After Fan Ju humiliated Xu Jia, he let him return to Wei. He knew that from now on, Wei Qi, Xu Jia and others of Wei State were no longer his opponents. That's all for Xu Jia, Wei Qi's death will be a matter of time.
However, he seems to have forgotten one thing, and that is his two best friends. The first one is Zheng Anping. Without him, Fan Ju’s life would not be guaranteed, let alone his fame and great career; the other one is naturally Wang Ji. Without his introduction, Fan Ju might still be living in the countryside and eating three meals a day. It's not a problem, but to be able to control everything like this is like a dream.
However, Fan Ju became Zhang Lu and became prime minister, but they did not change at all.
One day, Wang Ji suddenly came to Fan Ju's house and talked eloquently to Fan Ju. He mentioned that Wang Ji had been in politics for many years and there were three main unpredictable things: if he died, everything would be unpredictable; if Zheng Anping If Fan Ju dies, everything will still be unpredictable. If Fan Ju dies, everything will be even more unpredictable. Fan Ju was confused. Just listen to Wang Ji continue to say, if Wang Ji dies suddenly, Fan Ju can only sigh and have no choice; if Zheng Anping dies suddenly, Fan Ju can only regret and have no choice; if Fan Ju dies suddenly, then Wang Ji and Zheng Anping can only It can be regretful but helpless. Fan Ju understood this and thought to himself, he always boasted that every drop of kindness should be repaid by a spring. Now that he has just accomplished his great cause, how can he not repay the favor? But he knew that although these two people were kind to him, they were in a difficult position. What should he do?
In the end, Fan Ju decided to recommend the two of them to the King of Qin. Whether they succeeded or not depended on God's will. Therefore, Fan Ju assured Wang Ji that he would not let Wang Ji and the others down. Sure enough, Fan Ju did not break his promise. Not long after, he arrived at the palace of the King of Qin, met with King Qin Zhaoxiang, and said: "I was originally a fugitive from Wei State, and I was in danger of dying day and night. If it weren't for the king, Ji is loyal to the king, loyal to the Qin State, and brought his subjects to the Qin State, there would be no Fan Ju today; if it were not for Zheng Anping who risked his life to rescue the ministers, the ministers would not be so lucky to serve the king today; if it were not for them, It is definitely difficult for me to meet such a wise and wise King of Qin. How can Chen An enjoy the wealth and glory he has now? However, Wang Ji is only a small visitor so far. Zheng Anping, who saved me from fire and water, is still a commoner. I am the prime minister who is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, but I am unable to repay my kindness. I feel really guilty in my heart. Please give me your kindness, Your Majesty."
King Qin Zhaoxiang thought that Fan Ju's contribution was not insignificant. Since these two people were so loyal and knowledgeable, they should not have any big problems as ordinary officials. Then he approved his petition and appointed Wang Ji as the governor of Hedong, without the need for state evaluation within three years; he appointed Zheng Anping as a general, hoping that he could bring glory to Qin on the battlefield. Unfortunately, both of them were helpless Adou. Later, with Fan Ju's recommendation, Zheng Anping replaced Bai Qi to attack Handan of Zhao State, but was surrounded by Zhao State. Finally, he led his 20,000 men and surrendered. and another man, Wang Ji, was afraid that Linfen would be lost when the Wei and Chu coalition forces attacked Qin's Hedong County in Linfen, so he secretly had an affair with the princes and was eventually discovered and died.
The disobedient actions of the two people dealt a huge blow to Fan Ju. As early as Shang Yang's reform, the State of Qin had issued a decree that if the person involved committed a crime, the recommended person would be guilty of the same crime as the person involved. According to the law, Fan Ju will be punished by genocide. At that time, the King of Wei had sent Fan Ju's family to Xianyang because he was afraid of the Qin State. It is conceivable that if the King of Qin had ordered to be punished according to law at that time, Fan Ju would not have been able to escape the fate of being exterminated.
However, King Qin Zhaoxiang suppressed all rumors out of his trust in Fan Ju: anyone who dared to discuss Zheng Anping's affairs without permission would be punished in the same way as Zheng Anping. After a lot of efforts, this matter was suppressed by the power of King Qin Zhaoxiang. Just imagine if Queen Mother Xuan, Wei Ran and others were still in power, Fan Ju would definitely shed his skin even if he died.
One wave after another, just after Zheng Anping's incident had just subsided, Wang Ji's incident happened again, which left Fan Ju in a state of despair.
Thinking back then, Wei Qi's various insults to him did not crush him; Xu Jia's bad words did not make him depressed; after arriving in Qin, he was not discouraged but did not lose his ambition; the power of Wei Ran and Empress Dowager Xuan did not frighten him; even though It's Bai Qi, the god of war who claims to be invincible in the world, but he's not toying with him in the middle of applause. Only these two people were regarded as confidants and confidants in his life, but one incident after another left Fan Ju in despair.
Where should Fan Ju's future go?
Two flowers bloomed, one on each branch. While Fan Ju was getting revenge and repaying kindness, there was another person who made Fan Ju's life quite controversial. This person is the God of War Bai Qi who was played by Fan Ju.
After Fan Ju Ting humiliated Xu Jia and killed Wei Qi, Bai Qi realized that Fan Ju was a man of small tolerance. Fan Ju is different from Bai Qi. As a general, Bai Qi only needs to establish prestige and win every battle. Fan Ju was at the center of the intrigue. At that time, Fan Ju held a high position of power, below one person and above ten thousand people. His narrow-mindedness finally developed to the point of being jealous of the wise and capable, which created another disgraceful image for him. Bai Qi, on the other hand, is a carefree man and has no interest in political intrigues. Of course, this does not mean that Bai Qi has no understanding of politics, nor does it mean that he will engage in direct military confrontation with others.
He believed: Soldiers are crafty. Political simplicity and military flexibility made Bai Qi a myth that was difficult to surpass during the Warring States Period.
Military maneuvering also indirectly affected Bai Qi's political concepts. He would not give in willingly or die in the political whirlpool. He knew his situation. Wei Ran was able to promote him at all costs because he had military talents that ordinary people did not have, but more importantly, he could be used as an important bargaining chip for the ulterior political purposes of Wei Ran and others. . He knew that with the rise of King Qin Zhaoxiang, especially the joining of Fan Ju, Qin would definitely face a turbulent competition. He didn't care who won or lost afterwards, or he was more biased towards King Qin, because King Qin Zhaoxiang was the orthodox king of Qin after all.
So in the end, Bai Qi decided to draw a clear line with Wei Ran. Of course, in addition to the above factors, Bai Qi also has his more pure political thinking:
First, Bai Qi is loyal to neither Wei Ran nor King Qin Zhaoxiang, but to the State of Qin. He will only do things that are loyal to the State of Qin. This is his code of conduct; second, Bai Qi has always followed the Qin people's customs With his xenophobic tradition, he has always viewed Wei Ran, Queen Mother Xuan and others as outsiders.
The Warring States Period was indeed an extraordinary era, with strategizing in the military; political maneuvering; academically, a hundred schools of thought contended; and even the appointment of talents was full of twists and turns. It values the role of talents, but will never give up its progress because of an important person. As for the Qin State, which was the most magnificent country at that time, there were many non-Qin people who played an important role in the political arena of the Qin State. However, it was difficult for each of them to have a good death after they shined.
Shang Yang and Zhang Yi were like this; Wei Ran and Fan Ju were like this; Lu Buwei and Li Si were like this. Either cut into pieces, run away, be exiled, or take poison. The results seemed to be different, but in fact they all ended bleakly, but Qin still moved forward with vigor.
The Qin people are indeed a very special ethnic group in Chinese history and became a model for the Warring States Period at that time. On the one hand, the people of Qin actively recruit talents from all over the world and use their talents to serve Qin; on the other hand, they resist the people of the six countries from the bottom of their hearts. From the beginning to the end, the people of Qin reject them. Therefore, every time at a critical moment, , the people of Qin will not hesitate to choose to sing loudly with the old Qin people: "Jiujiao Lao Qin, we will fight against the national calamity together."
There is no doubt that Wei Ran was kind to Bai Qi. Unfortunately, in Bai Qi's eyes, Wei Ran was never from Qin. Wei Ran was an outsider to the old Qin people, to Bai Qi, to King Qin Zhaoxiang, and even to the entire Qin State. So Bai Qi finally chose to leave Wei Ran, not because he knew how to repay his kindness, but because of the traditional thinking of Qin people.
In addition, Bai Qi is a military strategist, and only war is the best stage for him to realize the value of life. However, Wei Ran's strategy of attacking Qi unconsciously conflicted with Bai Qi's ideas. You must know that the enemy Bai Qi wants to deal with the most is the State of Zhao. In his life, the biggest opponent is not King Zhaoxiang of Qin, not Wei Ran, and not Fan Ju, but the famous old general of the State of Zhao - Lian Po. .
Although Lian Po is old, there is another person who stands out. He is Zhao She, the horse warrior who can defeat Qin General Hu Shang. In Bai Qi's eyes, he has regarded Zhao She as his current opponent. Masters are lonely. In order to win or lose a game with equal masters, they would rather abandon everything and just seek defeat.
Unfortunately, Bai Qi didn't know that the most dangerous enemy was not the one he could see, but the person hiding behind him, who seemed to be closest to him, and who was always ready to give him a fatal blow when he was unprepared. Just like Wei Ran back then, Bai Qi did not expect that this man who crawled out of the toilet would actually lead him to hell.
