Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Duke Huan’s Hegemony Begins

In the spring of 681 BC, according to Guan Zhong's suggestion, Duke Huan of Qi sent people to Luoyi to congratulate the newly enthroned King Xi of Zhou. King Xi of Zhou is the grandson of King Huan of Zhou who had a strong self-esteem but suffered a big setback in Zheng Guo.Ever since King Huan of Zhou was taught a solid lesson by Duke Zheng Zhuang in Suange, the sons and grandsons of the dragons of the Great Zhou Dynasty were no longer arrogant.Correspondingly, even the princes looked down on the royal family even more. The ascension of the new emperor to the throne is such a big event that the princes of the world seem to be ignorant, and no one comes to congratulate.King Zhou Xi's enthronement ceremony can really be described as deserted and deserted.King Zhou Xi couldn't help feeling resentful, you princes don't give face too much, don't you?Even if it's a formality, you have to send someone over to ask.

So we can imagine that when the envoy of Qi State came to congratulate the emperor with a valuable gift, King Zhou Xi was so moved that his nose and tears flowed.Qihou, you are so cute, it's you who made me, the emperor, feel like the master of the world again.How can I thank you! King Xi of Zhou warmly received the envoys of the State of Qi, and joked, how could it be chilling for a prince to come for a pilgrimage? With the enthusiasm of King Zhou Xi, the envoys of the Qi State no longer concealed their intentions: one was to congratulate the new emperor on his enthronement on behalf of the Marquis of Qi, and the other was to hope that the emperor would cheer up his court and re-establish his prestige so as to quell all kinds of rumors. confusion.And Qihou is willing to help the emperor maintain order.Then the first thing is to get the permission of the emperor, led by Qi, to organize a meeting of princes to solve the status of the king of Song.

King Zhou Xi didn't care at all about who would be the king of the Song Kingdom.But to restore the prestige of the emperor, this can not be sloppy.Since Marquis Qi took the initiative to share the worries of the emperor, then you, Marquis Qi, should handle the matter of convening an alliance and determining the status of the monarch of the Song Dynasty. The envoy returned to Qi State and reported the truth to Duke Huan of Qi.Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong were overjoyed, which meant that King Xi of Zhou had given himself the full power to deal with the princes.Let's not shake our arms and do it!

In the name of the Son of Heaven, the State of Qi sent envoys to the vassal states, asking the monarchs of each country to hold an international meeting in Beixing (in today's Dong'a, Shandong) in March of this year (that is, 681 BC) to determine The status of the monarch of the Song Dynasty.All the states of Song, Lu, Zheng, Wei, etc. must attend the meeting.This is the order of the emperor, and no one is allowed to disobey it. But when it came to the day of the alliance, Duke Huan of Qi was dumbfounded: he notified more than a dozen princes, but only four countries, Song, Chen, Cai, and Zhu, came to participate.Among them, apart from Song, which is still considered a big country, Chen, Cai, and Zhu are all small countries with little influence.It seems that those big countries didn't take Duke Huan of Qi seriously at all.What kind of character do you Xiaobai think you are?You don't look for a mirror to look at yourself. This G20 summit can also be organized if you can organize it?Want to call us a meeting, dream about it.As for the order of the emperor, who still takes it seriously now.

Duke Huan of Qi saw it, and thought it was outrageous. With just a few countries, how can any international conference be organized?Or let's postpone the meeting and wait for those countries.Guan Zhong said: "My lord, if you want to dominate the world, you must be honest. Those princes did not come to the meeting, and it is their fault; but if we postpone the meeting, it is our own failure to be honest, and it is our fault. What's more The ancients said that 'three people make a crowd', and now four countries have come, and we add ourselves, which is five countries. Five countries, don't feel too little. This meeting will still be held as scheduled."

Duke Huan of Qi said, let's have a meeting, how many chariots shall we bring there?Guan Zhong said, you are going to a meeting, not a war, why are you bringing a chariot?Let's not take a tank, let's go in a Cadillac.The monarchs of the other four countries all arrived in Beixing with their troops in chariots, and they all seemed to be disobedient.Although the country is big or small, it cannot lose face. Tanks and armored vehicles of different models from various countries gathered in Beixing. At this time, the heads of state of the four countries saw that the host, Qihou, came in a car, and there was no chariot behind him.The heads of state of the four countries looked at each other, suddenly feeling embarrassed.You see, Qihou has good intentions, but we treat his kindness like a donkey's liver and lungs.Forget it, armored vehicles, tanks, etc., are all driven back. Is it necessary to bring these things for a meeting?

In this way, before the meeting even started, the other four princes admired Qi Huangong for his high morals. Then the next thing will be much easier. The first topic of the meeting was to determine the legal status of the monarch of the Song Dynasty.Song Guojun Yu said that he had just secured his position as the monarch, and this time he heard that the emperor wanted to recognize his position, so of course he came here very actively. At the meeting, Duke Huan of Qi took out the edict of the emperor and recognized Yu Shuo as the legal monarch of Song State.Chen, Cai, and Zhu also expressed no objection.So Yu said that he officially became the monarch of the Song Dynasty, and it was Song Huangong.

The first issue is satisfactorily resolved, and the second issue is to establish a leader of the princes in order to respect the royal family, enable the princes to help each other, and repel the invasion of the surrounding barbarians, Rongdi and other ethnic minorities. It is the lord, to preside over various affairs.With a leader, the great cause of "respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" can proceed smoothly.Who is better to be the leader of the princes? The monarchs of the four kingdoms of Song, Chen, Cai, and Zhu were like mirrors in their hearts.This meeting was presided over by the State of Qi. If someone else were to be the leader of the princes, wouldn't the work of the Marquis of Qi be in vain?

But if Duke Huan of Qi was really pushed to the throne of the leader of the alliance, Duke Huan of Song would not be the first to be happy.Our country of Song is a duke, the highest among the princes of other countries, isn't it more noble than the marquis of Qi?With me here, why let Qihou be the leader? Of course, the three small countries of Chen, Cai, and Zhu would not wish to think that they can still be the leader of the alliance, but it is indeed embarrassing for them to choose one between Qi and Song.Qihou is the convener and has been approved by the emperor, but the title is indeed not as high as that of Song Guo.The title of the Song Dynasty is relatively high, but its current monarch was appointed by the Marquis of Qi.This multiple choice question is too difficult to do.

In the end, Chen Xuangong, the monarch of the Chen Kingdom, who is older and has seen a lot of the world, stood up and spoke: "This alliance was called by Qihou, and the credit is naturally due to Qihou. And Qihou also got it. The authorization of the emperor, when it comes to the rank of the emperor, no matter how high it is, it can be higher than the emperor? According to me, how about we unanimously elect Marquis Qi as the leader, and lead everyone to respect the royal family and resist the invasion of barbarians?" The monarchs of the two small countries Cai and Zhu immediately raised their hands in favor.Originally, Song Guo had just finished the civil strife and wanted to be the leader of the alliance. Who would be convinced?Let's choose Qihou.

Although Song Huangong was dissatisfied in his heart, everyone recommended Qihou, and he couldn't screw everyone, so he might as well express his support. Duke Huan of Qi saw that everyone supported him as the leader of the alliance. After a few words of resignation, he formally assumed the position of leader of the alliance.In this way, in a legal sense, Duke Huan of Qi is already regarded as the overlord of the princes, but few countries recognize it. Although the first day of the alliance didn't show much, it went well anyway.Duke Huan of Qi also knew that he had to eat every bite, and there was still a lot of work to do in the future. It was unrealistic to expect to determine his hegemony by relying on a single meeting. But it was such a meeting, and something went wrong.It turned out that when Duke Huan of Song returned to the hotel, he felt unconvinced no matter how he thought about it.I am a descendant of a great merchant, and the duke conferred by Zhou Tianzi is actually going to be subservient to your country of Qi. How can I swallow this tone? Anyway, my status as a monarch has been settled for me, so what's the point of me staying here?So Song Huan took advantage of the night and sneaked back with his people without anyone noticing. The next day, everyone got together for a meeting. Qi Huangong was very dissatisfied with the fact that there were too few countries present at the meeting. This time, he saw that there was one less country, and the five countries became four countries.Duke Huan of Qi was furious.Well, you said, your position as the monarch is set for you by me, but you play with me and leave without saying goodbye. This is too unkind, do you think I dare not beat you?I also have tanks and armored vehicles on hand. Duke Huan of Qi didn't want to open the guild either, so he wanted to return to the country immediately and mobilize troops to attack the country of Song.Guan Zhong quickly persuaded him to come down: "My lord, don't be too hot-headed now. Our top priority is not to fight Song, but to deal with disobedient princes one by one on the grounds of disobeying the king's orders from near to far." Duke Huan of Qi calmed down, held back the anger in his heart, and asked Guan Zhong: "Then which prince should we fight first?" Guan Zhong said: "The state of Lu interfered with your succession, and we have a grudge against us. Now that we have the king's order in hand, we can take this opportunity to repair the state of Lu. Moreover, the state of Lu is a big country and can serve as an example. If we conquer the state of Lu , are you afraid that other small countries will not accept it?" Originally Duke Huan of Qi hated the State of Lu very much, but now that Guan Zhong said so, he also felt that it was a good idea to attack the State of Lu first.So the topic of the second day of the meeting of princes was to teach the princes who did not obey the king's orders, such as the state of Lu. Duke Huan of Qi said: "Lu, Wei and other countries think that they are big countries, and they refuse to obey the king's order. They dare not come to the alliance. We must unite and attack them." The monarchs of Chen, Cai, and Zhu all said: "Okay, we will follow the command of the leader." Anyway, it is a small country, so just follow the big country. Duke Huan of Qi still couldn't forget Duke Huan of Song's leaving without saying goodbye, and said: "The king of Song Dynasty dared to leave the meeting halfway, and he couldn't be lightly spared. I will go to the emperor to ask for instructions, and when the time is right, I will attack Song State. But the crimes are serious and serious. , we still need to clean up those who don’t come to the meeting first, and then clean up those who left in the middle. I plan to gather troops from various countries to question the State of Lu in June this year, what do you think?” Of course, the three small countries had no objection, so the Beixing League ended, and the monarchs of all countries returned to their countries, preparing to mobilize troops to attack Lu. This is the first time among Duke Huan of Qi's "Nine Heroes".As the saying goes, "Everything is difficult at the beginning", and it is the same when you are an overlord.In the first alliance of princes, most of the countries did not give Duke Huan face to Qi Huan. Not even half of the princes attended the meeting, and half of Song State ran away.Those big countries couldn't help gloating: Can't you Xiaobai be able to make things happen?That's all it takes.To be the overlord of the three small countries of Chen, Cai, and Zhu, this hegemony is too brilliant! To be honest, Duke Huan of Qi was very embarrassed.If it weren't for Guan Zhong's persuasion, Duke Huan of Qi would have had a fit.It would be better not to be the overlord of the three small countries of Chen, Cai, and Zhu.However, ten thousand feet tall buildings rise on the ground, and this embarrassing Beixing alliance is the beginning of Qi Huangong's brilliant hegemony. Of course, the road came step by step, and the most important thing for Duke Huan of Qi was to subdue the State of Lu.If you are not convinced even by the countries around you, then what is the talk of dominating the princes.The shadow of Changshao's disastrous defeat three years ago has not yet dissipated. Can Duke Huan of Qi succeed in this battle against Lu?