The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

After more than ten days of travel, Tian Zhuo and his party finally arrived at Gusu City. Now this Gusu City is no longer the capital of Wu State, but the capital of Yue State. A few years ago, Tian Zhuo persuaded the King of Yue to build a capital here. Now this Gusu City has already become a city larger than Kuaiji.

Along the way, the Taihu Lake area has also been developed by Yue State for several years. It is full of fertile fields and looks vibrant. Tian Zhuo murmured to himself: I didn't expect that after only a few years of development, this Taihu Lake area has become so prosperous, no less powerful than the Wu State back then!

When Tian Zhuo entered Gusu City, Tian Yuan asked: "Sir, do you think Yue will really send troops to attack Chu? Although I have heard that Yue has harassed Chu several times in recent years, there was no follow-up. After all, it was the second most powerful country in the world. Yue may not have the courage to attack Chu."

Tian Zhuo smiled and said: "Yes, because Chu's Jin Rui is in Huaisi, and Yue has been recuperating for several years. The national strength should have improved a lot. It is estimated that it has trained tens of thousands of elite soldiers. It is still possible to hurt Chu! And it is not just Yue that is attacking. Our Qi will also attack Chu."

Tian Yuan sighed and said: "If it were not for Wei, our Qi would not be so injured. I guess our Qi can only rest well in the past few years!" Tian Zhuo just closed his eyes to rest.

After arriving at the post house, Tian Zhuo and others met with the Yue official. Tian Zhuo bowed to the Yue official and said, "I am the envoy of Qi. I am here to see the king. Please inform me as soon as possible!"

After that, he stuffed a few knife coins into the official's pocket. The Yue official smiled and said, "Okay, then please rest for a while in the post house. I will go and inform you immediately!"

Yue court

Yue King Si Wuzhuan was drinking with his ministers. Si Wuzhuan asked the ministers, "Everyone, has Qi surrendered?"

A minister stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Qi seems to have asked for peace with Wei and has ceded all the land west of the Great Wall to Wei!"

Si Wuzhuan said with some concern, "Now that Wei has destroyed Lu and Teng, and is suppressing Qi, I am worried that Wei will... Will the next target of the State of Wei be our State of Yue? And Qi is our ally of Yue, it would be a bit bad if we don't support them. "

Another minister stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Wei is separated from our State of Yue by Chu. If Wei wants to attack us, they must pass through Chu. How can they attack us? Besides, we can't do anything about Qi being attacked by four countries this time! We can't afford to offend any of the four countries of Wei, Chu, Zhao and Han! And Qi didn't ask for help from our country, I believe Qi won't blame us. "

A minister walked in and said: "Your Majesty, the envoy of Qi came to see you." When Si Wuzhuan heard that it was the envoy of Qi who came to see him, he felt a little scared and said: "Then please let him in!" ——Yes!

Tian Zhuo and others were waiting for the summons of the King of Yue at the posthouse. Tian Zhuo took a few sips of the tea on the table. Tian Yuan, who was sitting next to him, said, "My lord, it seems that Yue has become much stronger! I am a little worried whether Yue will escape the control of Qi. After all, Yue and Qi have had many wars in the past."

Tian Zhuo smiled and said, "Yue seems to be strong, but the nobles in Yue are unstable. Most of the land in Yue is occupied by nobles. The people of Yue are still living in poverty, especially since Yue has not communicated with the Central Plains countries for many years. In addition to trade with Chu, it rarely trades with other countries. The most important thing is that some of Yue's land is occupied by Chu, and those lands are also very fertile! In addition, the current monarch of Yue is incompetent, and his ministers are either greedy for life and afraid of death, or greedy for money and lust." Tian Yuan nodded.

At this time, the minister of Yue also walked in and said, "Sir, the king invites you to enter the palace!" Tian Zhuo and others followed the minister of Yue into the palace.

Yue Court

Yue King Si Wuzhuan looked at the envoy of Qi below and said, "Envoy Qi, what are you doing here this time?"

Tian Zhuo bowed and said, "I am here this time in the hope that the king of Yue can send troops to attack Chu!" After the ministers of Yue in the court heard this, when the king of Yue was about to speak, Prime Minister Si Sheng stood up and said, "Envoy Qi, our Yue is also in a very difficult situation. You should know that during the time of our predecessor, our Yue was attacked by Chu many times and our national strength declined! Now after so many years of cultivation, it is not too late. But with only 100,000 soldiers, I am afraid that we cannot attack Chu!" After hearing the words of the prime minister, the King of Yue also hurriedly said: "Envoy Qi, my Yue country is also in trouble! Moreover, we have only moved the capital for a few years, and the development is not solid yet. We need to cultivate for a few more years!" Tian Zhuo smiled and said: "King of Yue, I have heard that the revenge for killing the father must be avenged, and the hatred for killing the king is a national hatred. Back then, the Chu army chopped off the head of the ancestors of Yue alive, and I heard that Yue spent a thousand gold to redeem the remains of the ancestors! Could it be that Didn't Yue think about revenge for the country? Now Yue has 100,000 soldiers, 50,000 Tiger Guards, 200,000 Migrant Soldiers, and 1,000 chariots. Why should it fear Chu? The 200,000 soldiers of Chu were annihilated by Qi in the Huai-Si War. The entire country had only 200,000 soldiers, and Shen Xi's army had been transferred to Qi to fight. Since Chu had no elite troops stationed in the country, why didn't Yue take this opportunity to attack Chu immediately? "

(In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Migrant Soldiers referred to soldiers without armor. Soldiers, Jiashi refers to soldiers wearing armor, and Hu Ben refers to the elite in the army. During the Warring States Period, each country also had its own elite troops. Qin's Qin Ruishi, Wei's Wei Wuzu, Qi's Jijishi, Han's Jishabing, Zhao's Zhaobianqi, Chu's Shenxizhishi, Yan's Yanjianbing)

Yue Wang Si Wuzhuan was a little angry when he first heard it, but slowly he wanted to send troops to attack Chu, and said: "Qi Envoy, although what you said makes some sense, but I am from YueThe country is not peaceful at the moment! It's a little too hasty to start the war just a few years after the migration. Why not wait a few more years? "Tian Zhuo smiled and said, "King of Yue, when Wu attacked Chu, how long did it take from the construction of Gusu City to the attack on Chu?"

Si Wusheng said without thinking, "It took Wu two years to build Gusu City and develop the surrounding canals. After five years of development in the Taihu Lake area, they sent troops to attack Chu, and only took a few months to break through the capital of Chu, Yingdu."

After listening to the words of King Yue, Tian Zhuo said, "It took Wu two years to build Gusu City, and Yue only one year to build Gusu City. The most important thing is that the Taihu Lake area had been developed by Wu for many years before, and Yue didn't need to build canals at all. Now Yue has been recuperating for five years. Wu almost destroyed Chu, so why didn't Yue want to send troops? ”

Yue Wang Si Wuzhuan said again: "The reason why Wu was able to almost destroy Chu was because he had Wu Zixu on the left and Sun Wu on the right, that is, he had wise ministers who could assist him, and military sages to help him conquer the world. Of course, Wu was able to almost destroy Chu! And there are no decent generals in my country of Yue!"

Tian Zhuo laughed and said: "Back then, Wu only used 30,000 people to almost destroy Chu, and all the elite troops of Chu were in the country at that time. Now the elite troops of Chu have gone abroad, leaving only some mobs in the country. Yue has elite troops in hand but dare not send troops to attack Chu! And the King of Yue also said that there are no talented generals in the country. Then, why are there so many generals in the court? According to the King of Yue, the generals in the court are all good-for-nothings! ”

Si Wuzhuan’s face changed drastically when he heard this. He wanted to get angry but couldn’t, because he had just admitted that there were no good generals in Yue. He wanted to refute but couldn’t.

Si Sheng, the prime minister below, saw that the King of Yue could not answer, and hurriedly stood up to smooth things over, saying: “Your Majesty, what the Qi envoy said makes some sense. After all, Chu and my Yue are enemies of each other. Since, according to what the Qi envoy said, Chu’s elite division is not in the country, why don’t we take this opportunity to attack Chu.”

Si Wuzhuan saw that the prime minister helped him smooth things over, and hurriedly said: “The prime minister is right. Since Chu’s elite division is not in the country, and Chu also has a family and national feud with my Yue, and my Yue is also an ally of Qi, it is natural to send troops. Order to send troops to attack Chu in three days! "——The king is wise!

Tian Zhuo also bowed and said: "Thank you, King Yue, for sending troops. I thank you on behalf of Qi!"

Three days later, in a small city on the border between Yue and Chu, the flag of Chu was flying in the air. A captain of the Chu army was holding a chicken leg and drinking wine, looking at the mountains and fields outside.

Suddenly, a large number of troops seemed to be coming a few miles away. The captain hurriedly threw away the chicken leg and wine, looked carefully at the flag in the distance, and was shocked in an instant. He shouted: "Quick! Defend quickly! Yue is attacking! Go and tell the king quickly!" ——Yes. …………

Chu State Court

King Xiong Liangfu of Chu was eating oranges. There were several yellow oranges on a bronze plate. They looked like they had just been picked. Some ice cubes were sprinkled on the plate to cool them down.

Xiong Liangfu saw that the ministers had not started yet, so he smiled and said, "Everyone, eat these oranges just picked from the garden quickly. Don't be restrained!" The ministers hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the food!"

Prime Minister Zhao Xixu took an orange from the plate, helped to open it, and put a piece of flesh into his mouth. His mouth was instantly filled with sweetness. After swallowing, it tasted a little sour, which immediately aroused his appetite. Zhao Xixu smiled and said to Xiong Liangfu: "Your Majesty, the fruits in this garden are delicious! I have never eaten such delicious oranges!"

Xiong Liangfu smiled and said, "Oh, is there no delicious orange in the Prime Minister's own garden?"

Zhao Xixu said quickly: "How can the oranges in my garden be as delicious as the oranges in your garden! The oranges grown by my family are only remnants in front of your oranges! How can they be compared with the king's oranges? "

Xiong Liangfu laughed and said, "Okay, I see that the Prime Minister likes to eat these oranges so much, so I will send a few boxes over!"

Zhao Xixu bowed and said, "Thank you for your gift, Your Majesty!"

At this time, the joy in the court had reached its peak. Xiong Liangfu was about to ask the dancers to come out and dance, when a soldier rushed in and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened, urgent news from the border!" Everyone stopped laughing instantly and looked at the soldier.

Xiong Liangfu waved his hand and said, "Present it!" Xiong Liangfu took the bamboo slips, opened them and read them, then smashed them on the table. With a hint of anger in his eyes, he said, "How dare Yue take advantage of the opportunity to attack Chu! Everyone, this time Yue took advantage of Chu's elite troops being in Qi to attack Chu. Do you have any solution?"

Prime Minister Zhao Xixu stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Huai and Si areas are now within Chu's territory. I think we should call back the Grand Marshal's troops to stop Yue. If we It would be a bit time-consuming to gather the soldiers to defend again, and most of the capable generals in the country have gone with them. At this moment, we can only call back the army of the Grand Marshal! "

Xiong Liangfu nodded after hearing what Prime Minister Wang said. After all, in order to occupy the Huai and Si areas of Qi, Chu sent out all the 100,000 Shenxi troops at once, and in order to cooperate with the Grand Marshal's battle and to train the future outstanding generals of Chu, all the young and middle-aged generals in the court were sent out, leaving only a few old generals. After all, these old generals are already over 60 years old, almost 70.

Xiong Liangfu said: "Immediately order the Jingshe army to return to support immediately and make sure to repel the invading Yue army!"

"——The king is wise!