In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States without women

Zichang is a native of Lu State, a disciple of Confucianism, so he is often called Lu Zichang.

Lu Zichang studied Confucianism since he was a child. After he finished his studies, he served as a small official of Lu State. Don’t dismiss him because he refused to bribe the superior. If he lost his official position, he would lose his salary. It’s a pity that others are worried about Lu Zichang. Long but with a calm expression, he laughed, packed up a few thin shirts, and went back to his hometown with his burden on his back.

Since then, I have been farming and studying in my hometown. The few acres of broken land at home are not enough to support myself. Lu Zichang takes in some students from time to time, and teaches disciples to give lectures.

From time to time, Lu Zichang went on picnics with three or five friends, traveled all over the land of Lu State, and sometimes "went abroad" for a walk, and talked about the pennies he had saved with great difficulty. For this reason, So far, no one is willing to marry the concubine with him, so Lu Zichang has been playing single.

Just living in such poverty, after a few years, it was the time when the Yan State was ruled by the emperor Zhi Yibo, and it was also the time when the Yan State’s edict to recruit scholars from other countries into Yan spread to all the princes. Lu Zichang laughed again, After packing up the package, there were still only a few thin shirts in the package, so I headed north with the burden on my back.

Along the way to the north, there were also a few friends who had been good friends, those who had nothing to do with him and traveled with him poorly or even "traveled abroad". They traveled long distances into the country of Yan in the same car, but they didn't realize it along the way. Work hard but talk and laugh happily.

On this day, it was the turn of one person to drive the car and the rest of the group were chatting, only to hear a wild student who was usually the best drinker tease: "For someone like me who has a lot of wine and everything is enough, entering Yan doesn't care about other things. One sees the magnificence of the Northland." , the second is to taste the fine wine of Yandi, and the third is to see how intoxicating the so-called most beautiful woman in the world is?"

A friend next to her wondered: "What is the most beautiful woman in the world?"

The good wine man said: "Yan Guoguo Xia Yu's beauty was spread all over the world in the early years. I heard that Yan Jun almost obeyed Yan Guoguo's words. , the power is poured into the court, and Lord Yan can treat him like this, don't you all wonder what this person looks like?"

At this moment, Lu Zichang, who was on the side, said indifferently: "The monarch respects and loves, so how can you judge by appearance? Yan Jun is virtuous, rejuvenating the country in rags, and Yan Guoguo is in charge of Xia Yu. If you go out, you will be a general, and if you enter, you will be a prime minister. You can be alone on the battlefield. Using soldiers like gods, in the country, he can change the law to rejuvenate the country, assist the king to strengthen the country, such a person, the king of Yan should respect him, and it is appropriate."

The alcoholic man groaned slightly, then nodded and smiled and said: "Lu Zi's long words are reasonable, I am shallow and frivolous, but even so, your holy teacher Confucius also said: 'I have never seen a person who is as virtuous as a lustful person. ', 'Food and sex'. Although I believe what you said, if Xia Yu is really not good-looking, I still don't believe it."

Lu Zichang also knew that his friend was a chivalrous man, and sighed: "Xia Yu became famous in Qiwei, counting it now, almost 20 years have passed, at least he should be in his forties. It can be called an old man, at this age, no matter how good-looking it is, it is a thing of the past."

Hearing this, the drunk man thought it was reasonable, nodded his head, then sighed again, and said to Lu Zi: "You Confucian scholar, why bother to speak out, I'm so disappointed."

Lu Zichang smiled, but didn't say anything more.

Scholars such as Lu Zichang, during this period of time, there are not many people who entered the country of Yan. Some poor people came on foot, some better people drove cars, and some very rich people not only drove cars, but also brought their own clothes. Sexual guards, regardless of whether they are poor or rich, as long as they enter the border of Yan State and hand over the official letter to the guards in the border town, Yan State post officials will immediately come out to arrange reception and introduce them to the Yan State post house to settle down.

Lu Zichang and his party naturally received this kind of hospitality, but unlike others, Lu Zichang did not rest in the extremely comfortable post house of Yan State because of the long journey, and then waited for Yan Guo Post. The officials sent people and cars to take him to the capital of Yanxia. Lu Zichang often ran out, wandering around the outskirts of these border cities in Yan, chatting with the local people.

Along the way, although I have seen the rice on both sides of the road, and also saw the vitality in the countryside, but after chatting with the farmers and common people, Lu Zichang couldn't help sighing—Yan Guo should be prosperous.

Because the small officials of Lu State used to have more contact with the people, Lu Zichang had his own set of standards for judging whether a country's politics is clear and whether the country is strong or not.

Lu Zichang always believed that whether a country is strong or not does not depend on how many victories the country has won or how domineering the monarch is, but on how the people of the country live. The southern land is the Yishui banks that were once annexed by the people of Qi in the past. This is a place that has just gone through wars, and the people live well.

After the war, the farmland did not see barrenness, and the people did not see the color of chaos. This already shows that the country of Yan is stable and there are many sages in the court.

"Yan Kingdom can be expected." Lu Zichang murmured to himself looking at a field of green millet.

The completion of Yicheng, the capital of Yanxia, ​​and the relocation of the imperial halls of the Yan Kingdom from Wulong City to Yicheng is a major event. Naturally, there must be ceremonies to worship ancestors, and worship the God of Sheji. However, Xia Yu was not in charge of such complicated matters, but the eldest son of the monarch, Gong Ziqian.

After receiving the imperial edict from his father, Prince Qian handed over many things in the city to Prince Qi and Heze to take charge of it, and he himself led the courtiers from the city to Yicheng to assist the father in governing. It seems natural to leave the body, but many keen courtiers have already smelled something different from it-the position of the crown prince seems to belong to Gong Ziqian, and many courtiers are no longer from the state. In charge of many routine government affairs, he guessed whether the monarch's heart for the country had changed, but soon, several appointments broke this guess.

Convincing people to return to the court, then the newly captured lands of the Yan State must be guarded by people with sufficient prestige, especially the lands close to the families of Jinjun Jizhuo and Han Zhaowei. Recently, sporadic people have always defected and resisted. Furen returned to the court to preside over the ceremony of moving the capital, so he appointed Qi Xun and Qi Lu as the sheriffs of Xindi. Both of them were Xia Yu's confidantes. Being in power is only for the purpose of training the prince, not for him.

At this time, there were already people who were chasing after the wind and catching up with the trend, actively running in front of Young Master Qian, but Young Master Qian was still as dull and dull as before, and he was the same as before for these people who deliberately approached him. When it came to power among people, he never had any extra inclination towards those who deliberately flattered him. He let others do things and talked more about their talents and integrity. Yu was right, my son, Wai Lu Nei Ming."

Xia Yu just smiled and didn't say much.

During this period of time, he and Furen were very happy to be the hands-off shopkeeper, and everything was taken care of by Gong Ziqian. The two of them were free, and they didn't know what to do with this leisure.

For so many years, the two of them have been spinning continuously like the wheels that don't stop. They are so busy all day long that they don't have much time to play. Now they are free. And so on, it is finally useful.

So Mr. Qian over there was so busy that his head was dizzy, and Furen and Xia Yu had a very happy little banquet here, eating the newly developed food by the chef, listening to the new music of the luthier, the dance of maiko, etc. A rare happy time.

One day, Furen and Xia Yu were watching a funny play in the palace, and they almost drank the newly opened wine from the kitchen.

As soon as Xia Yu left, the convincing people lost interest in watching it. In addition, he was worried about Xia Yu, so he broke up the banquet and went to the main room of Guochu. down."

The Palace of Yan Kingdom in Yicheng is of course quite different from the cramped and cramped appearance of the Endless City. It is several times bigger, and the whole main room is not visible at a glance, but is divided into the main hall, bedroom hall, side hall, etc., and the servants enter the inner hall and then the bedroom hall. The eunuch in the bedroom hall wants to salute , and he waved his hand to make them retreat silently.

Walking to the side of the bed, seeing Xia Yu's cheeks flushed, sleeping soundly with the quilt in his arms, he couldn't help but laugh a little. Xia Yu is a man of great talent, diligent in political affairs, devoted to loyalty and wisdom, and devoted to the safety of the country. There are some places where children are self-willed, such as eating and drinking like luxury, eating well, living well, as long as they can, they always make life comfortable. This is not without complaints from courtiers, but Xia Yu has always listened to people's advice , very capricious on this point, never willing to change.

But what those foreign ministers don't know is that Xia Yu's cute and willful like a child is not nearly reflected in eating, drinking and living. After Xia Yu is drunk by chance, she still sleeps very badly. Here, when I couldn't help laughing, seeing Xia Yu on the bed was very suitable for the occasion, muttered something, then turned over with the quilt in my arms, convincing people saw this and smiled, only thinking that the last Xia Yu was really "naive" "cute.

Furen was thinking this way, but he pulled the quilt to cover Xia Yu again, but he was afraid that Xia Yu would catch a cold.

With this action, the two of them were naturally getting closer. Looking at Xia Yu's black hair as black as clouds, and his jade-like face without any wrinkles, Xia Yu has hardly aged over the years. Looking at his own image on the dressing table not far away, he stroked his forehead and smiled wryly. He knew that his temples already had gray hair.

Sighing slightly, feeling a little desolate in his heart, he got up and walked outside, ordered the eunuch to spread the mattress, and slept peacefully on the couch in the cubicle as in the past, but after he turned around and left, Xia Yu, who was already "asleep", opened her eyes and looked at the roof, no longer feeling sleepy.

There are a lot of things going on in the Yan Kingdom, and Yicheng is very lively, but the princes of other countries are quite quiet these days, but the Yan Kingdom Court has already concentrated all its energy on moving the capital to worship ancestors, which can be called the prosperous age of Yan Kingdom The Grand Ceremony and the Scholars Contest and Controversy Ceremony are on.

This time Yan State summoned scholars to enter Yan State to discuss the war. Yan Jun had already said that he wanted to be practical. These scholars came to Yicheng one after another. When Xia Yu built Yicheng, he planned to build a very spacious place. live in the school palace.

Hundreds of court officials and family members who have moved into Yicheng one after another have formally held a very grand ancestor worship ceremony, officially moving the spiritual seats of the successive monarchs of Yan Kingdom to the Taimiao in Yicheng, and worshiping the God of Sheji at the same time. There are also the mausoleums of Yan Guo Xianjun and Xian Guoyu built by the way when Yicheng was built, the coffins were buried, the tombs were officially sealed, and so on.

When the coffins of his father-in-law and inner-father were officially buried, he made people cry. It was only at this moment that he officially felt that he had avenged his shame. The country of Yan is really powerful. Shou Tianzi Zhibo was even more profound when he ascended the position of overlord on the high tower.

After these family affairs are done, it is the scholars contending and debating, convincing people to lead hundreds of officials to the scholar's school palace, and listening to the debates of scholars from all over the world.

Different from the debate convened by Zhao Zhifu, this debate among scholars in the State of Yan is not empty talk of academics. Inferior; the second is the theory of the art of war and battle formation; the third is the changes in the current situation.

After these three topics were settled, the scholars naturally debated enthusiastically. Among them, some advocated the well-field system to restore rituals and music, some advocated streamlining officials and governing by doing nothing, and some advocated harsh punishments and strict laws to investigate officials, etc. Yu was listening to these scholars' debates in the first seat, and didn't know how to comment, while Gong Ziqian, who was in the first place under Furen and Xia Yu, still looked dull, and listened to the scholars' debates calmly, without saying a word.

Seeing these scholars blushing so much, they turned sideways and whispered to Xia Yu, "There are too many empty talkers."

Xia Yu also convincingly said in a low voice: "It's not all empty talkers, that... Lu Guolai, who claims to be the son, speaks very earnestly, talks about the tax system and the law, it seems that he has a bit of political talent. "

When Xia Yu spoke like this, it was inevitable that he would use his eyes to convince people that it was Lu Zichang, and Lu Zichang, who had spoken just now, was drinking at this time, and when he looked up, he inadvertently found that the King of Yan and Xia Yu seemed to be sizing up Although Lu Zichang was conceited of self-cultivation and looked as usual, his mind was a little distracted, thinking: I should apologize to my old friend, this Xia Yu doesn't look like a 40-year-old, how can she be a little old, she is really in a good mood People, people can't bear to look away.

When discussing the official system, there were still a few decent talents, but when it came to discussing the art of war and battle formation on the second day, it was almost empty talk. It was disappointing to be convincing, but Xia Yu comforted him. Please, a good general is not something you can talk about.

On the third day, when discussing the situation of the countries, it was even more unbearable than the empty talk about the art of war on the second day. Many scholars here can also see that Yan Guoguo is using this debate to select talents who can be used. It's already the third day, and the scholars who haven't expressed their eye-catching opinions are afraid that they will go back to their homes when they turn around. At this time, many people who are eager to make progress begin to show some not very good-looking faces. When he came out, everyone flattered Yan Guo, Yan Jun, and even Yan Guoguo and Xia Yu. Everyone was flattering each other, and his brows were almost wrinkled when he heard it. twitch.

These scholars scrambled to be the first to flatter, and some of them had the faint intention of persuading others to become kings in their words. Xia Yu saw that this was really outrageous, so she wanted to stop, but at this moment, one person laughed loudly and said : "Dung grass withered poplar, just like this generation."

As soon as these words came out, the scholars who were trying to flatter them were stunned, even Lu Zichang, who couldn't bear to listen to it and wanted to wave his sleeves away, was stunned, thinking: Who dares to stand before the overlord? so rampant?

Everyone looked where the sound came from, and saw a man with slightly white sideburns but a calm demeanor stood up, walked to the center of the hall, bowed to the scholars, and bowed to the servant of the throne and Xia Yu. When Xia Yu saw this person, his complexion turned cold instantly. The man who was bowing didn't seem to notice Xia Yu's ice-cold face at all. He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't seen you for a long time."

Xia Yu calmed down, and said calmly, "Mr. Shen Zili, it's been a long time."

Furen next to Xia Yu heard Xia Yu call out the full name of the man in front of him. He has been with Xia Yu for almost twenty years. Furen naturally knows Xia Yu's past very clearly, and naturally understands Xia Yu's relationship with him. Shen Zi couldn't help but frown slightly at this moment because of all kinds of alienation.

The grievances and grievances in the past are known to everyone, but most of the scholars in the palace don't know it. Seeing that the man who came out of the crowd seemed to be an old acquaintance with Yan Guoguo, there was a lot of discussion in an instant, and Lu Zichang, who had not spoken today, He also looked curiously at this man named Shen Zili.

At this time, everyone's eyes were focused on him, but Shen Zili was very calm, and said with a faint smile: "Guo Chu's self-cultivation is much better than before. There is a lot of nonsense, and I feel drowsy."

This is tantamount to directly saying that the debates of the scholars are nonsense, which is a very merciless derogatory statement. Some scholars were very angry and wanted to get up to refute, but they saw that Shen Zili and Yan Guoguo seemed to have an affair. Old, with doubts in his heart, he dared not speak rashly.

Convincing people saw that Shen Zili mentioned Xia Yu's past visits in the Qi country, and felt slightly inappropriate, and let the two of them come and go in such a "polite" manner, fearing that the situation would be embarrassing, he interrupted the conversation between the two, saying: "Mr. If you don’t come to Jin country, but come to Yan country, you will be a rare visitor.”

Shen Zili smiled slightly and said: "Yan Guo invites scholars from all over the world to be like Yan Guo. As for me, thanks to Yan Jun, I lost my official position and have no food to eat. I can only come to Yan Guo to try my luck. Can I make a fortune?" A part-time job."

When Shen Zili said this, some Confucian scholars couldn't stand it anymore, and when they heard that Shen Zili came from the state of Jin, he probably was an enemy rather than a friend with the state of Yan. , Shameless!"

Shen Zili sneered, and said: "I'm bluntly asking for an official, but it's cleaner than those who pretend to be noble and secretly talk nonsense and flatter me!"

These words made some scholars blushed, and Lu Zichang, who was calm, felt quite fond of Shen Zili's words, and said in his heart: Although he is bluntly asking for an official, he is straightforward enough, isn't he? Those hypocrites just now.

Convincing people heard that Shen Zili actually wanted to be an official in the country of Yan, which made him very surprised. He looked Shen Zili up and down, and said, "You want to be an official? To be an official in my country of Yan? You... You have done all kinds of things in the past, and you still want to be an official in my country of Yan today?"

Shen Zili raised his eyebrows, and said: "Although I have harmed Guoguo in the past, but at that time I was a minister of Jin, and Guoju was a minister of Qi, and each was his master. I will be loyal to the master, as I deserve. Today Yan Guo invites the world Scholars enter Yan, and those who have not said they are loyal to the Lord cannot come."

Hearing Shen Zili's sarcasm, he was not angry at all, and said indifferently: "An official of the Yan Kingdom should be a talented person, not a tongue-in-cheek."

These words are not only satirizing Shen Zili's advantage in Cheng Cheng's tongue, but also pointing out that those scholars who are full of flattery just now can only say good things, which is useless to him.

As soon as Furen's words came out, many scholars who were trying to flatter them blushed, but Lu Zichang nodded secretly, agreeing.

Shen Zili was not angry at Furen's words, but glanced at Xia Yu who had been silent all this time, and said, "Guozhu should know best whether I have talent or not."