There is no one who is most excited about this bad news than Wen Jiang. When Wang Ji was alive, she and her husband had to hide and dare not go too far, and now this happy widow can finally openly possess the unrestrained widower.

Qi Xianggong placed Wen Jiang in Zhendi, and the two spent the winter of this year there.

In this year, Duke Song Zhuang died, and Prince Jie ascended the throne as Duke Min of Song.

Song Zhuanggong's life experience is really colorful. His father was not a prince but unexpectedly inherited the throne, and he was originally a prince but was justifiably deprived of the right to inherit by his father. He spent ten years in exile in Zheng and returned to Song as monarch for seventeen years.

In order to protect him, Zheng Guoren did not hesitate to fight with the Song State to the end; After he ascended to the throne, he took revenge and stirred up Zheng Guo. This person, whether in exile or in power, was a disaster for the Zheng people; However, the Song people loved him very much, believing that his country had been rescued from the oppression of the Zheng people.

In the third year of the reign of Lu Zhuang Gong (BC691), the state of Qi was ready to take further action against the state of Ji.

The year before last, the Qi division raided the three great cities of Ji Kingdom and took them for himself. Since then, the state of Qi has been working hard to build it into a strong fortress. The state of Ji was reinforcing Dongyang (north of Yunyi) to prevent the enemies of Yu and Yu from moving north. Although the Qi division will definitely be able to capture Dongyang City, Qi Xianggong thinks that there is a better way, even if he gives up Dongyang, he can destroy the Ji Kingdom.

The two countries of Qi and Ji are bounded by Zishui, which is a large river that flows almost north-south; It originated in the northeast of present-day Laiwu, injected into the northeast of Guangrao, and eventually flowed into the Bohai Sea.

Two or three miles out of the east gate of Qidu is Zishui, and the other side of Zishui is the important town of Jiguo; The city controls the Zishui ferry, and together with Zishui, it forms the first line of defense of the Ji Kingdom. The city is under the direct jurisdiction of the Jiguo Office; Doctor Yu is Ji Hou's half-brother Ji Ji, and he is also Ji Hou's most trusted person.

Although the Qi State regarded the Ji State as a feud, since the Spring and Autumn Period (until the first year of Luzhuang), the Qi State did not launch a war against the Ji State, and the reason was entirely because of the existence of the city - its existence made it impossible for the Qi division to cross the Zishui.

Ji Hou's younger brother Ji Ji is the number two person in Ji Guo, and he has reason to believe that his name has long been included in the execution list by the Qi people. The great fear made Ji Ji dare not slack off, and he held the belief of co-living and dying with Yucheng.

When the people of Qi were studying how to deal with Ji Ji, they thought that since he was afraid, and that fear was only related to his own safety, it would be easier to deal with it.

When the Qi people moved the Ji people of the three major cities to the Qi State, they only used the necessary force against the diehards, and used the method of preserving status, family and property for the others—the Qi people's method of "treating the people of the enemy country well" was learned from Zheng Zhuang Gong.

The Qi people also sent a large number of spies to Ji Guo to buy, lure, divide and win over nobles and officials of all levels. These methods had a great effect, and many defected, taking with them a large number of people, property, and even the heads of loyal men; What's even more terrifying is that the methods used by the Qi people have disturbed the hearts of Ji Guo's people, and people have begun to doubt others and be suspected by others. Ministers blamed each other at court, and many lost their lives because they were guilty or falsely accused.

Ji Hou sent a large number of spies to all parts of the country to monitor Ji Ren's words and deeds. As a result, there were more and more whistleblowers, and people were executed every day, and everyone in Ji Guo was in danger. Instead of stabilizing the situation, the measures taken by Ji Hou made the development of the situation more and more uncontrollable.

Later, some people began to sue Ji Ji's state, some of which were black, and some of which were true. Ji Ji was the first target of the Qi people, who influenced his position by bribing his friends, retainers, and close relatives. The spies caught some Qi spies, and the spies exaggerated their crimes and fabricated Ji Ji's crimes. The incident was immediately reported to Ji Hou, who no longer trusted his brother and ordered him to be called back.

The secret information of the office was also sent to Ji Ji, and his friends advised him not to go back to die. Ji Ji lamented that the country of troubled times could not live peacefully, and his brothers and nephews could not be exempt from the suspicion of the monarch and the end of the great opening (death penalty), and he had no other way to live except for treason.

Ji Ji had no choice but to secretly communicate with the enemy country, let the Qi division cross the Zishui in the east, and dedicate the city to the Qi people. Since then, the city has become a vassal of the Qi State. By that day, half of the country had fallen.

Wei Huigong had been in exile in Qi for five years, and he begged Qi Xianggong to help him regain the throne and promised a huge amount of bribes. Although Qi Xianggong made a verbal promise, he never took action - he was either busy dealing with Ji Guo or fooling around with Wen Jiang.

Wei Huigong didn't dare to urge Qi Xianggong - because the other party was a moody person, so he turned to Wen Jiang. Wen Jiang took the benefit of his nephew and began to blow the pillow wind to Qi Xianggong. However, perhaps because Wen Jiang hated Wei Huigong, or because Wei Huigong was stingy, Wen Jiang lobbied from the opposite side.

She said: "Wei Shuo has been in the Qi country for a long time, and he has nothing to do except spend his days drinking. This person only consumes the wealth of the office, but does not contribute to the country at all; And as long as he stays in the Qi country, he will be a big trouble for the patriots. But if he returns to China and reinstated, the benefits of aligning the country will be too many. Not only will Qi get a lot of money, but they will also get rid of an enemy and add an ally.

"There is never a shortage of wine bags and rice bags around the prince, what does it matter if he is missing? So, why don't you send Wei Shuo back while Qianmu's position is not yet stable? Why not let him use the energy of the monarch to consolidate the Qiwei Alliance? ”

Qi Xianggong was said to be moved, and he sent an envoy to Lu to ask the other party to send a division to cooperate with Qi to defend it. The people of Lu were very disgusted; This is because Luqi's relations are in a period of tension, and Lu Wei is a traditional ally. Qi Xianggong is equivalent to forcing the people of Lu to do things that are quick for relatives and enemies.

The spokesperson of the Qi people in the Lu State is Gongzi Cun, who disagrees with everyone's views and puts forward his own ideas. "You guys don't even figure out what you're doing," he said. After the death of the first monarch Huan, the office asked the people of Qi to execute Peng Sheng, and the people of Qi did it. In addition, we did not make any demands on the people of Qi State, nor did we go out to crusade against Qi State, on the contrary, we also married the Marquis of Qi as the Son of Heaven as the Son of Heaven. You all say that Qi is an enemy, is this your attitude towards the enemy?

"Ji Guo is an ally of Lu State, but when Ji people came to ask for help, no one dared to lead troops to the battle. Some people say: 'The Qi State is too strong, and we don't want to offend the Qi State.' That's right, if we have reached a consensus on this fact, we have to stick to the principle to the end.

"Wei Shuo was originally the legitimate monarch of Wei Guo, and Qian Mu was a usurper; Since Wei Guo is a traditional ally of our country, shouldn't we help Wei Shuo drive away the rebellious ministers and thieves? Without the support of the Lu State, the Qi State would definitely overthrow Qianmu. Once Wei Shuo is reinstated, Lu will not only offend a Qi marquis, but will have to add a Wei marquis. ”

But the gentleman said: "Lu is not a vassal of Qi, and it cannot tolerate the Marquis of Qi giving orders to our country. We all know who the culprit of the killing of Duke Huan is, so he is still the enemy of the Lu State. Not being used by the enemy is one of the basic principles of governing the country, and we dare not help Ji Guo has been ridiculed by the princes, so we can no longer obey Qi State. The Marquis of Qi is an evil monarch, and if the State of Lu stands with him, he will be considered an accomplice of the villain, and will be hated by all of China. Qi Hou's crimes are heinous, and he will definitely not end well. We just need to abide by the Zhou etiquette, marry the princes, focus on defense, and wait for the change of the throne of Qi. ”

The two sides were in a dispute with each other, and Lu Zhuanggong was in a dilemma and couldn't make up his mind. In the end, the Lu people reached a compromise plan: to participate in the Qi Division's defense of the country by leading the family armed forces of Gongzi Cun. In doing so, he did not slap the faces of the Qi people, nor did he lose his face too much.