During the Warring States Period, even during court meetings, ministers only needed to bow down and bow when meeting the king, without kneeling. The king also had to walk down the steps called "Your Majesty" and respond to the ministers. Use the same etiquette, even bending lower.
This is not only etiquette from ancient times, but also a means for princes to compete for talents from various countries and establish themselves as a courtesy and virtuous corporal.
Even the dim-witted King An of Han must abide by such rules, so this is not the first time that Zhang Ji has accepted worship from princes and kings.
Logically speaking, Zhang Ji shouldn't feel any excitement, but the person saluting Zhang Ji now is Ying Zheng, the future emperor of the ages.
Zhang Ji, who has the soul of a later generation, meets Ying Zheng, just like a fan meets his idol, and the idol actually salutes you first, how can it not make people's hearts swell.
Zhang Ji took a deep breath. After all, he had seen many people in big scenes. After a moment of calming down, his mood calmed down and he leaned forward to return the favor as if he was not surprised.
"Zhang Ji, I have met the king."
Ying Zheng frowned slightly when he heard Zhang Ji's name, as if he was a little surprised by the title.
Because the only people who can be called "King" are the ministers of the country.
"It seems that sir has already made his choice."
A slight smile appeared on Ying Zheng's slightly youthful face, and his eyes looking at Zhang Ji became much softer.
Qin has gained a talented person. As the king of Qin, he should naturally feel happy.
However, what pleased him even more was Zhang Ji's decision.
Zhang Ji started his career through the power of Luo Wen, but Luo Wen's reputation was ultimately full of misdeeds and was looked down upon by others.
Zhang Ji, who has now become the leader of the Mohist family, actually has enough strength and qualifications to draw a clear line with the net and completely break away from the net. After all, whether it is the information about the fifth merger or the papers and books distributed to the net The profits are enough to repay the kindness of Qin and Luo Wang.
The scholars during the Warring States Period were not the class of scholars in later generations. Today's scholars are just a class that constantly breaks through the restrictions of Zhou etiquette and is dedicated to fame and wealth and pragmatism.
In order to achieve great achievements, he killed his wife and children, and even ate the flesh of his own son, all for the sake of "fame".
How could a scholar care about mere favors when his parents, wife and children could be used as tools to achieve fame?
Zhang Ji, who had repaid Qin's kindness, left Qin. Based on the attitude of the countries in Shandong towards Qin, not only would no public opinion say that Zhang Ji was treacherous, but they would all praise Zhang Ji for his understanding of righteousness and his abandonment of darkness to the light, and they would compete to hire him.
Fortunately, Zhang Ji did not act so ungratefully and chose Qin. And such a choice made Ying Zheng inevitably have a good impression of Zhang Ji.
But Zhang Ji sighed quietly and said with a wry smile: "A choice...actually I never have a choice."
Ying Zheng did not understand what Zhang Ji meant. In his opinion, Zhang Ji had many choices. No matter which country he was in, he would be reused. Maybe it would not be difficult to become a king or prime minister in the future.
But Zhang Ji said there was no choice, but it was not the future.
"Over the years, I have traveled to the three Jin Dynasties..." Zhang Ji raised his head and looked at the white moon that was still shining with moonlight. Memories full of swords, wars and wails came out of his mind, and his eyes were full of melancholy. , "Wars are everywhere, devastation is everywhere, the people are wailing, and the bones are speechless."
"The world has been fighting hard for a long time, and has been in chaos for seven hundred years. This era of cannibalism needs a country to end, and this country also needs a qualified 'driver' to control it."
The bright moonlight fell on Zhang Ji's body. Even though he was dressed in black, under the moonlight, Zhang Ji gave Ying Zheng a sacred feeling at this moment.
I don’t know since when, it has become the default rule of all countries in the world to loot and slaughter at will after the death camp breaks the city; I don’t know since when, the people at the bottom will no longer be unable to sleep because of the shouts of killing and wailing; also, I don’t know when. I don’t know since when, the lives of ordinary people have been worse than a piece of grass, and they have numbly accepted this reality.
Perhaps because of his inexplicable sense of mission as a time traveler, or perhaps because he was used to the prosperous times of later generations, Zhang Ji was not as accustomed to blood, bones, and killing as people of this era were.
Maybe...this is why Zhan Lu recognized him.
In an era when all the killers and the murdered are numb to killing, choose a person who is not numb to killing, that's all.
"Since Duke Xiao, the remaining warriors of Qin for five generations have laid the foundation for unifying the world. But I wonder if the current 'driver' of Qin is qualified? Does he still have the dream of unifying the world and ending the war?"
Zhang Ji's voice was not loud, but it was as deafening as thunder in Ying Zheng's ears.
Ying Zheng glanced at Zhang Ji, his eyes getting brighter.
There was no idea of grand unification in this era. The conquests between countries were not so much for unification as for the purpose of extracting more benefits, more population, land, and wealth.
As for destroying the six countries and unifying the world?
Yanbei is a bitter cold land, Zhaobeidai has been repeatedly invaded by barbarians, Jingnan is plagued by poisonous diseases, and Weinan is plagued by floods... Many places are despised in the eyes of all countries, because to control these places requires a large amount of blood transfusion support from the country. , in the opinion of most people, the gains outweigh the losses. Rather than unify, it would be better to occupy the rich Central Plains. Few people would think that the world should be unified.
But Ying Zheng has a dream.
Ying Zheng recalled the map he saw in his father Ying Zichu's study. It was a map of the entire world.
"When my grandfather, King Xiaowen, was still alive, I often thought, what is my ambition?"
"The ambition of our ancestor Xiaogong was to reform the Qin Dynasty and strengthen the Qin Dynasty, the ambition of our ancestor King Huiwen was to leave Hangu in the east, the ambition of our ancestor King Wulie was to win the throne, and our ancestor King Zhaoxiang conquered the Western Zhou Dynasty and transported the Jiuding to Xianyang..."
There was a hint of reminiscence in his eyes, as well as a solemn look.
"I have a dream."
"I want to build a real country."
Zhang Ji looked at Ying Zheng. He was a good admirer. He followed Ying Zheng's words and asked, "There are eight countries in the world today. Are they not considered countries?"
"nation?"
Ying Zheng shook his head. His face seemed to have lost its youthful greenness, and a wordless aura lingered around Ying Zheng: "How can we call a country if the princes are divided? How can we call a home after a hundred years of chaos?"
Ying Zheng's words were sonorous and powerful, deafening and enlightening. The young and tender face suddenly became mature, carved and carved, full of majesty and domineering belonging to the eternal emperor, and also held a wave of energy that made people want to follow him. The impulse behind him.
"Government is to make the four directions submit, the world is wide open, and the people have something to eat in the morning and have something to eat in the evening."
"Government must create a real country!"
"We want to establish a vast country stretching from the sea to North Korea in the east, Lintao Qiangzhong in the west, Xianghu in the south, the river in the north, and the Yinshan Mountains in Liaodong, and..."
"Peace for eternity!"
(2101 words)
(End of chapter)
