On the border of Song and Chu, the mission of Chu to participate in the Three-phase Alliance was on their way, and they were about to go to the next city, but they suddenly received an invitation from Chu to raise the monarch of Lingjun. Regarding this kind of invitation to return to China that deviated from their return route, Zhaoyang immediately wanted to refuse directly in the spirit that more things are better than less things. However, both Zhao Hua and Qu Yuan felt the need to go to the fiefs of these old nobles of Chu to show their envelopment, and Zhao Yang agreed.

Yangling is definitely a remote place in the Chu State. The core area of the Chu State in the Huaishui Valley was the hometown of Chen Cai in the Spring and Autumn Period, but Yangling was just isolated from the homeland of these two countries, and more importantly, there was no major waterway connecting the Huaishui here. Perhaps the king of Chu also valued this point, so he sealed this chicken-like territory to the descendants of Yang Youji.

The remoteness of the place also contributed to the poverty of the place, and all the people along the mission saw were barren land and a sparse population. Only when they arrived in Yangling City could they make the delegation feel a trace of prosperity.

In order to be able to entertain these people who occupy the core power of the Chu State, Yangling Jun also spared no expense and took out the savings of Yangling for many years. However, after seeing the prosperity of Taoqiu, these hospitality of Yangling Jun did not enter the eyes of this line.

At the banquet of the reception, Yang Lingjun accompanied these big people in Yingdu to eat and drink, and just when everyone was drinking and drinking, this Yang Lingjun sighed with a sad face.

Such an obvious action was captured by Qu Yuan at once, and he immediately asked: "Now is the time when everyone is happy, why is Yang Lingjun sighing?" ”

Regarding Qu Yuan's question, Yang Lingjun pretended not to answer at first, but after Qu Yuan asked repeatedly, he said: "I don't sigh for anything else, I just think of the heroism of my ancestors in the past, and sigh when I see the decline of my descendants now!" ”

When Qu Yuan heard this, he thought of the prosperity that is now in Taoqiu, and he also said with a look of approval: "As a big country in the world, my Chu State has not thought of making progress for many years, and it has fallen behind others in many aspects. When I return to Yingdu, I will persuade the king to continue to change the law and implement the new policy, so that my Chu State can continue to be strong! ”

However, Yang Lingjun was not there to sigh in vain, and he continued: "Zuo Tu is right, my Chu State must change the law in order to continue to be strong!" Now not to mention anything else, even the Song Xiangyi in the east, just because of the help of Taoqiu, can suppress us so much that we can't get out, and now the people of my Yangling are now being bullied by the Xiangyi in the east all the time! I dare to ask Ling Yin and Zuo to be the masters of my Lingling people! ”

Zhaoyang only knew the purpose of such an old nobleman as Yanglingjun inviting him here, but Zhaoyang was not interested in such idle matters at all. In his opinion, the little bullying that Yangling encountered was just a little bit of a local border dispute. The country of Chu is 5,000 miles away, such a vast country, where will there be no friction with other countries?

Moreover, at the moment of the rise of the Qin State, the Chu State was not allowed to invest too much power in the Song State in the east, so he was not moved by Yangling Jun's complaints, and was still enjoying the wine by himself.

Seeing Zhaoyang, the protagonist, behaving like this, Yang Lingjun knew that if he didn't make heavy profits, he wouldn't be able to say anything about Zhaoyang, he remembered what Feng Chen, who was still in the backyard of the Yi Mansion, said to him, and continued: "The iron tools of Taoqiu are extremely fine, and the output is huge, so Yin should know, right?" The world thinks that the iron tools sold by Taoqiu merchants are produced in Taoqiu, but in fact, they are refined in the fiefdom of our Chu State and transported to Taoqiu for sale! If Ling Yin can help me raise the tomb and get it back, I am willing to sacrifice this place! ”

In this way, it really made Zhaoyang a little tempted. The iron tools of Taoqiu, before he came to the Song Kingdom, already had a great reputation among the nations. And when he had seen the sophistication of the pottery mound iron tools and purchased a large number of farm tools, he also wanted to steal the specific smelting technology, but after seeing the tight security measures of the pottery mound arsenal, he was ready to abandon this plan.

Now that he actually learned the specific location of Taoqiu's iron smelting from Yanglingjun, it was really an unexpected joy!

Subsequently, he got specific details from Yangwu, about the location of the Taoqiu Iron Works. And through Yangwu's vague statement, Zhaoyang can be regarded as knowing why this Yangling Jun is so generous.

Taoqiu chose to smelt iron in Xiangyi because of the iron ore in its vicinity. However, the specific location of the iron mine is on the south bank of Suishui. With such a sensitive location, Yang Lingjun said that this place belonged to his territory, but there was actually a problem!

In today's Warring States Period, after the annexation of all countries in the world, only more than ten countries remained. If the nations are to manage relations well, clear demarcation of borders is absolutely the most important issue.

Due to the lack of technology to measure land in this era, countries were unable to obtain accurate land information. Therefore, the specific demarcation of borders in each country is determined by the ownership of cities. Even if there are a few boundaries, they are very conspicuous and easily recognizable. For example, it can be divided by a mountain, or by a specific river.

And the border between Song and Chu is actually in such a state. The two sides only have specific cities, and there are no clearly demarcated boundaries. Therefore, strictly speaking, the coal and iron mines excavated by Dai Yan in Taoqiu are located between the Song and Chu countries, and both sides can identify them as their own.

For Xiangyi, although the location of the coal mine and iron ore is separated from Xiangyi by a river, this place is close to the location of Xiangyi, and the things in the ground naturally belong to Xiangyi, so the coal and iron dug out of the ground naturally belong to Xiangyi. For Yangling, the location of the coal mine and iron ore is located on the south bank of Suishui, if according to the principle of the river as the boundary between the general countries, then the coal and iron dug here should naturally belong to the private property of Yanglingjun!

As long as there is a competition of interests, some statements can be changed completely. Even in later generations, Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and Russia, in order to find a good seaport for its navy, still completely annexes it through a "legal" referendum! What's more, today's era is the Warring States Period, where there are no years and no wars, and if countries want to fight for land, there are naturally excuses!

Zhaoyang has been a relative for many years, so he is naturally not a reckless person. In his impression, if there was a border dispute between Chu and Song, it was usually Chu that had the upper hand. And the Yang Ling Jun in front of him is willing to dedicate all the coal mines and iron ore that can be produced to him, so there must be a problem in this, and without fully understanding the problem, Zhaoyang will naturally not easily express his position.

Therefore, he quickly pretended to be overwhelmed and left the table, and the banquet was dispersed.

And the entire Chu State Mission stayed in Yangling in this way, Zhaoyang began to live in seclusion, and Zhaohua, who was responsible for guarding the safety of the entire mission, began to inquire for specific information.

"Brother Hua, can you inquire about the specific situation of Xiangyi Iron Mine?" After three days of recuperation, Zhaoyang asked Zhaohua, who had returned.

"Brother, I have a complete understanding of the specific situation of the Xiangyi Iron Mine. Most of what Yangwu said to us was the truth, and only a part of the situation was concealed. Zhao replied.

Zhaoyang asked, "What is Yangwu hiding?" ”

"Located to the south of Suishui, there is indeed iron ore excavated by Taoqiu merchants. Moreover, the location of the Taoqiu people smelting iron ore is also located in the south of Suishui, not far from the location of the iron ore. The reason why Yangwu is willing to cede this place to us, rather than monopolize it himself, is because there are elite soldiers in the iron mine to protect it. Yangwu had led more than 4,000 soldiers to attack the iron mine before, and was completely defeated and suffered heavy losses, if we want to take this iron mine, we must send heavy troops to attack this place, and completely drive the Song people to the other side of the river! Zhao replied.

"You are a person who knows the soldiers, in your opinion, how many soldiers and horses do you need to capture and completely defend the Xiangyi Iron Mine?"

"Brother, according to the information I inquired, although the Xiangyi Iron Mine has a team of guards invited by Taoqiu merchants at a high price, the main force of the guards is the clan soldiers of the Xiangyi Haochang! The number of soldiers and horses that can be dispatched by a prime minister should be between 4,000 and 5,000, and the escort of a merchant should not exceed 2,000. However, these guards have their backs to Taoqiu and have advanced weapons, and if they want to defeat them completely, they will have to dispatch several times as many soldiers and horses! In my opinion, if you want to take the iron ore and iron factory, you need at least 30,000 troops! Zhao said sharply.

Zhaoyang thought for a while, and then said: "Thirty thousand troops, it's not too much, it's not too little, our strength in Huainan is completely able to eat it!" In today's world, iron tools and equipment have begun to prevail, and only Korea and Taoqiu control the source of iron in the world. The entire Song Kingdom had never heard of the existence of iron ore before, so Taoqiu could have so many iron tools, thinking that the output of iron ore in Xiangyi should be very large! If I can get such an iron mine, my Zhao clan's strength will definitely be able to reach a higher level! ”

Zhao Hua asked: "Then the elder brother means that after returning to China, he will send troops and horses to prepare to attack the Song Kingdom?" You must know that now that we are still threatened by the Qin State and the Wei State, it is impossible for the king to support the Song Dynasty at this time! ”

Zhaoyang replied: "Such a thing naturally cannot be told to the king, and it can be done through the center of the Chu State." We only need to use the excuse that there is border friction between Chu and Song, ask for an order from the king, and then mobilize our clan soldiers in Huaibei to directly knock down the Xiangyi iron mine! After that, we will send people to the Song State to demarcate a border treaty with it, with Suishui as the boundary, so that the iron ore is completely in our hands! ”

"Brother's methods are really clever!" Zhao Slip praised from the bottom of his heart, "Song Junzi likes to be cowardly, and he doesn't dare not agree when we speak." And although Xiangyi has the power of Taoqiu Junjunyan, if he agrees to give us the iron ore, it is fine, if he does not agree, and disobeys Song Jun's order, it is a rebellion. At that time, we can justifiably enter the Song State on the grounds of helping the Song State to put down the rebellion! In recent years, the national strength of the Song State has risen a little, and they have been maintaining independence among countries on the grounds of neutrality, it is really not easy to find trouble with them in ordinary times, if the Song State can be weakened through such a method, it will also remove a big enemy for our Chu State! ”