In the sixth year of Duke Lu Huan - that is, the year when Prince Zheng suddenly led his division to save Qi and broke through the mountains, Xiong Tong decided to attack Suiguo.

Suiguo is located in Suizhou, Hubei Province, on the east bank of Gulishui. Among the Handong concubines, the power of Suiguo was the strongest, so there was a saying at that time that "the Handong concubines were great".

Suiguo has been working against Chu for more than 100 years since the founding of the country; Suiren and his allies suppressed the power of the Chu State to the west of Gulishui and Qingfashui. If the Chu State broke through the barrier of the Sui State, it could expand its sphere of influence to the Huai River Valley.

The Chu army marched all the way to the northeast, and finally settled down in the outskirts of Suiguo. Xiong Tong sent the minister Bao Zhang (a descendant of Wei Mao) to send an envoy to the country with gifts. Suihou's face was gloomy, and he forcibly suppressed his anger and asked Xuanzhang, what kind of yin wind blew the Chu people to the territory of Suiguo?

Bao Zhang replied that the Chu people were originally hunting, but later came to Suiguo because they were chasing wild beasts and stumbling into them by mistake; And Chu Zi thought that this was an opportunity arranged by God to make the two monarchs meet, so he specially sent him to meet the marquis, hoping to repair the relationship between the two countries.

The young master of the country said in a strange way, this beast is really strange! It climbs mountains and wades through rivers and runs for hundreds of miles, just to promote the goodwill of the two countries! He wanted to see what this amazing beast really looked like.

Horn said that the answer was that the beast had not been caught yet.

The young master then said, "Then why don't you continue to chase?" It might even be able to escape to Chengzhou! The reconciliation between the great powers and the royal family is the big thing! And what is there to fix in a small country like ours? As long as a big country issues an order, how dare a small country not carry it out?

Doctor Ji Liang was afraid that the young master would anger the messenger, so he stopped the young master from continuing to play with his little cleverness. He said that since God made it beautiful and made Chu Jun come to Suiguo, Suiguo should respond positively; The two countries have been in a state of antagonism for more than a hundred years, and this state of affairs is not good for both sides; Since God is beautiful, Suiguo is willing to conform to the will of heaven and reconcile with the Chu State.

Sui Hou took advantage of Ji Liang's slope to wander down, so he told Bao Zhang that he would send a young master to sign an alliance with the Chu people.

Shan Zhang returned to the camp to return to Xiongtong. Doctor Dou Bobi said: "The state of Chu cannot aspire to Handong, completely because of the obstruction of the state of Sui. If we purge our army to meet the envoys, the other side will surely be more vigilant because of fear. If we show weakness, we will inevitably despise the state of Chu. To despise the state of Chu will become arrogant and arrogant, and to be arrogant and arrogant will be to despise the small country; If a small country turns its back on the Sui country, the Chu state can benefit from it. The young master is more arrogant, please use the old and weak to line up to greet the envoy. ”

Doctor Xiong Shuai said: "With Ji Liang here, I'm afraid I won't be easily fooled by others." ”

"There's no better way," said Doubby. And even if you can't now, you may be able to do it later; The young master is arrogant and arrogant, and he is deeply favored by Suihou, he will definitely lead Suiguo to destruction. ”

When the appointed time for the meeting came, the young master came to the Chu camp with the envoy of the country, and Dou Bobi came out of the camp to greet the envoy. Dou Bobi hid the main force of the army behind the hills (the main force of the Chu army could not be found from the direction of Suiguo), and selected many old, weak, sick and disabled miscellaneous veterans, and let them wear military uniforms and stand on both sides of the road with weapons in their hands. These people are unkempt, vegetable, and have slanted shoulders and crotch hanging waists; Some people couldn't even stand on their feet, and they were not so much armed with weapons as with crutches.

The young master looked left and right, and was amazed all the way: "I have heard that the Chu army is fierce and mighty, and when I see it today, it really deserves its reputation!" ”

Xiong Tong met with the young master in the Chinese military tent, and he said: "If the princes betray the royal family today, disobey the king's orders, kill each other, and seize the land. Although the state of Chu is only a barbarian, it is also considered to have some armor (that is, the ones you just saw). The widow hopes to share the worries of the Son of Heaven and crusade against the disrespectful. Why is the widow's title too low, and he is not qualified; Therefore, please send a request to the Son of Heaven on behalf of the widow to elevate the widow's title. ”

The young master kept pouting, sometimes rolling his eyes and humming twice. He originally wanted to refuse the other party, but when he saw the gift list issued by the Chu people, he changed his mind, and as a result, he wrote the request of the Chu people and the promise of the people into the alliance.

After the alliance was completed, the Chu army began to camp early the next morning and prepare to return home. The actions of the Chu army were slowly swallowed and dragged on, and the order of the camp was chaotic.

The young master told Suihou that the Chu army was small and weak, and that this was the perfect opportunity to destroy the Chu State Office, and that he should immediately attack the enemy.

Suihou was bewitched by him and was about to give the order to attack, but Ji Liang said: "The state of Chu has just received the favor of heaven, and there is no country in the Jianghan region that can fight against it. The Chu army walked more than 200 miles in five days, how could this kind of strength be accomplished by the old and weak soldiers? The Chu people must have hidden their elite soldiers, and showed weakness to the young master just to lure us. Why is the prince in a hurry to lose?

"The minister heard that the reason why a small country can compete with a big country is because a small country has a way and a big country has no limits. The minister also heard that the so-called "Tao" is to be loyal to the people and win the trust of God, and that the public office and the people are together is called "loyalty", and the "priest" is called "faith". Nowadays, there are still many people in the country who can't fill their stomachs, and the monarch is caught in the war with a momentary pleasure, and Zhu Shi is full of nonsense and vain merits, and the minister really doesn't know what the prince and marquis rely on to defeat the Chu State. ”

He said, "Why can't the animals used for the sacrifice of the widows be pure and fat, and the grain is full and abundant? ”

Ji Liang said: "The lord of God is the people, so the holy king first devotes himself to the people's livelihood and then worships the gods. At the time of dedication and sacrifice, it is said: "Boshuo and fat" is to describe the general existence of the people, and the livestock are plentiful and fat; when offering grains, it is said: "clean and abundant", which means that there are no disasters in spring, summer, and autumn, and the grain harvest is abundant; At the time of the offering of grain, it was said, "Jiawei will wine," which means that there is virtue in the upper and lower levels and there is no disobedience, and the good wine and fragrant wine represent that there is no disobedience.

"Therefore, the monarch is mainly committed to agricultural affairs, and he must advocate father's ceremony, mother's kindness, brotherhood, brotherhood, and filial piety, and he must be attached to the nine tribes, so that the sacrifice will be held, so that the upper and lower levels will be harmonious, and the gods will descend, so everything can be successful.

"Now that the people are not in harmony, and the ghosts and gods have no owner, although you can enjoy wealth and wealth alone, but for the country, what blessing is there? You should devote yourself to the people's livelihood and national affairs, and be close to your brotherly country, and you may be able to avoid disasters. ”

After all, Suihou had not yet degenerated to the point of complete deafness, and he finally decided: he would rather give up a chance to defeat than suffer the consequences of defeat.

After making his decision, he took the doctors to the city wall to monitor the movements of the Chu army. People were horrified to see a large number of Chu troops emerging from behind the hills, with strong soldiers, high morale, and strict military discipline; There are so many that they can annihilate the entire army of Suiguo. Sui Hou was really frightened, he turned his head and scolded the young master, and then adopted Ji Liang's opinion and concentrated on managing the country.