Chapter 53: Uniting the Princes
After more than a year of fierce fighting, the coalition forces of the princes completely defeated the Shanrong in Yan State, and large tracts of wasteland and forest in the northeast of Yan State became the territory of Qi State.
Moreover, more than 100,000 Shanrong were beheaded this time, so basically the State of Yan would not have to worry about Shanrong invading again for the next 20 years.
If Yan State still cannot defeat Shanrong after 20 years, it will be truly useless.
In particular, when Lu Xiaobai saw that these newly conquered lands had no output and were also an enclave, he generously donated all these lands to the State of Yan.
The Marquis of Yan almost knelt down to Lv Xiaobai. He held Lv Xiaobai's hand tightly and said with tears in his eyes, "Marquis of Qi, I really don't know how to thank you so much for your kindness to Yan.
But if you receive a favor and don't repay it, it is not what a gentleman should do.
Four years ago, Qu Guo was rude to you.
You are a virtuous person. Anyone who is rude to you is an immoral person and deserves to be punished!
Two years ago, you convened a meeting in Cangyi, but Qu State did not participate. This time, you convened a meeting in Yan State, but Qu State did not participate either.
This is disrespectful to the emperor and should be punished.
Now you have eliminated the threat of Shanrong for me and given me five hundred miles of land.
I didn't know how to repay you, so I led the Yan army to attack the Qu State and asked the Lord of Qu to come to you to apologize.
I think this will be a small way to repay your kindness."
That's great! What a particular person!
Hearing what the Marquis of Yan said, Lu Xiaobai's mouth was about to split open with laughter. How could he not be excited when a marquis with the surname Ji took the initiative to fight against another prince for him?
In the past four hundred years, this has been an excuse used exclusively by the emperor. Now the Marquis of Yan used it on Lu Xiaobai, which greatly satisfied his vanity.
He can also demonstrate his power in front of the princes.
So the Marquis of Yan led the army of Yan and Qi to besiege the State of Qu. The Marquis of Handan and the Marquis of Xing knew this well, and they would ask Qi to help them resist the Di people later.
I believe Qu Bo would be willing to sacrifice the Qu State now.
So the two of them said righteously: "Lord Qi, you are the leader of the princes. Being rude to you is being rude to us, so I hope you can agree that we will also attack Qu State for you."
The King of Qu State never dreamed that because of a nonsense he said five years ago, he would be used as a tool to please the Duke of Qi by the States of Yan, Handan and Xing.
Naturally, Lu Xiaobai agreed very much with these obvious behaviors of dependence.
So in March of the following year, which was the time for spring planting, the four countries jointly organized 30,000 troops to attack the State of Qu.
This would not delay spring planting at home and would force the State of Qu to surrender.
In the State of Qu, facing the attack of the coalition forces of four countries, the king Qu Bo was very scared.
He immediately called all the ministers and asked, "My lords, Qi is leading the coalition forces of four countries to attack us. Their army is as numerous as the gravel on the river beach, while Qu's army is not much. Do you have any good plan to repel the enemy now?"
Good advice?
The enemy has 30,000 elite troops and 1,000 chariots, while the Qu State has only a few hundred chariots and an army of no more than 20,000. How can they fight?
Both sides deployed their battle formations, but were immediately annihilated by a charge from the opposing side.
It was you who drank and didn't control your mouth, which led to the disaster today. If I had the channels, I would have tied you up and handed you over to the Duke of Qi for punishment.
Between the ruler and his subjects, you look at me and I look at you.
Finally, Doctor Cao stood up and said, “Your Majesty.
The four-nation coalition attacked our country on the grounds that you were rude. You can write a letter to defend yourself, saying that you have always respected Qi and are willing to participate in Qi's alliance.
In addition, if we cede 200 li of land on the border between Qi and Qu, I think this will be able to appease the anger of the Marquis of Qi."
Two hundred miles of fertile land cannot be compared with the five hundred miles of barren land that Lu Xiaobai gave to the Marquis of Yan.
"Cede the land?" Qu Bo hesitated. "These lands were taken from the barbarians by our ancestors with great effort. How can I just give them away like that?"
In fact, the princes nowadays are all arrogant and extravagant, so they can’t understand the hardships their ancestors went through in pioneering the country.
Qu Bo simply couldn't bear to give up his land. After all, every piece of land could bring him a lot of taxes, and with the taxes he could enjoy his life better.
Doctor Cao understood Qu Bo's thoughts and secretly despised him, but Qu Bo mentioned his ancestors and his morals as a subject made him persuade him: "Your Majesty.
Last month, my retainer went to the State of Ju to do business and heard something.
In the State of Ju there was a hunter named Jiao who was good at hunting. When he went up the mountain to hunt, he killed a majestic deer. Not only was the deer rich in meat, but the fur was also beautiful and very valuable. He was very happy.
While dragging the deer down the mountain, he saw a rabbit, so he put the deer down and chased the rabbit. However, he failed to catch the rabbit, and when he came back, he found that the deer was gone too.
What do you think of his behavior?
Qu Bo said: "Of course it is unwise."
Doctor Cao smiled and said, "Yes, deer are big prey and can provide food for the family for a long time.
Rabbits are small prey, just a good meal, and it would be unwise to lose the big one because of the small one.
Now the two hundred miles of land is a small thing, while the ancestral temple and the country of Qu State are big things.
Now you are reluctant to give up two hundred li of land. When the Duke of Qi gets angry, the ancestral temple of Qu State will be overturned, and there will be no land left. You won’t even be able to offer sacrifices to your ancestors.”
At this point, Qu Bo realized that there was no other way and sighed, "Doctor Cao, you are right.
I dare not be the sinner who cedes the land of my ancestors, so I ask you to go to the Qi army camp as an envoy and make the attitude of the Qu Kingdom clear to me."
Under Guan Zhong's supervision these years, Lu Xiaobai is no longer the same as before. If it were six years ago, he would definitely send troops to teach Qu State a lesson.
But now that the State of Qu has directly paid compensation, ceded land, apologized and formed an alliance, now is the time for him to show his magnanimity and virtue to the princes.
"Since Qu Bo knows he is wrong, he must immediately write to the emperor and admit his mistake.
I will hold another alliance this year. In order to welcome Qu Bo to join the alliance, I will hold it in the suburbs of Qu State's capital.
Doctor Cao went back and told Qu Bo that the platform for the alliance must be built within three months. By doing so, the princes will surely be able to feel Qu Bo's sincerity."
Holding a meeting outside the capital of a vassal state is considered to be a complete vassal state.
But since Qu Bo had even ceded land and paid compensation, the alliance meeting was not so shameful.
Doctor Cao was even a little happy to see that Lu Xiaobai did not make any other harsh demands, and he thought that the price paid by Qu State was still tolerable.
Lu Xiaobai magnanimously forgave Qu Bo's behavior, which made the princes think that he was a gentleman and worthy of trust, so they responded to this alliance one after another.
At the meeting in Quyi, not only the State of Qu came, but also some other small countries, and even the prince of the State of Song was present in person.
The reason why the Duke of Song did not come was because Song had no king at that time. Prince Fuyi and his uncle Kuangfu were fighting for the position of the King of Song and were fighting fiercely.
The Zhou royal family was weak and had a lot of internal problems. They didn't want to get involved in the internal disputes of Song, which was still a big country.
Therefore, after the previous monarch passed away, they did not even enthrone the monarch. They just wanted to wait until the war with Song was over and then enthrone the victor as monarch.
The emperor was unwilling to fulfill his responsibilities, so Prince Fuyi came to the meeting place, hoping that Lu Xiaobai could do justice for him.
"Lord Qi, I heard when I was in Song that you called on the princes to respect the king, repel the barbarians, and uphold the clan law and discipline during the Cangyi meeting. This is the kingly way advocated by the Su King.
Although the State of Song was a descendant of the Shang Dynasty, it always respected the Zhou rituals.
Because Yan State was invaded by Shanrong, you led the princes to aid Yan State. Because Qu State did not obey the emperor's call, you sent troops to attack it. You always keep your word. Such virtues are worthy of admiration from everyone.
King Wu once wanted to pass the throne to King Su. King Su said, "My elder brother already has a son, but he passed the throne to his younger brother. Isn't this the root of disaster?"
Now my uncle wants to snatch the throne that belongs to me. This is a violation of the patriarchal system. Can you tolerate it?
If you are willing to help me obtain the throne of Song, I am willing to follow Qu Bo's example and offer you two hundred miles of land of Song. This is what a leader of noble character deserves.
I think this is enough to express my admiration for you."
What the leader deserves?
Gongzi Fuyi was the first to say this.
The prestige among the princes of the world, the increasingly powerful alliance, the friendship of Song State and tangible benefits, Song State is not a small country like Qu State.
In terms of land area alone, the State of Song was larger than the State of Qi before it annexed the State of Laiyi.
In response to Prince Fuyi's request, Lu Xiaobai said sternly: "Prince Song, your experience is worthy of sympathy.
When Qi was in chaos due to Lü Wujiu's rule, it was Marquis Luo who sent me back to his country. All the countries in the Xia Dynasty should maintain this tradition of helping each other.
You can stay here first, I believe the princes will agree."
When Lu Xiaobai told the story of what happened to Prince Fuyi of Song State, everyone was filled with indignation, thinking that Kuang's father should not seize the throne from his nephew.
Then, the princes of the fifteen countries, with a total of 70,000 troops and 3,000 chariots, stationed in the north and east of the Song State.
Kuang's father did not expect that his nephew would be so shameless that he would bring outsiders with him in order to seize the throne. He did not believe that the Duke of Qi would help his nephew for nothing.
Qi is not Luo, and it is not willing to give up everything to uphold the clan system.
This time, when asking the Duke of Qi to send troops, he must have promised a lot of benefits, which made him hate him so much that he thought it was too shameless. In fact, he regretted it very much in his heart. He had the upper hand. If he had surrendered to the Duke of Qi first, these things would not have happened. He knelt too slowly, which led to the current situation.
But it's too late to say anything now. The Qi army is approaching, and we can't just surrender. We have to fight.
Regarding this war, all I can say is that it is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!
The allied forces defeated Kuang Fu's army with great ease, and Kuang Fu fled to Zheng State with his cronies.
Then Prince Fuyi wrote a letter to Duke Zheng.
“Marquis Zheng, although my father competed with me for the throne, he is my uncle. If I kill him, my father may be sad. It would be unfilial for me to do so. Therefore, I will not kill him in Song.
I ask you to kill him in Zheng and not let him return to Song, so that his father will not be sad when he sees his body. This is what a filial son can do.
When the Duke of Zheng received the letter, he handed it to his attendants to read and asked what he should do.
"Sir, the Marquis of Qi clearly wants to support Prince Fuyi to ascend the throne and make Song a vassal. If we don't kill Kuangfu, the Marquis of Qi might think that we want to seize power from Song. Qi is now very powerful, and it would be unwise to anger him."
Hearing this, the Duke of Zheng was a little unhappy. Doesn't this show that he is afraid of the Duke of Qi?
“Although Qi is strong, Zheng has a strong army and is not afraid of it.
But it is wrong to let the soldiers of Zheng bleed because of Kuang's father.
Your Majesty, you can reply and say that Kuang's father should be punished for seizing the throne from his nephew.
For the sake of Prince Fuyi's filial piety, you are willing to kill Kuang's father for him.
In this way, Prince Fu will certainly be grateful to you, and Zheng will not need to go to war with Qi."
What is the art of language?
The same purpose, this made Duke Zheng feel very comfortable, so he readily agreed to kill Kuang's father.
Kuang's father thought he could escape death by fleeing to a country that did not participate in the alliance, but he did not expect that his nephew was cruel and the Duke of Zheng was hypocritical, and he ended up losing his life in Zheng.
The envoy from Song State came to Zheng State, saw Kuangfu's body, nodded with satisfaction, and returned to Song State.
After this incident, Lu Xiaobai's prestige reached a new level. With the submission of Song State, Lu Xiaobai held another alliance in Song State. This was the fourth time, and compared with the first time, it was completely different.
I feel like I'm a bit awesome. I can even write a fable. The origin of the idiom "losing the big for the small" was created by me at this moment.
It’s twelve thousand today, that’s all, no need to wait.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
