People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

"I just heard Li Wu say that Zhao Gao is looking for you? Is it the Empress Dowager who wants to see you?"

When he heard from Li Wu that Zhao Gao had come to see Cao Ze, he realized something.

Cao Ze nodded and said, "That's right, what's wrong?"

Cheng Jiao asked mysteriously and with some worry, "She didn't do anything to you, did she?"

Cao Ze shook his head slightly: "No, he just asked me to come over, it seems like he wanted to see me."

Cheng Jiao breathed a slight sigh of relief, then said seriously, "Don't be careless."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Cao, be careful of the Empress Dowager."

If Cao Ze hadn't saved him and his brother, he would never have uttered such taboo words so easily.

Cao Ze's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

Cheng Jiao lowered his voice and said, "You must have heard the rumors about the Empress Dowager outside. I can only say that you should think about it more and not take it lightly."

Cao Ze was deeply moved by Cheng Jiao's almost explicit words.

I knew I hadn't saved the wrong person. They gave him such a large mansion without hesitation, and they even said such sensitive things to him.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart.

"I understand," Cao Ze replied earnestly.

As if he had thought of something, Cao Ze asked Cheng Jiao, "Has Lü Buwei made any moves these past two days?"

Cheng Jiao said, "No, he goes to court as usual... Oh right, every three days or so he stays at the west gate of the city for a while, promoting the 'Lüshi Chunqiu' which he and his retainers compiled."

At this point, Cheng Jiao chuckled and said, "I've heard there's something called 'a word worth a thousand pieces of gold,' and no one has changed a single word of it to this day. Brother Cao is so talented, why don't we go and find a reason to claim it and get a thousand pieces of gold for it?"

Cao Ze chuckled and said, "That's a good idea."

He also wanted to see if, with his knowledge and experience, he could get some money out of Lü Buwei.

Just as the two were chatting about interesting things in Xianyang City, Gai Nie entered the room carrying a sword.

"Mr. Cao Ze, Lord Chang'an."

The three bowed to each other.

Gai Nie said, "Mr. Cao Ze, the King is waiting for you at Zhangtai Palace."

"Lord Chang'an, the imperial edict concerning you has been drafted and stamped by the King. Would you like to come with us to Zhangtai Palace?"

Cheng Jiao was overjoyed and said, "Let's go together."

These past two days, he's had to explain to almost everyone he meets that he's not a traitor, which is driving him crazy with frustration.

Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao followed Gai Nie to Zhangtai Palace.

Compared to Ganquan Palace, Zhangtai Palace is more magnificent, fully displaying the emperor's majesty.

Ying Zheng was not in his study, but went to get some books.

Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao had no choice but to wait.

After Gai Nie led Cao Ze to the study, he sat down and picked up a pen to write on the bamboo slips.

Cao Ze was extremely bored, so he glanced at Gai Nie's desk and saw that it contained the following:

Wang Yi was the Left Chancellor, a veteran general of Qin. When King Zheng returned from Han, the Left Chancellor suddenly moved his troops to Wusui, leaving King Zheng to stay overnight at his camp. Then Wang Yi rebelled, and assassinated King Zheng at the general's platform. Meng Ao's grandson, the commander Meng Tian, ​​along with his teacher Cao Ze, jointly executed Wang Yi, exterminating his entire clan. King Zheng was then safe…

An old man's diary? A live record?

Cao Ze thought to himself with a strange feeling.

Before long, Ying Zheng walked in, holding a scroll of bamboo slips.

The title page of the letter contains the four characters "Lüshi Chunqiu".

Ying Zheng tossed the bamboo slips onto the desk and smiled as he said to Cao Ze, "Mr. Cao Ze, I have something good for you."

Cao Ze sensed something was wrong. Ying Zheng wasn't the type to smile easily; if he smiled at him, then things were definitely not going to go smoothly.

"Your Majesty, please speak."

Ying Zheng unfolded the bamboo slips, which contained the "Shen Da Lan, Volume Three".

“Lü Buwei placed the ‘Lüshi Chunqiu’ on the west side of the city gate and put a thousand pieces of gold next to it, saying that anyone who could change a single word would be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold.”

Ying Zheng smiled knowingly at this point.

“Since my uncle is so generous, would you be willing to help me obtain some money? I can promise that as long as you can revise the ‘Lüshi Chunqiu,’ I will help you get the money from Lü Buwei.”

Cheng Jiao laughed and said, "Brother Wang, I was just talking to Brother Cao about this matter, planning to get a thousand gold pieces from Lü Buwei to vent my anger."

Ying Zheng shook his head greatly: "Cheng Jiao? Too few, far too few."

Cheng Jiao was slightly taken aback. "What's missing?"

Cao Ze was speechless: "His Majesty said a thousand taels of gold is too little."

He realized that Ying Zheng wanted to take this opportunity to make Lü Buwei spend a lot of money.

However, despite being revised and refined so many times and read by countless people, no one has been able to change even a single word in the Lüshi Chunqiu, which shows how meticulous it was.

Even if he could see the errors in "Lüshi Chunqiu" with the knowledge of later generations, it was essentially a fundamental overthrow, not just changing a single word, but a challenge to the various schools of thought.

Therefore, attempting to modify the Lüshi Chunqiu within its framework and logic is extremely difficult.

Ying Zheng laughed heartily and said, "Not bad!"

"My uncle, Lü Buwei, is known among the people as being incredibly wealthy. I'd like to see just how much money Lü Buwei can actually come up with!"

Cheng Jiao exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Cao, wouldn't changing a few dozen words cost us tens of thousands of gold coins?!"

Cao Ze smiled wryly and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult."

It's not easy to write even a single word, let alone dozens of words. Do you think Lü Buwei is stupid?

Ying Zheng seemed to know the difficulty involved, and said directly, "Sir, just do it. I will split the profits with you."

Cao Ze was tempted.

If it were him, even if he changed a few dozen words, Lü Buwei could easily renege on the debt, delay payment, or even retaliate against him.

After all, tens of thousands of gold is no small amount; even if you squeeze the Nightfall dry, that's about the amount you'll get.

The probability of Lü Buwei being honest and trustworthy is extremely small.

However, if Ying Zheng could step in and use his power to suppress Lü Buwei, Lü Buwei would have no choice but to lose money if he wanted to continue serving as his wise prime minister in Qin.

Cao Ze weighed the pros and cons.

As the saying goes, no one can get rich without unexpected wealth.

Cao Ze immediately agreed, saying, "I will give this matter a try."

……

Chapter 373 Turning Lü Buwei to the enemy and arresting Cao Ze

As early summer arrives, the air in Xianyang becomes dry and the temperature continues to rise.

Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao colluded, each disguised themselves, and spent two days scouting the west gate.

The "Lüshi Chunqiu," compiled by Lü Buwei and his retainers, contains over 200,000 characters and comprises approximately 700 to 800 volumes of various books and scrolls.

The sheer volume of letters and scrolls was quite overwhelming for both Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao.

"This money isn't easy to get."

Cheng Jiao sighed with emotion.

With his knowledge, he could hardly find anything in the "Lüshi Chunqiu" that could be changed.

If he had to use one word to describe it, it would be perfect.

Cao Ze stood at his desk outside the city gate, reading a volume of Confucian classics called "Xiaoxing Lan". He heard Cheng Jiao's sigh and casually remarked, "It's not that hard to carry."

Cheng Jiao asked in surprise, "Brother Cao, didn't you say it was very difficult yesterday? Why have you changed your mind today?"

Cao Ze put down the scroll and chuckled, "Yesterday is yesterday, and today is today. Although I said it's not difficult to obtain, the opportunity only comes once, so we need to plan carefully."

Seeing Cao Ze's confidence and composure, Cheng Jiao pulled Cao Ze aside by his sleeve.

"Brother Cao, how should we plan this?"

Cao Ze chuckled and said, "You didn't finish reading it, did you?"

Cheng Jiao paused for a moment: "Brother Cao, you've finished reading?"

Cao Ze shook his head: "How could we possibly finish reading it in just two days?"

This isn't like an online novel, where you can easily read two or three hundred thousand words a day.

Although the Lüshi Chunqiu does not contain the profound meanings of the Spring and Autumn Annals, it is still written entirely in classical Chinese and contains countless allusions, ideas, and doctrines.

Understanding even a part of it is extremely difficult, let alone understanding the whole thing.

Even if we brought Master Xun here, it would take him at least a year or two to figure it out, let alone make any changes.

Cheng Jiao asked in bewilderment, "Where does Brother Cao get his confidence from?"

Cao Ze smiled mysteriously: "Go and look through the table of contents of this book first."

Driven by curiosity, Cheng Jiao walked over to the long table where the books and scrolls were displayed.

Since Lü Buwei had placed the "Lüshi Chunqiu" at the city gate for a long time, not many people came to see it; most of them were students from Xianyang.

Cheng Jiao found several volumes of books with catalogs and glanced through them.

Cao Ze stood beside Cheng Jiao, secretly pondering how to make money.

Whether he can become rich overnight depends on whether Lao Lü can help him.

"I……"

Cheng Jiao almost swore.

He turned to look at Cao Ze, "This...how come there's your essay here?"

"Shh~"