My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 103 Catching Sheep and Plucking Their Fur
In the following days, Xiang Chang led a thousand cavalrymen to rush forward, bypassing the city and taking country roads. Finally, at dusk one day, when they were still more than a hundred miles away from Zhongli, they caught up with Ying Bu's Jiujiang army.

Han and Chu re-entered the battle at Gaixia, and all discerning people could see that the outcome of this battle had shifted from Gaixia to the old Chu territory. If the Han army could consolidate the old Chu territory, then the 100,000 Chu troops at Gaixia would be nothing but rootless duckweed, looking full of vitality, but in fact just like the morning dew on the grass, which would dry up in an instant.

If the Chu camp can recapture the old Chu land, establish a stable rear area, and continuously supply Gaixia with subsequent food, soldiers, equipment and other military supplies, the situation between Han and Chu will inevitably return to the Honggou Alliance, and there will be hope that the two major camps will divide the world in two.

Precisely because the old Chu land was so important, Xiang Chang left his father at Gaixia to resist the combined Han army camp of Liu Bang and Han Xin, and came to recapture it himself.

If he wanted to fight for the old Chu, it would be far from possible with just his 1,000 cavalry. But he did not dare to withdraw too many troops from Gaixia. After all, his father was under great pressure, so borrowing help became his first choice.

Where to borrow it? Ying Bu, the King of Jiujiang, who led tens of thousands of troops to retreat to Jiujiang, naturally became the first choice.

Ever since he forced Ying Bu to rebel at Gaixia, he caught this huge sheep and started plucking its wool. He unexpectedly discovered that not only did the wool feel good, but it was also fine, white and dense, which gave him an addictive feeling.

Now Ying Bu, the King of Jiujiang, could no longer bear the bullying and wanted to escape halfway. How could he bear this? Xiang Chang did not hesitate to run hundreds of miles to catch up with him. Regardless of whether Ying Bu was willing or not, he would forcefully pin him down and bully him again.

It must be said that meeting Xiang Chang was Ying Bu's destiny.

From afar, the camp where Ying Bu's tens of thousands of troops were stationed was quite neat, with flags and tents placed in an orderly manner, and the fences and chevaux de frise defenses were extremely thorough. The guards and patrolling soldiers were in bright armor, with their weapons flashing, creating a very awe-inspiring scene.

Xiang Chang looked delighted. He asked Zhou Yin to lead the rest of the cavalry to stay and wait not far away. He himself brought only twenty cavalrymen to Ying Bu's camp.

Qu Fu stepped forward and revealed his identity to the vigilant guard, explaining that Xiang Chang, the eldest son of the Great Chu, was here, and asked King Ying Bu of Jiujiang to come out to greet him immediately.

Seeing the guard hurriedly reporting, Qu Fu said anxiously: "Sir, isn't it too risky for us to come to see the King of Jiujiang and go deep into his camp? You pressed his neck and forced him to fall backwards in Gaixia City, and you slapped him in the face with your stirrup before the last battle. Be careful that he still has a grudge in his heart."

Xiang Chang laughed and waved his hand, saying, "I was not afraid of him when I was alone in Gaixia City, and I forced him to surrender. Now he has been defeated by the Han army, and he is undoubtedly a dog that has lost its home. He is panicking, but there is nothing to be afraid of. Don't worry, I am here to show this confused King of Jiujiang a bright road, so that he can gallop towards a well-off life from now on. He will only be grateful to us, and will never be resentful, let alone have any unpredictable intentions."

Hearing Xiang Chang's confident words, Qu Fu forced a smile, but was half-believing and half-doubting.

In the camp, inside the commander's tent.

Ying Bu knelt down at the desk and quickly dealt with military affairs. After not seeing him for a few days, he still looked fierce and domineering, but a little more anxious, and his brows were furrowed, as if he had a lot of uncontrollable things piled up in his heart, making the two lines of black words on his cheeks look quite dark.

"Your Majesty, we left Gaixia without saying goodbye, even though we had to because we were defeated in the battle. But wouldn't this offend the Overlord and cause his dissatisfaction?" Zuo Sima Tian Liao looked at Ying Bu's expression and said with some worry.

Ying Bu shook his head and said coldly: "I have done my best for Xiang Yu by fighting that battle. Besides, I have already defeated him, what else do I want? Even if he is dissatisfied, let him do whatever he wants."

"Will the Overlord send an envoy to catch up with us and scold us?" Tian Liao asked.

"On the contrary, now the Overlord has become extremely realistic under the beating of reality. If we do not have a strong army and strong strength, we will be scolded and scolded by him, and then we can only endure and obey his orders. But as long as we have strong strength and own a place, even if the Overlord is dissatisfied, he will send envoys to appease us. This can be seen from the fact that he has not sent envoys to question us or sent troops to pursue us." Ying Bu smiled, and his words were very confident.

Tian Liao looked at Ying Bu in surprise. He was surprised that his lord had suddenly become so smart and his words and deeds showed wisdom and insight.

After being defeated in the battle with Han Xin in the north of Gaixia City, Ying Bu left without saying goodbye and chose to return to Jiujiang with his remaining troops. This was because he wanted to use the remaining troops to quickly recapture Jiujiang from Liu Bang's camp.

The Jiujiang state was currently ruled by Liu Bang's brother-in-law, Lu Ze. Ying Bu was not afraid of Lu Ze, and he was confident that he could defeat him even with this defeated army.

After years of fighting, warlords like Ying Bu also deeply understood a truth, that is, if you want to be king, you must have strong power in your hands. Therefore, he attached great importance to the army and always kept it firmly in his hands. Even after he surrendered to Liu Bang, Liu Bang's efforts to corrupt his army did not change this. In fact, it was not only him, but also Liu Bang, Han Xin, Peng Yue, and even the generals under Liu Bang.

In the north of Gaixia City, he suffered a great loss at the hands of Han Xin, and his 5,000 cavalry were severely damaged in one fell swoop. Not only was there no chance of defeating Han Xin, but if he continued to fight, he might even lose his remaining troops. So, he saw the opportunity clearly and turned around and left, trying to return to the old Chu land as quickly as possible, seize back his base, and restore his strength.

As for the life-and-death struggle between the Chu and Han camps, no matter who lives or dies, it is not as important as restoring one's own strength.

But what surprised Tian Liao was that Ying Bu's brain should not have reacted so quickly and made decisions so decisively, but now it seemed like he was influenced by someone.

"The Overlord is fine, but I'm afraid that Xiang Chang won't give up. This kid has a lot of tricks, and we have to be on guard against him." Tian Liao hesitated for a moment and reported to Ying Bu.

Ying Bu frowned, and the anxiety on his face became even more intense. It was obvious that the uneasiness in his heart also stemmed from this.

Ying Bu had suffered heavy losses at the hands of Xiang Chang many times, and he was more afraid of Xiang Chang than he was of the Overlord. However, he thought that the distance was far after all, and Shouchun was just around the corner. Once he entered Jiujiang, no matter how many tricks Xiang Chang had, he would be out of reach.

Thinking of this, Ying Bu felt relieved and said coldly: "Haha, would I be afraid of that kid? Let him come over..."

"Report, Your Majesty, the eldest son of the Chu State and the rear general Xiang Chang has arrived at the camp and is now outside the gate. Your Majesty, go and greet him quickly."

Ying Bu stood up suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and the black words on his cheeks became brighter.

Tian Liao was also very surprised: This Young Master Changchang is like a dog-skin glue, he is going to stick to their Jiujiang army and won't let go?

"Okay, okay, you don't want to take the main road, but insist on heading into the path to hell. You've insulted me time and again, and I have no way to repay you, but you actually come to me on your own initiative. That's good. - Let him come in on his own. How can I, the dignified King of Jiujiang, welcome him?" Ying Bu finally made up his mind and shouted, stepping on the documents.

The guard who passed the message was startled and hurriedly stepped away. Not long after, Xiang Chang, with 20 guards, led by the guards, strode proudly into the camp and stepped into the tent.

Ying Bu had seen Xiang Chang's courage before, and he still couldn't help but secretly admire him. He looked him up and down for a few times, with a hint of ferocity on his face. He looked at Xiang Chang and was about to tease and humiliate him, but Xiang Chang had already spoken first, and his words were not to be stopped until they were shocking:

"I'm very busy and don't have time to waste on a long conversation with a dishonest person like you who is fickle-minded. Let me ask you, from now on, will you continue to support Chu according to the agreement, or decide to support Han, or remain neutral?"

"You don't need to say any more nonsense. There are Han envoys following you in the military camp, right? Before you fought with Han Xin in Gaixia City, Chen Ping should have sent envoys to start colluding with you, right? Did he promise you that if you were defeated by the Han army, the Han army would never stop you and would allow you to retreat safely and return to Jiujiang. Liu Bang would also recognize your title of King of Jiujiang, and would also let Lu Ze, who was in charge of Jiujiang, allocate a part of the territory to you?" When Xiang Chang said this, everyone in the military camp was shocked. Tian Liao and Qu Fu both looked at Ying Bu in surprise.

Qu Fu followed Xiang Chang into Ying Bu's camp, feeling quite uneasy: Ying Bu did not even greet him, his attitude was very clear, and he would inevitably be humiliated. Could this villain have the intention to kill him? Hearing Xiang Chang's words, he was completely stunned: it seemed that this villain was not just having second thoughts now, but had been having second thoughts for a long time.

The look of surprise and doubt on Ying Bu's face was even more obvious than theirs, which undoubtedly made the truthfulness of Xiang Chang's words self-evident.

Ying Bu was defeated so unexpectedly quickly in the battle with Han Xin, and his withdrawal was so quick and neat. Especially when he left the battlefield and returned to his fiefdom without even saying hello to Xiang Yu. Xiang Chang was so smart that he immediately sensed that there was something fishy after the war.

His father gave him full authority to deal with the matter. After the war, he carefully interrogated some captured prisoners of Han Xin's army and got a general idea of ​​the true course of the battle between Ying Bu and Han Xin. Now he saw Ying Bu's tens of thousands of troops retreating from Gaixia to this place in a swaggering manner. Not only did they not suffer any attack from the Han army along the way - this was the occupied area of ​​Liu Bang's Han camp, and both the soldiers and horses were well-fed, obviously supported by food and fodder from the counties along the way. Naturally, he had no doubts in his heart.

On the day of the battle in the north of Gaixia City, in order to get out of the battle with Ying Bu as soon as possible, rush to cut off the retreat of the Chu army and destroy the main force of the Chu army, Chen Ping sent envoys to persuade Ying Bu before the battle. Knowing that Ying Bu was full of confidence and would not retreat without a fight, Chen Ping negotiated with him intimately that if he was defeated, the Han army would not chase him, but let him leave the battlefield and return to Jiujiang with his living strength to receive half of the fiefdom.

Sure enough, after Ying Bu's 5,000 cavalry were defeated by Han Xin, he knew that if they continued to fight, the remaining troops would be completely crushed. He became afraid, and the more he thought about Chen Ping's words, the more reasonable they seemed to him. He obediently followed his words, secretly let the remaining troops go, and did not command the remaining troops to fight hard anymore. He led his troops to retreat without saying goodbye.

It has to be said that both Xiang Chang and Chen Ping saw through Ying Bu. He was an extremely egoistic person who put his own interests above everything else. As long as you give him a hard blow on the head, then point out a seemingly sunny path for him, and then put some benefits in front of him, he will naturally follow the path you have arranged.

Xiang Chang could understand Ying Bu's selfishness, but what made him most angry and unacceptable was that if Ying Bu had informed him of Chen Ping's lobbying in advance, he would have inferred that the person fighting against Ying Bu was definitely not Cao Shen, but Han Xin. In that case, they could arrange military strategies in a targeted manner and in turn do a heavy blow to Liu Bang's army.

Because of Ying Bu's selfishness, this godsend opportunity slipped away.

Of course, this was obviously part of Chen Ping's plan.

As a result, Xiang Chang was completely disappointed with Ying Bu. Not only did he no longer trust him, but he was also thinking about how to plot against him, like now.

"You knew I was here, yet you still dared to enter King Jiujiang's camp, Xiang Chang. Should I say you are brave or stupid?" A cold voice mixed with excitement came from outside the tent.

Then a Han envoy walked in.

The man was less than 40 years old, of medium build, with black hair neatly tied on top of his head, a crown and clothes meticulously dressed, a pair of triangular eyes, with slightly upturned corners, revealing a hint of cunning and wit. The corners of his lips were slightly upturned, with a barely perceptible sneer, as if everything was under control.

Qu Fu, who was responsible for protecting Xiang Chang's safety, was terrified. He never thought that what Xiang Chang said was actually true. The appearance of the Han envoy in Ying Bu's camp meant nothing. This Ying Bu's camp had undoubtedly become a dangerous place.

When Xiang Chang saw the Han envoy, he recognized him. He felt an unexpected but reasonable feeling and asked coldly, "It's you?"

Sui He, a close minister to Liu Bang, was responsible for delivering reports. He was a small figure whose name would not have been recorded in history. In the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang was defeated by Xiang Yu and retreated hastily from Liangdi to Yu County. He was mentally broken and angry. He found that he was seriously lacking in useful generals and ministers. He would vent his anger on these close ministers from time to time, cursing: "You are useless, stupid, parasites. You eat and drink my food every day, but you are useless at the critical moment. You deserve to die."

Liu Bang's scolding was so harsh that he might demote them to the baggage camp to do hard labor. Sui He gritted his teeth and said, "My king, what can we do to not be considered useless?"

Liu Bang shouted: "Who can go to Jiujiang for me and persuade Ying Bu to betray Chu? Then my conquest of the world will be a foregone conclusion. You will no longer be useless."

At this point, Sui He had no room to turn back, and said, "Your Majesty, I request to go to Jiujiang as an envoy to persuade Ying Bu to help you solve your problems."

Of course, Sui He at that time was very clear about his own capabilities, and naturally he also knew that Liu Bang was aware of his own capabilities, so he was just saying nice words, thinking that Liu Bang would never let him go on a shameful mission.

But Liu Bang, who was furious at the time, decided to take the initiative and agreed to the mission. He allocated 20 people to Sui He and arranged for him to go on the mission the next day. After Sui He went on the mission, Liu Bang, who had never thought that he would succeed, secretly regarded him as a dead man and completely forgot about him.

But to everyone's surprise, Sui He, as Liu Bang's messenger, was good at observing people's expressions, exploring their backgrounds, and getting along with people. After arriving, he made a series of moves. He first bribed the prime minister, whom Ying Bu trusted, and found out Ying Bu's concerns and true thoughts. Then, he met Ying Bu under the introduction of the prime minister, and after a targeted lobbying, he actually persuaded Ying Bu to rebel.

So this originally unknown little man, under duress, put aside his life and death and strived for progress, and unexpectedly achieved the highlight of his life. With his tiny power, he influenced the direction of the Chu-Han contention at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and thus left his name in the history books.

Through this past experience, we can see that Sui He is a smart man, a smart man who has some talent and dares to take risks at critical moments.

Now, when Ying Bu rebelled and the war between Han and Chu entered a stalemate again and the situation became unclear, Liu Bang naturally thought of this messenger again and sent him out again, trying to let him make persistent efforts and create greater glory and tie Ying Bu back to the chariot of the Han camp.

"Huh, you only brought twenty guards? You're brave!" Sui He gave a thumbs up, praising on the surface but actually mocking.

After days of lobbying by him, Ying Bu had been very tempted to re-submit to the Han Dynasty. But now this kid broke in and exposed Ying Bu's decision to let him win in the battle north of Gaixia City. Naturally, Ying Bu had no way out and was determined to surrender to the Han Dynasty. Sui He didn't expect Xiang Chang to be the one who helped him complete the task. He was so happy that he almost started singing.

As for the twenty guards led by Xiang Chang, they were in Ying Bu's camp. Commander Ying Bu's tent was very large, with more than forty guards in full armor protecting him. No matter how Xiang Chang struggled, he couldn't get rid of them, so Sui He felt relieved.

"Last time you lobbied Ying Bu, you only brought 20 followers with you. How can I be worse than you?"

Hearing Xiang Chang's childish words, Sui He laughed, and in his heart he regarded him as a spoiled and arrogant fool.

Xiang Chang also smiled, lifted the hem of his robe, and took out a small wooden crossbow as long as his forearm. He held it in one hand and quickly turned the wooden wrench on the back with the other hand. As the dull and powerful mechanism was activated and the crisp and powerful crossbow arrows were fired, "click-bang", "click-bang", twenty crossbow arrows shot out like locusts in a breath, turning Sui He's head, who was laughing loudly on the opposite side, into a hedgehog.

"You are just a petty official and a lackey in front of Liu Bang's tent. How dare you mock me, the eldest son and general of the Great Chu?" Xiang Chang turned the crossbow, blew lightly at the exit of the crossbow, then felt that his action was a bit stupid, and put it back on his waist.

Sui He never imagined that Xiang Chang would be so vicious that he dared to kill him while in the military camp of tens of thousands of Ying Bu's men, with a smug smile on his face. His body was as soft as mud, and he was knocked back a few steps by the impact of the crossbow arrows, and fell to the ground helplessly.

"When you killed my Chu envoy, you should have expected the retribution today." Xiang Chang cursed with disdain, then turned his head away without looking at it again, as if it was really a dog corpse, and turned to look at Ying Bu, "What do you think, King Jiujiang?"

(End of this chapter)