In front of Hangu Pass, the fog is tightly locked, and the war clouds are thick. Ying Kui, the old general of the Qin State who guarded the gate, was already overwhelmed by the deafening sound, and he stood on the gate to inspect, only to see that the banners and weapons of the rebel army were bright and shining, and the men and horses blocked all the flat land and roads in front of the pass. Ying Kui couldn't help but gasp, he didn't expect that there were so many rebels, so he hurriedly sent someone to report the situation to Xianyang, and then hurriedly prepared defensive equipment. With his loyalty to the Ying family and his incomparable love for the country, he said to the left and right: "A few months ago, a group of thieves led by Huang Bu actually ignored the sacred majesty of my Great Qin State, rebelled from Xianyang, and slipped away from under my nose. Pity all four of my sons, all killed in that fight! That battle, the memory is still fresh, whenever I think of it, the old man is heartbroken! Now that the traitors in Shandong are coming again, Li You has no ability to arrest them, but Han Qi is the first to commit treason, they are all incompetent people who eat in vain but do not contribute to the country! Now that the traitor has reached the gate, if I don't reject the thief outside the country, how can I face the first emperor? His subordinates were so impressed by his loyalty that they said, "We are willing to defend the country to the death!" At this time, Yingkui raised his eyes and saw that the soldiers of the righteous army came to a relatively spacious flat land opposite the ditch and waved their flags and shouted, shouting for the pass, wantonly provoking, and looking at no one. Ying Kui roared angrily: "Traitor! What do you want to do? The soldiers of the righteous army replied loudly: "We are going to cut off Hu Hai's donkey brain, and we have to avoid Zhao Gao's pig's head!" The old horseman, hurry up! Otherwise, they will pull your tendons, pick your skin, and pull your hair! Ying Kui was furious.

When Zhou Wen was in Caoyangyi, he moved the infantry to the front, and put the cavalry and chariots behind, which was a decision based on the narrow situation of Hangu Pass. Zhou Wen came to the pass, first let the soldiers shout and determine, then led Han Qi, Kong Fan, Yuan Yi, Wang Wu and others to climb a high slope, and saw that the city pass of Hangu Pass was built in the cliff valley on both sides, and the three big characters of 'Hangu Pass' in front of the gate were also coldly embedded in the door hole of the gate, which made people shudder. Zhou Wen wanted to take another look at it nearby. The generals dissuaded: "This is too close to the gate, and the general must not be too risky." Zhou Wen said disapprerovingly: "As the commander of the three armies, if I don't know the adversity of the weather and the danger of the terrain, how can I make a battle plan?" So saying, he climbed to another hill. Then it slowly got dark. The generals followed him to protect him. Just as Zhou Wen was watching the close, suddenly an arrow flew and hit his helmet. The generals were shocked, so they protected Zhou Wen and returned to the camp.

Everyone came to the camp, but fortunately the helmets were thick and there were no injuries. Zhou Wen laughed and said: "Although I was shot by the enemy, the harvest is not small!" The crowd hurriedly asked what they had gained. Zhou Wendao: "I saw many birds hovering in the gate, indicating that there were not many defenders; and faintly heard the sound of horses' hooves running, indicating that the enemy was panicking and preparing for battle; We can also smell a smell of sulfur in the direction of the wind, indicating that the enemy may be using firearms against us; The fact that they were fired at in a very short period of time shows that the enemy was well defended. After listening to Zhou Wen's analysis, everyone felt that it was very reasonable, so they asked how to tackle the problem. Zhou Wendao: "Let's try to pass the level once first to verify whether the enemy wants to use firearms." ”

Early the next morning, Zhou Wen ordered 500 people to break through, and 500 sergeants carried buckets and prepared to extinguish the fire. After the attack began, the sergeants rushed to the pass with the ladder on their shoulders. When the Qin army on the gate saw the rebels coming to break through, they threw down flammable materials such as sulfur, sulfur, and coal, and then released rockets. The Chu troops who walked in front were all burned to death, and the people behind were also on fire. Zhou Wen ordered the sergeant to carry the water to extinguish the fire. When the Qin army on the gate saw it, he shot it with a crossbow machine. The rebels put the cart clippers in front of them, and the sergeants followed behind, but they couldn't get past when they pushed the cart to the edge of the ditch. The Qin army blocked the road in front of the pass with stones and timbers.

In the next few days, Zhou Wen ordered the sergeants to attack more than ten times, but to no avail, so they gathered the crowd and discussed: "Hangu Pass is the only way to enter Xianyang, we must take this pass!" Which of you has a good plan, tell me about it? General Han said: "Hangu Pass is indeed not easy to capture, but if it is delayed for a long time, the Qin State will send troops from other places to reinforce it." Now although their firearms are powerful, it is better to count them! Zhou Wen asked, "What's the best plan?" General Han told Zhou Wen a way to attack by fire. Zhou Wen listened to it and praised it: "This method is wonderful! "He called Deng and told him to lead 2,000 soldiers into the nearby woods to cut down trees and dry firewood, and then put them in the sun to dry as soon as possible, and to make lengthened ladders, folding bridges, and 'artillery'.

When the rebels had not yet reached Hangu Pass, urgent documents flew to Xianyang like snowflakes, but the letters were all lost in the sea. Ying Kui was very anxious, because the Qin army guarding the gate was less than 10,000 people, and now the rebels were too many to calculate, Ying Kui thought of this, so he sent a messenger and said: "You immediately rush to Xianyang to meet the second emperor, state the emergency here, and then ask the imperial court to send reinforcements, otherwise you will come to see you!" The messenger accepted the order and set out at once. He rushed all the way to Xianyang, and he wanted to go straight to the palace. But it was blocked by the guards. He told the guards to report immediately. But the guard on duty said, "The emperor is not here." The messenger anxiously asked where the emperor was. The guards sneered: "Where is Your Majesty, is this something that a little envoy of yours can ask?" The messenger was stunned and said, "I came to see Your Majesty on the orders of the old prince of Hangu Guan, and if you don't report it, you will miss a big matter." The guard said: "Your Majesty is not in the palace, how can we report?" The messenger asked where His Majesty was. The guard smiled: "There are hundreds of palaces in Xianyang, how can we know?" The messenger had a cold ass on his hot face, and had no choice but to leave the palace gate.

The messenger was walking through the city, and because it was the prince who gave the order of death, he had to see the emperor, so he inquired all the way to the whereabouts of the second. Suddenly, he was grabbed by an official patrolling the city and was about to take him away. But the official, who happened to be a former friend of the Courier, recognized him again. The messenger was ready to inform him of the emergency situation at Hangu Pass. But the city inspector motioned to him not to talk nonsense. The messenger followed the city inspector to a very secluded place. The two saluted each other. The messenger told the inspector about the situation at Hangu Pass. The city inspector said: "Brother, I already knew about Shandong!" But if you report it to the Emperor, you will be guilty. The messenger inexplicably asked why. The city inspector said: "The emperor is no longer in Xianyang Palace, if the ministers are doing something, they will first report to Zhilang Zhongzhi." The messenger asked, "Why did you report to Lieutenant Lang in the first place?" The city inspector looked around vigilantly and said: "Now the affairs of the imperial court, no matter how big or small, are decided by Lang Zhongling, Lang Zhongling said that a circle is a circle, and a flat is a flat, not to mention that the emperor only listens to him!" The messenger was astonished: "Isn't this a mistake in a matter of national affairs?" The city inspector said: "Recently, there have been a lot of messengers from the East, and some of them have recklessly talked about Shandong, and they have all been arrested by Lang Zhongling. Thanks to me, you met today, and someone else arrested you too! The messenger said, "Why should the messenger arrest people if he is doing what he is doing?" The city patrol officer said: "Lang Zhong ordered all kinds of reports to be suppressed and not reported, and he did not allow others to report, whoever does not listen to him is a dead end!" The messenger was shocked, but he was embarrassed: "I am reporting the military situation, and I am on the orders of the old prince, if you can't see the emperor, the prince will be killed!" The city inspector said: "I see that you are dead horizontally and vertically, so you can go out and give it a try!" The messenger asked for advice. The city inspector said: "You first hide near the gate of Xianyang Palace, or three or five days, or half a month, if the emperor returns to the palace, you will stop the car to do something." But you have to remember: if you want to die, tell the truth! If you don't want to die, you can say that there is a group of thieves who have arrived at Hangu Pass. Remember thieves, not rebels. That's the only way to live! After the city inspector finished speaking, he hurried away.

The messenger was very surprised, and waited as the city inspector had said, and he felt an inexplicable fear in his heart when he saw the tall and majestic bronze giants at the palace gate. This fear is not because the rebels are about to fight, but because of the huge Xianyang, seeing that disaster is coming, but there is not even a person in charge. How could that high emperor be so confused? How did Yang Daqin become so funny? The messenger hid pitifully in a place where no one was and waited. Fortunately, he waited until the morning of the fourth day and was awakened by the sound of gongs and drums. The messenger hurriedly got up, and found a splendid guard of honor coming from a distance, apparently the Great Commander of the Two. When they arrived at the palace gate, some people shouted: "The emperor returns to the palace and welcomes the holy driver!" When the messenger heard that it was indeed the second chariot, he was so pleased that he wanted to come and stop him, but when he saw the armor around him, he shrank back.

It took a long time for the emperor to enter the palace before he came to the door and asked the guards to report it. The guards recognized him and let him in. But after waiting for a whole hour, the people inside came out to let him see him. The messenger was led to the palace by the palace people. But what he saw was not the emperor, but Lang Zhongling Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao asked him what was the matter. The messenger replied in fear: "I am the messenger of the old prince Ying, and right now, Shandong ......" Zhao Gao "Well!" After a while, he asked casually: "Right now, what's wrong with Shandong?" The messenger was frightened, so he did as the city inspector had instructed, and said, "The old prince has sent me to report to Your Majesty that a group of thieves from Sanchuan County have recently come to Guanxia to make trouble, and they have plundered the people, but the government is sending people to arrest them, and Shandong ...... In a word...... Hangu Pass is very safe, the world is very peaceful, please rest assured. The old prince also said that if there is anything, he will definitely serve the country! Zhao Gao suddenly laughed and said, "Okay! Good! Very good! It's good that the country is peaceful! I will take you to Your Majesty. The messenger followed Zhao Gao to the palace cautiously as if he had been a thief.

After seeing the second, Zhao Gao said to the second that he was sent by the old prince. The second asked him nonchalantly, "Oh, you were sent by the old general?" How is the old general doing? He sacrificed his four sons for the country last time, he is really loyal and commendable, and he is worthy of being a loyal minister of the Great Qin State, is there anything wrong with him? The messenger repeated what he had said to Zhao Gao again. The second emperor was very happy to hear this, so he asked the palace people to take out a hundred taels of gold, ten boxes of jewels, and dozens of silk silks, and said: "You take these back and tell the old general: I am very good, please guard the country with his heart, and I will reward him in the future!" Zhao Gao said with a smile on his face: "Don't you thank you yet?" The messenger hurried to give thanks. After the messenger left the palace, he was sweating profusely, so he wiped his sweat and said to himself: "If you tell a lie, you will be a deception, and you will become a rich man in a blink of an eye; Treat the rebels as thieves today, and there will be chaos in Xianyang tomorrow! ”

The messenger sent the entourage out into the street to take care of a wagon, and then drove it away. The messenger felt very uneasy as he walked, so he went to the official who was patrolling the city, and told him how he had met the emperor. When the city inspector saw that he had gained a lot, he smiled and said, "Congratulations! Condolences to you! When the messenger heard this, the monk was really puzzled, so he asked, "Congratulations to me, how can you say that it is a condolence?" The city inspector said: "You told a lie today, Your Majesty rewarded you, but the rebels have already reached Hangu Pass, maybe one day they will hit Xianyang." At that time, the emperor will arrest you and ask you for the crime, isn't it a catastrophe? The messenger was so frightened that he asked what to do. The city inspector said: "Abandon what you get, run away!" The messenger asked the entourage to transport all the treasures back to Hangu Pass, and he ran to Zhongnan Mountain to avoid trouble.

Hangu was closed, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the flames of war were flying. Ying Kui commanded the battle all day, and he waited day and night for the imperial court to send reinforcements, but in the end a large cart of treasure arrived, and the messenger had disappeared without a trace, which made him feel inexplicable and desperate.

The rebels have been attacking the gate for more than ten days, but there has been no progress. On this day, Zhou Wen gathered the crowd again and said: "Our people and animals have to consume a lot of grain and fodder all day long, and the sergeants also have to fetch water for cooking, which is very inconvenient here, and if we don't take Hangu Pass as soon as possible, it will be more disadvantageous to our army." Now that the equipment is ready, it is time to launch a general attack tonight. When the generals heard this, they all geared up and were eager to try, so they waited together for dispatch. Zhou Wen then raised his tent and said to Kong Fan first: "You lead two thousand soldiers, now go to the vicinity to find bricks, tiles, clods and stones, and then wrap the stones in fine grass, if you see someone raising fire on the hill to the south tonight, you will lead the soldiers to the ditch to throw, use stones to build support points, and make a bridge pier for building a bridge." Then he said to Kong Long: "After the piers of the ditch are filled, you will lead five hundred soldiers to push the folding bridge to the edge of the ditch, and then erect it to the opposite side." Then he said to Wang Wu: "General Wang led a thousand soldiers, each with a large shield, if you see a second torch lit on the hill tonight, you will lead the sergeants to fortify with shields, and transport all the equipment for attacking the fortification through the ditch, and then withdraw." He said to Deng Zhong again: "General Deng took two thousand soldiers, each of whom tied the prepared dry firewood into a trap, and then poured fish oil and other flammable materials into it. Tonight, when you see a third torch on the top of the mountain, you will beat all the dry wood under the gate with a stone cart. Deng Zhong said happily: "Obey!" Zhou Wen also ordered He Zhi to take a thousand people to the left, and Yang Sheng to lead a thousand people to the right, and if he saw the fourth torch lit, he rushed over and climbed the cliffs on both sides with an extended ladder to attack the pass. The generals accepted the order and carried it out. Zhou Wen said to General Han again: "If the things ahead go well, General Lao must personally lead 5,000 crossbowmen to shoot arrows at the gate in batches in order, and then use a stone cart to shoot artillery under the gate, all of them are lit with firewood and grass, and when the fire is bigger, the gate will definitely be burned." General Han also accepted the assignment.

At about midnight this night, Zhou Wen ordered the righteous army to beat drums and shout under the pass, pretending to attack the fortifications, which alarmed Yingkui and the Qin army more than ten times, and made the Qin army exhausted. In the second half of the night, Ying Kui and the Qin troops guarding the pass were too tired to move, and many sergeants lay down on the pass and fell asleep. At the end of the day, Zhou Wen personally brought dozens of sturdy sergeants and climbed a hill on the south side of the gate with torches. Although he couldn't see the pass from the mountain, the rebels under the pass could see him. Zhou Wen saw that it was already very quiet at this time, and knew that the Qin army was asleep, so he asked the soldiers to light the first torch. The Kong brothers, who were on standby at the foot of the mountain, saw that the torches were lit, so they led the rebels to the edge of the ditch and threw earth blocks and stones into it. Because the stone was wrapped in fine grass, it didn't make much noise. In a short time, a row of stone piers supporting the bridge deck was filled in the ditch. Kong Long pushed the folding bridge to the edge of the ditch again. Rolling wheels are installed under this kind of bridge, and the protruding end in front is first sent to the stone pier in the ditch, and then the folded part is lifted, and the soldiers pull the rope to slowly lower the other end, and the whole bridge is built, and it is also connected to the moat in front of Hangu Pass-God's ditch.

When the rebels lit the second torch, Wang Wu led the rebels, in groups of three, with a ladder in their left hand and a big shield in their right hand, and ran to the opposite side of the ditch. After a while, the front of the gate was already full of equipment for tackling key problems. On the opposite hill, Zhou Wen asked the soldiers to light a third torch. When Deng Zhong saw it, he immediately used ten stone carts to send large bundles of dry firewood to the closed door. Qin Jun heard the sound at the gate, so he got up to inspect it, and found that this time it was true, so he hurriedly reported it to the old prince. When Yingkui heard the report, he hurriedly came to the gate to inspect. Shocked to find that the rebels were throwing large bundles of firewood and grass under the gate, and knowing that they were going to attack with fire, he hurriedly ordered the sergeant to go down and carry water.

There was not much time, and suddenly a sky full of rockets was shot from the gate, and artillery was sent with a stone truck. This kind of artillery turned out to be filled with flammable materials in clay pots, and then wrapped in sackcloth, which was lit before sending, and in the sky it was like a huge fireball, falling to the ground, and the clay pot was smashed and immediately caught fire, and most of it fell on the pyre in front of the gate. After a while, the front of the gate turned into a sea of fire. At this time, the Qin army took water to extinguish the fire, but the rebel army commanded by Han Qi shot arrows violently, and the arrows were very dense, killing all the Qin troops who were fighting the fire, and those who did not die were also smashed by the artillery and cried for their fathers and mothers. There was chaos when it was closed. Zhou Wen lit a fourth torch. He Zhi and Yang Sheng immediately led their troops to rush through the ditch, picked up the cloud ladder from the ground and climbed to the cliff wall. For a time, the shouting and killing sound in front of the entire Hangu Pass was earth-shattering, and it only shook the mountains and valleys.

Ying Kui saw that the fire was getting stronger and stronger, and the Qin army was already in chaos, and hurriedly shouted: "Don't panic!" Do your part! Hold your place! The Retreater, Slash! Those Qin soldiers who heard the order risked their lives to pour water on the gate, choking on the fireworks and coughing incessantly, and unable to open their eyes. When Ying Kui was commanding, he was suddenly hit by an arrow, and the armor soldiers on the left and right hurriedly protected him and retreated. Yingkui shouted that he would not retreat, and was forcibly dragged down by the armor. The Qin army, who was extinguishing the fire, came up and was shot dead, and then came up again, and fell again. When Yingkui came to the gate, he saw that the gate was already on fire, so he ordered the sergeant to block the door with a chariot. The Qin army pushed the chariot into the doorway. After another half an hour, someone came to Ying Kui and reported: "The rebels are climbing up from both sides. Ying Kui was annoyed and ashamed, sent people to reinforce, and rode to the middle of the road in the pass, and immediately blocked the way.

When the Qin troops who had been reinforced, they threw stones down, and kept shooting arrows, and the rebels fell off the cliffs one after another. An hour later, the gate was burned to ashes, and the rebels rushed to the gate with a shout. They first cleared the road with wreckers, and then dragged the Qin army's chariots out of the door with instruments to open up the way forward. The defensive position of the Qin army was also fierce, they used large shields to block the arrows, threw wood and stones downward, and kept shooting arrows at each other. The rebels also suffered heavy casualties, and the corpses were piled up on the road in front of the pass.

Zhou Wen and Han Qi saw that the gate was finally burned, so they personally raised their shields and launched a charge. Ying Kui commanded the Qin army to block the attack, but it was already crowded in the mezzanine, and the sound of killing and the impact of weapons were also connected. At this time, He Zhi and Yang Sheng had already attacked, so they killed them from the inside to the closed door. Ying Kui saw that the rebel army had entered the pass and was under the enemy's back, so he desperately commanded the battle. After Zhou Wen and Han Qi entered the gate, they waved their troops to cover up. Yingkui scolded the Chu thief and fought back. At this time, He Zhi and Yang Sheng had already attacked behind him, and Ying Kui drew his sword and cut off the weapons of the two, and continued to fight. However, the Chu army gathered more and more, and finally launched an attack on Yingkui together. Although Ying Kui was powerful, how could he resist such a big offensive, and after a while, he fell into the middle of Hangu Pass, sacrificing his life for the Qin State. The rebels rushed over his corpse. There is a poem that sighs:

Seeing death as home, he was bold, and he was still brave back then.

Poor seven-foot Ang Tibetan body, resolute and empty in front of the Han Valley.

By the time everything was calm, it was dawn. Zhou Wen and Han Qi, accompanied by the generals, climbed the tower of Hangu Pass together, and through the billowing smoke and dust, they saw the righteous army dozens of miles away, and they were still pouring towards the pass. However, the troops in the vicinity were already lined up in a neat queue, entering the customs in order. Zhou Wen looked around and couldn't help but sigh: "The Qin people have occupied the pass for hundreds of years by virtue of the danger of Hangu Pass, and no one has ever broken through it. I think that when the Six Kingdoms were engaged in a great alliance, they used ten times the land of Qin as the foundation and ten times the army of Qin to attack. However, as soon as the gate of the Qin State was opened, the combined army collapsed without a fight and fled. By the time King Ying of Qin came to power, the power of the Qin State was even stronger, and their troops were unstoppable, and they finally conquered the whole world. In just ten years, the Qin State destroyed Han, Zhao, and Wei successively. Chu, Yan, Qi, how brilliant their deeds are. However, after the unification of Qin, Ying Zheng did not know how to sympathize with the people and heal the wounds caused by the war, but built a large number of buildings, acted recklessly, whipped the sea, and enslaved the world, so that King Zhang Chu was cornered and could only raise the banner of rebellion! And these are all caused by a series of wrong policies implemented by the Qin State! When the generals heard this, they all agreed very much, so they stood for a long time, and their hearts could not be calm.