Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 819
"General, Handan is ahead."

Zhao Wan looked helplessly at the unreliable general who escorted her, Xia Houzao.

Zhao Wan was ordered to go to the north. In Shangfang, his professional level is not the highest, but he can speak well. Compared with those in Shangfang who can only work hard, he is more suitable to be sent to do these things. Of course, he There are also craftsmen following under his command, and these are those with strong business capabilities.Zhao Wan knew that going to the north this time would not go smoothly. Many counties in the north hoped to gain more benefits, especially when a lot of resources were found in many places, they would definitely try to win them over.

With the continuous development of Dahan, Dahan's demand for coal and steel has been continuously increasing. Iron products have been fully popularized, smelting technology has been continuously improved, and the economy is developing rapidly. This requires a lot of iron and copper.

The blast furnace smelting technology, which has been improved several times by Shang Fang, has also been promoted in various places.

Zhao Wan still has great confidence in herself. This is a good opportunity for Shang Fang to look good. Besides, if it is done properly in the north, a complete smelting chain can be established here. According to His Majesty's words, this place will become A powerful industrial area in Dahan.Shangfang will take root here, whether it is for the Mohist school, the great man, or even the locality, this is a good thing, and there is no harm.

He didn't think it was a difficult thing to do, and he didn't know why the emperor was so cautious, and even sent a hero with great military exploits to go with him.

Zhao Wan has heard a lot about this general.

Xia Houzao's reputation in the court was not very good. All the ministers said that he was the emperor's favorite general. He was lawless and extremely arrogant on weekdays.

Along the way, Xia Houzao also let Zhao Wan understand how true these rumors are. He never looked at Zhao Wan directly, and always raised his head high, with a domineering appearance. Shou came to greet him, but he didn't even look at them directly, he was extremely domineering.

This is about to arrive in Zhao country, but Zhao Wan is a little scared.

This general will not have any conflicts with King Zhao because of this attitude, will he?

I heard that King Zhao was not very good-tempered, let alone King Yan further north, if General Xiahou had any conflict with them, what would he do?

Thinking about this, Zhao Wan was full of worry.

He really couldn't figure out why His Majesty would make such an unnecessary move and send someone to follow him, since he could handle things well by himself.

Although he didn't understand, he didn't dare to offend General Xiahou, so he could only say politely: "General, because of your reputation, no thieves dared to approach you along the way. You are so lucky. You will arrive in Zhao State later. After that, you can rest at ease, and I will communicate with Zhao Wang and others, and I still need you to work harder when I go to Yan and Dai."

Hearing what Zhao Wan said, Xia Houzao didn't refute, and yawned rudely, "Okay, then you can do it!"

Sure enough, when they approached Handan City, King Zhao led his ministers to greet them, which was a great deal of face to Shang Fang.

Zhao Wan hurriedly got off her horse and went to pay her respects, but Xia Houzao just bowed from a distance, as if she had seen her.

Liu Ruyi ignored Xia Houzao, his eyes were completely fixed on Zhao Wan alone.

"Mr. Zhao!! I finally have you here!"

Liu Ruyi was very happy, held Zhao Wan's hand tightly, and then introduced everyone under his command to him.

Yuan An nodded with a chuckle, Zhao Wan hurriedly returned the salute, he didn't know the other ministers very well, the only one he knew was Han Ying.

Han Ying looked at him in surprise at the moment, and probably couldn't figure out how a Confucian descendant could become a Mohist.

King Zhao happily pulled Zhao Wan into the car and drove towards the city.

Xia Houzao didn't feel that he was underestimated, so he didn't bother to deal with these people.

His Majesty once told himself that a person cannot be judged by region: Tang is not all barbarians, those who do not understand etiquette are barbarians, Liang is not all tyrants, but the common people are tyrannical, Jiaodong is not all profiteers who bully the market He is a profiteer, Zhao Guo is a fool.

Xia Houzao has always kept His Majesty's teachings in mind, dealing with these fools will lower his intelligence.

Xia Houzao directly led the rest of the craftsmen to rest.

Zhao Wang took Zhao Wan back to his palace, hosted a banquet in honor of Zhao Wan, and then asked about the situation in Chang'an, and the conversation was quite good.

"You came this time to repair the city?"

"It's not to build a city, but to choose a city, set up factories, and carry out large-scale smelting. Now the temples lack iron, and the equipment of the northern and southern armies needs to be replaced. Many places need a lot of iron for reclamation, and the same is true for the people."

Zhao Wan seriously explained her reason for coming.

Liu Ruyi said very happily: "Since you want to choose a city, why not choose me in Handan? Handan has a large population and convenient transportation. Isn't it great that you set up a factory here and smelt here?"

Zhao Wan had expected that the King of Zhao would let him choose a city in Zhao State, but he did not expect that the King of Zhao would let him choose Handan, which is too outrageous!Why not just set it up in your palace?

This is smelting for temples, not for Zhao Guo!
Zhao Wan hurriedly said: "Handan is good, but it is too far away from other countries, so we have to choose a place that everyone can accept."

Liu Ruyi straightened her face, and said displeasedly: "Is there so little iron ore in my country of Zhao? How much iron ore have we given to Miaotang in these years? Now that Dai and Yan have iron, Miaotang will deny it." Have we made any contributions in the past? Why is this so? My country of Zhao was originally developing very well, but this Kanyu family has nothing to do. It’s better to go to their side now. Their inventory is more than ours. In the future, the people of Zhao They are going to run to them, how miserable is our Zhao country, and the temple still has to support them? Zhao country is the center of the north!!"

Zhao Wan hurriedly said: "Zhao State is blessed by nature. Whether it is climate or other aspects, it is far superior to Dai Yan. What the king is worried about will never happen."

Liu Ruyi sneered, "I can tell that both Kanyu's family and Shangfang are from Dai Yan, and they just don't take us seriously!"

"I think it's good to set it up in the country of Zhao. If you come from afar, why don't you stay here and think about it for a while."

Zhao Wan was shocked and stood up abruptly, "Is your majesty going to put the minister under house arrest?! The minister came here on His Majesty's order, how could you do this?!"

Liu Ruyi raised her head, "Why is it under house arrest? Anyway, what you want to do can't be done without Zhao Guo's permission, right?"

Zhao Wan was furious, and hurriedly looked at Yuan An who was on the side.

I can only hope that Zhao Xiang can solve this trouble.

Yuan Ang seemed a little angry, and persuaded, "Your Majesty, how can you do this? This is an order from the temple. How can you disobey His Majesty's edict?"

He said, then looked at Zhao Wan, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the king will not detain you, but if the chosen city is unfair to Zhao, I'm afraid that these officials will not do their best. You also know that this official is really difficult to manage, I will persuade the king."

Yuan Ang said with a smile, but Zhao Wan's face immediately turned cold.

He looked at Liu Ruyi, then at Yuan An.

"Although I'm not a great sage, I may not be able to see through such a crude strategy. You two don't coax me like this."

The two people in front of them are clearly one who is a good face and the other is a bad face. How can such a simple plan be able to hide Zhao Wan.

And Yuan An didn't care at all, just smiled and said: "Speaking of which, I have the most people in Zhao, but it is actually very beneficial to set up in Zhao."

Zhao Wan was sent to rest reluctantly, but her stomach was full of anger.

He didn't expect that King Zhao was so bold that he didn't pay attention to him, a half-emissary of the Son of Heaven. As for Yuan An, for the benefit of Zhao country, he could even let King Zhao act recklessly!

Although Zhao Wang didn't say that he was imprisoned so exaggeratedly, but at the gate of the mansion, he could see several soldiers standing there motionless.

It seems that this matter is not as easy to handle as I thought.
Zhao Wan didn't sleep well all night, and was always thinking about how to persuade King Zhao.

The next day, before he got up, he heard a noise coming from outside the door.

He sat up suddenly, and saw a person broke into his house.

Xia Houzao strode into the house and looked at him with disdain, "Aren't you leaving today?"

"Qicheng..Qicheng is only the king of Zhao."

"Then get ready!"

Xia Houzao left a word, and stood at the door, Zhao Wan hurriedly cleaned up, and soon he followed Xiahouzao out of the mansion. Many followers had already prepared, and everyone hurried towards the city gate. When they reached the city gate, they were overtaken by King Zhao and Yuan An, both of whom were riding fine horses, and King Zhao even jumped in front of Zhao Wan, "Why are you leaving before the matter is settled?"

Zhao Wan was about to answer, but Xia Houzao stood in front of him. He lowered his head and looked straight at King Zhao.

"We talked for so long last night, haven't we settled yet?! Delaying my time?!"

Liu Ruyi looked at Xiahou Zao. Of course, he knew who was in front of him. Liu Ruyi looked at Yuan An who was on the side. Yuan An hurried forward and said seriously: "General Xiahou, last night."

"Did Nai Gong ask you? What are you? Are you worthy of talking to me?!"

Xia Houzao yelled loudly, widened his eyes, and stared at Liu Ruyi in front of him, "Talk about the factory with me now, and it will be settled within half an hour. explain!"

Liu Ru was very angry, "How dare you be rude to the widow?"

"What did you say?"

Xia Houzao took a step forward and slowly rolled up his sleeves.

Yuan Ang hurriedly grabbed King Zhao, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, don't provoke this guy, this guy really dares to do it. He dares to do it to His Majesty."

Liu Ruyi took a deep breath and could only tolerate it.

Under Xia Houzao's urging, the matter went smoothly. Liu Ruyi dared not say anything anymore, and her attitude towards Zhao Wan changed. When doing business next, you must think more about Zhao Guo, and actively demonstrate Zhao Guo's advantages.

When the group of them left Handan, Zhao Wang and Zhao Xiang were even more reluctant to say goodbye.

Walking on the road, Zhao Wan looked at Xia Houzao beside him with some confusion.

He suddenly saluted Xia Houzao.

"General, please forgive me for being rude to you earlier."

"Huh? What's rude?"

Zhao Wan smiled bitterly and said: "I finally understand why Your Majesty let you follow. These princes and kings are all close relatives of His Majesty, and they don't care about the ministers of the temple at all, and those ministers only have their own interests in their eyes. I don't care about the overall situation, I owe you to follow, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this at all."

Xia Houzao waved his hand indifferently, "Don't be afraid of these idiots, they can only bully a softie like you, and they don't dare to really do anything to you. If someone threatens you again next time, just beat him up." That's it, don't care who he is!"

Their next destination is Daiguo.

The distance between Zhao State and Dai State is not far, but the treatment is different. As soon as they entered the territory of Dai State, they met Dai Wang and his party who came to greet them.

Facing Dai Wang, Xia Houzao was much more excited.

"You bastard!!"

"Hahaha~~~"

Xia Houzao laughed loudly, walked quickly in front of Liu Bo, and hit his chest a few times.

"That's right. After coming to Daiguo, he became stronger. Come on, let's fight Zhongfu!"

Liu Bo smiled wryly, and hurriedly said, "It's definitely not Zhongfu's opponent."

Xia Houzao wanted to say something else, but suddenly looked at the prime minister standing aside, Xia Houzao stared at him for a long time, and said thoughtfully, "You look so familiar."

Dai Xiang also stared at him for a long time, before he said: "You were the one who drove my chariot secretly and crashed into the restaurant, right?"

Xia Houzao suddenly realized, and slapped his thigh suddenly, "I remembered!"

"Liu is bad!!"

"First of all, people who are older than you should not call them by their first names. In addition, Naigong calls Liu Buhai!!!"

The atmosphere in Dai State is much better than that in Zhao State. Liu Bo is a reasonable person. He didn’t make any unreasonable requests to Zhao Wan, and he was very polite to him. is sad.

Zhao Wan didn't encounter any embarrassment here, and seriously talked about her purpose with everyone, and fully understood the situation in Daiguo.

Xia Houzao pestered Liu Bo all day, saying that he wanted to fight him.

Zhao Wan prefers to build a centralized ironworks here in Dai State, not only because of the coal here, but also because of the officials here. The people here are easier to get along with than the people in Zhao State. A lot of trouble.

But even if it is going to be built here, the country of Yan still has to go.

Among the northern kingdoms, the most difficult person to get along with was probably the King Yan.

Zhao Wang also made all the preparations.

The royal city of Yan Kingdom is not far from Dai Kingdom. When Zhao Wan and others arrived here, King Yan's attitude was somewhat lukewarm.

"Why did you send Shangfang? What about the Kanyu family?"

Faced with King Yan's question, Zhao Wan didn't know what to answer.

At this moment, the king of Yan has become an absolute kanyu, and the only ones he believes in are kanyu. Because of Luo Zuo's actions, Yan has changed from a poor country to a big country with gold mines. The difference is too big up.Not just gold mines, iron, copper, coal, everything. If there is a silver mine or something, it will be really amazing.It doesn't matter if there are no silver mines, these resources are enough for the development of Yan Kingdom for hundreds of years.

Yan State has an excellent horse farm, and with so many resources, King Yan has nothing to worry about now.

He was in such a good mood that he didn't even want to fight for the benefits of smelting.

He seemed to look down on the two "poor neighbors" next door.

This is a good thing for Zhao Wan, as there is no need to quarrel with this person.

The king of Yan has completely drifted away. As long as he speaks, he can't avoid his own iron ore. According to Xia Houzao's words, this guy can't wait to write You Mine and paste it on his forehead, and he can't wait to use his own chopsticks to eat. They were all made of iron.

At the banquet, Zhao Wan also met Luo Zuo, who was named the guest of honour.

Luo Zuo looked a little dazed.

When Zhao Wan came to visit him and expressed his admiration for his ability to turn stones into gold, Luo Zuo did not speak for a long time.

How could it be so coincidental?
Can you really find good things wherever you go? ?

Zhao Wan said with a smile: "When I came here this time, His Majesty also specifically ordered me to tell you that after the exploration here, you can go to the Xia Kingdom to conduct exploration. Since it is a northern country, you should not leave the Xia Kingdom." The country, the Xia country has few resources in the first place, and has always relied on the Central Plains, if they can find something, it will be very helpful to the development of the Xia country in the future."

Luo Zuo smiled wryly, "It's not something I can have just by going there."

King Yan heard the conversation between the two, but he swore: "Lord Luo, you are too humble. Why are you so humble? Talented people should not be so humble. Since His Majesty asked you to go to Xia Kingdom, then After the exploration, you can go and have a look, how could you not gain anything?"

Luo Zuo just smiled wryly, now that he is being praised so highly, he doesn't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

King Yan chatted with Xia Houzao again at this moment.

"I thought you were here to investigate water thieves."

"I don't know why there are more water thieves along the coast suddenly, and they want to rob the silver ships of Wa Island. Fortunately, they were discovered by the Lou Chuan Army and they were repelled in time. Otherwise, it would be unimaginable. The ships of Wa Island are all carrying There is a lot of silver, and our gold here may also have to go by water. Now there are too many water thieves, which is really disturbing. You are the general of the temple. Why don't you go to the temple to wipe out these water thieves? Speaking of which, I Troops have been dispatched three times to eliminate water thieves, but these water thieves are all running towards the south, and I can't go there. It's really embarrassing!"

Xia Houzao frowned, "Where are there so many water thieves?"

"Driven by profit, think about it, a big ship full of real gold and silver, if you can rob one, you will not worry about eating and drinking for a few lifetimes."

Xia Houzao's eyes lit up, then he shook his head, and hastily suppressed a certain dangerous thought.

"Then you said those water thieves have rich family backgrounds?"

(End of this chapter)