Chapter 9 third chapter

Lu Buwei became the prime minister, if that's all, at best he is a power-hungry and unscrupulous person, and he will not come into our field of vision.His greatness lies in the series of meritorious deeds and actions taken after he became the prime minister. Ever since the first time he saw a foreigner—that is, the later Zi Chu, the current King Zhuang Xiang of the Qin Kingdom, Lu Buwei seemed to have a premonition in his heart that he was destined to be tied to the Qin Kingdom for the rest of his life. Bound as one, breathing together, sharing fate. Although Lu Buwei is a businessman, he has traveled far and wide, is well-informed, and with great ambitions, he always pays attention to the situation of disputes, and constantly conducts some in-depth analysis and sorting out.From the moment he reached a "private agreement" with another person for the first time, he must have been accumulating and preparing for the future official residence of the prime minister.Ten years passed by in a flash, and when he got to this day, he was already fifty-one years old.Once the long-term savings, preparations and expectations are poured out, how much energy will be released!Therefore, as soon as Lu Buwei ascended to the position, he was about to let go and do a lot.His abandonment of business and politics was not just for the sake of gaining a false name, let alone satisfying his own material desires. To a large extent, he was trying to win a sigh of relief for low-status businessmen and realize his own life value.He wants to declare to the world that an ordinary businessman from a humble background has intelligence and talent above ordinary people, and can also do a great deal of greatness.

The state of Qin started in the western frontier, and after more than 500 years of hard work by a small barbaric country, its national power gradually prospered.Especially after Shang Yang's reform, Qin State went from weak to strong like magic.The Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period have been fighting for more than 200 years. Although no one has eaten anyone up to now, the situation has gradually become clear. The only one who can wipe out the other six countries is Qin.What Lu Buwei is facing is to take on this great cause of world domination. When shooting a man, shoot a horse first, and when capturing a thief, first capture the king.The first major thing Lu Buwei did after taking office was to take Eastern Zhou and lead his troops to destroy it.

In 256 BC, King Zhaoxiang of Qin sent troops to destroy King Nan of Zhou, and the nominal Zhou emperor no longer existed, leaving only the Eastern Zhou Lord in Gong (now Gongyi City, Henan Province).The Lord of Eastern Zhou, also known as the Duke of Zhou, was not called the Son of Heaven, but he was still the blood and remnant of the Zhou royal family.At this time, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty only had a territory as big as their buttocks, and their strength was so weak that it was not worth mentioning, but they felt quite good about themselves. Hundreds of years of rule gave them a condescending psychological advantage. "Under the whole world, is it the king's land; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers." No matter how powerful the Seven Kingdoms are, they are just some vassal states of the Zhou royal family.In an era where power speaks for itself, these so-called vassal states have long since ignored the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and they don't take it seriously at all.However, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty always had some "residual heat" that could be used and exerted. Therefore, they didn't want to do things absolutely, so they respected the Eastern Zhou Dynasty on the surface, and sometimes deliberately made some gestures to sensationalize the public in order to win the so-called " Morality" score.This made Zhou Gong's self-awareness more inflated, and he continued to regard himself as the orthodox representative of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and made some actions that were beyond his control.

The state of Qin lost two masters within a year, and the regime changed twice within a year. The internal disorder and chaos can be imagined.Therefore, Lord Dong Zhou felt that the opportunity for revenge had come, and he felt a sense of sacred mission in his heart that "Heaven will send a great responsibility to the people", and immediately went out to contact the six countries in person, planning to reorganize the "He Zong" and jointly discuss the matter of Qin. . The state of Qin found out this news. For the smug Xiangguo Lu Buwei, it was tantamount to providing him with an excellent opportunity to make contributions and establish a solid foundation.At this time, there is no need for excuses to attack Zhou, just send troops to fight there.

Since Shang Yang's reform, the Qin State has tried its best to advocate the style of "joying to fight and committing suicide", taking military merit as the greatest glory of family status.In a kingdom where the most important thing is to be promoted by military merit, a foreigner like Lu Buwei, who was born as a merchant, would not be able to win the respect of the Qin people if he did not have outstanding military merits, and it would be difficult to secure the position of prime minister.Therefore, Lu Buwei decided to lead the army to conquer the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. When King Zhuang Xiang heard that Lu Buwei was going to lead an army to conquer the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, he was really surprised.Although Lu Buwei is skilled in business and excellent in strategy, he has never been on the battlefield, and he doesn't understand military operations such as formations, shocks, and tactics. Can he take on the important task of leading the army?Soldiers are the most lethal weapon in the world, if they are not handled well, they will cause death!However, Lu Buwei said with confidence: "There are soldiers in the charge and generals in the formation. I only need to have a game of chess in my chest and make the right decision. With my mighty Qin master, it is nothing more than a piece of cake to deal with the mere weak Eastern Zhou. Your Majesty please Don't worry!" King Zhuang Xiang asked again: "If the six eastern countries send elite soldiers and brave generals to join forces to protect Zhou, what will happen?" Lu Buwei said: "Before they take any action, I have already taken that tiny piece of land Besides, when the six kingdoms were strong and prosperous, it would be impossible for us to unite with all their strength, not to mention that they are weak and weak today, and the countries have no time to take care of themselves?"

Therefore, King Zhuang Xiang was relieved. He worshiped Lu Buwei as a general, and led 100,000 elite troops to attack Zhou. After all, Lu Buwei is different from ordinary military generals. He knows the power of attacking the mind and leading public opinion best.When crossing the Yellow River to the east, he issued an impassioned battle essay, talking about the magnificence of the Western Zhou Dynasty, counting the injustice of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, talking about the rotation of the fate of the country, warning the six countries not to act rashly, and winning the sympathy and support of the people... No one showed up, not even a word of solidarity.When the army set foot on the territory of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, they met no resistance at all. They marched all the way to the capital Gongcheng, and did not fight a decent battle. The Duke of Zhou opened the city gate and surrendered.This victory came too easily, and it made Lu Buwei, who was fully prepared, feel too unsatisfactory.Therefore, he issued a military order: "Go ahead and occupy all the cities of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty." All the cities of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, such as Henan, Luoyang, Gucheng, Pingyin, Yanshi, and Goushi, were soon included in Qin's territory.

Compared with those fierce wars during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, Lu Buwei's victory in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was not so glorious, but it had extraordinary and far-reaching historical significance.It was Lu Buwei's fatal blow that the Eastern Zhou Dynasty completely withdrew from the stage of history; Qin State occupied the territory of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and obtained a strategic channel to advance eastward; It is not based on the Eastern Zhou Dynasty that "the only remaining horse leader is the one to follow", but Qin State still gained the legal status of unifying the world conceptually. Since then, Cao Cao's act of "holding the emperor to order the princes" must have gained certain inspiration from Lu Buwei with revelation.

Therefore, when Lu Buwei's class returned to the court, when the mighty and majestic Qin army came back triumphantly, and when the iron hoofs were trampling, and when the prisoner was actually the last king of the Zhou Dynasty who had been in power for more than 800 years, Duke Zhou, King Zhuang Xiang came to the court in person. The outskirts of Xianyang greeted him grandly, and the Qin people were very happy and lively, and Lu Buwei's prestige and power suddenly soared to the height of public recognition.Soon, a group of civil and military ministers gathered around him, and gathered many fanatical followers and admirers.

In order to commend Lu Buwei for his meritorious service in destroying the Zhou Dynasty, and to reward him for his ten years of loyalty, King Zhuang Xiang was the first to open the history of Qin and the history of the feudal lords. It is Wen Xinhou. Lu Buwei, who was born as a businessman, knows how to win people's hearts and unite his followers best. After he was granted the land, he rewarded his servants who were loyal to him and those who made meritorious service, and gave corresponding "material rewards". One hundred stones, more than one or two thousand stones.At the same time, he opened a museum to recruit guests and recruit talents from all over the world.For a time, there were as many as 3,000 guests and nearly 10,000 servants, reaching the highest personal power in Qin and the six kingdoms.

Since then, although Lu Buwei has not led troops to fight in person, he has taken a series of major military actions under his auspices, quelling the Jinyang rebellion, repelling the Allied Forces of the Five Nations, suppressing the rebellion of Lord Chang'an, and attacking Zhao, Wei, and Han. The city plundered land... During the thirteen years when Lu Buwei was prime minister, the Qin State acquired at least fifteen counties, which accounted for nearly half of the total number of counties in the country after reunification.More importantly, the six countries declined rapidly under a series of heavy military blows presided over by Lu Buwei, and were no longer able to unite together.

Based on his own military experience, Lu Buwei wrote many military treatises with reference to relevant military books of the past dynasties. Although they are not comparable to famous military books such as "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Wei Liao Zi", they are also unique and have unique ideological value. Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals Twelve Records included eight of the more influential ones. Of course, Lu Buwei has also suffered defeats.Just three years after King Zhuangxiang succeeded to the throne, Lord Xinling, the prince of Wei State, united Zhao, Han, Chu, and Yan to form a five-nation coalition to counterattack the Qin army. .This was Qin's rare defeat in many years, and it was also the first defeat in Lu Buwei's life.Soon, although Lu Buwei summed up the experience and learned lessons from this defeat, he used alienation tactics to destroy the internal unity of Wei, continued to reuse the defeated general Meng Ao, took the opportunity to command troops to attack Wei, and captured 20 cities at once. Complete victory, however, King Zhuang Xiang died after that defeat and went west. It is very likely that Zi Chu died of a serious disease because of this rare fiasco of the Qin State.However, King Zhuang Xiang was in his prime of life, and died suddenly after only three years on the throne. This had to arouse people's suspicion, and the target of suspicion was naturally directed at Lu Buwei.In just four years, Qin State lost three monarchs in a row. This is a strange event that has never happened in Qin State!Why did the kings die so quickly and quickly after Lu Buwei came to Qin?Could it be that he manipulated and directed this live drama? All kinds of doubts and guesses, gossip, and speculation have been flowing with the long river of history to this day. Even a book quoted Yangzi's "Fa Yan" wrote: "Or ask: 'Is Lu Buwei so wise? Barter with people.' Said: "Who said that the wise man is not Wei! Yiguo Yizong. Lu Buwei's robber, the hero who pierced the wall (wall)! The man who pierced the wall, I saw the carrying stone, but I did not see Luoyang.'" Although there is no explicit indication in the text , but obviously also regards "the loss of three masters in a row" as a suspicious case. If it is possible that Lu Buwei was inseparable from the death of King Xiaowen, then King Zhuang Xiang not only did not pose a threat to him, but was also an umbrella to protect him from wind and rain. King Zhuang Xiang confronted Zhao in his early years and fell into poverty in Handan. He never thought that he would have a chance to ascend to the throne of King Qin. Therefore, he had no great ambitions since he was a child, and he would not work hard to study literature and martial arts.In the long time of more than 20 years, he would not do anything more meaningful except drinking teahouses in depression and often thinking about his thoughts in a daze.When he is on the throne, he won't be very aggressive, and he won't have the talents of the world.The development direction and major measures of the Qin State were all decided by Lu Buwei alone.King Zhuang Xiang managed to achieve the glory of the Ninth Five-Year Supreme and the wealth as beautiful as neon lights. Apart from compensation and enjoyment, he was unwilling to rack his brains and work hard for other things.Everything about him, including his wife Zhao Ji, was given by Lu Buwei. He and Lu Buwei have long been tied to the same "chariot". He will usurp power, seize profits, betrayal and make trouble, so he is bold and willing to let Lu Buwei take on those nerve-wracking national affairs alone.And Lu Buwei is also loyal to him and is in charge of Qin's national destiny. Of course, it is his credit to Lu Buwei if things are done well, and King Zhuang Xiang will take care of them if things go wrong. .In Lu Buwei's hand, he holds an invisible Shangfang sword. He can do whatever he wants, who dares to say no?With such a scene and freedom, is it necessary for him to murder Zichu? In fact, King Zhuang Xiang, who was already relatively weak in physique, had already been hollowed out in the extreme enjoyment of eating delicious food and embracing beauties in the palace.Therefore, there is nothing to be surprised about when encountering accidents and accidental diseases, and going to the end of life irresistibly. In terms of motivation, Lu Buwei has only one possibility to murder Zichu, and that is to let his own son inherit the throne as soon as possible, so as to change the lineage of Qin Ying's family. Would he hastily kill King Zhuangxiang for this abstract idea?In this regard, we still cannot confirm, nor can it be falsified.From this point of view, this is another unsolved mystery in the history of Lu Buwei, Qin State, and even China.