Chapter 322: If the world is good, why would the people rebel?
After entering the house, Ying Chengjiao took off his wet clothes, wiped the rain off his body with a towel, and changed into dry clothes.
Guiguzi took off his raincoat, put down his umbrella, lit a candle consciously, and closed the doors and windows to prevent any moisture from getting in.
Soybean-sized raindrops hit the wooden windows and doors, crackling like popping beans.
Inside the house, orange flames burned brightly.
Ying Chengjiao and Guiguzi sat opposite each other on either side of a table, which was empty.
"Although your words are correct, they are somewhat out of place. The country that unified the world is the Qin State where your Majesty is, and all the storms are caused by the Qin cavalry. This wind and rain that fell on Qi, Han, Yan, and Wei is a bleak thing, and we need to avoid it and hold an umbrella. But when it falls on your Majesty..."
Guiguzi stopped there and did not continue.
If he hadn't been wearing a straw raincoat and holding an umbrella today, he would have felt that Ying Chengjiao was pointing at him. Now he wouldn't have refuted anything, but would have applauded what Ying Chengjiao said.
"I think it's okay. Your Excellency has not grasped the profound meaning of it. He needs to study it more carefully."
Guiguzi lived for hundreds of years. He met and interacted with famous people such as Mozi, Fan Li, and Zhuangzi on an equal footing. His disciples Pang Juan, Sun Bin, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi stirred up the world.
Wherever he went, some people said he was hard-hearted, and some people looked down on him. But except for Ying Chengjiao, no one ever said Guiguzi was not well-educated.
Guiguzi was questioned but did not refute. He took out the map he had spread out in the morning and spread it on the table.
"Your Majesty, please send someone to Qi to kill the man with double pupils to bring peace to the world."
After this heavy rain, Guiguzi believed that Ying Chengjiao should have believed what he said.
"There's no rush at this time."
Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment, then went downstairs and picked up the oil-paper umbrella brought by Guiguzi.
Amid the crackling sound of falling rain, Guiguzi frowned, not knowing what Ying Chengjiao was going to do.
"What is your Majesty going to do?"
Ying Chengjiao responded as he walked out.
"We agreed to have a chat while eating with the prince. Now there is no wine or meat. I will go to the kitchen to get some ."
"Your Majesty!"
There was a simmering anger in Guiguzi's voice, and anyone with ears could hear it.
What time is it now? It's the time to discuss world affairs and kill Chongtongzi.
Fine wine and delicious food are just excuses. It’s best to have them, but if you don’t have them, it doesn’t matter. It’s not worth seeking them out for anything.
"Please wait a moment, my lord. I am not the kind of person who doesn't keep his word. I will be back soon."
The moment the door opened, cold wind and drizzle rushed in, and the candlelight trembled a few times in fear and almost went out. Guiguzi held the candle with one hand to block the wind and rain, and was extremely speechless.
But there was no point in remaining silent now, as Ying Chengjiao had already rushed out with an oil-paper umbrella to look for fine wine and delicious food.
Guiguzi frowned, unable to figure out why Ying Chengjiao disagreed with his opinion.
At such a critical moment, saying that he was going out to find some insignificant food and wine, wasn't this the most obvious rejection? Wasn't it to make him think about why this matter was not possible?
He pushed the window open a little, and the sound of pearls falling on a jade plate suddenly became amplified countless times.
Bang~
He let go and let the window fall freely and close, but Wang Chan's brows did not relax as the window closed.
"Your Majesty, you should know that what I said is true. Why do you disagree with me? What is the problem?"
After thinking for less than half a cup of tea, Wang Chan, who had already won the character "Zi" a long time ago, had the answer.
Not long after, only three drops of wax fell from the candle and there was a slight sound from the door.
The candle flickered, the sound of rain suddenly became heavier, and Ying Chengjiao came back with wine and meat.
On the table, there was a small bronze tripod carved with a tiger. There was a faint flame underneath. There was water in the tripod, and there was a wine bottle in the water.
Ying Chengjiao placed the small tripod in the middle of the table, then arranged the delicacies around the small tripod and sat down with a smile on his face.
Guiguzi had no idea what Ying Chengqiao was up to, so he picked up the bottle and started drinking by himself, hoping that drinking would invigorate his blood circulation and warm up his no longer strong body.
It was raining so heavily that even though he was wearing a straw raincoat and holding an oil-paper umbrella, he was still quite wet.
There were no clothes for him to change into, and the moisture was seeping into his flesh through his clothes. He was indeed feeling a little cold.
"Why."
Ying Chengjiao blocked Wang Chan's hand from taking the wine bottle and said with a smile:
"Please wait a moment, Your Majesty. This wine is a little cold. It will be more effective in removing the cold if you warm it up. Being impatient is not a good thing."
"Your Majesty is using wine as a metaphor to say that I am too impatient to kill Chong Tongzi."
The old man spoke slowly, using a declarative tone, showing complete confidence in his own judgment.
Both of them are thousand-year-old foxes. They would not play Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio or do meaningless things at this time.
"What is your Majesty thinking? Do you want to use the body of the double pupil to gather the anti-Qin forces, so as to wipe them out and eliminate the future troubles? Your Majesty has made a wax sacrifice to rebel against heaven. Now if the news of the birth of the double pupil is spread throughout the world, it will be widely publicized as the will of heaven.
"When everyone is watching, Your Majesty kills Chong Tong Zi again. This is a brilliant move. No matter how high your martial arts skills are, they are no match for Your Majesty's pistol.
"But my lord, I want to remind you that the pistol in your arms can be called a divine weapon, but you are not a god, and you will die. Killing someone when he is still young will only bring small benefits and peace. Killing someone when he is spreading his wings will bring great benefits and instability."
This is the only reason Guiguzi could think of for Ying Chengjiao not wanting to kill Chong Tongzi. Only this possibility is in line with interests, and Ying Chengjiao feels that killing Chong Tongzi now is not profitable.
Ying Chengjiao reached out and touched the wine bottle, checked the temperature, then picked it up himself and poured it into Guiguzi's wine glass.
"Good wine is warm but not hot. Drinking it at this time will relax the muscles and activate the blood circulation, and it will not burn the esophagus. It's just right."
Guiguzi glanced at his master and didn't understand what he was doing, but he felt cold and uncomfortable, so he picked up the wine glass and drank it all.
The warm wine entered his stomach and tasted mellow but not irritating to the throat. It was a type of wine that Guiguzi had never drunk before.
"How about it?"
Ying Chengjiao asked with a smile.
"Your Majesty, what you think is fine. If that is the case, I would have to think about it more..."
Ying Chengjiao pointed at the wine glass in Guiguzi's hand, in which there was one or two drops of residual wine.
"I'm talking about wine. How about wine?"
Guiguzi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then quickly opened them and nodded expressionlessly.
"Very good."
Guiguzi was a little angry, but he didn't dare to be angry in front of his master. He thought Ying Chengjiao was asking about the idea of killing Chongtongzi later, but he didn't expect that he was asking about wine!
At a time like this, what good person would ask how the wine is?
"Your Majesty, have you never drunk it?"
“I have never drunk it.”
"This is the wine I brewed using millet, a specialty of the Korean land. The prince is the second person to drink it. This wine is not strong, but it is mellow, delicious, and not intoxicating..."
Guiguzi could continue to listen to Ying Chengjiao, but he didn't want to listen anymore.
This has nothing to do with what we are talking about today. It sounds like they are talking about wine. Guiguzi is very busy. If he had not to prove the Yin-Yang magic to Ying Chengjiao today, he would have rested by now.
He didn't want to waste time on these meaningless things, so he questioned:
"Your Majesty, do you only want to talk about wine with Zen today?"
Ying Chengjiao stopped talking, slowly poured another glass of wine to Guiguzi, made a gesture to persuade him to drink, and said with a smile:
"The prince has forgotten again. Being impatient is not a good thing."
Guiguzi drank the second glass of wine in one gulp. Ying Chengjiao continued to be interrupted by Guiguzi and did not finish his words.
"The wine of the State of Chu and the wine of the State of Zhao are both famous for their strong taste, but the distilled wine I brew is many times stronger than these two. But is distilled wine the strongest wine? No.
"As technology develops and techniques become more sophisticated, the alcohol concentration will get higher and higher, and there will be distilled liquor that is stronger than mine. But we won't see that era.
"Since the intensity cannot be improved, then we can find another way, just like this Korean millet wine, which has a mellow taste..."
This time, Ying Chengjiao still hadn't finished speaking, and Guiguzi interrupted Ying Chengjiao for the second time.
He stood up, his displeasure clearly written on his face. The old man felt insulted and clasped his fists.
"If Your Majesty wants to talk about wine, I'll beg your pardon."
"Hahaha, if I were a prince, I would say, 'It's a pity that the table is empty at midnight, and you don't care about the people but only the bad wine.'"
"Your Majesty, poetry is a minor art. No matter how well you recite it, it is nothing but whining. What's more, you are reciting a style of poetry that you created yourself, which is even more useless. Please focus on the main path."
Guiguzi said with a cold face, worried that Ying Chengjiao would not reveal the true meaning of the poem, so he still saved face for Ying Chengjiao.
"Then, say something useful."
Ying Chengjiao pointed at the map on the table with a serious expression.
"Why did the prince ask me to kill Chongtongzi? Is it because he will be a great threat to the Qin State in the future?"
“Your Majesty, are you still doubting the accuracy of my words?” Guiguzi, who felt that he was not trusted, lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, then said, “Wang Chan originally thought that the heavy rain tonight should be enough to let Your Majesty know that I am not an alarmist.”
"Maharaja, look me in the eyes."
Guiguzi looked up and saw that there was not a trace of doubt in Ying Chengjiao's eyes.
"I completely trust your judgment. I just want to know if your Highness wants to kill Chongtongzi because he will be a threat to the Qin State in the future?"
Guiguzi asked in return:
"Isn't this enough?"
These five words have already given a definite answer to Ying Chengjiao's question.
"not enough!"
Ying Chengjiao said in a deep voice:
"This is just like strong liquor. Distilled liquor is stronger than the wine of the King of Chu and stronger than the Hu wine of the State of Zhao. If the State of Chu and the State of Zhao still exist, they want their own liquor to be the strongest in the world. Instead of thinking about how to brew strong liquor, they only want to overturn my distilled liquor and destroy it. What do you think of this, my lord?"
Guiguzi understood why Ying Chengjiao had been talking about wine before, and knew that Ying Chengjiao was not a person who did not know the importance of the matter , so his misunderstanding of Ying Chengjiao was resolved.
Sit down again.
"What's wrong with this? Without distilled liquor, the King of Chu's liquor would be the strongest liquor. Why make it complicated to brew when you can simply destroy it to achieve your goal?"
"Doctors have a saying: treating the symptoms but not the root cause. I don't know why the prince has such an idea. Although brewing is more difficult than destroying, it is a real improvement. Without distilled liquor, the King's Liquor of Chu is stronger than the Hu Liquor of Zhao. Should Zhao destroy the King's Liquor of Chu next ? I cannot agree with this idea of suppressing without any ambition."
Guiguzi touched the pattern on the table with his fingers and said:
"In the past, Li Mu was a general of the State of Zhao. He prevented the State of Qin from making any progress, even the god of war Wang Jian could not pass. At that time, Dun Ruo proposed a counter-espionage plan, asking Guo Kai to make false accusations, so that King Zhao Qian would sentence Li Mu to death. If it weren't for the Lord, Li Mu would have died long ago.
"Qin State used Zhao State to get rid of Li Mu and conquer Handan. What's wrong with that? If you follow what Your Majesty said, we should fight Li Mu head-on. If we lose many soldiers and generals, how can Qin State plan for the world?"
Ying Chengjiao raised a finger and shook it repeatedly.
"If it weren't for me, this would have been the case. What the prince said seems to be completely correct. However, I used the old general Lian Po to force Li Mu, and then used saddles, horseshoes and other objects to make Li Mu face reality. I saved Li Mu's life, and now Li Mu is making great strides in the northwest. Zhao is gone, but Li Mu is still alive. This is much better than what the prince said."
Guiguzi sneered.
"Your Majesty still wants to recruit him as a retainer. In my opinion, the man with double pupils will not be of use to Your Majesty."
"I don't want to take in retainers... No, it's not impossible to take in retainers, but what I want to say is not to take in retainers."
Ying Chengjiao said seriously:
"If you want stability, weakening the enemy is a last resort, and strengthening yourself is the right way. Just like South Korea, it always wanted to weaken Qin with all kinds of conspiracies and tricks, and didn't think about developing and strengthening itself, and ended up being the first to be destroyed.
"The prince said that the man with double pupils is invincible, and I believe it, but we are going to kill him knowing this? If the world remains unchanged, there will definitely be another man with double pupils? This is not preparing for a rainy day, this is worrying about nothing!"
Guiguzi’s eyes opened wide.
"This is preparation for a rainy day. Worrying about things that will never happen is worrying about things that will never happen. But this child with double pupils has been born, with the fate of the Azure Dragon, and is accompanied by the Phoenix. This astrological sign proves that he is a Chu person, and he is born with extraordinary courage and will not be inferior to others. Given time, he will definitely overthrow Chu!"
[Although this Yin-Yang technique cannot reveal Xiang Yu's name, it can reveal that he is from Chu, which is also outrageous...]
Ying Chengjiao thought about it and said:
"What is the opposite reason?"
"He is a noble of the State of Chu and wants to restore its former glory. Your Majesty does not need to think about solving this matter. Since Your Majesty wants to eliminate the nobles, enfeoffment is the old system and it cannot satisfy this boy."
"Can he accomplish anything by himself? No matter how brave he is, can he single-handedly fight his way from Qi to Xianyang, break into the Xianyang Palace, burn down the Afang Palace, and kill his brother?"
"...A person with double pupils is born as a human being. Where in the world can there be such a person?"
"That's it. If he needs followers, where do they come from? Are they nobles who want to restore their former glory? How many nobles can there be? They were suppressed by Wang Jian before they even left Qi. If they were common people, why would they join him in the rebellion?"
Guiguzi remained silent.
Ying Chengjiao poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp. His voice was not loud but very clear and steady.
"Because the world is bad! I just don't believe that if the world is good, the people would give up their good life and risk being beheaded to rebel with Chongtongzi?!
"Prince, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of your double pupils, or are you afraid of me, or my brother?"
