As time passed slowly, just when the situation between Chu and the five northern countries became more and more tense, an earth-shattering news came from the north.

"The king, Zhongshan State Urgent Report, Lingshou, the capital of Zhongshan Kingdom, was besieged by the Zhao army for two years, and after being besieged by the Three Kingdoms of Zhao Yanqi for more than a year, the city was conquered by the Three Kingdoms Alliance more than ten days ago after a month of starvation. Not only that, but after the destruction of Lingshou City, even the King of Zhongshan did not escape, and was directly captured by the Zhao army. ”

Xiong Huai was slightly silent when he heard the news, which was both expected and a little unexpected.

Zhongshan has been defeated by Yan and Zhao many times in the past ten years, and its vitality has been lost, and Zhao's father has surrounded Lingshou for two years, showing his determination not to give up on Lingshou, plus Zhao has the help of Qi and Yan's armies.

Therefore, in Xiong Huai's heart, Lingshou City will definitely be conquered by the Zhao army, and the Zhongshan Kingdom will also perish.

But what Xiong Huai didn't expect was that the capital of Zhongshan Kingdom only lasted for two years under the siege of the Zhao army, and even the King of Zhongshan did not escape, and was directly captured by Zhao's father.

He originally thought that as long as the King of Zhongshan escaped, even if Zhao captured the capital of Zhongshan Kingdom, it would take a long time to exterminate the remnants of Zhongshan Kingdom.

But now...

"Zhongshan Kingdom is over, and it will die too quickly." Xiong Huai sighed lightly, and then asked Chen Zhen, "What is happening to the rest of Zhongshan now?" ”

"The king, after the king of Zhongshan was captured, he surrendered directly to the father of Zhao, and has ordered all the remnants of the country to surrender to the Zhao army, and the overall situation of Zhongshan has been decided.

At this moment, Lord Zhao's father sat in Lingshou City, on the one hand, he sent an envoy with the edict of the King of Zhongshan to surrender the remnants of the Zhongshan Kingdom, and on the other hand, he asked the partial division to follow the envoy to completely pacify Zhongshan. ”

Xiong Huai nodded, the overall situation has been decided, salute first and then soldier, grace and power, Zhongshan Guo is now gone.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai remembered the movements of the Five Kingdoms, and couldn't help frowning: "Chen Qing, have you ever found out what the losses of the Zhao State were in the previous war?" Whether it will be possible to send troops to another country again in the near future. ”

Chen Zhen thought for a while and hesitated: "King, there is no news on the specific losses of Zhao Jun now, but, judging from the situation in Lingshou City, the situation of Zhao Jun is not optimistic.

Lingshou City is the capital of Zhongshan Kingdom, the city is tall, the people are numerous, the Zhao army attacked the city until the city was exhausted before taking the city, the Zhao army stayed outside the city for two years, and attacked the city with all its strength for one year, and the loss was not small. Moreover, Lingshou is exhausted, and the Zhao army who is besieging the city is not much better. What's more, after the Zhao army broke through the city, it not only captured the people of the city, but also captured many troops of the Zhongshan Kingdom, as well as the king of Zhongshan and the nobles.

Now that Zhongshan has been decided, Zhongshan has become the territory of Zhao, in this case, Zhao must take out his own military rations to relieve the entire Lingshou City, in order to buy people's hearts and pacify the entire Zhongshan Kingdom as soon as possible.

And the country of Zhao, the land is mountainous, there is less flat land, and the north of Zhao has more pastures and less farmland, with the power of Zhao, it has attacked Zhongshan all the year round, and this time the battle of the country is two years, plus the relief of the grain of Zhongshan country...

The minister thought that the grain that Zhao had accumulated for many years was probably about to run out, and he was no longer able to fight in a short period of time. ”

Seeing that the King of Chu nodded, Chen Zhen continued: "Moreover, the news from Lingshou that after the Three Kingdoms Alliance broke through Lingshou, Lord Zhao let the reinforcements of Qi and Yan return to China the next day, which is not only a problem of food shortage, but also shows the weakness of the Zhao army, in the face of a hundred thousand troops, the Zhao army may be difficult to control." ”

Xiong Huai sighed when he heard this: "In this way, the widow originally hoped that Zhao Guo would send troops to mediate, but now it seems that this hope has been dashed. ”

Saying that, Xiong Huai smiled again and said: "Originally, the widow was worried that Zhao Guo was invited by Qi State to send troops to attack Chu, but now that Zhao Guo is also disabled, the widow does not have to worry about Zhao Guo stabbing the widow in the back in a short time." ”

Chen Zhen listened to the words of King Chu, who was happy and worried, and couldn't help but sigh lightly.

With the relationship and position between Chu and Zhao, the chances of Zhao coming forward to mediate are much higher than those of Zhao sending troops to attack Chu.

Now that the state of Zhao is in a state of weakness, I am afraid that it will encourage all countries to fight Chu even more, thinking that it will provide a chance for respite.

Therefore, judging from the current situation of Chu State, Zhao Guoquan's victory over Zhongshan is far better than Zhao and Zhongshan's defeat.

However, now that the King of Chu has already said it, he can only echo it: "The king is wise." ”

And a few more days.

Qu Yuan came to report: "King, Zuo Yin has sent news that his lobbying for South Korea has failed. Moreover, South Korea not only rejected the request to make peace with our Chu State, but also expelled Zuo Yin, who was sent to South Korea. ”

"Huh?" Xiong Huai's heart sank slightly when he heard this.

After the rumors in Yingdu last time, he not only asked Chen Zhen to send spies to various countries to spread rumors, but also because some of them were doing things behind their backs, so he sent Zuo Yin Zhaochang and Zhong Dafu Zuo Cheng to Han and Song respectively

One is to transfer some unsightly ministers, and the other is to hope to make peace with the two countries.

I thought that the Han and Song countries were weak and far inferior to the Chu State, plus they had just obtained a large amount of land from the Chu State and needed a large number of troops to suppress the place, so the possibility of the two countries sending troops to attack Chu again was very low. The worst thing is that the important ministers of Chu State will send envoys to the two countries, which will also make the two countries have scruples.

But no, now Korea not only rejected the kindness of the state of Chu, but even his envoys were expelled.

This shows that South Korea has decided to send troops to attack Chu.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai asked, "What did Zuo Yin say, and what is the situation in South Korea." ”

Qu Yuan replied with a heavy face: "King, according to Zuo Yin's news, this matter seems to be related to Zhao Guo. Originally, after Zuo Yin arrived in South Korea, although King Han did not agree to peace talks, he did not explicitly refuse.

However, after the destruction of Zhongshan by Zhao, Wei suddenly sent an envoy to see the king of Han. As a result, after receiving the Wei envoy, South Korea immediately rejected the peace talks and expelled Zuo Yin. ”

"Zhao Guo." Xiong Huai nodded.

Although he had long known about the destruction of Zhongshan by the Zhao State, it would inevitably give a great shock to the surrounding countries.

However, he did not expect that this incident would prompt Wei and Han to step up the pace of attacking Chu.

Of course, he can also speculate about the thoughts of Han and Wei.

After the destruction of Zhongshan by the Zhao State, it will definitely increase its strength. Han and Wei, who are located next to Zhao Guo, will either take the opportunity to sanction Zhao Guo, or they will desperately strengthen themselves.

The situation of Chu and Zhao, although Zhao temporarily fell into weakness after the destruction of Zhongshan, the strength of Zhao was still not as good as that of Chu, and Zhao broke Zhongshan, which was a great victory, and its morale was still there.

This was not the case with the state of Chu, which had just been defeated by the Five Kingdoms, lost a large area of territory, weakened its strength, and had low morale in its army.

Comparing the two, the choice of Han and Wei is not so unexpected.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai sneered: "It seems that Han and Wei not only tasted the sweetness from the widow, but also regarded the widow as a weak and bullying person. ”

As he spoke, Xiong Huai asked again: "Xianqing, is there any news from Dr. Zhong's side and Song Taizhen's side?" ”

Now Chen Zhen, who is in charge of investigating the news, is making every effort to mobilize spies in various countries to spread rumors, and all diplomatic matters have been transferred to Qu Yuan's hands. ”

Xiong Huai nodded, then shook his head and sighed: "Although there is Prince Zhen on the Song side to help, but Prince Zhen is not liked by King Song, and it is difficult for Prince Zhen to play a big role." And the king of Song has always been slippery, and now that Han and Wei have decided to make a move against Chu, compared to Qi and Qin, they will also do it, so King Song will definitely take the opportunity to send troops.

The order was passed down and the armament began to be armed. ”

"Yui."