Sima Xin was detained at Sima Gate, and in addition to eating normally, he took the initiative to ask one of the officials who was guarding him about this and that, and he mastered some affairs in the court. On this day, I suddenly heard that the imperial court had killed Prime Minister Li Si, and was ready to worship Zhao Gao as the prime minister. Sima Xin was furious in his heart, thinking that the generals were fighting hard outside, and the court had been tyrannical to such an extent, if he didn't flee out and report to Zhang Han now, I was afraid that his life would be difficult to protect.

On this day, he saw that one of the guards on duty was always staring at the piece of jade he was wearing, so he took off the jade and gave it to the guard, and said, "Little brother, please go and report to Lord Zhao, just say that I have something important to see him, and this jade will be given to you." The guard was very happy when he took the beautiful jade, so he took Sima Xin out of the duty room. Sima Xin was originally a military general, and as soon as he went out, he knocked out the guard and took the jade pendant. When he turned around, he saw a horse tied to the pillar, and the saddle was complete, so he hurried over and untied the horse's rope, then mounted his horse, and galloped out of Sima Gate. The sergeant guarding the door hurriedly stopped him, but was killed by Sima Xin with a sword, and then rushed out of the door and galloped straight to the east.

Zhao Gao saw that Li Si was dead, and he was so happy that he hurried to report the situation to the second. The Second Emperor appointed Zhao Gao as Prime Minister. Because Zhao Gao was punished by the palace, like a eunuch, the eunuch is also called an internal official or a middle official, so Zhao Gao is called the prime minister. After Zhao Gaorong was promoted to prime minister, he was overjoyed and rushed home to celebrate. When he was happy, someone came to report that Sima Xin had killed the guards and fled. When Zhao Gao heard the report, he couldn't help but get nervous, he thought that if Zhang Han knew about Li Si's killing, what would he do if he turned against him, and Sima Xin must have heard a lot of things in the past few days, and Zhang Han knew that these things were not a good thing, so he immediately sent someone to hunt down and kill Sima Xin. However, the people sent could not catch up because of Sima Xin's diversion.

Zhang Han was very worried in Handan City, and when he inspected during the day, he saw that there was devastation everywhere, and he was very depressed. That night, he was alone in the Huwei tent, absentmindedly examining a map of Jun in the dim light. At this time, Zhang Han already looked very haggard, much older than when he was just worshiped as a general, and his body seemed to be overwhelmed, and the gray sideburns and wrinkles on his face proved how he worked day and night for state affairs. His tent looked neat and austere, with no red carpet on the floor, no ornate ornaments such as screen curtains around it, only a woodcut engraving of a tiger hanging in the center of the large tent. This is clearly the kind of pattern that people liked during the Warring States period, and his sword, golden bow and quiver are hung on the sword rack next to it, and his Jin Ge is also placed on the weapon rack next to it. Directly in front of it was a dark purple rectangular case, on which was placed a quiver carved with animal patterns, and the whole military tent seemed to have a bit of solemn and solemn mystery.

Suddenly, someone came in to report that General Sima had returned. When Zhang Han heard that Sima Xin was back, he stood up in surprise to greet him. After a while, Sima Xin was helped into the big tent by two guards. Seeing him in such a situation, Zhang Han hurriedly ordered someone to bring a bowl of water. Zhang Han personally brought the water for Sima Xin to drink. Sima Xin drank half a bowl of grunt, and then took Zhang Han's hand and wanted to cry without tears. Zhang Han asked what had happened. Sima Xin choked up and said, "General, something big has happened in the court!" Zhang Han asked what was going on. Sima Xin said sadly and indignantly: "Zhao Gao deceived his superiors and subordinates, the Qin State is already finished!" At this time, other generals also rushed to hear the news, and they all wanted to hear what news Sima Xin had brought from the imperial court. Zhang Han asked what was going on in the court. Sima Xin said: "A year ago, Prime Minister Feng Cheng, Prime Minister Li Cheng, and General Feng Zheng were all imprisoned for advising the emperor. Prime Minister Feng and General Feng committed suicide in prison because they were unwilling to be humiliated. Prime Minister Li was framed by Zhao Gao, saying that he collaborated with the enemy and treason, and in order to clarify his grievances, he was tortured in prison. Just a few days ago, he was sentenced to five felonies by the imperial court, exterminated the three clans, and the family died so miserably! I went to Xianyang, I didn't see the emperor at all, and was detained in Sima Gate for a few days, and then I heard that the imperial court killed Prime Minister Li Cheng and let Zhao Gao be the prime minister, so I won the trust of the guards, escaped from Sima Gate, and went all the way out of Xianyang, and did not dare to take the road of Hangu Pass, and crossed the river from Pubanjin to escape Zhao Gao's pursuit! At this time, the generals were already crowded into the big tent, and everyone heard that Sima Xin almost couldn't come back, and they were all indignant and full of anger. Sima Xin said again: "General Zhang, the Qin State is no longer the Qin State of the past, the power has long been controlled by Zhao Gao, the emperor is just a puppet, and no one else knows where it is?" Zhang Han was shocked when he heard this, and fell to his seat.

The generals all condemned Zhao Gao at this time, and the lieutenant Dong Fei said: "Now that Zhao Gao has the sole power, and the emperor trusts him, what hope do we have?" Since ancient times, the powerful ministers have been working at home, how can the generals make contributions outside? We are so desperate, we are afraid that there will be no results in the future? Suddenly, a person said angrily: "Zhao Gao is so reckless, and the emperor can't distinguish between right and wrong, it's really not worth working for such a court, it's better to kill Xiang Xianyang, and kill the faint king and the traitor!" As soon as these words came out, the generals were very shocked. It turned out that it was Zhang Han's younger brother Zhang Ping who said this. Zhang Han angrily reprimanded him: "What nonsense are you talking about? Come on, someone, tie me up with this and cut it down! The generals were shocked, so they knelt down together to plead for Zhang Ping. Zhang Han sternly reprimanded Zhang Ping and said: "Leave your dog's head for the time being, if you talk nonsense, I will kill you!" Zhang Ping lowered his head and retreated. Zhang Han also asked everyone to go back and rest first.

After the generals went out, Zhang Han sat alone in the Huwei tent, sighed for a long time, and thought in his heart: Since the filial piety of the Shang monarch to change the law, the Qin State has risen in the West in just twenty years. After the death of Xiaogong, King Hui and King Wu continued to use troops abroad, so as to swallow Hanzhong in the south and attack Bashu in the west, expand the territory and expand the territory, and grow stronger day by day. The monarchs of the six kingdoms were afraid of Qin's attack, so they formed an alliance in an attempt to contain Qin, but they were not Qin's opponents. After the first emperor succeeded to the throne, he inherited the majesty of the six generations of kings, the sword pointed at Guanzhong, the momentum was like an avalanche in Kunlun, the big river surged, surging down, and it annexed the six countries in one fell swoop and unified China. After the first emperor came to the world, he hoped that the ruling order of Great Qin and the fortune of the country would be passed on from generation to generation, but unfortunately he was unexpectedly surprised during his travels. Hu Hai, who succeeded to the throne, is just mediocre in intelligence, and he is still an insatiable and unscrupulous guy. In order to eliminate dissidents, he went so far as to kill and build a large number of buildings, requisitioned millions of laborers across the country, built palaces for him day and night, and forced the people to move around, causing the people to leave their homes and complain. After Chen Sheng rebelled, he sent Zhou Wen to the opera pavilion. I was ordered to go out of the customs to fight, and after dozens of battles, I drove the rebels out of the customs. But he never expected that after the death of Zhang Chu, the remnants of Chu revived, and Xiang's uncle and nephew actually supported a shepherd boy King Chu Huai to order the people of Chu to continue to rebel against Qin. This was originally a way to fool the people, but the foolish and stubborn people in Chu believed them, and really obeyed the sheep herding baby as the king of Chu Huai. In this way, Chudi has formed a powerful anti-Qin force, and Xiang Liang is the son of Xiang Yan, which is very appealing. In the battle of Dingtao, Xiang Liang died miserably and the Chu army was defeated, which was really happy. After that, I also thought that the power of pseudo-Chu was nothing more than that, but I never thought that Xiang Liang's nephew Xiang Yu was a madman, not so much a madman, but rather a nemesis of the Qin State. Although he is only in his twenties now, he is unstoppable in battle, even Wang Li, the grandson of Wang Jian, is not his opponent, and the 100,000 Great Wall army was completely annihilated, and he himself was killed in battle. In the first battle of Julu, hundreds of thousands of my troops were defeated by Xiang Yu, which is really a strange phenomenon that has never been heard of in the history of Qin. In today's world, Xiang Yu was born out of nowhere. Why is a hairy boy so good at fighting? And none of us are his opponents! It's really a shame to think about my age, but being defeated by a cold baby one after another! It is also a shame for the Qin State! What kind of face do I have to return to Xianyang in the future? It seems that the prophecy of 'although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu' is indeed about to come true. Where is the hope of the Qin State now? What does the future hold? What is hateful is that so many things have happened in the capital, but it is unpredictable and unimaginable, not to mention that in the majestic and magnificent Xianyang Palace, I don't know if there are any other despicable and dirty things hidden? I don't know that Qin Guo has created so many unjust, false and wrongful cases? The imperial capital of my Great Qin, the dignified Xianyang, has turned into a hell on earth where people talk about tiger color change! Not to mention how the second world did not distinguish between right and wrong, black and white were reversed, what made people even more angry was that the traitor Zhao Gao turned the clouds and covered the sky with one hand. His methods of brutalizing loyal ministers have long been fearless, not only to the court, but also to the people below. Who in the country today does not feel that the future is bleak? With such a reign of darkness, how can people not look forward to chaos in the world? Judging from the nervousness of General Sima's escape from Xianyang, Zhao Gao's arrogance and inhumanity have reached such a rampant level! Zhao Gao is just a traitor, a blood-devouring devil, a murderous butcher, a villain in the market, and a pervert who controls the upper position. Now my family is also in Xianyang, if I do anything wrong and am caught by Zhao Gao, even if I risk my life to fight to the death with the Chu army, it will inevitably be unforeseen in the end, not to mention that Xiang Yu is also a god of war, an unparalleled warrior of the Six Kingdoms. I've fought him many times, but none of them are his opponents. Thinking about the battle of Julu, the three or four hundred thousand soldiers of the Qin State were vulnerable and defeated under his powerful offensive. Now that the Qin army has no fighting spirit and will have no fighting spirit, everyone is pessimistic and disappointed, and they don't want to fight again, and my heart is even more miserable. Thinking about the current Qin army, it has long lost the majestic domineering spirit that swallowed mountains and rivers in the past and the mighty majesty when it swept away the Six Kingdoms. Alas, the world is impermanent, and life is unpredictable? Has the Qin State really reached the time when the sun sets and the number of qi is about to run out? Now even if Jiang Ziya is alive and Sun Wuzi is resurrected, I am afraid that he will not be able to save the situation of the Qin State! When Zhang Han thought of this, he had already burst into tears and sighed. After a while, he got up and walked out of the tent, and then looked up at the deep and confused night sky, as if he saw the future of the Qin State, Zhang Han's mood couldn't be calm for a long time.

Early the next morning, the desolate and tragic sound of fighting still sounded in the barracks. Zhang Han woke up from the nightmare, although he was physically and mentally exhausted, his sleepiness had long disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, I heard someone making noise outside the tent, and the guards then came in and reported: "General, there is an envoy from Zhao to see you." Zhang Han was very surprised when he heard that it was the envoy of Zhao State, so he was silent for a while, and then asked the guards to bring Zhao envoy in.

After a while, a tall and thin man walked into Zhang Han's big tent, and after he saluted, he said: "I am General Chen Yu's messenger, and now General Chen has written you a letter, please take a look at it." As he spoke, he took the letter from his bosom. The guard took the letter from his hand and presented it with both hands. Zhang Hanjian wrote:

Your Excellency General Zhang: I heard that Bai Qi was a famous general of the Qin State, he conquered Yan Ying in the south, attacked the Zhao State in the north, broke the Zhao army, and once won a brilliant victory in the Battle of Changping, and conquered many cities and occupied many lands for the Qin State, but was finally given to death by the King of Qin. Meng Tian was also a famous general of the Qin State, he attacked the Xiongnu in the north, expanded the land for thousands of miles, and finally died in Yangzhou County. Even the current General Yang Xiong was killed without exception. What is the reason for this? Isn't it because their merits are too great for the king to reward?

Now the general has been leading troops abroad for three years, and the number of soldiers lost has exceeded 100,000, but the number of people who have rebelled in the Six Nations has increased unabated. I also knew for a long time that Zhao Gao of the Qin State deceived the emperor too much, and he concealed all the documents in various places and did not report them. Now that the situation is urgent, and I am afraid that the second emperor will punish him, I will try every means to cover up his crimes, so as to harm the general everywhere, and I have heard that he wants to send another general to replace you, which is extremely unfair to the general! Think about the general's contribution and credit to the Qin State, who can compare? In the past, the ministers of the Qin State all recommended the general to take charge alone, but now that the people who recommended you have been killed by the second emperor, will the general's disaster be far away? Moreover, the general has been leading troops outside for a long time, but he does not know anything about the internal affairs of the imperial court. Don't you know that Zhao Gao has long regarded you as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh?

Since ancient times, traitorous ministers have stirred up trouble inside, how can loyal ministers make meritorious contributions outside? It is well known that a general dies if he has merit, and he dies if he has no merit. But why did the dignified husband die at the hands of eunuchs? Now that you have no place in the DPRK, and you are a defeated general outside, you are already isolated and helpless, and you are in a dilemma, how long will the general be supported? I am privately worried about you, so I have written this letter to persuade you to declare your righteousness, abandon darkness and turn to the light, and unite with the allies to jointly crusade against the brutal Qin State. If this is the case, the general can get a share of Qin's land, second, he can avoid the disaster of killing, and third, he can save the lives of the whole family. Please think about it, general? Which is better? Chen Yudun bowed his head.

Zhang Han read the letter, his hands kept trembling, he read it for the first time, read it for the second time, and pondered the meaning repeatedly, and his heart was shocked. At this time, the other generals also rushed to hear the news, they looked at Zhang Han's slightly trembling body, and asked, "General, what is the letter about?" Zhang Han couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed a few times, so he passed the letter to the left and right for everyone to see. After reading the letter, the generals fell silent. Suddenly, a loud voice said: "The second is mediocre, Zhao Gao deceived the superiors and subordinates, and the generals are indeed dead, what hope do we have?" Chen Yu is right, even if we win the battle, can Zhao Gao let us go? ”

The person who said this was Changshi Sima Xin, and when Zhang Han heard his words, his heart was full of contradictions. Yes, although they didn't want to betray the country at all, the current situation of Qin and the defeat on the battlefield had forced them to have no way out. According to Qin law: the loss of the battle of the generals of the Qin state is an unforgivable sin. Zhang Han thought of the cases of Zhao Gao's calamity against the Qin State, and he felt completely desperate in his heart. Not only Zhang Han thought so, but other generals also thought so, and everyone started talking about it. In short, they all think that the court is indeed hopeless, and such a faint monarch can no longer rely on him, and he has been following a faint monarch, and all the people have no hope.

Suddenly, someone came in to report that Xiang Yu had led the allied forces to attack Handan City. When Zhang Han heard this, his heart became more and more nervous, and he hurriedly said: "The people here have moved away, and the city has been destroyed, what can you use to resist now?" Just when Zhang Han was hesitating, he suddenly heard the shouts of the Chu army getting closer and closer, and the charging horn sounded one after another, and the war drums sounded as thrilling as thunder. At this time, Zhang Han knew that the Qin army had been disheartened and could no longer continue to block the Chu army, so he had to order the entire line to retreat. The 200,000 Qin troops left in the desert amid the shouts of the allies and retreated in a hurry.

Zhang Han led the Qin army all the way to the Zhangshui River, and when he saw that there was a big river in front and a chasing soldier behind, he looked up to the sky and shouted: "I don't want my 200,000 soldiers to die here!" Suddenly, someone shouted: "Don't be discouraged, general, we will fight with our backs, and the victory or defeat is not yet known!" Zhang Han's spirit was shocked, and he thought: Yes, isn't there a "death and then life" in the art of war? Now that the Qin army has reached the Jedi, the only way to fight to the death is to save the situation? Thinking of this, Zhang Han decisively ordered: "Soldiers! We have no way to retreat, and now if we fight to the death, there is still a possibility of life! As soon as he finished speaking, he heard an angry roar all around, and the soldiers of the whole army said in unison: "Fight with the Chu people!" Fight with Xiang Yu! Spell ......" sound as loud as a tsunami. But after waiting for a long time, Chu Jun's voice became smaller and smaller, and he couldn't hear any sound for a while. Later, the military detectives came back to report that after the Chu army occupied Handan City, only Duo Bu and General Pu chased after them, and everyone else was stationed in Handan City and did not dispatch. As soon as Zhang Han heard that Xiang Yu didn't come, he let out a long breath and said, "It turns out that I ran all the way, I scared myself, and I lost a lot of baggage!" Zhang Han felt remorseful in his heart, so he asked everyone to set up camp and go to the village, and sent sergeants to search for boats along the river and prepare to cross the river.

After the Qin army's camp was set up, Zhang Han convened everyone to discuss the matter. Zhang Ping said: "Brother, in the first battle of Julu, the Great Wall Army was completely annihilated, and the morale of our army was not high. Now on the contrary, the rebels are winning one after another, their morale is high, we will not be able to defeat the enemy in a short time, I think the defeat is decided, is it not something we can recover? Now if the Chu army attacks again, we will have no way to retreat, it is better to find a way to make peace with the Chu army and stop fighting! Zhang Han listened to his younger brother's words and said angrily: "Our family members are all in Guanzhong, and there may be Zhao Gao's spies in the army, but you say such things, isn't this a disaster for yourself?" Kill you brainless thing first! He ordered Zhang Ping to be pushed out left and right, and cut down. When the generals heard this, they were shocked and quickly pleaded with the general. Zhang Ping was exempted from the death penalty, but he was beaten heavily with 20 boards. Zhang Han therefore ordered the army: no one should say the word "peace", otherwise they will all be beheaded.

Xiang Yu came to Handan City and saw that the Qin army had run away without a trace, so he wanted to chase Zhang Han in person. But Fan Zeng persuaded: "There is Zhangshui in front of you, if our army pursues and kills with all its might, the Qin army will definitely fight to the death, this is a taboo in the art of war!" Now there is only a temporary postponement of the army, and as time goes by, the Qin army will slack off, and if it slacks, it will find a way to cross the river. Wait until the Qin army is halfway through to attack again, and you can win a big victory! Xiang Yu followed Fan Zeng's advice and stopped entering the army for the time being, and Zhang Han also escaped a catastrophe.

Zhao Gao is a conspirator, he has already planted eyes and ears in Zhang Han's military camp, and the ears and eyes have inquired about some things at this time, and then reported to Zhao Gao. When Zhao Gao learned that Zhang Han's soldiers hated him to the core, he felt uneasy in his heart, and he was afraid that Zhang Han's soldiers would be unfavorable to him after winning the battle and returning to the court, so he simply tried to find a way to get rid of them. He immediately came to see the second and said, "Zhang Han is ready to surrender to Chu Kou." When the second heard this, he was naturally astonished, and asked what evidence there was. Zhao Gao let his eyes and ears come in, and talked about Chen Yu's correspondence and everyone's dissatisfaction with the imperial court. When the second emperor heard this, he was furious, so he issued an edict to immediately arrest Zhang Han's whole family and escort him to the city of Cao Wen to behead. The second never imagined that it was his erroneous atrocity that really provoked Zhang Han and ruined the country of Great Qin.