At this time, the debate in the Qin State over whether to rescue the remnants of the Northern Army had reached a fever pitch.

Above the court, Meng Jian, the old and respectful prime minister, did not approve of reinforcing the northern army thousands of miles away. The reason is very simple, the Qin State is now in ruins, and its own troops are very scarce, if it is rescued on a large scale, I am afraid that it will shake the foundation of Guanzhong and give other princes an opportunity to take advantage of; If there are fewer troops, then there is no meaning, although the number of the Huns army is not clear in the report for reinforcements, but according to the past practice, the Huns are all soldiers when they move south, and the number will never be less than two or three hundred thousand.

Besides, the news has been reported for more than a month, even if the Qin State sends troops at this time, when it arrives in the north, how do you know if the northern army still exists? In addition, the road is cut off, and it is still a question of where the Qin army wants to rush to the north, so how can we talk about rescue?

You must know that the Qin State is no longer the empire of the past's 'Qin King swept Liuhe, and looked down on He Xiongzai', the war in the past three years has devastated the Qin State and the people's livelihood withered, and what is needed most at this time is to recuperate rather than long-distance conquest. Therefore, Meng Jian's conservative suggestion was supported by the vast majority of the courtiers, after all, after the chaos, people were at ease, and no one was willing to press the national fortunes of the Qin State for this seemingly impossible task.

On the contrary, Han Xin insisted on the rescue, and his reason was simple: Qin still had the strength to go on the expedition. As a national lieutenant, he believed that as long as the generals defending the city were properly led, 70,000 people would be enough to stay in Guanzhong, and the time for autumn plowing had passed, and the people still had surplus strong men, and if it was an emergency, they could also mobilize and rush to the battlefield at any time.

It's just that there are not many people in the DPRK and China who support Han Xin's opinion, because most of the military generals are stationed in the passes outside Xianyang, and most of the military generals in the court are naturally civilian officials, and a few military generals are also generals like Wang Qi and Zhao Wuji who returned to Beijing to report on their work. Zhao Wuji, as Lang Zhongling, naturally stood firmly on Han Xin's side, but Wei Wei Wang Qi's attitude was a little intriguing.

This time he did not stand on Han Xin's side, but remained silent, and no one supported it, and of course no one objected. It is no wonder that a general like Wang Qi, who was born locally, has all his family business and family in Guanzhong, which is closely related to the national fortune of Qin. If there is anything wrong in Guanzhong, then their family will definitely face annihilation, so Wang Qi is inclined to Meng Jian's old and old Cheng's opinion. But he himself is a party of Han Xin, and it is not good to openly dismantle the stage, so he chose to remain silent.

This time, Han Xin and Meng Jian didn't want to let go, but argued with reason, both of them were worried about Daqin, and they couldn't say who was right and who was wrong, but there were differences of opinion.

It's just that compared to Meng Jian's response in the court, compared to Han Xin's support, it is much weaker, but he is in a high position. He was in charge of the entire defense of Guanzhong, and the military was under his own control, so it was even more convincing to say. He refuted the ministers' doubts one by one without changing his face in the middle of the court, and his words were methodical and reasonable, with the meaning of fighting the heroes with their tongues.

In the end, the two sides fought with red faces and thick necks, and they couldn't hold each other in the court, so everyone had to turn their eyes to Ying Ke, who was sitting under the throne.

Win can see that everyone looked at her, but said with a smile; "Although you have different opinions, you are all worried about Daqin, and you can't talk about who is right and who is wrong. What the prime minister said is indeed reasonable, my Qin State is now internally unstable, and the Kwantung princes are eyeing each other, so it is really not appropriate to use troops at this time. ”

"It's just ......." Win Ke suddenly changed his eyes, his tone changed, and Meng Jian, who was still smiling and nodding secretly, clicked in his heart, and secretly screamed that it was not good.

Sure enough, winning can be narrated again; "It's just that there are a lot of Qin people in my Great Qin who are scattered all over the eastern part of the Kanto region, if there is a disaster in the north today and we sit back and watch this part of the people loyal to Great Qin fall away, it will undoubtedly chill the hearts of the Qin people in the world, and even cut off their thoughts of returning to the west, which is undoubtedly very unfavorable to my Great Qin Zhongxing."

"I discussed with General Han for a long time yesterday, and according to his arrangement, it is not difficult for 70,000 people to hold Guanzhong, and we still have tens of thousands of people left to rescue Beidi. As for the route of the march, General Han meant to borrow the road to Shangjun, Sima Xin and Dong Fei were originally from my Qin, and they would not do too much if they wanted to think of the love of incense, and besides, when they were allied with Xiang Yu in the past, they had already agreed that they could withdraw the people of our northern land through the princes of Daodao, so there was no reason for them to refuse. ”

Since Ying Ke had already said so, coupled with the support of Han Xin's family, Meng Jian could only sigh secretly and arch his hand; "Princess, you are the prisoner of the country, acting for the Son of Heaven, since you have said so, the old minister naturally has no objections."

Now that the strategy of rescuing the northern land has been decided, Han Xin discussed the details with several relevant courtiers in the court, and finally decided that the size of the reinforcement army was 40,000 people, half of each infantry and half of the cavalry, and 20,000 people were urgently recruited from the three counties to supplement the defensive army. He sent a document to Shangjun, asking him to go north by the way, and at the same time sent an envoy to inform Xiang Yu of Pengcheng, asking him to order the princes of Hebei to cooperate.

The court meeting was dispersed, and Meng Jian did not stay long, and left on his own.

Although Meng Jian formed a party to fight against Han Xin and had many followers, he himself was a person who was indifferent to fame and fortune and had little desire for pleasure, and he did not like to be noisy, so the ministers rarely disturbed him outside of official business, and every time he went to the court, he left quietly alone.

Meng Jian paced slowly on the road, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.

His original intention in forming a party was to support the Qin family in order to prevent Han Xin from being too high and powerful and having a rebellious heart. Ke Yingke, as a relative of the royal family, not only did not stand on his side, but embarrassed himself with Han Xin everywhere, which made Meng Jian a little disheartened, and many times he wanted to throw off his sleeves and return to his hometown, ignoring this troublesome matter.

The Qin State belongs to your Ying clan, and the old man is trying to preserve the orthodoxy of the royal family, but you are from the Ying clan and stand on the side of outsiders, isn't this the biggest joke in the world! Meng Jian thought so indignantly in his heart.

However, gambling is angry, Meng Jian still can't do it to the point of letting go, and is still under huge pressure to fight for power with Han Xin everywhere. For winning, he was somewhat helpless.

He is old, he is good in the world, how can Ying Ke's little daughter's thoughts be hidden from him, Meng Jian found out from the beginning that the relationship between Ying Ke and Han Xin is by no means simple. If Han Xin is just a general with no political background like Bai Qi and Wang Qian, Meng Jian absolutely supports winning and marrying him, which can not only unite the Qin State, but also give the royal family a big boost out of thin air.

But the problem is that Han Xin is not just a simple general, he not only worships as a general, holds the soldiers of Guanzhong, but also serves as a national lieutenant, and has the right to appoint and dismiss generals. This is no longer just a simple general, but a high-powered minister, who has surpassed the power of the prime minister to spy on the king's power. The Qin State's military general system has long been crippled and scrapped by the anti-Qin coalition forces, and now the rebuilt system is almost entirely controlled by Han Xin, his cronies and minions are all over every corner of the Qin State, in fact, the power in his hands has far surpassed the previous Zhao Gao.

Therefore, once Ying Ke married him and gave him a legal royal status, it was definitely not a good thing for the Qin State.

All kinds of worries made Meng Jian worried, but he was helpless.

The people of Qin are bold, women are not as statusless as Kanto, according to the royal practice, the husbands and wives selected are all people who are favored by the princesses themselves, if they win and Han Xin are happy, he Meng Jian will not have a trace of objection.

Thinking of this, Meng Jian couldn't help but have a headache, shook his somewhat drowsy head, and had to suppress it for the time being. While he was thinking about things, he had already stepped past the high steps in front of the hall, stood still, tidied up his shirt a little, and was about to stride away.

At this time, he was stopped by the shouts from behind, Meng Jian stopped his steps, turned around and looked at Han Xin calmly, and said lightly: "Is there something wrong with the general calling the old man?" ”

Han Xinzheng had just walked out of the main hall, and when he saw Meng Jian under the steps, he shouted urgently, greeted him, and said with a smile; "Prime Minister, there are some things that the lower officials still need to discuss with you, can you take a step forward?"

Meng Jian frowned, although the two of them were ministers in the same hall, one was the prime minister and the other was the national lieutenant, one was in charge of civil affairs and the other was in charge of military affairs, but their personal relationship was extremely poor. It was not that Han Xin was arrogant and rude, but that Meng Jian deliberately kept his distance from him, so as to send a strong signal to the hundred officials of the Qin State to unite around him and resist Han Xin's group of generals.

Therefore, although Meng Jian still maintained etiquette to Han Xin, he was not willing to interact with him too much, so he calmly refused; "The old man is full of trivial matters, coupled with his advanced age and lack of energy, unlike you, a general, who is young and promising, and has plenty of time. I think I might as well say something here, anyway, there's no one left or right. ”

Han Xin saw that Meng Jian had rejected his invitation, and he was not surprised, but said with a smile; "The prime minister is still worried about what he just did."

Meng Jian said as usual; "The general is serious, everyone is working for Daqin, the court dispute is not for personal interests, although the old man is old, he is not mediocre, if the general is here for this matter, I don't think it is necessary."

Han Xin nodded when he heard this and said; "It's best if the prime minister can think like this, in fact, I'm ashamed, yesterday I had already persuaded the eldest princess to let her agree to support my opinion, so I won today's battle is indeed a little unfair, and I am here to apologize to the prime minister."

Meng Jian glanced at him lightly, and his tone was not shocked. "The status of the eldest princess is respected, and the decisions she makes are naturally not something that we courtiers can belittle ourselves, general, please pay attention to your words and deeds."

Han Xin smiled a little bitterly, thinking that this old guy was really the same as his name, strong enough, just like the stones in the pit, smelly and hard, extremely difficult to handle. But who calls himself cheap, he has to go up and get it if he can't do it.

Han Xin Zhengsedao; "Prime Minister, in fact, there is another very important reason why I insist on taking the risk to rescue the Northland, but there are many people in the court, and I can't say it."

Meng Jian raised his eyes slightly and said; "I want to hear about it."

"I know that Prime Minister you want to close yourself and defend the country, and wait for my Qin State to slowly recover its national strength before doing other things, this intention is good, in fact, we have been doing the same, but Prime Minister, you have ignored a very important thing."

Meng Jian's face moved slightly, "Oh? ”

Han Xin said seriously; "That is the military heart, the military heart of my Qin army and my Qin people."

"Prime Minister, you may not have much contact with martial arts, but I am with the army day and night, and I know very well what the soldiers think. You didn't notice that in the past six months, although we have won successive victories, we have relied on our local advantages to withstand the offensive of the anti-Qin coalition army. Because they are defending the city on the mainland, behind the soldiers are their fathers and relatives, so they will naturally fight to the death and refuse to take a step back. But once they leave Hangu Pass and set foot on the land of Kanto again, can the soldiers who have lost the motivation to defend their homes and defend the country still maintain their strong morale? I really don't know the bottom of this. ”

Han Xin saw that Meng Jian seemed to want to say something, so he continued; "I know what the prime minister is thinking, you may think that my Qin State only needs to hold the Kanto region and recover the other Qin lands and restore the power before the unification, right? I'm telling you that this idea is very wrong, the Six Nations are no longer the weak Six Nations of the past, and their armies can fight on the battlefield with our elite main battle legions, and even win more with less. And there is a Xiang Yu among them, with him, my Great Qin will never be able to sit in Kansai smoothly. ”

"The reason why he died down now was because the opposition within the princes was still very strong, and he needed time to smooth out these barbs one by one, and then free up his hands to destroy the Qin state in one fell swoop. Therefore, if we want to keep the Qin State, we must send troops to the eastern part of the country, unite with the forces that oppose him within the princes, and not give him the opportunity to become big alone. ”

Meng Jian thought about it for a while and felt reasonable, and his gaze at Han Xin was not so cold, and he arched his hand and said politely; "Forgive me for being old and stupid, and I still don't understand what the general said has to do with the need to rescue the Northland."

Han Xin looked at him with a smile and said; "If you want to maintain the high morale of the soldiers, the only way is to take them to continuously collect victories, so that they can taste the sweetness of killing the enemy and beheading them by virtue of their military exploits. Although we have won victories in Guanzhong again and again, this is on our Qin people's own territory, killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800 ourselves, there is nothing to boast about, on the contrary, it can be said to be a shame, because we were beaten by others. ”

"The real victory is to conquer the city and kill the enemy for thousands of miles, just like when our Qin army went out of the Kanto and swept the six countries. There are so many soldiers in the Six Kingdoms, and the benefits of the armor and material abundance are not inferior to our Great Qin, and even far superior to them. But my Qin army is as powerful as a bamboo, attacking cities and destroying the country one after another, why not? It is because the soldiers of the six countries lack a spirit, a spirit of fighting to the death, that they are accustomed to defeat and retreat. If the war is slightly unfavorable, they will retreat to protect themselves, and then cede the land to seek peace, and in the end, they will not be able to cut it, and then they will die and the country will be destroyed. ”

Saying this, Han Xin's eyes were blazing, and his tone was full of firmness and confidence. "Therefore, if you want to preserve the Qin State, you must send troops to Kanto, and if you want to send troops to Kanto, you must bring an unprecedented victory to the soldiers and let them regain their bloodthirsty fighting spirit. And bringing the soldiers and residents of the northern land back to Guanzhong is undoubtedly the best big victory, so that the Qin people can strengthen their belief in Zhongxing, instead of thinking about the continuation of the remnants and just holding Guanzhong. ”

Meng Jian was silent for a long time before he slowly confessed; "The general is hardworking, the old man is stupid, and now he knows, forgive his sins!"

After a little hesitation, Meng Jian asked again; "I just don't know if the general has a way to win this dispatch?"

Han Xin smiled wryly, shook his head, and said; "There is no way to win when marching and fighting, and there is a cloud on Sun Tzu: soldiers, the major affairs of the country. The so-called land of death and life, the way of survival, where in the world there will be a way to win, just try to raise the way to win to the maximum, and reduce the factor of defeat to the minimum. So to be honest, I don't have any idea about sending troops this time, because I know almost nothing about the enemy, and I only need to make a temporary decision when the time comes. ”

Meng Jian didn't say anything about the soldiers all night, so he nodded as if he didn't understand, and said again; "That's really embarrassing for the general, the old man can only wish you victory here."

Han Xin smiled slightly, looked up at the sky, and said; "It's noon, presumably the prime minister's family is waiting for you to go back to dinner, so Han Xin won't salvage you."

Meng Jian nodded, slightly sideways and about to leave, but seeing that Han Xin still wanted to speak and stopped, he asked; "What else do you want from the General?"

Han Xin hesitated for a moment and said with a hesitant face; "Prime Minister, there are some things I think I'd better say in advance."

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

Han Xin looked up at the sky, and said in a somewhat gloomy tone; "Although I don't believe in destiny, I only believe in my own abilities. But it is up to people to make things happen, and there are too many uncertain factors, and the battlefield is changing rapidly, and I can't control them all. ”

"If, I mean if, I didn't come back this time. Please Prime Minister, you will assist the king wholeheartedly, take good care of the eldest princess on my behalf, if the king encounters an accident, choose one person from the side of the Ying bloodline as the king, I think Gao Yangjun's young son is smart and clever, and can be the king. The most important thing is that he is still young, and Gao Yangjun is gentle and humble by nature, and he will not interfere too much in the decision-making of the eldest princess and the prime minister, so that I can let Daqin continue according to the strategy that has been set, and will not die halfway. ”

"As for the generals, Wang Qi is old and serious, and he can take on a big responsibility. I will also stay in Tianshi, he is loyal and good, knows how to fight, and can also be entrusted with important tasks. Gan Xiao and Huangfu Gui are both from the old Qin people, and they can be used. With the assistance of these four people, it is not difficult for the prime minister to hold Guanzhong. ”

"Although the Kanto region is hostile to the Qin State, many princes have a deep gap with Xiang Yu. For example, the ambitious Han King Liu Bang; Tian Rong and Tian Heng, who were originally dominant in the territory of Qi State, had great merit, but they had a gap with Xiang Yu and were not crowned kings, but were deprived of their territory; and the former Zhao Wang Xie and the former Yan Wang Han Guang, who were relocated, they all hated Xiang Yu to the core. The prime minister can make a good alliance with Liu Bang in the south, hand over the land of Bashu that has been out of control to him, so that he has the capital to compete with Xiang Yu for the world, and at the same time send envoys to do everything possible to marry Tian Rong, Zhao Xie, and Han Guang. ”

After saying such a big chase, Han Nobunaga sighed, and suddenly felt a little physically and mentally exhausted.

Meng Jian listened to his words silently, looked at him with a strange look, as if he didn't know him, and said with a slight movement at the corner of his mouth: "Han Xin, I really want to know whether you are a good ruler of the country or a hero in troubled times." I, Meng Jian, have read countless people in my body, but I can't see through you, who are you?"

Han Xin laughed and looked up to the sky and smiled; "What is loyalty? What is adultery? I, Han Xin, have acted all my life, but I have a clear conscience, Prime Minister, you have a lot of heart. ”

After speaking, he turned around and left, leaving only Meng Jian, who was stunned there.

Meng Jian looked at Han Xin's departing back, and his heart was stunned.

The great traitor is like loyalty, and the great loyalty is like a traitor. Han Xin, if you do what Zhou Gong does, I, Meng Jian, will saddle the horse before and after the saddle and follow the work of dogs and horses; If it is a matter of the Xiaotian clan's generation of Qi, I, Meng Jian, will never sit idly by and watch the six-hundred-year-old foundation of the Qin State fall into the hands of others!

PS: A little note, everyone knows about Zhou Gongdan, Zhou Gongdan, the work of the virtuous ministers, conscientiously assisting the young monarch. As for the Tian dynasty, the Qi State is the feudal state of the fishing old man Jiang Ziya, so the first monarchs are all surnamed Jiang, such as Jiang Xiaobai, the Duke of Qi Huan. Later, in the early Warring States period, the power of the king of Qi fell, the ministers were in charge, and they killed the monarch and the clan at will, and after the death of Duke Qi Kang, the Jiang family broke the ceremony, and the minister Tian He was named the Marquis of Qi by the King of Zhou, and it was for the Tian family to represent Qi.