On this journey, Wang Jian only thought about quick victory, which was his usual style. However, he never expected that Ying Zheng still gave him one word: delay!
After a year of delay, Zhao Jun failed without attacking.
Ying Zheng said: "Although I ask you to delay, you must also delay in a planned way. If we don't capture a few cities and continue to harass, then we will not be able to mobilize the main force of the Zhao army, and we will not be able to consume their food, grass and physical strength. Therefore, we must have a sense of proportion between what is real and what is not.”
"Wei Chen understands what the king means." Wang Jian said, "During this year, we must mobilize the main force of the Zhao army as much as possible, but it is best not to have a head-on confrontation with them, which will weaken their fighting spirit, especially their food and grass."
"That's right." Ying Zheng said, "If we compete with them for food and grass, even if we rely on them for ten years, we can still rely on them. We are better than the soldiers who suffered a lot of casualties."
"What's the next step?" Wang Jian asked.
"Next step, don't you know that I have sent Qiang Yu and Thorin to Shangjun." Ying Zheng said, "They will cooperate with you to cross the river in the north of Zhao State. In a few days, I will go to Beidi County. Let Yang Duanhe set off from the north."
"At that time, your three armies can besiege Handan City along three routes. In terms of time, it should be early summer next year."
"This is the plan, and the only variable left now is Li Mu."
Wang Jian nodded: "Indeed, Li Mu is a master of weapons and has a meticulous mind. He is really a difficult opponent."
Wang Jian's evaluation of Li Mu was quite fair. After all, the two had fought against each other several times and knew each other's tactics well.
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "You are all familiar with the art of war and the history of war. You should know how to learn from the experience of your predecessors and get twice the result with half the effort."
"What does the king mean...?" Wang Jian was a little confused.
"Lian Po died in the Chu Kingdom just a few years ago." Ying Zheng paused and said, "Think about it, what was Lian Po capable of, and why did he end up like this?"
Lian Po's life is, of course, well known to everyone.
I think back then, Lian Po led the Zhao army to fight against the Qin army, which caused the Qin State to suffer a lot. Later, the Qin State resorted to alienation tactics, which made King Zhao Xiaocheng begin to doubt Lian Po and ordered Zhao Kuo to replace him as the commander-in-chief. Fight against the Qin army.
Zhao Kuo, who could only talk on paper, was no match for Bai Qi. The battle at Changping greatly damaged Zhao's national power, and it took several years for Zhao Kuo to regain its strength.
Wang Jian frowned and raised the corners of his mouth as he said, "What does your Majesty mean, is that we should still use counterintuitive tactics to deal with Li Mu?"
"Haha, maybe we are lucky." Ying Zheng said with a smile, "Now there happens to be such a person beside Zhao Qian. I think if Lu Buwei hadn't given him a lot of money to help our mother and son escape from Zhao, I'm afraid we would have There is a risk of death."
Wang Ben said: "The person the king is talking about is Guo Kai from the State of Zhao."
Of course, every close official knew about Ying Zheng's past.
I remember that Ying Zheng was less than eight years old when he returned to Qin. In order to prevent him from feeling lonely, the late king Yiren asked the sons of several ministers in the court to accompany Ying Zheng to study, practice martial arts and play together.
People like Meng Yi, Li Xin, Wang Ben and others were among them, and Meng Tian was two or three years older than them, and was more like an elder brother, always taking care of them.
However, later Ying Zheng became the King of Qin, and his time was strictly controlled by Lu Buwei. In addition, Wang Jian also had some restrictions on Wang Ben, so Wang Ben did not deliberately get close to Ying Zheng in the past few years.
But the feelings he had when he was a child were still there, and Ying Zheng knew in his heart that Wang Ben was as talented as Wang Jian, but he just never had a place to put it to use.
"It's Guo Kai." Ying Zheng nodded, "I will send someone to Zhao Kingdom secretly to get in touch with Guo Kai. It's not a big problem to get him to slander Zhao Qianjin, but I also need your cooperation so that he can slander Zhao Qianjin." Let Li Mu reveal some clues for Guo Kai to catch."
"I understand." Wang Jian smiled and said, "It is not difficult to make Zhao Qian suspicious of Li Mu. A monarch who has just ascended the throne is most worried about a veteran minister who has military power and is quite prestigious."
"Then it depends on how you deal with him." Ying Zheng said.
Wang Ben was happy for a moment, and his childlike innocence came back. He smiled and said to Ying Zheng: "We are trying to alienate people here, but there is no guarantee that they will think the same way. If someone tries to alienate our monarch and his ministers, your Majesty, you can't trust it easily."
Wang Jian glared and said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about? Don't be arrogant in front of the King!"
Wang Ben lowered his head and dared not speak any more.
Ying Zheng laughed and said: "General Wang's tutor is too strict. Wang Ben is right. It is necessary to be on guard against others. They are all people who are familiar with the art of war. They are also familiar with these tricks. This alienation The success of the plan really depends on whether the monarch trusts his ministers."
Indeed, it is not difficult to resort to alienation tactics. When children get together, they sometimes provoke each other. The key to the problem lies in whether the two parties being provoked have enough trust and tacit understanding with each other.
What is tested is also the monarch's weighing of loyalty to his ministers and his judgment on rumors.
When Ying Zheng was in Qishan, he took out the tiger talisman that Wang Jian handed back to him, handed it to him again, and then said: "Don't use it if you suspect it, don't doubt it if you employ it. I will hand this tiger talisman to you today and give you 50,000 vanguard troops." , the main force of 100,000 troops will leave Shangdang County in the east and deal with Li Mu for at least a year. When the time is right, they will march directly to Handan."
Wang Jian and his son stood up, cupped their hands together and said: "The general will definitely live up to the king's command. When will he take the head of King Zhao, when will he return to Xianyang."
Ying Zheng nodded and added: "But this time, Wang Ben is not your follower, General Wang. I have ordered him to be the vanguard deputy commander and command the 50,000 vanguard troops. If the military situation is urgent, he can report it directly to the court."
When he heard that he was asked to be the deputy commander of the vanguard, Wang Ben couldn't believe his ears for a moment, and his eyes were in a trance unconsciously.
He has always been extremely eager to fight on the battlefield and make achievements. However, because of his father Wang Jian, the King of Qin could not give him the opportunity to lead troops alone. The few times he went out before, he begged his father to help him gain experience. private behavior.
But this time Ying Zheng directly appointed him as the vanguard deputy commander? !
This is the rhythm of reaching the sky in one step!
Wang Ben came to his senses and was about to kneel down on one knee to express his gratitude when he was stopped by Ying Zheng.
"My brother, there is no need to give this great gift." Ying Zheng said, "When you attack Handan, it will be the greatest reward for me."
Wang Ben nodded seriously and then laughed knowingly.
Returning to the desk, Ying Zheng wrote another handwritten letter and handed it into Wang Jian's hands.
The father and son took the order to say goodbye and left the study.
Ying Zheng seemed a little tired from running around and being sad these past few days. He closed his eyes and took a short rest, but he was still thinking about things in his mind.
As the sky turned dark, Zhao Gao walked in from outside, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, there is news from Longxi that Queen Jingjue has arrived at Didao with her whole family, and Duke Yiqu has settled them down. They will be here in a few days." It will be sent to Northland County.”
"They are here?" Ying Zheng said, "It seems that I should also handle the government affairs, and then go to the north to join them. By the way, is there any news about Lord Chang Wen from Li Xin's side?"
Zhao Gaodao: "Li Xin has been secretly lurking in Yingcheng and is observing the movements of Lord Changping, but it seems that the intensity of their training of private soldiers seems to have increased."
"Li Xin has taken my decree. It must not be too difficult to gather the officers and soldiers in Yingcheng." Ying Zheng said, "I will issue another decree to him. If Lord Changping takes Lord Changwen to Chu, don't force him to stay, but never force him to stay." Do not let Han An leave Yingcheng. If necessary, you can kill him." This was a foreshadowing that Ying Zheng had laid long ago. It depends on whether Han An is honest or not.
Zhao Gao responded and started grinding.
"Where did Yan Dan escape to?" Ying Zheng asked again.
Zhao Gaodao: "The news I received before is that he is already in Handan, and he must have returned to Yan at this time."
"If my guess is correct, he should have gone to Handan to meet Fan Yuqi." Ying Zheng said, "Send a few assassins to see if we can secretly eliminate him."
Zhao Gao responded and continued grinding.
——————
At this time, Yan Dan had indeed returned to Jicheng Palace.
"You're fooling around!" King Yan slapped the table, glared at the prince in front of him, "I let you pretend to be attached to Qin Ting, but I didn't let you get into trouble. Tell me, what should I do now? "
Yan Dan cupped his hands and said: "Father, calm down, calm down. I originally thought that the Xiongnu and Yuezhi would pose a big threat to the Qin army in the Hexi Corridor, but I never thought that Ying Zheng would solve the problem so quickly."
"So Boyer thought that before he returned to Xianyang, he would simply instigate the Chu forces in Xianyang to break with Qin, so that Chu could send troops to fight Qin together."
"Besides, I just wanted to take Nansu mother and son back as hostages, and I didn't want to hurt their lives. I didn't think that Chang Wenjun would be too unlucky. I knew that the Qin army would definitely come out of the city to chase him, so I wanted to shoot him. The horse, unexpectedly, shot Nansu."
King Yan narrowed his eyes and asked urgently: "Does anyone know that you shot Nansu to death?"
Yan Dan replied: "I was wearing night clothes and covering my face. No one saw me. Even if they guessed it was me, they had no evidence."
"You are wrong." King Yan said in a low voice, "If Gao Jianli who was with you didn't show up on the spot, then you would definitely not be able to get out of the way. Besides, as long as Lord Chang Wen tells you about inciting him to rebel, all that will happen It’s all clear.”
Yan Dan lowered his head and said: "The child acted poorly and did not make a comprehensive plan. Then father, what should we do now?"
King Yan sighed: "The result is already like this, what else can be done? I will immediately issue a message saying that you were afraid of being framed, so you left Xianyang overnight, and related to the poisoning of Mrs. Huayang and the assassination of Princess Nansu. You have nothing to do with it, and if we refuse to admit it, I can't hand you over to King Qin to deal with."
These words of King Yan made Yan Dan feel more at ease. All the way back, he was worried about King Yan's attitude, because after all, he was acting privately in Xianyang, which caused a lot of trouble.
"Father, I received news that the Qin army has begun preparations for war and is about to attack."
King Yan sneered: "Even if Zhao doesn't come forward, I have been thinking of ways to control Da Qin. The Xiongnu in the north have stopped. The biggest threat now is undoubtedly Ying Zheng."
"It turns out that my father and I had the same idea." Yan Dan said, "In this way, we have invisibly brought the Chu and Zhao countries together."
"This depends on their determination to resist Qin." King Yan said, "If they are determined enough, they will be forced to form a alliance. If Qin is allowed to become powerful, they will ask me to send you to Xianyang."
"How do you think the other countries will decide?" Yan Dan asked.
King Yan sneered and said: "It's hard to say for others, but Zhao Qian will definitely fight against Qin with all his strength, just because his stupid father calculated and calculated, and finally he took Fan Yuqi in. Even if it hadn't happened like this, you Do you think Ying Zheng will let Fan Yuqi go?"
"That's why I agreed to Zhao Qian's request."
"Now, don't wander around. Stay in Jicheng and don't go anywhere, for fear that Ying Zheng might send an assassin to kill you."
Yan Dan said: "My child obeys your orders."
