To be honest, the specifications of receiving the wind and washing the dust surprised Li Mu.

Because this time, the object of picking up the wind and washing the dust is not only Li Mu himself, but includes the 1,000 personal guards who followed Li Mu to Handan.

Although not everyone can sit with Zhao Dan in the main hall, it is definitely an honor for any Zhao person to be able to eat a meal rewarded by the king in the palace city of Handan.

It's like having dinner in the Great Hall in the future, although it's impossible to sit at the same table with the bosses, but it's enough to brag for a lifetime.

Zhao Dan looked at Li Mu in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a little emotion in his heart, this famous general seemed to be like a sharp sword, and when it was unsheathed, the light would sting the eyes of all enemies, but when it was returned to the sheath, it became obscure, and it didn't give people any sharp feeling.

From this point of view, Li Mu and Zhao Kuo obviously look two completely different people.

The dinner party had come to an end, Zhao Dan stood up and said to Li Mu: "Li Qing, let's go out for a walk with the widow." ”

Li Mu hurriedly stood up and said, "The king, please." ”

The two walked out of the Longtai Hall one after the other, although it was already night, but the Zhao Palace was still brightly lit.

Zhao Dan smiled at Li Mu and said, "Li Qing has also been to Xianyang, and the widow wants to know how the Xianyang Palace compares with the widow's letter palace?" ”

Li Mu thought about it for a while, and said very seriously: "Back to the king, Xianyang Palace is majestic, and Xingong Palace is brilliant and magnificent, all of them have their own strengths, if it is in the opinion of a minister, it should be difficult to distinguish between them." ”

Zhao Dan smiled: "But Xianyang Palace has been robbed twice by you, and now it should be far inferior to the widow's Xin Palace, right?" ”

Li Mu was slightly stunned, then nodded and smiled: "What the king said is very true, it is true. ”

While speaking, the two walked down the dragon platform and came to a garden along the corridor.

Zhao Dan stretched out his hand and pointed to a gazebo not far away, and said, "Let's go, go sit there with the widow." ”

The two took their respective seats in the gazebo.

It was a midsummer night, and there was a bit of stuffiness in the air, and there was a small pond not far away, and the pond was covered with lotus leaves, and the croaking of frogs could be clearly heard, making the water surface produce a slight ripple.

Zhao Dan looked at Li Mu in front of him and said, "What kind of opponent does Li Qing think, Qin Guo is?" ”

Li Mu pondered for a moment, and then replied slowly: "Back to the Great King, the Qin State is a very strong opponent. The ministers have fought with the Qin people many times, and these old Qin people are quite strong both as generals and soldiers, and if they are only in terms of combat effectiveness, there is almost no one in the world who can compete with them. ”

"Oh?" Zhao Dan looked at Li Mu with some surprise: "The widow still thinks that Li Qing will not take the people of Qin in his eyes. ”

After all, Li Mu's record against the Qin State was a complete victory, and he even attacked Xianyang, the capital of the Qin State, twice, so it stands to reason that he should not take the Qin people too seriously.

Li Mu Zhengse said: "The king misunderstood, although the minister has indeed defeated the Qin State many times, but the minister must say that the Qin people have been able to dominate the land of the west for many years, and it is indeed unique. If the king underestimated the Qin State because of his past achievements, I am afraid it will not be a good thing for the Zhao State. ”

Li Mu said as he carefully observed Zhao Dan's face.

Fortunately, Zhao Dan was not furious because of Li Mu's words, which made Li Mu breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, what Li Mu was most worried about was that Zhao Guo would underestimate Qin State because of his carelessness, and then suffer losses at the hands of Qin State.

But what Li Mu didn't know was that his king was from the future, and he knew very well the allusions to the destruction of Chu by the Qin State back then.

In history, when the Qin State destroyed the Chu State, Qin Shi Huang once made the mistake of underestimating the Chu State, and sent Li Xin to lead 200,000 troops to conquer the Chu State, but was defeated by the Chu people, and later had to use the veteran Wang Jian and handed over the entire 600,000 Qin army to Wang Qian, which succeeded in destroying Chu in one fell swoop.

With such a lesson from the past, Zhao Dan is naturally unlikely to make such a mistake.

Zhao Dan thought for a moment and asked, "If you are the master general to destroy the Qin State, how many troops do you think it will take to do it?" ”

Li Mu thought about it and said very seriously: "Four hundred thousand! ”

"Four hundred thousand?" Zhao Dan's eyes widened.

Li Mu said with certainty: "400,000, and all of them must be standing armies, and all the central army and border cavalry corps troops need to be under the command of the minister." ”

"......" Zhao Dan looked at Li Mu speechlessly.

At this moment, Zhao Dan finally experienced the feeling of Qin Shi Huang back then.

What's more, this is a standing army of 400,000, and it also includes the Central Army and the Frontier Cavalry Corps.

Although Li Mu was given 400,000 yuan, Zhao Dan still had one or two hundred thousand left in his hand, but the remaining troops were all scum, and there was no comparison at all.

For a moment, Zhao Dan even really thought that Li Mu wanted to rebel......

If Li Mu really wants to rebel, this 400,000 army is in hand, who can stop him.

Zhao Dan coughed and decided not to talk about this disappointing topic for now, and said, "What is the situation in the West Sea and the Hexi Corridor?" ”

Li Mu replied: "According to the king's orders, the four cities of Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei, and Xining have all begun to be built. ”

"Good." Zhao Dan advised: "You let the people on your side keep an eye on it, pay attention to collecting some intelligence from the Western Regions for a while, you must know that you are going to conquer the Western Regions in the future, and you must know yourself and know your opponent to be prepared." ”

The Western Regions must be taken down.

For Zhao Dan, 9.6 million square kilometers is the most basic requirement, even if he can't do it in his life, his children and grandchildren must do it.

What's more, if Zhao Dan is not mistaken, the Western Regions are in a chaotic situation at this moment.

The current Western Regions are probably still ruled by Alexander the Great's subordinates and descendants, and the suzerainty of the Western Regions, the third emperor of the Seleucid Empire, Antiochus II, who has the title of "god", has just ended the Second Syrian War and is in a stage of recuperation.

But this phase will not last long, as Antiochus II will be the foreshadowing of civil war because of the divorce.

Another civil war in the Seleucid Empire, the Third Syrian War, would break out six years later, in 246 BC.

As long as Zhao was able to conquer the Western Regions before this, it would have a good opportunity to attack the eastern part of the Seleucid Empire, which was later known as Afghanistan.

After taking Afghanistan, Zhao's army could make an option whether it was westward on the Iranian plateau or south to attack the Mauryan Empire in India.

Zhao Dan is very confident that whether it is the Seleucid Empire in the civil war or the Mauryan Empire in India, it is impossible for him to be the elite opponent of his Zhao State.

Any country founded on the military merit system needs constant wars to expand, which is due to the characteristics of the military merit system itself.

Throughout history, once a country with a military merit system stopped expanding abroad, the decline of the dynasty would come at a very rapid pace, whether it was the Qin, Han, or Tang dynasties.

If you want to expand, you have to have a direction for expansion.

Although it is said that the current Zhao State still has the three countries of Qin, Qi and Chu that have not been conquered, and can also go south to conquer Zhuyue and Zhuyi in the southwest, if you want to continue south, you will be blocked by dense jungles.

With the endless sea to the east and the vast desert and icy Siberia to the north, the only way to keep Zhao alive and strong is war, and the only direction of war is to the west.

This is the fundamental reason why Zhao Dan attaches so much importance to the Western Regions.

As long as the Western Expedition was fought well, Zhao would be able to maintain its strength for a longer time.

The land to the west is so vast that after fighting Iran, you can fight Syria, and then enter Africa from Egypt, or from Central Asia through the Ural Mountains into the steppes of Eastern Europe, and from here into Europe.

In general, it is a sentence, go west, that is a vast world with great promise!

As for how to rule such a large territory, Zhao Dan's solution is to use the development of productive forces to do it.

To put it simply, it is to use things like trains and telegraphs to shorten the distance between countries.

Of course, ships cannot be absent, and a large sea fleet is also a must.

Didn't the British Empire, when the sun never set, rely on these things to maintain its rule for hundreds of years?

You must know that the territory of the British Empire is mostly overseas, which is much more dispersed than the possible territory of Zhao in the future, and it is more difficult to rule.

Could it be that Lao Tzu's dignified Chinese royal family and the aura of the traverser are not as good as the Anglo-Saxons on the British Peninsula who are still trembling under the glory of the Roman Empire?

However, it is obvious that the development of productive forces cannot be solved in 10 or 20 years, but can only be regarded as a long-term plan.

In the short term, there's no such thing as a good solution.

But it's man-made, didn't the Mongols also lay a huge territory along this route?

The Mongols can rule, but the widows can't?

The worst and worst are not the same as the Mongol Empire that split into several smaller empires.

It is also the rule of the sons of the widow, and it is not a loss...... As long as we brainwash ourselves well, we can make this great unification deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The unification of the whole of Asia...... Tut-tut, it's very exciting to think about.

Zhao Dan did not tell Li Mu about these calculations in his heart, but Li Mu could still know from Zhao Dan's expression that Zhao Dan attached great importance to the Western Regions.

Li Mu's heart warmed slightly, after all, everyone knew that the war in the Western Regions had always been in charge of Li Mu, and Zhao Dan attached so much importance to the Western Regions, which was actually equivalent to the importance of Li Mu.

Li Mu said in a deep voice: "Please rest assured, the ministers will let them do these jobs well!" ”

Zhao Dan nodded and said, "Okay, since you're here, then you will stay in Handan for a while." A good familiarity with Handan will be good for your future. The widow knows that you may have emotions in your heart, but this time the widow transferred you back is not a suspicion, but the widow feels that you are really overused in the north, and the widow needs you to help the widow conquer the Central Plains, understand? ”

Li Mu said: "The minister understands. ”

Zhao Dan patted Li Mu on the shoulder and said, "You have to study hard for a while, after all, the military strategy of the army is still very different from that of the cavalry, and you will lead the army to go out next year, so don't be in a hurry when the time comes." ”

Li Mu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he couldn't help but ask, "The king is going to let his ministers go on the expedition as the main general next year?" ”

This is the disadvantage of not having connections, in fact, this news has long been no secret among the high-level leaders in Handan, but Li Mu has not learned until now.

Zhao Dan looked at the favorite general in front of him, nodded and smiled: "That's right, you are the main general." The widow knows that you are worried that Yiqu will defeat them, so don't worry, the widow knows this matter. As long as you fight your war well, you will have your own few to take care of other things. ”

Li Mu was excited in his heart, stood up and saluted Zhao Dan: "Thank you, the king!" ”