Qishan.

Qishan is not just a mountain.

There is a plain south of Qishan. Since it was the place where the Zhou Dynasty made its fortune, the name of this plain is "Zhouyuan".

Here, the Zhou tribe, which was once chased by the Quanrong, settled down and gained recognition and protection from the powerful Shang Dynasty in the Eastern Central Plains through submission and marriage. It took advantage of the most difficult period and developed and strengthened. Finally, when King Zhou of Shang used troops to the Dongyi year after year, the Shang Dynasty was greatly reduced, and the troops were empty, and the Shang Dynasty was replaced.

But that is all in the past. Not to mention the Zhou tribe moving eastward, even the Zhou Dynasty and Shang Dynasty had already passed, and the Qin ruled here for five hundred years. Everything that the Zhou people had left here had gone with the wind and rain of the years.

Now, this is a place where two groups of Qin and Zhao have a total of 200,000 troops.

The barracks of both sides were built on the plains by mountains and rivers. Countless flags were waving in their respective camps, and red and black colors were separated by the land, clearly distinguishing them.

Le Yi stood quietly on the chariot, staring at the Qin army slowly emerging from outside the camp, and his mouth slightly twitched: "Bai Qi is still so anxious..."

Le Yi withdrew his gaze and said to the many Zhao army generals around him: "The Qin people are about to launch an attack, so go down and prepare."

Le Yi did not take the initiative, and there was no need for him.

When Bai Qi's army came out of the old way and entered Guanzhong, both Bai Qi and Le Yi understood their respective ideas very well.

The Qin army not only needed a victory, but also a victory with the shortest possible time.

As for the Zhao army, they only need to stick to it, because defending it will not only cause problems in the Qin army's logistics, but also a stable Guanzhong can make the Zhao State's battle on the main battlefield of the Central Plains smoother.

What Bai Qi wants is to win, while Le Yi only needs stability.

To some extent, this is actually an unfair war, but there is never any fairness in the war.

On this sunny spring morning, on the Zhouyuan on the south bank of Qishan, the Qin army began to launch its first large-scale offensive towards the Zhao army camp.

The Qin army's offensive was not only on the front line, but also on the rear.

In Xianyang City, Lin Xiangru frowned at the memorials from the local officials in front of him.

In just three days, riots of more than 500 people broke out in ten counties in Guanzhong, and two of them were even taken down by the rebel Qin people.

Lin Xiangru was silent for a long time, sighed and rubbed his temples.

In fact, Lin Xiangru was most worried about this matter in the past six months. In order to prevent future rebellions from the Qin people, Lin Xiangru has invested a lot of energy in it. Now it seems that this strategy is not very successful.

Several officials stood in front of Lin Xiangru and asked uneasy: "Lin Qing, how should we reply to the following counties now?"

Lin Xiangru calmed down and said, "Can't the local county soldiers organize their encirclement?"

The official said: "Of course it is OK, but the general was transferred some of the troops during the recruitment. If the transfer continues, the Chunfen staff will be insufficient, and... the loyalty of these county soldiers is also a problem."

Lin Xiangru nodded slightly, thought for a while and said, "Your worries are certainly understandable, but your eyes are a little short-sighted. Although there are indeed many old and young people in Qin who have chosen to rebel, not every Guanzhong person wants to return to Qin's arms. The king had already given instructions to us when he left Guanzhong, asking us to unite the majority of the people in Guanzhong to attack those small groups of people who have suffered losses in our reforms to Guanzhong."

"Those who have lost their land and titles certainly want to return to the embrace of Qin, but what about the people of Guanzhong who have obtained land and lived a better life in our reform? Many of these people are the lower-class slaves, prisoners and commoners who were still in Guanzhong when Qin was still in Guanzhong. Will these people hope that the order of Qin people will return again? We must believe in such people and promote the harm of the Qin people's comeback to them. Although they are simple people, they are not fools. They must mobilize their power and make them our power. Do you understand?"

"Also, we have so many officials in Guanzhong. Are they all decorations? After they have been working in the local area for so long, the local people cannot feel it at all? The king said, 'The king is for the boat and the people, and the water can carry the boat and the boat can also overturn the boat'. I believe that as long as our officials really do things, neither the people of Guanzhong nor the people of Handan will disappoint us. Of course, the common people are not nobles, but they have eyes and emotions. They do not understand any military and national affairs, but they know better who is good to him. This is enough. Do you understand?"

After Lin Xiangru finished speaking, several officials from Zhao State thought about it and took the orders to retreat.

After everyone left, Lin Xiangru remained silent for a long time and breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, another official stepped in and whispered: "Lin Qing, there seems to be some people in Xianyang that are not at ease recently."

Unlike other officials, the official's expression looked quite sinister and cold, and it looked quite unpleasant.

Because he comes from the Foreign Intelligence Department, he was once a member of the spy lurking in Qin State of Zhao State.

After Zhao State occupied Guanzhong, these people joined the Zhao State Lieutenant system and became the eyes and ears for supervising the livelihood of local officials.

In the past six months, this group of people have killed the most. Even in the Zhao bureaucratic system in Xianyang City, many people have taken a detour when they see them.

Lin Xiangru nodded slightly and said, "Is there any evidence?"

The official said: "Not yet, but there are some clues."

Lin Xiangru said: "Where are the clues coming from?"

The official said: "It's all some relatively large families."

Lin Xiangru smiled and said, "I understand, you need to get my orders to investigate them."

The official nodded and said, "That's right."

Lin Xiangru's smile slowly calmed down and said, "You have identified these big families and are loyal to Da Zhao, aren't they?"

The official said: "One time and another time, now that the Qin army returns to Guanzhong, it will inevitably make some people have illusions. If they ignore it, Xianyang may have a big mess."

Lin Xiangru was silent for a moment and stamped his own seal on the application handed over by the official: "Remember, before my order, you can only investigate secretly and not arrest anyone publicly, do you understand?"

"Here."

After the officials retreated, Lin Xiangru shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"It's not easy to live in Xianyang."

Qin State, Chengdu.

The King of Qin, Wei Ran, Marquis of Rang, and Mi Rong, the King of Xincheng, sat in the hall.

Wei Ran said: "Based on the information just sent back, Bai Qi had already met the troops led by Le Yi and were under Qishan. If we calculate from time to time, the battle should have begun."

Mi Rong, the new city Jun, twisted his body uneasyly.

The three people present knew the significance of this battle to Qin. If Qin could successfully counterattack and regain Guanzhong, then they would have the qualifications to continue playing against Zhao in this game of chess that would dominate the world, and otherwise they would be eliminated.

Although I had been mentally prepared for a long time, the hall was still quiet for a moment.

The King of Qin said, "What else did Bai Qi say?"

Wei Ran said: "Some people were deceived by Zhao State and voluntarily became lackeys of Zhao State."

The King of Qin nodded slightly and said, "There are always some people with soft bones in this world, so it's okay. If you take them back, you'll kill them after they're taken back to Guanzhong in the future."

Mi Rong, the Xincheng Jun, listened to the conversation and sighed in his heart.

Needless to think about it, when the Zhao army entered Guanzhong, they must have killed a group of people who were loyal to Qin. Now, Qin has to fight against Guanzhong and kill another group of people who are loyal to Zhao. How many people can be left in Guanzhong?

In the north of the Guanzhong Plain, swimming in the Jing River, about twenty or thirty miles south of Ganquan Mountain and Shimen Mountain, there is a small town called Yunyang City.

Yunyang City is a county town, and it is also the county seat of Yunyang County.

The official sent here by Zhao State was named Zhao Zhou. He was just 30 years old this year. Although he was also a member of the Zhao family, his ancestors could still be traced back to the former Jin State Supreme Minister Zhao Shuai, and it was a relationship that could not be fought even with the current Zhao State Duke.

Zhao Zhou was from Handan. After the establishment of the Zhao Academy, he became a Confucian scholar. Due to his excellent grades, he was recommended to Guanzhong as an official by the Confucian sacrificial wine in the Zhao Academy.

In the past six months, Zhao Zhou has been an official in Yunyang County and has achieved remarkable political achievements.

Because it was recently in spring plowing, Zhao Zhou often went down to the villages below in person. Many times he was very tired after going out early and came back late, and he slept particularly deep when he was sleeping.

On this day, Zhao Zhou was awakened from his sleep.

Several Yunyang City officials suddenly rushed into Zhao Zhou's bedroom and pulled Zhao Zhou up in scrupulous manner.

"County Master, run away quickly! Otherwise it will be too late!"

This sentence immediately dispelled Zhao Zhou's sleepiness. He opened his eyes wide in surprise: "What's wrong?"

An official with Zhao Zhou who is very close to him on weekdays said: "County Master, the Li and Chen families have rebelled. They have taken the banner of rebelling against Zhao and restoring Qin, and have entered the county town!"

"What?" Zhao Zhou was shocked: "I came back from the Chen village a few days ago. The old patriarch of the Chen family had a great chat with me. He rebelled in just a few days?"

The subordinates interrupted Zhao Zhou in a hurry: "County Master, it's not the time to say this now. Half of the county town is from the Li and Chen clans. If you don't leave now, it's really too late."

Zhao Zhou's face changed. He swept the officials in front of him and suddenly said to two of them: "Aren't you the Li and Chen clans people? Why do you appear here?"

The two subordinates looked at each other, and one of them gritted his teeth and said, "Although the county master is from Zhao, we have been working hard for the people of Yunyang for more than half a year. As subordinates, we can't interfere in the tribe affairs, but we cannot see the county master tragically die here."

The other person also said: "Please leave in the county magistrate, otherwise it will be too late to wait until my patriarch leads the young and strong people to fight."

Zhao Zhou took a deep breath and suddenly said, "I won't leave."

Several officials were shocked and spoke out to dissuade them.

Zhao Zhou shook his sleeves and said in a deep voice: "Since I have appointed an official here for the king, I am the herdsmen here. If I only know how to flee in a hurry when something happens, how can I be worthy of the king's trust in me, and the benevolence, righteousness and etiquette system taught to me by my teacher!"

A quarter of an hour later, hundreds of young and strong men waving weapons and farm tools, shouting various slogans of "killing Zhao Zhou", "killing Zhao people" and "restoring the Qin Dynasty", rushed into the lobby of the official residence in Yunyang County.

As soon as they entered the lobby, many young and strong men were suddenly surprised and subconsciously made a light voice.

In the lobby, Zhao Zhou, the magistrate of Yunyang County, was wearing official uniforms and was powerful without anger. More than a dozen subordinates stood on both sides with a high aura.

As the saying goes, the common people are inferior to others when they meet officials. Although these young and strong people have already made up their minds to rebel in advance, they still feel a little timid when they meet the county magistrate Zhao Zhou at the time of the incident.

Before they could speak, Zhao Zhou said calmly: "Now it is spring plowing. If you don't farm well in the fields and trespass the county magistrate's lobby, what crime should you know?"

Many young and strong looked at each other.

Suddenly, someone in the young and strong said, "Aren't we here to kill Guan Zhao? Now he is in front of him and just kill him directly. Why do you need to talk nonsense to him?"

The young and strong began to stir up and gradually moved forward.

Zhao Zhou sneered and suddenly raised his tone: "Do you want to be implicated by the whole family when you are in trouble today?"

The crowd suddenly calmed down.

Zhao Zhou continued: "Where are you in charge of the affairs? Mr. Li and Mr. Chen, now, don't you even have the courage to come out to meet him?"

A path suddenly broke out among the crowd, and two father-in-laws, who were both over 60 years old, walked out slowly.
To be continued...