As mentioned earlier, the Duke of Jin Ping did not hesitate to exhaust the people's resources and extorted huge wealth from the princes to complete the construction of the Qiqi Palace. After the palace was completed, he shamelessly asked the princes to come to congratulate him.

In addition to expressing their sincere admiration for the depraved and evil construction group, the princes also felt great anger and hatred, so much so that Qi Jinggong actually issued a great disrespectful voice of "Xing with the king".

The Jin people clearly felt that the Chinese princes had betrayed their intentions, so they decided to convene an alliance to settle the matter. Shu Xiang was prepared for the worst when he was preparing for the meeting: if the problem could not be resolved by peaceful means, he would use force to suppress the rebels.

In the early autumn of the thirteenth year of Lu Zhaogong, the Jin state sent envoys to the states of Qi, Song, Wei, Zheng, Lu, Cao, Ju, Di, Teng, Xue, and Xiaoyi, asking the monarchs of various countries to meet with Pingqiu (Weidi, forty miles east of present-day Fengqiu, Henan) to solve the problem of Lu encroaching on the land of Ju. The word "wait" made the princes uneasy in their hearts. The Jin people reported to the royal family on the date of the alliance, and Liu Dinggong was appointed by King Zhou Jing to attend the meeting as an observer.

The Duke of Jin Zhao asked to meet with Wu Ziyi Moxian (the princes of China), but because the flood season had arrived, heavy rain fell in the Central Plains for several days, and the river water rose sharply; The flood flooded the flat road and blocked the northward footsteps of Yimo, and the wish of the Jin people was not realized.

Zichan and Uncle Zi accompanied Zheng Dinggong to the meeting, and Zichan only brought nine tents; Uncle Zi brought forty of them, and he kindly reminded Zichan that if Zichan's tent was not enough, he could borrow it from him. Zichan smiled and did not answer. However, Uncle Zi could only use a quarter of the number when he set up camp - he carried so many tents that even transportation became a big problem. Uncle Zi had to abandon a batch every night, and when he arrived at the place of the alliance, there were only nine tops left.

After the Jin people arrived at the location of the alliance, Shu Xiang's brother Yang Tongue Carp did a lot of bad things: he ordered soldiers and miscellaneous servants to go to the nearby mountains and fields to cut down and deforest, force the locals to buy and sell, and unscrupulously walk through the fields. Yi Zai prepared some belongings and planned to send them to the sheeptongue carp, but his son said: "The sheeptongue carp is insatiable, and these worthless things cannot enter his eyes at all, and he will harass the people's livelihood even more; It's better to give it to Shu Xiang, so that you can fundamentally solve the problem. ”

Wei Ren then gave Shu Xiang a brocade and a pot of meat soup, and said: "The princes serve the Jin Kingdom, and never dare to have two hearts; Besides, Wei Hou is by Jin Jun's side, where are the different aspirations? However, the behavior of the pickers is very different from the past, so I ask the Master to regulate the behavior of those people. ”

Shu Xiang accepted the food but returned the brocade, and apologized to the guards, saying: "It is really troublesome that there is a character like the sheep tongue carp in the Jin Kingdom. He is greedy and will meet with evil. Although the brocade is thin, if the master gives it to him in the name of the Marquis of Wei, will he dare not obey the order? ”

Wei Ren went to see the sheep tongue carp with a gift in his hand, and gave it to him according to the method of Uncle Xiang Professor; The sheeptongue carp pretended to be surprised and said, "Is there such a thing? A ban on logging was immediately issued.

At the beginning of August, when the princes of various countries arrived in Pingqiu one after another, the Jin people dispatched 4,000 chariots, more than the chariots of the other participants combined; The Jin army occupied all favorable terrain and communication arteries, and surrounded the princes' guards inside, as if they were encircling an isolated and helpless enemy.

At the preparatory meeting attended by the secretaries of various countries, the Jin people proposed that a ceremony to find the alliance would be held, and the Qi people jumped out to express their opposition. The reason is: "Seeking the Alliance" will only be carried out after the crusade against the betrayer, and now the Lu people are in Pingqiu, but the alliance leader is not defeated; It is neither justified nor necessary to hold a ceremony. The people of Dongyi also agreed.

The preparatory meeting ended in vain. Jin Zhaogong was very troubled, he planned to use force directly against the people of Qi, but Shu Xiang said: "The Kingdom of Qi and the royal family have been married for generations, and the envoy of the Heavenly King is here, so the prince should seek Liu Zi's opinion before making a decision." ”

Jin Zhaogong took his uncle to see Liu Dinggong and said, "The people of Qi are ready to sabotage this alliance, how should the widows respond?" ”

Liu Dinggong replied: "The alliance sent a letter. If the princes have faith and the princes have no second hearts, what are you worried about? Issuing orders with rhetoric and supervising acts by force; Even if the Qi State does not allow it, the merits of the prince are big enough. "Poem" says: 'Yuan Rong ten times, to start first. 'Slow is only judged by the king. ”

Liu Dinggong skillfully expressed his support for the Jin Guoren in this way, and kicked the ball to Jin Zhaogong.

Shu Xiang was ordered to see Bao Guo and said to him: "The princes have come here to seek an alliance, and the great people do not allow it, so the widow will come and ask the great people in person." ”

Bao Guo still did not allow it, and said that the Jin State insisted on finding an alliance, and the Qi people would be absent from the ceremony and return to China alone.

Shu Xiang suppressed the anger in his heart, told a lot of truths, and finally had to issue a military threat to the people of Qi; Bao Guo broke out in a cold sweat and reluctantly agreed to the request of the Jin people.

Shu Xiang went back to restore his life, and he was still angry, and asked Jin Zhaogong to order a military drill. On August 4, the battalions of the Jin army raised their battle flags, but there were no streamers on the flags to show the princes that they were only conducting drills. The generals of the Jin State made another large-scale mobilization of the army, putting on a posture of preparing for an attack.

On August 5, the Jin people suddenly raised the battle flag hanging the streamers and beat the war drums; The princes were greatly frightened and entered the Jin military camp to listen to the lesson.

The Lu and Ju people once again issued an accusation against the Lu people: "The Lu people crusaded against our country day and night, and the country was almost destroyed. If our country has any disrespect for the alliance leader, it is entirely because of the Lu people. ”

Jin Zhaogong said to Shu Xiang: "Please tell the people of the Lu State that they should not participate in the alliance search ceremony." ”

Shu Xiang came to the camp of the Lu State Mission, saw Shu Gong and said, "The ceremony will be held on the seventh day." But the widow knew that he could not serve the prince, so he asked the prince not to work his body. ”

Shu Gong said: "The prince and the marquis are gullible and misinformed by the barbarians, and they actually cut off the brotherhood and abandon the descendants of the Duke of Zhou, and everything is only what the prince wants." The widow heard the order. ”

Due to too many worries, Shu Xiang's recent mental pressure has been very great; Regarding the prohibition of the Lu people from attending the ceremony, he did not approve of the practice of Jin Zhaogong, but also disgusted with Ji Pingzi's arrogance and the complaints of the Lu people, so he said: "The widow has 4,000 chariots here, even if he acts without a way, the princes should be afraid, let alone take the lead?" Although the cow is thin and weak, it is pressed on the pig, is the pig not afraid of being crushed to death? Aren't you worried about the disaster brought about by Nan Kuai and Gongzi (at this time, Nan Kuai still occupies Feiyi)? If the people of the Jin State are united with the princes and the divisions of Di, Ju, Yan and Qi to crusade against the Lu State, how many days can the Lu State exist? Shu Gong sighed and didn't dare to continue.

Since the embassies of various countries were scattered within a radius of several miles, in order to make the ceremony go smoothly, the Jin people specially asked the participants to move the tents near the ceremony site in advance.

Zi's assistant immediately took people to bring tents to occupy the space, but those people were intercepted by Uncle Zi on the way and arrested the laborers. Zichan did not learn of this until the evening, and he hurriedly led people to the designated place of the Jin people, but saw that the princes' envoys had already occupied the surrounding area, and did not leave an inch to the Zheng people (which was quite in line with the habits of the farming people). Zheng Dinggong and the doctors had to get up before dawn the next day and rush to their destination.