The north wind whimpered.

The steppe was full of frost, and the army walked on the steppe, looking so small.

"It's cold."

Wang Jian covered his thick clothes, feeling the cold on his face, and his face was extremely solemn.

He had long known that the winter life of the Saiwaihu people was very difficult.

But I didn't expect that the living environment outside the Cypriot in winter would be so bad.

Even if the Zhao State is located in the north, the Zhao people are more hardy than the people of other countries, but they can't stand the cold outside.

Originally, according to Li Mu's suggestion, after the winter passed, he would go out of the fortress to incorporate the Xiongnu departments.

It's just that the leaders of the tribes begged bitterly, hoping that Li Mu would get out of the jam as soon as possible, lest the women and children not survive this cold winter.

In fact, due to the departure of the able-bodied tribes, the consumption of food was greatly reduced.

As a result, the vast majority of tribes have stored food that will survive the winter.

It's just that the danger outside the fortress comes not only from hunger, but also from the attacks of beasts and the rest of the tribes.

When the warriors of all tribes surrendered to Zhao and were detained in Zhao, their respective tribal defenses became very empty.

On the steppe, there are not only Xiongnu tribes.

If the rest of the Hu people learned of the emptiness of the Xiongnu tribes, they would definitely take the opportunity to attack the Xiongnu tribes and plunder women, children, and food.

Zhao Jia knew that if he could not relieve the worries of the leaders of the tribes, it would definitely be difficult for these surrendered Huns to return to their hearts.

Therefore, even though the weather was very cold, Zhao Jia still ordered Wang Jian to take 20,000 cavalry and come towards the outside of the Saiwai.

It is not easy to move from one ministry to another in winter.

The slightest carelessness may even cause heavy casualties among the tribesmen on the way.

Therefore, Zhao Jia decided to send Zhao troops to the Xiongnu tribes in winter to protect the safety of the tribe.

Doing so would not only appease the surrendered Huns, but also prepare for the great migration in the coming year.

The people who followed the army out of the fortress were not only generals and soldiers, but also scribes recruited from the four counties of northern Xinjiang.

These scribes will be responsible for counting the population and property of all the Xiongnu tribes within this winter.

"If the Xiongnu tribes can be moved to Zhao this time, after three years and five years, the national strength of Zhao will inevitably increase greatly."

"At that time, maybe I will have a chance to fight back to the Qin State."

Thinking of the tragic death of his uncle Wang Yi and his clan relatives, Wang Qian's eyes became cold.

Lü Buwei and Montessori, Wang Jian will never let it go easily!

Handan, the royal palace.

King Zhao looked at the edict jointly written by Li Mu and Zhao Jia, and the smile on his face became brighter and brighter.

Although the cost of this battle was huge, it also besieged more than 100,000 Huns on the bank of Zhuwenze, and finally forced more than 70,000 people to surrender.

These more than 70,000 young people, although they could not make up for the losses of Zhao in the Battle of Changping, but the addition of these Huns' tribes also greatly increased the population of Zhao.

Today's King Zhao is already in his last years.

In his later years, he could still make such a feat, how could King Zhao be unhappy?

"I really didn't expect that the widow only let Jia'er command 10,000 cavalry from the land of Shenqi and go to the north to help in the war, and he actually transferred all the cavalry from the land of Shenqi one after another."

"This move is only for public reasons."

"It seems that Jia'er doesn't care about personal gains and losses, and cherishes Zhao Guo, I used to blame him for being wrong."

When King Zhao sent an edict to recruit the cavalry in Shenqi, almost everyone thought that Zhao Jia would find an excuse to push back and hold back in order to preserve his strength.

Unexpectedly, in order to support this battle array, Zhao Jia actually sent almost all the soldiers and horses in the land of Shenqi.

Not only that, in order to appease the surrendered Huns, Zhao Jia also transported a lot of money and grain from the land of Shenqi, which also greatly reduced the pressure on Zhao's treasury.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Zhao Jia's strong support, it would have been impossible for Zhao to feed more than 70,000 Xiongnu captives and their tribes.

But where did these materials come from?

Except for a few reserves in the land of Shenqi, most of them were borrowed by Li Si from merchants from various countries.

For this reason, Zhao Jia even owed a lot of goods to foreign merchants.

Zhao Jia is famous.

In addition, many of the specialties of the land of Shenqi are very popular in the rest of the country, which allows merchants to take the risk of borrowing goods.

However, if you only rely on the taxes of Shenqi to repay the loan, it will not be possible for Shenqi to make any surplus in the next few years.

Even, even the development of the land of Shenqi itself will be greatly restricted.

Zhao Jia's selfless act finally completely dispelled the doubts in King Zhao's heart.

Regardless of whether Zhao Jia has ambitions or not.

At least what Zhao Jia did was beneficial to Zhao Guoda.

Therefore, even if the crown prince Zhao Yan advised to take back the land of Shenqi, he was vetoed by King Zhao.

When Zhao Yan learned that the land of Shenqi was overdrafted and taxed, borrowed from merchants from various countries, and then used these materials to appease the Xiongnu captives, he also temporarily extinguished the idea of recovering the land of Shenqi.

Now that Zhao Jia has a strong reputation, if he forcibly takes it back, not to mention that King Zhao may not agree.

Even if King Zhao agreed, the people would talk about it and fight for Zhao Jia.

Not to mention.

Before Zhao Jia repaid the loan, the land of Shenqi was a mess, and if the government took it back, it would have to bear the follow-up debts.

After experiencing this war with the Xiongnu, coupled with the incorporation of the Xiongnu departments, the treasury of Zhao was almost empty.

As the crown prince, Zhao Yan had to manage the government often when King Zhao was not in good health, and he also felt a headache about the current lack of money and food in Zhao State.

He was even thinking about whether he should use his son to make more money for Zhao Guo.

"Prince, how do you think you should settle the more than 70,000 Huns who surrendered, as well as the Hun tribes that will be relocated to China after the beginning of spring?"

King Zhao put down the letter in his hand and asked Zhao Yan, who was standing in front of the desk.

When Zhao Yan heard this, his face showed a bitter color.

"Father, there have been major wars over the years, and we have to settle the population migrating from the Yan Kingdom, the treasury is already very empty, and it may be a little difficult to resettle the Xiongnu tribes outside the Saiwai."

Zhao Yan looked at King Zhao and replied cautiously.

Governance, although it represents rights, also means that it has to shoulder more obligations.

If Zhao Yan is the real King of Zhao, even if many things are not handled well, he can also throw the blame on his subordinates.

But now Zhao Yan is only the crown prince, and there is the great god King Zhao on top of his head.

If you don't handle government affairs well, you will be labeled as a mediocre talent, which makes Zhao Yan tremble every day, and he tries his best to make Zhao stronger and stronger.

Only in this way can Zhao Yan be respected and recognized by King Zhao.

It's just that how to settle these Huns, as well as the Xiongnu tribes, Zhao Yan really can't come up with a very good plan.

"Jia'er said that 50,000 households can be moved into the land of Shenqi."

"The money and food needed by these 50,000 Huns do not need to be spent from the treasury, Jia'er will find a way by himself."

"With 50,000 fewer households, can you resettle the remaining people?"

"50,000 households?"

Zhao Yan was extremely surprised when he heard this, and he couldn't understand how the land of Shenqi could feed 50,000 households.

Notice.

50,000 households is equivalent to 200,000 to 300,000 people, and the money and food consumed are very terrifying.

If these people settle down, they can recruit 30,000 strong and capable soldiers, and even 50,000 soldiers can be recruited considering the Huns' warlike factors.

In this way, the future war potential of the Shenqi Land will become incomparably greater.

Considering all of the above, how could Zhao Yan not be surprised?

In addition to being surprised, Zhao Yan also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

50,000 Huns can indeed increase the war potential of Shenqi, but it can also reduce the burden on the treasury.

What's more, the land of Shenqi belongs to the Zhao State.

Zhao Yan believed that unless he forced Zhao Jia to a dead end, there was almost no possibility for the other party to rebel.

Zhao Yan also looked a little away.

As long as Zhao Jia did not rebel, even if he maintained the relatively independent status of Shenqi, he could help Zhao resist the strong Qin in the west.

That being the case, what does Zhao Yan have to worry about?

He took two steps back, bowed and said, "Father, if the land of Shenqi can accommodate 50,000 Huns, the remaining Huns are confident that they can be properly settled." ”

King Zhao looked at his son, and said with a serious face: "Population is the foundation of a country's strength. ”

"The resettlement that the widow said is to scatter the remaining Huns in the counties of Zhao State, and promise them all the houses and fields to be given in full, so that these people can really turn their hearts to Zhao State."

"Thou, is it possible?"

At the same time, Zhao Jia, who returned to Zhongyang, was also discussing with Li Si, Fan Zeng and others.

"If you really move 50,000 Huns to the land of Shenqi, the king is equivalent to having a small half of the Hun Alliance, as long as these people are subdued, 50,000 Huns will definitely become the sharpest weapon in the hands of the king!"

Fan Zeng's face flushed slightly.

The biggest factor restricting the development of Shenqi is the extreme lack of population.

Without a sufficient population, it is not easy for the land of Shenqi to develop, both militarily and economically.

Therefore, Fan Zeng will have such a reaction.

On the other hand, Li Si was not as optimistic as Fan Zeng, and his face was still a little sad.

Zhao Jia saw Li Si's expression, and immediately asked, "Sir, do you have a different opinion?" ”

Li Si shook his head and said: "If you can let 50,000 Huns settle in the land of Shenqi, it will definitely be of great benefit to the king." ”

"Li Si also believes that the king has the ability and skill to take 50,000 Huns for his own use."

"It's just that the king who is located in Handan City, will he believe that the king can feed 50,000 Huns with just the land of Shenqi?"

Handan City, inside the royal palace.

Zhao Yan looked at King Zhao, his cloudy eyes that did not lose his wisdom and refreshment, and the last trace of luck in his heart was finally pierced.

He bowed to the ground and kowtowed: "The son will definitely live up to his mission!" ”

Zhao Jia only relied on the land of Shenqi, and dared to settle 50,000 Huns, if Zhao Yan could not settle the remaining Huns, how could he save face?

But soon, Zhao Yan said with some hesitation: "Although Jia'er has the ability, is it a little unrealistic to want to settle 50,000 Huns with just the land of Shenqi?" ”

"Even if Jia'er really has such ability, with 50,000 Huns stationed in the land of Shenqi, I am afraid that the land of Shenqi in the future will also become a gathering place for the Huns."

King Zhao frowned slightly, obviously a little worried.

But soon, he said, "Jia'er has done so many miracles. ”

"The widow believes in him!"