My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 67 Three Price Points
Xiang Chang's rear army was stationed in the north of Gaixia City, directly defending against the Han army. The main force of Ying Bu's army, under the command of Zuo Sima Tian Liao, was stationed in the west of Gaixia City.

As for Ying Bu himself, he led 5,000 cavalry and stayed in the rear camp of the Han army which was under attack. He had not come to see Xiang Yu for a long time.

Xiang Chang knew that he did it on purpose and wanted to see what the attitude of the Great Chu was towards his surrender and whether they would truly keep their promise. After discussing with his father, he summoned all the generals and ministers to discuss. Finally, he made a decision and sent Wu She to Ying Bu's camp as an envoy, bringing three conditions to Ying Bu.

At this time, the Overlord was defeated repeatedly by Liu Bang and many other forces, and his previous arrogance was greatly eliminated.

In fact, before the Battle of Gaixia, he began to face reality, and sent Wu She to persuade Han Xin, whom he had always looked down upon, to establish himself as king and watch the struggle between Han and Chu. However, Han Xin did not agree because of Liu Bang's kindness in giving him food and clothes, and Liu Bang's higher and more affordable price.

In addition, he also deeply realized that he only had the capital to suppress other heroes on the battlefield. Whether it was formulating strategies to conquer the world according to the general situation of the world, or uniting various forces for his own use, or selecting talented people and appointing them to the right positions, or managing the territory, stabilizing the people, collecting taxes and supplying food and fodder, these were not his strengths.

Therefore, apart from the battlefield, Xiang Yu began to restrain his stubborn temper and instead convened a group of generals and ministers to discuss matters. For example, the conditions given to him by Ying Bu when he was sent as an envoy were the result of the joint efforts of the generals and ministers.

The generals and ministers were naturally overjoyed at the huge change in Overlord and were happy to see it happen. They were also excited and enthusiastic about being able to participate in a series of major events that concerned the survival, safety and long-term development of the Chu state.

"The King of Jiujiang is very happy and has decided to come to Gaixia City in person tomorrow to thank the Overlord." Wu She recounted the results of the mission and the performance of the King of Jiujiang to Xiang Yu and all the generals and ministers.

Xiang Chang sneered in his heart and nodded slowly.

The three prices offered by the Chu State were aimed at Ying Bu's nature of valuing material benefits over emotions. First, the rich wealth of Liu Bang's rear army was completely his, and the Chu Army no longer asked for it. Secondly, the imperial edict conferred him the title of King of Jiujiang. Although the title of king remained unchanged, the territory also included the territory of his father-in-law, King of Hengshan Wu Rui.

That’s right, King Wu Rui of Hengshan was the Taishan old man of King Ying Bu of Jiujiang. However, his daughter and grandson were all killed after Ying Bu rebelled against Xiang Yu and was defeated by Long Ju, a general sent by Xiang Yu.

Wu Rui, the King of Hengshan, was originally one of the 18 princes appointed by Xiang Yu. Later, he was bewitched by Zhang Liang and turned his head to Liu Bang. Xiang Chang would not tolerate such a traitor. The reason why he appointed Ying Bu in this way was very obvious. On the one hand, he wanted to reward Ying Bu for his contribution, and on the other hand, he wanted Ying Bu to annex Wu Rui's Hengshan Kingdom.

Finally, Xiang Liang's daughter Xiang Zhi, who lived far away in Jiangdong, was betrothed to Ying Bu as his wife. This was to strengthen the relationship between the two sides, to express his apology for killing Ying Bu's wife and children, and to convey Xiang Yu's attitude of treating him as a brother.

He had fame, benefits, territory, and emotional comfort. Faced with such comprehensive and sincere generous conditions offered by Xiang Yu, how could King Ying Bu of Jiujiang not be happy?
As for the promise of dividing the world equally that Xiang Chang had made when lobbying him, it was not mentioned in the imperial edict. But both sides had a tacit understanding: if you want to divide the world equally, you can, but first you have to show your ability and conquer half of the world.

Xiang Chang could foresee that with his father's edict, Ying Bu would have legal support and would definitely choose to attack his father-in-law Wu Rui and swallow him up, and completely assign the territory to his own Jiujiang Kingdom. Being able to annex a country and increase the territory of his kingdom dramatically, facing such huge benefits, coupled with Ying Bu's character of valuing practical benefits over feelings, not to mention that Wu Rui is his father-in-law, even his biological father would probably choose to attack him.

What is commendable is that Wu Rui was not good at military affairs, so it was not difficult for Ying Bu, who could be regarded as a military genius, to annex his kingdom.

The Overlord's decree was equivalent to putting a godsend opportunity to strengthen the strength of his kingdom and expand the territory of his kingdom at his fingertips, and Ying Bu could not refuse it at all.

"Time is long, let's take it slow. The Great Chu of today is not the same as before. Since you have chosen to get on the chariot again, you will not be allowed to retreat. We in the Great Chu do not support idle people. Don't you want to own half of the world? Very good! This is such a good goal! I will help you to achieve it step by step. All you have to do is to show your true ability, to fight, to kill, to compete, and to rob. Don't worry, your future life will never be at ease again, and it will make you feel explosively fulfilled."

Xiang Chang pinched his chin and gently shook the crude soup in the bowl, with a sneer on his lips.

In Xiang Chang's opinion, Ying Bu, who was born as a general of the Great Chu and was granted fiefdom, was too rough and cold in his father's driving. It can be said that he had no skills. Such a prince should be driven like a falcon or a hound, and given a target to hunt, which should not only be of interest to the owner, but also to him. At the same time, after capturing the prey, he should reward it immediately, so that it will be easier to continue to drive it next time, thus forming a virtuous circle.

In addition to rewarding Ying Bu, Xiang Yu also sent another envoy to chase Peng Yue's army and convey the imperial edict. According to the promise made by Wu She, Peng Yue was named King of Liang, all the original land of Wei State belonged to him, and he made an agreement with Wu She to be brothers.

It was when he was writing these two edicts that Xiang Chang suddenly had an idea and came up with a brilliant plan to disgust Liu Bang and alienate him from his subordinate generals.

Xiang Chang had previously carefully studied the eighteen princes enfeoffed by his father after he conquered the Qin Dynasty, as well as the various kings of the opposite sex enfeoffed by Liu Bang after he established the Han Dynasty, and found that the two had both similarities and great differences.

The similarity is that both my father and Liu Bang adopted a repressive attitude towards the old royal families of the six kingdoms.

For example, when the old father was enfeoffing, the royal families of the six kingdoms were still relatively strong. For example, Zhao Xie of Zhao, Wei Bao of Wei, Han Cheng of Han, Tian Du and Tian Shi of Qi each owned a large piece of land in the process of destroying Qin. It is better to say that the old father recognized the established facts rather than enfeoffed. But apart from this, he never took the initiative to enfeoff any of the old royal family.

Not only that, these old royal fathers were suppressed as much as possible. For example, they were either moved away from their hometowns, or their territories were reduced, and their generals were enfeoffed as princes, so as to weaken their power to the greatest extent and divide their territories and power.

The generals under the command of the old royal families of the six kingdoms were granted the title of princes. For example, Shen Yang was a favorite of Zhang Er, and his territory was part of the former Han State; Sima Ang was a general from Zhao and was granted the title of Henei; Tian Du was a general from Qi and his territory was part of the former Qi State; Zang Tu was a general from Yan and his territory was part of the former Yan State; Zhang Er was the prime minister of Zhao and his territory was part of the former Zhao State, and so on.

(End of this chapter)