At the banquet held by Shangdang officials to welcome Zhao Jun, Lord Pingyuan made it clear his intention to annex Shangdang, while Feng Ting, the Shangdang guard, took the initiative to admit that he was the one who dedicated Shangdang to Zhao, causing an uproar in the audience. Jin Mao stood up angrily and said: "Keep your fault! Ask Zhao to help Han. I would rather use Han's land to enter Zhao! There will be no help!"
Feng Ting said: "No. Zhao is an ally; Qin is an enemy. It is better to be an ally than an enemy!"
Jin Mao shouted: "If you stick to the above party and gain fame and wealth, why bother talking about it!"
Feng Ting turned to Lord Pingyuan and said: "It is unjust for me to defend the ground for my lord and not to die, but to do it to others. It is unjust for the Qin in the lord to disobey the lord's orders. It is also unjust for him to sell his land and eat it." Three. I am willing to enter Korea with my words!" Then he said to Jin Mao: "I am willing to enter Korea and accept the crime, and no longer have fame! I hope you will do your best to defend the Qin army."
Feng Ting's actions made Jin Fu unable to step down for a while. He could only say: "I can't defend the Lord, and I am willing to take the blame to Han!"
Pingyuan Jun said: "You two have resigned, who should I defend with? The one who attacks the country of Han and takes the land of Han is Qin. The one who guards the land of Han is Zhao. Zhao and Han are brothers. That's why Shangdang It is close to Handan, but Zhao has nothing to worry about. Now that I heard that Qin will join the Shangdang, Qin is approaching Handan, so Zhao must help him. I hope that all the kings and ministers will jointly defend the Qin people and guard the Shangdang. As soon as the battle is over, Korea will be divided. Zhao! Brothers are jealous of each other at the Xingqiang wall, and they resist their insults from outside. This is what we call it!"
Feng Ting said: "I have been ordered by the king to serve as Shangdang guard, and I must not give up my order. Since Jin Qing is exempted from guarding, he can stay. Kuang Ting does not know the military, so it is useless to stay. Jin Shou has been with Shangdang for a long time, and he knows the military strategy well, and he is willing to work with Zhao. Guard it!"
Everyone in the hall saw that the two seemed to be easy to discuss, and after thinking about it carefully, they concluded that they would either join Qin or Zhao. If you enter Qin, Zhao will attack, and if you enter Zhao, Qin will attack. This war cannot be avoided. Now it is obvious that Zhao Guo is close and Qin Guo is far away. From the immediate point of view, it is more beneficial to surrender to Zhao! He thinks of selfish interests in his heart, but speaks of righteousness. The Prime Minister of Shangdang stood up and said, "Feng Shou's words are true. When Shangdang enters the Qin Dynasty, Han's difficulties are not solved. Now that we have Zhao Yuan, we will definitely be able to defend Shangdang. This is to preserve the land for the king."
Other Shangdang officials had their own thoughts, but the situation had been decided. Although General Zhao on the opposite side did not interrupt, his attitude was clear: I am already here, what can you do to me? The 30,000 Zhao troops were all in strategic locations, and Shangdang was almost unable to resist. So they all agreed: "If you can save this land, you will be better than Qin Duo!"
The turmoil was resolved in the hall, and almost no one in the hall or outside the court knew about the dispute in the hall.
After the banquet ended, many officials came to Feng Ting secretly, hoping to follow Feng Ting back to South Korea. When asked why they did not want to be granted the title, they all replied that it was because their family members were all in the state of Zheng, and they would rather return to the country to accept their crimes than dare to leave home. After discussing with Pingyuan Jun, Feng Ting decided to let them go back. These people are not determined and may still be a disaster if they stay.
The next day, Lord Pingyuan announced in public that anyone who wanted to return to Korea could return to the country with all their assets - if they had the ability to pass Qin's interrogation.
There were probably dozens of officials who finally left. Most of them arrived alone and their entire families were in South Korea. Those who had property in Zheng Guo and Shangdang were in trouble. Since they were unable to take their family members and property out of Shangdang, most of them chose to stay. After all, Zhao Guo would also promote them to higher ranks.
Feng Ting took the officials who were willing to leave over the mountains and ridges, returned to Pingyang, and returned to Yang Chengjun. Lord Pingyuan flew to report to King Zhao that Shangdang had won the battle without a fight. The Qin army had no intention of attacking yet, so it was a good time to build a defense! King Zhao made a decisive decision and ordered his minister Lian Po to guard the party.
Lian Po arrived at Shangdang, replaced Lord Pingyuan, inspected the terrain of Shangdang again, confirmed that the defense strategy centered on Changping was feasible, and immediately started preparations.
It is expected that after the autumn harvest, the Qin army may invade. Lian Po did not dare to delay, so he mobilized a large number of migrant workers to build defensive positions regardless of the busy farming season.
After Danshui flows out from Danzhu Ridge, it passes diagonally from northwest to southeast in front of Changpyeong, and then flows southward from the foot of the mountain in the south. Lian Po first fortified Changping City and added an outer city to this small city with a radius of one mile, making each side three miles long. A trench was dug outside the city and filled with alchemy water. It took 10,000 laborers and four months of work to build a solid military camp for the defenders. Due to the long distances between various places in Shangdang, it is not easy to mobilize 10,000 migrant workers. Most of the migrant workers actually come from Changzi, Tunliu, Lucheng and other places around Changping. Almost all the young migrant workers in these cities have been drained, leaving no one to take care of the food. , no one harvested them, most of them rotted in the ground, and there was no harvest in Changpyeong!
Lian Po asked Handan for help. King Zhao immediately sent a grain transport team to transport almost half of the taxes and taxes from the counties around Handan to Shangdang. Handan is surrounded by a large grain-producing area with millions of households, and the annual grain tax exceeds 10 million dan. To transport five million stones of grain into Shangdang at once, tens of thousands of porters and bearers needed to be mobilized to transport it into the mountains in batches. Completing this kind of large-scale logistical supply is Zhao She's strength, but he was ill at the time and could only take the lead, leaving all the specific work to Zhao Kuo.
It takes a month to walk on the 500-mile mountain road from Handan to Shangdang. With consumption and losses along the way, only less than four million stones of five million stones could reach Shangdang. First, the rations of 30,000 Zhaojun were guaranteed, which cost about two million shi a year; the wages of the migrant workers were temporarily paid by the surplus grain of the Shangdang. Shangdang's grain output was not high to begin with, and the surplus grain was insufficient. In the past few months, it had supplied another 30,000 Zhao troops, and the granary was quickly empty. The grain harvest around Shangdang was so bad that it was almost impossible to survive the winter.
Lord Pingyuan followed the agreement and gave each household six gold coins. This was a lot of money in normal times, but now he couldn't buy food with the money. Sensing the crisis, Shangdang residents began to flee.
Lian Po focused all his attention on fighting the Qin army and sent out a large number of scouts every day to detect the Qin army's movements. The people in Hedong still followed Qin's laws and practiced military formations during the slack time. In October, the autumn harvest was completed, and no Qin army was mobilized either in the direction of Anyi or Nanyang. Instead, a large number of Qin troops appeared in the direction of Hangu Pass. Lian Po did not dare to neglect and paid close attention to the movements of this army, lest it break out in the direction of the upper party. But this force instead attacked South Korea's Goushi and Lin in Henan. Then he returned. Lian Po was nervous in vain.
After the tension caused by the Qin army passed, it was the twelfth lunar month, which was the eve of the New Year of the Three Jin Dynasties. These 30,000 Qin troops have been away from home since early summer and have been serving for half a year. Everyone is looking forward to going home!
The rotation of military service was under the responsibility of Xu Li, the national captain. As early as after the autumn harvest, he began to mobilize elites from various places to organize an army. The monarchs and ministers of the State of Zhao knew very well that the Shangdang people alone were unable to resist the Qin army, and the power of the State of Zhao must be mobilized.
According to Lian Po's strategy, to hold the line of Danshui, at least 100,000 troops are needed, and 30,000 troops can only hold Changping for three months. But the most critical issue is food. Shangdang's surplus grain is very small, and after a lot of troubles, the harvest is even worse. It is difficult to maintain the survival of the people. Where can they supply the army? Once there is no food, the outcome of the war will be defeat without a fight. Lian Po must at least ensure the food supply of Shangdang Zhao's army, and if possible, also provide relief to the people of Shangdang. Without the support of the people, the army alone cannot sustain it.
The four million stones of grain sent by Zhao She became Lian Po's treasure. On the one hand, it is supplied according to standards to maintain the morale of the soldiers; on the other hand, there is no need to worry about recruiting migrant workers if there is food. So when the New Year came, Lian Po issued a project order to recruit migrant workers at the standard of one bucket of five liters of grain per day.
A dou of five liters of grain is not too much. It is the standard daily ration for a heavy manual laborer. But it is not a lot of food, because the standard daily ration for ordinary people is three liters. A dou of five liters is enough to feed a family of five. Don't go hungry! Relying on building fortifications for Lian Po, the people around Changping had a not too difficult year.
The new army numbered 50,000, replacing the previous 30,000. Lian Po built an advance position between the corner of Danshui and the foot of the mountain. This position, which is about three miles wide, relies on the cover of mountains and rivers to form a barrier.
Lian Po still sent these migrant workers home to farm during spring plowing time. Fifty thousand Zhao soldiers took turns to undertake the task of building forts along Danshui.
After Feng Ting returned to Pingyang, he reported to Yang Chengjun that the Zhao army had learned in advance that General Han would offer his party to Qin, and led his army to seize Shangdang first. Now only a few people from Shangdang have followed him back. Naturally, these remarks were made in collusion with the officials on the way back to Pingyang. You can't say that you dedicated Shangdang to the State of Zhao. Isn't that a crime of beheading! It is easy to reach agreement on this kind of matter that involves everyone's vital interests. So not only did Feng Ting say this, but dozens of officials said the same thing, and they were so convincing that everyone couldn't help but not believe it. Yang Chengjun had no choice but to send Feng Ting to Xianyang to report to the King of Qin first, and then to Zheng to report to the King of Han. At Feng Ting's request, those officials who had escaped from Shangdang followed as members of the mission.
Feng Ting is relatively familiar with foreign affairs. After arriving in Xianyang, I quickly met with Dianke Mansion. He complained to passers-by: "I was ordered by the king to guard the Shangdang on behalf of Jin Fu, and I wanted to dedicate the party to the great country. I wanted to beg Nai, but Jin Fu had an affair with the Zhao State and leaked this secret. Zhao drove his troops to the Shangdang one month later, and Jin If you don't keep the promise, the Shangdang will fall. Only our city dares to break the promise!"
After Zhang Lu learned the news, he didn't bother too much. He only sent Lieutenant Sima Jin to meet with Feng Ting to understand the situation. On the one hand, Zeng Ji was asked to spread his spy network and quickly find out the situation. Feng Ting was sent back with courtesy.
After a long detour, the group finally returned to the State of Zheng and reported to the King of Han: "Zhao heard that Han could not defend Shangdang, and now he has sent troops to capture it!" King Han did not even know that Lord Yang Cheng had promised Shangdang to the State of Qin. , thinking that Zhao Guo just took advantage of it and suffered a hidden loss. But I have no power to take it back, so I can only acquiesce!
After the Qin army occupied Fengshi and Lin, they would go out secretly and reach the gate of Zhengguo city. The king of Han was restless and sent envoys to Xianyang to make peace. Feng Ting quietly came up with an idea and said: "I wish I could sacrifice the party and Qin to make peace! There is no communication between Shangdang and Zheng. Zheng has never heard of Zhao's attack on the party!" This clever way of shifting the blame won Han's favor. King's praise. So the King of Han frequently sent envoys to Qin, saying that he was willing to join the Shangdang to form an alliance with Qin.
