Jiangling, which is now Jingzhou City, is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and the Linjiang Palace is located in the south of Jiangling East City, which is not far from the river port, just cross the main road and turn to the east road.

The mountains, rivers and rivers on this map, the military deployment is all lacking, and it just so happens that this is Xiang Zhuang just ordered Kong Ji to bring, from this map you can find Nanyang, Bazhong and Changsha and other places very accurately, but only you can't see the land of Jiangdong, which means that Xiang Zhuang has thoroughly mastered his military deployment and the topography of the Bazhong region, Gong Ao looked at this map for a while, looked at Kong Ji who was laughing on the side, and said in surprise: "Master Kong, this is ......"

"This is a gift from the king of my family to the king of Linjiang, it is called the sand table, it is an important object for the march to fight, and the king of Linjiang can use the sand table to insert a small flag as a sign for the future march deployment, no need to draw on the map at all, saving a lot of trouble." Kong Ji smiled and said: "Presumably, the king of Linjiang also heard that our army had a fierce battle with Dongyue not long ago, and the war lasted for nearly two months, and Dongchu was also greatly injured. ”

Gong Ao nodded: "Are you worried that the Han army will go south from the Han River?" ”

"It's not that there is no such possibility, be careful to sail the ship for ten thousand years, and the king of Linjiang should pay attention." Kong Ji was slightly displeased, this Linjiang King Gongao has been sitting on the throne for a long time now, and his heart has become arrogant, and he is not as sincere as when he first met Xiang Zhuang.

King Linjiang also seemed to feel Kong Ji's dissatisfaction, and he smiled reluctantly: "I have nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Deng County, if the Han army dares to go south, I will let him come and go." ”

Kong Ji didn't want to waste too much on this issue, he nodded, looked at Wuxian on the sand table again, and picked up a small gray flag, this small flag represents the Linjiang army, deeply inserted in Wuxian, and instructed: "When the king of my family was leaving, he instructed me to tell the king of Linjiang that Wuxian is an important barrier between Nanjun and Bashu, if it is lost here, the Han army can cross Wushan from here and enter Nanjun, at that time the battle situation has changed, I am afraid that the king of Linjiang will fall into passivity, and must not be careless." ”

Gong Ao nodded, he had also considered Wu County, and sent troops to Wu County three times, at this time there were nearly 10,000 garrisons there, and what bothered Gong Ao the most was not how to defend Nanjun, but the problem of weapons and armor, he couldn't buy weapons and armor from Dongchu forever, after all, he needed to form a steady stream of troops, and weapons and armor have a lifespan, and they need to be replaced after a long time, this feeling of looking up to people is not good.

But how can you say that Kongji speaks for himself?

Gong Ao fell into deep thought, although he stared at the sand table, but what he was thinking about was how to ask the Eastern Chu State for iron smelting technology, even if it was to spend money to buy, he Gong Ao was willing.

In this way, another stick of incense time passed, and Gong Ao finally sighed: "There is something, I have to ask Master Kong for help." ”

Kong Ji is also thinking about some questions, Jiangdong Da'an, the East Vietnamese army was killed and retreated, but Xiang Zhuang did not relax because of this, Jiangdong is still surrounded by a tense atmosphere, Ding Gu's Black Eagle Army, Ma Tianhong's Tiger Battalion, Gui Yinghao's Tiger Battalion have all issued an order to expand the army not long ago, and they have been trained strictly, all equipped with a batch of new weapons, and all the old weapons are recycled, what does this portend? Kong Ji knew very well that this indicated that Xiang Zhuang was already planning another war, but who was this war aimed at? And to whom will the sword be pointed? Even Kong Ji, who had followed Xiang Zhuang for so long, couldn't guess it, and just as Kong Ji was thinking about this question, Gong Ao interrupted his contemplation, Kong Ji put away his thoughts, looked at Gong Ao and said with a smile: "King Linjiang has something to say." ”

Gong Ao didn't rush to speak, he slapped three times outside the hall, and several guards walked in with two large boxes, one of them opened the two boxes, and the yellow, orange and orange gold came out, at this time, Gong Ao smiled and said: "Here is a thousand eridium gold, I specially prepared it for Master Kong." ”

"King Linjiang, what do you mean?" Kong Ji was a little stunned, he seemed to feel that it was definitely not simple for Linjiang Wang Gongao to suddenly take out this money.

And Gong Ao also seemed to feel Kong Ji's uneasiness, so he had to smile awkwardly: "Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just some small things that I hope Master Kong can help." ”

"King Linjiang, you are the king of a country, how can I, a little messenger, help you?" Kong Ji was a little helpless, he seemed to have vaguely guessed the purpose of Gongao taking out so much gold, and besides, the thing that could make Gongao, a king of Linjiang, so low-voiced, except for the problem of weapons, I am afraid there is nothing more.

However, this problem is also one of the reasons for Kong Ji's visit this time, the sand table was given to Gongao by Xiang Zhuang, but the weapon problem has gradually become popular in various countries, I heard that Qi has been equipped on a large scale, and Zhao has also learned the craft of iron smelting in Qi State, Zhao Congress, is it possible that Yan State will look at it, and will definitely try to learn from Zhao Guo, rather than let all countries learn to smelt iron, why not Xiang Zhuang himself sell personal favors, pass on the craft of iron smelting to Linjiang State, and let Gongao develop it himself?

Of course, Kong Ji has been discussing defense issues with Gong Ao, and before he could mention this matter, he was a little breathless, at this time Kong Ji thought for a while, and then looked at Gong Ao's appearance of wanting to speak and stopped, and couldn't help but smile and soothe: "Let me guess, King Linjiang is such a big hand, do you want me to come to you for the smelting technology of weapons?" ”

"Master Kong is worthy of being the chief strategist under the command of the King of Eastern Chu, you guessed it." Gong Ao looked at Kong Ji in surprise, he didn't expect that Kong Ji had actually seen through himself, since he had already said it, he continued: "Although there is a natural transportation line of the Yangtze River, but my Linjiang country has a lot of weapons replacement every year, and there is a lot of demand for feather arrows, and it is not a good idea for us to buy it for a long time, so I hope that Master Kong can help me intercede, and let the king of Eastern Chu send some craftsmen over to solve this difficult matter for me." ”

"Hehe, the king of Linjiang doesn't have to worry so much, when I came, the king of Dongchu had already explained to me, let me tell the king of Linjiang that he could send someone to Jiangdong to learn iron-smelting skills at any time, and if the king of Linjiang intends to build on the spot, we can provide fifty craftsmen to help the king of Linjiang, how about it?"

Gong Ao wanted this sentence, and he was overjoyed: "I will definitely send someone to Jiangdong to study, but I also want to put it into production immediately, so Master Kong has bothered a lot about sending craftsmen." ”

Gong Ao glanced at the gold with his eyes, and motioned Kong Ji to help more for the sake of gold, Kong Ji did not shy away from this matter, so much gold, it was a pity to refuse in vain, so he smiled and said: "This matter is wrapped up in me." ”

Gong Ao's heart was finally settled, he looked at Kong Ji and said with a smile: "I will set up a wine banquet in the side hall again, and Master Kong will follow me to the side hall to eat and chat, and I will order someone to send this gold to your ship." ”

"There is the king of Lao Linjiang." Kong Ji was overjoyed and went to the side hall with Gongao.

The two discussed a lot along the way, including iron ore mining, where the craftsman shop should be located, etc., but when the two were about to walk to the side hall, Gongao's son Gongwei hurriedly walked over, and arched his hand in front of Gongao: "Father, there is information sent from the front, Zhang Ping, the son of the king, is visiting, and he has entered with our army at this time and is coming to Jiangling, and it is estimated that it is almost there at this time." ”

Gong Ao and Kong Ji looked at Gong Wei at the same time, and Gong Ao said in surprise: "I have no relationship with Yongguo, what is Zhang Ping doing here?" ”

Gong Ao thought for a moment and said in horror: "What trouble has the Yongguo Kingdom encountered? Will...... Was it the Han army that went north? ”

Kong Ji shook his head beside him: "If the Han army goes north, Zhang Han will not ask Nanjun for help, he will directly send a letter to Western Chu, asking Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, to send reinforcements, so I think Zhang Han sent his son south, there must be something else." ”

Saying that, the two of them walked towards the side hall, walked a distance, Gong Ao looked at his son Gong Lieutenant, and ordered: "Since people are coming from afar, we can't be rude, you immediately lead 3,000 troops to meet you, you must be grand." ”

……

Since Zhang Ping met Han Ping, his opinion of Xiang Zhuang has changed greatly, and Han Ping said a sentence that touched Zhang Ping the most, that is, they served in Dongchu for two years, and they could wash away their slave bodies and become the real Chu people, what a mind and revenge, Xiang Zhuang's lofty goal is not only to conquer all countries, but also to conquer people's hearts and make Dongchu stronger.

Zhang Ping then hurried back to his garrison, and what he saw and heard and Han Ping's affairs repaired a book, and Xiang Zhuang rescued the Qin State to surrender the troops one by one, and ordered people to send back to Yongguo, soon after, Deng County Commander and County Lieutenant with more than 100 people rushed to the horse, accepted Zhang Han's envoy, and sent people to escort along the way, with Zhang Ping's army to the south, to Jiangling.

This line is dozens of miles of road, across Ye County and Yan County, arrived in Jiangling in the afternoon, in Jiangling territory and came to meet the Gongwei, the two greeted each other a few words, after saying some polite words, Zhang Ping followed the Gongwei's army slowly towards Jiangling, along the way drums, gongs endlessly.

Arrived at the north gate of Jiangling, there were drums and horns to greet each other, the two rows of the city gate were full of troops and officials of Linjiang State, under a grand welcome ceremony, Zhang Ping took a hundred personal soldiers to escort five carriages into slowly, and instructed the rest of the soldiers and horses to build a camp outside the city, not to cause trouble.

The north gate is not far from the palace of the king of Linjiang, and soon the team came to the front of the palace, Zhang Ping and the captain dismounted respectively, under the guidance of the captain, Zhang Ping walked quickly into the palace of the king of Linjiang.

The side hall is setting up a banquet, singing and dancing, Zhang Ping followed the captain to the side hall, just walked into the side hall, Zhang Ping saw Kong Ji sitting in the guest seat at a glance, and, with his father for many years, Zhang Ping also knew Kong Ji, at this time he finally let go of a hanging heart, if you can take this opportunity to explore the depth from Kong Ji's mouth, in persuading Gong Ao to say a few words, I am afraid that this trip to Jiangnan will be worth the trip, thinking of this, Zhang Ping walked forward quickly, clasped his fists with both hands, and gave Gong Ao a salute: "See King Linjiang." ”

Gong Ao smiled and waved his hand: "Virtuous nephews don't have to be polite. ”

Zhang Ping looked at Kong Ji on the side again, and arched his hand: "I have heard for a long time that the first strategist under the command of the King of Eastern Chu was able to see it today, and I am fortunate to have three lives." ”

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