That night, Hui Ang invited Meng Zhong to enjoy the moon and drink in the courtyard of his residence, and the two brothers talked about the current situation and their respective opinions.

After the servants in the mansion left, Meng Zhong sniffed the brewing wine and said with a smile: "During the day today, I feel that my brother is going to talk to you, but because he doesn't want to delay the prince's return to the city to encourage the people, he temporarily let it go..."

Hui'an smiled, without hiding it, and said truthfully: "Before the king left, he will entrust me with an important matter. I hope I will convince you to lead a Song army..."

Meng Zhong was stunned when he heard this. He did not reject this. After all, Song State is his homeland, and he also hoped to do something in Song State. What's more, Song State is now ushering in a new monarch Dai Wu. The problem is...

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong said obscurely: "When I returned to Song State, the Grand Sima used a joke to tell me to be careful when I returned to Song Wanshi this time. He also hoped that I could take his place..."

How could a smart person like Hui'en not hear it? He smiled and said, "Haha, Sima Zhai is really trying hard... Actually, I have talked about this with the king. There was also an example before, such as Su Qin, who holds the seal of many countries..."

Meng Zhong thought about it and said solemnly: "Su Qin can indeed be called a precedent, but... it is still slightly different."

Indeed, Su Qin is said to be the title of prime minister of the six countries, but in fact, his prime minister is mostly honorary and does not have real power. However, Hui Ang proposed that Meng Zhong hopes that a Song army will be in charge of the Song army, which is a real military power. Do you think he will rule the Wei and Song armies at the same time in the future. Is this the Song general or the Wei general? Even if the Song side doesn't care, what attitude will the Wei State take?

If we say that fish and bear paws cannot be both, Meng Zhong must make a choice between Wei and Song, and Meng Zhong will also feel embarrassed about this: Song State is his homeland, but Wuyang City of Wei State is also his second hometown; and the connections he operated in Wei State, including the respect for him by King Wei, are no less than Song State.

Hui Ann obviously saw Meng Zhong's embarrassment and said with a smile: "A Zhong, you don't have to worry so much. For my brother, I think that Wei will not object to this matter...From the interests of Wei, Wei will not reject a reliable ally. Besides, my Song State is as strong as Han. I can be a powerful ally in Wei's fight against Qin. The only thing that makes Wei have some concerns is whether our Song State will become its threat...But, will Song State become a threat to Wei State?"

“Um…”

Meng Zhong nodded slightly.

At this time, Hui Ang continued: "If the five-nation coalition forces can destroy Qi, the threat of Wei will still be Qin, or the three countries in the south, Zhao, Qin, Zhao, and Chu in the north, are the most likely countries to become threats. As for our Song State, the strategy formulated by the king was to fight Huai and Si, and then take the land of Wu and Yue. I personally believe that there is no conflict with Wei State. At least for a hundred years, Wei State does not need to consider the threat from Song State, and even Wei State can use Song State to share the pressure from Chu State for him... Speaking of which, you have also participated in the formulation of Wei State's national policy strategy. Do you think there is any conflict between Wei State and Song State?"

"Um."

Meng Zhong nodded thoughtfully.

At present, Qin supports Wei in attacking Qi and even annexing Qi. The purpose is to cause trouble to the east and let Wei divide his experiences on the eastern front. But in fact, Wei is very clear about this. Although Grand Marshal Zhai Zhang is somewhat obsessed with occupying Shandong, under Meng Zhong's persuasion, Wei finally only targets the capture of Dongjun, and the rest of his experiences are still placed on Qin, Zhao and Chu.

Qin State is destined to be the biggest threat to Wei State. Although Qin State compromised with Wei this time, Qin State, which implemented the Shangjun law and the military merit system, has a very terrible military recovery ability. It may only take three or five years to obtain a more advanced army again, and launch an attack on Wei and Han countries in order to set foot in the Central Plains. The national law of this country is destined to continue to expand externally to meet the needs of Qin people in the country for military merit.

In short, this chariot called Qin will almost impossible to stop once the wheels are turned. This is the biggest disadvantage of the military merit system and its most terrifying part.

In other words, Qin and the Central Plains countries were destined to coexist. Either the Central Plains countries jointly defeated Qin and destroyed this warlike country; or Qin annexed the countries to achieve great unification.

As for the peaceful coexistence between the two sides, the short-term peace that does not exist is nothing more than the Qin State's cultivation and rest for the next attack.

Therefore, Qin is still the biggest threat to Wei.

Secondly, it is the State of Zhao and the State of Chu.

As one of the Three Jin Dynasties, Zhao State had not had a good relationship with Wei State for a long time. Many times, Wei and Zhao State had a competitive or even hostile relationship. If the Grand Sima Leyi of Yan State had predicted that Zhao State would become the biggest threat to Yan State after the fall of Qi State, in fact, Meng Zhong also made some speculations about Zhao State.

For example, Zhao State is likely to form an alliance with Qin State to fight against the increasingly powerful Wei State.

The reason is very simple. Zhao State is not Han or Song State. It will not be willing to become a vassal of Wei State. After all, the two countries have the same size, but when the old ally Qi State was doomed to be destroyed, Zhao State could not resist the three kingdoms of Wei, Han and Song State. The only way is to secretly form an alliance with Qin State to maintain balance.

The next strategy of Wei State is to win over Zhao State as much as possible and fight against Qin State unanimously - this may already have conflicts with Zhao State's strategic policy.

As for Chu, it is similar to Zhao, and it is also a country that Meng Zhong and even Wei need to win over and deal with Qi.

Therefore, the future strategic focus of Wei will be more on vigilance against Qin and the encirclement of Zhao and Chu. As Hui Ang said, he does not have much energy to consider whether Song will become a threat.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhong nodded and said, "If the King of Wei does not object, I will accept it happily... Brother Yi, you also know that I have indeed received a lot of favors in Wei State and cannot do anything to destroy the bridges..."

Hui'an smiled and said, "Your brother understands this. After the matter of Qi is over, you will go to Wei with you to discuss this matter with the King of Wei. Don't worry, this matter will be beneficial to both Wei and Song, and the King of Wei will not object."

"I hope so."

Meng Zhong nodded and asked curiously: "Can you reveal it in advance which army I plan to take charge of?"

"Shangqiu." Hui'an replied meaningfully.

"Shangqiu?"

Meng Zhong was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but say, "Shangqiu can be called the Song City closest to Fangcheng, but... does Shangqiu have an army under construction? How do I remember that there are only a few thousand people?"

After saying that, he looked at Hui'an with a strange expression.

"Ha ha."

Hui'an couldn't help laughing: "Of course I won't just let my brother take charge of thousands of people. Isn't that a joke about Wei State? To be precise, before leaving, the king just asked me to hand over Shangqiu to you, and there was no regulation to let you train how many soldiers..."

"Leave Shangqiu to me?" Meng Zhong heard something was wrong.

Hearing this, Hui Ang glanced at Meng Zhong and said meaningfully: "The king wanted to confer you as Shangqiu Jun, but forced the King of Wei to confer you as Yancheng Jun. Do you think that's just a test of the king's pressure on the State of Wei?"

After saying that, he glanced at Meng Zhong, who was a little stunned, and sighed: "Brother said a few days ago that you are the only one who can persuade the king, not for anything else, just because the king has always valued you very much, but you know... the king's temper will never bow to others... He would rather be scolded for abandoning his subjects and fleeing during the national crisis than take back the order of exiled the prince..."

"Even if he actually knew that he had made a mistake?" Meng Zhong said with a sneer.

Hui Ang smiled when he heard this, then nodded slightly and said, "Ah, the king never admits his mistake, but... you won't understand."

Looking at Hui Ang, who was a little sigh, Meng Zhong stopped this topic because he knew that the righteous brother in front of him had a high praise for Song Wangyan and could be called a loyal person.

He changed the topic and said, "By the way, Brother Yi, the commander of the Qi army. I heard that it was Brother Tian Zhang some time ago, but according to Dai Busheng Sima, from Tancheng to Biyang and then to Pengcheng, he never saw Brother Tian Zhang appear once..."

"Um."

Hui Ann nodded and said, "Qi State announced to the public that the detailed work of Kuang Zhang led the army this time, and the Song State sent out by our country, have also seen Kuang Zhang vaguely see Kuang Zhang's figure during the marching. However, for some reason, Kuang Zhang never came forward when the two armies confronted each other. Even if Dai Busheng, Dai Yingzhi and others personally came to the front to talk to Kuang Zhang. Therefore, Dai Busheng and others suspected that the Qi army might have found a person with similar appearance to pretend to Kuang Zhang, just because they threatened me. Regarding this matter, I think you can try to test it. With your relationship with Kuang Zhang, Kuang Zhang will never show up. As long as he is really in the Qi army, if the one in the Qi army doesn't even see you, he is definitely not Kuang Zhang himself."

"I will."

Meng Zhong nodded after hearing this.

He also wanted to figure out this matter very well, after all, it was related to his counterattack against the Qi army.

To put it bluntly, if the opposite side was his senior brother Tian Zhang, then he naturally had to be more careful; otherwise, hehe.

The next day, Meng Zhong, Hui Ang, Dai Busheng and several others accompanied the prince Dai Wu to inspect the military camp outside Pengcheng City.

At this time, many Song soldiers in the military camp had already learned about the incident of "Crown Prince Dai Wu returning to Pengcheng", and their morale was so high that when Prince Dai Wu was inspecting the military camp, the soldiers in the camp rushed to watch Dai Wu and cheered for Dai Wu's return to Pengcheng to support the overall situation.

Faced with the enthusiasm and excitement of the soldiers in the camp, the prince Dai Wu gave some encouragement in the schoolyard in the camp.

This encouragement can be roughly divided into three parts.

First, the Crown Prince Dai Wu stated that the reason why he appeared here was because of the "national crisis in the face of the country", and Wang Yan of Song "Ming Dayi" recalled him back to resist Qi together.

He said in front of everyone: "The Lord, the king, the minister, the minister, the father, the son, and the son. The country in the world has the rightness of justice, not the formality of the form, the external appearance, but inside, this is the etiquette and law.... If the name is not right, the words are not right; if the words are not right, the things will not be done.... In the past, Dai Jing wanted to help Dai Wu seize the throne, but it was actually a rebellious act and a chaotic act. This precedent cannot be opened. The father killed Dai Jing and exiled Dai Wu, but Dai Wu dared not resent... Now, before the national crisis, the father heard Hui Prime Minister, Meng Qing advised him and recalled Dai Wu, so that Dai Wu could defeat Qi generals and atone for his sins. Dai Wu was very grateful..."

I have to say that the prince Dai Wu is worthy of being a "Confucian disciple" and is very confident in his father's reputation. He said that he would protect Song Wangyan's previous actions.

But how many soldiers can understand his literary words?

Of course Meng Zhong could understand it. After all, he was also a registered disciple of Mencius and an orthodox Confucian disciple; Hui Ang could understand it. After all, he was a wise minister who was a scholar of the five schools of Taoism, name, Confucianism, Law and Mohism.

But apart from Meng Zhong and Hui Ang, the rest may not be able to understand, such as Dai Busheng.

Although there is no malice, how can this reckless man understand "the king, the minister, the minister, the father, the son"?

Dai Busheng is still from a male family, and he can't even understand it, let alone the soldiers of the Song State?

But strangely, although they may not understand, the soldiers still listened quietly, showing expressions that they didn't understand from time to time. He shook his head and said to Hui Ang: "The next step, are you planning to invite Confucian disciples to be officials?"

Hui Ang burst into laughter when he heard this and whispered to Meng Zhong: "Aren't you a Confucian disciple?"

Meng Zhong was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to say. At this moment, Hui Ann admitted with a smile: "When the king was there, he never allowed to expand Confucian disciples. He felt that Confucian disciples were too weak to make Song State strong. Although I often discussed Confucianism with the king, the king never could change his prejudice against Confucianism... In contrast to the king, the prince advocated Confucianism. As you said, after this matter was over, I did think about letting the prince go to Zou State in person and beg Mencius to move to Song State... You are a disciple of Master Zhuang and a disciple of Mencius. How can you help the prince with your help?"

Meng Zhong blinked in surprise, but was a little shocked in his heart.

Confucianism... To be precise, it is an orthodox Confucianism led by Mencius, but it is not highly valued in the contemporary era. If the Song Dynasty was willing to accept Confucianism, it would be a big deal. However... his teacher, Master Zhuang, might be very angry. After all, Master Zhuang is very disgusted with Confucianism...

He thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid it's hard to come forward for this matter. Brother Yi, you know, Master Zhuang..."

Hui Ann understood it as soon as he heard it, and smiled and exposed it. Anyway, in his opinion, as long as the crown prince Dai Wu went to Zou Kingdom in person, Mencius and Mencius' disciples should give this face. If Meng Zhong could come forward, it would be better, and it would be fine if he couldn't come forward.

At this time, Meng Zhong said to Hui Ang again: "Although I can't express any opinions on this matter, I can accompany the prince to Zou State. I haven't seen Master Meng for many years and want to visit him."

"Then let's say that." Hui'an said happily.

At this moment, they suddenly heard Dai Wu whispering to remind him on the stage: "Meng Qing?"

“Hmm?”

Meng Zhong was stunned for a moment, looking at Dai Wu on the stage, and then at Hui Ann beside him. Both the Yi brothers were a little confused.

Fortunately, Dai Busheng was standing next to him, so he lowered his voice and reminded: "The prince asked you to go to the high platform...what are you talking about? You two brothers? You are so dedicated?"

Hearing this, Meng Zhong and Hui Ang were both a little embarrassed, and immediately, Meng Zhong climbed to the high platform where the prince Dai Wu was.

At this time, Dai Wu pulled Meng Zhong's sleeve to the front of the platform and said to countless Song soldiers below: "I, Dai Wu, appointed Meng Qing as the commander of the counterattack of Qi. You may not recognize Meng Qing. Dai Wu will tell you here that Meng Qing was the greatest hero who helped Dai Wu defeat Qi and captured Tancheng. Since then, Meng Qing went to Wei to stabilize the diplomatic relations between Song and Wei, and was highly valued by the King of Wei. He helped Wei defeat Qin many times and was appointed as the Marquis of Yan by the King of Wei... Dai Wu hereby informs you that Qi has Kuang Zhang, and my Song has Meng Zhong, but he is not afraid of Qi!"

As they listened, the Song soldiers under the stage exclaimed repeatedly.

I have to say that most of the Song army are not clear about it. It turns out that there is such a famous general in the Song Kingdom, well, a young famous general.

But some of the soldiers of Tancheng who retreated from Tancheng still recognized Meng Zhong and cheered one after another.

"Meng Sima!"

"It's Sima Meng! The prince's deputy general back then!"

"Long live!"

"Meng Qing." Dai Wu whispered to Meng Zhong: "Don't you say a few words?"

Meng Zhongxin said I was not prepared, but at this moment, he could only bite his teeth and saw him looking around at the Song soldiers under the stage, suddenly drew his sword and raised it high, shouting loudly: "Sunzi said, those who have the same desire as the lower ones win! As long as the Song State is united and united, even Qi State cannot make me surrender!... Song State will definitely win!"

After a brief silence, the soldiers who had followed Meng Zhong in the past cheered first. Immediately, more and more Song soldiers joined in. They raised their weapons again and again, cheering: "I will win! I will win!"

Meng Zhong glanced at the soldiers under the stage and nodded secretly: With such morale, he is qualified to fight against the Qi army.
To be continued...