lady, please calm down

On the 11th day of the twelfth lunar month, it is Shen Shi in the afternoon.

The New Year is approaching, and the sun is shining brightly. As usual, after entering the twelfth lunar month, Lin'an should be more and more lively every day.

But this year, first the scholars cried in the temple, and then the merchants went on strike. It was much deserted than in previous years.

Today, the city is filled with panic, as if it is the end of the world.

Under the blue sky and white sun, not only did Lin'an suddenly lock all the city gates, but the streets were filled with soldiers wearing hard-wearing armor and trotting towards the walls of the four cities.

The government officials, armed with sticks of fire and water and iron rulers, drove street vendors and passers-by into their homes to prevent the Qi army from sneaking into the city and taking the opportunity to cause chaos.

The streets were in chaos.

A vegetable vendor was pushed over by panicked passers-by and his vegetable basket was knocked over. Turnips, spinach and other fresh winter vegetables rolled all over the floor, and were trampled to pieces by passers-by. He couldn't stop them despite repeated shouting. The vegetable vendor was so distressed that he wiped away tears.

There were also pedestrians who took advantage of the sunny weather to wander around the city. They couldn't find their children in the chaos and couldn't help shouting anxiously.

There are also rogue idle men who take advantage of the chaos to steal, or squeeze in the crowd to touch and touch beautiful girls.

Even teahouses and restaurants with some backgrounds did not dare to do business anymore and closed their doors one after another.

What can make the whole city panic is naturally the continuous rumbling of artillery on the east side and the rumors that "Qi's army is about to attack the city."

The sound of the cannon could be heard by Chen Bokang, who was imprisoned in Dali Temple; Wu Weizheng, who was hiding in the Prime Minister's Mansion, could hear it; Gu Yuntang and other Zhou Dynasty scholars who were imprisoned in the government prison, as well as Mei Yao and businessman Miao Kui, could also hear the sound. .

However, the sound of the cannon, which represents Qi's will for revenge, falls in the ears of different people, and each person has a different taste in their heart.

The atmosphere in the Qinzheng Hall of the Imperial City was equally tense.

Sitting on the throne, Emperor Zhou had a waterfall of sweat on his forehead in the middle of winter, and he had to wipe it with a handkerchief almost every few dozen breaths.

Some veterans are familiar with this situation. During the Dingwei crisis, Emperor Zhou escaped from Tokyo alone. On the way to escape, he accidentally fell into a glacier to avoid being pursued by the Jin soldiers.

From then on, whenever the emperor was frightened, he would sweat like rain.

Below, Prime Minister Qin looked at his nose and heart, silent.

Several important ministers from time to time glanced at the dusty Wan Qixi. If the Zhou army won the Northern Expedition, it goes without saying that everyone would eat meat and drink soup.

But now that they have defeated Jin Xia, they have freed up their hands to deal with us, Dazhou. You two, Wan Qixi and Wang Shu, who have made your own decisions, must give Qi an explanation.

The king of the West Route Army has been stranded on Jinghu Road since his retreat from Huaibei, so why don't you take the initiative to put an end to Qi's anger? Anyway, it's your business to kill or behead him, so don't bring trouble to everyone.

"You are all the pillars of the country. Now that the navy of Qi is approaching Qiantang Bay, who has a plan to retreat from the enemy?"

Emperor Zhou asked in a low voice.

But there was dead silence below. Emperor Zhou's eyes swept over many important ministers one by one, but everyone looked askance at Wan Qixi, with no intention of communicating with him.

The meaning is very clear. Your Majesty has kept a close eye on us for such a major event as the Northern Expedition, and only discussed it with Prime Minister Qin and Lord Wanqi. Now that it has been kicked into stone, Your Majesty will not ask us.

Emperor Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Wan Qixi helplessly, and said, "Yuan Zhong, how do you put an end to this matter?"

Although he called Wan Qixi's cousin, Wan Qixi could hear the fear and impatience hidden in Emperor Zhou's words. The emperor and Qin Xiang were both masters of blaming the blame. If this matter was not handled properly, the emperor might have to do it. Take it out on yourself to vent your anger on Qi.

Therefore, the top priority is to appease the emperor's mood first.

On the way into the palace, Wan Qixi had already thought out his words in advance based on the intelligence obtained from the Yushandu front line, so he did not panic. He just listened to him say: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. We just got the report. The Qi navy warships are in Qiantang Bay." There are only about twenty ships, which can carry less than 10,000 soldiers at most. With these meager troops, it is expected that they will not dare to abandon the ship and go ashore."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Privy Council accepted the order, but Luo Ruji said in a strange tone: "Does Master Wanqi dare to vouch for this matter? Your Majesty is responsible for the country and has a body of ten thousand gold. Now you are only more than ten miles away from the navy of Qi State, but Master Wanqi is not ashamed of his words." Don't worry, Your Majesty, if something happens, you will be my first-class sinner!"

At the end of the sentence, Luo Ruji's tone gradually became stern.

But among the ministers present, there were many secret thoughts: Dog eat dog!
Luo Ruji and Wan Qixi were Qin Hui's right-hand men, and they had a competitive relationship. This time the Zhou army failed to steal chickens in the northern expedition and lost a lot of rice, so Luo Ruji couldn't wait to jump out and step on Wan Qixi.

They were both lackeys, but they ripped each other apart in front of Qin Huizhi. It can be seen that Prime Minister Qin also lost some of his dignity because of this ridiculous Northern Expedition.

Qin Huizhi glanced at Luo Ruji lightly, but raised his hand to Emperor Zhou and said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the main force of Qi's Huaibei Army is still chasing the defeated Jinxia army near Tokyo. In this way, Huaibei There are not many troops that can be mobilized. This Qi navy is really small. If the opponent forces a landing, they will lose the advantage of the thunder cannon. I think it is just a bluff."

This statement is also full of flaws. Qiantang Bay is close to Lin'an. Nearly half of Lin'an's daily consumption needs to be transported through this bay by ship. Even if the Qi navy is unable to land ashore, it is not a problem to allow them to block Lin'an's water transportation!
However, because this was said by Prime Minister Qin himself, no one dared to refute it for a while.

Only Emperor Zhou wiped his sweat and said, "Then how should we defeat the enemy?"

Qin Huizhi had relieved Wan Qixi once, and this time it was the latter's turn to speak: "Your Majesty, Huaibei is unable to invade the south at this time, and what he has done is nothing more than one breath. Why don't we grant him money and silk and ask him to retreat?" "

It was the traditional Zhou art of "Providing money and silk" again. A familiar sense of humiliation just arose in the hearts of the ministers. Emperor Zhou was the first to agree: "Yes! Why don't Yuan Zhong go and talk to the Qi army in person? !”

"."

A chill ran down Wan Qixi's spine and he quickly looked at Qin Huizhi.

Luo Ruji and others looked like they were watching the fun. This time the Zhou army invaded Qi, Wan Qixi himself served as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army. It was not impossible that the Qi army would be angry and kill him with a sword.

Is the emperor pretending to be ignorant and using the help of Qi people to eradicate the powerful Qin Prime Minister's gang members? Still don’t realize how dangerous Master Wanqi’s trip is?

When everyone thinks about it, the former is more likely.
At the critical moment, Qin Huizhi stood up and protected Wanqi again, "Your Majesty, Master Wanqi is the minister of Dali Temple. Peace negotiation is not his duty. It is better to ask Shen Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites to take charge of this matter."

"."

Shen Gai, the Minister of Etiquette, who had been eating melon in silence the whole time, raised his head and looked north in astonishment, Old Mother Ganlin!

On the same day, Zhou Guo Huainan Road.

Three days since the Huaibei Army entered Huainan, all the thirteen counties along the Huaihe River Prefecture had surrendered to the Supreme Emperor. It was not until they entered Shouchun County that the Huaibei Army was rejected for the first time.

The Battle of Qi and Zhou was a civil war within the Han family, and Chen Chu was unwilling to attack by force only to increase casualties unless it was absolutely necessary.

Based on the experience of the past few days, Tao Chun, the magistrate of Shouchun County, was sent to Shangguan Pei Weishu to carry Chai Ji's imperial edict and go into the city alone to persuade him to surrender.

Pei Weishu, the former magistrate of Anfeng Prefecture, surrendered to Kaicheng yesterday. However, in his words, this move was not to surrender to Qi, but to reform the Supreme Emperor.

Last night, Pei Weishu burst into tears after seeing Chai Ji. The Huainan Zhou officials present also wet their clothes with tears.

Pei Weishu proposed for the first time to ask the Supreme Emperor to regain control of the country. Chai Ji refused in every possible way, but immediately promoted Pei Weishu to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

At this time, could the other Zhou officials still see what Chai Ji was thinking?
They couldn't help but make suggestions one after another. Although Chai Ji didn't agree, he still spoke up and offered promotions to everyone. Everyone was promoted.

The Zhou officials were in a good mood and understood that surrendering to Qi would not only be unpleasant to hear, but also the family members who stayed in their hometown would be implicated. However, opening the city to welcome the Supreme Emperor was a great and honorable thing to say.

Pei Weishu had just been re-employed, so he naturally wanted to perform well in front of Chai Ji. Therefore, when Chen Chu sent him to persuade Tao Chun to come to Kaicheng, Pei Weishu happily accepted the order.

Unexpectedly, at noon on the 11th, Pei Weishu, who had just entered the city in a hanging basket for half an hour, returned the same way. He had one less ear than when he left.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, the military doctor was bandaging Pei Weishu's wounds. The latter cried sadly to Chai Ji: "Then Tao Chunlai said: As a Zhou official, my loyalty is to a country, not to one person. He also said that the Supreme Emperor At that time, he lost half of his country and was captured by the Jin people. Today, he is willing to be the pioneer of Qi State. He has lost his imperial integrity. Now he only respects the decree of Lin'an and refuses to recognize the rest. He also said that if anyone tries to persuade him to surrender, I will be the one. example!"

In the past two days, surrounded by many Huainan Zhou officials, General Chai Ji would regain some of his imperial demeanor, and his face could not help but turn blue and white when he heard this.

Every word of Tao Chunlai's words was heart-wrenching, and even Chai Ji couldn't help but feel his chest rise and fall. But his life as a prisoner for more than ten years made him very aware of the situation at this time, and he couldn't help but turn his head and look at the first person next, the King of Chu of Qi State.

"King of Chu, the magistrate of Shouchun is blocking the way of our righteous army. Why don't we send troops to capture the city? What does King Chu think?"

Chai Ji's tone was very soft. He hadn't fought a single battle in the past three days, and Chen Chu also wanted to fight one to establish his authority.

I just didn't expect that the first battle would fall on Tao Chunlai. Chen Chu knew this person. Tao Chunlai and Chen Bokang were of the same age. Over the years, his official career had been ups and downs. It was not smooth. He was also a stinky and tough person within the Zhou Kingdom. The character is not likeable.

However, in recent years, under the protection of Chen Bokang, he has managed Shouchun County well.

Chen Chu originally thought that this man was a principled and capable official, but now it seems that he is also a foolish and loyal one.

At the end of the day, Chen Chu ordered Jiang Huaixiong to order all the soldiers to prepare for a strong attack.

The garrison of Shouchun County was less than a thousand, so Jiang Huaixiong promised to break the city before sunset.

However, before Jiang Huaixiong could do anything, Shouchun suddenly opened the city gate.
All the prefectures and counties in Huainan are inextricably linked to Huaibei. Tao Chunlai wanted to defend his territory to the death, but the generals and gentry in the city were unwilling to do so.

At noon, Tao Chunlai, who was tied up by his subordinate Wuhua Da, was escorted into the Chinese army's tent with his tattered official robes and messy black and white hair bun.

After entering the tent, Chen Chugang asked someone to take the rag from Tao Chunlai's mouth, and then he understood why someone wanted to gag him.

"You, you, eat Zhou millet and receive the country's favor! Now the enemy is invading south, but you don't want to defend your country and serve your country. You are scrambling to surrender, for fear of losing your glory! Being an official in the same court as you and other dolphins and dogs, I am ashamed!"

Tao Chunlai obviously resisted when he was tied up by his subordinates, otherwise his face would not be bruised and bruised.

But at this time, he stood proudly in the tent and ripped off the fig leaf of the Huainan Zhou officials with fierce words.

Shangguan Pei Weishu's ears were cut off by Tao Chunlai. Seeing each other now, he was particularly jealous and couldn't help but step forward and slap Tao Chunlai twice.

Tao Chunlai, whose mouth was full of blood, was not afraid. He spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm on Pei Weishu's chest and shouted: "You traitor, kill me quickly!"

Even if Pei Weishu was angry again, it would not be his turn to give the order to kill, so he couldn't help but look back at Chai Ji, who was sitting at the top.

Although Chai Ji was angry at Tao Chunlai's arrogant words when he was in the city, he was in urgent need of reestablishing his prestige at the moment, so he put on a kind face and said: "I remember you Tao Chunlai, Jinshi in the twelfth year of Zhengning." ."Do you still recognize me?"

The Supreme Emperor took the initiative to step down, but Tao Chunlai didn't appreciate it at all. He glanced at Chai Ji's face wantonly and said: "I only recognized the high-spirited Emperor Taishang Daojun in the Daqing Palace, but I don’t recognize the greedy person in front of me who is willing to serve as the talon of the Qi Kingdom and bring trouble to the Zhou Dynasty!”

"Be bold!"

Pei Weishu and other Zhou officials all shouted loudly, but Tao Chunlai looked at Chai Ji, sighed softly, and said: "Your Majesty, why don't you die? As the saying goes, the emperor dies with humiliation, and the king dies with national humiliation! If you die, you can still stay. A clear name for a lifetime. Now, does the Supreme Emperor really not know what Qi’s intentions are? There are no two masters in the country. Don’t let the Supreme Emperor lose his mind. If this continues, it will be bad for the great Zhou Dynasty!”

Who among the people present knows these words?
Even Chai Ji knew it very well, but after enduring more than ten years of humiliation, the desire to return to the 95th Five-Year Plan had already overwhelmed all reason.

Chai Ji is willing to do this. Even if he becomes a puppet with the help of King Chu, it is far better than being imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Furthermore, now he has no choice but to obey the will of King Chu, what else can he do?

But it is one thing to understand. It is another thing to be questioned by a small magistrate in public, "Why don't you die?" Chai Ji finally broke through and shouted: "Come here, pull this rebellious person out and kill him." "

"Behead it!"

Pei Weishu and others echoed.

But inside the tent, Jiang Huaixiong, the eldest son, Tiedan and others did not blink an eyelid, and even the soldiers such as Erlang and Xiaoyi did not move.

Even Zhang Duofu, Xu Lu and other Zhou generals who were supposed to take orders from Chai Ji lowered their heads and looked at the ground in trance, as if flowers would bloom on the ground in the next second.

Seeing that no one was listening to the order, Chai Ji couldn't help but hesitate, and regained some sense. He couldn't help but smile and looked at Chen Chu, "King Chu, look."

"Ah? Oh, everyone, please leave now, Xiao Yi, Tao Zhixian will be detained temporarily."

With one word, the excited Huainan Zhou officials suddenly stopped and filed out of the big tent.

After everyone in the tent left, only Chen Chu and Chai Ji were left.

Chen Chu stood up and walked slowly to Chai Ji. The latter quickly stood up, but Chen Chu pushed him back, and then said: "Your Majesty, what do you want to do next?"

Chen Chu was condescending. Chai Ji twisted his butt uncomfortably and replied with a smile: "In the past three days, Qizhou Yishi has made rapid progress. Our army might as well continue southward. With me here, I think it won't take long to reach Lin'an City."

However, Chen Chu chuckled and said: "This matter is not urgent. In my opinion, we should proceed steadily and reestablish the orthodox court of the Zhou Kingdom in Huainan first. I have already found a group of suitable officials for your majesty."

At this time, the main force of the Huaibei Army was scattered on the Daling River and Tokyo lines. With only 20,000 troops, it was too risky to go deep alone.

Furthermore, it makes little sense to win more territory and still rely on the old Zhou officials for governance in a short period of time.

On Chai Ji's side, when he heard that Chen Chu said that he would help him reestablish the Zhou Dynasty in Huainan, he couldn't help but lose consciousness for a moment. Tao Chunlai's words just now came to mind again.

Not hearing Chai Ji's response, Chen Chu couldn't help but raise his voice a little louder, "Your Majesty, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

"That's right, that's perfect!" Chai Ji came back to his senses and responded hurriedly.

Chen Chu nodded, but then said: "Your Majesty has been trapped in Five Kingdoms City for a long time. His body needs to recover slowly, and he has no time to deal with many political affairs."

Before he finished speaking, Chai Ji continued: "With the King of Chu here, the King of Chu can handle all matters on his own."

"I will do my best to serve His Majesty."

Speaking of this, Chen Chu looked distressed, "Of course, I am the king of Qi, and after all, I am a foreign minister. If the name is not right, the words will not be right. In the future, when governing Huainan, I will need to issue military and political orders. How inconvenient!"

Chai Ji naturally heard what Chen Chu was saying. He was asking for a ministerial title in the Kingdom of Zhou!
But he is already the King of Chu of Qi State. If Chai Ji wants to be ennobled, he cannot be lower than the King of Chu.
Chai Ji thought for a moment and said: "The king of Chu is my king, the king of Jin of Zhou Dynasty!"

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the royal titles have always been based on the fourth title of "Jin, Qin, Qi and Chu", among which "King of Jin" is the first of the four titles and is the most noble.

"Is King Jin appropriate? Isn't he a bit domineering?" Chen Chu's brows were full of humility.

"Appropriate, extremely appropriate! Domineering? Not domineering at all. With the achievements of the King of Jin, it is appropriate for me to rule the country with you."

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chai Jinnan issued another decree after it was incorporated into Huainan.

In the decree, in addition to appointing Pei Weishu as Minister of Industry, Lu Yanzhong, who was still in Huaibei, was appointed as the admonishing doctor, and Han Fang, who had just been rescued from Luoyang Prison, was appointed as Yushi Zhongcheng.

Chen Jing'an, who had followed Chen Chu for nearly ten years and had never been an official, suddenly became a subordinate of the Great Zhou Zhongshu, and his hidden appearance suddenly became real.

But the most shocking thing is that the King of Chu of Qi State took office as the Prime Minister of Zhou Dynasty, took charge of the army of Zhou State, and was granted the title of King of Jin.

It was the first time in the 200 years since the founding of the Zhou Kingdom that a person who was not a prince was granted the title of prince.
One person is responsible for the prime ministers and kings of two countries. Brother Chu, thank you for your hard work!

Naturally, the Zhou Dynasty Court could not get the news that day, but the nearby Huainan Prefecture and County were numb. Now with the endorsement of Anfeng Prefect Pei Weishu and others, it has become an indisputable fact that the Emperor's visit to Huainan has become an indisputable fact.

The emperor of Lin'an is an emperor, and the Supreme Emperor is also an emperor!

Now the King of Chu of Qi State has been granted the title of King of Jin of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If the King of Jin leads his army to take over the city, his name will be justified and his words will be fulfilled!
At that time, shall we go five miles out of the city to welcome the heavenly army, or shall we go out ten miles from the city to welcome the heavenly army? (End of chapter)