Looking at Qu Yuan for a while, Zhuang Xin said very seriously: "When I came down, I talked to Zhaoju about Doctor Qu, and after listening to what he said, Doctor Qu is ready to serve the country in another way...... I believe in Zhao Ju, and I believe in Dr. Qu's personality, and I never believe that it is just an excuse for Dr. Qu to change the court, but I hope that Dr. Qu can also trust him, reveal one or two thoughts in his heart, and will definitely help Dr. Qu in the next place. …… In Dr. Qu's opinion, how should my Chu country survive this crisis? ”

Of course, Qu Yuan can trust Zhuang Xin, and when he heard this, he said: "Of course Qu Yuan can trust Doctor Zhuang, as far as the current situation of my Chu State is concerned, it's just that Qu Yuan was not clear about the current situation before, so he never contacted a loyal minister of the country like Doctor Zhuang......"

As he spoke, he paused slightly, stroked his beard and said, "As far as the current crisis of our Chu State is concerned, our country should unite with Wei and Han to fight against Qin State. ”

This answer was not unexpected by Zhuang Xin, after all, as far as the current situation of Chu was concerned, there were only two choices: first, to seek peace with Qin; Second, ask for help from Wei and South Korea.

Although the relationship between Qi and Chu has been quite harmonious in recent years, and the Qi State will not hope that the Qin State will continue to grow, but in the end, it is difficult to save the near fire from far water, and when the Qi State sends troops to save Chu Ying, then I really don't know when it will be - provided that the Qi State sends troops to rescue.

After thinking about it, Zhuang Xin asked Qu Yuan: "When I left Chu Ying temporarily, the country was also discussing whether I could ask Wei and Han for help, but ...... Doctor Qu, in your opinion, are Wei and Han willing to help our Chu State? ”

Of course, Qu Yuan understood the reason why Zhuang Xin asked this, and when he heard this, he stroked his beard and said: "Although I am by Fang Chengling's side now, but Fang Chengling, he is not in agreement with Wei Xiangtianwen...... However, according to the dialogue between Fang Chengling and the Korean Great Sima Storm Kite, South Korea seems to intend to intervene in the war between Qin and our Chu State, hoping to force Qin to withdraw its troops through mediation. ”

"Mediation?"

Zhuang Xin was stunned, and then nodded thoughtfully, as if he also felt that this was a solution to the current crisis in the Chu State.

But the question is, will the Qin State accept the mediation of Wei and Han?

You must know that mediation is generally a big country against a small country, and the strong against the weak, and even if Wei and Han are tied together, it is half a pound and eight taels with Qin, and Qin may not buy it.

Listening to Zhuang Xin's concerns, Qu Yuan said with a smile: "If the battle of Yique is the victory of Qin, then Qin will naturally not buy it, and Wei and Han may not dare to risk provoking Qin again to help my Chu State, but I believe that Dr. Zhuang has also heard that the battle of Yique is finally won by Wei and Han, although Wei lost 100,000 troops because of this battle, and Korea also lost 50,000 troops, but in the end, Wei and Han defeated Qin, not only recaptured the two cities of Xincheng and Yiyang that Korea had lost, In one fell swoop, he annihilated nearly 100,000 Qin troops, and once hit the Hangu Pass of Qin, which made Qin scruple about Wei and Han again, so he returned the two cities and made peace with Wei and Han...... The attitude of Wei is unknown for the time being, as for the Korean side, this battle has greatly boosted the morale of South Korea, and the violent kite intends to take advantage of the loss of Qin's strength to launch a joint column again to further attack Qin's ......"

Zhuang Xin was also glad to learn that Wei and Han still retained the strength to fight against Qin.

Although Wei and Han have also invaded Chu, compared to Qin, which has gradually encroached on the territory of Chu over the years, the threat of Wei and Han is really nothing.

In the face of this threat, it may not be impossible for the three kingdoms of Wei, Han and Chu to reorganize and unite against Qin.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin couldn't help but ask a little anxiously: "Then, when will Wei and Han come forward to mediate?" ”

Hearing this, a little sorrow appeared on Qu Yuan's face again, and he sighed lightly and said with some distress: "The problem is here, the Great Liang of the Wei State, there has been no news so far, Fang Cheng Ling, and so far has not received any orders from the King of Wei. ”

Zhuang Xin was stunned, and even understood what Qu Yuan meant: Wei was still hesitating.

At this time, after hesitating for a moment, Qu Yuan continued to say to Zhuang Xin: "Regarding this matter, I have talked with Fang Chengling and Ye Yicheng, and I think Fang Chengling's analysis of this is very reasonable. ”

"Oh? What did he say? Zhuang Xin asked.

I saw Qu Yuan stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "Fang Chengling analyzed this matter from the strength of Wei and Han. As we have previously believed, the strongest of the Central Plains countries today is the Western Qin and Eastern Qi, and then the Zhao State and the Wei State, all of which have the potential to dominate the Central Plains, and because of this, the Wei State is not only considering the Qin State, but also the ambition to weaken the countries and take the opportunity to regain the Central Plains......"

I have to say that Zhuang Xin is worthy of being a virtuous minister of the Chu State, and after listening to Qu Yuan's words, he immediately reacted: "You mean, the Wei State actually hopes to weaken the Chu State by borrowing the hand of the Qin State?" ”

"That's the other way around." Qu Yuan smiled bitterly and corrected: "It is to borrow the hand of my Chu State to further weaken the Qin State." ”

Zhuang Xin was stunned, and then suddenly realized.

Also, as far as the current situation of his Chu State is concerned, what is there to weaken the Wei State by taking the opportunity?

But as the so-called emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, the Chu State, which almost made the Qin State fall back then, although the national strength has plummeted, if the Qin State is aggressive, he Chu State still has the background to make the Qin State pay a heavy price.

And if the Qin State can be weakened again by the hand of the Chu State, this will undoubtedly be the most beneficial for the Wei State.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin immediately understood why the Wei State had an ambiguous attitude on the matter of mediation.

To put it bluntly, Wei will definitely unite with Korea to mediate in the end, but now is not the time, it still expects Chu to fight with Qin to weaken Qin's power.

After figuring out this layer, Zhuang Xin couldn't help but show a wry smile similar to Qu Yuan's, and his heart was full of helplessness that although he could see the situation clearly, he was powerless to change it.

But despite this, Zhuang Xin was still slightly relieved, after all, no matter what, the Wei State would eventually be on his side of the Chu State.

At this time, Qu Yuan frowned and continued: "Wei Guo, you will definitely come forward in the end. …… Although our Chu State is declining day by day, it is not something that Qin can annex in one bite after all, so the Korean Tyrant Kite believes that Qin's attack on our Chu State is mainly due to Qin's defeat in the Battle of Yique, and it hopes to force our Chu State to submit and coerce our Chu State to attack Wei and Han together...... Wei and Han will never sit idly by and watch our Chu State submit to Qin, so at the last moment, Wei and Han will definitely come forward to mediate, and even do not hesitate to start a war with Qin again in order to undermine Qin's strategy. ”

Speaking of this, Qu Yuan couldn't help but think of Fangcheng Ling Meng Zhong, and I have to say that the appearance of Meng Zhong and the small victory in the Battle of Yique really added great confidence to Wei and Korea.

It was precisely because he saw this matter clearly that Qu Yuan would stay by Meng Zhong's side as a doorman, because he knew that Meng Zhong would inevitably become a key figure in the "fight against Qin" in the future, just like Gongsun Yan and Gongsun Xi in the past.

And Xue Gongtianwen's suppression of Meng Zhong is also destined to not last long.

"I see......"

After being silent for a while, Zhuang Xin nodded and said, "That is to say, all you and I can do at the moment is wait?" ”

Hearing this, Qu Yuan nodded helplessly.

What are you waiting for?

Of course, it was the result of waiting for the confrontation between Chu General Zhaoju and Qin General Baiqi.

Regardless of whether Zhaoju wins or loses, Wei and Han may intervene, provided that Zhaoju must cause the Qin army to suffer huge casualties, otherwise, Wei and Han will probably hesitate.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xin asked Qu Yuan again: "Did Doctor Qu ever tell Zhao Ju that he is now the key to the whole thing?" ”

Qu Yuan hesitated, shook his head and said, "I didn't dare to reveal." …… I only told him that Wei and Han were discussing whether to mediate, and told him to guard Yanyi well and wait for the results. ”

Zhuang Xin understood what Qu Yuan meant, it was nothing more than Qu Yuan's worry that it would bring huge pressure to Zhao Ju, could he still tell Zhao Ju directly, can you inflict heavy damage on the Qin army, it is related to whether Wei and Han will mediate for our Chu State and force Qin State to withdraw its troops?

Zhao Ju's pressure was already great, and if he learned about it again, it would be a mess, so it was better to hide it from him and tell him to guard Yan Yi with peace of mind.

Probably knowing the attitude of Wei and Han from Qu Yuan's mouth, Zhuang Xin's mood was much more relaxed, he took a sip of wine from the wine bowl, and asked casually: "Among the courtiers, Doctor Qu knows Zhaoju best, according to Doctor Qu's opinion, can Zhaoju hold Yanyi?" ”

Qu Yuan thought for a while and said: "Yanyi has the danger of the Han River, and Zhaoju does not have a brave and unscrupulous man, just holding Yanyi and blocking the Qin army from crossing the Han River, I think it should not be a problem." ”

Indeed, according to Qu Yuan's understanding of Zhao Ju, Zhao Sui is the kind of character who does not seek merit but seeks no fault, the latter will not go to defeat the Qin general Bai Qi, and naturally will not be greedy for merit, in the words of Fang Cheng Ling Meng Zhong, as long as he is not greedy for merit and actively defends, he will not be caught by the Qin army.

After listening to Qu Yuan's words, Zhuang Xin felt a little relieved in his heart, and then said with a smile: "What we just talked about was how to 'retreat the Qin army', so now let's talk about how to 'save the Chu State'?" …… Looking at Dr. Qu below, it seems that he has made up his mind? ”

Unexpectedly, hearing this, Qu Yuan's face showed hesitation.

Seeing this, Zhuang Xin was a little displeased, and said with a wrinkle: "Isn't Doctor Qu still trustworthy?" ”

Hearing this, Qu Yuan hurriedly explained: "No, no, it's not that Qu Yuan can't believe Dr. Zhuang, it's just that the next policy to save the country is really hard to talk about......

However, as soon as he heard this, Zhuang Xin became interested, and said with a smile: "As long as you can save the Chu State, what is it difficult to talk about?" Doctor Qu tried to speak, and listened to him. ”

In desperation, Qu Yuan had no choice but to slowly inform Zhuang Xin of his plan: "...... First of all, try to remove Zilan and try to expel his henchmen. ”

"Hmm!"

Zhuang Xin nodded emphatically.

If you want to save the Chu State, you must indeed expel Ling Yin Zilan first, and the problem is how to do it.

At this time, Qu Yuan spit out two words in his mouth: "Hezhong!" ”

Zhuang Xin narrowed his eyes and vaguely grasped something: "Please elaborate." ”

“…… As long as we can manage to bring about the unity of the three kingdoms of Wei, Han, and Chu, there may be a 'mutual' situation in the three kingdoms, and if Wei and Han send their courtiers to our Chu State to serve as Lingyin, it will greatly weaken Zilan's power......"

"You mean ......"

Zhuang Xin's eyes widened in surprise: "Take advantage of the momentum of Wei and Han to suppress Zilan? ”

"Exactly!"

Qu Yuan nodded heavily, and then said with a smile: "I originally thought that if Fang Cheng Ling could be sent as a minister of Wei State and go to my Chu State to serve as Ling Yin, it would be the best situation......

Of course, Qu Yuan can only think about this kind of thing in his heart.

Who is Meng Zhong?

The generals of the Wei State who shined in the Battle of Yique, how stupid must the King of Wei be to send such generals to the Chu State?

This kind of general, that must be firmly tied to the Wei State, how can he have other ideas?

So Qu Yuan then smiled and said: "It's a pity that this thing is almost impossible, so I intend to let the Korean Gong Zhong serve as the Ling Yin of my Chu State first." ”

"Public Extravagance ......"

Zhuang Xin stroked his beard thoughtfully.

As a courtier of the Chu State, of course he knew Gong Zhongxuan and knew that the latter was the younger brother of Gong Zhongmin, the current Han Xiang, and he was also a wise man with the talent of the state minister.

The question is, is the public arbitration extravagant reliable?

However, considering that Qu Yuan intended to recommend Gong Zhongxuan, Zhuang Xin could also guess that the two must have some agreement in private.

He didn't plan to ask in detail about this, compared to this, he was more concerned about Qu Yuan's follow-up strategy.

You must know that the internal problems of his Chu State are not only Yin Zilan, but more importantly, the ignorance and inaction of Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, and Qu Yuan wants to expel Zilan and his henchmen, which will inevitably involve the attitude of Xiong Heng, the king of Chu.

Zhuang Xin wanted to know how Qu Yuan would settle the monarch of their Chu State, after all, Qu Yuan had just said the word "unspeakable", and Zhuang Xin felt that it was most likely related to Xiong Heng.

After listening to Zhuang Xin's inquiry, Qu Yuan suddenly fell silent, and after a full half a sound, he said in a low voice: "I have heard that the Song Wang Yan of the Song State is extremely warlike, and after succeeding to the throne, he expanded the army and fought with the great powers, and the minister of the country Hui'an repeatedly persuaded him to no avail, so he invited Xue Juzhou, a famous scholar of Xue Land, to teach the prince Dai Wu......"

As he spoke, he looked up at Zhuang Xin, and did not avoid the latter's gaze, and said sincerely and resolutely: "For my king, if you can do it, you can do it, and if you can't, then you will ...... Choose a son and teach, choose an heir and be a king! ”

“……”

Zhuang Xin's mouth opened wide in shock and looked at Qu Yuan in disbelief.

Choose a son to teach, choose an heir and become a king?

If the king of Chu Xiong is unable to assist, he will abolish the monarch and set up another virtuous monarch?

He was more and more sure at this moment that Qu Yuan did seem to be a different person after coming to Yeyi, otherwise Qu Yuan, who used to be sad and indignant at the situation of the country, would never be able to say the words "choose a son and teach, choose an heir and be a king".

Of course, if you think about it carefully, in fact, Qu Yuan is right, after all, if this continues, the foundation of his Chu State will be defeated by King Xiong of Chu, and he will lose the country.

And Zhuang Xin is a descendant of King Chuzhuang, of course, he doesn't want to see the country fall and the mountains and rivers shattered, so he doesn't contradict Qu Yuan's words.

But despite this, hearing these words from Qu Yuan's mouth still surprised him.

Seeing Qu Yuan looking at him intently, Zhuang Xin hesitated for a while, and finally said with a wry smile: "This is really ...... It's really an 'unspeakable' thing. ”

After that, he arched his hand towards Qu Yuan, and said: "Doctor Qu trusts him so much, and he will tell him what he says from the bottom of his heart, and he is grateful. …… As long as Dr. Qu is not selfish, Zhuang Xin is willing to help! ”

Seeing this, Qu Yuan immediately expressed his heart: "Qu Yuan's heart can learn from the sun and the moon!" If there is the slightest selfish desire, God and man will kill together! ”

Zhuang Xin looked at Qu Yuan deeply, and seeing Qu Yuan's serious and sincere attitude, he nodded and said, "In this case, Zhuang Xin will do his best to help!" ”

Seeing that he had received Zhuang Xin's recognition and support, Qu Yuan was also overjoyed.

After all, although his thoughts in his heart were supported by Meng Zhong, Xiang Yi and others, Meng Zhong, Xiang Yi and others were not Chu people after all, and if he could, Qu Yuan could still hope to get support from his former colleagues-mainly psychological support.

After all, the abolition of the monarch is indeed not something that a courtier should do.

Fortunately, the king of Chu Xiong was unpopular, and after listening to Qu Yuan's words, Zhuang Xin did not object at all, but supported this matter, which made Qu Yuan really relieved.

Because of the joy in their hearts, the two drank two bowls of wine in a row.

Afterwards, Zhuang Xin wiped the wine stains on his mouth with his sleeve, and said: "Today's conversation with Dr. Qu will also benefit a lot, I will return to Chu Ying in the near future, I don't know what can help Dr. Qu?" ”

Qu Yuan thought for a while and said, "What I'm most worried about now is that Chu Ying can't withstand the pressure of the Qin State and gives in to the Qin State. …… If Doctor Zhuang can convince my king that he can firmly resist the Qin state, it will be of great help. ”

"Hmm."

Zhuang Xin nodded and said: "Before I left Chu Ying, the king Zhao Zilan, Zhao Ju and others discussed the countermeasures to repel the Qin army, and at that time, Zilan proposed to cede the city to the Qin State in exchange for a truce......

As soon as he heard this, Qu Yuan immediately frowned, shook his head and said: "If you submit to the Qin State, you will be coerced by the Qin State to attack Wei and Han together, and then the army of my Chu State will fight for the Qin State...... At that time, Fang Cheng will become the enemy of my Chu State......"

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but worry.

Although the Qin general Bai Qi was not easy to deal with, he captured and killed the famous general Gongsun Xi of Wei in the Battle of Yique and became famous in one fell swoop, but Meng Zhong of Fangcheng was enough to make Bai Qi feel jealous.

If the state of Chu submitted to the state of Qin and was forced to assist the state of Qin in attacking Wei and Han, then on the way of the state of Chu to send troops, Fang Cheng would bear the brunt.

Meng Zhong's "qualifications", Qu Yuan also knew about it during this time, he knew that Meng Zhong was once the guard Sima of Zhao's father, and then blocked his brother-in-law, that is, Tian Zhang, the famous general of Qi State, in the Song Kingdom, so that Tian Zhang could not conquer the Yang Dynasty.

Then there was the Battle of Yique, in which the Wei and Han coalition forces were close to rout, they turned the tide and led the defeated soldiers of the Wei army to turn the situation around, and in turn defeated the Qin army.

Like such a fierce general, can the state of Chu compete with it?

No.

Even if Qu Gai and Tang Mo are resurrected, I am afraid they will not be able to defeat this young man.

In this regard, Zhuang Xin also felt quite anxious.

In all fairness, he didn't know much about Bai Qi or Meng Zhong, but he believed Qu Yuan's judgment.

Thinking of this, he immediately said: "In this case, without further ado, I will return to Chu Ying tomorrow and find a way to make the king firmly resist the Qin army......"

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and then said: "But before that, I want to meet that Fang Cheng Ling, can Doctor Qu arrange it for you?" ”

Qu Yuan nodded and said, "When I send you tomorrow, I will go to Fangcheng with you, and Fangcheng Ling has been in Fangcheng in recent days." ”

"Okay."

Afterwards, Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin drank a few more bowls of wine, and then fell asleep on a couch.

The next day, Qu Yuan explained the situation to Ye Yi and Yi Cheng, and Xiang Yi heard that Zhuang Xin had been persuaded by Qu Yuan and developed into Qu Yuan's "internal response" in Chu State, so he naturally would not refuse, and when even someone told Ye Yi Sima Le Xu, Le Xu took a team of people and personally escorted Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin to Fangcheng together.

With Le Xu by his side, Qu Yuan, Zhuang Xin and the others naturally would not be stopped by the patrol guards of Fang Cheng, and they met Meng Zhong smoothly.

At that time, Meng Zhong was inspecting the joint training of the armies of Fangcheng, Xudi, and Yuncheng with Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu, after all, during this time, Meng Zhong also received a report that many Qin army spies pretended to be exiles and sneaked around the area of other Fang City.

Meng Zhong certainly understands what that means.

This means that Bai Qi actually has the idea of attacking other cities in his heart.

Of course, this is not surprising, after all, Meng Zhongping abducted more than 100,000 Chu people from Bai Qi's hands for no reason, is it really that Bai Qi has no fire in his heart?

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as Bai Qi learned that Fangcheng's garrison was empty, and that Qin and Wei would make peace and truce, then Bai Qi would definitely attack Fangcheng and pull out this nail, lest Meng Zhong drag him back behind when he attacked Chu.

But unfortunately, Meng Zhong had been wary of this for a long time, and invited the troops of Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu early, so that the garrison of Fangcheng suddenly increased to more than 20,000, counting the new Chu soldiers recently recruited from Yeyi, the number of Wei troops in the area of Fangcheng was close to more than 26,000.

In all fairness, in front of Bai Qi, who had 70,000 Qin troops, the 26,000-strong Wei army was not much at all, but considering that the main general of this Wei army was Meng Zhong, Bai Qi was somewhat jealous in his heart - after all, during the Battle of Yique, Meng Zhong had turned the tables with 20,000 Wei troops, and there were 60,000 Qin troops under Bai Qi's command at that time.

Coupled with the strength of the first army under the command of Han Xiao, the Han general of Wancheng, and the Wei and Han coalition forces in Wanfang, the total strength of the two places can be close to 40,000, which makes Bai Qi dare not act rashly.

But even so, Meng Zhong still didn't dare to take it lightly, after all, he knew Bai Qi very well, and knew that the latter would definitely not be able to swallow the evil breath of hundreds of thousands of Chu people being swept away by him, although the Qin army had not made the slightest movement now, but this did not mean that Bai Qi would spare Fang Cheng.

To put it bluntly, there will definitely be a confrontation between Bai Qi and Meng Zhong, but I don't know when it will break out.

Meng Zhong himself knew about this, but he tried his best to avoid it, to be exact, he wanted to delay, after all, with the current number and quality of Fangcheng's army, he really didn't have much confidence to deal with Bai Qi's onslaught, even if there were cavalry led by Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu.

Therefore, he borrowed Qu Yuan's mouth to give Zhaoju, the general of Chu, a move, hoping that Zhaoju could hold Bai Qi in Hanshui, so that his side could have time to expand the army and cope with this year's spring ploughing.

Well, it's about June or July.

At that time, the five thousand war horses promised by Duan Ganyin should be able to be transported to Fangcheng, so that Meng Zhong can train more cavalry, and by that time, the new soldiers of the Chu people recruited from Yeyi on Fangcheng's side should also have the strength to fight a battle.

Four months to go!

Of course, the premise is that the state of Chu can adhere to the attitude of confronting the Qin army, which is what Meng Zhong is most worried about at the moment.

I'm afraid, under his support, although Bai Qi failed to defeat Zhaoju and attack Yanyi, Chu couldn't resist the pressure and succumbed to Qin.

That's the worst-case scenario.