The Wei soldiers surrounded Shangqiu, and then sent envoys to invite the three Jin Dynasties and the Marquis of Qi to send troops to carve up the Song Dynasty.
When the State of Qi came to Linzi, the envoys from the State of Wei rushed to see the Marquis of Qi. The envoy of the Wei State once again explained the proposal to invite the Qi State to carve up the Song State.
When the Marquis of Qi heard about the attack on Song, he did not want to send troops. After dealing with Huai State so many times, they knew very well the strength of Huai State, and Qi State alone was no match for Huai State.
The envoy of the guard had expected this and immediately said: "Marquis of Qi, you are the leader of the Xia. Now the Yin and Shang descendants are going to take over the Central Plains again. This is not a good thing for the Xia. If the Yin and Shang descendants are allowed to enter the Central Plains, what will happen to them?" Will we, the various states, still exist in that time?”
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Qi's monarchs and ministers changed. The Qi State, together with the Zhou royal family, destroyed the Yin Shang Dynasty. If the Yin Shang Dynasty rises again, how can the Qi State continue to exist?
"In addition to you, Marquis of Qi, we have also invited the Three Jins to send troops together. Presumably with the Three Jins and the Qi State, even the Huai State will have to retreat!"
Hearing that the Three Jin Dynasties were coming, the Marquis of Qi was immediately moved, but he still said cautiously: "The Huai State is strong. It attacked Chu decades ago and gained a large area of land. Now that the country is strong and has a big enemy against the Chu State, it is better to invite the Chu State." Chu State must be very happy to send troops together."
"When the time comes, we attack from the north and the Chu State attacks from the west. We will definitely be able to drive the Huai State out of the Central Plains."
"If the Marquis of Qi is willing to help contact the Chu State to attack the Huaihe River, we have no objection. We are only afraid of the Three Jins."
Qi Hou said with a smile: "The power of the Huai State is known to all the world, so Guhui sent people to contact the three Jins. I believe the three Jins will not let this opportunity go!"
The Marquis of Qi sent several envoys to the three Jin and Chu states respectively. Since the Chu State suffered successive defeats in recent years, it has begun to develop reforms. Over the years, Chu State continued to strengthen its military, reclaimed land, reduced the salaries of nobles, and compensated soldiers.
After the forced reform, Chu's national power grew very fast, the army's orders were unanimous, and its morale was high. After the tax revenue of Chu State increased, Chu State also strengthened its military armaments and increased the number of armors.
In fact, now all countries are developing iron weapons, although these iron weapons are not as sophisticated as those of Huai State and cannot forge straight knives. But it can barely be used. It can be forged into armor, but the armor's defense is much lower, much stronger than bamboo armor, leather armor, and bronze armor.
At the invitation of Qi and Wei, the three Jin Dynasties quickly made a decision. This was a good opportunity for them to seize the Central Plains. Both Wei and Zhao wanted to expand into the Central Plains. This time Qi Wei came to invite them, and it can be said that they hit it off immediately.
The Three Jins and Chu had just fought a war ten years ago, and it seemed difficult for them to join forces now, but Chen Zu said that he could persuade the King of Chu to join forces.
The State of Chu welcomed the arrival of the envoy from the State of Qi. After all, the two countries cooperated once a few years ago. Although they lost in the end, there was still some friendship.
"Envoy Qi, why are you here this time?"
Chen Zuo said respectfully: "The foreign ministers came here to invite Chu, Qi, Jin, and Wei to attack Song Dynasty."
"Attack Song Dynasty?"
The King of Chu frowned slightly and said, "The Song State is a vassal state of the Huai State. Are you attacking Song to fight against the Huai State?"
"Of course we have taken this into consideration, so we invited the three Jin Dynasties to join the Chu State. Now the three Jin Dynasties have agreed. As long as the King of Chu is willing to send troops, how can the Huai State stop this attack on Huai?"
The King of Chu said: "Ten years ago, the Three Jin Dynasties captured the main beams of our Chu Kingdom, and even captured twelve cities of our Chu Kingdom. Even our commander Xiang Meng died in the battle. I have such a big enemy against the Three Jin Dynasties, how can I form an alliance with them?"
"King Chu, when I was traveling in the Kingdom of Wei, I saw a family of brothers competing for property. When the blood surged, they fought fiercely with each other. All the brothers had bruises on their noses and faces, and they had to stay in bed for half a month.
But then another person came to see that his brothers were injured and wanted to seize his property. The brothers immediately stopped being hostile, cleared up their previous grudges, and worked together to beat the man away. Do you think they did it right? "
"What you did is right!" King Chu said.
"This is the principle between the Three Jins, the Chu State, the Qi State, and the Huai State."
"The Three Jins and the Chu State and the Qi State are both vassal states entrusted to Zhou Dynasty, while the Huai State was founded by the remnants of the Yin Shang Dynasty. Is there any life-or-death feud between our Qi State and the Three Jin State of Chu?"
"The competition between the Three Jins and the Chu State is just a fight of spirits. Can the Three Jins enter the south? Can the Chu State go north and enter the north? No! It is possible for brothers to fight at home, but whenever they encounter foreign aggression, they will always fight. The farmers understand this truth even if they can help us greatly, how can you, King Chu, not understand this truth?"
"But what about the Huai Kingdom? The Huai Kingdom wants to seize the Central Plains, seize the destiny of Bangzhou, and then revitalize the Yin and Shang Dynasties. If the Huai Kingdom takes the Central Plains and re-establishes the Yin Shang Dynasty, then we, the vassal states that were enfeoffed by the Zhou Dynasty, can still exist. ?"
"Once the Huai Kingdom gets its destiny and the Yin and Shang Dynasties flourish again, how can we, the Zhou kingdoms, continue to maintain the state?"
"King of Chu, the Marquis of Qi was worried about this, and sent people to contact the Three Jins and Chu State in order to defeat the Huai State."
Chen Zuo's words made the faces of Chu's monarchs and ministers become uncertain.
"The Huai State moved its capital to Jinling, which shows that it wants to develop westward, and the west of the Huai State is the Chu State. The last time the Huai State relied on Sun Wu's power to defeat Ying in one battle, the Chu State had Qin's assistance, and the local After two thousand miles, the country can be restored."
"Huai State is now very powerful. If Huai State attacks Chu again, will Chu State be able to stop it?"
"This time is an opportunity sent from heaven. If Chu State cannot seize it, then I'm afraid there will be no chance again!"
The King of Chu thought of the increasingly powerful Huai State. Ever since the capital was moved to Jinling, the King of Chu felt like a light on his back, and immediately said: "You are right, the State of Chu should obey the will of God and unite with the Three Jins and the State of Qi. Get up and attack the Huai Kingdom together."
"Please also ask Chen Qing to go back and tell the three kings of Qi, Han, Zhao and Wei that the Chu State will send its army to the east of the Dabie Mountains to contain the Huai army."
Although the King of Chu decided to form an alliance, he did not intend to attack the Song Dynasty with the three Jin, Qi, and Wei. The land of the Song State was the place where the Four Wars were fought. They even wanted to seize the land east of the Dabie Mountains of the Huai State. If they could capture it, they would You can use the Dabie Mountains to build a defense line to defend against Huai's attack.
At that time, the Chu State could advance, attack, retreat or defend. In addition, the Chu State had made reforms to strengthen itself over the years, and its army continued to grow, which gave the King of Chu the confidence to compete with the Huai State.
Although the Chu State agreed to form an alliance, it did not trust the three Jins. If Chu was stabbed in the back by them during the war with the Wei State, the Chu State would be in danger of subjugation. He doesn't want to put the safety of the country on whether Sanjin will stick to the bottom line.
(End of chapter)
