In the fourth year of the New Calendar of the Qin Dynasty, this summer of 204 BC.

The horn of Qin's revival sounded in the wilderness on the Jiangchu Plain. The horn sound was like the war song of the Qin army, deep and powerful, full of indomitable momentum.

In the territory where the princes are kings, the war continues endlessly, and the intrigues between the princes are still the same. Today they are brothers, and tomorrow they draw swords against each other, it is commonplace.

In May or June, the Western Chu army suddenly moved northward, with a thunderous force, and defeated Tian Heng's 50,000 mob in the Jimo area. This time, Xiang Yu was no longer merciful, and he personally led the army to pursue them all the way.

Under the pursuit of the Chu army, Tian Heng, the last tragic figure of the Tian family, committed suicide on the bank of the sea. Several guests and dead men of the Tian family accompanied him to commit suicide. It is no longer clear whether the specific number of people was 500 warriors.

Passed the exam.

Western Chu's national policy shifted from expansion to internal suppression, causing history to take an unknown and different direction.

During the four years of the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony in history, Tian Heng's forces in Qi were like moths attached to the Chu State, constantly eating away at the body of the Chu army.

Now that Tian Hengshen is dead, the Western Chu Kingdom occupies the vast areas of Qi, Chu, Wu, and Yue. These places are densely covered with plains and rich in produce. Coupled with the abundant manpower constantly fleeing from the Central Plains, the national power of Western Chu has also increased.

grow stronger.

Everyone's path is different.

There are many choices, just like a maze game. Each choice will have a different ending. This is the case for Tian Heng, the same for Liu Bang, and the same for Xiang Yu.

The difference between them is that in addition to age, they also have ability, tenacity, and a little bit of luck.

Tian Heng was forty-two years old, and his life story came to an end in this year.

Liu Bang was fifty-one years old, and his career as King of Han basically ended this year. He fled to the mountains of Yingchuan and guarded the more than 10,000 defeated soldiers in panic. If he wanted to make a comeback, it was no longer an advanced difficulty.

It's the super-advanced part. Under the attack from both sides by Li Yuan and Xiang Yu, Liu Bang has no chance.

Unlike Liu Bang, who was an old man and a martyr in his twilight years, Xiang Yu, the overlord, had just turned thirty. This tragic hero who was once forced to commit suicide in Wujiang ushered in a turning point in his career in this year.

This turning point began when the Chu army defeated Hulao.

That battle shocked Xiang Yu far more than any other battle. Under Xiang Yu's personal leadership, the Chu army, which had always been invincible, suffered a bloody blow, and more than 10,000 elite soldiers were directly killed in the battle.

, among them there are young generals like Ji Xin, and what makes Xiang Yu even more sad is the departure of general Zhong Limei and the depression of another general Ji Bu.

The Five Tiger Generals of Western Chu: Long Qie, Ying Bu, Zhong Limei, Ji Bu, and Yu Ziqi.

Long Qie died in battle, Ying Bu defected, and Zhong Limei stood up on his own. Only the last two were left in the Chu army. However, after his brother Ji Xin was captured by the Qin army, Ji Bu was in a depressed mood, several times.

Pretending to be ill, Xiang Yu initially suspected that Ji Bu was trying to evade the offer. When he visited Ji Bu at his house, he saw a man who was described as thin and empty.

The psychological torture has broken down this iron-clad man. Before Ji Bu's knot is resolved, Ji Bu is basically useless.

As for the last general, Yu Ziqi, he relied more on Yu Ji's relationship to get the position. In terms of ability, he can only be regarded as a medium level. I felt that the generals in the army were inactive. In this peaceful war, Xiang Yu boldly used a

A group of young generals, Xiang Zhuang, Huan Chu, and Zhou Lan were all promoted to the position of partial generals leading an army alone.

The ranking of the new five tiger generals is as follows: Xiang Zhuang, Yu Ziqi, Zhou Yin, Huan Chu, and Zhou Lan.

Xiangzhuang is no longer what it used to be.

This cousin of Xiang Yu, who has a rude and straightforward personality, has behaved impressively in the past year. In the past, he only knew how to be straightforward, but now he is also rough and subtle. Occasionally, he uses a trick, which is quite decent.

Xiang Tuo, Xiang Sheng and other elders were very pleased.

Zhou Yin was the great Sima of the Western Chu Kingdom and had been presiding over military affairs in the Jiangdong area. This time he was also transferred to the north by Xiang Yu and replaced Ji Bu as the mainstay of the Chu army.

Huan Chu and Zhou Lan are two young generals who have been following Xiang Yu. Their promotion largely reflects Xiang Yu's will.

Compared with their qualifications, Chu general Ding Gong and Cangtou Army leader Lu Chen are undoubtedly more qualified to become one of the five tiger generals, but one of them has mediocre ability and lacks strategic vision, and the other is Chen Wangsheng's old subordinate, and is a little less loyal.

.A group of young generals such as Huan Chu and Zhou Lan were reused and promoted, which made it possible for the Chu army to grow.

So far, in this race of strength, Xiang Yu is still the leader, but he was ahead by a little more before, and now he is only half a body ahead of Li Yuan.

Pengcheng.

Chu Palace.

The court meeting of the Western Chu State is in progress.

Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Chu, was sitting in the middle. His expression was a little tired after many days of fighting. His eyes were narrowed, and he could not see the murderous aura of the past. Of course, no one would think that Xiang Yu's domineering power had been weakened.

, a restrained Xiang Yu is more difficult to deal with than a domineering Xiang Yu.

Sitting on both sides were a group of civil and military officials from the Western Chu Kingdom. Compared with Liu Bang's fewer and fewer talents, Xiang Yu had recruited a lot of famous people from Guandong during this period.

In terms of civil servants, Fan Zeng, Shusun Tong, An Qisheng, and Kuai Che were on the left and right respectively, representing the line of foreign ministers, while Xiang Tuo, Xiang Sheng, and Xiang Bo represented the line of Xiang family.

In terms of generals, Yu Ziqi, Xiang Zhuang, Huan Chu, Zhou Yin, Zhou Lan, Ding Gong and other generals were all dressed in purple robes with swords hanging from their waists. They looked majestic and majestic, sweeping away the gloomy scene of the past.

Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu's father who was once highly valued, was seventy-three years old. At this age, Fan Zeng was placed there more as a symbolic figure.

The three people who really advised Xiang Yu were Shusun Tong, An Qisheng and Kuai Tong. Among them, Kuai Che, the counselor Xiang Yu accepted in Qidi, was even more important to Xiang Yu than Shusun Tong and An Qisheng.

Kuai Che was from Fanyang, and is generally called Kuai Tong in history books. He once lobbied Qi King Han Xin to become independent, and warned Han Xin that Liu Bang might be unfavorable to him.

Such a person was naturally not willing to be an unknown and mediocre lobbyist. Sure enough, when Xiang Yu expressed his intention to ask for asylum from the princes in Chu, Kuai Che was the first to stand up.

"Overlord, in Che's opinion, we don't need to pay attention to the requests of the princes. The top priority is that we should quickly send people to Guanzhong to negotiate peace with Qin——." Kuai Che said something shocking. Chu had always been the vanguard against Qin.

The country is negotiating peace with its mortal enemy. I really don't know if Kuai Che is naive or too smart.

"Mr. Kuai is talking in his sleep. The feud between Qin and Chu has lasted for hundreds of years, and this hatred will never go away. At the beginning, the Overlord also made a bold statement: Although Chu has three households, the Qin will be destroyed by Chu. Now these words are especially ringing in my ears. Do you want the Overlord to break his promise?"

Among the ministers, a middle-aged man in his forties stood up in a hurry and shouted at Kuai Yue.

"Humph, the general trend of the world is that if we unite for a long time, we will divide, and if we divide for a long time, we will unite. Uncle Xiang, what use can a two-faced man like you have besides harming the country?" Kuai Che turned pale and pointed at the sour scholar.

sneered.

Xiang Bo was struck by Kuai Che's words. He opened his mouth several times, but could not think of any words to defend himself. He could only blush and sit down sadly. In his heart, he hated Kuai Che to the bone.

"Mr. Kuai, how about the children of the Xiang family, why don't you comment?" Xiang Tuo's face changed and he said solemnly.

As the boss of the Xiang family, Xiang Tuo is Xiang Yu's uncle in terms of seniority, and he is the prime minister of Chu State in terms of status. His status is very special. When it comes to Xiang Bo, Xiang Tuo doesn't like him either.

But in this public place, Xiang's reputation must be maintained.

After the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Bo's "glorious" deeds of working as a lobbyist for Liu Bang were secretly exposed by the Qin State. The furious Xiang Yu almost ordered the execution of this cheap uncle who was greedy for money and ruined the country. Later, Xiang Tuo still

Sheng and others tried hard to persuade each other, and finally spared Xiang Bo's life.

Xiang Bo, whose status has plummeted, has been very depressed in the past two years, and now he can barely stand at the end of the Xiang family. This time, he thought he could catch Kuai Che's speech problem and turn around, but unexpectedly, Kuai Che opened his mouth and cursed, and

He also said it in an extremely unpleasant way.

"Mr. Kuai, if you have something to say, there is no need to say anything else." Xiang Yu frowned slightly and said.

Xiang Yu still recognized Kuai Che's ability. This disciple of An Qisheng was unique in his eloquence and vision. For example, when discussing Xi Chu's strategy, Kuai Che without hesitation put forward "

"Destroy Qi and strengthen Chu". Of course, talented people have tempers, and Kuai Che's arrogance also gave Xiang Yu a headache.

"Overlord, Qin's re-strength is irreversible. Our choices are nothing more than two, one is confrontation, the other is peace talks. If we choose the first option, we will follow the example of the six kingdoms of Guandong in the past when they attacked Qin, and unite all parties.

The princes raised their troops to fight Qin again. Che thought that this road seemed to be the right way, but in fact it was not the most understandable choice. The second was peace talks. Our country Chu and Qin were hostile to each other. What could we talk about? Che thought it was okay.

There are many things to discuss, such as: the ownership of the land of Yan and Zhao, the survival of the Western Wei Dynasty, and even the disposal of Liu Bang's remaining forces, these are all bargaining capital."

Listening to Kuai Che's outrageous words, all the ministers of the Chu State opened their eyes wide and opened their mouths, not knowing what to say. Kuai Che's words completely subverted the previous stance of the anti-Qin camp, and directly and nakedly proposed

He proposed to work with Qin to carve up the power of the weak princes.

In the face of national interests, actual gains are the most important. All feelings and friendships are gone with the wind. This truth that Kuai Che realized two thousand years ago is still shining brightly two thousand years later.

Yu.

"Overlord, apart from Mr. Kuai, there is no one more suitable for peace talks. An believes that the interests of the Chu State are the most important, and the false names touted by the princes are not important." As Kuai Che's teacher.

, An Qisheng also stood up to add confidence to his disciple’s statement.

In the past, the decision-making process of Chu State's court meetings was very harmonious. Xiang Yu mostly adopted Fan Zeng's advice in these general directions. But this time, Fan Zeng faded away, and the new forces represented by Kuai Che showed strong aggressiveness.

This made the Xiang family, which mainly had a conservative attitude, feel threatened.

The atmosphere of the court meeting began to become tense. This kind of tension was different from the tense situation, but a higher-level confrontation, in which people's intelligence and vision were competed.

After the immaturity of the initial period, the Western Chu regime gradually began to take the first step towards becoming stronger. In the near future, it will undoubtedly become Qin's biggest opponent. (To be continued...
Chapter completed!