In addition to pretending to understand the various situations of the Western Chu army's early assembly of troops in Xue County, he also took the initiative to advise Xiang Yu selflessly, and tried his best to persuade Xiang Yu to be promoted without suspicion, so that Liu Laosan, who had returned to Xiang Yu's account not long ago, would serve as the commander of Xue County's partial division, responsible for dealing with the Peng Yue thief army that was about to advance eastward. There were also those who rushed to Qidi to reinforce Tian Da and Tian Jiao at the first time, and finally these two Guanwai princes who also submitted to the Western Chu army.

However, Master Xiang Boxiang's reasons for recommending are indeed sufficient, among the generals of the Western Chu army whose talents are gradually withering, except for Huan Chu, who must not be mobilized at present, Liu Laosan's experience in commanding troops is the most abundant, and his combat exploits are also the most prominent, and his experience in being alone is beyond the reach of Huan Chu, and at the same time, he is extremely familiar with the various situations of Xue County, and he can be regarded as the head snake of half of Xue County.

It was quite a surprise and joy to Master Xiang, and the old man Fan, who had always liked to work against him, also took the wrong medicine this time, and even agreed with his point of view very much, and also tried his best to persuade Xiang Yu to send Liu Laosan to Xue County to clean up Peng Yue, the only difference was to let Liu Laosan serve as his deputy, and let Xiang Zhuang, who had been able to compete with Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang under Xiang Liang's account, serve as the coach of Xue County's partial division.

Xiang Yu, who is stubborn and self-serving, has always only listened to the opinions of three subordinates, one is Cao Ji who has sacrificed on the battlefield of Puyang, and the other two are Fan Zeng and Master Xiang Boxiang, and now Old Man Fan and Master Xiang have given Liu Laosan a platform at the same time, Xiang Yu, who originally had no such plan, also changed his mind, and quickly nodded and said: "Okay, since Father Ya and Uncle Ji both think that Liu Ji should be sent to Xue County, then let him go, let him serve as a deputy to Xiang Zhuang and assist Xiang Zhuang to lead our Xue County Division." ”

Old man Fan thanked him, and Master Xiang Boxiang also thanked him happily, and said in his heart: "Brother Liu Ji, although I didn't make you the coach of our Xue County's partial division, you only said that you wanted to go to Xue County to kill thieves and make meritorious contributions, but you didn't say that you must be our partial division coach, so the old man can be regarded as fulfilling the promise he promised you, and you have to continue to thank the old man." ”

Liu Laosan did not disappoint Old Man Fan, after learning that Xiang Yu decisively agreed to let him go to Xue County, although he only served as an assistant to Xiang Zhuang, Liu Laosan still took out some of the valuable things that Lu Shizhi and Lu Jia brought from the south of Nanyang, and thanked Master Xiang Boxiang who spared no effort to help him, and at the same time said proudly in his heart: "What if Xiang Zhuang Xiao'er is sent to Xue County to suppress me?" That little vertical man has never had any opinions, and as long as he thinks of a little way when he arrives in Xue County, he won't be able to let him be at my mercy. ”

After thanking Master Xiang, Liu Laosan of course quickly gathered a few of his cronies and told the good news to Fan Xu and Cao Shen and other Peixian friends, so that they could hurry up and get ready, so that they could go north to Xue County to participate in the war, and the Peixian friends who were not valued at all under Xiang Yu's tent were not happy to hear it, and they were eager to leave Pengcheng as soon as possible, and with Liu Laosan to the northern line of the Western Chu army, a new world was created.

Only Han Xin still had a cold expression, and the friends in Pei County were all happy, Han Xin said to Liu Laosan: "Right Sima, if it is just a head-to-head duel, Peng Yue Pifu will definitely not be difficult to deal with, and the difficulty in dealing with this Pifu is how to find his main decisive battle, if we don't want to solve this problem, we may not be as optimistic as we imagined in Xue County." ”

"That's a problem, too?" Liu Laosan said with a smile: "This question must be difficult for others, but for you, Brother Han, it's not a matter of effort?" Brother Han, don't be modest, let's talk about it, what should we do specifically? We all listen to you. ”

The arrogant Han Xin has always liked to be complimented, and he pretended to shirk two sentences and said: "Two ways, one is to build more beacons in the west of Xue County, and quickly grasp the movements of Peng Yue's thief army through the flame wolf smoke." The second is to send more detailed work, pretend to defect to Peng Yue's thief army, find out where Peng Yue's thief's lair is as soon as possible, and grasp the location of his hoarding of grain, grass, military supplies and weapons, and then things will be much easier. ”

After that, Han Xin added: "The selection of fine work is the key, first of all, of course, it must be reliable, secondly, it must be the locals near Juyeze, and thirdly, the fine work we sent to it, it is best not to have joined the Western Chu army, so that there is hope to quickly gain the trust of Peng Yue's thief army." It's not easy to find someone who meets all three of these criteria. ”

Before Han Xin's words were finished, Liu Laosan and his Peixian friends had already laughed, and then Fan Xu also said with a smile: "General Han, don't worry, such a person may be very difficult to find for others, but for us Pei Gong, it is more or less." ”

"How much do you want?" Han Xin was a little surprised, and said, "Pei Gong, the last general knows that your hometown Pei County is not very far from Ju Yeze, but after so many years, you can still find such a suitable person in Pei County?" ”

"Brother Han, don't worry." Liu Laosan smiled even more happily, and said proudly: "I don't need to find such a person in Pei County, just in Changyi, Fang He and Kang's father, and your sister-in-law's hometown single father, I want as many such people." ”

Of course, Liu Laosan, the hooligan leader of Pei County, was not bragging, but on the second day, Liu Laosan selected several old soldiers and asked them to go north first to the surrounding area of Juyeze to act according to the plan, looking for and bribing the local hooligan rangers to act as a fine work, and took the initiative to go to Peng Yue to act as an eyeliner for himself. At the same time, the news that Liu Laosan's troops were about to follow Xiang Zhuang north to Xue County also spread quickly in Liu Laosan's army, and the whole army also set out early in accordance with Liu Laosan's order, and set off with Liu Laosan as soon as the time came.

When he was in Pei County, he followed Liu Laosan with Cao Shen of the same clan Cao Wuxian, of course, he was also one of them, followed Liu Laosan to the south and the north for many years, Liu Laosan was crowned king in Nanyang, Cao Wuxian, who had quite a lot of military achievements, was once named Sima, and when the Han army launched the southern expedition, he first followed Cao Shen to conquer Changsha County in the south, and escaped the defeat of Yingchuan Yexian of the Nanyang Army, and escaped from the battlefield when the Han army attacked Wancheng, and ran to Jianyang with Cao Shen to meet Liu Laosan, and did not die tragically on the battlefield of Wancheng like many colleagues. became one of the very few old men who could survive Liu Lao Sanpei County.

It's just that Cao Wusan's good luck has come to an end, after Liu Laosan returned to Xiang Yu's account, there are only about 5,000 people in the department, and there are more monks and less porridge in terms of official positions, and he has to take care of Xiang Yu's mood of the grassroots generals in the Western Chu Army that Xiang Yu added to Liu Laosan, and even the important generals of the Nanyang Army, Zhou Bo, Cao Shen and Fan Xu, etc., were reduced to two or five hundred long, Cao Wuxian of course can only be punished without fault, and he was very aggrieved and was demoted to an infantry hundred commander who can only command a hundred soldiers, and even a five hundred commander that he can't look down on at all.

In this regard, there are no complaints about Cao Shen and Fan Xu, who are loyal to Liu Laosan, but because of well-known reasons, Cao Wuxian's heart is of course very uncomfortable. But no matter how dissatisfied he is, what can he do, Liu Laosan has no way to give him any special care, and he does not have the opportunity to curry favor with Xiang Yu and get the reuse of the Western Chu Army as in history, so Cao Wushu can only swallow his anger, honestly obey Liu Laosan's orders, and obediently prepare to continue to follow Liu Laosan to the north.

However, something that Cao Wuxian never dreamed of happened, and when he was about to set off, the soldiers of the Western Chu military camp, who were not in the same army as him, suddenly found him, saying that an old friend from Donghai County came to him, hoping to meet him. Cao Wuxian, who had not been to Donghai County several times, was of course extremely puzzled when he heard it, and recalled that he said: "I don't have many acquaintances in Donghai? Did the man say his name? ”

"I didn't say it, I forgot to ask." The soldiers of the Xichu military camp said impatiently: "Do you see it?" If you see him, go to the gate of the camp and see him, and if you don't see me, I will go and send him away for you. ”

Out of curiosity, Cao Wushu still followed the soldiers to the gate of the Western Chu Army's garrison, and saw the thief-eyed man who claimed to be his old friend, but Cao Wuxian was inevitably even more strange after meeting, because no matter how he recalled, he couldn't remember that he had seen this crooked-looking man there. However, the man with the thief's eyebrows seemed to know him, and as soon as they met, he saluted him with a smile and said, "General Cao, don't come?" ”

"Strongman, have I seen you?" Cao Wuxian asked in confusion.

"The general is really a noble man who forgets things." The thief-eyed man said with a smile on his face: "The villain is Guan Yun, do you remember that when we were in Zhangxian County in Donghai County, we once met outside the city of Zhangxian County?" ”

"Donghai County's Zhangxian?? Have I been there? Cao Wuxian tried hard to recall, but after trying to rummage through the old memories, Cao Wuxian's face suddenly changed again, because Cao Wuxian suddenly remembered that he had not only been to Zhangxian County in Donghai County, but also had seen a person there who was now famous all over the world...... (See Chapter 102 of this book)

Observing the words and expressions, just seeing Cao Wuxian's expression change, Guan Yun, who was with thief eyebrows and rat eyes, understood that Cao Wuxian had already remembered the past, and nodded and said busily: "General Cao, it seems that you have remembered, can you take a step to speak?" Little Dougu, there is a very important thing I want to ask you for. ”

Cao Wuxian, who had already remembered the past, was of course beating a little faster, and his mouth began to feel dry and bitter, but after seeing Guan Yun give him a few glances, Cao Wuxian, who was now much worse than before, still nodded, and said with a smile: "Brother Guan, eldest brother, I am just a small Baichang now, I am not qualified to invite you to come in and sit down and talk, go over there and take a walk." ”

Guan Yun nodded and agreed, and hurriedly followed Cao Wuxian to the distance of the camp, and because Cao Wuxian was only a small hundred elders at present, of course, the soldiers of the Western Chu Army next to him didn't bother to pay attention to such a trivial matter, and no one followed up to check the situation. However, even so, Cao Wuxian's heart was still beating fast, and as soon as he walked into the distance, he couldn't wait to whisper to Guan Yun: "You were sent by the person who led the army to defeat the county?" ”

"Back to General Cao, exactly." Guan Yun lowered his voice and replied, then took out a small cloth bag and handed it to Cao Wuxian, and said with a smile: "General, this is what the villain brought to you, a little meaning." ”

Cao Wuxian hesitated and didn't reach out to pick it up, Guan Yun smiled again and said: "General Cao, accept it, this is just a welcome gift, even if you are not willing to do things for us, you can accept it with confidence, we will not force you to do what you are not willing to do." ”

All the net worth and property have been lost in Wancheng, and it is due to nature, Cao Wuxian hesitated again, or took the small cloth bag, but just rubbed it casually through the cloth bag, Cao Wuxian's heart was suddenly overjoyed - in the cloth bag, there are beads the size of a finger, and in terms of weight, they must be valuable pearls.

"Our king really didn't see the wrong person." Guan Yun smiled again and said: "Don't hide it from the general, in fact, when you were in Zhangxian County, our king already admired you very much, but at that time, our king's strength was still very weak, so he didn't open his mouth to recruit you, the general." ”

"The king thinks so highly of me as a nobody?" Cao Wuxian asked in surprise, and quickly hid the bag of pearls in his arms.

"If our king didn't look down on you from the general, how could he let the villain travel thousands of miles and come to Pengcheng to contact you specifically?" Guan Yun smiled and asked, "And let the villain bring you ten East China Sea pearls worth thousands of gold?" And there are two moon pearls (night pearls) that are incomparably precious in the palaces of kings? Doesn't this prove our king's sincerity to you, the general? ”

"Bright Moon Pearl?!" Swallowing a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, Cao Wuxian calmed down and asked, "What does the king want me to do?" ”

"Please join our Han army secretly and help us deal with Liu Jipifu and the Western Chu thief army." Guan Yun replied in a low voice very directly: "After the matter is completed, our king will definitely not treat you General Cao badly." ”

He had already guessed the reason why Xiang Kang sent someone to give him a generous gift, but of course Cao Wuxian was not too surprised by this, but asked very strangely: "Guan Zhuangshi, don't you know my current situation?" I'm just a small leader of the Western Chu Army now, how can I help you? ”

"Don't worry, general, our king said, no matter what your situation is now, you will definitely be able to help us a lot." Guan Yun replied: "We don't want you to do anything now, just ask you to continue to lurk in the ranks of the Western Chu thief army, and when there is a need in the future, our king will naturally send someone to contact you, and as long as the general acts according to the order, our king will not treat you badly." ”

"Of course." Guan Yun added: "At that time, if the general knows any important movements of the Western Chu thief army and needs to report it to our king, he can also take the initiative to send reliable people to contact us, and our king will definitely not treat you and your messenger badly at that time." ”

Cao Wuxian hesitated for a moment before he said, "It's that simple? ”

"It's as simple as that." Guan Yun nodded lightly, and said: "Of course, if you don't want to, general, we will never force it, and you can rest assured that you can leave the gift general." Just ask the general to read it for the sake of sending you a generous gift from thousands of miles away, and don't sell the villain. ”

To the surprise of Guan Yun, an experienced Han army spy, after only hesitating for a moment, Cao Wuxian nodded decisively and said: "Since the King of Han still remembers the nameless rat of the last general, and still looks up to me as a little Baichang, then my life will be the King of Han in the future." Please ask the strong man to return to the king of Han, and say that in the future, if there is a sending, he will definitely go to the soup in the end. ”

"So happy? Really? Cao Wuwu's hearty answer made the Han army spy Guan Yun's heart beat a drum, and then asked tentatively: "General Cao, do you have any other requirements?" ”

"Strongman, it's not that the last general can't trust you." Cao Wuxian's answer surprised Guan Yun again, and he said in a low voice: "First, it is inconvenient here, and second, you have to return to Guanzhong all the way to recover your life, the road is too dangerous, so the last general can't write a letter of allegiance to the king of Han, but please rest assured that the king of Han and the strong man will not regret what the last general has promised." ”

"Really? Could this man be greedy for our king's generous gifts, and he won't admit our things? ”

Guan Yun, who never expected it to be so smooth, was drumming in his heart, but the task given to him by Xiang Kang and Chen Ping was to get in touch with Cao Wuxian, and he didn't ask him to get any evidence of Cao Wuxian's handle, and he had already explained that it didn't matter if Cao Wuxian refused to agree, so Guan Yun still nodded and said, "Don't worry, the villain will definitely bring your message, so it's decided." In order to avoid the suspicion of the Western Chu thief army, if the general had no other instructions, the villain would leave first. ”

To Guan Yun's surprise again, Cao Wuxian didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately said: "Wait a minute, in order to repay the king's generous gift, the villain has two important things to report." First, Liu Ji was going to go north with Xiang Zhuang, the Western Chu thief general, the day after tomorrow, and go to Xue County to prepare for a battle with General Peng Yue. Second, the villain happened to hear his brother Cao Shen say a few days ago, before that, Liu Ji had already arranged for people to go north first, to buy the rangers around Juyeze to act as a fine eyeliner in General Peng Yue's army, looking for General Peng's military grain and grass hoarding place, but he sent those fine generals who didn't know. ”

Guan Yun opened his mouth and stammered, and only after a while did he say in his heart: "This husband, the seller is also selling too happily, right?" If you don't touch my details, just tell me such an important military situation, and he won't be afraid that I was sent by the Western Chu Thief Army to test him? ”

Surprised, but out of duty, after disguising himself as an ordinary person and returning to the territory controlled by the Han army, Guan Yun still wrote these situations into letters, and sent them to Guanzhong as soon as possible through the special channels of the Han Army Secret Service Bureau, reporting to Chen Pingyu, the head of the Han army's secret service, about his contact with Cao Wuxian, as well as reporting the important military information of the Western Chu Army that Cao Wuxian took the initiative to betray. As a result, after receiving the report, Chen Ping did not dare to hesitate, and also reported to Xiang Kang, who was working hard to create people and personally supervise the spring cultivation in Guanzhong, as soon as possible.

"Sure enough, what this king was most worried about really happened, but I didn't expect that before Peng Yue made a move, the Western Chu thief army had already made arrangements in Xue County first, and it seems that ninety percent of this matter was done by Liu Ji or Han Xin, and they saw through our strategic intentions in advance."

This is the first thing Xiang Kang said after listening to the report, and said: "Peng Yue is afraid that he will suffer a big loss this time, he is not Liu Jipifu's opponent in the first place, if Liu Jipifu's fine work finds his lair and tells Liu Jipifu, Peng Yue will definitely lose even more miserably this time." ”

"What should I do, my lord?" Chen Ping hurriedly asked, "Do you want to send someone to give Peng Yue a wake-up?" ”

"Give it a try, but I'm afraid it's too late." Xiang Kang replied helplessly, and said: "Send someone to tell Uncle Zhou about this situation, and by the way, bring a message to Uncle Zhou, telling him to do it as soon as possible, and he must break through the big river danger guarded by the Jibei thief army before the Western Chu thief army goes north to reinforce Qidi." Otherwise, even if it is Uncle Zhou, I am afraid that he will not be able to break through the Dahe Heavenly Danger under the noses of Liu Ji and Han Xin. ”

"That's right." Xiang Kang added: "By the way, I will tell Uncle Zhou that when I meet Liu Ji and Han Xinpifu, there is only one way to deal with them, which is to win with more soldiers, don't take risks and use tricks, and don't be greedy for merit and underestimate the enemy." If he doesn't have enough troops, tell him to open his mouth and I'll find a way to send him reinforcements. ”

Chen Ping sang a promise, and Xiang Kang said: "We can't delay in Guanzhong for too long, as soon as the spring ploughing is over, we will immediately form a new army and go to the front line to put pressure on my brother, otherwise, let him transfer too many troops to the north to Qidi, and it will definitely be more difficult for Uncle Zhou to take Qidi." ”