Li Shui made a fuss over the ten new employees, and then gave them two hours of leave.
The seven real employers happily reported the good news to their families.
They are poor, extremely poor. Now that we have entered the outskirts of Shangjun Courtyard, even the hardest-working employees' wages are far higher than outside.
What's more, they have been working for half their lives and have long been accustomed to working. They don't feel bitter, but feel it is normal.
Seven tenants left. Xiang Yu and his group helped each other to a secluded corner.
Xiang Xian was a little happy and said to Xiang Yu: "General Yu, now you have arrived at Shangjun's courtyard. From now on, we are together again. With a general planning big things, I feel more at ease."
After he finished speaking, he found Xiang Yu and others staring at him strangely.
Xiang Xian was a little dazed and asked in a low voice: "General... what's wrong with you?"
Xiang Yu said quietly: "Why is this Huaiguzi so kind to you?"
Xiang Xian was stunned for a moment and said, "It must be because I used to be Song E's guard, so..."
Xiang Yu sneered.
Another descendant of the Xiang family said: "Did you take refuge in Huaiguzi?"
Xiang Xian was startled and shook his head quickly: "No, how dare I take refuge in Huaiguzi?"
Xiang Yu's voice was a little cold: "Or maybe you betrayed us in exchange for Huai Guzi's favor?"
As soon as this statement came out, the other Xiang family disciples were shocked. They stared at Xiang Xian fiercely: "Have you revealed our identity?"
Xiang Xian was about to burst into tears, and suddenly he knelt down and said loudly: "I, Xiang Xian, swear that if I do something that is unworthy of the Xiang family, I will not die a good death. I will make my ancestors' souls uneasy."
Swearing on the dead ancestors, it cannot be said that it is not poisonous.
Xiang Yu and others looked at each other and temporarily believed Xiang Xian.
But believe it or not, everyone is still a little unhappy. The past few days have been miserable at Shangjun Courtyard, and I almost vomited blood from exhaustion. This guy Xiang Xian is just reading something here.
Xiang Yu sighed and said to everyone: "That's all, let's take a chance to rest for a while."
After he finished speaking, he found that no one was responding around him. He turned around and saw that everyone except Xiang Xian was asleep.
Xiang Yu also felt tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
Xiang Yu spent two hours in a deep sleep. Perhaps he slept so well that when he was woken up, he even thought he had just fallen asleep.
The person who woke him up was a craftsman from Shangjun Courtyard. The craftsman gave them some farm tools and asked them to do farm work.
Xiang Yu was a little confused: He just woke up and had to do farm work?
Four words floated through his mind: darkness.
Xiang Yu and his group had no choice but to go to the farmland unhappy. They found that seven other people had arrived and were happily working.
Xiang Yu looked more and more puzzled: "Don't they feel tired?"
One of the descendants of the Xiang family whispered: "These farmers have been doing this since they were young. They may be used to it."
Xiang Yu nodded.
It wasn't until dark that everyone finally called it a day. The farmers chatted and laughed from time to time. Xiang Yu was so tired that he needed someone to help him walk.
After returning to his residence, Xiang Yu whispered to Xiang Xian and others: "Go kill Huai Guzi at three o'clock tonight."
Xiang Xian was startled: "In such a hurry?"
Xiang Yu sneered: "How long do you want to live like this? If you kill him as soon as possible, you can leave this place as soon as possible."
The Xiang family members all nodded in deep agreement.
After a hurried dinner, Xiang Yu lay down on the straw mat exhausted.
He muttered softly: "Kill Huaiguzi, revive Dachu, kill..."
Before he finished speaking, he fell asleep from exhaustion.
I don't know how long it took, but Xiang Yu was pushed awake. He suddenly opened his eyes and found a craftsman standing in front of him.
The craftsman still held farm tools in his hands: "Go and eat quickly, and work after eating."
Xiang Yu looked around blankly and found that it was already dawn.
Did you actually sleep like this last night? What about sophora millet? Was he killed by the Xiang family's children?
Xiang Yu's heart was beating loudly. He walked out of the house and found a descendant of the Xiang family standing outside.
Xiang Yu waited for the craftsmen to leave, then asked in a low voice: "Is Huaiguzi dead?"
The Xiang family members all shook their heads: "Last night, none of us went to assassinate him without the general's order."
Xiang Yu was a little annoyed: "Why didn't you wake me up last night?"
The children of the Xiang family all had grimaces on their faces: "We were so tired last night that we all fell asleep."
Xiang Yu sighed helplessly.
This day, another day spent in farm work seems to have passed by. When it was dark and the work was over, Xiang Yu felt that his legs were no longer his.
After dinner, he warned the children of the Xiang family: "Everyone should keep vigil for half an hour, and wake everyone up at midnight. Huaiguzi must be killed tonight."
The Xiang family members all nodded in agreement.
At midnight, the person in charge of the night watch worked hard and woke everyone up. The children of the Xiang family were sleeping soundly, and it was very uncomfortable to be woken up suddenly.
When it was Xiang Yu's turn, Xiang Yu couldn't even raise his eyelids and said in a confused state: "Tonight, I am too tired. I can't walk with my feet and can't lift the sword with both hands. How can I kill people? Let's do it tomorrow."
Before he finished speaking, the Xiang family's children next to him fell asleep.
After sleeping until daylight, Xiang Yu woke up and felt very ashamed...
Xiang Xian said from the side: "General, I feel that this matter cannot be rushed. Even if you wake up in the middle of the night, your hands and feet will not be flexible. Maybe you can't kill Huaiguzi. Even if you can kill him, you may not have the strength to escape."
Xiang Yu nodded.
Xiang Xian pointed to the relaxed farmer not far away and said: "These Guizhou leaders have been farming since they were young, so they don't feel tired. We, on the other hand, mainly focus on fighting. We learn killing skills and are not good at endurance." .”
"In my opinion, it's better to make it one month. After one month, we will have become accustomed to farm work and no longer feel tired. By that time, Huaiguzi will also relax its vigilance towards us. After we kill someone, we can naturally fly far away. "
Xiang Yu nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, that makes sense."
In the next few days, Xiang Yu and others became much calmer, but at night, they still insisted on waking up once in the middle of the night. The purpose is to cultivate the habit of operating in the middle of the night so that you can be more comfortable when killing people in the future.
As the saying goes, peacetime is like wartime, and wartime is like peacetime.
While the Xiang children were gritting their teeth and exercising, the craftsman responsible for monitoring them reported to Li Shui: "Xiang Yu and his group are gradually becoming familiar with farming and they don't seem so tired anymore."
Li Shui said: "It doesn't matter, just arrange more work for them every day. By the way, we must separate them from the real employers, so as not to tire out the good people."
The craftsman responded and left with a smile.
Li Xin asked curiously from the side: "Brother Huai, this method of yours is not a long-term solution. One day, Xiang Yu will be overwhelmed by more and more farm work. Once he dies of exhaustion in the farmland, by then, Wouldn’t your purpose of trapping him in Shangjun’s courtyard have failed? It’s better to kill him with one blow now.”
Li Shui smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, I'm developing a medicine in the fortune-telling bamboo."
Li Xin asked curiously: "What medicine?"
Li Shui said: "After drinking this medicine, I just feel sleepy. I lie on the couch and have dark and sweet dreams. I can sleep straight until dawn. I call this medicine a sleeping pill."
Li Xin opened his mouth in surprise: "Drug them?"
Li Shui nodded: "Exactly."
Li Xin was silent for a long time, and suddenly said quietly: "I don't know why, but I actually sympathize with the rebels."
Li Shui said seriously: "Brother Li, your thoughts are very dangerous."
…………
In Chu Di, Zhao Tuo had secretly lurked in under the orders of Ying Zheng.
It is almost impossible for three thousand men and horses to enter Chu Di quietly without being discovered. Even if they go out at night, it is as difficult as climbing to the sky.
Zhao Tuo was a smart man, and he thought of a way to fish in troubled waters.
He ordered his 3,000 troops to display the Wang family's banner and march swaggeringly through Chu.
After all, these three thousand troops were sent by the emperor himself. All the flags and seals were in place, and no one could find anything wrong with them.
Those generals who were loyal to the emperor met Zhao Tuo's men and thought they were the cronies of Wang Jian's secret arrangement.
Wang Jian's cronies encountered Zhao Tuo's troops and thought they were another of Wang's well-hidden cronies.
However, after Wang Jian arrived in Chu, he actually deployed many secret troops to protect Xiang Liang.
Wang Jian has many secrets. There are also close relationships among these confidants. No one dares to inquire about the details of the other party.
In short, as long as they don't bump into Wang Jian and Wang Heng face to face, who can see through Zhao Tuo's identity?
But Nuo was so big that it was really difficult to meet Wang Jian.
Therefore, Zhao Tuo came to Chu for more than ten days, but no one knew that they were other troops sent by the imperial court.
On this day, Zhao Tuo led his men and used Wang Jian's banner to collect some food and wages in a small town.
After leaving the city, the group continued to wander and march aimlessly.
The deputy general next to Zhao Tuo said: "General, are we going to continue wandering like this?"
Zhao Tuo hummed casually: "If there are rebels, we will kill them. If there are no rebels, we can just wander around."
The lieutenant general sighed: "How can a general be promoted without meritorious service? Now everyone else is working hard, but we are wasting our time here. The general is very anxious."
Zhao Tuo chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter. His Majesty has long planned to order me to lead troops to conquer Baiyue. Baiyue has a steep terrain, towering ancient trees, and smog everywhere."
"And the Chu land is very similar to Baiyue. You can think of it as training your troops in this Chu land. When you come to Baiyue in the future, you will be more powerful than a tiger, and you will definitely be able to make great achievements."
After hearing this, the surrounding soldiers were all refreshed, and the malaise and confusion of the past few days were instantly gone.
At this moment, the scout horse in front galloped back: "General, general, there is a group of rebels twenty miles away."
Zhao Tuo was immediately overjoyed: "But Xiang Liang?"
Tan Ma said: "It should be Xiang Liang's group. There are about five thousand men and horses. I don't know if Xiang Liang is among them."
Zhao Tuo laughed loudly: "Finally we saw the rebels. Soldiers, follow me to kill the rebels."
The soldiers under his command were all gearing up. After holding back for so long, they finally saw Xiang Liang, and the opportunity came to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.
These three thousand men and horses rushed towards Xiang Liang's people like wolves and tigers. As for the number of 5,000 rebels, Zhao Tuo and his group simply ignored it. What kind of combat effectiveness can the rebels have? Is there any difference between five thousand people and five thousand sheep?
…………
Twenty miles away, Xiang Liang was marching with five thousand troops.
Since the last defeat at Yuewang Mountain, Xiang Liang has learned a lesson: when marching and fighting, it is better to be more valuable than to be more valuable.
Tens of thousands of men and horses, all a ragtag crowd, would break up as soon as they charged, so what's the use?
Therefore, Xiang Liang selected 5,000 men from all his troops and trained them carefully to make them an elite army.
These five thousand troops, commanders of corps, centurions, thousands...the leaders at each level are served by their own cronies, and most of them are named Xiang.
Xiang Liang looked at the five thousand men and horses behind him and felt very at ease. Only with this group of people can I truly feel confident.
At this time, Tan Ma came to report that a Qin army was coming, which was less than fifteen miles away.
Xiang Liang asked extremely vigilantly: "Whose troops are they?"
Tan Ma said: "The other party is using the Wang family's banner."
Xiang Liang chuckled and relaxed immediately: "Wang, it's okay."
Xiang Liang and Wang Jian have reached a tacit understanding. Wang Jian often sent his cronies to lead troops to attack Xiang Liang. At that time, Xiang Liang resisted for a while and then fled. And Wang will not pursue. One is just for military exploits, the other is just for survival, so why fight so hard?
If you encounter someone who is not a direct descendant of Wang Jian, you should be even more careful. Those generals who obeyed the emperor's orders really wanted to destroy the rebels.
Sometimes Wang Jian and Xiang Liang would also discuss the location and deliberately set up an ambush to kill the generals.
In short, Xiang Liang and Wang Jian worked well together in Chu. Now Wang Jian's military successes are reported continuously, and Xiang Liang also obtains food and grass.
Today, he encountered Wang Jian's army again. Xiang Liang felt that this must be Wang Jian's desire to make meritorious deeds again.
So he told the soldiers behind him: "Prepare to fake defeat."
The soldiers were familiar with the situation and agreed.
Soon, the two armies encountered each other, and both had seen each other's men and horses from a distance.
The deputy general next to Zhao Tuo said: "General, looking at their bright uniforms and neat ranks, they don't seem to be just a mob."
Zhao Tuo has been on the battlefield for a long time and naturally noticed this. But he understands better the principle of making great efforts, then failing, and finally exhausting himself. You must not withdraw your troops at this time. Once the morale is weakened and the opponent rushes, you will be defeated.
So he turned around and said to the general behind him: "We must fight to the death and kill those who dare to retreat."
All the soldiers in the army agreed with a loud voice.
Afterwards, Zhao Tuo and his men rushed towards the opponent fiercely.
Xiang Liang suddenly felt something was wrong. Did Qin Bing rush too hard this time? In the past, it was just a formality, but today it seems like a real fight...
He became increasingly uneasy and ordered the soldiers behind him: "Something is wrong. Send an order to meet the enemy immediately."
Unfortunately, it's too late. The entire army was ready to fake defeat and began to retreat at this time.
Before Xiang Liang's order was sent, Zhao Tuo's people had already arrived.
So, according to the plan, he killed the enemy with all his strength and harvested the heads wantonly. The other one started to cheat as planned.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Tuo's men killed the rebels and shed their blood into rivers.
Those Qin soldiers were a little excited: they hadn't fought such a battle for a long time, and the opponent had no resistance at all. These rebels all look smart and strong, with sharp swords, but when they fight, they almost stretch their necks and wait to be killed. Such a rebel still wants to rebel? It's just nonsense.
Zhao Tuo was also speechless: Wang Jian is really old and confused. How can this kind of rebel who acts like a child be allowed to grow up?
Xiang Liang's troops and horses were also confused.
In front of the team, the rebels who were fighting Qin soldiers were confused: Why did Qin soldiers become so brave this time?
Before they could get an answer, they were killed.
In the middle of the team, the rebels came to their senses and began to flee backwards crazily, shouting as they ran: "Escape quickly, Qin soldiers are as brave as tigers."
A false defeat turned into a real defeat.
The rebels at the end of the team had not yet reacted, and they had no idea what was happening ahead. While retreating according to the plan, he discussed with his companions: "Fake defeat today, and fake defeat again tomorrow. Practice makes perfect. I think today's fake defeat is the most real."
The rebel beside him nodded and said, "Yes, I almost believed it just now."
I was a magician in the Qin Dynasty
