Chapter 36: World Situation

With the royal power withdrawing from Fenghao, the Ying clan in Sanhe is now too powerful, so Luo Cheng naturally has to make some arrangements here.

We must give them the motivation to fight the Xirong to the death, but we cannot let their strength expand so much that they ignore the royal family.

Qin Bo was one of his most important chess pieces in the West.

Luo Cheng has not yet chosen a candidate for Ji Fu's current wife.

However, the legitimate daughter of Qin could be one of the wives, which was a great honor for Qin, which had just become a vassal state.

Among the western princes, although the Ying surname was the most dominant, just like the Ji surname, the Ying surname had already split internally.

In particular, the sudden founding of the Qin State had a great impact on the gradually declining vassal states such as the Xu State.

Zaofei's Qinyi was originally a small territory of less than 50 li, but after he took over a quarter of the State of Shen, the territory suddenly exceeded 100 li, most of which were well-developed and well-populated land.

This suddenly made it the second strongest force among the western vassal states after Marquis Fei.

Luo Cheng did not allow any princes outside the capital to interfere in the two most important cities, Fengcheng and Haojing. He let the five major nobles in the capital jointly manage this land where the kings of successive dynasties were buried.

Every year, Luoyi would send people to inspect the output of this land. If they failed to provide Luoyi with enough gold, silver, grain and silk, they would be punished.

After some adjustments, a balance was formed among the princes within the capital, Fei State, and Qin State to the west of Hangu Pass, and among them were the Rong people who were everywhere in the mountains.

The princes' energy will be vented on those Rong people, and they will have no energy to look eastward.

Luo Cheng was very satisfied with this arrangement. Unless a certain force had an outstanding leader from generation to generation, there would probably be bloody battles here for hundreds of years.

"Uncle Qin, do you know why I met you alone?"

Luo Cheng stood on the beacon tower and looked west.

The rapidly undulating mountains and gurgling rivers, the desolate ancient roads, a few months later, the endless fallen leaves fell, and Haojing was located in this land of abundance.

"Lord Luo, I don't know."

When Qin Bo Zaofei was summoned alone by the Marquis of Luo, he was in great fear and trepidation. He did not even dare to use the "Gu" (gu) that other princes called themselves, and directly called himself "so-and-so" to express his humility.

Luo Cheng raised his hand and pointed to the distance, and asked: "Qin Bo, look over here, what do you see?"

Hearing Luo Cheng's question, Zao Fei raised his eyes and said, "Lord Luo, it's the mountains, rivers and streams."

Luo Cheng didn't say anything, and Qin Bo didn't even dare to breathe.

After a while, Luo Cheng was heard saying faintly: "This is the ancestral temple of Bang Zhou.

King Wu received the mandate from Heaven here, and King Su served as regent and governed the country here.

Now, it no longer belongs to the Zhou people."

Qin Bo broke out in a cold sweat and said quickly, "Lord Luo, this is still the seat of state of Zhou. How can it not belong to the Zhou people?"

Luo Cheng waved his hand and said casually: "The West has not appointed princes who obey the king's orders for many years.

Now the land of Fenghao is desolate, and the Rong people come and go at will.

Isn’t it a shame for all of us nations that the sacred artifact has been turned into this state?

If we fail to handle it properly, our ancestors and gods will be ashamed of us.

Qin Bo, you have outstanding martial arts skills and great achievements, and you are the best person to handle this matter.

I am ready to hand over this position to you, and the decree of enthronement will be given to you before I leave."

Qin Bo was stunned, feeling a little happy and a little worried.

He is a prince who receives orders from the king and has the same status as a duke. Among the princes in the west, he is definitely the highest status.

If this position is managed well, it can bring countless benefits to the new Qin State.

The disadvantages were also obvious. Qin was just a newly-established vassal state. Receiving such a great reward would surely arouse the jealousy of others.

Although Qin State obtained a quarter of Shen State's land, its foundation was still too weak.

Among the various countries in the west, there are old nobles like Fei Hou who are stronger than him in the clan countries with the same surname as Ying.

If Fei Hou launched an attack on Qin out of jealousy, the outcome would probably be uncertain.

But Qin Bo was a strong man who had truly fought his way out of the bloody storm. He only had these concerns for a moment before he bowed solemnly and said firmly, "Lord Luo, your grace is higher than the sky.

I will definitely not let you down, and the ancestral temples and altars of Bangzhou will forever stand on the land of Fenghao."

Luo Cheng smiled and didn't take it seriously. Now that the land had fallen into the hands of these princes, how could it be taken back without a war?

However, it is at least much better for the land to be in the hands of the various countries than to fall into the hands of the Rong people.

"Don't take it lightly. There have been a series of natural disasters. Fenghao is no longer the same as it was in previous years. If the Zhou people cannot survive, you must report it in time and send it to Luoyi."

"Lord Luo, I understand."

Luo Cheng pointed to the most important Hangu Pass leading to the east and said, "Qin Bo, within 20 years, I want to see Twelve Linked Cities there.

The purpose is to guard against the Western Rong. You are the prince who guards the west, and you will be responsible for contacting the princes to contribute manpower.

I will send my second son to be the construction envoy. This is the most important thing, you must pay attention to it."

These twelve connected cities were of course not only used to guard against the Western Rong, but also to guard against the western princes.

Luo Cheng believed that in the war between the western princes and the Rong people, one side would eventually become the stronger.

If the royal family completed its revival through the Luoyi royal capital before the final winner was decided, they could naturally enter Hangu Pass and regain control of the Fenghao royal capital.

In case the royal family fails to accumulate the strength to return to their ancestral land, they must at least ensure that the power from the west does not go east.

Hangu Pass is a pass where one man can block the passage of ten thousand men. It is the most important passage for the army to pass between Luoyi and Haojing.

As long as we can hold this place, whether going east or west is just a matter of thought.

Qin Bo knew that this was not a good job, but he also knew that he could not refuse.

Luo Cheng made him the Prince of Zhenxi so that he could fight against the Rong people and other princes and make the whole area west of Hangu Pass restless.

What he didn't see was that Luo Cheng had another purpose.

Building a pass requires a lot of manpower and material resources, which can be scraped from the fat and lucrative princes in the capital. These useless people are not good at fighting and can only engage in corruption.

It would be better to send it to the princes outside the capital to replenish their bodies. At least these princes outside the capital still have sufficient military strength and can fight the Western Rong to the death.

…

Luo Cheng's carriage passed through Hangu Pass. He lifted the curtain and took one last look, then sighed, "What a great country! I wonder when the descendants of the Luo family will be able to return to their ancestral land."

Originally, Luo Cheng wanted to stay in Haojing for a while, but Luoyi had sent him several letters asking him to return as soon as possible.

In this case, Luo Cheng prepared to return to Luoyi and begin to build a new ruling system. After the war and the capital relocation crisis, the original ruling order is no longer applicable now.

After returning to the royal capital of Luoyi, Luo Cheng hurriedly changed into court clothes and rushed to the palace.

It was quite prosperous along the way. After many years, the kings of the Xia Dynasty returned here, and the vast land was full of vitality again.

When he entered the palace, Ji Fu, wearing the emperor's robes, was waiting for him early. When she saw Luo Cheng coming in, she said happily: "Lord Luo, you are finally back. I missed you very much."

"Your Majesty, I miss you very much. Where are the Duke of Jin and the Duke of Zheng?" Ji Fu regarded the Marquis of Luo, the Marquis of Jin and the Marquis of Zheng as the three dukes assisting in the administration, so he respectfully addressed them as dukes.

"Nan Shenhou sent an envoy with military intelligence, and the Duke of Jin went to meet him."

"Song and Chen also sent envoys to report unusual movements in Xu and Huai, and Duke Zheng went to meet them."

As he was speaking, Duke Jin and Duke Zheng came up to the hall. "Lord Luo, I was just about to report the situation of these two parties to the king, and you just happened to come back."

"Duke Jin, Duke Zheng, what's going on in Hanyang and Xuhuai?"

Duke Jin knelt on his seat and said, "The Southern Shen State said that the Chu State was infiltrating towards the Ba State, and its strength has been growing stronger over the years.

Some time ago, he contacted the five states of Hanyang to attack Chu, but they returned empty-handed. This made him feel that the situation was not good, so he reported it to Wang Ji. "

The State of Chu had been unwilling to submit to the Zhou Dynasty since Xiong Dun. Although it later became a vassal, it left behind the reputation of "Chu was unwilling to submit to the Zhou Dynasty."

“Our ancestor Duke Wen of Luo established the Five Kingdoms of Hanshui in the early days, and later reestablished the Four Kingdoms of Hanyang.

The successive Luo family members in power have been strengthening the Ji clan princes in the Hanyang Plain in order to contain the Chu State and the Huaiyi.

If we relax a little in recent years, I'm afraid the State of Chu will not let it go.

Now that the king has moved back to Luoyi, the strengthening of the Hanyang princesses should be put on the agenda.

But Chu is, after all, one of the various states in the Xia Dynasty. As long as it does not invade the Central Plains, the main focus of the Zhou Dynasty should still be on the barbarians. "

The current Hanyang states are no longer the four states of the Luosu period, but include more than a dozen vassal states.

Among these vassal states, Shen, Tang, Sui and Ba surrounded the State of Chu from the east, north and west.

The states of Xi, Ying, Xu, Fang, Chen, Cai and Chen were established to guard against the Huaiyi.

These princes and relatives of the Ji clan firmly guarded all the important transportation routes from the Chu State and Huaiyi to the Central Plains.

With the support of the royal capital and the countries in the Central Plains, this line of defense has been unbreakable so far.

Duke Zheng nodded and said, "It's not just the Chu State that needs to be strengthened, the Huaiyi State also needs to be strengthened.

Wu Yue has developed very well in recent years, causing many southern countries to migrate northward.

These people retained the customs of the Shang Dynasty and mixed with the Ying clan states in the Xu and Huai areas, causing some confusion among the people.

The State of Song probably feared that Wang Ji would hold them accountable, so they reported the news.

The State of Chen said that they discovered that the Huaiyi were transporting troops, and seemed to be preparing to attack our State of Zhou.

If Xu State and Huaiyi rise up together, the entire southeast will be plunged into war and chaos, and the whole country may have to rise up again."

Survivors of the Shang Dynasty!

Even though more than two hundred years have passed, this term can still stir the hearts of all the princes with the surname Ji. Facing the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, everything else is just a small matter.

The State of Xu was the eastern governor during the Shang Dynasty, and its status was similar to that of the State of Zhou in the west.

Therefore, Bang Zhou's attitude towards Xu State has been very cautious since its founding. In order to suppress his status, he only granted Xu State the title of a gentleman, which was an obvious suppression.

Many Ji-surnamed states were also set up on the west and north sides of the State of Xu to monitor the actions of the State of Xu.

“What an eventful time!”

Luo Cheng sorted out his thoughts and said, "Since the time of King Mu, the royal army has suffered defeats one after another, so now we can only switch to defense.

The Zhou state is currently threatened by foreign invaders from all directions, and all the states established by the previous kings have been attacked. This is not allowed.

The most serious Western Rong will be handed over to the princes with the surname Ying, and we will probably not have to worry about it for the next hundred years.

The second is the Yi and Luo Rong, who mainly rely on the Marquis of Western Zhou, and the Duke of Jin can also go south to clean up.

But you, Duke of Jin, still have to deal with the Baidi on the plateau and the Chidi in the east, so you may not be able to spare any effort for the time being."

Duke Jin nodded and said, "Duke Luo, you are right. If Jin wants to go south to attack the Yi and Luo Rong, it needs to pass through several vassal states, which is not conducive to fighting."

"Your Majesty, Jin's location is very strategic.

If the State of Jin is not strong, the safety of the royal capital may not be guaranteed, and the royal family must give greater support to the State of Jin.

If necessary, we need to support Jin to integrate the power of the entire basin, and the surrounding small countries will be relocated to other places. "

Luo Cheng's move to strengthen the State of Jin was not only because of the exchange of interests that had been promised before, but also because he believed that the current situation really needed several powerful princes of the Ji clan to guard the four directions.

When divided, the power is dispersed; when united, the power is strong. Now the power of the entire Zhou Dynasty is in a weak state after the civil strife.

We must guard against the dangerous situation of a counterattack by the barbarians against the various countries in the Xia Dynasty. We cannot play the balancing game in the Central Plains. The various countries in the Xia Dynasty are not yet strong enough to ignore the barbarians.

Now we must unite all the princes and defeat the surrounding barbarians first.

Although allowing the princes to become more powerful is a strategy of drinking poison to quench thirst, Luo Cheng can only do this.

Taking this opportunity, Luo Cheng took out a map and explained his strategy to Ji Fu.

"Your Majesty, please take a look at the entire Central Plains region from Hangu Pass to the east. Among them, Jin, Yan, Qi, Song, Chen, Wei, Luo, and Zheng are the most important vassal states.

Among these eight countries, five were vassal states of the Ji clan on the surface, but in fact, the State of Yan relied entirely on the support of the State of Qi, otherwise it would have been conquered by the Shanrong long ago.

The State of Wei and the States of Handan and Xing to its north all relied on the vassal State of Luo for support.

There were only three major states among the Ji clan princes: Jin, Zheng and Luo.

However, the countries of the three of us are not as strong as those of Qi and Song. Fortunately, Qi has always stood on our side, otherwise the power of the princes in the Central Plains would have been unbalanced long ago.

The State of Jin could not stand alone in the basin to the north of the royal capital.

The lonely Luo State supported the three states of Wei, Handan and Xing, and it was also very difficult.

After all, Song and Chen are foreign princes. Who can be assured if we put them on the front line against Xu and Huaiyi?"

Ji Fu has a gentle personality, and is commonly known as someone who easily gets influenced. When Luo Cheng said that, he felt that it made a lot of sense.

So he hurriedly asked, "Lord Luo, it seems that the world is really in danger.

So what should I do to ensure the Mandate of Heaven for my country?"

"Your Majesty, there are hundreds of vassal states in the world. You only need to focus on Jin, Zheng, Qi, and Luo. If you ensure the strength and stability of these four vassal states, the royal family will be stable."

This is only because the Duke of Zheng is in front of him, otherwise Luo Cheng would only talk about the three countries of Jin, Qi and Luo. He believes that as long as the strength of these three countries can be guaranteed, and then the Hanyang princesses south of Luoyi can be supported, the safety and status of the royal family will not be a problem.

"Lord Luo, I understand."

Although the power of the royal capital is now in Luo Cheng's hands, the emperor's attitude is also very important.

…

There has always been a view that since the ancestors of the Qin State were enthroned by him and grew powerful with his support, and the policy of making the princes of the Central Plains powerful also came from his hands, Duke Xuan of Luo was the gravedigger of the Zhou Dynasty.

But this is a typical case of looking at things out of touch with reality. In fact, these policies effectively solved the situation of the Zhou royal family being trapped both internally and externally at the time.

Although Ah Cheng is not as capable as his ancestor, he must have some highlights, otherwise how could he be worthy of the position of the third regent.

In addition, the effect of the Divine Talisman has been modified. It feels a bit unmatched with the Xuan-level card, so its negative effects have been removed.

Xuan-level Divine Fighting Talisman (I will use my life to clear up the world): Use this talisman to increase your military strength, command, and military strategy to 99, with a time limit of four hours.

(End of this chapter)