Qingji turned his gaze to Sun Wu again and asked slowly, "Changqing, what do you think?"
Hearing this, Sun Wu only hesitated for a moment, then said: "Your Majesty, I agree with the Prime Minister's opinion. Chu is a big country, and its cities and lands can be nibbled away, but not swallowed up!"
"Although Chu lost 80,000 soldiers, it still has some strength left. Now the Wu army is deeply trapped in Chu territory. It is absolutely unacceptable to turn the initiative into a passive one."
Qingji frowned, looked at the guest Bo Yan who was sitting opposite him and asked, "Bo Yan, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty, I think we should fight!"
Bo Yu said with a flattering look on his face: "The momentum of Wu's attack on Chu is like sailing against the current. If we don't advance, we will retreat."
"If we negotiate peace with Chu at this time, it would be tantamount to asking for peace. Not only will the Shudi and the cities along the river that Wu has captured be lost, but all the bloodshed and sacrifices made by our soldiers before will probably be in vain!"
Qingji nodded slightly, but still did not comment.
Bo Heng was a smooth person, especially good at flattery. He saw that Ji Zha and Sun Wu both requested to negotiate peace with the State of Chu, but Qingji had not made a decision. He secretly guessed that Qingji was unwilling to accept the peace talks between Wu and Chu!
Qingji himself knew this, so he did not make a decision immediately.
In fact, what Bo Yan said makes sense!
At this time, if the State of Wu proposed peace talks with the State of Chu, it would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage.
The Wu army suffered a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice in the attack on Chu. Was it wasted?
How could Qingji be willing to give up Shudi and many cities along the river, which were already in his possession?
At this moment, seeing Qingji still hesitating, Ji Zha on the side could not help but sigh and said, "Your Majesty, can you follow me out of the palace to see what's going on?"
"good."
Qingji did not refuse Jizha's request.
Ever since Zhenzi returned to Wudu, Qingji hasn't made a secret visit for a long time and had a chance to get to know the people's sentiments!
Soon, Qingji, accompanied by three ministers, Ji Zha , Sun Wu and Bo Yan, and a group of guards, began to patrol the streets and alleys of Wudu city with great fanfare.
The market in Wudu was still as prosperous as it had been before, bustling with people, and peddlers hawking their wares on the street coming and going.
However, when entering the residential area where ordinary people lived, Qingji's mood couldn't help but become gradually heavy!
Under the low eaves, there were white curtains hung in mourning, fluttering in the cold wind, covering the gate with a layer of sadness.
When I went into the inner room, I saw a few people wearing mourning clothes and white headscarves crying. There were men, women, young and old, all of them had sad faces, and there were still traces of tears in the corners of their eyes!
"Your Majesty!"
"I, a humble commoner, pay my respects to the king!"
Seeing the ceremonial guard headed by Qingji entering, the old, the weak, women and children inside came over and saluted Qingji.
"No need to be so polite."
Qingji immediately helped up an old man who was the leader.
The old man had gray hair on his temples, wrinkles on his face like ruts, cloudy eyes, and a sense of vicissitudes. What made Qingji feel most unusual was that the old man was a one-eyed man, and his left eye was obviously blind!
It was an eye that was blinded by a sharp weapon!
"Old man, what are you doing?"
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
The old man wiped the tears from his eyes and said with a choked voice: "We are here to mourn for our child. We don't want to disturb the king, please forgive us!"
"where."
Qingji shook his head and asked, "Old man, I wonder how your son died?"
He had already guessed it in his mind, but didn't dare to admit it.
The old man sighed and said, "To be honest with you, my son passed away last night. He was called up to join the army and fought in the battle of Zhenzi a few years ago. He broke one leg and had three arrow wounds all over his body!"
"Fortunately, my child was lucky enough to survive the hands of Chu Manzi, but the root of the disease had already been established. It was freezing cold, and my child accidentally caught a cold, so he didn't survive this winter..."
Before he finished speaking, everyone in the family, including the old man, couldn't help but feel sad and wiped their tears.
During the conversation with the old man, Qingji learned that the old man was once a member of the Wu army, and that his eye was blinded by an arrow during the battle with the Chu army!
The old man had three sons. The first two died young and sacrificed their lives for their country, leaving only a youngest son who was not yet an adult.
In the end, the old man had to bear the fate of seeing his son die before him. One can imagine how he felt!
Qingji was also very sad. He immediately stepped forward, bowed solemnly to the coffin placed behind the spirit tablet, and expressed his condolences.
At this moment, seeing Qingji, the king of a country, mourning his son, a nobody, the old man couldn't help but burst into tears and said hurriedly: "Great... King, you can't do this, you can't do this."
"How can I not do that?"
Qingji grasped the old man's rough hands and said sternly, "Old man, your son is a martyr who sacrificed his life for the country. How can I not personally pay my respects to him and pay my respects to him?"
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Ji Zha, Sun Wu and Bo Yan on the side immediately stood up, flattered Qingji, and then followed him forward to pay their respects.
After all, even Qingji, the King of Wu, set an example himself, let alone them?
"Your Majesty, my country of Wu has a king like you, you are truly amazing!"
The old man spoke with emotion.
However, Qingji replied earnestly: "No. Wu is truly great because of warriors like you who are willing to sacrifice and not fear life and death!"
At this moment, the demeanor of a wise king displayed by Qingji made everyone present admire and worship him!
Just as Qingji said, the Wu State is not great because of King Qingji, but because of people like you.
After bidding farewell to the old man and his family, Qingji patrolled the streets and alleys one by one.
Just as he expected, many households had mourning clothes hung in front of their doors, obviously indicating that there had been a funeral not long ago!
What can cause this kind of impact is undoubtedly war.
The suffering brought to the people of Wu by the continuous
When the country prospers, the people suffer!
If the country dies, the people will suffer!
Regardless of the rise and fall of the warmongering Wu State, the common people were destined to suffer.
This is because in this era of great strife, wars are frequent and almost every household has men who have gone to the battlefield!
Widows and orphans are everywhere, and it is not uncommon for the elderly to see their loved ones die.
Qingji knew very well that this scene in Wudu was just a microcosm of the entire Wu Kingdom!
Finally, Ji Zha took him to .
New graves have been erected there one after another, and buried underneath them are undoubtedly the bodies of fallen soldiers, or just simple cenotaphs!
The bodies of the fallen soldiers can be buried in their hometowns, returning to their roots, which is considered lucky. However, more people can only be buried in foreign lands, or even their bodies cannot be found, and they can only build a cenotaph!