Around November of the eighth year of King Wang of Wei, the State of Song participated in the division of Qi and stopped in Jucheng.

Of course, this is the consideration of Meng Zhong, who is currently the Grand Marshal of Song State. He believes that instead of blindly continuing to annex Qi's land, it is better to mainly digest the land that has been captured. After all, the Song State has captured one fifth of Qi's land so far, which is equivalent to increasing the Song State by more than one quarter of the area, which is enough for Song State to digest for many years.

Think about it carefully, how much land has Song Wangyan captured in the past few years of expansion? It is less than half of this time. This time, the State of Song obtained almost effortlessly about twice the land equivalent to Song Wangyan's expansion in the past few years. What else is there to be dissatisfied with?

But not everyone in the Song State's generals were as rational as Meng Zhong. For example, Dai Busheng, so he repeatedly persuaded Meng Zhong to lead them to continue the northern expedition, at least to conquer Jucheng.

Why does Dai Busheng attach so much importance to Jucheng?

It turned out that Tian Di, the King of Qi, had fled from Linzi to Jucheng at this time because of the five-nation coalition forces. He didn't know whether he thought Jucheng could resist the troops of Yan and Song, or was preparing to continue to flee.

Dai Busheng's idea was to seize the land of King Qi and make him pay the price for the war imposed on the Song State over the years.

Faced with Dai Busheng's persuasion, Meng Zhong asked him: "What are you going to do if you capture King Qi Tiandi?"

"Of course I killed him." Dai Busheng said without hesitation.

Hearing this, Meng Zhong smiled slightly and suddenly asked, "Do you know King Huai of Chu?"

Dai Busheng opened his eyes wide: "Of course I know."

Meng Zhong nodded and said, "King Huai of Chu was originally a foolish monarch. First, he was deceived by Zhang Yi, the envoy of Qin. He cut off diplomatic relations with Qi with the so-called "600-mile Shangyu Land". He also sent people to openly humiliate the King of Qi several times and completely cut off friendship with Qi. Then, he launched a war of war with Qin, killing countless people of Chu, which led to the Chu people hating King Huai of Chu to the core. However, because King Huai of Chu later refused to ced the territory of Chu when he went to Qin for peace, and thus died in other countries, the Chu people instead forgot their hatred for King Huai of Chu and hated Qin... Now the land of King Qi is hated by Qi inside and disliked by various countries outside. But if this foolish monarch falls into the hands of my Song and my Song kills him, do you think a story similar to King Huai of Chu will happen again?"

"This..." Dai Busheng showed hesitation.

After a smile, Meng Zhong said again: "So, let the King of Qi live. When he is alive, the people of Qi will only continue to hate him and attribute the responsibility for the broken country to this foolish monarch. But if this foolish monarch died at the hands of our Song State, the people of Qi may turn this hatred to our Song State and then resist our Song State's rule over Langya County."

Dai Busheng suddenly realized, so he no longer mentioned continuing to attack Jucheng. The army of Song State stopped in the area of ​​Zhengcheng and no longer continued to go north.

A few days later, the prince of Song State Dai Wu came from Pengcheng to Zhengcheng.

The sudden arrival of the prince Dai Wu made Meng Zhong feel a little puzzled, and he mistakenly thought that Dai Wu was not satisfied with the land of Qi that he had captured now, so he explained the reason to Dai Wu.

Unexpectedly, Dai Wu smiled and said, "Dai Wu did not come for this matter."

Not for this?

Why is that?

Meng Zhong was very surprised.

So Dai Wu said to Meng Zhong: "Dai Wu wants to go to Zou State to see Mencius, and I hope you can walk with Dai Wu."

I see.

Meng Zhong suddenly realized that the Prince Dai Wu wanted to recommend him. Although he would definitely receive a warm reception from his master and apprentice with the identity and fame of Prince Dai Wu, if Meng Zhong was present in Dai Wu's team, I believe the atmosphere would be more harmonious.

Nodded, Meng Zhong said to Dai Wu: "Originally, I also planned to visit Mencius in winter. Since the prince is interested, he is naturally willing to go with the prince. However, before that, the prince should come forward to reward the soldiers in the army and commend their contributions."

"That's natural." Prince Dai Wu nodded repeatedly.

So, the prince Dai Wu came forward to reward the three armies, and tens of thousands of Song teams celebrated in the town and celebrated their great victory.

In addition to rewarding the army, General Meng Zhong handed over the affairs of the army to Dai Busheng, and took the prince Dai Wu on his journey to Zou State.

From Zhencheng to Zou, you only need to go west through the territory of Lu. To be precise, you must first pass through Fei and then pass through Lu. Fei is a vassal state of Lu, and its monarch is one of the three Huans of Lu, the Ji family.

When passing Feiyi, the king of Fei welcomed the prince of Song Dai Wu and the Grand Sima Meng Zhong of Song. The monarch of Fei also pointed out in vain that a few days ago, King Tiandi of Qi sent envoys to Lu and Fei, begging both countries to accommodate them, but neither Lu nor Fei accepted it.

Fei Guo expressed his thoughts so anxiously. Dai Wu and Meng Zhong certainly understood the truth. Meng Zhong didn't say anything else. He raised his wine bottle and smiled and said, "I hope that the diplomatic relations between Lu Fei and our Song Dynasty will last forever."

This sentence seemed to have made the king and minister of Fei's country calm down, and they all raised their wine bottles to cater to: "I wish the diplomatic relations between the three countries will last forever."

The next day, the prince Dai Wu personally bid farewell to the king of Fei, indicating that the purpose of this trip was to visit Mencius. Unfortunately, he could not stay in Fei for a long time. So the monarch of Fei personally took more than a dozen chariots to see him off, and sent Dai Wu and Meng Zhong and his group to the national border.

Leaving Fei State and passing through the southern part of Lu State, he arrived at Zou State. The monarch of Zou State had already received the news and came to greet him in person, holding a banquet for Dai Wu and Meng Zhong Palace, and expressing his feelings. It turned out that King Tiandi of Qi also sent someone to beg for shelter from Zou State, but the monarch of Zou State did not agree to this matter.

When they learned that Dai Wu and Meng Zhong were about to visit Mencius, the monarch of Zou State wanted to send someone to tell Mencius and his disciples out of good intentions, but this matter was politely rejected by Dai Wu and Meng Zhong.

Facing a contemporary saint like Mencius, how could Dai Wu dare to put on any airs?

As for Meng Zhong, there is no need to say more. How can the teacher wait for his disciples in advance?

However, there were many Confucian disciples among the ministers of Zou State, and these Confucian disciples sent this matter to Mencius' residence step in advance.

Due to a few days of delay in Fei and Zou, Dai Wu and Meng Zhong and his group arrived at Mencius' residence on November 14th.

It was snowing heavily at this time and the weather was very cold.

But when Dai Wu and Meng Zhong came to Mencius's residence, the Confucian disciples had already prepared hot wine to entertain Dai Wu and Meng Zhong.

Especially Meng Zhong, as the Confucian "Little Junior Brother", he was surrounded by his senior brothers and asked him about the great situation he had experienced over the years. Especially Meng Zhong forced Qin to surrender to Wei in Xihe County, which really made the Confucian disciples feel proud.

Who says that contemporary Confucian disciples are not good? In front of our Confucianism, there are Tian Zhang and later Meng Zhong. They are all famous generals who can shock the Central Plains by stomping their feet. How many contemporary Legalists can compare?

After some greetings, Meng Zhong asked the senior brothers, "I don't know what the teacher's physical condition is?"

Gongsun Chou shook his head and said, "It's not optimistic."

As he said that, he explained to Meng Zhong the current situation of Mencius.

The main reason for Mencius' physical condition was that he was too old and his energy gradually declined in all aspects, especially in the cold winter, because of his weak body, he would have a headache and a fever at any time, which made his disciples frightened.

A few days ago, Mencius explained the Confucian scriptures to his disciples when it was not snowing, but after that, he fell ill again. He was so scared that his disciples were surrounded by his sickbed all day long, and he didn't even dare to breathe.

After hearing this, Meng Zhong felt very uncomfortable and said ashamed: "Mr. Meng helped me a lot, but I was really ashamed to fail to fulfill my disciple's duties."

Gongsun Chou and others persuaded each other.

They all knew that it was not that Meng Zhong was not respectful to his teacher, but that this junior brother had been too busy in recent years. He helped Song, attacked Qin, and attacked Qi, and it stopped for a few days a year. Just looking at the little brother who has not yet had any offspring this year, you can know how busy this junior brother is. [Author: Um, that's it.]

After getting the understanding of Senior Brother Zhu, Meng Zhong bowed and said, "I want to meet Master, but I don't know if it's convenient?"

Gongsun Chou thought for a while and said, "I'll take you to try it. Master is not in good spirits, don't speak loudly."

Meng Zhong nodded.

A moment later, Gongsun Chou and his Confucian disciples led Meng Zhong to Mencius's residence. At that time, Meng Zhong saw Mencius lying on the bed, his eyes half open.

Seeing this scene, Meng Zhong frowned.

You know, Mencius loved him very much. If he learned that he was coming to visit, he would definitely open his eyes to talk to him at this moment, but at this moment, Mencius' eyes were half open, which means that the old man was not energetic and was in a drowsy state.

An old man who is nearly 80 years old is in this state, which is not a good sign.

Meng Zhong and Gongsun Chou looked at each other, and the two communicated silently. Then, Gongsun Chou walked gently to Mencius' bed and whispered: "Teacher, Meng Zhong is here to visit you."

After four or five breaths, Mencius' eyes gradually opened and looked at Meng Zhong who was standing on the side of the bed with a little out of focus, and then his eyes gradually became more and more energetic.

"Ah Zhong... Cough cough cough, come on, help me."

At Mencius's instructions, Meng Zhong quickly stepped forward and helped Mencius with Gongsun Chou so that Mencius could sit on the bed.

At this time, Mencius patted the edge of the bed and signaled Meng Zhong to sit down. Then he patted Meng Zhong on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I... cough cough, I heard that it is excellent, very outstanding! It is very rare for people who can make Qin compromise and surrender today, and among them... are you... cough cough cough."

As he said that, he asked in confusion: "Speaking of it, why did you come to Zou Kingdom?"

Meng Zhongsui whispered: "Reply to Master, I am now the Grand Marshal in Song State and help Song State attack Qi State..."

"Grand Sima?" Mencius asked in confusion: "Aren't you an official in Wei State? How could you take up the post of Grand Sima in Song State?"

Meng Zhongbing explained: "Because I learned that the King of Song and the Crown Prince were in conflict, my disciples immediately rushed to Song after the end of the Battle of Xihe..."

However, the more Meng Zi heard the confusion on his face, the deeper he looked: "The King of Song and the Prince are incompatible?"

Seeing this, Meng Zhong asked curiously: "The Master does not know what happened recently in the Song State."

Mencius shook his head and turned to look at Gongsun Chou and other disciples.

Gongsun Chou explained: "The teacher has been in poor health recently, so the disciples and others dare not distract the teacher."

I think Mencius also knew his physical condition and did not blame Gongsun Chou and other disciples. He turned to Meng Zhong and said, "A Zhong, then you can talk about it."

"promise."

Meng Zhong responded and told Mencius all the civil strife in the Song Kingdom, including the five countries' attacks on Qi.

When he talked about how he beat Song Wangyan upset, used his "force" to make Song Wangyan "submit" and "exiled" him to Wei State, Mencius, Gongsun Chou and others all showed strange expressions.

You should know that although with Hui'an's efforts, Song Wangyan acquiesced to implement Mencius' benevolent politics in Song State, this monarch was an essentially tyrant. Few people in the entire Song State dared to disobey this monarch, but Meng Zhong was so kind that he actually said that he had thrown Song Wangyan to the ground and repeatedly made Song Wangyan "can't stand up". This was simply...

"Cough." After a light cough, Mencius whispered: "A Zhong, although you are kind-hearted, there is a difference between the king and the minister. It seems that such a 'martial admonition' is not in line with the rules... Although King Song was said to be a tyrant, he can forgive your behavior this time, which shows that he is not ignorant, but you must also abide by the etiquette of being a minister... Now King Song goes to Wei to avoid suspicion. With his strength, he thinks he will never return to Song for his life. When you return to Wei in the future, you should take appropriate care of it..."

From the side, Gongsun Chou and others nodded repeatedly.

Not only did he not die, he could even convince Song Wangyan and force Song Wangyan to give in... To be honest, even if these senior brothers were listening, they were sweating for Meng Zhong at that time.

Then, when Meng Zhong talked about the five countries attacking Qi, Qi was broken, and the king of Qi fled from Linzi to Jucheng, Mencius sighed with emotion: "This is the end of not cultivating benevolence."

Beside him, Gongsun Chou and other disciples also nodded and sighed.

Qi, Qi, was so powerful that during the period of King Wei of Qi, even Qin did not dare to compete with him. When the period of King Xuan of Qi, the Central Plains countries that had originally turned to Qin were considered to turn to Qi because of the prosperity of Qi.

Unfortunately, the monarch of this generation, King Qi, Tiandi...

"How will you deal with Qi?" Mencius asked Meng Zhong seriously.

In front of this teacher, Meng Zhong certainly would not hide it. He said truthfully: "Wei, Yan and Song are planning to divide Qi, Wei take Dongjun, Song take Langya, and occupy one-fifth of Qi's territory, and the remaining three parts are attempted to annex it."

Hearing this, Le Zheng beside him asked in surprise: "Why can Yan State win three of them in five points?"

Meng Zhongbing explained: "Because the five countries attacked Qin this time, Qin State proposed the initiative. Qin State hoped that Wei would focus more energy on Qi State, hoping that Wei State would fall into the quagmire of Qi State and buy time for Qin State. I thought it was believed that the main threat of Wei State was Qin State, so Wei State should not spend too much energy on the east... The Qi people in Shandong are closer to Linzi, and I think it is difficult to make them willing to surrender to Wei State in a short time, but the Dongjun is far from Linzi, so the Qi people there should be able to accept the governance of Wei State..."

"A very wise judgment." Mencius nodded and praised sincerely: "Not everyone can maintain restraint in the face of greed... This is the same reason, so you asked the State of Song to stop in Jucheng, right?"
To be continued...