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Chapter 111 Canyon Meeting

In 502 BC, the year before Confucius officially entered the political arena of the Lu State, a small turmoil occurred in the Lu State. This turmoil occurred in the home of Ji Sun, one of the "Three Huan". Ji Sunsi's elder

Yang Hu, the steward, launched an attack on his master Ji Sunsi with his personal armed forces.

How is this going?

Speaking of the reasons for this incident, the fundamental problem lies in the feudal system that was popular at the time. Within a country, when the officials performed meritorious services, the monarch would grant them land. Within a family, when the retainers performed meritorious services, the officials would grant them a small part of their land.

Take it out and give it to the retainers. As the chief steward of Ji Sunsi, Yang Hu naturally got the land. In addition, he has also been in charge of most of Ji Sunsi's land, property and income for a long time. Yang Hu is an ambitious man

Not only was he good at management, but he also paid special attention to developing his own personal power. In this way, he gradually became a leader and became powerful enough to overshadow the Ji Sun family.

Ji Sunsi wanted to take away the power from Yang Hu. Yang Hu naturally resisted. The two sides fought. Ji Sun was defeated, so he had to seek help from the Meng Sun and Shu Sun families. The "Three Huan" teamed up and finally defeated

The Yanghu.

Yang Hu took away a lot of money and escaped from the state of Lu.

In 501 BC, Yang Hu arrived in Qi. I don’t know what he was thinking, or maybe he had not recovered from his self-aggrandizement. In short, he proposed to Qi Jinggong, hoping that Qi Jinggong would lend him troops.

Go to fight against the State of Lu.

Yan Pingzhong gave Qi Jinggong advice and said: "We used to be very good with Lu State, but because of the incident of Ji Sun's expulsion of the monarch, my lord no longer has contact with Lu State, and the new king of Lu State will not deal with us. Lord,

If you want hegemony, you have to win over the princes. Lu is a close neighbor of Qi, so we should have a good relationship with it. The arrival of Yang Hu can be used to his advantage."

Qi Jinggong asked: "How to use it?"

Yan Pingzhong said: "Sanhuan controls the power of Lu State. If we capture Yang Hu and send him back to Lu State, Ji Sun will be very happy. The relationship between the two countries can be eased."

Qi Jinggong accepted this suggestion. Yan Pingzhong sent someone to put Yang Hu into a prison car and send him back to the State of Lu. Unexpectedly, Yang Hu had a lot of valuable things on him. He bribed the guards with a jade pendant on the way and escaped.

For this matter, Qi Jinggong wrote a letter to Lu Dinggong, telling him that Yang Hu had escaped, and asked Lu Dinggong to come to Qi and Lu's border valley (Laiwu County, Shandong) to meet him.

Lu Dinggong received the letter and invited "Three Huan" to discuss it. Ji Sunsi said: "Qi State used to favor its late emperor Zhaogong and had issues with us. Now it is taking the initiative to make peace with us. We must go."

Lu Dinggong said: "I am going to a meeting, who will be my best man?"

Meng Sunhe Ji said: "It is most appropriate for the great Sikou to go."

The great Sikou mentioned by Meng Sun He Ji was Confucius who had just assumed the position. Everyone agreed and said that it would be most appropriate to ask Confucius to go. The matter was settled.

Before leaving, Lu Dinggong asked Confucius what preparations should be made for going to the canyon. Confucius said: "We should bring some soldiers and horses. Although this is a peace meeting, civil affairs must be prepared with weapons. At that time, Song Xianggong invited Chuzhuang

When the king held a meeting, he suffered a loss from the people of Chu because he did not bring any troops. From this point of view, it can be seen that there is no way to accomplish anything with just a man of letters."

Ji Sunsi agreed. Lu Dinggong then ordered Shen Juxu and two generals Yueqi to lead three hundred chariots to accompany him.

When they arrived at the canyon, Confucius first asked Shen Gouxu and Le Qi to ambush their troops and horses in a valley ten miles away, and then accompanied Lu Dinggong to the meeting place. Shen Gouxu and Le Qi selected fifty capable guards to accompany them.

The meeting was held as scheduled. Qi Jinggong led the conversation, which was nothing more than some talk about Qi and Lu being connected by mountains and rivers, and they should live in harmony and work together. Lu Dinggong thought to himself: How can there be any unity? It's just that you want me to listen to you.

But on the surface, he kept agreeing and appeared to be sincerely convinced.

At the end of the meeting, Qi Jinggong said: "It is not easy for us to meet. I have prepared some songs and dances for the Marquis of Lu to enjoy." Lu Dinggong knew that when the princes of the Central Plains gathered together, they usually had some songs and dances to entertain them, so he said happily

agree.

But he didn't know that this song and dance was specially arranged by Qi Jinggong and his minister Li Mi. According to Li Mi's intention, through this song and dance performance, Lu Dinggong would understand that he must obey Qi's orders.

The plot of Li Mi is designed like this: There is a conflict between two native tribes, one large and one small, and the chief of the big tribe and the chief of the small tribe start a dialogue:

The chief said: "You must obey my command."

The little chief said: "If what you say makes sense, I will naturally listen to it. If it is unreasonable, why should I listen to you?"

The chief laughed loudly: "You don't understand. In today's world, what is justice? Whoever has more land, a larger population, and a stronger army has justice. This is tyranny."

The little chief laughed and said, "You are using strong words to make excuses."

The great chief thrust the spear in his hand into the ground and said murderously: "If you really don't understand, this spear in my hand can make you understand."

After saying that, he waved his hand. The war drums sounded and a fight broke out between the two sides. The big tribe quickly defeated the small tribe. Several disheveled, bare-chested men holding knives and guns rushed to the rostrum while fighting. They were there.

Lu Dinggong was fighting with each other not far away, with weapons clanking, and spears and daggers passing in front of Lu Dinggong from time to time. Lu Dinggong shrank his head and was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. But Qi Jinggong was smiling, as if he was admiring the state of Qi.

Soldiers attack the gates of other countries.

Confucius frowned and glanced at Yan Pingzhong. He saw that his body, which was half shorter than the average person, was sitting firmly on the table with a calm expression. He was neither proud nor surprised. Confucius immediately understood that this was a native of Qi.

He deliberately demonstrated to Lu Dinggong.

Confucius immediately got up, ran to Qi Jinggong, and protested loudly: "Even if the Central Plains princes are meeting for an alliance, they can't use this kind of thing that the natives fight for as a song and dance performance. Foreign minister Confucius, please ask the Duke of Qi to ask these people to go down."

Yan Pingzhong didn't know that this song and dance was deliberately arranged by Qi Jinggong and the doctor Li Mi. He also felt that this kind of song and dance was offensive, so he said: "Kong Sikou is right, this kind of song and dance is not suitable to be performed here. My lord, it's better to withdraw."

.”

When Confucius and Yanzi told Duke Jin of Qi, he felt embarrassed and ordered the song and dance to be canceled.

Li Mi was a little proud at first, but unexpectedly, as soon as the matter got started, he was disturbed by the astute Confucius and an unsuspecting Yan Zi. He snorted and thought, luckily I have prepared a second program.

Li Mi walked to the back of the stage and said to the musicians of Qi State: "You should perform the rehearsed "Wen Jiang loves the Marquis of Qi". You must perform the flirting part to humiliate the Marquis of Lu. If you do well, I will reward you."

After finishing the arrangement, Li Mi returned to the rostrum and said to Qi Jinggong: "My lord, everyone is not satisfied with the songs and dances of the natives. How about performing a song and dance from the Central Plains?"

Qi Jinggong nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, good."

After a while, two performers came on stage together, one dressed as a young man and the other as a lady. The lyrics sang:

My sister is as beautiful as a flower,

My brother is also suave.

They are originally from the same root,

Green leaves protect the fragrance of flowers.

The spring breeze blossoms the pistils,

Just reward for my brother.

sister loves brother,

Don't want to go to another country.

My brother has long nightmares at night,

Why do you want to be king?

The content of the lyrics was very ambiguous, and everyone present could tell that they were singing the story of Wen Jiang and Qi Xianggong. Confucius was so angry that he stood up suddenly, pulled out his sword with a swish sound, pointed at the musicians and said: "These lowly people actually

Those who dare to tease the princes here should be punished. Please ask your country's commander to pull them out immediately."

Qi Jinggong saw that Lu Dinggong's face was bruised and purple, and he was feeling very proud, so he ignored Confucius. The musicians continued to sing:

The son is very filial,

Very thoughtful.

New houses on the border,

My mother and uncle are very happy.

To make it clear, this is deliberately humiliating the king and ministers of Lu. Confucius said sternly: "Since Qi and Lu have formed an alliance, they are brothers. Then the Sima of Lu is the same as the Sima of Qi." At this point, he started talking.

He shouted to the audience: "The great general of the State of Lu, Shen Juxun, where is Leqi?"

Shen Juxun and Le Qi had already been holding back their anger in the audience. When they heard Confucius shouting, they drew their swords, rushed to the stage, grabbed the two performing musicians one by one, and dragged them away without explanation.

Go out. The other musicians dispersed in a hurry. Qi Jinggong was unprepared for the sudden change. He was too frightened to speak.

Yan Pingzhong was very calm. He quietly said to Qi Jinggong: "Confucius and the others want to save face, so let them take it out on the musicians. Don't worry, my lord, nothing will happen."

At this time, Li Mi ran up to report that he found the Lu army stationed ten miles away. Yan Pingzhong said angrily: "What have you been doing?" Li Mi was too frightened to reply, shrank his neck, and hurriedly opened his door.

slip.

The meeting broke up unhappily. Yan Pingzhong scolded Li Mi. Then he said to Qi Jinggong: "Li Mi obviously messed up the matter by playing these petty tricks. We should apologize to the Marquis of Lu. If the lord really wants to be the overlord, he should and

Make good friends with the State of Lu."

Qi Jinggong said: "The Marquis of Lu is not a child, how can he be coaxed with just a few words?"

Yan Pingzhong said: "A few years ago, we occupied their Fenyang. It was a poor place with poor mountains and rivers. The local Lu people were dissatisfied and often made troubles. It was very troublesome to manage them. Why not give some of the small towns back to them?"

They also show that we are sincere."

Qi Jinggong said: "You pick a few cities, and I will tell the Marquis of Lu when the time comes."

The next day, Qi Jingxuan met with Lu Dinggong. He first apologized verbally, and then reiterated the importance of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Finally, as a show of sincerity, he returned the three small towns of Guanyang, Yuncheng and Guiyin under Fenyang.

It was given to the State of Lu. Lu Dinggong thanked him and made an alliance with Qi Jinggong, and Qi and Lu became allies.

Confucius performed well at the canyon meeting and regained three lost territories for Lu. On the way back to the country, Ji Sunsi praised Confucius greatly. But Lu Dinggong was not happy. On the contrary, he was very worried.

.

Why is this? It turns out that Fenyang was originally granted to Ji You by Duke Xi of Lu. Now, on the surface, Lu has recovered the lost land, but in fact, it has added a large territory to Ji You's descendant, Ji Sunsi.

.As a result, Ji Sunsi's power will become even greater. Of course, this is what Lu Dinggong does not want to see.

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