King Qi of Chu can be regarded as the most tenacious and clear-headed king of Chu among the countries destroyed by Qin.
He opened the palace treasury to reward the soldiers, mobilized the citizens to join in the defense of the city, and personally wore armor and went to the city wall to comfort the soldiers defending the city;
He knew very well that leaders should not interfere, so he gave the defense of the city to the generals. Even if someone opposed some of the decisions made by the generals, as long as there were no mistakes, he would suppress them all so that the generals could rest assured.
He also kept sending people to break through, trying to contact Xiang Yan and inform him of the situation in the city.
It can be said that King Qi of Chu did everything he could.
King Qi of Chu looked at the defeated Chu soldiers under the city and sighed deeply.
He did everything he could, but it was in vain.
"Your Majesty, let's run away!" Seeing this scene outside the city, the nobles of the Chu State were very desperate.
Xiang Yan was not only the only capable general of Chu, but he also took away the last elite troops of Chu! Now that Xiang Yan has been defeated, what hope does Chu have to resist Qin? !
King Qi of Chu glanced at everyone.
He sneered: "If I continue to hold on, will you tie me up and hand me over to the Qin army? Like what happened to the King of Yan?"
The officials immediately asked, "What nonsense is your Majesty talking about?"
King Chu Qi shook his head: "That's not nonsense."
The most desperate thing now is not that Xiang Yan was defeated, but that Chu is the only one left among the six countries.
Even if they escaped, what would happen? The Chu State was surrounded by enemies on all sides and could not escape being completely devoured.
The King of Qin treated the old nobles of the six kingdoms well. After Qin conquered Chu, Chu would definitely still need its scholars to govern. How many people around him had already decided to surrender to Qin
Before, Xiang Yan's army was outside and there was still hope of defending Xiangcheng, so the thoughts of surrender were suppressed.
Now Xiang Yan, the only one who might be able to fight against the Qin general, has been defeated. Looking around the State of Chu, where can someone emerge to turn the tide
But it was a dying struggle.
"I came to Chu from Qin, but I already knew it was in vain." King Qi of Chu recalled his life in Qin.
The King of Qin was really good to him. If he was willing to work hard for the King of Qin, as a relative of the King, he would definitely be given the title of a lord.
One wrong step and half of his short life was ruined.
If he could go back in time, would he still choose this path
King Qi of Chu didn't know.
When he decided to return to Chu, Chu's territory was still vast and its strength was still strong, and it could still compete with Qin.
At that time, the emperor and his father were not yet incompetent, and Chunshen Jun was still the prime minister.
Who would have known that within just a few years of returning to the country, the glorious building would suddenly collapse, and the eight hundred years of great Jingchu would disappear in the blink of an eye
"Your Majesty, if we retreat back to Chen, we can still defend it!" said the official Youqing.
Chu Wangqi finished his recollection and said calmly: "If we can go back."
He knew the situation was irreversible, but he still wanted to fight to the end. Perhaps he would not let down his decision to choose this path of no return until all the people around him who supported him died in battle
King Qi of Chu did not open the city gates, allowing the defeated soldiers to wail in despair outside the city.
Li Mu returned to Xiangcheng and drove the Chu army to desperately hit the city walls and gates with their weapons, consuming the defensive weapons and soldiers on the city walls.
He held a telescope in one hand and pointed at the tower with a whip in the other: "The King of Chu is on the tower. He is probably looking at where Xiang Yan is."
Meng Tian smiled and lifted up a bloody head: "Here!"
Li Mu said, "Take it and show it to him."
Meng Tian rode forward: "Okay!"
Li Mu randomly found a head of a Chu person and asked Meng Tian to hang it on the flagpole.
"Xiang Yan is dead! Surrender immediately!"
Meng Tian proudly held up the flagpole and showed off at the city gate where King Qi of Chu was.
The Chu army had been defeated, but the smugness in Meng Tian's expression did not seem fake. The people on the city wall did not believe it yet, but the defeated soldiers under the wall believed it first.
Some of them turned around and knelt down to surrender, while others pounded on the walls and gates of Xiangcheng even more frantically.
The words "General Xiang is dead" kept ringing among the fleeing soldiers, drowning out Meng Tian's complacent voice.
Among the defeated soldiers was Xiang Yan.
He really wanted to jump out and shout "I'm not dead", but was held down by his guards and deputy general.
"General! The Qin people are just trying to trick you!"
Of course Xiang Yan knew it, but he was anxious.
The people in Xiangcheng were originally a bunch of mediocre people. If they thought they were dead and the morale of the soldiers defending the city was low, Xiangcheng would be in danger!
Xiang Yan did not think that the soldiers defending the city would "win the battle because of their grief" because they were sad about their own death. The premise of "win the battle because of grief" is that the soldiers' fighting power and willpower are not weak to begin with, and they have deep feelings for the dead.
Xiang Yan pulled all the soldiers who were loyal to him out on the expedition. Most of the garrison soldiers left in Xiangcheng were private soldiers with the surname Mi, who did not have much affection for him.
Just as Xiang Yan had expected, when the people under the city shouted "Xiang Yan is dead", the situation that King Qi of Chu had finally stabilized became worse again.
The morale of the soldiers was low, and some of the ministers advised the King of Chu to flee quickly.
King Qi of Chu said indifferently: "Even if I want to escape, how can I escape? You guys want to use me as bait so that you can surrender."
King Qi of Chu was too lazy to deal with these people and directly exposed their thoughts.
Now Xiangcheng is surrounded by the Qin army and blocked by Xiang Yan's defeated troops. How can he break through
If he could break through, why did he lose contact with Xiang Yan
The plan of this group of people was just to trick him into opening the city gate, and then they would be captured and surrender.
All the ministers and officials immediately knelt down and swore that they had no such idea.
King Qi of Chu glanced at everyone and said, "If you want to escape, I can open the city gate and let you escape first."
After King Qi of Chu said this, those who wanted to escape immediately fell silent.
Whoever escapes first will become a target. They are not stupid.
King Qi of Chu sighed deeply.
Now there are only two paths before him.
One way is to defend the city until it is broken, and then die in battle; the other way is for the defending soldiers to rush out in full force, and he to escape among them, and continue to fight against Qin in the north.
But the territory of Chu was so small, and almost all of it was plains. Xiangcheng was already the most central city.
To the north, he was adjacent to the Guandong area of Qin State, and to the south, the entire territory was controlled by the Southern Qin army. Apart from Chu State, there was only Qin State in the world, so where could he escape to
Just when King Qi of Chu was in trouble, the defeated soldiers actually cut a hole in the wall of Xiangcheng.
Although the soldiers defending the city used bows and crossbows to force back the fleeing soldiers and quickly transported stones and soil to block the gaps in the city wall, the morale of the people in the city inevitably became even lower.
King Qi of Chu did not go to the city wall again. He locked himself in the palace, covering his head and thinking about his way out.
At this time, Li Mu sent someone to deliver a letter under the city wall.
The general guarding the city had the letter hung up in a bamboo basket with a rope and delivered to King Qi of Chu.
This letter is of course a letter of persuasion to surrender.
"I know the King of Chu wants to die for the country, but please leave the ancient books in the palace of Chu. The history of Chu is 800 years old, and all its history is recorded in the ancient books. The King of Chu can die for the country, but the past of Chu should not die for the country."
King Qi of Chu was extremely shocked when he saw the letter. He laughed out loud and said, "Is this an attempt to persuade you to surrender?"
He laughed so hard that he wiped away his tears and even coughed.
"He is worthy of being a friend of Duke Zhu Xiang and an extraordinary general." King Qi of Chu really wanted to burn down the Chu Palace. After reading Li Mu's letter, he was convinced.
Since Qin has never thought of burning Chu's past, how can we burn Chu's past
Although the Chu State was destroyed, its past still existed. That past was in the room full of books he moved from Chendu.
King Chu Qi's mind suddenly became clear.
He thought about what he could do.
While Xiang Yan was still thinking about how to enter the city to protect King Qi of Chu and escape, King Qi of Chu handed Li Mu a document of surrender.
"I will surrender, but please don't hurt my people."
After receiving the letter from King Qi of Chu, Li Mu sighed and ordered the Qin army not to plunder the city after entering it. He would sort out the property in the city and distribute it all to the Qin army.
Li Mu was always generous when leading his troops. His soldiers could accumulate a lot of wealth without looting after breaking into the city, so the military discipline of the soldiers he led was very good.
Meng Tian was as cheerful as a soldier who had just entered the battlefield, and as a deputy general he went to deliver the orders in person.
The Qin army did not respond after receiving the order.
They have followed Li Mu for more than ten years and have never looted a city since it was captured. The general would have done so even if he did not emphasize it.
They might get injured or killed during the robbery, so they had to wait for Wu Chengjun to distribute the things to them, so that they could get more wealth.
After Li Mu gave orders to the army, he went out to persuade the defeated Chu soldiers under the city to surrender, and opened a passage for the defeated soldiers who were unwilling to surrender to leave.
Xiang Yan was extremely surprised.
These defeated soldiers can be organized in the future and continue to fight against Qin. Since Bai Qi first proposed the annihilation war, the other six countries followed suit. They all knew that they could not leave any living forces for the enemy and killed as many people as possible. Moreover, the military merit system of Qin was based on the number of heads! Li Mu actually let the defeated soldiers go. Isn't that letting a tiger go back to the mountain? !
Xiang Yan couldn't understand the decision Li Mu was making now.
But Li Mu left him a way to survive. He looked up at the city wall and still left along that way.
When he saw Li Mu's move, he knew that the King of Chu would definitely surrender. Then there was no need for him to stay here any longer.
Xiang Yan decided to return to Chendu, gather the defeated soldiers, elect a member of the Chu royal family as king, and continue to resist Qin.
"General, you have shown too much sincerity to the King of Chu. What should we do if he goes back on his word?" Meng Tian was also a little puzzled.
Li Mu shook his head and said, "I would not plunder the city anyway, so I am not sincere. As for letting the fleeing soldiers go... Heh, the fleeing soldiers have been cutting the city walls for a whole day and are exhausted. They are useless and should be driven away from the battlefield to avoid interfering with the Qin army's siege."
Meng Tian asked: "The reason for leaving a way for the defeated soldiers to escape is to prevent them from consuming the Qin army?"
Li Mu smiled approvingly: "Now it is important to capture Xiangcheng. If Xiangcheng is captured, the remaining cities of Chu can be easily conquered. If the remaining soldiers go to other cities, they will only spread the news that we easily defeated Xiang Yan and that the King of Chu has surrendered, which will greatly weaken the morale of the enemy."
Meng Tian was taught again. It seems that war cannot just be about annihilation.
How could the efficiency of the Qin army sending people to spread the word that Xiang Yan had been defeated and the King of Chu had surrendered be as high as that of this group of defeated soldiers fleeing everywhere to spread the word
What's more, they were all scared out of their wits, and who knows what kind of stories they would make up for Qin Jun that were more miraculous than reality, and more frightening than what Qin Jun would tell the truth.
Meng Tian wrote it down in his little notebook. The most important thing he learned from Wu Chengjun was that the commander-in-chief would not focus on one battle. The commander-in-chief would decide on the set goal before the battle, and every battle was for this goal. This is the overall view.
Meng Tian looked up at the general, who was in his mid-forties but still full of vigor and vitality, and his heart was filled with longing.
I also want to become such a famous general in the future!
Li Mu said: "But I believe Xiong Qi. Since he said he wants to surrender and offered the condition of 'not harming the people', he really wants to surrender."
Meng Tian nodded.
As Li Mu expected, after seeing the defeated soldiers being released by the Qin army, King Qi of Chu actually led his ministers out of the city to surrender.
Not only did he present a letter of surrender to Li Mu, he also issued an edict to the people of Chu, asking them to surrender to Qin.
The King of Chu could sacrifice himself for the State of Chu, but the people of Chu did not need to. They could become Qin people.
King Qi of Chu wrote another letter to King Zheng of Qin, hoping that King Zheng of Qin would become a wise king who loves his people and works diligently, and a wise ruler for all the people in the world.
"If you go to Xianyang, you can live out your life in wealth and honor," said Li Mu.
He understood the character of his students. When it came to the kings of Han and Qi, Zheng'er was nice to them, but sooner or later he would secretly torment them.
For a monarch like King Qi of Chu who has shining points, Zheng'er would really ensure that he enjoys wealth and glory throughout his life.
The King of Chu said: "Looking at the six kingdoms, not a single monarch died for his country. There should be a monarch who will make future generations pay more respect to the end of this era."
He looked up at the sky of Chu State and said, "Chu State has been around for 800 years. The last king of Chu should have some integrity."
Li Mu said: "Please rest assured, King Chu, I will treat your family well. Your biological mother is still alive and well."
Chu Wangqi opened his eyes wide in surprise, then laughed while crying, "The only person I feel guilty about in my life is my own mother."
After saying this, he knelt down and kowtowed towards the northwest.
Then stood up.
"Lord Wucheng, the last King of Chu is ashamed to see my ancestors and cannot bear to be buried in their mausoleum. Please bury me next to Lord Chunshen. Lord Chunshen may not despise me." King Qi of Chu wiped the dust off his face and fastened his crown. "I... I tried my best. Lord Chunshen should not blame me."
Li Mu said: "Of course. If the King of Chu succeeds to the throne smoothly and becomes a good match with Chunshen Jun, perhaps Chu will become a great threat to Qin."
King Chu Qi smiled and said, "This is the highest praise I have ever heard in my life."
He took off the long sword from his waist and sighed, "This sword was given to me by Chunshen Jun when I was still the crown prince."
Amid the weeping of his ministers, King Qi of Chu committed suicide with the sword given by Chunshen Jun, and slowly lay down on his back.
Li Mu half-knelt beside King Qi of Chu, sighed deeply, turned around and ordered the Qin army to observe a moment of silence to see off the last King of Chu.
"The King of Chu sacrificed himself for the Chu State. Please do not resist anymore." Li Mu said to the ministers of Chu State, "Do not let the King of Chu's sacrifice go to waste. Please go to the remaining cities and persuade them to surrender."
All the ministers agreed with tears.
The State of Chu was not yet destroyed at this moment, but it had been destroyed.
Even if someone later proclaimed himself the King of Chu, the title of "the last King of Chu" would only be firmly pinned on King Qi of Chu, and no one could take it away.
Li Mu was wondering how Zheng'er would respond after learning about this.
The death of King Qi of Chu will make his status very high in the hearts of the people of Chu.
Xianyang City received the news half a month later.
King Zheng of Qin was silent for a long time, then said to Zhang Liang: "Look at the King of Chu, then look at the King of Han!"
Zhang Liang slammed the book in his hand onto the desk with a "bang".
King Zheng of Qin withdrew his gaze and continued to ponder.
After a while, he said, "Let's build a shrine for King Qi of Chu and Chunshen Jun and worship them."
Zhang Liang asked, "Aren't you afraid that their reputation is too high?"
King Zheng of Qin said: "Their high reputation can make the people of Chu more alienated from Chu. If Chunshen Jun had not been executed, if Prince Qi had not been abandoned, how could Chu be in such a state?"
Zhang Liang said with a wooden face: "The outcome for Chu will still be the same, but it will be more difficult for Qin. The trend of Qin unifying the world is unstoppable."
Qin Wang Zheng said: "Of course."
King Zheng of Qin was silent for a while, and finally sighed: "Among the six kings, only King Qi of Chu has some appearance of a king. It's a pity that King Qi of Chu didn't succeed to the throne normally, but was supported by Xiang Yan."
There was also some sadness in Zhang Liang's eyes.
King Qi of Chu was supported by his generals to become king, which was a very illegitimate way of getting to the throne. If it weren't for the foreign enemy Qin, Xiang Yan would have supported him as the King of Chu, and his power would have certainly fallen into the hands of others.
The timing of Chu King Qi's succession to the throne was not good. When he succeeded to the throne, Chu State only had a small piece of land in the north of the Huai River, and the time of its demise was almost in sight, with no hope at all.
As King Qi of Chu himself said, when he became the King of Chu, he was aiming to become the king of a fallen country.
If the position of "King of Chu" was attractive when Prince Qi fled from Qin, then his choice was understandable.
But when he went to Chu again from Wei, interests had nothing to do with him at all.
King Qi of Chu is indeed worthy of admiration and deserves to be worshipped together with Chunshen Jun.
Look at the other kings of the six states. They were all of noble descent, had hardly suffered any hardship, and succeeded to the throne very smoothly. Even when King Yan of Zhao succeeded to the throne, there were some twists and turns, but the struggle for the throne was settled in a few days. Those kings were supported by the people of their country, but they did not think of giving back; King Qi of Chu was born in Qin, but was willing to die for Chu.
How ironic.
"That Xiang Yan seems to want to support a member of the Chu royal family as king and continue to be an enemy of Qin?" Qin Wang Zheng sneered, "He is really troublesome. His whole family is in Qin, but he is still so troublesome."
Zhang Liang said: "Although Xiang Yan is a bit useless, his spirit is commendable."
King Zheng of Qin shook his head: "Spirit? What spirit? King Qi of Chu used his life to ask me to treat the Chu people well, hoping that the Chu people would not suffer unnecessary casualties. But what about Xiang Yan? He tied up the Chu people and caused more casualties in vain. Should the Chu people thank him or hate him?"
Zhang Liang: "Who knows? We are not from Chu."
Qin Wangzheng said: "Oh, yes, you are now... "
Zhang Liang drew his sword and fiercely chopped off a corner of Qin Wang Zheng's desk, then kicked the chair next to it to the ground, turned around and left angrily.
Qin Wangzheng sighed and said to Meng Yi: "Look at him, isn't his temper getting worse and worse?"
Meng Yi: “…”
Meng Yi originally wanted to follow Zhu Xiang. But Zhu Xiang was worried that Zhang Liang would have a conflict with Zheng Er, so he asked Meng Yi to go back quickly. With Meng Yi's mediation, perhaps Zheng Er and Zhang Liang would not have a big fight.
So Meng Yi reluctantly returned to the King of Qin and became his eunuch.
Zhang Liang was a native of Han, and although he was a disciple of Han Fei, he had to make contributions before he could be promoted to an internal official. Meng Yi had been an important official of the Qin State since his grandfather, and King Zheng of Qin could promote him at will.
After Meng Yi returned to the Xianyang Palace, he saw the King of Qin and Zhang Liang arguing every other day, and finally understood why Zhang Liang refused to come to Xianyang.
He was angry that Zhang Liang actually looked down on the King of Qin. The King of Qin appointed you as an eunuch because he respected you, but you were still dissatisfied
Now he began to sympathize with Zhang Liang.
He thought of the letters his brother had written to him. After Meng Tian followed Duke Xiang of Zhu to the south more than a decade ago, he often made subtle accusations against the King of Qin in his letters. As Meng Tian grew older, he made fewer and fewer accusations in his letters, and he almost forgot about them.
Meng Yi was too shy to go to Zhu Xianggong and did not grow up with Qin Wangzheng, so he did not know Qin Wangzheng well. Although Meng Tian's letters warned him, the Qin Wangzheng he saw was a very mature and cold person.
When Qin Wangzheng was still the crown prince, he handled many major events in Xianyang. When the previous king handled some major cases, it was often the crown prince Zheng who handled them personally.
For example, the major case of slandering Duke Zhu Xiang.
Therefore, the image of King Zheng of Qin in Meng Yi's mind has always been tall and glorious.
He really didn't expect that King Zheng of Qin had this side of him.
What good will it do you if you make Zhang Liang angry and run away? We still need Zhang Liang to come back and work!
"Alas, he ran away again. His business..." Qin Wang Zheng said, "Take the document to Zhang's house and tell his brother that Zhang Liang lost his temper again. Ask his brother to persuade him to do his job properly."
Meng Yi endured it for a long time, but he really couldn't bear it anymore.
He relied on the fact that he was also a junior of Duke Xiang of Zhu and questioned the King of Qin: "Your Majesty, why do you have to make Zhang Liang angry?"
Qin Wangzheng said confidently: "I was just joking with him. He is narrow-minded."
Meng Yi: “…”
Meng Yi asked, "Sir, did you treat him like this before?"
Qin Wang Zheng said: "Yes!"
Meng Yi: "Your Majesty, do you know that Zhang Liang refused to come to Xianyang?"
King Zheng of Qin burst into laughter: "Hahahahahahaha."
Meng Yi: “…”
It seems that the King of Qin is well aware of this.
He sighed, took the documents that Zhang Liang should deal with and the Qin King's edict, and went to Zhang Liang's brother to file a complaint.
Thank you for your hard work, Zhang Liang.
Zhu Xiang also learned about this soon.
He sighed, packed his bags, and headed south to the State of Chu.
Although King Qi of Chu said that he wanted to be buried with Chunshen Jun, he was the King of Chu after all, and even if this was his last wish, the Chu royal family hoped that he would stay in Chu. So he has not yet made the trip.
Moreover, based on Zhu Xiang's understanding of Chunshen Jun's family, Chunshen Jun's family may not want Chunshen Jun to have any relationship with the King of Chu again. Even if the King of Chu Qi had never wronged Chunshen Jun.
But Chunshen Jun should be willing to live in the same ancestral hall with Chu Wangqi. As a friend of Chunshen Jun, it is his responsibility to help Chu Wangqi fulfill his last wish.
Xiang Yan supported a child from a side branch of the Chu State as the King of Chu.
The child's family had very remote blood relationship with the King of Chu, so he did not follow the King of Chu to Xiangcheng.
For that family, it was probably a sudden disaster.
But Xiang Yan's move was also a sign of loyalty to Chu, so many people supported him. Li Mu still had to eliminate the forces that resisted Qin one by one. Chu failed to stop shedding futile blood as King Qi of Chu hoped.
Fortunately, most of the Mi nobles supported the King of Chu and denied the legitimacy of the young King of Chu supported by Xiang Yan. Therefore, most of the strong cities had opened their gates and surrendered, and the Qin army did not suffer great losses.
When Zhu Xiang went south, the Chu region was still in some chaos. When Li Mu saw Zhu Xiang coming, his face suddenly turned dark.
"Zheng'er can't control you?!" Li Mu said angrily, "Even if you want to comfort the people, you should wait until I wipe out the State of Chu!"
Zhu Xiang said, "What Zheng'er? Please address him as Your Majesty, the King, or the King of Qin. Li Mu, you are so disrespectful, be careful or I will report you!"
Li Mu rolled his eyes at Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang said: "Zheng'er doesn't know I'm here yet. But now that I'm here, what can he do?"
Li Mu: "... You are the one who disrespects the King of Qin the most!"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this. Look!"
Zhu Xiang took out a stack of papers.
Li Mu looked down and his expression immediately froze.
Zhu Xiang said: "I didn't expect that you, Li Mu with thick eyebrows and big eyes, could say such arrogant words."
In Zhu Xiang's hand was actually a declaration of war that Li Mu had distributed to various cities in the State of Chu in order to provoke Xiang Yan, which was full of contempt for Xiang Yan!
Li Mu's heart ached. Where did Zhu Xiang find it? !
(Meng Tian: A-choo!)
Zhu Xiang approached with a sly smile on his face: "Come on, General Li, I have never seen such a domineering side of you. Read it to your friends? I want to hear what you say when you read it out loud... Oh, don't run away!"
A faint blush appeared on Li Mu's tanned face, and he turned and left.
Zhu Xiang chased after him, holding a stack of papers.
Meng Tian touched his nose and sneezed a few more times.
(End of this chapter)