The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 132 Qin declared war on Yan and wanted to use Zhao’s route to attack Yan!
Winter is completely over.

The glaciers turn into spring water, nourishing all things.

The Qin State, which had been dormant for an entire winter, bared its ferocious fangs and let out a deafening roar in the northwest.

Le Jian, who had never been to Qin, was shocked.

He had seen scenes where the entire court, civil and military officials, were determined to fight from top to bottom. This was the situation in the entire Yan court when King Xi of Yan wanted to attack Zhao.

At that time, the court of Yan State was full of laughter, and everyone treated Zhao State as fish on the chopping board, to be slaughtered at will.

Le Jian opposed the attack on Zhao.

One is that it is against morality.

Secondly, they really believed that it would be difficult for the State of Yan to conquer the State of Zhao, which had experienced many wars.

However, today, all the civil and military officials in the court are eager to fight.

The only difference was that the attackers became Qin and the attacked became Yan, but Lejian had a completely different feeling.

The sounds of attack from the Qin court could be heard far into the sky, making the almighty God Haotian restless.

But Lejian could not feel any joy or contempt at all. Instead, he felt resentment and caution from all directions.

Not a single sound of laughter could be heard in the front hall.

Facing the Yan State which had just suffered a major defeat, the Qin State's civil and military officials expressed their contempt for it to the extreme, but in fact no one of them looked down on it.

Facing the war, everyone here is extremely serious and is truly planning how to completely wipe out the State of Yan.

[A tiger needs to use all its strength to catch a rabbit.]
These eight words suddenly popped up in Lejian's mind.

As the son of the famous general Le Yi, he traveled thousands of miles from Yan State to Qin State and made a judgment immediately.

If Qin and Yan really go to war, without the participation of other countries, Yan will surely be defeated!

[This is the Qin State... the Qin State known as the tiger and wolf... it is really scary.]
Lejian thought.

Next to Le Jian, the famous general Le Yi, who often felt pain in his legs, stood up.

"Attack Yan! Yi will be the vanguard!"

Lejian opened his eyes wide and looked at his father in confusion, wondering why his father stood up.

He had witnessed his father's aging with his own eyes, and had heard his father say more than once that he had no intention of returning to the battlefield.

Le Yi felt his son's gaze, but said nothing. He just sighed again and again in his heart.

If we don’t show loyalty at this time, when will we be loyal?
He, Le Yi, was very glorious in the past, but that is all in the past.

If you always dwell on the past, you will be eliminated.

When you come to a new country, you must understand your position and demonstrate your value.

Otherwise, what's the point of coming to Qin?
Where can’t we provide for our elderly?
Although he was only an honorary noble in Zhao, he was still a noble title!

My nephew Le Cheng was granted the title of Wuxiang Jun in Zhao State and was deeply trusted by the King of Zhao. He achieved the highest rank of monarch among the ministers, which was the pinnacle of his career.

If his son Lejian wants to develop, he cannot do so in Zhao. Which big family only bets on one country?
He brought his son to Qin not only to repay a favor to Master Chengjiao, but also to gain a bright future for his son.

If a military general wanted to make a name for himself, there was no country easier than Qin.

Because of Le Yi's words, all the civil and military officials in the court looked at the father and son with kindness. This is political correctness.

If you stand on the right team, you can get twice the result with half the effort.

Prince Chu of Qin looked at Le Yi, and for the first time, his face, which had remained cold and stern since he went to court, smiled.

"It seems that the King of Yan has really done something that has angered heaven and people this time, and even Duke Le wants to attack him.

"Since it is your wish to attack Yan, I cannot go against it, so let's declare war on Yan."

The smile of Prince Chu of Qin faded, a "chuan" character appeared between his brows, he squinted his eyes and said "hey".

"Cheng Jiao grew up by my side until he was seven years old. He was known as a child prodigy in Xianyang. He could speak so well that I was speechless and was even more clever than me.

"How come I was easily fooled when I arrived in Yan State? How strange!

"Lü Buwei."

Prime Minister Lu Buwei bowed slightly.

"The minister is here."

"Go tell Zhao that I need to borrow the road to attack Yan to save my son." Qin Prince Chu said indifferently: "Ask them if they will lend it to me."

"Yes." Lü Buwei responded and asked, "If Zhao State does not lend it..."

Prince Qin rubbed his eyebrows and seemed to have a headache.

"No... No... Sigh...

"Since I can't borrow the road, I can only fight my way through.

"Tell them in advance, don't say I didn't warn you."

The first year of Qin Wangzhu’s reign, May, third day.

In the name of rescuing Prince Chengjiao, Qin declared war on Yan.

In more than a month, everyone in the world knew about it.

The princes were shocked and the nations were in an uproar.

On May 7, Qin Prime Minister Lu Buwei went on a diplomatic mission to Zhao State to ask for permission to pass through Zhao State to attack Yan State.

In the front hall of Xin Palace of Zhao State, King Dan of Zhao pondered for a while after hearing this.

"This matter is extremely important. Please allow me to think about it and discuss it later."

After returning from Bashu, Lu Buwei lost more than ten pounds. His face was no longer round, but much thinner and squarer.

His cheekbones stood out, and there was no longer any businessman's materialism in his eyes.

The Prime Minister Qin's eyes lit up and he said coldly:
"If the King of Zhao delays his reply by one day, the prince of Qin will be in danger.

"Does the King of Zhao want to drag me, the Prince of Qin, to death?

"My king is worried about the safety of the young master, and he is burning with longing for you. He cannot rest easy until he is safe.

"Does the King of Zhao want my King to become sick with worry, take to his bed, and die soon?
"My Qin State cannot wait too long, and we cannot wait too long. I hope King Zhao will make a decision soon and give me a definite answer.

"Otherwise, I have reason to believe that the King of Zhao has already joined forces with the King of Yan, intending to use my prince of Qin to plot against Qin and harm my king!"

Lu Buwei's voice echoed in the Zhao State Hall, shocking the Zhao civil and military officials so much that their faces turned gloomy.

The Zhao court, which had just won a great victory and was basking in glory, was slapped hard in the face by Lu Buwei.

The State of Zhao has never been a weak country, and it has always had generals who dared to fight bloody battles.

Zhao Cong, a member of the Zhao royal family and a general, pointed at Lü Buwei and angrily shouted:

“You are just a small merchant who needs to bribe the gate guards to escape capture by the State of Zhao.

"It's only been ten years. Just because you changed your clothes, do you dare to come to the court of Zhao and speak nonsense?
"I didn't catch you ten years ago, so I let you live ten years.

"Do you want to try whether my Zhao State can capture and kill you today? Do you want to bet that there are guards at the gate of my Zhao State that you can bribe?"

Lu Buwei looked at Zhao Cong coldly:

"Can you represent Zhao?"

He turned his head again, raised his head, and looked at Zhao Wangdan:
"Is what he said what King Zhao was thinking?"

Zhao Wangdan was silent for a moment.

Zhao Yan, the newly promoted son of the Zhao King who was favored by Zhao King Dan, said:
"Don't be so evasive! You are a lowly merchant! How dare you enter my house!"

Lu Buwei squinted his eyes and looked at Zhao Yan's face and his official uniform.

Not close enough to see clearly.

He took a few steps and walked up to Zhao Yan, less than three inches away.

Zhao Yan's heart was pounding and he took two steps back.

Noticing his father's gaze, he gritted his teeth, puffed out his chest and tried to walk back.

After taking just one step, I lost my courage and could no longer move forward.

No matter how he belittled Lu Buwei in his heart, or how he said that he was a merchant who could not be any lower than his status, he could not enter.

His body trembled and his mind trembled.

He had the illusion that he was facing his father and was being suppressed in all aspects!

The person he was facing was once a lowly businessman, but now he was the prime minister of Qin!

The Prime Minister of the most powerful country in the world!
"What are you going to do!" He said fiercely. Some of the Zhao officials around him stood up and shouted "How dare you!", some shouted "How daring!", and some dragged their chairs towards Lu Buwei with gloomy faces.

This is Zhao State!
How dare Prime Minister Qin humiliate Master Zhao here!

Lu Buwei turned a blind eye to everything and acted as if he didn't hear anything.

He was close enough that he could see Zhao Yan clearly, even his nose hairs.

"I know who you are." Lu Buwei suddenly smiled. "Chunping Hou is alive and well. I heard that Zhao State is going to change the crown prince. I specially looked at the portrait of the new crown prince. It is you. Since you are the new crown prince of Zhao State, you can naturally represent Zhao State."

Lü Buwei, who rose from a mere merchant to the highest position of prime minister, swung his sleeves and walked away.

The sound echoed in the hall, lingering in the beams.

“On behalf of my king, in the name of saving my son, I declare war on Zhao.

"Please make preparations early, King Zhao. Don't say that my king didn't warn you!"

Lu Buwei strolled leisurely in the garden as if he was in his own backyard.

When he reached the palace gate, he was about to take a step.

Zhao Wangdan, who had his back to him, had a ferocious expression on his face, gnashed his teeth, and shouted with difficulty:

"Your Excellency, please stay!"

Lu Buwei stopped as he was told, looked back, his face calm.

"King Zhao, do you have anything else to do? Do you want to save Lü Buwei's life?"

The moment Lu Buwei turned around, King Dan of Zhao's complexion returned to normal, except that his face was still a little red.

Zhao Wangdan forced a smile.

“Your Excellency is joking.

"I will give you a reply within half a month."

Lu Buwei shook his head.

"Too long, ten days."

"Okay!" Zhao Wangdan agreed immediately: "Ten days is ten days!"

On that day, less than an hour after the court was adjourned, the envoy of Zhao went to Yan secretly.

May 10th.

The envoy of Zhao arrived in Ji and presented his speech, which pleased the King of Yan.

King Xi of Yan was greatly alarmed and summoned the acting prime minister to ask for advice.

Yan's acting prime minister, Jiang Qu, was also dizzy and had never expected that Qin's reaction would be so violent.

They just forced a young man to stay and provided him with good food and drink every day, but how could they achieve the goal of a cross-border attack?

"General, our Yan State must not go to war with Qin!" King Xi of Yan was very anxious.

He fought against the crippled State of Zhao and was driven back to its capital.

If we fight against the complete overlord Qin, wouldn’t that mean the country will be destroyed immediately?
"How about letting that boy go back to Qin?" King Xi of Yan suggested: "Qin is using the excuse of saving his son to attack our country. If I release the King of Qin's son, Qin will have no excuse and will not attack us."

"Stupid!" Jiang Qu said in a hateful voice, "Your Majesty, by doing this, isn't it telling the world that the letter to Le Jian was fake? Isn't it breaking the trust of the world? If you want to release Prince Cheng Jiao, this is not the right time! If you release him now, our Yan State will be discredited! Who will come to surrender?"

The King of Yan was so happy that he was spinning around like an ant on a hot pot.

"Then don't let it be destroyed! Who can defeat the Qin State? You?!"

The critical moment came again, and King Xi of Yan was extremely anxious.

He stood up straight.

"I'm going to Zhao!

"If the Qin State wants to attack us, there is still the Zhao State in between!

"My Yan State is afraid of Qin State, but Zhao State is not afraid of it?

"My king, please be at ease.

"Please send envoys to Qi, Wei, Chu, and Han immediately to tell them that Qin has the ambition to swallow up the world.

"Using Zhao's route to destroy Yan is the first step, and destroying Zhao on the way back is the second step.

"Zhao and Yan are destroyed, Qin's territory is connected to the northern border, and the destruction of all the countries is imminent. Please unite and attack them!"

The King of Yan was pleased to respond.

Ever since he took a bite of Master Chengjiao's saliva, he seemed to have become wiser and was willing to listen to advice.

Unfortunately, the rise of the fake prime minister Jiang Qu could not completely eliminate the impact of the tragic end of Changguo Jun Lejian.

There were very few people in Yan State who were still willing to give advice.

On that day, he was sent to Zhao on behalf of Yan.

May thirteenth.

When he arrived at Handan, King Dan of Zhao met him in secret.

In a side hall of the Zhao Palace, Jiang Qu met Zhao Wangdan who was sitting in the first seat.

Seeing that Zhao Wangdan was also sitting on a chair instead of a mat, Jiang Qu suddenly had a strange feeling.

[Life in Zhao State is becoming more and more comfortable...]
But the situation was urgent at the moment and he had no time to think about it. He put the idea behind him in an instant and looked at the people who were ranked below Zhao Wangdan.

That was Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao, the brother of Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng. He had seen the portrait before coming.

After that, there was no one...

[Lian Po is both a famous general and a fake prime minister. Why is he not here for such an important event?]
Jiang Qu's heart was moved for the second time, but he put it aside temporarily because of the urgency of the situation. He bowed hastily to Zhao Wangdan and said:
"The Yan people, General Qu, pay homage to the King of Zhao!"

Zhao Wangdan was very impatient and raised a finger.

"If you have something to say, say it now! I can't wait for you! I will only give you one hour!"

The Prime Minister of Qin pressured the King of Zhao, and the King of Zhao pressured the Prime Minister of Yan.

He dared to be angry and said:

"Does the King of Zhao have to be so hostile to me?
"I came here to save Yan, and even more so to save Zhao!

"The fall of Zhao is imminent! Doesn't the King of Zhao know this?"

If Jiang Qu knew that Yan and Zhao had just been at war, and that Yan had betrayed its allies and raised an army of 600,000 to attack Zhao, the King of Zhao would certainly not have a good impression of him.

So after saying a few words to save the dignity of Yan State, he did not dare to wait for King Zhao to respond, and immediately continued:
"Back then, Duke Xian of Jin borrowed a passage from the State of Yu to attack the State of Guo.

"Gong Zhiqi, a minister of Jin, dissuaded Duke Yu, saying: 'Guo is a peripheral state of Yu. If Guo perishes, Yu will surely perish as well. We cannot let Jin's ambitions take the lead, and our country must not take this path. As the saying goes, lips and gums depend on each other. If lips are gone, teeth will be cold. This is exactly what the relationship between Yu and Guo is like!'

"The ruler of Yu is short-sighted and greedy for small profits, and he will not listen to advice.

"The envoy from Jin brought a thousand-mile horse and a pair of precious jade disks, which made him salivate. He readily agreed to the request to borrow the passage to attack Guo.

"So, Jin State borrowed the road from Yu State to attack Guo State and destroyed it.

"When the Jin army returned to Jin, they left through Yu State again and requested to rest in Yu State, and the king of Yu State agreed.

"As a result, the State of Yu was also destroyed by the State of Jin, and its ruler was captured, in the same year as the State of Guo was destroyed.

"Isn't the current Yan State the same as the former Guo State?

"Isn't the current Zhao State the same as the former Yu State?

"I heard that the Qin envoy Lu Buwei came here alone and offended the King of Zhao in the palace. He is not as good as the Jin envoy who sent the thousand-mile horse and jade disk to the King of Yu.

"The King of Yu was blinded by the gift, but what blinded you, King Zhao?
"Zhao wants to borrow Qin's passage to attack Yan. When Yan is destroyed, Zhao will be destroyed!"

King Zhao hesitated and said nothing.

Jiang Qu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to make further efforts.

Under the throne of King Zhao, Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao, who was unknown to the outside world and ignored him, opened his eyes.

The old man looked at Yan Xiang.

“You said that Lü Buwei offended my king, so what were you doing?

"You are just more tactful than Lü Buwei. Does a tactful offense not still an offense?

"Have you forgotten?

"Chang'an Jun is not only the prince of Qin, but also the prime minister of Zhao."

(End of this chapter)