noveltune Chapter 37 Promoting Yulong to Die for His Lord
Chapter 37 Promoting Yulong to Die for His Lord
Initially, King Huiwen of Qin's successor was not King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Ying Ji, but Crown Prince Dang.
In the fourteenth year of King Huiwen of Qin's reign (311 BC), King Huiwen of Qin died, and Ying Dang ascended the throne as King Wu of Qin.
After Ying Dang ascended the throne, he quelled the rebellion in Shu, appointed a prime minister, captured Yiyang, established the Three Rivers region, revised the land laws, modified the border regulations, dredged waterways, and built dikes and bridges. King Wu of Qin was tall and strong and enjoyed wrestling with others, so strongmen such as Ren Bi, Wu Huo, and Meng Shuo were promoted to high positions because of this.
Later, King Wu of Qin went to Luoyi and asked the emperor about the weight of the cauldron. He competed with Meng Shuo in lifting the "Dragon-patterned Red Cauldron". As a result, the cauldron slipped from his hand and broke his shinbone. He died that night at the young age of 23.
After King Wu's death, the Qin state was in chaos. King Wu died too suddenly, leaving no son or designated anyone to succeed him, which made all the princes envious.
Queen Huiwen, King Wu's biological mother, wanted to support her other son, Prince Zhuang, to ascend the throne, while Mi Ba Zi, Ying Ji's biological mother, naturally also wanted to support her own son to ascend the throne, but at that time she had her eye on another son, Prince Fei.
Just as the internal strife in the Qin state was raging, King Wuling of Zhao, who lived next door, had a sudden inspiration. He wanted to place a pawn in Qin that he could control, so he enthusiastically recommended Ying Ji, who was a hostage in the Yan state.
His plan was to support a prince who had been a hostage in a foreign country since childhood and had no basic power in the country to become the King of Qin, and to make him a puppet so that the future Qin state would be in the hands of the Zhao state.
However, very few people in the Qin court supported Ying Ji.
At the critical moment, the situation reversed. Mi Ba Zi's half-brother Wei Ran made a move. He brought in Ying Ji, the then Right Chancellor, Zhang Mengtan, the Left Chancellor, and Zhang Jujiu, the General and Grand General who held most of the Qin army's power. The other half of the army's power was in Wei Ran's hands.
These four people are all big shots who can decide the direction of the court. Originally, the other three were not in a position to take sides and were just observing. Wei Ran did not know how he managed to win over the three of them for Ying Ji.
Thus, Ying Ji, who was far away in the State of Yan, was brought back to the State of Qin and succeeded to the throne.
Two years later, Wei Ran swiftly quelled the forces supporting Prince Zhuang and wiped out all those who opposed Ying Ji. This upheaval is known to later generations as the "Rebellion of Prince Ji".
Ying Ji's ascension to the throne was merely an unexpected result of the power struggle among various factions. As a result, although Ying Ji was the nominal King of Qin, he had no real power at all.
Empress Dowager Xuan, his biological mother, ruled the government, Zhang Jujiu and Wei Ran were in charge of military affairs, and another uncle, Mi Rong, along with Ying Ji and Zhang Mengtan, held important positions.
However, Zhang Jujiu and Zhang Mengtan did not want to concern themselves too much with the private affairs of the public, so Ying Ji's life was entirely dependent on the moods of his mother, Empress Dowager Xuan, and his uncle, Wei Ran, from private matters to state affairs.
For example, in 305 BC, just after the rebellion was quelled, Queen Dowager Xuan arranged for Ying Ji to marry a Chu princess as his queen in order to win over her maternal home state of Chu; in 299 BC, when Han and Chu were at war, Han sent an envoy to Qin to ask for help.
In front of all the civil and military officials, Empress Dowager Xuan directly talked to the envoy about "things in bed," using the manner in which she served the late king as an analogy, and very explicitly rejected the request for help from the state of Han.
This action completely disregarded the dignity and decision-making power of Ying Ji, who was the King of Qin at the time.
To put it nicely, Ying Ji was the nominal monarch; to put it bluntly, he was just a figurehead in the court.
But Ying Ji has one advantage: he can endure!
He learned his skills during his time as a mascot, and the opportunity came that year.
In 293 BC, the states of Han and Wei joined forces with the Zhou emperor to assemble an army of 240,000 to attack the state of Qin. The massive army marched to Yique, intending to open the eastern gate of Qin.
At that time, Zhang Jujiu's old illness relapsed, and he was unable to lead troops into battle. So he recommended Bai Qi, who was then the Left Chancellor, to King Zhaoxiang, saying that this young man was a good candidate and he hoped that the king would give him an important position.
Although the actual decision-making power was in the hands of Empress Dowager Xuan and Wei Ran at the time, this was someone Zhang Jujiu had directly recommended to Ying Ji. Given Zhang Jujiu's status and prestige, Empress Dowager Xuan and Wei Ran tacitly handed over the decision-making power to Ying Ji this time.
Because Bai Qi's rank was not high enough to lead troops into battle, Zhang Jujiu petitioned Ying Ji, saying that Bai Qi was a very talented person. Now that a large army was invading, if the king wanted Bai Qi to lead troops into battle, he should raise Bai Qi's rank by two levels to Zuo Geng and let him lead troops into battle!
This time, Empress Dowager Xuan and Wei Ran originally wanted to object, but Zhang Mengtan also submitted a memorial to reiterate the decision, so the two had no choice but to remain silent and let Ying Ji make his own choice.
Ying Ji was already dissatisfied with being a mascot, and when he saw that the Zhang brothers had handed over the decision-making power to him, he immediately approved the appointment.
As expected, Bai Qi did not disappoint. In the Battle of Yique, he used less than half the enemy's forces to crush the allied forces of the three kingdoms and beheaded 140,000.
This battle completely shattered Ying Ji's worldview. He not only witnessed Zhang Jujiu's ruthless eye for talent but also saw Bai Qi's incredible military prowess.
He realized that a strong military was the ultimate guarantee for consolidating royal power.
From that moment on, the name Bai Qi was etched in Ying Ji's heart, and he began to consciously try to win over this military genius.
In his view, Zhang Jujiu was recommended by Bai Qi. As long as he could win over Bai Qi, the Zhang brothers, who were veteran ministers of three generations and held military power, would stand on his side.
At that time, I will be able to get rid of the identity of mascot.
In 288 BC, a major event that occurred that year caused Ying Ji to suppress his restless heart once again.
The two emperors, one in the east and one in the west.
At this time, Qin and Qi were the two hegemonic states in the east and west respectively. Wei Ran suggested to Ying Ji that the emperor was in decline and had lost the mandate of heaven. Why didn't the king share the title of emperor with the King of Qi?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Jujiu, without hesitation, immediately advised against it: "Your Majesty, the Emperor is still alive. How can you disregard him and usurp the throne?"
Upon hearing this, Ying Ji was immediately displeased, as he thought his uncle Wei Ran's idea was quite brilliant.
So he told Zhang Jujiu not to say anything more, and then sent an envoy to the State of Qi to tell King Min of Qi about this idea.
King Min of Qi thought the idea was quite good and agreed.
Not long after, King Min of Qi felt that his imperial title had made him hated and feared being ganged up on by other countries, so he took the initiative to cancel his imperial title. When Ying Ji saw that Qi had withdrawn, he also quickly followed suit and canceled his imperial title.
This incident taught Ying Ji to assess the situation and understand that one cannot rely solely on one's own initiative; one must also observe the reactions of all parties. Forcing oneself to take the lead when the time is not right will only make one a target of public criticism.
A year later, Zhang Jujiu intended to retire, so he summoned Bai Qi.
That day, Bai Qi had just returned to Liyang from the Lantian camp to report on his duties. Before he could even remove his armor, Zhang Jujiu sent someone to summon him to his residence.
When he entered the deserted courtyard, Zhang Jujiu was sitting on the veranda, holding a half-shaved wooden hairpin in his hand, his knees covered with sawdust.
"Sit down." Zhang Jujiu said without even looking up.
Bai Qi sat down on the stone stool beside him, and the two remained silent for a long time, with only the soft sound of a knife scraping against the wood grain.
Zhang Jujiu's fingers were no longer as steady as they used to be. He held the wooden hairpin up to his eyes, shook his head, and placed it on his lap.
"I'm getting old," he said, his tone as flat as if he were saying it was a bit windy today. "My hands tremble, my eyesight is failing, I can't wear armor anymore, I can't ride a horse anymore. To be old and not die is to be a thief."
Just as Bai Qi was about to speak, Zhang Jujiu raised his hand to stop him.
"You don't need to persuade me. I called you here not to listen to your advice." He brushed the wood chips off his knees, finally turning to look at Bai Qi. His deep-set eyes were still astonishingly bright. "You beheaded 140,000 at Yique, 130,000 at Huayang, and 50,000 at Xingcheng. From now on, all of Qin's battles will be yours. I can't help you anymore, and I don't want to."
Bai Qi was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "When you recommended me to the King back in Yique, I was just a Left Vice Minister."
"That's because you have that talent."
Bai Qi remained silent, looking at the white-haired old general before him, and suddenly felt somewhat dazed.
He remembered that he first met Zhang Jujiu in northern Shu. At that time, Zhang Jujiu was still the Left General, dressed in full armor with a short sword at his waist. He had crawled out of the mud of Qionglai Mountain with many wounds on his body, but he still had the mind to fight with the soldiers for wine. Now, this old general can't even properly whittle a wooden hairpin.
Zhang Jujiu took the short sword from his waist, placed it on his lap, and slowly drew it from its sheath.
The blade was covered with tiny nicks, and the hemp rope wrapped around the handle was worn black. Several broken sections had been patched with new hemp, the old and new intertwined, like vines climbing on old tree bark.
"This sword has been with me my whole life." Zhang Jujiu held the sword horizontally in his hand, his gaze moving inch by inch from the hilt to the tip. "I've fought the Koreans, the Wei people, the Shu people, and the Yiqu people. Today, I'm handing it over to you."
Bai Qi accepted the short sword with proper respect, holding it in front of his chest with both hands.
"Okay, I'll remember."
Zhang Jujiu didn't look at him. He picked up the unfinished wooden hairpin from his knee again and continued to carve it. Wood shavings fell onto his knee and were scattered by the wind.
"Go. From now on, you will fight all of Qin's wars."
Bai Qi didn't say anything more.
He gripped the short sword, stood up, saluted, turned, and walked out of the courtyard. At the gate, he paused, without turning back, and simply whispered, "Take care, General."
Zhang Jujiu did not respond. The small knife in his hand slowly advanced along the wood grain, the rustling sound particularly clear in the quiet courtyard.
That night, Zhang Jujiu wrote to King Zhaoxiang, requesting to resign from his position as Supreme General due to old age and illness, and recommending Bai Qi to succeed him.
When Ying Ji received the memorial, he sat in the hall for a long time. He recalled that many years ago, he was just a figurehead whose power was usurped by his mother and uncle. Few officials in the court looked at him seriously. Only this old general handed over the decision-making power to him on the eve of the Battle of Yique.
That was his first step toward ruling personally. Later, when he was prevented from becoming emperor, he resented the old man for not giving him face. But when the State of Qi abolished the imperial title, he realized that Zhang Jujiu's obstruction was also because he believed the time was not right.
He picked up his pen and wrote two words on the resignation letter: "Not permitted."