When he learned the news of Handanji's death in battle, Zhong Xingyin happened to be in Handan.

The territory of the Zhongxing clan is very large, its land is adjacent to Taihang in the west, Jize in the south, Dahe in the east, and Yan in the north, with a radius of thousands of miles, almost half of Hebei Province in later generations, even if it loses Yiyi, it is almost the same size as the Lu country. This is the result of the five generations of the Bank of China's family heads committed to developing the Hebei Plain, and before the rise of the Zhao clan in recent years, the Bank of China can become the leader of the Liuqing, which naturally has its confidence.

However, this territory called "Dongyang" is vast and sparsely populated, full of lakes, marshes and salt brine land, with a population of only more than 400,000, and half of them are Rongdi people.

Therefore, the army of the Zhongxing clan is mixed with a large number of Rong Di soldiers, Zhongxing soldiers, unparalleled in the world, Jin to Dongyang's armor, male in Shandong, every big war is indispensable to their shadow. Even King Chu Ling, who was invincible back then, had to be afraid of three points when he heard the names of Zhongxing Wu and Zhongxing Phalanx.

After the news of Handan's death, Handan declared his rebellion against Zhao, and as the supporters behind them, the Zhongxing clan also recruited the lords of Dongyang and the Rongdi tribe, ready to join the war at any time. In the middle of April, Zhong Xingyin personally led a whole army and the vassal Rong Di people to the south, his initial goal was to go to the north bank of Qinshui, and join the Fan army gathered there, with two enemies and one, annihilate the main force of the Zhao clan, then the battle east of Taihang can be determined.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he was resting in Handan, he received the news of Handanji's death.

"Nephew!" Zhong Xingyin behaved in agony in front of people and almost rolled off the chariot.

But behind the people, after wiping away his tears, Zhong Xingyin's greedy little eyes flashed with a trace of ruthlessness.

"My brother-in-law and nephew died at the hands of the Zhao family. Now half of Handan's combat strength is either dead or surrendered, and the dragons have no leader. Everyone in the streets is worried about the future of Handan, and I am afraid that they will demote Zhao. It's not as good as ......."

He planned to strike first and let the Zhongxing troops take over Handan, Hanshi, Qianhou, Xiyang and other counties.

However, just when the ministers were ordered to carry it out, an old man with white hair and white beard stood up to dissuade him.

"Lord, this must not be done! This is self-defeating! ”

……

Zhong Xingyin didn't like someone to disobey him, so he was furious when he heard it, but when he turned his eyes, it was the old minister who was strong, and his attitude suddenly became a little kinder.

Gao Qiang is not an ordinary person, he was the dignified secretary of Qi earlier! is also an old minister left by his father. Therefore, if you are arrogant and greedy, you have to respect him a little.

When the Duke of Qi Zhuang was in power, Cui Zhu and Qingfeng successively took power, and Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Yu launched a coup d'état to expel the Qing family. The two are both grandsons of Qi Huigong, so they are called Erhui. Erhui dominated the national government, suppressed the nobles with different surnames, strengthened the power of the Qi princes, and revived the Lu family.

More than 30 years ago, Gongsun Yu drove away. Gao Qiang is his heir, and he is succeeded as the lord of the Gao family. But Gao Qiang was young and addicted to alcohol, and was soon expelled by the conspirators Chen Wuyu and Bao. Gao Qiang fled from Qi in a panic. Defected to the Jin State, and was valued by the Jin State General Zhongxing Wu, and since then he has served as a retainer of the Zhongxing clan. He made a contribution to the expansion of the Bank of China.

Gao Qiang suffered a miserable defeat when he was young, and later learned from the pain. On weekdays, he was quite able to put forward some pertinent suggestions, and gradually became the first retainer of the Zhongxing clan. So Zhong Xingyin asked, "Ziliang, let's talk about it." Why not? ”

Gao Qiang said: "The princes are fighting, avoid disputes and disagreements within the alliance, now that the two lords of Handan have died one after another, the lord is the uncle of the Handan clan, and he should come forward to preside over family affairs for them, instead of blatantly seizing his military politics." ”

"I let people be stationed in various counties because I want Handan to be used by me."

"The sovereign's methods are too unfriendly, so I am afraid that it will arouse the dissatisfaction of the people of the Handan clan. What's more, Zhao Wuxian had crossed the river north and entered the hinterland of the Fan clan, and at this moment, the sovereign should rush south to seek a joint army with the Fan clan. Instead of delaying in Handan, it should not divide the troops and let the main force be limited to a few counties in Handan. ”

"Then what do you say? My brother-in-law and nephew are dead, and the concubines of Handan are not related to me, so I can't trust them......"

Gao Qiang said: "Mrs. Handan is the sister of the lord, although she is sad, but she is still alive, it is better to choose a young concubine of the Handan clan, and pass it on to Mrs. Mourning Ji and establish her as the new master." Then he left a reliable retainer in Handan and presided over the overall situation with the head of the Handan family. ”

He lowered his voice again and said: "In the first battle of Muye, half of Handan's soldiers were trapped, and it is unrealistic to rely on them to shed blood again during the military battle. But Handan is a metropolis between Zhangzhang and the river, and the four counties are all ten thousand households, and its place is Tongbai people in the north, with Chaoge in the south, Taihang in the west, and Weiguo in the east, which is the throat of the land of Dongyang. Since Zhao Wuxian has crossed the river to the north, the Chaoge area will also become a battlefield, Handan can be attacked when he advances, and he can defend when he retreats, which happens to become the natural rear of the front line. The people of Handan first had a grudge against the Zhao family, and now they are even more filial piety, if the operation is done properly, the people's hearts can be used. The old minister's heartfelt words, I hope the lord will see it! ”

"Makes sense......"

After thinking for a moment, Zhong Xingyin nodded yes, changed his original plan, and acted according to Gao Qiang's suggestion.

He first used thunderous means to kill all those Handan's father, brother and brother Kundi who had a tendency to be pro-Zhao, stabilized Handan's people's hearts and shakes, and then as an "uncle", he passed Handan Ji's younger brother who was not yet ten years old to his sister, and established him as the new suzerain. In the end, according to Gao Qiang's suggestion, he left a division to help Handan Jiazai Shebin stabilize the situation, and he continued to command an army of 10,000 to rush south.

The army of the Bank of China covers the sky and the sun, and Rong Di's disciples have always been good at foot strength, so they march very fast. They crossed the Huanshui and crossed the Qishui, and by the end of April, the army had reached the northern outskirts of Chaoge. Chaoge Sima Liu Xiang looked forward to the stars and the moon and finally came to the Bank of China, and he was overjoyed for a while, and went out of the city to greet him in person.

However, as soon as Zhong Xingyin saw Liu Xiang, he was angry, shook him in public, and scolded: "Yongchen! You lost the two masters in the battle, but you fled with your life, you say, what crime should you be guilty of! ”

……

"The foreign minister is a capital offense! Just wait for the lord to return, and then kill me in the temple, but before I die, I still have to do my duty, after all, I am a small sect of the Fan family, and I am also the queen of the Yulong clan. ”

Liu Xiang resignedly apologized on the ground, but he couldn't say anything about the bitterness in his heart.

That night, he broke through and fled, but was chased by more than 100 Zhao light horsemen halfway through, and he almost couldn't escape.

Fortunately, the people he sent to ask for help before came out to meet with hundreds of reinforcements from Muyi, and Liu Xiang was able to enter the city with a few personal guards to survive.

Muyi is a small town of a thousand households, the rammed earth wall is not more than a foot high, there is no way to garrison, Liu Xiang did not dare to stay for a long time, and ran north again. Sure enough, not long after entering the city, he learned the news of the fall of Muyi.

Liu Xiang couldn't help but be afraid, how fast! Fortunately, I was in a hurry.

However, after entering Chaoge and hiding behind a safe wall, he felt that he had taken the initiative again. If Zhao Wuxian went west to Qinshui, he could recruit the people of Chaoge, follow each other, and wait for the opportunity to join the garrisons in the Fan and Gong areas, and strive not to let the lord of Qinshui fall into the predicament of being attacked by Zhao soldiers on both sides.

It would be even better if Zhao Wuxian stayed in this area and prepared to attack Chaoge. Although Chaoge no longer had the grand occasion of being able to recruit 170,000 people from Wangji during the Dayi Shang period, it was also a large city walled with bricks and stones, and its population was almost comparable to that of Xintian, and it was easy to recruit more than 10,000 people to defend the city. Although Liu Xiang no longer has the courage to fight in the field, it is possible to defend the city and drag it until the arrival of the Zhongxing army behind him.

Now, reinforcements have finally arrived.

"You mean, Zhao Wuxian is still in Muyi!?" Zhong Xingyin was overjoyed when he heard this, and he didn't delve into Liu Xiang's mistakes, and it was not too late to arrest him after the war.

Liu Xiang said: "Seven or eight days have passed since the first battle of Muye, maybe it is because of the need to rest after the war, maybe it is the fatigue of the army after a long journey, or it is because he wants to wait for reinforcements on the other side of the river to cross the river and march together to march together, Zhao Wuxian's army stays in Muyi. During this period, light horses went out to block the road, and the main force came from time to time to show off their might outside the song city...... The foreign ministers felt that this was a temptation, to lure me out of the city, so they ignored it, and the enemy retreated when they advanced, and when the enemy retreated, they kept hanging them in Muyi! ”

Zhongxingyin laughed: "People say that Zhao Wuxian is good at using soldiers, but I don't think so, he is good at small soldiers, but in the big situation, he is like a son who has just taken charge of the army, greedy for the merits of the first battle and the song of the court, but he refuses to go west to join Zhao Meng." In the final analysis, he is still too young, more brave than wise, this battle, the Zhao family is going to lose! ”

He learned from Liu Xiang that excluding the losses of Muye in the First Battle and those stationed in Jianjin, Zhao Wuxian could only use five or six thousand soldiers. Zhongxingyin has more than 10,000 soldiers, and with the Fan clan successively concentrating on the soldiers of the Chaoge Qin Lord, they can make up a total of 20,000 troops.

Without further ado, after a day of rest in Chaoge, Zhong Xingyin commanded the army and rushed straight to Muyi.

Zhao Wuxian expelled all the people of the Fan clan in this town, so no one knew the situation in the city, and when Zhong Xingyin went far outside the city, he saw the pennant on the city tower waving, and the figure behind the wall was longing.

Although he had an absolute advantage in numbers, and although he verbally despised Zhao Wuxian's ability to lead the troops, Zhong Xingyin did not dare to rush forward, for fear of falling for this trick. He had the city besieged, and then he had the trees cut down and make wooden ladders in the woods more than ten miles away, while waiting for the siege equipment to be brought from Chaoge, so that he delayed for another day, and it was not until the second day, at dusk, when the light was dim, that he sent men to make a tentative attack from the west of the city.

However, what Zhong Xingyin never expected was that the temptation troops of more than 1,000 people easily broke through the city and encountered few resistances!

Shocked, he entered the city to take a look, only to find that the pennants here were all planted on the mounds of earth, and the soldiers on the wall who worked all night were only dummies made of straw.

"This is an empty city, we have been fooled!?" Zhongxingyin was so angry that he smoked, and grabbed Liu Xiang's clothes: "Where is Zhao Wuxian's son?" ”

Liu Xiang was also dumbfounded, feeling that he had done his best these days, but he didn't keep Zhao Wuxian?

Only the gray-haired Gao Qiang crouched outside the city, caressing the ruts and horseshoe marks swept by the branches on the dirt road, which had been left a few days ago, and were faintly discerned, but the faint direction was still discerning: they were all the way to the west.

"Zhao Wuxian took the main force and went to Qinshui...... "Is there more courage than wisdom?" Gao Qiang smiled self-deprecatingly, Zhao Wuxian, this young man is not simple, he has taught the Zhongxing clan a lesson!

He returned to Zhong Xingyin and Liu Xiang, and announced with a solemn face: "Fan Bo, it's going to be dangerous. ”

PS: Chapter 2 in the evening (to be continued.) )