The war ended, but peace did not come. Although the Chu army did not have time to participate in the war, it did not mean that they did not want to get involved in the dispute in the Central Plains. After the Duke of Qi sent a request to the king of Chu, the people of Chu immediately held a closed-door meeting, at which the ministers agreed that they should send a teacher.

There are many reasons for leaving the school, the first is Lu Guo. Duke Lu Wengong once asked the state of Chu to send troops to attack Qi, and the king of Chu Zhuang also agreed. However, with the death of the monarchs of Chu and Lu one after another, the people of Lu changed their decision and turned to the competitors of Chu for help; And the Chu people have been looking forward to the Lu people to find an alliance! The capriciousness of the Lu people greatly hurt the self-esteem of the Chu people.

And then there is the Patriotic Nation. Wei Guo has always maintained close contacts with Chu, but he also took refuge in the Jin State on the issue of dealing with Qi State, and did not inform Chu State. The actions of the patriots were seen as betrayal and contempt.

The third is the Jin Kingdom. The state of Chu had already obtained the state of Zheng and the state of Song; The Jin State took the opportunity of the death of King Chuzhuang to conquer the Qi State in the east, which of course contained the intention of regaining control of the Central Plains.

To sum up, although there are many reasons for leaving the school, they have nothing to do with Qi State.

After the decision was made, the king of Chu sent Shen Gong Wuchen to envoy Qi to inform Qi Qing of the decision of the meeting.

But the people of Chu also have their own concerns. King Chu Gong was only a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child at that time, and he had never established a meritorious career. The new king has always lived under the light of his father's rays, and the lord is little and powerless, and is not valued by the ministers.

Ling Yin Zizhong said: "The king is young, and the ministers are not as capable as the first doctor, so it is necessary to gather heavy troops to succeed." The poem says: 'Ji Ji Duoshi, King Wen Yining. 'King Wen of Zhou still relies on heavy soldiers, let alone us ordinary people? Moreover, King Zhuang told the king, 'It is better to show favor to the people than to go on an expedition to another country without establishing virtue, and then use the teacher.' Therefore let the king first show favor to the people. ”

On the basis of the proposal, the king of Chu then issued an edict: to check the household registration and count the situation of each household, to fulfill the promise made to the people, to provide relief to the poor and the elderly, to reduce taxes and punishments, and to pardon sinners.

The office did not begin to recruit troops until the above work was completed. The king of Chu sent envoys to Qin, Song, Zheng, Chen, Cai, and Xu, inviting the six countries to send troops to participate in the war.

The three armies of Chu were raised, and the king was exhausted. Before setting out on the expedition, Zizhong considered the safety of the king of Chu Gong and asked him to stay in the country and only travel in the king's car. Peng Ming is the king of the car Yurong, Cai Jinggong is the left of the car, and Xu Linggong is the right of the car. The monarchs of Cai and Xu, who were younger than the kings of the Chu Dynasty, were forced by the Chu people to perform a crown salute before going into battle with the army.

In winter, the Chu division invaded Weiguo, and it was during the mourning of Wei Mugong, and the Wei people did not dare to go to war and sued for peace. The Chu division then turned southeast and invaded the state of Lu.

Lu Chenggong was about to send Zang Sun Xu to envoy the Chu army, but Zang Sun Xu excused himself and said: "The Chu division has come from afar, and it has been outside for a long time, and it will be withdrawn soon. In this case, the minister is unwilling to steal the credit for retreating from the enemy, so the prince should send someone else. ”

Ji Wenzi persuaded him: "Don't think about fame in front of national affairs - this credit is not something that everyone can get." Others don't necessarily have your cognitive abilities, and they don't necessarily succeed in your mission. But Zang Sun Xu's stubborn head just kept shaking.

The Chu division had approached Yangqiao (northwest of present-day Tai'an), and the choice of the envoy was still undecided. At the critical moment, Zhongsun Mi (Meng Xianzi) took the initiative to ask Ying, and Lu Chenggong had to assign him to see Zizhong.

When Zhongsun came to the enemy's barracks, he looked around, and everywhere he could see was the barracks, the mountains and hills were full of military flags, the soldiers were full of spirit, the chariots were galloping back and forth, and the slogans of the drills in the barracks were endless. Zhongsun was shocked by the momentum of the enemy army, and his palms couldn't help but ooze fine sweat.

Zizhong personally selected a group of tall, powerful, and hideous-looking sergeants to form an honor guard, one is to show military prestige, and the other is to give Lu Envoy a dismount.

Zizhong also specially changed into a very unsettling-looking armor (instead of a dress) and went out of the camp to greet the envoy, and Zhongsun was completely shocked, his face turned blue, his lips trembled, and he couldn't even speak coherently. When Zizhong saw this situation, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Zhongsun had always thought that this trip would be an easy task before he set off, but when he revealed his timidity to his opponents, the situation became complicated.

Seeing that the deterrence tactics had worked, Zi Zhong took the lead to put pressure on Zhongsun Contempt. Zizhong said: "Your country came to our country to beg for a warp, but unfortunately our country was suffering a great loss at that time. But the new monarch did not refuse the great powers, but promised to go north to attack Qi after the funeral. But your country turned its back on its credit, abandoned the state of Chu, and turned to the state of Jin for help, and the widow had doubts in his heart, so he sent me to seek answers. ”

Zhongsun blushed and sighed with contempt, and he had to apologize to Zizhong and ask for forgiveness, and finally made a list of bribes that sounded good.

Zizhong was noncommittal, but continued to condemn the other party. Zhongsun had no choice but to raise the price of sending the plague god step by step, and finally it was so high that even Zizhong was moved by compassion, which was determined: in addition to paying a huge amount of property, Lu Guo also had to pay a hundred carpenters, a hundred embroiderers, a hundred weavers, plus a son (Gongheng) as a hostage.

After Zhongsun returned to China and resumed his life, he hid in the house of a low-status clansman in the suburbs and did not dare to come out, in order to avoid the complaints of the monarch and the curses of the countrymen. Ji Wenzi privately reproached Zang Sun Xu and said, "You, you! The face of the country is not as important as your false name! Now the state of Lu has not only lost 300 excellent craftsmen, but also caught up with Gongheng. What will the government and the opposition say about you? Hello do it yourself! ”

In the winter of November, the prince of Chu, Ying Qi, Cai Jinggong, Xu Linggong, Qin Youfu Shuo, Song Huayuan, Chen Gongsun Ning, Zheng Gongzi Quji, Qi Guozuo, Lu Ji Wenzi, and Cao, Di, Xue, and Yan, a total of 12 princes and representatives, held an alliance meeting in Shu (now west of Tai'an County), and the alliance asked the participating countries to unite and sympathize with the enemy. Although the book does not state who the enemy is, the spearhead is directed at the Jin Kingdom.

The monarchs of Chen and Xu relegated themselves to the status of the emperor of the emperor of Chu because of the chariot of the king of Chu when they set out on the expedition. Neither could lift up his head among the nations for a long time; Lu and Wei were both forced to attend the meeting, so what they said when they were bloody was not sincere.

The Shu Alliance is the largest alliance meeting held by the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period so far and attended by the most countries. The Jin people were indeed shocked by the grand spectacle put on by the Chu people, and the Jin Jinggong ordered the east gate of the Tiger Prison Pass to be closed, and asked the Jin people not to make any moves that irritated the nerves of the princes.

Han Ju said: "The crowd cannot be opposed. When Ying Qi is in power, he can still win with the crowd, let alone Chu Jun? The "Great Oath" says: 'Shang Zhao is separated from the people, and ten people are the same. It means that the multitude is used. However, 'the wind does not end, the rain does not end', and the Chu people can only hold a meeting of the princes of Shu once with the strength of the whole country, and the Chu State has become extremely strong, and it will be weakened in the future. ”