Xiang Guan, who led the team to greet the two uncles and the Yu family, did not return to the north gate of the lower prime minister until the evening, and used the handwritten warrant issued by Xiang Kang to open the city gate and enter the city, but unfortunately, when Xiang Guan, who guarded the north gate, sent someone to send the news to Xiang Kang, but by the way, the Yu family refused to move to live in the city, Xiang Kang knew that Yu Gong was worried that he was a grasshopper after the autumn and would not be able to reach it for a few days, but there was no way but to quickly lead Xiang Yang, Xiang It and his own personal army to hurriedly walk out of the official temple, Greet the arrival of the two uncles in front of the official temple.

In a moment, Xiang Guan's hundred-person team gathered in several carriages and came to the gate of the county temple, in the light of the torches, the two uncles sat side by side on the front carriage, the second uncle with a strong personality smiled, and nodded at Xiang Kang from a distance, and the third uncle and aunt with a weak personality kept wiping her tears, but she didn't forget to wave to Xiang Kang. Xiang Kang didn't dare to hesitate when he saw it, and hurriedly led Xiang Yang and Xiang Xian to meet the carriage quickly, knelt down on one knee together, and said in unison: "Little nephew and others welcome uncle." ”

After that, Xiang Kang, who was very good at pleasing the two uncles, added another sentence, saying: "The little nephew and the other two uncles are frightened, and the nephew is not filial, please forgive the two uncles." ”

"Get up, get up." The second uncle and aunt greeted, jumped out of the carriage and picked up Xiang Kang with her own hands, and said with a smile: "Good boy, if you are not filial, there will be no filial children in the world." Well done, well done, your eldest father has a spirit in the sky, and when he sees that the banner of our Chu State can be inserted by you again, he can also be blinded when he thinks about it. ”

"It's just a fluke." Xiang Kang was modest and said: "Without the full support of all the elder brothers and brothers, charging into battle and bravely killing the enemy, our Chu State banner would not be able to plant the prime minister's city." ”

"All filial piety, all fighting." The second uncle and aunt followed Xiang Kang and said, then hurriedly pointed to the carriage behind her, and said, "Kang'er, take a look, who's coming?" ”

"Who's coming?" Xiang Kang was stunned, and when he hurriedly turned his head to look at the second carriage, the bamboo curtain of the second carriage was lifted, and Xiang Kang's genuine fiancée Yu Miaoge stood up shyly. ”

"It's Ah Weng and Ah Ge who don't want to come, I didn't say I didn't want to come." Yu Miaoge replied shyly.

"Then can you Ah Weng and your brother promise to let you come?" Xiang Kang asked in even more surprise.

"You sent so many people to my house, I want to leave, do they dare to stop me?" Yu Miaoge was slightly angry, plucked up her courage again, and said shyly: "Xiang Gongzi, I will have to rely on you to raise me in the future." ”

"It's okay, it's a trivial matter."

Xiang Kang's casual answer was exchanged for a heavy push from the second uncle, and after pushing Xiang Kang forward a step, the second uncle scolded angrily: "Did you talk to your daughter-in-law like this?" Why don't you hurry up and get your daughter-in-law down. ”

Only then did he realize that he was not talking to his fiancée affectionately enough, Xiang Kang hurriedly stepped forward and carefully put his fiancée out of the carriage, but at this moment, a familiar cold snort suddenly came from behind the bamboo curtain of the second carriage, and Xiang Kang, a peerless scumbag who was still holding his fiancée's small hand, suddenly lit up and blurted out: "Little sister, are you here too?" ”

The bamboo curtain was lifted again, and the little girl Yu Jiao stood up with a straight face, and without waiting for Xiang Kang to come up to help, she got out of the carriage, and then said to Xiang Kang angrily: "I'm not coming, stay outside for the officers and soldiers to catch?" You have done such a big thing, how can my family not be implicated? My Ah Weng and my brother are confused, can I be as confused as them? ”

Looking at the sister-in-law's deliberately angry but enlightening face, Xiang Kang, who had already hooked up with his sister-in-law, was itching, but because his fiancée was by his side, Xiang Kang could only force the impulse in his heart, and said with a smile on his face: "It's good to come, it's good to come, now I can rest assured, little sister rest assured, I will treat you like your sister." ”

Yu Ji deliberately didn't look at Xiang Kang, but there was uncontrollable shame on her face, and Yu Miaoge next to her was like a fire, and she had long known the real reason why her sister voluntarily followed her to join Xiang Kang, but Yu Miaoge, who had a gentle personality, never broke it, and didn't know how to solve this thorny problem at all. So the only thing Yu Miaoge can hope for now is that he hopes that his fiancé can sit still and not have any evil thoughts about his beautiful sister......

The two uncles and sisters of the Yu family were invited into the county temple, and Xiang Kang, who had already arranged a place for the two uncles and aunts, first asked Xiang it to lead them down to rest, and then said to the Yu sisters in a pretended manner: "Miao Ge, little sister, remember that you live separately at home, there are many empty houses in the county temple, why don't you sleep in one room as before?" ”

Before Yu Miaoge agreed, the little girl Yu Jiao, who had already known that Xiang Kang was not well-intentioned, preemptively said: "No, I'm not used to coming here just now, let's let me live with Sister A, take care of each other, that's all." ”

If there were no outsiders present, Xiang Kang would definitely be able to strip off his sister-in-law's clothes immediately, beat 300 sticks to teach this little girl's dog to bite Lu Dongbin, and he didn't know the hearts of good people! But there was no way, there were too many outsiders next to him, Xiang Kang had no choice but to swallow his anger and agree, the little girl was smiling, and soon hugged her sister and jumped to the residence to arrange a room, leaving Xiang Kang to smile on the spot, gritting his teeth in his heart, and quietly swearing to the sky after returning to his residence, swearing that when he had the opportunity, he would definitely clean up the sister-in-law who deliberately did not give him a chance to cheat.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang is a person who knows which is more important, just the next morning, Xiang Kang put the matter of how to steal his sister-in-law for the time being, and devoted himself to the major matter of preparing for war and rebuilding the Chu State regime, and adopted the suggestions of Zhou Zeng and Feng Zhong and others, and obeyed the superstitious habits of the people in this era, and held a ceremony to worship the heavens the next morning, sacrificing to the heavens, and leading the people to swear to overthrow the tyrannical Qin and rejuvenate the Chu State.

Then, Zhou Zeng, who was very politically minded, saw the weakness of Xiang Kang's unrighteous name, and strongly suggested that Xiang Kang inherit the title of ancestor and proclaim himself the post of Wu Xinjun and Zhu of Chu State, so as to reward his subordinates with the official position of Chu State. However, after thinking about it repeatedly, Xiang Kang shook his head and refused Zhou Zeng's kindness, and said: "I can't self-proclaim Wu Xinjun, the reason is that my two uncles are still alive, and second, I still have eight or nine brothers on my head. ”

After pondering for a while, he found that what Xiang Kang said was actually the truth, so Zhou Zeng changed his words and said: "You can not be busy with the matter of the title, son, let's proclaim yourself the pillar country first, and become a pillar country, you can set up official positions such as Mo Ao, Da Sima and left and right Sima, and there are enough military generals to reward your subordinates." ”

Xiang Kang still shook his head and said: "No, the general of the Zhu State is the second most important minister of the Chu State after Ling Yin, I have given myself such an official, and the people of the Chu State are still not convinced." And we only have one city now, and there are only about a thousand soldiers in our hands plus new recruits, so I will be crowned a pillar country by myself, and spreading it will only make people laugh at the world. ”

"Then you can only call yourself the big Sima or the left and right Sima." Zhou Zeng said disappointedly: "Or, the general can also appoint and dismiss the captain, the commander is not open, or he can use it." ”

Xiang Kang didn't continue to shake his head, but he didn't agree, and after thinking about it for a while, Xiang Kang suddenly asked: "Uncle Ya, before that, was there an official position of marshal in the Central Plains?" ”

"Yes, but not officially." Zhou Zeng didn't want to think about it and replied: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, the famous general Xianzhen of the Jin State was named a marshal, but this official position is not permanent, nor is it a formal official position, it only represents the meaning of the commander of the general." ”

Xiang Kang gritted his teeth, and muttered in his heart that since it was plagiarism, he would simply plagiarize it to the end, and then said: "Uncle Ya, then let's do it, I call myself a young marshal, and I won't give myself an official title first, but I am the commander of the generals second only to the marshal, so I have the right to appoint generals and captains, so it's okay, right?" ”

"Young marshal?" Zhou Zeng groaned, pondered and said: "Being a young marshal, with the power to appoint generals and captains, it is not easy to fight with others, it is not easy to attract hatred, and it seems to be different from ordinary generals, and it also leaves enough room for promotion for yourself, which is a good idea." But isn't this young marshal too awkward? Xiang Gongzi, why don't you call yourself a young marshal? Your name is Young Marshal Xiang, and our army calls itself the Young Marshal Army, no matter how you read it, it is easy to pronounce, how about it? ”

Xiang Kang, who deliberately avoided the title and still did not escape the title, smiled, nodded, and said: "Just call it the young marshal, Uncle Lao, you will immediately organize someone to handwrite the list text, carve the letter, sew the flag, and officially announce my new identity." ”

In this way, without deliberately pursuing, Xiang Kang still obeyed the wishes of his subordinates, brazenly appointed himself a temporary official position of a young marshal, and temporarily renamed his army the Young Marshal Army. In view of the current weakness of the troops, Xiang Kang only gave Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan the title of captain, and the other Xiang family disciples and Feng Zhong and others still served as the commander of a hundred people, Zhou was named the sacrificial wine in the army by Xiang Kang, and Sun Prison Peng, whose real name was Sun Gong, was named Xia Xiang County, and Xiang Kang's civil and military team was also initially formed.

At the same time, after the unremitting efforts of Xiang Zhuang and Feng Zhong and others, after desperately recruiting soldiers and recruiting rebels, Xiang Kangjun, who had been renamed the Young Marshal Army, had also expanded the number of troops to more than 1,200 people, but Xiang Kang refused to be satisfied, and sent Xiang Zhuang, Feng Zhong and Sun Prison Peng and others to lead the army to the townships of Xia Xiang, continue to recruit rural men to supplement the troops, and strive to expand the army to more than 2,000. It is convenient to collect grain taxes during the autumn harvest.

The shadow of the war also quickly loomed over the newly established Xiang Chu regime, and two pro-soldiers sent out to report back one after another, saying that the neighboring Yu County and the Consideration were not only desperately recruiting soldiers to form a county army, but also openly shouted the arrogant slogan of stepping on the prime minister and capturing Xiang Kang alive. At the same time, the detailed work sent to Xiapi and Lingxian to inquire about the news also sent news one after another, saying that Xiapi and Lingxian had also strengthened their war preparedness, and although there was no sign of sending troops to the prime minister for the time being, it was also possible that at any time because of the order of the county guard of Donghai County or the request for help from the county guard of Surabaya County, he suddenly sent troops to stab Xiang Kang in the back.

In the face of such a difficult situation, Xiang Kang did not have the slightest timidity, on the contrary, he led Zhou Zeng, Xiang Yang and others out of the county on the eighth day of the seventh month, and went to the shore of Surabaya to survey the terrain and grasp the specific situation of various ferries in Surabaya to the east of the next month. However, the results of the on-site exploration made Xiang Kang very worried, because it is located in the North China Plain, even if the autumn rain has been continuous recently, the water level has risen sharply, and the flow rate of Surabaya is still quite slow, as long as the raft is enough, the county and the enemy can cross Surabaya almost everywhere and set foot on the east bank of Surabaya, and even if the poor troops in Xiang Kang's hands are all pulled to the Surabaya battlefield, it is impossible to guard the long embankment thoroughly, and not give the enemy any chance to cross the river.

Of course, this kind of terrain is not without opportunities for Xiang Kang, who has read countless ancient battle examples, if Xiang Kang is ruthless enough to use poisonous tricks to kill the enemy from the west without spending a single soldier, it is definitely not a fool's dream. However, considering that the autumn harvest was imminent, and the popularity of the people that he urgently needed, Xiang Kang could only shake his head, leaving behind the poisonous plan that had been brewing in his heart, and determined that until the last moment, he would never use the ruthless trick of lacking virtue to cut off children and grandchildren.

After walking along Surabaya from north to south, and came to Shajidu, the most important ferry in Xiaxiang County, Xiang Kang, who was learning to ride a horse, stopped his war horse, stared at the slow water surface around Shajidu in a daze, and said after a while: "If the enemy of Hexian County is coming, he will use this place as a battlefield and lead the enemy to cross the river here to fight." ”

"But the enemy may not cross the river here." Zhou Zeng was worried, and said: "Whether it is upstream or downstream, there are ferries suitable for crossing the river, seeing that we are stationed here, the enemy will definitely not risk crossing the river here?" ”

"It's okay, when the time comes, ask Xiang Guan to lead an army to garrison here." Xiang Kang said without thinking about it: "When the enemy comes, Xiang Guan pretends to flee from the wind and takes the initiative to give way to the ferry, the enemy thinks that we are vulnerable and will cross the river here." Then, when the enemy is halfway across the river, we suddenly send troops, and we can kill the enemy by surprise. ”

"But what if the enemy sees through our deception?" Zhou Zeng was still very worried, and reminded: "I also forgot to tell the young marshal that Gu Bi, the county commander of Yu County, had been on the battlefield when he was young, and he had been a five-hundred-year-old commander in the army, and he was very familiar with battlefield battles, and it was probably difficult for our defeat to escape his eyes." ”

"Not necessarily." Xiang Kang smiled confidently and said, "No matter how experienced Gu Xianling is, he is just an old horse, and old horses will always have a time when they stumble." ”

After smiling, Xiang Kang sent people to strengthen the monitoring of the two counties of Yu County and the two counties of Xuan, and then led everyone back to the county seat, and what he repeatedly calculated along the way was how to lure the enemy to cross the river in Shajidu, which is adjacent to the county seat of Xiaxiang, and how to seize the advantageous fighter plane that attacked it in the middle of the crossing, and dealt a heavy blow to the enemy.

Two days later, on the 10th day of the first month of July, the two personal soldiers who had been sent to investigate the enemy's situation returned to the next minister to report, saying that Gu Bi personally led an army of more than 1,800 people to the east and took the official road to kill each other. If nothing else, within two days at the latest, the Qin army of Su County and the worried Qin army will be on the west bank of Surabaya, directly threatening the life and death of Xia Xiang County.

The total strength of the enemy reached more than 3,300, and there were more than 100 chariots and more than 300 war horses, but no matter how Xiang Zhuang and Feng Zhong and others recruited soldiers for Xiang Kang, the strength of the young marshal's army had barely exceeded 1,800 people, and there were only more than 40 chariots and more than 100 war horses, and the strength of the enemy was huge. Therefore, after receiving the report, at the military meeting, both the children of the Xiang family and Zhou Zeng, Sun Prison Peng and others unanimously suggested that Xiang Kang should collect and burn all the civilian boats on the west bank of Surabaya as soon as possible, so as to make it more difficult for the enemy to cross the river.

"There's no need for that." Xiang Kang shook his head and rejected everyone's proposal, and said with a smile: "Uncle Ya said that Gu Bi, the county commander of Yu County, is barely a veteran of the battlefield, and he must consider the issue of the transition river. Instead of burning the ship and losing the hearts of the people, it is better to do a favor and leave the boat on the west bank of Surabaya for the tyrannical Qin army to rob, so that they can offend the people of Qianshou. ”

After that, Xiang Kang asked Sun Jiaopeng to quickly send a message to the township pavilions of Xiaxiang County on the west bank of Surabaya, saying that the enemy was approaching, and suggested that the fishermen and people of these township pavilions should move their boats to the east bank as soon as possible to avoid being snatched away by the enemy, and first sell the favors of the kind reminder to the people on the west bank.

Sun Prison Peng received the order, first sent his subordinates to the west bank of Surabaya to deliver the order, and then asked Xiang Kang: "Young marshal, since you don't want to burn the ship and lose the hearts of the people, how should we resist after the enemy comes?" ”

"Just one thing now." Xiang Kang replied: "Uncle Ya, please write another letter to Gu Bi, the county commander of Yuxian County, saying that you already know that he personally led the army to defeat the prime minister, and ask him to break through the Surabaya soldiers to the city as soon as possible, and then you will find an opportunity to kill me directly, or encourage your old department in the city to rebel, and help Gu Bi take down the prime minister to atone for his crimes." ”

Zhou Zeng agreed, and immediately put pen to paper, and wrote a letter for Xiang Kang to encourage the Qin army in Yu County to march and cross the river as soon as possible, Xiang Kang thought about it, and added another sentence, saying: "Uncle Ya, add one, just say that you have found out the news, I will send someone to buy the county left lieutenant Chao Zhi who is worried, and divide the relationship between Chao Zhi and him, so that Chao Zhi deliberately pulls him back on the battlefield, or deliberately does not save him when he dies, and tells him to be careful." ”

"Young marshal, what do you mean by doing this?" Zhou Tong stopped writing and asked a little confused.

"Uncle Ya, if you were Gu Bi and you saw this letter, would you be wary of your comrade-in-arms Chao Zhi?" Xiang Kang smiled and said, "Chao Zhi and his army are not performing well on the battlefield, will you suspect that Chao Zhi accepted my bribes and deliberately dragged you back?" You are suspicious of Chao Zhi, will you continue to be close to Chao Zhi and work together? Will you want to put Chao Zhi in front of you everywhere and hide in the back to be careful? After Chao Zhi suffered such a loss as you, what would he think of you? ”

Zhou Zeng opened his mouth and muttered after a while, "It's true that soldiers don't get tired of cheating, but our young marshal Xiang, isn't it too treacherous?" I can't imagine how many tricks there will be when the enemy starts before I even meet the enemy, and I really can't imagine how many tricks there will be when the real fight starts. ”