Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 32 Peng Yue

"Haha." With Hu Zhe gone, Liu Bang was smug and looked up at the sky, laughing heartily: "Peng Yue, Peng Yue, no matter how cunning you are, you are no match for me. With just a little trick, you'll obediently hand over all this wealth!"

Looking at Lü Ze and Xiahou Ying, he said smugly, "What do you think of my plan?"

"Liu Bang, have you no shame?" Lü Ze was utterly speechless. "This was clearly Ying'er's brilliant plan."

"Good!" Xiahou Ying agreed.

"What brilliant plan of Ying'er? I saw through it long ago, but I was too embarrassed to say it because of my relationship with Peng Yue, so I had Ying'er say it." Liu Bang took all the credit.

"King of Han, you made a bet with Liu Ying. If you lose, you'll have to be his grandson," Xiahou Ying said with a mocking expression.

"That's impossible," Liu Bang denied outright.

"Truly a shameless scoundrel from the marketplace." Lü Ze glared at Liu Bang: "You said it yourself, yet you're still trying to renege."

"If I dare to call, does Ying'er dare to answer?" Liu Bang looked at Liu Ying, as if Liu Ying would absolutely not dare to answer.

"If you dare to call out, I dare to respond." Liu Ying was probably infected by Liu Bang's shamelessness and had also become a bit shameless.

"Then I'll call it," Liu Bang said through gritted teeth.

"Go ahead and call, I'm waiting." Liu Ying puffed out her small chest.

"I'll beat you to death! You unfilial son!" Liu Bang pointed at Liu Ying, spitting everywhere. "How could I have given birth to such a disobedient and unfilial son!"

"He really is a scoundrel," Liu Ying said disdainfully.

"I'll beat you to death." Liu Bang, unable to save face, lashed out with his horsewhip at Liu Ying.

Liu Ying dodged and glanced at Liu Bang, only to see Liu Bang gritting his teeth and about to lash out with his whip again. He quickly diverted Liu Bang's attention, saying, "You still have the mind to laugh and joke? You're about to die and you still don't realize it."

"I'm about to die? What a joke! You want me to let you off the hook, right? Don't even think about it. I'm going to beat you to death today!" Liu Bang didn't believe it.

Lü Ze and Xiahou Ying also did not believe it.

"Is Peng Yue a good friend?" Liu Ying retorted. "Peng Yue will definitely not give you anything. He wants to launch a surprise attack on you. If you are not careful, he will take your head and present it to Xiang Yu, and then all his troubles will be over."

"This..." Liu Bang was shocked.

"Good!" Lü Ze agreed.

"Good!" Xiahou Ying's expression changed.

Xiang Yu coveted Liang and wanted to incorporate it into his own fiefdom, so he enfeoffed Wei Bao in the west. Peng Yue's capture of Liang was like stroking Xiang Yu's tiger's whiskers, angering him. Even if Peng Yue wanted to surrender to Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu would not accept him.

However, there is one exception: Liu Bang's head.

If Peng Yue had killed Liu Bang and presented his head to Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu would surely have forgiven him.

"Order: The three armies shall form ranks and advance. Report any disturbance immediately!" Liu Bang shouted.

Upon receiving the order, the more than 30,000 Han soldiers immediately formed ranks and slowly advanced westward.

~~~~~

Daliang City.

It wasn't very big, more like a county town, which was Peng Yue's capital.

Of course, this Daliang City is not the capital city of Wei. The capital city of Wei, Daliang City, was a formidable city that existed for over a hundred years, the strongest city in the Central Plains, and exceptionally sturdy.

As the capital of the Wei Kingdom, its scale was naturally enormous, far surpassing that of the present-day Daliang City.

However, when Qin Shi Huang conquered Wei, the famous Qin general Wang Ben diverted the Honggou Canal to flood Daliang City, which was destroyed and turned into ruins.

The Central Plains needed a strong city, so Qin Shi Huang rebuilt a new city, Daliang, not far from the capital of Wei, which became the capital of Peng Yue.

Peng Yue was not young, around fifty years old, about the same age as Liu Bang. He was well-preserved, with fair skin. He wasn't very tall, only about 1.7 meters, considerably shorter than Liu Bang.

Although Peng Yue has not yet officially become the King of Liang, he already considers himself a king. His throne is a pure gold throne, which is very exquisite, shiny, and looks very domineering.

Peng Yue sat upright on the throne, his face revealing a shrewdness akin to that of a merchant, and looked at Hu Zhe, asking, "Has Liu Bang left?"

Previously, when he met Liu Bang, he would address him as the King of Han. However, because Liu Bang was defeated at Pengcheng, Peng Yue looked down on Liu Bang and no longer addressed him as the King of Han, but instead called him by his given name.

"I dare to inform the King of Liang..." Hu Zhe clasped his hands together and bowed.

"Hu Zhe, how many times have I told you? I am not the King of Liang, but the Prime Minister of Wei." Peng Yue's face darkened as he shouted.

"Yes, King Liang." As Peng Yue's confidant, Hu Zhe knew Peng Yue's thoughts perfectly well. Peng Yue had no great ambitions in his life. He didn't want to be the emperor or the king of the Liang Kingdom. He was content to be a vassal king.

"I really can't do anything with you." Peng Yue said helplessly.

"I dare to inform the King of Liang: This mission..." Hu Zhe recounted his meeting with Liu Bang.

"What? What? Liu Bang has some nerve! At this time, instead of trying to win me over, he's making outrageous demands for so much wealth?" Peng Yue's eyes widened in disbelief.

Normally, after such a crushing defeat and the near annihilation of his army, Liu Bang would have been perfectly justified in trying to win over Peng Yue. What Peng Yue didn't expect was that Liu Bang showed absolutely no such understanding and instead tried to blackmail him.

"I dare to inform the King of Liang: I believe this plan was devised by Liu Ying, the son of Liu Bang. This boy is extraordinary, so we must be careful," Hu Zhe warned Peng Yue.

"Haha!" Peng Yue didn't believe it at all. He looked up at the sky and laughed wildly, "Hu Zhe, Hu Zhe, have you lost your mind? Liu Bang's son, Liu Ying, how old is he? He's just a seven-year-old child. What abilities could he possibly have?"

Hu Zhe was about to speak when Peng Yue waved his right hand to stop him, cursing, "Liu Bang is a shameless scoundrel; he's perfectly capable of such a shameless act."

"May I ask, King Liang, will you give it or not?" Hu Zhe asked.

"Give him? Give him my ass!" Peng Yue was furious. He stood up from his throne and shouted, "Issue my order: gather the entire army and launch a surprise attack on Liu Bang while he is off guard. Take Liu Bang's head and present it to Xiang Yu, and all my troubles will be over."

This is indeed a brilliant solution to Peng Yue's current predicament, but Hu Zhe shook his head: "King Liang, this method is not feasible."

"Why?" Peng Yue rolled his eyes, his gaze sharpening.

"Before leaving, I lingered at a distance for a while, observing secretly." Hu Zhe was a meticulous and thorough person: "I discovered that the Han army had already deployed its forces and was slowly advancing westward."

"They were on guard?" Peng Yue asked incredulously.

"Indeed!" Hu Zhe nodded heavily.

"Liu Bang is truly cunning; he doesn't trust me at all," Peng Yue grinned mockingly. "How can such a coward be praised for his great courage?"

"We are in a dangerous place, so we must be on guard. King Han is very thoughtful." Hu Zhe rolled his eyes in his heart. If Liu Bang did not take precautions, he would not be worthy of being called King Han.

"Hu Zhe, what do you say, should we give it to him or not?" Peng Yue asked helplessly.

"I dare to tell King Liang: those with nothing to lose are not afraid of those with shoes. King Han was defeated at Pengcheng, and his army was almost completely wiped out. Now he has nothing left. If we do not give it to him, he will dare to start a war in Liang." Hu Zhe advised, "King Liang, you might as well give it to King Han. Consider it feeding a dog."

"You make it sound so easy," Peng Yue said through gritted teeth as he sat back on his throne. "So much stuff, that's a huge sum of money! How can we just give it away like that?"

"If we don't give it to him, the King of Han will really take it himself. Right now, it's the time when the crops are ripe," Hu Zhe reminded him.

"Liu Bang was like a dog, he really knows how to bite. This bite was right where it hurt, accurate, fierce and painful. I had no choice but to give in. But if I gave in, I would be unwilling." Peng Yue's eyes gleamed, and his shrewdness as a merchant became even more obvious.