"Of course I hope Lord Pingyuan can invite reinforcements. Even if we can't invite reinforcements, we can mobilize everyone to send some food to the soldiers in Shangdang County." Zhao Kuo expressed his thoughts, and Ge He sneered, shook his head, and said, "Young Master really thinks highly of Mr. Pingyuan."
Li Yu also said: "Before I came to serve you, I also went to Dongwu City."
"Then why did you leave again?"
"Because he is different from you, Shaojun. You, Shaojun, act benevolently and help others because you are kind and kind, while he helps others and loves people because he pursues fame."
"Does it make any difference?"
"Mr. Pingyuan is a selfish person. Maybe you have heard the story of Mr. Pingyuan who killed his concubine. It was because of this that I left him. He originally ignored the man with the disabled foot, but that person later found Pingyuan. Jun, tell him, all the scholars in the world come to serve you because you love them. If you don’t kill her because she is your concubine, no one will pursue you anymore. How can you allow yourself? Are you here to insult a gentleman?"
"So, he ruthlessly killed his concubine, and at that time, the concubine was even pregnant with his child." Li Yu said calmly, but Zhao Kuo looked at him with horror and surprise. Li Yu continued: "He can do anything because of his reputation. From the beginning to the end, what he values is not benevolence and righteousness. He once drove a carriage into civilians and did not take it to heart."
"Later, a retainer persuaded him that only those who treat the people well can be respected by others, so he quickly went to apologize to the injured commoner. Because of this incident, his reputation in Zhao State became even greater. From then on After that, he treated the people with a smile on his face and never dared to be rude again."
"He allowed his relatives to occupy farmland and not pay taxes. After Mr. Ma Fu strictly dealt with his relatives in the past, he wanted to kill Mr. Ma Fu. Mr. Ma Fu said that only when Zhao is strong, your reputation will be greater and you will be more recognized. After being respected by others, he released Ma Fujun with a smile and recommended him as an official."
"He once took in a retainer who was good at swordsmanship. General Le Yi's son Lejian came to Zhao to visit him. General Lejian also had a man who was good at swordsmanship, so he had a spar with Pingyuan Jun's retainer. , in the end, Pingyuan Jun's retainer was unfortunately defeated, and his hands were cut off. Pingyuan Jun was furious, thinking that the retainer had lost his face, so he drove him out and refused to treat him. The man finally starved to death in Tobu. city."
"He took in a lot of desperadoes and covered up their crimes. He also took in defectors, regardless of the safety of the country. That's why I left him. He seemed to be a lover, but in fact he cherished his reputation. He seems to be kind, but he cares about human life. He seems to be concerned about the country, but in fact, after the fall of Zhao, his position as Lord of Pingyuan will no longer exist."
"Shaojun, if you go there this time, if you only persuade him based on the safety of Zhao State and the suffering of the people, he will definitely not help. The current Zhao State has not yet reached the edge of destruction, and the life and death of the soldiers will naturally be It has nothing to do with him. Unless the Zhao Kingdom is about to perish and Handan is besieged by the enemy, which endangers himself, he will come to help."
Li Yu's words directly shattered all Zhao Kuo's illusions about this famous Warring States prince. Zhao Kuo couldn't believe it, but what Li Yu said seemed to be right. Zhao Kuo couldn't help but ask: " So what should we do?”
"Please, after meeting Mr. Pingyuan, please do not mention the crisis of Zhao State, but seek help from Mr. Pingyuan in a private capacity. If you ask him for state affairs, he will definitely not help. But if you ask him for personal matters, he will not help."
If you ask him for anything, he will help you no matter whether you can do it or not. Now that you have a great reputation in Zhao State, please treat Zhao Sheng with humility for the time being, so that he will not embarrass you."
"He has such a close relationship with my father, will he still make things difficult for me?" Zhao Kuo asked in surprise.
"In the past, when I was following Mr. Pingyuan, someone once mentioned your reputation to his face. He didn't say a word, but his face was very ugly." Li Yu said another very crucial thing, Zhao Kuo.
Originally, he thought that Zhao Sheng would definitely listen to his ideas even for the sake of his father. Fortunately, Li Yu reminded him, otherwise, according to his original ideas, he would definitely not be able to convince Zhao Sheng.
When the gorgeous coat slowly fell off, revealing the inside that Zhao Kuo despised, Zhao Kuo was no longer worried. When he met Le Yi, he was very nervous because he had to face someone who made him
A man who felt ashamed of himself, but now, he was no longer nervous. He nodded and said, "I understand."
Pavilions and post stations on the road were all places where you could rest. Zhao Kuo received great courtesy at these places. When he knew that the visitor was Ma Fuzi, whether he was a postman or a passer-by, he was very polite.
They were frightened and hurriedly came to see Zhao Kuo. Even though they were a little tired from the journey, Zhao Kuo received them very gently. From the conversation, he learned that most of these passers-by were local officials.
They were going to Handan to ask for help. Disasters were occurring in various places. Different from the past, this disaster had nothing to do with drought or locusts. It was just a lack of young people for farming, which caused a significant drop in grain production, and Handan asked them to
They have to pay more grain to be sent to the battlefield. They don’t even have the grain for themselves. Where can they find the grain they paid? This time they are going to Handan to request for exemption of grain payment. They also hope that Handan can provide relief to various places.
, to prevent more people from starving to death.
Zhao Kuo was silent. He naturally knew in his heart that their efforts were all in vain. The people who farmed were all on the front line. They needed food, and the farmland needed them. This was an extremely bad cycle. Handan was now vaguely unable to sustain it.
How can we help the people everywhere if we can only collect grain taxes from the people continuously? The reason why Zhao Kuo wanted to ask Pingyuan Lord for help was because he wanted to reduce some grain taxes for the people.
"We heard that what the people of Qin fear most is that you will serve as Zhao's general. Why doesn't your Majesty use you to defeat the people of Qin?"
A village official asked.
"Don't worry, gentlemen, the Qin people will be defeated soon. Qin Fan Ju wants to suppress his troops. He also has great complaints against Qin's general Bai Qi. With him here to help us Zhao people, the war will be very smooth."
It will be over soon.”
"If that's the case, that would be great."
Ever since he discovered that the spies of the Qin people were distributed in various parts of Zhao State, Zhao Kuo had been constantly thinking of ways to publicize the close relationship between Fan Ju and Zhao State. He vaguely remembered that Bai Qi ended up in prison because of the conflict with Fan Ju.
As a result of being killed, he wanted to stir up some conflicts within the Qin State. He himself didn't know if doing so would be useful, but it was better than doing nothing.
Dongwu City is not close to Handan. With Li Yu and Ge on the journey, Zhao Kuo will not be too bored. These two people are knowledgeable people. Everywhere they go, they can tell something about the situation here.
, and some interesting stories, Zhao Kuo listened with great interest. At the same time, every time he went to a place, he would climb to a high ground, secretly thinking about how to deploy troops in such terrain.
.........
Shangdang County, Guanglang City.
This used to be an important stronghold for Feng Ting to fight against the Qin army. After experiencing several defeats, Feng Ting had already withdrawn his troops to the Changping area, and this became a bridgehead for the Qin people's attack. The Qin people's coach Wang Lu
Just stay here.
In a small courtyard in the city, a slender and elegant scholar was looking at the bamboo slips. His face was as gentle as jade, and his temperament was like those scholars in Qi State. On his right side, there was a pair of armor hanging on his side.
On the left side, there was a row of long swords of different styles, and there were several spears standing on the wall. He looked at the bamboo slips in his hands seriously, nodding from time to time, with a smile on his face. At this moment, someone suddenly
After walking into the room, he bowed to him and said:
"Jun Wu An, a secret report from the State of Zhao." He slowly placed the bamboo slips in his arms in front of Bai Qi.
Bai Qi picked up the bamboo slips in surprise and looked at them carefully. The man who came stood respectfully in front of him, not daring to disturb him at all. Bai Qi looked at them for a long time, then grinned and said:
"Zhao Kuo is quite interesting. Is he planning to plot against me? Do you want me to lead someone to kill Fan Ju?"
"This... the location of General Bai Qi was unknown to the Zhao people, and Fan Ju was alone with the Zhao envoy and sent his charioteer to deliver the news to him. Fan Ju didn't respect you very much. I heard,
He is a person who must retaliate for his grievances, maybe he really wants to collude with the Zhao people to defeat you, general?"
"Do not worry."
"No one in the world can defeat me." Bai Qi smiled gently and said humbly.