King Zhao raised his head, hope gleaming in his eyes.
But soon, the hopeful light in his eyes faded and turned into bleak sadness.
The King of Zhao said sadly, "Uncle, is there no other way except to let Lord Lian and General Li lead the troops into Handan?"
Zhao Sheng clenched the cane in his hand and remained silent.
The King of Zhao asked again: "My uncle has three thousand followers, can't he save me?"
The retainers of the nobles were also their private soldiers, and when they were fighting for power, they often led their retainers to fight.
Owning a fiefdom and being able to summon thousands of retainers is equivalent to being able to become a small monarch within a country. When Mengchangjun was feared, he returned to his fiefdom with his retainers and was not affiliated with any country.
Although the Warring States Period was only called the Seven Kingdoms, in fact they were only the seven most powerful countries that had the potential to unify the world. There were also some scattered small countries between the seven countries, most of which were dependent on these seven countries.
But now it has entered the end of the Warring States Period. In addition to the fact that the King of Chu had difficulty controlling his old nobles and feudal lords, the feudal lords of other countries, even if they had fiefs, had been deprived of much of their power. Even if Zhao Sheng returned to his fiefdom, he could not establish a state within a country like Mengchangjun did.
The king of Zhao asked again, and Zhao Sheng finally spoke: "After Zhu Xiang left, most of my followers also left me, and the remaining people are not enough to help you."
Zhao Sheng did not lie.
Most people who become retainers of nobles do not want to be inferior to others for the rest of their lives. Just like in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, if you want to be an official in the court, you must first work as an official in a noble family. They become retainers of nobles because they want to use this as a springboard to enter the court and realize their ambitions.
Even if they cannot enter the court, if the nobles they rely on are powerful themselves, then helping the nobles is almost the same as being an official.
The same was true of Zhao Sheng's three thousand followers.
After Zhu Xiang entered Qin, some of his followers were disappointed with Zhao State and no longer wanted to be officials in Zhao State, so they left Zhao Sheng; some followers simply left Zhao Sheng because Zhao Sheng was far away from the court and no longer had power, just like when Lian Po was recalled from Changping by King Zhao.
There were also retainers who followed the nobles without regard to power or situation. Zhao Sheng had several such retainers around him, and his brother-in-law Xinling Jun was surrounded by such loyal retainers.
Xinling Jun treated his retainers with sincerity that was totally incompatible with their status, and most of his retainers were willing to die for him.
Therefore, the King of Qin has already sown the seeds of the plot to alienate Lord Xinling and the King of Wei. When the time comes, he or the next King of Qin will stimulate the birth of this seed.
Many of Qin's strategies for sowing discord took advantage of existing seeds of suspicion, and many more were planted in advance. Otherwise, even if the rulers of the six states were stupid, the success rate of Qin's strategies for sowing discord would not have been so high.
It was also because the old King of Qin lived long enough that the Qin State was able to establish such a "separatist organization".
Zhao Sheng and Zhao Bao were half excluded and half discouraged. After they left Handan and returned to their fiefdoms, the Qin State provoked them a little, and the newly powerful royal family in the court actively increased their efforts to exclude and suppress Zhao Sheng and Zhao Bao.
Now, not only have their influence in the court been completely eliminated, but most of their retainers have also left, and the court is deserted. Even if the two return to Handan now, King Zhao cannot rely on them to regain power.
King Zhao knelt straight on the ground with empty eyes.
The seven states fought for hegemony as vassal states. When they were founded, they relied on clan power and were naturally constrained by clan power. The situation improved only after each state continuously reformed its system and strengthened central power.
For example, the Qin State, which had the most successful reform, had a relatively smooth succession to the throne since Duke Xian of Qin, except for the sudden death of King Wu of Qin and the intervention of King Wuling of Zhao. In other countries, there were endless disputes over the throne.
After Zhao State divided Jin, three of the seven generations of Zhao kings before King Zhao had fought with the royal family when they succeeded to the throne.
The first major event that King Zhao decided on his own after taking power was the Battle of Changping. The failure of the Battle of Changping and Zhu Xiang's entry into Qin caused King Zhao to lose his prestige and threatened his power.
But the King of Zhao didn't know it at that time.
When King Zhao, who had been living in the palace, believed the slander and thought that potatoes could be planted in winter, and ordered the promotion of potatoes, he had already fallen into the trap of the royal family.
Even when the King of Yan attacked the State of Zhao, there was the shadow of these nobles.
Yan could not swallow Zhao. After Zhao failed, they sent people to ask for help from other countries. They only needed to cede a few cities to Yan, and the King of Yan would definitely order the troops to withdraw. They were still the royal family and nobles of Zhao.
The royal family believed that they could take this opportunity to force the King of Zhao to abdicate and become the King of Zhao themselves; the great nobles believed that they could take this opportunity to sideline the King of Zhao and even have another Tian family replace Qi and divide Jin.
Unfortunately, Lian Po disrupted their plans.
Not being able to obtain the land from the common people who starved to death was a small matter; this was the real reason why they hated Lian Po so much.
However, they also took this opportunity to force Lian Po to withdraw from the court, leaving King Zhao temporarily isolated and helpless.
The royal family who wanted to become king themselves and the great nobles who wanted to support King Zhao as a puppet were originally hostile to each other. But now, because Lian Po disrupted their plans, they united briefly and managed to sideline King Zhao.
As long as they forced to death or drove away any one of Lian Po who defeated Yan State and Li Mu who repelled the Huns in the name of King Zhao, the reputation of King Zhao would decline again, and they would be able to slowly achieve their goal.
Only then will they start fighting each other.
These were not the result of Qin's divisive tactics.
Qin's strategy of sowing discord was nothing more than giving them a little insignificant financial help after discovering their intentions.
There is nothing wrong with King Zhao's intelligence, he just hasn't been honed.
So King Zhao quickly understood his situation and what he needed to do.
No matter how bad Lian Po's reputation was, he had to give Lian Po power and status second only to his own in order to protect King Zhao and the State of Zhao.
When Lian Po became old and sick, Li Mu would be able to inherit Lian Po's position as prime minister.
No, Lian Po's reputation was too bad to grant him the position of prime minister directly. He should have summoned his uncle, Lord Pingyuan, to Handan and let Lord Pingyuan serve as prime minister, thus consolidating his throne by relying on Lord Pingyuan's former reputation.
His decision was indeed the most correct choice at the moment. But who could have known that Qin's strategy of alienation was not aimed at the monarch and his ministers, but at undermining Lord Pingyuan's reputation and alienating Lord Pingyuan from his followers
Pingyuan Jun did enter the palace of King Zhao, but without retainers, he was as powerless as King Zhao. Even if such a Pingyuan Jun had the edict of King Zhao, the court of Zhao would say that he forged the edict of King Zhao.
"My uncle has called Lord Lian and General Li. They may be executed for treason." The King of Zhao placed his hands on his knees and clenched his fists. "They are friends of Duke Xiang of Zhu and already have a grudge against me. I believe they value Zhao and are willing to come and save me. But many people don't believe this. If the King of Zhao issues an edict that they are treasonous, no one in the world will stand on their side."
"They can't take the Zhao army with them, so they can only lead their own servants to attack Handan. The Zhao court can mobilize the garrison of Handan to resist them."
"The State of Zhao will probably be in chaos if this happens."
King Zhao closed his eyes, tears dripping from the corners of his eyes.
"Lord Lian abandoned the state of Zhao, which had been saved by his reputation, and now the country is in chaos again."
He bowed again, this time very slowly, as if something was pressing on his spine, forcing him to bend down little by little.
"Uncle, don't tell Lord Lian and General Li about this." The King of Zhao said in a trembling voice, "Zhao has not yet recovered. If things get chaotic again, it may really fall apart."
Zhao Sheng threw away his crutches, knelt on the ground and cried loudly in front of King Zhao.
King Zhao said: "If a member of the royal family becomes king, Zhao will still be Zhao, and sacrifices will not cease. If there is civil unrest in Zhao..."
He burst into tears.
The king of Zhao asked the eunuch to leave, but the eunuch stood by the bed and observed their every move, and did not leave. Although he would tell the master behind the scenes what the uncle and nephew said in detail, he could not help but feel sad when he saw this scene, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Zhao Sheng cried and said, "I got the news that the King of Qin wants to exchange the city for Lian Po and Li Mu."
King Zhao was stunned for a moment, then he fell to the ground and laughed, his tears flowing harder and harder: "Okay, okay, I'll give it to him. I'll give it to him! Hahahahaha!"
King Zhao didn't know why he was laughing, but he laughed until he couldn't breathe. He laughed so hard that he couldn't even kneel down. He lay on the ground crying and shedding tears like a madman.
Zhao Sheng helped the King of Zhao up and said, "I will stay in Handan and do my best to help you."
King Zhao shook his head and said, "Leave, uncle. As long as you are alive, they won't dare to go too far. If you are trapped in Handan, I will really have no hope. Leave quickly, while they dare not touch you now, leave quickly."
Zhao Sheng asked: "Do you need me to take Zhao Yan away?"
King Zhao shook his head again: "No. If they can't reach a consensus, they will definitely help my son continue to be the King of Zhao. This is also a way to avoid civil strife. Let's go, uncle, it will be too late if we don't leave now."
Zhao Sheng cried again, then left the palace on crutches.
He still decided to find Lian Po and Li Mu.
Although it is true that Lian Po and Li Mu's march into Handan might cause civil strife as the King of Zhao said, if he and Zhao Bao's reputations were there to guarantee it, plus the reputations of Lian Po and Li Mu themselves, perhaps the people would stand on their side. Civil strife might be an opportunity for Zhao to survive the crisis.
But as soon as he left the palace, a very familiar face stopped him outside and asked him to get in the car.
Zhao Sheng looked at the person in front of him silently.
Among them were his nephews, his cousins, all of whom were members of his clan.
"The King of Zhao is incompetent. Wouldn't it be better for Zhao if he had a new one?" Those people said, "We hope you can continue to support the new King of Zhao."
Zhao Sheng did not answer, he just laughed miserably and fell to the ground with laughter.
He sat on the ground and asked, "Where is Zhao Bao? He has also been detained by you."
Those people said, "Pingyang Jun is waiting for Pingyuan Jun."
Zhao Sheng smiled and said, "He was also detained by you. You didn't hurt him, did you?"
Those people hurriedly said, "How could we harm Lord Pingyang? Please invite Lord Pingyuan and Lord Pingyang to meet. As long as Lian Po and Li Mu leave Zhao, we will immediately let you return to your fiefdom."
Zhao Sheng laughed again, and like King Zhao, he fell to the ground laughing, crying with laughter, laughing like a madman.
(End of this chapter)