In 251 BC, Ying Xiaozheng was twelve years old and King Zhu of Qin was seriously ill.
In 250 BC, when Ying Xiaozheng was thirteen years old, Prince Chu of Qin ascended the throne.
After the Qin King Zhu's body was laid to rest, he was also buried in the Qin Eastern Mausoleum, also known as the Zhiyang Mausoleum.
Although Zhu Xiang was not a member of the royal family, he escorted Qin Wang Zhu's coffin into the mausoleum with the rites of a junior according to Qin Wang Zhu's last will.
When he visited the Eastern Qin Mausoleum in his previous life, he heard that the four generations of Qin Shihuang's ancestors were buried there.
His two predecessors and his friend Xia Tong were buried here.
When Zichu escorted King Qin Zhu to the mausoleum, he pointed at the land on the carriage and said that he liked the land and would build a mausoleum nearby in the future.
"If I am buried there, you and Zheng'er can pay tribute to me from the top of the palace tower."
Having just turned thirty and being in the prime of life, Zichu calmly talked about his affairs after death.
Zhu Xiang said angrily: "I will never worship you and let you be lonely in the underground."
Zichu stroked the beard on his chin that had been shaved for a long time because of the vigil, and said, "Then I will leave a will to reserve a piece of land for you next to my tomb, so that your tomb can be buried with me."
Zhu Xiang said: "If you want to be the first to set a precedent of burying ministers with the king, you can beat Xunzi first."
Ying Xiaozheng, who was dozing off, suddenly raised his head: "What? Father wants to challenge Xunzi?"
Zichu raised his hand skillfully and gave a blow to Zhu Xiang's son's head for not learning anything but being talkative.
Ying Xiaozheng, who imitated his uncle's stubbornness, yawned and continued to sleep leaning on Zhu Xiang's shoulder.
Zichu looked at Ying Xiaozheng acting like a child and wanted to put on his fatherly airs and say that Ying Xiaozheng was not mature enough.
But he thought about it and realized that when Ying Xiaozheng was five or six years old, he was helping Zhu Xiang manage the family accounts, and when he was ten years old, he followed Zhu Xiang to serve as an official outside. How could he be mature
As soon as he said the words of scolding Ying Xiaozheng, Zhu Xiang would probably immediately say "hehe" to him with a mocking face.
In order not to get himself angry, Zichu had to suppress his desire to teach his son.
Anyway, he didn't teach much before, so it doesn't matter if he doesn't teach now.
After Zichu and Ying Xiaozheng got off the carriage, they turned back into the King of Qin and the Crown Prince.
Zhu Xiang didn't need to pretend. His sad look was enough to make people ignore the love that King Qin Zhu had for him.
When Qin Wangzhu's sons saw Zhu Xiang's appearance, they felt sad and depressed.
Their status before Qin Wangzhu was far inferior to that of Zhu Xiang.
However, if he became the King of Qin, he would definitely treat Zhu Xiang much better than he treated his sons.
Unfortunately, when Zhu Xiang entered Qin, he was bound to Zichu, so they had no chance to establish a relationship with Zhu Xiang.
Now that Zichu has become the King of Qin, they have completely lost hope.
After the Qin State's reform, no prince of Qin could be granted a title without merit. As long as the King of Qin was in power, he would hold all the power and his throne was very stable.
They had completely failed in the struggle for the throne, and their next thought was how to gain some merit on the battlefield, get some titles and fiefs, so that they could live the rest of their lives in peace.
But thinking about it carefully, they didn't seem to have argued with Zichu much, which made them even more depressed.
At least Ziqi still has some sense of existence. Although Ziqi has now been demoted to a commoner, exiled abroad, and his life or death is unknown.
The ministers argued for a long time about the posthumous title of Qin Wangzhu. Finally, Xunzi made the final decision and gave Qin Wangzhu the highest posthumous title of "Renwen".
Not to mention the other six countries' stiff expressions when they learned the posthumous title of Qin Wang Zhu, even the people of Qin itself felt a little sad.
"Benevolence" is the highest morality pursued by Confucianism.
Now, those who are in charge of the ritual system in the Qin State are basically students of the great Confucian scholar Xunzi. Even if they are not Confucian disciples, they are well versed in Confucian classics.
It is really unbelievable that they gave such a beautiful posthumous title to Qin Wangzhu, who only ruled for four years.
Although the character "wen" that follows is also a beautiful posthumous title, it is overshadowed by "ren".
When Zichu saw this posthumous title, he rubbed his eyes. Then he said to Ying Xiaozheng who was grinding ink nearby, "It's really scary that the King of Qin can actually call himself benevolent."
Ying Xiaozheng pretended not to hear.
There is a very important reason why Xunzi and others gave Qin Wangzhu the beautiful name of "benevolence".
Although King Zhaoxiang of Qin established the Xianyang Academy and summoned talented people from all over the world to Qin, he was just pretending, and deep down he was still as domineering as ever.
Qin Wangzhu is different.
When King Zhu of Qin first ascended the throne, he knew that he did not have much time left, and that his long-cherished wish of unifying the world would definitely be passed on to his sons and grandsons, so he set himself a strategy of "resting and recuperating" and "keeping a low profile" from the beginning.
He suppressed his own ambitions, improved the official selection system of the Xianyang Academy, and tried out academies in various counties to cultivate talents for the Qin State.
After the Lu Confucians entered Qin, they had many conflicts with the Qin system of governing the country with the Legalists. Qin Wangzhu did not use his power to suppress them, but let them argue with the Legalists and other schools, and then sent them to help Zhu Xiang or enter the palace to revise books.
There were few wars during the reign of King Zhu of Qin. He only sent Lian Po to attack the Kingdom of Han, and he cultivated land along the way.
Although Qin Wangzhu almost came into conflict with the State of Chu when he was about to die, in the eyes of outsiders, he finally came to his senses and prevented a major war between Qin and Chu.
Therefore, among all the Qin kings in history, he was the one who used war the least.
In the eyes of Confucian followers, Qin Wangzhu reversed the image of the tyrannical Qin State and gave people of the world hope that the Qin State was moving towards benevolent governance.
So they "spent a thousand gold coins to buy horse bones", and they thought it was appropriate to give Qin Wangzhu the posthumous title of "Ren".
Furthermore, although King Zhu of Qin was in power for only four years, during these four years, not only did Zhu Xiang promote agricultural planting technology and make great progress, the Qin State's granaries were full every year, but after Xue Ji led people to invent a new cotton textile machine, the common people of Qin State used cotton cloth and cotton, and few people froze to death in winter.
If an ancient country had few people starving to death or freezing to death, it could be considered a prosperous country.
The four years during which King Qin Zhu was in power could be described as a prosperous era.
King Renwen of Qin truly deserves the title.
When Zhu Xiang saw Zichu showing off the posthumous title of his father, King Qin Zhu, he was stunned for a long time.
The posthumous title of King Zhu of Qin should have been "King Xiaowen of Qin".
Since the Han Dynasty raised the banner of "governing the country with filial piety", successive dynasties have followed this principle, so the word "filial piety" is one of the highest honors.
But not now.
Nowadays, Confucian culture is not the only one that is dominant, and "filial piety" is not the top posthumous title. For King Xiaowen of Qin, the posthumous title of "filial piety" was given because he did not accomplish anything during his reign, so it was a posthumous title given to him based on his obedience to King Zhaoxiang of Qin when he was the crown prince.
The same is true for "wen". This is not a description of King Qin Xiaowen's governing philosophy, but an evaluation of King Qin Xiaowen's personal conduct, "learning diligently and asking questions is called wen".
However, after Zhu Xiang thought about the "benevolent emperors" in his previous life, his emotion cooled.
"For a monarch, posthumous titles are nothing more than what others say, so they don't need to be taken too seriously." Zhu Xiang said, "For the two former kings, they did what they wanted to do, and their merits and demerits can be judged by others, and they don't care."
Ying Xiaozheng raised his eyes lazily, and finally spoke his true feelings to his father and king who had been excited for a long time: "It is pointless for a son to criticize his father and a minister to criticize his king."
Zhu Xiang smiled, "Zheng'er is absolutely right."
Zichu looked at his smiling friend, then at his son with a domineering look on his face. He became annoyed and was about to hit Ying Xiaozheng on the head with his fist, but was blocked by Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang said angrily, "You can't hit my head randomly. What if I become stupid? You can only hit me once a day. If you get angry, you can hit my palm."
Ying Xiaozheng immediately handed over Zichu's sword, saying, "Father, beat up your uncle!"
What uncle? He thought his uncle was protecting him!
Zichu, who was furious after being exposed, slammed his sword hard on the table, which was not what Zhu Xiang wanted.
If he chased Zhu Xiang with a sword and hit him now, wouldn't he be just confirming his anger and humiliation
He pretended to be calm and said, "Indeed, it's pointless."
Zhu Xiang: “Puchi.”
Zichu: “…”
Ying Xiaozheng handed over the sword again: "Father, here it is!"
Cai Ze walked in with a pile of documents and saw Zichu and Zhu Xiang arguing with each other and Ying Xiaozheng kneeling as punishment.
Cai Ze took a deep breath and tried to make his voice as calm as possible: "Zheng'er... Prince, what's going on?"
Ying Xiaozheng knelt straight on the cushion, expressionless, and said, "My uncle said that my father was angry and embarrassed, so I handed the sword to my father who was angry and embarrassed. My father first said that I was unfilial and punished me to kneel, and then he chased and beat my uncle in anger."
Cai Ze: “…”
Although what Ying Xiaozheng said was very confusing, he still understood it.
Cai Ze put down the document in his hand, rolled up his sleeves, walked into the battle circle, snatched the sword from Zichu's hand with both hands, and knocked down the sword from Zhu Xiang's hand.
"After finishing the government affairs, it won't be too late for Your Majesty and Lord Changping to exchange martial arts." Cai Ze said calmly.
Zichu and Zhu Xiang patted their clothes and went about handling government affairs as if nothing had happened.
When handling government affairs, Zichu did not forget to place a small table in front of Ying Xiaozheng and let Ying Xiaozheng kneel down to help.
Zhu Xiang echoed from the side, asking Ying Xiaozheng to kneel down properly, keep his back straight, and not to be lazy.
Ying Xiaozheng flipped through the documents noisily, thinking in his mind what ugly posthumous title he would give to his father after he became the King of Qin.
Son criticizing father? Very good!
"The King of Han wants to come and mourn for his father's funeral." Zichu flipped through the document that Cai Ze had placed on top and immediately had a headache, "Is he addicted to mourning for the King of Qin?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Mr. Lian is still stationed on the border of Han to cultivate land, so the King of Han is naturally afraid."
Moreover, the border of Han where Duke Lian is currently stationed was originally a city of Han, but now it belongs to Qin.
Zichu said, "Mr. Lian wants to come back to pay respect to his father and king. What do you think?"
Zhu Xiang said: "It depends on what you want. Do you want to withdraw your troops, or destroy Han first? I suggest not to destroy all of them, but to leave half of the land for Han to paralyze the six countries."
Cai Ze added: "If Qin destroys Han, the six kingdoms may unite. Now the six kingdoms have not been weakened yet, so it would be troublesome for them to unite. Moreover, the civil strife in Chu has just begun. If there is external pressure, I am afraid that the King of Chu will escape this disaster."
Zichu's eyes dimmed for a moment. Did Zhu Xiang see that he wanted to destroy Han? Was he so obvious
Although Zichu's thoughts were guessed by Zhu Xiang, he had long been accustomed to it, so he did not feel the panic and anger that other kings felt when their thoughts were guessed by their subjects.
He said naturally, "Then let's let Han go for now. But when Duke Lian leads the army to fight, he can't make too much of a contribution, or it might lead to criticism. I heard that Duke Dong Zhou wants to be the King of Zhou? Let Duke Lian destroy Dong Zhou on his way back to Qin, which would also be considered a contribution."
Zhu Xiang's eyelids jumped: "On the way? You really have a way of saying it."
Zichu said: "With Lord Lian's ability, it would be a good idea for him to destroy the small Eastern Zhou Kingdom?"
Zhu Xiang said: "That is indeed the case."
Cai Ze asked, "Should we let the King of Han come?"
Zichu said jokingly, "If I take away half of his land, he will still be willing to come, and I will naturally welcome him."
Cai Ze took out the next document: "The King of Wei also wants to come and pay homage to the late king."
Zichu was overjoyed: "King of Wei? Is it because Wei Wuji finally went to guard the border for Zhao? He is worried that when Qin attacks Wei in the future, Wei Wuji will not come to rescue him, so he wants to become a vassal state of Qin?"
Cai Ze said: "Your Majesty, according to the law, Wei was already a vassal state of Qin during the reign of King Zhaoxiang."
Zhu Xiang said: "He probably won't go in the end, he's just testing Qin. Although the King of Wei has no talent, he's very proud and good at plotting. He's just pretending to be weak in Wei to publicize the troubles that Wei Wuji's abandonment of Wei has brought to him."
Zichu rolled his eyes, "Who forced Wei Wuji to leave? It certainly wasn't him, right? Zheng'er, don't sit still, straighten your back."
While the elders were talking about government affairs, Ying Xiaozheng, who had been secretly sitting on their laps, revealed a depressed expression and obediently knelt up again.
Junfu also said that if his uncle bullied him, he should tell him and he would help him.
Ah.
Cai Ze couldn't bear to watch it any longer and said, "The prince is young. Kneeling for too long may be harmful to his health."
Zhu Xiang said: "No, I only knelt for less than a quarter of an hour, and the cushion I specially picked is very soft."
Cai Ze held his forehead and gritted his teeth: "Zhu Xiang! Don't bully Zheng'er!"
Zhu Xiang said, "He actually instigated a fight between me and Xia Tong. He is so unfilial and should be punished."
Zichu agreed: "That's right."
Cai Ze was speechless and could only give Ying Xiaozheng a helpless look.
Ying Xiaozheng admitted his mistake: "I was wrong, I will definitely reflect on it."
Zhu Xiang smiled at Zichu and said, "Look at the way Zheng'er admitted his mistakes. Does it look like the way I admitted my mistakes in front of Xunzi?"
Zichu said: "Resemble, very resemble, very sincere."
Zhu Xiang said: "Yes, very sincere."
Zichu added: "But you admitted your mistake and refused to change despite repeated admonitions."
Zhu Xiang said, "I think Zheng'er is about the same."
Cai Ze took a deep breath: "Zhu Xiang, don't speculate on Zheng'er!"
What's wrong with you? Why are you speaking ill of the prince in front of the King of Qin? What kind of flatterer are you
Zhu Xiang said: "Don't you think so?"
Cai Ze: “…” Although it is true.
Ying Xiaozheng admitted his mistake again: "I was wrong, and I will never change."
Zhu Xiang was so angry at Ying Xiaozheng's angry look that he couldn't stop laughing.
Zichu also laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back: "Okay, okay, I believe you, you can sit down. But you can only sit on the cushion."
Ying Xiaozheng took a deep breath, a deep breath as hard as he could.
You two just want to bully me for fun, right?! Did I give birth to you just to play with me?!!
Ying Xiaozheng suddenly remembered what his uncle said when he was a child: raising a nephew is meaningless if you don't use him to play with him.
At that time, he could only foolishly punch his uncle in response.
I didn't expect that my uncle would still be like this even now! I'm so pissed!
Cai Ze once again gave Ying Xiaozheng a helpless look.
What can you do when you encounter such a father and uncle? You can only let them do whatever they want.
Cai Ze never expected that Xia Tong did not become the Prince Chu of Qin in front of Zhu Xiang. But Xia Tong, don't always be your Xia Tong. Can you be Zichu for once
Fortunately, Lin Zhi has been more restrained, otherwise, if these three people got together without the suppression of King Zhaoxiang of Qin and King Renwen of Qin, who knows what they would do.
When Cai Ze thought about the fact that he would have to clean up the mess made by these three people in the future, he wanted to resign.
He became an official only to protect his friends and did not want to work hard.
Cai Ze still remembered in his heart that he just wanted to be rich and live a leisurely life.
Now that Zhu Xiang no longer needs his protection, can he resign
As Cai Ze was thinking this, he saw Ying Xiaozheng looking at him with great grievance.
Cai Ze sighed in his heart and said, "If you bully Zheng'er again, I will tell Xunzi."
Zichu said nonchalantly: "Xunzi will also stand on my side."
Zhu Xiang said, "I was wrong. I will go get a chair for Zheng'er to sit on."
Zichu: "... Zhu Xiang, why did you defect midway?"
Zhu Xiang stood up and went to get a chair: "You don't know how much Xunzi dotes on Zheng'er. He won't do anything to you, but he will beat me with a cane. In the past, Xunzi only used a ruler, but after I came back this time, he used a cane. You don't know how painful it is to be beaten with a cane."
Zichu asked Cai Ze, "Xunzi used a cane to beat Zhu Xiang instead? Why?"
Cai Ze said: "You should ask Zhu Xiang himself."
Zichu smiled and said, "I'd better go ask Xunzi."
Zhu Xiang brought a chair, and Zichu waved his hand casually, asking Ying Xiaozheng to sit down.
Then several people continued to handle government affairs.
At an angle where his elders couldn't see, Ying Xiaozheng kicked away the cushion he was kneeling on.
angry!
But unexpectedly, Cai Ze, who was paying attention to him, saw it.
Cai Ze was very worried about Ying Xiaozheng's violent temper.
In the past, Ying Xiaozheng was protected by his great-grandfather and great-grandfather, and Zichu was not the King of Qin, so Ying Xiaozheng could be arrogant in front of Zichu.
Now that Zichu is the King of Qin, Ying Xiaozheng, as the Crown Prince, should become respectful and humble so as not to arouse the King of Qin's fear.
The relationship between the monarch and the prince is different from that between an ordinary father and son, and he needs to pay attention to more things. But Ying Xiaozheng seems to be used to being spoiled by his elders, and now he has no sense of being a prince.
If Ying Xiaozheng doesn't learn to be cautious, and Zhu Xiang is a fool, he may not be able to detect the wrong between the King of Qin and the Crown Prince. If the King of Qin and the Crown Prince are not on good terms, what should Zhu Xiang do
Cai Ze thought about it and gave up the idea of resigning.
Zhu Xiang was unreliable, and Lin Zhi liked to go out. He had to stay in the Xianyang Palace to consider Ying Xiaozheng.
Zichu never expected that one of his friends would want to resign just after he ascended the throne.
Chu State.
The King of Chu knelt on the cushion with a pale face, his mouth opening and closing, unable to utter a word for a long time.
Chunshen Jun sat opposite the King of Chu with a wooden expression, not saying a word.
The other ministers also lowered their heads to their chests and dared not speak.
After a long while, the King of Chu said sadly: "How have I wronged them? Why did they rebel? Even when Wu Qi was the Prime Minister, they did not rebel!"
No one said anything.
The King of Chu looked at his ministers who were usually noisy, and finally turned his gaze to Chunshen Jun.
When he was most helpless, only Chunshen Jun was by his side. So after he succeeded to the throne, he valued Chunshen Jun very much.
However, after being the King of Chu for a long time, more people appeared around him, and Chunshen Jun did a lot of wrong things, so he gradually neglected Chunshen Jun.
Now he was helpless again, so he looked to Chunshen Jun out of habit, hoping that Chunshen Jun would rescue him again.
Chunshen Jun noticed the look in the King of Chu's eyes and felt mixed emotions.
The King of Chu finally began to rely on him again. But every time the King of Chu relied on and trusted him only when he was in trouble.
But he and the King of Chu share the same fate, so Chunshen Jun can only offer advice to the King of Chu. Even though he now thinks that the King of Chu asked for it.
"Perhaps they have had ambitions for a long time." Chunshen Jun said, "They are originally members of the royal family of Chu, so it is normal for them to have ambitions. Moreover, after the Tian family replaced Qi and the three families divided Jin, there were countless feudal lords who wanted to establish themselves as kings but failed to do so. Since they are members of the royal family, they will definitely want to establish themselves as kings if they have the chance."
Chunshen Jun sneered and said, "They probably think they deserve to be the King of Chu."
The King of Chu angrily said, "How dare you, you little bastard!"
Chunshen Jun said: "They have already done it."
The King of Chu looked dejected again.
Seeing the King of Chu's lack of ambition, Chunshen Jun felt a little upset.
He had served the King of Chu since he was the Crown Prince, so he had always known that his master had no ambitions.
He originally thought that this was a good thing, as the King of Chu would allow him to realize his ambitions.
But now the Chu State is in civil strife. The King of Chu does not think about suppressing the rebellion immediately, but keeps worrying about why these people are rebelling...
well.
Chunshen Jun said, "Your Majesty, why did they rebel? After the rebellion is quelled, we can ask them in person. We should quell the rebellion now."
The King of Chu sighed and said, "Yes. But they are all my people, I can't bear it."
Chunshen Jun knew that the King of Chu was just pretending to be kind and righteous, so he did not expose him and continued, "They rebelled first, so it is only natural for Your Majesty to put down the rebellion. How can Your Majesty not bear it? Your Majesty really cannot bear it. After the rebellion is put down, you will not kill them all, but just demote them to commoners and exile them. This can be considered as being worthy of their ancestors."
After hearing what Chunshen Jun said, the King of Chu nodded and said, "Indeed. Chunshen Jun, you lead the army?"
Chunshen Jun said, "They are causing chaos everywhere, and I can only lead one army. Your Majesty, you should send at least four armies to attack. Moreover, Qin is eyeing us covetously, and other countries are also watching. I think we still need to prepare for foreign enemies."
The King of Chu immediately looked annoyed again: "What should I do? I don't have that many soldiers."
Chunshen Jun stopped talking.
He knew what to do, and so did the King of Chu. But the King of Chu didn't want to say it himself, and wanted him to say it.
But he couldn't say.
If he said it, even if he succeeded in suppressing the rebellion, he would probably be abandoned by the King of Chu.
The solution was to recognize that several of the most powerful feudal lords had declared themselves kings, and then form an alliance with them to attack the smaller feudal lords in order to retain most of the Chu land.
The King of Chu kept signaling Chunshen Jun with his eyes, but Chunshen Jun kept silent and pretended not to see anything.
The King of Chu became angry and looked at other people.
When Qin cloth became popular in Chu, the King of Chu, like other feudal lords, accumulated a large amount of money and grain, and thought that his strength had increased a lot.
When there were civil unrests everywhere, the areas directly under the jurisdiction of the King of Chu were watched over by Chunshen Jun, and there were not many issues of converting grain into cotton, so the area was relatively stable.
Seeing the chaos in other lords' fiefdoms, Bai Tou Weng persuaded the King of Chu to take this opportunity to deal with the lords who did not obey his orders. Although the King of Chu expelled Bai Tou Weng from the capital of Chu, he had already made up his mind.
Later, the white-headed old man was chased by an unknown lord and fell into the water, his body was never found. The people of Chu were even more confused, and the voices for severely punishing the murderer grew louder day by day.
Some people with lofty ideals gathered around the King of Chu, willing to follow the example of Wu Qi and Qu Yuan and help the King of Chu reform his laws again.
In particular, the new nobles of Chu who were awarded titles for military merit all assured the king that the old nobles were nothing to be feared and that they would be able to sweep them away. Among them, the Xiang family, whose generations of generals had been generals, was the most active.
There were also people among the old feudal lords who supported the King of Chu's reforms, and that was the Qu family.
Even Zhu Xiang had never thought of this. It was only after Lin Zhi went to the State of Chu for an on-site investigation that he discovered that Qu Shi was more suitable to be the spokesperson for the "direct subordinates of the King of Chu" than Chunshen Jun, who had no foundation.
(End of this chapter)