『ps: It's too late to write today because the author chopped off one hand...』

————The following text——

Going from Song to Zhao must pass through Wei or Wei, and the same is true for departure from Jingbo.

The Wei and Song are still in a state of hostility, so the envoy of Song Li Shi led Meng Zhong and others to travel through the Wei State, namely the route "Jingbo-Cao County-Dingtao-Heze-Puyang-Yangjin".

In fact, the relationship between Wei and Song was not very good, because in the "private alliance" between Song Wang Yan and Zhao Wang Yong, Wei was a country that Zhao Yong acquiesced to be captured by Song. It was just that because Qi was too threatened, Song Wang Yan temporarily put aside the "attack of Wei and Wei" - since the Song Wei War had not yet begun, the relationship between Wei and Song was not extremely bad.

Around May, Meng Zhong and others escorted the scholar-official Li Shi to the "Yang Jin (Yuan)" of Wei State. Yang Jin belonged to the Yicheng of Wei State, but it bordered Zhao and Wei State - to the west was Wei State, and to the northeast was Zhao State's territory.

From Yangjin to the northeast, not far away is the border fortress of Zhao State "Gangpingcheng", which was built by Zhao State's former monarch "Zhao Jinghou Zhao Zhang" to capture the Wei State. Soon after that, Wei and Qi declared war on Zhao State because of the "Zhao State's attack on Wei State", and Gangpingcheng was also captured by the Qi and Wei coalition forces.

But two years later, taking advantage of the Qi attacking Yan State, Zhao Jinghou joined forces with Wei and Han to attack Qi State. A year later, he was defeated to attack Wei State and Wei State. In another year, he attacked Qi State again, and gradually consolidated the position of "Handan", the new capital of Zhao State at that time.

People in the world say that Zhao Jinghou did not cultivate virtue, enjoyed himself, had no control over his daily life and diet, and had no standards for punishment and killing. However, during the ten years of Zhao Jinghou's reign, the Zhao army won more than defeated less, there was no danger of invasion from neighboring countries outside, and there was no worries of ministers causing chaos inside. This was because Zhao Jinghou knew people and made good use of them.

On the ninth day of the fifth month, Li Shi arrived in Gangping. He held the talisman of Song State and successfully passed through Gangping City with Meng Zhong and others. He then continued to go north, crossed the river (Yellow River) at the ferry north of Gangping City, and arrived at the land of Hebei.

After that, he turned around and headed northwest, and spent nearly twenty days crossing the Huanshui and Zhangshui, and finally arrived at the capital of Zhao, Handan.

There have always been many statements about the naming of Handan, one of which is the most powerful - that is, the place where sunrise and sunset is located.

It is not difficult to guess that when Zhao Jinghou moved the capital of Zhao to Handan, he had the ambition to dominate the Central Plains. Unfortunately, this ambition was eventually blocked by Zhongshan. Zhongshan, a country embedded in the territory of Zhao, has become a big obstacle to the realization of hegemony of Zhao in all dynasties. It is no wonder that Zhao monarchs of all dynasties regarded Zhongshan as the object that must be eliminated, even Zhao Yong, the current monarch of Zhao.

On May 30, under the escort of a group of Zhao soldiers, Li Shi led Meng Zhong and others into Handan Yi.

I have to say that Meng Zhong had also seen other big cities in the Song Dynasty such as "Taoyi", "Shangqiu", and "Pengcheng", but these cities could not be compared with Handan. The scale of Handan is as big as two Shangqiu, and even Taoyi and Pengcheng are not as good as that.

"Are there tens of thousands of households living here?"

After learning about the scale of Handan, Meng Hu shouted in surprise.

In fact, Handan has far more than tens of thousands of households, but has a scale of tens of thousands, because it is the two largest cities in the Central Plains known as Linzi, the capital of Qi State.

I remember that when the famous prime minister of Qi State "Yan Zi (Yan Ying)" was sent to Chu State, he smiled and said a few words to describe Linzi, such as "Zhang Huicheng became a yin", "sweated into rain", "shouldered along side by side" and so on.

And these words are used to describe Handan without any problem, because the scale of Handan is like Linzi of Qi.

When Meng Zhong, Meng Hu and others first entered Handan City, they saw the streets full of people and people coming and going, and they could be called a place where people could not stand.

Not to mention the younger generations such as Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, and Meng Sui, even Meng Wu, the young leader of the Meng clan, couldn't help but feel a little nervous - as if he had come to a place outside the world.

Fortunately, the group held the flag of the Song Dynasty and the escorted Zhao soldiers to set off the road for them. Only then did the group successfully arrive at the inn in the city.

The postmaster of the inn was an old man in his fifties. It is said that he also took Zhao as his surname. This postmaster Zhao came forward to receive Li Shi and settled him and Meng Zhong and other guards in the inn.

During this period, Li Shi said to the postmaster Zhao: "Please report to the emperor, and I will submit to Li Shi, and I will follow the order of our monarch of Song. Please see the King of Zhao."

"King Zhao?" The postmaster Zhao laughed and said, "There is no 'King Zhao' in our country, only Zhao and the 'Master'. I wonder who the Lord wants to see?"

Yes, although Song Wang Yan and Hui Ang, including Qiu He, who entered the state of Song, all claimed to be "King of Zhao", in fact, Zhao was the only powerful country in the world that had not yet been called king.

The reason is that when the Prime Minister of Wei, Gongsun Yan, promoted the "Prince of the Five Kingdoms", although Zhao and its monarch Zhao Yong were invited by Wei, Zhao Yong himself said that Zhao was not qualified to be king. In fact, he not only did not become king, but instead demoted himself to himself and called himself "Zhao Jun", and also called the people of the country "Zhao Shang" - although countries like Wei, Qin, Qi and other countries all called "Zhao King", in fact, Zhao Yong called himself the king.

"This monarch of Zhao seems to be extremely ambitious..."

After hearing the conversation between Chief Zhao Yishu and Li Shi, Meng Zhong thought to himself.

Building high walls, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king was the original words Meng Zhong once wanted to persuade Song Wangyan. However, since Song Wangyan had already called himself king at that time, he saved the sentence "slowly becoming king". Unexpectedly, Zhao State, whose national strength is far stronger than Song State, could withstand the desire to "become king" and face the countries with a humble attitude. This shows that the King of Zhao may have great ambitions.

But, what happened to that "Master Father"?

Meng Zhong listened to the explanation of Zhao Yizhu in confusion. After the latter's explanation, he learned that the "master father" refers to King Yong of Zhao; and "Zhao Jun" is Zhao He, the new king appointed by Zhao Yong.

It was about three or four years ago that Zhao Yong had passed the position of the king to the crown prince Zhao He, the current Zhao Jun of Zhao.

Zhao Yong himself called himself "the master's father" and is currently in the "Sand Dune Palace" to command the front-line troops to conquer Zhongshan Kingdom.

"Please report to the emperor, and the envoy of Song asked to see Mr. Zhao."

Li Shi said politely.

In fact, what Li Shi actually wanted to see was Zhao Yong, not Zhao He, the current monarch of Zhao State. But considering that Zhao State will be governed by Zhao He in the future, Li Shi certainly could not ignore this person and went straight to the Shadune Palace to meet Zhao Yong, otherwise wouldn't he offend the new monarch of Zhao State for no reason?

"Please rest in the inn, and I will report this matter immediately."

Chief Zhao Yi politely bid farewell to Li Shi and others.

Before the postmaster Zhao said goodbye, Meng Zhong asked him: "Secretary, is there a Song man named "Yin" in Handan City?"

Li Shi looked at Meng Zhong with surprise when he heard this, and then seemed to have thought of something, so he did not interrupt.

"Tian Busu?"

Chief Zhao Yishou was surprised that Meng Zhong, the "guard of the Song envoy", would ask without authorization, but seeing that the Song envoy Li Shi did not express anything, he understood something in his heart. After thinking about it for a while, he replied: "Is it a retainer around "Prince Zhang"?"

The prince Zhang he mentioned was Zhao Yong's eldest son "Zhao Zhang". Zhao He, the current Zhao Jun, is Zhao Yong's second son.

“That’s right.”

Meng Zhong nodded.

Chief Zhao Yi nodded and immediately told Meng Zhong: "This person is or is not in the city, I really don't know. However, as far as I know, Gongzi Zhang is currently in the Shadui Palace, and is fighting against Zhongshan Kingdom with his master's father. I think the Tian Buliu is looking for. Most of the time, he is also in the Shadui Palace..."

"That's it, thank you, Chief Zhao."

Meng Zhong was a little disappointed.

It turned out that before they set off from Jingbo to Zhao State, Hui Ang had secretly sent a letter to Meng Zhong and instructed him: "When you arrive in Zhao State, you will visit a man named "Tian Busuo (yin)" with your brother. This man is also a Song Dynasty man. When Qiu He entered the Song State, he went to Zhao State for office in exchange. It is said that now is by Zhao King Yong's eldest son, "Prince Zhang", who is now at the side of Zhao's eldest son, "Prince Zhang", and this man has some affection for Hui Brother. If you take this letter, he will treat you kindly."

Therefore, after arriving in Handan, Meng Zhong immediately wanted to visit Tian Bululu. After all, this person has been in Zhao State for several years. If his Meng family wanted to settle down in Zhao State, he would inevitably need this person's help.

Unexpectedly, this person was not in Handan.

Later, because he was idle and Meng Hu was eager to visit Handan, Meng Zhong asked the scholar-official Li Shi to ask the latter to allow them to go around the streets.

According to common sense, Li Shi certainly could not allow his "guard" to leave him and run around the city to wander, but considering that Meng Zhong was Hui'an's brother and had a special status, he certainly would not refuse. In the end, he just told Meng Zhong and others to act carefully. After all, this is in the territory of Zhao State, so don't cause any trouble, and it will not end at that time.

After obtaining Li Shi's permission, Meng Zhong took Meng Hu, Meng Sui, Wu Ying, Xiang Liao, Hua Hu, Mu Wu and other friends from Zhuangziju to the streets to appreciate the prosperity of the Zhao State capital Handan.

I have to say that Handan is indeed prosperous and lively, with streets and houses arranged in a scattered manner, and all kinds of shops are available. Things that are owned by the State of Song can be found here, and things that are not available in the State of Song can also be found here.

For example, in a shop that seemed to sell clothes, Meng Hu found a kind of clothing that he did not have in the Song Kingdom - it looked like a pair of pants.

In fact, this is called "shy", also called "shin garment", which is a clothing introduced by Zhao Yong from the Hu people after implementing the "Hu clothing, riding and shooting" reform.

At this time, the Central Plains actually did not have the concept of "pants". The styles of clothes were basically robes with collars, so that all the men were empty and chilly underneath.

According to the shop's shop, this kind of "Hu clothing" is convenient for movement. Whether it is the soldiers who march and fight, or the farmers who farm in the fields, they all like this Hu clothing.

Meng Zhong and Zhu thought it was very novel. Not only did they buy one, Meng Hu also brought one for the young sect leader Meng Wu.

When paying, although Meng Zhong and others did not have coins from Zhao, because Zhao and Song dynasties had been aligned for a long time, the store was willing to collect "coins" from Song dynasty.

As soon as I walked around until the sky was getting dark, the coins in my bag were almost spent, so Meng Zhong and Zhu friends took the Handan specialties they bought back to the inn.

During this period, Meng Hu smiled and gave Meng Wu a shin coat, which made the latter quite puzzled. It was not until Meng Hu explained the purpose of this thing that Meng Wu suddenly realized.

After joking, Meng Wu whispered to Meng Zhong: "Just just now, Zhao Chen, named "Fei Yi", came to the inn. It seems that this person has a good status in Zhao State. He is now chatting with Doctor Li in the museum."

Meng Zhong certainly understood what Mengwu meant. After changing his clothes, he headed towards the room that Mengwu pointed to.
Chapter completed!