Since Handan has two cities and four districts, its defense system is also different. The royal city was defended by the nobles, mainly the family power of the Zhao royal family and the power of various fiefs; the Handan city was defended by civilians, mainly militiamen recruited from various places. The power of the Zhao clan is usually within the royal city, and all that needs to be mobilized are the peasants in the fiefdom. Farmers from other places mainly concentrated in Handan City. The suburbs of Handan had just experienced a conscription, and that time it was 1 in 20 soldiers. At present, this force has not been disbanded, and there is another conscription, and the ratio has been increased to 1 in 10 soldiers. The burden is extremely heavy, almost equivalent to all the strong men. After they were taken away, only the old, weak, women and children were left at home.
When the soldiers arrived outside Handan City, they were not in a hurry to enter the city. Instead, they walked around Handan City to observe the situation in and out. The militiamen from counties and villages in the suburbs of Handan generally carry wooden sticks, and the militiamen from distant counties and villages have not yet arrived. The defenders of the royal city were wearing bright armor and each wielded sharp weapons. They were obviously not ordinary civilians, but members of the Zhao clan. Although the conscription was in full swing, the city gates were not closed, and Handan City could still enter and exit freely. There are two gates on each of the east, west and south sides of the royal city, both of which are directly open to the outside. In the north, only one gate in the west district opens to the outside. All the gates in the east district and another gate in the west district are opened in Handan City. According to Bing Cao's observation, no additional control measures are used at the gates directly facing the outside of the royal city. As long as there are corresponding talismans, one can enter and exit.
Bing Cao handed over the Guo family's talisman, entered Handan City, turned south, and found a restaurant at the gate of the Royal City entering and exiting Handan City, where he could observe the movements of all three gates of the Royal City.
To be able to build such a two-story restaurant in Handan City and outside the Royal City, the background of the owner's family is naturally unusual. He is probably Pingyuan Lord or Pingyang Lord. Bing Cao entered the restaurant and the bartender came to greet him. Bing Cao was dressed as a businessman and did not dare to go upstairs to sit. He only chose a seat by the window downstairs and sat down.
The bartender asked: "Sir, please drink by yourself, if there are any guests?"
Bing Cao said: "If you want to visit, look for this place!" Then he said to the stranger: "Go and ask Guo's Silk Shop Xing Guansi." The stranger should leave.
While waiting, the soldier looked out the window boredly, seeing people coming and going in and out of the royal city. It was very lively. While listening to the gossips of the drinkers at other tables, they were naturally focused on the Qin invasion and the recruitment of troops in various towns. . A man in noble attire advised: "Don't worry, gentlemen. Seeing that General Zhao built a wall on the Ming River, the Qin army did not dare to attack. General Lian Po came back and raised a large army to restore Handan. I heard that the Qin army could not fight with him. If Zhao She's army is evenly matched, it will be impossible for him to cross the Ming River."
Someone asked: "Since General Zhao has resisted Qin on the Ming River, what's the point of raising an army from ten men?"
The man said: "With an army of 100,000, we can completely destroy the Qin people in Wu'an."
Another person asked: "If you say you want to save Huan Yu, how can you abandon him?"
The man said: "Lanyu is a remote town, how can it be the same as Handan?"
Someone said: "Zhao She was ordered by the king to save Yanyu. If he saved Handan, what would he do?"
The man said: "If you follow Zhao's method, it will be useless!"
Someone said: "The one who suppressed the Qin people in Wu'an and could not advance was Zhao She. The one who protected Handan from the disaster of war was Zhao She. Now it is Zhao She who failed to save Yan and failed to make any achievements. How can the world say this!"
The man said: "If Zhao Fa is like this, Zhao She will have no success."
After hearing this, Bing Cao secretly shook his head: Zhao Fa is so harsh! It was obviously a great contribution to protecting the country, but it became ineffective because it was not within the king's order! He couldn't help but admire Zhao She: Zhao She knew that it was not difficult to save Handan and gain fame, but he insisted on sticking to the entrance of Wu'an Valley, blocking the progress of the Qin army, just for the safety of Handan! If Lian Po finishes recruiting troops and annihilates Hu Yang, all the war credit will go to Lian Po, and Zhao She will get no credit at all. Even so, Zhao She still has no complaints or regrets! "This is the city of Qianzhao!" He praised in his heart.
Not long after, the stranger came with Mr. Xing from Guo's Silk Shop, and the soldiers quickly got up to greet him. Mr. Xing looked around and said, "But Mr. Cao, Mr. Zeng hasn't arrived yet?"
Bing Cao said: "Sir, please forgive me! I asked you to visit me, so I call you Mr. Zeng!"
Mr. Xing seemed relieved and sat down at the table. The soldier ordered the food and wine to be served. Shao Qing, in front of each of the two seats was a tripod, a gui, a pot, a basket and a plate, which were fully lined up. Strangers have no share and can only serve at the table.
Mr. Xing humbly said: "How dare you thank Mr.
Bing Cao said: "I don't dare to say anything about repaying you for your efforts in Handan, but I will repay you just in case!"
Mr.
Mr. Xing said: "Mr. Zeng has made a lot of money these days. Congratulations! Mr. Cao would rather have business with you?"
Bing Cao said: "We have finished our business in the east and will return to our hometown. I will send you to your hometown to see how troubled things are in Handan. Do you dare to ask what you mean?"
Mr. Xing said: "Sir, why do you need to ask again? The Qin people entered and exited Wu'an, but they were only thirty or forty miles away from Handan. Fortunately, King Zhao had God bless him. Zhao She's army in Tianbe was prepared in advance and went to the mouth of the valley to block it, so that no one could enter. However, Tianbe The army was actually set up to rescue Yan and Yu. Since there were few soldiers and incomplete armor, they could only strengthen the wall without fighting in order to prolong the time. They must wait until the soldiers in Handan are complete and attack Qin in Wu'an. Then they will be safe! From that time to If Qin is defeated, there will be no peace in Handan."
Bing Cao said: "When I look at Handan City, I am not alarmed or worried. Sir, would you rather not worry too much?"
Mr. Xing said: "It's not overly worrying. One of the ten soldiers from Handan is in the army. Every family has something to do and has no labor, so they will be disturbed! Please take a look at it!" The soldiers thought deeply and raised their titles to the emperor frequently. Mr. Xing toasted.
After several rounds, Mr. Xing opened up his chat box and told everything he knew about Handan and Zhao without reservation. Although most of them are useless, occasionally a sentence or a half can reveal some amazing inside information. Bing Cao kept complimenting him, inducing the other party to reveal more secrets. Mr. Xing is not a big shot in the Guo family, and he does not usually participate in any confidential activities. What he says and does is ordinary. But under Bing Cao's deliberate calculations, some inconspicuous little things can also reveal the big inside story if we dig deeper. For example, he learned that this time the conscription only involved villagers, not businessmen, because most businessmen came from foreign countries and were not as reliable as locals. For the same reason, prisoners, criminals, slaves, son-in-laws and other low-status people were not included in the scope of the expropriation. It seems that the State of Zhao has high requirements for the purity of its soldiers.
After seeing off Mr. Started to go home. Along the way, groups of conscripted soldiers could still be seen on their way to Handan.
Does Zhao really want to recruit 100,000 troops to fight the Qin army? In this case, wouldn't Gongzi Zhen be in danger?
In the past, Bing Cao only knew that Young Master Zhen was extremely weak, and he despised him in his heart. After getting along with him for half a year, I saw that there was a fire-like enthusiasm in the young master's frail body; and the more difficult the situation, the more fighting spirit burst out; on the contrary, he seemed depressed in an ordinary environment. For half a year, their cooperation was perfect. Gongzi Zhen always presented himself as a playboy, leaving his footprints everywhere in the streets, alleys, and restaurants, but he managed to keep it quiet. As a loyal retainer, Bing Cao was able to enter and exit these places, meet many people who were difficult to see, and obtain information that was difficult to obtain.
Out of this emotion, Bing Cao hoped in his heart to send Gongzi Zhen back to Qin safely. So as soon as he heard that the Qin army was coming to Wu'an, he started to think about it. With keen observation and extensive intelligence, he quickly found Zheng Anping and his party. Although Zheng Anping and others have made a lot of efforts, in the eyes of interested people, they are still full of flaws, especially the local pronunciation of Qin Yin. To Qin people like them, they are like fireflies in the dark night. So it's not difficult to find them.
Send Gongzi Zhen back to Hu Yang. Gongzi Zhen must let his three sons come back. Originally, Gongzi Zhen and Bing Cao had made an appointment to go find Hu Yang by themselves, while Bing Cao stayed behind to collect information for Hu Yang for a few more days before leaving together. Bing Cao took it upon himself to take the five young masters back. Gongzi Zhen firmly disagreed. After a dispute, Gongzi Zhen gave in and allowed the three young soldiers to return. The reason why the younger one was asked to return was because none of these three people had disclosed their relationship with Gongzi Zhen: they seemed too young, and without background, they would not travel far. Therefore, they are counted as the servants of the retainer's family played by Bing Cao. ——The two eldest sons are Gongzi Zhen’s schoolboys. When Gongzi Zhen went in and out of Huajie and Liuxiang, the book boys did not take him with him, only an experienced retainer.
On the way home, Bing Cao talked softly with the stranger. The stranger held the ceremony very humbly, as if he were a child. It looked like the master was explaining things to the boy, but in fact it was the soldier explaining what he had seen and heard to the stranger. The analysis concluded one after another astonishing conclusions: Hu Yang's sudden appearance in Wu'an was completely unexpected by Zhao Guo; He pulled out the army that was originally intended to recover Yanyu to confront Hu Yang; although Zhao She was a Tianbu, he was actually very broad-minded and bravely took on a task that he was neither prepared for nor utilitarian in - resisting the Qin army. . And this is completely thankless for Zhao She! The State of Zhao used the time Zhao She bought to quickly assemble troops in Handan. The first thing was to defend Handan. Since they didn't know how much time Zhao She could buy, this task was very urgent, so they adopted the method of Ten Ding Zhengyi. The strategy of almost exhausting one's efforts is to assemble the basic forces needed for defense as quickly as possible. Now it seems that this force has been largely assembled, and defending Handan is no longer a problem. The goal then turned to retaliate against Hu Yang as quickly as possible and eliminate this henchman.
Based on this judgment, Bing Cao believed that it was not appropriate to withdraw from Wu'an prematurely. If they withdraw, Zhao will no longer need to continue mobilizing troops and will instead allow them to settle down. Staying in Wu'an for one more day, even if he does nothing, has already caused great harm to Zhao. When all the strong men are gathered in Handan, some irreparable damage will be caused elsewhere!
