On the other side, Zhao Kuo led his army to attack ten cities in one day, and had already reached Xiyi (now Lintong, Xi'an) from Weinan.
"I'm afraid King Qin can't sit still now." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
"Commander, should we continue the attack?" Yan Ju said eagerly.
Along the way, although he captured many cities, he did not experience many battles. Most of the defenders saw the murderous army under the city and opened the city gate without any resistance.
"General Yan Ju, it's time for us to rush to the front next time. Eight of the ten cities along the way were captured by you. At least let us drink some soup." Xinyuan Yan shouted.
I thought that the credit for this sneak attack was all theirs. After all, only one of the three teams was infantry, suitable for attacking the city. Who knew that the defenders were so spineless that they surrendered before they even attacked.
In the end, all the credit went to Zhao Feiqi, who was running at the front.
"Your legs are too slow. When you take down the city, the Qin army will surround them from behind." Yan Ju said with curled lips.
"Okay, stop fighting. We won't fight today. We will repair overnight. If the Qin army doesn't send people to sue for peace tomorrow, we will continue to attack." Zhao Kuo said.
…
The next morning, just as Zhao Kuo was preparing to lead his army to attack, Fan Ju came to the city with Prince Zhu and Wang Sunyiren.
"The Indestructible King of the Great Village"
"The envoy of the State of Qin, Fan Ju, wishes to see the commander-in-chief of your army. He also hopes that the general will inform you." Fan Ju stood at the foot of the city and leaned over to say.
He felt a little bitter in his heart, thinking that as the Prime Minister of the Qin State, he was granted the title of Marquis by the King of Qin. Wherever he went, he held his head high and was highly respected by people. Unexpectedly, he was now reduced to saluting a general who was guarding the city.
"Wait a moment, I will report to the commander right away." Xin Yuanyan said.
It was not his turn to attack the city, but it was his turn to defend the city. After all, you can't let Zhao Fei ride a cavalry to defend the city.
As for the crossbowmen, some were also on the city guarding the city.
"Thank you, General." Fan Ju said.
Xin Yuanyan turned and left. Not long after, the city gate opened and Zhao Kuo led Tian Dan and Yan Ju out.
"Fan Ju pays homage to Ma Fuzi." Fan Ju bowed and saluted.
"Are you Fan Ju?" Zhao Kuo looked at Fan Ju curiously.
Fan Ju's appearance is very ordinary, the kind that you wouldn't find in a crowd. His face is a bit old, his forehead and cheeks are covered with carvings of the years, and his eyes flash with a cold and gloomy look from time to time.
There have been mixed reviews of Fan Ju in history, but Zhao Kuo admired him very much.
Fan Ju was almost beaten to death by Wei Qi, and was thrown into the toilet, letting others urinate on him without saying a word. Finally, he persuaded the guards to let him out, and then met the King of Qin with the help of Zheng Anping and Wang Ji. Relying on eradicating the four nobles as a way to promotion, he successfully became the prime minister of Qin.
One person is inferior to ten thousand people.
Fan Ju's story is much more inspiring than most of the inspirational stories in later generations.
Later generations commented that Fan Ju was narrow-minded and cunning. Zhao Kuo asked himself that if he had experienced all this, he would probably be even more narrow-minded than Fan Ju.
Don't encourage others to do good unless they have suffered.
"Have you ever heard of Ma Fuzi?" Fan Ju asked curiously.
"Hahaha, everyone knows your name. Sir, are you willing to join Zhao?" Zhao Kuo stepped forward, grabbed Fan Ju's hands, and said sincerely.
If it were before, Zhao Kuo would never be like this. Even if Fan Ju was caught on the battlefield, he would probably just be locked up like Zheng Anping and Hu Yang and ignored.
But things are different now. Since we have decided to start an uprising, the more talents, the better.
"Ma Fuzi, don't be joking." Fan Ju silently pulled his hand away and wiped it twice on his sleeve.
He was the prime minister in the Qin State and was highly favored by Qin Wangji. He would only go to the Zhao State if he had a problem in his head.
"Who are these two?" Zhao Kuo looked at the two people behind Fan Ju.
"This is Prince Zhu of our Qin Kingdom, and next to him is Wang Sun Yiren." Fan Ju introduced.
"Wang Sunyiren, aren't you supposed to be a hostage in Zhao State now?" Zhao Kuo was a little surprised.
"The king has discussed with King Zhao and has brought Wang Sun back." Fan Ju said.
Zhao Kuo frowned. The foreigner has returned to the Qin Kingdom. Then Qin Shihuang... No, it is recorded in the history books that Qin Shihuang was born in the first month. It is only the end of December and there are still a few days before the first month. At this time, Zhao Ji should not be able to Let's take a carriage.
In this way, Zhao Ji and Qin Shihuang should still be in Zhao State.
Zhao Kuo glanced at Yiren and wanted to ask him if he had left Zhao Ji in Zhao country, but he really couldn't ask him.
"Zhu/Yiren has seen Ma Fuzi." Prince Zhu and Wang Sunyiren saluted.
Zhao Kuo returned the gift and introduced Tian Dan and Yan Ju to Fan Ju and the others, and then greeted them with greetings.
"I have heard about Ma Fuzi for a long time in Handan these years." Yiren said to Zhao Kuo.
"Hahaha, I have to thank Qin for this. If it weren't for Qin's help, Kuo might not have had the chance to lead the army to Guanzhong." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
The stranger suddenly choked and was speechless.
"Ma Fuzi won't invite us into the city?" Fan Ju said.
"At the invitation of the marquis, prince, and kings and grandsons." Zhao Kuo stretched out his hand and said.
After we were seated, the banquet was quickly served.
"Ju is here to seek peace. I don't know what to do..." Fan Ju said with cupped hands.
"Seek peace? Haha, I can't believe your Qin State's request for peace. Let's wait until our army reaches Xianyang before we can discuss peace." Zhao Kuo said extremely angrily.
"Qin is really asking for peace this time, and there is absolutely nothing false about it." Fan Ju said quickly.
He knew that Zhao Kuo was just pretending and could not really decide to negotiate peace. But when people are under the roof, they still need to cooperate.
"It's okay to seek peace, but I have two conditions." Zhao Kuo said.
"Please tell me, Ma Fuzi," Fan Ju said.
"The first condition, since it is to seek peace, then the generals of the four kingdoms of Zhao, Wei, Han and Qin will naturally be present, and Bai Qi will also come." Zhao Kuo said.
Now that he is going deep alone, Bai Qi may cut off his retreat at any time. If Bai Qi cannot come, he cannot safely negotiate peace with the Qin army.
"Okay." Fan Ju thought for a moment and nodded.
"The second condition is that the Qin army gives up the two cities of Wangcheng and Heyang to be occupied by our army." Zhao Kuo said.
Wangcheng and Heyang are located along the river. As long as the coalition forces occupy these two cities, even if the Qin State regrets, the coalition forces can use this as a springboard to quickly capture Hexi.
"Okay." Fan Ju nodded again.
"Well, let's talk about it when Bai Qi comes and the Qin army gives up Wangcheng and Heyang." Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
"In that case, Fan Ju will retire first." Fan Ju said.
"There is no need to resign. Marquis Ying can live in the city. The same goes for Prince Zhu and Wang Sunyiren. You just need to send a servant back to inform King Qin." Zhao Kuo said.
Zhao Kuo believed that Qin really wanted to ask for peace this time, otherwise he would never have sent Fan Ju, the prince and Wang Sunyiren over.
However, it is necessary to be on guard against others. If the Qin State regrets midway and secretly mobilizes an army to surround it, where will Zhao Kuo go to reason?
He didn't want to use his head to test whether the Qin State was honest. The grass on the tomb of the last King Huai of Chu who did this was more than a foot high.
"You..." Prince Zhu stood up suddenly and pointed angrily at Zhao Kuo with trembling fingers. Just as he was about to say something, a sharp pain suddenly came from his heart and he couldn't say anything.
"Father."
"Prince."
Yiren and Fan Ju quickly helped Prince Zhu sit back on the seat.
"I'm afraid the Prince of Qin has a heart disease." Zhao Kuo looked at Prince Zhu suspiciously. From the painful expression and the dense beads of sweat on his forehead, it could be seen that he was not pretending.
However, Zhao Kuo did not have the ability to treat heart disease. He could only watch and cheer for Prince Zhu, hoping that he would not die here.
After a while, Taizizhu calmed down, looked at Zhao Kuo angrily, and said nothing.
"Then I'll bother Ma Fuzi." Fan Ju leaned over and said.
