When Uncle Sunnoi saw the prisoner like this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud:
"My Lord Ma Zheng! Gongnan has already run away. If you offer the city to the Shusun family now, do you think the Shusun family will leave you a way to survive?"
"Also, what puzzles me is, if your Excellency really wanted to dedicate the city, why didn't you kill Li Luo for so long? Aren't you afraid that this person will bite you back and report you to the Shusun family?"
The criminal Hou held the hilt of the sword with one hand and said in a deep voice:
"Master Shusun, the reason why I eradicated Gong Ruomiao was for the sake of my unclesun family. I am walking and sitting upright, so what do I have to fear? Sir, please don't stir up trouble here and turn things upside down! As for the matter, He Luo, I have my own discretion as to whether to kill or not to kill, and I don’t need Master Shusun to come here to give me advice!”
Uncle Sunnoi saw that the prisoner seemed to have murderous intentions towards him, but he sneered again and said calmly:
"Lord Ma Zheng, do you think that my status is more important than Gongnan's status in the Shusun clan?"
Of course, the prisoner Hou also knew that Gongnan had fled. Moreover, speaking of it, Gongnan was just an instigator, and he was the first to assassinate Gong Ruomiao!
And now, as the instigator Gong Nan has chosen to escape, how can his situation be better?
Uncle Sunnoi saw that the prisoner was already a little suspicious, so he continued:
"Now that all the soldiers and horses in Liyi are in Ma Zheng's hands, and there is a solid wall for defense, as long as you can win over the people, what's the problem?"
"Now that Gong Nan has fled, Master Ma Zheng should make a decisive decision, occupy Liyi and fight against the Shusun family! If Gong Ruoji can do it, why can't I do it?"
Prisoner Hou blinked his eyes, but was noncommittal:
"This matter... still needs long-term consideration!"
Uncle Sunnoi reminded:
"Lord Ma Zheng must not hesitate any longer. Once the Shusun family really sends people to take over Xiyi, it will be too late for you to regret it!"
The prisoner waved his hand vigorously again, asking Uncle Sun to retreat first. Uncle Sun was helpless and could only leave temporarily.
The prisoner paced back and forth. Speaking of which, it was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to occupy Liyi.
Moreover, Ma Zhenggong of the Shusun family fled south, and he could just make some fuss about this matter:
Gongruo despises his career, has never had the slightest hint of rebellion, and is devoted to the interests of the people of Heyi. But in the end, he was assassinated by your uncle Sun for no reason! Is there any heavenly principle? Is there any royal law?
So, speaking of it, if he is really using this to impress the soldiers and civilians of Li Yi, this is really a dream opportunity for him!
Then the prisoner Hou came to the prison where Li Nao was imprisoned. Just because after what Li Nao said last time, the prisoner Hou was undecided, but he still spared his life, which was regarded as a life for himself. A backup plan.
Seeing that he had not made a move to him in the past few days, Li Nao understood that his mind had been shaken.
But seeing the prisoner come again, Li Suo sneered and said:
"Haha, sir, have you figured it out yet?"
The prisoner raised his hand and asked the guards to leave, while he sat outside the fence and sighed:
"Nao, in your opinion, can Liyi really withstand the Shusun clan's attack?"
Li Nao grinned and said:
"Haha, with the current strength of the Shusun family, in terms of money and food, half of it is taken up by Li Yi! And I, Li Yi, are now well-equipped with soldiers and food, and are as solid as gold, let alone a mere Shusun family. , Even if the three emperors come together, what's the point of fear?"
"Since ancient times, the art of defending a city has been valued in deep ditches and high fortresses. Today, Liyi is one of the largest cities in the world. As long as it is used properly, it can block hundreds of people! You have been in the army for half your life, don't you still understand such a simple truth? As for whether the city of Liyi can be defended, I'm afraid you know better than Nao!"
"Furthermore, if it really doesn't work, you can still ask for help from the outside world. For example, the Qi State. The Qi State has long wanted to intervene in our Lu State. How can they not be tempted by that time?"
The prisoner Hou was already undecided, but after passing by Li Nao
So he couldn't help but nodded silently.
"What you said is not completely unreasonable, but... although I control the troops and horses in Liyi now, I am afraid that the people in the city will be unstable and the people will not have the determination to resist my uncle and grandson! What should I do? ?」
Li Nao sneered again and said:
"What's so difficult about this? Over the years, the people of Liyi have only known Gong Ruo Miao but not the Shusun family. As long as the news spreads, the Shusun family will not tolerate Gong Ruo Miao and deliberately kills them. And Shusun Zhou Qiu is also mean, if he is allowed to take over Li Yi, he will definitely increase heavy taxes on the people in the city, and then the lives of the people in Li Yi will only become more and more difficult!"
"Gong Ruomiu has been pretty good to the people of Li Yi in recent years. He even reduces the tribute that should be paid to the Shusun family every year. In fact, what the people fear most is these exorbitant taxes, sir. As long as this statement is spread, the army and people of Liyi will be able to work together to resist the Shusun clan!"
Upon hearing this, the criminal Hou couldn't help but slowly nodded his head in appreciation and said:
"Well, this is a great idea!"
These words of Li Nao immediately made Hou Fu determined to occupy Li Yi and rebel against the Shusun family!
Then, he released Li Nao and asked him to spread the news on his behalf.
After receiving the spread of the news, the people were full of hatred towards the Shusun family, as expected by Li Nao, and then started to support the marquis prisoners.
For a time, everyone in the city was on the same page as the enemy.
Shusun Zhouqiu, who was far away in Qufu, was naturally furious when he learned about the rebellion of the marquis prisoners. He immediately ordered their unclesun's army to attack Li Yi!
However, what Shusun Zhouchou didn't expect was that Liyi was surrounded by deep ditches and high fortifications, and the soldiers and civilians shared the same hatred. Moreover, after Gongnan fled, Shusunzhouchou had few useful people around him, so he was naturally no match for Liyi's defenders. military!
When Shusun Zhouchou learned that the front line could not win, he had no choice but to find Sikou Kongqiu and tell him the whole story.
When Confucius heard this, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy. He knew that during this period, everything Li Ran planned behind his back had been successful!
But on the surface, Confucius still pretended to sigh and said:
"Master Shusun, Qiu has told you before. Li Yi will become an unstoppable force in the future! Now it seems that it is just as expected by Qiu!"
Shusun Zhouqiu Ze quickly said:
"Actually... Sikou's words have already been engraved in Zhou Qiu's mind. However, at that time, I only thought that Gong Ruo Miao was about to cause trouble, but I never thought that little Ma Zheng would dare to seize my land and cause chaos! It's really hateful! "
"Besides... I don't know why Gongnan actually abandoned me directly!"
"And my incompetent brother is actually collaborating with the criminals, intending to turn against the foreign guests and plot against my uncle and grandson's family!... Hey, my uncle and grandson's family is in trouble now!"
"I hope Lord Sikou can ignore the past grievances and help Zhouqiu capture Liyi!"
Shusun Zhouqiu has indeed grown up and has gained many more skills in speaking.
When Confucius heard this, he said:
"What happened to my uncle and grandson is the matter of the Lu State. The rebellion of Li Yi. Since I, Kongqiu, hold the post of chief military officer, I have no shirk of responsibility! When Qiu Ming comes to the emperor tomorrow, I will naturally join my uncle and grandson. Let’s fight for the land together!”
Shusun Zhouchou heard this and felt relieved.
"In that case, thank you very much, Lord Siko!"
He knew that Lu Hou Song was currently obeying Confucius' advice.
If Confucius could "regardless of past grievances" and "seek justice" for his uncle and sun family in front of the king, then his uncle and sun family's chances of winning would naturally be much greater!
Therefore, Confucius, with the support of Luhou Song, gathered the troops of the three states and marched towards Li Yi to investigate the crime.
However, what no one expected was that the strength of Liyi was far beyond everyone's imagination.
Confucius ordered the three armies to attack Yiyi together. They attacked several times in succession, but all failed!
And as the saying goes, if you make great efforts at one go, you will be exhausted again and again, Meng's and Ji's teams gradually became less and less interested in this.
I just feel that this is an internal matter of the Shusun family after all, and they shouldn't bother coming here like this.
——
Chapter 633_This prisoner is too powerful
Shusun Zhouqiu saw that Meng's and Ji's troops were gradually wanting to retreat, and Li Yi could not be attacked for a long time.
So, he was heartbroken and immediately sent someone to Qi State for help.
After Qi Hou Chujiu received help from his uncle Sunzhou Chou, he was still hesitant about whether to send troops to help.
He asked Shusun Zhouchou's envoy to retreat first, and then asked Tian Qi next to him:
"Tian Qing, what do you think of this matter?"
Tian Qi immediately said:
"Your Majesty, this is a great opportunity! The city wall of Liyi is tall and strong. If we can take it as our own... we can invade the Central Plains!"
Qi Hou Chujiu squinted his eyes and said:
"Tian Qing, some time ago Yang Hu proposed destroying Lu, but you and Bao Guo strongly opposed it. Why do you think so now?"
Tian Qi smiled slightly and said:
"Haha, this time and that time! The destruction of Lu was something that could not be done before, because if Lu was destroyed, it would chill the hearts of all the princes in the world! But now, the country of Lu is asking me to do it, so I can do it!"
"Moreover, the Lu State now has Confucius as its ruler, and he may be the second Cao GUI of the Lu State! Do you hope that there will be a powerful Lu State next to you? If so, wouldn't he become the leader of our Qi State? A serious problem?!"
When Qi Hou Chujiu heard this, he couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
Tian Qi, on the other hand, continued:
"Your Majesty, you can send troops to help the Shusun family capture Xiyi! When our troops attack the city, we can excuse ourselves and station troops here to seize Xiyi by force! The Shusun family of Lu will not do it. Dare to speak!"
After Qi Hou Chujiu heard this, he stroked his gray beard again, nodded again and said:
"Okay! Tian Qing's plan is very clever! Let's follow this plan!"
After Tian Qi went to court, he returned to his home.
Shu Niu hurriedly came forward to greet him, while Tian Qi talked about the affairs of the court. Shu Niu thought about it for a while, and then said:
"Sir, Gong Ruomiu was carefully trained by us, but unexpectedly he was indecisive and was killed. It is a pity! Fortunately, Li Yi has not missed it yet, otherwise the things planned in Li Yi over the years will not work. But it will all be in vain.”
Tian Qi nodded and said:
"Exactly, so I have advised you to assist the Shusun clan in attacking the city of Li, and then I can use the excuse to take charge of the city of Li!"
Hearing this, Shu Niu couldn't help but praise:
"My lord is wise, this plan is indeed a brilliant one!"
Then, Tian Qi sighed again and said:
"Before, Gong Ruo Miao was too cautious, and he was eventually ruined. But now... what is the origin of this criminal?"
In fact, although Shu Niu knew something about the situation in the world, he didn't know much about Hou Fei. He only knew that he now controlled Li Yi as Ma Zheng of Li Yi.
Tian Qi couldn't help but smile when he heard this:
"This boy is quite courageous, but after all, Li Yi is an isolated city. How long can it hold on? It will only be a matter of time before we invade Li Yi!"
Shu Niu echoed:
"Haha, what the Lord said is true!"
…
Therefore, Qi State, at Shusun's persuasion, also sent 20,000 troops to attack Li Yi.
However, what Tian Qi also didn't expect was that the 20,000 troops he sent to assist the Lu army in attacking Liyi were even able to attack for several days, but they still couldn't capture it!
[In view of the general environment,
This move actually aroused the unity of the army and the people of Liyi. Moreover, Hou Fu is really a powerful general. Faced with the double attack of Qi State and Lu State, he was able to withstand it!
Tens of thousands of troops besieged a city, but they couldn't take it for a long time.
This left Shusun Zhouqiu at a loss.
When the Ji family and the Meng family, including Qi State, saw this situation, they would naturally not choose to fight in Li Yi again.
For them, it is good to succeed, but if they fail, not only will they lose face, but they will also lose many people. For them, it is really not worth the loss.
Especially for the Ji family and the Meng family, when they saw the Shusun family's current predicament, how could they not think that they themselves also suffered from elbow and armpit problems?
Therefore, they are even more afraid to fight in Liyi, and just want to preserve their strength as much as possible.
As a result, the three armies cannot work together, and the hope of attacking Xiyi from the front becomes increasingly slim.
…
In fact, it wasn't just Shusun who was really embarrassed.
Isn't this the case with Confucius? When he found Li Ran, he couldn't help but sigh and said:
"My dear benefactor, I never expected that... a mere city of Liyi would be so difficult to capture! I thought that Gong Ruomiu was already dead and would be incapable of being a great weapon, but I didn't expect that... this person would actually have such abilities!"
Li Ran couldn't help but sigh after hearing what Confucius said:
"Hey, if Chang Qing is here, why are you in such a mess?"
Li Ran had calculated everything, but he really didn't expect that this prisoner was also a person who was good at keeping the law.
"This Gong Ruomiao has been running the city for ten years! He does not do it for meritorious deeds, but just for defense! This city has been built by him to be impregnable!"
"My original plan was to let the man recommended by Guan Cong, Li Luo, kill Gong Ruo Miao, and then encourage him to rebel in Li Yi. What he did was to let both the Meng family and the Ji family take a good look. , what is the trend of "the tail is too big to fall off"! "
"It's just that I never thought that this prisoner... would actually be such a law-abiding person!"
Confucius asked in a low voice, confused:
"He is just an upright man. How can he be so powerful that he can make all his soldiers and civilians obey his orders?"
Li Ran replied:
"As Ma Zheng, the marquis prisoner has an important position in the army, so it is understandable that he controls the army. As for the people in the city, I am afraid it is related to the rumors of tax collection. Just because when Gong Ruoji was in charge of Li Yi, the people's wealth was extremely high. It's so light, so the people in Liyi only know the public and not their uncles and grandsons. I'm afraid the criminals took advantage of this to make them all rise up to resist!"
"The most critical thing right now is to seize the city at the minimum cost! Moreover, we cannot let Qi get involved, otherwise, I might end up giving Tian Qi a wedding dress!"
Confucius said again:
"It's just... Now that Li Yi is impregnable, what should we do?! Moreover, it seems that both the Ji family and the Meng family now have the intention of retreating..."
Li Ran gently rubbed his thumb with his index finger as he habitually said:
"The Ji family and the Meng family are not willing to do their best. This is to be expected, but it is not a cause for concern. It's just...Qi State is also involved now, and I am quite worried about this..."
"If Qi invades Liyi and then refuses to retreat, won't Lu lose Liyi in vain? By then, the disaster will probably not be comparable to that of the three cities!"
"Nowadays, our morale is low, our troops are insufficient, and we don't have a handsome man like Chang Qing to take command. If we want to use our military strength to forcefully invade Liyi, I'm afraid it will be impossible. For the current plan, we can only attack from the inside. Only by finding some clues can we dismantle it!"
When Confucius heard this, his eyes lit up and he quickly asked:
"Oh? Has my benefactor already had an idea?"
Li Ran only said calmly:
"There is a way, maybe you can give it a try! I want to meet a person. After I meet this person, I will come back to discuss it with Zhongni!"
…
After Li Ran sent Confucius away, Gong Eryue also came over and asked:
"Sir, did you encounter any difficulty?"
Although Li Ran is not wary of Gong Eryue now, he doesn't like to talk to her too much about these government affairs matters.
Therefore, Li Ran just interacted with
She replied:
"Well, we did encounter some difficulties. Since Yue is fine, just follow me to meet someone!"
After Li Ran finished speaking, he took the lead to go out. Gong Eryue didn't ask any questions and just followed closely with her sword in hand.
Li Ran came out of Xinglin, but did not enter the city. Instead, he circled nearly half a circle around the moat of Qufu before stopping outside a thatched house in the suburbs.
I saw a man dressed as an old farmer, hoeing the ground in the yard. Li Ran said loudly:
"My Excellency, Li Ziming, is here to pay a visit to Si Chi, the engineer from Yiyi!"
The old farmer raised his head and glanced, but ignored him. When Li Ran saw this, he was not embarrassed and said again:
"It was Guan Ziyu who asked me to come to meet you!"
When the old farmer heard this, he slowly put down his hoe, cupped his hands and said:
"Come in and talk..."
So Gong Eryue stepped forward and pushed open the fence door, while Li Ran stepped forward.
The old farmer introduced Li Ran and Gong Eryue into the thatched house. After the three of them sat down, the old farmer said:
"Si Chi, the engineer from Liyi, has met Mr. Ziming!"
