The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 574 Everyone's calculations are making a lot of noise

Hearing Yan Dan's words, King Yan was unmoved and said coldly: "How can we know if we don't try? If we send you over, the King of Qin will not be justified. The King of Qin is a man who loves reputation. As long as Dayan can drag it out, there will always be another chance."

Yan Dan sneered, "Father, you killed your own blood relatives just for a completely impossible result. I don't know how the history books will evaluate you."

King Xi of Yan sneered: "The dead cannot read the history books, nor can they hear the words of the living. What happened a thousand years later, we will talk about it a thousand years later."

"Besides, I will not kill you. I will only send you to Qin. The only one who will kill you is the King of Qin. I will kill my own relatives for the sake of the great cause of Yan."

Yan Dan smiled silently, not considering the relationship at all. If he didn't care about his own son, what did a little grandson whom he had only seen a few times matter to him?
Yan Dan said calmly: "My wife and children will not come back, never again."

"I have already prepared to die. My wife and children have already been sent abroad and settled. What else can your father threaten me with?"

King Xi of Yan said coldly: "Don't force me. If your wife and children won't come back, then I will only have one choice."

Yan Dan laughed sarcastically and said, "Father, everything is your choice. My first sentence has already made my choice."

King Xi of Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He whispered, "Go down."

Yan Dan turned around and left without any trace of reluctance.

King Xi of Yan let out a deep breath.

If a living person is sent to the King of Qin, the whole family must be sent.

It would not be enough if we only sent Yan Dan.

Then, we can only send people to die.

However, he cannot kill himself. The rebellious son must commit suicide to apologize for his sin.

Forcing a father to kill his son is enough to show sincerity.

The rebellious son has some prestige and is willing to take responsibility and apologize. If the King of Qin still refuses to give in, it would be too much. How can the people of Yan remain indifferent?
King Xi of Yan made a decision.

That night, Yan Dan committed suicide by chopping off his head.

Before his death, he left a suicide note confessing his guilt, admitting that he was the one who planned everything and that now he had brought disaster to Dayan, and he was willing to die to atone for his crime.

King Xi of Yan ordered his men to prepare Yan Dan's head, and then he rode back to Qin at full speed, taking Yan Dan's confession and his own apology for poor supervision.

In his letter of apology, King Xi of Yan repeatedly promised that Yan's submission was real, and the ceded land and cities were real. The culprit was dead, and he was willing to accept all of Ying Zheng's demands. King Xi of Yan's attitude was humble, and his sincerity was sufficient.

Prince Yanxi looked at the envoy's hurriedly leaving back with a gloomy face.

Yan State had already done its best. If the King of Qin continued to be aggressive, he would lose face and damage his reputation. Moreover, Yan State's conditions for ceding land remained unchanged. As long as the King of Qin agreed, he could get most of Yan State without firing a single shot.

Now, the most advantageous and simplest thing for the King of Qin is to approve it, which will be good for everyone.

The ultimate goal of the King of Qin was nothing more than to annex the State of Yan. Annexing by force would inevitably result in losses. Now that the State of Yan was willing to admit its mistakes and was even willing to be slowly swallowed up by the State of Qin, the King of Qin had no reason to disagree.

Although the State of Yan was severely damaged and might even fail to recover, and even so, it would not be long before it was completely annexed. However, the royal family could still be preserved.

After Yan ceded land, Qin would not focus on Yan for a while.

At this point, it seems that there is no hope of dominating the Central Plains. When Qin and Wei and Chu go to war, Yan can seize the opportunity to continue expanding to the northeast and completely destroy Gojoseon.

By that time, the capital would be moved to Liaodong. There would still be 2,000 miles of land between Liaodong and Korea, so it would be entirely possible for Liaodong to continue to be the king and dominate the Northeast.

Liaodong is thousands of miles away and extremely cold and harsh. The Qin State occupied the vast territory of the Central Plains, so it was impossible for it to go to the cold and harsh land of Korea, and no one was willing to go there.

As long as they were willing to pay tribute and be vassal states of Qin, Qin would not have to fight to the death with this cold and barren land. Even if Qin really wanted to take over Liaodong and Korea, it would take at least several hundred years.

King Yan was very happy with his plan. He threw the blame away, saved his own life, and made plans for a backup plan.

Ji City is already considered bitter and cold today, but Liaodong and even the Gojoseon area cannot be considered bitter and cold now. They are not places where people go at all.

Unless the situation was extremely difficult, King Xi of Yan would definitely not want to go, but now that he had lost the gamble, even if he went to that remote and barren place to become the king, it was better than losing his life.

We must not surrender. It would be fine if there were no assassination.

Now that the assassination has happened, even if Qin is willing to accept surrender, we cannot surrender. Who knows if the King of Qin will find a reason to exterminate our entire clan in a few years?

Besides, being a rich and independent person is not as good as being a local overlord.

When our ancestors first came to Yan land, there was nothing there. It took hundreds of years of development to build the Great Yan land we have today.

He fled to Liaodong and destroyed the Gojoseon. Even though he suffered some hardships in the early stages, as long as he could gain a firm foothold, the Yan family could still build a prosperous kingdom after dozens or hundreds of years.

Moreover, by occupying Liaodong and Korea, we can still watch the Central Plains. As long as there is a chance, we can fight back.

I have to say that Prince Xi of Yan is worthy of being Prince Xi of Yan. His choices and judgments, and even his grasp of timing, are often very good.

It’s a pity that he always overestimates his own strength.

Moreover, I really love gambling.

It is also regrettable that the person he met was Ying Zheng.

When Ying Zheng received the letter of apology from King Xi of Yan, the letter of confession from Yan Dan, and Yan Dan's head from the State of Yan.

Ying Zheng looked at his little brother carefully.

Well, of course, there's only one head to look at.

The head has been specially prepared, and it is winter now, so it is still quite complete.

It is obvious that he died with his eyes open.

This time, he had no chance or possibility to fake his death. He did not have the support of the Mohist school, nor did he become a leader of the Mohist school. Moreover, because of Ying Zheng's excellent reputation, he had already isolated himself from the world, and there was no place for him in the world.

There is only one way to go, and that is death.

However, dying at the hands of his own father, dying at the hands of his own father, still made him die with regret.

King Xi of Yan demonstrated without hesitation what fatherly love is like a landslide and mudslide on the top of a mountain.

But Yan Dan did not show his filial piety in the end, and he did not draw his sword against his father.

Yan Dan was not completely powerless. Ying Zheng ordered someone to temporarily keep his head.

He planned to bury the father and son together after killing King Xi of Yan.

And the father and son’s heads should be buried together, face to face.

It's very interesting if you just think about it.

As for Prince Xi of Yan, Ying Zheng saw through his little plan clearly.

Similarly, Ying Zheng's calculations were also going smoothly. King Xi of Yan had now given Ying Zheng what he wanted most.

Ying Zheng would not give King Xi of Yan any chance.

South Asia still needs time, but all of East Asia must be in the hands of Daqin, and no threats from behind are allowed!
King Xi of Yan was a cruel, resolute, shameless, heartless, and had all the mental and political tactics of an emperor. If Yan had not been in such a desperate situation and too weak, and had to face the powerful Zhao, Yan would have been a considerable threat.

King Xi of Yan was still quite capable. He was a mature monarch who had been on the throne for nearly thirty years. However, his morals were too low and he was never at peace.

You never know what kind of trouble he can cause you, so you must never keep someone like him.

Besides, what's the point of negotiating a deal in such a crushing situation? Negotiating a deal with such a person would only ruin your reputation, so it's better to use this opportunity to promote your own holy name.

This also sets the tone for the future moral development of the people of the world.

Morality is never fixed; it can be constructed and needs guidance and construction.

At all times, trust is the cornerstone of society and morality, but filial piety is the cornerstone of governance.

This needs to be mutual.

Only when father and son love each other can a stable family order and a stable social order be established.

Governing a country with filial piety does not mean that parents can do whatever they want to their children. That would definitely be unstable and not conducive to ideological guidance and control.

Only feelings from the heart can build a stable order.

And this requires mutuality.

The country is a family empire, and the emperor is the master of all people and the father of all people. Loyalty and filial piety must be combined to ensure rule.

Only with loyalty can we very likely see situations where good birds choose the right trees to inhabit and virtuous ministers choose the right masters to serve.

Similarly, words like "If the monarch treats his subjects as his own hands and feet, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their own heart and soul; if the monarch treats his subjects as dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their fellow countrymen; if the monarch treats his subjects as dirt, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their enemy" are too undesirable.

Only with loyalty can we discuss the right and wrong of the king. But when loyalty and filial piety are added, and the two are tied together, there will be no way out.

Filial piety is the foundation of stability of a small family. Only when there is filial piety in the family can there be filial piety and loyalty to the king and father.

The emperor is the ruler and father of the world, and his subjects should be both loyal and filial to him!

Not only that, but also the restrictions of etiquette and law, brainwashing of righteousness, loyalty, filial piety, courtesy and righteousness all come together, no one can withstand this round of group fighting.

Only in this way can we achieve the truth that Ying Zheng hoped for: There is no king or father who is not right in the world! If the king wants his subjects to die, they have to die; if the king wants his subjects to live, they have to live.

The king and the father are always right. If not, then it must be the problem of the subjects!
However, such moral domestication must be done step by step. Moral principles can only be instilled in people subtly, and cannot be changed directly. It needs to be done slowly and guided. If you put poison in feces, few people will eat it, but if you put poison in food quietly, it will be hard to guard against.

So now, Ying Zheng issued an edict without hesitation to condemn King Xi of Yan for shirking his responsibilities, killing his son as a father, abandoning human ethics, destroying his conscience, and killing his own son with the brutality of a tiger or wolf. He was extremely ruthless, unrighteous and shameless!
A rebellious son killing his father is the most unfilial and treasonous act and should be punished by death by slow slicing.

However, the evil father who killed his son was also inhumane. A father should protect his son under his wings, cultivate virtues by his side, be kind and loving, and set an example of kindness and righteousness. However, this evil father discarded his parents' kindness as if it were a worn-out shoe, harbored evil thoughts like a snake and scorpion, and his heart was as cruel as a frosty blade, and his evil deeds were worse than those of tigers and wolves.

How can such a conscienceless, heartless, and inhuman evil person be a ruler of a country, or have the virtue to bring peace to the people?

I am acting on behalf of Heaven's will, upholding the principles of justice and carrying out the law of nature. I will never make a deal with such a heartless and shameless person who is worse than an animal!
I am the ruler and father of all people. As a parent, how can I not love and pity my people? And how can I sit back and watch such an evil beast still occupy the position of ruler and father?
Ying Zheng issued an edict, announcing to the world that he would dethrone King Xi of Yan and that he would enforce justice on the side of heaven and punish the unjust Yan State!
At this point, Ying Zheng completely stood on the commanding heights of justice both in public and private terms, and in terms of emotion and reason.

Things like justice, in the hands of a strong person, can amplify his power ten or a hundred times.

More importantly, Ying Zheng has always attached great importance to the importance of public opinion propaganda.

A good war of public opinion is better than a million troops! In this era, no one has a deeper understanding of this than him, which is why Ying Zheng worked so hard to build his reputation.

The name of a holy monarch can extremely effectively reduce the cost of united front work, the cost of conquest, the cost of assimilation, and the cost of ruling.

After Ying Zheng issued a manifesto condemning King Xi of Yan, he immediately and vigorously promoted it, especially to the people of Yan.

King Xi of Yan once again made things worse.

Human society is a society of human relationships. No one is willing to follow a person who has no human relationships and no humanity.

Absolutely no one would want to follow someone who killed his own son.

He even killed his own son, so who else would he not kill? Who else would he not give up?

King Xi of Yan wanted to use moral blackmail to prevent Ying Zheng from attacking the State of Yan, thereby arousing the Yan people's hatred of the enemy and their indignation.

However, Ying Zheng counterattacked him with a more righteous offensive.

The true thoughts of King Xi of Yan were exposed. No matter how you put it, King Xi of Yan killed his son just to preserve himself and maintain the rule of your Yan family.

But for this he even disregarded the principles of heaven and killed his son!
What about suicide? Can a person die with his eyes open? Who would chop off his own head when committing suicide?

Since ancient times, no matter how extravagant, cruel, vicious, shameless and immoral those in power are in secret, they must construct a glorious image in public, because morality is the fundamental legitimacy of rule!
If the glorious image on the surface is destroyed, the rule will inevitably be unstable.

In a word, we are all human beings, why should everyone listen to you?

The monarch rules the people, which is a divine right, building a sacred relationship and sacred morality, and then forming a relationship of loyalty.

Those in power can weave lies to rule and build social order, but the constructed order will in turn affect the rulers themselves.

This is inevitable.

The superiors use the order they build to protect their own interests, so they must maintain the order and resolutely defend it. If the superiors themselves begin to destroy the order, then the order built by the superiors will gradually collapse, and in the end, only someone else can rebuild the order.

Just like the Son of Heaven, who constructs his legitimacy to rule over all people and govern the world in the name of the Son of Heaven, he must also accept the shackles of this identity.

No one can have it all.

(End of this chapter)