Chapter 41: Turbulence

  "News just received today, the Qin state has established a new territory in the newly acquired land of Han as Yingchuan Prefecture, with Han Teng appointed as the Governor of Nanyang, and ordered Chancellor Changping Jun Xiong Yao to garrison Yingchuan, concurrently managing the land of Nanyang."

  After listening to Li Mu's speech, Gao Yuan asked: "Who is Xiong Yao, the Lord of Changping?"

  Ning Qi replied: "Changping Jun Xiong Yao is the younger brother of King Huai II of Chu, and was sent to Qin as a hostage in the sixth year of King Zheng of Qin (241 BC). During the rebellion of Lao Ai in the ninth year of King Zheng's reign, Changping Jun followed King Zheng to quell the rebellion and rendered meritorious service. After King Zheng dismissed Lü Buwei from his position as Chancellor, he renamed the position to Prime Minister and appointed Changping Jun as Prime Minister."

  Gao Yuan was also curious and asked: "Why did the King of Qin appoint a hostage from Chu as his prime minister?"

  Ning Que said: "Although the Changping Jun is a hostage, he is also a prince of Chu State, so his status is not low. In the various countries, it is common for princes to serve as prime ministers. For example, Meng Zhangjun of Qi State once served as the Prime Minister of Qin State, and Xinling Jun of Wei State also served as the Prime Minister of our Zhao State. Moreover, Changping Jun made great contributions to Qin State during the suppression of the rebellion by Lao Ai, so it is reasonable that he was appointed as the Prime Minister by King Zheng of Qin. Besides, the position of Prime Minister is high and powerful. At that time, when Lv Buwei resigned, King Zheng of Qin had just taken power and had not yet grasped the great power of the court, so he would not easily appoint a heavy minister as Prime Minister. Changping Jun was a prince of Chu State, his status was sufficient, but in Qin State, he did not have any foundation, so he was appointed as Prime Minister."

  Gao Yuan asked: "Then why does King Qin Zheng want Changping Jun to garrison Handan again now?"

  Ning Qi said: "Qin Wang Zheng's appointment of Changping Jun as Prime Minister was originally a temporary measure, and now that seven or eight years have passed, Qin Wang Zheng has already stabilized the court, so it is natural to no longer use Changping Jun as Prime Minister. The capital of Han, Xinzheng, was originally a place in Chu, but later it was occupied by Han, and it borders Chu, so sending Changping Jun to garrison Handan, with his identity as a prince of Chu, can better comfort the local people and get along with Chu, only then can Qin fully focus on attacking Zhao and Wei."

  Gao Yuan finally understood that there were such complex causes and consequences inside, and Ning Qi could actually explain them clearly and logically. He was indeed an excellent talent. It seemed that Li Mu's side had not only brave generals but also outstanding talents in other aspects.

  Li Mu Dao said: "Now that winter is approaching, after the beginning of next year, the Qin army will inevitably launch a large-scale attack on Zhao again. Therefore, the king has already ordered me to take full responsibility for the war preparations in Zhao." He then turned to Gao Yuan and said: "At the same time, the king also agreed with your suggestion, letting merchants go out and buy grain from Qi State."

  The fall of Korea caused a considerable stir in Zhao as well. Since the twenty-third year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC), when Han, Zhao and Wei divided Jin and started the Warring States period where Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Wei and Han were equal, nearly two hundred years had passed. Despite the rise and fall of various states, horizontal and vertical alliances, reforms and innovations, each state lasted for decades, but the situation where the seven warring states were equal had always been maintained, giving most people the impression that this would last forever.

  Although Korea is now very weak, as long as Korea still exists, the situation of the Seven Warring States and the respect for each other has not been broken. However, when Korea was destroyed by Qin State, the Seven Warring States became Six Heroes, thoroughly breaking the pattern of the world that had been maintained for nearly two hundred years, thus awakening many people to realize that the situation of the Seven Warring States respecting each other was not eternal and unchanging.

  Among the six eastern states, Zhao and Qin had the deepest grudge. The three countries of Zhao, Wei, and Han were originally one entity, and they were closer to each other than to other countries. Therefore, when Han was destroyed, Zhao naturally felt a great deal of sorrow, with feelings of "a rabbit dies, a fox grieves" and "when lips are gone, teeth feel cold". Although King Zhao Xie was a mediocre ruler, he could not remain indifferent when faced with the life and death of his country, which also concerned his own throne. He immediately summoned important officials such as Guo Kuo, Li Mu, Sima Sang, and Zhao Cong to discuss countermeasures against Qin's attack, and appointed Li Mu to take full charge of Zhao's defense affairs. He also adopted Gao Yuan's suggestion to purchase grain from Qi in the name of a merchant.

  Li Mu and Sima Shang returned to the government office, immediately gathering Gao Yuan, Li Yinghong, Zhao Xuan, Ning Qi and others, announcing Zhao Wangqian's decision.

  "Now it's the end of September, if Qin State attacks Zhao State again, at least we have to wait until next February after the spring begins, there are more than four months left. If the Qin army attacks Zhao State again, it must be a pincer movement from both south and north, and I think the military strength will not be less than 400,000. Therefore, the Great Wall along the Zhang River, as well as the positions of Jingdian and Fanwu, need to be further strengthened. Currently, our military strength in Zhao State is insufficient, we should recruit more soldiers, at least to ensure that there are 300,000 troops. We need to deploy 100,000 troops along the Zhang River, and 200,000 troops along the Jingdian and Fanwu lines. All these things need to be solved within these few months."

  Li Mu nodded and said: "Sima Shang, the task of building defensive fortifications is now yours, but you will have to work harder."

  Simashi smiled and said: "General, rest assured, just hand these things over to Cheng. To be honest, I don't want to stay in Handan either, it's more comfortable in the military camp."

  Li Mu turned to Gao Yuan and said: "Gao Yuan, during this period of time, you continue to train the cavalry. I want to expand the new-style cavalry to three thousand men and horses. What do you think?"

  Gaoyuan Road: "As long as the new cavalry manufacturing can keep up, training three thousand riders is completely possible. However, I'd like to ask General, what was Guo Kai's attitude when you met the King today?"

  Li Mu was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Prime Minister Guo did not say much, and he neither agreed nor disagreed with my suggestion." After a pause, he continued: "However, after we left, the king still kept Prime Minister Guo behind to discuss privately, as for what they discussed, that is unknown."

  Ning Que said: "Guo Kuo is indeed treacherous, but he is also the Prime Minister of Zhao State and his fate is tied to that of Zhao State. If Zhao State perishes, Guo Kuo's power will be hard to preserve. I think Guo Kuo won't set up many obstacles in this matter. That's why he hasn't spoken much about it, probably because he doesn't want to interfere too much and is willing to let the Great General take charge of defending Zhao State, which is the only way to preserve Zhao State."

  Gao Yuan shook his head and said, "Mr. Ning, I don't think so. If Guo Kuo has already reached an agreement with Qin State, once Zhao State is destroyed, can Qin State guarantee Guo Kuo's power and position? Do you think Guo Kuo will still take care of Zhao State's interests?"

  Everyone was shocked by Gao Yuan's words, and what he said was not unreasonable. The State of Qin was originally good at using the strategy of sowing discord, so it was entirely possible that they had bought off Guo Kuo. Moreover, although Guo Kuo had some cunning abilities, he was still a short-sighted and greedy person who only cared about personal gain and had no sense of loyalty. As long as the King of Qin used heavy bribes to buy him off and promised him a high position and wealth in Qin after the destruction of Zhao, Guo Kuo would not see that Qin was just using him and did not truly value him. On the contrary, he would be delighted by this.

  Ning Qi also turned his head to Li Mu and said: "General, what Gao Yuan said makes sense. We can't be unprepared. If Guo Kai has indeed secretly surrendered to Qin, then the first person Qin will want to get rid of is you, General. Therefore, Guo Kai must have a backup plan, and General, you also need to be prepared."

  Gao Yuan was indeed very impressed with Ning Qi's reaction, which was quick as expected. As soon as he mentioned that Guo Kai might surrender to Qin, Ning Qi immediately thought of the possibility that Guo Kai might harm Li Mu, which was exactly what Gao Yuan had hoped for, and it saved him from having to say more. He hoped to remind Li Mu to be careful and guard against this, and change his fate.

  But Li Yinghong had a different feeling in her heart. When she was at the Banwu camp, Gao Yuan had told her that Li Mu's lifespan was only one year, and it was very likely that he would be harmed by someone rather than dying of natural causes. And now Gao Yuan was fulfilling his own promise to protect Li Mu with all his might.

  Li Muo, although not very familiar with the intrigue and struggle in the court, was also a talented and intelligent person, not a stubborn and foolishly loyal one. After being reminded by Ning Qi and Gao Yuan, he immediately became vigilant and could not relax his guard against Guo Kai. With the example of Lian Po before him, Li Muo couldn't help but feel a sense of warning. Therefore, after remaining silent for a long time, Li Muo finally said: "So, in your opinion, what should we do?"

  Gao Yuan thought that the simplest way was to kill Guo Kai and then control the politics of Zhao, but this would be equivalent to directly rebelling. However, based on Gao Yuan's understanding of Li Mu over the past few months, the possibility of Li Mu rebelling against Zhao was very low.

  Ning Que said: "General, in my opinion, the most urgent task is still to deploy more troops and garrison the imperial palace, to guard against unexpected events. As for other things, we can wait and observe."

  Li Mu sank into thought for a moment before saying, "If we deploy troops to the mansion now, won't that give Guo an excuse? It's better to wait and observe for a while before making plans."

  Ning Qi shook his head and said, "The general is well-versed in military strategy, it's unlikely he doesn't know the principle of striking first to gain the upper hand and falling behind to be controlled by others. Guo Kai is now temporarily holding back, he must be secretly accumulating strength, once he makes a move, it will certainly be a decisive blow. Therefore, if we don't immediately deploy troops to advance, by the time Guo Kai makes the first move, it may already be too late."

  Li Mu remained silent and pensive, neither affirming nor denying.

  Gao Yuan's heart moved, and he said: "General, Mr. Ning's suggestion is indeed reasonable, but General's concerns cannot be ignored either. I have a compromise plan, everyone can listen to it and see if it works."

  Li Mu Dao said: "Tell me more."

  Gaoyuan Road: "Today's banquet, isn't the king granting me a new mansion? I think it would be better to gather 1,000 soldiers and station them in my new mansion. We can agree on a signal between our two mansions and support each other like horns, so that if anything happens, we can help each other out. This way, we can strengthen our power in Handan City and not give General Guo or the king any excuse to speak ill of us."

  Others have not spoken yet, Sima Shang slapped his thigh and said: "Good, this move is indeed brilliant, what does the general think?"

  Li Mu also nodded and said: "I also think that Gao Yuan's suggestion is feasible. Ning Qi, he has moved into the new mansion, everything is waiting to be arranged anew, you help Gao Yuan arrange things."

  Although Ning Qi was somewhat reluctant, Li Mu had spoken, and it wasn't good to oppose him again. He could only say: "Alright, I'll go with Gao Yuan to his new mansion tomorrow."