Chapter 41 A New Era
The sudden appearance of Wu and Yue was fatal to the State of Xu. Their plan of main army's escape failed, and they had to start a bloody battle with the coalition forces.
The final result was naturally no miracle. The strength of the two sides was no longer on the same level. The princes' army suffered huge casualties, which made all the princes' hearts bleed, but only one in ten of the soldiers brought by King Xu managed to escape.
Although they failed to kill the State of Xu in the end like they did with the King of Huaiyi, the State of Xu, whose strength had been greatly weakened, would probably have a hard time facing the States of Chen, Song, and Wu in the future.
As the battle between Song and Xu came to an end, good news came one after another, as if it was a signal.
The allied forces of Jin and Wei defeated the Di people in Li, forcing them to migrate northward.
The State of Qi defeated the State of Laiyi, forcing it to continue migrating eastward, greatly expanding its territory.
This war did not last long, but was extremely intense, and all the countries in the Xia Dynasty will never forget it.
The power of the barbarians is still so strong!
The various states in the Xia Dynasty were almost overthrown. Even though the war was ultimately won, many princes were still haunted by fear.
Just as the princes were cleaning up the mess.
In Luoyi, Luo Cheng sent a letter to all the princes in the world in the name of the emperor, requesting a meeting to be held in Luoyi to arrange the post-war order and prevent these barbarians from making a comeback.
The princes of the world responded in unison. Almost at the moment the edict was issued, most of them immediately set out for Luoyi.
Ji Zhao was busy harvesting countless luck points.
[Your descendant Luo Cheng surpassed his limits and successfully organized a major counterattack by the Zhuxia. Your family's status in history has been raised again, and your family's reputation has been raised again.
You have gained luck points. 】
Although Luo Cheng was not the one who personally commanded the battle and did not give him any props, how many luck points were given to him?
Ji Zhao recovered all the luck points he had spent over the years on the ancestral blessings that he had bestowed on his family members.
…
The Chu State's delegation was the most grand and of the highest standard.
The Crown Prince of Chu came on behalf of the King of Chu to congratulate the new emperor and demonstrate the friendship between the Zhou-Chu alliance.
Princess Yi Xuan of Chu, who had already been engaged to Emperor Ji Fu, was also in the delegation and came to marry Ji Fu.
As a big country on the Han River, Chu's wedding procession was naturally quite large.
The one thousand armored soldiers escorting the delegation were the most elite soldiers in the State of Chu. With just this group of armored soldiers, if equipped with chariots and five thousand auxiliary troops, those small countries with an area of only fifty miles would be completely unable to resist.
One of the reasons why the State of Chu sent out this elite army was to show off its military power to the princes in the Central Plains.
According to the arrangement of the King of Chu, two hundred people would be selected from this powerful army as Yi Xuan's dowry and stay with her in the royal capital.
These two hundred people are not just two hundred people, but a group of nobles, and all of these nobles will be stationed in Luoyi with Yi Xuan.
If Ji Fu has the ability, he can fully borrow this power. This is the benefit that a powerful wife's family can bring.
Although Luo Yan was a native of Luo, he was already a minister of Chu, so he followed the Chu delegation back to Luoyi and brought his fiancée Yi Guang with him.
The fiancée always has to meet her father. There is also an alliance between Luo State and Chu State. Moreover, he served in Chu State and received a fiefdom granted by the King of Chu. I don't know if this counts as a division of the family.
The four people of Chu State, namely, Crown Prince Xiong Dan, Luo Yan, Princess Yixuan and Princess Yiguang, served concurrently.
Looking at the city before him, which was much taller than Yingdu, Xiong Dan was somewhat shocked and asked, "Lord Luo, this Luoyi is so tall, how did King Su build it?"
"Prince, Luoyi is located between Yi and Luo. It is a paradise bestowed by God on the Zhou people. With God's blessing, a city taller than this can be built."
Luo Yan's words were full of pride. The history and ancestors of the Luo family were worthy of every descendant's pride.
If I were not the prince of Luo State, how could the King of Chu give his most beloved princess to me even if he admired me?
Princesses Yixuan and Yiguang were both a little curious. This was the first time for them to leave the State of Chu, especially Princess Yixuan, who knew that this was where she would live for the rest of her life.
Now she is still very satisfied.
Ji Fu received the Crown Prince of Chu and others in the palace.
This was the first time Yi Xuan met her future husband. Not only was Ji Fu talented and capable, but no one could fault his appearance.
So Yi Xuan was very satisfied, and even a slight blush appeared on her pretty face.
"I have heard Luo Gong tell the story of the ancestors of the Chu State who blazed a trail through the mountains and forests. What a great achievement this was!
All the princes should learn from the State of Chu.
When Chu returns to the ranks of the Xia, I will have something to say to King Su when I meet him in person."
Although Ji Fu is not good at either literature or martial arts, he has a kind of temperament that makes people feel good about him.
What he said sounded very sincere, and Xiong Dan was now very fond of his future brother-in-law.
"Your Majesty, the State of Chu will always stand by your side and be your loyal subject."
On such an occasion, Xiong Dan made a statement to the world, and his words represented the political commitment of the State of Chu.
When he leaves here, the news will soon spread to all the countries that the royal family has the strong support of Chu State and is now able to maneuver between the major countries in the Central Plains.
…
As the princes of various countries arrived in Luoyi, the city fell into unprecedented prosperity.
The princes all brought their guards with them, most of whom were nobles with sufficient financial resources to spend.
In addition to tribute to the emperor, the alliance was also an occasion for displaying goods, and usually the princes would bring a large number of local specialties.
So many princes gathered together. It had been many years since the time of King Huang.
Especially the appearance of the three princes, the Crown Prince of Chu, Duke of Wu and Duke of Yue, made all the princes feel that the world had really changed.
These three vassal states had not paid tribute to the emperor for hundreds of years, but now they appeared in the royal capital.
They were not clear about the strength of Wu and Yue, but Chu was a big country in Hanyang, and was not inferior to Jin.
Now it is also married to the royal family. Some time ago, Prince Dan of Chu and the emperor made an alliance to assist the royal family with all their strength. With the assistance of Jin, Luo, Qi and Zheng, it is not impossible to return to the capital of Hao.
Xiong Dan discovered that the biggest disadvantage of the Chu State's failure to pay tribute to the Zhou State for a hundred years was that he basically did not know any of the princes in the Central Plains.
The princes married each other to form a complex network of relationships, but the State of Chu was outside this system.
Even if the royal family formed an alliance with the State of Chu, the State of Chu would still be excluded by them.
Because these princes from the Central Plains were all related to each other, the State of Chu was truly an outsider to them.
The King of Chu was an outstanding monarch. He was keenly aware of this, so he wanted to keep Luo Yan in Chu and marry his most beloved daughter to him.
The effect is now reflected. Luo Yan's mother is Luo Jiang, the legitimate daughter of Qi. Qi and Luo are representatives of the Ji and Jiang surnames.
I am afraid I cannot even tell how big the marriage network between these two countries is, but almost all the princes present here can speak for themselves.
As Luo Yan invited the princes one by one, and almost every one of them could be considered a relative, Xiong Dan was almost becoming numb.
He deeply felt the key position of the Luo family in the Central Plains. If the State of Chu wanted to enter the Central Plains, marriage with the royal family was not the most important thing, but marriage with the Luo family was the most important thing.
The most interesting thing is that Luo Yan is the first prince of Luo State to serve as a minister in another country, which is a golden signboard for the State of Chu.
No one can understand who are the barbarians and who are the Chinese better than the descendants of King Su.
With Luo Yan's introduction, the Prince of Chu finally integrated into the circle of the princes in the Central Plains. However, in their hearts, the princes in the Central Plains still felt wary of the Prince of Chu.
This is a very normal behavior. How can the feeling of unfamiliarity that has lasted for more than a hundred years be eliminated in a short period of time?
At least it was much better than the State of Yue. The State of Wu was a vassal state of the Ji clan, and was established by the descendants of the royal family. Although it had not paid tribute to the Zhou Dynasty for many years, the relationship of the same clan could still be found.
The exiled Yue State, a vassal state with the surname Si, was in a miserable situation. Its largest relative was the Qi State with the surname Si. Although the Qi State was a principality, it was weak. The entire vassal state with the surname Si had no presence in the system of the various states of the Xia Dynasty.
Not to mention compared with the Jiang surname, even compared with the Zi surname, the Gui surname, and even the Ying surname which was far inferior to them at the beginning, they are far inferior.
…
As the bells in the city rang, the princes began to walk towards the palace according to their titles and positions in the royal family.
This is a big change from more than two hundred years ago when status was determined almost entirely by bloodline. It cannot be said that bloodline is unimportant, but it is a consensus of this era that title is more important than bloodline.
In the Luoyi Palace, Luo Cheng was adjusting the emperor's crown for Ji Fu. This scene was somewhat similar to the scene when Ji Zhao adjusted the robe for Ji Yun more than two hundred years ago.
"Son of Heaven, do you know that there are three kinds of kings?"
"There are three types of kings?" Ji Fu shook his head in confusion and said, "I don't know. Please enlighten me, Lord Luo."
“This is what King Su said.
The king walked a noble and upright path. He used ideals to unite the hearts of his subjects and used morality to regulate his country. In this way, even if he died, his subjects would loyally assist his descendants.
The Middle King takes the path of tyranny and oppression. Such a monarch believes that there is no need to trust his subjects. As long as he suppresses them by force, everything will go according to his will. This is not wrong, but this type of monarch will usually kill those subjects who have made contributions, because he knows that there is no trust between the monarch and his subjects.
An inferior king believes in conspiracies and intrigues, regards power as the truth, and plays with the balance without considering the development of the country. A country ruled by such a monarch cannot be strong. It is like a pool of stagnant water, which gradually rots and stinks, and eventually collapses and is completely defeated.
As for the monarchs who are worse than the king below, they are no longer worthy of being called monarchs."
This was the first time Ji Fu heard this theory, and his small eyes were filled with shock. He couldn't help but ask, "Lord Luo, I want to become the Supreme King, what should I do?"
Luo Cheng smoothed out a wrinkle and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I will teach you slowly, starting with the book "The Kingly Way" written by King Su.
The princes have arrived, Your Majesty, the princes' meeting is the dignified and upright way of kingship. This is the first step in the revitalization of Zhou. You must watch carefully today."
Of course, a true king should focus on the kingly way, supplemented by the hegemonic way, and then have his ministers supplement it with the cunning way.
However, Ji Fu's talent is not enough to learn the ways of tyranny and cunning. He is kind by nature and is only suitable for the path of the king. After all, people's hearts are still relatively simple in this era, and there are many loyal ministers and righteous people.
"Your Majesty is here!" Luo Cheng and Ji Fu arrived together.
All the princes returned to their seats, straightened their backs, knelt, bowed their heads, and put their hands behind their backs. The hall, which had been noisy before, fell silent in a very short time.
Teams of palace maids passed by and replaced the wine cups for all the princes. The musicians began to play the emperor's music and dance, and the grand sound echoed in the palace.
The princes were restricted by the Zhou rituals and could not use many musical instruments. In the entire Zhou Dynasty, many pieces of music could only be played in their entirety by the emperor.
“Gentlemen.
Since King Su's eastern expedition, Zhou had never experienced such a large-scale war. From the west of Haojing to the coast of the East China Sea, from the north of Yanshan Mountain to the south of the Yangtze River, wars were everywhere in the vast territory of Zhou.
Jin and Wei defeated the Di people, Yan defeated the Shanhu, Qi defeated the Laiyi Kingdom, Song, Chen, Wu, Yue, Shen, Sui and Tang strangled the Xu Kingdom, and Luo and Chu defeated the powerful Huaiyi in Ying and Xu.
What a glorious victory! The country of Zhuxia is still blessed by heaven, and our descendants won’t have to worry about invasions from these border barbarians for the next fifty years.”
Luo Cheng excitedly raised his wine cup high and shouted, "Congratulations!"
All the princes raised their wine cups high and said in unison: "Congratulations!"
After shouting three times, Luo Cheng said again: "As long as we gather under the throne of the emperor, strictly abide by the Zhou rituals, develop the country, and hold regular alliances, can those barbarians shake the Zhou Dynasty?"
"no!"
The princes naturally saw the power of unity and responded in unison.
Luo Cheng said loudly again: "Gentlemen, more than two hundred years ago, the first generation of princes swore an oath in front of King Kang and King Su, which led to the prosperity of King Kang's reign.
More than a hundred years ago, the princes made the same oath in front of King Zhao and Duke Wen of Luo, which led to the prosperity of King Zhao.
Today, let us once again swear an oath of blood in front of the king, never betray each other, jointly support the country, jointly assist the emperor, and create a prosperous era! "
"Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!"
All the princes raised their wine cups high again, and everyone stood up, shouting loudly, and the echoes lingered in the hall.
Ji Fu, who was shocked by the scene, was pulled up by Luo Cheng. His arms were raised high, and all the musicians raised the volume of the music again, like the roar of war drums.
How long has it been since the emperor had such authority?
No one knew, but now everyone knows that if Luo Kingdom gives everything it has, the royal family will prosper.
A young emperor and a regent from the Luo family, the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty seemed to be forever flowing between them.
This is a new era, the era of Luo Cheng and Ji Fu.
…
The meeting of princes during the reign of King Yi was the last meeting initiated by the Zhou emperor. All the princes prostrated themselves under the throne. The Zhou royal family, which had experienced the Shenrong Rebellion in Haojing, seemed to have returned to the position of the common ruler of the world.
In the following twenty years, the Zhou royal family vigorously maintained the Zhou rituals and the patriarchal system, especially strongly cracking down on the attempt of the Quwo clan of Jin to replace the big clan, which made the reputation of King Yi and Duke Xuan of Luo among the princes reach its peak. ——"The Rise and Fall of the Zhou Dynasty"
What I like most is the sudden destruction after the extreme brilliance, just like fireworks, so beautiful and gorgeous that makes people obsessed.
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(End of this chapter)
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