At the end of winter, heavy snow falls.
On the official road, there were already very few pedestrians. It was supposed to be time for the wife and children to be at home, but on the thick snow, dozens of cars and horses were struggling to move forward.
This world is like this, there are always people who have a peaceful time, and there are always people who are carrying a heavy load and moving forward.
Fortunately, peace in the years at this time often requires carrying forward the burden in the future, and carrying forward the burden today can also earn yourself peace in the years in the future.
This is already an extremely beautiful world, no matter the Warring States Period or the Spring and Autumn Period.
As for the person walking alone in the wind and snow, he was naturally the envoy sent by the State of Zhao.
Fortunately, Handan of Zhao State is located at the northern end. Except for Jicheng of Yan State, which is still in the north, the capitals of other countries are in the south. Therefore, almost all the envoys' paths are getting better and better.
Of course, the envoys who went to Yan State were not stupid. Anyway, they didn't really intend to get anything when they went to Yan State. Naturally, they were not afraid of being late. After obtaining the consent of Zhao Kuo and Ping Pingjun, they decisively changed their route.
To put it simply, it starts from Handan, goes southeast first, goes around the southern part of Hejian County (the hometown of Yan State), enters Huaisi County (the land of Huaisi of Chu State and the east county of Wei State is Huaisi County), and then goes north to Jicheng. .
The advantage of doing this is that, firstly, it can avoid the invasion of the wind and snow in the north, and secondly, it can be regarded as reconnaissance of the route for the departure of the army in the coming year.
Of course, with the change of route, the time to reach Jicheng, the capital of Yan State, was more than doubled.
Among the envoys sent by the State of Zhao, the first ones to arrive at their destination were the envoys sent by the State of Wei.
Faced with the sudden arrival of the Zhao envoy, Lord Xinling quickly guessed his purpose.
Can you not guess that in this cold winter, if it is not an urgent matter, why are you sending envoys in such a hurry? And now, besides spending the winter, is there anything else important in Zhao State?
After all, Lord Xinling is also one of the four princes of the Warring States Period, so this idea is still politically sensitive.
Therefore, almost as soon as the Zhao envoy stepped into the Wei territory, Lord Xinling had already arrived at the Wei palace and informed the Wei king of all his guesses.
Lord Xinling had the same attitude towards the Zhao State's upcoming "borrowing grain" move: "borrowing grain" would not work, but "exchanging grain" would.
Just as Zhao Kuo and Ping Pingjun were worried, because of the incident in Dongjun, Lord Xinling also wanted to give Zhao a way to retaliate.
Because the exchange for the land of Zhou Wangji was successfully completed, King Wei and Lord Xinling are now in a honeymoon period.
Naturally, King Wei fully accepted Lord Xinling's suggestion even though he felt it was inappropriate.
This has to mention one of the benefits of King Wei: listening to others' advice and eating enough.
After many events such as stealing talismans to save Zhao, the Battle of Changping, the Battle of Luocheng, and the replacement of Zhou Dynasty, King Wei had already realized the gap between himself and Lord Xinling.
With Lord Xinling's several defeats, his threat to the throne was minimized.
King Wei was still willing to reuse such a talented and non-threatening younger brother, especially since he had just taken back an important city like Luocheng, the capital of Zhou Dynasty.
There is really no need for the King of Wei to have any discord with Lord Xinling because of Zhao's affairs.
Therefore, when the envoy from the State of Zhao finally arrived in Daliang, the capital of the State of Wei, he was immediately received with a high standard by the entire Wei State.
Not only did Lord Xinling personally greet him at the city gate, but King Wei also immediately gave him a banquet. The scale of the banquet was also quite grand, with civil and military officials from all over the dynasty coming to accompany the Zhao envoy.
So, with a toast from you and a toast from me, Ambassador Zhao was quickly drunk and was too late to tell King Wei the purpose of his visit.
Of course, getting drunk is not the purpose. The messenger will wake up eventually, and he can't be drunk every day. Even if he was having banquets every day, the envoy could still find time to submit his credentials.
As soon as the letter of credence was handed over, Wei Guo naturally could not pretend to be stupid.
However, originally, pretending to be dumbfounded was not Wei Guo's response plan.
The reason why Zhao's envoys were received with such high standards was nothing more than a gesture.
What
attitude?
Wei State attaches great importance to its alliance and cooperation with Zhao State, and even lowers its status to cater to a mere envoy. How about it, our Wei State is quite interesting!
Now that you have made enough superficial gestures, it is easy to say the words of rejection or bargaining below.
It’s not that I don’t want to help my country of brothers tide over the difficulties, it’s really difficult for the Wei State itself!
The return of Zhou Wangji's land will be the best excuse for Lord Xinling to bargain. Obviously immigration and land reclamation have not yet started because of the arrival of winter, but if Wei Guo says it is, then it is.
You see, the city of Luo in Zhou Dynasty was really a drag on Wei.
Even if it was a typical example of someone who got an advantage and behaved well, the envoys from the State of Zhao were helpless. After all, they couldn't let the State of Zhao send people to Luo City to investigate.
Zhao Guo couldn't wait for the time spent on the road alone!
After a miserable performance, he expressed his demands, such as the jurisdiction of several cities in the East County, and the doubling of the next year's annual payment.
It has to be said that Lord Xinling seized the opportunity very well, seized Zhao's rare moment of weakness, and used a very low profile to force Zhao.
In this way, he achieved his goal without annoying Zhao Guo. It can be said that he killed two birds with one stone.
However, if Lord Xinling had been more shrewd and cruel, he would have guessed the purpose of the Zhao envoy and sent envoys from Xiangchu and Qi to quietly cut off all foreign aid from Zhao.
Only in this way can Zhao be forced to sign this "unequal treaty" again.
Of course, if this is really done, I am afraid that even if Zhao Guo endures his anger for a while, he will definitely keep this account in his heart.
But so what.
There are never permanent enemies, and there are no permanent friends. In a world of great strife, what matters is the price of money!
It is a pity that although Zhao Kuo did not expect Lord Dao Xinling to be so cunning, he still expected the greed of Wei. Therefore, the envoys from the State of Zhao were ordered to come, and they never thought about how much food they could really take away from the State of Wei.
It can even be said that the coming of Zhao's envoys was, firstly, to confirm Wei's greed and determine its future attitude towards Wei, and secondly, to stabilize Wei and prevent Wei from interfering with Zhao's request for help on other routes. .
From this perspective, the Zhao envoy obviously accomplished this goal very well.
Faced with the various conditions put forward by Lord Xinling, Zhao's envoys delayed as long as they could. They showed great indignation and a little helplessness, but the most important thing was that they never let go.
Of course, King Wei and Lord Xinling were not in a hurry. They believed that the cold winter would make King Zhao and his envoys compromise. Even the King of Wei was already considering whether to increase the price for Zhao Guo.
However, Mr. Xinling still kept a cool head. When he raised the price, it could be said that he was forced to raise the price. It would only add insult to injury. This was a rhythm that would offend Zhao Guo to death.
Although the envoy from the State of Zhao must go to the palace of the King of Wei and the residence of Lord Xinling several times a day, showing that he should be anxious, he always sticks to the bottom line. Naturally, he was not afraid to continue dragging it on.
Just when the negotiations with Wei State reached a deadlock, another envoy from Zhao State had arrived at Chendu, the current capital of Chu State.
The reason why it is called "Chendu" is simply because it was once the former capital of the "Chen" kingdom among the eight hundred princes of the Zhou Dynasty.
Chen was destroyed by Chu, and Chu was bullied by Qin. The former capital of Chen became the capital of Chu today. Chu, which used to dominate the Southern Dynasties, now has to rely on others to survive. This situation can't help but make people sigh.
Of course, these have nothing to do with the Zhao State envoys who came to ask for help.
It was still a high-standard reception, and it was still a grand banquet. However, unlike the Wei State, the Chu State did not have so many tricks. The wine had just passed the third round, and the King of Chu had already asked the envoy of Zhao. Intention.
The envoy from the State of Zhao immediately announced his intention to come. The King of Chu was also shocked when he heard this. There was no way, the State of Chu still needed the State of Zhao to continue to attract the attention of the State of Qin. Naturally, the State of Zhao
Falling down is not a good thing for Chu State.
Without saying a word, he immediately extended his hand to the many aristocratic families attending the banquet.
Because the special political system of Chu State is more similar to the feudal system, in modern times, it is more like a joint-stock cooperative company.
The royal family is the largest shareholder of this company, while other families, large and small, are small shareholders at all levels. Now when the company makes major decisions, it naturally requires many families to face it together.
The reluctance is certain, but Zhao State has just given Chu State such a huge benefit, so why should Zhao State's envoys not be allowed to return empty-handed? After all, in the coming year, Chu State will still need to rely on Zhao State to fight against Qin.
Immediately, under the leadership of the "Rotating CEO and Director" and the Prime Minister of Chu State named Zhao, various great gods also began to donate generously and expressed their willingness to provide food for Zhao State.
The only problem is that it will obviously take a long time to collect all these families.
The King of Chu did not play around with anything, and immediately stated that he would use one hundred thousand dan as the basis. Once this amount was collected, he would transport it to the State of Zhao.
For such a generous and straightforward king of Chu, what else could the envoy of Zhao say? He just drank too much.
With almost no words wasted and no time wasted, Ambassador Zhao's trip to Chu was declared a success.
It is a pity that although the King of Chu wanted to make good friends with the State of Zhao, food could not fly directly to the State of Zhao like homing pigeons.
However, this was obviously what Zhao Kuo had expected. Almost when the envoy to the Chu State had a drink with the King of Chu, the envoy to the Qi State had already arrived in Linzi.
Unlike the previous envoys from the two countries, the King of Qi neither arranged for important ministers to greet him nor arranged any grand banquet.
Looking at King Qi's attitude towards him, Ambassador Zhao knew that this trip would not be easy.
However, facing such a cold attitude, Zhao Kuo had already made a second-hand preparation - money and silk!
Yes, money, lots of money. This money and silk are not used to bribe the King of Qi and the ministers of Qi.
After the Zhao envoy settled down, he immediately did two things. One was to hand over his credentials and request an audience with the King of Qi. The other was to use almost all his people to buy food!
Yes, Zhao Kuo’s back-up plan is to buy grain!
It is said that Luo City was once the most commercially developed area in the world. That is to say, Taoyi, which once belonged to the Song Dynasty, could rival it. However, among the two, the most prosperous area was neither the Qin Kingdom nor the Qin Kingdom. Xianyang is not the main beam of Wei State, but Linzi of Qi State.
Qi State, which is close to the sea and eats the sea, is rich in fishery and salt resources.
Fishing comes second, the key is the salt, this is a good thing! It is even more indispensable.
It was because of this salt industry that the Qi State recovered its national power with lightning speed even though it lost seventy-two cities in a row and was almost destroyed.
It is also because of this salt industry that the entire Qi country has a merchant feel.
The elite of the Qi State - "Martial Arts Warriors", is also the only mercenary team among the four powerful soldiers of the Warring States Period: "Wei Wuzu, Qin Ruishi, Zhao Bianqi, and Qi Martial Arts".
The success of Qi State lies in its prosperity, and the defeat of Qi State also lies in its prosperity.
Of course, none of this matters anymore.
The important thing is that Linzi today has become more prosperous after the destruction of Luo City. The more prosperous the place, food is naturally an indispensable material...
