The turmoil in the eastern part of the country did not have much impact on the rebuilding Qin state, and the Qin people were still busy in the fields, working desperately to harvest more grain for next year's campaign. It wasn't until the arrival of October that Guanzhong had already put this year's summer grain into the barn after several days of rushing to harvest, and the Qin people, who had been busy for several months, breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the alliance between Chu and Qin, the Qin State has been recuperated for a short time, and its national strength has gradually recovered. Since the Kanto region, more than 200,000 Qin people have returned to Guanzhong through various methods, and the more than 300,000 Qin people brought back by Han Xin from the north have also greatly enriched the population of Guanzhong, and the addition of more than 60,000 elite troops of the Northern Army has made the Qin State's overstretched troops rich.

The granary is full, and the military heart is available, so the next step is to fight abroad to strengthen the Qin State. As for the covenant made by Ba Shang, according to Han Xin's meaning, the covenant is used to tear up, and everyone understands this truth.

Xiang Yu would never be naïve enough to think that a paper covenant could suppress the raging ambitions of the Qin people for more than 600 years, and Han Xin naturally would not think that Xiang Yu would abide by the covenant and strike a truce against Guanzhong. Both sides are just waiting for an opportunity to see who can come to their senses first and gather the strength to deliver a fatal blow to the other, and until then, a short period of peace may not be the way to go.

When the news of the Great War of Kwantung reached the Qin State, a large number of fanatical Qin generals asked the imperial court for their lives, requesting to take the opportunity to go to the Kwantung region to recover their homeland. In the face of the passionate cry for war, the imperial court maintained great restraint and decided not to directly send troops to interfere in the war between the Kanto countries for the time being.

In Han Xin's explanation, the identity of the Qin State is too sensitive. After all, a year ago, the Qin State was still the master of the entire world, which had to make all the princes wary of the Qin army. If Qin recklessly sends troops to Kanto, it is very likely to become the target of public criticism, and the consequences are not something that Qin's current weak national strength can bear. Moreover, if the Qin State openly joined the anti-Chu alliance, it might face a frantic siege by Xiang Yu's elite army, which was obviously not a rational choice.

Therefore, Han Xin decided to turn his attention to the south and north, taking advantage of Xiang Yu's lack of time to take care of anything else, to recover Shangjun, Hanzhong, Bashu and other places that had split from Qin, and to open the road to Lingnan as much as possible to the south, and to withdraw the Qin people and army left in Lingnan to Qin. This strategic plan was unanimously agreed by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, that is, first inside and then outside.

Of course, the Qin army in the east must also make some moves, even if it does not send troops directly, it should appropriately maintain this high-pressure posture towards the Chu State, and the hoarding army at the Wuguan in the southeast directly poses a threat to Xiang Yu's left flank, so that he needs to be wary of the Qin army that may leave the pass at any time. Due east, Hangu Pass transferred a large number of the original garrisons, so that Wei and Zhao could rest assured that the troops defending Qin in the west would be transferred to the battlefield in the east.

At this time, the standing army of the Qin State remained at about 200,000, and it already had enough strength to recover Shangjun and Hanzhong. Relatively speaking, Shangjun is simpler, Shangjun was originally the land where the Qin people lived for generations, and the rule of Sima Xin and Dong Peng in Shangjun was unpopular, and more than half of the Qin people in the territory fled to Guanzhong. When the news came that Xiang Yu was deeply involved in the war in the Kwantung region, Sima Xin and Dong Feng knew that something was wrong and guessed that the Qin State would not miss this excellent opportunity, so they were in fear all day long in the city of Fushi, as if the end was coming.

And Liu Bang in Hanzhong is much more tricky, he has firmly established a foundation in Hanzhong by various means, and has won the support of a large number of Hanzhong people. Hanzhong is different from Shangjun, although it is very close to Guanzhong, it does not belong to Guanzhong in the traditional sense of Qin, a Qinling Mountains separate Guanzhong and Hanzhong, Hanzhong has always been the territory of Chu before the middle of the Warring States period, whether it is from the perspective of folk customs or dietary habits, Hanzhong is more inclined to the southern culture than the culture of the Qin people in Guanzhong.

In the thirteenth year of King Huiwen of Qin, the Qin army went south to attack the state of Chu with the great victory of the battle of Lantian, took 600 miles of land, and easily destroyed the weak Tho state in the south of the Qinling Mountains, and set up Hanzhong County in the name of the local river, and the county was located in Nanzheng. Later, the Qin State used Hanzhong as a base to encroach on the territory of the Chu State, and went south to destroy the two kingdoms of Bashu, which gave it the capital to dominate among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.

After Liu Bang occupied Hanzhong, on the one hand, with the help of Xiao He and Cao Shen, two masters of internal affairs, he did a good job in internal affairs with peace of mind and won the hearts of the people for his own use; On the other hand, in the south, they encroached on the land of Bashu, and in the east, Shangyong, who was close to the Central Plains, trumpeted the benevolence and righteousness of the Han king, so as to absorb the fugitives and refugees from the Central Plains and strengthen their own strength.

Relying on all kinds of actions, Liu Bang already has an army of 100,000, standing in Hanzhong and watching the world.

When the main force of the Qin army went north to rescue the north, Liu Bang couldn't hold back the impatience in his heart, so he sent Zhou Bo to lead 30,000 troops to cross the plank road out of the Qinling Mountains, wanting to test the reality of Xiaguanzhong. But Li Zuoche, who was good at defense, set up an ambush in Lingbei and waited solemnly, taking advantage of the exhaustion of the Han army to break it in one fell swoop, Zhou Bo rushed back to Hanzhong with the remnants of the army, and almost lost his life in Guanzhong.

Li Zuoche also took advantage of this battle to establish a position in the Qin army, so that all kinds of rumors that questioned his ability were unattacked.

Liu Bang saw that the Qin army was far more powerful than he could match, and he was terrified in his heart.

At the beginning, Xiao He's premise for attacking Hanzhong to stand on his own was that 'the Qin State had been destroyed by Xiang Yu and there was no strong regime in Guanzhong', so as to protect Liu Bang's interests. But now that the Qin State has not been destroyed, but has gradually recovered its strength, how can Liu Bang not be worried.

On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to snore, Liu Bang understands this truth, and Qin Guo also understands it.

So when Zhou Bo returned from defeat, he ordered the plank road in Guanzhong to be burned to prevent the Qin army from using the plank road to attack Hanzhong in the south, and at the same time urged Peng Yue and Fan Hao in the south to hurry up and attack Bashu, so that they could have more strategic space for buffering.

At this time, the Qin State had also mobilized for war, and a large amount of military supplies, grain and grass were transported to the front line, and the Qin army stationed in the inland counties and counties were camped and rushed to the north and south respectively.

According to the strategic plan specified by Han Xin, the national strength of the Qin State can now support the simultaneous offensive of the north and the south, so it is recommended that the north and the south support troops at the same time, attack Shangjun in the north, and go south to Hanzhong in the south, waiting for an opportunity to capture Bashu.

Ziying agreed after receiving Han Xin's recital, but put forward his opinion on the issue of using generals. He intended to take Han Xin as the commander in the south and lead 80,000 troops to attack Hanzhong, and in the north with Wang Jing as the commander and lead 50,000 troops to attack Shangjun.

Ziying's proposal surprised the government and the opposition, since the Qin king had never taken care of the government since he ascended the throne, and state affairs were discussed by Meng Jian and Han Xin before being submitted for approval. Even after Ziying's condition improved, he only stayed in the Wangyi Palace to recuperate and did not come to the court, he would personally review state affairs but never put forward his own ideas, like this is the first time in the world, and it also made many ministers face up to this 'most vulnerable in history' King Qin.

Ziying's proposal did not seem to be incorrect. Han Xin and Wang Jing were the two highest-ranking generals in the Qin State at present, and they were both subordinates with a lot of power, so it was reasonable for the two of them to lead the northern and southern armies. Coupled with Meng Jian's support, Han Xin did not raise objections at the court meeting, and tacitly acquiesced in Ziying's 'usurpation' of his generals.

It's just that it is not difficult for those who are careful to find that the seemingly calm Qin State court is already imperceptibly changing.

Han Xin's status in the army is transcendent, relying on military merits to start his career in the Qin army is extremely prestigious, nearly sixty percent of the generals and generals are directly or indirectly promoted to the top after he came to Guanzhong. The anti-Qin coalition almost completely destroyed the old Qin military system, and it was from this ruin that Han Xin re-established a new Qin army.

Therefore, if Ziying wants to directly deprive Han Xin of his military position by radical methods, it is absolutely impossible, and he may be preempted by Han Xin's family before he can do it. That's why he came up with a gentler way, that is, to hold out another general in the army who is standing alone and Han Xin to resist, and finally slowly figure it out.

And Wang Jing is undoubtedly the best candidate.

In terms of origin, he is the great-grandson of Wang Qian, the grandson of Wang Ben, and now the patriarch of the Wang clan, the largest family in Guanzhong; In terms of qualifications, he served in the army for six years, fought side by side with Han Xin in the first battle of the Northern Expedition to Mobei, so he was awarded the title of general, and was promoted to the right general after the defeat of Julu, Wang Jing returned to the north to collect the remnants of the army, and preserved the precious vitality for the Qin State; In terms of power, the remnants of the Northern Army that returned to Guanzhong from the North were all soldiers brought by him, and they had great prestige in this Qin army, and the right general Wang Qi was also his uncle who could rely on.

All these things gave Wang Jing the conditions to resist Han Xin's court. At the same time, there is another important reason, that is, the Wang family is a big family of the Qin State, with deep roots and strong roots, and it is impossible for Wang Jing, as the patriarch, not to consider the interests of the family. This also made Ziying deliberately support him against Han Xin and split Han Xin's too large military power.

Although there were as many as 80,000 troops in the south, the opponent was Liu Bang, who had 100,000 troops and had the advantage of terrain; On the other hand, Wang Jing only has to face Sima Xin and Dong Peng, who are like lost dogs, and they can win the victory with almost no effort, which is equivalent to giving Wang Jing a great merit in vain.

Therefore, people with a keen sense of politics have sensed the attempt to divide Han Xin's power, but Han Xin looks unaware of it, and is still busy reorganizing the arms all day long. Meng Jian also continued to meet and deal with government affairs as usual, and did not see a trace of abnormality, on the contrary, the buses visited by Wang Jing's mansion were crowded and endless.

On this day, Wang Jing drank with a few old friends of the family in the dark, and it was not until midnight that he returned to the backyard bedroom drunk and slept peacefully.

Because Wang Jing was accustomed to life in the barracks, there were not many domestic servants and maidservants in the house, and no one saw him along the corridor along the way. After walking for a while, I tumbled in my stomach for a while, rushed to the railing and vomited, retching for a long time before gradually relieving myself. Suddenly, when he saw a pair of hands coming to help, he pushed it away with some impatience and shouted; "Fuck off, I said I don't need anyone to bother me."

But seeing that the man did not move, Wang Jing couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he raised his head and recognized that it was Wang Qi, and suddenly woke up most of the wine, and hurriedly lowered his eyebrows; "See uncle."

Wang Qi said softly, there was no joy or anger on his face, but Wang Jing showed some shame on his face.

Wang Qi is Wang Qian's grandson, Wang Li's cousin, and Wang Jing should call him uncle. Although Wang Qi is a man who sees the wind and steers, he has always maintained the high position of the Wang family in the chaos of the Qin State by relying on his speculation and slippery, which makes Wang Jing, a child of the family, admire.

What moved Wang Jing even more was that since he returned to Xianyang, Wang Qi took the initiative to give up the position of the patriarch of the Wang clan and was willing to succumb to his nephew. This doubled Wang Jing's respect for Wang Qi in his heart, and he was more respectful to him.

Wang Qi has been stationed at Hangu Pass during this time, and he has to go home after returning to Xianyang to report on his work in the past few days. Seeing Wang Jing's drunken appearance, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and said softly: "Young master, there are some things I don't know whether to say or not. ”

Wang Jing lowered his eyebrows and said with a straight face; "Uncle doesn't need to call Wang Jing like that, please call him by his first name. Also, you are an elder, so you can just say what you have learned. ”

Wang Qi nodded, and said; "Your father died young, so my uncle has some responsibility to remind you, don't you think you've been a little carried away lately? This is a big no-no. You must know that although our Wang family looks extremely beautiful now, it is also walking on thin ice, and if you are not careful, you will be crushed. ”

"Now the Wang family relies on you and me to maintain this huge family business, and we must be careful to maintain it is a long-term plan, but at this time, you are indulging in wine and fun, which is a bit unusual."

Wang Jing had already woken up from the wine at this time, and lowered his head a little ashamedly and said; "Uncle is right, I was only so gracious and difficult, and from today onwards I will put down all the banquets and move back to the barracks, and I will never be greedy for pleasure again."

Seeing Wang Jing like this, Wang Qi couldn't help but show a satisfied smile on his face, nodded and smiled; "It's good that you think so, I'm worried that you won't listen to the admonition when you're young and vigorous."

Wang Jing smiled slightly. "Uncle is too worried, I am no longer the son of a family who only goes around causing trouble and competitive, I think what my father said is very right, war is the best way to make a boy quickly transform into a man, I am like this."

Wang Qi couldn't help but smile: "I didn't expect my cousin to teach his son well, but it's a pity, my sons are not very successful, and this generation of the Wang family will only rely on you to support them in the future." ”

The two talked and laughed for a while, Wang Jing was a little dizzy and dry and dizzy, looked at the night again, and said to Wang Qi; "Uncle, you traveled for two days before returning to Xianyang, and you must be tired, I think you should go and rest first."

Wang Qi shook his head unexpectedly, lowered his head and looked a little hesitant, and said for a long time; "Wang Jing, I want to ask you something."

Wang Jing arched his hand, "Uncle, please speak." ”

Wang Qi looked at Wang Jing and said in a deep voice; "I want to know what you think about today's court."

Wang Jing raised his eyebrows, "Uncle said that Han Xin is in charge of the Southern Army and I am in charge of the Northern Army?" ”

"Yes." Wang Qi nodded.

Wang Jing said with a smile; "That's a good thing, isn't there anything wrong? After I returned to Xianyang, I only felt that my bones were itching every day, so I thought about going back to the battlefield, this time let me take 50,000 troops to capture Shangjun, what a good opportunity. ”

"Don't you feel something else?"

Wang Jing's eyes widened: "What else do you mean?" ”

Wang Qi couldn't help but suffocate, thinking that this nephew was a good general, but unfortunately his political mind was too simple. has been in the palace for decades, and he has already seen these tricks.

So patiently explained to him; "The king's decision is obviously to elevate your position, and he wants to take this opportunity to bring you to the same status as the general, use you to seize his military power, and divide my original monolithic Qin army into two forces that can contain each other."

Wang Jing smiled dumbly after hearing this; "That's just His Majesty's thoughts, I haven't thought about it that way, and as for whether I will think so in the future, it's not for him to decide."

Wang Qi savored the meaning of his words and muttered; "And what do you mean?"

Wang Jing laughed; "I just don't mean it, and to tell you the truth, I am very grateful to His Majesty for letting me take charge of the army alone. You should know that I am a very high-spirited person, and I am not happy if I always ask Han Xin to do things in the corners, but since this is another opportunity for me to prove my ability, of course I am extremely happy. ”

After hearing what Wang Qi said, he shook his head with a wry smile and said; "Where the blessings and misfortunes lie, where the blessings and misfortunes depend, Saion knows whether it is a blessing if it loses its horse, and it knows whether it is a good thing to lose a horse?"

"Your heart of comparison has pushed our Wang family to the mouth of the storm, and if you do a good job, our Wang family may go to the next level, if you smash it, then our Wang family will be doomed. Almost everyone will think that you are a close confidant of the king, and you are used to fight against the general, if you have a conflict in the future, how do you think our royal family should deal with itself? ”

Wang Jing's face was a little solemn, and he thought for a while before saying; "Uncle, I want to ask you a question."

"Say it."

"If, I mean, if Han Xin has a disobedient heart and has delusions about the throne in the future, if you are the patriarch of my Wang family, you should try to deal with yourself. Is it to take our royal family to loyally protect the Lord, or to follow Han Xin to see the wind and rudder to achieve the merit of founding the country? ”

Wang Yiyi was silent for a while before replying: "I don't choose either, I will resign from all positions in time to protect my life, so that no matter which party comes to power, our Wang family will not be purged by the heir." We are a century-old family, with deep roots in the Qin State, as long as the Qin State is still there, we will have the opportunity to make a comeback sooner or later, not to fight this time. ”

Wang Jing laughed and sighed; "Uncle, that's the difference between me and you. You will choose the golden mean and I will not, for me, the Ying clan has no favor for me, and Han Xin, everything I have today is due to him. ”

Wang Qi was silent, he heard the meaning of Wang Jing's words, and he was faintly relieved in his heart, he was still very worried that Wang Jing would be tempted by power and have a fierce conflict with Han Xin, and now it seems that he has been too worried.

Although I was relieved in my heart, I still said with some anxiety; "Even if you think so, it doesn't mean that he will think so, I think you should find a chance to talk to him, don't have any misunderstandings."

Wang Jing shook his head slowly; "Uncle, you don't have to worry about it, I'm free to do whatever I want. What kind of friendship do I have with him, it is a friend of life and death, and if he doesn't even trust me, then what kind of brother is it. ”