On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month in the 19th year of Hongde's reign in the Great Wei Dynasty, Qu Yang, a descendant of the Qu family from the Chu State, was introduced by Qu Cheng, the chief general of the Yanling Army of the Wei State, and sent the invitation to Prince Su's Mansion in Daliang.
After some consideration, Zhao Hongrun met with the second son of the Qu family of Chu State in the study room of the palace.
My impression of the first meeting was that Qu Yang was about twenty-six years old. He was well-dressed, handsome, and behaved like someone from a noble family. However, his face seemed a little gloomy, probably due to the fatigue accumulated from the long journey.
.
While Zhao Hongrun was secretly sizing up Qu Yang, the latter was also secretly sizing up the young master of the state of Wei, who rose to prominence two years ago and then gradually became one of the most influential figures in the world.
The young master of Wei who appeared in Qu Yang's eyes at this moment was dressed like an ordinary scholar from a wealthy family in his palace. Apart from the fine quality and exquisitely handmade robes, he did not wear anything to show his status.
Jade ornaments. Because he is not as old as Weak Guan, he does not wear a crown on his head. He only wears a vermilion hairband to hold his hair upright. In addition, he is holding a volume in his right hand, so it looks like
For such a gentle scholar, it is hard to imagine that not long ago, he was a commander of the Wei army who could not even defeat Lord Shouling Jingshe.
The only fly in the ointment is that His Royal Highness Prince Su is not as tall and burly as most Wei people of the same age, and he looks thin and frail. Coupled with his rather androgynous and handsome face, he does not look like a former minister.
A commander in charge of more than 200,000 troops.
Only those eyes made Qu Yang feel a certain pressure, as if his intentions had been seen through by the other party and exposed.
"This son is Wei Gongzi Ji Run, who even Shouling Jun Jingshe could not defeat..."
While bowing his hands in salute, Qu Yang felt a chill in his heart, because he felt that the other party's aura was incredibly strong.
He was obviously just a teenager, but his intimidating aura gave Qu Yang the illusion that he was meeting the leader of a certain country.
The pressure of the superior.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke a fairly fluent Wei dialect, bowed and said: "I, Qu Yang, pay my respects to King Su."
After hearing this, His Royal Highness Prince Su in front of him raised his eyebrows and said with some praise: "I am really surprised. It is really rare among Chu people who can speak Wei dialect fluently."
As His Royal Highness Prince Su spoke, Qu Yang suddenly felt as if the pressure around him had receded a lot, allowing him to finally take a long, deep breath.
He smiled and said: "His Royal Highness King Su has said that Ji's surname is Zhao, and my surname is Mi, which is a rare ancient surname in the world. I, the Qu family, have always respected your ancestors for a long time. Maybe I am the Chu people who understand Wei Yan."
There are not many people, but I, the Qu clan, who have always wanted to live in harmony with your country, most of the children in the clan understand Wei Yan, which is not surprising." At this point, he added intentionally: "If you don't understand the language,
How to convey the kindness in your heart?”
"This guy is a bit interesting..."
"Hehehe." Zhao Hongrun laughed twice without comment.
Although he knew very well that the other party's statement that "most of the Qu family members understand Wei Yan" was mostly a lie, it was undeniable that the other party's words were very appropriate and would not offend people.
"Serve tea." He turned around and ordered Wei Jiao, the chief of the Zong Wei.
Wei Jiao nodded, summoned the two Su Wang guards outside the study door, and asked the latter to ask the servants to make tea.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun welcomed Qu Yang to the two rows of seats in the living room outside the study and invited the latter to take a seat.
After Qu Yang knelt down on the seat on the east side, Zhao Hongrun did not go straight to the main seat in the hall, but went straight to the seat on the west side, picked a seat facing Qu Yang, and sat down.
This move made Qu Yang look slightly panicked.
Because logically speaking, as a guest, there is nothing wrong with him sitting in the seat on the east side. But who would have thought that Zhao Hongrun did not sit at the main seat, but sat down in the seat on the west side. Doesn't this seem like his "
"higher status" than the other party?
For a moment, Qu Yang couldn't help but feel inexplicably nervous.
And Zhao Hongrun could see his expression.
In fact, Zhao Hongrun didn't care where he sat. The reason why he sat across from Qu Yang was just to observe the other person's expression during the conversation with him.
However, this small move made Zhao Hongrun discover something: the second son of the Qu family of Chu State in front of him seemed to be well-spoken, but in fact, he was probably not a lobbyist accustomed to lobbying for negotiations.
what does that mean?
Zhao Hongrun did not believe that the Qu family of Chu State could not find even one lobbyist who was good at lobbying and negotiating.
Obviously, the Qu family sent the second son, Qu Yang, here to show their sincerity, but it also meant that the other party did not have much time.
In other words, the Qu family has been in a bad situation recently, so they hope to use the greatest sincerity to get the support of Wei.
To put it bluntly, this means that Zhao Hongrun can rip off the other party severely.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but have a strange smile on his face, which made Qu Yang's face, who was already a little panicked, change slightly.
At this time, two King Su guards came in and served tea.
"Second Young Master, please have tea." Zhao Hongrun said with a smile. At this moment, when he looked at Qu Yang, he seemed to be seeing a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
"Thank you so much, Prince Su." Qu Yang looked a little unnatural under Zhao Hongrun's gaze. He picked up the tea cup and drank tea to hide the nervousness in his heart. He was secretly stunned: He was obviously ten years younger than himself, so how could he be so powerful?
So strong?
At this moment, Zhao Hongrun suddenly asked: "Second Young Master, I wonder what price your clan is willing to pay in exchange for my, Great Wei, supporting your clan to seize the kingship of your country?"
At this time, Qu Yang was sipping tea. When he heard this sentence unexpectedly, he was shocked and coughed repeatedly due to the scalding hot tea.
"Su...His Royal Highness King Su, you..."
"Isn't that right?" Looking at Qu Yang with a frightened expression, Zhao Hongrun said with a smile: "If this king's prediction is correct, the current situation of the Zun clan is probably not very good, and there should not be much free time to go around in circles with this king.
As for me, I don’t like beating around the bush, so why don’t you and I just get straight to the point... What price are you willing to pay?"
"..." Qu Yang, who had just relieved his cough, looked at Zhao Hongrun with a strange expression on his face and couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
Maybe he was wondering, the Young Master Wei in front of him clearly looked gentle and elegant, with a strong aristocratic temperament, but when he opened his mouth, he spoke with a rude tone like a robber sitting on the ground to divide his loot.
It has to be said that such a tone is equivalent to "uneducated" in the eyes of the nobles. In fact, this is the behavior of most nobles: even if they are talking about killing people, stealing goods, and trashing the family, they still have to say it in a righteous way, and they can't wait to do it.
Use the most beautiful words in the world to modify it.
However, at this time, Qu Yang did not bother to evaluate the other party's aristocratic accomplishments. In fact, Zhao Hongrun's proposal was more in line with his current wishes. After all, as Zhao Hongrun said, the recent situation of his Qu family was indeed not good.
After thinking about it, Qu Yang raised his hands and said with a serious face: "In this case, I won't hide too much... If your country is willing to help, after my Qu family seizes the kingship, I, the great Chu, are willing to surrender to your country.
"
"Hey." Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but sneered when he heard this, his disdain clearly visible on his face.
It is undeniable that this is an era that pays attention to integrity. A person who does not keep integrity will find it difficult to move anywhere; but at the same time, this is also an era of the weak and the strong. Covenants between countries are sometimes actually just
A piece of waste paper without any binding force.
Surrender is a weak country versus a strong country.
For example, Wei Guo, the younger brother of Wei State, surrendered to Wei State, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a vassal state.
The reason why Weiguo is retained is that, firstly, Weiguo does not want more areas of its territory to border with South Korea's territory, and secondly, it also wants Weiguo to become a buffer zone between South Korea and Wei.
After all, if two countries go to war when their territories are bordering each other, many local facilities and buildings will often be destroyed after the war.
For example, two or three years ago, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng in Chu, attacked the Wei state. After that, Zhao Hongrun led his army to counterattack the fiefdom of Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng. It was a battle in which once defeated, it would be difficult to recover from the disadvantage.
But if there is a buffer zone between the two countries, the situation will be much better, because it is not a local battle, no matter how many buildings and facilities are destroyed, there is no need to worry too much.
Therefore, the Wei State clearly had the strength to destroy the Wei State, but it never had any intention of annexing the latter. Instead, it assisted the Wei State several times to prevent the Wei State from being bullied by the Song State.
And if one day Wei Guo no longer wants to follow the big brother Wei Guo, then Wei Guo can also destroy Wei Guo in a short period of time.
Why?
Because for the Wei State, the Wei State is powerful enough!
However, the Chu State was not the Wei State.
To take a step back, even if the Qu clan really defeated the Xiong clan and took over the royal power of Chu with the help of Wei, would they really keep their promise and surrender to Wei?
Stop joking!
Perhaps in the first few years, the Qu family will temporarily surrender to the Wei State without surrendering to the domestic resistance forces. But once the Qu family truly replaces the Xiong family and truly controls the entire Chu State, then
, they are bound to tear up the agreement.
Why?
Because the unified and stable Chu State is stronger than the Wei State!
The strong will never surrender to the weak!
As for the so-called "agreement between countries", it can be torn up with just an unfounded excuse without the interference of vital interests. "Note: For example, for example, when King Wu of Zhou attacked Shang, was it really because King Shang was cruel and had no choice but to do so?
No, it’s because King Wu felt that he had the strength to replace the Shang Dynasty. Otherwise, when King Wu and his father Ji Changchu succeeded to the throne, why would he continue to submit to the Shang Dynasty? Three feet of ice did not freeze in a day, and King Zhou’s cruelty did not last.
It’s a matter of two days. In the final analysis, the fist is just not big enough.』
Therefore, such ridiculous remarks are purely a joke in Zhao Hongrun's opinion.
"Second Young Master, are you kidding me? Believe it or not, I asked someone to tie you up and send you to King Xiong Xu of Chu?"
Looking at Qu Yang, Zhao Hongrun's expression suddenly darkened.
Looking at the looming sullenness on the face of His Royal Highness Prince Su in front of him, Qu Yang felt his scalp feel a little warm.
He instinctively felt that the other party could do this kind of thing.