Diqin Designer

Chapter 80 Zhang Liang once tried to assassinate the king
"The wife of Duke Pei was named Lü Zhi. She was originally from Shanfu County, Dang Commandery. Later, she moved to Pei County with her father and married Duke Pei, who was then the head of a village. She was the first recorded queen in Chinese history. She had great power. Although she was a woman, she was as capable as most men in her work."

Li Nian was originally saying that Empress Lü was very powerful and a remarkable woman, but when these words fell into the ears of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor keenly grasped the key words "the first queen" and "extremely powerful"...

Ying Zheng couldn't help but think that it seemed that he must find a way to limit the power of the queen when or after he became emperor, otherwise there would be chaos in the harem and the imperial power would be affected.

He did not plan to establish a queen. Even if he did, he was confident that he could suppress her. But what about his descendants?

Lu Zhi had great power, which might not be a good thing for the descendants of Pei Gong.

Ying Zheng asked, "Will Lü Zhi cause chaos in the government and bring trouble to the descendants of Pei Gong?"

The First Emperor knew how to grasp the key points. Li Nian said, "It is just as your Majesty thought. After the death of Emperor Hui of Han, Liu Ying, the son of Lü Zhi, Lü Zhi successively supported the former Shaodi and the latter Shaodi, and ruled the country twice. Although she made contributions to the Han Dynasty when she governed the country, her heavy use of foreign relatives and eunuchs also opened up the disaster of foreign relatives monopolizing power and eunuchs interfering in politics in the Han Dynasty."

It was Empress Lü who started the practice of external relatives' monopoly of power and eunuchs' meddling in government affairs. It cannot be said that it was all her fault. Even if she did not do such things, later emperors of the Han Dynasty might have done so.

Because the emperor is at the top of the world, who can he trust and use?

If you trust the civil officials, then they will bring disaster. If you trust the military generals, then they will bring disaster. If you trust the royal family members, then they will also bring disaster.

It's just a matter of choosing from a group of people. Among many evils, choose the lesser one. It would be slightly better to choose relatives and eunuchs.

After hearing what Li Nian said, Ying Zheng nodded, and thought even more that he had to deal with the harem and relatives by marriage well.

Although he had some interest in Lü Zhi, she was not the first queen in history, and she was just a country girl, so it was not worth paying too much attention to her. He asked, "What about Xiao He?"

Li Nian said: "Xiao He was named 'Marquis of Ying' and ranked first among the meritorious officials. He died of illness in the second year of Emperor Hui's reign, which was considered a good end."

Upon hearing that Xiao He died of illness, Ying Zheng responded calmly, and then asked, "Where is Han Xin from? Is he also a commoner like Pei Gong?"

"Historical Records" records that Han Xin was originally a commoner from Huaiyin. There are many anecdotes about Han Xin in history, such as 'a meal worth a thousand gold coins' and 'humiliation under the crotch'..."

Li Nian told the story of these two idioms to the First Emperor, so that the First Emperor could understand Han Xin's character.

The First Emperor said, "Han Xin was able to remember the kindness of a meal, which shows that he is grateful and loyal. He was able to endure humiliation without anger, and was not punished when he was in a high position, which shows that he is quite magnanimous. However, when he was in a high position, he humiliated the wife of the Nanchang Pavilion Chief, which shows that he is narrow-minded. The floating mother fed Han Xin for dozens of days, and he lived with the Nanchang Pavilion Chief for several months. What is the difference?"

"Just because the wife of the Nanchang Pavilion Chief did not want him to stay with her anymore, he forgot her kindness. This man seems to be open-minded, but in fact he is narrow-minded."

"He is a very proud person who values ​​self-esteem and disregards human feelings. When he is successful, he often becomes arrogant. When he is unsuccessful, he thinks that others are ignorant of people. If he becomes unsuccessful after being successful, he will say that someone was not as good as me in the past, but now he is worse than me."

Li Nian was quite surprised. He did not explain the historical materials about Han Xin in detail, but the First Emperor actually analyzed so much from the information he said. The Han Xin recorded in history was really the same as what the First Emperor analyzed.

Perhaps Pei Gong, Xiao He and others also analyzed Han Xin in this way.

Seeing Li Nian's surprised expression, the First Emperor smiled and said, "From your expression, I'm sure what I said is right!"

"Fortunately, I didn't think of deceiving the First Emperor, otherwise, even if I were still alive, I would probably be missing some limbs."

Li Nian said: "Your Majesty is wise. Han Xin is indeed talented. However, according to later generations, he lacks emotional intelligence. That is, he does not behave properly in many ways. He does not get along well with his lord and colleagues. How can he not perish?" Even if Han Xin was not killed and rebelled, he would eventually perish. At most, he could rely on his strong military talent to survive for a few more years, but he would not be able to seize the world.

Considering that Han Xin really rebelled, it was absolutely right for Lu Zhi to kill Han Xin. It did eliminate a threat for the Han Dynasty and the people of the world.

The more capable Han Xin is, the greater the consequences of his rebellion will be, and the people will suffer.

Ying Zheng said: "Of the 'Three Heroes' of the early Han Dynasty, I have heard of two of them. What kind of a figure is this last one, Zifang? He is the one who made Pei Gong say, 'In terms of planning in the tent and winning battles thousands of miles away, I am not as good as Zifang!'"

Li Nian wondered in his heart whether he should ask the First Emperor for mercy for Zhang Liang. After all, he was a Chinese strategist whose name would go down in history and whom he had heard about since childhood. It would be a real pity if he was killed by the First Emperor because of his words.

But Li Nian finally gave up the idea.

Don't think that just because you have gradually gained the First Emperor's trust, you can ask for this and that from him.

He could only give advice when the First Emperor asked about this matter, but he could not mention it on his own initiative. It would be bad if the First Emperor thought that he was holding the emperor hostage.

Do you think that I trust you now, so you are arrogant and want to tell me what to do? How can you interfere in my work?

Li Nian said: "Replying to the king, 'Zifang' is not this person's name, but his courtesy name. His actual name is 'Zhang Liang'!"

Zhang Liang?

Ying Zheng frowned, thought about it for a while, and asked, "What is his relationship with Zhang Kaidi and Zhang Ping?"

The First Emperor did not guess that Zhang Liang was the grandson of Zhang Kaidi and the son of Zhang Ping. He just remembered these two people, so he asked casually, but he didn't expect to be guessed by accident.

Li Nian was not surprised that the First Emperor would think of Zhang Kaidi and Zhang Ping.

Because Han was the first of the six kingdoms to be destroyed by Qin, when formulating the strategy to destroy Han, the First Emperor must have carefully studied all things about Han, including its military, history, and related figures...

Zhang Liang's grandfather Zhang Kaidi served as prime minister for three dynasties of the Kingdom of Han, and his father Zhang Ping also served as prime minister for two dynasties of the Kingdom of Han. Although both of them died when Qin destroyed Han, how could they not be studied?

"Don't blame me, Marquis Liu. I haven't even told you yet, but the First Emperor has already guessed your background!"

Li Nian replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, Zhang Liang is the grandson of Zhang Kaidi and the son of Zhang Ping!"

Ying Zheng was also stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a few breaths, he asked again: "Does he hate me and the Qin Dynasty for destroying South Korea?"

Li Nian said, "Yes! According to historical records, in the 29th year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's reign, when the king was touring the country, Zhang Liang ambushed the king at a place he had to pass by and tried to assassinate him."

Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes and said in a tone that did not reveal his joy: "It seems that he hates me and the Qin Dynasty very much. This assassination attempt failed, and after he escaped, he took refuge with Pei Gong at the end of the Qin Dynasty and finally achieved his wish."

"Among the nobles of the six countries, there must be many people like Zhang Liang. Although the Qin Dynasty was able to destroy their countries, it was unable to destroy their hearts! Please continue!"

(End of this chapter)