Daqin Engineering Corps

"Teacher, teacher... Tang Ju fulfilled his mission because of me."

"If I hadn't procrastinated and appointed this Anling City as the base of attack, Tang Ju wouldn't have needed to go to Qin as an envoy!"

"As a participant, can I not recite it?"

These are all later stories.

At this moment, Shen Bing was thinking:

Yang Duanhe went to ask for instructions, Yingzheng sent someone to Anling, and Anling replied...

Then they came back to each other, and Tang Ju went on an envoy to make a fuss, but in the end they couldn't borrow this Anling.

How do you say it will take a month?

Then, let's say that the original strategy was based on Anling City. Since Your Majesty didn't borrow this Anling City, he needs to re-plan it.

Then "blah blah" is another month.

It's almost time for spring to melt the ice and snow.

That's when it's really ready.

Of course, Yang Duanhe didn't know about these small things in Shen Bing's heart. He was still thinking about how to tell the king about it.

In fact, Shen Bing didn't intend to hide it from Yang Duanhe.

But this matter is always a "crime of deceiving the emperor"...so it's better for Yang Duanhe not to know.

After thinking about it, Shen Bing felt that acting should be a complete set, and by the way, he formulated a battle plan to attack Chencheng with Anling as the base...

Yingzheng received the "strategy" the next day.

Ying Zheng nodded while watching, he was quite satisfied with the strategy.

More importantly, this strategy was formulated by Shen Bing, and the strategy formulated by Shen Bing is of course no problem.

It's just... An Ling is a bit tricky.

After thinking about it, Ying Zheng said to Li Si beside him:

"Send someone to Anling."

"The widow wants to exchange five hundred miles of land with Lord Anling for Anling!"

Chapter 192 Secret Letter

As expected, Shen Bing got the news from Yang Duanhe the next day, saying that the king had sent someone to Anling.

So Shen Bing let go of half of his hanging heart, secretly thought that it was a good thing that Ying Zheng didn't order the troops recklessly, otherwise he didn't know how he died this time.

Shen Bing's side is not going well, and Xiang Yan's is not much better.

Xiang Yan sent a letter to Shouchun asking for another [-] soldiers, but no troops were sent for a long time.

Xiang Yan sent people to urge her again and again, but she disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea.

In addition, the grain, grass and arrows that should have been sent from Shouchun came in waves, which forced Xiang Yan to go to Qi State to ask for food.

Xiang Yan sighed, secretly thinking that she was still an outsider to Chu State after all.

In terms of origin, the Xiang family is indeed outsiders.

A hundred years ago, the Xiang family was originally a small country beside Weishui (Yanhe River in northern Shaanxi), named Xiang State.

The king of this country is a man who knows how to calculate. He thinks that if his small country participates in the slaughter of the countries in the Central Plains, it will be easily wiped out without leaving any traces.

So he made up his mind to keep only one acre of land and not to fight.

As a result, when Qi State held the banner of "respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" for the overlord and called on all countries in the Central Plains to resist the invasion of foreign barbarians, Xiang State still did not participate.

It's fine if you don't participate in ordinary battles. The Spring and Autumn Period still talked about "benevolence, righteousness and morality".

But it is too much to not participate in the battle against the invasion of foreign barbarians.

So the secret alliance of Qi State made a decision to destroy this country.

It is very easy to destroy Xiangguo. Duke Lu Xi did it with tens of thousands of soldiers in the name of hunting.

After that, all the captured Xiang clan were exiled to the wild land east of the Yangtze River to live a life of fishing and hunting.

At this time, Xiang Shi realized a truth: if he is not strong, whether he waits and sees or gets involved in disputes, he is only a foil for the strong in the end.

From Xiang Xiang's family, martial arts became popular, and the children of the nobles were familiar with the art of war since they were young.

Then the State of Yue destroyed the State of Wu, and the State of Chu destroyed the State of Yue.

In order to be able to control Baiyue in the east of the Yangtze River, the Chu State recruited the martial arts Xiang clan. The condition was that the Xiang clan could retain their fiefdom and build a city a hundred miles northeast of Shouchun.

This is equivalent to naming the Xiang family as the fourth clan outside the three major clans of Zhao, Qu, and Jing in Chu State.

But this is actually only the fourth largest family in name.

The three Chu clans: the Zhao clan governs state affairs, the Qu clan is in charge of military and political affairs of the royal family, and the Jing clan is in charge of customs defense and national military affairs.

Xiang's... only recruited the enemy when they came to invade, and left it aside if there was no battle.

So it's no wonder that Xiang Yan thinks that Chu State always regards the Xiang family as outsiders.

After thinking for a while, Xiang Yan ordered:

"Send someone to ask for reinforcements."

The general responded, turned around and went to make arrangements.

After the general went down, Xiang Yan called the third son Xiang Bo to the front, and then explained it like this.

In fact, the king of Chu also had his difficulties in not sending troops.

In terms of the number of soldiers, Chu State has more than 30 soldiers, and the entire Chu State has nearly 70 soldiers.

The soldiers of Chu State are roughly divided into two parts:

One is the defenders scattered in various fortress defenses.

There are nearly 30 cities in the state of Chu, and there are about [-] big cities with city defenses, and their garrisons are about [-].

The supply of these soldiers has always been half from the country and half from the city and fiefdom.

However, the fiefs often secretly benefited the city defense officers and soldiers. After a long time, the city defense officers and soldiers almost became the fief's private soldiers, and it was difficult for the country and even the king of Chu to mobilize them.

The second is the army directly under the king of Chu, which totals about [-].

This is the main force that Xiang Yan can use.

However, it was used by Xiang Yan before the girder was flooded and lost 30 yuan, and now only [-] yuan is left.

Xiang Yan led [-] in Caozhou, his son Xiang Liang led [-] in Chencheng, and Shouchun only had [-] left.

At this time, Xiang Yan asked for another [-]... Then Shouchun only had [-] left?

Then if the Qin army hits Shouchun, who will defend the city?

So the king of Chu didn't dare to send troops for a while, but hoped that he could transfer troops, horses, food and grass from various fiefs and cities to gather enough [-] yuan to send troops to Xiang Yan.

When the King of Chu gave an order, the nobles responded loudly, packed their luggage and rode out of the city.

This once moved King Chu of Chu very much, secretly said:

"But a friend in adversity sees the truth. With so many virtuous ministers and generals helping me, why worry about the Qin army coming to attack?"

However, within a few days, the king of Chu could not cry anymore... Those noble children did not go back to move soldiers, they were worried that they would take this opportunity to flee back in fear of Shouchun.

Later, the king of Chu ordered them to send troops, and the answer they got was either that they were still preparing or that the food and grass were not ready.

A few days passed, all the fiefs without exception did not send a single soldier.

The king of Chu wanted to send the Shouchun guards to Xiang Yan first.

But at this time, he received a secret letter that made him press this idea again.

It turned out that someone from the Zhao family, the largest family in the Chu state, reported that the Xiang family was gathering private soldiers in the east of the Yangtze River, plotting to fight against the Yue tribe and stand on their own.

King Chu of Chu didn't believe it at first.

But on second thought:

"This Yan has repeatedly led troops to fight against Qin and ended in failure. Could it be that he is worried that the widow will blame him?"

"Or maybe Xiang Yan has been terrified by the Qin army, knowing that there is no hope of resisting Qin, and wants to take this opportunity to stand on her own?"

This idea makes sense.

Because the Xiang family is located in the Jiangdong water network and there are many mountains and dense forests, and the Xiang family has been in Baiyue here for many years, if they unite with Baiyue to fight against Qin, it is very likely that they will be as peaceful as before.

So the king of Chu hesitated again.

Just then someone came to report:

"Your Majesty, General Xiang Bo is asking to see you."

The King of Chu was startled, but he forced himself to calm down and said, "See you."

Xiang Bo came into the palace in a hurry, saluted the king of Chu, and then asked straight to the point:

"Your Majesty, I heard that someone has reported that Xiang's rebellion. I don't know if this is true or not?"

It turned out that Xiang Yan thought that Shouchun's delay in sending troops must have something inside, so he ordered Xiang Bo to go to Shouchun to inquire.

Uncle Xiang was also in a hurry. After finding out the news, he immediately went to the palace to question the king of Chu.

The king of Chu was so sad that he almost broke out in a sweat, and answered after he collected himself:

"Someone did tell."

"However, general, don't be overwhelmed. If you are suspicious of the Xiang family, how can you not first release the Xiang family's military power?"

The killing intent in Xiang Bo's eyes was fleeting, and he raised his head and said:

"If the Xiang family plans to cause chaos, it's time for the Qin army to go south! Why should we fight against Qin and hurt ourselves?"

"However, if someone is determined to force Xiang to rebel against Chu, then Xiang may not rebel!"

"Xiang's rebellion against Chu, the first thing to do is to kill those who force me to rebel!"

"In the face of a national crisis, the royal family does not care about the safety of the Chu State, so why should the Xiang family bother for the Chu State?"

The menacing tone of these words was already very obvious.

If this were normal, the king of Chu would probably punish Xiang Bo and even Xiang Yan for treason immediately.

But now... Xiang Yan has a lot of troops in his hands and has made his words clear:

Don't force me, Mrs. Xiang, if you force me, it will be the opposite.

So King Chu of Chu could only answer:

"The general is serious. The army and food and grass have been prepared, and the general can take them by himself."

Chapter 193 Lieutenant General

Xiang Yan finally got the [-] reinforcements and food, which also made him suddenly realize that he was in danger.

Before that, Xiang Yan always thought that she had only one enemy, and that was Qin Jun.

He thought that at this moment when the country was about to be destroyed, all the clans and even the cities of the Chu State were willing to hand over their troops and even their property to fight against the Qin army.

But he found that was not the case.

These nobles were not only unwilling to hand over their soldiers, but even planned to take this opportunity to eradicate the Xiang family...

Otherwise, what would happen if the Zhao family sent someone to send a secret letter saying that the Xiang family had rebelled?

Obviously, saying that Xiang's rebellion has two purposes: on the one hand, it can make the king suspicious and further weaken Xiang's military power, and on the other hand, it can make the nobles not need to send troops and food...

If the Xiang family rebelled, the nobles would naturally not need to hand over soldiers and food to Xiang Yan for his command.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be supplying the rebels?

How sinister is this plan!