In the past, when Qi Huan was the hegemon, King Chu Cheng repeatedly used troops to compete with Qi for hegemony in the Central Plains.

After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, King Cheng of Chu fought with Song because Duke Xiang of Song wanted to dominate.

At the Meng Zhi meeting, the Chu people, who did not speak of martial virtues, also kidnapped Song Xianggong, intending to force the Song State to submit, but unfortunately it did not succeed.

After that, King Cheng of Chu sent troops to rescue Zheng, fought with the Song army in Hongshui, shot and wounded Song Xianggong, who wanted to dominate, defeated the Song army, Song Xianggong was wounded and died in the battle, and the Chu army was greatly inspired, and Chu has since dominated the Central Plains.

However, the next Chu army was defeated by Jin in the Battle of Chengpu, and its development to the Central Plains was blocked......

At that time, King Chu Cheng had to be "gifted by the Son of Heaven".

Zhou Tianzi ordered: "The rebellion in the south of Zhen'er is not invaded." ”

It means that the south of Yiyue is under the management of your Chu State, and the south here not only refers to the south of the Yangtze River, but in fact, for China, it is the Han River, the Huai River and the Yangtze River basin.

Zhou Tianzi also left a hand, that is, not to invade the Central Plains, and did not authorize the Chu State to crusade against Zhuxia.

For the first time, it was recognized by the Son of Heaven and recognized the status of Chu as a great power in the south, which was much stronger than when King Wu of Chu begged for the king and stood on his own......

It's just that King Chu Cheng's final fate is embarrassing.

Because King Chu Cheng wanted to abolish the crown prince Shangchen, Shangchen led his troops to besiege the palace, hoping to save him, so he hanged himself.

Before his death, King Chu Cheng asked for the nickname, and the answer was "Ling", that is, after death, he would be called King Chu Ling, and he was not satisfied; So he replied that it was "Cheng", and he was willing to commit suicide and was accused of being the king of Chucheng......

Looking at what he has done, he really deserves the nickname of "Cheng"!

"Princes, please ascend to the altar—"

When Qi Hou Pestle accepted the flesh of the Son of Heaven, Shan Zining, who was standing on the side, shouted loudly.

The monarchs of Wu, Song, Lu, Wei and other countries, who had been waiting under the altar for a long time, or the doctors who attended on behalf of the emperor, all stepped on the altar step by step and solemnly.

The design of this altar is quite ingenious.

There are forty-nine steps, with the top of the altar and the Majesty (huge steps) in the middle.

Why?

Because this time the situation of the princes' alliance is quite special.

In other words, the composition of personnel is too complex, and the status is different!

In the Spring and Autumn Period, although the etiquette has collapsed, the etiquette cannot be ignored, especially in this rare alliance of princes.

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The Son of Heaven, the princes, the kings, the doctors, and the scholars, such a hierarchy cannot but be treated differently.

Even if it's a blood alliance, it's the same.

Therefore, on the altar, the kings of Wu, Qi, Song, Wei, Zheng and other countries, that is, the princes, can go up.

The rest of the Qing doctors who attended the alliance on behalf of the monarch, or the suzerains of the Fan clan and the Zhongxing clan, and the leaders of the Rong Di and Hu people, were not qualified to ascend the altar, and could only stand on the next step of the altar and participate in the alliance matters.

Among them, the most special situation is the monarch of Zhongshan State.

Zhongshan Kingdom, called "Xianyu" by the Central Plains people, belongs to Waiyi, not the same as Huaxia.

But Xianyu people have indeed been founded a few years ago, but they have not been recognized by Zhou Tianzi and do not belong to the sequence of Chinese princes!

At this time, Qingji and the kings stood on the altar and knelt in front of the eucalyptus.

On the eucalyptus, there are cow heads, sheep heads, and pig heads, so that the three animals are sacrificed to the sky, and incense is burned and prayed.

A bronze tripod weighing 1,000 catties has been placed on the altar, and the tripod is burning pine resin, fire oil, dry firewood, cloth, wheat bran, etc., all kinds of flammable materials.

Billowing smoke rose into the sky, hovering over the venue like a black dragon.

As the envoy of Zhou Tianzi, Shan Zining took out the edict and sacrificial text prepared in advance and began to recite it.

Shan Zining is the monarch of a single country within the Zhou royal family, and is the official secretary of the Zhou royal family, belonging to the princes sequence, and is not equivalent to the princes.

In history, Shan Zining was the "Shan Wu Gong".

It is inconvenient for Zhou Tianzi to participate in the alliance of princes, so he will generally entrust Zhengqing to attend and grant the princes the right to grow.

After Shan Zining finished reciting the sacrificial text, he said to the left and right: "Take the blood of chickens, dogs, and horses." ”

In a short time, one of the attendants brought the blood of chickens, dogs, and horses, and put them on a copper platter.

After Shan Zining took the copper plate, he knelt in front of the Marquis of Qi and said: "The Marquis of Qi should be determined by blood, the second is the Marquis of Wu, and the second is the princes." ”

"Good."

Such a rule had been set long before the alliance began.

How can the mortar not know?

Immediately, the pestle dipped his finger in the blood of the animal in the copper plate, smeared it on the corner of his mouth, and drew a bloody mark on his forehead.

Shan Zining held a copper plate full of animal blood and knelt in front of Qingji.

Qingji also did the same.

This is one of the ancient rituals of taking an oath to form an alliance.

Those who participate in the covenant are to dip their fingers in blood and apply it to their mouths as a sign of faith, which is called "blood......

This time in the anti-Jin alliance, the leader of the alliance is Qi Hou, and the deputy leader of the alliance is Qingji.

……

After the ceremony of forming the alliance was completed, Qi Hou Pestle led a group of monarchs and doctors to the square platform and sat down.

The pestle sat on the main seat, looked around, looked at the princes and doctors present, and couldn't help but feel excited for a while, as if he was more than ten years younger all of a sudden.

Be in spirits!

This is an old man talking about juvenile madness!

"The second and third sons, the world has been suffering for a long time!"

Pestle said loudly: "Now, we are gathered in the Yellow Pond, and what we are doing is to crusade against the unkind and unrighteous tyranny, and under the order of the Son of Heaven, we will take righteousness as the banner and support justice!" ”

"This time the alliance will not be returned, and the oath will not be returned!"

"If you don't break the tyranny, you won't pay it back!"

The princes and doctors present all sang in unison.

Storm?

Seriously, what the Jin State has done over the years has indeed been excessive, but it is not brutal.

Take the death of Sicheng Ziliang (Le Qi) of the Song Kingdom.

Sicheng Ziliang originally went to the Jin Kingdom to recount the good relations between the Jin and Song dynasties.

Sicheng Ziliang had a banquet with Zhao Ying, and also gave Zhao Ying a gift, which was originally two people who met at first sight, and it was just a exchange of etiquette and righteousness.

However, Shi Ying, the ruling minister of the Jin State at that time, couldn't stand it and persecuted Sicheng Ziliang to death......

This is the internal struggle between the six secretaries of the Jin State is too serious, and Si Cheng Ziliang was involved in it, so he died.

However, there is one point, the kingdom of the heavens has long been dissatisfied with the hegemony of the Jin Kingdom!

And power politics!

Therefore, the current Jin Kingdom is already a situation where the world is against it, and the wall is pushed by everyone.

To this point, the person who has the greatest credit is Shi Ying, the last ruling minister of the Jin State......

"Qi Hou, the widow has something to say!"

At this moment, the young and vigorous Zheng Guojun Ji Sheng stood up.

"Uncle Zheng has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

The mortar said slowly.

I saw Ji Sheng chuckle lightly and said: "Marquis Qi, the widow thinks that today the princes of my twenty-one countries (excluding Zhongshan Kingdom) and hundreds of thousands of horses are gathered in Huangchi, which is an unprecedented event. ”

"However, what we do is how to divide the land and divide the promotion."