When the banquet ends, people have their day of separation.
As the sun rose high, all the soldiers packed their bags. Zhao Kuo mounted his horse again, turned around and clasped his fists, saying: "Take care, everyone."
"Take care!" Everyone saluted.
Zhao Kuo pointed his horse whip forward: "Let's go to Handan!"
Looking at Zhao Kuo's figure walking further and further away, everyone felt a little sad. After saying goodbye this time, they might be enemies next time they meet...
…
"Master, Qi is back."
As soon as the army arrived at Anyi, Liu Ping came in with a man. It was Men Keqi who had returned to Handan with Ben.
"Where is my mother?" Zhao Kuo asked quickly.
"Your Majesty, the old lady and the others have already settled outside the city, but the old lady has been asking you to rush back as soon as possible," Qi said.
"Thank you for your hard work, just stay here and go back with the army." Zhao Kuo said.
"promise."
"Commander, the Qin army has transported 200,000 stones of grain and grass, and requires that Hu Yang and Sima Jin be released first." At this time, Li Mu, who had not yet set out from Puban, sent someone to deliver a message.
The Zhao army had a total of 300,000 troops and countless grain, grass and baggage, so it was impossible to set off at the same time. Zhao Kuo was worried about leaving others behind, so he left Li Mu at the end, responsible for transporting grain, grass and baggage, and negotiating with the Qin army.
"Give Zheng Anping to the State of Qin. In addition, tell the State of Qin when the remaining 300,000 stones will be sent over, and when Hu Yang and Sima Jin will be sent over." Zhao Kuo said.
As long as Sima Jin is still in his hands, given Sima Cuo's position in the Qin State, even if he doesn't speak, the Qin State will desperately collect grain to exchange for Sima Jin.
Zhao Kuo originally planned to persuade Hu Yang, Sima Jin, and Zheng Anping to surrender. Although the three of them were not as good as those more famous generals, they were still able to leave their names in history. No matter how bad they were, they could not be worse.
But compared with the military generals, Zhao State was now more short of food and grass. In desperation, Zhao Kuo could only return the three men to Qin State in exchange for more needed food.
"I hope I can catch it next time." Zhao Kuo thought to himself.
No monarch would dislike having many talents under his command.
The army marched to Hanoi, and Zhao Kuo ordered Feng Ting to lead an army of five thousand to the north to take over Shangdang.
…
"Your Majesty, it's not good, Zhao Kuo is back with his army." Lou Chang rushed in from outside the palace in a panic, and the guards on both sides rushed in front of King Zhao before he could react.
"What? Where is the army now?" King Zhao suddenly stood up and asked in panic.
"We are almost at Zhongmou," Lou Chang said.
"What can we do? How can we do this?"
King Zhao panicked instantly. He kept mumbling and paced back and forth in the palace. His eyebrows were almost twisted together. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't think of a good solution.
Finally, he set his sights on Lou Chang and asked, "Ai Qing, is there anything you can do?"
"Your Majesty, since Zhao Kuo is on good terms with Lin Xiangru and Lord Pingyuan, why not send them to meet with Zhao Kuo and trick him into the city. Then ambush the swordsmen and axemen in the city and wait for Zhao Kuo to enter the city..."
Lou Chang made a gesture of raising the knife and lowering it, with a sinister smile on his face, as if he had seen the scene where Zhao Kuo was the leader.
"Lin Xiangru and Lord Pingyuan will not agree." King Zhao shook his head, "Besides, if Zhao Kuo returns from defeat, I will have reason to execute him. Now that Zhao Kuo has returned with a great victory, if I kill him, how will I tell the world?
People explain?”
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Zhao will lose in the Shangdang battle. He originally thought that he would send Zhao Kuo to Shangdang and then execute him after Zhao Kuo's defeat. Unexpectedly, Zhao Kuo actually won in the end!
Now he has no reason to punish Zhao Kuo. Not only does he have no reason, he also wants to reward Zhao Kuo.
Thinking of the reward, King Zhao felt a headache again. He had been delaying it again and again, saying that he would give the reward together after the fight was over, but now he could no longer put it off...
"Your Majesty, how long has it been? I don't care what the people in the world think. If we wait any longer, Zhao Kuo will attack the city. The worst we can do is silence everyone, and then announce that Zhao Kuo has died of illness. Even if some people doubt it, they won't go.
To avenge a dead man." Lou Chang said loudly.
"Then how to convince Lin Xiangru and Ping Pingjun? It is absolutely impossible for them to agree to this plan." King Zhao said.
"Lin Xiangru does not know Zhao Kuo's identity. The king needs to tell him part of it first, and then admit his mistake, saying that it has caused Zhao Kuo's misunderstanding, and hopes that he will adjust it. Lin Xiangru will not refuse. Mr. Pingyuan does not want Zhao Kuo to be in turmoil again, and also
Will not refuse."
"The king can even tell the two of them that he is willing to give up the throne to Zhao Kuo as long as he can be tricked into the city and killed. These promises do not need to be fulfilled."
"Lin Gong is seriously ill and does not have long to live. Mr. Pingyuan is a royal family, so this kind of family scandal will not spread. As long as the other participants are dealt with secretly afterwards, no one will know." Lou Chang said quickly.
.
"Send the order to invite Lin Qing and Ping Pingjun to enter the palace immediately." King Zhao made up his mind.
…
The army marched to Yecheng, and Zhao Kuo left Meng Ao and five thousand troops to take over Yecheng and the nineteen surrounding cities ceded by Wei.
King Wei's order has arrived here, and there were no accidents during the delivery process.
Although the Wei officials were a little confused as to why the people sent by Zhao to deliver the city brought out orders not from King Zhao but from General Zhao Kuo.
But I didn’t think about it carefully. Anyway, they were only responsible for the delivery, and everything after that had nothing to do with them.
Even if something goes wrong, King Zhao can't blame them.
As for the people, they have long been accustomed to the changing king's flag on the city wall. No one cares about who will be the king. They only care about whether this year's harvest is good and whether this year's corvee is heavy.
"We must be more vigilant to prevent sneak attacks from Wei and South Korea." Zhao Kuo warned before leaving.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were too many examples of two countries forming an alliance today and fighting tomorrow. Although the Three Jins had just won a great victory, the focus of Wei and South Korea for a period of time must have been on digesting the newly acquired land, but no one could be sure.
When will you fall out?
"People are here in the city." Meng Ao said solemnly.
He didn't expect that Zhao Kuo would take such fancy to him and hand Yecheng over to him for guarding.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! He has already lost one city, and he must not lose the second one, otherwise he will not be able to live anymore.
"You are more important than the city." Zhao Kuo patted Meng Ao on the shoulder, then got on his horse.
"The general will never let down the commander-in-chief." Meng Ao looked at Zhao Kuo's back and said loudly.
After crossing Yecheng, it didn't take long for Zhao Kuo to see a large river lying in front of him. On the other side of the river was an endless Great Wall that stretched as far as the eye could see.
This big river is called Zhangshui, which is the dividing line between Zhao and Wei. To the north of Zhangshui is Zhao and to the south of Zhangshui is Wei.
Because Handan is located on the border of Zhao State, it often faces threats from Wei State and was even captured by Wei State (in the 18th year of King Hui, Handan was conquered. Zhao asked Qi to save him), so Zhao State built the Great Wall on the north bank of Zhang River.
Resist the invasion of Wei.
There are not many defenders on the Zhangshui Great Wall. Most of them are old soldiers, and there are some children who have not grown up. They can be described as old and young. They were very excited to see the army and walked down the Great Wall one after another and stood on the roadside.
Welcome Zhao Kuo.
"I only regret that the one who led us back then was not a general, otherwise I wouldn't be the only one among our companions alive today." An old man looked at Zhao Kuo and covered his face while weeping.
Zhao Kuo rode on his horse and saluted them with clasped fists, and the old soldiers also returned the salute.
After crossing the Zhang River and the Great Wall, Zhao Kuo soon saw Handan City.
"Commander, King Zhao has been prepared for this." Pang Nuan clapped his horse and walked up to Zhao Kuo and said.
I saw that the gate of Handan city was closed tightly, and the city was filled with soldiers who were waiting in full formation. They pointed their bows and arrows at the city, ready to attack at any time.
"Do you want to attack?" Li Mu looked at Zhao Kuo.
If Zhao Kuo did not have the status of king and grandson, Li Mu would not follow Zhao Kuo in rebellion no matter how good his relationship with Zhao Kuo was.
But now, all Li Mu was thinking about was how to pull King Zhao off the throne and let Zhao Kuo sit on it.
The same is true for most of the soldiers in the army.
Identity is so important in this era.
Otherwise, the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprisings in history would not have raised the banner of Chu and Fusu.
"Who is under the city? Do you want to rebel?" At this time, a loud shout came from the city.
"Send the order, troops surround Handan." Zhao Kuo's cold voice spread throughout the army.