Changing generals before a battle is a taboo in military strategy. But Zhao Wangyan and his father both loved to do this, changing Lian Po before a battle and... Lian Po again.
In the original history, Zhao Wangqian, the son of Zhao Wangyan, also learned this trick and wanted to replace Li Mu in the battle. Li Mu told him to stop making trouble because Wang Jian was on the other side and he would be doomed if he replaced him. Zhao Wangqian then killed Li Mu.
The three generations of grandfather and grandchildren are obviously biological children, and there is no need for a blood certificate.
When Wang Jian slowly crossed the Yellow River, the Zhao army offered almost no resistance and collapsed at the first blow.
Wang Jian did not pursue the remaining troops. Instead, he reorganized his army and marched towards Handan City.
The Qin army had enough food, but there was almost no surplus food in Zhao, so the Qin army did not replenish supplies locally but robbed Zhao of its food.
They hired local people to transport supplies and even provided them with food.
The people of Zhao were originally very afraid of the Qin army. When they learned that they could get food by working for the Qin army, many hungry people of Zhao came forward despite their fear.
Zhao State was also severely affected by the locust plague.
After experiencing the locust plague, King Yan of Zhao did not rest and recuperate, but repeatedly attacked the State of Yan.
The young and middle-aged men were conscripted, and the elderly, the weak, the women and the children at home were already too hungry to plant much land.
There was a shortage of young and middle-aged men in the country, but the corvée labor of the King of Zhao and the nobles would not stop. The greater the external pressure, the more the nobles in the country needed to numb their nerves with enjoyment. Women and children also had to bear heavy corvée labor, leaving them even less time to farm.
In order to fight against Yan, Zhao imposed heavy taxes. Taxes were not collected for famine relief such as potatoes, but only for grains that were easy to store. Women and children had little time to grow crops so that they could pay the taxes.
If there is not enough labor to do the heavy farm work such as plowing the soil, watering, weeding, catching insects and fertilizing, the yield of grain will be very low.
Therefore, when the rains are favorable, the land becomes barren, and when the seasons are good, the harvest is not good. There are no natural disasters, but only man-made disasters.
The State of Yan was also poor, so King Yan of Zhao sent a large army to attack the State of Yan, but at most he could meet some of the army's needs for food and fodder.
Furthermore, even if Zhao obtained surplus food, it would be impossible to distribute it to the hungry people of Zhao.
Some Qin soldiers murmured privately that the people of Zhao were almost starving to death, so even if they wanted to rob, what could they rob
Gradually, many Zhao people followed the Qin army.
They stayed far away from the Qin army, waiting for the Qin army to send them to do things at any time so that they could get a meal.
Wang Jian’s heart was as hard as iron, and it was heartbreaking to watch him.
He thought that he had probably been spoiled by the wealth of Southern Qin and couldn't bear to see the starving people in other countries.
When attacking Julu, the Julu defenders put up a rather stubborn resistance.
However, the Zhao people hired by Wang Jian were very brave. They climbed onto the city wall before the Qin army officially took action.
Wang Jian thought of the veteran generals and soldiers in Li Mu’s army who came from the State of Zhao.
If the King of Zhao had been a little more normal, Zhao would have been a tough nut to crack. The fighting power of the Zhao people was indeed very strong.
Wang Jian credited these Zhao people with military merits.
Although the military merit was only counted as half of that of the Qin soldiers and was only converted into food, the Zhao people who were the first to reach the battlefield were very happy.
Wang Jian also provided compensation to the Zhao people who died in the battle.
This was what he and the Zhao people had agreed on in advance. If they died in battle, the food would be sent to their relatives.
Most of the relatives of the Zhao people who died in the battle followed the Qin army and picked up jobs.
When Wang Jian fulfilled his promise and delivered the food earned from the Zhao soldiers who died in the battle to the women and children, the women thanked the Qin army repeatedly and ate uncooked dried beans with their children without even caring about shedding tears.
It was not until they had filled their stomachs a little that their numb expressions turned into sadness and tears welled up.
When some people were helping to clean up the bodies, they asked the Qin people if they needed the bodies of the Zhao soldiers guarding the city. If not, it would be a full meal for them.
Their eyes turned green as they looked at the corpse.
The starving people traded their children for food, and there was barely any meat left on their bones. The bodies of the Zhao soldiers who died in battle had more meat on them than the bodies of the starving people on the roadside.
Although Wang Jian knew that if the news of the people of Zhao eating people of Zhao got out, it would probably cause a great blow to the morale of the Zhao army, he still refused without hesitation.
"When I enter the city, I will immediately open the government warehouse to provide relief to you." Wang Jian said calmly, "You are short of food, but the rich families in the city are not."
Seeing that the hungry people were somewhat dissatisfied, he added: "If you have food to eat, don't eat people. You are human beings."
After saying this, he first took out some food and grass and distributed them to the Zhao people who were cleaning the battlefield, and asked them to burn the Zhao soldiers and the Qin soldiers who died in the battle separately to prevent them from eating people to fill their stomachs.
Qin Bing's ashes will be taken home by his fellow villagers, while Zhao Bing's ashes will be buried on the spot.
Wang Jian did this not simply out of pity.
After conquering this land, this land became the Qin State, and these people became Qin people.
Eating rotten human corpses could easily lead to plague, which would make it more difficult for Qin to govern. Wang Jian had to prepare for governing Zhao in the future.
Wang Jian kept his word. After entering the city, he searched the homes of officials, wealthy families, and nobles in the city on the pretext that they were resisting the Qin army's siege.
The gold, silver and valuables were used to reward the soldiers; after partially replenishing the military rations, the food was handed over to the Zhao people who survived the first assault, and they were asked to be responsible for providing relief to the victims.
Wang Jian also selected poor literate scholars in the city to help Julu City.
"Once Handan is conquered, Duke Zhu Xiang will come back." Wang Jian gave the people of Zhao a reassurance, "Take this grain for emergency use first, and we will be ready for the autumn harvest next year."
When Wang Jian left, many Zhao people stayed near Julu City and reclaimed and cultivated the almost barren fields.
The fields near Julu City are very fertile, but unfortunately no one cultivates them.
The elderly, the weak, women and children might be able to survive if they fled into the mountains, but they were more likely to starve to death if they stayed on the fertile land in the plains and farmed.
Now they have enough food to sustain them for half a year. If they drink more water and mix some other grass roots and tree bark, they will plant potatoes, beans and wild vegetables to relieve the famine. There is a high chance that they will live to see the harvest, so they finally dare to farm.
Now is the spring plowing season, and it is time to plant crops.
Wang Jian left some soldiers to guard Julu City and teach and help farmers with spring plowing.
They are all soldiers from Southern Qin and are very skilled in doing these things.
The people of Zhao refused to believe what Wang Jian said. They said that the grain they grew was theirs, and not only would Qin not take it away, but it would also reduce their taxes for one year.
Even if Wang Jian brought up the name of Zhu Xianggong, they would not believe it.
But the disbelief did not stop them from farming. As long as they could grow food, even if most of it was taken away, they could still save some to feed themselves.
The words of the Qin general touched their hearts. Who would want to eat people if they have food to eat? People should not eat each other.
After the fall of Julu City, Wang Jian did not immediately go south to attack Handan.
He first captured the three cities of Ren, Pingxiang and Guangping near Julu City.
The four cities of Ren, Pingxiang, Julu and Guangping are in the shape of a "\", arranged in sequence from Daluze (Hengshui Lake) to the Yellow River, and serve as the city barrier to the north of Handan.
After capturing these four cities, any reinforcements from various counties of Zhao State that wanted to go south to rescue Handan would be blocked by these four cities and the Dalu Lake.
Wang Jian took steady steps, first isolating Handan from a large area of Zhao's northern territory, then slowly besieging the city and attacking its reinforcements, trapping Handan.
He has plenty of food and can compete with Handan in terms of consumption.
As for whether Handan would ask for help while he was taking steady steps, Wang Jian really hoped that the State of Chu would send troops to rescue it.
Li Mu and Lian Po swore not to lead troops to attack Zhao State, so now Li Mu is waiting in Southern Qin.
The main reason is that the Chu State had just sent out its troops, and Li Mu would definitely lead his troops across the Huai River to attack the Chu State.
After King Yan of Zhao sent the head of General Hu Zhe to the frontier, the generals of Zhao were in an uproar.
In the past, many generals were sentenced to death without any evidence, but they found it hard to believe that they would be insulted like this after being sentenced to death.
How is this behavior different from King Zhou's? !
There were also many voices of opposition in Handan City, but King Yan of Zhao turned a deaf ear to them.
He was very angry. Instead of opposing him, they should think about how to beat back the Qin State. The Qin State has already reached the city of Handan, what are you still arguing about? !
The ministers of Zhao State refused to give in.
The Warring States period was a political system in which aristocratic families ruled. Although Zhao was better than the feudal state of Chu, with more centralized power, the status of the aristocracy still existed and could not be insulted.
King Yan of Zhao could sentence a noble to death, but how could he insult the noble's body? They had to make a clear argument about this matter! If King Zhao did not change, Zhao would be ruled by a tyrant and would soon perish!
Wang Jian captured three more cities and completed the defense line in the north of Handan. When he finally arrived at the city of Handan, political struggles were still going on inside the city.
The final result was that King Yan of Zhao took the blame in the political struggle and stepped down, and Crown Prince Qian succeeded to the throne.
There were still defenders in Handan City resisting the Qin army.
While the King of Zhao was confronting the ministers and royal family, there were also generals and soldiers fighting fiercely with the Qin army on the city walls.
The Zhao army on the city wall was fighting desperately, the nobles in the palace were arguing desperately, and everyone was fighting desperately.
Under the strong pressure from the royal family, King Yan of Zhao finally took a step back and was willing to abdicate.
However, he refused to pass the throne to Prince Jia, whom he had deposed long ago, and was only willing to let Prince Qian succeed him.
Crown Prince Qian was the beloved son born to his favorite prostitute and concubine.
The ministers looked down on Zhao Wangyan's favorite concubine, and since the crown prince Qian had been ill-behaved since childhood and indulged in sensual pleasures, they started to quarrel with Zhao Wangyan again.
When Wang Jian received the news from many Zhao officials who had secretly surrendered to Qin, he sat on the ground with his sword in his arms and legs half crossed, thinking hard for a long time, but he still couldn't understand why political struggles were still taking place in Handan City when the Qin army had already surrounded it.
Shouldn't we first try every possible means to repel the Qin State
If Zhu Xiang were here, he would "laugh at" Wang Jian for being surprised by what he had never seen before.
The Southern Song Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty were about to be driven into the sea, one was about to be driven into Myanmar, and they were still engaged in political struggles and vying for the throne. The situation of the Zhao State was nothing.
Originally in history, Li Mu had already been fighting against Wang Jian's army, and the State of Zhao was about to perish. King Qian of Zhao and Guo Kai were still engaged in political struggles and killed Li Mu.
As soon as Li Mu died, Wang Jian's army defeated the Zhao army and destroyed the State of Zhao the following year.
There is nothing new under the sun. This is how it is in our Zhao State. There is nothing strange about it.
Wang Jian was too lazy to attack the city. He just waited to see what tricks Zhao would come up with.
In the Zhao Palace in Handan City, under the mediation of the royal family, the ministers finally took a step back and agreed to let Prince Qian become the King of Zhao.
The King of Zhao has changed, so what
The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.
After they replaced the King of Zhao and achieved their political goal, they discovered a problem - replacing the King of Zhao now seemed to be of no use in repelling the Qin army outside the city.
So they started a new quarrel.
This time the quarrel was more normal. One faction said they should break out and seek help from the State of Chu, one faction said they should send the King of Zhao to the north to escape, and one faction said they should just surrender.
As a staunch supporter of Zhao Wangyan's royalist faction, Guo Kai now speaks for Zhao Yan, the Supreme King, in the court.
He firmly requested to flee to the State of Chu.
Even if we flee to Zhao State in the north, we still won’t be able to gather troops, so Chu State is safer.
It is easy to restore a country by borrowing troops from other countries. This is what the history books say.
After arguing for a while, they finally reached a consensus - the Supreme King Zhao Yan went south to the State of Chu to seek reinforcements; King Zhao Qian fled north to continue fighting against the State of Qin; as for Prince Jia, he stayed in the palace to paralyze the Qin army.
All the ministers were very satisfied, except Prince Jia who was smiling bitterly.
Gongzi Jia is a man of good character and normal IQ.
He was tough, brave, good at fighting, and able to lead troops. In the original history, after the fall of the State of Zhao, Prince Jia led the army and people of Zhao to fight guerrilla warfare in Dai County and Qin State for a full six years before he was captured by Wang Jian.
All the ministers in the Zhao court knew that if Prince Jia became the King of Zhao, Zhao might have a chance of survival.
But just like when everyone knew that Prince Qian had bad conduct and was unfit to be king, but no one argued with Prince Yan of Zhao when he abolished Prince Jia's position as crown prince, now the court has once again abandoned this most normal Prince Zhao.
Gongzi Jia sighed in his heart and said to his father who didn't treat him as a son at all: "I will defend Handan City to the death and hold back the Qin army for you. Please...go slowly."
The Supreme King Zhao Yan nodded coldly to Prince Yan, then turned around and reminded King Zhao Qian to be careful and safe.
Gongzi Jia looked very lonely.
Everyone saw how lonely Gongzi Jia was, and everyone felt sorry for him, but no one said a word to speak up for him.
He knew that Zhao Yan and his son were going to open the city gate and escape, so he had already blocked the road and was waiting for them to fall into their trap.
But he didn't expect that there was a "general" in Handan City who could boost the morale of the citizens and the defenders—Prince Jia.
Prince Jia personally went to the battlefield and fought with the Zhao army and the young and strong men in the city who were temporarily assembled against the Qin army.
From fierce fighting outside the city gate, to fighting and retreating, to street fighting in Handan city.
As promised, he helped Zhao Yan and his son to delay the Qin army.
Wang Jian thought for a while and only sent a cavalry to pursue Zhao Yan, ignoring King Qian of Zhao who was fleeing north.
He personally put on armor and led the troops to capture Prince Jia.
If Zhao Yan and Zhao Qian are alive, they will only hinder the State of Zhao. It seems that Prince Jia is the key.
When Gongzi Jia was captured, he was covered in wounds, the blade of the sword in his hand was bent, and he no longer had the strength to stand.
He sat among the dead, wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, and slowly tied up his loose hair: "General Wang, did my father leave successfully?"
Wang Jian put away his sword and ordered the surrounding soldiers to put away their weapons.
There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, but it was hard to hide his respect: "Zhao Qian has successfully left. Although Zhao Yan has not been caught yet, it will be difficult for him to reach the State of Chu."
Zhao and Chu were separated by Qi and Wei, and both Qi and Wei had become Qin.
Gongzi Jia sighed and said, "I have done everything I can."
Wang Jian said, "Sir, please."
Prince Jia shook his head: "I will not go to Xianyang. I am ashamed to see Duke Zhu Xiang and Lord Xin Ping."
Prince Jia was captured, went on a hunger strike and refused medical treatment, and died of his injuries a few days later.
When the news reached Xianyang City, Zhu Xiang remained silent for a long time.
The "King Jia of Dai" in history died.
There will no longer be a prince of Zhao who leads the remnant soldiers and common people of Zhao who refuse to surrender to Qin and fights with Qin for six years in the mountains south of Dai County.
Only after Zhao Yan and Zhao Qian died, Zhao Jia could show his brilliance. But it was a pity that he died first.
The last bit of Zhao's bloodiness died just like that.
Died in abandonment.
If Lord Pingyuan and Lord Pingyang knew about this in the afterlife, don’t you know how painful it would be
"When Lord Pingyang died and Zhao Yan succeeded to the throne, the State of Zhao had already perished." Lian Po said in a cold voice when he heard the news, "What is left is just a walking corpse. Now it is time to burn this walking corpse to avoid insulting the former king of Zhao."
He challenged King Zheng of Qin to war and broke his previous promise.
He wants to lead his army into Zhao!
"You, you are Li Mu?!" When Zhao Yan was escorted to the front of the carriage, he recognized the middle-aged man sitting in the carriage, holding a book in his hand, like a scholar.
When Li Mu and Lian Po were forced to join Qin, Zhao Yan once met Li Mu.
Zhao Yan was deeply impressed by Li Mu because he particularly disliked Zhu Xiang and his friends. Even after more than ten years, he recognized Li Mu.
Li Mu raised his head indifferently and glanced at the tied up Zhao Yan.
He put down the book, drew the long sword from his waist, and stabbed Zhao Yan in the thigh.
Zhao Yan screamed immediately.
The Qin soldiers held Zhao Yan down, and Li Mu stabbed down with the long sword in his hand, and another sword stabbed Zhao Yan's other leg.
Each of his sword strikes pierced Zhao Yan's limbs, but was very precise in preventing Zhao Yan from losing too much blood.
But after stabbing with the sword again and again, Zhao Yan still turned into a bloody man.
He fainted from the pain, but was awakened by cold water. He curled up on the ground and twitched.
The Zhao minister standing by couldn't help but yelled, "Li Mu! You are also from Zhao! How dare you humiliate the King of Zhao!"
Li Mu stepped on Zhao Yan who was trying to get up and said calmly: "It has been more than ten years since Zhao Dan sent me to Qin. How dare you call me a Zhao person?"
Li Mu stepped harder and Zhao Yan screamed again.
"Besides, even if I am from Zhao, can't I humiliate him?" A hint of sneer finally appeared on Li Mu's calm face. "If the king treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the king like an enemy. I am just humiliating the enemy."
Li Mu looked at Zhao Yan at his feet and said, "Didn't you threaten to tear Zhu Xiang and Lin Li to pieces if you caught them?"
He chopped off Zhao Yan's hand with a sword.
"Aren't you going to destroy Mr. Lin's tomb?"
He chopped off Zhao Yan's other hand with a sword.
"You have no eyes."
He blinded Zhao Yan's eyes.
“It’s so noisy.”
He cut off Zhao Yan's tongue.
"Treat him, don't let him die." Li Mu wiped the blood off the sword. "If he dies before reaching Xianyang, Lin Li will definitely blame me."
Li Mu sheathed his sword and looked at Zhao Chen, who had just criticized him harshly but was now kneeling on the ground and trembling: "If the king insults me, I will die. Since you are blaming me, why don't you die when Zhao Yan is being insulted?"
The Qin soldiers threw their daggers in front of Zhao Chen and loosened their ropes.
Some of them held the daggers with both hands but did not dare to stab them in the neck; some knelt down and kowtowed, begging Li Mu to spare them; others tried to attack the Qin soldiers but could not even stand up.
Guo Kai was also among them.
He looked at Zhao Yan's miserable state, and with a determined heart, he picked up his dagger and shouted, "If the king insults me, I will die! Your Majesty, I, Guo Kai, will go down first!"
He stabbed his chest with the dagger, his body twitched violently several times, and then slowly collapsed.
Zhao Yan, who had been tortured half crazy, woke up when he heard Guo Kai's shouts. He crawled towards Guo Kai following the shouts, roaring in pain from his throat, his face covered with tears and blood.
The officials of Zhao were shocked and then burst into tears.
Li Mu was also shocked.
Of course he knew that Guo Kai was a loyal minister of the Qin Dynasty.
Li Mu's mouth twitched a few times, and suddenly he felt bored.
He had Zhao Yan and Zhao Chen tied up again, and after treating them, they were sent to Xianyang.
"I'm still angry." Li Mu muttered to himself after returning to the carriage.
He closed his eyes and took a short rest, then asked someone to bring him paper and pen to send an urgent letter to Xianyang.
He wanted to break his previous promise and asked the King of Qin for his consent...
He led his troops into Zhao.
"I will go to Zhao State in person," King Zheng of Qin said to his court officials.
The courtiers immediately shouted: "Your Majesty, please think twice!"
King Zheng of Qin said solemnly: "I am not asking for your opinions, I am only informing you of my decision."
Courtier: “…” Here it comes, here it comes again, the same sentence.
They turned their attention to Zhu Xiang, who rarely attended court even though he was the prime minister.
Duke Zhu Xiang, please persuade the King of Qin quickly!
King Zheng of Qin said: "When I left Zhao, I promised the people of Zhao who accompanied me for thousands of miles that when I grow up, I will destroy Zhao and save the people. Now is the time to fulfill my promise."
Lin Zhi, Cai Ze and Xunzi all turned their heads suddenly and looked at Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang recalled that Zheng'er had indeed made such a promise when he was young.
Zheng'er gave the little hat to the children who were seeing him off, and shouted on the outskirts of Handan, "I am Prince Zheng of Qin! When I grow up, I will come back to destroy the tyrannical Zhao and make sure you all have enough food and warm clothes! Wait for me to come back!", which frightened him so much that he picked up Zheng'er and ran away.
A nostalgic smile appeared on Zhu Xiang's face.
He took a step forward, bowed and said, "I ask to go with you, Your Majesty."
Qin Wangzheng stroked the armrest of the chair and nodded, "Okay."
Cai Ze and Lin Zhi immediately said: "Your Highness..."
King Zheng of Qin interrupted and said, "Qing Cai and Qing Lin will stay and take charge of Xianyang."
Cai Ze and Lin Zhi sighed and said in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty."
In June of the first year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the king returned to Zhao, and Zhu Xiang, Marquis of Changping, accompanied him.
In the same month, Lord Xinping Lian Po and Lord Wucheng Li Mu led their armies into Zhao.
When Wang Jian received the Qin King's edict, he regretted his battle strategy for the first time.
Why should I proceed step by step
Why am I typing so slowly
Lord Jun and Zhu Xiang are fine. Lord Lian and Li Mu, didn't you two agree not to invade Zhao before it was destroyed
I just want the complete credit for destroying a country, why is it so difficult!
Wang Jian held his head with both hands and groaned in pain.
Can I still be granted a title of nobility in this life
Above him, there is Lord Xinping Lian Po, who always says "I am old" but is still energetic, and below him, there is Lord Wucheng Li Mu, who is younger than him. It is really difficult to accumulate enough merits to be awarded a title of nobility!
Should I go and fight the Xiongnu or Nanyue to gain credit after I conquer the six kingdoms
Wang Jian was also thinking that after the Qin Dynasty was unified, he would return to Xianyang, buy a beautiful house and good land, and live there for the next twenty or thirty years to enjoy the life of a rich man!
"We must capture King Zhaoqian before Lord Lian and Li Mu arrive!" Wang Jian gritted his teeth, his face was cruel and his eyes were fierce.
What do you mean by steady and cautious? Just charge!
Wang Jian acted contrary to his usual behavior and ordered the chariots to gallop, the cavalry to run wildly, and the infantry to trot and march behind them, pouncing on the county town of Zhongshan County like a tiger.
King Zhao hid in Gucheng.
When Wang Jian decided to attack Gucheng by force, the gate of Gucheng was opened, and a team of plainly dressed knights asked to see Wang Jian.
"General, King Qian of Zhao has been captured alive, we have to surrender to Qin!" said the ranger leader angrily.
Wang Jian's heart skipped a beat. My military achievements are gone
He tried to maintain a serious expression and asked, "What did King Zhao Qian do?"
The ranger leader gnashed his teeth and said in a sad and angry tone: "He indulged in wine and women in the city and took people's wives and daughters."
Wang Jian: “…”
As expected, he was the son of a prostitute and the King of Zhao who was addicted to prostitution. He was still indulging in sensual pleasures when he was about to die, but he was not surprised at all.
“Okay…” Wang Jian felt powerless.
Can Gu Cheng's surrender be counted as his military achievement? Probably... can it be counted
He worked hard to mobilize the army for the battle, rewarded the entire army in advance, and slaughtered many livestock to boost morale, but was it all in vain
Although it was a good thing that no soldiers were lost, Wang Jian still felt a little aggrieved and depressed.
He was very skeptical. Even though Zhao was defeated, the Qin nobles would not recognize this military achievement.
The military achievements came too easily, and he always felt that the Qin officials would not recognize them.
But Gu Cheng had already surrendered, and Wang Jian couldn't just close the city gates and fight again.
He led his troops into the city and met King Qian of Zhao, whose head was swollen like a pig's.
He also saw the people of Zhao crying while holding the broken bodies of his wife and daughter in Gu Cheng's "palace".
The place was in a mess and it was a horrific scene.
(End of this chapter)