Chapter 550 Hesitation
The Great Wall has been broken, and the three Qin armies are heading straight for Jicheng.
The fastest is still the 5,000 Taiyuan Army.
Qin army camp.
Ju Wu walked into the camp step by step. As the envoy of the Yan State's peace talks, he was also someone who understood the combat power of the Qin army. When he first entered the camp, he was shocked.
This place is less than fifty miles away from Jicheng, and the edge of the war is already very close. Ju Wu originally thought that the five thousand Taiyuan troops would be exhausted by marching at such a fast speed.
At least, it won't be as energetic as it is now.
According to Yan Jun's intelligence, the Taiyuan army has 50,000 troops.
When Meng Ao captured Taiyuan, after several rebellions, it became the sphere of influence of the Lu Buwei-Zhao Ji alliance.
Later, the alliance between Lu Buwei and Zhao Ji existed in name only, Lao Ai was granted the title of Marquis of Che, and the state of Ai was established. Taiyuan County was within the scope of his state.
However, the existence of this Lai Kingdom was quite short. With the Qinian Palace Rebellion, Lao Ai's power was completely eliminated. After that, the Lu Buwei-Zhao Ji alliance, which had controlled the political affairs of the Qin State for more than ten years, also withdrew from the stage of the Qin State.
Not long ago, Zhao Ji died of illness, which announced that the once brilliant political alliance was completely a thing of the past.
After Lao Ai's death, Taiyuan was reestablished as a county. Taiyuan was once the place where Zhao State started, and its capital Jinyang is still an important town in the northern part of Qin State.
Because of Taiyuan's special location, the Qin State stationed a heavy army there.
Most of the backbone of Taiyuan Army lieutenant generals are from aristocratic families. Most of these 50,000 troops are soldiers from Shangdang, Taiyuan, Yanmen, Hedong and other counties, and the most elite are the 5,000 elite soldiers who are now in front of Ju Wu.
Whether a soldier can be rated as an elite depends not only on his martial arts, but more importantly on his equipment.
Weapons, armor, horses, what kind of equipment a soldier uses can tell what kind of army he is in, and what is the financial strength of the supporters behind him?
The further Ju Wu walked inside, the more surprised he became. Seeing Zhao Shuang's tent approaching, he hesitated.
Taiyuan Jingjia Shi, as can be seen from this name, these five thousand soldiers are all elites equipped with Jingjia.
But Ju Wu didn't know how expensive a pair of fine armor was. A pair of ordinary armor costs about 2 liang of gold, while the price of fine armor is at least three times that, and the price fluctuates greatly.
In the entire Yan Kingdom, only the 10,000 guards in the palace can provide everyone with a pair of fine armor.
But now Ju Wu saw with his own eyes that every soldier in this military camp was guarding the gate, each wearing a pair of fine armor. The further inside, the more exquisite the armor on the soldiers became.
More importantly, when Ju Wu took a casual glance, he discovered nearly a hundred pairs of vests hanging to dry in the stables of the military camp.
The price of vests is more expensive than the armor worn by people, which is one of the reasons why the cavalry consumes money.
Taiyuan was rich and fertile, and the Qin army took advantage of it to farm, farm, raise and train their troops.
The Taiyuan Army brought a large number of horses and donkeys with them to transport supplies. Now it seems that it is not just a rumor.
This army is not an exhausted army, but an elite division full of fighting power.
It is not easy to support such an army. More importantly, to unleash the capabilities of this army requires a large amount of military talent.
But even though he had expected it, Ju Wu was still shocked by the financial and human resources of the Qin family along the way.
Ju Wu stepped into the camp, and the heat radiated from the roaring stove dispelled the cold air outside. Ju Wu took a closer look and saw that the leader was a man wearing a black hat.
Unlike the generals in the tent, he did not wear armor. When he saw Ju Wu coming, the young man had a smile on his face, not as cold and angry as the others.
"The State of Yan has broken its promise and now it comes to peace talks. What kind of idea does it have!"
Obviously, everyone in the Qin army was very angry about the assassination of the King of Qin, and they had no good impression of the people of Yan State.
"One day, if you step on Ji City, you will die without a burial place."
…
Amidst the cries of attack from the generals, Ju Wu's expression remained unchanged and he looked at the young man in black clothes.
Until he waved his hand gently, the crowded tent became silent.
Really?
A standing army, unlike a regular army, requires financial resources to maintain.
According to the information, these five thousand Taiyuan elite warriors were all funded by the Qin family.
In fact, the power of the Qin Kingdom's aristocratic clans is very complicated, but in recent years, as the older generation of clan leaders have gradually retired, more than half of the aristocratic clans' powers are headed by the man in front of them.
The leader of the clan, Hanyang Lord Zhao Shuang!
"Wang Jian defeated Wuyang, Li Xinding ordered Zhuo County, and one hundred thousand Yan troops were destroyed in the blink of an eye, while others fled. Does the Yan State have the capital to negotiate peace at this time?"
Zhao Shuang sat behind Shuai An, looked at the old man in front of him, Yan Dan's teacher, and asked softly.
"Although the Yan State is a small country, it still has a land of thousands of miles away. We are descendants of the Ji family after Zhao Gong, why are we not qualified?"
The detailed list of all the families in the seven kingdoms in the world was after the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty and enfeoffed them. Therefore, Ju Wu was certain that Zhao Shuang would not violate the etiquette among nobles.
At least, not in front of everyone.
"The State of Qin only agreed to peace talks after thinking that the Yan family was Duke Zhao. But what did you do? You assassinated people in public at a place of diplomatic relations. Is this what Duke Zhao taught you?"
"The sin of the ages lies with Yan Dan alone. Yan Dan was not angry at the cold treatment he received in Qin, so he committed the assassination. This was a personal grudge, not a national feud. My king is willing to hand over Yan Dan, and the Yan State can also hand over everything southwest of Jicheng land to appease the emperor’s anger.”
"Our army can capture this person Yan Dan; our army can capture the land of Dukang. Why do we need to borrow it from others?"
Yanwang Palace.
"Dan'er, you're back."
King Yan looked at his prince and spoke slowly.
In the past few days, battle reports came one after another from the front that Wuyang and Zhuoxian were defeated by the Qin army.
"Father!"
"Now the Qin army is at its peak, and our army is invincible. If we wait until the three Qin armies join forces and encircle Jidu, our Yan clan will probably be destroyed."
"What do you mean, father?"
"While the Qin army has not yet made peace, I and my ministers moved eastward to Liaodong to preserve the ancestral temple. I sent Ju Wu to negotiate for peace. I didn't expect anything to come out of the negotiation, but I just wanted to delay it for a while!"
"Father, we still have 40,000 troops, so it is not like this. What's more, the 100,000 troops on the front line were only defeated. As long as Jicheng is there and Wang Banner is there, the people of Yan State will not betray us."
King Yan waved his hand.
"The Great Wall has been broken, and the 100,000 troops are divided in various places, unable to respond to each other. You only see 40,000 of our troops, but you don't see the 100,000 Qin troops coming from Guanzhong at this time. Once the Qin army's backup arrives, just With these 40,000 people, can they stop it?"
"Father..."
Yan Dan wanted to persuade him again, but King Yan had already made up his mind.
"I and my ministers will leave Jicheng soon. You can lead your army and guard the rear!"
Yan Dan walked out of the palace and met Ju Wu who had just returned from his mission.
"Master!"
Ju Wu looked at Yan Dan with a complicated expression. He took a few steps forward, violated the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers, approached Yan Dan, and spoke softly.
"Prince, I am old and can't help you much anymore. If you want to do something, do it as soon as possible. Don't hesitate."
"Taifu, the king summons you."
Listening to the urging voice of the chamberlain, Ju Wu held Yan Dan's hand, his voice deep and meaningful.
"Hurry!"