Due to the limitations of the times, Qin Wangji and Fan Ju did not know what kind of fertile land the Xitao Plain to the north of Longxi and the Hetao Plain further to the north were.
They only know the name Hetao, which was previously called Heshang Land by Zhao State. As for the specific environment, whether it is suitable for growing grain, how big the area is, and the population, they have no idea.
After all, with the rich and fertile Central Plains on its side, who would focus on the poor and backward frontier? Historically, neither the Qin Dynasty nor the Han Dynasty could develop it into a granary after they captured the Hetao.
If someone hadn't reported it, Zhao's territory had expanded to the north of Longxi, and it was impossible for Qin to set its sights there.
"The south... the west... the north... the north, which I thought would be peaceful, unexpectedly encountered a situation..." Qin Wangji slowly moved his gaze upwards.
There is a large blank area north of Longxi on the map, not even the direction of the Yellow River. Only the names of Qu Yan, He Zong, and Hei Gu are simply marked. Now it seems that these names are likely to become one name: Zhao Guo.
"I don't know what the situation is like on the front line... If we can't open up the situation..." Qin Wangji secretly thought about whether it was necessary to put his strength in the north.
However, what Fan Ju said is very reasonable. To the north of Guanzhong, there are ravines and deep ravines that divide the land into highlands. The locals call these high and flat highlands "original".
Great plains are connected together, with no end in sight and no way out, which is enough to kill all ambitions.
"Unless there is a road that runs through the north and south, we can never attack the Zhao State Loop across such a long distance." Qin Wangji was shocked.
In this kind of terrain, just transporting food is enough to make people desperate. He would rather fight Zhao Jun on the battlefield than face the plain that he can't get out of.
"How is the situation on the front line? Is there any news?" Qin Wangji asked in a deep voice.
He had long received the news that Jiuding was lost, but he still decided to give Zhang Ruo a chance to get Jiuding back.
Jiuding is important, but a general's loyalty is even more important.
"Your Majesty, not yet." Qin Liu shook his head.
"I hope he won't disappoint me." Qin Wangji murmured. Sanchuan has been captured. If Jiuding can be recaptured, the first stage of the strategy will be successfully completed.
The next step is to split the three Jins. First, they will split their alliance politically, and then they will split the three Jins geographically, making it impossible for the three Jins to unite, and then defeat them one by one...
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, General Zhang Ruo is our veteran general of the Qin Kingdom and will not let the Three Jin Dynasties run away." Fan Ju said with a smile.
"I hope so." Qin Wangji sighed, "By the way, have the officials and provisions been arranged?"
"The officials have been appointed, half of them were transferred from various places, and the other half were appointed directly from the army. Because the distances vary, it is expected that they will all arrive in about a month. Food and grass have been transported to the royal city since yesterday." Fan Ju clasped his fists. said.
Everyone thought this war was over, but little did they know that it had just begun.
"Report... Your Majesty, news from the front line." At this time, a guard came in from outside and said with clasped fists.
"Send it in." Qin Wangji took it and looked at it. He suddenly became furious and slammed the letter on the ground. "You are so fucking shameless. How dare you, Zhang Ruo, say such a thing... You obviously didn't do it." , let Sanjin run away, and actually had the nerve to say it was his own plan. How can there be such a shameless person like you in the world."
The guard quickly stepped aside, lowered his head, and did not dare to take a breath, for fear of being noticed by Qin Wangji and suffering an unreasonable disaster.
Only Fan Ju walked forward without any care and picked up the letter on the ground. After reading it, he laughed and said, "This one is really a wonderful person..."
"Isn't the Prime Minister angry?" Qin Wangji looked at Fan Ju.
"Your Majesty, there is a saying in the State of Chu, "It is not too late to mend the situation before it is too late." Now that the Jiuding has been lost, no matter how angry we are, we will not let the lost Jiuding come back. Although Zhang Ruo's method is to defend himself, it is not without value. Jiuding, who doesn’t want it? How could Han Wei obediently give it to Zhao? In the end no matter
Whichever of the three Jins gets it will inevitably lead to conflicts. "
"Even if Han, Zhao and Wei divide the Jiuding, and each country has three or several, some people will be dissatisfied. At that time... it will be our opportunity for Qin. I have always been dissatisfied with the young master (Lu Buwei) There are some worries about the plan. If Zhang Ruo's plan is added to it, the success rate will be greatly improved." Fan Ju said with a smile.
This is the charm of Jiuding. You know there are traps inside, but you still can't help but step on them.
"Is there no way to take Jiuding back?" Qin Wangji asked unwillingly, this is Jiuding, an important weapon of the country, should it be handed over to the three Jins like this?
"Your Majesty, the Jiuding is just a dead thing after all. If it can cause internal strife among the three Jins, it is worth losing the Jiuding. Besides... when we unify the world in the future, won't the Jiuding return to our Qin Kingdom?" Fan Ju said.
Qin Wangji clenched his hands and showed struggle. Jiuding was the long-cherished wish of generations of Qin people.
He finally had the opportunity and strength, but was snatched away by Sanjin. How could he be willing to do so!
"Your Majesty, the overall situation is the most important thing!" Fan Ju said solemnly.
"Then what to do next?" After a while, Qin Wangji slowly loosened his clenched hands, took a long breath, and looked outside the palace with firm eyes, "Jiuding, I will let you keep it for a few days. Qin will take it back soon!"
"Let's wait quietly for a while. If our country attacks Han and Wei at this time, the two countries will be under pressure from our country. In order to protect themselves, they will most likely take the initiative to give Jiuding to Zhao. We can send people to restore friendship with Han and Wei and inform the two countries. country, our Qin State will not continue to attack. Only in this way will they have the confidence to compete with Zhao State for Jiuding. At the same time, our country can secretly transport grain to Sanchuan to prepare for the next war." Fan Ju showed a faint smile on his lips.
"Okay, this time I must let the three Jin Dynasties know that Jiuding is not that easy to get." Qin Wangji patted the eucalyptus platform hard, stood up and said loudly, "I don't worry if others go, so why don't you go as an envoy in person? Right. After you left Wei State, sir, you never went back. This time I just happened to go back to see my hometown, and let the King of Wei see how blind he was for giving such a great talent to Qin State."
At this point, Qin Wangji was still very grateful to Wei.
Shang Yang, Zhang Yi, Fan Ju... It was precisely because of Wei's continuous supply of talents to Qin that Qin became so powerful.
It can be said that without the yesterday of Wei, there would be no today of Qin.
The prosperity of Qin is inseparable from the help of Wei.
What made Qin Wangji unhappy was that Wei not only provided talents to Qin, but also provided talents to Zhao, and even gave his own younger brother to Zhao.
Not only did it make the relationship between the two countries closer, but it also rapidly improved Zhao's national strength.
A large number of scholars from various countries rushed to the State of Zhao to pay homage to Wei Wuji. Later, they were recommended by Wei Wuji and were able to become officials.
"Sir, when you go back this time, please ride on my canopy. I will ask Fei Lianjun to escort you to Han and Wei." Qin Wangji saw that Fan Ju wanted to refuse, and immediately waved his hand and said, "Sir, your great kindness to our Qin country is worthy of this." . Sir, there is no need to refuse.”
He just wants to show the world how the people who were looked down upon by the Wei State, who were thrown into the toilet by the Wei State and allowed to be peed on by the guests, are now highly used and what kind of rights they have in the Qin State.
Everyone is pretentious, and no one thinks they are worse than Fan Ju.
What will they think when they see Fan Ju's situation?
One is that people like Fan Ju can be reused by the King of Qin. After I go there, won’t I be more powerful than Fan Ju?
The other is that the Wei State cannot even retain a great talent like Fan Ju, so what hope can there be?
No matter which situation happens, Qin Wangji is happy to see it.
"I will be a victim of your Majesty's heart and soul in this lifetime." Chief Fan Ju bowed to the ground and said with emotion.
…
On the other side, Zhao Kuo, who had inspected most of the Zhao Kingdom, finally began his return.
In Hejian County, Zhao Kuo then met with the captives of Yan State, calmed everyone's emotions, and told them that Zhao Guoguo would live for five years in accordance with the agreement of the year.
By then, that is, they will be released home next year.
The captives of Yan State were very grateful to Zhao Kuo. Captives in these days had no human rights. Even if Zhao Kuo killed them all, the world would only criticize them with words and writing, and it would not have any practical impact.
But Zhao Kuo not only did not kill them, but promised to let them return home. Every year during the summer and autumn harvests, he would write letters for them and send them to their families, and bring some food with them so that their families would not lose a labor force. starve.
In addition, Zhao Guo will also bring them a reply letter from his family so that they can understand the changes in their home.
Changes are not all good, but at least they are not the worst.
However, although the Yan captives were grateful to Zhao Kuo, they still had some doubts.
After all, as long as they haven't gone back, no one knows whether Zhao Guo is lying to them.
Then, Zhao Kuo came to Zhao's only seaport and the largest seaport in the world.
Ninety-nine percent of the seafood in the entire Zhao State comes from this port. It is precisely because of this port that the Zhao State is able to support 100,000 elite soldiers.
Yuan Hua went to Yingzhou to transport gold and silver and was not at the port. Zhao Kuo told Zhao Miao that when Yuan Hua came back, he told him not to go to sea in the near future as he had other tasks later.
After inspecting the harbor, Zhao Kuo turned around and returned to Handan by boat.
Along the river all the way south, there are patches of ash trees and scattered villages on both sides of the river. Although it is not prosperous, at least it is not a desolate beach.
Continuing south, both sides of the Yellow River begin to turn into large tracts of farmland.
The mud deposited by the Yellow River is very fertile, and the yield per mu is often several times that of the fields. However, if there is a flood, it is very likely that there will be no harvest.
Even so, the hard-working Chinese people still risked their lives to cultivate fields and plant crops on the railings of the Yellow River.
Except for the salt-alkali land on the coast, there is no open space on both sides of the Yellow River.
Standing on the boat and looking around, there are many people wearing turbans and bare feet on the bank of the Yellow River. They are standing in the water with their trousers rolled up. They are holding a black iron rod in their hands and are poking it in the river. Then he shook it gently and poked again and again, and there was a layer of black particles on the iron rod.
I saw the man happily scooping the black particles from the iron rod into a basin, cleaning them with water, and then putting them into a bag. When the bag was almost full, he would lift it to the shore and put it away, waiting for the purchaser to appear.
In addition to men, there are a few women and children doing the same thing in the water.
Zhao Kuo passed by them. They raised their heads and looked enviously at the big ship in front of them and the people on it. Then they bent down and continued to be busy with their heads down.
"Dad, what are they doing?" Xiao Ponu tugged on Zhao Kuo's robe, pointed at the people busy in the water, and asked curiously.
"They are digging for iron sand." Zhao Kuo said softly.
The sediment of the Yellow River is rich in iron sand. The iron content in this iron sand is as high as 60 to 70%, and it is not difficult to mine. Historically, until the beginning of the 21st century, many people on both sides of the Yellow River made a living by panning for iron sand. people.
Later, as a large number of iron sand boats plowed back and forth in the Yellow River, seriously affecting the passage of the Yellow River and the ecological environment of the Yellow River, the country began to ban iron sand panning in the Yellow River.
However, Zhao State does not have these dangers.
Because Zhao State did not have iron sand ships at all, and it was impossible to build advanced equipment for later generations.
Just by manually poking the water, no matter how big the iron rod is, it will not have any impact on shipping and the ecological environment.
On the contrary, the iron sand washed up from the Yellow River was extremely precious to the State of Zhao.
From the span of bronze to iron, although the technology has become mature in terms of time, if you want to truly enter the Iron Age, it will not work without a large amount of iron to improve technology.
But the iron ore in Zhao State has too low iron content and contains a lot of impurities, which is incomparable with the rich iron ore abroad.
The quality of the iron sand in the Yellow River exceeds that of all the iron ores in Zhao State, which can greatly reduce the pressure on smelting, and the quality of the weapons produced will be even better.
Without the ability to obtain rich iron ore from abroad, this is the only high-quality iron ore that Zhao can obtain.
Therefore, Zhao Kuo not only did not ban sand mining, but instead took the initiative to announce the matter, and the government provided magnet rods for people to mine sand and purchase the mined iron sand.
The people have an extra income, and Zhao State can also obtain high-quality iron ore.
The only fly in the ointment is that there is too little iron sand collected every day, which is far from enough to support Zhao's consumption.
"What is iron sand?" Xiao Ponu asked puzzledly. These terms were too unfamiliar to him.
Zhao Kuo smiled and did not explain, but ordered to dock.
read more, walk more.
If you really want to understand local life, you can’t just take a quick look at it, you must experience it yourself.
At the same time, it can also allow Xiao Ponu and Zhao Zheng to increase their knowledge and understand what the real Zhao country is.
A monarch who only stays in the palace will not become a wise monarch.
