After the Qin army took over Yin Jin, Wei and Han countries quickly retreated from Qin's territory. In addition to the Wei army in Hedong retreating to Hedong for temporary corrections, Fang Cheng army and the Korean army retreated into South Korea and returned to their original garrisons.

During this period, Meng Zhongze took the lead in returning to Daliang, preparing to overthrow the King of Wei.

When the generals went to the expedition to win the victory, the monarch naturally had to express his respect for Meng Zhong. In order to show his respect for Meng Zhong, the days after Meng Zhong returned to Daliang, King of Wei, Prince Wei Wuji, as well as dozens of domestic ministers, including the prince Wei, Prince Wei Wuji, and Prime Minister Tian Wen, Grand Sima Zhai Zhang, etc., welcomed Meng Zhong outside Daliang City.

I have to say that this is already the highest standard treatment in contemporary times, and even Meng Zhong did not expect it in advance.

Of course, what surprised him the most was that Tian Wen would acquiesce to such a thing...

But if you think about it carefully, how can you stop it even if Tian Wen? After all, Meng Zhong forced Qin to compromise with Wei this time, which is something that has almost never happened in recent decades. If Tian Wen dared to ignore Meng Zhong's contribution this time, I believe Zhai Zhang, Duan Ganyin and others would definitely target Tian Wen fiercely on this matter.

After all, Meng Zhong's prestige and status in Wei State are getting higher and higher, and it is no longer something that Tian Wen can suppress. I believe that King Wei also has a scale in his heart: Once Tian Wen and Meng Zhong conflict again, who should be kept and who should be left?

On that day, the one who sent the message to Meng Zhong in advance was Duan Gan Chong, the eldest son of Duan Gan family. The young master rode a horse and was waiting at the border of Liangdu. When he saw Meng Zhong and a team of Fangcheng cavalry who were protecting him along the way appeared, he sent someone to inform Daliang, and immediately came forward and told Meng Zhong the surprise that "The King of Wei wants to lead the prince, and all officials go out of the city to welcome him."

At this time, the Wei Kingdom King Shin had released the good news of the "Wei and Qin Armistice" several days in advance. In this good news, he emphasized that the essence of this truce was that Qin compromised with Wei, and expressed that Qin was willing to cede several cities such as Dali, Linjin, Yuanli, Heyang, Shaoliang, and Jigu to him.

In view of this, this amazing good news was well known in just a few days and became a topic of conversation among the Wei people after dinner. Especially in Daliang, almost no one did not know about this. After all, in the war between Wei and Qin in recent decades, not to mention that such amazing progress had never been made, it was difficult to ensure victory, and it often ended in defeat.

This time, Wei State was able to force Qin State to ced more than 200 miles of land, which really made the Wei people feel proud.

As the biggest contributor to the attack on Qin, Meng Zhong's fame in Wei was naturally increasing. Some people in Wei have gradually compared Meng Zhong as a "superior to Pang Juan".

Perhaps some people will think that Pang Juan is not a defeated general? Isn’t it the one who made the Wei State gradually weaken and unable to recover? Why do the Wei people always like to use Pang Juan as an analogy? Instead of Gongsun Xi?

In fact, there are two reasons.

First, Pang Juan's personal ability to lead troops is stronger than that of Gongsun Xi.

Although Gongsun Xi has been in Hedong for so many years, the Wei people often used Xiwu to honor Gongsun Xi, but the greatest contribution of Gongsun Xi was to put aside the battle with Tian Zhang, the famous general of Qi, actually only resisted the Qin attack on Hedong. Has he regained the Xihe County that he had lost for Wei?

No.

After all, Mi Rong, the King of Huayang in Qin, did not make a living.

But Pang Juan swept across the surrounding countries back then, and was invincible in the battles of all countries. He was defeated by his fellow disciple Sun Bin. He was defeated twice. He was captured for the first time, and was humiliated again for the second time and simply committed suicide.

As for the second reason, when Pang Juan appeared, it happened to be stuck at the time when Wei State gradually weakened, but it barely supported the face of a strong country. Therefore, the Wei people at that time still had strong ideas about dominating the Central Plains and restoring their old dominance, such as King Hui of Wei, who treated Pang Juan well enough to tolerate many of his shortcomings.

When the time of Gongsun Yan and Gongsun Xi brothers, Wei State was already suppressed by Qin State and was breathless. How could he hope to defeat Qin State and restore his position as the old overlord? It would be great if he could protect himself!

Because of this, Pang Juan became the most regrettable general of the Wei people. Even though the Wei people hated Pang Juan in extreme disappointment and even scolded Pang Juan, in their hearts, they still looked forward to waiting for another outstanding general who could defeat the army of various countries and carry the dream of the overlord of the Wei Kingdom like Pang Juan.

This wait took more than fifty years.

Fifty years later, the State of Wei arrived at Meng Zhong, a general who was taught by Master Zhuang of Song, who surpassed Pang Juan in terms of personal morality and military strategy.

This statement is not an exaggeration at all.

Because when Meng Zhong rode his horse outside Daliang City that day, he saw the tides of Daliang people outside the city, and heard the cheers like "Yanchengjun" like a mountain.

To be honest, Meng Zhong felt very shocked at that time.

Take Tian Wen, the prime minister who felt uncomfortable after seeing this scene. He has been serving as the prime minister of Wei for more than 20 years, nearly 30 years. Although he has received welcome from the Wei people, he has never enjoyed this scale of treatment...

At this moment, Tian Wen had to curse in his heart: Damn Meng Zhong!

Although Meng Zhong didn't know what etiquette should be used at this time, he still understood the most basic etiquette. When he was approaching Daliang, after seeing King of Wei, Prince Wei and the court officials, he turned over and dismounted, and led the Fangcheng cavalry who were also dismounting and walking along with the cheers of thousands of Wei people, slowly walked towards King of Wei, and when he got close, he knocked on the ground with one knee and bowed his fists.

At this time, King Wei also quickly stepped forward and helped Meng Zhong up with both hands, saying, "Thank you, thank you for your hard work."

In an instant, the crowd that had been quiet for only a moment, cheers sounded again, such as "Long Live", "Long Live the King", and "Long Live the Lord of Yancheng" and other cheers, one after another, deafening. [ps: "Long Live" was not only used for the monarch at that time.]

Afterwards, King of Wei pulled Meng Zhong's battle robe and slowly walked into the king's car amid the cheers of countless Wei people.

Finally, at the invitation of the King of Wei, Meng Zhong got on the king's car, entered the city with King of Wei, and headed towards the palace.

At this time, the streets in Daliang City were similar: countless Wei people were placed on both sides of the road, waiting to see the biggest hero of the attack on Qin this time.

How to say it, the welcome of this scale is really shocking, but it is also very tiring.

Following King Wei to the main hall in the palace, the crown prince Wei, Prince Wuji, Zhai Zhang, Tian Wen and others also returned to the palace in a carriage.

Everyone gathered in the palace and listened to Meng Zhong's return to the result of this attack on Qin. This was just a routine matter. After all, the monarch and ministers of Wei had already known about this result.

Reporting, or replying to the King of Wei, is mainly divided into two aspects.

First, it is to affirm the complete victory of this battle against Qin.

Second, it expresses the final negotiation results with Qin, namely, Qin's recognition of defeat, ceding territory and seeking peace, etc.

After that, Meng Zhong followed the agreement with Qin and asked King Wei to resign from the position of Hedong Shou. According to customs, he once again recommended Gongsun Shu as the Hedong Shou.

To be honest, Gongsun Shu is not the most suitable candidate, because this veteran is actually not very good at fighting. What Meng Zhong really wants to recommend is actually Jin Bi.

Jin Bi was born in the Hedong Army Group and fought fiercely and resolutely. When Meng Zhong and Gongsun Shu were discussing it some time ago, the latter also believed that Jin Bi was a very good choice.

But that boy Jin Bi was too young and was too reckless in wars. Therefore, Meng Zhong and Gongsun Shu discussed with each other and prepared to hone the boy for a few more years, at least to make the boy know how to use strategies, rather than do it recklessly every time.

Although King Wei felt sorry for Meng Zhong's resignation to guard Hedong, he finally recognized it.

I have to say that this time, King Wei was really shocked. He listened to Zhai Zhang's suggestion and appointed Meng Zhong as the guard of Hedong. In fact, he originally wanted to scare Qin, but he never expected that the scaring effect was too good. Qin was so scared that he was facing a great enemy that he directly decided to fight a battle of the country with the State of Wei, which was originally planned to negotiate with Wei, so that the king of Wei would take back his life and transfer Meng Zhong to other places.

Compared to the lingering fear of King Wei, the Prime Minister Tian Wen's mood is actually even more complicated.

When Zhai Zhang recommended Meng Zhong to take over Gongsun Shu as the punctual in Hedong, Tian Wen could not stop it from being reasonable, so he had to convince himself to acquiesce to Zhai Zhang's suggestion, but he did not expect that in the end, the Qin State, he hated the most, helped him to remove Meng Zhong's position as the Hedong guardian...

Is this a good thing?

Of course not!

Even Qin was afraid of Meng Zhong and did not dare to let him serve as the Hedong Guard. He ceded more than 200 miles of land and asked Wei to remove Meng Zhong's position as Hedong Guard. How much did this increase Meng Zhong's prestige and reputation?

Anyway, Meng Zhong did not take the position of Hedong Guard this time, and Tian Wen couldn't laugh at all. He would rather Meng Zhong take the position of Hedong Guard than want Meng Zhong to be "dismissed" in this way.

But as mentioned before, Tian Wen was completely unable to suppress Meng Zhong at this time.

Afterwards, after Meng Zhong replied to King Wei, Grand Marshal Zhai Zhang expressed Meng Zhong's achievements on his behalf. Immediately, King Wei appointed Meng Zhong as a "marquis".

Marquis, Marquis, this is already the title of a very high minister, and not every country can enthrone it. For example, the title of the monarch is only "Bo", which is several levels lower than the marquis. How can it be enthroned?

Today, only those countries in the Central Plains where the monarchs claim to be kings can be legitimately appointed as vassals and marquis.

Meng Zhong, the king of Yancheng, will be called Yanhou from today.

After the matter was completed, the palace prepared the celebration banquet that night, and the Marquis of Yan Meng Zhong was pulled to the Duan Gan family's mansion by Duan Gan Chong, Tian An and others.

On the way back to Duan Gan's mansion in a carriage, Meng Zhong smiled at Duan Gan Yin with relief: "My uncle has supported me countless wealth and war horses over the years. Today, my nephew can finally repay Duan Gan's..."

"Hahahaha." Duan Ganyin laughed.

It has to be said that Duan Ganyin gave assistance to Meng Zhong and gave Fang Cheng a lot of funds and war horses, including some weapons and equipment needed by Fang Cheng army. Fang Cheng army was able to form combat power in just a few years. Duan Gan family, Tian family (Tian An's branch), and Xihe Confucianism made an indelible contribution.

Of course, this is not free. The reason why Duan Ganyin sponsored Meng Zhong, putting aside the fact that Meng Zhong was a disciple of Meng Ke, he actually hoped that Meng Zhong would help him to regain the Xihe River in the future and regain the land where Duan Gan clan shepherded horses for Wei from Qin.

Originally, Duan Ganyin did not expect Meng Zhong to do this in recent years, but he never expected that in just four or five years, Meng Zhong helped him to regain Xihe County. Although the regained Xihe County was not complete, Duan Ganyin was already satisfied enough.

At that time, Tian An teased at the side: "This time, Ah Zhong was so mighty that he regained more than 200 miles of Xihe land from Qin, so that you can return to the land where your ancestors' horses were shedding. Brother Duan Gan, don't you tell me?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Ganyin stretched out two fingers very heroically: "Of course you have to express something! I am willing to support Fangcheng's 20,000 war horses! How about it?"

Not to mention, this number really shocked Meng Zhong and Tian An. Both of them were a little doubtful whether Duan Ganyin was too happy and confused.

You should know that those who can be used as war horses must be the best high-quality horses, but 20,000 high-quality war horses... Not to mention the Duan Gan clan, it is a big deal to know whether the Duan Gan clan can be achieved by combining the strength of the Wei Kingdom.

Maybe he noticed the strange expressions of Meng Zhong and Tian An, Duan Ganyin smiled angrily and said, "I didn't say that I will deliver it once, it's within five to ten years."

Five to ten years, this is almost the same.

Meng Zhong and Tian An looked at each other and nodded: This old man was not confused yet.

Afterwards, Duan Ganyin and Tian An talked with Meng Zhong about some things about the Song State.

It has to be said that the current situation of the State of Song is not optimistic. This time, Qi sent troops to attack Song, and the troops were divided into two groups. One of them went straight south from Jinan (south of Jishui), crossing the border of Qilu in the East County, and attacking the northern part of Song. Fangyu, Shanfu, Taoyi, etc., were all on the attack route of this Qi army; while the other one went out of Jucheng, went south to capture Tancheng, and then captured Xueyi and Pi County, and finally the army peaked directly to Pengcheng.

According to the latest news from Wei State, Tancheng had been captured by the Qi army, and more than 100,000 Qi troops advanced rapidly and took Pengcheng, which led to the defeat of Song State's army.

To be honest, Meng Zhong was puzzled by this.

It is indeed an indisputable fact that Qi is strong and Song is weak. This time, Qi learned from the lessons of the failure of the previous two attacks on Song and devoted all the strength of the whole country to attack Song. This is indeed not something Song can resist, but Song will not be defeated so quickly, right?

Not to mention the failures of the northern cities of the Song State such as Fang Yu, Shanfu, Taoyi, etc., after all, the Song State did not spend much effort on the north in recent years, but Tancheng and Tancheng should not be thrown away so easily.

You should know that Tancheng is the city where the prince Dai Wu personally stationed. Previously, the prince Dai Wu listened to Meng Zhong's suggestion and built several small cities in the Tancheng area as strongholds. Although each small city is not large in size and can only be stationed with thousands of people, it is not far apart from each other, which is convenient for each other and is a force to support each other and lead to each other. It can be said that they are all set up to prevent the Qi army from invading. In theory, it should be able to defend for a longer time.

"About Song State, I have heard of a news..."

After stroking his beard, Duan Ganyin said to Meng Zhong: "At the end of last year, it was reported that Song Wangyan and Prince Dai Wu were in conflict, and Prince Dai Wu wanted to raise an army to seize the throne..."

“…”

Meng Zhong blinked his eyes, but he didn't react for a while: "Who? Prince? Dai Wu? He raised an army to seize the throne?"

He felt incredible.

If it is a matter of another country, then he doesn't know, but it is Song State, which is the country where he came from. Would he still not know?

For example, how could Meng Zhong not understand the rumor that Prince Song Dai Wu, who was "snatching the throne"?

The Crown Prince Dai Wu, his righteous brother Hui Ang and the Song minister Xue Juzhou carefully taught the future monarch, his words and deeds were like Confucian disciples, and he attached importance to etiquette and benevolence and righteousness. How could he raise troops to seize the throne of his father, Wang Yan of Song?

What's more, the position of the monarch of Song State was actually passed on to the crown prince Dai Wu for a long time. Strictly speaking, Dai Wu is the monarch of Song State, and his father Dai Yan is the supreme king, and his status is like the father of Zhao State...

『Uh?』
To be continued...