In addition to the matter of the war between Qi and Yan, merchant Song Lei also told Meng Zhong something about Zhao.

For example, the body of Zhao Zhufu was not sent to Handan, but was buried in the hill where Zhao Zhufu passed away. For example, Anping Jun Zhao Cheng has become the prime minister of Zhao, etc. These are all news that Song Lei heard on the way to Zhao.

What surprised Meng Zhong was that he thought that the closest people around Zhao Zhufu would be wanted by Zhao State for the crime of "traitor Prince Zhang's party", but unexpectedly, Anping Jun Zhao Cheng and Fengyang Jun Li Du did not want them. Pang Nuan, Ju Xin and Zhao She were not wanted by Zhao State. Even the turtle Guanzi, who had fallen into Zhao State before, was released by Zhao State, but was expelled by Zhao State.

Thinking about it carefully, when he was in Lingqiu that day, Fengyang Jun Li Dui did not send troops to continue chasing them.

At that time, although Zhao Zhufu was killed in Lingqiu, Meng Zhong, Pang Nuan and others followed Zhao Zhufu's last wish before his death and did not take away Zhao Zhufu's body, they were not relieved to give up so that they would not be eaten by jackals, tigers and leopards in the mountains. Therefore, it was not until the moment when Fengyang Jun Li Dui personally led the soldiers to Lingqiu that Meng Zhong, Pang Nuan and others quietly left from the west side of Lingqiu.

They originally thought that Li Dui would send troops to pursue them, after all, Meng Zhong, Pang Nuan and others had almost forced the king's army to a dead end, while Anping Jun Zhao Cheng and Fengyang Jun Li Du did not look like magnanimous people, but unexpectedly, until Meng Zhong, Pang Nuan and others crossed the river, Li Du did not send troops to pursue them.

Meng Zhong also had private speculations about this, thinking that this may be because of King He's secret instructor, or maybe Li Dui considered Kuang Zhang's attitude, so he turned a blind eye and let him and Meng Zhong and others escape. As for whether it was because of King He of Zhao or Kuang Zhang, or both, Meng Zhong didn't know.

After chatting with Song Lei for a full hour, Meng Zhong said goodbye to the former and took Le Yi and Meng Hu back to the mansion of his righteous brother Hui'an and went to Hui'an's study to see the righteous brother.

At that time, Hui'an was reviewing government affairs in the study, but when he learned that his brother Meng Zhong was coming, he immediately put down his affairs and personally received Meng Zhong.

In the study, Meng Zhong told Hui'an what he heard from the merchant Song Lei, and Hui'an frowned.

You should know that it is only mid-March, and Qi's military force against Yan was at the earliest in early February. Including the time when Song Lei arrived from Yan State to Pengcheng, this means that Qi had defeated Yan State in mid-February at the latest in the late month. What does this mean?

This means that Qi State defeated Yan State in just half a month. Is this possible?

"If the merchant named Song Lei said the truth, it means that Qi was ready to attack Yan at the beginning of this year..." Hui Ann sighed melancholy.

Just like Meng Zhong thought about the land, Hui Ang also thought of the follow-up of the "Qi-Yan War", that is, after the Qi State defeated Yan State, it would immediately use troops to the Song State, forcing the Song State to surrender, and even ced the territory for peace.

Perhaps seeing Meng Zhong's face was also full of worry, Hui Ang comforted: "Don't worry too much. Yesterday, after the king learned of the drastic changes in Zhao State from you, he had sent someone to Xueyi to pass an order, ordering Xueyi to strengthen prevention and beware of Qi's troops' attack..."

Xueyi is the land seized by the State of Qi in the past two years, and now it is a border between the two countries of Qi and Song. If Qi really wants to use troops to the State of Song, the possibility of attacking Xueyi would be at least 90%. After all, Xueyi is a land with a population of tens of thousands of households. Its richness and prosperity is not inferior to Taoyi in the State of Song. If Qi really wants to tear down the previous ceasefire agreement with the State of Song, then it will be necessary to take back the land first.

In the following days, the State of Song was always paying attention to the every move of Qi, and Meng Zhong also always paid attention to the situation of Qi and Song through his righteous brother Hui An, because he knew that there would be a war between Qi and Song in the near future, which was an inevitable war.

Wait until early April, the detailed work sent by Song State to Qi State finally sent back the news of Qi State.

As expected, Qi State frequently transported grain and grass to "Xuzhou (Tancheng)" after the beginning of the year, and in late March, at least three troops were stationed in Xuzhou, with unknown intentions.

Of course, this intention is unknown, but for ordinary civilians, anyone with some eyesight can easily guess the intention of Qi State. After all, Qi State has only two goals to station troops in Xuzhou, either attacking Chu State or attacking Song State.

Think about it carefully, how could Qi State attack Chu State at this time?

You should know that Chu State is currently in a situation of internal and external troubles. Outside, Qin State in the west frequently erodes the territory of Chu State, and inside, King Xiong Heng of Chu State is licentious and indecent, which has led to Chu State becoming increasingly weak. If Qi State takes the opportunity to attack Chu State at this time, wouldn’t this indirectly help Qin State annex Chu State?

Qin is the most vigilant enemy of Qi at present. In order to jointly deal with Qin, Qi tried every means to pull Zhao. This means that Qi is also a little nervous when resisting Qin alone. How could he indirectly help Qin annex Chu?

Therefore, Qi cannot attack Chu, its target can only be Song.

On the evening of the second day of April, Hui Ann mentioned something to Meng Zhong, Meng Hu and Le Yi while having dinner with Meng Zhong, Meng Hu and Le Yi: "A Zhong, I will go to the prince's mansion tomorrow for a banquet. Please go with me. During the meal, I will introduce you to the prince. This will also be of great benefit to you in the Song State in the future."

"Crown Prince?" Meng Zhong was stunned and asked in surprise: "Brother refers to Prince Dai Wu?"

Hui'an laughed and said, "How many princes do I have in State of Song?"

Meng Zhongyi smiled and then asked curiously: "Why did the prince suddenly hold a banquet?"

"That's right." After stroking his beard, Hui Ann explained: "In recent days, have you not found out that Qi's troops were stationed in Xuzhou and vaguely used troops to me Xueyi? So Doctor Xue asked the king to go to Xueyi to stay in charge, so as to show Qi the determination of our Song Dynasty to fight against Qi's invasion. The king promised this matter, so the ministers in the court originally planned to hold a banquet for the prince to carry out the prince. After the prince learned about this, he decided to hold a banquet to his house to entertain the ministers..."

"I see."

Meng Zhong nodded suddenly and asked curiously: "Brother, is the one you mentioned in Doctor Xue referring to the prince's teacher, Doctor Xue, Xue,? His surname is also Xue, does it have anything to do with Xue Yi?"

"good!"

Hui'an explained to Meng Zhong with a smile.

According to him, Doctor Xue, who is the teacher who teaches Prince Dai Wu's studies, is said to be a descendant of the ancient Xue nobles. His ancestors were Xi Zhong, the twelfth generation grandson of Huangdi's youngest son "Yuyang". The latter was once named "Xue Hou" by Dayu. He was the earliest owner of the land in Xueyi and the oldest origin of the surname Xue.

Decades ago, because he was dissatisfied with the reunion of King Wei of Qi to his youngest son Tian Ying, the biological father of Xue Gong Tian Wen, today, some descendants of Xue State moved from Xue Yi south to Song State and lived in Pengcheng, Song State.

Xue Juzhou is a member of this group of people from the Xue country.

After explaining these, Hui Ang told Meng Zhongdao: "You don't have to be suspicious. Doctor Xue has good moral character and simple and kindness. He is a rare gentleman in the world. Otherwise, my foolish brother would not ask him to assist and teach the prince."

Meng Zhong nodded repeatedly.

So the next day, Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu followed Hui Ang to the residence of Prince Dai Wu.

I have to say that Meng Zhong has been to Pengcheng several times so far and has heard of the prince Dai Wu for a long time. He knew that he was a prince who was said to be very upright and upright, but unfortunately he had never met before, so he was somewhat curious and expectant about the prince. After all, the other party was his prince of Song State and his future king of Song State.

Around dusk the next day, with his righteous brother Hui'an, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu easily followed Hui'an to the prince's mansion.

This is his first visit to the residence of a prince of a country, so he cannot help but compare this residence with that of Anyang Jun Zhao Zhang.

It is no wonder that when Meng Zhong arrived in Zhao State, King He was already the new king of Zhao State. He lived in the palace of Handan on weekdays, so Meng Zhong did not have the opportunity to visit the residence of Prince Zhao State. As for his brother Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng, Meng Zhong had no friendship with the two princes of Zhao State, so he naturally would not be invited by them. After counting it, the only one for reference was Anyang Lord Zhao Zhang, that is, the residence of Gongzi Zhang.

Compared with the residence of Gongzizhang, the residence of Prince Dai Wu of Song is relatively inferior. In Meng Zhong's observation, there are many old buildings in the residence, and there are even signs of aging. However, it has not been renovated for some reason.

But seeing these, Meng Zhong not only did not feel disappointed, but instead felt inexplicably expectant.

Because this means that the crown prince Dai Wu is not a person who pays too much attention to luxury. In fact, neither is Song Wangyan. During the period when Song Wangyan was in charge, there was almost no big wood and earth in the Song State.

To be precise, the two generations of monarchs from Song Pigong, the tyrant king of Song State, namely Song Tichengjun and Song Wangyan, never flourished wood and earth during the country's rule. The difference is that Song Tichengjun devoted the saved manpower and material resources to the infrastructure construction of Song State, while Song Wangyan invested all of this financial and manpower into the army. Therefore, Song State was able to defeat powerful countries such as Qi, Chu, and Wei State by relying on a small country.

Although years of wars have put a huge burden on the people of Song State, and Song Wang Yan was also labeled as a tyrant of "resurrecting Jie and Zhou", strictly speaking, Song Wang Yan is not a foolish monarch.

Look at the Chu State in the south, their current monarch Xiong Heng made the country messed up in order to satisfy his personal desires. The Song State should be glad that they met two generations of wise monarchs from Song Tichengjun and Song Wangyan after Song Pigong.

It was these two who fished Song from the quagmire of the weak country. Without these two, Song was now at best the Wei State. A weak country like Lu, which had no impact on the situation in the entire Central Plains, could not be like today. Even if Qi intends to attack Song State, he must consider it carefully and make some plans in advance.

"Dr. Hui."

"Prince."

Just when Meng Zhong was still looking at the buildings in the mansion, Hui Ang, who was walking in front, had already talked to Prince Dai Wu.

"I was so worried that the prince would come out to greet him in person, and I was frightened."

"What is Doctor Hui saying? Doctor Hui is loyal to our Song State and has worked diligently for more than 20 years. Whether it is Dai Wu or the ministers in the court, they all admire Doctor Hui very much..."

While the prince Daiwu and Hui'an were talking to him, he followed the prince out of the main hall to welcome Hui'an's other ministers in the court, and also greeted Hui'an with a smile.

During this period, Meng Zhong was watching and was very surprised.

Although he had known for his long time that his righteous brother Hui Ang had a very high status in the Song Dynasty and had a very good popularity, he had not seen it with his own eyes before, so he had no idea. It was not until he saw the prince Dai Wu leading a group of ministers to greet him today, and then he realized that Hui Ang's connections and popularity in the Song Dynasty almost all the guests and all the ministers of the Song Dynasty followed the prince Dai Wu to welcome Hui Ang.

This scene made Meng Zhong think of a person, Fei Yi, whom he respected, the prime minister of Zhao State.

He felt that to a certain extent, Feiyi and Hui'an really looked very similar, not referring to their appearance or status, but to their morality and respect.

"These guys..."

Just when Meng Zhong was secretly comparing Hui Ang and Fei Yi, the prince Dai Wu also noticed Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu following Hui Ang, looking at Hui Ang with a hint of confusion on his face.

Seeing this, Hui Ang introduced Meng Zhong and the other two and said, "This son is called Meng Zhong, who is my righteous brother, and his disciple of Master Zhuang. These two are my righteous brother's companions, Meng Hu and Le Yi, are all very outstanding young people." As he said that, he signaled Meng Zhong and others to greet the prince Dai Wu and the ministers here with his eyes.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong and his men immediately bowed and bowed: "I have met the prince in Meng Zhong (Meng Hu, Le Yi).

Somewhat unexpectedly, Meng Zhong, Meng Hu and Le Yi, Prince Dai Wu actually bowed to them.

I have to say that Meng Zhong has seen many people with noble identities so far. Although most of them are polite to them, the prince of Song is the first to greet them with a positive attitude and basically nodded in response.

This made Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu stunned for a moment.

What surprised Meng Zhong even more was that the move of Prince Dai Wu to return the gift to them did not seem to be intentional, as if it had become a habit, which made Meng Zhong unable to help but secretly praise the etiquette of His Highness the Crown Prince.

While praising her, Meng Zhong secretly looked at the prince in front of him. He saw that the prince was about 30 years old, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a strong face, and a small beard on his jaw. He looked quite majestic, but because the prince had a strong smile on his face, he gave people a sense of affinity like the spring breeze.

Meng Zhong secretly compared the prince and Prince Zhang, compared with Prince He of Zhao, who was too strict with those who were not close to each other, Prince Dai Wu was less strict and more lenient. Compared with Prince He of Zhao, Prince Dai Wu did not look as cowardly and introverted as Prince He of Zhao. Of course, Meng Zhong knew in his heart that King He of Zhao was not cowardly and could sit ruthlessly and even imply that the person who was forced into a dead end would be a truly cowardly monarch?

In short, compared with Gongzi Zhang and King He of Zhao, the coexistence of the prince Dai Wu and the affinity of the prince Dai Wu were like Zhao's father when Meng Zhong first met. At least in Meng Zhong's personal feeling, his first impression of the prince Dai Wu was much better than that of King Yan of Song.

Of course, the reason why he had a very bad initial impression of Wang Yan of Song was mainly because his brother died in the war against Teng State in Song State. Otherwise, Meng Zhong would not have any disgust towards Wang Yan of Song State.

"It turns out that the little brother is Meng Zhong, the virtuous brother who Dr. Hui has always talked about in the past two years..."

Just as Meng Zhong looked at Prince Dai Wu secretly, Dai Wu took the initiative to talk to him. Although he had the intention to show closeness, there was no trace of deliberately trying to win over him. His words and deeds were quite appropriate, making people feel very comfortable.

A moment later, Hui Ang took Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu and sat in the house. Seeing the prince Dai Wu and a group of ministers to greet the other guests, Hui Ang turned his head and smiled and asked Meng Zhong, "How do you feel?"

Meng Zhong certainly knew what Hui Ang was asking. After carefully recalling the process of contacting Prince Dai Wu just now, he said sincerely: "This is the first time since I left Mengyi, someone has seen a gift to me."

Hearing this, Hui Ang smiled slightly and lowered his voice and said, "Don't think that the prince gave you a gift to you because you are my brother, or you are a disciple of Master Zhuang. Even if ordinary people are ordinary people, the prince will give you a gift."

"Really or not?"

Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu all looked at Hui'an with incredible expressions.

After all, in this era, how many royal children with the identities of Prince Dai Wu can be respectful to the wise and the wise and the wise and the civilians? Not to mention respect to the wise and the common people.

"This is a true thing."

Seeing Meng Zhong, Le Yi, Meng Hu all showed shock. Hui Ang seemed a little proud, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "This is all the credit of Doctor Xue! This is also the reason why Brother Yu respects Doctor Xue so much."

After saying that, he turned to look at the prince Dai Wu who was greeting guests outside the house, and said sincerely: "The future of my Song Kingdom will be entrusted to this prince."

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhong, Le Yi and Meng Hu also turned their heads to look at the prince Dai Wu.

They must admit that although they have not yet felt the personal charm of this prince, at least they do not reject serving such a monarch. After all, the prince Dai Wu has respected and treated them with courtesy. Although courtesy of wise men is a virtue that superiors should possess, to be fair, not everyone can do it, let alone regard this as a habit.

As for the polite and civilians, it is even rarer.

For example, although Xue Gongtian Wen was praised for raising three thousand guests, this person did not treat civilians exactly like a scholar.

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong whispered: "If the prince can truly be respectful to the wise and civilians, then he will definitely win the hearts of the people..."
To be continued...