Chapter 13 6. Make friends, Li Sheng outsmarts Chen Liu

After Liu Bang captured Fengyi, he became a general under Xiang Liang. Xiang Liang adopted Fan Zeng's suggestion and established Chuhuai King, who named himself Wu Xinjun.Xiang Liang's power continued to expand, and Liu Bang and Xiang Yu joined forces to defeat the Qin army.Liu Bang leaned on the big tree of Xiang's family, and he really made a lot of achievements.However, the situation changed suddenly, and Xiang Liang was killed in Dingtao. King Huai of Chu took Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's troops into his own hands, divided the two troops into two groups, and made an agreement that the first to enter Guanzhong and be the king first.

Afterwards, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu parted ways, conquered cities and lands, made meritorious deeds, and attacked the precarious Great Qin Empire time and time again. In terms of geographical location, Liu Bang has an advantage, which is due to Liu Bang's seemingly kind and tolerant appearance.After Xiang Liang's death, King Huai of Chu wanted to get rid of his puppet status, but Xiang Yu was not easy to control, so he chose Liu Bang.King Huai of Chu dreamed that even if Liu Bang entered Guanzhong first, he would be under his control. This is indeed a wishful thinking. Liu Bang adopted a steady and steady strategy on the road to the west, conquering Chengyang and Gangli one after another, annexing other rebels, and accepting the surrender of the Qin army, the army increased by nearly 20,000.Next came the Battle of Dangbei, because Xiang Yu's army was under the control of Song Yi, and Zhang Han's army was unchecked, so Liu Bang did not dare to act rashly.With Xiang Yu's victory in the Battle of Julu, Liu Bang also successfully captured Dangbei.The Battle of Dangbei cleared the way for Liu Bang's westward expedition and solved Liu Bang's worries about the future.

From February to March in the third year of Qin II (207 BC), Xiang Yu had already occupied the absolute advantage on the northern front. Liu Bang must speed up his pace, otherwise Xiang Yu would be the first to enter Guanzhong.Although Liu Bang was in a hurry, he failed to attack Changyi twice.They had no choice but to go west and stationed in Gaoyang. The old man in charge of guarding the city gate in Gaoyang City is called Li Shiqi. He has a very weird personality. He often squats beside the city gate and makes strange comments. , so I can only be a janitor. After hearing this, everyone mostly laughed it off.

Later, the world was in chaos, and the generals who led troops to patrol through Gaoyang and issued orders were like revolving lanterns, and there were dozens of them.Li Shiqi sat at the gate of the city and watched coldly every day, saying to the people around him: "These people are passing clouds, and it is difficult to become a climate." When Liu Bang's army passed by here, Li Shiqi watched intently, and when the team disappeared, He was still looking up, and the people around him saw it and joked with him: "Did you find something that we can't understand?" He said: "I have been downstairs at the city gate for decades, and I have seen countless people. Many generals have passed by here, and this is the first time I have seen such a noble and honest man as Liu Bang." After speaking, he laughed loudly: "I never thought I would meet someone who knows talent at the age of sixty." Everyone saw this old man It's really crazy, don't pay attention to him anymore.Li Shiqi didn't care, he hurried to see Liu Bang.

At this time, Liu Bang was in a momentary confusion. Although he was stationed in Gaoyang, he hadn't drawn up a complete plan, and he hadn't seriously thought about what to do next.Of course, this was not as enjoyable as going to battle to kill the enemy, so I was lazy and waited for a few high-ranking officers to draw up a plan before making plans. While thinking about his own concerns, he asked the two women to wash his feet, and the posture was indeed indecent.At this time, a subordinate came to report to an old man who claimed to be a "celebrity". Liu Bang almost laughed when he heard this, thinking that this person was really interesting, and he even called himself a "celebrity".

After a while, an old man who didn't look very good came in. When he saw Liu Bang, he didn't kowtow, but just bent slightly and made a long bow, and reported his name.Then he said: "I am here this time, mainly to ask you, do you want to help Qin attack the princes, or do you want to lead the princes to destroy Qin?" Liu Bang led his army to help Qin as if he had heard a dream. The country attacked the princes?Liu Bang couldn't help scolding: "What a pedantic Confucian! You still call yourself a famous scholar. The people of the world suffered from the Qin Dynasty, so the princes rose up one after another. How can you say that I am helping Qin to attack the princes?" Li Shiqi was not in a hurry. Said: "If you are determined to unite with the people and gather rebels to overthrow Tyranny, you should not meet the elders with such an arrogant and rude attitude." Only then did Liu Bang realize that there was something in Li Shiqi's words, but it was not without reason. Reason, let the two women leave immediately, then tidy up their clothes, respectfully invite Li Shiqi to take a seat, and keep apologizing: "I'm negligent, old man, please don't take offense." Then, he looked at Li Shiqi Said: "Unexpectedly, Confucian scholars can have such insights?" Li Shiqi said loudly: "Confucian scholars? I am a high-yang drinker!" Liu Bang was amused when he heard this.

Liu Bang laughed and said, "Sit, sit, let's have a good chat." This Li Shiqi did have some skills, he was well-educated and well versed in history, and he narrated the strategies used in the warring states period like a few treasures, which made Liu Bang fascinated.Li Shiqi said things under the city gate that no one understood for most of his life, and completely sold them to Liu Bang.Unknowingly, several hours later, Li Shiqi was about to say goodbye, but Liu Bang couldn't bear it at all. He ordered someone to bring food, and had dinner with Li Shiqi. After drinking for three rounds, the two almost regarded each other as bosom friends while drinking.

Liu Bang talked about the situation he was facing now, and asked Li Shiqi humbly: "In my opinion, what kind of strategy should we adopt now?" Li Shiqi said: "Your current army is less than 10,000 people in total. To fight against the strong Qin directly is to hit a stone with an egg, and you must have your own stronghold." In the past, Liu Bang would have disdain to listen to Li Shiqi's words, but after several contests with Qin Jun, he really felt that Qin The army is not easy to deal with, so he quickly asked: "What stronghold?" Li Shiqi said: "Chenliu, have you noticed this place? This is an important road in the world, and the transportation is convenient. As far as I know, there are now There is a lot of food in reserve, your next step is Chen Liu." Liu Bang understood what Li Shiqi meant, and waited for him to continue, and Li Shiqi became more and more excited as he spoke: "I have an extraordinary relationship with the county magistrate of Chen Liu, my lord. If you want, I can make a trip and ask him to surrender to you. If he does not surrender, it will not be too late for the lord to send troops to attack the city. At that time, I will respond in the city." What a good thing fell from the sky, fell from the sky A pie hit Liu Bang's head, and Liu Bang was overjoyed.

The next day, Li Shiqi set off for Chenliu, followed by Liu Bang with his troops.Li Shiqi was full of confidence, but Chen Liu's county magistrate was not so easily persuaded. Chen Liu was an important traffic route and military center, and the county magistrate was also an extremely responsible person.Li Shiqi's mouth was dry, and the county magistrate Chenliu also said: "If you come to me to catch up with the past, let's drink tea and play chess; if you are a lobbyist for Liu Bang, you should go back early." Li Shiqi suddenly felt very shameless, so he laughed and said, "Of course it's reminiscing about the past, and we haven't seen each other for a long time..."

Li Shiqi was lying on the bed at night, unable to sleep after thinking about it. The first time he made a shot, he failed so badly. How could he gain a foothold in front of Liu Bang in the future?He weighed it and made a bold decision. In the dead of night, Li Shiqi got up secretly and sneaked into the county magistrate's bedroom.The county magistrate Chenliu might have been drinking too much and fell into a deep sleep. Li Shiqi stood in front of him, but he didn't even wake up.Li Shiqi thought to himself, "Old friend, I'm sorry." Then he killed the "old friend" who was still asleep.

Then, taking advantage of the chaos in the city, Li Shiqi secretly opened the city gate. In this way, Liu Bang's army easily rushed in, quickly controlled Chen Liu, and obtained a large granary on the West Expedition Road.Afterwards, Liu Bang was very generous and granted Li Shiqi the title of Emperor Guangye. Li Shiqi's younger brother Li Shang came to join him after hearing the news, and Liu Bang also generously gave him the title of general, and everyone was happy.From then on, Li Shiqi followed Liu Bang and regarded Liu Bang as his confidant. Later, he sacrificed his life for the achievement of Liu Bang's career. Outwitting Chen Liu was a major victory for the Western Expeditionary Army led by Liu Bang, and it didn't cost Liu Bang any effort.This victory not only expanded the strength of Liu Bang's army, but also provided sufficient material support for his further westward expeditions.Liu Bangneng asked for advice with an open mind, without the slightest arrogance and extravagance, which was not simple; Li Shiqi was able to make a quick decision after the persuasion failed, decisively beheading the county magistrate of Chenliu, cooperating internally and externally, and giving Liu Bang a big granary, which was not ordinary.