Qin Official

For Xiang Ji, giving in is a difficult thing.

In his view, the once powerful Chu State perished due to constant retreat. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu was so majestic and domineering, and its continuous progress made Chu from a country of less than fifty miles away to a country of five thousand people. Big Mac inside. King Zhuang of Chu has already made a name for himself, leading his army to conquer the Central Plains. His dominance extends from the south of the river to the edge of the river. Chu can compete with the Xia on its own!

However, national power always declines. Although in the era of the Seven Kingdoms, the Chu State became the oldest empire that was difficult to turn around, but it was not until King Huai of Chu succeeded to the throne that it began to decline. The Chu State continued to suffer setbacks in the confrontation with Qin, and they They began to retreat from Hanzhong and Danyang. From then on, they were out of control and retreated all the way. They lost Yanying, Qianzhong and Chenying, and finally fell.

In Xiang Ji's view, Fan Zeng's plan was a good one. He traded space for fighter opportunities, gave up the difficult-to-defend lands of Han, Wei and other allies, lured Heifu into the hinterland of Chu, constantly divided his troops to garrison the occupied land, and finally used a defensive counterattack Turn the tide.

But this is too much to take for granted. If Heifu is not in a hurry to make a rash advance, but instead proceeds steadily, spending half a year or even a year to digest Han and Wei, slowly strangle the Zhao State in Hebei, and then recruit hundreds of thousands of troops to deal with the Chu State, then it will be time what to do?

The Chu State will be surrounded by enemies on all sides and will have no allies. It will fall into endless difficulties and become a monkey strangled by a boa constrictor.

So if you can't retreat, you can't retreat. This battle of Xingyang does seem to be a trap set by Heifu, but isn't it a good opportunity for them to change the situation of the battle?

Xiang Ji did not have the rashness to go directly to Xingyang to confront Heifu's main force, but still adopted the method of "surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao".

"The main force of the Qin army is between Gongxian and Xingyang, and they are divided into Hanoi. However, Luoyang and the rear are empty. Most of them are civilians and new soldiers, and there is still a lot of grain and fodder stored in various warehouses."

Xiang Ji set his sights on the area between Heluo and Luoyang, which was gained and lost by the Chu State. Passing from Chen County, Zhengdi, that is, Yingchuan County, was the only way to go. However, there were three mountain systems blocking Yingchuan and Luoyang.

On the map, from north to south, Xiang Yu cleared these obstacles one by one.

"Taishi Mountain (Song Mountain)."

"Kiyama."

"There is also Kongtong Mountain (West Taishan Mountain)."

The three mountain systems are not closely connected, so there are three passes leading to the road.

"One is the Xingyang and Chenggao roads between Taishi Mountain and the river."

This road was the first choice for the Qin army to go east from Luoyang, so they fought for Xingyang so urgently.

"The second one is the Shenyuan Road. There is a narrow valley road in Taishi Mountain and Jishan Mountain. This is the shortcut from Yangzhai to Luoyang. There is the Shenyuan Pass on the Eling Slope. It was originally owned by South Korea and was owned by the Qin Army in January. Seized by Chen Yingbu..."

If the Chu army attacks these two roads, they will fall into the dilemma of being outnumbered and outnumbered.

But there is a third one, which is the wider Ru River.

Passing through Yingchuan and heading north along Ru River to feed on food from Yangzhai, Xiang Ji's good friend Zheng Chang, who had died that year, was there as the "Korean Prime Minister".

"As long as our army defeats the Wu Guang Department of the Qin Army in Jiaxian, it can enter the upper reaches of the Yishui River from Ruyang, attack Xincheng and Yique, burn Heifu's grain road, and threaten Luoyang, then his troops will return to help. If we are in Liang Zhongfu of the land can send all the county princes to support Xingyang, and not only can he save Zhongli Mei, but he can even keep Xingyang intact and let the allies of Han and Wei in the Central Plains understand that Qin is not invincible!"

Fan Zeng was not optimistic about this strategy: "There is Guangchengze in the upper reaches of Ru River, which is four hundred miles away. The land is moist and the roads are obscured. It is not easy for the army to pass."

Xiang Ji disagreed. In his view, all military miracles require people to take the initiative to create. There is no reason to win by retreating blindly: "Because of this, the Qin army was not well prepared, allowing our army to have an opportunity." Can be taken."

He was confident enough that he could safely evacuate Luoyang with his army, or even take a risk and launch a fierce attack on Heifu from the rear that Heifu did not expect...

Fan Zeng was still worried: "What should we do if the army is cut off from Nanyang by Heifu and is trapped in Luhun?"

He said sincerely: "Shangzhu State is now the backbone of Chu State, not a general charging into battle."

"If I don't fall into the trap, who can?"

However, Xiang Ji insisted on his own opinion, and the military order to break up the camp and march westward was about to be issued.

Fortunately, at this time, a letter arrived, completely disrupting their plans.

"There's no need to save him."

After reading it, Fan Zeng seemed to be relieved, but full of regret, and handed the bloody battle report to Xiang Ji:

"Xingyang fell, Zhongli Mei fell into darkness!"

…

Zhong Lizhen knew that if Xiang Ji heard about what he had done, his eyes would definitely be filled with disbelief and anger at being betrayed!

But he doesn't ask for understanding. This time, he wants to be a lone hero like he did when he sneaked into Qin many years ago.

"Zhongli Mei."

The voice rang out. The person who was interrogating him was a Qin official named Chen Hui. His eyes looked at Zhong Lizhen full of wariness.

"I have heard that Xiang Ji's ministers Yafu, Zhongli Mei, Long Qie, and Zhou Yin are also members of Gukun. Why do you want to surrender as a minister of Gukun and the Duke of Zhongli County?"

Zhongli Mei looked at the four guards beside him who could kill him at any time, and said with a smile: "Although I am a general under Xiang Ji, my merits and rewards are not as good as those two mediocre people like Shen Yang and Zheng Chang. Now I am trapped in an isolated city, but most of the guards in the city have been transferred by Xiang Yu. He alone ordered me to hold on for fifteen days. There must be some villain who will harm me..."

"Tens of thousands of the Qin army have crossed the Si River, cut off the Chu army's tunnels, and surrounded Xingyang with water and water. They have set up siege equipment. The soldiers in the city are afraid of the thunder and fire of the Qin army. They are in panic all day long. The soldiers have no fighting spirit, and there are no generals. Fighting spirit, there is no rescue outside. I have fought hard for three days and it is the limit. Instead of thousands of people being reduced to powder when the city is broken, it is better to open the city early and save the lives of all the soldiers in the city."

After all, he failed to stick to his promise of fifteen days. Although the Qin army did not use the secret weapons that shocked the world in Wuguan this time, the regular flying rocks and arrows were enough to suppress the Xingyang defenders. .

On the third day of the Qin army's attack, the city gate was breached. No matter how hard it was to hold on, when the Chu people were planning to fight to the death, Zhong Lizhen suddenly issued an order to surrender...

According to the practice of Chu generals who would commit suicide and sacrifice their country after a defeat, Zhongli Mei should have died, but instead of committing suicide to preserve his dignity, he threw away his weapon, allowed the Qin soldiers to capture him, and claimed that he was willing to surrender to Heifu.

"Surrender?"

Chen Hui sneered: "In the battle of Runan, Xiang Ji killed over 10,000 of my soldiers and cooked all the captains. What a cruel method. The old Northern Expedition troops in the army hated the Chu people and did not want to accept surrender. Aren't you afraid of being killed after surrender?" "

Zhong Limei said, "I heard that the Qin army defeated the Zhao army in Hebei, and Zhao's 40,000 soldiers were completely wiped out. How much more about me? I never participated in the battle of Runan, let alone killed the communist captain. On the contrary, many years ago, I got acquainted with Duke Xia, the regent of the Great Qin Dynasty, so he can be regarded as an old friend..."

The reason for this was widely spread among the Chu army, but few people knew about it in the Qin Dynasty. After all, it was related to the less glorious scene in the regent's early years.

Chen Hui was responsible for sorting out the intelligence of Wing Camp and knew a lot about it. He sneered and said, "I heard that you have a grudge against the regent."

Zhong Lizhen smiled and said: "Whether it is revenge or mercy, Duke Xia knows best. Now that he is in charge of the world, and his former enemy is a prisoner, don't you want to see him?"

When people are rich and proud, they always need someone to show off to. Old friends, preferably old friends who have experienced festivals, are undoubtedly the best witnesses.

"The regent has a lot of things to do, how can he have time to see you, a prisoner of Chu." Chen Hui gestured with his hands and asked the guards to take Zhongli Mei down.

"Wait!"

Zhongli Mei said loudly: "Even if the world only thinks that the two of us have enmity, accepting my surrender will be beneficial and harmless to the regent."

"I once heard that Shi Chenhui, the governor of Nanyang County, once said to Lu Ye that if his husband aspires to be a king, he will definitely settle his personal grudges and show his virtue to the world. Although Lu Ye has some troubles with him, if he surrenders, it will be like being sent to his door. Not only will Xia Gong not be in trouble for his daughter's horse bones, he will make a good living, promote him to a high position, and then publicize it in a big way, hoping that other counties will follow suit."

"Sure enough, after Lu Jie surrendered, countless people from Wang Ben's old tribe surrendered. During the Battle of Lantian, more people surrendered first. And Chen Changshi was also trusted enough to sit in the court. Today, he was even more condescending to interrogate Get up for me."

Zhongli Mei looked at Chen Hui and said, "The people of Chu are willing to follow Xiang Ji because they are afraid that Xia Gong will settle accounts in the fall. Seeing that Zhongli Mei, who had an enemy with Xia Gong, is still alive and getting a generous reward, they will rush to join him, just like the martial arts in the past. It’s about Guan and Lantian.”

"I can be Xiang Ji's minister with bones and bones, and I can also be Xia Gong's horse bones!"

After Chen Hui was silent for a long time, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Okay, what a 'boneless minister'!"

"It doesn't matter, stay or not, see or not, please report to Duke Xia for his decision!"

Persuading Lu Ye was Chen Hui's favorite work. Zhongli Mei's words somewhat convinced him. After thinking deeply, people were optimistic about Zhongli Mei, so he stood up and left.

Zhong Lizhen knew that Chen Hui definitely did not dare to make decisions without authorization and went to find his master.

Zhongli Mei breathed a sigh of relief, everything he had to do had been done, and the rest would all depend on God's will.

If Heifu orders his execution, he will bear the infamy of being greedy for life and surrendering to Qin, and his life will end.

But Zhong Lizhen had no regrets. He wanted to give it a try and fight for the last hope for Chu State by himself!

"Many people asked me whether the situation today would be completely different if I had killed Hei Fu in Anlu."

"I don't know, but I do know that if Mr. Hei suddenly dies now, the situation in the world will be turned upside down!"

The victors will fall apart because Heifu does not have a perfect successor, and they will go their own way. The defeated countries such as Chu and Zhao will win opportunities again.

Zhong Lizhen's surrender was both true and false. He understood that he would not be able to find an opportunity in the short term. This required long-term lurking and management to win the trust of Heifu, and finally find the opportunity to carry out a fatal blow!

Looking at what Heifu did, he believed that Heifu really needed a surrender general from the Chu clan...

"A scholar dies for a confidant, and the three generations of the Xiang family have treated me well."

"I am willing to use my body as a sharp sword to be the one who stabs Qingji!"

This is Zhongli Mei's plan, his gamble.

Thinking of this, Zhongli Mei, who had been fighting hard for three days and three nights, even though he was covered in injuries and his hands were tied, he still put his head on the wall and fell asleep like this. For a while, the snoring in the cell was so loud that Lili Dozens of guards outside were amazed.

"This prisoner of Chu is such a strange person!"

In the dream, there are still gold and iron horses, and the bright red flag of the Chu army. General Xiang Yan is still alive, he is still young, and he has the courage to enter the enemy country alone. The Chu country is full of talents, and the Chu people live a proud and confident life...

A dream is a dream after all.

I don’t know how long he slept for, maybe it was a moment, maybe it was several hours later, Chen Hui asked someone to wake Zhongli Mei up, and frowned and said to him:

"Let's go, Mr. Xia, I want to see you!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is at night.