In the third year of Wei Xing'an, the Central Plains tended to be peaceful. Generally speaking, there were no wars, but it cannot be said that there were no wars at all.

At least in the southeastern part of the Central Plains, the conflict between Chu and Yue still cannot be resolved: Chu still insists that the area south of the Yangtze River (Yangtze River) belongs to its Chu State and does not recognize the existence of Yue; and Yue King Shaokang,

He was also dissatisfied with the aggressiveness of the Chu State and led the people of Wu and Yue to fight tenaciously.

To the great surprise of the people of the world, even the state of Qi lost its territory under the fierce offensive of the state of Chu. However, the small state of Yue blocked the offensive of the Chu army one after another. Even the general of the state of Chu, Xiang Kuan,

He was also powerless against Wu Yue.

In early April, Chu State General Xiang Kuan was ordered to send troops out of Zhaoguan again to attack Yue State.

As in previous battles, the Chu army had an absolute advantage in the initial battle, but when the battle line advanced to the areas of "Zhang", "Fujiao" and "Wucheng", the Chu army's progress was suddenly delayed.

The reason lies in two points.

First, the land of Wu and Yue is mostly barren mountains and rivers - the "barren mountains and rivers" here does not mean that the land of Wu and Yue is a barren land, but that it is too wild and undeveloped, so that poisonous weeds, poisonous insects, jackals and tigers can be seen everywhere.

Leopards are a great threat to ordinary people.

As for the second one, that is the way of fighting between the people of Wu and Yue and the Yue Yi.

Different from the legion combat methods of the Central Plains, the Yue people are good at sneak attacks. The Yue army, such as the most famous "Dongou Army", has a very average frontal combat capability. At best, it is better than Chu's army.

There is a front line, but if they encounter Chu's regular army, they may not be able to win steadily.

The reason is that the weapons and equipment of the Dongou Army are extremely backward. Even if they have secret support from Qi State, they can hardly compare with the regular army of Chu State.

In fact, the biggest threat in the eyes of the Chu army was the Yue "militia".

Because they have been oppressed by the Chu State for many years, the Yue State, which has a deep hatred for the Chu State, can be said to have all its people as soldiers. Especially when the Chu army launches a large-scale attack, the hunters and mountain people of the Yue State, including the Yi people, will spontaneously resist.

Chu army, try your best to create trouble for Chu army.

For example, ambushing and killing the sentries of the Chu army, trying to pollute the water sources controlled by the Chu army, etc. All these methods made the soldiers of the Chu army hate them.

It is undeniable that these Yue militiamen did not have enough weapons. Not only did they not have the mainstream iron weapons in the Central Plains, they even had very few bronze weapons. Except for the "Dongou Army", they also had a relatively complete set of bronze weapons.

In addition to weapons made of wood, ordinary militiamen basically hold weapons made of bamboo and wood.

The most common one is a sharpened bamboo.

Another example is blowing darts.

This kind of mid-range weapon that the Yue people learned from the Yue Yi, combined with the poisonous juice mixed with poisonous grass and poisonous insects, is definitely the weapon that Chu soldiers hate the most. After all, the medical conditions are not developed here, and even headaches and brain fever can cause it.

In the age of the dead, being shot by Yue people's poisonous arrows ultimately sentenced the soldier to death.

In addition, Chu soldiers who died of poisoning often ended up with skin erosion, pus flowing all over their bodies, and dying howling in pain, which filled Chu soldiers with fear.

In mid-May, Chu State General Xiang Kuan's army was blocked by "Zhang" due to environmental factors.

Xiang Juan was also extremely depressed about this.

You must know that as one of the Three Pillars and the younger brother of General Xiang Mo, Xiang Kuan is also a leader among the Xiang family's children. In terms of martial arts, he is as good as his brother, and he can be said to be the best at using soldiers in the Chu Kingdom.

That type of general.

But to attack the Yue State on Tantan is simply like using the crossbows of the Wei State to shoot wild geese.

Half a month later, Xiong Tuo, king of Chu, received a briefing from General Xiang Kuan in the royal capital Shouying. He learned that the attack on Yue had failed again, and Xiong Tuo felt very unswerving.

He said angrily in front of all the ministers of the court: "Even the powerful Qi State in the past trembled under the army of our great Chu, lost its territory, and knelt down to sue for peace with our country. How could we, the great Chu, be helpless?"

A small country called Yue?!"

In view of Xiong Tuo's increasing power in Chu State, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were only obedient and no one dared to respond.

Afterwards, Xiong Tuo invited his brother Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, who was the prime minister of the country, to the palace to discuss with him the strategy of conquering Yue.

Some people may ask, since the Yue State is so difficult to deal with, why does the Chu State insist on attacking the Yue State? Even if it is left alone, can the small Yue State still pose any threat to the Chu State?

In fact, the Yue people have always been a serious concern for the Chu State.

I remember that in the generation of Xiong Tuo's father, Xiong Xu, the Yue Kingdom had not yet been restored. At that time, there were many Yue people wandering in the Chu Kingdom to cause rebellion. After Wu Yue's leader, Shao Fang, restored the Yue Kingdom, the Yue people began to oppose the Chu Kingdom.

The resistance became more and more intense - I remember that when the Chu State attacked Qi, Lu and Yue a while ago, there were Yue people in the country harassing the towns and counties and carrying out sabotage.

If Qi and Chu have a feud for nearly thirty years, then the Yue State hates the Chu State for the destruction of the country - the Yue people hate the Chu people more strongly than the Qi people.

It is precisely because of this that when the Chu State attacked the Yue State, the Yue State's army and militia showed greater tenacity than the Qi people, and were willing to die together when necessary, making the Chu army very fearful of the Yue people.

"I didn't expect that this small country of Yue would be so difficult to deal with."

After inviting Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng to take a seat, Xiong Tuo said with emotion.

To be honest, Xiong Tuo is actually more inclined to attack Qi and Lu. However, the war with Qi and Lu in the past two years has made him realize that even though Qi has declined so much, as the saying goes, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, so with Chu

With the current strength of the country, it is still a bit difficult to swallow up Qi and Lu in one go.

Therefore, he retreated to the next best thing and decided to solve the problem of Yue first while he was temporarily playing coy with Qi and Lu.

After all, the State of Qi has just reached an armistice agreement with the State of Chu. At this time, the State of Qi will not openly support the State of Yue. Therefore, this is a great opportunity for the State of Chu to destroy the State of Yue.

But I didn't expect that even if it was temporarily unable to receive assistance from Qi, the resistance from Yue's mainland would be so strong.

After listening to Xiong Tuo's words, Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, since we can't win completely, why not consider Fushun?"

Upon hearing this, King Xiong Tuo of Chu looked at Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng with some surprise, but the latter said: "The old hatred between Chu and Yue is that Chu destroyed Wu and Yue back then, and then persecuted the people of Wu and Yue; as for the

The new hatred lies in the fact that our country, Chu, refuses to recognize the status of the country of Yue as one of the countries in the Central Plains. It always insists that the country of Yue belongs to our country, Chu... But in fact, the barbaric land of Wu and Yue is really helpless to our country, Chu.

Or is it missing?”

"..." Xiong Tuo frowned slightly.

Does the vast Chu State really care about the land of Wu and Yue?

To be honest, Chu State doesn't care at all.

You must know that even though Wei State regained Sanchuan, Shangdang, and annexed Hexi and Hetao, its land area was still not as large as that of Chu State.

In contrast, the Wei State lacked enough population to develop the newly occupied territory, while the Chu State lacked money - yes, most of the Chu State's wealth was concentrated in the hands of the public and aristocratic classes.

, the national treasury is not rich, so there is not much spare money to invest in domestic construction.

What Chu State really cares about is status.

Shaokang, the lord of Yue, occupied the territory of Chu State and restored Yue State. If Chu State was indifferent to this, how would the world view Chu State?

Therefore, Chu State must attack Yue State!

Unexpectedly, the Yue State was so tenacious. In fact, the Chu State is also riding a tiger and is unable to dismount.

Hearing Xiong Tuo's concerns, Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng smiled and said: "This matter is easy to hear!... Just convince Shaokang to surrender to my great Chu!"

"this……"

Xiong Tuo thought for a while after hearing this.

Not to mention, if the State of Yue is willing to surrender to the State of Chu and make the State of Chu the suzerain state of the State of Yue, then the State of Chu can also save its face.

The question is, is it worth it?

Is the small Yue Kingdom worthy of being actively courted by the courtesy corporal of the Chu Kingdom?

"worth!"

Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, said seriously: "As far as I know, the State of Wei is now vigorously building up the country. However, our country, Chu, is still restrained by the State of Yue. If things go on like this, the gap between our country and the State of Wei will inevitably become wider and wider...

If your Majesty has the ambition to compete with the Kingdom of Wei in the next twenty years, then the Kingdom of Yue is worthy of me, the Great Chu, putting down my dignity and trying to win over him!"

King Xiong Tuo of Chu was shocked when he heard these words.

It is undeniable that Wei is an ally of Chu. The current King of Wei, Zhao Run, is his brother-in-law. The current Queen of Wei is his cousin Mi Jiang, whom he regards as his biological sister. Even the crown prince of Wei, Zhao Wei,

He is also his nephew.

But all these relationships are not enough to make Xiong Tuo give up leading the Chu State to compete with the Wei State for supremacy. After all, becoming the hegemon of the Central Plains has been the lifelong pursuit of all the monarchs of the Central Plains countries.

And since the Chu State is determined to compete with the Wei State for supremacy in the next twenty years, then time is even more precious - the Chu State should use all its time to catch up with the development of the Wei State. There will be no spare time to entangle with the Yue State. If it cannot be shortened,

If the Yue Kingdom is overthrown within a short period of time, then try to win over him.

Once the Chu State wins over the Yue State, then the Chu State will be able to solve the internal problems that have persisted.

"Shaokang...will he accept our offer from Chu?" King Xiong Tuo of Chu asked with a frown.

Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng heard this and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will do my best to convince Shaokang!"

Xiong Tuo was stunned when he heard this, frowned and objected: "Brother Xian wants to go in person to persuade Shaokang? How can this happen?!"

It's no wonder he has such an attitude. After all, in today's Chu State, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, who is in the west of Chu, and Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng, who serves as the Prime Minister, are Xiong Tuo's right-hand men and the most relied-upon ministers of the Xiong clan.

.

Furthermore, Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, has always been wise. It was precisely because of his help that the nobles of Eastern Chu gradually accepted Xiong Tuo - and even today, he is responsible for reform strategies involving the nobles of Eastern Chu.

Xiong Tuo still had to rely on Xiong Sheng to visit the respectable nobles one by one to persuade them to support the court's new policy.

Xiong Tuo could not imagine what he would be like if he lost Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang.

But Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, said: "Chu and Yue have been grudged for a long time. Now that they have contacted rashly, we need to show our sincerity to impress Shaokang... There is no one in the country who is more suitable than me."

King Xiong Tuo of Chu hesitated for a long time, but due to the persistence of Lord Xiong Sheng of Liyang, he finally agreed.
To be continued...