The envoy of Zhao who sent an envoy to Chu still completed the task assigned by Zhao Kuo with almost no effort.

The news that the Qin State was about to attack the Chu State, the King of Chu was not much surprised, the two countries had a long-standing grudge, and the Chu State was also guarding against the Qin State day and night. Even if the Qin army attacks tomorrow, the king of Chu will not be surprised, of course, if it is not for the lack of national strength of the state of Chu, the king of Chu also wants to counterattack the state of Qin tomorrow and recapture Yan Ying.

As for Zhao's suggestion to exchange ordnance and weapons for food, the king of Chu also agreed, and he didn't feel that Zhao meant to use Qin as bait, but it made Zhao's envoys full of calculations frightened.

To be honest, the weapons of the State of Chu are really not good.

Although the land of Wuyue has been a famous place for swords since ancient times, of course, it is the glory of the Bronze Age, and it is precisely because the bronze sword is excellent enough that the Chu State that annexed the land of Wuyue is also satisfied with the casting of bronze, coupled with the southern barbarian land of Chu, the communication with the Central Plains is not smooth, which in turn led to the failure of the soldiers of Chu to keep up with the development of the Iron Age.

Coupled with the loss of the iron-making powerhouse "Wancheng", it was a blow to the iron-making industry of Chu State, which was about to catch up.

Today's Chu State is not unable to make good blades, but no matter in terms of manufacturing technology or process, it is obviously lagging behind the three head countries of Qin, Han, and Zhao.

Especially the backwardness of the process, which led to the fact that the production of standard weapons in the Chu State was almost half the effort, and even many lords' subordinates still used the bronze weapons they used to be.

Bronze against iron, this battle is not fought, I know what the situation is.

However, compared with the embarrassment in the army, the use of iron tools among the people of Chu is more popular, not only in the Chen capital and the area close to Han Zhiguo, but even in the land of Wuyue and Nanban, iron tools have basically replaced bronze tools and become the main force in agricultural work.

The promotion of iron tools promoted the development of agriculture, which is also one of the fundamental reasons why the Chu State was still able to maintain a huge army system and still stand in the forest of powerful countries after losing the land of Yanying.

Of course, this is not because of how the king of Chu cares about the people's livelihood, it's just that iron tools are consumed more frequently in the army, and the people cherish their iron tools more.

In any case, the demand for iron weapons in the state of Chu is also obvious to all, especially under the deterrence of the state of Qin, the king of Chu is always trying to expand the army and replenish the armament.

This proposal of Zhao State is simply not too timely for the current Chu State.

The king of Chu agreed almost without hesitation.

At the same time, in order for the Chu State to better contain the Qin State, the price of weapons provided by the Zhao State to the Chu State was also full of sincerity, almost a "factory price", which was also one of the reasons why the King of Chu was happy to see it.

You must know that with the help of advanced manufacturing processes, the cost of Zhao Guo's iron weapons, even if the freight is added, is still lower than the cost of Chu's own production.

Faced with this attractive price, the king of Chu even wanted to directly use Zhao Guo to manufacture his own weapons.

Fortunately, the last reason still pulled the greedy heart of the king of Chu.

Qin Chu didn't have a bad relationship from the beginning, and tomorrow's Zhao Chu may not be today's Qin Chu. It is extremely foolish to put one's lifeblood in the hands of another country.

Of course, this did not prevent the king of Chu from exchanging more grain for more ordnance in this transaction.

Soon, with the return of the envoys of the Zhao State, another batch of grain and full of ordnance carriages passed by, and they drove to their respective destinations in the south and north.

After two business deals, Zhao's granary was full, but Handan's arsenal was empty.

Fortunately, the Shangdang military factory has resumed operation, and in the rush to work day and night, truckloads of standard weapons have been sent to Handan's arsenal.

Such a big transaction between Zhao and Chu naturally did not hide from the ears and eyes of the Qin people.

It's just that King Qin, who received this news, not only was he not angry, after all, if Zhao Guo knew that he was about to act, but did nothing, it would be really abnormal.

Supplying weapons to the state of Chu, although it will bring a certain amount to the offensive of the state of Qin

obstacles, but in the final analysis, the obstacles are also extremely limited, not to mention that the Qin people themselves have done much more than Zhao Guoke.

Zhao State only supported some weapons, but Qin State even sent people and generals to Han Zhiguo.

It's just that the Qin people's advance is in the vast snow, which is much more hidden than the Zhao State that acted after the warm spring flowers.

In this respect, the Qin army is indeed half a chip better than the Zhao army.

Moreover, this move of Zhao State, in the eyes of the King of Qin and the ministers of Qin State, was a precursor to Zhao's imminent attack on Han Zhiguo.

And this is exactly the result that the Qin State wants to see the most, so naturally they will not ask more about it, so as not to cause Zhao Guo to change his original intention.

In this way, in the joy of the king of Chu and the secret joy of the king of Qin, Zhao Guo quietly got everything he wanted.

This includes, but is not limited to: sufficient food to launch the war to exterminate Yan, the upgrading of standard weapons, the strategic deception of the Qin, Wei, Yan, and Han countries, and the advance survey of the terrain of Yan.

It can be said that just in this spring, Zhao Guo has basically completed the general preparations for the battle of exterminating Yan without all countries noticing.

Of course, the most important forces are not yet the time to move.

Because all Zhao Min, regardless of men and women, young and old, have a more important task - spring ploughing!

Yes, from Shangdang in the east, to Huaisi in the west, and even in Jiuyuan County, which had just been annexed, almost all the people were engaged in spring ploughing.

All the places suitable for cultivation have been sorted out, especially Jiuyuan County, which should have been a nomadic grassland, but opened up a large area of land that could be cultivated in the area where Hu and Zhao were fighting.

Years of blood watering have made this area more fertile than ordinary land.

The emergence of this area also instantly alleviated the problem of landless immigrants in Zhoudi. The originally barren land, under the care of a pair of big hands, almost visibly became vibrant.

As for the large grasslands and herdsmen who were annexed to the Zhao State, the Zhao State did not force them to change to farming, and the strong men and women could still graze on the grassland, while their old people and children could continue to be sheltered in Jiuyuan City or the newly built city.

This is, of course, a type of proton.

But now that the city has not been fully rolled out, Zhao Kuo can only use this method to control the hearts of the Hu people a little.

Of course, in the eyes of Hu Ren, such a restraint is not a matter at all.

Without the restraint of the head man and the exploitation of Shan Yu, as long as a small amount of taxes, they can graze freely, and the children and the elderly can be taken care of, and there is no need to worry about the attack of wild beasts on the grassland, which is no different from heaven in the eyes of many herdsmen.

It's just that Zhao Kuo also knows very well that this gratitude is only temporary.

People's hearts are never satisfied.

By the time the Hu people have lived a few years of full meals, they will soon complain about why the family can't be together. Especially, why can the Zhao family be together?

Even at that time, the cities of Zhao were already all over the grassland, and in a few days, they would be able to reunite with their families in the city, but they were still not satisfied.

It's not just about "not having too few but suffering from inequality".

Tell him the difference between farming and animal husbandry, and he will say that he does not understand; If he were to be engaged in farming with him, he would be even more embarrassed and angry;

He wanted the freedom of the eagle in the sky, but he also wanted the comfort of the house sparrow.

Even a bowl of water that is served flat may not be useful.

They have forgotten the pain they once had, and they will only remember that their country was destroyed by the Zhao State. Perhaps only a catastrophe can make the rest of the people admit that they are from the Zhao Kingdom.

After repeated struggles a few times, with the blending of blood, this grassland, and the people on this grassland, will truly integrate into the arms of Zhao Guo.

Well, that's for later, of course.

At least for now, the herdsmen on the grassland are like all Zhao Renyi

For the sake of Zhao Guo and for his own better life, he worked hard to graze.

So, the scorching summer came as scheduled.

The entire land of the Warring States period fell into an eerie tranquility, just like the last tranquility before the storm.

And with the passage of time, the closer to autumn, the more the entire Warring States period presented an extremely strange situation of dividing the north and the south.

Bounded by Luocheng, the once prosperous capital of Zhou Wangji, the Zhao Kingdom, Yan State and Qi State in the north are still as quiet as ever, except for the merchants who come and go, it is almost difficult to see the figure of the brigade of people and horses driving on the post road.

On the other hand, in the south, Qin, Chu, Korea, and even Wei have all had troop movements to varying degrees.

Among them, the transfer of troops between Qin and Chu was the most frequent. Especially in the rich Shu, hundreds of thousands of soldiers are slowly gathering.

Of course, these are situations that can only be seen from God's point of view.

Even if the Qin State had quietly gathered a large number of troops in Shuzhong, it was not known to any country because of the barrier of mountains and rivers.

However, because of Zhao's reminder, Chu has obviously also strengthened its vigilance against Qin. More troops, equipped with weapons brought by the Zhao State, were sent to the border.

Such a large-scale build-up of troops certainly had a great impact on the autumn harvest. But this impact is nothing at all for the wealthy Qin State.

What's more, Shu is already more than ten days earlier than the northern land of Zhao, if nothing else, Qin sent troops from Shu, although it has to overcome certain geographical conditions, but it also has more ample time.

In June, when Qin quietly mobilized troops in Shuzhong, Lian Po and Tian Dan finally completed their months-long reconnaissance of the enemy situation, and with it, two detailed battle plans were secretly sent to Zhao Kuo's desk in Handan.

Everything is ready, all that remains is to deploy troops to fight.

However, this last step, if it is not handled properly, may ruin all the preparations that Zhao Kuo has made before.

Very simple reason, if the army is sent too early, the Qin army has not yet completed the assembly, and the Qin State that finds out that the Zhao State intends to be in the Northern Yan is very likely to abandon the existing plan and instead attack the Zhao State, or invade the Zhou Land, so that even if the Zhao State is under pressure, it is bound to return to the division to rescue.

And if the troops are sent too late, and the Qin State takes the lead, it is possible to fall behind step by step and fall behind step by step, although Zhao Kuo and his generals have made sufficient preparations for the attack on Yan, but the battle of destroying the country is much more difficult than the war of invasion of the land after all.

After all, if you occupy some land, the enemy country may be angry and may rebel, but it will never fight to the death; But if you want to destroy the country, even the most mediocre king will not hesitate to abandon everything and resist to the death.

The Zhou Dynasty, which had just been destroyed by the Qin state, is a striking example.

Those who travel a hundred miles are half ninety, and that's what they say.