After the failure of the Yanghu rebellion, Ji Huanzi personally came to Confucius's house and invited him to be the Minister of Justice.

These two are old acquaintances. More than 20 years ago, Confucius served as a retainer in Ji Pingzi's family for two years, when Ji Huanzi was still a child. In the eyes of that child, Confucius was a different character: he was noble-looking, knowledgeable, and powerful, and he was a teacher whom he respected and trusted.

This good impression has been with Ji Huanzi to this day, and the entanglement between Confucius and Yang Hu has strengthened his determination to invite Confucius to become an official.

Confucius was overjoyed and agreed on the spot. A few days later, for the first time in his life, Confucius entered the court in a solemn court robe, and he was appointed as the Grand Minister, in charge of the country's judiciary, and was ranked as the Shaoqing.

Confucius began his tenure with a series of judicial reforms, repealing draconian laws and enacting moderate ones. Some corrupt officials were expelled and their positions were replaced by upright men and gentlemen; He also streamlined some useless departments and personnel, and rehabilitated some wronged people.

The people of the country welcomed this reform very much, and at the same time they were contemptuous of the mild-mannered old master, and as a result, some of them committed acts of contempt for the law. But Confucius had both a bodhisattva heart and a thunderous maneuver—and those who dared to defy the law soon tasted punishment. After a few months, the order of the Lu kingdom took on a new look: the thieves had all fled to other countries; The people of the country do not leave any stone unturned, and treat people with integrity; The profiteers did not dare to water the live sheep or stuff the belly of the dead fish with small fish.

Soon, Qi Jinggong imprisoned Yang Hu, an act that added a warm feeling to the hearts of Lu Guoren. Later, the Qi army captured Yiyi of the Jin State (the last time the Qi State attacked the Jin was fifty years ago), and this incident caused great psychological pressure on the Lu people.

The Lu people believed that it was only a matter of time before the Lu would defect from the Jin and fall to the Qi state, and the question was whether the Lu state would act before or after the Song state broke away from the alliance.

Meng Yizi said: "Since sooner or later we have to form an alliance with the Qi State, we should take advantage of it. The attention of the Jin State is now focused on Qi and Wei, and it is absolutely impossible to directly crusade against our country by crossing the Central Plains princes. If we still hesitate, we will be beaten several more times in vain. Moreover, whether they took the initiative or were forced to form an alliance, their status in the hearts of the Qi people must be different. ”

Lu Dinggong nodded frequently, so he sent his uncle Sun Zhouqiu to meet Qi Jinggong to discuss the alliance with Qi State.

In the tenth year of Lu Dinggong (BC500), Shusun Zhouqiu entered Linzi and met with Qi Jinggong. According to the blood relationship, Qi Jinggong should call Shusun Zhouqiu "nephew (Qi Jinggong's mother is the daughter of Shusun Qiaoru and the cousin and grandmother of Shusun Zhouqiu)". Qi Jinggong couldn't help but be overjoyed, and the two sides soon agreed to meet in Jiagu (now Jiaguyu, Laizhou, Shandong) in the summer of this year.

The valley is surrounded by mountains, and a mountain road runs through the north and south, making it a good place to launch an encirclement war. When Li Mi learned that Lu Dinggong's official was Confucius, he said to Qi Jinggong: "This person who knows etiquette but lacks courage, if he instructs the soldiers to kidnap Lu Hou, all the wishes of the prince will be fulfilled." ”

Qi Jinggong felt that this bad idea was really wonderful, and he handed over the task to Li Mi to carry it out. Limi then gathered a slave army (armed slaves) from Laiyi's homeland and led them to the valley.

The Qi people first arrived at the site of the alliance, and the soldiers leveled a large piece of land, built a high platform, surrounded the field with curtains, and arranged Laiyi's slave soldiers on both sides of the road leading to the site.

Before the alliance began, the monarchs and ministers of the Lu State entered the valley under the protection of the guards. Confucius couldn't help but be furious when he saw the Donglai people on both sides of the road, and immediately ordered the guards to expel the Donglai people. The sergeants swarmed up, shouting loudly and driving them away with spears.

Seeing this, a doctor from Qi hurried over, saying that it was a special ceremony arranged by Qi Jinggong to welcome the Lu people, and protested against the actions of the Lu people. Confucius said angrily: "The two monarchs are about to hold peace talks, but these Dongyi slaves come here with weapons to make trouble, their sins are too great!" The barbarians were not allowed to disturb the Chinese League, and the prisoners of war were not allowed to keep watch for the League; This is ominous to God, and rude to man. Qi Hou Zhili, he will definitely not issue such an ominous and indecent order! ”

Doctor Qi was speechless and hurried back to report to Qi Jinggong. Only then did Qi Jinggong order all the Dongyi people to be withdrawn out of sight.

After the alliance began, the two sides first reached an agreement on the signing of a peace agreement, and then Qi Jinggong proposed that Lu should issue a statement to withdraw from the Huaxia Alliance; But the proposal was vetoed by the Lu people.

Lu Dinggong said that the people of Lu have always adhered to the tradition of peace and neutrality; The reason why the country joined the Huaxia Alliance led by the Jin State was purely for self-preservation, not for the sake of being an enemy of other countries; If the official office issued a statement, the country would definitely summon the enemy country to attack, and that result was not in the interests of the Lu state, so he could not meet Qi Jinggong's requirements; However, since Lu decided to form an alliance with Qi, the clause that Lu had obligations to Jin automatically became invalid, so Qi Jinggong was not worried about Lu's position.

Lu Dinggong used such a tactful way to reconcile his status between Qi and Jin.

Qi Jinggong didn't want to stick to his opinion, so he changed the conversation and said, "That's fine." But once the Qi army goes out to fight, the Lu State must provide three hundred chariots to accompany the expedition! Otherwise, let the heavens punish you! ”

Lu Dinggong stammered and didn't know how to answer, Confucius took a step forward and said: "If the State of Qi does not return the land of Fenyang that was invaded to the State of Lu, let the heavens punish it!" ”

Both sides agreed to include the above in the book, and a bloody ceremony was held later. After the ceremony, Liang Qiu told Confucius that the Duke of Qi was going to hold a great feast for Duke Lu Ding the next day.

This proposal may be done without malice, and it is also made to strengthen relations between the two countries. However, the long-term hostility between the two countries and the inexplicable appearance of the Dongyi soldiers this time made the Lu people not trust the Qi people at all.

Confucius did not want to linger here for a moment, and replied: "Isn't it clear that the master of Qi and Lu is not clear (he really does not know)? Important ritual objects cannot be taken out of the country, and Jiale cannot be played in the wild. If it is brought out, it is against the etiquette system, and the use of simple ritual utensils not only violates the Zhou etiquette, but also insults the identity of the monarch. It is very meaningless to violate etiquette on the left and right, and the officials and servants have worked hard to do something that violates Zhou etiquette and makes the world laugh at it? I think it's better to forget it! ”

For Qi Jinggong, who had a good face, this reason was something he had to accept, and as a result, the two missions returned home separately that night.

The Jiagu Alliance marked the liberation of the Lu State from the control of the Jin State. At present, among the major powers in the Central Plains, the only major country that has not openly torn its face with the Jin State is the Song State.

After Qi Jinggong returned to Linzi, he quickly returned the three cities he had invaded to the state of Lu.