In the next few days, Zhao Hongrun did as he said. He went to Ningxiang Palace to accompany his mother every day and told her about the beautiful scenery of Shangshui County. Concubine Shen Shu was very happy.★
During this period, Zhao Hongrun intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that Xiao Xuan was fifteen and considered an adult. Although the effect did not seem to be very good, Zhao Hongrun was not discouraged and continued to trick his younger brother.
After all, only if his younger brother Hongxuan falls into the trap can he have a good life.
It's a pity that Concubine Shen Shu is an old man in the palace after all. She can't see through her eldest son's thoughts. Seeing Zhao Hongrun push his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan out as a shield one day, she couldn't help but touch her eldest son's forehead with her finger.
He said angrily: "You little naughty boy... You are the brother and he is the younger brother. There is an order of elders and younger ones. How can we mess up the order?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun said: "Mom, the words "old and young should be orderly" are not used here... It's not my child's fault. Mom, don't you think Xiao Xuan's temperament is a bit too introverted? My child thinks that if you don't give Zhang Luo
Zhang Luo, I'm afraid... well, there won't be any results in a few years."
After hearing this, Concubine Shen Shu was slightly concerned. After all, her two sons, the eldest son Zhao Hongrun, really didn't need to worry about her. As a newly-minted prince, she dared to take the imperial guards to visit Fireworks Willow Alley. This was considered unprecedented in history.
The first one.
In contrast, the younger son Zhao Hongxuan's personality is much more reserved, introverted and shy. His personality is completely opposite to that of his elder brother. It is hard to believe that these two brothers have lived under the same roof since childhood.
"My mother is afraid that the land chosen is not suitable, and Hong Xuan will be dissatisfied and complain about her..." Concubine Shen Shu said with some worry. After all, her eldest son Zhao Hongrun was a typical example of strong resistance to marriage, and he once almost turned against Emperor Wei because of this.
"Then let's set up a side room first and let Xiao Xuan choose... Isn't this always done?" Zhao Hongrun said with ill intentions.
Although Concubine Shen Shu did not directly acknowledge his words, she was somewhat moved at least, and that was enough.
After all, Zhao Hongrun's purpose was just to divert Concubine Shen Shu's attention to Zhao Hongxuan.
As for the opinion of his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan, the unscrupulous brother who has tricked his younger brother countless times since he was a child said that is not a problem at all.
Anyway, according to Zhao Hongxuan's character, as long as Concubine Shen Shu mentioned this matter to him, the boy would be blushing and hesitating and unable to say anything.
As long as we can survive this month, until Zhao Hongrun leads his army to attack Chu, aha, we can delay it for another year.
Of course, due to the low technical content of this disaster, Shuidong Yin, when Shen Shufei vaguely raised the matter to Zhao Hongxuan that night, Zhao Hongxuan gritted his teeth and looked at his brother with resentful and tragic eyes.
Unfortunately, such days did not last long. After all, the Qi envoy Tian You went to the Ministry of Rites again and again in the past two days, which annoyed Du You, the Minister of Rites.
Du Youxin said: This matter has obviously been handed over to King Su, why do you keep coming to me?
So three days later, Du You, the Minister of Rites, was really annoyed. Zheng'er Ba Jing wrote an official document to Tian You, the Qi envoy, and asked the latter to take this document to Prince Su's Mansion.
In fact, before this, Qi's envoy Tian You had also heard some rumors and had already sent a greeting letter to Prince Su's Mansion, but he never received a response.
Why? Because Zhao Hongrun wanted to spend more time with Concubine Shen Shu in the past two days, and deliberately asked the people in Prince Su's palace to suppress her.
But this time, Qi envoy Tian You came with an official document from the Ministry of Rites, and Zhao Hongrun could no longer afford to neglect him. After all, the former was a private visit, while the latter was a recommendation from the imperial court, with different meanings.
Therefore, after greeting Concubine Shen Shu in advance, on the sixth day of July, Zhao Hongrun did not go to Ningxiang Palace in the palace, but met with Qi envoy Tian You at Prince Su's Mansion.
At midnight on the same day, Qi envoy Tian You came to Prince Su's Mansion as scheduled. Under the leadership of Zongwei Mu Qing, he came to the hall of the north room of the mansion.
It can be seen that the Qi envoy had some opinions about Zhao Hongrun, so after the two greeted each other, the Qi envoy said with a bit of sarcasm: "It is really difficult to meet King Su.
…”
In response, Zhao Hongrun smiled slightly but was not angry.
After all, in the final analysis, this matter was indeed his rudeness. He had repeatedly rejected the other party, which would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
"Please forgive me... I was away from Daliang some time ago and was separated from my mother and concubine for half a year. After returning to Daliang in the past few days, I also tried my best to fulfill my filial piety and wanted to spend more time with my mother and concubine. If I have neglected my mother and concubine, I still thank you.
May many forgive me.”
Hearing what Zhao Hongrun said sincerely, Qi Shi Tian You's resentment disappeared. After all, loyalty and filial piety have been an excellent virtue respected by the Central Plains countries since ancient times. Even if he was dissatisfied, he could not accuse him of anything.
What's more, Zhao Hongrun's sincere and simple words really impressed Qi Shi Tian You.
"His Royal Highness, King Su, is loyal to the country and observes filial piety. Tian can only admire him."
To be honest, is Zhao Hongrun really simply wanting to accompany Concubine Shen Shu?
In fact, it is true that I want to accompany Concubine Shen Shu, but it is also true that I want to hang out with Tian You.
After all, Zhao Hongrun is not actually inclined to assist Qi State in conquering Chu State, because he feels that their Wei State has made many big moves in the past two years. The first attack on Chu State and the second attack on Sanchuan have consumed a lot of Wei State's national strength. At present,
It is time to recuperate for a period of time in order to cope with the war between Han and Wei that may break out at any time, instead of blindly assisting Qi to attack Chu.
What are the benefits of attacking Chu now?
Although the vast territory of Chu State made Zhao Hongrun very jealous, the problem is that the Wei State has not yet digested the entire territory of Song State that was annexed more than ten years ago, so how can they have the confidence to care about Chu State's territory?
Therefore, in Zhao Hongrun's mind, unless he attacked Chu in one go and enabled Wei to eliminate a huge threat in the south, he did not want to offend this huge country.
The national population of Wei State is probably less than 7 million, while the population of Chu State is roughly estimated to be four times that of Wei State. It is not a rational thing to completely break up with a country with a population of tens of millions.
It is a pity that the alliance of the three kingdoms of Qi, Lu and Wei has already been announced to the world. Unless the Wei State is willing to be accused of betrayal by the world, it will no longer be able to escape from this matter.
Of course, there is no chance at all.
For example, if King Lu Xi of Qi suddenly dies suddenly and the Qi State falls into civil strife to seize power, then the attack on Chu by the Three Kingdoms will naturally end. At worst, Zhao Hongrun and Chu soldiers will threaten the Chu State and indirectly help the Qi State to share part of the burden.
The threat from the Chu State is better than bringing tens of thousands of troops to fight with the Chu State.
But unfortunately, Zhao Hongrun has not received any rumors about the sudden death of Qi King Lu Xi.
"Your Highness Prince Su, I believe that His Highness Prince Su has heard about the alliance between Da Qi and your country..."
When Zhao Hongrun was thinking wildly, Qi envoy Tian You Balabala began to talk about Zhao Hongrun.
Although Zhao Hongrun did not hear a few words of these remarks, the latter could still guess the general meaning. In summary, it was just one sentence: When will Wei send troops?
"Well..." After Qi Shi Tian You finished speaking, Zhao Hongrun took a long breath and said in an official tone: "This matter is not easy to handle."
Hearing this, the Qi envoy Tian You's face turned slightly ugly, and he reminded with some displeasure: "Your Highness, King Su, the three kingdoms of Qi, Lu, and Wei have been in turmoil for a long time..."
"Your envoy has misunderstood. This is not what I meant." He waved his hand to interrupt Qi's envoy Tian You, and Zhao Hongrun said sternly: "My envoy just thinks... By the way, has your country recently reduced the number of Chen soldiers in Qi and Han?
Heavy troops at the border?”
Qi made Tian You stunned, and touched a handful of words on his chin.
However, Zhao Hongrun did not pay attention to the Qi envoy Tian You, and still said to himself: "To be honest, envoy, at the beginning of this year, South Korea in the north began to gather cavalry troops at Tianmen and League Gate, with as many as 100,000 troops.
Not long ago, the Korean cavalry conquered the north and drove the barbarians to the north. Thanks to this battle, now we, the Wei Dynasty, have to mobilize more troops to defend the north..."
Having said this, he raised his head and looked at Qi's envoy Tian You, with a vague intention of raising an army to accuse him.
"..." Qi envoy Tian You looked at Zhao Hongrun silently, and then said after a while: "The king attaches great importance to this battle and has mobilized 100,000 troops from the river boundary..."
The river boundary he refers to refers to the entire border between Qi and South Korea downstream of the Yellow River.
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun felt relieved. He was originally curious about how the Qi State, which also followed the route of elite troops, obtained so many troops and said it would form a coalition of 300,000. He did not expect that it would be the troops stationed in the northern border to defend South Korea.
He was transferred to the south.
It can be seen that this time Qi King Lu Xi really planned to use his short lifespan to defeat the Chu State, lest the Chu State take advantage of his death to counterattack the Qi State.
After thinking about it, Zhao Hongrun said with a wry smile: "I see... your country has weakened its threat to South Korea, and the pressure on Wei Dynasty has been great..."
As if he had guessed what Zhao Hongrun was going to say, Qi envoy Tian You quickly interrupted: "Your Highness, Prince Su, it is not just your country that is under pressure, but also our Julu County in Da Qi..."
"Oh?" Zhao Hongrun said with a hint of ridicule upon hearing this: "Aren't fire crossbow warships not enough to defend the river boundary?"
Yes, the State of Qi stationed a fleet of warships capable of shooting fire crossbows at the river border. These warships were carefully built by the craftsmen of the State of Lu, and the State of Qi spent a huge amount of money on them.
But relying on this warship and naval force, Qi State can also be said to be beating Korea in the north on the premise of controlling Chu State in the south.
The cavalry army, which Korea is proud of, does nothing in front of these Qi naval forces. Often when Qi's naval forces are dispatched, the Korean city walls north of the river boundary will suffer huge disasters. Over time, Koreans do not dare to go along the river.
City walls were built along the river, and many of the former city walls along the river were abandoned.
It is precisely for this reason that Qi State is not worried about their northern border. They deployed troops on the border between Qi and South Korea just to put pressure on South Korea. Otherwise, South Korea might have taken advantage of the war between Wei and Chu to try to conquer the country.
Shangdang of Wei State, Hedong area.
Looking at Qi Shi Tian You who frowned slightly, Zhao Hongrun lowered his voice.
"Don't worry, your Majesty. We, the Wei Dynasty, will definitely send troops to support the alliance leader, but an army of fifty thousand... I am afraid that the Wei Dynasty cannot bear it. I have just said that South Korea in the north is currently garrisoning the border with heavy troops, and we have to guard against it.
Na..."
Qi Shi Tian You glanced at Zhao Hongrun, and his expression suddenly darkened. (To be continued.) 8