The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 321: The life of a powerful minister: My plan failed, not because of fate, but because of people's unwillingness
The first time he strangled the king, Lu Buwei could still see resistance in Qin Wangzheng's eyes, and could feel the slightest struggle from the strengthless body under him.

The second time the king's throat was strangled, Lu Buwei felt nothing.

King Zheng of Qin fainted faster than the first time, apparently because Lu Buwei used too much strength too quickly and he didn't have time to react.

The powerful right hand, as if cast from copper and iron, trembled slightly, as if the king's neck, which could be broken with a pinch, was really secretly protected by some god.

"You bastard... You bastard! You bastard!!!" Lu Buwei growled, "Since you are so useless, I should take the throne!"

While Prime Minister Lu was saying that it was not unfair that he had died and been injured a thousand times in the Qin State, his trembling hand not only failed to muster the strength to strangle King Zheng of Qin to death, but his arm was also shaking.

The thought of giving up everything for the sake of the greater good was like a fire caught in the cold wind; the fire was still burning but not very strong.

He could formulate a rebellion plan behind the scenes, taking into account the possible deaths of the two brothers Qin Shi Huang and Ying Chengjiao, and prepare for it.

Just like he said.

If the two brothers were killed, they deserved to die.

Not to mention putting his whole heart into this rebellion, he didn't even put half his mind into it.

The two of them together are not even half as good as him, so they might as well die together.

But when it really came to him, he could complete the unfinished task in his original plan by just putting in a little effort, and send King Zheng of Qin to see the late king, but he couldn't put in any effort...

Below him, King Zheng of Qin had already fainted.

Lu Buwei held Qin Shi Huang's neck with his right hand tremblingly. Sweat gradually appeared on his forehead, and soon beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared.

"Heh..." With a wry smile, he sat down on the ground dejectedly.

The one who stopped him from killing Qin Shi Huang was not the heavens, not the gods, but the Qin Shi Huang...

Nearly twenty years ago, he had become a businessman at the top and enjoyed a great reputation in Yanqi.

He was well-read, had strategic ideas in mind, and was known as a righteous businessman. Kong Bin of the Kong family was willing to make friends with him.

After completing the Qi and Lu dungeons, he disobeyed his father's advice and stepped into the Qin and Zhao lands.

Here he lost all his glory.

He was called a cheap businessman.

No matter how rich he was, no matter how learned he was, no matter how moral he was, the people of this land still looked down on him.

The nobles looked down on him, the scholars looked down on him, and the common people looked down on him.

His status was only higher than those slaves who were commodities rather than people. Just as his father had told him - there were no merchants in the West, only cheap merchants.

Except for the mysterious Bashu Chamber of Commerce, the other six chambers of commerce have their roots in Qi. Only Qi, with its thriving business culture, is a paradise for businessmen.

Lu Buwei's father came to the land of Qin and Zhao, but could not bear the humiliation and returned to Qi.

Lu Buwei disobeyed his father's advice and came as well, unable to endure such humiliation.

But he did not make the same choice as his father.

He came here without listening to his father's words, and left just as he said. How shameful!
The young man held his breath, determined to make a name for himself in this hellish copy of Qin Zhao!
Since it was already hellish difficulty, he decided to challenge the highest level. He chose the most powerful country that was also the most prejudiced against merchants, the Qin State!
He thought that with his status as the head of the Lu's Chamber of Commerce, he could easily make a name for himself by keeping a low profile, but it didn't happen.

He initially wanted to make friends with Master Qin as an equal, but the visiting cards he sent out were either thrown out or could not even be delivered and were taken away by the doorman to burn in the fire.

So he settled for the next best thing and was willing to be a retainer, but still no one was willing to accept him.

The money that he was so proud of was completely useless, and he couldn't even enter the door of the prince of Qin.

His father sent him a letter asking him to come back.

He didn't want to.

He must make a name for himself! He must not be unable to accomplish anything without the influence of his father!

Since the Prince of Qin from Qin is not good enough, then let's use the Prince of Qin from a foreign country.

He just didn't believe that a proton could be so arrogant!
Qin Yiren, the prince of Zhao who was held hostage by Qin, came into his sight.

He paid the visit, and this time he was determined to succeed and made a big fuss.

Qin Yiren received him warmly, but only at the door.

After entering the room, Qin Yiren's expression turned cold. He said that he treated you so politely before because he wanted to buy horse bones. Now you have a Qin Gongzi to receive you, so you can make friends with nobles. I have had the most prosperous refuge, and there will be more people coming to me in the future. We have complemented each other, and you can leave now.

Lu Buwei was unwilling to accept this, and put on an act of humility in the land of Qin and Zhao, and put on the mask of a mercenary businessman that he had long been accustomed to wearing, saying that Buwei had considerable financial resources and could bring honor to the young master's family.

Qin Yiren sneered and said, "You can't even glorify your own family, so how can you glorify mine?"
Lu Buwei smiled and said, "Sir, you have got it wrong. I must first glorify your family before I can glorify my own family."

Lü Buwei's words made Qin Yiren look surprised. There were no merchants in Qin and Zhao who spoke like this. It seemed that he had quite some insight.

Lu Buwei saw that Qin Yiren's expression had changed and he was in high spirits. He took the opportunity to talk for two hours about how to help Qin Yiren glorify his family.

Finally, Qin Yiren's eyes were filled with tears. He held his hand and said, "My meeting you, sir, is like King Xiaogong meeting Shangjun."

Lu Buwei's heart trembled.

Shang Yang committed suicide by his own actions. He was unable to take a single step in the State of Qin because he did not have the body-protecting sticker he invented. He returned to Shang and rebelled, and was captured and torn apart by five oxen. His body was dismembered.

While thinking that he couldn't do this, he accepted Qin Yiren's recruitment with tears in his eyes.

It is extremely ironic that in the land of Qin and Zhao, at many times, the status of Qin Yiren's retainer was more honorable than his status as the head of the Lu's Chamber of Commerce.

When he visited nobles as Qin Yiren's most valued retainer, he would be received and praised for being the owner of one of the seven major private chambers of commerce at such a young age.

He heard this kind of praise every time because there was really nothing else to praise about him.

This is just like when modern young people meet their relatives, they will be asked if they are married, have they bought a house, how is their work, how much do they make per month, and when do they plan to have children?

It’s not that they don’t want to ask anything else, it’s that they can’t ask anything else.

It's so embarrassing to just sit there, you should at least say something, right?

At that time, Lu Buwei would smile implicitly on his face but coldly in his heart.

Breaking through that barrier of arrogance, the nobles of Qin and Zhao are no different from those of Qi and Lu.

After putting on the skin of Qin Yiren's retainer, his originally useless money suddenly became useful again.

He used money, which he was best at, to pave the way for the marriage between Qin Yiren, a hostage of Qin State, and Ji Yaotiao, a noblewoman of the Lin family, which shocked all the noblemen in Handan.

Ji Yaotiao is a famous lady in Handan.

Marrying Qin Yiren was marrying up in terms of status, but marrying down in terms of actual position.

As soon as Lu Buwei arrived, he helped Qin Yiren marry a beautiful woman with rich political capital.

The label of "rare commodity" attached to Lu Buwei was originally a joke, but because of this incident, it became a legend.

He began to receive visiting cards from nobles.

He was disdainful in his heart, but smiled on the surface. Considering that it was disrespectful for a noble to come to a merchant's house, he did not reply to the invitation, but sent a visiting card to each noble who sent a visiting card.

He went to visit the nobles at their homes, rather than the nobles visiting him.

This behavior gave him another label: being sensible.

He received more visiting cards.

His reputation rose.

He fulfilled his promise, brought honor to Qin Yiren's family, and then brought honor to his own family.

His father sent him a second letter, which roughly meant that he had surpassed him and could come back.

He doesn't want to, so where is this going?

He knew that those nobles did not really like him.

No matter how approachable the princes of Qin and Zhao are, they are still outside the same line.

Lü Buwei is now a guest of honor wherever he goes, because he has always stood outside the line and dared not cross it. If he really crosses it, he will suffer greatly. He assisted a Qin hostage and asked for a noblewoman for the Qin hostage, not just to have a banquet with the prince of Zhao and hear the praise that "the gentleman is so young, but he is already the owner of one of the seven major chambers of commerce."

Curious items to live in.

Is that strange?

Far from enough.

No matter how glorious the Qin hostage family was, that was all it could do.

If the Qin hostage became the Qin crown prince, things would be different.

He set foot on Qin soil again, as the guest of honor of the Prince of Handan and the most valued guest of Qin Yiren.

He met Lady Huayang through the relationship of his friends in the State of Chu.

He wrote a letter in Qu Yuan's handwriting, asking Lady Huayang to arrange a meeting for him with Lord An Guojun.

His master was the biological son of An Guojun. The letter written by Qin Yiren did not allow him to see An Guojun, but the letter written by the dead Qu Yuan allowed him to see it.

This meeting was completely different from what Lu Buwei had imagined.

An Guojun, who was bound to control the huge country of Qin, was not interested in his strategies, but was interested in the beauties and delicacies of Chu, Qi and Yan.

An Guojun was the most distinguished nobleman Lu Buwei had ever met, but also the most humble nobleman.

At first, Lu Buwei thought that An Guojun was putting on a show.

When he presented An Guojun with the beauties he had bought from Qi, Chu and Yan, he saw An Guojun again the next day and found that An Guojun walked unsteadily with his hands on his waist. He knew that An Guojun was really like this.

With beauties around, An Guojun is really having fun!

The An Guojun he met and the An Guojun described by his master were completely two different people.

He didn't know what went wrong, so he continued with his original plan.

With his help, Lady Huayang, who had no children, adopted Qin Yiren as her son. An Guojun, who often recruited Qin Yiren to work for him, smiled and said that he did it for your sake.

An Guojun looked down on his lord, but was very fond of him and gave him the green light.

He took the stage in Qin State to build momentum for his lord.

His lord Qin Yiren had a boy in October of that year. October was the first month of the year in Qin State, so the boy was named Zheng.

After he returned to Zhao, he would see Ying Zheng, who was not yet called Qin, every now and then. The lord smiled and said that when Ying Zheng could speak, he would let Ying Zheng recognize him as his uncle, but he always said no, no, I am not worthy.

Everything was going smoothly, better than he had imagined, and he felt he had a great potential.

Suddenly, the Battle of Changping, which lasted for three years between Qin and Zhao, ended.

It was actually nothing after the battle, as such big battles had been fought before. But the massacre of 400,000 surrendered soldiers had never happened before.

Bai Qi killed 400,000 Zhao surrendered soldiers, which shocked the world.

Lu Buwei, who got the news first, felt a dark sensation in front of his eyes. He hated Bai Qi so much that his teeth itched. His years of planning would not come to nothing overnight!
He bribed the guard at the city gate and told his lord the news. He sent people to look for Ji Yaotiao and Ying Zheng, and at the same time asked his lord to get on the carriage and leave as soon as the mother and son arrived.

The master was even more panicked than him and wanted to leave immediately without waiting for the mother and son.

He had no choice but to obey the order and fled back to Qin with his master.

If you can turn a dead chess piece into a living one, the road will be smooth.

In order to please Lady Huayang, Qin Yiren changed his name to Qin Zichu and became the first in the order of succession, surpassing Qin Xi.

The master found another woman, a Korean noblewoman. He had another child with the Korean noblewoman, but this time he gave her a less pleasant name, Cheng Jiao.

蟜, a poisonous insect.

It becomes a leech and a poisonous insect.

How shameful is this?

It's not his child, so he has no right to say anything.

As the child grew older, he regretted more and more that he had not said more.

How can a lord like you, who is so extraordinary, be called by such a lousy name?
Of course, these are small things.

An Guojun trusts him, and the lord trusts him, this is a big deal.

Bigger things were coming soon.

King Ji of Qin died.

An Guojun had not yet completed his mourning period, and when he succeeded to the throne he did not take power or change the reign title, and asked Qin Zichu to take power on his behalf.

An Guojun.

No, Qin Wangzhu.

During the period of mourning, Prince Qin Zhu was watched closely by Prince Chengjiao. He could only eat delicious food but not play with beautiful women. He complained to him many times.

Lu Buwei smiled and said that the young master was concerned about the king.

After this kind of dialogue happened four or five times, Qin Wangzhu unlocked a new dialogue.

King Zhu of Qin asked Lu Buwei to bring Qin Zichu to kill him for the sake of the Qin State.

Lu Buwei did as he was told.

When King Zhu of Qin died, his lord Qin Zichu succeeded him.

He finally got his wish and became the prime minister of Qin State, and truly had status and position.

In the days that followed, whenever he was in Xianyang, he would go to the royal tomb every month to pay homage to King Xiaowen of Qin.

He always thought that King Xiaowen of Qin was not his lord, but his trust in him was greater than that of his lord.

Until the death of Prince Chu of Qin.

Lu Buwei always thought he would be taken away.

The military leader, Duke Biao, died, and all of the lord's brothers died.

The lord was afraid that Crown Prince Zheng would not be able to suppress Duke Bie and his brothers, so he cleared the obstacles for Crown Prince Zheng and paved a bloody path for him.

Then on this bloody road, the biggest pool of blood should be his, Lu Buwei's.

No matter how prestigious Duke Bie was in the army, could he be compared to Lu Buwei's prestige in the court?

King Zichu of Qin did not want him to die. He asked Crown Prince Zheng to call him "Zhongfu" and told him to give him the seal when he felt Zheng'er was qualified to be king.

The reason why he was able to suppress King Zheng of Qin so tightly was because of the name and will given to him by King Zichu of Qin.

He actually knew what Qin Wangzichu was thinking and was trying to trap him.

He wanted to untie it and kill King Zheng of Qin with his own hands.

But... he is not dead after all.

And... Lu Buwei closed his eyes and lay on his back on the ground.

King Zheng of Qin, who was lying next to him, spared his life, just like King Zhu of Qin, the Prince of Chu. This was a serious crime of treason.

"I owe your family several lives." Lu Xiang muttered to himself: "My plan failed, not because of fate, but because of people's unwillingness."

He picked up King Zheng of Qin and threw him to Yang Duanhe who was standing outside the door, and asked Yang Duanhe to take his men out of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

In the main hall of the Xiangbang Mansion, a huge fire rose to the sky.

The traitor Lu Buwei committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

If the rebellion fails, the person will die.

(End of this chapter)