Many ministers within the Yan State had long wanted to surrender.
The prestige of the King of Yan declined greatly when he was defeated by the State of Zhao many times.
What made the ministers of Yan State even more disheartened was that Yan State faced the disaster of extinction several times, but the King of Yan ignored the advice of his ministers and went to provoke Zhao State first.
Since the death of King Zhao of Yan, King Yan has made many stupid decisions.
Good generals were forced to leave and wise ministers were neglected.
Think about Le Yi who almost destroyed Qi but was forced away by the King of Yan; think about Jiang Qu who was kicked and injured by the King of Yan when he tried to persuade the King of Yan not to attack Zhao... Even if the smart and loyal ministers of Yan had not yet lost their loyalty, they were excluded from the power circle by the King of Yan.
Zhu Xiang hated the King of Zhao. But looking at the other five countries, even King Yan of Zhao could be considered a normal and mediocre king. The monarchs of other countries were almost at the same level as King Qian of Zhao, the good eldest son of King Yan of Zhao.
Wang Jian had never thought of persuading the enemy to surrender before.
Since these officials want to surrender, they should find a way to surrender. Even if they surrender, they won't get much benefit.
If Wang Jian sent people to persuade them to surrender, this group of people would be able to bargain.
If it were Zhu Xiang, the most important thing would be to end the war as soon as possible and reduce casualties.
But whether it was Wang Jian or Li Mu, the first thing a general in the feudal era thought of was to win beautifully and feel comfortable. It is normal for a merciful army to be in charge of casualties on the battlefield.
Wang Jian wanted to fight a war to annihilate a country in an open and aboveboard manner without any tricks, in order to prove that his ability to lead troops was not inferior to Li Mu's, and that he could obtain the honor of being made a marquis.
But now... that's it.
When Wang Jian was washing up in the morning, he sighed depressedly at his graying hair in the basin, feeling a bit self-pitying.
The lobbyists sent out came in to report that many nobles in Jicheng had accepted Qin's persuasion to surrender and were preparing to start civil strife in the city and surrender to the Qin army.
Their most important requirement was to ensure the safety of all other members of the Yan royal family except for the descendants of King Xi of Yan and Prince Dan of Yan.
Wang Jian sneered: "A fig leaf."
They surrendered for themselves and their families, but when it came to protecting the royal family of Yan, they acted as if they had become loyal subjects.
"Accept their surrender." Wang Jian said lightly.
As he said this, he ordered the Qin army to prepare to attack the city just in case.
As for whether these conditions can be implemented after he accepts the surrender conditions of Jicheng, he cannot guarantee it.
Words are not enough. What did I guarantee? Where is the evidence
If the old nobles of Yan are well-behaved and sensible, the King of Qin will be kind and will not embarrass them; if the old nobles of Yan do not follow the laws of Qin, then all promises will be useless.
What does it mean to be a good soldier? What does it mean to be an old Qin man? Wang Jian, an old Qin general, combined the two and did not take promises seriously at all.
In early August, there was a civil strife in Jicheng, and King Xi of Yan and Prince Dan of Yan were killed in the strife. The old nobles of Yan made King Xi's nephew the king, opened the city gates, and surrendered to Wang Jian.
Wang Jian easily destroyed another country.
However, although Yan's capital Jicheng was captured, many cities in the north of Yan did not immediately submit to Qin. Instead, they expressed their ambition to become independent.
The State of Yan was extremely powerful during the reign of King Zhao of Yan. It sent Qin troops north and east to conquer the Donghu and Korea, and incorporated Liaodong into the territory of the State of Yan.
The population composition of these areas is relatively complex, and most of them are independent local indigenous people. So when the State of Yan was destroyed, they took the opportunity to establish themselves.
The areas controlled by the State of Yan were not lost during the Qin and Han dynasties, but were lost after the Wei and Jin dynasties.
The map, which had been illuminated during the Yan Dynasty BC, was illuminated again after the Tang Dynasty conquered Goguryeo, and dimmed again at the end of the Tang Dynasty.
The next time it was lit up was during the Yuan Dynasty.
King Zheng of Qin would naturally bring the territory originally controlled by Yan State back under his actual control, but not now.
King Zheng of Qin briefly stopped the offensive, withdrew part of the troops, and ordered Wang Jian to lead the remaining Qin army to wipe out the resistance forces in the conquered Yan State and to establish farming on the spot.
Because the Yellow River flood really came.
In early August, floods occurred in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River; in early September, heavy rains occurred in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
Although the river dam was strong and Zhu Xiang had made preparations long ago, the Yellow River water overflowed the dam and could not stop the surging river water from ravaging both banks.
The canals dug by Zheng State played a certain regulatory role; Zhu Xiang dredged the tributaries of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and dug ponds to store water, which also played a certain regulatory role.
But the effect is really weak.
Most of the Yellow River's basins have no tributaries, only the lonely main stream of the Yellow River.
During droughts, the Yellow River has no water source to flow into; during floods, the Yellow River has no place to regulate the water volume.
But this is not something that can be done by human power. Because the Yellow River Basin generally has little rainfall, and the sparse tributaries are natural, unless artificial dams are built to intercept the Yellow River, the water volume of the Yellow River can be regulated to a certain extent.
That is the Sanmenxia of later generations.
It is impossible to have Sanmenxia now, so we can only break the dam to release the flood.
It is relatively easy to discharge floodwaters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Because of the war, most places have been deserted and will not cause too much disaster.
When floods occurred in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the Qin State was in great trouble.
That was the Guandong region of Qin State, the most prosperous place in Qin State.
Agricultural civilization cannot lack water, and cities are mostly built along rivers. The places where Qin State flooded were the most prosperous places in Qin State, and also the places with the most fertile fields in Qin State.
Zhu Xiang traveled all over the Guandong area of Qin State, but could not find a perfect place to discharge floodwaters. No matter where he dug, large tracts of farmland would be flooded.
When King Zheng of Qin saw the flood rising rapidly in Zhuxiang and issued a flood warning for the Yellow River, he also came to the banks of the Yellow River.
After seeing the map of the Yellow River basin drawn by Zhu Xiang, which wore out several pairs of straw sandals, King Zheng of Qin pondered all night and circled out several flood discharge areas.
The Qin army assembled and forcibly drove the Qin people away from the flood diversion area.
Although Qin Shi Huang promised to compensate them, who would be willing to see the harvest-ready farmland flooded? Who would be willing to see their hometown turned into a vast lake? Who would be willing to leave their hometown and start over
No one wants to.
Since King Zheng of Qin ascended the throne, civil unrest broke out in the country for the first time.
He ordered severe punishment for the leaders, but the accomplices would not be severely punished as long as they surrendered in time.
When many refugees became prisoners, it became easier for King Zheng of Qin to release the flood water without being restricted.
Therefore, many historians in later generations speculated that King Zheng of Qin's rough behavior this time was probably intentional.
Zhu Xiang also thought of this possibility, but he did not ask.
Being a king is like being a general. You can't ask a general why he sent bait to die, so you can't ask the King of Qin why he provoked the people to riot.
What's more, it was he who proposed the flood discharge and he was the one who provided the river basin map.
Zhu Xiang inspected the dike day and night and stayed at the junction of the Wei River and the Yellow River to prevent the Yellow River from breaking through the dike and endangering the Wei River.
If the dam at the junction of the Wei River and the Yellow River is breached by floods, it may endanger the Wei River basin, and the Qin State will be affected more widely.
King Zheng of Qin did not inspect the dikes. Instead, he inspected other grain-producing areas in the Kanto Plain that were affected by the heavy rain, urging the Qin people to harvest quickly during the brief sunny days and severely punish those who hoarded grain.
Wherever King Zheng of Qin went, heads rolled to the ground.
Two consecutive months of flooding turned the Yellow River into a wreaking havoc.
The Three Jins were all in the Yellow River Basin, and they were hit by floods right after they were conquered by Qin. As a result, rumors spread that Qin had violated the will of Heaven and was being punished by Heaven. Many of the old nobles in the Three Jins were ready to take the opportunity to rebel against the Qin Dynasty.
At this moment, Zhang Liang came to the side of King Zheng of Qin.
After the two men discussed for a whole day, Zhang Liang left with Qin Shi Huang's imperial edict.
New rumors appeared in the Three Jins.
Do you remember the locust plague? When the Qin State resisted the locust plague, the high-ranking scholars said that the Qin State was punished by God. Does this mean that other countries did not suffer from locust plagues
Floods occurred every few years in the Yellow River, and the Qin State actively managed the floods, which was said to be a punishment from heaven. Could it be that the Three Jin States, which allowed the floods to happen, were thanking heaven for giving them the floods and therefore refused to provide disaster relief
Zhang Liang also spread rumors that the old nobles of the six kingdoms, in order to restore their country, disregarded the lives of the people and tried to dig up the dam and flood more fertile fields.
He also sent assassins to various dikes to pretend to be servants of the old nobles of the six countries, pretend to destroy the dikes, and then sent troops to capture them.
During this period, there were also some really stupid old nobles from the six countries who took advantage of the situation and sent people to sabotage the embankments.
Zhang Liang, who was well prepared, captured them immediately and blamed all his actions on these fools.
Zhang Liang fanned the flames everywhere. When the flood was about to collapse and needed to be released again, he detonated all the sparks, causing the victims to attack the manors of the old nobles of the six countries who were hoarding goods or secretly gathering strength to prepare for rebellion.
The angry victims killed these people and stole their food.
The Qin army immediately came to quell the rebellion and appease the victims. They dealt with some of the leaders, and then renovated the manors retained by the old nobles of the six countries and turned them into resettlement sites for the victims.
King Qin's work of dealing with the flood immediately became much smoother.
After finishing everything, Zhang Liang returned to King Zheng of Qin and was formally appointed as an internal official by King Zheng of Qin.
Zhu Xiang didn't know any of this.
But as things developed, he had a vague feeling that someone else must have intervened and pushed this.
He did not write to inquire, but continued to patrol the levees silently, trying to save as many levees as possible.
At the end of September, the rainfall decreased, the flood peak finally passed, and the water level began to recede.
Zhu Xiang then rushed to the flood diversion site without stopping, and together with the common people who had returned to rebuild their hometown, as well as the prisoners and Qin soldiers sent by the King of Qin, he cleaned up the sludge, rescued the grain buried underground that might still be saved, and replanted famine relief crops.
The King of Qin's famine relief grain was also delivered.
Under Zhu Xiang's leadership, the government provided relief, the victims' emotions became more stable, and they finally survived the flood.
But after a great disaster there is a great epidemic; crop failure and famine are not the only consequences of a flood.
Zhu Xiang wrote a letter to Bian Que in Southern Qin asking for help, hoping that he would send his disciples to help.
Although there was no shortage of medical practitioners in Guanzhong and Guandong, when Bian Que was studying schistosomiasis in Southern Qin, he also conducted in-depth research on other epidemic diseases after floods. Prevention of epidemics after the Yellow River flood was his forte.
When the Yellow River was about to flood, Zhu Xiang sent someone to write a letter asking Bian Que to send his disciples over.
When Zhu Xiang had already used his meager knowledge of epidemic prevention to control the epidemic, Bian Que's disciples arrived late.
At the same time, Bian Que's avatar in his favorability list also turned gray.
Seeing Bian Que's disciples wearing coarse linen clothes, Zhu Xiang said nothing and just assigned their work.
"Duke Zhu Xiang, the teacher left many books in Wujun. I hope to present them to Duke Zhu Xiang."
The new Bian Que Dao.
Zhu Xiang nodded: "When the epidemic is over, I will return to Wujun to see your teacher off."
Zhu Xiang didn't even know the old man's real name, he only knew his surname.
Even the favorability list did not include the old man’s real name, only the two words “Bian Que”.
The two words "Bian Que" in Zhu Xiang's favorability list dimmed, and a new "Bian Que" lit up.
Bian Que was a miracle doctor known among the people and passed down from generation to generation.
After they inherited the name of Bian Que, they became Bian Que, just Bian Que.
The old man's tombstone only bears the name of Bian Que. Only in the coffin is there a record of his past.
After Bian Que became too old to walk, he lived in Wu County and wrote books.
He believed what Zhu Xiang said.
Zhu Xiang said that he would teach medicine in the Xianyang Academy. If the Xianyang Academy could not be opened, he would build a medical school in Xianyang at his own expense, where people could systematically learn medical skills.
A medical school requires teaching materials, and Bian Que was busy with this matter.
Bian Que also wanted to gather more friends in the same field to study together. But not everyone was like him, with a kind heart that everyone in the world could become a doctor.
Today's doctors are craftsmen. They do not regard medicine as a subject of study, but as a skill that cannot be practiced outside and is used to make a living.
Most craftsmen were afraid that if they taught their apprentices, they would starve to death. The same was true for doctors.
But doctors are not medical craftsmen. Like other schools of thought, they are also a school of thought. They are also scholars who seek a way to heal the world, a group of seekers.
They not only want to cure a certain person or a certain disease, but also have the simple wish of "all diseases can be cured" and "there will be no pain in the world".
Bian Que wanted to pass down his medical skills to more people.
As long as you want to study medicine, you should be able to study medicine.
When Bian Que's request was not approved by his friends, he did not feel depressed. His fighting spirit became even higher.
He spent the rest of his life writing books.
Now, he entrusted his efforts and hopes to Zhu Xiang.
When Zhu Xiang learned that Bian Que had entrusted him with many medical books, Bian Que also appeared in his dream.
He congratulated Zhu Xiang with a smile, saying that he had completed the medical textbooks and could recruit students.
However, the medical books have not yet been proofread, and require many people to continue their efforts.
Zhu Xiang smiled and replied, "Our ancestors have pointed out a path. The rest of the way is for the descendants to walk and open up by themselves. How can our ancestors complete everything? Don't worry, the road to medicine has just begun, and the descendants will not let you down."
Bian Que said, "With Duke Zhu Xiang's promise, I feel relieved."
Bian Que bowed to Zhu Xiang and disappeared in Zhu Xiang's dream.
He came for a very short time, said very little, and left very calmly.
There was no sadness, no resentment, he just came to tell Zhu Xiang in person and confirm Zhu Xiang's promise.
When Zhu Xiang woke up, he received a gift from Bian Que.
Special Artemisia annua.
Artemisia annua is an important source of artemisinin, a specific drug for treating malaria. This branch of Artemisia annua has a high concentration of artemisinin.
Zhu Xiang did not know how to extract and purify artemisinin, and had only heard that one of the steps was low-temperature alcohol extraction. But as long as this Artemisia annua was planted and promoted, ordinary people could chew it directly or soak it in medicinal wine to achieve a certain effect in treating malaria.
In later Africa, some knowledgeable people transplanted Artemisia annua back to their hometown in order to save their hometown. They taught their fellow villagers to take Artemisia annua to prevent and treat malaria, which achieved good results.
Zhu Xiang only had to follow suit.
After a flood, mosquitoes breed and malaria is one of the most common epidemics.
Zhu Xiang took out Artemisia annua and ordered people to search for similar herbs across the country and transport them to the epidemic area.
He knew that Artemisia annua could treat malaria. But he was just a professor of agronomy and had never planted it, so he had no impression of Artemisia annua. Now that he had specimens to compare, he could finally find Artemisia annua to treat the disease.
Although searching for Artemisia annua now may not be very useful for this epidemic, the next time there is a malaria epidemic, Qin will be able to deal with it.
It is better to be prepared than to be caught unprepared. That's it.
King Zheng of Qin also issued an edict to summon doctors from all over the world to Xianyang, to add a medical school in the Xianyang Academy, and to reward knowledgeable people who were willing to teach medical skills.
The fame and fortune lured them. The famous doctors who were originally proud of their own achievements were finally tempted.
When Qin was fighting floods, Chu also suffered from floods. However, the Yellow River only had a short section in Chu, and the areas near the Yellow River were all border defense lines, so it had almost no impact on Chu.
After the fall of the State of Yan, the people of Chu finally stopped their civil strife.
The only country left is Chu. If the internal strife continues, Chu will be doomed.
Xiang Yan still had feelings for Chu. While Qin was busy dealing with the flood and had no time to care about other countries, Xiang Yan and King Qi of Chu reached a consensus and each took a step back.
King Qi of Chu moved the capital to Xiangcheng and renamed it "Yingdu" - all the capitals of Chu were called "Ying". In fact, the previous Chendu was also "Yingdu" in the official name of Chu.
Xiang Yan was appointed Ling Yin and also promoted to General, with an additional fief of 100,000 households.
Everyone knows that once Qin has recovered, it will definitely attack Chu.
Xiang Yan reorganized the Chu army and recruited more than 400,000 soldiers to resist the attack of the Qin army.
When he started to deploy his troops, Xiang Yan had a headache.
Chu was originally surrounded by Qin on three sides. Wang Jian was ordered to support Qi from the south of Qin. After he dug a narrow passage in the coastal area east of Chu, Chu was attacked from all sides.
After discussing with King Qi of Chu, Xiang Yan first led more than 400,000 soldiers to attack the main road between Qin and Qi in the east to avoid the danger of being attacked from all sides.
But when Xiang Yan led his troops to the city occupied by Qin in the east, he found that the Qin army had quietly left the city.
(End of this chapter)