Chapter 45: The world is a chessboard, and the princes are chess pieces
Luo State, Zhaocheng.
This is the undisputed largest city in Luo State. All the members of the Luo State royal family above the eighth level live here.
Especially after the eleventh monarch Luoyang set about restoring the population of the royal family, he awarded a large amount of land from the royal family and increased the preferential treatment given to the children of the royal family.
After so many years of recuperation, the number of young descendants of the Luo royal family gradually recovered, and the Luo State finally had the capital to control the world again.
The current Marquis of Luo is named Luo Xiu, and he is the thirteenth monarch of the Luo State.
[Ability attributes: Power struggle: 90 (88+2) (+2 is the attribute card upgrade); Governing the country: 84; Controlling people: 82; Command: 80; Military force: 84; Military strategy: 83.
Reputation of the Patriarch:
①Royal family: indifferent; ②Royal family: neutral; ③Princes: neutral; ④Army: friendly; ⑤Fellow countrymen: respectful.
Family Reputation:
①Royal family: friendly; ②Royal family: respect; ③Princes: respect; ④Army: respect; ⑤Countrymen: respect. 】
The current Luo family is divided into three branches: the Luo family, the Chu family, and the Ying family.
However, the new generation of descendants of the Luo family in the other two countries no longer have red dots between their eyebrows, which is proof that they have lost the blessing of the Su King.
There are a total of 15 adult males and 17 minors in the Luo royal family living in Luo State. The first is the current Luo Hou Xiu. He has three adult legitimate sons, namely Crown Prince Xi, Prince Ge, and Prince Yun.
He has a younger brother, who has four adult sons. In addition, there are Luo Xiu's two cousins and his own four nephews. These 15 people are all in Ji Zhao's system, and they are also the 15 people to whom he can impose the blessing of their ancestors.
As Ji Zhao's influence on the head of the family grows, the inheritance law of Luo State now parallels the inheritance law of primogeniture and the inheritance law of ancestors.
Although Luo Xiu is not a genius, he is the second son of destiny in the Luo family in more than 300 years. He has been sleeping since the Luoyang period and was awakened by the system when Luo Xiu was born.
Over the years, he has not only been paying attention to Luo Xiu, but also has always been paying attention to the Luo family members. It can be said that he is rather disappointed. It cannot be said that they are bad, but in an era of great contention like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, mediocrity means backwardness.
The talents of these 15 people are not bad. Basically, they have one or two attributes above 80. One of them even has a personal martial arts ability of 90. However, martial arts are actually of little use for a family's inheritance.
History is the history of ruthlessness crushing the brainless.
However, these children were born in the royal family of Luo State. Under the education of the Luo family, their vision, abilities and talents can basically be fully utilized. If they do things according to the rules, nothing will go wrong.
Ji Zhao added two points to Luo Xiu's attributes. After all, the talent gap between 88 and 90 is fatal.
The attributes of 88 do not have the wisdom to come up with something suddenly. It is impossible to see through the fog of the times at the critical moment, let alone lead the development of the times. A child of destiny has finally appeared, and he should not be limited by his attributes.
In fact, Ji Zhao was very curious when Luo Xiu was born. You know, the previous son of destiny in the Luo family was Luo Su, who was his favorite grandson so far.
In his era, the complete form of Luo Su was like a bright moon in the sky, able to single-handedly defeat everyone in the world except Xiong Dun.
Why could Luo Xiu, who has relatively mediocre attributes, be blessed by God?
Ji Zhao had been observing and discovered that Luo Xiu was a genius. As a monarch, he was indeed ordinary, but he had maximized his talent in "not doing his job properly".
This was a scholarly monarch. Under his rule, the academic environment of Luo State underwent a major upgrade.
If there is data to show, Luo State's current status should be +100% attractiveness to scholars, +100% speed of compiling classics, +100% literary atmosphere.
In particular, the academy he founded, ostensibly to invite talented people to teach the people of Luo, but at the same time encouraged these students to actively discuss national affairs.
This kind of academy used to be the official school of the emperor. The difference between Luo's Academy was that it was the first academy that ordinary people could also attend.
Those talented scholars and people who had been suppressed by the class system for the past two hundred years were finally able to display their talents.
No matter how Ji Zhao looked at it, he felt that it was a combination of the Jixia Academy and the Imperial Academy. To be able to come up with this in this era, he truly deserves to be called the son of destiny.
In particular, when the academy was built for ten years, a message popped up in the system.
[The Saint Academy was established ten years ago. It is the first formal academy in history. Its reputation will flow forever in the long river of history. You have obtained the Xuan-level item - the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart.]
[Xuan Tier·Seven-apertured Heart (Deep love does not lead to longevity, extreme wisdom leads to injury): Activate this card to designate one person, and their military strategy and power struggle talents will rise to 99, but their life span will not exceed 30 years.]
When the system actually rewarded him with a Xuan-level item, he knew what it meant to be God's most beloved child.
Xuan-level props!
Eliminate the difference in luck points.
Luo Cheng had made so many achievements in his life. Just the fact that he put down the rebellion of the barbarians in all directions was enough to make his name go down in history. He also served as the regent, which was why he was able to get two Xuan-level items.
There is a big difference between the props drawn and the props given directly by the system. The props given by these achievements cannot be drawn from the lottery pool.
The power of Luo State was growing, but because Luo Ren had declared to the world that he would "not pay tribute to Zhou for a hundred years" in order to draw a line between himself and Prince An, and Luoyang had thoroughly implemented this policy, the relationship with the royal family was very cold.
The royal family has been without top talents in recent years, and without the blessing of the status of the emperor's ministers, the Luo Kingdom should have ushered in a wave of decline.
However, the third generation of Luo Hou chose to let go of political power and govern the country by selecting talented people from the royal family and the noble family to serve as ministers. The royal family controlled the most elite troops, including the Luo State warriors.
In addition, the political situation in Luo State has always been stable, so over the years, the strength of Luo State has been able to steadily increase. Some of the territories abandoned during the Luoyang era have gradually been recovered, the population has increased, and the army has become stronger.
Since Luo Xiu ascended the throne, he has often warned countries such as Wei, Handan and Xing. At the same time, the task of suppressing the barbarians and developing the Xia, which had been slightly relaxed in the past few decades due to limited strength, has also begun to be implemented again.
If it weren't for this kingly goal, Luo State would have stopped tolerating Wei State's corrupt royal family and secretly occupied Luo State's land while Wei State was weak.
But over the years, this ultimate goal seems to be getting harder and harder to achieve.
As the royal family declined, the vassal states fought each other, and the barbarians returned like a tide, making many vassal states miserable.
Among all the states of China, only powerful states such as Luo, Jin and Chu could remain unaffected by the invasions of barbarians and even increase their strength.
At this point, Luo Xiu felt that he could no longer allow the situation to deteriorate and that he had to immediately address the problem.
In the past, the Marquis of Luo always chose to support the royal family and then unify the princes through the kingly way, but Luo Xiu believed that this was no longer applicable.
Although the State of Luo still tried its best to respect the Zhou rites, starting from Luo Ren, the knowledgeable people in the royal office had already clearly felt that the world had changed and the kingly way was gradually no longer suitable for this era.
The whole world is developing towards the trend of the collapse of rituals and music, and the root of all this is that the royal family has lost its authority and power.
Among all the states of Xia, there is no longer a person who can unite all the princes.
In the past, this role was jointly played by the royal family and the Luo family, but now the Luo Kingdom really does not want to get involved in the royal family's mess.
Then someone else must take on this responsibility.
…
"What?"
Prince Luo Xi was shocked by his father's remarks.
He asked in disbelief: "Father, kill Qi Hou Wujiu? He is a lord of a country, don't you need to think about this matter again?"
Luo Xiu snorted coldly and said, "What Marquis Qi? He is just a traitor who killed the king and seized the throne."
This is true. The current Duke of Qi was the nephew of the former Duke of Qi. He killed the former Duke of Qi and took the position of Duke of Qi.
This kind of thing of killing the king and seizing the throne among the royal family is very common in the current vassal states.
Luo Xi asked in confusion: "But Lu Wujiu has been the Marquis of Qi for several years. What would be the point of assassinating him at this time?"
King Xi killed his brother to ascend to the throne, and now the princes have also acknowledged the throne of Luoyi. Although Lu Wujiu killed the king, after so many years, basically no one cares about it anymore.
Luo Xiu pondered and said, "Today, the various countries in the Xia Dynasty are deeply invaded by barbarians, and the land is filled with the smell of fishy smells.
People all over the world are in unrest, and have been hoping that someone can stand up, unify the princes from all directions, and support the king's cause.
The only countries that have the ability to do this are Qi, Jin and Chu. If Chu is not considered, then the next option is Qi and Jin.
The State of Jin is in a state of chaos right now and cannot take on this important task. Moreover, we do not have enough bargaining chips to balance the State of Jin, so as a father, we plan to let the State of Qi do this.
Lü Wujiu, I have given him a few years, but Qi has been in chaos in recent years and has suffered repeated defeats in wars with Lai Yi.
This proves that he is an incompetent person. Is such a person worthy of the position of King of Qi?
Although Lu Wujiu did not damage the relationship with Luo State in these years, he destroyed the relationship between Qi State and Yan State. How foolish he was!
Now the dissatisfaction with Lü Wujiu in Qi has gradually surfaced, and my tolerance for him has reached its limit. I think the situation in Qi has reached a stage where water and fire cannot coexist. If we continue to push the boat along, he will surely die."
Luo Xi understood this answer, but then asked: "Father, why don't we do it ourselves? Luoguo's reputation must be able to bear this responsibility."
Luo Xiu didn't say anything, just looked at his son quietly. Luo Xi quickly figured out the reason, "Royal family? Reputation?"
Luo Xiu was very satisfied that Luo Xi could react so quickly.
"Yes, it is the royal family. The reputation of any one of the princes alone is not enough to unite the princes.
Even restarting the old king's orders would not be enough. If one wanted to unify all the princes in the world, the flag of the Zhou emperor was necessary.
Moreover, if this is accomplished, it is inevitable that the emperor will be intimidated, which is bad for the reputation of the Luo family."
Luo Xi understood that ever since King Xi murdered Crown Prince Jin, the relationship between Luo State and the royal family had reached a freezing point.
Luo Xiu's great-grandfather Luo Ren once made a vow that the State of Luo would not pay tribute to the Zhou Dynasty for a hundred years. Everyone in the world knew about it. The bronze pillar erected during the Luoyang period is still standing in the city.
Naturally, the State of Luo would not go to pay homage to the Emperor of Zhou, and even when the Luo family was regent in the past, it was all reasonable and legal. Now it is obvious that they want to dominate, and the State of Luo cannot get involved in this.
"Do you want to kill Marquis Wujiu of Qi and then send Xiaobai back to the country to succeed the position of Marquis Qi?" Luo Xi thought of his cousin, the prince of Qi who was in exile in Luo State.
"That's right, the crown prince of Qi has passed away. As long as Lü Wujiu is killed, Xiaobai can return to the country and ascend the throne."
Faced with the current chaotic world, except for issues of principle, the Luo State will naturally not rigidly follow the Zhou rituals.
That's not politeness, that's stupidity.
They still strictly enforce the patriarchal system in the public office, but are quite pragmatic when it comes to interfering in the affairs of other countries.
Therefore, what is now before Marquis Luo is to let Prince Xiaobai of Qi, who has Luo family blood and is close to the State of Luo, return to his country and inherit the throne.
Lu Xiaobai returned to the country and ascended the throne. With Qi's population and land, as long as the monarch was normal and there were a few reliable ministers, Qi's strength would be restored quickly.
As the traditional ally of Luo State and the nephew of Luo Hou, the strength of Qi State would give Luo State more room for maneuver.
With the secret help of the Luo family, Qi can become even stronger, unify the princes, and dominate the Central Plains without any problem.
For the past three hundred years, the Luo family has been helping the royal family in this way and is quite experienced. When the time comes, the State of Qi will come forward to pay homage to the emperor, convene a meeting with the princes, and unite the various states.
The State of Luo could not only express its disdain for the royal family, but also use the power of the royal family to join forces with the State of Qi to dispel the evil sentiment that was now spreading among the various countries in the Xia Dynasty.
Even Ji Zhao was amazed at this perfect plan. It didn't seem like something that could be thought of by someone of Luo Xiu's caliber.
Normally, it is indeed impossible to think of it, but there are too many books on governance experience in the Luo Kingdom royal family. Standing on the shoulders of giants, it is normal to show abilities that transcend attributes.
The most suitable candidate was originally planned to be the former prince of Qi, the son of the legitimate daughter of the Luo family. The mother of Prince Xiaobai was the concubine Teng who was married off at the same time as the legitimate daughter, and was Luo Xiu's concubine sister.
But it doesn’t make any difference to Luo Xiu, they are all his sisters anyway.
"Father, I'll send someone to do it right away."
After understanding the whole story and his father's plan, Luo Xi immediately prepared to arrange people to do this. There was a group of people in Luo State who specialized in doing this kind of thing.
And there is a trump card in the office!
…
In Zhaocheng, the capital of Luo State, the vast Luo Academy, founded by Luo Xiu, is located here.
In Luo State, people call Luo's Academy an advanced version of Luo State Public School, and Luo State Public Office also invites talented people to teach there.
Most of the students were from the royal family, noble family, gentry family, and common people of Luo State, and there were also a few children of nobles from other vassal states.
These students usually attend lectures and can freely express their views on the articles of ancient sages in their spare time.
Especially regarding the interpretation of Su Wang's classics, the Luo royal family encouraged this behavior. After all, who knows if there are some wise men whose talents are not obvious among them?
If the interpretation is good, the Luo royal family will never be stingy with rewards.
For the royal family of Luo State, it was a great bargain to get the wisdom of a wise man by just paying some money.
Since they were all children of aristocrats, most of them would become officials in the future, so what they discussed most was the planning for the state, or at least the way to make a country strong.
If some good opinions can be adopted, one can even become a doctor overnight from an ordinary citizen.
After school that day, students walked out of the academy in groups of three or four, accompanied by two people.
The older man among them had an extraordinary temperament. If Ji Zhao could see his attributes, he would probably think that everyone in his family was a bunch of idiots.
[Power struggle: 92 (96); Governing the country: 93 (97); Controlling people: 92 (95); Command: 72; Military force: 84; Military strategy: 83. ]
This is a super famous minister who is even slightly better than Luo Su!
His name was Guan Zhong, his surname was Ji, his clan was Guan, his given name was Yiwu, his courtesy name was Zhong, and he was a member of the royal family of the State of Luo, and a member of the royal family of Luo that was within the five degrees of mourning.
Lu Xiaobai didn't know that his uncle and cousin had already started to arrange things for him, and he was still happily attending classes and playing every day.
He was about to ask Guan Zhong to shoot arrows, but he found that Guan Zhong was distracted and muttering something.
"Ah Zhong, what are you thinking about? You look so absent-minded."
Guan Zhong was awakened from his deep thoughts and said incoherently with some excitement: "Xiaobai, the lesson given by Lord Qingling today made me wake up from a dream.
During the reign of King Yi, all the states joined hands to fight against the barbarians, and each country respected the royal family. After twenty years, the world was in great order and the barbarians dared not invade.
After King Xi ascended the throne, the princes did not come to court and fought among themselves. As a result, the foreign invaders are constantly harassing the country and the Chinese are in a state of decline. I have never been able to figure out how to solve this problem.
But today, when Lord Qing Ling talked about "The Way of the King", I finally figured it out.
The kingly way cannot be partial, and Xia and Yi cannot coexist!
The reason why the barbarians are prosperous now is because the royal family is in decline and the kingly way is weak. Since the kingly way is weak, we must use other methods to make up for it.
He is truly worthy of being called the ancestor of Su Wang. This is the wisdom of a saint.
What has troubled me for so long is hidden in just a few words."
If Luo Xiu were here, he would certainly be astonished. He was able to think of this because it was the wisdom left by the Luo family's ancestors, but this person came up with it on his own.
Lu Xiaobai became even more confused, but he knew that Guan Zhong was a man of great talent, and there were few people who could compare to him in the entire Zhou Dynasty.
So he asked curiously, "Ah Zhong, what did you think of?"
Guan Zhong's eyes sparkled, and he said in a resounding voice: "Respect the king!"
"Your Majesty?"
This word is already unfamiliar in this day and age.
The royal family in Luoyi suffered a blow from the fact that Luo State did not pay tribute to Zhou State since its birth. King Xi was close to Zheng State, but during the reign of King Dao, it gradually drifted away from Zheng State.
Now, no one cares about the royal family. Although the princes still maintain superficial respect, even the tribute is perfunctory. Now Guan Zhong actually uttered the words "respect the king".
Lu Xiaobai was surprised and said, "Ah Zhong, after King Yi, the royal family was in chaos and strife. Now even my uncle is not going to serve as the emperor's minister. Who else will respect the king?"
The uncle that Lu Xiaobai mentioned was Luo Xiu. The Luo Kingdom had this attitude towards the royal family, so naturally other princes followed suit.
“The royal family is in decline, but he is still the common ruler of the world and represents the righteousness of the king.
The monarch did not pay homage to Zhou for reasons that could not be stated, but other princes still recognized the royal family, especially since their own ascension to the throne was not normal.
In the current world situation, the royal family can play a huge role as a banner. I will go back to sort out my thoughts and write an article "Respecting the King". I will trouble Xiaobai to hand it over to the monarch for me when the time comes."
As Luo Xiu's nephew, Lu Xiaobai could see Luo Xiu directly, so Guan Zhong asked him to help him.
Lu Xiaobai was still enjoying himself in Luo State, but he had no idea that a massacre surrounding him was secretly going on in Qi State.
Since Luo Yan, the ninth-generation legitimate son of the Luo family, entered the service of the State of Chu, many descendants of the last generation of royal families or royal clans have entered the service of other vassal states over the years.
Among them, Jin and Qi, the two traditional allies of Luo State, had the largest number of people, and there were also people from the royal families of these two countries in Luo State.
The second is the State of Chu, because the Luo Yan clan that had moved to the State of Chu was now extremely powerful in the State of Chu, and many royal family members who had been doing nothing in the State of Luo went to the State of Chu to join their fellow clansmen.
In the State of Qi, the most powerful noble families are Gao, Yun and An. Among them, An, a branch of Luo, has the shortest time of roots.
The rise of the An family was fueled by the Luo State. After the Luo State's strategic direction turned to the domestic situation and lost the emperor as a coordinator, how to maintain relations with traditional allies became a top priority.
Relying solely on marriages between direct descendants was unstable, so the State of Luo chose to allow the royal family and even the royal family of Luo to serve in other countries in exchange for political friendship.
Among them, Qi's strategy was the most successful.
An's ancestor was one of the direct descendants of Luo's family. He came to Qi State with the noble ladies who married into Qi State at that time. Because the next generation would be demoted to the royal family, they had no psychological burden to go to Qi State.
The Duke of Qi granted these people the title of Marquis of Andi, and they later made great contributions in Qi's foreign wars.
Through war, the An family began to gain power in Qi, and at the same time took advantage of the large number of nobles killed in battle during the turbulent period to expand their own power.
Thanks to the help of Lady Qi, everything An did went smoothly.
During this process, the State of Luo provided a large amount of resources, allowing the An family to bribe other noble families and people through small favors.
Through intermarriage with the royal family and royal clans of Qi and infiltration into the entire royal clan system, the An family's power grew steadily.
Until the new monarch, the former Duke of Qi, was enthroned, the power of the An family in Qi was already comparable to that of the noble families that had been entrenched for generations.
However, Lü Wujiu killed the previous Duke of Qi and the Crown Prince, and the princes went into exile in various countries. As a member of the Crown Prince's party, the An family could only lie dormant for the time being.
This made them very dissatisfied, especially since Lu Wujiu obviously did not trust the An family and was suppressing the development of the An family. This made them want to kill Lu Wujiu and establish a new king.
This kind of thinking is very common among nations today, and has even become commonplace.
Both princes are in exile. Among them, Prince Xiaobai, who is in exile in Luo State, has the blood of Luo family and is their first choice.
After informing Luo, An immediately collected information about Lu Wujiu's movements and prepared to take action.
On this day, Lu Wujiu was taking his cronies to the hunting ground in Linzi to hunt. The group was having a great time, leading the hunting dogs.
At this moment, a hidden arrow suddenly shot out from the jungle and headed straight towards Lu Wujiu. Unexpectedly, Lu Wujiu was very vigilant and actually dodged the fatal arrow.
"There is an assassin!" Lu Wujiu shouted loudly with horror on his face. This was how he killed the previous Marquis of Qi. Now he naturally understood that someone was going to attack him.
"Protect the king!"
The guards reacted immediately and surrounded them. Doctor Qing immediately rushed forward with a sword in hand, wanting to protect Lu Wujiu behind him.
Seeing that the assassin failed, the head of the An family, Doctor An Ning, did not hesitate and directly took his armored retainers to take forceful action.
"It turns out that you are the remnants of the Luo family!
You thieves are so hateful. I failed to kill you at the beginning, which led to what happened today."
Lü Wujiu cursed bitterly, not realizing that he was the one who usurped the throne. Doctor An Ning immediately shouted, "Wujiu!
You killed the king and usurped the throne. The people of the country wish to eat your flesh and drink your blood. Over the past few years, you have been doing evil things and have no sympathy for the people of the country. Do you think that there are no loyal people in Qi?
Today I will bury you here, and use your blood to pay tribute to our ancestors."
As they spoke, the two groups began to fight, and no one noticed that there was a person hiding on the top of a big tree.
This man's name is Luo Lianshe, a member of the Luo royal family. His martial arts strength has reached 90, the only one in the Luo royal family.
His name was changed by Luo Xiu himself when he grew up because his archery skills were so superb.
As long as he is given a strong bow, his target will be killed within a hundred and fifty steps!
The matter this time was too serious. Luo Xi was worried that the people arranged by An might fail, so he specially brought Lianshe to Qi.
Seeing that the situation below was already in chaos, Luo Lianshe had a blank expression on his face. He raised his hand to draw the bow, narrowed his eyes slightly, and the arrow flew out of the air. Lu Wujiu, who was not wearing armor, was just a cattle or sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
"puff!"
This was the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh and blood. Lu Wujiu looked at the arrow that pierced his chest in disbelief.
Everyone was stunned. Doctor An Ning's face was instantly filled with joy. He shouted loudly, "Wu Jiu has been executed. Do you still want to resist?"
These people are not Lu Wujiu's relatives. Normally, except for a few loyal ministers, most people would not resist after their lord dies.
So most people just looked at each other, and except for a few direct descendants, no one attacked anymore.
Luo Lianshe took advantage of the chaotic situation to leave here. A carriage appeared outside the hunting ground. He jumped on the carriage and said in a deep voice: "Sir, Lu Wujiu is dead."
Luo Xi sighed: "The continuous shooting is brave and powerful, it is really the Luo family's thousand-mile horse, our country's great cause will be accomplished!"
…
The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period united the princes, saved the world from collapse, and had great prestige. I really despise them.
If the Luo family is strong, it will prosper; if the Luo family is weak, it will fail. Is this a hegemon? The Luo family is just a guard dog! ——"Spring and Autumn Miscellaneous Talks"
If it weren't for Guan Zhong, I would have my hair loose and wear the clothes on the left side!
After Duke Zhou, there was no other person who made the greatest contribution to the Chinese nation during the Spring and Autumn Period!
In addition, I adjusted Guan Zhong's age a bit out of my own selfish motives. I will explain this in subsequent chapters, so I won't spoil the plot here.
(End of this chapter)
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