In the fourth year of the Qin Dynasty, through the use of troops against Han and Wei, both countries were weakened. Lu Buwei wanted to further weaken the State of Zhao, so he discussed with Prime Minister Han Qi: "Now the troops sent to Han and Wei have achieved the intended purpose. However, the State of Zhao has been staying out of the matter in recent years. It has not been attacked since the Battle of Changping." It has been a big blow, and now the King of Zhao has sent Lian Po to attack Yan and has won a great victory. I am worried that if Zhao is allowed to rest and recuperate, its elite soldiers and generals will inevitably become a major threat to the Qin army in the future."
Han Qidao: "The Prime Minister agrees with me. Although the Chu State has many soldiers and generals, it has no good generals and cannot become a great weapon. Yan Qi is in a corner, so there is no need to worry about it. Han and Wei have been repeatedly defeated by our Qin army in recent years, and have already been defeated." There is no way to fight back; although Zhao Guo suffered a defeat at Changping, good generals still exist. Once they get a chance to breathe, they will really be a thorn in my side!"
"The Prime Minister's vision is indeed extraordinary. However, if we want to start a war with Zhao, we should throw ourselves into a trap. Young Master Cheng Jiao is still a hostage in the Zhao Kingdom, and I fear his life will be in danger."
"Yes, if we don't welcome Master Chengjiao back in advance, the Queen Mother Xia and the veterans in the court may not be able to make up their minds to attack Zhao."
"It is not difficult to get the Zhao State to return the hostage. As long as we return the Prince of Zhao State first, we can welcome Cheng Jiao back to Qin. The difficult thing is how to hide it from the eyes and ears of the Zhao State so that they do not know that we are attacking Zhao State. Plan, once they know that we have this purpose, they will definitely not give in!" Lu Buwei said worriedly.
Han Qi had an idea and said: "We really need to find a good reason to hide her from others. We can pretend that Queen Mother Xia is seriously ill and misses her terribly, so as to hide this from Zhao people."
Lu Buwei said: "That's very good, but it also requires the cooperation of Queen Mother Xia."
"The Queen Mother Xia hopes to return to Qin as a dragon day and night. She won't object if she thinks about it! Let me convince the Queen Mother Xia!"
In the past few years, Han Qi has watched South Korea decline day by day, and he has been very sad and angry. However, apart from being sad and angry, he also has to plan for his own future. The current Qin State can be said to have strong soldiers and horses, and it is only a matter of time before it dominates the world. To develop in Qin State, it is now He had to please Lu Buwei, so he could only try his best to cooperate with Lu Buwei.
After leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, Han Qi came to see Queen Mother Xia, had a meal together, and said, "How is your aunt?"
Queen Mother Xia said: "As people get older, their health becomes worse day by day. In the past few days, my teeth have fallen out and my hair has turned white. I'm afraid I won't be able to survive for a few more years."
Han Qi also felt sad. South Korea was weak and they, the Koreans in Qin, had no status. Unlike those concubines who were born in the Chu Kingdom, they stayed in the palace for decades, not because they were strong, but because they had the support of their natal family! Han Qi comforted Queen Mother Xia and said, "I think my aunt is still young! I have brought you good news. You will be happy to hear it!"
"You are already the prime minister now, what good news can there be? Do you want to become the prime minister?"
Han Qi smiled awkwardly and said: "My aunt is joking, what good news can I have? My good news is about Cheng Jiao. Recently, the Prime Minister intends to start a war with Zhao and wants to take back Mr. Cheng Jiao first!"
"Cheng Jiao? Is he coming back? It seems that Lu Buwei still has some conscience." Queen Mother Xia was very happy when she heard this!
"Auntie, don't be anxious, just listen to me. Today I have a plan with Lu Xiangguo. The State of Zhao has not experienced another war since the Battle of Changping. Now that Zhao Guo Lianpo has defeated Yan, the Prime Minister is worried that Zhao State will become bigger and wants to conquer it. Yes. I'm just worried about Master Chengjiao's safety, so I must take him back to Qin before the war begins."
"This requires us to use our brains. We cannot let Zhao Guo see our intentions and achieve our goals!"
Han Qi saw that the Empress Dowager Xia immediately hit the key point, so he continued: "Now we have a plan, which is to falsely claim that my aunt is seriously ill and miss Chengjiao day and night, so I send an envoy to pick Chengjiao back home. I'm just afraid that my aunt won't like this. Excuse……"
When Queen Mother Xia heard that Cheng Jiao could be allowed to return to Qin, she no longer cared about it. "What's the point? As long as Jiao'er can come back, I'll be able to see clearly even after I die!"
The next day, Queen Mother Xia praised her in the court and said that her health was getting worse and she hoped to see Chengjiao before she died. Out of sympathy for the Queen Mother, Lu Buwei proposed to return it to Prince Jia of Zhao State in exchange for the opportunity for Cheng Jiao to return to the country to visit the Queen Mother of Xia.
Xiong Zhuang saw that this was Lu Buwei's idea, and thought that the battle between Qin and Zhao was not far away.
It is said that after Cheng Jiao entered Zhao as a hostage, firstly, Qin was strong and Zhao was weak, so the King of Zhao did not dare to be careless. Secondly, Chengjiao was very likely to succeed the king. Qin lost three kings in a row in just four years. However, the possibility of Cheng Jiao ascending the throne is still very high, so the people of Zhao have been treating him as honored guests, and Cheng Jiao has not suffered any hardship. Compared with the situation of foreigners back then, it was truly heaven and earth.
One day, King Zhao heard that Queen Mother Xia of Qin was seriously ill and wanted to see her grandson Cheng Jiao, and first sent back the prince of Zhao who was being held hostage in Qin. He did not dare to neglect, and quickly sent someone to inform Cheng Jiao to pack his luggage and prepare to return home.
At this time, Li Mu, the general who was defending the Huns in the north, happened to return to Handan to report on the war with the Huns. He heard that the Qin State sent people to take Cheng Jiao back to his country. He felt very uneasy and worried that the Qin State was plotting against the Zhao State again, so he went to see Zhao. The king said: "Qin State suddenly sent people to take Chengjiao back to his country. I'm afraid he has some intentions. Has your Majesty heard anything about Xi Zuo?"
King Zhao said: "I have sent people to check, and the Queen Mother Xia is indeed in poor health. It should not be wrong to report carefully that the Queen Mother Xia personally ordered the recruitment of Jiao back to Qin for a visit."
"The State of Qin always goes back on its word, so your Majesty must be on guard against it," Li Mu reminded.
King Zhao thought for a moment, and although he felt it was unnecessary, it would not be wrong to put some precautions on defense, so he ordered Li Mu to repair armaments along the border in case of unexpected events, and a month later he released the dragon and returned to Qin.
When the Queen Mother Xia and Han Ji saw Cheng Jiao, they cried with joy and were happy for Cheng Jiao's safe return. The Queen Mother Xia seemed to be ten years younger, and Cheng Jiao had matured a lot at this time.
Qin Wangzheng personally met Cheng Jiao and held a banquet for him to welcome the wind. At this time, Cheng Jiao was only thirteen years old and Ying Zheng was seventeen years old, but both of them showed closeness at the banquet, showing their political maturity. Ying Zheng knew in his heart that Cheng Jiao had always been his potential competitor. As long as some of his veterans in the Qin royal family would not give up their support for him, Ying Zheng had always distrusted the veterans of the royal family.
Three days later, because of Cheng Jiao's meritorious service as an envoy to the State of Zhao, King Zheng of Qin conferred the title of Lord of Chang'an on Cheng Jiao, with a settlement of 20,000 households.
Because they were waiting for Cheng Jiao to return to Qin from Zhao, the Qin army had lost the best opportunity to attack Zhao. The Zhao army was ready to fight under the leadership of Li Mu. Lu Buwei realized that if he attacked Zhao at this time, it would be a disastrous defeat. However, all military equipment was almost ready. Without military exploits, there was no way to explain to the King of Qin. At this time, Lord Xinling of the Wei State passed away, and the Wei State had lost its pillar, so Lu Buwei once again targeted the Wei State.
In the fifth year of King Qin's reign, when there was no hope of conquering Zhao, King Qin ordered Meng Ao to lead 200,000 Qin troops to attack Wei.
At this time, Lord Xinling was dead, and the Wei State was suffering from famine and was unable to resist. In only half a year, the Qin army successively conquered Suanzao, Yanyi, Xuyi, Changping, Yongqiu, Shanyang and other 20 counties. Dongjun was set up in this city, and the border of Qin State was adjacent to Qi State. Chu, Wei, Han, Yan and Zhao were completely separated, and the world was shocked.
At this time, the Wei State was already extremely weak, and without reinforcements, it was likely to be destroyed. Before his death, Lord Xinling had entrusted his retainer Mao Gong. Once Wei was in crisis, he would take his legacy letter and go to Chu to seek help from Lord Chunshen Huang Xie.
When Handan was besieged a few years ago, the Wei army led by Lord Xinling and the Chu army led by Lord Chunshen fought side by side and defeated the Qin army together. The two became very attached to each other and agreed that once the other country changes, the other party must move forward. Go to support.
So Duke Mao took Lord Xinling's letter and went to Chu to ask for help. Chun Shenjun read the posthumous letter and was still filled with emotion when he remembered his love for Pao Ze back then. Then he suggested to King Kaolie of Chu to rescue the Wei State, saying: "Your Majesty should know the truth of the death of the lips and the coldness of the teeth. Now the Wei State is in danger. If the Qin army destroys the Wei State, the border between Qin and Chu will be doubled, and the hinterland of the Chu State will be completely exposed to Qin." The army is in great danger. At this critical moment, we should contact all the princes and states to jointly attack Qin."
King Kaolie of Chu was also worried that the Qin army would take advantage of the situation to invade Chu after destroying Wei, so he agreed to Lord Chunshen's request.
Lord Chun Shen knew that only by obtaining the support of Zhao State could he form a unified alliance, so he sent his retainers to visit Zhao State's famous general Pang Nuan. Pang Nuan had just won the battle against Yan and wanted to further consolidate Zhao State's position. Agree to Chu's request.
The creation of Qin's East County was a great threat to all the vassal states, and all countries wanted to work hard to weaken Qin. Therefore, under the initiative of Chu and Zhao, Chu, South Korea, Wei, Zhao, and Wei soon formed a five-nation coalition. Pang Nuan of Zhao served as the chief general and commanded all the troops to jointly attack Qin.
In the sixth year of the Qin Dynasty, the five-nation coalition captured Shouling. Pang Nuan said to the generals: "The coalition forces attacked Qin from east to west several times, and were blocked at Hangu Pass every time. Now it is better to go from north to south, detour to Puban, cross the river south, and make a detour to Hangu. After passing the pass, we can catch the Qin army by surprise."
All the generals agreed with Pang Nuan's view, so they led their troops out of Puban. Due to the lack of preparation by the Qin army, the coalition forces reached the final point with almost no resistance, which was only more than a hundred miles away from Xianyang.
At this extremely critical moment, King Qin ordered Lu Buwei and Fan Yuqi to lead an army of 100,000 people north to Xianyang to meet the enemy. Lu Buwei analyzed: "Although the coalition forces are large, the armies of each country are stationed in different places, and they all care about their own interests and cannot form a joint force. If we can concentrate our efforts to defeat the Chu army first, once the Chu army withdraws, the armies of other countries will also Follow and retreat!”
Fan Yuqi said: "The Prime Minister's words are reasonable. The Chu army is the farthest and the soldiers are tired. Moreover, Chu is a big country and has great influence. Once defeated, the coalition forces will collapse without a fight."
So Lu Buwei ordered his elite troops to raid the Chu camp while the coalition forces were neglecting their precautions at night. The spies of the Chu army quickly detected the movements of the Qin army. The Chu general was worried that the Chu army would be surrounded, so he retreated eastward at night. When the armies of the four kingdoms heard that the Chu army had retreated first, their morale was shaken and they all asked to withdraw. Pang Nuan had no choice but to agree.
Lu Buwei ordered Fan Yuqi to follow and pursue the coalition forces. The rebel king and Meng Ao's army merged. The two continued to attack and took advantage of the momentum to conquer Puyang of Wei State. Ji Jiao, the king of Wei State, led his remnants to escape to Wei State. King Anli of Wei State He was arranged to move to the Yewang area and rely on the mountain dangers to defend the Hanoi area in Wei.
After this battle, the Qin State firmly controlled Dongjun, divided the Jin Dynasty into two, destroyed the Wei State, and directly bordered the Qi State. Qin's trend of unifying the world was irreversible.
Just when the Qin army achieved a great victory, King Qin Yingzheng celebrated his twentieth birthday. According to convention, King Qin reached the age of wedding at the age of twenty. As the king of a country, his marriage is related to the relationship between the country, so which country's princess he marries becomes a top priority. However, the opinions among the several queen mothers were not unified.
The Queen Mother Huayang hopes that Ying Zheng will marry the princess of Chu as the queen, because Chu is still the most powerful country after Qin. The Qin army must first stabilize Chu in order to deal with the Shandong states, and the tradition of marriage between the two countries for generations can Received the support of the Qin Dynasty clan and the ministers of the DPRK.
The Queen Mother Xia believes that she should marry a Korean princess as her queen. Qin and Han have always been on good terms, and marrying a Korean princess can maintain this relationship. The King of Han must follow Qin's lead!
Queen Mother Zhao herself is not from a royal family, and she does not have a strong position on which country's princess to marry.
The Empress Dowager Huayang and the Empress Dowager Xia were at loggerheads. In the end, both parties agreed that the King of Qin should decide which princess to marry. King Qin asked Li Si: "The two queen mothers are already old. I hope they are both happy, but now they have different opinions. What should I do?"
Li Sidao: "Your Majesty is the king of a country, and everything should be considered from the perspective of our great cause. Now that the coalition of princes has just been repulsed, we need to restore relations. I think marrying the princess of Chu is more in line with Qin's strategy of making friends far away and attacking close by."
"Your words make sense. I will marry the princess of Chu as my queen. Next year I will go to the princess of South Korea as my wife."
Now that King Qin has decided, there is no longer anything to argue about. So Empress Dowager Huayang sent an envoy to Chu State to propose marriage.
At this time, the allied forces of the Chu State were newly defeated by the Qin Army. The King of Chu needed to ease relations with the Qin State. When he heard that the King of Qin had come to propose marriage, he was overjoyed. He received the Qin State envoy with the highest standards and agreed to marry his daughter Mi Hong. King of Qin.
Mi Hong was the most beloved daughter of the King of Chu. He once ordered Huang Xie, Lord Chunshen, to be her teacher. Huang Xie had extraordinary knowledge in his life and had a great influence on the little princess. Mi Hong was also smart and smart. He had his own opinions on national affairs at a young age. Huang Xie often lamented that no matter who married Mi Hong, he would be better than a hundred thousand soldiers.
When it was time to get married, the old King Chu said to her: "You have been my favorite daughter since you were a child, and I have always placed high hopes on you. When you get to Qin, I hope you can protect our Chu country!"
Mi Hong didn't fully understand what her father meant at this time, but she also knew that this was a political marriage. Although she was reluctant to leave Chu, she didn't dare to say anything when she saw her father's melancholy eyes, and could only cry. He agreed and said: "My daughter will live up to her father's trust. If my father misses her, please send someone to Xianyang to inform me. I will definitely come back to see you!"
King Chu said: "I hope you will never come back!" Mi Hong knew her father's intentions and fell on King Chu's lap and cried loudly.
Two months later, King Qin Ying married his queen Mi Hong.
Mi Hong married into the State of Qin and first went to see the Queen Mother of Huayang. The Queen Mother of Huayang had not heard the local accent for several years and had seen the Chu clothes. Now that so many people from Chu came all of a sudden, the Queen Mother of Huayang suddenly became energetic. , as if ten years younger. She held Mi Hong's hand and looked at this granddaughter who had never seen her mother's family before, as if she had seen herself again when she first entered the Qin Palace, and she became even more fond of her.
Mi Hong said: "I often heard about my grandmother when I was in Chu State. They all said that you are the patron saint of Chu State. Only with you around will Chu State be safe."
Queen Mother Huayang was very happy to hear this and said: "It's hard for people in Chu country to still remember me as an old lady. I'm already old. I don't want to take care of many things and can't take care of them anymore. I've almost been forgotten in this palace. I’ll be counting on you from now on!”
"Grandma is still young. I will come and talk to you when I have time!"
Queen Mother Huayang was very happy to see Mi Hong being so sensible.
On the wedding day, Mi Hong saw Ying Zheng for the first time, feeling both scared and excited. On the contrary, Ying Zheng felt the opposite. Seeing this newly grown-up girl, a strong sense of responsibility suddenly emerged in his heart. He wanted to protect his woman from harm, and at the same time, he would also become the master of this woman! After her marriage, Mi Hong often went to the Empress Dowager Huayang's palace to talk when she had nothing to do. From Mrs. Huayang, she learned a lot about the inside story of the harem. It was only now that she realized the dangers in the harem.
