Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

Page 635

Simply put, no matter the Western Regions or Lingnan, they will definitely be included in the Han territory in the future.

However, the priorities of the two are different. The Western Region is right in front of us, and we must quickly control it, otherwise it will be a loss if it is snatched away by others.

As for Lingnan's words, you can let it go first and draw it slowly.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, several important ministers immediately nodded in agreement.

Guo Zong was a little curious, and said to Zhao Kuo, "Your Majesty just said that he intends to do business with the Seleucids.

But His Majesty just defeated the governor and prince of Seleucid not long ago. What if the Seleucids become angry because of this? "

When Zhao Kuo heard this, he suddenly laughed: "You are angry from embarrassment?

No, no, the current Seleucids should not have this thought.

Because they have a lot of trouble. "

The reason why Zhao Kuo said this is not because Zhao Kuo is familiar with history. After all, history has been changed by Zhao Kuo, and the current history is not following the original track.

Zhao Kuo's confidence mainly came from the confessions of the Seleucid captives.

As a commander who attaches great importance to intelligence, Zhao Kuo did not execute any Seleucid captives, especially those Seleucid officers and generals, but locked them up and asked the Minister of Intelligence Mao Sui to interrogate them one by one. .

Mao Sui's ability goes without saying. After a detailed interrogation, Zhao Kuo basically knew the current situation of the Seleucid Empire, which can be described in four words to describe internal and external troubles.

Needless to say, the Seleucid Empire came from the Alexander Empire. It has always had a plan to "unify the old land of the Alexander Empire". It is a deadly enemy with the Ptolemaic Dynasty occupying Egypt and the major kingdoms occupying Greece and Macedonia. , have been conquering each other for decades.

As for foreign aggression, it is mainly the institutional problems existing in the Seleucid Empire.

Simply put, the power of the local governor is too great.

The governor of the Seleucid Empire is a bit similar to the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, it was nothing when the emperor was strong, but once the emperor's power weakened a little, they couldn't wait to start rebelling.

In history, the eastern governor of the Seleucid Empire successfully rebelled in this way and established a kingdom called Bactria.

Although the current Kingdom of Bactria has not yet become independent, the crisis of the Seleucid Empire has already emerged.

As long as the Seleucids at this time are not stupid, they will definitely accept peace talks and trade with the Han Kingdom.

Commerce can collect commercial taxes, and the Seleucids did not have such things as silk and porcelain from the Han Dynasty. Are you afraid that they will not smile when they see these things?

Therefore, as long as the current emperor of Seleucid, Antiochus II, is not a fool, the peace talks and trade between the Han Dynasty and the Seleucid Empire should be settled soon.

When Zhao Kuo said this, he couldn't help laughing: "Besides, even if they don't agree, wouldn't our Great Han Kingdom have a second westward expedition?"

If you disagree this time, then go to Central Asia next time to see if Seleucus agrees.

If you don't agree next time, then next time you go to West Asia and just destroy Seleucus, won't it be enough?

For Zhao Kuo, many problems in this world are relatively simple.

Who made the army of the Han Dynasty the strongest army in the world in this era?

If we want to do something, if we can't do it diplomatically, we can just use force to achieve it.

At this moment, Zhao Kuo suddenly felt the happiness of the modern rice emperors of later generations.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, several Zhao Guozhong officials couldn't help laughing.

All these important ministers of Zhao State followed Zhao Kuo to unify the world. They are very familiar with war, and at the same time they will not have any rejection.

Pang Nuan couldn't help laughing and said: "If the Seleucid Empire really disagrees, then it might be more profitable for us big men to go to the west again."

The laughter suddenly became louder.

After a while, Zhao Kuo stopped laughing and said to Xu Li, "I heard that Nanzheng has some problems?"

As soon as Zhao Kuo mentioned this topic, the atmosphere began to change slightly.

Xu Li nodded and said: "Your Majesty, judging from General Sima Shang's report, the Southern Expedition did not go smoothly.

In other words, it was not unsuccessful, but it did not meet our previous expectations. "

Sima Shang's Southern Expedition was somewhat troublesome.

You must know that at this time, most of the later Chinese territory south of the Yangtze River has not yet been controlled by the Han Kingdom, so Sima Shang's southern expedition is actually to conquer the entire south of the Yangtze River for the Han Kingdom.

This task is of course relatively heavy.

As the head of the staff department, Sima Shang is a person who likes to make plans very much, so after receiving Zhao Kuo's task, he quickly made a plan, that is, "Ou first, then Fujian, and finally attack Yang".

Ouyue is mainly concentrated at the junction of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces in later generations, while Minyue is concentrated in the central and southern parts of Fujian Province, and Yangyue is concentrated in the southern part of Hunan Province and Guangdong and Guangxi in later generations.

Therefore, Sima Shang's plan to enter the route is very clear, that is to conquer Zhejiang Province first, then Fujian Province, and finally Guangdong and Guangxi in this order.

But the plan belongs to the plan, but when it is implemented, it seems that something is wrong.

What's wrong?

The climate was not right, or the soldiers were not adapting properly.

At the beginning, Sima Shang led troops from Kuaiji County to attack Ouyue directly, and the whole operation was relatively smooth.

Ouyue is close to Kuaiji County, so most of the Ouyue tribes are more or less connected with the Huaxia Ming side. Then Sima Shang can use both soft and hard tactics. On the one hand, he sent envoys to demand that these Ouyue tribes surrender.

In just over a month, Sima Shang's army marched all the way south, basically pacifying the whole territory of Ouyue.

This victory undoubtedly boosted the confidence of the Southern Expedition Army led by Sima Shang, and then they continued to go south to attack Minyue.

It was here in Minyue that troublesome things arose.

whats the matter?

As we all know, people in Fujian Province in later generations call it "eight mountains, one water and one field". Simply put, this province is 80% mountains, 10% lakes and rivers, and the last 10% are fields.

Such terrain is undoubtedly quite harsh, even among the southern provinces of China in later generations, it is also among the best.

This is also the reason why people from Fujian Province in later generations often like to go to sea and do business. It is really that this old ancestor's place only has so many fields, and it really can't support so many people, so they can only find a way to go out.

If Sima Shang's army was on the plains, even if Minyue had an army of one million, it would not be enough for Sima Shang to fight, but the battlefield is not on the plains, but in the dense forests.

Minyue people have lived in these mountains and forests since they were young. They are very familiar with the mountains and forests. Most of Sima Shang's army came from the north of the Yangtze River. few.

Under such circumstances, although Sima Shang had won some victories, his army was also troubled by the ubiquitous attacks of the Minyue people in the dense forest.

So the current battle situation is that Sima Shang controls all the areas of Minyue, but this control is basically limited to plains and not-so-precipitous mountains, and most of the Minyue people are hiding in those rather rugged mountainous areas. , perseveringly fought a guerrilla with Sima Shang.

You can't eliminate me for a while, and I can't drive you away, so the two sides have fallen into a stalemate for several months, until now.

After Zhao Kuo listened, he was happy.

"Unexpectedly, these Fujian and Yue people really look like the same thing when fighting guerrillas."

Seeing Zhao Kuo's performance, several important officials were suddenly puzzled.

Because Zhao Kuo's behavior doesn't seem to want to be angry?

Chapter 1143 The Southern Expedition Newly Arranges Seleucid Envoys to Come

Zhao Kuo looked at the obviously puzzled eyes of several important ministers in front of him, and laughed again: "Actually, I am not too surprised by Sima Shang's situation."

You must know that in history, Qin Shihuang used troops against the "Baiyue" in the south, including Ouyue, Minyue, and Yangyue, and it was not all smooth sailing.

During the first expedition to the south, Qin Shihuang's general Tu Wei led an army of more than 50 troops to conquer Fujian and Zhejiang all the way, and then suffered a big defeat in Guilin County. The first southern expedition was declared a failure.

Of course, Qin Shihuang couldn't swallow this kind of failure, so five years later, Qin Shihuang sent two generals, Zhao Tuo and Ren Xiao, to lead the army south to launch the second Southern Expedition. In Lingnan area, three counties were established: Guilin County, Nanhai County and Xiang County.

After stabilizing these three counties, Qin Shihuang ordered Zhao Tuo to continue to attack the remaining tribes of Ouluo. , this time the war will end without a problem.

From Zhao Kuo's own point of view, he felt that the Great Han Kingdom was of course stronger than the Qin Kingdom back then, but if explosives and muskets were excluded, it was actually not much stronger.

However, in this Southern Expedition, explosives did not play a big role, because the Baiyue tribes themselves were just camp walls made of wooden fences, and they did not need gunpowder to break through.

As for muskets, due to the limited production, they were mainly used to supply the Western Expeditionary Army led by Zhao Kuo himself. Sima Shang also had a 2000 musketeers under his command, but the combat effectiveness was relatively low. Tend to be experimental in nature.

The most important thing is, how many people did Qin Shihuang send Tu Wei back then?

That's just 50 troops.

Now, how many troops did Zhao Kuo give to Sima Shang?

There are only 15 people, which is less than one-third of the soldiers and horses that Qin Shihuang gave Tu Wei.

With these 15 people, Sima was able to conquer Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, which is indeed a pretty good performance.

These were already considered by Zhao Kuo in advance, so of course Zhao Kuo would not criticize Sima Shang harshly.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, several important officials present were also stunned.

After a while, Xu Li said: "Since Your Majesty has already expected Sima Shang's situation today, why not add more troops to Sima Shang?"

Xu Li's question was obviously a question that the other important ministers wanted to ask.

Hearing this, Zhao Kuo couldn't help laughing and said, "This question is actually simpler, because we have already dispatched too many soldiers and horses from the Han Dynasty, so we really can't give Sima Shang more soldiers and horses."

This time Zhao Kuo took away 15 in his westward expedition, and Sima Shang took another 15. In addition to the soldiers and horses in the southwest, the Han Kingdom had nearly 50 troops fighting at the same time within a year.

If Sima was given more soldiers and horses, it would be 55, 60 or even more in a year, which would undoubtedly impose a heavier burden on the Han Kingdom.

Zhao Kuo smiled calmly and said, "So, this matter cannot be rushed for the time being.

After the meeting, the Prime Minister's Mansion will draw up a decree for me and tell Sima Shang that as long as he can pacify the entire Lingnan and Guilin regions within five years, I will consider him a great contribution.

Let him not worry, take it slowly step by step! "

Zhao Kuo's words have already reached this point, and it is naturally impossible for other people to have any opinions, and they all nodded.

For Zhao Kuo, the Lunzhan Army in the southwest and the Sima Shang Army in the southeast should be the main directions for the Han Dynasty to fight in the next few years.

These two directions, one east and the other west, are like the pincers on both sides of a crab, and they are going towards Lingnan. The Baiyue tribes in the south may be able to resist for a while, but under the strong national power of the Han Dynasty and the emperor Zhao Kuo In the face of will, how can it be sustained for a long time?

Regarding the matter of Lingnan, it can be regarded as a temporary end here.

A few days later, a new news reached the Imperial City.

The news came from the distant city of Ili in the Western Regions, and it was Pang Nuan's grandson Pang Zheng who wrote the memorial.

"The Seleucid envoy has arrived in Ili. According to His Majesty's previous order, I have sent someone to escort him to the Central Plains. Please let Your Majesty know."

Zhao Kuo looked at the memorial, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "These Seleucids react very quickly."

You must know that the distance from Antioch, the capital of Seleucid, to Ili is about the same as the distance from Ili to the imperial capital.

Considering that Zhao Kuo still made various stops on the way after returning to the Central Plains, the envoys sent by Emperor Seleucid had already set off from Antioch in about half a month to 20 days of Zhao Kuo's class teacher.

This is indeed a very fast speed, and it also reflects the Seleucids' eagerness to make peace with the two parties.

Zhao Kuo thought for a while, and asked someone to call Mao Sui.

"Mao Sui, take a look at this memorial."

After reading the memorial, Mao said, "I don't know what His Majesty intends to do to this envoy?"

Zhao Kuo laughed and said: "Of course we don't need to do some unknown or insidious things. After all, this is the first diplomatic exchange between our Han Dynasty and other foreign countries. I don't want others to say that we The Han Dynasty was an unruly country.

What you have to do is actually very simple, that is, let these envoys know about the silk and porcelain of our Han Dynasty! "

When he said this, there was a light in Zhao Kuo's eyes. If the Minister of Finance Guo Zong was there, he would feel that this light was quite familiar. It was when businessmen found fat sheep that could be slaughtered. Love the revealing expression!Why did Zhao Kuo choose the Western Regions in the first personal expedition to unify the Han Dynasty?

Apart from the fact that the geographical and strategic location of the Western Regions is very important and must be occupied first, another very important reason is the Silk Road, the commercial route of the Western Regions.

How important is the Silk Road?

To put it simply, the existence of the Silk Road not only brought bright exchanges between the East and the West in the Eurasian continent, but also brought a steady stream of foreign exchange to the Chinese and Central Plains dynasties of all dynasties.

In the most prosperous period, more than [-]% of the silver in the entire civilization of the earth was concentrated in the hands of a single country in China. Attention, it was the silver of the entire world!And a large part of this trade is due to the Silk Road.

As soon as the Silk Road is opened, the money will come immediately.

By that time, the Great Han Kingdom will not only be able to obtain a steady stream of wealth, but also control and develop the Western Regions by the way.

Today, the arrival of the Seleucid envoy is undoubtedly a wonderful assist for Zhao Kuo to open the Silk Road.

Zhao Kuo said something like this to Mao Sui. Mao Sui is an old hand, so he naturally understood this. He patted his chest and assured Zhao Kuo: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely be able to complete the task!"

At this time, the Seleucid envoy in the distance didn't know what he was going to face!To be selected by the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus II as the envoy of the Han Dynasty for the first time, the envoy must not only be honorable enough, but also stable enough to be trusted by the emperor.

Doros, the court minister of the Seleucid Empire, is undoubtedly such a candidate. He is just 40 years old this year, he acts steadily, and is the emperor's distant cousin. He is a very suitable candidate in all aspects.

But at this moment, Doros lost his composure extremely rarely.

He was sitting in his tent, watching a young man dressed as a servant in front of him.

Since he is the envoy of the Seleucid Empire, it is of course impossible for Doros to come to the Han Kingdom alone. In fact, he brought fifty knights, two hundred soldiers and eighty servants.

It was also because there were so many people that until today, under an extremely accidental situation, he noticed that this servant who was supposed to feed his cart horses seemed very, very similar to a person.