Zheng Cheng, as the name suggests, is the capital of Zheng State.

Tracing back to history, there are actually two Zheng cities in South Korea, one of which is about 50 miles east of Zhaiyang, which is the early capital of Zheng Guo, and the other is about 100 miles southeast of Zhaiyang.

After Korea conquered Zheng, the capital was moved from "Yangzhai" to "Xinzheng", and Xinzheng became the capital of Korea. [PS: I made a mistake in the previous article, the capital of South Korea is Xinzheng, not Zhengcheng. 】

On 26 April, a group of soldiers drove into Xinzheng in a chariot and reported the news of the fall of Xingyang and Zhaiyang to South Korean Minister Gong Zhongmin.

Gongzhong is a branch surname of "Ji surname Han", that is, the official surname of Korea.

[PS: Gong Zhong Min, that is, Han Min, Han Nie, due to the strict etiquette in ancient times, the call habits are very different from modern times, so no one called him Han Min or Han Nie at that time, it can only be Gong Zhong Min. However, the word "Han Min" is still occasionally seen in historical books such as "Warring States Policy", which is because since the Han Dynasty, "taking the surname as the surname" and no longer paying attention to this aspect, but the author in the article still tries to get as close as possible to the secular habits of the time. 】

Around the end of the day, when South Korean Prime Minister Gong Zhongmin was issuing a decree in his study, a guard hurriedly entered to report it.

"Xiangguo, there are soldiers from Zhaiyang who rushed to report that the two cities of Xingyang and Zhaiyang were occupied by the Qin army."

“……”

Gong Zhongmin, who was nearly fifty years old, was stunned for a moment when he heard this, stopped writing in his hand, looked up at the visitor, and asked in disbelief: "What did you say?" Xingyang? Zhaiyang? ”

After that, his complexion changed slightly, and he secretly exclaimed in his heart: Could it be that the Storm Kite has been defeated?

But after thinking about it, he felt that something was wrong, you must know that a few days ago, he had received the news sent by the storm kite.

In this letter, Storm Kite told Gong Zhongmin about a major incident, namely the defeat of the Wei army at the Battle of Yique Mountain, and the killing of his commander Gongsun Xi by the Qin army.

But at the same time, Storm Kite also repeatedly emphasized in the letter that although the Wei army was heavily damaged, the Wei army after the heavy loss became more combat-effective, and is currently fighting back with him, and Storm Kite also mentioned in the letter that he was preparing to follow the advice given by the Wei army, taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the Qin army was dragged by the Wei army, and took the opportunity to go to recover Xincheng and Yiyang.

To put it simply, after the letter of the storm kite, the advantage of the Wei and Han coalition forces was still very great, how could it be defeated by the Qin army in just a few days?

However, considering that the Wei general Gongsun Xi was defeated by the Qin army overnight, Han Xianggong Zhongmin was inevitably a little apprehensive.

However, this apprehension was only based on the fact that he was an important minister of Korea, and in fact he was not worried about Qin's attack on Korea, because he had a good personal relationship with Qin.

In the "Battle of Yiyang" that year, the Qin general "Gan Mao" was ordered by King Wu of Qin to lead the army to attack Yiyang in South Korea, although South Korea had more than 100,000 troops, but he still was not an opponent of South Korea.

Since the death of King Huai of Chu to the Qin State, the Chu State has become a feud with the Qin State, as long as it involves the Qin State, the Chu State will intervene nine times out of ten, no, the Chu State immediately sent the general "Jing Cui" to lead 100,000 troops to rescue South Korea.

In this battle, the Qin general Gan Mao besieged Yiyang for five months, and everyone in the Qin State lost hope in this battle, but only the Qin general Gan Mao was not disappointed, he wrote a letter to King Qin Wu, and King Qin Wu remembered that Gan Mao had made an agreement with him before the expedition, namely.

It turned out that Yiyang was an important city in South Korea, Gan Mao had long guessed that the attack on this city would not go well, maybe it would take a year or even longer, and he had a bad relationship with Xiang Shou, Ying Ji and others in his court, he was worried that after he led the army to go on the expedition, Ying Ji, Xiang Shou and others would slander him in front of the King of Qin, so before he set out on the expedition, he personally asked King Qin Wu to meet and make an agreement with the latter, hoping that King Qin Wu would fully support him in attacking Yiyang, if he could not win, then he Gan Mao would voluntarily die.

King Wu of Qin had a close relationship with Gan Mao and readily agreed, this was the "Alliance of the Soil".

And the fact is just as Gan Mao expected, when he besieged Yiyang for five months, there was really a criticism in Qin, and the Qin courtiers led by Ying Ji slandered Gan Mao in front of King Qin Wu, accusing Gan Mao of attacking Yiyang is not good, and if he continues to fight, it will only hurt the army and lose money, so that King Qin Wu is also a little hesitant.

At this moment, Gan Mao wrote a letter to King Qin Wu, writing the words "Xi Yang is there" to remind King Qin Wu of his original agreement.

King Wu of Qin suddenly came to his senses, and immediately according to the agreement, sent the general "Wu Huo" to lead 60,000 elites to help Gan Mao, so that Gan Mao finally captured Yiyang in one fell swoop, and captured this city that was of great significance to both the Qin State and the Central Plains countries - it was after the loss of Yiyang that South Korea retreated to Yishui and made every effort to build a new city, trying to use the new city to replace Yiyang to play a strategic role.

After the defeat of Korea, Gong Zhongmin immediately went to Qin in person and sued for peace with Qin.

Because during the Battle of Yiyang, Jing Cui, the general of the Chu State, took advantage of the fierce battle between the Qin and Han armies to attack the Qin army, and the Qin State was also greatly injured, and therefore resented the Chu State, so he agreed to the Korean peace and turned to the Chu State, which gave Korea some respite and stepped up the time to build a new city in Yishui.

During the period of going to Qin to seek peace, Gong Zhongmin did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to get acquainted with Xiang Shou, Wei Ran, Ying Ji and other courtiers of Qin, and also took the opportunity to show favor to King Qin Wu, even if King Qin Wu unfortunately passed away, his younger brother Yingji succeeded to the throne of Qin, Gong Zhongmin did not forget to send people to contribute financial gifts to make friends with Qin Wang Yingji, Empress Dowager Xuan, Wei Ran, Xiang Shou and others, in general, he is still quite popular in Qin.

Therefore, in the previous years, after the Qin general Xiang Shou sat in Yiyang, Gong Zhongmin sent his younger brother Gong Zhong Xuan to lobby the former, hoping that Xiang Shou would fulfill the promise made by Gan Mao to return the people of Yiyang to Korea and return Wusui - that is, Wusui in the southwest of Linfen in Shangdang (County).

Because Xiang Shou was born in the Chu State, he had a good relationship with the Chu State, so he naturally hoped that Qin and Chu would unite against the other vassal states.

So at that time, Gong Zhongxuan said to Xiang Shou that if Qin and Chu united to attack Korea, Korea would definitely perish, and when the time came, Gong Zhongmin would clean up and still go to Qin to serve the King of Qin, so as to persuade Xiang Shou Mo to persecute too much, Xiang Shou listened and quickly explained that he advocated that the alliance of Qin and Chu was definitely not aimed at Korea.

It can be seen that Han Xianggong Zhongmin's popularity in the Qin State is indeed not low, even if Korea falls, he can still change the court to gain a foothold in the Qin State, after all, this kind of thing is extremely common during the Warring States Period, and the world has long been accustomed to it.

However, in the case that Korea has not yet fallen, Gong Zhongmin naturally still has to do his best to seek benefits for the country and the monarch, which is the ethics of a courtier.

After pondering for a while, Gong Zhongmin took the lead in going to the palace, met with Han Ji, the king of Han, and told the latter about the capture of Xingyang and Zhaiyang by the Qin army.

Sure enough, Han Wangjiao's face changed greatly after learning about this, and he exclaimed: "Could it be that the violent kite has been defeated? ”

Seeing this, Gong Zhongmin immediately told Han Wang what he knew, which made the king feel a little reassured: "So, Storm Kite was not defeated, but reached an agreement with the Wei army and took the opportunity to attack Xincheng and Yiyang?" …… In other words, it was the Wei army that delayed the Qin army, so that this Qin army ran into the territory of our Korea? ”

"Exactly!" Gong Zhongmin nodded.

Hearing this, Han Wang pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Immediately send someone to inform the storm kite, so that he can attack Xincheng and Yiyang with peace of mind, and be sure to recover these two cities!" ”

Hearing this, Gong Zhongmin was quite surprised, looked up at Han Wangjiao, and said tentatively: "What does the king mean, is it up to me Zheng Cheng to organize an army to block this Qin army?" ”

Han Wang nodded heavily, and said with a sense of melancholy: "Before my father passed away, he once said something to the widow, and one of the most regrettable things in his life was to watch Yiyang being taken by the Qin State. After the Qin State occupied Yiyang, the Qianli Sanchuan (county) was owned by the Qin State, and the national strength increased day by day...... Now that the tyrannical kite has a chance to recover Yiyang, how can the widow drag him back? Tell Storm Kite that even if the Qin army kills Xinzheng, he is not allowed to withdraw from Xincheng and Yiyang! ”

"The old minister obeys the king's orders."

Gong Zhongmin bowed his hand when he heard this, and then said tentatively: "But if you want to organize an army to block this Qin army, the old minister thinks that a competent person should be appointed." ”

"Oh?" Han Wangji was pleased to hear this and asked, "Do you have any recommended talents for Xiangguo?" ”

"The old minister recommended my clan brother, Gong Zhong extravagant." Gong Zhong Min said.

"Public Extravagance ......"

Han Wangjiao's face became strange, he was less than thirty years old, and he was pacing slowly in the palace with his hands behind his back, as if he was quite taboo about the name Gong Zhongxuan.

Seeing this, Gong Zhongmin hurriedly persuaded again: "King, my brother's extravagant talent is ten times better than that of the old minister, when the first king was alive, the most important thing was the uncle and the princess and the extravagant ......."

“……”

Han Wangji glanced at Gong Zhongmin and did not speak.

Some people may wonder why Han Wangjiao reuses Gong Zhongmin as the minister of state, but why is he so secretive about Gong Zhongmin's younger brother Gong Zhongxuan?

Actually, the reason is very simple.

Because before the death of the old King Han, in view of the early death of the crown prince, he was ready to choose one of the second son Han Qi and the third son "Gongzi lice" to inherit the throne.

In the end, Gong Shuying defeated Gong Zhong Hao with his power and means, and supported Han Ji as the king of Han, and Han Ji immediately appointed Gong Shuying as the minister of state after succeeding to the throne.

Later, when his uncle passed away, Han Ji appointed Gong Zhongmin as the minister of state, and Gong Zhongmin, whose talent was still above Gong Zhongmin, was gradually forgotten by Han Wang.

Perhaps sensing the embarrassment of King Han, Gong Zhongmin said tentatively: "King, it's better to be like this, don't canonize Gong Zhong's extravagant official position first, let him lead the troops to block the Qin army as an old minister, and if he is defeated, he will be severely punished, and if he defeats the Qin army, he will be rewarded?" ”

Han Wangji pondered for a moment, and finally nodded and said, "Okay, just according to Lao Xiangguo's meaning." ”

"Thank you, King!"

Gong Zhongmin's face was overjoyed, and he said goodbye and left.

After returning to his mansion, Gong Zhongmin immediately called the guards and ordered, "Find Gong Zhongxuan for me." ”

The guards followed the order, and after about an hour, they brought Gong Zhongxuan to the palace.

Because he has not served in the court for many years, Gong Zhongxuan is not clear about domestic affairs, seeing that his brother Gong Zhongmin sent someone to summon him, he thought that he was eating wine together, and after seeing his brother, he said with a smile: "Brother Gong called me here today, isn't it to eat and drink together?" ”

Seeing this, Gong Zhongmin immediately straightened his face and said, "Be serious, today is to summon you for state affairs." ”

Gong Zhong was stunned, and then the expression on his face immediately became disapproving, because he looked down on the current King of Han Han Blame, in his opinion, Han Blame's talent was far inferior to the "Gongzi lice", and the reason why he was able to inherit the throne of the King of Han was only because Gongshu Ying and Han Ji took advantage of the "Gongzi lice" as a proton in the Chu State to play tricks, so that the latter could not return to Korea.

It is this mustard that makes Gong Zhong extravagant unwilling to work for Han Wangjiao, preferring to be idle at home and have nothing to do.

"Listen to me first!"

Seeing that the clan brother was full of disapproval, Gong Zhongmin said: "This is a critical time for the prosperity and decline of my Korea...... and he told Gong Zhongxuan about the current situation of the "Battle of Yique" and the Qin army's sneak attack on Xingyang and Zhaiyang, only to hear that the latter was quite surprised.

"The rhino warrior of the Wei State, dead?" It's hard to believe.

You must know that Sun Xi, the rhino martial prince of Wei, although he is not as good as Tian Zhang, a famous general of Qi in leading troops to fight, is also a "famous general" level Wei general, and it is really hard to imagine that Gong Zhong will die in this war.

Suddenly, he was stunned in his heart, and asked in surprise: "Xi Wu is dead, but the Wei army has not collapsed yet?" Who is in charge of the Wei army today? ”

Gong Zhongmin explained: "According to the letter of the Storm Kite, it is claimed that Gongsun Xi's deputy general Gongsun is in charge of the army, but in fact it is led by a young man named Meng Zhong...... Officially, this person regained the disadvantage. ”

"Young man?"

"That's right! Not yet weak crown. ”

"Interesting...... Gong Zhong stroked his beard extravagantly, with an interested expression on his face, and said with a smile: "Don't tell me that the Qin army was forced by this young Wei general to flee into my Korean territory?" ”

"The exact circumstances are not yet known." Gong Zhongmin shook his head, and Zhengse said: "No matter how the Wei army responds, my Xinzheng side must be prepared to fight the Qin army." …… I have recommended you before the king, and you will be in charge of the army as my disciple for the time being, and if you have achieved success in this battle, you will be rewarded again. ”

"Hey." Gong Zhong chuckled, looking disapproving.

Seeing this, Gong Zhongmin frowned and said in a deep voice: "Luxury! Brother Wei knows that you are still concerned about the lice of Gongzi, but you must know that the wood is already in the boat, even if you don't want to admit it, you can only accept that is the current monarch of my Korea......" Speaking of this, he saw that Gong Zhongxuan still had a disapproving expression, so he changed his tone and persuaded: "Even if you can't accept the new monarch, think about the old monarch, the first king is not thin on you!" ”

What he was referring to was Han Wang's father, Han Xiangwang Han Cang.

“……”

Listening to Gong Zhongmin's words, Gong Zhongxuan fell into deep thought.

Indeed, King Han Xiang is indeed not thin on him.

After a long time, he nodded and said, "Okay! I am willing to lead the army to block the Qin army as your guest, but there is no need for any merit reward afterwards. …… I will never be used by Han for the rest of my life! ”

"You ......"

Gong Zhong Min looked at Gong Zhong Xuan angrily, but in the end he endured it and persuaded him: "Don't talk about this first, it's the right thing to think about repelling the Qin army." ”

This time, Gong Zhong didn't talk back, and arched his hand and said, "I will do my best!" ”

Gong Zhongmin nodded, and immediately ordered the people in the palace to prepare wine and food to entertain this clan brother, and at the same time sent people to gather troops.

When it was the same night, two more groups of soldiers sent news one after another, the former saying that the Wei army had subdued the two cities of Xingyang and Zhaiyang, while the latter said that Zhengcheng had been captured by the Qin army.

This...... What's the situation?

"Interesting."

After the soldiers who came to report the news retreated, Gong Zhong said to Gong Zhongmin with a smile: "The Wei army has recovered two cities in succession in just one day, even if Wu Qi is resurrected, it will not be possible, presumably the Qin army will take the initiative to retreat...... Haha, I actually guessed that this Qin army was really forced by the Wei army to flee to my South Korea, and it didn't dare to confront the Wei army head-on! ”

"What's so funny?"

Seeing the smile on the face of the clan brother in front of him, Gong Zhongmin frowned and said: "According to the news, after the Qin army captured the two cities of Xingyang and Zhaiyang, they wantonly slaughtered civilians in the city, looted grain, and set fire to the city, trying to burn the buildings in the city, and the two cities were almost completely destroyed by it...... Presumably the same is true of Zheng Cheng. …… Can you still laugh? ”

Hearing this, Gong Zhongxuan also felt that it was a little inappropriate to laugh at this moment, so he immediately restrained his smile, and said with a straight face after coughing: "The current situation is already very clear, as the storm kite said, this Wei army is defeated but not defeated, but is getting stronger and stronger, even if the Qin army is in a head-to-head confrontation with it, it will not be cheap, so it is the way to attack the hinterland of our South Korea, trying to weaken our national strength...... As long as our side quickly sends troops to intercept the Qin army, when the Wei army arrives, the Qin army will inevitably be defeated. ”

After that, he asked Gong Zhongmin, "When can I lead the army to the battle?" ”

"This ......"

Gong Zhongmin explained: "Time is in a hurry, there is no time to mobilize the garrisons of various cities, only Zhengcheng still has a military force, but it can't be handed over to you all, so I can only give it to you...... Three thousand soldiers. ”

"What can 3,000 soldiers do?"

Gong Zhong frowned.

Probably guessing the thoughts of this clan brother, Gong Zhongmin said with a wry smile: "In one day, where can I recruit many soldiers? If you wait a few days, you can at least requisition an army of troops for you. ”

"How many days? That's been too long. Gong Zhong shook his head and said: "The purpose of this Qin army is very clear, killing people, burning cities, and destroying fields are purely to weaken our country's national strength. …… Three thousand is three thousand, you deliver it to me as soon as possible, and I will take them to stop the Qin army tomorrow. ”

"Only three thousand?" Gong Zhongmin was surprised and said: "According to the news, the strength of this Qin army is no less than 50,000 ......."

"I will absorb the defeated troops of Yiyang, Xingyang, and Zhengcheng along the way, not to mention that I don't want to confront the Qin army head-on, I just need to block them so that the Wei army can catch up with the Qin army in time...... By the way, since this Wei army was attacked by the Qin army in Yique Mountain to a great defeat, there must be a shortage of grain and grass, and my brother had better prepare a batch of grain and grass as soon as possible, if this Wei army collapses due to the exhaustion of grain and grass, it will be a big deal......"

"I know."

Gong Zhongmin nodded.

The next day, April 27, Gong Zhongxuan led 3,000 Han troops straight to Zhengcheng, during which he ordered his soldiers to build a camp pass to try to stop the Qin army here.

Another day later, just as Gong Zhong's subordinates were stepping up the construction of the camp pass, the Qin army suddenly appeared on the north side.

After getting the news at that time, Gong Zhong ascended to look at the Qin army in the distance, and saw that the Qin army was one after another, and the number was extremely terrifying, so that the Han soldiers under his command were all pale with fright after seeing the scale of the Qin army.

Think about it, with only 3,000 people, how can they stop the other party's Qin army, which is prone to tens of thousands?

Seeing this, Gong Zhongxuan immediately reassured the soldiers and said: "The reinforcements of the Wei army are at most a day's journey from here, as long as our army can hold out until tomorrow, when the Wei army arrives, the Qin army will definitely be defeated!" ”

Under his appeasement, the three thousand Han soldiers calmed down a little.

At the same time, Bai Qi, the commander of the Qin army, also appeared in front of the array, peeking at the obstacles of the camp built by the army under the command of Gong Zhong from a distance.

"This Korean army...... It seems to be from Xinzheng's side, and the number is ...... Up to 5,000 people...... Hmm......

He frowned and pondered.

From the side, there were Qin generals Meng Yi and Tong Yang who said: "Bai Shuai, if you are allowed to lead the army to attack, you will definitely be able to break through this camp." ”

Will you be able to break through this camp?

Isn't that inevitable?

Bai Qi did not speak.

In all fairness, he didn't care about the Korean blockers in front of him, who only had 5,000 people at most, and he cared about the Wei army behind him, the 50,000 or 60,000 Wei troops led by that annoying, surnamed Meng guy.

The battle example a while ago has been very clear, the guy surnamed Meng is very good at seizing the flaws of the enemy army and then countering the other party, so Bai Qi is very worried that during the attack on the Han camp in front of him, he will be attacked by the Wei army from behind and from the flank - that is the catastrophe.

"How far is the Wei army from our army?" He asked General Ji Hongdao.

"I don't know. …… However, a scout has just reported that the Wei army did not go towards Zhengcheng after extinguishing the fire in Zhaiyang. Ji Hong explained.

『…… That is to go straight to Xinzheng? Heh, do you want to intercept our army? According to this estimate, it seems that the Wei army will be able to reach this place by tonight at most......

Thinking of this, Bai Qi waved his hand and decisively ordered: "Withdraw the troops, let's go back to Xingyang." ”

"Xingyang?" Ji Hong was stunned, but immediately understood, with a slightly strange expression on his face.

As a result, more than 50,000 Qin troops just showed their faces in front of Gong Zhong Luxury, and immediately retreated, and even Gong Zhong Lu felt a little unbelievable about this.

And just as Bai Qi expected, after nightfall that night, Meng Zhong arrived here with 50,000 or 60,000 Wei troops.

I have to say that if the Qin army did not evacuate immediately at that time, but chose to attack Gongzhong's extravagant camp, then it was very likely to be hit by the Wei army, and then start a decisive battle with the Wei army in advance.

And this is what Bai Qi does not want.

He believes that for the time being, it is not the time to compete with the Wei army.