Chapter 150: An Endless Stream

Although the current situation was intricate and complex, the majority of the nobility still indulged themselves in pleasure-seeking.

In particular, the fine wine presented by Meng Di to various vassal states had instantly captured the covetous desires of the nobles. The rumors surrounding its reputation grew increasingly mystical; some even claimed that a single sip could prolong one's life, and two sips would make one feel as if floating immortally.

With such legends multiplying day by day, merchants heading toward Mengyi arrived in an endless stream, unexpectedly diluting the warlike atmosphere within the Lu State. Instead, the Lu nobility benefited immensely from it.

Naturally, Yang Hu had also obtained some of this fine wine. Though deep down he wished to demand more, his pride prevented him from lowering himself to ask. At this moment, Ji Mei volunteered and offered him a suggestion.

"Lord Yang, we currently possess quite a few surplus horses, and our pastures still have plenty of capacity. I can take these horses to Mengyi and offer some favors in exchange for their wine-brewing formula. Wouldn't that provide Lord Yang with an additional source of revenue?"

This proposal greatly tempted Yang Hu, but after a moment of reflection, he shook his head.

"The time is not right. Our military expedition against the Zheng State this time will likely provoke the dissatisfaction of the Qi State. Therefore, we must still rely on Meng Di to guard the borders of Lu. It is best not to offend him for the time being."

In truth, Yang Hu had already developed a sense of apprehension toward Meng Di. If fighting the Qi army could be attributed to mere luck, Meng Di's victory over the Ju State had been equally effortless. This demonstrated his exceptional mastery in deploying cavalry units.

Such abruptly rising talents were by no means rare during the Spring and Autumn period. To look no further, Tian Rangju of the Qi State was a living example. Moreover, the Three Huan families of Lu were showing increasingly obvious intentions of defying his authority.

Under such circumstances, winning Meng Di over through conciliation should be the primary approach. Committing foolish acts that ruined one's future for the sake of petty gains was something only a fool would do, and Yang Hu was certainly not that foolish.

As for the future, once he had thoroughly brought the Three Huan families under his control, Yang Hu could use this opportunity to probe Meng Di's true intentions.

Just at that moment, a servant hurried inside and reported, "Reporting to my lord, we have just received news that the Zheng State has actually attacked the Zhou royal court, and the Jin State has issued a call to all vassal states under heaven to launch a punitive expedition together."

In reality, the relationship between the Zheng State and the Zhou royal court was currently quite abyssal. The cause was simple enough: after King You of Zhou repeatedly lit beacon fires to fool the feudal lords, the respect that the various vassal states held for the Son of Heaven had completely vanished.

When Marquis Shen of the royal lineage colluded with the Quanrong to attack Haojing, leading to the death of King You, King Ping of Zhou subsequently ascended the throne and summoned the lords of the realm to勤王 (protect the king). Duke Xiang of Qin, along with Duke Wu of Wei, Marquis Wen of Jin, and Duke Wu of Zheng, raised their armies to suppress the Quanrong.

Reasonably speaking, having rendered such monumental service, they ought to have been granted due rewards. Yet, for reasons unknown, King Ping of Zhou casually bestowed the title of Duke upon the State of Qin, elevating it overnight from a remote tribe to a major vassal power.

One must remember that the Zheng State at that time was merely a county of the Earl rank. Such blatant favoritism made it utterly unacceptable to Zheng, which from then on stood firmly against the Zhou royal court, frequently stirring up trouble.

Now, having just annexed the Xu State, Zheng was at the height of its arrogance and satisfaction, naturally intending to use the Zhou royal court to flex its muscles once more.

Upon hearing this news, Yang Hu grew excited. Regardless of how one viewed it, this provided a righteous pretext for war. The State of Lu had always considered itself the orthodox defender, everywhere upholding the interests of the Zhou royal court. How could it stand by in the face of such an event?

Thus, Yang Hu immediately sought an audience with the Duke of Lu, directly proclaiming to the realm that the State of Lu would dispatch troops to subjugate Zheng.

Meanwhile, Meng Di, residing in Mengyi, was genuinely overjoyed. Yidun's idea was truly brilliant; within a mere short period, seven or eight merchants had already arrived to trade horses for wine. Although the number of horses brought was substantial, it finally offered a glimpse of hope.

Consequently, Meng Di immediately established a winery within Feiyi. Because time was pressing, he simply took over existing buildings with slight modifications, stationing guards all around to prevent any prying eyes.

Even so, the supply of wine still fell short of demand. Seeing this situation, Jiran offered a proposal.

That was to first accept the horses from these merchants, pricing them according to their quality. Jiran considered matters more comprehensively than Yidun. He knew very well that completely alienating these merchants would not benefit Mengyi.

Therefore, as more and more merchants arrived, Jiran merely tripled the price of the wine and then stabilized it. This put the merchants' minds at rest; after handing over their horses, they patiently waited to collect their wine.

Incidentally, this also lent Feiyi an appearance of extreme prosperity. Disguising himself as an ordinary wine-buying merchant, Yidun took advantage of this period to befriend traders from various places, subsequently selling off his own privately held wine at high prices.

Within a very short time, Meng Di acquired nearly twenty thousand fine horses, which vastly boosted his confidence. However, right at this juncture, he received the news of Lu's expedition against Zheng, and a sense of ominous foreboding arose in his heart.

For one thing, the State of Lu and the Zheng State did not share a common border. To attack Zheng, one had to either pass through the Cao State or traverse the Wei State, which would consume a considerable amount of time.

Although Yang Hu's stated justification this time was that Zheng had attacked the Zhou royal court, there were so many vassal states in the world—even the Jin State had not yet made any moves—yet Lu was actually the first to send out troops.

Under these circumstances, Meng Di almost wanted to go directly to Yang Hu and ask him whether he was unaware of Lu's current predicament. It would be fine if Lu could inflict a heavy blow on Zheng this time; otherwise, they should simply await Zheng's revenge.

However, Meng Di was not among the conscripted forces this time. Therefore, although he felt somewhat helpless, he refrained from offering remonstrance to Yang Hu, choosing instead to concentrate on drilling his troops. Under the circumstances, he had no energy to spare for anything else.

In any case, his primary objective was to ensure Mengyi suffered minimal losses. At that very moment, the goods from the Tian family arrived via maritime transport, accompanied by various items sent by Bai Gui from Huaicheng.

Moreover, they were personally escorted by Liuxia Tuo. The moment Meng Di saw him return, he sensed that something was amiss.

"Why did you come in person this time? What is the situation over at Huaicheng?"

Without answering immediately, Liuxia Tuo maintained a mysterious expression as he untied the sword from his waist and handed it over.

Meng Di reached out, received it, and drew it from its scabbard. A look of astonishment crossed his face upon seeing that it was an iron sword, forged in a style visibly different from those crafted by Gan Jiang and Moxie. Immediately, profound joy washed over him.

"Who forged this sword?"