Just when Zhang Qigong was pretending to assist Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, his deputy Bei Gongyu had already led a group of black crows in disguise to the territory of the "Fan clan".
The Fan clan of Ba Kingdom, with "Langzhong" as its capital, is the tribe that contributed the most in the Bashu-Shu war. The current leader is called "Fan Lie". He was a warrior of the Fan clan when he was young. He has a son named "Fan Lie" who has high hopes.
"Fan Bu", Fan Lie hoped that this son could defeat Baman of Ba family, so that the Fan family could replace the Ba family.
It is worth mentioning that Fan Lie is not too passionate about replacing Ba Chen. He is just dissatisfied with the current royal family of the Ba family.
Because once upon a time, the five surnames of the Ba tribe were judged by martial arts, which refers to the contemporary leaders of the five major tribes, including the Ba family, the Fan family, and the Xiang family.
The chief of the clan who supported him was the king of Ba.
But gradually, this tradition gradually changed. I don’t know when the chiefs of the five clans no longer went into battle in person, but instead recommended warriors from their respective clans, just like Bashi’s Baman and Xiang’s Xiangcha.
etc.
This made Fan Lie, the old leader of the Fan clan, quite dissatisfied.
If Ba Chen really succeeded to the position of the Lord of Ba with his own bravery, then Fan Lie would not have any objections, but it is a pity that the person who protected the position of King Ba in Ba Chen's generation was Ba Jin.
The warrior of the clan was Ba Man, not Ba Qi, which made Fan Lie quite dissatisfied.
Of course, if it were just that, Fan Lie would not be too prejudiced against Ba Jin. The problem was that Ba Jin, as the king of Ba, was quite weak when it came to Shu.
The Ba family and the Fan family have always been the main force for the Ba people to attack Shu. The Fan family was a staunch supporter of the Ba family. Like Fan Lie's ancestors for generations, they always followed the footsteps of Ba Chun's ancestors and fought with them.
The Ba clan fought side by side against the Shu Kingdom who tried to drive them out of their homeland.
"Unite with Zhu to resist Shu", this has always been the strategic policy of Pakistan.
But the contemporary Ba Jin of the Ba family is trying to reconcile with the Shu Kingdom. Although Ba Jin's original intention is actually wise in the eyes of some people, Fan Lie cannot accept it.
Reconciliation with the Shu Kingdom? Then what is the significance of our ancestors of the Ba Kingdom fighting against the Shu Kingdom for generations?
As a result, a rift gradually appeared between the Bafan and Bafan clans. Just when the leader of the Ba clan, Ba Qian, tried to reconcile with the Shu Kingdom and prevent the two countries from fighting again, the Fan clan still went its own way and went to war with the Shu people, seizing Langzhong and heading west.
A large area of fertile land.
Afterwards, Ba Yi learned about this person and sent people to Langzhong to negotiate with Fan Lie, hoping that the latter would "return astray" and not easily provoke a war between Bashu and Bashu. However, Fan Lie did not obey Ba Yi's order and would also
The envoy was driven out of the capital in a very humiliating manner.
Afterwards, when Xiang Bin of the Xiang clan learned about the incident, he was very happy and sent people to discuss with Fan Lie in an attempt to unite the forces of the two clans and push the Ba clan off the throne.
But he didn't expect that Fan Lie also looked down on Xiang Bin and drove Xiang Bin's envoy out of the capital.
At that time, Xiang Bin was furious and sent Xiang Chao and his troops to question him, but was defeated by Fan Lie's son Fan Bu and fled in panic.
From then on, Xiangbin did not dare to provoke the Fan family again.
After Bei Gongyu arrived in Langzhong, he sent a group of black crows to inquire around, and learned that Fan Lie, Fan Bu and his son were fond of martial arts. They preferred sharp swords and solid armor to the gold that Ba people generally liked.
I already had an idea in mind.
Since he couldn't find any magic weapon in a hurry, Bei Gongyu had to ask the black crows under his command to donate a few daggers as gifts to Fan Lie, the old leader of the Fan clan.
Fan Lie didn't care about these daggers at first, but when he discovered that the weapons of the Fan clan could not cut such daggers, and would even be broken by these daggers, he was surprised and delighted, and immediately
So he sent someone to summon Bei Gongyu.
When meeting Fan Lie, Bei Gongyu revealed his identity as a Wei man. He reused his former pseudonym "Gong Zheng" and claimed to be a Wei businessman who smuggled arms.
After listening to Bei Gongyu's words, Fan Lie was quite surprised and asked: "Is it the Wei State that provided weapons to the Nanyang Jie people?"
Bei Gongyu was stunned for a moment, and then he learned the reason from Fan Lie.
It turns out that in addition to plundering the Xiang clan, the Nanyang Jie people also occasionally wandered into the territory of the Fan clan, causing quite a commotion in this land. After all, unlike war, the purpose of the Nanyang Jie people was to plunder the Ba Kingdom.
Wealth and the Ba people themselves, therefore, they more often attack the mountain villages of Ba than the walled cities like Langzhong.
Although if a fight really breaks out, the Nanyang Jie people may not even be the opponents of the Fan clan, but because the Jie people are nomadic people and always come and go without a trace, the soldiers of the Fan clan are often unable to block the latter.
What's even worse is that even if they are blocked by the Jie tribe, the warriors of the Fan clan cannot withstand the terrifying crossbows of the Jie tribe.
Regardless of the military crossbows that flowed into the hands of the Jie people, they were actually weapons that had been eliminated by the regular army of the Wei State. However, in this land, they could still exert quite terrifying power, especially against the Ba warriors who mostly wore animal skin armor.
Seeing the angry look on Fan Lie's face when he mentioned the Nanyang Jieren, Bei Gongyu felt palpitations in his heart and quickly explained, fearing that Fan Lie would turn his anger on him.
Facts have proved that Fan Lie's desire for high-quality weapons finally curbed his dislike of Bei Gongyu, a Wei man. He said to Bei Gongyu: "If you can provide high-quality weapons to our Fan family, I will do it."
You can gain my friendship, Mr. Fan."
Of course, Beigong Yu immediately agreed to this and expressed his readiness to give the Fan family 500 sets of Wei soldiers' armaments for free.
This gesture immediately won Fan Lie's favor. The latter seemed to have forgotten Bei Gongyu's identity as a Wei man, and laughed loudly and ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain the latter.
The next day, Bei Gongyu sent people back to Nanyang to ask for 500 sets of ordinary armaments from Shangshui County, which was closest to Nanyang.
Half a month later, Shen Yu, the governor of Shangshui County, received the news about Beigong Yu, and without hesitation, he collected 500 sets of military equipment that had been used for many years from the volunteer camp of Shangshui Army and transported them to Nanyang.
Then he took the land route from Nanyang to the territory of the Fan family.
It took a total of two months of work, not because of anything else, but because the mountain roads in Hanzhong and Bajun were too rugged.
After receiving Shen Yu's reply, Bei Gongyu told Fan Lie the news, which surprised and delighted the old patriarch. He quickly asked his son Fan Bu to take people with Bei Gongyu to hand over the news.
During this period, Bei Gongyu deliberately sent someone to reveal the news to the Xiang clan, telling them that a batch of military equipment from the Central Plains would pass through their territory.
Sure enough, Xiang Bin, the leader of the Xiang clan, immediately sent people to investigate and try to intercept this batch of armaments.
Under the control of Bei Gongyu and his black crows, Fan Bu successfully met the warriors of the Xiang clan.
When he saw that the warriors of the Xiang clan actually tried to swallow up the gifts that belonged to his Fan clan, Fan Bu was furious. He mobilized thousands of warriors, defeated the Xiang clan, and seized the five hundred sets of armaments.
, and happily transported it to Langzhong.
After learning that the armament had arrived, the old patriarch Fan Lie happily went out of the city to see it in person.
During this period, Fan Bu told his father Fan Lie about the Xiang clan's attempt to intercept their armaments, which made the latter quite unswerving.
Fan Lie cursed a few words and said to his son Fan Bu: "No need to pay attention, Xiang Bin is just a coward. How dare he openly provoke our Fan family?"
After saying that, Fan Lie went to look at the five hundred sets of armaments.
Although these five hundred sets of Wei soldiers' armaments were actually eliminated by the Shang Shui Army, it is undeniable that the armaments forged by Wei are of excellent quality, such as iron armor, shields, and helmets. Even if they have various scratches, they can still be used.
Effectively resists swords and arrows.
Although those war knives are a bit dull, this is not a problem for the Ba warriors who are good at sharpening bone knives. As long as they find a stone to sharpen them, they will be sharp again immediately.
Of course, what excites the old patriarch the most is the five hundred-handled crossbows, which are much more powerful than the bows and arrows commonly used in Bashu.
After personally trying various weapons and armors, Fan Lie happily invited Bei Gongyu to the palace and entertained her warmly.
Originally, Fan Lie had some doubts about Bei Gongyu. After all, not everyone could boast of gifting five hundred sets of armaments. However, the facts were before his eyes, and there was no room for disbelief. The Wei man in front of him, who called himself "Gong Zheng", was extremely capable.
Unusual, no, five hundred sets of armaments were delivered as soon as possible, and they were delivered within about two months. This greatly exceeded Fan Lie's previous estimate of this Wei businessman.
After pondering for a while, he said to Bei Gongyu: "The war in our country of Pakistan is different from that in the Central Plains. The iron armor is too heavy and is not convenient for our warriors to fight, but your swords and hand crossbows are what I hope."
The more, the merrier.”
Bei Gongyu smiled and said there was no problem.
Did he really want to start an arms deal with the Fan family? It was just to win the trust of the Fan family. Although he signed a list of transactions with Fan Lie, in fact he had no intention of trading with the latter - maybe one day
Years later, the Fan family will no longer exist, and the money in this transaction will be meaningless.
Yes, the Fan family is just a pawn used by Bei Gongyu to break into the Ba Kingdom.
Thinking of this, he blurted out: "I wonder how many swords and crossbows the old patriarch needs?"
Fan Lie thought for a while and asked tentatively: "Five thousand swords and two thousand crossbows."
Hearing this, Bei Gongyu pretended to be surprised and asked: "You want so much? This... please give me some time to let my people prepare. How about half a year?"
Fan Lie was overjoyed, but still said: "I know half a year is not long, but I still hope that sir can be faster?"
"Do you want to start a war?" Bei Gongyu asked pretending to be surprised.
Since Bei Gongyu had gained Fan Lie's trust through his generosity, the latter did not hide anything from him and nodded and said: "I, the Fan family, are preparing to use troops against Shu."
Since what Zhang Qigong instructed Bei Gongyu to do was to provoke civil strife in Pakistan, Bei Gongyu certainly would not forget to fan the flames. He pretended to be hesitant and said: "Actually, prepare those five thousand war knives and two thousand handles."
It's not difficult to get a crossbow, but the problem is that your road is too difficult, and you have to pass through the territory of the Xiang clan on the way... Old patriarch, I think that if you want our deal to last, I think the old patriarch should inform Xiang.
A shout from the clan."
From the side, Fan Lie's son Fan Bu also spoke up and said, "Yes, father, that guy Xiang Bin is so hateful. He dared to try to withhold the belongings of my Fan family this time. Father, let me teach Xiang Bin a lesson!"
"
Fan Lie's face was gloomy, and he frowned and said: "If you don't have any business ahead of time, let's send someone to talk to Xiang Bin first to see what he means... If he really ignores the feelings of the five surnames, then I, Mr. Fan,
There’s no need to be polite to him!”
Beside, Bei Gongyu's heart moved slightly, thinking about how to provoke the civil strife between the Fan family and the Xiang family. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a warrior from the Fan family's tribe hurried in outside the hall and said: "
Patriarch, Ba Shi sent someone to ask for an audience with the patriarch."
"Huh?"
Fan Lie frowned and said unhappily: "That boy Ba Qi, I don't know what he is going to do."
Even so, he still ordered someone to invite the future people in.
After seeing Fan Lie, the envoy of the Ba family saluted and said, "Chief Fan Lie, I am here on the order of King Ba."
"What's up?"
"King Ba has learned that the Qin State in the north may send troops to attack our Ba State, and he begs the clan chief to be more vigilant."
"Qin?" Fan Lie was stunned when he heard this.
Beside, Bei Gongyu was also stunned.
The Qin State is about to attack Bashu. Bei Gongyu certainly knows about this. The problem is that the Qin State’s army has not yet appeared in Bashu. Even the Fan family in the north of Bajun does not know about it. Why did they attack the Ba in Jiangzhou in the south?
Can Wang Kai know this?
"The Chu people probably don't know about Qin's plan to attack Bashu, right? Did Captain Zhang reveal it?... Well, in this case, I will have to change my plan a little bit."
Thinking of this, Bei Gongyu gave up his plan to instigate civil strife between the Fan family and the Xiang family, and deliberately said: "Qin State..."
Hearing this, Fan Lie asked in surprise: "Sir, do you know about the state of Qin?"
Bei Gongyu heard this and said with a smile: "To be honest with the old patriarch, Qin is our defeated general. I never thought that after Qin was defeated by Wei, it actually intended to attack Bashu." As he said, he vowed: "Although
I, the Great Wei, will not tolerate my smuggling of arms, but I am a Wei person after all. If the Qin State really tries to attack your country, I will do my best to help your country!"
After hearing this, Fan Lie became more and more happy and trusted Bei Gongyu more and more.
After all, everything Bei Gongyu said made sense, and he really had no reason to doubt.
Therefore, under the threat of Qin, Fan Lie temporarily gave up his decision to attack Bashu and prepared to mobilize his army to resist Qin's invasion.
Originally, in Fan Lie's view, Qin would not attack Ba Shu so quickly. After all, Qin and Bashu were separated by the "Ju State" in Hanzhong. But what he didn't expect was that in early July, he
His soldiers from the Fan clan actually discovered the traces of the Qin army.
This surprised Fan Lie.
He thought to himself: Could it be that the State of Ju had been captured by the State of Qin? Why didn’t the State of Ju send people to ask for help from the State of Ba?
In fact, because of Ba's strategy of "uniting Ju to fight Shu", the relationship between the Ba and Ju has always been good, especially when the king of Ju gradually became dissatisfied with being a vassal of Shu and no longer wanted to pay tribute to Shu every year.
After the tribute from Shu, the relationship between Ba and Ju became even closer.
Surprised, Fan Lie immediately sent someone to investigate.
However, the results of the inquiry made Fan Lie even more confused, because he found that the country of Ju was safe and sound so far.
Only later did he find out that it was the Qin State that had gifted a considerable amount of wealth to the Ju State and asked the Ju State to allow him to use the road to attack the Shu State.
Perhaps for the sake of those treasures, Ju agreed to Qin's request.
As a result, the Qin army easily crossed the steep terrain of Hanzhong and stationed its army to the north of Bashu.
It is worth mentioning that the army of the Qin State also sent goodwill to the Fan family and sent people to see Fan Lie to express their intentions to the latter: This time, the Qin State only wanted to attack the Shu State and did not attack Shu.
Pakistan has absolutely no evil intentions.
At this time, Bei Gongyu had gained the trust of Fan Lie, Fan Bu and his son, and naturally learned about this matter.
After learning about Ju Guo's act of allowing the passage, Bei Gongyu couldn't believe it.
"Can this monarch of Ju State be any more stupid? How could he let Qin's army cross the dangerous terrain of Hanzhong so easily? Oh my God! Where did that guy get the confidence to believe that Qin State would not destroy Bashu and Bashu?
The queen of the country will conveniently destroy his country as well?"
Bei Gongyu secretly shook his head.
He felt that the monarch of Ju State was really stupid, and to be placed side by side with such a monarch in the world was simply a disgrace to the monarch of Wei State!
Thinking of this, and with the idea that Qin would never succeed, Bei Gongyu immediately found Fan Lie and told the latter: "Old patriarch, you must not believe the lies of the Qin people. If you sit back and watch Qin attack and destroy Shu,
, and has occupied Shu, then the next target of Qin’s attack must be your country!”
Fan Lie, Fan Bu and his son were still a little unconvinced at first. Beigong Yu explained: "Ju, Ba and Shu are the three kingdoms. For the Qin State, Ju State is the easiest to conquer, because Ju State is only in danger of Hanzhong. Unless Bashu and Bashu are the two countries,
Give full support to Ju State, otherwise Ju State will be destroyed by Qin. Second is your country. After all, your country is located behind Ju State. If Qin wants to attack your country, it must attack Ju State first. The most difficult thing to conquer is
Shu... Therefore, the Qin people found another way to stabilize your country and Ju's country, and took Shu first. If Shu fell, Qin would definitely attack your country again. During the intervening period, both Bashu and Bashu were destroyed, and Qin took the opportunity to solve Ju's problem.
The country will be made effortless!"
After hearing this analysis, Fan Lie, Fan Bu and his son looked at each other in confusion. The latter asked in confusion: "Sir, why is the Qin State going through such twists and turns?"
Beigong Yu Zhengse said: "Just because Qin may attack Ju, your country and Shu may send troops to support, so it will be difficult for the Qin army to cross the dangers of Hanzhong. But now, Qin has defrauded Ju with money and silk.
The monarch's promise and his goodwill to you are showing favor to you. If he attacks Bashu again at this time, Ju and your country may not be able to save Shu..."
Fan Lie and Fan Bu looked at each other.
Indeed, under normal circumstances, how could the Taba people go to rescue Shu? In fact, after meeting the envoys of the Qin army a few days ago, Fan Lie was still considering whether to unite with Qin to attack Shu.
But now when he heard Bei Gongyu's words, his expression changed drastically.
"In your opinion, sir, what should we do?" he asked quickly.
Seeing this, Beigong Yu offered advice: "As the saying goes, the lips are dead and the teeth are cold. For now, no matter Ju, Shu or Ba, the three countries are absolutely no match for the Qin State. Only by uniting can we resist the Qin State. Now.
It is suggested that since the State of Ju has been deceived by the State of Qin, the old patriarch might as well send someone to tell King Ba about the seriousness of the situation, and ask King Ba to send an envoy to inform the State of Shu, so that the two sides can join hands to fight against the Qin army!"
"Unite with the Shu people to fight against the Qin army?"
Fan Lie's face suddenly darkened.
Of course, Bei Gongyu guessed what he was thinking, and advised from the side: "Old patriarch, this is not a fight for Shu, but a fight for your country, and a fight for the Fan family."
After listening to Bei Gongyu's words, Fan Lie nodded this time and said in a deep voice: "I understand, thank you sir for the tip...Abu, go to Jiangzhou immediately and tell Ba Yi about this."
"Uh..." Fan Bu was stunned when he heard this, scratched his head and said, "Father, can I ask Mr. Gong to go to Jiangzhou with me? I'm afraid I can't explain clearly..."
Fan Lie also knew that his son was brave enough to be brave, but his brain might not be able to catch up with him, so after glaring at his son, he turned to look at Bei Gongyu and implored: "Sir, look at this..."
Seeing this, Bei Gongyu thought to himself: Anyway, there is nothing going on here for the time being, so why not take this opportunity to meet Captain Zhang, and by the way meet that 'Master Mi Rui'.
Thinking of this, he said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. As I said a few days ago, between Qin and your side, I will naturally support you. What's more, in order to gain your friendship, I did not hesitate to give you five hundred yuan."
I want to set up armaments and hope to be able to trade with the Fan family for a long time in the future. If something happens to your side, it will be troublesome for me here..."
"Then please sir."
Fan Lie said with great joy.
The next day, Fan Bu took Bei Gongyu and his Black Crows, escorted by a group of Fan soldiers, and set off for Jiangzhou.
The terrain between Langzhong and Jiangzhou is relatively flat, so after spending about five days, Fan Bu, Zhang Qigong and others arrived in Jiangzhou and asked to see Ba Yi, the leader of the Ba clan.
While being summoned by Ba Yi, Bei Gongyu stated the threat of Qin on behalf of the Fan family, which shocked and surprised Ba Yi.
What was shocking was that Qin actually came to attack Bashu, and the monarch of Ju foolishly let these Qin troops pass Hanzhong.
Surprisingly, in Ba Jin's view, Fan Lie, the old patriarch of the Fan clan, hated the Kingdom of Shu the most, and he had previously broken with his clan over the affairs of the Kingdom of Shu. He never thought that today he would be asked to come forward and send an army to the Kingdom of Shu.
The envoy united Shu to fight against Qin.
Ba Jin was not stupid, and he immediately guessed that Fan Lie had such a big change, most likely because of this Wei man who called himself "Gong Zheng".
Of course, he had no ill intentions towards this Wei man, and was even somewhat grateful to the latter.
Afterwards, Fan Bu took the lead in returning to Langzhong to convey Ba Jin's wishes to his father, while Bei Gongyu stayed in Jiangzhou. As for the purpose, of course, he wanted to meet Zhang Qigong and exchange information.
Therefore, when he learned that Zhang Qigong was currently living in the residence of Ba Man, the general of Ba State, Bei Gongyu went there immediately.
After learning that 'Gong Zheng' had come to visit, Zhang Qigong was stunned for a moment, then he immediately came to his senses and met Bei Gongyu immediately.
Perhaps because she learned that another Wei man was coming, Mi Rui also appeared with Zhang Qigong.
Bei Gongyu looked left and right, and he really didn't understand how Mi Rui, a woman called "silly girl" by his Wei monarch, could see through the conspiracy that Zhang Qigong and he were jointly weaving.
In his opinion, Mi Rui is just an ordinary, silly girl who is even a little stupid.