The next day, Zhai Zhang, who was nearly 70 years old, took the King of Wei Wang's king's order and prepared to embark on a journey to Yin Jin in a carriage.

Considering that Yin Jin is far away from Daliang and it is the cold winter of December, Zhai Zhang's relatives and friends persuaded him after learning about it, hoping that Zhai Zhang would set off again after the New Year. Even King Shin of Wei actually meant this.

He said to Zhai Zhang privately: "The Grand Sima can send his confidant to take my king's order to Yinjin first and inform Gongsun County Governor and Yancheng Jun of this in advance. As for the Grand Sima, it will be too late to set off in the first month of the year."

Thinking about it, Zhai Zhang, a veteran of Wei, spent his whole life living through life and death for Wei. He did not die on the battlefield in the end but froze to death on his way to Yin Jin. It was really unbearable for both emotion and reason.

However, Zhai Zhang was very stubborn. He said to King Wei: "I served as the Xishou of Wei. I was personally in charge of the army and fought with the enemies of our Wei. Now that I have a junior fight for the powerful Qin on the front line, he deserves reward, but how could I postpone such an important appointment because of mere ice and snow? Please rest assured, my old bones can serve the king for another ten years!"

Seeing that Zhai Zhang insisted on going, King Wei had no choice but to send a team of hundreds of palace guards to protect Zhai Zhang along the way.

These guards who were guarding the palace, Wang Shi, still trusted them very much. After all, these people were all the few martial soldiers in the Wei State.

There are two roads from Daliang to Yinjin. One of them is the "Henan Road", which crosses Han, then passes through Hangu Pass and Huagu, and finally arrives at Yinjin. Zhai Zhang is actually more concerned about this road, because through this road, he can see with his own eyes the five-nation coalition forces of the five-nation army - especially the roads that the soldiers of the Wei Kingdom went to expedition, Hangu Pass, Taolin, Baigu, etc. During the long years when Wei Kingdom fought against Qin, his Wei Kingdom's army had never counterattacked Qin so deeply.

This is also the reason why he took advantage of the disguised threat of Qin and was eager to "maintain Meng Zhong's right": on the one hand, it was because Meng Zhong had enough ability to take over his position; on the other hand, he hoped that Meng Zhong would feel his "reward" from Wei, and hoped to tie that outstanding young man to the chariot of Wei through kindness.

Just as he said to his family, "As long as that boy Meng Zhong is willing to stay in Wei for the rest of his life and serve Wei, if he can live another fifty years, then our Wei State will not have to fear any country within these fifty years."

His expectations for Meng Zhong were like Pang Juan during the reign of King Hui of Wei, and even Wu Qi during the reign of King Wenhou of Wei... Well, although the outcomes of these two people were not very good, it cannot be denied that these two famous generals in the history of Wei both represent the glory of Wei during a period.

But unfortunately, some sections of the road "Henan Road" are narrow and rugged. Moreover, in December, the ice and snow had already blocked it, so Zhai Zhang had to give up.

In the end, he could only choose the relatively flat "Hebei Road", which was a relatively flattering terrain, that is, first go to Duhe River to go west to Hedong County, and then cross the river to Yinjin - this is also the current way for Wei State to transport grain and grass to Hedong and to the front line.

As for paying attention to the attack route of the Five-Nation Alliance, Zhai Zhang could only wait until he returned home to see it, such as the river beach where Meng Zhong took the attack on the Mengshui River, which he was very concerned about, and the Mengshui Army Camp that Meng Zhong launched a night attack dozens of miles away. Zhai Zhang was going to take a look at them on his return journey.

It's no wonder. After all, Meng Zhong wrote too simply in those battle reports. Although Zhai Zhang can understand that Meng Zhong doesn't care about his contributions, the problem is that he wrote so casually that he didn't understand how he defeated the Qin army in China.

What is "night attack and win"? You can simply save these four words.

While Zhai Zhang was taking the King of Wei's King's order to rush towards Yin Jin, he had held nearly ten "peace talks" in Yin Jin, but he was still in a stalemate.

Some people may find it strange that Wei Ran had clearly formulated a strategy of "split the coalition forces and isolating Wei and Han", and planned to send the troops of Zhao, Qi and Yan first, and then solve the problem with the Wei and Han armies through force, but why did they still hold a hypocritical peace talks?

The Wei and Han armies were the same. Why did Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu, Bao Yuan and others tirelessly talk to Wei Ran? The two sides disperse and just wait for the beginning of next spring to fight the two armies after the war begins?

The reason is very simple, because this matter is not that simple.

Let’s talk about the Wei and Han armies first.

In fact, from the perspective of Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu and Bao Yuan, they actually did not want to continue to attack Qin. After all, they have not only attacked the doorstep of their house, but have even occupied the front yard. They are just waiting to rush into the main house and catch the master and beat him up. How could Qin retreat?

Once Wei and Han insist on continuing to attack Qin, then there will definitely be a situation that will never stop. Just like the battle between Qin and Chu Danshui and Lantian, the two sides will definitely fall.

Based on this point, Meng Zhong actually didn't want to take risks. After all, Wei State did not have the ability to annex Qin State in one breath. Why should he take great risks to start a battle of the country with Qin State?

Compared to taking risks, he is more inclined to slowly erode.

But the problem is that Qin State is a bit sensitive to the issue of Xihe County. How could they not know Meng Zhong’s purpose of Xihe County?

From the perspective of Qin and Wei Ran, the most troublesome thing he had was that Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu, Bao Yuan and others took over Yin Jin from Li Dui. Why is Yin Jin the key? Because it is a key city connecting the south of the river and the north of the river in this section of the river. After the Wei and Han armies controlled Yin Jin, they had the ability to continuously transport the army and strategic resources from Hedong to the south of the river, whether it was used to conquer Hexi or directly break through Mount Li and threaten Xianyang.

Simply put, if Yin Jin falls into the hands of Meng Zhong and others, the Wei and Han armies can slowly jamm the throat of Qin. Although it will not be fatal in a short period of time, the problem of jamming cannot be said to be easily treated, right?

In addition, Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu, Bao Yuan and others clearly expressed their attitude to continue to suppress Qin in recent meetings.

To put it bluntly, as long as Qin does not meet the requirements of either Wei and Han, Wei and Han will continue to attack Qin and devote all their strength to attack Qin. Even the three armies of Zhao, Qi and Yan retreat one after another.

I have to say that this strong behavior also made Wei Ran a little confused.

After all, the current situation of Qin is really too bad, and it is almost defeated to the capital. If Qin finally chooses to continue to go to war with Wei and Han, then it must consider the issue of moving the capital - a capital without a wall, how can it resist the Wei and Han armies?

When Wei Ran continued to negotiate with Gongsun Shu, Meng Zhong, Bao Yuan and others in Yin Jin, in Xianyang, King Ji of Qin was discussing the issue of moving the capital with his ministers for the worst-case scenario and preparing to move the capital to the old capital, Qidi.

Qidi, or Qishan, was the starting point for the rise of Zhou and seized the world. Later, Zhou rewarded this land to the ancestors of the Qin people.

If Xianyang was destined to be unable to be saved, King Ji of Qin decided to move the capital to Qidi. If even Qidi could not be saved, they would have to return to the beginning of their Qin people - Tianshui (county).

In the past, Qin's ancestor Qin Feizi was named a vassal by the Emperor of Zhou for his contribution to raising horses, and he ruled the capital of Qinyi (Qingshui). Later, Qin Zhuang Duke made great contributions to attacking the Western Rong. The Zhou royal family gave Tianshui again. That land was the birthplace of Qin. When the Qin people stepped out of that land, they never thought that one day they would be forced to escape back to their ancestral land.

But even so, the Qin monarch and ministers were still unwilling to accept the harsh conditions proposed by the Wei and Han armies.

In the face of the national crisis, King Ji of Qin issued an order in the name of the monarch, ordering the recruitment of young and strong men to join the army. When he learned that the country was facing the invasion of the army of various countries, the Qin people gathered in Xianyang in the wind and snow, wanting to go to the national crisis with the country and the king.

If someone came to the military camp outside Xianyang City at this moment, he would probably see the magnificent Qin man practicing with high morale in the wind and snow, and from time to time, he sang "Wu Clothes" in unison.

"Why do you say you have no clothes? You are in the same comrade with your son. Wang Yu set up a army and repaired my spear. He is in the same vengeance as you!"

"Why do you say you have no clothes? You are in the same vein as me. The king of you will build your spear and halberd. You will work with me together!"

"Do you say you don't have clothes? You have the same clothes as you. The king of you will build your army and build your armor and soldiers. You will walk with you!"

Some people say that "Qin Feng Wuyi" was written by an unknown citizen of Qin, and some people say that this was a fu written by Duke Ai of Qin when sending troops to help Chu repel the Wu army's invasion. However, in any case, "Wuyi" is a well-deserved war song for Qin.

These Qin people who joined the army in the face of national crisis are the confidence of Qin to fight against the Wei and Han armies.

But the confidence is still the most confident. When I think that the commander of the Wei army opposite was Meng Zhong, the king and ministers of Qin could not help but be somewhat worried.

After all, so far, no general of Qin has been able to defeat Meng Zhong firmly on the battlefield. Looking at the entire Qin State, only Bai Qi can still compete with Meng Zhong, but he has won less and lost more.

At this moment, the monarch and ministers of Qin finally realized the helplessness of the Central Plains countries towards Zhang Yi back then - in the past, the Central Plains countries had a lot of hatred for Zhang Yi, so today, Qin had a lot of hatred for Meng Zhong.

After the Chinese New Year, it was the seventh year of King Wang of Wei.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Marquis Rang Wei Ran received a letter from Xianyang again.

In the letter, King Ji of Qin mentioned the matter of preparing to move the capital to Qidi, which made Wei Ran fall into silence.

As the spring day approaches, Xianyang has made the worst plans...

Although Wei Ran also informed the country of his strategy of "instructing Chu to put pressure on Wei to transfer Meng Zhong back to Fangcheng County", whether this trick works actually depends on the attitude of Wei. If Wei does not cooperate, there is no way. After the beginning of spring next year, Qin will have to fight against the army of Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu, and Bao Yuan at the cost of moving the capital, and launch a war that no one knows how long it will last on both sides.

After thinking about it, Wei Ran went to Zhaoying again to invite Fengyang Jun Li Dui, and begged Li Dui to come forward to invite Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu and Bao Yuan to discuss together.

Two hours later, Wei Ran braved the wind and snow to Zhaoying, met Fengyang Jun Li Dui, and explained his purpose.

After hearing this, Li Dui said helplessly: "Mr. Rang, you live in Yinjin City, and Meng Zhong also lives in Yinjin City. Do you have to leave the city and go to our military camp and drag me to see Meng Zhong?"

It’s okay if it’s once or twice, it’s like this every time. Do you really think that Li Du is still a strong young man in his twenties?

Hearing Li Dui's complaint, Wei Ran said in a complicated tone: "It's not that necessary, but those Yanchengjun gave reasons when they first refused to invite him. He said that he was from Song and that our Qin State had good fortune in the rescue of Song State. For the sake of Wei State's interests, he could not see me alone, so as not to force him to submit with his kindness to Song State and put him in a dilemma... This reason is really unrefutable."

"Then do you have to drag me?"

Li Dui glanced at Wei Ran and said nothing.

I have to say that he, the commander of the coalition, is now becoming more and more troublesome.

You said that the negotiations and disputes between Qin and the five-nation coalition forces were only left with Wei and Han armies? Then, wouldn’t it be enough for you, Wei Ran, Meng Zhong and Bao Yuan to negotiate on your own?

But unexpectedly, Meng Zhong and Bao Yuan said no, saying that you, Fengyang Jun, are the commander of the coalition army, and you must have an interview in front of you; Wei Ran said that you, no, without Fengyang Jun, Meng Zhong refused to see me, and I went to see Gongsun Shu and Bao Yuan alone, and I couldn't solve the problem.

As a result, Li Dui was over 60 years old and was dragged by Wei Ran to meet Meng Zhong and others repeatedly, but Li Dui could not refuse Wei Ran's request. After all, he was still counting on Wei Ran to help him bring his second-sun Li Ke to Qin State to serve as an official.

There were several times when Li Dui couldn't help wondering whether Meng Zhong planned to "borrow snow and kill people" and freeze him to death with the snow in the cold winter to avenge Zhao's father's hatred.

In this way, after more than two hours, Li Dui trembled and took Wei Ran back to Yinjin City, and met Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu and others - Bao Yuan, who is currently stationed in Zheng County with Meng Zhong's brother Le Jin.

When they saw Meng Zhong and Gongsun Shu, they were cooking wine in the fire in the house of the county government in the city.

Maybe he had been here a few times, and Li Dui was not seen. He walked up to scooped a bowl of wine for himself. Immediately, he made a "please" gesture to Wei Ran, Meng Zhong, and Gongsun Shu, and took the bowl of hot wine to the stove to burn the fire - it was not his business anyway.

Not to mention, Meng Zhong felt a little sad when he saw Li Dui, an old man in his sixties, sitting tremblingly beside the stove holding a bowl of wine and cooking fire.

But there is no way, he must take Li Dui in everything. After all, he cannot let Zhao State be out of trouble. "Forcing" Wei Ran must ask Li Dui to come forward. This is just by the way. After the spring of next year, if Li Dui is ready to stay away from Zhao State and take Zhao army to withdraw from Zhao State, Meng Zhong will use a similar method to keep Li Du.

It’s not that I want to borrow Li Dui or the power of Zhao to force Qin, but I just don’t want Zhao to interfere.

The Qi and Yan armies will be like this at that time.

"Yanchengjun?"

“Hmm?”

Hearing Wei Ran's call, Meng Zhong then turned his gaze away from Li Dui and then looked at Wei Ran, the prime minister of Qin.

Qin was worried that once the war started, Wei and Han would not be able to stop Wei and Han, while Wei was worried that when he fought with Qin, other countries would take the opportunity to rise and even rob Wei. Do you really think that Li Dui could not see the fundamental reason for the "kidnapping" of the coalition forces by Meng Zhong, Gongsun Shu and others?

"Let them go, it has nothing to do with me anyway."

Li Dui thought to himself.

At this time, the conversation between Wei Ran and Meng Zhong continued.

Wei Ran said to Meng Zhong in an unknown sense: "Jun Yecheng said just now that your country is ready? But I don't believe it... As far as I know, there is a country in the south of your country stationing heavy troops on the border... Isn't you worried about it?"

"Southern? Chu State?"

Meng Zhong frowned slightly, after all, he had not received any news so far.

He turned his head to look at Gongsun Shu, who also shook his head as a hint, indicating that he was not aware of this matter.

After taking a deep look at Wei Ran, Meng Zhong muttered in his heart. Wei Ran deliberately mentioned Chu State at this time, and there was definitely no reason.

"Could it be..."

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong vaguely guessed something, and asked Wei Ran with a chuckling, "Why is Rang Marquis so clear about the matter far away in Chu State? Could it be that this matter is related to Rang Marquis?"

"Yanchengjun is wronged."

Wei Ran shook his head, but the gentle smile on his face made Meng Zhong more sure.

Meng Zhong shook his head and said, "Mr. Rang feels that such external moves can save your country's defeat?"
To be continued...