The Kingdom of Wu is mourning a new king, and the country's momentum is low. Therefore, it is indeed a good time to capture Zhongli.
If the Chu State did not take action at this time, it would be almost impossible for the Wu State to take action against Zhongli again after the Wu State had recovered.
But even so, once they choose to take action, the Chu State must spend a lot more money.
Not only that, but they also run the risk of being "surrounded by Wei and rescued by Zhao" by the Zhou states in the Central Plains.
So the reasons for whether to fight or not to fight now are actually very good.
And this naturally made King Chu a little difficult to make a choice.
What needs to be emphasized here again is that although the King of Chu appears to be domineering in some aspects, and even a bit absurd, when he is faced with certain major decisions, he still has things beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Bravery and courage.
For example, attacking Zhongli and killing Qingfeng is really a dilemma. If it were anyone else, I'm afraid they would have given up long ago.
After all, the risk of doing this is too great. For ordinary people, most people naturally "do not seek merit, but seek no faults". They may even choose to be extremely irresponsible and throw all problems directly to
It will be left to future generations to solve.
But who is the King of Chu?
Will King Xiong Wei of Chu be a king willing to give up strategic goals so easily?
Obviously not.
After Chu State experienced such a long period of silence, now in this era of rapid changes and continuous wars, he has long seen the fact clearly: that is, if he wants to dominate the world, he will definitely not be able to wait behind closed doors at home.
, you must take the initiative and look for opportunities! Even if the opportunity is slim, you must boldly try.
If you are really a person "bound to you by destiny", then you must have gotten there somehow. What if you are a person "abandoned by destiny"? Then if you don't bother, you will only have less chance.
The so-called "destiny" will always favor those who love to make troubles.
Therefore, if he gave up this opportunity to capture Zhongli, then the Chu State might be able to survive peacefully for decades.
But what about the future?
If the rise of the Wu State is still allowed, the Wu State will one day become a scourge for the Chu State and will definitely bring disaster to the great cause of the Chu State.
Therefore, he could not wait, let alone give up this opportunity. He must take advantage of this opportunity to completely suppress the Wu Kingdom in the southeast corner and lay a solid foundation for the future destruction of Wu.
Only by completely defeating Wu and Yue can the Chu State really get involved in the Central Plains, and even the nine princes, and dominate the world!
So, after careful consideration by the King of Chu, he raised his head and looked at his followers with burning eyes.
"Zi Yu's words make sense. This battle must be fought!"
In fact, King Xiong Wei of Chu had the ambition to dominate the world before he ascended the throne. Now that he has ascended the throne as King of Chu, this ambition is always engraved in his mind.
And this battle may be the beginning of his King Chu's domination of the world! (The Battle of Shujiu and the Battle of Chaoyi were passive defenses after all, and did not count as Chu's active attack, so they cannot be regarded as the beginning.)
"Brother Wang..."
"Oh? Brother Ji wants to persuade me to stop?"
As soon as Prince Qiji spoke, King Chu turned his gaze away and asked rhetorically.
Prince Qiji looked troubled and thought for a long time before speaking:
"What Guan Cong said just now is correct. This battle is indeed necessary for our country of Chu. However, I have thought about it again and again, and I still think that the chance of winning this battle is very slim. At the moment, it is by no means a perfect strategy. Please give me some advice.
Brother Wang, think twice!"
Huh? The sun is coming out in the west?
Some people may wonder why Prince Qiji suddenly advised the King of Chu to "restrain himself" at this time?
Obviously, this was contrary to his previous plot to play tricks on the King of Chu and undermine his mass base.
Could it be that Prince Qiji suddenly discovered his conscience?
Of course, this is impossible.
"Haha, what a wolfish ambition, you Xiong family are really brothers and sisters..."
Li Ran saw clearly from the sidelines and couldn't help but curse in his heart.
Is Prince Qiji admonishing the King of Chu?
It seems to be true. The words and sentences are also very realistic. There is no nonsense, and it seems that there is no intention to provoke the King of Chu.
But in this hall, apart from King Chu himself, whether it is Li Ran, Guan Cong, or his good brother Wang Zi Qiji, who among these three people does not know that King Chu is a stubborn leader?
Thinking about it, if he hadn't been stubborn, how could he have dared to lead only two thousand warriors to "steal" Zheng Yi?
If he hadn't been stubborn, how could he have dared to go to Jin's doorstep to hold an alliance?
If he hadn't been stubborn, how could he have risked the disapproval of the world to usurp power and seize the throne, causing the current situation to be so turbulent?
If these are not enough to show that King Chu himself is stubborn, then the matter of recruiting Li Ran can be said to be a complete proof of this.
Since he decided to recruit Li Ran from the beginning, he would not care about the property. Zheng Bo felt dissatisfied and would not care about the military affairs. He followed the advice given.
In this matter, he did everything he could, even losing his face.
It can be seen that his stubbornness can be done at any cost.
Therefore, when King Xiong Wei of Chu decided on a general direction and made up his mind to pursue it, probably no one in the world could stop him.
And as the closest person to Prince Qiji, how could he not know this?
But even though he knew that Brother Wang would not listen to the advice, he still wanted to give some pretentious advice. What was the point of it?
The answer is the four words Li Ran just said: wolf ambition!
The more Prince Qiji tried to persuade the King of Chu in this way, the less likely the King of Chu would listen, and the more vigorously the battle would proceed.
The Chu State had just ended its battle with the Wu State in Qunshu, and less than two months had passed, but the war was about to resume in Zhongli!
As a result, the suffering that the people of Chu will face is imaginable. And who among the people in the world would like a tyrant who is so militaristic and murderous? This should probably be the case throughout the ages.
consensus.
Therefore, once the King of Chu decided to use troops against Zhongli, no matter whether he succeeded or failed, he would give up one more "mandate of destiny".
After all, as the "Shangshu" says: "What the people want, God will follow." People who are rejected by the people will naturally lose their "mandate of heaven".
This was exactly what the prince had planned.
It's just that in this kind of thing, you should see through it without telling it. As the same saying goes, Li Ran doesn't need to "sow discord" and cause trouble for himself. He can just be a common man and watch the fun.
As for whether the King of Chu himself could see through this, that was beyond Li Ran's control.
"Haha, brother Ji is really worried. This battle is of great significance to our country of Chu! We must fight!"
"I don't want to wait until tomorrow and leave the Wu people's problems to future generations to solve. I can't afford to wait, and the Chu people can't afford to wait!"
At this point, King Chu's attitude has been very clear, and it seems meaningless to say more.
Guan Cong immediately bowed and said:
"Great King Shengming!"
At this moment, Guan Cong and Wang Zi Qiji would not continue to persuade the King of Chu. Therefore, they also hurriedly stepped forward and performed the head-offering ceremony.
And this respectful greeting can be regarded as finalizing the matter.
Therefore, at the court meeting the next day, the King of Chu directly proposed the overall strategic resolution of "attack Zhongli and kill Qingfeng" without consulting the courtiers or even Ling Yin and Dazai.
It is beyond doubt.
As a result, the entire Chu State once again fell into tense and strange pre-war mobilization.
