The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 136 Leaving Ji for Chu, Zhao Gongming
In the courtyard, the young man who had been doing horse stance day after day for months heard the door open and turned his head to look.

Ever since Zou Yan pushed the door open the day before, the young man has become much more sensitive to the sound of the door. What if someone comes in?
This time it was not a prince, but a king - King Xi of Yan.

The boy put down the big stone and looked at the owner of the land under his feet.

He wore a cross-collared gown with wide cuffs and a right-fronted deep gown, which was wrapped around the body in multiple layers and dragged on the ground like a swallowtail. The belt was fastened with a belt hook and ring. The overall color of the gown was blue, with red and black lacquer filling the patterns.

The boy had seen similar clothes before. The clothes of the Yan nobles were mostly blue, and the official uniforms of the Yan were as blue as the sea.

The boy was a little confused at first.

Because although the State of Yan was small, it was the orthodox state of the Ji clan.

The ancestor of the State of Yan, Duke Zhao of Yan, was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou and the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou.

The royal family of Yan was of noble descent, and the blood flowing in their veins was the same as that of the Zhou emperor.

The Zhou dynasty inherited the fire virtue, so most of the clothes were bright red.

Logically speaking, the State of Yan should have been the embodiment of the fire virtue and liked the color red, but it chose to use blue.

It was not until Zou Yan came here the day before yesterday that the philosophers in the history books came down from the books into reality, and came specifically for Ying Chengjiao.

Ying Chengjiao specifically asked for a copy of "Zou Zi" which had been lost in his previous life, and has been reading it these past two days.

He wanted to gain insight into Zou Yan's thoughts from his "Zou Zi" and understand more about this Zou Zi.

Otherwise, he would have been uneasy dealing with the various philosophers based only on a few words in history books.

In "Zou Zi", there is an article titled "End and Beginning".

The general idea is Zou Yan's deduction on the change of dynasties, expressed in the form of dialogue with his disciples, kings, and friends, with a style similar to "The Analects of Confucius".

There is a dialogue with King Zhao of Yan: (Note 1)
[The King of Yan said: "The Zhou is in decline and no longer what it once was. After six hundred years of development, is it possible for Youyan to inherit the virtue of fire?"]

[Zou Yan said: "No matter how hot the flame is, it will eventually go out. The succession of dynasties is like the rotation of the five elements, and water is stronger than fire. Yan is near the North Sea and is endowed with the virtue of water."]

The clothing of the Yan State nobles was mostly blue, which was influenced by Zou Yan's theory of the five elements.

The "Zou Zi" we just watched was applied in real life. This is called putting knowledge into practice.

The boy was happy at first, but then he became very alert.

He lived in Qin State for seven years, but he had never heard of the name Zou Yan, as if this person had never existed in history.

And in Yan State.

The color of a country is determined by Zou Yan's words.

Different regions have different cultures.

If he had not left Qin, he would have been able to live a happy life thanks to his distinguished background and what he had learned in his previous life.

But if he wants to do something, to put a stone under the wheel of history, then he has to continue learning.

The savings from my previous life have been used up until now and are now a little stretched.

Knowing yourself and the enemy is the only way to survive a hundred battles.

The boy's mind wandered, his thoughts gradually flew far away...

King Xi of Yan entered the inn with the mentality of being spat on again, and his heart was filled with sadness.

As a king, you have to serve a seven-year-old child in your own country and on your own land. What a shame...

But in order to continue to be the King of Yan, he had to do this.

How could Yan defeat the three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei and Chu?

[If the Qin State was declared at war by the Three Kingdoms, Prince Chu of Qin would have to be polite and courteous, right?]
Thinking of this, King Xi of Yan felt less humiliated.

Standing in front of the courtyard gate, the king looked up at the sky, which was gray.

[It is not my fault that Heaven wants to make things difficult for Yan.] He thought to himself.

He placed his big hand on the door, put a fake smile on his face, and slowly pushed it open, being very polite.

At a glance, he saw that brat, the only rude prince of Qin in the world who spit at him!
The young man was holding a big rock and squatting in horse stance, seemingly practicing martial arts.

King Yan's eyes moved up and down several times, his smile became more sincere, and he immediately thought of a good excuse to communicate.

"I heard from my servants that the Prime Minister practices martial arts and works hard every day.

"I happen to have some free time today, so I came to see if Xiangbang still needs medicinal materials for martial arts training."

[He is a soft-hearted person who eats people’s food and a thankless person who takes people’s money. This guy’s martial arts medicine was provided by me.]
[If you use this to lead them, they won’t give me the cold shoulder.]
King Xi of Yan thought so and stopped three steps away from the young man who was nominally the Prime Minister of Yan.

At this distance, if some guy spit at him, it would be easy for him to dodge.

He saw a certain guy put down a big rock, and then a pair of big dark eyes stared at him up and down.

He looked at her, his eyes fixed on his wide robe, without saying a word.

[This bastard wasted so many of my medicinal herbs, and he even deliberately left me alone! He is inhuman!]
King Yan was happy as he thought about it, naturally raised his arms, opened his hands, lowered his head to brush his robes, raised his head and chuckled:

"Why, is there anything inappropriate about my outfit today?"

The young man did not look away, did not move his lips, and continued to stand there steadily.

Prince Xi of Yan deliberately lowered his voice and made the boy, who was absorbed in his thoughts, not hear it at all.

Feeling humiliated, Prince Xi of Yan felt deeply distressed, but he dared not be angry or speak out.

He stood there quietly, with a polite and graceful smile on his face.

The cool spring breeze brings a cloudy day, but it goes by so quickly.

Ying Chengjiao, who had just done horse stance and was sweating profusely, shuddered and finally came back to his senses.

King Yanxi sneered at the pretentious performance in his heart, but said warmly:
"Go take a hot bath, Xiangbang, and don't let the cold air get in your body.

"It's a cold season right now, so we should be more careful."

Ying Chengjiao had a cold face, pretending not to know what was happening outside, and said loudly with a heroic look:

"Who is your Prime Minister of Yan State?

"You are even more tyrannical than Xia Jie and Shang Zhou!

"I would rather die than be a minister of Yan! Just kill me!"

King Xi of Yan said, "Young Master, you are joking! Young Master, you are joking!" In his heart, he cursed the boy! What a hypocrite!

He raided the palace of the King of Changguo and was tyrannical.

Then the guy who threatened to make Qin crossbows fly like locusts and Qin swords fall like rain in Yan State would not be tyrannical? By then, the number of people who died would be more than that of a hundred Changguo Junfu!

Now he is pretending to want to die.

Then don't threaten me in Prince Yan's palace!
Prince Xi of Yan had a lot of grievances that he wanted to express, but he couldn't say a word. He could only play along with a certain boy and keep a very humble attitude.

After some discussion, they asked the boy to leave the posthouse and leave Ji.

There have always been few people at the gate of Ji City, but today it is packed with people.

Led by the chivalrous hero Tian Guang, the knights of Yan State celebrated the liberation of Lord Chang'an from his cage.

There were also many alchemists and students who came here because of his reputation, wanting to become Ying Chengjiao's retainers and be at his command.

Ying Chengjiao came out of the carriage and stood in the front room.

The driver in front of him looked back, seeing the boy's eyes full of admiration and yearning.

On the high carriage drawn by four horses, Ying Chengjiao looked around.

Most of the people who came to greet and see off were brightly dressed, wearing silk clothes, many of which had exquisite embroidery on them.

Everyone was smiling, their complexion was half a healthy tan, and half was haggard from overindulgence.

Thirty steps away, a boy about his age was sucking his fingers, barefoot, and looking at him curiously.

Big eyes are bright and the face is sallow.

The boy's hand was held by a man.

The man had a pale face and was wearing ragged black clothes that were made of, no one knew if they were linen, brown, or animal fur.

The man was also barefoot, and he walked away with the boy step by step, never looking over.

Ying Chengjiao turned his head and saw more bare feet.

He didn't need to look closely to know that those bare feet were covered with cracks.

He had visited Ji a long time ago and knew what the people of Yandu were like.

His chest felt a little stuffy, as if it had been trampled on by the bare feet of the entire Yandu.

The so-called great things he planned and his reputation as a wise man that was known throughout the world actually had nothing to do with the people.

The princes attacked each other and the nations quarreled.

Ambitious people seek to unify the Central Plains, while those without ambition only want to maintain the status quo and enjoy themselves. The superiors with far-sighted vision cannot see the inferiors at the bottom.

How could the people have such a heart?

How to say, how to go.

To survive, do whatever you want.

The country is prosperous.

Build magnificent royal palaces, solemn imperial mausoleums, and noble mansions with high gates and house wealthy families.

The country is in decline.

The royal palace is still magnificent! The imperial mausoleum is still solemn! The noble mansion is still the most powerful one!
The people are prosperous and suffer.

If they die, the people will suffer.

The world has been like this since ancient times.

The boy looked away.

Now he can only see but cannot change it.

If you want to change people’s situation, you must first change the world.

He wiped his tears, looked sad, and beat his chest and stamped his feet:

"Because of me, Ying Chengjiao, the four states of Qin, Zhao, Wei, and Chu declared war on Yan. This is my sin!
"The King of Yan is unjust and should be attacked, but the State of Yan is innocent and the people of Yan are innocent!

"I am gone like this, and I don't know how many more people will die because of me in the future.

"Just get out of the way and let me die here for the sake of justice!"

The young man closed his eyes, jumped off the carriage with a fearless look on his face, and fell into the noisy crowd.

The prerequisite for changing the world is to integrate into it.

Zou Yan was also in the crowd, only two or three steps away from Prince Qin.

The praises from the crowd made the young man's ears hurt and he became irritated.

The shouts of "Prince Chengjiao", "Lord Chang'an", "Master" and so on almost blew his skull off.

He was convinced that the young gentleman was not a gentleman.

If a gentleman feels that he should die, he will die.

It was ridiculous to say so many things in public, proclaiming that he would die for the people of Yan, and deliberately jump into a crowded place.

Zou Yan looked at the sky. It was very cloudy today.

"God doesn't want you to go." said the old man.

His sight became sharper, locking onto the young man in the crowd.

The boy's body stiffened.

At the same time, the chivalrous hero Tian Guang stopped talking, looked at the old man, and bent his body slightly like a tiger stalking an animal.

The sword saint in white leaped up, stepped on the horse's back, looked down from above, touched the hilt of his sword, and looked at the old man with a sword-like gaze.

A young girl rushed out of the car. Bai Wuxia stepped on the place where the young girl jumped out of the car, still looking at the old man, and Qin Jian was half an inch out of his sheath.

The old man lowered his brows and smiled bitterly inwardly.

“Not allowed to leave, and not allowed to be killed.

"Oh my God, what do you mean?"

On that day, Prince Chengjiao of Qin left Ji.

The story of jumping off a carriage to commit suicide spread throughout the countries through the mouths of merchants, scholars, alchemists, sorcerers, and nobles, and became famous.

Ying Chengjiao's convoy had not traveled two miles out of Ji.

On the loess road, two ruts stretched into the distance, and a man in gorgeous clothes stood in the middle of the road.

The servant came forward and asked the purpose of the visit.

He called himself Li Yuan, and was ordered by the King of Chu to wait here for Qin Chang'an Jun and invite Chang'an Jun to go to Ying.

Li Yuan took out a sheepskin with the seal of the King of Chu and handed it over.

After inspection, it was confirmed to be correct.

Prince Chengjiao saw it in person and said sincerely:

"I heard that the King of Chu wanted to attack the State of Yan in order to save me. This behavior is immoral. I wanted to advise the King of Chu, but I didn't know how to respond.

"It is God's will that I meet you today. I finally don't have to worry about you anymore. Please take me to see the King of Chu."

Li Yuan responded respectfully with "Yes", and entered Ying Chengjiao's motorcade, muttering to himself.

[My king saved you, what are you talking about morality? Is morality more important than living?]
[Repaying kindness with grievances, you must be ill, right? Are all gentlemen so hateful?]
The convoy changed route and headed towards the State of Chu.

When we were halfway through the journey in Yan, we passed a high mountain and heard the deafening roar of a tiger.

The convoy continued to move forward, speeding up and the soldiers on high alert.

In an era without hot weapons, when people only had to rely on cold weapons, it was very dangerous for them to encounter ferocious beasts.

Although Ying Chengjiao and his group had a large number of soldiers, they were also led by the powerful swordsman Gai Nie.

However, if a huge white-browed tiger really jumped out and charged at the convoy, it would not be easy to capture it without causing any casualties.

Ten miles passed in a hurry.

The scouts ahead reported back.

He said that there was a huge caravan parked on one side of the road, resting, and the number of people was more than five times that of his own caravan.

"Five times?" Ying Chengjiao asked suspiciously, "Are you not exaggerating?"

"I never speak nonsense!" the pathfinder said affirmatively.

Ying Chengjiao touched his chin.

His convoy was not small, with about 200 people.

If it is more than five times, then the caravan parked ahead would have a thousand people.

What kind of caravan is so big? There aren't many caravans of the Lu's Chamber of Commerce that have thousands of people? Is this caravan really a caravan? Why did this caravan stop on his way?
He glanced at the carriage carrying Li Yuan, the envoy from Chu.

Why didn't Li Yuan wait for him in Jili? Why didn't the King of Chu send an envoy to meet him instead of just one person?

This road leads to the State of Chu. It was changed after Li Yuan arrived. He did not originally take this road.

And if this Li Yuan in front of him is really the Li Yuan who left his name in history, then according to his performance in history books, it would be normal for him to do any dirty things.

Thinking about it this way, it was full of doubts, and Ying Chengjiao wanted to change lanes.

He is a gentleman, and a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.

Just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the carriage, and the direction seemed to be the road ahead, getting louder and louder.

Ying Chengjiao looked cautious and was about to order his troops to form a battle array and be on guard.

Bai Wuxia seemed to know what his disciple was thinking. He patted his disciple's head to comfort him and shook his head.

"Not many horses, just two."

"Two horses are also very dangerous. What if one of them is a match for ten thousand men? What if Xiang Yu was born a few decades earlier?" Ying Chengjiao muttered.

He sat firmly in the carriage and made up his mind.

Even if the next person came and said he was the King of Chu, he would not leave.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves reached its loudest point, and then fell silent.

After a while, Gai Nie reported from outside:

"Two people have come up ahead, one of them claims to be Zhao Gongming, the young master of the Zhao Chamber of Commerce. Please see me, sir. Do you want to see me?"

Bai Wuxia showed a surprised look and felt relieved.

Zhao's Chamber of Commerce is one of the seven major private chambers of commerce.

If the young master of the Zhao Chamber of Commerce was here, it would be normal for the caravan to have a thousand people.

However, Ying Chengjiao's focus was not here.

The boy stuck his head out of the carriage:
"Who?"

【Note 1: Zou Zi has been lost. The chapter "Zhong Shi" is recorded in the "Records of the Grand Historian", but the original content has been lost. The content in this article is fabricated by the author after reading historical materials, and is not a real book.】

(End of this chapter)