Chapter 51 The Legend of Jing Ke

Jing Ke is a native of Wei. When people mention Jing Ke, they will think of him as a swordsman.In fact, Jing Ke has two hobbies, "good at reading and fencing", and he once lobbied Wei Hou, hoping to use his statecraft to make the Wei country prosperous and strong.However, Marquis Wei did not accept his suggestion, so he left Weiguo and began to wander around the world. Jing Ke's temper is a little weird. When he passed Yuci in Zhao State, he once talked about swordsmanship with Gai Nie, a famous local swordsman.When the two of them were talking excitedly, Gai Nie frowned suddenly, and glared at Jing Ke sideways.Jing Ke immediately stopped talking, turned around and left.Gai Nie's disciple was waiting on the sidelines, not knowing what had happened, and asked Gai Nie if he wanted to invite Jing Ke back.

Gai Nie shook his head and said, "Just now I was actually trying swordsmanship with him in my mind. He made a very frivolous move, which showed his flaws, so I gave him a glare, and he ran away. You can go to him Take a look at where he lives, based on what I know about him, he should have left Yuci." The disciple was skeptical, and ran to the inn where Jing Ke was staying, and saw that Jing Ke was no longer there.According to the owner of the shop, Jing Ke came back in a hurry, paid the rent, packed his luggage, and left in a carriage without knowing what happened. The disciple went back and said to Gai Nie, Gai Nie said: "Sure enough, as I expected, he didn't want to deal with me anymore because I gave him a stare!"

Similar things happened in Handan again.In Handan City, Jing Ke once played chess with a martial arts master named Lu Goujian. Because the two were arguing about who should go first, Lu Goujian yelled at Jing Ke angrily.People thought that Jing Ke was about to draw his sword to kill someone, but who knew that Jing Ke just got up silently and left without saying a word, and the two never saw each other again. After coming to the country of Yan, Jing Ke fell in love with eating dog meat, and had a heated fight with a butcher who killed dogs.There is also a local musician named Gao Jianli who often goes to that dog meat shop.The three of them ate dog meat and drank a few bowls of strong wine. Gao Jianli played the building (an ancient musical instrument with thirteen strings, pronounced by striking the strings with a bamboo ruler), and Jing Ke sang loudly to the sound of the building, sometimes high-pitched and sometimes low-pitched. , sometimes joyful, sometimes mournful, became a scene on the street.

Tian Guang was attracted by Jing Ke's singing and saw that he was not a mediocre person, so he made friends with him and became a close friend. After hearing Tian Guang's story about Jing Ke, Prince Dan already knew what he was planning, which was to use Jing Ke to assassinate Ying Zheng.This idea is very suitable for Prince Dan, first, it comes quickly; second, it can avenge Prince Dan.As for whether it can protect the country of Yan from the invasion of the country of Qin, it is not within the scope of Prince Dan's consideration. Prince Dan said to Tian Guang at that time: "I want to know Jing Ke, please introduce me."

Tian Guang said, "Obey." When Tian Guang left the Prince's Mansion, Prince Dan came to the door and repeatedly urged: "The conversation you and I just had is related to state secrets, please don't disclose it to anyone." Tian Guang lowered his head and smiled, "Of course." When Tian Guang saw Jing Ke, he said, "We have a very good relationship. Everyone in the country of Yan knows it. Now the prince only hears people say that I am capable, but he doesn't know that I am too old to move. He hopes that I will contribute to the country. , I didn’t see you at that time, and recommended you to him. I hope you don’t see him too, and go to see him as soon as possible.”

Jing Ke said: "No problem, I am willing to do something for Yan." Tian Guang said again: "As the saying goes, elders should not be suspicious when they do things. At my age, I am very cautious in everything I do, but just now the crown prince repeatedly asked me not to divulge secrets, so he is worried about me. ! After you see the prince, please say that I am dead and will not reveal any secrets." After Tian Guang finished speaking, he drew his sword and killed himself. Jing Ke originally thought that the so-called doing something for the country of Yan means leading troops, fighting wars, or making suggestions and sending envoys to princes.Seeing Tian Guang lying in a pool of blood, he felt that this matter was not that simple.

When Jing Ke saw Prince Dan, he told him that Tian Guang was dead, and told Prince Dan the last words of Tian Guang.After hearing this, Prince Dan bowed twice towards the door, knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.After a long time, Prince Dan regained his strength and said to Jing Ke: "The reason why I told Mr. Tian at that time was to ensure the success of the event. I didn't expect him to commit suicide just to show his heart. How could this be my original intention!" After Jing Ke sat down, Prince Dan left the seat again, came to Jing Ke and bowed down, saying: "Thank you, Mr. Tian, ​​for allowing me to express my heart in front of a hero like you. God pity Yan and don't want to abandon it." Us!"

The more humble Prince Dan is, the more Jing Ke understands that he has embarked on a road of no return.He sat quietly, listening to Prince Dan crying with snot and tears: "The Qin State is greedy now, and it will not give up until it destroys all the countries and turns all the princes of the world into their slaves. "The state of Qin has already annexed South Korea, captured the king of Han, and approached the state of Zhao to the north. The state of Zhao cannot resist, and must surrender to the state of Qin. As soon as the state of Zhao surrenders, the disaster will come to the state of Yan immediately. Qin is strong and Yan is weak. , is completely different. Even if we try our best, we cannot resist Qin's attack. The princes are afraid of Qin and will not help us. According to my idea, if we can find a warrior, send him as an envoy Qin State, lure the King of Qin with huge profits, and the King of Qin will give us a chance to get close to him. In that case, we can hijack him and force him to return the land that the invaded princes took, just like Cao Mo hijacked Duke Huan of Qi back then. This is the best result.

"If the hijacking fails, then kill him. Qin's generals are abroad. Once there is turmoil in the country, there will be suspicion among their monarchs and ministers. If we take the opportunity to cooperate, we will definitely be able to defeat Qin. "Of course, this is just my idea. Since I haven't been able to find a suitable candidate, I haven't implemented it. Now please think about it for me and see who is more suitable." When Prince Dan said this, he bowed to Jing Ke, lowered his head and listened respectfully to Jing Ke's high opinion.Jing Ke, on the other hand, was like a stone man and didn't speak for a long time.Seeing that Prince Dan was waiting impatiently, Jing Ke said slowly, "This is a major national event! I have limited abilities, and I'm afraid I can't take on such a big task."

Upon hearing this, Prince Dan quickly bowed down again, lying on the ground and refusing to get up.After a while, Jing Ke sighed and said: "The reason why Mr. Tian Guang committed suicide was not to express his heart to you, but to inspire me to accept important tasks. I have known him for many years, and he has always taken good care of me, a foreigner. Now that he is not stingy with his own life, how dare I steal my life alone? Thanks to the love of the prince, then I will accept your mission without compromising my capabilities!" Prince Dan was overjoyed, so he asked the King of Yan to congratulate Jing Ke as Shangqing and reward him with a luxurious mansion.Prince Dan visited Jing Ke's mansion every day to greet him, and sent him various rare treasures from time to time.As for the chariots, horses, beauties, etc., let Jing Ke enjoy them to his heart's content. In short, everything is according to Jing Ke's wishes, and he only wants to be happy.

After a period of time pampered like this, Jing Ke didn't intend to leave, and Prince Pill couldn't be bothered to urge him.At this time, Qin State killed Li Mu with countermeasures, and Wang Jian's army destroyed Zhao State, captured Zhao Qian, annexed all the land of Zhao State, and then marched northward to the southern border of Yan State. Prince Dan couldn't hold his breath, so he ran to Jing Ke and said, "Qin army will cross Yishui sooner or later, when Jicheng falls, even if I want to serve you like this for a long time, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it." This has already been said quite harshly, and the implication is: "Don't patronize and enjoy, it's time to work!" Jing Ke replied: "Even if you don't tell me, I still want to report to you about my work. These days, I have been thinking about one thing. Even if I go to Qin, if there is no gift that the King of Qin is interested in, it will be difficult to get close to me." He. I heard that the King of Qin is offering a reward of thousands of dollars to arrest General Fan Yuqi. If we can bring General Fan’s head and a map of the Dukang area of ​​​​Yan State to the King of Qin, he will be very happy. It is a pleasure to receive me, and only then will I have the chance to serve you." Prince Dan shook his head again and again: "General Fan came to me because he had nowhere to go. I can't bear to use my private affairs to harm others. Please think of other ways!" Jing Ke didn't force it.After Prince Dan left, he found Fan Yuqi privately and asked him a question: "Do you want to take revenge on King Qin?" Fan Yuqi looked up to the sky and sighed, and said with tears in his eyes: "The King of Qin killed my parents and clan, and bought my head with a lot of money. Every time I think of their tragic experience, it hurts to the bone. Do you think I want to seek revenge from the King of Qin?" Jing Ke said: "But the King of Qin is very powerful, and your revenge is not so easy to avenge." Fan Yuqi was silent for a while, then said, "Do you have any good ideas?" Jing Ke said, "Yes, but I want to borrow something from you." Fan Yuqi said: "As long as you can avenge me, even if you want my head, you can take it!" After hearing this, Jing Ke fixed his eyes on Fan Yuqi, took a deep breath, and said, "I want your head. If I take your head to the King of Qin, I will be able to get close to him. At that time, my left hand Grab his sleeve and stab his chest with a sharp knife in your right hand. This will not only avenge you, but also protect Yan from being bullied. I wonder if General Fan is willing?" Fan Yuqi laughed loudly, immediately unbuttoned his clothes, exposed an arm, and sighed: "This is exactly what I wished for day and night, and today it can finally come true!" As Fan Yuqi said, he took a step back and drew his sword.When Prince Dan got the news, he rushed over in a carriage, lying on his body and weeping bitterly.But the man was already dead, and there was nothing he could do to cry, so he chopped off Fan Yuqi's head, put it in a wooden box, sealed it with a seal, and handed it to Jing Ke. At the same time, a dagger was also handed over to Jing Ke.This dagger is the masterpiece of Mrs. Xu, a famous craftsman in Zhao State. It cuts iron like mud and is extremely sharp.Prince Dan spent a hundred taels of gold to buy it, and ordered the witch doctor to boil it with poison, and then used it to test the living people. As long as a little skin was scratched, they would die immediately. Prince Dan also arranged an assistant for Jing Ke, named Qin Wuyang.This person had killed someone in broad daylight when he was only thirteen years old, and no one around him dared to look directly at him.Prince Dan thought that he was brave and brave, so he recruited him to his sect and made him a warrior.According to Prince Dan's idea, assassinating the King of Qin is a matter of no return and requires great courage. In case Jing Ke temporarily frightened, Qin Wuyang might be able to stand on top as a substitute. Jing Ke took Fan Yuqi's head and Mrs. Xu's dagger, but still had no intention of leaving.Prince Dan politely asked about the itinerary, he looked into the distance and said, "I'm waiting for someone, someone who can go to Qin with me." Prince Dan said: "But I have already arranged Qin Wuyang for you." Jing Ke said: "Wait a little longer. Assassinating the King of Qin is a major event, and we must not miss it. If we can get the cooperation of this person, we can be sure that nothing will go wrong." A few days later, Jing Ke had already packed his luggage, but the person he was waiting for never showed up.Prince Dan felt that Jing Ke was afraid, so he came to the door and urged, "Time is running out, do you want to go? Or, how about we let Qin Wuyang go alone first?" Jing Ke was furious: "Do you need to urge me like this? Since I promised you to go, I never thought about coming back alive. It's just that I took such a dagger to the unpredictable state of Qin, how can I do it if I don't prepare well?" Okay? I'm just waiting for my partner to get things done neatly. Since you think I'm too slow, I'll go now!" Jing Ke said, and set off.