The suspense of Zhao Wangqin's envoy was revealed before Li Luotang and the others returned to Gaocheng.

As soon as the purple-draconed carriage drove up Suzaku Street and drove towards the outside of Handan City, the news grew wings and flew directly to the desks of Li Mu and Gongzijia.

The envoy turned out to be Chunpinghou himself. And the one who accompanied him to the front line was the old eunuch Tang Mei.

Li Mu was expressionless when he received the news. Gongzi Jia, who was on the other side of the case, frowned beautifully. It should be said that this envoy is definitely heavyweight.

Three days later, the purple carriage of Chunping Hou stopped in front of the general's mansion. Chunpinghou, dressed in a purple robe, walked down from the car slowly. Every step of the way is magnificent.

Chunping Hou was indeed born with a dignified appearance. At this age, he is still handsome and full of charm. He had a smile like a spring breeze on his face, and he saluted Li Mu and Gongzijia who came to greet him, and he was graceful.

The old eunuch Tang Mei behind him, as always, bent his waist low, with a humble smile on the corner of his mouth, and he didn't dare to raise his eyelids casually.

He bowed down and walked in small steps behind Chunping Hou, but he was a little excited in his heart. Since the death of the first king, the new king has never reused his old minion as much as this time.

If it weren't for Chunping Hou, who said in front of Zhao Wangqian, "Speaking of Tang Mei, I still watched Gongzijia grow up", how could such a face-saving errand fall on him?

Tang Mei couldn't hide the joy in his heart, and turned into a more humble smile condensed on his face.

Entering the room, Tang Mei first read out the royal edict. In the edict, there is a lot of praise for the maintenance of Li Mu, and earnestly hopes that the general will be victorious.

Everyone bowed to the king's edict, and the Marquis of Chunping sat down on the right seat with a wave of robe sleeves. Li Mu still didn't have any expression, but his face was gentle, and he said in a soft voice: "What the king meant, Li Mu understands. ”

Li Mu raised his eyes and glanced at Chunping Hou, and said calmly: "Fighting on the plains, you still need to make good arrangements. Our army does not have an advantage in terms of troops, and if we do not make efforts in the use of tactical maneuver, it will be very difficult to win. ”

Chunpinghou was still smiling like a spring breeze, he fully affirmed Li Mu's thoughts, and a lot of beautiful words and boundless gossip covered up the past discord between the two in the court.

That night, the army prepared a little wine, and the general accompanied him, and the envoy drank and talked merrily until nightfall.

But after the hai, when the banquet dispersed, Gongzi Jia did not expect that Chunping Hou came to visit alone.

The purple brocade robe on Chunpinghou's body was still flat and neat, without a single wrinkle. He walked slowly into Gongzijia's room, unable to know that there were still Feng Luotang and the four of them in this room.

"Childe, this time I came to give me a chance to say a few words to you alone." Chunpinghou's tone has seven points of seriousness and three points of the attitude of the elders to the juniors.

Childe looked at him with an inquiring gaze. Chunping Hou continued: "I don't care what you think of me, the Queen Mother, and the King, you must know that no one is more on the position of Zhao Guo than mine. ”

"Oh?" Gongzijia wondered, "Why is there no one?" ”

Gongzi Jia's question made Chunpinghou hesitate. He gave the answer, but he didn't know how to express it from its source.

On the way to Gaocheng, sitting in a very closed carriage on that side, Chunping Hou thought a lot.

Far away from the foxy Empress Dowager Chang, not seeing the useless win and move who indulged in the silk and bamboo orchestra every day, without the aggressive old masters above the court, and also isolated from the wind, rain and sunshine outside, Chunping Hou thought silently for almost three days.

There is a secret that no one in Zhao Guodu knows. Chunping Hou is one of the "gossip" of the Nine Palaces, codenamed "Zhen".

The so-called "gossip" is the highest level of the Nine Palaces, the eight most secret spies, all of whom are high-ranking and powerful people in various countries. Not only do they have a noble position inside the Nine Palaces, but they also enjoy the annual dedication of a thousand taels of gold, and they have already had a secret seal in the court of the Qin State.

When Chunping Hou went to Qin as Chunping Jun as a proton, his desire to return to Zhao and ascend to the throne, and later the disappointment of being the first to ascend to the throne by his younger brother, were all used as bargaining chips by Jiugong in exchange for his promise to become a "shock" in "gossip".

The people of Qin did what they said and finally returned the rights of Zhao to him. Although he did not ascend the throne as king, the Marquis of Chunping was already very satisfied.

He even felt that he had done a good job and didn't make Zhao Wangqian look too much like a puppet.

Almost all the power has been concentrated in his hands, although there are still a few places that cannot be fully controlled, such as Guo Kai and Li Mu. But as long as the power can be used properly, the government and the opposition are still in the palm of his Chunping Marquis.

That's right, he exchanged his promise for the full support of the Nine Palaces of the Qin State. But there is one thing that neither King Qin nor Wang Ao of the Nine Palaces can guess, that is the bottom line of Chunping Hou.

His bottom line is the entire Zhao Kingdom.

He was so hungry and thirsty to get the right to be the king, in fact, there was only one simple purpose, he wanted Zhao to be better and stronger.

The causes and consequences of all this are incomprehensible to outsiders, so at this moment, Chunping Hou couldn't find a suitable word to solve Gongzijia's doubts.

He searched his stomach for a long time, but he still couldn't find a very convincing answer.

So he said: "Whether Gongzi believes it or not, I am the one who can't afford to lose Zhao Guo the most." ”

Gongzijia showed a polite smile, like in an ordinary person's home, shouted "uncle", and then said: "Now above the court, everyone looks at the head of the Hou Ye. Whether Zhao can exchange for a stable future depends on the outcome of this war. ”

Gongzi's implication is that at this time, we must work together and fully support Li Mu's anti-Qin war. He stared at Chunpinghou's eyes without any scruples, his gaze sharp.

He continued: "The position that Hou Ye just said, the reason why I was surprised is because it didn't need to be emphasized. Could it be that I have a different position from Hou Ye? Could it be that General Li Mu and all the people who fought on the front line had a different position from Hou Ye? ”

"Different." Chunpinghou said with an unchanged face: "My position is firmer. ”

Gongzijia smiled, abandoned it and said tactfully: "It's late tonight." If your uncle has anything, just tell me. "The implication is that you and my uncle and nephew don't have to beat around the bush anymore.

"After this battle, no matter whether I win or lose, I want to ask Gongzi to secretly envoy to the Qin State instead of me." Chunping Hou really went straight.

Gongzi Jia's eyes lit up, waiting for the next step of Chunping Hou.

"The Qin state is so strong, and the purpose of annexing other countries has been revealed. But Zhao needed a few years of buffer before he could regain control of Qin. At this time, we must endure the humiliation and burden, make compromises, and ask for a temporary alliance with the Qin State. So I thought ......"

"Got it. Hou Ye doesn't need to say much. Gongzijia interrupted Chunpinghou and said succinctly: "Yes." ”

Chunping Hou looked at Gongzi Jia in amazement. He had prepared a lot of words to convince him. Because there is a possibility of being taken hostage when going to Qin, it is very dangerous.

What's more, the strength and weakness of Qin Zhao are so unbalanced, it is an extremely dangerous task to negotiate conditions with Qin State. So Chunpinghou didn't expect Gongzi Jia to agree so happily. His face froze, and the car of words he had prepared had to be buried in his stomach.

When Chunping Hou was about to leave, Gongzijia suddenly stopped him again and said a clueless word: "Master Hou, people are doing it, and the sky is watching." Take care. ”

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Wang Ben's army had already passed through Jingcheng Pass and joined the army of Li Xin, the former army, on the bank of the Hutuo River outside the Taihang Mountains. The Qin army, which was strong and strong, had quickly occupied several small cities in the surrounding areas, such as Pingshan and Luquan.

With these nearby cities, the south and north banks of the Hutuo River, as well as the entrance to Jingcheng, were firmly in the hands of the Qin army. This is also a lesson that Wang Ben learned from the defeat of Huan Qi's army.

In any case, it is very important to spread out outside the Jingcheng Pass with heavy troops and guard this evacuation passage. Then there is the Hutuo River, which can not only occupy the south bank, but also occupy Fanwu, which happens to be a stronghold to occupy the north bank.

The north and south banks are all occupied, first, marching and fighting should be close to the water source; second, to prevent the Zhao army from using the upper reaches of the river to raid and attack with water; Third, to create a base area for the future to attack the lower reaches of the Hutuo River, or to the south.

Wang Ben's army was also about 70,000 strong. But the strength of the 70,000-strong army is real. There are more than 1,000 military vehicles, including more than 700 heavily armored combat vehicles.

The army is equipped with more than 20,000 heavy cavalry, light cavalry, light and heavy infantry, well-equipped, and abundant food and grass.

It should be said that although it has been less than a year since the defeat last year, the Qin State is still very well prepared for this battle.

When night came, the candle was shining high, and Wang Ben took Li Xin, the former general of the former army, Meng Tian, the left general of the left army, and several other generals to study strategy and tactics. He didn't know that at this moment, far away in Xianyang's hometown, there was also a special guest at the home of the veteran Wang Qian.

Wang Ao can't actually be considered a guest, he is not an outsider.

Sitting opposite the burly Wang Qian, Wang Ao looked a little dry and had no energy. However, the secret that Wang Ao brought to Wang Jian was a hundred times more spiritual.

"This time, the envoy is Chunping Hou." Wang Ao calmly revealed.

"Really?" Wang Jian said with interest: "So he has already received your order?" ”

"My order to him is not to act rashly." Wang Ao said.

"But you said he brought Tang Mei?" Wang Jian asked.

"Yes, and Tang Mei brought that." After Wang Ao said this, he took a deep breath and straightened up, closed his eyes, and after holding his breath for a long time, he slowly spit out the breath that had been held for a long time.

"Just wait for the big war to start, and our arrangements can only start while they are in chaos." Wang Ao said.

"Hmm," Wang Jian also took a deep breath.

"A good hunter has to be patient." Wang Ao continued: "This Qin Zhao victory is unpredictable, but one thing is that we can finally start to slowly close the net. ”

After Wang Ao said this, a smile appeared in the corner of his eyes. The deep wrinkle between his eyebrows seemed to unfold slightly.

"Also," Wang Aoyin's face in the shadows leaned forward. In the candle flame, Wang Jian saw his eyes flickering burningly.

"If the world is a game of chess, then Qin Guo is now a person who wants to play chess." Wang Ao said slowly: "If this first piece falls on Zhao Guo successfully, then this chess game that has already begun cannot be stopped." ”

Wang Jian bowed his head slightly and said: "King Qin's ambition is in the world, and there is no reason to stop. ”

"But above all the righteousness of the family and the country," Wang Ao sighed softly and said, "I have a more important responsibility, the safety and long-term safety of the Wang family." ”

Wang Jian raised his eyes and looked at Wang Ao fiercely: "Is it to protect our Wang family?" ”

There was a trace of confusion in Wang Qian's eyes when he asked, he didn't understand what was wrong with the Wang family, which now had no shortage of military power and scholar status?

"You are the sharpest sword in King Qin's hand, if you want to win the world, how can you not be unsheathed? However, Wang Ao's face showed a hint of worry.

"The extremes of things must be opposed, and the extremes of prosperity must decline. If the sword is too fast, it will make the owner worry about hurting himself, such as Bai Qi. But the unpleasant sword will be discarded by its master. The Wang family is now in full swing, and the only way is to advance and retreat, and to attack and defend. When this sword is invincible, it is necessary to leave a retreat behind him. ”

"But big brother ......" Wang Jian didn't know how to continue, and a wave of emotion surged in his heart.

As the master of the Nine Palaces, Wang Ao is the backing who really stands behind the Wang family.

Wang Jian had a hunch that if every swing of the sharp sword left a glimmer of life behind him, then this glimmer of vitality would push Wang Ao, the backing, one more step towards the edge of the cliff.

Wang Jian suddenly felt a little sorry for this big brother in his heart. This big brother who has a very deep city, a very high strategy, and extremely ruthless means, the bottom line in the deepest heart is just the Wang family.

As if seeing his thoughts, Wang Ao suddenly smiled. This kind of smile on the face of the Ninth Master is something that no one else will see. His smile was completely contrary to the aura of his whole body, and even a little loving.

Then he said, "Don't worry. It's not as hard as you think. ”

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After Li Mu and King Zhao's envoy Chunpinghou drank a drink, they no longer had the heart and energy to deal with them. In the past two days, his full focus has been on how to face the Qin army.

The greatest advantage of the Qin State's combat power was their heavy armored chariots, heavy cavalry and infantry, which were unstoppable in the assault.

How to break the heavy armor was the primary issue discussed by Zhao Jun. There were dozens of people sitting in Li Mu's general's mansion. In addition to the main generals around him, there were also officials in charge of weapons, and even the leaders of craftsmen.

Meetings on this theme continued late into the night. The candles in the General's Mansion had already been changed, and everyone left one after another.

After sorting and summarizing, the Zhao army finally quickly reorganized its infantry and light cavalry teams. In the face of heavily armored tanks, the latest formation is called the Armor-Piercing Regiment.

The Zhao army will select soldiers from all battalions in the army to quickly form an armor-breaking regiment with strong shape and flexible mobility. The Armor-Piercing Regiment consists of six men in each group, with one spearman, one shield spearman, one crossbowman, one golden hook player, one hammer bearer, and one broadswordman.

Among them, close-range crossbow shots can penetrate armor; The spear and shield spear work together to inflict an attack on the enemy on the chariot; Hammer and broadsword men are the main force of hammer killing and decapitation; The special golden hook hand is to roll under the horse's belly, and use the golden hook to throw the horse's belly or cut the horse's legs, so that the horse pulling the heavy chariot loses the ability to move forward.

For heavy cavalry, the main tactic is to use both the shield phalanx and the flank light cavalry charge.

It was a bit difficult to form an armor-breaking army in such a hurry. But after all, the Zhao army was well-trained on weekdays and had strong individual ability, so it only took two or three days for the armor-breaking battle group to be formed.

The warband contains 500 armor-piercing battle groups, and these 3,000 people are the elite of the army. In the past two days, through simple exercises, the armor-piercing battle team has initially cooperated tacitly.

The Zhao army, which had been observing the movements of the main force of the enemy, received a military intelligence report that the main force of the Qin army, Wang Ben's army, had all passed through Jingcheng Pass. After two days of rest, they are now assembled near Li Village and set up a decisive battle.

Li Mu ordered the whole army to go out of the city to meet the enemy, and according to the plan arranged in advance to meet the enemy, he ordered all units to prepare in place.