The Qi Kingdom was a land of a thousand war chariots and vast territories.
Across the Seven Kingdoms, only the Chu Kingdom and Qin Kingdom likely surpassed it in military strength and the breadth of its lands. The other kingdoms had roughly comparable territories, but none invested as heavily in their military as the Qi Kingdom.
The Qi Kingdom lay on a plain, with mountains to the north and south separating it from the Chu Kingdom and Yan State, and dozens of rivers to the east and west cutting it off from the Han Kingdom and Wei State. Protected by mountains and waterways and blessed with fertile lands, it had grown into a formidable power that repeatedly took the vanguard among the Seven Kingdoms.
Apart from its commanderies and counties, the Qi Kingdom had sixteen cities. The largest, the Royal City, stood at its center, right beside Cloud City and Feather City.
Putting away his map, Zeng Mu could not help marveling at the Qi Kingdom's strength. No wonder it had invaded so often during the Vanguard War. He could not help worrying: if the Qi Kingdom once again served as the Vanguard Corps in the coming war, what would happen then?
Having stayed out of worldly affairs for three years, he naturally did not know that news of Qin Zihui's death in Xuan City at the hands of Han Ling, acting under orders from the Han Kingdom, had long since leaked.
The military alliance between the Qin Kingdom and Han Kingdom had fallen apart as a result. Afterward, the other five kingdoms had also grown increasingly distant and distrustful amid mutual suspicion and intelligence gathering.
The military alliance maintained for a full ten years through the efforts of the kingdoms' former rulers had thus collapsed. The Seven Kingdoms had