Daqin Baizhisheng

In the main hall of the Zhao Palace, the eunuch raised his whisk and chanted loudly:"The king has arrived!"

Zhao Sheng, Guo Kai and other Zhao officials who had been waiting for a long time straightened their clothes and knelt down to greet him. The King of Zhao walked to the throne and sat down, then looked around at the officials and said,"Everyone, get up."

In the past few days, because of the Qin envoys coming to Zhao, the King of Zhao had a few more strands of white hair on his forehead, as if he had aged a few years.

Pingyuan Jun listened to the words and got up, but he was weaker than the King of Zhao, and he stumbled and almost fell when he got up.

The King of Zhao was a little jealous of this capable brother, but he was a little happy to see this. He half leaned on the throne and said,"Ministers, do you have a good plan to deal with the Qin army and the Qin envoys?"

The day before yesterday, the Qin State's letter had been submitted to the case. As expected, what Qin wanted, or what the King of Qin wanted, was the hostage policy. The condition was to return five cities, but there was no mention of the 30,000 captives.

Guo Kai stood in the front row, second only to Prime Minister Pingyuan Jun. He glanced at King Zhao on the throne and found that King Zhao was also looking at him. The two of them smiled slightly when their eyes met.

Guo Kai understood and stepped out of the row and said,"Your Majesty, I think that if the enemy does not move, I will not move. Why don't we invite the Qin envoy into the palace first and see what the other party says before we make plans."

King Zhao agreed.

Pingyuan Jun felt a little cold in his heart. He knew that Guo Kai was determined to send Ying Zheng back to his country. He certainly understood that the current situation was not something he could change alone, but thinking of the conversation with Li Mu that night, he couldn't help but clench his fists in his sleeves.

Not long after, the Qin envoy entered, holding the imperial seal and saluting, he said,"I greet King Zhao." He stood very straight and only leaned slightly when saluting, with the attitude of a winner.

The King of Zhao opened the letter again. The bright red square seal of the Prime Minister of Qin was very conspicuous. He asked in a negotiating tone:"If I release the hostage Zheng and his mother, can your country return our 30,000 captives?"

The Qin envoy snorted and replied firmly:"Prince Zheng is the blood of our king. Your country has disregarded morality and imprisoned His Royal Highness the Prince and his wife for several years. This is not right. Now my king loves his son and wife dearly, and is especially kind and virtuous, so he is willing to exchange five cities. This is already the utmost kindness, King Zhao, please don't push it any further!"

The ministers in the hall were silent, and no one dared to fight back.

Seeing this scene, Pingyuan Jun secretly cried in his heart and sighed, the Great Zhao is empty...

The King of Zhao also had a dejected look on his face. He waved his hand and said lifelessly:"Please ask the envoy to go down and rest first"Qin Shihuang was satisfied, turned around proudly, and strode out of the hall.

Guo Kai stepped out and said,"Your Majesty, I propose to return the hostage Zheng in exchange for five cities."

"I second the motion!"

"I second the motion."

As soon as he stepped out of the line, his followers immediately responded. Lord

Pingyuan sighed in his heart, knowing that it was time to do the last thing for the Great Zhao. He stepped out of the line and raised the only voice of opposition:"I have an objection." There was only one voice in the hall, and Lord Pingyuan's objection was clearly heard by everyone. Everyone stopped talking in astonishment and looked at the head of the line.

The King of Zhao did not like his younger brother Zhao Sheng. Hearing that only he disagreed, he frowned and asked unhappily:"Prime Minister, do you have any objection?" Lord

Pingyuan's face sank. He sighed in his heart. He knew that the King of Zhao did not like him, but at this moment he had to bite the bullet and said:"Your Majesty, now it is not a question of whether to release the hostage Zheng, but a question of how to rescue the 30,000 men of the Great Zhao from the hands of Qin."

As soon as these words came out, the whole hall fell silent. After the response, the ministers subconsciously forgot about the 30,000 captives. After this mention, they realized that compared with the 30,000 men, the hostage politics was nothing.

The King of Zhao suddenly realized and wanted to get back to the point. He asked in a friendly manner:"What your brother said is exactly what I think. Do you have any good ideas to rescue our men of Zhao?"

The hall fell silent again. The ministers avoided the king's gaze, fearing that they would be caught and could not give a clear answer.

"Since the ministers have no plan, why don't I tell them about it?"

This calm and self-assured voice came from behind the screen. Bai Xiaosheng, who was wearing a mask on his face and only needed a folding fan to save his feather fan and long scarf, walked out slowly, bowed to King Zhao, and said:"King Zhao, if you promise me one person, I will save 30,000 people from Zhao. King Zhao will make a lot of money from this deal."

King Zhao was overjoyed when he heard it, and hurriedly said:"Sir, if you have a good plan, tell me quickly."

Bai Xiaosheng nodded, turned around, and analyzed slowly:"In this battle between Qin and Zhao, Qin won a great victory and Zhao suffered a crushing defeat. Logically, it should be Zhao that sent envoys to Qin, but why did the Qin envoy arrive in Handan first?"

"Qin has something to ask of Zhao." After calming down, Lord Pingyuan explained the key point.

Bai Xiaosheng nodded with a smile, walked casually into the hall, and continued:"That's right. Although the Qin envoy spoke tough just now, he didn't say anything final. This shows that there is still room for easing the situation."

The ministers in the hall recalled that it was indeed the case.

"According to my speculation, as long as the King of Zhao is willing to give up the five cities and release the hostage Zheng, Qin will certainly give in."

Bai Xiaosheng's calm words undoubtedly enlightened all the Zhao officials in the hall. Five cities plus a dispensable hostage Zheng in exchange for 30,000 soldiers, this deal is a good deal no matter how you look at it.

The more the King of Zhao read, the more he felt that Bai Xiaosheng was a great sage, and said bluntly:"I will draft a letter to the country right now, are you willing to run a trip for me?"

"You get what you pay for. What the King of Zhao has given me is a priceless treasure. Bai Xiaosheng is happy to serve."When saying this, Bai Xiaosheng barely concealed the disdain in his eyes, but the King of Zhao was busy drafting the edict at his desk and did not notice how much the man in front of him looked down on him.

Taking advantage of the break, Bai Xiaosheng looked around the palace and found that except for Lord Pingyuan, everyone else was cheering and rejoicing. He secretly mocked in his heart: An incompetent monarch and incompetent ministers, it would be unjust if such a country did not perish.

Five cities and a hostage were exchanged for 30,000 people. It seemed that Zhao had made a big profit, but everyone in the Zhao court, including the King of Zhao, had forgotten one thing.