"...Are you trying to deceive me, the Great Qin soldiers?"
Hearing the last words of the Qin envoy Gan Xu, Du You, the Minister of Rites, blushed angrily. On the side, Zhao Sheng, the king of Yao, did not interrupt in order to avoid suspicion, but he was also aroused by the Qin envoy's aggressive words.
At this moment, a burst of "hehehehe" chuckles sounded from the side hall.
Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at the place where the sound came from, only to see Zhao Hongrun holding his chin in his hand, laughing uncontrollably.
"Why are you laughing?" Qin envoy Gan Xu asked Zhao Hongrun with a frown.
I saw Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said with a half-smile: "It's too humiliating, sir. The Qin State obviously couldn't wait to find a reason to start a war with the Wei Dynasty, but because of the unknown reason, it could only resort to such lame tricks.
…”
After listening to Zhao Hongrun's words, Du You, the Minister of Rites, and Zhao Sheng, the Lord of Yao, gradually calmed down.
In fact, they had already figured out that although the Qin envoy in front of them claimed that he was here for peace between the two countries, his real purpose was probably not that.
In the final analysis, as Zhao Hongrun said, he just wanted to find an excuse to start a war with Wei.
Therefore, after Zhao Hongrun said those words, Du You and Zhao Sheng both showed sarcastic smiles.
"Your Excellency has no reason to slander the goodwill of the Qin Dynasty. Why is this?" Qin envoy Gan Xu frowned and looked at Zhao Hongrun.
"Stop pretending, Your Majesty." Zhao Hongrun waved his hand casually, then looked at Gan Xu and said calmly: "The army restructuring proposed by Wei Yang, the commander of the left concubine of the Qin State, is based on our "military merit system" in the Central Plains.
, In other words, they are the leftovers from the various countries in the Central Plains... I, the Wei Dynasty, also relied on this trick to defeat the then powerful Liang, Zheng, and Cai countries, and finally established a firm foothold in the Central Plains... It's just that...
, now the Central Plains countries no longer simply use this strategy, do you know why?"
Qin envoy Gan Xu opened his mouth, and after a while he hesitated and said: "Please enlighten me."
"It's because this strategy is flawed." Zhao Hongrun looked at Gan Xu with a smile and said slowly: "If I am not wrong, your country must be relying on the "military meritocracy", and all the people must be soldiers at this moment, right? I believe that those in the country
Young men without status are eager to establish meritorious service on the battlefield and improve their status... Therefore, if you say that I, the Great Wei, are "not afraid of war", then your country is "eager for war", that's right.
Right? Because your country can only support war with war."
"..."
Qin envoy Gan Xu's eyelids twitched slightly.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said with a bit of ridicule: "In fact, your country can defeat Longxi not because Qin Guoqiang is strong, but because the Wei family in Longxi is too stupid and turns all non-Wei people into enemies.
.But even so, it still took your country nearly twenty years to defeat the Wei clan in Longxi... I can clearly say that your national power of Qin is not much stronger."
On the sidelines, Zhao Sheng, the king of Yao, was inevitably a little embarrassed, even though Zhao Hongrun was scolding the Longxi Wei family, or to be precise, it was the Longxi Wei family's concept that has not changed for hundreds of years.
But having said that, Zhao Hongrun didn't just say what he said.
In his opinion, the most fundamental reason why the Wei family in Longxi collapsed was that their national policies were "restrained" by Qin's national policies: the Wei family did not allow anyone with a non-Ji surname to leave their base, while Qin adopted
Regardless of the military merit and nobility system of birth, this is simply a deadlock and impossible to fight.
Just like Zhao Hongrun attacked the Chu State twice, why, as a Wei man, could he abduct the people of the Chu State again and again?
The fundamental reason is that Wei's system for treating its citizens is loose, while Chu's attitude towards its people is harsh, which is also a kind of "restraint".
Try the other way around? Think about how the soldiers and civilians in Zhaoling, Yanling and other counties defended Wei when Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, attacked Wei?
It is impossible to surrender to the enemy.
However, when Longxi's national policy was restrained by Qin's national policy, Longxi still persisted for nearly twenty years before it was destroyed. Although this was not unrelated to the presence of the Lintao Lord Wei Ji and the famous general Jiang Bi in the Longxi Wei family, But in the final analysis, it was because Qin was not any stronger than Longxi.
The strong mentioned here refers to comprehensive national strength, such as domestic economy, food production, industrial and metallurgical technology, etc.
It is undeniable that the Qin State today is indeed very strong, but this strength can only be said to be "strong". It is a strength based on the military merit system. It is the result of the countless men in the Qin State who are willing to risk their lives in order to gain power. The strength gained from his own blood and life is not "powerful" in the true sense.
Strong and powerful have completely different meanings.
Of course, despite this, the Qin State today still poses a great threat. If no one curbs the Qin State's strength, it may not be long before the Qin State really intervenes in the Central Plains.
But having said that, even the Qin State, which is now extremely powerful, has shortcomings, or weaknesses. Because at the moment, the Qin State is in the mode of "fighting to support war", frantically expanding externally, and at the same time using looting to come back. supplies to support the war, and the cycle goes back and forth, just like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.
However, this model has a huge drawback, that is, the fault tolerance rate is too low.
Simply put, once Qin is defeated, all the advantages it has established so far may be ruined.
If Qin is smart, I believe that while they are expanding externally, they are also actively carrying out internal construction, increasing food production, improving industrial and metallurgical technology, etc.; but if Qin does not do this, then maybe it only takes a few games A defeat would bring Qin back to before the reform.
The most embarrassing thing is that even if Qin is defeated, it must continue to wage war, otherwise Qin's strength will gradually be lost.
Although the Qin State can also learn from the countries in the Central Plains to accumulate strength, this is meaningless at all - with the step-by-step development model, the Qin State cannot defeat the Wei State that stands in front of them. This means that the Qin State will never want to intervene in the Central Plains. Want to obtain advanced technology from the Central Plains.
Because the comprehensive national power of Wei is much stronger than that of Qin.
It is precisely because of this fundamental factor that although Zhao Hongrun is wary of Qin's strength, he is not afraid of it because he knows very well that there is too much water in Qin's strength today.
"...We, the Wei Dynasty, are not Longxi. Please make your choice carefully." Looking at the Qin envoy Gan Xu, Zhao Hongrun said seriously: "Whether it is now or in the future, I, the Wei Dynasty, will not recognize your country's occupation of Longxi. However, If your country shows true sincerity, we, the Wei Dynasty, can acquiesce to your country to temporarily govern the land in Longxi... As for Sanchuan County and Hedong County, they are both the territory of our country, the Wei Dynasty. If the Qin army sets foot on these two lands, If you infringe upon the interests of my great Wei, my great Wei will definitely fight back!"
After hearing this, Qin envoy Gan Xu looked deeply at Zhao Hongrun and suddenly asked in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, can you represent your country?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this and lost his momentum. At this moment, an official from the Ministry of Rites walked in, bowed his hands and said, "Just now, an oral order came from the Chui Gong Palace. The matter of the Qin envoy will be left to His Highness King Su for decision."
"..." Zhao Hongrun, Du You, and Zhao Sheng looked at each other, quite surprised.
After a pause, Zhao Hongrun turned to look at the Qin envoy Gan Xu and said in a deep voice: "Now, I can represent our great Wei."
After hearing this, Qin envoy Gan Xu's expression did not change much, but he said in a cold tone: "In this case, it is useless to talk more." After that, he put away the map, took the deputy envoy and Qin Shaojun, and stood up to go to Qin Shaojun.
Zhao Hongrun and others said goodbye.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun said in a deep voice: "I hope your country will make a wise choice. If your country still decides to go to war with us, the Wei Dynasty, then I will turn your country's "desire" for war into "
despair"!"
"..." After taking a deep look at Zhao Hongrun, Qin envoy Gan Xu left without saying a word.
Qin Shaojun, after looking at Zhao Hongrun with a complicated expression, followed him silently.
Watching several Qin envoys leave, Lord Yao Zhao Sheng sighed, shook his head and said: "Qin is not here to make friends at all."
"Ah." Du You, the Minister of Rites, nodded and said with some worry: "They just want an excuse, that's all."
"..." Zhao Hongrun said goodbye to Du You and Zhao Sheng and left without saying a word.
After leaving the Ministry of Rites, Zhao Hongrun went straight to the Chui Gong Hall of the Imperial Palace. He knew that his father was waiting to see him.
Sure enough, when Zhao Hongrun arrived at Chui Gong Hall, Emperor Wei was not surprised at all when he saw him. While reviewing the memorial, he casually asked: "How is the Qin envoy doing there?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly and said, "Didn't my father guess it a long time ago?"
"Ha." Emperor Wei smiled slightly when he heard this, and said lightly: "Tell me and listen."
Zhao Hongrun knew that the old man was testing him, so he did not shirk and said truthfully: "If the Qin State has no ambition to interfere with the Central Plains, I believe they will choose to live in peace with the Wei Dynasty; on the other hand, if the Qin State really intends to interfere with the Central Plains, then now
Perhaps this is the only strong period when they have a chance to defeat me, Da Wei..."
"Then what do you think?" Emperor Wei asked casually.
Zhao Hongrun thought for a while and said: "I think there is a high probability that Qin will go to war with Wei... As long as they have ambitions in their hearts, they have no choice."
"Hmm." Emperor Wei nodded approvingly, and then said seriously: "Complete the change of uniforms between the Shangshui Army and the Yanling Army as soon as possible... If the Qin State really goes to war with me, the Wei Dynasty, the only ones that can be used at present are..."
Just when he said this, he raised his head and saw Zhao Hongrun's face was gloomy. He felt a little puzzled and frowned and asked: "What's wrong?"
Zhao Hongrun was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "It's nothing, I'm just in a bad mood today."
"..." Emperor Wei looked Zhao Hongrun up and down a few times, but did not go into details.
After leaving the palace, news came from the Green Crows that the Qin envoy team had left Daliang. Zhao Hongrun sighed secretly.
He has determined that the purpose of the Qin envoy team is just that the Qin State wants to find a legitimate excuse to start a war with the Wei State, because as long as the Qin State intends to intervene in the Central Plains, it will inevitably avoid Sanchuan County and Hedong County.
They would not open the enemy Wei that stood in front of them.