The reason the ministers looked at one another was not because the plan was particularly ingenious, but because Xi Mengfu seemed to have lost his mind!
Between Huaiqing Prefecture and Guiyi, the Xia capital, lay only Mulberry Prefecture.
To cede all lands south of Huaiqing Prefecture was practically the same as handing over half of Xia Kingdom, placing their very heartland before the people of Chu!
What kind of person was Xi Mengfu? Just how badly had Qi State frightened him that he could devise such a "brilliant plan"?
"Everyone, please hear me out."
Under the gaze of the civil and military officials filling the hall, who looked at him as though he were a fool, Xi Mengfu remained perfectly composed. "Chu Kingdom refuses to send aid for no more than a few reasons. First, Xia and Chu have clashed often throughout history, and our grievances run deep. Second, the Southern Regions are complex in terrain and circumstance. Book Mountain lies across them, with reason and Yue forming barriers, while the sects' influence is tangled and intertwined. Whether the Chu people come here or we go there, the cost is bound to outweigh the gain. This was one reason the late emperor chose to advance eastward in those years. third, the great war between Qin and Chu has only recently ended. The River Valley Plains have already been reduced to barren wasteland, and Chu cannot ignore the pressure from Qin Kingdom. If they send too few men, they fear they will be delivering sheep into a tiger's mouth. If they send too many, they fear the people of Qin may make a move..."
"There is only one thing that can dissolve all these concerns—interest!"
"If the interest is great enough, old hatreds need not be mentioned. If the interest is