Chapter 34 Chapter 3 Comeback

So the Han army established a strong base in Rongyang, and built a tunnel to connect Aocang and Rongyang. Zhang Liang plans to break through the predicament From a big win to a big loss, Liu Bang has a clearer understanding of his ability to fight against Xiang Yu. "In a head-to-head war, I am definitely not his opponent." But Liu Bang didn't think that he was a destined loser. He had always been deeply confident in his abnormality. No matter how difficult it was, good luck would naturally appear. What he cares about is how to turn defeat into victory. Han Xin's temporary camp on the south bank of Suishui has been quite stable, and many scattered legions have also reported to Han Xin one after another, minimizing the damage and impact of the Battle of Pengcheng.

Although the princes rebelled, the main forces of the directly subordinate army and the Guanzhong army were still intact. Liu Bang believed that this was his special luck. So he thought hard in Xiayi for a way to break through the status quo. One day, he secretly summoned ministers and army generals and said: "I am willing to give up the right to rule the east of Hangu Pass to someone who is willing to cooperate with me to fight against Xiang Yu. Who do you think can be our important partner?" This is the basic strategy of Liu Bang's camp to share the world with others in the form of alliance in the struggle between Chu and Han.

Since Xiang Yu has always been jealous of meritorious persons and unwilling to give rewards, Liu Bang's tolerance and policy of sharing the world is the most beneficial weapon in the fight against Xiang Yu. Brain-tanker Zhang Liang proposes three important figures. "There are three people who can effectively assist us against Xiang Yu. The first is Jiujiang Wang Yingbu, who is the chief general of the Chu State other than Xiang Yu. He was very dissatisfied when he got the position of King of Jiujiang, and there was a serious estrangement between him and Xiang Yu. "The second is the guerrilla king Peng Yue. His background is low, so he was always out of tune with Xiang Yu. When he was entrusted, he was deliberately belittled like Tian Rong, so he joined the rebel camp of Qi soon after, and now he controls most of the Liang land.

"Your Majesty can quickly send an envoy to form an alliance with these two people, which is enough to make Xiang Yu's brain troubled. As for the only one in the Majesty's camp, Han Xin can be alone. It is better for him to control an army independently, so as to be a horn of the Han army. "If Your Majesty wants to share the world with others, combining these three people will be enough to defeat Xiang Yu." Judging from Zhang Liang's tone, Han Xin must have not participated in the meeting. Perhaps he was alone against the pressure of the Chu army on the south bank of Suishui River, which caused Xiang Yu to ignore Xiayi in the northeast.

How Han Xin arranges and authorizes is finally an internal matter, which is easier to solve. Although Peng Yue's friendship is not deep, he and Liu Bang are quite congenial. As long as the conditions are high, it is not too difficult. Although Yingbo had disagreements with Xiang Yu, he was still the chief general of the Chu camp after all, and it would take a lot of courage and skill to lobby him. But Zhang Liang's analysis also has his reasons. When Xiang Yu was about to send troops to attack Tianrong in Qi State, he conscripted Yingbo and hoped that Yingbo himself would join him.

From Xiang Yu's point of view, it is a great gift for Ying Bu, who was born as a thief, to be named the King of Jiujiang, but he is still dissatisfied. As far as Yingbo is concerned, he is almost Xiang Yu's chief deputy in every battle, but he only gets one of the kings, and he is the king of Jiujiang, who is not big and has a low position. It's fine if you don't send troops, maybe Xiang Yu thinks Yingbo is really sick. But when Liu Bang invaded Pengcheng, Yingbo stood by and watched, which made Xiang Yu feel very uncomfortable.He sent envoys several times to understand why Yingbo had not sent troops to help, but Yingbo still used illness as an excuse again and again.

Guard Xingyang and redeploy Although the policy is set, it still needs talents and time to implement it, especially the work of attracting Yingbo is quite difficult. It needs a bold, careful, eloquent person, and Li Shiqi is often exaggerated, and he is very straightforward and strong. The British cloth is quite inappropriate. Others have no suitable lobbying talents, and Liu Bang is quite a headache for this. If Liu Bang and his party stay in Xiayi for too long, they will definitely expose their traces, which is very dangerous. Therefore, since most of the troops have joined up, Liu Bang will transfer the main force from Xiayi to Dangdi to the west, gather and disperse the troops from various places, Yu Di is temporarily camped.

According to Zhang Liang's plan, Liu Bang should stick to Xingyang, a rice warehouse. When the news of Pengcheng's defeat came out, Xiao He, who was guarding Guanzhong, divided the Guanzhong defenders into an army to occupy Xingyang, the rice warehouse, in order to cut off the control of the Chu army and other princes' troops on the Central Plains' grain. Then he quickly organized the youth army under the age of 20 and the older old and weak army, and they were responsible for the defense of the Guanzhong area, as well as the connection and supplies between Guanzhong and Xingyang.

Since Xingyang's defensive lineup was strong enough, Liu Bang ordered to move to Xingyang. "As long as Xiao He is still here, I have the capital to fight on!" After a little peace of mind, how to win over Yingbo has become his main work goal that he must go all out in the near future. Yingbo belongs to Xiang Yu, and has a bad temper. If he doesn't do it well, his life may be in danger, so no one is willing to take this risk. Liu Bang felt restless because he couldn't find a suitable candidate, and thought that maybe he could use the aggressive method to see if there were any geniuses who had the courage to make meritorious deeds, so he deliberately let the guards on the left and right release the rumor:

"It's really a group of mediocre people, none of them are good enough to plan the affairs of the world together." Sure enough, a staff officer named Sui He responded. Any official position is a visitor.It belongs to the ceremonial officer of celebrations or international conferences, and this kind of official position is generally held by Confucian scholars. Liu Bang himself doesn't like Confucian scholars, because he really can't stand their red tape, and everything is fake. But Confucian scholars are useful in many ways.For example, in terms of holding ceremonies and international exchanges, they know how to prepare, and they will never be rude or lose face. They are a group of good staff who are quite reassuring.

It's just that these Confucian scholars can't do it when they are dealing with major affairs. They are not only inefficient, but also inflexible, so Liu Bang seldom uses them in important tasks. Sui He took the initiative to meet Liu Bang and said: "Your Majesty thinks that there is no talent, what does it mean?" Liu Bang said: "If anyone can persuade the King of Jiujiang for me to send troops to betray Chu and keep Xiang Yu from leaving Pengcheng, then as long as I have a few more months, I can win the world with complete victory. ". Feel free to say boldly: "I would like to go to Jiujiang as an envoy of the king." At present, no one is willing to do this. Since Sui He is willing to take the risk of being an envoy, Liu Bang is naturally very happy, so he sent a special envoy of 20 people to Jiujiang to lobby Yingbo. In fact, Liu Bang does not have enough confidence in Sui He, but mastering Yingbo is a necessary strategy, so let Su He try. The prototype of the Chu-Han confrontation is completed Although the Han army was defeated during the Battle of Pengcheng, after Liu Bang fled to Xingyang, the army quickly assembled, and with the emergency assistance from Guanzhong, the defense became stronger and stronger. It was not so easy for Xiang Yu to defeat him. Xiang Yuli was often harassed by Pengcheng troops, and the Han army was not to be outdone, and fought between Jing and Suo in the south of Xingyang.At this time, Xiang Yu has gone from absolute advantage to being tied by Liu Bang, and the situation of confrontation between Chu and Han has gradually formed. Xiang Yu often sent highly mobile cavalry troops to attack the defenders of the Han camp. In order to deal with them effectively, Liu Bang also urgently organized cavalry troops. Everyone then publicly elected Li Bi and Luo Jia, the famous cavalry generals in Guanzhong of Qin State, as commanders, but they did not Said to Liu Bang: "The ministers and others are former officials of the Qin State. The lieutenant generals of the terrorist army cannot fully trust us, and it will affect the combat capability of the cavalry regiment. It is better for the generals of the Han army who are good at cavalry to be the commander, and we will be responsible for the actual training and leading the army. " So he worshiped Guan Ying as the doctor's order, led the cavalry corps commander, Li Bi and Luo Jia were the left and right captains, and led the cavalry corps to fight the Chu cavalry army in the plains to the east of Xingyang. After all, the northerners are better at riding and shooting, so although the Chu army was brave, they were still defeated.From then on, it was difficult for the Chu army to invade the west of Xingyang. So the Han army established a strong base in Xingyang, and built a road to connect Aocang and Xingyang, sent troops to defend it, and used the Yellow River to transport all the food in the Aocang area, preparing for a long-term resistance war with the Chu army. Although Chen Ping has the trust of Liu Bang, he has not joined the group for a long time and it is not easy to have a major performance. As Liu Bang's secretary, Chen Ping used his brains and began to accept gifts from the generals of the armies as a price for assisting in communicating with Liu Bang. The loyal and simple Zhou Bo and Guan Ying were very dissatisfied when they heard the rumors among the generals. They jointly suggested to Liu Bang: "Although Chen Ping's appearance is as beautiful as a crown of jade, we can see that there seems to be something wrong with him on the inside. According to legend, he had an affair with his sister-in-law when he was at home. What he did when he first became an official in Wei State was also unacceptable, and he fled to Chu State. Incompetent, and finally had to seek refuge in our Han camp. "I didn't expect that the king would use him so much and give him the important task of guarding the army. But Chen Ping didn't know how to repay him. Instead, he accepted the money from the general according to the situation. Those who gave more money would benefit, and those who gave less money would deliberately make things difficult. A person like Chen Ping is just a rebellious minister who is indecisive and disrupts unity. May the king be clear about it." Liu Bang was naturally very upset when he heard this, and immediately summoned Wei Wuzhi, Chen Ping's introducer, and complained that he should not recommend someone like Chen Ping. Wei Wuzhi argues: "Weichen recommended Chen Ping because of his special talents, not because of his character. In the current troubled times, even the faith and filial piety of You Weisheng (that is, Weisheng Gao) and Xiaoji (the son of Yin Shang Gaozong) are very important to us and Xiang Xiang. The war between the kings did not provide any effective help, and I am afraid that His Majesty will not have the opportunity to use them. At this time, Chu and Han are in a head-to-head confrontation. Therefore, I specially recommend the strategists to Your Majesty. His strategy is of great help to our battle. As for Chen Ping stealing his wife and accepting gold, I really don't know." Liu Bang made sense after hearing it, so he called Chen Ping and blamed him directly: "Sir, he was not satisfied in Wei State, and he was not competent in Chu State. Now he comes to me and behaves suspiciously. Is this appropriate?" Unexpectedly, when Chen Ping heard these allegations of incompetence and corruption, he was not panicked at all. He said calmly: "When I served the king of Wei, I wanted to do my best, but the king of Wei didn't know strategy, so I had to go to King Xiang. Although I made meritorious deeds, King Xiang couldn't trust those who made meritorious deeds. Instead, I was almost killed. The trusted ministers around Xiang Yu are either the elders of the Xiang family or their own trusted brothers. Even if there are resourceful and wise men, it is difficult to get reused. "I heard that the king of Han is good at using talents, so he took the risk to go to the king. The ministers came almost empty-handed and naked. Because I have no money and I have problems with my life, so I accept the donations from the generals. "I do have a plan to fight for world supremacy. I hope it will be helpful to the king. If these plans are not available, the donations of the generals are here. Please seal them up and enter them into the official treasury. Please resign and leave immediately, without any complaints." .” Liu Bang examined Chen Ping's plan and found it quite reasonable, so he generously rewarded Chen Ping and promoted him to lieutenant of the guard army to supervise all the generals of the army. Han Xin re-determines the State of Wei In June, Liu Bang handed over the Xingyang position to Han Xin, and returned to Liyang, the seat of the interim government in Guanzhong, in order to discuss the long-term struggle with Xiao He. At the same time, the eldest son Liu Ying was appointed as the prince, who was in charge of guarding the pass to stabilize the Han army camp, and ordered an amnesty. After defeating Zhang Han's Yong State, three counties of Zhongdi, Beidi and Longxi were established. When there was a great famine in Guanzhong, a piece of rice was worth tens of thousands of silver, and the hungry refugees even scrambled to eat dead bodies.Liu Bang and Xiao Henai negotiated to move the residents of Guanzhong to Hanzhong for reclamation, which solved many food problems. But since then, there have been frequent exchanges between Hanzhong and Guanzhong, which is of great help to the development of Hanzhong. In August, Liu Bang returned to the front line Xingyang. Before leaving, Liu Bang ordered Xiao He to assist the prince in guarding the pass, and began to establish a legal system, establishing ancestral temples, shrines, palaces, and counties; in case of emergency, there is no need to report to Liu Bang at the front line to implement it, as long as it is reported afterwards. Based on the information obtained in the Qin Palace in the early years, Xiao He rectified the Guanzhong household registration, set up channels and contact stations for transferring water, dispatching troops, and supplying food, and mobilized Guanzhong soldiers to supplement the vacancies of the Han army. The supply route between Xingyang and Guan has been completely stabilized so far. Before launching a full-scale confrontation with Xiang Yu, Liu Bang must first solve the Wei and Zhao countries in the Central Plains. After the Battle of Pengcheng, Wei Wangbao fled to Han Xin's position in the south of Suishui in a panic, so he followed Han Xin to Xingyang to report to Xingyang. Soon after, Wei Bao expressed to Liu Bang that he wanted to return to Wei to visit relatives and friends, and Liu Bang had to agree. But after Wei Bao returned to Hedong, he sent troops to deploy at the Yellow River Ferry, cut off contact with the Han army, and openly surrendered to Xiang Yu. Liu Bangnai was determined to attack Wei Bao. However, he still puts the etiquette first and then the soldiers, so the old lobbyist Li Shiqi went to lobby Wei Bao. Wei Bao firmly stated: "The King of Han is rude and arrogant. He doesn't understand international etiquette. He often scolds the princes for no reason and treats his officials like slaves. I don't want to see him again." Liu Bang, who came from a humble background, has always spoken and acted rudely, and it is really unbearable for pleasing princes like Wei Bao. So Liu Bang took Han Xin as the prime minister of the left, and led Guan Ying and Cao Shen's army to attack Wei Guo. In fact, the elders of the Wei State did not support Wei Bao. They believed that Liu Bang knew more about politics than Xiang Yu, and he was very suitable to be the "common king" of the princes. In particular, general Zhou Shu openly expressed his opposition to Xiang Yu, so he was deprived of all military power, because the Zhuang sent general Bai Zhi as the commander-in-chief of the army. Although Li Shiqi did not complete the task, he still had a clear understanding of the dispute between the old and the young in the Wei army with his special quick thinking. When Liu Bang was told that Bai Zhi was serving as General Wei, he couldn't help laughing: "You brat, you are definitely no match for Han Xin!" The commander of the cavalry of the Wei army was Feng Jing, the son of Qin general Feng Wuhui. Compared with Li Bi and Luo Jia, the left and right lieutenants of the Guanying Cavalry, Feng Jing's ability and experience are obviously insufficient. The commander-in-chief of the Wei army was Xiang it, the general of Chu. Liu Bang believed that Xiang Tui was not Cao Shen's opponent, so the Han army had an absolute advantage. Han Xin also specially invited Li Shiqi to a banquet to understand the enemy's situation. "Is Uncle Zhou really deprived of his military power?" "Yes, General Wei has been replaced by Bai Zhi!" "Young man, don't worry about it." Han Xin confidently ordered to march to Wei. Wei Bao personally led the expedition and led the main force to deploy in Puban. Bai Zhi even deployed a large number of troops on the opposite bank of Linjinjin to prevent Han Xin from crossing the river. After Han Xin arrived in Linjinjin, he went to the front line to observe in person. On the one hand, he ordered seven warships to be placed in Linjin, as if he was head-to-head, and on the other hand, he ordered Cao Shen to purchase a large number of wooden poppies. Han Xin personally sat in Jinjin and commanded the ships as suspicious soldiers. Guan Ying and Cao Shen tried their best to tie the wooden poppies into wooden quilts, and spread wooden boards on them. When the troops arrived at Xiayang by night march, they used the wooden poppy boards to cross the river secretly and directly attacked Anyi, the capital of Wei State. Since the main army was all in Puban and the rear was empty, Anyi soon fell. Wei Bao was shocked when he heard the news, and hurried back to the capital for rescue. Han Xin's army also took the opportunity to pass through Linjinjin. The most famous wise general In September, Han Xin escorted Wei Bao back to Xingyang. With the support of the elders, Wei surrendered to the Han army and relocated the three counties of Hedong, Shangdang and Taiyuan. After the defeat of Pengcheng, Zhao Guoqiang's Chen Yu was angry that Liu Bang had deceived him when he learned that Zhang Er was not dead, and also announced that he would leave the Han army's joint camp. However, there was a gap between Chen Yu and Xiang Yu, so they did not join the Chu camp. Instead, they combined Tian Heng, the strongman of Qi State in the east, to form the third force. After Han Xin pacified Weidi, he became very ambitious, and he proposed a comprehensive plan to Liu Bang. He believes that as long as Liu Bang allocates another 30,000 troops, he will be able to bring the Central Plains under control again. He plans to use Anyi, the capital of Wei State, as the starting point of attack, and then attack Zhao State and Yan State in the north, attack Qi State in the east, and attack the State of Yan in the south. Cut off the food supply when the Chu army attacked Xingyang, so as to completely establish the situation of the confrontation between the north and the south between Chu and Han. Liu Bang naturally appreciated Han Xin's ambition, but on the one hand he was also uneasy about Han Xin's ambition, so he specially sent Zhang Er, who is quite influential in the Central Plains, to lead an army to support him. Zhang Er is a native of Wei State. He used to be the chief military strongman of Zhao State. He has a wide and deep network in the Central Plains. In ancient times, Zhao Yuxie was a small country in the north divided by Zhao. Zhao Yuxie was once moved here by Xiang Yu.After Chen Yu won the power of the Zhao State, Zhao Wangxie rewarded Chen Yu with the Dai State, and Chen Yu sent the partial general Xia Shuo to guard the Dai State as the Prime Minister. In late September, Han Xin and Zhang Er's allied forces defeated Xia Shuo's army at Yu Yanyu, and Xia Shuo's army was defeated and surrendered. After crossing Chencang secretly and pacifying Guanzhong, Han Xin has shown that he does have special talents for commanding operations. When Pengcheng was defeated, only Han Xin among the armies of the princes was able to set up camp south of Sui River to resist Xiang Yu's offensive. Confucian scholar Han Xin has become a well-known wise general in the whole country. The battle of Pingwei also demonstrated Han Xin's resourcefulness, and he could defeat a strong enemy with very little cost. He is not only good at combat skills, but also able to manage the war zone. He is the commander in chief of Liu Bang's camp. Xiao He's vision and Zhang Liang's judgment are completely correct. Han Xin is Liu Bang's most powerful assistant in winning the world. But also because of this, Liu Bang was most worried about Han Xin. 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching Chapter 42): "Tao produces one, one produces two, two produces three, three produces all things and all things bear yin and embrace yang. But princes and dukes think that calling old things may benefit them by harming them, or harm them by benefiting them. What people teach, I also teach. Liang Qiang will not die, and I will be my godfather." Tao is the general source of the biochemistry of all things. It is based on Wuji to generate Taiji (from non-existence to existence), Taiji to generate Yin and Yang, and the combination of Yin and Yang to produce a third party. With the third party as a continuation, all things are born. That is to say, all things come from yin and yang, and yin and yang interact with each other to produce harmony.To reconcile and nourish all things. The words "solitary", "widowed" and "not valley" that ordinary people are unwilling to use have instead become the titles of the monarch who is above ten thousand people. That is to say, anything that seems to be damaged on the surface, but can develop greater benefits to gain power on the surface, may not be beneficial in the future. This is a principle that has been used to teach people for a long time, and Lao Tzu only uses it as a principle to teach people. Strong people who are strong and violent often die badly, but weakness is the strength of survival. This is also the fundamental way in Laozi's teachings. The pendulum theory in elections points out that there are two forces in fierce competition, and there will often be a situation where the weak becomes stronger and the strong becomes weaker. After the pacification of Guanzhong, the forces of the Han camp, which had grown like a snowball, were defeated due to their vain power. Liu Bang, who had only a few dozen riders left, fled to the fragile Xiayi position, seemingly lingering, but in fact his wings were already formed, and Xiang Yu could not easily command and control them. After entering a weak position, the strength was able to gather Xiao He's rapid support from Guanzhong, and Liu Bang established a base in Xingyang to reunite the separated Han army. On the face of it, Xiang Yu has gained an absolute advantage, and Liu Bang's remnant forces are in jeopardy, but in fact the confrontation between Chu and Han is over. " Xiang Yu was unable to attack Xingyang, although it was restrained by Tian Heng of Qi, but the integration of Chu after the battle of Pengcheng became increasingly difficult, and Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang was unstable, which fully demonstrated the hidden crisis within the group after Xiang Yu won the complete victory. On the contrary, Liu Bang continued to take the initiative to challenge. Sui He went to Jiujiang with the intention of invading Xiang Yu's core forces. Although the success or failure is unknown, Xiang Yu has already been controlled by others in terms of actions. With the increasingly stable base in Xingyang and the establishment of the tunnel between Ao Cang, Chu and Han have actually been evenly divided.Pengcheng's big victory didn't seem to bring much benefit to Xiang Yu. By the time Han Xin was ordered to manage Wei Diping and conquer the country, Liu Bang's Han army seemed to be more motivated and motivated than Xiang Yu. Wei Bao blatantly surrendered to Xiang Yu, but on the eve of his defeat by Han Xin, Xiang Yu did not move, which showed that after returning to Pengcheng, Xiang Yu's confidence in unifying China and becoming the overlord of the princes had begun to weaken.