Chapter 29: Shen Rong Invades
Ever since the imperial edict was issued, there has been unrest in the city of Haojing. Queen Shen Jiang sent someone to contact Luo Cheng, and he sent someone to reply to the queen to stay calm.
Shen Jiang's fate depends on her father's actions. If Shen Hou really colludes with the Western Rong tribe to invade Haojing, then she will surely die.
What difference does it make whether we see it now or not?
Wang Ji's edict and Luo Cheng's letter arrived at the hands of various princes one after another.
…
The State of Shen was the first major vassal state to receive the news that the queen had been deposed.
In the entire State of Shen, from the Marquis of Shen to the doctors, no one dared to believe the news before their eyes.
The most valuable thing for a person is to know himself.
The rulers and ministers of the State of Shen were very self-aware. They were well aware of their own weight and their importance to the kingdom.
Therefore, even if Ji Nie exiled Prince Yi to the State of Shen, they just thought that Ji Nie did not like the prince and did not want to see him.
This is not important to the State of Shen. It is enough as long as Ji Yi can become the emperor after Ji Nie's death.
No one thought that Crown Prince Yi would be deposed.
Is Jine crazy?
How dare he?
Was there no one among the princes and ministers of Fenghao who gave advice and remonstrance?
Don’t they know how powerful the Xirong are?
One question after another lingered in the minds of all the nobles of the Shen State.
In fact, the ministers in Wang Ji knew the importance of Shen State, but they were not so clear about it.
Because Wang Ji had not fought with the Northwestern Rong tribe for many years, no one knew the specific strength of the Western Rong.
Only a few people can judge from the goods traded between the two sides every year that the population of Xirong has increased greatly, which means that the strength of Xirong has made great progress.
The bargaining chip of the State of Shen was to use the Rong as a bargaining chip to gain respect, but the Western Rong had not shown off their military power to the royal capital for too long, which indirectly led to this outcome.
I don't know whether to say that Shenguo's shield was well built, or that the collective death of a group of wise ministers before it caused too much damage to the ability of the top leaders of the royal family.
Although the top leaders of the State of Shen were somewhat unbelievable, after the conquests in the early years, the State of Shen had long been on guard against the capital of the Zhou Dynasty.
Now a special situation has indeed occurred. Shen Hou immediately asked: "My Lords, the emperor openly trampled on the ancestral law of the Zhou Dynasty and humiliated our Shen State. What should I do?"
What else can I do?
Of course, teach him a lesson.
All the ministers of the State of Shen had this idea in their minds.
A senior official stepped out and said proudly, "My lord.
The emperor abolished the legitimate wife and enthroned a illegitimate child, openly trampling on the patriarchal system established by his ancestors. Could God tolerate such behavior?
Back then, King Xuan and all the ministers made an alliance and asked for the daughter of our State of Shen in marriage. Now they have broken their promise. Shouldn’t they be punished?
The State of Shen was a powerful tribe among the Xia people. It had served the emperor respectfully for two hundred years, but it suffered such an insult. Who could tolerate this?
I think the emperor is a monarch like Jie and Zhou, or a person like Li Huang who will bring disaster to the country. My lord, you can raise an army to punish such an unjust monarch, and even the heavens will bless you. "
The Marquis of Shen was suspicious and said, "Haojing is where the king lives. The city walls are high and large, and there are also the emperor's army guarding it. Can the army of Shen break through Haojing?"
Another senior official stepped forward and said, "My lord.
Your relative-in-law is the king of Xirong. Why not write to him and use his troops to capture Haojing and rescue the queen?
Let Ji Nie pass the throne to Prince Yi, and you can stay in Haojing City to assist in the administration, so that you can create achievements like Yi Yin and King Su. "
Shen Hou thought of the powerful military force of Xirong and smiled, "You are worthy of being the minister I rely on the most. What you said is exactly what I should do."
So he directly sent envoys with gold, silver and jewelry to the Western Rong to borrow troops, and also promised the leader of the Quanrong that after he conquered Haojing, he would be allowed to empty the treasury of Haojing city.
…
In the palace of the Lord of Xirong.
The leader of the Quanrong made a decisive decision after reading the letter sent by Lord Shen. He had long wanted to use military force against Bangzhou again, but the State of Shen and Bangzhou had always been united, and he also tried to appease the pro-war faction within the Rong tribe, which meant that he had no chance.
Now the State of Shen was going to use military force against Bang Zhou. Seeing this great opportunity to enter the land of Fenghao, he directly called on the tribes in all directions to follow the State of Shen in the uprising.
…
By this time, various countries had just received the news.
Jin State, the most influential Ji clan power closest to Haojing, would always feature in the strategic planning of successive Luohous.
The Duke of Jin first received Wang Ji's imperial edict and then received Luo Cheng's letter. He had a relatively clear idea of Wang Ji's current situation. He knew that the situation was critical, but he was still a little hesitant.
After all, supporting the king requires an order from the emperor. Without the order, if you rashly raise an army, who knows if you are rebelling?
He asked his attendants, "Lou Houcheng wrote to me saying that if the emperor deposes the queen, it will inevitably lead to rebellion in the State of Shen. If Shen rebels, the Western Rong troops will surely follow.
I still believe Luo Houcheng's guess, but in this letter Luo Hou asks me to lead troops to defend the king.
The beacon fire in Mount Li has not yet started, and I am a little worried.
If Lord Shen had not raised his army, and I had led the army to the capital, I would have been speechless. What do you think of this matter?"
Wei Qing, the man whom the Marquis of Jin relied on the most, saw that the Marquis of Jin wanted to go to the king's defense. After a little thought, a smile appeared on his face, and he stepped out and said, "My lord, I just saw the seal of the Marquis of Luo on the letter.
Luo Hou was the Grand Chief of the Imperial Clan. It was stipulated in the Rites of Zhou that the Grand Chief of the Imperial Clan had the power to call upon the princes of the Ji clan.
With this letter, my lord is acting according to the rules. Even if the emperor asks, you can say that it was the Grand Master who summoned the concubines, and you are not at fault."
"The Grand Master of the Imperial Clan also has the power to call upon the princes of the Ji clan? How come I have never heard of this?"
The Marquis of Jin really didn't know. Wei Qing smiled and said, "For more than two hundred years, the Grand Master has always been in the hands of the Luo family. The successive Marquises of Luo treated the king with respect and never used this power.
Therefore, not many people know about it, and I only saw it by chance.
However, the Zhou Li does grant the Grand Master this power, so there is no risk for the Lord to serve the King."
The Duke of Jin was delighted and said, "Quickly bring me the Book of Zhou Li and let me read it."
"The Book of Zhou" is vast, and Wei Qing told the volume number it belonged to. When the waiter brought it over, he saw that this entry was indeed there.
"God bless you!"
The Duke of Jin put down the bamboo slips in his hand and laughed loudly, "My lords, organize the army and serve the king!"
As the Duke of Jin gave the order, the eyes of everyone in the hall lit up.
Be loyal to the king!
No prince could resist the temptation to serve the king. The last time, it was also Luo Hou who led the king's support, and Jin State gained countless benefits.
Among all the countries with the surname Ji, only Luo can be compared with Jin.
However, the State of Luo cared too much about its status as the descendant of King Su and respected the king too much, and its strength could no longer keep up with that of the State of Jin.
The ministers' eyes also lit up. If they could make great contributions in serving the king, could they become princes?
Even if one cannot achieve such a great achievement, being able to follow the Duke of Jin and achieve great merit is a big deal for the family.
Jin's war machine began to move.
…
The messenger was still delivering the message to all directions. Many princes distributed around Fenghao had received the news. Some trusted Luo Hou's reputation and decisively sent troops, while others were still waiting for the beacon fire from Mount Li in Haojing.
The State of Shen and King Rong had already assembled their armies and were heading towards Haojing. They moved down the Jing River at an extremely fast speed.
Although the Rong people were looked down upon by the other tribes, they were actually not very backward. It was just that their culture was completely different, and their hairstyles and clothes were different.
King Rong and Lord Shen were staying together, looking at the endless army and laughing, "King Shen, you should have been like this a long time ago. The Zhou people occupy the most fertile land, but they are extremely weak. This doesn't make sense."
Shen Hou felt a little contemptuous in his heart, but he still smiled and said, "Since the time of King Su, all the Xia and other nations have always believed in the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou Emperor represents the Mandate of Heaven. Now it is the Zhou Emperor who is at fault, so I will lead the army to attack him."
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had Prince Yi in his hands, Lord Shen would never have considered attacking Haojing.
After a series of major defeats at the end of King Xuan's reign, coupled with the chaos caused by Ji Nie and the princes in the capital over the years, the power of the Fenghao royal capital was indeed somewhat empty.
But the power of the entire Xia Dynasty is not empty, and each of those vassal states is not easy to deal with.
Once the Zhou emperor lit the beacon fire, the princes came to support him. Shen Hou knew that even if the two of them joined forces, they would not be his match.
What he had to do was to rush into Haojing as soon as possible and kill the Zhou Emperor Ji Nie and the current Crown Prince Ji Fu, so that Ji Yi would be the only heir to the throne.
He now had the means to negotiate with the princes.
"King Rong, after you enter Haojing, you can plunder the treasury as you please, but you cannot kill the Zhou people, otherwise the princes will not let us go."
Lord Shen said solemnly that this was a very important matter. If massive destruction was caused in Haojing, the princes in the capital would definitely not stand on his side.
If they run away with the imperial robes, there will be trouble later.
A gloomy look flashed across King Rong's eyes, and then he laughed loudly and said, "Don't worry, King Shen, the Rong people will always be your friends. Our friendship is more precious than gold."
The two people with ulterior motives spoke quite affectionately.
The size of the Shen-Rong coalition army could not be concealed from the beacon towers along the way, and clusters of wolf smoke lit up in the sky above the Sanhe Plain.
…
In the royal capital, there was an uproar when the smoke of war rose and the news that the State of Shen had joined forces with the Rong people to invade came.
Ji Nie was furious in the royal court and cursed Shen Hou: "Shen Hou is such a lowly thief, just like the weeds in the ditch.
Shen Jiang slandered me, but I did not kill her because Shen Hou had made great contributions in resisting the Quanrong.
He did not show gratitude to me, but joined forces with the enemy to invade. I will make sure he dies without a burial place."
There are not many loyal ministers in the royal court in recent years. The wise ministers of King Xuan have passed away, and Ji Nie has appointed ministers who can make money for him and flatter him.
These people are good at fighting for power and profit, but when faced with the invasion of Shen Rong, they all remain silent.
Although Luo Cheng had already sentenced Ji Nie to death in his heart, he could not just do nothing and watch the Quanrong soldiers break through Haojing.
It would have been a human tragedy.
So he stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the Shen-Rong coalition army is probably about to enter the royal territory. The most urgent task now is to resist the invasion of the Shen-Rong coalition army. As for how to deal with the Lord of Shen, let's wait until later."
Although Ji Nie did not like Luo Cheng, a minister who was disobedient to him, he knew very well that the Luo Hou of all generations were loyal to Bang Zhou.
In this critical situation, we still have to listen to Luo Hou's opinion.
"Does Lord Luo have any good ideas to make Shen Rong's troops retreat? Lord Luo Wen was able to persuade Xiong Dun's troops to retreat all by himself. Does Lord Luo have the ability to do so?"
"What a great man my ancestors were, how can I compare with them?
I would like to ask Duke Guo, how many troops can be withdrawn from the royal capital besides the six armies of the emperor?
I would also like to ask the nobles, how many sons are there in your fiefdoms? How many can be brought to the capital city of Hao in time?
Does the emperor have a suitable general in mind? If not, let me lead the troops."
The talents of the Luo family's successive heads were in governing the country, fighting for power, and controlling people, which are the most important things for a ruler.
None of them had much knowledge of military affairs. Among Luo Cheng's brothers, there was one who was quite talented in military affairs, but he had always stayed in Luo State to guard against the Fang State in the east.
Luo Ben originally planned to transfer him over when he gained power in the kingdom and was ready to conquer the Quanrong.
He didn't expect Jine to do something like this, which directly disrupted his plans.
Now all we can do is see whether there are capable and brave generals in the royal capital.
Luo Cheng's allies are basically local princes or nobles who have occupied the royal capital for many years. These people are good at playing politics, but when it comes to fighting, it is considered good if they can catch up with Luo Cheng.
After all, Luo Cheng's stats are 80 for command, 74 for military strength, and 78 for military strategy. Although he cannot be a general commanding troops, he has no problem being an ordinary general.
Luo Cheng's series of questions stunned Guo Shifu.
Seeing Guo Shifu in a daze, Luo Cheng frowned and said, "Duke Guo, you are one of the Three Dukes and the Chief of the Heavenly Officials, don't you even know these?"
Guo Shifu immediately jumped out and said, "Lord Luo is careful with his words, how could I not know?
The Emperor's six armies have been rebuilt in a short time, and now they should have about 30,000 soldiers. As for how many soldiers can be mobilized from the royal capital, I would like to ask you, the ministers. "
Thirty thousand?
"How come there are only 30,000?"
Before Luo Cheng could say anything, Jinie had already jumped up, "Isn't the emperor's six armies 75,000 people?"
Guo Shifu knelt down in fear and said, "Your Majesty, King Xuan suffered several defeats in succession last year, and natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years, which have emptied the treasury of the royal capital.
The number of vassals serving you is also seriously insufficient, and the vacancies in the Sixth Army have only been filled little by little over the years."
A cold light flashed in Luo Cheng's eyes. It was a pity that Guo Shifu had the nerve to say such a thing.
Most of the Zhou people who served the emperor directly were vassals with very small fiefs or citizens with some assets at home. After a series of defeats at the end of King Xuan's reign, many of them went bankrupt.
The fiefs of the emperor's vassals were annexed by the princes within the capital with money, and the people were also incorporated into their countries, so the fiefs directly under the emperor became fewer and fewer.
Guo Shifu was one of the best among them.
Of course, Ji Nie didn't know about these things. Over the years, Guo Shifu was the one who collected money for him and his life was not affected at all. Naturally, he didn't know how much anger the lower-class Zhou people had accumulated towards him as the emperor.
Thinking of this, Luo Cheng was no longer going to waste words, and immediately asked: "Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, 30,000 soldiers are 30,000.
Now select a general and take these soldiers to defend the city of Haojing, waiting for the king's army to come to rescue.
I have previously borrowed troops from various Ji clan princes in my capacity as Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, so they should arrive faster.
Now, as long as we can defend the city of Haojing, everything will be fine."
"Yes, I have all the princes in the world to serve me. As long as we defend Haojing, Shen Rong will naturally retreat."
Ji Nie knew nothing about military affairs, so he said to Guo Shifu, whom he trusted the most, "I don't know the strength of the Shenrong bandits, so I'll trouble Duke Guo to go and test their strength."
Luo Cheng frowned slightly. To be honest, he didn't know how good Guo Shifu was at commanding troops.
When it comes to character and ability to govern a country, Guo Shifu is clearly not up to standard.
But character has nothing to do with ability, and there is no relationship between governing ability and military ability.
Ji Nie handed over the power of commanding the troops to Guo Shifu, presumably Guo Shifu had some outstanding qualities.
But Guo Shifu left a bad impression on him, so he asked with some concern: "Duke Guo, do you know anything about military affairs?"
Guo Shifu was indeed not completely useless. His father, Duke Wu of Guo, was an outstanding commander and ranked first among the ministers during the reign of King Xuan.
Guo Shifu had been practicing martial arts since he was young and was also tall and strong. Whether he was charging in a chariot or fighting on foot, he was a leader among the dukes and nobles in the royal capital.
So he is very confident in himself.
Luo Cheng looked down on him as soon as he arrived in Haojing City, which made him very angry, but because of the prestige of the Luo family, he dared not do anything.
Now that he finally had an opportunity to show off his skills, he said confidently, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have the courage to defeat any enemy, and you are the son of God. It will be easy for you to defeat the armies of Shen and Rong."
Guo Shifu's behavior made Luo Cheng even more worried. Did he really think he was Xiong Dun?
(End of this chapter)
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