Zhang Liang's uneasiness along the way was completely eliminated after a meal.
The last time he met Zhu Xiang was four years ago.
Four years ago, he was still a child who knew nothing, but he rolled on the ground and cried in front of the Xianyang Academy, and pretended to be the son of Qin Prime Minister Lin Zhi. He was thrown into jail by Qin Prince Zheng.
He thought of what happened at that time and couldn't help digging the ground with his toes, trying to dig a hole to crawl into.
Recalling the days when I was a "book boy" in Xianyang four years ago, it should not be a good memory.
He lost face, was thrown into jail, and heard Duke Xiang of Zhu insult his family and his father.
Anyone with a bit of blood in his veins, when someone insults his family and parents, will regard the other person as an enemy and wish to kill him as soon as possible.
However, when the Zhang brothers thought about the more than one month they had stayed in Zhu Xiang's home, not only did they not feel any hatred in their hearts, they often missed him.
This is certainly not because the food at Duke Zhu Xiang’s house is so delicious.
Well, it’s not just the food in Duke Zhu Xiang’s house that is delicious.
Amiable and knowledgeable elders, peers who can keep up with their topics, and a fulfilling and relaxing study life - this is something the brothers Zhang Sheng and Zhang Liang have never experienced before.
Although Zhang Liang was doted on by the Zhang family when he was in Xinzheng and had many "friends" around him, after he returned to Xinzheng, he felt that quarreling with Crown Prince Zheng (and he couldn't win the quarrel) was much more interesting than chatting with his "friends".
It's just been four years.
Even close friends and relatives would become estranged after four years, let alone Zhu Xiang, who was a stranger to him.
If he had not occasionally exchanged letters with Han Fei during the past four years, he would not have been so shameless as to follow his father's plan and join Han Fei when the Kingdom of Han was destroyed.
When he left Xianyang, he never thought that he would take the initiative to go to Southern Qin and avoid the moment of the demise of Han.
Zhang Liang's status and life changed dramatically during these four years.
It was only the death of his father that made the Zhang family obviously still have great power in the Korean court and have not declined. He has actually seen enough of the fickleness of human nature.
Thinking about how much friendship has changed over the years, Duke Xiang of Zhu and Crown Prince Zheng, who I had only known for a month four years ago, have probably forgotten me long ago.
He had promised himself that day that he would definitely save Korea and would never run away, but now he has fled to Nanqin in disgrace.
When they learned about this, they might not only be indifferent, but also contemptuous.
Zhang Liang was mentally prepared when he went south.
His teacher Han Fei was the Prince of Han. Even though he disliked and resisted him, he accepted him as the son of the former prime minister of Han because they had the same goal.
But Duke Zhu Xiang was a man of high moral character, and Crown Prince Zheng had an aloof and arrogant personality, so they would probably look down on him.
Zhang Liang didn't expect that the Prince Zheng, who was very sharp-tongued, did not mock him.
Although Duke Xiang of Zhu talked about destroying Han, he was also comforting himself. He prepared a yard and clothes for himself in just one day.
After Zhang Liang had eaten his fill, Ying Xiaozheng wanted to keep Zhang Liang company and chat for a while, but was driven away by Zhu Xiang.
"Zhang Liang is tired from the journey, let him rest first." Zhu Xiang tapped the back of Ying Xiaozheng's head with his finger, and poked Ying Xiaozheng away little by little, "Zhang Liang will live here from now on, you can talk to him anytime."
When Ying Xiaozheng was poked on the back of the head by his uncle and was pushed away, he still said stubbornly: "I didn't want to talk to him, I just asked him something."
"Oh, right, right, wait until Zhang Liang has rested before asking again." After Zhu Xiang drove Ying Xiaozheng away, he said to Zhang Liang, "Stay safe and tell me if there is anything that is not going well. My life is rather rough, and you may have many things that you are not used to. Tell me in time, don't be polite."
After Zhang Liang sent Zhu Xiang and Crown Prince Zheng away, the servant beside him sighed: "As expected of Duke Zhu Xiang, his bearing is truly extraordinary."
Zhang Liang laughed: "Why is Duke Zhu Xiang so magnanimous?"
The servant smiled sheepishly and said, "Duke Zhu Xiang is so kind to you, so of course he has an extraordinary demeanor."
Zhang Liang shook his head. It was an inappropriate answer.
The servant packed up the clothes that Zhu Xiang had given Zhang Liang, and he sighed: "I didn't expect that Duke Zhu Xiang would give the old clothes of the Crown Prince of Qin to you. This is to show his appreciation for you."
The servant looked very excited.
Zhang Liang said, "Duke Zhu Xiang only treated me as his nephew because I was a disciple of Gongzi Fei. He gave me clothes just because I was an ordinary nephew and gave me his family's clothes for emergency use. He didn't think too much about it."
The servant didn't believe it: "These are the clothes that the prince used personally!"
Zhang Liang said calmly: "He is Duke Zhu Xiang."
The servant hesitated for a moment, and was somewhat convinced by Zhang Liang: "Duke Zhu Xiang may really not care? But he is the prince. Who would really treat things used by the prince as ordinary items?"
Zhang Liang said: "Duke Zhu Xiang did not treat the prince's belongings as ordinary things. He only gave them to his close younger generation who could live in his house."
This scope is actually narrower than the scope of the "Prince's Things" gift.
Those who were recognized as juniors by Duke Zhu Xiang and could live in his house would certainly receive many royal gifts. And the gifts given by Duke Zhu Xiang as an elder were rarer than those that symbolized the status of "King of Qin", "Crown Prince", "Lord Changping" or "Lady of Wu County".
So Zhang Liang was also very excited.
We haven't seen each other for four years, and the impression I left on Duke Zhu Xiang four years ago may not have been very good, but now I have abandoned the Kingdom of Han and come here.
Duke Zhu Xiang was still amiable and considerate to him, and even the arrogant Crown Prince Zheng did not show any contempt for him.
Zhang Liang tightly grasped the clothes Zhu Xiang had given him. He felt touched, but also... guilty, depressed, sad, and self-loathing. It was a very complicated feeling.
Zhang Liang suddenly didn't want to talk anymore.
In addition to the room where Zhang Liang and his servants lived, the courtyard also had a small kitchen and a relatively spacious study.
When you open the window of the study, you can see a bunch of chrysanthemums and the open sky.
Zhang Liang brought many gifts to bribe the officials and the king of Chu, and also brought some carefully selected gifts to his teacher, Duke Xiang of Zhu, and Crown Prince Zheng. He did not have many things of his own.
Apart from a few sets of clothes for visiting nobles, the things he brought the most were bamboo slips and wooden tablets.
Those clothes were not suitable for daily wear and were too thick for the climate of Southern Qin. Zhu Xiang guessed that Zhang Liang was not aware of the temperature in Southern Qin, so he considerately prepared a change of clothes for Zhang Liang.
Although paper was introduced to Korea, it did not have its own papermaking workshops. In addition, Korean nobles believed that bamboo slips and wooden tablets were more suitable for nobility, so their main writing media were still bamboo slips and wooden tablets.
Among the seven countries, apart from Qin, which vigorously promoted paper, only Zhao, where Zhu Xianggong was born, and Chu, which had abundant water and grass, built official papermaking workshops.
The papermaking workshop of Chu State was set up by Chunshen Jun when he was the prime minister, who secretly recruited craftsmen from Zhao State.
When Zhang Liang was on a diplomatic mission to Chu, he did not see the nobles of Chu using paper. He thought that the new papermaking workshop was probably disbanded when Chunshen Jun lost power.
"Sir, the bed has been made," said the servant.
Zhang Liang thought he would not be able to sleep since he came to a new environment, especially since he was in such a complicated mood.
But he fell asleep as soon as he touched the soft cotton pillow and slept until noon.
When he got up, it was time for lunch.
Zhang Liang was very embarrassed and quickly apologized to Ying Xiaozheng, who did not go out for inspection today and was forcing his younger brother to do a math test.
Xiao Chengjiao raised his head and asked in confusion, "You've been on the road for more than a month and finally got a good night's sleep. What's wrong with sleeping a little longer? Why do you have to apologize... Ouch."
"Do your questions and don't ask so many questions." Ying Xiaozheng tapped Xiao Chengjiao's head gently with the rolled up book in his hand.
"Okay, do the exercises, do the exercises." Xiao Chengjiao pouted and muttered, "I hate math."
He continued to struggle with the math problem with a gloomy face and gritted teeth.
The full score is 100. If he can get 80 points, he will get his uncle's special fried chicken nuggets as a reward.
Big brother doesn’t have any!
Fight for fried chicken nuggets!
Ying Xiaozheng said to Zhang Liang, "Han Fei has arrived. He cried bitterly when he learned that Han was going to be destroyed. He will not see you until he has sorted himself out."
When Zhang Liang heard his teacher crying, he did not feel sad at all.
His focus was off. He knew what tears were, but what was a tearful sound
Zhang Liang thought hard and guessed that "Xilihuala" probably described the sound of the teacher's crying like flowing water.
The words that Taizi Zheng uses are really strange sometimes.
“Although you are far inferior to me, you were able to sneak into the palace of the King of Chu alone at the age of thirteen and persuade the King of Chu, who no longer cared about state affairs, to send troops to rescue Han. This makes you slightly better than most mediocre people in this world,” Ying Xiaozheng said.
Zhang Liang looked strange: "It's rare for the prince to praise me."
Ying Xiaozheng said nothing. He was not stingy in praising outstanding people.
Besides, he had already praised Zhang Liang a long time ago.
Zhang Liang surrendered to Qin, and Ying Xiaozheng was very happy.
His pride prevented him from following anyone else's path, whether it was his uncle's path or the path of the great Ying Zheng in his dreams.
This was a talented person that Great Ying Zheng had never seen before in the dream, so Ying Xiao Zheng attached great importance to him.
Of course, he did not disregard the talents he had seen in his dreams, such as Li Si, Han Fei, and the Meng brothers. It was just that the "unknown" was more interesting than the "known".
When little Chengjiao finished today's test and only got more than 60 points, so he missed out on the special fried chicken nuggets, and was cursing "I hate math", Han Fei finally tidied up his appearance and came to see Zhang Liang accompanied by Li Si.
Zhu Xiang prepared the ceremony of becoming a disciple, and Zhang Liang formally became Han Fei's disciple.
After becoming his disciple, Han Fei wanted to say a few words of encouragement, but before he could finish his words, he burst into tears again.
Zhang Liang endured it for a long time, but finally he was overwhelmed with grief and shed tears with his teacher.
Li Si patted Han Fei's shoulder to comfort his friend. Zhu Xiang and Ying Xiaozheng quietly left and dragged Xiao Chengjiao away.
"Let them cry for a while. Maybe by the time they cry, Korea will have been destroyed."
"Uncle, you are more vicious than me."
"Ah? Zheng'er? How could someone say that he is vicious! Your uncle won't allow you to insult yourself!"
Zhu Xiang was right in his guess. The King of Han surrendered around the time when Zhang Liang became Han Fei's apprentice.
In the past, the State of Han was surrounded by the State of Wei on the left, the State of Zhao on the right, and the State of Chu below. Its area was almost the same as that of the States of Wei and Zhao.
The territory of South Korea has now shrunk to the size of a county, with Qin on the left, Wei on the top, and Chu on the bottom. If it weren't for the help of Wei and Chu, the palm-sized South Korea would have been destroyed long ago.
In order to help each other and jointly resist the State of Qin, Chendu of Chu, Daliang of Wei, and Xinzheng of Han were very close to each other, and were all close to the intersection of the three-pronged border of Chu, Han, and Wei.
Zhang Liang asked for reinforcements from the State of Chu, and the Chu generals arrived in Xinzheng in just ten days.
The King of Chu did not send Xiang Yan.
Although he was incompetent, he was not stupid. He knew that Xiang Yan was the most capable general of Chu. So when Qin was determined to conquer the world, Xiang Yan must be kept in his hands to guard against Qin.
Lian Po only surrounded Xinzheng but did not attack it. He was busy harvesting and dividing the land.
As soon as the King of Chu sent out his troops, he stopped besieging Xinzheng, but he did not withdraw his troops and still occupied the territory.
The King of Han was very happy that the siege of his capital was lifted, but after the siege was lifted, he found that only Xinzheng was left in Han.
Zhang Sheng strongly advocated asking the Chu generals to rescue him and attack Lian Po together to recapture the Han land, while continuing to seek help from other countries.
But Zhang Sheng was young and had little experience, so the King of Han did not listen to him.
And the King of Han is tired.
He first gave himself the posthumous title of "Huan Hui", and then surrendered and offered the city.
Lian Po was dumbfounded.
The seven nations were stunned.
The Korean nobles are still prepared to resist for a while.
There are many examples of countries whose capitals were attacked and then restored, such as Qi State and Yan State, whose capital had just been attacked by Zhao State again.
They didn't think South Korea would perish so quickly.
But the King of Han himself was in a bad state.
Lian Po personally accepted the surrender and looked at the King of Han who had given him a posthumous title. He was speechless for a long time, not knowing what to say.
"After the siege of Xinzheng was lifted, did the King of Han open the city gates and surrender?"
Han Fei blinked and fainted.
Zhang Liang sat down on the ground, laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.
(End of this chapter)