Qi State, in the Linzi Palace City, King Qi looked at the music in front of him, his face was full of melancholy.

Like today, it is a completely chaotic time. King Qi inherited the hegemony of the previous king Qi Wei, and originally wanted to bring the Qi State to another peak, but now he didn't expect the Qi State to fall into an increasingly unfavorable state.

The biggest pressure facing the Qi State today is the Yan State from the north. Since the internal strife of the Yan State in the year, the Qi State sent troops to the Yan State, and quickly wiped out its country in more than a month, which shows how unpopular the Yan State under the rule of the son is.

At that time, King Qi considered himself incomparably wise and extremely proud of his decisions. Now, however, he felt nothing but deep bitterness. He didn't expect that it would be so easy to destroy the Yan Kingdom, but it would be so difficult to incorporate it into the Qi Kingdom's own territory.

It has been two years, and instead of stabilizing, Qi's rule in Yan has become more and more severe. Now the Qi army in the Yan Kingdom has been attacked by the Yan people at every moment. Although the King of Qi didn't know what the "vast ocean of the people's war" was, he knew that if this continued, the Qi State would inevitably encounter a more serious defeat in the Yan State!

I have to make a decision to change this situation. And the best way is to let the Qi army withdraw from the Yan State. Before doing this, he even sent people to test Mencius, who had instigated him to send troops.

The man did not directly explain the current situation of the Qi army in the Yan Kingdom, but directly asked Mencius: "Master, I heard that you once instigated the King of Qi to send troops to attack the Yan Kingdom, is there such a thing?" ”

Mencius's answer is very interesting: "Of course not, how could I do such a thing!" Before, Shen Tong asked me privately: 'Can Yan Guo crusade?' I replied, 'Yes,' and they thought that was right, and then they went on a crusade against Yan. But if Shen Tong asks me more, 'Who can go to crusade against Yan Kingdom?' I will definitely add a sentence 'Only those who have been ordered by the Son of Heaven are qualified to crusade against the Yan Kingdom'. Actually, it's like there's a murderer here, and if someone asks me, 'Should this murderer be killed?' I would reply, 'Kill.' But if he asks me more, 'Who can kill this murderer?' I will surely answer: 'Only the judges of the government can kill.' ’。 Now, the State of Qi went to crusade against the Kingdom of Yan without the permission of the Son of Heaven, it is a country without Taoism, a country with the same Dao as the Kingdom of Yan to crusade against the Kingdom of Yan without Taoism, why should I encourage this kind of thing? ”

The King of Qi was deeply shocked by the Confucian leader's half-spoken and misleading decision-making! He can't wait to slap himself twice, he is good at the strategy of the country's diplomatic relations, but he is a vertical and horizontal strategist, and he goes to ask Confucian scholars by himself, isn't this self-inflicted?

However, let the king of Qi withdraw his troops, but he was still unwilling. In the eyes of King Qi, this time the Qi State sent troops to the Yan State, but nothing was gained, isn't this too sorry for sending troops this time! The merchants of Qi never do business at a loss, let alone being the king of Qi?

Just as he continued to think like this, a eunuch suddenly reported to Lai: "Your Majesty, Jing Guojun asks to see!" ”

Hearing Xiangguo's request to see, King Qi couldn't help but come back to his senses and let Tian Ying in.

As soon as he saw the King of Qi, Tian Ying asked the King of Qi: "Your Majesty, I don't know how you have thought about the withdrawal of troops from the Yan State that the minister mentioned to you before?" ”

Hearing this, King Qi replied slowly: "Jing Guojun, Qi Guo Zhan Yan, you also agreed with it at the beginning. Now, if my Qi country withdraws from Yan country, it will fall into the prestige of my Qi country, and there will be no benefit from my Qi country, and the widow will not be able to explain to the soldiers of Qi country. Thinking about it, it is not that my Qi country continues to support in Yan country, and what can I talk about it? ”

Hearing King Qi's words, Tian Ying couldn't help but sigh. Since the death of Queen Zhong Wuyan a few years ago, King Qi has returned to his previous state, doing things extremely unrelentingly and indecisively. If it continues for so long, the Qi country will definitely fall into a state of decline!

So he said to the king of Qi, "Your Majesty, have you not seen the situation as you are today? Don't hesitate any longer! When our Qi State attacked Yan, Chu State was at war with Qin, Wei, and Han at the same time. Then, our Qi State made peace with the Chu State and confronted Han Wei at the same time, but Han Wei was defeated, and at that time our country lost its containment of the Central Plains battlefield. After this, the Song State also joined the side of Han, Wei and Qin and went south to attack the Chu State. Now that the Song-Chu War has ended, the Song State has gained the upper hand, and has obtained the land south and north of the Chu State, and has the foundation of a great power, which is really not to be underestimated! If our country is unable to handle the relationship with the Song State, then the west of our Qi State will be under even stronger pressure than when Wei Wenhou was alive......"

Before Tian Ying finished speaking, King Qi chuckled and said, "Xiangguo, you are too worried." Qi and Song are the countries of in-laws, and since Ziyan took charge of the Song Kingdom, they have always been deferential to my Qi State, how can it be unfavorable to my Qi State? I know that you and Ziyan have a lot of discord, but after all, the princess has married to the Song Kingdom, if the relationship between my Qi State and the Song Kingdom is not harmonious, the princess is not easy to be a person in the middle. ”

Regarding King Qi's words, Tian Ying was unmoved. He said lightly to King Qi: "Great King, it is not that you are casually doubting Song Jun's sincerity, but sometimes, the changes in the situation are not determined by personal likes and dislikes. Although the Song State has not done anything disrespectful to the Qi State, since the Song State has won the Chu State, it proves that the Song State has become a powerful country in the world. The king doesn't know yet, but now within the vassal Teng State and Lu State of my Qi State, some people have begun to discuss getting rid of my Qi State and defecting to the Song State! ”

Hearing such a thing, King Qi was immediately taken aback. Lu and Teng are both neighbors of Qi, they exist in Qi's sphere of influence, and they have long been in Qi's pocket. The Qi State retains these small countries and does not destroy them, which is not only because the Qi State hopes to win the reputation of "Rise and Fall", but also hopes that the two countries can be perfectly incorporated into the Qi State like the Xue State in the future.

In fact, most of the political situation in these countries has actually been manipulated in the hands of Qi State. Now Tian Ying told him that the more important of these countries, the Lu State and the Teng State, have begun to find a way to get rid of the Qi State and defect to the Song State, which is tantamount to watching a boiled duck fly away! This kind of thing is something that King Qi can't tolerate.

However, in order to ensure the authenticity of this news, King Qi still asked Tian Ying with a cautious look: "Xiangguo's statement is really not to sow discord, is there evidence?" ”

Hearing that King Qi finally showed a suspicious look, Tian Ying immediately asked someone to bring a Confucian student in. Because Mencius had ordered King Qi before, King Qi's current view of Confucianism was not very bad, so he asked Tian Ying: "Who is this son?" ”

Seeing Tian Ying's eyes, the Confucian immediately bowed to the King of Qi and said, "Teng Guo Teng Geng, I have seen the King of Qi." ”

Tian Ying introduced to the King of Qi again: "Great King, Teng Geng is the younger brother of Teng Gong and the disciple of Meng Fuzi. Not only is he extremely well-connected in Teng Guo, but he can also speak in front of Lu Hou. This is what he told me. ”

Subsequently, Teng Geng reported to the king of Qi one by one the remarks within Teng and Lu that they wanted to turn their backs on Qi and defect to Song. And when King Qi heard about it, Teng Gong and Lu Hou were particularly interested in it, and a cold light flashed in their eyes.

Seeing that King Qi's face had become very bad, Tian Ying was secretly happy in his heart. He then said to the king: "Great King, although the Yan Kingdom is similar to Lu and Teng, they are all vassals of our Qi Kingdom. However, Yan Country is located in a remote place, and Lu and Teng are in the heart of our Qi country. If you don't get rid of the heart disease as soon as possible, it will definitely become a big problem for my Qi country in the future! ”

The cutting down of Yan before the Qi State was a pioneering move made when he had spare strength. However, now that Lu, Teng and other countries in the heart of Qi are opposed to Qi, it will not make much sense for Qi to continue to do pioneering things. At this time, how to stop the loss and retain the greatest significance for the Qi country is the most important!

Hearing Tian Ying say this, King Qi also knew that he couldn't delay, so he finally made a decision: "You're right, now my Qi State must deal with the threat of Song State." Later, you send someone to the Yan Kingdom, and let the Yan Kingdom cede the five border cities to our Qi Kingdom, and our Qi Kingdom will withdraw the remaining troops from the Yan Kingdom. As for Lu and Teng, since there are people in the two countries who want to defect to Song, and Teng Gong and Lu Hou do not dispel their thoughts, then I think their lives are too peaceful. You find someone to find something to do in the two countries, take these two people down, and replace them with an obedient office as the king! ”

"No!" Tian Ying replied solemnly, with incomparable excitement in his eyes!