41: Chapter 41, based on Feng Quji's introduction, reveals that Zhao Kuo was by no means a mere armchair strategist!

Landowners will inevitably suppress those engaged in commerce!

The Emperor is the greatest landowner of all; to protect his own interests, he must not promote industry and commerce!

This is also a major reason why emperors of all dynasties implemented policies emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

The status of farmers is far higher than that of merchants!

"Fuhrer, do you know why our Great Qin was able to annex the six states?"

Feng Quji said, "In the past, the Zhao State was actually stronger than our Great Qin!"

"Why was our Great Qin able to defeat the Zhao State in the Battle of Changping and annihilate their army of four hundred and fifty thousand?"

"Please tell us, Premier Feng Quji."

Zhao Fusu was actually interested in hearing the thoughts of Feng Quji, the former Chancellor of the Left of the Great Qin Empire.

He did not look down on Feng Quji at all just because he was an ancient.

Modern people know more than ancient people because they stand on the shoulders of those ancients.

In terms of IQ, there wouldn't be much of a gap.

For Feng Quji to stand out among the thirty million people of the Great Qin Empire and become Chancellor, he was one of the intellectual ceilings of this era.

Feng Quji said, "The outbreak of the epoch-making war between our Qin State and the Zhao State—the Battle of Changping—must be traced back to the struggle over Shangdang Commandery."

"Our Qin State followed the strategy of 'befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones' proposed by Fan Ju of the Wei State, first attacking Wei and then turning to attack the State of Han."

"After several years of campaigning, our Qin State captured Yewang in Han, completely severing the connection between Han's Shangdang Commandery and the Han heartland."

"King Huanhui of Han was terrified and sent envoys to our Qin State to apologize, requesting to offer the lands of Shangdang in exchange for our Qin State halting the offensive against Han."

"However, Feng Ting, the Governor of Shangdang Commandery, was unwilling to surrender to our Qin State. He plotted with the people of Shangdang to use the power of the Zhao State to resist us, and thus offered the seventeen cities of Shangdang Commandery to Zhao."

"King Xiaocheng of Zhao discussed this with Zhao Bao, Lord Pingyang. Lord Pingyang advocated for not accepting Shangdang, believing that Feng Ting's refusal to give Shangdang to our Qin State was an attempt to shift the blame to Zhao, and that the calamity brought by accepting it would far outweigh the benefits."

"King Xiaocheng then summoned Zhao Sheng, Lord Pingyuan, and Zhao Yu to discuss. The two of them urged King Xiaocheng to accept Feng Ting's Shangdang Commandery. They argued that even if Zhao mobilized a million troops, they might not capture a single city in years, yet now they could enjoy the fruits of seventeen cities for free. This was a massive boon; how could they miss such an opportunity?"

"King Xiaocheng then asked Lord Pingyuan: 'If we accept the lands of Shangdang, Qin will surely send Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an, to attack. Who can withstand him?'"

"Lord Pingyuan replied: 'It is difficult for others to compete with Bai Qi, but General Lian Po is brave and skilled in battle, and he cherishes his soldiers. While he may not be as good as Bai Qi in open field battles, he is more than capable of defending a city.'"

"Thus, King Xiaocheng followed the plan of Zhao Sheng, Lord Pingyuan, enfeoffed Feng Ting as Lord Huayang, and sent Lord Pingyuan to Shangdang to receive the land. Simultaneously, he sent Lian Po to lead the army and station them at Changping to guard against an attack from our Qin Army."

Listening to Feng Quji's narration, Zhao Fusu suddenly felt as if he were hearing a TikTok blogger report that Canada, in order to prevent being annexed by the United States, was going to offer its land to China.

It was the same practice of using another nation's power to resist a neighbor's invasion.

"Zhao's acceptance of Shangdang naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of our Great Qin, so our Great Qin decided to dispatch troops to attack Zhao."

"Under the edge of our Qin Army's blades, Lian Po suffered setbacks and then relied on the advantageous terrain to build fortifications and hold his ground, avoiding a decisive battle with our main force."

"Lian Po's persistence caused the war to enter a long-term stalemate."

"Our Qin State and the Zhao State entered a war of attrition, a contest of national strength."

"This war of attrition lasted for three years."

"Zhao's national strength could not support such a large-scale war consumption for long; their grain was exhausted. Meanwhile, our Great Qin had ample grain reserves; Zhao could not afford to wait us out."

"They replaced the defensive commander Lian Po with the offensive-minded Zhao Kuo to engage in a final, decisive battle with our Qin State."

Feng Quji said, "Zhao Kuo was by no means an ordinary person."

"Zhao Kuo and His Majesty the First Emperor share the same origin; both are descendants of the Zhao clan of the Ying surname."

"It was only later, when the First Emperor's ancestor, Zhao Feizi, received his own fief, that they became the Qin clan of the Ying surname."

"Zhao Kuo's father was the famous General Zhao She, Lord Mafu, so he had a deep family heritage."

"Zhao Kuo loved studying military texts from a young age and enjoyed using props to practice troop formations; he could be called a studious man."

"When his father was unable to win the Battle of Maiqiu for a long time, he suggested his father adopt a psychological warfare model, using catapults to throw grain into the city to win over the people's hearts and disintegrate the enemy's morale. Later, the people in the city indeed opened the gates and surrendered."

"Precisely because Zhao Kuo had a reputation for military knowledge from childhood, when the King of Zhao prepared to replace Lian Po during the Battle of Changping, many ministers recommended Zhao Kuo."

"Even the famous General Yue Yi believed Zhao Kuo was capable of the task. In Yue Yi's view, Zhao Kuo often served in his father's army and had rich military experience."

"Besides the Battle of Maiqiu, Zhao Kuo also helped his father crush the Qin Army at Eyu, thereby gaining considerable prestige in the military."

Zhao Fusu remained silent.

From Feng Quji's mouth, he learned of a different Zhao Kuo.

"After our Qin State learned that Zhao had changed Generals, we put General Bai Qi in command."

"General Bai Qi was very skilled at flanking maneuvers, achieving encirclement by cutting off the opponent's supply lines."

"In the Battle of Changping, General Bai Qi used this very tactic."

"He sent troops to circle behind the Zhao army, cutting off their supply lines and retreat routes, and then surrounded them."

"What few people know is that after Zhao Kuo decided to switch from defense to offense, he also adopted this flanking tactic."

"He personally led the Zhao army, carrying three days' worth of rations and traveling light, preparing to cross the Dan River to get behind our Qin Army and encircle us."

"Unfortunately, the heavens did not cooperate. A sudden heavy rain fell, the Dan River became turbulent, and the Zhao army could not cross smoothly."

"When Zhao Kuo led his troops back, our General's flanking force arrived and besieged the Zhao army for forty-six days."

"During that time, Zhao Kuo repeatedly led the Zhao army in person to launch attacks against our forces, but the soldiers had not eaten for days, their combat power declined severely, and they could never break through our encirclement."

"Zhao Kuo was unfortunately shot and killed by our army during the final breakout attempt."

Feng Quji sighed, "That our Qin State could defeat Zhao in the Battle of Changping was due to the Mandate of Heaven."

"But even more so, it was because of our Qin State's terrifying grain reserves."

"Our Qin State was fighting far from home and had more people than Zhao; our grain consumption far exceeded theirs. Yet our Qin State still had plenty of grain, while Zhao's grain was exhausted."

"Zhao was forced into a decisive battle with our Qin State."

"Our Qin soldiers are the best in the world at open field battles, and it was six hundred thousand against four hundred and fifty thousand—the advantage was ours!"

Speaking to this point, Feng Quji's face was full of pride.

Li Si was the same.

"Therefore, Fuhrer..."

Feng Quji's gaze looked directly at Zhao Fusu.