"PS: I caught a cold the day before yesterday and it's still not gone. I have a headache, stuffy nose and feel uncomfortable."
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Xianyang, the new capital of the Qin State, was a capital city built by the Qin State about forty miles northwest of "Fenghao". It was called Xianyang because it was located in the hinterland of Qinchuan, eight hundred miles away, with the Wei River running through it to the south, Mount Wei to the north, and the mountains and rivers being sunny.
Note: The word "Xian" means "all, all."
On the 9th day of November, Zhang Tang, the city guard of Xiagu City in Weinan, abandoned the main road from Lintong to Fenghao and took a remote path upstream along the bank of the Wei River, heading straight for Xianyang, hoping that "Wei Gongzi Run would lead his army to invade the territory."
Urgent news reached Xianyang.
Before the appointment was due, Zhang Tang rode his horse to the banks of the Weishui River in Xianyang.
There is a stone bridge built on the Wei River in Xianyang, connecting Xianyang and Fenghao. It is called "Gaoqiao". Like Baqiao in the northeast of Fenghao City, there is also a pavilion of soldiers stationed here, about a hundred people, responsible for
Maintain the order of the bridge and play a certain early warning role.
When Zhang Tang rode his horse and approached Gaoqiao, the Qin soldiers near Gaoqiao also noticed this general who was riding a horse and wearing armor, and they were greatly surprised.
Immediately, hundreds of Qin soldiers from that pavilion came forward to greet them.
However, at this time, Zhang Tang had no time to contend with these soldiers. He shouted and urged his horse to cross the bridge quickly: "Get out of the way! I am going down to Gui City to guard Zhang Tang. I have urgent military information to report to Xianyang!"
The Qin soldiers guarding the bridge were frightened and retreated one after another. It was not difficult to stop them, allowing Zhang Tang to fly past.
Since the news of the fall of the two cities of Xiagui and Lintong has not yet reached here, the Qin soldiers near the river bridge and the Qin people coming and going did not know what happened, but they felt a little uneasy: there might be an attack.
It's a big deal.
After crossing the Gaoqiao, we arrived at the outskirts of Xianyang.
Both Xianyang and Fenghao are now the largest cities in the Qin State. The difference between the two is that Xianyang is the newly built capital of the Qin State. Very few civilians have moved here. Even if there are some civilians living in the city, it is to serve the nobles in the city.
And the civilians who exist.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Qin people who are eligible to live in Xianyang are almost all Qin aristocrats who are either rich or noble and have high-ranking officials.
The existence of the capital in this form basically eliminates the possibility of lying about one's identity and sneaking into the city.
No, Zhang Tang, who was riding a horse and galloping near the gate of Xianyang City, was stopped by the Qin soldiers guarding the city gate and carefully interrogated him.
At the same time, in the palace of the King of Qin in Xianyang, the King of Qin summoned Wei Yang, the commander of Zuo Shu, in the palace. The monarch and his ministers discussed some issues.
It turns out that in recent times, more and more nobles of the Qin State have had objections to Wuxinhou Gongsunqi, thinking that Wuxinhou Gongsunqi was too timid and lost consecutive battles in front of the Wei soldiers led by Wei Gongzi Run. This kind of war
This method is not in the interest of Qin.
In fact, to be fair, although Wuxinhou Gongsunqi was defeated in name, his military strength was almost not affected. However, it was obvious that the nobles in the Qin State would not care about this. They only knew that Wuxinhou Gongsunqi did not bring any troops with him.
Giving them any war benefits will only consume food every day.
Therefore, in the past two days, a group of nobles in Xianyang City have united to pay homage to the King of Qin. They hope that the King of Qin will order to restrain Gongsun Qi, the Marquis of Wuxin who is leading the troops on the front line. To put it bluntly, they hope that Gongsun Qi, the Marquis of Wuxin, will defeat Wei Gongsun Qi as soon as possible so that they can return from Wei Gongsun Qi.
Sanchuan, wresting huge war benefits from Wei.
This gave King Qin a headache.
If it were an ordinary opponent, I believe that even the King of Qin would be dissatisfied with Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi's "passive" tactics. But the question is, is Wei Gongzi Run an ordinary opponent?
Therefore, from an intellectual point of view, neither King Hui of Qin nor Wei Yang, the chief minister of Zuo Shu, believed that Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi's strategy was wrong - since Wei Gongzi Run was destined to withdraw his troops when Wei lost the war in the mainland, then Qin's soldiers , why are you still fighting with the Wei army and dying in vain? Wouldn't it be better to wait for Wei to collapse and wait for Wei Gongzi Run to retreat on his own?
But it is obvious that the patience of the nobles in Qin has been worn away. They can no longer endure the stalemate war between Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi and Wei Gongzi. They think it is a waste of Qin's precious food.
What's more, some nobles began to accuse Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi of betraying the King of Qin's trust in him.
In fact, there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi had not achieved much since he sent out troops.
I remember that although Qin Shaojun was defeated, he managed to win over the Wuxu Tribe, Jie Tribe, and Ling Tribe, the three major forces on the Sanchuan Grassland. But what about Wuxin Hou Gongsunqi? He might as well just watch those three people in Hangu who might become The Sanchuan forces that were vassals of the Qin State were destroyed by the Wei army - in the eyes of some nobles in Xianyang of the Qin State, this was a major blunder by Gongsun Qi, the Marquis of Wuxin.
As a result, some nobles of the Qin State who were ambitious were talking nonsense in the rear. They felt that if Wuxinhou Gongsunqi had united the Wuxu tribe, Jie tribe, and Ling tribe to confront the Wei army under the command of Wei Gongzi Run, the fastest outcome would be , it is just like this now, but at least the Qin army will not "retreat without a fight."
As the saying goes, three people make a tiger. Due to the popularity of such remarks, even King Qin began to waver: Could it be that Gongsun Qi, the Marquis of Wuxin, really made a mistake in judgment?
However, Wei Yang, the commander of Zuo Shu, had a very firm attitude towards this. He firmly believed that Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi's decision was correct.
The reason is very simple. The warriors of the Wusu Tribe, Jie Tribe, and Ling Tribe have not received orthodox combat training. The way of fighting is basically to swarm in. The victory or defeat depends on God's will. Who dares to fight against such friendly forces? Lead them to fight the Wei army head-on?
What? Cavalry?
Doesn’t the Wei army have cavalry? On the Wei army’s side, the Jiejiao Army of the Northern Sichuan Alliance and the Sichuan-Luo Cavalry of the Sichuan-Luo Alliance totaled almost 70,000 to 80,000 people!
The military strength is not as good as that of the Wei army, the fighting quality of the soldiers is not as good, and the equipment is also inferior. In this situation with almost no advantage at all, how can there be any chance of winning in a head-on battle with the Wei army?
Instead of doing this, it is better to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, quietly watching the Wei army and the Wuxu, Jie, Ling and other forces fight to the death, and during the period, you can also see if there is a chance to defeat the Wei army. Anyway, the Wuxu tribe, the Jie tribe, The Antelope Tribe is not a good bird either.
But no one expected that the vanguard Wei general Sima An under Wei Gongzi Run would be so powerful. He destroyed the entire Wuxu tribe with five hundred sheep, which greatly boosted the morale of the Wei army.
Therefore, personally, Wei Yang could accept the results of Wuxinhou Gongsunqi. After all, the Wei army he faced was by no means ordinary. Therefore, he did not want the King of Qin to return to put pressure on the front line, because this would affect Wuxinhou Gongsun. judgment.
Since ancient times, generals who urge the front line with royal orders often end up losing the battle. Wei's "disastrous defeat in the Battle of Shangdang" is an excellent example.
Just when the King of Qin returned to discuss with Wei Yang "whether we should use the king's order to urge Gongsun Wu, the Marquis of Wuxin on the front line, to rise," the Tingwei hurriedly walked in and saluted: "Your Majesty, I am asking for an audience with Master Zhang Tang, the guard of Gui City. He is outside the palace at the moment. Wait and tell me that I have something important to report."
"Zhang Tang?" King Qin replied blankly, wondering what Zhang Tang was doing in Xianyang if he didn't stay well in Xiagui.
Under the steps of the throne in the palace, Wei Yang, the commander-in-chief of Zuo Shu, also had a confused look on his face - due to the poor delivery of information, even Wei Yang never expected that the Wei army, which was five or six hundred miles away, would be killed at this moment. When they arrived at Qin's homeland, they also captured two cities.
"Summon us in." King Qin ordered back.
"Here!"
Tingwei saluted and retreated. After a while, he led Zhang Tang away and back.
When they saw Zhang Tang, King Qin Hui and Wei Yang were stunned for a moment, because they found that Zhang Tang's body was dusty and there were traces of frostbite on his face, as if he had come from Xiagui for days and nights.
What kind of important matter makes this general so anxious?
"Your Majesty."
Before the King of Qin could reply to the question, Qin General Zhang Tang kowtowed to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please step aside."
This sentence alone is enough to prove the seriousness of the matter.
"Everyone, step back."
King Qin waved his hand back and asked the waiters in the palace to leave one after another. After all of them exited the palace, he frowned and asked, "What important matter does Qing Zhang have to report to you?"
Zhang Tang glanced back and saw the waiters closing the door after exiting the main hall. Then he turned back. After considering his tone, he said cautiously: "Your Majesty, one hundred thousand Wei troops have entered our Qin Dynasty." In the territory, I failed to observe and Xiagui fell..."
At this point, he saw that King Qin Hui had no response, so he secretly raised his head and took a look, only to find that King Qin Hui's eyes widened in horror.
Looking at Wei Yang, the concubine of the Zuo family next to him, he saw that this gentleman also looked like he had seen a ghost in the daytime.
After more than ten breaths, King Qin swallowed his saliva and asked in a trembling tone: "Zhang Qing, what did you just say? Wei Jun...what happened?"
Zhang Tang lowered his head and said truthfully: "Your Majesty, four days ago, Wei Gongzi Run led nearly 100,000 troops and used a trick to capture Xiagui, and then divided his troops to attack Lintong... When I was passing Lintong at dawn three days ago, I discovered that Lintong has been captured by the Wei army, and the flags of the Wei army are everywhere on the city..."
After hearing what Zhang Tang said, King Qin was convinced that he had heard correctly. He subconsciously sat up straight and felt a chill rising from his spine to the top of his head.
"Zhang Qing, are you joking with me?" King Qin asked with a strong smile.
After hearing this, Zhang Tang saluted with both hands, touched his forehead to the ground, and said with difficulty: "I, I will never dare to joke about national affairs even if I die."
After hearing this, the forced smile on King Qin's face suddenly collapsed. He was holding the table with one hand, as if his whole body was trembling - he didn't know whether it was because of anger or fear.
"The Wei army... has invaded our Daqin territory? They have also attacked the two cities of Xiagui and Lintong one after another? Are you kidding me? Isn't the Wei army in Taolin? Taolin is nearly five hundred miles away from Xiagui! In this world of ice and snow, How did the Wei army quietly invade our territory of Da Qin?"
"Where is Marquis Wu Xin? Have you ever seen Marquis Wu Xin's troops?" King Qin asked, holding back his emotions.
Zhang Tang did not dare to raise his head and whispered: "I have never seen Wu Xinhou's soldiers and horses, maybe they were thrown away by the Wei army, or..."
He didn't dare to say any more.
But King Qin Hui understood what he meant, and his expression became even more ugly.
After a while, he asked with a pale face: "Where is the Wei army now?"
"If nothing else happens, Wei Gongzi Run is sending his army to attack Feng Hao at this moment..." Zhang Tang said bravely.
After hearing this, King Qin Hui's expression became extremely ugly.
Why?
Because Xianyang is only more than forty miles away from Fenghao, if the Wei army really captures that city, it will be equivalent to an army approaching Xianyang.
However, what King Qin found most unacceptable was that his state of Qin was attacked by the Wei army to a place only dozens of miles away from the royal capital, but so far, he has not received any early warning news.
Just as King Qin was about to get angry, he suddenly heard the prestige of "Dang Dang Dang Dang" sounded in the city, and faintly accompanied the sound of human sounds.
"Could it be..."
King Qin Hui and Wei Yang looked at each other, and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.