Chapter 152: Lu Buwei’s Doubts!
Zhang Liang is very famous in history and is one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty.
But during this period, Zhang Liang was at best the young dragon of the Zhang family of Korea.
Compared with Lü Buwei, who was famous all over the world for making the most of rare commodities, destroying the Zhou Dynasty, defeating five kingdoms, he was like a person in the underworld and a person in the sky.
Lu Buwei didn't understand why Ying Chengjiao valued Zhang Liang so much and gave him the nickname "Wise Man" before he even entered the palace of Chang'an Jun.
The only ones who have nicknames in Chang'an Jun's mansion are the drunkard Li Mu, the businessman Lu Buwei, the reckless man Jing Ke, the stuttering Han Fei, the sweeping monk Lu Goujian, and the swordsman Gai Nie, all of whom are world-renowned figures.
How could a little boy named Zhang Liang, whose name has hardly been heard of, be on par with them?
Ying Chengjiao hurried back and used his hands to open Lu Buwei's eyes so that Lu Buwei could see his serious face.
"He's awesome."
"…Speak human language."
Lu Buwei has been with Ying Chengjiao since he was born.
But after so long, this legendary figure who became the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty from a businessman was still a little confused by Ying Chengjiao's words.
For example, Lu Buwei knew what the two words "awesome" meant .
But he just couldn't understand why "niubi" could mean "awesome", because of "big"?
"Liu Bang said that he was able to make plans and win battles thousands of miles away. Chen Ping said that he was wise enough to resolve doubts, capable enough to cover difficulties, talented enough to resist enemies, and virtuous enough to help the world and govern the people. Zhuge Liang said that his image was not impressive, but he was able to make plans and win battles thousands of miles away, and became the emperor's teacher..."
"...You go now."
There were many times when Lu Buwei really wanted to give Ying Chengjiao a good beating. He was familiar with all these words, but he didn't know any of the people who said these words.
What are Liu Bang, Chen Ping, Zhuge Liang, and where did these random people come from?
What reference value do they have in what they say?
If these people were replaced by Qu Yuan, Bai Qi, Xunzi and Lu Buwei, it would still be somewhat interesting.
Ying Chengjiao was helpless.
I've said it all, but you don't understand what I can do.
If I continue to talk about repairing the city in the open and crossing the Chencang Pass in secret, you will definitely think I am writing a novel.
"Well, Uncle Lu, just trust me. Zhang Liang is definitely a great talent. We can't let him get away. When has my judgment ever been wrong?"
"That's true."
Lu Buwei sat up and tidied up his clothes that had been messed up by Ying Chengjiao.
"If you want to gamble with Korea, wouldn't it be easier to ask Han Fei to go? Han Fei is a member of the Korean royal family. No matter how prestigious the Zhang family is in Korea, it cannot be compared with the royal family."
"If we just want Zhang Liang, Han Fei is indeed suitable. But Han Fei came to Han to defeat Zhang Liang, which is still a noble defeating a noble. This is not what I want. I don't just want Zhang Liang, I want the whole of Han."
"You want to seize the territory of Han to prosper the world? No! I will help you fight for the world in Xianyang, without shaking the foundation of Qin. If you want to fight against Ying Zheng with the territory of Han, the world will be in chaos whether you win or lose."
"Why would I fight for the world? To be frank, my brother the Emperor disagrees with my reforms and only allows Fusu to conduct a pilot project in the northwest. That would be too inefficient, so I plan to do it secretly."
Ying Chengjiao told Lu Buwei every detail of the dispute over the coup d'état between him and Ying Zheng in the Zhangtai Palace that day.
As he spoke, Lu Buwei's eyes became brighter and brighter.
After Ying Chengjiao finished his story, Lu Buwei smashed his right palm hard with his left fist.
"Can!"
When Lu Buwei was the prime minister, the Qin State had a completely different scene.
At that time, Xianyang was home to many chambers of commerce, and there was also the Xianyang Academy, which was modeled after the Jixia Academy, and many harsh punishments were abolished.
Lü Buwei summoned famous scholars from all over the world and wrote a book called "Lüshi Chunqiu" on how to govern the world.
On the day the book was completed, Lü Buwei hung up the Lüshi Chunqiu in the busy streets of Xianyang and announced it to the world:
If anyone can add one word, subtract one word, or change one word, he will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins.
This is the famous story of a word worth a thousand gold.
Lu Buwei founded the Eclectic School among the Hundred , claiming that the Eclectic School combined Confucianism, Mohism, and Legalism.
"Lüshi Chunqiu" is one of the representative books of eclecticism and also Lü Buwei's way of governing the country.
The dozen years when Lu Buwei was in power were the only period when Qin was not ruled purely by law.
Lu Buwei once proposed that the Qin State should cultivate local talents and not simply absorb talents from the six countries.
We should take the purpose of education as the core and apply it to important areas of governing the country, emphasizing the importance of learning quickly and respecting teachers, cultivating good habits, learning from others' strengths and making up for one's own weaknesses, and learning with an open mind.
This is completely contrary to the policies of keeping the people ignorant and weakening the people in The Book of Lord Shang.
Therefore, after Ying Zheng came to power and put down the rebellion, "Lüshi Chunqiu" became a banned book, almost all of Lü Buwei's policies were overturned, and the Qin State continued to implement Shang Yang's laws.
This is also one of the reasons why Lu Buwei was determined to push Ying Chengjiao to the throne.
He has a different path from Ying Zheng.
Before Ying Zheng returned to Qin, Ying Chengjiao was amazed by Lu Buwei's philosophy of governing the country and highly agreed with it.
Ying Chengjiao, who had never read "Lüshi Chunqiu" in his previous life, even suspected that Lü Buwei had also traveled through time after talking with him several times. This idea is so damn advanced.
The two men got along very well when they met, and Ying Chengjiao even made many suggestions to Lu Buwei in compiling "Lüshi Chunqiu".
Today, the reforms that Ying Chengjiao wants to implement are basically the same reforms that Lu Buwei wants to implement.
The two people have highly consistent opinions.
Therefore, when he learned that Ying Chengjiao was going to implement reforms secretly, Lu Buwei immediately agreed, as this was also his long-cherished wish.
"Then please use Korea as a base point and use the point to break the surface. First change Korea and defeat the Korean aristocratic families."
Lu Buwei picked up the fishing rod again, half turned around and looked at the horizontal plane.
"Qiao'er, I have never asked you this. At the beginning, I was forced by Zhao Ji to launch a mutiny in advance. Although the preparations were not sufficient, it was more than enough to capture Ying Zheng. At that time, Meng Ao's 8,000 troops would not rush into Qinian Palace for a quarter of an hour. If you had not used the Pijia Gate to disperse my army, this world would have been yours.
"If you don't want to do more, then you can sit on the throne and I will carry out the reforms, just like I served the previous king, isn't that good? People all say that I, Lu Buwei, am a powerful minister who treats Ying Zheng as a puppet. Do you think so too? Are you afraid that if you take that position, you will also be a puppet?"
Lu Buwei looked at the fishing float, but there was no fishing float in his eyes.
He had his back to Ying Chengjiao, his voice was trembling and the fishing float was shaking.
He had kept these words in his heart for many years and had never asked them out loud.
Since entering the Chang'an Palace, he has been sitting by this pond and fishing, year after year.
It’s been almost ten years and I haven’t caught a single fish.
Even so, he still fished.
He told Li Mu to test Zhao Gao, in order to test Zhao Gao on behalf of Ying Chengjiao to see if Zhao Gao had any ulterior motives.
This is a matter of loyalty to the emperor.
Also, when Ying Chengjiao was not at home, he asked Li Mu to speak on his own, which was a test for Ying Chengjiao.
This is the way of being a minister.
Even though he knew that Gai Nie was by the side of the First Emperor, this test could not be hidden from Gai Nie, who was very clear-minded but usually did not like to think too much.
Once Gai Nie informed the First Emperor, his life as the leader of the rebellion would be in danger, but he had no hesitation.
Fortunately, Gai Nie did not tell the First Emperor in the end, but only cut off his fishing rod as a warning.
He always considered Ying Chengjiao, as if he didn't care about the mutiny at all.
But how can I not care?
He personally trained Ying Chengjiao to be an armored warrior who could charge forward recklessly and was invulnerable to swords and spears.
Under the instigation of Ying Chengjiao, Lu Buwei's decades-long dreams and loyalty were shattered.
Lu Buwei was not greedy for power, but was determined to undermine Ying Zheng.
Rather, it was that Ying Zheng’s philosophy of governing the country was inconsistent with him and with that of the previous king, King Zhuangxiang of Qin.
If Lu Buwei had listened to Ying Zheng and returned to Shang Yang's methods.
That would be tantamount to admitting that King Zhuangxiang of Qin and his minister Lu Buwei had been wrong all these years.
He doesn't admit it!
He is right!
The world cannot be governed this way!
Lu Buwei never wanted to be king.
When he was a businessman, Lu Buwei thought about power.
After becoming the prime minister of a country, what Lu Buwei thought about most was his reputation.
Lü Buwei, whose surname was Jiang and whose clan name was Lü, was named Buwei.
Jiang Ziya, whose surname is Jiang and clan name is Lu, was given name Shang and courtesy name Ziya.
Lu Buwei was the 23rd generation grandson of Jiang Ziya. He wanted to leave his name in history like his ancestor.
Let the Qin State be at peace, let the world be at peace, let future generations practice the teachings of the eclectic school, and always remember him, Lu Buwei.
Before the reform in Korea.
Lu Buwei wanted an answer, even if it would make him sad, he still wanted it.
Why did you stop me back then, Little King Qin?
It’s okay if others don’t know me, Lu Buwei.
How could you, the little King of Qin, not know this?
You and I are close friends...
Although no matter what the answer was, it would not prevent Lu Buwei from carrying out reforms in Korea for Ying Chengjiao.
Lu Buwei was feeling sad when a big head came up to him, less than a foot away, and blinked.
"Uncle Lu, why are you shaking? Are you cold? Why are you crying?"
Lu Buwei was instantly defeated. He shook the fishing rod in annoyance, and most of his sadness disappeared.
"Hurry up and tell me!"
"It's very simple. Compared with the Eclectic School and the Legalist School, the Legalist School is indeed the best in terms of unifying the world. The hegemonic way unifies the world, the kingly way governs the country, Confucianism on the outside and Legalism on the inside. The best part of our Eclectic School is just starting now."
Lu Buwei was skeptical.
"Is that so? How do you conclude that the Shang Yang's methods are more likely to unify the world than the Miscellaneous School's?"
“…I just know it!”
"Are you really not afraid that I will sideline you?"
"I'm not afraid of shit. My father has been the King of Qin for decades, and I want to be one too! You didn't even discuss your mutiny with me, why don't you gather some troops and have another mutiny to pull down your brother and help me take over? I will definitely not stop you this time!"
Lu Buwei was speechless.
He is now just an old man fishing in Chang'an Junfu. How can he have any influence?
He is far from being the prime minister who had 3,000 followers and great power over the Qin State. How could he have the ability to launch another mutiny?
Without Ying Chengjiao's support, Lu Buwei X100 cannot shake Ying Zheng's position.
With the corners of his mouth raised, Lu Buwei's worries were all gone.
"Don't worry, little King Qin. I, Lü Buwei, cannot conquer Qin for you, but I can only conquer Han. Little Zhang Liang will surely be a guest of the little King Qin."
Ying Chengjiao patted Lu Buwei on the shoulder and spoke earnestly.
"Uncle Lu, next time you're bothered, just ask earlier. Why are you holding it in? You're so cunning, and I don't have the ability to read your mind, so how can I tell what you're thinking?"
“…”
