"Sikong has been bedridden recently, which should be related to this matter. Lord Situ also closed his door because of this matter, waiting for Si Kou's ruling. Ah Yu has also asked many times, and said that Sikong Sikou, one is a close relative, the other is a master, and he is a member of the family, so why not. “

"The concubine thinks privately, I am afraid that the concubine has the intention to favor one side and does not say it clearly, so she said that she is with the concubine, and she is the king. However, the concubine is blunt and does not understand government affairs, so she clearly says that she is the king. I hope to return soon. The concubine bowed again. ”

The candle flame flickered again, causing a moth to spread its wings. Although it was already autumn, this moth was obviously still full of the pursuit of candle flames, and when it slammed into the flames, it was burned away in an instant, but it never went away.

Zhao Yong put down Bo Ji's silk book and unconsciously fell into contemplation. Although what Berge said is very simple, the actual situation is indeed very complicated. Although Zhao Yong did not have a clear answer to this matter, one thing is certain, after several months of fighting with the same enemy, problems began to arise in his stable rear. And at this time, it is already very dangerous to attack Zhongshan again, even if Lingshou is close at hand.

"What are the troops doing now? Are you ready to withdraw? ”

Three days later, on the city wall of Shiyi, Zhao Yong, accompanied by Le Yi and Wu Guang, inspected the newly built city wall. The Zhao army besieged Shiyi for many days, and the city wall was seriously damaged, since this city was already owned by Zhao, it should be repaired. As soon as the construction was completed in the past few days, Zhao Yong took Le Yi and others out for a walk in the name of inspecting the city wall.

"According to the reported military situation, the troops have been assembled and can withdraw at any time. After the northern part captured the fortress, General Zhao Xi personally sat in the fortress to resist the counterattack of the Zhongshan army for many days. As for Lieutenant Li Yandu, he has already arrived in Daijun for careful treatment, and there should be no major problem. Wu Guang walked behind Zhao Yong and reported the latest military situation to Zhao Yong.

Hearing this, Li Zhuo, who was following behind everyone, had a sudden shock in his heart, although from the recent military intelligence report, he had learned that his brother was seriously injured and fell into a coma. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but now that I've heard about Daijun, it's estimated that I'll be able to recover well.

"Capture a fortress and injure a general, this battle is a wreck. However, Li Yan, the captain, is quite good at fighting and training. Li Zhuo, go back to Handan another day, you will also go home for a few days, and by the way, take Bian Que and treat it well. ”

"The boy is the brother of the family, Xie Junshang." Li Zhuo hurriedly kowtowed in thanks.

Zhao Yong waved his hand and continued: "How is the Zhongshan envoy? "Zhongshan finally sent a messenger yesterday, and it was from Lingshou, not Fanwu. This also shows that the person who took the initiative to make peace this time was not Sima Zhen, but the King of Zhongshan who lived deep in Lingshou City.

"The envoy of Zhongshan entered the city yesterday, and we naturally did not explicitly say that the king was in the city. After the minister and Lord Wu received his envoy, the envoy made a very clear request, Zhao State withdrew its troops, and returned the Oushangsai, Shiyi and Jingcheng, Dongyuan, Huayang, Danyang have been other cities that have been besieged, and they are willing to pay for the friendship between the two countries. Le Yi said slowly.

"Without the Upper Stopper, Zhao Xi and their attacks that have been going back and forth for months from south to north will not come to naught? Even if Huayang and Danyang win, it will be easy to attack the Bird Plug next time? Shiyi and Jingcheng are important targets of our army's campaign, the army has exhausted the grain of the treasury, exhausted the financial resources of a country, and only obtained a city in Dongyuan, is this my Zhao State won, or he Zhongshan won? Hehe, this abacus is shrewd. After listening to Zhongshan Guo's opinion, Zhao Yong couldn't help but sneer.

Le Yi seemed to have expected this result, but he was not very surprised; Wu Guang glanced at Zhao Yong, lowered his head and said, "Many generals privately believe that even if our army attacks the Hutuo River, it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. Even if Fango is captured, it is not impossible. ”

Le Yi's face was full of emotion, and he didn't want to refute it at all. After all, not attacking Lingshou is a suggestion made by himself, and he can't be opposed by others, so he jumps out in anger to defend it. What's more, he has already learned about Zhao Yong, he is definitely a monarch who is extremely assertive and also has independent judgment. It's not something that can be easily swayed.

"Since I, General Zhao, are so brave, I hope to fulfill them." As he spoke, he walked to the city wall, pointed to the direction of the Hutuo River, and said with a sneer: "If anyone can make a military order to capture Lingshou City within ten days, I am willing to wait for the position of a great general!" ”

Wu Guang didn't dare to make a mistake this time. In fact, he also knew in his heart that after capturing the current few cities, Zhao Guo was also at the end of his power, and it would become very difficult to go further. And the cause of this situation is far more than the Zhongshan country in front of it.

After Zhao Yong vented the resentment in his heart, he slowly lowered his arm, let out a sigh of relief, and said dejectedly: "You have all read the letter of the envoy of Qi transferred from Handan, let's talk about it." ”

Yesterday, the envoy of Qi State came to Handan and sent a letter from the King of Qi to Zhao State, although Zhao Cheng and Zhao Bao did not ask about Handan's government affairs for many days because of the "Xia Ji" case, but the reception of foreign envoys was a major event, and it was not allowed to be careless. I reluctantly took over the job. This also made Fei Yi breathe a sigh of relief, and finally someone could share government affairs for him, although these two people are still worried about the "Li Dui case", but Zhao Yong's order has been made very clear, and this matter will be dealt with after he returns to Handan.

However, the request of the envoy of Qi made everyone fall through the glasses: I didn't expect that Qi State, who had been disappointed in Zhongshan because of Zhongshan's claim to be king, actually asked Zhao State to withdraw its troops from Zhongshan, otherwise Qi State would not rule out sending troops to help Zhongshan.

Qi Guo's sudden sideways intervention caught Zhao Cheng and the others off guard. Zhao Cheng proceeded from the interests of Zhao State, refuted the unreasonable demands of Qi State, and hoped that the envoys of Qi State would not act arbitrarily, so as not to affect the relations between the two countries; Zhao Bao used the danger of Zhongshan to Zhao as the reason, and expressed the interests of Zhao in detail, hoping that the envoy of Qi would be able to withdraw his demand. Fei Yi also explained to the envoys of Qi State that it was impossible for Zhao State to withdraw its troops.

"If the King of Qi thinks that he can scare Zhao away by provoking Bingxie, then try it." This is the reply of the three ministers to the envoy of the Qi State.

However, the envoy of Qi was obviously on a mission, and he insisted on seeing Zhao Yong before leaving, and the three of them had no choice but to explain the matter clearly, hoping to get Zhao Yong's reply.

"Your Majesty, although the two countries of Zhao and Qi are now competing, and the winner is still between the two, but for Zhao, the most important thing is to be able to maintain a stable rear. In any case, the current state of Zhao absolutely cannot afford the possibility of fighting on two sides. Le Yi was the first to stand up against fighting with the Qi State.

"The State of Qi is different from the State of Yan, the State of Yan is weak, and it is harassed by Donghu, so it is because it does not dare to send troops into the Zhao Realm and do things to rob while the fire is fired."

"However, Qi is a big country in the East, although the king of Qi is old, and the ministers of the court and the central government are also constantly infighting, but its strength is there, and anyone who wants to compete with Qi must weigh his own ability. What's more, Zhongshan will be unwilling to suffer such a heavy setback, and it is inevitable that he will not take advantage of the war between me and the Qi State to send troops to recover the lost territory. ”

"Even more like the Qin State, the heart of the East is not dead, and now its Xiangguo Zhang Yi is even more long-sleeved and good at dancing in the Wei State, and he is trying to promote the Wei State to the Qin State. came from Wei, so he naturally knew that although Zhang Yi was in the Wei State, he was a spy of the Qin State. If it weren't for Lord Gongsun Yan's best efforts in the Wei State, it would be difficult to guarantee that the Wei State would not be a pawn of the Qin State to explore the east. ”

"Your Majesty, the current situation of the war, nothing more than the right time and place, and the challenge of the Qi country, the time is not in me, and the location may not be in me, just with the strength of the whole country, resist the soldiers of the four countries, the minister does not know what the chances are?"

"The minister does not agree with Shangqing's words." Wu Guang stood up at this time and said, "Today's Zhao State is a time when the army is strong and strong, not to mention the months of planning, attacking several cities in Zhongshan, and even going down to Shiyi, Jingcheng, Dongyuan, Jun is the important town of Zhongshan, our army is fighting down, doesn't it just show that our army is well prepared?" ”

"As for the situation that the four countries are looking down on as mentioned by the secretary, the minister thinks that it is not enough to worry. Qi and Qin said that if there was a conflict between Qi and Zhao, it would be difficult for Qin to take advantage of the fire to rob, and the king could temporarily send a minister to bribe Qin in exchange for peace in the western border. ”

"Wei and Qi have been at odds for a long time, and they will certainly not help him; Yan Kingdom aside, Zhongshan was attacked by me this time, and suffered heavy losses, and it was difficult for me to fight in a short time. As for the counteroffensive, it is even more difficult to say victory, if you can take advantage of this to extinguish the sharp spirit of the Qi State and make it make concessions on the Zhongshan issue, it will kill two birds with one stone. In this way, the minister thought that if the Qi State provoked, our army would definitely attack and win. ”

"What's more, the Song State is on its side, and it can also help me drag the rear of the Qi State, as long as the two sides cooperate tacitly, it is not impossible to hit the Qi State hard."

"Lord Sima, the State of Qi is not the State of Yan and Zhongshan, and the State of Song is not comparable to the State of Qin and the State of Wei. Moreover, the intimidation of the Qi State against us is not to really start a war against us, as long as the two sides agree properly, they will definitely be able to avoid war. Le Yi persuaded bitterly.

"Humph! Lord Shangqing, if the State of Qi really asks us to return the land of Zhongshan, will our country retreat or not? Wu Guang replied with a sneer.

"Taking a step back is not a failure, and if you can get the support of the Qi country, it is not an undesirable strategy to take a step back."

"I'm afraid Lord Le Yi won't know that when he died, Qin, Chuyan, Qi Wei and other countries came with troops, which was called mourning, but it was actually an attack. Although the king did not reach the crown, he resolutely led the soldiers of Handan without giving in, and finally scared off several soldiers and horses. Could it be that Zhao is stronger today, but it is not as good as it was back then? ”

"Today's situation is not as good as it was then. It was the Battle of the Jedi, and there was no way back. It's not impossible to take a step back today......"

Zhao Yong listened to the increasingly fierce quarrel between the two, his brows furrowed even tighter, and he became even more helpless.