The prince had just been in charge of the country for a few months and was ordered to go back to the East Palace to reflect on his mistakes. It did not have much impact on the Qin State. How should the government be handled or how should the government be handled? How should the institutions be run? How should the common people farm the land?
land.
The same goes for the ministers. They are loyal to the King of Qin, not the prince.
But the brothers of Taizizhu could not help but become active.
In the past, the position of Prince Qin Zhu was as secure as Mount Tai. Even if other people coveted him, they were more than willing but not strong enough. In addition, Qin Wangji was in good health. Even if he really became the prince, he might not be able to survive his father.
Not too keen on the location.
After all, no one’s goal is just to be a prince, and the prince is just a ladder to the King of Qin.
Now the situation has changed. Qin Wangji is extremely old, and there are rumors that he was injured on the front line. The prince was almost deposed, which means that their opportunity has come.
Not only does he have the opportunity to become the prince, but he also has the opportunity to succeed the King of Qin and become the supreme being of the Qin Kingdom.
Even the sons of the former prince Qin Gao became more active.
If King Ji of Qin hadn't been able to survive and their father had died too early, they would have had a chance to become King of Qin.
The princes, princes and grandsons began to look for ministers to support them, and the ministers also began to look for a leader. Both sides were placing bets, and the peaceful Xianyang City became turbulent and treacherous.
Lou Huan was in the center of the whirlpool, as stable as a mountain, and seemed not to notice the various hints from the princes and grandsons. He was older than Qin Wangji, and being pushed to this position was purely a coincidence. How could he have the energy to care about such things.
"If you don't stand in line, you may not get glory, wealth, or ultimate rights, but at least you won't lose your life." Lou Fan looked out the window, sighed deeply, lowered his head and continued to deal with government affairs.
If he was young, he might fight for the wealth and wealth in the next few decades, but now that he is old, there is no need. No matter who comes to power, they will not attack an old man like him.
His descendants are all mediocre people. They can barely govern a county. If they are placed in the court, they will be swallowed up without leaving anything. They are not suitable for participating in such high-risk things.
"The last batch of winter clothes must be sent to the front line as soon as possible, so that the soldiers cannot freeze to death. Food and grass must also be sent to the front line from Bashu. Lord Wu An wrote a letter saying that 10,000 more war horses are needed, and they must find a way to transfer them from Beidi and Longxi.
..." Lou Hu took the documents, checked the storage of grain and grass in various places, and the storage of war horses, and then wholesaled the documents.
There was a hint of sadness in Lou Suan's eyes. The grain and grass in Guanzhong and Nanjun had been evacuated. Now they can only transport grain from Bashu to the battlefield. Not to mention the long journey, once the grain and grass in Bashu cannot support it, Qin will have no choice but to transport grain and grass from Bashu to the battlefield.
Increase taxes or sell off your property.
Lou Xuan didn't want this kind of thing to happen when he was in charge of the country.
"Tai Tuo, Wang Zichu wants to see you." At this time, the guards outside the palace came in.
"Zi Chu? Let him in." Lou Huan organized the approved official documents and put them aside.
"Zi Chu has met Tai Tu." Zi Chu stepped into the palace, leaned over and said.
"What do you want from me, Wang Sun?" Lou Xu looked at Zi Chu.
A few years ago, Lu Buwei secretly asked him if he was willing to marry his granddaughter to Zi Chu as his concubine. Unfortunately, the engagement was already made at that time, so in the end he had no choice but to let things go.
Lou Huan himself is still very optimistic about Zi Chu, but unfortunately something like this has happened now. When Qin Wangji comes back, once Prince Zhu is deposed, Zi Chu's situation will become very embarrassing.
"Zi Chu heard that the king was injured and was worried day and night, fearing that the king was ill. I happened to know a famous doctor who wanted to be sent to the front line to treat the king. I also hope that the master would help make arrangements." Zi Chu said.
"The princes and grandsons are filial, and the king will definitely be very happy. I will arrange personnel to escort the miracle doctor to Rangcheng." Lou Huan said. While the other princes, princes, and grandsons were still thinking about how to win over the ministers, Zi Chu had already sent people around to find names.
, to treat the injury of King Qin Ji.
Make a decision.
If Taizizhu hadn't done something stupid, the others would be no match for Zichu.
"I also heard that food and grass in the country are somewhat scarce. As the grandson of the King of Qin, I should set an example for the people of the country. I still have five thousand shi of food and five hundred thousand in money at home. I am willing to donate all of it to the court to support the frontline war." Zi Chu gritted his teeth.
said.
He didn't want to do this, but the stupid things his father did had seriously affected his future, and he had to find a way to minimize the impact.
Fortunately, there is still enough time, the battle on the front line will not end for a while, and Lu Buwei is also helping him find a way.
"The king and grandson are righteous, I will report this matter to the king." Lou Xu thought that he might be able to use this matter to stimulate other princes and princes to donate food and money.
With the princes, princes and grandsons taking the lead, and letting the nobles and wealthy businessmen "voluntarily" donate grain, perhaps we can raise enough grain and grass to last for a few more months without raising taxes and selling nobles.
However, Lou Huan rejected it in an instant.
It’s not that this method is bad, it’s that it’s easy for people to hate you.
He is too old to be able to protect the family for a long time, and the King of Qin has many unkind people, so he does not want to provoke enemies for the family at this time.
Spread the word about Zichu's donation of food and money to help him become famous and build a good relationship. As for other people, if they are willing to donate, they can donate. If they don't want to, just forget it.
The less trouble, the better.
"Zi Chu would like to thank Taifu." Zi Chu bowed solemnly.
"Urgent report from Longxi, urgent report from Longxi!" At this moment, a burst of rapid shouting came from outside the hall.
"No!" Lou Xu was shocked and immediately said to the guards, "Bring them in quickly."
Soon, a soldier with torn armor and bloodstained body was brought in. After seeing Lou Huan, he was about to kneel down and worship, but Lou Huan stopped him.
"I am Taifu, what happened to Longxi?" Lou Xiu asked urgently.
"Report... Taifu, Longxi Yuzhong has been lost." The soldier took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Lou Huan.
When Lou Huan opened it and took a look, he suddenly stood up in shock...
It is not a secret that Zhao State attacked Yuzhong. As early as a month ago, Qin State received news that Zhao State attacked Longxi County.
However, the Qin State was not worried. After the Qin State discovered that Zhao State's Helan County was located behind the Qin State, it anticipated this day and made preparations.
Six thousand troops were sent to garrison it.
After Qin Wangji received the news that Zhao army was attacking Yuzhong, he sent an additional 4,000 troops.
In other words, there are fully 10,000 troops in Longxi and Beidi counties.
The number of Zhao's troops was only 10,000.
The armies of both sides were about the same size, and the Qin army had the advantage of defending the city. It was still winter, the weather was cold, the morale of the soldiers was low, and it was almost impossible to capture Yuzhong.
This is indeed the case. Le Jian led the Zhao army to fight for nearly two months without any sign of breaking the city.
The people of Qin are no longer worried.
It was impossible to break the city before December. By December, the weather was freezing, thousands of miles were covered in ice, and the cold wind from the desert could freeze people to death. The soldiers had no fighting ability.
Let alone attacking the city at this time, Zhao Jun should withdraw his troops if he did not want to freeze to death outside.
No one expected that at this moment, Zhao Jun would break through Yuzhong City!
"Yuzhong has been lost? How is this possible?" Zi Chu's face was full of disbelief. The Qin State deployed a full 10,000 troops in Longxi and Beidi counties. Yuzhong City alone had 7,000 defenders.
, and the Zhao army only had 10,000 people.
The right time, the right place, the right people, and all the people are on Qin's side. How could the Zhao army conquer Yuzhong County in such a short period of time?
"Tell me, how did Yuzhong get lost?" Lou Huan asked in a deep voice.
"Little... I don't know very well. I only know that it was extremely cold that day, and there was heavy snow in the sky. Some brothers froze to death. Zhao Jun suddenly launched an attack. We tried our best to resist, but we were no match...
..." the soldier said.
"You go down first." Lou Huan said to the soldier.
"promise."
"There must be no loss in the Hexi Corridor. At this time, we can only report to the king and withdraw our troops from the front line." Lou Huan said in a deep voice. Longxi is not only a county of the Qin State, but also the most important horse farm of the Qin State, as well as the guards.
The economic lifeline of the entire Qin State: the Hexi Corridor.
To the west of Longxi is the Hexi Corridor. Once Longxi is lost, Qin will lose control of the Hexi Corridor.
In the past two years, more than half of the Qin State's economic sources have relied on the Hexi Corridor. After an ordinary piece of Shu Brocade is transported from the Hexi Corridor to the Western Regions, the price has increased at least ten times, making Qin State a lot of money.
Qin must not lose the Hexi Corridor.
"It's too late. It will take a month at the earliest to wait until the letter is delivered to the king before dispatching troops to Longxi. By then, Longxi has long been occupied by the Zhao army. Once our country withdraws its troops, the 500,000-strong Allied Forces of the Four Nations will be able to move from
The front line reaches Guanzhong. The Hexi Corridor cannot be lost, but Guanzhong cannot have problems. Compared with the 10,000 Zhao troops in Longxi, the 500,000 coalition troops are the biggest problem for our Qin State." Zichu said.
"What do Wang Sun think we should do?" Lou Huan asked.
"How many soldiers are there in Xianyang?" Zi Chu asked.
"Six thousand." Lou Huan said.
"Give me four thousand, and recruit another six thousand men for me, and I will go to support Longxi." Zichu said firmly.
The fall of Yuzhong was a disaster for Qin, but for him, it was a golden opportunity.
The Qin State attaches great importance to military merit. If he can stand up and repel the enemy when the country is in danger, he will win the support of most people.
Even if Qin Wangji really deposed his father, he would still have to consider him.
"The general of the Zhao army is the son of Wang Jun of the Zhao Kingdom. He was once a famous general of the Yan Kingdom, Le Jian. Are Wang Sun and Wang Sun confident of defeating him?" Lou Huan asked.
"I'm not sure. But at this time, all the famous generals of our Qin Kingdom are following the king to fight on the front line. As the king's grandson, I should guard the country's gates and resist foreign enemies. Even if I die, how can I retreat." Zi Chu's eyes were extremely firm.
"Since Wang Sun has decided... within three days, I will gather an army of 10,000 for Wang Sun." Lou Huan said.
"Thank you, Master, I'll go back and prepare." Zi Chu said.
…
Speaking of Lejian, after receiving Zhao Kuo's order, they recruited soldiers and sent troops to attack Longxi, the state of Qin.
After Zhao Guo occupied Helan County, he began to send people to explore the surrounding areas.
To the west is Helan Mountain, beyond which is the desert, to the east is grassland and sandy land, and to the south are mountains one after another, and ravines one after another, stretching endlessly as far as the eye can see.
Between these huge ravines, flat highlands will be formed, which are called plains by the locals. The people there basically live on the plains and live a life of half farming and half herding.
Two adjacent plains look very close, but they can kill people.
On the other side of the great mountain ravine is the State of Qin.
If it were only Lejian himself, he could easily climb over these mountains and ravines, but leading the army was different. He had to ensure that the army could reach the Qin border smoothly and have enough combat power to attack the city and fight. At the same time, he had to ensure that
The smooth flow of grain roads.
But the terrain here is simply an insurmountable chasm for transporting grain.
Fortunately, there is a magical profession in this world called businessmen. In order to do business, they are often able to cross uninhabited deserts, inaccessible forests, and dangerous mountains to find a road that no one has ever known.
A long time ago, the Quyan people traded along the river with the Yuezhi people living upstream. Later, the Quyan people were destroyed by the Zhao State, and the Yuezhi people were destroyed by the Qin State, and their territory was also occupied by the two countries.
But the business methods in the middle were passed down by merchants.
From Helan County, you can go upstream along the river to reach Yuzhong County of the Qin State (now also called this, located in Lanzhou). Yuzhong City controls the entrance to the Hexi Corridor. Starting from Yuzhong City, along the Zhuangzhong County
If you go all the way north in the Lang Valley, you can enter the Hexi Corridor.
Before Lejian led his army to Yuzhong, he was discovered by the Qin army's beacon tower. By the time the beacon tower was removed and they rushed outside Yuzhong City, three thousand Qin soldiers were already ready.
The Qin Army garrison was very cautious, even too cautious. No matter how provocative Lejian was, he refused to leave the city to fight. Lejian tried to attack several times, but all ended in failure.
Half a month later, Qin sent another 4,000 reinforcements.
At this time, the garrison of Yuzhong City had reached 7,000, not much less than Zhao Jun.
Even so, the Qin army still did not take the initiative to attack the Zhao army, and was indifferent to the provocation of the Zhao army, as if relying on the city wall to consume the Zhao army to death under the city.
The Zhao army is also anxious. It is early winter, and they still have the strength to fight. But when the cold wind from the desert blows in late winter, what will they use to fight?
By then, the river would freeze and Zhao Jun would be unable to transport food by water. If it snowed again and the land route was blocked, they might starve to death outside Yuzhong City.
After Le Jian determined that the Qin army was focused on being a coward, he gave up the idea of conquering Yuzhong in a short time, and instead chose to fight the Qin army and slowly look for opportunities.
At the same time, Li Fu was urged to transport enough food and grass before the river froze.
It wasn't until mid-December that Le Jian finally got the chance.
On this day, the cold wind from the desert blew into Yuzhong City. It was biting and cold, cutting like a knife on the Qin army. There was heavy snow in the sky, and the sky and the earth were completely white.
All the Qin soldiers huddled in the city, snuggling together to keep warm. Their winter clothes were only a thin layer, which was barely enough to survive the cold in the Central Plains. But in Longxi, it had no effect at all on keeping out the cold. Some people were shivering from the cold, and some were shivering from the cold.
The person stopped moving after being hit, and when touched again, he was no longer breathing.
It was at this time that no one expected that Zhao Jun launched an attack...