"Mother, although I have great merits, my contribution to defeating Qin was even more due to hundreds of thousands of Zhao soldiers. As a general, my son performed diplomatic duties, but he was suspected of overstepping his bounds. He was dismissed from his post and was punished. It's the right thing to ask. My mother has spared no effort to go out of the city to welcome me. I'm not too afraid. Please take care of your health first and let us go." Zhao Kuo said sincerely to his old mother.
"But, my son..." The old mother still refused to let go.
Before the old mother could continue, Zhao Kuo interrupted and said, "Mom, please listen to me. Although I am being questioned today, I have not been convicted of my son's crime. I also have room for rebuttal. There are also Pingyuan Jun and Lin Shangqing." The loyal and upright people are also running around for their children. If they run away now, the innocent people will become guilty, and the loyal and upright people will be trapped in a shameless place! Please let the mother go, and use the reputation of the son to become a son. Loyalty!"
"Confucius said benevolence, Mencius said justice." How could Mother Zhao not know it? But one side of the scale was "benevolence and righteousness", and the other side was the life of her own child. For a moment, Mother Zhao felt as if heaven and man were at war.
But in the end, Zhao's mother's hands gradually relaxed. It was not that she didn't care about her son's life, but just to respect Zhao Kuo's choice. Mr. Pingyuan who was on the side also quickly understood and asked the maid who was already on the side to help Zhao Kuo's mother aside to rest, and at the same time bandaged Zhao Kuo's hands.
Seeing that Zhao Kuo's mother finally left, Lord Pingyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly found that in a short period of time, the originally smooth road had been overwhelmed by the crowd. In the huge city gate, There were countless people squeezing out, and even the city gatekeepers in charge of order were rushing towards Zhao Kuo.
Obviously, both the path forward and retreat are blocked. Mr. Pingyuan knew very well that he was unable to solve the problem at all, let alone forcefully open the way. He had no choice but to look at Zhao Kuo again!
Although Zhao Kuo did not expect that his influence would be so great and so fast, at this point, the person who untied the bell still had to tie the bell, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet. Immediately, Zhao Kuo, who was wearing chains, staggered to his feet.
Why are you stumbling? Well, I can only say: You will be numb even if you kneel down!
Looking at the densely packed heads under the prison car, and listening to the shouts of "General" one after another, it would be a lie to say that I am not satisfied, and the suffering of these few months has not been in vain.
"Fellow fellows, listen to what Kuo has to say! Listen to what Kuo has to say!" Zhao Kuo calmed down his excitement, spoke slowly, and said loudly to the people gathered under the prison car.
The people around him heard that the general was about to speak, and reminded the people next to him not to speak. Soon the city gate, which was like a busy city, became quiet. Zhao Kuo's prestige in the hearts of the people was evident.
Zhao Kuo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw everyone calm down. As long as they could calm down, he would be half convinced. Immediately, Zhao Kuo continued to speak loudly: "In the battle of Changping, more than 300,000 of our Zhao men were injured, but it was just a draw against the violent Qin. This is actually Kuo's crime! Forced by the battlefield situation, Kuo had no choice but to use To carry out foreign policy as a general, to ask for help from the Wei State in the front, and to force Bai Qi to die in the rear, these are all serious crimes of transgression."
"The battle at Changping is a great victory!"
"Great achievement, General!!"
"General, not guilty!!!"
How could the people who knew the truth tolerate Zhao Kuo's self-slander? They even rushed to defend Zhao Kuo, but they did not agree with the "crime" Zhao Kuo had given to him.
Zhao Kuo, who was wearing chains, bowed slightly to everyone, and then continued: "The reason why Kuo left his post and returned to Beijing is to explain the whole story of the Changping battlefield. With my king's wisdom, I will be able to distinguish right from wrong. Second and third sons Do you want to block my way to defend yourself?"
There was silence in the field. Obviously, Zhao Kuo's provocation method had an effect.
Of course, at the same time, Zhao Kuo also dug a small hole for King Zhao. If he was fine in the end, it would be because of Zhao Kuo's own defense. But if he was punished in the end, it would not be something that the slanderous officials could evade. After all, Zhao Kuo had already defended himself, and King Zhao had not yet If you are willing to accept it, then there can only be one reason - King Zhao is too stupid.
Seeing that everyone had loosened their minds, Zhao Kuo immediately took advantage of the situation and said: "The second and third sons will temporarily make way for us to enter the palace to present to my king and explain the whole story! You must believe in my king!"
Obviously, Zhao Kuo continued to dig holes for King Zhao.
After saying this, the people present also fell silent, and soon a path that only allowed one carriage to pass was cleared by everyone.
Upon seeing this, Mr. Pingyuan quickly ordered the convoy to move forward.
Just as the wheels of the prison car were rolling forward, suddenly the crowd broke out again: "General, take care!"
Immediately afterwards, there was an endless stream of "General, take care!" from the crowd.
Zhao Kuo, who was standing in the prison car, smiled and said, "People, you are so cute." Then he bowed slightly and thanked him. Mother Zhao, who was being bandaged on the side, couldn't help but shed tears when she saw this scene. Many years ago, when her husband returned, the people also surrounded and shouted like this - I hope my son's choice will be the right one. .
The wheels continued to move forward slowly, and the crowd surrounding them finally thinned out. As the outline of the palace gradually emerged, the shouts of "take care" behind them finally faded away and became infinite.
On the palace floor of the palace, a group of people dressed in brocade clothes were quietly looking in the direction where Zhao Kuo came.
The leader is none other than King Zhao. Obviously, everyone was startled by the sudden shouting in the city, so they stood on the turret of the palace and looked out.
"Zhao Kuo just had good luck and God showed mercy to our Zhao country, so he was able to drive away Qin. And this is not a great victory, but it only hurts the enemy by one thousand and hurts himself by eight hundred." Doctor Lou Chang is here King Zhao's left hand said.
"The general defeated the Qin army by his own efforts. In the end, Zhao owes a great deal of credit." After all, there was an upright minister on the side who couldn't see Lou Chang's slander and immediately spoke up.
Unfortunately, Lou Chang is not alone.
"Maybe he has a lot of merit, but his arrogance is also an indisputable fact. As a guilty person, he has attracted the attention of the whole city as soon as he entered the city. The madness of his actions can also be seen." Pingyang Jun. Zhao Bao retorted from the side.
In the Battle of Changping, Zhao Bao originally did not agree to fight, but now he returned victorious, which made Pingyang Jun feel embarrassed. Naturally, he tried his best to slander this "culprit".
Without waiting for the minister to continue his defense, Lou Chang took over the conversation and said: "What Lord Pingyang said is reasonable. If my king had not decisively reached an agreement with Qin, how could he have taken the land of the two counties and returned the entire army? Zhao Kuo is really He is greedy for heaven's merit. When he returned to the country, he should have been cautious and cautious, but his behavior when entering the city was so wild and rebellious, with almost no remorse!"
