That night, Wei Qi followed the agreed strategy and first met with Prince Qin, who was held hostage in Daliang.
Less than a year ago, Prince Qin was sent to Daliang as a hostage. The ostensible reason was to ensure that personnel exchanges between Xianyang and Tao would not endanger Wei's security. But those people brought by the prince were all versatile in both civil and military affairs, and they could handle intelligence and troublemaking. In practice, they became outposts to monitor Wei. It was Wei himself who proposed to send hostages. When Qin announced that he would send the prince himself as a hostage, Wei knew that he had dug a hole for himself, but there was nothing he could do.
The State of Qin was to the west of the State of Wei. Naturally, the Guanyi where the Prince of Wei stayed was the Liangxi Post where Zheng Anping once worked as a errand. Liangxiyi is thirty miles away from Daliang, and it is also thirty miles away from Xizhong. At the boundary of the suburbs of Daliang, it is just the distance where they can communicate with each other without disturbing each other. Knowing that the prince was coming to take hostage, Wei Guo organized Liangxi Post in advance and built a fence outside the wall to expand the scope of the post. In Wei State, we tried to imagine as big as possible, but we still didn't expect that the prince's entourage would reach the scale of a hundred people. Generally, those who are hostages only have a dozen or so followers, and twenty or thirty people are considered too many. If hundreds of people come at once, are they here to be hostages or for a purpose? But Wei Guo did not dare to say anything. Prince Qin personally came to interrogate him. This was a great honor! Having a good relationship with the prince means having a good relationship with the future King of Qin, and having a good relationship with the best princes in the world. The importance cannot be overestimated!
All the post offices were vacated and given to the prince's entourage. The post officials and post soldiers temporarily built a shed outside the post station to stay. It was originally expected to send out 100 people to protect and monitor, but now the number has been increased to 500. The military camp is located in a nearby town three to five miles away from the post station, and the number of soldiers on duty in each shift has also been increased from 20 to 100.
When the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces attacked Zhao, the prince's place was the focus of negotiations. The Qin envoys almost used the Liangxi post where the prince was located as a transit point to continuously discuss and negotiate negotiation strategies, which led to Wei's dispatch of troops. After the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms entered the Taihang Mountains, the prince lost contact with them. He occasionally heard some rumors but could not verify them. The prince focused on reconnaissance of the local situation in Wei. There were many merchants in Taodi and they were scattered all over Wei State. In the name of supervising the merchants, the prince sent people to check around from time to time. If someone from Taoyi comes to Daliang, they usually go to Guanyi to visit the prince. The prince usually receives him in person and sometimes talks all night long.
When the Qin army entered Wu'an, Tao Yi also heard about the movements in Wu'an, and a lot of news came from him, but none of them was accurate. Businessmen from Handan generally live in Daliang and usually do not go through the west gate. If the prince's entourage wants to enter Daliang, he must report in advance and there will be people accompanying him, so the prince is very familiar with the real situation in Handan. Diaphragm. At first he thought that the Qin army's appearance in Wu'an was just a rumor, but as a large amount of mutually corroborating information came in, the prince understood that Hu Yang had really entered Wu'an. He wondered, why and where did Hu Yang enter Wu'an? The prince asked his entourage questions. Occasionally, people from Xianyang also asked the prince these questions, but they could not get answers. The prince took advantage of his identity and visited Wei Qi, Duan Ziqian, and even Lord Xinling in many places, but he could not be convinced.
Then, almost suddenly, businessmen everywhere spread the news unanimously that the Qin army was defeated and fled to Jiyi. The prince didn't know where Jiyi was or what his status was, and his subordinates couldn't explain it. The prince decided to go to see Lord Xinling in person tomorrow and ask him for a true letter. Just when he was about to send someone to contact him, he suddenly heard news that the Qin envoy had entered Wei.
The Qin envoy came by boat and was arranged at Liang Nanyi. After the Qin envoy disembarked from the ship, he came into contact with the prince's personal guards who came to meet him. In the chaos of carrying tributes and checking into the inn, the Qin envoy and his guards had a secret and brief conversation on the boat for a while, and the guards disembarked and returned. Only then did the prince know that the Wei army suddenly appeared in Anyi and seemed to be defeated by Zhao; the Korean army had not returned yet and must have been broken up; the Qin army was in the best condition, but it was also trapped in several cities. Several cities were captured by the state of Zhao. The mission of the Qin envoy is to urge Wei to open the road to the Qin army so that the Qin army can return to the country via Nanyang. The Qin envoy did not know the specific location of the city. He only vaguely knew that it was approximately on the bank of the Yellow River, adjacent to Ningxinzhong, a large city in the state of Wei.
The prince could not blame the Qin envoy. The envoys sent by the Qin State were travelers from the Qin State. They were well versed in etiquette and only conveyed their opinions to the sending country. They had no military, geographical or other professional knowledge themselves. But what puzzled the prince was why King Qin sent another envoy instead of going through his own channels.
At night, Wei Qi, the Prime Minister of Wei, came to Liangxi Station and asked to see the prince. The prince welcomed him in and ordered a lamp to be held, and the two of them chatted under the lamplight.
Wei Qi first asked: "The envoy from Qin is here, does the prince know about it?"
The prince said: "There are rumors in the market, so I know it!"
Wei Qi said: "Does the prince know about the Qin envoy's mission?"
The prince said: "It's unknown!"
Wei Qi said: "The King of Qin sent an envoy to ask, what is the intention of the Wei army when they enter Anyi?"
The prince also pretended to be surprised and said: "Why did the Wei army enter Anyi? I have heard nothing about it!"
Wei Qidao: "As the prince said, the Wei army entered Anyi not because they wanted to capture Anyi. The Three Kingdoms attacked Zhao, and the prince personally experienced it. The Wei army that entered Anyi was actually part of the coalition. Therefore, those who left Anyi were Gai. I want to take the road to Anyi and return to the country."
The prince thought for a while and said: "I heard that the Qin army also entered when, and built Wei Yi or Zhao Yi?"
Wei Qi said: "The prince is wise! This is Wei Yi, but he was not well prepared and fell into the hands of the Zhao people by mistake."
The prince said: "Qin takes a few towns for Wei, and Wei will repay them!"
Wei Qi said: "The prince is wrong! He is not in Wei, but actually in Qin's capital!"
The prince said: "Qin and Ji are thousands of miles apart, how can we get it? It must belong to Wei, but I want to take it back."
Wei Qi said: "Qin can't hold on to a few cities for a long time. Wei has food and fodder, but Qin goes out to leave the city and leaves the cities to Wei. Is it okay?"
The prince said: "That's not possible. Where does Qin live? All the food and fodder are prepared. How can he return with the food and fodder?"
Wei Qi said: "Is it okay for Wei to prepare grain, fodder, chariots and battles to welcome Qin on the road?"
The prince said: "It's impossible. Qin lives here, and he has not heard that he is about to leave. He has food, fodder, chariots and battles, but it is not enough to repay him."
Wei Qi said: "Is it okay for Wei to have grain, fodder, chariots and war, and make the people work on the road?"
The prince said: "I would like to hear that the kings have not dared to do so!"
Wei Qi said: "This is how Wei met Qin, and I hope Qin can meet Wei like this!"
The prince said: "I would like to hear the details!"
Wei Qi said: "Because Wei has met many Qin people, he also hopes to meet Wei people in Anyi!"
The prince did not expect that Wei Qi had set an ambush here, and was speechless for a moment. After a moment of silence, he said: "When Wei encounters Qin, how will it be treated? When Qin encounters Wei, how will Wei repay him?"
Wei Qi said: "I heard that the Wei army attacked the Tang city of Hanyi, and the people there are similar. If Qin loves it, he will take it."
The prince said: "I haven't heard about it, but I would like to ask the king for help."
Wei Qi cupped his hands and said, "I hope the prince can speak well to the king. Qin and Wei are allies. Please be defeated by Zhao together. Friendship means we share the same enemy, and justice should support each other."
The prince said: "I must report to the king."
Wei Qi said: "I will meet with the envoy of Qin in the future. I would like the prince to accompany me."
The prince said: "Here you go!" Wei Qi left with satisfaction. Seeing Wei Qi's proud smile, the prince felt doubtful in his heart: Did I do something wrong?
The next day at the court meeting, Wei Qi came to invite the prince. The prince wore court clothes and rode to court.
Unlike the prince of Chu who went to court almost every day in Qin, the prince of Qin did not need to go to court every day in Wei. This depends to a certain extent on the status of the hostage: if the hostage is a minister, he will go to court and discuss government affairs together; if the hostage is a guest, he will not go to court and will only send someone to consult when something happens; but If there are important matters that need to be discussed with the monarch and his ministers, the hostages who are guests can also go to court. So Prince Qin accepted Prime Minister Wei's arrangement and went to court the next day.
Since the prince lived outside the city, and the time for court meetings was usually before the city gates were opened, Wei Qi also made special arrangements for the prince to go to court, and the city gates had to be opened temporarily when he came in and out - if the prince went to court every day If so, it will annoy Ximen Guards to death!
After the prince arrived, Wei Qi came out to welcome him and took him to the Nuan Pavilion inside Daliang Gate. Duan Ziqian and Lord Xinling were also there. The officials Jin Bi and Xu Jia were not qualified to sit with them, but they were also called in.
The prince and others met one by one, and Wei Qi said: "Now we will discuss the affairs of Qin's envoys together. The two senior officials will be in charge of Rong and Jia, and they will be the ones to discuss it!"
Lord Xinling asked everyone to sit down, and then asked: "The Qin envoy has arrived to ask about our army's residence in Anyi!"
Wei Qi added: "When our army came out of Anyi, Qin was uneasy, or suspected that I would take advantage of its defeat to attack Anyi again, so I sent an envoy to ask about it. However, I told the Wei army that they had no intention of Anyi, but they were lying. , nothing will happen."
Duan Ziqian said: "This Wei army is not that of others. It is an army that joins Qin in attacking Zhao. The friendship with Qin is an alliance. Qin Yu welcomes and sends him off with the righteousness of alliance and the etiquette of the east."
The prince remained silent.
Lord Xinling did not let him go, and said politely in his seat: "I would like to hear what the prince wants!"
The prince said: "My king sent an envoy, but he did not reach me. I have not followed the king's teachings, so I dare not speak nonsense!"
Lord Xinling said, "I can only tell you what you want." The prince repeatedly declined, but Lord Xinling refused, insisting that the prince express his opinion. The prince considered it and said: "Wei was defeated and entered Anyi, which is exactly the same as Qin's entry. It's okay to treat them as one!"
Lord Xinling praised: "The prince's words are right to the point. The matter should be solved. There is no two reasons."
Jin Bi and Xu Jia also said: "If it is not the words of the prince, things will be troubled. The prince's instructions are like a candle in the dark!" The prince secretly felt that something was not good, but he did not know what went wrong, and he was uneasy. .
After chatting for a few more words, the sound of drums came from the palace, and all the ministers went to court. Several people came out and stood first inside Daliang Gate. The prince stood next to Lord Xinling and showed great respect. ——When he went to court in the past, the prince was always accompanied by Wei Qi, standing behind Lord Xinling! ——This made the prince feel even more uneasy...
