Chen Ping slowly explained the reasons. Although Lu Bu said nothing, he was also thinking hard.
Although he didn't know whether the man in front of him was a good person or a bad person, loyal or treacherous, at least he couldn't see any problem with the strategy he offered.
Zhang Er, Shen Yang and Sima Ang were all generals of Zhao and had a close relationship with each other. This can be seen from the fact that when Zhang Er's fiefdom of Changshan was taken back by Xiang Yu, he did not go to govern the three counties but went straight to join Shen Yang's army.
Zhang Er must have hated Xiang Yu, who took advantage of the situation to seize Zhao's territory. It would be a waste of effort to send someone to persuade him, and it would only cost the messenger his life.
King Han is cowardly and incompetent, his army is weak, and he will definitely switch sides to Qin and Chu in order to survive. There is no need to waste words, just send troops to support him, and he will not dare to move rashly.
The reason why Chen Ping advised that the Wei territory should be taken quickly was because of the two most important things - the food supply.
It is simply a fantasy to rely solely on the land of East Chu to supply food and fodder for a total of 400,000 Chu troops.
Now that the war has just begun, there are already signs of being stretched to the limit.
Not to mention that Ying Bu had deliberately done evil, burning granaries and destroying fertile farmland, which made the situation even worse.
Fortunately, Zhou Yin's rebellion failed and Xianyang was not lost. This not only meant that the gold, silver, treasures, food and supplies of the Former Qin were preserved, but also meant that the people's hearts within the pass were further stabilized and a harvest from the fertile land would be obtained in a few months.
As long as the Guanzhong area is not lost, food and soldiers can be supplied continuously, making the Chu army's morale firm and having a solid backing.
In order to transport food and soldiers from Guanzhong to the Central Plains battlefield, it is necessary to open up this vital grain route as soon as possible.
To go from Xianyang to Pengcheng, one must pass through the two states of Wei and Yin.
In such a crucial place, it is absolutely unbelievable to simply offer an alliance or surrender.
If Wei Bao becomes disloyal and attacks the grain team, wouldn't the lifeline of the Chu army fall into the hands of others
Only when we fall completely under the control of the State of Chu can we feel truly at ease.
Since it is a must, there is really no need to explain it.
—Alas, it’s a pity that his cheap buddy Han Xin is not here!
Before he knew it, Lu Bu was already in a trance, secretly regretting his actions.
At this moment, the fox eyes that had been buzzing beside him suddenly paused and coughed several times.
He suddenly came to his senses and thought that this civil official was extremely delicate, but he pretended to be concerned and ordered considerately: "Why don't you bring the soup!"
The hot soup was brought by the guards shortly afterwards.
Chen Ping thanked him, but Lu Bu stopped him and filled a bottle for him himself. He then said in a pretentious manner, "I regret that I have to drink soup instead of wine in the army. Otherwise, I would really need to drink a whole bottle to feel refreshed after listening to your words."
Chen Ping smiled happily and took it generously.
He did not refuse, and after taking a few sips to relieve his dry mouth, he was about to speak when he heard Lu Bu say, "Since your plan is so detailed, you must have some suggestions in your mind!"
Chen Ping smiled calmly after his thoughts were revealed, and said frankly, "To be honest, this matter is of great importance, and it is closely linked, and there can be no mistakes. If I hand it over to someone else, I really can't feel at ease. If the general is willing to introduce one or two people to the king, although I am not talented, I am willing to go to Zhaodi to meet Zhao Xie in person, explain the severity of the situation, and lobby him."
Lu Bu raised his eyebrows with a smile, and cast a sharp gaze at him: "How sure are you?"
Really straightforward.
Chen Ping sighed inwardly, his lips slightly raised, his eyes silently revealing undisguised pride: "I will definitely catch him easily."
Lu Bu chuckled.
The next moment he waved his hand: "Wait here."
This statement seemed to be without any context, but Chen Ping understood it instantly and nodded calmly: "Thank you, General."
Lu Bu had a quick temper and since he knew that the envoys would leave the camp tomorrow, he had to get things done immediately.
Although he suffered a great loss from Jia Xu's vicious strategy and was driven out of Chang'an by Li Jue and Guo Si, whom he had always looked down upon, he had somewhat understood the temperament of this type of strategists.
He is good at assessing the situation and seeking benefits and avoiding harm.
Since you want to use him, don't doubt him.
It may seem like trying to get the skin of a tiger, but it is like controlling a wild horse. As long as you make sure that everyone prospers or suffers together, this person will do his best and use any means to plan for his own advantage.
As for whether that fool will be used up and thrown away as a discarded pawn someday...
Lu Bu narrowed his eyes slightly, and a hint of violent and fierce light appeared in his eyes.
… Chen Ping must also live to that day first.
Lu Bu walked slowly to Fan Zeng's tent, went straight in, pulled the quilt, rudely woke up the old man, dragged him to the king's tent, and asked to see the king.
It was late at night and everyone was asleep. Xiang Yu had already changed into his night clothes and was about to go to bed.
Perhaps it was because he was new to the subject but became familiar with it the second time, but this time when he heard that Fengxian suddenly came to ask for a meeting, there was no trace of surprise on his face.
Even the personal guards who had served King Xiang for many years were completely unable to discern the glimmer of expectation in the majestic and cold eyes of the king.
As soon as he received the king's order, he turned around and was about to go out of the tent to inform the two of them. However, he had only taken two steps when he was stopped by the king.
Xiang Yu said calmly, "When Fengxian comes here in the future, there is no need to inform him."
When these light words came out, the guards were shocked and stood still for a long time.
The trust and honor of being able to enter the king's tent without any prior permission was something that not only Fan Zeng, who was respected as the "Yafu", but even his former uncle Xiang Bo had never received!
Xiang Yu saw that the personal guard was standing there in a daze for no apparent reason and could not help but frown in confusion.
Why aren’t you going yet
Before he could say anything else, the guards seemed to sense murderous intent, and they were startled and hurried out of the tent.
Seeing his beloved general and his father-in-law coming in together, Xiang Yu's eyes flashed with surprise, and he changed his sitting position without leaving any trace, but his face remained calm: "What's the matter?"
Lü Bu didn't want to keep the secret, so he told Chen Ping's plan directly. Then he turned to look at Fan Zeng who was lost in thought and asked patiently, "What do you think, father?"
Xiang Yu pursed his thin lips and frowned slightly.
Lu Bu was just waiting attentively for Fan Zeng's answer, not expecting this fool to express any decent opinions.
Little did he know that this action was too natural and too obvious.
Even someone as slow-witted as Xiang Yu felt somewhat displeased at being bluntly ignored by his beloved general.
Fan Zeng was completely unaware that he was being roasted over the fire and was still thinking.
He didn't have a deep impression of Chen Ping.
This person is usually very low-key and introverted, and he did not recommend himself for this diplomatic mission.
How come you only found Fengxian
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Fan Zeng felt relieved in an instant.
Yes, if we want to persuade the king, we should indeed look for Fengxian.
He carefully considered it for a while and felt that it made sense. Just as he was about to speak, the usually taciturn King Xiang took the lead and said, "What do you think, Fengxian?"
Lu Bu said lazily, "It's OK."
Xiang Yu was confused.
—Just making do
Seeing this fool's strange attitude and erratic eyes, Lü Bu couldn't help but said, "In my opinion, there is no perfect plan in this world that will always work. Anyway, we have to fight sooner or later. If this plan doesn't work, we can come up with another one. If it still doesn't work, it's a good time to stretch our muscles and lead the army to fight him!"
These domineering and straightforward words made Fan Zeng burst out laughing and also touched Xiang Yu's heart.
Chen Ping did not have to wait too long in Lu Bu's tent before he received the news he had been waiting for.
He happily stood up, bowed to Lu Bu, thanked him, and leisurely prepared to return to his tent.
"Wait a minute," Lu Bu suddenly remembered something, slapped his forehead, and called him back: "How much money will it cost to accomplish this?"
In his previous life, Lu Bu had lived through more days of poverty than days of wealth.
Of course, I know that whether it is meeting with kings and high-ranking officials or lobbying, there will always be expenses in managing servants and bribing high-ranking officials.
Fang Chenping didn't mention it, and he almost forgot to ask.
Not to mention that stupid fool, even old man Fan, who was relatively smart, seemed to have forgotten everything - it was a good thing I was careful!
Lu Bu felt secretly proud.
Chen Ping was slightly stunned.
He looked at Lü Bu, who looked nonchalant, and after a moment he said, "... One hundred taels of gold will be enough."
"One hundred taels of gold?"
Lu Bu repeated it in disbelief, exclaiming: "How can that be accomplished!"
Without waiting for Chen Ping to speak, he waved his hand and said generously: "Forget it, you go back to your tent and rest first, and then I will send someone to bring you 300 taels of gold to cover your expenses for this trip. There is no need to be so tight on money."
Chen Ping opened his mouth to speak, but Lu Bu added: "Once this is done, the king will surely give you a generous reward, so you can rest assured."
It's not his money anyway, so he doesn't feel bad about spending it.
"Thank you, General."
Seeing Lu Bu's heroic look, Chen Ping seemed flattered and leaned over to thank him again.
And on his face that was facing the ground so that Lu Bu could not see it, his romantic and amorous fox eyes turned into two crescent moons, and the corners of his lips were slightly raised, revealing a faint but genuine smile.
In a blink of an eye, it is winter.
Nearly two months had passed since the lobbyists left Chu, but no good news had come.
The Chu camp where Yu Lingbi was stationed was not at all restless—not only because the Overlord was in charge, but also because the New Year was approaching.
Long Ju and Zhongli Mei led their troops and pursued Ying Bu and Wu Xi's troops relentlessly. Although they failed to catch the two, they did manage to scatter their troops.
Ying Bu and Wu Xi, with the remaining 10,000 soldiers and horses, fled to some unknown place in the huge Jiujiang County and hid. Unable to find their trace, Long Ju and Zhongli Mei simply changed direction and captured the unguarded Jiujiang King's Capital Liu, waiting for King Xiang's order.
King Xiang's order was to rest on the sixth day and set out again after celebrating the New Year.
Seeing that the king was so compassionate to the soldiers, the Chu soldiers were moved and no longer felt the hardship of marching.
On New Year's Day, Xiang Yu set up a banquet in a tent in the camp to celebrate with his generals and officers. He also ordered people to bring out the wine and drinks that he had purchased recently. Except for the soldiers on duty, everyone drank heartily.
The emperor and his subjects enjoyed themselves together in this way, sweeping away the gloom of recent months.
Most of the soldiers under King Xiang were from Chu.
It was a rare opportunity to return to their homeland to celebrate the festival, and they were given wine and water. Although they could not go home to visit their families, the soldiers were still happy.
After drinking a few bottles of wine, those who had a poor alcohol tolerance had their eyes blurred. They banged the food pot with their tongues and sang loudly.
—Can this be considered as being ‘besieged on all sides’
This strange thought quietly emerged in Lu Bu's mind.
Although he drank a few bottles, these drinks were no match for the fine wine that had made him drunk a while ago, so his fair face only turned slightly red, and his consciousness was still generally clear.
But this third bit of drunkenness made him act completely drunk.
Lu Bu had a rare opportunity to be lazy, so he let himself lie comfortably on the seat with his tiger eyes slightly narrowed.
He seemed to be looking intently at everyone at the table, burping from time to time.
He had no idea that Xiang Yu, who was sitting in the main seat, had turned his head frequently and glanced at him countless times.
After three rounds of drinking, everyone at the table was already 80% drunk.
Lu Bu had fully learned the lesson from the false alarm last time. As soon as he felt his head getting hot, he immediately stopped drinking, put down the wine jar and stopped drinking.
At this moment, a soldier suddenly rushed into the banquet, bowed and reported in a hurry: "Report to the king, Chen Yu led 2,000 cavalry and has gone to Pengcheng!"
Xiang Yu frowned and said slowly: "Chen Yu?"
That day, Chen Yu fled without a fight, allowing the Chu army to seize Zhang Er's Changshan State. Xiang Yu was naturally extremely disdainful of such a cowardly person who was afraid of fighting.
No one knows where Chen Yu and his remnants fled to, and they have been lying dormant until now. They even dared to take advantage of the fact that the Chu army was celebrating the New Year on their homeland and their defenses were slack, to cause chaos.
Of course, they didn't know that Chen Yu's hasty attack on Pengcheng was not only to take advantage of the opportunity to retaliate against Xiang Yu, but also to replenish the scarce food and supplies.
After the hasty retreat that day, the people around him gathered and dispersed several times, and in the end only 2,000 loyal cavalrymen were left.
If it were only the several hundred people as before, they could still rely on hunting to sustain their needs; but now there are two thousand cavalrymen, which mountain would have enough prey to take
Chen Yu suddenly had an idea and decided to sneak into the territory of Han State and discuss with King Han Cheng, who also hated Xiang Yu. He pretended to be a soldier of Han State in order to lull the vigilance of Lin Chu State and wait for the opportunity.
However, the weather was getting colder, and the harvest was very poor this year. It became increasingly difficult for King Han to support these 2,000 knights, and his attitude became increasingly cold.
Chen Yu was arrogant by nature. Even though he was living under someone else's roof, he could not stand Han Wangcheng's cold words.
After enduring for a while, he could no longer tolerate it and led his troops away again.
Han and Chu were close neighbors, so he came up with the idea of taking revenge and plundering the Chu people while they were celebrating the New Year to replenish their money and food.
After a moment, Xiang Yu finally remembered who Chen Yu was. He snorted coldly and said contemptuously, "How dare a stray dog come here to bark!"
He was just about to stand up and personally order the soldiers on duty to fight, but he heard a cold sneer from his beloved general.
Lu Bu stood up quickly, his dark eyes were clear, without any sign of drunkenness.
He smiled lazily, and flicked his two bright red pheasant tail feathers perfectly. His whole body exuded a mocking contempt for everything: "Since you are a stray dog, why do you need the king to come in person?"
He raised his chin slightly, looked at Xiang Daizi proudly, and said arrogantly: "A banquet is rare, how can we let the barking of a dog disturb the king's enjoyment! I am willing to lead the troops to the battle, and I will take the head of that guy before the banquet is over, and serve it to the king as a drink!"