Chapter 550: How did you lose this battle?
"It seems that the misunderstanding yesterday was as deep as the ocean. It is hard for the general to believe my enthusiasm."
Ying Chengjiao seemed to have made a great decision and let out a long sigh.
"Whatever!"
Han Xin shuddered in his heart, mistakenly thinking that the Second Emperor had run out of patience and was going to kill him just like he did yesterday. Cold sweat dripped down his back like rain and waterfalls.
Plop~
In the critical moment, he forgot everything others had taught him and only knew to kneel down to save his life.
Han Xin knelt in front of the Second Emperor, his face full of fear, and said anxiously:
"Your Majesty, if you have any orders, I will obey them. I don't have the slightest doubt about Your Majesty!"
He had no doubt that the Second Emperor was ruthless and merciless, as he had witnessed it with his own eyes last night. One second he was smiling and silently willing to spend all the national wealth to recruit him, and the next second he was ruthless and killed him.
He recalled his teacher's comment:
"This boy deceives the world with his appearance as a scoundrel, never shows his emotions, is scheming and acts shady, and is the opposite of Your Majesty."
After witnessing it with his own eyes, he just wanted to say that this was not the case of not showing emotions on one's face, this was the case of showing emotions completely on one's face, it just changed too quickly.
Han Xin, who was good at "attacking the heart", could not grasp the Second Emperor's mind. As long as the Second Emperor was present, he had no idea how the situation would develop next.
This long-lost unknown made the fear and panic that he had thought would never appear again in all these years burst out all at once, creating a great terror between life and death.
"Sir, please stand up quickly! How can you accept such a great honor? There is no etiquette of kneeling in Qin State. Sir, please don't do this again in the future."
Ying Chengjiao hurriedly pulled him up and spoke rapidly.
Han Xin just had the thought "If you ask me not to do this again in the future, it means I still have a future", but before the trace of joy appeared, it was suppressed. The King of Qin was unpredictable.
He still sat there trembling, and after expressing his submission, he prayed that the next step would not be a piercing of the center of his eyebrows.
"Sir, you are a disciple of Wei Zi, and you were ordered by Wei Zi to flee to Qi State, is that correct?"
The voice was as gentle as the breeze, falling into the heart and exploding the lake of heart.
Han Xin was shocked, truly terrified, as if he had seen a ghost.
Only his teacher and he knew that he was ordered to defect to the State of Qi. Even his uncle Huang Shigong didn't know about it. How could the King of Qin know about it?
Moreover, knowing that he was ordered by his master to surrender to Qi, did that mean he also knew the reasons? That night, the master and disciple talked about more than just this.
"Master Wei Ziyu, he is in Qin, and you are in Qi. No matter whether the six kingdoms win or Qin wins, one of you two will be able to ascend to a high position.
"It doesn't matter whether the world is ruled by the King of Qin, the King of Qi, or the King of Chu. It doesn't matter which country has the last laugh. Your status will not change."
Han Xin, who had lost his mind and expression from the very beginning and revealed his flaws, wanted to kneel down again.
The King of Qin was right. This was exactly why he became the general of Qi, and his teacher went to Wang Jian, and the master and disciple fought against each other in Qi.
No king would have a good impression of such a minister with double-minded thoughts.
Since ancient times, what kings value most is the word "loyalty", the loyalty of loyalty.
Which king can trust or be pleased with a minister who is disloyal, has two minds, and leaves a way out for himself?
Han Xin had long realized that Zhang Liang had reservations about him and could not fully trust him, but he did not dare to tell the real reason. If he did, he could dispel Zhang Liang's doubts, but he would lose the trust of the King of Qi.
Han Xin didn't know how to expose his lack of language skills. He could only smile bitterly and didn't know what to say.
This matter is known to heaven and earth, he knows it, and his teacher knows it. How could something that happened in Qi be known to the King of Qin who is thousands of miles away in Qin?
"Don't panic, sir."
Ying Chengjiao patted Han Xin's hands, which were as cold as ice, twice, signaling him to be at ease.
"Only you and Wei Zi should have known about this matter, but now I know it. If it wasn't you who said it, then who said it?"
Han Xin widened his eyes and said hesitantly:
"Yes, teacher?"
"Yes, that's exactly what Weizi said."
Ying Chengjiao nodded with a smile, and after noticing that Han Xin's tense mood had relaxed a little, he continued:
"Otherwise, how could I think so highly of you when we first met, when you are thousands of miles away? I have admired you for a long time, and my understanding of you is from the letters sent back by Wei Zi."
It makes sense, everything makes sense.
The doubts in Han Xin's mind were finally fully answered. It turned out that his teacher had already paved the way for him in Qin State.
He relaxed completely, no longer the tense zombie posture he had been, and respectfully asked the last question in his heart.
"Your Majesty wanted to kill Xin yesterday..."
With his teacher's guarantee, the King of Qin should not have killed him, but he was sure that if he had not answered well last night he would have died, and there was no joke between life and death.
Ying Chengjiao's smile did not diminish, but his tone became more serious, pointing at himself and saying:
"Sir, I am not a lieutenant, I am the emperor."
Han Xin nodded heavily.
Understood!
It is true that the teacher completely trusted him, but the King of Qin, who only knew him through letters, did not completely trust him. Thinking differently, he would do the same if he were the King of Qin.
Of course, it is best to kill a natural born general who is not only useless to me but also my enemy.
A wise man listens to what is said and the King of Qin did not say those hurtful words. The relationship between the two was relaxed and appropriate, and did not become tense.
It's always like this, don't say everything.
Leave a layer of window paper and don't tear your faces apart.
As long as you are not mortal enemies, you should not simply cut off all contact with each other. The adult world requires decency.
"Wei Zi presented the Wei Liao Zi to the former king, who reciprocated by making him the national commander, treating him just like the former king himself. His fief was the same as that of Wang Jian, Marquis of Wucheng, in the fertile land of Qi.
"The late king treated Wei Zi like a brother, and Wei Zi treated the late king like a confidant. Wei Zi will not betray Qin. I want you to go to Qi so that I and the generals of Qin can see your ability.
"There is no precedent in the Qin State for becoming a general overnight. If you don't get gilded by other countries, I can only make you a senior minister, but not a general, and you will not be accepted by the generals."
Civil officials in the Qin State could be appointed or replaced at will, and it was all decided by the emperor. If someone was lucky enough, like Zhou Qingchen, he could jump directly from a doctor to a prime minister, but this was not the case for military generals.
Every Qin general had real military exploits and achievements, and no one had ever been able to skip a level.
In the battle against the Huns, all members of the Han Dynasty participated, but in the end only Liu Bang and Fan Kuai became Qin generals, while Cao Shen and Xiahou Ying were not. It was precisely because of the extremely strict mechanism of judging military generals in the Qin State that every general was of 100% quality.
This is also one of the reasons why the Qin military generals were arrogant and domineering, looking down on others and not taking civil officials seriously.
What nine ministers and two prime ministers? Isn't it just a matter of a word from your majesty? General Naigong won the title by force!
Feng Quji's son Feng Jie was not proud of his father being the prime minister, but was proud of being a general. He wanted to go on a campaign to reach a higher level.
Li Si's eldest son Li You was unwilling to go into politics under his father's protection. He would rather start from a small soldier and go through life and death to become a military general.
The Qin Empire was full of martial virtues, from the two prime ministers to the common people.
Han Xin stood up, clasped his fists and bowed his head, following the etiquette taught by Li Xin.
No longer worried, he realized belatedly that the King of Qin, no, His Majesty, had always addressed the teacher as a respectful title, Wei Zi.
"I, Han Xin, a guilty minister, have been valued by the teacher. Your Majesty has not abandoned me and has recruited me as a general of Qin. I am willing to repay you with the whole world!"
Ying Chengjiao sat on the bed with a smile on his face.
"General Han, when you first enter Daqin, how many troops do you want to command? Ten thousand, or one hundred thousand?"
One hundred thousand troops were a watershed. Among the remaining generals in the Qin Empire who were trained and trained by the Qin Empire and were capable of commanding a hundred thousand troops in large-scale combat, there were only three: Wang Jian, Wang Ben, and Li Xin. Meng Tian had never commanded independently.
Han Xin naturally understood the reason behind this. After hearing the 102,000 words, he became even more certain that he was highly valued, and a sense of gratitude suddenly emerged in his heart.
In the Qin State, which was full of brave generals, the emperor asked him if he wanted to command an army of 100,000. Even if it was just talk, it made him more excited than being appointed as the general of Qi State.
The natural born general, who had regained his confidence and had the fate of Tan Lang and Qi Sha, curled his lips.
"If Your Majesty trusts me, we can return to Xianyang and wait for the battle report."
Ying Chengjiao admired the peerless sword in front of him that had been unsheathed and was showing its sharp edge. Some people should not have a sheath.
"Go on. I like your confidence. How many troops do you want to command?"
"As much as Qin has, I want to control as much as it has."
Han Xin exuded an air of "no one else can do this better than him". Although his waist was slightly bent, he seemed to be standing tall and proud, reaching the clouds in the sky.
"Han Xin commanded the army, the more the better."
The words were sincere, the tone was gentle, and the most wild words were said in the calmest language.
Ying Chengjiao did not accept the request. Han Xin, who was just one step away from defeating Li Xin, could become a general, but not a supreme general. His military achievements were not good enough to convince other generals.
In history, Han Xin could directly become the general of Han Dynasty, but not the general of Qin Dynasty.
Qin generals such as Meng Tian, Lian Po, Li Xin and Tu Sui were not like Cao Shen, Fan Kuai and Xiahou Ying who had just left Pei County and fought on the battlefield not long ago in history.
"You were able to defeat Li Xin because you knew Li Xin, but Li Xin didn't know you.
"After fighting many battles, the nature of your tactics will become more apparent, and the enemy will be able to respond accordingly. You must understand this principle.
"You can be crazy. People with ability can be crazy as much as they want. I hope you can keep being crazy. Don't be like a short-lived flower that only blooms for a moment.
"If you want to be a general like me, you can't rely on your words, you have to rely on your military achievements."
Han Xin thought that His Majesty's attainments in military strategy were truly extraordinary, and he could see through the essence of things at a glance. It seemed that what he did last night was indeed deliberate and not accidental.
The wild look on his face did not diminish as he responded:
"promise."
We should not "only" follow this line, this is also what Li Xin teaches.
Daliang City, Wei Palace, Hongshui Palace.
This palace was originally where King Bao of Wei slept on firewood and tasted gall, never forgetting the humiliation of losing his country. The smell of blood is still lingering in the air, and the ground still has red marks after being washed three times with clean water.
In the center of the palace is a large elm desk, on which is arranged sand, stones and water flows to create the terrain of the Battle of Deshui.
Meng Tian and Li Xin stood across a large case.
Meng Tian began to move the black stones that symbolized the Qin soldiers.
"You chatted with Han Xin for half the night last night. What did you talk about?"
Li Xin separated one third of the white stones, which symbolized Qi soldiers, and moved them behind a stone not far from Deshui, meaning that it was good to hide.
“Ask him to tell me what I did by the Deshui River, teach him some Qin etiquette, and tell him what your majesty dislikes.
"One thing is beyond my expectation. He is actually Wei Liao's student."
Meng Tian's expression changed.
"Wei Liao? Can a student of the military strategist who doesn't go to the battlefield teach such a skilled general?"
He scattered a few black stones on the bank of Deshui River, blocking the remaining white stones of Li Xin. These few black stones were more numerous than the white stones.
"This is a strange thing. What did His Majesty summon you to do just now? Can you tell me?"
Li Xin continued his work, reconstructing the movements of both sides in the Deshui battle. He recalled the conversation he had just had with the Second Emperor and felt that there was nothing to hide.
"Your Majesty asked me about Han Xin, and I was the one who talked most of the time. Your Majesty was a little surprised to hear that Han Xin was Wei Liao's student. Your Majesty thinks highly of Han Xin."
While the two of them were talking, their hands kept moving, and they had completely recreated the entire process of the battle of Deshui.
"I think highly of you, too."
Meng Tian looked at the sand table which had changed drastically, and told his younger brother about what the second emperor had asked him about before the rescue.
"I am afraid that you will be hurt, so His Majesty has not left since he arrived. He also specifically asked me not to tell me about this matter if you return victorious this time."
Li Xin opened his mouth and his eyes became moist again. Only now did he realize how much the Second Emperor cared about him.
Meng Tian and he have a life-long friendship, closer than brothers, so he would not lie to him.
He was a famous general, leading 10,000 cavalrymen to chase 3,000, but the second emperor suspected that he could not win. If he had not encountered this defeat, he would not be grateful after knowing it, but would have regarded it as a great shame.
Just like when Pele led Brazil to play against the Chinese national team, the Brazilian president was worried that Pele would not be able to win, so he borrowed Messi from Argentina to be ready as a substitute and reinforcement at any time. Isn't this an insult?
"Tian even swore to His Majesty that if he couldn't win, he would just kill him. Hey, you really have never fought before."
Li Xin looked ashamed and his face turned red with shame.
Meng Tian pointed at the sand table and continued:
"How did you lose this battle? Han Xin is desperate, why do you care about him? He is the one who should be worried because he has no food. You just wait for him to attack and try to persuade him to surrender every half an hour. And more."
Meng Tian picked up a stone, and behind the stone were one-third of white pieces.
"It's hard to see in the dark and easy to be ambushed. Why don't you send scouts to search the surrounding area? You can't see it from such a close distance. Are you blind?"
Meng Tian lost his compassion and scolded Li Xin mercilessly, causing him to feel so ashamed that he almost wanted to commit suicide.
Meng Tian really didn't understand how he could lose this battle.
He just heard Li Xin say that Han Xin explained:
"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: 'Throw it into a desperate situation and then it will survive; put it in a deadly situation and then it will live.' This is what it means to put it in a deadly situation and then it will live."
Bullshit! Excuse!
If you can still survive in a dead end, is it really a dead end? What is written in the book must be right? The art of war should be adapted to the time, place and people. If you use the art of war to your death, you'd better kill yourself as soon as possible!
"Brother Xin, it is such a shame to be used as a stepping stone to a higher position and take down the title of general!"
Meng Tian snorted coldly .
"You should remember this in your heart, and don't be like that shameless Liu Bang! Make great efforts in the campaign against Zhao, and make up for your crimes with meritorious service. Don't let others see my brother clearly!"
Li Xin nodded heavily.
"Brother is right, believe and follow my teachings!"
