In the autumn of the second year of Qin II, the autumn rain of the evil gate in the Central Plains stopped and stopped, sometimes big and sometimes small, even from the beginning of July to the end of August, there was no rest, the sky was gloomy and rarely saw the sun, and there was no star and moon at night, and no one knew how long the bad weather would last.

The continuous autumn rain helped the remnants of the Chu army, and bought a breathing time for the remnants of the main force of the Chu army, which had almost completely collapsed, but it pitted the main force of the Qin army's Zhang Han Division, which was already in control, - Originally, Zhang Han planned to take advantage of the defeat of Xiang Liang's soldiers to enter Pengcheng and completely eradicate the remnants of the Chu army, but he never expected that the autumn rain would be endless, the roads were muddy and it was difficult to transport grain, and Pengcheng was too far away from the Yellow River waterway, and it was impossible to ensure that there was no shortage of grain and grass on the front line for a long time by land alone. Zhang Han could only look at the autumn rain with stupid eyes every day and prayed for the blessing of the gods to end this long and almost exaggerated continuous autumn rain as soon as possible.

There is also something that makes Zhang Han worried, after killing Xiang Liang, Zhang Han should have given Qin II Hu Hai an explanation, and the Qin army soldiers should also be rewarded, but Xiang Kang, who killed a thousand knives, took Xiang Liang's body from the encirclement of the Qin army, and easily rescued more than 10,000 Chu prisoners of war who were forced to lay down their arms, and escaped from the encirclement. forced Zhang Han to destroy the thieves outside the gate as soon as possible to atone for his crimes, otherwise he would definitely not spare Zhang Han!

On the one hand, there was an annoying autumn rain, on the other hand, Qin II released cruel words, a dilemma, and waited for a period of time without seeing the slightest sign of the autumn rain, on the contrary, he waited for Hu Hai to urge him to send troops to fight for thieves as soon as possible, and had no choice, Zhang Han had no choice but to send his henchman Sima Xin back to Xianyang with the seal, and stated to Hu Hai the difficulties that the Qin army was currently facing, and asked Hu Hai to give him a little more time, and wait for him to destroy the remnants of the Chu army before going north to clean up the other anti-Qin rebels.

On the afternoon of August 29, Sima Xin, who had personally gone to Xianyang to submit the seal, hurriedly returned to the Puyang camp. However, what caught Zhang Han off guard was that after entering the big tent of the Chinese army, Sima Xin didn't even have time to take off the clothes on his body, and immediately cried loudly: "General, the big thing is not good, Prime Minister Zuo (Li Si) He was beheaded by the emperor in Xianyang!" ”

"What?!" Zhang Han's surprise was not trivial, and he blurted out: "Why did the emperor kill Prime Minister Zuo?" What crime? ”

"Rebellion!"

Sima Xin's crying answer made Zhang Han furious, and he jumped up and yelled loudly: "Fart!" Prime Minister Zuo is in a high position in Great Qin, almost under one person and above ten thousand people, how can he rebel? If he rebelled, his eldest son Li was martyred by Li Junzun, how can this be explained? ”

"I don't know." Sima Xin wailed: "But Tingwei's people said that Prime Minister Zuo really drew a charge on the confession of admitting rebellion, so the emperor killed him." Also, the right prime minister Feng Quji, and the general Feng Zheng were also forced to commit suicide by taking poison together because they opposed the emperor's continued repair of the Afang Palace with the left prime minister! ”

Zhang Han was completely stunned, and sat back in his place weakly after a while, and lamented: "Internal and external troubles, the thieves outside the gate are so fierce, and Xianyang has undergone such a big change, and in the future, this great Qin country will be even more stormy." ”

Zhang Han also had to lament, because Li Si was not only Zhang Han's boss, but also Zhang Han's backer and firm supporter in the Xianyang court, Zhang Han repeatedly failed miserably at the hands of Xiang Liang, Qin II Hu Hai also handed over all the Qin troops outside the pass to Zhang Han under the command of the commander, relying on Li Si's strong persuasion and exculpation in front of Hu Hai.

Then, under Sima Xin's careful introduction, Zhang Han knew the current general situation in Xianyang, and knew that Hu Hai lived in a simple house, spending time in the palace almost every day, and almost all the power of the court fell into the hands of Zhao Gao, who succeeded Li Si as prime minister, and the civil and military officials also condescended to Zhao Gao, and did not dare to disobey the slightest. After learning about this situation, Zhang Han hurriedly asked again: "Then what is Zhao Gao's attitude towards us?" Did you hand over the seal to the Emperor? ”

"On the surface, Zhao Gao's attitude towards us is not bad, and he has many greetings to the general, and he also expresses his understanding of the general's hardship." Sima Xin replied truthfully: "However, Zhao Gao stopped the subordinate and asked the subordinate not to hand over the seal to the emperor, saying that the emperor was worried about the military outside the Guanwai, and if he saw the general's seal, he was afraid that he would be furious, and it would be extremely unfavorable to you, the general." I think his words are quite reasonable, and I know about the two prime ministers and Feng Zheng, so I didn't dare to take the risk of submitting the seal. ”

"It was done right." Zhang Han nodded approvingly and said: "The two prime ministers died together with General Feng Zao, the situation in the court must be extremely complicated, and at this time, if you submit this seal that will definitely make the emperor unhappy, we will definitely be in danger, Zhao Gao advises you not to submit the seal, it can be regarded as a piece of his kindness." ”

"I'm afraid he wants to use us to quell the rebellion outside the gates, otherwise he would definitely not be so easy to speak." Sima Xin muttered in his heart, and then said: "But Zhao Gao asked the subordinate to bring a message to the general, asking the general not to stand still for a long time, it is best to move quickly and win a few battles to please the emperor, otherwise, once the emperor asks about this matter, even he, Zhao Gao, will not be able to protect us in front of the emperor." ”

Zhang Han was silent, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "You go back and rest first, I'll think about it carefully, and then we'll discuss it in detail." ”

Sima Xin, who was in the dust, agreed, and said goodbye to rest, but Zhang Han sat alone, racking his brains to think about whether he should listen to Zhao Gao's advice, and then naturally, in order to protect himself, and in order to curry favor with Zhao Gao, who was newly in power, to find a new backer for himself, Zhang Han still made up his mind and decided to try his best to meet Zhao Gao's requirements, and after making this decision, Zhang Han sat in front of the map sand table again, and thought hard about the map sand table that marked the location of the anti-Qin rebels. How to find a suitable unlucky ghost to start the knife in the difficult situation of transporting grain, and win some battles as soon as possible to consolidate his position......

On the morning of the next day, Zhang Han, who had made up his mind, summoned Sima Xin, Dong Peng, and several close generals, and announced his decision to them, intending to immediately cross the Yellow River, launch an attack on the Zhao army in Xindu, and join forces with the Great Wall Corps led by Wang Li to destroy the main force of the Zhao army as soon as possible and give an explanation to the Great Qin court.

Because they didn't know Zhang Han's hardships, several cronies and generals were very puzzled by Zhang Han's decision, and they all asked Zhang Han: "General, the main force of the Chu thieves has been hit hard, and now is a godsend opportunity to go straight to Pengcheng to completely eradicate the remnants of the Chu thieves, why should we give up the easy and the difficult to crusade against the uninjured Zhao Xie rebels first?" Give Chu thieves a chance to make a comeback? ”

"General, why did you suddenly change your mind?" Dong Fei asked more directly, and said: "We have been stationed in Puyang for more than a month, just to wait for the heavy rain to stop, and immediately go south to conquer the Chu thieves, and avenge the death of our Daqin soldiers, why can't we wait a little longer?" Maybe in a day or two, the weather will clear? ”

They are all their own henchmen, Zhang Han was not polite, first asked Sima Xin to give a general introduction to the great changes that had taken place in Xianyang City, and then said: "I don't want to miss this opportunity to completely eradicate the remnants of the Chu thieves, but the special situation is here, if we continue to hold our troops still, and the weather never clears, and if we delay any longer, we will definitely not be able to explain to the imperial court, so there is no way, we can only give priority to the nearest Zhao Xie rebel thief, fight some victories to give the imperial court an explanation, and then we can free up our hands to deal with the Chu thief." ”

understood Zhang Han's distress, of course Zhang Han's henchmen present no longer spoke, but Dong Pengyu, who had been bullied by Xiang Kang many times and was tearful, could not get rid of his hatred, and he slapped the case a few times, and sighed with hatred: "Alas! If you want to find Xiang Kang Xiao'er for revenge again, I really don't know when it will be! ”

"Don't worry, although Xiang Kang Xiao'er is hateful, but judging from our detailed work, he should have been estranged from his cousin Xiang Yu Xiao'er, so he has been stationed in Dangjun County and has not returned to Pengcheng to join the remnants of the Chu thieves." Zhang Han comforted: "As long as this situation continues, the contradictions between Xiang Kang and Xiang Yu will expand sooner or later, and it will be much easier for us to defeat each of them." ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and when he heard Zhang Han's words, Sima Xin, who had just returned from Xianyang, was immediately startled, and hurriedly asked: "General, Xiang Kang Xiao'er's thief army is still in Dangjun?" ”

Zhang Han nodded, and said casually: "Some time ago, he moved a little, and he withdrew from Suiyang to the area of Lidang, but he didn't move since he arrived in Dangxian, and our detailed work has not yet figured out his true purpose." ”

"Then what should we do if our main force crosses the Yellow River in a big way, and Xiang Kang Xiaoer takes the opportunity to send troops westward?" Sima Xin said worriedly: "From Dangxian County to Xingyang, there is no danger to defend, and the main force of our Sanchuan County has also been destroyed, if Xiang Kang Xiaoer seizes the opportunity to march westward and attack our grain and grass hoarding place Aocang, then we go north to crusade against Zhao Xie's rebels, won't there be danger in terms of grain and grass?" ”

"Don't worry, I've thought about this for a long time." Zhang Han replied confidently: "After Li Junshou was martyred, his subordinates gathered the remnants and regathered tens of thousands of troops, and at this moment they have retreated to Xingyang, and I will send Sima Duan to lead an army of 30,000 to reinforce Ao Cang, Ao Cang is surrounded by mountains on three sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are Sima Duan and Li Junshou's remnants of the guard, enough to confront Xiang Kang Xiaoer for a long time, Xiang Kang Xiao'er has a long-distance attack and food and grass is difficult, as long as we only defend and do not fight, Xiang Kang Xiaoer has no hope of attacking Ao Cang and cutting off our grain route. ”

Seeing that Zhang Han had arranged carefully, Sima Xin breathed a sigh of relief, and then, Sima Xin suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly said: "General, do you remember the battle of Linji?" At that time, we were obviously sure to quickly break through Linji and capture and kill the Wei thieves, but in order to annihilate the main force of the Wei thieves led by the rebels in Zhou City, the general deliberately surrounded Linji without fighting, not only successfully lured the main force of the Wei thieves, but also lured the main force of the Qi thieves led by Tian Dan, and defeated it in one fell swoop. In this case, why don't we repeat our old tricks and try to lure the main force of the Chu thieves to the battlefield of Zhaodi, and annihilate them with ease? ”

"Is that easy?" Zhang Han said with a wry smile: "The main force of the Chu thieves has been seriously injured, and now it is not enough to protect themselves, how can they have the courage to travel long distances and go north to Zhao to reinforce Zhao Xie's rebels?" ”

"I'm afraid not." Sima Xin smiled coldly and said: "As far as we know, it is his eldest nephew Xiang Yu who replaces Xiang Liang to lead the main force of Chu Thief, although this puppet is extremely brave, but his temper is very short-tempered, far less treacherous and insidious than Xiang Kang'er, and he can join forces with Zhao Thief to reinforce Zhao Thief in the north, which is a rare opportunity for him to avenge Xiang Liang." If we can provoke him with a trick, maybe this puppet will really obediently take the remnants of the Chu thief north to die. ”

Hearing Sima Xin's reasonableness, Zhang Han, who was anxious to win more battles as soon as possible, was inevitably a little moved, and hurriedly asked, "Then how can I anger him?" ”

Sima Xin pondered, and only said after a while: "How about this?" We repaired a book, sent someone to Pengcheng to hand it over to Xiang Yu's husband, pretending to persuade Xiang Yu's puppet to lead the army to surrender, the letter deliberately used arrogant words, mentioning the death of Xiang Liang, and laughing at Xiang Yu's incompetence, his uncle Xiang Liang, who was so kind to him, was killed by our army, he had no ability to resist, and he had to rely on his cousin Xiang Kang to save Xiang Liang's body, and the ability to use soldiers was not as good as his cousin Xiang Kang's Yicheng. ”

Speaking of this, Sima Xin paused, and then said: "I dare to conclude that after Xiang Yu saw this letter, he would inevitably be furious and swear revenge, plus our army went north to conquer the Zhao thief, and the Zhao thief would definitely send envoys to ask for help from all the thief armies, and Xiang Yu Xiao'er would probably immediately raise troops to the north and rush to Zhao Di to die." ”

After thinking about it carefully, he found that Sima Xin's radical plan should have some hope, even if it didn't work, what he lost was just a messenger, and it didn't matter at all, Zhang Han quickly nodded and said, "It's worth a try, just do it." ”

"General, then just write a letter like this to Xiang Kang'er." Dong Fei couldn't wait to propose: "In the letter, Xiang Kang Xiaoer scolded a bloody dog, and also led him to take the initiative to go north to die!" ”

Zhang Han and Sima Xin laughed together, their smiles were quite bitter, and then Zhang Han said: "General Dong, this kind of agitation strategy may be useful to Xiang Yu, but if it is used on Xiang Kang'er, the traitor, don't even think about it if you want to get the effect." This traitor is probably thicker than the walls of the Great Wall that our Great Qin repaired. ”

"It's still the wall at the corner of the Great Wall." Sima Xin added.

After making up their minds, the main force of the Qin army began to prepare to go north on the same day to conquer the Zhao army led by Zhao Xie and Zhang Er, and crossed the Yellow River to the north the next day, and launched an attack on Anyang controlled by the Zhao army. At the same time, the general Sima Duan of Zhang's hand, who had previously made the main force of the Chu army dare not act rashly, also marched quickly from Puyang with 30,000 Qin troops and rushed to Aocang for reinforcements to prevent Xiang Kang's surprise army, which was more slippery than loaches and more insidious than poisonous snakes, and took advantage of the situation to attack the Aocang heavy land that had hoarded countless grains and grass.

In order to keep their territory and lives, Zhao Xie and Zhang Er, who had expected to increase the pressure, immediately sent a large number of envoys to contact various anti-Qin righteous divisions everywhere, and begged the anti-Qin righteous divisions to reinforce Zhao State with the reason that their lips were dead and cold, and they also asked the Chu army for assistance despite the new defeat of the Chu army......

Because the Qin army started earlier and the distance was closer, Zhang Han's so-called persuasion envoy of course rushed to Pengcheng one step earlier, and handed over the letter to Xiang Yu, who controlled the main force of the Chu army, after reading Zhang Han's letter called the surrender was actually a provocation, Xiang Yu was of course furious, so angry that his chest almost exploded, if it wasn't for Fan Old Man and Cao Ji and others to stop them, they would have to kill the Qin army's surrender envoy on the spot.

"Former general, this is just Zhang Handpifu's agitation plan, deliberately provocative, trying to lure us to take the initiative to go north for a decisive battle, to win the opportunity for him to wait for work, we must not be fooled, repeating the mistakes of Tian Dan and Zhou Shi and others."

After a while, when Zhao's envoy for help rushed to Pengcheng to submit his credentials, Xiang Yu, who was anxious about the shame and seizure of the throne, still couldn't wait, and decided to personally lead the main force of the Chu army to the north and rush to Zhao to reinforce Zhao Xie. Old man Fan, Cao Ji and the others were helpless, so they could only change their words and persuade: "Former general, how about you not ask for the opinion of General You?" When we have made up our minds with him, it will not be too late for us to go north to reinforce Zhao. ”

Considering that the army in Xiang Kang's hands was also very important, Xiang Yu rarely held back his temperament, and sent people to Dangxian to contact Xiang Kang and ask for Xiang Kang's opinion. However, the reply sent by Xiang Kang surprised Old Man Fan and others, Xiang Kang actually pointed out directly: "The lips are dead and the teeth are cold, if Zhao Xie is destroyed, Zhang Handpifu's next target is likely to be us, if we don't come to the rescue when Zhao Xie is in danger, when we are in danger, who else will come to save us?" ”

Fortunately, Xiang Kang added another sentence in the letter, "But we can't go directly to Zhao Di to rescue, so as not to be weak and fall into a bitter battle, we must first find out the situation on the battlefield in Zhao Di and confirm that Qi Yan and other countries sent troops to aid Zhao, and then we can rest assured that we can send troops and join forces with the princes to break Qin." At that time, my brother will go straight to Zhaodi, and I will go to cut off the grain road of Qin, and it will be a big deal. ”

Xiang Kang's persuasion also only made Xiang Yu temporarily calm down for a while, and after some days, after confirming that Qi Yan and other countries decided to send troops to reinforce Zhao Xie, Xiang Yu still tried his best to override public opinion, finalized the plan to personally lead the army to reinforce Zhao State, and at the same time went to Xiang Kang, asking Xiang Kang to march west to Sanchuan and take advantage of the void to attack the Qin army's largest granary outside the pass.

"Who said I'm going to attack Aocang?" Xiang Kang threw Xiang Yu's letter on the desk, dug his nostrils and said: "Zhang Handpifu has already sent Sima Duan to lead 30,000 troops back to aid Aocang, the purpose is to prevent me from suddenly attacking Aocang, the granary from Dangxian to Chenliu is almost empty, and the girder is soaked in the Yellow River, and there is not much food in the city. ”

"But General Right, you have promised to cut off the grain route of the tyrannical Qin army in the past, if you don't keep your word, not only will you not be able to explain to the former general, but you will also have no way to explain to the anti-Qin righteous divisions in the whole world?" Chen Ping reminded worriedly.

"I just said that I wouldn't risk fighting Ao Cang, and I didn't say that I wouldn't cut off the grain route of Tyranny Qin." Xiang Kang grinned and said, "Cutting off the grain route of the Tyrannical Qin army does not necessarily need to take Aocang. ”