In less than half a year, Xiaopan has become more mature and knows how to hide her inner feelings.
After leaving the General's Mansion, Xiang Shaolong followed Xiaopan back to the palace. Teng Yi, Ji Yanran and others returned to Wu Mansion. As for the matters behind Mr. Lu's death, they were left to the ceremonial officer sent by Xiaopan to take full responsibility.
When only Xiaopan and Xiang Shaolong were left in the room, Xiaopan slapped the table with his palm and said angrily: "This traitor will not be able to absolve himself of the blame even if he dies."
Xiang Shaolong sat down under him slumped and said in a deep voice: "Why did you send Xu Xian to Shouchun?"
Xiaopan seemed to be afraid of blaming him and explained: "Lu Buwei vigorously stated the strategy of connecting Chu and Qi to attack the three Jins. He insisted that Xu first go to reconcile with the Chu people and asked me to marry Princess Chu as the queen. I wonder if the Queen Mother was poisoned by Miao.
Confused, I also strongly supported Lu Buwei with Wang Wan, Cai Ze and others. I had no choice but to agree. At that time, I just thought that Lu Buwei wanted to transfer Xu Xian away from Xianyang for a period of time so that Lu Gong would not dare to touch him. How could I know that Chu
People are so audacious that they dare to attack and kill the envoys representing me."
Xiang Shaolong felt resentful towards Zhu Ji for the first time and remained silent.
Lu Gong, Xu Xian, and Wang Chi have always been the three pillars of the military, but now only Wang Chi is left. This man turned to Lu Buwei, and the situation he had worked so hard to build was destroyed overnight.
Among the important military ministers, there was Wang Ling who was reluctantly on their side. Others, such as Meng Ao, were directly affiliated with Lu Buwei, and Du Bi had ulterior motives. The situation was indeed more dangerous than it had ever been since he came to Qin.
Xiaopan sighed: "The biggest headache now is the lack of left prime minister who was vacated after Mr. Xu's death. Lu Buwei recommended Wang Wan, and the Queen Mother is also inclined to this decision. It is really difficult for me to object. In terms of qualifications, except for Cai Ze, no one can compare with him."
Wang Wan is even more qualified to be the Prime Minister of the Left."
Xiang Shaolong said: "This matter is of great importance. No matter what means are used, we will never allow the position of left prime minister to fall into the hands of Lu Buwei's people, otherwise the Qin Dynasty will become Lu Buwei's bag within three years.
"
He turned to Xiaopan and said, "Who do you think the prince has in mind?"
Xiaopan said: "If you let me choose, I will make an exception and promote Li Si. This person's talent is ten times better than Wang Wan."
Xiang Shaolong shook his head and said: "In terms of ability, Li Si has no problem at all, but he is not from Qin. Even if no one objects, you should not promote outsiders like this when your position is not stable. This will only alienate Qin people."
After Xiaopan was silent for a while, he nodded and said: "Master is right, I really shouldn't do this now. It would be nice if you came back. Someone can give me some advice."
Xiang Shaolong looked at Xiaopan intently for a while and then said: "You have done a very good job to delay the matter until now."
He stood up, paced back and forth, but his mind was still blank, and murmured: "This candidate must first be from Qin. And he must be someone we can absolutely trust. Another condition is that he is young and ambitious, and will not
It is easy for Lu Buwei to bribe us, but at the same time we need to be very clear about our relationship with Lu Buwei, and we need the support of the military. Where can we find this person?"
Xiaopan sighed: "This person is you, master, but I know you will definitely refuse."
Xiang Shaolong was shocked: "I thought of it, this person is Lord Changping."
After Xiaopan was stunned for a while, he held his head and said, "Is he a little tender?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "Of course he is a bit young, but this move is called building a plank road in the open and crossing Chencang secretly. It is Changping Jun who is doing it openly, but it is Li Si who is doing it secretly. Mr. Changping is a minister of the royal family, and it is difficult for Wang Wan to argue with him.
Miles"
Xiaopan was confused and said: "I understand the saying about building a plank road, but what is Chencang?"
Xiang Shaolong secretly cursed himself for saying the wrong thing again, because this happened many years later during the conflict between Chu and Han. Naturally, Xiaopan didn't know about it, so he made nonsense: "That refers to an old and vacant warehouse that no one noticed.
, in short, Li Si was actually the prime minister, and Lord Changping stepped forward as a cover."
Xiaopan was still hesitating and said distressedly: "But Chang Pingjun's precious sister is very close to Guan Zhongxie. If Weiying marries Guan Zhongxie, will there be any problems?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "In the past, there would have been some problems. But as long as brothers Changping Jun know that Xu Xian was killed by Lu Buwei, it will be useless even if Guan Zhongxie marries his brother's mother."
Xiaopan Bangbi smiled bitterly and said, "Master, please don't tease me. It's not the right time to laugh."
Xiang Shaolong thought of Xu Xian and Lu Gong, but he was also uninterested and said solemnly: "This is only the first step. The second step is to bring Wang Jian back so that he can fight against Wang Chi, Meng Ao and Du Bi. I
I dare to say that he will definitely become the mainstay of our Great Qin army. Coupled with Huan Qi and Wang Ling, he will be even more powerful than Xu Xian and Lu Gong."
Xiaopanhuo stood up and said: "But how will the Queen Mother pass the test? She must have rejected the proposal because Lord Changping is not experienced enough."
Xiang Shaolong was stunned for a moment and said decisively: "I will tell her personally about this matter."
Xiaopan shook her head and said: "The Queen Mother is no longer the mother she used to be. After Miao Du was favored, the Queen Mother became even more obsessed with him, and she felt that I was becoming less and less obedient to her. I think the master's influence on her was not as great as
forward
And Lu Buwei is now trying to win over Miao Du, otherwise the queen mother would not support Lu Buwei."
Xiang Shaolong smiled and said: "Then I'll tell Miao Du that I don't believe he is willing to let Lu Buwei take over the power. Now that I'm back, he can no longer stand alone and have the courage to betray Lu Buwei."
Xiaopan nodded and said: "Just do what the master wants. If all methods fail, just call Lu Buwei and Guan Zhongxie into the palace, and then the master will arrange the manpower to kill them all with random arrows and quick swords."
Then give them a random charge to clean up the mess."
Xiang Shaolong was startled and said: "This is a bad strategy. Most of the troops are now in Meng Ao's hands. No one knows what consequences this will bring. Moreover, Lu Buwei's spies are everywhere in the palace.
, the only one who suffers if it is not good is us."
Xiaopan sighed for a day and was speechless.
Xiang Shaolong thought of Prince Dan and asked about this person.
Xiaopan said nonchalantly: "Lu Buwei invited him to the new Prime Minister's Mansion and detained him. Now his life and death are uncertain, and his subordinates are under house arrest in the hotel and are not allowed to step out of the door for fear of evil.
Someone was responsible for taking care of it. I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I had too many things to worry about, so I never asked anything about it.”
Xiang Shaolong looked at him in astonishment, feeling chilled in his heart.
Qin Shihuang was Qin Shihuang after all, and he was more utilitarian than benevolent. Just looking at Xiao Pan's expression, one could tell that he didn't mind Lu Buwei killing Prince Dan in order to remove one of the obstacles to unifying the world.
Thinking of this, I know that if I want to impress Xiaopan and get him to help in this matter, I can only benefit by doing so.
After thinking for a while, he sighed and said: "If the prince does this, he will make others more ambitious and destroy his own prestige."
Xiaopan was stunned and said: "Is there even a problem with this?"
Xiang Shaolong said sternly: "If the prince ignores this matter, then the prestige that the prince has worked so hard to build in Tianlie will be wasted, and everyone will know who is now the master of Xianyang.
It’s that stinking father-in-law, Lu Buwei. It’s said that the two countries are fighting and the envoys are not killed. Now, people have come all the way to pay homage to your royal father, but Lu Buwei has forced him to take him away, and you have to bear the crime. In the future, the six eastern countries will still believe it.
Are you an unethical person?"
Xiaopan said in astonishment: "Why is what the master said so similar to what Li Si said? It seems to make sense. But Prince Dan might have been killed by Lu Buwei."
Xiang Shaolong shook his head and said: "How could Lu Buwei be willing to kill Prince Dan so easily? This matter is clearly aimed at me, and on the other hand, it will allow the damn Tian Dan to deal with the Yan Kingdom."
After a pause, he coldly snorted: "Mo Ao was killed in public by me. He went to the old thief's Commander Xi and even more damaged his face. How could such a competitive person like him take such a breath? But he was so miserable.
The only way to directly deal with me is to have Prince Dan take action. It would be best if I forcefully break into the prime minister's house and ask for someone, then he can make plans to kill me or punish me for the crime."
Xiaopan said calmly: "But this fact is secretly supported by the Queen Mother, because Lu Gong and Xu Xian have raised objections many times, but they were suppressed by the Queen Mother and Lu Thief. Hey, it's hard for me to handle it too."
Xiang Shaolong had a severe headache. Xiaopan was right. After not seeing each other for more than half a year, it seemed that Zhu Ji had really changed a lot.
Xiaopan said: "Starting from tomorrow, the master will attend the morning court every day. Alas, fewer and fewer people dare to oppose Lu Buwei."
After a pause, he then said: "Should we bring Marquis An Gu back?"
Xiang Shaolong shook his head and said: "Now that all the heavy troops of our Great Qin are concentrated at the border, 70% fall into the hands of Meng Ao, Wang Chi and Du Bi, and the rest fall into the hands of Wang Jian and An Guxi. If they are all transferred
If we come back, we will have no external support, so we must not do it."
He asked casually: "What size did Huan Qi's response force come out?"
Xiaopan replied readily: "Huan Qi and Xiao Ben personally went to various places to select talents, and now they have formed a new army of nearly ten thousand people. Li Si found a name for this army, called "Reinforcement Division", which sounds like
It’s passable.”
He snorted again: "But Lu Buwei has made many difficulties for Huan Qi. On the surface, he agreed to everything, but in fact he was violating it. I wanted to promote Li Si to a higher level and become a Sima doctor in the Military and Political Council, but the Queen Mother and Lu Buwei blocked him.
Even if I am unable to move, Master must find a way for me."
Xiang Shaolong felt a huge headache. Without Xu Xian and Lu Gong, his opponent had Meng Ao and Wang Chi. He knew nothing about military use and governance. How could he defeat Lu Buwei?
Thinking of this: I thought for a moment that if I could win over Meng Ao, all the problems would be solved. Although this matter is difficult, because Lu Buwei once had the intention of killing Meng Ao's two sons, it is not impossible to instigate him.
, but it must be done by the two brothers Meng Wu and Meng Tian. I was struck by an idea and had already made a calculation in my mind.
Xiang Shaolong concluded: "The most urgent task for the time being is to get the position of Zuo Xiangguo into our own hands, and at the same time entrust Wang Jian with important tasks to replace Meng Ao and Wang Chi. As for the matter of Prince Dan, I will take care of it."
Already."
After discussing some more details, especially regarding the Prince Pill, Xiang Shaolong left Xiaopan's house.
Stepping out of the Zhaimen, I didn't know where to go for a moment.
What he wanted most was to return to Wu Mansion to see Zhao Ya, but morally he should go to express condolences to Prince Dan's subordinate Xu Yize and others. But the key person who should be seen the most was Miao Du, so as to incite him to join forces to deal with Lu Buwei.
.
When my heart was in a state of ups and downs, Li Si's voice rang in my ears: "Master Xiang"
Xiang Shaolong came back to his senses and said with great joy: "Brother Li"
Li Si pulled him and led him through the side door to the imperial garden.
It was late afternoon, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and a heavy snowstorm seemed to be brewing.
When they arrived at a small pavilion, Li Si let him go and sighed: "The thief Lu is really powerful. After a few moves, we will be at a disadvantage again. Have you killed Tian Dan?"
Xiang Shaolong nodded.
Li Si's eyes immediately shone and he said excitedly: "This matter will be of great benefit to us, Da Qin, in unifying the world, and Lu Buwei can no longer support each other with Tian Dan to control the six eastern countries."
Xiang Shaolong took the opportunity and asked: "Other than Meng Ao and Wang Chi from the military, what other strength does Lu Buwei have now?"
Li Si said dejectedly: "Compared to the above, the army is Lu Buwei's weakest link. At least in Xianyang City, our strength is superior to his."
Xiang Shaolong frowned and said, "I'm very confused about the mechanism of the imperial court. Brother Li, can you explain a little bit."
Li Si looked at him in astonishment for a while, then nodded and said: "If you really want to explain it in detail, I'm afraid Mr. Xiang won't have to go home tonight, but in simple terms, there are three main levels. Of course, the highest level is
The political prince, plus minor auxiliary ministers like me, have become the inner court, but this inner court is already very complicated."
Xiang Shaolong said: "I know the inner court's opposition best. Brother Li, there is no need to explain. Below the crown prince, there are the right prime minister and the left prime minister. What is the difference in their powers?"
Li Si patiently explained: "This started with Shang Yang's reform during the reign of Duke Xiao. When the king established the concubine chief and Daliang Zao, to King Huiwen, at that time, Shang Yang's Daliang Zao and concubine chief combined military and political affairs, and his achievements shocked the king.
King Huiwen was afraid of it, so he split Shang Yang's chariot in the city. From then on, he concentrated power on the king, and then appointed the prime minister to replace the chief minister, and the general to replace Daliang. The government and the army were separated. The prime minister was the leader of all officials.
Later, because the prime minister's duties were too heavy, he was divided into the right prime minister and the left prime minister. Generally speaking, the right prime minister was in charge of government and the left prime minister was in charge of the army. Therefore, the former was like the former chief of the common people, while the latter was created by Daliang."
Xiang Shaolong felt his head grow bigger when he heard this, and asked: "Then why does Lu Buwei always have to take care of the army's affairs?"
Li Si smiled bitterly and said: "It is difficult to separate military and political affairs. Since the left and right prime ministers directly assist the monarch, they naturally have to consult their opinions on anything decided by the monarch. Now that the political prince is still young, and the queen mother is personally in charge of the court,
The situation is naturally more complicated."
Xiang Shaolong felt even more headache and frowned: "Then how do these two prime ministers operate?"
Li Si calmly replied: "The left and right prime ministers govern the country through the four houses. The four houses are military affairs, justice, taxation and public affairs. They are controlled by four ministers: Sima, Sikou, Situ and Sikong. Currently, the left prime minister is in charge of military affairs.
and public affairs, and the right prime minister is in charge of justice and taxation. Mr. Lu was originally Sima, but now this position has been vacated."
When Xiang Shaolong was about to ask again, a chamberlain came to the outside of the pavilion and saluted: "The Queen Mother has invited Mr. Xiang."
Xiang Shaolong and Li Si looked at each other and felt bad.
The heavy snow started to fall now.
In the Queen Mother's Palace, Princess Zhu sits high on the platform, four maids and four chambermaids stand on the left and right sides, while the imperial guards line up at the palace gate.
Xiang Shaolong knew something was wrong when he saw this kind of battle. On the one hand, Zhu Ji made it clear that she did not want to talk to him privately, but on the other hand, she showed that she was evil-minded, so she did not want to meet Xiang Shaolong alone.
Dragon, avoid causing Miao Du's displeasure.
Sure enough, after Xiang Shaolong Shi Liping died, Zhu Jifeng's eyes were cold and she shouted coldly: "Master Xiang, don't you take it seriously that I, the Queen Mother, have been gone for more than half a year and haven't come back to ask for greetings from the Ai family.
"
Xiang Shaolong knew that the only way to overcome strength with softness was to use softness to control strength. He sighed and said, "The Queen Mother calms down. Just because..."
Zhu Ji interrupted him and said: "No matter how you explain it, it will not calm the anger of the Ai family. Xiang Shaolong, tell the Ai family what the hell you and the Crown Prince are causing. You are so secretive about everything and keep the Ai family in the dark."
.That day, Lord Tianlie Gaoling rebelled. You obviously got the news in advance, why didn’t you let the Ai family know?"
Only then did Xiang Shaolong realize that she wanted to settle old scores, and said with a wry smile: "Even if I have thousands of words to say, with so many eyes and ears, it would be difficult for me to tell the Queen Mother one by one. How can I tell the Queen Mother directly?
How is the Crown Prince, how is Prime Minister Lu, and how is Prime Minister Xu?"
After Zhu Ji looked at him intently for a while, she softened and sighed: "Everyone, please get out of here. Anyone who dares to eavesdrop will be killed without mercy."
In the blink of an eye, all the attendants and guards left, and all the side doors of the palace were closed.
Zhu Ji, who was sitting in the Luan seat, sighed again, and her voice changed to Judo: "I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything to you, so tell me"
Xiang Shaolong took two steps forward, calmed down, and simply sat down on the edge of the steps, saying calmly: "Lu Buwei killed Xiang Xu and harmed Mr. Lu. If he can kill me again, it will be his turn next."
It’s Master Miao.”
Zhu Ji saw that he was so rude that he was sitting on the steps with his back to her. She was about to scold him, but she didn't know that Xiang Shaolong's words were shocking and she said in shock: "What did you say?"
Xiang Shaolong buried his face in his hands and said in a deep voice: "Any obstacle that blocks Lu Buwei's path to power will be kicked away by him sooner or later. Except for himself, everyone can be sacrificed. The Queen Mother should be better than me."
I know this better."
Zhu Ji's breathing became heavy, and after a while she said: "The Chu people sent Chun Shenjun's superiors to plead guilty for Xu Xian's death. What does this matter have to do with Lu Buwei? If you don't make it clear, the Ai family will not forgive you.
you."
Xiang Shaolong got up in anger, turned around fiercely, glared at Zhu Ji and said: "Killing Xu Xian is of no use to Lord Chun Shen. If it weren't for Tian Dan's instigation and Lu Buwei's support behind him, promising all kinds of benefits, Chu people would
How dare you act so boldly? Why don't you let me go? Find someone to kill me and see if I, Xiang Shaolong, even frown."
Zhu Ji's eyes were full of murderous intent, but after meeting his eyes for less than a moment, she was immediately defeated, lowered her gaze, and said softly: "I'm talking too harshly, but I have such a big temper."
Xiang Shaolong stopped immediately when he saw that he was good, but he started talking and said decisively: "Now that we have Prime Minister Zuo, everyone is jealous. If we fall into Lu Buwei's hands again, not only will I, Xiang Shaolong, die without a burial place, but also the Queen Mother's side."
Not many people in the world can live a long life."
Zhu Ji said softly: "If Shaolong is willing to be the Prime Minister of Zuo, I will definitely support him strongly."
Xiang Shaolong responded calmly, smiled and shook his head: "It's not me, it's Lord Changping."
Zhu Ji said in astonishment: "How can Lord Changping convince the public? Why don't you consider the royal tomb?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "Because we need Wang Ling to take charge of the Military and Political Council instead of Lu Gong so that he can control Wang Chi, Meng Ao, Du Bi and others. Although Lord Changping is a little short of age, he is a member of the royal family, so let him
Being the prime minister is actually the best way to stabilize the minds of the Qin army. Don't forget, Queen Mother, that two of the three tiger generals of the Western Qin Dynasty have been eliminated. Not only did Wang Chi turn to Lu Buwei, but his current momentum is not as good as Meng Ao. Every time there are people who follow the trend of the Yan Dynasty in this world, people will
When everyone leans towards Lu Buwei, will the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince still have a foothold?"
After Zhu Ji stared at him for a while, she said dejectedly: "Why can't I always convince you? But this matter is not trivial. I have to think about it. Please step back."
Xiang Shaolong knew that she was going to discuss with Miao Du, and he sighed in his heart, but he had no choice but to go away in despair.