King Wu and Bo Yao led Zigong to visit Gusutai. Gusutai is large-scale, and it took many days to watch it all. Zigong toured for a while, and he was tired. sighed again and again: "It's a fairyland." Everyone's handwriting! ”

King Wu entertained Zigong with the specifications of state guests, and there were songs and dances during the banquet. Those girls who sing and dance are all trained by Xi Shi himself, and their artistic attainments are extremely high. People are beautiful, songs are sweet, and Zigong is happy and forgets worries. sighed in my heart, the husband is too good at enjoyment.

Finished in one moment. The maid offers tea. King Wu said, "Sir, what can you teach the widow when he goes south this time?" ”

Zigong said: "Duanmu walked the rivers and lakes, there was something he didn't think through, and he came to ask the king? ”

King Wu said: "The actions of the widow are all on the bright side, what can make Mr. suspicious?" But please be explicit. ”

Zigong said: "Over the past few decades, the state of Wu has become stronger and stronger, fighting in the south and the north, and fighting in the east and west. Megatron, doesn't the king mean to rule over the princes? "Zigong's meaning is, to put it bluntly, don't you want to fight for hegemony?

King Wu was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "The widow has worked hard for decades, and he also wants to benefit the common people in the world." However, the widow is afraid that he will not have virtue and talent, and the people of the world will not accept it, so he will not dare to act rashly. ”

Zigong said with a smile: "Since the king's heart is high, he hits the water in the middle and the waves stop the flying boat. If he had this heart, Duanmu would say hello to the king. ”

King Wu said, "Where does joy come from? ”

Zigong said: "The vicissitudes of the sea show the true character of the hero." The king is the best among the people, the heavens look down, the opportunity to compete for hegemony has come, the king's banner is raised, and he shouts from the heights. Who would dare not obey? So congratulations. ”

King Wu knew that Zigong was not a person who talked falsely, and there must be deep meaning in his words. So he said, "Sir teach me." ”

Zigong said: "A few years ago, Wu and Lu joined forces to attack the Qi State. Annihilated 20,000 sailors of Qi and wiped out 70,000 troops of Qi, and the Qi people were terrified. Had to ask and boycott the troops. In that battle, Wu Guo won a complete victory. But the war is over, and the hatred remains. The hatred of the Qi people towards the Wu people is getting deeper and stronger. Revenge does not die. Now, the state of Qi has dispatched a large army to garrison Wenshang, intending to destroy Lu. Does the king know what Qi State's strategic considerations are this time? ”

King Wu said, "The widow does not know. ”

Zigong said: "This time, the Qi State used various methods to break through. They will defeat the Lu State first and loot the Lu State, and they will gain a great harvest. In this way, Wu and Lu can no longer form an alliance, and Wu is like having an arm cut off. You can only face the Qi army alone. ”

King Wu said: "What the gentleman said is true, and it is so. ”

Zigong said: "The matter is not over yet. Will the Qi State destroy the Lu State and stop it? No. The State of Qi will definitely take advantage of the victory and advance to the State of Wu, at that time the strength of the two armies is equal, and it is difficult to say whether they will win or lose. Therefore, the minister thought that at this time, the king should act decisively to crusade against the Qi State and rescue the Lu State. In one fell swoop, the Qi State, which had 10,000 chariots, and the Lu State, which had 1,000 chariots, was subdued, and the north was pacified. The king then waved his army westward and strengthened his power. Huimeng Yellow Pool. And the king's hegemony was finished. ”

This is a feasible strategic concept, and the power of Wu is fully capable of achieving it. King Wu said: "What the gentleman said is extremely true. In the last war, the Marquis of Qi sued for peace, and the widow moved his heart of compassion and allowed him to negotiate peace, and in the negotiations, the State of Qi promised to submit to Wu for generations, and pay tribute regularly every year. In this way, the widowed class returned to the dynasty. Now, according to the specified date, many days have passed, and there is still no tribute from Qi State, which is the meaning of Qi State to break the contract. Could it be that the treaty negotiated between the two countries at the beginning was torn up if he wanted to tear it up? The widow was about to march into Qi and asked the Marquis of Qi about the crime of breaking the contract? ”

Zigong said: "Heroes see the same thing. King Wu is hegemonic, and this is the right time. ”

King Wu said: "However, there is one thing that makes the widow unable to make up his mind. ”

Zigong was stunned. He said, "What else disturbs the king's mind?" ”

King Wu said: "It is reported that Goujian, the king of Yue, is now spreading benevolence and virtue in the country and winning people's hearts. Diligent government and love the people, won the support of the Vietnamese people. And tore up the treaty that Vietnam did not have an army, and established an army, which trained every day. There is a great conspiracy against the state of Wu, and this cannot be tolerated. The widow plans to send troops to defeat Gou Jian, and then wave his back to greet Qi Hou, it is not too late. ”

Zigong laughed when he heard it and said, "Cup bow snake shadow also! ”

King Wu said, "What do you mean by this, sir?" ”

Zigong said: "There was a man who came to a friend's house, and there was a bow hanging on the wall, and the shadow fell right in the wine glass. He looked like he thought it was a small snake. When the master advised him to drink, the man drank the wine anyway out of politeness. When I got home, I felt a small snake scurrying around in my stomach, and I fell ill all of a sudden. When the friend heard about it, he came to visit him, and he said, "I'm going to die, and I drank a little snake when I was drinking at your house that day." I'm going to die. The friend didn't believe this, how could there be a snake in the wine glass? When I went home and poured a glass of wine where the man had placed the glass, I saw a small snake-like shadow in the glass, so I slowly looked at it, and finally realized that it was the shadow of the bow that fell into the glass. He invited his friend to show him a demonstration, and his friend's illness was cured immediately. Now the king said that King Yue had the heart to plot against the state of Wu, and the fact that there was no shadow was purely due to suspicion and concern. Is there any evidence? ”

King Wu said: "There is no evidence, just inference." ”

Zigong said: "This is terrible? Well, let's compare it to the fact that the Yue country has the heart of plotting against the Wu country, so what? The situation now is. The Yue State is weak, the Qi State is strong, the interest of crusading against the Yue State is very small, and the harm of indulging the Qi State is great. The country of Yue is very weak, you are very afraid, the country of Qi is very strong, you deliberately avoid it, this is not a sign of bravery. Chasing a little profit and forgetting the great evil is not something that smart people do. Neither brave nor smart, why should they dominate the world? ”

King Wu sighed and said, "This matter is difficult to decide. Let the widow think twice. ”

Zigong said: "If you are constantly interrupted, you will suffer from it." First, the king should be quick to assert his ideas. Second, weigh the pros and cons and find out whether Yue Guo really had the intention of attacking Wu. Third, regardless of whether the Yue State has the intention of attacking Wu State, it should be attacked and rescued by Qi. ”

King Wu said: "Let the widow think twice." ”

Zigong sighed and said, "Then I will be a good person to the end." If the king is really worried that the Yue Kingdom really has different intentions towards the Wu Kingdom, please allow Chen Dong to meet the King of Yue, and ask him to bring his own team, with a quiver full of arrows, holding a bow in his left hand, pulling out an arrow from the quiver with his right hand, putting it on the bow, and going with you to crusade against the Qi State, how about it? ”

King Wu was overjoyed and said, "If this is the case, it is the widow who wants to see it the most, what doubts do you have?" ”

Zigong said: "Well, the minister will say goodbye to the king now and go to Yue Guo for a while." ”

So, he immediately got up, went out of Gusutai, whipped his horse, and rushed to Yueguo.