"The State of Qi... declares war on your State of Chu?"
Zhao Hongrun's face was full of solemnity.
Don't think that Qi's declaration of war on Chu has nothing to do with Wei. In fact, according to the "Three Kingdoms Covenant of Qi, Lu, and Wei", when King Lu Xi of Qi is determined to go to war with Chu, and it will not be a small fight like in the past, then , Wei State must abide by this covenant and cooperate with Qi and Lu to jointly send troops to attack Chu State.
And this incident will undoubtedly disrupt the strategies that Zhao Hongrun and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo have formulated for each other.
After all, the current national policy of Wei State is to consolidate its national strength to fight against the powerful enemy South Korea in the north. Chu State is no longer the most threatening enemy country to Wei State, because Zhao Hongrun and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo have a private agreement , and this agreement also received the tacit approval of Emperor Wei.
As for Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, his current strategy is to stir up trouble in the chaotic Ba Kingdom and take the opportunity to profit from it.
But if Qi King Lu Xi really declares war on Chu, then whether it is Zhao Hongrun or Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo, their plans will be shattered and they will have to fall into the quagmire of war.
"When did it happen?"
Zhao Hongrun asked with a frown.
"Just last month." Xiong Hu took a long breath and said with a frown: "Last month, the "Pi City" that Qi State was repairing was almost completed. King Lu Xi of Qi made an excuse and launched an attack on Liyang. The offensive... Although it was a tentative attack, it also caused heavy losses to Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun said half-jokingly: "Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng has suffered a great loss. Shouldn't you and Xiong Tuo be laughing about this?"
"Hehehe." Xiong Hu laughed in unison, nodded and said: "If Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng suffers heavy losses, this will be a good thing for Lord Xiong Tuo... The problem is that this time the Qi Kingdom This is not a small fight."
"How can I see it?"
Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.
Zhao Hongrun knew something about the long war between Qi and Chu.
Even though the Chu State was a very powerful country compared with the Wei State, the Chu people had little confidence in front of the Qi State.
Just like the Wei state in front of South Korea after the "disastrous defeat in the Battle of Shangdang".
The contemporary King of Qi, Lu Xi, is indeed a very outstanding king. The Qi and Lu coalition forces led by him can defeat the Chu army almost every time.
If you are in a good mood, attack Chu; if you are in a bad mood, attack Chu.
I don't know whether King Lu Xi of Qi is overjoyed to achieve great success, or if he is just unhappy with the Chu State. It seems that if he doesn't send troops to fight against the Chu State several times every year, he will feel uncomfortable all over.
What's even more terrible is that the Qi State not only has a powerful Qi-Lu coalition army, but also has famous Tian generals like "Tian Dan" and "Tian Bao".
Especially for Tian Dan, attacking the Chu Kingdom was like a daily routine, and conquering several Chu Kingdom cities several times was just like playing.
It is precisely because of this that the nobles of the Xiong family of Chu State feared and hated King Qi Lu Xi, general Tian Dan and others. It is said that they would curse these people to die early every night before going to bed.
After hearing Zhao Hongrun's inquiry, Xiong Hu just said one sentence.
"It is said that King Lu Xi of Qi is seriously ill and will die soon..."
"..."
Zhao Hongrun understood immediately.
He also realized that if Qi State declared war on Chu State this time, it would not be a small fight. It would most likely be a huge battle involving several countries with the purpose of "destroying Chu State".
The reason is very simple, because there are no capable people among the descendants of King Lu Xi of Qi. It is said that they are all mediocre people.
Therefore, for the future of Qi State, King Lu Xi of Qi must destroy Chu State in his lifetime. To say the least, he must at least cripple Chu State. Otherwise, once he dies, Chu State will inevitably set off an uprising. An unprecedented offensive in retaliation for what Qi had done to them before.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun suddenly realized and said with relief: "So that's it. No wonder Xiong Tuo is in a hurry to go to Ba. It turns out that he is going to Ba to train troops..."
Hearing this, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu's eyes flashed with a strange color.
Yes, the reason why Xiong Tuo is in a hurry to go to Pakistan is not to seek benefits, but to train troops.
In the past, those under Xiong Tuo's command were all "peasant soldiers". To put it simply, they were a group of troops who usually cultivated the fields in their hometown and were only called up during wars.
The predecessor of the Shang Shui Army, that is, the army that Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, and Xiong Hu, Lord of Pingyu, attacked Wei, were this kind of farming soldiers.
However, on the Yanling battlefield, the Chu army was almost destroyed by the dredging army under Zhao Hongrun.
Twenty-five thousand people fought against 60,000 people, but the latter was no match at all.
Therefore, after the Battle of Chu and Wei, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, gave up his original agricultural troops and adopted a strategy of elite troops similar to that of Wei and Korea, and successfully trained an army of 100,000.
Half of the grain secretly transported from Wei to Chu was to feed this army.
But the problem is that although the training ground for the new army is almost there, these soldiers have never set foot on the battlefield. Therefore, in view of the imminent "Battle of Qi and Chu", Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo did not bother to urge Zhao Hongrun for the batch of weapons and equipment, so he took The troops under his command rushed to Pakistan with rudimentary weapons and equipment, taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Pakistan to temper this army, hoping to shape it as soon as possible.
Xiong Hu didn't want to reveal this matter to Zhao Hongrun, but unfortunately the latter saw through it.
This made Xiong Hu feel a little nervous, fearing that Zhao Hongrun would regret it.
You must know that once Qi and Chu go to war, Wei will also be part of the "Qi, Lu, Wei" Three Kingdoms Alliance. How could he risk being hated by Qi and criticized by the world, and then secretly fund Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng?
Even more so, as Wei's most dazzling military exploits winner in recent years, Zhao Hongrun is likely to be asked by Qi to lead an army to attack Chu.
Under this general trend, even with Mi Jiang as the link of the relationship, Zhao Hongrun, King Su of Wei, and Xiong Tuo, Lord Yangcheng of Chu, are likely to meet again on the battlefield and fight for their respective camp positions. become an enemy.
"This is really troublesome..."
Zhao Hongrun stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.
To be fair, he didn't have much interest in attacking Chu.
There are three reasons.
First, the recent military mobilization of South Korea in the north of Wei State is somewhat strange. Court officials here in Wei State generally believe that this is a sign that South Korea is trying to seize Shangdang and Hedong areas from Wei State.
No, even Zhao Hongrun's fourth brother, King Hongjiang of Yan, personally guarded Shanyang County, and Wei Mu, the general of the Southern Yan Army, also transferred his army to the Hedong area.
In fact, the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court is still urgently building a military road from Daliang, the royal capital, through Nanyan, and directly to Hedong. This is so that once South Korea goes to war against the Wei State, the Dangshan Army, the Shang Navy Army, and the Dredge River Army will all Then we can quickly support Shanyang along this military road.
Secondly, although the land area of the Wei State is far smaller than that of Chu and South Korea, because the national population is also not as large as the latter two, in fact the land in the Wei State is not tight, especially after the Song Dynasty was captured.
Wei State has shown signs of having fewer people and more land.
Therefore, although Wei is bound to gain vast territory after assisting Qi in overthrowing Chu, in fact, these lands will not directly improve Wei's national power, and may even weaken Wei's power.
The army suffered heavy losses during the attack on Chu.
The third, and most important point, is that Qi will never win this battle.
Of course, the "win" mentioned here does not mean that Qi State cannot defeat Chu State, but that even if Qi State can defeat Chu State and cripple the giant Chu State, it cannot maintain this advantage.
.
The reason is simple, because King Lu Xi of Qi is terminally ill and will soon die. Once he dies, the country of Qi will inevitably fall into civil strife caused by the sons of King Lu Xi of Qi vying for the position of King of Qi. By then, Qi will
All the advantages the country had over Chu will be lost, and Chu may even have a chance to take advantage of Qi's civil strife and counterattack Qi.
Generally speaking, as long as the Chu State can survive until the death of Qi King Lu Xi, then this battle will be a victory for the Chu State.
The state of Qi, which has lost its king Lu Xi, is not worthy of fear of the state of Chu.
Although it is said that Qi State still has Tian Dan, Tian Dan is not the king of Qi State after all, and the rights in his hands are limited.
When King Lu Xi of Qi was around, Tian Dan was undoubtedly a fierce tiger due to the strong support of the former. But if it were one of the sons of King Lu Xi of Qi, would Tian Dan still be trusted and reused?
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun is not optimistic about this battle anyway.
He felt that if his country, Wei, was involved, then it would most likely be a waste of time and nothing would be gained in the end.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun turned to look at Xiong Hu, who was still nervous, and said with a smile: "Xiong Hu, why are you so nervous? Even if I, the Wei Dynasty, have to cooperate with Qi to go to war with Chu, I will lead this.
It’s just a job... Just let Xiong Tuo stay in Ba country, you can just play around with me."
Xiong Hu was stunned when he heard the words, and then he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Zhao Hongrun had said it so straightforwardly, and if he couldn't understand it, it wouldn't be a stupid word to describe it.
Playing casually, the implication is that the two sides are playing a show with each other, and it is enough to deal with Qi.
Although these words made Xiong Hu know Zhao Hongrun's attitude towards this battle, he still disagreed with the latter's words.
Is it true that Qi King Lu Xi is stupid?
So, he shook his head and sighed: "King Su, you underestimate King Lu Xi of Qi. If Qi asks your country to go to war with Chu, then if King Su serves as the commander-in-chief, Lu Xi will definitely ask King Su to lead troops to Song Dynasty.
It is impossible for him to let King Su attack Pingyu County or Yangcheng at the junction of Lu and Lu, or even directly into the Qilu allied army.
"Huh?"
Zhao Hongrun frowned when he heard this, because if it was true as Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu said, then he really wouldn't be able to act with Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo.
While Zhao Hongrun and Xiong Hu were discussing in the side hall, Chen Xiao was standing in the front yard of the Yangtou Yi family's house, looking around.
At this time, Su Wangwei had resumed his role as Zhao Hongrun's protector. When he saw Chen Xiao looking around at the Yangshiyi clan's house, he recognized that this person came with Zhao Hongrun, so he asked curiously: "What are you doing here?"
Chen Xiao heard this and said, "Where is King Su? I want to find him to get my donkey back."
"donkey?"
The guards of Prince Su were unaware of Chen Xiao's situation and couldn't help but feel a little dazed after hearing this. However, they still explained Zhao Hongrun's whereabouts to Chen Xiao: "His Royal Highness, Prince Su, is currently meeting with Lord Chu Pingyu in the side hall. What can I do for you later?"
Besides, don’t disturb me.”
"Pingyu...jun?"
Chen Xiao, who had been smiling just now, suddenly turned dark.
I saw him pull out the sharp sword from the waist of the Su Wang guard in front of him, and with the sharp blade, he rushed into the side hall where Zhao Hongrun and Xiong Hu were.