Chapter 72: The Envoy of Qin (Part 2)

  "Director Yao, please."

  "Hehe! Please come in, Prime Minister."

  In the midst of a lively silk and bamboo music performance, with singing girls dancing like startled swans, Guo Kai and Yao Jia clinked their cups together, indulging in hearty drinking, the atmosphere was also very lively.

  After three rounds of wine, Yao Jia smiled and said: "It's been three years since we last met, and the Prime Minister's demeanor is still the same. It's really a joyous occasion. I'd like to toast you with a cup."

  Kuo Kai also raised his wine cup and chuckled: "Thanks to Director Yao's auspicious words, I'm afraid Ben Xiang has been too presumptuous."

  Three years ago, Li Mu defeated the Qin army in the Battle of Fatu. At that time, Zhao Guo actively contacted various countries to plan a joint attack on Qin, but King Zheng of Qin entrusted Yao Jia with important tasks and sent him to Chu, Yan, Wei, and Zhao with heavy gold to persuade them. As a result, this alliance ended in vain. At that time, Guo Kai was one of the important objects of Yao Jia's connection.

  It was during that time when Yao Jia went to the state of Zhao, he got acquainted with Guo Kai and they became friends. He also gave Guo Kai a thousand taels of gold, asking him to secretly disrupt the alliance. However, Guo Kai took people's money but only wanted to help them avoid disaster, so he also secretly worked hard. As a result, that alliance came to nothing, and Guo Kai played a significant role in it.

  After Yao Jia returned to his country, although he did not meet with Guo Kai again, every now and then, there were letters and gifts, and he continued to give Guo Kai gold. In the past three years, he has also given Guo Kai nearly a thousand taels of gold. Therefore, Guo Kai also regarded Yao Jia as his own god of wealth.

  This time, Zhao Wangqian let Guo Kai replace himself to host a banquet for Yao Jia. Guo Kai was also delighted and hosted a grand feast in his own mansion, warmly entertaining Yao Jia as his own god of wealth.

  After the two men had a drink, Yao Jia smiled and said: "Although I am in Qin State, I have also heard about what happened in Zhao State. It seems that Prime Minister Pingyuan has recently suffered a great financial loss."

  As soon as the loss of money was mentioned, Guo Kai's face fell, that was three thousand taels of gold, more than half of Guo Kai's family wealth. He also smiled bitterly and waved his hand, saying: "Forget it, forget it, let's just consider it a disaster relief."

  Yao Jia smiled and said: "The Prime Minister's broad-mindedness is deeply admired by me. However, how can I make the Prime Minister lose so much money? This time when I came to Zhao Guo, I brought 5,000 taels of gold to compensate for the Prime Minister's losses." As he spoke, Yao Jia lightly clapped his hands, and eight attendants carried in two large chests, opened them, revealing a pile of glittering gold inside.

  Kuo Kai's eyes widened instantly, although he had also expected that this time Yao Jia would send him gold again, but Kuo Kai estimated that at most it would be another thousand taels of gold. He didn't expect Yao Jia to say five thousand taels as soon as he opened his mouth. Kuo Kai almost thought he had misheard. This time not only could he make up for the loss, but he could also make a big profit.

  But Yao Jia only had two large chests carried up, one chest was a thousand taels of gold. After waiting for a while, no one else came to carry the gold up, and Guo Kai couldn't help but say: "Wasn't it said that there were five thousand taels of gold? Why are there only two thousand taels?"

  Yao Jia smiled and looked around, Guo Kai immediately understood, waved his hand and said: "You all retreat."

  All the musicians and singers had withdrawn one after another, leaving only two people in the empty hall. It was not until then that Yao Jia spoke: "Prime Minister, please be at ease, not a single tael of gold will be missing; there are just some minor matters that require your assistance. As long as you accomplish them, not to mention the remaining 3,000 taels of gold, I will offer additional heavy rewards."

  Guo Kai also knew that Yao Jia would not send him gold for no reason, so he smiled and said: "I don't know what's going on, please speak up quickly, Yao. As long as it's something I can do, I won't refuse."

  Yao Jia Dao said: "Remove Li Mu."

  Guo Kai's hand trembled, almost spilling the wine, and he shook his head, saying: "This matter is probably not easy to handle. It's not that I don't want to get rid of Li Mu, but Li Mu now holds the military power of Zhao State, and also has the deep trust of the king. It's indeed difficult for me to make a move."

  Yao Jia smiled and said, "Although Li Mu holds military power, the Prime Minister still controls the politics of Zhao State. Since King Zhao trusts Li Mu, how can it compare to his trust in the Prime Minister? Moreover, if my Qin State wants to destroy Zhao State, Li Mu must be eliminated."

  Guo Kuo was stunned again, and trembled as he said: "What? Qin State wants to destroy Zhao State?" Although Guo Kuo had secretly accepted gold from Qin State and done many things for them, he had never thought of helping Qin State destroy Zhao State. Although Guo Kuo was greedy and jealous, he still understood this one principle: his own power and influence were closely tied to the existence of Zhao State. As long as Zhao State existed, he could maintain his own power; but if Zhao State were destroyed, his own power would also cease to exist. Therefore, colluding with Qin State from time to time, occasionally selling out some of Zhao State's interests, helping Qin State do something, and making a little extra profit for himself was acceptable, but helping Qin State destroy Zhao State would be cutting off his own path, which he absolutely could not do.

  So Guo Kaizheng was about to speak, when Yao Jia said: "My Qin state is determined to destroy Zhao state, and this will not be changed. In the coming year, we will launch a nationwide army to attack Zhao state."

  Guo Kai couldn't help but feel puzzled, saying: "If the Qin state wants to destroy Zhao, why would they want to make peace with us? And also return the twelve cities south of Zhang River to Zhao?"

  Yao Jia smiled and said: "That's just to make Zhao Guo relax its vigilance. Prime Minister, don't take it seriously."

  Guo Kuo said: "But our Zhao state still has the Lord of Wu'an, who has already defeated the Qin army twice. I'm afraid it won't be that easy for Qin to destroy Zhao."

  Yao Jia said: "Li Mu is good at using troops, and has twice defeated the Qin army, but both times the Qin army did not use its full strength. This time, however, the state of Qin will send all its forces, so it's hard to say whether Li Mu can still win."

  Guo Kaodao said: "Aren't you afraid that I will report this matter to the king, first kill you, and then prepare for war to defend against the Qin army?"

  Yao Jia smiled and said: "In this case, Prime Minister, you will be in danger."

  Kuo Kai was taken aback and said: "What danger could I be in?"

  Yao Jia said: "Let's make an assumption first, Prime Minister can report to King Zhao and let him kill me, but the war between Qin and Zhao is inevitable. Once Li Mu loses to the Qin army, Zhao will perish, so when the Qin army enters Handan, the Prime Minister will also be hard to escape."

  Kuo K'ai-tao said: "If Li Mu defeats the Qin army, won't everything be all right then?"

  Yao Jia shook his head and smiled, "That's wrong. If Li Mu defeats the Qin army, he will have made a great contribution to Zhao State that will be remembered for generations to come. He will certainly be rewarded by King of Zhao. Now that Li Mu has already been enfeoffed as a lord and appointed as a senior general, if King of Zhao wants to reward him again, probably the only position left would be that of Chancellor."

  Kuo K'ai's face changed, and Yao Chia's words had indeed struck home to his mind; but he still argued strongly: "The Emperor has always trusted me, and will certainly not let Li Mu become the Prime Minister."

  Yao Jia nodded and said, "If King Zhao does not grant Li Mu a title, it will inevitably lead to Li Mu's resentment. Now all the military power of Zhao is in Li Mu's hands. If he rebels and declares himself king or sets up someone else as king, what kind of outcome will the prime minister have? Therefore, whether Zhao wins or loses, the prime minister is afraid that he will not have a good end."

  This remark also made Guo Kuo sweat profusely, and his hands involuntarily trembled, because Yao Jia's words indeed struck at the heart of Guo Kuo. In fact, Li Mu had never thought of rebelling or setting up another King of Zhao. If Li Mu really wanted to do so, he could have done it after the Battle of Fei. But Guo Kuo did not see it that way. In his view, if Li Mu was dissatisfied with the reward given by King Zhao, it was very likely that he would set up another King of Zhao, and he himself would definitely come to no good end.

  Following this train of thought, Guo Kuo felt more and more convinced that he was right. In his heart, he knew clearly that his reputation in Zhao State was not good, and he was widely regarded as a treacherous minister who wanted to harm others. If he lost power, his life would be in danger. Therefore, whether or not Zhao State could be preserved, he himself would definitely come to no good end.

  At this time, Yao Jia was leisurely and drank another cup of wine before smiling and saying: "So for the sake of the Prime Minister's consideration, now the Prime Minister's only way to protect himself is to rely on my Qin state. After annihilating Zhao, my Qin state will absolutely not mistreat the Prime Minister."

  Guo Kai's face was uncertain, clearly in the midst of a fierce ideological struggle. Yao Jia did not rush him, but instead drank his wine calmly, one sip at a time. After a while, Guo Kai finally spoke up: "May I ask, Lord Yao, if I help Qin destroy Zhao, what reward can Qin offer me?"

  Yao Jia's heart was greatly delighted when he heard this, knowing that Guo Kai had already been moved by his words. He immediately said: "Before I sent Zhao, my king had already issued a decree. As long as the Prime Minister can help our Qin state destroy the Zhao state, we will seal the Prime Minister as the Marquis of Chu, with a fief of 100,000 households, and we can make a written agreement to prove it."

  Guo Kai listened and didn't make a big move. He knew that the official ranks of Qin were divided into twenty levels, with the highest level being Cheng Hou, equivalent to the enfeoffed kings of other countries. Not only did they have their own fiefs, but they could also set their own taxes and officials. It can be said that it was equivalent to a small-scale vassal state. Generally speaking, only a few officials who had made great contributions to Qin could receive such an honor. In the past, Lü Buwei had supported Qin Zhuangxiang from a humble position to become the King of Qin. After Qin Zhuangxiang ascended to the throne, not only did he appoint Lü Buwei as the Prime Minister, but also enfeoffed him as Wenxin Hou, with Luoyang as his fief and 100,000 households under his jurisdiction. Therefore, this promise from Qin was indeed a great reward for himself. Although he didn't have the actual power of the Prime Minister, he could still live out the rest of his life in peace and stability.

  Guo Kai picked up the wine jug, took a big gulp of wine, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then said: "Alright, since the King of Qin thinks so highly of me Guo Kai, I agree. I will present Zhao to the King of Qin."

  Yao Jia burst out laughing and said, "Prime Minister is indeed a wise man. Those who know the current situation are truly outstanding. Let me offer Prime Minister a toast. From now on, I am just a subordinate of yours."

  After making up his mind, Guo Kai also calmed down and hurriedly raised his wine glass, saying: "In the future, I will still have to ask Lord Yao for more guidance."

  The two men drank another cup of wine together and burst out laughing again.