In Han Xin's eyes, Xiang Yu was still the peerless general and overlord of the world who spoke little, smiled little, had great dignity, and whose moods were unpredictable.
In Lu Bu's eyes, Xiang Yu was still a fool pretending to be a decent person.
The two entered hand in hand and were halfway through paying respect to Xiang Yu who was seated when Xiang Yu interrupted them and said simply, "Sit down."
Lu Bu took the seat closest to Xiang Yu with great fanfare, while Han Xin felt nervous and sat down quietly at the lower seat.
—I wonder whether the matter of him escaping the camp secretly and letting my brother chase him will be let go by the king or will be difficult to resolve.
It was a pity that the other two people present did not notice how excited he was at the moment, and they went straight into a strange conversation that seemed quite irrelevant to him.
Although Lu Bu looked innocent, he was actually trembling with fear. He was really worried that the next moment he would hear the earth-shattering words "My son, you will be my hero", which would make him lose face after more than 300 years.
Fortunately, Xiang Yu looked as grumpy as usual, so he could see that his worries were completely groundless.
He was relieved and asked impatiently, "According to the guards, the king has appointed Bu as a general. How many troops can Bu lead? Where will he be stationed? When will he take office? It will also be necessary to ask Bu to prepare for reviewing the army and rectifying military discipline, so as not to rush into things and miss the king's important matters."
Xiang Yu listened to his rapid fire without changing his expression, and asked slowly, "Is it time to have dinner?"
Lu Bu answered without hesitation: "Not yet."
Xiang Yu nodded slightly and decided in a deep voice: "Eat it first."
Lu Bu had been outside the whole day, running around under the scorching sun. He was afraid that if he delayed for a little longer, Han Xin, who had set out the night before, would run away. So apart from taking a few sips of water on the way, he really didn't have time to use anything.
As soon as he returned to the Chu army camp, he was summoned by Xiang Yu. After being reminded by Xiang Yu, he also realized that he was starving and naturally it would be meaningless. He said happily: "Thank you, King!"
Han Xin was confused when he heard this, but after coming to his senses, he also thanked Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu nodded modestly.
Regardless of the fact that Xiang Yu was sitting upright, Lu Bu still crossed one leg comfortably, thinking that he would have to wait for a while.
Unexpectedly, the next moment after he crossed his legs, voices were heard outside the palace door. After Xiang Yu said in a deep voice, "Serve the meal", several cooks, led by the guards, entered in a line, trembling with fear, carrying food.
In the blink of an eye, a portion of food was placed in front of Xiang Yu, Lu Bu and Han Xin respectively. The dishes were the same, but the portions were different.
Only the cook knew that these three portions were actually divided from two portions. Fortunately, the portions were large enough before, so they did not seem small now.
Lu Bu asked curiously, "Why is it so fast?"
How come the food is ready only a few words after Xiang Yu gave the order
Although he was surprised, Lu Bu, who was very hungry, was too lazy to think about those unimportant details when facing the meat, and just started to eat with relish.
However, Han Xin took a look at the steaming and fragrant dinner, then looked at Xiang Yu who still had a cold and arrogant expression, and then looked at his brother who was very generous, and he had a vague guess.
Thanks to the gift of food, his heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally settled down slowly. If King Xiang wanted to blame them for leaving the camp without permission, they would probably be beaten with a stick instead of having the meat that Lü Bu usually ate.
After the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, their attendants cleared away the bowls and chopsticks. Lu Bu touched his slightly swollen belly with contentment. If it hadn't been for the wrong occasion, he would have almost collapsed to the ground.
He suppressed the impulse and thought again about the issues that concerned him most when he entered the room.
Before he could ask again, Xiang Yu took the initiative to pick up the previous topic and replied expressionlessly: "Fengxian will go to find his father-in-law to take the general's seal and ribbon. He can lead a maximum of 30,000 soldiers and horses. As for which army he will lead and where he will guard... it has not been decided yet."
Lu Bu's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but said shamelessly: "I have a suggestion, I wonder if the king is willing to listen to it?"
Xiang Yu glanced at Lu Bu, whose eyes were shining brightly, and was silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded slightly: "Yes."
Lu Bu chuckled and asked tentatively, "I wonder if the Former Qin army in the Neishi area has a new commander?"
Whenever Lu Bu thought of the heroic figure of the Qin army following the First Emperor to sweep across the six kingdoms, fight through hundreds of battles, and finally unify the world, his heart was moved and he yearned for it.
Just think about it, among generals, who wouldn’t want to personally lead such an iron-blooded army
There is another reason why he has special feelings: since the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, it was with the help of this powerful army that the Huns went north to fight and forced them to flee to a further north, which led to the establishment of his hometown, Jiuyuan County.
With the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty, many heroes emerged. The southern army led by Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to completely cut off contact with the Central Plains, and later ambitiously proclaimed himself the King of Nanyue. The northern army led by Wang Li, and the central army led by Zhang Han, the former Shaofu, which was temporarily formed by selecting young and strong people and prisoners from Mount Li, were all defeated by Xiang Yu in Julu. Except for the Loufan knights, all the surrendered soldiers were buried alive in Xin'an.
The once powerful and unstoppable Qin army still had a most elite force stationed in Guanzhong, which did not participate in the war in all directions and had not been destroyed.
Xiang Yu finally opened his half-closed eyes at this time, and looked at Lu Bu with a complicated expression, who was eager to try: "Not yet. However, there are three parts. The doctor ordered the army not to stay, and the Weiwei army was broken up and divided into various armies. Only the lieutenant army is left—"
Lu Bu's eyes lit up, and he shouted immediately, "That's it!"
The Langzhong and Lingjun were all from noble or important families, and were the attendants and guards of the Former Qin emperor. No matter who took over the Xianyang Palace, there was no way they would be able to keep them as they were the most loyal to the Former Qin.
Most of them had been killed by Liu Bang when he entered the Xianyang Palace. There were not many left and they could not cause any more trouble.
The Weiwei Army was the imperial palace guard. They were originally responsible for protecting the palace and the people entering and leaving it. They were familiar with the terrain of each part of the palace, so it was of course impossible to ask them to stay in their original positions.
They were also separated and sent out by Liu Bang, and temporarily incorporated into various armies. He originally wanted to spend some time to absorb them, but he didn't expect that he would leave in such an embarrassing way. Naturally, he had no time to take this unsubmissive unit with him.
When the Chu army led by Ying Bu and Zhongli Mei arrived, they were the first to surrender.
Both of these branches of the capital's army were unwanted by Lu Bu.
What he coveted most was undoubtedly the capital's guard force, the former lieutenant's army that was most skilled in field combat and had a total of 50,000 people.
Xiang Yu fell into deep thought.
Lu Bu’s suggestion is not unfeasible.
After all, although the Chu army was said to have a million soldiers, the actual number of soldiers was only over 400,000.
The Former Qin capital army, which once died loyal to the Former Qin, then surrendered the city with the Former Qin Prince Ziying and was incorporated into Liu Bang's army, and later fell into the hands of the Chu army because of Liu Bang's embarrassing escape, was an absolute hot potato in the eyes of the generals.
After all, the number of officers qualified to lead 50,000 troops in the Chu army, which was full of talented generals, could be counted on one hand. When they followed Xiang Yu to fight in all directions, most of them already had a force that they could use at their disposal. Even if they wanted to recruit new ones, they were unwilling to forcefully accept this force that was full of hatred for them.
Seeing that Xiang Yu seemed to be ready to move, Lu Bu knew that there was a chance, so he quickly struck while the iron was hot: "It has not been long since the Xin'an incident, and the Qin soldiers are full of hatred and fear. Moreover, the king has not yet ordered people to pacify the people. If we rashly send the Chu people to take over before this, I am afraid it will be more likely to arouse rebellion. Sending Zhang Han and others to take over is even more inappropriate - 200,000 Qin soldiers died and they survived alone, how can they not hate them deeply? On the contrary, since I am not a Chu person and I have not been to the battlefield of Julu, I am suitable to take over this lieutenant army!"
Xiang Yu glanced at Lu Bu and said meaningfully, "The Lieutenant's army has 50,000 men in total, but Fengxian can only lead 30,000 at most."
Lu Bu knew very well that since Xiang Yu had said this, he had most likely agreed.
"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong," he was very happy, and he lied with a sincere face: "Since Liu the thief dared to claim that his 100,000 soldiers were 200,000, and your 400,000 soldiers were also called a million... It shows that people in the military don't need to be obsessed with details. What's more, your majesty is unparalleled, wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, sitting and planning, and shocking the world, making the mountains and rivers pale, the four seas and the rivers reversed, the princes all knelt and trembled, and the people all sincerely worshiped. With your prestige, if you say that the 50,000 lieutenant soldiers are actually 30,000, who in the world dares to question it?"
Xiang Yu pondered in silence, his eyes unfathomable.
But from his attitude of not opening his mouth to refute, everyone knew that he had already acquiesced.
After witnessing the entire bargaining process, Han Xin felt as if he was in a cloud and fog. He was stunned and finally remained silent.
From today on, he... would no longer blame King Xiang for not listening to his advice in the past.
If he could be a third as eloquent as my brother, how could he have been rejected
Seeing that Xiang Yu had already acquiesced, Lu Bu decided to strike while the iron was hot and ask Han Xin to be his deputy general.
For no other reason than that he was fed up with the hard life of having to rely on his own brain for everything.
What made him most sad and angry was that he not only had to think about his own great cause of killing Liu Bang, but also had to think about this foolish tyrant...
As soon as these words were spoken, Xiang Yu frowned immediately and almost blurted out "nonsense".
Although the position of deputy general was indeed mostly appointed by the general himself, with the other position either vacant or appointed by royal decree, his promotion of Lu Bu as general and letting him lead 50,000 troops of the Former Qin capital army alone was already extremely exceptional.
The generals in a large army are so important, how can we choose them based on our personal preferences
Han Xin, who claimed to be the prince of Han but actually had no proof of his claim, had been working as a halberd-bearing doctor beside him for quite some time.
But apart from offering some useless strategies, he does everything according to the rules and has no outstanding performance. How can he be worthy of the position of deputy general
He really looked down on Han Xin for another reason: although there were not many Chu soldiers from Huaiyin, there were some, so the humiliation he suffered was no secret at all.
Xiang Yu, who was proud of his unparalleled bravery, believed that a man should be upright and indomitable, and anyone with a bit of blood in his veins could not endure such a great humiliation.
Being so cowardly and afraid of death is unworthy of being a man.
Not to mention it was such a humiliation, any disrespect would be like his uncle who was on the run, and he would have to be killed.
If Lu Bu knew all these reasons, he would definitely criticize this foolish king for being a full man who does not know the hunger of a hungry man.
No matter how poor the Xiang family was, they were still highly respected nobles in the State of Chu. They had many connections to help them during their exile, so they did not have to worry about food and clothing.
Han Xin's family was poor, his parents died early, and he had no one to help him, so he needed to be more tactful. If he could not bear the humiliation that day and stabbed Zhen Er to death, he would save his face for a while, but he would have to pay for his life with his life, and at most he would get a few sighs from others. Isn't it a very unprofitable business
If it were him, not to mention the temporary humiliation, even if it was a little older, he would have endured it, and afterwards he would have made the enemy's entire family suffer a fate worse than death.
Seeing the look of extreme disapproval between his eyebrows, Lu Bu just smiled lazily.
“Everyone has his or her own strengths, but to use them, one must first be in a position of power.”
He never believed the nonsense that "a person with great talent can perform well no matter what position he holds."
If a blind man had placed Lü Fengxian in the position of a cook or a counselor...
It was probably that one day he could no longer tolerate it and poisoned the entire army by putting drugs in their food, or that one day he became angry after a quarrel and killed other counselors or the lord who refused to listen to his advice.
He looked Xiang Yu straight in the eye, and his tone seemed nonchalant, but in fact, every word he said was true: "In terms of bravery, Brother Han is indeed not even one-tenth of the king; in terms of domineering, Brother Han is also not even one-tenth of the king; in terms of strategic planning..."
At this point, Lu Bu's eyes rolled and he said cunningly, "I hope Your Majesty will trust me once and wait and see."
After just a few battles, this fool would be stunned by Han Xin's ability and would say that he had misjudged the man!
Just imagining Xiang Yu's surprised and embarrassed look at his own mistake, Lu Bu couldn't help feeling proud.
Han Xin felt so comforted after hearing this, and his blood boiled and his face became hot.
Although he speaks little, he is not stupid, but has a mind as clear as a mirror.
He knew very well that the other Chu soldiers were laughing at him behind his back, saying that he was pretending to be noble.
He understood that Lu Bu had been friendly with him sincerely since the first day and had no ulterior motives; and after the incident of chasing each other under the moon, he became even more aware of the other party's incomparable regard for him.
He was poor and lonely since childhood, suffered repeated setbacks, and what he received most was contempt, doubt and disapproval.
But this is the first time in my life that I have received such serious affirmation.
And this was done in front of the unrivaled overlord of the time - Xiang Yu.
Han Xin was very excited, but Xiang Yu remained expressionless.
But since Lu Bu has said this, it shows how determined he is... Never mind, just let him be.
No matter how bad he is, he can never be worse than Xiang Bo, who was the Zuo Yin of Chu State but secretly colluded with the enemy.
Thinking of his uncle who should have been executed at noon, Xiang Yu couldn't help feeling a little bored.
"It's up to you. Stand down."
He waved his hand carelessly and sent them out.