When I was in Qin Dynasty, I lost contact with the wave

Chapter 608: Is the withdrawal of the Qin army an inevitable trend?
"At that time (the twelfth year of King Qin's reign), there was a severe drought in the world, and it rained from June to August." - "Historical Records·Twelve Chronicles·The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang"

This may not be an unprecedented drought, but it is definitely a major drought that will affect the world.

There is no record of the consequences of this drought in the history books, and I don’t know whether it is because of the lack of sufficient data to verify... or because the number of people who died due to the drought is literally countless.

This drought disrupted the arrangements of various countries.

Although the Qin State's national strength was ten times that of the past after the completion of the Zhengguo Canal, it had spent a lot of money on the southern and northern wars in recent years, and invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the newly recovered Yingchuan County, Handan County, and Julu County in the Zhao region. , Hengshan County, as well as Dai County, Yanmen County, and Yunzhong County in Dai District, especially the latter three, not to mention how much tax revenue they provide to the national treasury every year, they also need subsidies from the Qin State Temple every year.

Therefore, Qin State opened three battlefields at the same time, and the expenses of these three places already occupied most of the inventory of the national treasury.

What's more, the root cause of drought is not food, but water!
People living in areas with sufficient water resources can live a good life, but many small rivers and streams have dried up during the drought.

There is a lack of water and farming is impossible, and the people are panic-stricken.

And when there is no grain harvest in the autumn, food prices will rise crazily, which will form a vicious cycle.

At this moment, the only countries left with less than 200 miles of land around Daliang City are Wei and Chu, both of which are covered by water networks. At least this drought is not too difficult for these two countries, but it is for Qin. Not very friendly anymore.

Moreover, 150,000 taels of private troops from Huai and Jiangdong nobles led by Chu general Jing Qi have been stationed in Yongqiu City, which is only a hundred miles away from Daliang.

The addition of 150,000 Chu troops had already disrupted the situation in the attack on Wei, so for a while, calls for a truce began to spread in Xianyang City and even throughout Guanzhong.

Faced with such a situation, even Ying Zheng, who was determined to make progress, hesitated.

The battle is all about logistics. Even if Qin wins this battle despite natural disasters, it may still pay a huge price.

But if the troops are withdrawn, Ying Zheng will not be reconciled, and the myth that the Qin army is invincible when it goes eastward will be broken.

Just like the Battle of Guanze that year, the Qin army led by Ying Hua was backstabbed by its ally Wei and attacked from both sides by Wei and Qi. Although Qi won miserably, it broke the myth of the tiger and wolf Qin being invincible. In the end, the countries rekindled their hope of defeating Qin and launched alliances again and again.

And this withdrawal of troops may strengthen the resistance of other countries, and the next time they go eastward... it will be even more difficult. Late at night, for the first time in his life, Ying Zheng did not go back to Liuying Palace or the dormitories of Concubine Mi and Concubine Qi. Instead, he stayed overnight in the large study room of Zhangtai Palace.

As Ying Zheng's personal bodyguard, Ge Nie did not persuade him. He understood that Ying Zheng was facing perhaps the most difficult decision to date. He just silently dismissed the chamberlain and maids, and leaned against the pillar next to the palace gate with his sword in his hand. Guard on guard and don't let anyone disturb Ying Zheng.

In Zhangtai Palace, Ying Zheng, who was wearing a black royal robe with dragon patterns, pinched his brows, still unable to make a decision.

He had already consulted the opinions of many important ministers in the court. Lu Buwei, who was most expected by Ying Zheng, claimed to be ill and did not respond. Wei Liao, as a state captain, suggested withdrawing his troops.

Wei Liao very much agreed with Zhang Ji's strategy of "promoting Yi soldiers" and believed that if he continued like this, not only would the Qin Kingdom be starved to death, but the Wei and Chu territories would not be much better even if they were covered with dense water networks. The people of Wei and Chu They will not simply blame God for their starvation deaths, but will direct their hatred towards Qin under the deliberate guidance of Wei and Chu.

Whether it caused heavy casualties among the people or aroused their hatred towards Qin, this was completely inconsistent with Wei Liao's consistent views, so Wei Liao supported a truce.

The opinions of Zuo Prime Minister Wei Zhuang and Imperial Censor Wang Wan were to suspend the war for the time being, while Li Si expressed his unconditional support for any decision of Ying Zheng.

Then Ying Zheng summoned Han Fei again, and Han Fei's opinion was to withdraw his troops and return to the division to fight again next year.

Wang Jian has not yet replied to the letter sent to the front line of the attack on Wei. It is obvious that the old general is also undecided, and there is no news about Zhang Ji's reply.

Just when Ying Zheng was suffering in his heart, a piece of worse news came!

Xinzheng Rebellion!

With Kaifangdi as the leader of the old Korean prime minister, a large number of nobles, bureaucrats and anti-Qin elements who had suffered serious losses in the old Korean period responded one after another. Zhang Liang and Wei Zhuang, who had escaped from Xinzheng, also reappeared in Xinzheng.

There are no less than 50,000 rebels gathered in Xinzheng. Rebellions have also been launched in many cities in Yingchuan County. Moreover, the rebels are taking advantage of the lack of troops in Yingchuan County to try to spread the flames of war to surrounding cities.

At the same time, a somewhat rickety figure entered the palace late at night and knocked on the door of Zhangtai Palace.

(End of this chapter)