After Zhou State abandoned Haojing, the Qin people built their new capital, Yongdu. Yongdu and Luoyi were only eight hundred li apart.
But they were two different worlds.
Xiao Mountain and the great river formed a natural barrier. At Duke Xuan of Luo's command, the Qin people themselves built Hangu Pass, and then remained penned west of Xiao-Han for centuries.
Yongdu.
The envoy from Chu State spoke confidently. "My lord, our king has already traveled north alone to the Central Plains to remonstrate with the Son of Heaven.
"Chu and Qin have maintained relations for two hundred years. Our king hopes you, too, can be a loyal servant of Zhou State and uphold its Mandate of Heaven together."
These words left the lord and ministers of Qin State deeply uncomfortable.
Traveled north alone?
Alone with two hundred thousand bodyguards, was that it?
A loyal servant?
The honest Qin people could not stand this hypocritical face the Chu people put on!
So he pondered for a moment and said, "Minister, your words are sound. Qin State ought to be a loyal servant of Zhou State and travel to the Central Plains to offer tribute to the Son of Heaven of Zhou. This is what the feudal lords should do."
The Chu envoy was not surprised in the slightest. This was the decision the Count of Qin was bound to make.
They needed only to hear the news of chaos in the Central Plains, then look at the royal kinsmen and noble relatives in the hall. Whether princes or enfeoffed lords, their eyes blazed with eagerness.
Lingyin Xiang Cheng's assertion that "the Qin people's desire for the Eastern Expedition is exactly the same as the Chu people's desire to march north" had been utterly correct.
An uproar immediately filled the Qin palace.