Chapter 369: Is the legend of Yue Girl’s Sword fake?
"You go on tour on my behalf, so what am I going to do? Continue to give birth to nephews and nieces for you in the Sixth Prince's Palace?"
The First Emperor laughed.
He knew that his brother was worried that the remnants of the six kingdoms would attempt to assassinate him, and wanted to take the risk for him.
Patted Ying Chengjiao on the shoulder.
"I appreciate your kindness, but I am on this tour to suppress those rats in the gutter, so that they dare not raise their heads and allow the Qin Dynasty to develop steadily. I am here to target these villains, so there is no reason for me to avoid them."
Yong land.
The Imperial Temple was very large, and the incense that burned all year round had a strong aroma that made Ying Chengjiao often wonder if there was some kind of incense mixed in, even someone with a keen nose wouldn't be able to detect it.
The tablets of the ancestors of the Qin State are placed on it, from Qin Fuzi, who founded the Qin State, to King Zhuangxiang of Qin, the father of the two.
The sacrificial prey was placed on a long offering table. In the front were three animals: a sheep's head, an ox's head, and a wild boar's head, also known as Tailao, which was the highest standard of sacrifice.
At the back were various meats that had been disassembled and cooked, including venison, rabbit meat, etc. These were all prey that the two brothers had hunted in Luming Garden.
"How about the regent? Fang'er's power has been lost, and his physical strength is not as good as before. If you really want to help me, how about staying in Xianyang to regent? Prime Minister Lu Buwei, Lieutenant Lian Po, and Minister of Grain Fu Zikang are all your people, and they obey you. I will feel more at ease if you are the regent, and my father will not say that I have treated you unfairly."
Looking at the tablet of his late father, Ying Chengjiao recalled his father, Ying Zichu, who used to be indifferent to everything and seemed to have mediocre abilities, but who had stood out against all odds on several major issues and let the entire Qin State know who was the real ruler.
His father usually did not act like a king, and he was friendly with everyone, calling them brothers, and he never mentioned the crime of usurping power. The king did what the superiors did, and so did the ministers and the people.
In just a few years, Xianyang, which was once a city with strict laws and lifeless atmosphere, began to show unprecedented vitality.
Chambers of commerce came here to open shops, and people of insight came here to join the academy to discuss national affairs. In those years, Xianyang was the most prosperous city in the world, and people flocked to it.
At that time, Ying Zichu often said to his youngest son:
"Little King Qin, take good care of the house. I have summoned your uncle Lu to come here. You and your uncle Lu will review the memorials. I will take your mother out for a walk."
Ying Chengjiao smiled.
“No, I cannot be king.
"Even if the reform fails, I still have you, my brother. As long as you are here, Qin will remain Qin, and there will be no major changes."
The First Emperor pointed at his brother and smiled at the tablet with the name of King Zhuangxiang of Qin written on it:
"Father, this boy doesn't want to be king, not me bullying him."
She lifted up her skirt and sat on the futon on the ground.
"I just want you to be the regent, not the king. Is that not okay?"
"What's the difference between being a regent and being a king? When I get to that position, my special status will make my retainers, such as Mi Sui, feel strange, and they will no longer treat me as a minister. Others will be influenced by them and gradually elevate my position. Once the white gloves are in power, the nature of the situation will change."
The First Emperor gave him a puzzled look, and Ying Chengjiao explained:
"White gloves are people who do the dirty work for you. If you want to reform the law, the king must not be the one to do it himself."
"Then you are not a white glove. I don't want to change the law, it's you who always wants to do things. My father's way is outdated and doesn't work. Today in front of my father, I dare to say that if my father is still on the throne today, the world will not be named Ying."
Ying Chengjiao nodded, he did not deny it.
Lu Buwei's eclectic school was certainly more powerful than the Legalists in governing the country, but when it came to foreign warfare, there was no system more powerful than the Legalists' twenty levels of military honors.
If you want to unify the world in the shortest time possible, and if you have sufficient resources, it will always be faster to increase the number of troops.
"You are not a king, but you are doing the king's work. You are more elegant than me as a king."
"If I am not the king, the Qin Empire will be as stable as Mount Tai."
"You are just too timid."
The First Emperor scolded him, looking very disappointed in him.
"Why are you afraid of them? As long as you think it is right, you should do it. What can they do to you? The world belongs to our Ying family! If you don't become a king and don't distinguish yourself from them, you will eventually be restrained by them and can't use your power to suppress others.
"The county system, book burning, unified writing, unified wheel gauge, unified ethics, which one of these decrees do these nobles not oppose? I allow them to oppose, I allow them to not understand. But when I give an order, they have to do it, this is the king!"
The First Emperor knew what his brother was worried about.
In all dynasties, it was the ministers who led the charge in reforming the country, and the king never took part.
As long as there is a reform, the interests of the old forces will be seriously infringed. Regardless of whether the reform succeeds or fails, the reformers will be attacked by the old forces.
Shang Yang, the reformer of Qin State, was executed by being torn apart by five oxen after the death of Duke Xiao of Qin.
Shen Buhai, the reformer of the State of Han, died of natural causes without any illness the following year after the death of Han Zhaohou. He was 52 years old.
Wu Qi, a reformer of the Chu State, was shot to death by arrows while lying on the coffin of King Dao of Chu after his death.
Reformers rarely have a good ending. If the king takes the initiative to reform, it is the king who will suffer the backlash. The country will at least experience a great turmoil, and at most it will be destroyed.
Ying Chengjiao had learned too many warnings from history. He ended the prosperous Sui Dynasty of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, but died in the second generation because he created the imperial examination system which touched the interests of the aristocratic families.
The same is true for Qin.
After the inexplicable death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in Shazhou, the six kingdoms were restored one after another.
However, the civil and military officials who followed the First Emperor to conquer the six kingdoms collectively lost contact, resulting in the remnants of the six kingdoms, which were far less powerful than before, destroying the most martial Qin Kingdom with untrained peasants who used wooden sticks as weapons.
If Wang Jian's death due to old age is understandable, what about famous generals like Wang Ben and Li Xin? They didn't even see a shadow in the war to destroy Qin.
"They are my subjects. They can give me advice, but the final decision can only be made by me!"
The First Emperor said it in a decisive tone.
He had never thought about these things, and he was too lazy to think about them. These little things didn't even enter his mind.
As long as he is alive, he can suppress everything.
[According to normal history, you did suppress everything when you were alive. After your death, everything turned upside down and the Qin Dynasty fell.]
Ying Chengjiao rolled his eyes.
The First Emperor personally initiated the reform, and the Qin Dynasty perished during the Second Emperor's reign.
The feudal system, the same writing system, the same wheel gauge, and the same ethics, these policies were much more important than the policies proposed by Ying Chengjiao to abolish towers and slaves.
"You don't want me to reform, but you always want to push me to the throne. Brother, you are very contradictory. Aren't you afraid that I will reform on the first day I become regent?"
The First Emperor raised his eyebrows.
"Have you agreed to be the regent?"
Ying Chengjiao, who was a little dazed by the incense, shook his head and walked out.
After offering sacrifices to his ancestors, he wanted to go home.
“No!”
After Ying Chengjiao left, the First Emperor left behind a palace maid and ordered the other palace maids and eunuchs to leave the Taimiao.
"Mother, you heard it. This bastard would not do it even if I asked him to be king."
The palace maid raised her head, her face was pure and beautiful without any embellishment, it was none other than the Queen Mother Zhao Ji of the Qin Dynasty.
Zhao Ji seemed to be thinking about something, her eyes were unusually sharp.
"That bastard must have discovered my presence and said this on purpose for my ears!"
"If my mother hid herself, she would not be able to hide from Cheng Jiao. But if Cheng Jiao could accurately find my mother among so many palace maids, Xia Wuqie and Zhang Han could not do it with such a strong sensing ability."
Zhao Ji glanced at the tablet of King Zhuangxiang of Qin.
"I know, you don't need to tell me. That guy never took me seriously, and even if he knew I was there, he didn't bother to put on a show. That guy didn't respond, and I can see you're very disappointed. Is this throne really like a furnace, and sitting on it will burn your butt? When I didn't take you back to Qin, wasn't that what you wanted?"
The First Emperor's expression straightened.
"Mother is joking, Zheng'er..."
"Okay, you can leave now. I'm really upset that so many people have come to Yongdi all at once. Take them away quickly."
The First Emperor was interrupted, but he was not angry and responded with a smile.
When leaving the Taimiao, he looked back at the tablets of Qin emperors of all dynasties.
"When you ascend to the throne, you will be more restrained and realize that your reforms are not necessarily a good thing. The entire court will go to great lengths to discuss your decision, analyzing your decree thoroughly from the inside out.
"You are not a king, so you cannot listen to the advice from all sides. You only listen to the opinions of your retainers in the Chang'an Palace. This is partial listening and blindness. Those retainers who hope to become nobles certainly hope for reform. If they don't reform, how can they get ahead?"
The First Emperor was not afraid that his younger brother would act recklessly after taking the throne.
He understood Ying Chengjiao, and knew that this brother, who was called a "boy" by others and often called himself a "boy", had a big heart that could accommodate the entire Qin Empire.
If Ying Chengjiao was not like this, with his current financial resources, power and status, he could have enjoyed the pleasures of the world long ago, and would not have bothered to carry out thankless reforms.
Inside the Taimiao.
Zhao Ji, who was left alone here, picked up the tablet of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, her husband Ying Zichu.
"That guy has the same temperament as you, he will never achieve anything great."
The tablet fell accidentally and hit the ground.
Zhao Ji picked up the tablet. Judging from the bumps on the corners, this was not the first time it had been dropped.
"He saved Zheng'er again and gave him the gun. Your son is much better than you, the king who abandoned his wife and children."
The La Festival is over.
Going back to Xianyang.
Before leaving, Ying Chengjiao unexpectedly received an invitation from Zhao Ji.
Ying Chengjiao turned his head to look at the First Emperor beside him and whispered:
"What does your mother want to do now? Are you going to kill me again?"
Ever since he and the First Emperor had performed a play for Zhao Ji in Xianyang, he thought that Zhao Ji and he had no more intersections. Anyway, if the positions were reversed, she would definitely not look for him unless she killed someone.
The First Emperor frowned. Zhao Ji went to see Ying Chengjiao this time without saying hello to him.
"I will go with you."
The female guard who came to deliver the message was neither humble nor arrogant, and she remained calm in the face of the First Emperor.
He bowed his head slightly, apologetically saying:
"The Queen Mother said that she only saw Lord Chang'an."
The First Emperor narrowed his eyes, with anger gathering between his brows.
Ying Chengjiao patted the First Emperor, took the female guard's hand and strode away.
"Come on, let me see what mother wants to tell me."
The beautiful female guard serving Zhao Ji had never been treated so frivolously before. Her face turned cold and she pulled her hand away forcefully.
"Why, you won't let me touch you?"
Ying Chengjiao said with a smile, raising his arm in the air.
"Then please lead the way."
[It seems like she doesn’t want to kill me, otherwise this woman would definitely not have shaken me off.]
This time when he came to Yongdi, the beautiful female guard in front of him was inseparable from Zhao Ji. From the aura of the female guard, Ying Chengjiao could tell that her martial arts skills were not as good as Yue Nu's, but they were not much worse.
This martial arts master must be Zhao Ji's new confidant. If Zhao Ji wanted to kill his female guard, she would definitely know it.
He abruptly grabbed the female guard's hand. If the female guard did not shake off and endured it, there would be a great possibility that Zhao Ji would do something bad to him later.
He and Zhao Ji were enemies, but Zhao Ji's confidant could tolerate his frivolity, probably because she knew that he would pay a greater price later.
In the palace, Zhao Ji, dressed in military uniform, sat back on a soft chair and said to Ying Chengjiao, who was brought in by the female guards and was about to sit down:
"No need to sit down. I really hate your tightness."
Ying Chengjiao sat down and said with a smile:
"There is no reason in the world for a mother to be tired of her son."
The female guard returned to Zhao Ji's back with undisguised contempt in her eyes.
[Bad temper, no sense of shame! ]
Zhao Ji sneered.
"You insulted me in every way in Xianyang, but when we got to Yongdi, you called me mother. Is this the generosity of a winner towards a loser?"
Ying Chengjiao yawned and said casually:
"The main thing is that I don't want to make things difficult for my brother. If you have anything to say, just tell me. I really don't want to stay in Yongdi with you here."
Zhao Ji, who also didn't want to live under the same roof with Ying Chengjiao, went straight to the point.
"I killed Teng."
Ying Chengjiao frowned.
Teng, also known as Nei Shi Teng.
The Nei Shi was an official in charge of the affairs of the capital city, Xianyang. His status was higher than that of the county governors and he was one of the Nine Ministers, which is the current position of Meng Yi.
Nei Shi Teng once served as a representative of the Qin State and accepted the land ceded by the Han State. Later, he managed the local area in Nanjun, laying the rear foundation for Qin's attack on Chu.
Teng was also the first Iron Eagle Swordsman instructor. He was one of the first group of people following Ying Chengjiao and was once deeply trusted by Ying Chengjiao.
Finally, he resigned from his official position because he was fascinated by the beauty of Zhao Ji and fell at her feet.
"Are you saying this to make me hate you even more?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
Zhao Ji said coldly:
"With your ability, it's not difficult to find out that Yuenu killed Teng. I don't know why you have been so tolerant. I don't know whether your feelings for Teng were fake, or you are cold-hearted, or you have deep feelings for Yuenu. Today I will tell you that I deliberately wanted Yuenu to kill Teng to plant a thorn in your heart."
Ying Chengjiao was silent for a moment and said:
"Is that why you are telling me this today? You are seriously ill and will die soon, so you feel guilty?"
"You saved Zheng'er. The people of Zhao clearly distinguish between gratitude and resentment, and repay favors with kindness."
Zhao Ji's expression was still stern, and there was still disgust in her eyes when she looked at Ying Chengjiao.
"Got it. Thanks."
Ying Chengjiao waved his hand and was about to go out.
"etc."
Ying Chengjiao stopped and said helplessly without turning back:
"What happened again?"
Zhao Ji's voice was still cold.
"The legend of the Yue Girl Sword is false."
