Plan to cut off the nine states

The King of Xiangdong was not as carefree as he looked. He had to drink constantly, getting drunk from morning till night, so that he could think less. He was lying on the carriage from Runan to Xiangyang, and only jumped out when he wanted wine, shouting at everyone.

"I am the King of Xiangdong! You can imprison me and despise me, but you can't not give me wine!"

The Liang army soldiers were so annoyed that they had to put a jar of wine on the carriage for him to drink as he pleased, as long as he didn't die.

Therefore, when the King of Xiangdong was finally handed over, the Liang army soldiers were all relieved, leaving him behind and leaving without even a word of thanks.

Xiangyang has become a huge battlefield. Although the Bingzhou army has won battle after battle, it has not been able to force the defenders to collapse or surrender, but has become more and more numerous.

The sources of reinforcements are complicated. The later they come, the more they are unwilling to enter the city. They camp far away, as if they are watching, or as if they want to take advantage of the fire to rob - as for who the target is, I'm afraid even they themselves can't tell clearly.

The Bingzhou army was even more confused, so they did not dare to attack the city with all their strength. They retreated more than ten miles and waited for reinforcements.

King Xiangdong was thrown into the tent and fell asleep. After waking up, he searched for the wine jar everywhere but couldn't find it. Then he found that he was no longer in the carriage.

"Where is this?" he asked.

No one answered.

King Xiangdong got up and staggered out of the tent. The sun was dazzling. He stretched out his hand to block it. It took him a while to adapt, move his palm and see the surrounding situation clearly.

This is a dilapidated military camp. Looking around, nothing is intact. Even the soldiers coming and going are mostly injured.

"Where is this place?" King Xiangdong grabbed a soldier and asked.

The soldier shook him off and refused to answer.

There was no guard outside the tent. King Xiangdong walked around randomly and asked several people but got no answer.

Finally, a group of people came. The leader seemed to be a general. King Xiangdong stood there waiting, hoping to get an answer this time.

"Is the King of Wine awake?" the leader asked with a smile.

"Where is this?" King Xiangdong asked blankly.

"Where are you going?"

"I was sent to Xiangyang by the Liang army."

"That's right, this is thirty miles outside Xiangyang City, I'm Song Quzhu."

"Oh." King Xiangdong vaguely remembered that someone mentioned this name, but couldn't remember the other party's specific identity.

"Are you the King of Xiangdong?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"I think so."

"Haha, someone always recognizes you. No one believes Xu Chu, but I didn't expect him to send you here, so I can take advantage of it. Where is Xu Chu?"

"He... is still with King Liang."

"Come, let's have a drink together, as a welcome for King Xiangdong."

Hearing that he had to "drink", King Xiangdong's eyes lit up, "How can one cup be enough? At least a pot."

"That depends on how much we have left."

The wine here is what King Xiangdong calls horse urine, and he is used to drinking the wine provided by the Liang army. Wine, suddenly changed to inferior wine, he was very unaccustomed, he spit it out after taking only one sip, "Is this really wine?"

Song Quzhu took a sip, "Not bad, you have to taste it carefully, don't drink too much, too fast."

King Xiangdong took a sip, kept it in his mouth for a long time before slowly swallowing it, nodded and said, "It's really wine, something is better than nothing."

"Did Xu Chu say anything when he sent you here?"

"He only said that Xiangyang was in chaos and needed someone to take charge. It seems that he said something else, but I don't remember it." King Xiangdong knocked his head, still couldn't remember.

"It doesn't matter. You don't have to do anything anyway. Isn't the King of Jibei also in Dongdu? Why didn't Xu Chu send him here?"

"The King of Jibei has been made emperor by the King of Liang, and he is unwilling."

"It turns out that Xu Chu has no choice."

"Do you really want me to stay in Xiangyang?" When the King of Xiangdong first heard the news outside Runan City, he was a little excited. He drank more and more wine along the way, and his confidence became less and less. Now there is not much left, but he is panicked.

"I miss it too much. I am looking forward to it day and night, all the time." Song Quzhu laughed.

The King of Xiangdong laughed dryly, "You just want a puppet, right?"

Song Quzhu looked up and down, "What else does the King of Xiangdong think he can do besides puppets?"

The King of Xiangdong became more and more embarrassed, holding the wine glass and bowing his head without saying a word.

"Puppets are divided into types, some are good, some are bad. As the saying goes, knowing shame leads to courage. The King of Xiangdong has a sense of shame, so maybe he can be a good puppet." Song Quzhu advised.

The King of Xiangdong blushed, but raised his head, "What is the situation in Xiangyang now?"

Song Quzhu nodded, "See, that's right. The situation in Xiangyang - it can only be said to be a mess. So far, the defenders have not won a single battle. They have only survived until now because they are relatively scattered, and the Bingzhou army is unwilling to attack separately."

"What can I do?"

"Just sit down, just sit still, I can't say whether I can suppress anything."

The King of Xiangdong put down the wine glass. The wine was originally hard to drink, and Song Quzhu's words made him lose even the last bit of interest.

Song Quzhu drank with relish, and suddenly said: "Xu Chu is a strange person."

"Ah." The King of Xiangdong said perfunctorily. He wanted to do something but felt that the situation was hopeless. He wanted to give up but felt guilty towards Zhang and his daughter, and he couldn't help but be torn.

"Without him, Xiangyang would have been lost long ago, but after getting these reinforcements, he ran away and sent you here."

"He... probably had no choice."

"He was nosy even though he had no choice? He didn't even recognize the Lord of Xiangyang, but he helped so much. To what extent would he help someone he knew?"

"He's not very helpful to people he knows."

"He is indeed a weirdo."

"The lord of Xiangyang City is Leng Yifang?"

"It was."

"Um?"

"He is dead now. To be honest, he is much more useful than when he was alive. If he were still the city lord, Xiangyang would have surrendered long ago and would not be able to hold on now."

"Oh." King Xiangdong didn't dare to answer, for fear that he would also make the judgment that "death is better than life."

"Do you dare to be the emperor?" Song Tizhu asked.

"Ah?" King Xiangdong's expression changed immediately.

"Well, you have already answered clearly. Come on, have a drink and see if you can build up your courage."

"There is an emperor in the imperial court." King Xiangdong did have some courage.

"That's why I asked you if you dare. When you become the emperor, you can be appointed an official. If everyone becomes an official, maybe we can be more united and have higher morale. In fact, there are more reinforcements than the Bingzhou army. They are just afraid of being beaten. Who can I don't dare to go forward to fight. I am stationed thirty miles away, and there are people who are hiding further than me. If I can rush forward, I might really win. By then, you will still be a puppet emperor, but you will transform from clay to gold. , the wine can be better.”

"I dare." King Xiangdong finally said, "But I am not doing it for myself, or even for the Tiancheng court, but to expel the aliens and restore Kyushu."

"Xu Chu really has a keen eye, and King Xiangdong is getting more and more enlightened. When you become emperor, I will take over. What kind of official can you get?"

"This... you choose it yourself."

"I once served as the King of Chu."

"Well……"

"Haha, just kidding. If you make me the King of Chu now, others won't agree. I'm still in name only. You can make me a general as you like. It doesn't have to be too big or too small."

"Do you need a name?" King Xiangdong asked carefully.

"You are the emperor, you have the final say."

"General Fuxi? Tiancheng has more than thirty general titles, and General Fuxi ranks fourteenth."

Song Qizhu thought for a while and said, "Okay, that's it. Your Majesty, please follow me out of the tent to meet the subjects."

"I haven't ascended the throne yet, why do I need a ceremony?"

"Don't rush the ceremony, there will be one later."

Song Qizhu dragged King Xiangdong out of his tent and said loudly: "Everyone, come here and pay homage to Emperor Tiancheng!"

A dozen or so people came in sparsely, watching the "Tiancheng Emperor" and commenting on it, as if they were looking at something rare.

The King of Xiangdong was ashamed, but he had no way to escape. He felt the embarrassment of the King of Jibei firsthand.

Suddenly there was a noise in the distance, Song Qizhu said loudly: "Who is making the noise? Don't you know the emperor is here?"

A leader ran over and said from afar: "Yang Moyu is here... oh."

A group of knights galloped over, and the leader was Jiang Wang Yang Qinzai. Since he changed his name, he hated people calling him by his original name. He whipped away his whip, slapped it on the shoulder of the leader of the Song army, and rushed to Song Qizhu without stopping.

"Brother Yang, why do you come just when you say you are coming without informing you in advance?" Song Tizhu said with a smile.

Yang Qinzai stared at the people next to Song Tizhu, "Is this the King of Eastern Hunan?"

“He calls himself ‘should be’.”

"Whatever it is, if it is, it is, if it is not, it is not."

"He drank too much and was a little confused."

"After receiving the news from King Xiangdong, Brother Song, why didn't you send someone to inform us?"

"Because I know that Brother Yang is well-informed and there is no need for me to send someone to notify him. Look, isn't this coming? And it just so happens that the King of Eastern Hunan has proclaimed himself emperor. Brother Yang should dismount and pay homage to Emperor Tiancheng."

"Who dares to claim the throne without my permission?" Yang Qinzai said angrily.

The little confidence and ambition that King Xiangdong had just had immediately disappeared. He lowered his head and sipped the smell of wine carefully.

"Does Brother Yang allow it or not?"

"Hey. Let me tell you, the Xi family's army will withdraw its troops and they won't be able to come back for a while."

"Is the Xi family so cowardly? They ran away before the winner was decided?"

"It is said that the Xi family's home base was attacked and they could not protect themselves."

"Attacked by whom?"

"I don't know, let them fight. It's our family's business to defend Xiangyang. When King Xiangdong becomes emperor, we'll see if he can recruit more reinforcements."

"He is already the emperor. If you don't believe me, just listen to me call you 'Your Majesty'."

King Xiangdong lowered his head.

There was another noise in the distance. He turned around and did not dare to speak nonsense. He said loudly: "Chen Mu Shou from the two states is here!"

"It seems that everyone is well-informed. It seems that my camp really needs a good inspection." Song Tizhu whispered.

Chen Bingcai came forward and asked, "Where is the King of Eastern Hunan?"

Song Qizhu said: "Here it is, King Xiangdong, raise your head and let Chen Mushou take a look."

The King of Xiangdong had no choice but to raise his head, and Chen Bingcai jumped off his horse, ran over in a few steps, and knelt down on the ground, "I, Chen Bingcai, would like to kowtow to His Highness the King of Xiangdong and ask for forgiveness for not welcoming him."

Everyone was surprised, especially the King of Xiangdong. He did recognize Chen Bingcai, but he was not familiar with him. He hurriedly said: "That... flat body, please get up quickly. Don't be too polite."

Song Qizhu looked at Yang Qinzai who was riding on the horse, "Yes, General Chen is the official of the imperial court. He should recognize the King of Xiangdong. If he said yes, it must be the case."

Yang Qinzai also jumped off his horse.

Chen Bingcai stood up with tears in his eyes and said, "This is the King of Xiangdong. He can never be wrong."

The King of Xiangdong was uneasy and just said yes. Chen Bingcai said loudly: "The King of Xiangdong arrived just in time. News just came that He Rong's army has broken through the Hanzhou pass and is expected to turn to Xiangyang soon. The home defenders need the King of Xiangdong to boost their morale!"

King Xiangdong snorted lightly, feeling that he had no morale at all.