In the urgent letter to Xiang Kang, Xiang Liang not only told Xiang Kang the time and place where he led the army to cross the river, but also told Xiang Kang his own route of marching, saying that he was going to cross the river from the river to the north, take Guangling, Tangyi, Dongcheng, Yinling and Quyang, and rush to Jiujiang County to govern Shouchun within a limited time, and then go north to Pengcheng directly along Qin Chi Road for reinforcements, and also asked Xiang Kang to guard Pengcheng with peace of mind and wait for reinforcements, without risking a decisive battle with Zhang Ping's division of the Qin army, and then find Zhang Ping to settle accounts when his reinforcements arrived.

Zhang Ping's troops have been completely annihilated by the young marshal's army, and such a letter was sent to Xiang Kang, Xiang Liang's entrustment was of course pure afterthought and empty favors, but from the eager tone of the letter and Xiang Liang's extremely tight marching schedule, Xiang Kang could see that his heroic second uncle was indeed very concerned about the safety and survival of the young marshal army, and did not have any intention of just hiding behind and picking up the cheapest, so Xiang Kang still smiled with relief and said: "From Guangling to Shouchun within nine days, you must march all the way, The second uncle had a hard time this time. ”

"It's okay, it is estimated that Xiang Zhuguo will already know the news of our northern front." Zhou Zeng comforted: "Knowing that we have broken the partial division of the Tyrannical Qin army alone, Xiang Zhuguo will definitely not be in a hurry, and his army will not work too hard." ”

Xiang Kang nodded, but Zhou Zeng suddenly remembered something that was quite important, and hurriedly said: "Young marshal, should you send a powerful envoy to greet Xiang Zhuguo on your behalf?" By the way, we also gave an order to our civil and military generals and troops in Jiujiang County, so that after they meet Xiang Zhuguo, they will immediately obey Xiang Zhuguo's orders and commands, and show our heartfelt attitude of supporting Xiang Zhuguo? ”

"I'll have to send a messenger of sufficient weight to meet him." Xiang Kang nodded again and said, "Especially my invincible third uncle is now in Shouchun, if we don't send someone to meet us quickly, ask the second uncle to take over our army and city on the spot, my third uncle will definitely have something to say." ”

"Young marshal, then let it go down." Zhou Zeng volunteered: "I am familiar with the various situations in our army, so it is convenient to report our various political and military affairs to Xiang Zhuguo, and I have long wanted to meet Xiang Zhuguo, this is just an opportunity." ”

Of course, Zhou Zeng is the right person to greet Xiang Liang on behalf of Xiang Kang, but because he and Old Man Fan have never been in the same pot, Zhou Zeng has always been Xiang Kang's chief assistant in military affairs, and now it is a great opportunity for the young marshal army to take advantage of the situation to win Dangjun, Xiang Kang is of course reluctant to let his right-hand man Zhou Zeng leave. As a result, when Xiang Kang hesitated, the old man Fan next to him also opened his mouth and said: "Young Marshal Xiang, Zhou Xijiu has too many official duties in his hands, and he can't leave the army for a long time, so let the old man go." ”

"Fan Gong wants to go and meet my uncle?" Xiang Kang asked.

"Not bad." Old man Fan nodded calmly, and said more bluntly: "In addition to wanting to meet Xiang Zhuguo as soon as possible, the old man also has some important strategies about how our Great Chu army will develop in the future, and I want to give advice to Xiang Zhuguo in person, so please allow the young marshal to let the old man go to meet Xiang Zhuguo on your behalf." ”

History is not so bad that he is completely ignorant of the major events at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and Xiang Kang certainly knows what kind of important strategy Old Man Fan is ready to offer to Xiang Liangjin - it is nothing more than to support the authentic descendants of the Chu King as the king, and play the orthodox banner of the old Chu royal family to unite the hearts of the people of Chu. And for this point, Xiang Kang has always been very hesitant, not knowing whether to support Xiang Liang to adopt Old Man Fan's suggestion as in history, or persuade Xiang Liang to become the king of himself, so as to avoid the hidden dangers left over after conquering the world in the future.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang is a very decisive person, and he quickly thought of a question, and said secretly: "There is no need to stop this, first of all, even if I can stop Old Man Fan now and prevent him from coming up with this bad idea, after meeting with the second uncle in the future, Old Man Fan will definitely give him this bad idea." Then if Xiang Liang listened to Old Man Fan's bad idea and supported an orthodox descendant of the King of Chu as in history, it would actually be a good thing for me, not only to avoid too many changes in history and let me lose the advantage of being a prophet, but also to put a tight spell on the second uncle and my overlord cousin, and if necessary, I could use the King of Chu they supported to suppress them. ”

After making up his mind, Xiang Kang nodded and said, "Okay, Uncle Ya can't leave the army casually now, so he will work hard for Fan Gong to make a trip." But Fan Gong, the younger generation I also have something to ask for, maybe Fan Gong you have also heard, I and my third uncle often have conflicts in some small things, if my third uncle said something hearsay in front of the second uncle, I also hope that Fan Gong will fight for me in front of the second uncle, indicating that I am forced to be helpless. ”

"Please rest assured that the young marshal is here." Old man Fan said confidently: "What Master Xiang did before, the old man has indeed heard of it in the army, if he dares to play with what is wrong and slander the young marshal, the old man will not let go of this white head, and he will definitely prove his innocence for you in front of Xiang Zhuguo." ”

Knowing Old Man Fan's fierce temper, Xiang Kang of course believed in his promise, and immediately asked Zhou Zeng to write an order, so that the civil and military officials of the young marshal army on the southern front would immediately obey Xiang Liang's orders and command unconditionally after meeting Xiang Liang, and then arranged a team of reliable guards to protect Old Man Fan and go south to greet Xiang Liang for himself. Old man Fan was overjoyed, and immediately said goodbye and left, and hurriedly returned to the residence to pack up.

Still after Old Man Fan left, Zhou Zeng cautiously said to Xiang Kang: "Young Marshal, don't blame me for being slandered in the back, Fan Gong is gone, I'm afraid it will be difficult to return to your side in the future." It can be seen below that Fan Gong has always been very unpleasant to some of your strategies and strategies, and if he has the opportunity, he may take the opportunity to leave. ”

Xiang Kang sighed and said: "Go and go, I and him are indeed not in the right temper, my second uncle is generous and heroic, Fan Gong is under his command, and he is indeed more able to show his strengths, instead of forcibly leaving him behind, it is better to push the boat down the river, be a man and leave a line, and see each other in the future." ”

The matter is not over, after the preparation for the departure work is perfect, when Xiang Kang personally went to the gate of the camp to see off the old man Fan, he read that Xiang Kang has always been good to him, and the old man Fan, who has already decided to leave Xiang Kang's account, still gave Xiang Kang another idea, and said: "Young marshal, now is a great opportunity for you to go west to take the entire territory of Dangjun, please don't miss it, although the more you go west now, the closer you are to the main force of the Tyrant Qin army, but even if you don't go west, after Zhang Handpifu defeated Wei Qi, will definitely come in the east to avenge his partial teacher. ”

"Therefore, instead of being passively beaten, you should seize the opportunity to go west with all your might, seize the population, money, food, and city land of Dangjun, and quickly increase your strength, so that even if Zhang Handpifu launches a counterattack, you will have sufficient troops and a larger strategic space to use."

Not to mention, Old Man Fan's strategy, which may be the last time he planned for Xiang Kang, really gave Xiang Kang a hint of the maze, so that Xiang Kang, who was still a little hesitant about whether to go westward in a big way, was no longer a little confused, and also made Xiang Kang can't help but let out a long sigh when he saw Old Man Fan's carriage leave, and said secretly: "Talent is indeed talent, but it's a pity that it's too bad with me, so I can't use it if I want to reuse it." ”

After sending off Old Man Fan somewhat sullenly, he adopted Old Man Fan's suggestion, Xiang Kang decisively went to Lingli County, and asked Feng Zhong, who had already joined forces with Xiang You, to divide an army to take Yumeng Second County, and the main force to march into Suiyang, and then took the newly incorporated Lishan prisoners as the vanguard, and led the main force to the west, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity that Zhang Han was still dealing with Wei Ji, and make every effort to seize the densely populated land in the hinterland of Dangjun.

Feng Zhong still continued to surprise Xiang Kang in terms of fighting, and the main force of the young marshal's army had just crossed Li County, and Feng Zhong sent someone to send a good letter, saying that he had successfully taken Suiyang, the county of Dang County, and at the same time, Chen Ying's subordinate of the young marshal army in Yu County in the north had also successfully forced down in Yu County. At the same time, the combined forces of Yingbu and Lüchen, who went north from Chen County, had just taken the small city of Hengyang in the southwest of Suiyang, and they didn't even see the shadow of Suiyang City.

The advance of the front army was smooth, and Xiang Kang was of course even more polite, in addition to letting Feng Zhong continue to go west to fight Xiangyi, he hurriedly urged the main force to move forward, and hurried to Suiyang to join the combined forces of Yingbu and Lü Chen. The result was not bad, when the main force of the young marshal's army arrived in Suiyang, although the combined forces of Yingbu and Lu Chen arrived in Suiyang one step earlier, they were stationed outside the city very well-behaved, and did not have any conflict with the defending army left by Feng Zhong, and at the same time, after Xiang Kang arrived in Suiyang, Yingbu and Lu Chen also visited Xiang Kang in the camp for the first time, so that Xiang Kang finally saw the famous Yingbu at the end of Qin.

Like the legend, Yingbu's face really had obvious traces of punishment, but this did not affect Yingbu's hearty personality, and when he talked to Xiang Kang, he was always talking and laughing, and the etiquette was neither humble nor arrogant, which left a very good impression on Xiang Kang. And Zhang Chu's loyal minister Lu Chen is also inseparable from the word loyalty, when mentioning Chen Sheng, who was assassinated by a traitor, Lu Chen also cried sadly several times, and his loyalty to Chen Sheng was by no means a fake.

But it's still a pity, although Xiang Kang also directly revealed the attitude of wanting to recruit Yingbu and Lu Chen's two armies, but Yingbu and Lu Chen all politely declined, making it clear that they only wanted to revive the Chu State and fight against Qin side by side with the young marshal army as allies, and were unwilling to accept Xiang Kang's solicitation, Xiang Kang was helpless, in order not to force away the two armies of Yingbu and Lu Chen, he had to stop at the point, change the topic in time, and discuss with Yingbu and Lu Chen how to join forces to take Dangjun and deal with the main force of Zhang Han, which was getting closer and closer.

Not to mention, although Yingbu and Lu Chen were unwilling to surrender to Xiang Kang, they were not ambiguous in the anti-Qin matter, and immediately offered to serve as the vanguard for Xiang Kang, to attack the city and seize the land for Xiang Kang, and to seize the land of the city favored by Xiang Kang. - Of course, this is also because the Yinglu coalition army has neither strong enough troops, nor stable money and food supplies, and must rely on the main force of the young marshal's army to act as a backup for the western expedition, otherwise, Yingbu and Lu Chen, who are definitely not good men and women, will not be so easy to talk to.

It was clear that Yingbu and Lü Chen actually wanted to take advantage of themselves, but in order to unite the other anti-Qin rebels, Xiang Kang still agreed to Yingbu and Lü Chen's request, but on the issue of how to enter the army and how to fight those Dangjun cities, Xiang Kang, who was not very clear about the enemy situation in the west, had not yet made up his mind for a while, and at the same time, it was not early, so Xiang Kang could only agree with Yingbu and Lü Chen to discuss how to enter the army another day.

After personally sending Yingbu and Lu Chen out of the camp, they returned to the big tent of the Chinese army, which was already a little tired, and Xiang Kang, who was already a little tired, was not in a hurry to go back to rest, but just rubbed his temples and calculated, thinking about how to use the two cannon fodder armies of Yingbu and Lu Chen. Zhou Zeng next to him saw Xiang Kang's thoughts, so he said: "Young marshal, are you worried about how to use the two armies of Yingbu and Lu Chen?" Don't let them take advantage of them in vain, and don't force them away and damage the reputation of our young marshal army? ”

"yes." Xiang Kang nodded, and said helplessly: "Although Yingbu and Lu Chen took the initiative to ask to be the vanguard, if we let them fight hard with Zhang Han and buy time and create opportunities for us to take the other cities in Dangjun, they will definitely not do it." If we just let them attack the empty Dangjun city of the Tyrannical Qin army, with our main force as a backup, the city can definitely be taken, but we will suffer too much. ”

"It's annoying." Zhou Zeng nodded, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that Yingbu and Lu Chen's ambitions are too great, and they just want to fish in troubled waters in troubled times, and they are unwilling to surrender to us, otherwise, if their army is absorbed, we can fight as much as we want, and we don't have to have so many taboos." ”

Xiang Kang sighed even more than Zhou Zeng, regretting that he was too young and his prestige was too small, and he couldn't let Yingbu and Lu Chen, two good generals, bow down, so he could only watch them change their banners, and they had to be on an equal footing with themselves with weak forces.

When he was troubled and unable to absorb the friendly army, Xiang Yang suddenly entered the tent and said to Xiang Kang: "Brother, just now when you were discussing with General Imbrüchen, an envoy sent by Wei Ji, the king of Wei, came to visit us in front of the camp, saying that there was a letter of state of Wei written by Wei Qi, and he wanted to present it to you in person, and he had been waiting in our guest account for a while. ”

"Then why didn't you just say that?" Xiang Kang asked casually.

"He offered to wait." Xiang Yang explained: "He heard that Brother You were discussing with General Imbrüchen, so he took the initiative to say that he couldn't disturb your important affairs, and wanted to see you when you were done, so I asked him to wait in the guest tent." ”

"The letter of the State of Wei written by Wei Qi? What does he want to do? Zhou Zeng asked in wonder.

"Do you still need to ask?" Xiang Kang sneered and said: "It's definitely a request for help, just with the rabble in Zhou Fu's hands, how can it be possible to stop Zhang Han's main force of tyrannical Qin?" I must have heard that we had counterattacked into Dangjun, so they hurriedly came to ask us for help. ”

"Think beautifully." Zhou Zeng smiled and said, "It's too late for us to hide from Zhang Han now, how can we take the initiative to provoke him?" ”

After that, Zhou Zeng said again: "Young marshal, it's not early, and you are also very tired, why don't you see the envoy of Wei tomorrow." ”

Xiang Kang, who was indeed a little tired, wanted to agree, but after thinking about it, Xiang Kang still changed his mind and said: "Let's see you now, that Wei envoy is still a little bit of a look, knowing that I am very busy, he took the initiative to ask to wait, for the sake of him being able to think about me, see you now." ”

Xiang Yang agreed, and hurriedly went out of the account to send someone to invite the envoy of Wei to meet with Xiang Kang, and then after a while, the envoy was led to the big tent of the Chinese army, Xiang Kang looked at it casually, and saw that the envoy of Wei was dressed as a scholar, about thirty years old, with white skin, three locks of long beard, red lips and white teeth, and a pair of long eyes that were very beautiful, he was a typical ancient beautiful man, and at the same time knew etiquette very well, and he saluted Xiang Kang respectfully as soon as he met, and said in a clear voice: "The envoy of Wei has seen the young marshal of Dachu Xiang. ”

"Wei envoy is exempt." Xiang Kang casually ordered, and said: "Listen to my brother, sir, you have come a long time ago, because I am busy with affairs, and I took the initiative to postpone the meeting, which really bothered Mr. Sir, please take a seat, have you eaten? ”

"Thank you for your concern, the little envoy really hasn't eaten yet." The Wei envoy replied calmly, and said: "But this matter is not urgent, the little envoy will bring the Wei State letter written by him in his own handwriting, and submit it to the young marshal for review." ”

Out of courtesy, Zhou Zeng, who was wearing an official uniform, also stepped forward to take it in person and handed it to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang opened his hands and looked at it carefully, and saw that Wei Qi was really cheeky to ask for help from him, and kept saying that although the Wei army and the young marshal army had conflicts, they were both anti-Qin righteous troops, and they should help each other, and what did they say, the Wei State was destroyed by Zhang Han, and the young marshal army that had formed a blood feud with Zhang Han must also be in trouble. Therefore, I implore Xiang Kang to put the great cause of opposing Qin as the priority and quickly send troops to pull Wei to help.

The content of the letter was already expected by Xiang Kang, so he just read it in a hurry, Xiang Kang immediately handed it to Zhou Zeng to watch, and the Wei envoy who was sitting in the guest position also hurriedly said: "Young marshal, in addition to letting the little envoy send a letter for help, I also asked the little envoy to report to the young marshal, if the young marshal does not hesitate to lend a hand to help the Wei army retreat from the violent Qin army, after the matter is completed, my king will definitely thank the young marshal heavily, whether it is the city land, or gold and jewelry, the young marshal just speaks, and my king will definitely repay with all his might." ”

"King Wei's kindness, I understand it." Xiang Kang said very directly, and said: "But sir, you have come all the way, and you must have seen it with your own eyes, all the strength of our army combined, it is only a little more than 40,000, and there are many battles, the soldiers are tired, and you want to rescue your army, you are really powerless." ”

"The young marshal is too modest." The Wei envoy smiled and said: "Although there are not many of your troops, the sergeants and soldiers of the army are all adult men, which are by no means comparable to the ordinary rabble, and the weapons and equipment of the elite soldiers are not under the main force of the Tyrannical Qin, even if they are confronted head-on by the Tyrannical Qin army, they will definitely not fall behind." ”

"And the little envoy doesn't dare to deceive the young marshal." The Wei envoy said: "Not long ago, my king has sent an envoy to contact the Qi State, the Qi King Tian Dan thought of the death of his lips and teeth, not only immediately agreed to send troops to help, but also personally led the main force of the Qi State to the south to come to the rescue, it is better to arrive at our Wei State's capital Linji, then there will be the main force of Wei and Qi to confront the main force of the tyrannical Qin, the young marshal only needs to send troops on the southern front, and the three armies will join forces, and they will definitely be able to retreat from the tyrannical Qin and keep Linji. ”

Xiang Kang smiled contemptuously and said, "Sir, since you are from Linji, then the soldiers of the main force of the tyrannical Qin are strong and strong, and the army is strong, you must have witnessed it with your own eyes." Please ask yourself, even if my main force joins forces with the main forces of Wei and Qi, is it possible to retreat the tyrannical Qin army? ”

Xiang Kang said it so directly, of course, the Wei envoy's expression was immediately a little lost, and he asked directly: "Young marshal, in this way, are you planning to see death or not save you?" ”

"For the sake of the same anti-Qin rebels, of course I won't die for your army." Xiang Kang replied more directly, and said: "But if I want to directly dispatch the main force to fight hard with the main force of the Tyrannical Qin army, I dare not take this risk, I can only think of ways in other aspects, and try to share some pressure for your army." ”

After directly expressing his attitude, Xiang Kang said again: "But don't worry, sir, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't keep my word, I promised to help you, I will do my best." Also, by the way, I have good news for you, my uncle, Xiang Liang, the marshal of the Chu State, is already on his way north to join our division, and when my uncle and I join the division, the troops will be strengthened, and we will also try to send troops directly to rescue you. ”

"I'm just afraid that we won't be able to hold out until then." The Wei envoy muttered in his heart, but he didn't say it directly.

At this time, Xiang Kang yawned again, and said with a tired face: "Sir, I really don't want to go, it's not that I deliberately treat you slowly, it's that I'm really tired." In this way, you go back to the guest tent to rest and eat first, and then give you an accurate answer after I have carefully discussed it with Wen Wu. ”

Xiang Kang gave the order to expel the guest, but the Wei envoy did not continue his knowledge, and immediately said goodbye and left, on the contrary, he peeked at Xiang Kang a few times, and suddenly said: "The little envoy dared to ask the young marshal, the young marshal looked so tired, but because the two armies of Yingbu and Lu Chen outside Suiyang City were unwilling to surrender and obey the orders of the young marshal?" ”

"What?" Xiang Kang, who was yawning, was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously fixed his eyes to look at the Wei envoy, and couldn't help but blurt out, "How do you know?" ”

"It's simple." The Wei envoy smiled and said: "If the two generals, Yingbu and Lu Chen, accepted the young marshal's solicitation just now and agreed to accept the young marshal's incorporation, then people are in good spirits at happy events, and no matter how tired the young marshal is now, his spirit will not be so bad." However, after the young marshal, you just had a long conversation with the two generals Yingbu and Lu Chen, but your mood was obviously not good, this does not directly show that the two generals Yingbu and Lu Chen are unwilling to surrender to the young marshal, and are only willing to join hands with the young marshal to fight. ”

Xiang Kang was even more stunned, and he couldn't believe that this Wei envoy would be so capable, and he could guess Yingbu and Lu Chen's attitude towards him with a little clue, and even guessed that he didn't want Yingbu and Lu Chen to take advantage of him at all.