Chapter 160: Various Supreme Treasures
The language of Zhou is close to that of the Wei State of that generation, although it's said that every ten miles the pronunciation changes, but Ji Yu still can roughly understand it. With a mix of guessing and deduction, he could grasp the general situation. The elegant words and emotions that emerged from his heart could only sigh: "Although old man is advanced in age, when it comes to matters of indulging in sensual pleasures, after all, he's not as good as this person who was born for indulging in sensual pleasures!"
After resting for a while, they waited until those swordsmen who had entered the forest with the girls from Ba Country returned, and then set off again.
The old man leading the way brought a blind middle-aged man, and Song Chuyi knew from their address that the man was the old man's nephew, one of the few men left in the tribe.
A middle-aged man with a thin face and a gloomy expression silently followed the horse team, without saying a word for three days.
After several days of comfort from the old man, the man's words gradually increased. From their conversation, Song Chuyi only knew the reason.
Sometimes survival really doesn't equal good fortune. This man didn't have to do anything in the tribe, and the tribe would provide him with food, clothing, and everything else he needed, all of which were the best, but every day he had to have sex with at least one or two women. This also led to his inability to be a human being by the time he reached adulthood.
In that case, he is no longer of use value to the tribe.
The old man had also had similar experiences with him and later colluded with many tribes to rob passing merchant caravans for a living.
This encounter was indeed tragic, but Song Chuyi felt that he should be grateful instead. He was still in his prime, and with some rest, he could still strive to make a living for himself with his own two hands. If he had been abandoned at the age of fifty or more, that would have been truly pitiful.
Through contact along the way, Lao Du also has some understanding of Song Chuyi. All the people he met before were not stupid, but only Song Chuyi made him feel that he couldn't be fooled.
At the beginning of Song Dynasty, it seemed that there was only one sentence of intimidation and exploration. There were no further actions, just like everyone else in the mountains would lose their sense of direction after a few laps. But she could always distinguish directions and choose the best route.
The old man understood that Song Chu Er had come to him just to be a detailed guide, so he also gave up the idea of taking a detour.
On the fifteenth day, Song Chu and his party finally saw Langzhong.
This is a basin surrounded by mountains. At this time, Longxi has already entered early winter, but here the crops are still lush.
It was early in the morning, with a faint mist surrounding it, and the city of Langzhong sat in this place like a fairyland, without defensive walls. Because the natural danger outside is the best barrier.
Song Chu wasn't the first time to Langzhong, but once again saw the tranquility surrounded by mountains. Suddenly remembering the hardships along the way, he furrowed his brow again - thinking of the great army's conquest of Bashu, it was really as difficult as ascending to heaven!
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, someone gave the old man twelve pieces of gold and led him into the city.
Langzhong has always been a must-visit place for merchants in the Central Plains, and to venture into Bashu to do business, one needs to have sufficient military strength. Therefore, Song Chu's twenty swordsmen were equivalent to a normal-sized merchant team guard and would not be too suspicious.
"The people here look like they're still in one piece." Gu Jing said, looking at the Ba people passing by his side.
In the Warring States period, people judged whether a place was rich or poor by looking at its buildings and clothing. Without mentioning buildings for now, one could already tell something from the amount of fabric on their body. For example, wearing fur around one's neck or draped over one's body was a sign of nobility. If someone used fur to cover their shame, it meant they were uncivilized.
This applies anywhere in Warring States.
"It's not just a resemblance, but the land of Ba is rich in products and more prosperous than Qin." Song said.
"Located in a remote area, with unenlightened customs, can it truly be prosperous?" Gu Han asked.
Song Chu smiled and said, "You'll know after staying here for a few days."
Many people, even if they know in their hearts that there are some bad things about their hometown, will never admit to outsiders that it is inferior. When Song Chu said this, the swordsmen felt somewhat displeased.
But Song Chu initially thought that in this world filled with blood and flames, if one didn't have the power of a hegemon but was rich as flowing oil, it would be nothing more than a delicacy to be devoured. It's just like how being born as a commoner's daughter yet growing up to become a stunning beauty is also fraught with danger.
Something that can't be protected is better off not existing at all.
"Today, I first found a place to stay and temporarily decided to stay in Ba country for one night." Song Chu had come to Ba country mainly to personally find out how likely it was that the war between Ba and Shu would start, never thinking of starting from Ba country.
Firstly, the trade routes of Ba State are not as many as those of Shu State, and internally it is also composed of many tribes; secondly, the bravery and war-fighting skills of the Ba people are renowned, even when fighting against the most prosperous Chu State, they have never been at a disadvantage.
Apart from this, Song Chu-yi particularly likes Shu Wang. This person's incompetence is rarely seen in the world. King Zhou of Shang and King You of Zhou are not worth mentioning in front of him. If he were in their position at that time, I'm afraid he would have been even more capable of stirring up trouble. Being stuck in a small place like Shu State, unable to leave a mark on history, is absolutely a regrettable thing!
This is also considered a genius of one generation, so Song Chu felt very rare.
There is such a monarch with the word "destroyed country" written all over his body, and it's simply unforgivable for Emperor Taizu of Song not to take him down at the beginning.
The war between the two countries was buzzing in the capital, and after staying in Ba Guo for a day, I learned about the reasons behind the tense situation between the two countries.
It's laughable to say that the grape trellis in the backyard of the monarchs of two countries collapsed.
The two countries of Ba and Shu had always been at odds. One time, the king of Ba heard that the king of Shu was ridiculing him as a "cow dung egg" who didn't know refinement, and in a fit of rage, he drew his sword to go chop off the king of Shu's head. A certain minister of Ba came up with a plan, saying that the king of Shu was infatuated with beautiful women, so they would send some seductive and charming women to bewitch him under the guise of repairing relations. The king of Ba was extremely stingy, but upon hearing this scheme, he reluctantly approved it - after all, it was just a few women. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and steeled himself to part with them.
The king of Ba lowered his posture and sent several beauties over. The king of Shu was so pleased, when had the king of Ba ever lowered his head?! Along with that, he thought the women from Ba were stunningly beautiful, one after another, and he favored them for several nights in a row.
As a result, the wife of the king of Ba became pregnant, which made the queen of Shu anxious. The queen was still quite capable and although she wasn't extremely beautiful, she knew how to please her husband. Half of the king's women were chosen by her. However, because she couldn't arouse the king's interest, she had never given birth to a prince.
The queen, upon hearing this, ordered that all the beautiful women she had collected from among the people be loaded onto carts and sent to the king of Ba. The King of Shu was alarmed and hastily went to find the queen.
The queen casually threw out a sentence: You now like the beautiful women of Ba Guo, those few are indeed extraordinary, these you use leftover mediocre women not as good as giving them to King Ba, also counts as courtesy, anyway you now don't bother to favor them.
The queen originally wanted to provoke the King of Shu, but she underestimated her husband's absurdity. The sentence "use the remaining mediocre powder" made the King of Shu exclaim: Wonderful! At that time, the queen praised him and had the beauties dressed up and sent to the State of Ba.
The king of Ba was not inferior to the king of Shu in terms of the number of beautiful women he had seen. The beautiful women, each with their own unique charm, stood together in a group, and the scenery was truly breathtaking! The king's eyes were wide with wonder, and since he was originally stingy, he thought that exchanging several beauties for a pile of goods would be a good deal. So, disregarding the advice of his ministers, he decided to keep all the beautiful women.
The queen on the side of King Ba had turned over a vinegar jar again, and went to find King Ba with a sword. After a fight, she picked up her luggage and returned to her own tribe. The queen was not only a female general who had fought alongside King Ba, but also the leader of a large tribe in the state of Ba, with both emotional and political significance, making this departure a big problem. When the people in the queen's tribe saw their female leader furious, they demanded that King Ba give them a reason, otherwise they would rebel.
Ba Wang finally came to his senses, although he had always thought that the Shu King was as stupid as a pig, but there must be someone who understood by the pig's side, and it was definitely a trick to separate their husband-and-wife relationship.
The king of Ba thought it was so and became more and more angry, and in a fit of rage, he sent troops to attack Shu.
The Shu state indeed had a wise man who immediately diverted the disaster to the east, diverting it to the Yu state.
The state of Zong was a small country sandwiched between Ba and Shu, belonging to the same branch as the royal family of Shu, the Kaiming clan. However, the ruler of Zong had a better relationship with the ruler of Ba, secretly joining hands to oppose Shu. Therefore, the ministers of Shu wanted to use this matter to alienate the two countries.
The three kingdoms are in a state of utter chaos and confusion, with no clear distinction or order.
When Song Chu Yi first heard the news, he laughed so hard that he was out of breath - this land of Bashu is indeed worthy of gathering the spirits of heaven and earth, and it's no wonder that all the wonderful people are born here!
But with a smile, she calmly judged the situation in her heart.
It's hard to trigger a large-scale war between Bashan, it's just a small fight. This matter looks childish on the surface, but in fact, it's all about interests. No country will arbitrarily initiate a large-scale war.
The king of Ba went to fight Shu, but actually wanted to appease the emotions of the Wang Hou department and tribe. In fact, it was also a way to divert disaster. On the one hand, he shifted the anger of the Wang Hou department and tribe to Shu, on the other hand, he showed weakness and apologized to Wang Hou, as long as Wang Hou came back, it's estimated that they would probably stop fighting too. Because even if the king of Shu was foolish, the overall strength of the country was there, after a hundred years of entanglement between the two countries without any result, how could the king of Ba have the confidence to do anything to Shu?
If it's a war where both sides are bound to suffer losses, shouldn't that stingy King of Ba carefully weigh the pros and cons?
It seems that the rumor is false! Song Chu sighed in his heart.
Even so, Song Chu-yi still felt that there was still room for maneuver in the land of Ba and Shu. And this opportunity must be in the country of Shu!
After the decision was made, everyone set off towards Shu Kingdom. Since the war may not necessarily break out, Song ChuYi didn't rush along the way and instead treated it as a sightseeing trip.
Wei Jiang insisted on staying to look for Ji Mian, but under Ji Yue's persuasion, he temporarily gave up the idea and followed them to Shu first before making further plans.
"Sir, how did this Shu king come up with such an idea!" Gu Jing exclaimed.
Song Chuoyi carefully sized him up a few times, and found that it wasn't sarcasm, but rather genuine, and couldn't help but smile wryly, saying "I think you're quite thoughtful too, sir."
