After returning to Xianyang, Marquis Wei Ran first returned to his mansion in the city, prepared to bathe and change clothes, and then asked the Empress Dowager Xuan to meet with the monarch of his Qin State to discuss countermeasures.

Unexpectedly, after he returned to his mansion, an old servant who had served him for many years secretly told him: "Marquis, the national lieutenant came yesterday, and for some reason he changed into the clothes of ordinary civilians, and told me not to make ......a noise."

White?

Wei Ran was a little surprised in his heart, but after thinking about it, he understood, it must be Bai Qi who also knew that he had committed a major mistake this time, although he was anxious to make up for it, but he didn't dare to ask the king, so he could only come to his mansion in disguise and wait for him to return to Xianyang.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Where is he?" ”

"The guest house in the West Garden."

"Well, go and tell him to come to my study, and he will know where my study is." Dropping a sentence, Wei Ran didn't care about bathing and changing clothes, and went straight to the study in the mansion.

When he arrived at the study, he instructed the servants outside the study to ask the cook to prepare some simple wine and food, and then Wei Ran stood in the study, waiting for Bai to come up.

Not long after, Bai Qi appeared in the courtyard outside the study.

may have noticed Wei Ran standing on the threshold of the study, and Bai Qi in the distance paused, but then he lowered his head and quickly walked over, standing outside the door and saluting Wei Ran with a fist: "Marquis." ”

At this moment, Bai Qi, although he lowered his head, Wei Ran could still feel the guilt and shame on his face, as well as the smell of wine.

"Drunk? How much did you drink? Wei Ran asked calmly.

Bai Qi hesitated, probably considering that this kind of thing could not be concealed from the benefactor in front of him after all, so he lowered his head and said honestly: "I suddenly felt stuffy in my chest last night, and it was difficult to sleep, is it because of ...... Drink a little more. ”

"Huh, a little more?" Wei Ran snorted lightly, and after looking up and down a few times, he beckoned and said, "Come in and talk about it." ”

"No!"

Marquis Wei Ran, a person with a large amount of money, of course he doesn't care about Bai Qi drinking some wine in his mansion, he just thinks that Bai Qi seems to be a little bit of a drunken sorrow, this is not good, this is the person he values.

Yes, although Wei Ran still doesn't know how the coalition forces inexplicably defeated Zheng County, he has never doubted Bai Qi, let alone the idea that Bai Qi should be held responsible for this matter, because he knows Bai Qi very well, after all, Bai Qi was pulled by him.

After motioning for Bai Qi to sit down, Wei Ran frowned and asked, "Let's not say anything else, I want to know, how could the coalition army capture Zheng County?" ”

Bai Qi was silent for a long time, and then explained in a low voice: "I fell for Meng Zhong's trick. …… That night, he first sent his Hedong Wei army to raid our battalion, and the rest of the coalition troops did not move, so that I mistakenly thought that he was feinting to attack our battalion and actually taking the Yin and Jin ......"

Hearing this, Wei Ran suddenly realized: "That's why you sent someone to Yin Jin to inform Mi Rong, so that Mi Rong doesn't have to support you, just defend Yin Jin." ”

"Yes." Bai Qi nodded, and then said in a low voice with a bit of bitterness on his face: "However, I never expected that Meng Zhong seemed to anticipate my reaction, and came to the opposite, after I sent a messenger, he suddenly ordered the four armies of Wei, Han, Qi, and Zhao to besiege our camp, as if he expected that the Yin and Jin fears of the city would encounter an accident, and did not dare to come to help, trying to take the opportunity to severely damage the army under my command......"

“……”

Wei Ran stroked his beard and said nothing.

Is there anything wrong with white rising?

There is no doubt that Bai Qi's judgment at that time was correct, after all, the first thing at that time was to hold Yin Jin, and if you want to blame, blame that Meng Zhong is really scheming, and with one move, he turned the feint attack into a strong attack, and directly put Bai Qi, who misjudged the situation, into an absolute disadvantage.

After thinking about it, he asked, "What happened to the coalition army that captured Zheng County?" Was your army crushed by him? ”

"No, quite the opposite."

Bai Qi shook his head and said with some reluctance: "In fact, his siege may be just incidental, and its purpose is to cover the night attack of one of his elite troops on Zheng County......"

Hearing this, Wei Ran really showed surprise.

He originally thought that Bai Qi was defeated that night, and the coalition army took Zheng County, but he didn't expect that when the coalition army was besieging Bai Qi, Meng Zhong sent another army to take Zheng County-whether it was a sentimental gesture to take Yin Jin, or whether Bai Qi first feinted and then launched an offensive on the ground, it was all a disguise, and Meng Zhong's real purpose was to take Zheng County.

Who would have thought that this was a trick?

After being silent for a long time, Wei Ran said in a deep voice: "How many troops do you still have under your command?" ”

"There are still about 30,000 or 40,000 soldiers, who are currently retreating to Liyi, taking advantage of the danger of Lishan to block the coalition army's advance to Xianyang." Bai Qi said honestly.

A night attack that nearly lost 40,000 troops?

Wei Ran glanced at Bai Qi and stroked his beard without saying a word.

At this time, a servant outside the study called in a low voice: "Marquis, the wine and food have been delivered......

"Come in."

At Wei Ran's signal, several servants came to the house with wine and food, placed them on a low table in the room, and then bowed and retreated.

At this time, Wei Ran got up and walked to the low table, and at the same time said to Bai Qi: "I came all the way, hungry, you accompany me to eat some." After eating, bathing and changing, you will follow me into the palace to meet the king. ”

He didn't mention any punishment for Bai Qi, because he also sincerely felt that this time it was indeed Meng Zhong's skills on the coalition side.

The strategy is not as good as the other party, and it should be captured by the other party Zheng County, which is nothing to say, not only in vain, but also in the same way.

Maybe, it may not be as good as Bai Qi, at least Bai Qi realized Meng Zhong's trick when he broke through, and desperately broke through to the south, resulting in heavy losses for the Wei and Han armies, and if he was another general, he might have stupidly retreated to Yin Jin, and it is not even known when Zheng County was captured by the coalition army.

After a while, a bowl of hot wine was served, Wei Ran felt warm in his belly, and his anxious mood had to be relieved.

At this time, he said to Bai Qi: "I learned that the situation was wrong, so I returned to Xianyang from Yin and Jin, and since the coalition forces had controlled the area of Zheng County, I could only go to Hexi, pass through Liyang, cross Jingshui, and return to Xianyang." …… On the way, when passing by Liyang, I saw the Yiqu cavalry retreating here, they were fighting with the Fangcheng cavalry and the Zhao cavalry in the wilderness. Fangcheng cavalry is the eyes and ears of Meng Zhong, since this cavalry has appeared in Liyang, it can be seen that Meng Zhong's next step, ten is to cross Weishui and attack Liyang, you retreat to Liyi, it can only be said that Xianyang has bought time to deal with it, but it cannot contain the threat of the coalition forces to Xianyang. ”

"......" Bai Qi silently took a sip of wine and said nothing.

In fact, he also knew that holding the main road of Liyi could not effectively contain the coalition army, but the problem was that he couldn't help it, what else could he do but retreat to Liyi?

Of course, he knew that the coalition forces could go to Xianyang from Hedong in a roundabout way, and naturally wanted to blockade Hexi, but where did he get the troops to blockade Hexi?

Seeing that Bai Qi didn't say a word, Wei Ran didn't force anything, after all, he also knew that this defeat was a big blow to Bai Qi, he continued to take care of himself: "On the way here, I have been thinking about Meng Zhong's intentions, and finally I understand, this kid is really cunning, he knows that our side will inevitably send heavy troops to defend Yin Jin, so he gave up the plan to attack Yin Jin and take Zheng County instead, forcing us to take the initiative to transfer Yin Jin's army back to Xianyang for defense, so that he can take Yin Jin without much effort and solve the problem of lack of food for the coalition army." …… I heard that Meng Zhong was compared to Pang Juan and Gongsun Xi, heh, these Wei people really don't know how to be blessed in the blessings, and they don't know that Meng Zhong's strategy is still above Pang Juan and Gongsun Xi. ”

If it had been in the past, hearing Wei Ran praise his old enemy Meng Zhong, Bai Qi would probably feel happy, but now, he really couldn't be happy.

After dinner, the two went to the room to bathe and change clothes, and then went to the palace together to meet the king of Qin.

At this time, Qin Wangji had already received news about the cavalry of Fangcheng and the cavalry of Zhao State, and learned that the cavalry of these two enemy countries had actually appeared in the Liyang area of Hexi, which frightened the young monarch.

You must know that Liyang is in the rear of Yin and Jin, and if the two enemy cavalry want to appear in the Liyang area, they must pass through Yin and Jin and cross Weishui, does this mean that the army on the front line of his Qin State has been defeated?

But so far, he Xianyang has not received any battle reports about the rout of the front-line army, which makes Qin Wangji a little confused.

Confused, the young King of Qin was furious in the palace, angrily reprimanding his courtiers to immediately send someone to Liyang to find out how the cavalry of Fangcheng and the cavalry of Zhao could appear in the land west of the river without impunity.

Here, the King of Qin was on fire, and at this time, an official walked into the hall and bowed his hand: "King, the Marquis has come to meet with the captain." ”

Qin Wangji was stunned for a moment, as if he had caught some backbone, and his face showed a little joy, but after thinking about it, this monarch felt that the situation was wrong again.

Because Marquis Wei Ran and Guowei Bai Qi were both in the Yin and Jin areas before, wouldn't it mean that they suddenly returned to Xianyang without warning......

With a sigh in his heart, Qin Wangji immediately summoned: "Please." ”

After a while, Wei Ran and Bai Qi walked into the hall, clasped their fists and saluted Qin Wangji: "Great King." ”

At this time, Qin Wangji cared about these false courtesies, and asked a little eagerly: "Uncle, you and the national lieutenant suddenly returned to Xianyang, could it be the front-line ......?"

Wei Ran was silent for a moment, and then said to Qin Wangji: "There is good news here, and a bad news here......

Qin Wangji was stunned and seemed to be a little angry, but in the end, he still said patiently: "Let's talk about the bad news first." ”

Hearing this, Wei Ran said in a deep voice: "The bad news is that a few days ago, the coalition army captured Zheng County with a trick, and although the national lieutenant resisted desperately, he could not resist the coalition army in the end, so he could only retreat to Liyi and take advantage of the steepness of the Lishan main road to stop the coalition army. ”

Hearing Wei Ran's words, the young King Qin's face turned pale suddenly, and he didn't know whether he was frightened or angry.

Come to think of both, after all, how far is Liyi from Xianyang? It's less than a hundred miles!

In other words, the offensive of the Five Nations Alliance has already reached a place only a hundred miles away from Xianyang, the capital of his Qin State!

100 miles, can it also be talked about remotely? According to the marching speed of Wei Wushu, it can be reached in a day's rapid march, not to mention the more mobile Fangcheng cavalry and Zhao cavalry.

To put it mildly, at present, he Xianyang is already within the attackable range of the coalition army, and the coalition army can send cavalry to invade Xianyang at any time, burn, kill and loot, and humiliate Xianyang, the capital of his Qin state.

“…… The good news? Qin Wangji endured his anger and asked through gritted teeth.

Wei Ran arched his hand and said calmly: "The good news is that Yin Jin is still in the hands of Huayang Jun and can effectively contain the coalition army. ”

Hearing this, Qin Wangji couldn't hold back any longer, and reprimanded with a little anger: "Uncle, what kind of good news are you talking about? ”

"The king is angry."

Wei Ran arched his hand, and immediately said calmly: "Although the countermeasures of the coalition forces have destroyed our previous strategy, I can't talk about the catastrophe coming to my Great Qin, and I am fully sure that the coalition army will retreat, and even let the coalition army collapse on its own!" ”

Qin Wangji was stunned when he heard this: "Really? ”

"Nature."

Wei Ran nodded, and then said to Qin Wangji: "The king must first figure out who the real opponent of my Great Qin is this time when the Five Kingdoms attack Qin. ”

Qin Wangji thought for a while, and said unconfidently: "Sanjin? ”

"To be more precise, it's actually Wei and South Korea." Wei Ran corrected.

Qin Wangji frowned, and the fox asked: "Then the Fengyang Jun of the Zhao State ......?"

Wei Ran Zhengse explained: "It is true that this time the Five Kingdoms attacked Qin, and it is true that Zhao State is the leader of the alliance, but in the final analysis, this is only the proposition of Fengyang Jun Li Dui, and as far as Zhao State itself is concerned, Zhao State and my Great Qin have no grudges for the time being......"

Qin Wangji nodded, in fact, his throne was won by Zhao State's Zhao master's father forcibly intervening in the matter of Qin State's heir, otherwise, he would probably still be a proton in Yan State, even if it was his own mother, Empress Dowager Xuan, most of them had forgotten him at that time.

Although Qin Wangji also knew that Master Zhao must have some purpose for 'helping' him back then, such as gradually controlling him in the Qin State, he still felt a little grateful to Master Zhao, after all, without Master Zhao, there would be no throne for him today.

“…… Speaking of Li Dui, Li Dui advocated crusading against my Great Qin, only for two purposes, first, Zhao He, the young monarch of Zhao State, gradually regained power over the years, although Li Dui was still reused by King Zhao for the time being, but he also knew that the good life would not last long, therefore, he needed merit to maintain his current position in Zhao State, so that King Zhao would not be able to remove him rashly. Second, my Great Qin coerced Zhao Guo to remove Li Dui from the post of Zhao Xiang, which made Li Dui hold a grudge, so he took the opportunity to retaliate this time. …… But, will Li Dui really sit back and watch my Great Qin be hit hard? Unless he forgot how Pang Juan of Wei bullied him Zhao back then. ”

"What does my uncle mean is that Li Dui just wants to achieve his goal by crusading against my Great Qin, and he doesn't have the intention of destroying my Great Qin?"

"Exactly." Wei Ran nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Actually, according to my estimate, this time the coalition forces broke through Hangu Pass and broke through Hangu Dao, then Li Dui was already satisfied enough, after all, what Kuang Zhang couldn't do back then, he did." But there were two people around him who disagreed...... These two people are the real enemies of my Great Qin. ”

Qin Wangji's expression was straight, and he said slowly: "The Korean general is a violent kite, and the Wei general is Meng Zhong." ”

"Exactly!"

Wei Ran nodded again, and then said calmly: "In the eyes of the ministers, there are only one and a half generals of the Five Nations Alliance, Meng Zhong is counted as one, and the violent kite is counted as half, and the rest are not in the climate. …… Let's talk about Li Dui first, he is Zhao Chen during the period of Zhao Suhou, but so far, have you ever heard of any outstanding military exploits in him? Although Tian Touch is known as a disciple cultivated by Kuang Zhang, over the years, he has been defeated in every battle, so there is nothing to fear! Le Yi of Yan State used to be Meng Zhong's deputy general when he was in Zhao State, but so far, this person has not had any outstanding military exploits. What is really worth being vigilant about is Meng Zhong and Storm Kite. …… A few days ago, the coalition forces misled our army by feinting against the military camp of the national lieutenant, making us mistakenly believe that he was actually trying to seize Yin Jin, but in fact, the coalition army aimed at Zheng County. …… Obviously, the capture of Yin and Jin can solve the current problem of food shortage in the five countries, and according to common sense, Yin and Jin should be taken, but Meng Zhong took Zheng County and forced Mi Rong, who was guarding Yin and Jin, to withdraw his troops and return to Xianyang. This person has a long-term vision and accurate calculations, it is really hard to believe that he is actually a disciple of the three schools of Taoism, Mingming, and Confucianism, rather than a disciple of the military family. ”

Then, Wei Ran briefly explained to Qin Wangji the reason why Zheng County was lost, and Qin Wangji's anger towards Bai Qi also decreased a little.

Because this king also felt that Bai Qi was really not to blame for this defeat, after all, Bai Qi had already made the wisest choice, but who knew that Meng Zhong on the other side would be so treacherous.

Gradually, Qin Wangji's mood calmed down, and he asked Wei Ran: "Uncle Fang Cai once said, are you sure to order the coalition army to retreat?" Or even allow the coalition forces to disintegrate on their own? Really? ”

"Hmm." Wei Ran nodded, and said with a straight face: "Fang Caichen has already explained, the only ones who really want to hit my Great Qin hard, and even put my Great Qin to death, are actually only the two of Storm Kite and Meng Zhong, and the other three, Li Dui will definitely not let these two succeed, as for Tian Touch and Le Yi, most of them will not, after all, Wei State has dominated the Central Plains for a hundred years before, and no one wants to be at the mercy of Wei State anymore." It can be seen from this that the coalition forces are not united, although this time they joined forces to capture Zheng County and put pressure on our Great Qin, it was only because they were afraid that they would be retaliated by our Great Qin after the winter food was cut off. On the other hand, once the potential hidden danger of the coalition forces is removed, the coalition forces will inevitably disintegrate on their own......"

"Uncle means ......"

"The minister suggested that Yin Jin be handed over to the coalition forces." Arching his hand, Wei Ran said in a deep voice: "If the coalition forces get the Yin Jin, they can transport grain and grass by water, and the crisis of food shortage will be lifted immediately. He will inevitably choose to negotiate with our Great Qin to stop this war, so that Wei and Han can no longer borrow the best troops to continue to weaken our Great Qin. I believe that Tian Touch and Le Yi will do the same. At that time, as long as the three armies of Zhao, Qi, and Yan all retreated, even if Storm Kite and Meng Zhong refused to make peace, I Daqin would defeat them, and I would no longer talk about it. ”

Qin Wangji nodded as if he had just woken up from a dream, he finally understood why his uncle Wei Ran was so calm, it turned out that he had already thought of a countermeasure in his heart.

After thinking about it, he asked, "What about ...... What if the coalition forces were to collapse on their own? ”

Wei Ran smiled and said calmly: "Just try to separate the three Jins, for example, to meet the requirements put forward by the three kingdoms of Zhao, Qi, and Yan, but not to agree to the conditions of Wei and Han...... To be precise, it is not to meet the excessive demands of Wei and South Korea. In Chen's opinion, the plan of the two of them this time is not small, especially that Meng Zhong, he knew that Tian Touch and Le Yi had secretly communicated with our frontline Qin army, but he hid it and did not report it, and his purpose was to continue to crusade against our Great Qin by taking advantage of the momentum of the two armies of Qi and Yan; Moreover, in order to prevent the armies from passing the buck to each other, whenever there was a war, the Wei army under his command moved first and played an advantage, attracting the rest of the Zhao, Qi, and Yan armies to follow one after another. He did not hesitate to let his Wei and Han armies suffer so much to weaken our Great Qin, would he be satisfied with just ceding one city and one land? ”

Speaking of this, he chuckled and said, "I don't have to refuse strongly, I just need to drag it until the three armies of Zhao, Qi, and Yan retreat, and if the two of them are not interested, hum ......."

Knowing what Wei Ran meant, Qin Wangji nodded in admiration.

Even Bai Qi, after hearing Wei Ran's analysis, he was impressed.

This marquis did not only become the minister of Qin because of his status as the younger brother of the Empress Dowager Xuan.

In fact, this is the most stable and reliable backing of the Qin State.

It's not King Qin, it's not Sima Fault, it's not him Baiqi, it's this ......

Hoo!