At the beginning of February of the new year, when the area around Wuyang-eup was still covered in snow and ice, Meng Zhong and his wife Mu Leyan drove around Muyang-eup to enjoy the snow and enjoy the surrounding scenery.

Le Yan knew her husband's intentions and knew that he wanted to make up for the regret that he went to Wei after the two got married, but she was still very worried about whether her husband would delay his business because of accompanying him.

In this regard, Meng Zhong said with a smile: "Fang Cheng has Meng Sui and Gong Zhong and Mr. Gong Zhong, Ye Yi has Xiang Yi and Qu Yuan Qu Dafu, plus there are Ah Hu and them from the side, so I really don't need to ask in person......

Indeed, with the help of Meng Sui, Xiang Yi, Meng Hu and other brothers, Meng Zhong was really much easier, just like now, he only needed to wait quietly for the Qin general Bai Qi to lead the army to attack the Chu State, and he didn't need to pay attention to the training and construction of Fangcheng and Yeyi.

That's why he has time to spend with his family.

Near noon, Meng Zhong drove his wife back to Wuyangyi and returned to his home.

Once, his house in Wuyang was quite calm, although the mansion occupies a lot of land, but there are only four people in the house, his mother, sister and wife, but now, there are ten more maids and twenty domestic servants in the house, which is a little lively.

When Meng Zhong returned home with Le Yan, Meng Yan was directing the servants at home to clear the snow, especially the snow on the roof, after all, most of the houses in this era were made of shingle and wood, and if there was too much snow on the roof, it would inevitably collapse the roof.

No, there are several in Wuyangyi, and they collapsed due to ice and snow this year, but fortunately, no one was hurt.

"Brother, sister-in-law, have you come back from enjoying the snow?"

After seeing Meng Zhong and Le Yan, Meng Yan immediately came forward to greet her, and the servants of the family behind her also stepped forward to salute and honored the head of the family and Mrs.

"Where's my mother?"

Meng Zhong asked Meng Yan.

Hearing this, Meng Yan snickered and said, "The old lady is idle in the main house of the inner courtyard. ”

The old lady, that is, the honorific title of the servant of the family, Ge was very uncomfortable with this at first, of course, in fact, Ge has not adapted to it until now.

You must know that since Meng Zhong's father Meng Qu passed away, Meng Zhong and his brother Meng Bo were both raised by Ge alone, and during that period, Ge had to be busy with the affairs in the fields and take care of the family, which can be described as very hard.

Now, there are ten more maids and more than 20 servants in the family, so that almost all the housework and farming work do not need her to be experienced in person, which makes the mother, who has worked hard for more than ten or twenty years, feel very uncomfortable, and she does not know what to do at home all day long.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong said to Le Yan and Meng Yan's two daughters: "Ye Yi is still rectifying now, in a few days, when Xiang Yi is done, you two might as well take your mother to Ye Yi's market for a walk......

"Hmm." Meng Yan responded with great interest.

Also, although the scale of Yeyi is only the level of Mengcheng at best, it is not as big as Taoyi, Linzi, and Handan, but considering that it is his own fiefdom, Meng Yan has long wanted to go shopping, but it is a pity that Yeyi is still rectifying, demolishing and rebuilding everywhere with the group of people, and replanning the buildings of Yeyi, so that the Yi seems quite chaotic, so Meng Yan gave up the idea of going to Yeyi to visit.

"By March or April, the planning of the street will be almost complete, but it is said that most of the shops on the street are still mostly locals, so there may not be anything new, so don't be disappointed." Meng Zhong said with a smile.

"How so?"

Meng Yan and Le Yan glanced at each other, and they both yearned for it in their hearts.

Also, after all, it was the fiefdom of his Mengzhong family, whether it was good or bad, they would give a positive evaluation in their hearts.

Ordering the servants of the family to continue to clear the snow, Meng Zhong took Meng Yan and Le Yan to the main house in the inner courtyard, and then saw his mother Ge Shi standing in the door of the hall, and watched with a strange expression as the servants and maids in the courtyard cleared the snow and straightened out the courtyard.

Looking at her expression, she obviously had the intention to go up and help, but for some reason she finally gave up.

To put it bluntly, it's actually very simple, it's just that those handmaids and servants stop it—how can this old lady do it herself?

"Mother."

Meng Zhong stepped forward and greeted softly.

"Zhong'er."

Seeing his beloved son, Ge's spirits lifted and he privately "complained" to his son.

The idea was nothing more than that several maidservants would follow her at any time to prevent her from doing this and that, and she laughed that if she continued like this, she would soon become a clay sculpture.

After listening to his mother's complaints, Meng Zhong disagreed.

In the past, there was no way, but now, he has obtained a certain status, of course, he doesn't want his family to suffer as much as he used to, he smiled and persuaded his mother: "Mother, if you feel bored, let Ah Yan and Xiao Yan take you to Yeyi in a few days, at that time Yeyi's market should be beginning to take shape, by the way, Xiang Yi also left us a house in Yeyi, you show that Wuyang is bored, just go to Yeyi to live for a few days......"

Ge nodded helplessly.

At noon, it was Ge's own hands, and the two daughters of Le Yan and Mengyan gave him a hand, and it is said that the maids and servants in the family could not cook the taste of this family.

But to be honest, boiling bean soup in clear water, a home-cooked dish, tastes similar to anyone who cooks it, in the final analysis, Meng Zhong just followed his mother's thoughts, lest his mother have thoughts like "old" and "useless".

After lunch, the family rested in the side hall, and Ge told Meng Zhong, Meng Yan, and Le Yan about the past, after all, there was really nothing to do.

Following the old man's thoughts, Meng Zhong, Le Yan, and Meng Yan listened quietly, especially Meng Yan, and insisted that Ge Shi tell her story about her acquaintance with Meng Zhong's father Meng Qu, which made Ge Shi quite happy.

While chatting, a servant girl gently walked into the side hall and said to Meng Zhong cautiously: "Family master, a sergeant has sent news from Fangcheng. ”

If a sergeant came from Fangcheng, it must have been sent by Mengsui.

Seeing that Aiko frowned slightly, Ge Shi hurriedly said: "Zhong'er, Ah Sui sent a sergeant here, there must be something important to convey, don't be slack, you are now Fangcheng Ling, and you are concerned about the safety of tens of thousands of people in Fangcheng, Wuyang, and Yeyi, so you can't relax, as for the family...... You can go home every once in a while, and you're already very satisfied with being a mother. …… Grandma, you said yes, right? ”

"Mother-in-law is right."

Le Yan also said with a bow.

Indeed, compared to the time when Meng Zhong went to Zhao and Wei, there was no news for a year and a half, as it is now, Meng Zhong returned to Wuyang every few days to accompany them, and Le Yan really felt very happy.

On the side, Meng Yan also smiled and said, "Brother, go quickly." …… It's a pity that you can't hear my mother tell about the past. ”

"I've heard it a long time ago."

Meng Chen's eyes widened in astonishment, and Meng Zhong turned around and walked outside the house after saying goodbye to his mother.

Behind him, he could still hear Meng Yan's voice pestering Ge's to know about the past: "Mother, you told Brother Grand...... I'm going to listen to ...... too."

Then, there was Ge's helpless and doting laughter.

After listening for a moment, Meng Zhong walked out of the main house with a little smile, until the moment he stepped out of the main house, the warm smile on his face was immediately put away.

Yes, in the house, he is a son, a brother, and a husband, but when he steps out of the house, he is Fangcheng Ling, and he is responsible for the safety of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Fangcheng, Yeyi, and Wuyang.

"Fang Cheng Order!"

Outside the house, there were two soldiers waiting there early, one of whom was a stranger to Meng Zhong, a child of the Le family.

I saw that the disciple of the Le clan lowered his voice and said in a low voice after clasping his fists and saluting: "Chengcheng sent me to deliver the news, and this morning there was news from Wandi, saying that the Qin army has been dispatched from Wuguan and is heading to the area of "Xiyi" and "Lixian". ”

"So early?"

Meng Zhong frowned slightly.

You must know that it is still only the beginning of February, and he originally thought that the Qin army would not take action until at least mid-February.

However, after thinking that the main general of the Qin army on the opposite side was Bai Qi, Meng Zhong was also relieved.

After all, in Meng Zhong's impression, Bai Qi is a general with very strong action.

Immediately, Meng Zhong rode back to Fangcheng.

Two hours later, when Meng Zhong returned to Fangcheng, Meng Sui was talking with Gong Zhong in the hall in the county government, and when they saw Meng Zhong, the two got up to greet Meng Zhong.

"Ah Zhong."

"Fang Cheng Order."

Meng Zhong also hugged his fists and saluted the Gong Zhong extravagantly, so there was no need for Meng Sui, and there was no need for this kind of politeness between brothers.

After a few pleasantries, Meng Sui led Meng Zhong and Gong Zhong to a low table, only to see a local map on the low table, which was more detailed than the ordinary marching map.

This is the map he ordered Menghu, Huahu, and Mu Wu's cavalry to explore the surrounding area after redrawing, in addition to the map marked with Wandi in Korea, Fangcheng in Wei, as well as Wuguan, Shangmi, Yuzhong in Qin, and Junxian and Deng in Chu, etc., and even several nearby rivers, such as Hanshui, Danshui, Xishui (xī) water, etc., are marked on the map separately, which can be described as very detailed.

At this time, Meng Sui pointed to the map and said to Meng Zhong: "I have just discussed with Mr. Gongzhong, judging from the route of the Qin army, the next way is to pass through the "Xiyi"......

Meng Zhong was stunned, and asked Gong Zhong in confusion: "Xiyi, I heard that it belongs to South Korea?" ”

"No, no, no." Gong Zhong shook his head extravagantly, stroked his long beard and explained: "What my Korea occupies is only the 'Xibei', that is, the land in the north of Xishui, and since then, my Korea has set up heavy troops in Xishui as a line of defense against Qin and Chu. However, Xixian was occupied by the Qin State in the early years. …… As far as I know, it was after King Huai of Chu entered Qin to seek peace, and at that time, the state of Chu immediately supported Xiong Heng to inherit the throne of the king of Chu, which provoked the anger of the state of Qin, so he sent troops out of the Wuguan and captured the sixteen cities in Xiyi and the surrounding areas, and later the state of Chu offered the "Sui County" in the south of the state of Xiyi to Wei Ran as a fief, which made the state of Qin no longer continue to attack the state of Chu. ”

"Wei Ran?"

Meng Zhong thought for a moment and asked, "It is said that he is an important minister in charge of military power in the Qin State?" ”

"Hmm." Gong Zhong stroked his long beard and explained: "Wei Rannai is the younger brother of the Empress Dowager of Qin, the uncle of the current King of Qin. This Wei Ran is quite visionary, and it is not simple. ”

Meng Zhong nodded slightly, and then asked with a frown: "So, north of the Han River, how many cities are there in the Chu State?" ”

"Well...... this"

Gong Zhongxuan glanced at the map a few times, and said while thinking about it: "The "Li County" on the west side of Wandi is still the city of the Chu State, as far as I know, it should still be governed by the "Xiyi Jun", and the others, there were originally "Xiayin", "Zhuyang", "Shandu", "Fancheng", "Dengxian", "Yan", "Yan", "Valley", "Luo", "Ye", etc., once the Chu State set up the "Beijin Shu" here to protect the surrounding cities, but since the "Qin, Chu, Danshui, Lantian Battle", etc., There are many cities in the territory of Beijin Shu that have been occupied by the Qin state, and almost all the cities above the upper reaches of the Danshui have been occupied, leaving only a few cities such as Fancheng, Lu, Yan, and Ye......"

As he spoke, he wrote down the city he had spoken of on the map.

Looking at the map in front of him, even Meng Zhong couldn't help but sigh secretly, after all, according to Gong Zhongxuan, the Chu State had lost too many cities north of Danshui, and once all the cities on the Danshui line fell, the Qin State would be able to approach the Han River and the royal capital of the Chu State, Shouying.

Ironically, in the face of such a crisis, Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, is still drunk and dreaming of death.

Shaking his head secretly, Meng Zhong said to Meng Sui: "Ah Sui, tomorrow I will take Ah Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu first, and lead more than 1,000 cavalry to the area of "Lixian" to see the situation. ”

Meng Sui nodded: "Then you should be careful." ”

"Hmm."

The next day, that is, on the fifth day of the second month, Meng Zhong took Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu and led more than 1,000 cavalry straight to Lixian.

At the same time, Qin's army was already in Lixian.

At the beginning of February of the fifteenth year of Qin Wangji, the Qin general Bai Qi led 70,000 troops out of Wuguan, and arrived in the area of Xiyi through "Shangmi" and "Yuzhong", where he made a little rectification.

The so-called slight rectification, to put it bluntly, is to deploy troops in Xicheng, after all, the northern part of Xiyi, and Wancheng to the east of Xiyi, are all owned by South Korea, and Bai Qi has to deploy some troops in Xiyi to prevent South Korea from making trouble for them behind their backs.

If it were in the past, South Korea might not have the courage to do so, but now the situation is slightly different, South Korea recaptured Xincheng and Yiyang in the last "Battle of Yique", and the waist is indeed much straighter than before, maybe it is really brave to deliberately make trouble for his Qin army in this war.

And in this regard, Bai Qi has long considered: If South Korea doesn't come to make trouble, if he dares to drag him back, then don't blame him for even Wancheng at that time!

Although Xianyang sent people to make peace with Wei and Han a while ago, Bai Qi knew very well that neither King Qin, Empress Dowager Xuan, nor Marquis Wei Ran had ever taken the so-called truce to heart, and as long as there was an opportunity, his Qin army would immediately attack Wei and Han.

The Qin monarchs of the past dynasties valued practical interests, what did they gain with a little notoriety?

On the fifth day of the second lunar month, Bai Qi left 10,000 troops to garrison Xicheng, and led the remaining 60,000 troops straight to Lixian.

Lixian is also a city belonging to Xiyi, and is under the rule of "Xijun Jingwan".

Regarding this Jingwan, Bai Qi once heard the Marquis Wei Ran mention it, and he can be called the prince of the Qin State who is relatively friendly to the Qin State in the Chu State, but judging from the current war situation, Bai Qi can only be reluctant to this Yi Jun who is friendly to the Qin State - the king ordered him to attack the Chu State, and it is his duty!

For the sake of analyzing the Jun Jingwan and being friendly to the Qin State, after Bai Qi led the army to Lixian, he sent someone to send a letter to Jing Wan, to the effect that Jing Wan surrendered the city, so that he could also say a few good words to the Marquis Wei Ran on his behalf, so that Jing Wan could still be an official in any place in his Qin State in the future.

"Will Jing Wan surrender?"

The general of the ministry asked Bai Qi for this.

Bai Qi shook his head, feeling that it was unlikely that Xijun Jingwan would surrender.

After all, most of the Yi Jun of Chu State rely on their family background to obtain high positions, and it cannot be said that there must be no real talent and learning among them, but it is undeniable that most of them are the kind of goods that cannot be pasted on the wall, these people may be first-class good hands who sell the interests of the country for personal gain, but let them really make some achievements, I am afraid it is a little difficult for them.

Even if this kind of person surrenders to his Qin State and gets a temporary wealth, it is difficult to maintain it for a long time, after all, after the self-defense martingale change, the Qin State has become a country that attaches great importance to military merits, and talented people are like fish in water in the Qin State, and those without talents cannot get along in the Qin State at all.

Therefore, unless it is in a desperate situation, the Yi monarchs of the Chu State such as Jingwan will basically not surrender to the Qin State.

Only about half a day, Bai Qi received a reply from Xijun Jingwan.

After a cursory glance, Bai Qi understood the gist of the letter, which was nothing more than that the analysis of Jun Jingwan said that there was some kind of misunderstanding about Qin's attack on Chu this time, and then mentioned Wei Ran, the Marquis of Wei, saying that he had worked hard for Wei Ran to govern his fiefdom for Wei Ran over the years, and that Marquis Wei Ran would not sit idly by and watch him be attacked by the Qin army.

"Nonsense!"

With a cold snort, Bai Qi casually threw away the letter from Xijun Jingwan and ordered the army to prepare to attack Lixian.

He Bai Qi is the confidant of Marquis Wei Ran, how can he not know that Wei Ran's attitude towards Wei Ran is dispensable? INTERVIEWER It's true that the city is a medium-sized city, but so what? Wei Ran's ambition is to help the Qin State slowly annex the Central Plains countries, how can he care about a mere slur?

The next day, that is, on the sixth day of the second month, Bai Qi led 40,000 troops to attack Lixian, and after only half a day, Lixian was about to be broken.

Weak!

Too weak!

Bai Qi, who was watching the battle, shook his head secretly.

To tell the truth, the soldiers of the State of Chu are actually not weak, no, his Qin army has attacked the city wall of Lixian County several times, and the other party will block it.

What he thinks of as "weak" refers to the momentum of the Chu army.

The defenders of Lixian County gave Bai a feeling of cringe, and the "cowardice before fighting" in the Art of War probably refers to this thing.

The main general is timid, and the soldiers under his command are naturally not brave.

"In three days at most, our army will be able to capture Xiyi."

While watching the battle, Ji Hong, a senior general in the army, said with a relaxed face.

Bai Qi smiled slightly, but didn't say much.

In fact, in his opinion, why do you need three days to deal with such a weak army? One day of onslaught today, another day of onslaught tomorrow, that's pretty much it, no, he didn't even bother to build a camp.

However, considering that it was only the beginning of February, and that there was plenty of time, he was not in a hurry to force his soldiers to step up the siege.

What's more, before he led his army to the expedition, the Marquis Wei Ran privately told him that the real purpose of this attack on Chu was not to annex Chu, but to make Chu surrender to him, Qin, so that Qin could coerce Chu to attack Wei and Han together in the future.

Therefore, under this ultimate goal, it doesn't really mean much for his Qin army to conquer a few more cities or a few less.

At least in Bai Qi's opinion, this time he will attack Hanshui at most, and hit the area of Chu Ying, the royal capital of Chu State, and Chu State will send envoys to ask him for peace with Qin State.

Well, it's just an easy battle.

Yes, in Bai Qi's view, this attack on Chu was purely a warm-up for his future attack on Wei.

Are there any other generals in Chu who are good at fighting?

On that day, in view of the fact that it was the first battle of the Qin army, until dusk, the Qin army failed to capture Lixian.

However, Bai Qi didn't care, after all, according to his estimates, at most, tomorrow, his Qin army could capture this city.

Obviously, most of the Chu people in Lixian County could also see that the city was about to be broken by the Qin army, so that a large number of Chu people fled one after another, and after getting the news, Bai Qi concluded that he would definitely be able to break through Lixian tomorrow.

On the second day, that is, on the seventh day of the second month, Bai Qi led the army to attack Lixian again.

As he predicted, it was only the second round of onslaught, and the Qin soldiers under his command had already broken through the city wall, although there were still Lixian defenders still resisting in Lixian County, but everyone could see that it was only a matter of time before Lixian County was breached.

"What a boring battle......

Bai Qi, who had stood on the chariot for a long time, yawned boredly.

I have to say that this siege battle is really boring, as the commander of the Qin army, he does not need to give any instructions from beginning to end, and the generals under his command who are responsible for the attack are enough to suppress Lixian and achieve victory.

And just as he was thinking about which Chu City he was going to attack next, suddenly a guard beside him reminded him: "Bai Shuai, look over there!" ”

"Huh?"

Bai Qi turned his head and looked in the direction pointed by the guard, only to see that on the southwest side of Lixian, it seemed that a cavalry was peeking at them from a distance.

"Cavalry? Chu has cavalry?'

Bai Qi was stunned and didn't react for a while.

And when he reacted, there was a little confusion on his face.

Because as far as he knew, only Zhao had cavalry in the Central Plains today, followed by Wei, and the Wei general Meng Zhong stopped a cavalry when he was in Yique, causing immeasurable harm to his Qin army.

Then there is the state of Qin, and at his belore him, Marquis Wei Ran allowed him to form a cavalry of 10,000 people, but because it is not easy to train cavalry, this cavalry is still being trained.

And the state of Chu, where did the cavalry of the state of Chu come from?

Then the question arises, since the Chu State itself has not formed a cavalry, why is there a cavalry in the territory of the Chu State?

And why does this cavalry look so familiar......

Squinting his eyes and looking at it for a moment, Bai Qi's original good mood was suddenly shattered.

Because he gradually recognized that the cavalry in the distance who was peeking at them from a distance was the damned Meng Zhong's command, the Wei cavalry who had chased them all the way from Yihu to Wuguan last year.

At that time, the Qin soldiers who died under the pursuit of this Wei cavalry were simply countless.

"Meng Zhong...... How could that guy be in this area?!'

Subconsciously pinched the railing of the chariot, his white face sank like water, and his mood seemed to be the prosperity next door.

Why the hell can I lead an army to attack the Chu State and meet you?!

Aren't you a Wei general?!

At this time, cheers came from Lixian in the distance, as if the Qin army under his command had broken through the city, but Bai Qi was not happy at all.

At this time, all his attention was on the Wei cavalry that was peeking at them in the distance......

Because the commander of the Wei cavalry is a strong enemy that makes him feel extremely tricky, the Wei general Meng Zhong!

Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: book guest residence