The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 8: First, to appease the hearts of Qin and Zhao, and second, to relieve the hatred in my heart
The five-horse royal chariot was traveling through the city of Xianyang, and Ying Zheng was looking out from inside the chariot.

There are shops on both sides of the road.

I saw a woman standing in front of a wine shop, cooking wine. The wine jar beside her was wide open, and the clear wine inside was still steaming. On the fluttering flag, there was a big word "wine" written on it.

Before he could see the woman's face clearly, the carriage moved on, the tavern hurriedly retreated, and an inn came into view.

The plaque on the inn read "Duanmu". It was the Duanmu Inn that Ying Zheng had seen many times in Handan.

The Duanmu Inns in Xianyang and Handan are both affiliated to the Duanmu Chamber of Commerce, one of the seven major private chambers of commerce.

His mother told him that the seven major chambers of commerce each had their own strengths.

According to legend, the Duanmu Chamber of Commerce, founded by Confucius' disciple Zigong, mainly engaged in inns and lodging houses, in addition to its traditional business of buying low and selling high and traveling to other places. (Note 1)
Ying Zheng took a quick look along the street and saw the most workshops.

There is usually a large table outside these workshops, on which the tools produced in the workshop are placed.

Pottery workshops would display plates and bowls made of clay, bronze workshops would display bronze farm tools, and even jade workshops would display hairpins and bracelets made of colored glaze and jade, as if they didn't care at all about being stolen.

He thought it was strange and shifted his attention from the shops to the people.

Most pedestrians were well-dressed and would spontaneously move away when they were three feet away from the Qin army, without having to be driven away.

Although there were many people, there was no pushing or crowding. There was order in the chaos and everyone was doing their own thing.

If this happened in Handan, when the king's carriage was on tour, the people of Handan who loved to join in the fun would have been jostling each other. There would have been quarrels, fistfights, and blood on the ground every time.

He sighed deeply, looking full of emotion.

“I’ve heard before that Qin is a country of tigers and wolves, a land of barbarians.

"The Qin people were barbaric and uncivilized. They wore rags and liked to eat raw food. Quarrels and fights could be heard and seen everywhere in the city.

"I arrived in Xianyang today and realized how wrong I was. I actually saw with my own eyes the rule of the sage kings recorded in ancient books."

The Minister of the Che Palace curled his lips with a look of disdain.

"The six eastern countries have always slandered our country. They were all weak-handed on the battlefield. It turns out that they used all their strength on their mouths."

Ying Chengjiao scratched his ears and said jokingly:

"You are quite talkative, and you never stop talking."

The Minister of the Che Palace was not angry and touched his bulging belly.

"I haven't been on the battlefield for many years, so I started rapping..."

The sound of wheels mixed with gossip drove all the way into Zhangtai Palace, one of the central royal palaces.

Zhangtai Palace is not just a royal palace, but a palace complex that includes many palaces.

The main hall of a palace complex is called the Front Hall. The Front Hall of Zhangtai Palace was where the Qin State received important foreign guests.

In Zhangtai Palace, Ying Chengjiao took the lead and walked in front. He stepped into the front hall and turned around to introduce himself to Ying Zheng, who was half a step behind:
"The story of returning the jade intact to Zhao happened here. Have you ever seen the Heshi Bi?"

Ying Zheng had been half-lowering his head since he entered Zhangtai Palace. He shook his head upon hearing this and said self-deprecatingly:

"The Heshi Bi is worth fifteen cities of Qin. How could Zhao let a hostage like me see such a treasure?"

"Don't worry, brother. The Heshi Bi will be brought to Qin sooner or later. You can play with it as you like. We will use it to carve a jade seal when the time comes."

"……it is good."

As the two were talking, they were almost at the center of the front hall.

The eunuch leading the way craned his neck and reported loudly:
"The envoy from Zhao State has been brought here!"

A trembling sound then sounded, falling from a high altitude.

"After eight years, I finally see my wife and son again!"

Ying Zheng's heart trembled. The person who said this should be his father.

He didn't even know what his father looked like, but he looked up involuntarily in the direction of the voice, and at a glance he saw the middle-aged man with tears in his eyes and thin cheeks - the Crown Prince of Qin, Qin Zichu.

[Father……]
Ying Zheng recited in his mind and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He really couldn't shout out.

"Alien!"

His mother also shed tears, and her voice was full of emotion. Anyone could hear the eight years of longing in it.

Qin Zichu raised his sleeve to wipe his tears and responded repeatedly.

The other hand was suspended in the air and pressed down hard, as if forcibly controlling the desire to rush down from the platform.

He adjusted his emotions for a while, straightened his clothes, straightened his back, and sat upright with traces of tears on his face.

"The king is ill, so he ordered me to come and welcome you. Why didn't you see the envoy from Zhao? Could it be that you look down on me, the crown prince of Qin? The envoy from Zhao, please step forward and answer me!"

There were only four people standing in the front hall: the prince of Zhao who was timid and kept his head down, Zhao Ji, Ying Zheng, and a seven-year-old child who insisted on standing together with his brother.

Zhao Ji wept and replied:
"Outside Hangu Pass, we encountered an assassination attempt, and the Zhao envoy was killed by the thieves."

Qin Zichu was furious.

"Who dares to kill my wife? Kill the envoy of Zhao!

"Don't worry, I will give Zhao a satisfactory explanation for this matter! I will order a thorough search of Guanzhong, and not a single thief will escape! Anyone caught will be sentenced to death!"

Zhao Ji burst into laughter and bowed down.

“Thank you, husband.

"The thieves have been captured by Meng Wu, and not a single one has been allowed to escape. Please give the order to execute them all, my husband.

"One is to appease the hearts of the two countries of Qin and Zhao, and the other is to relieve the hatred in my heart."

Qin Zichu and Zhao Ji echoed each other and continued to use diplomatic rhetoric.

The two children kept their mouths shut and remained silent.

[Didn’t you know this would be the result? Why do you still feel uncomfortable?]
Ying Zheng asked himself in his heart.

He didn't want to listen anymore and shifted his gaze away from his father.

When the boiling emotions in your heart recede like the tide, your eyes will be able to accommodate other things.

The first thing that caught his eye was the center of the nine-foot high platform. Where the throne should have been, there was neither a mat nor an empty space, but an object he had never seen before. (Note 2)
Judging from the shape, it is somewhat similar to a table, but it is taller and has more parts than a table.

[The king of Qin sat on this thing? It's completely different from Zhao...]
The people of Zhao State sat on the ground with a mat spread out, and their status was judged based on the materials used in the mat.

The expensive ones are silk and satin, the cheap ones are straw.

Place your knees on the mat, with your buttocks and heels in contact and your upper body straight. This kneeling posture is called sitting upright, also called ji (fourth tone), which means solemnity.

Sitting upright is the only way to sit in formal occasions. It is okay for a short time, but it will be very tiring if you sit for a long time.

But there is no other way. You can't sit with your legs spread apart. That's too indecent. (Note 3)
His mother had told him that even the King of Zhao, who was attending the court, was sitting at the table, and his father Qin Zichu was also sitting at the table.

Seeing his brother staring at the chair, Ying Chengjiao explained considerately:
“It’s called a chair.

"When people sit on it, they hang their legs down, lean their backs against the chairs, and put their hands on the armrests. It is more comfortable than sitting on a mat."

[Note 1: Jifupu, a shop that sells goods on behalf of others and lends money at high interest rates, appeared in the Tang and Song dynasties. This kind of shop also existed in the pre-Qin period, but I couldn't find out what it was called, so I'll just use Jifupu.]

【Note 2: Xi means a mat. 】

【Note 3: There was no underwear in the pre-Qin period.】

(End of this chapter)