Shen Zhihui is said to be an alliance meeting, but in fact it is just a pretense. After all, it is just a copy of the gourd, and there is nothing new in it.
Its intention is nothing more than to declare to the world:
I, the State of Chu, are now conquering the State of Zhongli, in order to fight against the rebellion of the State of Qi. With this reason as a shield, you, the Central Plains countries, would be too embarrassed to interfere anymore, right?
This is obviously Li Ran's strategy, and it is also the international environment that Chu State urgently needs.
Therefore, can we offend Song State, which is closely related to it, at this time?
Obviously not
But Prince Qiji was still unconvinced, and kept shouting that even though they were enemies of the entire Central Plains, Chu State had no fear.
But what he said was just a mouthful at best.
In fact, everyone knows the actual situation. Why did the Chu army fall into a bitter battle in Zhongli? Why did the entire Chu State launch mobilizations again and again?
What is the situation ahead? Can he really not know what is going on?
"Haha, if the fourth prince continues to show off his temporary talents, it's hard to predict what will happen in the future."
"Your Majesty, please take a closer look."
Li Ran didn't want to continue arguing with Prince Qiji, so he immediately turned his attention to King Chu.
In the final analysis, it is still up to the King of Chu to put an end to this matter.
At this time, the King of Chu thought to himself: There is indeed nothing wrong with what Li Ran said. I invite people to hold a social gathering just to have a peaceful formality and use the Song Alliance to restrain them. If I don't abide by the Song Alliance's friendship first, wouldn't it be a big joke?
No, no, this can't be done like this.
"Well...I think what you said is reasonable. Although the people of Song Dynasty are suspected of procrastination and neglect, our country of Chu is in a big situation. At this time, we should not let small things lead to big losses, causing our Chu state to lose the opportunity."
"Brother Ji, the matter of punishing the people of Song Dynasty depends on the relationship between the two of us, so let's forget it for the time being. I also said this out of anger before, so it doesn't count. Haha, it doesn't count!"
The emperor's promise, a thousand pieces of gold is not easy to say, obviously has no effect on the King of Chu.
After all, King Chu was quite accomplished in terms of being shameless.
When Prince Qiji heard this, since King Chu had said so, what else could he have to say? So he was immediately discouraged and could only shake his head and sigh:
"Brother Wang, if you indulge them today, I'm afraid they will only get worse in the future..."
Li Ran was on the side and immediately responded without thinking:
"Since you are following the etiquette, how can you be helpless?"
"If the king can forgive them today, they will only be more grateful to the king, and they will be more obedient to the Chu State in the future. The so-called 'sacred rule', Chu State's actions can win the hearts of the world, how can there be The theory of 'getting worse'? This is pure nonsense!"
When the King of Chu heard this, he immediately smiled and looked at Li Ran with great pleasure and said:
"What you said is absolutely true! As long as they don't help Zhongli this time, that's fine. As for 'doubling it even harder', huh, even they don't have the guts!"
The King of Chu is still the King of Chu. From this sentence, it is not difficult to see that the so-called Shen Di Meeting is really just a formality for the Chu State.
After the great victory at Zhongli and the capture of Qingfeng, what else could the Central Plains countries use to restrain Chu?
By then, it would be too late for these Central Plains countries to beg their grandfather and sue their grandmother, so how could they have time to stumbling upon the Chu State?
Li Ran did not answer when he heard the sound. He also knew in his heart what the King of Chu wanted to do, but this was an afterthought to him. As long as he left the Chu Kingdom, he would have many ways to hinder the Chu Kingdom's northward advance.
As for now, let’s let King Chu enjoy his life.
Seeing that the matter was a foregone conclusion, Prince Qiji couldn't say anything more and wanted to leave after a brief greeting.
Li Ran turned his head, looked at the leaving figure of the prince, and fell into deep thought again.
Logically speaking, only the guards in Xiangyuan should know about the gift Xiang Xu gave him today, and these guards are affiliated with the King of Chu. If the King of Chu knew that he had received benefits from the Song people, he would not feel it. strangeness.
But the strange thing is, how did Wang Ziqiji know?
Could it be said that the guards around King Chu have also planted Prince Qiji's spies?
Thinking of this, he immediately turned his head and looked at the King of Chu who was instructing the waiters on how to host a banquet to entertain the people of Song Dynasty. This King of Chu looked domineering, but in fact he was as considerate as his hair.
The King of Chu was trying his best to remove obstacles for his brother and pave the way for him as much as possible, even giving up the vast country to him.
But this younger brother was obsessed with poaching him, secretly stoking him, and even placed an internal agent among the guards around him.
These two brothers are indeed biological brothers. They are surprisingly consistent in their willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
But compared to Prince Qiji, King Chu was obviously more upright and more daring. Thinking back to the time when he appeared in the Guozhi meeting dressed as the King of Chu, he was telling the world that he was arrogant and had no pretense.
If the King of Chu is a true villain, then Prince Qiji, a hypocrite, may appear to know a lot of "Zhou etiquette" at first glance, but in his heart, he appears to be particularly sinister and hateful.
It's a pity that the King of Chu is still thinking about how to hand over the great cause of the Chu Kingdom to the hands of Prince Qiji a hundred years later. If he knew what his younger brother was thinking, he would probably vomit blood, right?
"Oh? What else can you do, sir?"
After King Chu finished his instructions, he asked in surprise when he saw that Li Ran was still there.
Li Ran thought for a while and saw that there was no one else in the hall, so he finally asked tentatively:
"Has your Majesty ever thought about passing on the Chu Kingdom's inheritance to his descendants? Rather than..."
"Why did you mention this matter again, sir? Didn't I tell you about it before?"
King Chu interrupted Li Ran with a hint of displeasure.
King Chu might be able to discuss this matter with Li Ran calmly in private.
But in this main hall, after all, this is not the place to discuss this matter.
Obviously King Chu himself knew very well that there were actually the eyes and ears of Wang Zi Qiji everywhere around him.
"Since your Majesty knows, why do you still..."
Li Ran didn't quite understand.
Prince Qiji's ambition is obvious, and he is not sincerely assisting. Then why did he insist on using his hot face to stick to Wang Zi Qiji's cold ass? Isn't this... a bitch?
"Come, sir, since you have nothing to do, please follow me for a walk outside the palace. I haven't moved for a long time, and my body is quite unhappy."
King Chu frowned and stood up to walk out.
So, the two of them came to the golf course under Zhang Hua's stage again.
Li Ran followed King Chu with his club. After playing two shots in silence, King Chu finally sighed:
"Sir, why do you need to ask so many questions? This doesn't seem to have much to do with you, sir, does it?"
He seemed a little confused and helpless at the same time.
Li Ran couldn't help but shook his head and replied:
"Now that I am assisting the king, but the agreement has not yet been completed, I will naturally take care of the affairs of the Chu Kingdom."
"Of course, if your Majesty really makes such a plan, you should comply with it. However, you are very confused and please clarify your confusion."
From Li Ran's perspective, he assisted the King of Chu in three things. These three things must be beneficial to the Chu State and will bring huge benefits to the Chu State.
But once such benefits finally allowed Wang Ziqiji to survive, this naturally made Li Ran feel a little unhappy.
——
Chapter 284_Chu King Xiong Wei’s Ambition
The point where Li Ran feels uncomfortable can be seen as raising a daughter and marrying a daughter.
You said that you had worked so hard to raise your daughter, provided her with delicious food and drinks every day, dressed her up beautifully, and made her look slim and delicate.
But in the end, you were married by someone you didn't like at all. How can you feel comfortable?
Li Ran has this mentality now.
Although he had no choice but to help Chu State win the battle of Qunshu and the battle of Chaoyi. Now he proposes a plan to conquer Zhongli.
If the Chu State can win, then the Wu State will be left alone and will only be passively beaten. However, Chu State had no other rivals south of the Yellow River.
In such a good situation, in the end the King of Chu wanted to pluck the peach from the duplicitous hypocrite Prince Qiji.
It's strange that Li Ran feels comfortable.
Well, I was lucky enough to work so hard, but you were lucky enough to give away the fruits of victory with a backhand.
Can this be done willingly?
"Brother Ji is very suspicious and doesn't understand my difficulties. This is natural. Why should sir make such a fuss?"
"Not to mention just a few eyes and ears, all the ministers and officials in the dynasty are looking towards Brother Ji, so what's the problem? If this is really the case, wouldn't it be smoother for Brother Ji to ascend the throne in the future?"
As soon as the King of Chu said this, even Li Ran was convinced.
Li Ran was really embarrassed that a person could be so generous as a person, and that a king of a country could be so generous.
But he still couldn't help it, and continued to frown and asked:
"Your Majesty, the fourth prince is still your minister after all!"
"How does this work?"
Since ancient times, the most taboo thing for kings is for their courtiers to form cliques, and the most taboo thing for kings is for their subordinates to eventually form a party.
After all, if the courtiers are in separate formations and restrain each other, then the king may be able to use the art of checks and balances.
But if all the courtiers form a party, it will be quite difficult.
However, for King Chu, this does not seem to be a problem at all! Not only is he not worried about this, but he actually approves of it! He even willingly allowed all the courtiers to attach themselves to Prince Qiji as much as possible.
Even Li Ran couldn't help but feel frightened by this ambition and courage.
"For me, for the great cause of Chu State, what does this mean?"
"Besides, I have told my husband before that Brother Ji is above me in terms of character, talent, knowledge and ability. If all the ministers are devoted to Brother Ji, it is normal."
"When I have survived these days, when our great cause of destroying Wu by the Chu Kingdom is completed, then it will be the time for Brother Ji to show off his talents! By then, even if I have buried my head in the loess, I will still be able to smile. .”
"As for what Mr. Ji said, Brother Ji has different intentions... Haha, does it matter? If I didn't have such ambition, how could I be here today? If he wants to make troubles, then let him make troubles. Young people always have to make more troubles. . As a prince, if you don’t even have the desire to covet the throne, then why do you care?"
What the King of Chu said was extremely explicit and true, and it was impossible to refute it.
Even when Li Ran heard this, he could only secretly admire King Chu's "knowledge of others."
He even began to have some doubts. He began to wonder why King Xiong Wei of Chu was described as a "tyrant" in the history books.
But then he thought about it, maybe this is very similar to the origin of the historical image of "King Zhou of Shang".
History is always written by the victors, while the losers are destined to serve as negative teaching materials.
"Let's not talk about Qiji. By the way, I dare to ask my husband, is he bound to leave the Chu Kingdom in the future?"
Seeing that Li Ran didn't speak for a long time, King Chu immediately changed the subject.
When talking about this topic, King Chu's face was full of solemnity.
"Yes, has the king forgotten the agreement he made with his ministers?"
"Haha, how could it be? How dare I forget?"
King Chu put down his cue and raised his hand to signal Li Ran to sit down.
The two of them just sat on the ground, looking at the setting sun in the distance and the gentle mountain breeze.
"In the battle of Chaoyi, thanks to the master's plan, Zhufan was killed."
"In the battle of Zhongli, I got my husband's advice to promote the marriage between me and the Jin State. Now that the day of the alliance is approaching, the victory over Zhongli is just around the corner."
"Three things will turn into two in a blink of an eye. If you leave, sir, what will the future of our country of Chu be like?"
In fact, the profound meaning of Chu King Xiong Wei's question was just to ask whether Li Ran would turn around and help the Central Plains countries to deal with their Chu country after leaving Chu.
After all, Li Ran has always been concerned about the safety of the Central Plains, and Li Ran's attitude is probably clear to the entire Chu court.
"Haha, what's so difficult about this? It's the same sentence. If the king can "deny himself and return to etiquette" like he does today, and then carry out virtuous government, the Chu Kingdom will be prosperous and the hearts of the princes will be attached to him. You can look forward to it. "
"But if the king only knows how to look north and fight for supremacy, but does not know how to protect the land and educate the people, then even if he retains his subordinates in the Chu Kingdom, it will not help."
Li Ran did not directly answer whether King Chu himself would help the Central Plains countries to deal with Chu.
Instead, King Chu was given a multiple-choice question.
If the King of Chu could restrain himself, restore etiquette, and conduct himself with great virtue, then he, Li Ran, would naturally not turn his head against the Chu State.
But if the King of Chu is still as domineering and unruly as before, working indiscriminately all day long, then he, Li Ran, will naturally not sit idly by.
There is no third option in this matter.
After hearing this, King Chu pretended to be nonchalant and nodded, and directly responded:
"Haha, I should remember what sir said."
"But sir, have you ever thought that the general trend of the world is divided and combined. Even if few people don't want to move northward, the northern countries will conquer each other in the future, and eventually all lives will be destroyed."
Yes, even if the Chu State does not interfere in the affairs of the Central Plains countries, the Central Plains countries will eventually evolve into a situation of "dog bites dog and leaves a hair in its mouth", and, judging from the historical facts that follow, this is almost certain.
In a sense, it was precisely because of the existence of Chu, the number one enemy, that the countries in the Central Plains were able to share the same hatred and unite to resist Chu.
What is even more valuable is that it was precisely because of the existence of the Chu State that it was able to suppress in disguise the struggle between kingship and ministerial power that all the countries in the Central Plains were facing at the same time.
Therefore, if you want to talk about it, the reason why these small states in the Central Plains have been able to survive for such a long time is really thanks to the State of Chu.
Therefore, if one day really comes, the whole world will lose their imaginary enemy of Chu. When that day comes, can even he, Li Ran, maintain order in the world?
Even if you can maintain it for a while, is it possible that you can help them for generations to come?
Thinking of this, even Li Ran couldn't help but feel ridiculous.
Things in the world are so funny, such a mixture of right and wrong that it is impossible to distinguish.
"Sir, please think about it again. If you stay in our country of Chu, you may not be inferior to Duke Huan of Qi's Guan Zhong in the future."
"Nine combined princes, one can rule the world? Haha, what I am planning is far more than the ambition of Duke Huan of Qi."
After the King of Chu finished speaking, he stood up.
Under the setting sun, King Chu's figure looked unusually tall and straight.
