Zhou Fan, Tang Wang, and Liu Lai came to the territory of Shang without stopping, and they only breathed a sigh of relief, let go of their nervousness, and walked calmly on the road. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Zhou Fan got off the horse, led the horse, and chatted with King Tang who was sitting in the carriage. When talking about the battle of the state of Xuan, Zhou Fan did not hide the experience of how he came to the Shang country after the defeat of the Xia army last time, and Zhou Fan finally asked Liu Lai to stop the car, and he asked the king of Tang to plead guilty: "The defeat of the army is irreparable, please punish the king of Tang!" Tang Wang said: "Aiqing can return to the Shang Kingdom with his whole body, this is my great luck for the Shang Kingdom, not to mention the battle in the Jin Kingdom, there are objective reasons, and I can't completely blame Aiqing." Aiqing saved the orphan on the way to welcome his relatives last time, and this time he rescued the orphan and returned to China, his contribution is indispensable, Aiqing is a person of great merit in the business country, how can he be guilty? Liu Aiqing, you drive your carriage, don't stop, you will arrive in the commercial capital soon, and all this will be said in the court. In this way, Liu Lai's carriage moved again.

The news of King Tang's return to China spread far and wide, and soon spread to the Shang capital. When the people of Shangdu heard that King Tang had returned, they all rushed to tell each other and welcome him. When King Tang entered the capital, he tidied up his clothes and crowns, and Zhou Fan opened the way, and he stood in front of the carriage and waved to the people frequently. After a while, he came to the palace, and the young lord Taijia also led the ministers of civil and military affairs to line up in front of the palace to greet King Tang. When they saw King Tang returning unharmed, they all bowed and said, "Welcome my king's return to the country!" Tang Wang said: "Don't be polite, go back to the palace!" ”

That night, the soup king bathed and changed his clothes and slept soundly.

Early the next morning, the ministers in the court had already lined up in two columns according to the civil and military ministers, and the young master was also standing among them, waiting for the arrival of King Tang.

"The soup king has arrived!"

Tang Wang was dressed in a royal newspaper, slowly walked into the court, came to the center, and sat in the south.

All the civil and military ministers and young masters in the hall bowed to King Tang and said, "My king is blessed! Long live my king! ”

"Flat!"

"It's not easy to go to the summer capital this time and return safely, it all depends on the efforts of all Aiqing to have this good ending, thank you everyone!"

"This is our due responsibility, and we dare not be praised by the king!" Yi Yin said.

"Before, my merchant army entered the country of Yan and fought with the Xia army, I thought that the commander of Zhou died on the battlefield, and he lost his love for the general, but I didn't expect him to return to Lone's side, this is the great luck of Lone, and it is also the great luck of my Shang Country, I want to return to Zhou Aiqing's original position, I don't know what Zhou Aiqing wants?"

"The criminal minister was defeated, he didn't take it accountable, but accepted the heavy responsibility of the king, I really dare not be!"

"Alas, Zhou Aiqing thinks the original position is too low?"

"No, no, no! But the offender is guilty and deserves to be punished. ”

"Lonely on the road has already said, the first battle of the country, you can't be blamed, there are objective reasons, Zhou Aiqing repeatedly rescued the lonely in danger, it is a great contribution to the Shang country. Zhou Aiqing will resume his original post for the time being, and he will have a big responsibility in the future. ”

"Thank you for your kindness!"

"Good!" King Tang continued: "In the past few days when Lone was imprisoned in Xiatai, I have thought a lot, and I have reviewed the grievances and grievances between the Shang Kingdom and the Xia Dynasty for many years. Now Gu finally figured it out, Xia Wang Ji was indeed a hopeless tyrant, and he couldn't have any hope for him. Lone can return safely this time, the Shang Kingdom and the Xia Dynasty no longer talk about the love of the monarch, and Lone can no longer tolerate and accommodate! Ready to openly challenge the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Kingdom and the Xia Dynasty are already incompatible, and they vow to fight with the Xia Dynasty to the end! ”

As soon as the words fell, the court burst into applause. The ministers of civil and military affairs were very happy to see that King Tang had finally made up his mind.

Tang Wang pressed his hands from top to bottom, pressed everyone, signaled to stop applauding, and then the entire court fell silent again. Tang Wang said again: "When Lone was imprisoned in Xiatai by Xia Wangji, he suspected that Lone's life should be extinguished, and he would never come back. But now that Lone has come back safely, this is still providential, which also means that the Xia Dynasty will enter its final grave! ”

"Long live my king! Long live my king! The court heard another shout of praise.

After the court calmed down, Yi Yin said: "I have already proposed to the king to crusade against the king of Xia, but the king thinks of the common people in the world and does not want the people to suffer from the war, so he put it on hold. In fact, if the people were under the rule of the Xia Dynasty, the suffering was long-term, and the suffering of war was temporary and short-lived. ”

"Now the strength of our Shang country and the Xia Dynasty is compared, although the princes belonging to our Shang country are not as many as the Xia Dynasty, but our Shang country is popular with the people, and the Xia Dynasty is from the people's hearts. Our Shang country has the ability to defeat the Xia Dynasty. "The End of the Ancient Road.

"How to compete with the Xia Dynasty, please also ask all Aiqing to share their opinions."

"In recent years, my Shang country has been strong and strong, and if I give me 5,000 elite soldiers, I can level the summer capital." Micro on the road.

"General Wei can't be in a hurry about this. From a geographical point of view, the three kingdoms of Youyou, Youyu, and Youqi in the eastern part of our Shang Kingdom are still under the orders of the Xia Dynasty. If I venture to attack the Xia capital in the west with all my might, and the domestic forces of our Shang country are empty, if there are still three kingdoms of still, there are dangers, and there are poor people who attack our Shang country from the east on the orders of the Xia Dynasty, then it will be difficult for the eastern front of our Shang country to cope with the attack of the three countries, which also causes our Shang country to fight on the east and west fronts, and the enemy is on the back, which is very unfavorable to our Shang country. Therefore, I think it is better for us to adopt various strategies on the Eastern Front first, and solve the problems one by one. Because these three countries are all small countries, their forces are limited, they are vulnerable, and they are easy to subdue. For the Xia Dynasty, as usual, it was just a battle between the princes and the princes, which would not attract much attention from the Xia Dynasty, let alone immediately make the Xia Dynasty make a big move and lead troops to invade the Shang State from the Western Front. In this way, we can take the three small states in the east in one fell swoop, eliminate the threat to our Shang state in the east, and then consider attacking the Xia Dynasty in the west. Zhou Fan analyzed according to the "Emperor's Art of War".

"What Commander Zhou said is very true, we still consider a two-step plan, which is the most appropriate." Yi Yin said, "By the way, there is still the matter of the merchant sea, and I haven't had time to report it to the king." When the king was imprisoned in the summer capital, Shang Hai did not listen to the opinions of the young lord and the vast majority of the people in the court, and under the pretext of saving the king, he privately led his troops to attack the summer capital. If it is true that once it fights with the Xia army, it will definitely anger the Xia Wangji, and it will be difficult for the king to preserve, and if our Shang army is defeated by the Xia army, the consequences will be even more unimaginable. We agreed with the young master that we had no choice but to find Commander Zhou by Zhonggu, and Commander Zhou led the martial arts heroes to kidnap him and force him to collect his troops and return home. He is now under house arrest, waiting for the king's wrath. Yi Yin said.

"Father, this merchant does have different intentions and does not listen to advice." The young master Taijia said.

"I am alone on the way back to Shangguo, and I have heard Zhou Aiqing talk about it, so I will bring him up now." Tang Wang said.

"The king has an order, bring the sea of business!" The squire shouted.

"The king, there is another matter in the business sea, and the king must also be clear."

"What's the matter?"

"According to the investigation sent by the minister, Shang Hai has a secret connection with Tu Shan." Yi Yin said.

"Oh, is there such a thing?"

"He is a spy sent by Tu Shan to my Shang country."

"Got it, there's a way to do it alone."

After a while, Shang Hai brought him to the court.

As soon as Shang Hai entered the court, he was surprised to see King Tang sitting on the top. Hurriedly knelt down and bowed: "The king's return to China is still a great blessing for my merchant country, and the merchant sea will meet the king!" ”

"Shang Hai, it is said that you want to lead the troops to the summer capital and rescue Lone, how are you going to save it?"

"King Tang was detained, Weichen was very anxious, led the troops out of the Shang capital, and thought that Xia Du rescued the king, but unexpectedly, they robbed Zhou Fan and put me under house arrest, the king is here, and he will be able to deal with it impartially."

"What Gu wants to ask now is that you led the troops to the summer capital, how to save Gu?"

Shang Hai was asked by King Tang like this, and he couldn't say anything.

"Is it to start a war with the Xia army first? Then defeat Xia Jun and rescue Lone? ”

"Yes."

"Are you sure that you will defeat the Xia army, attack the summer capital, and rescue Lone?"

"I don't know."

"If you are not sure, then how do you save the orphan?"

"This ......"

"And what is your purpose? What is the intention? ”

"King, heaven and earth can be seen, I am loyal to save the king."

"You took advantage of Lone's absence and did not get the permission of the court to send troops privately, which not only made our merchant country bear the charge of rebellion, but also made Lone to death, and then the snipe and clam fought each other, and the fish profited."

"It's the minister who deserves to die, and the minister only knows one thing, but he doesn't know the other, and he really doesn't know the stakes."

"Could it be that Minister Yi and other ministers didn't make it clear to you."

At this time, there was an angry voice in the court, and Du Dao told him many times, but he just didn't listen.

"What else do you have to say, don't tell the secrets you have hidden in my business country for many years."

When Shang Hai heard that Tang Wang could say this, he couldn't help but be surprised, wondering if Tang Wang had listened to Yi Yin and them say something about his relationship with Tu Shan? But he still didn't give up until he saw the Yellow River, and he didn't cry when he didn't see the coffin. He deliberately asked, "What secret?" ”

"What is your relationship with Tu Shan?"

When Shang Hai heard this, his whole body trembled, and he said: "The king spares his life, the minister has just eaten their Sanshen Brain Pill in Tushan, and if you want to get their antidote, you have to do something for them, otherwise, once the toxicity of the Sanshen Brain Pill attacks and you can't get the antidote, the minister will be in great pain, and it will be itchy and uncomfortable, and life is better than death." Tu Shan sent me to the Shang Kingdom, and I have been lurking for a long time, just to provoke a war between the Shang State and the Xia Dynasty, and after both sides are defeated, Tu Shan will clean up the situation and establish the Great Han State in the Central Plains. In the past few years, King Tang has been very kind to me, but the minister was forced to do so, which reminds me of it, I am really sorry for the king. ”

"Back then, Han Dong hid in the summer palace and killed Xia Wangji. I also called him a man, but I didn't expect him to have a bad heart, and after arriving at Sanmiao, he assassinated the king of Sanmiao and wanted to replace him, but fortunately he didn't get it. Later, he went to Tushan to study the evil ways of the evil sect such as the secret weapon of the poison gate, and how many innocent people in the world were harmed. Even if a person like this can win the world, he is just another Xia Wangji, and the people of the world are still in dire straits. You were held hostage by Tu Shan and forced to be helpless; You just want to lead the army to attack the summer capital, and there are no consequences. In view of the above, if you can reform from now on, do things for our Shang country, and secretly continue to maintain contact with Tu Shan, so that Tu Shan and our Shang country can unite against the Xia Dynasty, make up for your crimes, and Lone will not kill you, what do you think? ”

"Thank you for the grace of not killing! The ministers must obey the king's orders, do things for the Shang country, and atone for their sins. "Shang Hai's kowtow is like pounding garlic.

"Then it's up to you how you behave in the future."

"The minister must behave well and live up to the king's hopes."

"Okay, as for what you said about taking Tu Shan's Sanshen Brain Pill, you need an antidote to eliminate its toxicity, as long as you are merit for Shang Guo, we will definitely find a way for you to find the world's divine doctor Bian Que and detoxify you."

"Thank you to the king, I will definitely make more meritorious contributions to the king."

"Then you should get up, the official will be demoted to three levels, reflect on it, and take him down first."

"Yes!"

And the soldiers took the merchant seas down.

When King Tang saw Shang Hai take him away, he looked around at the ministers in the hall and said, "In order to deal with the Xia Dynasty, we will unite all those who can be united at all costs, and even our enemies in the future." Now Tu Shan's power can be underestimated, if you can borrow the hand of Shang Hai to stabilize Tu Shan or use it for me, it is also a good thing during the confrontation between our Shang State and the Xia Dynasty. ”

"The king is far-sighted, and his ministers are convinced." Yi Yin said.

"This matter of Shanghai is due to the timely action of Aiqing, fortunately there are no consequences, so it will be handled like this for the time being. Regarding the use of troops in the Xia Dynasty, Commander Zhou analyzed it very reasonably, and according to what Commander Zhou said, first open up the battlefield on the Eastern Front, and subdue the three kingdoms of Youyou, Youyu, and Youqi, but who will open the knife first? ”

"Great King, the recent incident of the Yu Kingdom for water irrigation has caused a lot of trouble with our Shang Kingdom, so it is better to take it first, and there is enough reason." The End of the Ancient Road.

"Yes, recently there has been no rain in our Shang country for many months, the drought is serious, our Shang country is located in the lower reaches of the Tai River, and the downstream has long been cut off from the water source, according to the inquiry, there is a Yu country relying on the upper reaches of the Tai River, the water source is sufficient, so the water in the upper reaches of the Tai River is blocked by the dam, the water in the upper reaches of the Tai River can not flow to the lower reaches of our Shang country, the water in the downstream has dried up, and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in our Shang country are facing no water irrigation. Recently, our Shang country has sent people to theorize with Youyu State, but Yu Guojun, Yu Yuan, the monarch of Youyu State, insisted on going his own way and refused to release water. If our Shang Kingdom uses this reason to raise an army, I don't think the princes of the world will have any discussion. Yi Yin said.

"It is said that there are still many festivals with the country of Yu because of the matter of water, and the contradiction has been deep and long. If there is a war between our Shang country and the Yu country, the Yu country will not help the Yu country, unless it ...... "micro Shangdao."

"Unless what?" Tang Wang asked.

"Unless the Xia Dynasty forcibly issues an order to help the Yu State."

"With the existing strength of the Shang State, even if there is a union between the two countries, it is not an opponent of the Shang State, but the war will be prolonged." Tang Wang said so, but at this time, he felt that if there was really a union with Youyu, it would be a little disadvantageous for the Shang Kingdom.

"It is better for us to send an envoy with some gifts before we go to war against the Yu country, and on the grounds of the water matter, we will persuade the country to use troops against the Yu country together with our merchant country, if you agree, it is the best. If they do not agree, the envoys of our merchant country can also find out the movements of the country and return the information to our merchant country in a timely manner. I think that after receiving the gift, if the country still receives the gift, it will not unite with the country that is in danger to deal with our merchant country. And there are poor countries that have always been weak, far away from the country of Youyu, although they are still under the orders of the Xia Dynasty, but recently they have been attached to our Shang country, and there is a sense of obedience, I think if you can take the two countries of Yu, there are still two countries, and there are poor countries that surrender without a fight. Yi Yin said.

"For those who are in danger, still in trouble, and poor, we can only fight quickly, not prolong. As Yi Xiang said, if the remaining countries agree to send troops together, the war to subdue the Yu countries will end immediately, and by the way, the remaining countries will be forced to submit. If they do not agree to jointly send troops, after our merchant country has settled the troubled country, we will use the reason of reluctance to send troops to subdue the remaining country. On the contrary, if there is still a joint force with Youyu to confront the Shang State, our Shang State will settle all these two countries together. When our Shang State was fighting on the Eastern Front, if the war dragged on for too long, the Xia Dynasty would definitely react, and even united with its princes to use troops against our Shang State. In short, such as the chief of the war department on the Eastern Front, our Shang country should quickly solve the three kingdoms of still, dangerous and poor before the Xia Dynasty uses troops against our Shang country. Otherwise, we will again find ourselves in the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, east and west. Zhou Fan said.

"Now, according to what Yi Xiang said, on the grounds of irrigation, we will first use troops against the country that is in danger, and then, after watching how the war goes, we will make another decision. I declare: Zhou Fan is the general of the Shang State, commanding the soldiers and horses of the whole Shang State, and Wei Shang is the deputy general to assist Zhou Fan and start a war against the Youyu State. Prime Minister Yi Zuo will send an envoy to Youyu as soon as possible, and strive to fight together against Youyu State. In the end, the right side will prepare all the logistics such as food and grass for the war. ”

"Honor!" Zhou Fan, Weishang, Yi Yin, and Zhonggu Chaotang said in unison.

"Scatter!"

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Zhou Fan found Liu Lai and said: "The war with the Xia Dynasty is about to start, you go to contact the major sects, gather in the Shang Kingdom, and help King Tang." ”

"Yes, Lord."

He then took out the cloth and wrote dozens of invitations in a row with his own handwriting, and handed them to Liu Lai. And said: "After you send these invitations, go to Taiyue Mountain, take all the disciples who can fight down the mountain, and come to Shangdu." ”

"Yes, Lord."

In the following days, Zhou Fan and Weishang led the soldiers to carry out the most rigorous military training, improving the combat ability of the soldiers. When Zhou Fan and the generals of Wei Shang studied the specific battle plan and offensive route, Wei Shang said: "Do you want to send a crusade to the Yu State before attacking the Yu Country?" ”

"The crusade against the text is to be sent, but not to attack the Yu country before the attack, but to attack the Yu country later, so that it can be caught off guard. Otherwise, it will make the country prepared. How is this Yu Guo usually prepared at the border between the two countries? ”

"In the past, there was no war between the two countries, and the border between the two countries was not guarded, just some sporadic guns."

"Okay, where are the main forces of the Yu Kingdom?"

"Mainly concentrated in the periphery of Yudu."

"Then our army can go east along the Tai River and reach Yudu. Surprise him into Yudu, capture Yu Yuan, and then force him to surrender while trying to minimize some casualties. ”

"Okay, just follow the general's plan."

The chariots and horses of the Shang Kingdom were ready. All preparations for an attack on the country are ready. At this time, he received feedback from the envoy of Youyu that before receiving the order of the Xia Dynasty to crusade against Youyu, Youyu would not obey the orders of the Shang State to jointly send troops to attack Youyu, but it would not join forces with Youyu to deal with Shang.

After Zhou Fan got the attitude of Youyu, without further ado, he should immediately launch an offensive against Youyu State, so as not to expose the rumors and make Youyu State prepared, let alone make the Xia Dynasty take action when the Shang State attacked Youyu State.

The operational order for urgent mobilization was immediately issued.