A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 69
Guan Zhong has been in Qi for two years, and the national power of Qi is becoming more and more prosperous.Qi Hou decided to attack Lu State again, wanting to make Lu State surrender.Bao Shuya led the army to fight against Changshao in the Lu army.

From Bao Shuya down, the soldiers of the Qi army despised the Lu army, thinking that it was vulnerable, and underestimated the Lu army.As a result, Duke Zhuang of Lu used Cao GUI's strategy to show the enemy that he was weak. Qi State declined after three drums, and Lu State defended and counterattacked, defeating the mighty Qi State in one fell swoop.

Unwilling to be defeated by Qi, they united with Song to attack Lu, but were defeated by Lu again.The prestige of the State of Lu is rising day by day.

After losing two consecutive battles, even if Marquis Qi was upset, he had no choice but to temporarily stop fighting with the State of Lu.Then, with the help of Guan Zhong, reforms were carried out.

Guan Zhongxiang Qi for five years, and a series of reforms he implemented in Qi State have begun to bear fruit.The most obvious change is that the flow of people in Linzi has doubled.The standard of living of the people has improved.

The current Qi State can be said to have a full treasury, sufficient soldiers and food, people are happy, and there is no way to pick up lost things.Such a prosperous age made the people of Qi State very convinced of him.

At the same time, not only the people of Qi State have become rich, but even the tax revenue of Qi State is increasing day by day.

In the main hall of King Qi Palace, Marquis Qi was discussing state affairs with Guan Zhong. After the state affairs were settled, Marquis Qi said to Guan Zhong.

"Zhongxiang, three years ago, you persuaded Gu and Lu to stop fighting. Gu didn't listen at first, and insisted on fighting with Lu, but was defeated. At this time, Qi Guo has trained for three years, and it can be said that the army is strong and strong. I want to fight again. Zhong Xiangyi How about next?"

Guan Zhong cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, after five years of accumulation, the state of Qi is gradually gaining strength, so it is indeed possible to send troops. However, if you want to dominate the world, you should respect the king and fight against barbarians."

"But attacking Lu State now is not suitable."

"Where do you send troops to attack? Huai country?" Qihou asked.

Guan Zhong glanced at Marquis Qi and said, "Your Majesty, the Huai Kingdom is strong and powerful, and Qi is no match for it alone."

Qihou was a little embarrassed and said: "Then Huaiguo is entrenched in the south, how can it be governed?" Since the establishment of Huaiguo, the Qihou of all dynasties have regarded Huaiguo as a serious problem, especially after the prosperity of Huaiguo, Qi can only be passive. defended.

"Your Majesty, although the Huai Kingdom is prosperous, it is not invincible. It can beat Qi, but can it beat the states of Bang and Zhou?"

"Impossible!" Qihou shook his head and said, "Although the Huai country is strong, if the eastern countries join forces, it will not be able to win!"

"So, if your majesty wants to defeat the Huai country, you should order the princes to fight with the soldiers of all countries!" Guan Zhong said.

When Qihou heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "How can I order the princes?"

Guan Zhongdao: "Respect the king and fight against the barbarians!"

"Please ask Zhong Xiang to solve the problem for Gu."

"Your Majesty, respecting the king and fighting barbarians can give you a high reputation. Now that the emperor of Zhou is weak, the kingdoms no longer regard the emperor in their eyes. If you can respect the emperor, gain prestige, and cooperate with your own strength, you can command other small kingdoms." vassal states."

"But just honoring the emperor is not enough to gain great prestige. You need to get rid of barbarians to accumulate prestige, and you can also increase your strength through this move."

"Now that the state of Qi is reforming and trying to become stronger, its strength has greatly increased, but the strength of the Yi people around it has not changed. Your Majesty can take this opportunity to defeat and annex the Yi and Di tribes, and at the same time show the power to the world!"

"As for Huai State, when Qi State respects the king and fights against the barbarians, after meeting the princes, gathers the strength of the princes and countries, and then fights against them, how can Huai State stop it?"

Hearing what Guan Zhong said, Qihou's eyes lit up, as if he couldn't wait to implement Guan Zhong's strategy.

"Please Zhongxiang teach me!" Qihou was so excited that he didn't even speak to Gu.

"My lord, my country of Qi is strong and prosperous, surrounded by Huaiyi, Dongyi, Beidi, etc. Your lord can send a large army to conquer. Lead the army to help and show kindness."

"Your Majesty, with the prestige of a great victory, invites the princes to form an alliance, and there will be no disadvantages."

"Zhong Xiang, what if someone refuses to obey?" Qi Hou asked.

"When the time comes, your majesty will lead the coalition army to attack him in the name of disrespecting the emperor and not paying tribute to him. At that time, he will naturally beg to join and regard you as the leader of the alliance!"

"Then do as Zhongxiang said, but I just want to change the target of the army's conquest." Qihou said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, you want to crusade against Ji Guo?" Guan Zhong said with a smile.

"Exactly!" Qi Hou snorted coldly.

Qi State and Ji State are old enemies. Back then, Ji Houjin slandered Duke Ai of Qi to be cooked and killed. Since then, the Duke of Qi has been fighting for hundreds of years, which can be said to be a heavy loss.In addition, the position of Ji State just blocked the expansion route of Qi State.

If the country of Ji is not eliminated, how will the country of Qi expand?

"Your Majesty, use the name of revenge to conquer Ji Kingdom!" Guan Zhong agreed.

The geographical location of Ji State is very important to Qi State. It is right above the throat of Qi State. If Qi State conquers the barbarians, if Ji State has any bad intentions, it can directly send troops to cut off Qi State's retreat.How can this reassure Qi Guo?

After deciding to attack Ji State, the Qi State monarchs and ministers began to formulate a war plan.At the same time, the entire Qi State was also mobilized to recruit soldiers according to the counties, townships, soldiers, and towns formulated by Guan Zhong.

The state of Qi implements the unity of farmers and soldiers, and some semi-recruitment systems.These semi-recruitment Chinese people have to train for ten days a month, and their combat effectiveness is much stronger than those of the temporary militia. At the same time, Qi's armor rate has also increased a lot.

Qi has a large population. After Guan Zhong's reform, the mobilization ability has been improved several times, and the number of troops that can be recruited is also very large.

It didn't take long for the Qi State to gather an entire [-] army, and among the [-] army, the number of militiamen was much smaller than before, and the number of elites was greatly increased.

In order to lower the vigilance of Ji Guo, Qi State deliberately declared that the [-] troops were used to conquer Huaiyi and Dongyi.After the [-] troops were assembled and the food and grass were ready, the Qi State began to dispatch.

The state of Qi dispatched one hundred thousand troops and thousands of chariots, and led the army with Wang Chengfu as the general.Wang Cheng's father, surnamed Ji Wang, was brave and resourceful. He was a general specially promoted by the Marquis of Qi because of his previous humiliation.

Qi Hou handed over one hundred thousand troops to the commander Wang Chengfu. In name, this was to conquer Huaiyi and Dongyi, but in fact he wanted to destroy the country of Ji.

After learning the purpose of this battle, Wang Chengfu nodded to express his understanding, and then commanded the army to set off.Ji Guo was very nervous when he heard that Qi State was dispatching a large army, and Ji Hou also ordered the army to gather in the capital to prevent Qi State from attacking.Later, after hearing that Qi State was going to conquer the barbarians, he immediately felt relieved, and even sent the army back to various places, leaving only a part to guard the capital.

Compared with Qi State, Ji State is much weaker. At first, it relied on the strength of Lu State and Wang Ji to counter Qi State. Now without the support of Lu State and Wang Ji, Ji State's strength is much behind.

General Ji Hou returned with his army, and one of the ministers remonstrated: "Qi's [-] troops are going out to fight against the barbarians, but the king and Ji have a big enmity with Qi, so we must guard against it. Please leave the army to guard."

(End of this chapter)