Chapter 1189: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (Seventy-Nine) Father and Son

In Jinyang City, Zhao Qi sent away the Qin envoy from Hangu Pass with great concern. He returned to the study with a depressed look on his face, reached for the list sent by the Qin envoy, read it for a long time, and slapped it on the table. , the anger on his face could not be suppressed, Lu Chao regarded their place as the backyard of the Qin people.

It's just that in his spare years, the once high-spirited Zhao Qi has aged beyond recognition. He, who has just turned sixty, looks like he is already seventy or eighty years old, and his back has become quite rickety. Life was hard. During the Handan Coup, the dignitaries of Zhao State led by Zhao Feng launched a mutiny against him, which severely dragged him down from the peak of his career. He fell to the lowest point in his life, and he has never recovered since.

Zhao Feng and other rebellious ministers and traitors did not get any benefits. Everything afterwards proved that they were just pawns between the Han Dynasty. They were manipulated without knowing it. The Zhao Kingdom was destroyed by these self-righteous people. In the hands of loyal men.

Yes, Zhao Guo had big problems during his time in power, but were these problems all caused by himself? Who would have thought that Jing Rufeng, who had moved to Zhao State twenty years ago and had all his family members, old and young, killed by the King of Qin, would actually be a dead chess piece of Qin State? I just recommended him to the King of Zhao. When Jing Rufeng killed Wang Xiao's 20,000 troops in Hedong in one fell swoop, the entire Zhao Kingdom was either rejoicing or praising Jing Rufeng to the sky. , how can it be that he is just one person?

Who would have thought that all this was just a conspiracy of the Qin people. Using the lives of Jing Rufeng's family, old and young, and Wang Xiao's 20,000 troops to prove Jing Rufeng's ability and loyalty, the whole Zhao Kingdom was moved. Do you believe it or not? Thinking of such a cruel plan that had been implemented twenty years ago, Zhao Qi couldn't help but feel cold all over. He said that he was good at using conspiracies and tricks, but compared to the Qin people and the Han people, he was really just a pure little baby. .

Zhao Guo is finished. Zhao Qi has understood this since he fled to Jinyang. Dong Zhao is completely controlled by the Han people, judging from the national policy they are currently implementing. The military system shows that they only have the name of Zhao State, but in fact they are already vassals of Han State. When they pull off the last bit of fig leaf, it just depends on Gao Yuan's intention. As for my own side. Then he became the slave of the Qin people who took whatever they asked for. Zhao Qi knew that if he had not made himself a buffer between Qin and Han, the Qin people would have swallowed him up with all his skin and bones.

Looking at the list in his hand, Zhao Qi let out a long sigh. This year was destined to be difficult.

"Master, the young master is back." The housekeeper gently opened the study door and announced.

"I know, after Xilie washes up, I will ask you to come to the study. I have something to see him." Zhao Qi ordered.

"yes!"

After a stick of incense, Zhao Xilie appeared in front of Zhao Qi in civilian clothes. He is the supreme commander of the entire Jinyang garrison. Under normal circumstances, he is stationed at the Zhaojun Camp in Majiadian, about thirty miles outside Jinyang. Inside,

Zhao Qi specially called him back today.

"Father!" He bowed and saluted Zhao Qi. Looking at Zhao Qi's old and disfigured face, Zhao Xilie felt a little sad.

"We are back. How is the morale of the army?" Zhao Qi pointed to the chair in front of the big case and motioned for Zhao Xilie to sit down and talk.

Pulling the chair and sitting down, Zhao Xilie nodded and said: "It's not bad. It's just that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and the reward money must be distributed immediately. Soldiers are all looking forward to it. You may have made a promise before."

Zhao Qi smiled bitterly. "You also know the current situation. I'm afraid I won't be able to get this money."

Zhao Xilie became anxious when he heard this, "Father, there is no joking in the army. This is no joke. A slip of the tongue to a sergeant may very well lead to serious consequences."

"Is your control of the army so weak?" Zhao Qihu raised a face, "No matter what, your army's salary is always guaranteed, right? They have never been hungry, right? What else do you want, if the big They should have heard about Zhao's situation. How many people died of hunger, and how many people were struggling on the line of life and death without enough food? "

Zhao Xilie's face was as ugly as it could be, "Father, we are just ordinary soldiers, but the more than 10,000 city guards who followed us all the way from Hanhan cannot let them down. Their families are already here." Handan, the military morale has never been very stable. If the son had not been operating in it for a long time over the years and bound most of them with brotherly loyalty, there would have been trouble long ago. If he continued to mistreat them in terms of money, the son would really I don’t know how to lead them. Besides, you know that they are the backbone of our army and the most powerful force in the war."

"There are more than 10,000 people. Let me think of a solution, but don't expect too much. It's better than nothing!" Zhao Qi said helplessly, reaching for the list on the table and handing it to Zhao Xilie: "Take a look."

After seeing the contents of the list clearly, Zhao Xilie became furious: "What did Lu Chao think of us? His family's warehouse? Where did we get so many things? Five hundred thousand dan of military rations, one million taels of military expenses, One hundred thousand sets of cotton-padded clothes, 50,000 sets of cotton wool, and one thousand cattle, sheep and livestock. We are not gods, how can we conjure them up?”

Zhao Qi said nothing and looked at Zhao Xilie quietly. Finally, after venting his anger, Zhao Xilie slumped down on the chair like a ball that had been punctured.

"What can I do if I don't give it?" Zhao Qi sighed.

"Where do you come from?" Zhao Xilie said in despair.

"There was originally a batch stored in the imperial treasury, which was intended for you and Ming Jun's army. It will be a great way to boost morale during the Chinese New Year. Now it seems that we can only give it all to the Qin people, but this is not enough. , after you go back, lead the army to suppress the bandits!" Zhao Qi said.

The so-called suppression of bandits is nothing more than the use of the army to rob and rob in the name of suppressing bandits. Those who rob have what is theirs naturally belong to the people of Jinyang. "Father, the people under our rule are already suffering enough. This is a dry lake but no fish."

"So what? We must first ensure that the regime can continue before we can talk about anything else. This time, we might as well target some wealthy gentry. These people have flirtations with the Qin people and have secret intrigues with the Han people. Do you really think I don't know? ? The reason why I didn’t touch them before was just to stabilize the situation. As long as you take action, you can find a lot of evidence and make everyone speechless. ”

"But this method is killing the goose that lays the eggs. If you survive this year, what will you do next year?" Zhao Xilie said.

"Let's wait until this year passes. Xilie, our only hope now is that the Qin people can launch an attack on Han as soon as possible. The alliance between Qin and Chu is already established. As long as Qin and Chu attack Han at the same time, our chance will be Will really come, then we can raise a large army to fight back, take back Handan, and restore our Zhao territory. We know why the Qin people squeeze us so much, but do they still admit that we are the only orthodoxy of Zhao State, because they are in When we attack Han, we still need our flag, so for now, we can only be patient and wait for the opportunity to appear. "

"I really doubt that if this continues, how many years can we survive? I don't think Qin's economy is much better than ours? Since they want to use our flag, why do the two sides push us to death? This can only It shows that the life of the Qin people is not easy. Father, the last time we went to Xianyang to visit the King of Qin, didn’t you see that the streets of Xianyang were filled with Han people’s goods, and the streets of Xianyang were full of beggars? Although they don’t say it explicitly, can they really expect the economy to be no better than ours?”

"A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. As long as the Qin army is still there, everything is promising. Didn't they get that Maowei from the Han a while ago? Qin and Chu have now made explosives When the envoy from Qin came over this time, he told me that they had made a lot of explosives and Lu Chao's army had begun to equip them. "

"Didn't father ask for some from them?"

"Of course I want it. The envoy from Qin also promised that after we deliver these things, the general will give us some."

"I'm afraid it's an empty promise." Zhao Xilie snorted, "Father, have you never considered negotiating peace with the Han people?"

"Negotiate peace with the Han people?" Zhao Qi glanced at his son in surprise, "Where did you get this idea? Will the Han people negotiate peace with us? Will they promise me to restore the country to Zhao? No, they won't. Now the Han country is strong and far away. The fight is to dominate the world by force. They have the same idea as Qin ten years ago. Dong Zhao has swallowed it. Do you still expect to spit out your creativity? Now, we can only unite with Qin and Chu. There is only a glimmer of hope for the restoration of the country. You should not have any other ideas at all. And you must not reveal this idea. If you let the people of Qin know about it, they will definitely not let you and my son go. Don't let it go. Forgot, there is an elite Qin force of 5,000 people stationed in Jinyang City. They are nominally assisting in defense, but you should also understand what they actually do. "

Zhao Xilie was silent for a long time and nodded: "My son has taken note of it."

"You finally came back, so take a good rest. Your wife and children rarely see you, so you should comfort them. Zhuo'er is getting smarter and smarter. It's really lovable! Now I'm always troubled When the time comes, go and see my little grandson, which can reduce most of your worries. For no other reason than Zhuo'er, I can't lose."

"Father, you should take care of yourself. You are the backbone of Zhao, and you must not fall." Zhao Xilie stood up and said.

"Don't worry, I won't fall down for a while." Zhao Qi waved his hand. (To be continued.)