Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 430 424. Tian Clan usurps Qi
Originally, these people in the court felt that this story seemed vaguely familiar, and they had a strong sense of déjà vu, but now they suddenly heard Qi Jinggong's dream and the interpretation of the dream, and they suddenly woke up. Didn't this incident of Qi Jinggong happen once in front of them?
Isn't the dream of the first lord "three horses feeding in the trough" just like the dream of King Jing of Qi "Jiang was damaged in the field"? Tian Qi was guarded by the court, so he simply stayed at home and hid in the court. Sima Yi is also happy to be in a low position now, and it is rumored that he is recruiting soldiers in his hometown.

Those who thought of Sima had extremely ugly expressions on their faces. Some of them were in disbelief, while others were extremely terrified.

But at this moment they all chose to listen to what the storyteller had to say next.

"Although Tian Qi knew that this was a good omen, he had no choice but to keep silent and wait for the right time because Duke Jing of Qi was so powerful and the country was peaceful and prosperous.

However, Zhao Yang and Zhao Wu of Zhao State disagreed over immigration. Zhao Yang killed Zhao Wu, and Zhao Wu's son Zhao Ji rebelled in anger. When the Zhao family was in civil strife, Duke Jing of Qi decided to send troops to help Zhao Ji, provide him with food and grass, and led Qi, Lu, and Wei to take advantage of the situation.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yang was not an ordinary man. He eventually surrounded and defeated Chaoge. Zhao Ji fled, and Xun Yin and Shi Jishe fled to Qi. Duke Jing of Qi's ambitious war against Zhao was declared a failure.

This defeat dampened the morale of Duke Jing of Qi. He was already old, and suffered a heavy blow, so he fell ill and could not get up. Before he died, he appointed his youngest son Tu as the king.

Zheng Shusheng finished talking about the death of Duke Jing of Qi in just a few words, but no one cared, because they knew that the protagonist of this story seemed to be not Duke Jing of Qi, but the Tian family. Especially those minor officials, they wanted to listen carefully to see if there was anything they could refer to.

"Before his death, Duke Jing of Qi entrusted his son to Guo Xia and Gao Zhang, asking them to assist Prince Tu. Unexpectedly, Tian Qi learned of this and immediately joined forces with the scholars and officials he had bribed before to raise an army and besiege the palace in the name of 'deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest'.

How could Guo Xia and Gao Zhang be opponents of Tian Qi who had planned all this? They hastily gathered a small number of soldiers, but were outnumbered and killed by Tian Qi in the palace. Guo Xia and Gao Zhang were defeated and had to flee elsewhere.

And Prince Tu, also known as Yan Ruzi of Qi, was deposed as Marquis of Qi by Tian Qi, who appointed his brother as Marquis of Qi and made himself the Prime Minister of Qi.

"Although Tian Qi had the merit of deposing and enthroning the emperor, his military action this time was for the greater good of 'restoring order', and the Gui surnamed Bao family also made a lot of efforts, so Tian Qi could not monopolize power and could only continue to wait for the opportunity.

Unfortunately, Tian Qi died soon, but his son Tian Chang inherited his father's will. In the fourth year of Duke Dao of Qi, Wu and Lu invaded Qi from the north and the scholars and officials in the country were busy with the war. Tian Chang first instigated Duke Dao of Qi to kill Bao Mu, with whom he had a personal grudge, and then instigated Bao Mu's son to poison Duke Dao of Qi.

At this time, Tian Chang again stepped forward as the prime minister of Qi and established Duke Dao of Qi's son, Prince Ren, as the king. In this way, within five years after Duke Jing of Qi's death, Qi changed its ruler four times, from Duke Jing to Duke Jian, and the prestige accumulated by Tian Chang and his son Tian Qi began to take root.

Duke Jian of Qi appointed Tian Chang and Kan Zhi as his left and right prime ministers, but Tian Chang was dissatisfied. The minister Yu Yang suggested that Duke Jian dismiss Tian Chang and replace Kan Zhi, but Duke Jian was indecisive and could not make up his mind.

Later, the Tian family became more and more arrogant, and a member of the Tian family even dared to kill someone in the street, which was known by Kan Zhi. Kan Zhi was deeply afraid of Tian Chang, so he contacted Duke Jian of Qi to chase Tian Chang away together. However, Tian Chang attacked in advance, ambushed Duke Jian and killed him in Shuzhou, and established Duke Jian's brother as Duke Ping.

Zheng Shusheng paused here to give everyone time to digest. Everyone was immersed in this story. The Tian family had a far-reaching plan, and Tian Chang followed in his father's footsteps and inherited his father's methods. In just two generations, the Tian family had taken control of the power of Qi State, and could kill even the Marquis of Qi at will.

This scheming and means were really hidden from the beginning, and it was not until the death of Duke Jing of Qi that Tian Qi found the opportunity.

"Afterwards, Duke Ping succeeded to the throne, and Tian Chang became the prime minister. He ceded the land east of Anping in Qi as the territory of the Tian family. Although Duke Ping was the king, he had no real power, and Tian Chang took advantage of his power. He died after 25 years in office.

Duke Ping's son succeeded him as Duke Xuan of Qi. After Tian Chang died, Tian Bai continued to wield power. The two families lived in peace for decades until Tian Bai died and Tian He succeeded him. Duke Xuan died of illness and Duke Kang of Qi succeeded him. At this time, there was a confidant in the court, Guan Yi, a descendant of Guan Zhong. This man was secretly cultivated by Duke Xuan. He was loyal to Duke Xuan and Duke Kang, and vowed to take back the power in the hands of the Tian family for Duke Kang..."

At this point, a fictional character, Guan Yi, a descendant of Guan Zhong, was invented. In Zheng Shusheng's words, Guan Yi was loyal and devoted, and just like his ancestor Guan Zhong, he was proficient in political schemes and military tactics, and was almost omnipotent.

All the spectators present breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with such powerful assistance, the State of Qi should be able to revive and Duke Kang of Qi should be able to take power back, right?

Zheng Shusheng quietly changed the main perspective of the narrative from Tian to Guan Yi. Guan Yi was a master of military strategy, defeating the State of Lu in the south and the State of Zhao in the west, thus avenging the previous humiliation.

At home, he relied on his military achievements and tactics to win over the domestic literati and compete with Tian He, looking like a tough guy sent from heaven.

All the listeners were very happy at this moment. After all, who doesn’t like to listen to heroic stories?
"It seems that Tian He was really unlucky. When the day of ancestor worship was approaching, he suddenly fell ill and stayed in bed for more than two months, unable to manage affairs. All the power in the court was taken back by Guan Yi, and the scene was prosperous.

Duke Kang of Qi, remembering the affection between Guan Yi and his ancestor Guan Zhong, specially ordered Guan Yi to lead 300 soldiers as a ceremonial guard to accompany him to the outer side of Linzi city to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.

When Zheng Shusheng said this, everyone's expressions relaxed. Now that Tian He was seriously ill, it seemed that in the traditional heroic story, when the hero and the king came back from worshipping their ancestors together, the biggest villain would just die suddenly and his soul would return to heaven.

But this story was written by Feng Xi, so the ending would naturally not be like this.

"It turns out that Tian He was faking illness, deliberately letting Duke Kang of Qi and Guan Yi relax their vigilance, and making them think that he was unable to govern for the past two months. Unexpectedly, when Duke Kang of Qi and Guan Yi went out of the city to worship their ancestors today, Tian He suddenly launched an attack, gathered a large army, and sent troops to attack Duke Kang of Qi in the name of Guan Yi 'hostage'."

Sure enough, Zheng Shusheng changed the subject and the content of his remarks shocked everyone.

"Guan Yi wanted to fight to the death, but he had no choice but to face the fact that Duke Kang of Qi was still around. Tian He sent an envoy to come and swore by the Zi River that if Guan Yi committed suicide, Duke Kang of Qi would be safe and enjoy the rest of his life.

Guan Yi had no choice but to commit suicide in front of the two armies, and the power of Qi State finally fell into the hands of Tian He.

As for Duke Kang of Qi, he was finally exiled to an island by Tian He. Duke Kang could only dig a hole to make a stove, while Tian He abolished the title of Duke of Qi from the Jiang clan and replaced it with the Tian clan.

But a few years later, Duke Kang of Qi died on an island. "

Zheng Shusheng slammed the gavel, explaining the final outcome of everyone clearly, leaving the first floor of Qianzuifang silent, and the same went for the second floor. It seemed that the story upstairs had also come to an end.

(End of this chapter)