When Lin Zhi returned home carrying a whole salt-baked chicken wrapped in large leaves, Lin Xiangru was writing something under the bright candlelight.
Seeing Lin Zhi coming back, Lin Xiangru put down his pen and said unhappily, "Such a big thing happened, and you had to eat at Zhu Xiang's house before coming back?"
Lin Zhi smiled and picked up the leaf bag in his hand and said, "Salt-baked chicken, would you like some, Father?"
Lin Xiangru: "Eat!"
Lin Zhi had the salt-baked chicken steamed in a steamer and said, "Seeing that my father can have chicken for supper at night, I feel relieved as a son."
Lin Xiangru snorted coldly and did not answer.
It was true that he had not been feeling well recently, but Zhu Xiang prescribed a diet plan for three meals a day for him, and he hardly took any medicine, yet he actually became stronger again.
Lian Po, the old villain, pretended to cry to him when he was sick, and then mocked him again after he got better. He was so angry that he chased Lian Po across the street with a broom.
Seeing that Lin Xiangru's anger had subsided a little, Lin Zhi sat down opposite Lin Xiangru and said, "It's just adopting a Qin hostage, what's the big deal? It doesn't matter whether you say it today or tomorrow, why are you waiting? Besides, if I don't come back to report, father will already know it, right?"
Lin Xiangru sneered: "Just adoption? The concubine that Yiren got from Lu Buwei turned out to be Zhu Xiang's elder sister. How could such a coincidence happen in this world?!"
Lin Zhi sighed, "What if it happened? What if it didn't happen? As long as the king doesn't want to use Zhu Xiang, sooner or later Zhu Xiang will be used by someone else. Can we still restrain Zhu Xiang and let him wait for death in Zhao? My father is old, I won't be able to protect him in the future."
Although he really hoped that Zhu Xiang could stay in Zhao and work with him, he also didn't want his friend to waste his talent in vain for his whole life, and he didn't want his friend to die innocently.
Although he really hates the Qin State.
When Lin Zhi said in front of his father that his father was about to die of old age, Lin Xiangru's mouth twitched slightly and he threw an unused brush at Lin Zhi.
Lin Zhi took the brush and put it into the pen holder, and continued to complain: "Father, you have worked hard for so many years, constantly recommending Zhu Xiang with yourself and even the entire Lin family as guarantees, but what did the emperor say?"
Lin Zhi turned his head and imitated in a sarcastic tone.
"What is Zhu Xiang's surname? Which family does he belong to?"
"A commoner with no surname or clan name?!"
"Then which sage did Zhu Xiang learn from?"
"You don't have a master? Lord Lin, are you kidding me?!"
"Ha!" Lin Zhi slapped his thigh, turned his kneeling legs, and sat in front of his father, saying, "And that Lord Pingyuan, why are you like Lord Xinling? If you want to raise a scholar, at least he should be a scholar, don't bring in any dirty and smelly people. It's not good to make friends with the wrong kind, which may damage your reputation!"
"All the ministers in the court, even your good friend, my good uncle General Lian, sneered at Zhu Xiang, saying that if common people want to win merit, they have to fight on the battlefield. How can they be heroes if they work hard in the fields?"
Lin Xiangru threw another brush to hit Lin Zhi's long hairy legs that were exposed because he was sitting in a squatting position. Lin Zhi caught the brush again and put it back into the brush holder, and obediently changed from squatting to sitting upright.
"That's because they are stupid." Lin Xiangru said coldly, "A bunch of idiots, especially Lian Po! He was blind in his prime, and even more blind when he got old!"
Lian Po once looked down on Lin Xiangru's background and the achievements he made with just his mouth, but was later convinced by Lin Xiangru's character and magnanimity and asked for forgiveness with a thorn stick on his back. He and Lin Xiangru have been friends for many years.
A friend for life and death is a friend with whom you can curse at any time. When Lin Xiangru mentioned Lian Po, he was filled with anger and cursed at him.
If Lian Po stood with him and jointly guaranteed and recommended Zhu Xiang, even if Zhu Xiang was only put in charge of Zhao's agricultural affairs, Zhu Xiang's ability would surely make the King of Zhao abandon his prejudice against Zhu Xiang.
Unexpectedly, Lian Po's mind was also clouded by prejudice, and none of the officials in the court stood on Lin Xiangru's side.
Although Lin Xiangru had a relatively glorious ancestor, after the destruction of the Lin State, he only had a surname and lived like a commoner. So he could understand that there were people among the common people who were not inferior to the nobles.
But the ministers of Zhao State did not admit this.
After the seven kingdoms came into being, they successively carried out reforms to become stronger, and Zhao was no exception.
King Wuling of Zhao's reform was a military change centered on "Hu clothing and horse riding", which enabled Zhao's military power to overwhelm Qin for a time and even interfere with the succession of Qin's monarchs.
However, only Qin and Chu carried out comprehensive reforms in the official system, legal system, military system, etc.
After the death of the kings who presided over the reforms, the reforms of Qin and Chu were both liquidated by the old aristocracy. But the difference is that after killing Shang Yang to appease the public anger, the king of Qin continued the new policy, while Chu abolished many of the new policy measures one after another.
The most important new policy that the Qin State was able to continue was that common people could obtain titles through fighting, farming, inventing tools, etc., and join the ranks of "scholars".
Qin State left the Central Plains, and scholars all regarded Qin State as the last place for lobbying. In other words, they went to Qin State as a "safety net" only when other countries did not want them.
The Qin State was able to gradually leap to the top among the seven states by picking up talents. Lin Xiangru clearly saw that this was definitely closely related to the Qin State's system of expanding the "scholarship".
"Country" is a galloping carriage. The king who drives the carriage is important, the galloping war horses are important, and every inconspicuous piece of wood on the carriage is also important.
The Qin chariot might not have better horses than those of other countries, nor might the carriage be bigger than that of other countries, but every detail from the wheels to the reins were extremely sturdy, which allowed the chariot to run so fast without falling apart.
Lin Xiangru's benefactor, King Huiwen of Zhao, realized this, so he was willing to entrust important tasks to Lin Xiangru, a poor scholar recommended by a lowly eunuch (a castrated palace maid).
The wise rulers of other vassal states also realized this. Although they did not dare to make institutional changes like Qin, they tried their best to eliminate identity prejudice when selecting talents.
The current King of Zhao is obviously not a wise ruler. His vision and mind are far inferior to those of his father, King Huiwen of Zhao.
After Lin Xiangru obtained the papermaking technique, he immediately knew that if this magical object was announced by the State of Zhao, it would probably be more attractive to poor scholars than the harsh system of promotion to nobility in the Qin State. So he took the papermaking technique to test the King of Zhao.
The King of Zhao and his ministers were very opposed to this matter.
How can noble books be recorded on bamboo slips or jade slips, which are sturdy and will break if torn by hand or soaked in water? Just to reduce costs and allow people who cannot afford to read books to read
People who can't afford to read shouldn't read.
When Lin Xiangru saw this, he immediately realized that something was wrong and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Paper can replace mulberry and hemp to wrap people who are hungry and cold."
King Zhao summoned his ministers to discuss the matter and they thought it was too expensive to use paper to wrap the hungry and cold people, so the matter was dropped.
Lin Xiangru immediately stopped mentioning the issue of papermaking and strengthened the guards in the mansion.
Sure enough, people kept inquiring into the matter, and sword-wielding assassins often appeared around his mansion.
Without the support of King Zhao, papermaking would be a death warrant for Zhu Xiang. Before others found Zhu Xiang, Lin Xiangru recommended Zhu Xiang in a high profile on the grounds that Zhu Xiang was very good at farming.
A commoner who can farm is more in line with everyone's psychological expectations. Lin Xiangru calculated that everyone looked down on common people and successfully hid Zhu Xiang under the wings of the Lin family. People who inquired about papermaking gradually dispersed.
King Huiwen of Zhao attached great importance to farmland output and once praised old farmers who knew how to farm. Lin Xiangru hoped that Zhu Xiang's farming skills would bring him into the sight of the current King of Zhao.
But Lin Xiangru never expected that the many methods of increasing farmland yields that Zhu Xiang had experimented with in recent years could not help Zhu Xiang gain the status of a "scholar".
Isn’t food important
Important! Even a mediocre person like King Zhao knows it’s important!
But just because of Zhu Xiang's background, they all thought that rewarding Zhu Xiang with some money and property would be enough to make Zhu Xiang willingly loyal to the State of Zhao.
The difference in status is like heaven and earth.
Lin Xiangru couldn't find it easy to scold King Zhao, so he scolded Lian Po, the old man who refused to support him, and accused Lian Po of being blind again.
Lian Po felt that he was quite wronged.
Although he did not publicly support Lin Xiangru's recommendation of Zhu Xiang, he patted his chest and said that as long as Zhu Xiang was sent to his army, he would immediately send a team of death warriors to help Zhu Xiang chop off a bunch of heads and bring them back as Zhu Xiang's merits. If more heads were chopped off, wouldn't Zhu Xiang's merits help him get a stable position as an official? It was Zhu Xiang himself who was not happy about it.
When Lian Po knew that Zhu Xiang did not want to go to the battlefield, he ran to Zhu Xiang's house and scolded him for being a coward, and took away a pig that Zhu Xiang had just raised. It was really shameless. Lin Zhi scolded all the officials of Zhao State, and Lin Xiangru pointed at Lian Po and scolded him. The father and son behaved in the same way. When the steamed salt-baked chicken was served, they shared a chicken and continued to scold the chicken bones.
Lin Zhi was actually able to eat half a chicken. His stomach was really as bottomless pit as Zhu Xiang said.
Zhu Xiang didn't know that after Lin Zhi returned home, he was arguing with Lin Lao about his own affairs.
He hummed a little tune, held Ying Xiaozheng in his arms, washed him up, and then wanted to sleep in the same bed with Ying Xiaozheng.
Ying Xiaozheng had just been abandoned and was still very young, so it was best for him to have an adult accompany him to sleep now.
Xue originally wanted to sleep with Ying Xiaozheng, but firstly, Zhu Xiang was obsessed with the First Emperor's cub, and secondly, Xue had suffered too much and had a light sleep. With a stranger next to her, she would probably sleep even worse at night. Zhu Xiang naturally would not let Xue suffer this.
Xue couldn't argue with him, so she sighed, made the bed for the uncle and nephew, and left, looking back every few steps.
Zhu Xiang helped Ying Xiaozheng change into his pajamas, held up Ying Xiaozheng's hairless head and said, "Your aunt doesn't believe I can take good care of you."
Ying Xiaozheng was so dizzy after being teased by Zhu Xiang.
This was the first time in his life that he was so close to someone.
Ying Xiaozheng knew that the way he got along with the people around him was very abnormal, and he didn't understand how normal elders should take care of children. Coming to a strange place and being adopted by strange relatives, Ying Xiaozheng tried his best to stay calm and not argue or resist, so as not to lose his place to stay again.
Every failure makes one wiser. After being thrown away once, Ying Xiaozheng finally learned to be patient.
Something seems wrong.
Ying Xiaozheng held his warm head in his arms and thought dizzily.
"Okay, go to sleep." Zhu Xiang said with a smile, "My pillows are made of wheat husks and bran. Sleep on them for a night. If you are not used to them, I will make you a new pillow tomorrow."
"Husks? Bran?" Ying Xiaozheng poked the pillow curiously with his finger, making a small hole on it. "Shouldn't pillows be made of wood or stone?"
Zhu Xiang touched the back of Ying Xiaozheng's round head and said, "Uncle doesn't like pillows that are too hard, because you can't sleep like this with pillows that are too hard."
Zhu Xiang spread out his hands, fell down with a "bang", and his head hit the pillow with a "bang".
Ying Xiaozheng's eyes, which would always widen whenever he was surprised, widened again.
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Try it?"
Ying Xiaozheng used his hands and feet to climb down from Zhu Xiang's legs, sat in front of the pillow next to Zhu Xiang, and then lay down with a "bang".
His round little head hit the pillow made of wheat husks and bran. Half of the back of his head sank into the pillow, and his nose was filled with the smell of dried wheat husks and bran.
Zhu Xiang asked, "Is it comfortable?"
Ying Xiaozheng narrowed his wide eyes: "Hmm!"
Zhu Xiang got up: "Let's do it again!"
"Pah" and lay down.
Ying Xiaozheng also got up.
"Pah" and lay down.
The uncle and nephew climbed up and fell down to play for a long time, and then a dry cough was heard at the door.
Ying Xiaozheng reflexively climbed into Zhu Xiang's arms. Zhu Xiang protected his little nephew in his arms and looked at the door awkwardly: "Xue, you haven't slept yet?"
Xue frowned: "Go to sleep quickly."
"Oh." Zhu Xiang slid into the quilt nimbly.
Xue blew away the candlelight beside the bed, and before turning away, she did not forget to remind him: "Don't stay up late, go to bed quickly."
Zhu Xiang grabbed the corner of the quilt: "Okay, okay, go to sleep immediately!"
Only then did Xue leave.
Ying Xiaozheng carefully crawled out from the quilt, and a little head with a frightened expression popped out.
For some reason, he actually felt that his aunt was a little scary!
Zhu Xiang helped Ying Xiaozheng cover himself with the quilt: "Are you sleepy? Go to sleep. If not, your uncle will chat with you. Let's speak softly so your aunt can't hear you."
Ying Xiaozheng thought of the argument at the dinner table, and approached Zhu Xiang and whispered, "Uncle, can I really return to Qin?"
Zhu Xiang said: "Of course."
Ying Xiaozheng made a small “hmm” sound and continued to ask, “Is it correct for me to call myself Gongzi Zheng now? I don’t want to make a fool of myself again.”
Zhu Xiang said: "In the Spring and Autumn Period... before the establishment of the Seven Kingdoms, the grandsons of the princes were called Gongsun; after the establishment of the Seven Kingdoms, no matter whether they were the sons or grandsons of the princes, they were all called 'gongzi'. Now, all the descendants of the feudal lords can call themselves 'gongzi', so you are naturally Gongzi Zheng."
Ying Xiaozheng once again hummed a little, and then asked: "My uncle said that the Qin royal family is 'Qin Ying', not 'Zhao Ying', so why do many people call me Zhao Zheng in private? Although I know that this is a contempt for me, I don't know what this contemptuous name means."
Ying Xiaozheng thought for a moment, and then said, "If outsiders call me like this, it must be an insult to the Qin royal family. But if the people of Qin also call me like this, they can't be scolding themselves, right?"
Zhu Xiang did not realize the meaning of what Ying Xiaozheng said, "The people of Qin also call me like this," and thought that it was the Qin people who served Ying Xiaozheng who said so.
He held Ying Xiaozheng in his arms and rubbed him hard: "Oh my Zheng'er, you are so young and can think so much, you are really smart! You must be the smartest child in the world!"
Bubbles of doubt popped up in Ying Xiaozheng's head.
Why am I being praised again? Is it because I asked a question? Why do I get praised for asking a question
Although he didn't understand, Ying Xiaozheng was very happy.
How could he not be happy when being praised? So he gently raised his little head so that Zhu Xiang could rub his face more easily.
After Zhu Xiang had had enough, he explained to Ying Xiaozheng: "They call you Zhao Zheng, not because of your clan name, but because you were born in Zhao, you were a hostage in Zhao, and your mother was from Zhao. They are really insulting you. If you return to Qin and someone insults you by using the name of Zhao Zheng, you should answer that your father was also a hostage in Zhao, so he was also Zhao Yiren... Should he be called Zhao Zichu now?"
"Well, your father's reputation is not good enough, and his power is not strong enough. You should ask this question in return. Your great-great-grandfather, the current King of Qin, was also held hostage in Yan State. Ask the other party if he dares to insult your great-great-grandfather? In a debate, you should play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses. Your birthplace and the identity of your biological mother are indeed your weaknesses, so you should avoid your weaknesses and use the other party's negligence to fiercely attack the other party. Do you understand?"
Ying Xiaozheng nodded repeatedly: "Understood!"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "You won't remember it even if I tell you once. Go to sleep first. I see you can't even open your eyes. When someone says something that makes you feel uncomfortable, come and tell your uncle and I'll teach you how to scold them back. Of course, if it's someone of your peers, you can scold them back yourself. If it's someone older than you, your uncle will help you scold them!"
Ying Xiaozheng nodded more frequently: "Okay!"
Uncle, uncle, help me curse back? Uncle, will you always support me and stay with me when I return to Qin
Although they had only known each other for one day, Ying Xiaozheng felt a little relieved for some reason.
He was like a baby bird hiding under the wings of a big bird. He curled up in Zhu Xiang's arms and fell asleep leaning against Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang was very surprised to see Ying Xiaozheng fall asleep so quickly.
An ordinary child who has just been abandoned by his biological mother would be terrified. How could he fall asleep so quickly
Even though I was very good to the First Emperor's son, and the child could instinctively feel other people's kindness towards him, wasn't he too naive for him to trust me so quickly
Could it be that Zheng'er is now a naive and naive Ancestral Dragon cub who will immediately put his full trust in others if they are a little bit nice to him
Zhu Xiang muttered in his heart, violent and naughty? Ms. Chunhua, you are talking nonsense.
He closed his eyes, hugged his well-behaved Zulong cub, and fell asleep happily.
In the 53rd year of King Nan of Zhou (262 BC), Han, located at the intersection of Qin, Wei, Zhao and Chu, was defeated again. Qin occupied Yewang of Han and marched straight to Shangdang County of Han.
Shangdang County is a highland surrounded by the Taihang Mountains, Wangwu Mountains, and Taiyue Mountains. It is strategically located and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The battle had lasted for more than a year, and the Qin soldiers were exhausted and the battle was very difficult. Qin General Wang He temporarily ordered the Qin army to stay in Yewang for a rest.
In order to boost morale, Prince Zichu, who had just been crowned, volunteered to go to Yewang to comfort the troops.
Prince Zichu's father, An Guojun, was made crown prince the year before. As the adopted son of An Guojun's favorite Lady Huayang, if An Guojun could succeed to the throne smoothly, Prince Zichu would definitely be made crown prince in the future. So Prince Zichu asked to come to entertain the troops, and the morale of the Qin army was greatly boosted.
The now very successful Prince Zichu was the Qin hostage Yiren who had just escaped back from Zhao State years ago.
Although it was already autumn, the weather was not too cold. The warriors in the army were still training with their upper bodies naked and sweating profusely. However, Prince Zichu had put on his fur coat early.
Fur coats are clothes made of fur. The fur coat that Prince Zichu wore was a white fur coat made of lamb skin, and he wore a black brocade shirt over the fur coat, which made his face look even whiter.
Prince Zichu sat in front of the brazier, reading bamboo slips and coughing from time to time.
The years of being a hostage made him not in good health. Lady Huayang felt sorry for him and wanted to let him stay in Qin for a while. After finally returning to Qin, Prince Zichu naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to show his talent in front of his grandfather, so he persuaded his adoptive mother to come to Yewang to comfort the troops.
Yewang and Shangdang were both adjacent to the State of Zhao. Standing on a high cliff, he could see the flags of the border of the State of Zhao.
That was the place where he had many terrible experiences.
The curtain of the tent was lifted from the outside, and a warrior in plain clothes with a sword hurried into the tent, knelt down and said, "Lord Father, news has come from Handan that Duke Zhu Xiang has indeed brought the young master home."
Young Master Zichu put down the bamboo slips, pointed to the cushion beside him, asked the servant to sit down, and said slowly: "She went to ask Zhu Xiang for forgiveness for her child. She can barely be considered a loving mother. Zhu Xiang was soft-hearted and took her in. I'm afraid Xue has been making a fuss for a long time, right?"
The servant looked a little embarrassed. "My Lord, Lü Buwei's confidant found out that after Lady Huayang and Lady Xia arranged a new wife for my Lord, my Lord simply abandoned the young master in front of Duke Zhu Xiang's gate. She herself fled Handan with Lü Buwei's confidant a few days ago. Before she fled, my Lord was not very kind to the young master, and the young master was almost unrecognizable."
"And, and..." The servant's expression changed, and he whispered, "It seems that the mistress is having an affair with the confidant left by Lu Buwei. People around her say that the mistress is the new wife of that rich businessman."
Young Master Zichu suddenly looked up, looking stunned.
After a while, he held his forehead and laughed: "She is worthy of it. Good, good, it seems that she will become an ally that Lü Buwei is very comfortable with in the future, and I can rest assured. Zhu Xiang will also be relieved to only adopt a nephew and not have to pay attention to the disgusting elder sister."
When the master heard that the mistress had abandoned the young master and ran off with someone, he actually laughed so happily. The servants looked even more embarrassed.
(End of this chapter)