The Great Wei Empire in the Warring States Period

Tian Zhuo led his troops through the Chu Kingdom and finally arrived in the Ba Kingdom after more than a month's journey. Passing through a city of Ba Kingdom. Looking at the small and dilapidated city, his younger brother Tian Fei asked:"Brother, is this the country of Ba? It seems that they are too poor. How long has it been? The city doesn't even have a decent tower." No!"

Tian Zhuo glanced at Tian Fei and said:"The country of Ba itself is mainly mountainous, with few plains, so the cities of Ba will naturally not be built very big. Their people mainly live in villages on the mountains, but when they arrive The situation is different in Jiangzhou, the capital of Ba Kingdom. Jiangzhou is still relatively large."

Tian Fei asked again:"Brother, have you been to Jiangzhou before?"

Tian Zhuo replied:"I went to Jiangzhou before when doing business, and there are The customs in Ba are very different from ours. The clothes and food of the Ba people are very different. Their food is more sour and spicy, and the wine is stronger. Moreover, their houses have people living on top and livestock on the bottom. It is still difficult to reach the capital of Ba. It will take a while, so we have to go to the inn to stay. It may be a bit smelly, so bear with it!"

Tian Fei was surprised when she heard this:"What! Living in the same house with animals! Brother, they are too barbaric!"

Tian Fei was surprised! Zhuo replied,"You forced yourself to come here. I didn't drag you here. Since you've come, you have to settle down and abide by their customs!"

Tian Zhuo looked at the sky and said,"It's already getting a little dark. It's late, let's go to a nearby village to seek shelter!"——yes.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally found a village. They saw that the village was tightly protected by a wall. The entire village was square in shape, and the walls were made of mud. There was a turret on each side, and the entrance to the village. There are also two enemy towers for defense, and there is a gatehouse at the entrance of the village!

Tian Fei looked at such a solid village and asked:"Brother, are you sure this is just a village and not a city?"

Tian Zhuo felt that Tian Fei was like a person who had never seen the world:"This is their village. Do you think their villages have no defense? Although the villages in Ba are not as big as cities, their defense system is still very complete!"

Tian Zhuo led everyone into the village. There were soldiers guarding both sides of the village. Tian Fei saw Those soldiers from the Eight Kingdoms raised their strange armors and asked:"Brother, their armors are so strange. Why do they look like they are made of rattan?" Tian Zhuo explained:"The mineral resources here in Ba are relatively scarce, so The main thing they wear is rattan armor. Don't underestimate this rattan armor. Although they are made of rattan, their toughness is no less than copper and iron!" After entering the village, Tian Fei saw that the Ba people were dressed like Strangely enough, their men's hair is actually tied up in tapered buns and wrapped with bandanas, like two bows stacked on top of each other. The women's clothing is also very strange, especially the bun in the front and the bun in the back. The hair hangs directly on the back of the head, and the decorations on the hair are actually made of shells and bones!

Tian Fei felt disgusted and said to Tian Zhuo:"Brother, I really can't stand it anymore. Why are they dressed in such weird clothes? They are completely inconsistent with the clothes of us Central Plains people. They are indeed barbarians!" He looked at their houses again. People live on top, and all kinds of livestock are raised below! Tian Fei thought: Are these people not civilized yet? Still living in a house like this!

(In ancient times, the houses in the Ba Kingdom were stilted houses, with people living on top and livestock below! During the Warring States Period, houses in various countries in the Central Plains no longer used stilted houses. During the Warring States Period, the recognized barbarian countries were Shu and Ba. Kingdom, Ju Kingdom, Zhongshan Kingdom and Yue Kingdom.)

Tian Zhuo glared at him and said:"Shut your mouth, since you are here, you must follow their customs. I don't want our mission to fail just because of you."!""I know, brother!" Tian Lin whispered.

An old man stepped forward and looked at his clothes. He should be the owner of this village. This man also wore a jade pendant and a sword around his waist. He cupped his hands towards Tian Zhuo and said,"I don't know. Who are you all, and why do you come to my village?" Tian Zhuo also quickly raised his hands and said,"I am from Qi State. I am here to pay homage to King Ba, so I would like to stay overnight. Can you?" The old man heard this. Then he smiled and said:"Of course, I'm a distinguished guest!"

Tian Zhuo and others were led by their father-in-law to a tall house. There were pigs under the house. Tian Fei felt disgusted and did not dare to step into the house. Guilty. When Tian Zhuo saw Tian Fei's appearance, he directly took his hand and pulled him in!

The old man hurriedly said:"Dear guests, you go ahead and I'll prepare the food!" Tian Zhuo and others knelt down at the table. When the food was served, Tian Fei saw that the meat was not cut and the wine was not filtered. (In ancient times, wine had to be filtered through bract grass.) Tian Fei didn’t want to drink the turbid wine anymore! The old man actually sat down on the straw mat, with his feet facing them directly and said:"Dear guests, please eat!" Tian Zhuo filled the wine glass and said:"Thank you, sir! I cannot thank you enough!" Then he drank it all in one gulp.. After seeing this, Tian Fei had no choice but to pick up the wine glass and drink it all in one gulp.

Early the next morning, Tian Zhuo and others went to Jiangzhou, the capital of Ba. Along the way, almost all roads in Pakistan are plank roads! Do all carriage teams travel on mountain roads? Some roads are even more than a hundred meters above the ground. Tian Fei felt miserable in her heart. If she had known this, she would not have come!

After walking for an unknown amount of time, we finally arrived at Jiangzhou, the capital of Pakistan. Tian Fei looked at the tall city walls and solid towers! I thought to myself: I finally came to a normal place! As a result, when I walked in, I saw that the houses inside were still occupied by people living on the upper floors and raising animals on the lower floors. Tian Fei was dumbfounded. This was the capital city, but the houses were still like this! Could it be that their palace is like this too?

Later, Tian Zhuo and others came to the palace and finally had a decent house! Tian Zhuo said to the soldiers guarding the palace gate:"Sir, please tell your monarch that the special envoy of Qi is here to see you!" When the soldier heard that it was the special envoy of Qi, he quickly said:"It turns out to be the special envoy of Qi. Immediately go and report to our king!" King Ba was drinking and having fun in the court hall of the Ba Kingdom. A guard came in hurriedly and said:"Your Majesty, the special envoy of the State of Qi has come to see you!" When King Ba heard that it was the special envoy of the State of Qi, he hurriedly explain："Quickly invite the special envoy of Qi State to come in!

After a while, Tian Zhuo and others entered the court hall and worshiped:"The envoys of Qi State pay their respects to King Ba!" King Ba asked:"The envoy of Qi State doesn't know what your envoy is doing here?"

Tian Zhuo replied:"I am here to promote the reconciliation of relations between Pakistan and Qin!" King Ba looked unhappy when he heard this:"The State of Qin has always been at odds with our State of Ba. It is impossible for our State of Ba to reconcile with Qin!" Tian

Zhuo said calmly:"Your Majesty, I am here not to promote the reconciliation between Ba and Qin, but also to save Ba from the danger of national subjugation!" When King Ba heard this, he felt a little panicked and said quickly:"Envoy of Qi State, why do you say that our country of Ba is in danger of subjugation?" Tian Zhuo said loudly:"

Your Majesty, I heard that Chu sends troops to attack Ba every one or two years, and enters Ba every year." I wonder if it is possible to capture the people of Qiba? When King Ba heard this, he sighed and said,"It is indeed as your envoy said, Chu State wants to destroy Ba State every day!" Tian Zhuo then said:"

Your Majesty, do you know that the Chu State has formed an alliance with the Wei State?" Wei is the most powerful country in the world. Now that Chu and Wei have formed an alliance, no country in the world will be their opponent. And Ba is a country that Chu has always wanted to annex. Now Chu has the support of Wei. So is Pakistan not in danger of national subjugation?"

When King Ba heard this, he thought that if Chu and Wei formed an alliance, Chu would be able to annex other countries unscrupulously. He quickly stood up and asked:"Then what should our Ba country do according to what your envoy said? Tian

Zhuo replied:"Force an alliance with our Qi State. Our Qi State has already formed an alliance with the Qin State. As long as our three kingdoms are in alliance, then we don't have to be afraid of the alliance between the Chu State and the Wei State. And once the Chu State attacks the Ba State, Then Qin can also send troops to help Ba. Isn’t this good? Therefore, I hope that Ba can have good relations with Qin, establish an alliance, and work with Qi to deal with the alliance headed by Wei! This will prevent Pakistan from being in danger of national subjugation! After hearing this

, King Ba thought for a while and asked again:"But envoy Qi, Qin may not necessarily form an alliance with Ba!" Tian

Zhuo smiled and said:"I absolutely guarantee that as long as King Ba sends an envoy to Qin and makes good relations with Qin, Qin will definitely agree!" If Qin does not agree, we Qi can also put pressure on Qin! After hearing this, King

Ba immediately said:"Okay, our country, Ba, is willing to form an alliance with Qi and Qin!""

As soon as King Ba finished speaking, Badanmu, the minister on the side, stood up and said:"Your Majesty, we cannot form an alliance with Qi and Qin. Wei is now powerful. If we form an alliance with Qin and Qi, we will definitely be attacked by Wei. If we take revenge, then our country of Pakistan will really be in danger of national subjugation! I think we should form an alliance with the State of Wei, and let the State of Wei mediate our relationship with the State of Chu! King Ba couldn't make up his mind for a moment, and Tian Zhuo laughed loudly and said,"Your Majesty, have you heard of the story about which of the two is the lesser?"

King Ba nodded and said,"I heard, what's the matter?" Tian

Zhuo explained:"Even if Ba and Wei form an alliance, if Chu must annex Ba, do you think Wei will favor Ba or Chu?" A strong Chu State can provide Wei with more support, while a weak Ba State can provide very little support. Do you think Wei will support Chu? Or do you support Pakistan? Moreover, the Wei State will definitely not offend the powerful Chu State because of the survival of the Ba State, because the utilization value of the Chu State is far greater than that of the Ba State! When King Ba heard this, he felt that it was indeed reasonable. He quickly picked up a pen and wrote an imperial edict, saying:"We, the country of Ba, have decided to form an alliance with Qi and Qin!" Tian Zhuo added:"Just to express our friendship with Qi, I specially donated three thousand gold to King Ba, and there are also two beauties!" Upon hearing this, King Ba immediately beamed with joy and said,"Envoy Qi is interested. If someone comes, why not prepare a room for Envoy Qi to take a bath!""——yes.

A few months have passed, and the Qin State has almost become a mess. Qin Gong Yingshi Xi received letters from all over the country, which said that a large number of people were suffering from edema, and hoped that Qin Gong would solve the salt problem as soon as possible! Yingshi Xi picked up the bamboo slips beside him and threw them on the ground! He shouted loudly:"God, why do you want our Qin country to suffer such a disaster!" At this time, the guard on the side came in and said:"Your Majesty, the envoy of the Ba Kingdom came to see you!" When Yingshi Xi heard this, Ba The envoy from the state came to see me and asked quickly:"The envoy from the state of Ba came to see me. What's the matter?" The guard quickly said:"Your Majesty, the envoy from the state of Ba has come to form an alliance with our country, Qin!"Ying Shixi was very excited because he was finally saved! He quickly said:"Hurry up and invite the Pakistani envoy to come in, and use the highest standards!"——yes!

The envoy of the Ba Kingdom felt very strange. Why did the Qin State welcome him with such high standards? You must know that the title of the Ba Kingdom was only a viscount, but he came to welcome him directly with the courtesy of a duke! I was also very confused inside.

After the envoy of Ba came in, he bowed and said,"The envoy of Ba has met Duke Qin!"

Duke Qin quickly said,"Did the envoy of Ba come to form an alliance with Qin?"

Ba Chen replied,"I do have the basis for this." My king has ordered us to come and form an alliance with Qin!"

Qin Gong said quickly:"Okay, our Qin country is willing to form an alliance with Ba! From now on, Ba will be our brother country of Qin! If Ba is in trouble, our Qin will The first one to help Ba."

Ba envoy was surprised to see Qin Gong so excited. What happened to Qin? Are you agreeing to form an alliance with Pakistan so soon? The envoy of the State of Ba added:"To show our friendship with the State of Ba, I would like to donate fifty carts of salt to Duke Qin!"

When Duke Qin heard that there was so much salt, he said happily:"I wonder if this will make our Qin State able to do so?" Is it possible to conduct trade with Ba?"

The envoy of Ba replied:"Of course, we, Ba, can agree to open the Ziwu Road and allow Qin to enter our Ba for business! However, my king requires that Qin needs 500 war horses. Give me the country of Ba!"

When Duke Qin heard this, the Ziwu Road was finally opened and closed. You must know that this Ziwu Road has been closed for hundreds of years. Here, a fortress, Yifeng City, was also built on the Ziwu Road. This city is to guard the pass of Ziwu Road. This city was built to prevent Qin. Now it is finally opened and closed. If you just ask for war horses, Qin will give it easily.

You must know that the Qin State originally raised horses for the Zhou royal family, so the Qin State has no shortage of war horses, not to mention five hundred, even five thousand will be fine! The Duke of Qin immediately agreed:"Okay, I, the State of Qin, are willing to give the State of Ba five hundred war horses! In order to show the State of Qin's sincerity, I, the State of Qin, are willing to give a thousand-mile horse to King Ba!"

The envoy of the State of Ba felt that Why has Qin changed so much now? He immediately agreed to provide five hundred war horses, and also promised to send a thousand-mile horse! Is the king of Qin out of his mind? The envoy of Ba State quickly raised his hands and said:"Thank you Duke Qin!"

Duke Qin was very happy. Once the Ziwu Road was opened, Wei's blockade of Qin would be just a show. Qin could pass Ziwu Road to Qin. Countries in the world are trading!

In Tian Ji's house, Tian Ji saw Sun Bin playing chess with Sun Sheng again. Tian Ji came over and said,"Mr. Sun Bin's matter has been completed. Wei's blockade has been broken. Now, Wei's blockade is equivalent to decoration! Sun

Bin put down the chess pieces and said with a smile:"Brother Tian Ji, now that the matter is done, we, the Qi State, should take a good rest and recuperate. We also need to tell the merchants of the Qi State to go to Qin State to trade more! We also need to tell our people secretly Give weapons to Qin! We, Qi, must help Qin. As long as Qin helps us hold back Wei, then the day when Qi will dominate the world is just around the corner!"

Tian Ji seems to have seen the moment when Qi will dominate the world! He quickly said:"I'm going to prepare now!"