Strategize
Soon after, Xiang Liang was defeated and killed in a battle, and his nephew Xiang Yu naturally succeeded him as the new commander. Unlike his uncle, Xiang Yu felt that the King of Han and his soldiers and horses to fight guerrilla warfare with the Qin army was not to contain the Qin army, but to swim without attacking, taking the opportunity to preserve his own strength, so that in the future, when the Qin army and the tianxia rebel army fought and were both defeated and injured, they would fish and gain profits and pick up ready-made ones.
Thinking of this, Xiang Yu not only resented King Han even more, so he summoned him to Pengcheng, killed him without listening to his explanation, and also took part of the Korean army for himself. Zhang Liang heard that King Han had been killed by Xiang Yu, and that he would not be able to escape death sooner or later when he stayed in Korea, remembering what Liu Bang had said to himself when he first bid farewell to Liu Bang, he took the remaining soldiers and horses overnight, found a path that no one took, and fled to him without stopping.
Liu Bang, the King of Han, was very happy when he saw that Zhang Liang had returned. Because he had also heard about the killing of King Han before, he was worried that Zhang Liang would also be implicated, and he couldn't help but worry about his safety. At this moment, seeing that Zhang Liang was not injured, standing here as before, his heart naturally turned from worry to joy.
After that, Liu Bang, the King of Han, together with Zhang Liang, scolded Xiang Yu for his despicable behavior, and the two agreed that this matter could not be left as such, and that it was necessary to avenge the King of Han and make Xiang Yu pay the due price for what he had done. Therefore, Liu Bang, the king of Han, made Zhang Liang the Marquis of Chengxin and asked him to go out with the army to find Xiang Yu to settle the account. The army was in a state of flux along the way, and it took less than three days to attack Xiang Yu's old nest Pengcheng. But Xiang Yu seemed to have expected that Zhang Liang would run to the Han King's side to move the rescue troops, and made preparations in advance, turning the entire pengcheng armed force into a solid bunker, impregnable.
Although the Han army attacked fiercely several times, it failed to capture Pengcheng. On the contrary, in the continuous attack, his side also lost a lot of soldiers and horses. Zhang Liang saw that a hard attack was not the way to go, so he had to order the troops to temporarily retreat to avoid their attack.
Liu Bang, the King of Han, naturally understood Zhang Liang's intentions, and seeing that Peng Cheng could not be attacked for a long time, he found Zhang Liang and asked: "Among the rebels today, the strongest is undoubtedly Xiang Yu, and if we want to completely defeat him, it is far from enough to rely on this little strength in our hands." We must unite with other rebel armies to strengthen ourselves, and only then will it be possible to defeat Xiang Yu. ”
Then, the King of Han said, "In the past few days, I have thought about it, the so-called unfavorable is not early, in order to let everyone willingly follow me to deal with Xiang Yu, I plan to give some places east of Hangu Pass to all the Haojie, and then attack Pengcheng again." In your opinion, who is the most suitable for the land seal? ”
Zhang Liang thought for a moment and said, "If this is the case, Jiujiang Wang Tuobu, Peng Yue, and Qi Wang Tian Rong are all objects that can be used." First of all, the King of Jiujiang, Tuobu, was a fierce general of the Chu State before, and he had a very good set of leading troops to fight, and he was also a great warrior in those years. The most important thing is that he and Xiang Yu are incompatible, Xiang Yu is to the east, he is to the west, and Xiang Yu is opposite. We clashed with Xiang Yu, and he would undoubtedly side with us without hesitation, so Tuobu was a very suitable candidate. ”
Zhang Liang paused, then said, "Looking at Peng Yue and Qi Wang Tian Rong's side, the two of them have been huddled together recently, and have been busy recruiting troops and buying horses in Liangdi, and they have sent troops to attack Xiang Yu several times. Xiang Yu had also killed their people before, so like us, Peng Yue and Tian Rong also had a feud with Xiang Yu, and these two people were also objects that could be fought for. ”
"To be honest, among your generals now, han Xin is the only one who can stand alone, and in order to make him more determined to fight for you in the future, he should naturally get some benefits." Therefore, since you want to exchange land for people's hearts, it is most appropriate to give them to Tuobu, Peng Yue, and Han Xin. In this way, the strength of our side is not only enough to confront Xiang Yu hard, but even surpass his side, and it will be easy to defeat Xiang Yu's Chu army at that time. ”
After listening to this, the King of Han felt that Zhang Liang's analysis was the tao, and his admiration for him was deeper in his heart, and he also relied more on his strategy. The King of Han said he would do what he wanted, and immediately sent emissaries to contact Tuobu and Peng Yue, inviting them to come together to deal with Xiang Yu.
After the three of them received the reward, they all worked very hard, and the situation began to develop in favor of the Han King. Since reusing these three people, the Han army has attacked the city all the way and snatched a lot of territory from Xiang Yu's hands. In the end, it was these three people who helped the King of Han to destroy the Chu state and pacify the world.
Xingyang was besieged
The situation on Xiang Yu's side was not optimistic, because of his self-absorbed and cruel personality, in the end, many people who had followed him before left him, and the days that had been infinite scenery were gone. In order to save himself from defeat, Xiang Yu decided to send someone to divide the relationship between Haojie and the King of Han. Although most people were not fooled by Xiang Yu, however, there was one person who fell into the trap and was fooled by the emissaries sent by Xiang Yu, and this person was Wei Wangbao, the leader of Wei Di.
Not long after, at the instigation of Xiang Yu, Wei Wangbao openly rebelled against the Han army and sent troops to attack the Han army. At that time, Han Xin's position was closest to Wei Di, and in order to quickly fight and make a quick decision, he quickly ended this farce, so as not to cause a bad impact after a long time, and the King of Han sent Han Xin to quickly lead a large army to attack Wei Di.
Han Xin did not fail in his mission, and only three days after coming to Weidi, he captured the capital of Weidi and completely quelled the rebellion. Han Xinxin thought that a single soldier could not only achieve this little victory and then give up, otherwise the price would be too high, so he would simply fight down Yandi, Daidi, Zhaodi, and Qidi. So I really did this, and the result was naturally that everyone was happy, and the north of the Central Plains was pacified.
Unlike Han Xin, Zhang Liang's health has not been good since he was a child, and he will have an illness every three to five years, and he always has to be taken care of by someone around him, and he cannot lead the soldiers to fight alone. It is precisely because of this that every time the King of Han led his troops out on a campaign, he was a courtier and even more at the side of the King of Han to give advice. Whenever there was a major choice to be made, the King of Han could not make up his mind, and he would first think of asking him, and every time Zhang Liang could give the King of Han a satisfactory answer.
Three years later, although the situation in the world was basically clear, the King of Han occupied Xingyang and commanded his army to fight many victorious battles in Guanzhong. But Xiang Yu was still doing the last dying struggle. Moreover, at this time, Xiang Yu's army showed several times stronger combat effectiveness than before. Once, Xiang Yu led a huge army to attack the city all the way, and finally hit Xingyang, trapping the King of Han tightly here.
Dim-witted
Although there have been many dangerous situations in the past wars, there have never been such a critical situation. The Han King's stay in Xingyang could be life-threatening at any time, so this time he was really scared. Because this was just in time for Zhang Liang to be seriously ill and unable to get out of bed, in order to let him recuperate well, the King of Han did not bother him, but found another strategist around him, Li Qi, to discuss the escape plan together, and by the way, to discuss how to weaken Xiang Yu's power.
Li Shiqi thought for a moment and said to the King of Han, "I think that after Xia Jie was destroyed by Cheng Tang's army because of his cruelty and no way, the descendants of the Xia Dynasty were all sealed in the Kingdom of Qi. And when the Shang Dynasty was at the end of its rope and was finally overthrown by King Wu of Zhou, the descendants of the Shang Dynasty were sealed in the Song Kingdom, which shows that even if the rule of the former dynasty was overthrown, it was not necessary to exterminate their descendants, which would make their own country and mountains more stable and would not cause the people of the world to spurn and betray. ”
Speaking of this, Li Yiqi paused for a moment, then turned his words around and continued: "Look at the brutal Qin people, after they have pacified the world, they have killed almost all the descendants of the Six Kingdoms, the result? Jiangshan did not sit for twenty years before the country was destroyed. Don't learn what the Qin Dynasty did! Now if we can re-establish the descendants of the Six Kingdoms, we must hurry up and do it. Not only that, but also to give them a seal, so that they feel that they are not just nominally rewarded. In this way, the kings and people of the six kingdoms will surely appreciate your kindness and submit to you, and no one will say that you are not good. At that time, your strength was naturally several times that of Xiang Yu, and you were still worried that you couldn't destroy him? ”
After the king of Han listened, he felt that Li Shi's words were reasonable, and his heart was very happy, so he immediately sent someone to collect the best stones to be used to carve the seals of various princely states. In order to ensure that everything is foolproof, the King of Han was also prepared to let Li Shiqi personally handle the matter.
Within two days, the news reached Zhang Liang's ears, so he rushed to see the King of Han despite his serious illness and rushed to see the King of Han before Li Yiqi left. When the King of Han saw Zhang Liang's sudden visit, he was very surprised, and thought to himself, how could he come to see himself so sickly? Something big must have happened, and the King of Han suddenly felt a little nervous in his heart.
As soon as Zhang Liang entered the door, he did not salute the King of Han first as in the past, but directly asked what was going on with the descendants of the Six Kingdoms. When the King of Han heard that Zhang Liang had come for this matter, his mood immediately relaxed, and he proudly confided all the suggestions given by Li Shiqi to Zhang Lianghe, and asked Zhang Liang casually whether this was a perfect plan.
Unexpectedly, after Zhang Liang listened, his face changed, and he asked the King of Han who came up with this so-called "brilliant plan", and then said to the King of Han very seriously that if he really did this, the big things would be completed, and the efforts and efforts made for so many years before would be abandoned.
Zhang Liang was puzzled
After hearing this, the King of Han did not relax for a while, and felt very puzzled, so he asked Zhang Liang why. Zhang Liang replied, "That's right, in the past, after Cheng Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty, he did not exterminate the descendants of the Xia Dynasty, but sealed them in the Qi Kingdom." Ke Cheng Tang is not stupid, the reason why he did this is because he is fully capable of taking their lives at any time. The descendants of the Xia Dynasty posed no threat to him. Looking at our side in reverse, can we just rely on this little strength now to put Xiang Yu to death? ”
The King of Han replied, "No, the reason why we want to pull the Haojie of the world to our side is to make everyone unite and jointly deal with Xiang Yu." ”
Zhang Liang then said, "Well, so that's the first reason why you can't do what Li Shiqi said, and then I'll tell you the second reason." It is also true that after King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he sealed the descendants of the Shang Dynasty in the Song Dynasty, but that was because he was fully capable of taking the heads of these former dynasties and descendants at any time. Now Xiang Yu is outside the city, but do you have the ability to cut off his head? ”
The King of Han replied, "No, don't say that Xiang Yu is outside the city, there is still a distance from us, even if he is standing in front of me, I can't cut off his head!" Now I've just been a little relieved. ”
Zhang Liang said at this time: "Don't worry about it first, there is a third reason why you can't do what Li Shiqi said." As we all know, after King Wu of Zhou led a large army all the way to the capital of the Shang Dynasty, he not only praised Shang Rong heavily, but also released Jizi and rebuilt The tomb of Bigan. Can you now treat the sages like King Wu of Zhou? ”
The King of Han replied, "Naturally this cannot be done, there is no peace in the world, so what should I do to commend meritorious men?" ”
Zhang Liang continued, "I think that in those years, after occupying Chaoge, King Wu of Zhou once opened the treasury and distributed the grain and treasures inside to the people. Although our warehouse is not penniless now, do you dare to open the warehouse and distribute everything in it to the poor? ”
The King of Han said, "Then how can we do it, now the situation is so critical, the army must rely on these savings in the warehouse to feed itself, if we take out all the things in it and scatter it, won't we be equivalent to killing ourselves?" ”
Zhang Liang said, "That's right, that's the fourth reason why you can't do that." If you think about it, after King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he confiscated all his weapons to show his determination not to use force again in front of the people of the world. But now can you put away all your weapons and put them in the warehouse like King Wu of Zhou? ”
The King of Han replied, "This is naturally not okay, at present, the war is so urgent, we have to use soldiers everywhere, how can we put away all the weapons?" ”
Zhang Liang said, "Isn't that the fifth reason why you can't do that?" You must also know that after King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty, he also released all the war horses to the south of Mount Hua, because the world had been calmed down and no one came to make trouble, so the war horses lost their role in fighting. Can you now release all your warhorses into the wild, like King Wu of Zhou? ”
The King of Han replied, "Of course not, the world is not yet at peace, and we have to rely on warhorses to fight everywhere." How can the horses go to war without the cavalry? ”
Zhang Liang said, "This is the sixth reason why you can't do that. After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, he also put all the cattle in the north of Taolin, indicating that he no longer needed to use it to transport grain and grass for war. Can you now follow the example of King Wu of Zhou and release all the cattle that carry grain and grass? ”
The King of Han replied, "No, now that the war is so tight, and the grain and grass cannot be transported in one day, the soldiers will be a little more dangerous, so how can the cattle be released at this time?" ”
Zhang Liang said, "This is the seventh reason why you can't do that. Finally, and for another reason, is that many of your ministers have left their homes and followed you around in the war, not hoping that one day they will get a small fief? Now if you divide all this little land among the descendants of the Six Kingdoms, those who follow you from birth to death will not be able to obtain fiefdoms again. And those fiefdoms are the only hope of these ministers, and if there is not even this last hope, who wants to follow you and fight for you? The only feasible way now is to weaken the power of the Chu state. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if we did not fail in the end according to Li Shiqi's words, if the strength of the Chu State is too strong, what is the use of you restoring the Six Kingdoms? In the end, they will still succumb to the Chu State and become accomplices of the Chu State, and then they will really become self-inflicted. That's why I said that if you really do what Li Shiqi said, your great cause will be complete. ”
When the King of Han heard this, he was so angry that he spit out all the food in his mouth and scolded loudly: "Li Shiqi, a nerd, almost ruined my big thing!" So he hurriedly ordered those who went out to look for stone to stop immediately.
Calm the world
In this way, after another three years, according to Zhang Liang's strategy, Liu Bang, the king of Han, completely eliminated Xiang Yu, pacified the world, and established the Han Dynasty. And the King of Han naturally became the emperor, which is Han Gaozu. In the first month of this year, Gao Zu began to reward those meritorious people who had made great contributions to the fight against the country. Although Zhang Liang did not make military achievements on the battlefield, Gao Zu said when he mentioned Zhang Liang: "He only needs to make a few random plans in the tent to decide the victory or defeat of the war thousands of miles away, and this is Zhang Liang's credit!" ”
Later, in recognition of Zhang Liang's merits, Gao Zu asked Zhang Liang to choose 30,000 households from the State of Qi as his fiefs. However, Zhang Liang was not greedy for wealth and wealth, and said to Gao Zu: "When I launched an uprising in Xia Pi and attached myself to you in Liu County, this is all heaven asking me to follow you!" You have adopted my strategy, and I am honored to be able to achieve results on a regular basis, and these are also providence! Therefore, I dare not accept the huge reward you have given me for the thirty thousand households, and it is enough for you to seal the county to me. ”
Gao Zu later persuaded Zhang Hao several times, saying that he deserved it, but Zhang Liang still insisted on not accepting it, and only asked that liu county be sealed to himself. When Gao Zu saw that his attitude was so resolute, he no longer forced him, and in accordance with his wishes, he was made a marquis and accepted the reward together with other meritorious men.