Lin Zhi: "Zhu Xiang."
Zhu Xiang: "What's the matter?"
Lin Zhi: "Look at my fist. Can I give you two dark circles under your eyes?"
Zhu Xiang laughed so hard that he fell forward and backward and stopped teasing Lin Zhi.
Ying Xiaozheng watched his uncle provoke Uncle Lin, pursed his lips, and took out the plan he and his uncle had made together.
They could have discussed it directly, but my uncle insisted on provoking Uncle Lin. Alas.
Lin Zhi glanced at Zhu Xiang and opened the plan.
The first page of the plan summarizes the current situation of the feudal lords in the State of Chu who have fiefs.
After Wu Qi, the King of Chu killed a group of old nobles, and new nobles soon filled the positions left by the old nobles. Only the Qu, Jing, and Zhao families had been standing since the Spring and Autumn Period, and their status was transcendent. Only when they fought among themselves, others dared not touch them, and even Wu Qi had to respect them.
Qu, Jing and Zhao all have the surname Mi.
In the pre-Qin period, the surname remained unchanged, representing blood lineage; the clan name changed frequently, symbolizing a family, that is, when the family split up, the clan name would also split up.
Similar to other countries, the King of Chu was the only one called "Xiong", and his descendants would split up and become different clans.
The Qu family was named after Quyi, the fief of Xia, the son of King Wu of Chu. The Jing and Zhao families were named after the posthumous titles of their monarchs and fathers, King Jingping of Chu and King Zhao of Chu. Both families split up during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Because these three branches of the royal family were the most fertile, had a large number of people and many talented people, they had become the leaders of the Chu nobles in the late Warring States period.
"Even if there are only three households left in Chu, Chu will be the one to destroy Qin" does not mean that the remaining three common people will also destroy Qin, but refers to the three powerful aristocratic families of Chu, "Qu, Jing, and Zhao", who still have strength.
Although the State of Chu once called itself a barbarian country, since the Warring States Period, it has been a country that values aristocratic blood the most and has no regard for the common people.
Not only did the Qu, Jing and Zhao clans remain powerful after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, but when the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, although the Qu, Jing and Zhao clans did not produce many powerful generals, they provided a lot of financial support. Until the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the Qu, Jing and Zhao clans still had some power. In the ninth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han, these three clans were specially moved to Guanzhong for fear that they would cause chaos.
Moving the "Three Households of Chu" to the ancestral land of Qin was a move by Emperor Gaozu of Han that had a rather evil taste.
"After the blow of Wu Qi's reform and the internal fighting among the feudal lords of Chu, the position of prime minister of Chu was held by Ruo'ao, Yan, Qu, Zhao, Jing and Peng. It became a rotation among Qu, Zhao and Jing, and few others took a share." Zhu Xiang said, "During the Spring and Autumn Period, several families took turns to be prime minister of Chu, and the nobles checked and balanced each other. There was no aristocratic family like in Jin. But when only Qu, Jing and Zhao were left to share the position, the momentum of development of these three families was unstoppable."
The Ling Yin of Chu was equivalent to the prime minister of the six states. The "Prime Minister of Chu" in the six states was the Ling Yin. More than 30 Ling Yins came from these three families, which shows how powerful they were.
If Qin had not become powerful by the time the three states became the most powerful, and Chu had not dared to engage in internal strife, the King of Chu would have long ago become part of the Eastern Zhou royal family or the ruler of Jin.
Lin Zhi said: "In the beginning, the State of Jin established six nobles to share power, and the six families of Han, Zhao, Wei, Zhi, Fan, and Zhonghang checked and balanced each other. Later, Han, Zhao, and Wei destroyed Zhi, Fan, and Zhonghang, which led to the growth of the three families. The Duke of Jin was almost a puppet, which is almost exactly the same as the current situation in the State of Chu."
Zhu Xiang said: "There are two differences. First, Qu, Jing, and Zhao have the same surname as the King of Chu; second, Qin is eyeing them covetously from outside. These two differences prevented Qu, Jing, and Zhao from dividing Chu."
Ying Xiaozheng snorted coldly: "The Qu, Jing, and Zhao clans already have the power to divide the Chu State, but they don't need to, and they don't dare, now."
Lin Zhi immediately pinched Ying Xiaozheng's nose to make him sneer, and was almost hit on the nose by Ying Xiaozheng's fist.
Lin Zhi loosened his hand, dodged Ying Xiaozheng's fist, and said, "How can we eliminate these two differences? Hey, Zheng'er, stop making trouble and talk about business."
Zhu Xiang stood up and held Lin Zhi down, and after Ying Xiaozheng punched Lin Zhi to calm him down, he continued, "My idea is that the Qu, Jing, and Zhao tribes think that they have the same surname as the King of Chu, so their alliance with the King of Chu is strong. Let them mistakenly think that the King of Chu wants to support a foreign surname. Then let Qin show weakness and sign an agreement with them to divide Chu."
Lin Zhi shook his head: "Neither is easy to do."
Zhu Xiang said: "Yes, it's just a rough plan. I want Wang Jian and Li Mu to attack Chu from the west and east at the same time, creating the illusion that Qin is attacking Chu in an all-out way, and then use the trade war to make Chu lack food and force Chu into civil strife. Qin will then use the division of Chu as an agreement to cease fire with Chu..."
Lin Zhi shook his head again and interrupted, "That's too idealistic. Chu might work together, and the other five countries might come to the rescue."
Zhu Xiang rubbed his temple and said, "This is the limit I can think of."
Lin Zhi smiled and said, "Your general idea is correct, but the details are not polished enough."
Zhu Xiang smiled bitterly: "No need to comfort me."
Lin Zhi said, "Do you think I am someone who can comfort you? The plan you made is what we must do when we divide Chu. It just requires a few details to guide the events in this direction. By the way, Zichu is coming too. How about we let Zichu act like he was seriously injured by an assassination, and let the king cooperate?"
Zhu Xiang was speechless: "What nonsense are you talking about? How could the monarch cooperate with you to do something that would shake the Qin State? Even if it was just a pretense, the Qin court would be ready to move, and I don't know how much trouble it would cause. And I told you the story of the boy who cried wolf before, the monarch's prestige cannot be lowered."
Ying Xiaozheng also agreed with Zhu Xiang's view: "Using the integrity of the two monarchs to create a false impression of civil unrest in Qin for Chu is not worth the loss. Because the loss is certain, but the gain is not certain."
Lin Zhi looked at Ying Xiaozheng and smiled: "If you can do it, will you do it?"
Ying Xiaozheng hesitated for a while and said, "It depends on the situation. I can't say for sure."
Zhu Xiang said: "Just don't scare me and tell me the truth in advance, and you can decide the rest."
Ying Xiaozheng smiled and said, "Then I will definitely scare my uncle. Only when my uncle is scared will others believe that I was really assassinated."
Zhu Xiang immediately covered Ying Xiaozheng's mouth: "Ah, bah, bah, don't say anything unlucky!"
Ying Xiaozheng reluctantly moved Zhu Xiang's hand away: "Okay." Alas, my uncle is bold and reckless most of the time, but sometimes he is particularly timid.
Lin Zhi pointed at the plan written by Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng: "I was just joking. I also know that we can't take the prestige of the King of Qin and the Crown Prince of Qin lightly... Hmm? Sending people to assassinate the King of Chu, regardless of whether it works, to put the blame on other members of the Chu royal family, causing civil unrest in Chu and involving the three clans? This must be what Zheng'er was thinking."
Ying Xiaozheng raised his head: "Why? No?"
Lin Zhi glanced at Zhu Xiang, and as expected, when he read out the plan written by Ying Xiaozheng, a well-hidden trace of emotion and loneliness flashed in Zhu Xiang's eyes.
Zhu Xiang certainly could not come up with such a plan, because no matter whether the plan succeeded or not, the assassins sent to assassinate the King of Chu would have to die.
Although Zhu Xiang decided to take the initiative to participate in the destruction of the six kingdoms, he was unable to directly use human lives to fill the plan of destroying the six kingdoms.
But Zhu Xiang couldn't do it, and he must have been quite resistant to this matter in his heart, but he did not stop Ying Xiaozheng from writing this plan into the plan.
Lin Zhi sometimes couldn't understand Zhu Xiang's trust and indulgence in Ying Xiaozheng. Zhu Xiang taught Ying Xiaozheng with all his strength, but he didn't intend to force Ying Xiaozheng to listen to his teachings, but let Ying Xiaozheng make his own decision, even if Ying Xiaozheng's decision was completely contrary to Zhu Xiang's philosophy.
Lin Xiangru had been quite indulgent towards Lin Zhi. When Lin Xiangru was alive, Lin Zhi also tried his best to make it look as if he had accepted Lin Xiangru's teachings and had not simply gone into seclusion in the woods.
Well, now he can't live in seclusion.
Lin Zhi was distracted for a moment, and said, "This is feasible, but it should not be done at this time. I will find an opportunity and wait until the King of Chu is ill. We can also send the King of Chu's son who was left in Xianyang back to Chu to intensify the fight among the King of Chu's sons."
Changping Jun? Ying Xiaozheng's eyes flashed, and a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Very suitable."
There will no longer be a Changping Jun in this world.
Lin Zhi rubbed his stomach and said, "Zhu Xiang, I'm hungry. Zheng'er and I can discuss this matter. If it's useless, go and cook."
Zhu Xiang said, "It is indeed time to cook. What are you going to eat today?"
Lin Zhi said, "I see lotus leaves in the pond, green and lovely."
He winked at Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang quickly covered his eyes, feeling disgusted by Lin Zhi: "What do you mean by green and cute? It should be green and delicious, right? You know how to eat it."
Zhu Xiang stood up and left. Ying Xiaozheng asked, "Why do you want your uncle to leave?"
Lin Zhi said: "First of all, I am really hungry."
Ying Xiaozheng asked: "Second?"
Lin Zhi spread his hands and said, "Secondly, Zhu Xiang is still a child and cannot bear to hear anything too dark and bloody."
Ying Xiaozheng almost choked on his saliva.
"Uncle is still naive and childish because you spoil him too much! How can he grow up?"
“Then don’t grow up.”
Ying Xiaozheng almost got into a fight with Lin Zhi.
Apart from Zhu Xiang, he only knew how to play around with Lin Zhi.
Zhu Xiang went to the pond and picked some lotus leaves.
The unfolded lotus leaves are used to make lotus leaf rice, the small lotus leaves that have just shown their pointed corners are coated with egg and flour and fried, and some newly unfolded lotus leaves are picked and pickled with salt to make cold dishes, and the seasonal lotus leaf dishes are quickly ready.
Zhu Xiang also picked some newly grown cabbages to make stir-fried cabbage with meat, braised cabbage with vinegar, and cabbage and tofu soup.
Thinking that a table full of vegetarian dishes would make Lin Zhi and Ying Xiaozheng upset, Zhu Xiang went back to get some lotus leaves and opened a jar of aged grain wine to make beggar's chicken and steamed chicken with wine.
Although Ying Xiaozheng was still underage, Li Mu had already taken Ying Xiaozheng to drink. Zhu Xiang didn't like Ying Xiaozheng drinking too early, so it was okay to let Zheng'er eat some dishes seasoned with wine.
After Zhu Xiang finished cooking, he picked out some dishes and put them into food boxes, and asked someone to deliver them to Xue Ji.
Now, Zhu Xiang is waiting for the seedlings to grow. It is the time for Xue Ji's textile workshop to be busy. Xue Ji is very serious about her work and has been living and eating in the workshop these days.
Although there is a cook in the workshop, Zhu Xiang will still share some of the dishes when he cooks and put them in food boxes to give to Xue Ji.
Xue Ji must try the food she cooked.
It doesn’t matter whether it tastes good or not, but Zhu Xiang believes that Xue Ji will be very happy when she sees the food and snacks he sends.
By the time Zhu Xiang had finished cooking, Lin Zhi and Ying Xiaozheng were so hungry that they came to the kitchen to look for him.
Lin Zhi complained: "I told you I was hungry, you could just make something quick to eat, why did you take so long?"
Ying Xiaozheng nodded: "That's right, uncle is starving us on purpose."
Lin Zhi said, "Zheng'er, your uncle is really abominable. He actually doesn't even give us food to eat."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "That's right, my uncle is abominable."
Lin Zhi and Ying Xiaozheng sang the same tune, and Zhu Xiang just rolled his eyes when he heard it.
"Stop yelling and serve the food." Zhu Xiang said unhappily, but he began to worry that they were really starving, so he quickly took out a lump of mud from the stove, pounded out a beggar's chicken, and gave each of them a chicken leg.
(End of this chapter)