In early September, when Bai Qi and Sima retreated to the Yin and Jin Dynasty after taking a wrong breath, in Xianyang, the capital of the Qin State, Wei Ran, the Marquis of Qin, had also received the news from Bai Qi and learned the bad news of the ineffective front-line operations.

"Bai Qi, can't you even resist that Meng Zhong?"

After reading Bai Qi's letter, Wei Ran frowned and was silent for a long time, and also thought about it for a long time.

It is true that Meng Zhong of Wei is a genius, but he does not think that the Bai Qi he personally selected will be inferior to Meng Zhong.

What is the ability of Bai Qi?

This point, in Bai Qi's crusade against Zhao last year is enough to illustrate the problem, at that time, Zhao's generals Li Ji and Han Xu were easily defeated by Bai Qi, if it wasn't for the inappropriate time at that time, Bai Qi alone would even have the ability to overthrow a Zhao State.

But Bai Qi, who is so capable, has been defeated by Meng Zhong twice, what is the reason for this?

In this regard, Wei Ran also repeatedly thought about the reasons why Bai Qi had lost to Meng Zhong twice before.

The first time was in the Battle of Yique, Bai Qi, who was unknown before, almost overturned the two famous generals of Gongsun Xi and Storm Kite at the same time, but he didn't expect that a nameless Meng Zhong who was also unknown in Wei at that time appeared in the middle of the way, and Bai Qi didn't know that there was such a number one person as Meng Zhong in the Wei army, so that Meng Zhong took advantage of the latecomer to overturn Bai Qi and won the final victory in the Battle of Yique for Wei.

And the second battle in Wanfang, this time Bai Qi was purely dragged back by Sima Cuo's generals, because of the lack of food in the army, he had no choice but to choose the way of exchanging his life for his life, sacrificing his own army to protect Sima Cuo's army, lest his Qin army be broken by Meng Zhong one by one because of the exhaustion of grain and grass.

Therefore, in Wei Ran's view, Bai Qi's two defeats are both crimes of right and wrong, and to put it bluntly, they are unlucky.

Maybe just like Bai Qi himself thinks, that Meng Zhong is the destined opponent in his life, anyway, every time he encounters Meng Zhong, Bai Qi will always fall into a disadvantage inexplicably due to various non-human reasons - just like the reason why the Menshui Qin Camp fell as Bai Qi told in this battle report.

Realizing that the coalition was not monolithic, he tried to contact Tian Touch and Le Yi, even if he couldn't rebel against these two, at least he had to let these two people remain neutral in the contest between his Qin State and the Three Jin Coalition Army, to be honest, Wei Ran didn't feel that there was anything wrong with this strategy at all.

He was even surprised, surprised that Bai Qi's vision was not confined to the war in front of him, but encompassed the current situation in the entire Central Plains, and took into account the attitude of Qi Guo - he even suspected that Sima was wrong to point out Bai Qi.

But who would have thought that it was this seemingly very ingenious strategy that buried the Menshui Qin camp - Meng Zhong, the general of the Wei army, somehow guessed the secret agreement between Bai Qi and Tian Touch, and suddenly attacked dozens of miles away, and took the Menshui military camp in one go.

If it weren't for one of them leaking the secret to Meng Zhong, this Meng Zhong would simply be like a god!

"Meng Zhong ......"

Putting down the battle report in his hand, Wei Ran raised his hand and rubbed the corners of his forehead.

He felt a bit of a headache.

This time, Wei, Zhao, and Han Sanjin joined forces to crusade against him Qin State, and Song State did not participate, Wei Ran believes that this Song State is also shameful - after all, last year, he Qin State helped Song State repel the attack of Qi State, as long as Song State still has face, it will not be unfavorable to him Qin State.

However, the Song State allowed Meng Zhong to crusade against him as a Wei general, which made Wei Ran feel very dissatisfied, after all, this meant that the Song State finally chose to stand on the side of the Wei State in the side of either Qin or Wei.

An enemy ally is an enemy, even if an enemy ally was once an ally of his own country.

Since the Song State chose to stand on the side of the Wei State, then of course, he is also the enemy of his Qin State, and he will inevitably be sanctioned by his Qin State in the future!

Of course, Wei Ran can only say these cruel words in his heart for the time being, after all, it is difficult for the Qin State to pose any threat to the Song State for the time being, after all, there are two miles between the two countries, Wei and Han!

"My judgment is correct, the Song State really fell to the Wei State......

Brushing his beard, Wei Ran let out a long breath.

Last year, he sent an envoy to the Song State because of the Qi State's invasion of the Song State, and met the Song Wangyan and the Song Xiang Hui'an, and Wei Ran realized that the attitude of the Song State was very ambiguous.

It is true that the Song State hopes to form an alliance with the Qin State, even today, but the premise is that this 'Qin State' is the Qin State that is unable to set foot in the Central Plains for the time being, and once he Qin State has the strength to set foot in the Central Plains, the Song State will probably become the enemy of the Qin State.

After all, no matter what you say, the Song State is also the Central Plains country recognized by the Central Plains countries, so naturally he will not welcome him, the Qin State, a country that arrogantly wants to forcibly set foot in the Central Plains - for a long time, whether it is the Qin State or the Chu State, in fact, it has always been despised by those Central Plains countries.

It was precisely because of the ambiguous position of the Song State at that time that Wei Ran decisively sent an envoy to the State of Qi, and did not hesitate to use the betrayal of the Song State as a condition in exchange for an alliance with the State of Qi - Qi took the Song State, Qin took Wei and Han, and the two sides did not interfere with each other.

Unexpectedly, the current monarch of Qi State is actually such a fierce and inward-looking guy, just because there are signs of alliance between the Three Jin Dynasty, he was frightened to abolish the emperor's name, and even turned around to crusade against him Qin State, so that he became the laughing stock of the world.

It's sad!

Is that really Qi State? Is it still the eastern power that once made him have to surrender to the Qin State?

Thinking about the period of King Qi Wei, the period of King Qi Xuan, how powerful and powerful the Qi State was at that time, especially King Qi Xuan, domineering was vividly displayed in King Qi Xuan, and he declared war with other countries at every turn because of a little friction, bluffing that the countries in the Central Plains did not dare to offend Qi easily.

Let's take a look at the current King of Qi's field......

Wei Ran could only sneer at this, the once powerful Qi State was afraid that it would long since ceased to exist.

Today's Qi State is, at best, an empty shell with the name of a powerful country.

"It seems that my Great Qin's biggest enemy is still Wei Han...... No, it's Wei! ”

After thinking for a while, Wei Ran muttered thoughtfully.

To be precise, Qin's biggest opponent today is the alliance of Wei, Han and Song led by Wei, if Zhao is co-opted by Wei, it is the alliance of Wei, Zhao, Han and Song, which seems to be a copy of the alliance between Jin and Song.

"Forget it, let's solve the current crisis first, and then think about dividing the three Jin......

After thinking about it, Wei Ran left the mansion with Bai Qi's battle report.

After leaving the mansion, Wei Ran first went to Ganquan Palace to ask for his sister Empress Dowager Xuan, not because he was afraid of being punished by his nephew Qin Wangji, but mainly because Empress Dowager Xuan was currently the person who held the highest power in the Qin State, and by the way, in order to deal with the invasion of this coalition army, he also hoped to get some help from Empress Dowager Xuan.

In the Ganquan Palace, Wei Ran met his sister's current concubine, King Yiqu, an alien king who had given him a headache in the Qin Kingdom.

But the so-called beauty town, hero mound, since this foreign king moved into Ganquan Palace to live, the former ambitions have long been forgotten by him, accompanied by wine all day long, and Empress Dowager Xuan, and Empress Dowager Xuan gave birth to two sons for him - well, this is his shame for Daqin, not enough for outsiders.

All in all, King Yiqu is not an ordinary concubine, the dignified Empress Dowager of Qin did not hesitate to suffer humiliation and betrayed her hue to envelop this person, which in itself already explains the problem, and Wei Ran naturally did not dare to let King Yiqu retreat.

And the king of Yiqu did not take the initiative to avoid suspicion, this guy may have already regarded himself as the master of Ganquan Palace, that natural posture, even Wei Ran couldn't help but curse in his heart: arrogant guy, see how you end up in the future!

Empress Dowager Xuan was very surprised by Wei Ran's arrival, after all, during this time, she delegated power to her son Yingji, and also to Wei Ran, and she lived in Ganquan Palace for a long time, and did not return to Xianyang, unless something major happened in the country, Wei Ran only needed to discuss with Qin Wangji, and there was no need to go to Ganquan Palace to discuss with her in person.

After all, she also knows the word shame, and the concubine next to her can be seen less or less, even if it is seen by her own brother.

"Queen Mother, the minister came today to have something important to do."

Arching his hand, Wei Ran told about the breakthrough of Hangu Pass by the allied forces of Wei, Zhao, Han, Qi and Yan, and heard that Xuan Tai's color changed slightly.

On the side, King Yiqu didn't think so, and even laughed: "When did Daqin become so weak?" ”

Wei Ran glanced at King Yiqu and said nothing.

In fact, he really wanted to taunt back: My Great Qin is weak? Look at how your Yiqu country is now!

Yes, when the King of Yiqu was charmed by the Empress Dowager Xuan and died in a drunken dream in the Ganquan Palace, the Yiqu State, which was once the biggest hidden danger of the Qin State, had already been torn apart and slowly annexed by the Qin State.

Empress Dowager Xuan seemed to be close to the generous back of King Fuyiqu, and immediately asked Wei Ran: "Ran, you tell the truth to this palace, can I, Daqin, deal with this crisis?" ”

Wei Ran glanced at King Yiqu slightly, so he said in embarrassment: "I'm afraid it's difficult, the alliance of all countries is very strong, especially the cavalry of Wei and Zhao...... The cavalry that I, Great Qin, have trained over the years, is not an opponent at all. ”

Empress Dowager Xuan has been looking at Wei Ran, how could she not see Wei Ran's small movements?

After thinking about it carefully, she suddenly came to her senses, and her face suddenly showed a sad expression, and she sighed: "This ...... How good is that? ”

Seeing the sad face of his beloved woman, King Yiqu, who was originally not taking things seriously, changed his face slightly, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, beauty, I have strong cavalry in Yiqu, which can help Qin State repel the coalition forces of the Central Plains countries......"

"This ......"

"Don't worry, this matter is on me."

Under the pretense of hesitation of the Empress Dowager Xuan, King Yiqu swore to answer the matter, and Wei Ran secretly sneered.

To tell the truth, Wei Ran also had a good impression of King Yiqu at this time, not because King Yiqu promised to help him in the Qin State, but because this arrogant alien king was eaten to death by his sister.

You must know that King Yiqu is not a ruthless and ignorant alien king, he has been in contact with the Central Plains culture for a long time, and can be called a foreign king with both civil and military skills, so Qin Guo once regarded this person as a big trouble, but in front of the Empress Dowager Xuan, this alien king seemed to be blindfolded, which shows that he is indeed moved by the Empress Dowager Xuan.

『…… In the future, leave him a whole corpse.'"

Wei Ran thought secretly.

As the object of great humiliation for the Qin State and the Qin royal family, King Yiqu is destined to die in the future!

But now, it's not the time......

After leaving Ganquan Palace, Wei Ran immediately returned to Xianyang and entered the palace to meet Qin Wangji.

I have to say that compared to the Empress Dowager Xuan, Qin Wangji is indeed too young, so that after learning the bad news of the rout on the front, Qin Wangji was shocked and angry, angrily threw the battle report in his hand to the ground, pointed at Wei Ran and reprimanded: "This is the general you recommended?!" ”

Wei Ran was not angry at all, after all, the monarch in front of him was his nephew, and he was still young, young people, of course, there would be impulsive times.

He bent down and picked up Bai Qi's battle report from the ground, and said calmly: "There is not only Bai Qi on the front line, but also Sima Cuo, if it is true that Bai Qi has caused the rout of the front-line army, I believe that Sima Cuo has already sent someone to send a letter to impeach Bai Qi, but as far as the old minister knows, Sima Cuo has not sent any letters back so far, which proves that Sima Cuo does not think that Bai Qi has made any mistakes...... The rout of the front-line army is just as it should be. ”

"......" Qin Wangji was dumbfounded.

These young monarchs really don't trust Bai Qi very much, not because Bai Qi is Wei Ran's henchman, but because Bai Qi is too young and has a bad reputation.

For example, during the Battle of Yique a few years ago, Bai Qi killed the captured Wei general Gongsun Xi regardless of Xianyang's attitude, breaking the unwritten rules and tacit understanding on the battlefields of various countries, which made Qin very passive - no one would like to break the rules.

What's more, there is no general in the world who will win a hundred battles, what if the generals of his Qin State fall into the hands of the Central Plains countries one day later? Wouldn't it also be killed by the countries of the Central Plains?

But compared to Bai Qi, Qin Wangji trusted Sima Cuo, an old minister who dedicated his life to his Qin State, especially Sima Cuo took the trouble to secretly remind Qin Wangji, so that the latter could guard against Empress Dowager Xuan, Wei Ran, Mi Rong and others, and not let these people steal the king's rights.

As the saying goes, as a courtier, Sima Cuo dared to remind the monarch to be careful of the latter's mother and uncle, which shows that Sima Cuo is a real loyal minister of the country and a loyal minister of the king.

Right now, just like Wei Ran said, since Sima Cuo didn't think that this matter was Bai Qi's fault, Qin Wangji could only accept it—he believed Sima Cuo's judgment.

After calming down, he noticed Wei Ran's composure, and with curiosity in his heart, he asked, "Uncle doesn't seem to be alarmed at all about the current situation?" ”

"Because the minister knows the limits of the kingdoms."

Wei Ran smiled and said calmly: "The king is too anxious, he may not have noticed that Sima Cuo and Bai Qi have already told their methods of countering the coalition in the battle report......"

"You mean, give up more than 200 miles of land?" Qin Wangji asked with a frown.

"Exactly." Wei Ran nodded and said, "Giving up more than 200 pieces of land is not a wise move to give up more than 200 territories in vain or Sima Coward's cowardice and dare not fight with the coalition forces. …… A few days ago, the minister told the king that the Fangcheng cavalry of the Wei State had infiltrated the hinterland of our country......"

"Humph!"

As soon as he heard this, Qin Wangji was furious.

That group of damned Wei cavalry burned the farmland of several cities in his Qin State in one go, from Taolin to Yin Jin, almost every city was poisoned.

If it weren't for the Yin Jin side with Huayang Jun Rong's army stationed, it would be impossible for that group of Fangcheng cavalry to continue to penetrate into his Qin State to destroy.

And who is the one responsible for all this? Who accidentally let in that group of Wei cavalry?

Isn't it the general Bai Qi recommended by the uncle in front of him?!

“…… In view of the destruction of Fangcheng's cavalry and the potential threat, Bai Qi and Sima Cuo decided to retreat more than 200 li after deep thought, which was a very wise decision in the eyes of the minister. Sure enough, the coalition army was tricked, and the arrogant coalition army greedily occupied the cities along the way and advanced the battle line to the Yin and Jin areas, which gave me the opportunity for Great Qin to defeat the coalition army! ”

Not caring about the displeasure on Qin Wangji's face, Wei Ran calmly recounted his strategy.

In other words, it is the strategy of Bai Qi and Sima Cuo.

What is the strategy?

It's very simple, it's nothing more than cutting off the grain route of the coalition army first, and then waiting for the opportunity to chase and kill the coalition army that was defeated because of the exhaustion of grain and grass, it was for this reason that Wei Ran ran ran to Ganquan Palace and borrowed the Empress Dowager Xuan to get the help of King Yiqu.

Although the current Yiqu Kingdom is getting worse, the Yiqu King is still very appealing, and there are many Yiqu warriors who are willing to be loyal to him.

Almost every warrior in the name canal was an excellent cavalryman.

"Yiqu King ......"

When he heard the three words King Yiqu from Wei Ran's mouth, a little hatred and shame flashed on Qin Wangji's face.

No matter how he said it, he was also the monarch of the Qin State, and his mother's affairs with the King of Yiqu in the Ganquan Palace could not be hidden from him, including the fact that his mother gave birth to two sons for the foreign king.

"King, the overall situation is important." Wei Ran persuaded in a low voice.

With a long breath of evil, Qin Wangji gritted his teeth and said expressionlessly: "This matter, I will leave it to your uncle, Yin Jin is the last bottom line of the widow......"

Wei Ran smiled and arched his hand: "Don't worry, king." …… By the way, in order to divide the alliance of the five nations, the minister hopes to send an envoy to the alliance of the five nations to sue for peace in the name of the king......"

"Huh?"

Qin Wangji frowned slightly, and looked at Wei Ran with some puzzlement.

As if guessing Qin Wangji's thoughts, Wei Ran explained: "Although the ministers, Bai Qi and Sima Cuo, although they have the intention of taking the opportunity to hit the coalition army hard, if the coalition forces are united, the ministers may not be able to do so. …… If the minister is not mistaken, at present, the only people in the coalition who advocate continuing to crusade against our Great Qin should be the violent kite of South Korea and the Meng Zhong of Wei, these two people will want to take the opportunity to hit our Great Qin hard for the sake of the national interests of their respective loyalty, and they are not afraid of offending our Great Qin because of this. But with the minister's understanding of Fengyang Jun Li Dui, he will not come to this point, after all, my Great Qin has not had much conflict with Zhao so far, and Li Dui will not risk the danger of being killed and the net will be broken, and continue to crusade against my Great Qin, therefore, as long as a messenger for peace is sent, there will definitely be a rift within the coalition army. The two armies of Qi and Yan were already reluctant to join the crusade against our Great Qin, if even Fengyang Jun Li Dui gave up continuing the crusade against my Great Qin, even if the Tyrant Kite and Meng Zhong insisted on their own opinions, the threat of our Great Qin would be greatly reduced...... By the way, sending an envoy can also deceive the coalition forces, so that Bai Qi and Sima can wait for the opportunity to launch a counterattack......"

"Hmm."

Qin Wangji nodded thoughtfully: "If the widow knows, you can send a messenger in the name of the widow." ”

"Whoa!"

Wei Ran retreated.

As he left the palace, Wei Ran glanced up at the sky.

It is undeniable that his Qin State is indeed facing a great crisis, but it is also an opportunity, if he can take this opportunity to severely damage the Three Jin Coalition Army, at least the Wei and Han armies, then his Qin State's ambition to set foot in the Central Plains will be unstoppable.

The only thing worth caring about is that Meng Zhong, Yuncheng Jun Meng Zhong.

A young veteran who could match Bai Qi in terms of intelligence could not have imagined the serious consequences of his coalition army advancing more than 200 miles in one go?

Wei Ran didn't believe it.

Obviously, in order to be able to hit him hard, the other party is also taking risks.

It depends on who will have the last laugh.