After a banquet, the anger between the two parties was no longer as great as before. Of course, the more important thing was that after seeing Xu Mao's spicy words, the monarchs and ministers of Qi were afraid that he would say something embarrassing again.

"Xu Qing, you are sent as an envoy to the State of Qi for the purpose of truce. Gu has already ordered the army to gather and prepare to assist the Qi army on the front line." The Marquis of Qi said: "When our Qi State army arrives, I don't know if the Huai State can stop it.

?”

Xu Qing was not frightened by the words of the Marquis of Qi, and said calmly: "Marquis of Qi, your frontline army has become a turtle in the urn and a fish in the net. We, the Huai State, are willing to negotiate for peace just because we don't want to suffer too much loss. If

The Marquis of Qi is unwilling to negotiate, so let’s meet on the battlefield!”

"I just don't know if the surrounding Lai and Ji people will be overjoyed after the Qi army suffered heavy losses!" After saying that, he stood up and left.

"Mr. Xu, please don't be angry. Your Majesty is just joking." A nearby doctor hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and said, "The army your Majesty said was gathering, but he just heard some unusual movements from Dongyi and Lai people."

"The Huai Kingdom is a country where the emperor made a duke. It is the same Xia nobles as our Qi Kingdom. Some friction is a courtesy war, but that is not the case with the Dongyi and Lai Kingdoms."

"The State of Ju has been harassed all year round, and these troops are going to help the State of Ju!"

After hearing this, Xu Mao nodded slightly, agreeing with this statement, and returned to his seat.

"Qi Hou, are you waiting for news from Chu?" Xu Mao asked.

The expression on Qi Hou's face remained unchanged, but there was a glimmer of light in his eyes.

"Chu State? Did Chu State also go to war with your country?" Another doctor next to him asked, pretending not to know.

"My lord Huaigong led an army of 50,000 men from Chu to fight in Han. The Chu army besieged the capital of Han, but did not attack it. They waited for work. My lord is a talented man and has a great strategy. He cut off his food and grass in the first battle, cut off his retreat in the second battle, and cut off his retreat in the third battle.

All Chu masters surrender!"

Hearing Xu Mao's words, the kings and ministers of Qi State were shocked. Although the Central Plains countries looked down on Chu State and thought they were barbarian countries, they still recognized Chu State's strength. Chu State went north several times to fight with the Central Plains princes.

, its ferocity is eye-catching.

Now that I heard that 50,000 Chu troops were defeated and captured by Huai in a short period of time, I was even more shocked.

Originally, the monarchs and ministers of the Qi State had this intention. They also believed that the Huai State was trying to hold on, and the Chu State should still be fighting with it in Han. They felt that as long as they persisted for a while, the Huai State would not be able to hold on.

"The Chu State is thousands of miles away, has a population of millions, and is well-equipped with soldiers and food. It is a big country in the south. How could it be defeated so easily?" Another Qing official said in disbelief.

"Haha, the Marquis of Qi and the ministers don't believe my words?" Xu Mao was not angry, and then waved to the attendants behind him.

The guard stepped forward and brought up a lacquer box in his arms. Xu Mao opened the box, then stretched out his hand and took out a palm-sized seal, Mi's surname was Xiong, and the words engraved on the seal were Mi's surname and Xiong Bo.

.

"Does the Marquis of Qi recognize this Seal of Chu?" Xu Mao spread the seal in his hand and said to everyone.

"Is this Xiong Bo's seal?" A doctor next to him couldn't help but ask after he came up to look at it.

"It is Chu Shuai Xiong Bo!" Xu Mao put the Chu Xi back into the box and continued: "Chu Shuai Xiong Bo was a brave man, but it was a pity that he did not know the fate of the day and died in the battle with our lord.

"

The appearance of this golden seal convinced the whole Qi State that the Chu State had been defeated, and there was no longer a sense of luck in their hearts. After knowing the strength of the Huai State, there was no trace of arrogance.

"The state of Huai is really brave and defeated the Chu army!"

"Marquis of Qi, my lord sent Mao as an envoy this time because he wants to establish an alliance with the state of Qi. He is willing to be friends forever and not invade each other. I wonder if the Marquis of Qi is willing?"

The Marquis of Qi's heart moved slightly, and then he said: "Huai State wants to conclude an alliance with Gu, Gu is very happy, but Gu has heard that Huai State and Lai State are on good terms, is it true?"

At the beginning, the Huai Kingdom was hostile to Qilu, Jutan and other countries. In order to prevent the eastern countries from uniting against the Huai Kingdom, successive Huai Kingdom monarchs would finance the Lai Kingdom. The Lai Kingdom was also a big country with a population of hundreds of thousands, and its origins

Dongyi has a good relationship with the Yi tribe.

They often faced off against Qi State, but because their weapons and equipment were not as well arranged as Qi State's, they were slightly at a disadvantage. Of course, sometimes Lai State also defeated Qi State in a desperate situation.

In order to contain Qi State and other vassal states, Huai State has always provided funding to Lai State. At the same time, in addition to Lai State, Ji State and Ju State also provided funding, but it was done very covertly. Just like the case of Emperor Zhou cooking and killing the Marquis of Qi.

The driving force behind the incident was Huai Guo.

After receiving the support of Huai State, Qi State's advantage over Lai State became smaller and smaller, and it was even defeated by Lai State several times. However, in recent decades, Qi State has developed well, and Lai State has made several attempts.

Those who enjoy themselves have been far surpassed by Qi.

"The Marquis of Qi wants my lord to give up his friendship with Lai?" Xu Mao asked.

"Exactly, the Lai State is a feud with the Qi State. If the Huai State is willing to sever its relationship with the Lai State, Gu will agree to conclude an alliance." Qi Hou said.

Xu Mao thought for a moment and said: "If the Marquis of Qi demands to sever ties with Lai, then Qi must sever ties with Wu!"

"This" Qi Hou hesitated.

The Marquis of Qi had just concluded an alliance with the State of Wu not long ago, but now that they had gone back on their word, there was no one to help them contain the Huai State in the south. However, the Marquis of Qi was a little excited again at the thought of attacking the Lai State and annexing the Lai State.

In comparison, the Marquis of Qi valued Lai State more. If Lai State was annexed, not only would the land of Qi State be directly doubled, but the population would also be doubled.

In the end, the Marquis of Qi could not resist the temptation to expand his territory and chose to agree.

The purpose of Huai State's alliance with Qi State this time is to annex the cake that each of them likes. Qi State will attack Lai State to the east, and Huai State will go south to annex Wu State. The two countries will not interfere with each other.

Of course, this covenant is not very effective once it is signed. Once either side completes the annexation, it is estimated that it will tear up the covenant immediately and invite other princes to attack the other side.

Both the Huai State and the Qi State know that the other side will be a formidable enemy in the future, and if there is an opportunity, they will never let it go. Of course, tearing up the alliance will be a matter of the future.

After the Marquis of Qi agreed to conclude an alliance, Xu Mao returned to Huai State with his delegation. To conclude an alliance, the monarch must come in person, and others were not qualified.

The two sides agreed to conclude an alliance at the border of Tan.

The State of Tan had no objection to the conclusion of an alliance between the State of Qi and the State of Huai on its own land. After all, compared with the State of Qi and the State of Huai, the State of Tan was too weak. However, when the State of Lu learned that Qi State had actually concluded an alliance with the State of Huai

, immediately scolded the state of Qi for being despicable and shameless.

The already bad relationship between the two countries became even worse. The Qi-Lu coalition collapsed completely, and there would be no chance to form another coalition for at least ten years. Without Lu, Qi would be alone. Even if Qi invaded again, the northern territory of Huai

It can withstand it for a long time.

The Alliance of Huai-Qi was an important event in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. Many historians believe that the Alliance of Huai-Qi kicked off the annexation of princes and had a profound impact on Chinese history. - "A Random Talk on Chinese History - Spring and Autumn Period"
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