In the battle of Pingcheng, Yan State was defeated, and Zhao State won a heavy victory. Zhao took advantage of the aftermath of victory to recover the land captured by Yan State, and marched all the way to the capital of Yan State. Xiadu is an important military town established by Yan State in order to dominate the Central Plains and deal with the vassal states. The lower capital, the west is Taihang, the south is adjacent to Yishui, the east is connected to the plain, the terrain is dangerous, condescending, and it is easy to defend.

Ji Hao and Zizhi retreated to the lower capital, reorganized the soldiers and horses, and there were still 30,000 soldiers in the lower capital, plus the soldiers of the Yan army who fled back, there were a total of 50,000 people. The grain and grass in the lower capital city are enough to cope with January. Zizhi decided to rely on the reasonable terrain to block Zhao Jun, and then fight a decisive battle with Zhao State.

In the battle of Pingcheng, the news of the fiasco of the Yan Kingdom was also spread everywhere in the lower capital. In the face of the siege of the Zhao army, the soldiers of the Yan army in the lower capital were also panicked. Zizhi, make a suggestion to the crown prince Ji Xu. It is difficult for Ji Hao to decide on major matters, and everything is subject to the arrangement of the son.

Ji Xu, climbed to the top of the city, calmed the emotions of the soldiers, and commanded people to build the city wall overnight and deploy the troops to defend the city.

Due to the appropriate pacification measures taken by Ji Xu, the generals came out of the shadow of the fiasco, and the morale of the lower capital was stable. In order to demonstrate Ji Xu's determination to work together with all the soldiers to live and die with the city. Every day, Ji Hao has to climb to the top of the city to boost the morale of the soldiers.

On this day, Ji Hao climbed the city tower and saw a piece of Zhao army under black pressure, and surrounded the subordinates without leaking, but he did not see the Zhao army attacking the city. Ji Xu, pointing to the camp of the Zhao army, asked, "The Zhao army has been besieging for several days, why hasn't it launched an attack?" ”

Zizhi said coldly: "Prince, do you want the Zhao army to attack in?"

Ji Hao was stunned for a moment, Zhao Jun came in, so how could he get it, and hurriedly beckoned, "Zhao Guo only besieged and did not attack, and did not send people to negotiate, they should have no plans secretly." ”

Zizhi's eyes looked at Zhao Junyi's neat military appearance, "Zhao Guo's vitality has not yet recovered, and there is a lack of siege equipment. If Zhao takes a strong attack, it will inevitably encounter resistance from our army. Siege of the city, I am afraid will pay a heavy price. ”

Ji Hao said: "If the Zhao army doesn't attack, it should be withdrawn!" ”

"Zhao Jun is waiting for us to sue for peace."

"Summation."

Zizhi nodded and said: "The news of defeat is transmitted back to Yan Kingdom, and the monarch can't withstand the pressure, and he will definitely send someone to sue for peace." ”

"Father, will you really come to sue for peace?"

"Prince, in less than three days, the envoy of the Yan Kingdom to seek peace will appear in the lower capital." Zizhi said: "We obey the arrangement of the king, and if we are defeated, we can alleviate the losses of our defeat." Even if he is in trouble with his courtiers, the king will not strip you of the crown prince. ”

Ji Hao looked at Zizhi blankly, not only did not gain an inch of land in this war, but also lost the lives of many soldiers. The monarch cherishes honor, and this time he will not only be punished, but he will not even be able to keep the position of the crown prince. Gongzi is promoted, and he is even more eyeing his position as the prince. Ji Hao originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of sending troops to Zhao State to establish military prestige, so as to consolidate his position in Yan State. However, people are not as good as heaven.

Seeing that Ji Hao was sullen, Zizhi explained: "The prince doesn't have to worry. The Lord is a command given by the king. If someone in the court criticizes you, the person they offend is not only you, but also the king. When the monarch protects you, he saves his face. ”

Ji Hao listened to it, and felt better.

The Zhao army besieged but did not attack, and the soldiers of the Zhao army also held back their anger in their hearts. Seeing that the fat meat is in front of them, they can't open their mouths and eat it, and everyone feels very uncomfortable.

Zhao Xie summoned the officers above the centurion level and held a military meeting, and Zhao Jun also listened on the sidelines. Zhao Xie said to everyone: "We have surrounded the capital for several days, and we will attack tomorrow." ”

As soon as Zhao Xie's words fell, someone immediately stepped forward to echo him. They believe that the capture of the lower capital is a shining slap in the face to the Yan Kingdom. Zhao Xie himself is also the main attacker.

Zhao Yong thought for a moment, faced everyone, and said, "Don't attack the city." ”

Zhao Xie stared blankly at Jun Shang, his cheek muscles twitched violently, "Jun Shang, why not." ”

Zhao Yong got up, took a few steps forward, his eyes slowly swept towards the generals, and said loudly: "What is the reason for the defeat of the Yan Kingdom this time?" ”

Zhao Xie said with a smile: "Of course, our army is brave and invincible, which makes the Yan army frightened. ”

Zhao Yong shook his head and said, "Yan Guo's attack on me is an unjust war. That's why it fails. The purpose of our war is to protect our homeland, which is a righteous act. We attacked the capital of Yan Kingdom, the roles were reversed, and we were no longer a righteous army, but an unrighteous army. We have also become aggressors, how is it different from the behavior of the Yan Kingdom. Not to mention how many soldiers will be killed and injured in the siege, whether the lower capital can be captured. Once the war resumes, the border between Yan and Zhao will never be peaceful. ”

All the soldiers said one after another: "What the king said is reasonable. ”

Zhao Xie was also thinking about these words of the king, but he felt that it was a pity not to pick the fruits of victory. Zhao Yong glanced at everyone and continued: "What the widow wants is peace, not war. How can we forget the general interests of the country for the sake of a little petty profit. Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of our battle is to defend the territory, and the goal has been achieved. ”

Everyone nodded, speechless. Zhao Yong's eyes looked towards Fei Yi, and then at Gongsun Pu and Pang Wu and others. He hoped that these respected generals would take the initiative to stand up and share his worries. If some of them take the initiative to stand up and speak out, it will be very convincing.

Fei Yi understood that the monarch was against the war, but he didn't expect that the monarch would not only think about the problem thoroughly, but also far-reaching. Now, the king threw a look of help, and Fei Yi sorted out the wording, "In this battle, although our army won, it was also a tragic victory. Our army is lonely, and the supply of grain and grass is inconvenient. If Zhongshan also reneges on the covenant, while our army is fighting against Yan, the troops will be divided into two routes, one way to Handan, the capital of Zhao, and the other way to cross the Taixing, cutting off my way back. Zhongshan and Yan are united, attacking from both sides, and our army is in danger. It is better to withdraw our troops as soon as possible while our army still has residual power. ”

Gongsun Pu nodded, and also said: "In this battle, although the Yan Kingdom was defeated, the main force was not damaged. Although our army won, it did not get a bargain. Yan Guo has recovered, and we will have another big battle. ”

Pang Wu, stroking his chin, also said: "The last general thinks that the lower ones cannot be attacked, and our army should also withdraw as soon as possible." Conquering the lower capital, regardless of the time, place, and people, is not conducive to our army. Our army has not recovered, and there is a lack of siege equipment. If we attack, our army will surely suffer countless casualties. Yan Gong saw that there were difficulties under him, and he would definitely send troops to support. Between Yan and Zhao, if the winner cannot be separated in a short time, our country will fall into the quagmire of war. Once, the vassal states took advantage of the fire to rob, and our country was in the land of four wars, and it was in danger. ”

Zhao Xie, seeing that several generals who had the right to speak were also biased towards the king's point of view, and said in a deep voice: "If we don't attack the lower capital, it will be difficult to surround it all the time." Your Majesty, if we only besiege and not attack, we will consume too much. If we don't attack, let's retreat! ”

"I can't withdraw yet, widowed, and I have to wait for the national letter of Duke Yan."

Zhao Xie knew what Jun Shang meant, and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, you don't want to rely on a worthless document to stabilize the Yan-Zhao border. ”

Zhao Yong, Zhengse: "Not bad." ”

Zhao Xie's voice was a little cold, "How much weight can a piece of paper have." ”

"A piece of paper, it can be light, it can be heavy." Zhao Yong said: "With the documents, if the Yan Kingdom comes to invade my territory again, we can justifiably attack them." ”

"If Yan Guo doesn't come to sue for peace for a day, will we spend it with him to the end?"

"Don't worry! Yan Gong couldn't sit still, and he would come to sue for peace in a few days. ”

As Zhao Jun expected, three days later, the envoy of Yan Guo came to Xiadu in a hurry. Zhao Xi was ordered by Zhao Jun to deliberately open an opening and let the envoys of Yan State enter the city. In order to show his sincerity, Zhao Xi took the initiative to retreat three miles. The envoy of Yan State sat in the car, witnessed Zhao Jun's appearance, and hurried all the way to the gate of the city, shouting: "I am the envoy of Yan State, let me enter the city quickly." ”

The guard of the Yan Kingdom in the city shouted: "Ambassador, this is an extraordinary time, forgive me for being unable to obey my fate." ”

Yan envoy, angry beard trembling, "You..."

"Ask the envoy for forgiveness."

Yan Envoy glanced at the retreating Zhao Jun and said to the soldiers in the city: "Doesn't this explain everything? ”

"I'm also on orders. Envoy, no wonder. ”

Yan envoy took out his handcommand and raised his head high, "I have the king's secret edict in my hand, you don't let me in and meet the prince." If something happens, can you afford to take this responsibility? ”

After the guard consulted with a few people around him, he didn't dare to slack off, and put down a bamboo basket from the city tower, "I dare not open the city gate on the orders of the prince." But the envoy has a mission, and we can't help but let you in, so I have to ask the envoy to be wronged. ”

"I am an envoy of a country, and when I enter the city, I still need to use this way. Ridiculous! Yan Envoy, after thinking about it, sighed and said, "That's it! That's it. What if the old man sacrifices his dignity for the sake of national affairs. ”

The envoy sat in the bamboo basket, and the people of the city pulled him up with force. Yan envoy went up to the city tower and asked, "Prince, where is you?" ”

"The prince is in the city."

Yan Envoy waved his hand and said, "Take me there." ”

"The last general is ordered to defend the city, and he can't take you there himself." The guard gave him a look behind him, "You, take the envoy to see the prince." ”

The Yan envoy followed the soldiers to the place where the prince lived. As soon as Yan Envoy was about to enter, he heard the sound of silk bamboo wind music coming from inside. Ji Hao shouted loudly and said, "The beauty dances well." Come over here and let me kiss one. ”

The beauty flicked Bo Juan in her hand, covered Ji Xu's eyes, and said delicately: "Your Highness, you are so annoying." Just know to bully me. ”

"It smells so good." Ji Hao, smelled it, the smell of the beauty left on Bo Juan.

The beauty said coquettishly: "Prince, if you catch me, I will be at your mercy." ”

Ji Hao smiled and said, "Okay... Beauty, I'm coming. ”

Zhao State besieged the city, the prince did not think about the national strength, strengthened preparations for war, resisted foreign enemies, and even spent all day drinking and enjoying himself. Yan Envoy kicked open the door and said angrily: "Prince, you..."

A bright light came in, and Ji Hao couldn't open his eyes. Thinking that Yaxing was interrupted, Ji Hao shouted angrily: "Who dares to be presumptuous, and it is bad for the widow Yaxing." Come, drag them out, and give me twenty fights. ”

The Yan envoy glared angrily, and the guards were intimidated by his majesty and did not dare to step forward.

"Prince, the Zhao army is besieging the city, you still have the mind..."Yan envoy waved his sleeves, expressing his dissatisfaction with the prince's approach.

Ji Xu, her eyesight recovered, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was Yan Xiang, and apologized: "Yan Xiang, you are here, and you don't say a word to this prince, I will go to meet you in person." ”

Yan Xiang's complexion was difficult to eliminate, "Old man, there is no such blessing." ”

Ji Hao waved his hand at the people around him. The people understood, bowed, and withdrew.

Yan Xiang said coldly: "Prince, you are so elegant. The monarch knows, and guess what will happen to him. ”

Ji Hao smiled and said, "Yan Xiang, misunderstanding, misunderstanding." Prince Ben was just too nervous to get these things to relax. You don't take it to heart. ”

"You! If you want me to tell you something? Yan Xiang, staring at the uncompetitive prince, his tone was a little softer, "The prince led the troops to attack Zhao." The ministers in the palace were all watching. The monarch was already angry about this defeat. If you do these deeds, reach the ears of the king. The promotion of the son, the young son, the ministers around him, will definitely make the next article. If the monarch is not happy, your position as crown prince will not be kept. ”

"Thank you, Yan Xiang." Seeing that Yan Xiang still supported him, Ji Hao bowed and saluted, and said, "Hey, remember it in my heart." Yan Xiang, you are not in the palace to accompany the monarch, how did you come here. ”

Yan Xiang, from his wide sleeves, took out a roll of paperwork, handed it to him, and said, "I'm here for this." ”

Ji Hao took the paperwork, glanced at it, and was dumbfounded, "Father, I want to make peace with Zhao Guo." ”

Yan Xiang nodded and sighed, "Exactly." ”

Ji Xu, threw away the paperwork, stepped on his feet heavily, and said angrily: "We didn't lose, how can we make peace in a low voice." ”

Yan Xiang told him about the situation in the North Hu Koubian and the Yan Palace. With Hu people in the north and Zhao besieging in the south, the situation in Yan is indeed not optimistic. Only by ending the war with Zhao as soon as possible can Yan transfer troops north and start a war with Beihu.

Ji Hao, although he can calculate the power of it, but when he thinks of humiliation and peace, his heart aches.

Yan Xiang sent an envoy to Zhao Jun's big tent and conveyed the message of peace. Zhao Jun took the letter and said to the generals: "Look at it, Yan Guo can't wait." ”

The next day, the sky was clear and cloudless. Yan and Zhao held a ceremony on the bank of the Yishui River.

Zhao Guo attended the meeting, including Zhao Jun, Zhao Xie, Fei Yi, Gongsun Pu and other military generals, as well as the diplomatic envoy Li Wei who came from Daicheng. On the side of Yan Kingdom, there are Prince Ji Xu, Yan Xiang, General Zizhi, Qin Yi and others. At the table, Yan Guo tried his best to fight for the interests of his country. As for the people on the Zhao side, they did not show weakness and tried their best to fight.

The negotiations reached an impasse, and Zizhi couldn't talk about it, so he simply didn't talk about it, and decided to use force, slapped the table, and glared: "It's okay if you don't sign this contract." Big deal, let's have another showdown. ”

"Okay, just fight." Zhao Xie said angrily: "Who is afraid of whom." ”

Yan Xiang appeased the generals on both sides and said, "Everyone is going to fight." My lord, I will give you these five cities. Think of it as a reparation for initiating the war. ”

"Five cities, too few. No, at least ten. ”

"You Zhao people, don't deceive people too much."

"The war was started by you Yan people. We want to make amends, is it wrong? ”

"Let's each take a step back and sit down."

Zhao Jun said: "The city of Yan Kingdom, there is no one left. The land of Yan Country is outnumbered, and he will not take an inch. ”

Yan Xiang thought about it, and Zhao Jun said the meaning of this sentence. I wondered what the young monarch meant. In the world, how can there be such a good thing, give you the city, you don't want it. Just now, the two sides were fighting like poison, stalemate, and almost made a big move. Zhao Jun, open your mouth and say no.

Zhao Yong, eyebrows raised, and the words changed, "Widow, there is one condition." ”

Yan Xiang said, "Zhao Hou, please speak." ”

"Widow, I want you to swear on behalf of the monarch of Yan State that he will never send troops south to invade the territory of my Zhao State in his lifetime."

Before Yan Xiang left the Yan Palace, Yan Gong asked him to act cheaply. The lion of Zhao opened his mouth, at most, he wanted a few cities and lost some property. However, the North Kou border is about to destroy his country. Between Zhao Guo and Beihu, which is more important, Yan Gong has his own measure. But he has a bottom line, that is, to cede cities, no more than ten. If Zhao Jun did not agree to the conditions offered by Yan Guo, Yan Zhao had no choice but to go to war.

Yan Xiangjian kept the national interests to the greatest extent and nodded towards Ji Xu.

Zhao Jun saw that he didn't speak for a long time, and said, "Yan Xiang, you can represent Yan Jun's meaning." ”

In this battle, although the Yan State lost some soldiers and horses, it did not lose the city and cut the land. Seeing that this negotiation had achieved unexpected results, Ji Hao raised his hand and swore an oath, saying: "Hey, I swear by Yan Guozuo, and I will never go south to attack Zhao for the rest of my father's life." After I succeed to the throne, I will never send troops to Zhao State. ”

"Okay." Zhao Yong was refreshed and said: "Yan Zhao boy, multiple faiths." Hopefully, Yan Guo will be able to keep his promise. ”

Zhao Guo and Yan Guo signed a contract in Xiadu, and Zhao Jun led his troops to retreat after signing the contract in order to show his sincerity. Yan Xiang saw Zhao Jun and said that he would leave, and there were no conditions attached, and he couldn't understand the thoughts in the other party's heart. Yan sent troops to Zhao first, defeated later, and took the initiative to sign a contract, it stands to reason that Zhao Jun should open his mouth and strive for the greatest interests of his country. Yan Guo ceded land and lost money, that was inevitable.

Zhao Jun, hearty and generous, waved his hand, and didn't want anything. It really made Yan Xiang figure out the deep meaning of these words over and over again.

Zhao Jun returned to Daidi, and Yan Guo also recovered the lost land. Zhao Jun also ordered the corpse of Yan Guo, dressed up and restricted, and the weapons of Yan Guo to be returned to Yan State. The Yan-Zhao border returned to calm, and Yan Xiang stood in the city tower and sighed: "Zhao Jun, it's not easy. Simply, between Yan and Zhao, there was no full-scale war. ”