After Zhu Xiang left Xianyang, he just arrived at the first place where he was staying. Zichu, who had gone out for a tour ahead of time, did not say hello. Zhu Xiang had slept in the post station the night before, so he was waiting in Zhu Xiang's carriage, which scared Zhu Xiang.
The State of Qin had just suffered a locust plague. Although there was enough food to go around, Zichu had learned some basic economics from Zhu Xiang and knew the truth that "if the government does not control the food shortage, the food price will rise by 10% instead of 10%. Instead, the food price will rise indefinitely until 10% of people starve to death."
While Zhu Xiang was supervising and teaching spring ploughing in various places, Zichu also toured various places to monitor grain prices.
In the pre-Qin period, diligent monarchs would tour the country every one or two years to supervise local officials and feudal lords.
When Zichu went out on this trip, he killed anyone who raised the price of grain on the spot, regardless of their status or the size of their backers.
Only the King of Qin could do this, not even the Prime Minister Cai Ze. So this time Cai Ze could only stay in Xianyang while the King of Qin, Chu, went out for the trip.
Fortunately, there is still a Crown Prince Zheng who is under house arrest in Xianyang and can supervise the country.
Zhu Xiang was speechless: "Are you free?"
Zichu smiled and said, "I was originally busy, but Zheng'er actually climbed over the wall to find you, so I had to take some time out to ask about your situation."
The prince has his own independent residence.
Zichu sent people to clean up the mansion where Crown Prince Zheng had not lived before, preparing to "lock up" Crown Prince Zheng for a month, so that he would do less work and have more children.
Who would have thought that Prince Zheng actually climbed over the wall and escaped. The people watching him did not dare to stop him, so they had to hurry up and inform Prince Chu of Qin.
Zhu Xiang sighed deeply: "I was wondering why you changed your mind and let Zheng'er out. It turns out that he climbed over the wall. This kid... Sigh."
Zichu said: "He is just confident and fearless."
Zhu Xiang rolled his eyes at Zichu and said, "You are just being too outrageous. Even if you want to have a grandson soon, I have never heard of putting the crown prince under house arrest."
Zichu laughed so hard that he kept coughing.
He took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured some medicine that looked like saliva into his mouth, swallowed it, and suppressed his cough.
Zhu Xiang's eyelids trembled.
This medicine was developed by him and the Qin Dynasty's imperial physician, using the formula of the powerful loquat paste, a Chinese patent medicine that has been proven in later generations.
Honey, loquat leaves, mint, and... opium shells.
Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, died suddenly after taking elixirs. However, after careful research, historians found that Li Shimin did not die of heavy metal poisoning in pursuit of immortality, but rather that he fought too hard in his early years and suffered from a hidden disease that caused him pain in his later years when his body was declining. So he took a large amount of elixirs containing opium to relieve the pain and died suddenly.
This thing is the sedative used in later generations for terminally ill hospice care.
Thanks to this, Zichu's body temporarily "recovered" to normal, and he was able to be a hardworking King of Qin like before.
Zichu looked at Zhu Xiang's eyes, silently put the porcelain bottle back into his sleeve, drank a sip of warm water, and changed the subject: "What did Zheng'er want to see you for? I didn't say that he couldn't come to see you off when you left Xianyang after he was under house arrest. He climbed over the wall to see you privately, so it must be something important."
Zhu Xiang half-jokingly said, "Zheng'er persuaded me to join him in a rebellion and force the emperor to abdicate, so that you can become the emperor."
Zichu was stunned at first, then he laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back, and almost couldn't help coughing again: "Okay, okay, you are such a filial child."
Zhu Xiang sighed: "What do you think?"
Zichu wiped away the tears from his laughter and said, "I don't think it's a big deal."
Zhu Xiang said: "He is just concerned about your health."
Zichu smiled and said, "Zhu Xiang, if I abdicate before Qin recovers, wouldn't all my hard work over the past few years be in vain, and Zheng'er will reap the fruits of my efforts? I even gave up the position of Qin Shi Huang to Zheng'er, and I can't let him take the credit again."
Zhu Xiang sighed: "Yeah."
The smile on Zichu's face faded, and his voice gained a hint of majesty: "The burden of Qin, whether good or bad, can only be borne by the King of Qin. As long as I am alive, it will not be the prince's turn to replace me. To bear the disgrace of the country is to be the master of the country..."
"To accept the country's misfortune is to be the king of the world." Zhu Xiang said calmly, "This is how I answered Zheng'er."
Zichu's eyes flickered, his hands clenched in his sleeves, and a warm current surged in his chest.
He said a little uncomfortably: "As long as you understand."
Zhu Xiang said, "The snow this winter is great. I will definitely make Guanzhong and Guandong have a good harvest this year. If you don't want Zheng'er to take the credit for your work, then live to see the harvest."
Zichu assured, "I'm sure I can."
Zhu Xiang also drank a sip of warm water and said, "Zheng'er is in good health. I will definitely let you have a grandchild this year. You should think of a name for your grandchild in advance."
Zichu said, "I have prepared several names."
Zhu Xiang said: "Don't forget to eat during the tour. I wrote a recipe for you, eat three meals a day on time."
Zichu said helplessly: "You wrote a different schedule for three meals a day for a month, you really don't mind the trouble."
Zhu Xiang said: "Yes, I don't dislike you."
Zichu pointed at himself and said, "Are you saying I'm trouble?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Didn't you say this yourself?"
So Zichu and Zhu Xiang started arguing again.
The guard outside yawned.
In the past, they would tremble with fear when they heard the King of Qin and Lord Changping quarreling, but now they are used to it.
On the second day, Zichu separated from Zhu Xiang and rushed to other counties.
Before leaving, Zhu Xiang asked Zichu for an imperial edict. If Zhu Xiang encountered anyone hoarding goods, he could use the Qin King's edict to kill them and confiscate their property.
Zichu was reluctant at first, but after Zhu Xiang glared at him for a while, he wrote an imperial edict to Zhu Xiang and lent him the Qin King's ancestral sword.
King Zichu of Qin could kill the powerful people of Qin at will, and so could Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang had only three people in his family, one of whom was the crown prince. He was the "lonely minister" among the "lonely ministers" feared by all later generations. He was not afraid of wearing shoes even though he was barefoot, and he was not afraid of any unspoken rules. The cruel officials raised by emperors of all dynasties were not as difficult as him.
Zhu Xiang and Prince Chu of Qin inspected the heartland of Qin separately. The powerful people received letters from their patrons in the court in advance, and most of them pretended to be philanthropists.
The few powerful people who could not resist the temptation of huge wealth brought by hoarding goods were all eliminated one by one by Prince Chu of Qin and Lord Changping Zhu Xiang.
Most of these powerful people who were hoping for the best were members of the Qin royal family, and some of them were members of the Qin royal family who were scattered all over the country.
Zhu Xiang's reputation among the Qin royal family was instantly ruined.
But no matter how much they hated Zhu Xiang, they could do nothing about him.
The so-called unspoken rule is that if they can’t take you down, they can take your relatives and friends down with them.
Zhu Xiang had very few friends, all of whom held powerful positions in the Qin State. Zhu Xiang's only relatives were Lady Wujun and Crown Prince Zheng, so there was really no one who could threaten him.
Only then did the people of Qin realize how terrifying Changping Jun Zhu Xiang was.
Zhu Xiang was just gentle. But if he didn't want to be gentle, as long as the King of Qin supported him, no one in Qin could shake the sword in his hand.
Under the strong suppression of Prince Chu of Qin and Lord Changping Zhu Xiang, the fluctuations in grain prices in Qin quickly subsided.
Zhu Xiang continued to tour the country to supervise the spring ploughing. Prince Chu of Qin turned his carriage around and toured the long border of Qin to comfort the troops and supervise the epidemic prevention.
After the locust plague, there will be a great epidemic. Zhu Xiang was most worried about bacterial diseases caused by mosquitoes and rats after too many people died.
Garlic, wormwood, ginger and other herbs with antibacterial effects were transported to the border city in large quantities. Officials and soldiers in the city preached and urged civilians to keep clean, drink hot water and eat cooked food every day. Soldiers guarding the city strictly examined everyone entering the city... The Qin people tried their best to keep the epidemic out of the city.
The Warring States period was a time of vast territory and sparse population, so it was easy for refugees from other countries to sneak across the border. Many epidemics were introduced into villages by refugees, and then into cities from villages.
Despite his old age, Xunzi personally took students from the Xianyang Academy to travel to various border villages to teach the village heads how to prevent epidemics in the villages.
At this time, all the philosophers and Confucian schools in the Xianyang Academy behaved in the same way. They all walked out of the academy and went to the countryside.
With early prevention, although sporadic epidemics still occurred in Qin, they were nipped in the bud as soon as they appeared.
Although the atmosphere on the Qin border was tense and a war was imminent, spring plowing was in full swing inside the Qin state. Fighting and farming were carried out at the same time.
This time, the five-nation allied forces did not gather together as before to fight a decisive battle with the Qin State.
They found that when the two sides set up their battle formations, Qin could easily win with fewer troops.
Now that Qin's territory has grown and its borders have become longer, they have dispersed to attack and harass Qin, forcing it to divide its forces.
Anyway, their strategic goal now is not to seize Qin's land, but to rob Qin's food and kill Qin's people.
The tactics of the Five-Nation Allied Forces were similar to those of the Northern Hu, focusing on harassment, looting and destruction.
Destruction is easier than defense. As long as they can destroy Qin's spring plowing, rob Qin's grain, and spread the disease to Qin, they will achieve the strategic goal of weakening Qin and delaying Qin's eastward expedition.
The strategic goals of the Five-Nation Allied Forces were extremely correct.
Now the Qin State is busy with spring plowing and cannot muster many elite troops.
The five countries are basically in chaos, the epidemic is rampant, and there is no hope for spring ploughing this year. Instead, more soldiers can be gathered.
The soldiers of the five states were all people who had almost lost hope in life. If they could not snatch food from Qin, they would die of starvation or disease.
So their soldiers may not be as well-trained as those of the Qin State, but they are terrifyingly ferocious, and almost all of them are members of the suicide squad.
As long as the fighting is dispersed, the ferocious hungry people of the five countries can cause huge losses to the Qin State.
When the Qin generals saw the five-nation allied forces dividing their forces, they immediately understood their intentions.
They understood, but they could only feel a headache.
This was an open plot, which hit the weak spot of Qin. They saw it clearly but could do nothing about it, so they could only disperse their forces and fight against the five countries' bandits.
After the spring plowing season, the King of Qin could mobilize more troops to support the border.
Because the northern Hu people also suffered a disaster, the Hu people went south to plunder. Jiuyuan, Linzhong and Yanmen also seemed to be in a precarious situation and needed support.
The whole Zhao State was filled with pride.
The Qin State was greedy and took away the three counties of Jiuyuan, Linzhong and Yanmen, but it ended up taking on a heavy burden.
"According to the news from Zhao State, they seem to say that we are a burden. It seems that if we still belong to Zhao State, it will be difficult after this epidemic."
"What a joke! What kind of pressure are these mere barbarians? General Li has already come back to make arrangements for us."
"The cattle and sheep of the Hu people are not being eaten by locusts. It's not certain who will rob whom. Kill their soldiers and you can eat horse meat."
"Brothers, do a good job! Don't let people look down on us North County people!"
Most people in Beijun do not engage in spring ploughing, but instead plant pasture grass and raise livestock, which is similar to what the Hu people in the Central Plains do.
Beijun was also one of the most important horse producing areas in Zhao State.
When the Hu people went south due to the shortage of workers for spring ploughing, the people of Beijun happened to be not ploughing, so men, women, old and young could all go to fight.
The people in Beijun are all strong and brave, even women can go into battle and kill the enemy.
Almost all the young and strong men came out, and the old, the weak, women and children went to the city gates to guard the city.
As a result, the Beijun border guards once again showed their terrifying posture under the leadership of Li Mu and Xinling Jun. The Hu people's coalition army, which had finally recovered a little after being severely damaged, was wiped out again, and the Beijun border guards captured countless war horses.
After receiving the supplementary war horses and horse meat rations sent by Beijun, the morale of the Qin State was high.
The capabilities of the Beijun border guards also spread throughout the Qin State, and they quickly integrated into the Qin family through this battle.
Prince Chu of Qin ate a piece of very unpalatable horse meat and smiled brilliantly.
This was Zhu Xiang's idea and Li Mu's plan before leaving.
His friends always give him surprises.
Beijun sounded the clarion call ahead of time and won a great victory while the five-nation allied forces were still arguing. This not only boosted the morale of the Qin State, but also suddenly relieved the pressure on the Qin army.
The Qin generals were somewhat dissatisfied.
If I fail to achieve a good result this time, won't I be overshadowed by General Zhao from Beijun
An old general, Lian Po, the Lord of Xinping, and a young general, Li Mu, the Lord of Wucheng, were enough to make them feel aggrieved. Why did the Zhao general come to steal the limelight
Do you really think that our Qin State has no famous generals after the death of Wu'an Jun
This is too much!
The Qin generals were eager to fight and went to the soldiers every day to nag them to work hard and not be outdone by the Zhao people.
Back then, the people of Zhao were defeated by us, the Qin people.
Now that these Zhao generals have become Qin generals, how come all of them, male and female, have become gods of war? They are very unhappy.
The Qin soldiers were encouraged by their generals personally, and their morale was high.
The Qin State's military merit system made it easy for them to get excited. Now they heard that the people of Zhao, who had just become Qin citizens, were coming to grab their military merits. How could they tolerate this
Although they were grateful for the war horses and horse meat sent by the brothers from North County, they could not lose.
Prince Chu of Qin was so delighted that he wrote a letter to the former King of Han, who was enjoying a low-key life in Xianyang City, asking him if there were any famous generals in Han who could join the Qin internal competition family.
The former King of Han thought about it and replied very honestly, No!
What famous generals can the Han Dynasty have? Even the elite troops were defeated by Bai Qi early on. Your Majesty, do you think I, the former King of Han, look like a famous general
In Korea, there is only Han Fei and his apprentice Zhang Liang who can be boasted about, there is really nothing else.
King Zichu of Qin felt very sorry after receiving the reply.
Why can't Koreans live up to expectations
His regret was spread out, and the Korean people all blushed.
The generals of the Kingdom of Han all cursed the King of Han. Their inability to fight was not necessarily due to their own incompetence, but also likely due to the incompetence of the Kingdom of Han, which did not give them enough soldiers.
Damn King Han, the King of Qin gave you the opportunity to recommend us as generals, but you actually said that all the generals of Han were trash and didn't recommend any of them.
They are heartbroken.
When the Qin State attacked the Han State, although the Han State suffered a series of defeats, most of the Han generals still fought hard with all their might.
Even if I have no merit, at least I have worked hard, right
When the Qin State attacked Xinzheng, they gritted their teeth and waited for rescue from the Chu State.
As a result, King Han, not only did you surrender yourself, but you also mocked us as useless people to the King of Qin
The Han scholars once again felt ashamed and felt pained that they had been let down by the King of Han.
The helpless King of Han made them lose their desire to rebel against the Qin State.
Some people also said that the King of Han was very smart. He said this to separate himself from the old Korean nobles who were ready to make a move, so that he would not be implicated by the old Korean nobles.
It is rare for a king of a fallen country to survive, and if he does, he will be exiled.
The King of Han could live a life of luxury and leisure in Xianyang, which made many kings of fallen states envious. He had already surrendered, so why would he still care about the people of Han? Of course, he cared about his own safety. The King of Han still had some wisdom.
The truth was uncertain, but the old Korean nobles who had wanted to join forces with the Five-Nation Alliance when they attacked Qin did not make any move this time. Qin was spared a civil strife.
Qin Wang Zichu's unintentional action led to such a result. When Cai Ze got the news, he was scared and broke out in a cold sweat. When he told Qin Wang Zichu about it, Qin Wang Zichu sighed.
It seems that I still have some destiny in me.
Beijun won a great victory over the Hu coalition forces, the budding unrest among the old Korean nobles was quelled, and the five-nation allied forces finally came up with a plan and sent troops.
The first city to be attacked was Changping.
Changping County bordered the State of Zhao. Zhu Xiang, the Lord of Changping, was well-known, and everyone knew that Changping County must be very rich.
If they could capture Changping County, they could seize a lot of food.
It was the Zhao army that attacked Changping County.
The Zhao general who led the troops had participated in the Battle of Changping and received favors from Zhu Xiang.
Most of the soldiers in the army were civilians from the State of Zhao who had brought their own food and weapons after listening to the advocacy of the officials sent by King Yan of Zhao to "capture Changping and welcome Duke Xiang of Zhu".
Some Zhao civilians didn't even have decent weapons and went to the battlefield with farm tools such as wooden pitchforks.
Most of the Zhao civilians who temporarily enlisted in the army came from epidemic areas, so they did not even receive any prior training. They could barely form a square formation and just came to the city wall to die.
Standing on the city wall, Bofu seemed to see not the Zhao army but a group of refugees.
He couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his heart.
When he saw the leading Zhao general, although Bofu did not remember his name, he recognized that he was a comrade-in-arms in Changping, and felt even more uncomfortable.
He could not help but shout at the gate: "Are you here to attack the city, or to lead them to their deaths?! Do you really think that this group of soldiers without siege equipment can attack the city? Or do you really think that if you capture Changping County, you can send Zhu Xianggong back?"
The Zhao general rode on a tall warhorse and looked up at the Qin general on the city gate.
Although it had been more than ten years, he recognized Boeuf's face.
Bofu took the lead in killing Zhao Kuo and gave all the Zhao troops a chance to survive. How could he not remember Bofu
He opened his mouth to say something in response, but when his mouth opened no words came out.
He had answers to all the questions asked by Boeuf, and he was even very clear about the fact that he himself was a discarded pawn.
But what does it matter if he knows? He and the Zhao people behind him have already arrived at the city of Changping. For the almost no chance of survival, they can only attack with all their strength.
General Zhao raised his hand and pressed it down.
The war drums are beating.
Attack the city!
The Zhao people took simple siege equipment such as ladders and rushed towards the city wall of Changping County, shouting.
As they had known for a long time that there were many people infected with the disease in the Five-Nation Allied Forces, the defenders of Changping did not fight a field battle this time, but closed the city gates and defended them to the death.
They had Qin behind them, so they didn't have to worry about being cut off from aid if they held out. They just had to hold out and wait for the Zhao army to consume itself, and when Qin's spring plowing was over and reinforcements arrived, the Zhao army would retreat on its own.
But they did not expect that this group of Zhao soldiers armed with simple weapons would show extraordinary perseverance and fighting power.
The Zhao army that attacked Changping County was particularly large in number. They climbed up the city wall like ants, and fell down the wall under the defense equipment that the Changping defenders had prepared.
The corpses piled up into a mountain.
The morale of the Zhao army did not drop at all. Like unconscious zombies, they continued to attack the city wall by climbing over the corpses of their comrades.
The King of Zhao did not prepare many siege equipment for them, so they piled up earth and stones on the spot, used the corpses as a base, and built high platforms, getting closer and closer to the top of the city.
Boff ordered oil to be poured down and set on fire in an attempt to burn the bodies under the city gate.
The flames started to burn, and many Zhao soldiers were burned to charred corpses. But after the fire was extinguished, the Zhao soldiers continued to climb up the platform, which became more solid after being burned.
Many defenders vomited on the city walls.
The Zhao army used the corpses of their comrades to build a landscape outside the city wall and used the landscape as a siege platform.
Most of the defenders of Changping were veteran soldiers with many years of experience and had never seen such a horrific thing.
Normally, a siege army would lose morale when its attack was blocked, and would retreat when a fire broke out under the city walls.
The Zhao general did not call for a retreat, and the Zhao soldiers did not retreat.
They seemed to have no fear and only knew how to climb up the city wall. No matter how many people died, there was no sign of them escaping.
Bofu stood on the city wall and looked down, but he couldn't see a single soldier running away.
The siege ladders built by the Zhao army were almost as high as the city walls, and the Qin army was almost fighting face to face with the Zhao army on "flat ground".
The Zhao army shouted "Welcome back Duke Zhu Xiang", and the defending army shouted "Protect Duke Zhu Xiang".
Duke Zhu Xiang was not in the city of Changping County, but the generals and soldiers of both sides were calling out Duke Zhu Xiang's name.
Even their accents are similar.
If you don't listen carefully, you would think it's the same people shouting the same slogans.
On the city wall, the people of Zhao and the Qin soldiers who used to be Zhao people, the Zhao generals and the Qin defenders who used to be Zhao generals, all fought desperately.
They were all so bloodthirsty that they mixed together. Their identities could only be identified by the color of their clothes, and sometimes they would accidentally hurt their comrades.
There was no military formation, no orders from the generals, and even no command flags.
The two sides fought each other like this, with corpses piling up like mountains around them, and they fought to the death.
The battle situation on the city wall was tense, and more and more Changping civilians filled the garrison's position.
Seeing that defending the city was unable to force the Zhao army to retreat, Bofu led the chariots and cavalry to open the city gates, went out of the city to fight in the field, and defeated the Zhao army that had been waiting for a long time.
The Zhao general, who was once his comrade, led more than 10,000 elite Zhao soldiers who were directly under his command and were also treated as abandoned pawns. The cavalry and chariots were arranged in neat rows and had been waiting for a long time.
The confrontation between the two armies demonstrated the powerful momentum of the regular armies of the two military powers, Qin and Zhao.
The city gates were closed and the Qin army was determined to fight to the death.
When Bofu waved, General Zhao also waved at the same time.
Both sides beat drums and blew horns, and charged forward almost at the same time.
Chariots passed each other, horses passed each other, and infantry formations passed each other.
The change of military formations was like two sharp meat grinders rubbing against each other, leaving a pile of corpses between the two military formations.
The war drums sound again and the command flags flutter.
The Qin and Zhao armies turned around in an orderly manner, and the cavalry and chariots went around to the front from both sides.
There were the sounds of war drums again.
The two armies collided again, abandoning crossbows and stones and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
again and again.
All fought to the death and none retreated.
(End of this chapter)