Chapter 218 Junior Master
Li Mu was a very special person in Zhao State. His position was only the governor of Dai County, and he also held the position of general. However, due to the special nature of the three northern counties facing the wolf tribe, the administrative system of the three northern counties was completely at the service of the military. As the highest military leader in the north, he had absolute say there. But now the Queen Mother Zhao said that she wanted to divide Zhao State into four war zones such as the Northern Border Army.

Did Queen Mother Zhao really intend to do this? Or was she just using this as an excuse to take away his power?
In Li Mu's opinion, Queen Dowager Zhao was such a person.

When King Yan of Zhao abolished Zhao Jia's position as crown prince and his biological mother's position as queen, Li Mu was opposed to it. Especially when King Yan of Zhao made Queen Dowager Zhao, who came from a family of prostitutes, as queen, he was even more dissatisfied. These things were no secret in the power circle of Zhao State.

Now that Queen Mother Zhao holds power, how could she not settle the score?
Li Mu did not dare to take a woman's vengeful desire lightly. Throughout history, many people had fallen into the hands of women.

Moreover, Li Mu was well aware that the Queen Mother of Zhao was not a person of high moral character. This was also an important reason why he opposed King Zhao Yan's decision to make her the queen.

Now that Queen Mother Zhao is in power, will she easily let go of him who spoke ill of her in the past?

"Queen Dowager, due to the special nature of the three northern counties, we have to prioritize military affairs." Li Mu said carefully. He didn't know whether Queen Dowager Zhao was going to take action against him, so he could only choose to be cautious.

"I know, but now our Zhao State is at the critical moment of survival. The threat posed by the Qin army to us is even greater than that of the Wolf Tribe. No matter how strong the Wolf Tribe is, they cannot reach Handan. But the Qin army is different. Facing the more powerful Qin army, we should also extend the wartime system of the northern border counties to the hinterland." said the Queen Mother Zhao.

Am I overthinking this? Li Mu thought about it. He really couldn't hear anything unusual in Queen Mother Zhao's words.

Could it be that I really underestimated this queen mother? Li Mu couldn't help but feel a little more confused.

“I plan to set up Yecheng, Anyang and other places south of the Great Wall and Zhangshui as a war zone, with the governor of Yang County taking the position of Junior Master in charge of the military and political affairs of the area. Then I plan to turn the areas west of Taihang Mountain except Handan into a war zone, which will be led by General Hu Hui, and the troops in Handan will be led by General Zhao Cong.” said the Queen Mother Zhao.

"If so, the deployment of the troops can be smoother, and it should be able to play a good role in the future battle against the Qin army." Pang Nuan, who was about to step down, murmured. Among all the people present, he was probably the one with the least desires. He was about to step down and was already old, so he only needed to consider the State of Zhao. As for what others thought of him, it was not important.

In his opinion, the war zone system that the Queen Mother Zhao was talking about at this time could certainly improve the combat effectiveness of the Zhao army, but it would also have many disadvantages. For example, when the State of Jin implemented the Six Lords system, although it made the State of Jin the overlord in a short period of time, it created powerful ministers from all sides, which eventually led to the story of the three families dividing the State of Jin.

It can be said that there are precedents for this.

However, the situation Zhao was facing now was different from that of Jin back then. Zhao was now dwarfed by the attack of the Qin army. The so-called disadvantages of the war zone system might not be exposed until decades later, while the threat from the Qin army was imminent for Zhao. If it could not overcome the current crisis, there might be no future. Therefore, the so-called disadvantages could be ignored for the time being.

"Prime Minister, what is your opinion?" Queen Dowager Zhao asked Guo Kai again. Although the war zone system only involves military affairs, if you want to implement it smoothly, it also needs the cooperation of the Prime Minister's Office. Not to mention anything else, the supply of the army and the installation of ordnance need to be coordinated by the Prime Minister's Office.

"Your Majesty, this is a brilliant idea. I also think it is feasible." Guo Kai said. Of course he agreed.

Although the war zone system strengthened the military power of the generals, it did not affect Guo Kai's power. Especially with the improvement of the status of Yang Chong, Zhao Cong, and Hu Hui, Li Mu's influence in the army was going to decline. On the other hand, Guo Kai was on good terms with Yang Chong and Zhao Cong, and had a very good relationship with Hu Hui.

If the war zone system is implemented, his authority will not be affected and may even be enhanced. He will naturally be happy to see this happen.

"Since you have no objection, then this matter is settled." Queen Mother Zhao gave the final word.

She was intoxicated by the feeling of being able to manipulate a country so easily and change the country with just a few words.

After reaching a consensus on some trivial matters, this small court meeting came to an end, but everyone who left had their own thoughts.

Zhao Cong was pleasantly surprised. He did not expect to be promoted. Pang Nuan was neither sad nor happy. He was about to retire. As for Li Mu? Li Mu felt that he should re-evaluate Queen Mother Zhao.

Queen Mother Zhao gave him a very unusual feeling today. She was actually a woman who was "good at governing the country".

I just hope this isn't an illusion? Li Mu muttered to himself as he left the palace. He couldn't stay in Handan for long. There were some things he had to figure out as soon as possible. Although he was a soldier, it was impossible for someone in his position to be separated from politics. He was first an official of the State of Zhao, and then a general. Only by being a good official first could he better perform his duties as a general.

"Did I do the right thing?" Yang Chong, who was left alone, faced this question from Queen Dowager Zhao.

"The Queen Mother has done a great job. There are so many people in the court, and it is difficult to identify them one by one. The Queen Mother only needs to grasp the core power." As the mastermind behind the scenes, Yang Chong naturally did not hesitate to praise Queen Mother Zhao when faced with her questions.

"Won't people like Li Mu become too powerful to be eliminated?" Queen Mother Zhao still had doubts. Li Mu might be a loyal minister, but he was not necessarily a loyal minister to her.

In the history of Zhao State, even traitors claimed to be loyal ministers, but it is difficult to say who they were loyal to.

In the eyes of Queen Dowager Zhao, Li Mu was such a person. Li Mu should be loyal to the State of Zhao, but not necessarily loyal to her and her son. Such a Li Mu was dangerous to her.

"The money and grain are under the control of the Queen Mother. Li Mu is just a general. What can he do? The soldiers of Zhao obey his orders, of course, because of the prestige accumulated by Li Mu's victory in all the wars, but more importantly, because he has the support of the king. Just like Lu Buwei of Qin, he was so powerful and arrogant in the past, but King Zheng of Qin could dismiss him from his position as prime minister with a decree and let him retire in Luoyi." Yang Chong said to calm the Queen Mother Zhao's uneasy mood.
This is a very insecure woman. She is suspicious because of her powerlessness, and jealous because of her suspicion. It is easy for her to do stupid things out of suspicion.

"What about you? You have the rich salt fields of Jibei County, and now you have obtained the troops from Yecheng and Dong'a. I don't even have the means to check and balance you. Can I trust you completely?" said the Queen Mother Zhao.

She had a feeling that Yang Chong was trustworthy. Of course, this was not because her relationship with Yang Chong had really reached that point, but because she had a feeling that Yang Chong simply looked down on these things of the Zhao State.

In Zhao State, Yang Chong could at most become a powerful official, and even that was difficult. In Zhao State, Yang Chong was an outsider. He could ascend to a high position with his own talents, but he did not have the foundation to become a powerful official.

But it was different in Qi State. In Qi State, Yang Chong really had a chance to seize the throne.

But she felt that this kind of thing was unreliable, so until this moment, Queen Mother Zhao was still a little hesitant, or rather, she was not going to do anything because of this hesitation, but simply wanted to get more guarantees from Yang Chong.

"Trust is not something that can be expressed in words, but something that can be demonstrated in practice. I believe that in the past few collaborations, I have proven myself to be a partner that the Queen Mother trusts." Yang Chong, who was too lazy to analyze the complex thoughts of the Queen Mother Zhao, replied directly. "That's true." The Queen Mother Zhao nodded. The two of them were already on the same boat, so it was indeed unnecessary to talk about trust or not.

……

Since Yang Chong has already obtained everything he wanted in Handan, there is naturally no need for him to stay in Handan any longer. Now the number of households under his jurisdiction has expanded to 100,000. If he wants to transform this force into real combat power, he still has a lot of things to do, and naturally he does not allow himself to waste too much time.

When Yang Chong was packing up and rushing from Handan to Dong'a, Zi Nu from Jibei County had already arrived with her belongings.

As the western capital of Qi State and one of its five capitals, Dong'a City was extremely large. Although it was occupied by Zhao State, Zhao State never gave up its management of Dong'a because Dong'a was an extremely tall city and its prosperity was even greater than that of Ye City.

The most important thing is that there is a palace of the former King of Qi here.

Although this palace has not been renovated and many buildings have been abandoned since Dong'a lost its status as the western capital of Qi, the foundation is still there. After Zi Nu moved her family here, she directly occupied the palace and even recruited craftsmen to renovate the abandoned buildings.

There are not many people in the Yang family, so naturally they don't need so many houses. However, Jibei County has its own administrative system, and the six ministries alone require a lot of official residences. Instead of building new ones, it is better to recycle the waste.

As for whether they would exceed the rules by occupying the palace, it was not within Zi Nu's consideration at all. If there was any problem, Yang Chong would naturally take care of it. As for her? She only needed to rebuild Dong'a's administrative system as quickly as possible to control Yecheng, Anyang and other places.

So when Yang Chong brought Yan Lingji to Dong'a, all he saw was a busy construction site.

"Did Yingge stay in Handan?" Yang Chong, who had just washed off the dust on his face, sat down. Zi Nu had already thrown a book to him.

"Someone is needed over there to contact all parties." Yang Chong opened the book, only to find that this was not a book, but intelligence about the State of Qi.

Jibei County's target has been Qi from the very beginning. It is not an easy task to swallow up such a big country. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the first thing. Although Qi's army is not very useful, the people of Qi are still capable of fighting. As long as someone can organize it, it will still be one of the most powerful armies in the world.

Otherwise, in the future time and space, the King of Western Chu would not be helpless against him.

"Right now we should pay more attention to Linzi." Zi Nu reminded.

"So what you mean is?" Yang Chong asked.

"Send Yingge to Linzi. She is the leader of Night's Shadow. It is most appropriate for her to command Night's Shadow's actions in Qi." Zi Nu said.

"After we complete the training of the soldiers in Yecheng and Dong'a, we will also go to Qi." Yang Chong browsed the information in the book. With the expansion of the territory, it was time to strengthen the cooperation with several schools of thought, especially Confucianism, Mohism, and Military Science.

"The place with the most active agriculture, besides the Huai and Si areas, is Qi State. You must be careful when you go there." Zi Nu said.

You can't write two "田" characters with one stroke. Although the Tian family, a royal family of Qi, and the Tian family, a farming family, have been separated for more than two hundred years, their ties with each other are still very deep. If Yang Chong enters Qi, no one knows what will happen.

At that time, perhaps it would not be just the farmers who took action against Yang Chong.

"The Six Sages of the Nong Family, we will have to fight against them sooner or later. Among the 100,000 disciples of the Nong Family, there are six elite groups, who are also what we need." Yang Chong said.

"Those six old guys are not easy to deal with." Zi Nu said.

The Six Sages of the Farming Family are masters who have been famous for decades. Although they are not grandmasters, their decades of accumulation have made their skills infinitely close to those of grandmasters. In addition, the six people's combined attack technique of formation is enough to defeat a real grandmaster. Yang Chong is not their opponent yet.

"Six pieces of trash who can never break through to the Grandmaster level in their entire lives, can only win by numbers, and they really think they are invincible." Yang Chong sneered.

"If the six of them are useless, I'm afraid there will be few geniuses in the world." Zi Nu did not dare to take it lightly. If the six elders of the Nong family come out together, it will definitely be earth-shattering. There are not many people in the world who can stop them. Although Yang Chong is powerful, he still does not have enough accumulation and is too young.

Although Zi Nu believed that Yang Chong would be almost invincible when he reached middle age, Yang Chong was not a master after all.

"Zi Nu, you forgot one thing." Looking at Zi Nu with a worried look on her face, Yang Chong frowned. Why did his wife look like she wasn't very smart?

"What did I forget?" Zi Nu asked puzzledly.

"We are not from the martial arts world. If the six old men from the farming family come to Dong'a, do I really have to learn from the martial arts people and fight them in battle?" Yang Chong replied.

In this era, no matter how strong a person's martial arts are, there is a limit. Although one's martial arts skills have been cultivated to the level of Donghuang Taiyi and Bei Mingzi, they are already extraordinary and saintly, but they are still human beings. As long as they are human beings, they have their limits and cannot do the things that gods do.

In a world without God, the strongest are still those in power.

If the six old men from the farming family dared to come to Dong'a, Yang Chong would let them see how killing people by force is done.

(End of this chapter)