Chapter 19: Brother, do you know Gai Nie?
Li Si's point of view was: Han was weak and small, but connected to the other countries. As long as Han was conquered, Qin would be able to drive a wedge into the Central Plains. It would be best if it could use Han as a springboard to attack the other countries.
Han Fei's viewpoint was that to unify the world, one must have a legitimate reason to attack Han. Han now regarded Qin as its suzerain, and whether it was defeated or not, Han was under Qin's control. Moreover, Qin had previously said that it would not attack Han, so attacking Han without a reason would be a betrayal.
Even if they conquered it, the other countries would surely unite to resist Qin after seeing how brutal it was, which would be detrimental to Qin's unification of the world . It would be better to attack Zhao first, as Qin and Zhao were enemies for generations, and it would be hard for other countries to say anything if they attacked Zhao. Han would be left at the end, and when Qin destroyed the other five countries, Han would naturally belong to Qin.
The First Emperor was hesitant.
On one side is the talented Han Fei who wrote "Han Feizi", and on the other side is Li Si who helped him solve many problems.
The First Emperor didn't know who to listen to, so he sent them both away and decided to put the matter aside until tomorrow.
As a result, that night, Li Si broke into the Xianyang Palace and said something to the First Emperor after seeing him.
"Han Fei is a prince of the Kingdom of Han. His position is of course to preserve the Kingdom of Han. Your Majesty, can't you even see this clearly?"
The First Emperor suddenly realized the truth, and in a fit of rage, he put Han Fei in prison in Xianyang and decided to attack the Kingdom of Han first.
The next day, after his anger had subsided, Ying Zheng went to the Xianyang prison in person, wanting to release Han Fei, but found that Han Fei was dead.
Afterwards, a rumor spread that Li Si was jealous of Han Fei's talent and fearing that his position would be lost, so he poisoned Han Fei to death overnight.
"Brother, since Brother Han Fei's death, we haven't seen each other for eight or nine years, right?"
Zhang Cang's fat face was twitching, and his heart was twitching just like his face.
"Today, I will ask the same question again. Brother Han Fei, did you kill him?"
Li Si was silent for a moment.
"If I say yes, according to Qin law, I will be beheaded."
Zhang Cang shuddered and moved his body back. He could hardly recognize this senior brother.
Li Si's words were tantamount to admitting that he was the one who killed Han Fei.
If you say yes, it is against Qin law and you will be beheaded, so you can’t say it.
But if you didn't kill him, you could just say no. Why say all this?
Li Si was silent.
He was ready for Zhang Cang to leave in anger.
At the Jixia Academy, Han Fei was the only wealthy one among the three and he often helped the other two.
Zhang Cang loved to have fun, eat and drink, and he spent a lot of money on Han Fei.
Zhang Cang often said to Li Si: "If it weren't for my senior brother Han Fei, I would have left the Jixia Academy long ago."
Li Si knew Zhang Cang's feelings for Han Fei.
After Han Fei's death , Zhang Cang never had any contact with him again. This visit was the first time the two brothers met in so many years.
Gurgle~
"You're crazy!"
Li Si snatched the teapot from Zhang Cang's hand and threw it to the ground.
The tea splashed everywhere and you could see the steam rising on the ground.
Li Si was filled with anger, and his stern face turned very dark.
"This tea soup is freshly brewed , and you just poured it directly into your mouth. I haven't seen you for all these years. Have you become an idiot who doesn't know the difference between hot and cold?"
Zhang Cang gasped for breath, and felt an intense burning sensation from his mouth to his esophagus and stomach.
Just now he held the teapot, used his mouth as a cup, and poured the tea without any care.
The boiling hot tea flowed through his body, and the high temperature made him very painful.
"Brother, hiss!"
Zhang Cang took a breath of cold air.
He had blisters on his tongue from the burns, which inevitably would get touched whenever he spoke, and it was very painful.
"Someone! Bring some cold water!"
Gurgle~
Phew~
The servant brought some cold water, and Zhang Cang held it in his mouth, gargled and spit it out, repeating the process over and over again.
After the whole pot of cold water was used up, Zhang Cang finally drank the cold water in his mouth. He felt much better and stopped Li Si who was about to get him more cold water.
"It's all right."
Li Si said in a complicated tone, "What are you doing? I've only heard of men dying for women, but I've never heard of men dying for men."
"Nothing, just a mad fit."
Crazy.
This was the first time Li Si heard this word.
After thinking for a moment, I roughly understood the meaning of the word.
"The word '抽' is quite interesting. The action of '抽' is sudden and short, which fits your behavior just now. You are really good at making up words."
“I heard it from others.”
Li Si did not ask who that person was, there was no need.
It's just making up a word, not publishing a book.
"Brother, don't pretend in front of me."
Zhang Cang stuck out his tongue and took two breaths of cool air.
It still hurts even after taking a cold shower!
"You certainly wouldn't go to Xianyang Palace before you figured out the situation. Are you wondering why Meng Yi would mobilize the city defense forces to make large-scale arrests?"
It was as if he had never asked Han Fei before.
Zhang Cang changed the topic and returned to what his fellow apprentices had talked about at the beginning.
Li Si really had nothing to hide in front of Zhang Cang. They were from the same school and had once had a very close relationship.
He couldn't hide this from Zhang Cang, so he didn't hide it.
"good."
Li Si nodded.
"Now that the war has ended, the country has fought several wars, and the good farmland has been abandoned. The people are in peace, and it is time to rest and recuperate. The Meng family is a family of military generals. Without wars, they have no place to use their military power. If the Meng family wants to continue to have a place in the court, Meng Yi alone is not enough. I guess the Meng family may have set their sights on my position as the court judge, and this is just a test. What I don't know now is whether Your Majesty knows about the Meng family's actions."
Phew~
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zhang Cang couldn't help laughing out loud, pointing at Li Si and laughing.
“Brother, brother! You are suffering from paranoia! Hahahahahaha!”
Seeing Zhang Cang's expression, Li Si knew that Zhang Cang must know something that he didn't know.
I was confused.
My junior fellow apprentice is just an imperial censor. He holds a low position and has little power. He is not even qualified to attend court.
He spends all day in the tower, drunken and dreaming. There is something he can know that I don't know.
"From the look of you, isn't that the case?"
Zhang Cang laughed enough, took a few breaths and said, "Of course not. Meng Yi's actions this time have nothing to do with you. Military families like the Meng family never value positions, they only value titles. You should do what you should do, go to the palace to meet His Majesty and report this matter. You don't need to think too much."
Li Si shook his head.
"You know me well. I can't be convinced by your argument. The Minister of Justice is a powerful minister who is in charge of the national justice. In the absence of war, if you want to be promoted to a noble title, it is impossible without a powerful position."
"Being a Tingwei can lead to a higher rank? Qin has a total of twenty ranks of military rank, and after the fifteenth rank, only military ranks can lead to higher ranks. Meng Tian is already the sixteenth rank of Da Shangzao, and Meng Wu is the fifteenth rank of Shao Shangzao. Even if they become Tingwei, they cannot be promoted. Meng Yi's rank is lower, but his Neishi is also one of the powerful Shangqing, not inferior to Tingwei, my senior brother."
"There are only a few people in the Meng family who are qualified to take over the position of Tingwei, senior brother . Senior brother, please tell me, who among the three can take over? Senior brother, you don't think that the Meng family's pillar of stability, the veteran general Meng Gong of four dynasties, will come out, right?"
"Even if he leaves the seclusion, Lord Meng is still a Marquis of Guannei, and the next step up is Marquis of Che. In the entire Qin State, only the princes became Marquis of Che by virtue of their merits in destroying other states. As for the position of Tingwei, the 15th level of Shaoshang Cultivation is already the pinnacle. Brother, do you think too highly of the position of Tingwei?"
Li Si ordered his servants to fetch some cold water, pour it into a cup and hand it to Zhang Cang.
"The Meng family has many descendants, and they are deeply trusted by His Majesty. It is not unknown that another Meng family member will be promoted to occupy the position of the Supreme Court. You said that I attach too much importance to the position of Supreme Court, then you can tell me, besides the Supreme Court, which is actually powerful, what else is worthy of Meng Yi to go to war and arrest people at will."
Zhang Cang drank the cold water and shook his head helplessly.
Senior brother is still so stubborn and cautious. It seems that if I don’t tell him the truth, he will never believe that what the Meng family wants has nothing to do with him.
"Brother, do you know Gai Nie?"
