The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 71 Li Chong is imprisoned
The royal families of Qin and Zhao are of the same clan and origin.

At the end of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou had a trusted minister named Ying Feilian.

He had two sons, Ying E'lai and Ying Jisheng.

The former is the ancestor of Qin, and the latter is the ancestor of Zhao.

Among the seven major powers in the Warring States Period, Qin and Zhao had the closest relationship and fought the most fiercely.

In the Battle of Changping, Qin narrowly won but Zhao was defeated miserably.

More than half of Qin's troops were killed or wounded, with more than 200,000 killed.

The Zhao army was completely wiped out, with nearly half a million men killed, and the country was nearly destroyed.

In the Battle of Handan, Qin was defeated miserably and Zhao won narrowly.

Four hundred thousand people died in Qin.

The Zhao State's Handan City was littered with wounded soldiers, and supplies were so scarce that the people had to cook with bones and eat their own flesh and blood. The country was on the verge of destruction.

Li Chong witnessed both of these wars.

Although he was mobilizing food and supplies in the rear and did not fight as many battles as on the front lines, he did fight on the battlefield with a spear.

The anger of King Zhao could not scare him.

When he entered the door, he bowed slightly to show his respect to King Zhao.

When his hands were tied behind his back by Zhao Bing, he straightened his chest, raised his head, looked down at the King of Zhao who was sitting at the top, and sneered:

"Taking me, Li Chong, is not a big deal. You have to take my head off."

Thirty-six-year-old Zhao Wangdan is in his prime.

The Battle of Changping and the Battle of Handan were both fought during his reign as king.

He shouted "Cai".

He stretched out his arm, pointed a finger at Li Chong, and threw him out of the palace.

"Drag him out and behead him.

"The body was sent to Qin, and the head was hung on the city wall.

"I want you to die in one piece!"

Two Zhao soldiers were standing on Li Chong's left and right, each holding Li Chong's arm with one hand and pulling it around his waist.

Upon hearing King Zhao's order, he grabbed Li Chong's shoulder blades with his other hand and pulled him backwards, trying to drag Li Chong out of the palace upside down.

Li Chong, a civil official with great martial arts skills, shook his shoulders violently.

After two light "pa pa" sounds, not only did the two Zhao soldiers' hands fall off and regain their freedom, but the remaining force also made the two Zhao soldiers retreat half a step each.

The Qin State's senior minister held his right wrist with his left hand and gently moved it, and said to the two Zhao soldiers who were about to come up to restrain him:

"Get lost! Chong will leave on his own! Are Qin people afraid of death?"

He turned his wrist and raised his head, looking at King Zhao with the eyes of a dead man, and uttered a light sigh.

"Thank you, King Zhao, for giving Qin a reason to attack Zhao."

He turned around and walked out with big strides, without any trace of reluctance.

"Wait a minute!" The veteran general Lian Po, who was kneeling in the front row, spoke with a voice as loud as a bell.

He had a head of white hair that hung on both sides of his cheeks and behind his head to his shoulders.

The rough skin is full of wrinkles and traces of time.

Just looking at his face, he looks old.

He stood up swiftly, his movements were concise, and his strong body moved without any hesitation.

Looking at his body and movements, he is like a middle-aged man.

Lian Po folded his hands, which were as big as sandbags, in front of his chest and lowered his head slightly.

"Your Majesty, it is not a pity for Li Chong to die, but he must not die in Zhao!"

Lin Xiangru, who was kneeling on the left side of Lian Po, with a pale face and a listless look, slowly stood up and said weakly:
"Mr. Lian is right. Our State of Zhao cannot do that."

"Please sit down, Prime Minister Lin. We can talk while sitting down." Zhao Wangdan was worried about Lin Xiangru's health, so he hurriedly said, stretching out his hand and pressing lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lin Xiangru nodded slightly to express his gratitude.

He stopped trying to get up, sat down and took a few breaths, gathered some strength, and said with difficulty:
"If Your Majesty kills Li Chong, what difference would that make between that and the King of Qin killing Prince Gao?

"If Zhao also loses its moral integrity, how can we defeat the unjust Qin?

"It is better to let him go back and show our king's benevolence and righteousness." "We can't let him go!" said General Li Mu who returned from Yanmen County in Dai.

He stood up with his right arm hunched and gave an informal bow to King Zhao.

"If we let Li Chong go back to Qin, the world will think that Zhao is afraid of Qin. Then no one will respond to your command and raise an army to attack Qin together."

King Zhao knew that Li Mu had a congenital disability in his right arm, which prevented him from straightening it and allowing him to exert too much force, so he did not take it seriously.

He spread his hands and said as if he was holding his breath:

"I can neither kill him nor let him go. So tell me! What can I do with this bastard?!"

Zhao State, Tingwei Prison.

Li Chong was imprisoned here.

From Xianyang in Qin to Handan in Zhao.

The elderly Li Chong hurried all the way, not daring to delay for a moment.

The long journey had left him with back pain and mental fatigue. When he met King Zhao in Xin Palace, he was able to hold on only by force.

Now it has finally stopped.

He smelled the rotten, sour odor, lay on the cold, tattered, dirty straw mat as a pillow, listened to the jailers beating and scolding and the prisoners wailing, and fell asleep.

Sleep soundly.

A few mice were milling around him, observing their new roommate.

He grabbed his brocade clothes and took a few bites, but found it tasted bad, so he ran away squeaking.

I don’t know how much time passed when Li Chong woke up.

My waist and back still hurt, but fortunately I feel better and my mind is clearer.

"Have some millet and bean porridge, father." Li Mu held a fine porcelain bowl and handed it to Li Chong's mouth.

Li Chong didn't know when his nephew came, but he was really hungry.

He drank the porridge made from millet and soybeans in big gulps, and soon finished a bowl. (Note 1)
Seeing that his father was not on guard against him, Li Mu couldn't help but smile on his young, weathered face, and said jokingly:

"Father, aren't you afraid that I will poison you?"

Li Chong burped comfortably, sat up with his back against the cold and damp prison wall, and cursed with a smile:

"Stop talking bullshit and bring them all over."

Li Mu's right hand was disabled, which was very inconvenient for him, but he still brought the food to his father so that he could enjoy it.

Li Chong looked at the two kinds of food placed in front of him.

Millet and bean porridge and not-so-clear water.

After a long silence, he looked at his nephew, pointed at two kinds of food, and said quietly:
"I came from afar, and you treat me with these two dishes? There's not even a hint of meat."

Li Mu explained:
“Corn replenishes vitality, and soybeans replenish physical strength.

"Father is weak, so it would be best if he had these two things as his first meal.

"After tonight, when your father's body recovers, I will bring wine and meat tomorrow. You can eat as much as you want."

"That's more like it." Li Chong muttered.

He picked up a big bowl of millet and bean porridge and gulped it down, his Adam's apple shaking up and down.

In the dim prison, the "gulp gulp" sound lasted for a long time before it stopped.

Eat all the porridge and drink all the water.

The old man with a bad stomach burped several times, sighed, and said:

"You are in charge of the administration of Dai and Yanmen. You can collect taxes, command troops, and appoint officials, just like a feudal lord in that place.

“Now that you have returned to Handan, the King of Zhao has not appointed you as prime minister, which shows that you have lost your power.

“This time, my father came here for another purpose besides state affairs.

“My father wants to take you back to Qin.

“You should have heard that my king’s favorite grandson is Prince Chengjiao.

"Prince Chengjiao said that as long as you come, you can ask for anything, and he will ask the King of Qin for you."

…………

【Note 1: millet, millet.】

(End of this chapter)