The King of Wei said with some embarrassment: "The Prime Minister is a veteran of the three dynasties of our Wei State. He is loyal to our Wei State and has not made any major mistakes. It may be difficult to dismiss the Prime Minister." Wei Guofu Chong persuaded: "The Prime Minister is already Old man, your Majesty can grant the title of Prime Minister to the country and hold official positions in the fiefdom. In this regard, he also recognizes the achievements of the Prime Minister." Zi Sang stood aside and said: "Fu Chong is right, the Prime Minister is a major obstacle to my reform. To be responsible for managing or supervising local powers with a false position is the best place for the Prime Minister." The King of Wei pondered for a long time and said: "Okay, I will follow you. The Prime Minister will be granted the title of Marquis of Anyang, and the fiefdom will be in Ye. , please assist Ye Ling in handling government affairs." The king of Wei called in a eunuch and said, "Draft an edict immediately."
Some noble officials were opposed to the new law. They all knew that the Prime Minister was the head of the officials. However, the old Prime Minister was on their side and strongly opposed the new law. One by one they entered the Prime Minister's Mansion. After they entered the Prime Minister's Mansion, they stood up and saluted and said: "Old Prime Minister." The old Prime Minister stood up to greet him and said: "Everyone, please take a seat." These officials sat on both sides and asked with concern: "The Prime Minister has not been here all night either. Get some sleep." Xiangguo looked at a lot of memorials on top of several cases. He sat in front of several cases and flipped through them casually. He said: "The Zhang River was flooded, and the Qin army moved frequently in Hexi. I need to handle state affairs. If I can't make a decision, I will submit it to the king and ask him to make a decision. How can I close my eyes when you see so many things?" An official said: "As for Zisang's reform in Wei, I don't know what the prime minister is doing. How do you think about it?" The old prime minister faced them and said: "The laws of the former kings are immutable, and changes will lead to chaos. Our country in Wei has been fighting for many years, and there have been frequent floods and chronic diseases that are difficult to recover from. We in Wei are worried about domestic and foreign troubles, and we cannot continue to be in chaos. La." The official praised Xiang Guo's remarks very much and said: "At this time, Xiang Guo is still working hard on state affairs. He is really a role model for our generation." Other officials looked at Xiang Guo and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Xiang Guo. ." Xiang Guo said: "If you hold an important position, you cannot have a moment of leisure. You should work hard for Wei and for the king, and die." An old noble official walked out with his staff and saluted. The old Xiang Guo stood up and returned the salute: "Old lady Master." The old master said: "Xiangguo, please sit down." Xiangguo sat in front of several cases and looked at the old master. The old master stood in front of them and said: "I am not happy about this. Prime Minister, you said that Zi Sangsheng is a worm of the Zhao Kingdom. If he does not work well in the Zhao Kingdom, why did he come to our Wei Kingdom? Last night. , Your Majesty summoned Zisang overnight, what do you think it is going to do? It can’t overthrow the state of Wei." Old Xiangguo said: "Zisang has just come to our country of Wei, and its foundation is not yet stable. As long as I am in the court. One day, it will not be able to make any big waves, please rest assured." The old master looked at Lao Xiangguo, then looked at everyone and said: "With Lao Xiangguo's words, we can rest assured. I won't wait any longer. Sorry for disturbing the old Prime Minister, let’s go.” All the officials got up and left. Old Xiangguo stood up and followed, "I'll see off the old master." The old master turned around and said, "Old Xiangguo, please stay." Old Xiangguo looked at them as they walked out of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
At this time, Zisang led his troops into the Prime Minister's Mansion. The old master looked at the officers and soldiers brought by Zi Sang and said, "No, something is going to happen in the old prime minister's country." So he took these noble officials and went to the prime minister's mansion. Zi Sang entered the Prime Minister's Mansion with the imperial edict and said: "Xiang Guo Wuji, please accept the edict." The Prime Minister came out of the mansion and knelt down to greet him: "Old minister, accept the edict." Zi Sang opened the imperial edict and read out: "In accordance with the decree of heaven, I will think about it. Again, I think that the Prime Minister is old and has nothing to do in the court. The Prime Minister Wuji is the elder of the three dynasties of our Wei Kingdom. He has served the monarchs of the three generations of our Wei Dynasty. He has worked hard and made great achievements. He can be named the Marquis of Anyang and assist Ye Ling in controlling floods. I admire this." The old prime minister looked up to the sky and said: "The wind is blowing, the sky is going to change!" The old master stepped forward and said: "The old prime minister is loyal to our country of Wei and has done nothing wrong. Why did he resign from his position? We will face him later. Meet the king." The other noble officials stood behind the old prime minister and said angrily: "We are going to meet the king. The king must have listened to the treacherous words of you and others." Zi Sang ignored them and stepped forward to extend his hand. He helped the old Xiangguo and said, "Old Xiangguo, please get up." The old Xiangguo stood up, pushed Zi Sang away and said, "I'm still very strong, and I still need you to help me." After a long time, the old Xiangguo stepped forward and stood up. In front of Zisang, he said: "This is the result you want, sir. I just want to ask you, how will you deal with these veterans and nobles after I leave?" Zisang replied: "As long as they do not break the law. , they are still safe and sound." Old Xiangguo looked at Zi Sang and said, "Okay."
The next day, Wuji was resigned from the position of prime minister, and Zisang became the prime minister. This became the new prime minister of the Wei State, and the reform began in the Wei State.
Old Xiangguo walked out of the main beam of the Wei capital and looked at the capital. The old master and other noble officials came out of the city and shouted: "Old Prime Minister, Old Prime Minister, please stay, please stay." Then Old Prime Minister got out of the car and gathered with them outside the city gate. The old prime minister looked at them and bowed his hands, saying, "You must take care of yourself!" The old master stepped forward with his staff and said, "Old prime minister, the road to Yecheng is far away. We are waiting for the old prime minister at Daliang, the capital of Wei. Return to the court again." Old Xiangguo said: "Okay." He stepped back and got on the carriage behind him and headed for Yedi.
The sky suddenly changed color and began to darken. Old Xiangguo stuck his head out, looked up at the dim sky, and said, "Huang Cai, it looks like it's going to rain. Let's find an inn to stay temporarily. Let's wait for the rain to stop before we continue our journey." Sitting there Huang Cai, who was driving the car in front, said: "Sir, there is a market outside this hilltop, and there is an inn somewhere." Lao Xiangguo said: "Let's hurry up and try to get to the inn before the heavy rain comes."
At night, there was lightning and thunder, and the earth was sweltering. Old Xiangguo stood in front of the window and opened it to get some air. Outside the window was the wind and rain, bending the branches and branches and swaying in the wind and rain. He sighed: "It seems that the people of Yedi are going to suffer another disaster."
At this time, the night sky seemed to have a big hole, and heavy rain poured down, accompanied by lightning and thunder. The surrounding mountains began to slide, and mudslides rushed towards the houses, covering them one after another. It was unclear whether this was a natural disaster or an insect disaster. The heavy rain is still falling, the water level of the rushing river is still rising, and the huge waves are overwhelming, breaking through the guard and pouring down, smashing the houses to pieces. Overnight, a prosperous Yecheng turned into Zeguo. At a glance, there were a lot of driftwood and rubble floating on the rushing floods, as well as many corpses floating on the water. The water knocked down the surrounding trees one after another and flowed downstream, cascading thousands of miles. The heavy rain lasted for three days and three nights before it stopped. The people squatted on their houses or on high ground, looking desperately at the pouring water. The houses were quickly washed away by the flood, and these people were buried in the flood. We can tell from their facial expressions that they are filled with endless fear and miserable cries.
Three days later, Lao Xiangguo walked out of the inn, got on the carriage and rushed to Yedi. They have to go through a mountain road to reach Yedi. There is a path at the bottom of the mountain that can be passed, but it is blocked by falling rocks and fallen trees. The carriage came to a sudden stop in front of the roadblock. Old Xiangguo stuck his head out and asked, "Huang Cai, what's going on?" Huang Cai stood beside the carriage and said, "Sir, there are fallen trees in front of us blocking our way." Old Xiangguo said After getting out of the car, he looked up and saw that the mountains here were steep and rocks were rolling down. Then he said, "Huang Cai, go and remove these roadblocks." Then he called Huang Cai and said, "Huang Cai Cai." Huang Cai turned around and said, "Master, is there anything else you can do?" Lao Xiangguo said, "Be careful to avoid these falling rocks." Huang Cai said, "Young man, I understand." Then he stepped forward, He pulled out the dagger from his waist and chopped off the branches and leaves of the fallen trees. Looking up at it, rocks rolled down, and the old Xiangguo said in shock: "Huang Cai, please pay attention to safety." When Huang Cai reacted, the rocks fell in front of him, and he almost died there. Huang Cai hurriedly rushed up to remove the fallen rocks, stepped forward and said, "Master, we can go."
When Lao Xiangguo got in the car, Huang Cai drove quickly through the steep mountain road and entered Yecheng. There are many refugees here. When they saw Huang Cai driving into the city, they all surrounded them and blocked them in the city. Huang Cai raised his whip and whipped them, and scolded: "Do you know whose carriage this is blocking? Get out of the way." At this time, these refugees may have long forgotten what physical pain is, and the whip whipped them. They were motionless on them, resolutely surrounding them, surrounding them in the middle. The old man held on to his wooden stick and said, "Sir, we are almost starving. Give us some food." Huang Cai was about to whip his whip away when the old Xiangguo stuck his head out and stopped him: "Huang Cai, you are not allowed to do this. The people are rude." Then he got out of the car and said, "I still have some dry food in my package, take it out and share it with them." Huang Cai was a little puzzled and said, "Sir." The old prime minister looked at these refugees. He said: "They are all hungry people. If we don't give them food, can we still leave?" Huang Cai turned around and took out a package from the carriage. The hungry people swarmed up and snatched the package. What shocked them was that even the package was torn into pieces. The hungry people who didn't grab it picked up the torn and smashed packages on the ground and swallowed them together. Huang Cai was frightened by their barbaric behavior. Old Xiangguo stood aside and sighed: "How many days have they not had a full meal? They are hungry! The people here are suffering!" Looking at the corpses all over the city, you can think of the people here. How painful!
Old Xiangguo led a carriage to visit the people. An old farmer collapsed in front of the gate, and the house washed away by the flood was even more dilapidated. Old Xiangguo said: "He's hungry, help him up quickly." Huang Cai helped the old farmer up and stuffed a meat pie into his mouth. The old farmer grabbed the meat pie and ate it. Old Xiangguo sat aside and said: "Eat slowly, don't choke." The old farmer said while eating: "Old Chong, you are a good insect." Old Xiangguo looked around and said: "Don't you have any government control here? ?" The old farmer patted his belly and said after a while: "The officials only care about themselves, how can they care about the life and death of us common people! Old Chong, you must be from other places." Old Xiangguo said: " You are right, we came from Daliang, the capital of Wei, to do some cloth business." The old farmer shook his head, waved his hands and said, "Old Chong, you can't do this business." Old Xiangguo asked, "Why?" The old farmer replied: "These officials want to block your way of making money. You are in the cloth business, so I will tell you the truth. When you come to Yecheng to do business, the officials will take 10% and 70% of the profits you make." , this is the commercial tax paid to them. As an official, you must have money to make money, so that your business can be successful. You don’t know anything, but this flood has hurt us common people. The common people are really hungry. It’s impossible to do anything, so you can change your son to eat. There is nothing you can do about it. It’s all just to fill your stomach.” The old prime minister stood up and was surprised: “What? I changed my son to eat.”
