The time goes back to around May. At this time, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had just died in Pingyu County. In Luoyang, the capital of Wei State, Wei King Zhao Run also received bad news, that is, Du, the Minister of the Inner Dynasty and the former Minister of Rites,

Your illness is serious and difficult to cure, and you will die soon.

This incident happened on April 27, when King Zhao Run of Wei was testing Prince Zhao Wei's governance skills. Du Lan, the eldest son of Du You, the official of the Ministry of Rites, reported to the inner chamber supervisor that his old father was weak in recent days.

If you have a weak Qi, you may die soon.

When the eunuch Gao He learned about this, he did not dare to neglect it and immediately reported it to King Zhao Run of Wei.

After hearing the bad news from Gao He, Wei King Zhao Run immediately took his fifteen or sixteen-year-old crown prince Zhao Wei to Du You's house to see the old minister one last time.

Du You had two sons, the eldest son Du Lan, who served as a Langguan in the Ministry of Rites, and the second son Du Zhang, who served as an editor in the Imperial Academy. They were both talented people with both political integrity and talent.

Perhaps they had guessed that Wei King Zhao Run would come immediately. His elder brother Du Lan was waiting in front of his old father's bed, while his younger brother Du Zhang was waiting for the emperor outside the palace gate.

Not long after, a group of tiger guards blocked the street, and Du Zhang immediately cheered up.

Sure enough, just a moment later, Wei Wang Zhao Run and Prince Zhao Wei each rode a horse and came to the gate of Du Mansion under the protection of a group of tiger guards.

Before Zhao Run could stand up and dismount, Du Zhang immediately stepped forward to greet him, bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Du Zhang, pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince."

"You don't have to be polite."

Zhao Run turned over and dismounted, waved his hand to signal Du Zhang not to be formal, and immediately asked: "How is the situation of Lao Aiqing?"

When asked about his old father's condition, Du Zhang's face was full of sorrow and he said bitterly: "It was fine some time ago, but recently, my father always complained of chest tightness and ate less and less every day.

For three days, my father said he had no appetite no matter what he ate. Even though my brother personally cooked some meat porridge for my father, my father only tasted a few bites... Well, maybe the time limit is really approaching."

Zhao Run frowned and walked towards the house.

Du Mansion was no stranger to him. Even without his talent for photographic memory, he had visited Du You countless times since he fell ill. He was already familiar with the road and there was no need for Du Zhang to lead the way.

The entire Du Mansion consists of the main residence and two other mansions on the east and west sides. The main residence is Du You's residence. It was given to the Du family by Zhao Run, the acting king of Wei, after the royal capital Luoyang was built.

In fact, the imperial court also rewarded Du Lan at that time, and the two brothers Du Zhang each had a mansion, but the two sons did not want to leave their father. After all, Du You's main wife was deceased, and only his concubine Du Zhang took care of her husband.

Therefore, the two brothers later lived in the east and west courtyards of Du Mansion respectively. It is worth mentioning that although they lived in their old father's mansion, the two brothers believed that they were not qualified to enter and exit from the main entrance, so they each lived in the east courtyard and the west courtyard of Du Mansion.

A small gate was built in the two villas. One was hung with a plaque with the words "Mansion of Du Mansion, Langguan of the Ministry of Rites", and the other was hung with a plaque of "Du Mansion of Hanlin Scholar". Every day, the elder brother entered and exited through the east small gate, and the younger brother came in and out from the west.

There is a small door for entry and exit, but Du You himself only goes through the main entrance of the main house.

In the words of the Du family, this is called etiquette that cannot be overstepped.

When Zhao Run learned about this, he laughed loudly and said, "Like father, like son." I am stubborn and pedantic, and my son is also stubborn and pedantic.

This story of "Du Family's One Mansion and Three Gates" is quite famous in this street and even in the whole of Luoyang.

Arriving in the north room of the main house, Zhao Run led the prince Zhao Wei to Du You's bedroom. Soon he arrived at the bedroom and saw Du Lan, the official of the Ministry of Rites, kneeling in front of his father's bed, looking worriedly.

The father seemed to be sleeping on the bed.

"His Majesty."

Perhaps because he saw Zhao Run, Du Lan immediately stood up and bowed his hands in salute.

"Shh."

Zhao Run put a finger on his lips and made a few silent gestures. Then he walked forward gently and looked at the old man lying on the bed.

When he first met Du You, Zhao Run was only fourteen years old. At that time, Du You, even though he was nearly forty years old, still looked heroic. He was indeed a humble and courteous handsome man. However, those who knew Du You knew that this

Although Mr. Du was the Minister of Rites, his strong character was better than that of Li Huan, the Minister of the Ministry of War at that time. He was a gentleman-type figure who "repayed kindness with kindness and repaid evil with directness."

"One person is only one foot long." Therefore, this gentleman was sometimes humble and courteous to the common people, but sometimes, even foreign envoys were insulted and embarrassed by him.

I remember that when the arrogant and domineering Lord Guling, Xiong Wu, was on a mission to Wei, he once ridiculed the wine in the Wei court as "tasting like horse urine." Du You, who was the Minister of Rites at the time, immediately said, "Maybe it's because of the aftertaste left in the mouth of the monarch."

, so angry that Gulingjun Xiong Wu’s face turned red.

It can be seen from this that Mr. Du is by no means an ordinary good man, and he can be very vicious when he scolds others.

However, the Du You he saw today no longer had the same charm as before. In fact, when Zhao Run saw the old man with a haggard face on the bed, it was hard to imagine that it was the Du You Du Shangshu.

"well……"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zhao Run sighed secretly.

Although Du You's illness was mainly caused by old age and frailty, Zhao Run also had an unshirkable responsibility. Who allowed him to form an inner dynasty just to be lazy and leave all government affairs that should have been signed by him to the inner dynasty?

Woolen cloth.

The rest of the ministers in the inner dynasty were fine, but Du You was indeed the chief minister of the inner dynasty and actually performed the duties of prime minister. It would be strange if he didn't collapse after doing this for many years.

Every time he thought about this matter, Zhao Run felt very guilty towards Du You and even the ministers in the Inner Dynasty. This was also the reason why after Du You fell ill, he would visit him in person or send people to visit him every now and then. This was also the reason why Zhao Run often reminded the ministers in the Inner Dynasty.

Reasons to take care of yourself.

Perhaps because he saw the monarch of the Wei Kingdom sitting on the edge of the bed for a while, while his old father was still asleep on the bed, Du You's eldest son Du Lan stepped forward and called softly: "Father, your Majesty is here."

Zhao Run was unable to stop him.

I don't know if Du You heard the word "Your Majesty" while he was falling asleep. His eyelids moved slightly, but he actually slowly opened his eyes.

At first, his eyes seemed rather cloudy and lackluster. It was not until he looked directly at Zhao Run for a moment that his eyes gradually became brighter.

"His Majesty?"

In Zhao Run's surprised eyes, Du You actually struggled to get up. Shocked, Zhao Run quickly pressed the old man's chest gently and gently, and at the same time said: "Old love, please lie down."

But in the end, with the help of his two sons, Du You forced himself to sit up and lay on the couch leaning against the backrest of the bed.

Immediately, he shouted to his two sons: "Shuzi, who asked you two to disturb His Majesty?"

These words frightened his two sons and quickly knelt down in front of the bed. Thanks to Zhao Run's intercession, Du You drove the two sons out of the dormitory with a straight face.

After watching his two sons leave, Du You cursed "Shuzi" in a low voice, and then said to Zhao Run sternly: "Your Majesty is laughing."

Zhao Run smiled and waved his hand. Although just now, Du Lan and Du Zhang, two ministers who were already in their forties, knelt down in front of their father with a bang. The scene was indeed quite interesting, but it was actually a sign of filial piety.

How could Zhao Run laugh at his performance?

"Your Majesty, I have been away from state affairs for many days, but I don't know what is the current situation of our great Wei Dynasty?"

Du You's first sentence asked him about the current situation of Wei State.

"Ai Qing refers to military affairs, right?" Zhao Run asked.

Du You nodded. After all, his two sons would tell him from time to time about domestic affairs, and his servants would also tell him. However, the situation of Wei's foreign wars was not something his two sons could know in time.

, after all, Du Lan and Du Zhang do not work in Tiance Mansion.

"Ai Qing must have learned that the Wei Dynasty has launched a war against Chu, right?"

Zhao Run said something, and when Du You nodded, he continued: "In general, good news keeps coming. Although the Chu State has trained hundreds of thousands of troops with that stupid military training strategy in the past two years, its foundation is not

Stable, once the Qi State is destroyed, the Chu State will not have much time... What's more, the troops going out to fight will

Among the good generals, such as Yun, Shen Yu, Le Yi, Tian Dan, Sima Shang, Xu Li, Huan Hu, etc., they can actually all stand alone. On the other hand, looking at Chu State, since Xiang Mo killed Yongqiu in the battle, there has been no outstanding general in the country.

He is so handsome, Jingyun and Xiangpei are first-class, but compared to Jingshe and Xiangmo, they are far behind."

Du You nodded happily, and a blush gradually appeared on his originally sallow face, which made Zhao Run secretly scream.

"Then... where is the Qin State?" Du You asked again.

Zhao Run hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to reveal the truth to the old minister: "On the Qin side, the focus of its strategy is currently mainly on the Shu country. However, it seems that the Qin country is also preparing to use troops against the Wei Dynasty.

A few months ago, Gongsun Wuxinhou of Qin State

I have set up troops in "Huayin" and "Gaoling", I am afraid that I want to respond to the Chu State and relieve some of the pressure on the Chu State... However, I have ordered Sima An, Wei Ji, Lian Pio and King Huan to always be alert to Qin's movements.

Even if there is any movement in the Qin State, I, the Wei Dynasty, will know about it immediately."

After a pause, Zhao Run saw that Du You still had a worried look on his face, and said with relief: "We, the Wei Dynasty, are now fully capable of fighting on both sides, fighting Chu and Qin at the same time, and in my opinion, Chu State

Struggling to death, or unable to hold on for a long time, maybe

Before the end of this year, our army of the Wei Dynasty can occupy all the Chu land north of the river. When we cross the river to attack Chu again next year, we may be able to destroy it. At that time, we can mobilize the victorious divisions to attack Qin again, and Qin will

We must not be able to stop our army’s victory.”

Listening to Zhao Run's words, Du You nodded repeatedly and said with a longing look on his face: "Annexing all the countries and unifying the Central Plains...the grand hegemony that was once so far out of reach that I didn't even dare to think about it, I, the Wei Dynasty, will

Actually take it seriously...take it seriously..."

At this point, his tone became choked with sobs, and words such as "ancestors of past kings" and "ancestors of ancestors" could be vaguely heard.

Seeing this, Zhao Run quickly spoke to comfort him. After all, elderly people are most taboo about excessive mood swings, let alone a terminally ill old man like Du You.

After about half a cup of tea, I saw Du You taking a few deep breaths and gradually calming down his excitement.

Immediately, I heard him say with both longing and regret: "I'm afraid I won't be able to see the great hegemony of the Wei Dynasty..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Run was shocked and said quickly: "What did Lao Aiqing say..."

Du You waved his hand, with a bit of bitterness and regret, and said with a smile: "Old minister, I really want to survive this old bone, but this time I really can't... Although I didn't have the opportunity to see my Wei Dynasty at its strongest moment.

, but old

I am already satisfied." After a pause, he added: "In the Ministry of Rites, Zhu Jin is a reliable person. As for the internal dynasty, Mr. Jie Zi has already been able to take charge of his own affairs. I really have nothing to worry about..."

"..." Zhao Run stopped talking.
To be continued...