In the winter of 255 B.C., the snow fell a little later than usual.

The bustling city of Handan is covered in silver, and the people of Handan City are still shuttling through the streets and alleys.

A year's work has finally come to an end, and even if the wind and snow are combined, it can't stop the eager hearts of the people of Handan.

Pick a few hairpins for the daughter who is about to get married, choose a few pieces of material for the mother-in-law next to her, and then pull a red rope for the children in the family, and cut a few pieces of fat for the whole family......

Before you know it, the whole basket has been filled with New Year's goods.

Everywhere is singing and laughing, everywhere is a beautiful vision for the future.

Standing on the palace tower, looking at Handan City, which was full of happiness, Zhao Kuo frowned slightly while being honored.

Snow is never a good thing for the people.

In particular, this year's snow came late, but it was very urgent.

In just a few days, the snow outside Handan was knee-high. Handan is still like this, but what about Daijun further north? There is also the grassland that has just been recovered, and now Jiuyuan County! And what about the hundreds of thousands of people who migrated from the land of Zhou Wangji?

"My king." Just as Zhao Kuo was frowning and thinking about how to rescue the disaster, a slightly hoarse voice immediately sounded behind Zhao Kuo.

Turning around, the plain monarch dressed in black was standing behind Zhao Kuo.

"It's cold outside, and we're talking in the hall." With that, Zhao Kuo took Pingyuan Jun and walked to the side hall.

In the side hall, a red charcoal fire had already been prepared, and after taking off the big fire, Zhao Kuo and Pingyuan Jun sat down by the stove one after another.

"How's it going?" Zhao Kuo, who had just sat down, immediately asked Pingyuanjun.

"There is no problem with the situation in Shangdang County, although it is colder than usual, but there is no snow disaster. The situation in Hejian and Handan is similar, and basically the snow disaster is still under control. The situation in Daijun is slightly worse, but the infrastructure construction has not been done in vain for several years, and there have been no cases of houses collapsing due to snow for the time being, and no cases of people freezing to death have been reported for the time being. Hirahara-kun replied as he roasted the fire.

"You can't just listen to the people below." Zhao Kuo was not happy when he heard this, and his brows furrowed even tighter.

With such a big snowstorm, it is not terrible to kill people, but what is terrible is that not a single life has been lost.

"The Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households should arrange special personnel to conduct spot checks." Zhao Kuo then continued: "Don't go through anyone, just draw people from the roster, don't tell the location, and go directly to the county for inspection after the selection." It's important to get to the bottom of what's really going on. Handan County, Hejian County, and especially Dai County must arrange personnel, and the farther away and colder the place, the more arrangements must be made. ”

"I'm not afraid of the dead, I'm afraid that none of them are dead!" Zhao Kuo instructed again.

"Yes, I'll arrange it when I go back." Hearing this, Pingyuanjun immediately nodded in agreement.

"I also arranged for Yu Linwei to conduct a secret investigation, and told the random inspection personnel that if I Yu Linwei found out the problem, and they didn't find out, they would be punished for the same crime." Zhao Kuo said viciously.

"Okay." Pingyuanjun also gasped and hurriedly agreed.

Obviously, Pingyuanjun also underestimated Zhao Kuo's determination, and it can even be said that Zhao Kuo was murderous.

There is no way, this snow disaster is too serious, and the impact on Zhao Guo is too great.

Zhao Kuo knew very well in his heart that although in the battle of Zhou Wangji, Zhao Guo took advantage of it, but this blizzard was a test for Zhao Guo.

The Qin State is located at the southern end, and it is blocked by the Qin Mountains, and the blizzard has little impact on Guanzhong and Shu in its core areas at all. As for Yiqu, although there is also a blizzard, this is not a problem at all for the Qin State, and it even helps it deal with the saboteurs in Yiqu.

However, Zhao is different, except for the Shangdang area, which is basically unaffected by the cold air in the north because of the terrain, the rest of the counties, including Handan, are affected by the blizzard.

The bitter cold land of Yanzhao has never been just talking.

Especially in the northernmost part of Jiuyuan County, which has just been established, there are not only newly attached grassland Hu people, but also hundreds of thousands of people who migrated from the land of Zhou Wangji.

The Hu people's method of spending the winter is "survival of the fittest", to put it bluntly, regardless of the old and weak, only the limited grain is concentrated on the strong men.

This year is the first year that the Hu people are attached, and Zhao Guo said that he can't use such a method, otherwise let alone annexation, it will be strange if he doesn't rebel against Zhao Guo in the coming year;

As for the hundreds of thousands of people around the land, even more! It's a migration of thousands of miles, and if there is a large area of frostbite and freezing to death, and there is no riot, it is strange.

Therefore, this blizzard is undoubtedly a severe test for Zhao Guo that is no less than the Battle of Los Angeles.

Safely passed, and the people's hearts were attached, and the two countries of Qin and Zhao could be said to have changed their form of offense and defense from then on; But if it can't be crossed, it may not be impossible for the huge Zhao Kingdom to fall apart.

The lesson that water can carry a boat and can also capsize a boat, Zhao Kuo is very clear in his heart.

If you want to rescue Jiuyuan, Zhao Kuo must draw materials from several other counties, and if you want to transfer materials, it is very important to understand and grasp the situation below.

After all, Handan and other counties are the foundation of Zhao State.

"What about Huaisi County and Jiuyuan County?" Zhao Kuo then continued to ask.

"In Huaisi County, there is no major disaster, and the basic situation is similar to that of the party, but because of the freezing of the riverbed and the condensation of the land, the work of opening up the wasteland and repairing the canal has been delayed." Pingyuan-kun also continued to answer.

"Tell General Lian that everything is important to the lives of the people, don't force the construction period, if you can't finish it this year, you just need to do it next year. As long as there are people, as long as the people are attached, Zhao can be invincible. Zhao Kuo also immediately gave instructions on the situation in Huaisi County.

"Okay." Pingyuanjun also nodded, and then continued: "According to the news sent back by Buwei, the situation in Jiuyuan County is not optimistic. Although the construction of the city in autumn saved the herders and people from the danger of snow crushing their tents, freezing and starving to death were inevitable. ”

"Guessed." Zhao Kuo, who heard this, was shocked, but he still didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, and motioned for Pingyuanjun to continue.

"In a word, there is still a lack of food and enough wood for heating." Pingyuanjun continued: "If the situation continues to deteriorate, I am afraid that many tribes will get out of control and return to the grassland. At the same time, the people of Zhou Wangji migrated to the past were intolerant of severe cold, and the number of people suffering from frostbite was even greater. ”

"The problem of heating." Pingyuanjun continued to reply: "According to the king's order, the military department has ordered the closure of the iron smelting factories in Shangdang County, and all the mines are fully supplying the heating charcoal in the north, but because of the road problem, it will take time to transport it out. However, the Tuntian soldiers of the Shangdang have already started, and they should be able to smooth out the road soon. ”

"The first batch of coal has passed through the city." Pingyuan Jun thought for a moment and continued: "In Jiuyuan City, Lu Qing is also renovating the flues of each family according to the drawings of the king. As long as there are no accidents with this first batch of coal, the frostbite should be relieved soon. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Kuo nodded silently. As long as the problem of heating is solved, all that remains is the problem of "eating".

"However, the grain in Yibuwei's hand may not be able to support it for too long." Pingyuan Jun finally concluded: "Fortunately, the 500,000 quintals of grain from the Wei State have been shipped, and they should be delivered to Lu Qing's hands soon." In this way, it should not be a problem to persist for about ten days. ”

"Ten days later? What is the opinion of the Cabinet? Zhao Kuo still didn't say anything, and continued to ask.

"Mobilize food from Handan County, Hejian County, Dai County and Shangdang County to solve the urgent need." Pingyuan-kun replied immediately.

"How long will it last?" Zhao Kuo continued to ask.

"Fifteen more days should be the limit." Pingyuan-kun continued to reply.

Zhao Kuo sighed secretly in his heart, and looked up at the sky outside the hall that was still snowing: Twenty-five days is probably far from the limit of this winter! What's more, after winter, there is still a green and yellow to pick up!

Helpless, Zhao Kuo could only continue to ask: "What's next?" ”

"Borrow food." Pingyuan-kun replied helplessly.

Hearing this, Zhao Kuo was also extremely helpless in his heart.

Borrowing food? Who to borrow from?

Borrow from the people of Zhao State?

Under such a natural disaster, which people would borrow life-saving food?

Borrowing from other countries?

Yan Guo didn't talk about it, they themselves were also suffering, and the situation was much worse than Zhao Guo, so they were too busy to take care of themselves.

Qin State? Not to mention, King Qin hated to let the snow freeze all the people of Zhao to death.

The country of Han? Even if they took all their food, it would be a drop in the bucket.

Chu? They should be willing to borrow, but the similar system of the Chu State determines that even the King of Chu is unable to mobilize enough grain in a short period of time, coupled with the remoteness of the Chu land, when the grain of the Chu State arrives, the people will almost die.

Then only the states of Qi and Wei remained.

Not to mention how much grain Wei has, now that he opens his mouth, he must be sitting on the ground and starting the price, as for the Qi State, the Zhao State has little dealings, and he may not take the risk of offending the Qin State to help the Zhao State.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Kuo still made up his mind.

"Then borrow!" Zhao Kuo immediately agreed.

"Well, the cabinet has already arranged for the candidates to go to Qi and Wei, if the king agrees, later today, you can set off." Pingyuan Jun obviously also knew that only Wei and Qi had the ability and possibility to help Zhao, so naturally he arranged for the envoys of these two countries.

It's just that when Zhao Kuo heard this, he shook his head: "No." All nations are to send messengers for help. ”

"Huh?" Hearing Zhao Kuo's words, Ping Yuanjun was stunned for a while.

"The snow disaster in Yan Country is even more serious than that of my country, so there is no need to go, right?" Pingyuan Jun was a little puzzled, and even asked a little angrily: "There is also the country of Han, which is less than one county, and the grain stored is probably not enough to support even 50,000 people; There is also the country of Chu, which is far away and cannot be sent in a short time; As for the Qin State, with the heart of the Qin people, I am afraid that I will be willing to die if all the Zhao Kingdom dies. Why should such a few countries send envoys, and they are just humiliating themselves. ”

Listening to Ping Yuanjun's obviously unhappy words, Zhao Kuo didn't care.

Then he spoke lightly and said to Pingyuanjun: "Whether to give or not is their business; However, whether to ask for it or not is our business. ”

Some people died, but not completely......