Qin Shizhi's Confucian junior master

Chapter 452, Intrigue

"This news was obtained by our spies from the Qin Army's camp. The news spread in the Qin Army's camp," the messenger said.

"How many people know this news?" Xiang Yan asked.

"The Qin army did not hide the news. Many of our soldiers knew it." The messenger hesitated.

"This is false news deliberately spread by the Qin army to deliberately disrupt the morale of our army. My son Xiang Qu and Mr. Fan have successfully captured Xiling City. The prince of Qin, Fusu, fled in panic. My son and Mr. Fan are chasing Fusu. Su. Do you remember it?" Xiang Yan looked at the messenger.

Being stared at by Xiang Yan's gloomy eyes, the messenger first trembled in his heart, and then said

"It's Da Sima, my subordinates have remembered it. I will spread the news now."

"Go."

Xiang Yan waved his hand, and the ordering soldiers retreated. The generals around them all retreated after taking one look at Xiang Yan. Only Xiang Yan was left sitting on the commander's seat in the entire conference hall.

Xiang Yan clung to the information in his hands. According to their plan, if Xiang Qu and the others were safe and sound, the information about Xiling City would have been passed to him long ago. But now the information about Xiling City has not been transmitted yet, which made him I had an extremely bad feeling in my heart.

"Qu'er, Mr. Fan hopes that the ancestors of the Xiang family will keep you safe and sound." Xiang Yan said in a low voice.

The worries in his heart flashed away, and Xiang Yan once again became the commander-in-chief of the three armies. As a commander-in-chief, he cannot involve any personal feelings when directing operations. He must remain calm at all times, even better, but what he has to face now It's Li Mu.

"An army of 150,000 people wants to defeat me. Is Li Mu arrogant or is he really sure of this?" Xiang Yan looked at the map and whispered.

Although half of his 200,000 troops are recruits who have been trained for less than a year, the numerical advantage is still there, and he still defends the city and occupies a geographical advantage. Recently, it has been rainy in autumn, and the Qin people of Guanzhong have He was extremely uncomfortable in the rainy weather in the south. It can be said that he had the right time, place and people, but Li Mu still used an army of 150,000 to attack him, which was a bit confusing.

The next day, when Xiang Yan was eating breakfast, the messenger hurriedly came to his meeting hall.

Looking at the hurried lymphatic puncture, Xiang Yan asked

"When did you get so panicked?"

The messenger looked at Xiang Yan and hesitated.

"Da Sima, the Qin army came to the city and made a noise, and moreover"

"And what?" Xiang Yan said, putting down her job.

"The people who clamored were holding the heads of the young master and Mr. Fan. They said they would return them in front of the battle, so that you, Da Sima, would not have to worry about the safety of your children and military advisors." The messenger said in a low voice.

Anger flashed in Xiang Yan's eyes, and she pressed her hands on the table. The veins on the back of her hands popped out, but she still maintained her composure on the surface.

"Take me to have a look." Xiang Yan said coldly.

"promise!"

When Xiang Yan came to the top of the city, Su Jiao, the general of the Qin army below, was shouting with a small group of troops at the foot of Dangyang City.

"Xiang Yan, my Lord Wu An is thinking that you are also one of the famous generals in the world and a worthy opponent. I also know that you love your eldest son Xiang Qu very much and regard him as your successor, and Fan Zeng He is also your military advisor who is both your teacher and your friend, so you asked me to return the heads of these two people." Su Jiao laughed towards the city.

"Hahaha, yes, our Lord Wu An is kind-hearted!"

"Xiang Yan hasn't sent someone to receive the heads yet!"

The Qin soldiers behind Su Jiao also shouted in cooperation, and the two soldiers lifted the box containing the heads of Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng so that Xiang Yan could see clearly.

Meng Wu led part of the Qin army to a hidden place behind Su Jiao. The captain beside Meng Wu looked at Xiang Yan on the top of the city.

"Deputy Commander, do you think Xiang Yan will accept their heads?" the captain asked.

"It doesn't matter whether Xiang Yan accepts the head or not. Wu Anjun's goal is to disrupt their military morale." Meng Wu said, "If I were Xiang Yan, I would not say anything about this head. Yesterday our spies reported News comes, Xiang Yan just announced that Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng have conquered Xiling City and are hunting down His Highness the Crown Prince, how can he possibly admit that these two heads belong to Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng."

"Tiger poison doesn't eat its seeds yet? If Xiang Yan doesn't accept the head, his favorite son will have no bones left." said the school captain.

"Xiang Yan is so cold." Meng Wu said.

At this time, Xiang Yan, who was on the top of the city, looked at the heads below that were lifted up by the Qin soldiers. Although Xiang Yan was deeply saddened, he still suppressed the sadness in his heart and shouted to the people below.

"Qu'er and Mr. Fan are chasing your prince Fusu in Xiling City. Instead of deceiving us here if you have time, you should send people to rescue your prince quickly. If it is later, Fusu's head may be lost." I am in the country of Chu!"

"Hahaha, Xiang Yan, you don't know a good heart. My Lord Wu An asked us to return their heads because of your pity. You are not grateful, but you even cursed His Highness the Crown Prince. You are really cruel. Your entire pseudo-Chu Kingdom, from your Chu King Xiong Qi to you, the Great Sima, are all narrow-minded villains who are unjust and unjust." Su Jiao continued to shout towards the city wall without haste.

Xiang Yan didn't pay attention to Su Jiao's curse, but looked at the human heads held up by the two Qin soldiers. The sadness in his eyes gradually turned into murderous intent.

"Fire the arrow!" Xiang Yan shouted.

The deputy general on the side glanced at Xiang Yan and whispered:

"Da Sima, the heads of Young Master and Mr. Fan are still in their hands!"

Xiang Yan glanced at the deputy general coldly, and the deputy general closed his mouth. How could Xiang Yan not know that the heads below were those of Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng? One belonged to his favorite son, and the other belonged to his good friend. Losing either of them was unacceptable to him, let alone two people. .

But in the face of the Qin Army's previous fierce attack, Xiang Yan's soldiers' fear of the Qin Army was once again awakened. What's more, the soldiers themselves were unwilling to fight this battle because the strength gap between the two sides was too big. The three counties of Nanjun are fighting against the Qin State that owns the entire north. Even if they block the Qin State now and the Qin State fights a war of attrition with them, they will definitely lose.

Therefore, the morale of the Chu army is not strong. In order to boost morale, Xiang Yan said that Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng would capture Xiling City, so that Li Yuan could fight with them against Qin. With the entire Chu State against Qin, this was Let the morale of the Chu soldiers be boosted. If the heads of Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng are taken back now, the morale of the Chu army will fall to the bottom immediately. Let alone fighting, it will be considered good if there is no mutiny in the army. Yes

Xiang Yan knew that Li Mu did not return the heads out of good intentions, just to mess up their military morale, so he could only deny that the heads below were not those of Xiang Qu and Fan Zeng, although this would leave the two of them dead without even a corpse. .

"Fire the arrow!!" Xiang Yan said coldly.

Hearing Xiang Yan's order to release arrows again, the soldiers on the top of the city loosened their bowstrings, and fired dense arrows at Su Jiao, while Su Jiao and others rode back with laughter.

Seeing the two heads held up by Su Jiao waving in his hands, Xiang Yan's heart was bleeding and his eyes were red, but there was nothing he could do. The captain in the rear was extremely surprised when he saw this scene. He did not expect that Xiang Yan actually gave up his son's head.

"You are still young. Ci cannot command troops. Xiang Yan is the commander-in-chief of the three armies. Compared with his son's head, the Chu army and the Chu country are more important in his heart." Meng Wu said.

The captain nodded thoughtfully.

"Take someone back."

"promise!"

After Meng Wu picked up Su Jiao, the two returned to the military camp together and went directly to find Li Mu.

After seeing Meng Wu and Su Jiao come back, Li Mu said directly

"Xiang Yan probably didn't accept the heads, right?"

"No, Xiang Yan sent people to shoot arrows directly. There are a lot of things in the general's stomach that he hasn't had time to say." Su Jiao said with a smile.

"Hahahaha." The other generals also laughed.

Looking at the lively atmosphere in the camp, Li Mu also dropped an even more exciting news.

"Intelligence came from the second army. They arrived in Tangcheng two days earlier than expected. Now that Tangcheng has been captured, they are speeding up the construction of ships to prepare to go down the river to attack Suicheng. We will no longer have to fight with Xiang Yan is exhausted." Li Mu said.

"Great, I have been impatient for a long time. I will be the first to attack the city this time."

"I can finally move my hands and feet."

These generals were overjoyed when they heard the news that they could attack. Since they attacked Chu State, except for the all-out attack on Ganyukou, other cities either surrendered when they saw the wind coming, or they couldn't hold on. Because they had to buy time for the second and third armies to attract Xiang Yan's attention, they could only act timidly and pretend that they wanted to fight Xiang Yan to decide the outcome. This made them have no choice but to put away their fists. , the beating was not pleasant.

Tang City.

Wang Jian was sitting in the Tangcheng County Sheriff's Mansion, wiping the sword in his hand. Tangcheng's resistance was stronger than they thought. Fortunately, they finally captured it. Now they have captured Tangcheng, and the advance troops have already gone. Suicheng, now just wait for the ships to be ready, then they can go directly down the river and capture the Chu Kingdom.

"How is the ship inventory going?" Wang Jian asked.

"The ship is ready, and the army has already boarded the ship. We are just waiting for your order, General." Sima Su said.

"Okay, you take the army by water, and I'll take the rest by land." Wang Jian said.

"promise!"

Xiang Liang, who was stationed in Tangcheng, fled to Suicheng like a bereaved dog. Before they could prepare for the Qin army's attack in Suicheng, they found that the advance troops of the Qin army had surrounded Suicheng. Xiang Liang could only block the Qin army on one side. On the one hand, he continued to send people to convey the news of the fall of Tangcheng to Xiang Yan.

Shouchun, in the palace of the King of Chu.

Li Yuan looked at Chu King Xiong Huai who was slumped on the ground with some confusion in his eyes. As for why Xiong Huai sat paralyzed in front of Li Yuan, everything must be found out from Li Yuan that Xiong Huai and Xiong Qi were connected, intending to launch a rebellion in Shouchun, seize the power of Chu State, and then have a decisive battle with Qin State.

"Did I treat the king badly? The king was just a member of the clan who was ignored by everyone. Now he can become the king of Chu State, all because of my merits. How did the king repay the minister? And the minister's The sworn enemy Xiong Qi colludes to kill the minister and the Chu State!!" Li Yuan looked at Xiong Huai and said.

Xiong Huai also changed his previous fear of Li Yuan and looked at Li Yuan angrily and said

"Traitors and sycophants will be punished by everyone. Although I, Xiong Huai, am an inconspicuous person in the Chu royal family, I still have the blood of the Chu royal family. The Chu country was created by my ancestors of the Chu royal family generation after generation. It belongs to me, the Xiong family, not to you, Li Yuan, from Zhao!"

"I originally thought that you were planning to murder me in order to join forces with Xiong Qi to fight against Qin. I didn't expect that you were planning to kill me to gain power. If the king wants power, he can tell me at any time. Why do we need to meet each other to the hilt?" Li Yuan He said calmly.

"Bah, it was destiny that I failed in my plan. Who would have thought that all my members of the Chu clan would fall to you, making all my years of planning come to nothing. I will kill or chop you at will." Xiong Huai said sternly.

"I am the Lingyi of the Chu State and the king's minister. How can I attack the king?" Li Yuan looked at Xiong Huai and said, "I don't understand. I let the king go from a precarious little person to the king of the Chu State. Isn’t it good to live in the most luxurious house in Chu State, drink rare wine every day, eat delicacies that ordinary people can’t taste in several lifetimes, and be accompanied by peerless beauties?”

"No one wants to be a puppet. I am the king of Chu!" Xiong Huai said.

"Being a puppet? Haha, how long does your Majesty think the Chu Kingdom can survive?" Li Yuan said with a sneer.

Looking at Li Yuan who was sneering, a terrible thought suddenly appeared in Xiong Huai's mind. Suddenly Xiong Huai rushed towards Li Yuan as if going crazy, but Xiong Huai was kicked to the ground by Li Yuan.

"Li Yuan, do you really want to be known as a traitor and be infamy for thousands of years?" Xiong Huai scolded angrily.

"Being infamy for ten thousand years? It's enough for me to have a long-standing reputation. But compared to me, the king has to bear the reputation of a king who has subjugated his country." Li Yuan said with a smile.

"Li Yuan, if you make Fusu the king of Chu, the people of Chu will not recognize it, let alone accept Qin's rule!" Xiong Huai shouted like crazy.

"It doesn't bother the king to think about it. Tomorrow, I will announce in the court that the king voluntarily secedes in Fusu, Mo Ao, and makes him the king of Chu." Li Yuan said.

"I will not agree!" Xiong Huai roared.

"It doesn't matter whether the king agrees or not. The people of Chu State agree, and the ministers of Chu State agree. As for the king, I will save the king's life. After all, the Zen throne requires the king to come forward." Li Yuan said calmly. said.

Li Yuan glanced at the ashen-faced Xiong Huai, flicked his sleeves and left the hall, saying to the guards outside the hall.

"The king is suffering from typhoid fever. From today on, no one is allowed to disturb the king's rest. You must also protect the king and make sure nothing happens to the king!"

"Please rest assured, Mr. Yi, we will definitely take good care of the king." the guard said.

Li Yuan nodded and left Chu Palace.

(End of this chapter)