Chapter 312: Qi Chu's Countermeasures [Two in One]
While Wei was celebrating its victory in the "Second Central Plains War", Qi and Chu were trembling because of Wei's unstoppable power.
Let’s talk about Qi State first. In fact, in this war, Qi State’s military losses were not serious. Taken together, the casualties of Qi’s soldiers may only be a few two to three thousand people.
The reason for this situation, in addition to Tian Dan's premeditated attempt to preserve the strength of his own army in the early stage, is also due to the Chu State General Xiang Mo. After all, it was the latter who ordered the Chu army to attack Qi State on the day of the decisive battle.
After the army was cut off, this allowed the Qi army to survive.
In the same way, the Dongou Army of the Yue State and the Qi and Yue armies were able to retreat unscathed because they finally received the "protection" of General Xiang Mo of the Chu State.
After the defeat of the coalition forces, Tian Dan quickly evacuated eastward before the coalition forces of Wei, Wei, and Lu regained Song County. After passing through Song County, he returned to the Qi mainland.
On the way, Tian Dan ordered people to send the bad news of "the defeat of the coalition forces" to Linzi, the capital of Qi State, overnight.
At this time, Wei generals Zhao Jiang and Qu Cheng were still leading the Hanoi army and the Yanling army to attack Qi. However, because Wei general Pang Huan received a letter from Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, he ignored the order of Zhao Jiang.
The army was transferred back to the State of Wei, which resulted in the military strength of Zhao Jiang and Qu Cheng not being able to pose much of a threat to the State of Qi, so that the war situation inevitably ended in a stalemate.
After Tian Dan led his army back to Qi, Wei general Zhao Jiang's "strategy to overthrow Qi" could be said to have completely failed.
Therefore, after Zhao Jiang received the order from Wei King Zhao Run, he returned to Julu North County without hesitation.
At this point, the Second Central Plains War ended, and Qi State survived.
But having said that, although Wei returned Zhao Jiang and Qu Cheng to Julu North County, Linzi did not relax at all. The reason was the bad news that Tian Dan sent people back.
In the Linzi Palace, King Qi held Tian Dan's letter in his white hands, looked around at the ministers kneeling on both sides of the palace, and said in an inexplicable tone: "The coalition forces were defeated. To be more precise, they were defeated by Wei..."
In the palace, Zhao Zhao, the prime minister on the left, Tian Tao, the prime minister on the right, and the other ministers Gao Xi, Bao Shu and Guan Zhong were summoned to greet several ministers. After hearing the words, they all couldn't help but breathe.
Maybe for Left Prime Minister Zhao Zhao, this is still good news. After all, the defeat of the coalition forces means that his home country Wei has won the final victory in this war. But for the rest of the people in the palace at this moment, it is absolutely
Sad news.
"How come?"
Right Prime Minister Tian Tao first raised questions.
It's not that he doesn't believe in his cousin Tian Dan, it's just that he really can't believe that Wei can defeat the coalition forces of various countries under such circumstances.
You know, the total strength of the coalition of countries attacking Wei this time is nearly 1.5 million!
And what about the Wei State? At least 80% of the elites of the Wei State were sent to attack South Korea, and there were almost no troops left in the country. Under such circumstances, the Wei State could actually defeat the coalition forces of other countries?
Qi Wangbai glanced at Tian Dan, and after taking a long breath, he said: "General Tian Dan analyzed the reasons for the defeat of the coalition forces in his letter. First of all, everyone underestimated the prestige of Wei King Zhao Run in his country.
, with a conscription order, he easily recruited 340,000 people to follow him on the expedition; secondly, on the day when Wei King Zhao Run led the reinforcements to Daliang, the coalition commander Chu Shuijun made a wrong judgment, so that
Instead of seizing the opportunity of disparity in military strength to defeat Wei, they were defeated by Wei King Zhao Run, allowing Wei's reinforcements to gain a firm foothold in Daliang; as for the third, and most crucial point, Lu's Huan Hu and Chen Shou Er
They betrayed the Lu State and the allied forces. They may have been bribed by the Wei State in private, so that on the day of the decisive battle, Huan Hu and Chen Shou took Ji Wu of the Lu State hostage and controlled the Lu State.
The army, and together with the Wei army, turned against each other, and finally the Wei State... incredibly defeated the coalition forces."
"..."
After listening to King Lu Bai of Qi relaying Tian Dan's analysis of the defeat of the allied forces, all the officials in the palace looked at each other.
After a long time, Shiqing Guan Zhong frowned and said, "The State of Lu... may completely fall to the State of Wei."
Including King Lu Bai of Qi, everyone in the palace glanced at Guan Zhong after hearing this, or a few of them moved their lips slightly, as if they wanted to say something.
But in the end, they said nothing.
Because they also felt that the possibility of the Lu State completely falling to the Wei State was very high.
The reason is very simple. Huan Hu and Chen Shou took Ji Wu hostage and defected to the Wei State. Now that the Wei State has won the war, if Ji Wu was not killed by Huan Hu who crossed the river and demolished the bridge, this person would have
To protect his family from the wrath of the Wei State, he is very likely to defect to the Wei State.
The problem is that the only generals in charge of the Lu State are Ji Wu and Huan Hu. If these two people really fall to the Wei State together, then the new king of the Lu State, Gong Shuxing, will have no ability to resist the Wei State.
, either die or surrender to Wei like South Korea.
And this also means that the "Qilu Alliance" that lasted for nearly a hundred years will completely become a thing of the past at this moment.
After a while, the right prime minister Tian Tan raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, at this time, Tian Tan divides his troops to garrison Mount Tai, and sends people to keep an eye on the movements of Lu State."
King Lu Bai of Qi was not a stupid person. When he heard this, he immediately understood what Tian Tabu meant. He frowned and said, "Right Prime Minister, do you mean to sit back and watch Lu fall to Wei and stand by and do nothing?"
Right Prime Minister Tian Ba was silent for a moment, and then said in a quiet voice: "Your Majesty, in the face of the Wei State, our army can only protect itself, and I am afraid it will not be able to help the Lu State... If Ji Wu and Huan Hu did not defect to the Wei State,
, I would advise your majesty to assist the Lu State, but the two of them have surrendered to the Wei State with the Lu State's army..."
He didn't finish speaking, but Qi King Lu Bai already understood what he meant: At present, the troops of the Lu State have defected to the Wei State. If the Qi State wants to aid the Lu State, it will have to send at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Army, but this does not guarantee whether the Lu State can be saved; on the other hand, the Qi State will have its defense power greatly reduced by transferring hundreds of thousands of troops.
Therefore, aiding the Lu State at this time is really not a name-based idea.
"Your Majesty, you can persuade King Lu to flee to Daqi when Wei attacks..." Shiqing Guan Zhong suggested from the side.
"Hmm."
Lu Bai thought for a moment and nodded.
On that day, he wrote a letter in his own hand and sent it to Qufu, the royal capital of Lu State, and handed it over to Prince Shu Xing of Lu, who had not yet surrendered to Wei State at that time.
After opening the letter from King Lu Bai of Qi and reading it, Prince Lu's heart dropped.
At the beginning, Duke Shu Xing of Lu felt that Qi might be able to assist Lu in resisting Wei. This was not only because of the "Qi-Lu Alliance" but also because of the interests of Qi - after all, if Lu was defeated by Wei
If the country falls, Qi will have to be prepared to fight Wei at home.
Unexpectedly, King Bai of Qi finally gave up his plan to aid him in the State of Lu, and only persuaded him in a letter: If things must not be violated, he can escape to the State of Qi, and the Qi State will help him restore his country when the time is right.
"Is the time right to help the widow recover the country?"
Prince Lu was unhappy at the time when he was defeated, and secretly sneered again and again.
Although Gongshu Xing's qualifications are not very high, he is not blind to such a simple matter: the reason why Qi King Lu Bai invited him to flee to Qi State was simply because he wanted to get him as the 'legendary of Lu State'.
If it were the once powerful Qi State, Gongshu Xing might choose to flee to Qi State and rely on the power of Qi State. But the problem is that even Qi State is currently trembling under the threat of Wei State. How can we guarantee that we can help him in the future?
He returns to the country?
During this period, Ji Wu, the general of Lu State, came with the advice of Wei Wang Zhao Run to persuade Lu Wang Gong to lose Xing.
Therefore, after receiving the promise from Wei King Zhao Run that "Qufu is allowed to be retained as a food town", Gongshu Xing immediately abandoned Qi and fell into the arms of Wei.
There is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, the State of Lu could not stop the revenge of the State of Wei. Instead of being attacked and destroyed by the troops of the State of Wei, it would be better to accept the goodwill of Wei King Zhao Run, and at least allow his Gongshu clan to retain a piece of the fiefdom.
Facts have proved that Prince Lu's choice to lose Xing was wise. After learning that he was willing to surrender, King Zhao Run of Wei rewarded 60-70% of Lu County's land as a downgraded territory for him, the feudal king of Lu. Although
The throne was downgraded and the territory was reduced by more than half, but Gongshu Xing was already satisfied.
At least compared to the subjugated monarch who fled Qi, this is already a world of difference.
"In the future, letters from the State of Qi will no longer need to be sent to me...well, to this king."
After defecting to Wei, Duke Shuxing of Lu said this to his subordinates.
A few days later, because Lu Wang Gong Shu Xing issued an edict to the country, clearly stating that "the virtues are not as good as those of the King of Wei, and he is willing to surrender to the Wei State," the Lu State was classified as the territory of the Wei State.
After learning about this incident, King Lu Bai of Qi and other officials sighed.
Although King Lu Bai of Qi kept accusing Gongshu Xing of "ignoring the friendship between Qi and Lu" and "traitoring the country for glory", in fact, they all understood Gongshu Xing's approach.
It's just out of Qi's interests that they can't accept it.
But whether it is acceptable or not, it is already a doomed fact that Lu State merged with Wei State.
Therefore, King Lu Bai of Qi once again summoned the ministers to ask for countermeasures.
For Qi State at this time, the situation is indeed quite serious: South Korea surrenders to Wei, and Wei and Lu also surrender to Wei. Although Wei State has not taken any retaliatory measures against Qi State for the time being, everyone in the palace understands that this is just because
Wei Guo suffered huge losses in this battle, and it won't be long before Wei Guo will send troops to attack Qi again.
In this regard, the scholar-bureaucrat Lian Chen suggested: "Your Majesty, I think we, Da Qi, should send people to negotiate with Wei."
"Negotiation?"
Lu Bai snorted coldly and said displeasedly: "Offer war compensation and surrender to Wei, Chen Chen?"
After he finished speaking, he thought again, his eyes rested on the left prime minister Zhao Zhao, and then asked the right prime minister Tian Ba: "Right prime minister, what do you think?"
Right Prime Minister Tian Ba smoothed his beard and said in a deep voice: "As Master Lian Chen said, sending people to negotiate with Wei, admitting defeat, and offering compensation is a way to ease the relationship between Qi and Wei... But
The problem is, I'm afraid King Wei won't accept it." After saying that, he glanced around at the master of the palace and said seriously: "Go there.
In 2009, no matter whether the Wei State defeated South Korea or the Chu State, they would immediately send people to negotiate with Han and Chu to demand war compensation. But this time, the Wei State has no intention of doing so. I can only think that this means that the Wei State
The country is not willing to make peace with us, nor is it willing to make peace with Chu. This war will continue..."
After hearing this, everyone present looked worried.
Once upon a time, there was an option to "acknowledge defeat" in the war with the Wei State, that is, to pay high war compensation. But now, the Wei State has blocked this option, unless the Qi State can defeat the Wei State and defeat the Wei State.
Otherwise, it will either surrender or perish, and there is no third way.
And can Qi defeat Wei?
King Lu Bai of Qi and the officials present had no confidence - even South Korea was defeated by Wei, let alone Qi.
That was the only country in the Central Plains that could compete with Wei since the decline of Qi.
At this time, the scholar-bureaucrat Lian Chen suddenly said: "If the left prime minister comes forward, maybe Wei Guoguo will be lenient?"
After hearing this, everyone present changed their expressions, but the expression on the left prime minister Zhao Zhao's face was the most exciting.
"shut up!"
King Lu Bai of Qi immediately stopped talking.
At this time, Zhao Zhao, the left prime minister, may have realized that he could not avoid this matter after all. He sighed and said: "I can give it a try, but... it may not be as we wish. My eighth brother, he is a
A heroic leader will not harm the interests of the country just because of brotherly love."
After hearing this, Tian Tao also said: "What the Prime Minister Zuo said is absolutely true. Your Majesty, you must not place your hopes on the Wei State. I think that now we, the Qi State, should deepen our alliance with the Chu State." At this point, he
He cupped his hands and said, "Please allow me, your Majesty, to send me as an envoy to the State of Chu this time to negotiate with the King of Chu."
"Well, I'll leave it to the right minister."
King Qi Lu Bai said seriously.
The next day, Tian Bao, the Right Prime Minister of Qi State, took a letter from Qi King Lu Bai and embarked on a journey to Chu State.
After about twenty days, Tian Tabu arrived at Shouying, the capital of the Chu Kingdom.
At this time, the Chu State was also having a headache because of the "defeat of the coalition forces of various countries."
It is worth mentioning that after the defeat of the allied forces, Chu Shuijun abandoned the Chu and Yue armies and fled back to Chu State. Xiong Sheng, the Prime Minister of Chu State, Liyang Jun, once wanted to take the opportunity to eradicate Chu Shuijun because Xiong Sheng felt that
, if Chu Shuijun is left here, he will definitely become a hidden danger to his Chu country in the future.
King Xiong Tuo of Chu was also a little moved by Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng's proposal. After all, he was also extremely annoyed with Lord Chu Shui this time.
Because when Xiang Mo desperately blocked the Wei army in the Yongqiu area, the rest of the Chu army and the Yue army took the opportunity to withdraw from the Chu state. Among these generals who withdrew from the Chu state, who was the brave general who was highly valued by Xiang Mo?
Yu and Yu Ji filed a complaint against King Shui of Chu in front of King Xiong Tuo of Chu.
The crimes of Chu Shuijun listed by Niyu and Yuji are mainly divided into two aspects.
The first aspect is naturally Chu Shuijun's negligence in command.
For example, when Wei King Zhao Run led the reinforcements to Daliang for the first time, Chu Shuijun had the opportunity to severely damage Wei's supporting army. However, in the end, due to Chu Shuijun's indecisiveness, Wei King Zhao Run seized the flaw and led the more than 300,000 soldiers.
The Wei army, tired from traveling a long distance, defeated the millions of coalition troops who had been waiting for work.
If the fall of South Korea was the turning point of the entire "Second Central Plains War" and allowed Wei to reverse its disadvantage, then the defeat of the coalition forces meant that the coalition forces completely lost the opportunity to regain their disadvantage, so that Wei State was later defeated.
The country leads the country step by step.
In fact, this was also the reason why King Xiong Tuo of Chu was most upset.
In contrast, Chu Shuijun later took the lead in escaping back to Chu when the coalition forces were defeated - which was the second crime, which seemed to be a more complicated plot.
After all, judging from the situation at that time, it was impossible for the coalition forces to reverse their disadvantage. Chu Shuijun's retreat, apart from the bad appearance, had no impact on the coalition forces.
Didn't General Xiang Mo choose to cut off his queen at that time? But what was the result? This famous general of Chu State still died in this war.
On that day, facing the anger of Chu King Xiong Tuo, Chu Shuijun admitted his guilt and said to the former: "Your Majesty, I am indeed guilty, but I believe that the matter has come to this, even if the king executes me, it cannot be undone.
Defeat...On the contrary, it might be more useful if I keep my life alive."
As he said this, before King Xiong Tuo of Chu could speak, he raised his hands and said, "On my way back to Da Chu, I was also thinking about strategies to resist Wei... I gained a little bit."
Hearing this, Chu King Xiong Tuo's face turned pale, and he frowned and said, "Tell me about it... If it is indeed a clever plan, I can be dealt with lightly."
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty." Chu Shuijun bowed his hands and bowed, and then spoke eloquently: "This time all the countries joined forces to attack Wei. Although they were defeated in the end, it also made me, the great Chu, see some things clearly. For example, the countries will not
Reliable...Although the Lord
The responsibility lies with the ministers, but if Tian Dan of Qi State had not preserved his strength earlier, Daliang would have been captured by our coalition forces. Even if Wei King Zhao Run later led reinforcements, our coalition forces could still rely on Daliang to fight the Wei army..."
On this point, Chu Shuijun was telling the truth.
"Go on." Xiong Tuo urged.
Chu Shuijun cupped his hands and continued: "I think that Chu should not put its hope of defeating Wei in forming a coalition of countries. The coalition forces are all mixed up and have different thoughts. How can we defeat Wei in this way?
Wei Jun?"
"Do you mean to use Chu's army to face Wei alone?" Xiong Tuo, the king of Chu, said with a frown.
"Yes."
Chu Shuijun said seriously: "Although the Wei State has won this battle, I believe that the Wei State has also suffered huge losses, and it will be difficult for the Wei State to send troops to attack Chu in a short time. I guess that I should have two years to spare, and take advantage of this.
During this period, I, the Great Chu, should step up our efforts to train our soldiers and prepare for the war in the future..."
"Is this your clever plan?"
King Chu Xiong Tuo sneered twice and dismissed Lord Chu Shui's proposal.
After all, as Chu Shuijun said, even a three-year-old child knows it.
However, at this time, Chu Shuijun said seriously: "Your Majesty, I suggest that Song County be used as a training ground and a new army be formed to go there...I was thinking, if one million people are sent, how can we train in the end?"
Give out 30% of the elite, right? As for food and grass, there is no need to worry, I believe that Qi State is willing to provide sufficient food and grass for our great Chu."
Xiong Sheng, the Prime Minister of Chu, Liyang Jun, opened his eyes wide in horror when he heard this. In his opinion, Chu Shuijun's suggestion was simply insane.
"Training troops through battle...?"
Xiong Tuo frowned in thought.
He understood what Chu Shuijun meant, which was to use cruel war to temper soldiers and generals, just like the waves washing away the sand, weeding out the weak and training brave soldiers.
Although this would definitely result in the loss of countless Chu soldiers, it is undeniable that hundreds of thousands of powerful troops capable of competing with the Wei army could be trained in just two years.
Perhaps, this is the only way for Chu State to reverse the situation?