Finally, Xiang Shaolong suggested that it be implemented gradually, first reforming positions that have little relationship with Lu Buwei, and not affecting Lu Buwei's interests.
After some bargaining with Lu Buwei, Guan Zhongxie was granted the title of Captain. He was only one step away from the general. He officially entered the ranks of officers and obeyed orders in front of Meng Ao's tent. Li Si was appointed as Tingwei, in charge of judicial trials across the country, and was equivalent to the president of the Supreme Court. And Xiang Shaolong began to personally perform the duties of the left prime minister, going to court every day to participate in and discuss government affairs, and he no longer had the leisure time of the past.
240 BC was an eventful year. Not long after the death of King Zhuang Xiang, General Meng Ao died of illness.
In the Qin army at this time, Xiang Shaolong's status was detached and he gradually turned to civil service. Duke Hui was getting old. Xu Xian and Du Bi could be called the big bosses, but Wang Jian was the latecomer and was likely to take over Meng Ao's scepter. With his posture, he became the Optimus Prime in the army and shocked all countries. Huanjue and Yang Duanhe are the new nobles in the army, closely following the prince, and will also be the pillars of the Qin army in the future.
Veteran generals are withdrawing from the stage of history, Du Bi's voice in the military has greatly increased, and rumors that the prince is Lu Buwei's illegitimate son have never stopped.
Xu Xian kept silent about the rumors, and Du Bi became more and more aggressive. He colluded with the wealthy businessman Pu Hu and Qiu Risheng, the owner of Xianyang Warrior Hall, and his power increased greatly.
No one else expressed their thoughts on the rumors, but the prince became increasingly impatient, so he asked Xiang Shaolong to discuss countermeasures.
In fact, Xiang Shaolong is not worried about Cheng Jiao succeeding. Historically, he has not succeeded. No matter what aspect, he has no chance, and it is far less threatening than Lu Buwei. However, the prince is extremely sensitive to the issue of his own life experience, and he often draws out his sword if he disagrees with him.
Xiang Shaolong advised: "Prince, in fact, you don't have to worry about Chengjiao. The only one who is really powerful in the court now is Du Bi who is helping him. Although Pu Hu is rich, he is only a businessman. In two years, the prince will Then they can be in charge, and they can't afford to make any trouble at all. Stability is the most important thing now."
The political prince said with a stern face: "The Three East Counties are close to the State of Zhao, and the people's hearts are unstable. They use the Three East Counties as a base to expand their power and collude with Zhao General Pang Nuan. Sooner or later, it will be a big disaster."
Xiang Shaolong gave the Crown Prince a different look. He didn't expect the Crown Prince to know them so well. It seemed that the Crown Prince had long wanted to get rid of them and had placed spies around them.
When it comes to intrigues and political struggles, Xiang Shaolong is really not good at it, far inferior to Lu Buwei, Du Bi and others, let alone the future First Emperor.
Xiang Shaolong asked: "What do you want to do, Crown Prince?"
The political prince said: "Force them to rebel as soon as possible and destroy them directly."
Xiang Shaolong looked at the ruthless expression on the Crown Prince's face and knew that the Crown Prince was determined and wanted to get things done once and for all, even if he suffered some losses.
Xiang Shaolong could only choose to support, saying: "Then force them to unite their troops to attack Zhao. We will lead the army to follow. If there is any movement, we will kill them immediately."
The political prince waved his hand and said: "If there is any change, we will kill them. When we come back, we will report them for rebelling."
Xiang Shaolong was startled and sighed to himself: "I'm far behind. Whether I become a dragon or not, I will definitely die."
This decree was issued extremely smoothly. Zhu Ji was also aware of the rumors and agreed with the prince's strategy.
Pu Hu was recruiting troops and building weapons in Tunliu. Cheng Jiao was only seventeen years old. As soon as Du Bi took him to Tunliu, he immediately started a rebellion.
It's a pity that Xiang Shaolong, who commanded a hundred thousand troops, arrived soon after and didn't give them a chance to breathe. He suppressed the rebellion with overwhelming force.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Cheng Jiao did not hesitate at all and immediately fled to Zhao State. Du Bi and Pu Hu were defeated and killed, Chengjiao's subordinates were all killed in succession, and the people in Tunliu were exiled to Lintao. ("Historical Records of the First Emperor of Qin" records: General Bi died, and the soldiers stationed in the camp Pu Hao rebelled. He died and killed his body. "Bi" refers to the general who attacked Chengjiao, and "Pu Hao" refers to the soldiers stationed in the camp. Du Bihe Pu Hu is a character in the original work.)
After Chengjiao surrendered to Zhao, he was granted the title of Rao by the King of Zhao. The political prince was furious and wanted to send troops to attack Zhao.
Xiang Shaolong persuaded him and said: "Li Mu is still here. Attacking Zhao at this time will cause too much damage. If Chengjiao is left in Zhao, we will have reasons to send troops at any time. Li Mu will be killed sooner or later in Zhao. When the time comes, we will He used Cheng Jiao as an excuse to destroy Zhao in one fell swoop."
The political prince finally followed Xiang Shaolong's advice. Once Cheng Jiao left, there was no one left to compete with the prince for the throne, which made the prince breathe a sigh of relief.
Lu Buwei relied on his incestuous relationship with Zhu Ji to constantly ask for rights from the Queen Mother. Although Zhu Ji was warned by King Zhuang Xiang not to completely trust Lu Buwei, she still inevitably gave Lu Buwei a lot of support.
Zhu Ji was dissolute by nature and could not bear the loneliness in the palace, so she wanted to rekindle her old relationship with Lu Buwei. However, Lu Buwei was old and might not be able to satisfy the queen mother's desires. Secondly, he was afraid that the prince would find out and did not dare to mess with the harem.
I couldn't help but sigh: "It would be great if Lao Ai hadn't been castrated by Xiang Shaolong. This is the right time for her to use her skills."
Fortunately, there are many men in the world. Without Lao Ai, all we have to do is find another man.
Lu Buwei finally gave the Queen Mother a fake eunuch so that he could escape on his own.
Zhu Ji was also worried that the prince had grown up and was afraid of being discovered by the prince, so she took her face to Yongdu, away from Xianyang, and lived her own life.
But there is no airtight wall in the world, and the news about the Queen Mother raising a pretty boy still came out. However, the prince did not mention or complain about this matter to anyone this time, including Xiang Shaolong, as if he didn't know.
Zhu Ji was afraid that the prince would cause trouble for her, so she smoothly agreed to the decrees proposed by the prince.
Lu Buwei used printing technology to spread his "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" throughout the world, which made him famous for a while and made him the first person in the Qin Dynasty. Little did he know that this would make the prince resentful.
Xiang Shaolong was based in Xianyang, diligent in political affairs, and at the same time, he held tight military power to protect the crown prince.
Time quietly came to 238 BC, which was the year when the political prince was preparing to take charge.
Before the Crown Prince could take charge, news came that King Chu had died of illness and his posthumous title was King Kaolie. Chun Shenjun was killed by Li Yuan on his way to the funeral, and his whole family was killed. Li Yuan's sister's child was established as the new King of Chu.
The first one to react was Zhao Mu. Once Chun Shenjun died, no one could control Zhao Mu anymore.
Over the years, Zhao Mu has been thinking about Xiang Shaolong's suggestion to replace King Zhao. However, because he was worried about Chunshen Lord Huang Xie's control over him, he had not dared to act rashly even though the power of Zhao State was overwhelming. Without Chun Shenjun at this moment, he could no longer suppress his ambition.
Zhao Mu and Xiang Shaolong had discussed this issue for a long time. As long as Li Mu was around, it would be difficult for him to usurp the throne. He enlisted Guo Kai to slander King Zhao and frame Li Mu for rebellion.
King Zhao wanted to admit a prostitute into the palace, but was strongly opposed by Li Mu. However, with the support of Zhao Mu and Guo Kai, he was established as the queen, who later became the queen of Zhao.
Queen Zhao was a very powerful woman. She conspired to trick the original queen's son, Prince Jia, so that King Zhao would depose him and make her son the prince instead. She has always hated Li Mu.
Under attack from both inside and outside, King Zhao believed that Li Mu had rebelled and killed Li Mu.
As soon as Li Mu died, Zhao Mu immediately launched a coup, killed King Zhao and established himself as king.
It's a pity that Zhao Mu overestimated his dominance. The clan general Zhao Cong, the great general Sima Shang, and the Qi general Yan gathered together to serve the king.
Pang Nuan was old and unable to participate in the chaos, so Zhao Mu sent Le Cheng and Hu Noi to quell the chaos.
The state of Zhao was in chaos. King Yan felt dizzy again and thought he had an opportunity, so he sent veteran general Ju Xin to attack Zhao.
Zhao Mu was being attacked from both sides. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he actually asked Xiang Shaolong for help. Did he think he had a friendship with Xiang Shaolong? Maybe he felt that it would be better to fall into the hands of Xiang Shaolong than to fall into the hands of Zhao Cong or Yan Wangxi, so he would not hesitate to lead the wolf into the house.
After hearing Xiang Shaolong's report, the political prince asked Xiang Shaolong for advice.
Xiang Shaolong said: "The Crown Prince will be in charge soon. The most important thing in front of us is the crowning ceremony of the Crown Prince. We can prepare for war. After the crowning ceremony, the power will be in hand and there will be no more constraints. When the time comes, we will swear to the Northern Expedition and the overall situation will be decided."
The political prince was overjoyed. After taking office, he made the Northern Expedition. Then the credit for the destruction of the country would fall entirely on himself. He said: "Okay, let's hold the grandest military parade again to let other countries see the military might of our Great Qin. It can also make them afraid to act rashly.”
Ever since he watched the military parade of the Red Detachment of Women, the Prince had always wanted to hold a military parade, and he had long been planning a military parade when he took office.
On the eve of taking office, the political prince recalled Wang Jian, and Xiang Shaolong followed closely behind him, leading an army to Qinian Palace in Yongcheng for the coronation.
The prince finally became the real king of Qin. A grand military parade silenced envoys from various countries.
Prince Dan of Yan saw the strength of the Qin army and secretly scolded the King of Yan for being ignorant. At this time, they should unite to fight against Qin. Yan and Zhao have been at war for many years, and internal friction will only benefit Qin. He hurriedly wrote to the King of Yan, lamenting the need to strike and unite.
The first thing Qin Wangzheng did after taking office was not to send troops, but to secretly execute the Queen Mother's face and imprison her in Yongcheng.
From the time the Queen Mother appeared to her death, Qin Wangzheng never mentioned this face to anyone, as if he had never appeared.
Historically, Lao Ai's fate was doomed. No matter whether he rebelled or not, not just anyone could be Qin Shihuang's stepfather. And even if this face-shou just wanted a stable life and didn't want power, he would still be punished by death.
The war cannot be stopped. Before Yan Wangxi received the letter from Prince Dan, the Qin army had already set off.
Xiang Shaolong did not go on this expedition. He was based in Xianyang, not only to take charge of the overall situation, but also to prevent changes in Xianyang.
The commander-in-chief was Wang Jian, and the vanguard troops were led by Huanjue and Yang Duanhe. The junior generals Wang Ben, Meng Tian, and Meng Yi accompanied the army.
Xiang Shaolong took over the mobile troops commanded by Huanjue to defend the King of Qin.
As soon as the Qin army entered Zhao's territory, they first met Huo'er with the troops of Zhao Cong and Sima Shang.
King Yan was delighted to learn that Qin had sent troops and received advice from Prince Dan. He made a decisive decision and immediately withdrew his troops.
Zhao Mu lost Yan's attack and immediately returned to attack Zhao Cong with the Qin army.
