The meeting place agreed between Zhao Yong and the two Hus was not in Dai County, but on the Gouzhu Mountain Stone Fort further north.
Gouzhu Mountain is the Yanmen Mountain in later generations.
Yanmen Stone Fort is the northernmost part of Zhao State's territory. This first pass of the Nine Fortresses, known by later generations as "controlling the Central Plains in the south and the desert plains in the north," had already begun to take shape at this time.
The Zhaojingbei Great Wall, which stretches for more than 300 miles, starts from here and goes eastward. During the reign of Zhao Xiangzi, the first king of Zhao State, he replaced all the land. In order to resist the Hu cavalry going south, the North Great Wall was built. Later, it was continuously expanded by several generations of monarchs of Zhao State, until today it spans three counties in the east and west.
Zhao Yong stood on the stone fortress at the highest point of the Yanmen Great Wall, looking farther north. He knew that beyond there was the endless Datong Basin, where there would no longer be mountains or hills that could stop the cavalry from galloping.
And behind him is the largest livestock area in the northwest plateau.
Yanmenguan in Daidi was the entry point for horse breeds in the north of Saibei. The State of Zhao had many pastoral supervisors here, and the horse production was huge. The people in Dai land were not engaged in agriculture and business, but mostly made a living by animal husbandry. The war horses of Zhao State were continuously produced here.
For Zhao Yong, Yanmen Mountain was not only a pass for him to resist Hu Qi's southward march, but also an inexhaustible treasure.
"Your Majesty, the people in the building are here." Just as Zhao Yongxin was rushing towards him, Fei Yi from behind reminded him.
As soon as Fei Yi finished speaking, the rumble of horse hoofs could be heard in the distance. The sound came from far to near. In just a moment, a horse team of hundreds of people appeared in everyone's sight.
Zhao Yong held his hands on the crenellations of the city wall and glanced at the chaotic cavalry at the foot of the mountain pass, with a trace of disdain in his eyes.
"I am Bong Yakuto, the Prime Minister of Loufan. On my king's orders, I would like to express my special greetings to the Marquis of Zhao."
In the middle of the cavalry team upstairs, a middle-aged man with a handsome beard came out of the horse riding team. I saw him holding his chest with one hand, raising his head and shouting loudly in broken Chinese dialect.
"My king was invited by the Marquis of Zhao and came here to accept the alliance!"
Yakuto had already seen the flags waving in the wind on several stone forts near Yanmen Pass, and had guessed that Zhao Yong was on the fort at this time.
Loufan is a branch of Beidi. The country was founded around the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period. They actively imitated the princes of the Central Plains in establishing an official and title system and wore Chinese clothes. The nobles of Loufan were proud to wear wide robes and long sleeves, such as Yakuto at this time.
But in Zhao Yong's view, no matter how gorgeous the clothes they wore, the barbaric nature of the Hu people could never be eliminated from their bodies.
But the contempt in his heart turned into contempt, and Zhao Yong had to admit their strength.
Being able to stand in the northwest for hundreds of years, in this troubled world where land is being conquered for war and people are killing people, Lou Fanren can survive and grow stronger year by year. Naturally, they have their merits.
Zhao Yong's attitude towards his enemies has always been to despise them strategically and attach importance to them tactically. Otherwise, he would not want to imitate the barbarians' riding and shooting methods.
Looking at the Loufan cavalry filing in under the pass, they were all wearing short jackets and trousers made of animal skins, and looked at how skilled they were with bows and horses. Zhao Yong couldn't help but secretly sigh, often people think that the things they have are worthless, but they don't know that they are exactly the things that others want.
"Why haven't the Lin Hu people come yet?"
Wu Guang, who was behind Zhao Yong, raised his head and glanced at the sun in the sky, frowning and said.
It was already midday, and it was already the time for the agreed alliance meeting, but the Linhu people were still late. This was tantamount to a deliberate provocation and was suspected of destroying the alliance.
In addition to the three major tribes of Loufan, Linhu, and Zhongshan, the Hu tribes neighboring Zhao State also included the Xianyu, Xiongnu, and Donghu tribes.
Donghu is in the northeast of Zhao State, and only a small part of its pasture borders Zhao State's territory, so the target of their invasion has always been Yan State further north.
Since the Huns were severely defeated by several large surrounding tribes a hundred years ago, they have been languishing and unable to invade the south.
Although Xianyu and Zhongshan were both from Bai Di, they were only a weak tribe and were often oppressed by surrounding tribes.
Among the many Hu tribes, only Lou Fan had good relations with the State of Zhao. Since the time of Zhao Xiangzi, King Lou Fan had often condemned Hu women to enter Zhao.
Therefore, when Zhao Suhou died, Zhao Yong was able to bribe King Loufan with a large sum of money to let him contain Zhongshan and Yan.
"Don't worry, King Lin Hu is a smart man." Zhao Yong replied calmly, with a firm tone.
How could Zhao Yong not know Wu Guang's worries? But since he said so, he can be sure that King Lin Hu will definitely come.
The identity of the assassin who assassinated him the day before yesterday has been found out. As expected, it was a spy from the Zhongshan Kingdom.
Zhao Yong originally thought that Scar was a ruthless person, but he didn't expect that Fei Yi's "gentle" torture would bring out everything.
The alliance with the Erhu Hui deliberately did not invite Zhongshan, which made it clear that Zhao was going to take action against Zhongshan. The reaction of King Zhongshan was expected by the ministers of Zhao State.
But this kind of thing cannot be hidden. What is important for the alliance between the nations is to be open and aboveboard, and to be flamboyant. Being timid will only make the princes even more contemptuous.
When the Five Nations were buried, Zhao Yong understood a truth: "Use justice to win with surprise." In Zhao Yong's view, this sentence can not only be applied to military conquests, but also can be applied to the foreign policy of great powers.
What Zhao Yong didn't expect was that King Zhongshan would use such a despicable method as assassination, which was ridiculous.
However, Zhongshan State, which failed in the assassination, will definitely make secondary preparations, such as destroying the alliance initiated by Zhao State.
But what Zhongshan State can think of, the ministers and clan of Zhao State cannot think of.
Years ago, the State of Zhao condemned the envoys to go north to the grassland and sent the Xiongnu south to attack Linhu. At this time, King Linhu was probably busy dealing with the Xiongnu and missed the time for the alliance meeting.
As soon as Zhao Yong finished speaking, another mighty cavalry appeared at the end of the sky. When the cavalry approached, Wu Guang had already recognized the identity of the person coming.
"Your Majesty, you know everything like a god, I admire you!" Wu Guang bowed and bowed.
At this time, the relationship between Wu Guang and Zhao Yong has obviously improved to a higher level.
Yesterday, he went to the palace to discuss matters and Zhao Yong agreed to his resignation. Afterwards, Zhao Yong stayed with his ministers and had dinner with him in the palace.
During the dinner, Zhao Yong told everyone an interesting story, about meeting a beautiful woman in a dream yesterday. The wording was quite unique, but the image and demeanor depicted was clearly his daughter.
Wu Guang didn't understand that Zhao Yong used this metaphor just to save face. Mr. Zhao Yong can't say, I saw your daughter on the street and thought she was very beautiful. Please be my little wife. Although the process was full of twists and turns, the result was always good.
"Come downstairs with me to greet our two friends who have come from afar!"
"Here!"
…
…
At the same time that Zhao State and Beidi Erhu were launching a friendly alliance, an unprecedented war was brewing in Qidi, thousands of miles away.
Zhao Yong didn't know at this time that this war might completely change the existing structure of the Chinese countries!
