Upper County, Fushi City.

Because Fushi City is far away from Guanzhong, it is not infected by the tense atmosphere of the border. Although it was close to dusk, the city gate was still wide open, and the few soldiers guarding the gate leaned listlessly against the city gate, without the slightest intention of closing the city gate.

It was the hottest time of the year, even after the sun set, the city wall was still steaming, if it wasn't for the order that King Zhai was going back to the city today, how could the soldiers guarding the gate stand in the sun all day after suffering hardship. But after waiting for an afternoon, there was still no shadow of Dong Peng, and these soldiers were all holding back their dissatisfaction, and they couldn't help cursing in their hearts.

Two months ago, Sima Xin and Dong Fei took advantage of the opportunity of the soldiers of Shangjun to be taken away by Li Xin, and took the empty Fushi City in one fell swoop.

Because it has not experienced heavy fighting, the city is still well preserved, with almost no damage, and looks the same as it was a few years ago when the Northern Army camp was stationed. The only thing that has changed is the big flag erected at the head of the city, no longer the Heishui Qin flag, but replaced by a nondescript maroon banner planted all over the city.

Shangjun belonged to Qin for a hundred years, and the vast majority of the residents were Qin, and Sima Xin and Dong Peng did not dare to impose too fierce military and political policies after occupying it, and switched to a more moderate means of rule, which did not provoke fierce resistance from the Qin people, and barely stood in Shangjun.

Their old troops had long been wiped out by Xiang Yukeng, and most of the troops they relied on now were Qin refugees who had been temporarily recruited in the Guannei, as well as fugitives and thieves who had fled the mountains to avoid military service. Most of these people were persecuted by the harsh government of the Qin State, although the Qin people did not have a good impression of the Qin State, so Sima Xin and Dong Peng dared to use it with confidence.

As for the soldiers recruited from Shangjun, it is okay to stand guard and guard the city, but if they fight with the Qin army in Guanzhong, they can't say who they are helping.

These Sima Xin and Dong Peng naturally knew it, but they were helpless. Xiang Yu did too much, he originally wanted to limit the rights in the hands of the two after the fall of the Qin State, but he didn't expect that the Qin State did not take it, but instead made the two of them become lonely ghosts, and they were in panic all day long in Shangjun, for fear that the Qin army would come to the door and break their bodies into pieces.

Fortunately, Xianyang has no signs of using troops against Shangjun for the time being, and it should be that Qin's own troops are also very nervous, and he is afraid that Xiang Yu will use this as an excuse to restart the war. There is just one thing that makes Sima Xin and Dong Peng a big headache, that is, the Qin people in Shangjun fled towards Guanzhong in large numbers, at first it was just a personal action, and then it almost became a large-scale escape of the entire village and the whole clan, and the two had to lead the troops south to intercept the fugitives, otherwise it would not be long before Shangjun would become a person and go to the city, so what did they rely on to maintain the 40,000 people chewing horses.

Dong Peng went south this time to inspect the border and strictly prevent the people of Shangjun from fleeing south. As the name suggests, this is naturally an extremely boring task, and it is also in the hot weather, so Dong Fei was full of anger when he entered the city, and when he saw the guards acting in a panic, he became angry and whipped him head-on.

The soldier didn't have time to dodge, he jumped away after a miserable scream, one eye was swollen high, he covered his face and stared at the back of Dong Fei and the others leaving, and spat on the ground fiercely.

"What's the spirit, when our Qin army comes over, you look good, you Qin traitor."

Dong Fei naturally couldn't hear the soldier's curse, so he quickly rampaged through the street and rushed towards the camp.

The big camp is still the old big camp of the Northern Army, but the big camp that is big enough to accommodate 100,000 people is now deserted, and the soldiers and horses of Sima Xin and Dong Peng in Fushi City are only 20,000 at best. Dong Peng went straight to the big tent of the Chinese army all the way, dismounted in front of the tent and threw the horsewhip to the guards, and he strode in.

Pulling open the curtain of the tent, Sima Xin happened to be drinking slowly for a while, and only raised his eyes when he saw him come in. Dong Fei was not polite, strode forward, grabbed a large pot of herbal tea on the case, drank it bitterly, and only after drinking enough did he burp and sit down at will.

"It's okay to the south." Sima Xin put down his wine glass and said slowly.

"What a fart." Dong Fei spat heavily on the ground, "What's so good, those rabbit cubs have a good conscience, they all turn a blind eye to the fugitives, I went and killed dozens of officers in a row to stop them, damn, these guys are really unreliable, I think something will happen sooner or later." ”

"If you can't rely on it, you have to rely on it." Sima Xin said angrily; "You can't let our two kings arrest people personally."

"What kind of bird king, it's not up to you to take it seriously." Dong Fei scolded and scolded.

"Look at our current virtue, where do we have the appearance of a king when we are so depressed. Damn's family is also a king, and we are also kings, but they sent us to this ghost place, and they were worried all day long about Xianyang coming to the door. Those kings in the Kanto region are alive and moist one by one, who is miserable with our two brothers! I don't think it's as good as when we followed the general. “

Sima Xin smiled bitterly; "At least we're alive and still whining here."

Dong Peng snorted and said; "That's not all there is left of this rotten life, it's really fucking boring to live, Xiang Yu is not a good person, he didn't have a good heart for us from the beginning, and you still trust him so much."

Sima Xin's face tightened, and he lowered his voice and whispered: "It's good to tell me this, don't talk nonsense outside, you have to know who we can count on now except relying on Xiang Yu, if even he offends us, we will really be finished." ”

Dong Fei sulked his head and said, "I have my own measure, don't worry about it." ”

Looking up at Sima Xin, he asked again; "It's you, what's the matter with calling me back in such a hurry?"

Sima Xin did not reply directly, but took out a roll of cloth from his arms and threw it to Dong Feidao; "This is from Xianyang, you can see it by looking at it."

Dong Fei stretched out his hand to catch it, and the black cloth with gold trim recognized it as the emperor's holy decree, so he habitually asked; "What is Your Majesty's will?"

As soon as the words came out, Dong Fei realized that he had said the wrong thing. The two looked at each other for a moment, and Qi Qi looked away.

After all, the two of them have been Qin generals for decades, and they have long been accustomed to the identity of Qin people, and Dong Fei's unintentional words made the two of them feel a little strange in their hearts.

"What do you think?" Sima Xin put down the wine glass in his hand and looked up to ask Dong Fei.

Dong Peng groaned; "Do you think this is a ploy by Xianyang to deal with us? Pretend to take advantage of the county and take the opportunity to destroy us. ”

Sima Xin shook his head slowly; "It shouldn't be, we have already heard about the urgency in the north, and I think Xianyang also got the news, so we sent troops to rescue. Unexpectedly, this Han Xin is a courageous character, Qin Guo is leaking everywhere, and he dares to send troops to the north, but we underestimated him when we were under the general's account before. ”

"What do you think?"

Sima Xin hesitated for a moment and said; "If you don't borrow it, then I'm afraid it won't work, in the past, when Chu and Qin met the alliance, Xiang Yu promised to let the northern army return to Guanzhong through Shangjun, if we regret it, Xianyang just has an excuse to attack us."

"It's just that if we happily agree, then once the military and civilians of the northern land return to Guanzhong, then Xianyang's power will definitely increase greatly, and we will definitely be its next target at that time."

Sima Xin sighed and said; "It's really embarrassing."

Dong Peng was silent for a long time, and suddenly looked up at Sima Xin and said; "Brother Sima, you said that you and I are both Qin people, and we also had meritorious services to the Qin State in the past, but we surrendered to Xiang Yu because of the situation, if you ......." After speaking, he stopped speaking, just stared at Sima Xin.

Sima Xin naturally heard the meaning of his words, and shook his head with a wry smile; "Do you think I haven't thought about it? It's just that the Qin people hate you and me for a long time, and how can they be covered up with a sentence of 'forced to do so'. Think about the general, he has defected from Xin'an, have you heard anything about him? ”

"Let me tell you, I just got a secret report that an army of tens of thousands of people in Kwantung crossed the Shaoxi Mountain and returned to the Qin State, I think this should be the team led by the general, but there is no news about him. There is only one possibility, the general was secretly executed by Xianyang @. Thinking about the general's contribution to the Qin State, far better than you and me, besides, Han Xin and others have been his subordinates for a long time, and he has always cared for Han Xin, even he has not been able to be forgiven, what do you think will happen to you and me? ”

Sima Xin and Dong Fei looked at each other, they both sighed, and Sima Xin said slowly; "Since we have done it, we can only go one way to the end, there is no way back, turning back is the abyss of broken bones, don't mention this matter in the future, you and my brother in the province will give birth to mustard."

"Then how do we respond to Xianyang?" Dong Fei asked again.

"I've got a way to drive the tiger and devour the wolf." Sima Xin's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness, and he suddenly spoke.

"What's the hell about a tiger and a wolf?" Dong Fei asked urgently.

"It's very simple, Xianyang is a wolf, they will swallow us sooner or later, it is better for us to attract a tiger and let them lose both, no matter who loses, it will be beneficial to us."

"That tiger is the Huns, isn't Xianyang going to borrow the road to Shangjun, of course we will borrow, not only all, but also provide them with ferries and supplies, so that they have nothing to say. Then we sent people to the outside of the Saiwai to tell the Huns, so that they knew that the Qin army was going north to rescue the northern army, and that as soon as the Qin army crossed the river, the Hun army on the other side of the river would be the long-awaited Xiongnu army. ”

Dong Fei's eyes lit up after hearing this, and after thinking about it carefully, he felt that Sima Xin's plan was really feasible.

I heard Sima Xin laugh again; "At that time, Xianyang will inevitably suffer heavy losses, not only will there be no extra troops to attack us, maybe we can take advantage of the situation to attack Guanzhong, and we won't have to live so badly as now."

At this time in Xianyang, the preparations before the expedition were also beginning to be arranged intensively, the army was remobilized, and the generals were also recalled to Xianyang to rearrange the defense.

Han Xin planned to take Meng Shi to the Northland, because he was brave and good at charging into battle, and was suitable for fighting in the cavalry corps on the grassland, while Tian Shi was transferred to take over the Xianyang garrison. In fact, Han Xin originally wanted to take Tian Shi, Tian Shi has been in northern Xinjiang for many years and has very rich experience in fighting against the Xiongnu, which is not comparable to Han Xin and Zhao Wuji.

However, Han Xin considered that after he left, Xianyang must be guarded by a trusted general, Wang Qi and Gan Xiao's old Qin people's background was too heavy, and it was easy to be assimilated by Meng Jian, only Tian Shi and Zhao Wuji were the confidants, and Tian Shi's calm nature was more suitable for guarding Xianyang.

As for the experienced people of the Xiongnu, Tian Shi recommended one, who was their old superior, Zuo Cheng Xida, the lieutenant of Longxi County. Xi Da applied to be transferred back to his hometown Longxi County after the Battle of Mobei, and originally had some taste of returning to his hometown, but he didn't expect to be lucky to avoid the defeat of Julu. His performance in Longxi was mediocre, and he had always been decent and just fulfilled his duties, so he was not promoted.

Han Xin also thought of Xi Da that day, but he didn't have time because the military was busy. Besides, the difference in status between the two today is too great, and I am afraid that Xi Da will be uncomfortable, so I put this matter in the back of my mind. Now when I heard Tian Shi mention it, there was a sudden sound that there was also this old marquis of the Northern Army here, and he would definitely not lose to Tian Shi in terms of experience, so he urgently recruited Xi Da to enter Xianyang.

Xi Da treated it calmly, and did not show any intolerance, treating Han Xin and others with subordinate courtesy on formal occasions, and talking and laughing in private, looking as usual. This is Xi Da's shrewdness, and it is impossible to say that he has no guilt in his heart. Thinking that when he was a military marquis, Han Xin was just a Qu Hou under him, Tian Shi was a deputy Qu Hou, and Zhao Wuji was a small hundred generals, and now these three are a national captain general, a former general, and a right general, how can this not make him feel embarrassed,

However, he hid his jealousy well, because he knew that according to his relationship with the three of them, if he made meritorious contributions in the future, he would definitely rise to prominence. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should deal with it calmly.

Xi Da's cooperation also reassured Han Xin a lot, and the only thing left that made him feel embarrassed was the lack of the generals left behind.

Tian Shi is in the center to guard Xianyang, Wuguan is still by Ganluo, Zhao Wuji takes over the north, but the defense of Liu Bang and the garrison of Hangu Pass each need a large army, and only Wang Qi can be alone, which makes Han Xin a little embarrassed.

Qin Guo saw that it was sticking to the pass, but it was also attacked from all sides, as long as one place was lost, the entire pass would be self-defeating, so there was a need for a general who was in charge everywhere. Han Xin thought about it, there was really no suitable candidate, if there was really no way, he had to leave Meng Shi behind, which would inevitably weaken his subordinates who went north.

Just when Han Xin was hesitant about this, the arrival of a person eased his urgent need.

Han Xin received a message from his own soldiers that a young scribe asked to see him, saying that the old man was visiting, and Han Xin was a little strange in his confidence, and he didn't seem to know any scribe. Suddenly, I suddenly remembered someone, and I rushed out of the door.

Sure enough, I saw Li Zuoche standing calmly outside the door in a white shirt, looking at him with a smile. Han Xin clapped his palms and laughed; "As soon as I heard that a scribe was visiting, I thought it was you, Brother Li."

Li Zuoche bowed slightly and said with a smile; "It's just a little bit below, what's the matter, isn't General Han welcome?"

Han Xin smiled and held Li Zuoche's hand and said; "I can't ask for it, you still say that I don't welcome it, it's really a bad scenery."

"Come, please inside."

Li Zuoche walked into the hall with Han Xin, and after each sat down, he waited for the maid to serve fragrant tea, the two looked at each other and smiled, Han Xin spoke first: "Brother Li is really a believer." ”

Li Zuoche smiled slightly, and was noncommittal, but said indifferently; "Although I grew up in the mountains and wilderness since I was a child, I know etiquette, righteousness and shame, and a gentleman promises that he will keep his word. Since I said that if you gain a foothold, I will be like each other, so naturally I will not break my word. Brother Han was so surprised, could it be that he doubted my Li Zuoche's character? ”

Han Xin smiled and shook his head, "Don't dare, don't dare, I just have feelings, when I'm at a loss and no one is available, you just happen to come to meet each other, do you say it's fate?" ”

Li Zuoche showed an interested look, so he asked him, and Han Xin didn't hide it, and told him everything in 1510.

Li Zuoche was slightly stunned after hearing this, and groaned; "And where do you want me to help you?"

Han Xin thought about it for a while, and then said frankly; "I want you to help me defend Hanzhong and prevent Liu Bang from taking advantage of the situation to go north."

Li Zuoche looked at Han Xin with a smile, opened his mouth and said slowly; "Brother Han, you must know that this is the lifeline of the Qin State, do you really feel free to hand it over to me? If it is a mediocre general who guards Hangu and Wuguan, even if the army comes to attack, as long as he does not make any big mistakes, he can support it for a while, but Hanzhong is not the same, once I fornicate with Liu Bang and let the Han army enter the pass, then your Qin State will be in danger.

Han Xin said angrily; "Brother Li is too underestimated of me, don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious, since I dare to use Li Mu's grandson, I can naturally trust him to be a sincere gentleman."

"Just ......"

"Just what?" Li Zuoche asked.

"It's just that the number of troops I can give you is very limited, only 15,000 people, and Liu Bang's troops in Hanzhong are no less than 80,000."

Li Zuoche shook his head with a smile and said; "Brother Han, why bother to provoke me, with Qinling Mountains, if I can't hold it, it will be a little embarrassing."

"Good!" Han Xin laughed and stretched out his palm, "A gentleman's word!" ”

Li Zuoche smiled and struck him, "Whip the horse quickly!"

The two looked at each other and laughed, raising their glasses and drinking together. Li Zuoche put down the pottery cup, but said with a straight face; "But I have a word first."

"Brother Li, but it's okay to say."

"I want you to understand that I am only here for you, not for the Qin State."

Han Xin was puzzled: "What's the difference? ”

"Of course there is," a sly smile suddenly appeared on Li Zuoche's face, "The Qin State is the Qin State, you are you, and the two should not be confused." I look at what Brother Han is doing, your ambition should be more than just being a capable general, right? ”

Han Xin was stunned and was about to divert the topic, but he saw that Li Zuoche had already said something earth-shattering, which shocked him.

"I have no owner in half of the wall, I don't know if the general is interested?"

Han Xin was stunned for a long time before slowly laughing; "You can eat indiscriminately, you can't eat indiscriminately, Brother Li must not harm me."

Li Zuoche shook his head disapprovingly; "There is no heaven above here, no earth below, and there is a thick wall separating it, so how can anyone make a noise out of it. I just want to know what you mean, Brother Han. ”

Han Xin sighed, and then said; "Actually, I don't know, it's man-made, let's see how things develop."