Chapter 194: Four Seas One
Chu State, Xinying.
In the past, Bai Qi flooded Yan, and millions of Chu soldiers, common people, and slaves were killed. The Chu army was defeated in the battle of Hanyang, and the royal family fled eastward in panic, escaped to Jiangdong and Jianghuai, and established Xinying.
The King of Qin swung his sword and destroyed the six kingdoms. The Marquis of Luo was killed, the King of Qi died, and the four kings were captured. He looked at the world with a covetous eye.
Now it is Chu's turn.
King Chu asked the ministers in the hall, trembling, "My dear ministers, who has the confidence to stop the Qin army?"
In the palace of the King of Chu, these ministers who held hereditary noble titles looked at each other without saying a word.
When it comes to fighting for power and plotting schemes, these people are all good at it, but when it comes to governing the country and leading troops to fight, they are no match for them.
But we can't just sit there and wait for death, or just surrender like those shameless nobles in Qi, right?
Now this group of Chu ministers in Xinying City, no matter which faction they belong to, have a deep hatred for the Qin State.
Who doesn’t have an elder who died in the disaster of the past? Who would dare to mention the word surrender?
Seeing that no one spoke, King Chu Cheng could only look at the person who had remained silent with his eyes closed in the hall.
The supreme general of Chu State, Xiang Yan!
He was born into the Xiang family of the Chu State and was a noble family of the Chu State who served as ministers for generations.
Moreover, he is the only noble among the Chu State who has experience in war. The rest have never even been on the battlefield.
Chu Wangcheng asked hesitantly, "Xiang Qing, are you willing to lead your troops to fight against the Qin army?"
Xiang Yan's eyes, which had been closed, opened slightly, and a sharp edge flashed across them.
Before he could say anything, several voices suddenly rang out in the hall.
“No!”
"Your Majesty, absolutely not!"
Starting from Ling Yin, several great nobles were opposed to Xiang Yan going to war.
Xiang Yan had a sneer on his face, he knew this would be the outcome.
How could these Chu nobles dare to let him lead the Chu army?
The last time Xiang led the Chu army was during the reign of Duke Wu of Luo.
As a result, he went straight back to the capital, controlled the King of Chu and a group of great nobles, and successfully seized power.
With the lessons learned from the previous incident, no matter how stupid these nobles were, they knew that they could not let Xiang lead the troops.
A real man cannot live without power for a day!
No matter how great the threat posed by the Qin army is, it is still far away, while the threat from the Xiang family is right in front of us.
The failure of the State of Chu was indeed tragic, but the success of the Xiang family was even more unacceptable.
The great nobles of Chu State knew very well what was more important.
Perhaps it was because of the threat of death that the usually cowardly King of Chu gained a little courage today.
He forced himself to ask loudly: "My dear ministers.
Is the thousand-year-old Chu State going to perish under the iron hoof of Qin?
My dear ministers, you have vast fiefs in the State of Chu, countless slaves, and hereditary titles as high ministers.
The houses on the mound stretch for miles and are more magnificent than my palace.
It is because of the existence of the State of Chu that you all have become rich and powerful.
Now you nobles are unwilling to resist Qin.
When the Qin conquers the Chu State, we will all be their captives.
You will be very lucky to be alive by then.
I am the King of Chu. Perhaps with the help of my ancestors, I can get a city as my fiefdom like the four kings of Zhao, Wei, Han and Yan.
Do you still want to retain your wealth and honor?"
What the King of Chu said was sincere and very correct.
But if the nobles of the six countries had made the right decision, they would not have become prisoners of Qin so quickly.
The six countries, from the kings to the nobles, were all corrupt because of greed and short-sightedness.
Made one extremely stupid and puzzling decision after another.
Eventually the entire country was doomed.
After much deliberation, these nobles decided that they must resist the Qin army's attack, but they could not hand over the army to Xiang Yan's command.
The governor of Chu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is not that we are unwilling to resist the Qin army, but it is because Xiang once threatened Your Majesty. This is such a heinous crime.
Now I can still stay in the State of Chu and serve as a senior minister, which is already a grace from the king.
How can we let him lead the army again?
I am willing to lead the Chu army to fight and make sure the Qin army never returns!"
Chu Wangcheng had a very strange expression on his face. He really wanted to ask Ling Yin if he was serious.
Someone who has never been to the army in his life is actually going to face Wang Jian, a famous general in the world. Isn't this deliberately asking for his death?
The key point is that others are offering other people's heads, but this is the first time I've seen someone so eager to offer his own head.
But things had come to this point, and King Chu could only hope that among Ling Yin's retainers there was someone proficient in military strategy who could help him defeat the Qin army.
Xiang Yan had been watching coldly, and when everything was settled, he stood up and said leisurely, "Your Majesty, the Xiang family will not participate in the expedition."
One stone can cause a thousand ripples.
Everyone glared at Xiang Yan, you bastard Xiang.
After being a loyal minister for so many years, I never expected that it would come to the final critical moment.
You actually betrayed me!
I never thought that this day would come to you, Xiang!
Chu Wangcheng asked in a heavy tone: "Xiang Qing, why do you say such a thing?
This is a matter of life and death for the Chu State. If you don't send troops, are you going to humiliate the reputation of our ancestors?"
Xiang Yan smiled and said loudly: "Your Majesty, look at all these ministers in the palace, they are just sitting there doing nothing.
If you want to rely on these people to maintain the country of Chu, it would be better to imagine that your ancestor Xiong Dun will be resurrected and lead the Chu State to defeat the tyrannical Qin.
How can we govern the country well and win the war with these insects?
With their strength, they would probably be defeated and surrender as soon as they arrived on the battlefield.
Isn't it the most foolish thing for me to hand over the children of the Xiang family into their hands?
I am willing to lead the descendants of the Xiang family and the private soldiers of the clan to resist the State of Qin alone.
Even if you lose, you will die!"
Seeing that the State of Chu was about to be destroyed, Xiang Yan's words were truly wantonly and passionate, completely venting out the depression that Xiang had been holding on to for a long time.
"Xiang Yan, you are so rebellious!"
"Xiang Yan, how dare you mock His Majesty!"
"Xiang Yan, you dare to humiliate me like this, I will fight you to the death!"
With just these bunch of weaklings in the palace, how dare anyone dare to provoke his tiger's whiskers?
Xiang Yanhu glared at him, and the noble who was ready to die instantly became timid and dared not say a word.
"snort!
With such courage, I await the news of your defeat."
After saying this, he walked out of the palace leisurely in the gazes of everyone. Seeing his extremely arrogant look, the nobles wanted to kill Xiang Yan directly in the hall.
Xiang Yan was certainly not talking casually. After he returned from Xinying to the Xiang family's fiefdom in Jiangdong, in addition to his family's young men and several thousand private soldiers from his clan, he also mobilized tens of thousands of peasant soldiers.
"If we win this battle, the Chu State can survive for a few more years. If we lose, the country will collapse immediately. There is nothing to say."
Although Xiang Yan was not the clan leader, he was the highest-ranking official in the Xiang clan and had great prestige among the Xiang clan's children. The Xiang clan's children all said, "We have nothing to lose, and we are willing to fight to the death with our patriarch!"
Looking at the Xiang family members who enthusiastically participated in the war, Xiang Yan was very pleased and asked everyone to return home to take care of the funeral.
His grandson Xiang Ji came running to him and asked, "Grandfather, are you going to fight against the Qin people? Although I am young, I am brave and can fight with you."
Although Xiang Ji was only ten years old, he was born different from ordinary people and had natural supernatural powers, which made Xiang Yan like him very much.
Xiang Yan smiled and said, "Ji'er is still young, don't worry.
You are the Lord of Arms sent by God, and you have a bright future.
If my grandfather died on the battlefield, he would not be able to come back.
When you grow up, you must overthrow the tyrannical Qin, restore the Chu Kingdom, and avenge us!"
Xiang Ji said with tears in his eyes: "Grandfather, I will definitely avenge you. I will kill all the Qin royal family members and let them be buried with you."
Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this, thinking it was just a joke made by a child.
How powerful was the Qin State?
King Zheng of Qin was about to become the Son of Heaven, ruling over millions of subjects and thousands of miles of land.
Xiang Ji, when the State of Chu is destroyed, he will be a nobleman of a fallen country who will be hunted down by the State of Qin, and by then he will be even worse than an ordinary commoner.
How is it possible to overthrow the rule of Qin?
Xiang Yan took his eldest son and hundreds of Xiang family members who had settled their families to fight against the Qin army.
As soon as we left Jiangdong, we heard that the 200,000-strong army of Chu had actually won a small victory.
Wang Jian retreated thirty miles and held his ground. The Chu army took advantage of the victory and launched a full-scale pursuit to annihilate Wang Jian's 100,000-strong army.
Xiang Yan was not happy at all when he heard this. He said to his attendants, "Wang Jian is a famous general in the world. He is unrivaled in the world. He must be faking his defeat. If the Chu army pursues him rashly, they will probably be defeated by the Qin army."
As expected, the reckless Chu army was ambushed by Wang Jian and suffered heavy losses. Xinying City was captured in one battle and the King of Chu was captured.
Wang Jian issued an edict in the name of the King of Chu to the territory of Chu, demanding the surrender of all cities.
After Xiang Yan received it, he threw it on the ground, split it in half and said, "This is a false order, I cannot obey it.
The State of Chu has not yet perished, and Lord Xincheng has always been known for his virtue. If I can make Lord Xincheng king and gather those desperate soldiers, I can still fight."
Although Wang Jian conquered the city of Xinying, there were still some princes who were granted the title of lord outside, and Lord Xincheng was one of them.
Lord Xincheng soon made peace with Xiang Yan and ascended the throne as king with the support of an army of one hundred thousand.
When Wang Jian heard that Xincheng Jun was king, he immediately led his troops to attack. Xiang Yan led the Chu troops to defend. The two sides fought fiercely for a month. Xiang Yan's city was broken and he retreated to the city beside the river.
Wanting to rely on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to resist the Qin army, Wang Jian was not in a hurry to attack, but first cut off Xiang Yan's food supply routes.
Then ships were dispatched from all over Wu. After several months of preparation, the Qin army launched an attack in full force.
Xiang Yan was also a famous general, but whether it was Wang Jian's personal strength or the strength of the Qin State, they were completely beyond the ability of the current Chu State to stop them.
He defended the city for half a year, and after using up the last of the food in the city, he was eventually captured by Wang Jian.
At this point, the last resistance force of the Chu State was slaughtered.
The State of Chu was completely destroyed!
————
With the demise of the Chu State, a unified, centralized, and autocratic monarchy was established on the land of the Xia. This was a huge institutional innovation. The political system based on the Qin system took root in the land of the Xia. - The Destruction of the Nations
That’s it. A backward slave state like the State of Chu should just be destroyed without wasting any more words on it.
(End of this chapter)
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