Chapter 101: The First Sword of the Battle, Kill the Dog Teammate First
To the north of the State of Song, there are scorched earth, abandoned farmland, and half-planted crops everywhere. The destruction of production was the biggest reason for the sharp decline in population during the war.
There were also corpses lying on both sides of the road, countless traces of wheel tracks, and puffs of smoke rising up. Luo Zhi led the Luo army to pass quickly through the road between the cities.
Luo Zhi's eyelids kept twitching along the way. He had an ominous premonition in his heart, so he asked anxiously to those around him, "My Lords, will the Emperor do anything else?"
The ministers accompanying the army tried to comfort him, and Luo Qing analyzed: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry so much. The news of the Three Kingdoms' attack on Song has been passed on to the emperor.
With the emperor and Zheng's 200,000 troops stationed in ten connected cities, he would be invincible unless he had to go out of the city and fight the Song people in the field.
Once the five nations come together, victory will be easy.
It is said that the emperor always likes to enjoy himself, and he should be playing music and having fun in the city at this moment."
After hearing what Luo Qing said, Luo Zhi's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He finally realized his biggest negligence!
He should have stayed by the emperor's side and controlled his behavior, instead of cooperating with him like he is doing now.
Realizing his mistake, Luo Zhi said hurriedly, "Qing, the frontal attack is up to you. I will lead the army from Wei to Zheng immediately."
After saying this, he hurriedly left the military camp and began to mobilize half of the troops to Zheng State, leaving the ministers in the camp looking at each other in bewilderment.
…
Yicheng of Jin State.
Since Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er, this place has always been one of the centers of the entire Xia world. After all, the State of Jin dominated the world for the longest time.
The fertile land, the large population, and the countless talents who graduated from the academy have made the state of Jin always prosperous.
In particular, occupying the most advantageous terrain allowed the king of Jin to use the power of his own country to block the way for Chu to go north from Nanyang with one hand, and occupy the fortress of Qiaohan with the other hand, thus shattering Qin's dream of going eastward for hundreds of years.
The old Duke of Jin lived in this dream of being the best in the world for decades. As he grew older, he always had a dream, which was to obtain the honor that his ancestor Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er, could not obtain, and to be buried with the rites of an emperor.
In the entire 700-year history of the Zhou Dynasty, there was only one King Su, who was a minister during his lifetime but was buried with royal rites.
Facing the sudden war situation, Duke Jin saw some opportunities in it. He asked excitedly: "Have all the ministers arrived?"
If a large feudal state like the State of Jin wanted to start a war, the royal family would of course consult with the great noble families.
…
Luo Zhi led his army to bypass Wei State. Seventy years ago, after Wei State was destroyed again, he was stripped of his title of Marquis of Wei. Now Wei State is a vassal of Jin State.
When he had been inside Zheng State for only a few dozen miles, he saw a surge of refugees. All of them were in tattered clothes with bloodstains on their clothes. It was obvious that they were not ordinary people, but defeated soldiers.
"Your Majesty, the emperor fought with the people of Song and was badly defeated. Even the chariots were lost. The two countries of Song and Chen were anxious to break out and did not think about capturing and killing the emperor of Zhou. Now I don't know where he has gone."
Luo Zhi's eyes went dark and he quickly steadied himself. He left a group of people to gather the defeated soldiers while he continued to lead the army deep into Zheng State.
It doesn't matter if he dies. As long as we can see the corpse, at least we can directly enthronize a new emperor.
The most feared thing is disappearance. When the new emperor is established, the original emperor suddenly comes back, resulting in the embarrassing situation of two kings coexisting.
As the army marched, the sharpshooter on the right side of the chariot suddenly pointed to the distance and said, "Your Majesty, that seems to be the Emperor of Zhou. I have been to Luoyi to pay homage with Luo Qing before."
Luo Zhi Wenyan looked at the distance hurriedly and saw a group of people who were covered in dust and looked in a miserable state. There were about several thousand of them protecting a group of nobles and fleeing. When he got closer and took a closer look, he found that it was actually the Emperor Ji Bai!
Luo Zhi didn't know whether to be happy or sad. It was a good thing that he was not killed directly by the State of Song, but why didn't he die on the road?
The contribution that Ji Bai made to Bang Zhou after his death was countless times greater than the contributions he made during his lifetime.
Ji Bai also saw the flags flying high in the distance. He said excitedly: "My lords, it's the army of Luo State!"
At this critical moment, for Ji Bai, nothing could make him feel more at ease than the word "Luo".
However, among the fleeing nobles, many showed traces of fear and uneasiness on their faces.
When the two armies met, compared to Ji Bai's joy at surviving the disaster, Luo Zhi's eyes were red with anger and filled with murderous intent.
Ji Bai was tactless and wanted to jump directly onto Luo Zhi's chariot, but he was too short to get up.
He then held the shaft of the chariot and cried bitterly, "Lord Luo, the people of Song and Chen are treacherous, and they deliberately retreated to lure me to pursue them.
This led to the loss of my army, and I don’t know how many people are left alive. If I can’t gather the defeated soldiers and fight again, what will happen to the country of Zhou?
The Zhou Dynasty was jointly established by King Wu and King Su. Half of the world belongs to Luo State. I beg Lord Luo to help me."
Luo Zhi, who was already angry, was so angry that he wanted to curse when he heard what Ji Bai said.
Now you know that Bang Zhou was founded by King Wu and King Su together?
Now you know that this world belongs to more than just the Zhou royal family?
How come you didn't know it when you were yelling?
Once this matter is settled, I will send you to see King Wu!
Luo Zhi, who already had murderous intention towards Ji Bai, didn't even look at Ji Bai. He directly pulled Zheng Hou off the chariot and threw him heavily to the ground.
Zheng Hou looked at Luo Zhi, who was furious and full of murderous intent, groaned in pain, and asked fearfully: "Luo Hou! What do you mean? What kind of mistake did I make to make you so angry?"
Luo Zhi drew out his sword and roared, "It was you, a treacherous minister, who persuaded the king to send out the troops, which led to the current defeat.
The previous king gave you countless lands, which made you rich and powerful today, but you did not think of repaying him, and instead did something that angered heaven and people. Shouldn't a traitor like you be killed with a sword?"
As he said this, he kicked the Duke of Zheng again. Before the life-and-death crisis, the Duke of Zheng was quick-witted and said, "Lord Luo, I am just a puppet. My fiefdom is only the city of Xinzheng. The 100,000-strong army of Zheng is owned by the Qing clan. They are the ones who are holding me hostage."
Luo Zhi glared at him fiercely, forcibly suppressing his murderous intent and said, "If you were not a prince, I would kill you right now with a sword. People like you are unworthy of being the descendant of King Wu."
At this time, the soldiers of Luo State had already captured several powerful nobles of Zheng State. If killing the princes was not an option, could they also kill the nobles?
Luo Zhi, holding a sharp sword, walked directly in front of the few people with the gait of a dragon and a tiger. They just opened their mouths to beg for mercy, but Luo Zhi didn't waste any words and chopped them down with his sword. Bright red blood instantly splattered all over Luo Zhi's body.
Ignoring their cries for mercy, Luo Zhi killed them one by one with his sword. The ground was covered with the nobles' bright red blood and chopped meat.
Even those who had just come down from the battlefield still felt a little uncomfortable facing such a bloody scene.
They were especially afraid of Luo Zhi's decisiveness. All of those who were killed were big figures who could call the shots in Zheng State, but in front of Luo Hou, it was like killing chickens and cattle.
But no one was surprised at all, because this was Luo Hou, and no one was surprised that he would do such a thing.
This was the reason why when Zheng Houchan wanted to invite Luo State to send troops together, these noble families decisively refused. They did not want to have any contact with Luo Hou at all.
When Luo Zhi killed the last noble family of Zheng State, Zheng Houchan was even very excited, because if these great nobles were killed, Zheng State would return to the hands of the royal family.
But Luo Zhi's next words made him feel like he was falling into an ice cellar. He saw Luo Zhi walking towards Ji Bai with a bloody sword in his hand. Although Ji Bai knew that Luo Zhi would not hurt her, she was still trembling slightly with fear.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zheng is a vassal. I cannot deal with him, so I will hand him over to you."
As he said this, he handed the sword in his hand directly to Ji Bai. Ji Bai held the sword tremblingly, no longer having the high spirits he had on the battlefield before.
He said with some difficulty: "Lord Luo, Lord Zheng is a loyal minister. He was just coerced by those rebellious nobles. Can't we just kill him?"
"Loyal minister?"
Luo Zhi actually laughed when he heard this, but under the bloodstains, the smile seemed a little eerie and scary. After laughing, Luo Zhi suddenly said angrily: "What loyal minister?
Is it the act of a loyal minister to bribe the king with beautiful women, jade, pearls and other treasures and deceive the king into participating in a war that has no benefit at all?
You said he was a loyal minister, but in the 700-year history of the Zhou Dynasty, those nobles and soldiers who died on the battlefield for the king's orders, and those ministers who gave advice to the king with their blood in the city of Haojing and Luoyi, were they treacherous ministers?"
Ji Bai didn't expect Luo Zhi's reaction to be so big. He was shocked and said repeatedly: "Lord Luo, I was wrong. I will kill Zheng Chan now."
Unexpectedly, Luo Zhi stopped him directly, and said with suppressed anger: "Your Majesty, did I force you to kill a minister?
If you think so, please kill me immediately!
I asked you to kill the Duke of Zheng because he has shaken the country of Zhou and your throne. Don't you understand?
If you make another mistake, the fate of Bang Zhou will come to an end!
Do you think that Luo State can really protect the royal family forever?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's heart was startled.
A look of fear finally appeared in Ji Bai's eyes. Even when the army had suffered a disastrous defeat before and his life was in danger, he had never been as scared as he was now.
He couldn't help but pull Luo Zhi's sleeve and said in a sad voice: "Lord Luo, what do you mean by this?
The spirit of King Su is in heaven, with the states of Bangzhou and Luo.
Are you going to abandon the royal family and exist on your own?"
Ji Bai simply couldn't imagine what would happen to the royal family if Luo State really abandoned it.
Luo Zhi looked up at the sky and lamented, “Luoguo was able to save the royal family once, twice, and three times, all because of the blessing of King Su.
But can't you see?
It's getting harder and harder.
If this continues, when the day comes when Luo State is powerless, can the Mandate of Zhou be maintained?
Kill the Marquis of Zheng. Such a treacherous minister should be stripped of his title and removed from his kingdom, and his land should be incorporated into the royal domain. This is what you can do."
Ji Bai's hands were shaking a little, but he still killed Zheng Chan with one sword. Zheng Houchan never thought that Ji Bai would kill him just because of Luo Hou's words, and his face was full of unwillingness.
At this point, the upper class aristocrats of Zheng were wiped out. This could only be done in times of war. Otherwise, under the feudal system, a power system formed by blood relations, it would only lead to the strongest resistance.
The reason why Luo Zhi did this was because Zheng State was destined to become one of the battlefields for competition among major powers. When the war was over, everything here would be destroyed, and the existence of those small nobles would not be important.
…
The occurrence of "Zhou Wang's annexation of Zheng" and "Zhou-Luo merging" proves that Luo State has already believed that the hegemonic order is completely out of control. Luo State's top leaders are extremely pessimistic about the situation of the state of Zhou, so they have adopted the most violent way to feed back the shaky royal power with the last rays of the patriarchal system. ——"The Rise and Fall of the Zhou Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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