…
King Xian of Zhou was in his forty-third year and Marquis Su of Zhao was in his twenty-fourth year.
Zhao State has its capital at Handan.
The weather in the North is getting colder and colder in October, and autumn has faded before I feel it. The hazy dust clouds quietly block the sunset in the sky, and the snowflakes fall leisurely, gradually covering the majestic pavilions and palaces in the distance.
The world was desolate, except for the winter plum blossoms under the palace wall that were still in full bloom, dotting the world with dots of lotus red.
The cold wind swept through the branches and rushed to the simply furnished Zhaohou's palace.
The flickering candlelight reflected several figures lying on the ground.
"Yong'er, the country of Zhao... ahem... will be handed over to you from now on." Zhao Suhou, who was leaning on the bed with his back, spoke in a weak voice and told the young man under him his last instructions in this world.
"The alliance has been broken. I should have seen Su Qin's repeated behavior long ago. Now he has gone to the Yan Kingdom and never returned. Where did he leave our Zhao Kingdom! Cough cough cough..."
"Father..." Zhao Yong rushed forward to help him with tears in his eyes.
Zhao Suhou weakly waved his hand to interrupt the young man who came forward.
"When I go to other countries, they will definitely look for opportunities to plot against our Zhao country. Son, there are many crises!" At this point, Zhao Suhou's tone suddenly became more serious, and his body that was originally lying on his back also stood up. "Where are Lord Anping, Lord Yangwen, and Feiyi?"
"Monarch!" The three people who had been kneeling aside hurriedly stepped forward.
"You must remember to assist the new king. The country of Zhao will be entrusted to your hands..." After saying this, his skinny palm slapped the shoulders of the three of them heavily.
Zhao Yong knew that this was Jun's father's reflection.
"The country of Zhao... the land... Zhao Yu is ashamed of the ancestors of the Zhao family." Suhou murmured at the corner of his mouth, and two lines of clear tears fell down the cheeks of this generation of iron-blooded kings. When the king of a country is dying, he is full of fear and unwillingness like an ordinary old man.
…
…
On a new day, the early morning sunshine shines into the magnificent Handan Palace, and also falls on the shoulders of the young man wearing the prince's crown.
The departed king has entered his coffin, and the heavy burden of Zhao State finally falls on his shoulders, Zhao Yong.
"Your Majesty, ministers and clan members are asking for an audience outside the palace." The clear voice of the young eunuch lying under Zhao Yong interrupted his temporary reverie.
Zhao Yong stroked the crown on his head, then opened the corners of his mouth slightly, and his tall figure in mourning clothes was like the rising sun.
"Xuan."
"Xuan, summon Anping Jun, Yang Wenjun, Fei Yi, Li Dui... to the palace to have an audience."
As soon as the young eunuch finished speaking, a group of burly men hurriedly rushed in outside the palace door. When they entered, they bowed to each other and said, "I am here to pay my respects to the king."
Zhao Yong looked at His Highness's embarrassed crowd and asked leisurely: "Why are you all so flustered?"
"My lord, please report to Zhao Cheng. There is an urgent report from the border. The five kingdoms of Qin, Chu, Yan, Qi, and Wei have each stationed 10,000 elite troops at the border of our Zhao Kingdom. The king is in great danger."
"Not only the five countries, but also the despicable Zhongshan Kingdom was instigated by military spies to report."
"Although Zhongshan is weak, it is like a poisonous arrow embedded in the territory of our Zhao Kingdom. Once Zhongshan is in chaos, our Zhao Kingdom will definitely be in trouble. The chaos in Zhongshan will be greater than that of the five countries."
"During the time of the late king, the Five Kingdoms and our Zhao Kingdom fought endlessly for years, but they were always frustrated by us..."
Zhao Yong heard what the ministers said and understood in his heart that he had already expected it. The Central Plains countries deceived his young master into succeeding to the throne, and the political instability in the Zhao country wanted to do something wrong. He wanted to express his condolences to Zhao, but this was an obvious plan.
The current situation of Zhao State is internal and external troubles. Since the battle between Qin and Zhao in Hexi a few years ago, Zhao State has completely lost its advantage over other countries. Not only did it lose Lindilian general Zhao Zhen, but also died in the battle. The souls of fifty thousand elite soldiers returned to Hexi.
Now Zhao's national strength has been weak for a long time, and there are forest and barbarian invaders in the north from time to time. There is also a central mountain like a maggot attached to the bones.
"I already know, but it is inconsistent with Zhou etiquette to expressly refuse to express condolences to the late emperor." Zhao Yong said softly after being immersed for a moment.
The ministers of His Highness were stunned for a moment. They seemed to have something to say after hearing the monarch's words, and they remained silent for a while without replying.
Zhao Yong glanced at His Highness and then said eloquently: "But I have a plan to tell the officials. Can you see if it works?"
"I would like to listen to the king's good advice." All the ministers said in unison.
Zhao Yong nodded: "My plan is called tit-for-tat. First, I will order a good general to go to Daidi, Hedong, and Shangdang on my behalf to boost the morale of the soldiers, adjust them to the pre-war martial law state, and be ready to go to war at any time. Second, immediately He sent envoys to contact the two countries of Korea and Song Dynasty. Needless to say, Korea had already arranged a marriage relationship with the Marquis of Han when the previous king was in power. Soon, I will marry this Korean girl as my wife. Although the Song Dynasty is weak and difficult to return, it has been there for a long time. The country of a thousand chariots has interests and dangers for Duke Song. He is a smart man and knows what to do. In this way, he can contain the two countries of Qin and Qi."
As soon as Zhao Yong finished speaking, Zhao Huai, a descendant of the clan, could not hold back his anger and retorted: "Your Majesty, you can't do it. We, Zhao State, are under martial law on the border and have entered war readiness. This is equivalent to declaring war on all the countries. When all countries are angry, If you join forces to attack me, how should we respond?"
As soon as these words came out, the other clan members all agreed.
This human nature is so pathetic. What's the point of showing weakness if you keep showing weakness when others have made it clear that they want to beat you? Relying on the mercy of the nations? ridiculous!
Fei Yi heard this and sneered without concealing it.
Zhao Huai flicked his sleeves and said angrily: "Doctor Feiyi, what do you mean?"
Fei Yi turned around to face Zhao Huai and sneered: "The enemies have arrived at the door of our house. We are all men of the Zhao Kingdom. How can we not resist and wait for death?"
Feiyi was of Hu descent and was often despised by the clan's children, so he did not want to argue with Zhao Huai. But in the face of national calamity, he no longer showed weakness.
Zhao Yong did not stop him but sat quietly without saying a word, secretly observing the reactions of the ministers.
After a moment, Yang Wenjun Zhao Bao stepped forward to stop the quarrel between the two parties, and then said: "I, as the prime minister, put the country in danger, and failed to entrust the emperor. It is my fault."
Zhao Huai was dissatisfied when he heard this, so he pointed the finger at Anping Lord Zhao Cheng on one side: "Anping Lord, what do you think?"
Zhao Cheng, Lord of Anping, was Zhao Yong's third uncle and the younger brother of the late Lord Suhou. When Suhou passed away, he passed the throne to the young Zhao Yong. He was dissatisfied. Originally, he had the idea of seizing the throne in his mind. It was not that he was greedy for the position of king, but that he believed that the Zhao Kingdom would be in trouble in the hands of a young son.
However, when he saw that all the ministers and clan members supported Zhao Yong, he immediately gave up the idea.
Now that the country is in crisis, as the king's uncle and a member of the Zhao family, how can he stay out of it.
At this time, Zhao Cheng had the same idea as Fei Yi, and then said in a deep voice: "Our courtesy cannot be respected by the princes. Dignity is earned by ourselves, not charity. I agree with the monarch's plan."
Zhao Huai and other clan members ceased their activities after hearing Zhao Cheng's words. Upon seeing this, Li Dui, Lou Xu and other civil servants and generals who were standing aside expressed their support.
At this point, Zhao Yong looked at the expressions of everyone in His Highness, took a sip of the water handed over by Chen Zhong, the eunuch, and then continued: "Where did I just talk about?"
"The king's dialect has come to dominate Qin and Qi with the two countries of Korea and Song." Someone immediately replied to His Highness.
Zhao Yong nodded and said good-bye, and then continued: "The third reason is to rely on bribes. I heard that King Wujiang of Yue likes beauty and wine. Ahem... I heard rumors that there is a prostitute in Handan City. She is called Snow Girl, and she is famous for her beauty and beauty. We can punish the envoys to go to Yue. Chu and Yue are the old enemies. Adding firewood and fire can make Yue stumble over Chu. Then we bribe King Loufan heavily with food, grass, money and goods. You once formed a good relationship with Lou Fan, and offered him bribes to lure him to attack Yan Qian Zhongshan. In this way, there is only one Wei State left. How can Zhao, the Wei State, be afraid of it at dusk in the Western Mountains?" Zhao Yong said eloquently.
All the ministers were stunned and speechless. They had never seen their monarch leave the Longtai Palace in recent days. How could it be...
After a while, a young general in the corner of His Highness bowed his head and asked the ministers' questions: "I have a humble general, Pang Nuan. What Lord Cheng said just now, how did the Lord understand the current situation so thoroughly?"
"Pang Nuan, don't be rude." Anping Lord Zhao Cheng scolded.
Zhao Yong waved his hand to indicate that nothing was wrong. Looking at the expressions of His Highness, he understood that his purpose of establishing authority had been achieved.
The Zhao State is now in a land of four wars and in troubled times. The succession of the young master to the throne is extremely detrimental to the current Zhao State. If Zhao Suhou had not repeatedly insisted on adding the identity of the eldest son, he would never have been able to become the king.
"Three feet of ice is not as cold as one day. My ancestors have been fighting for a lifetime, and all the countries have been repeatedly frustrated by our Zhao Kingdom. We have wanted to destroy our Zhao Kingdom for a long time, but I never expected that this disaster would come so quickly."
"All external forces in the world will always have variables, but I believe that as long as our king and ministers of the Zhao Kingdom are united, all difficulties will not be difficult."
When all the ministers of His Highness heard this, they all prostrated themselves.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu My ancestors of the Zhao Kingdom are above. Now our Zhao Kingdom has a wise king in charge. Why should our Zhao Kingdom not be able to dominate other countries?"
"Doctor Feiyi, get up quickly, you are acting like this without etiquette." Anpingjun scolded with tears in his eyes.
Fei Yi, who has Hu people's blood, suddenly fell to the ground and sobbed like a child. Zhao Yong was really a little confused. He knew that his behavior would definitely bring a strong contrast to the ministers, but he did not expect that Fei Yi Such a big reaction. He still underestimated the filial piety of kings and ministers in this era. After all, for them, nothing is more inspiring than the emergence of a wise king in a country in times of crisis.
However, Zhao Yong also knew in his heart that all his strategies were just assumptions, and there would be variables if they were assumptions. The most important thing for the current plan was to stabilize people's hearts. If the hearts of Zhao's ministers were distracted, it would be all over.
If everything goes as I plan, the attempts of the various countries to plot against Zhao can be defeated with just a few clicks. However, there are unforeseen circumstances, and not everything will go as everyone wishes!
