Spring and Autumn I Am King

ps: Sorry for being late, but it's a big chapter, and the weight is enough

On the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth month in the third year of Zhaohou (486 BC), Hejian County of Zhao State was in Pingyuan County.

Hejian was originally a place of salt and brine. There were no major cultural relics since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and the forces of the three kingdoms of Jin, Qi, and Yan did not enter here. During the Spring and Autumn Period, only the Chang Di Manmo clan roamed and grazing in this area, until the population of Jin and Qi died, and the rulers of the two countries began to compete for this area.

The final result was that the state of Zhao, who inherited the state of Jin, took control of this place, established Hejian County, and accommodated war refugees and immigrants from Nei County. The monarchs established some small towns here, colonized them militarily, cut thorns, and opened up land. In a few years, several townships and small towns can be combined into one county and established to rule, Pingyuan County is one of them, and the second magistrate of this county is named Xun Mao.

As the eastern border county of Zhao State, the Plain has always had 2,000 garrisoned troops. Although Xun Mao was the county magistrate, he also knew about military affairs. However, just after this year's spring ploughing ended, he received a secret order from Juncheng Julu, asking him to assist the Yecheng messengers and forwards, repair the road, and prepare for the arrival of the army!

In midsummer, the army came.

Sun Wuzi has been in Yecheng for several years. On the basis of his old work "The Art of War of Sun Zi", he made a lot of supplementary notes for Zhao Jun's situation, and made many obscure things in detail.

For example, in the combat regulations he compiled for the Zhao army, he suggested that when a large army goes on an expedition, the fighting army should be divided into four groups: the main army, the subordinate army, the revitalized army, and the back army.

The army is the main force, with a number of 30,000 or 50,000 at every turn. The pawns are responsible for deploying to the left and right of the army, occupying favorable terrain, chasing the enemy when the battle is won, and helping the army break off when the advance is unfavorable. The Legion Army and the Xing Army set off ahead of the main army, leaving hundreds of miles away from the main army, clearing the road ahead, paving the road and building bridges at the same time, so as to prepare for the follow-up troops.

It was the Hei Army and the Xing Army who came first, each with its own division, led by Dong Brown, the son of the prime minister Dong Anyu, who immediately took over the defense and roads of Pingyuan County.

After a few days, the real main force of the Zhao army entered the plains.

The army came from Julu City, two hundred miles to the west. Xun Mao, the magistrate of Pingyuan County, and others greeted them from outside. For a time, all the official roads were occupied by flags. If you have a sharp eye, you will be able to see the Yanri Mysterious Bird, which represents Zhao Guo’s office, and the “Banner of Crossing Dragons”, which represents the power of conquest, erected by the emperor. Presumably Zhao Hou himself is under it.

In addition, there are countless flags of tongs and silks, flags of bears and tigers, flags of birds and falcons, and flags of turtles and snakes... There are many flags that the three armies should have. Go spear like a forest.

At the front, a large group of knights rode their horses to show their might, especially the more than a thousand "sudden cavalry", they were wearing red leather armor, wearing crimson battle robes, holding iron spears more than ten feet long, and wearing black scabbard straight swords. Blades ring the first sword, and some still have crossbows hanging on their saddles.

Although the Zhao family has promoted cavalry for more than ten years, most of them are light cavalry with only saddles, and horse armor is rare. Due to the limitation of the horse breed and the load-bearing capacity of the horse, although the cavalry horse is not wearing a complete set of horse armor, it is only a half-horse armor composed of three parts: the veil, the neck armor, and the "dang chest" mounted on the front chest. . But this was something the Pingyuan County soldiers had never seen before. They stood behind Xun Mao and looked at the exquisitely crafted horse armor.

Xun Mao was the head of the Xun clan, and his Xun Mao finally sided with the Zhao clan in the dispute between Zhao and Wei, and was able to preserve the clan. Under the ruling system of the country, he became an official and was dispatched to the plain to serve as a county magistrate.

In addition to the cavalry in front of him, he still remembered that when he was chasing the Qin army and the Wei army, there was a soldier in iron armor in the forward commanded by Tian Ben, which left a deep impression on him. I wonder if he can see it today?

However, after looking for it for a while, he didn't see the iron armor shining brightly in the sun, so he couldn't help being a little disappointed.

In fact, the Iron Armor had already passed in front of him. Unlike two years ago in the Battle of Fuli, there were only 1,000 Iron Armors. Now the Iron Armor had expanded to 2,500 people, enough to form a huge phalanx. It was only because of the march that the iron armored soldiers did not wear iron armor, only light armor, and everyone held a halberd and a knife, but from the unhesitating pace, one could imagine their wartime demeanor.

In addition to the cavalry and the iron armored soldiers, there are also eight thousand light cavalry with bows and arrows, and the pawns with swords, shields and armors are also stacked one after another, with no end in sight. Xun Mao secretly calculated that the total number is probably more than 50,000, which is more than the population of the entire county in the plain!

Xun Mao didn't know yet, in addition to these fifty thousand people, the Yin of the Great River also had many troops, those who attacked Gaotang from Weiguo and Yiyi, those who attacked the Great Wall from Qufu, those who started from Juguo... This time Zhao Guochao dispatched an army of 100,000 troops, plus the soldiers of Wei and Lu, at least 150,000.

Although he didn't know the overall situation, Xun Mao couldn't help but secretly stunned just by looking at the grandeur of the army in front of him: "This momentum, Your Majesty is afraid that it will be wiped out in one battle!"

...

Xun Mao guessed well that Zhao Wuxi, who was under the banner of Xuanniao, did have an attempt to completely end the battle of Zhao Qi this year.

In retrospect, it has been a year and a half since the battle between Zhao and Wu Si Shang and the emperor Zhixun. With the defeat of Wu in Lusi, Qi, who always liked to blame it, was really afraid and retreated from the front line.

In the second year of the Duke of Zhao (487 BC), Zhao Wuxi planned to continue to oppress the state of Qi, but due to the lack of rest in the long-term campaign, there was a famine in some areas of the state of Zhao. Under Ji Ran's dissuasion, Zhao Wuxi decided to Temporarily suspend troops, let the main force of Zhao army reclamation on the spot, seize the time for spring ploughing and autumn harvest, and hoard food.

However, the state of Zhao was in difficulty, and the state of Qi was building the Great Wall and facing military encirclement and economic blockade by Zhao and his allies. Why not? The foreign diplomatic passivity has led to the intensification of contradictions between the Chen and Bao nobles in China. The second minister of Qi State, Bao Mu, was dissatisfied with the Chen family's use of power, so he planned to secretly stage a coup d'etat, sacrificing the Chen family to achieve reconciliation with the Zhao state.

However, Bao Mu and Chen's father and son are not at the same level at all. In October last year, before the coup d'etat took place, Bao's mansion was surrounded by Chen Heng.

However, the strength of the Bao family is not weak, especially the family soldiers are very brave. The family property left Linzi.

However, Bao Mu was once again deceived by Chen's father and son and left the shelter of the mansion. Bao's soldiers could not stop Chen's attack at all. Bao Mu was bound and killed outside Jimen. Bao Mu's son Bao Xi On the way to Linzi, he was defeated by the Chen clan and fled to the state of Zhao alone, asking for help from the marquis of Zhao.

Although the Bao clan was destroyed, the Chen clan's actions also triggered the betrayal of a group of doctors who were close to the Bao clan. For a time, Qi was everywhere. Zhao State also took the opportunity to send troops. Zhao Wushi first dispatched the Ranqiu Ministry of Lu State to capture the Yiyi fortress, and at the same time asked Huhui to launch a counterattack from Ju State, copying Qi State from the east and west, making Qi people tired to deal with it.

The Chen clan had no choice but to abandon Yiyi and Juguo, retreat to the Dahe, Taishan, and Great Wall fronts, and at the same time use the cold winter to stop the Zhao army's attack.

Because of the winter, the state of Zhao did not continue to rush into the state of Qi, but starting from this year, with the announcement of Zhao Wuxi's official dispatch of troops to attack Qi, Chen's rule of the state of Qi is also in jeopardy...

...

In the first ten days of May, the main force of the State of Zhao had gathered in Pingyuan County one after another, and on the other side of the river, 20,000 soldiers commanded by Zhao Yi and Yang Hu had also marched from Yiyi to Gaotang, occupying the other side of the plain, to help the army cross the river. out of space.

On May 10th, a long pontoon bridge had been built by the engineers in the baggage battalion in cooperation with the Zhao Guoda River Boat Division, and each battalion was waiting in turn in their respective camps to pass through. Zhao Wuxi, accompanied by Pingyuan County magistrate Xun Mao and others, inspected the place known as "Pingyuanjin".

"This Pingyuanjin is the last big ferry in the lower reaches of the river?" Zhao Wuxi asked Xun Mao, who had been the county magistrate here for several years.

"Only, the ferry in Zhao State's hands is only the most downstream of Pingyuanjin, but in Qi State, there is still Wudi who can cross the river north. When Duke Huan of Qi went north to expedition Shanrong and cut Guzhu, it was from Wudi that he went north. of."

"Even if it's not the last one, it doesn't matter. Yan State promised to send troops to Wudi Ferry to block the northern border of Qi State."

After saying that, Zhao Wuxi continued to look at the horse, but saw that the midsummer sun was shining brightly, the river was turbulent, rolling eastward, but compared with other river banks, the water flow here was relatively gentle, and the distance between the two banks was not that far.

This Pingyuanjin, which is the area of ​​Dezhou and Pingyuan in Shandong in later generations, is the shoulder of Qi State, the throat of Heshuo, and one of the important ferry crossings on the ancient Yellow River. In history, Qi and Zhao often competed for balance here. Later, when Qin Shi Huang visited Langya and returned, it was through Pingyuanjin that he went to Hebei. More than ten years later, during the battle between Chu and Han, the general Han Xin crossed the river from here, attacked Tian Dan, and swept the land.

Those are all later words, which is enough to show the importance of Pingyuanjin, but standing here, Zhao Wuxi thought of a scholar from the Jin state a year ago.

"Xun County magistrate, the widow remembers that you were the head of the Xun clan after Xun Xi?"

"Wei...the minister is the descendant of the Xun clan." Once upon a time, Xun Mao was extremely proud of his surname lineage, but with the downfall of the Bank of China and the Zhi clan, the Xun clan with them was also in turmoil. Fortunately, Zhao Guo did not The clan killed the future of their Xun clan, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, but at the moment when Zhao Wuxi asked, Xun Mao was still a little trembling, for fear of causing trouble.

"Don't be afraid. Although Zhongxingyin, Zhisong, and Zhiyao were guilty, it did not affect the ancestors of Xun, Zhongxing, and Zhi who were kind to the people of Jizhou and were kind to the widowed great-grandfather."

He said: "For example, the Bank of China Xianzi is an important ruling minister worthy of praise. You must know that he died here more than 50 years ago, and one thing he never forgot before his death was the cutting of Qi... "

Xun Mao naturally knew that the matter that the Duke of Zhao said that the Bank of China offered his son to attack Qi was something that happened in the era of Duke Ping of Jin.

Xianzi of the Bank of China, also known as Bank of China Yan, was a powerful official. He once conspired with Luan Shu to kill Duke Li of Jin. Perhaps in his later years, he would unconsciously reorganize his life repeatedly, or perhaps the spirit of future generations declined. It is easy to be troubled by hallucinations and dreams. At that time, he kept dreaming that the ghost of Duke Li of Jin was lingering. When he was restless, he planned to do something for Jin to make up for his crimes.

In 555 BC, Qi State rebelled against Jin, Jin State Shangqing Zhongxingyan would join the monarchs of Song, Lu, Wei, Zheng, Cao, Ju, Zhu, Teng, Xue, Qi, Xiaozhu and lead a large army to cross the river from Pingyuan Jin. , crusade the state of Qi.

While waiting for the army to cross the river, there was nothing to do anyway, so Zhao Wuxi asked Zuo Shiqiu Ming to come over and describe the situation at that time.

Zuo Qiuming respectfully saluted Zhao Hou, without the need for history, he could retell that period of history only with his astonishing memory.

"In late October of that year, when the weather was cold and the ground was freezing, the two sides fought in Pingyin. The Jin army was victorious, the Qi army was crushed, and Qi Linggong fled in embarrassment. The war has achieved unexpected results, but the final victory has not yet been achieved. After the victory, Xianzi of the Bank of China planned to expand the victory and completely subdue the people of Qi, so the Jin army and the allied forces of the feudal feudal lords aggressively invaded the territory of Qi. Xianzi and Fan Xuanzi of the Bank of China led the Chinese army to conquer Jingz; To conquer Ti; only Zhao Wenzi and Han Xuanzi's army besieged Lu, perhaps because neither of them knew soldiers, they could not conquer..."

Having said that, Xun Mao looked at Zhao Hou with some trepidation, but saw that Zhao Wuxi was not angry when Zuo Qiuming mentioned his ancestors, but smiled helplessly. Zhao Wenzi was very gentle, and he was indeed not very good at attacking cities.

Zuo Qiuming did not pause, and continued: "After that, they encircled Linzi, and the allied army marched to the outskirts of Linzi, the capital of Qi, and cut down trees. surrender."

"However, the state of Qi persevered and used the cold winter to greatly delay the offensive of the state of Jin. After the siege of the city for more than a month and there was no sign of surrender in the city, the princes and the doctors of the state of Jin could not bear the long exposure of the army and retreated."

"The dispatch of troops this time failed to completely subdue the state of Qi. First, it was because of the persistence of the state of Qi, and the second was because the state of Chu took the opportunity to sneak up on the state of Zheng. But the most important reason is that the body of the Bank of China Xianzi couldn't support it."

"At that time, Xianzi of the Bank of China had a bad sore on the head, and the army was critically ill as soon as they returned to Dahe. After appointing Wu of the Bank of China as the heir of the Bank of China, he died..."

Zhao Wuxi sighed, and Xun Mao also looked sad, after all, this was the past of his relatives.

"Fan Xuanzi entered the corpse for the Bank of China Muzi, but the dead body still refused to close his eyes, and his teeth were clenched, so he couldn't put Hanyu in. Fan Xuanzi, for some reason, touched the body with his hand after washing. After death, how dare we not treat Bank of China Wu as if we were serving you!?'"

"However, the corpse didn't respond. Still unable to close his eyes, Luan Huaizi next to him said: 'Could it be that the marshal was not reconciled because he did not completely complete the mission of cutting Qi?' So Fan Xuanzi touched the corpse again and said: 'After the Lord's death, if we can't continue The crusade against the state of Qi is evidenced by the river!' Sure enough, the corpse finally closed its eyes, loosened its teeth, and put the jade in its mouth..."

After Zuo Qiuming finished talking about the past and left, Zhao Wuxi was silent for a long time, and praised with his palms: "The Bank of China is really a man, worrying about state affairs is better than family affairs, it's a pity that Bank of China Yin and others If you fail to inherit this tradition, otherwise, why should the widow act on behalf of Jin?"

Xun Mao didn't dare to speak, and he knew that at this time he no longer had the opportunity to speak.

Zhao Wuxi had followed this past event and focused the attention of the surrounding soldiers on him, and he said loudly: "After this~www.wuxiaspot.com~ the state of Jin began to decline, and he was never able to conquer the state of Qi again. After hitting Linzi, the last wish of the Bank of China to offer a son turned out to be a swan song, why is it so sad?"

He untied the two pairs of jade that were tied together with vermilion silk threads on his waist, stood by the river and prayed: "The Bank of China offers its son and heroic spirit to the top, and the Chen clan of Qi has robbed the state and forced the Duke and Gao. After the expulsion of famous officials, Bao and Yan, Qi retreated by virtue of the dangerous terrain, relying on the large number of people, betrayed the Xia, colluded with the barbarians, bullied and abused the people. Today, the boy has no mercy, and will lead the princes to the crusade. I hope to win and make contributions and destroy the people. Mrs. Chen, take the Marquis of Qi and ask them to commit crimes, so that the wish of the Bank of China to sacrifice Qi will be fulfilled, and it will not make the gods ashamed. Otherwise, Wu Xie will never dare to cross the river and come back again. Please, I beg the gods to judge!"

After that, Zhao Wuxi sank the jade into the water, pointed his sword in front of him, and shouted, "Cross the river!"

"Cross the river! Cross the river!" At the mouth of Pingyuanjin, above the big river, fifty thousand Zhao soldiers shouted in unison.

Historically, this matter was at a critical moment when the Chen clan seized the state of Qi, and the death knell was tolled for the Jiang clan of the state of Qi.

And today, the death knell will also sound for Chen's father and son!

(To be continued.)