"Your Majesty, what Dian Ke said is absolutely true, and I agree with you!"

"I would like to ask for a fight!"

"Please, Your Majesty, send more reinforcements to attack Chu!"

Bo Xi took the lead, and the ministers and officials above the court immediately responded, asking Qing Ji to increase his troops in Shudi and attack Chu with all his troops to avenge Chu's last attack on Wu.

Seeing this, Zixi was in trouble and couldn't tell!

Regarding the attack on Wu last year, Chu State did not act kindly.

After all, Wu and Chu had just signed a non-aggression covenant, and then Chu turned around and mobilized its troops to attack Wu. Such treachery and change of attitude so quickly is really shocking.

However, the Chu army that attacked Wu was completely wiped out, losing 80,000 troops!

Zuo Sima and Shen Yinshu all drew their swords and committed suicide.

It was the Chu State that suffered the loss. How could Bo Xi have the nerve to say "to avenge the shame of the past"?

Simply shameless and shameless!

What surprised Zixi even more was that all the people in the Wu court were from the main war faction!

Even Jizha, who always adhered to the principle of peace as the most important thing, remained silent at this time, as if he had acquiesced to the Wu State's increase in troops to attack Chu again.

"King Wu, please listen to what the foreign minister has to say!"

Zixi had no choice but to bite the bullet and bowed to Qing Ji on the throne: "It is indeed not advisable for the Chu State to attack Wu. This is the fault of our Chu State."

"However, the Chu and Wu armies are now facing each other in Shudi, and neither of them can advance an inch. If Wu can increase its troops, is it possible that Chu cannot increase its troops?"

"The population of Chu State has already exceeded three million, while the population of Wu State is less than one million. If it falls into a protracted war, how can Wu State attack Chu State?"

"Furthermore, since King Wu succeeded to the throne, the country of Wu has been fighting every day. As a result, the people's livelihood has declined, the number of young people has dropped sharply, and the common people have suffered terribly!"

"If the King of Wu insists on fighting again, I fear that the Kingdom of Wu will lose its kingdom and fall into dire straits!"

It must be said that Zixi's eloquence is quite impressive.

Although Qingji deliberately wanted to hide the problems existing in various aspects of the Wu Kingdom, Zixi was still aware of them and lobbied Qingji with dissuasion.

Therefore, Qingji might as well get off the donkey along the slope and inquire with a gentle look on his face: "Master Shen is really eloquent, which is rare in the world."

"Now that Chu State intends to form an alliance to eliminate troops, is it sincere?"

Sincerity only refers to the conditions for negotiation or peace with Chu State.

Zixi naturally knew this, so he immediately said seriously: "King Wu, according to my king's wishes, Chu and Wu should each take a step back."

"The State of Chu recognizes the three riverside cities of Que, Yongpu, and An that Wu currently occupies. But the State of Wu must release the nine cities of Shu and the tens of thousands of Chu soldiers who were previously captured!"

"..."

Qingji was speechless.

In the huge Wu Kingdom Hall, the officials could not help but become silent, and there was a complete silence!

Afterwards, Bo Xi, who had recovered from his stunned state, immediately pointed at Zixi and shouted loudly: "Is this the sincerity of Chu State? It's simply ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!"

"The three cities along the river, Que, Yongpu, and An, including the nine cities of Shudi, are already in the possession of Wu State. Why does Chu State need to acknowledge ownership?"

"You actually dare to ask me, the State of Wu, to release tens of thousands of prisoners of war and cede the land of Shu. This is the most ridiculous thing in the world!"

"In all my life, my uncle has never seen such shameless behavior!"

Bo Xi's words can be said to express the inner thoughts of all the kings and ministers of the Wu Kingdom, including Qing Ji.

If the Wu army attacking Chu is in danger and Wu is unable to fight anymore, it may be possible to surrender and return all the Shudi, Que, Yongpu, and An'an three riverside cities that have been captured to Chu.

What's more, Qing Ji may also release some Chu army prisoners of war.

However, the current situation is that the Chu State is falling into civil strife, and the smoke is everywhere!

Zixi came to Wudu to discuss peace on behalf of the Chu State, and he could be said to be the type to seek peace.

In this case, how could Zixi dare to brazenly ask Wu to return the Nine Cities of Shudi, and also let go of more than 50,000 captured Chu soldiers?

Absolutely impossible!

Therefore, after Zixi proposed such conditions, the officials present, including Wu Guogongqing, became excited and stood up to angrily criticize Zixi.

"Your Majesty, the people of Chu have no sincerity in negotiating peace and annihilating their troops. Please increase your troops to ease the situation immediately, and teach the Chu Kingdom a lesson that does not know how high the sky is and how high it is!"

"If the people of Chu are not convinced, beat them!"

"I second the proposal!"

All the ministers asked for a fight, claiming that they wanted to teach Chu a lesson.

In fact, their hearts were biased towards ending the war between Wu and Chu.

It's just that all the officials and officials had to sing a double act with Qingji in front of Zixi, one with a white face and the other with a red face.

Zixi knew that he was wrong, so he had to swallow his anger and said: "If the King of Wu thinks it is not possible, we, the State of Chu, can cede Chang'an to Wu."

"Hmph, not to mention Chang'an, even if there is a Zhaoguan, it is impossible!"

Bo Xi glared at Zi Xi and said bitterly.

Qing Ji, who was on the throne, smiled slightly and said: "Master Shen, in my opinion, the Chu State has no sincerity in negotiating peace and eliminating troops."

"In this case, Mr. Shen might as well go back and inform the King of Chu that the nine cities of Shudi and the three cities along the river, Que, Yongpu and An, were conquered by our Wu army officers and soldiers who sacrificed a lot of blood. We can’t give it up easily!”

"As for the previously captured soldiers of the Chu army, I can exchange prisoners of war with the Chu State, or we can be more liberal and release the generals. However, it is absolutely impossible for me to return all the surrendered soldiers to the Chu State!"

Upon hearing this, Zixi finally understood more or less what Qingji was thinking.

Qing Ji is a master who doesn’t let go of eagles when he sees rabbits!

Don't let him spit out any benefits he has already taken.

As a last resort, Zixi had no choice but to retire temporarily, write down what he saw and heard today in a memorial, and send it to Yingdu as soon as possible!

…

Prison.

At this moment, Wu Zixu was sitting on a pile of hay, closing his eyes and meditating. He was in ragged clothes and depressed. His lonely look could not be concealed no matter what!

Wu Zixu had been imprisoned for more than a month. During this period, Qingji only visited him once, which was disappointing.

Wu Zixu wrote several more strategies for governing the country and the army to prove his talents and foresight to Qingji, but they all seemed to be lost in the sea and did not receive any response!

Qing Ji seemed to have forgotten the existence of Wu Zixu, neither issuing an edict to execute him nor entrusting him with important responsibilities.

This more or less made Wu Zixu feel uneasy and tormented!

With a "squeak" sound, the cell door was suddenly opened.

Wu Zixu opened his eyes and saw that the person who came was a strange face, but his face was white and beardless, and he was dressed like an eunuch. He was obviously a eunuch (eunuch) in the palace.

He was the eunuch sent by Qing Ji to convey the oral instructions.

Was Wu Zixu executed or entrusted with an important task?

At this moment, his heart couldn't help but clench tightly.

"Wu Yuan, the king has ordered you to go hunting with the king tomorrow!"

Field hunting?
Chapter completed!