warring states careerist

Chapter 810 The Age of Unbelief

Gong Shucuo and Han Xiang not only discussed the division of Zheng State, but also discussed the matter of Sishang and Song State.

Uncle Zuo is full of vigilance towards Sishang, but he understands that Wei State is powerless now, so Wei State urgently needs allies to fight Sishang on the Eastern Front.

The situation in the time of Marquis Wen has been ruined until now, Qin State began to reform, because of the issue of the ownership of Xihe, it is impossible to reconcile the relationship between Wei and Qin, unless Wei State surrenders Xihe.

On the eastern front, Wei State wanted to reconcile with Chu State and bring Chu State into the front line against the Mohists.

Uncle Cuo also knows that once Wei and Han carve up the state of Zheng, the relationship between Chu and Wei will drop to freezing point again, and the distrust and century-old enmity between them will not be resolved.

However, if Zheng Guo does not give South Korea, the relationship between Wei and South Korea will always have a grudge. South Korea will not be allowed to Zheng Guo, and Wei Guo's external strategy can only be done without effort.

Uncle Gong has no choice. If South Korea gets all of Zheng, it will be even more difficult to contain. The situation of one superpower and two strong within the Three Jins has been broken. Zhao Guo is continuing the reform of Gong Zhonglian. If South Korea gets Zheng Guo again With all the territory, the diplomatic situation of Wei State is even more ugly.

Fortunately, when the Heze League was held four years ago, the state of Chu was going back to Yuguan. Once the state of Song was controlled by the Mohists, there would naturally be discord between the state of Chu and Sishang.

The policy of strategic contraction was set by Uncle Gong, and Wei Jian also accepted it after clarifying the situation, but Uncle Cuo hoped that with the help of Zheng Guo, he could establish a more threatening common enemy: Sishang Mohists .

As a result, the relationship between Wei and Han continued to maintain a true alliance.

South Korea's wishful thinking was to exchange land, using cities such as Huangchi, Yongqiu, and Xiangling near the Song State in exchange for the Wei State's land due to the Wei State that was about to be divided.

In this case, it is equivalent to connecting some broken enclaves in South Korea together, and at the same time, the cities on the front line against the Mohists were replaced by the cities of Zheng Guo, so that Wei Guo was on the front line.

This wishful thinking Han Hou and Han Xiang knew that Wei Guo could not accept it, but they could use it as a bargaining chip, so as to gain greater benefits in dividing up Zheng Guo.

Uncle Zuo saw through the purpose of South Korea at a glance, which is obvious: South Korea withdraws from Huangchi and other places, and Wei Guo will face two problems.

One is that South Korea has left the front line against Sishang.

The second is that if Chu and Wei go to war, it will be easier for South Korea to threaten Wei.

Because with the current national strength of Chu State, there is no way to fight on two fronts. Either go northward along the line of Lushan in Nanyang, or go northward along the line of Yuguan and Daliang.

In the direction of Lushan Mountain in Nanyang, although South Korea bears the brunt, it directly threatens the direction of Yiluo, which can directly approach Zhou Tianzi, and even cut Wei into two parts.

If Chu goes northward from Mount Lu, the State of Wei must be rescued, and the State of Wei will send troops without South Korea asking.

But if South Korea abandons Huangchi Yongqiu, then if Chu State goes northward along the Yuguan Daliang line, South Korea can remain neutral, threaten Wei State with a neutral attitude, and obtain more benefits.

Similarly, Chu State also has reason to negotiate a separate peace with South Korea, and South Korea can eat two families and watch the tigers fight from the mountain.

Since it was obvious that Wei Guo could not accept it, it would mean raising the price on the spot and paying back the money on the spot.

Uncle Cuo's attitude towards this negotiation with South Korea is actually irritable. It has come to this point, and he is still scheming for petty profits, without considering Sishang's threat at all.

Sishang is separated from Qin State from east to west, Wei and Han are sandwiched in between, and there is Chu State in the south. It is obviously an extremely dangerous situation, but the three Jins are still fighting each other. How can Gong Shucuo not be irritable?
It's just that at this time, there is no one who can make an appointment with the ministers of the six countries to make ink together, and it is impossible for Gong Shucuo, as Minister of Wei, to gain the trust of all countries.

Furthermore, although Sishang has risen rapidly in recent years, the princes of the world will never forget the Wei State that fought on all sides and dominated the Central Plains.

Especially Gong Shucuo understands that once Zheng Guo is divided up this time under the pretext of the Anti-Mohui League, Wei Guo's reputation will be completely bankrupt.

Historically, the intrigues completely lost the so-called aristocratic spirit of the Spring and Autumn Period. The symbolic event of the Warring States Troubled Times was that South Korea took advantage of the opportunity of the Wei and Chu allies to occupy the Zheng State and forced the Wei State to admit it; this kind of intrigue has no faith to Qin. The country's detainment of King Huai of Chu reached its peak, making countries completely abandon the "international law" of the Zhou Li era, and completely turned into a dark forest.

Now this kind of intrigue situation is much earlier. Five years ago, Wei Guo pitted Qi State to negotiate peace with Mohist alone, which is considered a violation of the precept, but it is not too serious.

But this time... Gong Shucuo knew that it was impossible for the word trust to exist among the princes.

Now, Gong Shucuo understands, Han Xiang understands, Wei Chi understands, Han You understands, and even the king of Chu understands that Sishang will be the great enemy of the princes of the world in the future.

But, who will do this early bird?Who will guarantee that those who are being defended will not stab themselves in the back when they fight Sishang with all their strength to defend the long-term interests of all the princes?

Even if the state of Chu says, let’s fight against the state of Wei, and your state of Wei wiped out the last elite field army, I will not take the opportunity to seize a city in the state of Wei... Does the king of Chu believe it?
Time also, potential also.

If Wei State still had the advantage of Wenhou, the Song State incident could be easily resolved: clearly guarantee the independence of Zheng State, oppose South Korea’s annexation of Zheng State, take up the righteousness of maintaining Zhouli, and take the lead in attacking Sishang.

It can be said that the current national power and prestige of the Wei State cannot be controlled, and they dare not lead it. They can only choose the immediate interests and carve up the Zheng State.

As for the future... It's a bit of a day-to-day meaning.

When the two sides talked about Song Guo and Sishang, they both looked sad and worried.

Can be worried, but did not talk about any effective solution.

Wei and Han all acquiesced that they would not choose to send troops, at least not now, especially the oppression of the siege ability displayed by Sishang after the siege of Dangshan.

After all, the partition of the Zheng Kingdom was done under the guise of interfering with the Song National Alliance. Prime Minister Han said, "Once this is done, the people of Chu will be angry."

"Although the Chu people and the Mohists are not close, they have never been hostile. Except for the battle in Shangqiu more than [-] years ago, there has been no enmity recently."

"I'm just afraid that the Chu people will be angry and join forces with the Mohists to interfere in this matter."

Han Xiang's worries are not unreasonable.

The state of Chu sent Ling Yin and Da Sima to the alliance to talk about joint defense against the rise of Sishang. While we were talking, Wei and Han took action to divide the state of Zheng, and did not bring them to the alliance after the end Together with Chu State, if Chu State is not angry, it will be a ghost.

Moreover, as soon as Zheng State was divided to the north, Chu State's back road in the salient part of the Central Plains was completely cut off. There was originally a buffer state, but now Wei and Han can directly threaten the south of Yuguan. If the gap is closed again, Chu State Yuguan, which was finally coming back, was considered a dead city, and Daliang City would never even think about taking it back.

Uncle Gong smiled and said: "There is no need to worry about this matter. The relationship between us and the people of Chu is nothing more than the grievances between the princes and princes, and the power of the country is competing for supremacy."

"He Sishang, that's the hatred of earth-shaking, the fear of turning the world upside down. If Sishang rises, even if we fight Chu to death, Chu will also participate in the war against Sishang."

"So, when dealing with Sishang, we don't need to consider whether Chu people trust us."

"Chu people trust the Mohists, but what the Mohists do is absolutely unacceptable to the King of Chu. Everyone is equal, respects the virtuous, loves the people, and chooses the virtuous as princes and emperors... This is the death of the country and the ancestral temple. When we fight against the people of Chu, it is only a few cities."

"Since Chu people will definitely turn against Mo, why should we be nice to Chu people?"

Han Xiang praised: "Solve the confusion in my heart. It's just that the people of Chu will be angry about this matter, so how can we guard against it?"

Uncle Cuo said again: "So what if the people of Chu are angry? Chu's political reform, the country is in chaos, if there is no foreign aid and allies, how can they interfere with Zheng's country?"

"The only possible foreign aid ally is Sishang. But we first form an alliance with the Chu people, and we must denounce the behavior of the Mohists first."

"This is equivalent to making it impossible for the Chu State and the Mohist to form an alliance first, and then we cheat the Chu State, what can he do? He just scolded the Mohist family today and opposed the morality of the Mohist family, and turned around tomorrow and asked for an alliance? The Mohist family will Do you trust the state of Chu? Does the state of Chu think the Mohists will agree?"

…………

The envoy of the king of Chu was not far from the state of Wei. On the way, the great Sima of the state of Chu got the news that the siege of Dangshan was over.

The current political structure of Chu State is closely related to the past 20 years.

More than 20 years ago, the Mohists shocked the world for the first time when they beheaded the Great Sima of Chu in the battle of Shangqiu City.

After the battle of Daliang City, Wu Qizhen beheaded Chu Youyin and several real power lords.

This can be regarded as providing an opportunity for Chu's reform.

The Qu, Zhao, and Jing clans firmly held the position of Ling Yin. In the 800 years of the Chu State, there were very few people with foreign surnames who took the position of Ling Yin, and Ling Yin could not be replaced.

However, Da Sima, You Yin and others who were originally sent by the aristocrats of the emperor died, and the position was vacated. Finally, the king of Chu could arrange some people sent by the scholars to enter.

Normally, there are unspoken rules in the court of Chu State. If Ling Yin dies of illness or makes a mistake for some reason, Da Sima is the first substitute.

In the current court of Chu State, in fact, the noble clan headed by Ling Yin opposed the reform; the scholar class headed by Da Sima Youyin supported the reform.

The two sides have different interests and have different foreign policies.

The King of Chu hoped that the State of Chu would not get involved in the affairs of the State of Song, and would continue to reform; the nobles of the great clan hoped that the State of Chu would go to war against the State of Song in order to increase the power of the nobles with real power.

This time when they came to the alliance, King Chu's meaning was very clear. Since the Mohists chose to send troops, the Song State completely rejected the idea of ​​peacefully carve up the Song State, and implemented mobilization.

Then the state of Chu would not choose to go to war with the Mo family, and sell the interests of the state of Song, making the relationship between the Mo family and Wei Han even more tense.

It is obvious that if Chu State does not send troops, Wei and Han will not send troops.

In fact, this time the King of Chu was sincere. Daliang City could not be taken back, and even if it was taken back, it would be equivalent to standing on the front line of anti-Mo for Wei Guo. It is very difficult, so instead of talking nonsense about Daliang, it is better to take advantage of this alliance to completely abandon Daliang's claim.

In Daliang, Qifeng, Yuguan, Yangxia, Xiangling and other places, the three kingdoms of Wei, Chu and Han built cities, strengthened their defenses, and united against each other, so they should not conflict with each other in this place.

One thing is that if you want to build a city, there can be no more conflicts. You can't say that I am building a city to defend against the Mohists. You beat me while I am building the city so that I can't build it.

Second, once the city defenses are complete, Wei, Chu and Han will be hindered by these cities, and there will be fewer battles in the direction of the Central Plains, and it will be difficult to attack the city, especially the new fortified city, so that we can really prepare for the Mohist westward advance to the Central Plains.

The third is to sign an anti-Mexico alliance as much as possible. Internal fighting is fine, but if the Mohists attack any of these cities in the direction of the Central Plains, it is best to fight together.

In fact, the Chu State has also abandoned the Central Plains strategy, and turned to a temporary strategic contraction, waiting for future reforms before discussing counterattacks.

Da Sima belonged to the king of Chu's faction, so he naturally upheld the will of the king of Chu. He didn't know that Wei and Han conspired to carve up the state of Zheng.

(End of this chapter)