Li Mu was cursing, so Zhu Xiang quickly took Zichu back to Nanjun.
When leaving, Zhu Xiang was still muttering that an honest man who rarely gets angry is the most terrible when he gets angry. If Li Mu doesn't calm down, he will push Xia Tong out to block him.
Zichu cursed and asked Zhu Xiang to block it himself.
Wang Jian gave an awkward yet polite smile.
Prince, can you please pay attention to your image? You are going to be the King of Qin in the future. Are you going to make such a scene with Zhu Xiang in the court
Oh, Zhu Xiang won’t go to court, that’s okay.
As long as Zhu Xiang is not around, the prince is still very normal.
"The heavy cavalry is in your hands. Write to me if you need anything." Zhu Xiang instructed before leaving.
Wang Jian laughed: "It won't bother you. I do have the ability to train soldiers."
Zhu Xiang waved his hand, and he and Zichu boarded the large ship heading east.
Although the Three Gorges are very dangerous, as long as you follow the fleet, you can just change to another one if the boat is broken. It is the woodcutters who are in danger, not the passengers.
Zhu Xiang and Zichu's route out of Ba County was just as Li Bai said in "Early Departure from Baidi City", "I left Baidi in the morning among the colorful clouds, and returned to Jiangling a thousand miles away in one day. The monkeys on both sides of the river kept crying, and the light boat had passed through thousands of mountains". In the blink of an eye, it seemed like in the blink of an eye, Ba County was left behind.
Zhu Xiang stood on the bow of the boat that split the river water, with his arms spread out, singing loudly towards the strong wind.
Zichu: Ugh!
Zhu Xiang turned around and asked unhappily, "Why are you seasick again?"
Zichu covered his mouth with a handkerchief and glanced at Zhu Xiang: "Ugh."
Zhu Xiang was no longer in the mood to sing, so he let the boat dock and waited for Zichu to recover before continuing on his way.
Weakling Xia Tong, you are dragging down my schedule!
Zichu lay on the deck like a dead fish.
He was not seasick, but the speed of going downstream was too fast and he couldn't bear it.
In order to take care of Zichu, Zhu Xiang returned to Wujun when the new year had almost passed.
When passing through Nanjun, Meng Wu happened to be in the county town.
When he saw Zichu's haggard face, he actually thought that Zichu was seriously injured and had not recovered yet. He was so scared that his voice changed.
When Meng Wu learned that Zichu was just seasick, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
He said, "I heard that Chunshen Jun went to Wujun as an envoy to test whether the prince was seriously injured. The prince went to see him like this, he must really think that the prince was seriously injured."
Zhu Xiang said worriedly, "Then we have to write a letter to the emperor, telling him that Xia Tong is really fine, he is just seasick. Meng Wu, help me pass this letter to the emperor, hurry up."
Meng Wu looked at Zichu, and after Zichu nodded, he agreed, "Okay."
Zhu Xiang pretended not to realize what it meant that Meng Wu looked at Zichu first and then agreed to his request.
What does it mean? It means that Meng Wu has already sided with the crown prince and regards the crown prince as the monarch.
"Do you have any sour plums at home? I'll take a jar and give it to Xia Tong to press." Zhu Xiang said, "Chun Shenjun has already gone to Wujun. We have to speed up the next part of the journey."
Zichu looked pale: "It's okay, I can hold on."
This time, Meng Wu didn't wait for Zichu to answer, but went to pick up the jar of sour plums himself.
Zhu Xiang said: "Xia Tong, look, no one believes you."
Zichu raised his leg to kick Zhu Xiang, but because he was too weak, not only did he fail to kick Zhu Xiang, but Zhu Xiang also laughed at him. He was so angry that he almost fainted.
He suspected that if he died young, it must be because Zhu Xiang was angered to death.
After a short rest in Wujun, the boat raised its sails, paddled, and sailed downstream at a speed as fast as flying.
Zichu drank the tranquilizer, laid down with his hands on his abdomen, and slept all the way until he got off the boat.
Li Mu came to greet them personally, but Ying Xiaozheng and Xue Ji did not come.
Zhu Xiang carried Zichu, who was still asleep, on his back and shook him. As he got into the carriage, he asked, "Where are Xue and Zheng'er?"
Li Mu said, "Now is the time to produce cloth. Xue is very busy and is not in Wucheng. Zheng'er... Let's talk on the way."
Zhu Xiang's heart sank, and he quickly used a handkerchief dipped in cold water to wake up Zichu, so that Zichu, his father, could listen too.
Zichu asked listlessly, "What happened to Zheng'er?"
The carriage started running, and Li Mu pulled down the curtain and said, "Zheng'er has encountered great resistance in promoting the New Land Law in Wu County."
Zichu shook his head, trying to shake Nitta Ryu out of his sleepy head: "Nitta Ryu... why are you trying to stop it? Isn't it a good idea to divide the land according to the number of people?"
Zhu Xiang pondered for a while and said, "Zheng'er is implementing the new land law to survey the hidden fields and households?"
Li Mu sighed and said, "Yes. Not only that, he also strictly prohibited the wealthy families in Wu County from keeping too many slaves, and prohibited their servants from equipping themselves with iron weapons."
Zichu finally came to his senses. He pressed his brows and said, "Zheng'er is still too young and is too hasty. After he encountered setbacks, he locked himself up in the county governor's mansion and refused to go out?"
Li Mu shook his head: "He didn't encounter any setbacks."
Zichu looked up in surprise, and his hand, which was rubbing his eyebrows, froze in mid-air.
Zhu Xiang frowned and sighed softly.
Zichu looked at Zhu Xiang, who seemed to have guessed the outcome, and said in disbelief, "No setbacks?"
Li Mu said: "Even though almost all the wealthy families in Wu County opposed this matter, Zheng'er did not encounter any setbacks."
He paused, his voice revealing an indescribable complex emotion: "Zheng'er had anticipated everything and had made preparations long ago. In that street in Wucheng where many wealthy families gathered, almost every family was in mourning."
Zichu opened his mouth slightly, then lowered his hand and slammed his thigh hard: "This is really... His temperament is completely like that of the previous king."
Li Mu thought to himself that perhaps none of the previous kings were as decisive and cruel as Zheng'er.
Zheng'er's move was intended to make the entire city of Wucheng observe mourning.
He was not often in Wu County, but often went south. When Zheng'er took action, he took him into account, deliberately choosing a time when he and Xue Ji were not in Wu County, and personally led the army to attack the most fierce opponents.
Before that, the implementation of the New Land Law in Wu County had come to a halt and was only enforced on wasteland, as if a compromise had been reached.
No one knew that after lying dormant for two months, Prince Zheng suddenly showed his fangs and killed all the powerful people who opposed Nitta Law.
These powerful people have been entrenched in Wu County for many years, and almost everyone with a little bit of ability is related to them.
Prince Zheng executed all the leaders of the other side, and sent their families and servants to the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain to fill up the marshes and reclaim wasteland.
The scholars in Wucheng complained bitterly, and every household hung mourning clothes for the tragic deaths of these local tyrants, cursing that Prince Zheng was unworthy of being the nephew of Lord Changping.
Prince Zheng did not send out troops to arrest people at this moment. He allowed the scholars of Wucheng to wear mourning clothes and point at his nose and curse him, and continued to implement the Xintian Law.
When Li Mu returned to Wujun and learned about this, he immediately ordered the Qin army to impose martial law and then wrote a letter to Zhu Xiang.
He did not dare to write this in the letter, fearing that Zhu Xiang would be overly worried and in a hurry to travel, something might happen.
"This child is so brave." After being shocked, Zichu couldn't help but smile with pride.
Obviously, in Zichu's view, there was nothing wrong with Ying Xiaozheng's move.
But in order to take care of Zhu Xiang's feelings, Zichu said hypocritically: "He is still young, I am afraid he is too angry. Don't be angry, I will beat him up and make him reflect on it."
Zhu Xiang rolled his eyes at Zi Chu and said, "What are you reflecting on? Are you going to act faster next time?"
Zichu coughed dryly: "You don't seem very angry?"
Zhu Xiang said: "I know Zheng'er will go his own way, just like you. You are both kings of Qin, and there will be no shortage of such cruel things. So I have already prepared myself mentally."
Of course he felt uncomfortable.
Ying Xiaozheng used the implementation of the New Land Law to wipe out the powerful people who were entrenched in Wu County and thought they could still be "local lords". This move was indeed cruel.
Most of the wealthy families were not guilty of such a crime, they were just blocking Ying Xiaozheng's way.
As for the King of Qin, all the ants that blocked his way would be crushed, and he had no mercy on them.
Ying Xiaozheng did not kill all the scholars in mourning or force them to do forced labor, which meant that he accepted some of his ideas and showed mercy.
Li Mu patted Zhu Xiang on the shoulder and said, "Although I am surprised at Zheng'er's courage, I also support him. I am just worried that you will be angry with him after learning about this."
He lowered his voice and said, "He is worried about this, so he doesn't want to come to see you."
Zichu was speechless: "He's still angry? If he's worried that Zhu Xiang will be angry, shouldn't he take the initiative to come and apologize?"
Li Mu said: "This is probably because Zhu Xiang spoiled Zheng'er. When Zheng'er guessed that Zhu Xiang would be angry, he got angry first."
Zichu: “…”
Zichu said to Zhu Xiang, "Reflect on yourself. What kind of nephew do you have?"
Zhu Xiang: “…” You’re a jerk who only cares about giving birth to a child but not raising it. You still have the nerve to say that to me?! I’ve never seen such a shameless person! Lin Li is not as good as you!
Zhu Xiang rubbed his hair and said, "Okay, I understand. Tell me about the current situation in Wu County."
He had been away from Wu County for half a year, and Zheng'er had almost wiped out all the powerful people in Wu County.
This is really a "surprise".
Zhu Xiang felt heavy in his heart.
Ying Xiaozheng sat in the county magistrate's mansion for a while, but couldn't sit still anymore, so he stood up and walked around the yard with his hands behind his back.
Li Si, Han Fei and Meng Tian watched from the side. The three of them exchanged glances, wanting the other party to comfort Prince Zheng, but no one dared to go.
Li Si: Han Fei, you are closest to Zhu Xiang and Prince Zheng, you go!
Han Fei: I am the son of the Han prince, I want to stay out of this matter, I won't go! Meng Tian, you are the son of a senior official of the Qin State, you go!
Meng Tian: I dare not, you go.
The three of them used their eyes to criticize each other for being cowardly, but no one dared to speak.
"If my uncle scolds me, I will scold him back." Ying Xiaozheng stopped and said angrily, "If he dares to hit me, I will run away to find my aunt!"
Three people: “…” Ah, yes, yes, yes.
Duke Zhu Xiang was not angry yet, but Prince Zheng was almost mad to death. What the hell was going on
After saying a few angrily words, Ying Xiaozheng continued to walk around in circles with his hands behind his back.
After a while, he continued, "If my uncle refuses to forgive me and wants to break up with me, I will..."
Ying Xiaozheng paused, feeling extremely confused.
It’s so annoying! I didn’t do anything wrong! If my uncle is angry, it’s all my uncle’s fault!
I am so angry! Why is my uncle angry? I did nothing wrong!
Ying Xiaozheng was so angry that he drew his sword and chopped down the small tree in the courtyard.
When Zhu Xiang walked in with heavy steps, he saw Ying Xiaozheng chopping trees while scolding him angrily, looking very aggrieved.
When Ying Xiaozheng saw Zhu Xiang coming in, he threw away his sword and said aggrievedly: "I killed the people who should be killed. Why did my uncle chase me away?"
Zhu Xiang: “?”
Li Mu: “…”
Zichu held his forehead with one hand and covered his mouth with the other.
Zhu Xiang walked forward, took Ying Xiaozheng's hand, looked at Ying Xiaozheng's hand that was injured while chopping trees, and said with heartache: "What nonsense are you talking about? Who wants to drive you away?"
Ying Xiaozheng said aggrievedly: "Aren't you angry?"
Zhu Xiang rolled his eyes at Ying Xiaozheng: "How dare I get angry? I haven't said anything yet, and you're almost pissing yourself off. Are you a pufferfish?!"
Zhu Xiang looked at the three people clinging to the wall and scolded, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring some medicine! You just watched Zheng'er torture his hands, and you didn't try to stop him?"
The three of them quickly ran away.
"I'm not angry." Zhu Xiang looked at Ying Xiaozheng's disbelieving eyes, sighed, and said, "What you did is indeed not in line with my thoughts, but as long as you don't kill people without reason, I won't be angry with you."
Zhu Xiang said: "If I were angry about this, I would have severed ties with Xia Tong, Cai Ze, and Lin Li long ago."
Ying Xiaozheng frowned.
Li Mu said, "Lian Gong and I were forced into Qin by Cai Ze's strategy of alienation. Do you think this is in line with Zhu Xiang's ideals? Although Lian Gong and I did enter Qin, it is a good ending. But what if Lian Gong and I are attached to Zhao and would rather commit suicide than leave?"
Ying Xiaozheng's brows relaxed: "Yes."
Zhu Xiang asked quickly, "What unlucky words are you saying?"
Li Mu said: "I am telling the truth."
Ying Xiaozheng breathed a sigh of relief: "That's right, uncle didn't even throw my father out."
Zichu: “?”
He walked forward and knocked Ying Xiaozheng's head hard: "Where is your filial piety?"
Ying Xiaozheng covered his head and said, "However you teach, I will learn."
Zichu wanted to knock again, but Zhu Xiang quickly protected Ying Xiaozheng behind him and scolded, "Aren't you still unconscious? How come you have the strength to hit Zheng'er? Go in and lie down quickly."
Ying Xiaozheng poked his head out from behind Zhu Xiang: "Is father really injured?"
Zhu Xiang said: "His injury has long been healed, and now he is seasick."
Ying Xiaozheng mouthed the words "so weak" and quickly hid his head behind Zhu Xiang.
Zichu sneered. He was worried on the way that Zhu Xiang was really angry with Ying Xiaozheng, but he was worried in vain.
An unfilial son like Ying Xiaozheng should be kicked out of the house by Zhu Xiang before he will reflect on himself!
The three of them came running with Bian Que, holding a medicine box. Bian Que bandaged Ying Xiaozheng's hand, told Ying Xiaozheng not to touch water until his wound healed, and then treated Zichu.
Bian Que almost pulled his beard off and said helplessly: "Prince, you are overworked. You need to rest more."
Zichu said perfunctorily: "Okay, I came to Wujun this time just to have a good rest."
Zhu Xiang rolled his eyes at Zichu and was too lazy to say anything.
Li Mu felt relieved when he saw that Zhu Xiang was indeed not angry with Ying Xiaozheng.
"Zheng'er, Zhu Xiang is back. Tell him right away if you need Zhu Xiang's help to comfort him." Li Mu said, "Don't be willful."
Ying Xiaozheng muttered: "I'm not willful."
He looked at Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang ruffled Ying Xiaozheng's messy hair.
He had been gone for half a year, and Ying Xiaozheng's hair was big enough to be tied into a bun.
"Let's go to the study." Zhu Xiang said, "You should prepare the documents for me."
Ying Xiaozheng lowered his head: "Yeah."
He had made all the preparations for this matter, and this preparation naturally included his uncle.
He killed people first, and then his uncle appeased the scholars in Wu County, and the situation could be stabilized quickly.
Once those powerful people who thought they were "local lords" died, they scattered like monkeys when a tree fell. The remaining scholars who were in mourning for them only needed an excuse to appease them and they would completely submit to the Qin State.
Naturally, the excuse of appeasement was made by my uncle.
I will be the King of Qin in the future, and I will conquer the world and hold the butcher's knife.
And his uncle will be the "benevolent and virtuous minister" who will persuade him not to use the knife easily next time and appease the people after he has made the move.
But even though he was prepared, he was unwilling to speak to his uncle.
But he didn't say anything, and his uncle had already guessed it and silently agreed to it.
My uncle didn't get angry, and he didn't even ask any questions. He just followed his plan.
"Why did you stop?" Zhu Xiang wondered.
Ying Xiaozheng lowered his head and bumped Zhu Xiang with his head.
Zhu Xiang stroked the head of Ying Xiaozheng, whose height was already as high as his chin: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Ying Xiaozheng gently bumped Zhu Xiang again, like a calf, "I will disperse those who serve as conscripts, and then demote them to commoners and distribute land."
Zhu Xiang sighed, and the heavy mood in his heart seemed to have cracked open like a dark cloud, revealing a bit of sunshine.
"Okay." Zhu Xiang said, "Zheng'er, if you think it's right, don't hesitate. Uncle is a man who can see right from wrong."
Ying Xiaozheng lowered his head and said, "But what is good or bad in my uncle's heart may not be consistent with what is good or bad in Zheng'er's heart."
Zhu Xiang said: "That's true. But you see, I can even accept your great-grandfather. Can you be more tyrannical than your great-grandfather?"
Ying Xiaozheng thought about his grandfather's appearance, and then said confidently: "Absolutely not!"
Now that Qin had plenty of food, he would restrain the Qin army from killing prisoners. And he would not be as suspicious as his great grandfather, who almost forced the great hero to be killed.
Zhu Xiang asked, "Then what else are you worried about?"
Ying Xiaozheng rubbed his nose, then lowered his head and bumped Zhu Xiang's shoulder: "Don't go to the study yet. Zheng'er hasn't had a good meal since my uncle left Wujun."
Zhu Xiang was helpless: "I think the cook I left at home will be able to feed you... Okay, stop bumping into me, I'll go cook for you first."
Ying Xiaozheng was still pulling at Zhu Xiang's sleeve like he did when they were little. Zhu Xiang sighed and dragged his suddenly childish nephew towards the kitchen.
"What to eat?"
"Meat."
"… Is our family in need of a bite of meat from you? Why do you want to eat meat every day?"
"Meat."
"Okay, okay. I wonder if there are any lotus roots that haven't gone bad in the winter... Well, winter bamboo shoots should be edible."
"Meat!"
"Meat also needs side dishes. We can't just eat meat. Let's cook a fish."
"Meat!! Beef! Lamb! Pork! No fish!"
"How come it's the same as Xia Tong? Fish is so delicious and healthy."
Zhu Xiang was grumbling and Ying Xiaozheng was making a lot of noise.
Li Mu and Zichu were still a little worried that the two would quarrel behind people's backs, so they went over to take a look and were helpless.
Zichu said, "No wonder Zheng'er was worried about Zhu Xiang getting angry, and then he got angry first. This is all because of Zhu Xiang's spoiling him."
Li Mu said: "I told you so long ago."
When Zichu heard that he was innocently hit by Zhu Xiang, he raised his foot and followed him, cursing: "Zhu Xiang, how did I offend you? Zheng'er doesn't eat fish, can you still blame me?"
Zhu Xiang said unhappily: "Just tell me whether you eat fish or not."
Zichu said, "I don't want to eat it."
Li Mu gave Zichu a look of contempt. Zheng'er's bad habits were all inherited from the Qin prince. Zhu Xiang had worked very hard to teach Zheng'er to be like this.
Zhu Xiang said: "No objection, I will fry small yellow croaker for you today. Hey, I didn't expect to catch small yellow croaker."
Ying Xiaozheng said: "The fried fish is barely edible."
Zichu said, "This is fine."
Li Mu sighed: "They are really father and son."
Zichu and Ying Xiaozheng both showed expressions of disgust but were unable to refute.
They can't say they are not father and son.
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Okay, fry the fish and stew the lotus root meat."
He was thinking about today's menu. Zichu and Ying Xiaozheng were ordering dishes, and Li Mu was listening quietly on the side.
Li Si, Han Fei and Meng Tian followed along, fearing that they might be of use to them.
Now the three of them looked at each other, feeling very embarrassed.
Li Si: Continue to stay here
Han Fei: Free meal
Meng Tian: I want to slip away...
The three of them had a terrible headache.
Who knew that the atmosphere would suddenly change and become so warm, making the three outsiders feel out of place!
"What are you doing standing there? Come and help me." Zhu Xiang saw the three people clinging to the wall again and said unhappily, "You three are eating for free, but why don't you work?"
"Coming, coming." Han Fei was the first to roll up his sleeves and go over to help, and Li Si and Meng Tian followed reluctantly.
Li Si did know a little bit, but Meng Tian was a complete hindrance and was pulled aside by Li Mu to chop wood in a dejected manner.
Meng Tian never expected that in order to follow Prince Zheng, he would have to learn how to cook.
Why did Li Si and Han Fei know how to cook? Li Si was fine, as he was born in poverty. Han Fei was a prince of Han. Even if he was not valued by the King of Han, he would not cook for himself, right
Han Fei said that he didn't know how to do it at first, but after staying in Zhu Xiang's house for so long, he learned it.
“Wash the lotus root and put it in a clay pot with the pork, and add some seaweed… This is seaweed.”
"Slice winter bamboo shoots and stir-fry with meat, thicken with some starch... it's this starch, potato starch."
"I'm going to fry the fish, please move aside, be careful not to get burned."
Zhu Xiang was constantly busy, ordering the people in the kitchen around.
Zichu was making a fire, Ying Xiaozheng was pulling the bellows, and the father and son were adding firewood and throwing potatoes into the stove.
Zhu Xiang saw it and quickly stopped them: "Throw it into the ashes, not onto the open flame. Do you want to eat roasted potatoes, or use potatoes to make charcoal?"
The father and son quickly dug out the potatoes, their hands and faces covered in dust.
Li Mu, who was cutting meat and vegetables, sighed and confirmed once again that Zheng'er's bad habits all came from his biological father. Zhu Xiang had worked really hard.
In another villa, Chunshen Jun received the news that Crown Prince Zichu and Changping Jun Zhu Xiang had returned to Wu County.
"Zhu Xiang carried Crown Prince Zichu off the boat, and Crown Prince Zichu seemed to be unconscious?" Chunshen Jun frowned.
Is this a disguise, or is it real
He asked people to prepare gifts and planned to visit Crown Prince Zichu and Zhu Xiang the next day.
"I hope something really happened to Crown Prince Zichu." Chunshen Jun murmured to himself, "We can't let Prince Zheng become the King of Qin."
He witnessed with his own eyes the bloody storm that Prince Zheng had unleashed in Wu County.
Prince Zheng was so cruel and tyrannical at such a young age, and he was also very ambitious. If Prince Zheng became the King of Qin, he would probably be the second King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
The six countries only hope that future Qin kings will be like the current Qin King Zhu, who will just fight small battles with Han and appear not to be very aggressive.
There cannot be another King Zhaoxiang of Qin.
On the battlefield in the Three Jins.
Lian Po sneezed loudly and cursed, "Who cursed me?"
His personal soldiers were very confused as to why the general thought someone was scolding him when he sneezed.
Lian Po rubbed his nose and missed Zhu Xiang. He wondered how that boy was doing in the south and whether he had taken good care of Zheng'er.
"Your Majesty is really a fool. He forced me to fight slowly and cultivate the land while I was fighting." Lian Po cursed, "I have never fought a battle so frustrating!"
In the past, I just fought and left the fighting to others. I have never felt so aggrieved!
(End of this chapter)