After sending the monarchs of Han, Wei and Chu ten miles away from Handan, the envoys from Qi also came to retire. Zhao Kuo personally sent Hou Sheng out of the city and gave him a lot of gifts.
"My king is willing to have good relations with Qi from generation to generation, and please convey my goodwill to King Qi." Zhao Kuo said to Hou Sheng.
"The foreign minister will definitely bring it." Hou Sheng said very happily when he saw the cart full of gifts, which was rutted in the mud.
This time when he went on a mission to the State of Zhao, first the State of Qin sent him a bunch of gifts, and now the State of Zhao sent him a bunch of gifts.
Hou Sheng was very clear about the thoughts of the two countries, "Since you all gave me gifts, then I can't be considered as letting you down if I don't help anyone."
…
Zhao Kuo returned to the palace and the ministers were waiting for him.
"Your Majesty, you were too hasty before. You didn't even discuss it with your ministers before making such an ambitious wish in front of everyone." Wei Wuji said in an almost questioning tone.
Previously, in public, everyone could not discredit Zhao Kuo and could only lean in and agree with him, but not everyone agreed with Zhao Kuo's words.
It can even be said that except for a few young people who have not experienced severe beatings, no one agrees with Zhao Kuo's words.
Although great aspirations can gain a lot of people's hearts in a short period of time, as long as they are not completed within one day, Zhao will become the target of crusade by various countries.
But is this possible?
Totally impossible.
It is impossible to achieve this in the country of Zhao, let alone the world.
"Does everyone think it can't be achieved?" Zhao Kuo stopped and glanced around.
No one spoke, even Huang Shigong, who had just joined, was willing to fight for his ideal, but reason told him that this ideal could not be realized.
"When I went to war last year, did any of you believe that I would win?" Zhao Kuo asked.
The ministers shook their heads subconsciously.
Yes, who would have thought that Zhao Kuo would win last year, especially when they learned that the enemy coach was Wu'an Jun Baiqi, the sky above Handan seemed to be filled with a layer of gloom and lifelessness.
Even Zhao Sheng, who tried his best to help Zhao Kuo, never expected that Zhao Kuo would win in the end and even capture three and a half counties of Qin.
"I am willing to believe your Majesty." Mo Feng was the first to say.
Without Zhao Kuo, the Mohist family would not be what it is today. He is the person most willing to believe in Zhao Kuo.
"My minister Song Zhong is also willing to believe in your Majesty." Song Zhong said with his fists clasped.
No one has ever given doctors such a high status, and no one is willing to compile medical books for doctors. Regardless of whether this ideal can be realized or not, doctors are willing to follow Zhao Kuo.
Not for anything else, just for the saying, "A scholar will die for his confidant."
"My farmer will provide Zhao with the highest yield of seeds." Chen Xin said solemnly.
"Thank you all for your trust." Zhao Kuo leaned over and saluted, and said loudly, "Actually, it's normal not to believe it. After all, this matter is really difficult to achieve. But the king of words has already said it, and once it is said, it is difficult to follow it. Everyone
You don’t want me to take it back. Why don’t we leave the answer to time and wait ten years before we see it.”
"I am willing to wait ten years." After a moment, Wei Wuji raised his hand and said.
After Wei Wuji started, everyone also came down the steps. Just as Zhao Kuo said, they couldn't force Zhao Kuo to take his words back.
"Okay, everyone, please sit down first." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
"How is the road construction going?" Zhao Kuo looked at Wei Qi.
Since February, Zhao State has not stopped building roads, but only slowed down the speed when the Five Kingdoms attacked Zhao.
"Your Majesty, except for the roads within the Taihang Mountains that have not yet been built, construction of other roads has begun. It is expected that by the end of next year, except for the roads from Taiyuan and Shangdang to Handan, all other roads will be completed." Wei Qi handed over.
said.
The State of Zhao used to have roads, but in this era, troops were sent out to fight all day long. Even if there was no road in the first place, more people would trample on the road.
Therefore, many road sections only need to build cement roads again on the original basis, which is not very difficult.
But the situation is different in the Taihang Mountains. The Eighth Routes of Taihang are all dangerous places. Some places are only one step wide, making it impossible to build cement roads.
If you want to connect two places, you either need to build a bridge or push down a mountain.
Zhao Guo's bridge-building technology is not bad. At least there are no problems in building bridges on rivers such as Zhangshui and Huchi. Moreover, as more and more bridges are built, the technology is also growing.
But it is completely impossible to build a bridge in the Taihang Mountains, at least with current technology.
As for pushing the mountain...if we use the military soul army, it's not impossible...
Directly smash the hilltop into pieces, fill it into the valley, and forcibly pave a road...
But Wei Qi didn't dare to mention it unless it was absolutely necessary. It would be better if Zhao Kuo didn't agree. If he agreed, he would be hated to death by Zhao Feiqi, and he might even be secretly killed.
I've been sending letters to my majestic army for several months, and now I'm asked to build roads?
Zhao Kuo frowned. Shangdang was very important to Zhao. If the two places could be connected with a wide road, even if Qin sent out 600,000 troops like last time, Zhao would be able to withstand it.
"I will ask Chen Heng and Gong Shuyang to help you. We must build the road as soon as possible." Zhao Kuo said.
Chen Heng's mathematics and the Mohist technology of public rice transplantation can both assist in road construction.
"No." Wei Qi said, cupping his fists.
"In addition, I plan to send troops to attack Hetao next year. Before April next year, the road from Jiuyuan City to Handan must at least be open to traffic. If there is insufficient manpower, troops can be directly transferred from the garrison." Zhao Kuo said.
"Your Majesty... there is no shortage of manpower now. The main problem is insufficient cement production..." Wei Qi said.
As long as there are enough manpower and construction of multiple sections starts at the same time, Wei Qi is still confident that it can be completed within half a year, but the current limit on road construction speed is cement output, not manpower.
"Build another cement plant in Yanmen, and double the cement plants in Jinyang and Dai counties," Zhao Kuo said.
"promise."
"In addition, I plan to bring back the bones of all the soldiers who died in the Battle of Shangdang, build a Hall of Heroes in the city to bury them, and carve their names on the stone tablet. We will worship the four solar terms with the same etiquette as the king.
, three years later, they were gradually sent back to their hometown for burial, and each place was responsible for offering sacrifices." Zhao Kuo said.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As for transcending the etiquette system, since the etiquette and music are already broken, let him break it even more completely.
In this era of dying for faith, this honor is enough to make everyone risk their lives.
"Your Majesty is benevolent." The ministers leaned over and said, even Kong Chuan did not object.
In this era, people attach great importance to the dead, so-called "treating the dead as living beings." Especially nobles, they even built their own tombs better than the living houses, leaving them to live in after death.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguo Reading recently to catch up on books, change sources, and have many reading sounds, and it can be used on both Android and Apple.]
The military generals would not have any objections. Zhao Kuo was always generous to his opponents, even his soldiers were treated like this, so they naturally didn't need to say anything.
"In addition, each family member who died in the war will receive a five-year pension. After five years, if the eldest son is under 18, the pension will be paid until the eldest son reaches 18 years old. During this period, all agricultural taxes will be exempted. The pension will be paid monthly
The standard of five stones of corn is converted into money and distributed."
In the Zhao Kingdom, except for the nobles, ordinary soldiers did not have so-called pensions. If they died, they would die. At most, they would send someone to notify their families. Of course, the greater possibility is that they would not be notified at all.
Zhao Kuo had wanted to do this for a long time, but Zhao Kuo's finances had never been able to support it. It was not until Salt, Iron and Coal was taken back as a national monopoly that Zhao Kuo gradually had enough funds to support Zhao Kuo in implementing his idea bit by bit.
Of course, this is only the first step.
"I promise that all the money will fall into the hands of the soldiers' relatives." Wei Wuji said solemnly.
Everyone in the Zhao Kingdom knew that Zhao Kuo was very fond of his soldiers, and even those nobles who were displeased because Zhao Kuo planned to enlighten the people's wisdom did not dare to disobey orders in this regard.
After all, opening up people's wisdom is still something that has disappeared, and the blood stains on the heads that fell before have not yet dried up.
The higher your status, the more you cherish your life, and you will never take risks unless absolutely necessary.