Xianyang, Xiangguo Mansion, the atmosphere is a little dignified.

This year, the Qin State suffered a rare disaster in a century, the locust plague swept through most of the territory, many crops were eaten up, and after the famine, starvation was everywhere.

Previously, although the Qin State had no harvest due to the locust plague in many places, and even many people starved to death, they were able to barely survive.

Unexpectedly, in just a few months, the plague spread in most of the Qin country, and the number of casualties soon exceeded 300,000.

Even with the strength of the Qin State, it could not afford to suffer such a heavy blow.

Therefore, the Qin state has made controlling the spread of the plague a top priority.

Fortunately, Qin's rule over the people was relatively solid, and after the plague began to spread, the officials of the counties and counties did not dare to slack off in the slightest, and first isolated the plague area and forbade the people in any plague area to leave.

After controlling the regional spread of the plague, Qin sent capable officials to the county seat where the plague broke out, and began to isolate those infected with the plague, and burned and buried the corpses on a large scale.

For this reason, the Qin State took out almost all the money and grain left in the treasury.

The Qin State, which was like an efficient machine, still suffered many casualties, but it still suppressed the spread of the plague after all.

However, the process was cruel and cold-blooded, and several plague outbreaks hit the county town, and afterwards it almost became an empty city, and no living creatures could be found at all.

Less than one-third of the able officials who went to the plague area to carry out orders survived.

In history, the Qin State did not suffer major defeats one after another, and also captured a lot of Zhao, Korea, and Wei lands, robbed countless resources, and the national strength became very prosperous.

Even though the successive years of conquest, drought and locust plagues caused many people in the Qin State to starve to death, they were able to barely support it.

Now that the Qin State has been defeated one after another, and the domestic Zhuangding has suffered heavy casualties, not only has it lost a lot of land, but the treasury has also been almost depleted.

This also made the Qin State's ability to bear it much lower in the face of this cruel natural disaster.

Under the butterfly effect, the famine in Qin was amplified, and the expansion of the famine would lead to more people starving to death, and more people would starve to death, and the natural spread of the plague would become more and more severe.

In this way, the powerful Qin State has really shaken its foundation under the triple blows of drought, locust plague, and plague.

Not only that, but successive defeats and natural and man-made disasters made the people of Qin, who had great trust in the government, begin to shake their belief in victory.

Internal and external troubles, wind and rain, are the truest portrayal of the Qin State today.

At this time, the Qin State, in addition to doing its best to relieve the disaster, must also be cautious to guard against other countries taking the opportunity to attack.

Especially in the southern part of the Chu State, due to the many rivers and lakes in the territory, even if some counties and counties suffer from drought, it is not very serious.

What's more, the state of Chu followed behind the state of Zhao and won many victories, not only recovering many lost territories, but even recapturing Wuguan, so that the offensive and defensive momentum of the two countries changed, and the state of Qin became passive.

If the state of Chu took advantage of Qin's internal and external troubles, with the power of repeated victories, to use the strength of the whole country to go out of the military pass and make contributions to Qin, then the state of Qin would be in danger.

In addition, the Zhao State, which has been in the limelight in recent years, is also a big problem for the Qin State.

Although the drought in Zhao was no less than that in Qin, and the locusts were also overwhelming, Zhao Jia exterminated the locusts in time, and some crops were still retained, which was much better than that of Qin.

"Xiangguo, although Zhao Chen soldiers on the border, he did not conquer the city, but distributed food at regular and fixed points, so that many hungry Qin people on the border did not hesitate to go to beg for food despite violating the law."

"The government's repeated prohibitions have now backfired, causing the border Qin people to complain about the government, so that many border Qin people fled to the Zhao State."

Listening to the report of his subordinates, Lu Buwei's face sank like water.

The people of Qin at the junction with Zhao had just migrated not long ago, and they had quite a lot of complaints about the government.

Drought, locust plagues, plagues, and hunger made those people complain, and coupled with Zhao Jia's kindness at the border, it was not surprising that many Qin people fled into Zhao with their families.

The punishment for treason in the Qin State was extremely strict, and those Qin people who fled into the territory of the Zhao State would definitely resist the Qin State more than the people of the Zhao State in the future, just to avoid being punished.

"In the land east of the river, tens of thousands of elites have migrated, how can Zhao Guo be allowed to do whatever he wants?"

Lu Buwei was annoyed in his heart, but he also felt a little helpless.

Today's Qin State has no spare strength to deal with Zhao State, and what Zhao State did is a great act of benevolence and righteousness, if Qin sends troops to attack Zhao on this ground, he will lose the heart of the world, even the people of Qin State will not support it.

There is a lot of help for the righteous and little help for the unjust, Lu Buwei will not fail to understand this truth.

After walking around the house with his hands behind his back for a long time, Lu Buwei suddenly turned around and asked, "Since the border Qin people were able to escape into the Zhao State, did the Zhao State not block the border?" ”

When the man who spoke at first heard this, he immediately replied: "When the plague broke out, the State of Zhao did seal the border and forbade any Qin people to go to the State of Zhao. ”

"Since the plague was brought under control, Zhao began to distribute food regularly, in order to buy people's hearts and lure the people of Qin into Zhao, and did not continue to block the border."

When Lu Buwei heard this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl slightly, and he sneered: "Then, let's give Zhao Guo a big gift." ”

North bend.

More than a dozen scrawny and ragged young men rushed to the border of Qin and Zhao.

"Disperse into the territory of Zhao State, and remember the mission assigned by Xiangguo."

The leader had a sallow face and said to his subordinates.

"Are we really going to do that?"

A man with a short stature and a dark face heard this, but he showed hesitation.

"Xiangguo is as kind to us as a mountain, and he has no regrets even if he dies, do you want to regret it?"

The leader pressed the hilt of his sword and scolded the short man with a dark face, and there was already a strong murderous intent in his eyes.

These people were all Lü Buwei's henchmen, who had deliberately starved for many days before this, and made them look skinny, just preparing to pretend to be victims and flee into Zhao State.

They all carried a porcelain vase containing carrion that could be infected with the plague.

Lü Buwei's order was to let these people enter the territory of Zhao and eat carrion, and then spread the plague in densely populated areas.

This strategy is not poisonous.

The people who were able to be chosen by Lü Buwei to spread the plague were all loyal people, and they had long put life and death out of the question.

Even the short man who had just exited was not afraid of death, but had pity in his heart, feeling that it would be a loss of peace to deal with Zhao Guo in this way.

Seeing the leader's action of pressing the sword, the man's heart was awe-struck, and he immediately shouted: "I am willing to die for Xiangguo!" ”

"Poof!"

However, in the next moment, the sharp blade had already pierced the man's body, and the leader slowly drew his saber and said in a cold voice: "The stakes are very high, since you already have doubts, then I can't tolerate you!" ”

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