The next day, Ma Kuo, who served as the palace guard, went to Ji Palace as usual.

Wei Qing, as the name suggests, is the chief of the Wei Rong (army). His powers are similar to those of Wei Wei or Wei General, but his official rank exceeds the latter two, especially since Korea still does not have a Taiwei.

Wei Qing's authority is very broad.

But at present, Ma Kuo's daily task, in addition to inspecting the defense of Jicheng, is to supervise the craftsmen working on the Jicheng Palace and urge them to repair the palace as soon as possible to avoid being laughed at.

However, when Ma Kuo arrived at Ji Palace today, he suddenly heard a report from the chamberlain in the palace, saying that Han Wangran could not sleep last night and actually spent the whole night in the side hall of the main palace of Ji Palace, handling government affairs.

Hearing the news, Ma Kuo was greatly shocked and hurried to the side hall of the main palace.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the side hall of the main palace, Han Wangran was still at his desk handling government affairs and planning for the next development of South Korea.

"Your Majesty?" Ma Kuo stepped forward.

Han Wangran raised his head, glanced at Ma Kuo with a tired face, and then said with a smile: "Ma Kuo, what do you think of this decree I drafted?... I intend to build more cultivated land on both sides of the "Yushui"

, digging canals to divert water for irrigation, if this is accomplished, it will greatly reduce the food pressure on Yuyang County."

Ma Kuo lowered his head and glanced at the summary of the decree written by Han Wangran, but his thoughts were more on His Majesty in front of him. He frowned and asked: "Your Majesty, what happened? As far as I know, Your Majesty has

I haven’t slept a wink yet.”

Han Wangran was silent for a moment. After waving his hand to dismiss the eunuchs and minor officials in the palace, he stood up and walked to the window. During this period, he said: "Last night, I couldn't sleep, so I just got up to deal with government affairs..."

"This..." Ma Kuo frowned slightly and guessed: "Is it because of what the two Wei envoys said?"

Han Wangran held the window lattice with both hands, took a few deep breaths of the fresh morning air, and then said worriedly: "Zhao Run is really a rare and unique talent that is rare in a century. In terms of military strategy, few people are as good as him. In terms of essay Tao,

I am not as good as him. Compared with him, my only advantage is self-denial and diligence..."

"Your Majesty, you are too arrogant." Ma Kuo advised from the side: "Not to mention the minor ministers, Prime Minister Shen also praised you full of praise, Prime Minister Shen assisted two previous kings, could he still look the other way?

"

Han Wangran couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this.

It is undeniable that in today's Korean court, both the civil servants headed by Shen Buhai and Kaifangdi, and the generals headed by Baoyuan and Qin Kai all have high hopes for him, and even privately exchanged views on him and his uncle, King Han Jian.

By comparison, it is believed that Han Ran will eventually become a wise monarch like the "Previous King Han Jian" in the future, leading Korea to restore its glory and achieve great hegemony.

In fact, Han Wangran always harbored this ambitious ambition even when he was a puppet.

But his opponent is too powerful...

In the eyes of Han Wangran, the former Duke of Wei, Run, and now the king of Wei, Zhao Run, was an impeccable opponent - he had great talent and strategy, but also knew how to be diligent and practical. How could he defeat such an opponent?

Only diligence!

More diligent than that Zhao Run!

After hearing Han Wangran's heartfelt words, Ma Kuo was silent.

In fact, when I heard the two Wei envoys say that King Zhao Run of Wei rose every day when the rooster crowed and the moon disappeared, his face was ugly at that time. But thinking about it now, compared to him, the young king in front of him was touched.

Bigger.

After thinking about it, he persuaded: "Your Majesty, although diligence is good, if you lose your body because of it, it will not be worth the gain..."

Hearing this, Han Wangran waved his hand and said with a chuckle: "Facing Zhao Run, the only one who still has some confidence is probably the only word of diligence... Since he can persevere, so can I!"

While the two were chatting, suddenly a chamberlain came into the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, the two Wei envoys who entered the palace yesterday came to see you again today and are waiting outside the palace at the moment."

Han Wangran nodded, and after dismissing the chamberlain, he ordered Ma Kuo: "Go and bring those two people into the palace, and I will go freshen up."

"Yes!" Ma Kuo responded and retreated.

After about an hour of burning incense, Ma Kuo led the Wei envoys Tang Ju and Fan Ying to the side hall.

At this time, Han Wangran went to the apse to freshen up and had not yet returned. Tang Ju and Fan Ying asked Ma Kuo curiously: "General Ma Kuo, could it be that His Majesty the King of Han has not gotten up yet?"

Ma Kuo didn't think too much and said truthfully: "Last night, the king didn't want to sleep, so he simply handled government affairs in the side hall. Only then did he learn that the two envoys came to visit him. Taking care of his appearance, he went to the back hall to bathe and change clothes, and also invited the two envoys.

Your Majesty, please wait for a moment."

"oh oh--"

Tang Ju and Fan Ying suddenly understood and nodded. Without Ma Kuo noticing, they quickly exchanged glances. There was a hint of pride in their eyes as if their plan had succeeded.

Waiting for tea to be served by the servants in the palace, Tang Ju and Fan Ying sat in the side hall and waited for about half an hour before they saw Han Wangran slowly walking into the side hall followed by several eunuchs.

"I've kept you two waiting for a long time."

After walking into the side hall, Han Wangran smiled and apologized.

Seeing this, Tang Ju and Fan Ying stood up quickly, cupped their hands in response, and kept saying "How dare you, how dare you".

After Han Wangran walked to the throne and sat down, Tang Ju clasped his hands and explained his purpose: "Your Majesty, King Han, the two of us have come specially to say goodbye to your Majesty today."

Han Wangran was stunned and asked with some surprise: "Are you two going to return home so soon?"

Tang Ju smiled and replied: "The two of us have completed our mission and we don't dare to delay..."

"This..." Han Wangran frowned and said: "The two distinguished envoys have come all the way to Jicheng, and I have not served them with wine to wash their hands... If this matter spreads, people in the world will think that I, the Korean people, do not understand etiquette. It is better to do this.

, how about the two distinguished envoys staying for two more days, allowing us to enjoy the friendship of the landlords, and then returning to the country?"

"This..." Tang Ju and Fan Ying looked at each other, with a look of confusion on their faces.

Seeing this, Han Wangran deliberately said with a straight face: "Don't you two think our Jicheng is dilapidated and don't want to stay for a long time?"

Standing by, Ma Kuo also chimed in in a weird voice: "Our country can still afford a few banquets."

After hearing what the monarch and his ministers said, Tang Ju smiled bitterly and explained: "His Majesty the King of Han has misunderstood. How dare we despise your country and His Majesty the King of Han? Our Majesty once said that among all the countries in the world, he is not afraid of anyone.

His Majesty the King of Duhan is a serious problem in his heart..."

"cough!"

Fan Ying coughed nearby, interrupting Tang Ju's words, and at the same time glanced at the latter.

At this moment, Tang Ju seemed to realize that he had made a mistake and immediately remained silent.

However, Tang Ju's words fell into Han Wangran's ears. Instead of being angry, Han Wangran felt a little happy in his heart - after all, Wei Wang Zhao Run regarded him as a serious concern. Didn't this prove his talent in disguise?

"Oh? My dear friend, does he really think so?" Han Wangran laughed and asked enthusiastically: "What else did your monarch say?"

Tang Ju and Fan Ying had stern expressions on their faces, and they were coy and unwilling to tell the truth.

Fan Ying even changed the subject very abruptly: "I heard from General Ma Kuo that His Majesty the King of Han did not rest last night and has been handling government affairs in this palace?"

Seeing Fan Ying change the topic, Han Wang was not angry, nodded and said with a smile: "My best friend is so diligent, how can I lag behind?"

Having said this, he paused and joked: "In a few days, the two distinguished envoys will return to the country and send a message to the monarch of your country on my behalf. In terms of diligence, I will not lose to him!"

However, after hearing this, Tang Ju and Fan Ying looked at each other with disapproving expressions on their faces.

Seeing this, Han Wangran felt strange and asked curiously: "Do the two distinguished envoys think that I am not as diligent as the monarch of your country?"

"That's not true." Fan Ying said with a smile: "In terms of diligence, His Majesty the King of Han is on par with His Majesty the King of my country. They are both diligent and self-denying monarchs, but efficiency..."

"Efficiency?" Han Wangran asked puzzledly.

"It means to accomplish more things within a certain period of time." Tang Ju explained from the side.

"Oh." Han Wangran mistook the word "efficiency" for the unique dialect of Wei, but did not care. He asked in confusion: "Do the two envoys think that the efficiency of my work is not as good as that of your country?"

monarch?"

Tang Ju smiled and said nothing, while Fan Ying said with a smile and full of pride and admiration: "Hasn't His Majesty the King of Han heard that our Majesty has a photographic memory since he was a child, can read monuments on horseback, and can count them all at once?

Use it, wave the pen in your hand, give orders with your mouth, listen to the words in your ears, orderly and without any mistakes!"

"..." Han Wangran opened his mouth, in disbelief.

But thinking back carefully, there are indeed stories in this regard among the anecdotes he has collected over the years about "Wei Gongzi Run".

For example, in the story of "Eight Kings Seize Zhao Li Liyan" that is much talked about among the people of Wei Dynasty, it is said that when the eight kings Zhao Run was fourteen years old, he read the previous one after only seeing it once.

Prince Zhao Li recited the book he wrote to make his speech verbatim, accusing the former prince Zhao Li of stealing and plagiarizing, thereby destroying the latter's speech.

Han Wangran had also heard of this anecdote, but he had never imagined that Zhao Run's extraordinary talent would be so... frustrating if used in a righteous way.

"...Can he defeat me several days in one day?"

Han Wangran's heart skipped a beat. The fighting spirit he had finally built up was almost defeated.

But having said that, the more this happened, the more Han Wangran wanted to know more about Zhao Run. Isn't there a saying that if you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger? - Only by knowing your enemy better can you have a chance to find a way to defeat him!

Because of this, Han Wangran had previously hoped that the two Wei envoys, Tang Ju and Fan Ying, could stay in Jicheng for a few more days, so that he could find out more about Zhao Run's current situation, no matter how big or small, all of these can become

Clues for him to defeat Zhao Run in the future.

Therefore, when King Ran of Han held a banquet in honor of Tang Ju and Fan Ying, he deliberately winked at Ma Kuo and asked Ma Kuo to find a way to frequently pour wine to Tang Ju and Fan Ying so that they could get drunk and ask for information.

Under Ma Kuo's warm invitation, Tang Ju and Fan Ying were indeed drunk. When they were drunk, according to Han Wangran's thoughts, he intermittently reported Zhao Run's daily life in the palace and the handling of government affairs.

Said it out.

"...Our Majesty spends at least eight hours a day in Chui Gong Hall to handle government affairs. Sometimes late at night, he simply stays in Chui Gong Hall. For this reason, Empress Mi and the concubines in the harem complained a lot...

…”

"...The most respected thing is that when His Majesty was suffering from illness, he still thought about state affairs. He once said that the state was entrusted by the late king and did not dare to slack off. For a period of time, the doctors of the Imperial Medical Department worked day and night.
To be continued...