Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 81 Hidden worries
In the thirteenth year of Emperor Tianzi Jiao, which was also the seventh year of Wei Hou Ji,
Qin invaded Yinjin of Wei. Wei general Wu Qi defeated the Qin army with a smaller force.

This year, Wu Qi attacked Wucheng, which was occupied by the Qin State, and won the city along the way, penetrating deep into the heartland of Qin State.

Finally returned with a great victory.

This was originally a happy event for the State of Wei.

However, Wei Xiang Gongshu Zhuo was worried.

He privately said to his confidants, "There are not many old ministers left by Marquis Wen."

"Li Kui died after Marquis Wen, Zhai Huang died of old age and illness in the second year of the monarch's reign, Le Yang clan has now moved to Lingshou, and Ximen Bao was ignored by the monarch because of his outspoken admonitions."

"But Wu Qi still served as the governor of Hexi County and achieved military merits against Qin."

"With such qualifications and achievements, will he replace me and become the prime minister?"

The confidant said, "It's actually very simple to deal with Wu Qi."

"The prime minister thinks he has made great contributions, so doesn't the king think he has made great contributions?"

"Wu Qi was a man of fierce character and attached great importance to reputation and status. In the court, he often refuted the king's words in his capacity as an old minister of Marquis Wen. The king must have disliked him."

Gongshu Zhuo Lian said, "Yes, yes, yes. He is a subject. How can he contradict his monarch? This is great disloyalty!"

The confidant continued, "So, by taking advantage of Wu Qi's character, it would be difficult for the prime minister to deal with him."

He leaned over and whispered something to Gong Shuzhuo.

Gongshu Zhuo thought about it and felt that this plan was indeed feasible.

So he happily rewarded his confidant with a hundred gold coins and promised to recommend him to become an official of the State of Wei.

"Ximen Bao was a commoner, but he was able to become a doctor. You are my confidant and will definitely be more useful than him in the future!"

The confidants also kowtowed to Gongshu Zao happily.

As for what consequences their plan against Wu Qi would bring, Gongshu Zhuo did not care.

Although the country is important,

But isn't his family important?

He gave advice to the monarch in order to improve his own status and strengthen his family's power. How could he give up his position after finally becoming the Prime Minister of Wei?

Afterwards, Gongshu Cuo asked to see the Marquis of Wei and gave him advice.

"Wu Qi will be back soon. He has made great contributions this time. I would like to ask you, Your Majesty, how should we reward him?"

The Marquis of Wei was furious. "Reward?"

"He is the governor of Hexi County. Hexi is so big, but it was lost in his hands and he took it back. Does this count as a merit?"

"I was very generous by not blaming him before!"

Wei Hou Ji was originally an angry person.

But in the past, he had his father Wei Wenhou and a group of veteran ministers, and Wei Ji also knew how to restrain himself, so he never caused any problems?
Now he is fifty years old, and most of the old ministers left by his father have passed away. He promoted the ministers he liked and made the decisions he liked, and his shortcomings became increasingly apparent.

Because he believed that the old ministers left by his father were too arrogant and would often advise him, Wei Ji alienated Ximen Bao and made Wu Qi stay in Hexi County for a long time. He seldom returned to the capital to accept an audience with the king.

After this great victory, Wei Ji had no choice but to meet him.

But Wei Ji still felt a little resentful about Wu Qi's great victory.

Originally, the land west of the Yellow River belonged to the State of Wei, but now half of it has been taken away by the State of Qin.

When Wei Ji first succeeded to the throne, the Qin State openly declared that it despised Wei Ji as a "barbarian and small country."

Now, Wei, the overlord, has lost a lot of its land to the "barbarian small countries". How can Wei Ji tolerate it?
This is certainly not the king's fault.
Therefore, Wu Qi, who was in charge of guarding Hexi County, was considered by Wei Ji to have neglected his duties.

Winning now and defeating Qin is what Wu Qi should do!

Why does he still want a reward?

The more Wei Ji thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt that as a king, he was being coerced and forced by his subjects using their achievements and public opinion.

Gongshu Zhuo saw the Duke of Wei's anger and advised, "Rewarding ministers who have made contributions and demoting ministers who have made mistakes is the rule established by Duke Wen when he was alive, and it is also the essence of Li Kui's rule of law."

"Wu Qi has indeed made contributions. Your Majesty, please reward him and win over such a unique talent!"

The Marquis of Wei sneered, "Is Wu Qi considered a talent unparalleled in the world?"

Gongshu Zao said sincerely, "Why not?"

"Privately, I am often worried that Wu Qi will be recruited by someone else, which will be detrimental to the State of Wei."

"Although Wei was powerful, some people in the Xia Dynasty believed that Wei was not established for long and did not have enough foundation." "And Qin was a vassal state granted by King Ping and once dominated the west."

"Hexi County is located between Wei and Qin. If Qin wants to recruit Wu Qi, it will be too easy. If Wu Qi betrays Wei, the damage will be too great."

"This time... he even went deep into the Qin territory. No one knows whether he has new connections with the Qin."

As Gong Shucuo spoke, he looked worried and dazed.

The Duke of Wei became even more angry. He asked coldly, "Well, then, in your opinion, how should I reward him?"

"Please marry him the king's legitimate daughter to show your closeness."

"If Wu Qi refuses, it will prove that he is not loyal to Wei!"

The Marquis of Wei did not refuse directly, but his expression remained indifferent, "I understand, we'll see when the time comes!"

Gongshu Zhuo kowtowed several times and then left.

He also invited the Marquis of Wei's legitimate daughter and Wu Qi to the banquet.

He said to Wu Qi, "You are a hero of Wei. I heard that your wife has passed away a long time ago. The king's daughter is now young and beautiful. I hope I can introduce her to you."

Wu Qi then went to the banquet happily.

As a result, he was told by his father that there was a high possibility that he would be betrothed to the princess of his grandfather's old minister. At the banquet, he angrily scolded Gongshu Cuo, the person who came up with the idea, which made Wu Qi very unhappy.

The next day, when the king proposed to marry his daughter, Wu Qi refused without hesitation.

He said, "The princess' character is more ferocious than the enemy on the battlefield. I am afraid I do not have the strength to subdue her."

The Marquis of Wei became even more dissatisfied with him because of this, and he began to suspect whether Wu Qi really had secret contacts with the State of Qin, so he refused to further deepen relations with the State of Wei.

When Ximen Bao heard about this, he sighed secretly at home.

He said to his wife, "Since the king appointed Gongshu Cuo as prime minister, he has become more impulsive."

His wife also looked very old and was mending clothes for her grandson.

While looking at the light, he casually said, "What does this have to do with you?"

"Left and right, the king won't listen to you now."

Ximen Bao sighed again, "After so many years, your words always hurt my heart."

The old wife laughed twice, "Sadness is just your feeling, but your teeth being knocked out by the beans really hurts!"

The day before yesterday,
Ximen Bao was eating a mixture of millet and beans, but he ended up biting into an uncooked, hard bean.

The grandson who was accompanying them clearly heard a "click" sound, then looked up and saw his grandfather open his mouth and spit out gently, and the beans rolled out along with his old teeth.

The young grandchildren started arguing, "Is Grandpa still going to change his teeth at this age?"

Ximen Bao felt ashamed and annoyed when he heard this, and he went on a hunger strike for a day to mourn his increasingly sparse teeth and hair.

Hearing his wife bring up this matter again, Ximen Bao was still frightened and couldn't help but touch his face.

Feeling that his hair bun was a little loose, he asked his wife to help him comb it again.

The old wife refused to do it, "It's almost time to go to bed, why are you combing your hair?"

"Comb your hair as much as you can. I feel like in a few years, my hair won't be long enough to be tied up."

Ximen Bao sighed and said, "Tomorrow, remember to let me get up early. I want to go to see Wu Qi, the governor of Hexi County."

"You can't persuade the king, so you want to persuade him?"

"Yes." Ximen Bao used his tongue to feel his loose teeth, looked at his increasingly old face in the mirror and said, "I received the grace of Wen Hou, and it also has something to do with Wu Qi."

"I hope that the relationship between the king and his subjects can end well from beginning to end."

Wu Qi,

Arrogant and proud,

He is a very stubborn person who will not let himself be wronged.

Since the Marquis of Wei suspected him, wouldn't Wu Qi despise the Marquis of Wei and think he was unworthy of being his monarch?
With Wu Qi's talents, could he only stay in Wei?
It is possible that Wu Qi would turn around and leave one day when his temper got the better of him.

Ximen Bao felt that he should try to keep her if possible.

So the next morning,
Ximen Bao and Wu Qi met.

(End of this chapter)