At the end of November, on a mountainside at the border of Wei, Zhao Prince Xuan was riding on his horse and looking southeast. In the distance, more than 50 miles away is Qu City, the destination he originally wanted to go. Now, because the Northern Marquis was killed and lost his food supplies and camping place, and because of the sudden cold weather and heavy snow, the Zhao army had to stop at a small city on the border of Wei.
"Crown Prince, the Northern Marquis is too incompetent, a Qu city was taken over by a few hundred people." Zhao Wu Zai hailed his horse and patted it to Zhao Xuan's side, Qu City nobles fled to the Zhao army camp to report the news of the city's fall, 20,000 Zhao troops rushed day and night to recapture the city, but were blocked by a heavy snowfall at the border. The city of Qu has already stationed 5,000 Wu soldiers, plus 1,000 or 2,000 defected Qu soldiers, relying on the high city walls, which can easily keep the Zhao army out of the city gates in windy and snowy weather.
"Alas, this Falling Goose Governor seems to be lucky, even the heavens are helping him." Zhao Xuan's eyes looked greedily into the distance.
If his cousin Prince Zhao succeeded to the throne of Wu, Qu City and several surrounding cities would be included in the territory of the State of Zhao. If the Northern Marquis hadn't died, and the Zhao army had helped the Northern Marquis take over the throne, these places would have been part of the Zhao Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Northern Marquis was too crippled to last until the Zhao army entered the fiefdom and died.
"Report to the Crown Prince! King Wei's messenger seeks an audience." A soldier rode in from the garrison to report.
"Crown Prince, the King of Wei should be sending grain and grass to our army." Zhao Wuzhai laughed after hearing this.
Zhao Xuan laughed loudly, "How dare he not obediently send grain and grass to the army? Wu is taking care of itself, and Wu is no longer a dependency for him to gamble on!"
Zhao Wuzhai's eyes twinkled as he stepped forward to offer his advice, "Crown Prince, when the snow melts and you capture Qu City, why don't you return to your division and annex Wei?"
"If Wu has stabilized domestically, and the Wu army is fighting the Tang army and winning, our army can't feel at ease taking Qu City, as for Wei..." Zhao Xuan pondered for a while and shook his head, the king of Wei is now pleasing all sorts of people, he couldn't find a reason to destroy Wei for a while.
Zhao Xuan now hoped that the King of Tang would fight a little and not be as unbearable as Ripple Ji and Bei Hou. What he hoped for most was that Wu and Tang would fall into a tug-of-war like Lu and Qi, if that happened, Wu would not be able to manage to the northwest after its military power was pulled, and Zhao would not only be able to swallow the Northern Marquis' fiefdom in peace, but would also be able to find excuses to pocket Wei, Wu's strategic buffer state, later on.
Zhao Xuan and Wu Zai returned from the sloping land to the barracks to receive the envoys of Wei, who had been sent by the King of Wei's youngest son, Sui, and an old courtier.
"Father said that your country has been traveling hard for great justice, and sent Yi to send some grain and grass and other belongings, please Prince Jun smile." Wei Shi is only eighteen or nine years old, his demeanor seems slightly childish, before he went on the mission, the King of Wei repeatedly instructed Wei Shi to be careful and humble in front of Zhao Xuan, and must not anger the Prince of Zhao, causing Wei Shi to be nervous in his heart when he saw Zhao Xuan instead.
"Thank you for your thoughts, Wei Jun, Xuan will just smile." Zhao Xuan had a kind face.
The old minister of Wei hastened to present the list of treats.
Zhao Xuan opened the gift list and looked at it, it listed enough grain and grass for the Zhao army to consume for a month, many gold, silver, jewels, brocade and silk, and lastly six maids of honor and two messengers.
"The military camp is full of rough-handed Huben, our Great King is worried that the Crown Prince Jun's living and living without the use of a suitable subordinate, so he carefully selected a few maids and attendants, how about the Crown Prince Jun take a look at it?" The old Wei courtier said curtly.
Zhao Xuan smiled slightly, realizing that these maids and attendants were not here to take care of his life and living, but were specially prepared by the King of Wu for him to use as a bed warmer.
"Wei Jun has taken the trouble!"
Although Wei is not very large, it has always been rich in beauty, the six maids of honor are all charming, and the two attendants have clear faces and red lips. After Zhao Xuan glanced through them one by one, there was a kind of foolishness in his heart, and he couldn't help but secretly praise the soil and water of Wei Kingdom for raising people. Satisfied with the gifts sent by the King of Wei, Zhao Xuan set up a banquet to entertain Wei to treat the emissaries, and let the beauty sent by Wei perform music at the banquet.
When Wei Shi saw that Zhao Xuan was very kind to him and spoke in a civilized and polite manner, not at all like the sinister and brutal manner described by his own father, his expression could not help but relax, and he was no longer formal at the banquet, and he was in the mood to enjoy the food and wine.
Zhao Xuan was reclining on top of the reclining couch, propping his head up with one hand and lightly sipping from a wine cup in the other. Six maids were singing and dancing, their pretty faces and soft waists attracted the attention of everyone in the banquet. Zhao Xuan glanced towards Wei Shi's seat and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but pick upwards. Wei Shi drank a lot of wine after his whole body relaxed, the maids that were singing and dancing at the banquet attracted his eyes, the wonderful dancing posture mesmerized Wei Shi, his face flushed and his mouth unknowingly opened wide.
Just as the song, dance and wine were in full swing, Zhao's agents based in the capital of Wu delivered the latest news from Wu.
"Zheng Yuming refuses to inherit the throne?" Zhao Xuan was astonished.
"Yes. The ministers of King Wu's court kneeled down to ask Prince Lok Yan to succeed the throne, but they were all rejected by him." The detailer's address to Zheng Yuming followed the custom of the people of Kang City.
"Hehe, it's just a pretense." Zhao Xuan said sarcastically, who doesn't want to climb to the pinnacle of power, pretending to excuse himself is just to sit on the throne. Zheng Yuming's identity as a prince, Zhao Xuan is half believing, but for the sake of the interests of Zhao, he can't admit it.
"Prince Lok Yan said that he fled overseas eleven years ago, and only returned to Wu to visit because he missed his father and elder brother, and was ordered by his elder brother's legacy to lead the army to quell the rebellion, and now that the situation in Wu has been settled, his mission has been accomplished. Not only is the governor of Lok Yan unwilling to succeed to the throne himself, but he has also put forward the Western Marquis and his own concubine uncle as candidates for the throne."
"Push for two candidates? Who has a chance of winning?" Zhao Xuan stroked his chin as he searched for Zheng Yuming's motives. The Western Marquis was also a concubine, he was the uncle of the King of Wu, and Gong Zi Ming's concubine uncle was the King of Wu's only remaining concubine brother, so if Gong Zi Ming did not want to be the King of Wu, these two were the closest in blood and the most qualified.
"It's Marquis Xi, Duke Ming's concubine uncle's character is tainted and was overruled by the ministers of the royal court, and this concubine uncle was an accomplice when the adulterous consort rebelled and harmed the life of another concubine brother." Dafu Jiang, who was still locked up in the royal city's prison, confessed to this throne candidate's private bottom's sordid affairs.
"Then the next King of Wu will be the Western Marquis?"
"That was the opinion of the Minister of the Court of King Wu when my humble servant came out of the royal capital." Because of the snow and difficult traveling, the Zhao country's fine agent rode for five days from Kangcheng before arriving here in Zhao Xuan. The informant's message was from five days ago.
"Why doesn't Duke Falling Goose himself ascend to the throne? Could it be that he's really a fake prince? Afraid that his position on the throne will be unstable?" Zhao Xuan's eyes lit up when he thought of this, "What is the status of the war between Wu and Tang? Is the Wu army in an unfavorable position?"
"The Wu army is not at a disadvantage, the news from the Wu border back to the royal capital is that the Tang army has been surrounded by the Wu army, and with the lack of food and clothing and heating firewood, the Tang army is freezing to death and starving to death countless times a day. The people of Kang City are speculating that the Tang army has surrendered." It also took two days for the news to travel from the border back to Kangcheng, and the people of Kangcheng were convinced that the Tang army would not survive two more days and nights of starvation and cold.
Zhao Xuan was dumbfounded after hearing this and muttered, "Could it be that Duke Flying Goose is indeed Duke Ming? He refused to inherit the throne because of humility?"
The Northern Marquis was destroyed, the Tang army was trapped, Wu is no longer a threat, the army is in the hands of Chu Chao Hui and Wei Ren, Zheng Yuming can sit firmly on the throne even if he is a fake prince, but the steady throne to others, can only say that he is really modest. This Zheng Yuming if not a fool, can only use the true gentleman to describe him.
Zhao Xuan began to get annoyed in his heart when he thought of this. If Zheng Yuming had ascended to the throne, Zhao could still use the Northern Marquis' letter to question Zheng Yuming's status as a prince, and use troops to Wu to occupy Qu City on the grounds of avenging the Northern Marquis. However, now that the throne of Wu is inherited by the Western Marquis, Zhao has no excuse to send troops, the Western Marquis's qualifications as the heir are above the Northern Marquis, and Zhao has no place to question him.
Zhao Xuan rejoined the banquet looking preoccupied, he is really not willing to 20,000 Zhao troops to spend money and effort to work for half a month but to no avail. Zhao Xuan sipped his wine and contemplated, but was interrupted by the singing and dancing maid with a shriek. When he looked up, it turned out to be the drunken Duke of Wei, Zi Shi, who staggered to the table and grabbed the corner of the dancing maid's coat. His behavior caused the generals of Zhao to laugh.
Zhao Xuan watched the scene, the corner of his mouth picked up, and there was a smile in his eyes, there was no excuse to claim land against Wu, but taking advantage of the fact that Wu's vitality had been greatly injured, and taking Wei into his pocket, it was a once-in-a-lifetime good time. As for the reason for annexation, there is no can immediately create one.
While Zhao Xuan was pondering the annexation of Wei, the Western Marquis was dying of an old injury, lying on a large bed in the royal palace in Kang City.
After Chu Chaohui returned to the royal capital and learned of Zheng Yuming's thoughts, he left the palace early the next morning to do an errand, and he took Huang Zhong to the dungeon to interrogate Dr. Jiang. On the third day, Dr. Jiang and the rest of the party's confessions identifying the crimes of King Wu's concubine brothers appeared in front of the ministers of the royal court. The only surviving candidate for succession to the throne from the three concubine brothers of the King of Wu was immediately rejected by the ministers of the royal court. The Hussar General and many nobles once again requested Jung Yoo Min to succeed the throne, but Jung Yoo Min still firmly refused.
The Western Marquis and Wei Shen carried the coffin of Duke Ziguang into the royal capital under the escort of Guo Si. The Yi Ji had been destroyed, the remaining members of the gang, Jiang Dafu and Xi Sima, had been caught, Duke Ziguang's revenge had been avenged, and after his wish had been fulfilled, his coffin would be buried in the royal tomb.
When he arrives at the royal capital, Xihou realizes that he has become a candidate for the throne. When Jung Yuming asks Xihou to succeed the throne, Xihou asks Jung Yuming to succeed the throne in return. The two of them are repeatedly humbled in front of the throne, and in the end, Xihou is physically weaker than Jung Yuming, and is pressed by Jung Yuming on top of the throne to accept the congratulations of the royal court ministers.
After the Western Marquis was pressed to inherit the throne, he had been in a bad mood until Zheng Yuming had a long heart-to-heart discussion with him in the evening, and only then did the Western Marquis's frown slowly ease, and the next day in the royal court, he appointed Zheng Yuming as the prime minister, the prime minister of the royal court of all the administrative affairs, and Chu Chaohui as the military premier, the commander of the Wu army. The Premier's official position was created by the Western Marquis, with the Administrative Premier as the head of the civil officials and the Military Premier as the head of the military generals. The two Prime Ministers were directly responsible to the King of Wu.
After the general situation in the royal capital was stabilized, Chu Chao Hui returned to the border. The army led by Zhou Cheng and the Eastern and Southern Secretaries had already surrounded the Tang army, which was desperate under hunger and cold. Facing the desperate situation, the King of Tang sent an envoy to negotiate peace with the Wu army. Chu Chao Hui returns to his army in order to pick the fruits of victory.
Author's Note: Butterfly believes that democracy is relative to dictatorship.
The feudal family state system can be called a republic in Chinese history, and a republic essentially means co-rule, co-rule with the vassals. Under the feudal system, the highest prerogative is actually subject to the substantive constraints of the decentralized prerogatives, i.e., the prerogatives are divided. Therefore, the highest privilege, on the one hand, was weakened, and on the other hand, a substantial constraint was formed between the privileges. We can see from the historical facts of the Spring and Autumn Contest that the privileges of mutual checks and balances reserved the necessary space for the growth of social rights. We can also draw the same conclusion from the historical facts of the growth of the rule of law in Britain. Another is that highly centralized privilege has the ability and necessity to impose total dictatorship on society. In other words, privilege is bound to extend into every social cell, and society is extremely eroded or even exhausted by privilege. Scholars who study Chinese history or culture regard the transformation of the Chinese state system from a feudal family state system to a centralized family state system as a historical progress. In fact, this was only a refinement of the dictatorship system itself and a further strengthening of privileges, and definitely not a blessing for society or the people. These people only saw the wars that took place under the feudal system, but could not see: the space reserved for society, for the growth of power, due to the division of privileges. The flourishing of Chinese culture in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods was the fruit of this space. Moreover, how could war be avoided under a centralized system?
Butterfly chose this time and place because she thought it was a suitable place to cultivate a sense of democracy. Many readers understand that democracy is the most advanced democracy in the world now, but which kind of democracy is the most advanced in the world is still debating, butterfly to this day don't know that kind of democracy is the most suitable for human beings, the only thing that will be sure is that, can't be a family world, look at the next door under the rule of the people under the rule of the Kim Dae-ho, can't help but you deeply hate this system.
There is no unchanging system in the world, and it has been continuously improved with the progress of mankind, that is, in the modernization of today's world, there is a wide range of political systems on the earth, and those who are in power think that their own political system is the most superior.
The system that feels most perfect now may be obsolete in the next few hundred years. As long as the earth remains intact and the sense of democracy is ingrained in people's minds, one world will never again be the norm.
In addition readers do not bash Xiao Zheng, his so-called democracy is not anachronistic forced, in addition, we should not use the law of development of our country to refute Xiao Zheng, butterflies to Xiao Zheng's villa is a reverse gold finger, with high-yield crops, you can solve the people's food and clothing, and can free up the hand of the labor force to develop industry. Imagine the United States is from slavery directly to the capital society. Under the butterfly mess metaphor, Zheng Chu is like the otherworldly Mayflower big ship, the people of Wu are like the passengers on the Mayflower wooden ship, of course, the great Qin people will not be Indians. After there is an economic and cultural foundation, can't a sense of democracy slowly germinate? These are the two foundations that Xiao Zheng will spend his entire life working on!
In fact, when it comes to the issue of ideas, there is never only debate, not unification. Butterfly this book is a YY work, both YY, inevitably loopholes everywhere, interested readers can continue to read on. I would like to thank the subscription readers for their support, starting from the first book, it is you who exist, before the butterfly's fourth novel.