It was already approaching dusk, and a cavalry was slowly advancing on the broken post road, and in the middle of the line was a huge carriage. Because of the poor road conditions, it was not easy for the carriage to walk, and even the speed of the procession was greatly slowed down.

It was probably a cold wind that had been blowing for a day, and the knights on the horses were all drooping their heads, pulling the reins of their horses and urging the horses forward. It is not difficult to see from the banners of the team and the attire of the cavalry that this is an army belonging to the Qin State, but it lacks a little bit of the spirit of ordinary Qin soldiers, but it has a more tired color.

A puff of smoke and dust suddenly rose in the distance, and from a distance, a group of cavalry was galloping towards him at high speed. The leader of the team immediately became vigilant, and immediately shouted: "The whole army is on alert to protect your lordship." ”

The well-trained knights of the Qin State quickly formed a neat phalanx, surrounded the carriage in the center, and at the same time the arrows were on the bows and crossbows, and the arrows were slightly pointing downward, all of them looked nervously at the cavalry galloping in the distance. Although this Qin army is well-equipped, they are all fledglings who have never been on the battlefield, and now they are facing the police for the first time, and they naturally look like they are facing a great enemy.

When the cavalry got closer, the leader of the team, Qin Jiang, saw clearly that the opponent's armor and outfit were the same as his own, although he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but still did not lift his guard out of prudence. The comers obviously discovered their existence as well, probably for fear of causing misunderstanding on the other side, so the cavalry slowed down and moved slowly instead, and at the same time raised the banner of the Qin army and identified themselves to them.

Qin Jiang, the leader of the team, relieved his heart and ordered the guard to be lifted, and he urged him to come forward and ride forward, raising his head a little arrogantly and asking loudly; "Which one are you?"

One of the young men who led the team smiled when he heard this, and replied; "We are the local garrison, are you from Xianyang, but do you have any news to bring?"

Na Qin squinted at the young man, and said in a somewhat frivolous tone; "That's not what you should know."

After speaking, Zou looked at the pair of Qin soldiers with eyebrows, and said unhappily; "Get out of the way of your men, we have important business to meet the general, don't delay our journey."

A middle-aged man with a long beard next to him couldn't help laughing, stroked his beard and said with a smile; "It's weird; Why don't you get out of the way but we get out of the way, there are fewer of you and more of us, it's more convenient for you to let go. ”

That Qin Jiang's face sank and shouted; "Bold, we are the envoys of the Son of Heaven, and it is the Lord Shaofu Sect who is sitting in this carriage, and he has something important to report to the general on the order of the Son of Heaven, you dare to ask us to give way, what a boldness."

This is a big man with a tiger's back next to him, and he couldn't help laughing, and said with a smile: "If you want me to say that you are bold, the dignified general of the Qin State is in front of you, you dare to let him give way, are you the king?" ”

That Qin General was shocked when he heard this, and looked at Han Xin in front of him with a stunned face, although he had seen Han Xin twice, but because the level was too low, he could only look at it from a distance every time, and now he didn't recognize it in front of him. suddenly came to his senses, hurriedly turned over and dismounted, knelt and pleaded guilty; "The humble position has no eyes, and he collided with the general, and asked the general to surrender."

Han Xin didn't take it to heart, just wondered; "Why is Zong Ze here, what is he doing, has something happened in Xianyang?"

Zong Ze is one of the Nine Qings, and as the Shaofu is in charge of the income of the world's mountains and rivers, he is one of the most important positions in the imperial court. That's why Han Xin felt strange, this Zong Ze didn't stay well in Xianyang, and suddenly came to Qidi, which was really incomprehensible.

At this time, Zong Ze on the carriage had already received a report from his subordinates, and hurriedly climbed out of the carriage in a panic and rushed to ask Han Xin for peace.

"Wechen see the general." Zong Ze straightened his clothes and crowns, and performed the bow ceremony of the eight scenes.

In fact, according to the Qin system, the post of general is only the highest rank of a military general, second to Shangqing, and the same as Jiuqing. Seriously, Han Xin is only at the same level as Zong Ze, and it is polite to bow and bow, and he will never bow down.

But as long as people are smarter, they will never equate Han Xin with Bai Qi and Wang Qian, generals who have only honors but no real power. Zong Ze is just a smart person, and Han Xin also accepted it calmly, and he didn't feel anything wrong at all.

Han Xin smiled and said, "Fat Zong, you have gained a lot of weight after a long time." ”

Zong Ze is white and chubby, and he looks amiable and wealthy. Although he is not Han Xin's confidant, he knows how to observe words and feelings, and is good at speculating on the thoughts of his superiors. In addition, this Zong Ze has an interesting temperament, Han Xin has a good impression of him, and he often jokes about him, and he is used to it.

Zong Ze suddenly looked sad, patted his bulging belly and quipped; "General, you have a good idea, since you left Xianyang, you have been thinking about your humble duties day and night, and your liver and intestines have been broken, in order to relieve your lovesickness, you have to turn your thoughts into food, which has made you a lot fatter."

Everyone laughed, and the slightly embarrassing atmosphere just now was resolved between Zong Ze's seemingly unintentional jokes.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Han Xin stopped his smile and said; "Why did you suddenly come to Qidi, did something happen to Xianyang?"

Although he asked, Han Xinzhi was not worried. The reason is very simple, if there is really something important, whether it is good or bad, Xianyang will report it quickly. And this time, let Zong Ze come in person, it can be seen that nine times out of ten he met an unresolved matter to play Han Xin.

Zong Ze said in a low voice; "The princess sent me."

"Kerr?" Han Xin was stunned for a moment, and then asked a little nervously; "Ke'er is okay? Is Cheer okay? ”

Zong Ze nodded and said with a smile on his face; "General, please rest assured, the princess and the prince are all right, I only came this time to explain to the general in person on official business, I am afraid that you will have doubts."

"What's the matter, tell me."

Zong Ze's small eyes rolled and looked around, but he was silent. Han Xin understood, so he glanced at Zhang Er and Meng Shi, pointed to the distance and said; "There's a piece of high ground there, so let's go and see what the scenery looks like."

Han Xin was in front, Zhang Ermeng, and Shi Zongze were walking side by side in the back. This time, Li Zuoche did not follow, but sat in Hebei Xingying and temporarily took the position of Han Xin. On the contrary, Zhang Er was taken by Han Xin and served as the marching Sima.

Han Xin naturally had his considerations in doing this, although Zhang Er attached great importance to faithfulness, it was impossible for him to rebel against the Qin State now. But he is different from Xin Ju, after all, Zhang Er is a person who has been a prince and a king, and if he is left alone in Yandi Han Xin when the army is going south, he will not be relieved, but fortunately he will take him with him. It is also human nature to be so worried, Zhang Er half of his body is up and down, and he has seen everything, but he is also open-minded, and he has no displeasure. On the contrary, he has always been interested in Han Xin's talent, and he just took advantage of this time to take a good look.

Han Xin stopped, turned to look at Zong Ze and said; "Don't sell it, let's talk about it."

Zong Ze hurriedly stepped forward a few steps and told everything that happened in the Northland.

Han Xin was stunned, Jiuyuan County was far closer to Qidi than Xianyang, and Shangjun and Xianyang were connected by straight roads, which was very convenient. Therefore, the military affairs of the Northland are all reported directly to Xianyang, but Han Xin didn't know that such a big thing happened in the Northland.

After hearing Wang Qi's decision to fight back, Han Xin couldn't help but nod and praised; "In the end, it is a veteran, General Wang has a unique vision. The prairie people worship the strong by nature, and the weaker you are, the more they will command, and if you are tough, they will be afraid. ”

After a pause, he said; "The herdsmen who shelter the grassland are beneficial to our Qin State and do no harm, you tell Wang Qi that you must treat those herdsmen well, so as to attract more and more grassland tribes to attach to the Qin State, and we can take the entire grassland without blood."

Zong Ze nodded, and then said with a sad face; "General, don't be too happy, the benefits are obvious, but trouble is coming."

Meng Shi, who had been listening, couldn't help but ask, "What's the trouble?" ”

"Grain." Zong Ze said with a serious face.

Han Xin nodded, "I also thought of this just now, is there really no food in Guanzhong?"

Zong Ze spread his hands a little helplessly and said; "General, you don't know that our family background supports the two major wars in the Central Plains and Hebei at the same time, and the newly harvested people in Hebei need food relief, and our treasury granary has already been emptied. You may not know that when you asked if there was food to support the two-month war in the country, the princess gritted her teeth and agreed, and she personally took Her Majesty around to visit the big clans in Guanzhong, and sincerely begged for this military ration. ”

Han Xin's eyes were a little complicated, and he reached out and gently held the charm on the hilt of the sword, but there was a burst of warmth in his heart.

"So in order to help the Northland, our military rations were temporarily diverted for other purposes?" Han Xin was so smart, he had already guessed the meaning of Zong Ze's words at this time.

Han Xin walked back and forth in place for a few steps and groaned; "Ke'er is right, the northern land is important, if the northern frontier is unstable, our Qin State will not be able to fight with all its strength, and this move is also important in the long run."

Zong Ze nodded, "The princess also said so, besides, you still have a lot of grain in the army, and the land is rich, so it must not be difficult to collect grain, so the princess and Prime Minister Gongsun Cheng thought about it for a long time before deciding to use the grain in the north first." ”

Han Xin smiled bitterly; "Zong Ze, let me ask you, did you come all the way here from Hebei, how do you feel?"

Zong Ze had a strange look on his face, but he still replied; "Everything is fine, not as good as expected, but it's not bad."

Han Xin stared into his eyes, "Tell you the truth. ”

"Huh?"

"Tell the truth!"

"Very poor." Zong Ze replied honestly, and he didn't dare to be sloppy anymore.

In fact, Zong Ze was polite, after he crossed the river all the way into Qidi, he didn't even see a single populace, only dilapidated houses, and most of the villages were burned.

He naturally thought that this was Qin Jun's "masterpiece", and originally thought that Han Xin had suddenly changed his personality and learned from Xiang Yu to start slaughtering the city and plundering the land, so when Han Xin asked him, he would refuse to tell the truth.

Han Xin smiled bitterly and shook his head, "I know what you think in your heart, do you think I ordered it to be done?" ”

Zong Ze couldn't help but think in his heart for a while; "Isn't it?"

"Not really." Han Xin Zhengse said.

"This is Liu Bang's idea specially conceived in order to deal with our attack, he plans to fortify the wall and clear the wilderness, and would rather fight for the entire Qi country to be destroyed than let us take advantage of it. So we don't expect to be able to collect grain in the Qi country, and now we can't find a single grain. ”

Zong Ze was stunned with his mouth wide open, and he didn't know what to say. Han Xin turned his head to look at Zhang Er and asked; "Sima Zhang, how long is there enough food in the army?"

Zhang Er replied without thinking; "If everything is business as usual, it will be enough for half a month."

"Half Moon ......" Han Xin lowered his head in contemplation, and a trace of melancholy flashed across his face.

"This is very tricky, Liu Bang is a difficult bone to gnaw, and this time it is clear that he wants to burn all the jade."

Zhang Er groaned for a while and said; "If you switch to Xiaohu to distribute grain, it should be able to support it for ten more days."

"No." Han Xin shook his head, "If the food is suddenly reduced, the soldiers will speculate if they don't know the truth, which will have a great impact on morale, and this method must not be used until the time comes." ”

All four of them were lost in thought, each thinking of a solution. Suddenly, Meng Shi patted his head and said with a smile; "I have a solution, but I have to wronged you, the boss."