On the three boats, they secretly discussed military affairs or told each other about their farewells, and rested until night. Although the three boats did not speed up, they were approaching the mouth of the Weishui River at dawn according to the natural flow speed of the Weishui River. The postman woke everyone up and brought the boat to the river bank. Everyone abandoned the boat and landed on the shore. They came to a post station, had breakfast, and then entered Hangu Pass.
There are many businessmen and travelers in Hangu Pass, and there are many people coming in and out. Zhang Lu showed the festival talisman and said that he was going to Luoyang on business and asked for help in finding a group of business travelers to accompany him. Although Lieutenant Hangu Guan did not know Zhang Lu, after checking the festival talisman, he still sent Zhang Lu to find a caravan going to Luoyang. There were about a hundred people, and told the leader of the caravan that these ten Qin people were going to Luoyang. Go to Luoyang for business. Seeing that there were old and young people in this group, some men and women, some noble and some lowly, the businessman guessed that it might be a family of some noble family heading to Luoyang, so he nodded in agreement. The luggage of Zhang Lu and his party was very simple, basically everyone carried it on their backs. Everyone speculated that it might just be a short trip to Luoyang.
Soon after arriving, the caravan set off. The business traveler saw that Zhang Lu was too old and Huang Xie was a noble person. Their luggage was much lighter than others. He offered to take them in a car, but they both refused. The merchants were more efficient than the army. After two days of following the caravan, everyone left the Zhuohan Road and entered Luoyang. Someone had already greeted them at the crossing, and the businessmen and travelers dispersed on their own. Zhang Lu was led by Chen Si to the Juyi where he had settled before. Chen Si went forward and knocked on the door. When the door opened, the person who came saw it was Chen Si. He hurriedly greeted him. After another look, he saw nine people following him. They were men, women, old and young, of different heights, fat and thin. They were startled and hurried over to inquire. It was Zheng Anping who came forward and only replied that he came from Xianyang. The visitor knew that this was no longer something he could handle, so he first invited the group into the courtyard and then informed the owner.
When the master heard that someone was coming from Xianyang, he immediately invited the young master to come out to greet him. They saw Chen Si and Zheng Anping standing behind a stooped old man, and behind them stood a richly dressed young man. On both sides were two young men and two middle-aged men. All four of them had extraordinary arrogance. Obviously not ordinary people; the last one was a young woman and a child of twelve or thirteen years old. The master glanced at the young master Yiren. The foreigner did not recognize this group of people, but he clearly felt that the old man in the middle had a very high status: the noble young master stood behind Zheng Anping, and Zheng Anping stood behind the old man.
The stranger whispered: "Idle people stay away!" The master understood and immediately asked the family members waiting in the courtyard to leave. Then he walked quickly to the old man and heard the old man say softly but very clearly: "My guest, Zhang Lu!" The master! Both the foreigner and the stranger were shocked. They originally thought he was just a doctor-level official, but who knew he was directly a concubine-level official. Moreover, they have all heard the name of guest Qing Zhang Lu. It is said that he was trusted by the King of Qin and presided over the construction of many projects, with tens of thousands of people participating in each project. It was also appointed to participate in national discussions. But what was the purpose of King Qin sending this engineering man to handle military affairs?
Without thinking much, they immediately invited everyone to the lobby. But only Zhang Lu and Huang Xie entered the hall, the others stopped outside the hall, and Xiao Nu and Gai Nie even stopped at the entrance of the hall. Outside the door, Zhang Lu could only be seen taking out the festival talisman from his arms. The owner took it and inspected it before respectfully returning it. Zhang Lu said something, and the master nodded in response. About half an hour later, the master came out, called each of his family members, and issued orders one after another. The family members all left with serious expressions.
After dinner, the host arranged for Zhang Lu and his party to rest in the front yard. The main hall and the side rooms on both sides were cleaned, mats and quilts were laid out, and the whole family retreated to the back house. Zhang Lu and others did not fall asleep. They discussed in the hall for a long time, during which there was even a serious quarrel.
That night, Chen Si and Young Master Yiren, led by a family member, rushed to a small town on the edge of the Yellow River, knocked on a door and entered. Early the next morning, the two of them had already changed into fishermen's clothes, took a fishing boat, and headed downstream.
On the afternoon of the next day, the city of Luoyang became lively. Three Qin delegations, each with ten or a hundred people, came to Luoyang and stayed in the three largest Nishi Towers in the area. The Qin scholars were busy carrying tributes to the courtyard, and the passers-by were chatting with the host of the reverse journey. The three envoys each took a follower, quietly left the mission and came to this courtyard in the suburbs...
While the Qin delegation checked into Nilv, they contacted local ships. They discovered that the ten most luxurious ships in Luoyang were rented by a merchant at the same time. So some members of the three missions also came to this courtyard...
The negotiations went very smoothly, and the envoys all got the ships they needed, and they set off one after another within the next day or two. Later, there were rumors in Luoyang City that the owner of this courtyard had made a lot of money, attracting the envious eyes of his colleagues. People who knew the inside story rumored that the day before, a mysterious family moved into this courtyard. The owner gave them extremely high treatment and gave them the main courtyard to live in, while he squeezed into the back house. They must have brought good news! So everyone's attention was focused on Zhang Lu and his group.
They all thought that this was a noble prince who came to Luoyang with a group of family members to do business: the old man was obviously the housekeeper, the two middle-aged retainers and the two young retainers were actually doing the work, and the woman and child were obviously in charge of the young master. Daily life; only Zheng Anping, no one could guess his identity, but seeing that he usually followed the family leader, they guessed that he might be the family leader's son and brought him out to see the world.
Usually this group of people go out in groups of three or two, either by themselves or led by their masters, to visit merchants in Luoyang. Gradually, the reputation of this master also came out, and his name was Qin An. As soon as he heard the surname, he knew that he was from the Qin State. No wonder the Qin State spent money on him without hesitation. Everyone has always felt that Qin's business is very difficult to do, because Qin's "emphasis on capital over subordinates" is famous in various countries. Although Qin An has been in Luoyang for a long time, he has always been tepid, but This time, everyone looked at Qin An with admiration.
When Qin An takes people to visit merchants, the young master, the family manager and Zheng Anping are the standard ones, and maybe one or two more are added sometimes. When Qin An introduced him, he only said that he was Young Master Xie. Although this Young Master Xie was already middle-aged, he was very talkative and seemed to be familiar with business matters. The butler next to him seemed like a decoration, except for nodding and smiling. No words.
Huang Xie once oversaw the business affairs of Chu State, and Chu State was still a country that valued business. He was familiar with all walks of life and had a deep understanding of the bottom layer of business. Every time I come back from a visit, I analyze the information obtained with everyone, which is always refreshing! The next day, everyone divided up to collect new information according to the arranged plan. In just five days, all the power in the world is almost gone!
They focused on getting information about the Wei army from the salt merchants from Anyi, and inquired about the wars in several countries from the merchants in Handan. The situation of Lian Qin envoys entering Daliang, Puyang and Tao was known to Luoyang almost the next day. Courier returns must be timely! What's more important is that they get the trends of high-level officials in various countries from the mouths of businessmen; and they also selectively reveal Qin's trends to the outside world in order to exchange for more information.
When the news of the Three Kingdoms' conquest of Huan and Yu reached the State of Zhao, the King of Zhao discussed the matter with his ministers. The important ministers of the State of Zhao at that time included Prince Sheng of Pingyuan and Prince Bao of Pingyang, both of whom were brothers of King Zhao, as well as Shangqing Lin Xiangru, Lian Po and Yu Qing; there was also a veteran general Le Yi, who was a guest minister and was only for consultation. , generally did not participate in the research of specific affairs; his two nephews, Lejian and Lecheng, traveled between Yan and Zhao and were often nowhere to be found.
The unanimous opinion of these people is that Yanyu is far away and dangerous, and its value is not high. It is not worth sending troops to rescue. It is better to wait for the coalition forces to leave and then send another army to recover it, which is more economical! But at this time, King Zhao casually asked this question to Zhao She, who was in charge of taxation. Zhao She's opinion was that although Yan and Yu are far and dangerous, the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road. So King Zhao immediately ordered Zhao She to organize an army to prepare to rescue Yan Yu.
However, the development of the war was completely out of Zhao's control. The Qin army did not struggle with the Zhao army in Yanyu, but suddenly appeared in Wu'an, which was less than a hundred miles away from Handan. Zhao She had to camp at the mouth of the valley thirty miles away from Handan, temporarily blocking the Qin army's access to Handan and buying time for Handan to fortify. In those days, King Zhao had trouble sleeping and eating, and the ministers worked hard to recruit troops everywhere. Lest Zhao She could not resist the Qin army's charge, the Qin army would march straight into Handan.
It seemed that God had fulfilled his wish, and the Qin and Zhao armies were at peace with each other in Wu'an for twenty-eight days. The troops around Handan were thick and their combat strength was strong. King Zhao ordered Zhao She to go to Yanyu to relieve the siege of Yanyu and generals. The line of defense is handed over to Lian Po. But at the moment when Zhao She had left and Lian Po had not entered, the Qin army rushed out of the Wu'an Valley. Fortunately, Lian Po had strong troops at this time, so he decisively left the city and fought a decisive battle with Qin, gradually driving the Qin army out of the suburbs of Handan. King Zhao finally let go of his hanging heart.
One day later, King Zhao found out that the Great Wall fell on the same day! The two armies of the Qin army met inside the Great Wall, with a total strength of 20,000. King Zhao sent someone to tell Lian Po that his troops did not have an absolute advantage over the Qin army. He must be careful and careful, and must not be careless and give the Qin army an opportunity! As expected, Lian Po was experienced in using troops, and he established a camp step by step. Step by step, he squeezed the Qin army out of Zhangshui and retreated to the border of Zhao and Wei.
There were frequent conflicts between the Zhao army and the Wei army in the border area. The Zhao army once took advantage of the confrontation between the Wei army and the Qin army in Qifeng to attack and capture several cities, Fangling and Anyang. Now that the Qin army has retreated to the Wei border, the Zhao army dare not pursue it directly. He sent people to contact the Wei army, hoping that for the sake of the brotherly state, the Wei army would join forces with Zhao to attack the Wei army, or at least remain neutral. Wei Shou's answer was ambiguous: "Qin and Zhao are great kingdoms, and they fight against each other in our cities. They dare not resolve the disputes, so they can only resolve themselves!" But then, the Qin army attacked and captured several cities occupied by the Zhao army. King Zhao believed that this was an obvious sign that Qin and Wei were joining forces: Wei wanted to use the hands of the Qin people to regain the lost land from the Zhao army!
