Chapter 83 Luo Yu Envoy Qi
The State of Luo did not pay much attention to the war between Wu and Chu, believing that it was just a battle to divide spheres of influence.
Now Luo Yu's main concern was the issue of the noble families in Qi State, so after seeing Sun Wu off, he came to Linzi without any delay.
The Crown Prince of Luo was sent as an envoy to Qi, which was a tradition of maintaining friendly diplomatic relations between the two countries.
As the two most important allies of Luo State, Qi and Jin had completely different problems.
Jin State does not have the problem of noble families now. Chong'er has enough prestige to intimidate the nobles. Jin State can be said to be full of vitality now, just like Bang Zhou when King Su just granted the fief. Now Jin State has even begun to prepare to regain its hegemony.
The problem of Jin State was a structural problem, exactly the same as that of Zhou State. External forces could not interfere at all. What was needed was a strong and excellent monarch.
The problem of Qi was not like that of Jin, which granted a large amount of land to meritorious officials and had a small number of people in the royal family.
Until now, the central power of Qi State is still very strong.
However, a strong central government does not mean a strong monarch. The Grand Chancellor of Qi was in charge of the state affairs of Qi, and the noble families were competing fiercely for the position of Grand Chancellor.
As long as the royal family of Qi can obtain the central power, this is what Luo State can intervene in. As long as the Duke of Qi cooperates, Luo Yu is still very confident.
Qi and Song were the countries with the most prosperous business culture among the various states. Qi, in particular, had the benefits of fish and salt. Since the time of Taigong Wang, it had been the richest among the states.
There are a lot of people in Linzi city, and most of them live a good life. It feels like raising your sleeves can make clouds. Luo Yu can't help but sigh that the land of Qi is really excellent.
For five hundred years, any royal family member of Luo State was a distinguished guest of Qi State, not to mention Prince Luo Yu, who was famous for his beautiful appearance. Duke Lu Jing of Qi held a grand banquet to entertain him.
"Prince Yu, your appearance is like a god from heaven!"
"The ancients said that people with good looks are favored by heaven. The noble holy mark on your forehead complements your looks so well. You have the double favor of heaven and the Su Wang. What an honor it is!"
Everyone praised him from the bottom of their hearts.
But Luo Yu was a very meticulous person. He soon discovered that although King Lu Jing of Qi had a good impression of him, his attitude towards Luo State was somewhat ambiguous. They did not have the normal closeness of the blood alliance that had lasted for five hundred years.
Alarm bells rang in his heart, and he knew that something must have happened in the political arena of Qi State!
The time goes back to before he came to Qi State. At that time, several senior ministers of Qi State discussed with Lu Jing the strategy of strengthening Qi State, and Senior Minister of Qi State Tian Chang gave advice to Duke Lu Jing of Qi.
"Your Majesty, I dare to advise you that the State of Qi can no longer stand side by side with the State of Luo in all matters as it did in the past five hundred years. This is not in the best interests of the State of Qi.
In fact, Luo State has become Qi State's biggest enemy!"
Lu Jing was shocked on the spot. The Qi-Luo alliance had been unbreakable for five hundred years, but now his own prime minister wanted to break it?
Hearing this, he said in surprise: "Tian Qing, Qi and Luo are the only two states in Zhou that were granted fiefdoms by King Wu.
For five hundred years, the two countries have always maintained a blood alliance through marriage. The reason why our ancestor Duke Huan was able to dominate was certainly because of his capable Zhong Xiang, but he also had the strong support of the State of Luo.
When Qi's hegemony declined and the State of Qi was in decline, it was still with the support of the State of Luo that Qi was able to make a smooth transition. Do I need to explain the importance of the State of Luo to the State of Qi?
Now the State of Jin wants to regain hegemony. If it alienates itself from the State of Luo now, it may even provoke a war.
Once Luo and Jin united, how could Qi resist?
You are always so wise, how can you say such irrational things? Please stop talking."
But Tian Chang didn't care about what Lu Jing said. He knew this monarch too well and was very easily influenced by him.
So he continued, "My lord, the water in the river will definitely flow to the sea. When you stand on the shore, can the water you see at one moment be the same as the water you see at the next moment?
The more intense the changes in water, the more dynamic it is.
If even water is like this, won’t people change?
At that time, to the east of Taihang Mountain, there were not only Luo and Qi, but also Qi, Ju, and Qu.
Many vassal states are located on this land, and there are also Dongyi people whose number is far greater than that of the various Xia countries.
Therefore, there was no problem with the unity of the various countries at that time. Qi and Luo would have found it difficult to survive without mutual support.
Even when Qi was destroying Laiyi, Luo provided a large amount of weapons and armor, which is worth remembering.
But your Majesty, you have to look at the current situation. Both King Su and Laozi once said - only the easy can be changed!
The only thing that never changes is change!
To the east of Taihang Mountain today, there are only a few small countries besides Luo and Qi. Don't you know that once Qi annexes these small countries, Qi will border Luo?
In the past five hundred years, have there been any neighboring countries without war?
Will Qi's territory never expand again?"
Duke Lu Jing of Qi shook his head and said, "Of course Qi must expand!"
Seeing that Lü Jing had fallen into the trap, Tian Chang's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and he still said in a deep voice: "Since Qi wants to expand, if it doesn't ask for land from Luo, where else can it ask for land?
If the division is not made now, do you think, Your Majesty, that the State of Luo will voluntarily offer their land to the State of Qi?
There was a time when Luo State was weak, and they took the initiative to withdraw some cities. Wei State and Handan State occupied these places. Then what?
Those cities that were managed very well returned to the hands of Luo State.
In the past five hundred years, when has the State of Luo ever lost an inch of land?
Do you think, my lord, that the ruler of Luo would take the initiative to hand over the land conquered by their ancestors to the hands of Qi?"
This series of questions confused Lu Jing. He just ate and waited for death every day and never thought about these things.
In fact, half of what Tian Chang said was correct. There was indeed an essential contradiction between Luo and Qi.
The State of Chu could expand to the south, the State of Qin could expand to the west, but the State of Qi could never expand toward the sea in this era.
If he wanted to expand his territory, he could only go west, north and south.
Apart from a few small countries, to his north was the State of Yan, whose lands were some of the worse in that era.
Not only is it not fertile enough, but it is also quite cold.
The land of Qi State was originally a very fertile plain, so it was not very interested in the land of Yan State.
The most fertile land east of the Taihang Mountains was in the hands of Luo and Qi.
Now Luo State blocked Qi State's path to the west, so if Qi State wanted to annex the world, it would definitely fight with Luo State.
There was no such idea before because the nations now had no intention of changing the world.
Once the Warring States Period came, all countries began to think about unifying the world, and at that time Qi would definitely go to war with Luo.
But Tian Chang is still deceiving Lu Jing, because being an enemy in the future does not mean being an enemy now.
Being an enemy of Luo State now is totally against the current interests of Qi State, or more precisely, it is against the interests of the royal family of Qi State.
However, Lu Jing, who had some mental problems, had been fooled by Tian Chang. After all, what Tian Chang said was really reasonable and well-founded.
In particular, the ministers present at the time unanimously agreed with Tian Chang, and even the Grand Chancellor agreed. This made Lu Jing convinced that the blood alliance between Qi and Luo was about to end.
This is why Lu Jing distanced himself from the State of Luo.
After leaving the banquet, through a brief period of information gathering, Luo Yu guessed that it must be the high-ranking officials of Qi, or even Tian Chang, the target of his trip, who said in front of Lu Jing that Qi and Luo were destined to be enemies.
"Interesting, now I don't have to worry about killing you!"
There was a chilling light in Luo Yu's eyes. He didn't care about Tian Chang's slander. He had a cunning attribute of 96 and a charm attribute of 99. When it came to the ability to deceive, if Luo Yu was second, no one could claim to be first.
If he could not fool Lu Jing, then God would have given him such good conditions for nothing.
Although Lu Jing's attitude towards Luo State is rather ambiguous now, at least Qi State and Luo State are still a blood alliance, and the conflict between the two sides has not yet begun to break out, so it is very easy for Luo Yu to meet Lu Jing.
Luo Yu soon met Duke Lu Jing of Qi again. Lu Jing still had a good impression of Luo Yu and asked with a smile, "Prince, is there anything important on your mission to Qi?"
Luo Yu was determined to shock people and said directly: "Duke Qi, I came from Luo State to help the royal family of Qi escape from the predicament of destruction.
As your ally, can I just sit back and watch you get into danger?"
Duke Qi was stunned when he heard this, then laughed nonchalantly and said, "You are joking, Prince.
The State of Qi had thousands of miles of fertile land. Among all the states, perhaps only the State of Chu had a larger territory than that of Qi.
With a population of several million, stretching from Qi to Luo, is there any country among the nations that can compare with it?
You have seen the prosperity of Linzi City. The population of Linzi City and the surrounding farmers alone can form an army of 100,000.
Qi is not afraid of such a powerful country, even Jin, which wants to dominate again. Why does the prince say that Qi is in crisis?
This is probably a lie, please be careful with your words!"
Looking at Lü Jing who was laughing happily, Luo Yu said quietly: "What you just said, Lord Qi, is of course correct.
The State of Qi had a vast territory and powerful warriors, and was one of the great powers among the Xia.
But are the power of Qi and the power of the royal family equal?
Have you forgotten Zheng? It was also a great country among the Xia states.
Hundreds of miles of land are all plains suitable for farming. There are millions of people in the country, and the military is even stronger, with the strength of three armies, but what about the royal office?
Yu remembers that a few years ago, the Zheng royal family had to ask Luoguo and you for help because they didn't have enough meat for sacrifices!"
As soon as Luo Yu said this, Duke Lu Jing of Qi, who was laughing heartily, froze on his face in an instant.
And~
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
