This move by the three countries also aroused strong reactions from Anguo and Wuguo, and they jointly issued a note to the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
However, the three countries ignored it and instead stationed troops at the northern border to express their positions with practical actions.
Because the three countries all know that to realize the idea of southward annexation, the first step is to show determination to An and Wu.
For this reason, Li Hao also left Pingzhou and went to Bizhou to preside over aid to Chu State.
At the same time, in the northern battlefield, the Emperor of Chu State, Qi Xinliang, also came to conquer personally.
Since the two sides are not far apart and have just signed an alliance agreement, Li Hao, as a junior, should naturally take the initiative to pay a visit.
So after asking Cui Ming for instructions, Li Hao wrote a letter of greeting and sent someone to Huangzhou where Qi Xinliang was located.
Qi Xinliang also admired Li Hao's abilities and wanted to meet Li Hao.
It's just that the two sides had conflicts about the specific meeting place. After all, even Li Hao was worried that if he entered the hinterland of another country, he would become a meat bun and beat a dog, and he would never return.
Therefore, after considering safety issues, the two sides finally decided to meet outside Shengzhou City, not far from the border of Su Kingdom.
Chu State would set up tents outside the city in advance, and Li Hao could lead a group of guards to accompany him.
But even so, Li Hao still made some arrangements in advance before officially setting off.
Because the information had been reported a long time ago, it was received by Ying Hongcheng, the young minister of Honglu Temple in the state of Chu, after crossing the border.
With him accompanying them, the group's journey to Chu State went smoothly, but they were stopped outside the camp.
I saw the gatekeeper saying: "Your Majesty has an order, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Su and his personal guards are allowed to enter. Others please wait outside."
This request was not too much, and Li Hao really didn't intend to do anything, so he did not refuse, but ordered: "Chu Wei, you and your people will camp outside and wait. Just send out a team of East Palace guards to follow Gu. .”
Now that Lieutenant Chu was promoted by Li Hao to be the captain of the bodyguard, he was also setting an example with the original troops of Qi State, to show his trust.
Wei Chu also worked hard at this position and began to make arrangements after receiving the order.
But when Li Hao started to go in, he was stopped again: "Stay here for now. Your Highness, please order the accompanying guards to leave their weapons, and then you can enter."
After hearing this, Ren Xin was about to speak. After all, without his weapon, he would not really be at the mercy of others, but was stopped by Li Hao in time.
After all, although Li Hao was no longer happy, he still retained some sympathy, and it was useless to target the gatekeepers, as they had no decision-making power.
Instead, Ying Hongcheng, who was standing behind and had been pretending to be mute, could speak, so he turned to Hongcheng and said, "The Chu State and the Su State have concluded an alliance, and I also came here in response to the invitation, but I didn't know that Your Majesty was so wary. .
If I had known this, I would not have caused any trouble to you. Otherwise, I would have asked the young minister to help you present the gift, and reported back to your majesty, saying that I had an urgent military situation and needed to rush back immediately. "
Upon hearing this, Ying Hongcheng quickly said: "I don't know anything about this matter, but your Majesty thinks that the camp is safe and there is no need to carry weapons."
Li Hao smiled and said, "I can trust your country in terms of security. After all, there are thousands of soldiers in this camp. If you don't trust me, I won't dare to go in."
But the current situation seems to be that your country doesn’t believe in being alone anymore? "
Seeing Li Hao throw the words back, Ying Hongcheng couldn't answer for a while.
At this time, only one person was seen walking out of the camp, and he said loudly: "Asshole, since Your Highness is a guest invited by His Majesty, how can you make things difficult for him?
Someone, take this self-righteous guy down and give him a stick for thirty years, as a warning to others. "
After the person was taken away, the man acted as if nothing had happened. He turned around and said, "Your Highness, please follow me. Your Majesty has been waiting in the tent for a long time."
Li Hao nodded after hearing this, and then followed him into the camp.
On the way, although Li Hao had already recognized Zhang Mi, the Marquis of Ding'an, a close minister of Qi Xinliang,
Still pretending not to know, he asked, "I wonder what I should call you, sir?"
After Zhang Mi heard this, he made an introduction and also praised Li Hao's various deeds.
As the common enemy of Su and Chu, Anguo is still a hot topic in this matter.
As we chatted all the way, we unknowingly arrived at the big tent where Qi Xinliang was.
You definitely can't go in with a group of people. Everyone else has to wait outside. Li Hao took Chen Xi and Ren Xin and walked in with the gifts they brought.
Qi Xinliang was different from emperors like Cui Ming and Li Xun who were monks in their own way. He was a true successor. He was established as a prince since he was a child and received heir education.
Therefore, although he is much older than Cui Ming and Li Xun, he is somewhat disadvantaged in terms of appearance.
But the nobility he has cultivated since childhood is particularly obvious, creating a harmony that makes people ignore his age without realizing it.
Li Hao walked to the middle of the tent, bowed to Qi Xinliang, and presented the gift.
Qi Xinliang didn't mean to embarrass Li Hao. After accepting the gift, he asked Li Hao to stand up and sit down on the left side, and said, "I am several years older than your father. Today, I will call you my nephew. I don’t know if that’s possible.”
When Li Hao heard this, he stood up quickly and replied: "Since it is His Majesty's favor, I have no reason to refuse. My nephew pays homage to my uncle."
When Qi Xinliang saw Li Hao agreeing, he laughed heartily and said, "Good nephew, it's a pity that your brother Ji Xiang is not here today, otherwise he would have a good chat with you and ask for advice.
After all, among the next generation of the nine Central Plains countries, you are the most outstanding one. For this reason, I have been envious of Brother Cui for a long time. "
Although Li Hao felt that what Qi Xinliang said was correct, he still had to be modest and said: "Uncle, I am so complimentary. Brother Ji Xiang has both ability and political integrity, and is determined to make progress. I just happened by chance, but I can't compare."
Qi Xinliang waved his hand and said, "You are too modest. I don't know how much Ji Xiang is capable of.
The handling of some political affairs is not satisfactory, but if it were the situation you were in Liuzhou City, he would definitely not be able to stop you.
What's more, you led the troops into Qi State alone and laid this new foundation. Your father must also be extremely happy. "
Li Hao smiled and said: "My father is happy to be able to expand our territory, but I, Dashu, am just taking the first step.
After all, when it comes to wealth, the Qi State cannot compare with the Qi, Yi, and Yuan countries.
After all this training, brother Ji Xiang will surely stand out and share his uncle's worries. "
Qi Xinliang replied: "I hope so."
After that, the two chatted for a while, and at noon, Qi Xinliang prepared a lunch for Li Hao.
At the banquet, Chen Xi took the initiative to serve as a food tester. After all, this was a meal in Chu State.
Although the two families seem to be in harmony now, based on the past grudges, who can guarantee that they will not secretly arrange anything.
Li Hao also pretended that nothing happened, just to test Qi Xinliang's intention.
But Qi Xinliang also pretended that nothing happened, and would tell Li Hao about delicious dishes from time to time, which made both the host and the guest happy.
Not long after the banquet, Li Hao said goodbye to Qi Xinliang. Qi Xinliang also knew that the war was coming, so he didn't hold back too much.
After leaving the Suguo Camp, when they were camping in the middle to rest, Li Hao deliberately rejected the others, leaving only Ren Xin and Chen Xi to stay.
Then he said to Chen Xi: "Sit down cross-legged and I will help you detoxify."
Chen Xi was surprised when he heard this and said, "The Chu people have just poisoned their food."
Li Hao quickly looked around. Except for Ren Xin, who had some murderous intent in his eyes, no one else noticed, so he said angrily: "What are you talking about? Can this matter be spread out now?"
Chen Xi also knew that he was wrong, and quickly apologized in a low voice: "Your Highness, I apologize, but this news surprised me so much. I didn't expect people from Chu State would dare to do this. Aren't they afraid of being discovered by us?"
Li Hao explained: "This poison is
A poison with a long incubation period, its own toxicity is actually very weak, it just lurks in the meridians and does no harm to the body.
According to my estimation, in order for it to actually occur, a trigger is needed. If I hadn't had the Yangzhou Slow Body Care System, I wouldn't have been able to notice it, let alone other people.
Okay, I have my own plan for this matter, and I will help you detoxify it first. "
Chen Xi then sat down and asked Li Hao to help him detoxify.
After the poison was cured, Ren Xin took Chen Xi out directly and said to Li Hao: "People from Chu want to harm you, but you just endure it like this. This is not like you."
Li Hao replied: "Of course I am not such a magnanimous person, but now Chu State is still needed to contain An State, and rashly attacking Qi Xinliang may break the existing balance.
If An Guo were to occupy the land of Chu State and open up another way to attack Su State, the gain would outweigh the losses.
It's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Ten years is not too late. Let's let him be proud for a while longer. It will just make him think he has control over my life and lower his guard against me. "
After hearing this, Ren Xin also felt that Li Hao's approach was the most appropriate, but she was still a little angry.
Li Hao also noticed this, stepped forward to Ren Xin, took her hand and said, "I know you are complaining about me, but I didn't expect you to care about me so much now.
But the overall situation is more important. After taking over Qi State, the next target is Chu State. They will not be proud for long. "
Being caught by Li Hao, Ren Xin's face turned red, and he hurried away and hid aside, saying, "What do you care about me? I'm just afraid that if you die, I won't be able to explain to you when I go back."
After saying that, he ran away as if there was a savage beast behind him.
Then everyone continued to set off, but this time Ren Xin stayed away from Li Hao and did not dare to approach Li Hao at all.
Ren Xin did not recover until he returned to Su Country.
It was only a few days later that Ren Xin regained his condition.
The confrontation between the two countries of An and Wu and the three countries of Su, Chu, and Yan lasted for several months. The five countries in the middle fought several times, and in the end they all won or lost.
Fortunately, An and Wu had long-standing grievances, but their temporary alliance seemed to be incompatible with each other.
Especially with Li Xun's temperament, when Chu and Su failed to take advantage, he turned the blame back to An.
Within Anguo, Yang Xingyuan had not been on the throne for a long time. He was restrained by his own brother Yang Xingjian, King of Danyang, and his chief assistant Zhang Song controlled the government.
In order to regain power, Yang Xingyuan also returned his attention to the country.
Therefore, after the two sides faced off for a period of time, they both stopped fighting.
So at this time, Chu State and Yan State transferred part of their main forces back and began to attack Yi State and Yuan State respectively.
When the three kingdoms of Qi, Yi, and Yuan knew about the Three Kingdoms Covenant, they had somewhat anticipated this situation and began to prepare for war.
Therefore, during the initial conquest, both Chu and Yan encountered certain resistance.
But this has nothing to do with Li Hao, because Li Hao has returned to Qi State at this time.
After several previous defeats, Qi State's ability to resist was already far behind that of Wei State and Yuan State.
It's just that this time Li Hao did not adopt a quick victory method, but used a soft knife to cut the flesh, and only captured one or two cities of Qi State each time.
After digesting and integrating them, we can continue to launch the offensive, and then go through the previous process again.
According to the schedule set by Li Hao himself, he would capture the capital of Qi State roughly one month before the three-year appointment with Shen Tuhui and achieve the goal of annihilating a country named Zuo.
This can also avoid fighting too fast and scaring everyone in Qi State away, which will make it troublesome to arrest people.
Moreover, according to Li Hao's idea, all the people of Qi State cannot be allowed to surrender voluntarily. After all, it will be difficult to start, and where will the land of Juntian come from?
At this pace, two years passed in a flash. Li Hao finally entered the capital of Qi State and blocked the royal family of Qi State in the palace.
At this stage
, everyone in the Qi Kingdom already knew that the situation was over, and there were only a handful of people left who could resist stubbornly on the palace wall.
However, Li Hao had no plans to attack by force, but planned to keep the imperial city intact.
After all, Li Hao really didn't trust his soldiers that much. In the past two years, most of the voluntary students had been assigned to serve in various state governments.
Instead, the army only arranged key positions, so it was inevitable that this ideological work had not been followed up. Li Hao did not think that they could avoid picking up things along the way.
There are countless treasures in this palace, and there are countless palace maids and concubines. It will be too difficult for the soldiers to control it if they see the blood. It is better to try to liberate it peacefully.
So Li Hao summoned a surrendered general who had recently surrendered, and arranged with him: "Please help me make a trip and give this letter of persuasion to surrender to the Emperor of Qi, and tell him that as long as he is willing to present the national seal, he will open it." The city surrendered, and he followed the orphan to the capital to offer prisoners, and the orphan protected his life and that of the royal family in the palace.
Otherwise, if troops really enter, I'm afraid the situation will be beyond Gu's control. Gu will give him an hour to think about it before making a decision. "
After receiving the letter, the visitor went to the palace gate to call for help. After the soldiers guarding the city learned about the situation, they were also worried that Li Hao would take the opportunity to attack the city.
So I didn't open the city gate, I just lowered the hanging basket from the top of the city and pulled people up.
