Fighting for power in troubled times.

Only by having both strength and luck can one become the king of competition.

Under the interaction between historical inertia and the mutation of Li Yuan, the world after the end of Qin was beyond recognition. Some inertial events still occur as usual, while others are quietly undergoing qualitative changes.

In the first year of the Xinli period of Qin Dynasty, August (206 BC).

There were more than two months before the ripening of the Sakura, and a great famine occurred in Guanzhong that had never happened since the founding of the Qin Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of anti-Qin army remained for a long time. The heavy supply burden made the elders of Guanzhong suffer. Suicides, fugitives, and change sons and eat each other one after another.

By the end of August, Xiang Yu's army was already edible. In addition, the generals of the coalition army were homesick, Xiang Yu raised his troops and turned to Pengcheng. There was another battle waiting for him. King Huai of Chu, who was respected as the Emperor of Yi, refused to go to Bin County, which made Xiang Yu, who wanted to make Pengcheng the capital of the Western Chu State, angry.

A mere shepherd's baby, who didn't know how to fight against him, Xiang, didn't even think about it. If his uncle Xiang Liang had not rescued him from the hills, who would know who Xiong Xin was now?

Xiang Yu, who had already thought of returning home, established himself as the overlord of Western Chu in Xianyang, and adopted the strategy of the adviser Fan Zeng, who followed the old system of the Western Zhou Dynasty to enfeoff the princes. The starting point of Fan Zeng's proposal was to buy the princes.

The reason why Qin State was overthrown was not only the tyranny of Qin II, but also because the county binding force of the First Emperor was too strong, and the whole world was unified and the orders were not followed, which made the princes who were accustomed to division and separatist affairs very uncomfortable. But in fact, Fan Zeng's view was extremely short-sighted. He did not expect that once the feudal was divided, the princes would fight on their own and the binding force of the central government would be greatly reduced. In this case, once Xiang Yu's strength was weakened, it would inevitably trigger a new round of power struggles.

It is somewhat different from the eighteen princes in history. This time, Xiang Yu only had seventeen kings proclaimed himself, namely: Han King Liu Bang, Yong King Zhang Han, Zhai King Dong Yi, Western Wei King Wei Bao, Henan King Shenyang, Han Cheng, Yin King Sima Qiong, Dai King Zhao Xie, Changshan King Zhang Er, Hengshan King Wu Rui, Linjiang King Gongao, Liaodong King Han Guang, Yan King Zang Tu, Jiaodong King Tianshi, Qi King Tiandu, Jibei King Tianan, Qin King Long Qi King.

Among the seventeen kings, there is a difference between the Qin king Long and the king. Sima Xin, who was originally named King of Sur, was secretly Liu Bang, and was cut off by Xiang Yu, who was furious. Naturally, he could not be a king anymore. In order to strengthen his control over Guanzhong, and to deal with the threats from Li Yuan to the west and Liu Bang to the south, Xiang Yu named Long and the King of Qin, the number one general under his command, to control Xianyang, rule Zhang Han and Dong Yi.

At the same time, a large number of the surrendered soldiers in the original Qin army were all recruited by Xiang Yu to build the Chu Palace in Pengcheng area, leaving them for Zhang Han and Dong Yi's army with less than 10,000 people. Compared with the elite Chu army of Long Qi, Zhang Han and Dong Yi, even if they lost all the support, they could not make any big waves.

Another change among the kings enfeoffed this time was that the original King Yingbu of Jiujiang (Yangbu) was excluded by Xiang Yu. The reason why Yingbu was not enfeoffed was mostly because of the ambiguous relationship between him and the Emperor Xiong Xin of Yi. Another reason was that Xiang Yu originally wanted to confer Yingbu the King of Qin and stay in Guanzhong to restrain Li Yuan and Liu Bang. Unexpectedly, when seeking Ying Bu's opinions, the always-savvy leader of the thief in the Yangtze River was silent.

Silence means rejection. Xiang Yu believed that he was willing to save Ying Bu, but he did not expect that such a request would not be met. In a rage, Xiang Yu immediately disqualified Ying Bu's qualification to be the king.

Without the title of princes, it means that the change of hands of the financial control power in the jurisdiction area, which is a heavy blow to Yingbu, who intends to expand his strength.

The subsequent impact of this enfeoffment will last for a long time.

In Guanzhong, the three kings were divided, and the situation seemed to be much different from history, but in fact, it was completely different. The existence of Long Qi made Guanzhong the focus of the competition between Chu, Han and Qin. In terms of whether it was Li Yuan or Liu Bang, if you want to compete for the world, you must first overcome Long Qi's level.

——.

During the period from August to October of the New Calendar, Li Yuan's footsteps traveled all over Yongqi and Longxi. Whenever he went there, he would order people to carefully collect and draw pictures, recording the mountains, rivers, grass and trees under his jurisdiction. Every time he arrived at a city, he had to habitually bring only a few relatives to follow and walk around the streets and alleys casually, listening to the shouts of Qin Opera, and watching the half-white skin exposed by the little girl washing clothes bent down by the river.

On the brink.

The border town of Longxi County located in the Tianshui River Valley is the origin of the Qin State. The land here is fertile, the terrain is open, the peaks are green and the water is prosperous, and the water and grass are lush. It is a good place for herding horses and raising livestock.

Bo Yi, the ancestor of the Qin people who lived here, was given the title of Shun's territory and given the surname "Ying" by raising horses for Shun. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Fei Zi was praised by King Xiao for his contribution to raising horses for Zhou Xiao. King Xiao not only allowed him to inherit Bo Yi's surname "Ying" during Shun's time, but also named his land "Qin". This is the origin of Qin.

Li naturally would not have been arbitrary when he arrived in Shangqi City. As Yongqi and the actual ruler of Longxi, he is facing considerable pressure now.

To deal with such a powerful general like Long Qi, it is impossible to rely solely on the strength of more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry. In the case where soldiers gain a numerical advantage in territory and temporarily, the advantage of technical troops is the key to determining victory or defeat.

The western frontier is a natural horse ranch and a good place to train a cavalry to conquer and fight. Li Yuan came here to "investigate" the formation and reorganization of Luo Jia's cavalry.

Hou Xi, the magistrate of Shangbi County, took office for half a year. From a Sima in the army to a local official in a city, Hou Xi's change was obvious. This low-level Qin official in his thirties was standing behind Li Yuan, holding a roll of bamboo slips in his hand, reporting on the situation since he took office one by one.

When superiors inspect, subordinates are frightened and write work reports carefully to avoid mistakes. This is a common form in the officialdom of the Republic in later generations. If you see it for a lot, you may feel that it is formalism, but it is undeniable that its existence also has its own truth.

For example, now, listening to Hou Xizai's careful report, Li Yuan interrupted and asked from time to time. Until Hou Xi was asked and sweated heavily. After more than an hour, Hou Xi finally ended his unforgettable political performance assessment, and Li Yuan also had a preliminary understanding of the situation of Shangji.

The county town of Longxi County has 5,561 households, totaling 20,837 people, including 7,151 men, and 2,79 men of age over 17 and under 60. The rest are healthy women, elderly and weak, and young children. Among the young children, there are 4,644 teenagers over 10 years old and under 16 years old. This population distribution is a typical characteristic of new immigrant cities.
Chapter completed!