"Your Majesty, this is the latest information from the State of Zhao." Ashande quickly entered the hall and placed a large amount of information in front of King Ashoka.
"We were all deceived by Zhao State, or in other words, Zhao State deliberately led us astray. Although they call themselves the Central Plains, there are seven powerful countries, but the strength of the other six countries is far from comparable to that of Zhao State, and
There is a country that was destroyed by the State of Zhao a few years ago. The State of Zhao was probably worried that the Maurya Dynasty would intervene in the war between the countries in the Central Plains, and deliberately concealed this information, making us think that all the countries in the Central Plains are extremely powerful."
"In fact, the distance between our Maurya Dynasty and the State of Zhao is not as far as imagined. From our Maurya Dynasty all the way east, more than a thousand miles, there will be a big river, all the way north along the river, and then turn to the northeast, turn over
After passing several mountains, you will arrive at another country in the Central Plains - the State of Qin.
This country borders Zhao State, is also rich in silk, and is far less powerful than Zhao State. According to their people, Qin State and Zhao State fought a battle a few years ago, and Qin State was defeated."
Since Zhao State established diplomatic relations with the Maurya Dynasty, Zhao State has continuously sent people to the Maurya Dynasty to cultivate some officials and businessmen who have good relations with Zhao State through trade exchanges and seek benefits for Zhao State.
The Mauryan Dynasty was also not a good thing. They were full of curiosity and covetousness towards this distant and wealthy country. If the distance were not too far away, they would have launched a war long ago.
Don’t think that after the Battle of Kalinga, King Asoka changed his mind and devoted himself to praying to Buddha and doing good, and he really transformed from an executioner into a white lotus.
This is just a whitewash because the country's strategic direction has changed from expansion to internal governance.
After the Battle of Kalinga, the Maurya Dynasty was either surrounded by small barbarian countries that looked down upon, or the Seleucid Empire. Although powerful, the core areas of each other were far away from each other, and there was no conflict of interest. The bordering areas were deserts and plateaus.
, you can’t beat me, and I can’t beat you.
The entire Mauryan Dynasty had no room for expansion. For the sake of internal stability, Ashoka could only whitewash himself and put all the blame on the 'past Ashoka.'
It means that from now on, he will change his ways and be a new person.
It is the same as the imperial edicts issued by the later emperors of the Central Plains Dynasty.
Those bad things were all done when I was ignorant. Now I have changed. Please give me another chance!
As for how much of it is true and how false, only he himself knows.
In a situation like the Maurya Dynasty, which is full of hidden dangers and may break out at any time, if a white lotus is really sitting on it and has been torn to pieces long ago, how can it be possible to sit on the throne safely for decades and suppress the country?
So many forces dare not take the lead.
Long before the Maurya Dynasty established diplomatic relations with Zhao, merchants from the Qin State entered the Maurya Dynasty along the Southwest Ancient Road. However, because the number of people was too small, the scale was too small, and the language was not clear, they did not attract the attention of the Maurya Dynasty.
It was not until the past two years that the Maurya Dynasty noticed that these merchants also came from the Central Plains, but from another country called Qin.
According to what they said, their Qin and Zhao states were still the same ancestor.
Well, this is actually just that after the Maurya Dynasty expressed its friendship with Zhao State, Qin State merchants relied on closeness to save their lives.
Otherwise, who would talk about such a thing? They are not the royal family of the Qin Kingdom and have nothing to do with the Zhao Kingdom. Even the Qin Kingdom Royal Family has no sense of identification with the Zhao Kingdom and only has hatred.
King Ashoka was overjoyed to learn that there was a road connection between the Mauryan Dynasty and the State of Qin, and immediately sent people and merchants from the State of Qin to return to the State of Qin to explore the road between the two countries and prepare for the next strategy.
This is what Ashande just reported.
"Can we march the army?" Ashoka stood up excitedly.
"It's difficult. There are many mountains along the way, blocked by rivers, overgrown with trees and vines, and some mountain roads are extremely narrow and can only accommodate one person. Marching and transporting food and grass are very difficult." Ashande shook his head. If it weren't for the complexity between the two places,
terrain, it is impossible to wait until now to establish contact.
"If it's difficult, it's possible to do it. Just drive the legion over, destroy the countries along the way, and then use the legion's attack to flatten those mountains, and then pave the way." Ashoka put his arms on the table and leaned forward.
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
The internal conflicts within the Maurya Dynasty were so great that he spent twenty years but could only suppress them temporarily and could not completely resolve them.
Now the Maurya Dynasty is in urgent need of a strong opponent to divert these contradictions.
If the contradiction cannot be transferred out, the Mauryan Dynasty will definitely split after his death.
In addition, Zhao Guo's wealth also made him extremely jealous.
The State of Zhao was so rich, silk, ceramics, paper, lacquerware, tea, colored glaze and alcohol, each of which could promote the economic development of the entire dynasty and bring unbelievable wealth to the country.
If it could capture the State of Zhao, the Mauryan Dynasty would not have to spend a lot of money on grain and cotton to purchase these supplies from the State of Zhao every year. All nobles would be able to wear smooth silks, use exquisite ceramics to hold things, and use convenient paper to write text.
And he will become the greatest monarch in the entire Mauryan Dynasty and win the support of all nobles.
No matter how high the price is, it is worth it.
"I want the light of Buddha to shine on another land and save the people who are in darkness." Ashoka said loudly.
Whether he can win or not is not within his scope of consideration.
The empire cannot be defeated.
As the most powerful empire in the world, Ashoka was confident enough that no matter how powerful Qin and Zhao were, they would not be a match for the Mauryan Dynasty.
…
In the spring of the next year, after nearly a year of long journey, Zhao Jun finally arrived at Yucheng City in the eastern border of Dawan.
When King Dayuan learned that Zhao had sent troops to attack him, he almost died of anger on the throne. Your mother-in-law sent an envoy to cuckold me. I killed him, and you still sent troops to avenge him?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! How shameless this is!
Is there any royal law in the world?
The furious King Dayuan's eyes suddenly turned red, and he immediately recruited tens of thousands of troops from all over the country to wait for the arrival of the Zhao army in Yucheng City. If the ministers had not tried desperately to dissuade him, he would have even marched in person.
What a bully! You simply don’t treat him as a human being!
"General, there are businessmen from our Zhao Kingdom outside asking for an audience." As soon as Zhao Jun arrived outside Yucheng City, a soldier came to report.
"Please come in quickly." Meng Wu said quickly. This march completely changed his view of businessmen.
The distance between Zhao and Dawan was long, and the transportation of grain and grass was difficult. Without the help of merchants, Zhao Jun would never have been able to reach Dawan so smoothly.
"Tian Qi pays homage to the general." After a while, a man wearing a felt hat and a goatee came in. He looked about forty or fifty years old.
"Sit." Meng Wu motioned to Tian Qi to feel free to do so and not be so restrained.
"I learned that the king sent troops to attack Dayuan, so I gathered some food and supplies. It was not too much. A total of 100,000 shi of food, 200 cattle, and 1,000 sheep were given to the general." Tian Qi got straight to the point.
"Tian Gong also knows the situation of our army, so I will not refuse. When Tian Gong comes to Handan in the future, he must tell me, and I will sweep the couch to welcome you." Meng Wu said solemnly.
Along the way, he didn't know how many businessmen he met like Tian Qi. Although they didn't donate as much as Tian Qi, they all tried their best to help Zhao Jun.
"I have another request." Tian Qi leaned over and said.
"Tian Gong, please speak." Meng Wu said.
"I want to stay in the army, follow the general, and watch the general defeat Dawan with my own eyes." Tian Qi was a little excited, and the mustache at the corner of his mouth trembled.
"Why don't you stay behind? You can still see our army defeat Dawan, and your life is not in danger." Meng Wu said strangely.
"I used to be a soldier of the Zhao Kingdom. Twelve years ago, after our Zhao Kingdom defeated the five-nation coalition, all of our more than 400,000 troops disarmed and returned to the fields. Later, the king recruited soldiers again, but I was not selected. This is how I started to follow the family.
Doing business. After so many years, I want to feel the atmosphere of the battlefield again. In addition, my brother came down to Dawan to do business three years ago and died in the hands of the Dawan people. I want to see Zhao Jun defeat with my own eyes.
Dawan can be considered as avenging his younger brother." Tian Qi said.
"Yes, you can, but the military regulations are very strict, and on the battlefield, I may not be able to protect you." Meng Wu said.
"General, don't worry, I understand. Since we are in the army, everything must be in accordance with the regulations of the army. I will never run around and everything will obey the general's orders. When I get to the battlefield, the general does not need to worry about me. If I die on the battlefield,
That's what I, Tian Qi, deserve, the general just needs to help send someone to inform his family." Tian Qi said.
"I agree." Meng Wu nodded.
"Thank you, General." Tian Qi stood up excitedly and kept saluting and thanking him.
"Does the military advisor have a battle plan?" After sending Tian Qi away, the Mongolian military general Mao Sui came over and asked.
After fighting all the way from Zhao State to here, Meng Wu also discovered that there was no powerful country in the Western Regions, but he did not relax his vigilance because of this.
This place is too far away from Zhao State, and it is unrealistic to expect food to be transported from the rear. The Zhao army cannot last long relying on the food and grass raised by merchants.
In other words, Zhao Jun only has the strength to fight in one battle and must win.
Once defeated, it would be a major defeat. Only a few of the 20,000 troops under his command could return alive.
"Send a letter of challenge to Dawan." Mao Sui thought for a moment and said.
"Germany?" Meng Wu was a little puzzled. This thing has been abandoned in the Central Plains. Will the gendarme be useful when fighting a foreign country?
"If nothing else, they should agree. From the fact that King Dayuan killed the envoy of our Zhao State, it is obvious that the other party is not a person who is good at forbearance, or does not understand the strength of our Zhao State. Now our Zhao State is thousands of miles away.
We have come all the way to Dawan, but the people are exhausted and the horses are exhausted. Dawan cannot let go of this opportunity and hide in the city." Mao Sui said.
"When is the time set?" Meng Wu asked.
"Our army has traveled a long distance and must rest for a few days to restore its combat effectiveness. The time should be set in three days." Mao Sui said.
"Okay, I will declare a challenge right now." Meng Wu said.
"I'll write it." Mao Sui said with a smile, ordered someone to get paper and pen, and quickly wrote a letter of war that made people feel angry and handed it to Meng Wu. "General Dawan will definitely be very angry when he sees it.
Go out of the city and fight our army."
"...Can Dawan people understand it?" Meng Wu said uncertainly.
Mao Sui's letter of war was written in Zhao Guo characters.
"There must be someone in Dawan who can understand. In recent years, our Zhao country's chambers of commerce have spread throughout the Western Regions. They will have trouble with our Zhao country, but they will not have trouble with money." Mao Sui said.
"Then I will send someone to send it there." Meng Wu said.
Mao Sui nodded.
…
In Yucheng City, the generals of the Dayuan Army were also discussing how to defeat the Zhao Army.
Different from Zhao Jun, Dawan knew very little about Zhao State. He only knew that Zhao State was in the far east, where it was very wealthy and had fine silks. As for the specific distance, it had no idea how far away it was or whether Zhao State was strong or not.
This also caused the Dayuan army to be divided into two groups. One group supported the initiative to attack and destroy Zhao's arrogance. The other group supported defense and first understood the strength of Zhao's army.
"If you ask me, we will go directly out of the city to fight. I don't believe that Zhao Jun has traveled a long distance and can still have any combat effectiveness when he gets here." Lai Yongxue, deputy general of the Dawan Army, shouted.
"There is news from Wusun that last winter, the Zhao army broke through Chigu City, the capital of Wusun, killed King Wusun and massacred Chigu City. It's better to be careful," said Hongfu, who joined the army.
"How can Wusun compare with me, Dawan?" Lai Yongxue said disdainfully.
"Although Wusun is big, it's just a group of gangsters gathered together. If I encounter them, I can easily defeat them." General Wolff also said.
Dawan's bloody horses can run faster than Wusun horses, and they mainly focus on farming, planting rice and wheat, and have sufficient logistics support. They also have pastures and raise a large number of war horses, cattle and sheep, and their business is also very
It is developed and rich in wine, which is exported to the Mauryan Dynasty and Zhao State.
It's not comparable to Wusun at all.
Although Woolf didn't know Zhao Guo, he still felt that Zhao Guo should be stronger than Dawan, and there was nothing surprising about defeating Wusun.
"General, Zhao Jun sent someone to deliver a letter of challenge." At this time, a soldier opened the door and walked in.
"Challenge? Let him in." Woolf said.
Zhao Liu stepped into the Dawan camp and handed the letter of war to Wolfe at the top.
When Woolf took it and took a look, he realized that he didn't know Zhao Guowen at all, so he could only hand it to Hongfu, who joined the army: "Look what Zhao Jun said."
"The State of Zhao said that our country, Dawan, was a small border country and could not be transformed into a king. They killed their envoys from the State of Zhao, so they sent troops to attack our State of Dayuan. The State of Zhao invited us to fight in three days' time, thirty miles east of the city.
Decide the outcome. If I, Dawan, dare not accept the challenge, I will admit my mistake and apologize, hand over the king, and recognize Zhao as the suzerain, and their Zhao army can retreat." Hongfu, who joined the army, translated it roughly. Although it was a bit reversed, it was basically
Translated.
"The State of Zhao has gone too far to deceive others. It is clear that they were at fault first, but yet they want me, Dawan, to apologize and hand over the king. This is simply extremely arrogant. Go back and tell your general that in three days, I will capture him alive."
After hearing this, Woolf became furious, pointed at Zhao Liu, and said loudly.