The winter snow in 255 BC came later than usual.
The prosperous Handan City is covered in silver, and the people of Handan City are still walking through the streets.
A year's work has finally come to an end. Even the wind and snow cannot stop the eagerness of the people of Handan.
Pick a few hairpin flowers for your daughter who is about to get married, choose some pieces of material for your mother-in-law, tie a red string for the children at home, and cut some pieces of fat for the whole family...
Before I knew it, the whole basket was filled with New Year’s goods.
There are songs and laughter everywhere, and beautiful longings for the future.
Standing on the palace building, looking at Handan City full of happiness, Zhao Kuo and Yourong Yan frowned slightly at the same time.
Snow has never been a good thing for the common people.
In particular, although the snow came late this year, it was very urgent.
In just a few days, the snow outside Handan City was already knee-deep. If this is the case in Handan, what about Daijun further north? There is also the grassland that was just recovered, now Jiuyuan County! And what about the hundreds of thousands of people who migrated from the land of Zhou Wangji?
"My king." Just as Zhao Kuo frowned and thought about how to rescue the disaster, a slightly hoarse voice immediately sounded behind Zhao Kuo.
Turning around, Lord Pingyuan, wearing a black cloak, suddenly stood behind Zhao Kuo.
"It's cold outside, let's talk inside the hall." With that said, Zhao Kuo led Pingyuan Jun to the side hall.
In the side hall, a furnace of red charcoal fire had been prepared. After taking off their cloaks, Zhao Kuo and Lord Pingyuan sat down by the furnace one after another.
"How is the situation?" Zhao Kuo, who had just sat down, asked Pingyuan Jun.
"There is no problem with the situation in Shangdang County. Although it is colder than in previous years, there is no snow disaster. The situation in Hejian and Handan is similar. Basically, the snow disaster is still within control. The situation in Dai County is slightly worse, but The infrastructure construction over the past few years has not been in vain, and there have been no reports of houses collapsing due to snow, and there have been no reports of people freezing to death." Mr. Pingyuan replied while warming himself by the fire.
"You can't just listen to the words of the people below." Zhao Kuo was not happy when he heard this, but his brows furrowed even more tightly.
In such a big snow disaster, it is not terrible that there were lives lost. What is terrible is that not a single life was lost.
"The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs must arrange special personnel to conduct random inspections." Zhao Kuo then continued: "Pick people from the roster without passing anyone, and do not tell the location. After drawing the people, go directly to the county for inspection. Be sure to make it clear. The real situation underneath. Handan County, Hejian County, and especially Dai County must arrange personnel. The farther away and colder the place, the more arrangements must be made."
"If you're not afraid of dead people, you're just afraid that none of them will die!" Zhao Kuo urged again.
"Yes, I'll make arrangements when I get back." Lord Pingyuan nodded immediately after hearing this.
"I have also arranged for the Yulin Guards to conduct a secret investigation and tell the random inspection personnel that if my Yulin Guards find a problem but they do not, they will be punished with the same crime." Zhao Kuo said fiercely.
"Okay." Mr. Pingyuan also took a breath of air and agreed hastily.
Obviously Lord Pingyuan also underestimated Zhao Kuo's determination. It can even be said that Zhao Kuo had murderous intentions.
There is no way, this snow disaster is too serious, and the impact on Zhao State is also too great.
Zhao Kuo knew very well that although Zhao Guo had taken advantage in the battle of Zhou Wangji, this blizzard was another test for Zhao Guo.
The State of Qin is located at the southern end and is blocked by the Qinling Mountains. The blizzard has little impact on its core areas of Guanzhong and Shu. As for Yi Can, although there are also heavy snowfalls, this is not a problem at all for the Qin State, and it can even help it deal with the saboteurs in Yi Can.
But Zhao State is different. Except for the Shangdang area, which is basically not affected by the cold air from the north due to its terrain, the other counties, including Handan, are affected by heavy snowfall.
The bitter cold land of Yanzhao has never been just talked about.
Especially in the northernmost Jiuyuan County, which was just established, there were not only new grassland barbarians, but also hundreds of thousands of people who migrated from the land of Zhou Wangji.
The Hu people's way of surviving the winter was "survival of the fittest". To put it bluntly, it meant ignoring the old and the weak, and only focusing the limited food on the strong men.
This year is the first year for the Hu people to surrender. The State of Zhao said that such a method should not be used. Otherwise, let alone surrender, it would be strange if they did not return to the State of Zhao in the coming year.
As for the hundreds of thousands of people in Zhoudi, it's even worse! It would have been strange to have migrated thousands of miles, and it would have been strange if there were widespread frostbite and frostbite without riots.
Therefore, this blizzard is undoubtedly a severe test for Zhao Guo no less than the Battle of Luo City.
After safely crossing over, with the people's support, Qin and Zhao can be said to have changed their offensive and defensive postures from now on; but if they cannot cross over, it is not necessarily impossible that the huge Zhao country will fall apart.
Zhao Kuo knew the lesson that water can both carry and capsize a boat.
In order to rescue Jiuyuan, Zhao Kuo had to mobilize supplies from several other counties. To mobilize supplies, it was crucial to understand and grasp the underlying situation. It must not happen that the transfer of supplies would cause local disasters. The situation of people dying of cold.
After all, Handan and other counties are the foundation of Zhao State.
"Where are Huaisi County and Jiuyuan County?" Zhao Kuo then continued to ask.
"There are no major disasters in Huaisi County. The basic situation is similar to that of the Party. However, due to the ice on the river bed and the condensation of the land, the work of clearing up wasteland and building canals has been somewhat delayed." Mr. Pingyuan also continued to answer.
"Tell General Lian that the lives of the people are the most important thing in everything. Don't force the construction period. If you can't finish it this year, you can just continue it next year. As long as there are people here and the people's hearts are loyal, Zhao will be invincible." Zhao Kuo He also immediately gave instructions on the situation in Huaisi County.
"Okay." Mr. Pingyuan also nodded, and then continued: "According to the news from Buwei, the situation in Jiuyuan County is not optimistic. Although the city built in autumn has prevented herdsmen and people from having their tents weighed down by snow. Although dangerous, death by freezing and starvation inevitably occurred."
"Guessed it." Zhao Kuo's heart tightened when he heard this, but he still didn't say anything more. He just nodded slightly and signaled Lord Pingyuan to continue.
"In a word, there is still a lack of food and enough wood for heating." Pingyuan Jun continued: "If the situation continues to worsen, I am afraid that many tribes will break away from control and return to the grassland. At the same time, the people who migrated there from Zhou Wangji They are not tolerant of severe cold, and more people suffer from frostbite.”
"It's a heating problem." Mr. Pingyuan continued to answer: "According to the king's instructions, the Ministry of War has ordered to stop the iron smelting factories in Shangdang County. All mines are fully supplying heating charcoal from the North. It is just because of road problems that transportation It will take time to get out. However, the Shangdang's field troops have already started, and the road should be smoothed out soon."
"The first batch of coal has passed through Yanyucheng." Mr. Pingyuan thought for a moment and continued: "In Jiuyuan City, Lu Qing is also transforming the flues of each house according to the king's drawings. As long as If nothing unexpected happens with this first batch of coal, the situation of frostbite and death should be alleviated soon."
Hearing this, Zhao Kuo nodded silently. As long as the heating problem is solved, the only remaining problem is "eating".
"However, the grain reserves in Buwei's hands may not be able to last for long." Lord Pingyuan finally concluded: "Fortunately, Wei's 500,000 tons of grain has been shipped and should be delivered to Lu Qing soon. In your hand. In this way, it shouldn’t be a problem to hold on for about ten days.”
"What happens in ten days? What is the cabinet's opinion?" Zhao Kuo still did not express his position and continued to ask.
"Collect food from Handan County, Hejian County, Dai County and Shangdang County to meet the urgent need." Pingyuan Jun immediately replied.
"How long can it last?" Zhao Kuo continued to ask.
"Fifteen more days should be the limit." Mr. Pingyuan continued to answer.
Zhao Kuo sighed secretly in his heart and looked up at the sky where snow was still falling outside the palace: Twenty-five days is probably far from the limit of this winter! What's more, after winter, there is still a lot of slack!
Helpless, Zhao Kuo could only continue to ask: "What's next?"
"Borrow food." Mr. Pingyuan replied helplessly.
Hearing this, Zhao Kuo felt extremely helpless.
Borrow food? Borrow from whom?
Borrow it from the people of Zhao State?
Under such a natural disaster, which people would lend life-saving food to others?
Borrow from other countries?
Let’s not talk about the Yan State. They themselves are also suffering from disasters. The situation is much worse than that of the Zhao State. They have too much to take care of themselves.
Qin? Not to mention, King Qin wished that the snow would freeze all the people of Zhao to death.
The country of Han? There are only a few small towns, and even if all their food is taken away, it will still be a drop in the bucket.
Chu State? They should be willing to borrow it, but Chu State's system of feudalism determines that even the King of Chu is unable to mobilize enough grain in a short period of time. Coupled with the distance of Chu land, when Chu State's grain arrives, people will not be able to Almost dead.
Then only Qi and Wei are left.
Not to mention how much food Wei has, if he opens his mouth now, he will definitely raise the price. As for Qi, Zhao rarely interacts with them, so they may not risk offending Qin to help Zhao.
After gritting his teeth, Zhao Kuo made up his mind.
"Then borrow it!" Zhao Kuo immediately agreed.
"Well, the cabinet has arranged the candidates to go to Qi and Wei. If the king agrees, we can set off later today." Lord Pingyuan obviously also knew that only Wei and Qi had the ability and possibility Since it could help Zhao State, it was natural to arrange candidates for envoys from these two countries.
However, when Zhao Kuo heard this, he shook his head: "No. All countries must send envoys to ask for help."
"Ah?" Hearing Zhao Kuo's words, Pingyuan Jun was stunned for a moment.
"The snow disaster in Yan State is more serious than that in our country. There is no need to go there, right?" Mr. Pingyuan asked a little puzzled, and even asked angrily: "There is also the country of Han, which only covers less than one county. I am afraid that the grain stored in it is not even Fifty thousand people are not enough to support; there is also the Chu State, which is far away and cannot be sent in a short time; as for the Qin State, with the hearts of the Qin people, I am afraid that all Zhao will die before they are willing to accept it. Such countries, Why send an envoy, you are just bringing humiliation to yourself."
Hearing Lord Pingyuan's obviously unhappy words, Zhao Kuo didn't take it seriously.
Then he spoke calmly and said to Mr. Pingyuan: "Whether we give it or not is their business; but whether we ask for it or not is our business."
Some people died, but not completely...
