walk to the water

After more than ten days, in the middle of the night, someone outside the bedroom suddenly reported loudly: "Your Majesty, the urgent battle report is here at the eight hundred miles from the border!" Chu Xiang woke up from his dream, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and grabbed Fu Ling who was dressing , asked: "Your Majesty, it's so late, what happened?"

Fu Ling said: "I'm afraid there is something wrong with the front line, I will come as soon as I go!" Turning around and kissing Chu Xiang tenderly, Fang got up and left.

It took nearly an hour for Fu Ling to come back, and he didn't go to bed after entering the door. He asked people to light the lamp, and read the battle report over and over again under the lamp.Chu Xiang waited for a long time, turned over, walked behind him, and gently put on his coat.Fu Ling turned around and saw that it was him, pulled him in front of him, sat on his back, handed him a few pages of paper, and said, "What a clever plan!"

Chu Xiang saw Fu Ling's complexion was unkind, his brows were tightly frowned, his eyes were full of judgment, and he was puzzled. He quickly took the paper and took a look. It was an urgent report from the front line of the Yangtze River.It turned out that after the Qin army arrived on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the original garrison had built hundreds of large ships, plus thousands of private ships collected, ready to cross the river for battle.However, the southern army trained a group of dead soldiers with excellent water skills, carrying iron awls, and took a small boat from the upper reaches down the river at night, jumped into the river and dived near the Qin army's berth, sneaked under the big ship, and used iron awls. Cut through the bottom of the boat.However, when the Qin army first arrived, it was not stable, poorly arranged, and totally unprepared. Overnight, hundreds of large ships sank in all likelihood.In a panic, the southern army took advantage of the situation and sent boats across the river to hide and kill them. The Qin army was defeated, and most of the ships were lost, so they had to retreat to the shore.Chen Yu reported the military situation and asked for punishment, while waiting for Fu Ling's instructions.

After Chu Xiang watched it, he felt his heart beating wildly, as if it was about to jump out of his chest, and the palm of his hand holding the battle report was full of sweat. This strategy was recorded in the book he asked Di Feng to bring to An Lan. It works wonders!Chu Xiang returned the battle report to Fu Ling, and tentatively said: "Victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. This time it was just an accident. Your Majesty does not need to worry too much. I wonder what your Majesty's next plan will be?"

Fu Ling murmured: "Casualties in this battle are trivial, but the ships are all lost, and the nearby civilian ships have been collected. If we need to raise more ships, where can we find them in a hurry? If we want to rebuild a hundred big ships , it’s too late before the flood season..." Fu Ling stood up and paced back and forth in the bedroom. After a stick of incense, he finally made up his mind and returned to the case. The descendant came in and sent the horse to the front line quickly.

At this moment, both of them were sleepless, and Fu Ling sighed: "Since there is nothing to be done, it is better to withdraw the troops as soon as possible. I have ordered Chen Yu to rectify the troops and prepare the troops to return to the court. I will make plans next year. Zhou's army is familiar with water, which is good for water warfare." , our army has suffered some setbacks, which can be regarded as a lesson, and we will not underestimate the enemy so hastily next time!" Suddenly smiled, and said: "Xiang, this battle is different from Zhou Gongjin's burning of Chibi and defeating Cao's army back then. The same approach works equally well! Your good friend, General An Lan, should not be underestimated. I didn’t know there was such a character in the south of the Yangtze River! Fortunately, you are not in the Zhou army now, otherwise, wouldn’t the Southern Dynasty be even more powerful?”

Chu Xiang only felt dizzy in his head. He turned his heart and stood up suddenly. He walked up to Fu Ling, lifted his clothes and knelt down and said, "Chu Xiang has concealed a very important matter from His Majesty. Please punish him." !"

Fu Ling was not in a hurry to get him up this time, and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

Chu Xiang gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou Guo's plan to defeat the Qin army was written in advance by me, and I entrusted senior brother to deliver it to An Lan along with the stolen secret letter."

Fu Ling was taken aback when he heard the words, followed by a long silence.Chu Xiang knelt on the ground straight, with his head down, he could only see the hem of the bright yellow dragon robe two feet away, but he didn't move at all until Chu Xiang's knees became a little numb, and Fu Lingfang said, "Get up!" Come on! Sure enough! Although An Lan is brave, she may not have come up with such a strategy. I have doubts for a long time, and it is not impossible to find out, but I still prefer you to tell me the truth yourself."

Chu Xiang still knelt and said: "I am responsible for the defeat of the army. I ask His Majesty to punish me to boost morale and calm public opinion."

Fu Ling smiled and said: "How do I punish you? Did I kill you? Then I spent so much effort to save you, isn't it crazy? Punishing you is like punishing myself. When you offered advice, you hadn't sincerely surrendered. It’s understandable to care about the homeland, and I don’t blame you! But Zhou Guo doesn’t know how to cherish such a famous general and loyal minister, and I sigh for you!” He said and stretched out a hand, letting Chu Xiang hold his hand stand up.Nuannuan's big hand conveyed the temperature of peace of mind. Chu Xiang knew that he had escaped the catastrophe, but he was not at all relaxed and complacent.

Fu Ling still asked Chu Xiang to sit down beside him, and said, "You're right. Winning and losing is a common matter in military affairs. Who can win forever in all battles in the yellow sand? I lost to you this time, and I was convinced. You count it Make your long-cherished wish come true!"

Chu Xiang remembered that he once said that he must win him once, but he didn't allow him to let him go. He blushed slightly and said, "That's because His Majesty didn't come to the front line in person this time, so he can take advantage of it... If the royal driver goes to the front line personally, no one in the world will be the winner." ?”

Fu Ling shook his head and said, "How can the gain or loss of a momentary matter be more important than your safety? As long as you are safe and sound, what does it matter if I pacify Jiangnan a year earlier or later?" Patting Chu Xiang's hand, he said with a smile : "Xiang, I know it's not easy for you to tell me about this! You can tell the truth when you tell the truth. Although it's a bit late, I'm still very happy that you can take the initiative to tell me."

Chu Xiang was ashamed: "Your Majesty is magnanimous and has repeatedly forgiven you. Xiang said earlier that he will only be loyal to His Majesty from now on, and only obey His Majesty's orders! He will never dare to hide anything from His Majesty again."

Fu Ling nodded and said, "I believe in you, so let this be the last time!"

At this time, the sky was already twilight, and Fu Ling got up and said: "I'm going to court, you can sleep again!" Seeing Chu Xiang lying down, he left.Chu Xiang saw that he was gone, how could he sleep?Lying on the bed with eyes wide open, thoughts are messy.After lying down for a while, the sky was bright, and the eunuchs came to wait for him to dress and eat. After breakfast, Chu Xiang sat in the bedroom in a daze again.However, Fu Ling didn't come back until near noon. It turned out that this was the first defeat of the Qin army in recent years. After receiving the battle report, the court was in an uproar.This time, Fu Ling could no longer suppress forcefully, and took most of the responsibility for the failure on himself to stabilize people's hearts.After the dynasty disbanded, several important military officials were left alone to discuss and plan strategies. After discussing for a long time, they finally decided to recall the army according to Fu Ling's plan and plan it later.Fu Ling officially ordered Chen Yu to return to Beijing.