Chapter 196: Horseshoes, Saddles, and Stirrups
The First Emperor grasped Afang's slender hand , shook his head, and indicated that there was no need to wipe it for him anymore.
Facing Ying Chengjiao's seemingly sincere eyes, the First Emperor's anger turned into thought.
"You have angered me again and again since you entered the palace. What are you planning? My mother wants to kill you, and I am trying to eliminate the trouble , but you want me to ignore it. Ah Fang is here, you need to explain the reason clearly."
"Isn't it clear what I said? It doesn't matter if I suffer a little injustice, but if my brother has bad personal ethics, then the Qin Dynasty will be finished!"
The First Emperor sneered.
"You're not that noble."
“…”
"Why don't you speak?"
Ying Chengjiao spread his hands and said helplessly: "I told the truth, but my brother doesn't believe me. What else does my brother want me to say? My brother is willing to be a beast and ignore the overall situation. What can I do?"
"You bastard!"
The anger that Ying Zheng had just suppressed was aroused again by Ying Chengjiao with just a few words.
Fortunately, the First Emperor had the Queen with him this time.
Afang held the hand of the First Emperor that was holding the sword, and squeezed it hard, and then naturally took over the topic.
"Uncle is thinking about your majesty and the Qin Dynasty, which is a blessing for the country. In this case, then we will do as uncle wishes."
"The emperor's sister-in-law is very righteous."
Ying Chengjiao bowed immediately.
The First Emperor wanted to speak out in opposition, but Afang held his hand tightly, so he shut his mouth and remained silent for the time being.
Afang said gently, "I heard from your majesty that your uncle used three magical tools that could condense three years into three months to quickly train a cavalry. I wonder which three tools they are?"
How did Zhao Xianglu tell this to others? Considering the emperor's warmongering personality, wouldn't he immediately send troops to the northwest?
Ying Chengjiao cursed in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged as he said naturally, "It's horseshoes, saddles, and stirrups."
After Ying Chengjiao mentioned the names of the three-piece cavalry suit, he tactfully explained to Afang the uses of the three-piece suit.
"Uncle, why didn't you take out this artifact earlier? With this artifact, your Majesty wouldn't have to fight so hard to unify the world."
Afang complained softly.
If the First Emperor said this, Ying Chengjiao would immediately retort - If I don’t want to give it to you, I won’t give it to you.
But since Afang was the spokesperson, Ying Chengjiao had no choice but to tell her the whole story.
"Even if the seven kingdoms were at war, my brother could have unified the country without horseshoes, saddles, or stirrups. Whether or not there were these three items would not have changed the outcome of Qin's unification of the country."
"But I will lose 200,000 fewer men!"
The First Emperor interjected angrily.
When Li Xin attacked Chu, even if he had the three-piece set of cavalry and ten Changping Juns and Changwen Juns rebelled, it would be of no avail.
Under the suppression of hard power, all efforts such as attacking from both sides or luring the enemy deep into their territory are in vain.
As soon as Ying Chengjiao heard what the First Emperor said, he became excited.
He slammed the table and glared at me, "Are you to blame me for that? Didn't I tell you that two hundred thousand was not enough? Didn't I tell you to be careful of the rebellion of Lord Changping and Lord Changwen? Didn't I tell you that only Wang Jian could lead this battle? You didn't believe it, and now you have the nerve to blame me?"
The First Emperor was furious, but he didn't know what to say.
At that time, the First Emperor appointed Li Xin as the main general and Meng Tian as the deputy general. The main and deputy generals were promoted to generals together and led 200,000 troops to attack Chu.
As soon as Ying Chengjiao heard the news, he immediately went to the palace to find the First Emperor and told him that this expedition would be doomed to failure.
It is said that Xiang Yan of Chu State is very powerful, and Li Xin is young and energetic, not as wise as Wang Jian, so Wang Jian is the only one who can win this battle.
Moreover, Lord Changping and Lord Changwen were originally from Chu and would definitely rebel.
By then, Li Xin and Meng Tian would be attacked from both sides, and the 200,000 soldiers and horses of the Qin Dynasty would be destroyed.
The First Emperor did not believe Ying Chengjiao, he had his own judgment.
First of all, Xiang Yan is indeed very powerful, but Li Xin is not weak either.
Li Xin of Qin and Li Mu of Zhao were uncle and nephew.
Lee for two people.
It's the same Lee.
If the Meng family to which Meng Tian belongs is a military family of the Qin State, then Li Xin, who has an uncle named Wu'an Jun, has a family background that is even stronger than Meng Tian's.
Li, who had studied military tactics since childhood, performed extremely well after Qin launched a war against the six states, and had outstanding performance in attacking Zhao and defeating Yan.
"The Strategies of the Warring States" records: Wang Jian led hundreds of thousands of troops to Linzhang and Ye, while Li Xin went out from Taiyuan and Yunzhong.
"Records of the Grand Historian" records: Qin general Li Xin pursued the King of Yan urgently, and then pursued Dan. He led several thousand soldiers to chase Yan Prince Dan into the Yan River, and finally defeated Dan. The First Emperor thought he was a wise and brave man.
Before leading the army to attack Chu, the representative of the old and strong faction of Qin State was naturally the famous general Wang Jian.
The representative of the young and vigorous faction was not Wang Ben, the son of Wang Jian, nor Meng Tian, the favorite of the King of Qin, but Li Xin.
Li Xin had a great reputation in the Qin State at that time, and he had a full conversation with the First Emperor all night, explaining in detail the methods of warfare. The First Emperor felt that Li Xin could completely defeat Xiang Yan and destroy the Chu State.
Secondly, the Changping Jun and Changwen Jun mentioned by Ying Chengjiao would never rebel at that time.
After Lu Buwei's death, these two were the first group of people to defect to the First Emperor and help him organize the government.
Apart from the leaderless Lu Buwei faction, there were two major forces in the Qin court at that time.
One is the Zhao clan’s in-laws, headed by Queen Mother Zhao Ji.
One is the Chu-based relatives, headed by Changping Jun and Changwen Jun.
Zhao Ji must have helped the First Emperor.
But no one could have imagined that Lord Changping and Lord Changwen had been secretly subdued by the First Emperor at some point, and had done their utmost to help him in sorting out the government.
The First Emperor reciprocated the favor by appointing the two men as left and right prime ministers respectively.
The two men had outstanding abilities in governance and made significant contributions to Qin's unification of the world, and were deeply trusted by the First Emperor.
How could the First Emperor believe Ying Chengjiao's statement that these two high-ranking officials , who were secretly the confidants of the First Emperor, still missed the State of Chu and would definitely rebel?
Because before the Central Plains, the world had always been divided under the Zhou Dynasty, and Qin, Zhao, Chu, Han and other countries all respected the Zhou emperor.
Therefore, there is not much difference between people from different countries in terms of mainstream thinking.
Most capable people at that time did not think that they would be citizens of the motherland when alive and ghosts of the motherland when dead.
But if I am not welcome here, there are other places that will welcome me.
Shang Yang, Zhang Yi, and Fan Ju.
None of these people who made an indelible and significant impact on the development of the Qin State was a Qin native.
So, when Lord Changping and Lord Changwen stabbed Li Xin in the back out of patriotism, the First Emperor just laughed it off.
Both of them grew up in Qin State, so how could they have such deep feelings for Chu State?
At that time, the First Emperor believed that Ying Chengjiao was seeking revenge.
Because the previous leader of the Chu faction was the Queen Mother Huayang, and the Queen Mother Huayang favored Ying Chengjiao the most and was Ying Chengjiao's backer, the Chu faction should have been Ying Chengjiao's faction.
Therefore, it was normal no matter how you looked at it that Ying Chengjiao had some complaints about Lord Changwen and Lord Changping.
Finally, the First Emperor said to Wang Jian at the court meeting, "You are old and have lost your vigor. You should go back and enjoy your retirement."
For the First Emperor, who felt he had won the victory, to go back on his word and bring Wang Jian back was naturally not a feasible option.
