Tian Ying followed Li Mu and chattered endlessly, starting from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to King Zhao Wuling helping King Yan Zhao regain his throne. From Zhou Rites to various schools of thought, from Confucian benevolence and etiquette to Mohism’s unjust wars, from Duke Huan of Qi’s attack on mountain warriors, to the friendship between states, big countries must maintain order in the world, be benevolent, righteous, and loving, so that small countries will support big countries.
This was the first time that Li Mu had been tortured in this way. Compared with Tian Ying, the Confucian and Mohist scholars he invited were simply dumb.
Li Mu would rather meet Bai Qi on the battlefield than Tian Ying.
Mental attacks are far more terrifying than physical attacks.
"Does the envoy know how to enrich the country and strengthen the army?" Li Mu suddenly interrupted Tian Ying.
"The king applies benevolence and righteousness, and governs the country with benevolence..."
"Speak realistically and don't talk nonsense." Li Mu said impatiently.
"..." Tian Ying opened her mouth and was speechless.
"Does the envoy know how to lead troops to fight and capture cities and territories?" Li Mu asked again.
"..."
"You neither know how to make a country rich or powerful, nor how to lead troops to fight. Does the envoy know how to govern a county well, or how to make the formation harmonious?" Li Mu asked again.
"..."
"If the ministers of Yan State are all people like the envoy, they should be destroyed. Please send the envoy a message to King Yan after he returns. The one who destroys Yan is not Zhao but Yan." Li Mu waved his hand and said.
Tian Ying wanted to say something else, but two guards behind Li Mu stepped forward and pulled Tian Ying out.
"I didn't think Prime Minister Yan had anything to do with him before, but now I suddenly realized that he is still very powerful. I heard that since King Yan came to the throne, he has been practicing immortality every day and not asking about state affairs. The court is occupied by people like Tian Ying. General While suppressing his colleagues and rectifying the country's affairs, he also dealt with foreign enemies. Under such circumstances, he was able to pull out an army of one hundred thousand, which is really extraordinary." Sima Shang said with emotion.
"The country of Yan has been suffering for a long time, and it is difficult for manpower to recover." Li Mu shook his head.
If there was no foreign enemy like Zhao, who was eyeing the enemy, there would be a generation of wise kings in Yan, and there would still be hope for revival.
However, Yan State is in danger and full of contradictions. There are powerful enemies like Zhao State abroad who are constantly suppressing the Yan State and seizing the hearts and minds of the Yan people. Even if King Zhao is reincarnated, he can only sigh that the sky is long, why is it less important to me.
To be fair, it was not easy for him to drag Yan Guo forward who was seriously ill.
At this time, the palace of King Yan was already in chaos.
No one expected that at the critical moment when Zhao Jun besieged the city, King Yan fell ill.
Since his cultivation as an immortal, King Yan's health has been deteriorating. In the past few days, he had to keep up his spirits because he was facing the danger of subjugating his country, but people have their limits after all.
After the court meeting today and after confirming the peace proposal, King Yan felt a little relieved, but his body finally couldn't support it anymore and he fell ill in bed.
"My academic skills are not good, and the king is seriously ill..." The last imperial doctor stood up, sighed, shook his head, and stepped aside to stand with his colleagues.
"Quack doctors, they are all quack doctors, cough, get lost, get away from me, how could I die? I want to become an immortal and live forever..." King Yan yelled hysterically, with veins on his face standing out like earthworms. So ferocious, but without a trace of blood.
The imperial doctor hurriedly retreated, not daring to linger at all.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely invite a miracle doctor to treat Your Majesty." A minister stepped forward, leaned over and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty. You must take good care of your health." The ministers stepped forward to express their loyalty.
"Ahem." King Yan coughed twice. He felt like stars were popping up in his eyes and he almost coughed out his lungs. He couldn't see the things in front of him clearly. The ministers became blurry and waved their hands impatiently, "You too Back off."
"promise."
Soon, there were only two officials left in the room, as well as King Yan's teacher He Shang Gong.
"Your Majesty, I have an elixir here. After eating it, your Majesty will be alive and healthy. You won't have any diseases. Even the Seven Girls of the Night will not be a problem." The Lord of the River mysteriously took out a gourd from his arms and poured out two pills from it. The golden elixir rolls in the palm of your hand, extremely tempting.
When King Yan heard this, a bright light suddenly bloomed in his eyes, and he sat up suddenly, as if he had grasped the last straw, and tightly grasped the sleeves of Lord Heshang with both hands.
To this day, King Yan believes that what Lord Heshang said about cultivating immortals is true, but his heart is not sincere, so it doesn't work.
Because every time He Shang Gong makes an elixir, he always makes two parts. The good part is given to King Yan, and the bad part is taken by himself. Although He Shang Gong is not getting younger, he has no signs of getting older, and his strength is getting stronger and stronger. , even King Yan’s personal bodyguards are no match for him.
This is why no minister of Yan State advised King Yan, and King Yan did not doubt Duke Heshang.
Mr. He Shang gave you all the best elixirs, so what else can you do if you take the bad ones yourself?
That must be your own fault.
"To... to the widow..."
"Hiss... Your Majesty, you have taken advantage of me." Duke Heshang did not expect that the critically ill King Yan would burst out with such great power that even he would feel pain.
King Yan quickly let go of his hand.
"Your Majesty, here, take one tonight. Take another one tomorrow morning, and your Majesty will be cured." Duke Heshang placed the two elixirs in King Yan's hands.
King Yan quickly took the elixir and swallowed it without asking for water. He begged the immortal in his heart to bless him.
In all these years, I have never been so pious.
In less than half a quarter of an hour, King Yan's face became visibly rosy, his energy became better and better, he stopped coughing, and his eyes could see clearly.
King Yan reached out to touch the bed board and wanted to get out of bed.
The eunuch quickly stepped forward and supported King Yan on one side and the other on the right.
"Get out of the way, I don't need support." King Yan pushed the eunuch aside, stood up alone, and walked to Duke Heshang, "Thank you very much, teacher."
"Your Majesty, this is serious." Lord Heshang said with a smile.
He was happy from the bottom of his heart to see King Yan getting well.
It seemed that he was not on the wrong path.
"Call the royal concubine to come to bed." King Yan said.
He is usually a bit attracted to women, but not infatuated with them, but today he was in a good mood and asked his favorite concubine to accompany him.
When the officials of Yan State heard that King Yan was well, they hurriedly came to see him again and asked the imperial doctor to check King Yan again.
As a result, none of the imperial doctors agreed. Instead, they spent all their money to support their connections and fled back to Jicheng with their whole family overnight.
Tian Ying was also able to see King Yan again.
King Yan was in a good mood and was not angry. He just encouraged Tian Ying to perform well after arriving in Handan and try to persuade King Zhao to withdraw his troops.
The next day, Tian Ying left Jicheng and headed for Handan.
King Yan also climbed up from Concubine Wang's body. He felt a little tired. He quickly swallowed the remaining pill into his stomach. After a while, he felt better. He followed Lord Heshang to practice immortality for a while. He was much more serious than before. Then start processing the memorial.
With a formidable enemy at hand, Yan State's efficiency has never been faster.
All men of appropriate age have been recruited, organized into an army, and issued with weapons, and training to defend the city has begun.
Many nobles also dedicated their retainers and servants to serve as soldiers.
What makes everyone feel at ease is that there is still a lot of food and grass in Jicheng.
This was the food and fodder he had raised for the 100,000-strong army, most of which had not had time to be transported to the front line.
At night, King Yan felt a little tired. Lord Heshang quickly took out two pills.
"Your Majesty, it's normal for you to be tired after a hard day's work," Lord Hegami said.
King Yan nodded, took the elixir, and after taking one, he felt a little unsatisfied, so he took another. Then he called two noble concubines to come over and sleep with him.
In the early morning, the two noble concubines opened their eyes, took off King Yan's arm, and softly called the king twice. When there was no response, the two noble concubines felt the coldness of King Yan's body, and an unknown premonition came to their hearts. , his expression suddenly changed.
The more courageous Concubine Wang cautiously stretched out her hand and probed towards King Yan's nostrils.
"Ah~"
A sharp sharp point
Rui's voice resounded through the palace, and the eunuchs and guards rushed over. However, because the imperial concubine was inside, they could only stop outside the curtain and ask.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty has passed away."
Now the eunuchs and guards didn't care that the concubines were inside, and rushed in. The two concubines quickly stepped aside and hurriedly got dressed.
"Quick, summon the officials, the king has passed away." The eunuch said hurriedly after checking.
Qingshe and Feng Wuze finally led the army to the front line, and Yuan Hua also led the navy upstream along the river to block all waterways in Jicheng.
"When will we start attacking the city?" Qingshe and Feng Wuze asked excitedly.
When they learned on the road that Yan Jun had surrendered, they were all stunned. The order they received was to assist Li Mu in defeating the Yan army. Now that the Yan army has surrendered, should they continue marching or return?
Fortunately, new military orders came down soon, to go north to destroy Yan.
Qingshe and Feng Wuze were afraid that Li Mu would destroy the Yan Kingdom without waiting for them, so they hurried as hard as they could and finally arrived at Jicheng.
"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." Li Mu said calmly, even if only the old, weak, sick and disabled were left in Jicheng, the Zhao army would still have to pay a lot of casualties if they wanted to capture it.
If done well, these casualties are completely unnecessary.
After hearing this, everyone looked at Li Mu and waited for Li Mu's arrangements.
"Have you brought all the prisoners I wanted?" Li Mu asked.
"General Zhen, I have brought them all. They all live in Jicheng and have a good impression of our Zhao country." Qingshe said. When he rushed to Wuyang, Jin Pao was already ready. He just needed to bring him over. .
"Take me to meet them. Whether our army can capture Jicheng at the minimum cost depends entirely on these prisoners." Li Mu said.
"promise."
After seeing the captives of the Yan army and understanding their thoughts, Li Mu became more confident in the plan and began to discuss matters with the generals. Even Yuan Hua came and sat in the first position on his right hand.
At this moment, news came from Jicheng: King Yan passed away.
"Really or not?" Even Li Mu was not calm now.
"I'm from Yan, how could you lie to the general about something like this? At this time, our Jicheng city is covered with white cloth, and you can see it when the general leaves the camp." The Yan envoy said in a deep voice.
Li Mu still didn't dare, or rather didn't want to believe it, to leave the camp in person and come to the foot of Jicheng, looking at Jicheng covered with white cloth.
His face suddenly darkened.
Ritual does not defeat mourning.
After the death of King Yan, according to etiquette, Zhao Jun should retreat at this time, showing that he is a righteous soldier and will never take advantage of others' danger to covet Yan's land.
This is also the purpose of Yan Envoy coming to see Li Mu.
But Zhao Jun finally managed to reach the foot of Jicheng, and he would soon be able to break through the capital of Yan State and destroy Yan State.
Everyone in the Zhao army is waiting for military merit and rewards!
How could it be possible to withdraw troops like this!
"General... what should I do?" Sima Shang swallowed and looked at Li Mu unwillingly.
All the generals' eyes were also focused on Li Mu. At this moment, no one was willing to retreat.
But this is related to Zhao Guo's reputation, and no one dares to ignore it.
"Go back to the camp first and send a message to the king." Li Mu sighed. Only Zhao Kuo can decide this matter.
Soon, Zhao Kuo received a message from Li Mu.
"What do you think?" Zhao Kuo called the ministers over to ask.
"When the King of Yan passes away, there is no mourning ceremony. Our country should withdraw its troops, return the land of Yan State, and arrange for envoys to go to express condolences." Kong Bin said.
"Rituals do not stop mourning? When Marquis Su of the State of Zhao died, and Qin, Chu, Yan, Qi, and Wei led their armies to attend the funeral, why didn't they say etiquette does not stop mourning? Ritual and music have been broken for hundreds of years. At this time, we should say "Living without restraining mourning is as ridiculous as saying that if you manage the flood well, you will gain control of the world." Lin Xiangru said dissatisfiedly.
"At that time, the armies of various countries did not arrive in Handan, but were only at the border. They still sent envoys to express condolences." Kong Bin said.
"That's because the young and wise King Wuling of the Zhao Kingdom realized that the five countries had bad intentions and responded promptly. Otherwise, the armies of various countries had already arrived at the city. How could we still have the Zhao Kingdom? How could the internal history have the opportunity to sit here and talk?" Lin Xiangru said.
"At this time, all the countries in the Central Plains are fighting. The opportunity to destroy Yan is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How can we stick to the ancient rituals. When the war between the countries is over and we intervene in the Yan Kingdom, if Zhao wants to destroy Yan again, it will not be as simple as it is now." Cai Cai Ze stood up and said.
"I support the destruction of Yan. The reform of Zhao State is to change the old law. How can it be abandoned halfway because of conservatism? The Yan army is newly defeated, the King of Yan and the Prime Minister of Yan have died, and Jicheng is about to fall. Not only should our army not retreat, but we must step up Attack the city." Zhao Sheng said.
Zhao Bao frowned and said nothing.
Although he did not agree with attacking Yan when King Yan died, he knew that the fighting prowess of Lin Xiangru, Cai Ze, and his younger brother was not comparable to his.
Didn’t even notice that Kong Bin was no match.
"Aren't you worried about the criticism from the world?" Kong Bin asked.
"The people of the world will not blame, only the princes of the world will blame. As long as we annex the Yan Kingdom, our Zhao Kingdom will be able to overlook the entire world. By then, even if all the princes in the world are enemies of our Zhao Kingdom, what will we, Zhao Kingdom, have to fear?" Cai Ze said in a deep voice.
The development of Zhao State exceeded his original plan.
At first, Cai Ze felt that Zhao needed to annex Yan and Qi to have the capital to fight against the world.
But with the elimination of the Xiongnu, the annexation of the Hetao, and the implementation of reforms step by step, Cai Ze suddenly discovered that unknowingly, the national power of Zhao had surpassed Qin and became the number one in the world.
As long as it annexes the Yan State and eliminates the enemies behind it, the Zhao State will not be afraid of the princes in the world at all.
