Chapter 11 Doing both hard and soft
On the fifth day, Xiang Yu lost his patience and decided to attack.
The Western Chu soldiers were divided into eight teams, led by Ji Xin, Xiang Zhuang, Zhong Limei, Huan Chu, Zhou Lan, Long Qi, Yu Ziqi and Ba Yuzan. They attacked the Jiujiang soldiers in eight directions. The total force was dispatched to reach 160,000. Their momentum was naturally overwhelming. The attack began at dusk and continued until the early morning of the next day. Under the threat of retreating, the Jiujiang soldiers fought desperately with the Western Chu army.
Helpless, outnumbered.
The Western Chu army burned and killed each other, shattering the Jiujiang camp into ashes. 80,000 soldiers died in battle, 10,000 surrendered, and the rest fled.
Xiang Yu rode his horse into the camp under the smoky smoke and the dim sunlight. He gritted his teeth and looked for Yingbu everywhere with an iron halberd in his hand. Yingbu seemed to have evaporated from the world, and no trace could be found.
Ji Xin, Xiang Zhuang and other eight people came back to report, saying that they did not find Ying Bu's shadow. Xiang Yu asked the prisoners of Jiujiang soldiers, but no one knew where Ying Bu was. Xiang Yu was so angry that he was all open his hair and his iron halberd danced.
"Damn it, I must have run away, chased me, and killed me on the spot if I catch up."
The eighth route responded with all the calls and took the order and chased after all the paths that Ying Bu might have escaped.
Ying Bu didn't run away at this moment. In fact, when the battle was halfway through, he and Sui He escaped. Sui He could see that the battle would be defeated with his eyes closed, and the Jiujiang soldiers could not bear it for long.
It is very unethical to abandon the army and escape. Ordinary people dare not think about it. Ying Bu and Sui He are clean and neat and unconfused. While shouting the slogan "Brothers, hold on, hold on." They put on the uniform of the Chu army and fled through the back door.
When the Eighth Route Army chased, the two of them were already rushing to rush two hundred miles away. Where should they chase?
Although Xiang Yu failed to catch Ying Bu, he pacified Jiujiang and burned and killed Ying Bu's territory. On the third day, he ordered his troops to return to Pengcheng, leaving only the Grand Marshal Zhou Yin to garrison. In order to raise food and grass, he stopped in Pengcheng for another two days, and then ten days later he marched towards Xingyang. At this time, Ying Bu had already met Qin II in Chenggao.
Wang Zhu was studying the capture of Xingyang with all the generals in the palace. When he heard that Sui He brought Yingbu to surrender, he felt happy and smiled. Seeing that he was smiling, Chen Ping hurriedly said, "Master, you should not see Yingbu for the first time. Even if you meet, don't show excessive happiness."
Wang Zhu said disapprovingly, "Of course we should welcome people from afar, not to mention that Ying Bu is a famous general in the world and the King of Jiujiang, who was conferred the title of Emperor Yi."
Wang Ao waved his hand and said, "Master, do you want to be on par with the King of Jiujiang?" Wang Zhu shook his head; "Of course I don't want to. The Qin Dynasty will restore the imperial system sooner or later."
Chen Ping said, "That's right. Since the king does not want to be on an equal footing with Ying Bu, he must let Ying Bu fall under your seat in obedience."
Li Zuoche Lane; "Ying Bu is a famous general of Chu. He has made many military achievements for Xiang Yu and has participated in the killing of hundreds of thousands of Qin troops. It is not easy for the king to subdue him. That is, he cannot be afraid or sad. This measure must be taken just right.
Wang Zhu said in a playful tone, "You can't send him back." Wang Ao said, "You can go back to the bedroom first. We will withdraw. We will find one or two palace maids later - the king can handle him at will."
Wang Zhu squeezed his eyes worriedly, "What if that kid runs away all his anger?" Wang Ao said; "Yingbu is not so quick to react indecisively. We call it 'first soldiers and then rituals'.
Wang Zhu understood the truth and nodded with a sarcastic smile: "No one can do without mistakes? Even if it is Confucius, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Mozi, there are criticisms. What's more, Ying Bu is a man with a deep skill. Although he killed hundreds of thousands of Qin troops, he was just his own master. Let him go over the past matters."
In fact, Wang Zhu knew that Yingbu was a cruel and reactionary executioner, but in such an era, only such a person could become a hero. Compared to the guy who follows the crowd, favors the power, and only gets a salary and does not work, Wang Zhu still likes a tough guy like Yingbu and a tough guy.
Following He and Yingbu, they crossed mountains and streams, traveled through thorns, and suffered all their hardships. After resting in Chenggao for two hours, they came to pay their respects to Wang Zhu, but unexpectedly they were turned away.
Ying Bu followed Suihe to the hall, but the figure of the King of Qin was not seen. Just when they were puzzled, Zhang Xi was careless, rolling his eyes, shook his arms, and came out to pass the order.
"You, you two, come here." After saying that, he didn't even look at Ying Bu, and was so crazy that he was no longer there.
Sui He walked over respectfully and bowed; "This father-in-law, King Yingbu of Jiujiang, asks to see King Qin." Zhang Xi did not recognize Sui He, coughed, and said with a long voice; "You are Yingbu." Sui He waved his hand quickly; "This is King Jiujiang." Zhang Xi smiled coldly; "The world is in chaos, there are quite a lot of people with this and that kings. The king is very busy now. If they come to pay their respects, they will not get tired or sick."
Sui He suddenly felt sweaty on his forehead; "Dadfather, this King of Jiujiang, he is different from others. He is a person that the king values very much. Please inform him."
Ying Bu was about to get angry and stared at Zhang Xi fiercely with his eyes. Zhang Xi felt a little angry, and he had a strong murderous aura. However, in order to fulfill the Qin King's instructions, he still had to pretend.
"Why haven't I heard of this? The King of Bajiang and King of Jiujiang are just martial artists." After that, he turned around and left.
Ying Bu's murderous intent burst out and couldn't help but take a step forward. Suhe's sweat beads fell to the ground and hurriedly stopped him. "King, since ancient times, it is hard to find a ghost. Such a snob, and something without eggs, why should you bother with him? Just be patient for a while and wait until you see the King of Qin to make a fool of yourself." Ying Bu thought of it, since ancient times, what good things can this eunuch have, but it's just that the fox is pretending to be a tiger's power, and his quality is very low. The King of Qin is different, and he will definitely treat him with courtesy.
Thinking of this, Ying Bu calmed down and thought to himself: The King of Qin knew that I was coming, and he would definitely welcome me with the highest etiquette.
After a moment, Zhang Xi walked out of the room again, and said sarcastically, "Okay, the king said you can go in." Ying Bu was a little disappointed, Ying Huhai should come out to greet me in person.
Sui He and Yingbu followed Zhang Xi into the inner room and saw it, and were stunned. The King of Qin was half lying and half sitting on the bed, his eyes seemed to be open, and two palace maids knelt on the couch to massage him.
Ying Bu never expected to be so coldly treated. He didn't believe his eyes. When he looked closely, it was Qin Ershi. Ying Bu wanted to quit in anger, but then he thought that after all, he had been an emperor before, and he was a bit of a playboy style. If I quit, I would be very stingy and would definitely be ridiculed. Thinking of this, he bit the bullet and endured the "sand" that rubbed into his eyes. Ying Bu had a cold face and walked forward and took a bow.
"King Yingbu, King of Jiujiang, has met the King of Qin."
Wang Zhu was enjoying the soft jade fragrance, and it was really awkward to listen to this. It seemed that Wang Ao and Chen Ping were right. Ying Bu was crazy enough. At this time, he was still thinking about showing off his identity as King Jiujiang and being on par. He felt alert and a little contempt. This was called not knowing the current affairs.
Wang Zhu turned his body, nodded listlessly like a big smoker, scolding the two palace maids, and said, "What's the use of you? You're all day long, you can't do such a little thing well, and you still have the face to come here."
Ying Bu was full of anger, but he didn't hear it clearly, and turned around and left with a meteor. Sui He followed closely, and was about to comfort him, Ying Bu cursed at the beginning: "Sui He, you are so kind-hearted and forced me to surrender to Qin. No matter what, I said, I was the King of Jiujiang before. I didn't expect that the King of Qin was a philanthropist who knew nothing about etiquette. He looked at me as bad as a slave. What kind of face do I have to meet my hometown elders and what kind of face do I have to live in this world."
There was a weapon rack in the hall with swords inserted on it. Ying Bu pulled out the sword, with a clang, retreated horizontally, and was about to commit suicide.
Sui He grabbed the arm of the black-faced man and shouted, "My king, don't do it. The King of Qin is not like this in normal times, especially those with ability. He is respectful and very polite. I just smelled his alcohol smell and must have drunk too much. He was incoherent when he drank too much. I thought it would be better to wait until he sobered up before seeing him. If he was still rude to you, I will commit suicide with King Jiujiang." Sui He was also angry. Isn't Qin cheating? If this is true, he will have harmed Yingbu.
Just as the two were about to leave the palace, a young palace maid suddenly ran out of it and said respectfully, "Please wait, two sirs."
Sui He turned around and said impatiently, "What else is there?" the palace maid smiled and said, "The king said that he had prepared his stay for the King of Jiujiang, please come with me." He turned around and left without waiting for the two of them to answer. Sui He and Yingbu frowned at each other, not understanding the mystery.
The three of them were walking around in the palace and were taken to a house after a while. The palace maid said, "This is what the King of Qin prepared for General Ying." Ying Bu couldn't help but feel angry when he heard that she did not call herself king, but called her general. He was about to have anger when he saw that the house in front of him was very tall and brilliant, so he endured it.
The three of them walked into the room and saw that all the utensils, decorations and curtains were not magnificent. The guards on both sides of the door were respectful, with gorgeous clothes and refreshing spirits, as if they were serving the king. Walking forward, leaving the hall and entering the inner garden, two rows of palace maids stood in the middle of the road, each with a long and beautiful appearance, graceful and symmetrical figure.
Ying Bu thought to himself, is this for me? This is the treatment of the king. He was puzzled and suddenly burst into laughter from the bedroom. Wang Ao, Chen Ping, and Li Zuoche all walked out with a smile. Following the arrogant and unruly Qin King Ying Huhai, who was just now, also strode in from the door.
Wang Zhu waved his sleeves and took a big stance and smiled, "King Jiujiang, are you still satisfied with my arrangement?" Ying Bu was very moved. He looked at Wang Ao and others, then looked at Wang Zhu behind him, and suddenly knelt down on the ground. "King Qin must not call me King Jiujiang. From now on, Ying Bu will be an ordinary general around the king."
Wang Zhu took a few steps and helped Ying Bu up, patted the back of his hand and smiled, "This is too much. King Jiujiang has come to serve thousands of miles away. I can only increase your official position. How could I be demoted? Let's do this. From today on, I will change you to King Huainan. In addition to Jiujiang County, Huainan and Dang County will also be granted to you. What do you think?"
Ying Bu and Xiang Yu had a falling out. In the final analysis, it was not very satisfied with the territory. He was overjoyed to the three counties and almost cried excitedly. This time the speculation seemed to be the right bet.
Wang Zhu shouted repeatedly, "What's going on? When you arrive at your house, you don't know how to entertain guests, and you don't even ask the servants to serve wine and food."
During the meal, Ying Bu asked Wang Zhu how he would defeat the King of Western Chu to unify the whole country. Wang Zhu said vaguely, "I never thought of unifying the whole country. I just wanted to kill Xiang Yu, the domineering guy, as soon as possible, and give the princes of the world a peaceful and stable environment. If Western Chu is destroyed in the future, I will also enfeoff it to all the generals."
Ying Bu was worried that Qin Ershi would have the ambition to re-implement the county system, but he felt half relieved after hearing this. But he was still worried and asked, "Can you come up with a plan?"
Wang Zhu coughed.
Wang Ao raised the beast horn cup, signaled to Yingbu, and then put it down and said, "The king's meaning is to let King Huainan return to King Jiujiang, gather his old subordinates, and harass Western Chu. When the Qi army passes, we will encircle from South Korea, Qi and Xingyang on three sides, blocking Xiang Yu between Pengcheng and the Yangtze River, so that he cannot advance or retreat. No matter how powerful he has the ability to reach the sky, he will definitely die."
Ying Bu put the cup in his hand on the table and said with concern, "It's a good idea, but my generals have been disbanded. Even if I go back to Jiujiang, I may not be able to play a role."
Wang Ao said, "This is the king-"
Wang Zhu choked his head and signaled him to continue.
"What I mean is that you can give the King of Huainan tens of thousands of troops and let him guide the land of Huainan."
Wang Zhudao; "But, the soldiers of Qin had some misunderstandings about the King of Huainan, and were afraid that you would not be able to command." Ying Bu said hurriedly, "As long as the Great Patriarch surpasses Ying Bu, Ying Bu can guarantee that he can get all the land of Huainan within three months. The Chu army in Huainan is full of mediocre talents and vulnerable! As for the Qin army does not listen to my order, the king can send a general to Huainan with me."
Wang Zhudao; "I sent Xiahou Ying with you."
Wang Zhu said this too quickly and almost blurted out. Because he had already thought about the design, he blurted out. Ying Bu's face changed immediately.
Wang Ao immediately said, "Xiahou Ying is a man without talent, so should the king send someone else?" Wang Zhu also woke up and said quickly. "He doesn't need to be talented. Anyway, letting him go is a secondary general. The real commander is the King of Huainan. Is it unnecessary to send someone with talent?"
Ying Bu has always been arrogant and arrogant. He has never heard of Xiahou Ying. After listening to Wang Zhu and Wang Ao's singing and reconciliation, the doubts in his heart immediately disappeared. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!