Fighting for supremacy in troubled times.

Only with strength and luck can you become the king of the competition.

Under the interaction between the inertia of history and Li Yuan's sudden hurricane, the world after the end of the Qin Dynasty has changed beyond recognition. Some inertial events still occur as usual, while others are quietly undergoing qualitative changes.

August of the first year of the Qin Dynasty (206 BC).

There were still more than two months before the millet was ready. A famine unprecedented in the history of the Qin Dynasty occurred in Guanzhong. Hundreds of thousands of anti-Qin troops were stranded for a long time. The heavy supply burden made the elders of Guanzhong miserable. Some committed suicide and fled the famine.

In other words, Yi Zi cannibalism happened one after another.

By the end of August, Xiang Yu's army had enough food to eat, and the coalition generals were homesick. Xiang Yu raised his troops and returned to Pengcheng. There, there was another battle waiting for him. King Xiong Huai of Chu, who was revered as the Righteous Emperor from afar,

Xiang Xin refused to go to Bin County, which angered Xiang Yu who wanted to designate Pengcheng as the capital of the Western Chu Kingdom.

A mere shepherd boy didn't know how to fight against the Xiang family. He didn't even think about it. If his uncle Xiang Liang hadn't rescued him from the hill, who would know who Xiong Xin is now?

Xiang Yu, who already wanted to return home, established himself as the overlord of Western Chu in Xianyang, and adopted the advice of counselor Fan Zeng to enfeoff the princes according to the old system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The starting point of Fan Zeng's proposal was to win over the princes.

The reason why the Qin Kingdom was overthrown was not only the tyranny of Qin II, but also because the county system imposed by the First Emperor was too binding, unifying the world and refusing to obey orders, which made the princes who were accustomed to division and separatism very uncomfortable. But in fact, Fan Zeng's

This view was extremely short-sighted. He did not expect that once the feudal states were enfeoffed, the princes would fight on their own and the central government's binding force would be greatly reduced. In this case, once Xiang Yu's strength was weakened, a new situation would inevitably arise.

A battle for power.

There is some discrepancy with the history when Xiang Yu enfeoffed eighteen princes and kings. This time, Xiang Yu proclaimed himself only seventeen kings. They are: Liu Bang, King of Han, Zhang Han, King Yong, Dong Yi, King Zhai, Wei Bao, King of Western Wei, and Shenyang, King of Henan.

, King Han Cheng of Han, King Sima Qiong of Yin, King Zhao Xie of Dai, King Zhang Er of Changshan, King Wu Rui of Hengshan, King Gongao of Linjiang, King Hanguang of Liaodong, King Zang Tu of Yan, King Tianshi of Jiaodong, King Tiandu of Qi, King Tianan of Jibei

, King Qin Longqie.

Among the seventeen kings, the one who is different is King Long Qie of Qin. Sima Xin, who was originally named King of Sai, was beheaded by Xiang Yu in anger because Li Yuan leaked the secret to Fan Zeng that it was Liu Bang's secret work. Naturally, he could not be killed again.

What kind of king do you want to be?

In order to strengthen his control over Guanzhong, and to deal with the second threat from Li Yuan to the west and Liu Bang to the south, Xiang Yu named Long Qie, his number one general, the King of Qin, and took control of Xianyang, commanding Zhang Han and Dong Yi.

At the same time, Xiang Yu mobilized a large part of the original Qin army to build the Chu Palace in the Pengcheng area, leaving Zhang Han and Dong Yi with less than 10,000 troops each. And Long Qie had as many as 50,000 Chu troops.

Compared with the elites, Zhang Han and Dong Yi couldn't make any big waves even if they had lost the support of the people in Guanzhong.

Among the kings who were enfeoffed this time, another change was that the original Jiujiang King Yingbu (黥布) was excluded by Xiang Yu. The reason why Yingbu was not enfeoffed was mostly because of the ambiguous relationship between him and Yi Emperor Xiong Xin. Another reason was that

Xiang Yu originally wanted to make Yingbu the King of Qin and sit in Guanzhong to contain Li Yuan and Liu Bang. Unexpectedly, when he asked Yingbu for his opinion, the always shrewd leader of the bandits in the middle of the Yangtze River turned silent.

Silence represented rejection. Xiang Yu thought he had a life-saving feeling for Yingbu, but he did not expect that even such a request could not be met. In anger, Xiang Yu revoked Yingbu's qualification to be crowned king.

The loss of the titles of princes and kings meant that the control of the wealth in the jurisdiction changed hands. This was a heavy blow to Yingbu who intended to expand his power.

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

In Guanzhong, the three kings were separated. The situation seemed to be similar to history, but in fact, it was completely different. The existence of Long Qie made Guanzhong the focus of contention between Chu, Han and Qin. Whether it was Li Yuan or not,

Still Liu Bang, if he wants to compete for the world, he must first overcome the dragon and Qie level.

——.

During the period from August to October of the New Calendar, Li Yuan traveled all over the mountains and rivers of Yongqi and Longxi. Everywhere he went, he would order people to carefully draw maps and record the areas under his jurisdiction.

Mountains, rivers, plants and trees, every time he visited a city, he would habitually bring only a few of his followers with him, walking casually through the streets and alleys, listening to the shouts of Qin opera, and looking at the young ladies washing their clothes by the river.

Half of the fair skin is exposed when she bends down.

Shanggui.

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

Boyi, the ancestor of the Qin people who lived here, was granted a fief by Shun and given the surname "Ying" because he raised horses for Shun and bred quickly. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Boyi's successor, Feizi, also contributed to raising horses for King Xiao of Zhou.

He was appreciated by King Xiao. King Xiao not only allowed him to inherit the surname "Ying" from Boyi of Shun, but also named the land "Qin Land". This is the origin of the Qin State.

Li Yuan's arrival in Shanggui City was naturally not random. As the actual ruler of Yongqi, Longxi, he was now facing considerable pressure.

To deal with a fierce general like Long Qie, it is impossible to rely solely on the strength of more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry. In the situation where the soldiers cannot obtain a numerical advantage at the moment, the advantage of technical arms is the key to determining victory or defeat.

The western border is a natural horse ranch and a good place to train a cavalry force that is good at fighting. When Li Yuan came here, he went to the grassroots level to "investigate" the formation and reorganization of the Luo Jia Cavalry Army.

Hou Xi, the magistrate of Shanggui County, took office for half a year. He went from being a Sima in the army to a local official in a city. Hou Xi's change was obvious. This low-level official of the Qin State in his thirties was standing behind Li Yuan, holding his hand.

Holding a heavy bamboo slip, he reported on the situation since taking office line by line.

When superiors inspect, subordinates are frightened and write work reports carefully to avoid mistakes. This is a common form in the officialdom of later republics. If you have seen it too much, you may feel that it is a bit formalistic, but it is undeniable that its existence has its own existence.

reason.

Just like now, listening to Hou Xizai's careful report, Li Yuan interrupted and asked questions from time to time, until Hou Xi was sweating profusely from being asked. After more than an hour, Hou Xi finally ended the interview.

It was an unforgettable performance assessment for him, and Li Yuan also had a preliminary understanding of the situation in Shanggui.

This county town of Longxi County has a population of 5,561 households, totaling 20,837 people, of which 7,151 are male, and those aged 17 or above and 60

There are 2,719 men of the right age below. The rest are all healthy women, old and weak, and young children. Among the young children, there are 4,614 young people over ten years old and under sixteen years old.

, this population distribution is a typical characteristic of new immigrant cities.
Chapter completed!