Zhao Weiwang in the Warring States Period

After Lu Buwei was seated, the prince cleared his throat, and said slowly: "There is one thing I want to let you know, that is, a few days ago, an envoy from Wei Guo came to Xianyang secretly, and got accepted my interview."

"An envoy from the Kingdom of Wei?" As soon as the crown prince said these words, the faces of the three important officials of the Qin Kingdom showed surprise expressions, especially the expression on Lu Buwei's face.

You must know that Qin's diplomatic system is actually in the hands of Lu Buwei. Why didn't the people of Wei know that there was a secret envoy visiting Lu Buwei?

But this time is obviously not the time to pursue it, and Lu Buwei didn't have the heart to think about it, because he had already heard the next sentence of the prince.

"I have already decided to secretly form an alliance with the State of Wei. As long as we find an opportunity, we will send troops together to attack the State of Zhao together!"

As soon as the crown prince said these words, the expressions of the three important officials of Qin State were all different.

To be honest, this result is actually not too surprising.

Up to now, if the Qin State wants to fight for hegemony, going east is a necessary choice.

And if Qin State wants to go east to the Central Plains, it must first take back Hedong County and Hangu Pass in the hands of Zhao State.

If these two places cannot be obtained, then Qin's Guanzhong will always be threatened by Zhao Guobingfeng, and will be in a very passive position in the overall strategic situation.

So for Qin State, defeating Zhao State is an imminent problem.

Moreover, since the division of Jin by the three families, the battle for hegemony on the mainland has become more and more fierce. Wei, Chu, Qi, and Qin have successively appeared on the stage, and until the present Zhao, there will be a new hegemon every few decades. rise.

But the problem is that the rise of Zhao Guo, the new overlord, is really too fast!

In just five years, the Zhao people took the Hedong and Weihan passages from Qin, Gaotang from Qi, Yecheng and Chengqiu from Wei, and the old land of Lu from Chu. And half of Huaibei, they took Wuyang and Fenmen from Yan Guo, and even defeated the Linhu people, and won the two counties of Hetao and Shuofang.

In just five years, Zhao's territory has almost doubled in size, like blowing up a balloon, compared to before the Changping War!

Today's Zhao State is no longer inferior to Qin State in terms of land area alone.

More importantly, according to the laws of the previous hegemons, each hegemon has to rule the roost for at least 20 years before it begins to slowly decline.

But the current state of Zhao has become so strong in only five years. If it takes another 30 to [-] years, I am afraid that other vassal states will be defeated by the state of Zhao, right?

The strength of the Zhao State is best understood by the Qin people in the entire land of China. After all, the strength of the Zhao army was vividly displayed in front of the old Qin people in the battles of Changping, Hedong, and Guanzhong.

Therefore, regarding the rise of Zhao State, Qin State was the one that was beaten the most, and it was also the country that feared Zhao State the most.

Old Qin people can fail, but they will never admit defeat!

No matter whether it is the current Prince of Qin, or the folks who have gone down to the entire Guanzhong, all the old Qin people have only one hope in their hearts, and that is to return all the shame given by the Zhao people back intact one day!

After a while, Mi Chen, the leader of the three important ministers, spoke first: "The prince plans to go to war next spring?"

The crown prince of Qin State who was sitting at the top shook, and said in a deep voice: "No, I am only forming an alliance with Wei State temporarily. As for when to start the war, this is exactly what I want to discuss with Zhu Qing."

Cai Ze thought for a while and said, "Prince, from the point of view of the old minister, it is not appropriate to go to war immediately."

The prince's eyes moved to Cai Ze's body, and he said in a deep voice, "Why?"

It can be heard that the prince is actually not very satisfied with Cai Ze's answer.

This is actually understandable. After all, this prince is only 26 years old this year. If he inherits the throne at a young age, he must be ambitious and ready to make a career.

What's more important is that everyone knows that the prince was actually just a concubine before, and he was not favored at all. He became a pro-son only by adopting Mrs. Huayang's name, and finally succeeded to the throne.

For such a monarch, there are actually quite a few voices of doubt within Qin.

Many people are not optimistic that this young monarch with little orthodox royal education can turn the tide and lead Qin to rise again.

For these noises, the young prince knew clearly.

So he urgently needs to prove himself, to prove that he is worthy of the position of prince and monarch, and to prove that he has the ability to lead Qin to revival.

To prove all this, first of all, he needs a war.

A war that can be won!

For such a monarch who is eager for victory, any behavior against war is actually quite harsh in his ears.

Although Cai Ze could see the dissatisfaction in the prince's heart, since the words had already been spoken, Cai Ze naturally had to continue talking.

"Prince, according to last year's inventory, the treasury has begun to bottom out due to successive years of wars, and there is no extra food and money to support the upcoming war!"

As the internal history of the government, Cai Ze's function is to be in charge of grain, food, money and goods. The treasury of the Qin State itself is an institution under the jurisdiction of the internal history, so Cai Ze is naturally aware of this.

"What?" The prince was slightly taken aback, and then said: "You can't even support a war?"

"Yes." Cai Ze nodded, and said, "Prince, don't forget the loss caused to Daqin by the Zhao people entering Guanzhong last time. Not only did a large area of ​​Guanzhong suffer from harvest failure and famine, but even our treasury was also destroyed. Evacuated! Those damn Zhao people didn’t leave us even a grain of food!”

As soon as Cai Ze mentioned this, the faces of all the kings and ministers of Qin State present could not help but become embarrassed, and then this embarrassment turned into anger.

The prince slammed his fist heavily on the table in front of him: "One day, I will make the Zhao people pay the price! Gang Chengjun, I want to know one thing, that is, how long will it take at the earliest before I can have Enough food and supplies to support a one-year war!"

Cai Ze thought for a while, and said, "This depends on the harvest next year. If the harvest next year is sufficient, then the soldiers of the old Qin people can embark on the journey in the spring of the year after next at the earliest."

"The next year?" The prince snorted heavily, and said, "Does this mean that I have to wait for another year?"

Lu Buwei judged the situation and felt that it was time for him to speak: "Prince, it's not just a matter of food and supplies. Among the old Qin people today, there are not many qualified soldiers."

Generally speaking, if an army continues to win, it must suffer fewer casualties than the enemy, and it must have more soldiers than the enemy.

However, Qin State has suffered several major defeats in the past few years. A large number of soldiers either died in battle or became prisoners of the enemy, mainly Zhao Guoren.

The prince glared at Lu Buwei, and said, "I remember that a while ago, didn't you just conduct a round of conscription?"

Lu Buwei nodded and said: "Prince, this is exactly what I want to talk about. Although a round of conscription has just been carried out, the training of the soldiers will take time, and now it is cold winter, the training cannot be carried out at all, at least until The training can only start after the spring plowing, if the troops are to be sent to attack Zhao at that time, I am afraid that the recruits will have no time to train at all."

After a pause, Lu Buwei continued: "And I think that even if Qin and Wei join hands, they may not be the opponent of Zhao Guo. After all, Zhao Guo has many allies. Why don't you ask the prince to be patient and wait until the soldiers It is the best policy to choose an opportunity to attack after the training is completed and the supply of food and grass is sufficient."

After hearing Lu Buwei's words, the prince finally looked a little better, but he still couldn't help but sneered and said, "Zhao has a lot of allies? Hmph, when it's time to start the war, I want to see those so-called Your loyal allies will stand by Zhao Guo from time to time! Well, if this is the case, then you should go down and prepare early, and strive to let the old Qin people usher in the day of revenge as soon as possible!"

Chapter 657 Hou and Fan Sui (Fourth Change)

Lantian.

This is a small town in the Guanzhong Basin. There is a mansion in the small town that looks more magnificent, of course compared to other houses in the small town.

About one month three years ago, this originally deserted mansion suddenly ushered in his owner.

Although people can tell from the size of the mansion and the capable guards at the gate of the mansion that the owner of this mansion must be extraordinary, but few people know that the owner of this mansion is actually a famous man. The former Prime Minister of the Qin State should wait for Fan Sui.

The first snow in 255 BC came later than usual.

Snowflakes fell all over the sky, dyeing the high walls and gates of this Yinghou Mansion silvery white.

In the snowstorm, a carriage creaked and slowly arrived in front of the gate of Yinghou Mansion, the tall carriage driver jumped down and presented a greeting card.