And whoever can control the people and the will of the people is equivalent to whoever controls the power and has the absolute right to speak.
Counting all the countries in the Central Plains, this is true without exception. And Chu State, as a totalitarian state, is even more so.
In the name of the Chu Kingdom's Ling Yin, Wang Ziwei convened an alliance meeting under the banner of the Song Alliance. On the surface, it was to compete with the Pingqiu Association, and at the same time, he also lived the addiction of being the world's hegemon.
But in fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see at a glance that he was planning to win over the hearts of the people of Chu and then kill his brother to usurp the throne.
This is actually not difficult to guess.
Because, as a completely different entity from the Xia states in the Central Plains, the Chu State had been regicide since its founding.
Not to mention other things, for example, King Wu of Chu, as a heroic leader of the generation, also committed regicide and usurped the throne.
Therefore, it is not impossible for the current Wang Ziwei to want to "recover" this tradition of the Chu State and then lead the Chu State to become stronger again.
"If that's the case... then we can't let him get what he wants! If by then this person really becomes famous, and then kills the king and usurps the throne. If the Chu Kingdom really has such a tyrannical lord, then what will happen in the future?
Isn’t it true that our country, Zheng, will never have peace?”
When Zichan thought about this carefully, he couldn't help but frown again.
Wang Ziwei wanted to do something in Chu State, but he was powerless.
The only thing he can do now is to try his best to persuade Jin State not to attend the Guo Di Conference. Only in this way can Zheng State be saved from disaster.
"In this way, after arriving in the Jin Kingdom, it is better to go to Shu Xiang for help first, ask his opinion first, and then decide how to lobby the Marquis of Jin."
Zichan thought about it again and said to Li Ran.
In fact, since Zheng Guo often jumped between Jin and Chu in the past, the relationship between Zheng Guo and Jin was not very close, and could even be said to be somewhat distant.
In these years, although Zichan has been trying to get close to the Jin Dynasty, he did not dare to directly anger the Chu State, so he has always maintained a considerable distance from the Six Ministers of the Jin State.
But Li Ran was different. He, Yang Touche and Han Qi had all conspired together.
In addition, Yang Yanji has always valued Li Ran, so it is obviously most appropriate to visit Yang Yanji first and ask for his opinions and suggestions.
Li Ran nodded immediately when he heard the sound:
"Promise, I will definitely try my best."
When the two of them agreed in this way, it was settled.
"Oh, by the way, Zi Ming, there is one more thing. Have you heard about it? Shu Niu has arrived in the State of Lu, and now he is a retainer under the Ji family."
After talking about one thing, another thing followed.
However, listening to Zichan's tone, it seemed that he didn't really care about this matter and just treated it as casual chat.
"Hey... I didn't expect that my brother actually went to the Ji family of Lu State."
Of course, Li Ran had received the news a long time ago. After all, his connection with his uncle and grandson's family had never been broken. Moreover, as a traveler of the Zheng State, he was now generally aware of many major and minor events in the Lu State.
However, he has always been secretly in contact with Uncle Sunbao, so it is difficult to bring this kind of thing to the table. After all, he is now a pedestrian of Zheng State. If this kind of thing is revealed, it will inevitably be suspected of cheating.
So he should be more cautious.
When Zichan heard this, he didn't care and just continued:
"The Ji family of Lu State, Shu Niu, and the people of Qi State are all mixed up together. Now Feng Duan has brought the prince in again. This situation is getting more and more exciting."
From providing relief to the Weiguo to Zheng Yi's illness, Zichan always felt that there was an invisible hand behind these things, secretly pushing them.
Although he didn't know who it was, this feeling became stronger and stronger.
When he let Shu Niu go, his purpose was actually to play hard to get, to try to figure out who was behind this Niu Shu. Even if it was just Feng Duan and Si Hei, then he could collect evidence and kill them in one fell swoop.
Take it.
But now, as the prince came to Zhengyi to welcome his bride, and an alliance meeting was convened in the name of Chu State's Ling Yin, more and more disturbances followed. Therefore, even as experienced as him, he couldn't help but feel a little powerless.
.
"It seems that everyone is involved in this game of chess."
Li Ran raised his head and looked to the east outside the chariot, which was the direction of Lu State, with far-reaching but sharp eyes.
He felt it more strongly than Zichan because he knew far more things than Zichan.
…
Ten days later, Zichan, Li Ran and his party finally arrived in Jiang.
The journey was surprisingly smooth and there was no incident at all. Even when passing by Guo Di, we only met Chu people face to face without any trouble.
Of course, Wang Ziwei is currently busy preparing for the meeting in Guodi, and he wants to show an attitude of tolerance and magnanimity. This is also an important reason.
On the second day after they arrived in Jiang, Zichan and Li Ran went to the Yangtongue together.
Yang Yanji suddenly heard that Zichan and Li Ran had come to visit, and he was really overjoyed.
Ever since the Qi State's food was robbed, Li Ran's safety had always been a concern for him. After all, he was the one who started this matter, so it was reasonable for him to be worried in this regard.
This time, he was very happy to see Li Ran appear in front of him safe and sound, and hurriedly ordered people to prepare a banquet in the hall to cleanse Zichan and Li Ran.
"Oh, Brother Shuxiang, I haven't seen you for a long time. Brother Shuxiang is getting more energetic."
"Brother Zichan is laughing, what's the matter? Come on, come on, I have ordered a banquet to be held for you two."
When Zichan heard this, he couldn't help but politely refused:
"Brother Shuxiang is too polite. There is no need to take the wind. This time Ziming and I are here to discuss important matters."
Seeing that the date of the meeting in Guodi was getting closer and closer, Zichan had no time to drink, so he immediately declined Yang Tongue's kindness.
Li Ran, who was standing aside, couldn't help but bow his hands and nodded:
"Uncle Xiang, doctor, this matter is indeed of great importance. Please forgive me."
Hearing the sound, Sheep Tonguizhu roughly guessed it, and immediately backed away.
"You came here this time because the prince is planning to convene an alliance meeting in Guo Di?"
When there were only three of them left in the hall, Yang Yangui asked.
This news has now spread all over the world. As a high-ranking official in the Jin Dynasty, how could Yang Yangui not know about it?
"Uncle Xiang, speak quickly to your brother, and he will no longer hide and tuck you in."
"I wonder what Brother Shuxiang thinks of this meeting in Guodi, and what is the reaction from the Jin Dynasty court?"
The purpose of Zichan's visit was to find out the attitude of the Jin State and to lobby the Marquis of Jin to ensure that the Marquis of Jin would not attend the Guodi meeting.
Therefore, Yangtongue's attitude is particularly important, because Yangtongue is their only reliable ally at present.
"Jin and Zheng have been friends for many years. Although I and brother Zichan don't often get together, there is no need for me to lie to brother Zichan even if Ziming is here."
"To be honest, I don't agree with this matter."
Yang Yangui's trust in Li Ran has gone from making plans together to now talking about everything.
Mainly because after experiencing the robbery of Qi State's food, they could be said to have shared hardships across the distance. Although there was no communication between the two, there was surprisingly a tacit understanding between the two of them in handling their respective affairs.
.
So in front of Li Ran, he had nothing to hide.
"Congratulations, brother Xiang! Qiao thinks so too."
Hearing that Yang Yanji agreed with him, knowing that this time he was 70% sure, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.