Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 166 The great revenge is avenged
After getting rid of Wang Qi, Ying Zheng showed the royal seal, proclaiming himself as the lord of Qin. With the support of Meng Tian, ​​who had a high prestige in the army, he officially took control of the army stationed in Wusui.

With a large army at his side and protection, Ying Zheng issued a secret decree to the two brothers Changping Jun and Changwen Jun (historically, Changping Jun and Changwen Jun assisted Ying Zheng in quelling the Lao Ai Rebellion, and they were granted titles for this, but Qin Shi Huang only mentioned that Changping Jun played an important role in quelling the Lao Ai Rebellion, but Changwen Jun, as his brother, should have also participated), ordering them to lead troops to Xianyang to quell the Lao Ai Rebellion.

When talking about Changping Jun, we have to mention the division of power in the Qin court.

During the Warring States Period, there were many wars among the seven kingdoms, but due to conflicts of interest, there were many intermarriages between the royal families of various countries, and the princesses who came with them as dowries were mostly unpopular princes in their own country.

The princess gave birth to children for the monarch. Some of them had no chance of becoming kings, but because they were of the monarch's bloodline, they formed their own power.

After many generations of intermarriage, a force that can influence the court will naturally form.

This move also resulted in each country having a powerful foreign relative force represented by the other six countries.

Although the Qin State accepted talents from various countries, after hundreds of years of intermarriage with other countries, the most powerful forces in the country had become the foreign relatives from various countries.

For example, Cheng Qiao, who was replaced by the protagonist, his mother was the daughter of the current King of Han, the eldest princess of Han (it is really hard to find any information about Cheng Qiao's mother, it is only said that she is the daughter of King Henghui of Han. According to her age, she should be the eldest daughter.), and Cheng Qiao was the representative of the Korean foreign relatives in the Qin court.

(So ​​according to seniority, the protagonist should call Han Fei his uncle.)
Ying Zheng's mother, the Queen Mother of Qin, and Lao Ai were both from Zhao, and were representatives of the Zhao's external relatives' power.

Changping Jun was the most powerful representative of the Chu foreign relatives in the Qin State.

Everyone talks about the "good relationship between Qin and Jin", but in fact the relationship between Qin and Chu is closer. They have been intermarrying since the Spring and Autumn Period, for eighteen generations.

The most famous among them are the mother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Queen Dowager Xuan (Mi Bazi, also known as Mi Yue), the queen of King Xiaowen of Qin, and Lady Huayang (surname Mi, clan Xiong), who adopted King Zhuangxiang of Qin, the father of Ying Zheng, as her adopted son.

Changping Jun's background was even more extraordinary. He was the son of King Kaolie of Chu, Xiong Yuan.

At that time, the Crown Prince Xiong Yuan of Chu was held hostage in Qin. He later married the daughter of King Zhaoxiang of Qin and gave birth to his eldest son, Lord Changping, and his second son, Lord Changwen.

At that time, Lady Huayang, who was still the wife of Lord Anguo (King Xiaowen of Qin), was a member of the royal family of Chu and took good care of the prince who came from his native country.

Later, after Xiong Yuan left Qin, Changping Jun and his family were able to survive in Qin under the care of Lady Huayang.

After King Zhaoxiang of Qin died, King Xiaowen ascended the throne as King of Qin and Lady Huayang became the queen.

However, King Xiaowen of Qin died after only three days in office. His adopted son Zichu succeeded him as King Zhuangxiang of Qin and honored Lady Huayang as the Queen Mother. Subsequently, with the support of Queen Mother Huayang, Lord Changping gradually entered the government of Qin.

In order to win over the powerful Chu royal family, Ying Zheng married the daughter of Changping Jun as his queen.

(So ​​Fusu should call Changping Jun his grandfather. Of course, the above are all speculations of historians and have not yet been finalized.)
Now we just need to prepare food and grass, and gather troops in the surrounding areas, and then we can march straight to Xianyang and join forces with Lord Changping to put down the rebellion started by Lao Ai in one fell swoop.

On the eve of the army's departure, inside the royal tent, Ying Zheng seemed to be waiting for someone to come.

After a breeze, a man appeared in the big tent.

It was Cheng Qiao who came from Xinzheng to settle the feud with Xuan Jian.

The first thing Ying Zheng said when they met was, "It seems that Xuan Jian is dead, and you have taken back what belongs to you." But he noticed the jade ring on Cheng Qiao's hand. "Indeed, I narrowly escaped death that year. If I hadn't had another adventure, I would have really died in Luowang's pursuit. Now that I have finally avenged my great hatred, I don't want to hide for the past three years."

"We said goodbye to each other hastily in Xinzheng City before. Didn't I tell you about Ziying's situation in Xianyang?"

The Ziying that Ying Zheng was referring to was his young son who was left in Xianyang before he was besieged and killed by Lao Ai and Lu Buwei. He was the so-called "Qin III" in later history.

"With you here, I don't have to worry, right, brother Wang?"

"Back then, I fell into a trap and was falsely accused of treason against the Qin State. All the people in the mansion, except Ziying, were charged with treason, while the people who framed me were instead given titles. Now that I'm back, I will naturally settle accounts with them one by one." When he said this, the resentment hidden deep in Cheng Qiao's body seemed to be aroused, and a strong murderous aura spread in the air.

Ying Zheng, who was talking to him, couldn't help but wonder what Cheng Qiao had experienced in the past three years to become what he is today.

In order to prevent him from taking revenge too far and killing people indiscriminately, thus causing great turmoil in the Qin State, he said: "The events of the past were complicated. There was more than just Lao Ai, there were people behind him."

Cheng Qiao interrupted, "Of course I know this. Behind this are the shadows of Lü Buwei and even the current Queen Mother of Qin. As the only prince of the previous king, I have become a thorn in their eyes. Otherwise, a letter without basis would not be enough to convict me, the youngest son of the previous king and the current king's brother."

"and you."

"I am of the same bloodline as the previous king, so I will not disturb the Qin State. I am going back this time only to punish the main culprit."

"The main culprit? So you have already planned it. I just don't know what your plans are after you go back and wipe out Lao Ai?"

"Cheng Qiao has long been dead, and his name has been erased from the Qin clan register. Let him continue to exist as a dead man. Only the name of Prince Han will remain in the world."

"Then after the Lu Buwei Rebellion is over, where do you want to be granted a fief?" After understanding Cheng Qiao's intention, Ying Zheng no longer had any worries and asked him directly what reward he wanted.

"I want a hundred miles of land in Shu near Baiyue as my fiefdom."

“Is it just that simple?” It’s not that Cheng Qiao’s requirements are too high, but rather too low.

A hundred miles of land may seem not small, but it depends on where it is placed. If it is placed in the densely populated Central Plains or Guanzhong region, it can become a country within a country.

Although Bashu in the Qin Dynasty had fertile land due to the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System by Li Bing, it had a sparse population and was not as productive as in later generations. To this day, many places are still filled with miasma and are not allowed to be approached by strangers.

In addition, the area is surrounded by mountains and transportation is inconvenient. Only the plains in Shu County are suitable for human habitation.

The Qin State now mainly relies on the output of the development of the 800-li fertile land in Guanzhong to dominate the world.

Haven’t you seen that the land of Bashu, together with the land of Jiangnan, became a populous province after being developed through successive dynasties, especially during the Tang and Song dynasties?

The 100-li area close to the Baiyue that Cheng Qiao sought was even more sparsely populated, and the Qin State had not yet established a favorable regime there, so it served as a buffer zone against the Baiyue people.

(End of this chapter)