The stranger and his party carried ten coffins and trudged forward on the rugged mountain road. Ten of the fifty people brought out were dead, and four returned to Daliang. The remaining thirty-six people, led by a public servant, temporarily took on the role of coachmen. Although they are all swordsmen or pedestrians with both civil and military skills, at this time, their hearts have turned into despair, and they only use simple and heavy physical work to relieve their confusion and loss. I originally thought that following the prince as a hostage would be the way to get ahead in the career. Unexpectedly, God's unpredictable fate caused the prince to die suddenly in this way. As bodyguards, they were all guilty of ineffective protection! When they return to Xianyang, they will all be held accountable, and it is very likely that they will be sentenced to death or even be exterminated. Their only hope is that they still have some titles that can be used to offset their punishment. If they can save the lives of their families, they will be satisfied. ——If you run away, your whole family will definitely suffer.
From Chenggao to Xianyang, we originally had to pass through Luoyang. However, this convoy was carrying coffins and it was inconvenient to enter such a bustling world. They chose to avoid the city and take quiet roads along the way. When resting, they usually find a place to stay in a small town. Sometimes they even squeeze in under the eaves of other people's houses, catch some rainwater and eat some fried millet. This is not only the case for those who are both civil and military, but also for young masters, five great officials, clan members, judges, retainers... It seems that everyone is not in a good mood and deliberately suffers to offset the pain in their hearts.
After traveling all the way, eating and sleeping in the open air, we finally entered Hangu Pass ten days later. Guan Wei has received the order, and the prince's entourage was immediately taken into custody. The coffin was sent to be taken care of by the Hangu Pass garrison. Yiren and his party also temporarily stayed at Hangu Pass, waiting for further orders. The judge and the fifth doctor made a copy of their findings and sent it to the post station as an urgent matter to Xianyang.
Ten days later, the envoys and five officials who were sent to Daliang came back with the entourage who stayed at Liangxi Post. All the attendants, including the three women and children, were also imprisoned, awaiting retribution.
In Xianyang City, uneasiness filled everyone's heart... The "Four Nobles" were no longer in charge of the court, but An Guojun and Zhang Lu. This made officials who were familiar with Ranghou, Huayang and others' acting styles very worried. Not adaptable. What's more, the guest minister who was appointed to be in charge of the military looked so old and in such poor health that it seemed as if a gust of wind would blow him apart. With his body and bones, could he go to the front line to command a war? Look at Ranghou, who is over seventy years old, but his figure is still so strong. Standing on the car, he looks like an upright spear, pointing straight into the sky! The guest minister looks old and has a bad temper. If he disagrees with him, he will be dismissed from his post and replaced. In the past two months, nearly half of the officials who can enter the main hall are newly promoted.
Just when all the officials were panicking and everyone was in danger, news came that the prince had drowned. The King of Qin went down to the ministers to discuss a solution. An Guojun and Zhang Lu took the lead, and the lieutenants, Weiwei, Langzhong, Taipu, Tingwei, Dianke, Fengchang, Zongzheng, Shaofu, and internal history were all in place, and the entire country revolved around responding to the death of the prince.
In case of emergency, Qin State immediately started to operate efficiently. Each department proposed countermeasures for its area of responsibility and appointed corresponding officials; after review by An Guojun and Zhang Lu, they were summarized and reported to the King of Qin for approval. As for the candidates who would go to Chenggao to receive the prince's coffin, the King of Qin gave special instructions that Lord An Guo should select them from among the adult princes. Everyone guessed that An Guojun would send his eldest son or legitimate son as an envoy. Unexpectedly, An Guojun sent the youngest concubine among the adult princes! Some people secretly thought that this was disrespectful to the prince. However, since neither King Qin nor Zongzheng raised different opinions, the opinions of these people were not publicly expressed.
Sending envoys to receive the prince's coffin is only a small part of the entire process. It already includes a series of complex and contradictory tasks such as stabilizing the mood of the entourage, maintaining internal stability, investigating and pursuing responsibilities, coordinating internal and external relations, and so on. Across the country, a series of departments including internal affairs, foreign affairs, government affairs, military, engineering, commerce, and security must take action to form a complete system and operate in a coordinated manner. An Guojun and Zhang Lu, two seemingly sickly people, actually showed strong organizational and coordination skills: An Guojun was in charge of the center, and Zhang Lu handled the details. Many difficult matters were solved smoothly through the coordination of the two. King Qin only needed to write the word "ke". During the course of the incident, all the ministers also saw Zhang Lu's excellent command and coordination ability and affinity, which was completely different from the man who wanted to remove people from their posts at every turn!
The news that the prince's coffin arrived in Hangu reached Xianyang, and at the same time, the Tingwei Mansion and the Guowei Mansion were engaged in investigating the prince's entourage. Tingwei and Guowei reviewed the case documents respectively and came to report to Zhang Lu and An Guojun. Both of them first stated that the prince's entourage "respected and mourned", "answered all questions one by one", "had endless feelings", "said all the same things", "and related to what he said" and "all in a comprehensive list" and so on. Then he described the situation at that time based on the report: "A large whirlpool arose in the water without warning. The first boat entered first, followed by the second boat. The three boats were about to leave but could not be reached, and they were also trapped. In a moment, the three boats were capsized and the level remained the same. . ""At that time, the guards all took small boats and advanced in front, back, left, and right of the big boat. When the incident occurred, they were all out of reach. When they realized that the level was the same as before, the boat was completely broken into pieces. After a while, there were boats and people who were killed intermittently. He drove the boat to pick it up and returned it to the shore, but there was no one alive. "" Several corpses were found in one day, and the young master and the Wei envoy Duanzi all found them, but the prince was not seen. So he returned to the boat to Chenggao to ask for help. Yu Shou received his help, and the next day he buried the prince's body and the other four bodies at the bottom of the river. The remaining two people were still unavailable. ""He was given ten coffins until he was convicted."
When it comes to everyone's guilt, Guowei holds that "if the leader loses the battle, all the followers will be beheaded" as a rule, and advocates that the followers should be beheaded. Tingwei believed that this matter should not be treated as a battle, but as a theft.
An Guojun was a little angry and said: "To lose the prince is to be a thief of the country! How can a general and a thief be comparable? I would like to discuss it again!"
Tingwei said: "I would like to follow the Qin law and discuss the crime. The Qin law does not offend the prince and the country's thieves. I hope you will investigate it!"
Zhang Lu quickly took it over and said: "Wei Qing and others should discuss the crime with the law and get justice. You can ask the courtiers to discuss it and ask the king to get his opinion!"
All three said yes.
The next day, the crimes of Guowei and Tingwei were sent to the courtiers for discussion. Someone immediately suggested that the crimes were too minor, especially that Tingwei thought it was stolen and it was not allowed to use people as things. Someone suggested that the loss of the prince should be considered as treason. Tingwei said: "The loss of the prince was due to an accident. It is not a conspiracy, and it cannot be considered as treason."
Another person said: "The captain of the state said he lost his general and said he could get it close by, but it was still not possible. If he lost his general and went north, he could get it close!"
Tingwei still retorted: "The prince's mission to Zhi was not to fight. The prince died, but the mission was not humiliated. Now Zhi is still in Qin!"
Everyone debated repeatedly but could not get the point, and Tingwei refuted them one by one. King Qin was a little tired after hearing this, so he asked Zhang Lu, "What do you think of Zhang Qing?"
Zhang Lu pondered and said: "I have something to think about, but I haven't found the answer yet, so I dare not speak."
The King of Qin said: "What I have said is of high quality."
Zhang Lu said: "What I am thinking about is the death of the prince. Is it the fault of the ministers? Or is it the fault of Wei? If Wei hadn't threatened the prince with the prince and demanded death from Qin, the prince would still be in Liang. If it weren't for Wei Jian holding the waterway, As they rode on, the prince should arrive at Luoyang, where Mengjin had crossed the river and had reached the east of the river. How could the ministers get through? Those who followed the guards in the boat were all ink in the river. So far, no bones of the two sons have been left. The rest of the princes have gone to the disaster together. , How can it help the matter? The watermen came out of the huge whirlpool, and something unexpected happened, which is beyond human power. I think it is inappropriate to blame all the ministers! The blame should be placed on Wei."
Zhang Lu's words seemed to remind the officials of the Qin court: Although there are some strong words, it is better to find a reason to ask for benefits from Wei than to punish one's own people! Although some people find it difficult to vent their anger without severely punishing those followers, it is still very interesting to use this as an excuse to blackmail Wei Guo. The court fell silent for a moment.
King Qin looked at Lord An. An Guojun said respectfully: "I think Zhang Qing's words are quite advisable, and I would like to ask you to discuss them in detail to get a plan!"
The King of Qin said: "I will order you two to report to me carefully with all the departments!"
After discussing this major matter and dealing with a few minor matters, An Guojun announced that the dynasty would be dismissed.
A few days later, the edict reached Hangu, but none of the prince's followers knew about Wei's treacherous plan, so the prince fell into Wei's treacherous plan and died. Regardless of the death of the young master, all officials below five will be flogged for thirty years and fined for one year. There was great joy in Hangu Pass!
The prince set up a mourning hall in the Xianyang Palace with high standards of etiquette, and the subjects of the Qin State worshiped him one by one. Those under the age of sixty were in mourning for half a year.
The envoys who reported mourning to the princes came back one after another. Only Qi, Chu, Wei, Lu and other countries expressed their intention to send ministers to offer sacrifices. The three Jin and Yan states only expressed their condolences and did not expressly send people to come. They seemed to be waiting and watching. What. The ministers sent by the princes offered sacrifices, and the King of Qin received them one by one. The Queen Mother and the "Four Nobles" also occasionally came forward to receive them, and the presiding officers were Zhang Lu and An Guojun. An Guojun was coughing and wheezing and mainly waited in the mourning hall; Zhang Lu was hunched over and making arrangements outside.
It seems that due to the influence of An Guojun and Zhang Lu, the always healthy Queen Mother also fell ill, with bouts of phlegm and asthma. The unemployed "four nobles" calmed down and quickly showed their old appearance.
Bai Qi, Lord Wu'an who took office as the governor of Shangjun, returned to Xianyang to offer sacrifices to the prince. The King of Qin specially summoned him and held a secret talk all night.
After half a year of preparation, the cemetery in Zhiyang was completed in September. The prince stayed in Xianyang Palace for half a year, and all the princes who were supposed to come to offer sacrifices also sent people to come. Those who did not come would not come again. All the subjects of Xianyang were dressed in black Qin clothes and covered with white linen. They lined up in ranks in Xianyang City on both sides of the main road. After the coffin had been parked for a summer, even though countless amounts of ice were put on it, it still couldn't stop the decay, and a stench escaped from time to time.
Zongzheng led the representatives of the Qin clan to offer sacrifices, Zhang Lu led the ministers to offer sacrifices, and the envoys from the princes who came to attend the funeral offered sacrifices one by one. The King of Qin, the Queen Mother and the Four Nobles only sent representatives to watch the ceremony. At Feng Chang's orders, eight young men from the clan lifted the coffin and moved it to the hearse outside the mourning hall. An Guojun gestured with the mourning stick, and with the support of the princes, he followed the coffin. The one holding the soul-calling flag in front was the prince Yiren.
