Qin Official

Zhao State's actions were indeed much more generous than those of Chu State. That night, after making Chen Yu a minister and Chen Sheng a captain, Zhao Xie summoned Kuai Che again.

"Does Mr. Kuai think Er Chen can be trusted?"

Kuai Che said with a smile: "The current situation is the same as a hundred years ago. Scholars wander around the princes, just seeking to get ahead. Today they will join Qin, tomorrow they will surrender to Chu, and the next day they will serve Zhao. But they will not be loyal to Zhao, nor will they be loyal to Chu." …”

"Only be loyal to your own interests!"

"Your Majesty gave Er Chen more than Chu, so they can contribute to Zhao. Chen Sheng is an outsider. He can only gain a foothold in Zhao by doing meritorious service for your Majesty. As for Chen Yu... he used to stay in Hengshan all year round. The county has many friends with local heroes, so the king might as well let the two of them go and capture Mount Heng."

This is also the strategy Kuai Che formulated for the emerging Zhao State. He used Li Zuoche to resist the Qin troops in the south, and sent Lu Goujian to the north to favor Yan territory to expand his territory. Now that there were two more Chens, Hengshan County could also send an army there.

"If Zhao can seize Dahe in the south and Taihang in the west, and swallow Yan and Dai in the north, he will definitely become a frontier country, not weaker than Chu. Xiang Ji will not dare to issue orders to Zhao. In the future, taking advantage of the cover of the northern and southern Qin, he can seize Taiyuan, Shangdang, Hedong and Hanoi are all controlled by Jizhou, and we are determined to conquer the world!"

"Thanks to Mr. Zhao." Zhao Xie was very grateful. Without Kuai Che, the restoration of the Zhao Kingdom might not have been so smooth.

But before Kuai Che left, Zhao Xie asked what he had always doubted.

"Mr. Kuai has spent many years planning to disrupt the central government of Qin in order to change the world. Now he is traveling between Qi and Zhao. He has even refused the position of the widow and the state of Qi. He does not want to take any land or land. He only wants to be a guest. Mr. , where are you loyal to?"

Kuai Che did not answer, just smiled, said goodbye and left.

After leaving Congtai, he looked up at the winter night sky and said to himself: "I am only loyal to the way of Zongheng!"

Vertical and horizontal, if there is no vertical, then there is no horizontal; if there is no horizontal, there is no vertical. The horizontal can be turned into vertical, and the vertical can be turned into horizontal! This is the true meaning of Zongheng!

For politicians, unification is boring.

For them, the best era should be to sacrifice gifts and favor war, and to abandon benevolence and righteousness in favor of deceit.

This is a usurper and robber, and he is ranked as a prince; a country of deceit and treachery becomes strong!

There is no emperor above, no magistrate below. If you compete with others for strength, the winner will be right!

That's the stage for the talented people to shine!

Kuai Che said with a smile: "If we can really form a three-point tripartite, and Northern Qin, Southern Qin, and the Six Kingdoms are evenly matched and each has its own territory, then all the people in the future will have to thank me, Kuai Che."

"Thank you for creating a paradise for them! Strategists like Zhang Yi and Su Qin can prosper the country with one word and destroy it with another word; the country they live in is important, and the country they leave is light; when they are angry, the princes are afraid, but when they live in peace, the world Rest!"

As for the endless wars and revolutions caused by this division, the rise of fraud and counterfeiting, and the murderous people?

As for the countless innocent people in the world who were brought to grief by this dispute, and the bodies of fathers and sons exposed in the middle and in the wilderness, which are countless?

Sorry, these things are matters of Confucianism, Huang Lao, and Fa Mo, and are not considered by politicians!

…

Kuai Che only digs holes and doesn't bury them, and uses his words and intrigues to stir up trouble in the world, but he doesn't care how the chaos will be settled in the future.

But Cao Shen of Jiaodong was tossing and turning, thinking about how to keep Jiaodong safe.

More than three months have passed since Cao and Chen Ping united with 13 major merchants in July to seize Jiaodong, and the situation in Jiaodong has been completely stable.

In accordance with Chen Ping's policy of "dead lips and cold teeth", Cao Shen led five thousand troops to support Langya County and confronted Mo Aolong of Chu State between Ju County and Zhucheng. Because the main force of the Chu army followed Xiang Yu to attack the Central Plains, although Long Qie had tens of thousands of troops, it was still difficult to break through the defense line. Langya City was even controlled by Jiaodong, and ships also used it to go south.

The route from Langya to Kuaiji has existed since ancient times. The trouble is that the thousands of miles of coast are all occupied by the Chu State. Fortunately, east of Qu County, Donghai County, there is a large island named Yuntai (Lianyungang). It is uninhabited, but there are rivers of fresh water. Sima Luoyu occupied the large ship. As the hub of north-south navigation, Jiaodong and Kuaiji were able to pass information once a month.

The real trouble lies in the west. Last month, the governor of Qin Linzi County accepted Chen Ping's proposal and the two sides called a truce. Linzi was able to concentrate the county troops to deal with Peng Yue, the giant bandit of Onezawa who wanted to seize Qi.

But Peng Yue was cunning and good at fighting. After several battles, Linzi suffered heavy losses. In addition, Long Qie saw that Langya was difficult to capture, so he sent people across Dongtai Mountain to attack the south of Linzi. Attacked from two sides, Linzi was difficult to support. It was expected to be spring at the latest Before that, Linzi would fall.

For a time, a large number of Linzi refugees fleeing the war poured into Jiaodong. Chen Ping took them all in and arranged for them to live east of Weishui. He selected young men for training in order to increase new sources of troops for Jiaodong.

But the county governor Cao Shen was a little pessimistic:

"I am confident of holding the southern front, but on the western front, can the temporarily organized refugees, merchants, and servants be able to stop the menacing bandits?"

Cao Shen has written to Chen Ping about his troubles, but Chen Ping has not yet replied.

Just as I was thinking about it, a military officer came to see me outside the door. It was Yu Guang, a native of Lu County (Shandong Mengyin). He was originally from Langya. He was transferred to Jiaodong a few years ago as a commander. He was a subordinate of Cao Shen. Chen and Cao When the two rebelled, Yu Guang resolutely rebelled and helped them capture Jimo, and was promoted to Sima.

Yu Guang was Cao Shen's right-hand man, so he let him in and explained his purpose.

"Jun Lieutenant, my subordinates were inspecting the military camp today, and they met an old fellow countryman. He was a civilian scribe. When the Chu soldiers entered Langya, he fled here and was recruited into the army as a garrison soldier to carry out the task of pulling the chariots. "

The crossbar of the cart is a chariot, and the front pull is called a pull. To put it bluntly, he is a person who works hard to pull the cart, and is the lowest-level garrison soldier in the army.

"Are you feeling pity for him and want to plead for him?"

Cao Shen understood that he was always very flexible in doing things, so he smiled and said: "Then let him serve as a personal guard in your camp."

"it's not true."

Yu Guang cupped his hands and said: "I did intend to save him from this hard work, but he asked me about the recent situation in Jiaodong. I told him what I could tell him, and he said that the guards and Wei of Jiaodong must be in trouble. He said that he had a clever plan. This will save Jiaodong from being attacked from both sides, I hope I can introduce him to the county captain."

"oh?"

Cao Shen was a little surprised. A Guizhou garrison in the army could tell that he was in trouble through a few words about the situation?

But then I thought about it, didn’t Wu Zhonghou and Chen Ping all start from humble beginnings? Then he became interested and asked Yu Guang to bring in his fellow countryman.

Not long after, someone arrived. As expected, it was a Guizhou man who had just finished the heavy work of pulling a cart and was smelling of sweat. He was in his thirties, with a short beard and a flat bun. He knelt at the door with some restraint and looked towards Cao Shen. Long greetings.

He was dressed inappropriately, and Yu Guang was a little embarrassed. He was afraid that Cao Shen would be angry, so he hurriedly explained: "The subordinate wanted to give him fresh clothes to show him some dignity, but he said, 'I wear silk, and the silk is visible, and the clothes are brown, and the clothes are brown. Seeing brown, I dare not change my clothes'."

Cao Shen asked the man loudly: "It's just a change of clothes, why don't you dare?"

The man raised his head and said with a smile: "If you can bully a county captain with your clothes, you can also bully a county captain with your words. A villain would not dare to bully a county captain!"

"Ha, you are quite eloquent."

Cao Shen asked someone to give him food and asked him, "What is your name?"

The garrison soldiers bowed again: "Little man Lou Jing!"

Cao Shen tore a chicken leg in his mouth and asked vaguely: "Lou Jing, you asked Yu Sima to introduce you to me. What do you want to say?"

There was also fish meat in front of Lou Jing, but he just swallowed his saliva and did not take action: "I want to talk about the safety and survival of Jiaodong!"

Cao Shen sucked the chicken bone and said, "Go on."

Lou Jing said: "Although I am from Langya, I have also heard that Marquis Wu Zhong governed Jiaodong, punished the rich families, prospered merchants, and repaired crops, and he also prevented Jiaodong from chaos in the fields. In recent years, there have been two more kings, Chen and Cao. Following the legacy of Marquis Wuzhong, Jiaodong rose from being the poorest county in Qi to being on par with Linzi."

"After many years of savings, there is no shortage of food and fodder in Jiaodong, so Chen and Cao will accept all the refugees from Linzi and Langya who seek refuge."

"But although Jiaodong is rich, it only has the strength of one county and limited soldiers. Even if it accepts tens of thousands of refugees, it will not be able to form an army for a while. Cao Jun guards the cities to make it difficult for Chu thieves to cross Langya, but I am afraid that Linzi will not be able to resist Peng Yue. Once it falls, if the Qi and Chu armies form an alliance and attack Jiaodong, Long Qie will surround Lord Cao in the cities, and Peng Yue will march into Weishui, then Jiaodong will be in danger!"

This Lou Jing is worthy of being well-educated. Although he was reduced to a cart-pulling garrison, he explained the difficulties Jiaodong is facing now.

Unconsciously, Cao Shen stopped his movements and wiped his greasy fingers: "What's your best plan?"

"It's very simple."

Lou Jing said: "Destrange Qi Chu!"

"Although Qi and Chu seem to be working together to attack Linzi, in fact they all have their own agendas."

"Xue County used to be the territory of Chu State, but now it is occupied by Qi State. Langya was the territory of Qi State, but now it is occupied by Chu State. They can still coexist with each other for now. Once Linzi falls, Qi and Chu will have to fight for the big city of 70,000 households. Discord arises!"

"Why didn't the county lieutenant try to intensify the conflict between Qi and Chu, making them wary of each other and unable to jointly attack Jiaodong?"

After hearing this, Cao Shen muttered: "It's feasible."

He also asked people to give Lou Jing more food:

"Looking at your sallow complexion and thin skin, I guess you haven't had any oil or water in many days. Eat!"

Lou Jing was indeed hungry, so he was not polite this time. He picked up a whole chicken and started chewing it, biting hard with every bite.

He left his hometown and had a hard time fleeing. The strategies he had in mind were of no use to the hard work of pulling a cart. Fortunately, he met Yu Guang, a fellow villager, and was able to meet Cao Shen. He only hoped that he could offer advice and suggestions to change the current situation—— Lieutenant Cao seemed to be very open-minded in accepting advice.

After Lou Jing had a feast, Cao Shen offered him a glass of wine and asked again: "How to separate Qi Chu specifically? Do you have any ideas?"

Lou Jing said: "Does the county commander know that more than a hundred years ago, Qin pretended to invade Han and Wei to attack Qi, and King Wei of Qi sent General Zhang Zi to respond?"

Zhang Zi is Kuang Zhang, a famous general of the Qi State during the reign of King Wei and King Xuan of Qi. He defeated Yan in ten months, defeated Chu at Chuisha, and defeated the Qin army.

Cao Shen is eager to learn. Although he didn't know about Qidi before joining Qidi, after a few years, he has become clear about Qidi's affairs.

He thought for a while and said: "I have heard people say that Kuang Zhang and the Qin army camped opposite each other, and envoys exchanged many messages with each other. He even made the Qi army change their badges to clutter the Qin army..."

By changing the badge, flag, and armor, Kuang Zhang successfully allowed the Qi army to sneak into the flank of the Qin army, and suddenly launched an attack during the battle, winning a great victory.

Cao Shen suddenly said: "What do you mean..."

Lou Jing said: "Of course, Qi and Chu jointly attacked Linzi, and the soldiers were at odds with each other. They couldn't understand each other. In order to fight for property, conflicts would inevitably occur. Why doesn't the general send someone to fake the Qi army badge, attack the Chu soldiers, and send someone to pretend to be Chu?" Soldier badge, attacking Qi soldiers!"

"Good idea." Cao Shen raised his hand. If he did this, the Qi and Chu armies would lose trust. Even if they didn't fight, it would be difficult to cooperate.

"Lou Jing, you don't have to do the hard work of pulling a cart anymore. Come to my side and work as a clerk. You will have a cart to travel and fish and meat to eat."

Lou Jing was overjoyed and thanked Cao Shen. At this moment, Chang Shi knocked on the door and came in. It turned out that the letter from Jiaodong that Cao Shen had been waiting for for a long time had finally arrived.

After unfolding it, Cao Shen couldn't help but laugh.

"Driving a wedge between Qi and Chu, causing them to break up the treaty and defeat them, so that Qi will become a tripartite. What a good Lou Jing, your plan is exactly the same as what Chen Ping thought!"

…

On the other side, Cao Shen was delighted to find a wise man, but Chen Ping, who was in Jimo, was frowning at the news from the north.

"Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Chen Ping looked at Qi Dajia Daojian. In September, seeing that the situation in Jiaodong was stable, Chen Ping asked Daojian to take a few ships north to resume navigation with Haidong that had been interrupted for several months.

He also knew that the Jiaodong County might not be able to defeat the Qi and Chu bandits. He remembered that there were still three thousand Qin troops left in Haidong, stationed in Xi'anping (Dandong, Liaoning), Liekou, and Hancheng. They were Fusu's old troops. , maybe we can get in touch and come to Jiaodong to fight against the Chu bandits together.

But on the last day of October, when Dao Jian returned to report in a hurry, Chen Ping learned that someone was ahead of him and got there first...

"Junjun, it's absolutely true."

Daojian's expression was serious: "I was on the boat and saw two thousand garrisons in Hancheng and Liekou in the east of the sea, slowly moving northward. Xi'anping was also on guard and detained all ships entering the port. So I didn't dare to enter, so I just I asked the boy servants to try to trap a group of soldiers who were out patrolling. After interrogation, they said..."

"say what?"

"They said that the eldest son, Fusu, is back!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is at night.