Soft light penetrated the window grilles and fell into the room, illuminating the figures standing side by side. Their black hair was like a waterfall, and their skin seemed to have no flaws at all. Luo Yu raised her hand to touch the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. A strand of her hair fell down, slightly. sigh.
People always grow old, but my wife seems to be an exception. She is still like this after decades. If her health hadn't been deteriorating, she would have thought that the world would last forever.
Xi Shi sat up and leaned gently in Luo Yu's arms. Luo Yu hugged her weak and boneless body, and her heart calmed down inexplicably. Xi Shi said softly: "I will never be heard of, unlike my husband, who is famous in history. , keep his name forever.”
Luo Yu bowed her head and smiled softly: "A beloved man always comforts his husband in this way. You are really a virtuous woman."
Luo Yu now has a very heavy burden. It is very difficult to maintain a stable alliance, especially to lead the alliance's trends and balance the interests of the allies.
After Chong'er passed away and the new Duke Shuang of Jin came to the throne, the ministers arranged for him to pay tribute to the Emperor of Zhou and to contact Luo State and other allies.
But Duke Shuang of Jin said: "The Kingdom of Jin has millions of people and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Based on this, the ancestors commanded the world. I should be proud of my ancestors and make alliances with the princes."
The ministers of the Jin State advised and admonished: "My lord, my ancestors were able to dominate the world, but the Jin State's national strength is only one of them. The Chu State is extremely tyrannical, how can it dominate the world?"
No matter how strong Jin was, wasn't it defeated by Qin and Chu?
The relationship between the late emperor and the emperor was irresistible. Whatever the late emperor asked for, the emperor would grant it.
The late king was able to get the support of Luo State, so he did not have to use one country to fight against the four kingdoms of Qin, Chu, Qi and Wu.
Since you came to the throne, you have not paid tribute to the emperor. Is this what the country surnamed Ji should do?
The ancestor's mother's family was born in Qi State, but they are alienated from Qi State. Do you still want to do this?
The Luo Kingdom has great prestige in the world. If you want to become the overlord, you must get the blessing of King Haotiansu. However, you hope to get rid of the Luo Kingdom and dominate by yourself.
Have you forgotten that after the defeat of the late Lord Yiluo, he was in Luo Palace..."
Speaking of this, another person hurriedly pulled it. Jin Gongshuang's face was already a little ugly, but these were old ministers, and he had to listen, so he said coldly: "I will pay tribute to the emperor according to your wishes and pay tribute to the emperor." Qi Luowu sent a note of alliance letter."
Jin Gongshuang left in anger, and the ministers walked out of the palace. One person sighed: "Qing Zhao, why do you need to mention that matter? The prince has always been deeply ashamed."
Zhao Qing smiled slightly and said: "You are an excellent monarch who feels shame but can bear it. Do you really want Luo State to keep pressing on Jin State?
Jin is the real overlord. "
Everyone was silent, no one refuted, they did not want to destroy the Jinluo Alliance, they just wanted to dominate this alliance. If the Jin Kingdom has always been lower than the Luo Kingdom, how can they, as ministers, raise their heads?
The problems of Qi State are completely different from those of Jin State. The new Duke of Qi is named Lu Qie. He does not want to make great achievements like Duke Shuang of Jin.
For him, we can only say that he is worthy of being a descendant of Duke Huan of Qi, and worthy of being the son of Lu Jing. Like his ancestors, he likes wine, beautiful women, and pleasure.
However, Duke Huan of Qi had Guan Zhong, a famous prime minister throughout the ages, to take care of the Qi State. Lu Qie's father left him with a Qi State in which more than half of the Qing clan had been killed, and the remaining Qing clan was alienated from the official family.
When Lu Qie first came to the throne, he wanted to cheer up. However, although the Qi State did not have as strict control over the public offices and clans as the Jin State, it still did not dare to let them control the power.
He originally wanted to use the Qing clan who were not threatening now, but he did not expect that these Qing clan said they were "willing to die for the king", but the reality was that each one was more immobile than the other.
No matter what he asked, there were just a few words back and forth.
"The king is a man of extraordinary talent, wise and mighty, and possesses the talents of civil servants and ministers. His ministers will bow their heads and obey orders."
"I am nothing but humble weeds. You are the bright moon in the sky. It is very ridiculous for the weeds to compete for the brightness of the bright moon."
The most terrifying thing in politics is not confrontation, but non-violence and non-cooperation. This is the current state of Qi.
Lu Qie was not the kind of perseverant person to begin with. As soon as he saw the ministers being arrogant and having fun every day, he followed suit, and the entire Qi Kingdom fell into a state of drunkenness and dreams.
But what is very strange is that the political situation in Qi, which has always been unstable, has become inexplicably harmonious. It is really a funny scene.
Only the Wu State was relatively normal. After tearing off a large piece of land from the Chu State, Qingji, Sun Wu, Jun and his ministers put all their energy into it and poured countless resources into it, hoping to develop it into the Wu State. The core territory will increase the population of Wu State, increase food production, and have no time to look outside.
This is the current status of Luo Yu's three most important allies, and they are not good at all.
However, under Luo Yu's control and after several years of training, the three kingdoms of Jin, Qi, and Wu in this state united more closely around the Luo Kingdom, especially since the three kingdoms did not trust each other and only trusted the Luo Kingdom. This gave Luo Guo a lot of room for maneuver.
The Jin State contained the most important Weihan channel from the east of the Qin State. The Jin State also joined forces with the Wu State to contain the Chu State from the north and east. On the one hand, the Qi State joined forces with the Luo State to support the Yan State in the north against the northern invasion. The Hu people who want to go south will monitor the two countries of Song and Chen.
The Chen State was originally wiped out by the returning Wu State, but during the Yingshui peace talks, the Chu State proposed to restore the Chen State, and eventually the Ji Jiang Alliance retreated.
However, Chen State became more and more difficult in the Central Plains, until the Song State, which had always been hostile, suddenly sided with Chen State, which made Luo Yu increasingly wary of the two countries.
The power of the Zheng State is completely in the hands of the Qing clan. Today they provoke Ying Guo and tomorrow they bully Chen Guo. They look like they deserve a beating.
After the prince of Qin returned to the country, he advised the king of Qin: "The three Central Plains countries, Jin, Qi, and Luo, have an area of 3,000 miles and a population of 8 million. This is not what Qin can match.
Luo Yu, the prince of Luo State, has the ability to unite the princes to work together, which cannot be destroyed by Qin State.
I think the policy proposed by the great concubine Chang Yili in the past is the only one that the Qin State can follow. There are 800 miles of Weihe River plain in Guanzhong. If it can be developed, it will be enough to accumulate a population of tens of millions.
There are countless scholars in the Luo Kingdom Academy, and there are as many talented people as there are stars in the sky. They can be recruited with high officials and noble titles, so that Qin can prosper.
You can also contact the Chu State to open up Bashu. After the death of Prince Luo and the Ji Jiang Alliance, you can go east when the two countries are prosperous and you will definitely be able to win in one battle. "
The monarchs and ministers of the Qin State were convinced of this, and since then they have closed the road west of Hangu Pass to develop the country with peace of mind.
In the Chu State, it is now known as King Xiang co-rules. The contemporary King of Chu was greatly affected when he was young. He not only married women of the Xiang family, but also vigorously promoted the children of the Xiang family to become officials. Even Sima and Ling Such a high position as Yin was also given to Xiang.
He is very lucky. The current Xiang family is at a time when talents are emerging in large numbers. In addition, a large number of classics can be used to mass-produce middle and low-level officials. Moreover, after experiencing Xiang Ci's generation, it is the time when the family tradition is the most upright, and loyalty to the emperor is the ambition. .
As soon as these descendants of the Xiang family became officials, they carried out great reforms in the Chu State and strengthened the royal power of the Chu State. All the princes, including Qu Jingzhao, spit out the benefits they devoured.
These descendants of the Xiang family were so talented and loyal that the King of Chu missed Xiang Ci all the time, so he built a statue of Xiang Ci in the capital of Ying, Chu State, which made the Xiang family even more loyal to him.
Xiang Zi, who served as Ling Yin, also proposed to the King of Chu a plan for the interdependence of the kingdoms, "Your Majesty, the Zhou family and the world rely on the three kingdoms of Jin, Luo, and Qi.
Among the three kingdoms, the Luo Kingdom is still the largest sect of the Chen family. I am not exaggerating. King Su is the most noble, even above the Haotian of the Zhou people, so don't try to attack the Luo Kingdom.
The best way is to dismember his alliance. I don't believe that Jin Luoqi's alliance is unbreakable.
From today on, Chu can marry Jin and Qi, constantly send jade and beauties to them, and can also bribe Jin's officials to marry them.
Jin and Luo are both countries with the surname Ji and cannot be related by marriage to each other. This is a great opportunity for Chu.
After such a marriage, after a hundred years, can Jin Qi still be of the same mind as Luo Guo? "
"Will Luo Guo agree? What if they interfere with it?"
Xiang Zi said confidently: "Marquis Luo always puts peace and stability first in his actions and does not like to use weapons rashly.
The Chu State entered into a marriage alliance with the Jin State. Although this plan was clever, it would take a long time to see results.
For Luo Guo, acting like this is better than starting another war, so he will definitely not stop it by force. At most, he will just advise Jin Jun.
The failure of the Chu State in the past was due to the fact that it always interfered with the Central Plains by force.
The contemporary Luo Houyu, who talks about Qi in one word and Jin in another word, if such a person forcibly becomes an enemy, the result will definitely be that all the armies in the Central Plains will be raised, and by then the Chu Kingdom will be devastated.
In this case, it would be better to wait until Luo Houyu passes away. Your Majesty is still young and can afford to wait. "
The King of Chu believed that this was a good thing, and the Chu State changed its strategic direction. Instead of sending troops, it began to form marriage alliances with other countries in the Central Plains.
…
The art of vertical and horizontal movements makes the princes fearful when they are angry, but when they live in peace, the world will be at peace.
Thinking of Duke Luo Yigong, he established Qi, controlled Yan, talked about Jin, subdued Wu, conquered Qin, and suppressed Chu. He lived in Zhaocheng and the world was at peace. The countries were intertwined with each other without raising armies. No one was more prosperous than this.
The ancestor of Zongheng is included in the preface to show his nobility. ——"Warring States Policy·Preface"
(End of chapter)
