Tian Dan was a versatile civil and military man. He not only restored Qi's military exploits, but also governed Qi for many years, allowing Qi to survive for twenty years when it was dying. He also had certain influence and voice among the princes. Tian Dan's political Wisdom goes without saying. When Han Ping encountered a problem, he sent someone to invite Tian Dan to Yangdi to have a secret talk with him.
Before the occupation of Zheng State, Yangzhai was once the capital of South Korea. It was seventy or eighty miles away from Zheng State and more than one hundred miles away from Zhucheng, roughly in between. After the two met, Han Ping explained to Tian Dan that South Korea had suffered another blow from Qin, this time from Shangdang.
Tian Dan was not very familiar with the geography of the Taihang Mountains. Han Ping explained: "Jin is separated from the high mountains of China, and there are only a few roads that can lead to it: go out of Zhe Road to Zhi City, go out of Taihang to Yewang. Now the Zhe Road is the Qin Road According to the evidence, the only link between Jin and China is Taihang. From Jue Shaoqu and Gaodu, the path to Taihang has been cut off..."
Tian Dan immediately responded and asked: "So Pingyang and Shangdang are not allowed to communicate with Zheng Ye?"
Han Ping nodded painfully and said, "Of course! What can I do?"
Tian Dan said: "In this way, Han is in danger of the country! There are three strategies now. The first one is to gather the power of the three Jin Dynasties to attack Nanyang to clear the way; the second one is to organize the army and use military force to wait for the time; the second one is to assemble the army and use military force to wait for the time. , I humbled myself and offered a lot of money to bribe Qin."
Han Ping said: "The king is in charge of the three kingdoms, and he can fully understand the reality and reality of the princes. From the king's perspective, if you gather the power of the three Jins and even Qi, can you conquer Nanyang?"
Tian Dan pondered for a moment and said: "If we can gather the power of the four kingdoms to attack Qin, what about Nanyang? What we need to worry about is that Yan is in the north and Chu is in the south. If they take advantage of a weak point and come in, the disaster will be huge. They will definitely join forces, and Chu will not be able to do so. Que Ye. Ran Chu..."
Han Ping said: "Even if we take Nanyang or reach Hedong, we will not be harmed by Qin at all. However, the war has caused disasters and there will be no peace. But the country is empty, the princes are taking advantage of it, and the ancestral temple is uneasy."
Tian Dan said: "The only one I can offer is to bribe Qin, and the only one I can offer is Jin Pingyang. How can the king tolerate it?"
Han Ping said: "If you offer several cities above Fen and change Shaoqu and Gaodu, the king may do it. Pingyang, where the ancestral temple is located, cannot be changed."
Tian Dan said: "Is it possible to organize an army and practice martial arts?"
Han Ping said: "There are hundreds of cities in the twelve counties of Pingyang, and the number of victorious soldiers is one hundred thousand. However, the land is flat and easy, and there is no danger to occupy. Although the seventeen cities in the four counties of Shangdang are in dangerous positions, the number of victors is few. They all protect themselves. And there is more than enough to defeat the enemy.”
Tian Dan said: "But if we can protect ourselves, we can still make progress. We will set up a county in Shangdang and Pingyang, and appoint officials and brave generals to take charge of them. Anyi is broken, but it will be revived with Zhang Lu, and it will be strong again with Bai Qi." "Kuang Pingyang, the homeland of Han, has been in business for several generations; Shangdang is as high as the sky. In strange and dangerous places, there must be strong and prosperous people."
Han Ping knew that it was difficult to find such talents, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only say: "I would like to teach you!"
A few days later, envoys from Qi came to announce the funeral: King Qi passed away, he was posthumously honored, and Prince Jian ascended the throne. Tian Dan immediately returned to Qi to attend the funeral, and the army sent by Zhao to guard South Korea returned home led by General Zhao. South Korea also sent an envoy to express condolences. Other princes, except Yan State, also sent envoys to express their condolences.
The New Year arrived in a few days. Although the city had been lost and the land was lost, the city of Zheng was still festive and lively without any hint of sadness. Han Ping seemed to be the only one who was troubled and seemed out of place.
Shangdang originally had a county governor named Jin Pao. Although he can't be called a minister, he is still competent, especially since Shangdang Shou is a hard job and almost no one is competing for it, so his position is quite solid; if it were other counties, they would lose such important officials as Shaoqu and Gaodu. In the city, someone has long wanted to take him down and hold him accountable. For now, all we need to do is notify him to step up his defenses.
But Pingyang is different. This is the old capital of Korea. Every county has old Korean relatives, and the chief officials of each county are very knowledgeable. Sometimes they don't even look down on themselves. It's not easy to set up a county guard above them! After thinking about it, Han Ping could only go to King Shu Yangchengjun of Han.
Yangchengjun was the younger brother of the late king Liwang. He had been a hostage in a vassal state, so he was named Yangchengjun. Yang Chengjun's position is awkward, and everyone generally thinks that he is more capable, but he has always stayed out of the public eye and kept himself safe. But he still has a certain reputation within the clan, and may be able to suppress the county guards.
After the New Year, Han Ping went to Yangchengjun and tried his best to persuade Yangchengjun to come out. After some hard talking, Han Ping finally got King Han to agree to the establishment of Pingyang County. Yang Chengjun took his time to take office. At this time, spring plowing was in full swing.
However, the problem arises. The way out of Pingyang has been completely controlled by the Qin army. How can Jun Yangcheng reach Pingyang? Yang Chengjun had his own way: he went directly to the Qin State and made it clear that he had been appointed as the governor of Pingyang County and was going to Pingyang to take office. He asked the Qin State to allow him to pass through the country in the spirit of alliance.
This request made Zhang Lu dumbfounded. The establishment of a county in Pingyang was obviously in response to Qin's war preparations. Logically speaking, it would not be too much for Qin to detain Yang Chengjun. However, Zhang Lu saw from Yang Chengjun's reaction that, first of all, South Korea had no intention of regaining its lost territory; secondly, Yang Chengjun no longer posed a threat. So he didn't embarrass him and sent a hundred people to escort him through Hedong to take office in Pingyang! When people in Pingyang counties saw that the newly appointed Pingyang Shou was escorted to his post by the Qin army, they didn't know whether to be happy or sad: Could it be that Han and Qin have reconciled?
After Yang Chengjun took office, he immediately summoned the county guards from all counties and ordered them to strengthen preparations for war, use the leisure time to train soldiers, strengthen troops and horses, and store grass and grain.
Bai Qi, the governor of Hedong, sent an envoy to question Yang Chengjun: "Pingyang is adjacent to Hedong, and they continue to practice martial arts. Who will they attack?"
Yang Chengjun replied: "The world is not at peace, and thieves are everywhere. How dare you not organize your army and practice martial arts to protect your head!"
Bai Qi sent an ultimatum: "Yang Ping is practicing martial arts, Hedong will not dare to follow!"
Yang Chengjun was noncommittal. So from Pishi to Zhi County and even Gaodu, Bai Qi held many county-level martial arts performances in Hedong, and the training centered on the cities did not stop for a day.
It was difficult to spread the news about Pingyang. Yangchengjun could not get instructions from the King of Han, nor could he spread his own situation. He could only do his best to prepare for war. But as the military exercise progressed, even the people in Pingyang could see that the training of the Korean army and the Qin army were not at the same level. Hedong can organize exercises at the county level or even several counties, but Pingyang cannot organize exercises at the city level.
After the New Year, Bai Qi directly sent a document to Yang Chengjun: "You and your ministers are practicing martial arts together. Now I want to have a quick fight with you. Is it possible?"
Yangchengjun quickly ordered all counties to prepare for war.
However, in Hedong territory, soldiers from various counties gathered in Anyi and Zuoyi areas day and night; while Yangchengjun gathered a large number of soldiers to Xintian.
Due to the convenience of Fen River and Hu River, the concentration of soldiers in Pingyang was much faster than that of Qin people. Yangchengjun then decided to take a preemptive strike and sent troops to surround Quwo, not far from Xintian. At the same time, he controlled a strong team at Jiangshan Pass to block possible reinforcements from the direction of Anyi.
However, just as Xintian was watching the movements of the Anyi army with vigilance, Bai Qi appeared on the edge of Taihang Mountain. He led the troops mobilized from Gaodu out of Shaoshui and down the mountain to Yicheng. In addition to the soldiers and civilians who had moved there after the occupation, the troops in Gaodu also included 30,000 prisoners who had gone to build roads. The total force reached 40,000 to 50,000. Since all the elite soldiers in Yicheng were concentrated in Xintian, Bai Qi took Yicheng and Xingcheng almost without a fight, and rushed towards Xintian along the Huishui River.
Seeing this situation, Yang Chengjun knew that he had been deceived by Bai Qi again. Anyi was just used to attract his attention. Gaodu, blocked by mountains and rivers and out of sight, was Bai Qi's main attacking force! Yang Chengjun was completely desperate. Not only was Quwo not captured, but it became a big walnut that could not be swallowed. The besieging Korean army choked and could not move. Anyi's troops also restrained the Korean army in Xintian; the Qin army in Zhi County also came for reinforcements. The Korean army concentrated in Xintian was not only attacked by superior forces, but also the position was very unfavorable and unable to adjust.
Bai Qi swept from Quwo to Xintian and fought all the way to the shore of Fen River, completely surrounding the Korean army concentrated in Xintian. The Korean army, which lost its fighting spirit, quickly collapsed and became the prey of the Qin army. Most of them were killed in the wild, and a small number fled back to Xintian to defend themselves.
Bai Qi did not think too much about occupying the city, but tried his best to kill and injure the Korean army. Even so, there were many cities that surrendered without fighting. In the end, the Qin army captured nine cities, including Xingcheng, and beheaded 50,000 people. Pingyang has become a turtle in a urn! Countless Qin soldiers received titles because of this battle.
Just as Bai Qi was mobilizing his troops to besiege Xintian, Yangchengjun sent an envoy to sue for peace, willing to give up the cities in Yicheng and Jiangcheng counties and cease war with Qin. Bai Qi requested that since Xintian was not far from Quwo and posed a threat to Quwo, South Korea must destroy Xintian City. The Qin people would not send troops to occupy it, but the Koreans were not allowed to station troops here.
The results of this battle were unprecedented in recent years. The Qin army swept away the frustration of the battle and reestablished its invincible position!
However, the joy of victory was diluted by Ranghou's death... Qin Xiangfu sent people to announce to various places: Ranghou died in Tao. Lord Jingyang was sent to Taoyi to preside over the funeral ceremony of Marquis Rang. Three months later, Marquis Rang was buried. Tao was renamed Tao Commandery, with Lord Jingyang as Tao's guardian. One of the public servants brought by Marquis Rang, Zhang Tang, was appointed as Tao Wei, and another public servant, Cai Xian, was appointed as Tao Cheng.
When Marquis Rang was buried, all the princes in the world sent envoys to express their condolences. Chu, Qi, Wei, Han, and Zhao, who had been killed by Wei Ran and shed blood, all sent their close ministers to Tao to express their condolences on behalf of the princes and kings. . As long as you are a hero, you will eventually return to the loess!
Bai Qi was unable to go to Tao to express his condolences because he had to prepare for next year's war. Although Bai Qi is no longer young, he still walks vigorously through the mountains and rivers of Hedong counties. But wherever he went, he had to lay out his confession, wear mourning clothes, and worship in the distance. The conversation between him and Marquis Rang at the end was still ringing in his ears:
"You will govern Hedong, and I will govern Tao. I will be ten years old, which one is good?"
"You are not as good as a king."
"Ru Guang is east of Hedong, and I, Guang Tao, are about ten years old. Which one is Guang Tao?"
"The prince has not risen yet."
"I'll give you a try in ten years, okay?"
"You and I have been dating for ten years, but how can we pass away after so many years?" Bai Qi sighed, with tears shining at the corners of his eyes.
