Chapter 165: King Qi, do you think that a thousand-year-old relative can remain unscathed?
The news that Qin had destroyed the Zhou royal family spread to all directions, and now the only thing left of the Zhou royal family was Luo State, which owned the Nine Cauldrons of King Yu.
The thousand-year-old Zhou Dynasty is finally coming to an end.
The sky is clear and cloudless.
The Qin army, armed with swords, spears, and halberds, slowly walked into Luoyi, a city that has been famous for a thousand years in the entire world.
The smoke of war was dealt with, the bright red blood was cleaned, and the bodies were taken away to be burned.
On the wall of Luoyi city, Bai Qi stood with his hands behind his back, his robe fluttering in the wind.
Although the Zhou emperor's resistance was extremely fierce, the final outcome would not change.
Qin's decision to attack Zhou was naturally not an impulsive desire for revenge.
First of all, Luoyi was the largest city on the Qin State’s main route eastward.
The territories of Han and Wei to the west of Luoyi have been completely annexed.
Whether Qin wanted to attack Han or Wei, the existence of Luoyi would be a huge threat to Qin's food supply.
Secondly, with the Nine Cauldrons of King Yu being moved to Zhaocheng of Luo State, the Zhou royal family did not even have anything that the princes coveted.
The panic caused by attacking the weak Zhou royal family was not as great as that caused by the Qin army stepping out of Hangu Pass again.
The more mature Bai Qi has now reached the peak of his abilities in life.
He was waiting for news from Zhao. Once Zhao sent troops, Qin would respond to Zhao, and then attack Han and Chu, weakening the three countries of Han, Wei and Chu.
What was the key to Qin's victory in the east?
The brave warriors of Qin?
Bai Qi is invincible in field battles?
The mighty national power of Qin?
These are all important, but the most important thing is to find allies!
Yan and Qi have always played their own games and just wanted to be on good terms with them, but Han and Wei have always been hostile to Qin.
Within the State of Chu, the Xiang clan was very hostile to the State of Qin, believing that it was a state competing with Chu for the Mandate of Heaven.
King Ji of Qin thought about it and finally set his sights on his fellow clan, the State of Zhao.
Prince Ti arrived at Zhao with a large number of gifts. When he met the King of Zhao, he said respectfully, "Your Majesty.
The Qin and Zhao states were relatives of the Ying clan and were descendants of the nobles of the pre-Shang Dynasty.
Look at the countries in the world. Except for Chu, the other three countries, Han, Wei, Yan, Luo and Qi, all have big surnames such as Ji and Jiang.
You and the two kings of Han and Wei were originally separate families of the Three Jins, but the relationship between Han and Wei is far better than yours.
Is this a coincidence?
In fact, it is because you are a vassal of the Ying clan, while Han and Wei are vassal of the Ji clan.
They may not say it, but they reject you in their hearts.
You want to seize the land of Han, but Wei disagrees. Is it because of the friendship between Wei and Han?
No, it was because Wei wanted to annex the country on its own and did not want other countries to interfere.
You are an ambitious leader. If you want to expand your territory, you must have reliable allies.
Now if you don't form an alliance with Qin, who else can you form an alliance with?
Are we going to accommodate weak countries like Han and Wei?
I feel sorry for you as it is an insult to your reputation.
My king, to show my sincerity.
My king is willing to return the plateau land that was ceded to Zhao in exchange for mutual assistance and even joint military operations between Zhao and Qin.
He was also willing to exchange hostages with the State of Zhao, swear an oath of blood alliance, and promise never to betray each other.
Even if the rivers run dry and the mountains collapse, the friendship between Qin and Zhao will never change."
Mutually prime.
This should have been the focus of attention, but King Zhao was dazzled by the land promised by Qin.
Even though he was a rather foolish and mediocre monarch, he was very aware of the importance of the land that was ceded to the Zhao State because of what he had learned since childhood.
Relying only on a piece of land, the Qin State was able to keep the Zhao army at bay and looked down on the Zhao State for hundreds of years.
The territory of Zhao State was rich in mountains and rivers and was easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as there was a general who was good at defending and sufficient food and grass, the country would be invincible.
But the most critical western gateway was in the hands of Qin, which gave Qin the initiative to attack Zhao.
The perfect territory of Zhao State had a big gap in front of Qin State.
The State of Zhao always felt a deep-seated chill towards the State of Qin.
The State of Zhao had always wanted to recapture these key cities, but its national strength was not as strong as that of the State of Qin.
Defense can still hold out, but offense is absolutely impossible.
Moreover, these cities were located in places that were easy to defend but difficult to attack, so naturally they always failed.
However, Zhao State did not expect that Qin State would be willing to exchange these cities, and the price Zhao State paid was "only" to attack Han State.
So King Zhao readily agreed.
Lin Xiang advised: "Your Majesty, the Qin people are a country of tigers and wolves, and they have never been trustworthy. Can their words be trusted?
The State of Qin is attacking the Zhou royal family. I believe that all the princes in the world are afraid of it. Now that you are walking together with the State of Qin, won’t it make both Zhao and Qin a cause for vigilance among the people of the world?
Although the State of Zhao is named after the Ying family, it still follows the Way of the Su Wang. If you approach the State of Qin without permission, the people of the country may not be happy about it. "
Lin Xiang's words were well-reasoned, but it was normal for the conceited and incompetent monarch not to listen to advice. He still ordered the generals in the country to lead their troops and attack together with the Qin army.
The news that Zhao sent troops to attack Han was extremely shocking.
When the Qin State had just conquered the Zhou royal family, all the other countries were considering whether to attack the Qin State.
The State of Zhao demonstrated through practical actions that there was no need to attack the State of Qin.
Nothing has changed. This is still a world of war among nations.
The combined strength of Qin and Zhao was so great that Han was unable to resist, not even with the addition of Wei. Han could only send envoys to Qi, Chu, and Yan to borrow troops.
When Bai Qi attacked Han, he was not fast in capturing the city because what he wanted to do was not simply to take down the city.
Over the hundreds of years, there have been countless sieges and captures of cities between nations, especially those located on the borders of nations, which have increased and decreased in number without any fixed pattern.
Bai Qi didn't like this kind of back-and-forth tug-of-war. He wanted to use Korea as bait and annihilate the armies of various countries that came to rescue him.
Bai Qi wanted to force them to fight the Qin State in the field, instead of hiding behind strong city fortresses, like a turtle with nowhere to attack.
The news coming from the Chu State and the Central Plains made all the people with lofty ideals feel alarmed.
The reforms in the State of Chu have achieved some results in recent years, but are still far from the expected results.
The King of Chu was already somewhat unhappy.
But the reformists were like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, unable to express their grievances.
The situation in Chu State was really special.
Most of the land in the country is mountains, forests, lakes and swamps, and many roads are relatively rugged. The transmission of information is far from comparable to that in the Central Plains where road traffic is more developed.
In other words, the only way to govern here is by feudal lords, but once so many feudal lords are set up, the power of the old aristocracy will increase, and they will eventually oppose reform.
In fact, even within the Xiang clan, voices opposing radical reform gradually emerged, saying, "Reforms to strengthen the country should be tailored to the situation in the country.
The State of Chu had a territory of 4,000 li, and except for the areas east of the Yangtze River and the Han River, it was almost entirely sparsely populated.
There were even wild people living in these lands who were not brought under control.
We must rely on feudal lords to control these areas."
There was endless debate within the State of Chu, and then came the news that Han and Wei had been defeated.
Xiang Zeng immediately said loudly in the court of Chu: "Now is not the time to argue. If we allow the Qin people to conquer Han and Wei, I am afraid they will immediately turn their swords and attack Chu.
Now, please select the generals in the kingdom and go to rescue Han and Wei."
If it were in the past, Xiang Zeng would have gone up on his own, but now he didn't dare to leave the State of Chu at all.
He was afraid that as soon as he left, the Chu State, without any suppression, would explode immediately, tearing the entire country to pieces, and even leading to the crisis of civil war.
The hall fell silent for a moment. Lead the troops north?
That’s Bai Qi, do you want to live?
Even if they could survive the battlefield, according to the customs of the Chu State, once defeated, the outcome was basically suicide.
Xiang Zeng frowned, he was well aware of the concerns in these people's minds.
So he gathered his thoughts and said to the King of Chu: "Your Majesty, people are born without the ability to speak, and they are born without the ability to walk.
By the time they are children, they can learn to read, and their abilities will gradually increase.
It can be seen that people come from nothing, and the same is true for generals. Without experiencing battle, they cannot truly become commanders.
There is no undefeated general in the world. I think that when a general is defeated in battle, he should be punished. The practice of destroying the army and killing the general should be abolished so that generals can fight bravely.
Destroy the army and kill the general.
This was a very bad habit in the State of Chu, full of connotations from the tribal era. As soon as Xiang Zeng said this, many people started clamoring and hoped to abolish it.
After the King of Chu agreed, the ministers became obviously enthusiastic about sending troops to aid Han and Wei.
The State of Chu also contacted the State of Qi, hoping that Qi could send troops together.
After experiencing the invasion of Qi by the other six states in the past, the rulers and ministers of Qi just wanted to start a war and did not want to participate in another war.
Especially the two countries of Han and Wei, Qi State wished they would die sooner.
The King of Qi refused directly, saying: "The envoy is from the State of Chu.
In the past, the six kingdoms attacked Qi and destroyed Qi's elite troops. Yue Yi defeated Qi, and until now, Qi has not recovered.
The country's population is declining and Linzi is no longer as prosperous as it once was. These are all things worth mourning.
Besides, Qi has always been friendly with Qin, so there is no need to be an enemy of Qin."
When the envoy of Chu State saw that Qi State was still obsessed with the issue of the six states' invasion of Qi in the past, he immediately decided to provoke him.
He said respectfully, “Your Majesty.
In the past, the six states attacked Qi because Qi was powerful but did not abide by morality.
How similar is this to the current Qin State?
Therefore, the Shandong states should unite to target the Qin State.
You said that the six states' attacks on Qi caused Qi to never recover. This must be a lie.
Is it because of fear in your heart?
But please think about it, the State of Chu was established for a thousand years. How many times had it been attacked by other countries?
From the time of Duke Wen of Luo more than 900 years ago to the six kingdoms' alliance to attack Chu, every one of them was of great momentum.
If the State of Chu was as resentful as you are, I'm afraid it would have been doomed long ago."
sad.
The envoy from Chu State deliberately used such a belittling word to describe the King of Qi.
"Crazy and rebellious!"
This successfully angered the King of Qi, but he didn't know what to say, after all, the envoy from Chu was right.
The Chu State was beaten so many times but is still alive and well, but you start to feel sorry for yourself after being beaten once.
The Chu envoy remained unafraid of the furious King Qi and continued, "As for what you said about making friends with Qin, it is really ridiculous.
Haven't you heard the prophecies circulating among the Shandong states?
It was the Qin State that destroyed the Zhou royal family, and it must have been the Luo State that destroyed the Qin State.
You and the State of Luo have been relatives for thousands of years. You have even more Su Wang's blood in your body than the royal family of the State of Luo. Will the State of Qin let you go?
I dare not think so even in my dreams."
The King of Qi's face changed drastically, and all the ministers of Qi changed their expressions.
It was Qin that destroyed Zhou, and it was Luo that destroyed Qin!
This is a prophecy that has been circulating since who knows when, and now the Qin State has indeed destroyed the Zhou Dynasty.
The second half of the sentence...
(End of this chapter)
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