The mountain road shrank to the point where it barely allowed a carriage to walk, and fortifications appeared ahead, and two watchtowers clinged to the rock face like pine trees on Mount Tai.

This is the only way to get from Qufu to Yunyi, which is the main town of the Meng clan and the fortress of the northern contempt of the Lu State, which has resisted the Qi people for a hundred years and has never fallen. It's easy to defend and hard to attack, and it takes a lot of time to take human lives.

But when Zigong came this time, he had to capture it, not with armor and swords, but with his lips and tongue......

Continuing upwards, a long battlement appears at the end of the road, which is only an outpost level. Silent faces watched from the archery holes in the walls and between the battlements, and informed the rear. When he arrived at the pass, a scholar came to greet him with a cold face, he took off his deep coat and wide sleeves, put on his armor, and his hand was tightly clenched on the hilt of the sword.

"Zigong, in this cold winter season, you will be in Tao, you will be in Fei, and you will be in Qufu and Yunyi, which is really far from home."

Zifu He stood on the wall, with ridicule in his words, he had always been good friends with Zigong, but now he was his master.

"Isn't it the same with Zifuzi?"

"My home is here, in Yuyi! As long as there are such loyal and brave people, Zhao Wuxian will never want to step into the north! ”

"Hundreds of rivers have different paths, but they all end up in the sea, the roots of Zifu are in the Meng family, the roots of the Meng family are in Qufu, and the doctors of the Lu State are all like this." Zigong raised his head and told him, "Meng and Zifuzi have been properly placed by the general at home in Qufu, don't worry." ”

"You're threatening me?"

"If the threat can end the war, I am willing to do it, and I will serve it. I have a mission in mind, can I talk about the old things later? Can you let me in? ”

Zifu He was silent for a long time before he said coldly: "Open the door." Let him in. “

The gorge stretched in front of them, sheltered by mountains on the east and west, and after passing the last pass, the road began to wind upwards as far as the city of Yiyi a few miles away. Looking up from here, the mountains are close at hand, Zigong seems to be within reach, and he bows to Taidai from afar.

Zifu He saw him stop, so he leaned over and pointed it out to him. "The north of Yuyi is blocking Taidai. After being managed by the Meng clan for a hundred years, it has been extremely strong, and the Qi people have always wanted to go south, but after countless monarchs have been changed, countless soldiers and horses have died here, but they still can't conquer this town, and the same is true for Zhao Wuxian! ”

"There is no city in this world that cannot be attacked, and many of them have collapsed from within." Zigong smiled: "I don't think the Meng clan is a monolith. ”

Zifu He's face stiffened, and he began to look left and right and talk to him: "Zigong is here to be a lobbyist this time?" I heard that you persuaded Gongshan to rebel for Zhao Wuxian, but later he turned his back on Gongshan. Your lord is an ambitious man who cannot be trusted. The reason why Confucius's government failed was all to blame for this son, Zigong. Have you forgotten your Master's will? ”

"Only, I don't dare to forget, but Zifuzi is wrong. On that day, Gongshan besieged the monarch and committed the crime of rebellion. The general is just taking advantage of the situation to rebel......" His voice began to become low: "If Zhao Bing hadn't arrived in time that day, I, my master, and Zilu would have died under the stage of Wuzi." Although the Qufu court has changed. But the matter of falling to the four capitals, the general did not rashly abandon it, he respected the king, the people, and did all the things I agree with, but the means are not the same, the gentleman is harmonious but different, the general and the master are like this, and I and the son are the same. ”

Zifu had nothing to say, so he could only sulk and take Zigong to continue walking. By the time we arrived at the city, it was already dark, the battlements were lit with torches, and the crescent moon danced on the dark waters of the moat. The drawbridge had been raised and the iron gates had been lowered, but Zigong could see the fire in the gate tower.

The soldiers in the Yiyi were dense, and the carts loaded with grain passed by one after another, but Zigong knew that this was deliberately pulled out and walked around after the Meng clan learned that he was coming. Through this false momentum, he could see that the atmosphere in Yuyi was oppressive, which was related to the successive defeats suffered outside: the Meng clan had been shrinking in the north for more than a month, and after Gong Yang was defeated by Gongshan Buwu, the Meng clan had tasted the bitterness of Ran Qiu, who had marched here from Suku.

"The general is building momentum for me and putting constant pressure on the Meng clan." Zigong knew in his heart that it was impossible to capture Yunyi before the beginning of spring, so he made this trip.

As soon as he followed Zifu He into the Meng's mansion in Yiyi, he caught a glimpse of Mengsun He Ji sitting in the middle of the hall with a gloomy face, and his younger brother Mengsun said (Nangong Jingshu) was on the side, when he heard the head of the Meng family slap the case heavily.

"Duanmu Ci, do you dare to come here to be a lobbyist for Zhao Wuxian?"

Before Zigong could speak, Meng Sun He Ji gave an order, and dozens of armor soldiers poured into the palace, holding swords and soldiers to surround Zigong.

"Take down this person quickly, and let him use rhetoric to distract people's hearts!"

……

Facing the shining blade that was close at hand, Zigong was not afraid, but suddenly laughed.

The hearty laughter spread throughout the hall of the Shusun clan, making Mengsun He Ji feel empty.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I laugh at Da Sikong when the Meng family has no time to wait, and he has to turn away the last chance."

"Ridiculous!" Meng Sun He Ji forced his composure and looked at Zigong coldly, "Although Zhao Wuxian has captured Qufu, but the entire Northern Empire is still in the hands of the Meng family, my Meng family holds five thousand halberds, and the city is nearly ten, all of which are fortified cities backed by Taidai, and the huge Qi country has not been broken through for a hundred years, how can the son of the Zhao family be able to destroy the Meng family?" ”

Zigong gently pulled away a spear that came to his neck, and said, "Without him, there is only one reason...... He glanced around and asked, "Dare to ask where is the mourning hall of the Meng family's Zaigong Yang?" ”

"You, where do you know!" Meng Sun was so shocked that his bluff didn't work, and he was seen through by Zigong at a glance? Or is there a conspiracy inside?

He glanced at Zifu He uneasily, this little sect doctor had a good relationship with Confucius and Zhao Wuxian, could it be that he told Zigong?

Zifu He knew that he was suspicious, so he could only sigh and retreat to the side to show his innocence.

In the rout on the east bank of Jishui, Meng's soldiers were the most well-organized, and they were basically brought back to Yuyi by Quanshu and Quanwei. After the Ji clan and the Gongshan clan were defeated one after another, they became the only force in the Lu State capable of fighting Zhao Wuxian.

But the enterprising Gong Yang was defeated at the Yang Tongue Rong in Yunyi. Then he was attacked by Su Juran Qiu, and Gong Yang was also injured in the army. He died soon after returning to Yuyi, and Meng Sun was so frightened that he could only return to his teacher.

Zigong came to Yunyi to represent Zhao Wuxian in the peace talks, and Meng Sun He Ji wanted to make the Meng clan look stronger and fight for more things at the negotiating table.

But Zigong hit the key point, which made Mengsun He Ji, who was like an inflatable pufferfish, wilt all of a sudden.

Looking at Mengsun He Ji's face, Zigong knew that he had made the right bet, and he lamented: "I came this time because I was ordered by the general. It is a pity that I came to hang the family slaughter, and I chased the Yang Tiger and cooperated in Qufu City, but I didn't expect there to be a day when swords and soldiers faced each other. ”

Gong Yang is the mainstay of the Meng family, the Meng brothers can maintain their strength in front of the strong Yang Tiger, and they have become the most centralized Qing clan in the interior, this person has contributed a lot, and his death. It made Meng feel that the sky was about to fall. Without the public Yang clapper, Meng Sun He Ji, Meng Sun said, and Zifu He is also fighting for the Meng family. Where to go and where to go, so I am entangled.

Zigong took the opportunity to say: "Now the general is ordered by the monarch to be the secretary, and he is in the official office to ask for ministers, and the west, Qufu, and the east have all been subordinated. There are three of the four divisions of the Lu country. There were only more than 100,000 people in the north, and the soldiers were defeated in succession and demoralized. The group of thieves also wandered on the front line of Mount Tai, waiting until the spring warmth and ice melted. Can Da Situ still keep his faith? It's better to reconcile with Qufu as soon as possible, otherwise, it will also be regarded as a disobedience by the Lu people, and the Meng family will be in danger! ”

Mengsun He Ji gritted his teeth: "Zhao Wuxian stole the court and was bent on destroying Sanhuan, I am inseparable from him and will never give in!" ”

Zigong shook his head lightly: "It seems that Da Sikong has made up his mind, don't you want to go to all the people?" ”

Meng Sun He Ji felt like he was naked, and when Zigong saw through it, he stubbornly said, "So what? ”

After the chaos of the Marquis of Qi in the Lu State, it was not good to send troops over Mount Tai to stir up the situation in the winter, but his envoys were wandering around the towns of the Lu State, and the promise to Mengsun He Ji was that if he could enter Qi with the north of the Lu State, he could be the great secretary of the Qi State and the secretary of the Qi State!

Zigong seemed to hear a huge joke and bent over with laughter.

"Da Sikong, Da Sikong, last year's big battle on the Ohno Jersey Coast, you really shouldn't be absent, if Da Sikong saw the embarrassment and incompetence of the Qi people at that time, he would not have this kind of thought. Even if the Meng clan surrenders, it will only be able to survive for a while, and when the Jin State Xingshi asks for the crime next year, and the general will attack in person, Yuyi will fall! This is the situation, as for people's hearts, how did Qi Hou treat Lu Zhaogong and Yang Hu, do you still know? What's more, if you really want to vote for the Qi country, then Da Sikong will really become a sinner of the Meng family, and first ask the clan and retainers if they agree! ”

Meng Sun He Ji is completely out of line, they have not discussed the matter of Qi themselves, at least the younger brother Meng Sun said, and the courtiers do not approve of it, after all, the Meng clan has paid too many people's lives in order to resist the Qi people, and the people naturally have a kind of hostility towards the strong neighbors north of Mount Tai. Meng Sun said that he even pointed out that the roots of the Meng clan are in the Lu country, and once they move away, they may soon wither. If this is the case, Meng Sun He Ji will become the sinner of the Meng family!

The retainers were reluctant to join the family, and Mengsun He Ji felt that he had become a loner and hesitated.

Zigong said again: "I came here today to show a clear path for the Meng family!" The general promised that if the Meng clan returned to Lu, he would be able to live forever in the north and rest with the country! ”

"Is that true?" Meng Sun, who was on the side, said that he was a little moved, and he had always been a representative of Meng's internal efforts to reconcile.

"Can we still trust Zhao Wuxian? Ji Da Situ also descended, but he was forced to commit suicide, can Zhao Wuxian tolerate the lord? Although Zifu He was unforgiving, he didn't want to continue the battle, he moved his eyes to Zigong, and he had to give him an explanation.

"Ji is the culprit, and he colluded with the Qi people, causing dissatisfaction among the people, and he is to blame. The situation of the Meng clan was different, the general and the monarch were willing to swear an oath with the Meng clan in the Hao Society, and promulgated a written law to write the status of the Meng clan into the law and let the people know. But then again, if Da Sikong returns to the Lu State court, it will indeed be a little embarrassing when they meet......"

Meng Sun He Ji was furious: "Are you playing tricks on me?" ”

"How dare you? I have a way to get both, which can not only make the Meng clan safe in the Lu country, but also make Da Sikong get his wish. ”

"What's the solution?"

Zigong smiled and deliberately sold a pass: "The three sons are still after the Meng family, do you still remember Meng Mubo's deeds?" ”

……

"Meng Shi has fallen." Zhao Wuxian waved the letter in his hand and announced to the retainers.

On the day of the Lap Festival, Zhao Wuxian and his ministers had just put on a dress and were about to go to the temple to participate in the sacrificial activities, when they got such good news.

Kan Zhi almost bit his tongue: "So fast? ”

Wuxian said with a smile: "The winter snow is falling, it is not easy for us to enter the north, and it is even more difficult for the people of Qi to cross Mount Tai to come over. They are now in a difficult situation, the lord is unwilling to surrender to me, the people are unwilling to continue fighting, let alone surrender to Qi, they are not unified internally, and they cannot break the hearts of the people with Zigong's tongue like a lotus. ”

Kan Zhi was a little unwilling, didn't Zigongmo cede the interests that should not be ceded to let the Meng clan, who was determined to oppose Zhao Wuxian, submit, right?

"So how did Meng choose it? As an accomplice of the Ji family, the Meng family has always been hindering the monarch, and if he returns to Qufu without any loss, I am afraid that many people will have thoughts that they should not have. ”

Zigong suggested that it could be imitated that Meng Mubo (Gongsun Ao) was expelled by the Dongmen clan and the Meng clan was continued. Mengsun He Ji Benqi, his younger brother Mengsun said that he would become the new head of the family, as the deputy secretary of Lu State, above Ji Sun Fei. ”

Speaking of this, Kan Zhi also reacted, he didn't care about picking any more thorns in Zigong, and hurriedly bowed down and congratulated: "Ji Sunsi is dead, Meng Sun He Ji is gone, the qualifications of the successors of these two families are not as good as the sovereign, the sovereign is now a real dignified, and the Lu State is in power!" ”

PS: I fell asleep last night, sorry, this chapter is made up for yesterday, and there is one more chapter in the afternoon and one in the evening (to be continued.) )