It was late at night, Ying Liang hurried to the Chinese army's tent after receiving the news of Xiang Zhuang's summons, the tent was very quiet at this time, Ying Liang did not rush in, he shouted outside: "King, the last general asks to see." ”

"Come in." Xiang Zhuang's hoarse voice came from the tent, Ying Liang opened the curtain and entered, Xiang Zhuang was not in the outer tent, and Ying Liang did not dare to enter the inner tent rashly, he was a little embarrassed, but Xiang Zhuang's voice came again: "What are you still rubbing?" Hurry on in. ”

This time Ying Liang no longer hesitated, he hurriedly entered the inner tent, only to see his sister Ying Xueyue sitting next to Xiang Zhuang, and Xiang Zhuang was also slowly drinking a bowl of ginseng, Ying Liang wanted to come forward to salute, but Xiang Zhuang stopped drinking, a short silence, Xiang Zhuang ordered: "I must return to Wu County tomorrow afternoon, you go to gather some big ships tonight, and stand by tomorrow." ”

"Why is the king so anxious?" Ying Liang was puzzled, Xiang Zhuang sighed lightly, and said a little helplessly: "The big war is coming, and I can't afford to delay." ”

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand again, "You hurry up and prepare." ”

Ying Liang sang the promise and retreated, and Ying Xueyue also got up and said with a smile: "The king rested earlier, and I also retired." ”

Ying Xueyue gave Xiang Zhuang Yingying a salute, then turned around and left, looking at her back, Xiang Zhuang wanted to say, "Don't leave tonight, okay?" But Xiang Zhuang knew that Ying Xueyue was not his wife, if she stayed here, then her reputation would be completely ruined, Xiang Zhuang also wanted to marry Ming Media, and welcomed Ying Xueyue into the palace gate, thinking of this, Xiang Zhuang forced his heart to be angry, and returned to the map again, long night, I am afraid that he has no intention of sleeping.

……

On the third pole of the sun, the rumbling drums sounded in the Chu camp, and a group of Eastern Chu soldiers held halberds and lined up on both sides of the camp, forming a human wall, leading directly to the big tent of the Chinese army.

Then, another round of war drums was accompanied by the sound of a low horn, Ying Liang walked out of the camp and shouted outward: "The king has an order, Xuanlin Jiangguo envoy, Yongguo envoy into the camp." ”

The soldiers got up and shouted mighty, Zhang Ping, and the lieutenants walked into the camp under the escort of several personal soldiers, and walked along the human wall to the depths of the camp, until everyone came to the inner camp, several internal guards of Xiangzhuang blocked their way, and a tun chief took a step forward and arched his hand: "The Chinese army is important, please stay outside the camp, two messengers, please come with me." ”

Tun Chang brought Gongwei and Zhang Ping into the camp, at this time Xiang Zhuang has sat high and then up, on both sides, there are Kong Ji, Li Hong, Gui Yinghao and other general civil and military generals, everyone's eyes fell on the two, the two also quickly came to the center of the big tent, to Xiang Zhuang salute: "I have come to meet the king of Dongchu, I hope that the king of Dongchu will live a long life of 100 years, and live with Tianqi." ”

Xiang Zhuang smiled and waved his hand: "You don't have to be polite. ”

Xiang Zhuang gave Ying Liang a look to the side, Ying Liang understood, and immediately asked the internal guard to take a soft seat and put it on the guest seat, the two thanked each other, and each took a seat, at this time, Xiang Zhuang first looked at the lieutenant, and asked with a smile: "Is your father in good health?" ”

"Thanks to the blessing of the King of Eastern Chu, my father is in good health, and he often talks to you, saying that if you have the opportunity, you must come to visit the King of Eastern Chu in person." The lieutenant clenched his fists and laughed.

Xiang Zhuang couldn't help laughing when he heard the words of the lieutenant, he immediately pointed at Kong Ji, and said, "I have heard what Master Kong said, you want to smelt weapons by yourself?" ”

The lieutenant hurriedly bowed over and saluted: "The road is far away, and it is inconvenient for us to transport weapons all year round, besides, the Han army is now ready to move, and the war is about to break out, and we are also worried that the military supply will not be enough, which will seriously affect the morale, and I hope the king of Eastern Chu understands." ”

Xiang Zhuang nodded slightly: "In fact, such as today, such as Qi State, Zhao State, Yan State, Jiujiang State, Yin State, etc., they are all trying their best to develop iron weapons, and large-scale smelting, equipped with three armies, that is to say, iron weapons are no longer unique to my Chu State, in this case, why don't I pass on this craft to your country, so that the generals of Linjiang State can also use their own weapons?" ”

Xiang Zhuang said and smiled again: "For specific details, you can negotiate with Master Kong, how about it?" ”

Gongwei didn't expect it to go so smoothly, so he hurriedly saluted again: "I am willing to listen to the arrangement of the king of Eastern Chu." ”

At this time, Xiang Zhuang finally set his eyes on Zhang Ping, although Liu Bang's impatience made Xiang Zhuang feel great pressure, but this pressure only existed in Xiang Zhuang's heart, he did not show this uneasiness, nor was he eager to talk to Zhang Ping in detail because of this, at this time he stared at Zhang Ping for a long time, and then slowly said: "Yongguo lives in the middle of the pass, and it is not easy to come to Jiangdong by trekking mountains and rivers. ”

"King Xie Dongchu." Zhang Ping also saluted Xiang Zhuang, and just wanted to speak, Xiang Zhuang continued: "Although Liu Bang entered the Han Dynasty, but his subordinate generals are Chu people, and the Han army will not be willing to live in Hanzhong for a long time, and Yongguo is adjacent to Hanzhong, I don't know if your country can have a strategy to defend against the enemy?" ”

"We have also sent scouts deep into Hanzhong many times, the Han army did have an attempt to go north, they sent soldiers to repair the plank road, a great move to the north, and they cast weapons on a large scale in the country, the weapons are mainly iron, sharp, tough, especially long, so that we feel deep pressure." After Zhang Ping finished speaking, Gui Yinghao on the side asked: "The danger of Qinling, you only need to hold the pass with a strong bow and a crossbow, even if Liu Bang has three heads and six arms, he will not return, why be afraid?" ”

After Gui Yinghao finished speaking, someone smiled and said: "Even if the Han army repairs the plank road, it can't be completed overnight. ”

Seeing that all the generals under him despised Liu Bang, Xiang Zhuang shook his head a little helplessly, he looked at Zhang Han and asked, "How many soldiers and horses did the Han army send to build plank roads?" ”

"There were about a thousand people."

"More than a thousand? Tsk, more than 1,000 people are afraid that they will not be able to finish the plank road in this life. ”

"yes"

"Haha, Liu Bang's stupid man."

Everyone gossiped and kept ridiculing Liu Bang, but it was Xiang Zhuang who coughed dryly and scolded: "You all shut up for me!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, speechless, and looked at Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Zhuang saw that everyone was quiet, and then said, "What do you know?" If Liu Bang really had plans to take the plank road, how could he only send more than 1,000 people? This is a sign of weakness, in the release of the king's vigilance, and then he will lead the army north from elsewhere, a surprise attack on Guanzhong, Guanzhong will be defeated. ”

Xiang Zhuang's words surprised everyone, especially Zhang Ping, he admired the five-body throw, since there was news that Liu Bang repaired the plank road, Zhang Ping felt that Liu Bang had another intention, at this time from Xiang Zhuang's mouth to say his worries, Zhang Ping had a feeling that the hero saw the same, at this time he had forgotten the purpose of his visit, only kept thinking about Xiang Zhuang's words just now, after a long time, asked: "The king of Eastern Chu may have guessed, where will Liu Bang kill from?" Is it the Han River or the Qinling Mountains? ”

"Hehe, it's not, he'll kill from Chen Cang." Xiang Zhuang's words are categorical.

This surprised everyone even more, and Zhang Ping didn't expect that Xiang Zhuang would think that Liu Bang would go north from Chencang, and he couldn't help but reply: "The probability of Chencang is not too big, and the king of Eastern Chu is worried." ”

After a pause, Zhang Ping said again: "I came this time, I hope that the king of Eastern Chu can help us Yongguo, so that we have greater forces to defend the Han army, and keep the peace of Guanzhong forever. ”

Kong Ji got Zhang Ping's instructions, and just wanted to open his mouth to help him, but Xiang Zhuang had already seen through it, he waved his hand at Kong Ji, signaling Kong Ji not to speak, Kong Ji had to close his mouth and sit back on the soft seat, but at this time, Xiang Zhuang had already looked at Zhang Ping's resolute gaze, and asked coldly: "The country is gone, what is the use of smelting iron?" ”

Zhang Ping's body trembled, and he asked urgently: "What does the King of Eastern Chu mean?" ”

"I have already said that the Han army will go north from Chencang, if you can't deploy defenses in time, the country may be difficult to defend, if the Yongguo is destroyed, what is the use of me passing on your iron smelting skills?"

Xiang Zhuang paused when he said this, and he said: "Besides, our spies in Eastern Chu in Hanzhong sent back the news that Liu Bang worshiped Han Xin as his general and chose to swear north in early August, and now it happens to be the beginning of August, do you know that the battle of Guanzhong may have started." ”

"No...... Impossible, if there is a war in Guanzhong, my father will ...... Will pass me on. Zhang Ping didn't want to believe it, but Xiang Zhuang smiled coldly: "Maybe the war hasn't started yet, but I dare to assert that the Han army has begun to move north one after another at this time." ”

The tent suddenly became quiet, and everyone was silent, although they didn't know if Xiang Zhuang's prediction would come true, but they knew that Xiang Zhuang was not absolutely sure, and he would not talk nonsense.

Zhang Ping also became silent, he lowered his head and thought about something, beads of sweat fell from his forehead, and his hands kept scratching the corners of his clothes, which was caused by excessive tension.

Seeing that Zhang Ping had gradually comprehended his worries, Xiang Zhuang said again: "Han Xin used to be my favorite general, and only because of Xiang Yu will leave the Chu camp, but I know that Han Xin's ability is by no means as mediocre as you imagined, if you despise Han Xin, it will inevitably be exchanged for the destruction of Yongguo, therefore, I will not sit idly by and watch the fall of Yongguo, but I hope you will also pay attention to it as soon as possible, are you willing to pass the word to King Yan for me?" ”

Xiang Zhuang's words were reasonable, and at this time, Zhang Ping couldn't help but listen, he hurriedly got up, knelt on one knee, and arched his hand: "If the king of Eastern Chu can save my Yongguo, we are willing to pay tribute for the Eastern Chu vassal country forever." ”

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, what he wants now is not that Yongguo surrenders to Eastern Chu, but that Yongguo must cooperate with Chu to drive away Liu Bang, thinking of this, Xiang Zhuang picked up a letter that had already been written on the table, handed it to Zhang Pingdao: "I have ordered to ride to Yongguo quickly, I hope your father can listen to my advice and deploy defense as soon as possible, in addition, this is my own handwriting, you can quickly return to Yongguo, hand him over to your father, talk about the benefits, let him immediately gather the troops of King Sai and King Zhai to jointly defend the Han army, I will mobilize the main force of Jiangdong and march west to aid you, How about dealing with Liu Bang together? ”

Zhang Ping got up and took the letter, he had no intention of talking about iron smelting, so he had to give up his hand and say: "I will return to Yongguo immediately, and ask the king of Eastern Chu to send troops immediately to save my Yongguo from fire and water." ”

……

Within half an hour of Zhang Ping's visit to the king of Eastern Chu, he hurriedly ordered a thousand Yongjun troops to hurry west by boat.

In the afternoon, after inspecting the defense of Poyang, Xiang Zhuang also took a boat as soon as possible and hurried to Huiji.

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