After the Zhou State and the Chu State divided the grasslands together, their reputation in the surrounding areas naturally increased greatly. The scattered small countries that had previously submitted to the Central Plains also expressed their willingness to surrender to the Zhou State again.
The Battle of the Grasslands made all countries realize the power of firearms. Now the only ones in the world who have firearms are Chu and Zhou. In line with the principle of proximity, many small countries in the Western Regions that are close to Zhou naturally respect Zhou as their leader.
Lord.
If you don't declare your vassal status at this time, why don't you wait for Zhou to come over when he wants to expand his territory?
Surrendering in advance not only allowed the king to maintain his current status, but also the Zhou State would not be able to conquer it casually if there was no rebellion later, and most importantly, the Western Region was now divided into a bunch of small and large countries.
In order to prevent those big countries from being destroyed, they naturally need to find a suitable backer.
Over the years, Loulan has continuously expanded its territory and become the largest country in the Western Regions that submitted to the Zhou Kingdom. After Loulan surrendered, there was a barrier between the Zhou Kingdom and several other major Western Region countries. It can be said that Loulan's submission was of great significance to the Zhou Kingdom.
Said it is of great significance.
It became the dividing line between the Zhou State and several major countries in the Western Regions. From then on, the Zhou State's army could advance, attack, retreat or defend.
The king of Loulan also went to Beijing in person to seek to marry the princess of the Zhou Kingdom, so that he could have an in-law relationship and close the relationship between Loulan and the Zhou Kingdom, further safeguarding Loulan's status among the many countries in the Western Regions.
At this time, Emperor Zhou was discussing this matter with his courtiers in the court hall.
Zhou State has fought wars with Chu State and Grassland respectively in the past two years, and has lost a lot of national power. At this time, it is natural to appease Loulan first. Moreover, now that Chu State is strong and Loulan is weak, even if it is to adopt a princess to be granted the title
Loulan didn't have to say much to marry the princess. Of course, don't think about choosing a palace maid as a princess to marry at this time. The Western Regions were often fooled by the Central Plains in the early years, but they are no longer so easy to fool.
Above the court
At this time, the ministers had begun to discuss who should be chosen.
Nowadays, the princesses of the right age are either married or engaged, and the only princess is the third princess. However, all the ministers know that the third princess is born to the queen who is the same mother as the prince.
Although the Yang family is now deposed, as long as the prince has not been deposed by the emperor and your majesty still allows the prince to go to court to discuss politics, it cannot be ruled out that your majesty is suppressing the Yang family in order to prevent the Yang family from controlling the future court. In fact, there is no
The intention is to suppress the prince.
If this is the case, then the prince may become the next emperor. If they ask the third princess to get married at this time, regardless of whether your majesty agrees or not, the prince alone will hate them.
Therefore, what the ministers were discussing at this time was just to see which prince or clan had a young and beautiful daughter of the right age, to be named a princess and then marry her to Loulan.
While the ministers were discussing the matter one after another, the prince calmly looked around at the ministers, then raised his hands and said, "To report back to my father, I actually have a princess of the right age in the Kingdom of Zhou."
Emperor Zhou raised his eyelids and asked, "Is it true that my country, Zhou, wants to marry its direct princess to King Loulan?"
The prince said, "Father, you have forgotten that there is another Princess Mingyue in the palace whom you named Princess Mingyue."
Emperor Zhou glanced at the prince and said, "You mean to marry Princess Mingyue to Loulan for marriage?"
The prince said: "Reporting to my father, Princess Mingyue is the legitimate princess of our Kingdom of Zhou. Betrothal her to Loulan will also make King Loulan more loyal to our Kingdom of Chu. This is Princess Mingyue's good fortune."
Li Mingyue was a concubine, and even the emperor would forget about her. No one in the capital would marry such a princess. If she were to marry Loulan on behalf of the Zhou Kingdom, she would be the royal concubine of King Loulan, and she would enjoy happiness for the rest of her life.
It just so happened that the third sister also disliked this Li Mingyue, who seemed to appear in her sight every time and annoy her. From now on, there would be no Princess Mingyue in the capital.
Emperor Zhou listened to the prince's words, nodded and said: "You are very careful. The stability of Loulan is related to the stability of the western frontier of our Zhou Kingdom. However, Princess Mingyue has lived in the deep palace for a long time. I have also owed a lot for this over the years. In these last three
During the month, Princess Mingyue is allowed to leave the palace and live in her mansion, so she no longer has to live in the palace."
The prince and other ministers raised their hands and said: "Your Majesty is wise!"
After discussing the affairs of the Loulan Kingdom, the Minister of Honglu Temple stood up and said: "Your Majesty, because there are many frictions between Zhou and Chu over the grassland territorial disputes, the Chu State has decided to send a mission to our Zhou State. I guess.
Will leave soon."
Emperor Zhou smiled and said: "The State of Chu is here to put pressure on me, the State of Zhou. It is indeed a serious issue involving territorial ownership, and we should take this opportunity to completely resolve it."
Today, the State of Chu sends troops to the north to occupy the grasslands. Compared with the vast territory of the State of Chu, the area occupied by the State of Zhou is really too small.
The Emperor of Zhou didn't care much about the grassland, as long as it could provide enough horses, cattle and sheep to supply the Zhou Kingdom. Anyway, that place was not suitable for growing food, and it would be useless to be greedy for too much.
If the Zhou State wanted to compete with the Chu State in terms of territory, it could only expand to the Western Regions. Emperor Zhou no longer expected to be able to allocate grassland territory from the Chu State, so in a few years the Zhou State would have to find a way to
The Western Regions were completely included in the territory of the Zhou Kingdom.
As for the Zhao State, forget it, they will only lose their territory.
The Zhou and Chu states were opening up territory and attracting thousands of people from all over the country. Zhao State could be said to have lost all its people to the Central Plains.
After the court, the prince went to the back garden in a good mood, but met Li Xun.
The prince looked at Li Xun arrogantly: "Isn't this the sixth brother? The sixth brother has really lived in the palace for a long time, and no decent person has taught etiquette. Do you know that you need to salute when you see the prince's brother?"
Li Xun, however, did not refute the prince. He just cupped his hands and said, "I have met His Royal Highness."
The prince smiled and said: "I'm talking about the sixth brother. Just now in the court, I made a fortune for my sister who is the same mother as the sixth brother."
When Li Xun heard the prince's words, a cold look appeared in his eyes: "What are you going to do to Mingyue?"
The prince continued to smile and said: "It's nothing. King Loulan came to my country of Zhou these days to ask for a princess. Originally, the court officials wanted my father to adopt a daughter from the clan and marry her as a princess."
"Thanks to my brother, I suddenly remembered that your sixth brother has a younger sister. She is living alone with you all day long without food and clothing. Isn't this going to be a lifetime of hardship? Thanks to me for mentioning Princess Mingyue in front of my father, my father.
Then I remembered that there was Princess Mingyue in the harem, so I happily agreed to let Princess Mingyue marry into Loulan on behalf of our Zhou Kingdom and become the royal concubine of King Loulan. Do you think this palace has made happiness for Princess Mingyue?