Chapter 71: The Envoy of Qin (Part 1)

  Yao Jia took out a map and pointed out to the king and his ministers of Zhao the locations of the twelve cities south of the Zhang River that Qin intended to return to Zhao.

  Although these twelve cities are not large, they add up to a considerable area of over 300 miles in circumference and a population of nearly 500,000. Moreover, the Zhang River is less than 200 miles from Handan, and currently, Zhao only has three or four footholds on the south bank of the Zhang River, making it difficult to defend the south bank, relying solely on the Great Wall on the north bank to protect Handan. Once the Great Wall is breached, the Qin army's attack can directly target Handan.

  If the State of Qin really returned the twelve cities south of Zhang River to Zhao, then connecting several footholds on the southern bank of Zhang River would form a defense line nearly 100 miles deep, and together with the Great Wall north of Zhang River, it would be a double insurance for Handan. Whether in terms of strategic depth or room for maneuver, it would be much greater, and it would certainly be a great thing for Zhao. But every minister present was thinking that it was impossible for Qin to really change its ways and actually return the twelve cities south of Zhang River to Zhao.

  At this time, Li Mu said: "Your Majesty, in the past when Zhang Yi was an envoy to Chu, he promised Chu six hundred miles of land, and made Chu break off its alliance with Qi. However, after Chu's envoy rejected Qi, Qin took advantage of the situation and sent troops to attack Chu, taking away six hundred miles of Han Zhong from Chu, forcing Chu to move its capital to avoid Qin. These lessons of history, I beg Your Majesty not to forget."

  Yao Jia smiled and said: "The concerns of the King of Wu'an are not unreasonable. However, this envoy has already received orders from the King of Qin to come to Zhao Guo. As long as the two countries successfully negotiate a peace treaty, Qin Guo can hand over the 12 cities south of Zhang River to Zhao Guo, and this envoy will be responsible for handling the handover. After the handover is successful, this envoy will leave Zhao Guo and return to report to the king. If Zhao Guo cannot recover the 12 cities south of Zhang River, please behead this envoy as punishment for deceiving the great king."

  King Zhao of Zhou was taken aback for a moment, but immediately smiled and said: "Good, since Qin has such sincerity, I naturally cannot refuse King Qin's kindness. My mind is made up, let us negotiate peace with Qin."

  Kuo Ch'ien also hastened to kneel down and said: "Your Majesty is wise."

  Kuo Chien's followers also knelt down on the ground and chorused: "The great king is wise."

  Li Mu, Shi Chong and others originally wanted to advise King Zhao Qian to slow down for the time being, first send Yao Jia to the government hostel to rest, and then discuss it carefully before making a decision. However, King Zhao Qian had already spoken, and Guo Kai took the lead in saying: "The great king is wise." It was impossible to change it again, so he could only follow other officials, kneel down together, and say: "The great king is wise."

  Yao Jia smiled slightly and clapped her hands lightly. Twenty eunuchs carried in ten large chests from outside the palace, each filled with precious treasures. Behind the chests, ten young women dressed in light silk clothes walked in, their beauty captivating everyone. Among them were two women with skin as white as jade, golden hair, and emerald eyes, their slender figures curvaceous and alluring, exuding a unique charm that was different from the women of the Central Plains.

  Yao Jia smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is a gift that my king has specially sent to you, in addition to the national gifts, to express my king's respect for you." He then pointed at the two golden-haired and blue-eyed beauties and said: "These two women are still from the White Di tribe, extremely rare in the Central Plains."

  The Baidi tribe was a branch of the Di tribe, originally mainly distributed in the northern part of ancient Yongzhou (now northern Shaanxi). After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, it had always been a major threat to the northwest of the Zhou Dynasty. The women of the Baidi tribe were known for their tall stature, white skin like jade, and some even had golden hair and green eyes, which were very famous among the various states. However, after the establishment of the Qin state, the Baidi tribe could not withstand the attack of the Qin state and split into two branches, one moving westward, while the other merged with the Rong tribe. Therefore, the beauties of the Baidi tribe became fewer and fewer, and the golden-haired and green-eyed beauties of the Baidi tribe were even more rare.

  King Zhao Xiang was originally fond of beautiful women. Although there were already many beauties in the palace, and also many other foreign beauties, but the beauties from Qin State were not many, especially the beauties from the White Di tribe had never been seen before. Moreover, Qin State repeatedly showed goodwill and returned the twelve cities south of Zhang River to Zhao State, which made King Zhao Xiang completely lose his vigilance against Qin State. At this time, King Zhao Xiang's heart was itchy, he only wanted to bring these ten beauties into the harem immediately, and savor them carefully, to taste the flavor of the legendary White Di beauties.

  If it were in the court of Zhao, King Xiang would have already turned back to the palace with a flick of his sleeve. In the past, King Xiang had done such things many times. However, now that he was facing the Qin envoy, King Xiang couldn't help but put on a show, so he patiently said: "Since it's the good intention of the King of Qin, I will humbly accept it, Prime Minister Guo."

  "Your servant is here."

  King Zhao said, "Let you host a banquet on my behalf and entertain the Qin envoys well. Dismissed." After finishing speaking, he didn't even wait for his ministers to respond and hastily left the throne, heading towards the rear palace. The eunuchs also tactfully led the ten beautiful women from Qin into the rear palace.

  At this time, Guo Kai turned to the crowd and said: "Everyone, the king has already ordered the retreat of the court, let's disperse." Then he bowed to Yao Jia and said: "Yao sir, please come to my humble abode for a visit, so that I can substitute for the king to entertain you."

  Yao Jia smiled all over his face and said: "In that case, we will have to trouble Minister Guo."

  Dividing line Dividing line

  "What? Does the Qin state really plan to return the twelve cities of Zhangnan to Zhao?" After listening to Li Mu's words, Gao Yuan was also extremely surprised, and he could hardly believe his own ears.

  Li Mu also smiled bitterly and said, "I don't believe that Qin has such good intentions either, but Yao Jia's words are convincing, and besides, he wants to wait until the handover of the twelve cities in Zhangnan is completed before returning to Qin. It doesn't seem like a lie after all."

  Gao Yuan was also somewhat bewildered, and at this point, he couldn't figure out what Qin Guo was thinking. Could it be that they really wanted to make peace with Zhao Guo? It seemed like there was no such thing in history. After Qin Guo destroyed Han Guo, the second one they destroyed was Zhao Guo. Although he had been in this era for more than four months, overall, the general trend of history hadn't changed much, and it shouldn't have appeared with such an unexpected turn of events.

  Li Yinghong said: "Won't it be like what Mr. Chunyu said? Now that Qin has just obtained the land of Han, it needs to stabilize and also guard against Chu; moreover, the two counties of Longxi and Beidi have been suffering from severe drought for several months, with tens of thousands of refugees, and Empress Dowager Huayang has passed away. With these three reasons combined, it is normal for Qin to want to rest for a few years."

  Li Mu listened and also sank into thought for a moment before saying: "Gao Yuan, what's your take on this?"

  Gao Yuan shook his head and said, "If it's just these three reasons, I don't think they are valid. Korea has indeed just been destroyed, but the remaining territory of Korea is not much, and it's not too difficult to manage. The appointment of Changping Jun and Han Teng by Qin Guo to guard the Korean land is enough to guarantee the stability of the Korean land. As for worrying about Chu Guo, it's even more absurd. Although Chu Guo doesn't fawn over Qin Guo like Qi Guo does, in recent decades, it has been content with its current situation and won't take the initiative to attack Qin Guo."

  Li Muzhou said: "What about the severe drought in Qin State? Isn't that a valid reason?"

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Although Qin is indeed affected by the disaster, its territory is several times that of our Zhao state. Even if two counties are affected, it will not have a significant impact on Qin. Moreover, since the completion of the Zhengguo Canal, the entire Guanzhong region has become a fertile land with almost no years of disaster. Adding to this, Qin already possesses the rich and prosperous lands of Ba and Shu, so even if only two counties are affected, Qin's wealth will be more than enough to cope with it, and it will not hinder our campaign against Zhao at all. On the contrary, this drought has a much greater impact on our Zhao state than on Qin. If I were the ruler of Qin, I would definitely seize this opportunity. As for the death of Queen Hua Yang, it will only be an even less likely reason to stop Qin from sending troops."

  Li Mu also nodded, although according to the Zhou Li, during the mourning period, troops should not be used, but firstly, now that the rites are in disarray and no one takes rituals seriously, and Qin is the strongest country in the world, but it has never been a country of etiquette; secondly, there is also the saying "when an enemy country is in mourning, attack it with troops" in military strategy. When an enemy country takes advantage of the mourning period to launch a surprise attack, even a country that observes rituals cannot help but stand up and fight back. Therefore, over time, a "mourning attire dyed with ink" ritual has also been formed, and military campaigns can be launched during the mourning period.

  Ning Que said: "Is it possible that the next target of Qin is not Zhao, but Wei or Chu, so they made peace with us to stabilize our country first."

  Gao Yuan shook his head and said, "I think it won't happen. Currently, among all the countries, only our Zhao State has the ability to contend with Qin State, and only Zhao State can reorganize the alliance to resist Qin. Therefore, except for the extremely weak Han State, Qin State will first deal with Zhao State. If Qin State abandons Zhao State and attacks other states, it will only give Zhao State time to breathe and recover its strength, then counterattack Qin State again. Or, reorganize the alliance to resist Qin once more. Who knows, if Qin State accidentally loses one or two battles, all previous achievements might be lost. Moreover, Qin State's destruction of Han State is to cut off the connection between north and south, preparing for an attack on Zhao State."

  Li Yinghong was somewhat puzzled and said: "Then why does the State of Qin want to make peace with our State of Zhao? And also return all twelve cities south of Zhang River to our State of Zhao?"

  Gao Yuan Dao: "I think there are only two possibilities. One is that something major has happened within Qin, which we don't know about, and it's affecting their plans, so they have to negotiate with us Zhao. However, this possibility is small because currently Qin's internal politics are stable, the civil and military officials are in harmony, and King Qin Zheng is at the peak of his power, so it's unlikely that something major we don't know about has happened. The second possibility is that Qin wants to use this negotiation to stabilize us Zhao, make us relax our guard, and then launch a surprise attack on Zhao."

  Li Mu nodded and said, "Only this reason can barely make sense. However, as long as we remain vigilant against Qin State and continue to grasp the war tightly, preparing to defend against Qin State's attack, in this way, with an unchanging response to all changes, is our best approach for now."