Chapter 104: The Jin people’s greatest talent: internal fighting
The armies of Qin and Wei marched together, with over ten thousand people connected to the sky. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Qin and Wei marched out of Hangu Pass. It took months for the army to march.
When they set foot on the land of Guandong, countless Qin people felt a sense of freedom.
Duke Qin met Wei Qing of Jin. He despised this man who betrayed Duke Jin from the bottom of his heart.
But he said with a warm smile: "Mr. Wei, look at the swaying pines and cypresses all over the mountain, they must be witnessing your loyalty to the emperor.
When you meet the emperor, Wei Qing must be respectful. I believe that the emperor will be happy to enthrone you as a prince.
I will still address you as Marquis of Wei when the time comes."
This sounds like praise, but it is actually a mockery. The princes and ministers are not qualified to be loyal to the emperor. The princes are subjects of the emperor, and the princes and ministers can only be called foreign ministers.
But Wei Qing didn't hear it because it was too obscure. He only heard the word "Marquis Wei", which made him feel relieved.
From ancient times to the present, the pursuit of fame and status has never stopped.
The ceremony of nine gifts and the position of Fangbo, these honorary titles attracted all the monarchs throughout the Spring and Autumn Period. The honor of transforming family into country was also engraved in everyone's blood.
Wei Qing suppressed his excitement and smiled reservedly: "If we can turn our family into a country, Wei and Qin will form an unbreakable alliance. The friendship between Wei and Qin is witnessed by Haotian."
Wei Qing didn't dare to mention King Su, because he always felt that King Su was really watching here from somewhere.
What Wei Qing didn't expect was that Han also had spies among Wei. The Qin-Wei coalition forces had just marched out of Hangu Pass and hadn't gone far when Han had already received the news.
The moment Han Cheng saw the news, he felt his eyes go dark. He threw the bamboo slips directly to the ground, stomped on them fiercely, and said in hatred: "Wei actually betrayed us. How shameless!
Is there no loyalty in his heart?"
Han Cheng was not acting, he was really angry.
It's just that he was not angry about Wei Qing's betrayal of Duke Jin. Anyway, in Jin State, the various noble families are now in name only, and the regime is only barely maintained.
What made him angry was that Wei Qing could have contacted the Zhao and Han families to force the Jin royal family to abdicate and divide the Jin state equally, but he chose to go solo.
He even wanted to destroy the Han family and take all the benefits!
"Master, the Wei family wants to annihilate us with the Qin people, and then occupy our Han family's territory, so as to join forces with the Chu State to encircle the Luo State coalition forces above the Zheng State."
Han's territory separates Wei's territory and Wangji's land, and Han's territory has a very good geographical location for the current war.
Not only does it surround the two sides of the royal capital, it can also attack Zheng from three directions. Now the Luo army is on Zheng's land!
Han Cheng understood why Qin and Wei were targeting him. He was an innocent man, but he was guilty of possessing a treasure. The Han family's fiefdom was so crucial, and they had no strength to protect it. This was the inevitable outcome.
"Such treacherous officials will not have a good end."
Han Cheng hesitated for a moment and said in a hurry: "Immediately withdraw all the troops confronting the Chu people, and also withdraw the soldiers who are plundering the royal capital.
Prepare a great gift. I will contact Zhao to stop the armies of Qin and Wei."
The retainer asked in surprise, "Master, aren't you going to inform the monarch?"
Han Cheng sighed and said, "The betrayal of the Wei family is putting the Han and Zhao families on the same fire.
The royal family is already alienated from the Qing clan and will not trust us. Let's wait for the Wei family to take ruthless action against the royal family before demonstrating the Han family's loyalty."
"Master, what if Wei Shi didn't take ruthless action against the public office?"
Han Cheng glared at him fiercely, "He didn't do it? The king died suddenly, and it wasn't Wei Qing, the traitor, who did it, so could it be me, a loyal minister of Jin?"
Even though it has come to this, Han Cheng was still able to set a trap for the royal family and the Wei family. He really deserves to be the prime minister of Jin State with full skills in internal fighting.
The Han and Zhao clans were neighbors, so Han Cheng soon met Zhao Yong, the head of the Zhao clan. Among the three nobles of Jin State, the Wei and Zhao clans were the strongest, and the Han clan was the weakest.
Han Cheng explained the current situation to him, and specifically pointed out that Wei Qing had now completely colluded with the State of Qin and no one knew how much benefit he had gained.
Zhao Yong's reaction was almost exactly the same as Han Cheng's. He cursed Wei Qing harshly. This was both his true thoughts and his attitude of forming an alliance with Han Cheng.
The two looked at each other and instantly understood what the other wanted to do.
Han Cheng pondered and said, "I have not found out what benefits Qin gave to Wei, but Qin promised to support Wei's transformation from a family to a country, which was one of the main reasons why Wei Qing betrayed.
Our two families cannot obtain any benefits from the Qin State, but the Wei family wants to turn the family into a country, which is a good idea.
After the Wei family's betrayal, our two families united and controlled most of the State of Jin.
Now the royal family and Luo State need to rely on us, and Luo State will definitely accept it with a pinch of our nose. Getting Luo State’s endorsement is the true way to transform a family into a country.
Wei Qing had planned so much, but he couldn't even see this point clearly. How ridiculous."
Han Cheng and Zhao Yong both knew very well that even if they were traitors, they had to follow the principle of first come first served.
If you come late, you will not be a traitor, but a traitor's younger brother.
Faced with a life-and-death crisis, why didn't the Han family surrender to the Qin or Chu states?
It's a very simple truth. The Han family was not as good as the Wei family when Jin was not divided. The Han family was still not as good as the Wei family when Jin was divided. Then, wasn't the division of Jin in vain?
Han Cheng certainly didn't want to, so he would not join the Qin and Chu camps, but would join the Luo camp and bring the Zhao family along.
He was indeed smart. He knew that Luo and Qi had been waiting for the Jin army, so he would definitely accept the surrender of Han and Zhao.
The Zhao family quickly reached a consensus with the Han family. Since the Wei family is unkind, don't blame our two families for messing with you. The fiefs of the Han and Zhao families just happen to be connected in a line.
Didn't Qin and Wei want to pass through Han's land and then raid Xinzheng City through the valleys and alleys of the royal capital?
dream!
When the armies of Qin and Wei wanted to besiege Han, they found that Han had no intention of fighting with them at all. They even didn't want to give up their hometown and retreated directly to the royal capital with their troops.
Judging from the route of the march, they were planning to go north from the capital to join the Zhao family. Wei Qing was a little anxious, "They actually let the Han family run away. What should we do now?
The strength of the Zhao family should not be underestimated. Together with the Han family, it will be no problem for them to mobilize an army of more than 200,000. The Han family has many skilled craftsmen with strong bows and crossbows. When the two are combined, they are not an easy opponent.
If they unite with the royal family and the minor nobles in Jin, it will be an army of more than 300,000. By then, you, Qin Bo, will probably have to return to the west of Yaohan again."
Wei Qing was still not as smart as Han Cheng. Even in this situation, Han knew that he could not go to the United Office, but he could not see it.
Qin Bo hesitated for a moment and said, "Wei Qing, why not go all out?
If we create a great chaos in Yicheng, maybe Duke Jin will die in the chaos?"
Wei Qing hesitated and said, "Death? Duke Jin has many guards around him."
Qin Bo sighed and said, "How arrogant are these traitors?
It is obvious that the Zhao and Han families are wicked people. They are so powerful in Yicheng that perhaps they will directly attack and kill the Duke of Jin?
Wei Qing, perhaps you should lead the army to Yicheng to protect Duke Jin from harm."
With the collapse of rituals and music, there were too many cases of regicide in various countries, so the methods used by ministers to kill kings became more and more diverse.
From the blatant regicide at the beginning to various accidental deaths, the previous Qi Hou Lu Jing exterminated the nobles, which eventually led to the unclear deaths of several kings. The history books didn't know who to record as the regicide.
The murder of the Duke of Jin would cause the entire state of Jin to explode completely. Not only the three major noble families, but also the other officials and scholars loyal to the royal family would be thrown into chaos in an instant.
This is very important for Qin and Wei. It can disperse Jin's attack on Wei, weaken the speed of Han and Zhao's integration, and allow Qin and Wei to quickly pass through Han's fiefdom and complete the encirclement of Luo with Chu's army more quickly.
While Yicheng had not yet discovered that Wei had let the Qin army enter the pass, Wei Qing began to send people to Yicheng to stage a coup.
At the same time, the Han and Zhao families started to make trouble in Yicheng at the same time, preparing to put the blame on the Wei family.
At the same time, the Qin and Wei armies pursued the Han family, and eventually began to confront the armies of the Han and Zhao clans in the northwest of the royal capital.
The strength of Jin's army was known to the world. In the era of respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, Jin once had the reputation of ensuring the safety of most of the countries in the world due to the army of Jin. However, when it appeared before the other countries again, it was a civil war within Jin. This has to be said to be a very black humor.
Wei Qing knew what Han Zhao was thinking, and Han Zhao also knew what Wei Qing was thinking, so both sides didn't waste any words and directly arranged their arrangements according to the direction of the mountains.
At the same time, in Yicheng, the chaos caused by the three largest noble families soon spread to the whole city. The remaining strength of the royal family was actually able to avoid this chaos. After all, the armies of the three largest noble families were confronting each other in the south of Jin.
But no one would have thought that the three major noble families in the country would suddenly turn against each other at the same time and want to put the Duke of Jin to death, or to eliminate the entire royal family of Jin.
In order to disrupt the State of Jin, the Wei family, in order to get the reputation of being the culprit for the rebellion and then sell the Wei family for a good price, went to the emperor and the State of Luo to ask for credit and reward.
While Han Cheng and Zhao Yong were doing all this, they sent messengers to inform Luo Hou of the Wei family's betrayal and the Qin army's entry into the pass with two or three hundred thousand men and horses.
Wei also sent a detachment to Yicheng, which might harm the Duke of Jin. Jin would surely be in chaos, and the royal family now has no ability to support the coalition forces on the battlefield in Zheng.
Now the Han and Zhao families are confronting the Qin and Wei families in the west and north of the royal capital. The Qin people are powerful, and Han and Zhao are also unable to support Zheng on the battlefield.
The situation west of the royal capital was exaggerated in just a few words, and the importance of the Han and Zhao families was clearly evident on the paper.
(End of this chapter)
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