Chapter 286 Yongan County can be sold, but not all of it

The situation in Daxia deteriorated very quickly. In less than a month, there were voices from the vassal king wanting to visit Emperor Xia in Beijing.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that those vassal kings are expanding their troops and preparing supplies. They are going to the capital to visit Emperor Xia. They are clearly planning to compete for that position.

In fact, most vassal kings have no idea of ​​becoming emperors for the time being, especially those who are several generations away from the royal family. They know very well that they want to be emperors and lack legitimacy.

Therefore, some vassal kings took the initiative to contact the princes in the capital and secretly reached a cooperative relationship with those princes. In order to compete for the throne, the princes agreed to the conditions of those vassal princes. Because of this, the situation in Daxia became even more chaotic.

When Daxia was in chaos, Dawu was not idle. After Wu Yunwan returned from the northern country, Dawu began to mobilize troops and generals. He transferred all the elite soldiers to the areas bordering Daxia, preparing to wait for opportunities.

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Qi State.

The meeting hall.

A fat man sat on the throne. Although the throne was spacious, due to the man's larger size, the throne seemed much narrower in front of him.

King Qi glanced at the envoy from the Northern Kingdom in the main hall and said with a smile: "It's such a rare thing. I didn't expect that my nephew would send someone to my kingdom."

Having said this, King Qi asked: "Tell me, what is the purpose of my nephew asking you to come to Qi State?"

Zhou Tongguang, the envoy from the Northern Kingdom, replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Back to King Qi, my king wants to buy the entire Yong'an County."

Hearing this, King Qi and the ministers of Qi State in the hall were stunned. They had no idea that the envoys from the North Kingdom were sent to Qi State to buy land, and to buy the entire county.

King Qi's face became a little more serious. He stared at Zhou Tongguang in the hall, and after a while he said, "Isn't King Bei kidding me?"

Zhou Tongguang replied: "My king indeed wants to buy the entire Yong'an County. If King Qi feels that it is not cost-effective to trade with silver, he can also exchange land for land. If King Qi likes the land in the north, he can say so directly. "

Hearing this, King Qi chuckled in his heart. He was not a fool. How could he exchange the land of Qi State with the Northern State? The Northern State was so poor and the Qi State was so rich. It would definitely be a loss to exchange land for land.

But having said that, why is Beiwang thinking of buying Yongan County at this time?

King Qi was a little puzzled, so he said to the soldiers in the main hall: "Get the map."

After the words fell, the soldiers in the hall took out a large map. The map was held up by a bamboo pole and placed in the middle of the hall. The whole map could be seen at a glance.

King Qi glanced at the location of Yong'an County and found that Yong'an County was located in the west and bordered the Dawu Dynasty. It not only bordered the Dawu Dynasty, but also bordered the land controlled by the Daxia royal family.

In other words, as long as the Northern Kingdom buys Yong'an County, the Northern Kingdom's army can directly bypass the Qi Kingdom through the Yong'an County corridor and enter the control area of ​​the Daxia royal family.

After seeing the location of Yong'an County, King Qi asked with a smile: "I am a little curious as to why King Bei bought Yong'an County. This location is a bit sensitive."

Zhou Tongguang said with a smile: "I believe King Qi has heard about the signing of a business cooperation agreement between the Northern Kingdom and the Dawu Dynasty. From now on, the Northern Kingdom can do business with the Dawu Dynasty, but the Northern Kingdom and Dawu are separated by Dayue and Qi Kingdoms. The goods have to go to Dawu, which is a little troublesome, so my king thought of buying Yong'an County and directly bordering Dawu."

"In this way, it will be more convenient whether goods from the North Country enter Dawu or goods from Dawu are transported to the North Country."

After hearing this, King Qi smiled and said: "The reason sounds quite sufficient, but I'm afraid that King Bei doesn't just want to do business with Dawu, right?"

Zhou Tongguang asked: "Then why does King Qi think my king bought Yong'an County?"

Hearing Zhou Tongguang's question, King Qi was stunned.

King Qi thought to himself, for what?

Isn't this simple?

Isn't it just to bypass Qi State at the right time and then send a large army to attack the city controlled by the royal family?

King Qi then said: "If Yong'an County is sold to the Northern King, then the land in the Northern Kingdom will be bordering the land controlled by the Great Xia court. If something happens, the Northern Kingdom will directly send troops into the city controlled by the Great Xia court. I’m afraid I will also bear the responsibility.”

"Furthermore, land transactions between feudal princes require the approval of the court. If the court does not agree, it will be useless even if the king agrees."

Zhou Tongguang said with a smile: "King Qi is too worried. My king is your majesty's prince. How could the Northern Kingdom send troops into the areas controlled by the imperial court without my order? Besides, the imperial court has hundreds of thousands stationed in Qi State." Soldiers, with those hundreds of thousands of soldiers here, the court will be able to respond immediately to any actions in the Northern Kingdom, and Yong'an County is just a corridor, and King Qi has the ability to close this corridor at any time."

"If something happens one day that forces the Northern Army to go south, my king will also borrow a road directly from King Qi. It is impossible to take a detour from Yong'an County to go south."

Upon hearing this, King Qi's face darkened instantly.

He was not a fool. How could he not hear what Zhou Tongguang meant?

What Zhou Tongguang meant was that if the Northern Kingdom really wanted to go south, the first country to fight would be the Qi Kingdom.

Yong'an County is a gateway. If troops are really sent from Yong'an County, the soldiers of Qi State can block the supply of soldiers from the Northern Kingdom at any time. Therefore, if the Northern Kingdom sends troops south, it must occupy the State of Qi to prevent the State of Qi from causing trouble behind its back.

Of course, Zhou Tongguang's words sounded to King Qi as a threat to the Qi State. If the Qi State did not sell Yong'an County to the Northern State, the Northern State would definitely attack the Qi State if it raised troops southward in the future.

King Qi snorted coldly, and then said: "Are you threatening me?"

Zhou Tongguang said: "I dare not, I am just stating the facts."

King Qi then said: "If the Northern Kingdom really wants to purchase Yong'an County, it is not impossible, but you must tell the court first. After the court agrees, you will come to me to discuss the price of purchasing Yong'an County."

Generally, feudal states have the obligation to defend their borders. The west of Qi State borders the Dawu Dynasty. When the Dawu Dynasty invades Daxia, Qi State will have to bear the heavy responsibility of resisting the invasion of the Dawu Dynasty.

If Yong'an County, the land bordering the Dawu Dynasty, is sold to the Northern Kingdom, then the Northern Kingdom will be bordering the Dawu Dynasty in the future. At that time, the heavy responsibility of resisting foreign enemies will fall on the Northern Kingdom. King Qi is eager to dump Yong'an County to the Northern Kingdom. .

The last time there was a war between Dawu and Daxia, the court asked the vassal kings to send troops. Qi State lost a lot of soldiers that time. This made the court later say that it would send troops to station in Qi State, and King Qi had to agree.

If Qi State still had a regular establishment of 50,000 soldiers at that time, and the imperial court wanted to station troops in Qi State, King Qi could have been a little tougher, and he would not have agreed to the imperial court so easily.

After hearing what King Qi said, Zhou Tongguang instantly understood what King Qi meant. King Qi put all the responsibilities on the court. In this way, he would not offend the Northern Kingdom. If the Northern Kingdom really sent troops south from Yong'an County, the imperial court would We cannot blame Qi State for selling Yongan County to Beiguo.

Of course, the most important point is that the Qi State is now stationed with hundreds of thousands of troops from the imperial court. They really do not dare to mess around. Although it is said that Emperor Xia is terminally ill and the vassal kings everywhere are frantically expanding their troops, only the Qi State Don't dare to make any move.

There are tigers in the north and dragons in the south. Caught in the middle, Qi State can only tremble. If they act rashly, Qi State may be gone in an instant.

Zhou Tongguang said: "In that case, I will write a letter to my king and ask him to report the matter to the court quickly."

"If King Qi has no other problems, I will resign."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Tongguang turned around and left.

After Zhou Tongguang walked out of the hall, King Qi, who had been suppressing his emotions, couldn't bear it anymore. He directly swept away everything on the table in front of him with his hands, swept everything to the ground, and then roared: "This is simply too much! ! What do both of them think of Qi State!"

At this time, a minister stood up and said: "Your Majesty, do we really want to sell Yong'an County to Beiguo? If we sell Yong'an County, we may not be able to communicate directly with Dawu in the future?"

After hearing this man's words, King Qi fell into silence.

Indeed, although Yong'an County borders Dawu, Qi State has to bear part of the obligation to resist Dawu's invasion during the war, but without Yong'an County, it would be difficult for Qi State's caravans to directly communicate with Dawu in normal times, and it would be difficult for Qi State's caravans to directly communicate with Dawu in the future. It is not a good thing for Qi State to pass through an area controlled by the imperial court.

Some of the commercial trade between Qi State and Dawu is shady. If it passes through the area controlled by the imperial court, it will be easy for others to see something.

But if Yong'an County is not sold, the envoys from the Northern Kingdom have just threatened. If they don't sell it, one day the Northern Kingdom will move south and they will definitely take action against the Qi Kingdom. The current Qi Kingdom does not even have 50,000 conventional troops and cannot resist the Northern Kingdom. Go south.

After a while, King Qi thought of a good idea. He said: "Yong'an County can be sold, but not all of it. Only half of it will be sold to the North. In this way, the North will not only be unable to directly access the areas controlled by the imperial court, but Qi will also be able to sell it." Caravans within the country can also continue trade with Dawu."

After hearing this, the ministers in the hall breathed a sigh of relief. These ministers in the hall are basically from the Qi Kingdom's aristocratic families. Almost every family of them has some kind of trade relationship with the Dawu Dynasty. If it is really cut off, The trading channel with Dawu is not a good thing for them.

Half a month later, the news that King Bei wanted to purchase Yong'an County reached the ears of Daxia court officials.

In the court, officials discussed the matter a lot.

At this time, the eldest prince, who was sitting on a chair next to the dragon chair, asked: "Everyone must have heard about Beiguo's plan to purchase Yong'an County of Qi State, right?"

Now the eldest prince temporarily takes over the crown prince's position and is in charge of the national government affairs. This matter is also decided by him.

As soon as the eldest prince finished speaking, an official stood up and said, "Your Highness, you absolutely cannot agree to this matter!"

"If it is approved that Qi State sells Yong'an County to the Northern Kingdom, then the Northern Kingdom will directly border the land controlled by the imperial court. If the Northern King has other intentions, the Northern Kingdom's army will be able to drive straight in through the Yong'an County magistrate and attack the capital!"

After the words fell, another minister also said: "King Bei's move is extremely ambitious. We must stop King Bei and not allow Qi State to sell Yong'an County to Bei State!"

The eldest prince said at this time: "King Qi handed over a memorial, saying that if the Qi Kingdom does not sell Yong'an County to the Northern King, the Northern Kingdom is likely to send troops south to capture the Qi Kingdom."

Upon hearing this, the hall instantly became chaotic.

"King Bei is really lawless, how dare he do that!"

"Now we are in trouble. The vassal kings from all over the country have expanded their troops, and now the Northern Kingdom is preparing to go south again."

"The King of the North really doesn't take the court's 400,000 troops into consideration. If you ask me, we should directly send troops to quell the rebellion."

"Sending troops? Are you crazy? If we send troops now, the vassal kings from all over the south will definitely lead their troops northward and approach the capital!"

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