Chapter 92: The world situation, live in peace in Zhaocheng and the world is at peace
Soft light penetrated the window grilles and fell into the room, shining on the figure lying on the ground. His black hair was like a waterfall, and his skin seemed to be flawless. Luo Yu raised his hand to touch the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. A strand of white hair fell down, and he sighed slightly.
People always grow old, but my wife seems to be an exception. After decades, she is still the same. If it weren't for her deteriorating health, I would really think she would live forever.
Xi Shi sat up and leaned gently against Luo Yu's arms. Luo Yu hugged her soft and boneless body, and her heart inexplicably calmed down. Xi Shi said softly: "I will eventually be unknown, unlike my husband, whose name will be recorded in history forever."
Luo Yu bowed her head and chuckled, "My dear, you are always able to comfort me like this. You are such a virtuous woman."
Luo Yu now has a heavy burden on his shoulders. Maintaining a stable alliance, especially leading the alliance's movements and balancing the interests of the allies, is a very difficult task.
After Chong'er's death, the new Duke of Jin, Shuang, ascended the throne. His ministers arranged for him to pay tribute to the Zhou emperor and to contact allies such as the Luo State.
But Duke Shuang of Jin said, "Jin has millions of people and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Our ancestors used this to command the world. I should honor my ancestors and meet with all the princes."
The ministers of Jin advised: "Your Majesty, the reason why our ancestors were able to dominate the world was that Jin was the only one with such strength. Chu was extremely powerful, so how could it dominate the world?
No matter how powerful the State of Jin was, didn't it also fall to Qin and Chu?
Our late emperor had a close relationship with the emperor. Whenever our late emperor asked for anything, the emperor would grant it.
Our ancestors were able to obtain the support of Luo State, so they did not have to fight against the four states of Qin, Chu, Qi and Wu with only one country.
Since you ascended the throne, you have never paid tribute to the emperor. Is this what a ancestral country with the surname Ji should do?
My late monarch’s mother’s family came from Qi State, but they were estranged from Qi State. Do you still want to do this?
Luo State has prestige throughout the world. If you want to become the overlord, you must obtain the protection of King Haotiansu. However, you hope to get rid of Luo State and become the overlord yourself.
Have you forgotten that after the defeat of Yiluo, the last emperor, in the Luo Palace..."
At this point, another person hurriedly pulled him. Jin Gongshuang's face was already a little unhappy, but these were old ministers, and he couldn't help but listen, so he said coldly: "According to your wishes, we will pay tribute to the emperor and send a letter of alliance to Qi, Luo and Wu."
Duke Shuang of Jin left in anger. As the officials walked out of the palace, one of them sighed, "Mr. Zhao, why did you have to mention that? The court has always been deeply ashamed of it."
Zhao Qing smiled slightly and said: "To feel humiliated but be able to endure is what an excellent monarch does. Do you really want Luo State to always be under the thumb of Jin State?
The State of Jin is the real overlord."
Everyone was silent, no one objected. They did not want to destroy the Jin-Luo alliance, they just wanted to dominate this alliance. If Jin always remained inferior to Luo, how could they, as its subjects, hold their heads up?
The problems of Qi were completely different from those of Jin. The new Duke of Qi was named Lü Qie. He was not like Duke Shuang of Jin, who wanted to achieve something.
As for him, we can only say that he is worthy of being the descendant of Duke Huan of Qi and the son of Lu Jing. He likes wine, beautiful women and pleasure just like his ancestors.
However, Duke Huan of Qi had Guan Zhong, a famous prime minister in history, to manage the state of Qi, while Lu Qi's father left him a state of Qi in which more than half of the nobles had been killed and the remaining nobles were alienated from the royal family.
When Lü Qie first ascended the throne, he wanted to revive the situation. However, although Qi did not control the royal family and royal clans as strictly as Jin, it still did not dare to let them control power.
He originally wanted to use the nobles who posed no threat now, but he did not expect that these nobles said that they were "willing to die for the king", but in reality they were more unyielding than each other.
No matter what he asked, he just kept repeating the same few questions.
"Your Majesty is a man of genius, wise and brave, and as talented as Duke Wen and Prime Minister. We, the ministers, will obey your orders."
"I am but a lowly weed, and you are the bright moon in the sky. It is ridiculous for weeds to compete for the brightness of the bright moon."
The most terrifying thing in politics is not confrontation, but non-violent non-cooperation. This is the current situation in Qi State.
Lü Qie was not a tenacious person to begin with. When he saw his ministers living a life of debauchery every day, he followed their example. As a result, the entire State of Qi fell into a state of drunkenness and debauchery.
But what is strange is that the political situation in Qi, which has always been unstable, has become inexplicably harmonious. It is really a funny scene.
Only the State of Wu was relatively normal. After tearing off a large piece of land from the State of Chu, Emperor Qingji and his ministers, Sun Wu, put all their energy into it and poured countless resources into it, wanting to develop it into the core territory of Wu, increase its population and grain production, leaving them no time to look outside.
This is the status of Luo Yu’s three most important allies at the moment, and it’s hard to say.
However, under Luo Yu's management, after several years of training, the three kingdoms of Jin, Qi and Wu became more closely united around Luo. In particular, the three kingdoms did not trust each other but only Luo, which gave Luo a lot of room for maneuver.
The State of Jin blocked the most important passage of Qiao-Han for the State of Qin to the east. At the same time, the State of Jin joined forces with the State of Wu to contain the State of Chu from the north and the east. The State of Qi, on the one hand, joined forces with the State of Luo to support the State of Yan to the north against the Hu people in the north who wanted to move south, and on the other hand, monitored the States of Song and Chen to the south.
The State of Chen had originally been easily wiped out by the returning State of Wu, but during the Yingshui Peace Talks, the State of Chu proposed to restore the State of Chen, and eventually the Ji-Jiang alliance backed down.
However, Chen State found it increasingly difficult to move forward in the Central Plains, until the always hostile Song State suddenly stood together with Chen State, which made Luo Yu increasingly wary of the two countries.
The power of Zheng State was completely in the hands of the nobles. They provoked Ying State today and bullied Chen State tomorrow, looking like they deserved a beating.
After returning to his country, Prince Qian of Qin advised the king of Qin: "The three kingdoms in the Central Plains, Jin, Qi, and Luo, have a territory of 3,000 li and a population of 8 million. They are not comparable to Qin.
Luo Yu, the crown prince of Luo State, has the ability to unite the princes and make them work together, which cannot be destroyed by Qin State.
I believe that the strategy proposed by Grand Chancellor Yili in the past is the only one that Qin can follow. There is an 800-li Wei River Plain in Guanzhong. If it can be fully developed, it will be enough to accommodate tens of millions of people.
There are countless scholars in the Luo State Academy, and the talents among them are as numerous as the stars in the sky. They can be recruited with high positions and generous titles, so that the Qin State can prosper.
We can also contact Chu to develop Bashu. When Prince Yu of Luo dies and the Ji-Jiang alliance becomes unstable, when the two countries are prosperous, we can march eastward and win the battle."
The Qin rulers and ministers agreed with this and from then on closed the roads west of Hangu Pass so that they could focus on developing the country.
In the State of Chu, it is now known that the king and Xiang Yu rule together. The current king of Chu was greatly influenced when he was young. Not only did he marry a woman from the Xiang family, he also vigorously promoted the children of the Xiang family to be officials. Even high positions such as Sima and Ling Yin were given to the Xiang family.
He was very lucky. The Xiang family was now producing many talents, and the large number of classics could mass-produce middle and low-level officials. Moreover, after Xiang Ci's generation, the family tradition was the most upright, and loyalty to the king was their ambition.
Once these Xiang clan members entered officialdom, they started to carry out reforms in the State of Chu and strengthened the royal power of Chu. They ordered the royal family members like Qu Jingzhao to return the benefits they had swallowed.
These Xiang family members were so talented and loyal that the King of Chu missed Xiang Ci all the time, so he built a statue of Xiang Ci in the Chu capital Yingdu, which made the Xiang family even more loyal to him.
Xiang Zi, who served as the prime minister, also proposed to the King of Chu a strategy for the various countries to make friends, "Your Majesty, the Zhou Dynasty relies on the three countries of Jin, Luo, and Qi to rule the country.
Among these three kingdoms, Luo Kingdom is still the largest one in my family. I am not exaggerating, King Su is the most supreme and noble, even above Haotian of Zhou people, so don't even think about attacking Luo Kingdom.
The best way is to dismember his alliance. I don't believe the alliance between Jin, Luo and Qi is unbreakable.
From today on, Chu can form an alliance with Jin and Qi, continuously send beautiful jade and beauties to them, and can also bribe the ministers of Jin to form an alliance with them.
Jin and Luo were both countries with the surname Ji and could not marry each other, so this was a great opportunity for Chu.
"After such a marriage, will Jin and Qi still be on the same page with Luo after a hundred years?"
"Will Luoguo agree? What if they interfere?"
Xiang Zi said confidently: "Lord Luo always puts peace and stability first and does not like to resort to war.
Although the plan of forming an alliance between Chu and Jin through marriage was a good one, it would certainly take a long time to see results.
For the State of Luo, doing this is better than another war, so they will certainly not stop it by force, and at most they will just advise the King of Jin.
The reason why the State of Chu failed in the past was that it always interfered in the Central Plains with force.
The contemporary Luo Hou Yu can conquer Qi with one word and Jin with one word. If such a person is forced to become an enemy, the result will surely be that the entire Central Plains will mobilize its entire army, and by then the State of Chu will be devastated.
In this case, why not wait until Luo Hou Yu dies? Your Majesty, you are still young and can afford to wait."
The King of Chu thought this was a very good idea, so the State of Chu changed its strategic direction and stopped deploying troops. Instead, it began to form marriage alliances with the countries in the Central Plains.
…
The art of diplomacy is to make the princes afraid when he is angry, and to make the world at peace when he is at peace.
Thinking of Duke Yi of Luo, he pacified Qi, controlled Yan, persuaded Jin, subdued Wu, repelled Qin, and suppressed Chu. He lived in Zhaocheng and the world was at peace. The various countries had friendly relations through marriages without raising wars. There has never been a greater prosperity than this.
The origin of the art of diplomacy is listed in the preface to highlight its value.
(End of this chapter)
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