After a banquet, the anger between the two parties was no longer as great as before. Of course, the more important thing is that after seeing Xu Mao's spicy words, the monarchs and ministers of Qi State were afraid that he would say something embarrassing again.
"Xu Qing, you are sent as an envoy to Qi State for the purpose of truce. Gu has already ordered the army to gather and prepare to assist the Qi army on the front line." Qi Hou said: "When our Qi State army arrives, I don't know if Huai State can stop it. ?”
Xu Qing was not frightened by the words of the Marquis of Qi, and said calmly: "Marquis of Qi, your frontline army has become a turtle in the urn and a fish in the net. We, the Huai State, are only willing to negotiate for peace because we do not want to suffer too much loss. If The Marquis of Qi is unwilling to negotiate, so let’s meet on the battlefield!”
"I just don't know if the surrounding Lai and Ji people will be overjoyed after the Qi army suffered heavy losses!" After saying that, he stood up and left.
"Mr. Xu, please don't be angry. Your Majesty is just joking." A nearby doctor hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and said, "The army that your Majesty said was gathering, but he just heard some unusual movements from Dongyi and Lai people."
"The Huai Kingdom is a country where the emperor has granted him the title of Duke, and we, the Qi Kingdom, are the same nobles of the Xia Dynasty. Any friction is considered a courtesy war, but that is not the case with those of the Dongyi and Lai Kingdoms."
"The country of Ju has been invaded all year round, and these troops are going to help the country of Ju!"
After hearing this, Xu Mao nodded slightly, accepting the statement and returned to his seat.
"Qi Hou, are you waiting for news from Chu?" Xu Mao asked.
The expression on Qi Hou's face remained unchanged, but there was a glimmer of light in his eyes.
"Chu State? Is Chu State also at war with your country?" Another doctor next to him asked pretending not to know.
"My lord Huaihou led an army of 50,000 men from Chu to fight in Han. The Chu army besieged the capital of Han, but did not attack it. They waited for work. My lord is a talented man and has a great strategy. He cut off his food and grass in the first battle, cut off his retreat in the second battle, and cut off his retreat in the third battle. All Chu masters surrender!"
Hearing Xu Mao's words, the monarchs and ministers of Qi State were shocked. Although the Central Plains countries looked down on Chu State and thought they were barbarian countries, they still recognized Chu State's strength. Chu State went north several times to fight with the princes of the Central Plains, and its ferocity was eye-catching.
Now I was even more shocked when I heard that the 50,000 Chu army was defeated and captured by Huai in a short period of time.
Originally, the monarchs and ministers of the Qi State had this intention. They also believed that the Huai State was trying to hold on, and the Chu State should still be fighting with it in Han. They felt that as long as they persisted for a while, Huai State would be unable to hold on.
"The Chu State is thousands of miles away, has a population of millions, and is well-equipped with soldiers and food. It is a big country in the south. How could it be defeated so easily?" Another Qing doctor said in disbelief.
"Haha, the Marquis of Qi and the ministers don't believe my words?" Xu Mao was not angry, and then waved to the attendants behind him.
The guard stepped forward and brought up a lacquer box in his arms. Xu Mao opened the box, then reached out and took out a palm-sized seal. Mi's surname was Xiong, and the words engraved on the seal were Mi's surname and Xiong Bo. .
"Does the Marquis of Qi recognize this Seal of Chu?" Xu Mao spread the seal in his hand and said to everyone.
"This...is this Xiong Bo's seal?" A doctor next to him stepped forward to watch and couldn't help but ask.
"It's none other than Chu Shuai Xiong Bo!" Xu Mao put the Chu Xi back into the box and continued: "Chu Shuai Xiong Bo was a brave man, but it was a pity that he didn't know the fate, so he fought with my lord and died in the battle. "
The appearance of this golden seal convinced the entire Qi State that the Chu State had been defeated, and there was no longer a sense of luck in their hearts. After knowing the strength of the Huai State, there was no trace of arrogance.
"Huai Guo is really brave and defeated the Chu army!"
"Marquis of Qi, my lord sent Mao as an envoy this time because he wants to establish an alliance with the state of Qi. He is willing to be friends forever and not invade each other. I wonder if the Marquis of Qi is willing?"
The Marquis of Qi's heart moved slightly, and then he said: "Huai Kingdom wants to conclude an alliance with Gu, Gu is very happy, but Gu has heard that Huai Kingdom and Lai Kingdom are on good terms, is it true?"
At the beginning, the Huai Kingdom was hostile to Qilu, Jutan and other countries. In order to prevent the eastern countries from uniting against the Huai Kingdom, successive Huai Kingdom monarchs would finance the Lai Kingdom. The Lai Kingdom was also a big country with a population of hundreds of thousands, and its origins Dongyi has a good relationship with the Yi tribe.
They often faced off against Qi State, just because their weapons and equipment were not as well arranged as Qi State's, so they were slightly at a disadvantage. Of course, sometimes Lai State also beat Qi State into a state of embarrassment.
In order to contain Qi State and other vassal states, Huai State has always provided funding to Lai State. At the same time, in addition to Lai State, Ji State and Ju State also provided funding, but they did so very covertly. Just like the matter of Emperor Zhou cooking and killing the Marquis of Qi, the driving force behind it was the State of Huai.
After receiving the support of Huai State, Qi State's advantage over Lai State became smaller and smaller, and it was even defeated by Lai State several times. It's just that in the past few decades, Qi State has developed well, and Lai State has produced a few people who are greedy for enjoyment, and Qi State has been far surpassed.
"The Marquis of Qi wants my lord to give up his friendship with Lai?" Xu Mao asked.
"Exactly, the Lai State is a feud with the Qi State. If the Huai State is willing to sever its relationship with the Lai State, Gu will agree to conclude an alliance." Qi Hou said.
Xu Mao thought for a while and said: "If the Marquis of Qi demands to sever relations with Lai State, then Qi State must sever relations with Wu State!"
"This..." Qi Hou hesitated.
Not long ago, the Marquis of Qi concluded an alliance with the State of Wu, but now that he has reneged on it, there will be no one to help them contain the Huai State in the south. But when he thought about attacking Lai and annexing Lai, the Marquis of Qi became a little excited.
In comparison, the Marquis of Qi valued Lai State more. If Lai is annexed, not only will the land of Qi be directly doubled, but the population will also be doubled.
In the end, the Marquis of Qi could not resist the temptation to expand his territory and chose to agree.
The purpose of Huai State's alliance with Qi State this time is to annex the cake that each of them likes. This time the two countries are Qi State going east to attack Lai State, Huai State going south to annex Wu State, and the two sides will not interfere with each other.
Of course, this covenant is not very effective once it is signed. Once either side completes the annexation, it is estimated that the covenant will be torn up immediately and other princes will be invited to attack the other side.
Both the Huai State and the Qi State know that the other party will be a formidable enemy in the future, and if there is an opportunity, they will never let it go. Of course, tearing up the covenant is a matter for the future.
After the Marquis of Qi agreed to conclude the alliance, Xu Mao returned to Huai State with the envoy. To conclude an alliance, the monarch must come in person, and others were not qualified.
The two sides agreed to conclude an alliance at the border of Tan.
Tan State has no objection to Qi State and Huai State forming an alliance on their own land. After all, Tan State's strength is too weak compared to Qi State and Huai State. When the State of Lu learned that the State of Qi had concluded an alliance with the State of Huai, he immediately cursed the State of Qi for being despicable and shameless.
The already bad relations between the two countries have become even worse. The Qilu coalition was completely broken up, and there would be no chance of forming another coalition for at least ten years. Without Lu, Qi would be alone. Even if Qi invaded again, the northern part of Huai would be able to withstand it for a long time.
...
The Alliance of Huai-Qi was an important event in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. Many historians believe that the Alliance of Huai-Qi kicked off the annexation of princes and had a profound impact on Chinese history. ——"Talking about Chinese History·Spring and Autumn Period"
