Shi Lei was speechless by Chen Xiaomu's retort. After a long while, he finally said bitterly: "According to your statement, aren't Qin and Qi both caused by bandits? I'm sorry you don't dare to provoke them!"
"Haha, you don't need to drag them over to use as a fig leaf. If you want me to tell you, then I will tell you. Their two countries, including the current Wu State and Zhou State, are robber countries. As for what you said, I dare not mess with them. , that’s because they haven’t offended me yet. If they do offend me one day, I will still beat them until their teeth are all over the floor!” Chen Xiaomu sneered and said without hesitation.
This was probably the most arrogant thing Shi Lei had ever heard in his life. He couldn't help but sneer, "That's not a bad tone. I wonder if you will still remember what you said today when the Qin people put their swords on your neck in the future!"
"Haha, you don't have to worry about whether the Qin people can put their swords to my neck. I'm afraid the one who is most afraid of the Qin people taking advantage of the opportunity is your emperor, right? The few remaining troops and horses of the Chu State are all deployed in the Qin State. On the border between Chu and Chu, does the Emperor of Chu dare to ask them to withdraw to rescue me? He also wants to attack me from both inside and outside! I'm afraid that if they withdraw halfway, Qin's million-strong army will have crossed the border. You should be better than me in this Are you clear?" Chen Xiaomu asked with a smile.
Neither Xiong Ji nor Shi Lei expected that Chen Xiaomu could see the current situation in Chu State so clearly, and Chen Xiaomu just hit the mark on Xiong Ze and their concerns.
"Mr. Chen, can you tell me your peace terms?" Xiong Ji took a deep look at Chen Xiaomu and then asked.
"Quit the territory that originally belonged to the country of Hubei, and compensate the people who were captured and used as human shields by you one million taels of silver!"
Before Xiong Ji could answer, Shi Lei shook his head and said, "I can promise you one million taels of silver, but it is absolutely impossible to withdraw from the territory of the country of E!"
Chen Xiaomu ignored him, turned to Xiong Ji and asked, "Your Highness, what do you think?"
Xiong Ji shook her head in embarrassment, "Mr. Chen, dividing borders and dividing the country is a major matter for the country. I have to report it to my father. I'm sorry I can't answer you now!"
Chen Xiaomu laughed when he heard this and said: "Then there is no need to talk. The only way before us now is to go to war!"
Xiong Ji frowned and asked in confusion, "Mr. Chen, you said that you want one million taels of silver to compensate the people who were wrongfully killed. I can understand your compassion for heaven and earth, but what does the territory of Hubei have to you?" What about the relationship? If you want to merge these territories into the Zheng State, the original E State and the current Zheng State are not on the same border? What's more, there is a Chu State between us? "
Chen Xiaomu smiled and shook his head, "Your Highness Princess, in fact, I want the Chu State to withdraw from the territory of the E State not only to restore the original E State, but also to think about the Chu State."
"Haha" Shi Lei sneered, "Your Excellency, you treat the princess and I as three-year-old children, don't we still need to thank you for dividing the Chu Kingdom into pieces?"
Chen Xiaomu sighed: "Whether you believe it or not, let's present the facts and be reasonable. The Qin State is now so powerful that you, the Chu State, can hardly hold back its back. Is this true? Because you launched the war to destroy Zheng, there is basically no one in the Chu State now. The troops can be mobilized, but you still have to leave tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Hubei to prevent the people of Hubei from rebelling. And to the north of Hubei are the grassland Tatars who go south to plunder every year, so every year you have to prevent the Tatars from going south. This is another problem. It involves part of the Chu State's troops. Do you know how many Hubei rebels I have now? If I send these rebels back to Hubei to launch uprisings across Hubei, you will definitely be unable to suppress them. In the end, you will be suppressed because of the suppression. The rebel army will lose part of its military strength, and Hubei will eventually become independent. Is it worth the loss? However, these things are not important compared with the destruction of Chu State. What is more important than this is that among all the countries bordering Qin State, , Chu State’s current military strength is the weakest, but its territory is the largest. I have reason to believe that Qin State will launch a war to destroy Chu within a year. By then, Chu State will not resist for more than a month and will be destroyed. Lose!"
"Oh, why did the Qin State launch a war to destroy Chu within a year? Instead of taking advantage of the current situation when the Chu State was in dire straits, wouldn't it have been accomplished in one battle?" Shi Lei asked in surprise.
Chen Xiaomu smiled and pointed at himself, "I said it was because of me, do you believe it?"
Xiong Ji and Shi Lei shook their heads almost simultaneously, showing disbelief.
"Well, let me analyze it for you again. One is that the Qin State is sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight, ready to take advantage of the fishermen at any time. If I capture Yecheng now, the Emperor of Qin will definitely take advantage of Chu. When the country is leaderless, send troops across the border to seize more than a hundred cities in Chu near the Qin border, then garrison and wait and see, and then rush over when the opportunity is favorable!"
"If I were the Emperor of Qin and you were left without a firm footing, I would rush over immediately. Is there any better opportunity than after the battle when the opponent is exhausted? Besides, can you definitely capture our Ye City?"
Schrey couldn't help but interject.
"Because Emperor Qin is smarter than you, and also because he is afraid. If I estimate correctly, Emperor Qin is also using the whole country to study the explosives in my hand. Once he succeeds in studying it, Qin will initiate unification. When the world is at war, the reason why I say he is afraid is that he is afraid of this thing called explosives in my hand. Now that this thing has appeared on the battlefield, the advantage in military strength has been reduced to second place. Even if I take a step back and say that I If you can't capture Ye City, when the food and grass in your city is exhausted, you will definitely have to fight your way out. Even if you can break out, there will be very few soldiers and horses left. Besides, this explosive has no eyes. You can guarantee that the Emperor of Chu and you ministers can Can you leave unscathed? Even if you can escape unscathed, how far can you retreat? Believe it or not, as soon as I withdraw my troops to the border of Zheng State, Qin State's annexation war against Chu State will begin immediately! "
Chen Xiaomu analyzed the current situation so thoroughly that Xiong Ji and Shi Lei couldn't help but admire themselves. However, what puzzled them was that the fact that Chen Xiaomu was leading troops to besiege Yecheng, the capital of Chu, was revealed in his mouth. However, Li seemed to be leading troops to protect Chu State!
"Mr. Chen, according to your analysis, if we withdraw from Hubei now, Qin will not use troops against Chu?" Xiong Ji asked.
"No" Chen Xiaomu shook his head and said: "It can only be said that the Qin State is much less willing to use troops against the Chu State. After all, annexing the Chu State before was equivalent to annexing the territory of two countries. Now that it is divided into two, the temptation is definitely not It was bigger before.”
"Your Excellency is determined to separate Hubei from Chu. Do you want to be the emperor?" Shi Lei asked Chen Xiaomu with a sneer.
"Haha, you are really flattering yourself. My wish has just been made clear to the princess. I just want to be a happy son-in-law in a peaceful and prosperous age. If I go back to Hubei, I just want to return it to the Ximen family. !”
Shi Lei shook his head and said, "I don't believe it! As far as I know, no one from the Ximen family can come out to take over the territory of Hubei."
Chen Xiaomu turned around and waved to Ximen Ruoen, who was riding a horse not far away. Ximen Ruoen gently clamped the horse's belly with his legs. The horse, ha, ha, trotted all the way to Chen Xiaomu. Simon Ruo'en held the horse's rein with one hand, Feishen jumped off the horse, Chen Xiaomu stepped forward and took Ximen Ruoen's little hand, brought her to Xiong Ji and Shi Lei, and said with a smile: "Let me introduce you to him. This is the original Emperor of Hubei, Ximen Jun." The eldest princess, Her Royal Highness Princess Simon Ruoen!”
''She is Ximen Jun's daughter? Shi Lei muttered softly, looked at Ximen Ruoen with suspicious eyes, then shook his head and said with certainty: "No way, there is no way that Ximen Jun's family will have any descendants again!" "
When Ximen Ruoen heard that Shi Lei actually spoke like this, his willow eyebrows immediately stood up. He glared at Shi Lei angrily with his almond-shaped eyes wide open. He gritted his teeth and cursed: "Old thief, you thought that there was still a dark moon and a high wind to surround Ximen's house. Can Ximen's family be killed? But you didn't expect it, did you? God is wise. Not only did I escape, but now I lead the troops to kill them back. This is the reincarnation of heaven, who will be spared!"
Shi Lei couldn't help but trembled when he heard this. Ximen Ruoen could tell the story of the siege and killing of Ximen Jun's family that night. It was estimated that the woman in front of him was probably Ximen Jun's daughter. However, he still didn't give up and ignored Ximen Ruoen. He scolded him angrily, but turned to Chen Xiaomu and said: "Even if this woman is Ximen Jun's daughter, have you ever seen a woman become an emperor since ancient times? What's more, she now has a deep hatred for our Chu country. If it is really her If you become the emperor of E, and if you form an alliance with Qin and attack us from both sides, wouldn't the situation of Chu be even more dangerous?"
Chen Xiaomu nodded and said: "You are right to worry, so the condition for Chu to withdraw from Hubei is that it must form an alliance with Chu in advance before Hubei is restored!"
"I will not form an alliance with these bandits from Chu State!" Before Chen Xiaomu finished speaking, Ximen Ruoen jumped up to object first.
"Princess Ruo'en," Chen Xiaomu immediately straightened his face and said to Ximen Ruo'en seriously, "Do you think Qin will not attack E after it annexes Chu? How can the eggs be intact when the nest is overturned? Qin is now The intention to unify all countries today is obvious. Personal grudges are completely trivial in the face of the catastrophe of annihilation. You must first think about the millions of people in the country of E not to be the meat on the chopping board of the Qin people. Let’s find out who is more important and who is less important!”
"Humph" Simon Ruoen hummed in dissatisfaction, puffed his mouth, and said nothing.
Xiong Ji and Shi Lei were secretly surprised that Chen Xiaomu could train the princess who had been pampered since childhood and was unruly and willful with just a few words. This was something they did not expect. Xiong Ji couldn't help laughing and said: "Master Chen actually wants to Supporting such a young and beautiful woman to ascend to a high position is something that has never happened before. I’m afraid Mr. Chen has other agendas, right?”
"Hehe" Chen Xiaomu laughed twice and said: "Times have changed. Men and women are the same. Women can hold up half of the sky. Besides, if I want to have something to do, I just want to be more stable with a soft meal!"
"Pfft", Xiong Ji almost laughed out loud, "What a good Mr. Chen, a good woman can hold up half the sky. If you want to take advantage of that woman, I'm afraid that woman will have to step in to meet you!"
"Okay, if I have nothing to eat that day, I might have to bother the princess." Chen Xiaomu joked with Xiong Ji.
Xiong Ji's heart trembled when she heard this, and she said with a sweet smile: "The door of Princess Changxing's Mansion will always be open for Mr. Chen. As long as Mr. Chen is willing to come, I will take people ten miles out of the city to meet Mr. Chen."
"How dare you!" Ximen Ruoen put his hands on his small waist, stared at Chen Xiaomu with a pair of almond eyes, and shouted softly.
Chen Xiaomu smiled bitterly and said, "Look, it's taken care of now."
Xiong Ji hugged Chen Xiaomu and said, "Mr. Chen, the green mountains will not change and the green waters will always flow. I will return to the city to report your conditions to my father for decision. I hope that no matter what the outcome is, we can still become friends!"
Chen Xiaomu also clasped his fists and said: "I hope we will never meet with swordsmanship again. Even if it cannot be avoided in the end, I will let the princess live!"
Xiong Ji took a deep look at Chen Xiaomu, then turned around and walked back to Yecheng city gate with Shi Lei and others without looking back. Chen Xiaomu watched behind her until her figure walked across the moat suspension bridge and disappeared into the city gate. .
"Hey, haven't you seen enough? Your eyes will pop out if you look again!" Ximen Ruoen pouted and reached out to pat Chen Xiaomu's back twice.
Chen Xiaomu turned around in embarrassment and saw Ximen Ruoen glaring at him. He couldn't help but reached out and pinched her red face, and joked: "Your Highness, it wasn't you who said how many men in today's world would marry. Is it okay to have a wife? Why do you get so angry when I look at you now?"
"You can marry anyone, but you can't marry this woman, because she is the daughter of my enemy!" Simon Ruoen said angrily.
''Who said I want to marry her? "Chen Xiaomu asked in surprise.
''Then you still have a lot of affection for me? You still want to go to the princess's house to eat soft food. If you don't want to marry her, what are you doing? "Simon Ruoen's little mouth is so pouty that it can hang a bottle of oil.
Chen Xiaomu couldn't help but laugh. It seems that women have been jealous since ancient times. He stretched out his fingers and scratched Ximen Ruoen's little nose twice, and said with a smile: "Do you know what it means to be submissive? Our most important thing now is What is important is that you must own your own territory at the minimum cost and establish a base in order to develop and expand yourself. A big man once said that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Only when you have armed force in your own hands can you have the right to speak, and others dare not I’m looking down on you!”
"Then why don't you take the opportunity to capture Yecheng now? Destroy the Chu State! To expand our territory, why do you want to form an alliance with the Chu State?"
