The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 636: The King of Qin Gives Wine Money

The next day, Yao Jia did not meet King Jingmin of Wei.

King Jingmin of Wei sent a eunuch to ask Yao Jia to rest for a while to relieve the fatigue of the journey.

When King Jingmin of Wei learned that Yao Jia was coming, he was very nervous. He had no idea what Qin was planning, so he did not dare to meet Yao Jia first. He was really afraid of Qin now.

He urgently summoned the left and right prime ministers to ask for their opinions.

The right prime minister was a relative of the Wei clan named Wei Zi. He was already quite old and was used by King Jingmin of Wei to check and balance Wei Yong. However, he was far inferior to Wei Yong in terms of fame or ability.

Faced with the current situation, he couldn't come up with any wise suggestions.

As for Wei Yong, he pretended not to know and chatted with King Jingmin of Wei for a long time. In the end, he decided to meet the person first. It was nothing more than a fight to the bitter end.

Although, it can't be stopped or covered up.

Yao Jia waited for another day before he was summoned by King Jingmin of Wei.

King Jingmin of Wei was worried that the State of Qin would give him another problem, so he did not dare to hold a grand court meeting to welcome Yao Jia. He just wanted to show his closeness and asked Yao Jia to come to the palace to meet him. Among the many ministers, he only invited the left and right prime ministers.

When Yao Jia met King Jingmin of Wei, he was neither humble nor arrogant, but showed great respect to King Jingmin of Wei, and his etiquette was impeccable.

"Foreign minister Yao Jia pays respect to His Majesty. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health and happiness."

King Jingmin of Wei raised his hand to support him, and said calmly, "Please stand up, Mr. Yao."

"Come here, give me a seat."

During this period, King Jingmin of Wei was depressed, his fighting spirit was weak, and he indulged in wine and sex. Now just by looking at him, you can tell that his body has been almost drained, the skin on his face is loose and dull, and his complexion is even more depressed.

After Yao Jia sat down, King Jingmin of Wei was quite friendly and kind. He smiled and said, "It has been several years since I last saw you, Mr. Yao. Today I am glad to see you again. You are still as charming as ever. I am very happy."

Yao Jia bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am so ashamed to accept it. Thank you very much."

King Jingmin of Wei laughed and said, "I just don't know why Yao Qing came here today?"

Yao Jia smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am here on the orders of our king to give you a thousand gold coins as wine money to promote friendship between our two countries and resolve their old difficulties."

"In the past, Qin and Wei were enemies, wars were frequent, and the people were living in misery. Now my Lord is kind-hearted and sympathizes with the people who are suffering. He has sent foreign ministers to present gifts, hoping to turn hostility into friendship and work together for long-term peace. I hope that the two countries will put aside their hatred, make peace, share virtue and prosperity together."

Upon hearing this, King Jingmin of Wei was stunned, the right prime minister Wei Zi was also stunned, and the left prime minister Wei Yong pretended to be stunned.

King Jingmin of Wei almost thought that he had misheard what Yao Jia said. How could these words be spoken by the Qin envoy?
Ever since he ascended the throne, he has been attacked and robbed by the Qin State, and it has never stopped.

Now the Qin State suddenly sent someone to say that they will not fight you anymore and they want to be friends. This is unbelievable and unbelievable!
Qin was considered kind by not extorting any land or cities this time, but in the end, they even gave us a thousand gold!

King Jingmin of Wei opened his eyes wide and exchanged glances with the two prime ministers, all of them were shocked.

King Jingmin of Wei forced a smile and said, "The high virtue of the King of Qin is known to everyone in the world, and I admire him. Now the King of Qin has sent you with gifts. I will remember this sincerity in my heart. In the years to come, I hope that our two countries will have friendly exchanges and benefit all the people."

Yao Jia smiled warmly, stood up and bowed, saying: "With your words, my mission is accomplished. Your Majesty has also sent me to Qi to make peace with Qi. Please forgive me for not being able to stay in my hometown for long. I will take my leave."

King Jingmin of Wei originally thought that Yao Jia would have something to say later. How could the King of Qin be someone who would give money away for nothing?

I really didn't expect that Yao Jia would leave after giving the money.

King Jingmin of Wei tried to persuade Yao Jia to stay, but Yao Jia declined, saying he had official business to attend to and could not stay long. After several exchanges, he was finally able to stay for one more day under the invitation of King Jingmin of Wei. King Jingmin of Wei wanted to hold a grand banquet to entertain Yao Jia.

After Yao Jia temporarily withdrew, King Jingmin of Wei looked at the two prime ministers. The three of them looked at each other in silence for a long time. King Jingmin of Wei finally spoke: "Two prime ministers, what is the intention of the King of Qin's move?"

Right Prime Minister Wei Zi was old, but he still couldn't figure it out and could only shake his head.

Wei Yong frowned and said, "Your Majesty, I think the King of Qin does not want to expand abroad in the short term, and does not want to have disputes with other countries again, so he showed goodwill."

"In any case, this is a good thing. Qin is strong and Wei is weak. If Qin does not take the initiative to attack, our Wei will have the opportunity to recuperate and gradually grow stronger."

King Jingmin of Wei nodded in approval. No matter what conspiracy Qin had, it couldn't be stopped anyway. Now that Qin had shown goodwill, it at least meant that it would not attack in the short term. This was good news.

As for whether they would show goodwill on the surface but secretly want to attack, this would never happen. The current Wei State was no longer worthy of Qin using such tricks. Besides, the King of Qin was not such a person. King Jingmin of Wei was still very sure of this.

While King Jingmin of Wei was thinking, Wei Yong continued, "Your Majesty, this is a good opportunity!"

King Jingmin of Wei was puzzled and asked, "What good opportunity?"

Wei Yong said excitedly: "This is a good opportunity to attack Chu!"

"The King of Chu is currently suppressing a rebellion. The country is in chaos. Now that the King of Qin has shown his friendship, our Wei Kingdom has nothing to worry about. This is a good opportunity to attack Chu!"

King Jingmin of Wei was somewhat tempted, but he still sighed and said, "What's the point of attacking Chu? It's nothing more than making wedding clothes for Qin."

Wei Yong's face straightened, and he said solemnly: "Your Majesty, this is wrong. Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman should constantly strive to strengthen himself. Although Qin is strong now, its internal politics are also complicated. This is an opportunity for Wei."

"As long as Wei can continue to take Qi and Chu to strengthen itself, it can continue to resist Qin. A gentleman hides his ability and waits for the right time to act. As long as we hold on, there is hope!"

"In the past, the Kingdom of Yue had already perished, but King Gou Jian of Yue worked hard to restore his country and became the hegemon of the southeast. Today, our Wei still has the three rich counties of the Central Plains, a population of millions, and all the civil and military officials are united. The Wei Wuzu still intimidates the world. How can we be content with the status quo and be depressed?"

When King Jingmin of Wei heard this, his heart, which had long been depressed, was actually moved, but only once.

He was about to say something, but he stopped himself. In the end, he just lamented, "What the Left Prime Minister said makes sense, but the situation is different now. Daliang is facing Qin directly, and there is no way to retreat. Even if we take over some of the land of Qi and Chu, what is the use if Daliang is also conquered?"

Wei Yong frowned and shook his head, advising: "Why is the king so pessimistic? Daliang is just a city. As long as the king is here, Wei still has land and cities, so anywhere can be the capital? The king is the foundation of Wei!"

"We should take more land and cities now so that we can have more room to move forward and backward. Even if Qin attacks, we can move around easily. As long as we have a place to stay, there is hope! As long as the king is here, there is hope!"

"Fate is unpredictable. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. If we help ourselves, God will help us!"

"If we don't seize this great opportunity, once the civil strife in Chu ends, the King of Chu will certainly expand into the Central Plains, which will then be a disaster for our Great Wei. Even if Qin doesn't attack our Great Wei, Chu has evil ambitions and has always coveted the Central Plains. How can it live in peace with our Great Wei?"

"If Chu wants to hold out against Qin, it must occupy the rich lands of the Central Plains. Now Wei is Chu's inevitable target! If we don't attack Chu today, Chu will surely attack Wei in the future! This is a move that will weaken the other, and there is no way to retreat! Your Majesty, please think twice!"

The Right Prime Minister Wei Zi was persuaded. What Wei Yong said was indeed reasonable. He was truly a minister who could hold the country together. Facing such a crisis, he was also proactive and unyielding.

The longer you delay, the more wealth you will gain. To be honest, if Qin attacks, as long as you surrender in time, you can still gain wealth and honor. The King of Qin is a decent man.

But if the Chu barbarians attack us, our wealth may not remain.

By then, even if we surrender to Qin, it will not be of much value after all, and it will be uncertain how much wealth we can retain.

But if we attack Chu again now, increase our territory and cities, and take advantage of its misfortune, we can weaken the threat posed by Chu and increase our bargaining chips in negotiations with Qin. Even if we surrender, we can still sell it at a good price!
King Jingmin of Wei was still hesitating and had not yet thought about surrendering.

But I am indeed tempted, but still hesitant.

After all, with the current strength of the Wei State, it is really inappropriate to take the initiative to provoke trouble.

Wei Yong did not persuade him any further, as persuading him too much would easily arouse suspicion, and too much is as bad as too little.

Now wait for other news to arrive, and then give the king some more support, and then we can persuade him and make the decision.

As expected, as Fu Chu asked for help and wrote large amounts of blank checks and promised various cessions of land and grants, King Jingmin of Wei became even more tempted.

The only issue that makes him hesitate now is that he is afraid of not being able to win.

But this problem was soon solved.

After leaving Wei, Yao Jia rushed to Qi without stopping. He first met Hou Sheng secretly and gave him a large sum of money and goods. He then told Hou Sheng that Wei was ready to take advantage of the situation to attack Chu and hoped that Qi would join in.

Afterwards, he gave King Jian of Qi a thousand gold coins for wine. King Jian of Qi was overjoyed and summoned all the civil and military officials to receive Yao Jia with great ceremony. He then forced him to stay for several days of feasting before letting him go back.

It was not just him who went back with them, he also brought King Jian of Qi's delegation back to Qin.

King Jian of Qi gave a return gift. The delegation went to Qin with Qi specialties worth three thousand gold. King Jian of Qi gave a return gift three times as much!
Yao Jia couldn't help but secretly admire that King Jian of Qi was really a particular person!
The King of Wei also returned the gift, but the envoys sent by the King of Wei also returned gifts worth thousands of gold, which was considered a give-and-take. Unlike the King of Qi, Jian really respected the King.

As for Housheng, he never disappoints anyone and will always do the job if he is paid.

After Fu Chu's envoy for help arrived, Hou Sheng strongly advocated war and was willing to lead the troops himself to take the opportunity to attack Chu!
(End of this chapter)