In the palace of Zhang Chu, Chen Sheng, who was supposed to be in the court, was sitting in his study at this time, holding a cup of tea in his hand, staring at the table quietly, not knowing what he was thinking.

The chamberlain had reminded Chen Sheng many times that he should go to the court, but was repelled by Chen Sheng, at this time, the study was extremely quiet, Chen Sheng put down the teacup in his hand, got up and paced beside the table, he was measuring Xiang Liang's sincerity, he was considering, whether he should agree to Xiang Liang.

It can be said that Jiangdong's strength is still very strong, Chen Sheng is indeed a little tempted, if he joins forces with Xiang Liang, the land of Shandong can be taken in one fell swoop, even Xingyang, which has been stalemate for a long time, can also be forcibly broken in a short period of time, and then Zhou Wen and Song Liu will divide their troops to advance and march to Guanzhong, why worry about the immortality of Qin?

More importantly, judging from the weapons given to him by the Xiang family, the Xiang family's storage of weapons should be abundant, Chen Sheng felt that it was necessary to buy a batch of weapons from Jiangdong, and the military needs had been expanded and the army increased.

Everything is leading Chen Sheng's train of thought, making him feel that joining forces with Jiangdong has no disadvantages and that Zhang Chu will become more powerful, at this moment, an inner servant opened the door and walked in, came to Chen Sheng's side, and before he could speak, Chen Sheng was already unhappy and said: "Didn't you say it, don't you go out of the court today!" ”

The waiter was so frightened that he knelt down and said, "Big ...... Wang, Cai Ci and Kong Kun asked to see him outside the palace. ”

Chen Sheng was interrupted by his train of thought, although he was displeased, but he did not reprimand the waiter, at this time Chen Sheng sorted out the messy thoughts just now, walked back to the table and sat down, and ordered: "Bring them in." ”

The inner attendant sang Nuo left, and the hall became quiet again, and soon, the door opened, and Cai Ci and Kong Kun walked in quickly, saluting in front of Chen Sheng: "I have seen the king." ”

Chen Sheng nodded: "The two Qing families are seated." ”

The two thanked them, and the waiter brought two soft seats, put them on the side, and the two of them sat down, at this time, a maid brought two cups of tea, put them on the table in front of them, and bowed and left, and the waiter also walked out of the hall at this time, closed the door outside, and there was a brief silence in the hall.

Chen Sheng was the first to speak, and said with a wry smile: "Xiang Liang wants to wave his troops north, and the widow thinks that this is a good thing, at least, with Xiang Liang joining in the first battle of Xingyang, it will definitely get twice the result with half the effort." ”

Speaking of this, Chen Sheng's eyes wandered on the faces of the two, wanting to see the expressions of the two, but the two were still silent at this time, and there was no expression of surprise, Chen Sheng was bored with himself, so he had to continue: "The widow decided to agree to Xiang Liang's request and let them march north. ”

Kong Kun originally came for this matter, and when he saw that Chen Sheng had agreed, he was overjoyed in his heart, and said with a smile: "The king is wise, and the minister agrees with the king's decision." ”

Hearing Kong Kui's praise, Chen Sheng couldn't help laughing loudly, got up and said: "Since Kong Lao is also absolutely feasible, the widow will promise Uncle Xiang tomorrow that they will immediately send troops north to join our army in Xingyang!" ”

"No!" Cai Ci got up and drank to stop Chen Sheng, at this time, the eyes of the two looked at Cai Ci in unison, Cai Ci had put down the teacup in his hand at this time, looked at Chen Sheng, and said in a deep voice: "King, this matter cannot be agreed, otherwise, Jiangdong is like a tiger, after crossing the river, it will be difficult to control, and it will inevitably hurt people!" ”

"Lord Cai is a little too cautious in what he said, right?" Kong Kun got up to refute Cai Ci, but Cai Ci ignored Kong Kun, he got up and paced back and forth in the hall, as if sorting out his words, and soon, Cai Ci spoke: "King, please listen to me one by one." ”

Chen Sheng saw that Cai Ci seemed to have a long thing to say, so he had to sit back on the soft seat, pick up the tea, and listen while drinking, while Cai Ci on the side also sat back in his place, looked at Chen Sheng, and said loudly: "King, Jiangdong soldiers and horses are tens of thousands, and it can be seen from the weapons they sent that Jiangdong is extremely strict in the production of weapons, with sharp edges, thick, fine, and excellent workmanship. The hearts of the people belong to the Xiang family, at that time, the king will lose the hearts of the people of Chen County and Surabaya County, once the hearts of the people are lost, the king thinks, can we still gain a foothold here? ”

Speaking of this, Cai Ci deliberately paused, giving Chen Sheng time to think, and after a while, Cai Ci continued: "In addition, since the king started his army, the Quartet responded, and all the people returned to their hearts, so powerful, and the Qin army fought fiercely, only today's Chen County and Surabaya County, although the battle of Xingyang, our army suffered heavy losses, and never stepped into Xingyang, but the military ministers slightly Zhao Di, Zhou City slightly Wei Di, they each have their own victories, in the near future, Zhao Di, Wei Di fell into our hands, Qin State will be alone, how can it last for a long time?" ”

Cai Ci picked up the teacup, sucked a sip to moisten his throat, and continued: "If you can use Zhou Wen to send troops to Hangu, and Song to leave troops to go to Wuguan, as long as you break through Qin Pass, the Qin State will inevitably be in chaos. If the control is not good, but the Jiangdong Chu army took the lead, and the descendants of the Chu State were supported to inherit the throne, at that time, one mountain does not tolerate two tigers, the king will inevitably turn his face with the Chu army, the people of Chu support the Chu royal family, how can they be loyal to the king, the king loses the hearts of the people, and encounters a strong enemy, how can he survive for a long time? Think twice! ”

Cai Ci's words, sentence by sentence, were at the critical point, Chen Sheng already felt that his back was wet with sweat at this time, his eyes were staring at the teacup in his hand tightly, no one knew what he was thinking at this time.

Kong Kun secretly screamed in his heart, Cai Ci's words, every sentence is based on reality, every point of view is the future argument of Zhang Chuguo, if you want to refute him, I am afraid it will be difficult, but I have promised Xiang Sheng last night that I will try my best to help the Xiang family fight for the opportunity to go north, in fact, Kong Kun knows that the Xiang family can completely ignore Zhang Chuguo, as long as they do not recognize Chen Sheng's Zhang Chu regime, Chen Sheng has no ability to restrain the Xiang family.

But at the beginning of the Xiang family's uprising, they had already announced to the Quartet in response to Chen Sheng's call, if they openly broke the contract at this time, they would inevitably lose the expectations of the people and lose the hearts of the people, so they would try their best to get Chen Sheng's permission and go north in the bright light, so that they could also avoid discord with Zhang Chujun and make enemies in all directions.

More importantly, Xiang Jiajun wants to go north and enter Jiujiang, and will inevitably encounter Zhang Chujun, there, there are Deng Zong's soldiers and horses stationed, once the two armies start a war, no matter what the victory or defeat, the loss will not be too small, so, to avoid civil war, it is the most important thing to fight // to attack the Qin State, thinking of this, Kong Kun got up and said: "King, today's Qin State is not as fragile as we think, I have heard that the Qin State has not sent troops so far, and Zhao Gao has power, Hu Hai is related to the famine, I heard that Hu Hai is immersed in the harem every day, until this time, He had never heard of the rise of the rebel army, so the Qin State did not send troops eastward on a large scale. ”

Speaking of this, Kong Kun paused, looked at Chen Sheng, and saw that he was still listening, so he continued: "But once our army breaks through the Qin Pass, enters the pass, and touches the bottom line of the Qin army, it will inevitably lead to a big war. ”

Cai Ci was already glaring at Kong Kun on the side, seeing that he deliberately distorted the facts and spoke for the Xiang family, he hated it in his heart, if he didn't expect it, Kong Kun must have some kind of connection with the Xiang family or received the benefits of the Xiang family to work so hard.

Thinking of this, Cai Ci snorted coldly, arched his hand to Chen Sheng, and said: "King, Kong Kui's words are not credible, if the Xiang family army crosses the river, the king is in danger!" ”

"Perhaps, the Xiang family army will become the main force of Zhang Chu's army to the west?" Kong Kun was slightly anxious, and got up to refute.

At this time, Chen Sheng was already furious, and the quarrel between the two completely disrupted Chen Sheng's train of thought, whether he should agree or not, Chen Sheng hesitated slightly, but he seemed to hear the clue from Cai Ci's words, why did Kong Kun try his best to protect Xiang Jiajun?

Thinking of this, Chen Sheng waved his hand a little impatiently and ordered: "Kong Kui, you should step back first." ”

Chen Sheng's move indicates that he will listen to Cai Ci's opinion, Kong Kun sighed helplessly, he has done his best, whether Chen Sheng can agree to the Xiang family to go north, can only be resigned to fate, thinking of this, Kong Kun arched his hand: "The old minister retires." ”

With the sound of heavy footsteps, Kong Kun walked out of the hall, and with a "boom", the door of the hall was closed again, Chen Sheng stared at Cai Ci in front of him, and asked, "Let's talk about it, should the widow agree to the request of the Xiang family?" ”

Seeing that Chen Sheng was still hesitating, Cai Ci sighed lightly and said helplessly: "King, this matter does not need to be considered, it must be refused, if you lead the tiger into the room, you will definitely be hurt by it, and our Zhang Chujun at this time, although there are many people, but in terms of strength, it is far inferior to the elite of the Jiangdong Army, I think, there is no need to make trouble for yourself, this is called rejecting the tiger for thousands of miles." ”

"Resist the tiger for a thousand miles?" Chen Sheng repeated a few words, he looked at Cai Ci's resolute eyes, Chen Sheng sighed lightly, he really wanted to use the power of the Xiang family to overthrow the Qin State, but Cai Ci's opinion was not unreasonable, luring the tiger into the room, did he have full confidence in controlling them?

Thinking of this, Chen Sheng waved his hand: "You can also step down." ”

"The king, the minister retires." Cai Ci arched his hand, got up and left.

At this time, there was silence in the hall, and an attendant walked in, changed Chen Sheng with a new cup of tea and left in a hurry, looking at the tea that was still steaming on the table, Chen Sheng smiled self-deprecatingly.

Wu Guang's defeat made him dizzy, maybe he was too anxious, so he wanted to lead the troops of Jiangdong to the west, but if you think about it carefully, just like Cai Ci said, lead the tiger into the room, once the Xiang family army marches east, occupies a foothold in Shandong, fully supports the Chu descendants, and supports the Chu royal family, what can he do? At that time, the people's will was lost, and they could not control it, and in the end, they would lay the root of the curse, and the gains outweighed the losses.

And Cai Ci's strategy yesterday, Zhou Wen's westward advance, is like a sharp sword, piercing Hangu Pass and entering the hinterland of Qin, this is the best policy, the way to survive, and it is more reliable than the Xiang family going north.

Gradually, Chen Sheng secretly made up his mind in his heart that he would never allow the Xiang family to cross the Yangtze River for half a step.