Chapter 182 The wind from Zilanxuan blew to Feixue Pavilion

Zhao Wangqian listened to Li Mu's rebuttal, and he looked like a powder keg about to explode, "Li Mu, you have the audacity to claim innocence.

I want to ask you, since you claim to be defending your country, why were half of my cities in Zhao captured by the Qin army?

I want to ask you, you have the best troops of our Great Zhao under your command, why have you been unable to recover the lost territory?
I ask you, since you are my subject, why did you trespass into my dragon tower?"

Zhao Wangqian's three consecutive questions made Li Mu begin to doubt his life.

King Qian of Zhao's PUA was a great success.

Li Mu was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized that it was King Zhao who was trying to pass the blame.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, how should we treat Zhao Cong mentioned in the letter?"

King Qian of Zhao immediately turned to Guo Kai for help. According to King Qian of Zhao's idea, he undoubtedly wanted to save Zhao Cong.

However, if Zhao Cong is redeemed, a considerable price will be paid. Regardless of whether other court officials agree or not, Li Mu will definitely not agree.

Guo Kai noticed King Zhao Qian's request for help and decided to confront Li Mu head-on. He was really familiar with this matter.

"You are so bold, Li Mu. General Zhao Cong is a member of the royal family of Zhao. How can we just leave him alone? For the sake of your reputation of loving the people like your own children, we must not only save General Zhao Cong, but also spend a large sum of money to redeem him."

Facing Guo Kai's somewhat cerebral incompetence, Li Mu directly asked Guo Kai, "May I ask the Prime Minister, are you willing to go to Wu'an to negotiate the price of redemption with the enemy general Wang Jian?"

"This..." When Guo Kai heard that he was asked to go to Wu'an to face Wang Jian, he immediately backed down, "I'm afraid that's not appropriate."

But Zhao Wangqian would not lose face in front of Li Mu, "Prime Minister, please don't refuse. I believe in your ability."

So, two days later, in the Wuan County Magistrate's Mansion.

Guo Kai looked at Gongsun Ce at the top and Wang Jian and Fusu sitting on Gongsun Ce's left and right with trepidation.

"I wonder what price the commander wants our country to pay before he is willing to release the people?"

Gongsun Ce did not reply to Guo Kai immediately, but waved to Li Xin who was standing on the side, "Bring him a cup of tea, let him warm up, look, he is shaking like a quail."

"Give!"

Li Xin poured a cup of tea and threw it in front of Guo Kai. The boiling hot water splashed from the cup and fell on Guo Kai's face, which made Guo Kai calm down.

Gongsun Ce smiled slightly, "I remember that Zhao Cong is a member of the royal family. How much is Zhao prepared to pay to exchange him?"

Guo Kai felt that Gongsun Ce was not playing by the rules at all and there was no such thing as a negotiation where people were passing the buck.

However, Guo Kai knew King Qian of Zhao. As long as he could redeem Zhao Cong, King Qian of Zhao would be able to accept it even if the price was higher.

"My king is willing to redeem General Zhao Cong with a hundred sheep and horses."

Gongsun Ce raised his eyebrows, then shook his head, "Not enough, add another thousand strong Xiongnu soldiers."

When Guo Kai heard Gongsun Ce say that it was not enough, his heart suddenly tightened, thinking that Gongsun Ce was about to ask for an exorbitant amount of money.

If the price of redeeming Zhao Cong was really too high, even if Guo Kai was a favorite of King Qian of Zhao, he would still not get any benefit.

Guo Kai didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Gongsun Ce finished the second half of his sentence.

As far as he knew, Li Mu had fought against the Huns over the years and captured many Huns for trading with the Huns and neighboring countries.

The strong and sturdy Huns were good as hard laborers, but their only drawback was that there were not enough of them and they could not be mass-produced.

Don't think that the Huns would frequently raid the borders of Zhao, Yan, and Qin.

However, those Huns who could truly be called strong and healthy were rare in their respective tribes.

This is also the reason why the Huns who invaded the south always called themselves warriors.

The Hun army that invaded the south was composed of one tribe at a time, and they were not as tall and strong as the border soldiers of Qin, Zhao, and Yan.

During the Han Dynasty, there was a saying that one Han could defeat ten Hu people.

In summary, Guo Kai felt that a thousand strong Xiongnu were not difficult to obtain, so he readily agreed, "Okay, I will accept the request of the general on behalf of the king."

Gongsun Ce nodded, "One hand for the money and the other for the goods."

After getting a satisfactory answer, Guo Kaixin left contentedly. For him, this trip to Wu'an was just a matter of having hands.

When Guo Kai got on the carriage and was about to leave, he was surprised to find that a large wooden box had appeared in the carriage.

Wang Li was sitting on one side of the box at this time. He patted the box, and the dull sound showed that there were many good things in the box.

"This is the intention of General Gongsun. Please accept it, Prime Minister Guo."

Guo Kai was a little bit incredulous for a moment. Gongsun Ce looked like he didn't care about him at all just now, so it was hard for him to believe that Gongsun Ce would give him a gift.

It is of course impossible for Gongsun Ce to give Guo Kai a gift for free, so Po Tu Qilang was placed at the bottom of the box. This is the same method as fishing with bait, low cost and high return.

In fact, the real reason was that Zi Nu wanted to acquire Feixue Pavilion, but Gongsun Ce didn't want to pay, so he simply asked Guo Kai to borrow some money.

Seeing that Guo Kai did not believe him, Wang Li opened the wooden box, which was filled with all kinds of treasures. Of course, these were also searched out from the county magistrate's mansion.

Spending other people's money and doing your own things is called realm.

Wang Li spoke with a hint of meaning, "It is only necessary for the Prime Minister to slander Li Mu in front of the King of Zhao. It is not necessary for the Prime Minister to do anything. Just treat it as making friends."

Guo Kai nodded, "General Gongsun and I hit it off right away. Since we are friends, I must not let him down."

Guo Kai accepted the gift and returned to Handan. After Wang Li saw Guo Kai off, he turned around and found Gongsun Ce, Fusu and Wang Jian standing behind him.

Gongsun Ce glanced at Wang Jian and said, "Old General, you are so lucky."

Wang Jian waved his hand and said, "The commander is overpraising me. Li'er is still too young, and it is Guo Kai who is too greedy."

Fusu also expressed his opinion at this time, "If Zhao State forgets the greater good and only sees the small gain, how can it survive?"

Gongsun Ce patted Fusu on the shoulder and said, "Fusu, you must remember that no one is perfect. Even if your subjects are greedy, they should be used when they are useful."

Fusu was puzzled, "What if the ministers are too greedy and try to get things they shouldn't have?"

Gongsun Strategy replied meaningfully, "Fusu, have you ever eaten beef?"

Fusu looked at Gongsun Ce seriously, "Mr. Gongsun, Qin law stipulates that oxen cannot be killed."

Gongsun Ce smiled and said, "But it doesn't say that we can't eat sick cows or cows that have died of old age. If a working cow breaks its limbs, it can be slaughtered after reporting to the government.

The same is true if a working ox dies of old age. And there are also non-working oxen, such as wild buffaloes and yaks on the grassland.

Of course, the point is not here. I want to tell you that once the oxen have lost their usefulness, they should be killed. There is no need to keep them. "

Gongsun Ce's words made Wang Jian feel a chill down his spine. What he feared most was that Ying Zheng would abandon him, so he did many things to accuse himself.

At this moment, the fear in his heart was pointed out by Gongsun Ce, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Fusu now understood what Gongsun Ce meant, "That is to say, when the oxen are still useful, they should be taken good care of."

"Ruzi can be taught."

Wang Jian suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. As the only one of the four famous generals of the Warring States Period who had a good end, Wang Jian had a lot of thoughts. After hearing Fusu's words, he understood what Gongsun Ce meant.

As long as you are useful, you are the pillar of the Qin State.

In Wang Jian's view, this was not only Gongsun Ce's teaching to Fusu, but also Gongsun Ce's reminder to him not to be nervous.

As night fell, Guo Kai successfully returned to Handan. After he reported Gongsun Ce's request, Li Mu, who was listening nearby, fell into deep thought.

Based on his understanding of Gongsun Ce, he did not believe that Gongsun Ce would do useless work. So what was Gongsun Ce planning to do with these one thousand Huns?
After a brief thought, Li Mu gained nothing. If they were to serve as a vanguard, it was obvious that these Huns would not cooperate in going to their deaths.

If it was used as hard labor, the Qin Dynasty was also adjacent to the Huns, so there was no need to import it from Li Mu.

However, King Qian of Zhao was very happy. Apart from the fact that he felt a little distressed about the one hundred cattle and horses each, the Huns were like free slaves.

Therefore, King Qian of Zhao became more and more satisfied with Guo Kai, and at the same time, his impression of Li Mu became worse and worse.

Of course, Li Mu had not yet noticed that King Zhaoqian was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with him, because King Zhaoqian was already very dissatisfied with him.

Unlike the strange atmosphere inside Longtai, Feixue Pavilion was still brightly lit at night, and people coming and going had joyful looks on their faces.

When Xue Ji was the top dancer in Feixue Pavilion, she usually performed once or twice a year, and occasionally three or four times a year.

However, after Snow Onna took over from Snow Princess, she performed once a month, and occasionally even twice a month.

This kind of hunger marketing, coupled with the high customer flow that Xue Ji had previously accumulated, made the Xue Nu's singing and dancing performance a crowded scene.

Still on the beam, Gongsun Ce held Zi Nu in his arms and watched the singing and dancing performance below that was about to begin.

"Stop flying like a swift duck, drifting like a god, stepping lightly on the water, your silk stockings are covered with dust. Your movements are unpredictable, sometimes dangerous and sometimes safe.

It is hard to know when to go forward or backward. Her eyes are full of energy and her face is smooth and shiny. She is silent but has a faint scent like orchids. Her beauty is so graceful that I forget to eat..."

The last time Gongsun Ce left behind some words from "The Goddess of Luo River", Feixue Pavilion recorded these words on silk cloth and hung it openly on the Feixue Yuhuatai.

After Zi Nu finished reading this part of the words, her expression was somewhat amused, "Mr. Gongsun is so talented, but he is so stingy."

Gongsun Ce felt a little embarrassed. During the time he had known Zi Nu, he had never recited a poem for anyone else except when he first met Nong Yu.

And now, Gongsun Ce performed a segment directly for the stranger.

Especially since Gongsun Ce left behind a famous poem like "The Goddess of Luo River", it is normal for Zi Nu to be a little dissatisfied.

"I'll make it up when I get back."

Zi Nu rubbed her body in Gongsun Ce's arms, changed into a comfortable lying position, and continued to look at the scenery below.

The people are shaped by the land and water they live in. Due to the different geographical environments and preferences of the kings, the seven countries have produced women with different charms.

The State of Qi was noble and generous.

The Qin State was capable and strong.

The Chu State has a slender waist and a gentle figure.

Zhao Guo was good at singing and dancing.

Wei Guo was clever and skillful.

The State of Yan was resolute and brave.

Korea is mature and intellectual.

(End of this chapter)