Three days after Qin Shihuang officially issued a crusade.
Zhao Tuo, dressed in military uniform, stood in front of his house, looking at his wife in front of him with some reluctance in his eyes.
"The weather is getting colder, so don't send him far away. You should stay at home so that I can rest assured."
Zhao Tuo spoke softly.
Ying Yinman said that she would send him out of the city, but Zhao Tuo looked at her belly and realized that she had been pregnant for more than five months. How could he dare to let a pregnant woman go out? Medical conditions are worrisome.
Ying Yinman sighed softly, stepped forward and rested her head on his chest.
"It will take another year for my beloved to leave."
"Don't worry, the barbarians are despicable and far less powerful than the Six Nations. I will end the war and come back as soon as possible."
Zhao Tuo spoke softly and said comforting words.
Ying Yinman shook his head and said: "Although I hope that my beloved will return soon, the important matters of the country must be done with all my heart. Moreover, my beloved has the ambition to become a marquis. When he comes back after winning the victory, he will definitely be able to become a marquis and be honored. Please don't treat me like this." read."
Zhao Tuo was startled, looking at the woman with her hair in a woman's bun in front of him, and felt a little moved in his heart.
I obviously wanted him to come back as soon as possible, but he said that you can work hard outside and don't pay attention to my words.
Princess, you have really grown up a lot.
Ying Yinman touched her belly, with a faint smile on her lips: "It's just that the child is about to be born, and my beloved must remember to name it."
A glint flashed in Zhao Tuo's eyes, he put his hand against the princess's belly and whispered: "You can ask the emperor to give her a name."
Ying Yinman was stunned. She glanced at Zhao Tuo, thoughtfully.
"I know."
The two hugged each other for a while, Zhao Tuo let go of his wife, said goodbye to each other, and turned to leave.
After taking a few steps, he turned around and saw Ying Yinman looking at his back dreamily.
Zhao Tuo smiled and said: "If you have nothing to do, you can invite the eldest son to come here and have fun with Qin cards."
Hearing this, Ying Yinman couldn't help but chuckle as she thought of her brother being busy at the card table.
"good."
…
After leaving his residence, Zhao Tuo went to Qin Palace again.
According to the original military etiquette, when the general goes out to fight, the king must swear off each other in the suburbs, just like when Wang Jian conquered Chu and Zhao Tuo conquered Dai.
But since Qin Wangzheng was promoted to emperor, his status has been elevated to an unprecedented level, and he is truly the supreme king in the world.
So these ancient rituals were omitted, and instead the generals who went on an expedition went to the palace to say goodbye to the emperor, to show the supremacy of imperial power.
Facing Zhao Tuo's farewell, the First Emperor only said a few simple words to Zhao Tuo.
"I'm waiting for you to come back."
"I will live up to your Majesty!"
Zhao Tuo kowtowed respectfully and went to the western suburbs of Xianyang after leaving the palace.
The eldest son, Fusu, represented his father and saw him off in the countryside together with the ministers.
On this occasion, everyone only said blessings such as "congratulations to the general" and "wishing the general a triumphant return", but there was nothing much to say.
After Tingwei Li Si said goodbye to Zhao Tuo, he looked at the back of the young general stepping into his military chariot and leading his soldiers to the west, and his tense face completely relaxed.
This kid is finally gone!
His eyes fell on the young master Fusu standing in the front row again, and he thought to himself: "The eldest young master has changed his past behavior of the Chu clan and is no longer hated by the emperor. If he can keep it up, he can expect to be crown prince. But he It's a bit ugly to be too close to Zhao Tuo. It's time to let Yu Er get close to the young master at this time."
A strange light flashed in Li Si's eyes.
If it were Fusu who had been influenced by Lord Changping before, he would really not dare to approach him.
But now, as Fusu whips Changping Jun, he has completely got rid of the influence of the Chu clan, and his personality has also changed slightly. He rarely conflicts with the First Emperor anymore. With his status as the eldest son, he is very likely to succeed to the throne in the future.
The most important thing is that Young Master Fusu is Li Si’s son-in-law!
…
November.
North of Xianyang, an army of thousands of people was walking on the muddy road.
"Beidi County is the old place of Yiqu in the past. There are many Rong people living together with the Qin people. Its west and north are separated from the Hu people in the north by the Great Wall built during the reign of King Zhaoxiang..."
Li Shiqi's explanation came to Zhao Tuo's ears.
Before he came to Beidi, his confidant had collected all the information about Beidi County in the library of the Yushi Mansion. Now when he talks about what he has seen here, he is really eloquent and eloquent, which makes people still hear it. I thought Li Shiqi was a local.
"Yiqu's old place...it's the Yiqu that slept with the Queen Mother of Qin and destroyed the country."
Zhao Tuo secretly complained that when it came to Beidi County's territory, Qin's gains were not very glorious.
Yiqu was originally a powerful Rong tribe in the northwest of Qin State. It was very powerful and had a long-standing grudge against the Qin people. When Gongsun Yan joined forces with the five kingdoms to attack Qin, he stabbed Qin in the back. It was Qin who People are in deep trouble.
Without a way to destroy Yiqu, it would be difficult for Qin to gather all its strength to go eastward for an expedition.
Later, the Queen Mother Xuan, the mother of King Qin Zhaoxiang, cleverly used a beauty trick to hook up with King Yiqu and gave birth to two children to him.
After becoming deeply in love, Empress Dowager Xuan lured King Yiqu to Ganquan Palace to kill him, then sent troops north to destroy Yiqu and set up counties to govern the place.
The county seat of Beidi County is in Yiqu, which is also where Zhao Tuo's army gathered this time.
Qin's Northern Expedition sent a total of 300,000 troops.
According to the temple calculation, Zhao Tuo, Taiwei Wang Ben and others set a grand strategy.
Qin's 300,000-strong army will be divided into three directions.
They are Longxi County, Beidi County and Shangjun.
Among them, Beidi County is close to Neishi and connected by the Central Road, which can ensure the logistics supply of the army. In addition, Beidi County is located between Shang County and Longxi County, and can connect the two places and support each other, so it is the main direction of attack.
Zhao Tuo led an army of 200,000 to attack from the north.
Longxi County and Shang County each had 50,000 troops gathered, led by veteran generals Qiang Yu and Yang Yuan respectively. They formed the flanks of the army, waiting for Zhao Tuo's order to attack at any time to launch a fierce attack on Henan. This was a strategy of advancing east to west and attacking from the north and south.
But that will be next year. The army recruited from the land of Guandong is still on its way, and the children of Guanzhong will have to wait until next year's spring plowing before recruiting.
Zhao Tuo is going to the Northland first. One is to train the cavalry in advance and popularize his three cavalry treasures. The other is to better understand the situation of the Hu people at the border.
The Art of War says that if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
Before the Qin army attacked the Six Kingdoms in Shandong, there was information provided by Qin's intermediaries and traitors from the Six Kingdoms. It can be said that the internal situation of the Six Kingdoms was well understood.
Just like the battle between Qin and Qi, before the war started, Zhao Tuo knew the number of Qi soldiers and horses, and even Da Sima's trump card, etc., and therefore formulated corresponding tactics, and finally won easily.
But now he is facing Yuezhi from Hexi.
Zhao Tuo knew very little about the Yuezhi, even less than the Xiongnu.
He must first understand the enemy's situation, such as the number of troops, deployment, and information about the commander-in-chief, before he can develop an actual combat strategy.
"The general can recruit Luo (luǒ) of the Wu family to inquire. This person has been praised by the emperor and has a higher status than the emperor. If there is anyone in Qin who knows the Yuezhi best, I am afraid it must be this person."
Seeing Li Shiqi steal the show with his eloquent words, Chen Ping, the newly appointed general's staff, was not to be outdone and offered his first piece of advice.
"Wu Shiluo..."
Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes slightly.
He had heard of this man's name. He was one of the two most famous officials and merchants in the Qin State, and he was as famous as the widow Qing Qing who sold cinnabar in the southwest.
Wushi Luo was not a real Qin person. He was from the Wushi Rong tribe. He relied on the local geographical advantages to herd cattle and horses for trade.
He sold the cattle and horses he raised to Qin in exchange for a large number of silk and silk products, and then resold them to the Rong tribe in the west at ten times the price in exchange for a large number of cattle and horses. He sold these cattle and horses to the Qin people in exchange for more silk and silk, and then sold them to the Rong people...
Under such reselling methods, Wu Shiluo accumulated countless wealth. The cattle and horses under his name were all over the mountains and fields, so numerous that they needed to be measured in grain.
Moreover, this person was very smart and knew that it would be difficult for a businessman with only wealth to gain a foothold in Qin.
When the Qin State conquered the six countries in Shandong, he very wisely presented a large number of cattle, horses and livestock to the First Emperor to assist the Qin Army in the expedition, and also presented some rare treasures from the west from time to time.
This loyalty made the First Emperor very happy.
With a wave of his hand, this merchant, who was born in the Rong people, was given a high status in the Qin State.
Because he has been in the reselling business for a long time, Wushi Luo also has trade relations with the Yuezhi. As Chen Ping said, if there is anyone in the entire Qin State who knows the situation of the Yuezhi best, he is probably the only one.
Zhao Tuo readily accepted Chen Ping's suggestion, but before he could send someone to invite Wu Shiluo to come to Beidi County for discussion.
I heard that this person was already waiting in Yiqu.
"Historical Records·Biographies of Huozhi": Wushi Luo raised livestock, sold them to everyone, asked for strange things, and sometimes offered them to the king of Rong. The king of the Rong Dynasty repaid him even more than twice as much, and gave him livestock, until he used grain to measure horses and oxen. The first emperor of Qin ordered Ruobi to be crowned the king, so that he could invite his ministers to court in due course.
(End of chapter)
