Chapter 90: The Qin Court's Deliberation (Part 1)

  The heavy snow was still falling thick and fast, already giving the city of Xianyang a thick layer of silver makeup. The roofs, streets, were all covered with a layer of cotton-like snow, the eaves, tree branches, were all hung with fluffy, shiny silver strips. The whole city of Xianyang had become a world of powder puff and jade inlaid.

  Because it is still within the mourning period of Queen Huayang, the entire Qin state must stop music and demonstrate mourning. Therefore, although it is already New Year's now, there is not a hint of festive atmosphere in Xianyang City. The once bustling Female Gate Wine House also has poor business and looks very deserted. Of course, this is just the surface phenomenon. In every commoner's home, after closing the door, the whole family can still gather together to celebrate the New Year with excitement.

  However, in front of the palace gate of Qin State, it was still bustling as usual. At this time, the carriages and horses of civil and military officials were parked full, waiting for their masters to come out of the palace in the heavy snow. The Qin army guards guarding the palace were still standing upright, with not a single soldier's body without accumulated snow, forming a sharp contrast with their black armor.

  Although this heavy snow has lasted for nearly ten days, the court of Qin still holds its daily meetings as usual, without any slackness. Therefore, the civil and military officials of Qin also have to brave the snow every day to come to the palace to pay their respects to King Zheng of Qin, not daring to utter a single complaint.

  However, in the main hall of the palace, it was warm as spring. On both sides, more than a dozen large braziers were burning. Qin Shi Huang sat on the high throne in the center, reading a memorial to the throne. Below the steps, dozens of civil and military officials stood silently, the entire hall was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, occasionally only hearing the sound of "crackling" of the fire bursting.

  "Wow!"

  King Qin Zheng put down the bamboo slips in his hands and said, "Li Mu has already left Handan, with Quyang as his capital, and is governing independently in Dai Prefecture. He is also preparing for war, ready to fight against our Qin army's attack. Moreover, King Zhao Xiang of Zhao has sent a decree to Li Mu, granting him the right to govern autonomously in Dai Prefecture. What do you all think?"

  The state of Qin had many spies in Zhao, so they basically knew everything that happened in Zhao. Li Mu left Handan and retreated to Dai Prefecture for self-governance. Many soldiers and generals of Zhao felt disappointed with the court of Zhao and defected to Li Mu's command. Now Li Mu controlled an army of 260,000-270,000 men, accounting for more than 60% of the total military strength of Zhao.

  At the same time, Li Mu also reached an agreement with merchants from Zhao, establishing a business in Dai Prefecture. From then on, half of the grain purchased by merchants from Qi would be sold to Li Mu at a low price, while the other half would be sold by the merchants themselves. At the same time, they would provide various supplies to Li Mu. In return, Li Mu promised to continue providing protection for the merchants, dispatching troops to guard the border between Zhao and Qi, and escorting grain purchased from Qi back to Zhao. He also pledged that if the merchants were threatened in Handan, he would send troops to intervene.

  Li Mu was originally well-received by the people of Dai Prefecture, and deeply supported by the military. With the help of merchants, as soon as he arrived in Quyang, Li Mu abolished half of the taxes and labor services for the people of Dai Prefecture, which greatly pleased the entire population, who all supported Li Mu's autonomy in Dai Prefecture. At the same time, a large number of refugees also followed Li Mu to settle in Dai Prefecture, causing the population of Dai Prefecture to increase significantly. If he could manage it for two or three years, he would indeed be able to establish a relatively stable foundation.

  Moreover, Li Mu's departure caused a great shock in the city of Handan. Adding to this, Guo Kai had previously seized grain purchased from Qi State by merchants and sold it at high prices, making huge profits, which indeed aroused public outrage among all levels of society in Handan. As a result, people from all walks of life pointed their fingers at Guo Kai, and at one point, the bamboo slips submitted to impeach him piled up like a small mountain.

  In this situation, Zhao Wangqian and Guo Kai both bore tremendous pressure. Coincidentally, Guo Kai fell ill at this time, so he took the opportunity to recuperate at home. However, the ministers were relentless and insisted on executing Guo Kai. Meanwhile, Zhao Wangqian also made a mistake by not attending court sessions and hiding from the ministers, even going as far as burning their memorials like firewood.

  At this time, Li Mu again memorialized Handan, stating that he was forced by treacherous officials to leave Handan, but did not betray Zhao State. Although he is now autonomous in Dai Prefecture, he remains loyal to Zhao State. This move once again stirred up a thousand waves and triggered another round of attacks on Guo Kuo in the city of Handan. Moreover, this time Zhao Jia finally could no longer sit still and also memorialized King Qian of Zhao, requesting that King Qian immediately execute Guo Kuo and summon Li Mu back.

  Zhao Jia still had some reputation in Handan and also gained the support of some imperial relatives, so when he came forward, a group of people immediately gathered around him, waving flags and shouting slogans, and the content changed from killing Guo Kai to calling for Zhao Jia's reuse.

  Under the pressure of public opinion, Zhao Wangqian finally couldn't hold on. After discussing with Guo Kai, he had to issue an order, appointing Zhao Jia as Pingcheng Jun, acting as Prime Minister. However, he reappointed Zhao Cong as Da Sima, in charge of military power, and appointed Yan Ju, a guest of Guo Kai's family, as Shao Shi, in charge of the safety of Handan City. In fact, he only gave Zhao Jia an empty title of Prime Minister.

  But anyway, Zhao Jia also became the prime minister and immediately issued a decree to Li Mu, acknowledging Li Mu's autonomy in Dai Prefecture and formally granting him full authority to resist the Qin army. In this way, at least in name, Li Mu was still a subject of the State of Zhao. Later, Zhao Jia successively appointed several virtuous scholars recognized by the State of Zhao as officials, appointing Tian Danqian and Song Rong as senior ministers, Di Jin as middle minister, Gong Sunlong and Zhong Lifu as senior officials, and comforting merchants, so Zhao Jia also received a lot of praise.

  However, these were just superficial achievements. After the three fires had burned out, Zhao Jia began to face the real problems of Zhao State: the treasury was empty, there was hardly any stored grain left, and a large number of refugees were gathering outside the city walls. Moreover, Zhao Cong and Yan Ju, who were part of Guo Kai's faction, did not take orders from Zhao Jia at all, so his policies could hardly be implemented. It is worth noting that Guo Kai had been operating in Zhao State for decades, with a complex network of connections, deeply entrenched, which was far beyond what the newly emerged Zhao Jia could handle.

  Facing these situations, Zhao Jia was also at a loss. He gathered several famous scholars he had always admired to discuss the matter, but unfortunately, Tian Kuai and Gongsun Long only talked about benevolent government, while Song Rong kept talking about governing by non-action, which almost made Zhao Jia vomit blood. It was Di Jin who gave Zhao Jia a feasible suggestion: immediately summon Li Mu back to Handan, execute Guo Kuo, eliminate Guo Kuo's followers, let Zhao Jia take control of the government and Li Mu take control of the military power, so that the state of Zhao could be restored.

  But after listening to Ji Jin's suggestion, Zhao Jia was stunned for a long time before saying: "Now the Marquis of Wu'an is stationed in Dai Prefecture, preparing his army and defending against Qin's invasion. How can he leave the front line lightly?" Thus negating Ji Jin's suggestion. And Handan City also fell into chaos again.

  These situations were, of course, reported back to Xianyang by the spies from Qin. Now that Zhao is in internal turmoil and its situation is unstable, it should be a good thing for Qin, but Li Mu, who was most valued by Qin, has not been eliminated. Instead, he is still governing Dai Prefecture autonomously, free from the control of the Zhao court. He can advance or retreat as he wishes, which means that in some sense, Li Mu's position has even been strengthened. This is exactly what Qin does not want to see happen.

  So King Zheng of Qin immediately issued an order, gathering civil and military officials to discuss how to deal with Zhao.

  Only a "thud" was heard, and Yao Jia knelt down on the ground, with his head bowed to the ground, trembling and saying: "This time I was sent to Zhao Guo, it was my fault that I wasted the court's money and failed to remove Li Mu for our Qin State. Please punish me, Your Majesty." Because he was responsible for carrying out the counter-espionage plan in Zhao Guo, removing Li Mu, but wasting 2,000 jin of gold and ceding 12 cities south of Zhang River to Zhao Guo, the price paid was not small, but ultimately ended up with such a result. Yao Jia could not avoid responsibility, so he did not wait for Qin Wang Zheng to speak before taking the initiative to plead guilty.

  Half a moment later, Qin Wang Zheng said: "You are innocent, this matter, you have done your best. Although it is said that Li Mu has not been removed, he can force Li Mu to leave Handan and stir up the chaos in Handan. Such a result is already very good."

  Yao Jia also let out a sigh of relief and hastily said: "Thank you, Your Majesty." Then he stood up and retreated back to his own ranks.

  "Then I ask you all, should our Qin state proceed with the invasion of Zhao after the new year? What are your suggestions?"

  King Qin Zheng had just finished speaking, when Wei Liao immediately stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the campaign against Zhao is inevitable and cannot be changed."

  Wei Liao was a man of the state of Wei, whose personal name was Liao. His surname is unknown. In the tenth year of King Zheng of Qin, he entered Qin and was recommended to the court by the prime minister Wang Wan. He had discussions with King Zheng about the overall situation in the world and deeply impressed him.

  He Guan said that he understood the art of physiognomy, and when he first met King Zheng of Qin, he evaluated King Zheng's appearance: a wasp-like nose, long eyes, a bird-like chest, and a jackal-like voice. He had little kindness but a heart like a tiger or wolf. He would easily sacrifice others to achieve his goals, and if he succeeded, he would lightly devour people. I am just a commoner, yet when he saw me, he often treated me with contempt. If King Zheng were to succeed in unifying the world, everyone would become his slaves. It is not possible to be with him for long. Therefore, he did not want to serve as an official in the Qin dynasty and left without saying goodbye.

  But Qin Wang Zheng did not find it strange, on the contrary, he ordered people to invite Wei Liao back, appointed him as Guo Wei, and not only listened to his plans but also treated him with humility and respect. Even Wei Liao's clothes and food were the same as those of Qin Wang Zheng. Finally, he won over Wei Liao, who was willing to assist the state of Qin and become a minister. He took Wei as his surname, henceforth known as Wei Liao. In this era, surnames were not stable, and there were many examples of people taking country names, place names, and official titles as their surnames.

  Wei Lü was in charge of managing the country's military administrative affairs, equivalent to the Minister of National Defense or the Chief of Staff in later generations. Although the overall strategy for unifying the six states was formulated by Li Si, Li Si was not very familiar with military affairs, while Wei Lü was well-versed in military tactics and strategies. The deployment and arrangement of troops were all determined by Wei Lü, so his attitude was crucial to whether the campaign against Zhao could be successful or not.

  Qin Wang Zheng said: "Oh, now Li Mu is still here, why do you think that the campaign against Zhao will definitely not change?"

  Wei Liao said: "Report to the Great King, although Li Mu is still there, he has already had a falling out with Zhao Guo. Without the support of Zhao Guo's logistics and supplies, relying solely on the power of Dai Prefecture, even if Li Mu has extraordinary talent, it would be impossible for him to contend against our great Qin army."