Wang Ji was very polite to Zhang Lu. In addition, Zhang Lu had white beard and hair, a stooped figure and looked very old, so Wang Ji let Zhang Lu sit in the car while he drove outside. The car drove onto the road and headed south. The beggar who had been around Guanyi for a few days disappeared. Of course, no one will remember: there are many beggars who appear and disappear like this every day. Like Zhang Lu, they seem to have never been to this world.
In the first few days, Wang Ji entered the hotel as scheduled. After the car passed Yinyang, Wang Ji began to be cautious. After staying in Yinyang for a day, he teamed up with a group of merchants and entered Nanyang together. After walking for a few days in sparsely populated mountainous areas, we passed Biyang and entered the realm of Wancheng. Although we have not left the mountains yet, we are still in Qin. Wang Ji separated from the merchants and went straight to Wancheng.
After completing the check-in procedures, Wang Ji heard bad news from the post official: Marquis Rang would come to Nanyang to inspect, announced the establishment of Nanyang County, appointed the county governor, and inspected the defense; and the county governor's town was in Wancheng.
Wang Ji did not take the north route to Hangu Pass, but wanted to go around the south route. To a large extent, he wanted to avoid Ranghou. Because Zhang Lu spoke ill of Ranghou as soon as they met him, Wang Ji wanted to get the credit of recommending virtuous people, but also did not want to get involved in the court struggle with Ranghou, so he wanted to secretly lure Zhang Lu into Qin and ask Zhang Lu for help. After being introduced by the King of Qin, life and death depended on him: Zhang Lu had made great contributions, and he would have to share in the benefits; Zhang Lu had lost his reputation, and he would not be affected by any misfortune. Along the way, Wang Ji did not inform Zhang Lu of his identity. He only acted as his follower and asked for a meal. But I didn't expect that King Qin would actually establish Nanyang County, and Ranghou would personally come to preside over related matters.
It has been twenty years since the Qin forces entered Chu Nanyang. In the fifteenth year of King Qin's reign, one year after the Battle of Yique, the Qin army occupied Wancheng. In the 16th year, Zuo Gengcuo led the Qin army to further seize the city of Deng. In the same year, he granted the title of Prince Fu to Wan, Prince Chu to Deng, and Prince Wei to Tao. In the twenty-seventh year, Sima Cuo, the governor of Shu, led the Qin army to occupy Chu Qianzhong County, and Chu cut Shangyong to make peace. In the twenty-eighth year, Bai Qi captured Yan. Starting from the twenty-sixth year, Qin successively moved prisoners to Nanyang to strengthen its military strength, and finally captured Ying the next year.
Interestingly, after occupying Ying, the King of Qin immediately established Nanjun in Ying and appointed the governor. However, the advanced bases for attacking Ying, such as Wan and Deng, were unable to be controlled due to the interlocking forces of all parties, especially the surrounding mountainous areas, and could only maintain point-like occupation. During the Battle of Huayang, Qin forced Han and Wei to cede all the counties and cities in the mountainous areas around Nanyang. In addition, the prince of Chu was taken hostage, and Qin completely controlled Nanyang. The time was ripe for the establishment of Nanyang County. Unlike the past when a land was conquered and a county was established on the spot, Nanyang had the power of the Qin State before. Although all parties have transferred counties and cities, it is not easy to eliminate the forces of all parties and establish a stable rule. The King of Qin then ordered Wei Ran to patrol east and handle the specific matters of establishing a county.
Of course Wang Ji would not know these things. He guessed that Marquis Rang had to pass through Wuguan Road to leave Nanyang, so he decided to take a detour, leave Dengcheng, and enter Qin by boat from Danshui. But when they arrived at Danshui Pass, they met Ranghou who had just disembarked from the boat.
Wei Ran not only brought the Qin army, but also nearly ten thousand prisoners. They were pardoned and brought their families to Nanyang to guard the border for Qin. Danshui River Estuary is very lively.
Wang Ji had no choice but to get out of the car and stand beside the car.
Someone went over to inquire and found out that it was the Qin envoy who returned to the country and reported to Marquis Rang. Wei Ran came over and recognized Wang Ji, the visitor next to King Qin, and asked, "Where are you coming from?"
Wang Ji said: "I was sent to Han and Wei by the king's order. Now I have to return to my country and resume my duties!"
Wei Ran said: "Has something changed in Guandong?"
Wang Ji said: "No change!"
Wei Ran said: "Is it true that the princes and guests come to visit you?"
Wang Ji said: "Not yet."
Wei Ran said: "It's useless, it's just disturbing the ears of the people and the country."
Wang Ji said: "I don't dare!"
Wei Ran said: "I will go to the boat to help you, but I dare not stay!"
Wang Ji and Wei Ran said goodbye to each other, pulled the cart towards Jindu, and were soon lost in the crowd.
Fan Ju said: "I have changed my words, I'm afraid Ranghou will notice it. I heard that Ranghou, a wise man, was late to see things, so I will ask for them later. Please abandon the car and drive, see you in Jinkou." He hurriedly got out of the car, Carrying the baggage is like a family member of a prisoner who has just disembarked from the ship.
Sure enough, soon a bell rang, the flag flapped, and all the prisoners and their families sat down. Wang Ji's carriage was revealed like a stone in the water. Several Qin soldiers came over, surrounded Wang Ji, and said, "Is there anyone in the car?"
Wang Jishi was shocked and said: "How dare you!"
The leading doctor showed his talisman and said: "I am ordered by Marquis Rang to pay homage to your carriage."
Wang Ji checked the talisman and said, "I sincerely offer you it!" He stood aside. Several Qin soldiers searched carefully and found nothing, so they turned around and left. All of this was naturally seen by Zhang Lu who was not far away, and he secretly thought it was a fluke!
After a while, a drum sounded and everyone stood up again, each doing their own work. Zhang Lu also followed Wang Ji's car slowly moving towards the ferry.
In order to transport these prisoners and their families, the State of Qin sent hundreds of ships, and there were densely packed ships at the mouth of Danshui River. However, all the ships have been requisitioned by Marquis Rang, and there is no ship that can operate the ferry. Wang Ji found the official in charge of the boat and showed his talisman, indicating that he wanted to cruise back to Qin. The official told him that his ship would return to Qin in two days and that another group of prisoners would arrive. Please Wang Ji stay for two days and then return with the ship. Wang Ji did not dare to return to the city for fear of running into Marquis Rang, so he found a nearby rebel to stay. Zhang Lu had been carefully observing these prisoners and their families, and had a serious chat with some of them for a while. It was difficult for those Qin people to understand the local Chu accent, but they were close to Zhang Lu's Wei accent. They thought Zhang Lu was a Wei person living here and did not shy away from chatting with him; many people were also concerned about his physical disability. Expressing sympathy, Zhang Lu only said that he was injured by the fall. During the chat, Zhang Lu had an intuitive understanding of Qin's so-called "harsh punishments and harsh laws", and a bold idea emerged in his mind.
Two days later, all the prisoners left Jinkou. Wang Ji and Zhang Lu boarded the ship under the leadership of public officials, and their carriages and horses were scattered on multiple ships for transportation. This transportation was a strategic act of the Qin State. The boatmen and ships requisitioned were all selected and used. Although there were dangerous shoals and dangerous currents along the way, there were no dangers. A few days later, the ship arrived at the Heilongtan ferry on the upper reaches of Danshui River, where the second batch of exonerated prisoners and their families were already waiting.
When Wang Ji and Zhang Lu arrived in Xianyang, it was already the end of September. Something that shocked the political arena of Qin happened just two days ago: King Yiqu, the Queen Mother's lover, suddenly died of illness!
After Wang Ji, who knew nothing about this, arrived in Xianyang, he found Zhang Lu a place to stay in Guanyi as usual, indicating that he was a sage found from the Six Kingdoms and was going to introduce him to the King of Qin. There are many such situations. Almost everyone who goes to a foreign country as an envoy will find a few wise men left in the wilderness, and these people are still used by the Qin State to a greater or lesser extent. Therefore, the post officials still have some respect for Zhang Lu.
After Zhang Lu was settled, Wang Jizhi went to the palace to take care of business. As soon as he entered the palace, he was pulled into the palace by the visitor Pu She, who told him nervously that King Yiqu died suddenly!
Yiqu is an area where Rong people are relatively concentrated. It is on the Loess Plateau on the north bank of Jingshui River, five or six hundred miles away from Xianyang. During the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, he had already conquered it as a county of Qin, but he rebelled again under the inducement of the princes. Although he was defeated later and maintained peace with Qin, it was always a hidden danger.
When the King of Qin first came to the throne, the young Queen Mother fell in love at first sight with the equally young King Yiqu who came to pay homage. They were inseparable for more than thirty years and both gave birth to two children. At first, King Yiqu had to go back to Yiqu to handle the internal affairs of the tribe. As the two children grew up, King Yiqu was happy to leave all the affairs of Yiqu to the two children, and he retired in the Queen Mother's Ganquan Palace. Unexpectedly, as the New Year approaches (the Qin Dynasty regards October as the New Year, so-called Jianhai), the old man suddenly died without warning when he was happy! The King of Qin ordered that the news be strictly sealed. The two princes of Yiqu and the two half-brothers of the King of Qin could only deal with it when they came back to celebrate the New Year. Therefore, the outside world knew nothing about the death of King Yiqu, and everything in Xianyang City was as usual.
However, this is not the case for the upper echelons of Qin Ting, and various actions are being launched urgently. Both Jingyang Lord and Gaoling Lord were sent back to their fiefdoms to secretly mobilize their forces to prepare for war. In Xianyang City, the atmosphere of New Year celebrations has not diminished slightly, as everyone celebrates the harvest.
Huang Xie is one of the few people who has noticed a hint of ominousness from the surface calm: Wu Anjun, Zuo Gengcuo, Zhonggeng Hu Yang, and even the young and promising Sima Jin have not appeared in the court recently; Huayang Jun Mi Rong He stationed himself in Wangyi Palace, which was originally managed by Marquis Rang.
The Chu delegation has now been transferred to Guanyi Zhong next to Xianyang Palace in Weibei, while Zhang Lu lives in Guanyi Zhong next to Zhangtai Palace in Weinan - that is where Huang Xie and others lived before. So Huang Xie didn't know that Zhang Lu had entered Xianyang. Since the prince of Chu was taken hostage, the prince and Huang Xie went to court every day. After going to court, the prince studied under the guidance of Prince Fu. The most important way of learning was that Prince Fu recited an ancient essay and the prince dictated it; after writing it, the prince asked Copy and recite it repeatedly until you can write it down silently. During this process, Prince Fu Hui explained and developed this document from ancient times to the present, interspersed with the principles of dealing with people, methods of managing the world and benefiting the people, principles and experiences in managing the country, the deeds or lessons of the predecessors, and All kinds of small talk and big ideas. The two accompanying readers usually sit behind the prince. In addition to taking care of the prince's daily life, they also participate in discussions on issues. Their main task is to express some unwise or even stupid opinions for the prince to criticize. After the lunch break, the prince has to complete martial arts training: it is currently in the initial stage, and the main content is archery and chariot driving; in the future, there will be long soldiers and short soldiers, chariot battles and infantry battles, as well as the tactical coordination of multiple people. Huang Xie applied for the bow and arrow from Mi Rong in the court hall. He also applied for the bow and arrow, which were made of cowhide. The bow is soft and the arrows have no arrowheads. They can be used for training, but they have no lethality.
