Although Lin Xiangru had returned to Zhao safely, he showed no sign of offering He's Bi. The King of Qin knew that there were only two ways to obtain He's Bi: giving Zhao 15 cities as promised or taking advantage of it.
Giving Zhao 15 cities in exchange would maintain Qin's reputation for keeping its promises, but it would go against Qin's consistent major policies.
Although it is not a problem to rely on force and cleverness to plunder, the Zhao defense is currently heavily defended, and all countries are paying attention to the matter of He's Bi, so they cannot lose the big for the small. Therefore, King Qin Zhaoxiang decided that after the news passed, Qin would send troops to Zhao again and give Zhao a heavy blow.
King Qin Zhaoxiang had been waiting for this day for a full year. In the thirty-third year of King Nan of Zhou, that is, 282 BC, the turmoil over Heshibi finally calmed down. During this period, the Qin State continued to prepare for war, and its military strength was greatly improved. Benefit greatly from the strategy. After several wars, Qi State was suffering a devastating blow, and Qin State turned its strategic attention to another relatively powerful country in the east - Chu State. Before that, King Qin still needed to test the strength of Zhao.
Therefore, King Qin Zhaoxiang ordered his army to attack and quickly occupy the two cities in the west of Zhao. The next year, in order to expand the results of the war, the King of Qin once again sent troops to attack Zhao's Shicheng (today's Lin County, Henan).
In this battle, the Qin army dispatched 100,000 troops, which was determined to win. When the Zhao army guard saw the Qin army's orderly appearance and huge momentum, he was frightened out of his wits. In desperation, the garrison took advantage of the Qin army's troops approaching the city and before they attacked the city, and quietly escaped from the east gate, leaving only a few lieutenants behind who were ordered to guard the stone city. However, all the generals who defended the city had left, and the Zhao army was suddenly in chaos. Tens of thousands of soldiers were unwilling to fight. The Qin army took Shicheng with almost no blood.
Seeing the Qin army marching straight in, as if they were entering an uninhabited country, the frontier pointed at Handan, the capital of Zhao State. King Zhao knew that the Qin army's attack this time was not on Heshibi, or even on one city or one place, but on the entire Zhao country and even the entire world.
Facing the tiger and wolf troops coming from Qin in the west, and looking at Zhao's overwhelming defeat under the attack of Qin's famous general Bai Qi in recent days, King Zhao couldn't help but feel worried. In desperation, King Zhao Huiwen could only try to exchange He's Bi for the temporary peace of Zhao. But he also knew that this was just a temporary measure, and the chance of it working could be said to be very slim.
At this time, a famous general who saved the Zhao State, General Lian Po, who was ranked number one in the world with Bai Qi, stood up.
Lian Po, born in about 327 BC and died in 243 BC, was an outstanding military strategist of the Zhao State during the Warring States Period. He was known as one of the "Four Famous Generals of the Warring States Period" together with Bai Qi and Wang Jian of the Qin State, and Li Mu of the late Zhao State. He was active in three periods: King Zhao Huiwen (298 BC - 266 BC), King Zhao Xiaocheng (266 BC - 245 BC), and King Zhao Daoxiang (245 BC - 236 BC).
In the early days of King Zhao Huiwen, Lian Po joined the army in the Zhao Kingdom. He fought bravely and won the respect of the Zhao army officers and soldiers. At that time, among the countries in the east, Qi was the most powerful. It was the only vassal state that could compete with Qin, a powerful country in the west. After the painstaking efforts of several generations of kings, the State of Zhao gradually became stronger and stronger. However, compared with the two countries of Qin and Qi, the State of Zhao was much weaker.
Among the seven heroes of the Warring States Period, the Qin State lived in the "bitter and cold land" in the northwest and had been seeking to seize the Central Plains and become the world's leader. It's a pity that Zhao Guozheng is blocking Qin's way out of Hangu Pass in the west. If he wants to march to the Central Plains, Qin must first remove Zhao, a thorn in his side and flesh.
However, according to the actual situation at that time, it was not easy for any country to destroy other countries. On the one hand, because the seven heroes of the Warring States period were able to stand out from the great powers of the Spring and Autumn Period, they all had certain military strength; on the other hand, because the strategy of joint vertical and horizontal alliances was widely popular at that time, as long as one country was completely attacked, other countries would be It is very likely that they will intervene. Unless they have absolute strength, "two fists cannot defeat four hands" and they will not be able to destroy the country, but will bring disaster to their own country.
At this time, it was Lian Po, the famous general of the Warring States Period, who saved Zhao and resisted the powerful Qin. Under the leadership of Lian Po, the Zhao army repeatedly defeated the Qin army, forcing the Qin army to change its strategy and implement the strategy of alliance. It is precisely because of this that Su Qin, Zhang Yi and others were able to show their talents and shine. With the efforts of Qin State, the five kingdoms of Han, Yan, Wei, Zhao, and Qin finally united and jointly led the army to attack Qi State. Qi State was in ruins. At this time, Lian Po was in his prime, and his extraordinary combat capabilities were fully demonstrated at this time. In the 16th year of King Zhao Huiwen (283 BC), Lian Po led the Zhao army to attack Qi. Not avoiding the taboos of military strategists, he led tens of thousands of troops and penetrated deep into the territory of Qi alone. He captured Yangjin with lightning speed. (Today's west of Dancheng, Shandong, it was originally the territory of Wei State, and later belonged to Qi). For a time, the good generals in the world praised him, and the princes in the world were shocked that Zhao had obtained such a good general. After this battle, Zhao became the leading power in the East. When Lian Po's master returned to the court, everyone in the Zhao Kingdom was delighted, and King Zhao Huiwen took advantage of the opportunity to worship him as Shangqing (Shangqing was the most senior civil servant at that time). Qin also saw the power of Lian Po in this battle, so he did not dare to use troops against Zhao rashly.
Facing another provocation from the Qin army, King Zhao believed that if he remained weak and retreated, he would no longer be able to deal with the increasingly powerful Qin. Therefore, he decided to let Lian Po take command and go out again to resist the Qin army's attack. Lian Po also made full preparations before the war and had the determination and courage to win.
Although the Zhao State was a powerful country in the east at this time, its strength was obviously insufficient compared to the powerful Qin which controlled Bashu in the south, Rongdi in the west, Huns in the north, and Korea in the east. But Lian Po knew that doing something he knew he couldn't do was the behavior of a man. What's more, Lian Po had always been rigorous in running the army, and his military power was so great that there were only a handful of people in the world who could rival him.
But no matter how brave and skillful Lian Po was, no matter how brave the Zhao army was in killing the enemy, they could not withstand the strong bows, crossbows, and brave soldiers of the Qin army. When Lian Po arrived at the battlefield, he didn't bother to check the terrain, so he fell into a stalemate with the Qin army. The Qin army was waiting for work, so it naturally took advantage of it. At the beginning of the war, Lian Po led his army to fight fiercely with the enemy outside the city. However, after several battles, the Zhao army lost many soldiers and generals, and its military strength and morale were greatly affected. In desperation, Lian Po had no choice but to withdraw from the city. Because he knew that the land of Changping was the key to determining the strength of Qin and Zhao. Instead of continuing the fierce battle with the Qin army here and losing troops and generals, it is better to go to Changping to rest and recuperate, strengthen the troops and horses, and plan for a decisive battle with the Qin army.
The Qin army also saw this, so while storming the city, they also led their troops to chase Lian Po. Although Lian Po was defeated in the first battle, losing 20,000 troops and several cities. But that did not affect him from making the right decision. Even when Bai Qi saw Lian Po returning to Changping, he could only cry out: What can be done?
At that time, the situation in Qin was not optimistic: on the one hand, Bai Qi continued to fight with the Zhao army. After occupying Guanglang City, Lian Po retreated to Changping, and Qin and Zhao formed a confrontation; on the other hand, Qin, South Korea and Wei The Luoyang Alliance of the three kingdoms also collapsed. Especially since the Qin army marched eastwards for days and days, the military fronts pointed at the enemy, which made other vassal states shudder. In addition, Chu State also started a series of actions against Qin State.
In the thirty-third year of King Nan of Zhou (282 BC), after the Qin army captured the stone city of Zhao, King Qingxiang of Chu began to prepare to unite with Qi and South Korea to resist the powerful army of Qin. Before that, King Chu Qingxiang also hoped to destroy the Zhou royal family. In fact, by this time, the various vassal states were already independent in their own affairs, and the existence of the Zhou royal family was nothing more than a symbol, with only one symbolic meaning. So, why did King Chu Qingxiang still obsessed with the Zhou royal family and tried to conquer it? Is he just trying to compete for the Zhou royal family's small space? Or does the Chu State want to hold the emperor hostage to order the princes?
In fact, King Chu's thoughts were very simple. He was just doing it for Jiuding.
What is Jiuding? Legend has it that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dayu used the gold tribute from the nine herdsmen in the world to cast the Nine Tripods to symbolize the Nine Provinces. It was further developed in the Shang Dynasty and turned the tripod into a symbol of status and identity. The system of nine tripods and eight tripods was established, which stipulated that: scholars use one or three tripods, officials use five tripods, and royal families and emperors use nine tripods, and use them during sacrifices. The ancestors of heaven and earth perform the nine-cauldron ceremony. Since then, the tripod has naturally become a symbol of the country's political power and has become a national treasure. Jiuding also became a symbol of the emperor.
The intention of the King of Chu can be said to be "everyone knows Sima Zhao's intention". He wanted to conquer the world.
After the Zhou royal family declined, many people coveted Jiuding. For example, during the reign of King Ding of Zhou, King Zhuang of Chu took advantage of the prosperity of Chu State, and "the importance of seeking the throne" was rejected by Zhou Dafu Wang Sunman. Later, King Ling of Chu was also tempted to aspire for the throne, but failed due to a rebellion in the country. This time King Qingxiang of Chu attacked again, but I don’t know what the result will be.
After King Nan of Zhou learned that Chu was about to use troops against the Zhou royal family, he hurriedly said to Zhaozi, the Prime Minister of Chu: "The Zhou royal family is just a small place, but there are few princes in the world who do not covet this place. They all hope that Obtain Jiuding to dominate the world. Nowadays, Qin is powerful and wants to dominate the world. Although Chu is weak, it still wants to compete in the Central Plains. This is something that everyone in the world can see. Chu's desire to hunt for Jiuding is tantamount to pulling teeth from Qin's tiger's mouth. Will the Qin army sit idly by and ignore it?"
The words of King Nan of Zhou could be said to have awakened the dreamer. King Qingxiang of Chu suddenly did not dare to have other thoughts about Jiuding, and even the alliance with Qi and South Korea was declared dead.
In fact, even if the Chu State did not move Jiuding's thoughts, the Qin State would still march eastwards.
In the thirty-fifth year of King Nan of Zhou Dynasty (280 BC), the Qin army launched a war against the Chu State. With Sima Cuo as its general, they set out from Longxi and passed through the prefectures and counties in the middle of Sichuan to march directly into central Guizhou. In order to avoid a two-front war with Chu and Zhao, King Zhaoxiang of Qin decided to temporarily stop fighting and make peace with Zhao.
