Chapter 30 4. Plan to kill Li Mu, Wang Jian destroys Zhao

Once the war machine is started, it is difficult to stop. In 229 BC, Qin Wang Yingzheng launched the third war against Zhao.They were led by Wang Jian and Yang Duanhe respectively.Wang Jian led the Shangdang Qin army from west to east, arrived at Jingxing (now Jingxing County, Hebei Province), and then from north to south, posing a threat to Handan; Yang Duanhe led the Qin army in Hanoi (now the area north of the Yellow River in Henan Province) from south to north , Go straight to the capital of Zhao State, and surround Handan. At this time, Zhao Guo was plagued by natural disasters and man-made disasters. Years of military use, earthquakes and famines made the people complain and the army could not get the necessary replenishment.Within the royal family, various contradictions also emerged and intensified, and the whole country was on the verge of collapse.The only thing Zhao Wangqian can rely on is General Li Mu.The King of Zhao sent Li Mu and General Sima Shang to lead the troops to resist the Qin army outside Handan.Under Li Mu's close deployment, the Zhao army divided into two groups. Li Mu led the main force against Wang Jian, and general Sima Shang dealt with Yang Duanhe, and defeated the Qin army again.

When the news came, King Qin Yingzheng was taken aback. He never expected that Zhao Jun would have such a powerful fighting force, and Li Mu would have such brilliant commanding skills.In order to reverse the defeat, Qin Wang Yingzheng summoned civil and military officials to gather in Xianyang Palace to discuss countermeasures. At this time, general Wang Jian had been recalled to Xianyang, and the Qin army he led had also returned to the territory of Qin State, and Chen Bing was waiting.Wang Jian did not take this defeat too seriously, and was still full of confidence in the final victory over Zhao Jun.

He reported to King Qin Yingzheng that the Qin army retreated to Qin State because the Zhao army was coming fiercely. In order to avoid its edge and preserve its strength, it stopped attacking. It could not be regarded as a failure, but a temporary strategic retreat.Because the two sides have not yet engaged in a large-scale battle, the Qin army suffered very little loss. Wang Jian disagreed with the pessimistic views of some ministers, believing that a battle would determine the outcome.Li Mu is indeed an extraordinary general, but his troops are far from being brave.In particular, the whole country of Zhao was famished, its national power was not strong, and the people's hearts were unstable. The Zhao army lacked sufficient food and grass reserves, and it was difficult to replenish the lost troops.If the Zhao army is left outside for a long time, it will be exhausted and it will be difficult to last.However, the Qin army has sufficient reserves and timely supplies. It is entirely possible to drag down the Zhao army through a strategic stalemate, and when the Zhao army is exhausted, it can defeat it in one fell swoop.

After listening to Wang Jian's analysis, Qin Wang Yingzheng's depression was swept away.He felt that Wang Jian's words were very reasonable: this battle is not over, why say defeat? Then, Qin Wang Yingzheng asked how to break Zhao.Wei Liao said: "Generally, the strategies for winning are nothing more than the three types of victory by way, victory by might, and victory by strength. Focusing on fighting the enemy, making the enemy's spirit lose and the division disperses becomes victory by way; the system of trial and law, and clear rewards and punishments, so that the people must fight The heart is mighty victory; breaking the army and killing the generals, defeating the masses and seizing the land, and returning after success is a forceful victory. Now the Zhao army is in a strong position, and there are good generals in command. It is not possible to win by force, but to win by way.”

Qin Wang Yingzheng asked: "Why is Dao winning?" Wei Liao said: "The Zhao army has been violent for a long time, it is difficult to support, and it is easy to lose people's hearts. We will definitely seek foreign aid. We will send people to prevent it from forming a joint force with other countries. At the same time, we will disintegrate it from within the Zhao army and lose its morale. You can fight and win.” Li Si followed Wei Liao's words and said later: "What Wei Liao said just now is very true. I think that the country that Zhao seeks foreign aid must be Qi."

Qin Wang Yingzheng said: "Why do you say that?" Li Sidao: "In today's world, Wei and Chu have been weakened, Yan and Zhao are feuding again, South Korea is in danger, and Zhao Sheqi has no way to help. Qi Wangjian has been on the throne for more than 30 years, and I have been at war with the three Jins, Chu, and Yan. Because Qi is far in the east and has no common border with Qin, it can only preserve its strength, so it is inevitable for Zhao to unite with Qi." King Qin Yingzheng said: "At the Battle of Changping, Zhou Zi, the counselor of Qi, once remonstrated with the King of Qi, saying that Zhao, Qi, and Chu are closely related, and advocated actively helping Zhao. The King of Qi failed to agree. Since then, the princes have joined forces to fight against Qin many times. , Qi State did not participate in it. So it seems that Zhao State will unite with Qi again?"

Li Sidao: "Back then, Qi State refused to unite with Zhao State, in order to please Qin State and preserve itself. Now, my ambition to annex the six countries is clear to the world. Qi State knows that it will not be spared, so it must be eager to seek allies in order to survive. , Zhao wants to unite with Qi, and Qi will agree." Qin Wang Yingzheng took it for granted.Ask again: "In your opinion?..." Li Sidao: "I can still adopt my established strategy, bribe powerful officials with a lot of money, and drive a wedge between Zhao and Qi!" Qin Wang Yingzheng agreed: "Okay! Let's do it like this. I want to see how strong Zhao Guo is."

Wang Jian also strongly agreed with this strategy because he deeply felt that military strikes would be difficult to win for a while.He also proposed that Li Mu was the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army. If Li Mu is not eliminated, the Zhao army will still be difficult to defeat. He can use the trick of alienation to get rid of Li Mu by the hand of King Zhao.In this way, Zhao Jun will collapse without fighting. Qin Wang Yingzheng thought this plan was very good, so he agreed with his officials to send envoys to Zhao and Qi at the same time to carry out lobbying and espionage activities with a lot of money.In this way, along with the military offensive, Qin launched another fierce offensive on an invisible front where the sound of swords and guns could not be heard, and no flesh and blood could be seen.

According to Qin Wang Yingzheng's deployment, Yao Jia was ordered to go to Qi State to lobby Qi State to refuse to join with Zhao State; Li Si and Chun Yuyue went to Zhao State to disintegrate and weaken Zhao State's military power. In view of Guo Kai's "old relationship" with Qin State, Li Si and Chun Yuyue naturally found this "insider" after arriving in Zhao State.The two first gave a thousand catties of gold to Guo Kai secretly, and then said: "I was ordered to go to Handan, and I heard a nursery rhyme: "Qin people laugh, Zhao people are called, I don't believe it, and they see the crops withered." The nursery rhyme is indeed a sign. The prime minister is in danger, isn't he worried about Zhao's death?"

Guo Kai said disapprovingly: "In case Zhao dies, I will choose a country between Qi and Chu to support myself, and I will never worry about the future." Li Sidao: "Does the Prime Minister think that Qi and Chu can protect themselves?" Guo Kai asked back: "Could it be that Qin also wants to map Qi and Chu?" Li Si laughed and said: "How can the prime minister not know the general trend of the world as an important minister of a country? Although Qi and Chu are far away from Qin, they are no different from Zhao and Wei. After Zhao and Wei are destroyed, Qi and Chu will not be spared. For the prime minister, it is better to rely on oneself The state of Qin will keep wealth forever."

Guo Kai shook his head and said: "Although the Qin State is strong, the King of Qin can't tolerate people. Han Fei was killed when he entered Qin, which is enough to discourage people." After hearing this, Li Si felt a little uncomfortable.Just about to explain to Guo Kai, Chun Yuyue said first: "My king is magnanimous, condescending to others, and will not tolerate anything. Han Fei's death was not caused by my king's intention, but because someone accused him of being a Korean spy." , my king temporarily imprisoned him to find out the truth, but Han Fei was narrow-minded, committed suicide, and waited for my king to issue an order to pardon him, it was too late, my king deeply regretted it!" At this time, Li Si continued from behind and said: "The prime minister has made great contributions to Qin, and my king has always kept it in his heart. When the prime minister waits for Zhao's death to come to Qin, he will be awarded the title of Shangqing. The prime minister can choose Zhao's beauties at will. Today, my king The gift of a thousand pieces of gold is a testament to sincerity, and I hope the Prime Minister will not doubt it." When Guo Kai heard this, he was full of joy and said, "Since I, Guo Kai, have received a generous gift from the King of Qin, how dare I not repay it with all my heart? I wonder what the King of Qin wants Guo Kai to do?" Li Si and Chun Yuyue then said to Guo Kai: "Now that Qin and Zhao are fighting each other, Qin's only concern is Li Mu. If the Prime Minister can get rid of Li Mu, it will be a great achievement. When Zhao Guo perishes, the King of Qin will bestow the title of Marquis to the Prime Minister. I hope that the Prime Minister will help you!" Guo Kaiwen couldn't help being surprised when he heard that he wanted to get rid of Li Mu.Li Mu is the only general in Zhao State today who can lead troops to defend against the enemy. His prestige in the court is very high, and the people of Zhao State respect him like a god.But then think about it, Qin and Zhao will fight each other, and Qin will definitely destroy Zhao. If that is the case, why should I care about my reputation in Zhao?As long as you do what King Qin said, King Qin will definitely not treat me badly in the future!Rather than martyrdom for a country that is about to perish, it is better to rely on the new master with all your heart, so as to make great plans again! Thinking of this, Guo Kai made up his mind: if he doesn't do it, he won't stop, get rid of Li Mu, and give another helping hand to the collapse of the Zhao Guo Building! Li Si and Chunyu Yue saw Guo Kai's full promise, and they were secretly happy, so they returned to Qin to return to their orders. Since Guo Kai received a generous gift from the King of Qin, he racked his brains to plan and design to harm Li Mu.On this day, he secretly came to Zhao Wangqian's palace, had an audience with Zhao Wangqian, and said seriously, "Does your lord know that Li Mu wants to rebel?" Zhao Wangqian was shocked and said: "There is such a thing? Why did General Li come here?" Guo Kaidao: "Your Majesty does not know that Li Mu fought the Qin army this time, and the Qin army retreated without a fight. It was because Li Mu had a secret agreement with Qin general Wang Jian. Li Mu deliberately let the tiger go back to the mountain. Wang Jian also secretly sent someone to inform Li Mu that if Li Mu abandons Zhao returns to Qin, enfeoffing tens of thousands of households!" Since Li Mu defeated the Qin army twice, Zhao Wangqian respected Li Mu very much and entrusted the fate of Zhao country on Li Mu. Now that he heard that Li Mu wanted to betray Zhao and return to Qin, he immediately lost his mental support.He was terrified, lost his mind, and shouted repeatedly: "What should I do, what should I do!" Guo Kai stepped forward and said, "I have a plan to save the crisis." "Speak quickly!" Zhao Wangqian met his savior. Guo Kaidao: "The strength of the three armies is better than a single general. Now that Li Mu is secretly communicating with the Qin army, the Zhao army will be in danger. At this time, it is better to withdraw Li Mu as soon as possible and choose another good general to replace him." Zhao Wangqian said in embarrassment: "How can there be a good general in Zhao Guo today?" Guo Kaidao: "Good ministers and good generals are around the king, but the king doesn't know about it." Then, he recommended Zhao Yu and Yan Ju to Zhao Wangqian, and exaggeratedly boasted about their talents, but Zhao Wangqian didn't know the details. , had to agree.Guo Kai also came up with an idea, saying that in order to avoid Li Mu's suspicion, it can be said that he will appoint Li Mu as the prime minister, and ask him to hand over the general Yinshou to Zhao An and Yan Ju, and return to the capital as soon as possible.Zhao Wangqian nodded in agreement, and then ordered Li Mu to be called back.Li Mu was puzzled when he received the order.His subordinate Sima Shang told him that the king clearly deceived the general by saying that he wanted to pay homage to the prime minister. The general should not return to Beijing easily to avoid accidents.Li Mu also realized that there must be a traitor framing him, and the danger is more than good, so he fled alone before Zhao An and Yan Ju arrived; . Li Mu's killing was a major victory for Qin's anti-indirect strategy.Corresponding to this victory, Yao Jia's lobbying and dissension in Qi State also achieved success.He used a lot of money to buy off the powerful officials of Qi State Hou Sheng, so that Qi Wangjian refused to unite with Zhao State.In this way, Zhao Jun lost both a capable coach and foreign aid from Qi State, and the newly replaced general had no talent to lead the army. Once the battle was fought, he was defeated by the Qin Army led by Wang Jian, Zhao An was killed, and Yan Ju cleaned up. The remnant soldiers retreated to protect Handan.Zhao Wangqian had lost his fighting spirit at this time, Guo Kaili advocated surrender and opened the city gate.So the Qin army marched into the city mightily, and Zhao Wangqian was placed as a prisoner in Fangling (now Fangling County, Hubei).At this point, Zhao Guo, which lasted for more than two hundred years, declared its demise. In 228 BC, the nineteenth year of Qin Wang Yingzheng, the campaign to exterminate Zhao had just ended, Qin Wang Yingzheng exiled Zhao Wangqian. South Korea and Zhao are the lands of the Central Plains. Occupying the Central Plains is equivalent to gaining the center of the world. You can attack when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat.Ying Zheng occupied this place first and gained a great advantage.At this time, Qin's land almost included the entire Yellow River Basin, and the unification of the world was a sure thing.