After the three-day feast, the lords who came to pay homage left one after another, and Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan stayed for two more days before bidding farewell to Ying Zhai.
When the ambassadors of Zhao and Wu left Haojing, Jin Zhai led the civil and military officials all the way to ten miles outside Haojing, and only after seeing more than 3,000 people go away did Jin Zhai return with his ministers.
This pilgrimage of the feudal lords was very fruitful, and after selling the tribute, he still had a large surplus in his hand after deducting the hospitality expenses.
With the money, Winning Zhai will be able to pay off his debts, but Jung Yuming insists on not taking it.
He was so moved that he summoned the official to write down the details of the incident.
At a feast of the lords, Ying Zhai was given five years' living expenses, which coincided with the interval between the lords' pilgrimages.
Win Zhai, who was able to live a comfortable life, sincerely hoped that Wu would remain strong and Zheng Yuming would remain in charge of Wu. In that case, there would be hope for the Pilgrimage Conference in five years.
The Zhao-Wu delegation traveled for half a day and arrived at the crossing of the Great River, where three large wooden boats of Wu were still waiting. With more than 3,000 men and women, the ferry was not completed until nightfall, and on that day, the Zhao-Wu delegation camped on the bank of the Great River for the night.
Woody seemed particularly excited at the ferry, and as soon as the wooden boat docked, Woody, for the first time, ignored his master and ran up the bank, alone, into the grass and out of sight.
Looking at the wood that ran in the distance, Zheng Yuming's heart was so sour that the wood was a typical example of seeing the color and forgetting the master.
While the soldiers were busy setting up camp, Zheng Yuming and Zhao Xuan stood on a high slope and looked across the river. The sky on the other side of the river is forty to fifty miles away, reflecting a red light, which is reflected by the lights lit in the city of Haojing.
"Hey, how many candles and lamp oils are going to be consumed!" Zheng Yuming lamented as he looked at the sky of Haojing.
Candles and lamp oil are more expensive in this time and space, even in places as affluent as Nambu, the streetlights at night are not so bright. The daily lives of the nobles of the royal palaces in the city of Haojing were lavish, and even the pauper son of heaven, Win Zhai, preferred to be in debt to lowering his standard of living, and half of Wei Cargo's debt was owed for goods.
"The city is all lit up and green, the outside of the city is run down and depressed, from the Son of Heaven to the subjects, they are all paper-drunk, the Heavenly Family's society is at an end!" Zhao Xuan squinted his eyes and looked into the distance.
"Society to the end?" Zheng Yuming was surprised, Zhao Xuan said this because he didn't want to hide his ambition to be the world's co-owner?
Zhao Xuan glanced at Zheng Yuming's strange face and realized that he had just misspoken.
"What my brother is saying is that the Son of Heaven is not a competent Heavenly Monarch when he has money and only focuses on repairing palaces and city walls."
"Didn't they also repair the Xiguankou Fortress?" Zheng Yuming helped win Zhai's defense.
"The Xiguankou Fortress is not something that can be built with a mere 100,000 gold." Zhao Xuan shook his head.
Ying Zhai only repaired the Rongren damage, not reinforcing it or raising it. With this level of repair, the chances of the Rongs breaching it again were high.
"The Heavenly Monarch is just short-handed, and when he is, he will fortify the key cities and fortresses." Zheng Yuming continued to speak for Win Zhai.
Zhao Xuan sighed, "Yudie is kind and kind, always putting himself in others' shoes, but it's a pity that the Heavenly King is not Yudie!"
Zheng Yuming lowered his eyes, he knew more about Haojing than Zhao Xuan did, and Haojing had a Wu intelligence stronghold. Speaking in favor of Win Zhai in this way is just to hide Wu's ambition to devour the world. Nowadays, Zheng Yuming has done a lot of superficial work.
"What would the king's brother do if he were a heavenly ruler?"
"If my brother is a Heavenly Monarch." Zhao Xuan crossed his arms behind his back and gazed into the distance with great pride. "If Xuan is a Heavenly Monarch, the first thing he will do is to fortify the major pass at the Northwest Pass and build it as solid as gold to stop the Rong people and the Pass."
The reinforcement of the fortress of Xiguankou benefited not only the Haojing area, but also the middle basin of the Great River, with a total of two dozen vassal states, large and small.
"Only fortifying the main pass?" Zheng Yuming questioned.
"Of course not, my brother will reduce or waive taxes so that the people will have breathing time to resume farming." What Zhao Xuan despised about Win Zhai was the fact that Win Zhai practiced do-nothing rule on the people of his fief, i.e., he did not provide relief or reduce taxes.
"And?" Jung Yuming continued to ask questions, and Jo Xuan was in high spirits, his ambition, usually well concealed, somehow spilling out today.
"The third is of course to train the army and call on the world's talents to come and join us." The army is the fist in a fight, and a hard fist gives you the right to speak. Talents are the engine oil for a strong country, with engine oil, the national machine will run flexibly.
"Training soldiers and horses requires many coins to maintain them, and the Heavenly King's treasury has no money."
Zhao Xuan had some slight sarcasm on his face, "You can borrow from merchants with the majesty of the Heavenly Family."
What Zhao Xuan meant was that he could borrow money from merchants using the honor of the Son of Heaven as collateral. The reason that Ying Zhai was able to borrow coins from merchants was because of his status as the Son of Heaven.
Zhao Xuan's own marriage can be used to exchange benefits, using the name of the Son of Heaven to borrow, Zhao Xuan will not be a little embarrassed.
Zheng Yuming silently looked at Zhao Xuan, Zhao Xuan is very ambitious and a monarch who cares a lot about the people, with Zhao Xuan's ability and vigor, Zheng Yuming thought that if he and Chu Chao Hui hadn't accidentally come to this continent, the world's male lord would be Zhao Xuan.
Woody returned by dinner time, followed by a stocky animal with a wolf-like body, a head that was a mixture of tiger and dog, and a neck with hair shaped like a horse's mane. The shape was much more imposing than Woody's.
Zheng Yuming was shocked when he saw it and wondered what kind of animal it was.
Instead of following Woody into the camp, the long sideburned animal crouched at the edge of the camp and didn't move. Woody turned back and arched his head, and Long Sideburns rubbed his nose against Woody, but still didn't move. Woody arched his head a few times, and when the long sideburns persisted, Woody had to run back to the campground alone.
The long sideburned hairs that Woody led back were so strange looking that Da Niu and the others ran closer to see the rarity. Long sideburns hair see someone approaching, not shocked and not panicked, climbed up and backed up, keeping a distance of 100 meters from the humans.
"Woody, is this a dog?" The bull petted Woody's doggy head, and Woody barked proudly at the bull.
"So strong and sturdy, is it a female or a male?" Da Niu queried.
The soldiers gathered behind Da Niu roared with laughter, Jung Yuming was a black line in his head, and there was only wood, waving his tail in a very arrogant manner.
The long sideburns were too far away from the person, and the crowd observed them for half a day without being able to tell if they were female or male.
Long Sideburn Hair began to follow the procession of ambassadors from that night. Whenever Woody ate, he would first offer his food to Long Sideburns. When the envoys stayed at night, Woody stayed by Zheng Yuming's side for less time.
Smaller beasts captured by Long Sideburns are always found on the muddy ground at the edge of the camp. Long Sideburns has a habit of catching beasts and likes to leave a breath of air for his prey.
The knowledgeable Gongsun Pan deduced that the long-sideburned hair likes to eat fresh food, leaving a breath for the prey is to preserve freshness.
The Wu delegation planned to return to the city at the mouth of the throat by way of Zhao, and a large part of the way back traveled with the Zhao delegation. Crossing the great river, it finally rained for two days, the only moderate rain in a month.
The roads were so muddy from the rain that the wagons could not travel, so the mission stayed in a small town for four days, waiting for the rain to stop and the roads to dry out before they got back on the road. After traveling for another week, they came to a fork in the road.
There were two roads at the fork, one to the east, leading to the vassal state of Zhao, and one to the north, leading to the state of Xu.
"Finally, we're arriving home!" Zhao Xuan waved his horse whip and pointed to the road going east. "Once we enter my brother's vassal state, Yu Di can rest for a day in the city here."
Walking outside in these times was hard, sun, wind and rain were the norm, and to make matters worse, personal hygiene was a pain in the ass, and there weren't always rivers for bathing in the campgrounds.
There is no clean water source in the place where they camped out yesterday, and the mission's diet is all water in the accompanying cowhide pouch, taken from the well water of the city where they stayed last time. Drinking water is expensive, Zheng Yuming's habit of bathing every day was forced to suspend.
Now it is already June weather, one of the hottest months in Da Qin, Zheng Yuming rode on the horse, all smelled the clothes on their own body issued a sour smell.
"It's too late in the day, how about we set up camp here on the slope?"
Zheng Yuming couldn't wait to hurry to the vassal state of Zhao and find a city to wash on.
However, to enter the vassal state of Zhao, one must cross a canyon before reaching the capital of the vassal state. At this time, the sun was in the west, and it was definitely dark when we walked to the canyon, and the canyon was full of wild beasts, so it was not safe to walk at night.
When the mission came to take this road, Zheng Yuming is clear about the terrain, in order to be safe, Zheng Yuming only had to endure another day.
"Good, tomorrow we will pass through the canyon and arrive at the city at noon, so we will rest in the city for a day before traveling."
Zhao Xuan was about to enter his territory, and the rush back became less urgent.
Zhao Xuan hoped that Zheng Yuming was walking slowly within Zhao territory, walking up for a few more days.
For the rest of the journey, the two of them would only be halfway on the same road, after which they would have to go their separate ways. This separation, I don't know when I will be able to see you again. Zhao Xuan thought that the two of them would be parting ways in three days, and was very reluctant to part.
The order to set up camp was given, and the soldiers of Zhao and Wu began to be busy, when three pedestrians on horseback came galloping along the avenue leading to Xu.
"Your Excellency, there's a messenger from Xu Guo ahead seeking an audience!" Boss Mao, who was in charge of the guard duty, ran to Zheng Yuming's side to report.
"You bring him here." Zheng Yuming was surprised, and he couldn't fathom the purpose of Xu Guo sending a messenger to meet him.
After a few moments of work, three men came up behind Boss Mao.
"Lord Xu's messenger sees Premier Minister Wu!" A man in the center, saluted when he saw Zheng Yuming.
"What do you, you, Lord Xu sent er here for?" Zheng Yuming pointed his finger at the visitor and almost stuttered in his speech. The visitor was not a person from Xu, but Huang Zhong, the head of Zhao's Intelligence Division.
"Your Excellency, the lord of my country would like to invite your Excellency to be a guest in my country." Huang Zhong fussily handed over the invitation state letter. "The lord of my country has heard the anecdotes of the duke returned from the pilgrimage mission and admired them so much that he has sent my humble servant to come to the avenue to invite the duke. I have been traveling day and night, and I have finally met you."
Huang Zhong's hair was covered with dust, which showed the urgency of the rush. Huang Zhong was in such a hurry to rush, and dressed as Xu Guo's messenger to intercept the road halfway, in addition to avoiding people's ears, it was also very urgent. This point of avoiding people's eyes and ears was obviously aimed at Zhao Xuan.
"Brother Wang! You see the Lord of the Kingdom of Xu is so gracious..." Zheng Yuming didn't understand why Huang Zhong acted in such a manner, but he went along with the performance and turned to face Zhao Xuan with a helpless look on his face.
"Since Jun Xu was kind enough to invite him, Yu Di will go." Zhao Xuan could not stop Zheng Yuming from being a guest in someone else's home. "After Yudi's visit, it's better to go back to the mouth of the throat from my brother's place, Qilu is in civil unrest, and shipping is risky."
Zheng Yuming's eyes flicked to Huang Zhong, whose head nodded lightly.
"Then Yuming will go north to Xu tomorrow, and when he has finished visiting Xu land, Yuming will borrow the road from brother Wang."
"Good! My brother will wait for Yu Di at the northwestern border!" Zhao Xuan revealed a smile, which was sincere, Zhao Xuan's heart was truly unable to part.
When Zhao Xuan left, Zheng Yuming asked Boss Mao to send his men to cordon off the perimeter of his tent, and he himself brought Gongsun Pan, Wu Mu, Huang Zhong, and Da Niu to burrow into the tent.
"Yellow Bell! What happened?" Zheng Yuming questioned as soon as he entered the tent.
"Why are you rerouting to Xu?"
Gongsun Pan and Wu Mu both knew Huang Zhong and knew that Huang Zhong specialized in foreign movements. Huang Zhong had impersonated Xu Guo's messenger, and both of them had not dared to show anything different in front of Zhao Xuan. Now that only their own people were together, Gongsun Pan and Wu Mu immediately asked why.
"Your Excellency! Zhao Xuan's trip to the canyon tomorrow has no return! I was ordered by the Great General to rush here to intercept your son." The news Huang Zhong uttered was too unexpected.
Zheng Yuming suddenly stood up and said out of breath, "Zhao Xuan will not return tomorrow? There's a change in King Zhao's court?"
"Your Excellency's guess is correct, there has been great chaos within the State of Zhao!" Huang Zhong was certain.
Hearing Huang Zhong affirm Zheng Yuming's guess, Gongsun Pan and Wu Mu both opened their mouths wide in shock, this was truly earth-shattering news.