The Great Qin Empire

Under the scorching sun, the two headed west at high speed, and entered the mountain from a gentle abandoned pass at the southern foot of Luliang Mountain in more than an hour.

Although the mountain road is small, it is easy to pass. Li Zhao is actually very familiar with the mountain path hidden in the dense forest. With him leading the way, there is no need to distinguish the direction at all. Even Qin Yang, who often goes in and out of the tropical rainforest, Some felt inferior, which surprised Qin Yang.

"Brother can always bring me too many surprises." Qin Yang thought secretly.

After passing Luliang Mountain, Li Zhao found an inaccessible path at the bottom of the valley in the Sanchuan River Valley. The two of them went up the river all the way. It’s Lishi Fortress (Note [-]).”

Qin Yang was overjoyed when he heard the words, because it was only fifty miles away, and it was on the east flatland of Yimapingchuan. The two of them galloped with their horsepower, and they could reach it in less than half an hour. If all went well, they could pass the stone bridge of Lishi Fortress before dark After crossing the big river, there will be no natural barriers to go north to Jiuyuan.If it weren't for Li Zhao leading the way, it would take at least four hundred miles to make a big turn.

Moreover, in Qin Yang's memory, history books have many records of the importance of this Lishi Fortress: Lishi Fortress was built next to a river, and the big river was sandwiched by two mountains here. There is only one large stone bridge leading directly to Hexi, which is one of the two large river stone bridges up and down thousands of miles. That is to say, it was the only passage to cross the river from east to Hexi at that time.

In terms of location, less than 300 miles to the northeast of Lishi Fortress is Jinyang, an important town in Zhao State; more than [-] miles to the southeast is Pingyang, an important town in the north of Wei State (Note [-]). The region naturally became the barrier and foundation of the northern part of Wei State.Although Lishi Fortress is only a small castle, it is a gateway stuck in the upper reaches of the river!With Lishi in hand, he can threaten Zhao and Zhongshan from the east, and cross the river from the west to threaten Qin.In the later period of Marquis Wen of Wei, Wu Qi used Pingyang as the first springboard and Lishi Fortress as the second springboard to cross the big river, and fought with Qin State in Hexi for three years, taking all the land in Hexi for thousands of miles.Therefore, at the end of the Warring States period, before the rise of the Qin State, the Lishi Fortress was the most important military fortress of the Wei State east of the Dahe, and it was also like a sharp sword hanging over the Qin State.

In order to get rid of this sharp sword hanging over his head, Qin State started the war to recover Hexi since Qin Xiangong in 366 BC.Although generation after generation of powerful old Qin people fought bloody battles and died incessantly, they did not take the slightest advantage in front of the mighty Wei State due to their weak national strength.After Qin Xiaogong reused Shang Yang's reforms, the national power soared, and the two monarchs and ministers have been planning to launch another war to recover Hexi and seize Lishi Fortress.In 341 BC, the opportunity finally came. Wei's 10 army was completely wiped out in the Battle of Maling. Qin took the opportunity to attack Hexi the next year, defeated the Wei army, and captured Wei's general, son An.In 339 BC, the Qin army crossed the river from Pangcheng to attack again, defeated Wei Yuanjun at Anmen (Note 332), and captured the general Wei Cuo.In the same year, Qin Xiaogong died, and King Qin Huiwen succeeded to the throne, and he reused Wei Rengong Sun Yan.In 4.5 BC, King Huiwen of Qin appointed Gongsun Yan (rhinoceros head) as Daliang Zao, and led his army to attack Diaoyin, an important place in Wei Shangjun (Note [-]). After two years of fierce fighting, the Wei army was defeated and [-] were beheaded. captured.The State of Wei was forced to return all the remaining parts of the Hexi area to the State of Qin the following year.So far, Qin has recovered all the Hexi area occupied by Wei, and the Lishi Fortress has also fallen into Qin's hands.

After Qin regained the Hexi area, it did not stop attacking Wei.In 3) B.C., the two routes of Qin sent troops. The north route was based on Hexi, relying on Lishi Fortress to attack the east of Weihe River, and occupied Fenyin (Note 15); , captured Quwo (Note 36), and went straight to the Great Wall of Wei Xiaoshan. Wei sought peace and dedicated all [-] counties of Shangjun to Qin.That is to say, it took Qin State [-] years from the beginning of the battle to the recovery of Hexi and the capture of the Lishi Fortress. It can also be seen from this that the important position of the Lishi Fortress.So far, Qin has fully grasped the natural dangers of the Yellow River, controlled the main route eastward to the Central Plains, established a strategic dominant position in one fell swoop, and laid the foundation for unifying the world.

So Qin Yang was looking forward to seeing the majestic and majestic appearance of Lishi Fortress.But when the two of them arrived in front of Lishi Fortress, Qin Yang was a little disappointed.The majestic city tower is still there, and the black flag of the Qin army is still flying. What is surprising is that there are very few soldiers of the Qin army guarding the fortress. The few soldiers who opened peripheral cards tens of feet below the city tower have long lost their energy under the scorching sun. , just embarrassing those passers-by for no reason.

Seeing such a situation, Qin Yang's eyes were faintly filled with anger.

"Brother, Lishi Fortress is said to be a battleground for military strategists. When did it become like this?" Qin Yang asked abruptly.

"Hehe, it is now and then. The world has been unified for ten years, there has been no war for a long time, and Lishi is in the heart of the empire, and it is common for military equipment to be slack. What's more, the first emperor confiscated people's power unscrupulously. How could these soldiers be aware of the danger? If not, I would still let you and I cross the river here?" Li Zhao replied disapprovingly.

"It's really unreasonable! Is there no one to care about?" Qin Yang became even more angry.

"Who is in charge? The first emperor? The county guard? Can they manage this place? It is the guard of the Lishi Fortress who is in charge. No, you have seen it too. This is the result." Li Zhao said to Qin Yang was somewhat puzzled by his inexplicable anger.

"This……"

"Hey, those two, what are you mumbling about? Could it be the secret work of the nobles of the old Six Kingdoms?" Qin Yang's words fell silent, and a soldier who set up a card not far away saw the two walking and talking all the way, and became suspicious in his heart. When asked about the two, they were charged with a big crime.

"You..." Qin Yang was already angry in his heart, but now he saw that the soldier was so unreasonable, his face darkened

It is necessary to theory with it.

"Haha, my brother and I are just going to Hexi to do some chores. I can't bear the name of careful work! This military lord, please help me." Li Zhao winked at Qin Yang, and hurriedly snatched Qin Yang away Talk stubble.

"I think you and the two of you are cunning and smart!" The soldier refused to let go, and his words gradually became fierce.A few soldiers nearby also slowly gathered around upon hearing the sound.

"Master, please calm down. I had a double-sided relationship with your general Zhao Wu. If you don't believe me, you can report it to General Zhao. He can prove our innocence. ... This is a trivial matter, everyone, buy some wine. Seeing that the momentum was wrong, Li Zhao hurriedly took out a piece of lujin worth two taels and handed it to the soldier who spoke.

"Oh? General Zhao's old acquaintance?...Well, okay, let's go, let's go." When the soldier saw the gold, his eyes lit up, and he didn't try to verify whether the person in front of him really had a relationship with his general. Old, just let it go.

Seeing this absurd scene, Qin Yang's eyes were about to bleed.If Li Zhao hadn't pulled him up and left, maybe he wouldn't even be able to move.

"If you don't repair your military equipment, don't guard the passes, have no military discipline and regard money as your life, is this the mighty army of the Qin Empire who ruled the world? Emperor Shihuang, Emperor Shihuang, look at it, you pursue perfection in everything, but you never Thinking about these details, remembering the external troubles but forgetting the internal troubles." Thinking of the coming storm at the end of Qin Dynasty, Qin Yang was so depressed that he almost wanted to cry without tears.

It wasn't until the two of them crossed the stone bridge of Lishi Fortress and arrived at Hexi, that Qin Yang asked Li Zhao, "Brother, you are well-informed. How many Qin troops in the empire have a corrupt military discipline like Lishi Fortress?"

"That's not much."

"Do you know the guard named Zhao Wu in Lishi Fortress? It's really a raging army, a raging army!"

"Well, I've met him twice, just a money-grubbing and lustful person. It is said that he is a distant nephew of the first emperor's servant Zhao Gao."

"Ah? Is that so?" Qin Yang was thoughtful.

"Why do brothers pay so much attention to the Qin Army? Is that brother a general of the Qin Army?" Seeing that Qin Yang was very interested in the Imperial Army, Li Zhao was a little puzzled, so he asked back.

"Hehe, my younger brother is not a general of the Qin army, I just express my feelings, brother, don't doubt it." Although Qin Yang really didn't want his elder brother Li Zhao to be involved in his own affairs, he felt that he was cheating the frank and frank Li Zhao. It's really wrong, and I can't help but feel embarrassed when I speak.

Li Zhao was a sophisticated man, when he saw Qin Yang's expression was wrong, he knew something was wrong, but he didn't point it out.He felt that when he should know his brother's secret, he would naturally let him know, and there was no need for him to make things difficult for him.So he just smiled and said, "That's very good. Now we can reach Yulin in about two hours with fast horses, rest there for one night, and go straight to Jiuyuan tomorrow morning. It is less than six hundred miles to Jiuyuan. No problem, you can go to Jiuyuan before the end of the hour at most!"

Qin Yang's blood was almost boiled by Li Zhao's understanding. He smiled gratefully at Li Zhao, stopped talking, and galloped forward.

"Haha, brother, wait for me..."

This is where the brotherhood begins!

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Note [-]: Today, Lishi District, Luliang City, Shanxi Province.A stone bridge was built in the fort to connect the two banks of the Yellow River.According to historical records, Qin Xiaogong passed through the Battle of Hexi, and after the defeat of Wei State, this fortress was ceded to Qin State. most frequent channel.

Note [-]: Today Linfen West, Shanxi; Note [-]: Today South of Hejin County, Shanxi Province;

Note [-]: South of today's Ganquan County, Shaanxi Province; Note [-]: West of today's Wanrong County, Shanxi Province;

Note [-]: Southwest of Sanmenxia City, Henan Province.

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