Chapter 14: The Peace Negotiations between Han and Wei

  Handan, Zhao State, inside Pingyuan Jun's mansion, Zhao Sheng and Lin Xiangru were chatting happily.

  After the meeting at Ping Pool, Lin Xiangru was promoted to Shangqing due to his merits and officially entered the core decision-making level of Zhao State. Especially since Lin Xiangru was humble and had gained the trust of King Zhao, Zhao Sheng naturally wanted to associate with him.

  "Lord Lin, at present the war in Huayang has resulted in the loss of 20,000 elite troops. The king is furious and intends to raise an army to attack Han. Although we managed to stop him with great difficulty, the military's opinion is very strong! You also know the king's temperament, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be another unexpected event. What can be done about this?" Zhao Sheng sighed deeply.

  These days, the imperial court has been debating whether to send troops to conquer Korea, and both of them are under great pressure.

  Originally, Zhao State just wanted to unite with Wei State to take down Huayang and force Han State to form an alliance. Who would have thought that such a big twist would occur in the middle?

  In accordance with King Zhao's temperament of not wanting to suffer losses, if he doesn't force Korea to surrender, it would be inconsistent with the image of a great power like Zhao. But if things really go that way, then forming an alliance will be difficult to predict.

  "Now that the opportunity has been lost and Qin has made preparations, it will be difficult to attack Korea again." Xiangru also sighed.

  The Qin state is becoming increasingly aggressive, the Chu state has already fallen, and next it will be the turn of Zhao. Must we take the initiative to attack and consolidate our outermost defense line?

  The two had also communicated with Lian Po and Lü Buwei, and the unified conclusion they reached was that if they engaged in an all-out war with the Qin army, their chances of winning would be less than 30%.

  A 30% chance is still too low!

  Just as they were at a loss for what to do, one of Zhao Sheng's personal bodyguards hastily ran up to him and whispered something in his ear.

  "What? The Korean Prime Minister Jang Pyeong has come to Zhao Guo?" Zhao Sheng exclaimed.

  Four hundred miles outside Handan, a diplomatic mission from Han to Zhao had just entered the city of Bo.

  Looking at the majestic city in front of him, Zhang Ping couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  The former Wei State was left with only the city of Puyang, and the title of its ruler was downgraded from Marquis to Viscount. It could only survive by relying on Zhao State. If Zhang Ping knew that decades later, the six states would perish, and Qin Shi Huang did not destroy his state because of its weakness, I wonder what he would think.

  After moving into the inn, Zhang Ping rubbed his sore shoulders and calmed down again, thinking about this trip to Handan.

  Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng, Chancellor Li Dui are must-go places. If time permits, Lin Xiangru's side also needs to be moved. These three people are all red men in front of King Zhao of Zhao, especially Li Dui, who has saved King Zhao's life.

  This has to start from the issue of Zhao's successor.

  Zhao Guo's original crown prince Zhao Zhang was 10 years older than Zhao Huiwen Wang, and he was brave and had many strategies, with military achievements, and had been in the position of crown prince for a long time, so he had many followers.

  It turned out that King Wuling of Zhao later obtained Wu Wa and loved her very much, and for this reason he did not leave the palace of Wu Wa for several years. After Wu Wa gave birth to a son named Zhao He, King Wuling deposed Crown Prince Zhang and established Zhao He as king, calling himself "Master Father".

  After Wu's death, the emperor's love for Zhao also relaxed, and he again favored Crown Prince Zhang. He even planned to divide the empire among his sons, creating the Principality of Dai out of half of the Principality of Yan and recreating the extinguished Principality of Zhongshan, making his oldest son king of Dai.

  In this way, two sons were established as kings. However, the Lord Father was afraid of causing a split in Zhao and hesitated.

  In the fourth year of King Huiwen (295 BC), Zichu and King Huiwen went to Shaqiu for a tour, staying in two separate palaces. Gongzi Zhang thought it was time, so he used his followers and Tian Buli to create chaos, pretending to pass on orders from Zichu to summon King Huiwen.

  Xiang Guo Fei Yi suspected treachery, so he first sent troops to investigate and left elite soldiers to guard King Huiwen. Gongzi Zhang mistakenly shot at the vice chariot, and the famous minister Fei Yi was assassinated.

  The strategy of capturing the king before capturing the bandit failed, and Gongzi Zhang led his troops to fight against King Huiwen's guards, but the palace defense was tight and could not be taken down for a long time.

  Several days later, Gongzi Cheng and General Li Dui led troops from Handan to rescue the king, killing Tian Bo Li. Zhao Zhang fled to the Shaoqiu Palace where Lord Zhao's mother lived, but was accepted by King Wuling of Zhao, who however had him killed.

  Prince Chen and Li Dui feared revenge from King Wu of Zhao, so they continued to besiege the palace at Sand Hill, causing King Wu to starve to death. This is what became known in history as the "Sand Hill Disaster".

  After the change, Gongzi Cheng was appointed as the State Minister by King Huiwen, titled Anping Jun, with Li Dui as the Sima (in charge of punishment and inspection). After Gongzi Cheng's death, Li Dui became the State Minister, ranking above Pingyuan Jun.

  Li Dui thus began his own career as a noble, being enfeoffed as the Lord of Fengyang and for a time dominated the situation in Zhao.

  Although Li Dui is now over 70 years old and his body is not as good as before, he is in a semi-retired state. However, no one can deny that even so, Li Dui still has great influence in Zhao Guo.

  The State of Wei, the residence of Lord Xinling. Wei Wuji was negotiating with Chen Zhen, a guest minister from the State of Han.

  At the court today, when Chen Zhuoliang took out the bamboo slips written by Mangyao, and confirmed that there were indeed 80,000 surrendered soldiers in the hands of Korea, the King of Wei got angry and left with a flick of his sleeve.

  This is almost all of the elite forces of Wei State. Now, there are only about 10,000 elite soldiers in Daliang. If we don't agree to form an alliance with Han State, it's inevitable that Daliang will suffer from war.

  The King of Wei had never suffered such humiliation before, so he naturally didn't have a good expression towards Chen Zhu.

  At present, Wei Wujin is the plenipotentiary representative of King Wei.

  "Qing Chen, aren't you asking for too much?" Prince Xinling smiled wryly and put down the bamboo slips in his hand.

  On the bamboo slips, it was clearly written that a common Wei army deserter would be exchanged for six shi of millet, Shi Chang ten shi of millet, belonging to Chang twenty shi, Bo Chang forty shi, Qianren Jiang one hundred shi, and Xiajun Suo above friendship price five hundred shi per person. In total, there were more than 600,000 shi of millet.

  "Gentlemen, this price is really not high." Chen Ping leisurely looked at the Prince of Xinling and then began to calculate the account.

  "Your country has unjustly invaded our Hua Yang, and the 100,000 mu of good farmland outside the city alone have caused Korea a loss of 300,000 dan."

  The Prince of Xinling felt a crow flying over his head, and said to his sister: "We are marching on the ridges of the fields, which is also damaging the good fields. You have 160,000 households in Huaiyang City, with only 2 million mu of land, how can we possibly damage half of your land at once?"

  "We rescued Huayang and lost 5,000 soldiers. My king is benevolent, each family of the deceased can receive 60 dan of millet as compensation, just for the consolation of the soldiers we will spend 3 million dan. Adding to that the rewards for those with merit, assistance for the wounded, our expenses from this one battle exceed the price of 6 million dan of millet." Chen Zhuo looked like he was in a state of utmost distress.

  "Prince Xinling, if it weren't for the fact that our two countries are both part of the Three Jin and are about to form an alliance, this price would have to be at least doubled!"

  Wei Wuji was speechless again, it was also his first time hearing that soldiers who died in battle could receive compensation.

  In Wei's case, only when soldiers died in battle would the country not make any statement. In most cases, merits were rewarded, but if they died in battle, their bodies would be abandoned in the wilderness, and even the families of the deceased would not be notified.

  Originally, Korea was the same. However, after the Battle of Hwangyang, Crown Prince Yeon carried out his promise and the families of those who died in battle received 60 seok of millet as compensation, which was enough for a family of five to farm for five years. Although it was much worse than the treatment later on, in an era where human life was like grass, he bought the hearts of all soldiers at once.

  For those seriously injured and disabled, Prince Yan also plans to organize them into agricultural farms or military workshops according to their skills. Of course, it is currently just an idea.

  But apparently, Crown Prince Yeong has decided to thoroughly change Korea's soldier consolation system.

  These words are what Chen Ping would not say. The primary goal of this diplomatic mission is to form an alliance with the State of Wei. As for war reparations, King of Han did not pay much attention to it.

  As long as Wei State is willing to surrender, nothing else matters. However, the Crown Prince Yan, who had accepted later generations' ideas, instructed Chen Xuan to set a price of no less than 300,000 dan of millet.

  Then came several days of haggling over prices.

  After confirming that Korea had indeed paid a high compensation for the death of its soldiers, Prince Xinling also felt embarrassed to continue holding out. Moreover, with the recent frequent mobilization of Korean troops, the Wei state, which had lost its main force, really did not have the energy to resist, so Prince Xinling asked King Wei and finally agreed to redeem the 80,000 surrendered soldiers captured by the Korean army at a price of 450,000 stones of millet. Enough for three months' rations for 300,000 people.

  The greatest obstacle to peace between the two countries has been removed, and in the next few days a treaty will be drawn up and proclaimed to the world.

  Fan Zuo has been very happy recently. On the one hand, his old rival Mang Mao was completely defeated, and on the other hand, King Wei announced that he had been promoted to Prime Minister.

  These days, Fan's mansion has been crowded with guests, and the sound of carriages and horses can be heard. The smile on Fan's face has never been seen before. Although Wei State suffered a great defeat, what does it have to do with him? As long as he can keep his wealth and nobility in this life, no matter how much Wei State is bullied by other countries, it has nothing to do with him.

  The prince was very satisfied with such results.

  Fan Yi had already been secretly sent to Xinzheng by himself. This trip to Daliang was indeed very rewarding.

  Since the decision to reform and strengthen the country was made, Prince Yan didn't rush back to Xinzheng. Rarely having free time, he took advantage of the two countries drafting a treaty to continue "not doing his job" in Daliang City, wandering between taverns and tea houses.

  There is currently much controversy among the people about this peace treaty between Han and Wei.

  Some people think that this move greatly hurt the dignity of Wei, after all, from beginning to end, the national strength of Korea was not as good as that of Wei. Now, out of the blue, being beaten by a country that is not as good as one's own, with a bloody head, especially since Korea used a despicable sneak attack, the people of Wei were furious and humiliated.

  There are still people who think that making peace is a wise choice, after all, the lives of the 80,000-strong Wei army are in the hands of the Koreans. As for face, today's Wei state is not the Wenhou era, nor is it the Huiwang era, and has long passed the days of unimpeded dominance.

  When they heard the news of Han and Wei forming an alliance, no one was more delighted than the families of the captured soldiers.

  Originally, the people were worried that the King of Wei was young and vigorous, refusing to compromise. Unexpectedly, the King of Wei was so considerate of the people, actually willing to use 450,000 stones of millet to exchange for the lives of 80,000 soldiers.

  For the time being, the reputation of the King of Wei has increased rather than decreased.

  On this day, Prince Yan was strolling through the market in Daliang when he was suddenly drawn to a commotion up ahead.

  The guard quickly followed up, and in the past few days, he had also figured out his master's temper. That is to say, what the prince wanted to do couldn't be stopped, and he could only be doubly careful and strictly prevent accidents.

  As he walked closer, the prince suddenly found that several rascals were harassing an old woman. Judging from her appearance, she should be selling vegetables to supplement her family's income, but she didn't understand the rules of the market and hadn't paid "protection fees" to the local tyrants, which led to a dispute between the two sides.

  "Old woman, I advise you to behave yourself and hand over three knife coins quietly. Otherwise, I don't mind teaching you the rules here." said a burly man with a ferocious face.

  Three knives are enough for a family of four to eat for four days, isn't this taking the old woman's life?

  The old woman was visibly shaking with fear, but still bravely protected the vegetables behind her. The people around were discussing and occasionally condemning these hooligans. However, the hooligans just gave a sideways glance, and several young men who wanted to come out and reason with them immediately retreated.

  "The old woman has already paid the market tax, please spare the old woman!" The old lady begged bitterly.

  "Dead wife, don't toast and not drink, you'll be punished with a fine. You also didn't ask around, our Tiger Brother's reputation is well-known in this area. Collecting three knife coins from you is giving you face, if it were someone else, they would have collected twenty or thirty knife coins."

  His subordinates praised him so much that he seemed very proud. It seems that he is the so-called Tiger Brother.

  "Wang Hu is also too ignorant of etiquette, not even sparing a 70-year-old elderly woman. This old lady's son died in battle, her daughter-in-law remarried, and only one grandson was left to depend on each other for survival, it's really not easy!" said a knowledgeable passerby A.

  "Yes! Old Mrs. Wang is a fair and honest businesswoman, really a good person. Otherwise, we can go to the government office to file a complaint?" suggested passerby B.

  "It's useless to argue. Wang Hu is the brother of the 18th concubine of the Taishan Mountain, otherwise how dare he be so openly domineering in the market? He has a powerful backer." Passerby C immediately retorted.

  Everyone saw that they dared to be angry but did not dare speak, and the prince was about to let the guards pay protection fees for the old woman. A voice suddenly rang out: "Wang Hu, under the bright sky, do you still have any king's law in your eyes?"

  "Now things are getting better, Zhu Tihu has arrived. The old woman is saved." Passersby looked at the big man walking towards them. They saw that this big man was nine feet tall, with a leopard-like head and piercing eyes, and had a robust physique.

  "Zhu Hai, mind your own business." Wang Hu's expression changed slightly, but he countered sharply.

  Zhu Hai heard this and instead of getting angry, he burst out laughing and said: "I've always loved to take up the cause of the oppressed. This matter is now settled. What can you do about it?"

  Just when everyone thought the two would start a big fight at any moment, Wang Hu suddenly became cowardly.

  "You wait for me, I'll make sure you can't survive in this city." With that, Wang Hu brought his men and fled in disarray.

  That's where Wang Hu's wisdom lies.

  He knew that Zhu Hai's strength was boundless, and now even if he added his own strength together, he still wouldn't be a match for him. Forcing himself to continue would only lead to him getting beaten up, and losing even more face in the process.

  But Wang Hu had made up his mind, and vowed to repay today's grievances a hundred times over. He hastily rushed to the governor's mansion to find his sister and pour out his complaints.

  Zhu Hai just smiled and comforted the crying old woman. The crowd saw that the excitement was over, and they dispersed one after another.

  The prince seemed to be thinking for a moment, but then walked up to Zhu Hei and signaled the guards to give the old woman the hundred or so knife coins on his body to calm her down.

  After the old woman left with gratitude, the prince called out to Zhu He who was about to leave and asked: "Having offended Wang Hu, I wonder what plans does Zhu have?"

  Zhu Hai was slightly surprised, but burst out laughing: "What else can be done? It's just finding another way to make a living. The capital is big enough, isn't there still room for Zhu to stand?"

  The prince smiled and said, "A brave warrior is indeed bold and unrestrained. However, having offended Wang Hu, there will inevitably be some minor troubles in the end. I see that you have excellent martial arts skills, but they are wasted in this mundane world - what a pity! Rather than being trapped in this small world of Daliang, why not leap into the vast ocean and soar through the forest? If you're willing, I have a good place for you to fully utilize your talents."

  Zhu Hai was secretly vigilant, as the saying goes, "shallow interactions and deep words" is a great taboo.

  When meeting for the first time, the other party is so friendly, it's hard to guarantee that there isn't some ulterior motive.

  Seeing Zhu Hai's expression, the Crown Prince knew he had been too hasty.

  Just remembered that Zhu Hai was also a formidable figure, when the Prince of Xinling stole the token to rescue Zhao, he killed Jin Bi, who was once the number one brave general of Wei State, and his martial arts skills can be seen from this.

  When he surrendered to Xiang Yu, Zhu Heng was just a butcher on the streets.

  Thinking of this, Taizi Ran sighed that the unscrupulous are often among those who have read books, and many men of ambition are buried in the wilderness.

  Considering that if he couldn't gain the other's trust, the subsequent conversation would be unnecessary. So the prince took off the jade pendant from his waist to reveal his identity.

  In this era, people of different identities wearing jade pendants are extremely particular. Like the jade pendant worn by Prince Yan, a discerning person can see that it is extraordinary at a glance, and even an ordinary citizen can distinguish between good and bad.

  Fortunately, Zhu Hai recognized at a glance that this was a jade pendant that only direct descendants of the royal family could wear, so the subsequent conversation was pleasant for both host and guest.

  A man who is unwilling to be ordinary, a man who loves and appreciates talented people. How can such an encounter not spark off fireworks?!

  Under the influence of Taizi Ran's words "A great man should wield a three-foot sword, achieve merit in distant lands, how can he be willing to live and die under the eaves, ending his life as a rotten Confucian?", Zhu He agreed to serve Taizi Ran.

  Two days later, the alliance was drafted. Wei formally declared an alliance with Han, and the two countries turned from enemies to friends at a speed that shocked the world.