Although the kings of Wei and Han were resentful of Zhao Kuo's behavior of overstepping his authority, they still seemed very happy on the surface. They praised Zhao Kuo's benevolence and righteousness in front of the ministers of civil and military affairs, and asked the local governments to fully cooperate with Zhao's army.
Among the people of Korea and Wei, Zhao Kuo's prestige reached its peak, and even the kings of Wei and Han could not compare with him.
Many people did not know the King of Wei and the King of Han, but they knew Zhao Kuo. When they suffered a disaster, it was Zhao Kuo who came to rescue them. Zhao Kuo led them to dredge the river at the entrance of the village. The seeds that were just planted were Zhao Kuo's.
For them.
They remember these deeply in their hearts.
In late June, seeds were planted everywhere, and everyone was finally relieved.
But the famine is still not over. The seeds have been planted, and there are still several months before harvest. If Zhao Jun leaves at this time, everyone will have to go back to the days of fleeing.
Zhao Jun began to organize everyone to build roads, renovate houses, and built many official roads between Zhao, Wei, and Han.
It can be said that Zhao Kuo completely regarded Korea and Wei as the State of Zhao when building it, and there was no deviation at all.
The King of Wei sent envoys many times to thank Zhao Kuo and hint that he could leave and leave the rest to Wei, but Zhao Kuo ignored them all.
As for falling out, King Wei would not dare.
The hearts of the people of Wei State now rest on Zhao Kuo, and the fierce Zhao army is in Wei State again, surrounding Daliang from all sides.
It can be said that if Zhao State attacks Wei and South Korea at this time, South Korea and Wei will have almost no ability to resist. And after Zhao State annexes the two countries, it can quickly win over the people and not cause too much turmoil.
The only thing Zhao lacked was an excuse to attack the two countries.
The King of Wei could not use this excuse to give it to Zhao.
As for other countries, they watched Zhao expand and indirectly control South Korea and Wei, but they could do nothing.
Although the Qin State was hardly affected by the drought, the compensation to Zhao State has not been paid yet, and everyone is licking their wounds. The Chu State suffered another major defeat and wanted to take back the land in the Huaisi area and weigh the two sides.
After that, I can only give up.
Chu State sent envoys to request Zhao State to return Xiang Yan and the nearly 100,000 captured Chu troops, but Zhao Kuo finally refused.
Not only that, Zhao Kuo also established Pengcheng County, Donghai County, Langya County, and Taishan County in the Huaisi area, and ordered Lian Po to lead his army to station in Pengcheng to guard against Chu.
Zhao State has many borders, but there are no troops stationed in most areas. Because other countries have no possibility of launching a war in a short time, Zhao State does not need to be careful.
There are only two borders where troops are stationed, one is Liangzhou and the other is Pengcheng.
The purpose of garrisoning troops in Liangzhou was to suppress the nomads in the surrounding areas and within the territory, protect the passage of trade routes, and at the same time deter the Western Regions.
The garrison in Pengcheng was only for defense against Chu.
News came from Handan that An Ning gave birth to a daughter for him, and the mother and daughter were safe.
At the beginning of October, Zhao Kuo led the Zhao army to help all the people harvest the crops and return them to warehouses, and then ordered the Zhao army from all over the country to gather and return to the Kingdom of Zhao.
"Your Majesty, are you going back?" The old man came to Zhao Kuo hobblingly on crutches, with tears in his eyes. He knew that Zhao Kuo would definitely leave, but when that day came, it was still a little difficult.
accept.
He lived for more than eighty years and experienced four monarchs. He had never seen any monarch treat the people of his country like Zhao Kuo.
"Not bad." Zhao Kuo nodded.
"When?" the old man asked. Seeing that Zhao Kuo was hesitant, the old man continued, "Your Majesty, you'd better tell us, otherwise we will definitely send people to guard outside. Your Majesty has paid so much for us, and we will always give him something.
Be your king."
"Then tomorrow morning." Zhao Kuo said.
"Okay. We, our fellow villagers, will go to see off the king tomorrow." The old man turned and left happily.
"Look, they are the kindest people in the world." Zhao Kuo said, pointing to the leaving old man and the many people outside.
The next day, it was dawn and the dew on the leaf tips had not yet evaporated. Zhao Kuo had breakfast, packed his bags, and started to dismantle the tents with Zhao Jun.
By the time Zhao Kuo came outside, dense crowds of people were already standing on both sides of the road. Everyone was holding baskets with freshly steamed cakes in their hands, and some were carrying freshly caught carps that were still alive and kicking.
Those whose families are really poor also carry a small bag of grain.
Everyone hugged me and I hugged you. After seeing Zhao Kuo, they all handed out the things in their hands, wanting to give them to Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo didn't want them, so he threw them to Zhao Jun next to him.
Scenes like this happened in various places in Korea and Wei. When people from all over the country heard that Zhao Jun was leaving, no matter how far apart they were, they put down what they were doing and rushed to the city to see each other off.
They held the steaming food and the money they had accumulated, although not much, represented their gratitude to Zhao Jun.
"Your Majesty, please accept it. Without you, we would have starved to death long ago. These are just our thoughts." A man said sincerely.
"Yes, Your Majesty, just accept it." Everyone said one after another.
Several old people even knelt in the middle of the road with their children. Zhao Kuo quickly stepped forward to help the old man. The old man knelt on the ground with a very determined attitude, saying that if Zhao Kuo did not accept his wish, they would not leave.
"Your Majesty, why don't you accept it?" Liu Ping whispered.
"Everyone's wishes have been accepted by others, but gifts by others will not be accepted. The food has just been collected, and we still have a winter to go through. If we accept the food by others, some of you may go hungry. Let's do this,
Each of you cut off a small piece of cloth from your clothes, and then sew all the cloth into one piece of clothing and give it to me. This piece of clothing will be your gift to me." Zhao Kuo said to everyone.
The old men looked at me and I looked at you, then they stood up and moved out of the way.
When everyone heard Zhao Kuo's words, they cut off a piece of cloth from their clothes without hesitation. Some felt that the clothes on their bodies were too dirty and were afraid that it would stain Zhao Kuo, so they hurried to the river to wash it.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Wei officials looked complicated and did not know what to do, so they could only stand aside and remain motionless.
"Send the order, set off, and return home!" Zhao Kuo got on his horse and said loudly.
All the people knelt on the ground and kowtowed respectfully. They did not get up until the trace of Zhao Jun completely disappeared at the end.
Zhao Jun left as quickly as their arrival.
Back in Handan, Zhao Kuo handed over his army to Le Yi and rushed directly towards the palace.
"Hahaha, my daughter is still pretty." Zhao Kuo hugged his daughter and said happily. This is his first daughter. She is such a small person, and she looks particularly well-behaved when nestled together.
"Your Majesty, you haven't given her a name yet," An Ning said.
"Let's call her Zhao Ying and give her the title of Princess Changle." Zhao Kuo said.
"Zhao Ying, that's a good name." An Ning nodded, "The king must be tired after traveling all the way. Why don't you leave it to me to hold you?"
"No, I'm not tired." Zhao Kuo hugged his daughter tightly and couldn't get enough of her. All the fatigue along the way disappeared.
It wasn't until his daughter burst into tears that Zhao Kuo was at a loss and handed his daughter over to An Ning.
"Your Majesty, it's better to go see the Prime Minister. You can't come back directly to the palace. The Prime Minister will have objections." An Ning said to Zhao Kuo while coaxing the child.
"Okay, let me go over and have a look." Zhao Kuo realized that nothing happened to him, so he walked outside.
"Hahaha, I have worked hard for the Prime Minister during this period." Zhao Kuo came to the Political Affairs Hall. The sun had already set. Lin Xiangru still did not go home and worked overtime in the Political Affairs Hall.
The State of Zhao was able to develop stably, and he could go out to provide disaster relief with peace of mind, because Lin Xiangru was working silently behind the scenes.
This veteran minister has supported the State of Zhao for three generations and is still shining brightly for the State of Zhao to this day.
"I don't work hard, but the king does. The king is even thinner than he was a few months ago." Lin Xiangru put down his brush and when he saw Zhao Kuo, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
Although it feels good to have power, without Zhao Kuo by his side, Lin Xiangru always felt a little unsteady. Only when he saw Zhao Kuo could he be truly at ease.
"Without the Prime Minister, I wouldn't have dared to stay out for so long." Zhao Kuo walked to the main seat with a smile and took out a memorial. "Has anything happened recently?"
"Farmers and Mohists sent people over to say that the "Agricultural Code" and "Gong Code" have been compiled and can be published. The doctors' "Medical Code" has not yet been completely compiled, mainly because some research takes several years to produce results.
So it’s very time-consuming.” Lin Xiangru said.
The "Agricultural Code", "Working Code", and "Medical Code" were all compiled a few years ago. They represent the pinnacle of agriculture, industry, and medicine in the entire Chinese civilization. Even the strength of the entire Zhao State is enough to
It took nearly ten years to complete.
Even the "Medical Classics" has not been completed yet.
"If there are no problems, just print it. Also, tell the doctors that a second edition will be published in the future and a third edition will be revised. There is no need to wait until everything is studied and understood." Zhao Kuo said.
There are so many diseases in the world, and there are countless diseases that doctors cannot cure. If they wait for them to study and understand before compiling, then the "Medical Classic" will not be compiled even if it takes a thousand years.
"Okay, I'll tell the doctor right away." Lin Xiangru nodded.
"After the three classics are compiled, it is time to compile the Dictionary." Zhao Kuo raised his head and looked at the guards, "Go and invite Xunzi."
"Dictionary?" Lin Xiangru looked at Zhao Kuo curiously.
There was no dictionary in the State of Zhao. The earliest dictionary in ancient China had to wait until "Shuowen Jiezi" compiled by Xu Shen during the Eastern Han Dynasty. This is also the most important book in the modern study of ancient Chinese.
"Not bad." Zhao Kuo nodded and explained the function of the dictionary to Lin Xiangru.
"Wonderful, with a dictionary, even if you encounter a word you don't know, you can look it up at home." Lin Xiangru's eyes lit up. No one dared to say that he knew all the words, not even him. If so,
How convenient it is to have a dictionary by your side at all times.
Soon, Xunzi came to the political affairs hall.
"What I mean is to sort according to pinyin and radicals to facilitate retrieval. At the same time, all variant characters are canceled and unified into seal script. The dictionary must not only contain characters and words, but also explanations, examples, etc., to make people
Being able to understand the meaning of words. Xunzi is responsible for this matter, and all the priests and doctors in the academy are dispatched by Xunzi."
Zhao Kuo had hesitated between Pinyin and Fanqie before, but finally decided to use Pinyin. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, but in comparison, Pinyin has too many advantages.
Pinyin and fanqie methods are essentially just tools to facilitate learning literacy. Naturally, whichever one is more convenient is used, just like Arabic numerals. Although they were invented in India, they have been popularized in Zhao State.
The characters currently used by the State of Zhao are still seal scripts, but they are somewhat different from the seal scripts of the past. The strokes of seal scripts in the past were mostly arc-shaped, making it difficult to carve.
Due to the promotion and popularization of paper and printing technology, in order to facilitate printing, the seal script of Zhao State is transitioning to horizontal and vertical.
"I will gather people immediately after I return." Xunzi heard this and took a deep breath. This matter is a big deal. If it is completed, all the scholars in the world will remember his name in the future.
Even those rotten scholars who disliked him had to learn to read and write based on the dictionary compiled by him.
"This matter is very important. Xunzi must take it to heart." Zhao Kuo said solemnly again. The "Dictionary" is related to the text of Zhao State's future unification of the six countries.
Only when the characters are unified can there be cultural identity and be able to condense into a whole.
Zhao Kuo did not want Zhao to become the Qin Dynasty in history. He wanted to complete all the things that the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty had accomplished in history.
"I understand." Xunzi nodded solemnly.
"Yes." Zhao Kuo nodded, indicating that nothing happened.
"Then I will leave first." Xunzi bowed and left the hall.
"Hetao and Yandi have had another good harvest this year." Zhao Kuo said happily after seeing the statistical reports submitted by the two places.
Wherever there is a disaster, there will be a good harvest. As long as it is not an extreme climate like that in the late Ming Dynasty, there will generally not be droughts or famines everywhere across the country.
According to Zhao Kuo's memory, there were no such natural disasters covering the entire world at the end of the Warring States Period and the Qin-Han Dynasty.
As long as the troubled times end and there are less man-made disasters, the vitality of the Central Plains will be quickly restored and it will become one of the great empires in the world.
"Two or three months ago, Lifu wrote a letter to show off the production of various counties in the Hetao. I replied and asked him to send more grain to Handan. He immediately said that the water conservancy construction in the Hetao has not been completed yet and food is needed everywhere. I promised that next year
He only agreed to allocate funds for the construction of the Hetao." Lin Xiangru laughed and said that the funding for the construction of the Hetao was determined long ago after everyone discussed it. Lifu will allocate it whether he provides food or not.
"As for Yan Land, the grain production is mainly concentrated in Guangyang County. However, after the Liaohe Plain is developed, it should become a new granary. This year, Zheng Guo led everyone to plant rice on the newly developed fields, and the output was similar to that in the Central Plains.
Production has not been reduced because it is located in the Northeast." Lin Xiangru continued.
"Is Liangzhou still safe?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, with General Meng Ao in charge, those Qiang people won't be able to stir up any prodigal sons." Lin Xiangru said with a smile. The names of Meng Ao and Meng Wu and his son have already reached the point where the Qiang people can stop children from crying at night.
As long as Meng Ao or Meng Wu were in Liangzhou for a day, the Qiang people could only build roads and bridges for Zhao.
