The envoy from Zhao who was sent to Chu as an envoy still completed the task assigned by Zhao Kuo with almost no effort.
King Chu was not surprised by the news that Qin was about to attack Chu. The two countries had long-standing grievances, and Chu was also on guard against Qin's attack day and night. Even if the Qin army launches a large-scale attack tomorrow, the King of Chu will not be surprised. Of course, if Chu's national strength is not weak, the King of Chu would also want to counterattack Qin and recapture Yanying tomorrow.
As for Zhao's suggestion of exchanging military weapons for food, the King of Chu also fully agreed. He did not feel that Zhao had any intention of using Qin as a bait, but it frightened the envoys of Zhao who were full of calculations.
To be honest, Chu's weapons are really not very good.
Although the land of Wuyue has been famous for swords since ancient times, of course it was the glory of the Bronze Age. It was precisely because the bronze swords were excellent enough that the Chu State, which annexed the land of Wuyue, was satisfied with the casting of bronze. The Chu State's southern barbarian land had poor communication with the Central Plains, which led to the Chu State's soldiers failing to keep up with the development of the Iron Age.
Coupled with the loss of the iron-smelting center "Wancheng", it was a blow to the iron-smelting industry of Chu State, which was about to catch up.
Today's Chu State is not unable to make good weapons, but in terms of manufacturing technology and processes, it clearly lags behind the three leading countries, Qin, Han, and Zhao.
In particular, the backwardness of the process led to the Chu State's production of standard weapons being almost half the result with half the effort. There were even many lords who still used the bronze weapons of the past.
Bronze versus iron, even if you don't fight the battle, you know what it will be like.
However, compared with the embarrassment in the army, the use of iron tools among the Chu people seems to be more popular. Not only in Chendu and the area close to the country of Han, even in the lands of Wuyue and Nanman, iron tools have basically replaced bronzeware and become the most important part of farming work. The main force in.
The promotion of iron tools promoted the development of agriculture. This was one of the fundamental reasons why Chu State could still maintain a huge military system and stand among the powerful countries after losing the land of Yanying.
Of course, this is not because the King of Chu cares about the people's livelihood, it is just that iron weapons are consumed more frequently in the army, but the people cherish their own iron weapons more.
In any case, the Chu State's demand for iron weapons is obvious to all, especially under the deterrence of the Qin State. The King of Chu is always looking for ways to expand the army and replenish armaments.
Zhao Guo's proposal is simply not too timely for the current Chu State.
King Chu agreed almost without hesitation.
At the same time, in order for Chu State to better contain Qin State, the price of weapons provided by Zhao State to Chu State was also full of sincerity, almost the "factory price". This was one of the reasons why King Chu was happy to see this happen.
You must know that with the help of advanced manufacturing processes, the cost of Zhao's iron weapons, even after adding freight, is still lower than the cost of Chu's own production.
Faced with this attractive price, the King of Chu even wanted to have Zhao Guolai directly manufacture his own weapons.
Fortunately, the last reason still controlled King Chu's greedy heart.
Qin and Chu were not enemies from the beginning. The Zhao Chu of tomorrow may not be the Qin Chu of today. It is extremely foolish to put one's life in the hands of another country.
Of course, this did not prevent the King of Chu from using more grain in exchange for more ordnance in this transaction.
Soon, with the return of Zhao's envoy, another batch of food and loaded ordnance carriages passed by, heading south and north to their respective destinations.
After two business operations, Zhao's granary was full, but Handan's arsenal was also empty.
Fortunately, Shangdang's arsenal has resumed operations. Working day and night, truck after truck of standard weapons were delivered to Handan's arsenal.
Naturally, such a big deal between Zhao and Chu was not hidden from the eyes and ears of the Qin people.
However, when King Qin received the news, he was not angry. After all, it would be really abnormal if Zhao knew that he was about to take action but did nothing.
Providing weapons to Chu State would bring certain difficulties to Qin State's attack.
Obstacles, but in the final analysis, the obstacles are extremely limited, not to mention that the people of Qin themselves did much more than Zhao.
Zhao State only supported some weapons, but Qin State even sent people and generals to Han.
However, the Qin people's advance was in the vast heavy snow, which was much more hidden than the Zhao State who moved after the spring flowers bloomed.
From this aspect, the Qin army is indeed half as good as the Zhao army.
Moreover, in the eyes of the King of Qin and the ministers of Qin, Zhao's move was a precursor to Zhao's imminent attack on Han.
This is the result that Qin State hopes to see the most, so naturally they will not ask more about this matter, lest it cause Zhao State to change its original intention.
In this way, in the joy of King Chu and the secret joy of King Qin, Zhao Guo quietly got everything he wanted.
Including but not limited to: enough food to launch the war to destroy Yan, the upgrading of standard weapons, strategic deception of Qin, Wei, Yan, and Han, and advance survey of Yan's terrain.
It can be said that in this spring alone, Zhao State has basically completed the general preparations for the battle to destroy Yan without all countries being aware of it.
Of course, the most important force is not yet ready to be mobilized.
Because all Zhao people, regardless of gender, old or young, have a more important task - spring plowing!
Yes, from Shangdang in the east to Huaisi in the west, and even the newly surrendered Jiuyuan County, almost all the people have devoted themselves to spring plowing.
All places suitable for farming have been sorted out, especially Jiuyuan County, which was supposed to be a nomadic grassland, but a large area of land for farming was opened up in the area where Hu and Zhao fought.
Years of watering with blood have made this area more fertile than ordinary soil.
The emergence of this area also instantly alleviated the problem of immigrants from surrounding areas having no land to cultivate. The originally barren land, under the care of pairs of big hands, became almost visibly alive with life.
As for the large grasslands and herdsmen that were incorporated into the Zhao State, the Zhao State did not force them to change from herding to farming. Strong men and women can still graze on the grasslands, while their elderly and children can continue to live in Jiuzhou. Get shelter in the original city or the city that will be built soon.
This is of course a type of proton.
But now that the city has not been fully opened, Zhao Kuo can only use this method to control the hearts of the barbarians a little.
Of course, in the eyes of barbarians, this kind of restriction is nothing at all.
Without the constraints of the headless man and the exploitation of the Chanyu, as long as a small amount of tax is paid, one can freely graze, children and the elderly can be taken care of, and there is no need to worry about attacks by wild beasts on the grassland. In the eyes of many herdsmen, It is no different from the Kingdom of Heaven.
However, Zhao Kuo also knew very well that this gratitude was only temporary.
The human heart is never satisfied.
After the Hu people have lived a well-fed life for a few years, they will soon complain about why the family cannot be together. In particular, why can the Zhao family be together?
Even at that time, Zhao's cities had spread all over the grassland, and they would be reunited with their families in the city in a few days, but they were still not satisfied.
This is no longer just as simple as "not worrying about scarcity, but worrying about inequality."
If you tell him the difference between farming and animal husbandry, he will say that he does not understand; if you ask him to engage in farming together, he will become even more angry;
He wants the freedom of an eagle in the sky, but also the comfort of a house sparrow.
No matter how flat a bowl of water is, it may not be useful.
They have forgotten the pain of the past and will only remember that their country was destroyed by Zhao. Perhaps only a catastrophe can come before the remaining people can admit that they are from Zhao.
After repeated training several times, with the blending of blood, this grassland and the people on this grassland will truly integrate into the embrace of Zhao State.
Well, of course these are all things for later.
At least now, the herdsmen on the grassland are like all the Zhao people.
In this way, he worked hard to herd for the sake of Zhao State and a better life for himself.
So, the hot summer arrived as expected.
The entire Warring States period fell into a strange tranquility, just like the last peace before the storm.
As time went on, the closer to autumn, the more strange the North-South divide appeared throughout the Warring States Period.
With Luo City, the once prosperous capital of Zhou Wangji as the boundary, the Zhao, Yan and Qi countries to the north are still as quiet as ever. Except for the merchants coming and going, it is almost difficult to see the large groups of people driving on the post roads.
On the other hand, Qin, Chu, South Korea and even Wei in the south have all mobilized their troops to varying degrees.
Among them, the most frequent mobilization of troops between Qin and Chu. Especially in the prosperous Shu, hundreds of thousands of soldiers are slowly gathering.
Of course, these are situations that can only be seen from God’s perspective.
Even though the Qin State had quietly gathered a large number of troops in Shu, it was not known to any country due to the obstacles of mountains and rivers.
However, because of Zhao's reminder, Chu apparently also increased its vigilance against Qin. More troops, equipped with weapons shipped from Zhao, were sent to the border.
Such a large-scale concentration of troops will of course have a considerable impact on the autumn harvest. But this impact is nothing to the wealthy Qin State.
What's more, the land of Shu is already more than ten days earlier than the northern land of Zhao. If nothing else, Qin will have more time to send troops from Shu. Although it has to overcome certain geographical conditions, it will also have more time.
In June when the Qin State quietly mobilized troops in the middle of Shu, Lian Po and Tian Dan finally completed their months-long investigation of the enemy's situation. Following this, two detailed combat plans were secretly revealed. The land was sent to Zhao Kuo's desk in Handan.
Everything is ready, all that's left is to deploy troops to fight.
However, this last step, if not handled properly, may destroy all the preparations Zhao Kuo has made.
The simple reason is that if the troops are sent too early and the Qin army has not yet completed its assembly, Qin, who discovers that Zhao is planning to attack Northern Yan, will most likely abandon its existing plan and instead attack Zhao or invade Zhou. , even if Zhao Guo was forced to return to rescue under pressure.
And if the troops are sent too late and Qin takes the lead, they may fall behind step by step. Although Zhao Kuo and his generals have made sufficient preparations to attack Yan, the battle to destroy the country will ultimately be worse than the invasion. The war on earth is too difficult.
After all, after occupying some land, the enemy country may be angry and may resist, but it will never fight to the death; but if it is to destroy the country, even the most stupid king will not hesitate to abandon everything and fight to the death.
The Zhou Dynasty, which had just been destroyed by Qin, is a clear example.
Those who travel a hundred miles are half ninety, so it is said.
