King Zhao's order disrupted Zhao Kuo's plan and forced him to speed up his attack.
Fortunately, God was on Zhao Kuo's side. The heavy snow only lasted for half a day and then stopped. Although the road was a little muddy, we were still able to march.
The next day, the allied forces of South Korea and Wei were divided into two groups. Wei Wuji, with Wei Wuji as the main general, commanded 100,000 Wei troops to go north to attack Anmen on the south bank of Fen River. Along the way, Baoyuan was the main general, commanding 100,000 Korean troops to attack Puban on the east bank of the river.
Zhao Kuo led the remaining soldiers to attack the nearby small cities. In one day, they captured several cities.
At the same time, Zhao Kuo forced Zhao Jun to rush to Anyi within two days. This forced Li Mu, Jia Yan, Feng Ting and others to take turns using the blast formation to rush on their way.
On the other side, Bai Qi was leading the Qin army to withdraw from Hedong to Hexi. He did not dare to delay for a moment. He knew that he could not hide the hanging sheep drumming in Yicheng from Le Yi and Lian Po for long. He had to arrive before the Zhao army arrived. Hexi, otherwise with the current military strength in Hexi, there is absolutely no way to stop the three families of Han, Zhao and Wei from joining forces.
…
"What's going on? Haven't you already spread rumors in Handan City? Why is Zhao Kuo still attacking?" Qin Wangji's angry roar came from the Qin State Hall.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Perhaps King Zhao's order has not yet reached the Zhao army. It is better to wait for two more days." Fan Ju wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and bowed his head.
He was also a little strange in his heart. Calculating the time, Zhao Jun should be preparing to withdraw now, why would he launch an attack?
Could it be that Zhao Kuo disobeyed the emperor's order?
"Two days! Two days! How many days have passed now! If we wait any longer, the three Jin Dynasties will reach Xianyang." Qin Wangji's chest rose and fell, and the anger in his heart was burning.
"Your Majesty, I suspect that Zhao Kuo may choose to disobey the king's order..." Fan Ju said hesitantly, and he was not sure.
"My Qin State has a grudge against Zhao Kuo? Would he rather disobey the king's order but also attack? What good will this do to him?" Qin Wangji didn't believe it, "Tell me, what should I do now?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, Lord Wu An will definitely be able to stop the Three Jins." Fan Ju leaned over and said.
"Where is Mr. Wu'an now?" King Qin asked in a deep voice.
"The intelligence says that Lord Wu An is leading an army across the river. Wang Hao has already led the Iron Eagle Warriors, Black Armored Army, and 50,000 vanguard troops southward. They will reach Yuanli and Wangcheng tomorrow," Fan Ju said.
"How many more young men can be recruited in the country?" Qin Wangji clenched his fists.
"Your Majesty, we really can't conscript any more troops in the country. If we continue to conscript troops, even if we win this battle, our Qin State will be severely damaged and will be unable to conquer the east within five years." Fan Ju quickly advised.
Originally, the Qin State had already used all its strength to launch the Changping War, and almost drained Guanzhong, Hexi, Shangjun, Longxi, Beidi, and Bashu before it could muster 600,000 soldiers.
Later, in order to besiege Ye Wang, he mobilized Hedong, Hanoi and Sanchuan, gathering 150,000 strong men. As a result, after one battle, almost the entire army was wiped out.
However, because Hedong, Hanoi and Sanchuan had been captured by the coalition forces, King Qin's original promise to the people naturally no longer had to be fulfilled, which relieved a lot of pressure.
The current situation of Qin is no better than that of Zhao. The food and fodder for Zhao's army has been provided by Wei and South Korea. As long as the front line continues to win, Han and Wei will not cut off Zhao's army's food and fodder.
But Qin's army still needs Qin's supply of food and grass. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers eat horse chews, and even a mountain can be eaten up.
Qin Wangji's expression kept changing. After a while, he raised his head and asked in a deep voice: "I heard that a few noble gentlemen killed someone during a horse race in Xianyang two days ago. Not only did they not compensate the families of the victims, but they took advantage of them. Has the authority demoted the victim’s family members to subordinates?”
"Your Majesty, my subordinates have indeed heard about this." Fan Ju leaned over and said.
This kind of thing is not uncommon. Although Qin's law is strict, as long as it is still governed by human beings, there will be human nature, high and low classes, and Shang Yang can't do anything about it.
Even when Shang Yang was alive, he only said that the prince committed the same crime as the common people, but did not dare to say that the prince broke the law and suffered the same punishment as the common people. In the end, he only punished the prince's teacher, and there was no way to deal with the prince.
"How should we deal with it according to Qin law?" King Qin asked.
"Your Majesty, according to Qin law, the murderer will die, but the other person is a pariah after all..."
"What untouchables? I, the people of Great Qin, do not distinguish between high and low. Immediately pass down the order. All those who participate in the horse racing will have their homes raided. The women in the family will be demoted to concubines. All the men will be sent to the front line. After meritorious service, they will be given household registration." Qin Wangji waved his hand and said. .
"Your Majesty, isn't this punishment a bit harsh? Moreover, those nobles are from small clans. Even if they rob them all, they won't have much property..." Fan Ju said hesitantly.
If a house is searched for a trivial matter, everyone in Qin will be in danger.
"It's really a bit less, so let's order all parts of the country to launch strict investigations. Any officials or nobles who bully the people will be fined. In serious cases, their homes will be ransacked, and the people will be allowed to report. In addition, Lord Jingyang passed away two days ago. The matter of winter clothes is not If you haven’t dealt with it yet, we will deal with it as well. Remember, you must enforce the law impartially, no matter what the identity of the other party is, even if the other party is the prince." Qin Wangji said righteously.
When King Wu of Qin passed away, Lord Jingyang was almost made King of Qin by the Queen Mother. Later, under the pressure of King Wuling of Zhao, the current King Ji of Qin was made King of Qin.
Even so, Lord Jingyang still had a huge power in the Qin State. King Qin was previously worried that punishing Lord Jingyang would cause unrest in the country, so he never dealt with it.
Now that Lord Jingyang has passed away, it's time to settle the accounts.
As for those sons?
Hum!
"Go in person, lead Fei Lian's army, and directly suppress those who dare to resist." Qin Wangji said murderously.
"No." After a while, Fan Ju led Fei Lian's army out of the palace.
"Your Majesty, Wang Sunyiren has returned from the Kingdom of Zhao." At this time, a eunuch came in from the outside and said respectfully with his head lowered.
"Where are you now? Bring him to me immediately." Qin Wangji put down the brush in his hand.
"Your Majesty, the prince and his grandson are strangers in the prince's residence." the eunuch said.
"Well, they haven't seen each other for many years. Let's reunite them and bring them to see me tomorrow." Qin Wangji sighed and picked up the brush again to process the memorial.
…
Handan, the royal palace.
"Your Majesty, Lou Chang wants to see you." The eunuch reported.
"Please invite Lou Qing to come in quickly." King Zhao said quickly.
"Your Majesty, there is news from the front line that Zhao Kuo has not withdrawn his troops." Lou Chang stepped into the palace, leaned over and said.
Zhao Wangdan's expression suddenly changed, and he said angrily: "Zhao Kuo actually dared to disobey the king's order. It seems that he is really rebellious. Pass on the order. From today on, we will stop transporting grain and grass to the front line. I want to see if there is no grain or grass for him to take." Why attack Qin?"
"Your Majesty... our army's food and grass are provided by Wei and South Korea..." Lou Chang leaned over and said.
"What!" King Zhao stood up suddenly. He suddenly thought of what his father said to him when he was still alive: Food and grass are an important means to contain frontline generals, and they must be held in hand...