After learning the news of Qi's fall, the Chu State was particularly nervous. King Xiong Tuo of Chu immediately sent someone to inform Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, who was in Bashu, of the news, asking the latter to step up matters in Bashu immediately.

Around May of the eighth year of Wei Zhaowu, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu received a secret letter from Chu King Xiong Tuo in Pingdu, Bajun. He was shocked to learn that Qi State had been annexed by Wei State.

To be honest, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was not surprised by the result that Qi was annexed by Wei. After all, when Chu King Xiong Tuo was forced to abandon Qi as an ally due to the situation, it was destined that Qi would be annexed by Wei.

, but knowing that this must be the result, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was still shocked and worried about the "Wei-Chu War" that was about to break out in the future.

However, what worries Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu the most is the current situation. After all, the Wei State has already annexed the Qi State. However, on the Bashu side, the Chu State is still in a stalemate with the Qin State.

After pondering, Lord Pingyu Xiong Hu made an appointment with the Qin army commander Wang Jian, and invited the latter to meet him in the hinterland of the Bajun Basin, on the battlefield of the "Qin-Chu War".

A few days later, the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, Changxinhou Wangjian, received a letter from Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu.

At this time, Wang Jian was stationed in Langzhong, attacking Shu and resisting the attack of the Chu army. In view of the current tense relationship between Qin and Chu, Wang Jian was surprised that Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu actually invited him to meet with him.

.

Wang Jian was no longer unfamiliar with Xiong Hu at this time, and knew that the latter was the commander-in-chief of the Chu State responsible for conquering Bashu.

After much consideration, Wang Jian decided to go to see Xiong Hu in person.

On the ninth day of the fifth lunar month, King Jian, the Changxinhou of Qin, and Xiong Hu, Pingyu Lord of Chu, each with only 500 soldiers, met in the Basin of Bajun.

After meeting each other, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said to Wang Jian straightforwardly: "I received a secret letter from the monarch of our country two days ago and learned that Wei State has fallen to Qi State."

After hearing this, the expression on Wang Jian's face became solemn. After a while, he smiled and said: "This is really...then, I wonder what Pingyu Jun's purpose is in mentioning this matter?"

Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, said in a deep voice: "Wei is about to destroy Qi, so the next target of attack will be either your country or Chu...Xiong thought that most of the time, King Wei would choose to attack me."

Chu starts the war."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jian showed a somewhat unpredictable look on his face, and said with a smile: "Haha, Lord Pingyu said this, does he want to make peace? Yes, as long as your army withdraws from Ba County, Wang Jian will definitely

No pursuit!"

Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu took a deep look at Wang Jian, and suddenly said in a strange tone: "General Wang Jian, do you really think that this is the most beneficial thing for your country?... Just because your country has the opportunity to obtain the entire territory of Bashu.

?" At this point, he shook his head and said with a hint of sarcasm: "Xiong once thought that General Wang Jian was a hero of the world, but he never thought that such a hero as the general could be so short-sighted."

"What did you say?!"

Among the guards accompanying Wang Jian, someone scolded Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu angrily.

"No rudeness."

Wang Jian stopped the man, frowned and looked at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, and asked: "What do you want to say, Lord Pingyu?"

I saw Lord Pingyu staring at Wang Jian and continued: "Xiong can represent our great Chu and give up the land of Bashu. But has General Wang Jian thought about the next thing? My great Chu sent me to Bashu for the same purpose.

Your country is the same, and it is also for the food of Bashu. Without food, our country will not be able to resist the attack of Wei. General Wang Jian asked our army to withdraw from the land of Bashu, which will actually harm our great Chu and benefit Wei! If we

Chu's premature defeat in front of Wei, is this really a good thing for your country? Hmm?"

"..."

At this moment, Changxinhou Wangjian finally put away his playful mentality and began to face the matter mentioned by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu.

From the perspective of a "general", Wang Jian did not need to pay attention to what Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said, because the royal order he received was to seize the land of Bashu. Whether the Chu State is dead or alive, what does it have to do with him?

?

But from a "handsome" point of view, Wang Jian must admit that what Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said is very reasonable: If the Wei State easily overthrows the Chu State and completely occupies the entire Central Plains, this will not be the best for his Qin State.

Talking is not a good thing.

"Mr. Pingyu, please speak frankly."

Wang Jian begged solemnly.

Seeing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu showed a faint smile on his face, and said seriously: "Xiong hopes that your country and our country will temporarily stop all disputes, and also hopes that the entire territory of Ba County will be handed over to our country."

If it were any other general, he would have been furious after hearing Xiong Hu's words, but Wang Jian did not have an attack. He just frowned at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu and asked the most important thing: "Pingyu Lord

How can you be sure that Wei will attack your country next?"

Hearing his words, the guards accompanying Wang Jian were all surprised and looked at Wang Jian in disbelief.

Because of Wang Jian's words, it seemed that he didn't mind giving up Ba State to Chu State.

In fact, Wang Jian really didn't mind, because Xiong Hu's words reminded him that if Qin refused to hand over Ba to Chu, Chu would definitely be defeated by Wei without sufficient food.

, and once the Chu State is defeated too quickly, it will also be bad news for the Qin State; on the other hand, if the Ba State is given to the Chu State, the Chu State can rely on the food produced by this fertile land to

Block the Wei army's attack as much as possible. Even if Chu will still be defeated in the end, it can buy more time for Qin to prepare for war.

After the Chu State is defeated by the Wei State, the Qin State can completely reoccupy the Ba State at that time, so it is not a problem to temporarily surrender the Ba State to the Chu State.

Of course, the premise is that the State of Wei will definitely attack the State of Chu. If the State of Ba surrenders to the State of Chu, but the State of Wei goes to war with the State of Qin, then it will be the responsibility of King Jian.

Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu certainly understood what Wang Jian meant, shook his head and said: "Xiong is not sure, I am just making an estimate."

At this point, he said sternly: "General Wang Jian, what do you think of this? You and I will call a truce temporarily and commit to restoring the farming of Ba. As for Ba, we might as well make an agreement first. If

If Wei really attacks Chu this year or next, I hope that General Wang Jian will hand over all of Ba’s grain to us; conversely, if Wei attacks your country, then Chu will hand over all of Ba’s grain to you.

country, and will send troops to attack the eastern part of Wei State to respond to your country when Wei State attacks your country."

"this……"

Wang Jian frowned and thought deeply.

It is undeniable that the strategy proposed by Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu is currently the best way to resolve the conflict between Qin and Chu. After all, if Qin and Chu continue to fight on the Bashu side, it will be equivalent to letting the Wei State reap the benefits.

The benefits - this is absolutely impossible.

The only problem is that although Wang Jian is the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, his power is limited to war. He has no right to interfere with matters at the level of 'national decision-making'. He can only report to the King of Qin, who will then communicate with the generals.

Zhao Ran, the concubine chief, and Wei Yang, the concubine chief of the Zuo concubine, made the decision.

Of course, there is no problem in temporarily choosing to cease war with the Chu army and commit to restoring the grain production of Ba as Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu said.

Thinking of this, Wang Jian nodded and said: "What Mr. Pingyu said is absolutely true. Your two countries should really stop attacking each other and let Wei reap the benefits. After returning, Wang will order his soldiers to stop attacking you."

All offensive actions of the army. However, as you said, Mr. Pingyu, if the Wei State attacks your country this year or next, all the food of the Ba State will be handed over to your country. Wang cannot make the decision on this matter and needs to report it.

The monarch of our country...please forgive me."

Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu waved his hand, nodded and said: "General Wang Jian's words are serious... There is still some time, General Wang Jian, please report to the monarch of your country immediately."

"Hmm."

Wang Jian also knew that this matter was of great importance and nodded solemnly.

Therefore, under the orders of Wang Jian and Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, the Qin and Chu armies immediately stopped all attacks on each other.

And Wang Jian immediately reported the matter to Xianyang.

To his surprise, about a month later, Zhao Ran, the chief concubine of Qin, arrived in Langzhong escorted by a group of Qin troops, which surprised Wang Jian greatly.

Wang Jian went out of the city in person and welcomed Zhao Ran, the chief concubine, to his mansion in the city, where the Fan family once lived.

After they sat down with each other, Wang Jian asked the chief concubine Zhao Ran in confusion: "Why did Lord Zhao Ran come to the country of Ba? Could it be that the king has some instructions?"

Zhao Ran smiled and waved his hand and said: "The king is very satisfied with the general's progress in Bashu in the past year. Zhao came to Ba just to see with his own eyes..." At this point, he said with a smile: "I am

I suspect that there are people from Wei in Bashu trying to instigate this."

"Wei people?" Wang Jian looked puzzled.

Seeing this, Zhao Ran reminded: "General Wang Jian, does he still remember the 'messenger' who promoted the alliance between our country and the Xiang clan?" At this point, he shook his head and said seriously: "In fact,

Xianyang didn’t send an envoy at all. We don’t even know that the leader of the Xiang clan, Xiang Bin, has the ambition to replace the Ba clan, so how could he send an envoy to join forces with the Xiang clan?”

After hearing this, Wang Jian's complexion changed slightly.

You must know that he had suspicions in this regard before. After all, if Xianyang really sent an envoy, then the envoy would definitely get in touch with him first - at least let him, Wang Jian, know that there was such a thing, right?

But that 'Qin envoy' was good. Wang Jian didn't know what this person looked like before and after, so he was basically a fake.

Seeing the sudden change in Wang Jian's expression, Zhao Ran smiled and comforted: "General Wang Jian, don't worry too much. The king has no intention of blaming the general. On the contrary, the king also feels that the general's judgment is correct. And the facts have proved that the general's judgment is correct."

There is no problem with the judgment.”

After hearing this, Wang Jian's tense expression relaxed slightly.

At this time, I heard Zhao Ran say with a smile: "The person who pretended to be my envoy from Xianyang is most likely from Wei, because it was this person who single-handedly introduced our Qin army into Bashu, and also used our army to introduce

The Chu army provoked a fight between the Chu army and our army... Phew, this strategy is really brilliant."

Hearing that Zhao Ran didn't mean to blame himself in his words, Wang Jian felt a little relieved.

I remember at the beginning, he felt that no matter whether the "Xianyang Envoy" was true or false, joining forces with the Xiang clan would be beneficial to his Qin country, so he chose to join forces with the Xiang clan; but he did not expect that because of his Qin army

Intervening in the Ba Kingdom caused the Ba family to ask for help from the Chu Kingdom, and the troops under the command of Xiong Hu, Pingyu King of the Chu Kingdom, also entered the Ba Kingdom. This led to the subsequent fighting between the Qin and Chu armies on this land.

At that time, Wang Jian realized that he had fallen into the trick of the 'fake Xianyang envoy'.

Fortunately, the current situation is not bad. The Qin army and the Chu army divide the country of Ba equally. Otherwise, he really doesn’t know how to explain to the monarch of the Qin country. He made a plan to the man in front of him: "take Shu first, then attack Ba, and finally capture Ju."

” The great concubine explained this strategy.

After all, to be honest, the strategy formulated by the chief concubine Zhao Ran has been completely disrupted.

Or, this is the real reason why Zhao Ran rushed to Ba Kingdom in person - he had to re-plan the strategy to capture the three kingdoms of Bashu, Shu and Ju according to local conditions.
To be continued...