Ji Sunsu, Meng Sunjie, and Shu Sunbao, the three elders of the Lu Kingdom, all passed away within just one month. This was something Li Ran never expected.
It is obvious that with the sudden death of these three people, a new round of overt and covert fighting will inevitably begin within the Lu State.
If this is the case, what will be the situation of Lu State now?
Faced with Li Ran's question, Yang Tonguei looked solemn and listened to him speak slowly:
"Hey... it's not good. It is said that because Shu Niu's identity as a relative disrupted the situation, the Shusun clan was in civil strife. In the end, although his concubine Shusun Nu succeeded him as the head of the clan, due to the previous civil strife, the Ji family The opportunity was to lay off the Chinese army. And the Marquis of Lu was furious because of this, and seemed to want to take big action against the Ji family. But I don't know the specific situation."
No wonder, no matter how well-informed Yang Tongue was, it would be difficult to find out what Marquis Lu wanted to do.
However, even so, Yang Yangui's information was already very crucial to Li Ran.
Because he knew that what was supposed to come finally came.
The Ji family had killed Jun's father and brother, and now the Ji family had directly laid off the army. Young Master Ah Chou finally couldn't stand it any longer.
Li Ran frowned, his face full of thinking.
"Ziming? What are you thinking about?"
Seeing this, Yang Tongue immediately asked.
"Ji Sunsu, Meng Sunjie, and Shusun have all passed away. However, there are still many officials in the Lu court who are loyal to the Three Huan forces. If the Marquis of Lu is so anxious to seek revenge from the Ji family, I worry that it will only be a mantis trying to stop him. , once again caused civil strife in Lu..."
"The more it is at this juncture, the more impossible it is to do these things!"
Li Ran shook his head and replied worriedly.
Indeed, whether it is Ji Sunsu, Meng Sunjie, or Shusun Bao, the power of the Three Huans of the Lu State has long been deeply rooted in the Marquis of Lu. Although the people at the helm passed away one after another in just one month, this does not The power that represented them was thus weakened.
Marquis Lu wants to liquidate the Ji family. With Ji Sun Yiru's personality, can he wait until Marquis Lu takes action before he reacts? Just remembered how to fight back?
He obviously doesn't.
Li Ran knows that the enemy is dark and we are clear. Ji Sunyiru now has Shu Niu assisting him, and he is also very resourceful. I'm afraid that whatever Lu Houchou does now may fall into Ji Sun Yiru's plan.
Therefore, the more critical this moment is, the less anxious Marquis Lu can be. If it turns out to be self-defeating, then all his years of forbearance will be completely in vain.
"Well, what you said makes sense. It's just..."
Sheeptongue nodded immediately, but also expressed a hint of helplessness.
Li Ran thought about it and finally decided to send a letter to Lu Houxiu.
It is okay for Marquis Lu to want to liquidate the Ji family, but it is definitely not at this time.
After all, great changes had also happened to the Shusun family. Once the Marquis of Lu took revenge on the Ji family at this time, it would be very involved and might cause another big fight between the monarch and his ministers.
And with the current strength of Luhou's office, it would be too dangerous to wipe out the Ji family and even the Three Huans in one fell swoop.
"It is not appropriate to start a big fight at this time. I also ask the doctor to forward this letter to the Marquis of Lu. He must persuade the Marquis of Lu to be patient and to convince others with virtue."
After a while, Li Ran finished writing the letter and handed it to Yang Yangui. Obviously, it is most appropriate for him to handle this matter.
Yang Tongue immediately accepted the letter and couldn't help but praise:
"Ziming is very dedicated to the affairs of Lu."
It is not difficult to hear the faint sourness in Yang Tongue's words.
In fact, it has been quite some years since Li Ran left the State of Lu. But perhaps because of Shusun Bao's kindness to him, or perhaps because of the in-law relationship between the Ji clan and the Shusun clan, his concern for the Lu Kingdom never seemed to diminish by half.
And what about the whole country of Lu? There was very little help for Li Ran.
On the contrary, it is the Jin State. Whether it is the Pingqiu Meeting or the Guodi Meeting, or this Jin-Chu marriage, the Jin State's support for Li Ran is obvious.
However, Li Ran did not pay such attention to the Jin State, and he obviously did not pay such full attention to the affairs of the Jin State.
Although Yang Tongue didn't say it explicitly, the subtext of his words was undoubtedly this.
"However, after escaping from Luoyi, he was taken care of by Dr. Shusun in Qufu, and he was also favored by the former prince of Lu. Only then did he find a place to settle down. It is human nature to repay kindness."
"What's more, Lu Hou Nairan supported him with one hand and pushed the former Young Master Chou to that position with the other hand. If something happens to him, he will be blamed after all."
Li Ran's answer cannot be said to be insincere, after all, these are facts.
It was he who raised the Marquis of Lu with his own hands, and the stability of the Lu State was also one of his masterpieces.
Therefore, if the Marquis of Lu thought that the overall situation was under control because of his strategy, and eventually caused chaos within the Lu State, wouldn't this be what Li Ran wanted to see?
Since he wanted to help the Marquis of Lu, he naturally wanted to help the State of Lu get through this critical moment safely and smoothly!
"This statement is not unreasonable."
"I think I heard about Zi's arrival in Qufu in the early Ming Dynasty."
"It's just that time is not forgiving. Our generation... will soon come to an end..."
Sheeptongue sighed suddenly, feeling very emotional.
The death of all the three Huan of Lu State not only deeply touched Li Ran, but also affected Yang Tongue.
After he shook his head slightly, his face was full of sighs.
"After Zhao Zhongjun's meeting in Guodi, his health has been deteriorating, and I have become increasingly unable to do what I do. I don't think I have much time left to live."
"We are getting old. We are all getting old. The affairs of this world will eventually fall on the shoulders of you young people."
"Ziming, I will really depend on you in the future..."
Zhao Wu's health was not very good to begin with. After holding on for a breath and going through a lot of hardships at the Guo Di Meeting, he was already on the verge of collapse.
And when Yang Tongue came to Chu State this time, he knew very well how his own body was doing. Returning to dust is just a blink of an eye for him.
When the older generation like them have come to an end, this major world event will naturally fall on the shoulders of young people like Li Ran.
The reason why Yang Yanji has high hopes for Li Ran is because he vaguely sees the shadow of his high-spirited youth in Li Ran.
Li Ran's wisdom and ambition are very much like him when he was young.
It is precisely because of this that he will always treat Li Ran as the successor of the next era, and will discuss all matters with Li Ran.
It's a pity that time is not forgiving, and he doesn't have much time left.
Li Ran also understood what Yang Yanzhi felt and said. He was about to comfort him, but was interrupted by another wave of Yang Yanzhen's hand.
He stood up and bowed towards Li Ran, solemnly and respectfully.
Li Ran stood up hurriedly and immediately bowed back.
After the Yangtongue ceremony, he said with emotion:
"This visit to Chu will probably be my last trip. Whether I can see Ziming again in the future depends entirely on God's will."
"Ziming, the road is long and long. The road in this world will one day need you to defend it. So, don't be 'losing the big for the small'."
The last four words were bitten very hard.
Obviously, the subtext of his words was that although Li Ran was in Chu State, what he did for Chu State was reasonable, but to the whole world, it was a small matter.
Pursuing the road to peace in the world should be what Li Ran is committed to.
Li Ran naturally felt the same as what Yang Yangui said, and immediately responded after hearing the voice:
"I can be taught."
Another salute followed...
After some emotion, Yang Yangui said goodbye to Li Ran.
"Ziming...don't take it seriously..."
The moon waxes and wanes, and people have joys and sorrows. Who can avoid it?
At this moment when he was about to say goodbye, Yang Yangui's words became fragile for a moment, and even his whole person became extremely sad.
It's like a breeze blowing by and disappearing at any moment.
——
Chapter 276_Guancong’s intelligence is too strong!
No matter how great a person is, he cannot stop the erosion of time.
Li Ran is particularly aware of this, after all, he has thousands of years of historical experience in his mind. Those great figures who had left a great name in history and achieved eternal achievements were eventually defeated by the ruthless years.
As the song goes:
“The light of swords and shadows has dimmed, and the sound of drums and horns has faded away.
There are vivid faces flying in front of my eyes..."
It was only a matter of time that the generation of Shuxiang and Zichan came to an end.
But when Yang Tongue truly said goodbye to him, he only felt empty for a while.
It was as if he had lost something particularly important in a trance. The feeling of loss in that instant surged like a tidal wave, completely drowning him.
He stood like this in the fragrant garden for a long time, until the spring sun finally set on the mountain top, and when the afterglow dyed the sky red, the wild geese returned south and soared into the sky, and the fishing boats sang late, echoing melodiously.
Chu Dang walked in from outside the circle, looked at Li Ran who was motionless, and couldn't help but ask:
"What's wrong, sir? Why are you so dumb?"
"But what happened? Or is someone angry with you?"
"Leave it to me! I will settle the matter for you, sir!"
Chu Dang thought Li Ran had encountered some difficulty, so he immediately patted his chest and became proud.
In his world, there is nothing in this world that cannot be solved with a pair of fists.
If so, just add another pair of legs.
As long as things can be solved with his limbs, they are nothing to him.
When Li Ran heard this, he suddenly felt envious of Chu Dang.
He doesn't understand conspiracies. His world seems so simple, but he can feel relaxed and at ease because of it.
There is no need to worry about the chaos in this world. Everything you see and think is the most direct and simple expression.
Therefore, he was very happy.
"It's okay, I'm just a little sad for a moment."
Li Ran smiled and sighed slightly.
When Chu Dang heard the sound, he immediately scratched his head and said in confusion:
"Sad? What is it?"
"I don't understand."
He is like Spongebob, his happiness is everywhere, and of course he doesn't know what sadness is.
As a result, Li Ran spread his hands in conviction and looked helpless.
"ox!"
Yes, what is sadness?
That night, Li Ran cheered up again and sent another letter to Sun Wu, asking him to deliver it to Ji Le on his behalf.
He also gave numerous warnings in his letter, telling Ji Le to find ways to persuade the Marquis of Lu Achou, and not to act rashly at this moment.
Li Ran understands Chu Dang's happiness, but his Li Ran's happiness does not lie in this.
The sadness is only temporary, and he, Li Ran, is by no means a sentimental person. The older generations such as Yang Tongue and others are passing away one after another. Looking at it from another perspective, doesn't it also free up a lot of space for his generation, Li Ran? Also allows them to fully display their talents?
So, how could Li Ran get lost in sadness and be unable to extricate himself?
…
The king of Chu gets married.
Han Qi of Jin State had already sent the daughter of the Marquis of Jin, so the in-law relationship between Jin and Chu was determined.
Next, it was time to call the princes for an alliance in the name of crusade against Qingfeng.
King Chu had no doubts about the three-step strategy proposed by Li Ran.
Therefore, on the occasion of his wedding, he announced in public that he was calling on the princes from all over the world to come to apply for an alliance!
As soon as the news came out, the world was once again in an uproar.
You must know that it has only been a year since the meeting of Guodi, and the King of Chu is going to summon the princes again? ! Although the reasons are reasonable, this operation really caused a headache for all the countries in the Central Plains.
After all, they don't think about problems like the Jin State. In their eyes, the Chu State once again convened an alliance, obviously intending to completely defeat the Jin State, or even replace it.
In this case, who will they listen to? Listen to Jin? Or should you listen to Chu State?
Therefore, countries like Song, Lu, Chen, Wei and other countries were very resistant to this alliance meeting in Shendi.
However, the two countries of Jin and Qi remained silent, neither agreeing nor rejecting.
Just after the alliance summons came out, the King of Chu once again asked Li Ran to accompany him to play a few rounds of golf in order to resolve his doubts.
"Sir, do you think Jin will really allow other princes to come to Chu for alliance meetings?"
On the court, King Chu asked anxiously.
In fact, the King of Chu also knew that calling alliances so frequently would make the Central Plains countries very uncomfortable. Moreover, this time was about Zhongli after all. Countries like Song, Lu and other countries that were tied to it must be unwilling to do so. Come to the meeting.
However, Li Ran nodded and said confidently:
"Will do."
"Oh? Why?"
King Chu became interested immediately after hearing this, so he asked hurriedly.
Li Ran continued to reply:
"In the Kingdom of Jin, Zhao Wu's health is getting worse and worse, so the last minister who aspired to the world is about to die, and the other ministers now only seek peace, and their ambitions are not in the princes, so these people are not A minister who can help the Marquis of Jin."
"But there must be someone in charge of things in the world. Therefore, as long as the king upholds justice in the world, then the princes of the world will definitely come to Chu. What's more, the king is still looking for the friendship of the Song Alliance to convene the alliance meeting. Jin Even if Hou doesn’t want to agree, what’s the use?”
When the King of Chu heard this, he immediately nodded in agreement.
However, the next moment he had new doubts and asked again:
"Then...will all the princes really come?"
Li Ranze also answered without hesitation:
"Your Majesty, please relax, the princes will definitely come. As long as your Majesty obeys the Song Alliance, everyone will be happy, and the princes will not be afraid of Chu, so why don't they come?"
The Song Alliance is a convention. As long as the King of Chu abides by the convention, it is equivalent to abiding by the rules of the Central Plains countries. Naturally, the Central Plains countries will not dare not to come.
However, at this time, Guan Cong, who had been serving beside him, suddenly raised objections.
View Congdao:
"From my perspective, not all of them will come. Judging from the current situation, none of Lu, Wei, Cao, Zhu and other countries will come, right? As for Song, probably the monarch will not come either."
King Chu was startled when he heard the sound and asked hurriedly:
"Oh? Why?"
When Li Ran heard this, he couldn't help but look at Guan Cong.
Just listen to Guan Cong and go on to say:
"These countries all have their own reasons. The reason for the Song State is because the king is already very old and cannot withstand such ups and downs, so he probably won't come. And the Song State is now eyeing the Cao State with covetousness. If the Song State's king If you don’t come to the alliance meeting, Cao Guo will most likely not come because he is afraid of Song Guo.”
"As for the State of Lu, it is now said that three ministers suddenly disappeared within a month. The situation in the country is turbulent, so they probably will not come. As for the State of Zhu, because they are afraid of the State of Lu, there is a high probability that they will not come. He won't come. As for Wei, because he is the closest ally to Jin and far away from Chu, he probably won't come either."
As the head of Chu State's intelligence agency, Guan Cong's intelligence work can be said to be flawless.
This analysis was so sound and logical that not even Li Ran could refute it.
But Li Ran still felt a familiar flavor from his words.
After hearing this, the King of Chu also admired Guan Cong's analysis and judgment.
Then he asked Li Ran:
"Sir, do you think the princes attending the meeting will agree to the big thing we are going to do this time?"
Li Ran thought for a while and answered decisively:
"If the king is just trying to show off, this will definitely not work. But if it is to eliminate harm for the world, then there will be no problem."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
original:
Chuzi asked Yu Zichan: "Does Jin allow me to be a prince?" He replied: "Xu Jun. The king of Jin Shao'an is not among the princes. His officials ask for many things, and they don't want to challenge his king. In the alliance of Song Dynasty, they also said Ru Yi, Ruoyi. If you don't allow it to the king, how can you use it?" The king asked: "Are the princes coming?" He said to him: "They will come. From the alliance of the Song Dynasty, to inherit the joy of the king, and not to fear the great power, why don't they come? Those who don't come, Qi Lu , Wei, Cao, Zhu? Cao is afraid of Song, Zhu is afraid of Lu, Lu and Wei are forcing Qi to be close to Jin, but they will not come. The rest are within your reach, who dares not to come?" The king said: "Then what I ask for is all right?" He replied: "It's impossible to ask for others. If you have the same desire as others, you can give it as much as possible."
——"Zuo Zhuan·The Fourth Year of Duke Zhao"
