"PS: I saw a book review saying that Qin entered the stock market one second before it jumped off the cliff, and I laughed out loud. Thinking about it carefully, this metaphor is indeed quite appropriate."
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In July, when Zhang Qigong and Bei Gongyu were persuading Le Yi, Qin Kai and other Korean generals to surrender to the Wei State, at the Song County side of the Wei State, Wei General Wei Jiao, Wei General Wei Shao, and Lu General Huan Husan
The allied forces of Wei, Wei, and Lu led by the people have basically recovered the entire territory of Song County.
On the fourth day of July, Zhu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites of the State of Wei, arrived at Qufu, the capital of the State of Lu, with the letter of credence written by King Zhao Run of Wei, and presided over the matter of "King Lu's acceptance of surrender."
To prevent Prince Lu from misunderstanding that he had been insulted, Zhu Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, explained when he saw the former: "This time it was supposed to be Lord Du You who came in person. However, Lord Du You was already very old and was not able to do so at this stage."
I am not in good health, so I am here on behalf of Zhu. I hope His Majesty, King Lu, will not be offended."
"How dare you, how dare you, Mr. Zhu said something serious." Prince Lu said repeatedly.
To be fair, at this moment, Gongshu Xing has no qualifications to negotiate terms with Wei State. After all, his two generals in charge of military affairs, Ji Wu and Huan Hu, have already defected to Wei State. His position as a monarch means that
The truth no longer has any authority.
What's more, Zhu Jin was the candidate for the next minister who was focused on by Du You, the Minister of Rites of the Wei State. Given his proper status as a future minister in other countries, how could the Prince of Lu feel insulted if he lost Xing?
The most important thing is that what Lu Wang Gong Shuxing cares about most at this moment is not the specifications of the interview at all, but the actual benefits, that is, whether Wei Wang Zhao Run agrees to ennoble Qufu to his Gongshu Yi clan as a fief.
Thinking of this, he carefully asked Zhu Jin: "Master Zhu, I wonder if His Majesty the King of Wei... has agreed to Xiao Wang's request?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jin quickly said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, King of Lu, our monarch has agreed to the conditions you have proposed." After saying that, he took out the letter of credence written by King Zhao Run of Wei from his arms and handed it to Duke Shu Xing of Lu.
Prince Lu Gong Shuxing quickly took the letter of credence and looked at it carefully. In the letter of credence, Wei King Zhao Run clearly gave the standard treatment that he could enjoy after Gongshu Xing defected to Wei. For example, according to Gongshu Xing's requirements,
The city of Qufu was given to the latter as a fief.
In fact, the area of the "feudal state" promised by Wei King Zhao Run to Gongshu Xing was not only Qufu, but also included "Zou County", "Wenyang", "Bian Yi" and other places, accounting for an area of the original "
More than half of "Lu County".
"This..." Prince Lu looked at Zhu Jin in surprise.
At this time, Zhu Jin, the left minister, blinked his eyes and said with a chuckle: "To convey the true words of our monarch... It would be too shabby for the majestic leader of a country to only have Qufu as a fief.
.”
"..." Prince Lu opened his mouth for a moment, then let out a long breath.
In fact, from an objective point of view, Wei Wang Zhao Run only granted him part of the land of Lu State as a fief, which was not very generous at all. However, for some reason, Lu Wang Gong Shu Xing felt inexplicably moved at this moment.
Especially after looking at the rest of the preferential payments in his credentials, the feeling in his heart became even stronger.
It is written in the certificate of credence that the Gongshu family is the master of the "Lu State (Qufu City)" and can be passed down from generation to generation. All taxes in the city are handed over to the Gongshu family. In addition, the Gongshu family also has the right to build a state.
He had a convoy of no more than 800 people, and was protected by the state of Wei, etc.
It can be said that, in addition to the need to implement the decrees of the Wei State, the status of Lu Prince Su Xing in Qufu City has remained almost unchanged compared to the past, and it can be called a state within a state.
The only difference is that the State of Lu has been a vassal state of the State of Wei from now on. If the prince of Lu loses his power, he will also become the first level of the county prince of the State of Wei and become the subject of the King of Wei.
Although it is indeed a bit strange to say this, Gongshu Xing must admit that Wei King Zhao Run was indeed a magnanimous monarch.
"May I ask if the king is satisfied with these conditions?" Zhu Jin asked tentatively.
Duke Shuxing of Lu nodded his head when he heard this, and immediately asked: "I don't know how to deal with the matter of accepting donations?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jin said: "Nothing else is required, but according to etiquette, I still hope that the monarch will come to Luoyang, the capital of the Wei Dynasty, to meet our monarch in person."
"It's reasonable." Prince Lu nodded his head.
Seeing this, Zhu Jin then said: "It happens that General Huan Hu is about to be called to Luoyang. How about the Lord go with General Huan Hu?"
As soon as he heard Huan Hu's name, Duke Shu Xing of Lu inevitably felt a little uncomfortable.
After all, according to what Ji Wu originally told, it was Huan Hu who played a conspiracy and coerced Ji Wu and the Lu army to defect before the battle, causing the coalition forces of various countries to lose in that crucial decisive battle, and forcing the Lu army to surrender.
Wei State was demoted to a vassal state.
However, the matter has come to this, and Prince Lu has nothing to do with Huan Hu.
Having said that, Huan Hu was an old minister of the Lu State to the outside world, so it would not harm him. With Huan Hu guarding him, the Duke of Lu did not have to worry about being bandits on the way to the Wei State. The bandits were first-rate.
harm.
"Then it's settled." Zhu Jin said happily.
On the same day, Zhu Jin sent a message to Huan Hu, asking Huan Hu to lead his army to Luoyang, the capital of the King of Wei, and at the same time take Lu Wang Gong Shu Xing with him.
At the same time, Huan Hu was in Rencheng of Song County, discussing with Wei General Wei Jiao and Lu State's Ji Wu about garrison matters.
Huan Hu originally thought that he could get a position similar to "Song County Governor", but what he didn't expect was that Wei State's Tiance Mansion ordered him to lead his army to Wei State's Sanchuan County.
After asking Wei General Wei Jiao, Huan Hu found out that the reason why Wei King Zhao Run accepted Chu Shuijun's invitation to fight that day was because Qin had already gone to war with Wei at that time.
After learning about this, he suddenly realized: "No wonder General Wei Jiao does not intend to lead his army to Qi this time to assist Zhao Jiang and Qu Cheng's generals..."
To be honest, Wei Jiao's impression of Huan Hu is not that good, but considering that Huan Hu has indeed made a huge contribution to his Wei State this time, and Wei King Zhao Run has decided to grant Huan Hu the position of "General", Wei Jiao
He could barely regard Huan Hu as one of his own.
"There is no need to rush in attacking Qi. After this battle, neither Qi nor Chu will be our rival in the Wei Dynasty... In comparison, Qin State in the west poses a greater threat. His Majesty ordered
General Zhao Huan led his army to Luoyang, presumably because he valued the general's strategy and prowess, and hoped that the general could make meritorious deeds in the war with Qin and contribute to the country again." Wei Jiao said in a very formal way.
"Let Qi Chu linger for a while longer? Hey hey hey." Huan Hu touched the beard on his chin and asked curiously: "Is Qin's army very strong?"
After hearing this, Wei Jiao said seriously: "Currently, the generals of our Wei Dynasty who are at war with the Qin State include Wei Ji, Lord of Lintao, Sima An, the guardian of Hexi, and Zhao Xuan, King of Huan. As far as I know, your Majesty is also planning to send a few people there. In addition to
In addition to General Huan Hu, there are also Wu Ji from the Shang Shui Army and Jiang Bi from the Shangdang Army..."
As soon as these names were mentioned, the smile on Huan Hu's face slowly faded, and Chen Shou beside him also showed a look of surprise. He asked in disbelief: "Qin State, is it really that powerful?
To what extent?"
Wei Jiao nodded and said, "You'll know when the time comes."
About ten days later, Duke Shuxing of Lu and Zhu Jin, the Minister of Rites of the State of Wei, arrived at Rencheng. Under the protection of the Wei and Lu coalition forces led by Wei Jiao, Huan Hu, and Chen Shou, they headed for the State of Wei in a mighty manner.
Luoyang, the royal capital.
Ji Wu, the general of the Lu State, suddenly became a Wei general and was assigned by Wei Jiao to garrison in the Xuecheng area.
To be honest, Wei Jiao did not believe that the current Qi or Chu states still had the troops to attack his Wei state. However, considering that the Lu state had just merged into his Wei state, an army should be left to garrison the border, so Wei Jiao chose
Ji Wu.
After all, Ji Wu, as a general of the old Lu, enjoyed a certain degree of prestige in the Lu and Xue areas, but he himself did not have much ability. This kind of person is best used to garrison a certain place - as for people like Huan Hu and Chen Shou
Of course, these powerful generals must be transferred to the places where they are most needed. For the Wei State today, these are the three battlefields of Hexi, Hedong, and Sanchuan where they fight against the Qin army.
At the same time, in Shangshui County of Wei State, Wei generals Shen Yu, Wu Ji and others, including Wei general Lu Mu who had previously led tens of thousands of Sichuan Luo cavalry to break through Chu Shoulingjun Jingyun's blockade and break into Shangshui County,
Mu Qing and others have also received transfer orders from Tiance Mansion.
Speaking of which, in this decisive battle between the Wei State and the Central Plains countries, Shangshui County was the most inconspicuous. Not to mention that it could not be compared with the "Daliang Battlefield" where Wei King Zhao Run personally supervised the battle. Even Zhao Jiang, Qu Cheng, and Shao Hu
They can't compare to others. After all, the latter also contributed to the capture of South Korea - although in essence, Zhang Qigong alone got half of this credit.
But on the other hand, Shangshui County is not without achievements. At least the Chudong army led by Chu Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu has been completely crippled by the Shangshui Army, and then the army of Chu Shouling Jun Jingyun
, based on this calculation, in fact, Shangshui County also annihilated at least 300,000 troops of Chu State. Unfortunately, this military achievement is still not comparable to that of Wei Wang Zhao Run, Yan Wang Zhao Jiang and others.
After seeing the transfer order from Tiance Mansion, Wei general Shen Yu left Gu Liangwei, Wuma Jiao and other generals of the Shangshui Army to garrison the area, and ordered Lu Mu, Mu Qing, Wu Ji, Wu Wu, Lu Balong
A series of Sichuan-Luo Alliance clan chiefs, including himself, returned to Luoyang that day to join the war with Qin.
Because the Shang Shui army was infantry, while Lu Mu, Mu Qing, Wu Wu, Lu Balong and others led cavalry, therefore, Lu Mu and others left the Shang Shui army and went ahead.
In early August, Lu Mu and Mu Qing took the lead in leading two to three thousand Luoyang Imperial Guard cavalry and arrived in Luoyang first.
When passing the east city gate of Luoyang, Mu Qing pointed at a group of Wei soldiers outside the city gate and said to Lu Mu: "Lu Mu, look at that."
"Huh?"
Lu Mu was confused at first, and looked in the direction pointed by Mu Qing's finger, and soon saw Gao Kuo, two of their good brothers, Zhongzhao, standing at the gate of the city wearing the armor of ordinary Wei soldiers, acting as guards, and finally
What makes people laugh is that behind the necks of these two men, there is a wooden sign each. One reads "I should not kill first and then report", and the other reads "I should not report the knowledge without reporting it".
"Pfft hahaha——"
Mu Qing sat astride the horse and burst out laughing, although he didn't understand what happened.
But when he saw the miserable fate of Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao, he could immediately guess that these two guys must have done something to displease their highness (Zhao Run). Otherwise,
With the current status of Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao, who could let him fall into this situation?
"Go over and have a look."
Lu Mu, who was beside him, also suppressed a smile and rode forward.
"Okay."
Mu Qing gave a bad laugh and slowly rode up to Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao, who had their heads lowered. He deliberately tapped their shoulders lightly with his riding crop and said nonchalantly: "You two look a little jealous."
Sir, raise your head and let me, Uncle Mu Qing, take a closer look."
"This bastard!"
Gao Kuo lowered his head, and the two of them cursed in their hearts.
In fact, they saw Mu Qing and Lu Mu from a distance, and they knew at that time that the situation was not good.
To be honest, since they were demoted to guard the city gate by King Zhao Run of Wei, and each carried a funny wooden sign, Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao could be said to have lost all the shame they could possibly have in their lives.
Fortunately, not many people recognized him in the wild, but Gao Kuo was a close friend of the three religions. The knights in Daliang and Luoyang, and the "Gao Ye" in the mouth of the ruffians, referred to Gao Kuo.
You can imagine what the scene was like when the rangers and gangsters in the city saw the "Master" they longed for standing guard at the gate of the city with a wooden sign on his back.
In fact, this is not the most embarrassing thing. The most embarrassing thing is to be seen by familiar people, such as the two good brothers Mu Qing and Lu Mu.
Uh...yes, they are really good brothers.
In Gaokuo, while Zhongzhao and Zhongzhao were cursing secretly, they saw Mu Qing sitting on the horse pretending to be impatient and said: "Hey, you two, didn't you hear what I said? Look up!
"
"You bastard..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Mu Qing. The cavalrymen of the Luoyang Imperial Guard behind Lu Mu also turned their heads curiously to this side. Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao both gnashed their teeth in hatred.
But as the saying goes, form is stronger than people, so they had no choice but to raise their heads honestly, look at Mu Qing with a somewhat flattering smile, and whisper: "Mu Qing, good brother, don't say anything..."
"hey-hey."
Mu Qing gave a bad laugh and deliberately raised his voice and exclaimed: "Huh? These are not my good brothers. Gao Kuo and Wei Cheng Zhongzhao, the two brothers from the left command of Tiance Mansion... How did they end up on duty at the gate of the city?
?”
"Captain Zuo of Tiance Mansion?"
"Master Gao Kuo and Master Zhongzhao?"
After hearing Mu Qing's exclamation, the group of Luoyang Imperial Guard cavalry following Mu Qing and Lu Mu subconsciously surrounded them, looking at Gao Gao as if they had seen something rare.
Kuo, Zhongzhao and the two of them looked at each other fiercely.
From the side, the people who were about to leave or enter the city also stopped to watch at this moment, and curiously asked around, asking about Tiance Mansion, Zuo Duwei and other words.
This made Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao's faces turn red.
"You bastard, are you going to force me to die with you?" Gao Kuo glared at Mu Qing and cursed in a low voice through gritted teeth.
Mu Qing smiled evilly and licked his lips. He originally wanted to tease Gao Kuo, so he wanted to say a few words to the two of them. From the side, Lu Mu patted his arm and said with a suppressed smile: "Okay, okay, that's it.
, it will really get into a fight later... It would be embarrassing if you two really got into a fight."
After saying that, he turned over and dismounted, smiled and asked Gao Kuo, "What's going on? At first, our Majesty kept saying that he wanted to throw Mu Qing to the Youma Army to pick up horse dung. That was just talk. How can we take turns?"
You two have really been demoted? What did you do?"
Gao Kuo and Zhong Zhao looked at each other and pointed to the sign behind their necks.
"Hmm."
Lu Mu suppressed a smile and nodded: "One will behead first and report later, and the other will not report what he knows. Hmm, I generally understand...what exactly is it? That kid Mu Qing was so unruly back then, but he didn't end up like you two."
End."
Gao Kuo sighed, and then told Mu Qing and Lu Mu about his conspiracy with Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang. Mu Qing and Lu Mu were stunned and gasped.
"Zhao Yuanzuo, King of Nanliang? That kind of person... you dare to conspire with him? And you also conspire to do something like that? No wonder our Majesty wants to punish you two severely. This is really self-inflicted!" Lu Mu said in astonishment
He shook his head and said.
"You will not live if you do your own misfortune." Mu Qing cheered from the sidelines, or in other words, he was gloating about his misfortune.
"You are not qualified to say this!"
Gao Kuo and Zhong Zhao glared at Mu Qing, and even Lu Mu looked at Mu Qing with a strange look.
Don't they know each other yet?
Among the ten clan guards, Mu Qing, the youngest, is definitely the one who seeks death the most.
Just one thing is enough to prove the extent of Mu Qing's willingness to commit suicide. He dared to make fun of His Highness's height!
In the whole country, inside and outside the court, who dares to make fun of Wei Wang Zhao Run's height?
This is definitely the taboo among taboos!
However, Mu Qing dared.
Therefore, it is really a miracle that this guy has not been thrown into the Youma Army to collect horse dung by Wei King Zhao Run, but has become one of the generals of the Luoyang Imperial Guard.
"Are you preparing to enter the palace to see His Majesty?" Gao Kuo asked Lu Mudao.
"Yes." Lu Mu nodded, and then explained with a strange expression: "The two of us received a transfer order from Tiance Mansion a while ago. Your Majesty is probably planning to transfer us to the west to fight with Qin..."
Here, he couldn't help but tease: "Why, you two don't know?"
Gao Kuo rolled his eyes when he heard this.
Just like when Zhang Qigong was punished, although he, Gao Kuo, and Zhongzhao were demoted to the east city gate by Wei Wang Zhao Run, the Green Crows would still report all the news in the country to them.
Of course, for the time being, they only have the right to know. Today's Tiance Mansion is personally controlled by King Zhao Run of Wei. This situation will probably last until Gao Kuo and Zongzhao are restored to their posts.
"Good brother."
With one hand hooked around the necks of Mu Qing and Lu Mu, Gao Kuo lowered his voice and begged: "When you two meet with His Majesty later, please put in a good word with Zhongzhao for me... Let me tell you, we are now
They are not even as good as the soldiers on duty. The soldiers on duty still have shifts after all, but the two of us stand from morning to night, carrying two embarrassing wooden signs... Good brother, please help me.
When I meet with His Majesty, please put in a good word for both of us and say that we have realized our mistakes and will never make them again in the future."
"This... is difficult to handle." Lu Mu said in an official tone.
Although he was not as sinister as Mu Qing and Zhou Pu, he felt quite happy looking at the appearance of his two good brothers at this moment.
"When this is done, brother, I will thank you deeply." Gao Kuo lowered his voice and whispered a few words in the ears of Mu Qing and Lu Mu.
Mu Qing and Lu Mu looked at each other and then nodded slightly: "Let's talk about it first. We will mention it casually when the time comes. As for whether His Majesty is willing to forgive you, it has nothing to do with us. The promise you made..."
"I understand, I understand." Gao Kuo said repeatedly.
At the same time, in the Chui Gong Hall of the palace, Wei King Zhao Run was discussing with the ministers of the inner dynasty the policy of dealing with Qin.
During this period, Zhao Run was not in a very good mood. On the one hand, it was certainly because of the Qin State, but on the other hand, it was because of the illness of Du You, the chief minister of the inner dynasty and the Minister of Rites.
Over the years, as a monarch, the reason why Zhao Run was able to fish three days and dry nets two days was that, in addition to the support from the inner court, he mainly relied on Du You, an old minister.
In Zhao Run's impression, Du You was an iron-clad minister, the kind of minister who was "upright and invulnerable to all evil". However, Du You's illness this time made Zhao Run suddenly realize that this
After all, this old minister is already over sixty years old and is no longer as healthy as he was twenty years ago.
The night before yesterday, Zhao Run personally went to Du You's house to visit the old minister and confessed in front of Du You's bed, because according to the imperial doctor, the reason why Master Du fell ill was due to old age and frailty.
On the other hand, it was due to overwork that he became ill - who made Zhao Run leave all government affairs to the inner court just to be lazy?
This made Zhao Run feel quite sorry.
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
The meson owl's soft call interrupted Zhao Run's memory.
"..." Zhao Run glanced around the hall, and finally set his sights on Du You's desk.
Seeing this, all the ministers in the palace were suddenly enlightened and said in succession: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about Sir Du You. Sir Du You is still strong and will surely recover as soon as possible."
Zhao Run nodded, then looked at Jie Ziyu apologetically and said, "Jie Zi, please continue."
Naturally, Jie Ziu didn't mind the monarch's distraction just now, and continued after hearing this: "As I said just now, I support your Majesty's decision not to make peace with Qin, but given the current national strength of Wei, I do not recommend making peace with Qin.
The Qin State expanded the war. On the one hand, our country's national strength cannot afford another war. On the other hand, compared to the Qin State, I believe that the alignment should be tightened. The pressure from the two countries of Chu will not give it a chance to breathe...
"
"Master Jiezi is wrong!"
Xu Guan, the minister of the Inner Dynasty, said: "The countries have been newly defeated, and the three countries of Lu, Wei, and Han have fallen to the Wei Dynasty. Only the three countries of Qi, Chu, and Yue are left. Even if Qi and Chu unite in the future, they are destined to be unable to resist us.
The great army of the Wei Dynasty, even if we had enough money and food, we, the Wei Dynasty, could take advantage of the victory to advance the army this time, but it happened that there was not enough money and food, so we missed the opportunity to advance the army... As for the Qin State, although its army was brave, its national strength was insufficient.
with
We, the Wei Dynasty, are on par with each other. I suggest that we, the Wei Dynasty, should focus on restoring the economy of Han, Wei, and Lu, especially Han. Once Korea can restore its economy, it will be enough to contain Qi or Qin. I suggest,
It is better for us, the Great Wei, to pretend to make peace with Qin and devote ourselves to restoring the national strength. I think that in just five years, our great Wei can leave Qin, Qi, Chu, Yue, and Jieshi far away. Even if we, the great Wei, start a war on two fronts, we will not be able to do anything.
No one can stop it.”
After hearing this, Li Liang, the minister of the inner court, frowned and said: "Although Lord Xu's strategy is good, your Majesty declared war on all the countries in the world when he was in Daliang. Do you want your Majesty to take back those words?"
"This..." Xu Guan was suddenly speechless.
Seeing the various opinions among the ministers in the inner court, Zhao Run was also thoughtful.
Although he mobilized several more troops in the name of Tiance Mansion, to be honest, he also understood that it was not appropriate to expand the war with Qin at this time.
This is not a question of whether the fight can be won, but whether it is worth it.
Since it only takes five years of development to crush Qin with hard power, why rush to a decisive battle with Qin at this moment?
However, he could not figure out the plan of his old father-in-law, the monarch of Qin, to win back.