Pei Gong sent away Zhao Gao's envoy in Wancheng and discussed with the generals: "Zhao Gao sent someone to contact him so quickly, which shows that he really has the intention to kill the second generation." Everyone believed that this was indeed possible. Xiao He said: "In this case, Pei Gong should sit in front and plan the attack on Wuguan. I should be the one to quell the chaos in the rear." Pei Gong was surprised and asked him how many troops and horses he needed. Xiao He said: "As long as Mr. Li is accompanied by another general, three to five thousand troops and horses are enough. I promise to put down the chaos within ten days." Peigong said well and let Fan Kuai lead the five thousand troops. Elite soldiers helped Xiao He go to quell the rebellion. Peigong then sat in Wancheng and calmly discussed with Mr. Zifang about capturing Wuguan.
Xiao He received the general's order and set off. Not far away, someone suddenly came to report that Mr. Li left without saying goodbye and had disappeared. When Fan Kuai heard this, he laughed and said: "This old guy must have gone home to live a comfortable life because he was too hard in the army!" Xiao He laughed and did not answer. There have been reports of horses entering Huyang City for a long time. When Mei Rong heard that Xiao He and Fan Kuai led 5,000 troops to suppress the attack, he laughed and said, "You really don't take people seriously!" He immediately discussed the battle with his general Geng Sheng.
It turns out that Mei Xuan is no ordinary person. He is still a descendant of Gou Jian, the king of Yue. In 355 BC, after King Wujiang of Yue was defeated and killed, the people of Yue fled from there. The children of many families fled to live in the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River. Later, in order to avoid the Chu people, a Yue people came to Gao Township in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Because this place is rich in plum blossoms, they changed their surname to Mei and became the ancestors of the Mei family. By the end of the Warring States Period, one of these people formed the Meishan Barbarians (Meishan Barbarians), active in Qimen (now Qimen County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province) and the Anhui and Jiangxi areas in the ancient Qianyue area. Later, Mei Rong's father moved to Anle Township, Yugan (today's Meigang Township, Yugan) and settled down. Mei Rong was born in Meigang Village, Meigang Township.
Mei Rong has been tall and handsome since he was a child, with extraordinary arm strength. After the unification of the Qin State, he led a group of troops to follow the then King of Yue via Liling, Hunan, to Nanhai (today's Guangdong), and lived in Tailing (after Mei Wei's death, later generations renamed Tailing Meiling), and then recruited people. , drill the soldiers and move the camera. There was a local righteous man named Yu Sheng. The two brothers supported thousands of people and took over the mountain as king. Because they admired the name of Mei Yi, they attracted people to join them. Mei Ling was so happy that he appointed Yu Sheng's brothers as his lieutenants and guarded the two mountains in Tailing respectively. Later generations called these two mountains Dayu Ridge (where Yu Sheng was guarding) and Xiaoyu Ridge (where Yu Sheng's younger brother was guarding). All the strong men surrendered to Mei Yi one after another. At that time, there were 6,000 soldiers. There is a river named Zhenshui at the foot of Tailing Mountain. It flows into Nanxiong in Guangdong in the south, then flows into Beijiang through Shaoguan, flows to Guangzhou and joins the Pearl River, and flows straight into the sea. Due to this geographical situation, Tailing became a military fortress. Mei Kuang inspected the terrain, built a city to drain the water, and defended it with troops. It gained great momentum and was named "Mei Kuang City". Later, Wu Rui, the commander of Fanyang of the Qin State, was ordered to conquer Mei Rui. Because Wu Rui's mother, Mrs. Mei, was Mei Rui's aunt, and Wu Rui was very prestigious in the local area, Mei Rui defected to serve under Wu Rui. A senior general.
After Chen Sheng's uprising, Wu Rui first raised the banner of anti-Qin and actively encouraged Mei Rui to respond to the uprising. According to the "Zhili Nanxiong Prefecture Chronicles", "Baiyue rebelled against the Qin Dynasty and promoted heroes as leaders. Everyone was virtuous and talented, so he was the leader." Mei Rong came to Baiyue on Wu Rui's order to recruit troops and actively prepare for war. Later, Mei Rong heard that Wu Rui supported Ying Bu to join the anti-Qin team and followed Xiang Yu to fight, so he left Yu Sheng's brothers to garrison Tailing and came to discuss important matters with Wu Rui himself. Wu Rui was very happy when he heard that Mei Rong was coming and went ten miles out of the city to greet him. Wu Rui and Mei Rui met happily and had a very good conversation. Wu Rui gave Mei Rong money, food, weapons, troops and horses, and asked him to go north to conquer Qin. Mei Rong then returned to Tailing to gather troops and horses, and got 30,000 Cantonese troops. When everything was ready, he marched north and arrived at Nanyang. At this time, Peigong had captured the entire territory of Nanyang and was preparing to enter the pass. In order to attract Pei Gong's attention, Mei Rong raised the flag of rebellion. After capturing Hu Yang, he threatened to attack Wancheng. Nanyang was shocked for a while.
Xiao He is a shrewd man. He has collected this information and came to Huyang with Fan Kuai. Mei Wei stationed 5,000 soldiers in the city and 25,000 soldiers outside the city. The formation looked very huge. Fan Kuai said: "Where are there so many bird soldiers?" Xiao He said with a smile: "Are you afraid?" Fan Kuai said: "I'm not even afraid of Yang Xiong, why are I afraid of him? I'm going to chop off his head now! "After that, go and challenge immediately. When Mei Rong heard that Fan Kuai was challenging him outside the camp, he came out and killed him. Xiao He saw that Mei Yi was dressed up in a very unique way: his golden crown was inlaid with pearls from the South China Sea, his silver wings were inlaid with colorful phoenixes about to fly, and his brocade shirt was embroidered with colorful threads on the dazzling red bird. The chain armor is shining with golden light, the dark clouds are translucent in the black, the beast's hair is red and yellow, the red-maned horse is sitting down and the fat body is strong, and the bronze halberd is dancing in the sun. The whole person looks indeed extraordinary and invincible. . Xiao He exclaimed: "There are such romantic figures in Guangdong!" Fan Kuai, on the other hand, said cursingly: "Hey, little Nanman! I think you are just like Yang Chufu when you are still alive." Mei Rui said angrily: " Bold villager, I am a descendant of Yue King Gou Jian, how dare you say this about me?" Fan Kuai said angrily: "A nameless rat! Pretending to be from a famous family, you really have the courage to take advantage of me, dare to copy my brother's future?" Mei Rong said: "Let Liu Bang come in person, you are no match for me!" Fan Kuai was furious and immediately stepped forward to fight. Mei Rong and Fan Kuai fought, and the two men fought with halberds and axes for fifty rounds in front of the formation, regardless of the winner or loser. When Xiao He saw that Mei Wei was highly skilled in martial arts, he quickly ordered the gold medal. When Mei Kai saw the Chu army withdrawing its troops, he burst into laughter.
Fan Kuai returned to the army and said to Xiao He: "Brother, why are you withdrawing your troops? If you kill for a few more rounds, I will catch that thing." Xiao He said: "I think Mei Rong's martial arts is not inferior to yours, you Stay calm for a moment. When we face the battle tomorrow, I will first persuade him to surrender. If he can surrender to us, won't Pei Gong have one more general?"
The next day, Xiao He and Fan Kuai once again led their troops to Mei Rong's camp to challenge. Seeing that the Chu army was coming again, Mei Yi beat drums to fight and fought out of the camp. Xiao He stepped forward and said: "I heard that General Mei separatist South Vietnam is also a tyrant. Now all the heroes in the world have risen up against Qin. Why don't you destroy Qin but instead help Qin?" Mei Yu said with a smile: "I was ordered by Master Wu Rui , Serve Qin loyally, unlike you who are turbulent and turbulent. They used to be officials of Qin, but now they have all betrayed Qin and are not loyal people!" Xiao He said: "Qin conquered the world with violence and forged many grudges with the six countries. Now they are all Qin officials. The implementation of xian government has caused public dissatisfaction, but you serve a tyrannical country. Isn't it just that you are helping the tyranny?" Mei Yi said: "No matter how unworthy the ruler is, he is still the master of others, and no matter how reasonable the minister is, he is still a servant. Since ancient times, the following has been the top. , It is despised by people to attack the king with his ministers. Don't you understand this truth?" Xiao He said: "Didn't the general hear about Shang Tang and King Wu? Besides, I heard that Mr. Wu Rui had already responded to the Chu State And why do you stick to the rules during the uprising? Do you regard benevolence and righteousness as rubbish?" Mei Yi smiled and said: "That's just your talk, but I can't listen to it!" Fan Kuai said angrily: "Brother, stop talking to him! Who is the second generation? Don't he know that he is a bastard? If he insists on going his own way now, it means that this bastard is blind." Mei Yi was furious and said: "You are all Sishang unruly people. If you want to enter Wuguan, you must first pass through me. One pass!" Fan Kuai said angrily: "I will fight you for another hundred rounds!" Mei Yi said angrily: "As long as you beat the guy in my hand, I will enter the pass with you!" Fan Kuai said: "What do you say? Don't think of it as fart! If I don't catch you today, Lao Fan will be disarmed and return to his field!" Fan Kuai said and charged out again. Mei Xuan did not show any weakness and greeted him with a halberd. The two started fighting fiercely in front of the formation. The two sides fought until dark before withdrawing their troops.
Fan Kuai came back and said: "Brother, this thing seems to have eaten pig iron, and its hands are a little strong! I didn't catch it today, what should I do?" Xiao He said: "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, I'll wait for another person." Fan Kuai said. Just ask who you are waiting for. Xiao He said: "Mr. Li." Fan Kuai said with great disdain: "He is already sleeping with his arms around my mother-in-law, what are you waiting for? Besides, what's the use of him coming? This fighting is a labor of strength, and you don't just rely on your words to curse people? Even so? He can scold, can he scold people to death?" Xiao He said with a smile: "Brother, please don't talk nonsense. Mr. Li went to perform my mission and did not go home." Fan Kuai also didn't know what Xiao He asked Li Shiqi to do. Seeing that Xiao He didn't say what he was doing, he didn't ask any more questions.
On the next day, Fan Kuai led his army and horses to the camp to challenge again. Mei Yi couldn't hold on. Fan Kuai insulted him in every possible way in the city. Suddenly the camp gate opened wide, and thousands of soldiers poured out from inside, forming a dark rectangular battle formation. The leaders were Yu Sheng and his younger brother Yu Pang. Mei Kuai said loudly: "Fan Kuai, if you can break my formation today, will you be considered a winner?" Fan Kuai said: "Look, Mr. Fan will beat you to a pulp!" Xiao He stopped him and said: "No, we must not force our way through. "Fan Kuai said: "What should we do? Otherwise, you can quickly send people to Wancheng and call in more troops." Xiao He said: "That's not necessary." Fan Kuai said anxiously: "You only promised my elder brother ten days? What's this? He's got a big posture, how can he conquer him without risking his life?" Xiao He said: "Don't worry, the people who will surrender him will definitely arrive today!" Then he said to Mei Yuan: "General Mei, your formation is indeed powerful, let's go back and discuss it for now. , do you think it’s okay to break the formation tomorrow?” Mei Yi couldn’t stop laughing wildly. Fan Kuai also felt baffled. So they withdrew their troops and returned to their camps.
That night, Fan Kuai was complaining when suddenly a sergeant came to report that Mr. Li had arrived with a military master. Xiao He was overjoyed and said: "The people who surrendered General Mei are finally here!" He and Fan Kuai hurried out to greet him. It turned out that the person Li Shiqi invited was Lord Wu Rui of Fanyang Order. This man had always loved the people and had a high prestige in the south. He once supported his son-in-law Yingbu's rebellion against the Qin Dynasty, and he was also Mei Rong's uncle. Therefore, when Xiao He left Wancheng, he secretly sent Li Shiqi to Fanyang to invite Wu Rui. grown ups.
This Wu Rui is not an ordinary person. On the fourth floor of the Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang City, there is a huge painting of historical celebrities. The painting is of Wu Rui. Speaking of which, he is a descendant of King Wu Fu Chai. In 473 BC, the state of Wu was destroyed by the state of Yue. King Gou Jian of Yue killed Fu Chai, and his descendants fled in all directions. In 248 BC, Wu Rui's father Wu Shen was demoted to Fanyang (today's Poyang) and settled in Fanyang (today's Poyang), and later moved to the southern foot of Longshan in Shanxiang, Yugan County (today's Shegeng Township), where Wu Rui was born. Wu Rui was very smart since he was a child. When he was young, he liked to study the art of war. At the age of 18, he commanded more than 17,000 soldiers and horses, which were distributed in the main roads of Poyang, Yugan, and Fuliang. His troops had strict military discipline and were very popular among the people. Wu Rui's mother, Mei, was a virtuous person and suggested hiding troops among the people to promote agriculture and commerce. Therefore, Wu Rui's troops developed rapidly. Its sphere of influence extends from Qimen, Anhui in the north, to the border of Jiangxi and Zhejiang in the east, to Fujian in the south, and to Duchang, Poyang. Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, and the Qin State established Fanyang County in Jiangxi. Wu Rui was recommended as the county magistrate by the villagers.
After Chen Sheng's uprising, heroes from all over the country defected to him one after another, such as King Wuzhu of Fujian and Yue, and King Zouyao of Haidong, both descendants of King Goujian of Yue. They all led troops to Wu Rui, and among them was Yingbu, leader of the Huainan rebel army. At that time, Yingbu had thousands of troops. Wu Rui married his daughter to him and sent troops to attack Qin. Later, he encouraged Mei Yi to help Chu attack Qin. However, after Li Shiqi arrived, Wu Rui realized that Mei Rong not only did not help Chu but attacked Chu. For some reason, Wu Rui immediately followed Li Shiqi to Nanyang.
When Xiao He saw Wu Rui, he saluted and said, "The old hero has come all the way. It's really hard work!" Wu Rui said, "I heard in Fanyang that Pei Gong's troops were almost reaching Wuguan. I was really happy. Ah. But Mr. Li is here. He said that Mei Rong rebelled in Hu Yang, so I came immediately. General Mei is the grandson of my mother's family, I think he must have something to hide." Xiao He listened to Wu Rui's words, He prepared a banquet in honor of him. Wu Rui said: "Oh, I have read a lot of successes and failures in my life! The world has been suffering for a long time. I wish I could see the people live a good life as soon as possible! I don't have the time to drink. I have to do business first. ." After saying that, he immediately went to Mei Rong's military camp. Xiao He said: "I really admire the old hero for being so concerned about the country and the people." Wu Rui smiled and said: "It is precisely because of my old age that I have a lot of regrets. Mr. Xiao is now assisting Liu Peigong in conquering Qin, which is like Jiang Ziya assisting King Wu of Zhou in conquering Zhou. Ah!" He immediately got up and went to persuade Mei Yi to return to Chu.
Wu Rui came to Mei Yi's camp alone and shouted to open the door. Most of the sergeants guarding the gate knew General Wu, so they hurriedly reported to Mei Rong. When Mei Rong heard that his old master, Mr. Wu, had arrived, he quickly came out to greet him. Wu Rui went into the city to see Mei Yi and said, "My dear nephew, Qin has been wreaking havoc on the world for too long. All the righteous men in Shandong have risen up against Qin. Now Pei Gong is about to enter the Pass, why are you stopping him?" Mei Yi said very shamefully: "Excuse me. Mr. Bo wrongly blamed me. I really just wanted to attract Pei Gong's attention. Fan Kuai and I have been fighting these past few days just to attract Pei Gong. I don't want to alarm you. I'm so ashamed!" Wu Rui said earnestly: "My dear nephew. Ah, now Pei Gong is following the order of King Huai of Chu to punish the people and set his sights on Guanzhong. Now he has pacified the entire territory of Nanyang and is about to attack Wuguan. Now you quickly submit to him and then give all the troops to Pei Gong's command. This will This is a great opportunity for you to establish your achievements in your life. If Pei Gong enters the Pass and achieves great achievements, all of your followers will be able to gain fame and wealth for many generations. This is simply an unworldly strategy, why are you still hesitating?" Mei Yi said: "I originally wanted to meet General Liu, but now the leader is Xiao He. He is just a counselor!" Wu Rui laughed and said, "Do you know what kind of person this Xiao He is?" Mei Rong said she didn't know. Wu Rui said seriously: "Young man, you are still too young!" Mei Rong sincerely asked for advice. Wu Rui said: "Liu Bang has two outstanding figures. One is the famous Zhang Liang, Zhang Zifang, who is known to the world; the other is Xiao He! I heard that when Liu Bang first raised an army, it was Xiao He who first proposed it. He was recommended by the court officials to go to Qin to assist the First Emperor, but Xiao He was very discerning and determined not to serve as an official in Qin. Later, he told his friend Cao Shen that Qin would not last long. A few years later, Chen Wei first He launched an attack, and then all the people in the six countries rose up in rebellion. His words came true, which shows that he does have a far-sighted vision! He and Zhang Liang are known as Liu Bang's right and left arm, and the two go hand in hand. Now assisting Liu Bang is just like before. Fan Li and Wen Zhong, who assist King Gou Jian of Yue, will surely achieve great things!" After hearing this, Mei Yi suddenly realized: "My nephew is really short-sighted. I will welcome Xiao He into the city immediately." Wu Rui was overjoyed.
Mei Rong opened the city gate to welcome the Chu army into the city, and then paid homage to Xiao He and said, "Master Xiao is well-known in Si, and he is an outstanding talent of this generation. This villain is really blind, and he has offended many people!" Xiao He said, "General Mei Joining the Chu army, my Pei Gong has another general. Now we have to rely on General Mei to enter the pass!" Mei Xun said: "Thank you for your praise, I will be willing to serve you!" Xiao He was overjoyed. Mei Xuan invited everyone to have a banquet and celebrate. During the dinner, Xiao He sincerely toasted to Wu Rui and invited him to follow Pei Gong into the customs. Wu Rui said: "I am old and my health is not good. Although I have the ambition to eliminate violence and bring peace to the people, I don't have the power of Lu Yang. It's up to you nephews to destroy Qin!" He said goodbye to Xiao He that day. Xiao He refused to stay and let him go back to Fanyang.
After Wu Rui left, Xiao He did not dare to delay and immediately ordered the troops to march to Nanyang. When everyone came to Wancheng, it was exactly ten days. After listening to Xiao He's report, Pei Gong was really happy to see a general like Mei Yu and thirty thousand sergeants. Seeing that Nanyang had been completely pacified, he discussed with everyone the march to Wuguan. Suddenly a sergeant came to report that an envoy from Guanzhong had arrived. Zifang winked at Pei Gong and walked out. Pei Gong sent an envoy to see him. After a while, the envoy came in. When he saw Pei Gong, he said: "Your special envoy Mr. Ning Chang is at the Prime Minister's Mansion. The Prime Minister has already made a big plan and is ready to help the general enter the pass. Now he is just worried that the general will not carry out the agreement after entering the pass." , so I have been specially ordered to agree with the general on the specific matters of dividing the pass equally." Pei Gong said: "As long as the prime minister makes great achievements first, I will definitely give up half of the land to Prime Minister Zhao after entering the pass, so that he can stay rich forever!" The envoy insisted. Asking Pei Gong to demarcate the territory in detail, he also had to swear an oath to the Heavenly Alliance before he could rest assured. After hearing the envoy's words, Pei Gong became furious and said, "Who are you, and you dare to swear an oath to me?" He ordered him to be pushed out and beheaded. The messenger was so frightened that he was pushed out by the soldiers.
Zifang had been waiting outside. When he saw the soldiers pushing the envoy out, he stopped and said to the envoy, "Do you know why Pei Gong wanted to kill you?" The envoy was very frightened and said he didn't know. Zifang said: "We have known for a long time that the second emperor is dead, but you lie here, and Pei Gong is angry. Now tell the truth, has the prime minister killed the second emperor? Where is Mr. Ningchang now? ? If you tell the truth, Pei Gong will be the first to give you an official title after entering the pass!" The envoy was shocked and said: "The second emperor is indeed dead, Lord Ningchang is in the Prime Minister's Mansion." The envoy took the Huns. He told them how to invade and how Zhao Gao killed the second generation when he was in a hurry. After hearing this, Zifang laughed and said, "Now go back and tell your prime minister that he has done a good job in getting rid of the faint king, and Pei Gong will not treat him badly after entering the pass." The messenger did not dare to say anything, and hurried away with his head in his arms.
Zifang came to see Pei Gong and told everyone what the messenger said. After hearing what Zifang said, everyone was very shocked, and they all praised Zifang and said, "Sir, you are really a god. It's just as you expected!" It turned out that Mr. Zifang was watching the Qian Dynasty a few days and nights ago, and saw the Ziwei wall. The Emperor Star suddenly fell, so it was concluded that the Second Emperor was dead; the appearance of the Chen Star was always erratic, which indicated that there was war in the north, and it was concluded that the Huns had also invaded the Qin Kingdom; and a meteor in vain was seen heading west. Flying away, it was concluded that the armies of the princes would definitely conquer Qin. Seeing that Qin was in danger and it was a good time to enter the pass, Zifang persuaded Pei Gong to send troops quickly to capture Wuguan.
