The extremely vicious soldiers of the Yan State surrounded a town. Following the general's orders, the town looked very big, but in fact there were not many people, and the walls were very low. It was not even as good as a horse to serve as a prisoner in the town.
After discovering the soldiers of the Yan Kingdom around him, Meng Meng's face changed drastically. He hurriedly grabbed the clerk and walked towards them. The leader was a young nobleman who brought more than a hundred soldiers.
The prison gate came to him, bent down and saluted, and paid homage to the nobleman. However, the young nobleman did not return the salute. He pointed to the village and asked, "How many guests does the old thief Li-belly have?" The prison gate trembled.
Just now he whispered: "Prime Minister Li has no retainers...only three retainers." The young noble grabbed his neck fiercely, widened his eyes, and said angrily: "There is no Prime Minister Li, do you know?
?”
The prison gate gritted his teeth and said, "Even though Prime Minister Li was defeated, he had great achievements."
The nobleman smiled and pushed him. Two soldiers immediately grabbed him. The nobleman waved his hands and said, "Watch him. The rest of you will follow me in!" After that, he led a hundred soldiers to charge.
Entering the village, soldiers who were familiar with the local area led the way. Soon, they came to a simple courtyard. The soldiers knocked on the door. After a while, two old retainers opened the door.
.
The fierce soldiers filed in and poured into the courtyard.
The two old retainers scolded them and were taken aside by the soldiers. The nobles also walked into the courtyard. The courtyard looked a bit shabby, not quite like the residence of a former prime minister. There were even vegetables grown in the residence, and
Hearing the noise in the courtyard, a scribe came out of the inner room. He was tall and his face was quite similar to Li Fu. He walked out of the inner room. He looked at the soldiers around him and remained silent.
Come down.
"Is this an order from the Lord?" the scribe asked calmly, stroking his beard.
The young nobleman nodded with a cold face.
The scribes called him Li Wen. He was the eldest son of Li Fu. As early as the news of Li Fu's death in battle, General Lejian came to see him. General Lejian said: Li Fu was defeated by Zhao Kuo with thousands of men.
He lost countless soldiers and failed to save the food he carried. Your Majesty will not forgive him. Please leave the State of Yan. However, Li Wen did not leave. Although his father was defeated, he also established a good foundation for the State of Yan.
A lot of credit, but it won’t hurt the family, right?
Later, as expected, King Yan did not pursue the case. General Lejian sent someone to tell him: The reason why the king did not pursue the case was that the Qin people had not yet been defeated. At the beginning, Li Fu attacked Zhao because of the Qin people's agreement. If Qin was defeated, the king would
You will definitely hold me accountable.
But Li Wen still didn't leave, because he still had his mother at home, and her mother was very old and couldn't leave at all in the cold winter.
Now, General Lejian can no longer come to help because he is under house arrest. He heard about the death of his father and wanted to return to the State of Zhao to worship. Someone told King Yan that Lejian rushed to the State of Zhao to defect to the State of Zhao.
, abandoned the Yan Kingdom, the King of Yan was furious, but he did not dare to kill Lejian directly, so he sent people to surround his mansion and not allow him to go out.
Li Wen looked at the young nobleman in front of him, leaned down and bowed, and said: "There are only two people in my family, my mother and I. My son died in the war in Liaodong. My wife died of grief because of this incident. My mother is seven years old this year."
You can kill me when you are more than ten years old, and please forgive her, okay?" The nobleman did not hesitate, he nodded and said: "Okay."
Li Wen returned home and told his trembling old mother that he was rushing to the capital to serve as an official. The emperor sent someone to greet him and asked her not to worry. Then he said goodbye to her and followed the nobles to leave the countryside.
As soon as he reached the door, he saw the prison door with a bruised nose and face. He bowed towards the prison door and said: "My mother is alone at home with no one to take care of her. If you can, please help take care of her... I will do it for you."
You tie a rope to tie up your enemy and repay your kindness."
On this day, Li Fu's son, his retainers, including his distant relatives, were all killed. There was no longer a living Li family in Yan State, and their crime was treason and collaboration with the enemy. The court was close to Li Fu
The ministers were also severely punished, and all strategies and policies designated by Li Fu in the Yan Kingdom were abolished. Even the altar set up by the countrymen for Li Fu was destroyed.
The King of Yan was very angry. It was Li Fu who repeatedly asked for troops, which brought such disaster to the Yan State. A hundred thousand troops could not defeat thousands of old and weak people. This was simply a shame for the Yan State! If it weren't for
The ministers tried to dissuade him, and King Yan almost wanted to drive all the Qi people back to Qi State, just because Li Fu was a Qi person!
........
Sitting in the courtyard, Lejian lowered his head and felt depressed. These days, he often dreamed of his father. His father was in the State of Zhao, and he was in the State of Yan. In fact, there were not many opportunities for father and son to meet each other, only once a year.
I saw him once or twice. During these years, Lejian was busy conquering the lands in Liaodong, opening up land, and adding household registrations. For more than a year, he had no time to meet his father. He also did not expect that his father would leave so suddenly.
In his dream every night, he dreamed of that tall man, letting himself ride on his neck, and leading him around the courtyard. He had forgotten all these things, and his memory was very blurry, but after his father passed away
After that, these memories kept coming back, as clear as yesterday. He remembered his father teaching him how to use a sword, and he remembered the pony his father gave him.
He thought of the little boy and his tall father decades ago.
Every day, Lejian washes his face with tears. It seems that these tears can never be shed. Leyi used to be very strict with him. No matter what it is, Leyi wants him to do the best, keep a straight face, and make a little mistake.
He would severely punish himself for any mistakes he made. When Le Jian just grew up, he hated his father very much and only wanted to stay by his mother's side. However, when he himself had a son, when he looked at the little ball of life
, when he felt that he could die for him, he understood Le Yi somewhat.
His son gradually grew up, and he was very strict with his son. Whenever his son hid beside his mother and showed his anger towards him, Le Jian felt a little bitter in his heart. At that moment, he completely understood Le Yi
.
Unfortunately, he seemed to understand too late. When father and son met, he could no longer act coquettishly with Le Yi. He could only apologize for his mistakes when he was young. Le Yi was often stunned, and then said casually: I can't remember anymore.
Already.
Lejian's son, Uncle Le, is now also locked up in the courtyard with his father.
Whenever he saw his father crying, Uncle Le felt very sad. He had never seen his father look so sad. Le Jian was sitting in the courtyard, and Uncle Le came back to the courtyard with a smile from the courtyard gate.
He was not very old and was a brave young man. He walked to his father's side, sat down and said seriously: "The soldiers said that your Majesty executed the Li family in the country, whether they were generals or officials.
, and even distant relatives were not spared..."
Le Jian glanced at him without saying anything.
Uncle Le looked around and then said: "Father, Li Fu ruled Yan throughout his life, opened up thousands of miles and added millions of people. But just because of his one mistake, the King of Yan killed all his people. What do you do for Yan?" The country has been fighting for many years and has been invincible, but because of the villain's frame-up, he does not allow you to go back to worship the great father, and even imprisons us. Is this king, who violates human ethics and disregards friendship, worthy of our service?"
Le Jian frowned and looked at his son, still speechless.
Uncle Le continued: "Why don't we return to the Kingdom of Zhao? I heard that King Zhao is a king who loves talents. He will definitely respect you and will not treat you rudely like King Yan. Moreover, there is a king like Ma Fu in the Kingdom of Zhao. A benevolent and righteous gentleman, I heard that Mr. Ma Fu is deeply favored by King Zhao. Even if there are villains who falsely accuse us again, Mr. Ma Fu will definitely help us to avoid disaster. I heard that Mr. Xinling of Wei also followed Mr. Ma Fu to Zhao. country."
"Okay, no need to say more." Le Jian said calmly.
"Father, didn't you say that my eldest father is very close to Ma Fujun, and my eldest father also spoke highly of Ma Fujun in his letters? King Zhao has also sent envoys many times to invite you to the Kingdom of Zhao. Why should we stay in the Kingdom of Yan? , follow such a mediocre monarch and associate with those little people?"
"No need to say more!" Le Jian said, turned around and returned to the room. Seeing his father leaving, Uncle Le sighed helplessly, lowered his head in frustration, and returned to the side room to rest, lying on the bed. He tossed and turned, but couldn't fall asleep. He was still thinking about leaving Yan Kingdom. There were two people that young Uncle Le admired the most. One was his eldest father Le Yi, and the other was now Ma Fujun.
His reputation as Lord Ma Fu could be heard in the Yan Kingdom. Although the King of Yan did not allow everyone to discuss this person, his deeds still spread. Especially after he defeated Bai Qi, his reputation once swept the six countries. , Everyone knows that there is a young, brave, strong, and benevolent gentleman in the State of Zhao. He is upright and generous to others. He is a person worthy of respect, especially those soldiers of the State of Yan who have returned from the State of Zhao.
When they drink with Uncle Le, they always shed tears and tell their experiences. Whenever they talk about Ma Fujun, they are full of praise for this enemy. The Yan people have never seen such a benevolent and righteous commander. He can forgive his enemies. It would be great if he could become a soldier under his command.
After chatting with them, Uncle Le quickly understood that as long as Ma Fujun was still alive, it would be impossible for the Yan State to defeat the Zhao State. The soldiers of the Yan State knew that Ma Fujun would not kill prisoners, and were grateful to him, so they would not fight to the death with the Zhao people. , if the generals of the Yan State were fighting and scolding, the soldiers might just tie up the generals and surrender to Mafujun. It is precisely because of this that Uncle Le admired Mafujun so much in his heart, and he surrendered without fighting. This is probably what happened.
Uncle Le was thinking when suddenly, a man broke into his inner room.
Uncle Le jumped up suddenly, and it was Lejian who walked in.
Le Jian looked at him and said: "Put on your clothes and follow me!" Uncle Le Jian was a little confused, but he quickly put on his clothes and followed his father out of the inner room. As soon as he reached the courtyard, he saw There were several carriages. He didn't know where these carriages came from. His father's retainers were all busy. Soon, the gate of the courtyard was opened. The soldiers outside the door held sharp blades and looked around to make sure there was no one. They followed Le He left here immediately.
When a group of people arrived at the city gate, it was open. Uncle Le saw a few corpses lying on the ground. They were all generals. The carriage quickly left the city, and the soldiers who followed him mounted their horses.
Following the carriage, someone brought a horse to Uncle Le, and everyone fled here quickly.
All night long, everyone was galloping. They bypassed the cities along the road and ran towards the southwest.
Uncle Le rode his horse and came to his father's side. Le Jian was riding a horse and walking in the front. Uncle Le asked in confusion: "Father? Are we going to Zhao country? Did you accept my suggestion? Then why not
Tell me?"
Le Jian said seriously: "Actually, those villains did not lie. I have wanted to leave Yan Country for a long time."
"The King of Yan seems to trust me, but he has always suspected that I was having an affair with the State of Zhao. He does not accept my suggestions, does not give me the tiger talisman, and is wary of me in every possible way... Such a monarch is indeed not worthy of my following."
...........
After leaving Lin Xiangru's mansion, Li Mu seemed a little lonely, with his head lowered and silent.
"It will be fine."
Zhao Kuo raised his head and whispered, as if he was comforting Li Mu or himself.
It was late at night, so Zhao Kuo and Li Mu had no choice but to rush to an acquaintance's house to stay overnight. Zhao Kuo's acquaintance in Handan was naturally Dong Chengzi. Dong Chengzi was now serving as a secretariat and in charge of criminal law. When Zhao Kuo rushed to his residence, the chubby Dong Chengzi
Fatty rushed out, his stomach trembling. He was very happy. Knowing that the two wanted to stay overnight, he excitedly pulled them into the room. King Zhao's banquet was over, but Wei Wuji was left behind by him.
Dong Chengzi didn't understand the law. After serving as a military officer, he began to study the law. Fortunately, there were no major issues that required him to deal with. There were piles of bamboo slips in his inner room, and Dong Chengzi couldn't help but complain.
It seems that Zhao's laws are too simple. For example, the law prohibits theft, but does not explain how the thieves should be punished. So when thieves were found, some officials chose to make them pay, some officials directly executed them, and some
Officials chose to make them slaves.
Zhao Kuo frowned and said, "In fact, the conviction can be based on the amount of stolen goods... The higher the value of the stolen property, the heavier the punishment. This is reasonable."
Dong Chengzi nodded and said sadly: "Qin seems to be like this. I previously proposed to borrow some laws from Qin, but no one except Yu Qing was willing to support me. They laughed at me for trying to imitate the barbarians.
Others directly accused me of being disloyal..." He paused and then said: "I said that we would add laws against officials to severely punish officials who oppressed the people, took bribes, and were impeached by the officials. I was almost thrown into disgrace.
He won the official position of Sikou."
Looking at the aggrieved Dong Chengzi, Zhao Kuo said seriously: "What you said is very good."
"Qin's laws seem harsh, but they also protect the people of the country. If we can borrow Qin's laws and make the punishments more relaxed, this will be very beneficial to Zhao, and I will support you.
"
Dong Chengzi nodded and suddenly thought of something. He smiled and said: "Yes, Mr. Tian did not attend the banquet today. Your Majesty was very angry and wanted to remove him and make Mr. Xinling the Prime Minister. If you can get the
If I take the position of prime minister, no one will dare to oppose me."
"Mr. Xinling is the Prime Minister of the country?"
