Chapter 376 I want to meet Xiang Zhuang

The Prime Minister of Qi State Wang Ling was patrolling the city defense and the Holy Hall surrounded by several minor officials and dozens of military soldiers.

Standing on the top of the city and looking down, I saw that the streets and alleys in the city were filled with nearby people who could not escape into the city. They could build a shack on the corner of the street to cover the sun, but more people could only sleep on the streets, enduring the scorching sun during the day, and having to endure mosquitoes and flies at night. When it rained, it was even more miserable.

Wang Ling asked a Qi army captain who was accompanying him, "The reinforcements from the surrounding counties have not arrived yet?"

"I still haven't come." The captain of Qi army shook his head and said worriedly, "The Prime Minister, the last general is worried that the surrounding counties may have been captured by the Chu army, so most of the reinforcements will not arrive."

Wang Ling frowned when he heard this. There were no reinforcements. With the eight thousand people in Linzi City alone, Wang Ling really didn't know when he could last. You should know that the Chu army outside the city had a total of 100,000 cavalry! Fortunately, the Chu army siege the city for ten days but never launched an attack. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Another minor official came to Wang Ling and lowered his voice and said, "Prime Minister, the Chu army has been besieging the city for ten days. The food stored in Taicang seems to be unable to last for a few days. If you don't find a way to raise food, you will not be able to make it clear in a few days. There are too many people fleeing into the city, and the villains are really helpless."

Wang Ling just walked forward silently, and food shortages were a big problem.

Half a year ago, there were still millions of stones of grain stored in Taicang, Linzi, but the king first conquered Huainan and then Liang land. More than a month ago, the Zhao State was conquered. After several major wars, the millions of stones of grain in Taicang were quickly exhausted. Before the siege, more than 100,000 refugees poured into Linzi city, and these people all had to stutter.

After a while, Wang Ling said: "First support the soup and water, how many days can you last? If the king has not returned to his post, he will collect grain from the noble families and noble families."

The little official nodded and said, "That's all. The temple."

When he said this, the little official felt a little sad. The little official's family was quite rich, with six or seven stocks of grain. If the court ordered the collection of grain, the few stocks of grain in his family would definitely be conquered. How could he not feel sorry?

Wang Ling patrolled forward for a few miles and suddenly saw refugees making trouble on the street below. Although more than a dozen refugees causing trouble were quickly suppressed by soldiers who rushed to hear the news, Wang Ling realized the potential danger and immediately ordered several lieutenants to accompany him to say, "There may be a spy from the Chu army among these refugees, and they must be strictly controlled!"

The Qi army captains who were accompanying him responded sloshly and immediately took the order.

Wang Ling patrols forward for another period and sighs in a low voice: "I don't know when the king will come back?"

The little official was also up and down, but he still comforted Wang Ling and said, "Don't worry, the king's army may have arrived outside Linzi City at this time."

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Han Xin's army has not arrived in Linzi yet, but it is not far from Linzi.

At this moment, Han Xin was standing on the ruined city wall of Gaoyi. Gaoyi was a small city west of Linzi. There were almost two thousand residents in the city. However, now, in front of Han Xin, there were only rubble piles left. The once prosperous city was burned by the Chu army.

Moreover, this is not the only city that has been burned. On the way back to Linzi, Han Xin had seen at least a dozen cities that have been burned. In addition, there are more burnt Zhendian villages! What made Han Xin angry was that the Chu army not only set fires everywhere, but also trampled all the fertile fields along the way.

How different is the behavior of the Chu army from the Liang army that went deep into Chu?

If we have to find the difference, it is that the Liang army burned, killed, robbed, and did everything evil, while the Chu army did not kill people.

However, Han Xin felt that it would be more hated for the Chu army not to kill people than for the Liang army. If the Chu army killed all the people along the way, it would be fine. But if the Chu army did not kill people, it drove all these refugees into a few large cities and towns, which added a huge burden to the Qi State!

Lou Jing sighed and said, "King, the Chu army's move is so poisonous."

The Chu army's move was indeed very poisonous. Although they did not kill people, they burned down the houses of all the people along the way, snatched all their food, and trampled all the millet, beans and beans this year. In this way, a huge bag fell on the heads of the rulers and ministers of Qi. Are these hundreds of thousands or even millions of refugees still not saved?

If you don’t save it, it’s still a trivial matter to be despised by the people. The key is that after so many people die, the human, national and military strength of Qi will be severely weakened. Even if Han Xin holds the jade seal of the King of Qin, he will no longer be able to compete with Liu Bang and Xiang Zhuang for a tripod. This is something Han Xin would not want to see anyway.

It’s a disaster, where can Qi go to get so much food?

You know, these are not thousands or tens of thousands of refugees, but there are dozens or millions of refugees!

From Xue County to Jibei County, and from Jibei County to Linzi County, the Chu army cavalry has poisoned three counties and dozens of counties. Conservatively, the number of homeless refugees has exceeded 300,000, and this matter is not over. The Chu army will definitely continue to roam next, and in the end, there are probably more than one million homeless refugees!

With millions of refugees and so many people opening their mouths to eat, the pressure is really great!

There is no grain in Taicang in Linzi, and the rest of the vassal states cannot lend food to Qi. If Han Xin wants to save these million refugees, there is only one way, which is to force the tyrants and nobles of Qi to collect grain from the nobles and nobles! But in this way, Han Xin offended the tyrants of Qi!

"Yes." Han Xin nodded and said deeply, "Xiang Zhuang's move is really poisonous!"

Lou Jing pondered for a moment and said, "King, there is no other way to think about the matter now. He can only kill this Chu cavalry before the situation is completely corrupt. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Han Xin nodded silently, but Lou Jing thought of him and went together.

As long as its army can annihilate the cavalry in Xiangzhuang in time, the number of refugees in Qi can be controlled within a bearable range. At that time, whether it was sacrificing refugees or sacrificing a small number of powerful families, it would not hurt the foundation of Qi, and Qi would still have the confidence to compete with Chu and Han.

However, it is not easy to annihilate the Chu army, because the Chu army is all cavalry, coming and going like the wind, while the Qi army is infantry and is slow to move. More importantly, Han Xin lacks an intuitive understanding of Xiang Zhuang. As the saying goes, knowing oneself and knowing one's enemy can only lead to victory in a hundred battles. For opponents of Xiang Zhuang's level, Han Xin must be aware of himself and his enemy.

After pinching the rubble in his hand into powder, Han Xin suddenly said, "I want to meet Xiang Zhuang."

"You must not!" Lou Jing's face changed drastically when he heard this, and he hurriedly dissuaded, "Xiang Zhuang is a powerful general in the world. Even Fan Kuai died under his halberd. The king had no face with him, which was too dangerous."

"It's okay." Han Xin waved his hand and said calmly, "I have my own arrangements."

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On the east bank of Zibo River, the Chu army camp.

Xiang Zhuang raised his ox horns and greeted Bailixian from afar and said, "Ziliang, come and taste Qidi water wine."

Bailixian also raised the ox horn cup and returned to Xiangzhuang, then covered her sleeves and drank the water and wine from the wine cup. Bailixian said, "King, this water and wine in Qidi is tasteless, which is far worse than the white wine in Chudi."

"That's it." Xiang Zhuang was very proud. If it weren't for his Xiang Zhuang, how could people of this era have drunk white wine?

Bailixian picked up the feather fan again and said thoughtfully: "King, it has been ten days since the siege of the city. Han Xin's army is almost back. The key is that there is no food near Linzi. Should we leave?"

Since entering Qi, the cavalry army has been relying on plunder to maintain the supply of military rations. It is fine to have 40,000 war horses and 20,000 mules and horses, but Mongolian horses have always been very adaptable, just eating grass, but the food for 20,000 soldiers is not a small amount. Although Linzi is the most fertile place in Qi, it is only enough for the Chu army to rage for ten days.

Now ten days have passed, and the food that can be grabbed near Linzi has basically been almost done. If the soldiers do not transfer in time, they should go hungry.

Xiang Zhuang put down the Niujiao Cup and said, "It should be news for the scout cavalry, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hu Yan suddenly stepped into the tent and reported to Xiangzhuang: "King, please give me a horse. Han Xin's army has arrived in Gaoyi, less than fifty miles from Linzi."

Xiang Zhuang and Bai Lixian looked at each other and said, "Qi Jun is not slow either, but Han Xin is back, but I am leaving. I hope he doesn't blame me, haha."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Xiang stepped in again and reported to him proudly: "King, there is an envoy of Qi to ask for his visit."

"Envoy of Qi?" Xiang Zhuang was a little surprised when he heard this, and said again, "Who came from Linzi City?"

"No." Jin Xiang shook his head and said, "I came from the west bank of Zibo River, saying that he came to deliver the letter of the country under the order of King Qi."

"Secretary of the People?" Xiang Zhuang turned around and exchanged glances with Bailixian, and immediately ordered Jin Xiang, "Please come in."

Jin Xiang took the order and soon led a tall middle-aged scholar into the big tent. The middle-aged scholar entered the tent, but bowed slightly to Xiang Zhuang and said loudly: "In Shi Tianxiong, the one who is under the tent of the King of Qi, is hereby the order of the King of Qi to submit a letter of nationality to the King of Chu." After that, Tianxiong took out a letter of nationality from his arms.

Hu Yan groaned, took the letter of state two steps forward and handed it to Xiangzhuang.

Xiang Zhuang opened the letter of the country, but there were only a few lines of words on it: People said that Xiang Zhuang, the King of Chu, was a hero of the world, and his temperament was not inferior to the overlords of the past. I have admired him for a long time, but I just missed him. Tomorrow, I will be waiting for the west bank of the Zibo River and discussing troops across the water. It is also a great pleasure for life. I hope that I can make an appointment on time.


Chapter completed!