In fact, Zhao Hongrun had already heard about the fact that Xiong Xu of the Chu State killed many nobles in the country after the war when he was still in Xiangcheng.
I remember that Zhao Hongrun was not interested in this at the beginning. After all, in his opinion, this move was a typical scapegoat and there was nothing worth worrying about.
But later, when he learned the details of the clans of those nobles who were executed, he vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Because those nobles who were executed were not considered to be the top nobles in the Chu State, but they had certain marriage relationships with top nobles such as the Xiong family, the Xiang family, the Ji Lian family, and the Jing family, and were dependent on the former.
Logically speaking, even if Chu King Xiong Xu wanted to catch a scapegoat, he should not target these people.
Two days later, when Zhao Hongrun heard again that the list of nobles executed by King Xiong Xu of Chu included many noble children of the Xiong family named Mi, he felt more and more that something was wrong.
After all, given the aloof status of the Xiong nobles in Chu State, things like catching scapegoats in the past were out of their reach.
"I've heard a little about it." Zhao Hongrun nodded and looked back at the leader of the Lu Kingdom and said, "I wonder what the leader thinks of this?"
Maybe because he didn't expect Zhao Hongrun to ask him a question, the lord of the Lu Kingdom, Shu Pan, was slightly startled, but then he smiled with relief and said, "I originally wanted to hear Mr. Run's opinion, haha." At this point.
, the smile on his face gradually faded, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, and he lowered his voice and said: "I suspect that His Majesty the King of Qi and you and I may have fallen into the trap of the old thief Xiong Xu..."
Zhao Hongrun frowned slightly and lowered his voice and said: "The king is referring to the Battle of Shouying?"
"Hmm." The leader of the Lu Kingdom stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "Perhaps Mr. Run doesn't like to hear what I said... I always have some doubts. In the battle of Shouying, your army's progress was too fast.
Shundang, as if..."
"It's as if the Chu army deliberately put my Wei army into the city." Zhao Hongrun interrupted.
"..." The leader of the Lu Kingdom looked at Zhao Hongrun in surprise, and then said as if relieved: "I finally understand why His Majesty the King of Qi values Young Master Run so much."
Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly when he heard this. He felt that Qi King Lu Xi had expressed his intention to take him as his son more than once, and he also felt that the wise and powerful King of Qi was no longer alive.
Shaking his head to calm his mind, Zhao Hongrun lowered his voice and said: "If the guesses of the king and the king are correct, then you and I may not be the biggest winners in this battle..."
"..." Lu Guoguo opened his mouth and forced a forced smile on his face: "Who says it's not the case?"
With that said, he invited Zhao Hongrun and his entourage to the Lu palace and held a banquet in honor of Zhao Hongrun.
Not to mention the banquet that day, it was nothing more than the Lord of Lu entertaining Zhao Hongrun, Mi Jiang and others with good wine and delicious food.
Perhaps influenced by the craftsmen of the Lu State who strive for perfection, the palace dishes of the Lu State are also particularly exquisite, small in quantity and delicious, which is quite in line with the overall national conditions of the Lu State.
After the banquet, the leader of the Lu State sent someone to take Zhao Hongrun and his party to a posthouse in Qufu City to rest.
Around noon the next day, when Zhao Hongrun had just gotten up, Wei Jiao, the chief of the Zongwei clan, came into the room and reported that an envoy sent by the Lord of Lu had been waiting at the post house for a long time.
Zhao Hongrun was not surprised by this, after all, his conversation with the leader of Lu State yesterday had not yet ended.
After placing King Su's guards in the post house to take care of the carriages carrying the rubbings of "Lu Gong's Secret Record", Zhao Hongrun took Mi Jiang and several clan guards, and under the leadership of the envoy, came to King Lu's court again
.
If yesterday's banquet for Zhao Hongrun was a state banquet, then today was a private banquet, and Zhao Hongrun did not see any officials from the state of Lu accompanying him.
He realized that the leader of the Lu Kingdom probably wanted to continue the conversation with him that had not yet ended yesterday.
Sure enough, after entering the palace, the eunuch of the palace told Zhao Hongrun that the leader of the Lu Kingdom invited Zhao Hongrun to a private banquet in the Yayuan of the palace.
So Zhao Hongrun called Lu Mu, Mu Qing and others to follow another eunuch to eat and drink, while he himself, Mi Jiang and Wei Jiao, followed the eunuch to the throne of the Lu Kingdom.
the place where it is located.
As Zhao Hongrun expected, there was no one idle at today's banquet, and the leader of the Lu Kingdom only brought one of the palace guards named "Kong Fuling".
After the two parties met, Kong Fuling, the chief guard of the palace, and Wei Jiao, the chief guard of the clan, guarded Yayuan alone, while Zhao Hongrun took Mi Jiang and sat down opposite the leader of the Lu Kingdom.
At this time, Mi Jiang was still dressed as a Zongwei, wearing soft leather armor, but she could not hide it from the eyes of the leader of the Lu Kingdom. He could see through the fact that this woman was disguised as a man at a glance, so she looked at Zhao Hongrun.
, with a hint of ridicule.
Zhao Hongrun did not explain this. After all, if Mi Jiang's true origin was explained, it would still be quite shocking: the eldest daughter of Runan Jun Xiong Hao.
"Old thief Xiong Xu, he really killed a lot of people in the past few days..."
After inviting Zhao Hongrun and Mi Jiang to the table, the leader of the Lu Kingdom personally took down the cooking wine from the pot and poured a cup for all three of them. This move meant that he and Zhao Hongrun were equals, which made Zhao Hongrun have a crush on this countryman.
The Lord’s impression was even better.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty." Zhao Hongrun poured out his thanks, then raised his glass and blew in the aroma of the hot wine, and said lightly: "Xiao Wang thought about it all night yesterday and felt that King Chu might want to take this opportunity.
, to attack "certain hidden dangers" in the country... Humph! What a cunning and cunning old fox!"
In the last sentence, Zhao Hongrun's tone was full of resentment.
Why?
Because after he captured Shoying, he did not get the huge wealth he expected. That wealth had already been taken south by the nobles who fled when the Wei army attacked Shoying.
Regardless of the fact that Wei Jun's financial gain was indeed not small, even Mi Jiang, who had no good impression of Chu State, felt that Zhao Hongrun had looted too many things from Chu State, but in reality? Wei Jun's gains were really huge.
how?
joke!
Shouying was the royal capital of Chu State and the densest place where thousands of aristocratic families were concentrated. That was the savings that Wei Jun could not move out even after several months!
But now, as the victorious coalition, they only got some scraps that the Chu nobles had not had time to take away when they fled. However, Chu King Xiong Xu used the matter of catching scapegoats after the war to quietly take away those huge
The money was confiscated and returned to the state. When he thought about this, Zhao Hongrun felt sour in his heart.
"Insatiable greed!"
Next to him, Mi Jiang saw Zhao Hongrun's troubled expression and snorted secretly. Zhao Hongrun had complained about so many similar things along the way.
As for the leader of the Lu Kingdom, he is not as dissatisfied as Zhao Hongrun. He is worried about another thing.
"If your guess and mine are correct, old thief Xiong Xu has played a huge trick in front of us this time..." At this point, he said worriedly: "Early this morning, there was another news coming back, saying
In the Chu Kingdom, headed by Shouling Lord Jingshe, Diyang Lord Xiong Shang and others, they wantonly impeached certain nobles for their inaction during the war, forcing Xiong Xu to severely punish people like Juyang Lord Xiong Li..."
"..." Zhao Hongrun's eyelids twitched and he cursed in his heart.
Although the leader of the Lu Kingdom said it in a vague way, how could Zhao Hongrun not hear it?
For example, Ju Yangjun Xiong Li, this person was once one of the younger brothers with the best relationship with King Xiong Xu of Chu. Without Xiong Xu’s secret approval, even Shoulingjun Jingshe and Di Yangjun Xiong Shang would not be able to move to Ju Yangjun.
Bear carp.
In other words, it was just a double act performed by King Xiong Xu of Chu, Jing She, and Xiong Shang.
Now it's good, the wealth that Ju Yang Lord Xiong Li had taken away also belonged to the King of Chu.
"Damn Jingshe!"
Zhao Hongrun drank the hot wine in his cup glumly, cursing Shouling Junjingshe in his heart.
Because if Shouling Junjingshe hadn't arrived in Juyang in time, he would probably have been able to conquer Juyang County and take Juyang Jun Xiongli's huge wealth as his own.
Concerned about this matter in his mind, he subconsciously placed the empty wine glass in front of Mi Jiang.
Mi Jiang was stunned for a moment, then put down her chopsticks and filled Zhao Hongrun's wine glass.
This scene once again evoked the teasing smile of the leader of the Lu Kingdom.
But Zhao Hongrun didn't care. After drinking another glass of hot wine, he frowned and said: "Those Chu nobles can't even see this, right?... Couldn't they see that King Xiong Xu of Chu is here?"
Are you taking the opportunity to kill someone?"
"Of course you can see it." The leader of the Lu Kingdom also drank a glass of wine and said with a complicated expression: "Right now, there are rumors in the Chu Kingdom that the old thief Xiong Xu can't defeat us and other coalition forces, so he killed the nobles to vent his anger, which caused
Many Chu nobles want to unite and force the old thief Xiong Xu to step down from the throne. I heard that the one who dances the most happily is Xiong's old enemy Qu... But so what? There are also Xiang Mo and Xiang Juan in Chu.
There are also Shouling Lord Jingshe, Xiling Lord Qu Ping, and Diyang Lord Xiong Shang. As long as these people stand with the old thief Xiong Xu, those nobles will not be able to play any tricks."
Having said this, he drank the hot wine in the cup in one gulp, sighed and said: "That faint king Xiong Xu has been fighting with King Qi for half his life but has never been able to win. I didn't expect that this time, he actually fought with King Qi."
It's a tie." As he spoke, he shook the empty wine bottle and murmured: "When Chu State calms down the civil strife, I, Qilu, will suffer."
Zhao Hongrun naturally understood the meaning of the words of the leader of the Lu Kingdom. After hearing the words, he advised: "The leader does not need to worry. Xiong Xu wants to take over power. It is not certain that the nobles will be willing to hand over power. As expected, Chu
The country is bound to face a civil strife...and this civil strife is far worse than the civil strife in Qi!"
Indeed, if the civil strife in Qi is just the struggle for the throne between the sons of Qi King Lu Xi, then the civil strife in Chu is the desperate struggle of the old aristocratic forces under the suppression of Chu Wang Xiong Xu.
The intensity is completely different.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Chu State, which the four forces of Qi, Lu, Wei and Yue failed to defeat, is likely to disintegrate and become fragmented in this civil strife.
The problem is that once the Chu State ends its civil strife, the four forces of Qi, Lu, Wei and Yue will face the most powerful Chu State in recent hundreds of years.