The opening inventory of the top ten young emperors

Regarding this point, Ying Yiren had already thought of an excuse, saying that Zhao Ji was tired from the long journey and was sick, so she was unable to come to see him.
But just as he was about to speak, he saw Ying Zhu glaring at him, and he had to swallow back the words he was about to say.
Zhao Zheng knew that his grandfather's test was not over yet, so he was silent for a moment before saying, "Mother, you are afraid that I will be embarrassed."

Ying Zhu raised his eyebrows, but heard Zhao Zheng continue: "But, mother is worrying too much. At this time, she has not done what is mentioned in the heavenly scroll, so there is no need to punish herself like this.
Just like if one day she really does what is written in the Heavenly Scroll, I will never forgive her."

After saying this, Zhao Zheng looked at his grandfather with bright eyes, which were full of frankness and determination.
Looking at his grandson, Ying Zhu was slightly stunned, but he heard Lei Xiaomeng's voice in the Heavenly Scroll sounded again.

[Now let's go back to the time when King Zheng of Qin just learned about Zhao Ji and Lao Ai's affair. What would have happened if he had rushed over to question Zhao Ji and then immediately killed Lao Ai with the King of Qin's sword?]

[First, conceal the scandal. Lao Ai was just a clown, without any status or position. King Zheng of Qin could kill him. Even if Zhao Ji was sad, she would not really do anything to King Zheng of Qin, but the relationship between the two would only get worse.]
[But it is hard to guarantee that Zhao Ji will not make things difficult for him to rule the country. Even if she joins forces with Lu Buwei, it is very likely that she will stop the king from ruling the country.]

【Second, make this matter public. Doing so will do nothing but ruin the Queen Mother's reputation.】
[In this way, the balance of power between the Queen Mother and Lu Buwei will be broken. Lu Buwei will have the final say. Even the prestige of the King of Qin will be affected because of the Queen Mother.]

[By then, he would be at the mercy of others. If the King of Qin wanted to rule the country himself, he would have to rely on Lü Buwei's eyes and mood.]

This sentence made Ying Zhu's eyes flash with a hint of fierceness. If Zhao Ji was just a brainless woman, then Lu Buwei was too powerful. Even if he could let Zhao Ji go temporarily, he could not let Lu Buwei go. He had to make a decision early.
Of course, what he heard was also heard by Lü Buwei, who had been paying attention to the Heavenly Scroll outside the palace. His face changed and he ordered, "Pack your luggage quickly and tell the Madam and the Young Master that everyone should be ready to leave at any time."

He had already started making preparations after being warned by Ying Yiren last time, and now all he had to do was take inventory again.
Just after I gave the order, I saw my confidant coming to report in a hurry, "Master Taifu, our Taifu Mansion has been surrounded by a troop of soldiers."

Lu Buwei's face darkened, but he was not as panicked as expected. Instead, he ordered: "Tell the ladies and gentlemen to wait for me in the backyard."
Based on the previous experience of Zhao State, he had asked his servants to help him dig a secret passage in the backyard in case of emergency.
The secret passage was only dug last year and leads to outside the city, but I didn't expect it to be used so soon.

He looked at the Heavenly Scroll, and felt very sad. What a rare commodity! Unfortunately, all his plans would be in vain because of the Heavenly Scroll, and he would lose everything.
Just as he was glaring at Tianjuan indignantly, Lei Xiaomeng suddenly changed the subject.

[Of course, Lü Buwei was indeed a talented prime minister and made great contributions to the prosperity of the Qin Dynasty.]
[It can be said that if the Qin Dynasty did not have Lü Buwei, it would have been delayed for at least ten or even several decades to unify the six kingdoms.]

Lu Buwei:...
Ying Zhu: ...

[We can take a look at the "Lüshi Chunqiu" compiled by him. Every story told in it is full of profound meaning. Even now, more than 2,000 years later, we still benefit a lot from it.]
[This shows that this person's three views on people and things are at least relatively correct. He is also more sober than Lao Ai and knows that no matter how powerful he is, he cannot replace the King of Qin.]
[No one is perfect. No matter how powerful Lü Buwei is, he still cannot escape the temptation of power. ]

[In fact, if this incident had not happened, he would have returned the power to Qin Wang Zheng. But as we said before, he probably just wanted to wait a little longer, which led to the chaos in the Qin court during the later period of his regency.]
[But overall, during his reign, the Qin Dynasty became increasingly powerful. ]
【The flaws do not outweigh the merits, that's exactly the case. 】

【Why do you say that? 】
[After Lao Ai's rebellion was put down, although Lü Buwei resigned from the position of prime minister and was imprisoned, King Zheng of Qin soon released him and allowed him to return to his own territory, Luoyang, where he lived out his days.]
[However, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. Because his talent was well-known in the world, Zhao Yi, the prince of Zhao State, soon wanted to invite him to Zhao State to be the prime minister and help Zhao State resist Qin. ]
[Of course, Lü Buwei rejected him and didn't even meet him.] [But this matter still reached the ears of Qin Wangzheng, who was of course very angry. He immediately issued an edict to reprimand Lü Buwei and ordered him to settle in Shu.]
[Of course, Lü Buwei knew that this was because King Zheng of Qin wanted him to stay away from trouble and avoid Zhao's recruitment. However, at this time, Zhao Yi, after being rejected by Lü Buwei, united with four other countries and sent a letter of employment to Lü Buwei.]
[Of course, Lu Buwei still refused, but the consequences of this incident were much more serious than before. ]

[First of all, although Lü Buwei was no longer the prime minister, he still had many servants to support, and these people were not ordinary people. They could not be as content as Lü Buwei and go to Shu to suffer. Many people began to get restless. ]
[Some people even instigated Lü Buwei's son to persuade Lü Buwei to leave Qin and continue to serve as prime minister in another country.]

[Of course, Lu Buwei sternly refused and severely punished his son. But the matter still reached the ears of Qin Wangzheng in the palace as before.]
【Then, Li Si, who succeeded Lü Buwei as prime minister, came to visit him, and then Lü Buwei committed suicide.】
【So, many years later, this became one of the charges against Qin Shi Huang. It was said that he asked Li Si to give him poisoned wine and killed his father-in-law, Lü Buwei.】

What does the history book say?
【Records of the Grand Historian: After a year, the princes, guests and envoys met on the road and asked for Marquis Wenxin. The King of Qin was afraid that he would cause trouble, so he gave Marquis Wenxin a letter saying: "What have you done for Qin? Qin granted you Henan and provided you with 100,000 households. How close are you to Qin? You are called Zhongfu. You and your family should move to Shu!" Lü Buwei thought that he was slightly encroaching and was afraid of being punished, so he drank poison and died. Lü Buwei and Lao Ai, who were angry with the King of Qin, were already dead, so he returned Lao Ai's servants who moved to Shu. 】

[Let's go back to when Lü Buwei was just dismissed from his position as prime minister. At that time, the King of Qin used thundering means to deal with Lao Ai, and everyone thought that Lü Buwei would also be executed immediately. ]
【But the fact is that it was thirteen months later that King Zheng of Qin decided to punish Lü Buwei, and he only dismissed him from his post and returned home to his territorial territory of Luoyang. As the records say, "he was granted the title of Lord of Henan and provided him with 100,000 households", and it is said that the King of Qin "could not bear to execute him". 】
[Compared to Lao Ai, this punishment is already very light. ]

[If the four countries had not asked him to be prime minister, I am afraid that Lü Buwei would have lived for a long time, and he might even have died of old age.]
[But things just happened, one after another. Rather than saying that this phase is a sign of respect for him, it is better to say that it is a death warrant for him. It is the so-called flattery! ]
[Not to mention the ancient emperors, even modern large companies, when employees who hold core secrets leave, they must abide by non-compete agreements and cannot casually join a competing company. Otherwise, they will be sued to death by their former employers, or even face lawsuits. Not to mention the tense Warring States period! This is a taboo for emperors. ]

【But at this time, the King of Qin still did not say to kill him, but only banished him to Shu. 】

【However, after being rebuked and demoted again and again, Lü Buwei could not help but worry about his future. 】
[He knew that if he continued like this, sooner or later, the King of Qin would run out of patience with him. By then, not to mention himself, he was afraid that his servants and his entire family would not be able to survive.]
[Li Si's visit was the last straw that broke the camel's back, and he committed suicide by drinking poison. With his own life, he saved the lives of countless people in the Lu family.]

[There are many different accounts of his death in unofficial history books. Some say that the King of Qin personally ordered his death, while others say that Li Si poisoned him out of selfish motives. Others say that he was killed by an assassin. The few records in official history have been ignored by many people.]

【First of all, the Qin State was about to march eastward, so it was impossible to kill meritorious officials. This would only make the wise men of the six states stay away from it. In addition, in order to stabilize the officials left by Lu Buwei in the court, the King of Qin would not kill Lu Buwei. The Qin State was about to march eastward, and there must be no chaos in the court.】
[So, under the circumstances at that time. Even if we put aside the fact that Lü Buwei was the lifesaver of the Qin King and his son, and that he was the uncle of Ying Zheng and had accompanied him throughout his youth, let's just talk about the situation at that time. ]
[Anyone in the world could have killed Lü Buwei, except Qin Wang Zheng.]

[Perhaps, several years later, Ying Zheng might kill Lu Buwei, but it is absolutely impossible at this time.]
[This is also the reason why after Lü Buwei's death, King Zheng of Qin spared his clansmen and servants, and angrily declared war on the State of Zhao, attacking Zhao Yi, the instigator of the four kingdoms' request for the title of prime minister.]

[Yes, Zhao Yi's plan of praising and killing successfully eliminated Lü Buwei, which angered King Zheng of Qin and made him decide to send troops to attack the State of Zhao. However, the State of Qin was hasty in launching the army and was not well prepared, so the battle to destroy Zhao lasted for fourteen years.]
[Well, Lü Buwei did say too much. However, it is also true that Lü Buwei greatly shortened the process of Qin's eastward expansion and unification of the six kingdoms.]
【And during his time in the court, Lü Buwei also resolved the fifth joint attack on Qin by the other six countries, which was even more remarkable. No wonder King Zheng of Qin couldn't bear to kill him. 】
[I can't help but sigh. What Ying Zheng did was much more kind than Zhu Yuanzhang's burning of the Qinggong Tower after he ascended the throne, which killed most of his old brothers who had fought with him in the east and west; and Zhao Kuangyin's giving up military power with a toast, eliminating the generals and marshals who had made great military achievements with him.]
[Although their achievements are not as great as those of the First Emperor, they have received much less infamy. They really use their pens as swords to destroy people with their accumulated criticism! ]

(End of this chapter)