My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

"Do you understand what I said?"

Lu Ze looked at the emperor and seemed to understand something. He felt that something might happen.

Lu Shizhi looked as if he understood everything, and said confidently, "Your Majesty is right, Your Majesty is right."

Qin II looked at Lu Shizhi first, and then at Lu Ze. Lu Ze then said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will explain your intentions to the Xianyang magistrate."

Qin II nodded, "Your sister often praises you. I trust you. When we go hunting tomorrow, you two must adapt to the situation and don't let me down. You must get a good ranking."

They both bowed.

After leaving the palace, the two of them came to a secluded place. Lu Shizhi couldn't help asking, "Hey, brother, did I hear it wrong just now? Why did I hear His Majesty talking about our sister? We don't have a sister."

"Your Majesty is so busy that he forgot about it. I guess he was talking about my third sister."

"Oh - sister, even though our third sister looks so little, she is actually our sister in His Majesty's heart." Lu Shizhi smiled, revealing a row of big white teeth.

Lu Ze looked at Lu Shizhi and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
-
Now, it is the second day, with flags flying and white clouds floating.

It was a great day for hunting.

When the two Lu brothers heard the emperor's arrangement, they clenched their bows and arrows. In order to repay their mentor, they decided to fight today.

As the drums sounded, the teams began to take action.

The younger generation was awakened and encouraged, and they all felt that victory belonged to them.

Feng Jie also wanted to join in, so he rode his horse out.

"Wait, why are you joining in the fun? As a dignified Imperial Censor, why are you arguing with a bunch of youngsters?"

Feng Jie was unwilling to give up. "Father, the Autumn Hunting Ceremony only happens once a year. Just let me go."

"No." Feng Quji's face darkened.

In public, Feng Jie had no choice but to stay.

Guan Fu, Feng Jing, Bai Yan, Zhao Tingzi and their group had already left them far behind.

Lu Ze and Lu Shizhi took another shortcut.

People with sharp eyes noticed that Zhang Han brought a young man to participate in the hunt today.

“Isn’t this Zhang Xi?”

"He actually came back."

Everyone was talking about Zhang Xi's return.

Everyone can see that the emperor still values ​​Zhang Han.

Feng Jie couldn't understand, so he asked Feng Quji, "What's going on?"

"You don't understand this. His Majesty intends to promote Zhang Xi."

"But Shaofu has done so many excessive things."

Feng Quji stroked his beard, "How else can we say that His Majesty is a wise ruler? He can endure what others cannot endure, and tolerate what others cannot tolerate."

"Your Majesty, don't worry about what happened before."

Feng Quji spoke and nodded continuously.

Feng Jie was actually moved when he heard this. He wiped his tears with his sleeves.

"Your Majesty is very kind."

Feng Quji looked at Feng Jie, raised his hand and hit Feng Jie on the forehead.

"What's good about that? This is like a weasel wishing a happy new year to a chicken."

"The weasel is giving New Year greetings to the chicken?"

Feng Jie had hardly ever been beaten by his father since he was a child. After all, Feng Jie was Feng Quji's good son. When he was a child, he would run several miles to catch a pheasant and bring his trophy to his father to see.

Because his father had conflicts with other ministers, Feng Jie fed croton seeds to the horses of other ministers.

So when Feng Quji was young, he loved his eldest son Feng Jie the most.

However...

As my son grows older, he becomes more and more stupid.

"Who is the emperor? He is fighting for his country and people. You and I are just his tools."

Feng Jie still looked confused.

"But father, didn't you just say that Your Majesty can endure what others cannot? Your Majesty can forgive the mistakes of your subjects. Isn't this what a wise ruler does?"

"But you have to see why this man can endure what others cannot endure. If the emperor can endure what others cannot endure, then he cannot endure what others can endure."

"Looking at the emperor's attitude, he is determined to impose his political ideas."

"I'm afraid that many people will unexpectedly win first place today."

"Forgive Zhang Han? That's just a trick of your majesty. I think the emperor will make more moves today."

Feng Quji rolled up his sleeves.

He has not yet figured out the emperor's true intentions, but after countless battles, Feng Quji would not believe that the emperor would be a good person.

--------

Most of the people in the rear stopped moving, and leaned against the water, quietly waiting for the result.

To Feng Jie's surprise, Meng Tian also stayed behind.

Seeing Meng Tian also behind him, Feng Jie now understood why he was not as good as Meng Tian.

At that moment, Feng Jie realized that he was too narrow-minded.

His Majesty the Emperor only said that he would reward him with a general position, but he couldn't sit still.

But if we talk about generals, he was once a general, and he will inherit the title in the future.

However, he actually faced such a thing without any humility. Alas, I am really ashamed.

Thinking about how he had always been jealous of Meng Tian, ​​who was the same age as him, Feng Jie felt even more ashamed.
-
But today, the protagonist of the Autumn Hunting Ceremony is not him, Feng Jie.

Today's protagonist is someone else.

Zhang Han, the pillar of the empire, once controlled the economic lifeline of the empire. Even though some of his power had been stripped away, he was still in charge of 200,000 prisoners and was responsible for the largest and longest project of the Qin Empire.

At this time, he was taking his younger brother, taking a shortcut and arriving at the outer hunting ground of Shanglinyuan as quickly as possible.

His younger brother Zhang Xi couldn't understand, "Why did His Majesty ask me to join the hunt?"

"Your Majesty, you only need to repay your kindness. No need to ask anything else."

Zhang Han answered readily.

Zhang Xi always felt that he was betrayed by his brother again.

Yes, Zhang Xi’s feeling was correct.

A month ago, Zhang Han went to meet Qin II in person.

Zhang Han said something to Qin II.

"Since ancient times, those who have done their best to kill the donkey have never had a good ending."

Qin II was also very straightforward, "What do you want?"

"The military rank can only be obtained by fighting on the battlefield. I want to go to the battlefield." Zhang Han was unwilling to delay any longer. He was afraid that he would never have the chance to realize his life ideals.

“There is no war to fight now.”

"There will be. And I'm not saying I want to go now. I will go once the mausoleum is finished."

Qin II hesitated and did not agree.

Ten days later, Zhang Han came again.

Seeing that Zhang Han was so determined to do so, Fusu told him a story this time.
-
To the east of Jin State there was a country called Zhongshan State, whose surname was Ji and whose status was Viscount. It was a branch of Baidi and was known as Xianyu.

Since the time of Duke Zhao of Jin, Zhongshan had been rebelling and submitting, and Jin had repeatedly attacked it. Zhao Jianzi led his army to besiege Zhongshan, and Zhongshan had no choice but to surrender and pay tribute to Jin.

After Zhao, Wei and Han divided Jin, Zhongshan State no longer belonged to any country.

Ji Ku, the king of Zhongshan State, liked to drink and have fun all night long. He alienated his ministers and befriended villains. The people lost their livelihoods and natural and man-made disasters continued to occur.

Wei Wenhou planned to attack Zhongshan State. Wei Cheng said: "Zhongshan State is close to Zhao State in the west and far from Wei State in the south. Even if we attack it, it will not be easy to defend it."

Wei Wenhou said: "If we do not attack, once Zhongshan is taken by Zhao, Zhao's power in the north will become even stronger."

Zhai Huang submitted a memorial saying, "I recommend a man named Le Yang, who is from Guqiu, Wei. He is a man of both civil and military talents, and can assume the important task of a general."

Wei Wenhou asked: "Since you recommend him, what exactly is his ability?"

Zhai Huang replied, "Le Yang once found someone's lost gold while walking on the road. After he took it home, his wife spat on him and said, 'A man of integrity will not drink water from a stolen spring, and an honest man will not accept charity that is insulting. I don't know where this gold came from, why do you take it and tarnish your usual character?'

Moved by his wife's words, Le Yang threw the gold into the wild, said goodbye to his wife and went out to study in Lu and Wei. After a year, he came back and saw his wife weaving on the loom. She asked him, "Have you learned everything you have learned?"

Le Yang said, "Not yet." His wife took a knife and cut the silk thread on the loom.

Le Yang asked the reason in surprise.

The wife said: "Only after learning can one achieve something, just like cloth can be made into clothes only after it is woven.

Now you have not completed your studies and you have come back halfway. What is the difference between this and cutting the silk thread on the loom? '

Le Yang had some insights, and went back to continue his studies. He did not go home for seven years. Now this person is in Wei State, he thinks highly of himself and disdains to be a minor official. Why don't you use him?"

Wei Wenhou immediately ordered Zhai Huang to summon Le Yang with a large cart. His attendants tried to dissuade him, saying, "I heard that Le Yang's eldest son Le Shu is an official in Zhongshan State. How can you appoint Le Yang?"

Zhai Huang said: "Le Yang is a person who pursues fame and fortune. His son is in Zhongshan State. The king of Zhongshan State once asked Le Shu to invite Le Yang in order to recruit him, but Le Yang did not go because the king of Zhongshan State was unjust. If the lord gives him the power to command the war, there is no need to worry about not being successful." Wei Wenhou followed Zhai Huang's advice.

Le Yang followed Zhai Huang to the court to meet Wei Wenhou. Wei Wenhou said: "I want to entrust you with the task of conquering Zhongshan, but your son is in Zhongshan. What should I do?"

Le Yang said: "A man of honor should make contributions to his country and serve his master. How can he abandon his official duties because of personal feelings? If I cannot conquer Zhongshan State, I am willing to accept military punishment!"

Wei Wenhou was very happy and said, "Since you are so confident, I have no reason not to believe you." So he appointed Le Yang as the marshal and Ximen Bao as the vanguard, leading an army of 50,000 to attack Zhongshan State.

Ji Ku sent his general Gu Xu to station troops at Mount Qiu to resist the Wei army. Le Yang stationed troops at Mount Wen. The two sides fought for more than a month without a clear winner.

Le Yang said to Ximen Bao, "I signed a military order in front of my lord, but now we have been on the march for more than a month, but have not achieved any achievement. It is really shameful! I see there are many catalpa trees on Catalpa Mountain. If we can send a brave warrior to lead the troops quietly and set fire to the forest, their army will surely be in chaos. We will take advantage of the chaos to attack, and there is no reason why we cannot win." Ximen Bao was willing to go.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival in August. The King of Zhongshan, Ji Ku, sent an envoy with sheep and wine to reward Gu Xu at Mount Qi. Gu Xu drank to the moon and was so happy that he forgot everything else. At about three o'clock in the morning, Ximen Bao led his elite soldiers to arrive quietly. Each of them held a long torch made of dead branches and filled with igniting medicine. The Wei soldiers scattered and lit the Qi wood separately. Suddenly, a blazing flame rose to the sky.

Gu Xu saw a fire in the army that quickly spread to the camp. He was panicked and led his soldiers to put out the fire while drunk.

All they heard was a crackling sound, and the whole mountain was on fire, with no way to put out the fire. The army was in chaos.

Gu Xu knew that there were Wei troops in the front camp, so he hurriedly fled to the back of the mountain. He happened to meet Le Yang who led the army to attack from behind the mountain. The Zhongshan army was defeated, and Gu Xu escaped after a fierce battle.

He fled to Baiyang Pass, and the Wei army was chasing closely behind him, so Gu Xu had no choice but to abandon the pass and flee.

Le Yang marched straight into the country, and wherever he went, he was unstoppable. Gu Xu took the defeated soldiers to see Ji Ku, saying that Le Yang was brave and resourceful and difficult to resist. Soon, Le Yang led his army to besiege Zhongshan State, and Ji Ku was very angry.

The doctor Gongsun Jiao said: "Le Yang is Le Shu's father, and Le Shu is an official in our country. It is best to let Le Shu persuade his father to withdraw his troops from the city."

Ji Ku followed this strategy and said to Le Shu: "Your father is a general of the Wei army and is attacking the city. If you can persuade him to withdraw his troops, I will grant you the city as your territory."

Le Shu said: "My father refused to serve in Zhongshan State, but served in Wei State. Now they are each serving their own master. Can I persuade him to do so?"

Ji Ku was unmoved and still forced him to go. Le Shu had no choice but to climb the city wall and shout loudly, asking his father to meet him. Le Yang got on the chariot fully armed. When he saw Le Shu, he immediately scolded him without waiting for him to speak, saying: "A gentleman does not live in a dangerous country or serve a chaotic court. You are greedy for wealth and do not know how to stay or leave. I am ordered by the King of Wei to save the people and punish the criminals. You should persuade your king to surrender quickly so that we can meet again."

Le Shu said: "Whether to surrender or not is up to the king. It is not up to me to decide. I only ask father to suspend the attack and let us discuss it calmly."

Le Yang said: "I will temporarily suspend the war for a month to fulfill our father-son relationship. You, the king and my subjects, should discuss and decide as soon as possible and do not delay important matters." As expected, the order was issued to implement only a siege but no attack on the city.

Ji Ku relied on Le Yang's love for his son and thought that he would never launch a large-scale attack, but there was nothing he could do except delay. After a month, Le Yang sent someone to ask for a letter of surrender. Ji Ku asked Le Shu to beg his father for more time, and Le Yang granted him another month.

This happened three times in a row. Ximen Bao said, "Marshal, don't you want to conquer Zhongshan? Why haven't you attacked for so long?"

Le Yang said: "The king of Zhongshan State does not care about the people, so I attacked him. If we attack too hastily, the people will suffer great harm. I listened to his request three times, not only because of the father-son relationship, but also to win the hearts of the people." (End of this chapter)