Daqin Engineering Corps

Page 228

The soldiers of the Chu army had a steelyard in their hearts: Most of the state of Chu was about to be destroyed. If they continued to stay in the camp of the Chu army, they would either die in battle or be captured by Qin. Then there would be no such favorable conditions.

So when will we wait if we don't drop at this time?

What's more, many of them are in the period of military service, but the military service of Chu State is not stipulated and implemented by Qin law like the military service of Qin State...

In fact, there is not much difference between Qin State and Chu State in terms of service, because although Qin State’s service is a rotation system, due to the lack of troops for successive years of conscripts, and the fact that it can be temporarily recruited during wartime, the actual length of service is much longer than that of the change service.

The key is that Qin Law has a twenty military merit system, but Chu State does not.

After working hard in the Qin army, there is still a title that can be allocated to farms and houses due to the title, but in the state of Chu, they are purely working for the princes and nobles, and they only get some pitiful rewards for their meritorious service.

There are even many cases where they are impersonated by nobles after making meritorious service...

Now that the soldiers of the Chu army have this opportunity to surrender to Qin, they will not let it go easily.

So every now and then a team of soldiers would disappear.

Needless to say where to go, I went to Huaibei to join the Qin army.

At this time, it was not Chu Wangqi who organized the court meeting, but the nobles took the initiative to ask the court meeting to discuss how to solve this problem.

But after discussing and discussing, nothing came out.

Only between Chu Wangqi and Xiang Yan, Chu Wangqi sighed:

"At present, we seem to have only three ways to go."

"One is to preemptively mobilize soldiers from all over the country to attack first."

Chu Wangqi's idea was actually out of helplessness, because if Chu State continued like this, it would only get worse and worse, so it would be better to take advantage of Chu State's strength and fight for it.

Xiang Yan thought for a while, then replied:

"The Qin army's morale is high, but our army is scattered among all ethnic groups. At this time, attacking Qin will not only fail to win, but will lose even faster."

Chu Wangqi also thought so, he nodded and continued:

"The second is to steal the method of making fertilizer from the Qin army."

The lethality of this retting is too great, and the main reason is that there is no need to rest the fields.

In this case, even if the nobles of Chu State were exempted from taxes, they would not be able to compare with the output of Qin, so reducing taxes would be meaningless.

If you still want Qin and Chu to balance, you can only obtain the technology of retting.

But Xiang Yan thought for a while, then shook her head again and said:

"Qin Jun must also know the importance of this method of making fertilizer, so he will never reveal it easily."

"If I want to find out this method, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult."

After hesitating for a while, Xiang Yan asked suspiciously:

"My lord, the third way is..."

King Qi of Chu replied:

"Bow your head and proclaim yourself as a minister, and seek to survive in Jiangdong like Anling City."

Xiang Yan was taken aback for a moment, then fell silent.

Although Xiang Yan didn't want to make this choice, judging from the current situation, it seems that this is the best choice.

Because the demise of Chu is inevitable.

This is not because there are not enough food and grass for soldiers and horses, but because the system is not as good as people.

Under this premise, any struggle is meaningless, and in the end it can only end in defeat.

But if, like King Qi of Chu, he seeks the autonomy of Jiangdong with the existing power of Chu State... it may be a corner.

But Xiang Yan thought about it, and still thought it was wrong:

"The subordinates think it is impossible."

"The reason why Anling City can survive in the world is probably because Anling City has no possibility of a comeback."

"But our army has more than [-] soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians in Jiangdong."

"How can such a scale make King Qin feel at ease?"

King Qi of Chu replied:

"King Qin really can't feel at ease."

"But if the land of Huainan can be taken without bloodshed, how can the King of Qin not take it?"

"One day even if the King of Qin finds an excuse to direct his troops to Jiangdong... we can retreat into Baiyue and deal with it by relying on the terrain."

"Jiangdong is the land of Heze, why does the King of Qin need to fight for it?"

Xiang Yan thought it was right.

Before the Chu State destroyed Yue, it faced such a problem:

The Jiangdong water network is densely covered with jungles, and the terrain determines that the attack requires a heavy price, but there is not much benefit after the capture.

So what's the point of fighting this battle?

Why not recruit security and let it govern itself?

So there was the Xiang family of Chu State.

The current situation is similar, except that the original Xiang family has become Chu Wangqi.

Xiang Yan is actually a very loyal person.

It should be said that this is the commonality of the Xiang family. At the beginning, the Xiang family was put down by the state of Wu. After King Goujian of Yue destroyed the state of Wu, the Xiang family never surrendered. ...That's why he accepted Chu State's offer.

In fact, there is a principle of "survival of the fittest" in it.

Because if a small clan like Xiang's is not united and loyal, it will easily fall apart and dissipate into other clans without a trace.

The reason why the Xiang family has been able to develop from hundreds of years to the present and even compete with Liu Bang in the future is because of its unity and loyalty.

In history, Xiang Yan also committed suicide because of the defeat of Chu State... At that time, he could have taken Xiang's children to avoid Jiangdong.

But loyalty does not mean stupid loyalty. If King Qi of Chu is considering whether he should adapt to the situation and retreat from Jiangdong to become a minister, then Xiang Yan will no longer insist.

He just reminded King Chu Qidao:

"This subordinate has no objection to this, but I hope that the king will carefully consider two things."

"First, are the nobles in Huainan willing to surrender, and where will they go after surrender?"

"Secondly, my servants are asking for Sheng Yi, the king is of the blood of the royal family, can the king of Qin tolerate you..."

What Xiang Yan said was very pertinent.

Among them, especially the second point... If Xiang Yan is only for his own survival, then he will not even mention this point at all, just pretend not to know.

Chu Wangqi thought for a while and replied:

"If the nobles don't surrender, the Qin army will deal with it."

"As for the widow... how can there be any reason if it goes on like this?"

"After the drop, there will be breathing time and a glimmer of life."

"From now on, whether the widow will live or die, it will all depend on Xiang Qing!"

Chapter 286

Chu Wangqi's words had a deep meaning.

King Qi of Chu was once the Prime Minister of Qin, so he naturally knew the key points.

Shen Bing's side is indeed important, but that's only one of them.

For example, Shen Bing testified to let Yingzheng know that Chu Wangqi was plotting from the rebellion in Chencheng, and that Chu Wangqi never betrayed Yingzheng from the beginning to the end... Although this is not the case, because Chu Wangqi also struggled, but just struggled. It was later found to be impossible.

But Chu Wangqi can still say that, the struggle only needs to be explained as the process of "persuading Xiang Yan and the nobles".

So Chu Wangqi was able to gain Yingzheng's trust, and even Chu Wangqi had done a great job, and Yingzheng had no excuse for wanting to kill him.

But these are just the beginning.

Later, as Xiang Yan said, King Qi of Chu is of royal blood, so how could King Qin allow King Qi of Chu to have [-] soldiers guard Jiangdong?

Therefore, King Qi of Chu can only rely on Xiang Yan to survive.

Only Xiang Yan built a strong enough defense in Jiangdong, and Xiang Yan was still loyal to him from the beginning to the end, King Qi of Chu, instead of turning to Qin after he surrendered...

In this way, Jiangdong is a tasteless to Qin: it is a pity to discard it if it is tasteless.

That's why Jiangdong will be another Anling City, and King Qi of Chu can survive.

Xiang Yan also understood this, and immediately expressed his loyalty to Chu Wangqi, which made Chu Wangqi feel relieved.

Then, King Qi of Chu secretly sent envoys to Shouchun to negotiate.

On the surface, the envoy was negotiating with Yang Duanhe to discuss a truce, but in fact he was secretly looking for Shen Bing.

It was Xiang Yan's son Xiang Liang who came to send an envoy...Xiang Liang was a general of the Chu State, and he was not suitable to be an envoy as a general.

This is not because of fear of being killed. Although the Warring States period used everything to the extreme, there was still a rule that "the two countries should not be beheaded when they are at war".

The problem is that the country at this time is very good at "house arrest", that is, it won't let you go when you come, and it's not a violation of the rules if you don't kill, so Chu State lost a general.

But Chu Wangqi and Xiang Yan had no choice.

Because the emissary wanted to know the inside story and secretly went to see Shen Bing to discuss with him about surrendering to Qin, and it would be no small matter if this matter was revealed.

So I can only send Xiang Liang, who is brave and resourceful, to rest assured.

Shen Bing didn't care about what Xiang Liang and Yang Duanhe talked about.

These matters are all superficial issues. Countries are talking about interests, and it is impossible to talk about anything.

Even Shen Bing had already guessed the reason why Chu State sent envoys at this time... On this point, and Xiang Liang, a heavyweight, was sent, so what else could be done if King Qi of Chu compromised?

Shen Bing was right in guessing that Xiang Liang was inconsistent when he was negotiating the truce with Yang Duanhe. In the end, he asked Yang Duanhe directly:

"Why don't you see Lieutenant General Shen?"

Yang Duanhe was a little puzzled:

"Why does General Xiang want to see Lieutenant Shen?"

Xiang Liang said "Oh" and replied:

"Nothing, it's just that I've heard his name for a long time and want to meet myself."

Yang Duanhe understood when he thought about it... This Liang attacked Daliang Army in Chencheng but was defeated by Daliang Army. He must want to see Shen Bing who defeated him this time.

At this point, Yang Duanhe said to the guard:

"Go and call Lieutenant General Shen."

Xiang Liang hurriedly stopped and said:

"Wait a minute... I'll pay a visit in person!"

Yang Duanhe nodded and replied:

"Alright."

When Xiang Liang walked into Shen Bing's tent, Shen Bing was explaining the distribution of Huaibei fields to Fusu.

At this time, the time for farming has passed, and the Chu people who descended later will have to grow five vegetables.

But growing the five vegetables doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be hungry. When the five vegetables are harvested, you can exchange grain with those who grow grain in the field.

Therefore, a market was needed in the concentration of Chu people. In addition, rice pounding water trucks, drainage systems, etc. were planned, which was almost a new city.

But it is not a good thing to build a new city entirely by Chu people, because these Chu people are likely to form cliques and form small groups.

Although it is not likely to rebel, it is easy to fight privately with other regions.

So Shen Bing suggested moving some of the farmers in Shouchun City out to mix with these Chu people...

There's a lot of learning involved, and it takes foresight.

In fact, Shen Bing did not have such a foresight. It is just that these problems have occurred in modern times and are very common geographically. The ancients usually did not organize and study them systematically, so they did not know much.