He led his people all the way out of there. Even if there were no bandits on the road, they still lost nearly half of their population, 25% of whom died of hunger, and another 15% died of the difficulty of the road.
This is because the people he brought out are all Shu people. They have been accustomed to climbing higher and lower since they were young. When outsiders enter Sichuan, the mortality rate will be higher.
Zhao Shendao said: "If the general wants to send troops to Shu, I am the best choice. In terms of understanding of Shu, no one in the court can match me."
What Zhao Hanzhang was thinking was, "Would the people of Shu want me to send troops?"
Zhao Shen was stunned.
Zhao Hanzhang asked: "Would Fuling and Bajun want to be ruled by me or by King Cheng? How different is there between me and him?"
Ji Yuan said: "When it comes to governing the people, the general is naturally superior to him."
Zhao Hanzhang: "Then how much price do I have to pay to rule the three counties, and how much price and time do I need to pay for the people of the three counties to be able to be ruled by me?"
The ministers were silent.
Zhao Hanzhang sighed.
Ming Yu said: "General, you can't just look at the immediate benefits. For the sake of the big plan, the immediate benefits can be temporarily abandoned."
Zhao Hanzhang: "Are the people of Shu in front of us willing to be abandoned by us?"
It doesn't matter if it's one person or two people, Zhao Hanzhang is not a soft-hearted person, he will give up even if he faces the pain with his eyes open.
But this is the life and death of the people in the three counties, and it will even affect the people in the entire Bashu region. To fight for those three counties, she has to send troops here. Even if she takes those three counties, it will be difficult to transport supplies to those three counties from outside.
County, their development still depends on the Chengguo area in Guanghan.
If they cannot communicate with the outside world, when will their food shortage be overcome?
They relied entirely on self-sufficiency, so what was the point of them surrendering to Zhao Hanzhang?
Is it just for Zhao Hanzhang's good reputation of "never abandoning his country" and to be able to regain Shu more smoothly in the future?
So, is it more expensive to abandon the three counties and regain Shu in the future, or is it more expensive to occupy the three counties now and let the people under the rule fall into poverty, food shortages and war?
Zhao Hanzhang never felt that war was the most terrifying thing.
Natural disasters, hunger and cold, and lack of supplies are the most terrifying things.
The former died quickly and seemed to have a high battle loss rate;
The latter died very slowly, and the mortality rate seemed to be very low, but she had been on the battlefield and had been among the homeless soldiers, so she knew how false these official statistics were.
Those who starve to death, freeze to death, or die of illness due to hunger and cold can be under-counted or not counted, and classified as a series of reasons such as refugee conflicts, banditry and robbery, and death from illness and old age.
Then the data reported is beautiful and reasonable.
Only those who have truly experienced it will know that these figures are heartbreaking. How dare Zhao Hanzhang ignore this situation even though he knows the truth?
So she thought for a long time and finally said: "Let Zhao Xin promise him that except for retaining Hanzhong, all the Bashu lands south of Guanghan will be returned to the king."
"No, General!" Ming Yu disagreed, "You are traitorous to your country!"
Zhao Hanzhang looked resolute, "Chengguo is a vassal state of ours, how can you say that you are traitorous?"
"A vassal state is also a foreign country. Unless it is directly managed by the imperial court, it is a foreign country," Ming Yu said solemnly: "Is it true that just to welcome back Princess Hongnong, the general will abandon the country and ignore it?"
Ji Yuan was originally on Ming Yu's side, but he became unhappy after hearing this and retorted: "Ming Zhongshu, the general's move is clearly for the people of Shu. What does it have to do with Princess Hongnong?"
"Why not? If it wasn't to take back Princess Hongnong, how could the general send Zhao Xin to negotiate?" Ming Yu said: "Even if we don't intervene now, it will be difficult for Li Xiong to attack other counties in Bashu and let them consume themselves. In the future, we
Just reap the benefits..."
Zhao Hanzhang asked: "They consume themselves, who are they consuming?"
Mingxu opened his mouth, but couldn't speak.
Of course, the military, civilian and financial resources of Shu are consumed. Why are there so many refugees from Sichuan and Shu in Jingzhou and Poyang Lake? Isn’t it because they can no longer survive in Shu?
Some people can escape, but most people cannot escape and do not have the courage to escape.
Do these people deserve to be dragged to death in Shu by the war?
Ming Yu opened her mouth several times but couldn't come up with a retort.
Zhao Hanzhang has already made up his mind, "This matter is settled. Zhao Yunxin, please prepare a telegram."
Zhao Yunxin agreed and drafted a telegram on the spot and handed it to her.
Zhao Hanzhang took a look and handed it to Ji Yuan. Ji Yuan looked at it, took out a small seal and pressed it on it, then handed it over to Ming Yu.
Ming Yu:……
He took it, thought for a long time under the gaze of everyone, and finally put his seal on it.
Zhao Yunxin received the order handed back and immediately sent it to the telegraph office for dispatch.
Seeing that everyone's faces were serious, Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said: "Gentlemen, please don't be too serious. I am still very confident in taking back Shu."
Ming Yu reminded her: "Li Xiong is in his prime. He is thirty-seven this year. I think he can live for a long time. Judging from his government orders in the past few years, he is generous and kind, loves the people, knows people well, and can make good use of them.
Ten years later, the people of Shu will only know that he has become the king, but not his majesty."
Of course, they don't know about Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang laughed loudly and said: "Mr. Ming, don't worry, I am younger than him, I will live longer than him, and I will care for the people more than him, and know how to use people better. In the future, Mr. Ming will definitely encourage me with this, don't
If I make a mistake on my mission, I will not be able to take back the Shu land I released today."
Ming Yu's face looked much better after hearing this, and other ministers also breathed a sigh of relief. It's good that Zhao Hanzhang has this intention, and he can be regarded as a king and his ministers. Oh, it's a good story among ministers.
After Xin Zhao got the reply, he immediately went to the palace frequently to negotiate with the Chengguo court, which made Li Xiong suspicious.
Fan Changsheng couldn't help but ask, "It's strange, just after his letter was sent, why did he negotiate with us as if he was sure that Zhao Hanzhang would agree?"
Fan Changsheng remained silent, and the official on the side said: "Perhaps this is his envoy's authority."
Li Xiong went to see Fan Changsheng.
Fan Changsheng shook his head and said: "No, he should have contacted Zhao Hanzhang and received instructions."
Li Xiong: "But we made progress just the day before yesterday. We sent the letter immediately. We have just arrived in Hanzhong, right? How come we can receive a reply?"
Fan Changsheng said: "I have always been confused. Zhao Hanzhang's sending troops to Hanzhong was too sudden. It doesn't seem like she had been prepared for it. But she had already sent Zhao Xin as an envoy as an impromptu decision. It is wrong to send a large army without receiving a reply from him.
Similar to her personality..."
"So I suspect that she received Zhao Xin's message and knew that we had put forward the conditions before urgently sending troops to occupy Hanzhong."
Li Xiong: "This is impossible. What the DPRK and China discussed that day were all impromptu decisions. It was impossible for Xin Zhao to get the news in advance."
"What if the news came out after knowing it at that time?"
"Does Zhao Hanzhang have clairvoyance?" Li Xiong asked, "How could he receive the news so quickly?"
Fan Changsheng murmured, "What if it's Qianlier?"
He said: "There have always been rumors from the outside world that there is a magical weapon in the Zhao family army, which can break open city gates like thunder and lightning, and can also transmit sounds thousands of miles like thunder and lightning?"