Chapter 12 Meng Changjun saves Wei

In 284 B.C., Le Yi led the Allied Forces of Five Nations to crusade against Qi State, and defeated the Qi army in Jixi.After that, Qin, Zhao, Wei, and Han withdrew their troops, and only the Yan army continued to advance, and finally conquered Linzi and occupied Qi. If you don't consider what happened later, the country of Yan is undoubtedly the biggest winner of this war, and other countries have their own gains— Qin Guo got his wish and obtained Taodi, the commercial center of the Central Plains, and made it the fief of Xiangguo Wei Ya.Wei Ya was already richer than a prince, but this made him even more beautiful, becoming the leading rich man at that time.

The state of Wei was the first to win the moon, and seized the opportunity to seize most of the land of the original state of Song, and set up Dasong and Fang and two counties, which greatly increased the land area. Zhao Guo used Lian Po as a general, and captured Yangjin (now Yuncheng, Shandong Province) in Qi State.Lian Po became famous because of this battle, was named Shangqing, and later changed to a general.The story about this person will be told later, so let’s just briefly mention it. The state of Chu took back the Huaibei land that had been snatched by Song Wangyan. Even the state of Lu, which was in decline, took advantage of the fire to loot, and sent troops to capture Xuzhou in the state of Qi.

But Qin's appetite is obviously not limited to Taodi.In 283 BC, less than a year after the Battle of Jixi, Le Yi was attacking Qi State, and Qin State launched a full-scale attack on Wei State. This time, the purpose of Qin State is to destroy Wei State, connect Taodi and Qin State mainland, and cut off the "joint vertical waist" of Shandong countries.In order to achieve this goal, King Qin Zhao met with King Chu Qingxiang twice to ensure that Chu would not send troops to interfere; he also put pressure on King Han Xi to force South Korea to submit to Qin and jointly send troops to invade Wei.

When the soldiers of the Qin army left Hangu Pass, they first captured Ancheng (now Yuanyang, Henan Province) outside the Great Wall of Wei State, and then captured Beilin (now Zhongmou, Henan Province, an important town in the northwest of Daliang, named after the dense forest at that time), where they hoarded weapons. And military rations, as the forward base for attacking Daliang. Liangyuan in the western suburbs of Daliang is a royal garden built by the kings of Wei in the past dynasties with a lot of money. The pavilions, terraces and pavilions are extremely elegant, and the mountains, rivers and lakes are well arranged, which is equivalent to the Old Summer Palace in that era.After the Qin army invaded Liangyu, they tried their best to destroy the buildings, cut down trees, and shot all the thousands of elk in the garden to pay the soldiers.

At this critical juncture, Lord Mengchang asked Zhao and Yan for help under the order of King Wei Zhao. King Zhao Huiwen didn't want to borrow troops at first, but Lord Mengchang analyzed Qin's intention of using troops this time, and told him clearly: "Once Wei is destroyed, Qin's next goal is Zhao, and Zhao will be in chaos every year. , There will never be peace." King Zhao Huiwen came to his senses and promised to send 100,000 troops to rescue Wei. King Yan Zhao didn't want to save Wei either.He told Lord Mengchang that the state of Yan was at war with the state of Qi, and now it is obviously unrealistic to send troops thousands of miles to rescue the state of Wei.Lord Mengchang threatened that if Yan State sat idly by, Wei State would surrender to Qin State, and then lead the Wei and Han armies, and then invite Qin and Zhao to send troops to attack Yan State together. "Do you think it would be better to send troops to march thousands of miles to rescue Wei, or to see the Allied Forces of the Four Kingdoms just outside the south gate of Jicheng?"

If these words were spoken from someone else, King Yan Zhao might laugh them off.But from Mr. Mengchang's mouth, he had to consider the consequences.At that time, after Meng Changjun finished speaking, he was ready to leave.King Yan Zhao hurriedly called him: "Don't rush away, I agree to send troops." So Yan sent 80,000 troops to join Zhao's 100,000 troops, crossed the Yellow River, approached Beilin from the north, and formed a powerful force against Qin's army. threat. South Korea didn't want to attack Wei at first, but seeing the reversal of the situation, they wanted to fight back and jointly attack Qin with Yan, Zhao, and Wei.

King Qin Zhao judged the situation and decisively withdrew his army back to Guanzhong. After this battle, the State of Qin changed its strategy, began to win over Han and Wei, and turned to target the State of Zhao. In 282 BC, King Qin Zhao met with King Han Xi and King Wei Zhao respectively.At the same time, the Qin army under the leadership of Bai Qi attacked Zhao and took Zishi and Qicheng (now Qixian County, Shanxi Province). In 281 BC, Bai Qi attacked Zhao again, took Lin and Lishi (both in the territory of Lishi, Shanxi Province today), and then led his army south to besiege Daliang for the second time.Yan Guo and Zhao Guo sent troops to rescue Wei again, and besieged the Qin army in the forest (now Xinzheng, Henan Province), forcing Qin to make peace.

In 280 BC, Bai Qi attacked Zhao for the third time in three consecutive years, replacing the two cities of Xian (now Yu County, Hebei Province) and Guanglang (now Gaoping, Shanxi Province), and beheaded 30,000 people. In the face of Bai Qi's aggressive offensive, Lian Po, who was relied on by King Zhao Huiwen as a pillar, was helpless.This is not to say that Lian Po is incompetent - without Lian Po, Zhao Guo might have suffered a worse defeat - but that Bai Qi is too powerful. Just when Zhao Guo was beaten into a mess, Qin Guo unexpectedly stopped the attack and extended an olive branch to Zhao Guo.