My brother Ying Zheng, who dares to kill me?.

Chapter 942 This is all part of the coach's plan! There are always people who want to harm me!

Everyone is heading east, but I am heading west alone!
Leading fifty family soldiers and five hundred guards, Li Ke rushed westward like a lone boat breaking through the waves, against the fleeing Yan army.

After being interrogated countless times and dodging countless extremely excited Qi soldiers, Li Ke finally led the remaining 21 family soldiers to Wang Ben.

Wang Ben rode forward on his own initiative, bowed and said, "I am the deputy general of the Qin army, Ben, and I greet Lord Li!"

Li Ke stopped his horse not far in front of Wang Ben, looked at Wang Ben with complicated eyes and said, "I never thought that you and I would meet again so soon!"

"I never thought that we would meet again on the battlefield!"

"Is this also part of the coach's plan?"

Hearing Li Ke's words, Wang Ben knew that his scouts had done a very good job. All the spies that King Xi of Yan had sent to Li Ke had been killed by Qin's arrows, and only Li Ke's confidants were left by Li Ke's side!

Waving his hand to order his soldiers to disperse and block the surroundings, Wang Ben gave Li Ke a gentle smile: "This is all part of the commander's plan."

Li Ke's pupils slightly dilated as he murmured softly: "Commander, you really are carrying the throne of God!"

After the Battle of Xibanyu, Li Ke led his troops to flee as he said, and encountered an ambush by the Qin army as he said.

But Li Ke did not flee all the way north as he told King Yan, but was defeated in a battle and captured on the spot!

Li Ke originally thought that he would be escorted back to Xianyang City after this battle. If he was lucky, he could live as a commoner for the rest of his life. If he was unlucky, he might be beheaded as a sacrifice to the ancestors of the Qin State.

But Li Ke never expected that Wang Ben suddenly found him. Not only did he put armor on Li Ke, he also returned all of Li Ke's family soldiers and clansmen to Li Ke, and even made things convenient for Li Ke, helping Li Ke to find those defeated soldiers from his own unit who had been separated in the war!
More importantly, Wang Ben had no requirements for Li Ke!
Li Ke was worried and asked Qin many times what Wang Ben wanted him to do, but Wang Ben's answer was always the same.

This is part of the coach's plan, and I don't know the details!

Li Ke didn't know what Ying Chengjiao's plan was.

He only felt a strong sense of fear, worry and helplessness!

Wang Ben didn't want to talk about this any more, so he smiled and changed the subject, "I haven't seen you for a long time, Li Shangqing looks even more radiant!"

"I guess after Li Shangqing returned to his country, he was treated with great courtesy by the King of Yan?"

Li Ke bowed towards the direction of Linzi City and said gratefully: "It's all thanks to Lord Chang'an!"

"Lord Chang'an has sent me a letter, asking me to return to the Kingdom of Yan."

"Not only did Lord Chang'an gather the remaining soldiers for me, he also led me to encounter more than 40,000 Qi troops on the road. Only by bringing the surrendered soldiers as evidence can I be exempted from the guilt of defeat and even be valued by the King of Yan!"

"If it weren't for Lord Chang'an's trust, I would have died under the sword of the King of Yan!"

Wang Ben asked in surprise: "Why is it so?!"

"The King of Yan is still a king after all, and it is said that the King of Yan treats his subjects with great courtesy, which has attracted many righteous men to join him."

"When the Crown Prince of Yan was in Qin, he was generous and kind to his subordinates, and would not punish them severely even if they made mistakes."

"Maybe Li Shangqing has wrongly accused the King of Yan!"

Wang Ben seemed to be kind enough to speak well of Prince Xi of Yan, but this really magnified the slight dissatisfaction that Li Ke had towards Prince Xi!
Li Ke said bitterly: "General Wang does not understand the King of Yan!"

"If I return to the camp alone, I will be attacked by swords and axes!"

"After I am killed, the King of Yan will wail and blame himself, bury me with honor, and promote my descendants."

"But why should I be treated with such courtesy?"

First, they were punished with beatings or beheadings, and then they had to write a personal letter to confess their sins and promise to repent, and to give a generous burial to their loyal ministers and their descendants.

Li Ke was very familiar with King Xi of Yan's procedures!

To others, King Xi of Yan at least gave the deceased mourning honors and also vigorously promoted the deceased's descendants.

But in Li Ke’s opinion, what’s the use of funeral honors?

Li Ke just wants to live!

Wang Ben looked surprised and shook his head repeatedly in astonishment, saying, "I never thought that the King of Yan would be such a king!"

"It seems that Li Shangqing must have suffered a lot of grievances when he entered Yan!"

"If I had known this earlier, I would have advised the commander not to send Li Shangqing to Yan again!"

Wang Ben did not take advantage of Li Ke's criticism of King Xi of Yan to praise Ying Zheng, but simply showed appropriate surprise.

Just by looking at Wang Ben's expression, Li Ke knew that Wang Ben must have never encountered similar treatment, and might not even have seen anything like it!
For a moment, Li Ke's envy of Wang Ben reached a new level, and he forced a smile and said, "No problem."

"I think all this is within Changan Jun's plan."

"Now that I can represent the Yan army as an envoy to the Qin army, it is enough to show that I have overcome this difficulty and gained the trust of the King of Yan. I will definitely be able to fulfill the orders of Lord Chang'an!"

Wang Ben nodded in agreement and said, "What Li Shangqing said is very true!"

"It's a pity that the commander-in-chief is not in the army, so I can't answer Lord Li Shang in front of the battlefield."

"Otherwise, based on the commander's ability, I will definitely lend a helping hand to Lord Li!"

Li Ke couldn't hold back his smile, and his face even turned a little green.

He suddenly realized a problem. He had just left the Qin army camp a few days ago, so he knew very well that Ying Chengjiao was not in the army, and he had never considered the possibility of answering Ying Chengjiao in front of the battle line.

But can King Xi of Yan be sure that Ying Chengjiao is not in Du Kang?
he can not!
Did King Xi of Yan ever consider that if Ying Chengjiao was in the Qin army, Li Ke would be cursed by Ying Chengjiao before the battle? !
I guess he has considered it.

It was precisely because he had considered this that he allowed Li Ke, who had just escaped from Yan Army after going through numerous hardships, to go on a diplomatic mission to Qin Army on behalf of Yan Army without even a moment's rest!
In an instant, Li Ke's heart was colder than a corpse that had been dead for three days.

My grandfather served in Yan, my father-in-law died in battle for Yan, and I myself have worked hard for Yan all my life. This time, I brought back more than 40,000 Qi troops for Yan.

Why do you treat me like this?
The originally shaky scale in Li Ke's heart began to slide towards one end at an accelerated speed!
Taking a deep breath to suppress the sadness in his heart, Li Ke bowed solemnly and said, "Thank you, General Wang, for your enlightenment."

"My attitude in accepting the king's order to go to the Qin army is too relaxed. It may make the king of Yan suspect that I have already confirmed that Chang'an Jun is not in the army, and then doubt what I said."

"When I return to the Yan army, I will make amends to prevent the King of Yan from becoming suspicious!"

Wang Ben showed a look of surprise on his face, and then he nodded as if he suddenly came to his senses and said, "This matter is indeed easy to neglect."

"No wonder the commander has so much trust in Lord Kuri. Lord Kuri is much more meticulous than I am!"

Li Ke said sincerely: "How can I be compared with General Wang?"

"General Wang suddenly attacked the King of Yan when he was least prepared, causing the King of Yan to panic and anxiously order me to come and ask for peace with Qin."

"The King of Yan is willing to give the entire area south of Jicheng, Lishicheng, Jicheng, and Changcheng to Qin in exchange for a truce between the two countries!"

Wang Ben was really shocked this time: "What?!!!"

Wang Ben himself knew very well what the core demand of the Qin Dynasty was in this war.

Fight a war of attrition with Dai, Yan and Qi for a year or so in the Du Kang area, consume as much of the three countries' military strength and national power as possible so that the three countries will have no strength to fight again, and buy time for Daqin to develop national strength and train officials!

The so-called attack on Dai, weakening Yan, and destroying Qi were just excuses for the three kingdoms not to surrender! How come during the war, King Xi of Yan wanted to give away land to Qin?

The resettlement of Qi has caused the court officials in the rear to scratch their heads. If all the territory south of Jicheng is taken back by Qin, the court officials in the rear will probably cry to death!

Li Ke nodded in agreement and said, "General Wang and I share the same thoughts."

"Now that Qi is dead and Dai is gone, Yan is alone and can hardly stand alone. It is at its weakest moment, but Great Qin has gained an absolute advantage."

"Furthermore, Yan State sent troops to attack Qin again after repeatedly asking for peace. It should pay a higher price in order to regain peace!"

Wang Ben’s heart was about to break.

Don't just think you can empathize with me so easily!
Do I have to follow in Chang'an Jun's footsteps and be forced to expand the territory for the Qin Dynasty?
Help me, help me, help me!
Li Ke became more and more certain as he spoke: "Based on my understanding of the King of Yan, the King of Yan's bottom line is far from this."

"As long as the Qin army continues to chase the Yan army, or even launches a charge towards the center of the Yan army, I will be able to ask the King of Yan to cede all the areas south of Juyang (around Shilipu, the capital), Juyongsai (Juyongguan), and Wuzhongcheng (around Jizhou, Tianjin) to Qin!"

The more Wang Ben listened, the more panicked he became.

Just ceding all the territory south of Jicheng to Qin was already terrifying.

As a result, how come the price of this ceded territory continues to rise?
The Prime Minister, the National Commandant and others could not vent their anger on Chang'an Jun, but they had no scruples about venting their anger on me!
It's bad! There are always villains who want to harm me!

Wang Ben's brain raced frantically, and after a long while he spoke slowly, "Shangqing Li's heart has returned to Qin, so I should not deceive Shangqing Li."

"As soon as I heard that the Dai army had broken camp, I ordered the main force of our army to break camp."

"At lunchtime yesterday (7:00), the main forces of our army had all left Dukang and returned to support the country, leaving only more than soldiers and horses here to pretend to be the main force."

Li Ke looked back at the soldiers behind him in disbelief and asked, "Are those soldiers all the souls that Chang'an Jun called back from the underworld?"

Wang Ben's forehead showed two black lines, and he said in a deep voice: "The soldiers attacking Yan are all Qi troops!"

Li Ke straightened his back in shock and asked in a lost voice: "How is this possible!"

Wang Ben said calmly: "This is the fact!"

Looking at Wang Ben's sincere eyes, it took Li Ke a long time to accept this horrible fact!

Li Ke became increasingly pessimistic about the future of Yan State!
Wang Ben continued, "After the Qi army came under the command of our Great Qin, their combat power has skyrocketed, but after all, they have never been trained and reorganized, so there is still a certain gap between them and the Yan army."

"Therefore, what Li Shangqing just said is impossible to achieve."

Li Ke sighed with regret: "What a pity!"

Wang Ben smiled and said, "It's not a pity."

"It's just a few hundred miles of territory, and the commander doesn't take it seriously."

Li Ke choked when he heard this.

That’s hundreds of miles of territory!

Who would not take it seriously... Well, Chang'an Jun, who had swallowed up thousands of miles of territory in just a few years, was indeed qualified to ignore hundreds of miles of territory.

Wang Ben continued, "It's not just the territory south of Juyang, Juyongsai, and Wuzhong City that is not taken seriously by the commander-in-chief."

"The territory south of Jicheng, Lishicheng, Jicheng, and Changcheng is not taken seriously by the commander."

"In the commander's opinion, rather than gaining more than a hundred miles of territory for our Great Qin, it would be better to use these territories as baggage for Li Shangqing to enter Yan!"

Li Ke's heart trembled, and he asked in shock and trepidation: "What do you mean, General Wang?"

Li Ke had already guessed what Wang Ben meant.

But unless Wang Ben said this himself, Li Ke would not dare to believe it!

Wang Ben said in a gentle voice: "Under the strong lobbying of Li Shangqing, our Great Qin is willing to accept the proposal of Qin and Yan to cease fighting, and Yan does not need to cede territory. We only need Yan to give our Great Qin money, food, cloth, and people."

"As for how much you want specifically?"

"Li Shangqing knows Yan's national conditions better, so it should be Li Shangqing who makes the decision."

Li Ke's eyes turned red: "This, this, this!"

"This is inappropriate!"

"If this alliance is run properly, Qin will gain 300 miles of territory!"

"How can you give up such a great benefit for a defeated general like me?"

Li Ke always believed that the Qin army released him back to Yan State in order to use his identity to make profits for Qin State.

Li Ke thought this was normal and was ready for the transaction.

But Li Ke never expected that instead of letting Li Ke fight for the interests of Qin, Qin State gave up the interests of Qin State to support him, Li Ke!
Is this reasonable?

This is unreasonable!
Wang Ben looked at Li Ke sincerely and firmly and said, "This is part of the coach's plan!"

This simple sentence suppressed all of Li Ke's doubts and confusion.

Is this also part of Changan Jun’s plan?

Is this plan beneficial to the Qin State? Is it beneficial to Chang'an Jun? Is it beneficial to the Qin army?

From the perspective of an outsider like Li Ke, none of them!

The one who can benefit the most from this plan is Li Ke!

Tears flowed down Li Ke's cheeks, and he cried with gratitude: "Chang'an Jun is willing to give up 300 miles of territory just to make my way to Yan more smooth?!"

"How could I be so worthy of Lord Chang'an's trust and support?"

With this achievement, Li Ke even dared to dream of becoming the prime minister!

Li Ke didn't understand why he was worth Ying Chengjiao paying such a huge price.

But Li Ke knew that Ying Chengjiao had indeed given Li Ke more than 300 miles of territory as a stepping stone for advancement!

Wang Ben looked at Li Ke with envy and said, "I don't know why the commander treats Li Shangqing so well."

"I only know that Li Shangqing has been valued by the King of Yan for this achievement, and he has the full support of Chang'an Jun in Qin."

"I really envy Lord Kurisaki's situation!"

Li Ke felt even warmer in his heart, and he bowed loudly towards the direction of Linzi City: "Lord Chang'an did not regard me as a despicable and incompetent official, nor did he abandon me as a defeated general, and gave me generous gifts."

"I don't know how to repay you, I can only answer with loyalty and righteousness!"

The shaky scale deep in Li Ke's heart suddenly fell down!

(End of this chapter)