Two days later, Meng Ao's letter was delivered to Zhao Kuo's case.
The moment Zhao Kuo saw King Loulan being beheaded by Mao Sui, his eyelids suddenly jumped, and an ominous premonition emerged in his heart.
"Has the envoy to Dawan left?" Zhao Kuo looked at Guo Kai silently.
"Your Majesty, the envoy left yesterday without wasting any time." Guo Kai thought Zhao Kuo was urging this matter, so he hurriedly leaned over and said.
"...I have warned you again and again, and I also specifically asked you to bring more gifts. I hope Dawan will understand." Zhao Kuo thought in his heart that if the envoy had not left, he could still change his mind, but now that the envoy has left, he
It's impossible to send someone to chase him back.
Of course, the most important thing is that Zhao Kuo has confidence in his heart.
Zhao State does not want to go to war with Dawan now, rather than being afraid of Dawan.
Even if a war really breaks out, Zhao will not be afraid at all. Instead, it should be Dawan who should be afraid.
If it were the other way around, Dawan would be strong and Zhao would be weak.
Then that's not the case.
As for Mao Sui's execution of Lord Loulan, Zhao Kuo didn't take it seriously.
This matter was a big deal for Loulan, but for Zhao Guo, it was just a trivial matter.
I don’t know how many monarchs or tribal leaders were killed by Zhao State prisoners last year. The monarchs of Jizi North Korea and other countries are now living in Beijie, and the mere Lord Loulan is not even ranked among them.
"Reply to Meng Ao and tell him to act according to his ideas." Zhao Kuo ordered.
After receiving Zhao Kuo's order, Meng Ao immediately recruited 10,000 cavalry and marched all the way to Loulan.
There were no accidents in this battle.
To be precise, the war didn't even happen.
When Zhao Jun appeared outside Loulan City, everyone in Loulan was in despair.
The envoy of Zhao State beheaded the king in court, and then the army came to the city.
Zhao Guo is determined to destroy Loulan!
On the same day, Loulan surrendered to the city.
Zhao State established Loulan County, which was under the jurisdiction of Jiuquan County.
Meng Ao did not return to the army immediately, but divided his troops into two groups and explored the sections along the southern and northern routes of the Silk Road, not to fight anyone, but to study how to build roads.
The king's order has been issued, and the official road will be built all the way to the west. Wherever it is built, it will be the territory of our Zhao Kingdom.
Last year, Li Mu and Qin opened a battle in the north, and the territory expanded thousands of miles. Which general would not be jealous of it? This was equivalent to the territory of the entire Zhao Kingdom.
If these areas were not uncivilized territory, Li Mu and Qin Kai would have achieved great success by now.
"The environment here is worse than Liangzhou. There is only an extremely narrow oasis belt between the mountains and the desert. In addition, the temperature difference between day and night is huge. Countries along the way can send troops at will to prevent us from building roads. This official road is not easy to build.
Ah." Gongsun Long stood in the oasis, with vast Gobi and deserts on one side, and endless mountains on the other, with dry wind and sand constantly hitting his face.
Growing up in the Central Plains, this was the first time he saw such a scene.
The oasis belt here is extremely narrow, and some oases cannot even be connected and are distributed in points.
The environment here is not suitable for farming.
Being unsuitable for farming means that you cannot immigrate, have stable output, and cannot occupy it for a long time.
"How about we use camels instead of horses?" Meng Ao squinted his eyes and looked at the camels ridden by the charioteers in the distance, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The wind and sand here are too strong, it is dry and there is little rain, and horses' hooves can easily sink into the sand. The cavalry's operations here are severely restricted.
The Chaushi people can ride camels, so can the people of Zhao also ride camels to fight?
Thinking of this, Meng Ao's eyes lit up. In desert areas, camels have much greater advantages than horses.
However, this is just an idea of his, and it will take time to verify whether it can be realized.
"Camels instead of horses? It seems feasible." Gongsun Long nodded. In addition to the camel cavalry, he also thought of another thing.
Before entering the Western Regions, war horses were the most suitable animals for transporting items. After entering the Western Regions, camels replaced war horses and became the king of riding and transportation.
However, during the transportation process, Zhao's caravans still used war horses even when they entered the Western Regions. This inevitably restricted transportation and encountered other difficulties along the way, causing many war horses to die on the way.
It's not that they don't want to replace camels, but there are very few camels in Liangzhou and there aren't that many camels for them to use.
Most merchants spent their money on purchasing goods before entering the Western Regions, and did not have that much money to buy camels.
Moreover, camels are only useful in this section of the Western Region, and after entering the Central Plains, they are far less convenient than war horses.
If you sell your war horses and buy camels when you enter the Western Regions, and then sell your camels and buy war horses after you come back, it will be too troublesome, it will easily delay things, and it will be difficult to contact the right buyers and sellers in a short time.
As for establishing a special base to replace camels and war horses, except for the kind of wealthy merchants, most merchants obviously do not have this capital.
But the government is different.
The government can set up a place for the purchase, sale, and leasing of camels and war horses, so that merchants can freely change their war horses and camels after arriving in Liangzhou and go to the Western Regions and the Central Plains to do business.
If they don't want to sell their horses and camels, the government can help raise them on their behalf, as long as they pay money.
While the government provides convenience to these merchants, it can also make money and increase business taxes.
However, the specific details will have to be refined gradually after returning.
"Where do camels come from?" Wu Yu said.
There are also camels in Zhao State, but not many. This is mainly because there are not many deserts in Zhao State and they are concentrated on the border. Therefore, the demand for camels is relatively small. There are few merchants selling camels from the Western Regions to the Central Plains.
"There are a large number of camels in various countries in the Western Region. I think merchants will be happy to help us." Gongsun Long said with a smile.
Even if the merchants who come and go sell the camels they bought from the Western Regions to Zhao at the original price, they will still make a profit, because the camels can help them transport more goods, and these goods can make more money.
They did what they said. After Meng Ao and Gongsun Long returned home, they sorted out the two matters and reported them to the court.
The court's reply was also very quick, giving money, food, and people.
However, it is up to Liangzhou to find talents for raising camels. Zhao State does not have a talent reserve in this area.
In the fifth month, the King of Chu married Ziqing, the daughter of the Qin State and the sister of Prince Chu of Qin.
In June, Prince Chu of Qin and King Wan of Chu met in Hanzhong and the two countries became allies.
In the seventh month, the kings of the five kingdoms of Zhao, Qi, Wei, South Korea, and Wei met for an alliance outside Yecheng.
The situation in the world instantly became tense.
There is a tendency to start a war if there is a disagreement.
There was a huge quarrel in the Zhao court about who to attack next.
Officials headed by Cai Ze advocated attacking Qi. Qi was the richest country among the five countries with a large population and enjoyed the benefits of fishing and salt. After annexing Qi, Zhao's strength would take a leap.
At the same time, Qi's military strength is the weakest among the five countries, and its war preparations are sparse. It can attack by land and water at the same time, and it can be captured in a short time.
The most important thing is that Cai Ze proposed the strategic plan for the Zhao State to attack the south and the north. Now that the Yan State has been destroyed and the Hu people have been pacified, there is only one last step left to complete his original strategic plan.
By then his reputation will be greatly enhanced, and he will be on par with people like Wei Wuji and Zhao Sheng. No one is willing to give up at this time.
However, Qi officials headed by Lu Zhonglian and Tian Dan advocated attacking Qin. Their reason was that Qi was an ally of Zhao. If Zhao attacked Qi, he would be criticized by the world, and Wei and South Korea would also be criticized.
Will seek refuge with the Chu State and become an enemy of the Zhao State.
The Qin State has always been the great enemy of the Zhao State. Now that its strength has been seriously damaged, the Zhao State should take advantage of the victory to pursue it, completely destroy the Qin State, and open the way to the Maurya Dynasty.
It is no secret that the Mauryan Dynasty is in the upper echelons of Zhao State. That land is even better than the Central Plains. It can easily feed tens of millions of people. If it is cultivated intensively, it will not be a problem to feed 100 million people.
In the minds of these people, the Mauryan Dynasty was not worthy of occupying this good land.
We should knock this land down.
So far, Zhao Guo has not really determined the direction of attack, mainly because Zhao Kuo has not spoken yet.
"Your Majesty, the envoy to Dawan has returned." A guard quickly stepped into the hall and reported with clasped fists.
"I'm finally back, please come in." Zhao Kuo was immediately overjoyed and said quickly.
Guo Yuan has been on an envoy to Dawan for half a year, and he will almost forget about it if he doesn't come back.
"...Messenger, please report to your Majesty. The ones who came back are the entourage who followed the envoy on his mission. The envoy failed to come back. According to them, the envoy...the envoy was killed by Dawan." The guard shrank his head and said cautiously.
"Dawan dares to kill my envoy from Zhao!" After hearing this, Zhao Kuo became furious and smashed the table in front of him into pieces with one palm.
"Your Majesty, I invite troops to kill the King of Dayuan." Lecheng took a step forward and said with cupped fists.
Li Mu also touched the hilt of the sword, and a few cold gleams flashed in his eyes.
"Invite your followers in." Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice.
Soon, the entourage entered the hall, looked at Zhao Kuo cautiously, and quickly knelt on the ground, not daring to take a breath.
He was just a servant of the Guo family, and this was the first time he had close contact with King Zhao and so many high officials.
"Give me a seat." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
The guard quickly brought a bench and placed it in front of the entourage.
The entourage didn't dare not sit down, nor did he dare to sit down. In the end, he could only sit half of his buttocks.
"Tell me in detail when you were on your way to Dawan and how you passed by Dawan, especially how Dawan killed the envoy." Zhao Kuo said.
"Your Majesty..." the attendant said slowly.
After receiving Zhao Kuo's order, Guo Yuan did not waste any time. After receiving the gift for Dawan from Taichang Mansion, he set off.
Although they encountered many difficulties along the way, they were all near misses. When the caravans coming and going knew their identities, they would try their best to help them.
In this way, Guo Yuan successfully arrived in Dayuan with a dozen followers.
The King of Dayuan learned that they were from the State of Zhao, so he personally met Guo Yuan and entertained them with delicious food and drinks. However, when Guo Yuan proposed to buy a horse, the King of Dayuan started to quarrel and never mentioned the matter of selling the horse.
Although Guo Yuan was very angry, because of Zhao Kuo's instructions, he did not kill the King of Dayuan like Mao Sui did, nor did he smash the golden horse to pieces and curse the King of Dayuan like the envoys of the Han Dynasty in history.
But things can't stay like this forever. When he came, he promised that he would complete the task.
This opportunity was something his brother had finally fought for for him. If he missed it, he would never get it again. There were many talents in the Zhao country, and there were countless people waiting to get ahead. Zhao Kuo gave it to him for Guo Kai's sake.
Once a chance, it is impossible to give him a second chance.
Guo Yuan then tried to find another way.
As we all know, men can't stand pillow sex.
Since the King of Dayuan doesn't make sense here, let's follow the path of the Queen of Dayuan.
Ever since, Guo Yuan began to bribe Queen Dawan.
Although this Guo Yuan cannot be said to be as good-looking as Pan An, he is also a well-known handsome young man from all over the country. In addition, he is an aristocrat, pampered, fair and tender, far from Dawan, who is always in the wind.
The rough guys in the sand can compare.
And Queen Dawan herself was not a chaste and virtuous woman. As the two of them went back and forth, the bastard hooked up after seeing Mung Bean and gave King Dawan a big green hat.
Guo Yuan cuckolded the King of Dayuan in Dayuan. How could he not be discovered?
Do you really think King Dayuan is a fool?
When the King of Dayuan found out, he became furious. If he could bear it, even the untouchables would laugh at him for hundreds of years.
Guo Yuan quickly brought out the Zhao State to threaten the King of Dayuan, but how could the King of Dayuan take care of this at this time? Besides, the State of Zhao is thousands of miles away from Dayuan. No matter how powerful it is, can you cross thousands of miles to attack me?
In this way, Guo Yuan was killed by King Dawan...
After the entourage finished explaining the matter, the whole hall fell into silence without any sound.
"..." Zhao Kuo's face turned green and white, and his heart was full of anger. He didn't know who to direct his anger at.
He really wanted to tell Guo Yuan that you and his grandmother deserved to be killed. You slept with the wife of the King of Dawan. If not, who would you kill?
But as the king of Zhao, he couldn't say this.
Regardless of whether the envoy did something right or not, when he goes on a mission in the name of Zhao State, Zhao State must support him.
And there is no way you can tell the people about such a stupid thing. You can't possibly say that the envoy slept with the wife of another monarch and was killed as a result.
This damages the country's image.
Not only could Zhao Guo not tell the truth, he also had to help cover it up.
The envoy died for his country, but the king of Dawan was barbaric and greedy for money, so he killed the envoy of Zhao.
This is also the reason why the civil and military ministers did not speak in the court. The Zhao envoy did something unethical, but the fault must not have been the Zhao envoy, but Dawan.
I, the State of Zhao, am not wrong!
Double standards have been the preserve of the strong since ancient times.
Guo Kai watched Zhao Kuo's face changing constantly, his head buried deep in his crotch, and he didn't dare to take a breath.
He has been following Zhao Kuo and has a basic idea of Zhao Kuo's future plans and development direction.
The Western Regions have always been within the planning scope of Zhao State. Over the years, Zhao State has continuously sent people to explore the topography of the Western Regions and the strength of each country, and slowly penetrated it through businessmen.
It can be said that Zhao will send troops to the Western Regions sooner or later.
But that's later, not now.
Zhao Guo has no plans to send troops to the Western Regions yet.
Guo Yuan was killed, disrupting Zhao's plan.
It was he who proposed the mission to Dawan, and he also recommended Guo Yuan. Now this matter has been ruined!
Although he will not be impeached for this, it will definitely affect his status in Zhao Kuo's heart.
Guo Kai's ambitions are very great. He is not only satisfied with his current status as a small minister. Although he can follow the king and has a prominent status, he is still just a minister after all.
His target is the minister.
Guo Kai now hates this clan brother who succeeds more than he does and fails more than he does.