Since the establishment of the crown prince, the territory of the state of Chu has not expanded, the annual income of the Dafu Ling Yin Mansion has not increased but decreased, and the population of the state of Chu has remained the same as before, but the important ministers of the state of Chu are fully aware that the state of Chu is thriving. In time, the state of Chu should have a huge iron army to fight against the Qin people, not to mention recovering the homeland and dominating the world, at least it can be settled in Huainan Jiangdong.

It's just that such a sweet dream was awakened by the Qin people as soon as it began, and the crown prince Xiong Jingxu, who created all this, entered Qin as a hostage. This inevitably makes some people think rebelliously: If the Great King had fallen a few months ago, the Qin people would have no such excuse. This kind of thought is just a moment, no one dares to say it, in fact, it is useless to say it, the king has cheered up because of the Qin people's demand, even if his body is exhausted, even if he hangs his last breath, he must protect the prince of Chu and the society of Chu.

Before the Qin envoy arrived in Yingdu, the envoy of Chu went to the four kingdoms of Han, Wei, Zhao and Yan with huge gifts and beautiful Baoyu, intending to join forces again. According to Dazai Shen Yinyu's meaning, even if he can't really attack Hangu Pass, he must create such a momentum so that the Qin people will know the difficulties and retreat. At the same time, Yingdu and the soldiers and grains in the high treasury of each county began to sort out and count, from the northernmost Chengyang to the southernmost Dongting, all border passes were strengthened to prevent the Qin people from raiding.

However, the royal order for the assembly of the county officials in various counties has not yet been issued, and the royal soldiers have not left Yingdu to go to the border - in the opinion of Yin Sun Yu: the autumn drought is imminent, and the gathering of troops at this time will inevitably affect this year's harvest. Four years ago, Hezong had exhausted all the grain stocks of the Chu State, and it took three years to accumulate one year's grain, if the Chu and Qin wars for one year, the Chu State will have no grain next year;

In Dazai's opinion of Shen Yinyu, Chu and Qin have long had a tradition of friendship, and this time it is common for Qin to ask for quality, and it should not be over-interpreted. Therefore, the Chu division could not assemble before the Qin army, otherwise the responsibility for provoking the war would lie with Chu not in Qin, and the conspiracy might also come to naught. Even, after the usual autumn parade in August, he repeatedly explained to the outside world that it was only an autumn parade and had nothing to do with the war.

Xiu Yin and Dazai are cautious, advocating that the enemy will not move and I will not move; Zhao Xiao, Nao Wei and others initially wanted to gather a large army to demonstrate to Qin as soon as possible, but what was unexpected was that Huang Xie actually suggested so, and the two immediately gave up this idea and stood on the opposite side of Huang Xie - both believed that Huang Xie's purpose was to lead the Qin army to attack Chu, so that the Chu army would defeat the prince and enter Qin as a hostage; Even if the Chu army is undefeated, this battle is also for the prince, and the people of the counties will also be blamed for the prince in the future.

Ling Yin is not at ease, this is the unanimous opinion of the ministers of the Jing Party. Because of this, the matter of sending envoys to the four countries of Han, Wei, Zhao and Yan to discuss the joint arrangement was also the sole responsibility of Dazai Shen Yinyu, and Huang Xie no longer asked.

July is on fire, and August is not young. Before the weather cooled down, the envoy of the Qin State came, and he was weak. He sat on a painting boat with a banner, and arrived at the post house in the north of the capital accompanied by a hundred and ten armor servants, and was received by Dazai Shen Yinlu.

"I went to Chu on the order of the widow, and it is really the peace of Qin and Chu." The flag representing Wang Yi was carefully removed from the painting boat and stood on the weak side. Zhong Ming is in a row, under the flag, he is weak and heavy-robed, and he is unusually kind, but his eyes are looking left and right, as if he is looking for someone. "For decades, our country has never regarded the state of Chu as an enemy, but the state of Chu has attacked our country twice within ten years (BC247 in the third year of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang), so the widow reprimanded me to enter Chu and asked: Is the state of Chu willing to be a friend or an enemy of my Qin state?"

"Nature is a friend." Suddenly, Shen Yinyu breathed a sigh of relief, he was most afraid that Qin Envoy would not say anything.

"Since it is a friend, it is necessary to condemn the eldest son to enter Qin as a hostage to show the sincerity of the Chu State." On the triple banquet, he was weak and disregarded the etiquette and turned against the guest, he took care of his own sacrifices, drank his own wine, and then smiled at Shen Yinlu.

"Your envoy doesn't know anything." Shen Yinyu choked, "The king of the bad town has not recovered from his illness, and the eldest son of the king must not leave the capital and go to the country." ”

"Uncured? Well, it's a good wine. "Don Liang seems to be very fond of drinking." I heard that a few months ago, the eldest son Jing tested medicine for his father, and the illness of the king of your country has been cured, and yesterday the king of your country held a court meeting, saying that the envoy of Qin came how to ......"

In order for the prince not to enter Qin, the king of Chu is out of the way, and he has every opportunity, who would have thought that it was like this, but he was caught by the Qin envoy. Shen Yinyu was born in the aristocracy, and he couldn't deal with the weak quick knife to cut through the chaos. I only heard a weak and said: "I have something to ask Dazai: How many days does the journey take from Yingdu to Chengyang Border Pass?" ”

"Tell your envoy that Yingdu is more than 600 miles from the border of Chengyang, and it takes 15 or 6 days to take a car." Although Shen Yinyu was puzzled, he also replied.

"Fifteen or sixteen days is too slow, in my opinion, eight days is enough." He sneered weakly. "Please tell the king of your country: If the state of Chu does not regard the state of Qin as a friend, and is willing to form an alliance with Zhao Wei and make the state of Qin an enemy, he will not punish the eldest son to enter Qin, and he will leave the country if he is weak; If you are willing to take Qin as a friend and not regard Qin as an enemy, ...... there are 12 days left between today and the ninth month of the Chu calendar, please send the eldest son Jing into Qin before September. ”

The kindness on his weak face disappeared, and his words were cold, but Shen Yinyu was shocked in his heart and asked, "What do you mean by this?" ”

"What do you mean?" He smiled weakly again, "I will only stay in Yingdu for four days, and after four days, whether your country sends the eldest son Jing into Qin or not, he will return to Qin." ”

"Four days?" Shen Yinyu looked a little pitiful, expecting to see something else on his face, but unfortunately there was nothing on this face except coldness and disdain.

Zhong Ming Ding food, Chu Ge Jiaoyu, when the Qin envoy who enjoyed the treatment of the monarch in the post station was weak and eating, drinking, and playing, the main bed in the gate of Chu Palace Road was silent, and everyone was silent.

Xiong Yuan, the king of Chu, who was holding the bronze rune, had cold sweat in his palms. He didn't understand the meaning of Qin's envoy for four days, for twenty-five years, Chu State relied on Ling Yin Huang Xie for all affairs, but Qin State asked for quality this time, because of the dispute between the princes, Huang Xie could no longer be trusted;

Xiong Yuan was undecided, while Zhao Huang and Nao Cunning Jing Dang wrinkled their brows and meditated. They meditated on the Qin envoy's words word by word, intending to read something out of them so that the state of Chu would be in a favorable place. Only Huang Xie is the least entangled, a few days ago, the king of the court no longer believed him, and entrusted everything to Zhao Huang and others, what else did he have to say.

"Your Majesty, please see the Qin envoy." Zhao Huang stood up resolutely, and he wanted to reason with Qin in person.

"Why did Qing sue the Qin envoy?" Xiong Yuan's eyes finally had some bright color, but this bright color inadvertently swept past Huang Xie.

"The minister will tell him: I, the Chu people, will never condemn the eldest son to enter the Qin ......," Zhao Huang said. Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Dazai and Zimo.

"It can't be like that." Zi Mo rushed in front of Dazai, "Tell me like this, the Qin envoy must go, and after the Qin division comes, the disaster of the Chu State will also." This matter should be delayed, and when the unity of the four countries is first revealed, it will be discussed with the Qin envoy. If you don't want the five countries to attack Qin, you should allow the eldest son not to enter Qin. ”

Zi Mo's words were exactly what had been discussed in the previous court meeting. Although the state of Chu annexed the state of Lu, it was impossible to fight the state of Qin alone with the strength of one country. For now, it is necessary to unite the other four countries to fight against the Qin State, so that the matter of the Qin State can be properly resolved. Before the four countries agree to join forces, it is better to drag things out, and do not say yes or no.

In the hearts of the courtiers who discussed this policy, there was another thought that was unannounced to each other, that is, if the matter dragged on until the autumn and winter, the king did not get through it, and the crown prince could just become the king. This is nothing to enter Qin as a hostage, unless the Qin State is bent on destroying the Chu State, otherwise it will not be entangled in this matter.

And the destruction of Chu is not good for Qin, after the fall of Chu, the real benefit is Qi and Wei, Wei may have bowed to Qin, but Qi did not. Without the world of Chu, Qi would inevitably annex Lu and Huaisi and become the largest power after Qin.

Once the decision was made, the court discussion was quickly over. What was different was that when Huang Xie retired, Xiong Yuan, the king of Chu, kept staring at him, but Zhao Huang and others were also in the middle court, so he stopped talking and watched Huang Xie retreat into the big room and disappear outside the hall. Huang Xie also felt the expectation in Xiong Yuan's eyes, but from the time he walked out of the room, he never heard Xiong Yuan's call.

Out of the hall, Chu Tian is green, the scorching sun is shining, the cool breeze is lightly attacking, the first half of the whole palace: the main hall, the Ying Gate, the official office, the treasury, the Mao Gate, the temple, the ancestral shrine...... Until the tall city wall of the south gate of Yingdu, it was all visible in the sun, he sighed heavily, and then staggered down the stairs.

"Sovereign?" Walking out of the Ying Gate, the left is Ling Yin's Mansion, and the right is Gaoku, and the entourage thought that Huang Xie went back to Ling Yin's Mansion.

"Prepare the car, go back to the city." Huang Xie's face was silent, and he didn't stop when he passed by Ling Yin's Mansion.

"Yui." An entourage quickly led the order to run away, he did not run to the palace Maomen, but ran straight into Ling Yin's mansion, and then went out from the back door to beckon the royal hand to drive in the court in front of the Maomen to wait for Huang Xie.

"Lord, who is the envoy of Qin, and what is his person?" Back at Xiaoyi, a small meeting began. In addition to Zhu Guan and Li Yuan, there were also Yu Qing and Zhou Wen. The former is an old minister of Zhao and is familiar with Zhao, while the latter is a native of Chen County and knows a lot about Wei.

"Qin's envoy is weak." Huang Xie's name moved Yu Qing, "He said that he will stay in Yingdu for four days, and after four days, no matter whether my eldest son Jing enters Qin or not, he will return to Qin." ”

"Four days?" Zhou Wen frowned, he also stretched out his hand to calculate, and said, "This is quite fierce. ”

"Suddenly, he said: It is only eight days from Yingdu to the border of Chengyang, and there are still 12 days left from today to the ninth month of the Chu calendar, and he wants me to send my eldest son Jing into Qin before September." Huang Xie added another piece of information. "On the twelfth, on the eighth, and on the fourth day, I thought that the Qin people should welcome the eldest son into Qin before September, and they would kill me if they were overdue, unless they were ......"

Huang Xie looked at Yu Qing and Zhou Wen. Han and Yan were not only weak, but their positions were often uncertain, so the attitudes of Zhao and Wei were very important. If Zhao Wei agrees to join forces, then Han Yan will inevitably follow. Once the Five Kingdoms are united again, the Qin State will have to weigh it carefully if it wants to attack Chu, especially in the context of domestic rebellion; If Zhao Wei is unwilling to rush this troubled water for the Chu State, then ...... The state of Chu is in danger.