The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 566: Joining Zhao to Stop the War [Subscribe*Monthly Ticket Request]

"It's not impossible to use iron ore as compensation!"

Yan Yan suddenly understood what Guo Kai meant.

Although iron tools had appeared, they had not yet become popular, and the iron smelting technology had not yet been significantly improved, so the State of Zhao did not pay much attention to it.

But Yan Yan knew very well that if they took over the Western Regions and conquered the Xiongnu and the Dayuezhi, they would also be able to obtain the forging technology of fine iron from the West.

Once these techniques fall into the hands of the Mohists, they will be able to push them to a new level within half a year, and even highly forged steel will be easily produced.

Given the character of the Mohists, they will not keep anything to themselves. By that time, the whole world will have mastered the iron ore smelting technology. At that time, iron ore will become a war material whose export is expressly prohibited by all countries.

There will even be legislation to prohibit private mining by the public.

Now, Zhao State is using iron ore as a substitute at a price dozens of times lower than grain, so Bingzhou will not miss this opportunity.

After all, Bingzhou and grassland really don't produce iron ore.

On the contrary, there are several iron mines with extremely high iron content in the Hengshan area of ​​Zhao State.

Some iron ores are even high-quality iron ores that can be mined directly and used after a little processing.

The Zhao State could not use copper mines for trading. After all, copper mines could be turned into coins after a little processing and casting.

"Then use iron ore to replace part of the compensation!" Yan Yan nodded and agreed to Guo Kai's request.

Guo Kai also breathed a sigh of relief.

The Zhao State was only good at casting in the Hengshan area, but it is really hard to describe the situation in other places.

They have iron ore but cannot turn it into refined iron, so they might as well use it to overcome the current difficulties.

As for why they don’t bargain, do they dare?
Especially since Zhao Cong might declare himself emperor at any time, if an envoy bargained on this issue and delayed the time, Bingzhou would withdraw its troops by then, but Zhao Cong would have declared himself emperor.

Then Guo Kai's mission would still fail, and his fate would not be good when he returned to Handan.

Even though he helped Zhao Qian ascend the throne, Zhao Qian almost obeyed his orders, but that didn't mean Zhao Qian really didn't dare to kill him.

Under the kingship, all emotions can be abandoned.

This is also the reason why the entire Zhao State delegation did not bargain over the compensation.

Especially, to a certain extent, they didn't even intend to compensate!

In other words, it was not them who were the officials responsible for compensation, and it was Handan and the State of Zhao that had to pay compensation. What did it have to do with local nobles like them?

You don’t have to spend your own money, but you can pave the way for yourself, so why not do it?

If they can make Bingzhou withdraw its troops without spending a single soldier, then they will be heroes of Zhao State.

When they returned to Handan, they were considered heroes.

Even if the prime minister is dissatisfied, so what?
Although the Prime Minister is the head of the Nine Ministers of Zhao State, can he risk offending the people and cause trouble for them?

The people don’t care how much compensation they received, they only know that it was they who forced Bingzhou to withdraw its troops.

As for the future, Zhao State will add these compensations to these people, so what does it have to do with them?
The common people at the bottom of society, when have they ever taken a serious look at it?

With the uninterrupted efforts of the Zhao State envoys, the negotiations went very smoothly and efficiently.

Negotiations between the two countries, which used to take several days to finalize, are now completed in just one day.

Before sunset, after adding various terms, Guo Kai signed a letter of cession of territory, payment of compensation and cession of war with Yan Yan on behalf of the State of Zhao.

The State of Zhao paid Bingzhou 22 million coins as compensation in exchange for food, fodder, iron ore and other resources.

Bingzhou withdrew its troops and returned Hongshangsai and most of the northern cities of Zhao to Zhao.

And Yanmen Pass needs to be handed over to Bingzhou.

At this point, the battle to annex Zhao came to an end.

Guo Kai and the Zhao envoys were happy because Handan's mission was to bring back the army and Hongshang Pass, but they not only took back Hongshang Pass, but also all the cities in the north of Zhao except Yanmen Pass, especially Dai County and the two major horse farms.

For this achievement, they returned to Handan and it was not an exaggeration to call them heroes.

As for the compensation for the losses, they didn't take it to heart at all.

If you can use iron ore that no one even cares about to pay off your debts, the people will not have any objection even if they know about it.

"I think Zhao Cong may not honestly hand over the military power."

"Therefore, we should be good people to the end. The Yulin Guards will cooperate with Prime Minister Guo to go to Yanmen Pass and force Zhao Cong and Yan Ju to return the military power!" Yan Yan said with a smile.

He is worthy of being the fifth general. It is really comforting to have such a person in the enemy country.

Guo Kai's eyes lit up. It could be said that they had accomplished half of the mission of this mission. The most important thing was to take back the command of the army.

If Zhao Cong really wanted to establish himself, they would be walking into a tiger's mouth if they went to Yanmen Pass.

Now that they are accompanied by the Yulin Guards, I think they will feel relaxed.

"I am extremely grateful for the care of the Northern Emperor. If it were not for my personal background, I would have wanted to go to Bingzhou!" Guo Kai burst into tears of gratitude.

"That's not necessary!" Yan Yan broke out in a cold sweat and refused decisively.

It's so scary. When Guo Kai was brought to Bingzhou, the political minds of Luo Bing, Li Ren, Gongsun Nu and Dian Qing were played to death without knowing why!
Guo Kai and Zhao Gao are very different.

Guo Kai has already reached his complete form, while Zhao Gao is still dormant, so there is still possibility for correction.

Pulling Guo Kai back to Bingzhou was because they were afraid that Bingzhou would be in chaos.

Moreover, Guo Kai's presence in Zhao State is beneficial to Bingzhou.

At least with Guo Kai around, Zhao State will not hold up the issue of compensation to Bingzhou and will complete the compensation.

If it were someone else, they might not pay the compensation honestly.

Guo Kai smiled. He was just talking casually. Bingzhou was such a bitter and cold place that even dogs wouldn't go there.

Besides, he was second only to the emperor in Zhao State, and if he went to Bingzhou, An Qisheng would never give up his throne to him.

The Yulin Guards withdrew from Hongshang Pass and escorted the envoys from Handan to Yanmen Pass. Along the way, they also continuously withdrew the troops that occupied the northern counties of Zhao State, and finally completed the meeting at Yanmen Pass.

only……

Guo Kai also fell silent as he looked at the long line of carriages, large and small, loaded with treasures and food.

But there is no way to say that, because these are the spoils of war from Bingzhou, and it is impossible for them to return the warehouses of the occupied counties to Zhao intact.

Therefore, Guo Kai could only turn a blind eye and a deaf ear.

But in Yanmen Pass, Zhao Cong was in low spirits.

Originally he almost thought he could become the King of Zhao, so why couldn't Handan be tough again?

Now, his dream of becoming a king has been shattered. The envoys from Handan have arrived outside Yanmen Pass under the escort of the Yulin Guards. It is possible that his dream of becoming a king will be shattered and he will become a prisoner.

Whether he wanted to or not, once Bingzhou publicly declared its support for him to become king, Handan would not let him live.

Zhao Cong has already thought about his own fate. After returning to Handan, he will die in various bizarre yet seemingly normal accidents.

But what can he do?
Lead the army to revolt?

As the military supervisor, Yan Ju was on guard against him from the very beginning.

Once he declared rebellion, Bingzhou, which could have been an ally, would be the first to attack him on behalf of Handan, and he would become a rebel usurper.

By then, the soldiers would no longer follow him.

(End of this chapter)