Huai and Qi allied themselves in Langya. At this time, it was not just Huai and Qi who participated in the alliance. Although Lu had fallen out with Qi, they also came to join the alliance. At the same time, Ju and Tan Guo took pictures of the power of Huai Guo and also came to participate in the alliance.
Tan and Ju were worried about Huai's attack and wanted to form an alliance with Huai. Wang Sheng did not refuse. Anyway, according to Huai State's strategy, he did not intend to attack northward before Wu State was solved. Moreover, as a remnant of the Yin Shang Dynasty, the Huai Kingdom's march north would arouse the vigilance of the states of Zhou and Zhou.
At that time, it is very likely that we will have to face the coalition forces of the Central Plains countries. Although the Huai State is strong, it cannot afford to go to war with the Central Plains countries at the same time.
Langya and Tanhou built a high platform outside the city, where the Five Kingdoms allied themselves.
First, Shaolao offered sacrifices to heaven, then to the gods of mountains and rivers, and finally to the blood alliance. The five countries signed an alliance together. This time the alliance was mainly between Huai and Qi, so it was also called the Alliance of Huai and Qi or the Alliance of Langya.
After the alliance was concluded, Wang Sheng led the army back to the Huai Kingdom. Although the war was over, the subsequent rewards and the issue of the Chu Kingdom needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
The Chu army was defeated miserably and captured 40,000 soldiers. These were 40,000 strong soldiers. For any vassal state, they were a force that could not be ignored. Although the Chu state had millions of soldiers, it suddenly lost 40,000 strong soldiers. Even with Chu State's foundation, it would not be able to recover in ten years.
Huai'an. The army returned victorious. Although the battle traveled thousands of miles and defeated all enemies, they gained very little. Moreover, because most of the war broke out in the Huai Kingdom, it also had a great impact on the production of the Huai Kingdom.
In the palace, Wang Sheng had just rewarded all the soldiers who had made military exploits this time. In a big battle, the Huai army gave many rewards.
What's more important is that this time the Huai army did not gain an inch of land.
"My lords, it is Gu who did not think carefully about this attack on Wu. Qi, Lu, Chu and Chu sent troops, so that the victory was completely defeated. It is Gu's fault!" In the main hall, Wang Sheng was the first to speak. Although the Huai Kingdom defeated the enemy repeatedly in this battle, But the strategic intention was not achieved at all, and it was said that it was defeated without defeat.
"I am terrified. This battle is not the fault of my superiors. It is the fault of my subordinates!"
"Your Majesty accepts advice with an open mind, is wise and courageous, and is not afraid in the face of danger. In critical moments, he led the army to defeat Wu Chu and retreated from Qi and Lu. I am the Lord of Ying. The Three Kingdoms attacked Huaihe. It is not the fault of the Majesty, but the fault of my subordinates!"
Hearing that Wang Sheng came to take responsibility for the failure of the military expedition, the ministers were frightened and quickly tried to persuade him. This expedition was originally intended by the Huai Kingdom, and it had been prepared by the Huai Kingdom for decades. But no one thought that Qi, Lu, and Chu would intervene.
"Okay, this war was promoted by Gu alone. The blame lies with Gu, and all the ministers are not guilty!" Wang Sheng waved his hand and stopped pursuing these matters.
Next, we began to deal with the problem of the 40,000 Chu army prisoners. In wars between countries, prisoners are usually not killed. Most of them are redeemed and bought back. Unless there is a big enemy, the prisoners will be killed and sacrificed.
Wang Sheng planned to let the Chu army redeem 40,000 prisoners of war with slaves, grain and grass. This time in the expedition against Wu, Huai suffered a lot of losses, so he just used Chu's ransom to recover his blood.
Chu finally sent an envoy to redeem 40,000 prisoners of war. Even a large country like Chu could not bear the consequences of the death of all 50,000 soldiers.
After a fierce debate, the Chu State was willing to redeem these prisoners of war with one hundred thousand slaves, one hundred thousand stones of food and grass, and some bronze. Of course, the hatred between Chu and Huai was also forged.
After the Three Kingdoms attacked Huaihe and the Huaiqi Alliance, Wang Sheng did not plan to attack Wu again in the short term. Although he has the covenant in hand, who knows whether the Qi Congress will regret it, so he will not take action without being completely sure.
Wang Sheng doesn't trust Qi State, so he can only let Qi State fall into civil strife or go to war with other countries to reassure him.
Since Zijue, the Huai Kingdom has used merchants to collect intelligence from surrounding countries. Until now, this intelligence network has been very large.
Qi State is a big country in the east, so the intelligence network of Huai State naturally needs to be focused on. The Huai Kingdom's intelligence network was mostly staffed by members of the public family and controlled by the monarch. This intelligence network and Xiaoguo Army are important forces directly controlled by the royal family.
"Your Majesty!" Zhao Qi respectfully presented a scroll of letters with both hands.
"The slips here contain the old events of Duke Wen."
Wang Sheng nodded and took the letter: "Is there any record of Duke Wen's annexation of Han?"
"Your Majesty, there are records. Without Your Majesty's order, no one has the right to read these slips." Zhao Qi said solemnly.
Wang Sheng opened the slip and flipped through it. I quickly found what I was looking for. This was an internal record of the Huai State Intelligence Network. It recorded in detail what the agents of the Huai State had done back then.
Including reporting Qi State's trends to Ji State, including going to Qi State to seduce the Qi Crown Prince to betray him, and ultimately sending Qi Aigong to death and being cooked to death by the Emperor of Zhou.
After seeing these records, Wang Sheng had an intuitive understanding of the intelligence network controlled by the office. And what Duke Wen did back then also made him think of a way to bring cholera to Qi.
"Zhao Qi, go get all the information on the princes within the third generation of the Qi Kingdom." Wang Sheng ordered directly after reading the information.
"Here!" Zhao Qi immediately stepped back. About a quarter of an hour later, the intelligence network sent seven tablets over.
While Wang Sheng was reading the slips, he asked someone to tell him about the relationship between Qi's offices.
The State of Qi was relatively stable in the previous generation, but it was relatively chaotic before the previous generation. The reason was that Duke Ai of Qi was cooked and killed, and his brother became the Marquis of Qi. After this Prince Jing ascended the throne, he was called Duke Hu of Qi.
Later, because he was worried about being plotted by the state of Ji, Duke Hu of Qi moved the capital to Bogu, but the people of Qi opposed the move. So another brother of Duke Ai of Qi thought this was a good opportunity, so he led his private soldiers to kill Duke Hu of Qi, established himself as king, and drove away all the sons of Duke Hu of Qi. This was Duke Xiang of Qi.
After the death of Duke Xian, his son ascended the throne and was called Duke Wu of Qi. At this time, there was no trouble in the Duke of Qi's office. However, after Duke Wu died and his son ascended the throne, things changed. This person also received the posthumous title of 'Li'.
Because Duke Li of Qi was tyrannical and the people of Qi hated him, they contacted Duke Hu's son and killed Duke Li. Unfortunately, Duke Hu's son also died in the battle, and in the end Duke Li's son took the throne. At this point, Qi State finally settled down.
Wang Sheng looked through these office documents and quickly found a breakthrough. The former Duke of Qi doted on his nephew Gongsun Wuzhi, and enjoyed the same salary, clothing, and living conditions as his sons. As a result, the two sides fought many times.
And when the princes Zhuer succeeded to the position of Qi Hou, they were naturally very disgusted with Gongsun Wuzhi, and directly took back all his treatment. With such a huge gap, Gongsun Wuzhi hated the current prince, which was a big deal for Wang Sheng. Good news.
