Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 198 Lu Buwei

"What a saying, 'Mandated by Heaven, may you live long and prosper'!"

When the news of the unusual movements during the Qin State's sacrifice to heaven spread throughout the world, the other countries once again became afraid of the Qin people.

I was happy too early.
Now that Qin's destiny had been recognized, the princes naturally felt even more sad.

They did not reflect on what they did when they were in power, but only complained about their ancestors in their hearts.

Ancestors above,

Why not bless your children and grandchildren?

Why didn't my father and grandfather work hard to strengthen the country, reform its politics and increase its national strength when they were in power?

Otherwise, my current situation would definitely be much easier!

Who knows who will move the Nine Cauldrons and take on the new destiny?
It’s you!
Only a small group of people applauded this situation!

After hearing about this, Lu Buwei, who came to Zhao State for business from Wei State, concluded that the future of the world must lie in Qin State.

He wanted to take his career further.
You must find a way to the Qin nobles, and only by relying on the most powerful country in the world can you become bigger and stronger!
Anyway,

Since he was young and engaged in business, Lü Buwei has already learned a truth through the hardships of life:

Having money but no power,

Just a fat sheep!

As long as you have the power,
Naturally, money will come rolling in!

that power,

That's everything!
Therefore, if you want to live freely and unrestrainedly in this world, money is far less important than power!
As the powerful people of various countries found excuses to exploit and blackmail him, and most of his hard-earned money went into these people's pockets, Lu Buwei became more hungry for power.

He was like a hungry beast,
Want to devour its prey in big mouthfuls.

just,

How could it be easy to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy in Qin?

Wei State was quite far away from Qin State. How could he get to know the nobles of Qin State and persuade them to share power with him?

Lu Buwei thought very clearly:
If he simply goes to ask for an audience with a noble, then the biggest possibility is that his wallet, which anyone can take out, will become a wallet that belongs exclusively to this noble, and he will be regarded as a running dog by the other party.

Share power?

Who would be stupid enough to give up power?

This is the most tempting poison in the world, and only death can make people let go.

Lu Buwei thought about it day and night.

Until he heard——

The Qin king's grandson Ying Yiren is coming to the Zhao State as a hostage!
After the princes experienced great joy and sorrow, the King of Qin began to send hostages everywhere like sowing seeds in order to appease them and prevent them from becoming desperate and making a last-ditch effort.

Just right,

He has many sons and grandsons.

Throwing these guys out can also contribute to the country.

And Ying Yiren,

It is the descendant of Prince Zhu of Qin!
Lu Buwei was immediately overjoyed!
The State of Qin was far away from him, but he often went to the State of Zhao!
Moreover, because he had been doing business in Zhao State for many years, he had good connections there, which was enough for him to find a way to get to know this noble man!

But after the joy,
Lu Buwei calmed down again.

He felt that he should not visit Ying Yiren at this time.

Because Qin was currently powerful and Zhao was afraid of it, and Ying Yiren was a new hostage, his treatment would not be too bad.

As an ordinary businessman, I was afraid that I would not be able to attract Ying Yiren's attention and become his right-hand man.

He must show up as a savior when Ying Yiren is down and out, so that he can gain the other party's greatest gratitude and obtain the greatest benefit!

Thinking like this,

Lu Buwei stopped, took a few deep breaths, sat back in the study and began reading.

He was once laughed at because he didn't have much education.
After meeting many noble people, I also realized that they value people with ideas and abilities.

Therefore, in order to get closer to power, Lu Buwei studied hard.

He first studied the Confucianism and Mohism, which were the two most prominent schools of thought in the world at that time.

Lu Buwei fully agreed with the Mohist idea of "respecting the virtuous", because he felt that he was a talented person, but just lacked the appreciation of a good person and was unable to enter the government.

But being “thrifty” is not an option.

Because once people become frugal, how can he sell those expensive goods?
Everyone should pursue luxury and want to borrow money continuously to enjoy the present!
Anyway, it's not me who will be the one to bear the debt.

You will only make more money through the other party's lending behavior!

As for Confucianism's benevolence and righteousness, Lu Buwei also agreed with it to some extent, thinking that a stable world was suitable for businessmen like him to make money.

If there are bullies everywhere, his business will be difficult.

But being too kind and righteous made Lü Buwei feel uncomfortable because he wanted to make money, so how could he talk about feelings with others?

Finally, after going around in circles,
Lu Buwei found a very interesting book:
"Miscellaneous Talks"!
This book, which originated from the State of Qi, did not just record the opinions of one family, but was all-encompassing.

The previous article may be talking about universal love, while the next article may be talking about "keeping oneself well-behaved".

Many scholars do not like this book because its content is vague, the source of the article is unclear, and it is impossible to determine who wrote it.

What if it originated from the Jixia Academy in Qi State?
Scholars from the State of Qi had already come out to deny it, saying that they had never written such a book.

The words of the Jixia philosophers were all compiled into books by themselves.

after all,

In times like these, knowledge is extremely valuable.

The Jixia Academy would not be so casual as to steal the intellectual achievements of others, nor would it write a long book like "Miscellaneous Sayings".

Therefore,

If one wants to understand the opinions of various philosophers, one must either debate with them directly or spend a lot of money and energy to obtain relevant books in order to get a glimpse of their principles.

However, "Miscellaneous Sayings" seems to be completely unconcerned about the precious articles and principles in it. It is written in a variety of ways, integrating the words of various philosophers into one book. Moreover, among the articles, some are humorous, some refute each other, and some are simple and practical...

Just a book,

It can be an eye-opener!

Lü Buwei therefore thought:
Most of the words of various philosophers only talk about their own school, but how can the words of one school talk about the affairs of the world?
Only by blending together hundreds of schools of thought can we draw on the strengths of all and create a classic that will be passed down from generation to generation without having to be changed even a single word!
But writing a book is such a sacred thing,

It is difficult for him as a businessman to do this.

"If I have enough power, I can recruit scholars to write books for me. It's possible!"

Lu Buwei couldn't help but fantasize about what would happen after he gained power, and then he looked forward to a conflict between Qin and Zhao breaking out soon.

Because only when Qin and Zhao become enemies, Ying Yiren's situation will become difficult, and he will have the opportunity to become the other party's biggest, or even only, support!

He lay dormant quietly, waiting patiently for the opportunity to come.

……

And on the other side,
He Bo looked at the Nine Cauldrons in front of him, feeling helpless.

"Since you can't return it, then put it in my treasure house!"

After the Nine Cauldrons fell into the river,

As the instigator, He Bo naturally had to fish it out to prevent this national treasure from being eroded by the flowing water and never seeing the light of day at the bottom of the river.

But the ownership of the Nine Cauldrons became a new problem.

Ximen Bao said, "I can't go back to the world of the living!"

"Although the Mandate of Heaven has been reformed, the Qin State has not yet unified the world. The Nine Cauldrons still have a great influence at this time!"

"If we hand over the Nine Cauldrons to other princes, wouldn't it be the same as the previous chaos?"

So He Bo said, "Then leave it to the King of Zhou in the underworld!"

But no matter which emperor it was, he showed a look of fear towards ghosts and gods.

They said, "The Nine Cauldrons are the destiny bestowed by God on the three generations."

"Now that the Zhou Dynasty has perished, we are nothing more than ghosts living in the underworld, relying on the grace of ghosts and gods to continue our consciousness. How can we shamelessly occupy such a treasure?"

"The gods and ghosts collecting the Nine Cauldrons is the best destination for this old destiny!"

He Bo was not polite either. With a wave of his hand, he added a heavy burden to his treasure house.

then,

He then said to Ximen Bao and other ghost officials, "I still want to go to the plateau!"

"But don't worry, I won't do the same thing again!"

He Bo has discovered that
If we want to improve the progress bar of the Yellow River, we must stay at the source of the Yellow River, instead of, as before, flowing into the relevant rivers and refusing to leave, without distinguishing between upstream and downstream.

Anyway, after he returned to the underworld, the progress bar was as peaceful as when he was dead and never changed.

For this,

What else can He Bo say?
The mother river is different after all.

It's normal to have some special treatment!
Anyway, now I just need to stay in the plateau and waste time.

If you get bored, you can go back to Central Plains to relax, it's also very relaxing -

Since the progress bar is refreshed,

When He Bo climbs the plateau again, he won’t have to worry about “the frog climbing a well” anymore.

He could easily follow the flow of water and irrigate the Sanjiangyuan.

I can jump back and forth happily again!
(End of this chapter)