Zi Chu always felt deeply guilty towards Zhao Ji and her son. After Zhao Ji and her son returned to Xianyang, Zi Chu doted on Zhao Ji day by day and slept in the west courtyard for several days in a row. At the same time, Ying Zheng was invited to have the best teachers to teach him every day. Ying Zheng was also smart, and he soon became familiar with the rules of the palace, and his knowledge gradually increased.
Han Ji was jealous after being alone in the empty room for half a month, so she came to complain to Mrs. Xia, saying: "Since Zhao Ji came to Xianyang, the prince stayed in the west courtyard every night, and his face became increasingly haggard. It must be that vixen who has charmed the prince. If things go on like this, how will your body be able to tolerate this? Please ask my aunt to advise the prince!"
"I also heard the king mention this recently, saying that since Zhao Ji came to Xianyang, the prince is not as attentive to political affairs as before!"
"Yes, yes! If this continues, not only will it delay political affairs, but it will also hurt your body, what's the big deal?"
Mrs. Xia didn't like Zhao Ji in the first place, and now she felt that Zhao Ji threatened Zi Chu's future, so she called Zhao Ji to the Xia Palace and said, "You first came to Xianyang and you are a guest. I can't say anything to you, but Every woman has to think about her husband, but do you think about the prince wholeheartedly?"
When Zhao Ji heard Mrs. Xia say that she was still a "guest", she understood that she did not regard her as a family member, so she became more wary and said: "When I was at home, my parents often said that when you marry, you must obey your husband, and you should serve your husband well." The way of a woman.”
"In the palace, it is different from the people. The king is the king of Qin, and the prince is the prince of Qin. They have many things to do. Your task is to take good care of the prince's body so that he has enough energy to help the king. Handle political affairs! Don't let him be greedy for sex!"
Zhao Ji now understands what Mrs. Xia is going to say! He quickly knelt down and kowtowed, and while kowtowing, he said: "Zhao Ji dare not, I will definitely advise the prince to pay attention to political affairs and take care of himself!"
"Since you have already acknowledged your mistake, I will not hold you accountable this time. You have to behave yourself. There is a king above the prince in this palace, as well as me and Mrs. Huayang! If you do it again, I will not forgive you!"
Zhao Ji got up tremblingly and said goodbye and went back.
After Lu Buwei heard about this, he knew that Zhao Ji was in trouble, so he secretly met with Zhao Ji and said: "Madam, do you know that it is often dangerous to be a favorite in the palace? Too many people are watching the prince now. If he makes any mistakes, he will be punished." The prince may get into big trouble!"
"But the prince only likes me!" Zhao Ji argued.
Seeing that she had no political sensitivity, Lu Buwei could only further remind him: "Now the prince's safety is not only related to you and me, but also to Mrs. Huayang and Mrs. Xia. The prince cannot make any mistakes at this time, otherwise our lives will be in danger!"
"Is it so serious? Sir, tell me what to do?" Lu Buwei's words moved her and scared her, especially when she thought of Mrs. Xia's stern expression, a chill ran down her spine unconsciously!
"Madam, I would like to advise the prince to pay more attention to political affairs, and to keep a low profile in the harem. Only by keeping a low profile can the prince be protected by the rain and dew!"
For two days in a row, Mrs. Xia and Lu Buwei talked about this matter. Zhao Ji no longer dared to stay with the prince every night. She often advised the prince to pay attention to political affairs and asked the prince to stay with other concubines. Zi Chu had no choice but to stay with other concubines from time to time. When Han Ji saw the prince coming to stay in the East Palace, she thought that the prince's stay at Zhao Ji's place was just for novelty, so she didn't take it to heart anymore.
One day, Ying Zheng was playing in the garden, and happened to meet Cheng Jiao and Han Ji who were also playing in the garden. When Cheng Jiao saw Ying Zheng, he stepped forward and asked, "Are you the brother Ying Zheng who came back from Handan?"
"Yes, I am Zhao Zheng, and you are brother Chengjiao, right?"
"Well. Mother said that I was born in Xianyang, but you were born in Handan, so I am a real Qin person! You can only be half a Qin person!" Cheng Jiao said proudly.
"Aren't people from Qin and Zhao alike? I don't think they look any different!"
"I don't know either. They all say that Zhao people are very vicious."
"I have lived in Zhao country for a long time, and I don't think they are very vicious... Let's not talk about this anymore. Brother, let's play throwing sandbags together!"
"...but mother won't let me play with you!"
At this time, Han Ji noticed that Cheng Jiao was talking to Ying Zheng, so she shouted sternly: "Cheng Jiao came here to play, didn't I tell you not to play with bumpkins?" Cheng Jiao ran away when his mother called him. opened. Ying Zheng was left standing there alone, his eyes full of confusion and confusion. In his heart, he didn't hate his younger brother Cheng Jiao, but the adults always deliberately distanced him from Cheng Jiao, as if they were not meant to live together.
Unconsciously, more than half a year later, King Xiaowen's mourning period had passed and he officially inherited the throne. However, just three days later, King Xiaowen suddenly fell ill and died. A happy event in the palace turned into a funeral in an instant. Fortunately, Mrs. Huayang and Lu Buwei made proper arrangements. On the third day, they arranged for Zi Chu to ascend the throne and be called King Zhuangxiang of Qin. Because the royal officials received rewards from King Xiaowen, they had no objections to King Xiaowen's arrangements.
After Zichu came to the throne, Mrs. Huayang and Mrs. Xia were both called queen mothers. Soon they appointed Lu Buwei as prime minister, Meng Ao and Wang Yi as generals, and Xiong Zhuang, Han Qi and others as ministers. The rewards for the royal heroes remained unchanged, and the court was soon stabilized.
Not long after King Zhuang Xiang ascended the throne, the matter of appointing a successor was put on the agenda. All parties soon could not restrain themselves and launched a heated discussion in the court. The Queen Mother of Huayang said: "Ying Zheng is the eldest son of King Zhuang Xiang, and he was once a hostage in Handan. He has made great contributions to the Qin State, so he should be appointed as the crown prince!"
Empress Dowager Xia said: "Ying Zheng has been in Zhao for many years and lacks discipline. He does not understand the affairs in the palace and does not remember all the etiquette. Chengjiao grew up in Xianyang since he was a child and knows a lot about the palace. He is a real People from Qin."
Lu Buwei said: "Master Yingzheng is still young, and the king is also in his prime. We have enough time to train him!"
Han Qidao: "The Prime Minister's words are wrong. It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. It is not easy to cultivate a qualified successor to the king!"
Lu Buwei said: "I heard that people can change easily when they are young! Only old people are difficult to change."
Seeing that the court meeting was about to turn into a quarrel, King Zhuang Xiang quickly stopped it and said: "This matter is not urgent. The two young masters are still young. We will wait for some time and observe their conduct before making a conclusion!" King Zhuang Xiang Although he favored Zhao Ji, he did not dare to offend the old ministers in the court easily, and his biological mother, the Queen Mother Xia, also supported Cheng Jiao, making it difficult for him to make a decision.
At this time, the newly enthroned King of Qin received a secret report: the Lord of Eastern Zhou was conspiring with the princes to invade Qin while the new King of Qin was not firmly established. The entire court of Qin could only postpone the establishment of a prince and focus on dealing with the threats at hand.
After receiving the news that the Lord of Eastern Zhou was plotting against Qin, King Zhuang Xiang privately summoned Lu Buwei to come and discuss countermeasures, saying: "I heard that the Lord of Eastern Zhou has formed an alliance with Chu, Zhao, Wei, and Han. If Yu takes advantage of the new accession to the throne to invade our country, what should the prime minister do? response?"
Lu Buwei had long sent retainers to monitor the capitals of various countries, and Luoyi had a lot of informants. Therefore, Lu Buwei knew many of the details, so he said: "The Lord of Eastern Zhou wanted to weaken our Qin State by uniting, but the interests of each country are different, and each country has different interests. If you are harboring evil intentions, you will not use all your strength to deal with us. For the current plan, we still need to make close contacts with distant enemies. Befriend Qi in the east, stabilize Chu in the south, and Zhao Wei needs military deterrence, so that the Lord of Eastern Zhou can be isolated."
King Zhuang Xiang said: "I have just ascended the throne, and I don't want to stir up trouble. But if I show weakness now, I'm afraid there will never be peace again."
Lu Buwei had just become the prime minister at this time and wanted to gain a foothold in the court. In the martial Qin Dynasty, the best way to gain recognition from the court was to achieve military exploits! Lu Buwei wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to gain military exploits, so he encouraged King Qin: "Now the Lord of Eastern Zhou is contacting all the princes, but it is difficult for them to reach an agreement in a short period of time. Therefore, if we take a preemptive strike and attack when the princes are not ready, , you will have great confidence in winning!"
King Zhuang Xiang had just ascended the throne and needed a military exploit to stabilize his position, so he supported Lu Buwei's suggestion and said, "My husband and I coincidentally agree! We will discuss it in court tomorrow!" With King Zhuang Xiang, he strongly supported Lu Buwei's suggestion. With this sentence, Lu Buwei felt confident, so he left and returned home.
When he went to court the next day, King Zhuang Xiang got straight to the point: "My dear friends, I must have heard about the Lord of Eastern Zhou's conspiracy against Qin. How should we deal with it for now? Do you have any opinions?"
Veteran minister Ying Liang said: "It has been more than seven hundred years since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, and it has been three hundred years since the capital was moved to Luoyi. Although his power is no longer there, he is still nominally the co-owner of the world. Now the king should send an envoy to Luoyi to plead guilty to the Lord of Eastern Zhou. The best policy is to avoid fighting!"
Han Qidao: "I think what the old master said is reasonable. As long as we go to court to plead guilty, the Lord of Eastern Zhou will have no reason to unite with the princes to attack us."
Lu Buwei stood up at this time and said: "This is wrong. Our Great Qin originally had the function of protecting the country. It is a country that has been rewarded. Since the founding of the country, we have fought against barbarians and respected the emperor at home. What is wrong? Now the Lord of Eastern Zhou wants to unite with the princes. Those who attack our Qin country will definitely listen to the villain's words. If we go to Luoyi now to plead guilty, wouldn't we be showing weakness to the world! What's more, it is unreasonable to plead guilty with innocent bodies!"
Ying Liang said: "Then Mr. Yilu means to send troops to attack the Lord of Eastern Zhou?"
Lu Buwei said seriously: "It's not that we are willing to send troops, but at this critical moment, using troops is our only choice! Now that the king has just ascended the throne, the princes and countries have evil intentions and plots against our Qin country. If we can't deter the princes with force, Then we will be looked down upon by others, and our country of Qin will never have peace!"
"This is a treasonous act!" Ying Liang said angrily!
Xiong Zhuang, who had been standing by the side at this time, said: "Since King Ping moved eastward, when has the Lord of Eastern Zhou ever upheld justice for the world! During the reign of Duke Mu, when the Jin State took away our land west of Hexi, did the Lord of Eastern Zhou ever say a word of justice to the world? The world is no longer the world of Emperor Zhou, but the world of the strong! Only strong countries can stand! Cowardice can only be beaten!"
Ying Liang wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by King Zhuang Xiang, saying: "Old Master, please stop talking. Now I have made up my mind. I have ordered Lu Buwei to be the general, Xiong Zhuang to be the military advisor, and lead 200,000 troops to attack the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!" "
Half a month later, King Zhuang Xiang offered sacrifices to Xiong Zhuang and Lu Buwei. King Zhuang Xiang said: "The generals and military advisors can relax their hands. I have sent envoys to Qi and Chu to persuade them not to send troops to rescue. At the same time, General Meng Ao was in Zhao Wei. A hundred thousand troops have been gathered at the border. If they dare to send troops, we can cut off their retreat and annihilate them in one fell swoop!"
Lu Buwei said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your thoughtful consideration. Buwei will definitely fulfill his mission!" After saying that, the army set off!
The king of Eastern Zhou Dynasty was shocked when he heard that King Qin sent a large army to attack! The Lord of Eastern Zhou only had an army of 100,000 men and lacked food and grass. Confronting the Qin army was like hitting a stone with an egg. He asked his attendants: "Who leaked the news? How did the people of Qin know that we were plotting to attack Qin?"
The person next to him said: "We have contacted the princes several times to attack Qin together, but to no avail. The princes from all walks of life have been obedient and unwilling to provoke Qin. Someone among the princes must have leaked the news!"
The Lord of Eastern Zhou Dynasty said: "Then what should we do now? Is there any news from the princes?"
The left and right said: "We have sent envoys to Zhao, Wei, Han, and Chu. Zhao, Wei, and Han all promised to send troops to help, but Chu has not responded! Now is a critical moment. Your Majesty must quickly send people to the princes to urge reinforcements. !”
The king of Eastern Zhou hurriedly sent envoys to the princes to ask for help.
The State of Qin was adjacent to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In less than half a month, the Qin army penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The 100,000 troops of the Eastern Zhou army were completely vulnerable. When they heard that the Qin army was invading, many cities surrendered. After Lu Buwei took over the surrendered city, he still appointed his former officials to manage daily affairs, and opened warehouses to release grain and provide relief to the victims. The people in the territory of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty were eager to surrender, and the Qin army encountered less resistance, and they were defeated in less than a month. They reached the gates of Luoyi City.
Seeing that the reinforcements from all walks of life were acting in disguise and no one really sent reinforcements to rescue him, Lord Dong Zhou hid in the palace and cried loudly, saying: "The eight hundred years of great Zhou Dynasty's foundation will be in the hands of a few people. God won't help me." !”
At this time, Wang Huan, a close servant, said: "It's not only God who didn't help me, Da Zhou, but it's really the king who made a mistake in his decision-making!"
The Lord of Dongzhou did not expect that someone would accuse him at this time, and asked: "Are you saying that I should not plot against Qin? Qin is a country governed by tigers and wolves, how can we not eliminate the troubles in our elbows and armpits?"
"It was not a mistake to plan for Qin. The mistake was that the king contacted various princes at the wrong time. Although Qin lost two kings in a row, its strength has not been lost. As long as the people are properly employed, it can still regain its prestige!" Wang Huanjian! The Lord of Eastern Zhou sighed in astonishment and continued: "Your Majesty chose to unite just when Qin and the eastern princes were making peace. Each princely country was not in danger of national subjugation and would inevitably reconsider its own interests. However, there were many conflicts between the countries. How is it possible to unite us against Qin at this time?"
Lord Dongzhou sighed and said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"If I had advised the king earlier, I would have been killed by the king long ago. Why would I have the head to say anything here!"
Only now did Dongzhou Jun regret for all his previous actions! Crying uncontrollably.
Three days later, seeing that there was no hope of defending the city, Lord Dongzhou gave up the resistance and took the ribbon with him out of the city to surrender. Lu Buwei treated each other with courtesy and generously subsidized the residents of the city. The people spread Lu Buwei's virtues! .
King Zhuang Xiang was overjoyed when he heard the news that he had entered the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and ordered Lu Buwei to escort the Eastern Zhou king to Xianyang. When the king of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty entered Xianyang, King Zhuang Xiang personally went out of the city to greet him. The king of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty paid homage to King Zhuang Xiang as a doctor. So King Zhuang Xiang imitated what King Wu of Zhou did to the merchants, and gave Yangren land to the Lord of Eastern Zhou, allowing him to continue the Zhou Dynasty's sacrifices.
In recognition of the contributions of Lu Buwei and Xiong Zhuang, King Zhuang Xiang conferred the title of Marquis of Wenxin on Lu Buwei, with a settlement of 100,000 households in Luoyang, Henan Province; the title of Lord of Changping to Xiong Zhuang, with a settlement of 100,000 households in Yingchen. After this battle, the prestige of Lu Buwei and Xiong Zhuang in the court increased rapidly, and there was an endless stream of people coming to see them.
