In early September, when Bai Qi and Sima Cuo breathed a sigh of relief and retreated to the Yinjin area, in Xianyang, the capital of Qin State, Wei Ran, had also received the news from Bai Qi and learned about the bad news of poor combat on the front line.

"Bai Qi can't resist Meng Zhong?"

After reading Bai Qi's letter, Wei Ran frowned and remained silent for a long time, and thought for a long time.

It is true that Meng Zhong of Wei was a genius, but he did not think that Bai Qi, whom he personally selected, would be inferior to Meng Zhong.

How capable is Bai Qi?

This point is enough to explain the consequences of Bai Qi's attack on Zhao last year. At that time, the generals of Zhao, Li Ji and Han Xu, were easily defeated by Bai Qi. If the time was not right, Bai Qi would even have the ability to destroy Zhao.

But Bai Qi, who is so capable, was defeated by Meng Zhong twice. What is the reason?

In this regard, Wei Ran had repeatedly pondered the reason why Bai Qi lost to Meng Zhong twice before.

The first time was during the Battle of Yique. Bai Qi, who was previously unknown, almost defeated the two famous generals of Gongsun Xi and Bao Yuan at the same time. However, unexpectedly, a Meng Zhong, who was also unknown in the Wei State at that time, appeared in the middle. Bai Qi had no idea that there was a number one figure like Meng Zhong in the Wei army, so Meng Zhong used his latecomer advantage to defeat Bai Qi, winning the final victory of the Battle of Yique for Wei State.

In the second battle in Wanfang, Bai Qi was simply dragged down by Sima Cuo's generals. Because the army was short of food, he had no choice but to exchange his life for life and sacrifice his own army to protect Sima Cuo's army, so as not to be defeated by Meng Zhong one by one because of exhaustion of food and grass.

Therefore, in Wei Ran's view, Bai Qi's two defeats were both a crime of right and wrong, to put it bluntly, it was bad luck.

Maybe just like Bai Qi himself thinks, Meng Zhong is his destined opponent in this life. Anyway, every time he encounters Meng Zhong, Bai Qi will always be inexplicably at a disadvantage due to various non-human reasons - just like Bai Qi told in this battle report that the reason why the Menshui Qinying fell.

Realizing that the coalition was not a solid piece of iron, we tried to contact Tian Chu and Le Yi. Even if we could not instigate these two people, at least we would keep these two people neutral in the battle between Qin and the Sanjin coalition. To be honest, Wei Ran didn't think there was any problem with this strategy at all.

He even felt very surprised. He was surprised that Bai Qi's vision was not bound by the war in front of him, but included the current situation in the Central Plains, and also considered the attitude of Qi. He even suspected that Sima Chou was guiding Bai Qi.

But who would have thought that this seemingly clever plan ruined the Qin camp of the Shui Army. Meng Zhong, the general of the Wei army, had no idea how he guessed the secret agreement between Bai Qi and Tian Chu. He suddenly attacked dozens of miles away and captured the Shui Army Army camp in one breath.

If it weren't for someone who leaked the secret to Meng Zhong, Meng Zhong would have been like a divine help!

"Meng Zhong..."

Putting down the battle report in his hand, Wei Ran raised his hand and rubbed his forehead that was slightly wide open.

He felt a little headache.

This time, Wei, Zhao, and Han Jin joined forces to attack Qin, and Song did not join forces. Wei Ran believed that Song was shameless after all. After all, Qin helped Song repel Qi's attack last year. As long as Song still had shame, it would not be unfavorable to Qin.

However, the State of Song allowed Meng Zhong to attack Qin as a general of Wei, which made Wei Ran very dissatisfied. After all, this meant that the State of Song finally chose to stand on the side of Wei in the side of Qin or Wei.

The enemy's allies are enemies, even if the enemy's allies were once allies of their own country.

Since Song State chose to stand on the side of Wei State, it is natural that it is also his enemy of Qin State, and he will inevitably be punished by Qin State in the future!

Of course, Wei Ran could only say these harsh words in his heart for the time being. After all, it is difficult for Qin to pose any threat to Song for the time being. After all, Wei and Han are separated by the two countries!

"My judgment is correct, and the State of Song has indeed turned to the State of Wei..."

After stroking his beard, Wei Ran let out a long sigh of relief.

Last year, he was sent to Song because of Qi's attack on Song. When he met Song Wang Yan and Song Xianghui'an, Wei Ran realized that Song's attitude was very ambiguous.

Indeed, the State of Song hopes to form an alliance with Qin, even today, but the premise is that this "Qin State" is Qin State that is currently unable to set foot in the Central Plains. Once Qin State has the strength to set foot in the Central Plains, Song State will probably become the enemy of Qin State.

After all, no matter what, Song State is also a Central Plains country recognized by the Central Plains countries, so naturally they would not welcome him, Qin State, a country that was arrogant and wanted to forcibly set foot in the Central Plains. For a long time, whether it was Qin State or Chu State, it has actually been despised by those Central Plains countries.

It was precisely because of the ambiguous position of the State of Song at that time that Wei Ran decisively sent a mission to Qi and did not hesitate to use betrayal of Song as a condition in exchange for an alliance with Qi - Qi took Song and Qin took Wei and Han, and the two sides did not interfere.

But unexpectedly, the current monarch of Qi State was such a stern guy who was so timid and weak on the outside. Just because the Three Jins showed signs of alliance, he was frightened to depose the emperor's title, and even turned around to attack Qin State, which became a laughing stock for the people of the world.

It's so sad!

Is that really Qi State? Or the powerful Eastern country that once forced him to surrender?

Thinking about how powerful and powerful the Qi State was at that time, especially King Xuan of Qi, which was fully demonstrated in King Xuan of Qi. He declared war with other countries because of a little friction, and at that time, the Central Plains countries dared not easily offend Qi State.

Let’s take a look at the current Qi King’s field…

Wei Ran could only sneer at this. The once powerful Qi State was probably no longer there.

Today's Qi Kingdom is at best an empty shell with the name of a powerful country.

"It seems that my biggest enemy of Qin is still Wei Han... No, it is Wei State!"

After thinking for a while, Wei Ran murmured thoughtfully.

To be precise, the biggest enemy of Qin is the alliance of Wei, Han and Song, led by Wei. If Zhao is attracted by Wei, it will be the alliance of Wei, Zhao, Han and Song, which seems to be a copy of the alliance of Jin and Song.

"Forget it, let's resolve the current crisis first, and then consider absent from the Three Jins..."

After thinking about it, Wei Ran left the mansion with Bai Qi's battle report.

After leaving the mansion, Wei Ran went to Ganquan Palace to ask for his sister Empress Dowager Xuan, not because he was afraid of being punished by his nephew, King Qin, but mainly because Empress Dowager Xuan is currently the person who holds the highest power in Qin. By the way, in order to deal with this coalition invasion, he also hopes to get some help from Empress Dowager Xuan.

In Ganquan Palace, Wei Ran met his sister's current mistress, King Yiqiu, a foreign king who once gave him a headache in Qin State.

But as the saying goes, the beauty village, the hero tomb, has been abandoned by this alien king since he moved into Ganquan Palace, and has been with him all day long with wine and sex. Queen Mother Xuan and Queen Mother Xuan gave birth to two sons for him - well, this is a shame for his great Qin and is not worthy of being told by outsiders.

In short, King Yiqu is not an ordinary mistress. The empress dowager of Qin did not hesitate to suffer humiliation and betrayed his appearance to win over this person. This itself already shows the problem, and Wei Ran naturally did not dare to let King Yiqu retreat.

King Yiqiu had no intention of taking the initiative to avoid suspicion. This guy may have regarded himself as the master of Ganquan Palace. That natural attitude, even Wei Ran couldn't help but curse in his heart: Arrogant guy, let's see how you end up in the future!

Empress Dowager Xuan was surprised by Wei Ran's arrival. After all, during this period, she delegated power to her son Yingji and Wei Ran. She lived in Ganquan Palace for a long time and did not return to Xianyang. Unless something major happened in the country, Wei Ran only needed to discuss with King Ji of Qin, without going to Ganquan Palace in person to discuss with her.

After all, she also knows the word "shame". It is better to be less likely to be seen by others, even if it is seen by her younger brother.

"Empress Dowager, I am here today, and I have important information."

After bowing, Wei Ran told the story of the five coalition forces of Wei, Zhao, Han, Qi and Yan breaking through Hangu Pass. Queen Xuan's expression changed slightly.

Beside him, the King of Yiqiu disagreed and even laughed: "When did Daqin become so weak?"

Wei Ran glanced at King Yiqiu and said nothing.

In fact, he really wanted to mock him back: I am weak in Qin? Look at how your country of Yiqu is now!

Yes, when King Yiqu was charmed by Queen Mother Xuan and died of drunkenness in Ganquan Palace, the Yiqu Kingdom, the biggest hidden danger of Qin, had long been divided and slowly annexed by Qin. I believe that in a few years, Qin will be able to completely digest Yiqu Kingdom, and completely assimilate Yiqu Kingdom from culture and fundamentally.

Queen Mother Xuan stroked the back of King Fuyiqu Kuanhou, who seemed to be close to him, and then asked Wei Ran, "Ran, you tell me truthfully, can I, Daqin, deal with this crisis?"

Wei Ran glanced at King Yiqiu, so he said with difficulty: "I'm afraid it's very difficult. The coalition of all countries is very powerful, especially the cavalry of Wei and Zhao... The cavalry that our Qin trained over the years is no match for all."

Queen Mother Xuan kept looking at Wei Ran, how could she not see Wei Ran’s small movements?

After thinking about it carefully, she immediately felt over, and a sad face suddenly appeared on her face, and she said, "What...what should I do?"

Seeing his beloved woman showing a sad face, the King of Yiqiu, who had not taken it seriously, changed his expression slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Beauty, don't be anxious. I, Yiqiu, have powerful cavalry, which can help Qin repel the coalition forces of various countries in the Central Plains..."

"this……"

"Don't worry, this matter is all about me."

Under Queen Mother Xuan's pretentious hesitation, King Yiqiu vowed to respond to this matter, which made Wei Ran sneer secretly.

To be honest, Wei Ran felt a little fond of King Yiqu at this time, not because King Yiqu promised to help him in Qin, but because this arrogant alien king was eaten by his sister.

You should know that King Yiqiu is not a ruthless and ignorant alien king. He has been exposed to Central Plains culture for a long time and can be called a foreign king with both civil and military skills. Therefore, Qin once regarded this person as a major concern. However, in front of Queen Mother Xuan, the alien king seemed to be blinded, which shows that he really had a true love for Queen Mother Xuan.

『…In the future, leave him a complete body.』

Wei Ran thought to himself.

As the object of Qin and the Qin royal family suffered great humiliation, King Yiqiu was destined to die in the future!

But now, it's not the time...

After leaving Ganquan Palace, Wei Ran immediately returned to Xianyang and entered the palace to meet King Ji of Qin.

I have to say that compared to Queen Mother Xuan, King Ji of Qin was indeed too young, so after learning the bad news of the front line, King Ji of Qin was shocked and angry, and angrily threw the battle report in his hand to the ground, pointing at Wei Ran and scolding: "Is this the brave general you recommend?!"

Wei Ran was not angry at all. After all, the monarch in front of him was his nephew and was still young. As a young man, of course he would have impulsive moments.

He bent down and picked up Bai Qi's war report from the ground and said calmly: "There are not only Bai Qi on the front line, but Sima Cuo. If Bai Qi really caused the defeat of the front line army, I believe Sima Cuo would have sent someone to send a letter to impeach Bai Qi long ago. However, as far as the old minister knows, Sima Cuo has not sent any letters back so far. This proves that Sima Cuo does not think that Bai Qi made any mistake... The defeat of the front line army is just like this."

"..." King Ji of Qin was speechless.

These young monarchs did not trust Bai Qi very much, not because Bai Qi was Wei Ran's confidant, but because Bai Qi was too young and had a bad reputation.

For example, during the Battle of Yique a few years ago, Bai Qi killed the captured Wei general Gongsun Xi regardless of Xianyang's attitude, breaking the unwritten rules and tacit understanding on the battlefields of various countries in history, which made Qin very passive - no one would like to break the rules.

What's more, there is no general in the world who can win every battle. What if his Qin general falls into the hands of the Central Plains in a day? Wouldn't he be killed by the Central Plains countries?

But compared to Bai Qi, King Ji of Qin trusted Sima Cuo, an old minister who devoted his life to him. In particular, Sima Cuo untiedly reminded King Ji of Qin to prevent Queen Mother Xuan, Wei Ran, Mi Rong and others, not to let these people steal the king's rights. Although King Ji of Qin disagreed, he was still very moved by Sima Cuo's repeated reminders.

As the saying goes, "Don't be separated from relatives." As a minister, Sima Cuo dared to remind the monarch to be careful of the latter's mother and uncle. This shows that Sima Cuo is a true loyal minister of the country and a loyal minister of the king.

At present, as Wei Ran said, since Sima Cuo didn't think that this matter was Bai Qi's fault, King Ji of Qin could only accept it-he believed Sima Cuo's judgment.

After calming down, he noticed Wei Ran's calmness, curious in his heart, and asked, "Uncle seems to be unaware of the current situation?"

"Because I am very clear about the limits of the countries."

Wei Ran said calmly with a smile: "The king is too anxious. He may not have noticed that Sima Cuo and Bai Qi have already told them in the war report about their way to counter the coalition forces..."

"You mean, give up more than 200 miles of land?" Qin Wang Ji asked with a frown.

"That's right." Wei Ran nodded and said, "Give up more than 200 territory to hand over. This is not that Bai Qi or Sima Cuo is afraid of fighting with the coalition forces. This is a wise move... A few days ago, I reported to the king that the Fangcheng cavalry of Wei State sneaked into our heartland..."

"snort!"

When he heard this, King Ji of Qin became angry.

The damn Wei cavalry burned the farmlands of several cities in Qin in one breath, from Taolin to Yinjin, almost every city was poisoned.
To be continued...