Chapter 104: Reinforcements in the War [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Exclusive Release·Can’t Keep Stable]…
Coincidentally, the uncle and nephew of the Xiang family also had great ambitions like Zhang Liang, but were imprisoned and could only wait day and night for the arrival of the royal family.
[bother! ]
[So annoying!]
At the passionate age of thirteen or fourteen, the young Xiang Ji's love and anticipation for a free life every day cannot be described in words.
If it was in the past when I was in Chu, it would be the early summer of April, when everything was green and the temperature was getting hotter.
Xiang Ji had already taken off his clothes and dived into the river with a "splash", happily touching shrimps, catching fish and swimming. But now he and his uncle had to become caged birds with bound wings, imprisoned in this prison from morning to night. The space they could move in was limited to this small space, and they could not turn around if they moved their bodies a little.
Endless waiting, limited space for activities, these uncomfortable external living environments forced the rebellious young man to be unable to control the strong irritation rising from the depths of his heart. This irritation was like feathers tickling the soles of one's feet. It could not tickle one to death, but it could torture one to death.
Especially as the temperature rose, the anger in his body became more and more intense. Xiang Ji felt that he was about to be driven crazy. Even with his uncle's constant advice, he could not bear it after all.
It was an ordinary, bright, sunny morning in late April.
Outside the numerous cells, there was a crisp sound of copper locks and iron chains colliding. It was time for the jailers to deliver breakfast.
Xiang Ji, who was lying on his side on a pile of straw with his uncle, staring blankly at the small window in the stone wall above his head, suddenly perked up and ran to the cell door. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were bloodshot, and he gripped the wooden bars tightly with both hands. He shouted angrily at the jailers who were coming in with food buckets:
"How long are you Qin people going to keep us, uncle and nephew, locked up?!"
"Isn't it said that Qin law clearly distinguishes rewards and punishments? It's been several months now, and even the most complicated issues have been investigated thoroughly, right?!"
"My uncle and I came from Chu to visit a friend in Xianyang! We are clearly not the assassins who planned to assassinate Qin Shi Huang! Yet, you soldiers have detained us in this prison for months without explanation! I've had enough of this! If you want to kill me or chop me up, just tell me now! If you keep keeping me locked up here like a caged eagle, I will tear this prison apart sooner or later!"
Xiang Liang, who had just run to the cell door, suddenly heard his nephew's huge roar, like a trapped beast, which rang out from inside to outside. His heart instantly rose to his throat. He hurriedly grabbed his nephew's arm with one hand and touched the wooden railing with the other, looking nervously at the black-clad jailer who was walking to the cell door.
Unlike his nephew who disliked reading, Xiang Liang, who was well-versed in Qin laws, knew what the uncle and nephew were responsible for. Although they did not assassinate Qin Shi Huang in the western suburbs, and did not do anything evil in public after coming to Xianyang, whether it was the bag of forged certificates and biographies, or staying in the homes of anti-Qin people in the middle of the night, if these two things were really taken into account, let alone imprisonment, they would even be sentenced to having words tattooed on their faces, treated as prisoners, and sent to build the Great Wall!
Therefore, he had not dared to say a word during the months in prison. He just wanted to quickly drag his mischievous nephew back to the wall and put an end to the situation.
When the other prisoners in the cell heard the roar of the young man from Chu, they all rushed to the prison door, grabbed the wooden railings with both hands, and stared at the two Chu people through the gaps, wanting to see how the jailers would deal with him.
Zhang Liang, who lived in the last cell, also listened attentively.
The atmosphere in the prison was tense for a moment, and everyone couldn't help but think to themselves, "Alas, this young man from Chu is still too young, impatient and impatient. You know, the ruthless Qin people are very cruel! Now that the young man from the Xiang family is yelling so loudly, I'm afraid these jailers will drag him out and beat him up right away."
Even Xiang Liang thought so.
However, the facts surprised everyone——
The black-clad jailers standing outside the cell just held the food buckets in their hands, and watched silently through the gap in the wooden bars with expressionless faces as the young man with double pupils was clinging to the bars and yelling and screaming at them like crazy. After several jailers cooperated to prepare the meals, they threw two portions of food to the uncle and nephew inside through the bars, and then carried the food buckets to the next cell to distribute the meals.
That's it! That's it again!
The prisoners who were watching saw that even though these black-clad jailers were facing the crazy jumping of the young man with double pupils, they all kept their faces as cold as if they were dumb. They just treated these anti-Qin remnants as invisible people. No matter how they asked questions, they all ignored them tacitly. They delivered two meals a day and left quickly.
Xiang Ji, clinging to the wooden railings, stared at the jailers who were moving further and further away from him with his eyes wide open. His nostrils were about to spit fire with anger. He slammed the cell door with his two big hands, not fearing the pain, and shouted at the jailers who were walking away step by step:
"Come back! Come back here!"
"You tyrant's lackeys! Are you deaf?! Can't you hear me scolding you? Do you want me to tell your master a message?!"
"Hey! Come back! Come back quickly! Isn't it up to you tyrants to kill or chop us up with just a word? Why do you have to keep us like livestock in this tiny place and humiliate us for nothing?!"
"say!!!"
The jailers actively practiced the two new methods of punishment taught to them by the emperor's eldest grandson:
One of the mental tortures: cold violence.
The second mental torture: poor sleep.
The young man with double pupils, who was ignorant of the situation and had no idea what was going on, only knew that his already irritable state hadn't calmed down at all after seeing those abominable black-clad jailers treating him like air and watching his madness with indifference. Instead of cooling down, his anger had only intensified! When he thought of the gongs and drums that rang out outside the prison all night, his eyes became even redder, and his expression became even more frustrated!
Another series of crisp clanging sounds came from the front. Xiang Liang, who had watched his nephew's madness with trepidation, heard the noise and realized that the jailers had left after distributing the food. He hurriedly grabbed his nephew's wrist and pulled him back. His eyes were dark, his face was haggard, and he whispered in a worried tone:
"Ji, I know you can't stand this hardship, but we are in a weak position right now. Don't be impulsive. Since these Qin people can spare our lives, they must have a backup plan. Please stop making trouble, sit down and eat, and take this time to close your eyes and rest for a while."
Xiang Ji, forcibly dragged by his uncle, his shoulders pressed, and pressed against a pile of straw, was so angry that his face flushed red. He gasped for breath, his eyes dark. With his temperament, he would rather die a glorious death than be bound like a captive eagle, locked in this tiny place, eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating here! He couldn't even get a good night's sleep! This was simply mental torture!
The anti-Qin elements in the other cells felt the same way. Seeing that the uncle and nephew of the Xiang family had quieted down, they had haggard faces and could only pick up the water bags and wheat food wrapped in lotus leaves thrown in by the jailers. There was deep anxiety and impatience in their eyes. They could not guess when the sword hanging over their heads would fall, nor could they imagine how the Qin people would punish them in the future.
This kind of practice of not being able to live well, not being able to die, and not even allowing people to get a full night's sleep is really too torturous!
In the last cell.
Zhang Liang, who was sitting alone on a pile of straw, was not in a very good mental state, and his dark circles under his eyes were particularly noticeable.
He did not choose to eat the steamed buns he was given, but leaned against the wall behind him, frowning and looking down at the rows of "正" characters neatly arranged by him with short wheat straw at the foot of the wall.
From the depths of winter to early summer, he has been keeping track of the days since he was imprisoned. As of today, he has been imprisoned in this prison for a total of 116 days.
During this period, he was not beaten by the jailers, but no one took him out of the prison for interrogation. Apart from not having freedom and not being allowed to sleep well, he was also not deprived of two meals a day.
Zhang Liang leaned against the stone wall with his eyes closed, his face pale. He stroked the newly broken short straw in his hand with his slender fingers, pursed his lips and pondered the situation outside the prison.
Since Qin Ying could shout those strange and meaningful words to him in front of Li Si and Zhang Han in the snow-covered courtyard that day, it was obvious that she wanted to use him for her own benefit. But why has the little baby been silent for the past six months?
From winter to spring and then to summer, the short and stout little grandson of the emperor not only did not come to see him again, he didn't even send anyone to interrogate him!
Was the baby deliberately keeping him in suspense? Or was everything he said in the courtyard that day just the baby's nonsense? Children's minds are unpredictable, asking for stars one day and the moon the next. Perhaps, once the adults coax them into playing with something new, they'll forget about him as a living being after a while!
Well... Of course, we can't ignore the possibility that if Ying Zheng heard the vicious words his grandson shouted at him in the courtyard in the palace, he would be furious and not allow Qin Ying to get close to him, the leader of the rebellion.
call--
After losing his freedom and his job, Zhang Liang, who had spent the whole day in prison eating and sleeping with no one to communicate with, was so bored that he almost became a mushroom. The only thing he could do was to think about all kinds of random things in his brain, which was dull from long-term lack of sleep.
He opened his eyes and once again lowered his gaze to stare at the lines of "正" characters below. Guess after guess popped up in his mind, and the short straw in his hand spun faster and faster. His mood early in the morning became very bad.
Qin Ying, who wanted to be a "crane trainer" and "Ying Wusong", naturally did not forget "Zhang Lenghe" and "Xiang Manghu" who were locked in prison.
The first step in the taming plan carefully designed by the little fat boy is to keep the two of them at a distance.
While the "crane" and the "tiger" were drying out, the little fat boy Ying was not idle either. He shuttled between the eldest prince's mansion and Zhangtai Palace all day long, busy with eating, reading, drawing lots, and growing up.
As time went by, the temperature in the imperial capital became higher and higher.
The little guy changed from a warm hat to a cool hat, and the fancy clothes he wore became thinner and thinner. By the time summer came in Xianyang, the two-and-a-half-year-old An Guojun had grown a head taller as expected, but his white and smooth little face was still as round as before. He ate everything with relish all day long, drinking goat's milk, milk powder, and even got some fresh camel's milk from his grandfather's royal beast garden for himself and his mother as a tonic. Both mother and daughter had rosy cheeks, without any signs of the bitter summer.
This day at the end of April happened to be the time when the First Emperor summoned several important officials to the palace to discuss the war against the Baiyue.
In the afternoon of the afternoon in summer, the shadows of trees are swaying outside the glass window, and people and things all reveal a lazy feeling.
Wearing a black silk robe, Qin Shi Huang knelt beside the large lacquer table in Zhangtai Palace and read the latest battle report sent from the Baiyue land. He then asked the palace servants to pass the battle report to Li Si, Wang Ben, Wei Liao and Zhang Han below.
The two-and-a-half-year-old chubby Ying sat next to his grandfather, resting his furry little head on his arm, yawning from time to time, and listening to the conversation between his grandfather and several important officials below with his long eyelashes drooping.
Under the inspiration of his butterfly wings, last year Tu Sui and Zhao Tuo, following the orders of their great-grandfather, led 110,000 old and new Qin troops to successfully arrive at the land of Baiyue. In this life, the Qin army's first attack on Baiyue was only one-fifth of the strength recorded in history books. Tu Sui, the commander, also changed his strategy against Yue. Because the force was not that large, he did not divide the troops into five groups and march towards the Wuling Mountains together as in his previous life. Instead, he concentrated his forces to cut in from the border of Chu, and defeated them one by one in the directions of Ou, Min, Nan, Xi, and Luo. From east to west, with the help of the powerful power of explosive packs, he cut through mountains and forests, and pushed forward with a loud bang.
The army relied on drinking hot water all day and taking a small detoxification pill every three days to avoid contracting the terrible disease of vomiting and diarrhea in the terrible miasma environment of Baiyue, and thus was able to display the powerful combat power of the Qin army on the battlefield.
Since the two armies went to war, the Qin army's offensive momentum has been very rapid. In just half a year, it has successfully captured Ouyue, Minyue and Nanyue. However, when the army was resisting the war zone of Xiou, the fierce offensive momentum was forced into a stalemate.
It turns out to be——
Seeing that the situation was not good, Xiou Jun Yixusong, as the leader of the Xiou Yue people, not only actively gathered the scattered Yue people in Ou, Min and Nan who were defeated by the Qin army, but also summoned the Yue people from other tribes and small city-states who did not participate in the war, and united all the Yue people to carry out an active anti-Qin movement.
When the Yue people saw the terrifying power of the explosive packs on the battlefield for the first time, they mistakenly thought that these things were divine thunders of punishment controlled by the Qin people, and they ran around in fear.
However, after seeing the fire of the explosive pack and having a certain understanding of the Qin army's tactics, Xiou Jun would never believe that this terrible thing that would create a big hole with one explosion would be a "heavenly punishment". Instead, he thought it was a new battlefield killing weapon made by the Qin people's Mohist scholars. He then summoned the panicked Yue people to appease them and formed a strict anti-Qin organization to serve as the Xiou United Army.
It has to be said that this Yue man from Xiou was quite smart. The Yue people, who had been governed separately and were a loose group and were hunted down by Tu Sui, had united together. Although the weapons in their hands were not as sharp as those of the Qin army, they relied on their familiarity with the terrain and gave up fighting the Qin army head-on. Instead, they hid in the mountains and forests and fought guerrilla warfare against the Qin army.
As soon as the Qin army came to attack, the Xiou army ran away in the mountains and dense forests in an instant like nimble wild monkeys. But when the Qin army began to rest in the increasingly hot and humid weather, these Xiou army lurking everywhere sneaked out of the mountains and forests again, shooting poisonous arrows, luring poisonous snakes, and even throwing poisonous insects!
While the detoxifying pills could eliminate miasma, they couldn't cure all poisons. The Baiyue's poisons were simply countless, many of which were not even found in the lands of the Seven Heroes. The enemy's annoying rat-like behavior disgusted the attacking general! Tu Sui's temperament was not as calm and reserved as Zhao Tuo's. The two of them, one upright and the other a counter-acting, one yang and the other yin.
Tu Sui himself is a fearless and fierce assault-type general. As a staunch supporter of the Emperor's external expansion, he has relied on the dual power of antidote pills and explosive packs since he led his troops to the war. Without the threat of miasma, he also has a sharp weapon for opening mountains. For half a year, the war against Yue has been very smooth. However, when he encountered difficulties in Xiou, his character flaws were exposed.
During the stalemate phase of the war, Tu Sui, the main general, could not calm down because he was impatient with the secret provocations of the Xiou army. After many disturbances, Tu Sui became irritated and ignored the guerrilla tactics of the Yue people who penetrated mountains and forests. During one attack, he underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. Not only was he nearly shot to death on the spot by the poisonous arrows of the Xiou people during the night attack, but even his food supply route was cut off from behind by the Xiou army!
This is trouble!
With no other options, Tu Sui could only send people to break through the siege and return to Xianyang to apologize to the emperor, while staying where he was and waiting for the arrival of reinforcements and food. The only thing to be thankful for was that the supplies in the land of Baiyue were very abundant in summer. Even if the army's food supply was cut off, the Qin army who had memorized the "Wild Vegetable Atlas" of the Shaofu would not starve to death for a while.
When the First Emperor saw the situation in the battle report, he only frowned slightly, but he was not very angry in his heart. After all, he knew Tu Sui's temperament before deciding to use him. Later, when the army left the country, he learned from his grandson that compared with the 500,000 troops mobilized in the first attack on Baiyue in his previous life, the casualties in this life's attack on Baiyue were very small.
The overall situation of the war was improving, and the established battle situation would eventually lead to victory. Although the emperor encountered setbacks temporarily, he was still very calm after knowing the outcome in advance. He was even somewhat relieved in his heart that under the protection of the Xuanniao, Tu Sui did not die accidentally from the poisonous arrows of the Xiou people in the night attack.
Li Si, Wang Ben, Wei Liao and Zhang Han, who were kneeling on the seats below, had no idea of the future. The four of them were telling each other about the situation after reading the battle report. They were a little worried and anxious, but after seeing the calm appearance of His Majesty and the Emperor's eldest grandson, the four of them slowly calmed down.
The court judge, who understood the emperor's thoughts best, guessed that His Majesty had something in mind, so he looked at the First Emperor above and bowed and sighed:
"Your Majesty is truly as foresighted as ever! Last year, before the war against Yue, Your Majesty strongly advocated in the court the plan to order Shi Lu to dig a canal in the south and build the Lingqu Canal! Now our army is trapped in Xiou, and the situation is exactly as Your Majesty said that day. The Lingqu Canal is the most crucial factor in determining the outcome of the war in Baiyue. If this canal is not completed, our army's food and fodder transportation route will be easily cut off by the Yue people! When the Lingqu Canal is completed, the land of Baiyue will be completely annexed by Qin!"
Listening to Old Li's opportune moment of flattering his father, Qin Ying couldn't help but glance sideways at the old man. If it weren't for his genuine talent and ability, his colleagues would have looked at him sideways and said, "Get rid of him!" What a traitor who relied on his words to gain power and seduce the emperor!
Taiwei Liao, who usually did not follow the "flattering" route of the court judge, but relied on "arguing" in the early days to make His Majesty "love him so much" that he was willing to "rob and plunder" to keep him in Xianyang, ignored Li Si's words beside him and frowned directly at His Majesty the Emperor above him and said:
"Your Majesty, our army's food supply has been cut off. This won't cause major chaos at first, but over time, coupled with the rising temperature, it will definitely cause losses to the army. In my opinion, why don't you quickly send more troops from Xiangdi and divide them into three groups? Two of the groups can cross Qitianling and Yuechengling to enter the Xiou border and the rear of Nanyue to support our army. The remaining group will be incorporated into the team repairing the Lingqu Canal to speed up its expansion. We can help the soldiers open the waterway connecting the Xiangjiang River and the Lijiang River as soon as possible, speeding up the transportation of food and fodder."
"Our army is now full of momentum. The attack on Yue has reached the final stage. We must not turn back easily! It is better to invest more troops and have the army pursue the Yue people fiercely. After taking down the remaining Xiou and Luoyue in one fell swoop, we can discuss other matters later."
Hearing Wei Liao's very practical proposal, the First Emperor's eyes flashed with approval and nodded:
"What the Grand Commandant said coincides with what I said. Attacks and battles are like a whirlwind. The second is weaker, and the third is exhausted. The fact that the Yue people don't dare to engage our army head-on is a clear sign that they can't hold on. I plan to send another 300,000 troops to quickly support Tu Sui and Shi Lu on the battlefield. I hope that once the reinforcements and provisions arrive, and the construction of the Lingqu Canal is accelerated, our army can quickly escape this predicament and help me capture the remaining two pieces of Yue territory in one fell swoop!"
Upon hearing His Majesty's decisive decision without any hesitation, Wei Liao was very pleased and hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Wang Ben and Zhang Han, who were accompanying him, saw that the emperor had made up his mind and did not say anything more. After all, if they were to think about it, the result would probably not be much different from the Taiwei's proposal.
Qin Ying, who listened to the entire process, thought about what his grandfather said. Combining the power of gunpowder, he estimated that after the 300,000 reinforcements arrived near Xiou, with the help of gunpowder and doubled manpower, the speed of digging the Lingqu Canal would be greatly accelerated. Perhaps by the end of this winter at the earliest, or the spring of next year at the latest, the Lingqu Canal with a total length of more than 30 kilometers could be fully completed. If all goes well, perhaps by the 30th year of Qin Shihuang's reign, the Qin Dynasty would be able to completely annex the land of Baiyue. By then, he might be five years old?
The sun gradually began to set in the west. As soon as the small meeting between the emperor and his ministers ended, the army began to deploy troops and generals in accordance with the emperor's orders.
At the beginning of May, the First Emperor sent Ren Xiong to lead 300,000 Qin troops to reinforce the Baiyue area.
After arriving at his destination, Ren Xiong left behind 100,000 troops for the Imperial Censor Lu to dispatch in order to speed up the construction of the Lingqu Canal. He then took the remaining 200,000 troops and food supplies to rush to Nanyue to meet up with Tu Sui and Zhao Tuo.
In late May, the war among the Baiyue, which had been revitalized by reinforcements and food supplies, became fierce again. The leader of the Xiou army, Yi Xusong, was killed in battle, and his deputy commander Jie Jun quickly took over. He led the remnants of the Baiyue army to retreat to the mountains and forests, and continued to fight guerrilla warfare to harass the progress of the Qin army's construction of the Lingqu Canal. They were no longer willing to fight the Qin army openly. Looking around, they saw that the agile enemies were hiding in the dense forests in the mountains and could not be seen. How could they fight?
This caused the Qin army, which had just achieved a partial victory in the Xiou area by killing Yi Yusong, to be once again helplessly deadlocked with the cunning Yue people due to the increasingly hot and humid temperature around them.
Letters of battle reports were sent over mountains and across rivers to Xianyang, and the emperor and his ministers far away in the imperial capital had to admit that in this expedition to attack the Baiyue, both sides were destined to fight a protracted war, gradually forcing their way to victory.
The First Emperor was very able to keep his composure.
Ying, the little fat boy, is also very good at keeping calm.
However, "Leng He" and "Mang Hu", who had been "left out" in prison for a whole long summer by the emperor's eldest grandson, were no longer able to maintain their stability.
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