The clouds were not as deserted as Zhao Kuo thought.
People in Handan describe Yunzhong as desolate and terrifying. Among the most widely circulated stories in Handan, there are rumors about clouds such as sand and dust that can eat people, insects that burrow into ankles from the sand.
Because he was not familiar with this place, Zhao Kuo was a little panicked when he arrived here first. He was already prepared to face the worst weather. However, he did not expect that this place was not as scary as the rumors.
There is also fertile land here, there are also people who farm, and there are many livestock areas. The so-called livestock areas are where the nobles of Zhao bought land and then sent their retainers to graze here. For example, Lord Pingyuan, it is said that in
There are tens of thousands of sheep raised here. Zhao Kuo thinks there should not be that many. In addition to sheep, there are also the most precious horses grazing here.
There were many Linhu people here. Di looked a little excited and talked cordially with them. From time to time he would bring back a few legs of lamb or milk. He sat on this endless wilderness, drinking milk and eating.
Lamb leg, Zhao Kuo just felt that life was so comfortable. There were many barbarians living in the clouds of Zhao State. Zhao State treated them in a very special way. They did not appoint county magistrates to govern them. They were free to
Just graze and pay taxes according to the tribe.
Naturally, taxes are replaced by livestock. Zhao State’s tax requirements for them are relatively low. On the one hand, they do not have a fixed stronghold. If Zhao State collects too much, they can move to other places. Secondly,
They were afraid that they would be forced to rebel and cause chaos everywhere. In terms of governing the Hu people within the territory, the Qin people did the best. They established Yi Dao in the territory, which is basically the county town where the Hu people gathered. They appointed county magistrates to govern them, and they treated everyone equally.
.
There are not many people in Yunzhong, and compared to areas such as Handan and Dai, they are even pitifully few.
It is now the autumn harvest season, and Zhao Kuo has been traveling for several months. Yunzhong is already the most remote place in Zhao State. Next, Zhao Kuo will rush to Daijun. From Daijun, he will follow the route of the former Yan State.
The offensive route returned to Handan. The carriage was driving rickety on the road. Zhao Kuo, who had been on the road for several months, looked a little slovenly at the moment, but this gave him a slightly different temperament, a little deeper, plus
Han Fei followed him on foot.
It really has the style of Confucius traveling to various countries. If it were replaced by an ox cart, it would be more like it.
During these few months of travel, Zhao Kuo gained a lot. He truly saw the true appearance of this era. A vague sense of superiority towards this era disappeared, and was replaced by a deep compassion. Zhao Kuo
People lived a very hard life, and the heavy corvee and taxes crushed them. Han Fei said: Not only Zhao, but also South Korea, Wei, and Chu were all suffering like this. Perhaps, the whole world was like this.
Therefore, the stars of this era have been thinking about ways to save the world. In later generations, Han Fei's identity as a patriarch, his idea of unification, and his strict control over the people made it easy for people to ignore his proposal to reduce taxes.
To reduce corvee labor, Han Fei believes that only a unified country with strong dominance can allow the people to survive.
Now, Zhao Kuo has joined the ranks of these wise men who are concerned about the country and the people. He is also recalling, after thousands of years of experience, is there a way to save the world?
If Zhao Kuo was just more immersed in the times and more compassionate, then Han Fei's gains were huge. During this journey, he asked Zhao Kuo about the problems he encountered in each place.
Zhao Kuo asked Kuo for advice, but Zhao Kuo did not give him an affirmative answer. Instead, he put many answers in front of him and let him make his own choice. For example, Han Fei asked Zhao Kuo: One king of the world should give
It is time for the people to cultivate themselves, but they neglect and practice. How should they deal with foreign enemies?
Zhao Kuo immediately told him several methods such as the standing army system, the county military system, the government military system, and the military household system, and then asked Han Fei in turn, which system do you think is the most suitable?
Han Fei was stunned immediately. He spent the whole journey thinking about which of the methods the teacher said was the best. No matter what kind of knowledge Han Fei asked for, Zhao Kuo did the same, giving him many answers and letting him go on his own.
Thinking about it, this is of course because Zhao Kuo valued Han Fei. Zhao Kuo never felt that his ability could compare with Han Fei. On the contrary, as one of the most outstanding thinkers of this era, he was a great sage admired by later generations.
Han Fei must be far ahead of him, so what Zhao Kuo has to do is to tell Han Fei his thousands of years of memories, and then let Han Fei choose the method that is most suitable for today's era. Zhao Kuo is very happy, he feels
, The cooperation between himself and Han Fei is simply a big killer in this era. What kind of reaction will thousands of years of memory plus a wise and talented person produce? Zhao Kuo is very much looking forward to this.
However, at this moment, Han Fei almost fell in love with Zhao Kuo. No matter what the matter was, Zhao Kuo could always give his own opinion, as if he knew everything and knew everything, and he would not limit himself.
When thinking about it, he would give many answers and let himself think about it. Where can I find a wise teacher like this? Han Fei is very happy about his original choice. Xunzi did not lie to me.
All these responses were recorded by Han Fei. Even the disciples who followed Zhao Kuo would sometimes listen quietly to their questions and answers. At this time, no one dared to say anything.
He would not bother him, but his eyes were full of awe. Sometimes, the diners would carefully ask Zhao Kuo for advice, and Zhao Kuo would not be angry because of it. Whenever they had any doubts, Zhao Kuo would answer them.
If it was something that Zhao Kuo didn't know about, such as farming matters, he would sincerely apologize and write down his questions, saying that he would find someone who could answer them and tell him after he got the answers.
In the Kingdom of Zhao, it is also the busiest time at this moment. During the busy farming season, not only the people are busiest, but also the ministers in the Handan Palace. At this moment, Wei Wuji's retainer Hou Ying is slowly distributing the food to various places.
Supplies, due to the three years of war, domestic craftsmen also went to the battlefield, making the farming tools in Zhao very dilapidated. In order to deal with this situation, Wei Wuji summoned a large number of craftsmen long ago to build many farming tools.
Many vehicles were produced.
According to the household registration of various places and the scarcity of materials, Hou Ying needs to distribute these materials to various places. As his deputy, Lou Chuan sits aside and looks at the drunken old man in front of him. Wei Wuji's disciples all have a
A common problem is alcoholism. No matter when, the faces of Wei Wuji's guests are red, and this moment is no exception. Hou Ying drunkenly looked at the situation in various places and distributed them at will. His distribution was extremely unreasonable.
"You have no shortage of iron tools in Zhongmou. Zhongmou ordered that he need trucks to transport grain, but you didn't allocate trucks to him, but gave him a large number of farm tools. This is" Lou Huan couldn't help but said, Hou Ying rubbed it
Rubbing his eyes, he picked up the bamboo slip and looked at it. Then he smiled awkwardly and said, "You are right, I made a mistake." As he said that, he crossed out what he had written previously.
Lou Huan looked at him randomly distributing. After sitting for a while, he couldn't bear it any longer. He asked Hou Ying to sit aside and rest, and then he started distributing. Hou Ying looked at him with some complaints, took out the wine bag and took another sip.
Lou Huan quickly completed the distribution to various places, and then he said unhappily: "The next time you come to handle political affairs, can you not do it?" He suddenly stopped. It turned out that Hou Ying had been lying on the ground for a long time.
, and fell into a deep sleep.
Lou Huan was furious and deliberately scolded him. He just walked to his side and suddenly froze.
No, I am a minister of the Qin State. I should be happy that Zhao people have delayed farming. He walked to the case again, looked at the bamboo slips on the case, took out a knife, frowned at the bamboo slips, and shook his hand.
The hand of the knife trembled violently. Finally, he let out a long sigh, put down the knife, lowered his head and left here. Hou Ying, who was lying on the ground without any image, closed his eyes tightly, but the corners of his mouth slowly appeared.
A smile.
"He didn't destroy it?"
"Not only is it not destroyed, his distribution is very reasonable, and his speed is very fast. You are right, he is indeed a wise man, and he has the talent to serve as the prime minister. These things are very important to him.
"It's really too easy, too easy." Hou Ying sat in Wei Wuji's mansion and said to Wei Wuji seriously. Wei Wuji took a sip of wine and then said with a smile: "He can serve as the prime minister of Qin. King Qin
He is not a mediocre person, of course he is talented."
"In terms of handling government affairs, even Yu Qing can't compare with him. It was because King Qin valued him that he didn't kill him and kept him in the palace. Even Fan Ju respected him very much. Such a capable person
, it would be a pity to just support him and not let him contribute to the Zhao Kingdom."
Hou Ying nodded, deeply convinced.
Wei Wuji then smiled and said: "Please send someone to call him to my place." Hou Ying then left. Wei Wuji drank some more wine. After a long time, Lou Huan walked into Wei Wuji's house.
In the courtyard, as soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw the drunken men lying on the ground in the courtyard. This made Lou Huan a little angry. Maybe it was because he had stayed in Qin for a long time, and he really felt sorry for these so-called heroic knights and righteous warriors.
I don't have any good impressions.
Walking into the room, Lou Huan was even more angry when he saw Wei Wuji with his clothes open and drunk.
"Come, please take a seat." Wei Wuji staggered about to stand up and salute. Lou Huan sat directly in front of him. Wei Wuji smiled and said to him: "I originally wanted to let Hou Ying be in charge of the autumn harvest.
However, he has been unwell recently, and it turns out that Yu Qing is busy with administrative matters. I want you to be responsible for the autumn harvest. What do you think?"
Lou Huan was not surprised at all, and said very calmly: "It seems that Hou Ying has told you everything about today."
"Yeah, hahaha." Wei Wuji laughed, shook his head and said, "I knew these things couldn't be hidden from you."
Lou Xu shook his head and said: "My talents are not enough to handle such an important matter, so please find someone else." Wei Wuji said: "This is not to ask for your opinion, this is my order to you.
I am the Prime Minister of the State of Zhao, and you are the minister of the State of Zhao, shouldn’t you obey my orders?”
"Okay, if you insist on me doing it, if it delays the busy work of farming and causes a big disaster, please don't punish me." Lou Huan said casually.
Wei Wuji nodded and said, "Don't worry, I won't punish you. I'm from Wei. If Zhao people starve to death due to lack of food, what does that have to do with me? Just go ahead and do it. Ten thousand people will starve to death."
Zhao people, I will say one thousand dead. If one hundred thousand Zhao people die, I will say five thousand dead. You don’t have to worry at all. I will rectify the government and carry out reforms. This has already earned the favor of King Zhao.
As for those lowly Zhao people, I don’t care about their life or death."
Lou Huan took a deep look at Wei Wuji in front of him and left.
Wei Wuji then called one of his retainers and ordered: "Don't rush to send out his orders on farming in various places. Send them to Yu Qing for him to see. If they are reasonable, then ignore them. If they are unreasonable, don't send them out in a hurry."
, then kill him secretly, hide him, and tell the public that he fled back to Qin." The retainer nodded, then led the people away, and Wei Wuji continued to drink.
He suddenly looked at the diners beside him and asked, "Where is Mr. Ma Fu?"
"It should be in the clouds, and it's time to set off towards Handan."
"Well, everything needs to be done before he returns."
"only!"
But at this moment, Zhao Kuo met an acquaintance. An elite group of knights in the cloud appeared in front of them. The diners were about to be on guard when they saw Li Mu at the front. Li Mu smiled and jumped from the horseback.
He jumped up and hurriedly walked towards Zhao Kuo, and beside him, the other knights also dismounted one after another. Li Mu quickly walked up to Zhao Kuo, bowed towards Zhao Kuo, and said: "Yun
Lieutenant Zhongjun pays his respects to Mr. Ma Fu!"
"Greetings to Mr. Ma Fu!", the knights hurriedly saluted Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo smiled and helped Li Mu up, and asked the knights to stand up. However, when he saw Li Mu's face clearly, Zhao Kuo was stunned. A long and slender scar appeared on Li Mu's face, and he was hiding it.
His left hand seemed to be injured. Zhao Kuo stared at him without saying a word. Li Mu then smiled and said to him: "Brother, during the autumn harvest, barbarians often invaded. I gained a lot. I fought forty times in major and minor battles."
Many times, I inevitably suffered some injuries.”
Zhao Kuo held Li Mu's hand. Two fingers of Li Mu's left hand were cut off. Li Mu retracted his hand like an electric shock. Then he took his subordinates to pay homage to Zhao Kuo. These knights were all generals in the army.
He was also Li Mu's confidant. They had long heard of Zhao Kuo's reputation. When they saw him now, they were naturally extremely excited. He was wearing the best armor, and even his own horse was polished to shine.
Zhao Kuo wanted to say something, but he couldn't help but look at Li Mu's severed finger. Everything he wanted to say seemed to be stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
"Brother, this year, I didn't let a wild horse cross Yunzhong County!" Li Mu said proudly.