The negotiations between Qin and Zhao went from fruitless to the last moment. Neither Qin nor Zhao are willing to give in, and the negotiations are about to break down! Seeing that Zheng Zhu still refused to give in, Xingrenhu said helplessly: "Young Master was sent to Zhao by the king's order. Although he was promoted to a high official, he has never seen the king. Now he is returning from afar. I would like to get a word from the king to repay you!"
Zheng Zhu also felt deeply powerless and knew that the relationship between the two countries was irreversibly broken. He said: "I will return to Handan and report to my king." Both sides said goodbye to each other with heavy hearts.
A few days later, Zheng Zhu returned to Yecheng again and told Master Zhen: "The king reports to you that the land of Fulin, Lishi and Qi is far away from Zhao, but close to the great country. It has the wisdom of the previous king and the power of the previous ministers. , so it can be possible. If I don’t catch it now, I can’t help the country. How can I take care of the forest and Li Shi? I have officials who don’t obey me. This is actually something I don’t dare to know.”
Xingrenhu asked, "I would like to thank you, sir! Your mission has been completed. Would you like to ask me to speak to you? Master Gong is still in Zhao Hu?"
Zheng Zhu thought for a while and replied: "Zhao Shi has no master!"
Xingren Hu asked again: "The prime minister led dozens of people to protect the young master Xun when he arrived at Tao. How is he doing now?"
Zheng Zhu said: "It's impossible to describe it."
Xingrenhu asked again: "Is there an order to detain us?"
This time Zheng Zhu replied clearly: "I haven't followed the king's instructions. I hope you will leave as soon as possible!"
The pedestrian tiger said: "I would like to thank the doctor!"
That night, Ye Ling invited members of the envoy to come over for a banquet, but Xingrenhu declined politely, saying that his mission had been defeated. When packing up that night, King Zhao did not return the gift, and the three carriages filled with gifts were all empty. The next morning, Zheng Zhu and Ye Ling were waiting at the city gate to see him off. When the time came, the city gate opened, and the members of the mission quickly left the city, crossed the Zhang River, and headed south.
Ningxinzhong is only a day's journey from Ye, with a population of 10,000 households. It is located on the bank of the Yellow River. Commercial activities are relatively prosperous and there are large adverse events. It, the Fangling Mausoleum and several cities next to it originally belonged to the Wei State (by the way, Ye also belonged to the Wei State earlier, and Ximen Bao, the first commander of Ye, was a wise minister of the Wei State who was at the same time and equally famous as Wu Qi). During the confrontation with Qin in Qifeng, Fangling and Jiyi were attacked and captured by Zhao general Lian Po with his troops, and one of the cities was fortified. Only Ning Xinzhong was still in Wei's hands. There is a crossing of the Yellow River in Ningxinzhong. Gongzi Zhen temporarily stopped here several times when he went out to Ye, and booked several reverse journeys. Now that they are back again, the host of Nitlu is still very enthusiastic and invites them to stay again.
On the road, several pedestrians discussed with Gongzi Zhen that since the conflict between Qin and Zhao was inevitable, diplomatic activities should continue to be carried out around this issue. They decided not to return to Xianyang for the time being, but to stay in Hebei and wait for further instructions.
Ten days later, Xianyang sent instructions and the mission was disbanded on the spot. All pedestrians, swordsmen and other members dispersed into the surrounding cities to pay close attention to Zhao's movements. The envoys came with the soldiers from Mi Rong Mansion. This person has a habit of lurking and spying. As soon as Gongzi Zhen saw this soldier engaged in military affairs, he immediately felt great pressure.
After the soldiers arrived, they arranged for the six young masters, Zhen and his son, to cross the Yellow River and live in a silk shop. They were only known as distant tribes to the outside world. A swordsman and a pedestrian lived in the adjoining Nilu and were responsible for protecting Gongzi Zhen. Other swordsmen and travelers, as well as the retainers of the Prince's Mansion, were all arranged to different cities, mainly Handan. Although Yecheng is also very important, Gongzi Zhen has lived here for a long time, and most people in the city know them and cannot lurk.
Although they spoke with a strong Qin accent, dozens of people were still lurking in the international city of Handan. Some of them even followed some giant businessmen to attend some important events and collected a lot of important information. .
These situations were gathered to the place where the soldiers were engaged, and then transferred to Gongzi Zhen. Gongzi Zhen sent his sons in groups of two or three to rent a boat to Luoyang, hand it over to the Qin secret agent who stayed there, and then return to Xianyang.
When the negotiations with Zhao Guo broke down, the plank roads built by Zhang Lu and Sima Jin, their rivals, finally met! In the last few days, both sides could see each other's road construction troops, and an indescribable joy filled the construction site. In the most dangerous areas, there is no place to set up camp for dozens of miles. After trimming the wood cut from the mountains, it takes several days to transport it on foot to the construction site, while the construction workers simply live and eat on the plank road. . Some died accidentally falling into the water, some died due to illness due to lack of medical care, and some died in the water due to the unbearable monotony of life. The 30,000 prisoners prepared by Bai Qi were reduced to more than a thousand due to injuries, deaths and illnesses. In addition to physical fatigue, they were also mentally exhausted and under endless pressure.
Under Mi Rong's persuasion, the prisoners' wives and concubines were allowed to visit relatives at the construction site, which slightly eased the trend of prisoners committing suicide, but increased the conflicts of jealousy. Moreover, Mi Rong's task of transporting food became even more arduous: he was forced to mobilize 50,000 prisoners to transport food to the construction site - while the number of prisoners on the construction site was usually 10,000.
Zheng Anping lost weight severely. Although people at his level would not have the problem of hunger, sleeping in the open all day seriously consumed his physical strength and energy. Unlike being a soldier in the past, you didn't need to worry about many chores at that time. As long as you were not fighting, you could rest after doing exercises. But it is different now. There are countless things that need to be dealt with every day. Every day, we have to travel to and from the construction site, coordinate personnel, rush construction deadlines, deal with injuries, and report deaths due to various reasons.
Gai Nie's martial arts developed in an unexpected direction: somehow, he was able to climb cliffs and walls as if walking on flat ground. He could quickly climb up cliffs even if there was a slight obstacle, even without using his hands!
Mang has not fully taken on the organizational work of construction, and has become more and more skilled and efficient, leaving Zheng Anping behind. Mang Wei's originally handsome face became weathered, and he looked like a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties. Zhang Lu sometimes thought that after returning to Xianyang, he would arrange a marriage for him.
Zhang Lu, who had always shown himself to be frail and sickly, was still frail and sickly, and his stooped body became even more stooped. He kept coughing and breathing heavily, but this did not stop him from running back and forth on the construction site; even Mr. Che You, who had always been healthy, also Can't beat his physical strength.
Except for Gai Nie and Zhang Lu, every one of these people had fallen ill, but if the person next to them came up with an idea or a folk remedy, they would all be ready.
During the construction, there were several heavy rainstorms, and the river water surged, causing considerable damage. Many people lost their feet and fell into the water during the transfer.
No matter how many hardships we have experienced, we finally see the dawn of victory, just like a person who has been groping in the darkness for a long time and is almost desperate suddenly sees the light. Although the light was faint, it was right ahead. Nothing boosts morale like this!
The leaders of both sides met in advance to discuss further work and reported to Xianyang and Hanzhong respectively. Mi Rong reported the construction progress of Baoxie Road at the meeting. Since there were not many people participating, everyone had no personal experience of the hardships of the project, but they were all happy that the road to Hanzhong was open. The King of Qin issued a special order. Mi Rong, Lord of Huayang, and Lord Gaoling, went to Helong on behalf of the King of Qin, and approved on the spot the granting of titles no lower than that of a senior official, and the nomination of titles above the rank of doctor. The ministers had no objections, and Ranghou's prime minister issued an edict.
With the breakdown of the negotiations with Zhao, Wei Ran's main focus was on handling the military affairs against Zhao. Since Bai Qi was obsessed with building the Baoxie Road, the preparations for Zhao's troops were mainly presided over by Zhonggeng Hu Yang. Zuo Gengcuo was getting old, and the King of Qin was going to transfer him to the position of governor. After Lin and Lishi changed hands, the defense of Shangjun became important.
Since nearly 100,000 prisoners were used to build the Baoxie Road, only 30,000 to 50,000 prisoners could be used to fight against Zhao. Hu Yang personally entered Hedong to observe Taiyuan's defenses and believed that it would be difficult to break through Taiyuan's defenses with only 30,000 to 50,000 prisoners. More importantly, once you enter Taiyuan, you must completely control it. It is impossible to eat it in stages and steps. This is by no means a task that 30,000 to 50,000 people can accomplish.
If it is not feasible to attack Taiyuan from the east of Hedong, then it is certainly not feasible to attack Handan directly from the Yellow River: Handan's defense and the resources that Handan can mobilize are far beyond what Taiyuan can match.
Hu Yang thought, if we can start at the junction of Taiyuan and Handan, it might be feasible! The largest junction between Taiyuan and Handan is the road known as Jingxing on the former Zhongshan border. That road is far to the north, and its two ends are well protected by Taiyuan and Handan. Perhaps it is only possible to break through from the middle.
So Hu Yang and Wei Ran set their sights on Shangdang together.
Between Taihang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain, there is a slightly lower basin. It is said to be a basin, but it is actually a plateau, higher than Taiyuan. In the Chinese world at that time, it was considered the "roof of the world", so it was called "Shangdang". On this plateau, in addition to the Taihang and Taiyue mountains that hold it from the east and west, there are also the Wangwu and Zhongtiao mountains that block the gap in the south, forming a triangle. The terrain here is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack; however, the mountains and rivers are remote and the people's livelihood is difficult. Due to rugged mountain roads and inconvenient transportation, people were naturally separated into countless settlements. The three families of Wei, Han, and Zhao divided this area and each established Shangdang County. In fact, no one's territory is complete, but intersects with each other, forming a complex situation.
The Qin State did not occupy any land in Shangdang. If it wanted to attack Zhao Yi in the Shangdang area, it could only attack other countries.
Qin then sent envoys to negotiate with Han and Wei about a joint attack on Zhao.
The Qin Dynasty's rolling carriages ran over the desolate ancient roads and galloped across the Central Plains. Naturally, the State of Zhao was unwilling to be trapped and also sent envoys to consolidate its diplomatic relations.
"Zhao betrayed the alliance and betrayed our three cities. It is unbearable for Qin to trust his allies, but to be deceived. If Wei/Han is frustrated by Zhao, Qin is willing to be the king of Xuezhi!" The Qin envoy said to the two The capital of the country said so. When the two countries heard that Qin had been deceived, they were overjoyed, but they could only put on sympathetic faces and murmured.
"Qin wants to seize the three cities of Jidong and me by deceitful force. The thief is still determined and wants Wei/Han to take them! I hope that the king and the alliance will not fight each other!" This is what the Zhao envoy usually said. When I heard that Qin was targeting Zhao, the two countries naturally only gloated over the misfortune, but they also looked righteous: "The three Jins swore to be brothers, how could they be separated by Qin. However..."
