After learning the news of Qi's fall, the Chu State was particularly nervous. King Xiong Tuo of Chu immediately sent someone to inform Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, who was in Bashu, of the news, asking the latter to step up matters in Bashu immediately.
Around May of the eighth year of Wei Zhaowu, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu received a secret letter from Chu King Xiong Tuo in Pingdu, Bajun. He was shocked to learn that Qi State had been annexed by Wei State.
To be honest, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was not surprised by the result that Qi was annexed by Wei. After all, when Chu King Xiong Tuo was forced to abandon Qi as an ally due to the situation, it was destined that Qi would be annexed by Wei.
, but knowing that this must be the result, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was still shocked and worried about the "Wei-Chu War" that was about to break out in the future.
However, what worries Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu the most is the current situation. After all, the Wei State has already annexed the Qi State. However, on the Bashu side, the Chu State is still in a stalemate with the Qin State.
After pondering, Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu made an appointment with the Qin army commander Wang Jian, and invited the latter to meet him in the hinterland of the Bajun Basin, on the battlefield of the "Qin-Chu War".
A few days later, the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, Changxinhou Wangjian, received a letter from Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu.
At this time, Wang Jian was stationed in Langzhong, attacking Shu and resisting the attack of the Chu army. In view of the current tense relationship between Qin and Chu, Wang Jian was surprised that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu actually invited him to meet with him.
.
Wang Jian was no longer unfamiliar with Xiong Hu at this time, and knew that the latter was the commander-in-chief of the Chu State responsible for conquering Bashu.
After much consideration, Wang Jian decided to go to see Xiong Hu in person.
On the ninth day of the fifth lunar month, King Jian, the Changxinhou of Qin, and Xiong Hu, Pingyu Lord of Chu, each with only 500 soldiers, met in the Basin of Bajun.
After meeting each other, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said to Wang Jian straightforwardly: "I received a secret letter from the monarch of our country two days ago and learned that Wei State has fallen to Qi State."
After hearing this, the expression on Wang Jian's face became solemn. After a while, he smiled and said: "This is really...then, I wonder what Pingyu Jun's purpose is in mentioning this matter?"
Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, said in a deep voice: "Wei is about to destroy Qi, so the next target of attack will be either your country or Chu...Xiong thought that most of the time, King Wei would choose to attack me."
Chu starts the war."
Upon hearing this, Wang Jian showed a somewhat unpredictable look on his face, and said with a smile: "Haha, Lord Pingyu said this, does he want to make peace? Yes, as long as your army withdraws from Ba County, Wang Jian will definitely
No pursuit!"
Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu took a deep look at Wang Jian, and suddenly said in a strange tone: "General Wang Jian, do you really think that this is the most beneficial thing for your country?... Just because your country has the opportunity to obtain the entire territory of Bashu.
?" At this point, he shook his head and said with a hint of sarcasm: "Xiong once thought that General Wang Jian was a hero of the world, but he never thought that such a hero as the general could be so short-sighted."
"What did you say?!"
Among the guards accompanying Wang Jian, someone scolded Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu angrily.
"No rudeness."
Wang Jian stopped the man, frowned and looked at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, and asked: "What do you want to say, Lord Pingyu?"
I saw Lord Pingyu staring at Wang Jian and continued: "Xiong can represent our great Chu and give up the land of Bashu. But has General Wang Jian thought about the next thing? My great Chu sent me to Bashu for the same purpose.
Your country is the same, and it is also for the food of Bashu. Without food, our country will not be able to resist the attack of Wei. General Wang Jian asked our army to withdraw from the land of Bashu, which will actually harm our great Chu and benefit Wei! If we
Chu's premature defeat in front of Wei, is this really a good thing for your country? Hmm?"
"..."
At this moment, Changxinhou Wangjian finally put away his playful mentality and began to face the matter mentioned by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu.
From the perspective of a "general", Wang Jian did not need to pay attention to what Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said, because the royal order he received was to seize the land of Bashu. Whether the Chu State is dead or alive, what does it have to do with him?
?
But from a "handsome" point of view, Wang Jian must admit that what Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said is very reasonable: If the Wei State easily overthrows the Chu State and completely occupies the entire Central Plains, this will not be the best for his Qin State.
Talking is not a good thing.
"Mr. Pingyu, please speak frankly."
Wang Jian begged solemnly.
Seeing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu showed a faint smile on his face, and said seriously: "Xiong hopes that your country and our country will temporarily stop all disputes, and also hopes that the entire territory of Ba County will be handed over to our country."
If it were any other general, he would have been furious after hearing Xiong Hu's words, but Wang Jian did not have an attack. He just frowned at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu and asked the most important thing: "Pingyu Lord
How can you be sure that Wei will attack your country next?"
Hearing his words, the guards accompanying Wang Jian were all surprised and looked at Wang Jian in disbelief.
Because of Wang Jian's words, it seemed that he didn't mind giving up Ba State to Chu State.
In fact, Wang Jian really didn't mind, because Xiong Hu's words reminded him that if Qin refused to hand over Ba to Chu, Chu would definitely be defeated by Wei without sufficient food.
, and once the Chu State is defeated too quickly, it will also be bad news for the Qin State; on the other hand, if the Ba State is given to the Chu State, the Chu State can rely on the food produced by this fertile land to
Block the Wei army's attack as much as possible. Even if Chu will still be defeated in the end, it can buy more time for Qin to prepare for war.
After the Chu State is defeated by the Wei State, the Qin State can completely reoccupy the Ba State at that time, so it is not a problem to temporarily surrender the Ba State to the Chu State.
Of course, the premise is that the State of Wei will definitely attack the State of Chu. If the State of Ba surrenders to the State of Chu, but the State of Wei goes to war with the State of Qin, then it will be the responsibility of King Jian.
Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu certainly understood what Wang Jian meant, shook his head and said: "Xiong is not sure, I am just making an estimate."
At this point, he said sternly: "General Wang Jian, what do you think of this? You and I will call a truce temporarily and commit to restoring the farming of Ba. As for Ba, we might as well make an agreement first. If
If Wei really attacks Chu this year or next, I hope that General Wang Jian will hand over all of Ba’s grain to us; conversely, if Wei attacks your country, then Chu will hand over all of Ba’s grain to you.
country, and will send troops to attack the eastern part of Wei State to respond to your country when Wei State attacks your country."
"this……"
Wang Jian frowned and thought deeply.
It is undeniable that the strategy proposed by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu is currently the best way to resolve the conflict between Qin and Chu. After all, if Qin and Chu continue to fight on the Bashu side, it will be equivalent to letting the Wei State reap the benefits.
The benefits - this is absolutely impossible.
The only problem is that although Wang Jian is the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, his power is limited to war. He has no right to interfere with matters at the level of 'national decision-making'. He can only report to the King of Qin, who will then communicate with the generals.
Zhao Ran, the concubine chief, and Wei Yang, the concubine chief of the Zuo concubine, made the decision.
Of course, there is no problem in temporarily choosing to cease war with the Chu army and commit to restoring the grain production of Ba as Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said.
Thinking of this, Wang Jian nodded and said: "What Mr. Pingyu said is absolutely true. Your two countries should really stop attacking each other and let Wei reap the benefits. After returning, Wang will order his soldiers to stop attacking you."
All offensive actions of the army. However, as you said, Mr. Pingyu, if the Wei State attacks your country this year or next, all the food of the Ba State will be handed over to your country. Wang cannot make the decision on this matter and needs to report it.
The monarch of our country...please forgive me."
Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu waved his hand, nodded and said: "General Wang Jian's words are serious... There is still some time, General Wang Jian, please report to the monarch of your country immediately."
"Hmm."
Wang Jian also knew that this matter was of great importance and nodded solemnly.
Therefore, under the orders of Wang Jian and Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, the Qin and Chu armies immediately stopped all attacks on each other.
And Wang Jian immediately reported the matter to Xianyang.
To his surprise, about a month later, Zhao Ran, the chief concubine of Qin, arrived in Langzhong escorted by a group of Qin troops, which surprised Wang Jian greatly.
Wang Jian went out of the city in person and welcomed Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, to his mansion in the city, where the Fan family once lived.
After they sat down with each other, Wang Jian asked the chief concubine Zhao Ran in confusion: "Why did Lord Zhao Ran come to the country of Ba? Could it be that the king has some instructions?"
Zhao Ran smiled and waved his hand and said: "The king is very satisfied with the general's progress in Bashu in the past year. Zhao came to Ba just to see with his own eyes..." At this point, he said with a smile: "I am
I suspect that there are people from Wei in Bashu trying to instigate this."
"Wei people?" Wang Jian looked puzzled.
Seeing this, Zhao Ran reminded: "General Wang Jian, does he still remember the 'messenger' who promoted the alliance between our country and the Xiang clan?" At this point, he shook his head and said seriously: "In fact,
Xianyang didn’t send an envoy at all. We don’t even know that the leader of the Xiang clan, Xiang Bin, has the ambition to replace the Ba clan, so how could he send an envoy to join forces with the Xiang clan?”
After hearing this, Wang Jian's complexion changed slightly.
You must know that he had suspicions in this regard before. After all, if Xianyang really sent an envoy, then the envoy would definitely get in touch with him first - at least let him, Wang Jian, know that there was such a thing, right?
But that 'Qin envoy' was good. Wang Jian didn't know what this person looked like before and after, so he was basically a fake.
Seeing the sudden change in Wang Jian's expression, Zhao Ran smiled and comforted: "General Wang Jian, don't worry too much. The king has no intention of blaming the general. On the contrary, the king also feels that the general's judgment is correct. And the facts have proved that the general's judgment is correct."
There is no problem with the judgment.”
After hearing this, Wang Jian's tense expression relaxed slightly.
At this time, I heard Zhao Ran say with a smile: "The person who pretended to be my envoy from Xianyang is most likely from Wei, because it was this person who single-handedly introduced our Qin army into Bashu, and also used our army to introduce
The Chu army provoked a fight between the Chu army and our army... Phew, this strategy is really brilliant."
Hearing that Zhao Ran didn't mean to blame himself in his words, Wang Jian felt a little relieved.
I remember at the beginning, he felt that no matter whether the "Xianyang Envoy" was true or false, joining forces with the Xiang clan would be beneficial to his Qin country, so he chose to join forces with the Xiang clan; but he did not expect that because of his Qin army
Intervening in the Ba Kingdom caused the Ba family to ask for help from the Chu Kingdom, and the troops under the command of Xiong Hu, Pingyu King of the Chu Kingdom, also entered the Ba Kingdom. This led to the subsequent fighting between the Qin and Chu armies on this land.
At that time, Wang Jian realized that he had fallen into the trick of the 'fake Xianyang envoy'.
Fortunately, the current situation is not bad. The Qin army and the Chu army divide the country of Ba equally. Otherwise, he really doesn’t know how to explain to the monarch of the Qin country. He made a plan to the man in front of him: "take Shu first, then attack Ba, and finally capture Ju."
” The great concubine explained this strategy.
After all, to be honest, the strategy formulated by the chief concubine Zhao Ran has been completely disrupted.
Or, this is the real reason why Zhao Ran rushed to Ba Kingdom in person - he had to re-plan the strategy to capture the three kingdoms of Bashu, Shu and Ju according to local conditions.
When Wang Jian figured out the purpose of Zhao Ran coming to Ba Kingdom in person, Wang Jian suddenly thought of what Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said, and quickly told the chief concubine Zhao Ran about it.
"Qi has been overthrown by Wei?"
After learning about this, the chief concubine Zhao Ran was also surprised. He frowned and said, "Why did it happen so quickly? Didn't Chu State send troops to assist Qi State?"
After hearing this, Wang Jian explained: "The general also asked Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, about this issue. He told the general that Qi State was in no danger to defend. Unless Chu State invested a large number of troops, it would be impossible to stop it.
Wei State, considering Qi State's current grain reserves, could no longer support Chu State in sending hundreds of thousands more reinforcements, so the King of Chu had no choice but to abandon Qi State."
"snort."
Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, snorted softly when he heard this. It could be seen that he didn't quite believe Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's explanation to Wang Jian.
He is more inclined to another speculation, that is, King Xiong Tuo of Chu felt that Qi State was no longer of use value, or that he felt that aiding Qi State would do more harm than good, so he simply gave up on Qi State.
"Lord Zhao Ran, what do you think of Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's suggestion?" Wang Jian asked.
Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "As Xiong Hu said, if the Chu State is easily overthrown by the Wei State due to insufficient military supplies, this will not be a good thing for our Great Qin...
As he said, if the Wei State
If Chu is really attacked this year and next, Zhao will make the decision and donate all the food of Ba, no, including Shu, to Chu... If Chu can resist Wei for one more day, it will be equivalent to a victory for Chu.
I, Da Qin, have bought a day."
"The general will obey his orders."
After getting Zhao Ran's affirmation, Wang Jian was determined.
At this time, Zhao Ran said again: "Ba State can be given to Chu State, but General Wang Jian must capture Shu State as soon as possible. If Wei and Chu go to war, Shu State's grain can also be donated to Chu State for free, but Shu State,
The general must be firmly in hand... Do you understand?"
Wang Jian nodded.
Of course he understood the reason for this. It was just because Shu was easier to defend and harder to attack than Ba. Even if he wanted to use Chu to consume Wei, Zhao Ran did not want Shu to fall into the hands of Chu.
, after all, if Chu repelled Wei's attack in the future, his Qin army might not be able to recapture Shu from Chu.
On the same day, Wang Jian immediately sent someone to notify Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, and finally the two sides reached an agreement: Qin and Chu ceased fighting, and all the territory of Ba except "Langzhong" was ceded to Chu. Next, the Qin army will devote itself to attacking Shu.
, the last piece of land in Ba that still belongs to the Ba people, "Jiangzhou", was left to Chu to resolve.
After receiving Wang Jian's letter, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was convinced that he finally persuaded the Qin State to cease war with his Chu State.
But when he thought of "Jiangzhou", he felt a little headache again.
But in the end, he sent an envoy to Jiangzhou, hoping that the Ba family and the Fan family would surrender to Chu.
A few days later, the leader of the Ba family and the monarch of the Ba Kingdom, Ba Wei, summoned Xiong Hu's envoy.
After listening to the "surrender" request relayed by the messenger, Ba Chen was shocked and angry.
You must know that the Chu army was originally invited by him as reinforcements to fight against the Qin army. However, what he did not expect was that the Qin and Chu armies actually carved up Ba County together while leaving the Ba people behind. In the end, they actually returned
The Taba people are required to surrender to the Chu State - the Taba people are the masters of this land!
"Luring the wolf into the house."
When Ba Yi asked Zhang Qigong for advice, Zhang Qigong said with a smile.
After hearing this, Ba Jin smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, please don't make fun of me anymore..."
Zhang Qigong smiled slightly and asked Ba Yi: "As for the current situation, I have made a conclusion in my mind. I wonder if Ba Wang has made a decision in his mind?"
Ba Yi naturally understood what Zhang Qigong was referring to, and said bitterly: "Only if I surrender to your country, will your country be willing to send troops to assist? Is that so?"
Zhang Qigong smiled and said nothing.
Seeing this, after pondering for a long time, Ba Yi finally gritted his teeth and nodded and said: "I am willing to surrender to your country and hope that your country will send troops as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Zhang Qigong was secretly happy.
To be honest, Zhang Qigong was very grateful to Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu for sending people to force Ba Jin to surrender at this time, so that Ba Jin, who was resentful of Xiong Hu and the Chu State, finally relented and was willing to surrender to his Wei State.
And this means that the Wei State has achieved the great righteousness or status of "occupying the Ba State".
But unfortunately, the Wei State is currently unable to change the status quo on the Bashu side. The reason is very simple, because neither Qin nor Chu will sit back and let the Wei State send troops to intervene in the Ba State.
As for the possibility that the Wei State would send a large number of troops to attack Bashu, Zhang Qigong thought it was unrealistic after thinking about it carefully. After all, he was the right captain of the Tiance Mansion. Of course, he knew that the strategic focus of the Wei State was "First Qi, then Chu.
"First east, then west (Qin)", if you want to attack, you have to attack Chu directly. How can you spend huge energy to attack Bashu?
But even though he knew that Wei State would not send troops, Zhang Qigong still wanted to try to stabilize Ba Chen to prevent Ba Chen from surrendering to Chu or Qin.
Therefore, he said to Ba Wei: "Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu did not hesitate to break up with King Ba and demand the surrender of Jiangzhou. He must have reached a tacit understanding with the Qin army. Otherwise, the Chu army would not be so bold."
After hearing this, Ba Fei suddenly woke up and became more and more resentful towards the Chu army: they were obviously invited reinforcements, but in the end, the reinforcements were no different from the Qin army.
Seeing the former's hatred for the Chu State from Ba Jin's eyes, Zhang Qigong secretly laughed in his heart and said seriously: "Previously, the Qin and Chu armies were at a stalemate. I persuaded King Ba to watch the fire from across the bank, but now, the Qin army may have reached an agreement."
According to the agreement, if you continue to defend Jiangzhou, I am afraid that you will only die. Therefore, I advise King Ba to pretend to obey the Chu army and give up Jiangzhou..."
Hearing this, Ba Yi exclaimed in shock: "Can't your country send troops to repel Qin and Chu?"
Zhang Qigong shook his head and said seriously: "As far as I know, the Wei Dynasty is attacking the two countries of Qi and Chu... Your Majesty, King Ba, please tell me that although Ba Shu is rich, it is only a land opened to the west, so how can it compare?
What about the more fertile and vast Central Plains? Our monarch, the Wei Dynasty, has the status of "the common master of the world". He has already overthrown Han, Lu, Wei, Song, and Qi. In the future, he will also overthrow Chu and Qin and unify the Central Plains.
, Although King Ba obeys the destiny and is willing to surrender to me, the Wei Dynasty, but... out of our own interests, we, the Wei Dynasty, must take the Central Plains first, and I hope King Ba will forgive me."
The reason why he said this was to tell Ba Yi in a subtle way: Don't think that just because Qin and Chu are fighting for Bashu, you think that the land of Bashu is really coveted by everyone. At least we, the Wei State, don't take it seriously.
You think that we, the State of Wei, are begging you to surrender. Whether you, the State of Ba, surrenders or not, it doesn't matter to me, the State of Wei.
This was not only a warning to Ba Jin to prevent him from actually surrendering to Chu or Qin, but also to dispel the resistance in Ba Jin's heart to "having no choice but to surrender to Wei".
I don't know if Ba Wei understood the hidden meaning of Zhang Qigong's words. After being silent for a while, he frowned and asked, "Then what should I do?"
Zhang Qigong said sternly: "After King Ba surrenders to the Chu State, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu will definitely not let King Ba stay in Ba State. It is very likely that King Ba will move to the west of Chu and be monitored by Xiong Hu. But King Ba
Don’t worry, I’ll order people to kidnap King Ba and your family on the way, and escort King Ba to our great Wei... By the way, after King Ba arrives in our great Wei, he might as well see with his own eyes how powerful our great Wei is.”
Hearing this, Ba Yi took a deep look at Zhang Qigong.
He was not stupid. Of course, he knew that Zhang Qigong was trying to persuade him to go to the Wei State. He just wanted him to have the Wei State's 'status' over the Ba State. However, Zhang Qigong's last words made Ba Qigong think, "Go."
Wei Guo’s idea is that it’s actually not bad after all.”
If the Wei State is really as powerful as Zhang Qigong said, then the only way out for him is to surrender to the Wei State.
"Then please sir."
"Wang Ba is serious."
After reaching an agreement with each other, Ba Jin immediately summoned Baman, a warrior of the Ba tribe, and Fan Bu, the new leader of the Fan tribe, and privately revealed to them his intention to "pretend to surrender to the Chu State, but in fact to surrender to the Wei State."
Baman had no objection to this. After all, the general also understood that it was almost impossible to compete with Qin and Chu with the power of Baman alone.
In comparison, it is better to submit to the Wei State than to submit to the Chu State, which has become a former reinforcement of the invader.
As for Fan Bu, the new leader of the Fan clan, he has no objection to this.
Although he actually didn't have a good impression of Qin, Chu, or Wei, he couldn't help but have great trust in Bei Gongyu, a Wei man. He listened to Bei Gongyu praising the wise monarch of Wei every day, which greatly reduced Fan Bu's desire to surrender to Wei.
Resistance.
Otherwise, according to the characters of Fan Lie and Fan Bu, they would rather lead the soldiers of the Fan clan to die in the war to defend the country than submit to the monarch of another country.
Afterwards, Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu discussed in private.
In view of the fact that they had already done everything they needed to do, although the Qin and Chu armies eventually made a truce and made peace, this was only due to the pattern of the Central Plains and was not something they could change.
At this time, Wei State was actively preparing for a war against Chu State.