Spring and Autumn I Am King

Chapter 1154: Competing in the Central Plains

Remember [ ] in a second to provide you with wonderful novel reading.

Operating the northern Xinjiang and harvesting the benefits of the raccoon dog is the national policy of Zhao. Therefore, in addition to Yunzhong County, Zhao Wuxi also set up Shanggu County in the area east of Dai County and north of Yan State.

Shanggu County is roughly equivalent to the area of ​​Xuanfu and Zhangjiakou in later generations. With the remnants of Donghu fleeing far away, this place has also become an open space with high mountains and deep valleys, dangerous passes and beautiful scenery. In the north, the Yanshan Mountain is a barrier to the desert. In the south, the army overlooks the state of Yan. In the east, there is the danger of Yong’s lock and key. In the west, there is Xiaowutai Mountain adjacent to Daijun. River of the Basin. This is the natural passage from the State of Yan to the grasslands. It has been a battleground for the military since ancient times. It is very important to station troops here, set up fences, monitor the West Liao River, which is temporarily out of Zhao State’s control, and prevent the re-emergence of Donghu or other tribes. necessary.

The governing seat of Shanggu County was Tu He, which was Xuanfu in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and Xinzhigou served as the county Sima. This county looks very big, but it has no reputation. There are very few residents in the area. Before the immigrants from the Central Plains used to fill it, Shanggu and Yunzhong were at best two military defense areas that served as the wings of the county.

In this way, with Dai County as the main, Yunzhong in the west and Shanggu in the east, the three Daibei counties of Zhao State are like three carriages driving outside the Great Wall, and they are horns of each other. Among these three counties, Dai County is still the top priority. After Yu Xi died, no one could take charge of the overall situation, so Zhao Wuxi sent General Mail Cheng over to lead the three counties and had the right to decide. Since then, He can temporarily not have to worry about the situation in Saibei.

But after Youcheng left, Sima of Shangjun was empty. After thinking about it again and again, Zhao Wuchen decided on the candidate. He transferred Zhao Jian, a son of the clan, from the Huaihe River to be the military commander of Shangjun...

On this day, Zhao Jian was ordered to return to Beijing to report his duties. Because he was a cousin of the clan, not an outsider, Zhao Wuxi hosted a family banquet in the palace to entertain him.

In the Changle Palace, the red candles hang high, the nectars are warmed with wine, the music of bells and drums, and beef, sheep, and pork are all available. Zhao Wuxi is in the main seat, and Zhao Jian is sitting at the bottom. Zhao's "Qianliju" has matured a lot, with a frosty face and some yellow and black beards under his chin, but after seeing Zhao Wuxi, his eyes are still full of admiration.

Zhao Wuxi also asked Le Lingzi, Ji Ying, Crown Prince Zhao Heng, youngest son Zhao Yan and others to accompany him. During the dinner, Mrs. Le Lingzi smiled and said that they should only talk about family and not about state affairs. Everyone laughed. Agreed, it was fun at first, but as he was eating, Zhao Wuxi suddenly sighed...

"When I saw Ziwei, I remembered someone..."

If Zhao Jia moved, he cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is thinking, is it Liu Ziqian?"

...

The person Zhao Wuxi remembered was Liu Xiayue, who had gone to a foreign land and had no news. He is the son of Robber Zhi, a friend of Zhao Jia and Pao Ze, and he has always been interested in the world. After the Huangchi meeting, he took the initiative to invite Ying to go to the west, trying to retrace the road of Emperor Mu's westward journey, to find the legendary mother country of the West King, and to hollow out the Western Regions for Zhao State, in order to obtain the sweaty horses, alfalfa, and cotton that Zhao Wuxi had longed for. and other species not found in the Central Plains.

However, counting the time, he set off in the middle of spring of the fourth year of Zhaohou Wuxi (485 BC), and now it is the middle of the winter of nine years (480 BC). And his team is still silent.

"According to Father Jun's previous plan, even if General Liu goes all the way to the Tianshan Mountains before returning, the round trip will only take three or four years. If it is so long overdue, will he have already..."

When the words came to his lips, Prince Zhao Heng didn't say anything.

He was a little pessimistic. He had never left Yecheng since he was a child, and the outside world was full of unknowns and dangers for him.

In the Linzhang Academy, Zhao Heng had heard a song, which was full of people in the Central Plains' imagination of the far west: "The harm of the West is a thousand miles of quicksand". They say that there is an empty and dead space all around, and the red ants are as big as giant elephants, and the black bees are as big as gourds. They say that the grains cannot grow well there, and only the clumps of thatch can fill the food. The sand can roast people, but they want to drink water, but there is no drop. Walking in it, hesitant and hopeless, there is no support, the desert is desolate and there is no end...

In short, even the souls of the dead will be evaporated to ashes when they go there, let alone the living?

Therefore, in Zhao Heng's view, Liu Xiayue's visit itself is an extremely unlikely adventure. The west of Jingshui is no longer the territory of Zhao State. In the unfamiliar wild and exotic land, the caravan may encounter various dangers: it may be robbed and killed by bloodthirsty thieves, or it may be imprisoned by foreigners who do not understand the language. There was no water when crossing the desert, and the corpses were gradually drying in the scalding yellow sand... and the destination they had longed for was just a mirage in the desert...

After these words were spoken, everyone in the room was silent, and even Zhao Wuxi had a trace of regret. He knew how difficult it was to hollow out the Western Regions, but he still couldn't hold back the urge in his heart and agreed to Liu Xia Yuexing. this adventure. Shouldn't it be more appropriate to send him out after taking all the Central Plains and controlling Qin?

Now Liu Xiayue doesn't know his life or death. Although he was married when he left, he did not leave any children. If he really died, Zhao Wuxi would probably come forward and ask for a man and half a woman from the Zhan clan in Qufu to pass on to Liu Xiayue. , in order to continue the incense of this vein of the robber...

Unexpectedly, a clear child's voice rang out at this time.

"Or was that General Liu delayed by the kindness of the countries along the way? Or maybe he stayed there because the Queen Mother of the West was too beautiful, so he didn't have time to return... Or maybe he arrived in Tianshan and didn't find what his father wanted. things, and continue to move forward?"

But it was Zhao Wuxi's nine-year-old son, Zhao Yan, who spoke in a milky voice. Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by his mother, Ji Ying, who asked him not to interrupt, and then apologized to Mrs. Le and Prince Heng. smile.

Le Lingzi returned a smile, while Zhao Heng shook his head in disapproval. He was fifteen years old. He was taught by a group of princes to be versatile, rational and pragmatic. He would no longer have such naive thoughts and no longer believe in them. Fairytale too.

However, Zhao Wuxi laughed out loud and asked Zhao Yan to step forward and reward him with a jade pendant.

"What Ruzi said is right. Even the widow can't tell what he will encounter when he travels to a foreign land. How can he expect Liu Ziqian to die? The widow still believes that he will come back, and he will definitely come back, but it won't work in five years. The widow will wait for him for ten or twenty years! Because the widow believes that the son of Liu Xiazhi will never fail me!"

Xiao Zhaoyan's words make sense. The surroundings of China are full of ignorance and unknown. Liuxiayue's western district can be said to be another great geographical discovery. He is always cautious and conservative, and he is destined to not go far. Attitude to discover and explore, may be able to reach the destination, or it may be completely different, but as long as he waits patiently, maybe, there will be a Zhang Qian-style miracle?

...

After the banquet was withdrawn, Zhao Jia stayed behind. When only he and Zhao Wuxi faced each other, he finally dared to say what he didn't have the chance to say at the banquet.

"Your Majesty, this minister has something from the bottom of his heart to say, please forgive your sins!"

"Let's talk." Zhao Wuxi sat down and asked the attendant to give Zhao Jia a seat, but he refused to sit down. After bowing, his mouth continued to talk like a machine gun.

"Since Fuchai was defeated in Lu and Song nine years ago and returned to Jiangdong with the remnants of the army, the situation in the south has been completely reversed. Sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight. The white prince of Chu State, Sun Sheng and Yuejun Goujian, are not ordinary people, not only diligently cultivating internal affairs, but also fighting the water and land battles, and the Wu State has been defeated and retreated."

"After the Huangchi meeting, seeing that the state of Wu could not support it, the emperor also sent some Wu prisoners back one after another, and sent some weapons, armors and even grains that were eliminated from the army to the state of Wu in exchange for copper and tin from the land of Wu. ."

"The assistance of Zhao State gave Wu State a sigh of relief. Fuchai launched several counterattacks against Yue State and Chu State, but the national strength was exhausted, and the upper reaches were also occupied. "

"The ministers and others were ordered to station Zhongli, protect Cai State, and monitor Chu State, so that they would not dare to offend Huaibei, but Your Majesty also ordered our army not to act rashly. After all, Your Majesty was attacking Qi and recuperating in those years. Later, there were attacks on Zhongshan, The battle of Donghu. But now, Yan Qi in the four seas is a good opportunity to intervene in the south, but the emperor has transferred his ministers back..."

Zhao Wuxi didn't say a word at first, but after he finished speaking, he said a little unhappily: "Didn't it say that today's family banquet, the state affairs will be discussed tomorrow?"

"The state of Zhao is the state of the king. For the Zhao family, state affairs are also family affairs. The minister has been impatient since he was a child, and he can't wait for a moment..."

"The people who come out of the academy are all good. What I don't like the most is the sophistry that likes to steal the concept." Zhao Wuxi smiled and pointed at Zhao Jia, and said, "You kid is complaining, complaining. The widow won't let you stay in the south, preside over the Southern Expedition, and miss the opportunity to make meritorious deeds and become a monarch, right?"

Zhao Jia was seen through, his heart trembled, and he continued: "I dare not..."

"Don't you dare? Even the Qishan Zhiyang of the Qin country dares to go alone. I wonder who in the Zhao country is more courageous than you, besides Liu Xiayue?"

Zhao Wuxi sneered and said: "Don't look at the lively fight of Jianghuai in recent years, but in terms of its importance to Zhao State, Shangjun is no less than Huaibei. In recent years, Baizhai in Shangjun is relatively peaceful, so there is no war, but As the first line to monitor Qin and Yiqu, how can there not be fierce generals to guard? Youcheng is gone, besides you, who else in the army knows the military affairs of the Western Front like the back of the hand, and who can be better than my family's Qianliju Qin people are afraid?"

Back then, Zhao Jiabai rode into Qiyang, burned the city, and left with a book, which shocked the entire Yongdu. That Yu Weizhi is still alive today. Zhao Wuxi hoped that Zhao Jia could return to the battlefield he was familiar with. In Huaibei, he had already replaced Zhao Jia with Xing Ao, who had returned to Zhao State.

"How can the ministers know the importance of Shangjun, but the lord." Although Zhao Jia knew that the rank of Sima in Shangjun was higher than that of Colonel Zhongli, he had some doubts about Zhao Wuxi's transfer of him from Huaishui at this time. Some anxiously said: "Wu State has lost all its doors. When this winter enters the country, Chu State crosses the river, Yue State also enters the Wuhu area again, and a ruined city in Suzhou is about to be surrounded. Wu State is dying, maybe it will support But next year..."

"What do you mean, if you are exhausted by the three tigers, Zhao Guo will cross the bar and let Chu and Yue destroy Wu?"

"Exactly! If you take advantage of the situation to capture the Huainan Qunshu of Chu State, it will be even better."

Zhao Wuxi nodded and shook his head again: "Small nuisances can be contained, but a nationwide battle is not feasible. The battle in the south is different from the north, the cavalry is almost useless, and the navy of Zhao State is still unable to fight with Even if Chu and Yue are matched, even if they defeat the people of Chu in Huainan, they can only sigh in front of the big river and watch the country destroy Wu."

Zhao Wuxi was a little helpless. Although he had let Zhao Guangde, Yan Yan and others operate in Huaibei for several years, he still had no way to carry out large-scale southern operations. Through various means, the time for Chu Yue to destroy Wu could be delayed for so many years. Already very good.

What's more, compared to helping Wu Guo to forcibly extend his life, there is another sweeter and crispier cake waiting for him in the Central Plains.

"The widow will tell you straight up~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Zhao Wuxi said: "Before you go to Shangjun to take office, you have to do one thing for the widow. "

"I don't know what your Majesty ordered?" Zhao Jia felt that there was a battle to fight, and Zhao Jia was overjoyed. Now that Zhao's clan is a younger man, he has no fief. He had already taken a fancy to Huainan, but Zhao Wu T-shirt adjusted back...

"After the beginning of spring, Ru Shuai will ride 30,000 people on foot, go down to the Hulao, approach Mengjin, and force Luoyang!"

"This... Your Majesty doesn't want to..." Even though Zhao Jia was extremely courageous, he was surprised!

Zhao Wuxi showed a smile: "Yes, the widow has just received the news that Zhou Wang, who has become a Zhou, will not live to the next spring... The Son of Heaven is down, and the widow is the uncle, so he must go to the funeral and follow the example of Zhou Gong. , to support the orphans, and to rule the world!"

The competition between great powers is all-round, and one cannot just stare at one place. Just when Bai Gongsheng of Chu, in order to destroy Wu, allied with Yue and attacked Jianghuai, Zhao Wuxi had already set a small goal: Bian Let the little ones fight for the corners, Zhou loses its deer, and the widow chases it first! Mobile users, please browse and read for a better reading experience.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like