Chapter 1143: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Thirty-Three)

For the Qin State, it would certainly be the best outcome if the Chu State could annihilate all the surrounded Han New Army. In this case, the Han State would inevitably deploy troops from other places to make up for the gap. Wherever the troops are mobilized, the benefits are all from the Qin people. You must know that the main force of the Han Dynasty is actually deployed in front of the Qin people. Xu Yuan's Beiye, Ye Zhen's Central Field Army Group, He Lanxiong's Eastern Field Army Group, these Among them were also an independent Xiongnu cavalry division from Guli and an independent Donghu cavalry division from Aguhuaien. Hundreds of thousands of troops were pressing on Qin's border. The pressure on the Qin people was obvious.

It's a pity that no one is a fool, and King Huai of Chu may be a little stupid, but Huang Xie and Qu Zhong are all as cunning as foxes. They will never do such things that harm themselves and benefit others. What if Gao Yuan annihilated the Xinyi Army in order to take credit for these achievements, and Gao Yuan was so angry that he took revenge at all costs? Now Chu State is not ready to have a battle for national destiny with Han State. This ancient country is already sleeping If it is too long, it will take longer to wake up and get back on your feet.

Huang Xie and Qu Zhong saw this very clearly.

"We worked hard to plan all this, but in the end it was the people of Chu who got the biggest benefit." In the middle of the night, Mingtai looked at Zhongli who had just returned, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Our Heibingtai has lost almost everything in the country. The manpower of the Han State also tied up with Tan Feng's hidden line there, but the results were half of those of the Chu people, which is really uncomfortable."

"When it's time to share, don't think about monopolizing it. When it's time to monopolize it, you'll be rude." Zhongli warned, "In the end, if it weren't for the cooperation of the Chu people, our people might be safe." Bring Mao Wei back? There have been many failures in ancient times. Putting aside this, this time the Chu people used this incident to successfully launch the Battle of Pengcheng and surrounded the new army of the Han State. This was not only the case in the Chu State, It’s a great thing, so why not a great thing for us?”

"But the Chu people don't want to get things done. They are still half-hearted and encircle them instead of annihilating them. This is obviously trying to please the Han Kingdom." Mingtai snorted coldly. "They are so inconsistent, Lord Hou, can we really trust them?"

"Why can't you believe it?" Zhong Li laughed: "The Chu people showed their fangs this time, which at least made Gao Yuan aware of the threat of this big southern country. In the following days, Gao Yuan's eyes will no longer be fixed. We won't let it go. At least half of it will come to look at Chu. For us, it can be said that we have let go of a huge burden. Mingtai, what do we need now? It takes time to recover. Last year's battle with Han. It’s really hurting our vitality. With Chu State’s restraint, we will feel much more comfortable.”

"But we also have to share the profits with them on explosives?"

"It's nothing. Don't forget, the people are in our hands. Along the way, I have communicated with Mao Wei a lot. When the time comes, the people are in our hands and the workshop is also in our hands. What are you afraid of?"

"But they want to send apprentices."

"That master didn't leave his hands behind when teaching his disciples, but he can't teach his disciples and starve the master to death!" Zhongli said with a smile, "I believe Mao Wei will understand this soon."

"Master Hou, do you think that after Mao Wei returns to the country, the King will really make him a Marquis?" Mingtai asked.

"What? Are you greedy?" Zhongli laughed.

"Of course, I have worked hard for most of my life, but the title is still far away!" Mingtai said with some annoyance.

"Waiting for you to take over my position and do a few beautiful things well, are you afraid that you won't be able to be granted the title of waiting? Where is the Black Ice Platform? It is the place where the king trusts the most. The king cares about you, which is already true. That explains the problem." Zhongli waved his hand, "I'm tired. I drank too much wine today and want to rest. You can go to bed. Tomorrow we will set off to return to Qin State, and the envoy from Han State is coming. Yes, it would be awkward if we accidentally bumped into each other. After all, we stole other people’s things, right? Hahaha!”

"Master Hou, you are becoming more and more humorous."

"Of course people who are about to leave will be more humorous. If you stay in this position, you are not allowed to have humor. You can only have murderous intent." Zhongli waved his hand.

Just when Zhong Li was lying on his bed, soundly asleep, on the road leading to Ying City, a carriage, protected by dozens of guards, was still driving all night.

The person on the carriage was naturally Wu Qi, the special envoy of the Han State who was ordered to negotiate with Chu State. When passing through Pengcheng, Wu Qi, after obtaining the consent of Chu General Qu Wan, went to the encirclement and saw the new people who were surrounded. Zhang Hongyu, commander of the First Army, and his soldiers.

The situation of the New First Army was already very bad.

Although they built a solid defensive position, it was of little use to the Chu army, which had no intention of attacking. Zhang Hongyu was unable to break through, and the third division of the New First Army that first entered the Pengcheng area suffered heavy losses. The division had tens of thousands of troops and most of them were lost. He Dong, the leader of the first regiment, was killed in the battle. Mao Afu's troops of the second regiment basically lost their combat effectiveness. Only Song Tao's troops of the third regiment remained basically intact. In order to rescue the surrounded three regiments, Division, Zhang Hongyu continued to invest troops, and as a result, Cui Chengxiu and Gao Chengdong were also involved. Although these two divisions suffered little loss, they were also surrounded by their opponents.

The army was short of food and medicine, and many injured soldiers could only watch them leave in wailing and pain because they could not receive timely treatment. On the day Wu Qi arrived, Zhang Hongyu had decided to concentrate all his efforts. He was so powerful that he broke through the encirclement alone. Even if he couldn't break through, he still had to bite off a piece of his opponent's flesh before he died.

After Wu Qi arrived, he immediately stopped Zhang Hongyu's action. From what he saw in the Chu army, his opponent had obviously anticipated his possible actions and made full preparations. If Zhang Hongyu launched a breakout, the entire army would be destroyed. It will only be a matter of time. In that case, the problem will be intensified, and the two countries will have to engage in a decisive battle that no one wants. This is neither what Chu wants, nor what Han wants. In Gao Yuan's mind, Qin was still the number one enemy of the Han Dynasty.

Wu Qi closed his eyes and recalled the conversation he had with Qu Wan after returning to Qu Wan's station from Pengcheng. Qu Wan's attitude allowed him to further gain a glimpse into the psychology of the Chu courtiers. He wanted to obtain necessary benefits from Han. , and I don’t want to completely break with the Han State. This is my chance.

Wu Qi asked Qu Wan for food, because the New First Army had already informed him of the food, and now they were killing horses, looking for wild vegetables, and peeling bark from trees. Qu Wan refused at first, but in the end he agreed to provide one thousand kilograms of rice to the New First Army every day. Although one thousand kilograms of rice is a drop in the bucket for an army of tens of thousands of people, it can at least survive. And when I asked him for a large amount of medicinal materials, the general of Chu State did not Without any hesitation, I immediately agreed.

Qu Wan's attitude was naturally inspired by Ying Cheng.

"General Qu Wan, if when our two countries complete the combined medicine, what I see is that the soldiers of the New First Army are starving and dying everywhere, then the peace treaty will be a piece of waste paper, and the Han army will be overwhelmed. Come, when the time comes, it will be you, General Qu Wan, who provokes a total war between the two countries!" Before leaving, Wu Qi also severely threatened Qu Wan, considering that Qu Wan had been defeated by the Han in Qi State. The Han army was chasing them for thousands of miles. Wu Qi was worried that they would take this opportunity to retaliate, so it was necessary to give them a beating at the right time. What the King of Han wanted was for the soldiers of the new army to return to the country safely, not for himself. Bring back the long invisible coffin.

"As long as your army doesn't take risks, we will naturally maintain the status quo." Qu Wan's answer made Wu Qi at least half relieved. Now, it depends on his negotiations with Yingcheng, how to rescue the new army without paying too much. The cost of this is something Wu Qi has been thinking hard about. King Gaoyuan of Han Dynasty gave him a lot of autonomy. How to use this autonomy to win more benefits for Han will greatly improve his position in political discussions. Improvement, now there are five people in the council discussing politics. Wu Qi thinks that he is the fifth. Needless to say, the Jiang family is the first assistant. Yan Shenghao has also followed Gao Yuan for a long time, and Li Can has a considerable say in maritime affairs, above maritime affairs. , the other people who discuss politics can't say anything at all, and they are indispensable in the discussion of politics. Wu Kai, who entered the council hall with him, has more qualifications than he can match. Even the Jiang Family Quan respects him very much. .As a fifth-year old man, he wants to climb up. The best opportunity is right in front of him. He must at least push Li Can down.

Among the five people in the council meeting, in terms of ability, only Jiang Jiaquan really convinced Wu Qi. The other three were Yan Shenghao who was good at civil affairs, Li Can who was good at maritime affairs, and Wu Kai who was good at economics. But when it came to coordinating the overall situation and Their vision in politics and strategy is far inferior to their own. Like this time about the New First Army incident, the Jiang family did not speak out, but Yan Shenghao, Li Can, and Wu Kai strongly advocated using all their armies to fight the Chu State to the death. Shame, only I strongly objected and advocated settlement through negotiation. It seemed that my idea was in line with the king's wishes, so I had the opportunity to serve as a special envoy to handle this matter. Jiang was already old and might not be able to do much. He had to retire in 2008. That was his chance. If he could serve as the chief minister of the most powerful country on the continent, he would not be deprived of his time in this world. What's more, he is now in this position. A master who is wise but not domineering, and whose respect for his subordinates is hard to believe unless he has experienced it himself.

Under the leadership of this king, he may become the most accomplished chief minister on this continent and build an extremely powerful country. This was what he wanted when he served as the chief minister of Wei State in the past. I didn't dare to think that at that time, what I was thinking about every day was how to survive in the cracks between big countries.

Wu Qi did not want to think that a hundred years later, he would be recorded in the history books as just the chief minister of the Wei Kingdom. His greatest pursuit in life was to leave a name in history. (To be continued)