Hanzhong County is connected to Guanzhong Bashu, north of Qinling, south of Pinba Mountain, and the middle is the Hanzhong Plain formed by the impact of the Han River.

Because the north is blocked by the Qinling Mountains, the cold current from the north is blocked from the north of the Qinling Mountains, so although Hanzhong is close to Guanzhong, the climate is very different from that of Guanzhong. Here the four seasons are distinct, the climate is warm, there is no severe cold in winter, there is no scorching heat in summer, coupled with the flat terrain and fertile soil, it is the third largest granary of Qin in the past in addition to Guanzhong and Bashu, known as 'Qinba Tianfu'.

Liu Bang was very satisfied when he got this place, thinking that he had picked up a big bargain for nothing, but then he also discovered the limitations of Hanzhong. Because the north was blocked by the Qinling Mountains, it also limited his development to Guanzhong while providing him with defensive support; In the south, Bashan spreads for hundreds of miles, and there are many checkpoints, and he has only captured a small half of it for half a year, and he doesn't know how long and what month it will take to open up the road to Bashu.

The west side is the mountain range, over the mountain is the territory of the Qiang people, and the east side is the only way to connect the Central Plains, but it is also a mountain path, although it is not difficult and dangerous, but it is not very suitable for the army to walk.

As Fan Zeng expected, although Hanzhong was rich enough to establish a country, it was also a land of dragon traps, and it was not suitable for a prince with great ambitions. Therefore, he persuaded Xiang Yu to push the boat down the river and give Hanzhong to Liu Bang, just to use the remnants of Qin to suppress Liu Bang's ambitions south of the Qinling Mountains, and at the same time leave a potential threat to Qin.

After learning the news of the ignition of the war in the Kwantung region, Liu Bang was keenly aware that the first target of the Qin State must be him, Sima Xin, and Dong Peng. So he actively prepared for war to resist the invasion of Qin, urgently transferred back the Peng Yue army that attacked Bashu in the south, and at the same time sent people to cross the Qinling Mountains to Shangjun to contact Sima Xin and Dong Peng, the two difficult brothers, hoping that they could contain more of the main force of the Qin army for themselves.

The only thing that made Liu Bang feel a little at ease was the barrier of the eight hundred miles of Qinling, and unless the Qin army turned into a bird in the sky, it would be impossible for him to easily cross the Qinling Mountains.

And Hanzhong leads to Guanzhong is nothing more than three roads, one is the old road of Chencang, from Guanzhong Chencang County to Fengxian County southwest along the old road water valley, through Luoyang to the water road to Hanzhong, this road is built in the Zhou period, and then because of the opening of other more flat and convenient plank roads, so it was gradually abandoned. Now it is overgrown with weeds, roads and bridges have been in disrepair for many years, and it is obviously extremely difficult for the Qin army to attack Hanzhong from here.

The second is the meridian road, built in the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, from Xianyang to the south, into the meridian valley to trace the valley and go up to the Fengshui River Valley, trace the valley to the south to Guanshi, after passing the Guanshi south, cross the main ridge of the Qinling Mountains and follow the Hanjiang River tributary Xunhe River down to reach Hanzhong. This road is extremely difficult to walk, but it is also an excellent way to use for sneak attacks, and it was through this road that Liu Bang suddenly killed when he entered Hanzhong to capture Hanzhong in one fell swoop.

In order to prevent the Qin army from following his example to attack Hanzhong, Liu Bang ordered the establishment of checkpoint fort locks on the two highlands near the Meridian Valley.

The last and most important is the Bao Slope Road, which is commonly known as the plank road, which is the main passage connecting Guanzhong to Hanzhong, and the convoy of people and horses on the Bao Slope Road in peacetime is almost endless, and the goods continue to travel back and forth in Guanzhong, Hanzhong, and Bashu.

The Bao Slope Road starts from the mouth of the Bao Valley in the south, reaches the mouth of the Slope Valley in the north, travels along the two rivers of the Bao Slope, runs through the two valleys of the Bao Slope, so it is named. During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, Fan Sui, the then prime minister of Qin, in order to strengthen Xianyang's control over Hanzhong and Bashu, spent a huge amount of money and spent several years to dig out a slope on the Qinling mountain wall. It took less than five days to travel from Guanzhong to Hanzhong on a fast horse, which made an important contribution to the effective control of the southern territory of the Qin state.

Later, Fan Sui surrendered to Zhao because of the recommended general Zheng Anping, according to the law of Qin at that time, Fan Sui was going to be exterminated by the car, but a minister at that time pleaded with King Qin Huiwen for the credit that Fan Sui had built the plank road: "The plank road leads thousands of miles to Shu Han, so that the world is afraid of Qin, Qin's desire is to get it, and the king's merit is extremely strong." Sure enough, the King of Qin remembered his merits and pardoned Fan Sui's crimes, which shows that the plank road is of great significance to the Qin State.

In order to prevent the Qin army from using this road to attack Hanzhong, Liu Bang ordered all the plank roads to be burned. Since July, the Qin State has successively begun to rebuild the plank road, because Liu Bang burned wooden stakes and planks, while the stone caves and stone piles are still there, and only wood, planks, and paving are still needed. After Xianyang decided to send troops to recover Hanzhong, a large number of people were mobilized to rebuild the plank road, apparently to use the Tangzheng division to capture Hanzhong from here.

Liu Bang was very nervous about this, and hurriedly sent a large army to be stationed at Baogukou, waiting to prevent the Qin army from attacking.

Although many precautions were taken, Liu Bang was still relieved in his heart, so he summoned the generals to return to Nanzheng to discuss important matters.

Nanzheng is the seat of the county in Hanzhong, and it is naturally prosperous. In addition, Liu Bang has been recuperating and recuperating with the people after taking charge of Hanzhong, and Nan Zheng has become more and more noisy under his rule.

The only exception is the Han Palace, which is in disrepair and looks dilapidated. When Liu Bang entered Hanzhong, in order to show that he was not greedy for wealth and glory, he moved into the mansion of the former Qin State as his palace, not only did not renovate and repair, but also cut expenses everywhere.

Liu Bang's show made his subordinates and generals suffer, since he had the example of the King of Han, the other ministers and generals naturally did not dare to pursue too much material enjoyment, so the officials of the entire Han Kingdom seemed to be incorruptible.

However, honesty is only relative, although Liu Bang has done a lot of work on the surface, but the interior decoration utensils in the house are readily available, and he does not treat himself badly at all. He was sitting on the throne made of pure gold at the moment, looking at the people who were sitting down and looking up at him, a sense of pride arose, and he coughed a few times in a pretending majesty, and the noisy hall fell silent.

On his left hand side are Xiao He and Cao Shen, and on his right hand side are Fan Xu, Xiahou Ying, and Zhou Bo four generals headed by Peng Yue, these people are all the old people he brought out from Pei County, and they are also the henchmen of his henchmen, and everything will be discussed with these people before making a decision.

The only exception was the only female concubine in the hall, Lu Pheasant, who was smiling and sitting in the last seat of Cao Shen's hand. Although she is a high-ranking queen of the Han Dynasty, she knows how to advance and retreat, and she does not occupy a high position in front of this crowd, but sits in a seat at the end to show that she is an observer.

Although Lu Pheasant is a woman, she has already known everyone when she was in Pei County, and she also showed extraordinary judgment along the way to follow Liu Bang's uprising, so she was respected by everyone. Although it is a taboo for women to interfere in politics, Liu Bang, who lacks advisers since Zhang Liang left, can't manage so much, so he pulled Lu Pheasant up to participate in state affairs.

However, Lu Pheasant still has a sense of proportion in his heart, he just listens carefully but rarely speaks, and occasionally speaks to the point a few times, which is impressive.

Liu Bang saw that the hall had quieted down, so he said in a long voice; "I gathered everyone here today, mainly to discuss how to deal with the strong Qin in the north, and now the Qin State is ready to attack our Hanzhong at any time."

As soon as Liu Bang's words fell, Fan Hao snorted in a rough voice; "What's there to discuss, the soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, and we will fight back when the Qin State comes, I'm afraid of a bird."

Liu Bang glared at Fan Xu and scolded; "Otherwise, your butcher's head is full of dung, you think you can win the world by relying on your brute strength, fighting a war depends on strategy and strategy, you think it is a group fight and rushing up."

At this time, Zhou Bo and Xiahou Ying on the side couldn't help laughing, and looked at Fan Hao gloatingly. Liu Bang is the lord after all, Fan Hao didn't dare to murder him, so he had to glared at Zhou Bo and the others viciously, thinking that he would go back and clean up these two dogs.

His mouth was still a little unconvinced; "King Han, you are smart, then tell me what good way you have."

Liu Bang glared at him again, and said angrily: "If I have an idea, I still call you back to do something, isn't it just to have more ideas for someone so that I can get an idea." ”

looked around at everyone, and saw that everyone lowered their heads with weak hearts, lest they be pointed at themselves, Liu Bang had no choice but to look at Xiao Hedao; "Lao Xiao, you are the smartest person we have here, why don't you talk about it first."

Xiao He's old face was elongated, and he said with a wry smile; "King Han, marching and fighting is not my forte, aren't you bent on embarrassing me?"

"If you want me to say something, I can only talk about war preparations, the grain and grass in Hanzhong is enough to supply 100,000 troops for four months, and the Qin army will definitely not be able to attack our Hanzhong for a long time, so I think it is enough, enough to exhaust the grain stock of the Qin army on the expedition, so that they will not attack themselves."

Speaking of this, Peng Yue couldn't help but interject; "In the final analysis, we still have to defend Hanzhong first, otherwise we will talk about what will drag down the Qin army."

Lu Pheasant, who had been sitting quietly without speaking, suddenly said; "Actually, there's something I really want to say, I just hope that my husband and adults won't laugh at my lack of knowledge,"

Xiao He hurriedly arched his hand and said; "The queen has any ideas, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

Lu Pheasant nodded, looked at Liu Bang again, and there was no displeasure on his face, so he said with confidence; "Actually, what I have always wanted to say is that since the Qin State is determined to take Hanzhong, then why should we fight with them."

"Although this place in Hanzhong has abundant food, grass and population, it has a fatal weakness, that is, it is only suitable for the side of peace, and it is not suitable for dominating the world. Even if we can hold and repel the Qin army this time, the Qin State will never give up in the future, Xiang Yu's cleverness lies here, he wants us to compete with the Qin State Sandpiper Mussel, but he, a fisherman, enjoys the benefits. ”

"Husband, you are determined to be in the world, it is really not appropriate to stay in this kind of dragon trapped place and wait to be killed, it is better to take advantage of our current strength to fight out of Hanzhong, go to the Central Plains and discuss the great cause with the anti-Chu coalition army, what does Husband think?"

Everyone was shocked after hearing Lu Pheasant's words, thinking that only the wife of the King of Han dared to say this, and if someone else was changed, it would definitely cause suspicion.

After listening to Lu Pheasant's words, Liu Bang couldn't help but fall into deep thought. This is Lu Pheasant's cleverness, she had this idea for a long time, but she did not reveal it in private between the husband and wife, but put it forward publicly during the discussion, which not only made Liu Bang look at him with admiration, but also made the ministers and generals admire her clear attitude of public and private.

Liu Bang hesitated for a long time, but after all, he was reluctant to let go of the huge family business in Hanzhong, so he sighed and said; "Although there is some truth in what the lady said, if we give up the foundation of Hanzhong, we will go to the Central Plains in vain. No matter how many soldiers are willing to go with us, even if we get to the Central Plains, it is still a question of whether we can stand on our feet. On the other hand, if we stay in Hanzhong, if we defeat the Qin army and inflict heavy losses on the Qin state, then we may not have the opportunity to take the opportunity to take Guanzhong. ”

Seeing that Liu Bang didn't adopt her opinion, Lu Pheasant couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart, and still said respectfully in his mouth; "What the husband said is very true, it is the concubine's body that is biased."

Liu Bang looked at everyone again and said; "Okay, now let's get back to business and talk about how to resist Qin's attack."

What was a little surprising was that Cao Shen, who had always been taciturn, suddenly spoke; "King Han, I would like to say a few things that I have discovered within the scope of my duties."

"If you have something to say, what are you doing so politely."

Cao Shen nodded, thought about it slightly, sorted out his thoughts, and then spoke; "I found the detailed records and data of the plank road construction in the case book of the Qin County Shoufu, I asked General Zhou before I came, he was stationed in Baogukou, and he was the most clear about the actions of the Qin army, he said that there were about 10,000 people on the other side of the Qin people who were rushing to repair the plank road."

"The plank road is narrow, not the more people there are, the faster it will be built, according to my rough estimate, it will be at least two months before the Qin State wants to repair the plank road. This makes me feel very strange, are the Qin people really so patient? ”

"Nope." Before Cao Shen's words fell, Xiao He interjected; "I think that the Qin people not only have no extra time, but also very short of time, if those rabble in the Kanto region do not have a strong leader, sooner or later they will be defeated by Xiang Yu. Once Xiang Yu comes back to his senses, then Guanzhong will face a life-and-death battle again, and there will be spare time to take care of us. ”

"So I think there must be something wrong with the Qin people's fanfare of cultivating the plank road."

Liu Bang groaned; "You're right, Han Xin likes to be curious, if one day he is willing to behave, there must be a problem. He wouldn't be so stupid, so ......"

Liu Bang said here for a moment, and turned to look around at everyone, Peng Yue's face showed a thoughtful look, as the number one general under the King of Han, he was naturally particularly experienced.

Hearing Liu Bang's words, he opened his mouth to borrow; "So Han Xin must have something else to do, and his fanfare of building the plank road is nothing more than trying to attract our attention."

"The truth is the truth, the truth is the truth, what this Han Xin is best at is to set up suspicious soldiers and then defeat the opponent by surprise, we must not be fooled by him."

Liu Bang slapped his thigh and shouted loudly; "Someone, get the map."

Soon, several servants presented a map of Hanzhong.

Liu Bang bent down to look at the map that was already close at hand, looked at it carefully in his heart, and then looked at everyone and said, "Then what do you think Han Xin might have in mind?" ”

Xiahou Ying thought for a while and spoke; "Han Xin, this guy, when I first saw him, I thought he was a thief, and he really had a bad stomach. If Guanzhong wants to think of Hanzhong, it is nothing more than three roads, one is the plank road, one is the Meridian Valley, and the other is the old road of Chencang, and there is absolutely no other way. ”

"The Meridian Valley is much closer than the old road, but you have to go through a long canyon, so it's hard to be surprised. Han Xin's Qin army is fine if it doesn't leave, if it comes, it will definitely make them have no return, we only need to arrange elite soldiers at a few stone forts, enough to consume their 100,000 troops in the valley. So if I were Han Xin, I would never choose Meridian Valley. ”

After Xiahou Ying's words were finished, everyone looked at each other and said in unison; "Chen Cang's old way".

"I see." Xiao He nodded, stroked his beard and squinted his eyes; "This Han Xin is cunning, he cultivates the plank road in the open, and Chen Cang in the dark, if he succeeds in his tricks, we will definitely be caught off guard."

Peng Yue stared at the map and said slowly; "Although we have 10,000 heavy troops in Luoyang, the general is just an ordinary person and has no special talent. According to Han Xin's talent, he will definitely find a way to solve the defenders of Luoyang. Although the old road of Chencang used to be the main road from Hanzhong to the north, it has long been abandoned now, and it is impossible to carry heavy baggage through the carriage, so Han Xin must have come with light soldiers. And when we arrive in Lüyang, we must be sleepy and lacking in horses, we only need to arrange heavy troops to drive the Qin army back to Chencang. ”

"No, who said we're going to chase them away." Liu Bang suddenly spoke, "I feel that this is a great opportunity for God to give me Liu Bang. Not only did we not increase our troops, but on the contrary, we withdrew the defenders of Lüyang, so that Han Xin could easily succeed, so that he dared to rest assured that the follow-up troops would also come one after another. At that time, we arranged the main army and completely annihilated the Qin army, which was sleepy and lacking in horses, wouldn't it be happy? ”

Liu Bang couldn't help but laugh proudly when he thought of this. "Han Xin, Han Xin, you have been calculating all your life, today I Liu Bang will let you taste the taste of being calculated, see if you dare to despise me Liu Bang."

After laughing, Liu Bang couldn't help but squint his eyes and thought: When the time comes, the vitality of the Qin army will be greatly damaged, and he can counterattack back. Guanzhong, Guanzhong, maybe your Uncle Liu will be here soon.

Now that the decision has been made, the Han army has made a major adjustment of its strength.

Peng Yue and Fan Hao led an army of 80,000 to lurk not far outside the city of Luoyang, patiently waiting for the Qin army that was about to appear. For the sake of prudence, Liu Bang still left 10,000 people there to monitor the movements of the Qin army, and handed them over to Zhou Bo as commander; Xiahou Ying led more than 16,000 troops to garrison in Nanzheng City, as a mobile force, and more than 3,000 soldiers were stationed in the stone towers of the Meridian Valley to guard against the Qin army.