No matter what, Zhao Guo's mission in Qi Guo can be regarded as successfully completed.
With the first batch of 300,000 dans of grain from Qi and 100,000 dans of grain sent by Chu arriving safely at Huaisi County, it can be said that Zhao's food crisis has been essentially resolved.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Kuo mobilized a large number of ordnance from Zhongshan County and Daibei County and sent it to Qi State as agreed. Of course, among this batch of ordnance, the main ones are swords and shields. The number of armors with higher "technical content" and bows and arrows is only enough to arm more than 10,000 people.
However, this result satisfied King Qi very much, and he immediately gave these weapons to his palace garrison.
Looking at King Qi's anxious look, this batch of ordnance seems not as simple as it seems, and Qi State is far from being cowardly.
Everything that is unreasonable actually has its very reasonable reasons. Some are hidden deeper inside, and some are historical debts. Just like what we read when we were children, "It's a Cool Autumn". It's always in the afternoon of middle age that we can feel the strong autumn feeling. Suddenly, we realize that the gentle breeze is bringing the brightness of that afternoon. The sound of books.
As is the case with people, so is the country.
Today's Qi State is no longer Jiang Shang's Qi State, and what betrayers fear most is betrayal.
The Tian family's replacement of Qi, no matter how beautified it is, is ultimately a rebellion with a different surname. As a usurper, the most feared thing of the successive Qi kings is that someone will imitate him and drive him out.
This was one of the reasons why the King of Qi had to exclude Tian Dan, an important minister who saved Qi from disaster.
However, in this journey of Dai Qi, there are too many achievements of following the dragon, and Tian Shi also made too many promises for Dai Qi.
If the State of Chu is a country shared by the King of Chu and the major nobles, then for the State of Qi, it is a country shared by the King of Qi and the major families.
Although the Qi family's territorial rights are not as small as that of the nobility of the Chu state, the participation of the major families in the Qi state in state affairs and even the control of the army will even require the Chu state to return the favor. Even more so.
In the Chu State, although the nobles could be lawless in their own fiefdoms, when the King of Chu gave the order, whether they were willing or not and whether they would do their best is another matter, but troops would have to be sent out when they should, and food would be given out when food was needed.
But in Qi State, the power of King Qi was locked directly at the source.
Want to start a war? It’s not like you, King Qi, just agreed. This was also one of the reasons why the Five Kingdoms attacked Qi and Qi suffered a disastrous defeat.
Obviously, the King of Qi had to rely on these families because of his unfair position. This also led to the delay in the expansion of King Qi's power.
Throughout his life, what King Qi Min wanted to do was never to be the Eastern Emperor, but to take back the rights that should belong to the king from these ministers.
The best way to regain power is war, especially foreign war.
Once the war starts, King Qi Min will be at the moral high ground. Anything that goes against his will will be regarded as an act that hinders the war. King Qi Min can naturally attack it openly.
Therefore, in 301 BC, as soon as King Min of Qi came to the throne, Qi general Kuang Zhang led the combined forces of Qi, Wei, and Han to defeat the Chu army in Chuisha.
Immediately afterwards, the Qi State, whose territory had been greatly expanded, had no intention of stopping, and immediately fought with the Qin State. From 298 BC to 296 BC, under the leadership of King Qi Min, the allied forces of Qi, Wei, and Han even besieged Qin for a time, and finally broke through Hangu Pass, forcing Qin to cede territory and seek peace.
It should be said that until this point, King Qi Min's journey to regain power has been smooth sailing.
But then, Yan State launched an attack on Qi State, and inexplicably, the weak Yan army was allowed to attack the hinterland of Qi State.
You know, since Qi dared to take Qin's idea, it must have anticipated the possibility of Yan's younger brother ending up in a critical moment. .z.
But the Qi State, which was clearly prepared, was easily broken through the border defense line by the Yan army and penetrated deep into the Qi State.
What a coincidence, the letter of credence from the Qin State seeking peace has already been handed over to Qi.
Wang's desk. Although he was unwilling, King Qi could only recall the army and deal with the Yan army inside first.
But this Yan army was easily defeated by the Qi army who came back for reinforcements. How could such a weak Yan army break through the army deployed by King Qi on the border?
The answer is already obvious - it's the concubine who does it!
To be precise, it should be that the ministers of Qi State launched a counterattack against King Qi after they finally saw clearly his intentions of pretending to fight and seizing power.
Naturally, as ministers who control the state machinery, they have already taken action and cannot stop so easily.
Soon, the vicious political incident of "Tianjia Tribulation King" occurred.
Obviously, as a member of the royal family, Tian Jia had no motive to rob King Qi. But this happened.
The only explanation is that he had a good relationship with Tian Wen, the prime minister of the same royal family whom the King of Qi relied on.
The purpose of doing this is self-evident in the natural industry. The ministers of Qi State wanted to use Tian Wen, an insignificant person, to drive a wedge between the King of Qi and his concubine Tian Dan.
Things turned out as they expected, and Tian Wen was forced to run away.
At the right time, the man who was about to wear the Six Kingdoms Seal on his waist, but was actually a dead man, appeared in front of King Qi, full of talent, full of sincerity, and the sacred land of Song, slowly... Go to King Qi.
It is obviously not easy to gain the trust of King Qi.
Although Su Qin's intelligence was involved in this, no matter how powerful Su Qin was, he was still from another country. How could King Qi completely trust him?
And how could he not leave any clues after being in Qi for so many years?
Since there are clues, why have no ministers ever tried to dissuade King Qi?
There is only one possibility. As a foreigner, Su Qin became the King of Qi's best choice to deal with the old forces from the moment he entered the Qi court.
Judging from King Qi's subsequent expansion of confidence, it is not difficult to see that Su Qin completed his task brilliantly. As for this premise, the reality is that Su Qin, with his astute mind, actually regained a lot of rights for King Qi.
Unfortunately, this is a poisonous bait.
All Su Qin's efforts and sacrifices were just to bring the last dish to the King of Qi - the State of Song.
Whether out of trust in Su Qin or out of greed, King Qi quickly got into Su Qin's scheme.
However, even the attack on Song Dynasty was full of weirdness.
Once he attacked the Song Dynasty, it can be said that the King of Qi moved for his own benefit;
In the second attack on the Song Dynasty, it can also be said that the King of Qi left unwillingly;
However, when he visited the Song Dynasty three times, he would rather offend all his allies, so he could only explain it by saying that he was insane.
However, it was clear that King Qi was in his prime, so it was impossible for him to suddenly become ignorant.
Obviously, the attack on the Song Dynasty was another battle similar to the attack on the Qin Dynasty - it seemed like an external war, but in fact, it was another attempt by the King of Qi to gather power through the Qin Dynasty.
Attacking the Song Dynasty again and again, the King of Qi gradually gathered power with the help of other countries.
But at the same time, it also allowed the ministers of Qi State to thoroughly see the intentions of King Qi.
As a result, what should have been a gradual battle turned into Qi driving away Zhao and Wei and monopolizing the Song territory.
Qi, which lost the support of the three Jins, was attacked by the five-nation coalition in the new year (286 BC).
Of course, even at this point, Qi is still powerful. In the years of battles, the army under King Qi is not just a mob. On the contrary, the Five Kingdoms Allied Forces are divided into two camps. Qin Yan is naturally together , and Sanjin had other ideas.
And the coalition forces came from afar. Even if the Qi army was slightly weaker, it was not completely without a chance.
Not to mention a big victory over the coalition, we should at least be able to ensure a small defeat or even an undefeated one.
However, the Qi army was defeated and the wealth that the King of Qi had accumulated for many years was instantly wiped out. The reason is indeed that the Qi army general Chuzi was afraid of the battle and fled.
If you lose, you will lose.
Qin
The army has also been defeated at Hangu Pass, why don't they get up!
Just continue to fight steadily, delaying the enemy while mobilizing troops to defend the capital.
After all, Qi is a big country. No one can conquer Qi in one bite. Moreover, the five countries have come a long way, so they still have to retreat.
But something strange happened again. The cities in Qi State almost fell into the wind, and the five-nation allied forces arrived at Linzi City almost without a fight.
Then the city fell again.
Then run away.
It didn’t matter that he was unpopular in Wei, Zou, and Lu, but he finally returned to Judu, one of the five capitals of Qi, with not even a single soldier around him (with Nao Chi, the general of Chu, as his prime minister, Trying to counterattack with Chu troops only shows that King Qi Min is almost alone in Qi State)
But Nao Chi, the general of Chu State, brutally killed him.
Who gave him the courage?
You know, King Huai of Chu was starved to death in Qin, and Qin and Zhao completely turned against each other from then on; to torture and kill a monarch who had not yet subjugated his country was simply unimaginable.
What's even more ridiculous is that since the death of King Qi Min, the ministers of Qi suddenly appeared, troops were quickly formed, and King Qi Xiang ascended the throne almost immediately.
Everyone knows what happened next.
Tian Dan trained his troops in Jimo and conquered more than 70 cities in a row, eventually restoring Qi.
It can be said that King Qi Min did one thing in his life: he fought against the ministers of Qi State and tried to take back the royal power.
Unfortunately, under the combined influence of internal and external factors, he failed, and even received the evil posthumous title of "棣".
Naturally, as a descendant of King Qi Min, the current King of Qi not only has the ambition to inherit his father's legacy, but also has learned a profound lesson and will not shake the country's foundation easily.
This also caused Qi to ignore the disputes between the six countries in the following days.
However, King Qi is still a king after all. Whether it is for the sake of inheriting his legacy or for his own safety, it is inevitable to increase his bargaining chip.
Therefore, there was also the matter of the King of Qi using the envoys of the Zhao State to collect grain and cutting a handful of leeks in Linzi, and the matter of the King of Qi giving priority to the ordnance and equipment shipped from the State of Zhao to his own army. .
These things did not cause the ministers to counterattack, but they once again aroused their vigilance.
A tug of war has become inevitable between the monarchs and ministers of Qi State.
These situations soon reached the ears of Zhao Kuo far away in Handan through detailed work. For such a Qi country, Zhao Kuo obviously didn't have to worry about whether it would one day rise.
Of course, these have nothing to do with the current Zhao State.
Because just when Qi's grain finally left Handan and was transported to Jiuyuan, and before Zhao Kuo could take a breath, a group of strangers came to Handan City.
