Chapter 256 The Rise of Zhao
After the funeral of Queen Dowager Xuan, the news of how Zhao State suddenly became stronger was gradually revealed to the public.
Since Zhao Yong ascended the throne, he has been creating the image of a "weak Zhao" to the outside world, and for this purpose he did not hesitate to lower his national status by two levels.
Although he was ridiculed by many people, Zhao Yong didn't care at all.
It’s not that he wants to be ridiculed, but the internal and external troubles combined have made him exhausted.
Every country has external threats. In addition to the threats from various vassal states, Zhao also faced serious threats from the Hu people.
Internal troubles are even more serious.
Adding all these things together, if Zhao State did not show weakness to the enemy and insisted on getting involved in those wars, it would probably never become a strong country.
Therefore, after taking office, Zhao Yong quickly began to reform the country. The government and the people were united in their support, so this reform did not attract much attention.
After the reforms were successful, Zhao Yong began to think about how to solve the problem of the Hu people.
He led his troops in a great battle with the Hu people, killing 30,000 enemies, and then appointed Lian Po to guard the border to prevent the Hu people from causing chaos again.
Although Lian Po was not good at attacking, he was more than capable of defending.
During Lian Po's reign, Zhao Yong vigorously promoted the Hu clothing and horse riding.
Light soldiers and fast horses brought lightness, sharpness and speed to the extreme, and forcibly increased the combat effectiveness of the army.
Then he began to work on completely solving the problem of Hu.
After countless battles, both large and small, the State of Zhao won every one and drove one of the Hu tribes thousands of miles away.
The Zhao army gained great reputation because of this.
But after the news spread, other Hu tribes and the Xiongnu united to attack the State of Zhao.
Zhao Yong refused to give in and attacked with all his might.
In the Battle of Yinshan, more than 200,000 people were beheaded, and countless Hun Khans, both large and small, were killed.
After more than three months of rest, Zhao Yong personally led an army of 100,000 into Yanmen Pass and directly attacked Zhongshan Kingdom and Loufan tribe.
The Loufan tribe was frightened and their leader fled with his men, leaving only a group of elderly, weak, women and children in the city.
He surrendered to Zhao before the war even started.
The Zhao army continued to advance southwards, approaching the heartland of Zhongshan State.
The Zhongshan Kingdom was aggressive when plundering others, but when it encountered the powerful Zhao army, it did not dare to go to war with it.
The King of Zhongshan had no choice but to offer six cities to the State of Zhao in exchange for peace.
But the entire Zhongshan Kingdom only had seven cities.
It was precisely such a small country that insisted on getting involved when King Hui of Wei organized the Five Kingdoms to become kings. It is no wonder that other countries were so angry.
Chu Yian felt a little sad about the fact that a country only had a few cities.
There were really too many vassal states during the Warring States Period. Except for a few powerful rulers who emerged, the territories of other vassal states were very small.
He dared to claim to be king with just a few cities.
You know what, among these small countries there are some that were once strong for a short period of time.
For example, in the former Yue Kingdom, there was a man named Gou Jian.
But there was only one Gou Jian.
The generals of Zhao were very dissatisfied with Zhongshan's decision to cede land in exchange for peace.
Their goal was to destroy Zhongshan and eradicate future troubles, not to stop the war.
But Zhao Yong knew that if the war continued, other countries would also be affected, so it was not worth it.
So what they had to do next was not to continue attacking Zhongshan, but to declare themselves king, establish diplomatic relations with the six kingdoms, and expand their military.
The State of Zhao held a grand ceremony to crown the king, and Zhao Yong became the first monarch of the State of Zhao to be crowned king, known in history as King Wuling of Zhao.
Chu Yian paused and waited for a while. After Qin Huaishu finished writing the last word, he let out a long sigh.
Qin Huaishu raised his head from the desk, and seeing her like that he knew that she had something to say again.
Qin Huaishu tactfully put down his pen and asked considerately, "What's wrong?"
Chu Yian shook his head and thought about it for a long time, still feeling very emotional.
Asked Qin Huaishu: "What do you think of King Wuling of Zhao?"
Qin Huaishu pondered for a moment and said objectively, "The promotion of Hu clothing and horse riding has greatly improved the combat effectiveness of Zhao's army, giving it a place in this chaotic world."
"It expanded Zhao's territory, allowing it to gradually rise from a relatively weak vassal state to one of the Seven Kingdoms, and also possess the strength to compete with powerful countries like Qin."
"His abilities are self-evident; they are very strong, and not inferior to other heroes."
Chu Yian nodded: "Yes, he is a very powerful person. But such a person is hesitant about the matter of appointing a crown prince, as if his mind is in a trance."
"He favored the mother of his youngest son, Zhao He, so he deposed his eldest son, Zhao Zhang, from the throne and made Zhao He the crown prince."
"Later, in order to compensate Zhao Zhang, he even thought of dividing the State of Zhao into two and letting his two sons rule together."
"It ultimately led to a power struggle between the brothers and the Dune Rebellion."
"In the end, Zhao Zhang died tragically, and King Wuling of Zhao starved to death in Shaqiu Palace. The State of Zhao fell into civil strife, and its national strength was greatly weakened. Alas."
What a pity.
If he favored a concubine and made that person's son the crown prince instead, it would not be that shocking.
After all, this kind of thing is very common and has happened frequently in history.
But how did King Wuling of Zhao come up with the idea of dividing a country into two?
Engaging in separatism and supporting two regimes in your own country?
No one with any mental problems would do such a thing.
Not to mention Chu Yian, even Qin Huaishu was stunned.
He considered himself a well-read man, having read history books countless times, but he had never seen such a thing.
Or did King Wuling of Zhao bring the feudal system to his own country?
But what are the consequences of the feudal system? Aren’t they already before our eyes?
Chu Yian slapped his face and sighed: "This is not the only absurd thing he has done when his mind is in a mess."
"He also gave up his throne to the crown prince and focused his attention on expanding the country and conquering Qin."
Qin Huaishu was silent.
He didn't know what to say.
King Wuling of Zhao's abdication was different from those emperors who abdicated and became the emperor emeritus.
Once he becomes the emperor emeritus, he basically stops interfering in state affairs, and all major matters are left to the emperor to handle.
However, after King Wuling of Zhao abdicated, he still held the military and political power in his hands, and his influence in the court was still astonishingly great.
After a long silence, Qin Huaishu said nothing and remained silent politely.
He didn't say anything, but Chu Yian commented: "So many people say that King Wuling of Zhao is a military genius, but a ridiculously inexperienced rookie in politics."
Qin Huaishu pondered the word "rookie" for a few seconds, chuckled, and nodded slightly.
The secret of Zhao's strength was revealed to everyone, and everyone realized that they had indeed neglected Zhao too much.
The State of Zhao still had the fighting power after going through so many things, so that battle should not have been fought like that.
But now that things have come to this, there is no choice but to fight.
But this time it was Bai Qi who led the troops, while Wei Ran was in charge of the food supply.
When Bai Qi and Wei Ran discussed these matters, Yingji just listened. He didn't want to interfere, nor could he interfere.
But he had already made up his mind that if he lost this battle, he could use it as an excuse to get rid of Wei Ran, which would be a win-win situation.
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