After Lü Qi's main force was defeated, taking advantage of the fact that the Qin army in Nanyang did not have time to regroup and reinforce Ye County, the main force of the young marshal's army did not even have time to pay attention to Kunyang County, and soon launched an attack on Ye County, which was geographically very important.

Relying on the strong city fortifications left by Lu Qi, the Qin army of Yexian County withstood the frontal attack of the young marshal's army on the first day, but no matter how desperate struggle, the Yexian Qin army, which had a strength of only more than 2,000 people, was still unable to resist the rotation of more than 30,000 handsome soldiers and soldiers, and the city was finally broken by the young marshal's army at noon in the afternoon of the next day.

In this era, the transportation technology was very backward, and it was difficult to transmit information, but such an important event as the defeat of the main force of the Qin army in Nanyang and the march into the hinterland of Nanyang by the young marshal army was quickly transmitted to Xianyang City through various channels, as well as in front of Zhang Han, who was confronting the anti-Qin coalition army on the front line of the flood.

In this regard, Zhao Gao, who is currently actually in charge of the imperial court, is of course extremely shocked, even if he did not dare to report to Hu Hai, who is short-tempered and likes to shirk responsibility, Zhao Gao still immediately strengthened the defense of military important places such as Yaoguan and Wuguan, and at the same time, Lu Qi told Lu Qi to annihilate the young marshal's army in Nanyang no matter what, otherwise he will be punished for both crimes, and Lu Qi will be taken down and beheaded!

On Zhang Han's side, although the young marshal's army has never exposed the strategic purpose of launching the southern expedition to prepare for the entry of the pass from Wuguan, Zhang Han, who is familiar with Xiang Kang's bad nature, analyzes it with his toes, and knows that Xiang Kang wants to take advantage of the emptiness in the pass to kick the Qin army's old nest Xianyang City, capture the thief and capture the king first and directly destroy the Great Qin court, so even though Zhang Han is already quite nervous about the troops in his hands, he still stubbornly transferred 10,000 troops from the Aocang garrison to the south and rushed to Nanyang to reinforce Lu Qi.

What is quite speechless is that because Zhang Han was afraid of affecting the morale of the army, he strictly sealed the news that the young marshal's army had entered the hinterland of Nanyang, and the Chu court in Pengcheng actually heard about the movements of the young marshal's army earlier than Xiang Yu, who was on the front line. And when Xiang Sheng, Xiang It, Chen Ying and others, who stayed in Pengcheng, reported this situation to Xiong Xin, the honorary king of Chu, Xiong Xin, who had long hated Xiang Kang in his heart, was silent at first, and then asked after a while: "Is the news reliable?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's too far away to confirm whether this news is true or not." Chen Ying, who is very good at pretending to be an honest person, replied respectfully: "But such a big event, it will not be groundless to think about, besides, the right general can fight well, and the soldiers and horses under his command have been in battle for a long time, and the army is strong, so it is not surprising that he directly entered the hinterland of Nanyang." ”

Xiong Xin nodded, and after thinking about it for a while, Xiong Xin suddenly asked again: "Chen Aiqing, if the widow is not mistaken, Nanyang seems to have a way to directly enter the Guanzhong, right?" ”

"The king is humble, how can you remember such a thing?" Chen Ying said with a smile: "The Wuguan in the northwest of Nanyang can not only go directly to Guanzhong, after the tyrant Yingzheng conquered the six countries outside the Guan, he also built a road that can govern Wancheng in Nanyang County and go directly to Xianyang, and the road is more flat and easy to walk than ordinary roads." ”

Xiong Xin continued to nod, then gritted his teeth, and said: "Spread the widow's order, after the defeat of the tyrannical Qin, Qin cannot be without a king, and the six countries outside the Guanxi will definitely not allow the descendants of the winning surname to continue to be the king, the generals of the six countries, whoever can take the lead in the Guanzhong will be the king of Qindi!" ”

"Your Majesty, why did you suddenly issue such an edict?" Chen Ying asked in surprise.

"Of course, it is to inspire the righteous teachers of the Six Kingdoms to take the lead and overthrow the tyrannical Qin." Xiong Xin's face was expressionless, and he asked very unceremoniously: "What?" Can't even a widow give such a decree? ”

"The king forgives the sins, and the ministers dare not obstruct the king's decree." Chen Ying, who was low-key, hurriedly pleaded guilty, and said cautiously: "But the king, the former general is confronting the main force of the tyrannical Qin in Handan County, if he knows that the king has issued such an edict, he is only afraid of ......, only afraid of ......." ”

"Afraid of what?" Xiong Xin smiled, and said with a friendly smile: "The widow is also giving the former general a chance, if he can rush into the pass before the right general, he is the king of Qindi, will the former general be unhappy?" ”

Chen Ying was silent, knowing that Xiong Xin really hated the Xiang family brothers who forcibly elevated him to the extreme, and wanted to deliberately provoke the conflict between Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang, so that they could let out a bad breath. The other civil and military officials of the Chu State present either did not have such political acumen, or they understood Xiong Xin's vicious intentions but did not dare to break it, and they all remained silent, only Jing Ju, who was also the queen of the Chu royal family, jumped out and praised loudly: "The king is wise, the one who enters the customs first is the king, not only can solve the future Qin land problem, avoid disputes between the six countries, and fight for the land and city of Qin, but also can inspire the soldiers of my Chu State to fight bravely and destroy the violent Qin as soon as possible, it is really a double win with one stone, killing two birds with one stone, His subordinates resolutely supported the king's wise decision. ”

Loudly complimenting Xiong Xin's decision, Jing Ju said viciously in his heart: "You Xiong Xin'er likes to find death, of course I won't stop it, no matter which of the two thieves of the Xiang family enters the pass first, the other has to hate you to the bone, when the time comes, I will provoke a few more words, your throne will not be able to be kept, and Lao Tzu will also be on the throne at that time!" ”

Glancing at Jing Ju, who expressed his support for his decision, Xiong Xin also snorted coldly in his heart, and said secretly: "Don't be too happy, I don't know your little bit of caution, I don't want me to offend the Xiang family's rebels as much as possible, and give you a chance to take the position." Wait and see, and then let the people see the means of the few when the time comes. ”

After saying it in his heart, Xiong Xin said in an indistinguishable tone: "Since Dr. Zuotu also agrees with the decision of the widow, then it is decided, and the decree will be issued immediately, clearly indicating that the world will be the king first!" ”

In this way, although it was a period of time later than in history, Xiong Xin, who was very politically skillful, still issued the decree that the first to enter the customs is the king, in addition to the announcement of the list to show the world, Xiong Xin also deliberately asked Chen Ying to send people to the front line with his own decree to inform Xiang Yu, who is still his own courtier on the surface, to inform Xiang Yu of the matter, so as to provoke the relationship between Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang, the two major rebel ministers of the Xiang family.

It was quite a coincidence that when Xiong Xin's will was sent to the front line, Xiang Yu had already known the news that the main force of the young marshal's army had entered the hinterland of Nanyang, and he was furious about it, extremely dissatisfied that Xiang Kang did not enter Sanchuan and help him to flank the main force of the Qin army before and after, but instead fought farther and farther away, leaving himself alone to bear the huge pressure of the main force of the Qin army.

In such a situation, and seeing Xiong Xin's decree that the one who entered the customs first was the king, Xiang Yu was of course even more angry, and directly patted the case and roared: "Strange I have to listen to my orders, insist on fighting farther and farther, it turns out that my brother is to go to Guanzhong to be the king!" ”

"Former general, rest your anger, you must have misunderstood General Right at this point."

Fortunately, Xiang Yu's absolute henchman Cao Zhi was relatively calm, and immediately said a fair word for Xiang Kang, saying: "The king has only recently issued this decree, judging from the date of the decree, at that time, General Right had already broken through Yexian and entered the hinterland of Nanyang, which can prove that General Right did not insist on going south to the hinterland of Nanyang in order to compete for the throne of Guanzhong, and the road is far away, and there are still some places along the way that are still controlled by the local army of the violent Qin, and it is extremely difficult to contact Pengcheng, There is a good chance that General Right didn't know about this at this time. ”

Carefully looking at the date of the remarks on the Xiong Xin's decree, seeing that it was indeed newly promulgated, Xiang Yu's anger stopped for a while, but after careful calculation, Xiang Yu was still extremely worried in his heart, and said secretly: "Although Xiong Xin'er's decree is not much different from farting, but if Ah Di really preemptively entered Guanzhong from Wuguan, and everyone in the world knows Xiong Xin's decree, then it will be difficult for me to do it, not to admit that Ah Di is the king of Guanzhong, morally a little unreasonable, admit ......, where I will be the king?" ”

There was such a worry, although Cao Ji and Old Man Fan also quickly pointed out that it was likely that Xiong Xin was deliberately sowing discord between the Xiang family brothers, but after thinking about it repeatedly, for the sake of prudence, Xiang Yu still ordered: "Write a letter to my brother for me, tell him the news of the king's decree, and also tell him about our current war situation, just say that at present, our brothers can join forces to avenge our uncle's major affairs, and we can't care too much about personal gains and losses, and ask him to return to the north immediately." Attack Sanchuan County and cooperate with us to flank the main force of Tyranny Qin, and after defeating Zhang Handpifu, I will take his army as the vanguard, take the Kunhan Road to directly attack Hangu Pass, and let him lead the advanced troops in Guanzhong. ”

Cao Ji and Old Man Fan were silent, knowing that Xiang Yu wanted to use family affection to force Xiang Kang to return to the northern line of the division and compete fairly for the throne of Guanzhong, after eliminating the main force of the Qin army, as long as the young marshal army could not take the easy to defend and difficult to attack Hangu Pass as soon as possible, Xiang Yu quickly led the main force of the anti-Qin coalition army to Hangu Pass, and there was great hope that he would enter the pass earlier than the young marshal army and take the Guanzhong throne promised by Xiong Xin.

I understand it in my heart, but after all, this is a family matter of the old Xiang family, and my ass is resolutely sitting on Xiang Yu's side, of course, Old Man Fan and Cao Ji kept their mouths shut, and did not stop Xiang Yu from sending someone to send this letter. However, in their hearts, Old Man Fan and Cao Ji still couldn't help muttering, and said secretly: "If this continues, the former general and the right general will definitely have a dragon fight in the future, and even cannibalism may not be impossible." ”

The matter is not over yet, after Xiong Xin's edict of 'the first to enter the pass is the king' gradually spread among the various anti-Qin coalition forces, some ambitious generals of the Six Kingdoms inevitably started to think carefully, and they couldn't help but focus on the Guanzhong throne promised by Xiong Xin - after all, the state of Chu is now the anti-Qin alliance leader publicly promoted by the other five countries outside the pass, although the honorary king of Chu Xiong Xin has no real power, but the promise he made on behalf of the state of Chu is morally justifiable in any case.

Of course, this is indispensable to the famous careerist Liu Laosan in history, after hearing Xiong Xin's order, Liu Laosan, who has been working hard, will inevitably itch in his heart, and feel that if he can rush into Guanzhong before everyone, maybe he can really become the king of Guanzhong, and he no longer has to look at people's faces. And when this idea was born, Liu Laosan quickly made up his mind and decided that as long as the opportunity was right, he would fight for the throne of Guanzhong no matter what.

…………

In fact, there are now two anti-Qin Yi divisions active in Nanyang, one is led by Liu Laosan's fellow villager Wang Ling, and the other is led by Qi Gill, a local big family in Nanyang, and they also proclaimed themselves as captains together, fishing in troubled waters in troubled times under the banner of anti-Qin, although the scale of these two anti-Qin Yi divisions is not large, they are only a few thousand troops, and the equipment is relatively poor, and the soldiers are even more mixed, and even two or three thousand Nanyang county soldiers can not be defeated. It has not been able to open up any decent situation, but because Nanyang was developed relatively late, and in this era, the land is vast and sparsely populated, which is very suitable for wandering operations, so these two armies have not been wiped out by the Qin army, and they have persisted until the main force of the young marshal's army entered the hinterland of Nanyang in a big way, completely reversing the situation in Nanyang.

During the wandering, taking advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the Nanyang Qin army to gather in the area of Yexian to intercept the young marshal's army going south, the well-informed local Qi Gill was bold and led the army to the west of Lixian, which he had not dared to touch before, and also took advantage of the situation to take two township-level towns in the west of Lixian, and grabbed a lot of money and grain. However, just when Qi Gill was about to accept it when he saw it, his brother Qi Si suddenly rushed into his tent and said loudly and happily: "Brother, good news, great news!" Xiang Kang, the right general of the Chu State, defeated the main force of the Tyrannical Qin in Yexian County, the Tyrannical Qin army retreated south, and the Chu army also directly entered the hinterland of Nanyang! ”

"The army of Chu has already won? Is the message reliable? Qi Gill asked with great joy.

"Absolutely reliable!" Qi Si said excitedly: "It is the news that we sent to the county seat of Lixian, after the victory of the Chu army in Ye County, the violent Qin army that was originally responsible for blocking the mountain road all withdrew south to aid Wancheng, passing by Lixian County did not even dare to enter the city, and went directly to the direction of Wanxian, the violent Qin army on the side of Lixian County is still rushing to repair the city defense, preparing to defend the city in the future." ”

"Good chance!" Qi Gill was even more overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a few shots: "The Tyrannical Qin army has run south, and now we can rest assured that we can expand our territory in Lixian." ”

"yes." Qi Si agreed, and couldn't wait to say: "The richest township pavilions in Lixian County are all in the south, we didn't even dare to touch them before, this time as long as the Chu army hits Wancheng and restrains the violent Qin army, we don't need to be polite anymore, we can rest assured that we can take down those township pavilions." ”

Qi Gill smiled and nodded, and he had long coveted several wealthy township pavilions in the south of Lixian County, but Qi Gill was not an easily satisfied person, and after thinking about it carefully, Qi Gill said again: "Brother, if I remember correctly, Xiang Kang, the right general of Chu State, seems to be the Xiang Kang who personally laid down a large area of land and handed over all the land and military power of the city to his uncle, right?" ”

Qi Si nodded vigorously and was about to answer, but unexpectedly, a figure flashed in front of the tent, and Qi Min, the daughter of Qi Gill, trotted into the tent, and also entered the tent with a happy face and said: "Ah Weng, my daughter has learned a kind of Chu dance again, do you want to dance it to you now?" ”

"Don't worry, don't worry, Ah Weng is discussing a big matter with your uncle, and I'll talk about it later."

Although Qi Gill likes to appreciate his daughter's dance very much, but now there is an important matter to discuss with Qi Si, Qi Gill waved his hand, Qi Min had no choice but to stand next to Qi Gill temporarily, and when Qi Gill asked Qi Si about the question just now, Qi Si immediately nodded and said: "That's right, it is that Xiang Kang, who personally laid down a large area of Huaisi land and dozens of cities, and also pulled up tens of thousands of troops, and handed over the land and city and military power to his uncle Xiang Liang." ”

"This stupid boy is stupid." Qi Gill smiled treacherously and said: "Dozens of cities, tens of thousands of troops, are willing to give their hands to others, dealing with this kind of stupid person, it is really difficult for us not to take advantage." ”

Qi Gill's words successfully aroused his daughter's curiosity, feeling fresh and curious, Qi Min, who had not heard of Xiang Kang's deeds, immediately asked about the details of the situation, and Qi Gill, who loved his daughter, also told Qi Min about the stupid things Xiang Kang had done before, Qi Min was speechless, and said: "There are really filial people in the world, who are willing to dedicate so much city, land and army to their uncle?" ”

"Filial piety is quite filial, but it's stupid enough." Qi Gill sneered, his smile gradually became more treacherous, and after thinking carefully for a while, Qi Gill suddenly said to Qi Si: "Brother, why don't we go and contact that stupid boy of Xiang Kang and discuss with him to join forces to attack the city in Nanyang?" ”

"Join forces with the army of Chu to attack the city in Nanyang?" Qi Si listened to it for a while, and said in surprise: "Why do you want to join forces with them, what is the benefit to us?" ”

"Brother, why are you more stupid than that stupid boy of Xiang Kang?" Qi Gill scolded with a smile, and then said: "With our current strength, don't even think about taking a county town by ourselves, but if we can convince Xiang Kang's stupid boy to agree to join forces with us to attack the city, then with the help of the soldiers and horses of the Chu State, let alone a county town, even Nanyang County Zhiwan City has a great hope of taking it directly." ”

Speaking of this, Qi Gill's smile was inevitably more treacherous, and he said: "At that time, we have contributed to the siege battle, and Xiang Kang Xiao'er will definitely not treat us badly, even if we get thirty percent of the money and grain in a county town, it will definitely be much more than we will build a small city ourselves, what do you say is the benefit of us joining forces with Xiang Kang's stupid boy?" ”

"Great idea!" Qi Si patted his legs and exclaimed, and then said with some worry: "But will Xiang Kang agree?" His soldiers are strong and strong, and even the main force of the Tyrannical Qin County soldiers in Nanyang is not his opponent, will he look down on our army? ”

"Give it a try." Qi Gill said with a relaxed expression: "Although we don't have many troops and the equipment is not good, but after all, we are natives of Nanyang, we are familiar with the situation in Nanyang, and our connections are even deeper, and joining forces with the Chu army will definitely help them a lot, as long as the envoy we send emphasizes this point and says a few more good words, Xiang Kang's stupid boy may not agree." ”

The main reason is that the stupid things that Xiang Kang did before were indeed a bit earth-shattering, so stupid that people couldn't believe it, so Qi Si was moved in his heart, and immediately agreed to send a messenger to give it a try, and couldn't wait to discuss with Qi Gill about sending a brother in the clan to coax Xiang Kang, how to flatter Xiang Kang, coax Xiang Kang to let go and agree, so that the self-army with few soldiers and widows could follow the back of the young marshal army to eat meat and drink soup.

It's really boring, and I heard my father and uncle belittle Xiang Kang in the words, describing Xiang Kang as stupider than a pig and stupider than Erlengzi, Qi Min next to him couldn't help but fantasize about Xiang Kang's image in his heart - dark skin, short and fat, his whole body trembled when he walked, his lips were fat, and there was saliva that could never be wiped off at the corners of his mouth......

Fantasizing about this, Qi Min couldn't help but shudder, and said secretly in his heart: "Ah Weng in order to please him, shouldn't you ask me to sing and dance for him?" But don't do that, I don't want to dance and sing to such a stupid fat man. ”

PS: Regarding Qi Gill and Wang Ling, the "Historical Records" and "Zizhi Tongjian" are completely different, the "Historical Records" says that Qi Gill and Wang Ling took the initiative to join Liu Laosan's army in Nanyang as an anti-Qin rebel army, and "Zizhi Tongjian" said that Qi Gill and Wang Ling were the marquis of the Qin Dynasty, who led the Qin army to fight Liu Laosan in Nanyang, and surrendered after being defeated. It was extremely difficult for the Qin Dynasty to be knighted, Qin Shi Huang swept away the Six Kingdoms, and only twenty-eight marquis were sealed in total, and Wang Ling was clearly recorded in the "Historical Records", saying that he was Liu Laosan's fellow townsman Peixian Haoqiang, only because he was friendly with Yongya and looked down on Liu Laosan, so he ran to Nanyang to work alone, and was not made a marquis by the Qin court, so this book adopts the "Historical Records" information for the identity of the two.