Qin Dynasty: Sword Asks the Bright Moon

While Yang Ming was tasting the sweetness that belonged to Yan Lingji, someone was tasting the bitter taste.

Zhao Capital, Zhao Palace, Zhao Wangyan, who was over thirty years old, looked at the battle report from Taiyuan, with a look of disappointment on his face that looked a little pale due to excessive drinking.

Pity.

Zhao Wangyan originally wanted to take advantage of the great victory to regain the ancestral land of Taiyuan in one fell swoop, capture Dongjun, and recreate the power of the Three Jin Alliance. Unfortunately, there is always an excessive gap between wishes and reality.

The 70,000 Zhao army on the southern front lost many troops in Baimayi, including General Zhao Cong. Many of them died in battle, but they failed to capture an inch of land in Dongjun. The Zhao army that attacked Taiyuan County only captured a few insignificant small cities. In addition, there is nothing that can be done about Jinyang, the important town of Taiyuan County. This majestic city built by the ancestors of the Zhao Kingdom marked the beginning of the Zhao Kingdom's career. In the hands of the Qin army, it was also a city that the Zhao army found difficult to conquer.

"South Korea has no power to resist. Wei has been completely crippled by two consecutive defeats in three years. Dongjun is difficult to capture. It is impossible to recreate the power of the Three Jin Alliance. Where is the road for Zhao?" Zhao Wangyan I pondered, feeling a deep feeling of tiredness.

When the State of Zhao passed down to his generation, it was no longer the State of Zhao back then. The country was in ruins and its national power was greatly weakened. However, at the same time, the power of the State of Qin was constantly increasing, and now it has become a behemoth.

When he thought that Zhao State would face uninterrupted attacks from Qin State in the future, Zhao Wangyan felt a deep sense of tiredness, a feeling that he could not see hope.

"The northward expansion has come to an end, and Qi cannot bully it too much. To the west, Qin has established a foothold in Taiyuan, and to the south, it is within the reach of Qin's military front. It seems that the only thing Zhao can point to is The only direction is the State of Yan." Zhao Wangyan was thinking, and his thoughts had already gone to his neighbor in the north, the State of Yan.

Accumulating national power does not happen overnight, and for Zhao State, time is the most precious thing at the moment. If you want to increase national power in a short time, there is only one way, and that is to rob.

As for Yan State, a neighbor who had repeatedly tried to take advantage of Zhao Guoxing, he naturally became Zhao State's first choice.

While Zhao Wangyan was thinking, a middle-aged man with a white face and short beard walked into the hall: "Your Majesty, the edict has been drafted, and your Majesty can use the seal."

Zhao Wangyan looked at the person who came and said, "Guo Kai, how about we take action against Yan State?"

"The State of Yan? Your Majesty, the State of Yan has backstabbed our State of Zhao over and over again. We should have taught it a lesson long ago." Guo Kai, who grew up with King Zhao Yan since childhood, understood King Zhao at the first time. Yan's thoughts.

Moreover, Guo Kai fully agreed with what Zhao Wangyan said about mobilizing troops against Yan. The general Zhao Cong, who was close to him, died in the battle in Dongjun, leaving Guo Kai without any influence in the Zhao army. As a collaborator, Wu'an Lord Li Mu won another great victory over the Qin army, and received great favor from King Zhao Yan.

With the lessons learned from Lian Po back then, Guo Kai has already regarded Li Mu as his future competitor. In order to increase his voice in the Zhao court, he must have his own allies in the army. Pang Nuan is old, and Zhao Onion died again, and he could only find new collaborators.

The Yan State was the bargaining chip he could bring out. Attacking Qin was too risky, but attacking the Yan State was almost a free military exploit for the Zhao army. Therefore, Guo Kai must have the say in attacking Yan.

"That's what I mean. You go down and collect the grain tax to prepare for the attack on Yan." Zhao Wangyan said.

"Yes." Guo Kai responded.

After Guo Kai left the palace, he didn't go very far when he was blocked by a palace maid. Guo Kai, who was the Prime Minister of Zhao State, was blocked by a palace maid, but he didn't show the slightest anger. Instead, he said with a warm smile: " Miss Hong'er, is this what you want?"

"The Queen is waiting for you in front of the Prime Minister." The woman whom Guo Kai calls 'Hong'er Girl' naturally has the ability to make Guo Kai take him seriously. Although she is only a palace maid, she is now Queen Zhao's personal attendant and the most important person for Queen Zhao. A trusted confidant.

As a villain, no one understands the power of villains better than Guo Kai. It may not be enough for villains to succeed, but it is enough to fail. Therefore, Guo Kai has always treated Hong'er, the palace maid, with great courtesy.

Not only Hong'er, but Guo Kai is also the same when facing other people. Except for those who have real conflicts of interest with him, Guo Kai has always been kind to others, which makes his reputation in Zhao Guo still flawed. pretty good.

But if anyone has a direct conflict of interest with him, Guo Kai will be merciless and will use all possible means to knock him into dust or even completely destroy him.

Lian Po, who was able to come and go when he fought with Bai Qi, suffered a huge loss at the hands of Guo Kai and had to live in a foreign country for ten thousand years.

Hearing that Queen Zhao was waiting for him, Guo Kai did not dare to delay at all and walked forward quickly, arriving in front of a carriage in a secluded part of the street.

"In Wu'an County, a manor that was burned down five years ago has an owner again. Have you heard?" Queen Zhao's voice reached Guo Kai's ears through the car curtain.

"Wu'an County? Lord Wu'an's fiefdom?" Guo Kai was slightly startled and couldn't react for a moment.

How could the queen care about the fiefdom of Wu'an Lord Li Mu? But after a moment of doubt, Guo Kai, who was reminded of 'five years ago', suddenly thought of something. In order to completely wash away the hidden dangers and allow herself to seek the position of queen, Queen Zhao had an affair with Guo Kai. They conspired to kill an entire family in Wu'an County.

In that incident, more than a hundred people in a manor were wiped out, but in the end, a boy and a girl escaped with their lives.

Could it be that the manor the queen was talking about? But, why does the queen want to bring up the past? I heard that the girl finally appeared in Yanmen County and was adopted by Li Mu. Now Li Mu is named Lord Wu'an. Could it be that he brought the girl back to Wu'an County?

What does the queen want to do by bringing up the past? Is it possible that he is still thinking about silencing him? Guo Kai thought about it and was still unclear about Queen Zhao's meaning.

"I don't want to see that manor again, you know?" Queen Zhao said.

Now she is actively seeking the position of Prince of Zhao for her son, and her ex-husband's daughter once again appears in Wu'an County, which is far away from Zhao, which makes Queen Zhao somewhat uneasy.

She has already taken action against her daughter once, and if she takes action again, it will naturally be nothing.

"Queen, that manor is within Lord Wu'an's fiefdom. It might not be too easy to take action. Moreover, now that Lord Wu'an is in the limelight, we have to avoid his influence." Guo Kai said cautiously.

Recently, he has to plan the affairs of the Yan Kingdom, but he is not in the mood to care about Queen Zhao's family.

"If you can't do it, you can do it as a killer. There are many killers in Zhao country." Queen Zhao said.

In the past, she struggled with the matter of attacking her daughter for a long time before she had to make such a decision. When her daughter survived the disaster, she even felt a little bit lucky amidst the disappointment. , she was thankful that her daughter was still alive, but when the news about her daughter appeared in her world again, the first thing she thought of was to completely destroy her daughter.

Because of guilt, because of guilty conscience, because of interests, and even more because of selfishness and viciousness.

"Yes." Guo Kai could only agree. Nowadays, a large part of his power in Zhao country comes from the support of Queen Zhao. Guo Kai has no room to refuse Queen Zhao's requests or demands.

Amidst the sound of the axle turning, only Guo Kai was left on the spot.

The little girl back then is back, but where is the boy? Guo Kai thought about the young man who was able to protect Queen Zhao's daughter all the way to Yanmen County during the pursuit, and he felt a faint uneasiness in his heart.

Guo Kai also understands the principle of not bullying young people into poverty, because he was such a young man back then.

Am I overthinking it? Now, although I am not ranked below one person in Zhao State, I can definitely be said to be above ten thousand people. I have countless third-rate masters under my sect. Only second-rate masters can enter the palace. There are even more first-rate masters. How can I be afraid of a powerful martial artist? juvenile. Thinking of the worry that arose in his heart for a moment, Guo Kai couldn't help but smile, feeling that he was really suspicious?

But are Guo Kai's worries really unnecessary?

In Taiyuan County, under Jinyang City, Zhao Jun's attack was repelled again. Li Mu, Lord Wu'an of Zhao State, looked at the retreating Zhao Jun, with no sadness or joy on his resolute face.

"General, the king has an edict." A Qingqi came from afar and delivered a sealed edict to Li Mu.

Li Mu took the edict and looked at it for a few times before putting it away. After a long time, he said to the people around him: "We can make arrangements to withdraw the troops. The Dongjun side has been defeated, and Jinyang City can no longer be captured."

"Dongjun was defeated?" Hearing Li Mu's statement, everyone on the left and right were startled, and then they all realized that once Dongjun was defeated, the Qin State could fully support Taiyuan County. Under the heavy troops and fortified city, Zhao Jun There is really no hope of capturing Jinyang.

Amidst the mixed reactions of everyone, Li Mu took a few steps forward and looked at Jinyang City in the distance with a complicated expression. He knew very well that the war between Zhao and Qin would not end unless one country was destroyed. , otherwise there would be no rest day at all.

But today is different from the past. In the past, the war between Zhao and Qin was a border war in a sense. Although Zhao's hinterland sent troops and food, it would not be directly destroyed. But now it is different. In the recent war, the Qin army actually cut directly into the hinterland of Zhao State and led the war to the hinterland of Zhao State.

Although the Zhao army won the war, it was completely at a disadvantage in terms of national and military strength.

If the Qin army continues to use its stronger national power to weaken Zhao, Zhao may be able to support it in ten years, but ten years later...

For a time, even someone as brave and skilled as Li Mu could not help but feel a little pessimistic about the future of Zhao.