My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 66 Sharing joys and sorrows
To the north of Gaixia City, in front of the camp of the rear army commander led by Xiang Chang.

A large flat open space was covered with a layer of light yellow cowhide carpet, on which were laid soft mats and tables.

The majestic and powerful Overlord knelt in the main seat in a textbook-like standard posture without moving. Below were two rows of tables, and on the left were Xiang Sheng, Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan, Xiang Ta and other generals of the Xiang family. Among them, the former rear general Xiang Ta was transferred by the Overlord to be a senior official. What was surprising was that Xiang Ju, as the head of the Xiang family, actually knelt at the last seat.

On the right were Zhongli Mei, Ji Bu, Huan Chu, Zhou Yin and other generals and officials of other surnames. The last one among them was another unexpected but reasonable general - Hei Shi.

Hei Shi, who was born as a low-level officer, was first spotted by Xiang Chang and promoted to a middle-level officer. He also made great contributions in the ambush of Guan Ying the day before yesterday and was promoted to a general by the Overlord. Later, at the critical moment of the battle with the Han army at Gaixia, he became famous again with a curse. To a certain extent, he can be said to have influenced the overall trend of the dispute between Han and Chu with his own strength. Afterwards, he was immediately promoted to the rear army lieutenant general.

In just three or two days, he was promoted from a low-level officer to the top of the middle-level generals, and was only one step away from becoming a core general of the Great Chu. This speed of promotion is unprecedented in the Great Chu.

Although Heishi had opened the door to a new world of personal ability under the guidance of Master Xiang Changchang, he was just a foul-mouthed person, but not stupid. He knew that his rapid promotion was due to Master Xiang Changchang's strong support behind the scenes. Even at this banquet of the highest-ranking core generals and ministers of the Great Chu, it was not originally something that a General of the Central Army could attend. The reason why he knelt here was also a special arrangement by Master Xiang Changchang.

Hei Shi had a vague idea of ​​Master Xiang Chang's intention. He intended to set himself as a role model to inspire the soldiers of Da Chu to work hard to make meritorious deeds in the battle with the Han camp. Therefore, even though he knew that he was too popular at the moment and was somewhat hated by others, Hei Shi still held his head high, trying to let more generals, officers, soldiers and guards around the camp see and envy him.

On the tables in front of all the generals and ministers, there were several skewers of barbecued meat, a bowl of rice, and a plate of soup. The rice was a mixture of rice and millet, and the soup was a cheap soup made from shaved salted fish. They were ordinary rations for the soldiers, not the Diaohu rice and Lukui soup that were previously reserved for these senior generals. As for the fine wine, there was no trace of it.

The generals were greatly surprised to see such a simple diet.

Overlord Xiang Yu came from a noble family of the Great Chu, and his banquets in the past were all extremely luxurious. Although he was almost destroyed by the Han army and was short of food and fodder, he had robbed the Han army of a lot in the battle the day before, and he had the support of the Zhou Yin army and Ying Bu army who had sufficient food and fodder, so the situation was not so difficult.

Xiang Yu helplessly glanced at Xiang Chang, who was sitting on his right hand side and was closest to him, and then said solemnly:

"Thanks to the blessing of our ancestors and the dedication of you and all the soldiers, our Great Chu has successfully broken through the ambush set by Liu Bang! Thinking of the soldiers who were hungry and starving in the early days, but still risked their lives and fought tirelessly, always makes me sleepless at night. Therefore, to show that I share the joys and sorrows with all the soldiers, from now on, unless Liu Bang is destroyed, I, Xiang Yu, will eat the same food as ordinary soldiers. I only need to eat until I am full, and I will add some meat to maintain my strength, and I will never waste it too much."

Hearing Xiang Yu's words, the generals' faces perked up, and their minds instantly flashed through the past events such as the famous general Wu Qi who shared hardships with his soldiers and fought to the death, and Goujian who slept on firewood and tasted gall to destroy the State of Wu.

You should know that the former Overlord loved to enjoy himself. Whether it was clothes, food, horses, or vehicles, all his expenses were extremely extravagant and gorgeous. After he became Overlord, he was surrounded by people and showed off his pomp and circumstance, which was almost comparable to the ceremonial guards he saw when Qin Shihuang traveled. Even when he was on the march, he brought his concubines with him. He was a stubborn person, and even if his subordinates felt that his expenses were too extravagant, they did not dare to persuade him.

Now that the sun was rising from the west, he began to motivate himself and change greatly. He looked like he was ready to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, which naturally surprised the generals.

Xiang Sheng and Zhongli Mei were the most meticulous. They glanced at Xiang Chang, who was sitting still with a smile on his face, and stood up at the same time with excited expressions, saying that they would be the same as the Overlord and would not destroy Liu Bang and would not indulge in extravagance!
The other generals also responded immediately.

All the generals were born in the army and had fought for many years. They naturally knew how to win the hearts of the soldiers and make them fight for their lives. But as the saying goes, everyone knows the correct principles, but very few can really do it. Xiang Yu started with diet and set an example himself, which is undoubtedly the right way. For these generals, they are happy to follow closely, temporarily control their desires, and obtain the final victory!

They were really frightened by the ambush of the Han army of 600,000 strong. Now, as long as they could defeat the Han army, they would be happy to practice dietary restraint, even if they had to live ascetic lives for years.

"If we don't have wine, we can use soup instead. Come on, everyone, let's drink to victory!" Xiang Yu was very happy to see that all the generals responded enthusiastically and did not complain or feel dissatisfied.

All the generals raised their soup plates and responded loudly.

"Calculating the time, old Liu Bang should have received the Overlord's edict by now, right? I wonder how he will react, will he be furious?" As there was no wine to drink, the generals started chatting while slurping their salted fish soup. Xiang Zhuang said with a smile.

"Hahaha, once General Xiang Chang comes up with this plan, it will surely make old Liu Bang very sick. Just thinking about old Liu Bang's constipated and deflated expression, I feel very happy and can't help but want to laugh." General Zhongli Mei glanced at Xiang Chang and said with a happy expression.

"Master Xiang Chang is a man of far-sightedness and foresight, and his schemes go straight to the heart of the people, which has really helped us vent our anger. In the past, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping in the Han camp were full of conspiracies and tricks, which made our Great Chu very annoyed and suffered heavy losses repeatedly. Even the former father-in-law was mostly good at military strategies, but he was not good at such schemes to gain people's hearts. Now that we have Master Chang, we will no longer have to endure that humiliation in the future." Ji Bu's words resonated strongly among the generals, and they all nodded in agreement.

Former general Xiang Guan said in a strange voice: "I am afraid that in the future, it will be Liu Bang's army's turn to have a headache and be upset."

The generals then burst into laughter again.

Looking at the joyful and excited expressions of the generals, Xiang Yu, who was sitting high in the throne, couldn't help but reveal a smile on his usually upright and solemn face.

He hadn't seen this scene for a long time. Since the middle and late stages of the Battle of Chenggao, smiles on everyone's faces began to decrease, and by the time of the Battle of Gaixia, they had completely disappeared.

Fortunately, it has reappeared now.

At this time, Wu She, who was sent as an envoy to Ying Bu's army, hurried back and brought back good news.

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(End of this chapter)