Chapter 98 Song Chen: I can’t live anymore, I’m rebelling!
The Duke of Qi soon discovered that the existence of these low-level doctors and Yuanshi made it impossible for what happened to Tian Chang to happen.
The main demands of these people were to expand the territory of Qi, restore the hegemony of the period of Duke Huan of Qi, and dominate the Ji-Jiang alliance.
As long as he cooperates with their actions and gives them the name of righteousness, he will still be the master of Qi, and even many of them are loyal to Qi.
As long as they did not do anything extreme, he could continue to play the music and dance, so the Duke of Qi readily agreed to their request.
The State of Qi mobilized hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a short period of time. Given the size of the State of Qi, it would be no problem to mobilize 400,000 young and strong men, but the conscription order would take time.
After the Luo Kingdom received the news, the royal family, royal clans, and noble clans all gathered in the palace.
Luo Zhi was thinking back to what his great-aunt had said to him, "Whether it is an ally or an enemy, we should not only pay attention to what it is doing now, but also what it will do in the future.
There are many accidental things in this world, but there must be many inevitabilities driving them.
Everyone from the king to the ministers of Qi was living a life of drunkenness and debauchery, but Qi was a big country and power would not disappear, but would only fall into the hands of those who were willing to work.
If these new political forces cannot be controlled, the Ji-Jiang alliance will be destroyed."
Luo Zhi came back to his senses, rubbed his head and said, "Everyone, please tell us about the affairs of Qi State."
Luo Qing frowned and sighed, "Your Majesty, it is basically impossible for Qi and Luo to advance and retreat together in the future, but the Ji-Jiang alliance has not been destroyed for the time being.
These Yuanshi generally have no desire for the Qi monarchy, and trust the Luo State, believing that we are a reliable ally. "
Everyone in the palace breathed a sigh of relief. The alliance between Qi and Luo was crucial.
Without Qi as an ally, Luo would not be able to compete with Jin for the dominance of the alliance, and would not be able to curb Jin's evil intentions.
Luo Qing added: "Now Qi will inevitably have to fight with Song, and the emperor personally went to attack Song, which gave Qi a reputation of being righteous.
Now Jin and Wu are responsible for suppressing Qin and Chu. If we can quickly unite with Qi, divide Song and Chen, and avoid causing great losses to the emperor's royal army, or even cede Zheng's land to the royal family, this may be the best outcome."
Divide the Song and Chen states?!
This surprised everyone.
There are three main sources of land for Luo State. The first is the land granted when it was enfeoffed, plus the land rewarded by emperors of all dynasties. The second is the land seized from barbarians. The third is some cities given by neighboring countries as a gift after helping neighboring countries resist barbarians.
Luo Zhi pondered and said, "You mean to let Qi and Zheng divide Song and Chen, then cede the western part of Zheng to the royal family, and then let the royal family give the northern part of Song to Luo?"
Luo Qing nodded and shook his head and said, "Zheng State is controlled by the Qing clan and has always been unstable. So we will take this opportunity to directly destroy Zheng State and incorporate its land into the royal capital."
Luo Qing wanted to directly destroy the three unstable factors in the heart of the Central Plains: Zheng, Chen and Song.
Luo Zhi recalled his great-grandmother's teachings and waved his hand, saying, "Let me think about it again. Wu's attitude cannot be ignored. I'm afraid Chu has already received the news.
If the commotion gets too big, it may not be resolved.
In addition, people should be sent to Jin State to see whether the situation in Qin State west of Hangu Pass is stable.
I am very worried that Qin and Chu will take this opportunity to enter the Central Plains."
…
Wanqiu of Chen State.
The king and his ministers of Zheng led the army of Zheng and retreated all the way from Lucheng to here. The army of Zheng looked miserable. Many soldiers were injured. There were marks of swords and guns on their armor. Many flags had holes on them, which showed that they had been shot by arrows.
The two hundred miles of road from Lucheng to Wanqiu were littered with corpses, including those of both sides. The land that should have been full of crops was now covered with blood, broken armor and weapons, and countless traces of fire.
The barbarians who were not included in the rule of the State of Chen looked at the soldiers fighting each other in panic. The lucky ones were able to escape into the mountains, but the unlucky ones were directly captured by both sides and either used as slaves to transport grain or as cannon fodder.
Zheng Houchan said gloomily, "The strength of Song State cannot be underestimated. Our army did not gain any advantage at all.
If this continues, I am afraid they will have to retreat into our Zheng State. When the war is over, other countries will surely laugh at Zheng State.
Can all of you endure such humiliation?
In the books compiled by Luoguo, there are countless jokes from various countries. Do you want to be included in the collection of jokes?"
The faces of the ministers of Zheng State all looked unhappy. Luo State's comedy collection was popular all over the world, and it mainly included jokes about Chu State and Song State. But some time ago, Zheng State used wild boars and pheasants to compare Chen State, but ended up being beaten so badly. It would definitely be included in the comedy collection.
Although they had long anticipated that they might not be a match for the Song and Chen countries, it was too ugly to not have any ability to fight back now.
The king and his ministers of Zheng State regretted that they were too aggressive before and should have delayed a little. Then they heard the messenger come to report: "King, the army of Song State is attacking again!"
Zheng Houchan said weakly: "To meet the enemy, Guo Qing, I still have to trouble you."
Upon hearing this, Guo Qing's face turned so dark that water could drip out of it. As the Qing clan with the greatest power and the largest number of troops, he had suffered considerable losses in recent days.
Each of the Zheng nobles wanted to preserve their strength, which is why they were beaten so badly by the Song State. It was no different from before. After leaving behind one or two hundred corpses of soldiers and countless corpses of auxiliary soldiers and slaves who were too lazy to count, the Zheng State began to retreat strategically again, and this time they retreated all the way to the center of Zheng State.
Chen Hou Hu followed the Duke of Song and looked at the city of Zheng with a sense of pride. He laughed heartily and said, "Duke of Song, the Duke of Zheng was still brazenly talking about wild boars and wild chickens. Now it seems that Zheng is just a wild chicken to you."
After arriving in Zheng, the Zheng nobles finally stopped conserving their strength and started fighting the Song-Chen coalition with real weapons in order to protect their fiefdoms and property.
At this time, the Zhou emperor's army crossed the valley on the north side of Taishi Mountain, arrived at Xinzheng City, and then followed the main road to the front of the battlefield.
Ji Bai directly ordered the Song-Chen coalition forces to withdraw.
Duke Song and Marquis Chen were dumbfounded on the spot. They thought that Marquis Zheng would look for allies, which was normal. After all, among the various countries that have survived to the present day, there is no one who does not have a few allies.
But directly calling the Emperor of Zhou would be a bit scary.
Although the royal family has been in hiding for many years, the emperor still has some prestige and sacredness.
After the rulers of various vassal states ascended the throne, they still had to send ministers to Luoyi to obtain the Golden Book, so that they could gain recognition from all the vassal states.
The Duke of Song hesitated and said, "Lord Chen, can we afford to commit such a crime as defying the emperor?
If we attack the emperor today, wouldn't that give Luo, Qi, and Wu an excuse?"
Chen Houhu was naturally unwilling, as this was a life-and-death crisis for him, but he knew that persuasion was useless.
Under the pressure of survival, his IQ quickly soared, and he said sinisterly: "Song Gong, you are really a kind elder who always abides by the Zhou rituals.
But doesn't the King of Zhou's appearance here mean that he has ill intentions towards you?
Will a mountain jackal give up trying to eat you just because you feed it a piece of meat?
The State of Qi has been eyeing you covetously for a long time. Now that the Emperor of Zhou is leading his troops to attack you, will the State of Qi let you go?
If you withdraw your troops now, the King of Zhou and the State of Zheng will have 200,000 troops, and the State of Qi will send 200,000 or even 300,000 troops. They will attack you from the east and west. How will you resist?
What if Luo and Wu attacked you at the same time? Song would be overthrown in an instant."
Marquis Chen deliberately lowered his voice and described the horrible scene to Duke Song. This was also the inspiration given to him by Doctor Lianqiao. Duke Song's fear of the Ji clan state had already been engraved in his bones.
"So the best way now is to defeat the combined forces of the Zhou emperor and Zheng, and then face the army of Qi.
Or, take advantage of the situation and destroy Zheng and Ying, so that the lands of Song, Chen and Chu will be connected.
The State of Chen was a vassal state of the State of Chu and had previously sent a message for help to the capital city of Ying. The Chu army could appear in the Central Plains without restrictions, which was what the Chu nobles had always dreamed of.
Moreover, Chu has always wanted the Nine Cauldrons. I don't believe they will suddenly change their ways. When the time comes, you can use the Nine Cauldrons to seduce Chu. Will Chu not help you?"
The words of the Marquis of Chen made the Duke of Song look uncertain. Thinking of the hundreds of years of surveillance by the State of Luo and the State of Qi, he could not help but shudder and said harshly: "The emperor is unfair. The State of Song has always been polite, but the emperor is helping the State of Zheng."
The next day, the Song-Chen coalition army itself had more than 100,000 troops. The Marquis of Chen also frantically captured young and strong men from the State of Chen to join the army. Together with the captured savages and barbarian slaves from small tribes, the 200,000 people were divided into six groups to defend against the enemy in different directions and transport food and grass.
The armies of Zheng State and the royal family were also lined up to wait, with 70,000 to 80,000 combat soldiers and 300,000 logistical troops confronting each other on such a small piece of land.
When Zheng Houchan saw that the Song-Chen coalition did not retreat, he could not help but feel secretly delighted. He knew that a confrontation of this size would probably take three or four years to determine the winner, so he sent ministers to mobilize food and grass, and at the same time he flattered Ji Bai with cunning words: "Your Majesty, look.
I know that Song and Chen cannot be trusted. They actually disobeyed your orders. Doesn't this show their evil ambitions?"
Ji Bai's eyes flashed with coldness, "I am the Son of Heaven, but the King of Song has forgotten my orders and disregarded the king's orders. He deserves to die."
…
King Huo was lustful, greedy, violent, and self-willed. Duke Zong of Zheng tempted him with benefits and started a war.
In the autumn of the seventeenth year, he fought with Song between Zheng and Chen, and suffered heavy casualties.
This is a long story, take your time, don't rush
(End of this chapter)
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