From Xiapi County along the Yishui River, heading north for more than a hundred miles, you will reach Tan County, the capital of Donghai County.
At the end of June, a team of three thousand people, led by Long Qe, walked on the Dongfang Chi Road that Qin Shihuang once visited. At the end of the team were two middle-aged men in their forties who were riding in the same car.
"In the past, Ji'er was the closest to me at home. I didn't expect that he would achieve such great things now and become the pillar of my Xiang family."
Xiang Juan stroked his beard and talked about the past with a full smile. He felt that his days of running around were finally over and he could enjoy peace and happiness.
Then he looked at Zhang Liang and complained: "Zifang, when I was in Xiapi, I also introduced you to Ji'er. Ji'er heard that you were a righteous man who assassinated Qin Shihuang in Junan. He appreciated you very much. Why don't you follow him?"
Go to Pengcheng and come here to attack Tan County with us?"
Zhang Liang smiled: "Of course I can't bear to be separated from Xiang Bo (zi Bo)."
Xiang Juan was stunned, pointed at him and laughed and cursed: "Zifang, Zifang."
In fact, the truth is that Zhang Liang's meeting with Xiang Ji in Xiapi was not very pleasant.
Zhang Liang was also a good talker and well-versed in the ways of the world. After meeting Xiang Ji, he first praised General Xiang's ability as an "enemy of ten thousand people". Xiang Ji was so impressed by the praise that he had a very good impression of this "warrior to assassinate the Qin Dynasty".
After some business exchanges, Zhang Liang changed his tone and said: "But the military situation alone is not enough to punish the Qin Dynasty. It also needs to be mixed with political tactics..."
Zhang Liang's strategy and tactics are still his old plan: "All the soldiers of Donghai County have been destroyed here, and Tancheng is empty. The general should send a force to the north to capture Tancheng, and then wait for an opportunity to enter Langya."
"Langya is also the land of Qi. Although Qin Shihuang moved to the Tian family, there are still some Tian family descendants in the area. They are hiding in the mountains and forests in caves here. I heard that in April, the Qin court had sent envoys to arrest Heifu's gang members, Jiaodong County
Prime Minister Chen Ping, Cao Cao and Cao Shen fled, and their whereabouts are unknown. Officials are arresting people everywhere, and Jiaodong is in chaos."
"If the general can become the king of Qi after he establishes the Tian family in Langya, and then waits for an opportunity to invade Jiaodong, he can mobilize the heroes of Qi to fight against Qin together. Together with the power of Qi and Chu, we can fight for the Central Plains!"
But unexpectedly, Xiang Ji, who was invincible on the battlefield and treated others fairly politely, did not like to listen to suggestions. Faced with Zhang Liang's sincere words, he waved his hand disapprovingly:
"The people of Qi have always been cowardly. All the five kingdoms resisted Qin and perished, and Qi alone was content with it. Therefore, I don't like the people of Qi. Tancheng is preferable because it is the hometown of Chu. But if you want to enter Qi and establish the king of Qi? You should wait for me.
After destroying Jingju and Qin Jia, we will discuss it with Yafu!"
Xiang Ji is a vengeful person. What he worries about most is to attack Pengcheng in the west as soon as possible, unify the Chu Kingdom, and cut off the heads of Qin Jia and Jing Ju to be used as juju...
Therefore, he decided to lead Xiang Sheng and his main force of 5,000 men to attack Pengcheng in the west and Tanxian County in the north, leaving it to Long Qie and Xiang Juan.
Zhang Liang thought for a while and instead of going to Pengcheng with Xiang Ji, he came to Tan County.
"With the bravery of Major General Xiang, it is easy to capture Pengcheng, but I think that the most important thing is to mobilize the heroes of Qi to rebel against Qin as soon as possible!"
Zhang Liang's worry is not without reason. A few years ago, there was a rebellion in Qi. The bloody Qi heroes in Linzi and Jibei were almost killed by Heifu. If they can't set off a storm in Langya and Jiaodong,
To prevent Qin's army from going south in Qi, soon the newly restored Chu State will probably face a two-pronged attack from the Qin army in the Central Plains and Qi!
If Qi Chu cannot open up the situation, regaining Korea will undoubtedly be a foolish dream.
Four days after leaving Xiapi, Long Qie led everyone to the foot of Tan County.
Long Qie commanded the Chu soldiers to prepare to attack the city. Zhang Liang pointed to the mountains and rivers here and said: "Donghai County stretches from Zeng to the north and Dajiang to the south. Xiang Bo, you know that Donghai County is nearly a thousand miles from north to south, why did you choose Tan County in the north?"
County government?"
Xiang Matan shook his head: "I'm not as knowledgeable as Zifang."
Zhang Liang smiled and said: "This place is connected to Huai and Si to the south, Qing and Qi to the north, and Teng and Xue to the west. In addition, this place is connected with Haidai, controls the Ji River, and has tangled mountains and rivers. It is enough to consolidate itself, so it is a must-win."
land."
"Since ancient times, when there is trouble in the southern region, it is necessary to fight against Qi and Lu. Wu defeated the Tanzi Kingdom and invaded Qi and defeated Lu. After the Yue people destroyed Wu, they also destroyed Tan to covet the Central Plains. After the Five Kingdoms conquered Qi, the Chu general Naochi did the same.
Go north from Tan to Ju and take control of King Min of Qi."
When he was in Xiapi, he also explained to Xiang Ji that the so-called "supporting the king of Qi" was not really about helping Qi recover, but following the example of the past when Qi was about to be destroyed, Chu occupied Huaibei in the name of helping Qi.
After waiting for a large area of land, the Chu general Nao Chi even penetrated as far as Ju. He was worshiped as the prime minister by King Min of Qi and controlled the military and political power of the remaining Qi.
At that time, Nao Chi was too impatient and failed to play this strategy well. Now he is repeating his old tricks. At worst, he can build a barrier for the restored Chu State in Langya and Xue County.
Zhang Liang has passed the age of showing off his bravery, and he pays more and more attention to tactics and operations. However, Xiang Ji is not very interested in the strategies he proposes. Instead, he keeps asking about the "feat" of assassinating Qin... This is also what Zhang Liang said.
The reason for being slightly disappointed with Xiang Ji.
Speaking of this, Xiang Juan understood somewhat: "Zifang, you have been walking around Qi for a long time and assassinated Qin Shihuang in Junan. When you and I were hiding in Xiapi, you even took the risk of sending your cronies to communicate with Qilu heroes.
today?"
"exactly!"
Zhang Liangdao: "The heroes Zhu Jia of Xue County have been helping me contact heroes from Liang and Lu. In Tan County, there is also Gongsun Qing, a descendant of Tian Qi. He knows some of the Tian forces hiding in the mountains, forests and swamps of Qi.
As long as we take Tan County, we can re-establish contact and tell everyone the news of the death of the First Emperor and the rebellion of the entire Chu region, so that everyone can respond! "
Things were almost as Zhang Liang expected. The soldiers of Donghai County had been defeated by Xiang Yu in Xiapi. Tan County could not resist for long, so the governor of Donghai County led a group of people to flee north to Langya. Long Qie easily captured Tan County, and
After Zhang Liang entered the city, he also met his old friend Gongsun Qing.
"Notify Qi, Lu Junjie is causing trouble?"
Gongsun Qing was a local tycoon. After Qi Gongzi, he looked at Zhang Liang strangely: "Brother Zifang, you still don't know?"
"What do you know?" Zhang Liang felt something was wrong from Gongsun Qing's tone.
Gongsun Qing said helplessly: "Gong Gao from Mount Tai, Fei Zhen from Yimeng Mountain, Tian Sui from Ju County, Ju Liu from Linzi, these heroes from various places, I originally contacted the heroes from the Zhu family secretly, but in early June they
At that moment, they all raised their troops together."
…
Zhang Liang was very surprised when he heard that the heroes he contacted had already acted in advance.
"Why are you so anxious? In the middle of May, I learned the news in Xiapi that General Xiang had raised troops in Huainan. Then I raised troops with Xiang Bo and captured Xiapi, and then I sent people to Qi to deliver the news."
Gongsun Qing nodded: "No, in late May, you sent someone to send a message to Zifang, asking us to prepare for the arrival of the Chu soldiers, and to launch an attack at the end of June or the beginning of July. But who would have thought, in early June, we would wait for me
When the messengers went around, they discovered that they had raised troops to besiege the local county town!"
"Although they captured several counties, the official army was too powerful and they were defeated one after another. Now they are being besieged by the Qin army in Xue County, Langya County, Jibei County, and Linzi County!"
Xiang Juan on the side took a breath: "Aren't the people of Qi always timid because they are afraid of being killed by the government? This time they didn't wait for us to arrive and started fighting each other. It's really weird."
Zhang Liang thought for a while: "Is there someone spreading the news that the First Emperor is dead in Qilu?"
Gongsun Qing held up his palm and said: "Yes, starting from May, crazy rumors spread throughout Qilu, saying that the First Emperor had died. Most of the people did not believe it."
"But soon something happened in Jiaodong. The county magistrate and soldiers fled, and the government arrested people everywhere. Soon, Gong Gao in Mount Tai, Fei Jin in Yimeng Mountain, and Tian Su in Ju County were suddenly besieged by the government. Maybe someone
They reported to the Qin officials that they were deliberately plotting rebellion, but everyone was helpless. They were killed anyway, and they just got a new batch of armored soldiers and gold, so they took advantage of the situation and raised their troops..."
Zhang Liang frowned: "Jia soldiers, gold?"
Gongsun Qingdao: "Of course, to tell you the truth, I also got a batch of gold cakes sent to me a few days ago. They were given in the name of Zhutian. Yes, it is Tianshi, the son of Tiandan!"
"He said in the letter that all the land of Qi was rebelling and that Qi would be restored. He asked me to raise righteousness in Tancheng on June 15th. There was also a slogan, 'June 15th, kill the officials of Qin'..."
"I felt something was wrong and wanted to tell you, but I encountered Xiapi being besieged by Donghai Commandery. The people I sent were timid and ran back halfway."
"Son of Tian Dan... Tian Shi?" Xiang Juan looked at Zhang Liang: "Is there such a person?"
Zhang Liang sighed: "It is said that they are the few descendants of the Tian family who were left behind when the various fields were restored. I don't know whether they are true or not. Gongsun, please show me the letter."
Gongsun Qing took the letter and the several kilograms of gold cakes he had received. Zhang Liang checked the quality of the gold cakes, looked at them carefully again, and sneered.
"What a great literary talent. After reading these agitations, even I am ready to move!"
He shook his head and said: "You can be sure that it is definitely not Tianshi who instigated the heroes of Qi to take action!"
"As the proverb goes, one year of being bitten by a snake, three years of being afraid of straw ropes. A few years ago, the three Tian brothers suffered the consequences of hasty actions. As the son of Tian Dan, since Tian Shi can avoid the Qin officials' ropes,
You must be a smart person, and you will not want to rely on a group of bandits and thieves to hurriedly raise an army without external support, repeating the mistakes of your fathers."
"So the initiator this time must be someone else!"
Xiang Mao and Gongsun Qing looked at each other: "Who could that be?"
Zhang Liang smiled and said: "That man has a good background, his hands and eyes are very good, and he can secretly provide gold, silk, armor and soldiers. I'm afraid he has a government background."
"He is well-informed and knows the location of heroes in the land. He can also arrange manpower in advance and report their location to the government, so that they are forced to take action and attract the attention of officials from various places."
"And the places where the incident took place are almost all over Qilu, except for one place..."
Zhang Liang looked at Gongsun Qing: "Gongsun, no one in Jiaodong is going to cause trouble?"
Gongsun Qingdao: "I haven't heard of this yet..."
"That's right!"
Zhang Liang held his hand and said: "There is a fellow of mine who is good at strategizing. He has scheming intentions and vicious methods. However, he feels that the power of the officials in the counties and counties in Qi is too strong and it is impossible to fight head-on, so he tries to muddy the water in Qi.
, profit from it..."
He pointed to the north: "If I guess correctly, within ten months, Jiaodong, which seems to be the calmest, will change its flag!"
Xiang Tang was anxious: "Zifang, please tell me clearly, who is the mastermind behind this matter? Is he our enemy or friend?"
"Who else could it be?"
Zhang Liang became solemn, feeling as if he had met his opponent in chess.
"The number one counselor under Marquis Wu Zhong."
