"King Xi of Qi wants to use troops against our great Chu?"
Huang Xu, a scholar-official of Chu State, quickly stood up and came to King Xiong Xu of Chu. He respectfully asked for the slips from the latter's hand and read them carefully.
I saw only two things written on the slip.
First, King Wei's Rui Wang Ji Zhao arrived in Linzi, the capital of King Qi, two months ago, and was summoned by King Lu Xi of Qi a few days ago.
Secondly, King Lu Xi of Qi ordered the city to be built in Pi County and transported a lot of materials to the place.
It seemed that neither of these two incidents mentioned their country of Chu, but once the two incidents were connected, the hidden meaning behind them made the Chu scholar-bureaucrat Huang Xu frown.
First of all, let’s talk about the arrival of the Rui Wang Jizhao of Wei State in Linzi of Qi State to ask for an audience with Qi King Lu Xi. Although he was far away in Shouying, Huang Xu, a scholar-official of Chu State, could guess the purpose of the former coming all the way to see Qi King Lu Xi.
.
If they were just asking for help and begging Qi State Lu Xi to send troops to attack their Chu State to support Wei State, this would be considered a good thing in Huang Xu's opinion. What's terrible is that if Ji Zhao persuades Qi King Lu Xi to make Qi State
, Wei Alliance, this is the situation that the Chu State least wants to see.
Let’s talk about the second thing, that is, King Lu Xi of Qi ordered to build a city in Pi County. This seems to be nothing unusual.
But the problem is that Pi County is a small town on the border between Qi and Chu. It borders the territory of Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng to the east. Not far to the south is the Chu State's specially built to resist the allied forces of Qi, Song and Lu.
Chu Great Wall Talisman.
Therefore, King Lu Xi of Qi built a city in Pi County, and he built a city in the cold winter of December. His intention was very obvious: to use troops against Chu in the coming spring!
In other words, King Lu Xi of Qi was planning to build Pi County as a bridgehead for Qi to attack Chu.
This means that the alliance between Qi and Wei has most likely been reached, and in the coming spring, Qi, Wei, and Lu will most likely launch an offensive against Chu at the same time.
Because of the vertical and horizontal relationship between the territory of the Chu State, the Chu people are accustomed to dividing the Chu State into Chu East and Chu West. Compared with Chu West, Chu East is more prosperous. After all, the king of Chu State is Shou Ying in Chu East;
Xiong Xu, King of Chu in Western Chu, once gave it to his son Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, to take care of it.
Regarding Chu Dong, to be honest, neither Chu King Xiong Xu nor scholar-official Huang Er were very worried. After all, when the three kingdoms of Qi, Song, and Lu allied forces attacked Chu, they all survived, not to mention that now only Qi
, the two countries of Lu?
The problem is Chuxi.
To be fair, the current war situation in Western Chu can be described as rotten. King Xiong Xu of Chu never thought that Western Chu would be beaten so badly by the Wei State: Pingyu and Yangcheng. The territories of the two Xiong family princes and nobles were destroyed by the Wei State.
This time, even Wei State's Fenxing Fortress sent troops. Xu Yin, the general of Fenxing Fortress, first broke through the territory of Biyang Lord Xiong Qi and then diverted.
Attack Xiangcheng.
It is no exaggeration to say that Ji Run and Xu Yin have jointly conquered 30% of the Chuxi territory. At this moment, the local nobles in Chuxi are in a precarious situation under the offensive of their armies.
Under such circumstances, when Qi and Lu will also send troops to attack Chu in the spring of next year and join the melee, Wei, which has reached an agreement with Qi, will undoubtedly increase its investment in the war.
The army that attacked Chu.
By that time, Chudong and Chuxi were attacked by Qilu and Wei respectively, and the battle situation was simply unimaginable.
Thinking of this, Huang Er quickly said to Chu King Xiong Xu: "Your Majesty, we can't fight anymore!"
…
King Xiong Xu of Chu nodded silently.
In fact, he felt relieved.
Originally, he was still hesitating whether to use troops against Wei's Su Wang Ji Run, but now, because of Qi's latest trends, he has lost the right to make a choice.
However, he didn't mean to be angry at all. On the contrary, he was a little happy.
He was fortunate that he learned about Qi King Lu Xi's intention when he was hesitating whether to continue using troops against Wei, rather than after he decided to use troops against Wei.
Just imagine, if he had just issued a notice to conquer Wei Su Wang Ji Run, making the war between Chu and Wei impossible to return, but at that time Qi King Lu Xi was late and launched a surprise attack on Chu. Like this
Such a situation would be a disaster for the Chu State.
Fortunately, King Xiong Xu of Chu was concerned about the existence of King Lu Xi of Qi, and had been hesitating whether to continue using troops against Wei. He has not yet made a final decision, so this matter has not yet reached the point of irreversibility.
Thinking of this, King Xiong Xu of Chu raised his head and glanced at Huang Er, but did not speak. Come to think of it, as the King of Chu, he could not say anything about peace negotiations with Wei Guo in the current situation.
Fortunately, Huang Er was a man who was good at observing people's words. Seeing that the King of Chu was too shy to speak, he suggested at an inappropriate time: "Your Majesty, if Qi and Wei really form an alliance, I am afraid that if Chu is entangled with Wei again, it may not be conducive to the development of Chu."
...It is better to make peace with Wei for the time being, and wait until Chu is ready to fight Qi and Wei in the future, and then consider raising troops."
"Yanhe..." Chu King Xiong Xu took a long breath after hearing this and asked hesitantly: "I'm afraid Wei Guo will not allow it."
"Why didn't he allow it?" Huang Xu smiled slightly and said in a low voice: "Don't look at that Ji Run is currently conquering our land of Chu, but in the Song Dynasty, the army of Gu Lingjun Xiong Wu's master defeated Nangong.
The Suiyang army is retreating steadily... According to my opinion, the Wei State is eager to stop fighting and make peace with Chu."
"Then over there with King Xi of Qi..."
Huang Su paused when he heard the words, and after hesitating for a while, he said respectfully: "I'm sorry for my blunder. Although King Xi of Qi is widely rumored to have behaved erratically, according to Bo Zhuzi, who was on an envoy to Qi, King Xi of Qi is one of the kings of Qi.
The most outstanding one..." At this point, he secretly glanced at the expression of Chu King Xiong Xu.
Noticing his furtive eyes, Chu King Xiong Xu snorted lightly and said lightly, "Go on."
He didn't look angry. After all, King Lu Xi of Qi and Xiong Xu, King of Chu, had been old rivals for more than ten years. Xiong Xu naturally knew what kind of person Lu Xi was.
You must know that although the alliance of Qi, Song, and Lu lasted for more than a hundred years, among the kings of Qi during this period, only King Lu Xi of Qi could reconcile the two countries of Song and Lu, which had grievances with each other, and resolve the conflicts between them.
Grafted to their Chu country.
Lu Xi, the king of Qi, was the only king among the kings of Qi who almost forced Chu to move their capital.
There has never been a Qi king who suppressed the Chu State as miserably as Lu Xi did.
In this regard, Chu King Xiong Xu can be said to love and hate Qi Wang Xi: What I love is that having such a talented and powerful person as an opponent, and only after defeating the opponent will he become more successful. This is worthy of a special book.
His name will remain in history; what is regrettable is that so far, Xiong Xu has not taken advantage of Lu Xi at all, but has been repeatedly embarrassed by the latter.
"I think that King Qi Xi is just trying to scare us..." Huang Xu continued.
Xiong Xu was stunned when he heard this, and asked in confusion: "You mean, Qi and Wei have not formed an alliance."
"No!" Huang Xu shook his head and said seriously: "Qi and Wei are probably in an alliance."
"Then why do you say that King Qi Xi is just trying to scare others this time?"
"Because of the State of Wei... Because of this battle, the State of Wei also suffered heavy losses. Not to mention the fall of most of the Song Dynasty, Yingshui County alone, because of the son of Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, the Wei people also need some time to deal with it. Endgame. In other words, now is not the best time for Qi and Wei to join forces to attack Chu." At this point, Huang Er licked his lips and continued: "Qi Wang Xi is by no means a fool's errand. Senior, he should have been able to see that even if the Wei State, which suffered heavy losses in this battle, followed his orders to use troops against our great Chu, they would not be of much use. With his wisdom, he would never do it before the allies On the premise of being well prepared, he rashly used troops against our great Chu, because in doing so, it would not only waste Wei's national power, but also make Qi fall into a quagmire and find it difficult to escape."
"That makes sense!" Chu King Xiong Xu nodded when he heard this, frowned and asked: "You mean, he deliberately sent people to repair the city of Pi County just to tell me that he is planning to use troops against our great Chu?"
"Exactly!... It may be that King Xi of Qi feels that his new ally, Wei, will suffer no less losses than Chu in this battle. Therefore, for long-term considerations, he is more inclined to force Chu Stop the war and make peace with the Wei State as soon as possible so that the Wei State can safely produce and develop its national strength as soon as possible. Wait for the future. At any time, listen to the dispatch of King Xi of Qi and wait for the opportunity to use troops against our great Chu... I believe that by then, Qi, Wei , the momentum of the Lu Three Kingdoms Allied Forces will be far greater than the original Qi, Song, and Lu Three Kingdoms Allied Forces."
King Xiong Xu of Chu frowned when he heard this and said, "What if I don't stop fighting and make peace with Wei?"
Huang Er took a long breath: "Then, in the spring of next year, King Xi of Qi will take advantage of the situation and send troops to attack our great Chu!"
King Xiong Xu of Chu was furious when he heard this and said angrily: "Doesn't this mean that war is not a war and peace is not a peace?!"
"No!" Huang Zuo shook his head and said firmly: "We want peace! Make peace with Wei!"
"Are you waiting for the Wei State to be ready to join forces with the Qi State to attack our great Chu?!"
Huang Xu smiled slightly and said in a low voice: "Why is the king so sure that it is not Chu who joins forces with Wei to attack Qi and Lu?"
"..." Chu King Xiong Xu was stunned when he heard this, and said thoughtfully: "You mean... you still use the original strategy to win over Wei?" At this point, he frowned, shook his head and said: "Ji Si is a cunning man, he will not be so stupid as to abandon Qi and join the common people."
"Ji Si's attitude cannot determine the attitude of the next King of Wei towards Chu... I believe that Chu should shake hands with the State of Wei and make peace with the State of Wei. After the two sides have resolved their past grievances, they will send people to win over them." The princes and nobles of the Wei State also lured them with gold, silk, jade, and beauties, and gradually attracted the younger princes and grandsons of the Wei State to our side of Chu... This may take ten or twenty years, but this plan Once we succeed, Qi will be destroyed by our great Chu!"
King Xiong Xu of Chu thought for a while after hearing this, with a somewhat complicated look in his eyes: I, how can I wait another twenty years?
Birth, old age, illness and death are the fate of human beings. King Xiong Xu of Chu has long looked away, but before old age and death, he has an opponent he must defeat, and that is King Xi of Qi.
If he cannot realize this long-cherished wish, I believe he will not be able to rest in peace even if he dies.
"Twenty years is too long!"
Huang Er frowned when he heard this, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Then there is only another way... find a way to cause chaos in Wei, and have no time to take care of the war between Chu and Qi!"
King Xiong Xu of Chu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked in a low voice: "Where does the plan come from?"
"Ji Si's nine sons, and Nangong!"
After hearing this, King Xiong Xu of Chu nodded thoughtfully.
"But before that, I have to reach an agreement with Ji Si's eighth son Ji Run. I believe this son is waiting for me, Dachu, to send someone to negotiate with him."
"Hmph!... It's up to you to handle this matter."
"I obey. However, the Yangcheng Lord, Mr. Xiong Tuo..."
"If you tell him to listen to you, just say it's my will!"