Internal history, Pinyang County.
Although this is not the place where the emperor built the Chi Road, it is the hometown of Wucheng Hou Wangjian and the place where he retired. Therefore, the road from this small county to Xianyang has been specially repaired and the road surface is smooth. Quite spacious.
At this time, a gorgeous carriage was driving on this road.
The carriage was surrounded by dozens of horse-riding attendants, all carrying swords and holding their chests and heads high. It looked grand. The farmers cultivating in the fields on both sides of the road looked surprised when they saw it, secretly wondering who this was. The nobles from Xianyang came to visit the Marquis of Wucheng.
A horse ran to the side of the carriage.
The knight on the horse raised his hands to the people in the car and said: "Junhou, I just asked, this land also belongs to Wuchenghou. From where the stream flowed just now, to the direction of Pinyang, there are tens of thousands of acres of land. All the fields belong to the Marquis of Wucheng. In addition to this, there are tens of thousands of acres of fertile land to the north and east of Pinyang that were also given to the Marquis of Wucheng. The fields and houses are so vast that they are hard to count."
At the end of the sentence, the knight couldn't help but marvel.
Zhao Tuo nodded and asked the knight to lead the way. Then he looked at the endless fertile fields on the roadside and the countless farmers working in the fields, and sighed.
"Wucheng Hou, Wucheng Hou, you are living a good life after retirement. Your Wang family has almost taken over half of the entire Pinyang County land."
Zhao Tuo sighed with a little envy on his face.
Although he had six thousand households, the number of fields and houses was not very large, and it was far from comparable to Wang Jian.
When Wang Jian was attacking Chu, he kept writing letters to Xianyang to ask for land from the Qin king's dignitaries. The messengers came and went countless times. At that time, everyone saw it and thought that Wang Jian was greedy and wanted rewards for his great achievements.
Zhao Tuo knew that Wang Jian had self-destructive intentions, so that the emperor could safely hand over military power to him.
But no one expected that Wang Jian wanted so much land.
Even if the feudal lords' food is not included, just with these nearly 100,000 acres of land, the Wang family is one of the largest landowners in Qin today, which is simply the envy of others.
However, Zhao Tuo's envy disappeared immediately after entering the Wucheng Hou Mansion.
Because Wang Jian's physical condition was somewhat beyond Zhao Tuo's imagination.
Zhao Tuo, led by Wang Jian's young grandson Wang Kai, walked into Wang Jian's bedroom and saw the pale and listless old man on the bed.
"General."
Zhao Tuo immediately stepped forward, walked to Wang Jian's couch and knelt down.
He did not call Wang Jian by the title of "lord", but only by his position when he conquered Yan and conquered Chu.
Wang Jian shook his head: "I am a retired old man, why do you call me a general? And didn't you, Zhao Tuo, also serve as a general?"
Zhao Tuo smiled and said: "No matter whether the general retires or not, Zhao Tuo will always be a soldier under the general, and the general will always be the general in Zhao Tuo's heart. Without the teachings of the general, Zhao Tuo would not be what he is today. ."
Wang Jian chuckled: "What a martial arts prince, he is really good at flattering. It would be a pity not to be a flatterer."
While smiling, Wang Jian began to cough.
"Big Father."
Wang Kai on the side immediately stepped forward and handed Wang Jian the silk cloth he had prepared.
After a while, Wang Jian coughed up a lot of thick phlegm, and a strange smell filled the air.
Zhao Tuo could see clearly that there were faint traces of blood in the silk cloth, which shocked his body.
Wang Jian didn't seem to be pretending to be ill.
"You should go out first. Marquis Wu Gong and I haven't seen each other for a long time. Let's have a good chat."
Wang Jian felt much better after coughing up phlegm. He waved to his grandson. Wang Kai responded respectfully and then withdrew.
Wait until there are only two people left in the room.
Zhao Tuo asked worriedly: "General, why are you so ill? I heard from Brother Wang before that the General is fine."
Wang Jian curled his lips and said, "Do you think that I heard that you got seriously ill after taking the emperor's medicine, so you fell down on purpose to avoid disaster?"
Zhao Tuo didn't expect Wang Jian's question to be so straightforward, so it was hard to answer for a while.
On the contrary, Wang Jian glanced at him and sighed: "Now, there is nothing to deny. I was really shocked by the news of your sudden illness, and I thought about falling to avoid danger. Who knew that if I fell, I would be injured a few days ago?" It’s not bad yet, and I’m still energetic when I talk to Wang Li. But the situation got worse as we went on, and I couldn’t get out of bed these two days.”
Zhao Tuo's expression changed.
I remembered in my previous life that I had heard of some elderly people who appeared to be fine after falling, but in fact they were bleeding, breaking bones, or causing various complications.
He said in a trembling voice: "General, what did the doctor say?"
Wang Jian chuckled and said, "What can I say? I'm old and have injured my roots in a fall. Let me rest on the couch and drink some herbal medicine. Hang on to my life and see if I can recover."
As he spoke, he sighed to himself: "I think back when I was young, it was okay to do dozens of somersaults on the ground. Even if I fell off the horse while riding a horse, I could get up again by patting my butt. Who would have thought that it would look like this after a slight fall. Oh, I am old. In the past, it was just like playing."
Zhao Tuo was speechless.
This Lao Wang, a fake fall turned into a real fall.
Once you fall down, you really can't get up.
Zhao Tuo came to Pinyang this time. He originally came to see Wang Jian after he heard that he had fallen down. At the same time, he also explained to Wang Jian that the reason why he became violently ill was not because the emperor had murderous intentions, but purely because of the alchemist's problem, so that Wang Jian would not have to spend the whole day I was so frightened that I couldn't sleep.
As a result, when he saw Wang Jian's situation, it was difficult for him to explain.
I can't say that your old fall was in vain.
Zhao Tuo could only listen silently to where Wang Jian was, bragging about how good his health was when he was young. As he talked, he even mentioned the battle he had against Li Mu when he destroyed Zhao, and how good Li Mu was. It's amazing, but in the end it wasn't a glorious victory that he won through trickery.
When he said this, Wang Jian's eyes sparkled.
That was the thing he was most proud of in his life, even more proud than Mie Yan and Mie Chu.
Zhao Tuo listened and praised, and handed Wang Jian the silk cloth when he coughed.
At this moment, the person in front of him was no longer a famous general with great military exploits, but just an old man in his twilight years.
Wang Jian talked for a while, then remembered the topic and teased Zhao Tuo: "What does the medicine given by the emperor taste like?"
"It hurt for two days and I went to the toilet almost twenty times."
Zhao Tuo smiled bitterly, thinking about the feeling at that time, he felt his butt hurt again.
"Haha...cough...cough..."
Wang Jian laughed, laughed and coughed. After coughing, he glared at Zhao Tuo and said, "It's okay even if your butt is broken, at least you're still alive. Zhao Tuo, you are too young to have such a blow at this age." His military exploits and his climb to his current high position are much more dangerous than mine."
"No one can guess the emperor's thoughts. Although the outside world said that the medicine you took was the fault of the alchemist, why did the emperor give you the poisonous medicine just once after taking the medicine for half a year without any incident? .Did you really believe those words?"
Zhao Tuo was silent.
Wang Jian sighed again and said: "More than thirty years ago, when I was a prince in the Qin Palace, I saw with my own eyes that Lord Wu An, who was powerful in the six kingdoms, was stripped of his title by the King of Qin and demoted to a soldier. I escorted him personally. The envoy carrying the sword of King Qin walked out of the palace gate and rode to Duyou Pavilion."
"When Mr. Wu An committed suicide, I stood outside the door and heard with my own ears what he said in the house."
"Why have I sinned against Heaven to end up here!"
After listening to Wang Jian's words, Zhao Tuo closed his eyes, and the scene seemed to appear in front of his eyes of the world-famous general pulling out the sword of King Qin in the house, shouting in grief and anger, and finally committing suicide.
"Wu'an Jun is dead, and later Yinghou was also killed. There are no generals. I saw with my own eyes that Wu'an Jun Bai Qi, who was powerful in the six countries, and Yinghou Fan Ju, who was a close friend and a close friend, are all dead."
Wang Jian murmured, as if he had returned to the time when he was young.
Zhao Tuo sighed: "The current emperor is different from the former King Zhaoxiang. He will not kill heroes easily."
Wang Jian sneered and said: "You are thinking simply, why do you think Wei Liao left? I still remember his comments to the emperor back then: The King of Qin is a man who is rarely gracious but has a greedy heart. He makes appointments easily and cannibalizes others. Sincerely let the King of Qin achieve his ambition in the world, and the whole world will be captives, and we cannot stay with him for a long time."
"You should know how much the emperor has done in the past two years. He has waged wars on all sides, conquered barbarians, launched corvees, built Chidao, built Xin Palace and Temple, and expanded the Lishan Emperor's Mausoleum. The people of the world have never rested for a moment, all for His slave. These are not the words of Wei Liao in the past!"
"Now that the emperor has become the master of the world, he wants to start conferring Zen status again. He has endless desires. After he finishes conferring Zen status, how can you know what he will do in the future."
"General."
Zhao Tuo's expression changed drastically. It would be a big deal if Wang Jian's words spread.
Wang Jian looked at Zhao Tuo's expression and smiled: "You are old, so if you complain, don't spread it to others. I also see that you are still young, so I just want to give you a few words of advice."
Zhao Tuo responded: "Don't worry, General. What is said in the room today can only be known to you and me, and no one in the world can hear it."
Wang Jian nodded and said: "The emperor's desire is growing day by day. No one knows what it will become in the future. If you say something to dissuade you in the court, sooner or later you will be feared and even be killed. If so, Say nothing, or just be a puppet that goes along with it. Given your personality, you can't do that."
"In my opinion, it would be better for you to follow the example of Duke Tao Zhu and seek an opportunity to retreat, get some land and manor, and live a stable life. From now on, you will no longer interfere with the government affairs, save your life, and enjoy peace. Wouldn't it be wonderful?"
Zhao Tuo sighed secretly.
He also felt that he was too cold in the heights of Xianyang. He hoped to learn some skills from Wang Jian about keeping a low profile and now Wang Jian did give him a piece of advice.
Learn from Fan Li, the Duke of Tao Zhu who assisted King Gou Jian of Yue, and retreat bravely in exchange for a life of peace.
But, can Zhao Tuo really retreat?
He clearly knew what this empire would eventually become.
If we retreat, this empire may be gone.
If the second emperor in history was still in charge, it would be easy to directly kill the powerless Zhao Tuo.
Can he withdraw?
Don't dare to retreat.
However, facing Wang Jian's teachings, who spoke earnestly and thoughtfully, Zhao Tuo still nodded in agreement without arguing.
After Wang Jian said a few more words, he felt hungry and asked Wang Jian to have half a bowl of gruel and swallow it mixed with finely chopped vegetable leaves.
Zhao Tuo watched silently.
The last time he came to Pinyang to see Wang Jian, the Marquis of Wucheng could still eat two large bowls of rice. Although he went to Yiyi once in the middle, he was still in good spirits.
Now that time has passed, Wang Jian can only drink half a bowl of gruel, and the hand holding the bowl is still trembling.
Wang Kai wanted to help carry the bowl, but Wang Jian yelled at him rudely, and the porridge in his mouth sprayed all over the bed.
Zhao Tuo felt very sad.
The image of Wang Jian as a general in the battles to destroy Yan and Chu came to mind, wearing armor and sword, with bright eyes and making decisive decisions.
The hero is in his twilight years.
He sighed slightly.
After a while, the king started to take the bowl and left.
"Zhao Tuo, I may not live for a few more days."
Wang Jian called Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Tuo shook his head and said: "General, don't say such things. After I go back, I will ask the emperor to send an imperial doctor to diagnose and treat the general. Since Xia Wuji has great medical skills, it will be no problem for him to become the general."
Wang Jian smiled and shook his head and said: "My family knows my own affairs, and I have been dreaming for the past two days. I dreamed about Li Mu. In his dream, he said that I won disgracefully and asked me to go down and compete with him again. I said yes. , I, Wang Jian, can beat you once, and I can beat you a second time."
"By the way, there is also that Xiang Yan. This old guy is also calling out below. Haha, I was fully prepared back then. I wanted to have a good fight with him. Who would have thought that your kid would beat him to the decisive battle? I wasn’t even given a chance.”
"But that's okay. I just scolded him in my dream, saying, Xiang Yan, you, an old guy, can't even beat my boy Zhao Tuo. You still want to challenge me. You really don't know your own weight. This guy Xiang Yan doesn't know how to do it. Convinced, he insisted that I also go down to fight him, and I agreed, saying that I would go down and deal with him in a few days...ahem..."
"General."
Zhao Tuo's nose felt sore and he lowered his head, not daring to look at Wang Jian's face.
"Okay, I'm just going to die. It's not a big deal. When have we, the military, ever been afraid of death? Compared to Li Mu and Xiang Yan, I, Wang Jian, have already lived too long. You should laugh at me when I go down. Give them a meal.”
Wang Jian added: "By the way, I know my grandson Wang Li's ability very well. He can fight, but sometimes his brain is not very good. If there are any problems in the future, you have to help me for my sake. "
Zhao Tuo nodded heavily and said: "Don't worry, General, I will take care of Brother Wang in the future."
Wang Jian smiled, took a deep look at Zhao Tuo in front of him, and said softly: "I'm very happy that you can come here to see me. I have said everything that needs to be said, and there is nothing to miss. It's already late, and I don't I'm tired, Zhao Tuo, please go back first."
Zhao Tuo took a deep breath and bowed to Wang Jian.
Wang Jian may not have been very kind to him when he destroyed the Yan Kingdom.
But when Li Xin attacked Chu, Wang Jian gave him advice, which finally allowed Zhao Tuo to find a way out of a dead situation.
Later, Wang Jian also used Zhao Tuo very much when he attacked Chu. If Wang Jian hadn't asked Zhao Tuo to lead the troops to Dongjun and gave him the task of defeating the Qi army, Zhao Tuo would not have been able to gain such a prestigious reputation and achieve such great achievements.
Not to mention that Wang Jian taught Zhao Tuo a lot in daily life, so it is not an exaggeration to call him Zhao Tuo's teacher.
"General, take care."
Zhao Tuo stood up and murmured to himself. When he saw Wang Jian nodding slightly towards him, he closed his eyes and rested.
Zhao Tuo slowly retreated outside the house.
After all, he couldn't help but look at the figure on the couch again.
General Qin is old.
The hero dies.
Zhao Tuo sighed softly.
He knew that this would be the last time he and Wang Jian met.
In the future, we will never see each other again.
