The king of Qi praised Mencius's statement, but he had no intention of implementing it. This made Mencius very disappointed.

King Huai also admired his theory, and also rejected him. Mencius once asked Wang Kan why he didn't use Confucianism to govern the country.

Wang Kan said with a smile: "Isn't it self-binding to use Confucianism? ”

Mencius was silent.

Then Wang Kan said: "The princes of Zhuxia, all take it as their responsibility to dominate the country, and they have no benevolence and righteousness in what they do. ”

"I'm afraid not!"

"I'm afraid that these princes will wake up laughing when they dream, and they will attack Huai with their troops."

After consulting with Wang Kan, Mencius left Huai and came to Qi, where Mencius suffered the same treatment.

So Mencius lectured and debated for a while in the palace of Jixia of Qi, bid farewell to the king of Qi, and left Qi to travel to other countries.

Qin State, Xianyang.

Since the last time the Western Chu State attacked the Qin State and almost captured Xianyang, the capital of the Qin State, the Qin State has increased its defense against Hanzhong.

Although the Qin State is now strong, it also feels difficult to face the attacks of the Western Chu State and the Wei State.

"Your Majesty, the alliance between Wei and Western Chu will attack our Qin State, which is very unfavorable to us, and the minister suggests forming an alliance with Qi to jointly crusade against Wei, and an alliance with Huai State to jointly crusade against Western Chu." Gongsun Martingale said.

A solid alliance is important for any country, just like decades ago, the Three Jin Alliance, the Qin State and the Qi State were all beaten very miserably by the Three Jins. Now the Three Jin Alliance has a false appearance, and it is embarrassed by the Qin State. If it weren't for the help of the Western Chu State, the Wei State would have been unable to resist last time.

"Didn't the Qi State make peace with the Wei State Alliance, and they are now allied with us to deal with the Wei State?" Qin Hou was a little unsure.

"Monarch, the Wei State has always wanted the land of the Central Plains and wants to re-dominate the Three Jins, which is unacceptable for the Qi State.

If Wei is strong, the Three Jin Alliance will be formed again, and the Three Jin Alliance will definitely attack Qi again. ”

"We are far away from the Qi State, and there is no conflict of interest with the Qi State, on the contrary, we have the same enemy, and the subordinates heard that the King of Qi is greedy, if the land of the Wei State is used as bait, the King of Qi will definitely take the bait!" Gongsun Martingale said.

"Wei's strength is limited, as long as Qi starts a war from the east, Wei can no longer stop Qin from attacking from Hexi."

"As long as you seize the land west of the river, and then seek to seize the land east of the river, at that time, Hangu Pass will become the bag of the Qin state."

"As for the Western Chu State, we have formed an alliance with the Huai State and surrounded the Western Chu State. It is true that the road in Hanzhong is difficult, but it is difficult for us to attack, is it easy for the Chu State to attack? As long as we block the Bao Chuan Road, the Western Chu Kingdom will not come out.

The Western Chu State was driven by the Huai State to Badi and Shangyong, which were mountainous and had dangerous roads, and only Brazil and Hanzhong had fertile land suitable for farming. Hanzhong is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but Brazil is not so dangerous. ”

"We can completely launch an attack from Shu, as long as we seize the land of Brazil, the state of Chu will not be able to feed the population of the state of Chu only with the Hanzhong Plain. At that time, the state of Chu will have no food, so it can only be destroyed and annexed by our state of Qin. ”

"Even after occupying the lands of Badong, Jiangzhou, Hanzhong, and Shangyong, we can completely attack Huai and annex the land of Nanyang."

The Marquis of Qin agreed with Gongsun Ying's strategy and immediately sent envoys to Huai and Qi respectively.

When Wang Kan learned that the envoy from the Qin State wanted to form an alliance, he was slightly stunned, and did not agree directly, but asked the envoy to wait, and then found Sun Bin to ask his opinion.

"Sun Qing, this time the Qin State has invited the envoy to form an alliance, how should we respond?"

Sun Bin said directly: "The Qin State wants to go east this time!" ”

After several years of learning and growth, Sun Bin has become more and more mature.

"Your Majesty, if the Qin people occupy Hanzhong and Badi, they will no longer have to worry about the future, and if they can occupy the land of the West River, then the gate to the east will be opened. When the time comes, the Qin State will go south from Badong, Shangyong, Wuguan and even Hangu Pass, and it will be able to threaten our Huai State. ”

"Qing means to refuse to form an alliance with the Qin people?" Wang Kan asked.

"No, Your Majesty suggests agreeing!" Sun Bin said.

"Why is that?"

"Promise the Qin State to destroy the Western Chu State together with the Qin State, and our army will take advantage of the situation to capture Shangyong and Jiangzhou. As long as you occupy these two important places, you can advance on both sides to attack the land of Bashu, and you can go north to threaten the Qin State. ”

"The land of Jiangzhou and the land of Shangyong are difficult to travel, if you don't take this opportunity to take the two places, it will be even more difficult to seize them after the Qin State conquers the Western Chu State."

Wang Kan immediately said: "The first king once recruited a large number of Shanyue Yi people, and after training, they were used to attack Western Chu. ”

After discussing with Sun Bin, Wang Kan swore an oath with Qin and promised to attack Western Chu with Qin, but the time for attacking Western Chu had not yet been decided.

On the other side, the envoys of the Qin State soon came to the Qi State.

Qin came to form an alliance with Qi this time, and his posture was very low, which made King Qi very happy. After some compliments, Qin told Qi about the strength of Wei, and used the strength of Wei to make Qi vigilant. And use the land of Wei to tempt Qi Hou.

For a long time, the State of Qi was very wary of the State of Wei, especially the previous times when the State of Wei united to form the Three Jin Alliance, and now the State of Qin once again mentioned the State of Wei, which reminded the State of Qi of the fear of being dominated by the Three Jin Alliances of the State of Wei.

Thinking of this, the King of Qi directly agreed, and decided to attack the Wei State together with the Qin State.

Unbeknownst to Wei, Qi and Qin had formed an alliance to prepare against them. The king of Wei was very happy to be able to defeat the Qin State this time, and rewarded the meritorious ministers, and at the same time rewarded the meritorious heroes Gongsun Yan this time.

But when the reward was awarded, King Wei made Hui Shi the first merit, Pang Juan the second merit, and Gongsun Yan the middle merit, which made Gongsun Yan feel a little uncomfortable.

Gongsun Yan felt that this time Wei was able to turn the crisis into safety, because he sent an envoy to the Western Chu State, invited the Western Chu State to send troops, and made a great contribution.

The heart is dissatisfied with the King of Wei, and the King of Wei also has his considerations, this strategy is Hui Shi's plan, and at the same time Hui Shi raised grain and grass, and recruited soldiers to ensure materials, which can be described as a great achievement.

Pang Juan led the soldiers to fight, kept blocking the Qin army, and later regained Anyi, which was also a great achievement. As for Gongsun Yan, in the eyes of King Wei, although his credit is great, it is not irreplaceable.

He didn't know that today's practice also laid a hidden danger for the Wei State.

(End of chapter)