The King of Qin and his ministers not only underestimated Zhao Kuo's ambition, but also underestimated Zhao Kuo's ambition.
To say that Zhao Kuo's ambition is underestimated is that Zhao Kuo will not easily change his established policies and strategies just for the so-called face, whether it is Zhao Kuo's own face or the face of the State of Zhao, let alone because of the so-called anger. , angry and raised an army;
To say that Zhao Kuo's ambitions are underestimated is that Zhao Kuo's vision has already seen the overall situation. The entire Warring States Period is his battlefield, and vertically, he and his Zhao State have already made preparations for the next ten years, and even Twenty-year battle plan.
Because of this, things that were extremely important to the King of Qin and his ministers were actually insignificant to Zhao Kuo.
Just like what Han Shi Q&A said:
Han Shan asked Shi De, "There are people in the world who slander me, bully me, insult me, laugh at me, belittle me, despise me, hate me, and lie to me. How should I deal with them?"
Shi Deyun said: "Just tolerate him, let him, let him, avoid him, be patient with him, avoid him, respect him, ignore him. Wait for a few more years, you can see him."
In Zhao Kuo's mind, all he needs to do now is to go on step by step steadily.
It's like when faced with a project that is bound to succeed, any fancy icing on the cake is unnecessary. The best way is to follow the established script and proceed step by step.
And Zhao Kuo and his Zhao State were walking step by step according to the script.
With the return of the envoys from Han and Yan, Zhao's diplomatic trip finally came to a successful conclusion.
Except for the mission to Qin, which was forced to be put on hold due to the sudden arrival of Qin's envoys, it can be said that the missions of the other five countries have successfully completed their missions.
During the trip between Qi and Chu, Zhao exchanged a large amount of food for the two countries at almost a very small price (the promise of the alliance and the weapons that were about to be eliminated), which basically solved the food problem caused by the snow disaster. .
As for the State of Wei, although they did not bring back a single grain of grain in the end, it still made King Wei and Lord Xinling slightly uneasy. Presumably, this slight uneasiness would allow Zhao to make another request. , Wei State responded more actively.
The last two countries, Han and Yan, successfully shaped the image of the two countries as refusing to save them, and fully expressed to the world Zhao's extreme resentment towards these two countries. It can be said that even without the siege of Handan and the rebellion of Luocheng, Zhao State had sufficient reasons to punish these two countries.
As for Qin, with the consensus reached on dividing the world, there will be a period of peace between Qin and Zhao for at least a year or even longer.
The only thing Zhao needs to worry about is that his family cannot expand too fast, so as not to irritate Qin's sensitive nerves.
After the external affairs were finished, Zhao Kuo was not idle internally. With the inspections of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the investigations of the secret guards, many officials still failed to survive this winter.
After some cleaning, although he dare not say that all the silverfish were caught, at least Zhao Kuo achieved two goals.
First, Zhao Kuo told all the Zhao ministers what they could do and what they couldn’t touch. It’s not that Zhao Kuo didn’t understand the principle that when the water is clear, there would be no fish, but what he wanted to tell the Zhao ministers was: any harm to He will never tolerate his attempt to dominate the world.
The meaning of the red line is not punishment, but warning.
Secondly, during the process of investigating and dealing with these silverfish, the secret guards finally entered the political stage as a new spy force, and all officials began to notice this almost all-pervasive force.
This is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all officials, causing them to be in panic and walking on thin ice.
And with this series of events coming to an end, the New Year is finally approaching.
At the same time, several important civil and military ministers under Zhao Kuo finally rushed back to Handan City from the north and south of the Zhao Kingdom.
A large-scale, high-level political meeting immediately began in the Zhao Palace.
There is only one topic at this meeting: the offense in the coming year.
The person presiding over this meeting is still Comrade Zhao Kuo, who is sitting at the head of the chair (involving all aspects of military and political affairs).
On the other hand, neither Pingyuan Jun nor Lian Po could coordinate and take care of everything, so the top leader, Comrade Zhao Kuo, could only preside over it personally. )
Those participating in this meeting were the cabinet members of our Zhao court:
First of all, it is naturally Comrade Zhao Sheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, Pingyuan Jun, who sits in the first position under Zhao Kuo's right hand, and secondly, General Lian Po, the second minister of the cabinet, who sits on Zhao Kuo's left hand.
On Zhao Sheng's side, Lu Buwei sat second, while Yu Qing, as the secretary, sat last;
On Lian Po's side, Tian Dan sat in the second position because of his seniority, and below him was the popular general Li Mu, who had just wiped out an entire country (of course, the credit for destroying Hu was nothing in the Zhao State) .
Outside the main hall, Zhao Kuo's favorite general, General Zhao Wei, who had been almost inseparable after the Changping War, personally led the palace guards to surround the main hall. Not to mention spies, not even a bird could fly in. .
As for the logistics of the meeting, only one person, the eunuch, was responsible.
All these demonstrate the importance of this meeting.
As the host of the meeting, Zhao Kuo spoke first.
Zhao Kuo first briefly reviewed and evaluated everyone’s work this year.
"Since the beginning of this year, we first destroyed Hu, then formed a coalition to fight in Luocheng, and then absorbed hundreds of thousands of people from the surrounding areas, and then even ran thousands of miles to force the Qin army to retreat. Near the end of the year, we finally changed the territory, and again A heavy snowfall." Zhao Kuo looked around at everyone and counted the events of the year one by one: "Fortunately, with your hard work, our Zhao Kuo not only survived, but also expanded the territory of two counties. , once again suppressed Qin."
"It can be said that after this year's hard work, we have gained the advantage in national strength with Qin, and even the offensive and defensive momentum is about to change." Zhao Kuo stood up as he spoke, and saluted everyone: " I, on behalf of the millions of people of our country of Zhao, thank you very much."
"I, the king, have spoken harshly."
"This is a matter within my generation."
Seeing this, everyone quickly stood up and returned the greeting.
Zhao Kuo nodded slightly, then sat down, waving his hands to signal everyone to sit down and talk.
"Mr. Pingyuan." Zhao Kuo then continued: "Relevant rewards, the cabinet must come up with a statement as soon as possible, and the rewards must be distributed before the end of the year, so that all meritorious ministers can have a good year."
"Yes." Mr. Pingyuan immediately stood up and replied.
"In addition, the meritorious soldiers will naturally be rewarded, as well as the officials who made contributions during the snow disaster, and the envoys who braved the wind and snow to travel to various countries. They have also made great contributions. They should be promoted when they should be promoted. Those who are rewarded should be rewarded." After saying this, Zhao Kuo glanced at Yu Qing who was recording, and then said with a smile: "Those who should be in the cabinet will also be in the cabinet."
Hearing this, Mr. Pingyuan was slightly startled, and then immediately realized that the six people present here, except for Li Mu and Yu Qing, were all ministers of the cabinet. It was obvious that the king meant this to one of the two.
As for Li Mu, his qualifications are obviously insufficient and he has almost never participated in political affairs. It is obviously not enough to join the cabinet.
What's more important is that Zhao Kuo is obviously training him to become a general. It doesn't really matter whether he joins the cabinet or not.
Combining the contributions of the previous snow disaster and the words of the messengers, the candidate for the cabinet is almost ready to be announced.
"Yes." Mr. Pingyuan agreed with a smile, but his eyes were directed at Yu Qing who was writing furiously.
Not only Mr. Pingyuan, but all of you here who are not human beings would not know what Zhao Kuo meant. Immediately, five pairs of eyes looked at Yu Qing.
As if feeling the searching eyes, or perhaps because no one answered, Yu Qing inadvertently raised her head.
But when he saw everyone staring at him with burning eyes, Yu Qing couldn't help but blush a little.
"Why don't you thank me, my king?" Mr. Pingyuan on the side said to Yu Qing with a hint of resentment.
To say that this person was discovered by the late Lin Shangqing and himself personally, it can be said that if nothing unexpected happens, Yu Qing will be his and Lin Shangqing's successor, a proper one of his own!
No wonder Mr. Pingyuan looks anxious.
Son.
Yu Qing on the side heard this and took another look at the words of Zhao Kuo that he had just memorized. Then he suddenly understood. He quickly stood up, clasped his fists, bowed deeply to Zhao Kuo, and said, "Thank you very much, my king, for your love."
"If you have merit, you will be rewarded." Zhao Kuo said with a smile, "This is what you deserve, Qing Yu."
"Thank you so much, my king!" Yu Qing bowed again.
When Zhao Kuo heard this, he became even more satisfied. Obviously, he doesn't like people who are eloquent but talk nonsense. A simple thank you is enough to express gratitude, but there is no need for gorgeous words to waste each other's time.
As Zhao Kuo himself said: If you have merit, you will be rewarded. In today's Zhao State, doing things well is the first priority.
After the appetizers were served, Zhao Kuo immediately served today's main course.
Waving his hand to signal the two of them to sit down, Zhao Kuo continued: "A few days ago, I urgently ordered you to return to Handan. I believe everyone knows the reason. Today's discussion is only for one thing: next year's battle."
Without waiting for anyone to speak, Zhao Kuo continued: "First of all, the first question, will we fight next year or not? Please try to speak freely."
After saying that, Zhao Kuo handed over the right to speak to everyone present.
After a short silence, Pingyuan Jun and Lian Po both stood up.
When Lian Po saw this, he slightly stretched out his right hand to signal Lord Pingyuan to invite you first.
Lord Pingyuan was not surprised. He immediately bowed to Zhao Kuo and said, "My king, if it had been two months ago, I would have supported sending troops to continue fighting next year."
After saying that, Mr. Pingyuan looked at the generals opposite him again, nodded slightly to apologize, and then continued: "It's just that now, the country is closed due to heavy snow, and the national treasury is trying to rescue the victims. The consumption of the Battle of Garo City and the accumulation of several years have been completely wiped out. At the end of the day, it can only be maintained now because of the grain shipped from Qi and Chu. Even if there is a great harvest of grain next year, it will only be enough to return to Qi and Chu. If we want to raise an army to attack, we may not have enough grain."
"Can the food in the national treasury support an army of 100,000 people?" Zhao Kuo asked immediately.
Lord Pingyuan shook his head without hesitation when he heard this, and did not even wait for Zhao Kuo to say a time limit.
"How much can an army of 50,000 be needed for a fierce battle?" Zhao Kuo continued to ask, seemingly unwillingly.
Lord Pingyuan heard this, but still shook his head.
"Thirty thousand?" Zhao Kuo's brows were already furrowed, as if the next moment Mr. Pingyuan was still shaking his head, Zhao Kuo would step forward.
"Report to my king."
Fortunately, Mr. Pingyuan finally stopped shaking his head.
It’s just that Mr. Pingyuan’s next words might as well be shaking his head.
"Xu Shiwei's expression is unclear." Pingyuan Jun continued: "With the current food, our Zhao army can hold on to it, but if we have to work far away, there will be a lot of wear and tear on the way. Even if we only have 50,000 troops, we may only be able to go there." It’s just a walk around the nearest city of Yiyang.”
Hearing this, the hall instantly fell into silence.
This hasn't even started yet, why does it seem like it's already over...
