Qin Dynasty: Sword Asks the Bright Moon

Fanwu, Zhao Jun’s camp.

Li Mu looked at the sand table in front of him. At this moment, even with his wisdom, he only felt a deep sense of powerlessness. This was probably the feeling of being powerless.

Wang Jian relied on the momentum of the mountains and rivers to defend Panwu's front line. The flawless defense line prevented Zhao Jun from finding an opportunity to break through. During this period, one can imagine Li Mu's discomfort.

He was originally one of the best offensive generals in the world, but Wang Jian was the most stable general in the world. If the two of them were to attack, it is still unclear whether Li Mu or Wang Jian would be stronger or weaker, but now it is Wang Jian who is defending. Li Mu was attacking, and between defending and attacking, he had already tilted the advantage of the war in favor of Wang Jian.

In particular, Wang Jian did not seek victory at all, but only wanted to hold back Zhao Jun, which made Li Mu and his army even more unable to attack.

When Li Mu was at a loss what to do, an envoy from the State of Zhao appeared in the military camp.

Looking at Yan Ju who was carrying the imperial edict, he had a vague feeling of bad foreboding in his heart. Li Mu asked, "Did an accident happen on the southern line?"

"On the other side of the Great Wall in the south, the Qin army's offensive is becoming more and more fierce. The king and the queen mother intend to ask the general to lead his troops back to the south to aid." Yan Ju said.

"What about the Northern Territory?" Li Mu said in surprise. The thing he least wanted to see happened. The Northern Territory was going to become something that those in Zhaodu thought they could give up.

"The northern border has been completely blocked by the Qin army, and the general, you are blocked by the Qin army led by Wang Jian. There is no rescue value. But the southern border is different. Once the Qin army breaks through the southern Great Wall, it can be defeated in three days. The troops are approaching the capital of Zhao, General, you should know what it means to Zhao if such a situation occurs." Yan Ju said his own reasons, which were also the reasons told to him by Guo Kai's people.

"What you said makes sense, but the northern border is also very important to Zhao State. It has a population of one million and 200,000 soldiers. If it falls into the hands of Qin State, the consequences will be disastrous." Li Mu said, if it is possible, The Northern Territory must not be given up. Moreover, Li Mu still could not express the last reason.

"General, if I may offend, the three northern counties are lost, and the State of Zhao still exists. But if the capital of Zhao is captured by the Qin army, will the State of Zhao still be the State of Zhao?" Yan Ju lowered his voice.

"You?" Li Mu couldn't help but glare at Yan Ju when he heard this. What kind of bastard words were he talking about?

"General, at this time, it is an indisputable fact that Qin's national power is stronger than ours. Zhao really cannot afford a third-line war with Qin. What we can do now is to exchange territory for time and use the time in exchange to recuperate. , and shrink the defense line, so that we can protect Zhao Guo from the Qin army's next attack." Yan Judao.

"Abandoning the three counties in our territory is of great importance and cannot be decided lightly. Let me think about it, let me think about it." Li Mu said in deep thought, feeling that he was in a dilemma for a while.

In the situation at hand, Li Mu certainly knew that the three northern counties were hopeless, but the three northern counties were not only the three northern counties of Zhao State, but also the three northern counties under his command of 100,000 frontier cavalry. Most of their families and tribesmen are in the three northern counties. Those in Zhaodu can easily decide to abandon the three northern counties, but what about the soldiers?

Once such a thing as military morale collapses, an army is doomed. If this matter cannot be handled well, the powerful army of Zhao Guobianqi will be doomed.

"Is the general worried about the morale of the army?" Yan Ju asked. Although he was not a famous general, he was still a qualified general. He could also see the most difficult problem to solve in the matter of abandoning the three northern counties.

"How can we not worry?" Li Mu sighed. Manpower has its limit, but under the overwhelming trend, one person's power is so small.

"The Queen Mother and the King are generous with their rewards, and with the General coming to comfort them, I hope the soldiers who come to the side can understand the country's difficulties," Yan Ju said.

"But who can understand their difficulties?" Li Mu said.

"General, there is news from the north." Just when Yan Ju was about to say something, Sima Shang, who had been Li Mu's deputy general, walked into the tent with a roll of bamboo slips.

"I'm afraid it's not good news, is it?" Li Mu said without interest. It was hard to expect any good news regarding the intelligence of the three northern counties.

"It's hard to define." Sima Shang also said with a wry smile.

The Qin army intends to have a truce in the north. This seems to be a good thing and gives Zhao Jun a chance, but it is only superficial. Who would really regard this move of the Qin army as just a good intention?

Looking at the bamboo slips handed over by Sima Shang, Li Mu also had a wry smile on his face. In the end, all his thoughts turned into a sigh and said: "The three northern counties are no longer owned by the State of Zhao."

In Yanmen County's well-governed city, Li Qi, as the county guard, called his subordinates and representatives of Yanmen counties to the county guard's house after what seemed like a few days.

"The Qin army intends to have a truce. You should already know about the harvest in the three counties of the whole north, right?" Li Qi, who was sitting on the main seat, said straight to the point.

"I heard it." After Li Qi finished speaking, Shi Meng, the county lieutenant from Shuo County, responded.

"I heard it," others, such as the captain of Yanmen County and the chief secretary of Mayi, also responded.

"Do you think we should accept the Qin army's good intentions and accept a truce?" Li Qi looked at the crowd and asked.

"Sir, this is definitely a conspiracy of the Qin army. Once the army disperses, it will be troublesome to raise it again. If the Qin army takes advantage of the situation to attack, how can we resist it?" Li Qi's words just fell, as Shuo The county lieutenant, Shi Meng, who led the soldiers of Shuo County from the city of Good Governance and Assistance Defense, spoke out in opposition.

The rest of the people subconsciously glanced at Li Qi and Shi Meng. They were all from the three northern counties, and they naturally knew the relationship between them.

Shuo County is a truly large county in Yanmen County, with a household registration of 10,000 households. It is 10,000 households, not 10,000 people. Without considering the military value of guarding against the wolves in the north, Shuo County is even more important in Yanmen County. Above Shanzhi County, it can be said that among the three counties in the north, Shuo County is the largest county after Dai County. Although Shi Meng is only a county captain, because of Shuo County, his status is higher than that of Yan County. But it cannot be underestimated in Men County.

Moreover, there is another relationship between Shi Meng and Shi Meng, which gives him a high status in Yanmen County. He is the real confidant of County Governor Li Qi. After Li Qi became an official, his first official position was that of the County Magistrate of Shuo County. , and Shi Meng was the first small group of people to follow Li Qi.

Shi Meng said such words at this time, but the other people had to consider whether those words were said by Shi Meng or whether there was Li Qi's instruction behind his back.

Whether or not to accept Qin's truce proposal involves the survival of the entire three northern counties, and they dare not express their stance easily.

"But the Qin Army's truce proposal is also what we need. If this year's harvest is delayed because of us, and the people of the three northern counties will suffer from food shortages next year, how should we face the people of the three northern counties?" Just when everyone was guessing Li Qi's true thoughts, Li Qi had already spoken.

what is happening? Does the governor intend to accept the Qin army's proposal for a truce? But, if that's the case, what about Shi Meng's words just now?

"I really can't bear to see the people in the three northern counties suffer misfortune because of this." Li Qi said with compassion.

"Sir?" Shi Meng looked at Li Qi with a look of emotion on his face, as if he was really moved by Li Qi.

"Sir, I have met Yang Ming before. He does not seem to be a sinister and cunning person. Maybe he proposed a truce at this time just out of benevolence and righteousness." From Li Qi and Shi Meng Chief Secretary Ma Yi, who had gradually understood during the conversation, said.

The three northern counties have their own bureaucratic operation system that is semi-independent from the Zhao capital. In addition, because they are border counties, the majority of the officials in the three northern counties are civilians. Most of them come from the military.

Now, most of the officials in the three northern counties participated in the battle of Yanmen to defeat the Wolf Clan ten years ago. Although the Zhao army at that time had 100,000 people, Yang Ming's presence was too dazzling, so this Most of the officials in the three northern counties had met Yang Ming before, even if Yang Ming did not know them.

Therefore, when Li Qi showed some intention, these officials had no burden and were willing to believe Yang Ming's sincerity in the truce.

"Since you all have no objections, then this matter is settled. We accept the Qin army's proposal for a truce." Li Qi finally made the final decision.

"No." Among the voices, the matter was finally settled.

In the Qin Kingdom, in the Xianyang Palace, Qin Wangzheng looked at the information sent by Zhao Gao through the net, with a curious look in his eyes. The truce and the harvest, these two things are mysteriously connected.

"Zhao Gao, what do you think is the real intention of the guard captain's move?" Qin Wangzheng asked Zhao Gao.

"Back to the king, I think Yang Hujun wants to use this method to make Zhao Jun disperse on his own, and then take advantage of the opportunity to capture the Yanmen cities." Faced with the question of Qin Wangzheng, Zhao Gao answered carefully.

"Han Qing, what do you think?" Regarding Zhao Gao's answer, Qin Wangzheng did not express his position, but asked the question to Han Fei, who was summoned to the palace today.

"As the saying goes, soldiers never tire of deceit, and Yang Hujun is proficient in the art of war. Obviously, his real purpose should be what Zhao Zhongche's order said." Han Feiran had deep opinions on Yang Ming because of the Honglian incident. I don't want to say good things about Yang Ming.

"Sir, what do you think?" Qin Wangzheng still did not express his position, but asked Gai Nie again.

"Yang Hujun's move should be just for the people's livelihood of the three northern counties of Zhao State. With his ability, if he wants to capture Yanmen and Yunzhong, he does not need to use such a conspiracy with endless consequences. If the credibility of Qin State is If the three counties in the north collapsed, it will be very troublesome to erect them again, Yang Hujun should know this very well." However, Gai Nie gave a different answer than Zhao Gao and Han Fei.

"Zhao Gao, you are good at plotting, and you see others doing the same. Han Qing, you slandered the Protector Commander because of your personal affairs. This is not what a gentleman would do. Sir, you know the Commander Commander better." Qin Wangzheng finally said He judged the answers of the three people.

"Speaking of which, even I was a little surprised by what the Protector Commander did. I always thought that the Protector Commander could only practice military tyranny, but never thought that he was also good at the Confucian kingly method." Qin Wangzheng praised him without hesitation. road.

When Han Fei heard this, he felt a little worried in his heart. Although he was very dissatisfied with Yang Ming, who clearly couldn't marry Hong Lian, but insisted on hooking up with Hong Lian because of his sister, that was just because of one person. It was just his 'uncle brother' thoughts. Before Honglian had recognized the fact that Yang Ming, even though Han Fei was dissatisfied, it was because Yang Ming could live a better life, rather than because of some accident that made Honglian sad. .

Therefore, although his words just now were out of malice towards Yang Ming, they were also meant to protect Yang Ming at a deeper level.

Not everyone can use the art of kingship. A general who can win battles and win people's hearts may not be a perfect general for a king.