Early March of the seventh year of Chengping.
Wu Qi attacked Hangu Pass again.
There were flames of war on the border.
In just a few days, the cumulative number of soldiers killed on both sides reached 100,000.
This is not a war, this is a meat grinder.
As for the battle of Shangjing, there is no follow-up for the time being.
The State of Chu was waiting for a victory.
The State of Jin was waiting for the sincerity promised by the State of Qin and the move of the State of Qi.
Mid-March.
Zhuge Liang arrived in Qi.
According to diplomatic rules, he must go to Linjing, the capital of Qi, as soon as possible to meet the emperor of Qi.
But he did the opposite and was not in a hurry to meet 'Emperor Ji Fa of Qi'.
Instead, he went to the Jixia Academy in the city.
Jifa was very curious about this and summoned his right-hand men to discuss the matter.
He said slowly, "The Qin State clearly came to ask for help, but instead of coming to see me, they went directly to the Jixia Academy. What do you think the Qin envoy wanted?"
The overall national strength of Qi was far superior to that of Qin.
In recent years, due to Ji Fa's wisdom and bold use of loyal and capable officials, the strength of Qi State has skyrocketed.
Many people speculate that if Ji Fa could reign for twenty years, the only country among all the nations that could compete with Daxia would be Qi.
Now, Jifa has been in power for five years.
The white-haired Grand Tutor Jiang Ziya stroked his beard and said, "Qin knows very well that Qi will definitely send troops to attack Chu, so they are not in a hurry."
Left Prime Minister Ji Dan echoed, "What the Grand Master said makes sense. The Jixia Academy is the sacred place for Qi's scholars. The Qin envoys went to pay homage to the sage of the academy. This move is to win over scholars from other countries."
Qi could not just sit there and watch Chu's plan succeed, otherwise they would be threatened.
The Jixia Academy houses the world's largest stone statue of a saint and is a place of pilgrimage for scholars from all over the world.
The scholars who were able to study there were almost all elites from various countries.
If the scholars knew that Zhuge Liang went to pay homage to the sage, they would definitely think that Qin was actually a country that valued learning and etiquette.
As long as we can get the support of those scholars, forcing Qi to send troops or getting assistance from other countries will no longer be a difficult task.
Ji Fa asked in a deep voice, "Should we just let them worship the saint, or should we take some action?"
Jiang Ziya shook his head and said, "Since the Qin envoys are determined to make a pilgrimage, we should not stop them.
Moreover, meeting the Qin envoy later is not a bad thing, because I heard that the Chu State also plans to send an envoy to our Great Qi."
Ji Fa nodded and said seriously, "Then we should meet the Chu envoy first. This will also put some pressure on the Qin envoy, so that they know that asking Qi to send troops is not an easy task."
He wanted to gain some benefits from the Qin State.
There is nothing wrong with this.
After all, even if Qi did not send troops, it would be feasible to wait until the moment when Qin was about to perish and then attack Chu.
Therefore, if Zhuge Liang is not in a hurry, they will be even less anxious.
In fact, his trip to the Jixia Academy was not simply to gain the support of scholars from various countries through pilgrimage.
The most important thing is that Qin had too little intelligence about Qi.
As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.
He needed a place where he could understand the current court of Qi.
There is no doubt that the Jixia Academy is a great place.
The fact that the Qin envoys came on pilgrimage did indeed alarm many scholars.
They gathered in groups of three or five, or stood on pavilions or towers, or stayed not far from the Qin envoys.
He witnessed with his own eyes the Qin envoy Zhuge Liang burning incense and praying, kneeling three times and kowtow nine times to the stone statue of the saint.
Scenes like this actually happened frequently in the Jixia Academy.
The person in charge of presiding over the worship ceremony was not Meng Ke, the chief priest of the academy.
But it was a doctor named Wei Yang.
It is said that it was this person who took the initiative to take charge of the pilgrimage rituals of the Qin State.
After the meeting was over, Wei Yang called Zhuge Liang and bowed to him, saying:
"I've heard quite a bit about your Qin State over the past few years. To be honest, a few years ago, when the Chu State attacked Qin, I even said that the Qin State would surely perish."
There are generally only two explanations for saying such things openly in front of the Qin envoy.
The first is that the person in front of me is stupid.
Second, he did it on purpose.
Zhuge Liang thought that he was more inclined to the latter. After all, being able to serve as a doctor of Legalism in the Jixia Academy was not a person who had gained the title in vain.
Since Wei Yang was born in a small place called "Weicheng", he was often called or called himself Wei Yang.
His surname is Gongsun of the Ji clan.
In Ying Yuan's previous life, he was a Wei person.
Zhuge Liang bowed and said, "I have long heard of Mr. Wei Yang's great name.
I heard that you have great talent for governing the country and are good at politics and law. You should serve the country and display your strengths. I wonder why you haven't retired yet?"
Hearing this, he waved his sleeves and said with a smile, "I wonder, in the Qin envoy's opinion, which country would be safer for me to serve?"
Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Since you have been appointed as a doctor of the Jixia Academy of Qi, you should serve the state of Qi."
Wei Yang shook his head and said, "Qi is rich and powerful. How can I serve here and let the world see my abilities?"
"From your tone, sir, do you want to serve a poor and weak country?" Zhuge Liang asked curiously.
Wei Yang nodded and said, "Among all the nations, it seems that apart from your Qin, there is no other nation that can truly be called weak."
What he said is true.
Although Qi was stronger than Chu, the latter was able to fight against the former without losing the upper hand. Of course, this was on the premise that no national war broke out.
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