"Chu and Han Compete for the Crown"

In Liyang County, Xiang Zhuang was drinking with Baili Xian and Wu She.

But this time it is no longer a tasteless water wine, but a real soju, this is a luxury that Xiang Zhuang brought to this era through the public, Xiang Zhuang was addicted to alcohol in his previous life, sometimes in the primeval forest to perform tasks, a stay is a few months, Xiang Zhuang can not survive the addiction to alcohol, so he learned to use wild fruits to brew soju.

The principle of brewing shochu is actually very simple, that is, first ferment the grains, then put it into a distiller to steam, steam the alcohol out, cool and collect, it is a high number of shochu, and the slightly more difficult thing in the middle is the production of the still, but this is not difficult at all for the master of the craftsman.

As early as a few months ago, the large-scale distiller designed by Xiang Zhuang and processed by the bus truck was ready, and now, the shochu has brewed hundreds of large altars, and tens of thousands of stones of grain seized from Guanzhong are still about 20,000 stones, and Xiang Zhuang intends to brew all of them into soju, and then hide it, and take it out from time to time to reward meritorious soldiers.

Like the technology of papermaking and printing, Xiang Zhuang does not intend to disclose the process of brewing, at least before the unification of Dachu, he will never let other princes master these technologies, to paraphrase the terminology of later generations, this is a patent, if it is used well, it will definitely bring a steady stream of financial taxes to Dachu.

Moreover, the brewing technology is different from papermaking and printing, once the papermaking and printing technology are leaked, the big deal is that the rest of the princes have also mastered these two technologies, which is of course unfavorable for Dachu, but for the whole of China, it is beneficial, but once the brewing technology is leaked, it is likely to brew!

The reason is very simple, drinking wine is addictive, especially mellow liquor!

Once the technology of brewing shochu spread on a large scale, once the nobles of the whole world were addicted to alcohol, they would try to forcibly requisition grain to make shochu, but the grain production in this era was extremely low, and once a large amount of grain was used to make shochu, then the remaining food would not be enough to eat, which might even cause famine.

Therefore, Xiang Zhuang does not intend to make the technology of brewing soju public, at least not yet.

When Baili Xian and Wu Shi entered the table, Xiang Zhuang beckoned, and a personal soldier walked in with a wine utensil, first put a customized small wine tendon on the low table in front of the three of them, and poured half a tendon of soju into it, and the crystal clear liquor had just been injected into the wine tendon, and an attractive mellow aroma had already spread.

Wu Shi couldn't help but move his nose and praised: "Fragrant, really fragrant." ”

Bai Lixian also nodded thoughtfully, and praised: "Yes, just smelling the fragrance of this wine, I am already drunk." ”

Wu Shi and Bai Li Xian from the beginning, many times, Bai Li Xian said one, Wu Shi will say two without reason, but in the matter of tasting soju, the opinions of the two have rarely achieved unity, and it is precisely because of this discovery that Xiang Zhuang will invite them to drink from time to time to ease the relationship between the two.

Not to mention, after drinking a few times of wine, the relationship between the two has been greatly eased.

Xiang Zhuang smiled slightly, raised the wine tendon and said to the two: "Come, do this tendon first." ”

Wu Shi picked up the wine tendons in front of him, first saluted Xiang Zhuang from afar, and then drank the soju in the wine tendons with his sleeves covering his face, and then vomited his mouth, and said in admiration: "Good wine, really good wine, not only smells fragrant, but also tastes extremely strong!" When the wine went down to the stomach, it was as if there was a fire burning in the belly, and the chill on the body suddenly dissipated! ”

Bai Li Xian did not drink it all like Wu She, but took a small sip, and then used his tongue to savor the mellow fragrance in the wine, obviously, Wu Shi enjoyed the warm and baking feeling brought by the soju in his stomach, while Bai Li Xian paid more attention to the supreme enjoyment of the taste brought to him by the soju.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, the topic of the three of them returned to business.

Wu Shi drank all the soju in the wine tendon again, smashed his mouth again, and said: "General, calculate the time, General Xiang Tuo should almost return to Wuzhong County now, and I don't know how the major clans in Wuzhong will react after getting the thread-bound book presented by the general?" ”

Baili Xian said firmly: "Needless to say, of course I am overjoyed!" ”

After saying this, Bai Lixian said in an accentuated tone: "This is a heavy gift!" ..., Wu Shi nodded, and asked Baili Xian directly: "General Xiang Tuo has made it clear that he is willing to support the general, if more than a dozen old clans in Wuzhong and Xiang are also willing to support the general, then Xiang Guan will not be able to make much waves, so next, will we be able to cross the river directly and return to Wuzhong?" ”

Bai Lixian smiled slightly, and then said: "If nothing else, I will be able to cross the river in a few days." ”

When the words fell, Jin Xiang suddenly entered with high spirits and reported loudly: "General, there is someone outside the line who wants to see you, and he claims to be your nephew. ”

"Nephew?" Xiang Zhuang was stunned.

"Whatever you say, you will come, most likely because Ling Yin has arrived." Bai Lixian said happily.

"Xiang He?!" Xiang Zhuang immediately stood up and instructed Jin Xiang, "Jin Xiang, invite him in." ”

"Whoa!" Jin Xiang took the order and left, and after less than a moment, he led a young man into the Xingyuan Hall, the young man was white and pure, Si Swenwen, about thirty years old, but Xiang Zhuang did not know him, because when he crossed over, the battle of Qixia had already begun, but Xiang He was not in Xiang Yu's army.

However, Xiang He recognized Xiang Zhuang, and immediately shook himself to the ground, and said loudly: "Yang County Commander Xiang He, see the general!" ”

Hearing Xiang he claim to be the magistrate of the county, the corners of Baili Xian and Wu She's mouths bloomed with a slight smile at the same time, thinking that Xiang he was really a smart person, not only came to Liyang to see Xiang Zhuang in person, but also did not call himself Ling Yin, because Ling Yin of Chu State was actually the prime minister, and the prime minister was always in charge of the major affairs of the whole government, and his authority was still above the general.

"Ziyi, hurry up." Xiang Zhuang hurriedly stepped forward and helped Xiang He up.

Xiang he, the word wing, but when the formal title is preceded by a sub-word, such as Xiang Yu, the word feather, when the elders or friends call him, they have to call Zi Yu.

After the cold noise, Xiang He cut directly to the point and said: "Uncle, the elders of Jiangdong are looking forward to your army being able to cross the river as soon as possible and revive the Great Chu as soon as possible. ”

"Alas, why doesn't Uncle Wei want to cross the river as soon as possible? It's just that I really don't want to kill each other. "Xiang he called uncle, Xiang Zhuang is really a little unaccustomed, in terms of age, he Xiang Zhuang is only twenty-six, a few years younger than Xiang Zhuang, but in terms of seniority, Xiang he is seriously Xiang Zhuang's nephew.

Xiang He said: "Uncle is worried about Xiang Guan? ”

Xiang Zhuang nodded and said: "Xiang Guan has nearly 40,000 soldiers, and has the support of more than a dozen county clans in the south of Huiji County, if Uncle Wei rashly crosses the river, it is likely to conflict with him, Uncle Wei is not afraid of him, just with Xiang Guan's tens of thousands of rabble, Uncle Wei really didn't pay attention to it, but if this war starts, it is the Jiangdong father and elder who suffer." ”

Xiang He said: "Uncle don't worry, my nephew has already thought of a countermeasure."

"Oh?" Xiang Zhuang's heart moved slightly, and he said, "Ziyi, you should talk about it." ”

Xiang He said: "Uncle, for the sake of today's plan, we can only eradicate Xiang Guan by thunder means to ensure the peace of Jiangdong!" Although Xiang Guan has nearly 40,000 soldiers, they are all improvised clan children, which can be described as a rabble, as long as Xiang Guan dies, these 40,000 clan children will immediately fall into a situation where the dragons are leaderless, and they will collapse without a fight! ”

"You mean kill Xiang Guan? Will the clans in each county riot? ”

"Categorically not, Xiang Guan's forces are mainly in the more than ten counties south of Huiji, and the clan surnamed Lu is the leader, however, the clans in these dozens of counties are not monolithic, and there is also a conflict of interest among them, as long as Xiang Guan can be killed by thunderous means, and then some of the clans can be co-opted by the law, the situation can be quickly controlled."

Xiang Zhuang said: "You mean, as long as you can kill Xiang Guan with thunderous means, the situation will not get out of control?" ”

"Yes." Xiang Guan nodded, and said, "Xiang Guan is a straw bag, so there is nothing to worry about, but his clan brother Lu Yuan is a tricky person, so how to kill Xiang Guan has to be well calculated, if you are not careful and let Xiang Guan run, then the dozen or so counties south of Huiji County may inevitably have a scuffle." ”

Xiang Zhuang was silent, but a smile had already bloomed at the corner of his mouth.

At this point, Xiang Tuo and Xiang He have expressed their attitudes one after another, and the time is finally ripe to cross the river, but before the army crosses the river, there is one thing that must be done first, that is

Kill the crown! Including Xiang He, Xiang Tuo and others, the vast majority of people thought that Xiang Zhuang would not act against Xiang Guan until the army crossed the river, but Xiang Zhuang wanted to do the opposite.

All this, in fact, was already in Wei Yu's calculations, long before Huan Chu, Ji Bu, Zhong Liwu, and Yu Ziqi returned to their hometowns with Jiangdong veterans, all of this has been determined, these more than 1,000 veterans are the elite of the elite, and at the critical moment, it is enough to reach 10,000 elite soldiers! Using them to hunt Xiang Guan can be said to be killing chickens with a knife.

Moreover, when these veterans crossed the river, there were more than 1,000 people, and now, I'm afraid there are tens of thousands of people, right?

Of course, Wei Yu fixed the time, and was not sure who the final hunt would be, maybe Xiang Guan, maybe Xiang He, or Xiang Tuo, but now, it is Xiang Guan, which can be said to be the best result for Xiang Zhuang, because Xiang Tuo has the talent of a general, and Xiang He has the talent of a prime minister, but Xiang Guan is a straw bag.

Seeing that Xiang Zhuang was silent, Xiang He said again: "Uncle, do you think you are sending 5,000 elite soldiers across the river?" ”

"The battle of 5,000 men and horses is too big, and it is impossible for Xiang Guan not to notice it." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said, "However, the people who dealt with Xiang Guan have already crossed the river, Ziyi, after you return to Wuzhong, you can go to Gao Chu." ”

…………………

PS: Good news, the network cable was pulled up in the afternoon, and I quickly coded a chapter to repay everyone for their great support to the swordsman during this difficult period! Brothers, the swordsman is back, really back, starting tomorrow, three consecutive outbreaks until all the arrears are made up, hahaha......