Ling Fei was surprised and asked in a low voice: "Who do you think this person with ulterior motives is, Your Highness?"

At this time, the waiter served cold dishes and cold wine, and the north wind was still howling outside the door.

Liu didn't care that the waiter was still standing aside and replied: "This person is most likely Lin Ying, the King of Chu."

Ling Fei glanced at the slightly curious waiter and said to Liu: "Then King Chu is not older than me, how could he be so scheming? When we met him, he was just a little scoundrel with no etiquette and misbehavior.

That’s all.”

Liu shook his head and sighed: "I don't want to believe that Lin Ying is so clever, and I don't want to believe that I have become a chess piece in his hands and am willingly at his mercy. But looking at Jiuzhou, who else will plot against me?

, use me?

Looking back on the situation at that time, not to mention the alliance between Qi, Wei, Chen and Shu, it is said that Chen State has always been restrained by the Rong people, and the King of Shu is not in the temperament of playing tricks at all. It is impossible for Chen Shu to use the help of our Song State to eradicate Qi and Wei.

The Kingdom of Zhao is neutral. Even if the King of Zhao wants to eradicate Qi Wei, there is no need to go to great lengths to find someone to give me advice, and then secretly kill the person who gave the advice.

Come to think of it, Chu is the only country that has not explicitly joined the four-nation alliance of Qi, Wei, Chen and Shu. It may have the ambition to destroy Qi Wei, but it may also have a plan to take advantage of our country, Song.

As for Lin Ying... he was already very smart. After he returned to the Chu Kingdom, he experienced many changes and ascended to the throne of King of Chu with all kinds of difficulties and dangers. He even sat on the throne of King of Chu for four years with all kinds of difficulties and dangers.

For a long time. Although there are rumors that he is as extravagant and lustful as King Chu You and does not think about government affairs, but if you think about it carefully, isn't this his way of blinding his eyes? How can ordinary people survive in the quagmire of Chu State?

?”

Ling Fei couldn't help but gasped: "It turns out that Lin Ying is so unfathomable..."

Liu Anran: "And it took me many years to guess that it was him. No wonder Shu'er was willing to stay in the Chu Kingdom and stay by his side. If he had nothing special about him, how could Shu'er commit himself to the Chu Palace?

That little corner of the place?”

Ling Fei took a sip of cold wine and suddenly frowned: "Since Your Highness already knows the ambitions and tricks of King Chu, do you want to allow Chu State to continue to grow under our eyes? King Chu can destroy Qi and Wei without any effort.

Do we, the Song Dynasty, have to sit back and wait for death?"

Liu drank the wine in the cup, sighed, and said: "Now the nine provinces are at peace, and Chu and Song are doing more frequent trade. It is a rare and prosperous scene. Even if I want to attack Chu, I can take back the bad breath of being exploited."

, but what reason do you use to attack Chu?

What's more, although Zhao, Song, and Chu exist side by side in the world today, Song is not the most popular country.

King Zhao once fought tooth and nail to defend Wucheng, and people from all over the world praised his merits and benevolence. Even the two realms of Chen and Shu, which were later incorporated into Zhao State, have not spoken against Zhao at all in these years. King Zhao ruled by doing nothing, and the officialdom of Zhao State was clean and honest.

, the people are happy and at ease. Zhao Guo has won the hearts of the people, no need to say anything.

As for the Chu State, the Allied Forces of the Four Kingdoms who followed the Shu King Wuxie to the west of Jinyang Pass came back and went to the Chu State to defect to King Anyi. After these people entered the Chu State, the Chu State gradually became like the Zhao State.

Countries recruit talents regardless of their country of origin and appoint people on their merits.

And our Song State is not as hospitable as Zhao and Chu. What’s even more pity is that even if Song wants to be hospitable, no one will come to us. With such an isolated Song State, what’s the point?

What’s the reason to attack Chu State, which has not provoked us?”

Ling Fei suggested: "Perhaps Your Highness can write to King Zhao and ask him what suggestions he has for attacking Chu?"

Liu shook his head helplessly: "King Zhao is old. If he wants to attack Chu, why does he send people to send birthday gifts to Xiao En who is far away in Chu country every year, but he doesn't even send a word to me? He

Doing this makes it clear that I should not act rashly."

Ling Fei said: "Actually, if your highness really wants to attack Chu, why worry about not being able to find a reason? Your highness, please forgive me for speaking frankly. I think that your highness does not have a firm intention to attack Chu at this time, but just has a personal grudge with the king of Chu.

That’s all.”

Liu drank another glass of cold wine in one gulp: "Back then, I had the ambition to destroy Qi Wei, but what if I destroyed Qi Wei? Shu'er hated me, King Zhao hated me, and everyone in the world except the people of Song Dynasty scolded me. Now.

The Chu State of Chu has strong soldiers and horses, perhaps even more powerful than the Allied Forces of the Four Kingdoms back then, and Lin Ying's intelligence is unfathomable. If I rashly raise my troops, I will inevitably fight bloody battles one after another. Why should I be a poisonous person?

Where are the sinners of the world?"

Ling Fei said: "But Your Highness, how can the hegemony of unifying the Nine Provinces be abandoned halfway? Only when the Nine Provinces are unified can the world usher in a truly peaceful and prosperous age. By then, Your Highness will not be a sinner, but the Lord of all peoples in the world, with meritorious deeds for generations to come.

go down in history!"

Liu held his tongue and remained silent

What exactly is merit? Should a person live his entire life and be remembered in history, or should he do whatever he wants?

To unify the world, is it my responsibility, Liu's, or the responsibility of the king of Song Dynasty?

Why do things that made me unwavering in the past now cause me to hesitate?

It's just an excuse to say you don't want to harm the common people. My father is in the Kingdom of Zhao, and Shu'er is in the Kingdom of Chu. Both of you are standing still and are content with the status quo. How can I go to war?

I don't want to give up halfway, nor do I want to betray everyone.

When Ling Fei saw that Liu was silent for a long time, he turned around to look for the waiter who had looked down on him just now. He saw him kneeling tremblingly beside him, not even daring to breathe.

The two of them sat in a tavern in Yudu and drank cold wine all night. When the weather got warmer and the wind and snow stopped, they walked back to the White Jade Palace to attend the court meeting in person.

After a night of contemplation, Liu was still unable to decide whether to advance or retreat, and he was often lost in thought during the court meeting.

****

Although the winter in Chu State is cold, the Chu River does not freeze.

On a awning on the bank of willow trees near the river, Chu King Lin Ying was having a secret meeting with Anyi Marquis Dongfang Cui. The two drank warm wine and ate barbecued meat, just like having a cozy meeting with friends.

Dongfang Sui asked: "His Highness secretly summoned ministers to come here. What are your instructions?"

Lin Ying rolled her eyes, raised her wine cup, toasted Dongfang Zui, and said with a smile: "If the Nine Provinces are to be reunited, Chu and Song will eventually have a war. Once Chu and Song start a war, that's when your master's fault will show itself. I

I have called you here to tell you that before spring comes at the latest, the Song Dynasty will definitely raise troops to attack Chu. You should gear up for this war."

Dongfang Sui downed his glass of wine and laughed three times: "Let Liu Fang come over! As long as he dares to send troops, I will make him lose everything!"

Lin Ying said: "In the past few years, the King of Song has held back his troops because he has never been able to find a reason to attack Chu. This reason is of course in our hands. He can only find it when we let him find it."

With the warm wine in his throat, Dongfang Sui said happily: "Fortunately, it was His Highness who ascended the throne as the King of Chu. Only Your Highness could be patient and wait for the best opportunity to annihilate the Song Dynasty."

Lin Ying's lips curved: "This opportunity was not something we waited for, but was calculated."

"I would like to hear the details."

"The Chu and Song Dynasties have been friends for hundreds of years. If there is a war, whoever raises the army first will definitely be in the wrong. I just want Liu Xian to raise the army, so that he will be at a disadvantage as soon as he makes a move.

But how can we inspire a general to be angry and attack Chu?

First, he must secretly empty his pockets and let the treasury of the Song Dynasty be wiped out unconsciously. When he reacts, he will be furious. This is a heavy blow to the Song Dynasty, and the King of Song must recover it for the Song Dynasty.

Fair enough. Who would have thought that Liu Foolishly hadn't noticed it yet. However, even if he didn't notice it, someone in the Song State should have noticed it. The later the Song State notices it, the more time we will have to prepare for the war.

Second, I want to inflict serious damage on Liu Nasi himself and provoke a personal grudge between him and me. I have already done this.

Therefore, whether he is the King of Song or Liu himself, if he takes the two doses of dumb loss I feed him, he will definitely become unbearable and become angry and attack Chu.

The most ridiculous thing is, just wait and see, the reason he is about to tell the world about raising troops to attack Chu will not be any of these two, because he will be ashamed to express it and be ashamed to fall into my trap.
Chapter completed!