Chapter 67: Double Happiness Arrives

  Zhao State, city of Bo people.

  Bo People are north of Zhongshan, east of Zhangshui River, and less than 200 miles south is the capital city of Zhao State, Handan. In order to eliminate the state of Zhongshan, Zhao Guo was exhausted, after all, Zhongshan Guo is located in the heart of Zhao Guo, repeatedly destroyed and repeatedly revived, like a timed bomb. Bo People's town developed greatly at this time, and now it is the second largest city in Zhao State, next only to Handan.

  Huang Bo and his entourage had been staying in Bai Ren for a whole ten days. For these ten days, they went out early and returned late, searching for someone, but every day's search ended in vain. As the Crown Prince's advisor, Huang Bo put aside a large pile of important matters and traveled thousands of miles to find a person he had never heard of in Bai Ren, all because of one of the Crown Prince's dreams.

  When Taizi Ran was still on his expedition and had not returned to Xinzheng, he sent someone 800 miles in a hurry to rush back to the Taizi Mansion, ordering Huang Bo to immediately lead people to search for a person named Li Mu in Bai Ren Township. In the letter, Taizi Ran said that this person was entrusted by the gods to himself in a dream and would be of great use in Korea.

  In this way, Huang Bo mysteriously began his journey of wind and rain, sleeping under the stars. Who was Li Muo, how old was he, where did he live in the city or countryside, Huang Bo knew nothing about these things. In a city with a population of 150,000 people, finding someone who only knew the name was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But the prince had ordered it, and Huang Bo could only do his best.

  The crown prince knew that finding Li Mu was difficult, but at least going to find him still had a glimmer of hope; if he didn't go to find him, then there would be no hope at all. When attacking Yiyang, the crown prince began to think about which other wise ministers and famous generals could be recovered, and Li Mu's name came up in this way.

  But the prince was not sure if Li Mu had already pledged allegiance to Zhao, so when he parted with Lian Po, the prince casually asked if there were any young generals in Zhao named Li of the Ying clan. Lian Po, unaware of his intentions, honestly replied that "he hadn't heard of any newly risen young talents in the army with the surname Li of the Ying clan".

  The prince's heart was delighted, but his face remained calm and expressionless, skillfully changing the subject. After sending away Lian Po's army, Prince Yan calculated in his heart. According to historical records, in 244 BC, Li Mu led the army to defeat the Xiongnu. More than a decade ago, Li Mu was appointed as a high-ranking official in charge of defending Yumen and Yunzhong prefectures. By normal logic, he should be around thirty or forty years old, or even older. Now, it's possible that he has grown up and joined the army, or maybe he was just born. For this famous general who had defeated the strong Qin state, Prince Yan sincerely admired him. What a talent! It would be strange if he didn't like him!

  The crown prince had already made up his mind, if he was in the military at this time, then let his advisor Huang Bo use a divisive strategy to make him feel uncomfortable inside, and finally when he became disheartened and quit the army, throw out an olive branch.

  If he was unfortunately just born, then establish a good relationship first. As for bringing him back to Korea to develop, Taesan is not considering it for now. A famous general also needs an environment to grow, who knows if he will become ordinary after coming to Korea, Taesan doesn't want to take this risk. Of course, what Taesan hopes most is that Li Mu will soon come of age and join the army, this is the most convenient way. But as for what situation it will be, only heaven can decide.

  After the blood oath, the rulers of the three states of Han, Zhao and Wei stayed in Xiangguo for another five days before returning to their respective countries. When they parted ways, Zhao's senior minister Lian Po repeatedly invited Prince Rang to visit Handan when he had time, pulling him along and talking incessantly. This was actually a touching moment, but it made people who didn't know the situation think that the two men were overly affectionate with each other.

  Lian Po was so moved because he was enfeoffed by King Zhao as the Lord of Xinping. It should be known that Lian Po was a general from the border regions. In Zhao, a general from the border regions could rise to important positions through his military achievements, but it was very difficult for him to be enfeoffed and become a noble.

  With this great victory over the Qin army and the expansion of territory by 500 miles, Lian Po finally achieved his wish to be granted the title of Lord. Lian Po knew better than anyone that if it weren't for Prince Dan's series of clever strategies, he would have won but wouldn't have been able to become a lord. To be sure, before this, he had also made great achievements in defeating the Donghu and recovering the Dai Commandery, but was only rewarded with some money.

  In fact, the Crown Prince knew that if it weren't for this "butterfly" stirring its wings, Lian Po would still be in a awkward position of being visible but not valued. It wasn't until the Battle of Changping where Zhao was defeated and Yan took advantage of the situation to invade, that Lian Po relied on his great achievement of defeating 600,000 Yan soldiers to barely become a lord.

  At the same time, Zhao She, who had a distant blood relationship with the royal family of Zhao, was granted the title of Marquis of Maofu after only one battle in Yanmen. Feng Ting, the governor of Shangdang in Han, and Zheng Anshi, a surrendered general from Qin, were respectively granted the titles of Huayang Jun and Wuyang Jun when they defected to Zhao. The nobility of Zhao discriminated against ministers of humble origin.

  What is meant by "remembering without forgetting" must have a response. Just as the Crown Prince Ze followed King Hui of Han back to Xinzheng, a messenger from a thousand miles away also brought back news about Fan Ju.

  "What? There is news about Fan Yu? Quickly bring the messenger in." The crown prince, upon hearing that there was a messenger outside seeking an audience, immediately ordered the mid-servant to bring the messenger in.

  "Hurry! Tell me! How is Sir?" The crown prince asked eagerly as soon as he saw Fan Yi's envoy.

  "Your Highness, please be at ease. Mr. Zhang is safe and sound. This is a letter from Mr. Zhang to Your Highness." The messenger pulled out the letter from his inner pocket and presented it with both hands.

  The crown prince eagerly unfolded the bamboo slips, and on the bamboo slips, Fan Yi told the crown prince about the rise and fall of his defeat, and said that now Yiqiu has only 30,000 soldiers, and the remaining 300,000 are all old, weak, women and children, who cannot withstand a single battle.

  To avoid the Qin state's impending attack, Fan Yu has persuaded King Yiqu to migrate north of the Great Wall. The area is now inhabited by the Linhu and Loufan tribes, who were expelled from Zhao and are under the command of the Xiongnu Right Wise King. Through kinship ties, Yiqu should be able to merge with the Xiongnu and become one of its tribes.

  In the letter, Fan Yi also suggested to the Crown Prince that Korea could continue to support Yiqiu, enhance its prestige and maintain a good friendship. When Korea expands northward, it may have an unexpected effect. After settling Yiqiu, Fan Yi will return to Xinzheng via Zhao State.

  After finishing the letter, the crown prince pondered for a while before looking up and asking anxiously: "How many guards are still by Mr. Zhang's side now?"

  Fan Yi's letter did not mention any other news, only mentioning how he had diverted the enemy's attention westward after the defeat of the Yiqu army, sowing discord between Qin and the Xiongnu, and thus shaking off the pursuing troops. However, Crown Prince Ran was well aware of the dangers involved, and a slight carelessness would be playing with fire. The guards he had originally assigned to Fan Yi had been greatly reduced after rescuing Yiqu Hong, although he had later supplemented them with some more, but after this great defeat, it was likely that there were not many left.

  "Reporting back to the Crown Prince, according to my humble calculation, Mr. Zhang's guards are now reduced to only ten people."

  "It's too little!" The prince sighed and calculated in his heart, saying: "Too many people are not good for sneaking across the border. This way, I'll arrange another hundred men to go with you to escort Mr. Zhang. No matter what, you must ensure Mr. Zhang returns safely, do you understand?"

  "Yes!" The messenger responded loudly.

  "Zhōngbó." The crown prince said to his steward beside him.

  "The old slave is here!"

  "Take him down! Remember to go to the accounting house and withdraw ten gold coins as a reward for him. Also, let Wei Ze select one hundred clever guards and set out to Saiwai this afternoon."

  "Ah!"

  In the distant city of Bai Ren, Huang Bo's search for someone had also made a major breakthrough. After experiencing several twists and turns, Huang Bo finally found the person Taizi Ran was thinking of, no, that's wrong, it was the wise minister in his dreams. Huang Bo immediately sent someone to inquire about the other party's situation. This young man had just turned eighteen, and apart from being slightly more robust and spirited than his peers, there was nothing particularly special about him. However, after almost turning the entire city of Bai Ren upside down, there was only one person with the surname Ying Shi and the name Mu, it should be him.

  To prevent mistakes, Huang Bo still sent a subordinate who could speak the Zhao dialect to pretend to be an escaped refugee passing by Li's house, borrowing the opportunity to ask for water and get a chance to communicate and probe. After getting familiar with each other, Huang Bo's subordinate began to tell his own tragic experience, and as he spoke, he started talking about the current state of affairs. Later, he made some reckless comments on the current situation in the world and the recent Battle of Wild King, intentionally revealing many flaws in his words, and more of them were slandering Zhao Guo's personnel system. The young and vigorous Li Mu really fell for it, immediately refuting one by one, with well-reasoned arguments and insightful views.

  Huang Bo then believed that the other party was indeed the Li Mu he had been searching for. He immediately revealed his identity, saying that he was the Crown Prince of Korea, Han Ran's Taizi Zhan Shi, and that he had traveled thousands of miles to come to Bai Ren just to find Li Mu. Li Mu was the virtuous minister destined by heaven for Crown Prince Ran; otherwise, even a god would not have appeared in a dream to inform him that there was such a person in Bai Ren.

  In this era, people still have a lot of reverence for ghosts and gods. Li Mu's family was not prominent, just an ordinary citizen, while the other party was the Crown Prince of Korea, it was indeed impossible to be bored enough to travel thousands of miles to play with himself. Moreover, Zhao Guo was indeed as the "refugee" said earlier, excluding people from humble backgrounds. If Li Mu stayed in Zhao Guo, without a good opportunity, he would inevitably find it difficult to stand out. Now that there is such a good opportunity, Li Mu is indeed eager to give it a try.

  Huang Bo immediately took out 100 jin of gold, indicating that he knew Li Mu's father was bedridden and unable to move. This 100 jin of gold was intended for the medical expenses of Li Mu's father. After a period of recuperation, the Crown Prince would gather famous doctors from all over the world to diagnose Li Mu's father. Then, another 100 jin of gold was taken out, saying that this 100 jin of gold was for Li Mu's family to settle down. He also told Li Mu that the Crown Prince was looking forward to Li Mu serving Korea and had already purchased a house and servants for Li Mu's family in Xinzhen, a prosperous city, which they could move into at any time.

  Seeing Huang Bo's sincerity, Li Mu's mother and son were already very moved, but they still asked for the opinion of Li Mu's father who was ill. After obtaining his consent, Li Mu finally made up his mind to return to South Korea.

  (Thank you for the rewards from Lingqueqinming, Senlin52115 and 0Xinsheng0! Rolling around to ask for recommendations and collections!)