Chapter 250: Xiang Yu, the Lu family has backbone!
In fact, the people who came to capture Empress Lu were not sent by Xiang Yu, but were the people below who acted on their own initiative. Even Luo Xin had some wrong ideas. Just like the Luo family's thousand-year glory and good family tradition, there are many things they would not do.
The same is true of Xiang Yu, what a proud man he was.
He grew up listening to Xiang Yan and Xiang Liang telling him stories about their family, about eight hundred years of glory and generations of heroic ancestors.
He was a man who worshipped his ancestors very much, and these ancestors would not allow Xiang Yu to do such a despicable thing.
Moreover, he was the Son of Heaven, who had obtained the throne in a fair and upright manner, with the sharp sword in his hand, with the support of countless Chu people, and in front of all the princes of the world, by virtue of his indisputable achievement of saving the world and destroying the tyrannical Qin.
A person's character is shaped by his nature and environment. All of Xiang Yu's actions were constrained by his family and education. He failed to become a sage king due to the limitations of his wisdom and personality. He treated people in the world without kindness, which was his nature.
However, he extended his kindness to the Xiang clan members to the children of Jiangdong, and this was the influence of his family on him.
Besides, Xiang Yu was in a state of panic in Qi, so he had no time to pay attention to Liu Bang's family. King Lu Cheng of Qi was really tough. On the one hand, he fought a civil war with the nobles, and on the other hand, he insisted on defending the city and refused to surrender.
When Xiang Yu arrived at the city of Linzi, he found that Lu Cheng was simply a coward. No matter how he was scolded, he refused to leave the city and was determined to defend Linzi to the death.
Faced with this situation, the first thing Xiang Yu thought of was to intimidate the nobles in the city and force them to surrender the city, otherwise he would kill all the nobles in the city after the city was broken.
This method is really useful. There is a saying that goes "If you defend for too long, you will lose." The biggest pressure for the defenders does not come from the outside, but from the disunity inside.
No one knows whether others will surrender first, sell others for a good price, and exchange other people's lives for their own wealth and glory.
In later generations, there is a word specifically used to describe this situation, called the prisoner's dilemma.
Moreover, Xiang Yu did what he said. He did not have the courage to massacre the entire city, but he had the courage to kill all the nobles and powerful people.
But the information sent back by the spies made Xiang Yu feel numb, "Your Majesty, the nobles in Linzi City..."
Xiang Yu was surprised when he saw this: "Why? Are those spineless nobles of Qi willing to live and die with the King of Qi? I would rather believe that the Qin Dynasty will be resurrected."
After saying this, Xiang Yu burst into laughter. When the State of Qi was destroyed, not a single noble was willing to die for his country. This was truly unprecedented and unheard of.
The spy said, "Your Majesty, the King of Qi has killed all the nobles in Linzi City. There is no noble in the entire city of Linzi who is willing to open the city and surrender to our army."
quiet!
Deathly silence!
In the entire Chu army tent, not only Xiang Yu, but all the generals and counselors couldn't hold it together and their facial expressions were out of control.
Xiang Yu opened his mouth and wanted to angrily scold the spy for talking nonsense. How could such a thing be possible? Even he, the emperor, did not dare to do such a thing, so how could the King of Qi dare to do it?
But he thought that the reason he attacked King Lu Cheng of Qi was because he had captured all the high-ranking nobles, even including the marquis he had conferred upon himself.
Xiang Yu had to believe that this was true, and couldn't help muttering: "What a madman!"
The nobles of Chu State seemed to have just woken up from their dream. They had really broadened their horizons to see such a monarch. However, when they thought about the old nobles of Qi State, the nobles of Chu State could not help but secretly say that they had the good fortune to die.
Although the Chu nobles also fought a desperate battle with the royal family to protect their own interests, they still had the courage to accompany Chu to the end when Chu was destroyed. Short-sightedness does not mean lack of backbone. Even the Chu nobles looked down on the Qi State.
Not to mention Xiang Yu, when he heard that King Qi Lü Cheng had killed all the nobles in Qi, he was stunned at first, and then he laughed and said, "King Qi really helped me a lot. When we conquer Qi, I won't have to do it myself."
I wonder what the Qi nobles who died at the hands of Lu Cheng would think if they knew that Xiang Yu also wanted to kill them.
No one likes treacherous ministers. Even if the monarch uses them to gain the world, they will still be demoted in the end. This is determined by the monarch's eternal pursuit of loyal ministers.
"My king, no one has opened the city to surrender. Do you want to directly organize an attack on the city?"
After hearing his subordinates' suggestions, Xiang Yu hesitated. In fact, it was rare to capture a big city like Linzi directly by siege, especially if the troops were to capture one city after another. No matter how many troops there were, they could not withstand such consumption.
Xiang Yu thought for a while and said, "Let's surround Linzi first, don't attack the city directly. If Lucheng kills all the nobles in Linzi, then Qi will be in chaos. These nobles are not so easy to kill. Cut off Linzi's food supply and see what Lucheng will do."
He sighed in his heart, if only Luo Ling was here, it would be great, just like when the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, with strong winds. If he could be like the ancient King Su, bringing wind, rain, thunder and lightning, Linzi City could be conquered at any time.
In Linzi City, Lu Cheng personally led the Qi army to guard Linzi City. As for other cities of Qi, he relied on his confidants to deal with them.
It is true that many nobles rebelled directly, but Lu Cheng didn't care. These traitors would rebel when Xiang Yu came, even if they didn't rebel now.
As for the declaration of war sent by Xiang Yu, it was directly thrown into the brazier by Lu Cheng.
He also smiled and said to his close ministers: "All invitations to fight by Xiang Yu are rejected.
It is important for a person to know himself. Although I dared to resist Xiang Yu, I am indeed not as good as Xiang Yu on the battlefield.
Especially in field battles, Zhang Han's army of 400,000 was defeated by Xiang Yu. I saw with my own eyes how invincible Xiang Yu was on the battlefield. Only a person with a mental disorder would go into a field battle with Xiang Yu.
The more he urges me, the less I will move. I will just stay here. The food and grass in Linzi City are enough for three years, and there is no problem with the water source. No matter how strong Xiang Yu is, can he just knock down the city wall?"
After saying this, he burst into laughter, with a rather proud tone in his voice. He was not the one who rebelled against Xiang Yu on a whim. He knew Xiang Yu's strengths and weaknesses very well.
Xiang Yu cherished the Chu people from Jiangdong under his command very much, and he was absolutely reluctant to let them attack the city and consume their resources. "In three months at most, Xiang Yu will either bypass Linzi City and head north, or his letter of persuasion to surrender will be delivered. You all wait and see."
As Lu Cheng had expected, Xiang Yu only organized one siege, and the casualties of thousands of people made Xiang Yu give up the idea of attacking the city.
Xiang Yu's subordinates, whether generals or counselors, all advised him, "Your Majesty, there are always casualties in war. The most important thing now is to capture Linzi City. Otherwise, Qi will always be behind us, which is a great threat to Chu."
But Xiang Yu just shook his head and said, "I know what you said, but it's not possible. The Xiang family has been in Jiangdong for hundreds of years. The people of Jiangdong have handed these men over to me. If there are heavy casualties, how can I still return to my ancestral land?
If it was like the Battle of Handan in the past, even if they died in battle it would be an honor. But now they died in the siege, and there were so many casualties without even seeing the people of Qi. If they really wanted to capture this city, how many Jiangdong men would have to die?
Five thousand or ten thousand?
Ten lives of Qi people are not worth one life of Chu people. Go and capture the Qi people immediately and let them attack the city."
Xiang Yu was helpless in facing Lucheng. He could only go north to gather the Qi army and capture them to use as cannon fodder for attacking the city. At the same time, he urged the kings to come to Qi as auxiliary attack. In fact, they were consumables, so he first consumed the Qi people's tools for defending the city.
Then he sent a letter to King Lu Cheng of Qi, asking him to surrender.
King Lu Cheng of Qi proudly showed it to his ministers, "Look, just as I expected, Xiang Yu sent me a letter of persuasion to surrender."
Xiang Yu had no intention of killing the King of Qi. In Xiang Yu's eyes, the King of Qi was quite good and qualified to be his subject. He was planning to defeat the King of Qi completely and then make him a nominal king like the King of Linzi.
Therefore, the letter of persuasion for surrender was written with full sincerity, analyzing the current situation to King Lu Cheng of Qi.
"You now occupy Linzi City, which is so strong that if you want to capture it, you will probably have to pay tens of thousands of casualties.
Ji had pity on the lives of the people of Qi and Chu, and did not want to cause so many casualties on both sides, so he was unwilling to attack the city.
You are safe enough in the city, but I am still worried about you.
You have killed so many nobles. Is there anyone in the entire Qi who is willing to obey you?
No one is willing to obey you, and the Chu army is surrounding the city of Linzi, so you can't get new food.
Your city must have stored enough food to last for three or even five years, but even if the food does not go bad, what will happen after three or five years?
Can you stay in Linzi City for the rest of your life? This is what I am worried about.
Ji is willing to grant you the throne of King of Linzi. If you can make great contributions, then the position of King of Qi will be given to you. I hope you can think carefully about it. "
King Lu Cheng of Qi read the letter and knew that what Xiang Yu said was true. The Chu army could really encircle the city for several years. The Chu State was right behind him, so there was no pressure on logistics at all.
But Qi Wang Lü Cheng did not agree. He recalled the days in Zhaocheng before, then looked to the west, thinking to himself: "Will the King of Han be willing? I don't believe it."
Xiang Yu did not react when he was rejected. He thought that King Lu Cheng of Qi was just not clear-headed enough, and after some time, he would face the reality and agree.
So Xiang Yu wasted his time in Qi in vain, and he had no idea that Liu Bang had resolved Guanzhong at an extremely fast speed.
The general situation in the world changed in a way he could not have imagined.
He only got the news when Liu Bang began to contact the princes who were dissatisfied with him to jointly attack him.
Xiang Yu was naturally shocked and angry. He had no idea why the two kings he had enfeoffed in Qin were defeated so quickly.
This completely disrupted his plans. Before Guandong was resolved, Guanzhong had already been unified!
"Liu Ji!"
Xiang Yu roared, then looked at Linzi City unwillingly, "Retreat!"
We can no longer take care of Qi State now. Anyway, Qi State is in chaos now. It is not easy to resolve Lucheng. The most urgent task now is to resolve Liu Bang.
(End of this chapter)
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