"Go and call General Qu." King Yan took a deep breath and seemed to have regained some strength.
"promise."
As soon as he arrived home, he was called back. He bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, are you looking for me?"
"Pass the decree, and the doctor will make him your minister." King Yan ordered.
"I, Jiang Qu, am willing to wipe out the king's blood and brains." Jiang Qu knelt on the ground, stretched his hands forward, leaned down and bowed down, and said excitedly.
"I want the generals to be solely responsible for negotiating peace with the State of Zhao. Except for the population, which must not agree, everything else will be decided by the generals and no one can object. In addition, tell Jun Zhao that as long as he withdraws his troops, our country, Yan... …willing to surrender!”
King Yan gritted his teeth, clenched his fists tightly, his nails were buried in the flesh due to the force, and traces of blood seeped out from his palms, he said with great reluctance.
The son has no ambition and the grandson is young.
In order for the Yan Guo Temple to continue, he could only choose to endure the humiliation.
"These are just appearances. As long as Guo Zuo is still here, our country, Yan, can make a comeback." King Yan comforted himself in his heart.
He knew very well that strength was always more important than face, so even if he became a vassal, he could not hand over his population to Zhao.
Being a vassal is only temporary.
Once the population is handed over to the State of Zhao, the State of Yan will never recover.
"I obey." He bowed down and bowed. Seeing that King Yan had no intention of continuing to speak, he silently left the palace.
King Yan looked at the roof, Qin Kai's strong figure appeared in his mind, and there was some hesitation on his face.
Qin Kai held hostage in Donghu in his early years, made good friends with the Hu people, and was very familiar with Donghu. After returning to Yan State, he led an army to attack Donghu and captured more than two thousand miles of land for Yan State.
In terms of merit, among all the generals of Yan State now combined, no one can compare with Qin Kai.
However, Qin Kai's prestige among the Hu people was too great!
So big that no monarch would dare to use him.
Back then, Qin Kai led his troops to attack Donghu. Anyone who dared to resist was killed without mercy. The last survivors were those who supported him. As long as Qin Kai raised his arms, he would pose a great threat to the Yan Kingdom.
In order to weaken Qin Kai's influence, the State of Yan has been encouraging intermarriage between Yan and Hu over the years. Even so, there are still fully one-third of the Hu people in the State of Yan who are Sinicized!
This is also the reason why King Yan didn't dare to reuse Qin Kai even though he knew he wouldn't rebel.
When your strength reaches a certain level, it doesn't matter whether you rebel or not!
It's just that now all the famous generals of the Yan Kingdom have been captured. Except for Qin Kai, no one can shoulder the important responsibilities of the country, let alone defend against foreign enemies.
King Yan just stared at the roof without moving. The courage to shout for Qin Kai to be the general had long since disappeared without a trace...
After a long while, King Yan sighed, but still could not say the words to appoint Qin Kai as general...
…
Outside Wuyang City, flags covered the sky, war drums thundered, and Zhao Jun surrounded Wuyang City with water.
Zhao Kuo stood on the chariot and looked at Wuyang City, but he did not order the attack.
Sun Tzu once said: The first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the third is to attack the city.
Wuyang City is the capital of the Yan Kingdom. It has tall walls, a moat outside the city, and layers of urn walls inside. It also has a large population and sufficient armaments and food. It will be impossible to capture it in a short time.
"Blow the war drum every hour." Zhao Kuo ordered.
Although he did not plan to attack, he would not make it easy for the defenders in the city.
If the peace talks go smoothly later, it will be treated as a threat to scare Yan Jun, and there will be no loss anyway.
If the subsequent peace talks do not go smoothly, it will just tire the defenders in the city so that they can attack the city later.
"Don't worry, my lord, I'll leave this place to you." Jia Yan said, patting his chest.
"Yeah." Zhao Kuo nodded.
"Report! Your Majesty, General Li Mu has arrived ten miles away." At this time, a messenger rushed over and reported loudly.
"Li Mu has finally arrived!" Zhao Kuo was immediately overjoyed and asked Ben to drive his chariot towards Shanggu Pass.
Li Mu rode on a majestic war horse and walked at the front with majesty. After seeing Zhao Kuo, he quickly dismounted, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "General Li Mu pays homage to the king."
"You did a great job." Zhao Kuo helped Li Mu up, patted his shoulder, and said happily.
Compared with before, Li Mu has lost his immaturity and gained more confidence. Li Mu, who historically did not become famous until ten years later, has now officially grown into a famous general.
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." Li Mu said happily.
Zhao Kuo pulled Li Mu to the chariot and said, "Get in the chariot. Let's go back to the camp."
"I dare not ride with the king." Li Mu said somewhat flattered.
Now that the identities of the two parties are different, one is the king and the other is the minister. He does not dare to ride on Zhao Kuo's chariot as he did before.
"Why are you so polite between you and me?" Zhao Kuo took Li Mu's hand and pulled him up directly, not caring at all. "How do you feel about these two months in Northern Xinjiang?"
"Northern Xinjiang... is a very tempering place..." Li Mu thought for a while and said seriously.
The northern border of Zhao State is more than a thousand miles long. It has to face the Donghu, Xiongnu, Linhu, Loufan, Huoba, Dairong... I don’t know how many foreign tribes, and I don’t know how many tribes there are in each foreign tribe. , not to mention the great enemy Yan State.
Li Mu was extremely busy every day for the first half month and often made mistakes. He was caught by the foreign cavalry. After he gradually became familiar with it, he started to fight back.
"Send more people to pay attention to the surrounding foreign tribes, especially the Xiongnu. If necessary, you can spend a lot of money to bribe a few tribal leaders to be used by us." Zhao Kuo reminded.
Lin Hu, Lou Fan, and Dai Rong were wiped out by King Wu Ling, and the remaining forces were no longer able to generate any climate. Xi, Hu Raccoon, and Qu She were originally small tribes. As for Dong Hu, the main forces were Within the scope of Yan State, Zhao State is not very powerful.
Now Zhao's biggest enemy in the northern frontier, besides Yan, is the Huns.
"Your Majesty, you want to use troops against the Xiongnu?" Li Mu was a little eager to try.
Zhao Kuo shook his head and said: "Now is not the time. Our Zhao country has been fighting for years, and what we need now is to accumulate strength. I sent someone to inform you before, have you seen the Hetao Plain south of Yinshan Mountain?"
"The general went to see it. It is indeed a good place, but it is only suitable for grazing now. If you want to cultivate it, it will take at least ten years of development." Li Mu said.
After receiving Zhao Kuo's order, he immediately took people to inspect the Hetao Plain. There was sufficient water, rich and fertile pastures, and a mild climate. There were many wild horses living on it. The war horse under Li Mu's crotch was caught there. War horses that are equivalent to the level of human Gang Yuan are extremely rare.
Li Mu was happy about this for several days, but when he saw an extraordinary flying war horse flying past him, he could no longer be happy!
In addition, there are buffalo herds, sheep herds, wolves, human beings, etc.
Overall, it's a good place, but it's a bit difficult to farm.
Whether it is Jinyang or Handan, it took decades or even hundreds of years of development to form the endless fertile farmland now.
As for the land where a handful of seeds can be planted, there is also land, but it is a pity that it is not in China!
Zhao Kuo shook his head and said, "Your idea is wrong."
"Please give me some advice, Your Majesty." Li Mu thought for a moment and didn't think he was wrong. However, out of his trust in Zhao Kuo, Li Mu still asked very sincerely.
"I ask you, where can the Xiongnu and Linhu graze, and can we graze there?" Zhao Kuo looked at Li Mu.
Li Mu obviously follows the fixed thinking of Chinese people: wherever he goes, he always wants to plant something. A good place is where he can plant land. What do I want him to do if he can't plant land?
He ignored that herding was not the exclusive domain of nomads. The Chinese also knew how to herd, and they did it better.
Although the old Zhao family did not make their fortune by raising horses like the Qin family, driving horses and driving is not much different from raising horses. Moreover, the Zhao family and the Qin family were on good terms back then. Whatever the Qin family had, the Zhao family had no shortage of it.
If the river can be used to raise horses for grazing, the pressure on Zhao's horse administration will be greatly reduced in the future.
When Zhao Guo frees up his hands in the future, he will slowly develop the Hetao into fertile farmland, and then take in the grassland north of the Great Wall for grazing...
Take the path of the nomads and leave the nomads with nowhere to go!
"Your Majesty is indeed wise, but the general was negligent." Li Mu said with admiration.
Yes, who said we can only farm, we can also graze, right?
"I heard that in recent years, because Zhao State has focused its energy on the south and lacked strength in the north, part of the Hetao Plain has fallen into the hands of foreign tribes. I want you to find a way to take back the Hetao. South of the Yinshan Mountains, not even a little bit of land can into the hands of foreigners.”
Before he knew it, he had returned to the camp, Zhao Kuo said as he got out of the car.
"I will remember it, general," Li Mu said solemnly.
"Hmm. By the way, where are the prisoners of the Yan army?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"The last generals were imprisoned in Yuanyuan and Daicheng respectively, leaving 20,000 troops to guard them. The Yan army's chief general Qing Qin and the last general Ju Xin have been brought over." Li Mu said.
"Go and bring it here." Zhao Kuo said to the guard.
"No." The guard immediately walked outside with Zhao Kuo's order.
Not long after, Qing Qin and Ju Xin came in.
"Qing Qin and Ju Xin, the defeated generals, paid homage to Lord Zhao." No need for introduction, Qing Qin and Ju Xin also knew that only King Zhao Kuo could sit at the top.
Zhao Kuo looked at the two of them. Qing Qin was very young, only in his thirties. Ju Xin is already in his fifties, but he doesn't look old because of his internal energy.
Although the Gangyuan realm does not have the longevity of the Extraordinary realm, under normal circumstances, one can live to be seventy or eighty years old, or even exceed the one hundred-year-old mark. After all, at this level, most diseases are no longer contracted.
It's a pity that there is no normal situation in troubled times. Let alone the Gangyuan realm, even the strongest at the extraordinary level cannot guarantee that they will die.
King Wu Ling was starved to death.
King Wu of Qin was killed by a tripod.
Wu Qi was killed by random arrows.
…
Not to mention those people under the extraordinary realm.
"Are you two willing to surrender?" Zhao Kuo asked calmly.
Although Qing Qin and Ju Xin are not as strong as Le Yi and Li Mu, nor as strong as Pang Nuan and Le Cheng, they are still more than enough as the backbone.
For a country, famous generals are important, but backbone forces are also indispensable.
Qing Qin and Ju Xin looked at each other, bowed and said, "The last general is willing to surrender."
…
The next day, after a long and dusty journey, Jiang Qu finally arrived in Wuyang. As soon as he entered the camp, he cursed: "Why did Mr. Zhao betray his trust? He clearly promised to wait for three days, but then turned around and sent troops to attack our country."
"I said I would give you sir three days, but I didn't say you wouldn't attack during these three days. It's just that you didn't understand. This is not considered betrayal. Sir, please don't accuse me unjustly." Zhao Kuo was unreasonable and strong.
"You..." Jiang Qu pointed at Zhao Kuo, trembling all over, and he was so angry that he didn't know what to say.
In half his life, this was the first time he had seen such a shameless person!
"Sir, don't be angry. Too much anger will hurt your body and your life will be shortened. Come, let's go into the camp and talk in detail." Zhao Kuo stretched out his hand and said.
He suppressed the anger in his heart and walked towards the tent. As soon as he entered the tent, he saw Lejian, Rongben, Qingqin and Juxin sitting below.
Two on each side, neatly.
The anger in my heart suddenly came up, and I couldn't stop it.
"Are you... worthy of the king?" Jiang Qu pointed at the four of them and roared.
Le Jian and others immediately lowered their heads in shame.
"Sir, the four generals Lejian are now my king's ministers. It's not your turn to reprimand them yet." Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice. "Besides, do you think the Yan army's defeat is only their responsibility, and the King of Yan is not responsible?"
How could King Yan not be responsible if he kept him silent?
The four people in Lejian looked at Zhao Kuo gratefully.
"Give the envoy of Yan a seat." Zhao Kuo walked to the center, sat down, and ordered.
Soon a guard brought a bench for him to sit on.
Zhao Kuo looked at Jiang Qu and asked casually: "I wonder how the discussion in Yan is going? War or peace?"
"He." He leaned over and said.
"oh?"
"Except for sending the relatives of our captured soldiers to the State of Zhao, the State of Yan agrees to all the other conditions. We only ask the State of Zhao to withdraw its troops," Jiang Qu said.
"I'm sorry, sir, what you are talking about is the previous conditions of our Zhao Kingdom, but now the conditions have changed." Zhao Kuo said.
"You..." He suddenly stood up, his heart burning with anger, and he wanted to turn around and walk away.
However, in the end, for the sake of Yan State, some people had to stay in humiliation.
For the first time, he felt what it means for a weak country to have no diplomacy.
"Please speak frankly, Mr. Zhao." Jiang Qu gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and spoke word by word.
"First, the State of Yan cedes Shanggu County, Wuyang, and all the land south of Yishui. Second, it compensates our Zhao State for two million stones of grain. Third, it sends the families of all captives to Zhao State. Fourth, it compensates our Zhao State. One hundred thousand catties of copper and one hundred thousand catties of iron. As for the declaration of war on the four kingdoms of Qin, Qi, Korea and Wei, we can skip it." Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
He can't wait to go to Qi State to collect grain. It would be a waste of time to wait for Yan State to recruit soldiers to help him lead the battle.
"I am dissatisfied with Mr. Zhao. Even if I squeeze out the country of Yan, I still can't get two million shi of grain and one hundred thousand catties of copper and one hundred thousand catties of iron. In order to express our country's sincerity, the foreign minister can make the decision and compensate the Zhao country for one hundred and thirty thousand catties." One hundred thousand shi of grain, plus 50,000 jins of copper and 50,000 jins of iron, but it will take some time to raise them," Jiang Qu said.
The copper and iron of the Yan State were basically used to make weapons. These weapons all fell into the hands of the Zhao State as the Yan army surrendered. Where can we get 100,000 catties of copper and 100,000 catties of iron now?
"Okay." Zhao Kuo nodded. Yan State is not a big grain-producing country, and its smelting level is not particularly outstanding. He did not embarrass Yan State here.
