In the eighteenth year of the Qin Dynasty, after handling the funeral of Queen Mother Huayang, the King of Qin decided to launch another attack on Zhao.
This time, the Qin army absorbed the lessons of the previous three defeats and made full preparations before the war. The King of Qin still sent two armies, led by Wang Jian and Yang Duanhe respectively. Wang Jian attacked Jingxing from Shangdang, while Yang Duanhe led the Hanoi army directly towards Handan!
After hearing the news, Zhao Wangqian still ordered Wu'an Lord Li Mu and General Sima Shang to lead troops to fight the Qin army.
After being fully prepared, the Qin army made a surprise attack and advanced quickly. By the time the Zhao army's reinforcements arrived, Qin's South Route Army was already close to Handan, and the North Route Army also captured Jingxing and marched southward, approaching Handan. The Qin State's 200,000 troops were all aiming at Handan, and they had the potential to devour Zhao State in one go.
Li Mu believed that the Qin army was well prepared this time and was coming with force, so it was not appropriate to attack by force. So they took a defensive position on both fronts, with camps spanning dozens of miles, deep ditches and high fortresses, which were easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Qin army was repelled many times in its attacks, and the two armies entered a stalemate stage again.
One year before this war, both Qin and Zhao had just experienced a drought, so neither country wanted to fight a protracted war. Li Mu wanted to force the Qin army to retreat and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.
Wang Jian and Yang Duanhe were helpless against Li Mu's tactics. In the blink of an eye, the two armies were in a stalemate for two months. When the King of Qin learned that the front line attack was not going well, he summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.
Li Sidao: "Our army fought against Zhao several times but was rejected by Li Mu. To conquer Handan, we must first get rid of Li Mu!"
Li Si immediately pointed out the key points of the problem, and King Qin nodded slightly.
Xiong Zhuang asked: "It is difficult to defeat Zhao Jun now, how can we get rid of Li Mu?"
Wei Liao stood up and said: "I heard that King Zhao loves and trusts his most powerful minister Guo Kai, and Guo Kai is greedy and lustful. We can use counterintuitive tactics to buy Guo Kai with a lot of money first, and then let him persuade King Zhao to replace Li Mu!"
Xiong Zhuang said: "The counterinsurgency strategy has been used in the Battle of Changping, will it still work this time?"
Wei Liao retorted: "Didn't Lian Po still be forced to leave after the Battle of Changping? King Zhao is stupid, God is going to destroy Zhao! Please send someone to Handan with a lot of money as an envoy."
After listening to Wei Liao's words, all the officials were speechless. Maybe the counterintuitive plan will really work. This is the only choice now!
So the King of Qin approved Wei Liao's suggestion and sent the official Wang Ao to Zhao with 10,000 taels of gold to bribe Zhao Xiangguo Jianxin Jun Guo Kai. At the same time, Wang Jian and Yang Duanhe were ordered not to move lightly, and they would wait until the Zhao army changed before attacking.
Wang Ao came to Handan, met with Guo Kai, and asked, "Does Lord Jianxin know that Zhao is about to fall?"
Guo Kai blinked and said: "How is that possible? I heard that the Zhao army has withstood the Qin army's attack on the front line!"
"Haha... Lord Jianxin is so naive. The King of Qin has decided to increase his troops, and Li Mu and Sima Shang also sent envoys to meet the King of Qin. They are all thinking about their future. Only Lord Jianxin doesn't know what to think about his future. What a plan! How pathetic!”
Guo Kai was shocked and said: "Ah! Such a thing could happen? Sir, please teach me what to do?"
"Now the Kingdom of Zhao is in danger, and if the princes don't come to help, Handan will be in danger sooner or later. It's better for Lord Jianxin to win the trust of King Qin as soon as possible. King Qin also wants to get to know Lord Jianxin, and he specially ordered me to bring 10,000 gold to you!"
Guo Kaixin thought that by cooperating with Qin, he could not only get money, but also find a place for his future. Why not? He asked, "What does King Qin need from me?"
"Please Lord Jianxin, please persuade King Zhao to replace the Zhao army's commander-in-chief and replace him with Zhao Cong!"
Guo Kai immediately agreed to Wang Ao's request.
Guo Kai's retainers heard that Guo Kai wanted to persuade King Zhao to replace Li Mu, so they came to see him and said, "Why does the prime minister want to help Qin to attack Zhao? There are intact eggs under the overthrow of the nest?"
Guo Kai laughed and said: "Sir, what you said is wrong. Good birds choose trees to roost in, and Zhao will be conquered. Of course I should find a better nest in advance to prepare for emergencies!"
The diners disagreed. Guo Kai was afraid that his retainer would reveal the news, so he ordered his people to kill him!
A few days later, Guo Kai forged a letter written by Li Mu to the King of Qin. The letter said: "King Zhao is mediocre and incompetent. I have long wanted to defect to Qin, but I didn't find a suitable opportunity. If your Majesty, you can give me a With a suitable official position, I can lead the army to submit to the king."
Guo Kai handed the letter to Zhao Wangqian and said: "This is a letter stolen from Xianyang by my retainer. Li Mu is going to rebel! I have seen before that Li Mu is arrogant and never listens when leading troops outside." How can you be a lawless person when dispatched by your Majesty? I heard that both Li Mu and Sima Shang secretly contacted the King of Qin."
Zhao Wangqian was furious after reading the letter, and immediately ordered the removal of Li Mu and Sima Shang from military power, and replaced Li Mu with Zhao Cong and Yan Ju as the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army.
Zhao Cong and Yan Ju came to Zhao Jun's camp and issued King Zhao's order. After hearing this, Li Mu was furious and said: "It is a taboo for military officers to change commanders before the battle! Your Majesty must have listened to the slander. The general will be outside, and your order will be changed." Accept it, it won’t be too late to go back and plead guilty after I defeat the Qin army!”
So he refused to hand over the military symbols. Zhao Cong and Yan Ju were both Li Mu's subordinates, so they had no choice but to report to King Zhao. After hearing this, King Zhao became even more angry. Guo Kai knew that Li Mu would not let him go when he returned to the court, so he took the opportunity to offer his advice: "Li Mu disobeyed again. It seems that he is really up to no good. Why don't the king send the palace guard to secretly arrest and execute Li Mu?" No future troubles!" King Zhao followed Guo Kai's advice.
In the name of inspecting the front line on behalf of King Zhao, King Zhao's guards sneaked into Li Mu's camp and arrested Li Mu. They falsely claimed that they had caught a Qin spy and killed him at the camp gate!
When Sima Shang received the news that Li Mu had been killed, he burst into tears and feared that he would also be killed, so he fled to Qi. Zhao Cong and Yan Ju had no choice but to command the Zhao army to fight!
In the spring of the next year, the King of Qin received the news that Li Mu was dead and Sima Shang had defected. He immediately ordered Wang Jian and Yang Duanhe to launch a fierce attack on the Zhao army at the same time. At this time, the Zhao army was demoralized due to the death of Li Mu, and there were countless defectors. Coupled with Zhao Cong's improper command, the Qin army quickly broke through the Zhao army's defense line, and Zhao Cong also died among the rebels.
The Zhao army's northern defense line had been broken through, and the southern front could not be defended alone, so Yan Ju led the remaining troops to retreat to Handan, and the 200,000 Qin army quickly reached the city.
Zhao Wangqian was very panicked and hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures. Prime Minister Guo Kaidao said: "The Qin army is out in full force this time, and our Zhao army is outnumbered. Fighting against it is like throwing an egg against a stone. It is better to surrender early. Maybe you can save your life!"
Gongzi Jia was furious and said: "Why is the Prime Minister so greedy for life and afraid of death? After the Battle of Changping, Handan was besieged more dangerously than this, but the Qin army was finally defeated! Now as long as we hold on to the city and send people to other countries for help, We will definitely turn defeat into victory!" Seeing that Gongzi Jia was determined, King Zhao pretended to agree to his request and expressed his resistance to the end.
After the court meeting, Guo Kai paid homage to King Zhao and said: "In the past, we were able to hold on because of Lord Pingyuan and Lord Xinling. Now they are both dead, but the Qin army is stronger than before. No one can stop this. Rather than being defeated by If you conquer the city, you will die without a place to die. It is better to sacrifice the city and surrender and still save your life!"
King Zhao was frightened and said, "It all depends on the arrangements of the Prime Minister!"
So Guo Kai sent people to take the map of Zhao State and the priceless Heshi Bi to the Qin camp to offer treasures and ask for surrender. He also agreed with the commander of the Qin Army to open the city gates the next day to welcome the Qin Army into the city.
At this time, Prince Jia and General Yan Ju were patrolling the city. They heard that King Zhao had sent envoys to the Qin camp to ask for surrender. Knowing that the situation was over, they led hundreds of people from the clan to rush out of the north gate and fled to Daijun.
The next day, the Qin army entered Handan City, imprisoned Zhao Wangqian and all Zhao clan ministers, and sent them to Xianyang, the capital of Qin. The King of Qin won the government due to Guo Kai's contribution and named him Shangqing. Zhao Qian should have been punished for losing his virtue and subjugating the country. Because he surrendered to the city, he was exempted from the death penalty, stripped of his title, and was exiled to Fangling.
King Qin was very excited when he heard that Handan was captured. His excitement was that Handan was once his hometown. He had lived here for thirteen years, and during those thirteen years, he was like a passer-by and was not welcomed by others. Now he has become the master of this land!
So the King of Qin personally came to Handan to inspect and rewarded all those who had helped him. At the same time, he killed all those who had bullied him and looked down on him! Including the mother and son who once competed with him for the small fish!
All other policies refer to the treatment of the Korean hometown.
Just when King Qin was touring his hometown, the Queen Mother Zhao died of illness! The King of Qin rushed back from Handan to attend the funeral and held a grand national funeral for Zhao Ji. At the same time, when the King of Qin returned to Xianyang, he brought back many women.
After the Qin army destroyed South Korea and defeated Zhao, Qin's territory expanded rapidly, and its northern border was already bordering Yan.
As early as the beginning of Qin's use of troops against Zhao, Prince Dan of Yan had already felt the threat of Qin. He once served as a hostage in the Qin State. He knew that the King of Qin had the ambition to destroy the six kingdoms, and he, as a hostage, was not welcomed by the Qin State. He thought that the Yan State was treating me like this before it was destroyed. Once the Yan State was destroyed, wouldn't I be the same? Going to sleep on the streets? Therefore, after escaping back to Yan State, he thought hard about how to fight against Qin State.
One day, Prince Fu Juwu was giving a lecture to Prince Dan. He saw Prince Dan sighing and feeling uneasy, so he asked why. Prince Dan said: "Now South Korea is dead, and the Qin State is attacking Zhao State more and more, and Zhao State is in danger. It will perish, and when the Qin State directly borders our Yan State, our disaster is not far away!"
"What the prince is worried about is indeed true! Our country of Yan is weak and poor, so we will definitely not be able to withstand Qin's attack with our own strength."
"Does the Master have a good plan?"
"To stop Qin's attack, only by joining forces can we have a chance of success. We should invite Zhao, Wei, Chu, and Qi to form an alliance, and at the same time borrow troops from the Huns in the north to jointly fight against Qin!"
"I have thought about what Taifu said, and this is indeed a way to protect the Yan State. But now there are many conflicts between the princes, and our Yan State and Zhao State have never stopped fighting. It is not easy to form an alliance. This is definitely not What happened overnight! Now I want to assassinate the King of Qin, so that the internal affairs of Qin will be reduced to chaos, so that we will have a chance! But I haven’t found a suitable assassin."
Ju Wu was stunned for a long time. He did not expect that Prince Dan would come up with such an idea, but after thinking about it carefully, he found that this was indeed a method and said: "I know a knight named Tian Guang. He is a knight and a righteous man. He is generous, wise and brave, and can be used by the prince!"
"Thank you, Master, please recommend me as soon as possible!"
Soon after, Qin general Fan Yuqi came to Yan State to seek refuge after many years of fleeing. Because Fan Yuqi and Prince Dan were both disliked by the King of Qin, they felt sympathy for each other. Prince Dan warmly received him, treated him as a distinguished guest, and built him a residence by the Yishui River.
Grand Tutor Ju Wu believed that taking Fan Yuqi in would anger the King of Qin, and would give him an excuse to send troops to attack Yan.
Then he advised Prince Dan: "The Qin State has long been planning to attack our Yan State, not to mention that we have taken in Fan Yuqi? This is tantamount to putting fat on the tiger's mouth. I hope the prince will kill Fan Yuqi now." Send it to the Xiongnu in due time, so that you can not only protect the Yan Kingdom, but also give General Fan a place to stay!"
Prince Dan said: "General Fan came to Yan because he had no other choice. It would be unjust if we did not take him in because we were afraid of Qin. What we need to consider now is how to deal with Qin instead of escaping. Let General Fan If you join the Xiongnu, you may not be able to survive!"
Ju Wu thought that Prince Dan was acting on his own initiative, so he admonished him: "To do dangerous things, you must have a comprehensive plan. Now, just to make a friend, regardless of the safety of the country, this is called adding to the misfortune! Put the feather in front of you." The burning furnace will soon be burned up, let alone the violent Qin State. The King of Qin will definitely attack the Yan State in anger."
Prince Dan took pity on Fan Yuqi and said, "I have decided to take in General Fan, Taifu, there is no need to say more!"
Seeing that he could not convince Prince Dan, Ju Wu could only make another plan: "Since the prince is so narrow-minded, it is not convenient for me to say more. I will introduce Tian Guang to the prince tomorrow. Qin will attack Yan in a matter of days, so the prince must make plans early." Got it!"
The next day, Prince Dan summoned Tian Guang and went out to greet him personally. Tian Guang was old and had difficulty moving, so the prince personally led his horse and helped him get off the horse. After entering the Prince's Mansion, he personally wiped Tian Guang's seat clean and asked everyone to step back. There were only three people left in the room, Prince Dan, Ju Wu, and Tian Guang. The three of them sat on the floor in no particular order.
Ju Wudao: "I have already told my husband that the prince has something to ask for and wants to entrust him with state affairs!"
Prince Dan took over the conversation and said: "Now the battle between Qin and Yan is inevitable. I heard that sir is both wise and brave. I hope you can make plans for me!"
Tian Guang said: "I heard that when a thousand-mile horse is strong and strong, it can gallop thousands of miles in a day, but when it is old, it cannot even run a poor horse. What the prince heard was all about the old minister when he was young. Now he is old. I'm afraid that I won't be able to take on the important task. However, I have a good friend named Jing Ke who is good at fencing and is a narrow-minded person, so he can take on this important task!"
Prince Dan said: "I hope sir can introduce Jing Ke to me!"
Tian Guang agreed to Prince Dan's request. So the prince personally sent Tian Guang out. At the door, Prince Dan once again warned: "Today, I talked with you about important matters related to the survival of the Yan Kingdom. Please keep it a secret for me and don't leak it!"
Tian Guang smiled and said: "Prince, please rest assured!"
After Tian Guang came out, the dog hugged his body and went to look for Jing Ke. At this time, Jing Ke was drinking with the Dog Butcher and Gao Jianli in the market. They seemed drunk but not drunk. Gao Jianli was building a building, while Jing Ke was singing and dancing with swords in the market in harmony, as if there was no one else around.
Jing Ke often accepted Tian Guang's support and became a confidant. When Tian Guang came to visit, he was very happy and shouted in the market: "Sir, why do you have time to come to my humble home? These are all my friends, haha..."
Tian Guang saw that he was very drunk and considered the market his home, so he took his hand and whispered: "Go back with me quickly, I have something important to discuss!"
Although Jing Ke was drunk, he was still sober. He had never seen Tian Guang's face so solemn. Then he cleaned up the guys and said to Gao Jianli: "This time the fou beating is very meaningful, let's continue singing next time! Haha..."
When he returned to his residence, Jing Ke had already woken up from the wine. Tian Guang said: "You and I are very close. No one in Yan country doesn't know it. Now the prince has heard about my past when I was young and wants to entrust the state affairs to me, but he doesn't." Knowing that I am already old and my body is no longer strong enough, you and I have never met each other. I have recommended you to the prince and hope that you will visit the prince in the palace."
Jing Ke was grateful to Tian Guang for his kindness and said: "I know, I will definitely go."
Tian Guang said: "I heard that an older and mature person should not let others doubt him when he acts. Now the prince is holding my hand and telling me to keep a secret. This is not trusting me enough! If a person acts in a way that makes others suspicious, then He is no longer a person with integrity and loyalty."
Tian Guang straightened his waist and said again: "I hope you will go see the prince immediately and tell him that I am dead and will never reveal secrets!"
After saying this, Tian Guang picked up Jing Ke's sword and cut his throat to commit suicide.
Jing Ke was shocked, holding Tian Guang's body and crying bitterly, saying: "Don't worry, sir, I will live up to your trust!"
At this moment, he realized that what he was planning must be something extraordinary.
Jing Ke then went to see the prince, told him that Dan Tian Guang was dead, and relayed Tian Guang's words to the prince.
Prince Dan knelt down in front of the door and cried bitterly, saying: "The reason why I warned you not to tell anyone is to achieve great things. Now that you are willing to die to express your ambition, it is not my original intention!"
Prince Dan cried bitterly for a long time before he slowly stopped, and invited Jing Ke into the inner hall to sit down. Prince Dan then left his seat, kowtowed to Jing Ke and said, "Mr. Tian didn't know that I was stupid, yet he recommended you to me. This is God's pity for the country of Yan." , don’t abandon me. Now the king of Qin is ambitious and greedy for profit. If he doesn’t annex the world and make the kings of various countries submit to him, his ambition will not be satisfied.
Now Qin has captured King Han and occupied all his territory. He also sent troops to attack Chu State in the south and to approach Zhao State in the north. Wang Jian led hundreds of thousands of troops to Zhangshui and Ye County, while Li Xin sent troops to Taiyuan and Yunzhong. If the State of Zhao cannot resist the Qin army, it will definitely surrender to the State of Qin; if the State of Zhao surrenders, then disaster will befall the State of Yan.
The Yan state was weak and had been troubled by many wars. Even if it mobilized the power of the whole country, it was difficult to resist the Qin army. The princes are afraid of the Qin State, and no one dares to advocate a unified policy. I have an immature plan in private, thinking that I can really get the world's warriors, send them to the Qin State, and seduce the King of Qin with heavy profits. The King of Qin is greedy, and the situation will definitely reach our wishes. It would be great if the King of Qin could be hijacked and he could return all the lands he occupied, like Cao Mo who hijacked Duke Huan of Qi. If not, then take advantage of the situation and kill him.
The generals of the Qin State monopolize military power abroad, and if there is trouble at home, the monarchs and ministers will be suspicious of each other. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the countries in the east can unite and defeat Qin. This is my highest wish, but I don’t know who to entrust this mission to. I hope Jing Qing will consider this matter carefully. "
Jing Ke now finally understood what Tian Guang was talking about. Prince Dan wanted him to assassinate the King of Qin. He understood in his heart that the King of Qin was the master of a country and was difficult to approach. The possibility of success in such a thing was very small. It was a small matter to be killed, but it was a big responsibility to be responsible! After a while, Jing Ke said: "This is a major national event. My talents are inferior and I am afraid I am not qualified for it."
Prince Dan stepped forward and knelt on the ground, firmly requesting not to shirk. Seeing that Prince Dan really trusted him, Jing Ke couldn't bear to shirk anymore, so he agreed. Prince Dan was very happy, so he honored Jing Ke as his high minister and approached the most luxurious residence in the Yan Kingdom. Prince Dan went to greet him every day. He was provided with sumptuous banquets, countless rare treasures, and carriages, horses, and beauties from time to time, allowing Jing Ke to do what he liked, while Prince Dan tried his best to satisfy all his needs.
