Chencheng, also known as Chencheng, has a history of 37 years as the capital of Chu State.
There are actually reasons why Chu State took Chencheng as its capital but not Chencheng as its capital.
When the Chu State made Chencheng its capital, it was the stage when Zhongxing was at its peak. At this time, the Chu State also wanted to compete in the Central Plains. Setting its capital in Chencheng would help it compete with the Six Kingdoms for hegemony.
However, this resurgence lasted only a few decades. The Chu State soon continued to develop and weaken due to the "poor country and weak people" situation of "too many ministers and too many lords" and "the top forced the ruler and the bottom abused the people".
To put it simply, the strength of the nobles is increasing day by day, and the king is unable to control it. For example, the current King of Chu, Fu Chu, had 400,000 troops before the war, but the troops the nobles can control are nearly 400,000, which can basically compete with the king.
Under this situation, if the Chu State still wants to strive for hegemony, it will further weaken the king's strength and lead to the collapse of the domestic political situation.
So Chu State no longer wanted to fight for hegemony.
If there was no desire for hegemony, there was no need to locate the capital in Chencheng, which was vulnerable to attack, so it was moved to Shouchun, the hinterland of Chu State.
Shen Bing and others arrived at Chencheng in the evening of that day.
Shen Bing deliberately delayed a step to let Meng Wu advance into the city... Shen Bing still knew this courtesy. Although the Liang Army obviously made more contributions along the way than the Meng Wu Army, after all, Meng Wu was a general.
When Shen Bing entered the city, he saw that most of the people in the city were old, weak, sick and disabled, and only ten households had vacant houses.
This is not surprising, because the Chu army had already planned to abandon Chencheng, so they would move the people away first.
As long as there are people, there will be labor and soldiers. Everyone knows this, and of course they will not be left to the Qin army.
When Shen Bing met Meng Wu under the leadership of his personal guards, he was leading his troops to inventory the granaries.
Seeing Shen Bing coming up, Meng Wu shook his head and said:
"The granary has been emptied by the Chu army. They should have been prepared."
Shen Bing understood what Meng Wu meant.
If the Chu army had not made preparations in advance, they would have fled temporarily after being defeated that night, but they would not have been able to completely clear Chencheng of food, people and property in one day and night.
So what the Qin army got was an empty city.
To be precise, it is not an empty city, there are still old, weak, sick and disabled people waiting for support from the Qin army.
Shen Bing had no hope in these things, so he handed over his hand and asked:
"How should we deal with the people left behind by the Chu people?"
Meng Wu answered without thinking:
"It goes without saying that if we leave it here to waste food, it's better to just cut it down."
Shen Bing replied:
"But Changping Jun..."
Only then did Meng Wu remember that Lord Changping came with his team.
Moreover, the mission of Lord Changping was to appease the people of Chu. If the Qin army killed these people, how could Lord Changping appease them?
What's more, this is Ying Zheng's order.
Meng Wu thought for a while and said:
"If not, gather the Chu people outside the city and bring them into the city."
"This will make management easier, and secondly, it will also help Mr. Changping appease him."
Shen Bing responded and then passed on the order.
Although the order was an order, Shen Bing secretly thought that Meng Wu was not a general after all.
If he saw that Lord Changping was unreliable... he would still gather the people in the city to be pacified by him. Wouldn't that be giving Lord Changping an opportunity to rebel against Qin?
Shen Bing found Lord Changping immediately.
At this time, Mr. Changping was walking by the lake. He seemed to be lamenting that he had set foot on the land that should have been his as an enemy.
Shen Bing looked at him from a distance with a disappointed look, and suddenly felt that Lord Changping was a little pitiful.
Changping Jun is a character, but it is a pity that he was born into the wrong imperial family of Chu State... If he was born into an ordinary family and did not have this special status, he might still be the Prime Minister of Qin State now.
For example, Li Si was from Chu, and Zheng Guo was from Korea. They could both be reused by the King of Qin.
However, fate plays tricks on people, and Chang Pingjun's identity and blood are like a curse that haunts him and he cannot get rid of it, so he can only survive in spite of himself.
Shen Bing stepped forward and saluted Lord Changping:
"How is your trip, Changping-kun?"
Lord Changping nodded, then waved away his personal guards and asked them to guard the surrounding area about ten steps away.
Lord Changping led Shen Bing to a small pavilion in the center of the lake, then looked at the lake with his hands behind his hands, and said thoughtfully:
"Congratulations, Lieutenant General, for leading the Liang Army to defeat the Chu Army a few days ago."
Shen Bing replied:
"It's just a lucky win, it's not worth mentioning."
Changping Jun smiled and seemed to be talking to himself:
"The Xiang family of Chu State has long been famous throughout the world for their bravery."
"However, the deputy general first flooded Xiang Yan in Daliang, then led the city to defeat the Chu navy, and now he defended Xiang Liang head-on and defeated 90,000 Chu soldiers, causing heavy casualties..."
"I think those Wei soldiers were like a herd of sheep under the pretense of the King of Wei. They would just hide in the city and not dare to fight."
"Now, under the command of the deputy general, he has become a master of tigers and wolves. How can the deputy general's talent be described by the word 'lucky'?"
If Shen Bing were to be more modest at this time, it would be too fake, so he bowed slightly to accept Lord Changping's compliment.
Shen Bing thought that Lord Changping would get to the point next, but unexpectedly he changed the topic and asked:
"What do you think, Lieutenant General, of the rivers and mountains of Chu?"
Shen Bing was a little confused:
"I wonder what Mr. Changping means?"
Lord Changping smiled and said:
"How good is the soil and water in Chu State?"
Shen Bing replied:
"Rivers are densely covered with jungles. If you are willing to manage them, there will be great potential."
What Shen Bing said is true.
In modern times, the land of Chu State was the rich middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River plains and the areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian.
The reason why it was barbaric at this time was because productivity was backward and it was impossible to develop and utilize these resources.
If Shen Bing were to invent some tools or manage it, he would soon surpass the Yellow River Basin.
Lord Changping asked again:
"What is the strategic position of Chu State?"
Shen Bing replied again:
“It is mountainous and forested and has rivers as a barrier, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.”
Changping Jun nodded again:
"In this case, does the lieutenant intend to manage the Chu land?"
Shen Bing's heart skipped a beat... Let me go, it turned out that Lord Changping had this plan and wanted to win over Shen Bing?
Sure enough, Lord Changping turned around and cupped his hands towards Shen Bing and said:
"The lieutenant general is an unparalleled talent. If I have the lieutenant general to help me, plus the courage of the Xiang family, why can't we stop the Qin army in Huaibei?"
"At that time, the deputy general will be the prime minister of Chu State, and all the land of Chu will be governed by the deputy general. What does the deputy general think?"
I have to say that the cake drawn by Changping Jun is quite tempting.
The Qin State has many soldiers and generals. Even if Shen Bing has outstanding abilities, he is still just a deputy general. It is still early for one person to be inferior to ten thousand people.
But now, Shen Bing only needs to follow Lord Changping to rebel against Qin, and even bring the Liang Army with him... Then the failure of the Qin Army's attack on Chu is doomed.
Then, Shen Bing can become the prime minister in one fell swoop.
If Shen Bing hadn't known that Qin would eventually destroy the six kingdoms including Chu... I'm afraid he would have agreed now.