In the next few days, Li Si continued to smelt "my instrument", and Jingjia Ban also built a new type of instrument with the cooperation of Ji Fa.
This device can compress the liquid alloy into the shape of a plate, about two feet square, which can be used to build the outer walls of the royal tomb in the future.
Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang to handle government affairs.
When the weather got warmer, Qin State began a new round of promoting new seeds, exchanging original grain seeds for people's grain or seeds.
With the results achieved last year, the people no longer waited and watched, and actively exchanged with the government. In just a few days, a lot of food was collected.
All the grain exchanged were stored, part of which was exchanged for horses with Dawan, part of which was supplied to Qin Wang Mausoleum, Zheng Guo Canal and other projects, and part of which was transported to the two armies on the expedition.
On Wang Jian's side, after leaving Yongding Pass, he headed west and found some traces of the Huns, so he sent two teams to follow them.
The main army continued to march towards Jiayuguan, but the small towns on the way were not attacked by the Huns.
Yang Duan and his party have arrived at the border city of Xuyang with Zhao State, delivered the document, and handed over Ying Zheng's handwriting together.
This place, Muyang, was a city of Qin more than ten years ago. It was given to Zhao by Ying Zheng's father, Ying Yiren, after he succeeded to the throne, to express Zhao's gratitude for allowing him to serve as a hostage.
Although this gratitude is somewhat reluctant.
The county captain stationed in Xuyang was named Xu Ming. He was in his forties and had about 10,000 troops under his command.
After quickly conveying the news to Handan, Xu Ming took his guards out of the city and made an appointment with Qin Army coach Yang Duanhe.
Yang Duanhe took Solin and Qiang Yu to meet Xu Ming. They were a hundred steps away and stopped their horses to look at each other.
"Dare I ask the person opposite, General Yang of Qin?" Xu Ming asked very politely.
Yang Duanhe raised his hand and returned the greeting: "My lord, Yang Duanhe, may I ask your surname?"
"I am the Lieutenant of Xuyang County, Xu Ming." Xu Ming said, "But I would like to ask General Yang what is the purpose of raising the army here?"
Yang Duanhe said: "It has been stated in the official letter that we have been ordered by the King of Qin to ask for an explanation from the Xiongnu tribe who invaded Longxi County. However, they have already moved and need to pass through the city of Zhao State before they can pursue the Xiongnu. .”
"If this is the case, I, a mere county lieutenant, really can't make the decision." Xu Ming said, "Why don't we station General Yang here temporarily, and wait for the official documents from Handan to arrive, and Xu will be released immediately."
In fact, Xu Ming's statement was correct. According to the procedures, it was indeed necessary to wait for King Zhao's approval before the Qin army could be allowed to pass.
But Qin Jun was always a troublemaker, so he didn't know how to act according to the rules.
"That's not possible." Thorin said, "The Huns are already migrating. Once this opportunity is missed, they will disappear without a trace. How can we deal with it?"
Xu Ming was confused when he saw Thorin looking like a foreigner, so he asked: "May I ask who this is...?"
Yang Duanhe introduced: "This is Suolin, the sworn brother of King Qin, and the other is also the sworn brother of King Qin, named Qiang Yu. They are both the vanguard generals of this expedition."
Although Xu Ming was confused, he still raised his hands and said: "Disrespect, disrespect. What General Suolin said is true, but borrowing a passage is not a trivial matter. If he doesn't wait for King Zhao's instructions, even if he gives Xu Ming ten heads, he won't be able to bear it. Take this responsibility.”
Qiang Yu took the words and said: "But if we delay the opportunity to fight, the King of Qin will also punish us. Rather than having our heads killed by the King of Qin, it is better to rush forward."
Xu Ming raised his eyebrows and said with a little surprise: "Listening to these words, are you planning to force your way through the pass? Don't you care about the alliance between Zhao and Qin?"
Thorin said: "It is true that the covenant was signed, but the magic weapon of Great Qin is
If it doesn't come out, it can't be given to Zhao. If King Zhao can't receive anything, the covenant will naturally not count. "
Indeed, Ying Zheng signed an alliance with King Zhao at that time and asked for the black fire oil, but the condition was that half of the "weapons" produced would be given to Zhao. Now that they are all being destroyed, what should I give to King Zhao?
If King Zhao doesn't get anything, most people will not recognize the covenant. If Zhao loses black fire oil, they will go to Ying Zheng to settle the score.
Now that Thorin has made things clear, he also wants to send a message to King Zhao.
He shouldn't worry about that magic weapon "my weapon" anymore.
Xu Ming frowned and guessed the intention of the Qin army, so he said: "In this case, please wait a few more days. I will send people to Handan at full speed. Even if the covenant is to be abolished, we still have to wait for the instructions of King Zhao. , so that you can use the road to travel."
Yang Duanhe said: "Well, let's all perform our duties. I will give County Lieutenant Xu two days. If King Zhao's instructions are still on the way, we will have to rush on our way in advance. If we encounter any obstacles , that would only offend you."
"Are you going to attack the city?" Xu Ming said angrily.
"Haha, it's just a borrowing." Yang Duanhe said, "I, Da Qin, lack nothing, and I have no interest in this small town in front of me."
The implication is that you can stay in the city, but we don't have to enter the city and just go north.
It would be embarrassing if you stopped me.
"If you want to fight, then fight. You won't be able to get back in two days." Xu Ming lowered his voice and his expression became solemn.
Yang Duanhe smiled and said: "No rush, no rush. We agreed on two days, it will be two days, otherwise the world will laugh at the Qin Dynasty for not only bullying the weak but also conducting sneak attacks."
Xu Ming's nose was almost twisted with anger. Just now he said he was in a hurry to get there, but this time he was no longer in a hurry. He suddenly launched a hundred thousand troops, but he still said it was not a sneak attack.
With a snort, Xu Ming turned the horse's head and returned to the city.
After returning to the government office, Xu Ming immediately wrote a letter to Handan, reporting the war and asking for support.
However, he knew in his heart that the news might not reach Handan in two days. How could he receive a reply so quickly, let alone reinforcements.
In desperation, Xu Ming wrote letters to nearby cities asking for support, and at the same time prepared for war with all his strength.
The nearby city did receive urgent military information, but the leading generals knew clearly that the Qin army came to attack this time, nominally to borrow a road, and there was no telling what the intention behind it was. If all the troops were sent out to reinforce Huyang, Then when the Qin army attacks again, won't our city become an empty city?
As a result, the nearby cities all stood still and conserved their strength.
Two days passed, without even waiting for Xu Ming's response, Suolin and Qiang Yu had already led 20,000 troops each to cut off Puyang's retreat.
Yang Duanhe led a main force of 60,000 people to attack Fuyang head-on.
This small city did not have a strong defense to begin with, and many of the defenders were originally Qin people.
After only holding on for less than a day, the city of Puyang was destroyed, Xu Ming was captured, and the remaining defenders surrendered.
After making a slight adjustment, leaving 10,000 defenders behind, Yang Duanhe took Zhao's surrender troops and continued to march north to the next target - Que Yu.
The news came back to Xianyang. Although Ying Zheng was happy, he also knew in his heart that he and Zhao Guo had broken up again this time, but it was only a matter of time, because facing Zhao Guo, he would definitely not be able to hand over "my weapon" as agreed. Goods.
Ying Zheng wrote a letter to make some arrangements for the frontier, and sent several young generals with reinforcements to take over the captured city.
Yang Duanhe used the same strategy when facing Que Yucheng. He was obviously given two days, but in fact, he was surrounded by Thorin and Qiang Yu.
Although the soldiers of Que Yu
It was a bit more bloody, but they only held on for one more day, and the city defense was immediately broken.
Yang Duanhe stationed himself at Queyu, and escorted the part of the Zhao army that refused to surrender back to Qin. Then he waited for news about Ying Zheng, and at the same time sent out scouting horses to find out the movements of the Zhao army.
Ying Zheng's order came and ordered Suolin and Qiang Yu to continue advancing north. Yang Duanhe led the main force to change the route and advance eastward, heading straight for Handan.
At the same time, Xianyang has increased its troops by 50,000 and continues to put pressure on Zhao.
Yang Duanhe made a slight adjustment, divided his troops into two groups, and advanced in two directions: east and north.
What is strange is that there was such a big commotion here, but the several waves of exploration horses that came back reported that there was not much reaction from Handan, and they only sent a symbolic team of 30,000 people to support.
Although there were some doubts, Yang Duanhe let go of his hands and feet, advancing eastward step by step.
Ying Zheng was also quite puzzled by Handan's actions. It was not until someone lurking in Handan sent back news that he found out the truth.
It turned out that King Yan of Zhao had been in poor health recently and had recently contracted a cold. He was lying in bed. Hearing that Ying Zheng had betrayed the alliance and suddenly captured Huyang in the name of borrowing a passage, his condition became even more serious.
The previously deposed prince Zhao Jia was anxious and asked several times to lead troops into battle. However, Zhao Qian, who replaced him as prince, was afraid that Zhao Jia would threaten his position after gaining military power, so he blocked it and never let Zhao Jia. As wished.
At this time, Li Mu was leading an army to attack the city of Yan. When he heard that the Qin army was invading, he immediately made a truce with Yan and was on his way back.
Except for Li Mu, there were not many Zhao generals who had the confidence to fight against the Qin army. Even if they wanted to fight, they all wanted to go with a certain prince. If Zhao Jia was blocked from taking command, there was nothing they could do.
The bloody soldiers secretly cursed Zhao Qian for not caring about the overall situation, but they dared not speak out because looking at the state of the old King Zhao, it is estimated that he will not be able to survive for long. If Prince Zhao Qian succeeds to the throne, then he will be the next Zhao Qian. King, if you offend him now, there will be no good fruit to eat.
But when chaos arose in the Zhao court, Yang Duanhe had already marched into two more cities, continued to advance, and surrounded Yecheng.
————————
In Xianyang Palace, Hu Yu looked at Ying Zheng with resentment in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, didn't you promise me not to attack Zhao again?"
Ying Zheng knew that he was in the wrong, but he still defended himself: "Didn't I tell you that that team wanted to attack the Xiongnu and borrowed a way from Zhao. They refused, so the fight started."
"Then just wait, wait until the news about father comes." Hu Yu said angrily.
"The Xiongnu tribe is nomadic, and you know this." Ying Zheng said, "By the time your father gets the news, they will have gone somewhere long ago."
"Having said that, do we have to attack Zhao's city?" Hu Yu said aggressively, "I heard that General Yang also changed his route and attacked Handan?"
Ying Zheng sighed softly and said: "To tell you the truth, those 'my weapons' were smelted by me. Your father must blame me. I want to use the attack on the Xiongnu to invalidate the covenant. Now even with If there is any friction in the Zhao Kingdom, it will only be on a small scale. Once we finish defeating the Xiongnu, we will return the city to your father."
Hu Yu understood that Ying Zheng's words were indeed true, so his anger subsided slightly, he blinked and asked, "Really?"
Ying Zheng said: "Why did I lie to you?"
At this moment, Zhao Gao came in and reported: "Your Majesty, there is news from the Kingdom of Zhao that King Zhao is critically ill."
"Ah!!" After hearing this, Hu Yu was like a thunderbolt from the blue. She said with trembling lips, "I, I want to go back!"
