Zhao Hongrun knew the purpose of Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's visit.
Do you really think that Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu just came to visit his sister and brother-in-law, or to reveal to Zhao Hongrun that "Shouling Jun Jingshe committed suicide in Chushui"?
How is that possible!
Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu, as the most trusted cousin and biggest supporter of Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo, the purpose of his coming here is to persuade Zhao Hongrun, his brother-in-law, to truly support Xiong Tuo in his bid for the throne of Chu King.
Some people may think that Mi Jiang, the cousin of Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, and Xiong Hu, Lord of Pingyu, is about to become the mistress of Prince Su's palace. Logically speaking, Zhao Hongrun will support these two brothers-in-law, but in fact this is not the case.
The private alliance between Su Wang Zhao Hongrun and Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo was actually an alliance of interests based on the relationship between Mi and Jiang: Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo hoped to purchase armaments and grain from his brother-in-law, so as to accumulate strength and cooperate with the Xiong family of Chudong. They competed for the position of King of Chu; while Zhao Hongrun hoped to use the hand of Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, to provoke a civil war in the Chu State and win more development time for the Wei State.
To put it harshly, the alliance between these two people originally had their own agendas, but because of Mi Jiang's relationship, both parties tried to stay as close to each other as possible.
On this point, whether it is Zhao Hongrun, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu, or Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo, both cousins, they all understand each other clearly.
Because of this, when Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, led his army to seize power in Eastern Chu, Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, was ordered to obtain the secret support of his cousin-in-law Zhao Hongrun. If at this time, Zhao Hongrun wanted to prolong the discord within Chu State, Balancing the strength of Chuxi and Chudong has weakened the support for Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng. Then it will be very difficult for Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, to seize power from the Xiong family of Chudong.
This is by no means an unfounded worry. In fact, Zhao Hongrun secretly considered it at the beginning: If Xiong Tuo, the Lord of Yangcheng whom he secretly supported, not only regained his previous strength in the future, but even gradually began to suppress Chu Dong, he would probably change his focus and support. The purpose of Xiong Sheng, the king of Liyang, was to prolong the civil war between the princes of Chu State to compete for the position of King of Chu.
Therefore, the concerns of Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo and Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu are by no means unnecessary.
"...Please be sure to support Mr. Xiong Tuo."
Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, who was sitting upright, cupped his hands and clasped his fists, and finally revealed the true purpose of his visit.
After hearing this, even though Zhao Hongrun had already expected this, he frowned slightly and weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
Personally speaking, Zhao Hongrun has now gradually adapted to Mi Jiang's existence, and it is no surprise that he will marry Mi Jiang one day. Therefore, he should support Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, as his brother-in-law, to expand his contacts in Chu State; but in Frankly speaking, Zhao Hongrun did not want to do this for the future interests of Wei.
What kind of Chu State poses the least threat to Wei State? Of course, it is the Chu State with frequent civil wars and chaos.
Although Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, also has various bad habits, and may not be as good as Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang of Eastern Chu, in terms of virtue and talent, the problem is that Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, is the successor to the ambition of Xiong Hao, Lord of Runan, and wants to disintegrate him. The existing harsh class system in the Chu State has improved the social status of the common people. Once such figures take power in the Chu State, they will inevitably greatly stimulate the development of the Chu State. In the long run, they will pose a great threat to the Wei State.
You know, the Chu State is said to have a population of more than 40 million, making it the most populous country in the Central Plains. Although in the past, due to the strife and expropriation of the nobles of Eastern Chu, most areas of the Chu State were poor, but in case of After Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, came to power, Chu State gradually became richer? With a population of up to 40 million Chu people, once Chu State developed, the momentum would be unstoppable.
However, Ping Yujun Xiong Hu made this request at this time, which made Zhao Hongrun feel embarrassed that he could not refuse.
It must be admitted that in the "Battle of Five Parties Defeating Wei" some time ago, the secret betrayal of Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, and Xiong Hu, Lord of Pingyu, not only caused Shangshui City to suffer almost no losses in this war, but also contributed to it in disguise. After all, Shen Yu, as the coach of the "Shangshui Battlefield", personally led 5,000 Youma troops and more than 10,000 Shangshui troops after ensuring that Shangshui City was safe. The reserve force supports Yu Wang Zhao Yuan Ke. Without Shen Yu's reinforcements, it cannot be said that Yu Wang Zhao Yuan Ke is destined to be unable to defeat Shouling Jun Jing She, but it will definitely not be that easy.
You must know that Shang Shui Yuma, who appeared as a surprise soldier, played a vital role in that battle. Not only did he defeat a hundred thousand Diyang troops in one go, he also killed Diyang Lord Xiong Shang, the "three-day pillar", and severely damaged the The Chu army accelerated and destroyed the morale of the Chu army.
Therefore, even though he knew in his heart that the reason why Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo and Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu let go was for their own benefit, in general, Zhao Hongrun still owed Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu a huge favor.
Seeing that Zhao Hongrun was deep in thought and silent, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was not in a hurry and said what he had already prepared: "In this battle, Chu Dong's million-strong army was almost wiped out, and the generals who died in the battle were also Countless, and coupled with the loss of military pay and food due to this battle, I am afraid it will take at least ten years for our country to recover."
"..."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu and said nothing.
He didn't believe the nonsense that Xiong Hu said, "It will take at least ten years for Chu State to recover." You must know that Chu State has a population of 40 million, so what if hundreds of thousands of people die? Chu State suffers from poverty every year. , I am afraid that there are so many people who have died of hunger, freezing and starvation.
As long as there is enough food, Chu State can restore the original size of Chu State's regular army in just one or two years.
In comparison, the many Chu generals who died in this battle were Chu's biggest loss. After all, it only takes one year to train a soldier, or even less time, but to hone a qualified general, It's far more than that.
However, Zhao Hongrun could not be convinced by this question, because he was very worried about one thing: Will Chu promote civilian generals when a large number of noble generals died in battle?
Although this situation was absolutely impossible in the Chu State in the past, now a large number of noble generals have died in battle. Even Shouling Jun Jingshe, Diyang Jun Xiong Shang and other representatives of the Chu Eastern aristocracy have also died. Who can guarantee that the Chu Kingdom will not What about making an exception to promote civilian generals?
Once Chu State, which has a national base of 40 million, relaxes restrictions on civilians, it will definitely not be what Wei State wants to see.
Don’t forget, in King Su’s army, there are generals like Yan Mo, Wu Ji, Zhai Huang, Lu Zhan, Xu Jiong, Chen Shu, etc., all of whom were born as common people in Chu State. But now, these people have already become generals in King Su’s army. The backbone of the people - as long as they have the opportunity to come into contact with books and knowledge, and then go through tempering, the common class may not be unable to produce outstanding generals.
Perhaps seeing that Zhao Hongrun was silent, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu continued: "In the next few years, most of Chu's enemies will not be Wei. Your country has won this war, and we, Chu, can no longer stop us. Your country has become the overlord of the Central Plains. At this time, you only want the two countries to coexist peacefully. How can you rashly cause trouble? On the other hand, although your country has won this war, I believe that your country has also suffered in this war. Huge losses. I think that in the future, apart from sending troops to attack Nangong Yao and taking back Song County, your country will not take the initiative to start wars in recent years... Both Wei and Chu need a period of rest and recuperation, and it is absolutely impossible to fight again. .”
"..." After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu.
It must be admitted that Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu's vision is quite good, and he can actually see Wei's strategy in the next few years.
Indeed, Zhao Hongrun also believed that the next strategy of the Wei State should be to conquer the rebel general Nangong Yao and take advantage of the situation to regain the Song Dynasty. After this battle, the Wei State would definitely choose to consolidate its power and develop the Song Dynasty. It will only last a few years. If there are no accidents, it is indeed unlikely that there will be another war.
At this time, the Chu State took the opportunity to have a civil war between the princes competing for the throne. In fact, it was a win-win situation for both Wei and Chu - neither side had to worry too much about what the other would do.
But the question is, can Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo really take the opportunity to seize the king's power this time?
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun is not optimistic about this.
As the saying goes, a centipeded insect dies but does not freeze. Although Chu Dong suffered heavy losses this time, in the final analysis, between Chu Xi and Chu Dong, Chu Dong still has the advantage. At least, Xiang Kuan, the younger brother of General Xiang Mo, , there are still hundreds of thousands of troops stationed at Zhaoguan under his command, responsible for containing the newly restored Yue Kingdom.
Therefore, if Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, really breaks up with the nobles of Eastern Chu, he may not be able to defeat Eastern Chu with confidence with the troops of Western Chu.
Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, was not a fool. How could he use strong means to seize the throne when he knew that his own power was still inferior to Chu Dong's?
Zhao Hongrun thought to himself that if his guess was correct, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, led troops to Chu Dong this time just to show his force and put pressure on Chu Dong - as long as he did something that seriously threatened the interests of the nobles of Chu Dong, I believe This time, the Chudong nobles would more or less compromise and agree to the various demands of Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo.
This means that the civil war among the princes of Chu may not necessarily break out at this time.
Therefore, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu came to plead for Zhao Hongrun's support this time, more likely to "take advantage of the situation."
Of course, this is not a bad thing for the Wei State. After all, the Chu State has just been defeated, and it is logically impossible to tease the Wei State's tiger beard again. Moreover, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, takes control of Chu East. Although the Chu State may be able to do so in a short time A civil war will not break out, but I believe that as time goes by, the conflict between the Chudong nobles and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo will definitely become more and more serious, and the civil war will become more intense at that time - Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo is the successor They became the successors of Runan Jun Xiong Hao's ideological ambitions. However, the ambitions of the uncle and nephew were destined to be unable to get the support of the Chudong aristocracy, because this would seriously threaten the foundation of the old aristocracy of Chu State.
Therefore, even if the civil war in Chu State does not break out in a short period of time, as long as Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, is still alive, it will happen sooner or later.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun nodded and said with a smile like Gu Zuoyan: "Let's talk about compensation first?"
Hearing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu was slightly startled, then showed a hint of "it should be so" on his face, and nodded with a smile.
Because he knew that since Zhao Hongrun said these words, it meant that his cousin-in-law had agreed to this matter in disguise.
"I believe that Mr. Xiong Tuo will definitely satisfy your country with the compensation to your country." Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu hinted in a pretentious and generous manner.
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun rolled his eyes and secretly cursed: It must be the Chudong nobles who paid the money. You are really generous to them.
He did not doubt the authenticity of Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's words. After all, in order to further weaken the financial resources of the nobles of Eastern Chu, Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, would definitely favor Wei in the matter of "paying reparations to Wei."
If someone helps to rip off someone, why not do it?