Since the third hall of the main hall of Longtai was transformed into an office by Zhao Yong, it has almost become the heart of the entire Zhao country. Although in the eyes of outsiders, the decision-making of Zhao is still the Great Dynasty Meeting, the ministers headed by Xiangbang, and the Handan Wangcheng and Xindu Xingong, but those who really understand the current political structure of Zhao State understand that almost all the national policies of Zhao State are now completed in the three halls of Longtai, and the so-called Great Dynasty Meeting is just more symbolic, and many things, the core figures have reached a consensus in Longtai under the coordination of King Zhao, and then it will be announced the next day.

It is through this that Zhao Yong controls the power in his hands.

Now, although the bright moon is high and the night is deep, on the "Weide Palace" in Longtai, the core layers of Zhao Guo are still kneeling here, and at the same time looking at the person in the middle, listening to him report his news.

"So, the envoy of Zhongshan has decided to take revenge on us?" After watching Fu Ding finish speaking, Zhao Bao said with some concern, although the battle of the house is worth celebrating for Zhao Guo, what he values more is that now Zhao Guo's money and grain income and expenditure are in turmoil, and such a small-scale battle has brought huge pressure to the already not rich finance, which makes him, as the person in charge of government affairs, not think about tea and dinner. Now listening to Fuding's meaning, Zhongshan Kingdom will not give up, which makes Zhao Bao start to worry again.

Although Fu Ding knew what Zhao Bao's mentality was, he didn't dare to deceive the ministers in this kind of matter, so he said: "At least in my opinion, Zhongshan seems to be for the sake of the house city, and it seems that he doesn't care about going to war with my country." ”

"If that's the case, your majesty, be prepared. Especially in terms of grain and grass, the military rations allocated this time have consumed one-fifth of the reserves, if there is another war, I am afraid that the consumption of our army will be even more expanded, and when the time comes, I am afraid that the national strength of Zhao State will be dragged down. ”

"Hmm." Zhao Yong nodded, but did not say anything.

In fact, since the division of the three families, although the Zhao State has gained more territory than the other two, from the perspective of the overall terrain distribution, I am afraid that it is not the most advantageous. Because whether it is the Taiyuan Basin where Zhao is located, or the Xinding Basin, even the Weixian Basin that it occupies now, although it is a suitable area for farming, its natural hydrological conditions are not comparable with the Wei State, the land is relatively barren, and the products are not rich, but due to the large number of mountains, the population seems crowded in comparison.

The Wei State is different, known as "Hedong, Hanoi, Hexi, and Hewai", the soil is relatively fertile, and the products are relatively rich, and more importantly, because the territory is narrow from north to south and long from east to west, and mostly on both sides of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, it occupies many Guansaijindu, and can control the main traffic arteries. In this regard, although Zhao Guo has land, the lack of congenital conditions is also Zhao Guo's heart disease. This is also the reason why Zhao has always been at odds with Wei, Zhao Suhou devoted his life to going south to Wei, and it was the land of Hanoi and Hedong of Wei that he fancied. If it weren't for the fact that Wei Wenhou did not resolutely implement the strategic concept of "uniting the Three Jin Dynasty, basing himself on Hexi, and plotting to advance westward" planned by Wu Qi, but insisted on going his own way and marching north to Zhongshan, so that the national strength was seriously consumed, and the later tragedy of Wei would not have occurred.

From this, it is not difficult to explain why Zhao Suhou devoted his life to the south, and once Hanoi and Hedong were owned by Zhao, the overall strength of Zhao would be increased by more than one level. On the contrary, now without the help of these two anointed lands, Zhao's national strength has been limited by the lack of local resources, so Zhao Yong has a headache.

"I don't think so." Fei Yi thought about it for a while, and still said: "Although Zhongshan is quite calm, but, in their hearts, they will never let go of this opportunity." Because according to the recent news from the fine work, the body of the Duke of Zhongshan is not as good as day by day, and many state affairs have been entrusted to Xiangbang Sima Cheng, as well as his son, only recently, because of the fact that Zhongshan is king, he has summoned Xiangbang many times, which is intriguing. Fei Yi said: "If Zhongshan is unwilling to be the king, he can obey the request of the Qi State and remove the king's name, and the Qi State will naturally withdraw its troops from the border; If he wants to be king, then what price does he have to pay to be able to meet the demands of the Qi State? ”

"In fact, having said that, the foundation of Zhongshan State lies in Qi State, and he has to rely on Qi State's breath to act, so he can't make the decision on whether to be called king or not." After Fei Yiyi's analysis, Wu Guang's mind also came alive, "As long as we grit our teeth and don't return the land, he can't do anything about it, unless the Qi State participates in the war." ”

"But as soon as the Qi State enters the war, Zhongshan must obey the command of the Qi State, and it can be regarded as completely breaking the idea of claiming the king." Zhao Cheng also nodded and agreed.

"It seems that Zhongshan doesn't have a lot of chips?" Fu Ding couldn't help but say, "Then why did Zhang Deng put forward such harsh conditions? Where is his faith? ”

"He has no confidence, and what he relies on is nothing more than the guarantee of Qi State. If Lone's guess is correct, Zhang Deng just wants us to admit Zhongshan's status this time. And in this way, he told Qi that Zhongshan had received the support of Yan and Zhao, and the three families had become one, and if Qi dared to attack Zhongshan, the other two might not dare to send troops to deal with Qi. Zhao Yong smiled indifferently, "The fox is just a fake tiger." ”

"Fox fake tiger might? The word is kind of interesting. Fei Yi said with a smile.

"The so-called fox fake tiger power is that the fox pretends to use the power of the tiger to run rampant in the forest. It seems to be very powerful, but in fact, everyone is afraid of the tiger behind the fox, not the fox itself. Zhao Yong explained briefly and continued: "Zhang Deng's idea is this, he used the power of Qi State to scare us into handing over the house, and on the other hand, he used our power to scare Qi Guo and did not dare to touch him. In this way, he will be safe. This Zhang Deng is really a Homo sapiens. ”

Everyone nodded, and after Zhao Yong's explanation, it seemed that everything worked, but Fu Dingquan asked: "But in this case, Qi State may not dare to attack Zhongshan, as long as we are given enough benefits, why don't we just look at the reality and then move later?" Maybe the State of Qi will really attack Zhongshan, so wouldn't it be better for our army to attack the State of Qi and take the opportunity to cross the river to the east and occupy Pingyi? ”

"It seems good, but it's not." Wu Guang explained: "The State of Qi can distinguish between good and bad and priority, and it is not advisable to attack Zhongshan, and the State of Qi will not attack." ”

"However, we can stimulate Qi Guo." Zhao Yong continued.

"What do you mean?" Fuding didn't understand. He found that many times, he couldn't keep up with Zhao Yong's thoughts.

"We generously recognize the king of Zhongshan Kingdom, but do not return the house city. Let's see what Zhongshan should do next, and how Qi should act. Zhongshan wants to borrow our prestige and lend it to him. Zhao Yong smiled generously.

When everyone heard this, they thought about it for a while, and it could only be like this, this matter, after all, we have to take one step at a time, and no one has prematurely predicted it.

"In that case, I'll reply to Zhang Deng tomorrow and see how he reacts." Fuding said and was about to leave.

"Yes, tell him that if he still insists on going back to the house city, Lone will not see him. It doesn't do you any good to see it. ”

"Yes." Fu Ding saluted Zhao Yong and walked out backwards.

Looking at the figure of Fu Ding leaving, Zhao Yong sighed slightly: "Without strong strength, there will be no strong deterrent, if we have enough ability to resist the Qi State, why are we so timid?" ”

When everyone saw Zhao Yong say such a thing, they were ashamed and couldn't help but confess their guilt again and again.

"This matter was not caused overnight, but it was my Zhao Guo's disadvantage that led to this situation. The ancestors of the past dynasties fought in the south and the north, and laid down a huge territory, and my descendants were even overstretched in defense, which is really not a son of man. Zhao Yong said.

Everyone is a human spirit, who can't hear it, Zhao Yong has something to say, otherwise it's okay, what do you say "not a son of man" Several people looked at each other, and finally looked at Zhao Cheng, signaling him to follow Zhao Yong's words, because he is Zhao Yong's uncle, Zhao Yong is angry, and he will never dare to sprinkle it on his uncle.

Zhao Cheng couldn't refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and say: "Your Excellency said this, but it is a bit of a curse. Jun is only a weak crown in the last year, and he is only a year in power, and the foundation of Zhao will continue to be brilliant in your hands, how can he be regarded as a son of man? Zhao Cheng is worthy of being an old ginger, he speaks without leakage, which not only pats Zhao Yong's sycophants, but also caters to the meaning of Zhao Yong's words, killing two birds with one stone.

"Uncle's words are too vain." Zhao Yongzheng said: "Life is only a hundred years, if you think you are too young because of this, you can sing and dance lightly, treat others, and be eliminated by others sooner or later." Uncle said that the foundation of Zhao Guozhi will be brilliant in Lone's body. Zhao Yong shook his head, "I think that if there are a few problems that cannot be solved, I am afraid that in more than ten decades, Zhao Guo will not exist in the world, and it will be the fish and meat of others." ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces were wonderful. Some are excited, some are cautious, and some are depressed. Because the few people who are doing it happen to have their own camps, and they all represent part of the forces of Zhao State.

What Zhao Cheng represents is also a relatively powerful faction of Zhao State, that is, the Zhao State clan. It can be said that the Zhao clan made great contributions at the beginning of the Zhao state. Moreover, Zhao learned the lesson of the fall of the Jin State, and vigorously promoted the generals of the clan, so that they could hold important positions and command the military power, so it can be said that Zhao Yong was actually governing the country with these clans. However, I don't know why, since Zhao Yong became the monarch of Zhao State, the status of the clan is a little embarrassing, although many clan lords still hold high positions, but there are few real power, except for a few talented generals, other Zhao generals who grew up during the period of Zhao Suhou were secretly demoted by Zhao Yongming, placed in a prominent position, but did not hold real power.

The second faction is the old ministers. Relatively speaking, the status of this faction has hardly changed, but compared to the clan faction, their status is better, except for being old and infirm and unable to continue to work, the others have hardly done anything in the past few years when Zhao Yong was in power. Their biggest characteristic is that they work hard and don't ask about the world. But for some new things, we still have a wait-and-see attitude. The representative of this faction is Xiangbang Zhao Bao.

The third group is more special because they are soldiers, that is, the army. This is the force that Wu Guang has carefully cultivated since he became a national captain. However, this faction is relatively mixed, and many people also have the shadow of other factions, but in terms of the core figures, Wu Guangma is still the leader. Because as a national lieutenant, he can hide from Zhao Yong in many things. However, since Zhao Yong established the White Tiger Hall, the rights of military operations have been handed over here, and the status of the National Governor's Mansion has gradually degraded to logistics deployment and training supervision, which can no longer be compared with the past.

This fourth faction is the foreign officials represented by Feiyi, and in a sense, they are also the most innovative faction. Except for Fei Yi and Pang Cong, many people in this faction are lowly and do not have much power, but they have some rights, which makes them above the court and will not be besieged.

This is Zhao Yong's shrewdness, the representatives of various forces of his Zhao State are placed in Longtai, and by controlling these few people, he can control the entire Zhao Kingdom, this kind of trick, even if it is Feiyi, they have just discovered it, it can be seen that Zhao Yong's city is deep, and it is really not ordinary.