Zhiyao really hopes that it will take some time to straighten out the internal affairs.
Among them, the second five-year plan has been delayed again and again, not because Zhiyao is willing to delay it, but because there is really no environment to implement it.
If other internal affairs can be straightened out, such as getting rid of the Wei family, and then dealing with the Han family, the Hu family, the Zhong family and other families, even if there are still external wars, Zhiyao believes that the second five-year plan can still be picked up again.
of.
This time, when the Yuan Kingdom faced off against the coalition of princes, they not only used their strength to defeat them, but also used many methods in an endless stream.
These methods are actually quite aboveboard.
Therefore, Zhiyao is not just a conspirator!
Looking at the development of the situation, it is clear that it is not good for the Chu State, and the Chu State is not only besieged by the monarchs and ministers as well as residual dangers. If it continues, the overall national situation may become extremely bad?
"Your Majesty, the enemy troops have retreated ten miles." Sun Wu said.
What I am talking about is the Chu army led by Ye Gong and Dou Huai. Their closest distance to the trapped coalition forces is less than ten miles. They really have no ability to continue to advance from behind. If they advance further, they may even be trapped. They are very rational.
He chose to retreat.
Zhiyao said: "Where are the subsequent reinforcements from Chu and the Zheng army?"
Sun Wu replied: "Subsequently, the Chu army has entered the Song Dynasty. Zheng Jun learned the news and went there. They should meet at 'Shangqiu'."
Zhiyao asked again: "Do the kings and ministers of the Song Dynasty have an answer?"
The Yuan Kingdom definitely wanted the Song Kingdom to side with them and join in the battle against the coalition forces of the princes, so it became inevitable to send people to "Shangqiu" to establish diplomatic relations.
I think the princes are also trying to win over the Song Dynasty?
Zhiyao knew that the kings and ministers of the Song State would not choose sides at all now, so he still sent people to "Shangqiu" to try his best to fight for it. At the same time, he was also putting pressure on the Song State. Even if the Song State did not side with the original country, it could not let the Song State choose the princes.
aside.
"If the Song Dynasty joins the war, the situation will be clear." Sun Wu said.
That was the premise determined by the background of the Song Dynasty and even their geographical location.
Zhiyao said: "It is my benefit not to return the Song Dynasty to the princes!"
At present, there are not many powerful countries. The Yuan Kingdom is definitely the strongest one. The next order is probably the Chu Kingdom, the Song Kingdom, the Yue Kingdom, and the Zheng Kingdom. The other vassal states have become dispensable.
That ranking may change at any time. If Gou Jian can straighten things out, he may be able to compete with Chu State in its current state.
At the same time, if the kings and ministers of the Chu State can solve internal troubles, it will probably become only three points weaker than the original state based on the analogy of national strength and mobilization ability?
Therefore, the internal situation of a country is too important, otherwise it will be like the state of Chu, which is obviously not weak but cannot show its strength.
Sun Wu said: "Zheng Guo should also fight for it, neither be a friend nor an enemy."
You should be able to imagine the needs of the kings and ministers of the Zheng State. In the past, the Zheng State was sandwiched between the Jin State and the Chu State. It was weak and could only swing left and right. They definitely didn't want to live like that again.
Zhiyao said: "I have already sent envoys to 'Xinzheng' to reiterate the friendship of the land exchange. This time, the kings and ministers of Zheng are trapped, and they will ask for me again."
The Zheng State should have sided with the more advantageous Yuan State, but Zhiyao showed too much desire for aggression, which made the Zheng State, which did not want to be annexed, more likely to side with the Chu State.
It's not that the Chu State is so friendly to other countries. Anyone who has read history books doesn't know that the Chu State has annexed the most other countries.
The current situation is that the Chu State is on the weaker side. Even if they want to annex other countries, facing a country that has the ability to resist, Chu State will not act recklessly?
It is precisely because the state of Chu is relatively weak that the state of Zheng does not dare to easily side with the state of the original state. Once the state of Chu is unable to compete with the state of the original state, the next unlucky country will most likely be the state of Zheng!
The two of them exchanged opinions on some matters and went to work on matters within their respective responsibilities.
When Zhiyao was dealing with military affairs, he was notified that Handa, the ruler of Zheng State, was asking for an audience. He knew that the opportunity to divide the princes had come again.
"What does Zheng Qing mean by coming here?" Zhiyao could probably guess what Handa was doing here.
Handa bowed and begged: "Please let the original prince be released to me."
Zheng Junyi was really unlucky. He was besieged when he took the throne and went out to participate in the alliance. This means that there are not enough careerists at present, otherwise there would be wars within the Zheng State.
Handa said a lot, emphasizing that Zheng Guo did not want to be an enemy of Yuan Guo at all, but was simply forced to get involved in the turmoil. Once Zhiyao was willing to let Zheng Guo's monarch and ministers go, Zheng Guo would definitely be grateful to Ling Ti.
"Zheng Ke, want to be my friend?" Zhiyao asked.
When asked, Handa could not say anything for a long time.
The current situation is so similar to the past that Zheng Guo is even more dangerous than before.
During the struggle for hegemony between the Jin and Chu states, the Zheng State, which was in a bad situation, was not in danger of being destroyed. Then the Jin State would not seize the Zheng State's land, and only the unscrupulous Chu State would seize the land.
"Zheng is a small country, and it really has no power to compete with the big countries. If the original invades, I will surrender to the original. If the Chu army comes to invade, I will also surrender to Chu. This is the way for a small country to survive, and it is really not what I want."
Da said, but he was thinking in his heart: "Similar words must have been said by many ancestors, right? It's just that the subjects were changed from Jin and Chu to Yuan and Chu."
Zheng State is actually not weak. What is terrible is that there are two superpowers among its neighboring countries, and these two superpowers always like to fight in Zheng State, forcing Zheng State to take sides again and again.
Chao Qin and Mu Chu? In the beginning, it was actually Chao Jin and Mu Chu, which refers to the state of Zheng.
Zhiyao asked with a smile: "If I promise Zheng An, can Zheng be as good as Song Dynasty?"
This time Handa answered quickly, saying: "Dare you violate it?"
Zhiyao nodded and said: "In the coming year, I will invite Lord Zheng and Lord Song to form an alliance and we will swear an oath at that time."
If it is not said on the occasion of an alliance meeting, and then declared with an oath of alliance, any promise can be regarded as nonsense.
Handa felt that he had received two messages. The first was that Zhiyao had no intention of forcing the princes to take sides, and the second was that the Song Kingdom had obtained the consent of the original country to remain neutral.
"If Zheng Guo can remain neutral, it must be a good thing!" Handa thought to himself.
Nowadays, every country is having a hard time. Who doesn’t have some internal troubles? Everyone wants to take a breather and reorganize their internal affairs. If there is an opportunity, they must seize it.
Handa begged again: "Please release the original prince and return him to me."
Zhiyao replied: "You can leave."
Handa immediately thanked him profusely.
Zheng Junyi didn't look very happy when he learned that he could leave at any time. On the contrary, he was wary because the result was so good.
"If I leave, will the Chu State be willing to give up?" Zheng Junyi asked.
Handa said: "At this time and that time, the most important thing is for the king to return to his country and work hard to become stronger."
There are some things that don’t need to be explained too clearly. If you explain them clearly, it will make things difficult to handle.
No one can see why Zhiyao is so talkative, and why he is willing to let go of Zheng's monarchs and ministers. It is nothing more than an operation to disintegrate the coalition forces, making the Chu country fall into isolation, and the original country can attack Chu alone.
Didn't you see that it was the same for Zheng Guo? They figured it out after they learned that Gou Jian had left.
Handa said: "When a Yuejun returns to his country, he knows that he is the most important thing. Only by striving for strength can he survive."
Zheng Junyi said: "Zheng is different from Yue. When Chu and Chu were fighting, the place to fight must be in Zheng!"
Who doesn’t know? But so what if you know, it’s just trying to survive through cracks.
Handa could only say: "Compared with the king of Chu and the king of Yue, the original king is not like a king without virtue, but has the virtue of a gentleman."
He dares to use any tricks.
The other one kept shouting "I'm a barbarian".
Zhiyao did what Dai Jin did, but it was certified by Emperor Zhou. I haven't heard of anything that went back on her word, right?
This time, Yuan Guo ensured the safety of some kings of small countries and let Yue Jun Gou Jian go. Hearing that Chu Junzhang was willing to treat the injured Chu Junzhang, he was opposed by the ministers of Chu State.
Looking at it that way, Zhiyao is obviously a monarch who can communicate and is shameless!
Of course, many people know some things, but the problem is that you need to pretend to be false, especially when the gap in strength is too big, it is necessary for you as a minister to deceive your loyalties.
Handa needs to fool Zheng Junyi now, lest Zheng Junyi knows that Zhiyao has too many shortcomings and makes the wrong choice.
Zheng Junyi said: "Lu, Guo Zuo may not be safe."
Handa was stunned for a moment and replied: "If I were the original one, how would I treat Lu?"
Zheng Junyi said without even thinking: "We will also destroy the state of Lu Zuo."
Right? It is purely because of the stupidity of the kings and ministers of Lu State. You cannot blame others for how they treat Lu State.
And Lu's attempt to commit suicide was not just once or twice. He just encountered a king who acted more decisively.
"If I return to my country, I will hoard food, build high walls, train my troops diligently, and have frequent diplomatic relations, then I can protect myself!" Handa snatched away the words of a certain junior.
Regarding building high walls, Zheng Ren said that he was very familiar with it and had been doing it for a long time.
Zheng Junyi recalled Handa's words and praised: "Ziyao is truly a pillar of the people!"
Continuing to repair the turtle shell is more important than anything else. Facts have long proved that as long as the city walls are numerous, high enough, and thick enough, it will be the same no matter who comes.
Later, Handa went to the kings and ministers of Chu State, but did not see Chu Junzhang, so he went to Bai Gongsheng to say goodbye.
Bai Gongsheng stared at Handa for a long time, and said with gritted teeth: "Zheng rebelled against our alliance, but he didn't know that he was my enemy?"
Handa repeated some of what Zhiyao had said, emphasizing that Zheng Guo was weak and had no choice but to say a lot of words.
Bai Gongsheng was so angry that veins appeared on his forehead. At least Ziqi drove Handa away in time, otherwise Bai Gongsheng would have shouted "I swear to destroy Zheng" in front of Handa.
Everyone knows Bai Gongsheng’s hatred for Zheng Guo.
The kings and ministers of Zheng State knew this very well, otherwise they would not have tried to negotiate with the original state.
If the Chu State's Ling Yin one day vows to avenge Bai Gongsheng for killing his father, the Zheng State will feel on tenterhooks, and the foundation of mutual trust between the two parties is really low.
The situation developed to the point where the kings and ministers of Zheng State left with troops unable to change the situation on the battlefield. Some kings and ministers of small countries took the opportunity to follow them and fled. The original army did not do anything to stop these people. Only the Chu army and the Lu army remained.
No, there was a group of Yue troops led by Wen Zhong who stayed in place, but in the eyes of the Chu monarchs and ministers, the existence of the Yue troops was an eyesore.
"The original army could have attacked and destroyed them, but they delayed doing so because they wanted to annihilate our reinforcements!" Bai Gongsheng was very angry, but he still had reason.
Ziqi sighed and said, "This is a conspiracy. What can you do if you know it?"