When Li Ran decided to do something without hesitation, even if the Heavenly King and the Jade Emperor joined forces, they would not be able to stop him, let alone Yang Tongue.
Therefore, Li Ran's attitude in replying to Yang Tongui's letter was also very firm. After all, Zhongli State hid a big secret that affected the world. Therefore, capturing Qingfeng was a must-win for Li Ran.
What's more, after all, it concerns the Ji family of Lu State, the enemy of life and death, and Li Ran can't change his mind just because of a letter from Yang Tongue.
And just a few days after he replied to Yang Yanji, Prince Qiji's diplomatic mission also returned to Chu as scheduled.
"Greetings to your Majesty, my dear brother. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my destiny! I will return as if I were a member of the Jin Dynasty."
"The Marquis of Jin has already agreed to this Chu-Jin marriage. Jin Zhengqing's general Han Qi will soon represent the Kingdom of Jin and send the daughter of the Marquis of Jin to the Kingdom of Chu to marry the king!"
The marriage between Chu and Jin was the first time in the history of both countries.
Such a marriage naturally shows that the Chu State has now become a superpower that all the countries in the Central Plains have to recognize.
And after the marriage between Chu and Jin, Chu's status as the world's hegemon will naturally be further improved.
The King of Chu was overjoyed. He had devoted his life to improving Chu's international influence, and now he was able to force Jin to marry him, although for the Chu people, it was indeed a bit of a "submission of weakness". But no matter what, for everyone to recognize him as the leader of the alliance, this honor can be said to be glorious through the ages!
"color!"
"Brother Ji has lived up to everyone's high expectations and deserves a heavy reward!"
So, in front of all the ministers, he gave his brother Prince Qiji the highest reward.
Now, no matter how much the King of Chu rewards Prince Qiji, Li Ran will no longer find it strange.
At this moment, he already understood the good intentions behind King Chu.
The more King Xiong Wei of Chu praises Prince Qiji, the more he will pave the way for Prince Qiji in the future. A hundred years later, Prince Qiji will be able to inherit the throne more naturally and become the next generation of King of Chu.
In Zhanghuatai, all the ministers were encouraged by the marriage between Chu and Jin. Whether they were the radicals who were loyal to the King of Chu or the conservatives who had always been resentful of the King of Chu, everyone was happy at this moment.
After all, when it comes to dealing with the outside world in a unified manner, the entire Chu State appears to be particularly united.
Then, taking advantage of this joy, the King of Chu hosted a banquet for his officials again.
And at this banquet, King Chu pretended to be drunk and deliberately tested Li Ran again.
I saw the King of Chu drinking all the wine in the cup, then holding the empty cup and saying to the ministers:
"Everyone! I have something to say. I hope you will listen carefully!"
"The Kingdom of Jin is our enemy!"
"It is said that the people they will come to see off at that time are Han Qi, the senior minister, and Shu Xiang, the senior doctor. These two people are known to have great names, so what if we castrate Han Qi! Let him be a servant to serve the few, and Letting Shuxiang be the palace minister in this chapter of Huatai should be enough to humiliate the Jin Kingdom, right?"
Letting the ruling minister of the Jin Dynasty serve as a waiter and the famous diplomat Yang Yangui as the palace minister, this is probably the most genius and craziest idea that King Xiong Wei of Chu has ever had in his life.
Even the officials at the banquet suddenly became speechless after hearing this. The originally lively banquet suddenly became silent. No one dared to come forward to answer.
It's not that they don't know how to answer, it's that they don't dare to answer at all.
After all, this idea is too crazy, it can be said that it is crazy enough.
What method can't be used to humiliate Jin?
You have to attack these two people. Are you not forcing Jin State to turn against you?
Even if you meant it as a joke, it was a bit too much.
Once these words were spread and reached the ears of the Marquis of Jin, wouldn't they be deliberately looking for excuses not to come?
All the officials present at the banquet were well aware of the danger of this idea. Therefore, it was extremely rare for them to unanimously remain silent.
Only Li Ran, as the only foreign minister present, was quite disapproving.
Li Ran smiled faintly, his face full of noncommittal expression.
"Of course you can. As long as the king is prepared, what's wrong? You can't humiliate an ordinary person without being prepared, let alone humiliate a country."
"It's just that? I heard that the Holy King was only committed to promoting etiquette, but he never thought about how to humiliate others. And what about the country's failure? It is because of the loss of this normal way that the country's disaster will occur."
"For example, in the Battle of Chengpu, the Jin State became arrogant because of its victory and failed to defend against the Chu State, so it was eventually defeated by the Chu State in Bi. However, after the Chu State experienced the Battle of Bi, the Chu State won and did not defend against the Jin State. , so they suffered another defeat in Yanling. Since the Battle of Yanling, the Jin State has not lost its guard against the Chu State. It is still polite to the Chu State and regards peace as the most important thing. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Chu State cannot retaliate. . Moreover, now that the other party is here to send the daughter of the Marquis of Jin into the country, and the king wants to humiliate them, he is looking for an enemy!"
"May I ask how the king wants to guard against them? If these kings have thought clearly, then it is not impossible to humiliate them. But if not, please think about it carefully. The Jin Kingdom now respects the king as the leader of the alliance. The king proposed to the Kingdom of Jin, and the Marquis of Jin sent his daughter. Moreover, the Marquis of Jin personally escorted her out of the city, and asked Shang Qing and Shang Dafu to personally deliver her to the Kingdom of Chu. If the King wants to humiliate them like this, the King needs to do it sooner. Make plans!”
Li Ran knew that King Chu was deliberately testing him.
Test what?
Of course, it was to test whether he was on the side of Chu or Jin.
So Li Ran's answer can be said to be watertight.
He was neither obviously partial to Jin nor Chu, but presented facts and reasoned.
He is like a middleman, committed to maintaining the friendship between the two sides, being impartial and neither superior nor inferior.
However, his attitude still made King Chu dissatisfied.
The King of Chu smiled contemptuously under the influence of wine, and Yingwu's face was suddenly filled with a mocking expression.
"Han Qi and Yang Tongue are just ministers of the Jin State. I am the king of a country. Isn't that enough for them to serve me?"
"Furthermore, Han Qi and Shu Xiang are both important ministers of the Jin State. If they can be kept in the Chu State, what will the Jin State have to contend with our Chu State in the future?"
From the King of Chu's point of view, it seemed that taking down Han Qi and Yang Tongue was equivalent to taking down the entire Jin Kingdom.
After hearing this, Li Ran immediately smiled again, shook his head slightly, and then said slowly:
"As for the Jin State, in addition to Han Qi, there are also Zhao Cheng, Zhongxing Wu, Wei Shu, Fan Yang, and Zhiying; and in addition to Shu Xiang, the senior officials also include Qi Wu, Zhang Fu, Ji Tan, Nu Qi, Liang B, Zhang Jie, Fu Zhuo, Miao Benhuang, these people are all capable people that the princes can use."
"If Han Qi is trapped in Chu State, then Han Xiang will succeed him as the official official of the Han family. Li Ran heard that the Han family's tax revenue covers seven cities, and they are all large counties. And Yang The Tou family is also a very prestigious family. If the Jin people lose Han Qi and Shu Xiang, the other five ministers and eight officials will assist the Han and Yang Tou families. They have ten families and nine counties, and nine hundred chariots. More than enough. And there are more than 4,000 chariots left behind."
"When the time comes, it will be you, the king, who inspired their bravery and allowed their anger to be vented. The king will exchange his goodwill gestures for resentment, and wants to violate etiquette and attract enemies, but without proper precautions, let those who follow the king All his ministers were taken prisoner to satisfy the king’s wishes, so what’s wrong with this?”
After Li Ran finished speaking, there was a sudden silence in the huge Zhang Hua stage.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
original:
When it comes to Chu, Chuzi said to his officials: "Jin is my enemy. I have no ambitions, and I have no sympathy for others. The one who comes now is a high official and a high official. If I take Han Qi as a wolf, I will use a sheep's tongue as a wolf." Si Gong is enough to humiliate the Jin Dynasty, but I have also achieved my ambition, is that okay?" The doctor is not right. Xue Qiqiang said: "Yes. Why can't you be prepared? You can't be unprepared to shame a man, how much more to be a shame to the country? This is the etiquette of a holy king and does not ask for humiliation. If you are hired by the court, you will enjoy [illustration] Zhang, when he is small, he reports on his duties, but when he is big, he patrols. He sets up opportunities but does not rely on them. He does not drink when the wine is full. He has good food at banquets. He is accompanied by cauldrons when eating. He works in the suburbs when he comes. When he goes out, he does not give bribes. This is the courtesy of the country. Defeat is the way to lose, and disaster will arise. In the battle of Chengpu, Jin did not have Chu's preparations, so it was defeated by Bi. In the battle of Bi, Chu did not have Jin's preparations, so it was defeated by Yan. Since Yan, Jin has not failed to prepare, but added Ritual, emphasis on harmony, is why Chu Fu can repay and seek marriage. Having obtained a marriage partner, but also wants to shame him, so as to summon the enemy, how to prepare for it? Who should value this? If there is such a person, it is okay to be ashamed. If so. It doesn’t exist yet, but you are still trying to figure it out... (Unfinished, continue in the next chapter)
