The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 153 Zheng State
Xinzheng was originally the capital of the State of Zheng.

After Han conquered Zheng, it moved its capital here, and that was one hundred and twenty years ago.

Since Han destroyed Zheng, its territory has never expanded on a large scale.

Among the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, the two countries had the weakest presence.

One Yan, the other Han.

The State of Yan rose to prominence during the reign of King Zhao of Yan, and almost destroyed the State of Qi with the help of Yue Yi.

As for the Kingdom of Han, even during the heyday of King Zhao of Han, the country did not accomplish anything spectacular. The only thing worth mentioning was that the other princes did not dare to invade.

But among the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, Ying Chengjiao had the deepest impression of this country.

Not because of kimchi, but because of conspiracy.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when all nations were fighting each other, each nation was strengthening its own hard power.

Grow food, expand land, increase population, and recruit soldiers.

Only South Korea is different. In the later stage, South Korea only uses its brain.

"Mother, you called me here in such a hurry just to let me be on guard against Zheng State?" Ying Chengjiao was full of smiles.

Apart from his grandfather, only his mother could make him let down his guard and say whatever he thought.

The mother and son were in a room in the palace of King Han.

The interior decoration of the palace is extremely luxurious, with exquisite paintings on the beams and pillars, and gems and pearls inlaid on all four walls.

The boy picked up the exquisite ceramic cup on the agarwood table and first looked at the Chilong painted on it.

The dragon pattern is detailed, the lines are rounded and vivid.

It is obvious at first glance that it was made by a master, and is not much different from the craftsmen in the Xianyang Palace.

The young man took a sip of tea and smacked his lips.

"It's sweet. Did mom add honey?" As he said that, he gulped it all down.

Ji Yaoyao looked at her son and couldn't see enough.

Those eyes, that nose, that mouth, those ears... every part of my son is like a treasure carved by God. They are much more beautiful than the Heshi Jade or the white fox fur coat worth a thousand gold.

She took two steps forward, hugged her son, and was about to cry:
"How come you've lost so much weight..."

Ying Chengjiao closed his eyes, and the feeling of mental exhaustion overwhelmed him.

He lay in his mother's arms and said with a smile:

"Mother, I am now the prime minister of four countries: Zhao, Yan, Chu, and Wei!"

Ji Yaoyao touched her son's face and could feel that it was not as smooth as in Xianyang, but much rougher.

Her tears fell on her son's hair, and she cried and laughed:

"My 職儿 is really amazing."

This palace has a front hall and a back room, and the mother and son are in the back room.

The people in the front hall included Bai Wuxia, Gai Nie, eunuchs, palace maids, etc.

Bai Wuxia looked down at the Qin sword at his waist and found that the hilt had become somewhat translucent.

Since arriving in Korea, she has become much less talkative.

Except for a few words when he is practicing martial arts with his disciples every day, he is very taciturn at other times.

She walked to Gai Nie and took the initiative to speak in the surprised eyes of the Sword Saint:
"Please do your best to teach me how to use the sword."

The girl bowed slightly, her expression humble and even respectful, and she clenched her fist and said in a deep voice:
"Please, sir."

The Sword Master's pupils flickered. In his eyes, the girl had always been arrogant and didn't care about anyone except her master.

It is the winter glacier in Yan area, which is so cold that it hurts just by getting close to it.

Gai Nie looked away expressionlessly and glanced at the door in the back room:
"As long as you are willing to learn."

"Thank you." Bai Wuxia thanked sincerely.

There has always been a saying in the underworld: "Teach your apprentice and kill your teacher."

In an era of information closure, skills are the basis of survival, and it is normal to have one, two, three or four skills when teaching.

She had personally experienced Gai Nie's martial arts and knew how precious it was that Gai Nie agreed to teach her everything he knew.

In terms of swordplay alone, the girl had never seen anyone more powerful than the expressionless man in white shirt in front of her.

"You are the teacher who teaches you martial arts, why don't you teach you sword?" Gai Nie couldn't help but ask.

Ever since he left Handan and followed Master Chengjiao, he saw that Bai Wuxia only asked Master Chengjiao to do the horse stance.

Obviously this woman is an expert in swordsmanship, but she never taught me any swordsmanship and only taught me the basics.

"Your sword is stronger than mine." The girl answered simply.

Practicing martial arts is different from studying. It is best not to practice martial arts with multiple teachers at the same time. This is a taboo.

Every warrior has different focuses, even those who practice the same weapon.

When the girl was fighting with Gai Nie, she could clearly feel that Gai Nie's sword was much more vicious than hers.

Although she is a woman, she still uses the vigorous and aggressive sword techniques on the battlefield, mainly chopping and slashing.

It is actually easier to use force if she changes to a long sword. She is better with a sword than with a knife.

The reason why they wore swords instead of knives was that in this period, wearing swords was a custom among the aristocracy. It was not only a manifestation of martial spirit, but also a way to show dignity and status.

Gai Nie, on the other hand, chopped, stabbed, and thrust... He used the sword to the limit, skillfully using the double-edged sword and accurately distributing the force. Every strike of the sword made sure to draw blood, killing the enemy at the lowest cost.

One-on-one, the girl was completely defeated.

The Sword Master, who had wanted to say goodbye and leave a few days ago, looked at the girl, but the scene of Master Chu Mo bowing and saying "take care" emerged in his mind.

[As long as the master does not do anything harmful to the world, Nie will not abandon him.]
Outside the front hall is the palace gate.

A thin man, walking barefoot, wearing a bamboo hat and a short black robe, came over, holding an iron rod taller than him.

The man raised his hat and looked up.

In the sunlight, you can see that the face is no longer young, and is full of the vicissitudes of life.

There was not much flesh on his face when both sides were put together, and the "川" pattern between his eyebrows looked like it was carved with a knife.

The iron rod hit the ground, making a slight "dong" sound.

"I'm Zheng Guo, a hydraulic engineer, and I'd like to see Lord Chang'an." The man's voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been damaged from years of shouting.

A few hours ago.

King Han Ran did not ride in his own five-horse carriage, but asked his driver to drive a four-horse carriage and secretly leave the Han Palace.

The four-horse carriage circled the city twice and returned to the palace, but King Han Ran was no longer in the carriage.

At the Zhang family's mansion, the servant led Han Wangran to see the master of the house.

Lying on the soft couch, the South Korean Prime Minister's face was as white as gold paper, his eyes were tightly closed, and he looked like he didn't have much time left.

There was a beautiful person sitting next to the couch.

In one of his bare hands he held a soup bowl filled with half a bowl of medicine, and in the other he held a spoon, feeding the medicine to Zhang Ping.

Every time she handed it to Zhang Ping's mouth, she would blow it twice with her pink lips and then touch her lips.

When he found it was not hot, he brought it to Zhang Ping's mouth.

King Han entered.

The beauty turned her head and looked over. There was no surprise in her beautiful eyes. Either she was scheming or she was used to it.

Just as he was about to stand up and salute, Han Wangran had already held his shoulder.

"I'll skip the gift this time. The Prime Minister is more important." The beauty showed gratitude and nodded:
"Thank you, Your Majesty." It was a male voice.

Zhang Ping, lying on the sickbed, heard the noise and opened his eyes.

Although his eyes were intact, they were lifeless.

A few years ago, his illness was so serious that he became blind.

He looked around with eyes that could not see anything, and shouted anxiously:

“Is it the King who has come? But the King who has come?

"Zifang, I want to ask you a question. Is it the king who is here?"

The beauty responded with a sad "yes".

Both the imperial physician and the folk doctor had a very clear opinion: his father's illness was caused by mental overwork and that he could live a few more years if he rested and did not think about anything.

Every time the king came, his father would be worried and distressed, and his life span would be shortened.

He is the eldest son of Zhang Ping, with a male appearance and a female figure. His surname is Zhang, his name is Liang, his courtesy name is Zifang, and his nickname is Youxiang. Everyone in Xinzheng knows that he is smart, but he has no way to deal with the current situation.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Zhang Ping struggled to get up.

Han Wangran watched for a while and found that Zhang Ping was indeed having difficulty moving and did not seem to be pretending to be sick, so he took two quick steps to support Zhang Ping.

He helped Zhang Ping lie down again, touched Zhang Ping's shriveled body, and confirmed once again that his prime minister was really going to die soon. He sighed and said:
"No, no, the Prime Minister is lying down and talking. I forgive the Prime Minister for his innocence."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhang Ping's face miraculously turned a little redder.

Zhang Liang looked at it and felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

How could a seriously ill body have enough energy and blood to show on the face? I'm afraid it's just a last gasp!

"Your Majesty." Zhang Liang knelt on the ground and said anxiously: "Father's condition is different today. Can we wait until another day?"

"How dare you!" Zhang Ping couldn't see anyone, so he pointed his dry finger at his eldest son and shouted, "Get out!"

"Father, you"

"I'll let you out!"

Zhang Liang trembled and responded with a "Yes".

He got up from the ground, staggered out of the house, called the servants and told them to call his brother, mother and others.

The servant hurried away.

Zhang Liang was guarding outside the door.

Tears flowed down, and her pretty face was covered with water droplets, like a lotus bud about to bloom.

Although King Han was not familiar with medicine, he could see that his prime minister seemed unlikely to survive.

He had mixed feelings.

I felt relieved, but also heartbroken.

Han Wangran, who knew that Zhang Ping was blind, still smiled, looked back at the door that had just closed, and said:

"I think Zifang is more beautiful than Guo Kai of Zhao and Song Yu of Chu."

Zhang Ping laughed, seeming to be delighted by the king's praise.

The old man pointed at his own lifeless eyes and said:

“My eyes have lost their sight for a long time.

"If the king says it is beautiful, then it is truly beautiful."

The king and his minister then began to chat about which nephews and nephews had promising prospects and whether the new brass dance was good or not.

When Prince Chengjiao entered Han, King Ran of Han was obviously very anxious, but he did not show it on his face and kept his mouth shut.

Zhang Ping felt his body becoming more and more relaxed. The pain seemed to have left him at this moment. He had never felt so comfortable in the past ten years.

Then he knew that the time had come.

He sighed deeply in his heart, he couldn't survive the king this time.

He still wanted to leave some time for his family and say goodbye to his sons at the end of his life, but he couldn't hold back anymore.

"Your Majesty, I heard that Lu Buwei showed great power in Handan, Zhao State, but I don't know the details. Can you tell me about it?" Zhang Ping asked proactively.

In fact, he had already known about it through Zhang Liang. Although most of the Zhang family's power was in Korea, such public matters were still easy to find out.

Han Wangran also knew that the prime minister had known about it for a long time, but he pretended not to know.

Whenever the prime minister asked, he would answer.

He told all about the events in Handan, the recent incident in which King Xi of Yan informed the world to clear the names of Prince Chengjiao and Le Jian, and the fact that the fake prime minister of Yan State had been beheaded and his body eaten by wild beasts, leaving no trace.

Zhang Ping listened quietly as the king talked about a lot of things he had already known.

Before he died, he did not show any impatience. He did not interrupt the king once or ask him to speed up the story.

After Han Wangran finished speaking, he felt a little proud.

This time it was he, the King of Han, who won, as it was the Prime Minister who spoke first.

He held Zhang Ping's skeletal hand to show his king's concern, and called out Zhang Ping's name in a tearless voice:

"Tianyou, don't worry about these things. Just take care of your body."

Zhang Ping breathed steadily and said with emotion:
"Your Majesty, I am already a rotten wood. Please let me do something for Daehan again."

Han Wangran wiped away his nonexistent tears and nodded:
"I cannot bear to refute your wish. Please speak."

Knowing that time was running out, Zhang Ping did not speak in a hurry. Instead, he pretended to be silent, seemingly thinking about what Han Wangran had just said.

After a while, the old man finally spoke, saying what he had thought of two days ago:
"Your Majesty, you must be careful of the current King of Qin and Lu Buwei.

"If South Korea is destroyed one day, it must be destroyed by Qin.

"This Lü Buwei accepted the favor of Zhao State in the Zhao court. He seemed to back down for the sake of Zhao State's help and said that he could let Jiang Qu live in exchange for food.

"It seems that Qin has understood benevolence and righteousness and started to be trustworthy, but in fact, there is a plan to divert disaster to the east.

"After Lü Buwei said this, Jiang Qu chose to die of his own accord. He was not forced to death by the Qin State, because Lü Buwei had already let Jiang Qu go.

“In this case, it is obvious that it was Lü Buwei, the prime minister of Qin, who forced the prime minister of Yan to death and weakened the state of Yan.

"Yan State will not be hostile to Qin State, but will be hostile to Zhao State instead.

"Because according to Zhao's grain compensation plan, Yan would be in imminent danger of national destruction.

"Qin weakened Yan, and Zhao destroyed Yan. With this comparison...if I am not mistaken, Lü Buwei still has a backup plan. It is possible that Yan will even get closer to Qin in the future.

"Lü Buwei, this big profiteer, really sold out the State of Yan, and the State of Yan is still counting money for him.

"This kind of use of political tactics can definitely be called the pinnacle, surpassing the previous Qin Prime Minister Fan Ju who was the best at using political tactics.

"And the new King of Qin who can use Lu Buwei must be more powerful than Lu Buwei. This is really not good news for our Korea."

Han Wangran nodded, feeling relieved.

Zhang Ping said that the fact that King Qin was able to use political tactics to reach the pinnacle thanks to Lü Buwei proved that King Qin was more powerful.

Zhang Ping was able to completely see through Lu Buwei's thoughts, proving that he was even more powerful than Lu Buwei.

And such a powerful Zhang Ping is the prime minister of Han Wangran. Doesn't this mean that Han Wangran is more powerful than the King of Qin?

"What Tianyou said really struck a chord with me." Han Wangran collected his thoughts, nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Is there anything Tianyou can teach me?"

Zhang Ping licked his dry lips. He had finally come to the end of his speech and was about to finish.

He suppressed his excitement and spoke in the same tone and speed as before:
"Zhengguo can be the name of a country or a person."

(End of this chapter)