When the merchants of Wei State jointly planned to attack the merchant power of South Korea, in Jicheng, South Korea, Han Wangran was still worried about money matters.

Although before the winter of last year, the royal family, nobles, and noble families in South Korea donated a large amount of arrears to the court, in view of the arms race that broke out on the border between Wei and South Korea, the money in the South Korean treasury continued to decrease, as if

A river that has burst its banks is out of control.

How to balance military expenditures and domestic internal affairs expenditures in this difficult situation has been what Han Wangran has been most concerned about recently. At this time, he seems to have transformed into an accountant, calculating every detail carefully.

an expense.

In order to save money, I remember that since last winter, he was not even willing to light more charcoal fires in the palace, and would rather wear a sheepskin blanket. As a monarch, he is indeed quite shabby.

Think about the Luoyang Palace of Wei State. In the depth of winter, the bronze cauldrons filled with charcoal fire in each palace burned very warmly, just like spring. Wei Wang Zhao Run should really be ashamed of his extravagance.

!

However, in such a difficult environment, Han Wangran did not feel it was difficult at all. In fact, whenever his ministers looked ashamed and self-hatred because they saw him wrapped in a sheepskin blanket and insisting on handling government affairs in the cold winter, Han Wangran would comfort him.

They compare themselves with the most difficult civilians in the world - compared to those civilians who live a difficult life, they think that their lives are already very superior.

These words made the ministers both moved and angry at the incompetence of themselves and others.

When did the dignified monarch of South Korea fall to the point where he had to compare himself with the poor common people in the world? Even if he did compare, it would be compared with other monarchs from various countries in the Central Plains!

All the ministers understand that among the monarchs of the various countries in the Central Plains, Han Ran, the monarch of South Korea, is probably the most frugal and the most difficult. Needless to say, the king of Wei, Zhao Run, and the king of Qi, Lu Bai, are the two countries in the Central Plains.

It is a country with one of the best economic strength, and the monarchs of Qin and Chu will not treat themselves badly. Needless to say, Wei Guo, King Fei of Wei has always been famous for his licentious and extravagant life.

After counting, I am afraid that only the Yue King Shaokang of the Yue Kingdom is left.

But even Shaokang, the king of Yue, did not necessarily have such a tight life after Chu and Yue had reached an agreement and resolved the war.

But in fact, Han Wangran can indeed be called the most diligent and frugal monarch in the world. Even Wei Wang Zhao Run, who hoped to spend every money on national construction as much as possible, could not be so frugal.

"There's still a lot of money left...no, there's still a big money left."

After concentrating on the calculations for a long time, Han Wangran put down the brush in his hand, with a tired face.

"Ahem."

Suddenly, he coughed twice and subconsciously wrapped the sheepskin blanket around him tightly.

Seeing this, the chamberlains serving on both sides subconsciously raised their heads and glanced at the bronze cauldron placed in the center of the hall. They saw that the charcoal fire in the cauldron was very weak.

Looking at each other, one of the chamberlains persuaded: "Your Majesty, please add some charcoal fire? The charcoal fire in the cauldron is not strong anymore..."

Han Wangran looked up and said with a smile: "That's enough. Don't you have something to keep out the cold?" He gently shook the sheepskin blanket covering him.

The left and right chamberlains looked at each other and couldn't help but feel a little sad. When did the mighty Korean monarch fall into such a state?

Perhaps sensing the mood of the servants, Han Wangran hesitated for a moment and said: "That's all, let's just... add a little more charcoal."

Upon hearing this, one of the chamberlains immediately said with joy, "My slave, go and prepare now."

After a while, the chamberlain left and returned, holding a bucket of charcoal in his hand, and kept throwing the charcoal into the cauldron, as if he wanted to stuff the bucket of charcoal into the cauldron.

Seeing this, Han Wangran quickly stopped him and said, "Just add a few pieces. The more land you add, the faster it will burn..."

With a silent sigh, the chamberlain put down the barrel in his hand and returned to Han Wangran.

Because of the addition of charcoal fire, the bronze cauldron quickly started to burn again, gradually dissipating the coldness in the palace, and Han Wangran's fingers, which had been slightly frozen before, became flexible again.

"...These are necessary expenses for internal governance this year and cannot be saved. But in this case..."

Wrapped in a sheepskin blanket and rubbing his forehead, Han Wangran showed a little worry on his brows.

In fact, the expenditure required for internal governance in South Korea is not very large, at least compared to the military expenditure in the past two years, it is simply insignificant.

Han Wangran must admit that the Wei State designed to force South Korea to start an arms race with the former. This was indeed a very vicious conspiracy - even if you knew Wei State's intentions, you had to be led by the Wei State.

"Use your own strengths to attack the other's weaknesses... You are truly worthy of being the "Wei Gongzi Run" who was famous in the Central Plains back then. He is deeply involved in the art of war and strategy..."

Sitting upright and putting his hands between his knees to keep warm, Han Wangran calmly assessed the direction of the situation between Wei and South Korea.

Although Wei's conspiracy of "preferring to lose 800 to himself or causing the enemy to lose 1,000" is indeed quite powerful, and has seriously slowed down the speed of his rule in Korea, for now, this strategy is not enough.

Defeat him Korea.

More importantly, although it was forced to start an arms race with Wei, South Korea did strengthen its domestic army and prepared for local wars in Handan North County, Julu County and other places in advance. If Wei

At this moment, the country is attacking with all its troops, and it is really unlikely that South Korea will be captured in a short time.

Because of this, Han Wangran believed that the Wei State would not easily go to war, just because Wei Wang Zhao Run was a monarch who was very proficient in the art of war. The other party knew very well that if the Wei State went to war with South Korea, as long as it failed to capture South Korea in a short time, then,

It is very likely that the Chu State will take the opportunity to launch a flanking attack on the Wei State.

Regardless of the marriage relationship between Wei and Chu, King Xiong Tuo of Chu is the brother-in-law of King Zhao Run of Wei, but when the interests of the two countries are related, neither Xiong Tuo nor Zhao Run will show mercy - they support

Most will save the opponent's life after defeating the opponent, and give the opponent endless glory and wealth for a lifetime.

Therefore, even though he suffered a complete strategic defeat, Han Wangran still did not lose confidence, and was still struggling to contain Wei for Chu, and was looking for Wei's weaknesses that could be exploited.

"... Among the three kingdoms of Wei, Chu and Han, Wei should be the one that can't afford to delay it the most. Since Wei may not be able to capture Korea in a short period of time, will Zhao Run find another way and take the lead in using troops against Chu?

?』

It has to be said that although the current situation in South Korea is quite difficult, what Han Wangran is most worried about is still whether Wei will change its mind and attack Chu. This is no wonder. After all, although South Korea is more than capable of defending itself, it has already

It can no longer pose a great threat to the Wei State. Looking at the entire Central Plains, I am afraid that only the Chu State, which claims to be able to dispatch four million troops, has the possibility of defeating the Wei State and dethroning the Central Plains overlord.

Therefore, nothing must happen to the Chu State, otherwise, everything will be destroyed.

Just as Han Wangran was deep in thought, someone suddenly walked into the palace. When Han Ran looked up, he realized that he was a chamberlain.

"Your Majesty."

I saw the chamberlain walking under the king's steps, bowing and saying: "Mr. Zhuang is asking for an audience outside the palace."

Hearing this, Han Wangran was shocked and said quickly: "Please come quickly."

After a while, I saw Zhuang Gong Han Geng walking into the palace with hurried steps, bowing his hands and saying: "Old minister, I pay my respects to the king."

"Mr. Zhuang is so polite."

Han Wangran struggled away and let the sheepskin blanket covering his body slip down. At the same time, he stood up and walked down the royal steps. He raised his hand to invite Duke Zhuang Han Geng to sit in the seat on one side and said with a smile: "These days

, Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Zhuang."

"What are you talking about, Your Majesty? How can you say that it is hard work to serve the country?"

Although he said this, Duke Zhuang Han Geng couldn't help but show a bit of complacency on his face.

It’s no wonder, after all, Han Geng was indispensable for the amount of money donated by the domestic royal family, nobles, and noble families before winter last year. Even if Han Wangran sent others, those royal families, nobles, and noble families would still donate.

, but this amount may not be available.

Because of this, Han Wangran was quite polite and courteous to Duke Zhuang Han Geng.

After a few words of greetings, Han Wangran asked: "Duke Zhuang came to see you today. What's the important matter?"

After hearing this, Duke Zhuang Han Geng remembered the reason for coming here. He quickly suppressed the smile on his face and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, those royal families, noble families, and noble families who promised to donate the second sum of money to the imperial court last year.

, the family, I’m afraid I can’t redeem the promise.”

"..."

Upon hearing this, Han Wangran frowned for a moment, then quickly relaxed his brows, and smiled nonchalantly: "Are those people feeling distressed?"

"Not really."

Zhuang Gong Han Geng shook his head and said seriously: "When the country is in crisis, generous donations of money to the country are not only to protect the country, but also to protect themselves. How can they feel sorry for them?"

"That's..." Han Wangran was a little confused.

"It's because of the State of Wei." Zhuang Gong Han Geng explained seriously: "Before the winter last year, the princes and nobles in the country donated money to the palace. It seems that they were found out by the Wei State's careful investigation and sent back to the Wei State. Therefore,

This caused the Wei merchants to resist the business activities under the names of these princes and nobles...Does your Majesty still remember the Zhong family in Hejian?"

Han Wangran nodded. He remembered that the name of the Hejian Zhong family was among the list of domestic princes and nobles who donated money to the court.

"The Zhong family in Hejian has been engaged in the jade business in recent years. They purchased jade mines from Qin State Lantian Jun Yingban, polished and carved them, and then transported them to Qi and Chu for sale... Around the beginning of spring this year, the Zhong family and Lantian

Several shipments of raw jade ore that you had negotiated were intercepted by Wen Shaobo, a wealthy man from Wei State, for no apparent reason, causing the Zhong family to spend even more money.

I bought back those few ships of jade from Wen Shaobo, but what I didn't expect was that before the Zhong family could transport the jade to Qi, Zhao Shen, the Chengling King of Wei, took the lead and sold a large amount of high-quality jade in Qi, so that

The few ships of jade belonging to the Zhong family have hardly been sold until now... they are anchored in the port of Qi State, and they are at a loss."

"Zhao Shen, King Chengling of Wei State?" Han Wangran frowned.

Zhuang Gong Han Geng nodded and added: "I'm afraid your Majesty doesn't know that Zhao Shen, the Chengling King of the Wei State, has been involved in a wide range of business affairs before, from tea, silk, and slaves in Bashu to pearls in the Chu State.

King Chengling was involved in lacquer ware, bronze ware, and any business that was profitable. But this year, the merchants under King Chengling's name gave up other businesses and only dealt in jade, focusing exclusively on the Zhong family.

Wait for a few of our families in Korea. What's even more disgusting is that even if the Zhong family had no choice but to lower the price and sell the jade at a low price, the Chengling King family would not give up and immediately sold the jade at a low price and pursued them.

The fierce attack is basically to push the Zhong family and several other families to a dead end."

Hearing this, Han Wangran frowned even more tightly: "Is it possible that the rest of the Wei merchants are also like this?"

Zhuang Gong Han Geng nodded and said: "Not only King Zhao Shen of Chengling, but also Wen Shaobo of Wei, Tao Hong of Song County, and merchants of Wei all jointly suppressed our Korean merchants with premeditated plans, causing all major

The family has suffered a lot of losses recently, with a large amount of goods piled up in their hands, but they cannot be sold at all..."

"...Is it you again, Zhao Run?"
To be continued...