The rising sun was obscured by thick clouds, and the sky became increasingly gloomy.
The warm wind seemed to change the mood, gradually becoming cooler.
An autumn rain seems to be about to happen, but it has not started yet.
The air became increasingly dull, suppressing everyone's nerves.
The haze above the head sways through the sky, pierces the skin, and sinks into people's hearts, adding a ray of melancholy to the original anxiety.
Ying Zheng, who frowned, sat in the royal study and read the battle report three times in a row.
"Your Majesty, it's just a defeat in the battle. Don't be too depressed." Li Si comforted him, "This may not be a bad thing for the next battle."
These words sounded familiar, as if they were spoken by Zhao Gao.
Ying Zheng raised his head, looked at Li Sid and said, "Tell me what you think."
Li Si spread out the map next to him, put it on the table, gestured with his hands and said: "After Li Mu learned that we were attacking Zhao in two groups, he also divided his troops into two groups to resist. However, he used a different method. This is Tian Ji's horse racing strategy. That is, using the main force of Zhao's army to deal with Huan Jue, and using the rear army to resist Wang Jian."
He pointed to the direction of Fanwu City: "The factors for Huanjie's defeat are obvious. He invaded deeply, not to mention that the supplies behind him could not keep up. Even reinforcements could not be reinforced for a while."
"Furthermore, he was not aware of Li Mu's intentions, nor did he spy on the other party's movements. It can be said that he was also lack of vigilance."
"Furthermore, the king clearly asked him to keep dealing with the Zhao army, but he went to attack Fanwu, which is considered disrespectful."
Ying Zheng sighed: "It seems like we should lose!"
Li Si nodded and said, "Wei Chen feels that even if the leader of the army is not Huan Jue but someone else, the result will be roughly the same if he insists on going his own way."
"It's my fault this time," Ying Zheng reflected. "Anyone who cannot implement the overall strategic intention in the future, or who is greedy for success and rushes forward, will never be appointed as the commander-in-chief."
"This is what Wei Chen wants to remind the king." Li Si added, "A battlefield should not have two commanders."
Ying Zheng frowned and considered Li Si's words carefully.
"That's right." He nodded, "If Huan Yan was just a general and not a commander, and he obeyed Wang Jian's orders in everything, maybe the result would not be like this."
Li Si smiled and said, "If you can sum up your experience and realize your mistakes, then this battle will not be lost in vain."
Losing is not terrible. The terrible thing is not knowing why you lose.
Many people attribute failure to many objective factors and never reflect on their own mistakes and shortcomings, so they will continue to fail next time.
It is not easy to find fault with others, but it is difficult to recognize one's own shortcomings, especially for an emperor.
But Ying Zheng is different.
He would not be as arrogant and arrogant as other emperors, nor would he blame others because of a failure, or even anger anyone.
For decades, Great Qin had enjoyed smooth sailing, especially after Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne, and had hardly suffered any major losses.
And this time, it also sounded a wake-up call for the unification war that had just begun, telling Qin Ting that it was not invincible, and its opponent was not as unbearable as imagined.
However, Ying Zheng did not get carried away by anger and self-blame, but became calmer than before.
"Sir, what should we do next?" Ying Zheng asked.
Li Sidao: "In my opinion, Huanjue's defeat is not a bad thing, nor is it unfounded. Since Li Mu gave up Yecheng to save Fanwu, Wang Jian will also get an advantage."
"And once Huan Jue dies, the morale of the Zhao army will definitely rise, and Li Mu will definitely take the opportunity to attack Wang Jian's army. If that happens, he will fall into the trap we set in the first place."
"Sir, are you saying that you just took this opportunity to force Wang Jian into a stalemate?" Ying Zheng asked.
"Exactly." Li Sidao said, "If Huan Jue had not been defeated, perhaps Li Mu would have huddled in the city, which would not have had the effect of consuming his troops and food."
Ying Zheng said: "Now he has raised his troops to attack
If Wang Jian can lead him around, half of the problem will be solved. "
"Didn't the king want to use Guo Kailai to make some fuss before?" Li Sidao said, "As long as Wang Jian does not have a head-on conflict with Li Mu, and then the food and grass are consumed quickly, we will take the opportunity to hijack some Zhao Jun's food and grass, then Guo Kai will be in Zhao's army." I will definitely refer to Li Mu's book with good evidence before Qian."
"Then it's settled." Ying Zheng said, "If we can really attract Li Mu to attack, even if Huan Jue dies, it will be worth his while."
The two discussed it well, and Ying Zheng asked Zhao Gao to polish it, and then wrote several secret letters.
One letter was written to Wang Jian. Ying Zheng ordered him not to hold on to the city and not to rush for revenge. He must make full use of the terrain to deal with Li Mu. If Li Mu holds on to the city, then attack his supply line.
The other letter was written to Yang Duanhe. Ying Zheng ordered him to lead the state soldiers from Shangdang County to bypass the north side of Huashan Mountain and move eastward to put pressure on Handan.
The third letter was written to the two brothers Qiang Yu and Suolin, asking them to lower the built ships into the Yellow River, giving the illusion that Zhao Jun was about to cross eastward at any time, and also sent two not too big ships. Go down the river and test the route. Once a fight breaks out on the upper party's side, you can quickly reinforce them and directly threaten Handan.
The last letter was written to Touman Chanyu.
Ying Zheng asked him what the current status of the confrontation with the Yan State was. If the Yan State did not dare to send troops, then he would help Da Qin to invade the northern territory of the Zhao State.
Immediately, he calculated with Li Si and others, made a rough list of the food, grass and military pay needed by the soldiers and horses, and then allocated them separately.
After the military affairs were handled, Ying Zheng asked Li Si again: "Is there any news about Meng Tian from Yinshan?"
Li Sidao: "The news just came back yesterday that everything is fine. He also asked when the ghost hand can be sent over."
"We have to discuss this matter with Wu Chan. I'll go find her soon." Ying Zheng said, "By the way, I may have to go to Kunlun Mountain in a few days. Please help me prepare."
"Your Majesty is going to Kunlun Mountain?" Li Si asked in surprise.
Ying Zheng nodded: "If we conquer Zhao State next year, we may not have time. I want to go there to explore, otherwise I will always be curious."
Li Si saw that King Qin had made up his mind, so he said: "Does the king intend to lead the army, or only a few followers? I really want to accompany the king, but I have no choice but to go with the government..."
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "Just help me control the government. This time I will bring the little Nian beast with me, and I will also find the King of Xiqiang to accompany me before I go. You must know that this is the territory of the Qiang people."
"Have you asked Master?" Li Si said.
Ying Zheng nodded: "I asked before going to Luoyi, and he also said that there are some things that should be clarified."
"But I'm still a little worried." Li Si still had concerns.
"Don't worry, now when it comes to escape skills, I can't lose to you." Ying Zheng said with a smile.
Li Si thought the same thing. Back in Huashan, Zhao and Wei sent so many people to assassinate King Qin, but they didn't even see a single person.
But the problem is that the biggest danger in Kunlun Mountains is not people, but the abnormal climate and geographical environment.
Ying Zheng knew that he still wanted to persuade, so he changed his words: "Well, I won't go to the King of Xiqiang this time. After all, it is inconvenient to bring the Nian beast to meet him, so why not let Twenty-seven give me a ride again." "
"Let's go directly through the red veins of magma. No matter how dangerous Kunlun Mountain is, it can't be compared to Jiuyou."
After hearing what he said, Li Si felt relieved.
Mentioning Twenty-Seven, Ying Zheng remembered one more thing, and then said: "By the way, when we went to Jiuyou this time, Twenty-Seven asked me for benefits again. There is no other way. We have to make a plan to let the twelve zodiac animals The zodiac plan is officially implemented."
"Okay, Weichen, let's start planning now."
After this discussion, Ying Zheng finally calmed down and strengthened his belief that he must face the challenge calmly and show off his skills as he saw them.
——————
The capital of Chu State, Shouchun Palace.
This young
The palace does not have an overly quaint atmosphere, nor does it have much rich heritage, because the King of Chu moved out of Yingcheng not long ago. At that time, the capital was set in Jiangling, and it didn't take long to move there.
Li Xin stood upright in the meeting hall of the Chu Palace, with his head held high and his chest raised, looking directly at the King of Chu.
In quite contrast, the King of Chu on the king's chair looked sick, slowly put down the credentials handed over by Li Xin in his hand, and let out a long sigh.
"Nansu is my sister. Now that we are separated forever, I am very heartbroken." As he spoke, King Chu's eyes gradually became moist.
Li Xin cupped his hands and said, "Now Princess Nansu has been buried in the ancestral mausoleum of Qishan by the King of Qin. The culprit behind the whole incident has also been identified. It was the crown prince Yan Dan of the Yan Kingdom who conspired with the Qin court's traitorous general Fan Yuqi. .”
"Right now, Great Qin is using troops against Zhao to force it to hand over Fan Yuqi, but Zhao has no intention of handing over Fan Yuqi until now. I don't know what King Chu thinks of this matter, and when he will help Great Qin to fight against it. To repay the blood debt?"
The King of Chu looked at Xiang Yan standing below and sighed again: "Why don't I want to send troops to avenge Nansu, but it's a pity that there is a Wei State in the middle, which is really beyond the reach of the whip."
Li Xin did not give in and said seriously: "If your Majesty really wants to send troops, you can borrow a road from our army. Now that Xinzheng is in the hands of our great Qin, the Chu army can go north from Xinzheng, and it does not count as a detour."
The already sallow-looking King Chu looked even more embarrassed, with a look of helplessness on his face.
Xiang Yan took a step forward, raised his hand to Li Xin and said: "Master Li, our Chu army is at the moment when the old and the new are changing. The army's combat strength is not high. If we continue to work hard on the expedition, I am afraid that we will only become Zhao's army." Whetstone."
Li Xindao: "Then according to General Xiang, Chu wants to stand aside and watch?"
Xiang Yan said with a smile: "No, no. Although I, the Chu State, are far away and cannot get out of people, I can still provide some food and grass."
"Yes, yes, yes." King Chu said repeatedly, "I, the Chu court, will provide some grain and grass to supply the Qin army, and I will ask my brother-in-law to send more soldiers and horses. Let's avenge Nansu together."
Li Xin had no choice but to sigh softly and pretend to be reluctant: "Since the king is indeed in trouble, the foreign ministers can't force it, but I don't know when the food and grass can be handed over to me?"
King Chu looked at his brother on one side and said, "Xiong You, you can handle this matter, the sooner the better."
Xiong You accepted the order.
Seeing that one of his goals had been achieved, Li Xin changed the subject and said, "Although it has been decided to attack and kill the main culprit who murdered Princess Nansu, his accomplice Chang Wenjun is said to have fled back to Chu State. I don't know what the king will do to him. ?」
"He fled back to Chu State?" King Chu coughed twice, "I only saw that Lord Changping gave up his official title and returned to Chu State, but I never heard that Lord Changwen came back with him."
He looked at Xiang Yan and said, "General Xiang, please bring Lord Chang Wen back immediately and hand him over to Lord Li Xin."
Xiang Yan cupped his hands and said, "The last general takes orders!"
The King of Chu gasped a few more times and said to Li Xin: "I am a little tired. If Master Li needs anything, please come to these two. I'm sorry."
After that, the King of Chu was supported by the eunuch chief beside him and returned to the palace.
Li Xin said a few words to Xiang Yan and Xiong You, then left the palace gate and returned to his post house.
But as soon as he walked in, he saw a square wooden box on the table.
Looking around, there was no one else in the room. Li Xin came to the table and saw a bunch of bamboo sticks placed on the box, with a few words crookedly written on it:
Fan Kuai pays tribute on behalf of Liu Lang!
Li Xinxin was confused and carefully opened the lid of the wooden box.
Although Li Xin was not timid, he couldn't help but exclaimed.
What was placed inside was the head of Lord Chang Wen!
