Twenty-fourth year of the reign of King Qin (223 BC), December.

Trekking all the way, the Qin army, which had triumphed with victory, finally entered Hangu Pass and returned to the real Guanzhong Qin Land.

Two years have passed since the Qin State launched the war against Chu.

The 200,000 Qin troops in Guanzhong who accompanied Wang Jian out of the pass, excluding those who died in battle and those who still stayed in Chudi to guard, returned to Guanzhong this time with a total of 120,000 soldiers.

Soon after this huge Qin army entered the customs, an envoy from Xianyang came here and, as in the past, took the tiger talisman from the hands of the general Wang Jian and began to dismiss the army.

Xianyang Wangdu, how could a warlike general lead an army of more than 100,000 to approach.

Except for the 5,000 elites of Zhao Tuo's department, who deliberately stayed behind, and wanted to enter Xianyang City to sacrifice the "corpse of the puppet king", the remaining more than 100,000 soldiers were all dismissed according to their hometowns.

Just like those soldiers outside the Guanzhong, these Qin people in the Guanzhong took some monetary rewards and went home happily.

This time, everyone has accumulated a large wave of military merits, and the number of people who have been promoted to the knighthood is extremely large, and it is estimated that there will be a wave of land frenzy next.

After dismissing the large army, the general Wang Jian chariot opened the way, and marched towards Xianyang with the generals and the army escorting the corpse of the "puppet king" in the rear.

Walking along the way, Zhao Tuo observed along the way, sometimes feeling emotional.

"In ancient times, most of the time spent in warfare was spent on the march, but the actual time for fighting was not much. No wonder the king wanted to build a gallop road in the future. ”

This time, he accompanied Wang Jian to attack Chu, which can be described as a real southern expedition and a northern war. One moment in Huaiyang, one moment to Zhencheng, turn around and cross the river to Huainan, and then closely pursue Xiong Qi to Jiangdong and Yuedi, and finally have to rush back to Guanzhong from Yuedi.

walked at least tens of thousands of miles back and forth, even if Zhao Tuo often rode a car and horse, the shoes under his feet were still damaged several pairs, not to mention the soldiers under his command who walked thousands of miles with their feet.

The normal marching speed of this era was 30 miles a day, which was converted into weights and measures in later generations, and could only walk about 12 kilometers a day, and you must know that ordinary people in later generations could walk 4 or 5 kilometers in an hour. In addition to the weight and physical reasons that had to be considered for marching in ancient times, the road also accounted for a large problem.

The Sanchuan Avenue in the middle of the Qin State and the east is slightly better, and some of the small roads that Zhao Tuo passed through in Huainan and Yuedi are simply not walked by people, and the army can walk twenty miles a day is considered extremely fast.

"Among the major projects after the unification of Qin, the construction of roads is indeed very necessary, which is of great benefit to the country and the people, and the manpower and material resources spent are not in vain. But the other ......"

Zhao Tuo thought of this and couldn't help but look into the distance worriedly.

There, it is the direction of Lishan.

The reason why Zhao Tuo thought of the various projects after the unification of Qin was mainly on the way to Xianyang, and from far away, he could see that Qin officials were escorting a group of tortured criminals towards the huge construction site in the depths of Lishan.

At the northern foot of Lishan Mountain is the mausoleum of the emperor who is high in the Xianyang Palace.

It has been 24 years since the first year of the reign of King Qin.

Every year, Qin people who were serving in forced labor and convicts who had been punished would go to build buildings.

However, the current Lishan Mausoleum is still in its early stages, and the scale is not large, and it will not be until a long time before hundreds of thousands of people gather to repair the tomb.

The place where a lot of manpower is really spent today is in another place.

"The king's palace has multiplied."

"So many houses, are you done living in?"

When the Qin army marched to the vicinity of Weishui, temporarily stopped to rest, drink horses and eat.

Many Qin pawns looked to the north and shouted in surprise.

There, there is a large group of palaces of different styles, gorgeous and magnificent.

Although it is far away, everyone can't see the specific appearance clearly, but because it is far away, it is just in the eyes of the huge scale of the palace complex.

"I heard that every time the king destroys a country, he will imitate the appearance of his palace and build a corresponding palace in the north of Xianyang. The king also filled all the princes, beauties, bells and drums he had obtained. Tsk, now that I see it, it's really the world's first-class pleasure. ”

After returning from the Qi Kingdom, Li Shiqi, who joined the team near Xingyang, walked to Zhao Tuo's side.

He looked at the magnificent palace scenery on the other side of the Wei River, shook his head in admiration, and there was a sense of envy in his tone.

Zhao Tuo nodded and said softly: "The king wants to prepare the seven kingdoms in the palace, and he wants to gather all the best palaces in the world in Xianyang. Now north of Weishui, there are three Jin and Yan Palaces. I think that after the craftsmen of the Chu State enter Qin, there will be another Chu Palace. ”

Zhao Tuo said on his lips, but there were worries in his heart.

As the saying goes, be prepared for danger in peace.

Zhao Tuo just followed Wang Jian to destroy the state of Chu, fought a big victory and returned to Qin, and was about to receive a rich reward, and it seemed that the future was very good.

But when he saw the continuous palace complex on the north bank of Weishui, as well as the palaces and the mausoleum of Lishan, which were still being newly repaired, he couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis in his heart.

Zhao Tuo, as the beneficiary of Qin's military merits, has long been tied to this country.

Faced with possible changes in the future, he has only one choice.

Bao Qin!

Now that the state of Chu is gone, the ghost of Jing Chu has not left, and there are still countless Chu people in that land who want to overthrow the rule of the Qin people. The Three Jin Dynasty and Yan Land, and even the Qi Land that will be conquered in the future, will also have many remnants of the Six Kingdoms who want to expel the Qin people and restore the old country.

This is one of the external causes of Qin's demise in history.

And within the Qin state, in addition to institutional problems. The ruler's abuse of people's power and the large-scale construction of various large-scale projects were also an important reason for the eventual demise of the country.

In the future, the sentence that the world has been suffering for a long time is really not just talking.

Zhao Tuo is now in a high position in the Qin State, and if he wants to save his life and retain his long-term wealth and power in the very likely future accidents, he must try his best to change that ending.

In Zhao Tuo's view, among the various large-scale projects of the Qin Empire in history, the straight road, the Great Wall, and even the Lingqu in the south are at least beneficial to the country and have merit.

Only the construction of huge mausoleums and a large number of palaces is a waste of people's power.

Just like those Qin soldiers asked, after building so many palaces, will the king be able to live there?

A large number of palaces and palaces look extraordinary, but for the whole country, there are actually disadvantages and no advantages.

Now, Qin Wangzheng has begun to have the momentum of large-scale projects. Although it is not particularly excessive, it makes Zhao Tuo very worried.

Today, you, King Qin, dare to build the palace of the Six Kingdoms.

Tomorrow you will dare to make a Fang Palace.

One project after another was launched, so that the people of Qianshou did not even have time to breathe.

If this continues, can the Qin State last long?

As soon as the Qin State is finished, he Zhao Tuo will also have to be finished.

"I have to advise the king!"

"Not now, though."

Zhao Tuo has the heart to advise, but he also knows very well that today's others are soft-spoken, don't look at the repeated great achievements, in fact, they are rootless, and it all depends on the king's appreciation to have some status in the Qin State. If you persuade at will and anger Qin Wangzheng, the other party can abolish him Zhao Tuo with a word.

Just like Fusu in history, his son advised him and was sent to the border.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo not only couldn't persuade him, but even had to follow the king's wishes, at most he had some strategies to save the country.

If he wants to increase his voice, he has to climb up.

"This time, it shouldn't be a problem to be promoted to two levels with my merits. But if you want to have a say in the court and have a say in major national affairs, this is not enough. My title must go up. ”

Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo turned his head to Li Shiqi and asked, "Mr. Li, you have a good understanding of Qi Guo this time. If the Qin State is destroyed, in your opinion, it will be easy? ”

Hearing Zhao Tuo's inquiry, Li Shiqi laughed and said: "The Qi people have not fought for more than 40 years, everyone is slack, and they can't even stand in line with the military formation, which is the elite opponent of the Qin State in a hundred battles." In addition, the first time they sent troops, they were broken by the general in Zhencheng, and they were already afraid of the general in their hearts. ”

"If those four kingdoms are still in Qi State, maybe they should pay attention to it, but now those people have all been expelled by the King of Qi and fled to the Yan Dynasty and Jing Chu, and there is no major trouble in Qi State. If the general leads the troops to attack, he should be able to capture them. ”

Speaking of this, Li Shiqi lowered his voice again and said: "I have already investigated the situation in Linzi clearly, as long as the general leads the troops to attack Qi, I can persuade the king of Qi to surrender with his incorruptible tongue, so that the general can get full merit." ”

Zhao Tuo bowed.

Historically, the Qi State faced the Qin army coming to the city and directly surrendered the whole country, which should be very difficult.

In this time and space, although Hou Sheng, who advocated surrender, was assassinated by the remnants of the four countries, the Qi State also suffered a defeat in Zhencheng, and his arrogance was directly extinguished.

In today's world, the five kingdoms have all been destroyed, and the only ones that have not yet been planted with the black Qin flag are Daidi, Liaodong and Qi.

The country is weak and the eastern part of Liaodong is remote.

Big, fat, and delicious are only in the country of Qi.

"In history, the master of destroying Qi will be Wang Ben."

"This time, I should take the initiative to ask for my life and snatch this task from Wang Ben's hands."

Zhao Tuo raised his head and looked at Xianyang City in the upper reaches of Weishui, his eyes were full of confidence and firmness.

"I, Zhao Tuo, want to be the boss of Qi Destruction!"