If it is said that when Liu Xiu was exterminating the local armed forces here in Hebei, he fought with open fire and cut down with his opponent face to face, which was more of a work of strength, then, he

The struggle against the more initiating forces such as Xie Gong was highly technical: more hidden, more complex, more intense, and bloodier.

Liu Xiu openly disobeyed orders and did not listen to the dispatch of the First Dynasty, and the First Dynasty could not do anything to him.

In fact, everyone understands that Liu Xiu did this because he intended to turn his face with the change.

However, the tens of thousands of troops led by Xie Gong were by his side, and they were indeed a real threat to Liu Xiu.

Lao Xie is a native of Nanyang, and among the many "bad coins" of the First Dynasty, his condition is slightly better.

Although his moral integrity cannot be compared with Liu Xiu's subordinates, he is generally a decent and diligent person.

However, he does not understand military affairs and does not know how to lead troops to war.

In other words, Lao Xie is an honest person who handles specific government affairs.

In this way, if he gives Liu Xiu a trick, he and Liu Xiu are really not of the same magnitude.

Therefore, it was a mistake to send him on this errand.

Of course, Lao Xie also knew very well in his heart that he was ordered to lead 6 generals and tens of thousands of horses to Hebei, nominally to help Liu Xiu fight, but in fact to rob

Win the fruits of victory, while monitoring, pinning down, and waiting for an opportunity to kill Liu Xiu.

He wants to do his best to get the job done.

After arriving in Hebei, Lao Xie arranged for the general Lu Zhitun to Bingqiyuan (now Qi County, Henan), and he led the main force to participate in the last few battles of Liu Xiu's attack on Wang Lang

Fight.

Of course, his participation in the battle like this is just for show, and the main purpose is to see if there is a chance to stab him in the back of Liu Xiu.

His army has the outstanding characteristics of the army and the entire cadre team: they do not pay attention to discipline, they do not know how to do real work, and they like to rob women and

The belongings of the common people.

Lao Xie did not have the ability to control this force.

Soon after arriving in Hebei, he and this army publicized the corruption and incompetence of the Genshi Dynasty in depth and extensively with practical actions.

Quite unpopular!

What's even more sad is that Lao Xie didn't find his own position, didn't measure himself, and always deliberately looked for Liu Xiu's stubble.

However, it is understandable that his main task in Hebei was to dig traps, stumble, and stab Liu Xiu.

He didn't make any achievements in beating Wang Lang, but he had friction with Liu Xiu's men and horses a few times, and he almost made the first move. I just saw that Liu Xiu had a lot of loyal houses

The man of fate, he hesitated.

Liu Xiu's decision to disobey the order has been decided, and he naturally hates Xie Bow.

However, Liu Xiu didn't want to fight Lao Xie head-on.

He felt that taking Lao Xie was just a piece of cake, and there were many ways, but it was just a matter of choosing when and which method to take. Talk to Lao Xie about this

Such cadres not only want their own people to work together, but also seem to be too substandard.

He wanted to adopt a more difficult, more ornamental, and more prudent method to deter the army and the entire contingent of cadres

The fathers and villagers in Hebei have shown that they are fully capable of controlling the situation, punishing evil and promoting good.

Of course, Liu Xiu did not kill Lao Xie as soon as he saw him, and it also had something to do with the fact that Wang Lang had not been eliminated at that time, the local forces had not been pacified, and he could not spare his hands to some extent.

At the turn of the spring and summer of 24 AD, Wang Lang was punished, and the work of clearing up local forces was progressing smoothly.

At this time of year, Hebei has a pleasant climate and chaos, which is a good time to play tricks, play conspiracy, fight big battles, and make big moves.

In order to be steady, accurate, and ruthless, Liu Xiu decided to let Wu Han and Cen Peng implement his intentions, and move his hands and feet when necessary.

Xie Gong and Liu Xiu lived in Handan, while Lu Zhi was stationed in Qiyuan, echoing Xie Gong.

Lao Xie thought that this layout had echoes and responses, and he was very powerful.

Liu Xiu sent Cen Peng to Qiyuan to plot against Lu Zhi.

Cen Peng lived up to his mission and succeeded, and Lu Zhi became Liu Xiu's person almost overnight.

Liu Xiu was very happy, and immediately appointed Cen Peng as the assassin general, responsible for supervising all battalions of the army.

(The first general Lu Zhi was the general of the army Tun Qiyuan, and Peng said to surrender, so he worshiped Peng as the general of the assassination and made the camp superintendent.) ）

This position is equivalent to the commander of intelligence, the commander of security or the head of the judge court, and has a lot of power. It turned out that the priest held this position, and the priest was transferred to the general,

Now Cen Peng has taken over.

Liu Xiu handed over such an important work to Cen Peng, which showed that Cen had become his core subordinate.

After solving Lu Zhi, Liu Xiu can play with peace of mind.

Everyone lives in Handan, but they are very wary of each other and defend in different divisions.

A few days ago, Liu Xiu had been dealing with Lao Xie by hiding a knife in his smile.

Although he has a desire for Lao Xie in his heart, he often pretends that his buddies have a good relationship, and praises him at every opportunity, in sweet words

Assassination.

Lao Xie is diligent in his work, and Liu Xiu often says:

"Xie Shangshu is really a capable and good cadre!"

(Xie Shangshu is also a real official!) ）

Lao Xie listened a lot, and slowly forgot his own work, forgot the irreconcilable contradiction between himself and Liu Xiu, and forgot that he was around him at any time

The danger of losing his head has forgotten where Liu Xiu's fundamental interests lie.

(So there is no doubt about it.) ）

Lookers-on see most of the game.

Lao Xie's wife, who went on a business trip with him, was a shrewd and cautious woman, and she advised her husband not to be fooled by Liu Xiu.

She told Lao Xie that nearly 1 year ago, when Liu Xiu was killed by her eldest brother, she pretended to be sincerely frightened and quiet, and many people sympathized at that time

He, now his wings are stiff, it's different, right? Liu Xiu is scheming and has a lot of energy, and now he has a lot of people in his hands, how can he not be wary of him?

She said:

"You and Liu Xiu have always been incompatible, and there are often contradictions, if you believe his insincere sweet words and be careful, you will be planted sooner or later

In his hands! ”

(Jun and Liu Gongji are incompetent, and believe in his false talk, and if you don't prepare for it, you will be controlled in the end!) ）

Mrs. Xie can see the essence of things through the phenomenon, and it should be said that she has a vision.

However, her words did not attract enough attention from Lao Xie. He thinks that his wife is a woman's opinion and ignores it.

In fact, what Mrs. Xie saw and what she just said were very accurate.

As soon as Wang Lang died, Liu Xiu immediately set out to destroy Xie.

At the same time that Cen Peng said that Lu Zhi would be surrendered, Liu Xiu personally operated the rebellion against Ma Wu, another general under Xie Gong.

Lao Ma is also an old comrade, and everyone is no stranger.

In his early years, in order to avoid revenge, he joined the Green Forest Army and belonged to the Xinshi soldiers.

Because he was a leader and brave in battle, he was appointed as a squire by the First Dynasty.

In the Battle of Kunyang, Lao Ma actively cooperated with Liu Xiu, and was promoted to General Zhenwei after finishing the matter.

This time he came to Hebei, and Lao Ma's task was to clamp down on Liu Xiu under the leadership of Xie Gong.

Because he used to be a colleague, Liu Xiu knew Ma Wu very well and knew that he was a rare general.

Of course, it is a bit troublesome to play thanks, and not to put Ma Wu on level.

Fortunately, Liu Xiu knows Ma Wu very well, and he thinks that although it is not difficult to kill Ma Wu, it is better to pull it over and use it for me.

One day not long after taking Handan, Liu Xiu held a grand banquet, focusing on Xie Gong and several of his generals.

Liu Xiu set a trap and wanted to kill Xie Gong according to the routine of Xiang Yu to deal with Liu Bang's Hongmen Banquet back then.

At the banquet on this day, Liu Xiu wanted to do it many times, but he didn't find a suitable opportunity.

(If you want to bow down because of this, you can't refrain from it.) ）

At this time, the relationship between the two was still very tense, and they were both looking for opportunities to set up each other, coupled with his wife's repeated reminders, Lao Xie couldn't even prevent eating

Liu Xiu.

We can imagine that it is likely that Lao Xie has been tightly guarded by his side, and among these soldiers who personally guarded him, it is also very likely that there are them

Ma Wu.

As soon as the banquet ended, Liu Xiu invited Ma Wu alone to board the late King Zhao's cong stage to catch up.

Old colleagues and old friends, it's purely normal to talk about homely things after drinking.

The following conversation is very interesting, Liu Xiu achieved his goal here, and Ma Wu has since rewritten his life.

Ma Wu is a typical military general, loyal to his duties, and has always respected Liu Xiu. He will also show us a colorful life in the future.

Now, he is Xie Gong's subordinate and Liu Xiu's target of rebellion.

Liu Xiu said to Ma Wu very kindly:

"I now get the elite cavalry of Shanggu and Yuyang, and I want to invite the general to command, I don't know what the general wants?"

(I have to Yuyang and Shanggu to ride suddenly, and I want to order the general to take it, what is it?) ）

Ma Wu also saw through the change, and he didn't know Liu Xiu's strategy and talent, and he was flattered and moved when he heard this.

He held back the excitement in his heart and hurriedly said:

"I am dull and cowardly, and I have no strategy, how can I be the commander?"

As soon as Liu Xiu saw that there was a play, he continued:

"You have been a general for a long time and are familiar with marching and fighting, how can my current adjutants compare with you?!"

(The general has been a general for a long time, and he is a soldier, how can he be the same as my officials!) ）

Ma Wu was very moved, and was very happy that Liu Xiu appreciated him, although he didn't answer anything immediately, but he had already made up his mind to join him.

(Wu Yu is homecoming.) ）

In this way, Liu Xiu fooled Xie Gong himself, saying that he had subdued Lu Zhi and plotted against Ma Wu, so he could use the last move to destroy Xie at any time.

This last trick is Liu Xiu's version of the plan to divert the tiger from the mountain.

In terms of specific implementation, Liu Xiu planned and commanded, and Wu Han and Cen Penggu did it.

At this time, Xie Gong had already led his army south and stationed in Yecheng (now north of Anyang, Henan).

While Liu Xiu was planning to attack the shooting dog, he also set a trap for him according to the basic principle of the plan to divert the tiger from the mountain.

Before sending troops south, Liu Xiu invited Xie and said to him:

"I will send troops to shoot dogs and thieves (referring to red eyebrows, green calves, etc.), and I will definitely defeat them. You Lai is in the south of Shooting Dog Mountain, and will inevitably flee to Longshu Mountain (now Henan

Within Linzhou). If you exert your might and attack these scattered soldiers, you will definitely be able to capture them. ”

Xie Gong didn't know what the plan was, and felt that Liu Xiu's move was very reasonable, and said, "Okay! ”

Next, things developed as Liu Xiu expected:

He really defeated the red eyebrows and the green calf, You Lai really fled to Longxi Mountain, and Lao Xie really led his troops to pursue You Lai.

Lao Xie has not made any achievements in Hebei, and compared with Liu Xiu's successive victories, he himself feels really embarrassed.

This time, he really didn't want to give up a good opportunity to make a contribution, so he left the general Liu Qing and Wei County Taishou Chen Kang to defend Yecheng, and personally led the great

The men and horses pursued Youlai.

Poor Lao Xie is certainly not as talented as Liu Xiu, and he doesn't even know that sometimes "poor people don't chase".

You Lai, like the Qingli and other local armed forces, has always been brave and ruthless in his fighting style, and he can do anything when he is in a hurry.

Seeing that they were being attacked by Liu Xiu and Xie Bow, they immediately fought desperately to the death and fought back Xie Bow.

We don't dare to fight Liu Xiu, and we don't dare to fight you!

You know that there is no way out, and they are fighting desperately and are unstoppable.

Lao Xie failed miserably, killing thousands of people.

(The poor fought to the death, and their edge was invincible, and they were defeated, and thousands of people died.) ）

Just when Lao Xie led his troops to leave Yecheng, Liu Xiu immediately ordered Wu Han and Cen Peng to take Yecheng.

Wu Han first sent a man who could speak well into the city to say that he would surrender to Chen Kang.

Just like Cen Peng persuaded Lu Zhi not long ago, this eloquent man succeeded immediately and quickly persuaded Chen Taishou (Kang Ranzhi).

Chen Taishou took an extremely cooperative attitude.

He took in the wife and children of the general Liu Qing and Xie Bow, opened the city gate, and welcomed Wu Han and Cen Peng in.

(So Kang received Liu Qing and his wife, opened the door and others.) ）

Wu Han and Cen Peng quickly took control of the entire Yecheng, and buried heavy troops to wait for Lao Xie to return.

Lao Xie only knows how to be loyal to his duties and work hard, and he does not know the fraud and cruelty in the army, which is not inferior to the political circles.

He was defeated immediately after leaving the army, physically and mentally exhausted, and led the remnants of the defeated army back to Yecheng, planning to rest and recuperate.

When he returned to the suburbs, he didn't know that Yecheng was already surnamed Liu, and when he settled the large army, he brought hundreds of his relatives into the city lightly.

When they came to the county office, Lao Xie and the others were surprised when they saw Wu Han and Cen Peng sitting high in the hall, and they were about to turn around and leave.

Wu and Cen gave an order, and the sword and axe men who were lying in ambush rushed up and surrounded them.

Wu and Cen did not interrogate, and ordered Lao Xie and the generals of the guards to be beheaded on the spot immediately.

As soon as Lao Xie's soldiers on the outskirts of Yecheng heard that the commander had been killed, and that it was Liu Xiu's people who did it, they all disarmed and surrendered.

This is Liu Xiu's common style of action:

The best strategy is to surrender without a fight, first show a gentle and amiable side, and then seize the opportunity to strike a sudden blow, often killing the enemy in one or several moves.