Wang Sunsheng talked a lot about the many reasons for destroying the Zheng Kingdom, but Zhao Wuxi was indifferent.

After a long time, he slowly said: "There is one thing you should know. More than a hundred years ago, King Zhuang of Chu attacked the State of Zheng, occupied the entire territory of the State of Zheng, besieged Xinzheng for three months, and broke through its city walls. Routie led the sheep to greet King Zhuang of Chu and said: 'I have disobeyed the will of God, disobeyed the king, and caused the king to come to the town with anger. This is my sin. How dare I not obey orders? Jiangnan, exiled to the sea, obey the king's orders; if the kingdom of Zheng is to be destroyed, give the land of Zheng to the rest of the princes, and let the people of Zheng country serve as scoundrels, and obey the king's orders. But if the king cares about Zhou Li, Xuan, and Zheng Huan , The temple of Duke Wu, without destroying our country, and letting our towns serve Chu again, this is the kindness of the king, and our towns will never forget each other. From now on, we will regard ourselves as the counties of the state of Chu, and dare to spread our hearts. Of……'"

"At that time, all the followers of King Zhuang of Chu said that they could not agree to the state of Zheng, because the state would not be pardoned. However, King Zhuang of Chu said that if the king of Zheng could be subordinated to others, he would definitely be able to win the trust of his people and use his people, so he would not be able to perish easily. The Chu army retreated 30 li and allowed Zheng Guo to make peace, and after that, with the assistance of Zheng Guo, the Battle of Pi, which defeated Jin Guo terribly..."

Wang Sunsheng hurriedly said: "This time and the other!"

"No, the situation at that time and today is quite similar. King Zhuang of Chu had great enemies Jin, and I also had great enemies Wu and Qi, not to mention that the southern state of Chu was also adjacent to Zheng, and wanted to destroy Zheng in a battle. There is no certainty, but it is easy to fall into the whirlpool of war. You should have seen these days after entering Zheng. The people of Zheng would rather abandon their houses and fields than give in easily. They gathered in Xinzheng, and the old and weak women and children all mounted the city's defense. , Zheng's heart of resistance is more than ten times stronger than that of Wei in the past. If I forcefully attack, I am afraid that I will pay a large price. In addition, Zheng people are extremely civilized, not ignorant of etiquette, shame, and easy to control the barbarians. If I destroy the Zheng Kingdom rashly, I am afraid that even though the royal family is destroyed, even though the government is destroyed, the doctors, scholars, and the common people will still not obey me.”

If the people of Zheng were broken into pieces and flowed into the various swamps beside Jishui to resist and cut off Zhao's waterway, the trouble would be even greater. Similar to the thinking of the Western powers in later generations, Zhao Wuxi would rather deal with a weak, surrendering government than face a group of rogues who harbor a hatred of subjugation.

What's more, what Zhao Wuxi saw in Wang Sunsheng's eyes was not rationality, but a kind of madness tortured by hatred to the point of morbidity...

Having said that, although Wang Sunsheng still wanted to speak, Zhao Wuxi waved his hand: "What's more, the affairs of the military and the country are not something you can intervene as a doctor or captain in your district. I won't delve into what happened today, just go to recuperate. The military orders and tiger talismans are temporarily taken back to the Central Army for safekeeping, and after your injury is healed, you can watch the aftermath!"

Wang Sunsheng was dragged down by Yu Linwei again. When he was getting farther and farther from Zhao Wuxi's case, the look in his eyes was...

despair!

...

It was night and the moon and stars were sparse. Although Zheng Guo’s surrender was imminent, Zhao Jun still did not relax his guard. Until the last moment, it could not be ruled out that Zheng Ren suddenly broke his promise and made a sneak attack.

Therefore, middle-level officers such as captains and brigade commanders who are still in charge of the soldiers have to take turns to patrol the camp, but only the rear army who escorts the baggage, in a lonely and desolate camp tent, Wang Sunsheng is like a sick tiger, lying helplessly on the march on the blanket.

Zhao Wuxi did not let him fend for himself, but sent the best doctors to heal his wounds. After sterilizing with spirits, the magpie doctors retired, leaving only Wang Sunsheng alone.

After taking the herbal medicine, the wound on the buttocks seemed to be more itchy, and the swelling and pain under the flesh made Wang Sunsheng want to die. He was often injured, but he had never had such an experience. He could feel Zhao Wuxi beside him. The Yulin guards have deep malice towards him... But what makes a proud phoenix more concerned is the humiliation of being punished!

Shame!

He invested in the Zhao family, hoping to take advantage of Zhao Qing's rise in the north, do a great job, and avenge his father's revenge by the way. Now, not only has nothing been accomplished, because the Zhao family is willing to reach a peace treaty with Zheng Guo, and even personal revenge can't be avenged...

He finally understood how his father, Crown Prince Jian felt, was taken away from his wife that should belonged to him, lost the throne that should belong to him, and depended on others, and people laughed at him all his life, so he had to take risks, but unfortunately he failed in the end, but it was more than mediocre. powerful.

Xiong Sheng, Xiong Sheng, what's the use of you being born in this world?

How could the proud Zhu Rong's bloodline, the heir of the fire phoenix, fall to such a level that he can only rely on others, even the domestic chickens like Chi Mei Chi and Wu Lin who can only fly to the top of the chicken coop?

From Wang Sunsheng's point of view, although the Zhao family claims to be the most fair and just place among the princes, as long as they are talented people, they can show their talents regardless of their background, but when he enters the system, he finds that it is actually the same.

In addition to the few Zhao children who were sent to the puppet state and could compete with the princes of the small country, there are probably several ways for the Zhao family to be promoted internally:

First of all, the old ministers of the Zhao family, Dong Anyu, You Wuzheng, Yang Yin, and Yin Duo, were veterans of the Zhao Yang era, and now they are basically county officials at the county level. The children and nephews of these people are also taken care of, such as Youcheng, who are often favored at a young age by virtue of their father's relationship.

The second is the warriors who "fight generals started in the army", that is, the generals who followed Zhao Wuxi from the bottom and abroad, and Yu, Mu, Tian, ​​Wu, Qi, etc. are the representatives, and these people were born. He is humble, grateful for Zhao's kindness, and holds real power in the army. Zhao Wuxi also likes to appoint them as coaches on weekdays.

Third, "Zaicheng was born in the county", Zhao Wuqi likes to train some young people he likes, bring him to work as a writer, participate in political affairs, and when he is a little more mature, he will put it in the county to experience, ten years later, he will You can be a county-level vassal official, and in another ten years, you can be a minister of Zaifu, such as Cheng Tuan, Xiang Li, Ren Zhang before, and Zixia now.

The fourth is the Yulinwei who has gradually formed. Zhao Wuxi has brought up a large number of war orphans, and taught them to read books and martial arts, and focus on cultivating those who show talent. , will usually be placed in the frontier as a middle-level officer, although it is a bit harder to compare with Yecheng, but the future is promising.

The fifth is the Confucian disciples who were used by Zhao Wuxi as a stepping stone. Originally, they occupied a large proportion, but as Jin replaced Lu as the center of Zhao's family, those Confucian disciples could also gain qualifications in Ludi.

As for the scholars of the Academy, because they haven't opened for a few years, they have little influence in the officialdom.

And people like Wang Sunsheng who came from abroad are often crowded out by the first four groups. It is still very difficult to make a breakthrough in this system, not to mention that Zhao has never really been loyal to the Zhao family. Wu Xie also never really trusted him.

"A good bird chooses a tree to perch on. Maybe you didn't choose the right place, so you will be silent for ten years, and you will not fly for ten years..." A voice in his heart said to him.

This thought was like a seed sown in spring, which quickly sprouted and took root in his heart and grew vigorously.

The more he thought about it, the more chilling he felt, he took out a piece of silk from the interlayer of his underwear.

"Yan Ziyun: Oranges grown in Huainan are oranges, and oranges grown in Huaibei are oranges."

A short and concise sentence, but the information contained in it is infinite.

This is a secret letter sent from the south to Wang Sunsheng in August. The letter was written by another of his uncles, the commander of the Chu State, Yin Zixi...

Although Wang Sunsheng was shocked by the death of King Zhao of Chu, he was not sad for him. It is true that this uncle Wang had a great personality, but after all, he was the one who took away the throne of Wang Sunsheng's father, and was chased by Wu Zixu. Ze ran. However, due to the courtesy due to the nobles, when Wang Sunsheng returned to Hanoi to rest, he still wore filial piety for the King of Chu for three months. In connection with his reply to the King of Chu in Luhun, some of the more traditional generals of the Zhao army were I still praise Wang Sunsheng for this kind of behavior.

For some reason, this matter spread to the state of Chu, so there was a letter from Ling Yin Zixi.

From the clear words in the letter, Wang Sunsheng clearly saw such a hint: "When Wang Sunxi returns, he cannot stay in a foreign land for a long time."

"The people of Chu don't hold grudges against me?" Wang Sunsheng was a little unexpected about Zixi's solicitation, because King Zhao of Chu died to a certain extent because of him. went.

What he didn't know was that "being loyal to his master and never forgetting his hatred" was also a value recognized by the Chu people. Even Emperor Miao Ben, Wu Chen, and even Wu Zixu, who had helped Jin and Chu become enemies, did not have it. Too many complaints, because these people's departure was caused by Chu State itself. Even when it came to the later generation Qu Yuan, Wu Zixu was regarded as a positive image in Chu Ci, and he was mentioned and praised many times.

In addition, King Zhao of Chu had a very high evaluation of him, and when he died, he was obsessed with asking everyone to let Wang Sunsheng return to the country if there was a chance, so Zixi heard that Wang Sunsheng was unwilling in the Zhao family, so he had the idea of ​​​​to recruit.

At that time, Zhao Wuxi was about to conquer Zheng State. Wang Sunsheng was lucky, so he just hesitated, but now...

"People in this country can't be with you. If you say something, go back to my fathers!"

That night, he developed a fever, and after a day, the fever subsided again. Because of the toughness of the system, the wound healed well, and it was not as painful as it was at the beginning. On the third day, Wang Sunsheng was able to stand up and limped to get dressed when he heard cheers from outside.

When he left the tent, some happy young soldiers were running from outside, shouting, "The Zheng people have left the city and surrendered!"

The surrender of the enemy and the end of the war means that they can return to their hometowns before winter, and have a good year, which also means that the reward for merit and deeds does not have to be delayed until next year.

But Wang Sunsheng looked indifferent, pulled his crown, and covered his eyes. He celebrated with those, and went against the cheerful wave of glory, and walked to the stables alone...

...

As soon as the surrender ceremony of Zheng Kingdom ended, Zhao Wuxi received a message.

"Wang Sunsheng is gone, he stunned two horse breeders in the rear army camp, and took two horses away." Wu Lin said with a gloomy face, "This son has just been punished, and he has an injury on his leg, so he will definitely not be able to run. Yuan, I would like to bring someone to capture him back!"

Zhao Wuxi asked, "How long ago was it?"

"Two hours ago..." Qi Wan blushed a little, Zheng Ren had already descended, and Zhao Jun's tense nerves had also loosened up. The people in the baggage camp thought that the two grooms had gone to celebrate, but who would have been **** Below the haystack, so I only found it at this time.

"Two hours, I'm afraid it's already 20 to 30 miles away, this is not Zhao land, there is no post station where you can ask for the wanted all the way, just take a small road, and you who are not familiar with the terrain will be difficult to find... …”

But looking at Wu Lin's earnest gaze, Wu Xie waved his hand: "If you want to chase, chase after him. If you can't get it back, let him go. The important thing is to let the military officer Wang Sunsheng take the lead. The teacher took over and screened out his cronies for trial, it is better to kill the wrong one than let it go, and there must be no traitor left behind in the army!"

Everyone agreed to retreat, and the Yulin guards eagerly promised that they would capture the traitor and cut them into pieces to relieve their hatred, because this was the first mid-level general of the Zhao clan to defect, and in their view, it was simply intolerable.

However, Zhao Wuxi didn't feel much anger.

He knew that Wang Sunsheng's heart was unpredictable and his people were difficult to control, so he kept one hand, and even if he used him, he would not give him military power, so often the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers.

But it's no wonder that other people also defected from abroad. Ji Ran, because Deng Xi is not too selfish, is now a high-ranking official. The officials brought out by Deng Xi have even gradually formed a Zhao clan In the clear stream, only the ruler and the law are the basis.

Will you regret losing Wang Sunsheng? There are not many. It is true that Wang Sunsheng is also a first-class talent, but what Zhao Wuxi needs is someone like Wu Jing who can do it obediently even if he wants him to shake hands with the enemy and make peace with his enemies. , this kind of minister is a good minister.

Swords are used to kill people. If you don't obey the command, you will not be able to swing the master's mind. No matter how sharp it is, it is useless.

So, why did he miss the real big thing for an unpredictable courtier's personal vendetta?

The will of the minister must obey the will of the king!

What's more, Wang Sunsheng defected, and it is very likely that he will return to Chu State, which is not a bad thing. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and there are more than one tiger in Chu State.

Zhao Wuxi shook his head, and then looked at the peace agreement made by the blood of Zhao Zhengyi in his hand.

First, the State of Zheng cut off fifteen towns along the Dahe and Jishui lines in Xingyang and Daliang, covering an area of ​​300 li to Zhao.

Second, Zheng Guo completely gave up the land of Lu Hun and Yiluo, and handed them all over to the Han family, but Zheng Guo had not much left, only two or three small towns, with a radius of only 60 miles~www.mtlnovel. com~ It's only equivalent to the leftovers that Zhao's reward to Han's, who asked Han Hu not to send soldiers this time.

Third, Zheng Guo returned Feng, Hua, Xumi, Neusi, Foxren, and the six cities outside Que, which were illegally occupied more than ten years ago, into Zhou!

As a result, Zheng Guo's territory was suddenly reduced by one-third.

However, what Zhao Wuxi values ​​more is the fourth item:

"October, Zheng Bo will follow Zhao Qing into the Chengzhou King City, and face the emperor!"

ps: 1. "The spring grass will be green next year, the king and grandson will not return", this Tang poem is from "Chu Ci. Recruiting Hermits" "Wang and Sun You Xi do not return, the spring grass grows and grows", although it is an antique work in the Han Dynasty, but the full text The situation with Wang Sunsheng is very similar.

2. In Qu Yuan's works, there are three references to Wu Zixu: First, in She Jiang, "loyalty does not have to be used, and virtuous people do not have to be. The taste is bad, Zixu dies and then worry about it"; the third is "Sorrowful Returning Wind" "Floating the Jianghuai to the sea, and being comfortable from Zixu", the Wu Zixu in this is basically the image of loyalty, not "Chu traitor".

There is only one big chapter today (to be continued.)