In fact, Li Ran doesn't need to worry about "Chu's Centenary Plan" at this time.
The King of Chu was ungrateful and stabbed him in the back. If he turned a blind eye at this time, ignored what he heard, and allowed the King of Chu to ruin the reputation of his own palace, and allowed the Chu country to destroy itself, this would be completely reasonable for him. .
However, Li Ran did not choose to remain silent.
Faced with the method proposed by Prince Qiji to garrison the Jianghuai area, and faced with the dirty trick that might ruin the reputation of King Chu, Li Ran immediately chose to dissuade him.
So is he helping King Chu?
No, it's not.
The reason why he did this was more for his own peace of mind.
If you see evil and don't stop doing it, you will do it tenfold. This kind of broad-mindedness is exactly what Sun Wu told him back then.
After hearing what he said, King Chu couldn't help but frowned for a moment, and seemed to agree with what Li Ran said.
They moved Xu people to garrison Jianghuai, and moved the aborigines from Chengfu and Zhoulai into Chu territory. This approach seems to be the best of both worlds.
Not only would these foreigners have to gradually become Chu people, but it would also allow relatively obedient people to defend the most important strategic areas for their Chu country.
But if the King of Chu really did this, what would be the consequences? I'm afraid he himself is unsure.
"What you said is quite reasonable... This matter is really a bit tricky."
He thought for a while, then sighed and nodded helplessly.
When Prince Qiji saw this, his expression suddenly changed and he hurriedly said:
"Brother Wang, although Mr. Ziming's concerns are reasonable, in my opinion, there is no other way to deal with this matter."
"But I don't know what your noble opinion is, sir?"
After Prince Qiji finished his "admonition" to the King of Chu, he suddenly turned sideways and confronted Li Ran beside him.
Don't you want to object to the method I propose?
Okay, can you tell me what other methods are there?
It was not difficult to tell from his words that he felt extremely unhappy and even a little disgusted with Li Ran at this moment.
However, in front of his brother Wang, of course it was inconvenient for him to explain it directly.
"Well, I wonder if you have any concerns, sir?"
After hearing this, King Chu immediately turned his head to look at Li Ran and asked in response.
Li Ran's expression was very dull. His eyes glanced at Wang Zi Qiji's face, and he immediately understood.
So, after thinking for a while, he replied:
"I heard that there are hundreds of hundreds of Yue people in the southern border of Chu State, and each one has his own surname, and the land he owns is very poor. Why doesn't your Majesty consider moving these Baiyue people to the Jianghuai area and giving them good land and farming tools? Come, don’t you get the best of both worlds?”
This method seems to be quite suitable for the current situation of Chu State.
Most of the people in the Chu State were originally educated from the barbarians, so in terms of educating the barbarians, the Chu State did have far more experience than other states.
The method proposed by Li Ran can not only increase the number of people in Chu State, but also solve the problem of garrisoning in the Jianghuai area. It can be said to be the best of both worlds.
But as soon as he finished saying this, he was immediately laughed at coldly by Wang Zi Qiji.
"Haha, sir, that's wrong!"
"Sir, you may not know something. There are indeed many uncivilized barbarians in the southern border of Chu State, but most of these people do not engage in farming and animal husbandry, but make a living by hunting. These people cannot be civilized overnight. . If we follow Mr.’s advice and give the land agricultural tools and teach them to sow and cultivate, how many years will it take for them to learn these things?”
"What's more, we, Chu, are now in the midst of deploying troops, and our Qianqiu achievements are even more imminent. How can we waste so much time on these barbarians?"
"Sir's move, haha, I'm afraid it's just a delaying tactic."
After saying this, Wang Zi Qiji glanced at Li Ran with disdain.
Replacing Xu people with barbarians seems to be a good method, but this method obviously takes too long. Isn't this deliberately intended to delay the process of Chu's struggle for hegemony?
Who knows what plans you, Li Ran, have in mind?
When the King of Chu heard this, he suddenly felt that what his younger brother said was very reasonable, so he turned his attention to Li Ranlai.
"gentlemen……"
But before he could finish speaking, Li Ran immediately spoke:
"Haha, what the prince said is quite right. What I said really seems to be delaying the attack."
"So? What's wrong with this?"
"Prince, don't you think that in ancient times, we used virtuous people without avoiding their enemies externally and without losing their relatives at home?"
"However, he is a foreign minister, and his words are selfish. But for the Chu State, isn't it a good policy? Relocating many people will accumulate deep resentment between the two tribes in one fell swoop. Does the king really want to wait until the war breaks out again? Are you aware of the fallacy of this move?"
Yes, Li Ran simply showed off his cards directly.
He stopped pretending and showed his trump card directly:
It is true that I am from Zhou, but what I said is not for the overall interests of your Chu country? What's wrong with this?
As Li Ran spoke, a hint of disdain for Wang Zi Qiji appeared on his face.
He actually knew very well why Prince Qiji tried so hard to request that Xu people be moved to garrison the Jianghuai area? He didn't even have to think about it. Just by looking at Wang Zi Qiji's eyes, he could see what he was thinking.
At first glance, this method of relocating many people to garrison Jianghuai seemed not inappropriate.
However, if the King of Chu really does this, then the reputation of the King of Chu in the eyes of the Chu people will really plummet.
After all, not all servants can be fooled.
Today many people can be ruthlessly forced by the King of Chu to move to the Jianghuai area, but what about the subjects in other places in the future? What about people like Shen people, Shen people, Zeng people, and even people from Chu State?
Therefore, all Chu people must be thinking: Will one day the fate of many people also fall on them?
Once they have such an idea in their minds, the King of Chu will inevitably be labeled as "tyrannical", and the King of Chu's mass base will naturally plummet.
In other words, Prince Qiji's method seemed to be helping his brother to stabilize the country, but in fact it was inevitably suspected of damaging the public image of the King of Chu.
The reason why Li Ran didn't tell the King of Chu clearly was because this was a matter between the two brothers. What qualifications did he, Li Ran, have to intervene in it?
If it weren't for the innocent face of these people, he wouldn't even bother to say one more word of advice here.
As the saying goes, "You can't be close if you're not close." Of course, the king of Chu must think clearly about the schemes between brothers like them. If others tell the truth from the sidelines, it will inevitably be suspected of sowing discord!
What's more, these words cannot be said when everyone is present.
After hearing this, King Chu nodded slightly again.
King Chu Xiong Wei was not stupid. He certainly knew what Li Ran was thinking, and his intention was by no means as narrow-minded as his brother said.
Moreover, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the method proposed by Li Ran is obviously more appropriate than the method proposed by Wang Ziqiji.
However, he still had some doubts, so he immediately turned his attention to Guan Cong, who had never spoken.
"Ziyu, what do you think about this?"
The spectators on the sidelines never expressed their opinions on this matter from beginning to end, which could not help but make King Chu a little confused.
——
Chapter 261_Qingfeng in Zhongli
In fact, as a close minister of the King of Chu, Guan Cong was the main counselor who always accompanied the King of Chu to advise him before he came to the throne.
After the King of Chu came to the throne, he was appointed Bu Yin, so he rarely appeared in public.
Today, he would come with Prince Qiji to have an audience, which actually surprised the King of Chu.
However, what made King Chu even more puzzled was that Prince Qiji argued with Li Ran for a long time, but neither Guan Cong said a word. What on earth was in his gourd?
"Back to your Majesty, I also think it is inappropriate to move many people at this time."
"Oh? Ziyu thinks so too?"
King Chu was startled when he heard this, and immediately continued to ask.
Prince Qiji, who was standing in front of Guan Cong, was even more stunned after hearing this, and hurriedly turned his head to look at Guan Cong.
Li Ran also frowned slightly.
Apparently none of them expected that Guan Cong would be on Li Ran's side.
Could it be that this Guan Cong is also a person with a righteous heart?
Or does he have other plans?
Just as he was thinking, Guan Cong's voice sounded again.
"Your Majesty, there is another more important thing to do at this time than moving many people."
"Oh? What's the matter?"
King Chu frowned even more tightly.
"Capture Zhongli and kill Qingfeng!"
When Guan Cong said these eight words categorically, the hall fell into a moment of silence.
Who is Qingfeng?
Qingfeng, the former high-ranking official of Qi State, once made great achievements in supporting Chujiu (Qi Jinggong) who is now the Marquis of Qi.
Why do you say he is "the former senior official of Qi State"?
This is a long story.
It turns out that after Qingfeng and Cui Zhu killed Duke Zhuang of Qi at that time, they jointly supported the current Marquis of Qi and controlled the state affairs of Qi. Later, Qingfeng used treacherous tactics to get rid of Cui Zhu. He became the de facto talker in Qi State.
However, just when his power was at its peak, he suddenly encountered a joint counterattack by the Tian, Bao, Luan, Gao and other clans of Qi State. His son Qingtou was killed, and he had to flee to Wu alone. country.
Later, for some unknown reason, he was canonized in Zhongli by the former King of Wu Zhufan, and he became the king of Zhongli. This is the reason why Qingfeng is the "former senior official of Qi State".
But these don't seem to have any direct connection with the Chu State, and why did Guan Cong say that killing Qingfeng was more important than relocating Xu people?
Because it is obvious that Qingfeng is now sealed in Zhongli by Wu State, which is really not a good thing for Chu State.
"I learned that after Qingfeng went to Wu State, the strength of Wu State was increasing day by day. The reason why Zhufan, the former king of Wu, dared to lead troops to invade Shu Jiu, must be because of Qingfeng's contribution!"
"Oh? Then why did Qingfeng support Wu so much after he went to Wu?"
"Returning to the king, this is all because Qingfeng is in charge of the Zhongli area and sits on the great city of Zhufang. This city is sandwiched between Wu State and Song Lu. I think it is very likely that Wu State is taking advantage of This city serves as a springboard to replenish military supplies for the Wu State, thereby strengthening the strength of the Wu State and making it a sharp blade to check and balance our Chu State!"
"I see... This is indeed not a good thing for our country of Chu."
As the spy chief of the Chu State, Guan Cong naturally knew all this information.
And when these words were said so eloquently, no one else could find any flaws. Even Li Ran couldn't help but nod slightly.
However, Guan Cong obviously hasn't finished speaking yet. He didn't say anything after seeing King Chu, but continued:
"I think that if our Chu country wants to destroy Wu, we must first capture Zhongli!"
"Although we now occupy the favorable terrain in the Jianghuai area, we have not fundamentally harmed the foundation of the Wu State. Once the Wu State continues to grow through this and continues to receive supplies shipped from the Central Plains countries, then The State of Wu will definitely become a serious problem for our State of Chu in the future!"
"At that time, if we want to destroy Wu again, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reach the sky."
The reason why Guan Cong was able to become the confidant of King Chu was that he had extraordinary foresight.
And he can always sniff out the factors that are detrimental to Chu State from all kinds of trivial information. And these words just now are the best proof.
What he said was really accurate and reasonable.
If the Chu State wants to destroy the Wu State, then capturing Zhongli and killing Qingfeng are the first things to do now.
Otherwise, if we wait for those Zhou people in the Central Plains to continuously replenish supplies for the Wu Kingdom, and wait for the Wu Kingdom to truly grow, we will be in endless trouble.
Although what is said is reasonable, how difficult is it to actually do it?
Yes, taking down Zhongli is easier said than done?
The country of Zhongli is far northeast of Chu State, very far away from the hinterland of Chu State. Therefore, if the Chu State wanted to capture that place, it would have to wait for Zhongli and the Wu State to react and make full preparations, unless they resorted to a thousand-mile attack. Then I'm afraid, taking down Zhongli will just become a joke.
Moreover, the previous Battle of Shujiu was already a difficult battle for the Chu State, let alone Zhu Fang City, which was farther away than Shujiu and easier to defend and harder to attack.
The north of Zhongli State is directly connected to Song State and Xu State, and Qingfeng is far away from Zhufang City. This city relies on the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack.
As I said before, if the Chu State wants to capture Zhongli, with the current strength of the Chu State, the only way they can fight is to launch a thousand-mile attack. And this also means that the number of troops that Chu State can dispatch must not be too large. Because you can't count on all the supplies you need wherever you go.
However, when facing Zhu Fang City, if the Chu State cannot encircle the city with ten times the strength and just want to attack the city from one side, it is undoubtedly a dream.
This becomes a dilemma.
Moreover, what is even more terrible is that at this time, the Chu State had forced Wu King Zhufan to death, which was considered to have established a relationship with other princes.
Therefore, once the Jin State takes this as an excuse to hold an alliance, and takes advantage of Chu State's opportunity to send troops to Zhongli to send troops southward, and stage a drama of "surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao" for Chu State, then Chu State will really have gone far. .
Therefore, this matter sounds like nothing, but in actual operation, it is far from that simple.
"This matter... I'm afraid it won't be easy."
King Chu took a deep breath, looked at his followers, then returned to the throne and sat down.
"Zhu Fang City is easy to defend but difficult to attack, but our soldiers have to rush thousands of miles to attack, and they also have to guard against the north..."
At this point, King Chu did not continue speaking, but frowned and shook his head.
Zhongli, where Qingfeng is located, is indeed a great threat to Chu State now.
But if the King of Chu is really determined to attack Zhongli, I'm afraid he will have to spend a lot of money to do it.
"What the king said is true."
"However, this matter must be done now!"
"Because now is the time when the morale of Wu State is at its lowest. If we don't take action at this time, it will be even more difficult for us to capture Zhongli once Wu State recovers."
Yes, now is indeed the best time to attack Zhongli. If we don't do it now, then when will we wait?
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
original:
Qing granted the seal to Wu Zhongli, but why did he not say anything about attacking Zhongli? Not Feng Wu. Why did Qing grant him the title of Qi? To discuss together. ——"The Legend of Guliang·The Fourth Year of Duke Zhao"
