After Chen Yu was defeated in Dongyuan, the king of Zhao and his subjects rushed to Julu in a panic to avoid trouble, and then sent people to ask for help from various countries, and the danger of Zhao affected the hearts of the princes.

Since the inscription of the state of Chu was posted in various places, the people rushed to read it, which caused a sensation. A month later, 100,000 righteous men came to join the army. King Huai let him practice day and night, so Chu was still the most powerful anti-Qin force in Shandong. After Zhao's distress envoy came to Chu, he told King Chu Huai about the situation in Hebei. King Huai summoned his ministers to discuss: "Now that Wang Li has led the Great Wall army out of Jingcheng Pass, defeated the 90,000 army of Zhao General Chen Yu, and surrounded Julu City, King Zhao asked for rescue, what do you say should be done?" Shangzhu Guo Chen Ying came out of the class and said: "King Qi, although Wang Li has surrounded the giant deer, there is still Yan Guo, they are dependent on each other, and they will not fail to save it, so it seems to be dangerous, but in fact, it is not." And now that Qin's Guanzhong is very empty, why don't we take this opportunity to enter Xianyang? Once Xianyang is captured by us, the Qin State will die, are you still afraid of Wang Li? This is called 'the skin does not exist, the hair will be attached?' This plan is a plan to 'encircle Wei and save Zhao', please consider it. ”

King Huai asked Fan Zeng's opinion, but Fan Zeng said with foresight: "Although it is said that Guanzhong is empty, there are 100,000 soldiers and horses in Shouhan Guguan and Sanchuan County, and it will be difficult to shake the Qin State if you don't defeat Zhang Han and Wang Li." The state of Zhao was already weak, and it was plagued by Li Liang, and its strength could not compete with the powerful state of Qin. Now only when the countries of Shandong unite can they completely defeat the Qin State. Chen Ying said: "But 'avoiding the real and making the false' is the essence of using soldiers!" Fan Zeng said: "Guanzhong is empty, but once our army advances westward, how can Zhang Han sit idly by?" It is still logical that the Northern Expedition should be made to save Zhao, and when the Qin army is eliminated, and then enter the customs. Chen Ying still insisted: "The Qin State has hundreds of thousands of troops, even if all countries join forces, they may not win." When our army goes north, it is a tough confrontation with the Qin army, and besides, the Chu army is newly recruited, and the number of people is far less than that of the Qin army, so the battle will be defeated! Fan Zeng said: "Since ancient times, there are not many soldiers in the elite, as long as the Chu people work together, there is no battle that cannot be won." Moreover, the victory or defeat of the war cannot depend on the size of the army, but on whether it has the support of the people and the chances of victory of the generals. Now the Qin people are completely lost, and this is the fundamental place to defeat them. In that year, Sun Wu fought Kechu in five battles, and Tian Dan defeated Yan, all of which were considered from many aspects such as time, location, personnel, politics, and generals. At present, if there is only one general who is born out of nowhere, he will definitely be able to establish the great cause of destroying the Qin State! Lu Qing was puzzled: "But it is easy to ask for a thousand troops, and it is difficult to ask for one!" With Wu Xinjun's reputation, he can't succeed, I don't know who else in the Chu State can take on this heavy responsibility? ”

Fan Zeng saw that Lu Qing had asked the point, so he said decisively: "Wu Xinjun's nephew Xiang Yu can attack and fight, and has a deep hatred with Zhang Han and Wang Li, and he will definitely be able to make contributions if he is selected as a general!" As soon as Chen Ying heard that Fan Zeng was going to recommend Xiang Yu as a general, he resolutely objected: "The king is the king of benevolence and righteousness, the Chu army is the teacher of benevolence and righteousness, and the general of Chu should also be a general of benevolence and righteousness." But Xiang Yu is young and willful, and violent by nature, and all the places he passes through are tragic, how can such a person be a general? Lu Qing also objected: "Yes, yes, yes! Killing one person is a thousand people are afraid. When the Xiang family raised troops in Huiji, they innocently killed the virtuous county guard, which shows that Xiang Yu is not a good type, how can such a person promote the royal road? Fan Zeng explained: "Although Xiang Yu is young and has many problems, as long as the old man teaches by his side, there will be no similar mistakes in the future." Just when King Huai was feeling in a dilemma, someone suddenly walked in and reported that Chen Yu's envoy had also arrived in Pengcheng.

King Huai ordered the envoy to come in, and after the envoy came in and saluted, he said: "King, Wang Li's 100,000 troops are besieging Julu, if your country does not send troops to rescue, Zhao will be in danger of losing the country!" Our general is ashamed of Zhao Min because of the defeat, and has already summoned tens of thousands of horses in Taihang Mountain, and now he asks the king to send troops to help him save Zhao as soon as possible? King Huai said: "Sir, please report to General Chen Yu first, and the State of Chu will definitely send troops to rescue." After the envoy left, King Huai asked: "Now the Zhao State is very critical, the prime minister Zhang Er and the general Chen Yu have already come to ask the widow for help, and there is no better candidate except Xiang Yu at the moment?" Lu Qing said again: "But the king, Xiang Yu is fierce and brutal, when he once conquered Xiangyang and Chengyang, he either buried or slaughtered the surrendered Qin army, leaving almost no living mouth, how can such a person serve as a general?" Moreover, the state of Chu has attacked Qin many times, with Zhou Wen and Wu Guang in the front, and Qin Jia and Xiang Liang in the back, and they all failed, the reason is that the leaders do not know how to be generals. Xiang Yu is violent by nature, and he resolutely can't worship the handsome! Just when everyone was talking, Xiang Yu walked in in a hurry, he came to the palace, and said to King Huai: "King, the minister heard that the giant deer was besieged, and the Zhao country was in danger, and the minister was willing to lead the troops to save Zhao, and he would not give up if he did not kill Zhang Han and Wang Li!" King Huai looked at Xiang Yu, and then looked around the steps, only to see that the old ministers all shook their heads and signaled to King Huai, resolutely not letting him hand over the general's seal to Xiang Yu. King Huai touched the big seal on the imperial case and said to Xiang Yu: "The stakes are very important to save Zhao this time, and you can't act rashly." Aiqing stepped back for the time being, and let the widow think again. Xiang Yu had no choice but to walk out.

That night, King Huai sat alone and sighed, when suddenly the queen guard came in and said, "The king must be worried about the selection of generals, right?" King Huai said, "Queen Mother, I am sorrowful about this matter. Mrs. Wei said, "King, do you have a candidate in mind?" King Huai said: "Some time ago, Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, and Lu Chen, the three Aiqing and Qin, made many military exploits. Lü Chen is the son of Ling Yin Lüqing, and he is loyal, because the Chu State has moved the capital to Pengcheng, and the people's hearts have not yet been attached, and the widow wants him to stay to defend the capital. Liu Bang is also a benevolent elder, and his generals are also brave and good at fighting, but he is afraid that he will not be able to fight a decisive battle with Qiang Qin. Xiang Yu is the nephew of Xiang Liang, although he is brave, but he is violent by nature, too cruel, and often wants to slaughter the city after winning the battle to vent his hatred, so the ministers are strongly opposed to worshiping him as a general. In addition to these three people, there is no second candidate in the country who can be qualified for the talent of a general. Mrs. Wei said: "The king is worried about Xiang Yu Yong Champion of the three armies, and Liu Bang has the style of an elder, and these two people have their own merits. I've heard what people say about them for a long time, so I'll compare them with those who came before me. King Huai asked, "If the queen mother has any advice, please give me instructions." Mrs. Wei said: "Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, the former is like the summer sun, and the latter is like the winter sun. The people of Guanzhong have been suffering for a long time and need a warm sun, and Liu Bang is competent; And the Northern Expedition to save Zhao, you need to attack and kill, and you need a fierce sun, Xiang Yu is naturally the candidate, this is for your mother to consider for you, but how to use people in the end, or ask the king and the ministers to discuss together, right? King Huai pondered for most of the night, and slowly had an idea in his heart.

The next day, King Huai invited Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, and said to them earnestly: "Both of them are today's geniuses, warriors of Qin, you must be in charge of the country." However, the main force of the Qin State is now all in Hebei, so it is very important to go north to rescue Zhao, and the widow is very worried about whether you can succeed, so you can't sleep at night? Liu and Xiang immediately got up and said: "The ministers will contribute to the king and fight for the country, and they will definitely work hard to make contributions." King Huai said: "But the generals have the main and the deputy, the soldiers and horses are more and less, once the generals are worshipped, there must be unfairness, is there no complaint in the heart of the second secretary?" The two of them 'chuckled' in their hearts. Liu Bang thought that this might be to worship Xiang Yu as a general, but Xiang Yu thought that King Huai was going to hand over the command of the army to Liu Bang, so the two glanced at each other, and then remained silent. King Huai said: "If the two Aiqing can't serve as the chief generals of the war against Qin, do they resent the widow in their hearts?" Pei Gong and Xiang Yu said in unison: "Let the king arrange it." King Huai smiled: "As the saying goes, 'Only friends in Jinlan can be concentric'." Whether you can defeat the strong enemy, whether you can enter the customs, and who will enter the customs first, it is not yet known, the widow is worried that you will fight for merit on the road, so you must swear to the heavens and become brothers with different surnames, so that the widow can rest assured! Xiang Yu and Liu Bang expressed their willingness to become brothers. Seeing this, King Huai took the hands of the two and walked out of the hall with great interest, and then instructed the officials to prepare the incense case.

At that moment, the two walked to the incense case to burn incense and worship, and then swore together: "Although the two of us have different surnames, after worshipping today, they are brothers in life and death, and we must work together in the future to eliminate the tyrannical Qin, and we must live up to the king's trust." The emperor is above, if it is treacherous, heaven and earth will not tolerate it! After the two finished worshipping, Liu Bang became the elder brother, and Xiang Yu was the younger brother. King Huai was very happy and said: "Since the two Aiqing have become Jinlan, why worry that the tyrannical Qin will not be extinguished, and the meritorious deeds will not be built?" A special celebration banquet was set up in the main hall to call on everyone to congratulate them. Later generations have a poem:

The two males have formed a righteous and strong alliance, and how many times have they been kings in the Central Plains?

Bo Zhong Qianqiu brother helps brother, and a bowl of meat soup divides the boundary.

The alliance with cow wine warms the heart and lungs, and in the blink of an eye, the cold battlefield is cold.

The Wujiang River is like a dream, and the feelings are infinitely sighing for the rise and fall.

The next day, King Huai came to the court and proposed a good way to convince everyone, he said: "The widow is ready to send two armies to attack Qin!" When the people heard this, they rejoiced and said, "Yes, yes, why don't you send two armies?" Isn't it the best of both worlds to go all the way north and all the way to the west? King Huai said: "The people of Guanzhong have suffered from the rule of Qin for too long, and they must send a benevolent man as a general." Since the Northern Expedition, Liu Bang has made many meritorious achievements, and is known for his generosity, if he is sent into the customs, the people will definitely welcome him. And Xiang Yu was brave and good at fighting, and he went north to save Zhao and be able to subdue the Qin army. As soon as these words came out, although some people agreed, some people still objected, and more of them still opposed Xiang Yu leading the troops to save Zhao. King Huai hesitated again in his heart, so he announced the dissolution of the dynasty.

On this night, when King Huai was very distressed about the election of the general, someone suddenly came in to report that Lord Song Yi had returned from Qi with Gao Lingjun, the envoy of Qi State, and asked for an audience outside the palace gate.