The Qin army had withdrawn, and the two royal envoys had completed their missions, and they all requested to return to Handan. However, the Zhao army, especially Zhao Kuo, was in a dilemma. If we advance, the autumn harvest in the country will be imminent, and if the army hangs alone outside, the autumn harvest will inevitably be delayed; if we retreat, the handover in Hanoi will continue. If the Qin army repeats, it will be in danger of being overturned.
On a night with a thin moon and stars, almost all the dignitaries of the Zhao Kingdom gathered in the Jiepai Lingguan Tower.
Zhao Kuo was still sitting on the throne. Although there were still two royal envoys in the camp, it was obvious that no one dared to compete with Zhao Kuo for the throne in the camp.
Lord Pingyang and Lord Pingyuan, as royal envoys, sat on either side of Zhao Kuo.
General Lian Po was behind Lord Pingyuan, and Doctor Lou Chang was naturally behind Lord Pingyang. They were clearly distinguished. As for generals such as Xu Li, they are naturally not qualified to enter Zhao Jun's decision-making level.
Faced with the current situation, everyone already knows it in their hearts.
As far as the country is concerned, Zhao Kuo should continue to stay in Shangdang, at least until Hanoi County to successfully complete the handover. Only in this way can he deter Qin and ensure a smooth handover. It is even best to complete the deployment before leaving, which is the safest way.
However, privately speaking, it was best for Zhao Kuo to return to Handan immediately.
Although Zhao Kuo has made great achievements today, he has ignored and disobeyed the king's orders again and again, causing King Zhao's trust to be eroded again and again. It has always been a taboo to command an army without the king's trust. What's more, Zhao Kuo still had too many things to explain to King Zhao.
After a moderately warm exchange of greetings and an explanation of the situation, there was a discussion on whether the army should stay or leave. The result was not unexpected. As usual, they just took turns to go home. They just had a brief discussion on how to divide them into several groups, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.
But when the key issue of Zhao Kuo's stay was discussed, the scene immediately fell into silence.
Needless to say, Pingyuan Jun and the other three were entangled between reason and reason, unable to make a choice at all. At least on the surface, they could not persuade Zhao Kuo to leave;
As for Pingyang Jun, he naturally hopes that Zhao Kuo can follow him back to Handan, so that he can have business with King Zhao, but Pingyang Jun also knows that his thoughts are not important at all;
As for Doctor Lou Chang on the side, he even hoped that Zhao Kuo would continue to delay. The longer Zhao Kuo delayed, the more suspicious King Zhao became. Coupled with Fan Sui's money offensive, Lou Chang was also very willing to vent his anger for the injuries on his back.
After a long silence, Zhao Kuo finally made the decision: the food problem has been alleviated after receiving supplies from the Qin army, and in order to cope with the possible war in the future, the defense of Hanoi and Shangdang cannot be compromised.
The first is the arrangement of the army: out of the 190,000 troops, 50,000 young men will immediately return to Handan, be released from corvee service, and put into the autumn harvest; the remaining 140,000 troops will be divided into three groups and return to Handan in turn for repairs.
As for Zhao Kuo, due to the decrease in troops on the front line, Zhao Kuo, as the commander-in-chief, temporarily stayed in Shangdang County in order to ensure the safety of the front line.
Of course, it is false that the battlefield is inseparable from Zhao Kuo, but it is true that Zhao Kuo wanted to leave behind a secret plan.
However, for Zhao Kuo's reasons, neither Lord Pingyang nor Doctor Lou Chang could say anything. But as a result, Pingyuan Jun and General Lian Po couldn't help but worry about Zhao Kuo.
After Lord Pingyang and Dr. Lou Chang left, Lian Po hurriedly persuaded Zhao Kuo: "General! Why don't you lead an army of 50,000 and return to Handan first? Hanoi and Shangdang County are still guarded by General Tian Dan and me, as well as an army of 90,000. The Qin army's new defeat should not be a big problem."
Zhao Kuo was speechless.
"That's right!" Mr. Pingyuan also hurriedly continued: "Jun Pingyang is fine. Lou Chang turned around first. I'm afraid... after all, it will be difficult to explain later."
It can be seen that both of them are thinking about Zhao Kuo. But what Zhao Kuo was waiting for was the word "explanation".
Zhao Kuo smiled slightly and said: "What do I need to explain? Explain why we defeated Qin's 500,000-strong army in Shangdang? Explain why we forced Qin's Wu Anjun to die in Shangdang? Or explain why we moved Hanoi, a strategic location The land is occupied?"
When Mr. Pingyuan heard this, he felt speechless and shameless.
yes! What does Zhao Kuo need to explain?
Is it wrong to do whatever it takes to win this life-and-death battle for Zhao?
Is it wrong to force the enemy's commander, who claims to be invincible, to die on the battlefield?
Is it wrong to correct the king's negligence, occupy strategic locations, and block the enemy's development route?
Since it was correct, why should Zhao Kuo explain?
Mr. Pingyuan sighed in his heart: If you want your minister to fail, what can you do?
Seeing that Lord Pingyuan retreated in shame, Zhao Kuo immediately turned to Lian Po and said, "If the old general thinks this way, does An Zhi Qin army think the same way? I'm afraid that as soon as I set off here, the Qin army over there will already know it. If you were the old general, would you let go of such an opportunity?"
When Lian Po heard this, his expression also changed. Obviously he also understood the meaning of Zhao Kuo's words. Needless to say, if this person hadn't stirred up trouble in front of the king, the Qin army would have been wiped out by him at this time, and there would be so many things.
Facing such an unreasonable king and such a pickpocketing minister, Lian Po felt quite frustrated.
With a slight sigh, the two men immediately retreated, leaving Zhao Kuo alone in the tent.
Zhao Kuo didn't know his embarrassing situation, but at this point, even if he wanted to be a general peacefully, I'm afraid neither Qin nor Zhao would let him get what he wanted.
It can even be said that since he set foot on the Shangdang battlefield, he has been destined to have a bad ending.
Defeat, loss of troops and humiliation of the country, even if he did not die in battle, how could he have a good life after returning to Zhao?
Sheng, even if he obeys the king's orders in everything, not to mention whether he can win this unprecedented battle, even if he wins, can he avoid King Zhao's suspicion? Can we avoid being squeezed out and framed by Qin's daughter Qian Louchang?
As powerful as Bai Qi, he died in the hands of the wise King of Qin. The loyal family of Changlin Palace was inevitably forced to stay away from the court, not to mention himself?
Rather than leaving your destiny to others, it is better to hold it firmly in your own hands.
Of course, if you want to take it, you must first give it to it.
Zhao Kuo's current power is still very weak. Even if the whole army supports him, it is just support. If Zhao Kuo wants to rebel, Zhao Kuo doesn't know how many people will follow him. It should be less than half! At least General Lian Po wouldn't.
Because, it’s not enough!
King Zhao has not done enough! It’s not enough to arouse everyone’s anger!
What Zhao Kuo had to do was to allow Lou Chang to belittle himself while building up military morale and popularity in Shangdang and Hanoi.
As for military morale and popularity, it starts from here. Zhao Kuo looked at the sketch in his hand and felt extremely confident.
