Chapter 142: Which is more important, the system or a wise ruler and virtuous ministers?

There is no such thing as ever-prospering in this world, and no one in this world can live forever. Heroes and heroes will eventually turn into dry bones in a tomb.

In the 28th year of Ji Ni's reign, the King of Qi died in Linzi and was posthumously named "Xuan". He was known in history as King Xuan of Qi.

This was the first prince to pass away. With his death, the group of famous ministers who created the prosperity of Qi State began to die.

A strange undercurrent began to flow in the land of Zhuxia. On this land, since the retreat of Luo State and the coexistence of a group of countries with similar strength, there has been an unspoken rule, that is, the existence of superpowers is not allowed.

When Chu was the strongest, the six countries formed an alliance to attack Chu. When Wei was the strongest, the other countries worked together to weaken Wei. Now that Qi is the strongest, many knowledgeable people know that it is time to weaken Qi.

The capable people in Qi State naturally knew this as well. The wise ministers in the past had foreseen this danger, so they chose to win over and divide the various countries.

However, with the passing of that group of wise ministers, Qi State did not completely abolish the system of hereditary aristocracy, which resulted in the level of this group of monarchs and ministers being quite poor.

These people have always lived in an environment where Qi was the best in the world. Naturally, there is an indelible sense of arrogance in their hearts, and they cannot help but act arrogantly in front of other countries.

In the past, the six kingdoms all paid tribute to Qi because Qi was at its peak. The six kingdoms were also not of one mind. Qi had just defeated Wei and needed to consolidate its newly acquired land. Eventually, a duel between the kings brought an end to the strange atmosphere.

But as long as there is no unification, the fierce war will never end.

Especially since Zhao and Wei were forced to submit to Qi, how could they not have resentment in their hearts?

Even for Han, there was a behemoth like Qi next to it, and the Marquis of Han would often wake up from his dreams in the middle of the night.

Yan State, Jicheng.

After more than twenty years of preparation, the State of Yan now has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, and has basically reached the peak that the State of Yan can achieve.

The group of young heroes in the past are now middle-aged.

The Duke of Yan said with emotion: "The prosperity of Yan today is all due to the efforts of all the wise men. We defeated the Donghu and expanded our territory by thousands of miles. This is a true achievement created by Yan alone.

I have heard that the King of Qi is also tyrannical and ruthless in his country, and that the nobles of Qi do not like him. He is also rude to Han and seems to want to annex Han's Song territory.

He even wanted to exchange places with Luo State and take over Luo State's enclave in Song.

Now may be the time to deal with Qi."

Yan Xiang Le Yi pondered and said, "It is indeed time to deal with Qi, but Yan alone is not enough to fight Qi. Please contact the other five countries and unite to attack Qi."

The Marquis of Yan frowned and said, "Han and Zhao are afraid of Qi. The Marquis of Wei is incompetent and spends all his time in the harem without any ambition. Qin and Wei have been at war for a long time. Will they join in the attack on Qi?

Among these five countries, only Chu would send troops, because Chu wanted to annex the lands of Wu and Yue. "

Le Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if a person likes gold and silver, you should use gold and silver to please him, not beauty.

The Duke of Wei was lustful, so he gave him beautiful women; Han and Zhao were afraid of Qi, so he used Qi's annexation of their land to threaten them.

Among the seven countries in the world today, Qin, Chu and Qi are kings. You also want to be king. Then don’t the rulers of Zhao, Wei and Han want to be kings too?

In the past, when all the kings were princes of the fifth rank, no one noticed it. But now that three people are kings and four are marquises, there is a hierarchy.

If you and the three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei and Han recognize each other's throne, the four kingdoms will be able to unite closely.

Qi would certainly be dissatisfied with the Three Jins claiming to be kings and would raise an army to attack them. Would the Three Jins give up their titles?

Of course not.

Then the combined strength of the five countries of Yan, Chu, Zhao, Wei and Han would be enough to overthrow Qi. If the five countries formed an alliance, would Qin dare not join?

Then I am afraid that Qin will suffer the same fate as Qi."

As Le Yi had expected, the rulers of the Three Jin states could not refuse the proposal to be crowned kings. Even when their ministers tried to dissuade them, they only said, "When King Xuan of Qi is buried, he will be buried with royal rites. That will be a matter of honor."

The four kings indeed angered Qi, especially Han, which also claimed to be a king and was regarded as a betrayal by Qi.

King An of Qi said angrily in Linzi: "Han Hou is my minister, his virtue is shallow, he cannot get the approval of heaven, but he usurps the throne, is he not a traitor?

In the past, the State of Chu usurped the throne and was declared king, so Duke Wen of Luo attacked it and forced it to give up its title. Now the Marquis of Han has declared himself king, and I should attack him, so that he will know that Heaven will punish those who claim to be kings without virtue.

The ministers of Qi were also filled with righteous indignation. "Your Majesty, if there was no Qi, Han would have long disappeared from the world like the hundreds of vassal states in the past. But now it has betrayed Qi. I am willing to lead the army to fight for you and conquer Han."

The ruler and his ministers of Qi had long coveted the land of Han. Simply becoming a vassal was no longer an excuse that satisfied the nobles of Qi. They hoped that Han would be completely incorporated into Qi like Wu had been. Now that Han had given them such a good excuse, they naturally had to take advantage of it.

Little did they know that Qi's move was exactly what the king and his ministers of Yan wanted. Yan Wangping laughed and said, "The King of Qi actually rebuked the King of Han directly. Hasn't he heard the story of a frightened bird?"

It is not known whether the King of Qi had heard of it, but the King of Han was terrified. Before he even had time to sit on the throne, he quickly contacted the three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei and Yan.

The promise was made when he became the King of Han, and it cannot be broken at this critical moment. Fortunately, the promise of the man from Yan and Zhao still counts, which makes the King of Han feel temporarily relieved.

Yingdu.

The aging King of Chu finally waited for the Central Plains princes to unite and attack Qi. He came to the tomb of Xiang Xi, who had long since passed away, and said with a smile: "My dear Xiang, the alliance you mentioned to attack Qi has begun. Wu will eventually fall into the hands of Chu.

It is a pity that you will not see this day, but I will send your descendants to serve as the general of the coalition and lead a group of Chu troops."

Qin State, Xianyang.

The King of Qin had a serious look on his face. "The five countries of Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han and Chu are attacking Qi. On the surface, this is an invitation to Qin to join the coalition, but in reality it is a threat. If you don't obey now, I'm afraid the next step for the five countries will be to attack Qin together."

Wei Yang frowned deeply. Attacking Qi would have little impact on Qin, but how to attack was a very important matter.

He pondered for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty, the weak will attack the strong. This has always been an iron rule. If Qi is defeated, who will be the strongest country?"

The King of Qin said gloomily: "Of course it is the Qin State!"

Qin occupied Bashu, and Chu could only deploy heavy troops at the important passes leading out of Bashu. Qin also dealt a severe blow to Wei, and even repeatedly invaded Hedong. If it were not for the strategy, Chu would have seized this land long ago.

Wei Yang said in a deep voice: "In this case, even if we want to participate in this coalition, we must be restrained and not let the three countries of Han, Zhao and Yan fear Qin."

The sudden alliance of the six countries shocked Qi. In the past, only Chu had experienced such a blow. The King of Qi asked with some doubt: "My lords, Qi is only attacking Han, why do the five countries of Qin, Chu, Zhao, Wei and Yan want to attack Qi together?

Qin and Qi were both respected by the East and the West, Qi and Chu signed a peace treaty, and Qi and Yan had been friendly neighbors for many years. How could they suddenly become enemies of the whole world? "

It is no wonder that the King of Qi was so panicked. If the six countries were not careful, the country would be destroyed. Although the territory of Qi was large, it was long and narrow from north to south, with large plains.

Unlike the State of Chu, which had a great depth, nor like the State of Zhao, which had mountains and rivers that could serve as a barrier to slow down the coalition forces.

"Your Majesty, the six nations must have seen the strength of Qi and were afraid, which led to the disaster today. The most urgent task now is to defend the territory and wait for the right time to destroy the alliance, otherwise Qi will be in danger of being overthrown."

Luo State.

When the news of the six-nation alliance reached Luo State, Luo Ce and Luo Li were playing chess. Luo Li was stunned for a moment, frowned, and then relaxed, "Sure enough."

Luo Ce smiled and said, "Li'er, what do you think of this alliance? Will Qi be destroyed?"

Luo Li shook his head and said, "Impossible, among the six countries, only Yan and Han are sincere.

Chu was after Wu's land, while Zhao and Wei were out of self-preservation.

Qin was so far away from Qi that even if it obtained land, the final outcome would be the same as the land of Huai and Si, and it would not be able to truly enhance Qin's strength.

The only beneficiaries of this battlefield were Han and Yan, which was not what the other four countries wanted to see, but the decline of Qi was certain.

I'm afraid Qi will never have a chance to recover to its current strength. A war like plowing the land will cause Qi to suffer devastating damage."

Luo Li directly made a conclusion about Qi State. The current situation of the Xia State is different from that of hundreds of years ago. Once it declines, other countries will never give it any chance.

As soon as the State of Wei showed the slightest sign of decline, it was immediately besieged. Until now, its hegemony has basically declined, and it has been reduced to relying on the two countries of Zhao and Han for warmth.

Luo Ce asked: "It seems that Qi has no destiny. Where will the favor of heaven fall?"

Luo Li said directly: "The country that produces more wise monarchs will be favored by God.

Looking back at the 800-year period of the Zhou Dynasty, countless vassal states rose and fell, but those with wise monarchs prospered, while those with incompetent monarchs declined.

No matter how good a system is, it still needs people to implement it. During the time of King Li, the royal family was so powerful, but its elite troops were all lost in one day.

The son used to think that Qin might have received the Mandate of Heaven because it was the most extreme country in practicing tyranny. However, when he saw the prosperity of Qi, he began to doubt tyranny.

Can the so-called system really match the ability of wise rulers and virtuous ministers?

Even in Chu, the only country that failed in reform, if there were ten consecutive generations of wise rulers, wouldn't it be possible for them to unify the country?"

Lotze didn't say anything because he didn't know the answer to this question either.

The armies of the six countries were at the gates of the city.

(End of this chapter)