After assisting Lian Po and Zhu Xiang in Zhao State for a period of time, Li Mu returned to Southern Qin to guard it.
When Wang Jian attacked Yan, Li Mu also took over Wang Jian's defense zone.
Li Mu had already been granted the title of nobility and was not particularly concerned about making achievements. He knew Wang Jian's intentions, so when King Zheng of Qin issued an edict asking him to attack Yan, he recommended Wang Jian.
Li Mu persuaded King Zheng of Qin that now that Lord Bai had passed away, the two most senior generals in the court were Lord Lian and him. Both Lord Lian and he came from the State of Zhao. Although they had made great contributions and were very close to the King of Qin, they were probably not happy with the old Qin nobles.
Wang Jian is very capable, and his family members are native Qin people for several generations. Wang Jian should be allowed to make more achievements and be granted a title of nobility as soon as possible, so as to achieve a balance of power among the generals.
Of course, in your eyes, Your Majesty, there is no need for such a balance, but you still have to pretend to do it, and Wang Jian is really good.
After receiving Li Mu's letter, King Zheng of Qin kept it with a very evil taste.
"When General Wang is granted the title of Marquis, I will send this letter to him." Qin Wang Zheng said to his attendants, "General Wang will surely be very touched."
Lin Zhi: "That's so touching, well done, Your Majesty!"
Cai Ze: "Alas..."
After the departure of King Qin Xia Tong, King Qin Zheng Er came. This is what it means for a son to inherit his father's business and to carry on the family tradition.
Wang Jian, thank you for your hard work.
Li Mu, whose status was already high enough, took his achievements lightly. Now he only focused on the State of Chu and fulfilled the long-cherished wish of King Qin to unify the world.
The State of Chu was indeed very powerful.
Li Mu spent nearly twenty years gradually dismantling and eroding the State of Chu. Only one-third of its original size remained, but Chu was still the second most powerful country among the seven Warring States.
If Prince Qi had not been deposed and Chunshen Jun had not died, the two generations of Kings of Chu would have been smoothly handed over. With Chunshen Jun as the Prime Minister and Xiang Yan as the General, a sober and young King of Chu could have reproduced the "harmony between generals and ministers" during the reign of King Huiwen of Zhao.
Even if Qin could win against a Chu State like that, it would have to pay a huge price and it would be difficult to win the hearts of the Chu people.
Although Prince Qi has now become the King of Chu, Chunshen Jun is dead, Xiang Yan and other Mi nobles in the country are in sharp conflict. The Chu State is already in decline and there is no way to save it.
But the declining Chu State was still incomparable to Wei, Han, Zhao, Yan and Qi. It was still the biggest obstacle for Qin to unify the world. Qin would use the most grand and cautious battle to deal with Chu.
Li Mu did not intervene when Xiang Yan and the King of Chu fell out. He patiently waited for the conflict between Xiang Yan and the King of Chu to intensify, and only took action after the two sides had a peace talk.
When Xiang Yan and the King of Chu negotiated, it was not that their conflict was resolved, but that the conflict had been going on for a long time and both sides were exhausted. Although it seemed calm, the hidden dangers had already been buried.
Therefore, the longer this contradiction lasts, the better.
Li Mu had expected that the King of Chu and Xiang Yan would be quickly forced to reconcile when they saw Qin attacking Yan. Even if Chu did not risk supporting Yan from afar, it should be prepared to guard against Qin.
So when Wang Jian and the Yan army were confronting each other at Yishui, Li Mu began to mobilize logistics, select troops and generals, and adjust the battle line.
After the King of Qi repeatedly knocked on the gates to persuade them to surrender, the steadfast forces of Qi State became extremely disgusted with the King of Qi, and their disgust even spread to the entire Qi royal family.
Li Mu also asked novelists who were accompanying the army to write vernacular novels and dress up as storytellers to spread the "great achievements" of the King of Qi throughout the State of Qi.
Novelist is one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, and originated from the lineage of稗官 who collected folk legends and opinions for the King of Zhou so that he could understand the people's sentiments.
There are so many legends about Zhu Xiang that many novelists came to Zhu Xiang for materials. Zhu Xiang kept them by his side and integrated them into "propagandists."
Because they have no unique ideas, novelists have a very low status among the various schools of thought and are despised by the prominent Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism and other schools as being of inferior status.
Zhu Xiang valued novelists, affirmed their role, and helped them compile and organize "novelists' thoughts on seeking truth and political ideas." Now novelists have also entered the halls of learning, becoming a required course in the Xianyang Academy.
Therefore, novelists regarded Zhu Xiang as an academic leader and called him "Zhu Xiangzi".
However, there were too many philosophers who regarded Zhu Xiang as an academic leader, so people at that time did not pay much attention to it.
Under Zhu Xiang's bizarre idea, Li Mu adopted Zhu Xiang's suggestion to let novelists join the army as clerks and set up the position of "propaganda", whose main responsibility was to quell the grievances of the people who occupied the city after the war and to promote the positive image of the Qin State with various popular stories.
The effect is very good. Li Mu has already written to King Zheng of Qin, suggesting that it be promoted nationwide. There are also novelists in the armies of Lian Po and Wang Jian.
With the diligent promotion of the novelist's disciples, even old farmers in the countryside would spit when they mentioned the King of Qi.
In addition to Qi's bumper harvest and Qin's lighter corvee and taxes than Qi, Qi is now basically self-sufficient in food. The situation is very stable and there is no need for Southern Qin to continue transporting food and people.
When Li Mu added fuel to the civil strife in Chu, the novelist's disciples also made an indelible contribution.
The short stories they drew from folk customs and historical books of previous dynasties were easier to spread than simple rumors, and were more vivid and touching.
After hearing stories about how generals threatened the monarch and tried to take control of the country, King Qi of Chu and the nobles surnamed Mi were very afraid of Xiang Yan. After hearing many stories about how people became more powerful than their masters and were abandoned after their own death, Xiang Yan also became more and more distrustful of King Qi of Chu.
The suspicion between the two sides meant that even if Qin attacked Yan, Chu would be Qin's next target, and a temporary reconciliation was impossible in a short period of time.
So Li Mu evacuated from the eastern part of Chu in an orderly manner.
He only left a small number of people to garrison in order to give the Chu State the illusion that Qin was still holding on.
When evacuating, Li Mu also moved the residents of the city away.
During the locust plague, the coastal saline-alkali land was the worst hit area. The narrow passage along the eastern coast of Chu State was almost deserted, and only one tenth of the population survived.
The reputation of Southern Qin's prosperity had long spread throughout Chu. Li Mu moved the Chu people from several cities in the east of Chu to Southern Qin to reclaim wasteland, and they had no complaints.
The road of population migration in ancient times was a road to hell. Even if the government provided food rations for the migration, no one knew how many people would die on the road.
The roads of every migration were covered with the blood, tears and corpses of the common people.
The Chu people were very active in leaving their homes and moving from the eastern cities of Chu to the south of the Huai River, which shows how difficult their lives had become.
Because the Chu people were very cooperative, Li Mu evacuated the civilians quietly.
Due to locust plagues and famine, large areas of Chu's hinterland and eastern coastal plains were vacant of population. In addition, Chu was in civil strife and had no energy to plant spies, so Li Mu withdrew his people and they did not notice.
Li Mu took advantage of the time and after receiving the information that Wang Jian had surrounded Yan's capital Jicheng, he ordered his army to prepare and set out, quietly going around to the upper reaches of the Huai River.
After the King of Chu and Xiang Yan reached a compromise, the first thing Xiang Yan would do was to sweep Qin out from the east to avoid being attacked from all sides.
When Xiang Yan led his army to attack the east, he could go down the Huai River and attack the heartland of Chu.
Li Mu didn't expect that King Qi of Chu and Xiang Yan were not stupid people, but it was also beyond his expectations that they took too long to reconcile.
He never expected that the Qin State would encounter a severe flood in the Yellow River.
King Qi of Chu was too slow in reconciling with Xiang Yan, which resulted in his army wasting a lot of food and fodder; the Yellow River floods caused serious problems with the grain harvest and food supply in Guanzhong and Guandong of Qin.
Man proposes, God disposes. Li Mu made a mistake this time.
Li Mu requested to withdraw his troops, but King Zheng of Qin rejected Li Mu's request. He decisively ordered Li Mu not to worry about the consumption of food and grass, and to stay as long as he needed. Even if he stayed for a whole year, he could still supply food and grass to the army.
King Zheng of Qin ordered Southern Qin to stop transporting grain and grass to Xianyang and directly supply Li Mu's army. When providing disaster relief, only the grain that Qin had originally stored was used.
Li Mu reported that the army could not eat up all the food and fodder, so they only took a portion of it, and the rest was still transported to Xianyang.
However, the Qin State had only enjoyed good weather for a few years, and King Zheng of Qin had to fight wars one after another after he ascended the throne. When the Qin State was carrying out disaster relief, there was still a shortage of relief grain.
So Zhang Liang took action, using the anger of the victims to wipe out many of the old nobles and corrupt wealthy people in the Three Jins, and seized a lot of stored food and grass... and reduced the number of victims and their anger, thus passing this period of vacancy.
When the grain from Shu was delivered, the other parts of Qin that were not affected by the disaster had a good harvest, which made up for the shortage of relief grain, and Qin safely got through this difficult time.
Li Mu's army stationed in the upper reaches of the Huai River had no problem with food and grass. In addition, the Qin State was in a panic because of the flood, and Li Mu's army was hidden under the flood and heavy rain. Not counting the civilians, a full 100,000 people were training in the upper reaches of the Huai River, occasionally helping with flood control and farming, which did not attract the attention of the Chu State at all.
During this period, the sect also had Zhang Liang's strategy.
After Zhang Liang became an eunuch, he came to Southern Qin with the Qin King's edict in a high-profile manner, mobilized the Southern Qin army to the north to fight the flood, and confused the Chu people.
Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that King Qi of Chu and Xiang Yan had finally reconciled and moved the capital to Xiangcheng.
He finally waited for it.
Fortunately, Zheng'er was very capable. Otherwise, he would have to withdraw his troops due to food and grass problems, and return empty-handed, not only wasting so much money and food in vain, but also alerting the enemy.
Li Mu was in a good mood when he learned that King Qi of Chu was moving the capital.
Although Xiangcheng was strong, it was still inferior to Chendu. A capital city would definitely need special planning and renovation to accommodate so many nobles. Xiangcheng was not built to be a capital, and the King of Chu moved the capital in a hurry, which would definitely cause chaos in the city defense.
Although King Qi of Chu was not stupid, he did not have much experience in governing a country. The Chu court originally had high-ranking ministers who could take charge of the overall situation. Since Li Yuan came to power, Chu had experienced many internal conflicts and was almost cleared out. In addition, they were afraid of Qin and wanted to escape to the safest place. No one realized this problem.
"General, we've been eating food for nothing for half a year. Can we finally fight a war?" There was a hint of aggrievedness in Meng Tian's tone.
When the Qin State suffered a flood from the Yellow River, they ate food and grass for half a year in vain and did almost nothing. Meng Tian began to feel guilty.
Not only Meng Tian, but the Qin soldiers also felt the same way.
Although it was good to have free food, the general had to spread the word in the army about how difficult the Qin State was now and how difficult it was for the King of Qin to ensure that these people had free food and drink while waiting for the opportunity to fight.
Most of the generals who led the troops were veterans who had followed Li Mu for nearly twenty years. When Qin Wang Zheng was in Southern Chu, he played in Li Mu's army many times and even chased Xiang Yan's defeated army with Li Mu. Most of them had seen Qin Wang Zheng in his childhood.
Although King Zheng of Qin has grown up now, in their impression, he is still that chubby little boy, full of energy.
Although this was not right, when Qin Shi Huang was with Zhu Xiang and Li Mu, he was too down-to-earth, and they all inadvertently treated Qin Shi Huang as their own younger generation.
They watched the chubby Prince Zheng grow up to be the spirited Crown Prince Zheng, and then Crown Prince Zheng left them, went to Xianyang, and became King Zheng of Qin.
The kid finally became the King of Qin, but these uncles and aunts not only failed to do anything for the kid they had watched grow up, but also hindered him. The veterans who followed Li Mu felt very upset.
Thinking back to the time before the previous king's death, the progress of unifying the world was interrupted by years of natural disasters and famine. They felt even more upset and could not help but curse the evil God.
Now they could finally break camp and go to war. The depression they had been holding back for more than half a year had turned into a tangible morale boost, and Li Mu didn't even need to prepare for a pre-war mobilization.
Seeing that the effect was very good, Li Mu ordered his men to publicize the story of Qin Wang Zheng's understanding and good behavior in his childhood. He focused on describing how Qin Wang Zheng got along well with all the generals in the army, did not care about his noble birth, and even ordinary old soldiers would affectionately call him "old man".
Qin Wangzheng was a good boy. If it were any other Qin king, he would definitely be dissatisfied with Wu Chengjun's wrong decision and their waste of military rations. But Qin Wangzheng knew their difficulties and tightened his belt to support them.
Qin was in a difficult situation, and they needed to provide disaster relief and food and fodder. King Zheng of Qin went from eating three meals a day to only one meal a day, and even his chubby face became thinner due to hunger.
How could they not swear allegiance to the king until death!
kill!
"Ah?" Qin Wangzheng was shocked. "This was the teacher's idea?!"
Zhang Liang said expressionlessly: "Yes."
Qin Wangzheng was full of doubt: "Teacher is very cautious. Even if he knew that I would not be angry with him, he would never take the initiative to introduce me into his military strategy."
Zhang Liang said expressionlessly, "Wu Chengjun had no choice but to do so."
Qin Wangzheng took a deep breath and slammed the table: "It is definitely your suggestion! Even if the teacher takes everything on himself, I know the teacher very well. Every time he takes the blame for others, he will talk too much!"
The teacher loves to take the blame for his uncle. But he doesn't realize that when it is really his fault, he will say very little and basically acquiesce; but once he takes the blame, he will talk a lot, and his words are often passionate and convincing.
This is the "one or two little tricks to identify Li Mu's lies" that Grandfather Zeng secretly taught to Qin Shi Huang. After many years of time, Qin Shi Huang summed up.
Now the teacher explains in detail in the book why he did this, and it was all his idea. That must be taking the blame for others!
Since my uncle was not with my teacher, there was only one suspect! That was Zhang Liang, who often personally escorted food and grass to my teacher's army!
Zhang Liang continued to deny it. After several denials to no avail, his expressionless face disappeared and he said unhappily, "What do you mean by taking the blame? Is this a mistake? Isn't this to make you famous? Look at the soldiers' high morale. They are all willing to die for the fat Qin Wang Zheng. Aren't you moved?"
"I'm not touched at all! When have I ever been fat?" Qin Wang Zheng cursed, "The first time I saw you, I stepped on you!"
Zhang Liang showed a trace of anger on his face. "I didn't step on you. You just scared me with your sword! Duke Zhu Xiang and Lady Wu often said you were fat! The teacher also said you were fat! The veterans in the army also often mentioned that you used to be fat, fat!"
Qin Wang Zheng said: "I am rich!"
Zhang Liang: "A plump, fat man!"
Qin Wangzheng sneered: "Do you admit that you deliberately slandered me?"
Zhang Liang also sneered: "The generals and soldiers in Wu Chengjun's army all praise the King of Qin and are willing to die for him. How can this be called smearing? This is to promote your reputation, the King of Qin."
Watertight!
But Zhang Liang did intend to "disgust" the King of Qin.
It was not that he was looking for trouble, but that the King of Qin had humiliated him beforehand.
After Zhang Liang arrived in Xianyang, King Zheng of Qin trusted him very much, adopted his suggestions, allowed him to implement his plans with confidence, and gave him great power.
When Zhang Liang succeeded, King Zheng of Qin not only ignored the opposition of many people and made the young Zhang Liang an eunuch, but also granted Zhang Liang the position of Zhongchefu Ling, in charge of the King of Qin's travels and able to enter and leave the palace freely.
Being in charge of the Qin King's travel carriages is equivalent to knowing the Qin King's whereabouts. This position can only be given to a close confidant.
Zhang Liang was originally feeling quite comfortable.
Although King Zheng of Qin had a foul mouth and a bad temper, as a king he treated his subjects quite well.
But then, Qin Wangzheng and Zhang Liang made a joke that he thought was funny: "Mr. Zhang, I was originally planning to appoint Zhao Gao as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots."
Zhang Liang: “?”
Zhang Liang was first thrown to Zhu Xiang by Han Fei, and was urged by Zhu Xiang many times before he came to Xianyang. Zhu Xiang murmured for a long time when Zhao Gao was killed, so Zhang Liang naturally knew who Zhao Gao was.
Palace slaves, flatterers, treacherous and evil villains.
Ying Zheng! What do you mean?! Are you comparing me to Zhao Gao?! You are humiliating me!!
Seeing Zhang Liang's face change drastically, King Zheng of Qin added, "I was crippled at the time and trusted Zhao Gao very much. I thought that I promoted Zhao Gao from a palace slave to a minister in the court, and this favor would definitely make Zhao Gao feel very grateful. Who knew that Zhao Gao failed me. Zhang Qing is still a good person. The first time I saw you, I scared you and made you cry loudly. I also put you in prison, but you were still loyal to me."
Hold hands and shake.
"Zhang Qing, you are my chariot commander!"
The eyes are sincere!
Zhang Liang: "…Should I be touched?"
King Zheng of Qin laughed.
Zhang Liang gritted his teeth and said, "Ying Zheng!"
King Zheng of Qin laughed loudly: "Zhang Liang, how can you call your Majesty by his name? This is a serious crime of disobedience! Hahahahaha!"
After making a joke, King Zheng of Qin left in anger, leaving Zhang Liang with a lot of work to do. He was not worried at all that Zhang Liang would become passive and lazy because of being too angry.
Zhang Liang wrote this grudge down in his little notebook and decided to take revenge immediately.
So he adjusted his plan and changed the promotion of the King of Qin's wisdom and bravery to the promotion of the King of Qin as a lovable little fat man.
The result is the same anyway, isn't it
Seeing King Zheng of Qin's ugly face, Zhang Liang felt proud.
Get back a city!
"Hmph." King Zheng of Qin looked at Zhang Liang's smug look. Although he snorted coldly, he was not really angry.
In order to boost morale, let alone publicizing that he was once a lovable little fat man, he would not mind even if he was asked to go to the army now to build relationships with the soldiers on the front line and call them "old man" a few times.
Zhang Liang's strategy was actually more effective than the previous one.
Although his previous strategies could boost morale, the King of Qin was high above the others, and for most soldiers, "loyalty to the king" was a very vague and illusory concept.
However, by specifying "loyalty to the emperor" to a "young master who grew up in front of everyone", the army's loyalty to "Ying Zheng" as an individual was strengthened, rather than to the "King of Qin".
This is what Li Mu had been doing before.
He held the little fat boy's hand and inspected the army, telling the generals and soldiers that this child was their "monarch" and that all orders in the army had to be stamped and approved by the little fat boy before they could be executed.
During the Warring States Period, the army often became the "private army" of generals, and their loyalty to the generals was greater than their loyalty to the monarch.
With the consent of three generations of Qin kings, namely King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Renwen of Qin and King Zichu of Qin, Li Mu has always emphasized in his army that Ying Xiaozheng is the real "commander-in-chief" of the army and he is the "steward".
This was another guarantee given by the three generations of Qin kings to Ying Xiaozheng's succession to the throne.
The King of Qin was suspicious, and their worst plan was that Ying Xiaozheng would not be able to come back in time to succeed to the throne. Then Li Mu's private army would at least allow Ying Xiaozheng to control Southern Qin and then compete for the throne.
Originally, after Ying Xiaozheng became the King of Qin, this kind of "military construction" was no longer useful.
Zhang Liang used it again to emphasize Ying Zheng's dominance over the Southern Qin army.
After Ying Zheng left Southern Qin, Southern Qin went from being a "center" to being a "remote" place. Therefore, at least one of Zhu Xiang and Xue Ji had to stay in Southern Qin to reduce the disappointment among many Southern Qin scholars and generals.
Zhang Liang believed that even if the King of Qin was not in Southern Qin, he could tell the people of Southern Qin that "Ying Zheng" was still their master and they were still closer to "Ying Zheng".
Qin Wangzheng is the king of Qin, and "Ying Zheng" is your king. You are different from Qin people in other places.
For example, the army. The army in other places was the army of the King of Qin and obeyed the orders of the generals. But the army of Southern Qin was closer to the private soldiers of "Ying Zheng" from the beginning. They accompanied Ying Zheng from a fat boy to a heroic young King of Qin, and were the army that "Ying Zheng" trusted the most.
With this understanding, the Southern Qin army will not only be in high spirits in this war, but will also be loyal to their "master Ying Zheng" in the future. Even if Southern Qin is remote, they will never betray.
Li Mu originally thought that Zhang Liang's plan was simply ridiculous.
What is this? Have you listened to Zhu Xiang's nonsense? Believe it or not, if Zheng Er heard about this, although he would not punish you in official matters, he would definitely chase you with a sword and beat you so hard that you couldn't get up for a month.
After Zhang Liang's explanation, Li Mu was convinced.
Southern Qin was too far from Xianyang. When he was stationed in Southern Qin, he could ensure that Southern Qin was under the control of Qin Wangzheng. But what about after that? Would the generals stationed in Southern Qin take advantage of the remoteness of Southern Qin to establish themselves
He is older than King Zheng of Qin, so he will definitely walk ahead of King Zheng of Qin. He cannot help King Zheng of Qin guard Southern Qin all the time.
Zhang Liang's strategy solved the hidden worries in his heart.
If the concept of "Ying Zheng's private army" was constantly instilled in the Southern Qin garrison and the navy, and they were made to regard Zheng'er as their "master" rather than their "king", perhaps if a general rebelled in the future, they would still be loyal to Zheng'er, and even directly kidnap the rebellious general.
Now Zheng'er has agreed that when Fusu grows up, he can also come to Southern Qin to gain more experience, so that the concept of "Qin Wang's private army" can be passed down from generation to generation. The Southern Qin army will become the most solid foundation of Qin Wang.
As for whether Zheng'er would get angry and yell "When have I ever been fat? I'm not fat. I've never acted like a spoiled child or anything like that. Never!", well, compared to the loyalty of the Southern Qin army, Zheng'er should be able to accept this small price.
Zhang Liang was indeed a smart child recognized by Zhu Xiang and Zheng Er. Li Mu's prejudice against Zhang Liang, which he had developed from his "family of Han Xiang", finally disappeared.
As Li Mu had expected, King Zheng of Qin was a little angry and embarrassed, but after considering the benefits, he gladly accepted this matter.
When Xiang Yan's army marched eastward, Li Mu's army boarded warships and sailed downstream along the north bank of the Huai River. Just like when he captured the south bank of the Yangtze River during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, in just one month, he captured all the cities on the north bank of the Huai River one by one.
At the same time, King Zheng of Qin also came to Zhang Liang's elder brother Zhang Sheng and told him about Zhang Liang's publicity of his childhood deeds in the Southern Qin army.
When Zhang Liang returned home, he was severely beaten by his eldest brother.
King Zheng of Qin gave a large amount of medicine as a consolation.
Zhang Liang, who was lying on the bed and unable to get up, said: "Damn you, Ying Zheng! I want to resign!"
(End of this chapter)