In the second year of Guan Zhong's reign, Qi's army gradually became stronger. Lu Xiaobai was very proud that he brought Guan Zhong to Qi.
Then I learned that the king of Qu State actually spoke rudely, thinking that it was rude to put a white person above the ministers and officials of the public clan.
Lu Xiaobai was immediately furious.
Since he ascended the throne, he has been very high-spirited, and knowing that the Qi State has strong military strength, he has some thoughts in his heart to show off Guan Zhong's talents, and wants to attack the Qu State.
Then he said to Guan Zhong: "Uncle Qu is a despicable man. He is rude to the country and is not polite when he comes and goes. He should be punished."
Guan Zhong knew in his heart that now was not the time to use force against the princes. Qi's reform had just begun and it would become stronger and stronger in the future.
A small country like Qu State can still barely fight Qi State now, but when the reforms take effect and the soldiers press the border, they will have no choice but to surrender.
So he advised: "My lord, now is not the time to take action against Qu State."
Lu Xiaobai didn't care, waved his hands and said with a smile: "Azhong, I know that Qi State should not compete with Qu State for a short period of time, but that Qu Bo is really hateful. He actually said that you are a countryman and promoted you to be the prime minister of a country. , very ridiculous.
It would be fine if he was Xiao Gu, but he would never tolerate treating Ah Zhong like this!
This time, let Qu Guo see Qi State's military front and let him know that A Zhong has been with Qi for two years and has strong troops. Let's see who dares to talk nonsense. "
Guan Zhong further advised: "Your Majesty, Guan Zhong does not care about those people with false reputations. Now he should continue to promote the salt and iron official camp, collect taxes, promote the unity of the army and the people, strengthen the army and train troops, until..."
Lu Xiaobai stood up directly, held Guan Zhong's hand and said: "Azhong, I will leave all the political affairs in Qi to you, and I will teach Qu Guo a lesson."
Seeing Lu Xiaobai's insistence, although Guan Zhong always regarded himself as a subordinate, the two had known each other since they were young, and Guan Zhong had always been somewhat conniving towards Lu Xiaobai.
After thinking about it, even if this battle failed, it would not have any impact, so I couldn't bear to dampen his enthusiasm, so I had to agree to him.
Seeing that Guan Zhong agreed, Lu Xiaobai was very happy, and then he took Dr. An Ning directly to Faqu.
It has to be said that the Qi army, under the supervision of Guan Zhong, has strict discipline and a measured advance and retreat. It is indeed the strongest army in the world. The two countries fought against each other and won consecutive battles. Doctor An Ning and Lu Xiaobai were very excited.
Lu Xiaobai liked the surrounding scenery very much and said with a cheerful smile: "The name of this place is Nagano, so we will form a formation here and wait for the army of Qu State to come over. Then we will fight with them. We must let Qu Bo come to Qi State in person and fight in front of A Zhong." Apologize."
The war between Qi State and Qu State was a ritual war.
The war between the Xia kingdoms and the barbarians was naturally endless. The emperor's previous conquests against countries like Chu that did not obey the rule were also carried out with real swords and guns, resulting in many casualties.
But this time it was different. The two sides fought in accordance with etiquette and were not trying to occupy Qu State's land, so both sides were relatively restrained.
Although Qu State was losing consecutive battles, Qu Bo was only angry because of shame, but he was not worried that Qi State would destroy him like this.
So the two countries set up formations on the land of Nagano and marched forward according to the sound of drums until they stopped beyond the range of bows and arrows.
Dr. An Ning won a series of victories this time, and he said with high spirits: "Send my order to the general, and beat the drum to cheer!"
"Dong dong dong!"
The drummers of Qi State beat the drums, and the soldiers of Qi State advanced. Then Doctor An Ning saw that the troops of Qu State were motionless, and there was no drum beating to encourage them.
"Why doesn't Qu Guo beat drums to cheer?"
The chariots of Qi State charged and killed many people of Qu State, but Qu State's army still did not move.
Doctor An Ning was surprised, but still said: "Bang the drum!"
So Qi State beat the drum again and fired a volley of arrows. Although Qu State was protected by shields, many soldiers were killed directly by the arrows.
But even so, Qu Guo remained motionless and did not even change his formation, which made Doctor An Ning feel very strange.
"What does Qu Guo mean?
They came out in formation, obviously wanting to fight with our army, but our army has beaten the drum twice, but Qu Guo did not beat the drum once, and did not hang the exemption card. This is not in line with battlefield etiquette. "
Doctor An Ning was no longer as happy as before, thinking that Qu Guo looked down on him, so he frowned and shouted loudly: "Beat the drum!"
So Qi State beat its drums again, and the soldiers moved forward again. This time Qu State's drums finally sounded, and the drums of the State of Qu urged the soldiers of both sides to move forward.
However, the soldiers of the Qi State who had experienced the three-tone drum had already breathed a sigh of relief. Doctor An Ning was not the kind of unparalleled general who could boost the morale of the soldiers.
On the contrary, the soldiers of Qu State had high morale and were very brave. They broke up Qi State's formation and moved towards the Chinese army.
The guards from Luo Kingdom who had been ordered by Guan Zhong long ago took the pale Lu Xiaobai away and left. As for the battlefield, it was left to Dr. An Ning, who was the general in command.
Lu Xiaobai just came to watch the excitement, but now he couldn't see the excitement of the people of Qu State. If he didn't run away, Guan Zhong would probably bring a large amount of gold and silver to Qu State himself to redeem the king.
Lu Xiaobai returned to Qi State in despair. In fact, this defeat was nothing to Qi State. A big country naturally has its willfulness.
Unless it was like the battle between Luo State and Huaiyi during the period of King Yi, they could not recover for more than decades.
Lu Xiaobai felt so embarrassed that he had no face to face Guan Zhong, and he did not dare to see Guan Zhong, so he could only drink to drown his sorrows.
Guan Zhong was in charge of the state affairs of Qi State, but it didn't make much difference whether he was there or not.
When Lu Xiaobai was indulging in wine and sex, Mrs. Qi Yi felt very distressed when she saw her husband like this.
"Your Majesty, you have been depressed all day long. You have not seen Prime Minister Zhong since you returned home. This is not what a monarch should do."
Lu Xiaobai sighed, hugged Xiyi's soft body in his arms, and said, "My dear, I really don't know how to meet A-Zhong.
Ah Zhong is not only a minister, but also Gu's best friend.
If I were a fish, A-Zhong would be the water; if I were a bird, A-Zhong would be the sky. It is I who cannot live without him, but he cannot live without me.
For the sake of brotherly friendship, he left his home country and came to Qi to assist me.
I also said that I would let people in the world see what A-Naka is capable of, but due to negligence, I lost to Nagano. People in the world will definitely think that A-Naka has a false reputation, and I feel guilty.
What should I do if A-Zhong gets angry and abandons me? "
When Xiyi saw that her husband didn't even call himself an orphan, she knew that he must be very frightened.
She was a gentle, virtuous and courteous woman, and comforted her: "Husband, you also said that Prime Minister Zhong is your best friend.
I heard that if the monarch treats his ministers like brothers and sisters, the ministers will treat the monarch like his heart.
You treat Zhongxiang with such respect and trust. Zhongxiang must know it. How could he leave you because of this matter? "
"Your Majesty, I would like to see you, Prime Minister!" the eunuch walked in.
Lu Xiaobai swung up from Xiyi's arms and said hurriedly: "All of you, get down."
The musicians and dancers hurriedly left from the side of the hall, leaving only the guards, Lu Xiaobai and Xiyi in the hall.
Lu Xiaobai tidied up his appearance, stood up and said, "Please come in, Mr. Zhong."
Guan Zhong walked in from outside the palace, and Lu Xiaobai hurriedly greeted him, holding Guan Zhong's hand, with tears in his eyes, but didn't know what to say, he just said: "A-Zhong, I..."
Guan Zhong held Lu Xiaobai's hand with his backhand. For a calm person like him, his eyes were full of tears now and he said, "My lord, you don't need to say anything."
Before Guan Zhong could say anything else, Lu Xiaobai said urgently: "Zhong, do you really want to leave me?
I was wrong, I shouldn't have gone to conquer Qu State.
From now on, I will never act without permission again. You can't leave me. "
"Xiao Bai!" Guan Zhong said this title that he had not used for a long time, "The friendship between you and me is stronger than gold and stone. How could I leave you?
You crusaded against the State of Qu, but I did not stop you. It was my fault as a minister. How can I blame you?
You didn't blame me. You compared me to water and the sky. I really deserve it. "
Lu Xiaobai felt happy when he heard Guan Zhong call him Xiaobai, and laughed out loud when he heard Guan Zhong's words.
He pulled Guan Zhong to sit down at the banquet, and said to his wife Xiyi: "My dear, have you heard that A Zhong did not blame me, he is still willing to stay in Qi to help me."
Seeing that her husband suddenly changed from decadent to energetic, Xiyi also smiled happily and said: "Zhongxiang and you are like mountains and rivers, inseparable."
"Mountains and flowing water?"
Lu Xiaobai muttered a few sentences and liked the word very much. He turned to the historian and said, "Sir, please record the mountains and rivers in the history books to show the friendship between Gu and A Zhong."
The historians of this era are quite capable, and would rather die than write indiscriminately. Especially many historians are branches of the Luo family. These history books will be collected into the Luo Kingdom. The Luo Kingdom has the most complete history books in the world.
In the palace where Xiyi quietly left, Lu Xiaobai, who had regained his composure, happily took Guan Zhong to discuss state affairs, but basically it was Guan Zhong who was talking and he was listening.
Due to Lu Xiaobai's limited level, he still didn't understand many of the subtleties of Guan Zhong's policies. He needed Guan Zhong to explain them to him, and then Lu Xiaobai's exclamations and praises came one after another.
This scenario has happened countless times in the past two years.
The result of this battle reached Luo Xiu's ears, but he just read the battle report. Not only was he not anxious, but he smiled happily and said: "Qi's military strength is prosperous. If he appoints a general, he will definitely win."
This is the difference in vision between the monarchs of large countries and those of small countries.
The army was led by Lu Xiaobai and Dr. An Ning, two people who did not know much about commanding troops. Zhang Qi, the strongest commander in Qi State, did not take action.
Under this situation, the Qi army was still able to form a formation quickly amidst the chaos and did not cause many casualties.
This proves that after two years of tempering, the Qi army has undergone qualitative changes compared to Lu Wujiu's period.
Every time I think about the ending of Duke Huan of Qi, I feel a little emotional. It is a pity for a generation of heroes who respected the king and resisted the barbarians.
There are two more updates in the afternoon, totaling 14,000 words today.
(End of chapter)
