In 485 B.C., Wu Wangfu sent the general Xu Cheng to lead 20,000 sailors from Taihu Lake out of Taihu Lake, east out of the Yangtze River estuary, and into the Yellow Sea. Mighty to the north. The intention of the Wu army was to find a decisive battle with the Qi naval division in the area of the peninsula, and after defeating the naval division of the Qi army, log in, copy the back road of the Qi country, and attack from the north and south to defeat the Qi army.

King Wu personally led an army of 100,000 troops through Hangou, advancing by land and water, and marching north.

The capital left Dazai Boyao to preside over the government, and Fan Li assisted him.

Before marching into the army, Xi Shi, the wife of Changguo, said: "King, you have to lead an expedition, the concubines are not worried about the king, let the concubines take care of the king with the army, the concubines can cook, can wash clothes, can take care of the king's life." ”

King Wu said: "Madame is worried about the widow, how can you not know your feelings?" But marching and fighting, eating and lodging, very hard, this thing is not suitable for women. The lady still rested at home, waiting for the widow's triumphant return. ”

Xi Shi said: "No, the concubine was born in a peasant family and is accustomed to work, so she can not only take care of the king's diet and daily life, but also accompany the king to talk and chat, and can also sing songs to the king to relieve the loneliness of the army." ”

King Wu was naturally reluctant to leave Xi Shi for a while, so he said, "Okay, Madame will go out with the widow." ”

When Wu Zixu heard this, he immediately rushed over, knelt in front of King Wu and said: "King, Mrs. Xi Shi is a peerless beauty, who went out with the army and could not bear the hardships. I'm afraid something will go wrong. ”

King Wu said: "Xiangguo's words are disrespectful, Mrs. and a woman can make the army's heart unstable, how have you trained the army over the years?" ”

Wu Zixu kowtowed and pleaded: "King, the army is fighting, flesh and blood are flying, don't let your wife go with you." ”

Xi Shi shouted: "Wu Zixu, you bully me!" ”

Wu Zixu said: "The soldiers don't dare, please understand the difficulty of the king's conquest, or stay in the rear and wait for good news." ”

Wu Zixu knelt down and pleaded repeatedly. Even tears.

King Wu sighed and said: "Madam, the west mountain of Gusu Tai is full of sycamores, you can enjoy the cool in summer, listen to the cicadas, you can cool off, and the lady will move to the west mountain, and after the summer, the widow will return victoriously." ”

Xi Shi wept, nostalgic in every way, and reluctant to give up: "The concubines will burn incense every day, praying for God's blessing and the king's victorious return as soon as possible." ”

Zi Mei Luo Jiang stepped forward, and Fu Xi Shi shed tears and left.

The army pulled out, traveled for a long time, suddenly saw a horse flying, turned over and dismounted in front of King Wu, cried on the ground, King Wu saw that it was Fan Li.

King Wu said, "What is the matter with the young uncle? Why are you crying? ”

Fan Li cried: "The king's expedition has no distractions, and the minister should not disturb, but this matter is important, and the minister does not dare not report it." As he spoke, he took out a piece of silk cloth and handed it to King Wu to take it, only to see a few lines of words on it, to the effect that Fan's father was seriously ill and had returned to the west, and he hoped that his filial son Fan Li would return to the funeral as soon as possible.

It turned out that Fan Li's father passed away.

King Wu comforted: "Young Uncle Day mourns! There is no immortal person in the world, so that the Venerable will die and return to bliss. It is also a positive result. ”

Fan Li cried: "Fan Li is not filial, he can't serve tea and rice in life, and he can't keep the spirit in front of death, so he is a son of man in vain, and he is a son of man in vain!" "I cried and almost fainted.

King Wu looked sad and said, "Don't be sad, young uncle, people can't be resurrected after death." You'd better go back to your hometown and mourn. ”

Fan Li said: "The king treats his ministers like a mountain. Now that there is something in the country, the king personally leads the army to the battle, and it is the time to employ people, how can the minister leave his post for personal affairs? ”

At this time, Bo Yao also rode a horse, saw the king, and said: "Fan Li is loyal and filial." When my father passed away, the matter was as big as the sky, so I asked the king to give me a holiday, so that the young uncle could go home to deal with filial piety, and the affairs of the court and the central government would be taken care of by the ministers. ”

Fan Li said: "Thank you Dazai for your sympathy, now that the king wants us to be loyal, how can I just leave?" ”

Bo Yao said: "There is no major matter in the DPRK, it is nothing more than urging the transportation of grain and grass, and Bo Yao can manage it." Let the king give him a leave. ”

King Wu said: "Okay, the widow allowed Fan Li to return to his hometown for funeral." Seven days, one hundred days, one year, when to come back, at your own discretion. ”

Fan Li kowtowed and thanked him: "Thank you for the great grace of the king, the minister will return to his hometown to bury his father, and he will return when he is full of five or seven." After thanking him again and again, he got up, got out of the way, lowered his eyebrows and lowered his head, and sent King Wu's army forward.

After a few days of marching in the army, King Wu reined in his horse and said to Wu Zixu: "Xiangguo, our Wu State has raised troops to attack Qi, and the strength is still a little weak. ”

Wu Zixu said: "What the king wants, please instruct." ”

King Wu said: "Spread the military order of the widows, and quickly send envoys to the Lu countries, Tan countries, Xu countries, and Chen countries, and ask their kings to come quickly, and Yu Huaishang and the widows will make peace." ”

Wu Zixu said: "What's the matter? ”

King Wu said: "Today's war against Qi, a major event in the world, the widow wants them to send troops to form a five-nation alliance with Wu to jointly crusade against Qi thieves." ”

Wu Zixu said: "This is the best, and the old minister will arrange for the envoy to go to the countries." Wu Zixu immediately turned around and selected four ministers who could speak well among the ministers of the army to come to see King Wu. King Wu immediately explained the mission of the envoy and said: "If the above four countries dare to disobey the order and do not come, they will destroy their country. Go for it. ”

Several messengers received the order, took the coils, and beat the horses and left.

The army continued to move forward, crossed the Huai River in less than a day, and stationed down.

The kings of the first countries also came to meet one after another, and they did not dare not come, and the king of Wu wanted to destroy them, that is, a matter of one sentence.

It is not easy for a small country to survive, and it cannot offend either this big country or that big country. It's a terrible thing to offend anyone. However, when a big country provokes a dispute, it has to choose a side and take refuge in a certain big country in order to seek protection, and only by playing well can it avoid national annihilation.

King Wu cut down, divided the world, at most hundreds of vassal states, and then there were constantly small countries swallowed up by big countries, to the Wu Yue era, there were only dozens of countries left in the world, to the Warring States period, only seven countries remained, and finally all were destroyed by the Qin State.

The monarchs of those small countries, when they saw the 100,000 army of Wu State, the military camp stretched for more than ten miles, the military flag was like a forest, the military appearance was mighty, and the military discipline was neat, and they couldn't help but shudder.

Although the economy of Wu was in recession, the Wu army was still a very capable army under the training of Wu Zixu. And no matter how many people starved to death in the country, the army's food and grass reserves were still very sufficient.

King Wu held a banquet in the big tent of the Chinese army to entertain the monarchs of various countries. After three rounds of drinking, King Wu got up, raised his glass and said, "The widow respectfully invites all the monarchs to come and discuss important matters." Recently, there have been continuous changes in the Qi country, mourning Gongyang Sheng and usurping the throne, and An Ruzi died unexpectedly. Heaven and man are outraged. But this is a state affair of Qi, let's not care about it, but the angry thing is that not long after Mourning Gong succeeded to the throne, he raised troops to attack Lu, this is a bully thing, and no one in the world can ignore it. The widow walked for the heavens, rescued the Lu country, and asked each to send troops for the monarch accordingly, form a coalition army, and jointly crusade against the thieves, and obtain the results of the battle, which everyone shared. If any monarch is unwilling to participate, he can withdraw now, and the widow will not be reluctant. ”

Several monarchs looked at each other, and who would dare to say that they would not participate? Not to mention attacking, the army of Wu has gone from its own land, does your country still exist?