Chapter 92 The fourth quarter assassination

From the state of Yan to the state of Qin, the journey is long.By the time Jing Ke and his party appeared on the streets of Xianyang, it had been Yingzheng's 20th year.Jing Ke and his companions are all athletes and warriors specially selected by Yan State. They are all high-spirited and heroic, which attracted passers-by to stop and watch and admire them. However, after a moment of scenery, when they arrived at the post house, once they settled down, they began to worry again.In the territory of Yan Kingdom, they are all famous people, who they want to meet is just a matter of one word.But here is Qin, no one knows who they are, and no one cares who they are.Jing Ke lived in the post house for more than ten days, but still did not wait for Yingzheng to be summoned, and he was very angry: Sure enough, a weak country has no diplomacy. If Yan is strong and Qin is weak today, Yingzheng dares to neglect me!

Instead of passively waiting, it is better to take the initiative.So Jing Ke asked through the back door to see Meng Jia, the concubine son of Ying Zheng's favorite minister, and bribed him with a thousand pieces of gold, asking him to help speak for Ying Zheng. Meng Jia is Meng Ao's son and Meng Tian's uncle. Although he is from a famous family, he is no different from ordinary people under the temptation of money.He thought about it, as long as he passed a word to Jing Ke, he could get a thousand gold rewards, so why not do it?Besides, Jing Ke brought Fan Yuqi's head and the map of Yan Dukang. Ying Zheng would definitely accept these two generous gifts with a smile.In short, this is a deal that both parties can please, so Meng Jia agreed.However, he thought he was helping Jing Ke, but instead he became Jing Ke's accomplice.

Meng Jia met Yingzheng and said: "The king of Yan is sincerely afraid of the majesty of the king, and dare not raise his troops to rebel against the military officials. The whole country was originally a minister, compared with the princes, and the tribute was like a county, so he had to guard the ancestral temple of the former king. I dare not confess myself in fear, I would like to cut off Fan Yuqi's head, and present the map of Yan Dukang, and seal it in a letter. Overjoyed, I set up nine guests in court clothes and met Jing Ke in Xianyang Palace. Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang entered through the palace gate and passed through layers of courtyards. The higher the terrain, the more majestic the palace.Warriors with halberds, with bright armor, stand opposite each other, and the two halberds intersect to block the way.When the two passed by, the warrior gradually separated the two halberds, and at the same time shouted loudly.After walking down this long road, Jing Ke still had a calm expression on his face, but Qin Wuyang, who was known to be full of courage, had changed color and became weak and panting.

Entering the main hall of Xianyang Palace, I saw the officials of Qin State gathered together and looked at them coldly.These officials, if they come out alone, are all masters who can make the earth tremble three times by stomping their feet casually, and their majesty is self-evident.However, the majesty of all of them combined can't compare to the aloof Ying Zheng.Yingzheng sits on the throne, shining like the sun, and his face is as cold as ice, which is daunting. The courtier said loudly: "The envoy of Yan will come to the palace to see you." The fear that Qin Wuyang had accumulated all the way broke out at this moment, his face was as pale as a dead man, his head was covered with sweat, and he felt uneasy.The courtier yelled, "Why did the envoy change color?"

Qin Wuyang became more and more terrified, thinking that the trick had been revealed, his eyes were in despair, his hands trembled, and with all his strength, he could barely hold the golden letter in his hand. Jing Ke laughed at Qin Wuyang, and then knelt down and said: "The barbarians of the northern tribes have never seen the emperor, so they are shocked. I hope the king will use less of it to make the mission ahead." Jing Ke's calm speech and gentle expression dispelled everyone's suspicion, and the whole hall burst into laughter.Ying Zheng said to Jing Ke, "Take the map held by Wuyang and show it to me." Jing Ke took the map letter from Qin Wuyang and presented it in person. Yingzheng exhibited the map and watched it carefully.The picture is poor but the dagger is seen, Jing Ke's eyes are quick, his left hand grabs Ying Zheng's sleeve, his right hand grabs the dagger, and stabs Ying Zheng's chest.

The flashing dagger approached the target inch by inch.This is a blow that is bound to be won, this is a blow that bets Jing Ke's life, this is a blow that bets the life of Yan Guo. However, Jing Ke underestimated Ying Zheng's martial arts, and Uncle Fuqiu intentionally or unintentionally forgot to tell him that the Ying family has a tradition of martial arts.Back then, King Wu of Qin was able to lift a tripod, comparable to the most famous warriors Ren Bi, Wu Huo, Meng Shuo and others at that time.Young master Cheng Yu is even more superb in swordsmanship and is invincible in the world.

Although Ying Zheng's force cannot be compared with these two in the family, it is far superior to ordinary people.And he was thirty-three years old at the time, in the prime of his life, and his body was in peak condition.Therefore, even though the assassination was unexpected, Ying Zheng reacted quickly, stepped sideways, and stood up abruptly.The force was so fierce that the sleeves were torn. Jing Ke missed a single blow and chased after Ying Zheng.Ying Zheng drew his sword as he fled, but he had no choice but to hold the sword, and was so anxious that he couldn't draw it.Ying Zheng couldn't escape, so he could only walk around the pillar to avoid Jing Ke.

According to the regulations of the Qin Dynasty, the ministers who serve the palace are not allowed to hold soldiers of any size; among the lords, the officials of the guards who hold weapons are all displayed at the palace, and they are not allowed to enter the palace unless they are called.Seeing Ying Zheng being hunted down, all the ministers felt like they were dreaming.There are such ridiculous things in the world!Fortunately, the attendant doctor Xia Wu was quick-witted and threw the medicine bag at Jing Ke.With a wave of Jing Ke's arm, the medicine sachet was shattered.Only then did the officials wake up like a dream, and they rushed forward to fight Jingke with their hands.

Jing Ke was blocked by this and could not approach Yingzheng, and Yingzheng was able to breathe temporarily.The eunuchs on the left and right yelled: "The king bears the sword!" Ying Zheng had given up the idea of ​​drawing the sword, but when he was reminded by this, he pushed the sword behind Jing Ke's back when Jing Ke was blocked by the crowd, and he pulled it out. Yingzheng's saber is Tai Ah's sword, a sharp weapon in the world.With a sword in hand, Ying Zheng turned around to face Jing Ke with great courage.Jing Ke had no way out, so he could only go straight and ignore it.Yingzheng drew out his sword and cut off Jingke's left thigh, like peeling mud.Jing Ke fell to the ground, unable to stand up, but raised the dagger to throw Yingzheng, Yingzheng dodged, the dagger passed by the ear, pierced into the copper pillar, and burst into flames.

Jing Ke lost his dagger and was unarmed.Yingzheng attacked Jing Ke again, the sword hit the flesh, like poking a cloth bag, Jing Ke couldn't resist.Jing Ke received eight sword strikes and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. He leaned on the pillar and laughed, and Jiju pointed at Yingzheng and scolded: "Those who do not succeed in the matter want to live in calamity, and they will get a contract to repay the prince." In Hollywood movies, the police usually don't show up until after everything is done.The officials of Zhulang, like those policemen, waited until Jing Ke had no power to fight back, and then rushed in one after another, and all spears and halberds came out, and Jing Ke died immediately.

Although Jing Ke had been put to death, Ying Zheng was dazzled and sat there for half a day, unable to recover for a long time.Ordinarily, he defeated Jing Ke in a one-on-one battle, and personally killed him. In front of his subjects, he did not lose the dignity of the king, so he should be proud.However, Ying Zheng was not at all happy.The thing is like this: if Jing Ke kills him, he can brag to others everywhere, I killed Ying Zheng, I killed Ying Zheng.And it can be imagined that in his life, Jing Ke would never do anything greater than this.And based on this incident alone, historians will generously record him in the annals of history in the future.But what about Ying Zheng, although he killed Jing Ke, he couldn't brag to others, even if he boasted to others, others would ask disdainfully, who is Jing Ke?Therefore, Ying Zheng had no intention of enjoying such a small victory at all. He just reminisced about the thrill of passing by the god of death just now.His career almost died because of an unknown person.His dream was almost ruined by a shakuhachi dagger.He is the king of Qin, but his life is as fragile as ordinary people.Wouldn't it be a kind of sadness and futility to build unprecedented great achievements and immortal feats on the fragile foundation of life?How wonderful it would be if the widow could live forever! Back then, when Jing Ke was traveling in Handan, Lu Goujian and Jing Ke were arguing for the way, Lu Goujian was angry and scolded him, Jing Ke ran away in anger.When Lu Goujian heard about Jing Ke's assassination, he said privately, "It's a pity, it's a pity that he is not good at stabbing swords!" Tao Yuanming wrote a poem "Ode to Jingke", the last sentence of which reads: "It's a pity that if you don't have enough sword skills, you won't be able to achieve extraordinary feats! Although the person is dead, there is still love for thousands of years. " The comment said: "It's a pity that Jing Ke, who was supported by Crown Prince Dan of Yan for a long time, came to Qin specially. Not refined? There is a poem by the bearded man: Entering the capital of Qin with a dagger alone, is it as brave as swordsmanship? If a strong man doesn't return, he won't succeed, Fan Jun should seek his head! " Generally speaking, Jing Ke's failure to assassinate Ying Zheng was indeed a major reason for his lack of proficiency in swordsmanship.Also in the biographies of assassins, Jing Ke's swordsmanship is far from being comparable to that of Nie Zheng. Let's look at how Nie Zheng assassinated Xia Lei: "When the sword came to Han, Han Xiang Xia Lei sat in the mansion, armed with a halberd and guarded by the guards. Nie Zheng went straight in, and the upper ranks assassinated Xia Lei, causing chaos. Nie Zheng shouted. Dozens of people were killed, because their eyes were cut out from the skin, and their intestines were slaughtered, so they died." I secretly thought that Nie Zheng could be called the number one expert in "Historical Records".However, Nie Zheng's posthumous reputation is far inferior to that of Jing Ke, why?Without him, as an assassin, your reputation and status depend entirely on whom you choose to be your enemy and kill.As Nietzsche said: choose your friends carefully, and choose your enemies more carefully. A scholar dies for a confidant, and a woman tolerates a person who pleases her.Although the treatment given to Jing Ke by Crown Prince Pill is enough to shame today's capitalists to death, is Crown Prince Pill a confidant to Jing Ke?Not necessarily so, in my opinion. Prince Dan took the liver of a thousand-mile horse for Jing Ke, and cut off the hand of a beautiful woman, both of which are cruel and inhumane. If you have nothing to ask for from Jing Ke, how could you be so obedient?Jing Ke's acceptance is not ashamed, which also shows his inhumanity.Jing Ke is not poor, although Prince Dante treats him favorably and generously, to Jing Ke, it is just icing on the cake. It can be seen from this that Jing Ke not only cannot compare with Nie Zheng in swordsmanship, but also in realm.In short, in the relationship between Prince Dan and Jing Ke, you can't feel a kind of bright emotion, but more of a kind of bribe and transaction.Alas, a gentleman respects others with courtesy and loves others with virtue. This trend has been gone for a long time.