In the early morning mist, wisps of cooking smoke gradually rose in the camps of the Chu army and the anti-Qin coalition army, and the aroma of food gradually diffused in the camps of the various armies.

A few days ago, Luoyang Dacheng, which was abundant, was successfully captured, and the food of the soldiers of Chu was much better than when they were in Handan and Hanoi before, even if it was the most basic soldiers, the proportion of vegetables and grains for breakfast had been able to reach half of each, and there was no more than eighty percent of the wild vegetables and beans in a bowl of rice as in the hard times, and in the bowls of officers at or above the rank of commander of the tun, you could see the oily big fat slices, and when it came to the food of a thousand generals, it was even more of the big fish and meat that could only be seen when the army was treated.

With the exception of the room of Feng Zhong's department of the Chu army, the fish and meat assigned by the logistics officials of the Chu army to the generals of Feng Zhong's department were all cut into small pieces, and the average amount was poured into each cauldron and the meal was stirred evenly, and then scooped into the bowls of the generals and soldiers one by one with a horse spoon, there is no difference between generals at all levels and ordinary soldiers, if there is any difference in treatment, that is, generals and soldiers with military merit titles of third class and above can receive half a liter of black paste seasoned with rice.

Even Feng Zhong himself was no exception, after leading his own soldiers to choose a team of 1,000 people belonging to the Chu army at will, Feng Zhong first went to the stove to check the food, and then personally received a breakfast that was exactly the same as that of ordinary soldiers, and brought it to the crowd of Chu soldiers and soldiers to squat down to eat together, Chu soldiers and soldiers have long been accustomed to this, no one felt strange, and many soldiers took this opportunity to talk to Feng Zhong boldly.

"General, the soldiers in other camps are most fond of us, that is, we can eat the same meals as our General Pei of the Chu State." A Chu sergeant said with a smile: "Many people who haven't seen it with their own eyes still don't believe it, and they don't believe that General Feng will use a horse spoon to scoop rice with us, and for this matter, many brothers in our team have won a lot of money." ”

"It's nothing, the right general of our Chu State is also doing this, I just learned a habit from him." Feng Zhong replied casually, and then ordered: "There is no need to spread this matter around, you just know it yourself, don't make me difficult in front of other generals." ”

The Chu soldiers present hurriedly nodded in agreement, but Feng Zhong suddenly noticed that there was a Chu soldier not far away who was not enough to have a military lord, looking at the bean sauce in his companion's bowl, and also glanced at a bite of rice, as if he was painting cakes to satisfy his hunger, and used his companion's sauce to cook for himself. Feng Zhong, who was used to seeing this situation, smiled slightly, beckoned the soldier to the front, lifted his sauce and poured it into his bowl, the Chu soldier was shocked, and hurriedly said: "General, no, the little one doesn't dare." ”

"I have a light taste, I can't eat so much sauce, I will divide you in half." Feng Zhong insisted on giving half of the sauce to the soldier, and asked casually, "Gongshi or Shangzao?" ”

"Shangzao (second class)." The Chu sergeant hurriedly replied.

"Work hard next time you fight, and cut another head is a hairpin, and you will have sauce for dinner in the future." Feng Zhong encouraged.

"The small ones must work hard, they must work hard." The Chu sergeant nodded hurriedly, and said excitedly: "Next time, if there is an opportunity like Henan, the little one will definitely rush into the camp of the Tyrannical Qin army, cut off the head of Wang Li's horseman, and let the general you be crowned king." I will never give up my efforts like last time, so that you failed to become the king, general, I am so sorry for you. ”

Feng Zhong knew what this soldier meant, the last battle in Henan County, the anti-Qin coalition army besieged the Qin army camp, Feng Zhong's department was the first army to enter the Qin army camp, and almost won the first merit, but unfortunately it failed to block the Qin army's counterattack, and was driven out again, Feng Zhong, who was notoriously unambitious, didn't mind, but Feng Zhong's generals and soldiers all regretted it, and blamed the army for being too incompetent, so that Feng Zhong missed the opportunity to become the king of Nanyang. This soldier mentioned it again, Feng Zhong couldn't help but smile and said, "It's okay, I just hope that you will work hard to fight, I haven't thought about any king, you don't have to take it to heart." ”

"Nope." The Chu sergeant hurriedly shook his head and said, "If there is another chance, even if we risk our lives, we must help the general take the throne." ”

The Chu soldiers next to him echoed one after another, hoping that Feng Zhong, who loved soldiers like a son, could be the king, but Feng Zhong sighed quietly and said secretly: "Claim the king? It's good that it's so easy, the Xiang Kang brothers are so good at fighting, and everyone is still jealous when they win the throne of Guanzhong, and Leng is slandering him for being rebellious. If I dare to covet the throne with this little ability, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my head. ”

While muttering in his heart, a personal soldier suddenly ran quickly in front of Feng Zhong, clasped his fists and said, "General, it's not good, there is a riot in the camp of the Tyrant Qin Soldiers, and there are many Tyrant Qin Pawns making trouble. ”

This time, the camp of the Qin army was the closest to the camp of the Chu army, and when he heard this report, Feng Zhong of course did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered the soldiers to speed up their meals, so that they could assemble at any time, and quickly finished the breakfast in the bowl, and led his own soldiers to the side of the camp to check the situation. But it's okay, from a distance, although the Qin army's surrender camp is indeed crowded, and there are many soldiers gathered to make noise, the scale is not large, Sima Xin has also urgently dispatched a military law team to suppress it, Feng Zhong didn't dare to rest assured, and hurriedly sent people over to understand the situation.

After a while, the soldiers who went to understand the situation returned to Feng Zhong and reported: "General Feng, the situation has been inquired clearly, it was General Xiang You who sent people to send too much grain to the soldiers of Tyranny Qin, and there was no way to eat it, and the soldiers of Tyranny Qin couldn't swallow that breath, so they beat the people sent by General Xiang You to deliver food." ”

Feng Zhong's face was a little gloomy, because after moving to the battlefield of Aocang, Feng Zhong had heard several times that the grain that Xiang You gave to the Qin army's soldiers was mixed with moldy grain, and the Qin army's soldiers were quite resentful about this, and they didn't expect that today's situation would be so serious, causing the consequences of the Qin army's rebellion.

At this time, Xiang Yu also sent someone to give Feng Zhong an order, asking Feng Zhong to lead 3,000 troops out of the camp and help Sima Xin suppress the riot in the past. Fortunately, the riot was indeed not big, and when Feng Zhong arrived at the scene with the army, Sima Xin had already ordered someone to escort more than 20 Qin army soldiers who took the lead in making trouble out of the camp and handed them over directly to Feng Zhong for disposal, and at the same time, Xiang You, who was responsible for managing grain and grass, also led a team of people to the scene to understand the situation.

The Qin army soldiers who were escorted to Feng Zhong desperately shouted grievances, saying that there was no way to eat the moldy food, so they forced them to find Xiang You's subordinates to seek justice, but Xiang You tried his best to protect his subordinates, and asked Feng Zhong to immediately reduce the Qin army who made trouble to Ming Zheng, Sima Xin also quickly ordered his own soldiers to prepare to act, Feng Zhong was quite reasonable, first stopped Sima Xin, and then ordered: "Go and bring some of the grain to me to see." ”

"Brother Feng!"

Xiang You's tone improved a little, and Feng Zhong looked indifferent, and said: "Brother Xiang You, there is about to be a war, the stability of the military is the most important, and they will kill people indiscriminately, if there is such a mess outside Luoyang City, will you bear the responsibility or me?" ”

Xiang You closed his mouth with a gloomy face, Feng Zhong also insisted on sending people out of the camp, and soon brought in some grain that had been moldy and discolored and had maggots, Feng Zhong took a look at it and said to Xiang You: "Brother Xiang You, what do you think?" ”

Xiang You's face became even more gloomy, and he instructed his subordinates after a while: "Go and see, how much such food there is, and make up for them." ”

After finishing speaking, Xiang You turned his horse's head and went back to the Chu army camp directly, Feng Zhong also pointed to the Qin army soldiers who were escorted to him by Sima Xin, and said: "You, although today's incident has a reason, but you gather people to make trouble, you can't be held accountable, go back and get forty military sticks, do you accept it?" ”

"The small ones are obedient." More than 20 Qin army soldiers knelt down together and kowtowed to Feng Zhong to thank them, and many people still had tears in their eyes.

"Just take it, go back and lead the stick." Feng Zhong commanded casually.

More than 20 Qin soldiers paused again, got up honestly and went back to receive the punishment, but one Qin soldier looked hesitant, and plucked up the courage to ask Feng Zhong: "General Feng, they all say that you are a good person, can you tell the little one, what is the situation in Guanzhong now?" The right general of the State of Chu has entered Guanzhong, will our parents, wives and children in Guanzhong be in danger? ”

"Bold!" Sima Xin hurriedly scolded: "What kind of thing are you, you dare to talk like this to General Feng of the Chu State?" ”

The Qin army had no choice but to shut up, but when he looked at Feng Zhong, his eyes were full of expectation and longing, as well as endless pleading. Feng Zhong couldn't bear it in his heart, so he said: "You put a hundred hearts, although the right general of our Chu State has entered Guanzhong, I can guarantee that your parents, wives and children in Guanzhong will definitely not be in any danger." ”

"Really?" The Qin army asked with great joy.

"I can guarantee it." Feng Zhong nodded, pointed to his army behind him, and said, "The soldiers under my command, what is the discipline, you should also know, right?" To tell you the truth, they are all the original subordinates of Xiang Kang, the right general of our Chu State, who have always kept in mind the teachings of our right general, have strict military discipline, never hurt innocent old and weak women and children, and have never deliberately bullied you, they are still like this, not to mention the direct army under the command of our right general? So don't worry, I can vouch for my head that your parents, wives, children, brothers and sisters in Guanzhong will never be bullied casually, and will only live better than before. ”

I had long known that Feng Zhong's army was disciplined and was the most friendly army in the Chu army to the Qin army's soldiers, so the Qin army's soldiers were of course even more overjoyed when they heard Feng Zhong's explanation, and hurriedly knelt down and saluted Feng Zhong, and then returned to the camp excitedly to receive the punishment, and told Feng Zhong's reply to the Qin army companions who were also worried about their relatives in Guanzhong day and night.

Seeing the back of the Qin army's soldiers and successfully appeasing the Qin army's soldiers, Feng Zhong, who had successfully appeased the Qin army's soldiers, had no joy on his face, his eyes were full of worry and sadness, and he said secretly: "Brother, if the former general takes Ao Cang and insists on going to war with you in the Guanzhong, I really don't know what to do, big brother." I believe that you are not that kind of person, you definitely did not claim the title of king in Guanzhong, and took the initiative to wage war against our Chu army in Hangu Pass, but I am soft-spoken, and the former general does not listen to what he says, he does not listen! ”

…………

Feng Zhong's worries have become a reality, at the same time in the big tent of the Chu army, in front of all the princes and their representatives, Xiang Yu has categorically rejected all Xiang Kang's requests for peace talks, and Xiang Kang let people forge the letter from Wang Muli, the guard of the Hangu Guard, was also thrown to the ground with great contempt by Xiang Yu, and said with a sneer: "Don't fool me with this set, the person is dead, of course you can forge such a letter as you want, anyway, the one surnamed Wang can't be opened, you can say whatever you want." ”

"If the former general still doesn't believe it, he can send someone into the customs to investigate." Li Shiqi held back his anger and said: "If you find out the evidence that General Right is claiming the king in Guanzhong without authorization, our General Right and the lower officials can dispose of it at your disposal!" ”

"Of course General Ben will look into it." Xiang Yuyi sneered and said: "But for such a big matter, General Ben must personally investigate, personally take the anti-Qin coalition forces outside the border to investigate, if he is smart, he will obediently put down his arms and surrender, and when I find out the truth, I will naturally return him to a clean slate." If he continues to be obsessed, and even dares to resist by force, I will have no choice but to kill his brother in righteousness. ”

"The surname is Li, don't waste your saliva." Xiang Bo couldn't wait and said: "Just because you dare to do it to us in Hangu Pass, our former general will not listen to any explanation from you, go back and tell Xiang Kang that little evil beast that if he still wants to live, there is only one choice now, which is to immediately lay down his arms and surrender unconditionally!" ”

When encountering Xiang Yu and Xiang Bo, who were unreasonable to this point, Li Shiqi was so angry that even his gray beard was trembling, but no matter how angry he was, Xiang Yu and Xiang Bo had a resolute attitude, saying that Xiang Kang wanted to take the initiative to hand over the military power and all the land and cities, the old man Fan and Cao Ji next to him were expressionless, the princes from all walks of life had different expressions, and many people were obviously gloating, no one stood up to help Xiang Kang say even if he said a fair word, no matter how well Li Shiqi could speak, there was no way at this moment.

was really angry to the extreme, and Li Shiqi, who was already in a bad temper, could no longer hold back the impulse in his chest, and simply laughed wildly: "Okay! Good! Since the former general insisted on forcing his cousin to a dead end, then we had no choice but to accompany him to the end! Anyway, the old man will go back to report to the right general, and ask him to immediately reorganize his troops and horses as the former general wishes, prepare to fight to the death with the former general, and fight with the former general to break the net! Leave! ”

After speaking, Li Shiqi didn't salute, turned around and walked out, but Xiang Yu shouted: "Stop!" Shall I allow you to go? ”

Li Shiqi turned his head and asked with a sneer, "What else does the former general command?" ”

"As far as General Ben knows, your own brother Li Shang seems to be attacking Hanzhong and Bashu for my rebel brother at present, right?" Xiang Yu smiled and said: "Write a letter to your brother for me, persuade him to surrender to me with the army, and block Xiang Kang's southward escape road for me, not only will I not investigate the sins of your party's subordinate Xiang Kang, but I will also give you a promotion to the rank of marquis, and also give your brother a promotion to the marquis, otherwise, you should know what will happen to you!" ”

Of course, Xiang Yu threatened the wrong person, in history, Li Shiqi was not even afraid of being cooked to death, how could he be afraid of his false words and intimidation? Furious, Li Shiqi also nodded and smiled, and said, "Okay, no problem, the old man will write to you now!" ”

After finishing speaking, Li Shiqi rushed to the side, really picked up the pen and quickly wrote a few words on the silk silk, and then fell in front of Xiang Yu and shouted: "You can be satisfied now, right?" ”

Somewhat unexpectedly picked up the letter that Li Shiqi had just written, and saw that the letter was actually seven big characters of 'Helping the Right General to Kill Xiang Yu', Xiang Yu was immediately furious, and shouted: "Old horseman, you dare to play tricks on me!" Come on, push this old puppet out and bury him alive! ”

"Wait!"

Fortunately, Cao Ji, who had a calmer personality, stood up in time to stop it, and then walked to Xiang Yu's ear and whispered: "Former general, you can't kill, kill Li Shiqi, this old horseman, not only will we have no chance to force General Right to surrender voluntarily through envoy negotiations, but his younger brother Li Shang will definitely be the enemy of us, and when the right general will flee to Hanzhong Bashu, we want to dominate the world again, I don't know what year and month we have to wait." ”

"Also, General Right is your cousin after all, and killing his messenger will only damage the general's prestige." Cao Ji said in a low voice: "It's better to temporarily detain him in our army and let the others go back to report to General Right, so that we can not only use him to coerce Li Shang to surrender, but also make General Right dare not be completely at ease with Hanzhong Bashu." ”

Xiang Yu could still listen to Cao Yao's words, and forcibly suppressed the anger in his chest, Xiang Yu changed his words and ordered: "Escort this old man down, take care of him, never let him run away, and don't allow him to commit suicide!" ”

The guards quickly escorted away Li Shiqi, who was scolding, and Xiang Yu also pointed to Zhang Liang, who had never said a word, and shouted: "Zhang Zifang, you take the general's words to Xiang Kang's rebellious minister, and tell him clearly, if you are smart, immediately put down your arms and surrender, even if he is guilty afterwards, I will guarantee his feudal position." But if he continues to be obsessed, don't blame me for killing my relatives in righteousness! ”

"Also, by the way, I will also bring you a word for King Han." Xiang Yu added: "Tell him to either act as an internal response to our army, or he will go out of the customs immediately and cut off with Xiang Kang's rebellious ministers!" Otherwise, I will pick someone again and set up another king of Han! ”

Things have come to this point, of course Zhang Liang also knows that it is useless to say anything, in order to go back to Xiang to recover his life smoothly, Zhang Liang can only give up his hand, "Please rest assured that the former general, the foreign minister will definitely bring the words for you." However, the matter was too much to do, and the former general was asked to give him a letter, so that the foreign minister would not go back and say that there was no evidence. ”

Xiang Yu agreed, and immediately ordered Xiang Bo to write a letter to Xiang Kang and Han Cheng, signed and handed it to Zhang Liang, and ordered Zhang Liang to return to Guanzhong immediately to hand it over to Xiang Kang. Then, according to Xiang Yu's request, the princes outside the Guan, who had ghosts, swore in public to join forces in the Guanzhong, never contact Xiang Kang in private for peace talks, and once again clarify the decision to eradicate Xiang Kang's forces by force, and then they each said goodbye and left.

The matter was not over, after the princes dispersed, Old Man Fan said to Xiang Yu again: "Former general, since we have clearly rejected General You's request for peace talks, then we have to prevent him from making the first move in a desperate situation, and it is relatively much easier for Hangu Pass to fight from west to east, so we had better immediately increase our troops at Hangu Pass and protect our way to advance our troops, so as not to prevent General Right from taking back Hangu Pass first and blocking the way for our army to directly enter the pass." ”

"Yes, that's how it should be." Xiang Yu nodded, and asked again: "Then which army should be sent to reinforce Hangu Pass?" ”

"Dividing troops from the Sanchuan battlefield to enter the customs is too much of a waste of time, and it is easy to have long nights and dreams." Old man Fan proposed: "Qi Guotian'an's army is currently in Mianchi, it is better to ask him to immediately go west to take over Hangu Pass, let Pei Gong Liu Ji free up his hands to go all out into the pass, seize the city west of Hangu Pass, and establish the outer barrier of Hangu Pass, so as to block the counteroffensive of General You for a long time and ensure that the main force of our army can return to Hangu Pass smoothly." ”

Xiang Yu agreed, but Old Man Fan still refused to give up, and said: "Former general, Pei Gong is a bit slippery, and he likes to take tricks when encountering problems, you had better send a cronie to carry a team of guards and your sword to the Pei Gong army to serve as a resolute officer, and urge Pei Gong to fight with Xiang Kang's rebels, so as not to prevent Pei Gong from preserving his strength and not daring to fight with Xiang Kang head-on, which will ruin your big business." ”

Of course, Old Man Fan still wants to drive wolves and tigers, and teach Liu Laosan, who dared to covet the throne in Guanzhong before, although Xiang Yu didn't know his vicious intentions, he still agreed, and immediately ordered Wei Ji, the deputy captain of his own guards, to be Liu Laosan's supervisor, and rushed to Hangu Pass with his own sword to urge Liu Laosan to enter the army, Wei Ji was also quite courageous, even if he knew that this trip might be dangerous, he still accepted the order without hesitation.

After accepting the order, Wei Ji arranged his entourage as soon as possible, and planned to select a few guards from Xiang Yu's guards to help him, but to Wei Ji's surprise, he hadn't opened this mouth yet, and Feng Zhong's halberd Lang Zhonghan Xin, who was recommended to Xiang Yu at the beginning, took the initiative to find him and said: "General Wei, you go to the Pei Gong Army to supervise the army this time, can you take your subordinates with you?" Do you something to do you a favor. ”

"Not afraid of danger?" Wei Ji asked casually, and said: "Pei Gong's army is on the front line, ready to fight Xiang Kang's rebels at any time. ”

"If you're afraid of danger, your subordinates won't open this mouth." Han Xin said with a smile: "On the contrary, if you stay in the camp every day, you will already be bored." ”

Although he had a mediocre relationship with Han Xin, who was not good at communicating, but seeing that Han Xin had the courage to take the initiative to ask for help, Wei Ji still agreed, Han Xin hurriedly thanked him, and then said in his heart: "Xiang Yu is just self-serving, he doesn't listen to advice, there is no hope of staying by his side, Feng Zhong has no face to go back again, it is better to go to Liu Ji to try his luck, that guy is an ambitious lord, by his side, maybe there will be a day when I will come out." ”

By the way, although Han Xin also knows very well that Liu Laosan is on the front line and may be killed by Xiang Kang at any time, it doesn't matter, just with the friendship between Han Xin and Feng Zhong, as well as the friendship between Feng Zhong and Xiang Kang, Han Xin is also sure that he will vote for another master at a critical moment, and run to Xiang Kang's account to continue to try his luck.