Chapter 47: The Friendship between Guan Yu and Lu Xun

During the second year that Guan Zhong served as prime minister of Qi, Qi's military strength had gradually grown stronger, and Lu Xiaobai was very proud that he had brought Guan Zhong to Qi.

Then we learned that the King of Qu State actually made rude remarks, thinking that it was disrespectful to let a commoner sit above the nobles and officials.

Lu Xiaobai was immediately furious.

Since he ascended the throne, he has been full of vigor and vitality. Knowing that Qi had a strong military force, he wanted to show off Guan Zhong's talents and attack Qu State.

He said to Guan Zhong: "Qu Bo is a lowly man. He is rude to Qi. It is impolite not to return the favor. He should be punished."

Guan Zhong knew in his heart that now was not the time to use force against the princes. The reform of Qi had just begun and it would become increasingly powerful in the future.

A small country like Qu State can still barely fight against Qi State now, but when the reforms are effective and the army is approaching, it will have no choice but to surrender.

So he advised: "Sir, now is not the time to take action against the Kingdom of Qu."

Lu Xiaobai didn't care at all, waved his hand and smiled: "Azhong, I know that Qi State should not compete with Qu State for a short time, but Qu Bo is really hateful. He actually said that you are a countryman and promoted you to be the prime minister of a country. It's ridiculous.

It would be fine if you laughed at me, but I cannot tolerate you treating Zhong like this!

This time, let Quguo see the strength of Qi's army, let him know that Ah Zhong has been the prime minister of Qi for two years, and there are strong troops in Qi, let's see who dares to talk nonsense. "

Guan Zhong advised again: "Sire, I am not a person who cares about empty reputation. Now we should continue to promote the government-run salt and iron industry, collect taxes, promote the unity of soldiers and civilians, strengthen the army and train soldiers, and then..."

Lu Xiaobai stood up, held Guan Zhong's hand and said, "Ah Zhong, I will leave all the internal affairs of Qi to you, and I will go to teach Qu State."

Seeing that Lu Xiaobai insisted, although Guan Zhong always regarded himself as a subordinate, the two of them knew each other when they were in humble circumstances, so Guan Zhong had always been somewhat indulgent towards Lu Xiaobai.

Then I thought that even if I failed in this battle, it would not have any impact, so I couldn't bear to dampen his enthusiasm, so I had to agree.

Seeing that Guan Zhong agreed, Lu Xiaobai was very happy, and then he took Doctor An Ning directly to attack Qu.

It must be said that after being reorganized by Guan Zhong, the Qi army had strict discipline and knew when to advance and retreat. It was indeed a strong army in the world. The two countries fought against each other and won battle after battle. Doctor An Ning and Lu Xiaobai were very excited.

Lu Xiaobai liked the surrounding scenery very much and laughed happily: "This place is called Changye. Let's set up our battle array here and wait for the Qu army to come over. Then we will fight them. We must make Qu Bo come to Qi in person and apologize in front of A Zhong."

The war between Qi and Qu was a ritual war.

The war between the various states and the barbarians was naturally a never-ending struggle. The emperors' expeditions against countries like the Chu State that did not obey their rule were all fought with real guns and swords, resulting in many casualties.

But this time it was different. The two sides fought according to etiquette and not for the purpose of occupying the land of Qu State, so both sides were relatively restrained.

Although the State of Qu suffered repeated defeats, Qu Bo was merely angry and humiliated, and was not worried that the State of Qi would destroy him.

So the two countries set up their battle array in Nagano and marched forward according to the sound of drums until they were out of the range of arrows.

Doctor An Ning was very excited after winning many battles this time. He said, "Pass on my orders, and beat the drums to cheer us on!"

“Boom boom boom!”

The Qi drummers then beat the drums, and the Qi soldiers advanced. Then Doctor An Ning saw that the Qu army did not move, and no one was beating drums to cheer them on.

"Why doesn't the Qu Kingdom beat the drum to cheer?"

The Qi chariots charged, killing and wounding many people from the Qu state, but the Qu army still did not move.

Doctor An Ning was surprised, but still said, "Beat the drum!"

So Qi State beat the drums again and shot arrows. Although Qu State was protected by shields, many soldiers were still killed directly by arrows.

But even so, Qu Guo remained motionless and did not even change his formation, which made Doctor An Ning feel very strange.

"What does this mean, Qu Guo?

They came out in battle formation, clearly intending to engage our army, but our army had already beaten the drum twice, but the Qu people had not beaten the drum once, nor had they hung up a sign to waive their right to fight, which was not in accordance with battlefield etiquette.

Doctor An Ning was no longer as happy as before. He thought that Qu Guo looked down on him, so he frowned and shouted loudly: "Drum beat!"

So Qi State beat the drums again and the soldiers moved forward again. This time, the drums of Qu State finally sounded, and the booming drum sounds urged the soldiers of both sides to move forward.

However, the Qi soldiers who had experienced three drum beats had already breathed a sigh of relief, and Doctor An Ning was not an unparalleled general who could boost the morale of the soldiers.

On the contrary, the soldiers of Qu State were in high spirits and very brave. They broke up the formation of Qi State and marched towards the central army.

The guards from Luo State, who had received Guan Zhong's instructions long ago, took the pale-faced Lu Xiaobai away directly. As for the battlefield, it was left to Doctor An Ning to deal with, as he was the general in charge.

Lu Xiaobai just came to watch the fun, but now he can't watch the fun of the people of Qu anymore. If he doesn't run away, Guan Zhong will probably have to go to Qu in person with a large amount of gold and silver treasures to redeem the king.

Lu Xiaobai returned to Qi in a daze. In fact, this defeat was nothing to Qi. A big country would naturally have its own willfulness.

Unless it was like the fatal battle between Luo State and Huaiyi during the reign of King Yi, they were unable to recover for more than several decades.

Lu Xiaobai felt so ashamed that he had no face to face Guan Zhong, and he dared not to see Guan Zhong. He could only drink to drown his sorrows.

The affairs of Qi were managed by Guan Zhong, so it didn't make much difference whether he was there or not.

When Lu Xiaobai was indulging in alcohol and sex, Lady Xiyi of Qi felt very distressed when she saw her husband in this state.

"Your Majesty, you have been depressed all day long. You have not met with Zhong Xiang since you returned to the country. This is not what a monarch should do."

Lu Xiaobai sighed, hugged Xiyi's soft body in his arms, and said, "My dear, I really don't know how to meet Ah Zhong.

Ah Zhong is not only a subject, but also my close friend.

If I were a fish, A Zhong would be the water. If I were a bird, A Zhong would be the sky. It is I who cannot live without him, not he who cannot live without me.

For the sake of brotherhood, he left his motherland and came to Qi to assist me.

I also said that I wanted to let the world see Ah Zhong's ability, but due to my negligence, I was defeated in Nagano. People in the world will definitely think that Ah Zhong is just a name, and I feel ashamed.

What should I do if Ah Zhong gets angry and leaves me? "

When Xiyi saw that her husband didn't even call himself "Gu", she knew that he must be very frightened.

She was a gentle, virtuous and polite woman, and she consoled him, “My husband, you also said that Zhong Xiang is your best friend.

I have heard that if the monarch treats his subjects as his brothers, the subjects will treat the monarch as their own confidant.

You value and trust Zhong Xiang so much, Zhong Xiang must know it, how could he leave you just because of this matter?"

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhong requests to see you!" the eunuch walked in.

Lu Xiaobai quickly got up from Xiyi's arms and said hurriedly, "All of you get off."

The musicians and dancers hurriedly left the side of the hall, leaving only the guards, Lu Xiaobai, and Xi Yi in the hall.

Lu Xiaobai tidied up his appearance, stood up and said, "Please let Zhong Xiang in."

When Guan Zhong walked in from outside the hall, Lu Xiaobai hurriedly went to meet him and held Guan Zhong's hand, tears in his eyes, but he didn't know what to say, he just said: "A Zhong, I..."

Guan Zhong held Lu Xiaobai's hand. Even though he was a calm man, his eyes were filled with tears. "Your Majesty, you don't need to say anything."

Before Guan Zhong could finish his next words, Lu Xiaobai immediately said, "Ah Zhong, do you really want to leave me?

I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone to attack the State of Qu.

From now on, I will never act on my own again, so you can't leave me."

"Xiao Bai!" Guan Zhong called out this name that he had not used for a long time, "The friendship between you and me is stronger than gold and stone, how could I leave you?

You attacked the State of Qu, and I did not stop you. This was my fault as a subject. How can I blame you?

You didn't blame me, and even compared me to water and sky. I really don't deserve that."

When Lu Xiaobai heard Guan Zhong call him Xiaobai, he felt happy. When he heard Guan Zhong's words, he laughed out loud.

He pulled Guan Zhong to sit at the table and said to his wife Xiyi: "My dear, you heard it. Zhong did not blame me. He is willing to stay in Qi to help me."

Seeing her husband suddenly become cheerful and energetic, Xiyi smiled happily and said, "Prime Minister Zhong and you are like mountains and flowing water, inseparable."

"High mountain stream?"

Lu Xiaobai muttered a few words and liked the word very much. He turned to the historian and said, "Sir, please record the high mountains and flowing water in the history books to show the friendship between me and Ah Zhong."

The historians of this era are quite upright and would rather die than write nonsense, especially since many historians are branches of the Luo family. These history books will be collected in the Luo State, and the Luo State has the most complete history books in the world.

In the hall where Xiyi quietly left, Lu Xiaobai, who had regained his spirits, enthusiastically pulled Guan Zhong aside to discuss state affairs, but it was basically Guan Zhong who was talking and he was listening.

Due to Lu Xiaobai's limited level, he could not understand many of the subtleties of Guan Zhong's policies and needed Guan Zhong to explain them to him. After that, Lu Xiaobai would exclaim in amazement and praise.

This scenario has happened countless times in the past two years.

The result of this battle reached Luo Xiu's ears, but he just looked at the battle report. Not only was he not anxious, but he smiled with satisfaction and said, "Qi's military strength is strong. If we use a great general, we will surely win."

This is the difference in vision between monarchs of big countries and monarchs of small countries.

The army was led by Lu Xiaobai and Doctor An Ning, two people who didn't know much about commanding troops. Zhang Qi, the best commander in Qi, did not take any action.

Under such circumstances, the Qi army was still able to form a battle formation quickly in the midst of the chaos and did not suffer heavy casualties.

This proves that after two years of training, the Qi army has undergone a qualitative change compared to the period of Lu Wujiu.

Whenever I think of the ending of Duke Huan of Qi, I feel a little sad. It was a pity for such a great ruler who respected the king and expelled the barbarians.

There will be two more updates in the afternoon, for a total of 14,000 words today.

(End of this chapter)