The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 290: Form is content, blood surges into the sea, white horse wants to try

"Young Master, ahem, do you really want to know?" Lu Buwei pulled his clothes tightly twice and asked with a smile.

Ying Chengjiao didn't say anything, just stared at his teacher.

Say!
Lu Buwei said "Okay" and dipped his fingers into the warm green tea in the cup.

He gently pushed the document in front of him and wrote the four words "Bashu Chamber of Commerce" on the table in the new Qin script, saying as he wrote:
"Ba Qing's betrayal was something I didn't expect.

"I admit that I underestimated the king.

"They took my money and used it for their own benefit. In total, I lost two Bashu Chambers of Commerce. This is a very serious matter."

"But this is far from fatal." Ying Chengjiao said coldly: "Brother Wang's acquisition of the Bashu Chamber of Commerce only qualifies him to play against the Prime Minister again. The Prime Minister still has an absolute advantage."

"Haha, cough cough, ha, cough cough." Lu Buwei was very happy and nodded repeatedly. The coughing interrupted his nodding rhythm.

The white hair on his temples expanded to his forehead, dancing with his movements like white snow wrapped around silk.

He coughed hard for a while, then picked up the cup of still warm tea and swallowed it slowly in small sips.

The gurgling green water flowed from the throat into the stomach, bringing a tiny bit of warmth to this sick body that should have been in its prime.

Lu Xiang took a deep breath, raised his teacup and praised:

"The clear tea invented by you is much better than the turbid tea soup."

Seeing that Master Chengjiao did not react, he was not embarrassed. He put down his teacup and tapped the four words "Bashu Chamber of Commerce" on the table which were gradually fading away.
“What you said before is absolutely right.

"What is money in front of power? It is nothing.

"Let alone the Bashu Chamber of Commerce, even if all six major chambers of commerce were controlled by the king, what would happen?
"The reason why I can use money to trap the king is because of my power. I have the power to appoint and dismiss officials, and I have the power to govern the government.

"The Shaofu is the Prime Minister's man, and the King cannot touch him. This is why the most powerful prince in the world is trapped by money.

"When they heard that the Bashu Chamber of Commerce had turned against them, they were all terrified, as if the sky was falling.

"All my subordinates are as sharp-eyed as you are, and can see through everything. Why would we need to discuss such a trivial matter for three days?"

Ba Qing turned against us and the discussion lasted for three days.

The prime minister's faction did not find a solution, but during the discussion they discovered that the matter was not as difficult as they had thought.

The answer that came spontaneously during the communication was much more popular than if Lu Buwei had spoken it directly.

People are often more willing to believe in the opinions they come up with through their own thinking, even if these opinions are guided by others.

With a crisp "crack", Ying Chengjiao picked off the dead pine and cypress leaves:
“This is inevitable and something we have known for a long time.

"Most of your retainers are from humble beginnings. Although they are literate and have a higher status than the common people, they are still a long way from becoming nobles.

“They didn’t originally join you for power.

"The poor want to have a full meal, a pair of shoes, and clothes that warm their bodies instead of wearing a dirty cloth that only covers their bodies all year round.

“Those who do not worry about their livelihood want to order a few beauties to sleep with them in the brothels of Qin and Chu, eat expensive dishes, and become famous among the princes of various countries.

"Now most of them have achieved what they wanted and are living the life they once dreamed of. But two or three years is too short a period of time, and under natural development, it is not enough to change their underlying thinking.

"They can only see the surface of Qian Kunwang, but cannot see the essence through this surface. The few people who can see the essence should be the ones you focus on training and watching out for."

Ying Chengjiao's voice became slightly heavier:
“I want to emphasize one point.

“I went to court at the age of five, played with the king’s seal, and grew up in the arena of power.

“The reason they don’t have as much perspective on this matter as I do is because they come from a different background than I do.

“Just like the quail doesn’t understand why the roc can fly thousands of miles, it’s not the quail’s fault.

"The quail should not be ridiculed or disliked.

“Don’t let power blind you and make you forget our original intention.

“Everyone is a saint without knowing it.

“Run a school.

"Enlighten the people and make them aware.

“This is what we are doing and will continue to do.

"Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?"

Lu Buwei was a little stunned and felt that the young master was too serious.

He just said a few words casually, which could not even be considered a complaint.

Half complimenting the young master, half teasing the subordinates, is it necessary to be so serious? How did it get to the point of original intention?
"The sparrow and the roc should be Zhuang Zhou's thoughts. This is the first time I've heard of such an explanation. It sounds consistent with our philosophy, but..." Prime Minister Lu felt dry in his mouth and reached for the teacup.

He picked it up and saw that there was no tea in the cup. He put it back in its place, put his elbow on the table, and said:

“I am a little confused by your big reaction.

"According to what you said, isn't this taking it too far?"

Ying Chengjiao looked at Lu Buwei for a moment, then stood up silently, picked up the copper kettle on the stove, and poured hot water into the empty teacup.

The only sound in the room was a soft rustling sound.

Lü Buwei's heart was warm even though he hadn't drunk the hot tea. He smiled and said through the steaming clear water:

"The young master talked to me about formalism and criticized this doctrine that only focused on form and ignored content.

"Formalism will become a stubborn disease that will affect the mutual trust between the government and the people in the future. It will become our mortal enemy and we must unremittingly guard against and fight against it.

"Sir, you have been criticizing me repeatedly today, nitpicking me. Isn't this a mistake of formalism?"

The tea was poured and Lu Buwei had finished speaking.

Ying Chengjiao placed the copper kettle on the stove, and the yellow copper kettle suppressed the flames that were shooting up.

"What is formalism?" the boy asked, standing by the stove.

Lu Buwei held the teacup in both hands and felt it was a little hot.

This teacup is specially thickened.

He blew gently on the steam from the newly poured tea, recalled what the young master had said, and said slowly:
“The doctrine that form determines content.”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister has a good memory." Ying Chengjiao gave an affirmative answer.

He sat back down opposite Lu Buwei, sitting upright with his hands on his thighs:
“Do you think that I am plotting against you because you spread rumors to slander my mother?

"That's why I said so much. I was deliberately picking on you."

"I never said that." Lu Buwei chuckled, his expression clearly saying "Isn't it?"

Ying Chengjiao did not smile:
"I am really unhappy about it, very unhappy about it, more unhappy than you can imagine.

"If you were not my master, your body would have been offered to the earth by now."

Lü Buwei took a sip of the tea and groaned repeatedly because it was so hot. He hummed and raised a hand slightly to indicate that he had something to say.

Ying Chengjiao kept his mouth shut.

Lu Buwei said jokingly:

“That wasn’t beyond my imagination.

"In my imagination, you will kill me and leave my body in the wilderness for wild beasts to eat.

"I didn't expect that you would let me rest in peace. You are indeed a virtuous man."

"Are you finished?" Young Master Chengjiao's face looked even worse.

Lu Buwei smiled awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed, and stretched out his hand to push twice:
"Sir, you speak, you speak, I listen."

Ying Chengjiao narrowed his eyes slightly:
“I criticized formalism and told you that it was our mortal enemy in the future, but I never commented on the idea of ​​formalism itself.

“It is wrong to engage in formalism, but formalism itself is right.

"Form determines content." Lu Buwei couldn't drink the tea anymore and put it on the table.

"What do you mean, sir?" The smile disappeared from Lu Xiang's face.

Ying Chengjiao said in a deep voice:

“It’s a very simple truth.

“You call my brother the King. Even if you despise my brother in your heart, you know that he is the King.

“Calling the king with your mouth is the form, knowing it in your heart is the content.

“Perhaps this isn’t straightforward enough, so let me give you a more obvious example.

"Why do you now allow your followers to call you Lord in private instead of Prime Minister Lu?"

Lu Buwei's heart was filled with turmoil.

The king was a little confused, but he himself understood it immediately and he knew his own thoughts best.

His originally chaotic thoughts immediately became clear, and he stretched them out:
[Because I want them to put my status as lord before that of the prime minister of Qin.]
[Calling the Lord is a formality.]
[They often call, and I often answer.]
[In their hearts, the relationship between the master and the retainers is higher than that between the prime minister and the officials. This is the content!]
"So..." Lv Buwei's voice was somewhat relieved: "This is called formalism? Have I been doing formalism all along?"

"It seems that you have understood." Ying Chengjiao was somewhat puzzled by the expression on Lu Buwei's face.

[Why is he so relaxed? This shouldn’t be the case…] The young man thought for a moment and stopped thinking about this. He said in a deep voice:
"You have been calling someone 'brother' or 'master' for a long time, even if you called them that as a joke at the beginning, both of you knew it was a joke.

“Over time, your hearts will also be tainted by the colors of your elder brother and lord.

"He treats you as his younger brother and retainer, and you treat him as your elder brother and master.

"You were originally in an equal relationship, but with the calls of brother and master, it turned into a master-servant relationship.

“You expressed dissatisfaction and contempt for those under your command in your words.

“I know you’re joking.

“But if you joke too much, it will become reality.

“The form is necessary.

“New Year’s Day sacrifices to heaven, oath-taking before war… these are all forms, and they can determine the content.

"A person who looks into a bronze mirror and says 'You are the best' every morning will become better and better.

"And the person who looks in the mirror every morning and says, 'You are such a mess, why don't you just die?' will eventually die.

“Formalism is like the Qin sword. Whether it kills or saves people depends on the user’s decision.

“The reason why I oppose formalism is because of the people in the future who will truly understand and apply formalism.

"Most of them are our own people, our own people who have fallen.

"You let your followers call you Lord instead of Prime Minister Lu. Your position is to fight for your ideals.

"But from the perspective of the country, from the perspective of Qin.

"Lord Xiangbang.

“You’re creating division.

"You are watering the seeds of rebellion and treason."

Lu Buwei listened very seriously, and after listening, the smile returned to his face.

Holding the teacup again with both hands, he, who was still in his prime, felt very relieved:

"With the young master here, Bu Wei feels at ease."

Seeing that Master Chengjiao was frowning and about to speak, Prime Minister Lu spoke first:
"Didn't you ask me why I wanted to arrange for the king's people to serve as officials?
"Because I did not arrange for the king to serve as an official, the king did not arrange for my people to enter the Imperial Academy.

"The chief priest of Zhangtai Academy is the king, and every student in the Imperial Academy needs the king's approval.

“This is a great gift we gave to the king to win him over, and the king treated it as a Qin sword.

"Now, this Qin sword is stabbing towards me."

King Zheng of Qin used the people as his sword, and Lu Buwei retreated for the people.

Ying Chengjiao: “…”

The boy's eyes flickered and he pursed his lips.

[No wonder... No wonder Li Si was not punished...]
[Li Si joined his brother, but he was still one of the forces fighting against the nobles.]
Lu Buwei's palms couldn't stop shaking slightly, and it hadn't stopped since he sat down.

The tea in the teacup in his palm was also shaking, reflecting the boy's eyes.

"Actually, this is a good thing." Lu Buwei laughed, full of relief: "Your Majesty is just like me, grabbing everything that can be grabbed and using everything that can be used."

He raised his right hand, clenched his five fingers into a fist, and waved it like a child, hitting the air:
“The king is more cruel than the young master.

"Whatever the king wants to do, no matter what is in the way, he will smash it with one punch.

"If the king can really come with us, I will have confidence in success.

"Your vision is really good, Your Majesty is more suitable to be the king than you."

With a "rustling" sound, Ying Chengjiao spread out the bamboo slips and circled the people with a pen.

Every stroke determines a person's fate and the fate of those this person will influence in the future.

The circles on the bamboo slips represent people’s names, and also represent the fate of the people of Qin and even the world.

"Let's go." After circling the names of the people, Ying Chengjiao said without thinking.

"Okay." Lu Buwei responded with a smile, without asking where they were going.

The master and disciple left the Prime Minister's Mansion and entered the Imperial Medical Bureau.

The imperial physician Li Yue, who was about to retire, took Lü Buwei's pulse and prescribed medicine, and diagnosed that he would recover after three months of rest.

Prince Cheng Jiao, who was proficient in medicine, talked with Li Yue for about a moment, then said goodbye and left with Lu Buwei.

Li Yue and his apprentice Xia Wuqie sent the two of them to the gate of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and the master and apprentice saw each other off.

Xia Wuqie waved goodbye to Master Chengjiao. When he put his hand down, it touched Li Yue's hand. He was startled and grabbed it:
"Master, why are your hands so cold?"

"It's okay." Li Yue said in a steady voice, pulling his apprentice back to the office in a hurry.

[Someone is going to die!] The imperial physician was terrified: [Something big is going to happen in Xianyang!]
Medicine evolved from witchcraft.

All good doctors are proficient in physiognomy and astronomy.

The imperial physician Li Yue saw bright red blood surging like a sea from the faces of the departing master and disciple.

Bai Ma, the eldest son of the Bai family, has been riding a horse at full speed recently. In one day, he saw the snow all over Xianyang.

The head of the Bai family, Bai Fan, and the old head of the Bai family, Bai Jia, did not show up, and many matters were left to Bai Ma, which made Bai Ma feel like he was in control of the Bai family.

He knew it was an illusion, but it still felt good.

Meng, Xi and Bai are the three major families, each with its own heir.

Only he, Bai Ma, was able to enter the Prime Minister's Mansion and meet Prime Minister Lu without receiving a report.

Every time, Prime Minister Lu treated him as a distinguished guest.

It seems that the eldest son of the Bai family, who seems to have everything going his way, has only one unpleasant thing, or rather, he is only unhappy with one person - Lord Chang'an.

That night, he was completely suppressed in front of Chang'an Jun and lost face.

Chang'an Jun also threatened him that if he dared to make any small moves again, he would take his life. If he still has the courage, then go ahead and try.

Ah.

Who doesn't know how to brag?
I’ll do it!
I will force your maids to give me gifts! I will bribe them! If they dare not accept it, I will kill their families!

kill me?
Try?

(End of this chapter)