: Pulling the snake out of the cave

When Xiang Zhuang hurried back to the study room, several of the chief ministers who received the summons also arrived.

Xiang Zhuang Yangyang the secret letter in his hand to several major ministers and said in a deep voice: "I just received a letter from Fei Ge from Xianyang, but Liu Bang's old man could not hold back!"

Bailixian put down the feather fan and said calmly: "This is also expected."

Xiang, Xiang Tuo, and Wu She also showed solemn eyes, so Liu Bang still took action!

Wu She pondered for a moment and asked, "King, has the Ebony Cliff already discovered the direction of the attack of the Han army?"

Xiang Zhuang shook his head and replied, "I don't know this yet. The Han army is gathering now. If nothing unexpected happens, the main attack direction of the Han army this time should be Jingxiang."

There is a natural danger in Bashu. Even if the Han army launches a million troops to attack, it can only consume food in vain. The possibility of the Han army directly rushing to Huainan is not high, and it will cause Han Xin's suspicion.

"King, be careful of the barbarians around you." Bailixian shook his feather fan and said in a pondering manner, "Now spies from various countries are almost everywhere in Chu. It is not difficult for Liu Bang to know that we are fighting against Shanyue and Wuxi barbarians. If Liu Bang really decides to attack Jingxiang, he will inevitably instigate these barbarians to attack behind the scenes."

The war between the State of Chu, Shanyue, and Wuxi Manchus suddenly broke out two years ago.

The reason for the outbreak of the war is actually very simple. With the development of industry and commerce in Chu, the economic plunder of Shanyue and Wuxi Barbarians was inevitably staged. The merchants of Chu did not show any aggression at first. They exchanged the barbarian fur, livestock and precious medicinal materials with wine, paper, and porcelain equivalents. The two sides were quite happy to cooperate.

But the good times did not last long. Some merchants in the Chu State soon discovered that trafficking in persons was more profitable. They only needed to hire dozens of strong men to rob a barbarian village. The barbarian men they caught could be sold to handicraft workshops as coolies, while women were sold to prostitutes. As for the elderly and children, they were extremely savagely killed.

Of course, the barbarians would not surrender, so they began to resist fiercely.

The barbarians' hatred for slave traders quickly spread to all the Chu merchants. They killed all the Chu people who went deep into the barbarian land, and then began to go out of the mountains and began to attack wildly, looting the Chu people's villages, towns and even cities. So, a war between the barbarians and the Chu State broke out.

However, the scale of the war with the barbarians was not large, and the barbarian army rarely exceeded a thousand people. The Chu army that surrounded and suppressed the barbarians usually had only a few hundred people. Xiang Zhuang didn't care much about the barbarians' disease, because Shanyue and Wuxi barbarians all lived in deep mountains and forests. The cost of sending large troops to encircle and suppress them was too high, and the effect was also poor!

However, once the Han army is in a hurry, we can no longer be careless about these barbarians. When all the Chu army went to Jingxiang to confront the Han army, the defenses in the hinterland of Jiangdong, Jingxiang and Bashu will inevitably become empty. At that time, a small number of barbarian troops will be able to penetrate deep into the hinterland of Chu, posing a serious threat to the security of Chu.

"That's true." Xiang Zhuang patted his forehead and said, "These barbarians are really troublesome."

"King, there is also the Nanyue Kingdom!" Xiang He reminded, "Nanyue Kingdom has also formed an alliance with Han and Qi, and maybe Zhao Tuo will send troops to attack our Great Chu."

"Don't worry about the Nanyue Kingdom." Bailixian shook his feather fan and said lightly, "There are five ridges between Nanyue and Chu Kingdom. The mountains are dangerous and deep, the road is long and blocked, so it is not easy to march. Moreover, Zhao Tuo's foundation is in Nanyue. Defeating Chu Kingdom can only make wedding clothes for Liu Bang, which is not good for him. The reason why Zhao Tuo formed an alliance with Qi and Han was just to protect himself."

Xiang Zhuang deeply agreed that Zhao Tuo in history had never had the idea of ​​entering the Central Plains.

"But you still can't take it lightly." Xiang Zhuang thought for a while, then turned his head to Wu She and said, "Doctor, you have to work hard to go to Panyu to understand the benefits and disadvantages of Zhao Tuo."

"Now." Wu She bowed deeply and answered respectfully.

Xiang Zhuang said again: "Now I will discuss how to solve the problem of Wuxi Man and Shanyue?"

Before the decisive battle with the Han army, all worries must be relieved first. However, the barbarians are difficult to deal with. Last year, Gao Chu brought five thousand elite soldiers to Wuling to try to wipe out the Wuxi barbarians, but even the human hair was not touched. However, as soon as Gao Chu's army retreated, these barbarians immediately emerged from the deep mountains and forests, killing and setting fires everywhere.

Xiang and Xiang Tuo remained silent. They really had no choice.

Bailixian shook the feather fan and suddenly said, "King, I have a plan to defeat the barbarians."

"Oh?" Xiang Zhuang suddenly looked up and said anxiously, "Ziliang quickly, what's the plan?"

Baili Xian said: "Wuxi Man and Shanyue have lived in the deep mountains and siege for many years, and are very familiar with the local terrain. If a large army is sent to encircle and suppress it, they will not even be able to see their shadows. Therefore, if you want to defeat the barbarians, you can only lead the snake out of the cave, lead the Wuxi Man and Shanyue out of the deep mountains and siege, and then encircle and annihilate it!"

"Turn out the barbarians?" Xiang Tuo said, "I'm afraid it's not easy, right?"

Baili Xian said: "Just transfer the troops of various counties and governments, you will not worry about the barbarians not being deceived."

Xiang said again: "I'm afraid that Liu Bang and the barbarians will agree on a time. In this way, our great Chu must not only resist the Han army, but also beware of barbarian attacks, so it will be difficult to take into account both the beginning and the end."

Baili Xian smiled slightly and said, "Liu Bang can condemn the envoys to contact the barbarians. We can also send people to pretend to be Han envoys to contact them. If Liu Bang agreed with the barbarians to attack, we can also send people to agree with the barbarians to attack time, so that the barbarians will attack in advance before the Han army."

"Good!" Xiang Zhuang beat the clan hard and said in a deep voice, "That's it!"

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The wilderness east of Xianyang City has now become a noisy and bustling army camp.

After Liu Bang issued the imperial edict, the soldiers from various counties and counties began to gather one after another, and then drove to Xianyang in teams. After gathering in Xianyang, they would leave Wuguan, go to Nanyang, and take Jingxiang directly.

Liu Bang slowly climbed to the east gate of Xianyang with a brocade woven cloak surrounded by Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Zhou Bo, Bai Mo, Lu Tai and the crown prince Liu Heng. Although Liu Bang wanted to make Liu Ruyi the crown prince, the civil and military ministers all favored Liu Heng. Faced with the firm opposition of the ministers, Liu Bang had no choice but to choose Liu Heng.

Standing on the tower and looking down, teams of more soldiers were lined up in a slightly chaotic formation and drove past Xianyang City. In addition to the Han army, there were also a large number of Hu people, including Xiu Turen, Hun Xie people, and Yuezhi people. This time, Liu Bang mobilized almost all the troops and conscripted 100,000 Hu cavalry!

In this decisive battle, Liu Bang decided to lead the army in person.

One reason was that Liu Bang was worried about handing over the country's troops to others to command. On the other hand, Liu Bang felt vaguely that this was probably the last time he went to the battlefield in his lifetime. Therefore, he wanted to defeat Xiang Zhuang with his own hands and then destroy the Chu State with his own hands. Unifying the world was his long-cherished wish, and he did not want to leave regrets in his life.

"Prime Minister." Liu Bang looked at the army passing by outside the city and suddenly asked Xiao He, "Have you prepared all the food and grass?"

Xiao He bowed deeply and said respectfully: "Don't worry, King, there is still 1.2 million stones of surplus grain in Taicang, Xianyang. In addition, I have issued a grain collection order to each county. If nothing unexpected happens, at least another 2 million stones can be collected! With three million stones of military rations, it can support the six hundred thousand army's needs for half a year of combat."

The so-called grain collection is actually a levy and transferring the burden to all the people. This is also a common method used by various vassal states. Even the Qin State, which had completed the reforms in history, often collected additional grain from the people (in addition to land taxes). However, compared with the six Kanto countries, the Qin State will only compensate the title for the title.

There is no doubt that collecting food will increase the pain index of the people and weaken the ruler's foundation.

Liu Bang sighed softly. If he hadn't thrown away the largest granary in Bashu, how could he have forced the collection of grain from the people? The collection of grain can be quenched by drinking the dove.

After a while, Liu Bang asked Lu Tai again: "General, when will the army be able to complete the assembly?"

Lu Tai hurriedly said: "Report to the king, the cavalry, including Hu cavalry from each tribe, can be assembled within half a month. It may take longer for the more soldiers from each county to the county, but forty days should be enough."

During this expedition, Liu Bang mobilized more than 500,000 infantry and cavalry. If it were not for the counterattack of the Huns, he would even want to transfer the 100,000 Rong soldiers stationed in Jiuyuan to the battlefield in Jingxiang.

"Forty days?" Liu Bang nodded slightly, then turned to ask Bai Mo and said, "Ziyan, how are the arrangements for contacting Qiang, Di, Shanyue, Wuximan and Nanyue?"

Bai Mo replied: "The envoys sent to Qiang, Di, Ranlong, Shanyue, and Wuxi Barbarians have already set out. We should have seen the leaders of all races now. As for Nanyue, due to the long journey, we may not be able to arrive for a while."

As mentioned earlier, countries have successively established spy agencies similar to the eumu cliff of Chu State. Bai Mo is in charge of the spy agencies of the Han State. In addition to sending envoys from Qiang, Di, and Ranlong from Xianyang, the other envoys who went to Shanyue, Wuxi Man and Nanyue were sent from Zhiling and Jiangling.

Xiang Zhuang was speechless for a while, suddenly turned around and said to Liu Heng: "Heng'er, I'll leave Guanzhong to you."

Liu Heng bowed to the ground and replied in fear and fear: "Father, the child must do his best to ensure that Guanzhong is not lost."

Liu Bang nodded, turned around and said to Bai Mo: "Ziyan, the prince is still young, I'll ask you everything."

"Don't worry, my king." Bai Mo bowed and said solemnly, "I must do my best to assist the prince. As long as I still have a breath, there will never be any mistakes in the foundation of Guanzhong."

Liu Bang nodded again and sighed: "In this way, I will feel relieved."

Turning around again, Liu Bang suddenly raised his chest and took a deep breath. In an instant, his aura changed. The ambition of decades ago seemed to have returned to him, and then he smiled and said to Zhang Liang: "Zifang, this time is probably the last time for us two old guys to go to war, hahaha..."

Zhang Liang smiled slightly and said loudly: "The old horse is in the stable and dies."

"Yeah." Liu Bang pointed his head and said loudly, "This time, either Xiang Zhuang dies or I dies!"


Chapter completed!