The mere city of Jiyin was certainly not worth Xiang Yu's staying in for too long.
After only one night's rest, Xiang Yu was about to set out again and continue his journey westward.
Before leaving, he personally promoted an old local official to be the magistrate of Jiyin County, and left behind 5,000 troops to prevent Peng Yue from making a comeback.
He led the remaining 50,000 Chu soldiers, and together with his generals Lu Bu and Han Xin, they returned to Guanzhong again.
When Xiang Yu left, he was furious and in a hurry. He was obsessed with severely suppressing the soldiers and civilians in Qi who dared to rebel against Chu, so he had no time to take in the scenery along the way.
Now that they had returned victorious, the march had slowed down considerably. The scorched fields, withered grass and dead flowers, collapsed houses, and even piles of bones were finally taken into their sight.
Xiang Yu glanced at him indifferently, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Han Xin's expression was calm, but he also felt a bit sad and sighed, and couldn't help but look at his younger brother beside him.
Lu Bu looked normal, staring straight ahead nonchalantly, as if he was not affected at all, and even humming an unfamiliar tune softly.
Han Xin had no intention of getting lost in the tragic scenes along the way. Seeing his brother's calm demeanor, he could not help but admire him and asked, "Is the music you are reciting in your hometown accent?"
He saw that his brother had good conversation and extraordinary abilities, and he must be from an aristocratic family in the old country.
But after knowing each other for a long time, his brother seemed to have something to hide and never mentioned his hometown, so he didn't want to ask.
Hearing this tune he had never heard before, even though Han Xin had no intention of finding out his brother's origins, he still couldn't help but ask a question.
Xiang Yu's ears moved slightly and his eyes focused slightly.
He pressed lightly on Wuzhui's neck, and at the same time turned his face backwards imperceptibly, listening attentively.
Lu Bu was stunned by the question.
He pondered for a moment before remembering the ballad he had just hummed unconsciously. He answered readily, "No, it's just a folk song I heard somewhere else."
He vaguely remembered that this was the time when he followed the fat thief Dong into Luoyang and heard a nursery rhyme that was gradually rising in the city.
Without waiting for Han Xin to ask, he had already started humming again, and suddenly he opened his mouth and chanted in a deep voice:
"There are so many soldiers in the city,"
"People died like a forest,"
"Holding gold to exchange for grain,"
"Grill is more valuable than gold."
In just four short sentences, the poet's expression is indifferent, but the picture presented is shocking.
All that was before them were wild grass and white bones along the way. Han Xin and Xiang Yu were both silent, feeling empty in their hearts, and remained speechless for a long time.
The war was raging everywhere, and no matter if you were a king, a general, or an ordinary citizen, their lives were as worthless as grass and turned into a handful of earth.
Seeing the fathers, sons, and children all over the world suffering like this, even a person with a heart of stone would find it hard to bear.
Lu Bu's calm eyes swept across the faces of the two men, and suddenly he said, "The world cannot tolerate two masters, and two heroes cannot coexist. The tree wants to be still, but the wind does not stop. The king wants to cultivate the people and rest, so he enfeoffs the princes as kings. However, the princes each occupy a piece of land, and their greed is endless. How can the fighting stop? How can they stop fighting and cultivate culture, and the people live and work in peace? The people long for stability, and the world has been scattered for a long time, and they also long for unification."
At this point, Lu Bu looked at Xiang Yu with a burning gaze, and took the opportunity to emphasize: "Even if it is only for the people's loyalty, the stability of the country, so that farmers can plant fields, women can spin threads, and children can grow up... Your Majesty should also seize this God-given opportunity and achieve your imperial cause as soon as possible!"
It is really because this foolish king acts on impulse and changes his orders every day. Even though the momentum is good recently, Lu Bu is still frightened.
In his past and present lives, he has been accustomed to wars and has risen from the smoke of war.
When he first saw the miserable conditions of the people, he still felt some compassion, but after more than ten years, he had become numb.
He was just humming casually, but when Han Xin asked him about it, he couldn't help but realize that King Han was there too.
Then an idea flashed across his mind, and he quickly typed a few words.
Xiang Yu's ears seemed to move, but he did not turn around.
Even though Lu Bu stared at him closely, he could not tell whether the other party heard him.
Looking at his back, he seems indifferent.
Lu Bu squinted his eyes and looked at him for a moment, but really couldn't make out anything special. He could only look away in disappointment and turned to talk to Brother Han beside him.
The tragic situation of starving people everywhere did not improve until they arrived in Guanzhong.
Two months later, the efforts of officials from top to bottom of the Chu State to win over the hearts of the people and stabilize the people finally began to show results.
Because it was early winter, there was not a trace of green in the fields, but the roads were crisscrossed and the houses were neat. The people who came and went were wearing shabby clothes, and carriages and horses were passing by.
When they saw the Chu cavalry suddenly appear, they looked up and then stopped looking and continued to work.
Another flash of inspiration came to Lu Bu's mind.
He took advantage of the opportunity to look at the back of Xiang Yu's head and said with great emotion: "The people in Guanzhong are no longer displaced, and can work peacefully in the land. The old and the young live here in peace. This is all the result of the king's benevolent rule!"
Xiang Yu's eyes were as vast as the deep sea, his thin lips pursed, and he did not comment.
However, when Han Xin secretly glanced at his brother, who always praised King Xiang with a sincere look on his face, he felt a little confused.
If he hadn't remembered it wrongly, that day my dear brother... seemed to have blurted out the word "silly king"
He was busy thinking about other things at the time and did not take the title of treason to heart.
Now that he saw how much his brother respected King Xiang, he couldn't help but have strong doubts about his memory of that day.
He must have heard it wrongly.
The group, each with their own thoughts, entered Xianyang City unhindered.
Compared to the ruins outside the city, the royal capital, which had changed hands several times but had never suffered major damage, had already regained its vitality.
Seeing that the Chu soldiers looked ferocious but very disciplined, the people gradually forgot the tragic day when Liu Bang murdered the king and fled in a panic, leaving the remnants of the Han army to fight the Chu army, with blood flowing like a river in the city.
If you think about it carefully, there were indeed no innocent civilians implicated or slaughtered, only many enemy Han soldiers were killed or wounded.
However, when military forces fight, casualties are common.
After observing carefully for a while, they walked out of their homes and walked bravely on the street.
Not only did the common people dare to go out, the profit-seeking merchants were even more daring. Within half a month, they all returned in groups.
The army returned to its base camp outside the city. Xiang Yu walked in front indifferently, riding through the city in the awe-inspiring gazes of everyone.
He had an imposing manner, and even without saying a word, he exuded a murderous aura. No one dared to look at him for long, so they focused their attention on the two young Chu generals who were two steps behind and were also riding horses through the market.
Although Han Xin was also tall and strong with an extraordinary appearance, he suddenly looked dull in comparison with Lu Bu, who was handsome and dressed in... flashy clothes.
After the fierce battle that day, Xiang Yu had already ordered the craftsmen to make several sets of clothes exactly the same as the ones Lu Bu wore that day.
However, he seemed to be unable to bear to see his beloved general wearing only that "plain" pheasant crown, so he secretly ordered craftsmen to make the crown out of gold and inlay it with jade.
When Lu Bu took it in his hand, he was dazzled by the dazzling jewels.
…Although this foolish king is quite simple-minded and not very smart, he is very generous.
Although the value of the crown increased a hundredfold due to its completely different material, the two brightly colored, long and slippery pheasant tail feathers that Lu Bu loved the most remained unchanged.
Because the style was so unique, the bright red pheasant's tail feathers swayed as the jade lion walked, instantly grabbing the attention of the onlookers.
Lu Bu was accustomed to being bathed in the gazes of surprise, envy or fear of others. The more attention he attracted, the more proud he was.
His tiger eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his lips rose slightly, he held his head high and chest out, exuding a heroic spirit that sparkled under the sunlight.
Only after the three of them rode into the palace gate were the countless eyes glued to Lu Bu forced to disappear.
Xiang Yu was not sure what he was thinking as he went straight to the main hall. Halfway through, he suddenly changed his mind and asked Lu Bu and Han Xin to go back to the hall to rest first.
After such a tiring journey, Lu Bu was naturally happy to be relaxed.
As soon as he arrived at Qinchuan Palace, he couldn't wait to grab the hand of this cheap guy and strode straight into the hall.
After Han Xin was pulled by him and sat down next to him, he waved his hand and dismissed his attendants in a casual manner.
Then he finally had the chance to tell everything that had been suppressed in him the whole way, from the moment they parted in Yan to the moment he went to Qi to look for King Xiang.
Han Xin had a relaxed smile on his face at first, but he became more and more frightened the more he listened.
When Lü Bu, seemingly complaining but actually boasting, talked about the king's stupid move of massacring the city and killing the prisoners, which made him furious and resort to military remonstrance, Han Xin could no longer suppress his fear and shook his head, saying, "My dear brother, this is really too impulsive!"
"Don't worry, brother. In extraordinary times, extraordinary things should be done. I have to do this as a last resort."
After Lu Bu evaded the question with this remark, he felt in his heart that although he had attacked first, he had not been able to defeat the super-strong and stupid king, which was really a loss of face, so he cunningly skipped over the outcome of the fight and did not mention it.
He only avoided the main point and proudly mentioned that after his advice, King Xiang finally seemed to have a bright future and stopped making kings rashly, which was indeed a glorious achievement for him.
Han Xin listened silently, feeling worried, and his face looked even more gloomy.
He looked deeply at his brother who was in high spirits, with a thousand feelings in his heart but he didn't know how to start.
The Chu army was unparalleled in bravery and the Chu state was at its peak. However, he saw that King Xiang was erratic in his actions, had a shallow mind and issued inconsistent orders. He had good talents but did not know how to use them. He really did not feel that King Xiang had the potential to unify the country and establish an empire.
In addition, he had been reporting to the Chu army for two years but was never given a high position. So that day he made up his mind to leave the camp and go east to seek his future.
His virtuous brother is a man of extraordinary talent, wisdom and courage, and he is so loyal to Chu.
In order to persuade the violent King Xiang, he even risked his life to make a military remonstrance!
well.
Han Xin sighed softly.
What can he do
My dear brother treats him with deep affection and loyalty, and also gives him selfless support.
Even if he no longer had high hopes for King Xiang, he had no choice but to... sacrifice his life for the gentleman.
Lu Bu continued to talk incessantly, unaware that Han Xin's eyes were complicated and his mind was in turmoil. Finally, he made a silent decision.
When he mentioned Xiang Yu again and again, wanting to offer him the throne or the title of county governor, Han Xin suddenly came back to his senses.
Han Xin frowned slightly. He really couldn't understand it, so he had to speak out in confusion, interrupting his brother's words, which seemed to him to be contradictory: "Since my brother is targeting Liu, why don't you refuse the gifts from Yan and Qi and directly ask the king to grant you the two counties of Bashu? If the king is willing to grant you fertile land, how can he be stingy with poor and remote areas? In this way, my brother can seize the land and become a state, and then naturally ask the king to send troops to capture Bashu and eliminate Liu..."
Han Xin did not notice that when he finished the first two sentences, his brother's smug smile froze on his face.
And as he continued to speak, it was not just the smile on his face, but even my brother's whole body froze.
When Han Xin finally finished his analysis, he found that none of the questions he asked received answers. He could not help but look at his brother in surprise and was suddenly startled.
"My dear brother!"
Han Xin called out in panic.
I don’t know since when, my brother, who was just full of vigor and spirit, suddenly became as dull and lifeless as a puppet!