The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 176: The Rebellion Begins

By the way, let me give Guo Kai another great achievement.

In the Zhao State court, it was Guo Kai again.

Guo Kai's face was serious and his brows were furrowed. He volunteered to go to Qin State and ask Qin State to negotiate peace.

Guo Kai said solemnly: "As long as Qin is willing to cease fire and negotiate peace, this out-of-control war can be stopped."

King Zhao Daoxiang was overjoyed and extremely moved, but he still had to rely on Guo Qing.

Guo Qing's idea is the right one. Wei and Zhao will never propose peace talks. Only a third party can mediate.

The third party must be strong enough.

King Zhao Daoxiang asked worriedly, "But Qin can now sit back and reap the benefits, so it certainly hopes that the war will continue. How could Qin be willing to withdraw its troops and act as a peacemaker?"

Guo Kai said solemnly: "Your Majesty, everything depends on human effort. No matter what, I am willing to give it a try. I have seen that the King of Qin is not a war-loving person, but a benevolent monarch. Now there is a great disaster in Qin. A war in a year of great disaster is definitely not a good thing. What is more important, I believe the King of Qin has his own thoughts."

Things had come to this point, with no other options left. King Zhao Daoxiang had to act decisively. He prepared fast horses and sent out expert guards to escort Guo Kai to Qin urgently.

After entering Qin, Guo Kai spoke out for justice with great righteousness. Ying Zheng cooperated with Guo Kai to put on another good show. Guo Kai also cooperated with Ying Zheng to gain the reputation of a benevolent and holy monarch.

Win-win.

On the surface, Ying Zheng lamented the constant wars and did not want the people to be in chaos. Today's natural disaster is the time to work together to overcome the difficulties.

He also did not want war among the countries, so he agreed to a ceasefire with them.

Not only that, Ying Zheng also firmly stated that the conflicts in the Central Plains were family affairs and fighting behind closed doors was a family affair. How could he allow the barbarians to act so recklessly? He also promised to help the State of Zhao defeat the barbarians.

Guo Kai returned to Zhao happily with great achievement.

Ying Zheng immediately ordered Meng Ao to lead 30,000 elite cavalry who had been ready to go, and urgently enter Henan through the north to attack the flank and rear of the Xiongnu to share the pressure on Li Mu.

The world has not yet been unified, so we cannot allow these barbarians to cause trouble. They have no right to do so.

Another very important point is that fighting against the barbarians together can effectively eliminate the hatred between Qin and Zhao.

As for what to do if you lose? How is that possible?

Meng Ao and Li Mu were more than enough to destroy the Huns.

There were also orders to destroy some restless Qiang tribes on the way back.

Since Ying Zheng ascended the throne, the focus has been on the remaining six eastern countries. He temporarily adopted a conciliatory approach towards the Qiang people in the west, focusing on economic control.

Lu Buwei was personally responsible for the internal instigation and economic exploitation of this group of disunited barbarians.

This is very worthwhile. Because of the difference in production models, agricultural peoples have great advantages over nomadic peoples in economic trade, otherwise it cannot be said to be exploitation.

The horses obtained from nomadic peoples can enhance military capabilities, the cattle, donkeys and mules can improve agricultural production, and the sheep can be used as meat to supplement life nutrition. Most of these are large livestock that improve productivity and military capabilities.

But what the Qiang people got were different. They were all daily consumer goods, such as food, clothing, medicinal materials, and tea, which were just enough to maintain their survival but could not increase their productivity.

In this situation, the labor value of the Qiang people is actually being exploited unilaterally, which is a form of killing without bloodshed.

In addition, the barbarian system is still basically a slave society, and most of the tribal leaders cannot be considered human beings, but can only be described as anthropomorphic creatures. Their exploitation of the lower-level herdsmen is so extreme that even the more traditional nobles of Chuyan would say: You are too extreme.

Lu Buwei even provided these tribal leaders with inferior ironware to help them maintain their rule, and on the other hand, he provided them with high-end luxury goods, better food, wine and tea.

Alcohol is something you can't quit once you've tasted it, and the Qiang people were incapable of brewing good wine. From Daqin to the grassland, the price of a jar of wine had become astonishing enough.

After these series of attacks, ordinary Qiang tribes are now basically maintaining a state of barely surviving, and people often starve to death.

Of course, most tribal leaders live a very comfortable and fulfilling life.

Besides, once the nomadic people encounter a major natural disaster, or the population increases to a certain extent, they can only rob, because they cannot survive by doing business.

Waging war, whether you win or lose, is a way to survive a disaster.

If you win, you get everything, needless to say. If you lose, a lot of people will die, and the remaining resources of the tribe can only sustain the survival of the remaining people. It is extremely cruel.

But under normal circumstances, due to population and productivity reasons, the Central Plains is often under the control of the barbarians. Only when there is chaos in the world and major internal problems do nomadic peoples have the opportunity to invade. But as long as they recover, they will often quickly return to the above state.

Just like the Qiang people today, they were being suppressed and beaten by the Qin State. Even if they were to starve to death or fight among themselves, they would not dare to invade Qin.

Of course a big reason is that the population has not yet reached its endurance limit, and the survival of the entire tribe has not yet reached its survival limit.

But there were always troublemakers. There were hundreds of Qiang tribes, large and small, none of which were unified and in chaos. There were always some Qiang heroes who were troublemakers for the Qin Dynasty. They did not want to be exploited in this way and only thought of resisting with force. If business was not profitable, it would be better to rob.

Of course, no matter what kind of troublemakers the Qiang people are now, they dare not invade Qin territory. However, in mutual trade, various acts of cheating, taking advantage, being disrespectful, and even stealing and robbing trading caravans do occur from time to time.

Although these occasional troublemakers did not cause any major harm, they still had an impact on order, and Ying Zheng disliked them very much.

The barbarians fear power and do not respect virtue, so you must establish your authority from time to time, otherwise more and more people will follow your example.

These barbarians need to be killed frequently. Only in this way will they know what respect is.

Ying Zheng ordered Meng Ao that after defeating the Huns, he should pick out some troublemakers on his way back, as well as some unlucky ones (who happened to be blocking his way), and kill them all to establish his authority.

We must establish our authority and kill a large number of them. Combined with the fate of the Huns, these barbarians will be well-behaved within the next twenty years.

In the Central Plains, the chaos should also stop.

Alas, it's because I don't like fighting in my life, I only like to end fights.

The final benefit still needs to be collected.

Ying Zheng sent envoys to Wei to negotiate peace, stating that Wei and Zhao would each make concessions, the Zhao army would withdraw and return all the cities it had occupied, but Wei must also give up and not counterattack Zhao again.

As for the cities captured by Qin and Chu this time, there are not many anyway, only five each, so let's just leave it at that.

Of course, Qin also guaranteed that Chu would cease fire.

If you don't agree, don't blame Daqin for being completely rude.

Ying Zheng sent envoys to talk about a ceasefire. This was a step forward that made Crown Prince Zeng very happy. They had been fighting for half a year this year. Compared with the current situation, this was just a small price to pay. Crown Prince Zeng was absolutely willing to accept it.

However, Crown Prince Zeng still did not dare to make a decision on his own and went to ask for instructions from King Anxi of Wei who was already bedridden.

(End of this chapter)