Chapter 38 Chapter Two

The envoy of Chu is disseminating Xiang Yu's order, blaming Yingbu for his delay in sending troops to cooperate.Sui He went straight to the venue, sat on the seat above the Chu envoy, and said loudly: "The King of Jiujiang has joined the Han army camp, of course it is impossible to send troops to assist the Chu army again!" Dance with the devil, make sure to die wherever you go When Han Xin won a complete victory at Jingxingkou, Liu Bang was facing increasing pressure from the Chu army in Xingyang. After failing to attack the south of Zhao State, Xiang Yu also realized that he was at a disadvantage, so he was determined to destroy Liu Bang who was guarding Xingyang to completely solve the problem.

In November, Xiang Yu had come to the front line in person, preparing to launch a general attack on Xingyang. Although Liu Bang kept asking Han Xin to support his troops, the combat skills and might of the Han army were far inferior to that of the Chu army. If they fought for a long time, Xingyang would be defeated sooner or later.Therefore, Liu Bang's only hope is that Sui He, who is going to Jiujiang, can successfully persuade Yingbu to restrain Xiang Yu from the rear to reduce the pressure on Xingyang. Although Sui He is far away from Xingyang Zhanchao, his life is more dangerous than the front-line generals, because his lobbying target is the most violent and unreasonable Jiujiang Wang Yingbu in Xiang Yu's camp.

Born of criminals and thieves, the reason why Yingbo can stand out is that he is vicious and ruthless, so he got the nickname of "Tattoo Bu (with criminal marks on his face)." Yingbo is irritable, moody, and kills without blinking an eye, so he often serves as a forward task that requires a lot of slaughter; in addition, Yingbo is also responsible for the execution of operations such as burying 200,000 Qin soldiers and killing Yidi. The only thing that is beneficial to Suihe is that he and Yingbo are from six places. For Yingbo, who was born in the lower class, the feelings in the countryside are very important.

Of course, what is more important is the obvious rift and suspicion between Yingbo and Xiang Yu. Yingbo's bravery and ambition won Xiang Yu's attention, but Xiang Yu, who was born in a great aristocrat of Chu State, looked down on Yingbo subconsciously, so Yingbo could not have the same courtesy as his credit. For Xiang Yu, Yingbo is a very useful "tool, not a "partner". This attitude has seriously hurt Yingbo's heart, and the long-term accumulated resentment has made Yingbo quite dissatisfied with Xiang Yu and his noble companions." Refusing to send troops to recruit Qi, and standing idly by during the battle with Pengcheng was Yingbo's anger and revenge against Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu was unwilling to fall out with Yingbo, especially when Liu Bang, a great enemy, was in front of him. Therefore, although he sent envoys to warn and reprimand him, he was not severely held accountable. Use ambivalence to move Yingbu at any time In mid-November, Suihe arrived in Liudi, which is the hometown of Yingbu and the capital of Jiujiang Kingdom. But Yingbo didn't meet Suihe, and only sent Dazai to entertain him. Obviously, Yingbo's heart is full of contradictions at this time, because if he is loyal to the state of Chu, he should immediately kill or deport Sui He. You can still talk.

Although he returned to his hometown, Suihe didn't dare to be careless because he had a major task to do. He and 20 Han camp envoys waited in the hotel for 3 days.Yingbo still did not see any movement.Su He had no choice but to say to Dazai Yu: "Your Majesty refuses to meet Sui He. He must think that Chu is strong and Han is weak. It may be unfavorable for Jiujiang to betray Chu and befriend the King of Han. In fact, everything is just the opposite. Su He risked his life to come here just to provide the king with correct information. "If Sui He was right when he visited the King, wouldn't that be what His Majesty would like most? If what I said was unreasonable, Your Majesty can immediately execute Sui He and the 20 envoys in Jiujiang City to show the King of Chu that he is happy." Abandon the king of Han and be loyal to the determination of Chu."

Dazai also reported this to Yingbo. In fact, Yingbo also wants to hear what Sui He said. Since he and Xiang Yu would fall out sooner or later, Yingbo already had a strong feeling that these Chu nobles were not from our ethnic group, and he guessed that Liu Bang, who was not of high background, might be more beneficial to him. Yingbo remembered that when he defected to Xiang Liang, he was a colleague of Liu Bang, and Liu Bang's style of big and simple made it hard to see that he was promising.On the contrary, Uncle Xiang Liang's nephew was very powerful at the time, and he was indeed the leader of the large army, and he was also a master that Yingbo believed was worth following.

Although fierce and ruthless, Yingbo did not have the ambition to compete for the world. He knew very well that he was nothing more than a material for being king based on the territory. But no one expected that Liu Bang would enter Guanzhong first and become a leader with international prestige. The reason why Yingbo did not help the Chu army during the offensive and defensive battle of Pengcheng was more or less because he had a "favorite" for Liu Bang. So he decided to meet Sui He. Yingbo sat silently on the throne, staring straight at the envoy Sui He who was standing below. Since he was a fellow countryman and a prestigious Confucian scholar, Ying Bo instinctively did not want to put too much pressure and embarrassment on Sui He.

Su He then boldly asked Yingbo: "What is the envoy of the King of Han, I would like to present the gift from the King of Han to the King and come to see the King. The King of Han privately does not understand why the King is so loyal to the King of Chu?" "The widow is a subject kingdom under the king of Chu!" "Your Majesty and King Xiang are both vassal states in name. The reason why you are willing to be a vassal state is that you can rely on the strength of Chu State. All the troops are in the vanguard of the king of Chu, this is the way of a subject! But the king only sent 4,000 troops to assist, how can a country of subjects be so negligent?"

Yingbo was still staring at He He calmly. Whenever he saw that Yingbo had the intention of accepting it, he said boldly: "When the King of Han invaded Pengcheng, King Xiang was still in the territory of Qi. His Majesty should immediately lead the army of Jiujiang across the Huai River to fight a decisive battle with the Han army to break the siege of Pengcheng. , Sitting on the wall and watching without doing anything, is this also the behavior that a vassal country should do? ” Su He criticized straight-forwardly, but Ying Bo seemed to be still not angry, which made Su He more sure of persuading him.

"The king wants to entrust the country to King Xiang with his vain vassal status, and the minister is quite worried about the king." Yingbo: "According to your position, can it help me?" Sui He: "The main reason why your majesty refuses to betray Chu is that you think Chu is a strong country, and the weak King of Han may not be able to fight against the King of Chu! "Actually, your lord is wrong. Although the Chu army is strong in combat, it is charged with unjust charges. Because King Xiang betrayed the covenant at that time and killed Emperor Yi, the leader of the world, he could not convince the princes of the world. of. "Although the King of Han was defeated in Pengcheng, he still reorganized the army that the princes attached to, and held on to the two military fortresses of Chenggao and Xingyang. There were not only a steady stream of food supplies from the Shu Han, but also fortifications with deep ditches and high fortifications. Its position does not allow the enemy to take a step beyond the thunder pool. "On the other hand, the state of Chu was eight or nine hundred miles deep into the enemy's territory, during which the old general Peng Yue often attacked its supplies, so it was difficult to supply food, and it was all controlled by the old, weak and remnant soldiers, which fully showed that King Xiang was already far behind in terms of manpower. "If the Han army stands firm, the Chu army will not be able to attack if it advances, and it will not be able to retreat if it retreats. Its strength will not last long. "Besides, if the Chu State has too much advantage, the princes will be deeply disturbed and will unanimously rescue the Han army. Therefore, the stronger the Chu State is, the more the princes of the world will send troops to resist him. "Thus, in the long run, the state of Chu will definitely not be as good as the Han, and will definitely be defeated by the Han army. This trend is quite obvious! "Now the king does not deal with the perfect Han country, but entrusts himself to the increasingly critical Chu country, this is the most incomprehensible thing for me! "Of course, I don't think that Jiujiang can destroy Chu, but that if the king sends troops to attack Chu, Xiang Yu will immediately return to Pengcheng to defend himself. In this way, in a few months, Hanwang can completely take over the world. "If Your Majesty can raise his sword and raise his troops to assist the King of Han, the King of Han will definitely confer titles on His Majesty, not to mention that the land of Jiujiang is originally owned by His Majesty!" The straightforward Yingbo was very moved by Sui He's blunt words, and said on the spot: Take strong actions to force against the King of Jiujiang However, Sui He knew that although Ying Bu's heart was moving, he was still undecided, so he decided to take more drastic measures to achieve his goal. At this time, Xiang Yu sent envoys to Jiujiang to urge Yingbo to send troops to Xingyang to cooperate with the military operation to attack Liu Bang with all his strength. Yingbu had no choice but to hold a meeting with the envoy to discuss sending troops. When Su He heard the news, he immediately led a 20-member envoy to the meeting place. The envoy of Chu is disseminating Xiang Yu's order, blaming Yingbu for his delay in sending troops to cooperate. Sui He Zhijin Huichao sat on top of the Chu envoy and said loudly: "The King of Jiujiang has joined the Han army camp, of course it is impossible to send troops to assist the Chu army again!" Yingbo was stunned on the spot, not knowing how to respond. Xiang Yu's envoy was furious and immediately got up and left the venue. He immediately told Yingbo: "The matter has been decided, please kill the envoy of the Chu army immediately, don't let him go back and leak the military plan, and ask the King of Han to help you fight against the Chu army." Things can no longer be delayed and redeemed, even if Sui He is killed, it will be difficult to dispel Xiang Yu's suspicion, so Yingbo has no choice but to follow the plan. So he ordered the killing of the Chu State envoys, formally raised troops to join the Han army camp, and prepared to fight against the Chu army. After completing the task, Su He immediately set off to return to Xingyang to report on his work. The Chu army defeated the Jiujiang army, and Yingbu defected to Liu Bang After Xiang Yu learned that King Yingbu of Jiujiang had rebelled, he was very angry, but because he was about to attack Xingyang, he could not separate himself, so he sent Xiang Sheng, the elder of the Chu Army, and Long Qi, the chief general of the Chu Army's descendant army, to lead the army to attack Jiujiang. Long Qi's bravery was no less than that of Ying Bu, and he had rich experience in commanding the army. He had always been the general Xiang Yu relied on most, and he was also one of the few generals in the Chu army who could stand on his own. Longqie's task force has 50,000 troops, which has an overwhelming advantage in numbers compared with the more than 10,000 British cloth troops in the six places. Yingbo also quickly gathered troops to various places, but Jiujiang had always been under the jurisdiction of the Chu State, and the elders and generals from all over the place deeply disapproved of Yingbo's rebellion against Chu, so most of them failed to respond immediately, and some even openly fell to Longqie's army. Since there were only more than 10,000 directly subordinate troops in his hands, Yingbu knew that he could not stick to the six places, so he immediately sent envoys to Xingyang, preparing to lead his army to defect to Liu Bang. At Sui He's suggestion, Liu Bang immediately sent troops to welcome Yingbu to Xingyang. Although Yingbo personally led the army to fight against Longqi, but the enemy was outnumbered. A few months later, the Chu army had already approached the city of Liudi. They were not able to withdraw in time. Sui He also abided by the agreement and personally took the risk to rescue Yingbo. Under the search and pursuit of the Chu army, they retreated to the Han army camp by the small road. In mid-December, Yingbo arrived in Hanying, and Liu Bang was washing his feet at this time. As soon as he heard that Yingbo had arrived, he immediately summoned him without thinking. But Yingbo, who came from a humble background, was most sensitive to whether others respected him or not after he became famous. He couldn't imagine that Liu Bang would meet an important prince like him in such an informal occasion, and he was still washing his "stinky feet." "Scholars can be killed but not humiliated", Yingbo was extremely dissatisfied with Liu Bang's rash and friendly style, and thought that he was at the end of his life and the tiger had fallen into Pingyang, so he couldn't help but shed "hero tears", so he decided to commit suicide to show that he would "not be bullied". ambition. Sui He always knew Liu Bang's style of work well, so he was not panicked at all. So he took Yingbo to say goodbye to Liu Bang, and lived in a hotel specially prepared for Yingbo. When he arrived at the hotel, he was surprised again because of all the imperial tents.The food and servants are all exactly the same as what Liu Bang himself enjoys.Obviously Liu Bang treats himself completely equal, and does not treat each other with the etiquette of his subordinates. The rash reception just now shows that Liu Bang regards himself as a brother, so he completely exempts himself from the etiquette of the world. Imbos and this place were once again moved to the point where "heroes shed tears." How did you know that Yingbo was already convinced, so he persuaded him to send envoys into Jiujiang to recruit anti-Xiang Yu troops to help with the great event. At this time, Xiang Yu had sent the gentle Xiang Bo to replace Long Qie to deal with the appeasement of Jiujiang State. Xiang Bo narrowed down the scope of the attack as much as possible, and pardoned everyone except Yingbo's wife and family members. Therefore, Jiujiang quickly settled down again. However, after the Yingbu envoy arrived, he still gathered friends who had a close relationship with him.Fortunately, there were thousands of ministers, and Liu Bang even allocated tens of thousands of troops, led by Yingbu, to garrison Chenggao. A Positive Debate on the Policy of Restoring Feudalism Yingbo's surrender made Liu Bang officially the nominal leader of the princes. However, the Chu army still has a clear advantage in terms of strength. The jurisdiction area of ​​the Liu Bang Alliance is relatively large, and the troops are scattered, which makes Liu Bang, who personally leads the struggle on the front line, very headache. Before preparing for the general attack, the Chu army planned to disrupt the supply system of the Han army, just like the strategy before the Battle of Julu. Therefore, Xiang Yu constantly sent guerrillas to attack the corridors for the Han army's transportation, causing the Han army stationed in various places to often fear that they would run out of food. Liu Bangzheng was deeply troubled by the inability to effectively gather forces. At this time, Li Shiqi suggested that Liu Bang restore the feudal system and formalize the relationship between Liu Bang and the princes. Li Shiqi said: "In the past, Shang Tang attacked Xia Yu, and sealed Xia's descendants to Qi; Zhou Wu Wang defeated Yin Zhou, and named his descendants to Song. However, the Qin State did not understand this truth. , so that the descendants of the princes and subjects have no place to stand. "If Your Majesty can establish another six kingdoms, the monarchs, ministers, and people will all be grateful for His Majesty's virtues, and will definitely belong to His Majesty voluntarily. Once the virtues and righteousness are done, Your Majesty will be able to dominate the south and become the princes and kings, even if the Chu Kingdom does not What about surrender?" Liu Bang also felt that it made sense, so he ordered Li Shiqi to take the seal of the king of Han to delay the execution of the six kingdoms, and gather the old forces of the princes to jointly resist the pressure of Chu. When Li Shiqi went to prepare, it happened that Zhang Liang came back from his trip. Liu Bang was happiest when he heard that Zhang Liang came back when he was in trouble, so even when he was eating, Liu Bang couldn't wait to summon Zhang Liang immediately. "Zifang, just now, Ke Qing proposed a strategy against the power of Chu State, come and evaluate its feasibility for me!" Then he told Zhang Liang about Li Shiqi's suggestion in detail. Unexpectedly, Zhang Liang said with a smile: "Who came up with this idea for Your Majesty? If you follow this plan, Your Majesty's fate will be gone!" Liu Bang was dumbfounded and asked: "why?" Zhang Liang said: "Please borrow the chopsticks in front of the table. Let me explain to the king. In the past, Shang Tang, Zhou Wu divided Feng, and the descendants of Zhou, because they estimated that they had enough power to control the fate of these descendants. Now the king himself estimates. Can it compete with Xiang Yu in this respect? "When King Wu of Zhou entered Yinjing, he cleared the grievances of Shang Rong, released Jizi from the prison, and offered sacrifices to Bigan, who was loyal to the country and went to remonstrate with King Zhou, who was killed. Do your majesty have any powerful political appeals? Two also. "After King Wu entered Yinjing, he immediately distributed the grain stored in Juqiao's barn, and gave money and treasures from Lutai to the poor. Due to the tyranny of King Zhou of Yin, King Wu of Zhou was able to give a lot of favor to the people. Does Your Majesty have such an opportunity now? This cannot be three. "After the crusade against King Yin Zhou, the reason why King Wu of Zhou divided up the feudal lords was because the world was already at peace, so he could withdraw the war to show that the world would no longer use troops. Can your majesty do this? This is unavoidable. "When King Wu of Zhou divided up the feudal lords, he set up Ma Chao in the east of Mount Hua to indicate that the world was all right. From now on, he can rule by doing nothing. Can His Majesty do it? This is impossible. "King Wu of Zhou also herded cattle to the west of Taocun to show that he would no longer need to transport food and conscript people into labor. Can His Majesty do this? This is impossible. "Today, the nobles leave their relatives, abandon their ancestral property, liberate their clansmen, and follow His Majesty to fight for the world. They just want to make meritorious deeds in order to obtain fiefdoms that are close at hand! If you go to your hometown, your majesty's talents will be scattered. Who else is willing to fight for the world with your majesty? This is unavoidable. "Furthermore, Chu State is still a powerful country in terms of military affairs. Who can guarantee that the newly established six countries will not turn around and follow its lead? Who will His Majesty get to surrender at that time? This is impossible. "There are eight disadvantages. If Your Majesty uses Ke Qing's suggestion, I will think about your Majesty's great affairs." Now Liu Bang was stunned and couldn't eat anymore, so he said angrily: "It's this Confucianist again, who came up with bad ideas and almost defeated me!" Divorce plan shakes Xiang Yu's team However, the pressure from the Chu army was still getting stronger, and Zhang Liang could not come up with any effective solutions. Faced with Liu Bang's troubles, Zhang Liang often only said calmly: "Be patient a little longer!" "What will happen will happen, what will not happen will not happen, hold on, let's figure it out!" But the situation in Xingyang.Liu Bang was getting more and more worried. He thought: "Something has to be done!" Neither Li Shiqi nor Zhang Liang could offer positive suggestions, so Liu Bang had to consult with Chen Ping. Liu Bang asked Chen Ping: "The world is full of chaos, when will it settle down?" Chen Ping naturally understood that Liu Bang was asking how to win the fight against Xiang Yu. Since he had stayed in Xiang Yu's camp for a while, Chen Ping had a fairly deep understanding of the situation in Xiang Yu's camp. Chen Ping then revealed the strategy he had been thinking about day and night: "There are not many ministers who King Xiang can really rely on as his team, but Yafu (Fan Zeng), Zhong Limei, Long Qi, Zhou Yin and others. "If Your Majesty can donate tens of thousands of jin of gold to drive a wedge between their monarch and his subjects and increase their suspicion, then King Xiang's power will be completely destroyed. "King Xiang has always been a soft-hearted man with a weak heart, and he is easy to listen to slander. If this happens, he will kill each other. We can take advantage of the chaos and attack him, and the state of Chu will be destroyed!" Liu Bang quite agreed with Chen Ping's strategy, so he gave Chen Ping 40,000 jin of gold on the spot, allowing him to use the plan without reporting to Liu Bang. A person like Chen Ping who is handsome enough, thoughtful enough, and tricky enough is indeed the best leader of an intelligence organization. A spy must act in complete secrecy. Therefore, only by believing in Chen Ping like Liu Bang can the intelligence organization fully perform its functions. The key to the reversal of the struggle between Chu and Han.on this strategy. 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Lao Tzu's "Tao De Jing Chapter 43": "The world is the softest, and the world is the most firm. Nothing enters and never ends. I know that doing nothing is beneficial and teaching without words. The benefits of doing nothing are the best in the world." Softness can overcome rigidity, and the principle of softness in the world can control the hardest things in the world.The body of Tao is extremely soft, so soft that there is nothing, and this nothing can penetrate everything, so "Tao" is omnipresent and omnipresent.Therefore, Lao Tzu confidently stated that I am omnipotent because of my knowledge of doing nothing, which is the most beneficial to the world.This is the so-called teaching without words and the benefits of doing nothing, and very few people in the world really understand this truth. The so-called letting nature take its course in Laozi's theory is by no means laissez-faire or daring. Qualitative change and metamorphosis in growth, mutual generation and mutual restraint in the food chain, all must be carefully aware of the relationship between natural changes and personnel changes. When Suihe persuaded Yingbo, he observed the contradictory relationship between Yingbo and Xiang Yu, as well as the possible changes in his mentality, and finally used "a fatal blow to force Yingbo to make a rebellious choice." Liu Bang's employment habits may not have any gorgeous skills, let alone hypocritical red tape, and even a bit rough and slovenly. Meeting Yingbo when washing his feet and interviewing Zhang Liang when eating, although it will make people feel "rude" hurt, but But Liu Bang deeply understands people's hearts, so he gives everyone real benefits and treats no differently from himself. Because of his big and transformed personality, everything seems natural and unpretentious, and it makes bloody men like Yingbo and Han Xin completely different. move. Although Liu Bang's ability to lead and command combat is not as good as Xiang Yu's, his style of deeply understanding nature and human nature made Yingbo and Han Xin more sincere. Zhang Liang's analysis of the enfeoffment of the feudal lords not only penetrated into the principles of human interaction and self-condition changes at all levels, but also solved the blind spots of Liu Bang and Li Shiqi's excessive emphasis on secular principles. Chen Ping's alienation strategy, his firm grasp of Xiang Yu's weakness, and Liu Bang's arrogance of completely believing in spy work with his eyes closed, all just cut into the inhumane characteristics of human nature. These little places in the world, the smallest, the smallest, the most humble, and the cheapest, are the key to the turning point of winning or losing.The most soft in the world, and the most firm in the world, what do you mean?