Chapter 79: Grandfather is really old
In a hall of the Meng Mansion.
Wang Wan, Wei Zhuang and Feng Quji were neither arrogant nor impatient, and waited at their leisure.
They sipped the tea, which was difficult for ordinary people outside to drink, with their heads down, not knowing whether Meng Ao would see them.
The Qin State was a very deformed country. From the bottom to the top, everyone in this country, except the monarch of Qin, valued military over culture.
A big country that can unify the world did not even have a complete talent training system for a hundred years - all the civil officials of Qin were not old Qin people.
In the Qin State, where military achievements were paramount, many of the older generation of military generals looked down on civil officials. No matter whether you were a prime minister or not, or what official position you held, it was all up to the king to decide.
Without military merit, you are nothing.
Meng Ao is such a person.
Wang Wan, Wei Zhuang, and Feng Quji had worked with Meng Ao before, and they already knew what kind of temper Meng Ao had.
This rude old general of the Qin State, who always had the word "bird" on his lips, had called any of them "bird people", and they did not dare to call him back.
There's nothing I can do.
On qualifications.
Meng Ao served four generations of Qin monarchs: King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Xiaowen of Qin, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, and Emperor Qin Shihuang.
Wang Wan, the most experienced of the three, was just a retainer following Ying Zheng during the reign of King Zhuangxiang of Qin.
On merit.
As Bai Qi's deputy general, Meng Ao participated in the Battle of Changping. During his lifetime, he helped Qin capture more than ten cities from Han, more than thirty cities from Zhao, and more than fifty cities from Wei.
Wei Zhuang was on guard against the Hu people.
Wang Wan sorted out internal affairs.
Feng Quji, his main job was to supervise Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan.
Although the three men made considerable contributions, they were certainly not as great as Meng Ao's actual military exploits in the land of Qin.
On loyalty.
When the Qinian Palace mutinied, Meng Ao led his army into Yongdi to defend the king and killed the rebel Lao Ai. He was a great contributor to Ying Zheng's ability to secure the throne of the Qin monarch, and Ying Zheng treated him with great respect.
No matter how loyal these three men were and what they did, they could not compare to Meng Ao, who turned the tide and provided timely assistance to Ying Zheng.
In the Qin State, Meng Ao could call anyone a birdman.
Even Wang Jian, the god of war who had the greatest military achievements in the Qin State, was scolded by Meng Ao as a birdman with eight eyes.
The three people who had suffered such humiliation would never have stepped into the gate of the Meng Mansion to visit Meng Ao if it were not for the sake of future generations.
"My father is not feeling well and cannot see guests." Meng Tian walked back to the hall and said apologetically.
The three of them all had a look of "as expected" in their eyes.
This behavior is consistent with their impression of Meng Ao's arrogance - if he can't fight, he is nothing.
"In that case, I will not bother you any more. Please take care of yourself, sir."
"It's such a pity, so I'll go back."
Wang Wan and Wei Zhuang successively expressed their intention to leave.
Feng Quji entered the Qin court relatively late and worked with Meng Ao less than Wang Wan and Wei Zhuang.
He still had some hope and said unwillingly, "Since Lord Meng is unwell, there is an acupuncturist in Quji Mansion who can be brought to treat Lord Meng."
Wang Wan and Wei Zhuang looked at each other - they were still young.
Meng Tian hesitated for a moment and shook his head to refuse.
"Grandfather has taken the medicine prescribed by the doctor and has fallen asleep. It is not appropriate to disturb him at this time."
Feng Quji followed up with, "I."
What he wanted to say was: I can bring the doctor from the mansion here first, and then treat Mr. Meng after he wakes up.
"Doctor Feng."
But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Wang Wan.
The Qin State respected the right.
Wang Wan and Wei Zhuang were both prime ministers, and in name they were equal.
However, in the court of Qin, in the minds of all the officials, Wang Wan was still superior to Gao Weizhuang.
The head of the Qin civil officials really didn't want to watch his teammates continue to embarrass themselves, so he interrupted and said, "Mr. Meng needs to rest, so we shouldn't disturb him any more. Wan has also been feeling unwell recently, could you please ask your doctor to give Wan acupuncture?"
It’s not that Feng Quji didn’t understand the meaning of Meng Tian’s words, he just wouldn’t give up.
After hearing what Wang Wan said, he had no choice but to stop and nodded, saying, "It would be a great honor for the doctor to treat the Right Prime Minister. Please come to your house."
"He is a doctor if he treats one person, and he is also a doctor if he treats two people. Do you mind if Doctor Feng goes with us?"
"It would be great if the Left Prime Minister is willing to come."
The three of them bid farewell to Meng Tian again and walked out of the Meng Mansion together.
Meng Tian stood where he was, watching the three men leaving, knowing that he had offended them badly this time.
"They have all made great contributions to Qin. Without them to support us, how can we fight bravely without any worries? Grandfather, you can treat that brat Ying Chengjiao differently, so why do you look down on Wang Wan and others?"
These days, because of Meng Ao's reasons.
Meng Tian had been observing Ying Chengjiao intentionally or unintentionally, but he really couldn't see anything unusual about Ying Chengjiao.
If I have to say something, it is that a few days ago, all the guests in the tower were sent to the Tingwei prison.
But Meng Tian really didn't like such things.
As Meng Tian was complaining, he felt a murderous aura coming from behind him.
He looked back and saw the old general Meng Ao, who had fallen asleep in his mouth just now, staring at him with a bad look.
Meng Tian hurried forward to support Meng Ao, and asked with concern: "Grandfather, why did you come out? The doctor said that you went out to visit so many generals a few days ago, and drank a lot of alcohol, which caused your spleen and kidney to be weak and your qi and blood to be insufficient. You should not move for a long time these days, and you should rest more often."
"I want you to go to the palace to find His Majesty. Why are you here in the front hall to meet these birdmen?"
"It would be impolite for his grandson not to come out and see him off when he comes to visit."
"If you don't like it, then you don't like it. Why bother with all the red tape?"
Meng Tian was supporting Meng Ao as they walked into the house. When he heard the words "red tape", he felt very familiar with them.
When I thought about it, I remembered that the last time I heard these four words from Ying Chengjiao in Chang'an Jun Mansion.
"Grandfather, why did you treat that brat Ying Chengjiao so harshly?"
"Huh?" The old general frowned and was about to get angry again.
Meng Tian said: "Lord Chang'an, Lord Chang'an."
Only then did Meng Ao's expression relax.
"Why do you treat Chang'an Jun differently, but not the left and right prime ministers, and the Imperial Censor?"
Meng Ao snorted disdainfully and said, "How can they compare with Chang'an Jun? Chang'an Jun was once... "
Meng Tian pricked up his ears and paid close attention, but he didn't hear what followed.
When he turned around, he saw Meng Ao staring at him with a very serious expression.
"Tian'er, you are trying to trick Grandfather. If you still want Grandfather to live and the Meng family to survive, don't do it again."
How could the matter of that boy be so serious that it could involve the fate of my Meng family?
Meng Tian did not believe what Meng Ao said. Even though he saw that Meng Ao's expression was unprecedentedly serious, he still felt that Meng Ao was exaggerating.
The Meng family is the only military family in the Qin State. Three generations of the Meng family have been generals who have fought on the battlefield for the Qin State. The Meng family has an extremely respected status in the Qin State.
The Wang family headed by Wang Jian cannot be called a military family. A military family must have at least three generations as generals. Now the Wang family only has two generations, Wang Jian and Wang Ben.
Although the Wang family seems to be powerful now, in fact, the Meng family still has the greater hidden power in the Qin army - Meng Ao has too many old subordinates, and they are all from the same batch as Wang Jian.
Although these old subordinates of his were not as powerful as Wang Jian who stood at the top, they were at least the backbone of the Qin army, and many of them were high-ranking officials of the Qin army.
As long as Meng Ao is alive, the Meng family will definitely be the number one military family in the Qin Dynasty.
How could the Meng family, which was so powerful, decline because of the past of a playboy? Grandfather is really old...