As Han Xin was a deputy general appointed by Lu Bu himself, he naturally moved into the Qinchuan Palace and was given a side hall as his residence.
While the palace servants were busy tidying up the side hall and putting things away, Han Xin stood inside, looking here and touching there, and a strange sense of comfort arose in his heart.
He was lonely and poor in childhood, and lacked food and clothing. After joining the army, he did not make any outstanding achievements and was only a doctor.
Although this was a side hall that had not yet been cleaned up, it was solemn and magnificent, with royal majesty everywhere, and it clearly showed his food, clothing and expenses as a minor general.
—It was a far cry from his previous situation where he had only two sets of old clothes, a mat in the barracks, and no proper place to store his precious military books.
Just by quietly watching all this, he couldn't help but think about his new mission and the lofty ambition that he had finally been able to realize.
Everything made him feel moved, happy, excited and unfamiliar.
Han Xin solemnly placed the most precious military book on the spotless shelf, and then couldn't help touching and looking around.
Not long after, Lu Bu, who had finally gotten his hands on the gold Xiang Yu had rewarded him with, came over with a swagger. Seeing this cheap guy standing there in a daze among the busy palace servants, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Brother Han, what are you doing here? Even if the palace servants can clean up quickly, it will still take a while. Why bother standing there and eating dust?"
Han Xin laughed in silence, not wanting to reveal his ridiculous thoughts. He wiped the ashes off the tip of his nose and agreed with Lu Bu's words.
The next moment, Lu Bu dragged him into the main hall, lit up the lights, and mysteriously dismissed his attendants, leaving only a large sand table between the two of them.
While Han Xin was still confused, Lu Bu had a serious expression on his face. He held a wooden stick in his hand and wrote three lines of words on it with great effort:
Town Hanzhong.
Lure the Han army.
Slaughter Liu Bang.
Han Xin: “…”
Although it seemed unfair to use the famous military genius in history books as a military advisor and let him do the work of Gao Fujii and Chen Gongtai, Lu Bu was so eager for revenge that he didn't care about it.
Lu Bu looked at Han Xin expectantly: "Brother Han, do you have any good ideas?"
To put it bluntly, his ultimate goal is nothing more than "slaughter Liu Bang".
It was just fate and the uselessness of Ying Bu that made it so that something that could have been done in one step ended up taking a hundred steps.
Han Xin was so smart that after just a moment of hesitation, he figured out some of the previously seemingly inexplicable tricks.
Although he didn't know how Liu Bang had offended his brother, he hated him so much that he wanted to kill him...
But your brother is the only one in the past twenty years who has treated him as a talented person, even chasing him on horseback at night and strongly recommending him to the Overlord, giving him the position he so much coveted.
Not to mention that Liu Bang has the ambition to fight for the world, even if he is trapped in Bashu, he should not be underestimated and will have to be dealt with sooner or later.
Even if the other party is really an insignificant nobody who is not worth spending energy to deal with, he will fulfill his brother's wish anyway.
Han Xin lowered his eyes quietly and fell into deep thought.
Seeing that his cheap brother was lost in thought, Lu Bu, who was already accustomed to the troublesome behavior of these smart people, scratched his head and tactfully followed suit and calmed down.
He tiptoed to the side, not even breathing, for fear of disturbing Han Xin's thoughts.
Once Han Xin was completely immersed in his thoughts, he was unaware of the passage of time and did not pay attention to the changes around him.
Soon, a rough plan emerged, prompting him to write quickly on the sand table and jot down the general content.
But it is difficult to make a decision at the moment and we have to wait until the specific division is completed.
Until someone asked for Lü Bu's opinion, he raised his eyes and said, "Xian—"
As soon as he started talking, he stopped abruptly.
He stared blankly at Lu Bu for a long while, who had closed his eyes at some point and was still sitting in the same lazy posture as before, and couldn't help laughing.
My dear brother, my dear brother.
Even though for Han Xin, being appointed as a military general was an extraordinary leap, giving him the first precious opportunity to truly display his talents and realize his ambitions, it did not cause any waves for the entire Chu army.
Even when Lu Bu was promoted to general, because he led the Former Qin capital army instead of forming another army by assigning some people from other generals, the interests of other Chu generals were not affected, and there were fewer waves and obstacles.
What concerned the princes more was the enfeoffment they had been waiting for for a long time, which would be presided over by the Overlord Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu was very happy. After his staff had arranged the relocation of the capital to Xianyang, he happily granted fiefs to the princes basically according to the agreement made with the princes beforehand.
Of course, although he was known for "granting fiefs based on merit", this merit was mainly determined by whether one followed him into the Pass, or made a contribution in the Battle of Julu, or had done favors to the Xiang family.
Zhang Han, who was first named King of Yong by him, gladly followed Xiang Yu's suggestion, openly stated that he was not meritorious enough to be king, and resigned the throne. Instead, he took the post of Left Sima of the Central Army and served the Chu army; the Guanzhong area and part of the Chu area naturally belonged to the overlord Xiang Yu; Xiang Yu's subordinate general Ying Bu was named King of Jiujiang, Ying Bu's father-in-law Wu Xi was named King of Hengshan, and Chu Zhuguo Gong Ao was named King of Linjiang, and they all ruled part of the territories formerly under the jurisdiction of Chu; Zhao Xie was named King of Dai, and Zhang Er was named King of Changshan, dividing the land formerly under the jurisdiction of Zhao; Tian Fu, Tian An, and Tian Du were respectively named King of Jiaodong, Jibei, and Qi, dividing the territories formerly under the jurisdiction of Qi; Zang Tu and Han Guang were named King of Yan and King of Liaodong, dividing the territories formerly under the jurisdiction of Yan; Wei Bao and Sima Ang were named King of Western Wei and King of Yin, occupying the territories of Wei; Han Cheng and Shen Yang were named King of Han and King of Linjiang, occupying the territories formerly under the jurisdiction of Han.
This division of fiefdoms had already been decided by Xiang Yu, with only two changes made.
One is about Liu Bang's enfeoffment: Xiang Yu hated Liu Bang, who took advantage of the bias of the King of Chu and kept him out of the Great Wall. Originally, he was going to enfeoff him to the two counties of Bashu, which he considered to be remote and cold. However, after the incident, Liu Bang took the initiative to flee to Bashu for his life, which saved him the effort of driving him away.
As Liu Bang was a traitor who had assassinated the King of Chu, he must be killed immediately and was not worthy of being crowned king. Moreover, because Bashu was remote and Liu Bang's thousands of elite troops were stationed there, it would be troublesome and of little benefit to launch a long expedition to recover it.
If he were to confer an empty title, it would only offend people. After discussing with his advisers for a while, Xiang Yu simply put it aside and leave it for later.
The second was the original division of fiefdoms with Sima Xin and Dong Yi - he originally wanted to return to the Chu capital Pengcheng in the east, and the Guanzhong area could be divided into the Three Qin areas, which would be ruled by the former Qin generals Sima Xin, Dong Yi and Zhang Han respectively.
After all, in his opinion, although the contributions of the first two were far inferior to Zhang Han, they had been very kind to his uncle Xiang Liang and should be rewarded generously.
But after Lu Bu insisted on promoting Han Xin as a deputy general due to "personal feelings", and after Zuo Yin Xiang Bo ruthlessly betrayed him, Xiang Yu could not suppress his inner subtlety when encountering similar situations again, and became much more cautious.
Since your achievements are not enough to make you a king, then just give you a generous reward.
As Xiang Yu was reading and distributing imperial edicts on the high platform, the princes below had different expressions. The Chu general looked grim and solemn, and there was complete silence all around.
Only Lu Bu, with a solemn expression, felt confused.
Who are those
He listened carefully at first, but soon realized that in that long and boring list of kings, he only recognized the ragged Ying Bu who even Liu Bang could not catch up with.
That rag can actually be crowned king
As expected, this king... is really not worthy of me.
Looking at Ying Bu, who was in high spirits and unable to hide his joy, Lu Bu's mouth twitched slightly and he rolled his eyes quickly. At the same time, he completely lost interest in listening and began to daydream.
Only after he had chopped Liu Bang into pieces for the sixtieth time in his mind did the ceremony of enfeoffment come to an end.
Lu Bu followed the procession in boredom - he couldn't leave yet, as the princes and the Chu generals had to attend the banquet together. After the banquet, it would be time for the new kings to return to their fiefdoms.
The atmosphere at the banquet was lively, with people toasting each other and chatting happily.
Lu Bu was always thinking about Liu Biesun, who was far away in Bashu and whom he didn't know when he would meet again, and he had no interest in these social events.
After he lazily refused a few times, others didn't want to be bored anymore, so they stopped talking to him.
He was happy that no one was disturbing him, but he didn't know that Xiang Yu, who was sitting above him, couldn't help but glance at him frequently, because he didn't understand why he looked so depressed.
However, neither Xiang Yu nor Lu Bu noticed that there was another person among the guests at the banquet who was always looking at Lu Bu with interest, as he was doing his own thing and looked lazy.
This man was eight feet tall, a rare tall figure among the civil officials. He also had a fair complexion and handsome features, but he lacked a bit of masculinity and had more of the gentleness of a scholar.
—Very interesting.
Chen Ping took a sip of wine leisurely, seemingly flattering his colleagues around him sincerely, while watching everything in the field with a distance and indifference. Only when he turned to Lu Bu did he become more interested.
-Based on his understanding of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's temperament, if Lu Bu had not appeared and caused chaos, the situation would not be what it is today.
When the banquet was over and the guests left, Lu Bu, who had been drinking something that made his mouth taste bland (it was more like fruit water than wine), suddenly became energetic and ran out with big strides.
When he returned to the hall, facing Han Xin who came towards him enthusiastically, he curled his lips helplessly and handed the list of kings to be conferred this time, which he had secretly asked from Fan Zeng.
As soon as he got the list, Han Xin quickly put him aside and sat down at his desk to concentrate on studying it.
Seeing this, Lu Bu was secretly delighted.
—Hahaha, I’ve finally made it!
He has always been good at bold and decisive fighting, so why should he be forced to use his brain all day? Only that foolish Overlord could do such a wicked thing!
He was really relieved that there was finally a reliable and smart person to do research for him.
It's a pity for Zhang Liang in prison. He has a fair and clean face, but he is full of evil thoughts. He is a traitor who can deceive people and is loyal to Liu.
It can only remain closed and cannot be used for the time being.
Lu Bu considerately watched Han Xin fall into deep thought while he himself lay down comfortably on the couch to cool off and digest food, under the pretext of not disturbing him.
Just as his eyelids were gradually gluing shut and he was about to fall asleep, the excited Han Xin pushed him awake with a ruthless iron hand: "My dear brother, my dear brother!"
Lu Bu was in a trance and returned to the moment when Cao Cao flooded Xia Pi and Gao Fuyi was eager to wake him up from the gentle land. His head shook violently, his whole body shuddered, and he sat still in an instant: "Ah!"
Han Xin was startled by his "Ah", but he didn't care about that anymore. He quickly dragged him to the sand table, and started talking to him about the plan with his lips moving up and down.
Lu Bu had a serious look on his face, but he was actually not awake yet. He sat upright and listened for a long time. His eyes gradually turned pale and then his face turned ashen.
"Brother Han, wait a minute."
He had no choice but to extend his hand, interrupting Han Xin's generous statement, and tremblingly confirmed: "According to Brother Han's plan, how long will it take to catch Liu Haozi?"
Han Xin thought for a moment and answered confidently: "It might take an ordinary person eight years, but with your ability, it will only take four years at most."
In his opinion, Liu Bang was quite cautious and cherished his life most of the time, except for the time when he entered the pass too smoothly and was blinded by greed.
Although Bashu was not as poor and barren as outsiders imagined, it was by no means something that could be easily captured by a mere 4,000 elite soldiers. Liu Bang fled there in a hurry, and it would take at least a year and a half for him to gain a foothold.
For at least two or three years, he would not be able to stir up any trouble, let alone pose a serious threat to the Chu army. Even if Xiang Yu valued Lu Bu's opinion, he would not be able to withdraw troops to launch an expedition to the useless Bashu in the short term.
In comparison, there is an even more imminent threat: although Xiang Yu's fiefdom was granted based on merit, it was inevitably biased, and this list includes many cases of the monarch and his subjects mixing up and dividing up the country, making it difficult for them to coexist, and there will inevitably be a struggle between the strong and the weak.
If his prediction is correct, the war will inevitably break out again when everyone returns home.
The first ones to rebel were probably Tian Rong, who made great contributions in the anti-Qin war but refused to fight in Julu due to his disagreement with the Xiang family, and thus lost his title; and Peng Yue and Chen Yu, who also did not receive any title but had considerable prestige and power.
Just relying on the three people of Tian Ichi, Tian An and Tian Du, even if they unite, they will find it difficult to match Tian Rong, let alone the three of them acting independently
But the world was plunged into conflict again, which was a trouble for Xiang Yu, but also a rare opportunity - especially if he had the ambition to dominate the world and emulate the First Emperor.
When the rebels were defeated one by one and the fiefdoms were taken back under this pretext, the overall situation would be stabilized and he would be able to free up his hands to deal with Liu Bang.
Or maybe Liu Bang saw the smoke of war rising outside the pass and was ready to take action, so he could station more troops in Hanzhong, lure the enemy out of their hole and destroy them in one fell swoop.
"Ha...haha...four years..."
After getting a clear answer, Lu Bu nodded absentmindedly at first, then fell back with a dazed look in his eyes.
—He fainted on the spot with his eyes open.