After some reasoning that was not too complicated, the Wei envoy was obviously shaken.
This can be considered normal. After all, although the Qin State experienced the defeat of Changping, the current structure of the Warring States Period has not fundamentally changed. The situation is still dominated by Qin.
As for the Zhao State, even though it won the Battle of Changping, it was still very costly. Although it gained the land of two counties, these two counties were emptied out early in the Battle of Changping. They had empty land but no population. The increase in Zhao's national strength is extremely limited.
Coupled with the current battle between Zhao and Yan, it can be said that Zhao's national power is declining instead of increasing, and it is not a match for Qin at all. At least within the short period of time that can be seen, it is far inferior to Qin.
Even if Zhao State revitalized the two counties of Shangdang and Hanoi, it would still not be a match for Qin State, which had the danger of Hangu, the foothold of Bashu, and the wealth of Guanzhong.
As a result, a simple agreement was quickly drawn up between the envoys of Zhao and Wei.
Of course, the final signature requires the consent of the kings of both countries. But at least the two countries have eased from the state of mutual distrust after the Changping War.
And as long as you take the first step of breaking the ice, the subsequent things will be much simpler.
In just one day, with the joint efforts of Lord Pingyuan and Yu Qing, Zhao's unfavorable diplomatic environment has been completely transformed. It must be said that the abilities of the two are indeed obvious to all.
Of course, this is also inseparable from Zhao Kuo's wonderful performance of angrily attacking the envoys of Qin and Yan in the court hall.
The ministers below are all so awesome. As the new master of Zhao State and the future number one civil servant, naturally he is not idle.
After determining the idea of "centralizing power", Zhao Kuo immediately summoned his confidant Lu Buwei, the Chinese doctor who was handling the case of Lou Chang and others, into the palace.
After the greeting, Zhao Kuo pulled Lu Buwei to his side.
After looking up and down for a few times, Zhao Kuo said with some shame: "That's all we can do for now. The position of the middle doctor is a bit lower. I have wronged the military advisor."
After hearing this, Lu Buwei immediately stood up and hurriedly apologized: "What my king said is just a businessman's ear. The king does not think that I am despicable, but actually gave him the position of thousands of stones. How can I be wronged?" ?!”
Zhao Kuo shook his head, pulled Lu Buwei down again, and then said: "I know what you are capable of! Doctor Zhong, I have definitely wronged you."
After hearing this, Lu Buwei was about to stand up and refuse again, but Zhao Kuo stopped Lu Buwei with quick eyesight and quick hands: "If you say so, doesn't it mean that I don't have the ability to be a prime minister?"
"This..." After hearing this, Lu Buwei didn't know what to do for a while.
"Don't worry." Zhao Kuo said with a smile: "Mr. Pingyuan is old, but with him making the transition, the transfer of power will be more stable. I love you, but I have been wronged for a few years. But I love you, please relax. I ask you to love you. When I came out of the mountain, I promised you the position of high minister and the power of prime minister, and I have never forgotten it."
Zhao Kuo's heartfelt words really moved Lu Buwei inexplicably, and he immediately fell to the ground: "How can I be so virtuous and capable that I can be so valued by the king? Even if I am broken into pieces, it is difficult to repay me."
"There is no need to break your body to pieces." Zhao Kuo then helped Lu Buwei up and said with a smile: "As long as you love me and do your job sincerely, you will live up to me, and I will never let you down."
"Thank you so much, my king!" Lu Buwei paid homage again.
Zhao Kuo smiled and helped Lu Buwei up again, and then asked slowly: "How about the interrogation by Lou Chang and others?"
"Oh." Hearing this, Lu Buwei immediately took out a silk book from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Kuo: "Lou Chang and others colluded with the Qin people to spy on the intelligence of our Zhao country, misled the late king, and committed corruption. The trial by the three tribunals was correct, and Lou Chang and others also signed and deposited the documents. I specially submitted the case file to our king."
Zhao Kuo nodded, then took the silk book from Lu Buwei's hand and scanned it briefly. Sure enough, the matter of letting himself go to Changping instead of Lian Po was the instruction of the King of Qin, the execution of Heibingtai, and the encouragement of Lou Chang and other ministers. of.
For this incident alone, Lou Chang and other participants would have died without mercy. From this silk book, it is not difficult to see that Zhao's major political policies and even the deployment of military advisors were almost all transmitted to Qin through different channels, and even here. Before Zhao's soldiers and horses took action, Qin over there knew our army's deployment first.
From this point of view, he was able to win the Battle of Changping entirely because he did not inform the court of his entire plan.
Well, it seems that his father's battle with Yan and Yu also succeeded in severely damaging the Qin army without telling the court.
It turns out that the root node is here! To be honest, the more Zhao Kuo read this silk letter, the more frightened he became. The Zhao court was almost leaking into a sieve.
No, next time we fight Qin, it may be a life and death battle. If the battle plan is still leaked, how can Zhao still fight? No matter how completely prepared you are, it’s useless!
After slowly closing the silk book, Zhao Kuo immediately looked at Lu Buwei and asked, "It seems that the punishment has not been handed over?"
"Yes." Lu Buwei immediately explained: "Because there are too many people involved, too many people, and the severity of the laws committed by individuals vary, so the sentencing has not yet been determined. Therefore, it cannot be reported to the king."
Zhao Kuo nodded. It was obviously not an easy task to convict one by one of such a "shattering" case.
But Zhao Kuo didn't want to drag it out any longer: firstly, the purpose of entrusting this matter to Lu Buwei was to allow Lu Buwei to measure up in front of everyone, not to trap him in the documents; secondly, Zhao Guo also had There are too many things waiting to be done. Investigating the past, although necessary, is not the most important and urgent thing among them.
After pondering for a while, Zhao Kuo then said: "The crimes committed by everyone must be clearly ascertained, but when it comes to punishment, there is no need to compare it with money. Those who judge punishment, one is punishment, and the other is warning, punishing people The reason is wrong, and it is a warning to others. As long as these two goals can be achieved, there is no big difference between a person who has traveled a thousand miles and a person who has traveled eight hundred miles."
"Yes." Lu Buwei nodded slightly and agreed.
"In my opinion, people can be divided into three categories." Zhao Kuo then continued: "The first category, such as Lou Chang, is anyone who has disclosed information about Zhao to Qin, or is running for Qin. , even if you only say a few words, you can't tolerate it even a little bit, confiscate all the families and exterminate the clan.
The second category, those who have made friends with Lou Chang and others, but have never run away with the Qin State, are regarded as guilty of corruption and other crimes, and can be treated with a slightly lenient treatment, and can be detained or given a sentence;
Category 3: Those who have no obvious evil deeds despite being acquainted with Lou Chang etc., let them go. "
"In a word, the most important thing about this case is to deter Zhao Chen from making friends with people from other countries." Zhao Kuo told him.
"Yes." Lu Buwei quickly agreed.
To be honest, according to Zhao Kuo's classification, the treatment of ministers who did not betray Zhao was obviously a bit light.
The ministers who had betrayed the Zhao State were too harsh. Some information was of little value and would have no impact on the Zhao State even if it was exposed. However, Zhao Kuo still insisted on confiscating the family and exterminating the clan and punishing them with death.
What Zhao Kuo wants is this effect. He wants to tell all Zhao people that other things can be slowed down, but for the matter of treason, as long as you dare to do it, you will die.
The Qing Dynasty was able to survive in that ice and snow, and even survive the Ming Dynasty, because the eight Shanxi merchants contributed a lot! As a later generation, Zhao Kuo would never allow such a situation to happen to his own country of Zhao.
Of course, in the face of such a situation, just relying on a killing is obviously not enough. If you want to ensure the loyalty of your subordinates, the most effective method is obviously Emperor Zhu's method-espionage politics.
Zhao Kuo had already started working on this issue when Zhao Ping joined his sect. However, due to Zhao Ping's identity issues and limited funding, his deployment has not been well established, especially in terms of foreign intelligence.
So Zhao Kuo, who was in Daidi, thought of using Sun Gu to form an external intelligence network. However, due to time constraints, Sun Gu's external intelligence network had not yet been launched.
how to say? Thousands of threads, all wastes will be prospered.
However, this is not the focus of today's discussion.
Gently putting down the silk book in his hand, Zhao Kuo immediately moved on to the next topic, which was also the real core issue today. Lu Buwei on the side looked at Zhao Kuo's actions and felt something in his heart. He immediately sat up straight and listened to Zhao Kuo's instructions.
Looking at the closed doors and windows, Zhao Kuo said slowly: "I have newly ascended the throne and want to renew the world. I wonder if your beloved has any good advice to teach me?"
Hearing this, Lu Buwei was shocked and secretly said: "Here he comes!"
Lu Buwei knew that this was not just a simple question asking for advice, but also a measure of the king's appreciation of himself. Not a test, but a weighing. Weigh whether you can follow her to "renew" the world!
Regarding this issue, Lu Buwei has been thinking about this issue for several months after joining Zhao Kuo's sect.
After taking a long breath, Lu Buwei replied calmly: "I don't dare to say good advice, but it's just some words of wisdom that rub people off. Is my king willing to listen to it?"
"Of course." Zhao Kuo did not have any prejudice against what Lu Buwei said because of his "cleverness in picking up people's teeth". As a modern man, Zhao Kuo knew too well that imitation is the prerequisite for transcendence. If you are not even willing to imitate, surpassing it is simply impossible.
But the problem is that imitation is not that easy. It's like practicing calligraphy. Ever since I was a child, I have copied from eight to ten notebooks, but as soon as I put pen to paper I still have a hopeless hand in painting.
Involuntarily, Zhao Kuo became more interested in Lu Buwei's "wisdom of picking up people's teeth".
"Report it to my king." Lu Buwei then continued: "My king wants to renew the world, and he should take the master as his teacher."
"What is a master?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Now that the Warring States Period is going on, the Qin family is the dominant one. Qin is the one who is the most powerful." Lu Buwei also replied simply and neatly.
"What is the teacher?" Zhao Kuo also continued to ask.
"The division's road to centralization is the division's military and industrial nobility system." Lu Buwei replied.
"It's easy to learn, but it's difficult to surpass. What's the explanation?" Zhao Kuo continued to ask.
Some people died, but not completely...
