Ji Bian remembered that when he was young, he had infinite enthusiasm and ideals, and he was ambitious to do a big job, but under repeated blows, he had already died down.

At this moment, he is dying, and not only has he not been able to recover the decline of the Zhou royal family in the slightest in his life, but he has also watched the prestige of the Zhou family weaken day by day, and he is about to become terminally ill and incorrigible.

He thought of his elder brother King Zhou Lie, the short-lived son of heaven, and said in his heart: "He is good, he died very young, and he reigned for less than seven years. As soon as your eyes are closed, everything is empty, and you don't have to worry about the continued decline of the Zhou family, and you don't have to worry about whether the royal family can reorganize the rivers and mountains. ”

After the death of his brother, Ji Bian took over the throne, and he lived a very long life, and he reigned for 30 years. However, sometimes this process is really like a long torment, like a patient, lying on the bed for a long time, wanting to be tired, wanting to go and a little nostalgic.

Ji Bian looked at the envoys from various countries who came with Su Qin, and said in his heart: "Who of them doesn't know that the status of the Zhou room today is a tiger made of paper, and there is just a shelf left. These people let go of their hands and feet on the top of the main hall, shouting casually, toasting each other, and dancing and making music, as if Zhou Tianzi was a transparent existence.

Ji Bian pondered: "With the heart and ambition of my youth, I will definitely try my best to interfere with them, and I will never allow these people to indulge and be rude in the palace of my Zhou royal family!" ”

However, the current scene reminded him of the distant past, and there were also envoys from various countries who came to the palace of the king of Zhou to do business.

That incident happened when Ji Bian had just ascended the throne, which greatly shook his heart and seriously dampened Ji Bian's confidence, and from then on he realized the sad fate of being called the Son of Heaven and actually being a puppet.

At that time, Ji Bian was not yet twenty years old, and his brother Ji Xi had just passed, and he added the heir name "Lie", and called his year name "King Zhou Lie", and Ji Bian could be regarded as a good heir to his brother Ji Xi.

Elder brother Ji Xi had a good relationship with the newly rising overlord of Qi State, King Qi Wei, who fought the world under the banner of "respecting the royal family and seeking rebellion against the ministers", and sent a large amount of property to the Zhou royal family to support the Zhou family.

But after Ji Xi died, the people of Qi suddenly changed their minds. Those princes who were afraid of Yan, Song and other countries by King Qi Wei's conquest, but feared disrespecting the Zhou family, were seized by King Qi Wei, and sent people to participate in the condolences and send sacrifices and other gifts, but they couldn't wait for King Qi Wei's movements.

Ji Bian recalled the past scenes at this moment, and couldn't help but sigh: "How naïve I was at that time, and how high-minded I was. He even sent an envoy to Qi Guosan to deliver an obituary and scolded the real overlord King Qi Wei. ”

He thought of this and couldn't help but smile wryly. The result is conceivable, and at that time, he understood who was the real master of the world.

King Qi Wei not only did not obey Ji Bian's orders, but scolded him repeatedly: "Zhou Tianzi, your mother is a lowly slave!" In a fit of rage, King Qi Wei tied up the envoy and beat him half to death, and asked the envoy to relay the curse untouched.

When the envoy brought this sentence back, Ji Bian was of course trembling with anger, and he indignantly recounted King Qi Wei's rude behavior in front of the various princes and envoys who came to attend the funeral. I thought that these envoys would be the masters of the Son of Heaven, and at least they would condemn King Qiwei's actions.

Who knows, the next day, all the envoys disappeared, and he hurriedly sent someone to look for them, only to find that these envoys had fled overnight. Ren Hai, the envoy of the Lu State, left early in the morning, and Ji Bian hurriedly chased after him to find out.

Ren Hai, the envoy of the Lu State, was about to leave the east gate of Luoyang, and Ji Bian sent someone to stop him. Ji Bian went up and asked, "Why did the envoys leave without saying goodbye and hurrying away?" ”

Ren Hai's face was embarrassed, and he first said that he was summoned by the monarch of Lu Guoguo and wanted to go back in a hurry to restore his life. Ji Bian does not give up, and he does not let go of life and death. Ren Hai was forced to be anxious, so he said bluntly: "The Son of Heaven thinks that the Zhou Dynasty or the Qi Kingdom, which side is more powerful and powerful?" ”

Ji Bian stroked his chin with his hand, thought for a while, and he reluctantly admitted: "It seems that Qi is more powerful." ”

He changed his words and added: "But I am the Son of Heaven after all, and there is no cloud in "Poems": 'Under the whole world, it is not the king's land; On the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister. 'No matter how powerful he is, he is only a prince. ”

Ren Hai sneered three times and said, "Please forgive me, this son of heaven is just a prop, take it and use it when you need it, and resolutely throw it aside when you don't need it." ”

Ren Hai shook his head again and again, and said: "Just imagine, if the king offends the Qi country, where is there anyone who dares to approach you, then it won't anger the king of the Qi country and bring disaster to his country!" That's why the ministers left overnight. ”

Ji Yi listened to Ren Hai's ruthless words to expose the truth, and he was even more angry and gritted his teeth, and he said angrily: "Is there no name and etiquette in the world to talk about? ”

Ren Hai didn't care what Ji Bian said, he left without taking the Son of Heaven in his eyes at all, and he left an even more ugly sentence before leaving: "You can enjoy your name and etiquette, we can't afford to play with you." After saying that, he walked away.

Ji Bian was angry and frightened, standing helplessly at the east gate of Luoyang, not knowing what to do. A vigorous funeral, just because of his own impulse, to restore the Zhou rites, restore the supreme authority of the ancestors, but instead ended up with a tree falling down, people going to tea and cooling, and it ended sadly.

At that moment, Ji Bian felt deeply isolated and helpless, and he meditated hard to find a prince who could help him, but there was no one. That was the first time he deeply realized that the Zhou Dynasty was like yesterday's yellow flowers, and the dreams of the past were gone.

Since then, Ji Bian has never dared to pose as the Son of Heaven in front of any princes, even the weakest countries such as the Lu State. After all, people still have some territory, and Zhou Tianzi can only be regarded as a city lord, and his real status is not as good as that of a middle doctor in a vassal state.

Ji Bian realized that if he wanted to retain his title as the Son of Heaven, he had to maneuver among the princes and take advantage of the contradictions between the princes to profit from it. Therefore, when Qin Xiaogong needed it, he sent the black clothes that symbolized the highest-ranking princes, and the Taijiao tools used by the Son of Heaven to worship his ancestors. And the Qin State also understood and sent people to send a large amount of food and money.

Ji Bian looked at Su Qin, he was not without plans in his heart, and was thinking about how to use Su Qin's position to get some benefits for the Zhou royal family. He rolled his eyes and thought about it.