"My King Rongzhen." After a short silence, it was Lu Buwei who took up the conversation, bowed slightly to Zhao Kuo, and then said: "Although what Mr. Pingyuan said is reasonable, your Majesty has forgotten an important thing. account."
"Oh?" Everyone present immediately looked in Lu Buwei's direction.
"If we only calculate Zhao's account, it will naturally not be enough to support the expedition." Seeing this, Lu Buwei immediately explained: "However, the grain and fodder returned to Qi and Chu do not have to be returned immediately. , We can use this grain as military pay. After conquering a country, the funds in its treasury and internal treasury will be used by me. In this way, we will be able to make up for the military needs."
"The Qin State has fought many foreign battles without seeing any weak ones. This is why." As if he was afraid that it would not be convincing enough, Lu Buwei also brought out the vivid example of the Qin Army.
"Fighting to support war?" Zhao Kuo said with a slight frown.
"Of course." Lu Buwei nodded immediately.
This is of course a good idea, and whether it is the Kingdom of Han or the Kingdom of Yan, the exploitation of the people at the bottom is all done with money. Although the people of the country have no money and food, the palace treasury and even the wealthy families are still rich. Got to be oily.
If this money and grain can be brought into the treasury, it will certainly be able to make up for the grain consumed by sending out troops.
But the premise of this method is that Zhao Guo can be sure of victory, and even sure of quick victory.
Although with the current national strength of Zhao State and the combat power of Zhao Army, they are very confident against Han Army and Yan Army. But after all, it was a battle to destroy the country. Even though it was as weak as the Zhou Dynasty and had almost no army of its own, it still exploded with huge combat power in the last battle, and even peeled off a layer of skin from the Qin army.
One side is working hard on an expedition and has insufficient military supplies, while the other side is waiting for work and is guarding its own territory. In comparison, the Zhao army is obviously in an unfavorable environment.
Of course, the strong national power and military power can indeed make up for it a little, but in this case, is Zhao really sure of victory?
What's more, although Qin State intends to divide the territories of each country equally with Zhao State.
But I can tell with my toes that the Qin State is bound to cause trouble, just like the Zhao State cannot let the Qin State easily take over the Chu State.
But the difference is that even if Qin's attack fails, he can always retreat to the land of Yanying and just stick to the defense. With the capital of Ying, Qin will be invincible.
Once Zhao's gamble fails, both Hejian and Huaisi counties will be hit by revenge. Coupled with factors such as food shortages, it is possible that Zhao's good situation will suddenly turn negative.
This is not what Zhao Kuo wants to see.
"If it is so reluctant?" Zhao Kuo shook his head and said: "I would rather not fight than to put Zhao Guo in danger because of the temporary quick success. In the battle of Changping, we have to bet, not to bet that Zhao Guo will perish; in the Battle of Luocheng , we are still betting, otherwise Zhao will be suppressed by Qin again; but now, Zhao has gained a partial advantage, and it is uneconomical to continue betting."
"But." After Zhao Kuo finished speaking, Lian Po, who was opposite him, thought for a moment and then said, "My king, in this world of great strife, I, the Great Zhao, cannot stop it just because we want to!"
"Every country knows about this year's snow disaster, and Qin also knows about it." Lian Po continued: "How could the Qin army, which suffered a loss in the battle of Luocheng, miss such a good opportunity? Regardless of our army, Whether it takes action or not, the Qin army is bound to move out eastward. Now that the Qin army has moved out, how can our army not move out?"
"Instead of continuing to fight the Qin army, it is better to attack other countries." Tian Dan on the side also helped.
What Lian Po said is not unreasonable. Once a war starts, no participant on either side has the right to unilaterally stop it, even the initiator of the war.
Of course, the initiator of the war at this time has actually transformed into a participant in the war.
Just as this year, Zhao State chose to solve the troubles of the Hu people in the north, and then the Qin army began to march eastward. The battle of Luocheng was certainly not what Zhao State wanted to fight.
Similarly, although the Battle of Luocheng came to an end, it was far from the end of the battle between Qin and Zhao.
The people of Qin were bound to not be willing to give in, especially when Zhao was hit by a snowstorm.
Afterwards, Qin will of course also know about Zhao's food shortage, and this is Qin's opportunity.
"Is there any way to let other countries drag Qin down for a year?" Zhao Kuo obviously still doesn't want to start a war next year.
Things were happening in droves, from the refugees in Zhou Dynasty to the heavy snowfall, which really caught Zhao State off guard, and the five years of savings had already bottomed out.
Therefore, sometimes, eating too much is not necessarily a good thing.
Of course, now that I have eaten all the food, I can only bite the bullet and digest it. However, as long as the one-year buffer period allows Zhao Guo to take a breather, Zhao Guo can completely digest this power and embark on the fast track of annexation.
However, the few people who heard this looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
"Within the Zhou Dynasty, the Wei State has just experienced a major defeat and lost too many troops, and it is impossible to send out enough troops to defend the Zhou Dynasty for a while; while the Chu State only has a small area, and I am afraid it will not be able to send out enough troops to defend it. "Li Mu, who was sitting at the bottom, was obviously the most aware of Zhou's defense situation. He immediately analyzed: "Without the massive support from our army, I am afraid that the two countries' troops would not be able to survive for two months."
"Huh?" Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up as he listened to Li Mu's analysis. It seemed that everyone had fallen into a misunderstanding. It seemed that everyone thought that Qin State would choose to leave from the Zhou Dynasty when it came to the east.
But Zhao Kuo, who had had a good confrontation with Qin's envoys, knew that Qin's intention was not with Zhou, but with Chu!
"No." Zhao Kuo quickly interrupted: "Qin's goal is Chu, not Zhou."
"This." Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Zhao Kuo.
"Although our Zhao State has been affected by the snowstorm, its strength is still there. If the Qin State wants to divide all the countries, it will definitely not attack the Zhou Dynasty again, otherwise it will have a battle with our army. Although our army is not sure of victory, the Qin Army is also There is no confidence in victory. Therefore, on the way out to the east, Qin will choose Chu." Zhao Kuo explained briefly.
"This matter was also noticed by me from the words of the Qin envoy." Zhao Kuo continued: "However, what Qin wants is not all of Chu, but only part of it. Although this proposal may also be Qin's. The state deliberately revealed it, but few people noticed that attacking Chu may indeed be higher than Zhou. After all, when attacking Chu, Qin had to face only Zhao and Chu, but when attacking Zhou, Qin had to face Zhao, Chu, and Chu. The power of the three kingdoms of Wei and Chu."
After hearing this, of course no one doubted Zhao Kuo's judgment.
"What if we attack Chu?" Lian Po, Tian Dan, and Li Mu immediately murmured to themselves, thinking about the possibility of using Chu to hold back the Qin army.
If you want to hold back the Qin army, it is nothing more than terrain and military strength.
Although there are many mountains and rivers in the Chu land, after passing Yanying, the terrain actually does not have many passes. Although there are hills, they are only hills of more than ten meters, and even the cavalry can ride a little. It was difficult to stop the Qin army's advance.
Until now, Chendu, the capital of Chu State, was considered a fortified city that could be defended.
In other words, if you want to stop the Qin army, you can only gather more troops.
However, can Chu State really have so many troops?
After a while, the three of them still looked at each other, helpless.
Lian Po then clasped his fists and said to Zhao Kuo: "I'm afraid it's still difficult. From Yanying to the east, Chu State has almost no fortified cities. It's difficult to delay enough time just relying on Chendu."
"What if our army reinforces the Chu army with a small number of troops?" Lord Pingyuan suddenly suggested.
Obviously, whatever the Qin State can think of, Pingyuan Lord can naturally think of.
As a result, the state of Chu is not the state of Han after all. The main contradiction of Han's country is that it has a small land and few soldiers and is disadvantageous in fighting. However, Chu's fertile land is thousands of miles away, so it is obvious that there is no shortage of troops. Moreover, because it is in the southern barbarians and often fights with wild beasts, its military advantages are not as good as those of Qin and Zhao. Even if there is a gap, it will not be as big as the country of Han.
Therefore, although the strategy is the same, it naturally has different effects on different national conditions.
"No." Sure enough, after listening to Lord Pingyuan's suggestion, Lian Po shook his head and said without hesitation: "The soldiers of Chu are not weak. The first problem is that the weapons are poor, and the second is that they have many orders. . Even if our army sends some troops there, it will not be able to solve these problems.
On the contrary, the combat power will be reduced by adding another general. "
"Then give them weapons!" Lu Buwei said suddenly.
After giving a slight salute to Zhao Kuo, Lu Buwei then continued: "There are many orders. We are inconvenient and cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the Chu State. However, there is a lot to be done in terms of weapons. Since we can give it to the Qi State, Why not give some more to Chu!"
"Even." Lu Buwei seemed to have thought of a certain possibility and said in surprise: "We can also exchange weapons for Chu's food! In this way, the problem of food for our army can be solved!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes lit up!
Yes, although King Chu didn’t say it, it doesn’t mean that King Chu doesn’t want it! Even someone as unconcerned as King Qi is eager to learn about our weapons, let alone the state of Chu, which is about to face an attack by the Qin army.
Judging from the reputation of Zhao's weapons, the King of Chu would not refuse at all.
"This!" Zhao Kuo hesitated after hearing this suggestion.
The reason is simple. The King of Chu may not refuse, but Zhao Kuo is afraid that these weapons will eventually fall on the heads of his own Zhao army, which would be more of a loss than a gain.
The reason why they easily agreed to Qi's request was that in addition to the urgent need for Qi's food, more importantly, Qi could not even be unified internally and could not become Zhao's opponent.
Even if he becomes an opponent, Zhao Kuo still has a hundred ways to deal with Qi.
But the Chu State is different. The fertile land is thousands of miles away. Once the Qin State is defended, there may not be a chance to rise again.
It doesn't require much action. As long as the Qin army is defeated, they can continue Wu Qi's reforms, take back the power, and immediately transform themselves into the third pole of the Warring States Period.
Once this situation becomes a reality, this Warring States Period will become a prequel to the Three Kingdoms.
Of course, this reform is easy to say, but not easy to do at all, especially since Chu State has already failed once.
But increasing the strength of Chu State is not in the interests of Zhao State.
It’s just, the lesser of two evils. Although giving Chu State weapons and equipment may make Chu State rise again, it is better than letting Qin State annex the essence of Chu State.
Even if the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period is turned into a prequel to the Three Kingdoms, as long as he can take the opportunity to conquer the Yan Kingdom and unify the north, the Zhao Kingdom will still be the most powerful among the Three Kingdoms!
Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo actually gradually had the answer in his heart.
However, Zhao Kuo still faced everyone and asked, "What do you think, what do you think of what Lu Qing said?"
