Half an hour later, Lu Yuan finished bathing and changing clothes, took a short rest, and then drove to Qianyang Palace.
When they arrived, Sun Siwen and the Chu envoy had been waiting for a long time.
"I've met the king."
"Foreign minister Su Xun, pay homage to the King of Chu."
When the two of them saw Lu Yuan arriving, they quickly saluted.
Lu Yuan walked to the throne and sat down, then looked down, swept across the two people, and focused on the Chu envoy for a while, and then asked: "The envoy from Zhou came to Chu, what's the matter?"
Su Xun looks like a frail Confucian scholar, with handsome appearance and graceful demeanor, giving people a feeling of spring breeze.
After listening to Lu Yuan's question, Su Xun answered calmly: "In recent years, our country has been unfortunate and suffered repeated military robberies. The young and strong people in the country have used a lot of force, but the use of force for production has gradually decreased.
Today, food in the country is becoming increasingly expensive and scarce.
In recent days, the reputation of Chu State has been growing day by day, and the country is rich and prosperous, which is heard by people near and far.
My lord heard that the state of Chu has a lot of grain, and in recent years it has been selling grain to neighboring countries and providing a lot of relief.
Therefore, foreign ministers were sent to Baling to purchase grain and grass from the King of Chu, which alleviated the country's grain shortage. "
"Buying food?"
After hearing Su Xun's intention, Lu Yuan's eyes flashed slightly, and he couldn't help but look at Sun Siwen. He looked at each other and suddenly understood.
No wonder this friend said that he couldn't make a decision on this matter and wanted to make the decision himself.
In fact, purchasing grain from the Chu State was also an important military and state matter.
However, in recent years, Chu State has continued to sell grain to foreign countries, and Lu Yuan had already left the affairs to the imperial cabinet and left them to Sun Siwen and other ministers to handle.
He himself only pays attention to the results and does not personally interfere.
But the Chu State can sell grain to the Su State and the Song State, to the three vassal states in the southwest, and even to the two barbarian states of Dali and Nanzhao.
But it cannot be sold to Zhou Guo.
The reason is also very simple.
Because Lu Yuan had already told Sun Siwen and other ministers and confidants that the next Chu State's strategic target would be Hanzhong County of Zhou State.
It's just that no opportunity has been found, and Chu State also needs time to cultivate, so it has not taken action against Hanzhong.
Let me ask Sun Siwen, who knew Chu's next strategic purpose, how could he sell Chu's grain to Chu's future enemies to help strengthen them?
Therefore, when Zhou came to buy grain, Sun Siwen and other cabinet ministers did not dare to make the decision. They could only ask Lu Yuan, the King of Chu, to make the decision.
Thinking about this in his mind, Lu Yuan had countless thoughts and calculations. Finally, his eyes flashed, he looked down at Su Xun, and said with a smile: "Since a few years ago, I, Da Chu, have been selling grain to all countries in the world. , doing business for people all over the world.
Since the state of Zhou is willing to do business with the state of Chu, Gu is naturally happy.
I don't know how much food the envoy wants to buy, so I have to make some preparations so as not to disappoint the state of Zhou. "
Su Xun was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly bowed and said: "I would like to thank the King of Chu for his generosity. King Chu, our country of Zhou does not need to buy much food this time, only 10 million shi. I heard that Chu has accumulated 40 million shi of grain. This amount of food is more than enough and will not cause trouble to the king."
After the Chu State became hegemonic, some of the countries in the world were surprised by the large population of the Chu State, some were surprised by the strength of the Chu State's soldiers and horses, some were surprised by the vastness of the Chu State's territory, and naturally some were surprised by the wealth of the Chu State's money and food. .
Among them, Zhou Guo paid the most attention to the last one.
Because of the war in the country, food has become increasingly expensive for them, and they urgently need to purchase grain and grass from abroad to make up for the shortage in the country.
But to the north of the Zhou Kingdom was the world's enemy, the Wei Kingdom.
To the east, the Liang Kingdom was eyeing the enemy, wanting to move westward at any time and annex the Henan and Nanyang counties of the Zhou Kingdom.
To the west is the Xiliang Kingdom, which is a small country with barren land and is also short of food.
It is impossible for the above three to be sold to Zhou State for grain.
So if we look around, the only country that has food and is willing to sell it to other countries is Chu.
Therefore, when the news spread that Chu State had 40 million stones of grain reserves, the kings and ministers of Zhou State who heard the news quickly made a decision after deliberation.
An envoy was sent to Chu State to purchase grain.
In addition, I also took this opportunity to buy food to test the Chu State to see if this newly rising southern power had any dissatisfaction with the Zhou State?
At this time, Zhou State was already surrounded by enemies on three sides. If Chu State joined in again and plotted against Zhou State, it would definitely be disastrous news.
Especially in the southern border of Zhou Kingdom, most of the garrison in Hanzhong County has been removed, leaving only 50,000 soldiers stationed. The defense is extremely empty.
If the Chu State sent troops northward at this time, it would be absolutely impossible for the Zhou State to resist them.
The entire Hanzhong County may be lost.
Therefore, in order to avoid this happening, it is necessary to test the state of Chu in the name of purchasing grain at this time.
If the State of Chu really had evil intentions against the State of Zhou, then it would never take advantage of this opportunity to sell grain to the State of Zhou to support the enemy.
If this is the case, then when Su Xun returned from this mission, he must report to the emperor and ask the country to strengthen the defense of Hanzhong in preparation for the attack of Chu.
And it would be better if the Chu State had no ill intentions towards the Zhou State.
With these ten million stones of grain, if used sparingly, it can be enough to supply the millions of troops on the front line, which can greatly alleviate the pressure on grain and grass in the country.
The Snowfield Tibetan people in the southwest are now exhausted after several years of continuous invasion, suffering heavy casualties and greatly reduced their strength.
According to the estimates of many wise officials in the Zhou Dynasty, in two years at most, the Tibetan people will be unable to hold on and will be completely defeated.
At that time, Zhou will be able to defeat the Tibetan people in one fell swoop, then sweep southward and invade the snowy plains.
Although Zhou Guo didn't have much interest in the barren land in the snowy plains.
But just like the Chu State, in recent years, it also sent troops to attack the snow plains and set up a river valley county.
Some places with dense rivers and lakes on the snowfield are still suitable for reclamation and farming. If they can be occupied, there will be no problem in setting up three or five counties.
Moreover, there are a lot of fertile pastures in the snowfield. After occupying them, the Zhou Kingdom will also have countless good horse-raising lands, which is also a big benefit.
With these two major benefits, it was enough to make Zhou Guo excited.
Therefore, even though the war with the Xueyuan people was extremely difficult, Zhou State had still gritted its teeth and held on for all these years without any thought of giving in and seeking peace.
Even not long ago, when those Xueyuan people came to sue for peace, Zhou Guo refused directly and did not agree to the other party's conditions at all.
There were so many difficulties ahead, but I managed to survive them all.
At this time, the fruits of victory were about to be obtained. How could Zhou Guo just give up and not fight?
As long as we can seize the above two major profits as we wish, then the losses that Zhou has suffered due to the war in the past few years can be made up in an instant.
Even more than just making up for it, if we can really expand three or five counties, acquire countless high-quality horse farms, and subdue millions of Tibetan people for our own use, the national power of the Zhou Kingdom will be increased by half, and it will instantly approach the Liang Kingdom that has unified Qingzhou.
With such great benefits right in front of us and victory imminent, Zhou Guo will continue to fight this war even if he sells the iron.
However, it is also a reality that Zhou State is short of food.
For this war, in order to cope with the pressure from three sides, including the civilians, Zhou State mobilized more than two million soldiers and horses all year round, and they were already exhausted.
The country's savings and production are no longer able to maintain such a huge army.
Therefore, in order to maintain the war, we can only turn to outsiders.
This is Su Xun's mission when he comes to Chu State this time.
It is related to the rise and fall of the country, no matter what the cost, he will do his best to promote this matter.
'Fortunately, looking at the King of Chu's intentions, he doesn't seem to be hostile to the State of Zhou, which is a great thing. This mission seems to be successful. '
Su Xun thought about many things in his mind and couldn't help but feel slightly excited.
However, in matters of great importance to the country, one must not be careless.
Therefore, although the attitude of King Chu seemed to be very friendly, he was not careless, but still carefully observed and tested, and did not really take it lightly.
After some testing and confrontation, the two sides finally reached a consensus.
Lu Yuan looked down at Su Xun, who had negotiated terms with him, and said with a smile: "I, Da Chu, will sell one thousand shi of grain to Zhou at a price of six cents per kilogram of rice. The delivery date will be set after March, at the location Then at the border between the two countries, after you and I exchange money and food, the transaction will be considered completed. What does the envoy think?"
Su Xun bowed respectfully and said, "The foreign ministers have no objections and will act according to the King of Chu's instructions."
Lu Yuan laughed: "Then this is the final decision."
At this point, a preliminary consensus has been reached on this grain transaction amounting to tens of millions of dan.
The remaining specific details will be further contacted by the ministers of the DPRK and the Zhou Dynasty envoy, so there is no need for Lu Yuan, the King of Chu, to worry about it.
Having achieved his goal, Su Xun also resigned.
But Sun Siwen continued to stay.
After the others left, this friend looked at Lu Yuan and said with a little worry: "Your Majesty, we made a plan earlier and decided to plan Hanzhong next. Now your Majesty sells tens of millions of stones of grain to the Zhou Kingdom, and the Zhou people get this amount of grain. The food shortage was immediately relieved, and there was no need to be trapped by military supplies.
By then the Zhou people will have enough food and supplies, and if we want to attack them, it will not be so easy. "
Lu Yuan glanced at Sun Siwen, sighed and said: "How can I not know that this move is to prepare the enemy. But when the Zhou people came here, they bought food openly and tested it secretly.
After I, the Great Chu, claims to dominate all other countries, who in the surrounding countries is not afraid of me?
Now the state of Zhou is surrounded by enemies on three sides, and there are wars everywhere. Only the south bordering our state of Chu is safe and peaceful.
Under such circumstances, how could the Zhou people not be afraid of me?
He is worried that I will be at peace with him openly, but secretly I am preparing to attack him secretly.
Therefore, if we do not sell grain today, I am afraid that the news from the Zhou State envoy will be sent back to Zhou State overnight, so that the country can take precautions.
When the people of the Zhou Dynasty are on guard and strong troops are mobilized to enter Hanzhong, it will be ten or a hundred times more difficult for Chu State to attack it than it is now.
The situation is like this, no matter what! No way! "
Over the years since his debut, Lu Yuan has experienced countless battles and calculations. Now he has achieved great success in martial arts and immortality. After several transformations in his body and mind, he is much sharper than ordinary people.
Su Xun thought he had concealed himself well before, but after talking to him several times and observing his expression, Lu Yuan had already seen through the details.
Precisely because of this, Lu Yuan took advantage of the situation and agreed to sell the grain.
After hearing his analysis, Sun Siwen sighed and said with a hint of reluctance: "Is there no other way to deal with Hanzhong?"
Capturing Hanzhong, expanding territory, and improving Chu's northwest defense were major events related to the fate of the country.
If Hanzhong is not captured, the Chu State's Xichuan and Xiangyang counties will always be under the threat of Hanzhong.
By then, a large number of troops and horses will be dragged into the two counties, and it will be difficult for the Chu State to spare more power to use it in other directions.
This was related to the fate of the Chu State, so Sun Siwen was naturally unwilling to do so and failed in this effort.
However, Lu Yuan was not so pessimistic about this.
Looking at his friend's expression, he couldn't help but smile and said: "We can't rush things in Hanzhong. Even if we sell grain to the Zhou State at this time, we still have a lot to do. It is impossible to take advantage of this opportunity to sell grain, but it can actually be used to conquer Hanzhong and gain victory." There is a lot of chance of winning..."
Attacking Hanzhong was a strategy that Lu Yuan had already planned, so he would not give up easily.
Especially now that he has refined Qingyunzi and has a replacement to succeed Huang Xuan and invade the southwest, he is even more determined.
Selling grain to Zhou State now is certainly an act of capitalizing on the enemy.
But when there was an opportunity to sell grain, the Chu State could actually take the opportunity to mobilize troops from various places, and mix the troops and horses from the conquest of China into the grain transport team. Unknowingly, it was hidden from the eyes and ears of the Zhou people, and the troops and horses were transported to Zhou Chu. On the border.
At that time, it is not impossible to take advantage of the grain and grass trade to directly launch a large army and capture Hanzhong in one fell swoop.
And if this battle can be successful, not only the grain originally sold to the Zhou people will return to the hands of the Chu State, but the money originally used by the Zhou people to buy grain will also become the spoils of the Chu State, further enriching the Chu State's treasury.
This is the so-called best of both worlds, killing two birds with one stone, which is a great thing.
Of course, if you want to accomplish this, you need to mix your troops and horses among the people transporting grain, how to hide it from the eyes and ears of the Zhou people, and how to make the Zhou people relax their vigilance and not temporarily station a large number of people in Hanzhong during the grain trade. Soldiers and horses...
All of the above matters are things that need to be considered and resolved.
Lu Yuan only came up with this plan temporarily. He was not sure whether this plan could be implemented or how effective it would be after using it.
Any strategy has the right time, place and people to assist it, and it requires timing.
He hasn't seen this opportunity yet.
"However, even if the troops are sent in the end and the Zhou people are on guard in Hanzhong, it is certain that the final grain and the money used by the Zhou people to buy grain will not escape the hands of our Chu State."
Lu Yuan told Sun Siwen his plan, and then said with a smile: "As for whether Hanzhong can be captured in the end, it's just a matter of everyone relying on their strength to set up a battle and decide the outcome."
In his words, a sense of confidence and boldness came to his face.
The Chu State is now a hegemonic state. It can mobilize millions of troops and can compete with any country in the world.
The strategy used in the attack on Hanzhong of Zhou Dynasty this time was just to minimize the losses of the war.
This does not mean that Chu State cannot defeat Zhou State except for strategy.
Even if this plot is discovered by the Zhou Kingdom, the worst case scenario is that Lu Yuan will personally raise 300,000 troops and march north to Hanzhong to compete with him.
Since his debut, he has fought more than a hundred battles, big and small, killed four innates, destroyed one country, conquered three countries, defeated more than a million enemies, and expanded tens of thousands of miles of territory. He can be said to have great military achievements and is the military god in the world.
Even Zhou Guo, who was planning at this time, was just a defeated general from the past.
Facing such an enemy, even though the opponent was powerful, it would be an exaggeration to say that Lu Yuan was afraid.
really.
After hearing what Lu Yuan said and being infected by this heroic spirit, some of Sun Siwen's original worries dissipated a lot.
Finally, he smiled and said: "What the king said is absolutely true. The way to use troops for the country is to use extraordinary troops, but the right path cannot be missing. If the final strategy really fails to work, it will only be an upright battle and victory on the battlefield.
Our country of Chu has newly established hegemony, and other countries have many doubts. We really need a head-on battle to promote force to all countries in the world and clarify our hegemony. "
The rise of a new overlord is always accompanied by the fall or failure of the old overlord.
The Chu State is now the newly rising overlord, but it only has the title of overlord. People in the world still have many doubts about whether it has the strength to be the overlord.
After all, the Chu State was said to have great military exploits, but its previous opponents were all small countries like Hanzhong and Xichuan.
Even the barbarian countries in the southwest are just barbarians.
Defeating these countries can only prove that Chu State has some strength, but it cannot prove that Chu State can really compete with other overlords.
Therefore, in order to prove this point, it is necessary to find a dominant country, have a grand battle with the opponent, and then defeat it.
Looking at the surrounding areas, the only countries that meet this requirement are Zhou, Liang, and Ning.
However, among the Three Kingdoms, Liang and Ning are not engaged in much war at this time, and they can mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses for war at any time.
Chu State was against them and had little chance of winning.
But Zhou Guo was different.
Now the Zhou Kingdom is at war on three sides, and most of the domestic troops and horses are contained. At this time, the Chu State was against it, and the number of soldiers and horses that the other party could mobilize would not exceed 300,000 at most, and the number of combat troops would not exceed 100,000.
On the contrary, on the Chu side, Lu Yuan could mobilize 300,000 standing soldiers. Counting the civilians, the army of 500,000 to 600,000 was just idle.
In terms of military strength, Lu Yuan had an absolute advantage.
And among the innate masters, with him and Huang Xuan here, even if all the innate masters in Zhou State came out together, they would never be able to match them.
Not to mention other worries about money and food.
Chu State's treasury is full, and Zhou State is already facing a food shortage. If this war is really fought, the opponent will definitely not be able to consume him.
He had the three major advantages of military strength, masters, and money and food. If he couldn't defeat the Zhou Kingdom, Lu Yuan would have wasted his decades of fighting and just killed himself with a piece of tofu.
The only worrying thing about this battle is how much is lost and how much is gained in the end.
But regardless of losses and gains, stepping on the face of Zhou State and helping Chu State secure its position as the hegemon is already an unquestionable national policy.
Lu Yuan and Sun Siwen both knew this.
When we first decided on the strategy of attacking Hanzhong, we had already figured this out and had no doubts.
At this time, a heart-to-heart talk between the monarch and his ministers was just to clarify this point.
After clearing up his confusion, Sun Siwen no longer had any doubts. With Lu Yuan's approval, he led the court ministers to further discuss the deal with the Zhou envoys.
at the same time.
The dispatch and transportation of grain and grass from various places, as well as the mixing of soldiers, horses and civilians from various ministries, also moved according to the time.
A war to conquer the Zhou Kingdom was going on quietly under the cover of the grain trade...
