"Master Qu is always getting stronger and stronger." Zhao Kuo said with a smile, his eyes slowly swept over the faces of the four people, "I wonder what you have to do with me?"
"The foreign minister has been away from Handan for many years. He has not seen the king for many years and misses him very much. Today he heard that the king is marching in person, so he came here to pay his respects. These people have admired the king for a long time, so I asked the foreign minister to introduce him to you."
, Qu Shu introduced the other three people to Zhao Kuo.
Although they are not the head of the family, they are still important clan elders and can represent the entire family.
It can be seen that the three major families of Chu and the Xiang family still attach great importance to Zhao.
Of course, it is now time. As long as he is not stupid, he will send an important person to contact Zhao Guo. As for the result, that will happen later.
"Haha." Zhao Kuo smiled. As expected, the man's mouth was so deceitful that he was already in his seventies. He kept telling lies and couldn't even believe the punctuation marks.
On the surface, these nobles were smiling, but in their hearts they probably hated themselves to death.
If he had not led the Zhao army to march hundreds of miles in a hurry, without giving the Chu State any time to react, and captured Chen Ying in less than an hour, leaving them all in the city, I am afraid that they would not be standing in front of him and begging for compromise, but would be standing in front of him.
They discussed how to deal with him outside the city.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with this. After all, he is a noble of the Chu State. Although he is usually a worm to the country, at critical moments, he still has to stand with the Chu State.
If the big tree in Chu State is gone, the borers on the tree will not be much better.
Zhao Kuo didn't care what they thought or said, they would not change Zhao's policy.
The nobles are the cancer of this era, but they are also the essence of this era. With less than 10% of the population, they control more than 90% of the world's knowledge and wealth.
The remaining 10% are from poor families, and as for ordinary civilians, they are almost negligible.
No country can do without its nobles, and Zhao will be no exception.
As long as they are obedient, Zhao Kuo doesn't mind giving them some benefits.
What you think in your heart is not important, what you do is important.
Even if you are scolding Zhao Kuo in your dreams at night, as long as you do what Zhao Kuo asks you to do honestly when you wake up, Zhao Kuo will not target you.
On the contrary, if you talk about it in vain, but you are actually working against Zhao Guo behind your back, then don't blame Zhao Kuo for being rude.
This era cannot be separated from the aristocratic family class, but it is not inseparable from a certain aristocratic family.
Zhao Kuo believed that there were families willing to take their place.
"May I ask, Your Majesty, do you have any intention of annexing Chu?" Qu Shu and others looked at each other and asked cautiously.
"What? The four of you want to help me annex the Chu Kingdom? If the four of you have this intention, then I will be disrespectful." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
"Your Majesty is joking, how can we do this?" Qu Shu said quickly. They took refuge in the Zhao State just out of necessity and not sincerely. How could they help the Zhao State annex the Chu State.
Moreover, the Zhao State has only occupied Chen Ying, which is still far from occupying the entire Chu State. The Chu State has not suffered much losses. When the armies from all directions arrive, the outcome is still uncertain.
At this time, a guard came in from outside, came to Zhao Kuo's side, and whispered a few words.
"I have something to ask you for help with," Zhao Kuo said.
"Your Majesty, please speak." Qu Shu said.
"Our army has occupied the Chu Palace, but the King of Chu and the Crown Prince have not been found. Do you know where the King of Chu has gone?" Zhao Kuo said.
"..." Qu Shu and others looked at each other and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the King of Chu had really escaped from the city, and there was still hope for the Chu State.
They had some resentment towards the King of Chu for not notifying everyone and escaping secretly, but this did not affect their attachment to the Chu Kingdom.
As long as the Chu State exists, they are noble nobles, possessing huge land and population, and controlling the power of the entire country.
To take a step back, even if they defect to Zhao State, Chu State still needs to exist so that they have residual value and Zhao State will value them.
If the State of Chu is destroyed, they, the nobles of Chu State, will only become targets of attack by the State of Zhao.
"Your Majesty, King Chu did not inform everyone when he escaped from the city. We don't know when King Chu left or where he went." Qu Shu leaned over and said.
In fact, it is not difficult to predict which city the King of Chu fled to. First of all, it cannot be too far away from Chen Ying, because he has to fight back in a short time. If it is too far away, it means giving up taking back Chen Ying.
Secondly, the Chu army is in Pengcheng, and the King of Chu will inevitably flee to the east to meet the Chu army.
Finally, the city should have convenient transportation, preferably with waterways that can continuously transport grain from Huainan to the north.
There are only two or three cities that meet all the conditions. Anyone who is very familiar with Chu State can guess it.
But the four nobles did not intend to betray the King of Chu. They took refuge in Zhao as a helpless move and did not expect Zhao to win.
Even if Zhao really wins in the end, the more troops they lose, the better. Only in this way will Zhao make compromises with them.
"If you don't know, forget it. I heard that you, the Qu family, the Zhao family, and the Jing family are the three major clans in the Chu Kingdom. They control a large amount of land and population in the Chu Kingdom. Even the King of Chu has to compromise with you on certain things.
In order to avoid casualties caused in the war, I am planning to send a message to other counties to recruit and surrender. I wonder if you would be willing to sign it?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Your Majesty, those are all rumors. Our Qu family, Zhao family, and Jing family did have some rights in Chu State before, but that was all in the past. After Wu Zi's Reform and the Battle of Yanying, the strength of our Chu State nobles
It is no longer what it used to be. Even if some cities ostensibly surrender to us, they are doing so in a shady manner. In fact, they are loyal to the King of Chu. We may be self-defeating by signing our names on the memorandum, and we dare not delay the king's grand plan." The Jing family is anxious.
said the voice.
"hehe."
Zhao Kuo finally realized that it was impossible for them to truly surrender to Zhao unless they completely defeated the main force of the Chu State and made them lose hope.
Of course, if the State of Zhao cedes some of its interests and agrees to carve up the State of Chu with them, it is not impossible to gain their allegiance.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After all, only a few are truly willing to die for the Chu Kingdom.
For the entire family, they are still more willing to believe in benefits.
The Qu, Zhao, Jing, and Xiang families who came to see him probably had the same intention.
However, the opinions within the clan are obviously not unified, otherwise there would not be three family elders, but four family heads.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for Zhao Kuo to do this.
Rather than letting these Chu nobles continue to be in power, he would rather use his army to plow the entire Chu country.
"Haha, it turns out that the head of the Qu family said he came to see me, but he really just wanted to see me." Zhao Kuo's face gradually became cold, and he waved his hand and said, "Now that I have met you, and I have introduced you, you can go back."
"We have prepared some gifts for the king, and I hope the king will accept them." Qu Shu realized that it was indeed inappropriate to refuse before, and said quickly.
"There is no need for gifts. I will take them for myself in the future." Zhao Kuo waved his hand. Since the Qu family, the Jing family, the Zhao family, and the Xiang family still hold the illusion that Chu State will repel Zhao State, then let them continue to fantasize.
.
Now it is the nobles of the Chu State who seek help from the Zhao State, not the Zhao State who seeks help from the Chu State nobles. It is difficult to find three-legged toads in the world, but there are many two-legged nobles.
Even if there are no four great nobles like Qu Jing Zhao and Xiang Xiang, there are countless small nobles willing to cooperate with Zhao Guo.
It can even be said that which aristocracy can develop and which aristocracy cannot develop is a matter of Zhao Kuo's words.
When Qu Shu and others heard this, they were so frightened that they quickly knelt on the ground and said, "Get it yourself later?" What is the method of getting it? Needless to say?
They just want to gain more benefits, but they don't dare to really go against Zhao Guo.
"We really can't do what your Majesty just said. As long as your Majesty says something that we can do, we will definitely not refuse." The elder of the Zhao family said quickly.
"Then let's wait until we can do it." Zhao Kuo said impatiently.
"Everyone, please." Liu Ping stood in front of everyone.
Qu Shu and others sighed deeply and left the hall.
On the other side, the King of Chu escaped from Chen Ying with the support of a group of guards, turned a corner in the south of the city, and fled all the way to the east. At the same time, he sent people to rush to Pengcheng to notify Jingyang to withdraw his troops and come back for reinforcements.
"Your Majesty, King Zhao is proficient in military affairs and is victorious in every battle. The soldiers of the Three Jin Dynasties are extremely elite. With an army of 300,000 on the front line, it may be difficult to defeat the Zhao army." Huang Xie was riding on a war horse, and the hair crown on his head was already fleeing.
He was lost on the road, his hair was scattered on his shoulders, and he looked a little embarrassed.
He was dragged out of the city by the King of Chu.
The King of Chu did not notify anyone when he fled. Even the Queen was thrown into the palace, but he only took the Prince and Huang Xie with him.
The prince is the foundation of the country. If anything happens to him, as long as the prince is here, the Chu country will still have hope.
Huang Xie was the person he trusted most, and only Huang Xie could help him defeat Zhao Jun. Even if he left in a hurry, the King of Chu still did not forget Huang Xie.
"Please teach me, Prime Minister." King Chu said sincerely.
Since Huang Xie raised this issue, there must be a solution.
"There are only two places where our Chu State can recruit troops, one is Jingxiang and the other is Jiangdong. Although Jingxiang is the hometown of our Chu State, it has been occupied by the Qin State for more than 20 years, and the people's hearts have not yet attached themselves to the Chu State.
Even if a large army is recruited, it will not be able to form a fighting force. Although Jiangdong once belonged to the Yue State, it has been subordinated to our Chu State for fifty or sixty years. In the past ten years, it has been vigorously developed, and the people are rich and the people are attached to it. I think it should
Send young men and food from the east of the Yangtze River," Huang Xie said.
"Okay, I'll leave this matter to the Prime Minister." King Chu said solemnly.
"I personally went to Jiangdong to recruit troops. Your Majesty, you must not act rashly. You must wait for me to come back and discuss it before attacking Zhao Jun." Huang Xie said.
"I remember." King Chu nodded.
"One more thing, the national crisis is looming. Your Majesty must put aside the past grudges and unite all the nobles in the country, including those who stay in the city. But the three families of Qu, Jing, and Zhao cannot be completely trusted. Although the Xiang family has a son, Xiang Yan, who was captured by Zhao,
He has not surrendered yet, so the king trusts him. Although Lord Linwu Jingyang is from the Jing family, he regards state affairs as the most important thing, so the king should trust him." Huang Xie warned again.
"I remember." King Chu didn't have any impatience, and his expression became more and more respectful.
"Without further delay, I will go to Jiangdong now." After saying that, Huang Xie found a path to Jiangdong and parted ways with the King of Chu.
In the city, all the resisting Chu troops have been wiped out, and Zhao Jun has completely taken control of the situation. The four city gates, the palace, the military treasury, the granary and other places have all been occupied by Zhao Jun, and the remaining places are also guarded by Zhao Jun.
Three hundred thousand allied troops surrounded Chen Ying inside and outside. The doors of every household were closed tightly, and they hid in their houses and waited for their fate to be pronounced.
The Zhao army did not divide its troops to attack other cities. There were still 300,000 Chu troops outside Pengcheng. If these 300,000 Chu troops were not dealt with, dividing the troops would only weaken our own strength and be defeated by the enemy one by one.
Only by getting rid of the King of Chu and the 300,000 Chu troops can the Zhao army take over the entire Chu Kingdom.
"The capital of the country has been conquered, and the Chu army will definitely come back for reinforcements. We just need to wait for work. It's a pity that the King of Chu ran away!" Zhao Kuo sighed.
Zhao Jun's speed was already fast enough. It didn't even take an hour from appearing outside the city to completely capturing Chen Ying. In the end, the King of Chu escaped, which increased the uncertainty.
"Your Majesty, the head of the Qu family wants to see you." In the evening, Zhao Kuo was writing a letter to Lin Xiangru, and Liu Ping reported it.
"Master Qu, Lord of the Qu family? Didn't he come here during the day? Let him come in." Zhao Kuo was a little confused.
"I pay my respects to the king." When Qu Shu saw Zhao Kuo, he knelt on the ground and said, "I hope that the king will forgive me for what happened during the day. The three families of Jing, Zhao, and Xiang do not share my heart with the country of Zhao like my Qu family. I can only do this."
Express your stance to avoid being jointly suppressed by them."
Zhao Kuo looked at Qu Shu quietly and said nothing.
Qu Shu gritted his teeth, took out a booklet from his arms, handed it to the guard next to him, and handed it to Zhao Kuo.
"This is a list of all the members of my Qu family, including servants and slaves. They are all registered, and no one is missing. As well as all the houses, mines, and land information registrations under my name, Qu family. Not one acre of land is hidden. I am willing to dedicate them all.
Your Majesty, I only ask that your Majesty can leave some land for our Qu family to support our family." Qu Shu said.
Unlike the other three, he has frequent trade contacts with Zhao State and has a better understanding of Zhao State's strength. The strength of Zhao State alone cannot be competed by Chu State, let alone Wei State and South Korea.
He didn't know why at this time, those two idiots from Wei and Han still wanted to follow Zhao. Don't they know that their lips are dying and their teeth are cold?
But there is no doubt that the defeat of Chu State has become inevitable. The best result is to move the capital. It is impossible to defeat Zhao State.
He once understood how Zhao State dealt with the nobles of Yan State and Guanzhong. As long as they cooperated normally, they would not be targeted by Zhao State. Although they would still lose a lot of property, it was much better than other nobles.
If given a choice, Qu Shu would naturally want to suffer no loss at all and even gain something.
So Qu Shu did not hesitate to sell the other three.
To put it another way, even if he loses the bet, Qu will still have another one.
"The head of the Qu family is a smart man." Zhao Kuo opened the book and scanned it roughly, then nodded, "I will remember it."
"Then I will take my leave first." Qu Shu leaned over and said, quietly retreating out.