Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 106 Returning
And in the waiting palace,
Several people with haggard faces had been pulled up by the Mohist disciples who had arrived earlier.

The disciple said, "It's too late, five years too late!"

"Master Xiangli has passed away. When he died, he was still thinking about you!"

Xiang Liqin is old after all.

Even though he paid attention to health preservation, he was always looking forward to someone coming back from the West.

But the journey is too long.
Those who explore are very tired.

Xiang Liqin was also very tired of waiting.

finally,
He stopped waiting and was buried by his disciples at the place where Gongzi Chao and others had been seen off that year.

His grave was piled very high, and a poplar tree was planted next to it. It has now grown very tall and is very conspicuous.

Xiang Liqin personally selected the location of the grave and planted the tree with his own hands.

At the end of his life, he pointed to the spot and said, "This is a great view."

"I can see you when you travel far away; I can also see you when you come back."

then,

He pointed at the tree and said, "When it grows up, if you still want to go to the West, you can cut it down and make a car with it, so that you can take an old man like me with you."

“This is still not good.”

The disciple who was supporting Xiang Liqin said, "It's a bit hot here, so we should leave this tree for the teacher to provide some shade."

Xiang Liqin didn't hesitate, just smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't cut it."

"When you come back, I can shake this tree and make it rustle to welcome you back to Zhuxia."

then,

Xiang Liqin stayed there with a tree.

The tree grows fast.
But the people of the past have turned to dust.

The few people who returned also felt a little sad when they heard this.

Every time the Qin State sent people to the west, Xiang Liqin insisted on seeing them off.

So they had an impression of the old Mohist leader.

After traveling far away and entering a region little known to the rest of the country, they naturally missed their homeland.

Now that they know that there is an old man who has been waiting for them, how can they not be moved?
They said to the Mohist disciples, "In fact, we just came back to report. Some people have not turned back and are still heading west."

They followed the traces left by Gongzi Chao and others, heading west, and naturally suffered many hardships along the way.

Some died on the road.

Some people were unwilling to move forward and stayed in an oasis, marrying local women and living there.

Wait until later.

They were also a little tired.

So the remaining people discussed it and decided to split into two groups, one to continue forward, and the other to return to Qin to report the situation in the west to the king.

On the way back,

They also met several groups of travelers coming later.

The experiences of those people are no different from theirs.

Life or death,

Either go or stay.

"Thank you for your hard work, thank you for your hard work!"

Instead of reprimanding them for their lack of diligence, Qin Jun just smiled and clapped his hands, praising their loyalty.

When sending people out,
Some of Qin's ministers were worried that they would be captured by the Yiqiu or Qiang people, which would then facilitate the surrounding barbarians to attack Qin.

or,
It is very likely that some of them have weapons and run to an unknown place of the Qin State, occupying one area, multiplying and prospering, and forgetting the orders of the King of Qin.

In general,

The ministers believed that sending people west would do more harm than good.

But Qin Jun wanted to do this.
No one can change this.

"Now, please tell me about the Western affairs!"

Mr. Qin waved his hand and asked everyone to take a seat.

The young prince Ying Quliang sat beside his father, listening to those people who looked very old and tired, talking about things in the distant West.

It was not the Yiqu and Qiang peoples who frequently harassed Qin.

It was about people and places he had never heard of, and what happened there.

As he listened, he slowly leaned towards his father and then fell into Qin Jun's arms.

Qin Jun hugged him.
Both father and son listened quietly to the story of the journey.

At the end, the little prince applauded for this wonderful story.

He looked up at his father and said, "I'm going to do the same in the future!"

Qin Jun smiled and patted his head. "If you can continue to follow your father's path, I won't have anything to worry about!"

but,

He was very concerned about what the envoy said, that Chinese silk utensils were extremely popular in the West.

The messenger even pointed out that

Before they went to the West, others had already gone there.

Because in the small countries in the West, they saw that the nobles would occasionally take out their treasured Chinese items and show them off to their friends.

The two sides would also quarrel over whether the items in their hands were "authentic". Finally, when they heard that there were envoys from Zhuxia, they would directly pull people over and ask them to identify them.

Perhaps the merchants opened up such trade routes privately for profit.

Perhaps it was the barbarians like Yiqiu who plundered the treasures of the Xia people and then sold them.

But it is certain that things from China are popular in the West.

Qin Jun thought,

If this is true, then the Qin State can find a way to do business with those barbarian and small countries in the west.

When the Qin State becomes strong and has sufficient manpower, it will be able to cross the desolate areas and fight over there. This business will be even bigger and stronger!

As for now?

We can only bear the pain and interact with the barbarians and earn some money from them.

Anyway, the gentlemen of the various states of China have always been so pragmatic.

If you can fight, fight.

If you can't fight, just talk first and get on with your life.

Anyway, the six states in Shandong, together with the Zhou emperor, have set a good example for the Qin State.

With this thought in mind,
In the following months, the King of Qin formed a larger team than the previous one, and sent them tentatively heading west with weapons and goods.

This time,
It is not about looking for the traces of Gongzi Chao and others.

But for the future of Qin.

……

"Outrageous, really outrageous!"

"I have only heard before that based on the location of the royal capital, it can be divided into Zongzhou in the west and Chengzhou in the east. How come there are still Eastern Zhou and Western Zhou now?" The year before last, Emperor Zixi passed away after six years in office.

This deprived He Bo of an opportunity to tease Lao Guixi.

After all, both of them are called Xi, but their identities are very different, which is really funny to ghosts and gods.

Afterwards, Emperor Zixi's younger brother Ji Bian succeeded to the throne.

Because Emperor Zixi had no son, he could only let the younger son inherit his elder son with tears in his eyes.

The new emperor, Bian, like many of his predecessors, had no ability and could only stay in the royal city of Luoyi, continuing to enjoy the frustration of the collapse of rituals and music.

Fortunately,

In the first year of his reign, there was no major unrest in the entire country. Although frictions between major powers still existed, it was generally peaceful.

But just when Tianzi Bian let down his guard and felt that he had "got his destiny" and could retreat to the palace and amuse himself, Xi Zhou next to him gave Tianzi Bian a solid blow.

After Duke Xizhou died, his youngest son Ji Gen fell out with his elder brother who succeeded him. Then, under the instigation of Zhao and Han, he started to split the family, occupied Gongcheng, proclaimed himself king, and called himself "Duke Dongzhou".

Gongcheng is not far from the Yellow River.

So the news crossed the river and was known by He Bo who was fishing in Yanshui.

He Bo watched monkeys fighting in Taihang Mountain for several years.

Under the pretext of "identifying herbs", the old ghost doctor forced many wild boars, wild dogs and wild monkeys to try out medicine. Many of them ate the medicine and returned to the underworld. After making outstanding contributions to the development of medicine, they finally found their conscience and stopped.

He also inspired his love for rivers. He rolled out from the Taihang Mountains, swam among the numerous rivers of the Three Jins, and finally came to the bank of the Yanshui River. He looked at the Zhou royal capital across the river across this tributary that was close to the Yellow River.

Although the mother river was still unwilling to let He Bo cross over her in various postures, it could not stop He Bo from looking at the other side of the river.

Over at the Zhou royal capital,
But it contains many precious books!

But this affectionate gaze did not last long, as the chaos in Zhou Wangji's capital spread to the other side of the river.

He Bo therefore summoned Ximen Bao and asked him why the Zhou royal domain could be further subdivided when it was already very small?

Is this to prove on the country's soil the truth that "if you cut off half of a one-foot-long stick every day, it will never run out for eternity"?
Ximen Bao has become accustomed to being asked questions by ghosts and gods when he is halfway through doing something.

He first bowed to the ghosts and gods, and then said, "Chengzhou, the ancestral Zhou, is where the emperor is."

"The establishment of the Western Zhou Principality was more than 70 years ago when King Kao of Zhou granted a fief to his younger brother."

Seventy-four years ago, King Zhending of Zhou died.

He had four sons. The eldest son, Ji Quji, succeeded to the throne and became King Ai of Zhou.

Three months later, the second son Ji Shu killed his brother and usurped the throne, becoming King Si of Zhou.

Five months later, the third son Ji Wei killed his brother and usurped the throne, becoming King Kao of Zhou.

After Ji Wei killed his brother and usurped the throne, he was worried that the same thing would happen again, so he deliberately took the initiative.

However, his younger brother Ji Jie was prepared after witnessing the fight between his three older brothers, so King Kao's assassination attempt on him was ineffective.

Therefore, in the first year of King Kao's reign, Ji Wei could only demarcate the land of Henan within the royal capital, enfeoff Ji Jie in the royal city, and establish the State of Zhou, with its territory extending west of the Chan River and south of the Luo River. He was Duke Huan of Western Zhou.

It means that brothers should not offend each other.

At this point, there were two Zhou dynasties coexisting in the world, just like when King Wu's brother Dan was given the title of "Duke of Zhou".

It was just Duke Zhou a few hundred years ago.
It is different from the Duke of Zhou of today.

What happened this year is very similar to what happened seventy years ago.

Thinking of these two times of "two Zhou dynasties coexisting", He Bo couldn't help but clap his hands and sighed, "It's still very interesting to read more about the things in history books."

“When you encounter some outrageous people and events in life, you will be surprised at first, but when you look through history books, you will find that the ancients have already done it!”

History,
Always turning around,

They just look the same, but actually they each have their own characteristics.

Ximen Bao said, "The Book of Songs says: 'The lesson of Yin is not far away, it is in the Xia Dynasty.'"

"The original intention of the ancients to record history is to hope that future generations can learn lessons from past deeds."

It's just a pity,

The kindness of the ancestors,
Not many later generations can understand and accept it.

The Zhou royal family was in chaos.
The chaos continues till now.

The fratricide between King Kao of Zhou's brothers could be said to be "the emperor's family affair, which outsiders are not allowed to interfere in."

But since he admitted that Zhongshan Jun also had the surname "Ji", he has become even more shameless.

The ghosts and gods all sighed, "The collapse of rituals and music, was it the princes who started it first?"

"The Zhou emperor himself did not follow the Zhou rituals, so how could he blame the princes, ministers and officials for not following the Zhou rituals?"

But it doesn't matter.

The "Zhou Li" has been upgraded.

The ritual system that was originally used to maintain the rule of the Zhou Dynasty became the reason and destiny for uniting the various states and conquering the four barbarians.

Under the blessing of "Zhou Li",
The Xia people are the only cultured and noble people in the world.

As for the others,
If a city is as strong as Zhongshan, it can still be granted human citizenship.

If they are weak and within the reach of the gentlemen of the country, they can only be regarded as beasts.

Moreover, the gentlemen of the various states of China have too much martial virtue. They will not only strike hard at the barbarians, but also fight and compete with their own kind.

When the State of Wei was strong,
Although I am not a good person,
But at least the world has a center of gravity, which can suppress certain people who are ready to make moves.

But now Wei Wuhou is gone, and the new king Wei Houying is in power, and he is still busy rectifying the state affairs.

After years of recuperation, the State of Chu regained its national strength.

The reforms of Qin King Ying Shixi were also quite effective.

Although Tian Wu, Marquis of Qi, was defeated repeatedly, he never gave up. He took advantage of the civil strife in Wei last year to launch a counterattack and captured Guancheng.

Although Zhao and Han have calmed down, they will still look for opportunities to slap the Zhou emperor in the face.

He encouraged Prince Gen to declare himself the "Duke of Eastern Zhou" and forced Emperor Bian to recognize him, so that he could banish Gongcheng from the country with a bitter face and only leave himself the royal city of Luoyi. This really amused the princes of the world.

The ghosts and gods who were fishing by the Yanshui River therefore questioned Ximen Bao, "The world is in chaos, it has lost its original order, and the Nine Cauldrons are about to shift."

"Who do you think can take over the throne?"

Although He Bo had a general idea of the historical context of later generations, he still wanted to hear people today's analysis of the world situation.

Ximen Bao spread his hands, "If I had the ability to predict the world, I wouldn't just be a doctor!"

People who can predict possible future events based on changes in the world are people like Yi Yin and Taigong Wang.

What qualifications does Ximen Bao have to be compared with them?

The ghost waved his hand and said, "What are you afraid of?"

"Discussing state affairs and expressing one's own opinions are rules established by ancient sages."

"You were wrong, how can I blame you?"

"Tell me, if it doesn't work, ask your wife to come over and analyze it!"

Ximen Bao choked up. "Besides saying 'The Marquis of Wei will never become the emperor', could she have any other opinion?"

Ximen Bao couldn't help scratching his head when he thought of his old wife who had taken the initiative to ask the gods and ghosts for the task of guarding Wei Houji, and who had been hitting Wei Houji with the burial stick every day.

He also thought about pulling Wei Hou to fight.
What can we do when the Hedong tigress even beats her own lover?

So under the pressure of the tigress, Ximen Bao tried to analyze it.

(End of this chapter)