The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 323: Ying Zheng is kind and is known as a wise king

Perhaps it was because the previous orders from the king were too mild and the words were not strong enough.

Although each order involved at least two important officials, one leaving and one staying, the anxiety in the hearts of the civil and military officials did gradually calm down, just like the speed and tone of Qin Wangzheng's speech.

Originally, the minister was in the wrong, so wouldn't it be normal for the king to take back some of his power? How can you make a mistake without paying the price? The person in front of you is the king, not a pariah slave.

But when they heard that the king wanted to appoint a crown prince, and that he wanted to make his younger brother Ying Chengjiao the heir, everyone's calm hearts began to waver again.

It’s not big, and the ripples created by a fallen leaf don’t extend more than two steps.

In addition to the tradition of the son succeeding the father, the Qin throne succession system also had the tradition of the younger brother succeeding the elder brother.

When Duke Wu of Qin died, he did not pass the throne to his son Prince Bai, but to his younger brother Duke De of Qin, setting a precedent for the younger brother to succeed the elder brother.

Duke De of Qin died after two years in office. He did not follow his brother's example and pass the throne to his son, who became Duke Xuan of Qin.

But Duke De of Qin did not learn from his brother Duke Wu of Qin, but his son Duke Xuan of Qin did.

When Duke Xuan of Qin died, he did not pass the throne to his son, but instead followed his uncle Duke Wu of Qin and passed it to his younger brother Duke Cheng of Qin.

Duke Cheng of Qin also followed his brother's example. After his death, he did not pass the throne to his son, but passed it to his younger brother Duke Mu of Qin.

Duke Xuan of Qin, Duke Cheng of Qin and Duke Mu of Qin, three consecutive monarchs of one country were not father and son but brothers. Only the Qin State had done such a thing.

The Qin State used this to create a monster.

Duke Mu of Qin is undoubtedly one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, and he appears in every version of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

It is no coincidence.

Hundreds of years later, the Qin State once again passed the throne to its younger brother, and created another monster.

King Zhaoxiang of Qin, the great devil of the Warring States Period.

This is not about metaphysics, but the Qin royal family is a little crazy in nature. The country comes first, and the family comes second. They strengthen the country at all costs and believe that the strong is the king.

Qin Wugong publicly created the policy of "the younger brother succeeds the elder brother" because he believed that his younger brother was more capable than his son and the State of Qin would develop better in the hands of his younger brother than in the hands of his son, so he handed it over.

Later, Duke Xuan of Qin and Duke Cheng of Qin also thought and acted in the same way. Although their sons were not bad, they were not as strong as their younger brothers, so they left.

If this is considered as a succession order, it is not enough to reflect the madness of the Qin royal family.

Why did King Zhaoxiang of Qin, who came from a minor clan and entered the major clan, take the throne despite having plotted a rebellion? Instead of condemning him, the clan members fully supported him?

King Zichu of Qin killed all his brothers except his eldest brother Qin Qi. Why did Qin Qi still stand firmly behind King Zheng of Qin?
As long as the blood of the Qin royal family flows in their bodies, no matter how fierce and bloody the fight for the throne is, the Qin royal family will fully support the winner after the result is known.

The big clan was rebelled by the small clan? If you have more resources than the small clan and still can't defeat the small clan, then you deserve to die.

However, even though this was the tradition of the Qin royal family, the Qin officials who knew about this tradition and those who did not were more or less surprised.

The king has just come to power and he is already in a hurry to appoint a crown prince?

Your Majesty is not yet of adult age. Aren’t you too anxious?
Moreover, in history, the reason why the younger brother inherited the throne after the elder brother was because the son was not as good as the younger brother.

The king doesn't have any children yet, why is he in such a hurry to establish Chang'an Jun?

The quick-thinking civil officials couldn't figure it out, and most of the straightforward military generals couldn't figure it out either.

They looked at each other, saw people they knew, and then responded.

The matter of establishing a crown prince is a big deal.

But since there is a tradition, and at this extremely sensitive juncture, let’s not offend the king.

The king himself is willing, so what can they say?

It was Chang'an Jun... Many old ministers who had served King Zhaoxiang of Qin sucked their teeth slightly.

Including the present king, Prince Chengjiao has been recognized by four generations of Qin kings.

King Zhaoxiang of Qin held Prince Chengjiao in his arms when he went to court to listen to government affairs. King Xiaowen of Qin loved Prince Chengjiao even more. King Zhuangxiang of Qin fought against the State of Yan for Prince Chengjiao. The current king made Prince Chengjiao the crown prince even though he was not yet of age and had no son.

Is there any monarch in history who was highly recognized as the successor by the previous four monarchs? No.

The generation that is recognized like this will become the kings. The second generation is rare, let alone four consecutive generations.

While the ministers were lost in thought, they heard two words spoken in a calm tone.

"Retreat."

The formal court meeting was held in the afternoon, the first court meeting held by King Zheng of Qin.

It started with trepidation and ended with understatement.

King Zheng of Qin did many great things.

Deposing the prime minister, appointing two prime ministers, having the Chu clique in charge of the court, having the confidant monitor Xianyang, appointing the younger brother as the crown prince... there's a lot to list.

But none of them were truly remembered or left a deep impression on the court officials.

Except for the matter of appointing a crown prince which was a little unexpected to the court officials, everything else was what they had thought of.

Without surprises, there would be no deep impressions.

It seems that the days ahead will be the same as usual... most of the old Qin nobles and outsiders thought so.

The King of Qin Zheng did give them a sense of oppression, but not much, far less than that given to them by King Zhuangxiang of Qin.

When King Zhuang of Qin ascended the throne, he established great authority. Not only did he dismiss the former prime minister Wei Zhe, he also beat to death the senior officials of Wei Zhe's faction outside the front hall.

After the court was dismissed, Qin Chen could see the pool of flesh and blood without a human shape as soon as he left the hall. Thinking that this pool of flesh and blood was just a minister in the same hall with him, who wouldn't be terrified?

They were ready for King Zheng of Qin to kill someone to establish his authority, but he did not.

This is definitely not because the court officials were silent and there was no opposition, so the king was unable to take action.

The wife of Bai Fan, the head of the Bai family, is Xi Tao, a member of the Xi family. The three Yi tribes include the wife's family, so it is completely reasonable for the king to attack the Xi family.

The reason why the Xi family did not voice any opposition today was because King Zheng of Qin did not violate the Xi family's unacceptable standards. It could even be said that it was far from that level.

King Zheng of Qin could have used the Bai family's rebellion as an excuse to kill the Xitao branch of the Xi family. The Xi family was ready to sacrifice the chariot to save the king. They would stand at attention if they were beaten and be punished if they made mistakes.

But King Zheng of Qin did not.

The ministers attributed this to the fact that King Zheng of Qin was peaceful and kind-hearted.

They chatted and laughed, and praised King Zheng of Qin as a wise king.

Ganquan Palace, where the original main hall was located.

The originally dignified, majestic and solemn palace disappeared.

King Zheng of Qin stood here with his hands behind his back, his feet on the white ground, with waves in his eyes.

He didn't expect that Queen Dowager Huayang would end her life and return power in this way.

"I don't want to kill the Queen Mother." Qin Shi Huang spoke calmly, with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

He has already checked it out.

The Chu reinforcements had arrived long ago, but they had been standing by and watching.

Not only that, he also lured away the veteran Wang He who was originally coming to support.

The death of Meng Yi, the arm of Meng Tian, ​​his brother's narrow escapes from death several times, and his own anxiety and worry about his life as he didn't know whether he could be king after tonight, all of these were due to the faction of Chu not joining the group in time.

He should have made a fuss about it.

He really wanted to make trouble.

This matter was originally Chu Xi's fault, so isn't it normal for him to come forward?
He came and found out that the leader of the Chu faction, Queen Dowager Huayang, was dead.

The Empress Dowager Huayang served in four dynasties and was in power for three of them.

Now that he has handed over all his power and accepted the consequences of his mistakes with his own death, what else can King Zheng of Qin say?

Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, who were standing two steps behind King Zheng of Qin, lowered their heads.

The two newly appointed prime ministers felt the pain of losing the queen mother, the joy of being in power, and the anxiety of not knowing the king's attitude.

"Do you know about this?" King Zheng of Qin asked without turning back.

But Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi knew what the king was asking.

The two brothers didn't move their heads, they just looked at each other with their eyes slanted.

Xiong Qi swallowed his saliva. Xiong Wen took a deep breath and said sincerely:
“I don’t know.

“My brother only found out about this after he returned to the palace.

"If I had known this earlier, I would never have done this."

After listening to his brother's words, Xiong Qi also prepared himself mentally and said in a deep voice:
“Although we had a fierce fight with Meng Tian and Meng Yi, we had no intention of harming them.

"We have practiced martial arts together since we were young. We are like brothers, but we are better than brothers. How could we..."

Xiong Qi wanted to say something but stopped at just the right place.

He said that he had practiced martial arts with Meng Tian and Meng Yi since childhood, but in fact he was reminding King Zheng of Qin that he was the absolute core of the small martial arts team.

The punishment of the Chu clan was already imminent, and the king must be in a bad mood. So Xiong Qi's seemingly defensive words were actually meaningless, and he was playing the emotional card.

What has happened is irreversible.

The dead are gone, and the living must continue to live together in the future.

King Zheng of Qin did not want to pretend to be ignorant and continue to live in a muddle-headed manner.

He still didn't look back, and asked the two brothers a question on their heads, a very heavy question.

"Wen, wasn't it you who led the prince to the Prime Minister's residence?
"Qi, didn't you jump out because you saw the battle was already decided?"

The two brothers were stiff.

Now that I have said it, there is no reason, no excuse.

This is what the Chu clan did.

Queen Dowager Huayang sacrificed her life and gave up her power as Queen Dowager in exchange for the Chu faction's indifferent observation at a critical moment.

"Why don't you speak?" Qin Wangzheng's voice was unremarkable: "Isn't it?"

Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi remained silent.

What else could they say? Could they speak as freely as the King of Qin?
Didn't the Queen Mother Huayang die? Your Majesty, didn't you get the power that originally belonged to the Queen Mother Huayang?

Silence behind me and white ground in front of me.

King Zheng of Qin thought of his mother and his younger brother.

His mother's inheritance was always in his hands, and he could use it whenever he wanted.

His younger brother completely gave up his royal power to him.

Everyone else wanted to exchange, except my mother and brother.

"Wen, Qi." Qin Wangzheng spoke softly, looking up at the sky, which was blue and white: "Next time we meet, you can't call me by my name."

From then on, they were king and subject, and never talked about personal affairs again.

Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, who were so unrestrained in private meetings that they would even call out the name Ying Zheng when excited, breathed a sigh of relief and responded with "Yes".

When I heard the king say that just now, I thought it would be a thunder that would create the world, but it turned out to be just a small thunder that couldn't scare away any flying birds.

Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, who did such a thing, had never thought of having any affair with King Zheng of Qin.

Qin Wang Zheng said "hmm":
"roll."

The two brothers responded and left in a hurry.

Twenty steps behind King Zheng of Qin stood a beautiful girl like an elf, Mi Huang.

Xiong Wen walked quickly past Mi Huang and lowered his head deliberately.

Xiong Qi moved his body parallel to the girl, paused slightly, whispered "be careful", and quickened his pace. The sound was blown away by the wind.

Soon, Zhao Gao came over and said with a fake smile:

"Miss Mi, please."

Zhao Gao led Mi Huang to a place five steps behind Qin Wangzheng, bowed his head and said:

"Your Majesty, Mi Huang is here."

King Zheng of Qin, who did not turn around for Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi, turned around and met the girl's eyes.

In my memory, the big eyes that had always been bright and lively were now red and swollen on the outside and bloodshot inside.

This slightly detracts from the girl's beauty.

But truly beautiful people are always beautiful. The girl's face was very pale after not seeing her for a night, and her slightly raised chin revealed a touch of the beauty of a widow.

"What a proud little phoenix you are." Qin Wang Zheng praised, with a tyrannical look in his eyes: "Your great-aunt has gone to see the Emperor Dong. Now, only Cheng Jiao can protect you."

"Kill me." The voice was as clear as a bird's song, as if it had been smoked by cigarettes that did not exist in this world. Mi Huang raised her chin a little higher.

"Your great-aunt has the power, and Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi have a bond with me." Qin Wangzheng narrowed his eyes, and the cruelty in his eyes became even stronger: "You? What do you have? What makes you make a choice? Is it because of your beauty?"

The tone is calm and neither hot nor cold:
"Since you are so willing to make a choice, I will give you one.

"You choose you and the women of your tribe to be military prostitutes, and the men of your tribe to serve as slaves, and spend the rest of your lives contributing to the country and atonement.

"Still, seek Cheng Jiao's protection."

Seeing the determination in the girl's eyes, his tone became even weaker:
"I believe you can commit suicide, but I don't believe all women in your tribe will commit suicide.

"Even if they all commit suicide, that's not bad."

The girl left under Zhao Gao's guidance, feeling distraught.

The Qin State did not recognize any other divine birds except the Xuanniao.

There is nothing for the phoenix to be proud of.

"You brat..." King Zheng of Qin sighed, and his voice fell into the ashes.

King Zheng of Qin stood at the ruins of the main hall of Ganquan Palace for a long time, and then rode a five-horse carriage to the Meng Mansion in person.

Meng Ao died, Meng Yi died.

Both the grandfather and the grandson died for the country, two loyal heroes in one family.

King Zheng of Qin, who was in the Meng family, was in deep sorrow, and Meng Tian's broken arm was particularly eye-catching.

These are his team, these are his playmates, and these are the people who call him Ying Zheng in private.

Meng Tian did not blame Qin Wangzheng, and was very respectful to Qin Wangzheng. Just like when Qin Wangzheng did not allow Xiong Wen and Xiong Qi to call him by his name, Meng Tian was also present and was reminded.

Overnight, Meng Tian, ​​who was straightforward and slightly irritable, changed his personality.

The body was still so tall and strong.

But it seemed as if a new soul had been created, or an extra soul had been added.

Today's Meng Tian is more calm and cautious than his brother Meng Yi. Even the most demanding ritual officials cannot find any fault with him towards the king.

Of the three generations of the Meng family's direct descendants, only Meng Tian was left.

It is his responsibility to revitalize the Meng family and prevent it from falling into decline.

He has no tolerance for mistakes and dares not make any more mistakes.

King Zheng of Qin was in a heavy heart when he came, and he was even more heavy-hearted when he left.

He still remembered playing and laughing with Meng Tian, ​​Meng Yi, Xiong Wen, Xiong Qi and Li Xin when he was a child. He also remembered that the two brothers of the Meng family had a big fight with the two brothers of the Xiong family in front of him some time ago.

Everything was yesterday.

He is not yet an adult, and yet everything is gone.

The word "Your Majesty" as mentioned by Meng Tian sounds so good... King Zheng of Qin thought about it and returned to the palace.

The next day, early in the morning.

The sleeping palace of King Zheng of Qin.

"Your Majesty, Lord Chang'an invites you to the Council Hall." Nuan Lin, who was transferred by King Zheng of Qin to be the head of the bedroom, stepped in and said to King Zheng of Qin who had not yet woken up.

(End of this chapter)