In 355 B.C., the Qin State, which gradually became stronger after the Shang Dynasty reform, carried out comprehensive reforms on the one hand, secretly trained troops to prepare for war, and engaged in diplomacy on the other hand.

This year! Qin Xiaogong and King Wei Hui met in Duping (now east of Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province), ending Qin's long-term absence from allied with the princes of the Central Plains.

In the past, because of poverty, the Qin State was bullied by the princes of the Central Plains and could not communicate at all. Furthermore! People have little power, their words have no weight, people ignore them, and they can't make alliances with people at all. You repay your goodwill to reconcile and reconcile, but others are doing it everywhere. Outcome! I can only not come and go.

Not to mention the princes and kings, even the emperor of the Great Zhou at that time looked down on the Qin State. Every year, when the big guy is in charge, he doesn't give sacrifices to the Qin State.

At that time, the Qin State was just like the poor in modern society, and no one could afford you at all? Because you are poor, others feel that it is a shame to associate with you, and it is a shame for them.

Right now! The Qin State was at a critical moment, and he had to lower his voice to beg others and show favor to others. In fact! This is only a superficial phenomenon. Because! The Qin State is at a critical moment of reform, and there can be no "internal and external troubles". So! You have to beg others in a low-key manner to ease tensions between the two countries and give more time for reform.

The Qin state not only needed time for comprehensive reform, but also actively prepared for an increase in armaments to gain enough time.

Because! Gongsun Ying had already negotiated with his father-in-law, Bai Gui, and Bai Gui promised to equip Gongsun Martingale with 10,000 cavalry for Qin.

But! It's going to take time!

Equipping 10,000 horsemen is not a success with words, but! It takes time.

It will take a certain amount of time for 10,000 horses to be transported to the Qin State. And also! What about the equipment of 10,000 horses? And also! And what about the equipment of 10,000 cavalrymen?

Horse! Bai Gui had already agreed, and asked the Qin State to send people to the north to transport the horses back directly from the deer park.

These 10,000 horses, Bai Gui did not want to and did not dare to transport them from Zhongshan to Qin through Zhao and then through other vassal states. Doing so will not only toss around, but will also attract the attention of the princes of the Central Plains. Once it is discovered that the Qin State is buying horses, it is absolutely necessary to stop it.

Other vassal states buy horses, and the princes of the Central Plains don't care. Because! They're going to buy horses too. Everyone helps each other to buy a horse smoothly. And the state of Qin! You can't buy a horse! Because! In the past, their alliance had attacked the Qin State.

At that time, under the bewitchment of Wei and other countries, they wanted to destroy the Qin State, but they did not destroy it.

So! Now if the Qin State buys a large number of horses to equip the army, these allied states will be afraid, fearing that the Qin State will retaliate against them if it becomes stronger. After all! You have caused suffering to others.

In order to prevent accidents, Bai Gui had to make a decision: transport the horses to the Luyuan area, and then transport them to the border of Qin through mountain roads and rivers.

Because of its small population and large land area, there are no people on the border. The population in the remote areas was forcibly relocated to the interior by the Qin State and lived in a concentrated manner. And those barren places, the land is poor, and there is no population in the first place. Especially in places where there is a shortage of water and rain, there are no taxes and no one wants to live in them.

That's it! Between the Qin State and the nomadic peoples in the north and northwest, a natural and invisible national border was formed. There is no population here, and the area is infinitely large.

Other than that! This is not a desert or a grassland, but a ravine. There are a lot of places, and rivers. It's not a perennial river, but a seasonal river.

There is one more feature here, and that is! Because of the ravine, the traffic is inconvenient. If you're not familiar with the terrain, you may turn around and back to where you were.

You try to get around the ravine in front of you, and you turn back. If you go straight through the ravine, you might get lost in the ravine. Even if you pass through the ravine in front of you, you can't pass through the next ravine.

It is precisely for this reason that a natural barrier has been formed between the Qin State and the Deer Park tribe. It is precisely for this reason that this land, which originally belonged to the Qin State, was uninhabited. The lack of rain and the lack of transportation make it impossible for people to live here.

And Baekyu's arrangement is! Passing through the deer park and then detouring to the northwest, looking for a longer road to reach the Qin state.

The people of Deer Park are familiar with this road, but rarely walk it. Because! The state of Qin was too poor. They would rather go farther to Zhongshan than to Qin, which is a little closer. Furthermore! Reaching the bazaar of the Qin State is farther than reaching the town of Yinshan in the Zhongshan Kingdom. So! Unless you have to go to Qin, you won't go.

Qin State in order to gain time, so! A series of diplomatic activities had to be carried out.

Wei! It is the number one strong enemy of the Qin State. It can also be said! It is the sworn enemy of the Qin State. But! The current state of Qin! It was simply impossible to compete with the Wei State. So! Qin Xiaogong had no choice but to beg his grandfather to worship his grandmother, and secretly helped through Bai Gui's people to promote this alliance.

Relying on Qin's diplomacy alone, it was impossible to promote the alliance.

The alliance was only a superficial need, and the real purpose of the Qin state was to trade.

After making peace with Wei, he could transport supplies from all over the Central Plains to Qin.

Have trade relations! It's just a superficial purpose, a reason! But the real purpose and reason is: to transport strategic goods.

At present, the most urgent supplies to be delivered are the equipment of 10,000 cavalry. Horses, already transported from the deer park. Other materials had to be transported from Wei to Qin nearby.

The transportation from Chu State was not only a long distance, but also opposed and hindered by some people in Chu State.

Furthermore! In order for the Qin state to develop, it must need a large amount of materials to enter and commodities to export.

If you rely solely on a certain country or a certain port, you will inevitably be controlled by others.

So! You have to expand into multiple channels.

In order to open the eastern gate, Qin Xiaogong not only allied with King Wei Hui, but also carried out diplomatic activities with Korea, Zhao and other countries. It's just that! There wasn't much movement. Some foreign affairs activities, worried that King Wei Hui would be unhappy when he found out, were carried out in secret.

So! There is no record in the history books.

Other small vassal states such as Zhao and Korea were afraid of Wei. Under pressure from the Wei State, there were many diplomatic activities, all of which were not made public.

Just like the international relations of today's society, the United States is a hegemonic country, and many countries are forced by its force and economic sanctions, but they dare not speak out. But! It is impossible to prevent normal diplomatic activity between countries.

At that time, the king of Wei was equivalent to the current rice country. At that time, Pang Juan of Wei State was equivalent to the nuclear weapons of the United States in military talent. In the face of the nuclear weapons of the United States, do you dare to move?

Bai Gui took his youngest daughter Bai Bing back to Zhongshan Guolan Gongzi Ranch, and the news from Linquan had already arrived. The 10,000 grassland horses prepared for the Qin State have been transported to the deer park and are making a detour to the Qin State.

On the Qin side, Gongsun Martingale (Shang Marting) had already sent someone to find him according to the route. Discover this trail to walk, just! It's too far. But! If you don't take this road, you won't be able to transport the horses.

If you want to transport it from Zhongshan to Hexi, and then to Qin, it is absolutely impossible. The land west of the river is now occupied by the Wei State, so it is impossible for the Wei State to let you go.

Right now! It would be a blessing to have a direct road to the Qin State.

If not! Qin's plan to equip 10,000 cavalry was about to fail. Or! It takes longer.

In ancient times, it was the same as in modern society: if international sanctions were imposed on you, your country would not be able to develop.

(End of chapter)