Chapter 65 Passing on the throne to the second son, laying hidden dangers

In 306 BC, King Wuling of Zhao attacked Zhongshan again.Zhao Jun's cavalry troops attacked to Ningjia (now Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province), westward from Hudi to Yuzhong (now Yulin, Shaanxi Province, north of Shangjun, Qin State), and King Lin Hu returned to Zhao State.King Wuling of Zhao ordered his Prime Minister Zhao Gu to take charge of the Yuzhong area, and incorporated the Lin Hu cavalry into the Zhao army. In 305 BC, King Wuling of Zhao attacked Zhongshan for the third time.Zhao Jun, who has been reformed by Hufu riding and shooting, is powerful.King Wuling of Zhao sent Zhou Yu (shao) to command the right army, Xu Jun to command the left army, Zhao Zhang to command the central army, and he personally took command.At the same time, General Niu Jian was ordered to command the chariots and cavalry, and Zhao Xi was to command the cavalry of Lin Hu and Daijun.Zhao Jun attacked Hengshan in the north and Fenglong in the south (southwest of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province today). King Zhongshan was forced to cede four cities for peace.King Zhao Wuling agreed to King Zhongshan's request, and turned his troops westward. In the second year, he conquered the raccoon tribe north of Yuzhong, where he established Jiuyuan County and Yunzhong County.

In 303 BC, Zhao State attacked Zhongshan again, reaching Yan State in the north and Yunzhong and Jiuyuan in the west. In 300 BC, King Wuling of Zhao attacked Zhongshan for the fifth time. In May 299 BC, when King Huai of Chu was invited to visit Qin State and was detained, King Wuling of Zhao made a major decision: to pass on the throne to his second son Zhao He (King Zhao Huiwen), and Fei Yi would be the Minister of State to assist him. King Zhao Huiwen listened to the government.From then on, he himself became known as the "master father", led the army to open up territory to the northwest, and planned to attack Qin directly from the south of Yunzhong and Jiuyuan.

In 298 BC, King Wuling of Zhao went west to Daijun to crusade against Loufan.King Loufan ceded the land to seek peace, and Zhao Guo then brought the Loufan tribe into the sphere of influence and incorporated the Loufan cavalry into the Zhao army. In 297 BC, King Wuling of Zhao finally wiped out Zhongshan completely after ten years of strategy, and removed this confidant trouble for Zhao State.So far, the northern part of Zhao State has been calmed down, and the road from Handan to Daijun is unimpeded.Zhao Guo has strong soldiers and strong horses, and his power is close to that of Qin and Qi.

In the same year, King Wuling of Zhao returned to Handan contentedly, rewarded the meritorious ministers, pardoned the prisoners, and held five consecutive days of banquets to celebrate. At this banquet, King Wuling of Zhao announced that his eldest son, Zhao Zhang, would be named Lord Anyang, stationed in Daijun, and appointed Tian Buli as Prime Minister of Anyang, responsible for assisting Zhao Zhang. Regarding Zhao Zhang, it is necessary to explain.King Zhao Wuling married two regular wives in his life.In 321 BC, he married the daughter of King Han Xuan and was honored as his wife.Zhao Zhang is the son of this woman, who was once established as the prince.

But in 310 BC, King Zhao Wuling married the daughter of the doctor Wu Guang, Waying, and loved her very much, and made her the queen, which is what the history books call "Queen Hui". Later, Queen Hui gave birth to Zhao He (King Zhao Huiwen).King Wuling of Zhao abolished Zhao Zhang's crown prince and made Zhao He his successor. It is conceivable that Zhao Zhang was very dissatisfied with King Zhao Huiwen.Even if he was named Anyang Jun, it could not alleviate the resentment and dissatisfaction in his heart. Li Dui, a doctor, is a man who is good at observing words and demeanor. At that time, he said to Xiangguo Feiyi: "My son Zhang (that is, Zhao Zhang) is strong and arrogant, and has many party members. He is an ambitious man. Tian Buli is mean and cruel, and he thinks very highly of himself. When these two people get together, it's no wonder that there will be no trouble!"

Fei Yi said: "I know it too! But he is the eldest son of the master, and he was established as the crown prince. Now the master has named him Lord Anyang. What do we ministers have to say?" Li Dui said: "How can you have no opinion? You are the prime minister, and you must be responsible for this country! Besides, if something happens, you will be the first victim. The benevolent cherishes all things, and the wise Take precautions, if you can't be benevolent and wise, why don't you pretend to be sick and hand over government affairs to Young Master Cheng?" Fei Yi said: "How can I do it! The master entrusted the king to me. I accepted the mission and I have to be responsible to the end. How can I not do it because of danger?"

With Fei Yi's attitude, Li Dui couldn't persuade him anymore, and said, "Well, take care of yourself! I haven't been able to see you for a few years." After Li Dui finished speaking, he wiped away his tears and left.Later, he went to find his son Cheng again, and mentioned the need to guard against Tian impolite many times. Having said that, Fei Yi kept an extra thought and told his confidant Gao Xin: "The situation of son Zhang and Tian's impoliteness is worrying. They treat me respectfully on the surface, but they are very sinister in their hearts. Especially Tian Buli. , greedy and ambitious, I wouldn't be surprised if one day he pretends to pass on the order of the master and seizes power suddenly. The bad guys must be guarded against coming and going. From today on, you have to keep an eye on me. If the master has something to call Your Majesty, you must first tell me so that I can find out the situation and make sure there is no problem before letting Your Majesty go."

King Zhao Wuling knew nothing about these intrigues inside and outside the palace.The main issue he is considering now is what kind of diplomatic route should be adopted to obtain the maximum benefit after the state of Zhao becomes stronger. According to the "Warring States Policy", there were two opinions among the ministers of Zhao State at that time.Fu Ding believed that Qi, Wei, and Han were attacking Qin, and Zhao should unite with Qi to take the opportunity to weaken Qin.Lou Huan believes that Qi State is now very powerful through the alliance of Han and Wei through Meng Changjun, which has already posed a threat to Zhao State. Therefore, Zhao State should unite Qin and Chu to deal with Qi State.

The public says that the public is right, and the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is right, and the two sides can't stop arguing.King Zhao Wuling said, stop arguing, let me understand the situation before making a decision. Soon after, a Zhao Guo mission came to Xianyang.The envoy went to the palace to meet with King Qin Zhao, handed in the letter of credence, and conveyed King Zhao Huiwen's good intentions to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. The envoy was tall, with a flowing beard, and spoke with style, clarity and persuasiveness.King Qin Zhao couldn't help but secretly marveled, and asked him about Zhao's situation, and his answers were always on point—a few words let King Qin Zhao know the general idea of ​​things, but they didn't let him have too deep a understanding.

The host and guest talked all morning.After the envoy left, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. The next day, he summoned the diplomats who had been envoys to the State of Zhao and asked them if they had noticed such a person in the State of Zhao.King Qin Zhao meant that heroes in the world, regardless of their nationality, as long as they are useful to Qin, they should be recruited to Qin.Although the envoy of Zhao State has only met once, he has an overwhelming momentum. If he is willing to stay in Qin State, it is no problem to let him be a prime minister.

However, everyone shook their heads after listening to King Qin Zhao's description, saying that they had never seen such a person before.Later, a guy frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly said: "The person the king mentioned, could it be Master Zhao?" King Qin Zhao was taken aback, and hurriedly sent someone to the hotel to inquire again, and found that the Zhao Guo mission was still there, but the messenger had disappeared.After being pressed for questioning, the members of the mission told the people of Qin that the messenger was indeed Master Zhao's father. He came out of the palace and immediately rode his horse back to Zhao. At this time, he probably had already left Hangu Pass. When King Zhao Wuling returned to Handan, he called the ministers together and said, I went to Qin State, and I learned two things: first, the terrain of Qin State is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack; Restricted by the queen mother, he is still a generation of British lords.With these two points, Zhao State cannot be an enemy of Qin State for the time being. King Zhao Wuling decided on the spot that Zhao's current foreign policy is to build a good relationship with Qin, and develop northward wholeheartedly to seek greater strategic space.So he sent Lou to Qin as an envoy to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.Lou Huan later won the trust of King Qin Zhao, and once served as the Minister of Qin.