On the second day after King Huai of Chu returned, a grand wave of rewards and appointments began.
Xiang Liang's post remained unchanged. He was still the Governor of Kuaiji Commandery, while also serving as Grand General and being enfeoffed as Lord Wuxin, commanding the three armies. Xiang Yu and Xiang An became Xiang Liang's deputy generals, each commanding two divisions. Xiang Lu was not made a deputy general, but he likewise commanded a division as division commander, leading 2,500 men. Xiang Jing and Zi Juan both became brigade commanders, assigned respectively to Xiang Yu's and Xiang An's divisions.
There were also military officers such as Song Yi, along with many generals who had attached themselves to Xiang Liang during this period. Even some of the highly skilled retainers originally at Xiang Liang's side, such as Liao Ye and Jiang Chun, received military posts as squad leaders, Sima officers, and the like.
Yet while chaos erupted elsewhere, Xianyang had not remained entirely inactive.
As early as two months ago, when Chen Sheng rose up, occupied Chen County, and proclaimed himself King of Zhang Chu, someone had advised Qin Er Shi, Hu Hai, to send troops against him and crush the rebels before they could grow stronger. But Hu Hai had not accepted the advice. Instead, he threw the two chancellors who had proposed it, along with another senior minister, into prison. Those loyal ministers had pitifully taken their own lives in misery behind bars, while Li Si, who had not died, suffered endless torment in his cell.
Now that the Central Plains had descended fully into chaos, Hu Hai panicked.
He remembered that he needed to appoint generals and send them out to resist Chen Sheng and the other rebel armies.
But at that point, he discovered that there seemed