What's more, only two people knew about the underground transaction between Lou Chang and Fan Sui, and even Hei Bingtai didn't know what happened. As the only insider, Lou Chang, even if he learned the news, he would be happy to conceal it for Fan Sui and even continue to share the "way to make money" with him.
Here Fan Sui easily raised money and silk, but over there Lou Chang, who was confident in his persuasion, seemed to be experiencing ups and downs.
"Your Majesty!" Lou Chang, who had been persuading him for nearly half an hour, was obviously a little anxious. After all, his cattle had already been sold out, and even the deposit had been collected. If he failed to persuade King Zhao today, he could take it himself. The next 90,000 gold is not a big deal, but losing credibility in the minds of customers is a serious problem - this is a big deal related to long-term cooperation in the future.
This is no wonder Lou Chang himself. You must know that in just a few days, Lou Chang has been summoned to the palace by Zhao Kuo several times. What was discussed? Even for Zhao Kuo's crimes, there were various and some were laid on Zhao Kuo as many as ten, and even how to gradually reduce power and marginalize him after the victory had been discussed in detail.
In this case, if it were you, you would also feel that convincing King Zhao is a sure thing!
But when the end came, King Zhao couldn't make up his mind. Even if Lou Chang broke it into pieces and slandered Zhao Kuo wantonly, the battle between Yan and Zhao left a deep impression on the Zhao State. No matter how confused the King of Zhao was, he still understood the Shangdang area's influence on the Zhao State. importance. Once the tiger returns to the mountain, there will be endless troubles!
King Zhao doesn’t want to fight another Shangdang battle!
"My lord!" Lou Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to persuade him tirelessly: "That's Tao Yi! The Qin State went through all kinds of hardships to conquer the country of Han and conquer the Party territory. What is it? Isn’t it just to open the way to Taoyi, so as to gain access to the sacred land of the Central Plains!"
"Now that I can capture it without any bloodshed, is there any reason why I shouldn't take it?"
"Your Majesty, do you know how much tax a year brings for just one Tao Yi?"
"It's almost one-third of the annual tax of our Kingdom of Zhao. It's just a city! It's not an exaggeration to say that the land is filled with gold and jade!"
"The reason why the Qin State has such a strong national power and its ability to overwhelm the six countries in Shandong is that Tao Yi's taxation is a key part of it."
"As long as I, the Zhao State, have Tao Yi, I can enter into the fertile land of the Central Plains, and when I retreat, I can replenish the state treasury consumed by the Shangdang's three-year fierce war. This will be a hundred benefits without any harm!"
...
Lou Chang said it almost made his heart flutter!
It has to be said that Lou Chang has a good way of persuading people. He specializes in scratching the other person's itching, and the bait he throws out is what the other person wants most in his heart.
What does Zhao State lack now? It can be said that everything is lacking - lack of money, lack of food, lack of taxes!
But these are the ones with the most Taoyi. What else is there to say? You can just exaggerate the wealth of Tao Yi, talk about one-third of Zhao's tax, talk about gold and jade everywhere, and even help Qin to dominate. It's just a mouthful.
Taoyi was wealthy, but it was by no means capable of helping Qin to dominate. In fact, it is precisely because of its wealth that the people who covet it have never been very lucky. First, the Wei State, which had been interested in it, was pulled from its position as the hegemon by other countries; then the Song State, which had always occupied it, was destroyed by the Qi State; and the Qi State, which had just occupied it, was almost destroyed by the five kingdoms' joint attack.
Even the State of Qin actually exchanged land with the State of Zhao for the land around Taoyi, and was tricked by the State of Zhao. This directly led to the start of the war between Qin and Zhao.
The Central Plains is certainly a sacred land. But the sacred land may turn into a cannibal quagmire at any time.
Of course, it is difficult for the authorities to see these things clearly. After all, the wealth in the land of Taoyi is real. Even after experiencing the baptism of war, the taxes paid every year are still a very objective figure.
Even Fan Sui, who proposed the strategy of making distant friends and attacking those close to home, may not have really realized the quagmire nature of the Central Plains region. It was just because it was too difficult to fight through and all countries were unwilling to let go, so he settled for the next best thing. A piecemeal approach to each country.
Of course, with the piecemeal progress and the steady improvement of Qin's national power, the Qin people will eventually
Realize the correctness and greatness of the strategy of "making friends far away and attacking close by".
However, although Lou Chang had already praised Tao Yi to the point where everything was in the sky and on the earth, King Zhao still looked like he couldn't make a choice.
Faced with this situation, Lou Chang knew that it was difficult to impress King Zhao by simply emphasizing the benefits. He had to put some external pressure on him and adopt a two-pronged approach.
"Your Majesty," Lou Chang said carefully and tentatively, "I risk my life to hear about this, so our army should take advantage of the opportunity in this battle!"
King Zhao turned his eyes, and his doubtful eyes instantly locked on Lou Chang. Faced with a great situation, King Zhao obviously didn't know what it meant to "give up when things are good".
"What do you mean by what Dr. Lou said?" King Zhao asked puzzledly.
"Your Majesty, does your Majesty know why the humble minister Xingye came to the palace to tell the king about this matter?" Faced with King Zhao's confusion, Lou Chang did not give a direct answer and began to circle around with King Zhao.
"Why?" King Zhao naturally continued to ask.
"Nothing but the request of the Prime Minister of Qin!" Lou Chang replied simply.
But this answer made King Zhao even more confused. Fan Sui, the Prime Minister of Qin State, came to Handan to ask him to withdraw his troops. He had just reported it, but the Prime Minister of Qin begged to come at starry night, which showed the urgency of Qin State, and how could he "stop as soon as he saw good things"? What about the words?
Of course, Lou Chang, who was very observant, immediately noticed King Zhao's doubts, and this doubt was exactly what Lou Chang wanted.
"My king doesn't know something." Lou Chang sighed softly: "The thing that Prime Minister Qin is worried about is not the more than 100,000 Qin troops in Shangdang territory. The more than 100,000 Qin troops have Bai Qi sitting in command. With the king's wisdom, , it is naturally clear that there is no possibility of a quick victory for our army in a short period of time. Therefore, if the Qin army is surrounded for Shangdang, Prime Minister Qin does not need to rush this night. "
"Oh?" King Zhao was obviously more and more interested in Lou Chang's words.
Seeing this, Lou Chang immediately took advantage of the victory and pursued him: "My king should know that the Qin army is like a tiger and a wolf. They only know how to conquer cities and territories, and award titles for meritorious service. How could they know that the country is in difficulty. After three years of fierce fighting, our country Zhao's century-old accumulation has been exhausted. Although the Qin country is related We are rich in China and familiar with Bashu, but due to the long battle line and difficulty in transportation, the current situation is not much better than that of our Zhao country. In addition, the army is surrounded, and there is no point in holding on. "
After speaking, Lou Chang paused slightly and looked at King Zhao nodding unconsciously, obviously agreeing with his statement, and then changed the topic: "There are only a handful of people in Qin who can calculate this account! "
...
