Unconsciously more than two months have passed, one day, the sky is nearly dusk, Gou Jian and his wife Fengyi are sitting outside the stone room for a short rest, Fan Li is standing on the side of the Yue Wang and his wife, looking very respectful.

Gou Jian saw that there was no one around, and those guards had long been hiding in the sentry tower and gathering in one place to shout and drink and do a scene of throwing pots. Because Gou Jian voluntarily entered Wu as a hostage, these guards are not very closely guarded on weekdays.

It is now early autumn, the mausoleum of Helu is located at the foot of Huqiu Mountain, which is more than ten miles away from Gusu City, unless called by King Wu, Gou Jian and Fan Li Junchen are generally detained here, raising horses and guarding the mausoleum, and dare not move half a minute.

Gou Jian said to Fan Li: "We have been here for more than two months, but there is no news from China. The widow was always thinking during this time: our country was defeated by the state of Wu after this battle, and the country was full of holes and all kinds of industries were waiting to be developed. Now is when we are at our most vulnerable, and any country has the ability to destroy our country easily. Although the widow is here, he does not remember the meeting in his heart. ”

Fan Li said: "Don't worry, the king! The Yue Kingdom is now the meal of the King of Wu, and it is impossible for other vassal states to take the risk to snatch it from the hands of the Wu State. Although the Jin Kingdom is also eyeing us, it has never dared to make a move. After all, nominally we are a vassal state of the state of Wu, and the state of Wu will protect our security. ”

"According to your analysis, what will Wu Guo do next?"

"Fu Cha attacked and broke through the Yue Kingdom, and he led his army to victory for the first time, which would greatly boost the morale of the Wu State, and at the same time swell the ambition of the King of Wu. According to the minister's speculation, Fucha's next plan is to attack other vassal states, and Wu will begin to embark on the road of seizing the throne. ”

Gou Jian sighed and said: "This Wu State first subdued the Chu State, which greatly injured the vitality of the Chu State, and until now the Chu State has not dared to go against the Wu State. Now we have been dealt with again. Both the east and south of the kingdom of Wu were safe, and the king of Wu would certainly look to the north. ”

"I don't think so. The soldiers are a generation of virtuous ministers, wise and brave. As long as the soldiers are in power, the state of Wu will not use force to the north. The northern part of Wu is facing the Qi State, how can the Wu State be hostile to the surrounding powers? ”

Gou Jian was a little puzzled: "Even the State of Chu was defeated by the Wu army, what can the State of Qi do?" ”

Fan Li said: "If I am a soldier, the main goal is to deal with the Chu State and the Yue State first. Of course, for the State of Wu, the best decision now is to destroy the State of Yue, and then continue to suppress the State of Chu, so that the State of Chu does not dare to act rashly. Then make an alliance with the Qi State and deal with the Jin State. As long as the Jin State is defeated, the overlord must belong to the Wu State! ”

Because of this, the widow has been worried about long nights and dreams. Our monarchs and ministers are here as hostages, and I don't know that day King Wu repented. We will be in a different place, and the country will be in a difficult situation! ”

Therefore, the first strategy of the minister and the literary genre is to counter the plan. As long as there is a gap between the soldiers and the king of Wu. Take advantage of the suspicion of the soldiers. King Wu will not follow the advice of the soldiers, and we will have hope of survival. ”

"That's the starting point, right?"

Fan Li nodded and said, "That's right!" This approach has paid off. King Wu pardoned us and kept the temple of Yue, which was the result of this plan. After this defeat, the minister also thought about it again and again. There are several lessons learned. ”

Gou Jian also had the same reflection, and when Fan Li said this, he was even more interested.

"When King Wu Xingshi conquered our country, we failed to grasp the situation. If we do not adopt a way of dealing with the enemy in line with our national strength and go to war easily, we will lose the opportunity in terms of strategy, and this is a miscalculation. The second is that we failed to form an alliance with the Chu State, which was our diplomatic defeat in this war, and this was a loss of friendship. Sun Tzu said: Go to the army and plot; Secondly, the cutting of the relationship. Our national strength is extremely limited, and if we attack the city, we will naturally be defeated by a strong enemy. ”

Gou Jian groaned: "The general just summed up this defeat from the military strategy. The widow is the king of a country, and now the widow understands that these people are the cornerstone of the country. The taxes of the state, what we eat, what we use, what we wear, which is not the work of the people? Therefore, the people's will is the foundation of the country's prosperity. ”

"Although the state of Wu is strong, the prince of Wu is very happy, and he does not know how to love and cherish the people, and he pays taxes and conscription very heavily. The minister thought that Wu Guo used troops all year round, and the people's livelihood could not be adjusted, and it was not a long-term strategy. ”

The two gentlemen and ministers talked happily, Fan Li looked around vigilantly, and said in a low voice: "This time, King Wu led us into the camp of the Dragon Banner Army, and the ministers benefited a lot. Although we were enslaved in Wu here, we were really surprised by the customs and customs of Wu, the economic system, and even the equipment and structure of the army. ”

"King Wu despises us very much in his heart, and in normal times, these are extremely important military secrets. But in the eyes of King Wu, we are captives and slaves, and we are out-and-out losers! Gou Jian's eyes showed a faint hatred.

At dusk, Feng Yi cooked some chestnut rice and vegetables, the three of them had dinner, Fan Li returned to the grass house, and Gou Jian and his wife returned to the stone room.

The fire that had been lit outside the stone chamber was still extinguished in the night, and it was pitch black in the stone chamber. Through the cracks in the wooden door, the guards could occasionally be seen dragging long shadows around the stone chamber before heading out.

Feng Yi served Gou Jian to sleep, and asked softly: "The concubine sees that the king has a lot of things on his mind today. I just sighed for a long time, but I don't know what worries the king? ”

"It's okay for the widow to suffer a little, and now only our husband and wife are here, so we might as well say a few words from our hearts. At present, all the political affairs of the country are entrusted to the literature and the ministers. But the widow is worried that if we stay in Wu for a long time, the domestic ministers will inevitably not set up a new king, which is the widow's heart disease! ”

"Then the king has to think about returning to the country first, is it the most important thing?"

"Of course! As long as we can return to Vietnam safely, all problems will be solved. ”

Feng Yi said in her heart: The king has several brothers, all of whom are adults. If the ministers of the country choose one of the princes to be the king, there is also a possibility. She and her husband are cattle and horses here, and if a new monarch is set up in China, for Feng Yi, it is absolutely unacceptable to her.

As the saying goes, people are anxious and wise. Feng Yi analyzed for Gou Jian: "The concubine thinks that it is unlikely that there will be a new monarch in China. King Wu specially ordered you and me to enter Wu as ministers, if there is a new monarch in the country, isn't it clearly against King Wu? For King Wu, we are the king and queen of the Yue Kingdom, so we have the value of being hostages. ”

Gou Jian suddenly opened his mouth when he thought about it, he stroked Feng Yi's messy long hair next to the pillow, and muttered: "Ai Ji has followed the widow from the difficulty to this point, and from now on, no matter whether the widow succeeds or fails, he will never lose each other!" ”

"Really?" Feng Yi turned to the side mischievously: "When you return to Yue Country in the future, no matter what kind of woman you meet, the king only loves his concubines?" ”

"There is no joke in the widow! Not only is he never disappointed to the widow of Aiji, but Fan Li, who followed our husband and wife into Wu to make it difficult to give us advice and advice, and he also made great contributions. As long as the widow can get out of the whole body, he will worship Fan Li as the phase! ”

Feng Yi said: "Although the concubine doesn't understand state affairs, the concubine also knows the way, this Fan Li is a big loyal minister!" So many ministers of the Yue Kingdom took the initiative to stand up and join us as slaves in Wu alone. Besides, he is also doing his best to give advice to the king. It's not like the ministers in the country, hiding at home and enjoying their own blessings! The king should reward him greatly in the future, and more than the reward for the literature! ”

Gou Jian sighed: "Ai Ji is right. Whether we can return to China or not depends on Fan Li's planning. The widow is just praying to God, Fan Li and Wen Chong are the widow's right-hand men, everyone can work together to achieve great things! ”

Feng Yi gently touched Gou Jian's forehead with her forehead, and said quietly: "Although it is hard here and a slave, the concubine is still grateful. After all, the king and the concubine are not separated, and they can face all the misfortunes together......" Before the words were finished, they were already choked up and unable to speak.

In this humble stone room, a warm atmosphere gradually filled, and in the murmur of these two miserable people, the early autumn night drowned out all the warmth, coldness, intrigue, and desire/hope. (To be continued......)