United with the Chu State to persecute the Zhao State?
Lord Xinling was a little confused, how could he do such an outrageous operation!
Can Chu State work with Wei State to force Zhao State to fulfill its so-called promise?
Not to mention that the Chu State was only in alliance with the Zhao State, and was already closer to the Zhao State. In addition, during the battle of Luocheng, he abandoned the Zhao and Chu armies and ran away first.
In order to get rid of his own guilt, the general of Chu State must have explained this matter to the King of Chu in an elaborate way.
Under such circumstances, he still wanted Chu State to keep the same pace as his own Wei State.
Is King Chu crazy?
No matter how tempting the land of Zhou Wangji was, it was impossible for the King of Chu to take the risk of offending Zhao to get such a piece of land.
You know, although the Wei State is also considered a feud with the Qin State, as its national power gradually declines, it is no longer incompatible with the Qin State. In other words, the Wei State can fall to the Qin State at any time like the Han State.
Under this premise, Wei State does not actually want to be stubbornly attached to Zhao State.
But the Chu State is different. From the land of Yanying to King Huai of Chu, the Qin State owes too much blood debt to the Chu people. What's more terrible is that although the strength between Qin and Chu is already very different, the Chu State It still maintains a vast territory, has a population of millions, and still has the strength to fight the Qin army.
In other words, it is almost impossible for Chu State to offend Zhao State today.
As soon as King Wei's letter of credence comes out, it is very likely that the Chu State will inform Zhao State as soon as possible. In this case, Wei State will be completely passive.
Immediately, Lord Xinling, who was quite anxious, explained the inappropriateness of the announcement to Chu State one by one.
Hearing this, King Wei also nodded frequently. After speaking, King Wei was even more anxious than Lord Xinling and said quickly: "However, the document of the king's order has been circulated for several hours. Even if you want to recover it, you can't." It’s possible! What should I do?”
In his words, King Wei was even more saddened by his reckless decision.
Seeing this scene, Lord Xinling also sighed softly in his heart. How long had I been hiding at home before something like this happened?
After finally suppressing the dissatisfaction in his heart, Lord Xinling immediately looked at King Wei and said, "Now that things are like this, we can only send an envoy to the Kingdom of Zhao."
King Wei nodded, then looked at Lord Xinling and said, "Lord Xinling, I'm afraid you still need to carry this messenger!"
"Wei Chen?" Lord Xinling was stunned.
"Of course." King Wei continued: "There are many people who know the foundation of our Wei Dynasty, but there are only a few who may work for our Wei Dynasty wholeheartedly; there are not many people who can argue in the court, and there are even fewer who can have friendship with the State of Zhao. So. From this point of view, only Lord Xinling can shoulder this important task."
"This?" Lord Xinling was still a little hesitant. After all, such activities as sending an envoy were not what he was good at. But what the King of Wei seemed to be saying was reasonable. The current imperial court in Wei State was not only useless, but the useful ones were also extremely limited.
And among this extremely limited number of people, they still can't completely trust them, let alone have any interaction with Zhao Guo.
From this perspective, I am indeed the best candidate. Apart from anything else, the favor of stealing the talisman to save Zhao could not be repaid with just 20,000 dans of grain.
But vaguely, Lord Xinling always felt that something was wrong.
Obviously, Lord Xinling did not realize that the "stupid" move of informing the Chu State was actually done intentionally by the King of Wei. The purpose was to create an established fact and create this so-called "passivity".
King Wei knew very well that only under such passive and adverse conditions could Lord Xinling make every effort to save it. Only under such circumstances can his intention of taking over Zhouwangji land be more likely to be realized.
The cunning King of Wei obviously didn't want Lord Xinling to react, so he immediately continued to add: "By the way, just in time, Lord Xinling, didn't you borrow 20,000 loads of grain from General Lianpo on your way back? Just pay back the grain." In the name of going to Handan, we can not only avoid unnecessary speculation, but also show our style of the great Wei Dynasty. It will also give the Zhao State enough face. Maybe, Zhao Wang Kuo will
I was so happy that I agreed with my idea. "
Hearing this, Lord Xinling was speechless again. He did not expect that his king, until now, still has the ambition to win over the territory of Zhou Wangji.
"My king is generous." Lord Xinling shook his head and said, "If the king has an order, I will order my ministers to go to Zhao Kingdom to deal with it. I will accept the order and go happily. But, this is the land of Wang Ji?"
"My king." Lord Xinling calmed down and continued to say to King Wei: "The land of King Zhou is a sacred place, and it is well known to the world. Although Zhao may have integrity, how can he be so easy in the face of such great benefits? Concession? What's more, this place has nothing to do with the battle between our coalition forces. It may be difficult to convince the public by making a rigid promise before the battle. "...
"Mr. Xinling's words are wrong." Of course, King Wei also knew that what Mr. Xinling said was not unreasonable. However, the more difficult it was, the more it showed the value of this land.
As a king, the biggest advantage is that as long as you have an excuse, even if the excuse is not worthy of scrutiny, the ministers below must act according to their own ideas.
Obviously, King Wei had already "thought deeply" about this excuse.
"The king of Zhao promised first, but our army also lost tens of thousands of troops. Now Zhao has gained the sole advantage. How can we make it happen? If the coalition forces are defeated first and the Zhao army wins every time, then who else is willing to ally with the Zhao army? King Wei immediately retorted.
At first glance, what King Wei said seems to make sense - although the final battle was fought by Zhao, the allies also tried their best, so naturally they should get some benefits.
If this statement were placed in the Spring and Autumn Period dozens or hundreds of years ago, it would definitely be recognized by most people.
But, what era is it now?
The Warring States Period, the Warring States Period of intrigue and intrigue!
Today's covenant, tomorrow's breach of alliance has already occurred in endlessly, and the Han Kingdom in the Battle of Luo City is the most obvious example.
Under such a background of the times, do we still require equal distribution of interests?
Isn't it the most ridiculous thing in the world? To put it bluntly, even if the battle of Luo City is won, Zhao Guo may not keep his promise and not fight for one city or one place.
Of course, if the losses of Wei, Chu, and Han are small enough and they can quickly reach an agreement, Zhao may really give up this piece of fat under pressure.
Obviously, all of this must be based on strength.
Now, the defeat of the Qin army has nothing to do with the Wei state. Morally, the Wei state has already lost a lot, and the failure of the Battle of Luocheng caused the Wei army to suffer heavy losses. A hundred thousand troops followed Lord Xinling in an organized manner. Only 20,000 people returned to Wei.
Even if the subsequent scattered troops returned to Wei were included, the total strength would not exceed 30,000. Such strength is obviously not enough in front of Zhao Guo.
Morality has been lost, and national strength has been lost more than once. How can we still negotiate?
Of course King Wei knew the logical loopholes in his own words, and Lord Xinling knew it even more. However, it was very difficult to refute, even though King Wei had given Lord Xinling enough time to think.
But how can Lord Xinling refute?
There are some things you can do, but you can't say...
You can be shameless, but you cannot promote shamelessness, otherwise, you will be spurned by all shameless people.
Seeing that Lord Xinling was still silent, King Wei immediately used his trump card and said, "Of course, I am confident that I can take back the land of King Zhou Ji. There is only one reason."
The King of Wei spoke calmly and said: "From the perspective of Qin's army retreating calmly, although the Qin army was undoubtedly defeated, from the perspective of Zhao's army not daring to advance and pursue, Zhao is not completely sure that it can deal with Qin. . In other words, Zhao also needs Wei and Chu in the south to contain Qin."
Listening to King Wei's analysis, Lord Xinling couldn't help but nodded.
Zhao Guolian's mentality of resisting Qin has long been placed in front of the world. In order to ensure continued cooperation with Wei, it seems to have nothing to do with giving Wei some benefits.
But when he thought that he had to repay ten times the food he borrowed from Zicheng, Lord Xinling felt confused again. If Zhao Guo really cares about him,
If you care about Wei State, how can you have such a request?
Could it be that the food shortage in Zhao State has reached this point?
If Zhao is really short of food, Lord Xinling seems to have found a glimmer of hope.
"My king, Rongzhen." Lord Xinling said immediately: "Even if King Zhao needs me, the Wei Dynasty, he still can't win the land of Zhou Wangji. His court will not be able to pass the test."
"Unless." Lord Xinling continued to look at King Wei, his eyes full of seriousness: "Exchange profit for profit."
It is definitely not possible to be a white wolf with nothing, and "exchanging profits for profits" is already the only way that Lord Xinling can think of to impress King Zhao and the Zhao courtiers.
King Wei was not surprised at all by Lord Xinling's words. For such a large piece of sacred land, if Wei didn't pay something, King Wei would be worried!
Of course, the key to the problem is what kind of profit is exchanged for it.
Apart from a non-binding covenant, the only things Wei could take away were land, population, money and food.
Needless to say, the king of Wei would definitely not be willing to part with the land. After all, the current Wei State only has three main territories left.
One is near Daliang, the capital. It is the foundation of Wei State and cannot be lost;
Secondly, the area around Taoyi, the hometown of the annexed Song State, is second only to Luocheng in terms of wealth. Even with Luocheng's current dilapidation, it may not be as rich as the hometown of the Song State in a short time. Naturally, it is also reluctant to part with;
The third is the Dongjun area. This area is nothing to the Wei State. It borders Yan and Qi and spends a lot of troops to garrison it. However, after all, the Wei State only has such a small amount of territory. The land is exchanged for it. King Wei must be reluctant to part with the land.
Then there is the population. The Wei army is newly defeated and is in urgent need of young people. It is impossible to give the natural population to the Zhao State. What's more, the Zhao State has accepted the people of Zhou Wangji. Now the Zhao State is in short supply of people.
Precisely because Zhao State accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees, it also brought ideas to King Wei.
"Food and grass." King Wei did not wait for Lord Xinling to speak, but already expressed Lord Xinling's innermost thoughts.
Raising his head, Lord Xinling looked at King Wei in disbelief, as if he had just met the king today.
The King of Wei smiled slightly, but said: "The State of Zhao accepted the refugees of Zhou Wangji and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops. Even with the wealth of the Qin State, I am afraid that it will be stretched, not to mention that the treasury of the State of Zhao was emptied five years ago. It’s happened once. After only five years of accumulation, even if Zhao State bites the bullet and takes in these refugees, the country will inevitably fall into the dilemma of food shortage.”
"And my country, Wei, has thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, both inside and outside. Although it is not as steep as Han Valley, it has thousands of hectares of fertile land that is more abundant and richer than that in Guanzhong." King Wei continued: "If King Zhao is willing, of course I am willing to do so. One million grains and fodder will be used to pay for the march of the army."
"Mr. Xinling, what do you think?" King Wei asked immediately.
Listening to King Wei's words, even Lord Xinling had to exclaim "big deal"!
You know, this is a million tons of grain. The people of Zhao State have worked hard for five years, but they have only accumulated a million tons of grain, which is still the sum of it scattered all over the country.
With this amount, it would take several years for even the mighty Wei State to accumulate such a huge amount of grain.
King Wei actually gave the price without blinking an eye.
However, after thinking about it carefully, Lord Xinling could only say one word: "It's worth it!"
No matter how much food and grass there is, it is still a dead thing, but the expansion of territory is a living thing, and it is a solid improvement in national power.
However, if King Wei knows this truth, will King Zhao not know it?
It’s difficult to impress King Zhao with just grain and fodder...
