guanzhong, and he sees that there is such a good opportunity, can he hurry up and directly enter the military pass from Nanyang and enter Guanzhong? ”

"He dares!" Xiang Yu snorted heavily and said: "In the letter to him, I have made it very clear that I want him to think that the second uncle's revenge is the most important thing, and I also promised to let him enter the army first in Hanguguan, I have already said it to this point, if he still doesn't dare to covet the throne, regardless of the sibling affection and the second uncle's blood feud, and directly march to Wuguan, I can't spare him first!" ”

After that, Xiang Yu also added in his heart, "If he really dares to do that, even if he really rushes into the pass before me, I will use the excuse of unfilial piety and disrespect to start a war against him and take back my throne!" ”