From the moment he knew that the Han army announced the so-called Zhao Xie Yi edict, Zhao Xiang knew that the Han army had completely torn his face, and from now on, he would no longer have any chance to ride the wall with the Han army in Western Chu and watch the wind, so he could only have to fight to the death with the Han army.

Fortunately, Zhang Er has been mentally prepared for this, and at the same time, with the backing of the Western Chu army, Zhang Er does not have to be afraid that he is not the opponent of the Han army, because Zhang Er firmly believes that the result of the battle between Chu and Han is that Western Chu will win, and Xiang Kang, who is inferior to Xiang Yu in terms of force, strength and prestige, will die tragically in the hands of the soldiers of the Western Chu army sooner or later, so he will definitely win the final victory of the Han-Zhao War.

This is also the main reason why Zhang Er has been vacillating between Chu and Han, during the alliance between Han and Zhao, Xiang Kang was indeed a little sorry for Zhao Guo for seeing death in Taiyuan and other places, but Xiang Yu did more to Zhao Guo, in addition to directing the division of Zhao's army, and divided the land and city of Zhao State to Zhang Han and Sima Xin and others, and finally Zhang Er swayed repeatedly, but he still stood firmly on Xiang Yu's side, because Zhang Er had never been optimistic about Xiang Kang, who did not have the courage to fight Xiang Yu head-on.

But there are also things that annoy Zhang Er, the matter of the edict, Zhang Er is eighty percent sure that it is definitely forged by the Han army, which is used to drive a wedge between himself and Zhao Xie and the military and people of Zhao State, but Zhang Er does not dare to be 100% sure that this must be fake, because Zhang Er knows very well, don't look at the so-called Zhao Xie, the king of Zhao, on the surface, he is obedient to himself, but deep down he may not have hated himself for actually holding power, if he really has the opportunity, Zhao Xie will definitely not mind using the power of the Han army to kill himself, Regain the power of the Zhao Kingdom!

Because of this, Zhang Er also had to put a question mark on this matter, "The Han thief announced that bullshit edict, could it really be Zhao Xie secretly promulgated?" If this is the case, how should we deal with it? ”

In the end, it was a guest who put forward a high opinion and admonished Zhang Er: "Enxiang, it doesn't matter whether the edict is true or false, what matters is the attitude of the king, if the king promulgates an edict and openly declares that the edict is forged by a thief, then even if the edict is true, it will become fake." But if the king doesn't make a statement as soon as possible, even if the edict is fake, it may become true. ”

felt that the words of the doorman were very reasonable, Zhang Er did not hesitate, and entered the palace to meet Zhao Xie on the same day, asking Zhao Xie to issue an edict to reprimand the shameless behavior of the Han army, and publicly declare the edict to be false. As a result, Zhao Xie did not dare to disobey, and immediately personally picked up the pen to make a book, and wrote an edict according to Zhang Er's requirements to angrily scold the Han army, Zhang Er was overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted Zhao Xie and thanked him: "Thank you to the king, with the king's personal statement, no matter how the thief plays with right and wrong and sow discord, it is destined to be just a clown jumping off the beam, in vain." ”

"Why should Zhang Xiang say thank you? This is what this king should do, Aiqing go and make this king's edict public, don't give the young people the opportunity to sow discord between the monarchs and ministers of our Zhao Kingdom. ”

Zhao Xie's smile was as kind and gentle as ever, Zhang Er didn't bother to talk nonsense with him, and when he was about to salute and say goodbye, he didn't think that His Royal Highness rushed up to a close attendant, and hurriedly saluted Zhang Er and said: "Xiangguo, the people in your house ask you to go back immediately, something is wrong." ”

"What's wrong? In such a hurry? Zhang Er asked casually.

"Xia said that the traitor, shameless, under the pretext of leading the Han thief to crusade against Zhang Xiangguo, you, actually led our Zhao army in Jingcheng to surrender to the Han thief, the major general They went a step late, and failed to stop Xia said that the traitor was shameless and treasonous, and now our Jingcheng has been lost."

The waiter's answer made Zhang Er stunned, but it made Zhao Xie's face look ecstatic, and he almost didn't scream out with joy, or when he found that Zhang Er had turned back to look at him, Zhao Xie quickly changed his nervous and angry expression, and shouted: "Is this really the case?" Xia said that he was a traitor, how many heads did he have, and he dared to do such a rebellious thing? ”

"Back to the king, it was said by the people in Zhang Xiangguo's mansion, and the specific little slave is not very clear."

The attendant hurriedly replied, and Zhao Xie also hurriedly said to Zhang Er: "Aiqing, go back to the house to deal with this matter, as usual, you can make up your mind about this matter first, and then report it to the king." ”

Zhang Er sang a promise, and then hurriedly said goodbye and left the palace, leaving Zhao Xie secretly happy in the palace of King Zhao, and secretly prayed, and said in his heart: "Han thief, work hard, strive to help this king get rid of Zhang Er traitor as soon as possible, as long as you help this king get back the power of Zhao State, this king will definitely turn his back on Chu and surrender to Han, help you crusade against the Western Chu thief army, and repay your great kindness." ”

I must explain that Zhao Xie is really not a daydream when he thinks so, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it is a very common and common thing for a country to help the monarch or prince of another country seize power, and the first monarch of Zhao has also encountered or done such a thing, so Zhao Xie is so hopeful about the arrival of the Han army.

Getting back to the point, he hurriedly returned to his Xiangguo Mansion, and after learning the details of Xia Shuo's rebellion and defection to the enemy, Zhang Er couldn't help but be angry no matter how good he was, and scolded Xia Shuo in public for being ungrateful, and he would take revenge, and ordered Xia Shuo's wife and children to be taken down at the first time, and all of them should be executed immediately to vent his anger. There is no need to rush them to death without conviction and damage your reputation. ”

"The most important thing for us at the moment is the battle situation in Jingcheng, I think that Xiangguo, you had better immediately send someone to the major general to order, let him hold the danger, the wall does not fight, do not make a risk to fight, and give the Han thieves the opportunity to take advantage of the situation to enter the hinterland of Zhao State. In addition to this, we must immediately contact the King of Western Chu to report this matter to him and ask him to adopt a strategy to help our Zhao State through this difficult time. ”

"Don't worry about Ao'er." Zhang Er was full of confidence in his baby son, and said: "He has always had a stable personality, and he has Guan Gao to give him advice, so he won't be careless without explaining him." As for the side of the King of Western Chu, the Prime Minister will also immediately send someone to contact him and ask him to allow our Zhao army to withdraw from the Hanoi battlefield to the north and reinforce the Jingcheng battlefield. ”

"Xiangguo, if we just send our Hanoi soldiers and horses north to reinforce Jingcheng, I'm afraid it's far from enough." Wei Wuzhi hurriedly said: "The best way is to ask the King of Western Chu to send reinforcements to help us defeat the invading enemy, so that we in the Zhao State can ensure that nothing goes wrong." ”

"This ......." Zhang Er was a little embarrassed, and said: "The king of Western Chu is fighting with the main force of the Han thieves in the chasm area, and it is not easy to promise us to send the Hanoi army north to reinforce the Jingcheng battlefield, how can there be spare strength to reinforce us?" ”

"Not necessarily." Wei Wuzhi replied quite confidently: "Xiangguo only needs to clearly tell the king of Western Chu to explain the current situation of Zhao State, and say that if it is only with the strength of our country, at most it is possible to barely block the Han thieves on the northern line, and there is no certainty that the Han thieves on the northern line can be annihilated, if he does not send us reinforcements, it will definitely be difficult for us to withdraw south to reinforce him, only by asking him to divide his forces and help us annihilate all the enemies who come to attack, so that we can cut off the wings of the Han thieves, weaken the overall strength of the Han thieves, and also free up our hands to go south again, Help him attack the main force of the Han thieves and capture Xiang Kang. ”

After thinking about it, he found that this was indeed the truth, so Zhang Er wrote a letter to Xiang Yu asking for help according to Wei Wuzhi's suggestion, asking Xiang Yu to agree to send the Zhao army from Hanoi back to aid Jingcheng, and also send reinforcements to help him deal with the Han army's partial division, and arranged for a eloquent messenger to go south to contact Xiang Yu. Then Zhang Er hurriedly gave orders to the Zhao army in Hanoi, asking them to prepare to go north to help the mainland, and finally, under Wei Wuzhi's repeated insistence, Zhang Er gave another order to his precious son Zhang Ao, asking Zhang Ao to lead the army to hold the danger, not to go out in danger, and wait patiently for the reinforcements to arrive.

After a few days like this, after doing all kinds of contingency work, and after completing the trial and conviction of Xia Shuo's family, Zhang Er entered the Zhao Palace with the documents for the conviction of Xia Shuo's family, and asked Zhao Xie to approve his beheading of Xia Shuo's family in Julu Market. However, what made Zhang Er's nose crooked was that Zhao Xie, who had always been obedient to his words, didn't know what medicine he had taken this time, so he refused to nod his head and agreed to immediately execute Xia Shuo's family, and said with a heartfelt voice: "Why should Xiangguo be anxious? Xia said that since the traitor's family has been taken, they can't fly or run, so it's better to wait for Xia Shuo to catch the traitor back, and then split the traitor and his whole family in public. ”

"Less of this! Don't think that the old man doesn't know, you want to tell those who have a disagreement with their true appearance that as long as they continue to fight against their true appearance, even if they commit a capital crime, you will try your best to save their family and leave them a glimmer of life! ”

Zhang Er roared in his heart, and said with anger: "The king's words are wrong, since ancient times, that one traitor who plotted treason against the country has not been exposed to the crime, and the whole family has to be punished immediately?" When has there been a precedent for a traitor to be arrested and then pursued after the family is small? Xia said that the traitor was rebellious, and his crime should be punished, so please issue an edict immediately and behead his entire family in the city! ”

In order to encourage others to follow Xia Shuo's example and turn his face with Zhang Er, of course Zhao Xie continued to make excuses to delay the execution of Xia Shuo's family, but Zhang Er did not give an inch, and his words gradually brought anger, and Zhao Xie, who did not dare to turn his face with Zhang Er, was helpless, so he could only sigh in his heart: "No way, Xia Aiqing, don't blame this king for not helping you, this king has tried his best, if you want to hate, you still continue to hate Zhang Er's treacherous appearance." ”

Sighing quietly, Zhao Xie was about to let go of his mouth, but he never thought that at this time, another attendant stumbled up to the hall, and shouted from a distance: "King, it's not good, Zhang Xiang, it's not good, something is wrong!" Something is wrong! ”

"What's wrong?" Zhang Er, who was full of anger, shouted: "The sky is falling? Panic like this, what kind of system? ”

"It's worse than the sky falling! Zhang Xiang, the people in your house just came to report that the major general was defeated in Jingcheng, and the 40,000-strong army was wiped out! Your son-in-law, Major General Zhang Ao, was captured alive by the Han thieves and unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy! ”

With a snap, the jade gui in Zhang Er's hand fell to the ground, and his face suddenly turned gray and white, and Zhao Xie hurriedly lowered his head, for fear that Zhang Er would see his ecstatic expression that he could absolutely not hide. And after finally coming back to his senses, Zhang Er didn't even say hello, Tie Qing rushed directly out of the hall with a blue face, Zhao Xie also came back to his senses, and hurriedly shouted at Zhang Er's back: "Zhang Xiang, immediately behead Xia and talk about the traitor's family, and the widow agreed!" You can do it, and you don't have to ask the widow when you do it! ”

Zhang Er's footsteps paused slightly, and there was an urge to turn around and rush up and strangle Zhao Xie to death - Lao Tzu's only son is now a prisoner, and you still want Lao Tzu to kill Xia Shuo's whole family, do you want Xia Shuo to take Lao Tzu's only son out of anger and slaughter Lao Tzu's son with one sword?!

Finally suppressed the impulse in his heart, rushed back to his mansion with a black face, and after carefully understanding the before and after the fiasco of Jing Cheng, Zhang Er not only scolded his precious son for being stupid and incompetent, but also roared: "Quick, immediately send a messenger to the south, contact the king of Western Chu as quickly as possible, ask him to send us reinforcements immediately, and tell him clearly that if he doesn't send reinforcements to help us, our Zhao Kingdom will be finished!" ”

"Again, give an order to our Hanoi army, telling them to immediately return to the north and rescue the mainland! There must not be a moment of delay! ”

…………

In fact, Zhang Er didn't need to send a second messenger for help, and Xiang Yu, who had not yet been short-sighted on the frontal battlefield, listened to the good words and persuasions of Fan Zeng and Kui Che and others, in fact, he had already given birth to the plan to develop on both wings, and let Zhou Yin, Xiang Sui and Xiang Han gather troops in the rear of Western Chu as early as possible, and at the same time, let Wang Tiandu, who is currently subjugated to Western Chu, also reorganize his troops and horses, and prepare to increase troops on both wings of the battlefield to break the deadlock in the Central Plains battlefield from the side.

In this context, the first messenger sent by Zhang Er had actually persuaded Xiang Yu to agree to send troops, but in order to ensure the superiority of troops on the main battlefield, Xiang Yu categorically rejected the proposal to transfer troops from the chasm battlefield to reinforce Zhao State, and decided to order Zhou Yin, Xiang Sui and Xiang Han to lead an army of 130,000 troops to the north to rescue Zhao State, and also ordered Tian Du to send 50,000 troops from Jibei County to form a northern line army to fight to the death with Zhou Shu in the territory of Zhao State, and strive to eliminate the Han army's northern line division, and take advantage of the situation to enter Jinzhong, and then from Jinzhong to the hinterland of the Han army.

And when Zhang Er's second messenger for help arrived at the chasm battlefield, he learned that the situation on the northern front had reached this point, Xiang Yu did not dare to hesitate, and hurriedly ordered Zhou Yin, Tian Du and others to speed up the march into Zhao State, and not waste half of their time.

In addition, although he was extremely unhappy, under the hard persuasion of Fan Zeng, Kui Che and others, Xiang Yu still decided to transfer 30,000 troops from the rear against his will, and went south through Chenjun and southern Yingchuan to reinforce Liu Laosan, helping Liu Laosan to kill the shameless and rebellious Yingbu as soon as possible, so that Liu Laosan could free up his hands to re-exert pressure on the southern front of the Han army.

In response to this decision, the generals of the Western Chu army sang praises and praised Xiang Yu's strategic planning and decisive victory for thousands of miles, and Fan Laotou and Cao Ji and others had no objections, but Kui Che was worried and admonished Xiang Yu: "Great King, transfer troops from the rear to reinforce the two wings of the battlefield, although it can allow us to continue to maintain our superiority in strength on the frontal battlefield, but if we send 160,000 troops to Nanyang and Zhao, the rear of our Western Chu State will be completely empty, and no army can maneuver and adapt. If there is a sudden change in our rear, there is nothing we can do about it? ”

"How is it possible for our rear to change?" Xiang Yu asked proudly: "Chu Di has already been completely pacified by this king, what other enemies there can threaten the safety of this king's rear?" ”

"My lord, this is not a matter of course." Kui Che warned: "The reason why Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are in Daze Township is all because of the abuse of the people's power by the tyrannical Qin and the poor conscription of soldiers, and now we have repeatedly recruited troops in Chu, exhausted and fished, and the head of Chu has already been overwhelmed, if among them, there is another Chen Sheng and Wu Guang ......." ”

Kui Che's words didn't dare to go on anymore, because Xiang Yu's one-eyed eyes were blazing, and they were already full of anger and murder, so frightened that Kui Che could only shut up by himself, and didn't dare to express his stupid opinions again, and lowered his head and didn't even dare to take a breath, muttering in his heart, "Kui Che, don't say it, you can't save your head if you talk about it." ”

…………

The straight road was controlled by the Zhao army and the Western Chu army, or after confirming that the main force of the Zhao army had withdrawn from the Hanoi battlefield, Xiang Kang finally received the news that Uncle Zhou had captured Zhang Ao, the commander of the Zhao army, in Jingcheng's victory. ”

"This is something that can't be helped, who told us to contact General Zhou now to bypass Taihang Mountain, the road is too disadvantaged." Zhang Liang helplessly spread his hands, and said: "But there is one thing that is very strange, it stands to reason that the situation of the Zhao State thief army has reached this point, in addition to retreating to rescue the mainland, it must also ask for help from the Western Chu thief army, why is the Western Chu thief army not moving?" Not even a single soldier and a pawn will be divided to help the Zhao State thief army? ”

"It's not surprising." Chen Ping replied: "In the Chu-Han War, the most important thing is the chasm battlefield, in order to ensure their superiority in strength on the main battlefield, Xiang Yu will definitely not easily send his main force north to reinforce Zhao State, even if he wants to save Zhao State, he will only send troops from the rear to the north." ”

"The king of Western Chu still dares to draw troops from the rear?" Zhang Liang's expression couldn't help but be a little exaggerated, and he said with a smile: "In the chasm war, the king of Western Chu has already invested more than 300,000 troops on the battlefield of Xingyang, and his rear has long been overwhelmed, and he dares to continue to send a large army to the north, so he is not afraid that the head of Chu will learn from our Han King and Chen Sheng and Wu Guang to rise up, and make his rebellion like a rebellion against Qin?" He didn't even ...... that. ”

Speaking of this with an exaggerated smile, Zhang Liang's voice gradually decreased, and his expression gradually began to become hesitant, after closing his mouth by himself, he pondered for a while, Zhang Liang also suddenly changed his words and said: "Not necessarily, the king of Western Chu may not be able to do such a thing, he has no policy at all, and he likes to fish everywhere he goes, this kind of thing that ignores the life and death of the rear and blindly abuses the people's power, he may not be able to do it!" ”

Chen Ping nodded, and also thought that Xiang Yu might not be able to do such a crazy thing to kill himself, but Xiang Kang was silent, just holding his chin with his hand and leaning on the case to think carefully, after a while, Xiang Kang suddenly asked Chen Ping: "Mr. Chen Ping, are you sure to contact Peng Yue?" ”

"The road is blocked, and Peng Yue's whereabouts are erratic, so I can only say that I tried my best." Chen Ping replied.

"Then try your best!" Xiang Kang was categorical and said: "Immediately arrange manpower, take a boat to the lower reaches of the Great River (Yellow River), find a way to contact Peng Yue, tell him our current situation, and let him find a way to give my brother a big vote no matter what means and methods he uses, so as to turn my brother's rear upside down, and force my brother to divide his troops to save the rear Chudi!" ”

Chen Ping agreed, and hurriedly put pen to paper to draft an order for Xiang Kang, but Xiang Kang was not greedy enough, and added casually, "Tell Peng Yue clearly, if he can force my brother to personally lead the army to rescue the rear and temporarily leave the front line of the chasm for a period of time, no matter what kind of reward he wants, I will definitely not let him down!" ”