Originally, what the Zhao family's division did was to quell the civil strife in Jin. If Zheng and Qi were also included, the nature would be completely different.
Once Zheng and Qi sent troops, their intentions to disrupt the Jin Dynasty would be obvious.
The significance of Zhao's battle is completely different, because since ancient times, the merits of foreign wars have always been greater than those of civil wars.
As the saying goes, "Brothers who hate each other will not be insulted by others." The soldiers can also share the same hatred of the enemy.
Therefore, what Li Ran and You Wuxie said made the generals excited.
After the banquet, Zhao Yang deliberately stayed with Li Ran and asked him about Gao Qiang. Li Ran also relayed it in detail. When Zhao Yang heard this, he couldn't help but frown.
"I have long heard that Fan Xianzi and Tian Qi are connected. I don't believe it at first. I just think that Fan Xianzi is also a minister of the Jin State. How can he be so close to the minister of the enemy country? I didn't expect... that he would actually take it seriously!"
Since the death of King Chu Ling, Jin and Qi have regarded each other as enemies for many years in order to compete for hegemony. Therefore, as the chief minister of a country, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhao Yang was so surprised by Fan Xianzi's shocking actions.
Li Ran thought for a while and decided to confess to Zhao Yang.
Li Ran cleared his voice, raised his hands and said to Zhao Yang:
"Actually... the affair between them has already happened!"
Therefore, Li Ran told Zhao Yang everything about the secret activities.
After Zhao Yang heard about the activities of the "Dark Walkers", he couldn't help but feel horrified at first, and then immediately expressed his disgust for the Dark Walkers:
"Hmph! In order to fight for power and gain, in order to have their own authority over the monarch, they, such young people, are actually willing to sell out the interests of their own country? They are simply worse than animals!"
Li Ran smiled and said:
"So, the general should be able to understand now that what Fan Xianzi did before he died may seem to have no reason, but in fact it is extremely clear!"
Zhao Yang also nodded helplessly and said:
"It seems...such disobedient things have been known to the world! But now the world is so disloyal that the rulers and ministers are so unruly that the world has no order to maintain. This can be said to be the root cause of disasters in all countries!"
Li Ran added:
"It's not just the vassal states? Even the Zhou royal family is not immune! Therefore... the general's responsibility is very important! If the general wins this battle, the world will be clear! If he fails, the world may never be able to regain its brightness! "
After Zhao Yang heard what Li Ran said, he realized that he had such a heavy responsibility.
He couldn't help but nodded and said sincerely:
"It turns out that all the concerns Mr. had before came from this! Martingale is now clear about it!"
At this time, Fan Li, who was waiting aside, couldn't help but ask:
"It's just that...sir just said in the prison camp that the bull stander was one of his men. What was his intention?"
Li Ran smiled slightly and replied mysteriously:
"Haha, it's just 'bringing a corpse back to life'. Let's do a little trick today and wait for it to be miraculous in the future!"
Although Li Ran's words were obscure and difficult to understand, Fan Li suddenly understood after listening:
"That's it! Sir, you are brilliant!"
Although Zhao Yang couldn't understand what they were saying, he knew that Gao Qiang would be useful to Li Ran.
So, he simply opened his mouth and said:
"Since Gao Qiang is still of great use to Mr. Gao Qiang, there is no need to kill Gao Qiang. But... if we just let him go... it is not appropriate both emotionally and rationally..."
Li Ran couldn't help but sneer, and said:
"General, don't worry. If the general really lets him go, he will be suspicious. It's better to just let nature take its course."
Zhao Yang still felt a little confused, but he couldn't ask any more questions and just said:
"Well... in that case, let's do everything according to Sir's plan!"
Immediately afterwards, Master Zhao continued to march towards Chaoge.
Just as Li Ran expected, after capturing Lu Di, he could travel unimpeded across Taihang. Of the so-called Eight Paths of Taihang, four are the only ones that can be walked from Ludi. And there are countless trails to walk on, so Fan and Zhongxing are already defenseless against this.
After getting past Taihang, it can be said that everything is smooth sailing, and Zhao's army soon approached Chaoge.
However, on the other side, just as Li Ran expected, Zheng Guo also rarely sent troops.
Led by Handa and Sihong of the Qing clan, the troops numbered tens of thousands, especially in cooperation with the State of Qi, and came to rescue the Zhongxing and Fan clans.
However, in the end, Zhao's army was more powerful, and they arrived at Baiquan first than Zheng's army. As soon as Zhao Yang arrived at Baiquan, he ordered the troops to start a battle. When Zheng Guo's army arrived, he took the lead and directly fought with them.
Baiquan is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, and the terrain is uneven, so it is difficult for the chariot to function.
Zhao Yang first used archers to wear down the enemy, and then sent infantry to charge and kill. Zheng Guo's Xianjun was not on a stable footing and was caught off guard, so they had to flee in a hurry.
Zhao Yang took advantage of the victory to pursue, but Si Hong saw that something was wrong and hurriedly retreated.
The army of Qi State also hurriedly rushed to meet them and stationed themselves at Tieqiu, finally meeting up with Si Hong.
When Zhao Yang learned about the movements of Si Hong and Qi Shi, he did not dare to pursue and fight fiercely. He could only return to the camp and hastily discuss with Li Ran:
"Zheng Guo and Qi Guo are now united and stationed in Tieyi. It can be said that they are outnumbered. What should we do?"
Li Ran looked down at the sand table, thought for a while, and said:
"Tieqiu is still some distance away from Chaoge, so why not abandon Tieyi and go straight to Chaoge!"
Zhao Yang was worried and said:
"If we take Chaoge directly, then Iron Hill will be like a thorn in the belly, and it may stab in at any time. By that time, won't we have to be attacked in the belly?"
Li Ran said:
"Now Tieqiu is occupied by Qi and Zheng. If we attack directly, there will be no chance. It is better to take advantage of the situation. The general can lead his army to capture Chaoge, but instead of attacking by force, Chaoge will be trapped first. Then we will deal with it later. Use a small plan to wait for Qi Zheng's army to come to rescue Chaoge, just wait for him to move, and the general can wait for an opportunity to kill Qi Zheng's army first."
"As long as Qi Zheng's army is defeated, Chao Ge will be defeated without attacking!"
When Zhao Yang heard this, he couldn't help but nodded repeatedly.
"Indeed, sir, you have thought carefully!"
Immediately, Zhao's army no longer paid attention to Qi Zheng's division in Tieqiu, but quickly rushed towards Chaoge.
Chaoge was originally in a defensive posture. When he saw Zhao's army descending from the sky, he did not dare to neglect it and could only shrink back.
After staying outside Chaoge City, Li Ran and Zhao Yang inspected Chaoge's city defense together. But I saw that Chaoge City was well-defended and its scale was far greater than the capital of Jin.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang couldn't help but sigh:
"Fan has been disloyal for a long time! Such a big city is located in the east of Shanxi, but we are living in Jiangcheng and have no idea! It's really disturbing!"
Li Ran comforted him and said:
"Therefore, it is really rare for a general to have the ambition to help the world! Although the world is so ignorant, there are still people like Kong Zhongni of Lu and the general who have the heart of the world and the people! The Zhou Dynasty is very lucky , the world is so lucky!"
Seeing how tall Chao Ge was, Zhao Yang couldn't help but have doubts:
"Faced with such a big city, we have come all the way from afar, how should we respond now? We are here in a hurry, and we don't bring much baggage, but we can barely count it, so we must fight quickly."
"But now... how to get Qi Zheng's division who is still stationed in Tieqiu to come to the rescue? I'm afraid this matter... is a bit difficult to handle!"
Li Ran said:
"Haha, don't worry, General. In fact, I have already found out where Chaoge's supplies are! In the past, Fan deliberately found a dangerous place to hoard supplies in order to be able to deceive others!"
"Not many people know about this dangerous place, but not long ago, it was learned by me. As long as the general can capture that dangerous place, Chaoge will be in danger. When Qi Zheng's army sees that Chaoge is in danger, he will come Save Ying Chaoge. By then, are you still worried that they won’t come?”
(End of chapter)
