Xiyi is not so much a feudal town as it is a pass for garrisoning troops.
Outside the city is a rugged hill. An official road that can accommodate two military vehicles running side by side extends from the east gate of Xiyi to the state of Ju.
At this moment, the hills on both sides of the official road were covered with camps from Ju and Zhu, as if covered with a layer of snow velvet, and they were completely white.
The combined forces of Ju and Zhu have been surrounding Xiyi for ten days.
Sun Wu suffered from the fact that Ju and Zhu had too few siege equipment. When he encountered this deep and strong city, and the Ji family's army who desperately resisted in a desperate situation, he gradually lost confidence.
Just when he was at a loss and preparing to make additional arrangements in the big tent, suddenly, a messenger came from outside the tent, saying he was from Jin.
Sun Wu knew that the news must be from Li Ran, so he quickly called him into the tent.
"Ji has dedicated the city."
Sun Wu was shocked when he saw these four simple and clear words on the piece of bamboo. He immediately raised his eyes towards the north and murmured:
“He really did it!…”
Originally, he did not believe that Li Ran could bring back the cities of Ju and Zhu in the Jin Kingdom. Because he felt that in matters related to the territory and city, even if Ji Sunsu suffered a setback in the Jin Kingdom, he would definitely fight to the end. In the end, he would still have to rely on force and fists to speak.
But he never expected that just halfway through the fight, at the most difficult moment, Ji's family actually surrendered completely, just as Li Ran had planned with him before.
This couldn't help but make him admire Li Ran even more. It can be seen that sometimes strategy is more effective than military.
"What a 'strategist'!"
After getting the news, Sun Wu did not dare to stay, and immediately sent people into Yiyi to persuade Ji Sun Yiru to surrender.
…
Xiyi city tower.
Ji Sun Yiru was standing on the top of the city tower in Yiyi, looking at the Juchu Allied Forces camp that stretched for dozens of miles below.
His face was full of gloom, and his eyes were full of hatred and anger, but unfortunately he had no way to vent it.
"Young Master, are you sure you want to dedicate the city?"
This time, Ji Sun Yiru came to garrison in Yiyi along with several other officials of the Ji family. Although they were not from the Ji family, the interests of the entire Ji family were closely related to them.
When they learned that the young master was actually offering to surrender the city in exchange for Ji Sunsu back, everyone immediately seemed a little depressed.
"The Marquis of Jin openly detained my lord this time. It must have been because of someone's instigation. Even if we return the land of Ju and Zhu to them, I am afraid that the sect master may not be able to return home safely. Young master, please think twice!"
"Yes, Yi Ru, this matter is no small matter. Once you are discouraged, everything will be lost! How can I, the Ji family, raise my head in the country in the future? This must be what the lord is worried about!"
"However, fortunately, the monarch is still under our control. Although Xiancheng has been humiliated at this time, as long as there are no mistakes on the lord's side, we will always be able to make a comeback in the future."
There are many people who are worried about Ji's future, but there are also many people who support Ji Sun Yiru.
They thought that they still controlled Marquis Lu at this time, and they naively thought that Marquis Lu was still just that naive and playful person. Therefore, they naively believed that as long as they could continue to control the government of Lu, the Ji family would not be defeated.
Therefore, for them, the real question is that if they surrender the city at this time, can they rescue their sect leader Ji Sunsu?
Regarding this issue, Ji Sun Yiru also had his own thoughts.
"Everyone, I have made my mind up. Please don't say any more words."
"My grandfather suffered in Jin Dynasty, how can I just sit back and ignore it? If there is something wrong with his old man, what should I, the Ji family, do?"
At this time, Ji Sun Yiru seemed to be concerned and confused.
In exchange for his grandfather who was trapped in the Jin Kingdom, Ji Sun Yiru would not hesitate to give up the capital Feiyi, not to mention a few cities.
Because without Ji Sunsu's approval for the position of leader of the Ji clan, the undercurrent within the clan would probably not subside. For example, his uncle Ji Sunhai has returned to China.
And of course he also knew that even if he returned the cities of Ju and Zhu, Jin would not necessarily let Ji Sunsu go. Therefore, he quickly wrote another letter to Zi Fujiao.
At this time, all he could count on was Dr. Zifu, who had always had a good relationship with Jin.
"Zifujiao is an eloquent speaker. It would be best if he could use this in exchange for the sect master returning to his country."
"But what I'm worried about is that it's said that the Marquis of Jin Lei Lei is so angry this time that Zi Fujiao alone may not be able to achieve results just by lobbying."
Of course they knew Zifujiao's abilities.
However, the Marquis of Jin had not been involved in government affairs for many years, and this time he took Ji Sunsu into custody. This was a surprise to everyone. Faced with such a dilemma, can Zifujiao really be able to persuade him?
"I hope Mr. Zifu will not disappoint us."
Ji Sun Yiru looked at the northern sky, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
...
At the same time, in the northwest, Jiangcheng of Jin State.
After Zi Fujiao got the news about Ji Sun Yiru, he immediately put things in order. Not caring about the distinction between upper and lower, he barged straight in from the main gate of Han Mansion in a majestic way.
Han Zhongjun had just returned from the court and had not yet had time to change his clothes. But when he saw Lu Guozi Fu Jiao walking straight towards him in a domineering manner, he was also startled.
"Oh? Doctor Zifu, if you come here today, I'm afraid you will come back empty-handed."
Before Zi Fujiao could open his mouth, Han Qi gave him a slap in the face.
After all, the first two people Ji sent to contact him were all Zi Fujiao. Therefore, Han Qi also knew the purpose of Fujiao's visit.
I saw that he was very embarrassed and continued:
"This matter is decided by the monarch alone, and we have no right to interfere at the moment."
The detention of Ji Sunsu was an order personally issued by the Marquis of Jin. Although Han Qi was the deacon on behalf of Zhao Wu, he naturally had difficulty in fighting against this order from the Marquis. If he is caught by other colleagues in the future, wouldn't it be another serious crime?
If it were an ordinary person, most of them would be anxious after hearing this.
But Zifujiao did have two brushes. How could he be completely unprepared when he came this time?
Even though Han Qi had spoken beforehand, his face was still calm, without any disturbance.
"In any case, I hope Han Zhongjun will listen to what I say next."
After all, Han Qi was a little apologetic at this time, so he did not interrupt him and let Zi Fujiao continue.
"The meeting of Pingqiu, the alliance of princes, is to unite the princes here with faith. And the state of Jin is the leader of the alliance who upholds justice in the world."
"The Lu State came all the way to participate in the alliance because of the great righteousness of the alliance leader. But now Dr. Ji Sun is detained in public by the Jin State. Where is the faith of the Jin State? Where is the righteousness of the alliance leader?"
After saying this, Zi shook his head slightly, as if he was a little disappointed.
Han Qi was slightly startled when he saw this and sighed:
"Speaking of which, it's strange for you and others. The Ji family invaded the city of Juhu and violated the Song alliance first. Now they have contradicted the prince in person, and the following offenses are the last. This cannot be justified by the word 'faithfulness'. "
The meaning of his words was obvious. The mistake Ji Sunsu made was no longer a matter of trust and disloyalty. Are you still justified in occupying the territory of other people's cities and towns? You also contradict me in person. Since you know that I am the leader of the alliance, do you still have the guts to contradict me? Isn't this just seeking death? If the Jin State doesn't do this to you, it will really lose its status as leader of the alliance.
Zi Fujiao's face looked thoughtful, and after a moment he shook his head and said:
"No."
"In the past, during the Luan clan's rebellion, the Qi people took advantage of the situation and captured Chaoge. The emperor did not dare to stand idly by, so he sent his uncle Sunbao to lead the entire army, marching in unison, and joined forces to attack the Qi army in Yong and Chongqing. They pinned down and captured the Qi army. Yan Lai of Qi State, our army did not dare to lead the army back to the country until the Qi army retreated. Did the Jin State just forget about what happened back then?"
Zi Fujiao's thinking was very clear. The matter of detaining Ji Sunsu must be dealt with in terms of diplomatic incidents between countries. Rather than just targeting one family alone. In other words, the situation must be described as more serious.
"What I am saying below is not to emphasize the past achievements of Lu State, but to tell Han Zhongjun that Lu State is close to Qi State and relatively weak. You can drive from Qi State in the morning and reach Lu State in the evening, but Lu State is The country was not afraid of Qi's aggression before, but was determined to share its fate with Jin."
"Because only in this way is it beneficial to the country of Lu."
Good guy, Zi Fujiao's move of bringing a corpse back to life is amazing. Who is in charge of Lu State now? It's the Ji family. Which one is closer, Qi or Jin? It's the state of Qi. Then can the Ji family of Lu State change their stance and join Qi State? The answer is yes.
At this point, Zi Fujiao's expression changed, and he looked at Han Qi with deep worry on his face, only to hear him continue:
"Now that the Marquis of Jin has abandoned the State of Lu by listening to the lies of the kings of Ju and Zhu, I would like to ask the princes in the world in the future, who will dare to obey the orders of the Marquis of Jin, and who will accept Jin as the overlord? To say the least, even Ju , the two countries of Zhu are indeed reasonable, but how can they compare with our country of Lu?"
"Ju and Zhu are just a group of barbarians, and our country, Lu, is a country where the Zhou royal family continues to be orthodox to this day. All the etiquette in the world comes from Lu!"
"Is it that our Lu State is close to the Jin State, or that Ju and Zhu are close to the Jin State? Don't Han Zhongjun know? To punish the Lu State, which has a close relationship with the Jin State, for the sake of two barbarians, Han Zhongjun and the Jin Marquis are also invited You can think about the benefits and losses again."
Good guy, another good guy. At this time, Zifujiao came up with the identity of "our country of Lu is a country with the surname Ji". You must know that more than half of the princes in the world have the surname Ji. The implication is that although your Jin Kingdom is as fierce as a tiger at the moment, what you will lose in the future will be the support of the Ji surnamed country in the world.
That being said, let’s weigh it carefully.
After saying these words, Zi Fujiao resigned and left. He didn't even wait to see if Han Qi's attitude would change.
It can be seen that he is extremely confident.
After hearing these words, Han Qi also fell into deep worry.
Of course he understood what Zi Fujiao meant and the seriousness of the matter. He went outside the door again and took a look at the several carts of belongings left by Zi Fujiao. He also knew that the Ji family would never be able to recover from the fall. In the end, wouldn't Han Qi have to take care of this international reputation?
At the same time, Han Qi also had to consider Jin Hou's final attitude towards this matter.
I thought about it again and again, but to no avail. He had no choice but to go to Sheep Tongue's place again, thinking that he would discuss it with Sheep Tongue again.
At the Yangyan Mansion, after Yangyuji learned about Han Qi's intention, he said disapprovingly:
"Isn't Li Ziming's meaning clear enough that day? Ji Sunsu will never let him go easily."
Yang Tongue's attitude was very firm, just like Li Ran's attitude before.
Hearing this, Han Qi couldn't help but hesitate and said:
"In the end, Li Ziming is just a guest. If we help him like this, what good will it do to our country, Jin?"
Although Han Qi was respectful to Li Ran, he still knew the importance of things that were closely related to this relationship.
Sheeptongue glanced at him and said in confusion:
"Does Han Zhongjun still think that Li Ziming is just a guest?"
"You must know that he went to the State of Lu for only a year. However, within this short period of one year, the politics of the State of Lu was turbulent. What incident had nothing to do with him, Li Ran? If we talk about Shusun Bao, Ji Sunsu is Lu Among the powers in the country, it is better to say that he, Li Ran, is the one who stirs up the storm."
"The Chinese army must not underestimate him!"
The benefits that can be brought by helping Li Ran are invisible to the naked eye. This is indeed a long-term investment.
Han Qi was startled when he heard the sound, and then said in surprise:
"Oh? This person actually has such abilities?"
Sheeptongue rolled her eyes at him and said calmly:
"This person's realm is absolutely extraordinary."
