The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 319 What Lu Buwei did, what Lu Buwei did

"I really don't understand what Zhongfu is saying." Qin Wangzheng's eyes reflected the candlelight on the table: "What do you mean by always the same? Zhongfu, what have you been doing all this time? Don't you know?"

King Zheng of Qin grabbed his newly-changed royal robe, fanned it twice, and said in a cold voice:
“The bloody clothes have been replaced, but the smell of blood is still there. Can you smell it, Zhongfu?
"My body is stained with blood tonight, all thanks to Zhongfu.

"Isn't it for today that Zhongfu has been doing so many things?

“After the failure, Zhongfu put on such an expression.

"I don't even believe in heaven, I'm not afraid of gods, do you think I will believe you just because you're playing tricks on me?"

Lu Xiang's fingers slid across the bamboo slips, making a "click-click" sound.

He looked at Qin Wangzheng's expression presumptuously for a long time before saying:
“If Your Majesty really thinks so, it is a waste of my efforts.

"If there is no doubt, Your Majesty, please leave with my head."

King Zheng of Qin was silent.

The left hand, which had been clenched into a fist on his knee, was trembling, as if he was trying hard to suppress something.

He has been suppressed and has never been able to make a breakthrough.

Now, as the winner, he wants the loser to bow down before him. Is it so difficult?

The tremor stops and the five fingers relax.

Qin Wang Zheng lowered his eyes, bowed his head and clasped his hands:

"Please teach me what you were doing before and what you are doing tonight."

----

The main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion shortly after nightfall.

Prime Minister Lu Buwei was sitting on a throne covered with a colorful tiger skin.

There were nearly thirty people standing in front of Lu Xiang.

These thirty-odd people packed the Prime Minister's Mansion so tightly that the huge and spacious main hall now looked like a can of sardines.

Prime Minister Lu closed his eyes, lightly grasping the lapels of his fox fur cloak with his hands. Thoughts kept coming to his mind, and his words came out a few breaths later than his thoughts.

The prime minister gave the order and the people in front moved.

Retainers, officials, slaves, and retainers... those who heard their own surnames and given names bowed their hands and clasped their fists. They did not react even when their elbows bumped against their colleagues on either side. They responded with a loud "Yes" with excitement on their faces.

The people they bumped into didn't care at all and had excited looks on their faces.

Among the crowd, only a few people looked embarrassed or anxious.

As time passed, the number of people in front of Lu Buwei continued to decrease, and there were only three sardines left in the can.

The two biggest ones, Yao Jia and Dun Ruo.

A child, Gan Luo.

All three were among the nine most famous princes under Lu Buwei.

Now it is actually the Eighth Lord, Zhao Di is dead.

Although Gan Luo is young, he is not behind others.

After waiting for a while and seeing his master continue to speak, the young man was afraid that his master would forget about him, so he spoke carefully:
"Master, Master?"

"Hmm?" Lu Buwei opened his eyes, closed his mouth and smiled with a nasal sound.

"Me." Gan Luo, who would only be eleven years old during the Chinese New Year, pointed to his chest and said positively, "My Lord hasn't assigned me a task yet! What am I going to do tonight?"

"You are not going anywhere, just stay here with me." Lu Buwei smiled even more deeply.

"Although Luo is young, he can do a lot of things. Although he can't command troops like Pengfei, he can at least go to Mangfufang to recruit people..." Gan Luo looked a little depressed and muttered softly.

The young man, who was immersed in his own emotions, did not notice that Lu Buwei's self-proclaimed name changed from "my true self" to "me", nor did he notice that Yao Jia and Dun Ruo, who were also among the Nine Lords beside him, looked at each other, and their already ugly expressions became even uglier.

Yao Jia and Dun Ruo were two of the only five or six people who looked unhappy.

The two of them seemed to want to say something but hesitated. After hesitating for a long time, they still didn't make a sound.

They were the first seven people called by Lu Buwei, and when they arrived, not all the people in the main hall had arrived yet.

They strongly advised their lord that he should not rebel and that it was too hasty.

The master said he would give them an answer later.

Now that everyone has been sent out, the matter has been settled. It doesn't matter whether there is an answer or not. But the two still want to know why!

Lü Buwei looked at the two men, smiled, pointed at Gan Luo and said:
“It was my selfish motive that I kept this kid here.

“Among the twelve of you, Gan Luo has been with me the longest, except for Zhao Di.

"This kid is very smart. If it weren't for Chang'an Jun, he would definitely deserve the title of a child prodigy. I want this kid to grow up.

“You two can stay because you are the two with the strongest overall abilities under my command, Lu Buwei. You are the future of Gan boy.

"While there is still time, ask if you have anything to ask, so you can go home after you finish asking."

Gan Luo finally realized that something was wrong. The young man, who had always been the chief secretary of the prime minister, was habitually keeping his mouth shut. He should not interrupt when his master was talking to others.

Dun Ruo looked extremely unhappy, and suddenly he became furious:

"Master, do you think I am a coward?! Master, do you think I am giving you advice just to survive?! I will go and be Pengfei's vanguard right now!"

Before he could finish his words, Dun Ruo turned around angrily and was about to rush out.

"Stop!" Lu Buwei shouted.

He heard the weak words, but he pretended not to hear them and was about to walk out of the door in big strides.

Yao Jia took two quick steps and grabbed Dun Ruo's arm.

"What are you doing!" Dun Ruo's hair and beard stood on end, and he pointed at Lü Buwei in a very rude manner: "Didn't you hear what the master said? You can bear this kind of insult, but I can't!"

Yao Jia held on to Dun Ruo tightly and said self-deprecatingly:

"My family has been a gatekeeper for generations. Jia's father was a gatekeeper who guarded the city gates of the State of Wei.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Jia will be a gatekeeper in the future, and Jia's eldest son will also be a gatekeeper.

"The insults Jia has suffered since childhood are much greater than this, and he is not as fierce as Brother Dun.

"But Jia thought, Brother Dun is known as a madman, but even if he is mad, he won't be in such a hurry for just a moment, right? It won't be too late to go after hearing the master's answer.

“It will take some time for Pengfei to mobilize the troops.

"Even if I die, I will die with a clear mind. Do you agree, Brother Dun?"

Dun Ruo slowly lowered his fingers, swung his sleeves hard to push Yao Jia away, and stood less than three steps away from the door, glaring at his half-standing master:

"May I ask my lord, the New Qin plan was progressing smoothly. The rumor that King Qin Zheng was your son was just spread in the daytime, why did they rebel at night?"

Yao Jia did not go back either. His eyes were somewhat cold and his words were also sinister:

“Jia heard that Chang’an Jun was attacking the Bai family, and the king just led a large number of guards from Zhangtai Street, which will greatly speed up the progress of New Qin.

"But no matter how much you speed up, you can't speed it up to the end, right? Don't you think this is too fast, lord?"

"New Qin." Lu Buwei muttered heavily, and leaned back in the chair again: "Luo, what is New Qin? I can't remember it clearly. Can you tell me?"

New Qin.

Even Li Si and Ba Qing, who were once the Twelve Lords, and Lao Ai, who later became the Tenth Lord, were unaware of the most confidential plan of the Xiangbang faction.

The boy's mouth was dry, so he swallowed his saliva and continued:
"New Qin." A new Qin.

“In our country today, although important officials in the imperial court have been rotated frequently, the middle and lower-level officials have remained unchanged for hundreds of years and are firmly controlled by the old Qin nobles.

"The common people have no other way to advance except through military merit.

"This phenomenon is partly due to the customs of our country - because our country is brave in foreign wars, we admire those with great military achievements and do not promote education, so there are very few people who can read and write among the people.

“But this is not a big reason.

"Other countries did not have this trend, and many people were educated. The wealthy families in Wei State all had private schools, and Qi State built the Jixia Academy, which attracted thousands of scholars.

“But the promotion of officials in Wei and Qi is even worse than in our country. From gatekeepers to important officials in the court, they are all firmly controlled by aristocratic families.

"Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are all oppressed by the nobles and will never be able to rise to prominence.

"Running water never rots, and a door hinge never rots.

“Running water does not become rancid, and door hinges that are constantly turning will not be eaten by insects.

"Without competitive pressure, the nobles are becoming increasingly corrupt. If nothing is done to change this, our country will inevitably repeat the chaos before Shang Yang's reforms and may even perish."

Hearing this, Dun Ruo sneered and suddenly said:
"You don't need to be so dignified. I don't want to drink chicken soup before I die.

“Let me be frank.

"My lord was originally a businessman, and his status is far different from that of a scholar like me. He cannot enjoy glory for generations.

"After the Lord's death, there will be no Lü family in Qin, just as there was no Shang family after Lord Shang's death.

“The master wants to be king, and we want a position.

"If we don't pull down these nobles, where will we have a place? If we don't have a place, how can we risk our lives to fight the Lord?
“I can’t figure it out.

"When King Zhuangxiang of Qin died, the lord overpowered King Zheng of Qin and gained great power, and his words were worth a thousand pieces of gold to win the hearts of the people.

"Establish a school to recruit scholars to replace the old Qin nobles, and promote officials from the Bai family to make the Bai family hated by the old Qin nobles.

"Rumor has it that Lady Ji's rumors caused a rift between Chang'an Jun and the Bai family, and that they wanted to lead Chang'an Jun to attack the Bai family and force King Zheng of Qin to make a choice, but to no avail.

“Oh, it didn’t work then, but isn’t it working now?

"Chang'an Jun attacked the Bai family. If Qin Wangzheng wanted to protect the Bai family, he would give up his arm and help Chang'an Jun. To protect Chang'an Jun, he would push the old Qin nobles to the side of the master.

"With the help of these withered bones in the tomb, wouldn't it be easier for the master to make progress? The vacant seat in the Bai family is enough for us to have a meal first.

"Isn't this a great thing? It's even better than when Chang'an Jun killed the white horse a few days ago.

"why."

Dunruo took a step closer, with anger in his voice that he could not conceal:

"Why, my lord, do you want to rebel tonight? To destroy such a good situation!"

The room fell silent.

After a moment, Lu Buwei, who was sitting on the chair, let out a long sigh.

"Why don't you believe that I formulated the New Qin Plan in order to break down the distinction between the noble and the humble?" Lü Buwei smiled helplessly, "Why do you think this is just a means to win you over?"

"Master, are you a saint?" Yao Jia asked, looking at him, "You are not. You are a businessman. Businessmen pursue profits. This is what the master himself has always emphasized."

Lu Buwei's grin widened, and sadness filled his newly raised lips:

“You’re right, I’m not a saint.

“A saint does not use any means to achieve his goal.

"I can.

"I personally killed Batu, the leader of the Bashu Chamber of Commerce who had warmly welcomed me and wanted to become my brother. I teamed up with the local governor Li Bing to slaughter the Ba family and supported Ba Qing, who was unable to give birth to a child, to take the throne.

"King Xiaowen of Qin and King Zhuangxiang of Qin, both generations of Qin kings trusted me, and I put pressure on the kings they chose to the point of suffocation.

“I spread rumors about the mother of Lord Chang’an, who trusted me the most, and brought disgrace upon Lady Ji.

"I am a mercenary businessman, I can sell anything as long as I can achieve my goal.

“Everything in the world has value, but my goal is the most valuable. I can give up everything to obtain it.

"Weak, you are wrong in one aspect.

“I spread rumors about Madam Ji not to get Lord Chang’an to kill the Bai family, but to get Lord Chang’an to find me or the king to kill the Bai family.

“If Chang’an Jun asks me to destroy the Bai family, I will help Chang’an Jun eliminate the Bai family.

“The king can’t find an excuse because he is the king. If the king moves against the interests of his subjects, the subjects will collectively retaliate.

“And I am a minister.

“My move against the Bai family is a fight for power, a struggle between two ministers.

“The Bai family has a grudge against Chang’an Jun. If I help Chang’an Jun get rid of the Bai family, everyone will think that Chang’an Jun is standing behind me.

"No matter how much Chang Anjun explains, it won't change the result. What a person does is far more credible than what he says.

"In this way, the royal family will not be determined to stand on the king's side. In the future, there will always be people who say that Chang'an Jun should be the king, and there will always be people who will surrender to Chang'an Jun to help him become the king. The tree wants to be still, but the wind will not stop.

“Under this circumstance, I don’t believe that Chang An Jun will not change his mind.

“Whether you are swimming upstream or going with the flow, you must react when the water rushes towards you. Even the strongest stone cannot withstand the constant erosion of the water.

“If Lord Chang’an wants to ask the king to deal with the Bai family, that’s great too.

“Your Majesty, please agree. Your Majesty, please cut yourself off from the old Qin nobles.

"Your Majesty, if you don't agree, given Lord Chang'an's personality, he will never forgive the Bai family, so Lord Chang'an will only come to me.

“It’s just that I didn’t expect that Mohism, Deng Lingxue, Xiang Lifu, a Chu Mohist master and a Qin Mohist master, would actually be willing to go against morality for the sake of Chang’an Jun.

“I always thought that Chang’an Jun’s power was me.

"I never intended for Chang'an Jun to destroy the Bai family. How could his reputation of virtue be destroyed because of the Bai family? Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken?

"I always knew that he had a bad temper, so I took the initiative to conspire with him to kill Bai Ma. Xunzi's eldest disciple Fu Qiubo was a teacher in the academy, and he brought a large number of Xunmen disciples, enough to fill the fallen official positions of the Bai family.

“I promised that after Chang’an Jun kills Bai Ma, I will take action against the Bai family, and I am sure he will agree.

"Since he can't vent his anger on me, he can only vent it on the Bai family. And he killed Bai Ma in public, the old Qin nobles will not tolerate him. This is what I don't want to see, but it is what he wants to see.

"The royal family will not support Chang'an Jun, who killed Bai Ma, as the king, even if he has sufficient reasons.

"Why should I oppose? Haha...

"If I don't fight back, won't this guy's golden body be broken?"

----

"Master, what you mean is..." Qin Wangzheng narrowed his eyes, "Are you rebelling tonight to protect Cheng Jiao? Are you doing the same as me, to clean up the mess for Cheng Jiao?"

Lu Buwei remained silent. He met King Zheng of Qin's questioning gaze and looked back calmly.

He disdained to respond.

"So that's how it is. This can solve some of my doubts. I have never understood why the commander rebelled when the situation was about to improve." King Zheng of Qin muttered to himself and nodded.

"But, I don't understand." Qin Wangzheng's eyes were sharp, like a hawk, as if he wanted to see into Lü Buwei's heart: "Master, you love Cheng Jiao so much, do you know how many times Cheng Jiao was in danger of death tonight? No matter how you look at it, those attacking rebels don't seem to be acting."

(End of this chapter)