"Two generals, please get up quickly." Zhao Kuo then helped the two men up and said with a smile: "In the battle of Changping, if the two generals did not help each other and risk their lives, how could we have won Changping. So how could we have won Changping? Friendship, if I don’t believe in these two generals, who can I believe in?”
"Thank you, my king." The two of them bowed together again.
"That's it, dear friends." Zhao Kuo nodded slightly, then stood up and said to everyone, "But preparations will begin from now on. Soldiers and horses, food and grass, diplomacy, and internal affairs will all revolve around this matter."
"Yes." Everyone present agreed immediately.
...
Winter turns to spring, and another year comes.
In the warm sunshine of spring, the withered branches finally sprouted green buds in the spring breeze. The northern geese flying south made traces in the sky, and the gurgling water broke through the winter's ice. A few geese flew south. The yellow duck quacks freely in the water.
The sealed Zhao State gradually awakened in the warmth of spring and the blooming flowers.
At the same time, Zhao's court also became lively along with the people.
However, rather than saying that this is a royal duel between the emperor and his ministers, it is better to say that it is a drama that has been rehearsed for a long time.
In this play, Zhao Kuo and several important ministers of the Zhao Kingdom are naturally the protagonists, while the courtiers are not only supporting roles, but also audiences and ambassadors.
And this scene, in the end, was naturally performed for the countries of Qin, Han, and Yan.
"My king, last year's snowstorm severely affected the Northland. Although relief supplies were distributed in time, casualties were inevitable. Moreover, Jiuyuan was newly attached to the Northland. I would like to ask my king to send important ministers to Jiuyuan to calm the people's hearts. , and the other is to supervise spring plowing matters." Above the court, Lord Pingyuan suggested to Zhao Kuo with his hands clasped in fists.
According to the plan, Mr. Pingyuan first proposed a tour of the north in response to the disaster.
Immediately afterwards, it was Zhao Kuo's turn to perform.
"Yes." Zhao Kuo, who was sitting on a high position, nodded, then looked at the ministers and asked, "Which of my dear friends is willing to go to Jiuyuan for me?"
Before all the ministers and workers could enthusiastically sign up, Lord Pingyuan spoke again: "To my king, Jiuyuan is the homeland of the Hu people. We were also hit by the snowstorm, and the newly attached Hu people will inevitably have doubts. This is a plan to protect their integrity. , Wei Chen believes that the general should be put first, control the land first, and then stabilize the people."
This was obviously meant for the ears of the many ministers in the court and the aristocratic families behind them. Lord Pingyuan has made it very clear that the purpose of going to Jiuyuan was not to inspect at all, but to suppress it. You aristocratic families If you want to reap the benefits, don't even think about joining in the fun, or you might risk your life.
The wealthy families obviously didn't know that after an autumn and winter, Lu Buwei had already arranged Jiuyuan County to be submissive, and there was no need for any suppression at all.
However, in the eyes of many ministers in the court, the Northland was still a barren land, and it was hit by a snowstorm, so it was entirely possible for some rebellion to arise.
Zhao Kuo and Ping Pingjun took advantage of this information gap to temporarily exclude all aristocratic families from the list of northern patrols, thereby making time and space for Lian Po to change his route eastward.
Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, the ministers in the court who originally wanted to "experience" suddenly stopped.
"What Mr. Pingyuan said makes sense." Zhao Kuo smiled slightly in his heart, then nodded again, and then looked at the sequence of generals on his left.
After receiving the signal, General Lian Po immediately went out of duty, saluted Zhao Kuo, and then replied: "The last general is willing to go."
Hearing this sonorous and powerful answer, the ministers present also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Old General Lian is indeed getting stronger with age!"
"Old general, you won't do anything for me, Zhao Guozhu."
Immediately, some people even praised General Lian Po.
Listening to these flattery sounds, Zhao Kuo felt a chill in his heart. If possible, Zhao Kuo would of course want to strangle all these silverfish who don't do practical things and only care about money and enjoyment.
However, Zhao Kuo couldn't.
Not only is it because "when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when the people are careful, there will be no disciples." More importantly, the main contradiction today is not between the people of Zhao State and the bureaucrats,
The conflict between aristocratic families is an irreconcilable underlying conflict between Qin and Zhao.
Whether it is the bureaucracy or the aristocratic family, they are all the people Zhao Kuo needs to win over and unite with. Only by concentrating all the forces possible can Zhao State compete with the Qin army.
Grasping the main contradictions and letting go of the secondary contradictions is always the most effective way to control events.
This point has already been written with countless blood in history books.
Momo nodded in his heart, and Zhao Kuo immediately agreed: "Jiuyuan County is newly attached and has experienced another winter of snowstorms. It really needs mature and prudent ministers to take charge. The old general is willing to go, and I am very pleased."
"As the general has requested, I will be on good terms today and arrange all important military and political affairs in Jiuyuan County and Dai County, so that I can do things expediently." Zhao Kuo then continued to speak calmly.
As soon as the words "acting cheaply" came out, everyone was shocked at first, and then felt scared for a while.
"Easy things" are not given casually. This means that in Jiuyuan and Daijun, General Lianpo is equivalent to the local princes. Even the governors of the two counties, Lianpo will have the right to appoint, dismiss and even kill. .
What surprised everyone was naturally Zhao Kuo's unparalleled trust in Lian Po.
And if the king can make such a promise, naturally the situation in the North is probably not that optimistic, and someone may have caused trouble.
This is what everyone is afraid of. If Lord Pingyuan hadn't answered his words quickly, I might have volunteered to ask the king for this task.
This can really cost you your life.
But Lian Po ignored the slightly surprised and frightened looks in everyone's eyes, and directly agreed: "The last general will take the order."
"Okay." Looking at the performance of many of his ministers, Zhao Kuo was very satisfied, and then continued to the generals here: "The nine plains in the north are unstable. It is said that good fortune never comes alone, but misfortune never comes alone. But who can Aiqing, are you willing to go to the land of Huaisi and lie down for me?"
After the words fell, Tian Dan, who had been waiting aside for a long time, immediately left the team and replied, "I will go eventually."
"Given General Tian's remaining prestige in Huaisi County, it would be great if General Tian is willing to work hard again." Zhao Kuo immediately nodded and said, "The general will go to Huaisi County, following General Lianpo's example. General Xu has the right to gain advantage."
"Thank you, my king." Tian Dan also thanked him immediately.
In this way, before the courtiers could even react, Zhao Kuo had already arranged the two most important personnel appointments this year.
The most important thing is that these two appointments are so reasonable and well-founded, and one goes to the east and the other to the west. It is absolutely unexpected that Zhao Kuo's goal will be the land of Yan in the north.
I believe that even if this news reaches the ears of any country, there will not be much reaction. They will only think that it is a routine inspection and suppression by Zhao after experiencing the snow disaster.
Of course, if Zhao Kuo's actions were just like this, it would still not be enough.
If you let other countries keep their eyes on you, on Lian Po and General Tian Dan, problems will definitely arise over time.
As the saying goes, if you defend for a long time, you will lose. What's more, if Lian Po changes his ways midway, no matter how clean and tidy he is, after a long time, abnormalities will inevitably be discovered.
The best way is to create artificial hot spots to attract the attention of all countries.
Just like modern crisis public relations, when it is clear that the problem is one's own, the best way is not to apologize, nor to refuse to admit it, or even to treat it coldly is not a good way.
The best way is to create more explosive news to divert public attention.
For example, if you create a controllable nuclear fusion with your hands, who cares about the scandal you had with whom yesterday?
Well, that's the truth.
Therefore, after performing a small show in the court, Lian Po and General Tian Dan set off. A rather "secret" mission was immediately brewing.
Yes, Zhao Kuo ordered people to "secretly" send envoys to Wei and Chu.
Its purpose is self-evident:
The purpose of sending an envoy to the State of Wei is to communicate with the State of Wei
Discuss the details of the attack on Korea;
The purpose of sending an envoy to Chu State was to inform the King of Chu that Qin State was about to attack Chu State this year.
However, because of the need to select the envoys, the news of the envoys inevitably expanded a lot.
Although the power of Qin's Black Ice Platform in Handan has been weakened a lot in recent years, as Qin's only enemy, Qin still invests its guests in Handan at all costs. Therefore, such a "big" disturbance, Naturally, it cannot be hidden from the eyes of the Qin people.
It can be said that the envoys of Zhao State have just been selected, and before they have time to set off, the King of Qin in Xianyang over there has already learned the purpose of Zhao State's mission.
However, correspondingly, Zhao Ping's secret guards also gained a lot in this intelligence war.
What's even more terrible is that Zhao Kuo originally intended for King Qin to detect this news.
Attacking South Korea is just a smoke bomb. What it wants is to firmly lock the attention of Qin, even Han, Wei and other countries on the country of Han.
As for informing the Chu State, firstly, it was to propose the idea of exchanging weapons for food, and secondly, it was just to disgust the Qin State.
Zhao Kuo naturally hopes that the sooner this news reaches King Qin's ears, the better.
Now, with the Black Ice Platform suffering heavy losses, this news is becoming more credible.
Of course, solitary evidence is disadvantageous.
After learning that the Qin people had passed on the news, the two groups of envoys immediately embarked on their missions. I believe that their performance in Wei and Chu would also give King Qin more evidence to prove that Zhao Kuo information given.
At the same time, Li Mu, who was still in Handan, was also ready to go south, lighting up the last fire in King Qin's heart at any time.
As the battle slowed down, Zhao's envoys once again arrived outside the capital of Wei.
Lord Xinling still came to the city gate in person to greet the arrival of the Zhao envoy. It was still a banquet of singing and dancing, and even Wei Chang and the courtiers of Wei State were more enthusiastic than last time.
It's normal. After refuting Zhao Guo's face and not giving Zhao Guo food, he is not afraid that it is fake.
Even King Wei wanted to arrange for grain to be sent to Handan to atone for his sins, but fortunately Lord Xinling stopped King Wei.
Now that the Zhao envoy has returned, the whole Wei state is naturally more enthusiastic.
It's just that this time, the Zhao envoy was obviously smarter. He would never reveal his intentions in public and had to discuss it privately with the King of Wei. The goal is obvious, that is, they don't want Mr. Xin Ling, a "troublesome person," to get involved.
Lord Xinling knew what was going on. After hearing Ambassador Zhao's request, he obediently left with the other ministers as the banquet ended.
After King Wei was the only one left in the huge palace, the envoy from Zhao took out Zhao Kuo's credentials, handed them to King Wei and elaborated on Zhao's intention to attack Han, and also expressed to King Wei Invitation.
The bargaining chip offered by Zhao Kuo was that as long as Wei sent more than 50,000 troops, he could divide up half of the land except Xinzheng, the capital of Han.
It should be said that the price offered by Zhao Kuo is still very attractive.
At least King Wei was deeply moved.
