"What? His Highness King Su pardoned those tribes and allowed them to continue to live in these three rivers?"
The next day, when General Sima An of the Dangshan Army heard the latest news, he couldn't help but look shocked.
You must know that according to his understanding, it is impossible for Zhao Hongrun to allow the Sanchuan tribe who have shown hostility to their Wei army to continue to live in this land. After all, His Highness King Su's views on dealing with enemies are quite harsh.
"Did you make a mistake? Wen Xu?"
Sima An doubtfully asked Wen Xu, the general of the Dangshan Army who came to report the matter.
"You will never be mistaken."
Wen Xu shook his head and said with certainty.
Sima An frowned when he heard this, touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Is there any hidden secret in this?"
After hearing this, Wen Xu glanced at his general with a strange look, nodded and said: "As the general said, the reason why King Su pardoned nearly ten tribes including the Lun clan of the Yi clan and the Gray Sheep clan of the Yi clan is because of those
The clan leader is willing to fight for our army..." After that, he told Sima An roughly what he knew.
It turned out that the cause of this incident was that Lu Balong, the leader of the Lun tribe, was very happy after receiving Zhao Hongrun's pardon, and immediately told his tribe the good news.
The other tribal chiefs heard this.
What, the Lun tribe was pardoned? What about us?
As a result, the nearly ten clan chiefs learned the truth from Lu Balong, the clan chief of the Lun tribe, and rushed to the felt tent where Zhao Hongrun temporarily lived, expressing to King Su of Wei that our clan was willing to fight for King Su.
War, our people are willing to join hands with your country to make peace and become friendly neighbors to each other.
During this period, Halegoh, the chief of the Aries tribe, and Meng Liang, the chief of the Meng tribe, also kept interceding for these tribe chiefs. Coupled with the intercessions of Wuwu, Oona and other Qingyang tribesmen, Zhao Hongrun finally withdrew his life and allowed
These tribes continued to stay in Luodi.
Of course, a warning is inevitable.
For example, Zhao Hongrun's words of courtesy first and then fighting: he warned the tribal chiefs that if they betrayed them after allying with Wei, the Wei army would no longer show any mercy to them.
"So that's it..."
After listening to Wen Xu's story, Sima An suddenly realized, stroking the beard on his chin and murmured: "In other words, those tribes are fighting for me, the Wei Dynasty now? And if they make betrayal again,
Can I, the great Wei Dynasty, send out troops to kill people without being morally blamed?"
"That's roughly the case." Wen Xu nodded and added: "As far as I know, Halegoh, the leader of the Aries tribe, suggested that His Highness King Su erect a monument on the bank of the Luoshui River outside the city to record the relationship between King Su and the local people.
The various covenants negotiated by the tribes were even named the Oath of Luoshui... If a tribe recorded on the stone tablet openly betrays our Wei Dynasty, the other tribes will raise their troops to attack and destroy this tribe.
!”
"..." Sima An opened his mouth after hearing this and said in disbelief: "These Yin Rong... are sick in the head? Are they willing to accept such conditions?"
Wen Xu shrugged and said: "Because His Highness King Su has made a promise to start trade with these tribes... Oh, trade means trading with these people, exchanging our Wei Dynasty's items for the sheepskins and wool of these tribes.
Goat milk wine, cheese, etc. In addition, it seems that His Royal Highness King Su also intends to build Luodi into... a free trade city. Businessmen from all races and countries who abide by the principles of fairness and voluntariness are welcome to trade in Luocheng...
I don’t know much about the trade that His Highness Prince Su is talking about, but according to the general’s opinion, the chiefs of the local tribes seem to be eager to squeeze in, and even become vassals of my great Wei..."
"Business and trade..." Sima An murmured a few words, then nodded and said: "It's not surprising, the profits from each other's exchanges are... extremely enviable. I think of the time when His Highness Prince Su brought the king from Chu State.
After the Chu property came back, our Dangshan Army just divided some of it, which is enough for four or five years of military pay... Those ruthless patriarchs did not hesitate to become our vassals of the Great Wei Dynasty, but also wanted to be included in the list of business partners of His Highness Prince Su.
Isn't that strange..." At this point, he smacked his lips and muttered to himself: "There is actually such a method..."
"What? What did the general say?" Wen Xu didn't seem to hear clearly and asked after hearing the words.
"It's okay." Sima An shook his head, and immediately, after thinking deeply, he stood up and walked out of the marching tent.
Seeing this, Wen Xu asked from behind: "Where is the general going?"
"I went to see His Highness Prince Su... to ask for some advice." Sima An actually said the words "asking for advice" after thinking about it for a moment.
Unbelievable... After hearing that His Highness King Su had pardoned those Yinrong tribes, the general was not angry?
Standing in front of the commander's tent of his Dangshan Army, Wen Xu looked at Sima An's leaving figure with an unacceptable expression.
From the side, Bai Fangming came to him at some point and joked: "How about it? I just said that the general won't be angry because of this, right?...Bring it here."
"..." Wen Xu glanced at Bai Fangming unhappily, then took out a money bag from his arms and threw it into Bai Fangming's arms.
"Hey! Got the drink money!"
After padding the money bag, Bai Fangming licked his lips and said with a smile, completely ignoring Wen Xu's unhappy expression.
On the other side, Sima An has arrived at the felt tent where Zhao Hongrun lives.
Because it was this general, the Suwang guards and Zongwei outside the felt tent did not stop him. Instead, they took the initiative to raise the tent for Sima An.
After nodding as a thank you to the other party, Sima An stepped into the felt tent.
"His Royal Highness King Su."
At this time, in the felt tent, Zhao Hongrun was tasting the goat's milk wine presented by the tribal chiefs in the city, while introducing the beautiful scenery of his Wei Kingdom to Oona. Oona could only hear Oona enjoying it with relish and yearning for it happily.
Meanwhile, Mi Jiang, who was acting as a personal guard, was drinking tea by herself.
She is not very used to the goat's milk wine of the people of Sanchuan, because the smell of goat's mutton is relatively strong, but she still prefers the mellow tea.
"General."
Zhao Hongrun waved and motioned for Sima An to sit across from him.
Sima An did not refuse, and after cupping his hands and fists as a thank you, he sat at the table opposite Zhao Hongrun. He still looked at it with a strange expression, placed a croissant cup on the table, and poured him a large glass of goat's milk wine.
Of Oona.
"The general's reason for coming here must be that he is dissatisfied with the fact that the king pardoned those tribes and allowed them to continue to stay in Luodi?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a smile.
Hearing this, Sima An turned his gaze from Oona to the face of the young Prince Su across from him, shook his head and said: "Wen Xu has already explained that matter to someone... If those tribes are all our great Wei
If we fight, I can accept it."
"Wha, what? Ahem, can the general accept it?"
Zhao Hongrun was drinking goat's milk wine and was shocked when he heard this. He accidentally lost his breath and coughed repeatedly.
This scene made Sima An extremely embarrassed.
"I can accept this. Is it really so surprising to His Highness Prince Su?" Sima An's face turned a little dark.
Yes! The sun is almost coming out in the west...
"That's not the case." Zhao Hongrun said coquettishly: "The general is devoted to our great Wei, and everything he does is to make our great Wei strong. I also feel that if one thing can make my great Wei become more powerful,
Powerful, peaceful, the general will definitely agree... Speaking of which, since the general is not here for this matter, what is the purpose?"
Sima An looked at Zhao Hongrun speechlessly, his face full of "Your Highness, who are you coaxing?" Such a look made Zhao Hongrun feel a little embarrassed.
After a long time, Sima An took a sip of the goat's milk wine and said in a deep voice: "I heard that His Highness is going to imitate the Wusu Oath and erect a stone tablet with the Luoshui Alliance engraved on it in Luoshui outside Luocheng?"
Zhao Hongrun smiled and explained: "That was the idea of Halegoh, the chief of the Baiyang tribe of the Yi tribe. King Su agreed if it was feasible... As for the stone tablet, Halegoh and several other clan chiefs will meet
Responsible, what I have to do is to go to Luoshui in two days to make a blood alliance with him and reach a consensus."
"I heard that if the Sanchuan tribe engraved on this stone tablet betrays us, the Wei Dynasty, the clan leaders of these tribes will gather together to kill them without the Wei Dynasty sending troops?"
"Yes!" Zhao Hongrun nodded and said with a smile: "Incredible, right?"
Sima An gave a rare smile and explained the reason straight to the point: "Is it because of the business proposal proposed by His Highness Prince Su?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, then said with a wry smile: "The general is so sharp, so I have no sense of accomplishment."
Sima An smiled slightly, then lowered his voice and asked seriously: "I heard that those tribes were originally willing to become vassals of our great Wei Dynasty, but His Highness King Su refused... Why? Your Highness could have squeezed those Yin Rong at will.
, they are the defeated ones and they don’t dare to disobey His Highness King Su.”
Zhao Hongrun took a sip of the goat's milk wine and said calmly: "Because what I want is peace and tranquility in the land of Wei and Sanchuan that lasts for a hundred years or even longer, rather than a temporary truce that only lasts for more than ten years...
The general is right, I can indeed squeeze those Yi people and Yi people at will, but
, will this matter last? It is absolutely impossible! Unfair and unjust treatment will only breed resentment on the other side and breed hatred towards me, the Wei Dynasty...Only by mutual respect for each other can we reach a consensus...General
, you said, under what circumstances can we judge that a nation or a country has truly perished?"
"..." Sima An thought deeply for a while after hearing this. He felt that Zhao Hongrun's words had profound meaning.
"Is the country being destroyed? The tribe is being destroyed? Or is it the death of the last compatriot or ethnic group? No! The true demise of a nation and a country lies in whether the culture and traditions can be passed on... Like the general, I also want to
All the tribes in the land of Sanchuan will be wiped out, but I will not just use force, I will choose
Choose to export the culture, festivals, customs, characters, and language of our Wei Dynasty to Sanchuan... If one day, the tribes and people in the land of Sanchuan can speak the language of our Wei Dynasty, be keen on the culture of our Wei Dynasty, and the people will miss Wei.
, does the general classify them as the Yi people, Yi people, or... Wei people?"
After saying that, Zhao Hongrun blinked and lowered his voice and said: "I did not deceive the general. I have already begun to deploy the war to retake Sanchuan. However, the method used is slightly different from what the general knows.
That’s all.”
"..." Sima An was moved when he heard this. After a long time, he nodded and said: "His Royal Highness, King Su, has far-sightedness and far-sightedness, which cannot be matched... Having said that, in the name of the imperial court, His Highness plans to fight with these Yin Rong... Well, the Shenghuang people
Do you want to start trade?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun squinted his eyes, with a hint of awe on his face.
"No! I want to take this opportunity to promote the growth of private merchants in our country..."
"..." Looking at the cold eyes of Prince Su in front of him, Sima An keenly felt that His Highness was obviously planning something bigger.