Chapter 717: Treat Him Better

Zhao Country, King's Palace.

The Zhao Wang stood in front of the desk, staring at the map covering the entire desk.

This map was actually a spiritual treasure. At this moment, images of mountains and rivers were shining on it, which was a concrete and micro-world. It was south to the Zhao country and north to the Northern Frontier.

The Zhao Wang reached out and pointed at the map, saying: "For half a year, Wei Yuan has been transporting weapons and supplies to the Northern Shanmen. Although not many people have gone, the flying boats are continuous, which shows that his focus has shifted to the north.

It's just that the Liao tribe is powerful, and there is no change in the situation on the northern line. The 2 million troops of the Western Jin Ying King and Cheng King are nailed to the north and cannot move. As long as they dare to withdraw troops to the south, Northern Liao can immediately hit the city of Yingdu."

In the study, three princes, two princesses, and seven or eight important officials were listening quietly.

The Zhao Wang's hand drew on the map and said again: "I have secretly checked the 80,000 people on the southern line of Western Jin once. The actual number of people is only 40,000, and the military equipment is loose, the generals are incompetent, and there may not even be 10,000 who can fight. As long as we send 30,000 elites, we can penetrate the entire southern part of Western Jin."

A young prince stepped forward and said loudly: "This son is willing to share the worries for the Father King! As long as you give me 100,000 elites, I have the confidence to beat Western Jin to pieces!"

The Zhao Wang didn't even lift his head and said: "The brothers and sisters haven't spoken yet, is it your turn?"

The young prince retreated in shame, lowering his head and not daring to speak.

The Zhao Wang suddenly frowned slightly and said to himself: "Lu Ming, this old guy, was quite difficult to deal with when he was young. Not long ago, the crown prince seized power, and the situation was won, but he actually turned it around. Did he just put the entire south in front of me? If there are still elite soldiers hidden, where would he put them?"

Everyone was silent, knowing that the Zhao Wang had already made up his mind, just making the final consideration.

Finally, the Zhao Wang reached out and pointed at the map, saying: "Draft a letter to Lu Ming, first list his seven major crimes, and then demand that he cede two counties in the south. As long as he is willing to hand over the two counties, then my Great Zhao's 500,000 iron cavalry will not attack Western Jin, but go north to the grassland to help him compete with Northern Liao!"

"Father King, absolutely not!" A princess changed color and said: "Western Jin is empty, we can completely defeat their southern army with a very low price. How many counties can we get by then? This is a god-given opportunity!

If the Jin King agrees to this condition, we will not only get two counties, but also have to go north to help them resist the Liao tribe. The Liao tribe does not border us, and the land we fight down will not reach our hands. Isn't this making wedding clothes for others? And if we defeat Northern Liao, the land they get may be more than two counties."

The Zhao Wang seemed quite doting on this little princess, just looked at her, did not get angry, and then said to a civil official: "Draft the decree."

The Zhao Wang said so, which meant the idea was decided, and no one dared to question it.

The old official immediately drafted a decree on the table next to him, listing thirteen major crimes of the Jin King in one breath. The Zhao Wang crossed out a few of them, merged them into seven deadly sins, and stamped the jade seal.

Wei Yuan saw the Jin King again in the King's Palace. This was the first time he walked into the Jin King's study.

The study was actually not big. In the center, there was a desk, and on the shelves on both sides of the wall were various classics and official documents.

The Jin King was reviewing the memorials. On the desk were two high piles of official documents, one side was waiting to be approved, and the other was already approved.

Wei Yuan walked into the study, and Zhao Tong retreated.

The Jin King did not stop, and Wei Yuan did not disturb him, watching the Jin King review the memorials quietly.

The Jin King read the memorials quite fast, and approved them quite fast. But occasionally there would be long contemplation, and then a long instruction, which was quite serious.

After a while, he approved more than a dozen memorials in one breath. The Jin King looked at the high pile of memorials with reluctance. Only then did he put down the official business in his hand and said: "When I first ascended to the throne, it was like this every day, approving more than 600 memorials a day. Just now I seemed to have returned to my youth. It is true that I have to be busy to feel better."

"The Great King is diligent in government, and should also cherish his body." Wei Yuan said.

The Jin King was stunned, then laughed loudly and said: "How did you become so good at speaking? How did I hear that your Tianqing Hall lineage doesn't need more than three sentences to have a feud with others?"

Wei Yuan's expression remained unchanged and his heart didn't jump: "That is a rumor in the Jianghu, it cannot be taken seriously."

The Jin King laughed and said: "You really don't say, although that sentence just now was fake, it sounds comfortable."

Subsequently, the Jin King's smile faded and he said: "This time I summoned you to see me, there is one question. If the Zhao country comes to commit a crime, how do you prepare to deal with it?"

Wei Yuan knew that there should be this part, and had long been prepared, so he said: "The Fourth Prince of Zhao established the Bishui Domain on the border of Qingming and has heavy troops. If Jin and Zhao go to war, I will first attack the Bishui Domain, but I will not be in a hurry to take it down, so that the Zhao country will constantly send troops to save it

After the Prince of Jin finished laughing, he said, "You really shouldn't say that; although that sentence just now was fake, it sounded comfortable to hear."

Subsequently, the Prince of Jin's smile vanished, and he said, "This time, I summoned you to see me because I have a question: if Zhao Guo invades, how do you plan to respond?"

Wei Yuan had anticipated this and was already prepared, so he said immediately, "The Fourth Prince of Zhao has established the Green Water Domain at the border of Qingming and has stockpiled heavy troops there. If Jin and Zhao go to war, I will first attack the Green Water Domain, but I will not be in a hurry to take it down, so that Zhao Guo will continuously send troops to rescue it, sharing the burden for Great Jin."

The Prince of Jin's expression remained unchanged as he placed a letter in front of Wei Yuan and said, "This is a letter Li Shenji gave me this morning. Take a look."

Wei Yuan opened the letter and read it, naturally skimming over the Seven Deadly Sins. Whether it was seven sins, nine sins, or eighty-one sins, it was nothing more than rounding up a number to make it sound good; it had no great significance. Wei Yuan then read the conditions at the back several times before putting the letter down.

"What do you think?" the Prince of Jin asked.

Wei Yuan said, "The loss of a prefecture or a county is no big deal. Two prefectures look like a bit much, but the people living there are all Jin citizens; the hearts of the people are directed toward us, and it will be very easy to take them back later. But if we let the Zhao army go north to resist the Liao, it is equivalent to opening a gap for Zhao Guo to travel freely through the territory of Great Jin. The regions on both sides of the passage will no longer be surnamed Jin."

"The hearts of the people are directed toward us?" The Prince of Jin laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "Do you think I can still have the hearts of the people now?"

Wei Yuan said, "As long as Your Majesty works diligently to govern, allows the people to rest, rectifies the administration, and then wins a battle in the north, the hearts of the people will return immediately."

Wei Yuan spoke of these three things with extreme ease, as if they could be realized immediately. Moreover, he spoke smoothly and naturally, as if he even believed it himself.

Upon hearing this, the Prince of Jin was indeed invigorated, then laughed heartily and said, "Regarding these three things you mentioned, as long as I can accomplish one, I cannot be considered a poor ruler in the history books. You brat, how did you learn to be so slick? Very well, I ask you: if it were you, which of these three things could you accomplish?"

Wei Yuan said, "A great victory in the north. This one is the easiest. Whether we win or not is not important, and it is not even important whether we have fought; as long as we let the common people outside the northern border believe that we have won, that is enough."

The Prince of Jin was also startled and sighed, "You really are daring. Others deceive the monarch, but you deceive the people!"

The Prince of Jin added, "The situation in the south is rotting; how do you plan to handle it?"

Wei Yuan said, "First, transfer the commanders of each legion to the royal capital and detain them so they cannot communicate with the outside. Then, audit the registration of soldiers in each camp and eliminate all empty slots; next, rectify the military equipment, select elite soldiers to train a new army, and redistribute new-style weaponry. To accomplish clearing empty slots and rectifying the military, one needs the authority to execute first and report later, and the number of people who might need to be killed could be large.

Forgive me for saying something unpleasant, but these eight hundred thousand troops in the south are nothing more than eight hundred thousand mouths collecting pay. Without them, the war would actually be easier to fight."

The Prince of Jin said, "Those generals will not let you act so recklessly, and many of them are my relatives."

Wei Yuan said, "These generals are mostly from noble families. If Zhao Guo does not come, they are officials of Great Jin. If Zhao Guo comes, they will transform and become officials of Zhao Guo. Your Majesty's relatives are no exception; perhaps they have even more backup plans.

Precisely because they can serve as officials on both sides, I am certain that many of them would rather surrender than give up the silver from these empty slots they have obtained. Rather than letting them go be carefree officials for Zhao Guo, it is better to execute them on the spot. Kill a few more, and I presume the others will become obedient."

The Prince of Jin was silent for a long time before saying, "Young people truly have ideas; I am truly old."

Wei Yuan found it difficult to respond to this and could only remain silent.

The Prince of Jin did not know what he was thinking. Outside the window, the sun gradually set behind the mountains; the sunset glow was like blood, dyeing the window lattices red and painting the walls vermilion, and even the Prince of Jin's face was smeared with a layer of red.

After a long time, the Prince of Jin said, "I have thought for a long time and intended to hand over the entire southern military affairs to you, but thinking carefully, your seniority is still somewhat insufficient, and you cannot suppress those old men.

How about this: I will let the Ministry of War prioritize purchasing weaponry from Qingming in the future. Then I will issue an edict for you, allowing you to set up trade routes and post stations across the country to shelter refugees. Wherever you want refugees, no place shall be allowed to obstruct you. Although I am old, I still have this bit of authority."

Wei Yuan expressed his gratitude.

This was also something he had been considering; once war breaks out, there will inevitably be refugees everywhere, it just depends on how many he can snatch. With this edict from the Prince of Jin, Wei Yuan could openly deploy troops at key locations throughout the Jin territory. If anyone dared to touch his refugees, Wei Yuan might not dare to take action, but the bandits have always arrived whenever summoned.

After expressing his gratitude, Wei Yuan always felt that the Prince of Jin seemed to have hidden meanings in his words just now, but he could not figure it out for a moment and could only throw it into the "human smoke and fire" to analyze first.

The Prince of Jin tapped the jade chime on the table lightly, and Liu Quangong walked in. The Prince of Jin then instructed, "Take Wei Yuan to the Chunhua Palace."

Liu Quangong's face was calm, and he said, "We shall go now."

Wei Yuan braced himself and followed behind Liu Quangong. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the Prince of Jin call out, "Wei Yuan!" Wei Yuan was already feeling guilty, and he was startled, his heart jumping twice.

Of course, on the surface, no abnormality could be seen in Wei Yuan.

The Prince of Jin added one more instruction: "Prince Fu is still young; you must be good to him."

(End of chapter)