"If this is the case, how can we break the situation?" King Qin asked immediately.
"Wei Chen has no way to break the situation." Wang Hao shook his head helplessly and said: "However, what Wei Chen is thinking is that Zhao Guo spent all his efforts to win the land of Zhou, but in the end he was going to give up all the land of Zhou. Given to Wei and Chu, King Zhao must be unhappy in his heart."
"If so. Do we, the Qin State, have some sympathy with the State of Zhao?" As soon as the words came out, the King of Qin realized what Wang Lu was thinking, and then asked with some disbelief: "What if the State of the Qin State, our State, and the State of Zhao, unite with each other?"
Before he finished speaking, and before Wang Lu could say anything else, the courtiers of Qin State started talking one after another.
But the question is, when King Qin listened, why were the voices of opposition more favorable than the voices of agreement? Even the voice of agreement was not heard by King Qin at all, and at most he was silent.
Of course, the courtiers of Qin cannot be blamed for this.
There is no way, the blood feud between Qin and Zhao is too deep.
Before Changping, although there were occasional confrontations between Qin and Zhao, there were victories and defeats for each other. Even if the two sides were at odds with each other, it was not a blood feud, at least not like a life-or-death battle with Chu.
However, after the Battle of Changping, both Qin and Zhao lost hundreds of thousands of troops.
It can be said that almost every family in the Qin State has blood debts to settle with the Zhao State. Similarly, the people of the Zhao State also hate the Qin State.
What's more, Bai Qi, the God of War of the Qin State, also died at the hands of the current Zhao State.
Under such circumstances, it is not a joke to ask Qin and Zhao to make peace. This was also the reason why Wang Hao did not dare to express his suggestions directly and had to say it through the mouth of King Qin.
If Wang Hao had said this, he would have been besieged by the officials.
Even King Qin quickly stopped talking after realizing the seriousness of the problem. Even though King Qin has realized that alliance with Zhao may be the best choice for Qin now.
Fan Sui on the side was naturally aware of King Qin's predicament: on the one hand, the public opinion in the country was fierce, and on the other hand, it was the interests of the state of Qin. With his thoughts changing, a plan had already come to mind.
"My king." Fan Sui immediately bowed his hands and greeted the King of Qin.
The somewhat worried King Qin looked at Fan Sui and immediately seemed to grasp a life-saving straw. He quickly said: "If the Prime Minister has anything to teach me, please tell me quickly."
"My king is generous." Fan Sui immediately said: "Qin and Zhao have long been on the same level. Even if my king wants to make peace, I am afraid that the king of Zhao will not agree. Moreover, there are many deceitful people in Zhao, even if they are in alliance. , and there is no word of trust, so the intention of making amends with Zhao is highly undesirable."
"Xiang Guo speaks out and makes sense!"
"Zhao slaughtered hundreds of thousands of our Qin troops, so the alliance is no longer advisable."
...
With Fan Sui's public opposition, the opposition voices of the ministers became louder and louder. Anyone who dared to mention reconciliation with Zhao again would be attacked in a group.
Listening to Fan Sui's words, King Qin couldn't help but frown: I asked you to add fuel to the fire, not add to it! If not making amends with Zhao is still an option, why should I use you as an example?
Involuntarily, King Qin looked at Fan Sui with a colder look.
Obviously, King Qin was not satisfied with Fan Sui's answer.
However, who is Fan Sui? He is a ruthless man who can propose the national policy of "diplomacy far away and attack close by" and pull Qin out of the quagmire of the Central Plains. How could he not see the dissatisfaction in King Qin's eyes? And the suggestions he made are so... Maybe it only has such a simple sentence and one layer of meaning!
"However." Fan Sui continued: "If you want to change the status quo, why do you need to form an alliance?"
Hearing this, the eyes of King Qin and all the ministers lit up instantly, and even Wang Hao looked in Fan Sui's direction.
"There should be a battle between Qin and Zhao, but this battle doesn't have to be now." Fan Sui saw everyone's eyes on him. Not only did he not panic, but he became more and more excited.
"In this world, among the seven kingdoms, my king, don't you think there are still too many people?" Fan Sui raised his hands and asked the King of Qin.
Without waiting for the King of Qin's answer, Fan Sui continued: "Every battle with Zhao, whether it is Changping or Luocheng, is when Zhao uses many countries to bully Qin. If Qin and Zhao fight against each other, our Qin will be defeated." How can the army of tiger and wolf be defeated?"
"Therefore, our current ambition as the Qin State is not to compete with the State of Zhao for a short period of time, but to work with the State of Zhao to wipe out all other countries, eliminate all worries about the future and possible support from the State of Zhao, and finally lead the army of the whole country. Fight to the death with that Zhao State." Fan Sui clasped his fists with both hands and bowed deeply to the King of Qin.
Obviously, Fan Sui has further deepened his national policy of "diplomacy far away and attack close quarters". To put it simply, Zhao must be excluded from the attack range in a timely manner.
Of course, as Zhao is excluded from the offensive range, the entire offensive sequence will also undergo fundamental changes.
However, these are all things for later.
If you want to implement this change in national policy, you still need the nod of the King of Qin.
Sure enough, after thinking for a while, King Qin still raised his question: "In today's world, the two powers stand side by side. Even if our army does not want to embarrass the Zhao army, when our army is attacking other countries, will the Zhao army be able to do so?" Will you stand by and watch? This year's battle in Zhou and Di has proved that even though the Zhao army is outside, it still struggles with the power of the three countries to resist our Qin state. Next year, when our army attacks, what should we do if the Zhao army attacks? "
"My King Rongzhen." Fan Sui immediately said: "The land of Zhou is the center of the world. Its geographical location is too important. It is not only the key point for our country of Qin to go out from the east, but also connects the land of Zhao State and Hanoi. In addition, it is rich and prosperous. The State of Zhao did not dare not to ask, but also had to ask. Therefore, the four-nation alliance came into being."
"Of course, my king should know that in the alliance with the three kingdoms, Zhao promised not to take any of Zhou's land, and that's why the alliance between Wei, Han, and Chu was established. But when my army turned back and attacked Yiyang as a stronghold, Zhao The state did not send any large troops to attack it." Fan Sui continued to explain: "From this point of view, the state of Zhao is just afraid that I will gain too much, rather than fighting to the death and not wanting me to gain any benefit."
"After Wei and Chu fought over the territory, King Zhao should also understand that if Zhao and Qin attack each other, the beneficiaries will be many small countries. Forget it if it is Han and Yan. After all, there are few people in the land. Even if they have ambitions, in today's world In this world, it is impossible to achieve anything.
However, the three kingdoms of Wei, Qi, and Chu may all be the overlords of other states. If they continue to be profitable for many years, they may not become the third pole after Qin and Zhao. This is definitely not what King Zhao wants to see. This can be seen from the fact that Zhao Guoqiang took Huaisi and merged it with Dongjun.
Therefore, as long as our country does not touch the core interests of Zhao State, we will definitely be able to form a tacit agreement with Zhao State to destroy the country.
And if we can form a tacit understanding with the State of Zhao, for our Great Qin, it can first solve the dilemma of our Great Qin's eastward exit, and secondly, it can solve the difficult problem of the two strong powers fighting; for the State of Zhao, it can avoid the worry of fighting between the two places. It can also no longer be bound to the alliance between Wei and Chu, which can be described as a win-win situation.
With the wisdom of King Zhao, he would not refuse. ” Fan Sui finally concluded.
It should be said that Fan Sui's idea still makes sense.
After the battle in Luocheng, it was at least proved that Zhao State still lacks the ability to fight on two fronts.
If this battle had not temporarily brought in the coalition forces of the four countries, it is very likely that the final result would be that Zhao State gained a Jiuyuan County, while Qin State would gain the entire Zhou Dynasty.
However, Fan Sui's idea of destroying small countries first and then fighting a decisive battle coincided with what Zhao Kuo wanted.
However, in Zhao Kuo's plan, there is also the institutional crushing of the farming system by the farming system, and the crushing of technology and productivity brought by iron smelting. When the two are combined, it is from national power to military power. All-round crushing, and this was all the confidence that Zhao Kuo had to postpone the war.
As for Fan Sui's confidence, half of it comes from the Qin army's almost invincible historical record in the past few decades.
In Fan Sui's eyes, the Qin army was still the Qin army that was invincible to the six kingdoms. The reason why it was defeated in the hands of Zhao Jun was only because of Zhao Kuo's weird tactics and the help of many small countries.
Of course, this cannot be blamed on Fan Sui.
Firstly, the image of the Qin Army has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; secondly, in the Battle of Luocheng, when facing the more powerful coalition forces, the combat power displayed by the Qin Army did have the capital to continue to be arrogant.
It's a pity that in the battle of Zicheng, the returning artillery (trebuchet) used by Zhao was not taken seriously by Fan Sui.
Not to mention that there is a mysterious army in the Zhao army that belongs directly to Zhao Kuo and is led by his confidant Zhao Wei.
In fact, at this time, the Zhao army's combat power was gradually surpassing the Qin army. Especially after taking Jiuyuan County, Zhao Bianqi, who was already brave and good at fighting, would become invincible in the world.
Obviously, Fan Sui still knew nothing about these situations.
As for the other half's confidence, it was given by Qin's system.
Everyone knows that the Qin State experienced Shang Yang's reforms to have its current "farming war" system, as well as its strong national and military power. However, few people remember that the Zhao State actually also carried out a reform.
Of course, in the history books, Zhao's reform only left four words: "Hufu riding and shooting."
Yes, what King Wuling of Zhao did was not just to organize the army with "Hufu, cavalry and shooting", but a reform operation similar to that of Qin and Wei.
Just because Zhao State is located in the northern Xinjiang, it is constantly harassed by nomads from the north. In addition, Wei State, a good brother, took the lead in completing the reform and tried every means to unify the three Jin areas.
Faced with such a harsh external environment, King Zhao Wuling had to adopt a reform approach starting from the army.
To put it simply, it is to strengthen the army first, and after eliminating external threats, then reform the internal affairs in order to enrich the country.
It should be said that in the first half, King Zhao Wuling did an excellent job. He not only withstood the pressure from the north and the south, but even expanded the territory thousands of miles and destroyed the Zhongshan Kingdom.
But the problem is that with the battles every year, the military strength has increased, and King Zhao Wuling has also grown old.
A sudden change in the Sand Dune Palace completely shattered King Zhao Wuling's plan. As a result, Zhao's reforms also disappeared with the starvation of King Zhao Wuling in the sand dunes.
Therefore, although the Zhao State, whose reforms were not complete, had strong military force, it did not have the corresponding national power.
The Battle of Changping is a typical example, and even this year's snowstorm once again exposed Zhao's weakness.
It was precisely because of this judgment that Fan Sui had the confidence to put Zhao Guo to the end. Even though Zhao Kuo has carried out drastic reforms in the court, it is obvious that changing the names of several government offices and creating a so-called cabinet are not in the eyes of Fan Sui at all.
In Fan Sui's eyes, the most powerful policy system is the one that can bring all the power of the country together and make people all over the country do one thing.
And the name of this system is called - Farming War System.
Farming is for fighting, and fighting is for fighting!
Only such a system can maximize the country's full strength in war.
Obviously, Qin State has such a system, but Zhao State has never had such a combined force.
In Fan Sui's eyes, Zhao's so-called reforms are nothing more than meaningless tinkering. No matter how much the system is tinkered with, as long as the core remains unchanged, it will never be as good as Qin's farming and war system.
Therefore, from Fan Sui's perspective, Qin was stronger than Zhao in terms of military strength and national system. Naturally, Qin had the confidence to leave Zhao until the end to solve the problem.
