My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 70 The more I think about it, the better
Zhang Liang pondered for a while, then sighed, "The King of Han is concerned about the hardships of the common people. His kindness will surely reach the heavens." He paused, then said solemnly, "Xiang Ji's vicious plan is intended to alienate the king and his generals. At this critical moment when Xiang Ji is about to be destroyed, it is necessary for all the generals to work together. Once there is a rift between the king and his subjects, the great cause will be over. Therefore, I ask the King of Han to comfort the generals and not let small impatience ruin the great plan."

After hearing Zhang Liang's earnest words, Liu Bang stood up, brushed his sleeves heavily, and said anxiously:
"How could I not know? People like Fan Kuai, Xiao He, Li Shang, Fu Kuan, etc., do not have the qualifications to be crowned kings. They know this very well, but Xiang Ji's enfeoffment still cannot guarantee that they will not have other thoughts. If we want them to continue to have no second thoughts and be loyal to their duties, we need to appease them. But how can they listen and not feel resentment if we only appease them with empty words?

Others like Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Lu Ze, Jin Xu, etc., not only have solid military achievements and conquered large tracts of territory, but also have their own powerful armies under their command. They are truly qualified to be kings. For them, how can they care about other rewards besides being crowned kings? "

"Since Your Majesty does not want to confer titles of king, then confer titles of marquis on them. People like Xiao He and Fan Kuai also know that they are not qualified to be kings. If Your Majesty summons them one by one, personally comforts them, and makes promises, they will surely obey with all their hearts.

As for Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Lu Ze and others, send Chen Ping to persuade them and make them realize the situation. They are also smart people. Faced with the king's clear attitude, they will make the right choice. Then the king will confer important titles on them, give them generous food and fiefs, and appease them, and their greed will be eliminated. "

Liu Bang frowned and said, "This is only a temporary suppression. They all have heavy troops under their command. If we send them out to attack, what will we do if they take their troops and run to the vassal states that Xiang Yu has appointed them?"

"It's simple. As long as they agree to the king's ennoblement and show a submissive attitude, the king will immediately transfer their troops. In this way, the generals and soldiers don't know each other, so there is naturally no basis for independence. If there are generals who disagree, the king can just kill them to show his dissatisfaction. In the camp before us, they can't make any waves."

Liu Bang's eyes lit up, and his old face was beaming with joy. He clapped his hands and said, "I knew Zifang would have a solution! Haha, with Zifang here, what do I have to worry about?" At last, he hesitated again and lowered his voice, "It's just that with so many generals, it takes a lot of consideration to decide what kind of marquis to confer on them. It's not something that can be done in a few days. It may take more than a year to figure it out. We are at a critical juncture of the war with the Chu army, so how can we spare such attention? But if we delay for too long, I'm afraid it will arouse the suspicion and dissatisfaction of these generals, who will think that we are deceiving them, and it will be even more difficult to deal with it. What should we do?"

"That's easy. My king, do you have a general that all the generals know about, one that you hate the most but has made great contributions?"

"Yes, Yong Chi. This bastard is my fellow countryman, a powerful man in Pei County, but he has always looked down on me. I led an army to fight against Qin and left him behind when I was fighting outside. This bastard actually betrayed me and took the children of Pei County to join the Wei State. I went back and fought two or three times but failed. Later, I had to borrow troops from Xiang Liang to attack. But I didn't catch this bastard and he fled to Wei State. Later, when I attacked Zhao State, this bastard surrendered to me again as a general of Zhao State. I wanted to kill him, but Wang Ling persuaded me many times and I let him go. After that, this guy made many contributions in the battle with Chu, which made me even more reluctant to kill him, and I delayed until now. All the generals know about this."

"Then re-ennoble Yong Chi first, and then explain to the generals that after Xiang Yu is defeated, we will give them specific rewards. When the generals see that Yong Chi has been re-ennobled, they will feel relieved about your promise." Zhang Liang said without hesitation.

When Liu Bang heard this, the more he thought about it, the more he thought about it. The problem that had troubled him all night was solved by Zhang Liang. He walked around the tent excitedly and didn't even feel the pain from the arrow wound on his arm. He kept thinking secretly about how to implement it next to solve the matter perfectly and flawlessly.

Zhang Liang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and a deep sense of fatigue surged across his face, and his originally pale complexion turned slightly blue. In order to solve this problem, he had been thinking about it all night despite his illness, but now he really couldn't hold on any longer.

Why did Liu Bang have such a headache, knowing that even if he promised to reward the generals, it would be difficult to gain their trust? It was because his reputation was on the verge of bankruptcy, and it was difficult for his generals to trust him without any doubt. The reason why he fell to this point was that he was instigated by Zhang Liang to tear up the "Honggou Covenant" and led his army to attack Xiang Yu, who had just made an oath to the heaven and earth, and caught Xiang Yu off guard and suffered a great loss. Although he felt so happy at the time, he did not expect that the sequelae were also terrible, and it has continued to this day, and it is like a boomerang hitting his head.

An oath made public to heaven and earth like this could not be more solemn. Liu Bang tore it up without any psychological pressure, which revealed his shameless and disrespectful attitude of an old rogue. Therefore, other forces would find it difficult to believe in his promise, and his own generals in the Han camp would also have a big question mark in their hearts.

After all, the example of Xiang Yu, a fool who was deceived, is a clear precedent, and no one wants to be the second fool like him.

Knowing that his reputation was in jeopardy and that his actions were hard to be trusted, Liu Bang, who was increasingly feeling the severity of the sequelae, might not have been without resentment towards Zhang Liang.

This is also the reason why Zhang Liang insisted on settling the matter for him despite his injuries.

“The one who could come up with such a sinister scheme to enthronize Your Majesty’s generals as kings, and who instigated disunity in Your Majesty’s Han camp with just a few imperial edicts, must have been his son Xiang Chang, not Xiang Ji. Moreover, the siege of Gaixia, which was like a turtle in a jar, was broken because of his lobbying of Zhou Yin and Ying Bu to rebel. In my opinion, this guy’s strategy is not inferior to Fan Zeng. Now that the overall situation is about to be settled and the Great Chu is about to collapse, Your Majesty must pay attention to this man and must not take it lightly, lest the situation recur again.” Zhang Liang warned solemnly while panting rapidly.

"Of course I don't know, but how do I deal with him? Do you have any good ideas?"

"We can imitate the old story of alienating Xiang Ji and Fan Zeng. Human nature is hard to change. When Xiang Ji is facing a life-and-death situation, he may listen to Xiang Chang's plan. As the crisis is over, his stubborn and willful nature will surely reappear, and then there will inevitably be a rift between father and son. Using a targeted alienation strategy will definitely be successful. Let Captain Chen Ping do it."

Liu Bang nodded slowly and sighed happily, "I am so lucky to have Zifang. Zifang, take good care of yourself, I will need him in the future... Uh, Zifang? Zifang!"

As Liu Bang screamed, he saw his Zifang with his eyes closed, breathing weakly, and had fainted on the soft mat.

Please read more. Read the data endlessly.

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(End of this chapter)