Ever since the edict was issued, the city of Haojing has been restless. Queen Shen Jiang sent someone to contact Luo Cheng, who sent someone to reply to the queen.
Shen Jiang's fate depends on her father's actions. If Shen Hou really colludes with the Xirong tribe to invade Haojing, then she will die.
What difference does it make if we see it now or not?
Wang Ji's edict and Luo Cheng's letter arrived in the hands of various princes one after another.
…
Shen Guo was the first major prince to receive the news that the queen had been deposed.
In the entire Shen Kingdom, from the Marquis of Shen to the officials, no one dared to believe the news before their eyes.
The most valuable thing about people is self-awareness.
The monarchs and ministers of Shen State were very self-aware. They knew their own weight and their importance to Wang Ji.
Therefore, even if Ji Nie banished the prince Yi to Shen State, they just thought that Ji Nie did not like the prince and did not want to see the prince.
This is not important to Shen State, as long as Ji Yi can finally become the emperor after Ji Ne's death, it is enough.
No one thought that Prince Yi would be deposed.
Is Jinie crazy?
How dare he?
Isn’t there anyone among the princes and ministers of King Fenghao who can give advice?
Don't they know how powerful Xirong is?
Questions lingered in the minds of all the nobles of the Shen Kingdom.
In fact, Wang Ji's ministers knew the importance of Shen State, but they were not so clear.
Because Wang Ji has not fought with the Northwest Rong tribe for many years, no one knows the specific strength of the Xirong tribe.
Only a few people can tell from the goods traded between the two parties every year that Xirong's population has grown greatly, which means that Xirong's strength has made great progress.
Shen's bargaining chip was to rely on Rong's self-respect, but Xirong did not show off its force to Wang Ji for too long, which indirectly led to this outcome.
I don’t know whether I should say that Shen Guodun did a good job, or that the collective death of a group of virtuous ministers in the past had done too much harm to the ability of Wang Ji’s senior officials.
Although the senior officials of Shen State were a little unbelievable, after the early conquests, Shen State had long been on guard against the Kingdom of Zhou Dynasty.
Now, a special situation has indeed arisen. Marquis Shen immediately asked: "My lords, the emperor has blatantly trampled on the patriarchal laws of the state and humiliated the state of Shen. What should I do?"
What else could be done?
Of course, give him a lesson.
All the ministers of the State of Shen had this idea in mind.
A senior minister came out and said proudly: "My lord.
The emperor passed away and established a concubine, blatantly trampling on the patriarchal system established by his ancestors. Can God tolerate this kind of behavior?
At that time, King Xianxuan and all the ministers made a covenant together to ask our country to marry a noble daughter. Now they have broken their promise. Shouldn't they be punished?
The State of Shen is a strong branch of the Xia Dynasty. It has served the emperor respectfully for two hundred years, but it has been insulted like this. Who can tolerate it?
I see that the emperor Nirvana is a monarch like Jie and Zhou, and a person like Li Huang who will bring disaster to the country. My lord can raise an army to attack such an unjust monarch, and even God will favor you. "
Marquis Shen doubted: "Haojing is where the king lives. The city wall is high and large, and it is protected by the emperor's army. Can Shen's army break Haojing?"
Another minister came out and said: "My lord.
Your in-law is the king of Xirong. It is better to write to him and use his troops to attack Haojing and rescue the queen.
Let Ji Nie pass the throne to Prince Yi, and you can stay in Haojing City to assist the government, so that you can create the achievements of King Yi Yin and King Su. "
Thinking of Xirong's powerful military strength, Marquis Shen suddenly smiled and said: "As expected of the minister I rely on the most, what you said is exactly what I should do."
So he directly sent envoys with gold, silver and jewels to Xirong to borrow troops. He also promised the Lord of Quanrong that after he conquered Haojing, he would be allowed to empty the treasury of Haojing.
…
In the palace of the Lord of Xirong.
The Lord of Quanrong read the letter from Shenhou and was very decisive. He had long wanted to use troops against Bangzhou again, but Shenguo and Bangzhou had been united together, and they were also easing the main war faction within the Rong tribe. This resulted in him never having a chance.
Now Shen Guo himself wanted to use troops against Bangzhou. Seeing this great opportunity to enter the land of Fenghao, he directly called on the tribes from all directions to follow Shen Guo in raising troops.
…
By this time, countries had just received the news.
The Kingdom of Jin, the most influential country with the surname Ji, is the closest to Haojing, and his presence will never be missing from the strategic planning of Luohou in the past dynasties.
The Marquis of Jin first received Wang Ji's edict and then Luo Cheng's letter. He was relatively clear about Wang Ji's current situation. He understood that the matter was critical, but he still hesitated.
After all, King Qin needs the emperor's order. Without the emperor's order, if you rashly raise troops, who knows whether you will rebel.
Then he asked his followers: "Luo Houcheng sent a letter to Gu, saying that after the emperor is deposed, the Shen Kingdom will inevitably rebel. If the Shen Kingdom rebels, Xirong's troops will inevitably follow.
Gu still believed Luohou Cheng's guess, but in this letter Luohou asked Gu to lead troops to serve the king.
The beacon fire has not yet started in Lishan, so I am a little worried.
If Marquis Shen did not raise an army and led an army to Wangji alone, it would be hard to explain. What do the ministers think of this? "
Wei Qing, whom the Marquis of Jin relied on the most, saw that the Marquis of Jin wanted to serve the king. After thinking for a moment, a smile appeared on his face, and he said: "My lord, I just saw the letter from Marquis Luo and stamped his seal." .
The Marquis of Luo is Da Zongzheng, and Zhou Rites stipulates that Da Zongzheng has the power to call upon the princes surnamed Ji.
With this letter here, the lord is acting in accordance with the system. Even if the emperor asks, it can be said that the emperor is summoning all the concubines. You are not at fault. "
"Dazongzheng still has the power to summon the princes named Ji? Why haven't you heard of it?"
The Marquis of Jin really didn't know, Wei Qing said with a smile: "For more than two hundred years, Da Zongzheng has always been in the hands of the Luo family. The Luo Marquises have never used this power to treat Wang Gongjin.
So not many people know about it, and I only saw it by chance.
However, in "The Rites of Zhou", Da Zongzheng was indeed given this power, so there was no risk to Lord Qin. "
The Marquis of Jin said happily: "Hurry up and get the Rites of Zhou for Gu Yi to read."
"The Rites of Zhou" is vast, Wei Qing told the number of volumes it belonged to, and when the waiter took it to take a look, it turned out that this article was indeed there.
"Destiny favors you!"
The Marquis of Jin put down the bamboo slips in his hands and laughed loudly: "My lords, organize the army, King Qin!"
Following the order from the Marquis of Jin, the eyes of everyone in the hall lit up.
King Qin!
No prince can resist the temptation of King Qin. The last time King Qin was also led by Luo Hou, the Jin Kingdom received countless benefits.
Now among all the countries with the surname Ji, only Luo can be compared with Jin.
However, the Luo Kingdom cared too much about their status as kings and respected the king too much, and their growth in strength could no longer keep up with that of the Jin Kingdom.
The eyes of the ministers were also shining. If they made great achievements in King Qin, would they be able to become princes?
Even if you can't get such a big credit, it is a big deal for the family to be able to follow the Marquis of Jin and get great achievements.
Jin's war machine began to operate.
…
Messengers are still delivering news to all directions, and many princes around Fenghao have received the news. Some trust the reputation of Luohou and decisively send troops, while some are still waiting for the beacon fire in Lishan, Haojing.
The State of Shen and King Rong have finished reorganizing their armies and are heading towards Haojing. They are going down the Jing River at an extremely fast speed.
Although the Rong people are looked down upon by Zhu Xia, they are actually not very backward now, but their culture is completely different, with different hairstyles and clothes.
King Rong and Marquis Shen stayed together, looking at the boundless army and said with a smile: "King Shen, you should have been like this a long time ago. The Zhou people occupy the most fertile land, but they are extremely weak. This makes no sense. of."
Marquis Shen felt a little disdainful, but he still said with a smile on his face: "Since the time of King Su, all the Xia countries have always believed in the destiny of heaven, and the emperor of Zhou represents the destiny of heaven. Now it is the emperor of Zhou who is at fault, so he will lead an army to attack him. .”
In fact, if it were not for Prince Yi in his hands, Shenhou would not even consider attacking Haojing.
After the continuous defeats in the late period of King Xuan, coupled with the chaos of Jinie and the princes of Kinei over the years, the power of King Fenghao Ji was indeed somewhat empty.
But the power of the entire Zhuxia kingdoms is not empty, and none of those vassal states are easy to mess with.
Once the Emperor of Zhou lit up the beacon fire and those princes came to help the king, Marquis Shen knew that even if they joined forces, they would not be opponents.
What he wanted to do was to rush into Haojing as soon as possible and kill the Zhou emperor Ji Nie and the current crown prince Ji Fu, so that Ji Yi would be the only heir to the throne.
He had the means in his hands to negotiate with the princes.
"King Rong, after you enter Haojing, you can plunder the treasury, but the Zhou people cannot kill us, otherwise the princes will not let us go."
Marquis Shen said with a somewhat solemn look, this is a very important matter. If there is wanton destruction in Haojing, the princes in Kinei will never stand on his side.
If they escape with Ji Fu, there will be trouble later.
A dark look flashed in King Rong's eyes, and then he laughed loudly: "Don't worry, King Shen, Rong people will always be your friends. Our friendship is more precious than gold."
The two people with ulterior motives spoke very affectionately.
Naturally, such a large scale of the Shen-Rong coalition could not be hidden from the beacon towers along the road, and clusters of wolf smoke lit up in the sky above the Sanhe Plain.
…
Among the kings, they saw the smoke rising, and there was an uproar when the news came that Shen Guo had united his troops to invade.
Ji Ni was furious in the royal court and scolded Marquis Shen: "Marquis Shen is such a lowly thief, just like the weeds in the ditch.
Shen Jiang slandered me, but I did not kill her, precisely because Shen Hou had made a contribution to resisting the dog soldiers.
He is not grateful to repay me, but joins forces with thieves to join the bandits. We will definitely let him die without a burial place. "
In recent years, there have been few loyal ministers in the royal court. The virtuous ministers from the reign of King Xuan have passed away, so Ji Ne appoints ministers who can make money for him and flatter him.
These people are good at fighting for power and profit, but when faced with the invasion of Shen Rong, they all remain silent.
Although Luo Cheng had already sentenced Jinie to death in his heart, he could not do nothing and just watch the Dog Rong soldiers attack Haojing.
It must have been a human tragedy at that time.
So he went out and said: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that the Shenrong Allied Forces are about to enter the Wangji area. The top priority now is to resist the invasion of the Shenrong Allied Forces. As for the handling of Shenhou, let's wait until later."
Although Ji Nie didn't like Luo Cheng, a minister who disobeyed him, he knew very well that all the Luo Hous were loyal to Bang Zhou.
In this critical situation, we still need to listen to Luo Hou's opinion.
"Does Marquis Luo have any good strategies to make Shen Rong's troops retreat? In the past, Duke Luo Wen was alone and said he would retreat Xiong Dun's soldiers. Could it be that Marquis Luo also has this ability?"
"My ancestors were such outstanding men, how can I compare with them?
I would like to ask Duke Guo, in addition to the six armies of the emperor, how many troops can be mobilized in the royal territory?
I would also like to ask all the nobles and ministers, how many children are there in the fief? How many can be brought to Haojing City in time?
Does the emperor have a suitable general in mind? If not, let me lead the troops. "
The talents of all the Luo clan heads were in governing the country, fighting for power, and controlling people, which are most important to rulers.
He didn't have much exposure to military affairs. Among Luo Cheng's brothers, there was one who was quite talented in military matters, but he stayed in Luo State to guard against Fang State in the east.
Luo Cheng originally planned to transfer him over when he got the power of Wang Ji and prepared to conquer the Quanrong.
He didn't expect Ji Ne to do something like this and directly disrupt his plan.
Now we can only see if there are any generals who are good at fighting among the kings.
Luo Cheng's allies are basically all princes or nobles who have been in the royal territory for many years. These people are good at politics, but when it comes to fighting, it is good to be able to keep up with Luo Cheng.
After all, Luo Cheng's command statistics are 80, force 74, and military strategy 78. Although he cannot be a general in command, he can still be an ordinary general without any problem.
Luo Cheng's series of questions directly stunned Guo Shifu.
Seeing Guo Shi's father in a daze, Luo Cheng frowned and said, "Guo Gong, you are the Third Duke or the Heavenly Official. Don't you even know these things?"
Guo Shi's father immediately jumped out and said: "Luo Hou Shen Yan, how could I not know?
It took a short time for the Emperor's Sixth Army to be rebuilt. There should be about 30,000 soldiers now. As for how many combatable soldiers can be drawn from the royal territory, I have to ask the ministers. "
Thirty thousand?
"How come there are only thirty thousand?"
Before Luo Cheng could say anything, Ji Ne had already jumped up, "Isn't the Sixth Army of the Son of Heaven seventy-five thousand strong?"
Guo Shi's father fearfully bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, King Xuan suffered several consecutive defeats last year, coupled with the frequent natural disasters in recent years, Wang Ji's treasury was emptied.
The number of vassals serving you is also seriously insufficient, and the vacancies in the Sixth Army have only been filled little by little over the years. "
A cold light flashed in Luo Cheng's eyes, it was a shame that Father Guo Shi had the nerve to say such words.
Most of the Zhou people who directly served the emperor were vassals with very small fiefs and Chinese people with some assets in their families. After the continuous defeat of King Xuan in the late period, many of these people went bankrupt.
The fiefdoms vassalized by the emperor were annexed by Kinei princes with money, and the people of the country were also included in their kingdoms. The fiefdoms directly under the emperor became fewer and fewer.
Guo Shifu is one of the best.
Of course, Ji Nie didn't know these things. Father Guo Shi had collected money for him all these years, and his life had not been affected at all. Naturally, he didn't know how much anger the lower-level Zhou people had accumulated towards him, the emperor.
Thinking of this, Luo Cheng no longer wanted to talk nonsense and asked immediately: "Your Majesty, the matter has come to this, thirty thousand soldiers are thirty thousand.
Now select generals and lead these soldiers to defend Haojing City, waiting for King Qin's army to come to rescue.
I have previously borrowed troops from various princes surnamed Ji as Da Zongzheng, so they should come faster.
As long as Haojing City can be defended now, it's still not too late. "
"Yes, I have all the princes and kings in the world. As long as we guard Haojing, Shen Rong will naturally retreat."
Ji Nie knew nothing about military affairs, so she said to her most trusted father, Guo Shi: "The strength of Shen Rong's traitorous soldiers is not clear, so I'll bother Duke Guo to go and test their military prowess."
Luo Cheng frowned slightly. To be honest, he didn't know how good Guo Shifu was at commanding troops.
When it comes to character and ability to govern the country, Guo Shifu is obviously not up to par.
But character has nothing to do with ability, nor does political ability have anything to do with military ability.
Ji Nie handed over the power of commanding the army to Guo Shifu. Guo Shifu must have some outstanding qualities.
But Guo Shifu gave him a really bad impression, so he asked with some worry: "Guo Gong, do you know the military?"
Guo Shi's father was indeed not without merit. His father, Guo Wugong, was an outstanding commander, ranking first among the ministers during the Xuan Dynasty.
Guo Shi's father had practiced martial arts since he was a child, and he was tall. Whether he was charging with a chariot or fighting on foot, he was the best among the nobles of Wang Ji.
So he is very confident in himself.
Luo Cheng looked down on him when he first arrived in Haojing City, which made him very angry, but because of Luo's prestige, he did not dare to do anything.
Now that he finally had an occasion where he could show off his skills, he said confidently: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have the courage to be unstoppable by ten thousand men, and you are the son of God. It will be easy to defeat the armies of Shen and the Rong people."
Father Guo Shi's behavior made Luo Cheng even more worried. Did he really think he was Xiong Dun?
