"My king's intention?" Mr. Pingyuan seemed to understand Zhao Kuo's meaning, but he was still not sure.
"If you don't plan for the world, you can't plan for a moment; if you don't plan for the overall situation, you can't plan for a region." Zhao Kuo murmured to the side.
"My king wants to use this crisis as a reason for the next war?" Lord Pingyuan heard this and finally understood Zhao Kuo's thoughts.
"Of course." Zhao Kuo nodded and continued: "However, for now, we still have to solve the food problem first."
"Although all countries have to send envoys there, we still have to prioritize." Pingyuan Lord Massa said sadly and understandingly: "Wei State, I will go there personally. As for Qi State, let Yu Qing go .”
Obviously, in Lord Pingyuan's mind, only Wei and Qi can solve Zhao's urgent needs. From this perspective, Mr. Pingyuan's arrangement is undoubtedly correct and appropriate.
As the chief minister of Zhao State, he went to Wei State to ask for help. It can be said that he gave Wei State enough face. In addition, he helped Lord Xinling when changing land. Lord Pingyuan was very sure of the food help he asked for from Wei State. of.
At worst, the tribute for the past ten years was withdrawn in advance.
As for the State of Qi, it has always valued profit over righteousness. It should not be a big problem if Yu Qing, who is in charge of diplomacy, brings enough gold, silk and jade.
As long as Wei and Qi can lend a helping hand, Zhao will have no big problem in smoothly transitioning to the autumn harvest season.
However, when Zhao Kuo heard this, he shook his head without hesitation.
"Even if the Wei State agrees to provide food, the lion will definitely open its mouth. Lord Pingyuan has no need to go to Liangcheng." Zhao Kuo immediately rejected Lord Pingyuan's plan.
"But?" Mr. Pingyuan objected with a frown.
Of course, he knew that he would almost certainly be treated poorly on this trip. After all, it was the State of Zhao that was seeking help from the State of Wei. With the temperament of the King of Wei, he would definitely take advantage of this.
But as long as he can get food for Zhao State and let Zhao State survive this disaster, the powerful Zhao State will naturally let him regain this face in the future.
The most important thing is that without the support of Wei State, Qi State's food and grass will become the only solution.
Not to mention whether the food of Qi State is enough for Zhao State. Even if it is enough, for such an amount, the money and silk consumed will probably be more than doubled.
This is obviously not a good idea!
No wonder Mr. Pingyuan objected almost immediately.
However, Zhao Kuo naturally had his reasons for doing this, and then he waved his hand slightly to interrupt Lord Pingyuan and said, "Jun Pingyuan, you have a misunderstanding."
"It doesn't mean that we have to collect enough grain and grass right away." Zhao Kuo continued: "First come one hundred thousand dan, and we can cope with it for a few days. Then tomorrow we will collect 20 dan, and we can hold on for a few more days. In other words, Chu The country should not be excluded from your concerns."
"The king's intention is to first seek food from other countries to survive the long winter, and then borrow food from the Chu State to survive the spring and summer famine?" Lord Pingyuan soon realized his omission. He said: "This is indeed a good idea. In one winter, it will be enough for Chu State to mobilize grain and grass and transport it to our country."
"That's right." Zhao Kuo continued to nod: "On the contrary, this Wei State has always been ambitious and tried to become bigger. Although Zhao Wei is now an ally, we cannot give them any opportunity to take advantage of it."
"It's enough to send an ordinary envoy to the Wei State. If the Wei State can understand the general situation and send food and crops in a kind and righteous way, then it will naturally be the best. If the Wei State tries to push the envelope, or the lion opens his mouth, then it doesn't matter. When the Qin army invades next year, King Wei will regret his choice." Zhao Kuo said fiercely.
"To ask for food, our country is bound to give up some benefits, and I would rather give these benefits to Qi and Chu than to Wei." Zhao Kuo concluded.
"So, I understand what your king means." Lord Pingyuan immediately nodded and agreed: "However, your king, Qi State attaches great importance to profits, and after the defeat of the five kingdoms in attacking Qi, it has lost the possibility of fighting for hegemony. Our army cannot It is acceptable to care too much, but the land of Chu is more than a thousand miles away. Even if the land of Yanying is lost, it is still a huge country. The king is so afraid
He was afraid of the Wei State, but he allowed the Chu State to be indulged, which was a bit preferential. "
"Otherwise." Zhao Kuo shook his head and said, "Although the Chu State is large, its enfeoffment system is still prevalent. Even the mobilization of millions of loads of grain is so troublesome. Want to grow? It is almost impossible without changing its backward system. And If they want to reform again, neither Qin nor Zhao will give Chu a chance to reshuffle the cards and reform."
"As for Wei, it is the only country among the seven countries that has basically completed the reform, except Zhao and Qin. In such a country, it is because of mistakes in decision-making that Qin has room for development. Time is ." Zhao Kuo continued: "Now, I have just exchanged the land of Dongjun with him. Although our army has an excellent geographical advantage, at the same time, Wei Guo has also benefited a lot from it. If we give Wei Guo more There are many benefits, and it will be difficult for the Wei State to deal with you next year."
"My king's words are reasonable." Mr. Pingyuan immediately agreed.
"The envoys of Qi and Chu must be carefully selected. There is only one bottom line, and that is not to touch my land and population. I can agree to other conditions." Zhao Kuo then ordered.
"Yes, Wei Chen understands." Mr. Pingyuan immediately agreed.
"In addition, envoys to Qin should set out later. It is best to wait for the food from Qi to arrive before leaving. First, it can prevent Qin from putting pressure on Qi and causing trouble to Qi. Second, it can pretend As our country is really helpless, let Qin State relax its vigilance. There may be unexpected effects in the coming year." Zhao Kuo continued to give instructions.
"In addition, for the envoys sent to the Yan Kingdom, I plan to choose the more arrogant one." Pingyuan Jun also lost no time in suggesting with a smile: "It is best to make the King of Yan extremely angry. If you can come back with a wound, then you can It’s a great achievement.”
"The words of Mr. Pingyuan are deeply in my heart." Zhao Kuo finally nodded with satisfaction after hearing the words.
In this way, a rather troublesome matter like the snow disaster gradually became controllable with the words of Zhao Kuo and Ping Pingjun.
Even Zhao Guo wanted to take advantage of this snowstorm to make a fuss.
Of course, this is all based on Zhao's strong national power. Among them is the key scientific knowledge brought by Zhao Kuo, a time traveler.
It's very simple. The most difficult thing in a snowstorm is never food, but heating.
Historically, during snow disasters, far more people froze to death than starved to death.
The reason is very simple. It is not that easy to starve to death. As long as there is saliva, people can survive for seven days. Even if they eat one or two meals or one or two steamed buns during this period, it is not impossible to survive for ten days and a half. thing.
On the contrary, if the weather is going to freeze to death, it will only happen in one night.
Fortunately, because of Zhao Kuo's arrival, the rich coal resources in Shangdang County have already been used in the arsenal.
As early as when the climate was slightly abnormal, large quantities of coal had already begun to be transported to Jiuyuan County. Just when heating supplies such as cow dung were running out, coal from Shangdang County had already arrived.
Subsequently, in order to ensure the supply of coal in Jiuyuan County, even the Shangdang arsenal was stopped.
It is precisely because of this coal that the snow disaster turned into a relatively simple food crisis.
And with Zhao's national strength today, there is actually a faster and more efficient way to solve the problem - plunder!
Yes, with the Zhao army's hundreds of thousands of armored men, whether it is to conquer Yan in the north or south to Han, it is reasonable, beneficial and reasonable, and the certainty is quite high. Even if you dislike the lack of national strength of these two countries, To make up for the shortfall, it is also a good choice to conquer Qi State eastward.
However, raising troops in winter inevitably involves certain risks.
Especially now that the Qin State has basically completed the mobilization of its troops, hundreds of thousands of troops have been deployed in Hedong, and can use Yiyang City as a springboard to enter the territory of Zhou Wangji at any time.
That is to say, looking at the face of Dongri and the tens of thousands of Zhao troops in Heyang City and Zhi City, King Qin temporarily suppressed his restless heart.
Zhao Kuo can be sure that once he makes a move, Qin will jump out without hesitation.
In this way, the originally winnable battle
, with the participation of Qin State, there is still a question mark.
If this were five years ago, Zhao Kuo would not hesitate to initiate this battle. The reason is simple. Zhao was already in a weak position. Facing such a natural disaster, going step by step would only widen the gap between Zhao and Qin.
But the situation is different now. After adding Jiuyuan County and Huaisi County, the actual territory of Zhao State has surpassed Qin State, and the population has also exceeded Qin State after acquiring the land of Zhou Wangji and the grassland Hu people. country.
Coupled with the institutional advantages, it can be said that if the development continues, the gap between Zhao and Qin will become wider and wider, but the country above is Zhao.
Faced with such a situation, the last thing Zhao needs is to take risks.
This is like the "sailing effect". The leading sailor never needs to take the initiative to adjust the sail. As long as he follows the opponent's sail and maintains his advantage, then the victory will be his.
After discussing the countermeasures, Mr. Pingyuan immediately left and went to arrange the personnel for the envoy.
Because the objects and strategies of the envoy have changed greatly, and the sooner the better, Mr. Pingyuan couldn't help but speed up his pace toward the cabinet.
After Lord Pingyuan left, Zhao Kuo called over Zhao Ping from the secret guard and Sun Gu from the Yulin guard.
Without him, the disaster situation in various places still needs to be investigated. Of course, this is also an excellent opportunity for the secret guards to quickly expand to all parts of the Zhao Kingdom.
Of course, on the surface, the secret guards will still work under the name of Habayashi Guards.
When the secret guard can truly establish a complete intelligence system in the entire Zhao Kingdom, that is when it can finally meet everyone under its own name.
As for Yulin Wei Sun Gu’s mission...
