In the spring of the thirteenth year of Zhao Hou Wuxian and the thirteenth year of King Zhang of Chu (476 BC), under the stage of Zhang Hua, the "King of Chu" Xiong Sheng, who was wearing armor, was drinking stuffy wine. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

He was pouring bitter wine on his failures.

A year and a half ago, Xiong Sheng was hindered by the change of the law, fearing that the nobles of the Chu State would deprive him of his territory and military power, so he suddenly attacked and killed Yin Zixi and Sima Ziqi, and brazenly claimed the king in Yingdu.

At the beginning, Xiong Sheng had a military advantage, he himself was a superior military commander after a hundred battles, and he was also very good at inspiring soldiers on the battlefield. The 5,000 "Chu warriors" who had been built with all the financial resources of Huainan were unstoppable, and the soldiers of the nobles of Chu could not compete with them.

In the battle of Ying, Xiong Sheng swept away the Yingzhi division guarding the king of Chu with a small number of people, because the incident happened suddenly, most of the nobles of Chu were captured by him in the capital, using these hostages, Xiong Sheng forced many county princes in Jianghan to submit to him. As for the nobles who refused to surrender, he slaughtered them mercilessly, successively slaughtering Yuncheng, Xialanyi, breaking Yuncheng, and taking Xiayi, forcing Chu Wangzhang to flee again...... There have been dozens of small battles in big wars, many victories, and even Ye Gong's vanguard was defeated miserably, and Ye Gong himself did not dare to plunder its edge for a long time.

But after sweeping Jianghan, Xiong Sheng's victory began to stagnate, the old and steady Ye Gong was not good at attacking but good at defending, he exchanged space for time, and kept half of the Chu State, and the reinforcements and food of Qinwang from all walks of life began to gather in a steady stream to Wandi, and went south to Yancheng, and the two sides fell into a stalemate stage.

Xiong Sheng knew that as a bottom-up challenger, he was far away from his basic Panhuainan, and the food was not sufficient, and the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable the situation would be for him. Not to mention that Zhao Wuxian had already taken advantage of the civil strife in Chu to destroy Zheng and invade the Qin State in the west, as long as the Qin State was cleaned up, a divided Chu State would definitely not be able to resist the Zhao army going south.

But since Xiong Sheng killed his two uncles and became king, he couldn't turn back. Now, he needs to fight quickly, as long as he can capture Yancheng, capture or kill Xiong Zhang, and let Chu have only one king left, this civil war can be declared over!

To this end, Xiong Sheng gathered all his troops and forcibly recruited the soldiers of Jianghan County Gong, a total of 40,000 troops went north to Yandi, and fought a decisive battle with Ye Gong's 50,000 Wan and Ye Dajun.

However, the situation began to take a turn for the worse at that time, just when Xiong Sheng and Ye Gong were holding each other in Yandi, Suiguo, who had already sent envoys to surrender to Xiong Sheng, suddenly turned back, and Sima Zixi's son Gongsun Ning Shuaijun 10,000 took advantage of Suiguo and smashed Xiong Sheng's back. Under the attack from the north and the south, the county public troops in Xiong Sheng's army were the first to defect, and seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the newly recruited army composed of Yingdu evil boys and unemployed vagrants also collapsed......

In the first battle of Yandi, Xiong Sheng tasted defeat for the first time, and relying on his excellent command skills, he withdrew to Yingdu with 20,000 main forces and retained his vital strength. However, the offensive and defensive aspects of the civil war in Chu had changed, and Ye Gong gathered the northern army of Chu State, step by step, and began to regain the lost territory, and the battle line was pushed back to the vicinity of Jucheng again.

The trees fell and scattered, the county soldiers who were afraid of Xiong's victory and surrendered one after another, there was Kui Gong with Yiling's division to storm in the west, and Egong Hengduan Dajiang in the east, occupying the Han Wei Ferry, cutting off the connection between Xiong Sheng and Huainan. Even Zhen Yingu, whom Xiong Sheng trusted very much, rebelled, and he sacrificed the capital of Yin, causing the army of Wang Zhang of Chu and Ye Gong to drive directly to the vicinity of Yingdu.

Now, Xiong Sheng has rebelled and fallen into the siege of Ye Gong and the old nobles of Chu State, leaving only the area around Yingdu to survive......

To add insult to injury, the bad news is still coming.

"The Great King ......" was drinking to relieve his sorrows, but Gao Yu, Xiong Sheng's first adviser, came to see him and sent a blood-stained silk letter: "There is a reply from Huainan." ”

"Huainan ...... That's right, Huainan! ”

As if he saw a glimmer of hope, almost snatched the silk book from Gao Yu's hand, Xiong Sheng hurriedly opened it, and now the Ejun of Chu has occupied Han Wei, and the communication between Yingdu and Huainan can only be detoured to Yangyue and Yuzhang, this time, it took several months, it is really not easy.

After unfolding the silk book, Xiong Sheng recognized that this was the handwriting of his son Yan, the bird and insect script was very good, and the words were also improved, but it told a bad news: "Huainan is now difficult to protect itself, and he can't come to the ......."

It turned out that since the news spread that Xiong Sheng had established himself as king in Yingdu, Gou Jian of Yue Guo quickly made it clear that he supported his grandson Chu Wang Zhang. He called Xiong Sheng a traitor, and a series of previous border divisions between Huainan and Yue were ineffective. Under the banner of helping King Zhang of Chu to quell the rebellion, Yue sent a large army to start an attack on the Jiangdong land retained by Xiong Sheng. Now, the Yue Kingdom has taken all the Jiangdong and ruled across the river from Huainan, and even Jinling, which was considered "kingly" by Xiong Sheng, has also been lost.

If this is the case, forget it, the disaster is not a single line, tens of thousands of troops of Zhao stationed in Huaibei also took advantage of the fire to rob, captured Yihu (Hefei), and the soldiers came to Chaohu.

The elites of Huainan have come to the west, and they can't resist, so they can only barely protect themselves under the gap between Zhao and Yue's two strongmen, reinforcements? That's impossible.

"This is not faith, it is a poison that will kill me!" Crumpling the silk book into a ball, Bai Gongsheng was furious, and his already gloomy mood became worse after reading these infuriating words.

Since Huainan could not send troops to rescue, there were only more than 10,000 left on Xiong Sheng's side, and Ye Gong poured the whole country into encirclement and suppression, with a total of 60,000 or 70,000 people......

Coupled with the panic among the people in Yingdu, Xiong Sheng was sure that Ye Gong's capture of this city would be as easy as killing his son Xizi.

His defeat is assured!

"Hahaha!" On the stage of Zhang Hua, Xiong Sheng, who had experienced great ups and downs, laughed.

"Why did I get to this point?"

"Gao Amnesty, you say, why is that?" Xiong Sheng pointed to Gao Yu, who had urged him to rebel against the king from the beginning, and asked angrily.

Xiong Sheng's regime was in a desperate situation, and the ministers and generals who had been rushing to get ahead and took refuge in him were all in fear, but Gao Yu was still indifferent, still calmly fulfilling the order, at this moment, he arched his hand and said: "The defeat of the king is not a crime of war." ”

"Yes, it has been a year and a half since I started the incident, and I have experienced more than 20 battles, and those who are supposed to be broken, and those who are attacked are subdued, and I have not tasted defeat, so I am called Wang Yuying."

Xiong Sheng was also confused, counting, his army only failed once in Yandu, and the rest of the small battles were invincible, but the strange thing is that his territory is getting smaller and smaller, and the situation is more and more unfavorable, it seems that the more victories, the more enemies he has.

"If it's not a crime of war, why is it?"

Gao pardoned and bowed again, and said in a precious manner: "Jun has three defeats, one of which is to treat Yingdu and Jianghan as Huainan, and the implementation of the new law is too radical, which has attracted the hatred of the princes and counties of Chu. The relationship between the nobles of the entire Chu State is intertwined, one is prosperous, one is lost, and they have all become the sworn enemies of the king, even if they are forced to surrender to the situation, but once the king has a small defeat, he will inevitably defect again, and this defeat is also. ”

"Second, Jun underestimated the status of King Chu Zhao's father and son in the hearts of the people, King Chu Zhao was tolerant, and his legacy continues to this day, Chu people hate the nobles, but they have never heard of hating King Chu. It is inappropriate for the king to commit a crime, to rebel against the king with a minister, and for his own anger, he killed the respected Ling Yin and Sima, and forced the princess Ji Mi to death, so that the Chu people regard the king as an unkind wolf, but who dares to serve and be close to anyone who has a little benevolence? The little popular support that the previous monarch introduced the new law and severely punished the nobles is gone......"

Although the internal contradictions of the Chu State were acute, they were far from the extent that two hundred years later, the people could not stand the oppression of the nobles, and rose up with Zhuang Ji to directly oppose the king of Chu. What's more, the memory of Wu Shi's entry into Ying thirty years ago is still fresh, and the people are determined, because the rule of the previous Chu kings has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, coupled with the generosity of King Chu Zhao, the people also have a certain hope for Chu Wangzhang, thinking that this may be a virtuous monarch. However, Bai Gongsheng broke this peace and involved the Chu people in civil strife, and it was strange that the civilians of Yingdu could have a good impression of him.

"This two defeats are also ......"

Xiong Sheng was a little stunned when he heard this, and Gao Yu was still talking about the cause of his defeat.

"Third, since the monarch has already reversed, if he does not do two things endlessly, kill all the nobles of the Chu State who cannot be subdued, and distribute all their land to the poor people who have no land, so that everyone can have good land, in order to keep these fields, he will naturally get a group of supporters. However, at both ends of the monarch's head and rat, if you can't get rid of the evil, you will do everything, and the Chu people who have the heart to follow you to do something big are naturally suspicious. Therefore, there were many conscriptions in Ying, Jianghan, and few responders. Over the past year or so, most of those who have joined the army are proletarians and evil teenagers from the left, these people have a bad nature, and they come purely for the bounty, so they can only fight a good fight, and once they encounter setbacks, they will collapse and have no fighting spirit. Although Jun's Chu Wushu is strong, after all, there are only thousands, and the more you fight, the fewer you fight, and these three defeats are ......"

Gao Yu spread his hands: "With these three defeats, it is not surprising that the king will be trapped here." ”

"Shaft dares!" Xiong Sheng was immediately furious, drew his sword out of its sheath, and pointed at Gao Yu.

"You are the one who urged me to rebel and become king, and you are the one who advised me! Since we all know my shortcomings, why not persuade them earlier? ”

"Jun was very ambitious at that time, and the persuasion of others may not be useful, let alone ...... There is one more thing that the minister did not say to the king. ”

Facing Xiong Sheng's anger and sharp sword, Gao Yu's face did not change, but knelt down, solemnly bowed to his lord, and said loudly: "The minister is disloyal, and before the king, he has already been entrusted to others!" ”

"Zizhi, you ......"

Xiong Sheng looked at his cronies and advisers incredulously, some things that he couldn't figure out before, but he understood a little, but until now, he still can't believe that this is true.

He restrained the thought of stabbing himself with a sword, and his teeth chattered: "Then you, who are you?" ”

Gao Yu raised his head, and after hiding it for many years, he finally revealed the truth: "The minister was entrusted to the Marquis of Zhao, but he was a spy of the Zhao State!" ”

PS: The second chapter is in the evening