Chapter 685: Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Yan is gone
"The King of Qin is dead. Why are you still resisting desperately? It is better to surrender to our Zhao army and return home as soon as possible." Pang Nuan shouted while fighting the Qin army.
It doesn't matter whether Qin Junxiang believes it or not.
The purpose of the Zhao army was just to spread rumors among the Qin army, forcing Qin Wangji to get up from his bed and drag his old and seriously injured body to patrol the camp.
If Qin Wangji did not go to inspect the camp, it would only make the rumors worse and allow Zhao Jun's plan to succeed.
The Qin army did not believe that King Qin was dead, but all of them saw King Qin being hit by a crossbow. Although hitting the crossbow did not mean death, there was a risk of death, not to mention that King Qin was already an old man in his seventies. .
Many Qin soldiers were affected, with panic on their faces and their attack speed also slowed down.
"Don't believe what Zhao Ren said. The king's injury has been properly treated and he will recover in a while." Wang Jian said quickly, and at the same time attacked Pang Nuan, trying to stop him from speaking.
"Hahaha, all the arrows in King Qin's hands have been quenched with poison. Only I, Zhao, can detoxify this poison. What can the Qin army do to detoxify it in such a short time? Has King Qin ever shown his face since he escaped yesterday?" Pang Nuan Try to scare the Qin army, no matter how serious it is.
Anyway, the Qin army only saw that the King of Qin had been hit by an arrow, but they did not know whether the arrow was poisonous or not.
When the Qin army heard this, the panic on their faces became even more obvious. They had indeed not seen King Qin since they fled back yesterday until now.
They ignored that only a short time had passed since yesterday evening. Even if King Qin was not injured, it was unlikely that he would show up, let alone being injured now.
But the Qin army was on the battlefield, fighting the enemy, and had no time to think about the flaws in Pang Nuan's words.
"Withdraw!" Wang Jian saw that the morale of the troops began to fluctuate and immediately ordered the withdrawal.
"General Wang Jian, think carefully about what I said." Pang Nuan did not pursue him and led the army back to the camp.
In the next period of time, the Zhao army and the Qin army fought a long but not fierce battle on the banks of the Tuanshui River. Both sides were very careful and had a tacit understanding. Once the battle damage exceeded the limit, they would immediately withdraw their troops and replace them with another the next day. The legion takes over the battle.
Tian Dan led the Shesheng battalion and strong crossbowmen to harass the Qin army from time to time every day, without any pattern.
The situation put hundreds of thousands of Qin soldiers in danger, and they could not even sleep well at night. They were exhausted every day, but they had to summon up their energy to deal with the rain of arrows from the Zhao army, because if they were in a daze, they might be killed.
No one wants to die.
King Qin almost felt sick and vomited. He had slept well at night, but an arrow suddenly hit the bed and woke him up from his sleep. He couldn't sleep all night.
In order to prevent Zhao Jun's sudden attack, the King of Qin could only arrange for his guards to take turns guarding him day and night.
But he was guarded, and ordinary soldiers were not guarded.
Even though the hit rate of the arrows is impressive due to the distance being too far, there are always a few unlucky ones who will die after being hit by the arrows in each wave of arrows.
This kind of death is different from dying on the battlefield.
When everyone goes to the battlefield, they all know that they may die in battle, and they will be mentally prepared.
But being suddenly shot to death by an arrow falling from the sky was unprepared, which caused everyone to be in fear and worry twelve hours a day.
Coupled with the fact that King Qin Ji did not appear for a long time, the rumors of his death became more and more intense, and many Qin soldiers began to have active thoughts.
Bai Qi was studying how to deal with Zhao Jun's ultra-long-range attacks every day. He thought about two directions, one was offense and the other was defense.
The attack is to create an ultra-long-range attack army for the Qin army. It does not require high lethality, as long as it can disgust the Zhao army.
Defense is to perfect the defensive formation, which is improved on the basis of the Immovable Mountain Formation, so that it can be maintained for a long time, does not consume internal energy at ordinary times, and is in a hidden state. It will only appear after being attacked and consume internal energy.
defensive formation.
This kind of formation had no practical value before, so no one developed it. Now it can only be done by Bai Qi himself.
But soon, Bai Qi had to worry about the rumors that were getting worse in the army.
As the Zhao army continued to spread rumors, and King Qin did not appear for a long time, the news that King Qin had passed away spread everywhere in the army. No matter how hard it was banned, it was useless, but it made everyone believe the content of the rumors even more.
There are even rumors that Bai Qi deliberately blocked the news of King Qin's death and wanted to replace him.
Even Wang Hao secretly asked Bai Qi if he had any thoughts about the throne. Only after being scolded by Bai Qi did he feel relieved.
Although he admires Bai Qi, his allegiance is still to Qin. If Bai Qi rebels against Qin, he can only stand up against Bai Qi.
Bai Qi had to report to the King of Qin and ask him to inspect the camp. This might aggravate King Qin's condition, but it was the only and most effective way for the Qin army.
As long as the soldiers are allowed to see King Qin, all rumors will naturally be self-defeating.
While Qin Wangji was inspecting the camp, Zhao Kuo was also inspecting the camp.
However, the purpose of Qin Wangji's inspection of the camp was to tell everyone that he was still alive and to appease people's hearts. He would leave after a short stay.
Zhao Kuo was different. Except for sleeping at night, he spent almost all the time patrolling the camp, traveling through various military camps to recognize people and chatting with the soldiers.
At first, Zhao Kuo only appeared in Zhao's army, but soon, Zhao Kuo was no longer satisfied with this.
Over the years in Handan, he had already gotten to know almost all of Zhao's soldiers. It would be an exaggeration to say that he knew all of them, but Zhao Kuo knew close to one-tenth of the old soldiers who had been stationed outside Handan City. Those who were over fifty,
Basically everyone knows them.
So Zhao Kuo slowly appeared in the camp of the three armies of Han, Wei and Qi...
Bao Yuan and others didn't pay attention. Zhao Kuo was the leader of the Four Nations and the commander of the coalition forces. It was normal for him to inspect the military camp.
Of course, the most important thing is that Bao Yuan and others did not understand Zhao Kuo's true purpose.
In order to remember more soldiers, Zhao Kuo also ordered two clerks to follow him, write down the contents of his chat with the soldiers, and review them again when he returned to the camp in the evening.
In the evening, I would also go to the wounded barracks to personally apply medicine to the wounded soldiers and chat with them. People are often the most vulnerable when they are injured, and Zhao Kuo's identity can often be remembered for a lifetime.
After some time, Zhao Kuo clearly felt that the attitude of the soldiers of Han, Wei and Qi towards him had changed. If in the past they were more in awe of him because of his status as King of Zhao, now they have more respect and love for him.
Especially when I could call out their names, I almost jumped up with excitement.
Zhao Kuo doesn't want this war to end early now. It would be better if it ends later so that he can win more people's hearts.
It was during the time when King Qin and King Zhao were patrolling the camp together that a rumor suddenly appeared in Xianyang City and spread quickly like a prairie fire.
The King of Qin passed away, and Bai Qi kept the secret of mourning. He secretly joined forces with the State of Zhao, planning to take over the State of Qin and replace him, sit in Guanzhong, and establish himself as king!
"What should we do?" In the prince's residence, Qin Zhu was anxiously running around.
Since King Ji of Qin went on an expedition, the power of the Qin State fell into the hands of Prince Zhu.
Although Taizizhu is a prince, he has rarely had the opportunity to deal with national affairs before, let alone supervise the country. This is the first time in his life.
In the first half of his life, King Ji of Qin was basically a puppet. In the second half of his life, he took over the power of the Qin State and became a veritable king of Qin. Therefore, he attached great importance to rights. As the prince, Qin Zhu had almost no rights.
In the past few years, the continuous rise of the Zhao State made Qin Wangji realize that he might not be able to defeat the six eastern kingdoms in his own life. There was even a risk of being annexed by the Zhao State if his descendants were not wise enough.
Only then did King Ji of Qin gradually open up some of his rights to cultivate Prince Zhu and Wang Sunzi of Chu.
Compared to Prince Zhu, Qin Wangji was actually more optimistic about Wang Sunzi Chu.
The reason is simple, Tai Zi Zhu is already fifty years old.
Fifty years old is no longer considered a short life in this era.
Of course, longevity cannot be called longevity among nobles. Most nobles can live beyond this age if they are not killed for various reasons.
But Taizi Zhu's health was not good, and it was difficult to say when he might die suddenly.
And Wang Sunchu is younger, and youth means future and hope.
"Father, the first priority is to determine whether the news is true or false." Wang Sunchu reminded.
No matter what the rumors are, they must be confirmed first and then respond correctly.
You can prepare in advance, but you cannot make a choice in advance. If the truth of the matter is contrary to the choice, it will only be self-defeating.
"Gu has sent people to Rangcheng to verify. It's just that... some time ago, Gu just received intelligence from the front line, saying that his father failed to attack King Zhao in person and was shot by Zhao Jun's crossbow arrow. He was injured and fled back to the camp.
He has been recuperating since then..." Although Tai Zizhu was a little panicked, he didn't even think of sending someone to verify it. It was just that the news he had received before made him worry that his father had really passed away.
"What!" Wang Zichu, Lord Yangquan, and Mrs. Huayang exclaimed.
Taizizhu has very few staff, and the matters are confidential, making it difficult for outsiders to know, because only a few of the closest people discuss it with Taizizhu.
After hearing what Prince Zhu said, the three of them had to wonder whether King Qin Ji had really died.
Too many people have been killed by arrows these days.
"Prince, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Mr. Yangquan said loudly.
"After all, this kind of thing is not a glorious thing, so I didn't tell everyone." Prince Zhu sighed, even if Qin Wangji was shameless, he still had to consider his father's reputation.
If it was successful, it would be fine. If the face-to-face attack failed, how could he tell others.
"Your Highness, why don't you just do nothing and take advantage of the opportunity to ascend the throne and become the king." Mr. Yangquan walked up to the Prince Pillar with a ferocious look on his face and whispered.
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Prince Zhu was startled by Yang Quanjun and almost stood up from his seat, angrily scolding his brother-in-law.
After being the prince for so many years, it is impossible to say that he has no idea about the position of King of Qin. Prince Zhu himself is worried about whether he can survive to the day when he succeeds his father and becomes King of Qin.
But Prince Zhu was well aware of his father's prestige in Qin.
If his father was not dead, all he had to do was stand outside Xianyang City and raise his arms, and all the ministers would switch sides without hesitation at all, let alone his father who had an army of two to three hundred thousand with him.
Not only will he become a complete joke, but he will also allow Zhao State to seize the opportunity to break through the defense line and even enter the pass, causing Qin State to fall into an irreversible situation.
"Your Highness, it's a long way from Xianyang to Rangcheng. We don't know the specific situation on the front line. If the king... it will be too late. Even if your highness does not ascend the throne, you should make preparations early. If the king is not injured, then everyone will be happy.
As long as everything is as usual, it won't hinder anything. If the king is really... we won't be helpless," Yang Quanjun said.
Prince Zhu was a little hesitant. He was a little greedy for the position of King of Qin, but it did not reach the point of greed. He knew how much he had, and it was not enough in front of his father.
"I think what Mr. Yangquan said makes sense." Mrs. Huayang said.
"Okay, let's prepare first." Seeing his beloved wife speak, Prince Zhu, who was already soft-eared, quickly agreed to Yang Quanjun's suggestion.
…
Qin Wangji had just finished his inspection at the Qin Army's camp. He dragged himself back to the tent exhausted, endured the pain and asked the doctor to give him medicine.
"Your Majesty, you must rest for a while. If you continue to toss, the wound will get worse." The doctor warned Qin Wangji while applying medicine.
He had said this to Qin Wangji many times, but Qin Wangji never took it to heart and still went to inspect the camp the next day.
Unexpectedly, Qin Wangji readily agreed this time.
"Okay, let me have a good rest for a few days." Qin Wangji nodded.
He didn't want to patrol the camp, but the Zhao army was too cheap. Every time he fought with the Qin army, they would send people to shout that he was dead, forcing him to come forward to expose Zhao Jun's lies, and the physical burden increased.
Fortunately, after more than half a month of patrolling, the morale of the soldiers has stabilized. Everyone no longer believes Zhao Jun's rumors and can take a good rest for a while.
If Zhao Jun spreads rumors again later, he should be able to recover from his injuries.
"Your Majesty, the envoy to Yan Kingdom has returned." At this time, a guard came in and reported with clasped fists.
"Let him come in quickly." Qin Wangji's eyes lit up and he waved quickly.
"I pay homage to your Majesty." The envoy stepped into the camp, clasped his fists and reported.
"You have been away for more than a month, which makes me worried to death. Have you ever seen King Yan? How is the war between Yan and Zhao?" Qin Wangji asked quickly.
"Your Majesty... The Kingdom of Yan... The Kingdom of Yan is gone..." The envoy spoke slowly and looked a little ugly.
Anyone who is sent as an envoy to a country and finds that the country is no longer there will probably not look good.
"What did you say?" Qin Wangji's face instantly darkened.
Such a big country, Yan, was fine a few months ago, but now you tell me that it is gone?
If he hadn't known that the envoy would never lie, Qin Wangji would have ordered him to be dragged out and beheaded.
Fan Ju next to him was also stunned. That was the Yan State. No matter how small it was, its land stretched thousands of miles and its population was millions. How could it be suddenly wiped out like this? The Qin State didn't even receive any news.