The time goes back to the middle of July, that is, when Le Yi led the Yan army to cover the retreat of the Qi army to Ju County, Wei Ran, the minister of Qin, submitted his resignation to the crown prince Dai Wu, Song Xiang Hui'an and others, and embarked on a journey to envoy Qi.

When Hui Ang and others asked him about the reason for his envoy to Qi, Wei Ran laughed and said that it was not only to make good relations with Qin, but also to dissuade Qi from attacking Song again.

To be honest, Meng Zhong, Hui Ang and others didn't believe it very much.

But considering that this is the affairs of the Qin State, and the Song State has no right to interfere, neither Meng Zhong nor the crown prince Dai Wu and Hui Ang have stopped Wei Ran.

However, in private, the crown prince Dai Wu, Hui Ang and others have already been a little wary of the Qin State, after all, the Qin State may sacrifice the Song State to marry the Qi State, this is the inference made by his Song State sage Zhuang Zhou, how can the crown prince Dai Wu and Hui Ang take it lightly?

But unfortunately, the Song State did not have the qualifications to question the Qin State for this, and even if he knew that the envoy of the Marquis Wei Ran to the Qi State was likely to have any negative impact on his Song State, he could only acquiesce to this happening.

In view of the unclear intention of the Marquis Wei Ran to send the Qi State, the crown prince Dai Wu, Hui Ang and others did not dare to let the Qin army continue to stay in the country, and after some discussion, everyone decided to send the Qin State back to China after rewarding the Qin army.

So, the crown prince Dai Wu handed over Tancheng to Dai Busheng to guard, and personally returned to Pengcheng with the Qin-Wei coalition army with Hui An, and asked Song Wangyan to come forward to reward the Qin-Wei coalition army.

About four or five days later, the Qin-Wei coalition returned to Pengcheng, and Song Wangyan, who had received letters from the crown prince Dai Wu and the minister of state Hui'an, had ordered his courtiers to prepare a large number of wine and food to reward the soldiers of the Qin and Wei armies.

At the same time, a banquet was set up in the palace to entertain the generals under Sima Cuo and Meng Zhong.

After three days of sacrificing the army, Hui Ang came forward to send Sima Cuo and others back to Qin.

As for Meng Zhong and the Fang Cheng army under his command, they stayed for a few more days, after all, the trust of Song Wangyan, Prince Dai Wu, Hui Ang and others in Meng Zhong was far higher than that of Qin.

At this time, Hui Ang also reported to Song Wangyan the move of Wei Ran, the Marquis of Qin, to envoy Qi, and after Song Wangyan learned about it, he discussed with Hui Ang and Meng Zhong in the side hall of the palace to discuss countermeasures.

During this period, Song Wangyan also asked Meng Zhong for his opinion on this.

In this regard, Meng Zhong said frankly: "The alliance between Qin and Qi is just my teacher's guess, but now there are various signs that the Qin State will not form an alliance with the Qi State when it is blocked by Wei and Han to achieve its goal of defeating Wei and Han and setting foot in the Central Plains." …… In order to achieve the goal of forming an alliance with the Qi state, the Qin state did have a high probability of abandoning the Song state. If this is true, then the next time Qi attacks Song again, Qin will not only not send troops to help, but it is even very likely to help Qi secretly, such as attacking Wei, so that Wei will not be able to send troops to reinforce Song. Therefore, the Song state must make new allies......"

Song Wang Yan pondered for a moment and asked, "New ally, are you referring to the Zhao State?" ”

Now it is possible to become the new allies of the Song State is none other than Zhao and Chu, and I have to say that it is very difficult to win over these two countries.

The difficulty on the Chu side is that Chu is currently an ally of Qin, and its territory borders Qin, even if Song and Chu reach an agreement, Qin can also use the same method to deal with Wei, so that Chu is unable to reinforce Song.

From this point of view, the situation of Zhao was better than that of Qin.

But the problem is, the state of Zhao is now controlled by Li Dui, the king of Fengyang, and Li Dui is friendly with the state of Qi, how can he secretly help the state of Song?

No, the crown prince Dai Wu raised this question.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong explained: "First of all, the state of Zhao may not still be controlled by Fengyang Jun Li Dui. …… As far as Zai Xia knows, when Li Dui was stationed in Taoyi, the Qin general Bai Qi invaded Zhao and defeated Li Ji and Han Xu, prompting the king of Zhao to summon other garrisons in the country. Who is the king of Zhao...... Although he is young, the city government is deep, and he thinks that even if he sees that in the face of the national crisis, if he does not take the opportunity to calculate Li Dui, he will take the opportunity to take back some power, at least Li Dui can no longer control Zhao State as in the past. If this is the case, then Zhao has the possibility of forming an alliance with Song. ”

Song Wangyan pondered for a moment, then turned his head to look at Hui Ang and said, "Hui Ang, send someone to Zhao State to inquire about the situation, whether it is as Meng Zhong said." ”

"Whoa!" Hui Ang gave up his order, and he also felt that his brother-in-law Meng Zhong's inference was indeed somewhat feasible.

After chatting about business, Song Wangyan ate wine with Hui Ang and Meng Zhong.

Obviously, this time, the Qi State mobilized the people to crusade against the Song State, and the Song State finally lost almost nothing, and Song Wangyan was also very happy in his heart.

And Meng Zhong, to be honest, he doesn't like to eat and drink with Song Wangyan, but because his righteous brother Hui Ang is by his side, he can't say much.

During the small banquet, King Song asked Meng Zhong with a smile: "Meng Zhong, this time you helped my Song State repel the alliance of Qi, Zhao and Yan, what reward do you want?" ”

Meng Zhong indifferently excused himself and said: "King Song's words are serious, this rescue of Song Guo is not the work of the next person, and he does not dare to ask for any reward." Besides, how can a courtier of Wei accept the reward of the monarch of another country? ”

Such a refusal to give Song Wangyan no face made the palace maids and waiters who were waiting at that time change their expressions slightly, but Song Wangyan didn't seem to care, and still laughed.

It seems that he is also used to Meng Zhong's confrontation.

After the small banquet, when Meng Zhong said goodbye and returned to the post house in the city to rest, Song Wang Yan said to Hui Ang with wine: "Qin and Wei rescued my Song State, both have plans, but Meng Zhong's son has a sincere heart for the country, and few people think that he should be rewarded. Hui An, the widow wants to reward Meng Zhong with a fief in recognition of his contribution to our Song Kingdom, where do you say it is more appropriate? ”

Hui Ang saw that Song Wangyan was not joking, thought for a while and said, "If the king has this intention, it is better to reward Mengcheng to Mengzhong." ”

Mengcheng, that is, the city and county around Mengyi.

However, Song Wangyan shook his head and said, "Although Mengcheng is the hometown of Meng Zhong, Mengcheng is too small to commend Meng Zhong. ”

Hui Ang was stunned, and after thinking for a while, he said, "That'...... How is Cao County? ”

Cao County, that is, the city that retreated after the loss of Taoyi, is located in the south of Taoyi, because it is relatively close to Taoyi, so it is also a more prosperous city and county, although it is far less than Taoyi, but it is more prosperous than Mengcheng.

However, Song Wangyan still shook his head: "Cao County has no water conservancy, it is difficult to become bigger, and it is not enough to commend Meng Zhong." ”

was vetoed twice by Song Wangyan, and Hui Ang also saw it, and said with a smile: "It seems that the king has a conclusion in his heart." ”

King Song Yan laughed, did not hide it, and said truthfully: "The widow wants to reward Shangqiu to Mengzhong as a fief, and then crown him as the king of the mall......"

Hearing this, Hui An's face changed suddenly.

You must know that the Song people are the queen of the merchants, and Shangqiu is one of the ancestral lands of the merchants, considering that Shangqiu has been the capital of the Shang Dynasty and the Song State many times, how can it be easily rewarded to others?

In Hui An's view, if Song Wangyan wanted to commend Meng Zhong's merits, it was enough to reward Mengcheng and Cao County, and it was too heavy to reward Shangqiu, don't look at Shangqiu's prosperity as much as Taoyi, but the historical significance of this city is incomparable to any city in the Song Kingdom.

Thinking of this, Hui Ang hurriedly dissuaded: "King, by all means, Shangqiu is the legacy of the ancestors, how can it be easily rewarded to the courtiers?" What's more, my brother is now ...... in the Wei Kingdom."

However, Song Wangyan raised his hand to interrupt Hui An's words, and said with a smile: "It is precisely because Meng Zhong is now in the Wei State that the widow wants to reward him!" ”

I have to say that Hui Ang is also a shrewd person, and when he heard Song Wangyan say this, he immediately understood: The monarch in front of him probably wanted to remind King Wei of this incident and hold grievances for Meng Zhong.

Sure enough, King Song snorted coldly and said: "Meng Zhong is the Yicai of my Song State, and he helped Wei State defeat the army of Qin State twice, but King Wei was stingy with a river east guard and sealed Meng Zhong in a remote place......"

"Sure enough!"

Hui Ang was stunned, but still persuaded him: "Although it is for Meng Zhong to complain, but rewarding Shangqiu is too shocking, not only the people of the country can't accept it, but Meng Zhong will not accept it if he wants to come......"

Song Wang Yan smiled and said: "Whether he accepts it or not, that's his business, whether he rewards it or not, but it's the widow who has the final say." …… By the way, when Meng Zhong returns to Wei in a few days, you will set off with him to Wei to thank Wei for the rescue on behalf of my Song State. ”

Hui Ang smiled bitterly, he thought to himself, aren't you forcing King Wei to reward Meng Zhong again?

But after thinking about it, Hui Ang felt that this matter was not bad, after all, he also thought that with the merits of his righteous brother Meng Zhong in the Wei State, it was enough to get a better fief than Yeyi and Wuyang.

The next day, Hui Ang told Meng Zhong about it.

As Hui Ang guessed, when he learned that Song Wang Yan wanted to reward Shangqiu to him and named him the king of the mall, not to mention Meng Hu, Hua Hu, Le Jin and others on the side, even Meng Zhong was speechless in shock.

No wonder Meng Zhong was so shocked, after all, he was a Song person, and naturally he knew the status of Shangqiu in the minds of the Song people, and it was no exaggeration to say that as long as he dared to accept this reward from Song Wangyan, he would immediately become famous in the Song Kingdom, of course, this reputation would not be too good, because too many Song people would accuse him, suspect him, and even scold him, thinking that he was not worthy of Shangqiu as a fief.

After all, Shangqiu's status in the minds of the Song people is too high.

In view of this shock, Meng Zhong's first words after coming back to his senses were: "King Song is crazy? Or are you old and confused? ”

Not surprisingly, his words were reprimanded by Hui An: "How to speak? ”

"Reward Shangqiu ......"

Seeing that Meng Zhong's face was full of astonishment, Hui Ang said with a smile: "You will know the king's intentions in the future." …… First of all, will you accept the canonization of the king? ”

Meng Zhonghu glanced at Hui Ang suspiciously, shook his head again and again, and said, "I don't want to be scolded by all the Chinese people yet...... King Song didn't mean to trick me, right? ”

Meng Zhong's words were not at all surprising to Hui An, and he said to Meng Zhong with a smile: "Of course the king will not deliberately play you ...... Well, let's put it this way, in a few days, the brother will go to the Wei State with you, and when the time comes, the brother will represent my Song State and thank the King of Wei for his rescue in person, and by the way, casually mention your merits in the Song Kingdom and the king's reward to you, so you understand, right? ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong suddenly realized: King Song Yan's reward to him Shangqiu was fake, and it was true that he forced King Wei to reward him in disguise.

Think about it carefully, Song Wangyan took out Shangqiu to give him Meng Zhong, and named him the king of the mall, Wei Wangyan is always embarrassed to reward the land too much, right?

As soon as they thought of this, Menghu, Huahu, Le Jin and others were excited, and they discussed whether Wei Wangjun would reward Anyi to Meng Zhong, after all, Anyi, Hedong, was the old capital of Wei, and the significance of this city to Wei was equivalent to the significance of Shangqiu to Song.

Of course, in terms of historical heritage, Anyi is still far inferior to Shangqiu, after all, Shangqiu has been used as a place of residence for merchants since the Xia Dynasty, and there are few cities in the world today that can be compared with the historical heritage of Shangqiu.

Two days later, around the half of the seventh month, Meng Zhong bid farewell to Pengcheng and led the Fangcheng army back to Wei with his fellow Song envoy Hui An.

Because it was a return trip, and Wei did not send an urgent report urging Meng Zhong to return immediately, so Meng Zhong and his party walked slowly, and by the way, they also returned to Mengyi, separated from their clansmen and teachers, and told them the good news that the Qi army had been repulsed.

And during this period, Meng Zhong received a letter from Le Yi, which was sent by two children of the Le family called Zhongshan Kingdom, who were obviously Le Yi's henchmen.

I remember that when Meng Zhong received this letter, Hua Hu was also beside him, and he laughed and teased: "Ah Yi, that kid, I thought it would take a while to receive his letter?" What is written in the letter, it can't be a thank you to us, right? ”

"Don't talk nonsense." Meng Zhong smiled and stopped Hua Hu, so as not to spread the matter.

However, in his heart, he also agrees with Hua Hu's point of view, after all, in his impression, Le Yi is a very arrogant person, even if they are brothers, but as far as Le Yi insisted on supporting Tian Touch and Tian Da to evacuate the Qi army a while ago, Le Yi couldn't pull his face to thank him.

After half a year, this is almost it, Jie Shi Le Yi casually mentioned it in the letter, pretending not to care and saying thank you, and his goal was achieved.

Therefore, Meng Zhong was actually surprised to receive Le Yi's letter so quickly.

"Let's see what Ah Yi wrote in the letter?"

In the coaxing of Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Le Jin, Meng Zhong spread out the bamboo slips and carefully read Le Yi's letter.

As he guessed, Le Yi's beginning was just some innocuous topics, such as his assistance to Tian Touch and Tian Da to return to Tho County, and then he was recalled to Linzi by King Qi's fields.

Le Yi wrote in the letter: "As I expected, because Fengyang Jun Li Dui was defeated in the front, the king of Qi did not severely punish Tian Touch and Tian Da. Now that I have gained the trust of Tian Touch, I can expect ...... big things."

Seeing this, Meng Zhong also nodded secretly in his heart.

Although he still felt that the ambitions of Yan Wangzhi and Le Yi were too big, so big that it was hard to believe that they would succeed, it could not be denied that the current situation was indeed developing as smoothly as Le Yi had planned.

Following Meng Zhong's righteous brother Tian Zhang, Tian Touch and Tian Da will undoubtedly be the leading figures in the military of Qi State, as long as Le Yi can gain the trust of these two people, it will naturally be of great help to the future destruction of Qi State.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong smiled slightly and continued to look down.

「…… Now I heard that Qin Prime Minister Wei Ran sent an envoy to the State of Qi and proposed to the King of Qi that the King of Qin was the Emperor of Qin and the King of Qi was the Emperor of the East......

"Emperor Qin and Qi Hu?"

Meng Zhong frowned.

Of course, he knew about the matter of the Xuzhou Xiangwang presided over by Wei Xiang Hui Shi back then, after all, when he studied the famous classics, he worshiped Hui Shi, although it was collected by his Taoist teacher Zhuang Zhou.

In all fairness, King Xuzhou was not Hui Shi's most outstanding achievement in Wei, Hui Shi's most outstanding achievement in Wei was his existence that made Wei a cultural gathering place for scholars from all over the world to worship at that time.

However, the king of Xuzhou was Hui Shi's most representative diplomatic means, and he used the strategy of promoting Wei and Qi to recognize each other's thrones, so that Wei and Qi formed a very solid alliance at that time, so there were several subsequent crusades against Qin by Tian Zhang, a famous general of Qi, so that Qin was defeated by the Qi-Wei alliance several times.

And now, Wei Ran, the minister of Qin, wants to follow the strategy of the former Wei Xianghuishi's Xuzhou Xiangwang to create a Qin-Qi mutual emperor, hoping to make Qin and Qi conclude an alliance, and it is no exaggeration to say that this alliance is enough to change the general trend of the Central Plains today.

"The alliance of Qin Qi must be broken!"

No, Meng Zhong immediately had such a thought in his heart, and he became solemn about it.

However, what Le Yi wrote in the letter later also reassured him a little.

「…… However, regarding the matter of the mutual emperor of Qin and Qi, Su Qin already has a strategy to crack, and this matter can be left to us, so there is no need to worry too much. In addition, Su Qin was still trying to separate Qi and Zhao, and this matter had not made much progress before, but in the battle of Taoyi, Zhao Fengyangjun Li Dui abandoned Tian Che and Gao Zheng and returned to Zhao alone, resulting in Tian Che and Gao Zheng's 50,000 troops being broken by the Qin army......

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong couldn't help but think of the suggestion he made to Song Wangyan when he was in Pengcheng a few days ago, that is, let Song try to win over Zhao as an ally.

In fact, don't look at Meng Zhong's explanation to the crown prince Dai Wu at that time, but in fact, he himself is not very sure, but the key is that if he can't try to win over Zhao Guo, who else can Song Guo find?

Yan Guo can't do it, Yan Wangzhi and Le Yi will only jump out against Qi when they are sure of the collapse of Qi State.

Korea is weaker than the Song State, and it is the closest to the Qin State, it is already difficult to support it from being annexed by the Qin State, and it can still be counted on South Korea to help the Song State?

And the state of Chu, although Meng Zhong and Qu Yuan, Zhuang Xin and others were secretly plotting, trying to get the state of Chu rid of the influence of the state of Qin and make the state of Chu fall to the side of the state of Wei, but now that this strategy has not been implemented, how can the state of Chu help the state of Song?

Therefore, Zhao is the only country that has the ability and potential to help Song at present, as long as King Zhao can regain power.

But in the end, what kind of attitude Zhao Guoguo would have towards Song Guo, Meng Zhong was not very sure.

But now Le Yi told Meng Zhong that Su Qin, the biggest internal response of the Yan State in the Qi State, was trying to find a way to drive a wedge between Qi and Zhao, which made Meng Zhong have greater confidence in concluding the Zhao and Song alliances again.

Once upon a time, there was a strong alliance between the two countries of Zhao and Song that lasted for more than 30 years, but because of the death of Zhao's father, Anping Jun Zhao Cheng and Fengyang Jun Li Dui stole the state government, which made Zhao and Song turn against each other, and now, Meng Zhong sees the hope of making Zhao and Song conclude an alliance again.

"Perhaps...... Should I try to go to Zhao Guo and find Zhao He to tell him about the benefits and harms in person?"

Meng Zhong thought secretly.

Just as Meng Zhong was pondering, Meng Hu and Hua Hu from the side asked a little anxiously, "How is it?" Did Ayi's kid thank you in the letter? ”

Meng Zhong smiled slightly, glanced down at Le Yi's payment in the letter, and the last sentence in the letter: Take care!

Also, with Le Yi's character, how could he be frank and say thank you?

But Le Yi's letter itself has already expressed Le Yi's apology and gratitude to them.

"Take care, brother."

Meng Zhong said secretly.

On the same day, Meng Zhong also wrote a reply letter, entrusting the children of the Zhongshan Guole clan to bring it back to Le Yi.

Different from Le Yi's twisting and pinching approach, Meng Zhong expressed his gratitude very frankly in the letter, and at the same time hoped that Le Yi would also take more care.

It is not difficult to guess that after receiving Meng Zhong's reply, I believe that Le Yi will also feel like removing a boulder in his heart.