Bamboo forest, clear spring, and flowers blooming.
Next to the table near the spring, Gu Cheng closed his eyes and meditated, while Nightshade was wearing a silk robe, with her bare and delicate feet placed in the clear spring water, gently raising her hands to feed the fish in the water.
A large group of fish were swarming under her feet, which made her shrink back from time to time. Her long and beautiful eyelashes blinked, but there was a hint of sadness in her usual carefree expression.
Gu Cheng opened his eyes and looked at her: "What's wrong?"
"I dreamed about my father last night. His face was blurry, as if he wanted to say something to me..."
Nightlong Kui frowned slightly and said uneasily: "When I was just born, my father went into seclusion to understand the spiritual sword passed down by our ancestors. It has been twenty years now. At first, my mother was able to enter the sword tomb to see him.
See, the Sword Tomb was closed directly afterwards, is he still fine?"
The so-called spiritual sword is what Jiang Guo calls himself. In fact, according to ancient records, when the sword fell to the world, blood rained from the sky, which was a sign of great evil, and it was called the Demon Sword in the world.
Because this sword was unknown, the princes of all countries did not want to get involved in it. Later, it was acquired by the founding monarch of Jiang State and sealed in a unique sword tomb, which was passed down from generation to generation.
Jiang Guo hopes to rely on this sword to strengthen its national power and rise strongly.
That is obviously unrealistic.
Not to mention a magic sword of unknown origin, even the Fuxi Sword and the Wuchen Sword can only create the world's most powerful man, but cannot become the world's most powerful country.
The authorities, who were confused by the onlookers, realized that after King Jiang entered the sword tomb, he never came out again.
After that, they even sealed themselves off from inside and outside, adopting a posture of seclusion.
In the practice of swordsmanship, if anyone tries to break through it forcefully, King Jiang will be severely injured, not to mention the mental blow, and this matter will be delayed.
Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
"Solanil has obtained the Water and Fire Spirit Pearl and recognized its owner. The intuition in the dark is the most effective. I'm afraid..."
Gu Cheng sighed slightly, and just as he was about to console him, the maid came forward and said, "Your Highness, Dr. Zhan of the State of Lu has made a fortune, and he is holding his credentials to see you."
"Xuan!"
Above the main hall, there are beaded feet, gold and jade around the waist, and a high crown on the head. He walks in slowly, without squinting, and is extremely solemn.
When it comes to etiquette, the State of Lu is indeed the most standardized. It is no worse than the bad custom in the south brought by the State of Chu. They call themselves kings and princes at will. They still implement Zhou rites as much as possible and become a country of etiquette.
It is a pity that the so-called etiquette, in the eyes of today's Confucius, is only a superficial form of maintaining virtue.
By denying oneself and restoring etiquette, one can become a benevolent and virtuous king and bring peace to the world. However, becoming a benevolent and virtuous king requires more than just respecting etiquette. The State of Lu was clearly doing things to divide the country, but it still had to erect an archway.
No wonder the national power is getting weaker and weaker.
However, this conservative style suddenly became noble when Zhan Huo said it: "Our country of Lu has always made good neighbors, lived in harmony with our neighbors, practiced benevolence and righteousness, served the country with mutual tolerance, and did not fight unjust wars.
There is no unknown master!"
After flattering himself, he handed over his hand and said: "Your country adopts Confucianism and Confucianism, conquers all directions with benevolence and righteousness, and has a great reputation and power throughout the country. It will be appointed by the emperor as the leader of the princes, to rule on behalf of the king, and to fight against injustice. Our country of Lu will
I hope that day will come soon, but if you have a destiny, you must follow it!"
As soon as these words came out, all the ministers in the palace showed strange expressions.
Fan Li Wenzhong has become a high-ranking official. He is no longer as poor as before, and it is inevitable that he will feel a little excited in his heart.
The leader of the princes shall rule on behalf of the king!
Conquering the world, the cause of hegemony!
But the next moment, the two of them looked at each other and showed something like a smile but not a smile.
The other civil and military officials were more calm, and a rather strange atmosphere lingered in the hall, until Gu Cheng waved his hand and stared at Zhan Huo: "Lu was invaded by Qi again?"
Zhan Huo paid homage and said bitterly: "Qi's behavior is despicable and falsely attacks Guo (guo). We, Lu, want to form an alliance with your country and repel Qi's troops!"
The land of Qilu was also known as Shandong in later generations. When the two countries were enfeoffed and established as kingdoms, King Zhou Cheng made a covenant that future generations would not harm each other.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, when the Emperor was in power, Qi and Lu had always been good neighbors and friends, close to each other, and worked together to protect the Emperor of Zhou.
But by the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, that is, the Spring and Autumn Period, the two countries fell out.
Over the past few hundred years, Qi invaded Lu about twenty times, and Lu attacked Qi more than a dozen times.
These times do not include minor frictions at the border, they are all major battles involving hundreds of thousands of troops!
But at the same time, the Qi and Lu dynasties engaged in alliances for more than forty times. They joined forces to attack other countries many times, rescued each other many times, and betrothed each other's daughters to marry each other. There are countless more.
Love and kill each other, sometimes friends and sometimes enemies.
Three months ago, Jiang's army invaded Qi. Qi Jinggong was furious and re-activated General Tian Ranju, mobilized his troops and generals, and finally stabilized the position.
However, Tian Ruju and Yan Ying teamed up, and despite losing the opportunity, they could not drive away Jiang Jun. In desperation, they prepared to take a detour and attack from behind, taking advantage of the Lu State. However, Wang Jian saw through it and almost defeated the Qi army.
Without stopping, he simply captured the city of Lu.
The State of Lu originally sat on the mountain and watched the fight between tigers, but suddenly became a victim. It can only be said that it is not afraid of deception and its vigilance is too low.
"In this case, your visit to Jiang and Shen Baoxu's visit to Qin are both for the purpose of requesting reinforcements."
Gu Cheng nodded, looked at Zhan Huo's square face, and suddenly said: "What does the thief Zhan Zhi have to do with you?"
Zhan Huo's face changed slightly, revealing just the right amount of shame, and he lowered his head and said, "My family is unlucky, that's my brother-in-law!"
It is hard to imagine that Zhan Suo, who looks like a gentleman, and Zhan Zuo, the thief who runs rampant and makes a lot of war fortune, are brothers.
The country of Lu, which values etiquette the most, has a thief who wreaks havoc on all countries and commits all kinds of evil. It can be considered the greatest irony!
It's just that Zhan Zhi became Yan Ying's guest. Does Prince Jiang know about it?
"What is pure will become clear by itself, and what is turbid will become turbid by itself!"
Zhan Huo felt anxious and held his breath slightly, but Gu Cheng did not ask further questions. He waved his hand and said, "Come here, take the doctor to the inn to rest!"
Zhan Huo hurriedly bowed his hands and retreated. Looking at his back, Gu Cheng turned to the ministers and said with a smile: "My dear friends, do you have any solution to the theory of great power threat?"
The ministers frowned, feeling quite troubled.
Zhan Huoming asked for help, and Qi and Lu fell out. In fact, the two countries may have secretly formed an alliance again this time, digging a big hole and waiting for Jiang to jump into it.
The most cruel thing is that this time, regardless of whether Jiang Guo agrees or not, the news that Zhan Huo came to Jiang Guo to stay low and make Jiang the new overlord will probably spread to all the princes and countries as quickly as possible.
When the time comes, the king will surely be jealous and the nations will be in danger!
This is actually very similar to the great power threat theory promoted by the West in later generations.
No one wants someone who is originally weaker than themselves to surpass themselves. If this trend appears and is publicized as threatening, of course we must join forces to suppress it.
Qi Jin was now attacked first by Jiang State. The seismic formation eroded the opponent's Divine Protector Formation. The domestic turmoil stopped and they began to unite with the outside world. They also lost the opportunity on the battlefield.
The other small countries were happy that Jiang was at odds with the two big countries and continued to invade Chu. But if medium-sized countries like Lu took the lead in surrendering to Jiang, no one would be able to sit still.
Gu Cheng used the small country for profit.
Yan Ying used threats to take advantage of small countries.
“To untie the bell, you still need someone to tie it!”
Gu Cheng looked at the ground where Zhan Huo was standing, with a strange look in his eyes, and said playfully:
"Interesting, he actually has evil spirit in him!"