Qi country, Linzi.

Li Shiqi came here.

To go from Luoyang to Qi, you need to pass through the jurisdiction of Zhao or Chu, and Li Shiqi enters the territory of Chu as a scholar, and then enters Qi from Chu.

He was a Confucian student, and Xiangguo Tian Heng was a Confucian believer, and he was soon received.

In front of Tian Heng and Qi Wang Tian Guang, the two sides entered the main topic after a little greeting.

Li Shiqi said: "Xiang Yu has no way, divides the Qi country into three, the first king of the Qi country rose up to resist, the courage is commendable, and the Qi country is finally restored; Emperor Yi once promised that the first to enter the pass is the king, and the king of Han led the army into the pass, but Xiang Yu pretended to use the name of the emperor to divide the world and seal the king of Han to Bashu, and the king of Han also rose up to resist and recaptured the Guanzhong that belonged to him. The king of Han hoped to join forces with the Qi State to deal with Xiang Yu together. ”

He did not say his true intentions, but first said what the two sides had in common and what they had in common in order to shorten the distance.

Tian Guangdao: "The Qi State cannot be compared with the Han State, so it can only barely protect itself. To deal with Xiang Yu, you have to rely on the Han Kingdom. Zhao Guo also agreed with my Qi State that if Xiang Yu attacked my Qi State, Zhao State would send troops to rescue. Zhao Guo is still short of grain and grass, and last month China also sold surplus grain to Zhao Guo. ”

Li Shiqi was shocked when he heard this, the more abundant the grain and grass in Zhao State, the more unfavorable it was to the Han army.

At the time of the grain and grass trade between Zhao and Qi, Li Shiqi had already set off from Luoyang, and later Liu Bang and Han Xin had already received information, and Li Shiqi only knew about it now.

Li Shiqi sighed.

Tian Heng asked, "Why is Mr. Li sighing?" ”

Li Shiqi said: "Qi Guo made a mistake this step!" ”

Tian Heng and King Qi were both surprised, and Tian Guang asked, "Why did Mr. say this?" ”

Li Shiqi said: "Zhao Xie said that he and King Han and King Xiang are kings of equal status, which shows that he intends to divide the world outside of Han and Chu, and Yan has been quickly annexed by Zhao State, and the next one will be the turn of Qi." ”

Tian Guang and Tian Heng disagreed.

Tian Guangdao: "Your Han King annexed more countries, first the three kingdoms of Guanzhong Yong, Sai, and Zhai, and then Wei and Dai, if you want to talk about ambition, the Han King's ambition is even greater." ”

Tian Hengdao: "Xiang Yu has no way, the people of Qi country hate him to the bone, the first king rebelled against Xiang Yu, it was to restore the former Qi country; The King of Han is different, he wants to compete with Xiang Yu for the world. King Xiang's lack of Tao and King Han's ambition are known to the world. ”

Li Shiqi said unhurriedly: "Guanzhong should have been the king of Han, and it is natural for the Han army to march north from Bashu; Xiang Yu had no way, killed the righteous emperor, and the king of Han united the princes to crusade, which is where the righteousness lies; Wei Wangbao first turned his back on the Han king, and the Han king sent the Han general to conquer; Zhao Xie and Chen Yu had no way, seized the land of King Changshan, Zhang Er defected to the King of Han, and asked the King of Han to send troops, which was famous for the division, and the King of Han sent the general and Zhang Er to conquer Zhao Xie and Chen Yu together. ”

Although his words were reasonable, Tian Guang and Tian Heng felt reasonable, they also confirmed Liu Bang's ambition.

The united princes crusaded against Xiang Yu, Liu Bang wanted to be the leader of the princes, Wei Wangbao was defeated by Liu Bang because he no longer recognized Liu Bang as the leader, and Yingbu, the king of Jiujiang, also defected to the Han King ...... as a courtier, many examples are evidence of Liu Bang's ambition.

Li Shiqi paid attention to the reactions of the other two, which was expected by him, and before leaving, he was ready enough to convince the two.

He asked: "Dare to ask King Qi and Tian Xiangguo, does Qi want peace?" ”

Tian Heng said: "From the king and ministers of the Qi State to the common people of Li, they are all tired of conscription and war. King Han and Xiang Yu competed for hegemony, and the state of Qi always remained neutral, hoping to stay away from the war. When I resisted Xiang Yu at the beginning, I had to do it as a last resort, and I only hoped that the Chu State would not offend my Qi State again. ”

Tian Guangdao: "What Xiang Guo said is extremely true, the one who may bring war to Qi is Xiang Yu. ”

Li Shiqi said: "King Qi and Xiangguo are only half right. Although Xiang Yu is hostile to the Qi State, he is not the biggest enemy, and the Zhao State is the biggest enemy of the Qi State. ”

Tian Heng and Tian Guang were both shocked when they heard this, Tian Heng's face changed a little, and he said coldly: "Mr. Li, I respect you as a Confucian student, but don't separate Qi and Zhao." ”

Li Shiqi said: "I am thinking about the Qi country. Think about it, in the north, Wei and Dai have been seized by the Han king, if Zhao Xie wants to have the strength to compete with the Han and Chu sides, and truly sit on an equal footing with the Han and Chu kings, the only way is to annex Yan and Qi. Zhao Guoxian pretended to make peace with Qi State, which was a means of confusion. When the Han army marched eastward again, he would be able to fight the Han army with all his might without worries. Capturing Yan Land is Zhao Xie's first step, and he will definitely seek an opportunity to seize Qi State. ”

When the two of them heard this, they suddenly felt reasonable, and Tian Heng's expression was greatly relaxed.

Li Shiqi paid attention to the expressions of the two and knew that his words had an effect.

Tian Hengdao: "The King of Han crusaded against the Zhao State, after seizing the Zhao State, wouldn't he covet the Qi State?" ”

Li Shiqi said: "In the early period of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family was powerful, the world was very prestigious, the princes submitted, and the world dominated by Zhou Tianzi coexisted peacefully; In the later period of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family declined, and the princes attacked each other, and the world was full of smoke. If the Qi State wants to be peaceful for a long time, it cannot be neutral, so it can only choose to stand on the side of the Han King. The King of Han is very ambitious, and he hopes to defeat Xiang Yu to dominate the world. He recruited the wise men of the world and accepted the advice of his courtiers; He had a loving heart and loved the people. Think about it, Xiang Yu or King Han, who is more popular with the people? Who can make the world surrender? Although Zhang Er lost his fief, the Han King still treated him like a prince, last year the Han army went east to conquer Zhao, not to annex Zhao, but to help Zhang Er regain the fief, to take Zhao, Zhang Er is the king of Zhao. The king of Han had great ambitions, he wanted to be the son of heaven who made the world submit, and all the vassal states only needed to keep their duties and pay tribute to the son of heaven, and the world would be peaceful. If the Qi State can stand on the side of the King of Han, seize the Zhao State in the future, and then defeat Xiang Yu, the world will be decided, and the Qi State will naturally have a long-term peace. ”

Listening to Li Shiqi's eloquent words, Tian Heng and Tian Guang were like being empowered.

Tian Heng stood up from his seat, walked in front of Li Shiqi, bowed to him, and said sincerely: "Mr. Fang is wrong, I hope you will forgive me!" ”

Li Shiqi got up and saluted back.

After the two sides sat down, Tian Guang and Tian Heng thought about it, thinking carefully about what Zhao Guo had done recently.

Tian Guang said: "The reason why Zhao State seized Yan State is really too far-fetched, and now that I think about it, it is really a wolf's ambition." If he just wanted to help the people of Yandi eradicate Zang Cha, he would not force Zang Cha to surrender, let alone occupy Yan Land, but would let the people of Yandi support a new Yan King again. Ay... fell for Zhao Xie and sold so much grain to him. ”

Tian Heng said: "If it weren't for Mr. Reminder, Qi Guo would be in danger." The State of Qi is willing to stand on the side of the King of Han, and when the world is settled, the State of Qi will pay tribute to the Han Dynasty in the name of a courtier. If the king of Han is sent, the state of Qi must obey. ”

The other two were convinced, and Li Shiqi was happy in his heart.

He said: "The king of Han hopes that when General Han Xin leads the army to the east, the Qi State will send troops to attack the back of the Zhao State, so that it will be difficult for Zhao Xie to concentrate his forces, and the Qi army will not need to attack on a large scale, but only need to attack and contain it." After defeating Zhao Xie, the king of Han should be the soldiers of the world and jointly crusade against Xiang Yu. As soon as Xiang Yu was destroyed, the world was peaceful, and the people of Qi were spared the pain of war from then on. ”

Because of being "pointed out the way" by Li Shiqi, Tian Guang and Tian Heng were very grateful to Li Shiqi, and they were hospitable every day, and Li Shiqi stayed in Qi for ten days before leaving. During this period, I met the minister of Qi and did propaganda for Liu Bang; I also went to the Jixia School Palace and talked about Confucianism with scholars.