Doctor Sanlu shook his head again and again, and said, "The king is the body of ten thousand times, and he must not take risks!" If a large army is sent to aid Lantian and the capital is empty, it will be taken advantage of by the Han army, and the king will be placed in an unkind and unrighteous place! The danger of Lantian is unsolvable! Zuo Tu should know that although the Chu army is brave, Yingdu has no good generals! Therefore, it is easy to defend the city, but it is beyond the power of field warfare! Sent 30,000 troops out of the city to fight with the Korean army, but the minister was afraid that the rescue would not be successful, but he would be trapped by the Korean army! No one can afford this responsibility! ”

Huang Xie was not annoyed and angry, but nodded with a smile and said, "What Doctor Sanlu said is very true! If Yingdu only has an army of 30,000, the natural forces are stretched and unable to rescue Lantian! But there are more than 30,000 troops around Yingdu! ”

The King of Chu was stunned for a moment, looked at Huang Xie in confusion, and subconsciously said: "Could it be that Aiqing means to recruit all the men in the city to enlist in the army?" ”

This is an expedient measure, but except for soldiers between the ages of twenty and forty, who can be called elite soldiers, men who are too young or too old to be drafted into the army can only play an auxiliary role of cheering, which is better than nothing, and does not play a decisive role!

Huang Xie shook his head and smiled: "The minister just said that there are more than 30,000 troops in Yingdu, so naturally he is talking about elite soldiers!" ”

This remark suddenly made the hall explode, Yingdu obviously only had 30,000 troops, how could it be that there were more than 30,000 in Huang Xie's mouth! Only Ling Yin Qiliang nodded slightly in understanding, probably guessing Huang Xie's thoughts.

The King of Chu looked surprised, and said in an almost trembling tone: "Aiqing, where are the extra soldiers and horses?!" How can the widow not know? ”

This question is so important, if there are more soldiers and horses, I will not be so panicked! How much the king of Chu hoped that Huang Xie would tell him that Yingdu had more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and in this case, 50,000 Han troops would dare to come. You can make them come and go!

"The extra soldiers and horses are in the homes of the ministers in the main hall!" Huang Xie said a word of heaven-shattering!

The hall fell silent for a moment, and finally understood the meaning of Huang Xie's words. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the feudal system has collapsed, the ministers and doctors of various countries, especially the old nobles, often have a huge number of fiefs or territories. Especially in a country as vast as Chu, the influence of the nobility in the local area is beyond imagination! Even the people in the fief only know the lord and don't know the king's Cheng dù! Because in these territories, the noble lords wield great power!

In their respective fiefs, the nobles of the Chu State also retained the tradition of raising private soldiers! For this qiē, the king of Chu basically turned a blind eye. Unlike the countries of the Central Plains, the land awarded by the monarch to the meritorious officials was more nominal, and in fact it was still under the unified control of the state, but the taxes on the land were handed over to the meritorious officials, which also led the nobles of the Central Plains countries to raise private soldiers. But they are all a minority, not thousands of people like the Chu State!

Such a system determined that the nobles of the Chu State were easily satisfied, because the Chu State was too big and had enough benefits for them to divide! When the countries of the Central Plains fought for the land of a hundred miles, the monarchs and ministers of the Chu State were watching the excitement; When the countries of the Central Plains were thinking about how to feed more people with limited land, the monarchs and ministers of the Chu State were watching the excitement. Why? Because the country of Chu is vast and rich, it has never needed these! The monarchs and ministers of the state of Chu occasionally worked hard. But in the end, what I want is nothing more than the respect of the Central Plains countries. Prove that you are not a barbarian country, and you don't know etiquette! Once the goal is achieved, or the north to the Central Plains is frustrated, the Chu State will instinctively toss hard in its own one-third of an acre. Compare whose slaves are more, whose buildings and boats are beautiful. Who is richer has become a matter after tea and dinner for the nobles of Chu State! This situation became even stricter after the destruction of the two great enemies of life and death, Wu and Yue!

Obviously, for the nobles who value their own interests more than anything else, Huang Xie's mention is a blatant offense to them! Although everyone's fiefdom is some distance away from Yingdu, the nobles of Chu State, who have always spared their lives, still have a lot of private soldiers in the manor outside the city. This kind of private armament is only under the orders of the heads of each family, and now because of Huang Xie's words, if he wants to serve the king of Chu, naturally no one is willing to do so.

Ling Yin Qiliang sighed silently in his heart, knowing that it was time for him to stand up. In terms of status, the nobles of the Chu State take themselves first, and if they all push back on this, it is estimated that no one will agree. The expectant look in the eyes of the King of Chu also proves that the national disaster is at the head, and the King of Chu hopes to set an example. It's just that this will also offend many noble ministers.

"That's it! That's it! There are priorities! Take the power yourself and be a wicked person! Yin Miliang made up his mind.

After making this decision, Mi Liang calmly got up and said, "Your Majesty! There are still 1,000 guards in the manor outside Yingdu, including the young and strong servants, a total of 1,500 people, who are willing to be driven by the king to solve this crisis! ”

The king of Chu was overjoyed and said excitedly: "Ling Yin Zhen is a widow's humerus, and when the Han army is defeated and retreats, the widow will have a heavy reward!" After speaking, he looked expectantly at the other noble ministers.

The nobles were angry in their hearts that Mi Liang had pushed him into an embarrassing realm, but they also knew that now there was no other way than to hand over his private soldiers as if cutting meat, otherwise, the King of Chu would definitely settle accounts after the autumn! For the sake of long-term interests, we can only endure it!

"Your Majesty! There are also 800 manor guards and slaves willing to be driven by the king! ”

"There are five hundred ministers, willing to serve the king!"

The aristocratic ministers have "generously donated", no one is an exception, Huang Xie secretly calculated, the ministers present have just gathered 10,000 private soldiers, although it is not enough to turn the tide of the war, but it has also added a lot of confidence to the state of Chu!

Doctor Sanlu glanced at Huang Xie a little defiantly, and said, "Lord Zuotu, all the ministers here have handed over all the guards and slaves, but even so, Yingdu is only 40,000 troops!" In this way, can An solve the siege of Lantian? Lord Zuo doesn't want to take an army of 10,000 or 20,000 to Lantian to intercept the Korean army, right? ”

Obviously, Sanlu Doctor Zhaowen caught Huang Xie's words to rescue Lantian and forced Huang Xie to make a fool of himself. Huang Xie naturally wouldn't be fooled, but looked at him left and right, and said lightly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that when the Yiling and Badong defenders enter Ying, in this way, Yingdu has an army of 50,000. Sure! Of these 50,000 troops, 20,000 troops went north to support Lantian, and 30,000 stayed in Yingdu! ”

The king of Chu nodded again and again, Yingdu had more troops, and he was also at ease. Ultimately. Huang Xie's strategy was to squeeze out 20,000 troops to go north to Lantian, which actually had no impact on the defense of Yingdu! The king of Chu was naturally willing to use Lantian to slow down the speed of the Han army, and immediately agreed.

Only then did Zhaowen realize that after turning a circle, Huang Xie's thoughts were actually the same as Ling Yin Qiliang, all of them were to rescue Lantian. Unlike Mi Liang, Huang Xie also dispelled the doubts of King Chu, and suddenly felt deceived.

Without waiting for Zhaowen to object, Huang Xie glanced at Zhaowen meaningfully. said: "Doctor Sanlu proposed to ask General Jingyang and Marquis Anping for help, and the minister thought so. It's even better to put pressure on Qi Guo! However, if this strategy is to work, it will have to be done in January. Therefore, the minister thought that it was even more necessary to send reinforcements to Lantian. ”

"30,000 troops are useless, and 20,000 troops are afraid that it will be more difficult to solve the siege of Lantian, right?" Zhaowen said in a weird manner.

Huang Xie shook his head with a smile and said, "Doctor Sanlu, I never said that I wanted to solve the siege of Lantian!" ”

"You!" Zhaowen was speechless. Realize that you are being played, but above the court. It was not good to sneer at each other, so he immediately snorted coldly and said disappreciably: "Then what's the use of these 20,000 troops going north?" ”

King Chu also looked at Huang Xie curiously, and had already concluded in his heart that Huang Xie was by no means a simple support, otherwise. It doesn't stop there. Huang Xie glanced at the ministers, and said unhurriedly: "Dare to ask the ministers, Yingdu is only two hundred miles away from Lantian, but now there is no Korean army going south, why is this?" ”

The ministers wondered how Huang Xie could ask such a simple question. Someone immediately muttered: "Why does Lord Zuo have this question, the Han army did not go south naturally because they did not conquer Lantian, and they are worried that they will be cut off!" ”

Huang Xie nodded with a smile and said approvingly: "Lantian is not broken, so the Han army does not dare to go south to invade Yingdur!" If you don't send reinforcements north, Lantian can't hold on for a long time! The ministers may think that a mere 20,000 troops are useless, but the ministers have a plan to slow down the offensive of the Korean army and buy time for General Jingyang and Marquis Anping to return to the division! ”

"What is Aiqing's plan?" The king of Chu involuntarily leaned forward and said with great joy.

"I don't dare to speak!" Huang Xie couldn't afford it.

King Chu's eyebrows furrowed, and the ministers were extremely puzzled! That's a great idea! Ideas that can delay the offensive of the South Korean army are all good ideas! How can you look at Huang Xie's posture and feel guilty!

"The widow forgives Aiqing is not guilty! Aiqing can rest assured to say it! "The king of Chu waved his hand, and Huang Xie's high opinion was quiet!

Only then did Huang Xie get up and say: "The minister's plan is detrimental to the prestige of the king, because it is a trick to surrender!" ”

"Surrender?" The ministers muttered in their hearts, and they also understood why Huang Xie had such an attitude! The minds of some ministers who originally thought that the Han army had invaded the Chu State and had no other way but to surrender began to become active! This ploy is actually a real trick!

"Will South Korea believe it?" King Chu asked uncertainly.

Huang Xie said with a firm face: "Therefore, the king needs to send a confidant minister to the Han army camp with a letter of state, in order to show the intention of the Chu State to seek peace!" ”

"If this strategy is discovered by the Han army, then this minister will be in danger!" King Chu said worriedly. Of course, the letter of state can be given by itself, but the envoy to the South Korean army camp is a life-saving job! As Huang Xie said, the deception can definitely buy a certain amount of time. But how long you can fight depends on the acting skills of the messenger. After the Han army realized that this was Chu State's strategy to delay the army, no matter how much they recuperated, most of them would be annoyed and angry, and use envoys to vent their anger!

"The minister is willing to send an envoy to the Han army camp for the king to buy time for the reinforcements to return to Yingdu!" Huang Xie knelt down with a resolute face.

"This" King Chu didn't react for a while, and hesitated a little.

The other aristocratic ministers looked at Huang Xie with complicated expressions, this kind of thing, you can't do it yourself! Or is your own life important! This kind of hero, it's better to let Huang Xie, who proposed this strategy, be it! Many nobles who were eager to repay even prayed that Huang Xie would never return and fold in the camp of the Korean army! Only a few ministers such as Yin Qiliang looked at Huang Xie with admiration, a minister with such a responsibility can be regarded as an outlier in the court of Chu State!

"The plan was proposed by the minister, and the minister knows best how to deal with it, and asks the king to fulfill it!" Huang Xie said again.

"It's hard to love Qing!" The King of Chu couldn't help but be emotional!

"It is the duty of a minister to serve the king!" Huang Xie did not have the consciousness of becoming a martyr at all.

The king of Chu nodded again and again, if all the courtiers had such an awareness, this country would not be so difficult to govern!

Under the city of Lantian, there are many banners, 50,000 Korean troops surrounded the huge Lantian and could not be passed, and 10,000 boat divisions patrolled the Han River in the east of the city. Loose on the outside and tight on the inside; The 40,000 troops blocked the west and south of the city, leaving only the north gate. It seems that the north gate is the safest, but the Lantian defenders don't think so, the so-called siege of three lacks one, the Han army must have wanted to let themselves take the initiative to abandon the city and retreat to the north, but no matter to the north, it is Yancheng and Nanyang. It is all enemy territory, and no one can guarantee whether the South Korean army in the north has set up an ambush! This is evidenced by the fact that all the scouts who sneaked out of the north gate to investigate the situation have gone and never returned.

Two days ago, 3,000 elite Korean troops bypassed the defense line carefully set up by the Chu army and attacked the Chu army camp located 30 miles north of the city from behind. The 7,000 Chu troops stationed outside the city finally fled back to Lantian but 2,000 people. Today, the total number of Chu troops in the entire Lantian is only 15,000. In the face of the Korean army, which was three times his size, he naturally closed his door and hung up the exemption card.

In the past two days, although the Korean army has not attacked the city, it has been exerting tremendous pressure on the Chu army in Lantian. Anyone who sees the enemy building siege equipment under their noses and is unable to do anything about it will inevitably lose their morale. Moreover, the cunning Han Jun passed guò notes and shouted in the shape of shì. Constantly break the will of the defenders. For example, those who open the door to welcome the Korean army into the city will be rewarded with a thousand gold. Baron; Dedicated to the head of the guard, sealed Lantian County Order, rank Qianshi, such rumors make Lantian a little detached!

Wealth is moving, wealth is charming. Han Jun can say it, even if it is to carry the head of an uncle and a subordinate chief. All have corresponding rewards. If you can assassinate high-ranking officials such as Lantian County Commander and County Lieutenant, and succeed, you will not have to worry about wealth in the rest of your life! This is much better than living with your head in your hands now!

Qu Ping, a partial general from the three nobles of the Chu State (Qu, Jing, and Zhao), was the supreme commander of Lantian and controlled the civil and military officials of Lantian before leaving. Qu Ping thought that once the Korean army invaded the border, the war would be more difficult! But Qu Ping never thought that he would be trapped in Lantian with 15,000 people in just one day after the war started. Although the messenger who asked for help successfully moved south before the Korean army surrounded Lantian, Qu Ping was really not sure that after learning the news, Yingdu would not send reinforcements, and if so, how many reinforcements would be sent!

Qu Ping knows very well that the army of Dongyue is raging in Jiujiang County, and the focus of Yingdu's vigilance is in the direction of Bashu, and Yingdu, who only has an army of 30,000, has the confidence to face this crisis? ! Qu Ping only hoped that the king of Chu would not flee east in a hurry after hearing the news and hunt Chen County, if such a thing really happened, the army under his command would completely lose its fighting spirit!

In order to boost morale, Qu Ping has ordered to take out all the food and money in the city treasury to reward the soldiers and civilians who have made meritorious contributions to defending the city! Qu Ping wants to release this signal, that is, he will not hesitate to reward, as long as everyone is willing to work hard, he will definitely not be able to treat his soldiers badly!

The reward of the Han army is rich, but not everyone has the life to take it, and now Qu Ping will bring all his personal guards with him, and the city has implemented a curfew, and all the non-local people and merchants have been gathered, in order not to give the people who have a heart to take advantage of the loopholes! Now it seems that Lantian is calm, but Qu Ping also knows that if the reinforcements from Yingdu do not arrive one day, there will be an undercurrent surging under the calm waves of Lantian!

"General! The envoy of the South Korean army asks to meet! Just when Qu Ping led the generals to inspect the city defense, the deputy general of the Chu army guarding the south gate sent someone to report.

Qu Ping was stunned for a moment, secretly thinking about the intention of the envoy of the Korean army, the so-called battle between the two armies, do not kill the envoy, Qu Ping just groaned slightly, and planned to meet the envoy of the Korean army for a while, to explore the reality of the Korean army!

"Get up in good spirits, don't let Han Jun underestimate you!" Qu Ping commanded the generals behind him.

"Whoa!" Everyone replied violently, it was obvious that their own commander wanted to give the Han army a dismount. For the envoys of the South Korean army, they don't have to serve in the oil pot, so they fall behind. In comparison, the orderly military appearance and awe-inspiring military discipline obviously made the envoy of the South Korean army secretly frightened, and he did not dare to underestimate himself!

Soon, the south gate quietly opened, and the envoy of the Han army, who was riding alone, calmly went to the palace under the leadership of a Chu army commander. Along the way, in the face of columns of Chu army soldiers patrolling back and forth or craftsmen talking and laughing to build weapons, the Han army envoys always turned a blind eye.

It wasn't until he saw Qu Ping, who was dressed in military uniform, that the envoy of the Han army smiled slightly and said, "The general is so good!" I thought there would be a frying pan to serve! It seems that the State of Chu also knows the etiquette of the Central Plains! ”

Qu Ping snorted slightly coldly and said, "Don't take advantage of your tongue!" If you talk about etiquette, why did your general send a nobody to meet the general? ”

After hearing this, the envoy of the Han army smiled and replied: "What my general wants to say is all in this letter, and such a trivial matter as sending a letter naturally requires a nobody like me!" If the general is the king of Chu, then naturally it is a different matter, it is not the turn of a nobody like me! After speaking, he took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Qu Ping's personal guard on the side.

The guards did not answer the letter, but pressed their swords and glared at the envoy of the Han army, it was obvious that the envoy of the Han army had made insulting remarks just now, which had annoyed Qu Ping's King of Qin. Qu Ping smiled generously and motioned his subordinates to take the letter with his eyes. (To be continued......)