Since the Marquis of Qi lost his enterprising spirit and became greedy for pleasure, although Qi's strength has not declined, its threat has been greatly reduced. However, under Guan Zhong's governance, Qi State was still prosperous and prosperous.
Wang Yong was not at ease about this situation. Because the foundation of Qi State is very solid, and Guan Zhong has devoted himself to governing it for forty years, Qi State's strength can be said to be much higher than that of other countries. The only one who can defeat Qi State is Huai State.
However, Huai Guo can be said to be surrounded by enemies on all sides in Zhou Dynasty. It's okay to win, but the consequences of losing will be serious. Although the state of Qi has lost its enterprising spirit, it will soon recover as long as the Marquis of Qi regains its strength.
Therefore, Huai State did not relax its vigilance against Qi State. According to Wang Yong's idea, it was to let Qi State continue to slip into the quagmire.
Wang Yong then ordered the Huai State's intelligence network to put eye drops on the five princes of Qi, blow the wind, and push the boat along with the current, so that the five princes could have a good fight.
Qi State, Linzi.
Since the first Duke of Qi established the country here, it has experienced more than two hundred years of ups and downs. The mottled city walls tell the glorious history of this city.
This Qihou family has a rare longevity, and he is also assisted by the famous Prime Minister Guan Zhong, so the national power of Qi is at its peak. But now Linzi looks like a storm is coming.
The Marquis of Qi is critically ill and the palace gates are closed, but there are five young masters who are qualified to succeed.
Originally, the eldest son Wu Kui was the most promising to inherit the position of Marquis of Qi, and the Marquis of Qi had promised to make him the crown prince. The mother of the eldest son Wu Kui was the daughter of the Duke of Wei, but the Marquis of Qi originally No official edict was issued.
But the people of the Marquis of Qi are old-hearted, and Gongzizhao's mother Zheng Ji is young, beautiful, and considerate, and she is very comfortable serving the Marquis of Qi.
As people get older, they become more and more confused and their ears become softer. So after having fun again, Zheng Ji softly coquettishly pleased the Marquis of Qi, and the Marquis of Qi indeed liked Gong Zizhao more. So she was persuaded by Zheng Ji to make Gongzi Zhao the crown prince instead.
Since then, Gongzi Wukui is naturally unwilling to do so, and Huai Guo's spies naturally know it. Moreover, Gongzi Wukui is also fond of extravagance and forgets loyalty when he sees profit. He will definitely not do well as the Marquis of Qi. This is very in line with Huai Guo's behavior. It was beneficial, so he asked the spy to assist him and give him suggestions on how to deal with Yi Ya and Shu Diao.
Yi Ya and Shu Diao were both people who were greedy for profit. With the help of spies from the Huai Kingdom, Master Wuqi quickly made friends with the two of them and promised that they would be reused in the future. As for another favorite of the Marquis of Qi, Wei Kaifang supported Gong Zizhao because he hated Wei Guo.
The other young masters are also not economical. Each of them has his own party members and ministers to support him. He was unwilling to give up his position as Marquis of Qi.
Originally, according to the normal procedure, when the Marquis of Qi was seriously ill, it was natural to notify both internal and external officials so that Prince Zhao could prepare to ascend the throne. However, Yi Ya and Shu Diao, as the servants of the Marquis of Qi, had been bribed by the prince without any loss. How could they agree to Prince Zhao's accession and immediately isolate them? Inside and outside, send people to inform the young master that there is no loss.
Young Master Wuqi had an internal response and took the lead to take advantage and strike first. But other young masters also reacted quickly and immediately sent people to snatch it, and the entire Linzi became a battlefield.
Young Master Wugui announced that the Marquis of Qi had promised him to be the prince, and since he was the eldest son, he should inherit the position of Marquis of Qi. The other people were not convinced, saying that the Marquis of Qi was just joking, and without an edict, you were just talking nonsense.
The state of Bangzhou was indeed a system of inheritance by the eldest son. If the Marquis of Qi did not have a legitimate son, it would be inheritance by the eldest son. In this case, there are indeed many Qi officials supporting him.
The entire country of Qi was in chaos, and no one cared about the sick Marquis of Qi in the palace. In order to obtain the position of Marquis of Qi, Prince Wu Kui greatly rewarded the noble families who supported him.
After receiving Gongzi Wukai's promise, these nobles and ministers supported Gongzi Wukai one after another. Young Master Wukui's strength increased rapidly and he defeated all four of his younger brothers in succession. In the end, the four younger brothers could only escape Linzi with the help of Huai State intelligence personnel and fled to other vassal states.
Young Master Wugui won the victory, and it was only at this time that everyone remembered the Marquis of Qi in the palace. However, by this time, the Marquis of Qi had already become cold, and even his corpse was in a state of decay.
Young Master Wukui had people collect the bones of the Marquis of Qi, and then he couldn't wait to ascend to the throne of the Marquis of Qi. It was only after he became the Marquis of Qi that he discovered that
In order to gain the support of the nobles at the beginning, Young Master Wugui made arbitrary promises and gave those nobles and ministers too many benefits and rights.
If they all agreed, he, the Marquis of Qi, would be almost a puppet.
When he thought of this, Young Master Wugui was unwilling. He was now the Marquis of Qi, not a young master, so why did he still bow to those nobles? Didn't the position of the Marquis of Qi go to waste?
At this time, the Huai State spies who had advised him at the beginning advised him: "Your Majesty is the Marquis of Qi, and his kindness comes from your Majesty. How can you force your Majesty to grant him a title?"
Immediately, Qi Hou Wugui found various excuses to directly deny the promised benefits and rights. This time, the nobles and ministers were furious.
Okay, we originally provided money, effort, and people to help you drive away those brothers of yours and help you ascend to the position of Qi Hou. Now, okay, you have turned your back on me, right? Just wait for us!
Young Master Wukai didn't take those nobles and ministers to heart, he still doted on Yi Ya and Shu Diao, exploited the people of the country wantonly, and enjoyed themselves extravagantly.
On the other side, Gongzizhao ran to Song State with the help of spies from Huai State. When the Marquis of Qi was still alive, he felt that Gongzizhao was young and his brothers were not economical, so he invited Song Gong to protect Gongzizhao and help him ascend the throne. In addition, his mother was the daughter of Zheng Guogong. , so Gongzizhao sent someone to contact his mother clan Zheng Guo.
Song Gong immediately agreed. At this time, the Song Dynasty had become stronger and stronger after many years of development, and he immediately agreed to help Gong Zizhao regain the position of Qi Hou. So Qi Gong contacted Zheng, Cao, and Zhu to escort Prince Zhao back to his country.
The nobles of Qi were immediately happy when they heard that Song Gong had joined forces with Zheng, Cao and Zhu to attack Qi. After all, don’t you think that you can no longer be trustworthy after succeeding as the Marquis of Qi? This will let you know how awesome it is!
When Prince Wugui learned that the allied forces of Song and other countries were coming to attack, he was furious and directly sent out a large army to fight Song. As a result, since he came to the throne, he favored Yi Ya and Shu Diao. These two people took bribes and exploited the people, causing anger and resentment.
As a result, the morale of the army was low, while the morale of the Song and other countries was high, and there was secret support from the nobles. As a result, the Qi army was defeated miserably. The combined forces of Song, Zheng, Cao, and Zhu were unstoppable, and they fought consecutive battles and defeated Linzi. The young master who had only been in power for just a few months Wu Kui was killed.
Gongzizhao ascended the throne with the help of Song, Zheng, Zhu and Cao. Although the nobles of Qi State defected in the face of battle, Gongzi Zhao never forgot what these nobles did.
Gongzizhao is not a magnanimous person, not to mention that these nobles betrayed him first, and then betrayed Gongzi Wuhui. How dare Gongzizhao trust them.
So Gongzizhao used the power of Song, Zheng and other countries to clean up the court of Qi, and then he firmly became the Marquis of Qi.
...
In the winter of the forty-third year of Duke Huan, Duke Huan fell ill, and his servants changed their teeth and erected barriers to block the palace gates. The five princes of Qi fought for the throne, and Duke Huan died of starvation. On the sixty-seventh day, the prince came to the throne without any loss and buried Duke Huan.
In March, Song, Zheng, Cao, Zhu and other countries escorted Gongzi Zhao back to Song Dynasty. The Qi army was defeated, the Marquis of Qi died without loss, and Gongzi Zhao ascended the throne.
