"Your Majesty, the ginger soup is ready. Dr. Song Zhong asked me to bring it to you."
An Ning didn't know when she put on a bright purple dress, which outlined her figure. She walked in with gentle steps, a gentle smile on her face, and her eyes were as clear and flawless as the stars in the sky.
"Ahem." Zhao Kuo was stunned when he saw An Ning. It took him a while to come back to his senses. He coughed twice and said in a panic, "Just put it on the table."
An Ning pursed her lips and smiled, standing still without moving.
"I was negligent." Zhao Kuo was a little embarrassed when he saw the table on the ground that had been smashed by himself. He reached out to take the ginger soup, and his fingers inevitably touched An Ning's slender white catkins.
An Ning's face turned red and her whole body trembled, but she did not retract her jade hand.
Zhao Kuo had a sly smile on his face. He took An Ning's hands and brought the ginger soup to his mouth. While drinking the ginger soup, he stroked her delicate hands.
It didn't matter if An Ning struggled or didn't struggle. In the end, she could only stand aside at a loss and let Zhao Kuo do whatever he wanted.
"General Lecheng, please see me!" At this time, Ben, who had been silent outside, suddenly said loudly.
"Why are you so loud?"
Le Cheng looked at Ben strangely. Didn't he report it before? Why did he report it before he even reached the door this time?
"Come in." Zhao Kuo quickly drank the ginger soup.
"Since your Majesty... Your Majesty has important matters to deal with, I will retreat first." After saying that, An Ning ran out as if he were running away.
As a warrior in the extraordinary realm, Le Cheng could clearly see the blush on An Ning's face even for a brief moment, and he immediately understood in his heart.
I wish I could give myself a big mouth, but it comes at the wrong time.
He was not worried about Zhao Kuo wearing small shoes for him, but now everyone was waiting for Zhao Kuo to establish Princess Zhao.
The heirs of the monarch are the foundation of the country. Zhao Kuo currently has only two people in the harem, and there is no princess. If Zhao Kuo was not still young, the ministers would have signed a letter.
If others know that he has interfered with national affairs, he will be finished and will not be able to hold his head up for several years!
"I am guilty." As soon as he entered the door, Le Cheng said with clasped fists.
"Don't do this." Zhao Kuo said angrily. "Have you sent ginger soup to the soldiers and the people?"
Zhao Jun had been fighting in the rain before. In order to prevent the soldiers from catching wind and cold, Zhao Kuo ordered a large amount of ginger to be transferred from nearby counties and cooked ginger soup for the soldiers.
Ginger can ward off cold, and before chili peppers were introduced to China, ginger was the main spicy condiment in food. In addition, the growing environment of ginger is not harsh and can be grown in most places. Therefore, many families like to grow it at home.
After planting some in the front house, behind the house or in the yard, Zhao Kuo purchased enough ginger so that everyone could have a bowl of ginger soup.
In fact, with Zhao Kuo's strength and physique, it is impossible for him to catch wind and cold even if he is exposed to the rain for three days and three nights, and there is no need to drink ginger soup. But there are some things that the ministers know that the king does not need, and they need to send them to the king...
"It's already been arranged," Le Cheng said.
"Thank you." Zhao Kuo nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"Your Majesty, what should we do with those prisoners?" Le Cheng asked.
"Just lock it up first." Zhao Kuo raised his eyebrows, "Is someone escaping?"
"I haven't escaped for the time being, but as time goes by, someone will definitely escape. And it's not a problem to keep them locked up like this. Our army's food and grass are about to be unable to support it." Le Cheng said.
Zhao Kuo sighed deeply after hearing this.
He was so happy to see the Yan army surrender before, but now he has a headache when he sees the Yan army prisoners.
Except for the less than 20,000 soldiers of the Yan army who died in the battle, all the remaining soldiers surrendered to Zhao, a total of 130,000, and the number of soldiers guarding them alone was 20,000.
But the current situation in Zhao State simply cannot support so many people.
In the previous attack on Qin, the Zhao army relied on South Korea and Wei to provide food and grass for the next few months, and there was no domestic pressure.
Now the resistance of the five countries depends entirely on Zhao Guo to raise and transport grain and grass, and the pressure suddenly rises.
Fortunately for Shangdang and Yecheng, all the 500,000 stones of grain and grass exchanged by the Qin State for prisoners were left in Shangdang. As long as the three-year tug-of-war does not happen again, Shangdang will not be short of food for the time being.
Yecheng was the capital of Wei State, and Wei State stored a large amount of grain and grass in the city.
When the Three Kingdoms conquered Qin, Zhao Kuo handed over the captured Hanoi and Hedong to Wei without hesitation, and also helped Wei win one-third of Nanyang.
The State of Wei was very grateful to Zhao Kuo, and at that time, Zhao Kuo and Wei were in their honeymoon period, so the State of Wei did not take away the food.
Of course, the main reason was that Zhao Kuo immediately took over Yecheng after withdrawing his troops. The Wei State did not have time to transport the grain and grass away, so in the end everything was taken advantage of by the Zhao State.
However, the two armies of Zhao Kuo and Lian Po could only rely on Zhao State itself. In order to transport grain and grass to the front line, Zhao State could only re-levy labor force, and men aged 15 years had to participate, so as to meet the food needs of the front line.
It seems that Zhao State only dispatched 300,000 troops this time, but in fact it was already a battle that overwhelmed the country.
Moreover, because of the war, merchants from various countries have stopped transporting grain and grass to Zhao, and now they can only rely on the grain and grass they have accumulated before.
Zhao State, which was originally not rich in food, would not be able to last long if these prisoners were added to the mix.
"Then what do you think?" Zhao Kuo asked.
It would definitely not work to let him go directly. Considering the relationship between Zhao and Yan, Yan would not only not be grateful if he let him go, but he might also send a large army to attack Zhao again. Zhao's war would be in vain.
"Let me tell you, just kill them all." At this time, Yan Xiong and Pang Nuan walked in, and Yan Xiong clenched his fists and said fiercely.
"Absolutely not. These are 130,000 people, not hundreds or even thousands. Killing them will harm Tianhe." Le Cheng immediately stopped him, fearing that Zhao Kuo would listen to Yan Xiong's words and massacre 130,000 prisoners if his head got hot.
.
"Qin State Wu Anjun has killed hundreds of thousands, but he is still alive and well." Yan Xiong curled his lips and said indifferently.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! He doesn’t believe in Tianhe or Tianhe, it’s all nonsense. If Tianhe really existed, Bai Qi would have died so many times.
"Why don't you let Yan State pay for the prisoners to be redeemed with money or food, and then kill them severely?" Pang Nuan thought of Zhao Kuo's previous method of dealing with Qin State.
Zhao State is now short of both money and food. Of course, the main problem is food. It would be very cost-effective if prisoners could be exchanged for some food.
Zhao Kuo frowned. With the current conditions of Yan State, the price was too high and he couldn't afford it, but the price was too low. Zhao Kuo couldn't stand it.
Moreover, he did not want to return these prisoners to the State of Yan, but wanted to keep these prisoners in the State of Zhao.
When there is not much difference in technology, population is the primary productive force. These Yan troops are all young and strong. If they can stay in Zhao, they will be able to continuously create value as long as they are raised until the autumn harvest.
"Didn't we seize a lot of food and baggage? Isn't it enough to feed the Yan army?" Zhao Kuo asked. He remembered that the Yan army had a lot of food and grass.
"Your Majesty, the captured grain and grass are only enough to support the captives for a month. If the captives are kept, we will have to feed them until the autumn harvest at least." Le Cheng said.
"That's it for the time being. He'll be imprisoned first. He'll be half-fed every day. I'll figure out how to deal with the food and fodder." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
He was still unwilling to return the prisoners to the Yan State, even if the Yan State paid some price.
Zhao Kuo believes that these people will definitely be able to create more value in his own hands.
Compared with the Qin State, the Zhao State was too weak. The only advantage of the cavalry was that he took out the stirrups and saddles in advance to save his life, which were stolen by the Qin State.
In the future, Qin's cavalry will definitely develop rapidly to make up for the last shortcoming. If Zhao does not think of some methods, it will eventually be annexed by Qin like history.
Of course, Zhao Kuo did not regret exposing the stirrups and saddle. If he had not tried every means to increase his own strength at that time, grass would probably have grown on his grave now.
"No." Le Cheng said.
Zhao Kuo looked at Pang Nuan and Yan Xiong. There must be something wrong with these two people.
"Your Majesty, the dam can no longer hold on any longer." Pang Nuan reported.
"The Anzong County Magistrate is evacuating the last two villages. He will be back in about an hour. When they come back, the embankment will be breached," Zhao Kuo said.
"promise."
…
"boom!"
The flood poured down, causing a huge roar, and thousands of horses were silent for a while. The flood rushed over the river embankment, crossed the mountains and fields, and rushed into the village. In just a few breaths, the entire village was submerged, and as far as the eye could see, there was a vast ocean. sea.
In the distance, some old people ignored the mud on the ground and knelt on the ground facing the flood. Two lines of hot tears flowed from their eyes and they muttered something.
The children didn't understand what was happening, but just stood beside their mother obediently. The woman held the child's hand tightly, for fear that the child would be naughty and bump into the generals and nobles.
"I heard that Li Fu had predicted the coming of this heavy rain a few days ago?" Zhao Kuo and the generals stood on the embankment, looking at the rushing flood, and something suddenly occurred to their minds.
"Jun Zhao, it's true." Le Jian told what happened at the beginning, including the conflict between himself and Li Fu.
"Can any of you tell when this heavy rain will stop?" Zhao Kuo turned back and looked at the generals behind him.
The generals all shook their heads. It's okay if you let us lead the troops to fight, but let us see when the rain stops. Isn't this a joke?
"Li Fu is a great talent." Zhao Kuo sighed.
Marching and fighting depended on the right time, place, and people. Li Fu could be said to have mastered the time, but he lost the people and people, and was finally defeated by the Zhao army.
In this era without weather forecasts, Chestnut Belly is equivalent to artificial weather forecast!
"It's a coincidence." Yan Xiong looked unbelieving.
"I don't believe it either." Ben Ye, who never expressed his opinion, said. He didn't believe that anyone could tell whether it would rain or not in a few days.
If you had this ability, would you be locked up in a dark room now?
"Nothing is impossible, my father can do it too," Le Jian said unconvinced.
"Then can you?" Yanxiong asked hummingly.
"..." Le Jian suddenly stopped talking.
I don't know if it's an illusion, but in the past two days, Le Jian always felt that this man named Yanxiong was targeting him, but thinking about it carefully, it seemed that he didn't even know him before, let alone offend him.
Zhao Kuo glanced at Le Cheng, who nodded: "I hope you guys do understand a little bit, but not as much as Li Fu, if it's not a coincidence."
"Take me to see Li Fu." Zhao Kuo said. This kind of walking weather forecast was of great use in ancient times, not to mention that Li Fu also knew how to govern the country, which was a rare talent.
Zhao Kuo came to the small dark room where Li Fu was imprisoned. Li Fu had been imprisoned for several days, and his face was a little haggard. He slowly opened his eyes. After seeing Le Jian, his body suddenly jumped up, his eyes widened, and his face kept changing.
, and finally the whole person collapsed on the ground again, with a look of death on his face.
"Did our army lose?"
"I'm sorry." Le Jian said apologetically.
"It's my fault, I don't blame you." Li Fu murmured, "I should have listened to you from the beginning and shouldn't have fought this battle."
Le Jian shook his head and said nothing.
"General Li, are you willing to surrender to me?" Zhao Kuo asked.
Li Fu glanced at Zhao Kuo in surprise and pointed at himself with a finger covered in mud, "Are you willing to use me?"
"Yes." Zhao Kuo nodded solemnly.
"It's better to kill me." Li Fu shook his head and did not surrender.
Zhao Kuo did not expect that Li Fu was one of the few loyal ministers in this era, so he turned around and left without further persuasion. Such people did not want to surrender, so even talking about it was useless, they could only think of other ways.
"Lock it up, don't let him escape."
…
"Your Majesty, we have found out clearly. It was not a work error, the soldiers' rewards were indeed embezzled." Liu Ping finally rushed back.
In the past few days, he not only sent a large number of agents to inquire about the news, but also personally visited many villages, including the soldiers in the army, and asked them one by one.
"How many cases are there in total?" Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice. He did not believe that there was only one such thing.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Only in Manjiang County, it was found that the rewards of twenty-three soldiers were embezzled, some were all embezzled, and some were embezzled partially." Liu Ping's voice was a little hoarse, and the match
The black robe on him looked like the god of death.
Zhao Kuo did not ask the other soldiers why they reacted to such nonsense. They were just ordinary people and were not qualified to fight against the nobles and gentry in this era.
"Catch them all and don't let anyone go." Zhao Kuo said calmly. "In addition, inform Handan of this matter."
"promise."
…
Handan.
"What do you think about the embezzlement of rewards?" Yu Xin asked in a deep voice. He and Zhao Sheng had given strict orders many times, but they didn't expect that some people would still commit crimes. These people simply didn't want to live anymore.
"Only more than 20 cases were found in one county, which is already very good. It is impossible to have absolutely no corruption." Wei Qi shook his head slightly.
He knew about this kind of thing when he was the prime minister of Wei State. There is no country in the world without corruption, including Qin State, which has extremely strict laws.
Therefore, everyone usually turns a blind eye and will kill a group of people to appease the people unless the trouble is really serious.
Only more than 20 soldiers' rewards in one county were embezzled. To be honest, the level of integrity has exceeded that of all countries. A large part of this is because Zhao Kuo has just come to power, and he still relies on iron-blooded methods to get to the top. Most officials are temporarily unable to figure it out.
The reason why Zhao Kuo didn't dare to take action was due to his temper, otherwise the number would definitely be more than this.
Wei Qi can guarantee that, except for Qin, it would be good if the final reward given out by other countries can be one-tenth.
"These are only those that were found out within three days. There are still some that have not been found out." Xunzi said in a deep voice. He hated corrupt officials the most in his life.
"The king has an order to kill anyone who dares to commit corruption." Yu Xin said.
"If they are all executed, it will cause turmoil in the State of Zhao. Now the State of Zhao cannot withstand the turmoil." Chulong knocked on the table.
In his opinion, it is feasible to sacrifice the interests of some soldiers for the sake of Zhao State.
"I suggest that all officials be notified to return three times the reward for corruption to the soldiers, and let bygones be bygones. If they are found out afterwards, the whole family will sit together." Xunzi suggested.
"Isn't that just to notify them first to destroy the evidence?" Yu Qing said unhappily.
He only had two friends, so it was okay for Wei Qi to side with the corrupt officials. After all, Wei Qi had been involved in the officialdom for many years and had long since become tactful. He did not expect that Xunzi, who had always been upright and hated corrupt officials, would actually help corrupt officials.
"Send people to investigate secretly first, and then notify us after we have the evidence." Xunzi sneered, "Zhao cannot withstand the turmoil now, but we can't do nothing. Moreover, when the king returns with his army, he will be able to withstand the turmoil.
, guess what the soldiers will do when they learn that the rewards have been embezzled? Which side will the king take?"
When everyone heard this, they instantly felt a chill coming over them and their bodies shivered.
Needless to say, if it were another monarch, he might have helped the officials to cover up, but everyone knew that Zhao Kuo would definitely side with the soldiers.
Zhao Kuo relied on an army of 300,000 people to make his fortune. It is no exaggeration to say that even if the Zhao Kingdom is gone, as long as he has an army of 300,000 people, Zhao Kuo can conquer a piece of the country.
But the 300,000-strong army was gone, and only Zhao was left. It was not certain whether Zhao Kuo could secure the throne.
Zhao Bao finally understood that Xunzi had no intention of letting these people go. If he just asked them to return the corrupt rewards, a few corrupt officials might do so.
But if you have to return it three times, it is almost impossible for any corrupt officials to do it.
It would be very difficult for them to vomit the food once it is in their stomach, let alone three times the food?
Xunzi's method seemed to give officials a chance to correct their mistakes, but in fact it was just to delay time and wait for Zhao Guohao to be free to deal with it.
And because he was given a chance to change his ways, everyone's mouths were blocked, and other officials could not say anything.