HCB Chapter 589 The Campaign Against Wei 10
Chapter 589 The Campaign Against Wei 10
"Qin has cement, so we can quickly build dams; it has public transport facilities, so we can change waterways..." His son's words echoed in his ears.
This is not speculation, it is a warning! It was a warning delivered by the son at the risk of his life after learning of the Qin army's plan in Xianyang!
King Wei stumbled and staggered onto the city wall. The streets and alleys of Daliang City were deserted; the few pedestrians who did pass by hurried along, their faces pale and thin. In the distance, faint cries could be heard—someone had lost a loved one in this New Year.
The hustle and bustle, the celebrations, the prosperity of previous years... have all become fleeting memories.
"Those who follow the will of Heaven and the people prosper, while those who defy Heaven and the people perish..." King Wei recited this sentence from the letter, and the last bit of resistance in his heart completely collapsed.
Yes, to follow the will of Heaven and the will of the people... What is Heaven? It is the unstoppable unification trend of the Qin state; what are the people? They are the starving and freezing masses with no way to survive. To go against Heaven and the will of the people... how long will he continue to defy it?
"Issue the decree..." His voice was terribly hoarse, "Summon... General Jin Yu and Prime Minister Wei... to the palace."
When the two high-ranking officials rushed over, they found King Jia of Wei slumped on his throne, looking like a withered tree. He was clutching a letter tightly in his hand, his knuckles white.
"Your Majesty..." Wei Ziyuan called out cautiously.
King Wei slowly raised his eyes and handed them the letter: "You... take a look. It's a letter from the Crown Prince... from Xianyang."
The two huddled together reading. The more they read, the more grave their expressions became. When Jin Yu reached the section on the water attack, he suddenly looked up: "Your Majesty! This is a threat! The Qin people are going to flood our Great Liang!"
“It’s a warning,” King Wei feigned correction, his voice hollow. “It was a warning delivered by Ji’er at the risk of his life. He’s in Xianyang; he must have learned of the Qin army’s plan…”
Wei Ziyuan wept uncontrollably: "Your Highness... Your Highness is saving Wei! If the Qin army really uses water to attack, Daliang... Daliang will surely be turned into a swamp! Everything will be destroyed, and the ancestral temples will be gone!"
Jin Yu gritted his teeth: "Then let's strike first! Open the city gates and fight the Qin army to the death!"
"What kind of war will we fight?" King Wei Jia suddenly stood up, a fierce glint in his eyes for the first time. "With soldiers too hungry to lift weapons? With the people in the city who are exchanging children to eat? Jin Yu! Open your eyes and look! Look at this city! Does it still have the strength to fight?"
Jin Yu opened his mouth, but remained silent. He had inspected the city's defenses yesterday and witnessed the soldiers shivering in the cold wind; many hadn't had a proper meal in two days. The armory had fewer than 50,000 arrows, the logs and stones were long gone, and even the oil was nearly exhausted...
How can a city like this be defended?
"But Your Majesty," Jin Yu knelt on the ground, his voice choked with sobs, "the eight-hundred-year-old state of Wei... is it really going to perish in our hands? This humble general... is unwilling!"
"I am not reconciled either!" King Wei roared, feigning resentment. "But what good is resentment? Will it feed the people? Will it force the Qin army to retreat? Will it turn back time?"
He walked up to Jin Yu and helped the old general up: "General, I know your loyalty. But sometimes... knowingly doing the impossible is not courage, it's foolishness. It's foolishness to drag the entire city down with you!"
Jin Yu was in tears.
Wei Ziyuan also knelt down: "Your Majesty... what should we do?"
King Wei looked southeast, towards Xianyang, where his son was. He recalled the last words of his son's letter: "...I hope that Father will discern the current situation, consider the fate of the Wei state's ancestral temples, and the well-being of the common people, and act prudently and decisively..."
"Think carefully, make a wise decision..." King Wei Jia repeated these words for a long time before slowly speaking, "Send an envoy... to the Qin camp. Ask them... about their conditions for surrender."
These words were spoken softly, yet they resounded like thunder in the hall.
Jin Yu collapsed to the ground, and Wei Ziyuan nodded emphatically: "This old minister... will take care of it immediately."
When news of Wei's decision to send envoys to negotiate peace quietly spread, reactions in Daliang City varied.
Most ordinary people breathed a sigh of relief—the war was over, and their lives were saved. Although they would have to become Qin citizens, at least... they had food to eat.
"I heard that in the Qin state, the cities that surrendered have opened their granaries and distributed grain..."
"Really? Then should we...?"
"Don't be too happy yet, who knows if the Qin people will keep their word..."
The scholars and nobles were deeply divided. Some pragmatists began to secretly prepare for their escape, learning Qin seal script and understanding Qin laws; others were filled with grief and indignation, gathering in ancestral halls to weep and vowing to die rather than surrender.
The most vehement faction was led by the war advocate Yan Ju, a veteran official who had devoted his life to resisting Qin. Upon hearing that the King of Wei wanted to negotiate peace, he vomited blood on the spot.
"You tyrant! You coward!" he cursed in his mansion. "The Wei Kingdom has built up an empire of eight hundred years, and you're going to hand it over to someone else like that! I...I swear I will die rather than surrender!"
He immediately wrote a letter in blood, and personally led a group of loyal men to secretly leave the State of Wei. They split into two groups: one escorted the letter to the State of Qi, requesting the King of Qi to send troops; the other, led by himself, prepared to organize men outside the city to devise a way to break the deadlock.
However, before this letter written in blood could be sent out of the border of Daliang, news of the peace talks had already reached the Qin army camp on the border.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, in the western border of the Wei Kingdom.
Han Xin sat high on his warhorse, clad in black armor and a red robe. This general, only eighteen years old, still had the delicate features of a young man, but his eyes—sharp as an eagle and steady as a mountain—revealed a maturity and decisiveness beyond his years.
He surveyed the 50,000 elite troops before him, his heart unmoved. From the moment he received the secret order from the princess's residence, he knew his mission: not to conquer and seize territory, but to exert pressure; not to kill, but to intimidate.
"Soldiers!" Han Xin's voice echoed across the training ground. "By order of the King, we march east into Wei territory. However, this mission aims to intimidate, not to slaughter. If the Wei people are sensible and surrender, we will win without bloodshed; if they remain stubborn..."
He paused, his voice turning cold: "Then let them see what the might of the Qin army is all about!"
"Wind! Wind! Wind!" The 50,000 soldiers shouted in unison, their voices like thunder, causing the snow around the training ground to fall in a flurry.
Han Xin nodded in satisfaction. This army was one he had personally trained over the past two months; it was disciplined and well-equipped.
"Set up camp!"
"Yes!"
As the soldiers busied themselves, Han Xin looked eastward, pondering the princess's instructions: "...General, your mission is primarily about deterrence, not a direct assault. If the King of Wei surrenders, treat him with courtesy; if not...then employ the water attack strategy. But remember: the common people are innocent; if you can spare their lives, then do so."
"Don't kill..." Han Xin smiled bitterly. What war doesn't kill? But since the princess had given the order, he would obey. Besides, he understood the princess's deeper meaning: Qin didn't want ruins, but a complete Wei territory that could be quickly integrated into.