The news soon reached the ears of the Jin people, and Zhao Wu was a little worried, so he summoned the sheep tongue and asked him about countermeasures. "There is no harm." It is still not a trivial matter for a husband to occasionally lose his trust, let alone a secretary? The untrustworthy are not to be worried, not that the Master should be worried. If he summons a prince with a letter and treats him as a traitor, will that prince be on his side? Without the help of the princes, how can they harm me? ”

Before the alliance began, Shusun Leopard received an urgent letter from Ji Wuzi. The letter said: "If the army is successful, the Lu State must pay tribute to the two alliance leaders, so the burden of the Lu State will be too heavy. The prince has an order: At the time of the alliance, the master should reduce the request to the state of Lu to the status of a small country like Teng and Di, so as to reduce the burden on the office. ”

Uncle Sun Leopard was very surprised, he knew that this kind of bad idea of destroying his dignity and being scolded by the countrymen to the point that he had nowhere to hide was definitely not from Lu Xianggong; But Ji Wenzi gave orders under the guise of Lu Hou, and he couldn't disobey his orders.

The Song people arranged a large venue in the suburbs in advance, and the laborers leveled the land, built a high platform, and surrounded the venue with curtains, and opened two entrances on the south side. At the beginning of the alliance, Zhao Wu and Qu Jian led a team to enter from the two gates in parallel to show the equality of the two countries, followed by the delegations of their respective subject countries.

Soon after the alliance began, Cui Zhu suddenly proposed to classify the state of Yi as a vassal state of the state of Qi, and Xiang Xu immediately requested that the state of Teng be classified as a vassal state of the state of Song. Zhao Wu and Qu Jian both agreed, and as a result, Teng and Di lost their qualifications as diplomatic subjects, and at the same time lost their qualifications to participate in the military conference. The host issued an eviction order, and the two monarchs immediately turned red-faced, and were immediately embarrassed to be asked out of the venue; The two of them ran to the shore of Suishui to relax in a daze.

Uncle Sun Bao finally decided to disobey the king's order, and he said in his heart: "Teng and Yi have become vassals of great powers, but my dignified Lu country is a nation that is comparable to Song and Wei, how can I lower myself to the status of a vassal country?" So when the moderator asked the participants what else they wanted, Uncle Sun Leopard did not speak.

At that time, the atmosphere at the scene was very tense: the people of Chu were tall and burly, and they glared at the participants like fierce gods; The dress worn on the body looks very bloated, and you can even see the outline of the leather armor inside; Those people did not look like emissaries attending peace ceremonies, but rather like thugs participating in gang negotiations.

The people of the Jin Kingdom observed each other quietly, but the others did not dare to come out.

The ceremony was carried out step by step under the auspices of Xiang Xu, and soon proceeded to the bloody part. Qu Jian did not hide his domineering style, stepped in front of Xiang Xu first, and reached out to grab the vessel containing ox blood.

Zhao Wu rushed over to stop him and said, "The Jin State has been serving as the leader of the princes' alliance for nearly ninety years, and in all the ceremonies, no country has shed blood before our country. ”

Qu Jian said: "The master claims that Jin and Chu are rivals, if the Jin State has always been the first, where is there still a 'rival'? That is to treat Chu as a small country! Moreover, Jin and Chu have been serving as the leaders of the world alliance alternately for decades! How can it be the first of the Jin Kingdom? ”

Yang Yu walked forward quickly, attached to Zhao Wu's ear and said: "The virtues of the Jin Kingdom are supported by the princes, and they don't care who is the leader of the alliance. The master must devote himself to virtue and do not compete with the Chu people for fame! And the princes meet, it is not that there is no precedent for the main alliance of small countries (such as Song Xianggong), Chu is weaker than Jin, so isn't it okay to make the main alliance of Chu? ”

Zhao Wu stopped insisting at this time, and he retreated to his original position. Qu Jian first, Zhao Wu second; The princes and the chief envoys took turns in turn. When Cao Guoren was the last to return the blood vessel to Xiang Xu, the scene suddenly erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

When the sun was in the west, the ceremony finally ended without danger. The hearts of the participants fell, and the missions of various countries left the venue in an orderly manner. People have happy and real smiles on their faces, and they do not hide their joyful emotions and express their excitement in high spirits.

Eighty-six years have passed since the Battle of Chengpu began. For more than 80 years, the struggle for hegemony in Jin and Chu has always been the main theme of the times; The two superpowers have come and gone, and have fought three large-scale battles, and countless small battles; The members of the two alliances have not fought for many years, and they have almost exhausted their people's livelihood and national strength; The land of China is full of smoke and thorns.

During this period, the princes not only had to suffer from the invasion of the enemy, but also had to endure the oppression of the alliance lords; Part of the country's financial resources were used for war, and part of it was paid tribute to the alliance leaders. Even more serious than the damage to property are the lives and freedoms of countless sergeants, civilians. Among the members of the Alliance, even the most warlike monarchs prayed incessantly to the gods of their ancestors, praying for peace from their ancestors.

Now that the agreement has finally been reached, everyone firmly believes that this alliance will not be abandoned like the Huayuan soldiers thirty-four years ago, because the monarchs and ministers of the Jin and Chu countries do not want to continue fighting.

That night, the host held a grand banquet for the guests, everyone relaxed and drank happily, and even Qu Jian showed a long-lost smile and got drunk.

The next day, Song Ping held a banquet to entertain the doctors of Jin and Chu, and Zhao Wu sat down as the guest of honor. Qu Jian didn't mind being ranked behind Zhao Wu, but he still wanted to embarrass Zhao Wu a little, so he asked him a question about music; And said that this question has bothered him for a long time, but no one in the Chu State can give an answer.

Qu Jian's words asked about Zhao Wu's shortcomings, and Zhao Wu couldn't help but blush, embarrassed; Qu Jian shook his head proudly, admiring the other party's expression. Zhao Wu had to ask Yang Yu to answer the question, and Yang Yu not only answered fluently, but also asked Qu Jian a question. This time it was Qu Jian's turn to blush, he turned his head to look at the prince's black humerus, only to find that the black humerus's head was about to sink into the soil.

Through this alliance, Qu Jian and Zhao Wu established a deep friendship. Before returning to China, the two stayed together basically every day. The two had too much to say to each other, and they had nothing to say, exchanging experiences in governing the country and philosophical issues, as well as discussing their world outlook and outlook on life.

Once, Qu Jian asked: "I heard that Fan Wuzi (Shihui) is the person most admired by the master, what are the aspects of his virtues?" ”

Zhao Wu said: "The master's governance of state affairs and family affairs is above board, and there is no ** in the country; When the family Zhu Zong read the sacrifice to the ghosts, he was frank and honest, and he was worthy of his heart. ”

When Qu Jian reported the matter to King Chu Kang after returning to China, King Chu Kang sighed: "Fan Wuzi is really a noble gentleman! It can satisfy the world, ghosts and gods, and assist the five monarchs (Wen, Xiang, Li, Cheng, and Jing); It is natural to be highly respected by Zhao Meng. ”

Qu Jian responded: "There is Zhao Wu in power, and there is a sheep tongue to assist the secretary; It is only natural that the Jin Kingdom can become the leader of the alliance! Chu State does not have such talents, and it cannot compete with them. ”