When Zhu Xiang went south again, it was already February of 247 BC, when the birds were singing and the grass was growing.
In the original history of Zhu Xiang's previous life, this year was the first year of King Zheng of Qin. Zichu died of illness this year, and Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne this year.
However, Qin Shi Huang had not yet officially stepped onto the historical stage, as he had to wait until he came of age before he could show his talents.
Although Zichu still looks sickly, he is still the King of Qin; although Ying Zheng is not the King of Qin, he has stepped onto the stage of history very early, and the biographies of emperors in later generations have to be written from the time he was three years old.
Zhu Xiang sat at the bow, looking at Huang Zhai's homework while daydreaming.
After Chunshen Jun's wife entrusted Huang Zhai to Zhu Xiang, Zhu Xiang took Huang Zhai to inspect the fields of Qin State and taught Huang Zhai some knowledge that could not be learned from books.
When Zhu Xiang was about to go to the Hanzhong Palace, Huang Zhai, a proud and old-fashioned young man, was unwilling to use Zhu Xiang's face to get a name in front of the King of Qin at this time, so he took Zhu Xiang's letter of recommendation and went to the Xianyang Academy to report.
Zhu Xiang was helpless.
As the grandson of Chunshen Jun and the person he brought to Xianyang, Huang Zhai would always pay attention to him even if he did not meet the King of Qin.
However, as the young man has such persistence, it is enough for the elders to support and praise him. There is no need to expose the young man’s childish but beautiful persistence.
After returning to Xianyang, Zhu Xiang went to ask about Huang Zhai's health and mood, but Huang Zhai took out a pile of finished homework and asked Zhu Xiang to check it obediently.
Zhu Xiang:
He took Huang Zhai's homework and was completely confused. Did he assign homework to Huang Zhai
He pondered over it and guessed that maybe when he was teaching Huang Zhai, he casually mentioned a few words about which teachers' handwritten notes in the Xianyang Academy were worth reading, and Huang Zhai remembered them.
What a good student.
Although Zheng'er was also a smart and good student, because he was too smart, he respected teachers such as Xunzi and Lin Gong very much. However, as Zheng'er grew older, he would argue ten times for every sentence he taught.
Everyone says that their nephew is the ancestor dragon. Look at that dragon. When its body is straightened out, doesn’t it look like a horizontal bar that has become a spirit
"You held it upside down." When Li Mu put the caught fish into the fish basket, he glanced at Zhu Xiang and reminded him.
Zhu Xiang lowered his head and straightened Huang Zhai's homework: "Alas, I fell asleep while watching it."
Li Mu asked: "As a teacher, you fell asleep while marking students' homework?"
Zhu Xiang said, "Marking homework is boring, why can't you take a nap? Besides, if I mark it now, I can't give it back to him immediately."
When Zhu Xiang returned to Xianyang, he had already reviewed all the homework Huang Zhai had handed in. This batch of homework was the homework Huang Zhai had added to Zhu Xiang's farewell in advance.
Li Mu was curious: "If you don't want to teach, why don't you say it?"
Zhu Xiang sighed: "It's not that I don't want to teach, but without Xunzi's supervision, I want to be lazy and don't want to see too many words."
Li Mu was speechless. He threw away his fishing rod and ignored Zhu Xiang.
At this time, no one could punish Zhu Xiang unless Xunzi took out a ruler and beat him.
I really want those students in Xianyang Academy who worship Zhu Xiang and call him a sage to take a good look at how lazy Zhu Xiang really is.
Zhu Xiang sighed for a while, but still couldn't bear it anymore, so he put Huang Zhai's homework back into the box.
He had a procrastination attack, so he decided to work overtime to finish reading it before sending the letter to Xianyang.
The boat went downstream at a very fast speed, and when Zhu Xiang was lazy, the boat had already reached Wang Jian's territory.
Wang Jian stood at the dock, holding a pheasant and waving to them.
Zhu Xiang nearly fell off the bow of the boat from laughing so hard.
"Why are you holding a chicken?" Zhu Xiang jumped down from the springboard and held Wang Jian's shoulders.
Wang Jian said, "I caught this while hunting today. The feathers are very beautiful."
Zhu Xiang said, "The feathers are beautiful. Please pluck them and give them to me."
Wang Jian said, "I'm waiting for you to roast a chicken for me."
Zhu Xiang glanced sideways and said, "Look, his bad intentions are exposed."
Li Mu walked down from the boat with steady steps and said, "The feathers are indeed very beautiful. How many chickens did you kill?"
Wang Jian said, "We are lucky. We have killed a bear. The chef is preparing bear paws. We can eat them when we get back."
Zhu Xiang's eyelids twitched.
Although I have lived in this world for more than 30 years, I am still a little uncomfortable with the world's protected animals being eaten casually.
Modern people must not learn this, do not eat wild animals, or you will end up in jail.
Although Zhu Xiang was often jokingly called the best cook by people he knew, he knew that he could only cook some home-cooked dishes. He certainly couldn't cook some fancy dishes, such as bear paws.
Bear paws were a dish in the Zhou Li, and Mencius even mentioned it in his articles. The chefs in the wealthy and powerful families all had the unique skill of cooking bear paws.
Zhu Xiang brought many new seasonings to this era. Wang Jian was a friend of Zhu Xiang, and his family cook had also "studied" from Zhu Xiang, and had mastered the new seasonings to perfection.
A dish of bear paw, which is first braised, then roasted, fried in oil until the skin is crispy, and sprinkled with special powder, it is extremely delicious.
Zhu Xiang took two bites and felt that the taste was not much different from eating pig's trotters or beef tendons.
Next time someone says you can't have your cake and eat it too, he'll just give him pig's trotters.
After Zhu Xiang told Li Mu and Wang Jian about his "insights", they almost choked.
Wang Jian said angrily: "I spent a lot of effort to hunt a bear to welcome you, and you say it's no different from a pig's trotter?"
Li Mu said, "Go ahead and tell me if you can beat the Confucianists who respect Mencius as their teacher."
Zhu Xiang said, "Bear paws taste like this, but the bear skin is very good. I want to take it back to scare Zheng'er."
Wang Jian said, "I have prepared it for you a long time ago. Even the bear head is intact. How are you going to scare the crown prince? The crown prince is not that easily frightened."
Zhu Xiang smiled evilly and said, "When he falls asleep, cover him with the bear skin and turn the bear head towards him. When he wakes up, he will see a bear head."
Wang Jian was almost choked again.
Li Mu was more experienced than Wang Jian. When Zhu Xiang said he wanted to scare Zheng'er, he stopped eating and drinking.
"You said that Zheng'er becomes less respectful to you as he gets older. How can Zheng'er respect you if you act like this?" Li Mu sighed, "Don't scare Zheng'er. What if something goes wrong?"
Zhu Xiang said: "You have to trust Zheng'er, he won't be scared so easily."
Wang Jian coughed and said, "Do you really want to scare me? Do you want a tiger skin? I have a tiger skin with a tiger head on it."
Zhu Xiang hooked his hand: "Come on, the more the better. I will put the tiger head and the bear head on both sides of Zheng'er's pillow."
Li Mu said: "I hope Zheng'er won't be so angry that he will complain to Xue Ji."
Zhu Xiang's evil smile froze, and he began to hesitate: "This is..."
Wang Jian laughed, and his laughter was very hearty.
After spending a long time with Zhu Xiang, he finally understood why Zhu Xiang's friends always laughed so happily when they saw Zhu Xiang being humiliated.
Zhu Xiang was worried about Ying Xiaozheng and Xiao Chengjiao, so he only rested for one day before setting off.
When passing through Qianzhong County and Wu County, Zhu Xiang got off the boat as usual to chat with Zhang Ruo and Meng Wu, but he did not stay for a day.
Because Bai Qi refused to get off the boat.
Although Bai Qi knew that the current King of Qin was different from King Zhaoxiang of Qin and was not as suspicious, he had also been away from the battlefield for many years and did not need to be too cautious.
But that's just his personality, he's used to being cautious.
This time he came to Southern Qin without the order of the King of Qin, so he acted in private. He thought it was not right to meet with the senior officials who held military power.
Moreover, Bai Qi was not in good health and usually rested in the cabin. He did not participate in Zhu Xiang and Li Mu's fishing activities at the bow of the boat.
In order to prevent Bai Qi from waiting for a long time on the boat, Zhu Xiang and Li Mu used Ying Xiaozheng and Xiao Chengjiao as an excuse and did not stay longer.
They also did not tell anyone else about Bai Qi's presence on the ship.
Although it would be okay to tell him, Bai Qi didn't want to, and they respected Bai Qi's wishes.
Zhang Ruo had followed Bai Qi in the battle for Southern Chu, and had great admiration for Bai Qi. He often mentioned Bai Qi when chatting with Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang persuaded Bai Qi to get off the boat and meet Zhang Ruo.
In this era, the more we get together, the fewer we get to see each other. When you finally get to meet old friends, how can you not get off the boat
Bai Qi still shook his head.
"He was once my subordinate, and I was once his commander. When I was no longer his commander, he and I were no longer old friends." Bai Qi said, "This is my experience, Li Mu, you must remember this."
Li Mu said, "Yes, Mr. Bai."
Bai Qi did not get off the boat in the end. He just stood at the bow and looked at his old friend from afar.
When Zhang Ruo was seeing Zhu Xiang off, he felt that the old man behind Zhu Xiang looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was.
He thought it might be an illusion.
When Crown Prince Zheng returned to Southern Qin, he told him the good news that the King of Qin finally agreed to let him return to Xianyang and serve as a high-ranking official in the court.
Although the Zhang family was very prosperous in Qianzhong County, being able to return to serve as an official to the King of Qin was certainly something they would love to do.
"When I return to Xianyang, I will go visit Lord Bai." Zhang Ruo didn't know why he suddenly thought of Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, and "some old friends... Alas, there are fewer and fewer old friends."
Zhang Ruo was very disappointed.
When Meng Wu was welcoming Li Mu and Zhu Xiang at the dock, he felt a little regretful that he did not see his second son Meng Yi.
"I thought Meng Yi would come with you to Nan Qin this time." Meng Wu said, "It seems that Meng Yi's ability is not enough."
Li Mu said angrily: "You are too greedy. Do you want both sons to stay with the crown prince? Be careful of being impeached."
Meng Wu laughed and said, "It was King Zhao who decided to let my two sons be playmates for the crown prince. How can you say I am greedy?"
Li Mu said: "Don't tell others this, or they will say you are dissatisfied with the current King of Qin."
Meng Wu waved his hand: "What kind of personality do I have? Don't you know me? I am definitely more cautious than you in front of outsiders. Zhu Xiang, how is Yi'er?"
Zhu Xiang said in embarrassment: "To be honest, I don't know."
"Ah?" Meng Wu was surprised.
Zhu Xiang spread his hands and said, "I didn't see Meng Yi when I went back to Xianyang this time. Xunzi said that he and his fellow disciples went to study in the six kingdoms."
Meng Wu: “Ah?!”
Li Mu laughed: "It seems that your son is more ambitious than you thought."
Meng Wu was speechless: "He went to study? Is it necessary? If he really wants to gain some experience, wouldn't it be better for him to stay with you, Zhu Xiang?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Young people are ambitious. After you travel around the six kingdoms, you will definitely have different opinions from what your teachers taught you."
Li Mu said: "Don't worry about the danger. He is going to study with the disciples that Xunzi likes, and he brought a lot of guards with him."
Meng Wu rolled his eyes: "Do we still need guards? I think those Confucian disciples can beat ordinary guards. Never mind, let him go. With Tian'er's achievements, he can become a scholar if he wants to."
Although Meng Wu placed his hopes for the further development of the Meng family on his son, this hope was just that, and he would not do anything to interfere with his son's choice.
When Meng Wu said goodbye to Zhu Xiang and Li Mu, he muttered, "Why is Wu'an Jun here too? Is your Majesty planning to conquer Southern Chu in one fell swoop and rule over Chu by the Huai River?"
He scratched his head and decided to go back and prepare the army well so that it could be sent out at any time.
When Bai Qi lived in Zhu Xiang's house, Meng Wu was also in Xianyang at that time. He often ate at Zhu Xiang's house and became quite familiar with Bai Qi.
Moreover, although Meng Wu could not be a commander in battle, he had a very good memory and strong observation skills, otherwise he would not have been able to be a close attendant of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. So he only took a glance from a distance and recognized Bai Qi, who thought he was disguised very well.
"When Wu'an Jun comes to Wujun, Tian'er can learn the art of war from him." Meng Wu smiled for a while, then shook his head and sighed, "So Yi'er, why don't you travel around the six kingdoms? You can learn more by following Zhu Xiang."
Forget it, my son has his own ideas. I have already laid down, so there is no need to interfere.
If Yier regrets it later, he can cry slowly for his foolish choice when he was young.
The old father smiled happily.
"Uncle, you still remember to come back." Ying Xiaozheng said sarcastically, "I thought you were going to stay in Xianyang City and serve as prime minister for your father. It just so happens that Uncle Cai didn't want to be prime minister a long time ago, so it's a good opportunity for you to take over."
Zhu Xiang's usual way of dealing with the weird Zheng'er was to pinch his cheeks: "It's been a long time since we last met, is this how you welcome your uncle? I hurried back as soon as I finished my work. If you don't believe me, ask Li Mu!"
Li Mu said: "Indeed."
Ying Xiaozheng slapped the back of Zhu Xiang's hand that was pinching his face and said, "I don't believe it. The teacher always favors my uncle."
Bai Qi couldn't help but laugh and said, "Then I will guarantee for Zhu Xiang, will the prince believe it?"
"Mr. Bai!" Ying Xiaozheng first knocked his hateful uncle back with a straight punch, and then jumped up as if a spring was pressed under his feet.
Zhu Xiang was very experienced and easily dodged Ying Xiaozheng's straight punch. He put his hands behind his back and said, "You always mentioned Mr. Bai. I finally invited Mr. Bai here. Are you happy?"
Ying Xiaozheng was holding Bai Qi's hand and smiling, but when he heard his uncle's words, his smile immediately fell: "I'm happy. If my uncle hadn't been having so much fun in Xianyang City that he forgot about me and my aunt, I would be happier."
Zhu Xiang was helpless and asked Xue Ji, who was covering her mouth and laughing, "What happened to him? And where is Cheng Jiao? Why didn't he come?"
Xue Ji smiled and said, "Cheng Jiao lost his first tooth a while ago and has a fever, so we didn't let him go out today. Zheng'er is not happy about this... Alas, Zheng'er promised the Lord that he could teach Cheng Jiao well, but it seems that it is not going well."
Ying Xiaozheng said resentfully, "Aunt, do you have to talk about this in front of so many people?"
Xue Ji joked, "If you hadn't been disrespectful to your uncle in front of so many people, how would your uncle have found out about this?"
Zhu Xiang laughed: "Oh, I didn't expect that the great Crown Prince Zheng couldn't even teach his younger brother well, and he's still waiting for his uncle to come back for help. Oh, why don't you write a letter to your king and father to admit your incompetence?"
"Go away!" Ying Xiaozheng let go of Bai Qi's hand and pounced in front of Zhu Xiang, baring his fangs and claws.
Zhu Xiang continued to laugh loudly while hiding.
Bai Qi smiled with a hint of nostalgia: "Zheng'er is still so lively."
Li Mu said, "With Zhu Xiang taking care of him, Zheng'er will always be so lively. Isn't the Lord still very lively too?"
Bai Qi glanced at Li Mu and said, "Be careful with your words and actions."
Li Mu coughed dryly and said, "Okay." He couldn't help it.
Bai Qi said leisurely: "Your Majesty is indeed much more lively than when he was a prince and a crown prince. If King Zhao and the late king saw your Majesty's current appearance, they would be very pleased."
While Zhu Xiang was "fighting" with Ying Xiaozheng, he turned around and interrupted, "Don't you want to beat him up?"
Bai Qi laughed: "I would really want to beat him up, but I would also be very pleased."
Xue Ji was curious: "What happened to the Lord?"
Zhu Xiang said, "Nothing, not much different from when he was in Handan. But after becoming the King of Qin, he couldn't defeat Lin Li, so he used his status as the King of Qin to cheat, which was even more shameless."
Xue Ji covered her mouth and laughed.
Ying Xiaozheng straightened his messy clothes and said unhappily, "My father is like this. When he can't win, he uses his status as the King of Qin to pressure others."
Zhu Xiang said, "Well said! Zheng'er, why don't you write a letter of guarantee that you will never follow your father's example in the future. If you can't win an argument, don't use your status as the King of Qin to pressure others."
Ying Xiaozheng sneered: "I won't!"
Zhu Xiang: “Tsk.”
Bai Qi laughed again. Li Mu also smiled and shook his head.
It's so funny to watch Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng bickering.
(End of this chapter)