In fact, the people who came to arrest Empress Lu were not sent by Xiang Yu, but the people below made their own decisions. Even Luo Xin had some misunderstandings. Just like the Luo family's thousand-year glory and good family tradition, many things will not Do it.
The same is true for Xiang Yu, what a proud man he is.
He grew up listening to Xiang Yan and Xiang Liang telling him family stories, eight hundred years of glory, and heroic generations of ancestors.
He is a person who worships his ancestors very much, and these ancestors do not allow Xiang Yu to do such despicable things.
Moreover, he is the Son of Heaven, upright, with the support of countless Chu people, and in front of the princes of the world, with the help of his undisputed achievements of saving the world and annihilating the violent Qin Dynasty, he gained the position of Emperor. .
A person's character is created by nature and environment. All of Xiang Yu's actions will be bound by his family and education. His failure to become a holy king is due to his limitations of wisdom and character. He treats the people of the world unmercifully. This It's his nature.
But he extended his love for the people of the Xiang clan to the children of Jiangdong. This was the influence of the family on him.
Moreover, Xiang Yu was in a state of distress in Qi, so he had no time to pay attention to Liu Bang's family. King Lu Cheng of Qi was really tough. On the one hand, he fought a civil war with the nobles, and on the other hand, he defended the city and refused to surrender.
When Xiang Yu came to Linzi City, he found that Lu Cheng was simply a coward. No matter how much he scolded him, he would not leave the city and would just defend Linzi.
Faced with this situation, Xiang Yu's first thought was to intimidate the nobles in the city and ask them to surrender and offer the city, otherwise he would kill all the nobles in the city after the city was broken.
This method is really easy to use. There is a saying that if you defend for a long time, you will lose. The biggest pressure on the defending side is not from the outside, but from the internal discord.
No one knows whether others will surrender first, sell others at a good price, and exchange other people's lives for their own glory and wealth.
In later generations, there was a word specifically used to describe this situation, called the prisoner's dilemma.
Moreover, Xiang Yu kept his word. He didn't have the guts to massacre an entire city, but he still had the guts to kill all the nobles and powerful men.
But the information returned by the spies made Xiang Yu numb, "Your Majesty, the nobles in Linzi City..."
When Xiang Yu saw this, he wondered: "Why, are those feeble-minded nobles of Qi willing to coexist and die with the Qi royal city? I would rather believe that the Qin Dynasty will come back from the dead."
After saying this, Xiang Yu burst out laughing. When Qi fell, no nobleman was willing to die for the country. It was unprecedented and unheard of.
The spy said: "Your Majesty, it is King Qi who has killed all the nobles in Linzi City. There are no nobles in Linzi City who are willing to surrender for our army."
quiet!
Deathly silence!
In the entire Chu army's tent, not only Xiang Yu, but also all the generals and advisers did not hold back, and their expression management was out of control.
Xiang Yu opened his mouth and wanted to angrily scold the spies for talking nonsense. How could such a thing be possible? He, the emperor, would not dare to do such a thing as killing all the nobles. How could King Qi dare?
But when I thought about it, the reason why I attacked King Lu Cheng of Qi was because he killed all the high-ranking nobles, including his own princes.
Xiang Yu had to believe that this thing was true, and couldn't help but murmured: "What a madman!"
The nobles of Chu State woke up from a dream. They have learned a lot. There is such a monarch. However, thinking about the old nobles of Qi State, the nobles of Chu State can't help but secretly said that it is really a good death.
Although the nobles of the Chu State also fought to the death with the royal family in order to protect their own interests, they still had the courage to accompany the Chu State to the end when the Chu State was destroyed. Short-sightedness does not mean that they have no spine. Qi State is like this Even the nobles of Chu State looked down upon him.
Not to mention Xiang Yu, when he heard that King Lu Cheng of Qi had killed all the nobles in Qi, he was stunned for a moment, and then he actually laughed and said: "King Qi has really helped me a lot. When Qi is captured, I won't have to do it myself." .”
If the nobles of Qi who had died at Lu Cheng's hands knew that Xiang Yu also wanted to kill them, I really don't know how they would feel.
No one will like the second ministers. Even if they win the world with them, they will still be denounced in the end. This is determined by the monarch's eternal pursuit of loyal ministers.
"Your Majesty, no one has opened the city to surrender. Do you want to directly organize a siege?"
After hearing the suggestions from his subordinates, Xiang Yu hesitated. In fact, big cities like Linzi are rarely captured directly by siege, especially when cities are taken one after another. No matter how many troops there are, they can't withstand such consumption.
Xiang Yu thought for a while and said: "Surround Linzi City first, don't attack the city directly. If Lu Cheng kills all the nobles in Linzi City, then Qi will be in chaos. How can these nobles be so easy to kill? Cut off Linzi City." Liang Dao, let’s see what Lu Cheng wants to do.”
He sighed in his heart, it would be great if Luoling was here, just like when the Qin Dynasty was destroyed in the past, the strong wind was strong. If the wind, rain, thunder and lightning could be caused like King Su in ancient times, Linzi City could be destroyed in a day or night.
In Linzi City, Lu Cheng personally led the Qi army to guard Linzi City. As for other cities in Qi State, he relied on his cronies to deal with them.
It is true that many nobles rebelled directly, but Lu Cheng didn't care. These young men would rebel now if they didn't wait until Xiang Yu came.
As for the letter of war sent by Xiang Yu, Lu Cheng threw it directly into the brazier.
He also smiled at his close ministers and said: "All Xiang Yu's invitations to fight have been rejected.
The most valuable thing about a person is that he knows himself. Although I dare to resist Xiang Yu, I am indeed not as capable as Xiang Yu on the battlefield.
Especially in field battles. Zhang Han's 400,000-strong army was defeated by Xiang Yu back then. I saw with my own eyes how invincible Xiang Yu was on the battlefield, so I would only fight with Xiang Yu in the field if I was mentally ill.
The more he pressed, the more immobile he became, and they just stayed here. The food and grass in Linzi City was enough for three years, and there was no problem with the water source. No matter how strong Xiang Yu was, could he still directly knock down the city wall? "
After saying that, he burst out laughing, his tone was quite proud. He was not someone who would resist Xiang Yu when his brain got hot. He had a thorough understanding of Xiang Yu's strengths and weaknesses.
Xiang Yu cherishes the Chu people from Jiangdong under his command very much, and is absolutely reluctant to let these people attack the city and consume it. "In three months at most, Xiang Yu will either bypass Linzi City and go north, or his letter of persuasion to surrender will be sent. Please wait and see." .”
Sure enough, as Lu Cheng expected, Xiang Yu only organized one siege. The casualties of thousands of people made Xiang Yu stop attacking the city.
Xiang Yu's subordinates, both generals and advisers, advised him, "Your Majesty, there are no immortals in a war. The most important thing is to capture Linzi City now. Otherwise, Qi will always be behind you, which will be a great harm to Chu." "
But Xiang Yu just shook his head and said: "Everyone knows what you said, but it doesn't work. The Xiang family has been in Jiangdong for hundreds of years. The fathers of Jiangdong handed these sons and daughters into the hands of me. If there are heavy casualties, how can I still have the face to return to my ancestors?" Land?
If it were like the Battle of Handan in the past, even if you die in battle, it would be an honor. But now you die in the siege, and you have suffered so many casualties without even being able to see the faces of the Qi people. If you really want to capture this city. How many Jiangdong children will die in the city?
Five thousand or ten thousand?
The ten lives of the Qi people were not as good as the one of the Chu people. They immediately went to capture the Qi people and let them attack the city. "
Xiang Yu had nothing to do in the face of Lu Cheng. He could only go north to gather the Qi army, capture them and prepare to use these people as cannon fodder to attack the city. Then, on the other hand, he stepped up his efforts to urge the kings to come to Qi as auxiliary attacks, which were actually consumables. , first consume the Qi people’s city defense tools.
Then he sent a letter of persuasion to surrender to King Lu Cheng of Qi.
King Lu Cheng of Qi proudly showed it to his ministers, "Look, just as I expected, Xiang Yu sent me a letter of persuasion to surrender."
Xiang Yu had no intention of killing King Qi. In Xiang Yu's eyes, King Qi was pretty good and qualified to be his vassal. He was planning to completely defeat King Qi and then make him a virtual king like King Linzi.
Therefore, the letter of persuasion to surrender was written with sincerity and analyzed the current situation to King Lu Cheng of Qi.
"You now occupy Linzi City. Linzi City is so strong. If you want to capture it, you will probably have to pay tens of thousands of casualties.
Out of pity for the lives of the Qi and Chu people, and unwilling to cause so many casualties on both sides, they were unwilling to attack the city.
You are safe enough in the city, but Ji is still worried about you.
You have killed so many nobles, is there anyone in Qi who is willing to obey you?
No one is willing to obey you, and the Chu army surrounds Linzi City, so you will not get new food.
You must have enough food stored in your city to last three or even five years, but even if the food doesn't go bad, what happens after three or five years?
Can you stay in Linzi City all your life? This is because I am worried about you.
I am willing to grant you the throne of King Linzi. If you can make great contributions, I will hand over the position of King Qi to you. I hope you can think about it carefully. "
King Lu Cheng of Qi looked at this letter and knew that what Xiang Yu said was correct. The Chu army could really surround him for several years. With Chu State behind him, there was no pressure on logistics at all.
But King Lu Cheng of Qi did not agree. He recalled his previous days in Zhaocheng, and then looked to the west, thinking secretly: "Will the King of Han be willing? I don't believe it."
Xiang Yu didn't react much when he was rejected. He thought that King Lu Cheng of Qi was just not very clear-headed, and he would agree as long as he recognized the reality after a while.
So Xiang Yu wasted his time in Qi in vain. He had no idea that Liu Bang had solved Guanzhong at an extremely fast speed.
The general trend of the world has undergone unexpected changes.
It wasn't until Liu Bang began to contact the princes who were dissatisfied with him to jointly attack him that he got the news.
Xiang Yu was naturally shocked and angry. He had no idea why the two kings he had created in Qin were defeated so quickly.
This completely disrupted his arrangement. Before Guandong was solved, Guanzhong had been unified!
"Liu Ji!"
Xiang Yu roared angrily, and then glanced at Linzi City unwillingly, "Withdraw!"
The State of Qi can no longer take care of it. Anyway, the State of Qi is in great chaos now. It is not easy for Lu Cheng to solve it. Solving Liu Bang is the top priority now.
(End of chapter)
