The dark cell was covered in filth on the floor, there was visible rat droppings on the hay, and there were large stains on the walls.
Zhang Rong was sitting in the corner. He hadn't washed or combed his hair for many days, so it was disheveled, greasy and tangled, with strands falling on his chest.
The jailer who was eating glanced in his direction and said tauntingly, "The general guarding the gate is actually teaming up with the rebels. If I were him, I would have killed myself!"
Another jailer followed suit and said, "Zhang's children are of course not afraid of anything. They think that no one can stop them even if they commit a crime that is outrageous."
"The Zhao thief is dead, and his family has been driven out of the State of Chen."
The jailer looked at Zhang Rong, then glanced at the wooden table in front of him, took a piece of fish bone from the cauldron and threw it in Zhang Rong's direction, saying with a smile, "General, would you like to taste it? This is your last meal before execution."
Zhang Rong, who had been lowering his head and turning a deaf ear to the jailer's words, suddenly looked up and said in a hoarse and rough voice: "What is the last meal of execution?"
"Oh!" the jailer pretended to be shocked and said, "The general doesn't know yet! The king has ordered that the general must be brought to the palace gate at noon tomorrow and be beheaded in front of all the officials and the people."
"You are the first general to be beheaded. Even your death is different from that of ordinary people." The jailer laughed. "No wonder you are a great general. We don't have such treatment."
"You're lying." Zhang Rong looked at the jailer and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, "I am a descendant of the Zhang family. Your Majesty, don't dare to treat me like this! My Zhang family..."
"Your Zhang family, what about your Zhang family?!" The jailer stood up and spat at Zhang Rong, "Your Zhang family is also a subject of the emperor!"
"You are noble! We are lowly! Ugh!"
Zhang Rong stood up suddenly, his hands grasping the wooden railing, and shouted wildly, "I want to see the Lord! Let me see the Lord! He can't do this to me!"
"Your Majesty! You can't do this to him!" The old man leaned on his cane, pointed at Lord Chen, and shouted word by word, "You can't ignore all the officials just because of your likes and dislikes! Zhang Rong made a big mistake, he deserves to die! But you can't let him die in front of the common people!"
Inside the palace, all the officials were standing in the main hall. The hall was not very big and everyone was crowded together making it very noisy.
The old man hit the ground fiercely with his cane: "You are insulting him! No matter whether you give him poisoned wine or white silk, you cannot behead him! And you cannot behead him in front of the people!"
"You are tearing the family's face off and throwing it on the ground!"
Lord Chen sat on the steps. He was wearing a dark suit and looked down at Ye Zhou who was standing at the head of all officials.
Perhaps because the method of dealing with Zhang Rong was too shocking, all officials and aristocratic families had no time to find out who this new prime minister was, what achievements he had, and what abilities he had.
Marquis Chen cleared his throat and said, "Does the Marquis of Guangxin think that what I did was wrong? Then what do you think should be done?"
Guangxin Bo snorted, "Your Majesty is stubborn and self-righteous. You only want to ask your ministers for their opinions now? In my opinion, Zhang Rong cannot be killed! Not only that, Your Majesty should personally invite him out. Your Majesty governs the country with benevolence. If you treat the generals guarding the pass so ruthlessly, wouldn't it be frightening?"
Ye Zhou, who was watching the performance nearby, was shocked.
Is this a defense of innocence? Can we kidnap the monarch?
Although he has done something terrible, in order to show your kindness, you should still forgive and accept him with a broad mind.
But compared to Ye Zhou's shock, Chen Hou seemed very calm. He seemed to have guessed how many people would oppose his move. He sighed to Guangxin Bo: "I also want to rule the country with benevolence, but Xian...someone told me that what is needed to govern the country is the kingly way, not the benevolent way."
"The kingly way is to clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments, to reward meritorious service and punish faults, to enforce orders and to ensure that all officials perform their duties."
"Benevolence sounds good, but people are greedy. If they get two inches, they want three inches. If they get three inches, they want four inches. It's endless."
"If I let him go, will he be grateful for my kindness, or will more people think that I, the King of Chen, can be bullied?" Chen Hou laughed, "He can even easily forgive me for blocking me from entering the pass, so next time he gathers people to kill me in the palace, won't he be even less afraid?"
The Marquis of Chen asked his father-in-law again, "If I were not the Marquis of Chen, you would not be the Earl of Guangxin."
"I am the king of Wei, and you are a minister of Wei. Do you dare to say such words to the king of Wei?" The Marquis of Chen smiled and shook his head, "You dare not."
Guangxin Bo raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, please don't blame me for taking advantage of my age. Zhang Rong cannot be killed!"
"Even if you are the King of Wei and I am a minister of Wei, I can still say this! If you don't agree, I will go back to my fiefdom and never come to Linzi again!"
Guangxin Bo bowed and said, "Your Majesty, think twice before you destroy the entire State of Chen because of your momentary anger."
The officials behind him also bowed and shouted, "Your Majesty, please think twice."
Lord Chen felt a mixed feeling in his heart as he looked at this group of people bowing their heads.
"Isn't it just killing a traitor?" When everyone bowed their heads, only Ye Zhou remained upright. His voice was the only one in the entire hall. He looked at Chen Hou who was accused by everyone and said in a clear voice, "If rewards and punishments are not clear, how can we talk about enriching the country and strengthening the army? The country is in a mess, and treason has become a trivial matter."
Ye Zhou smiled and said, "The way you guys govern a country is really eye-opening for me."
Guangxin Bo looked at Ye Zhou, narrowed his eyes, and sneered: "I was wondering who was talking nonsense here, but it turned out to be the new Prime Minister. I wonder if you have any advice for me?"
"Which country's monarch does not rule the country with benevolence?"
Ye Zhou asked in return: "Which monarch of a powerful country ruled the country with benevolence? Let's not talk about Wei, just Lu. Not long after the Duke of Lu ascended the throne, he personally led the army to fight against Zhao and recaptured the six continents of Lu. Anyone who made meritorious contributions on the battlefield was rewarded, and anyone who escaped from the battlefield was killed on the spot."
"In just over ten years, Lu has transformed from a weak country into a powerful country. Are you all closing your eyes and unwilling to open them to see?"
Guangxin Bo shouted angrily: "How dare you!"
"Benevolence is the way of the world! Duke Lu has confused right and wrong, and he will get his retribution one day!"
Ye Zhou: "Retribution? What retribution? Is it retribution for the country to be rich and the people to be strong? Or is it retribution for the stable grain price? Nowadays, the people of Chen buy grain for ten coins per dou, and the land in Lu is probably not suitable for grain production, but in Lu, a dou of grain only costs two coins. Is this the retribution you are talking about?"
Guangxin Bo was so angry that his face turned red: "You, you only see the immediate benefits and not the long-term disasters. How can someone like you be qualified to be a prime minister?"
Ye Zhou retorted, "I am not worthy, are you? If you were the prime minister, I am afraid you would have to hand over the State of Chen to a powerful country. After all, it is benevolence. If others want it, how can you not give it? If you don't give it, it would be unkind and unjust, and you will be laughed at by the world."
"When did I ever say that I would hand over the State of Chen to someone else?" Guangxin Bo was furious, "You, you..."
"Forget you." Ye Zhou scolded coldly, "Every one of you has selfish motives. After all, you are working for the family, not for the country."
"You are the ones who only care about the small gains in front of you. Chen is poor and weak. What does it matter if you can bully others?"
"The State of Chen is weak and in decline. What good can you gain? What good can your family gain?"
Ye Zhou smiled and said, "It's not that you don't understand, but rather than taking a different path or changing your way of life, it's safer to stick to the old path. After all, it's not easy to fight against a powerful country, but it's easy to bully your own monarch."
Ye Zhou: "After all, the king has a good temper, so you can point your finger at him and scold him, right? Guangxin Bo?"
Marquis Guangxin was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that he had just pointed at Lord Chen.
Guangxin Bo: "I was worried about the country and was excited for a while."
Ye Zhou: "I'm going to punch you in the face right now, and it's also because I'm worried about the country. What do you think?"
Ye Zhou: "You asked the king to listen to your scolding in front of all the officials, and pointed your finger at the king's face. Isn't that an insult to the king? Why? The king can be insulted, but Zhang Rong can't? Or is the king even more lowly than a traitor who followed the thieves?!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole court fell silent. The officials who were just about to argue with Ye Zhou immediately bowed their heads and shouted, "We dare not."
Guangxin Bo could only bow his hands and said, "This old minister dare not."
With Ye Zhou as a ladder, Lord Chen was finally able to get off the mountain. He looked at the officials bowing to him below the stage and felt that his dignity had been shattered again in front of the immortal. His pitiful dignity was in jeopardy. After taking a deep breath, Lord Chen said with a straight face: "I have made up my mind. If you have any more objections, you can come and test Chen Jian's power."
"If you want to protect Zhang Rong, kill me first!"
Lord Chen stood up and said, "This seat is yours!"
"Anyway, you always like to be my boss." Lord Chen didn't look at the official again. He went down the stairs and walked out through the side door.
Before leaving, Lord Chen ordered the eunuchs to "invite the Prime Minister to the study."
The monk whispered in agreement.
As soon as Marquis Chen left, the Marquis of Guangxin was about to attack Ye Zhou, but the eunuch walked up to Ye Zhou and whispered, "Master Xiangguo, the king has a request."
Guangxin Bo looked at Ye Zhou and said sarcastically, "Sophisticated and eloquent! What a snob!"
Ye Zhou sighed: "I am good at speaking and arguing, which is better than you who can neither speak nor act, and are in high positions but have no intention of serving the country."
“I’m ashamed of you.”
After saying this, he followed the eunuch out of the hall without waiting for the ministers to reply.
Ye Zhou would not give them the chance to refute him - let them go home tonight and slowly review the situation.
But in the end, no one could change Lord Chen's mind, and Zhang Rong was taken to the palace gate at noon the next day.
The palace guards set up a platform at the palace gate so that the people below could see clearly how Zhang Rong was beheaded.
When Zhang Rong was escorted out, it was no longer possible to tell that he had once been a general.
He had lost all his energy, his eyes were dull and blank, and only when he stood on the stage and saw the people below could he not help but shout: "Your Majesty! We grew up together and are as close as brothers, Your Majesty! You can't do this to me! You can't do this to me!"
The people in the audience actually didn't know who was on the stage; they just came to watch the fun. After all, they had never seen anyone beheaded in their lives.
"What crime did he commit?"
"Beheading should be a serious crime, right?"
"Did you see his face? I don't even know who he is."
"Hey! Does anyone know who he belongs to?"
Zhang Rong did not wait for Chen Hou. He scanned the crowd and saw a familiar figure at the end of the crowd.
"Dad..." Zhang Rong's voice trembled.
But the figure seemed to realize that he had seen him, and hurriedly walked to the side of the street. Zhang Rong's head followed the figure and he shouted, "Dad! Save me! Dad!"
He wanted to continue yelling, but suddenly someone blocked his mouth with a wet cloth, and then someone pressed his mouth tightly with the palm of his hand, so he could no longer make a sound.
The person who held him down was the jailer who had been guarding him before. The jailer said loudly: "This man is Zhang Rong, the border guard. He is colluding with the rebels and intends to disrupt our Chen State!"
"He teamed up with the rebels to intercept the emperor at Changxiong Pass and refused to allow him to enter the pass." The jailer asked the people, "What do you think, should this man be executed?"
The people began to chatter:
"Of course he should be killed. The general guarding the pass has committed such a crime. Even if we kill him a hundred times, it won't be enough!"
"After all, he is a descendant of an aristocratic family..."
"How about the children of noble families?"
"The Zhang family controls many cities. Alas, Your Majesty is still too young to understand the benefits and disadvantages."
The young people all thought that it was a good idea to kill him. If such a person were kept alive, it would be a disgrace to the entire State of Chen.
The elders all felt that Zhang Rong should not be killed, not because they felt pity for him, but because they believed that if he was killed, the Zhang family would go against the monarch, and then the common people would suffer.
"The Zhang family can't possibly go against you." Ye Zhou sat opposite Chen Hou, peeling an orange. His fingers were long and slender, with distinct and strong joints. Because he had been covered up all winter, his skin was whiter than most people's. He said softly, "I remember that the Zhang family has a branch. I've sent someone to talk to them for you."
Chen Hou was surprised: "Branch?"
Ye Zhou smiled and said, "Do you think that all branches are willing to be branches honestly?"
We are all born of the same ancestor, so why should you be the master and I be the slave? When you were powerful before, I had to obey your will, but if I have the chance, why can't I become you?
"Lord Chen wants the Zhang family. He needs an obedient Zhang family." Ye Zhou stuffed a slice of orange into his mouth. "Since this one doesn't work, then let's change to another one. Isn't it enough as long as the surname is Zhang?"
Chen Hou asked cautiously, "Then is the Zhang family branch willing?"
It's not that he is too cautious, but the main branch has been taming the branches for so many years. Many branches even rely on the main branch to send their children to Linzi. The main branch has both a stick and candy. The branches did not have the advantage in name, but over time, whether it was true or not, they were convinced by the main branch.
Ye Zhou nodded and said with a smile: "Why not? It's impossible for a family to be without a single person with blood."
"As long as they are not stupid, they will know that this is not difficult to accomplish."
Ye Zhou looked at Lord Chen's excited expression and said, "With the help of the monarch, Zhang Rong's death, and the prime minister paving the way for them, even the most timid person would want to take a chance, right?"
"If they win the bet, they will be the main branch of the Zhang family, and all the cities will be under their control. If they lose, they will only lose one of their own children."
Ye Zhou: "Anyway, it will only get better, not worse."
Ye Zhou pushed the tea in his hand to Chen Hou and said with a smile, "Have a sip of tea, Chen Hou."
Chen Hou picked up the teacup absentmindedly.
·
"A lot of blood was shed!" There had been no new things happening in Linzi for many years, and the death of a young man from a noble family was enough to make the whole of Linzi boil.
"I was still thinking, after a person's head is chopped off, the head still has no feeling."
"It was so scary! I had nightmares for two days!"
The noble families have always been high and mighty, and the common people have become accustomed to it. They are used to seeing the children of noble families acting tyrannically and domineeringly, and they didn't think it was a big deal in the past, but now they feel that - even if they say they are born noble, they are just like them, with flesh and blood, and will die if their heads are chopped off.
"It's really strange. The young man in the family was beheaded, but the Zhang family didn't come out."
"I'm sure he's too embarrassed to come out."
"Your Majesty, this is not right. After all, the Zhang family is a noble family. Even if you want Zhang Rong to die, you shouldn't humiliate him like this. This is not humiliating him, it's humiliating the entire Zhang family! Alas!"
Debates broke out in the streets one after another, and the scholars all supported Lord Chen. After all, these scholars, who could only argue with others on the streets all day long, were not from aristocratic families.
They thought that Chen Hou was right and that if the noble families were not suppressed, they would turn the tables.
More importantly, if Lord Chen continues to employ people from aristocratic families, these scholars who are not from aristocratic families will never have a chance to succeed.
However, the people felt that Lord Chen was too cruel. Even if a noble family did something wrong or a child of a noble family committed a crime, they should be given some dignity and respect. It was not a good thing for a monarch to act in this way.
The two groups argued back and forth and actually came up with a lot of good articles.
Countless scholars wrote articles and posted them on the wall. If you wrote something, I would refute it; if I wrote something, you would refute it.
The State of Chen had not had such a Wenchang for many years.
Ye Zhou did not expect that this incident would make the scholars of Linzi more united than ever before, and they even formed a group.
No one values a single scholar without a family, but when all the scholars work together, their power cannot be underestimated.
At least now in the court, no official dared to point at Lord Chen and say that he was doing unlucky things.
However, the State of Chen really had no secrets. Ye Zhou had only been the prime minister for two weeks and had attended court once, but some scholars had already begun to recommend themselves to him. They all wanted to become his retainers or his disciples, hoping that he would recommend them to serve as officials in the court.
Ye Zhou originally didn't want to accept these people.
But on second thought, what Chen State needs now are these scholars without family marks.
So he accepted these people and even bought a house to accommodate them.
Occasionally he would go over to see what these scholars were doing.
Every time he went there, he could see scholars debating or reading. They all had their own ideas and loved to give advice on how to deal with the country, as if they knew everything about the world. As long as they listened to them, the State of Chen would immediately become strong.
But Ye Zhou did not look down on them just because there were too many people bragging.
After all, most young people, especially scholars, are somewhat proud, and some are even arrogant.
After observing for a period of time, he actually discovered two talents among them.
One of them was surnamed Jiang, the other surnamed Zhao. Neither of them was from the State of Chen. One came from the State of Zheng, the other from the State of Zhao.
Moreover, both of them were madmen. They joined Chen not because the State of Chen was so good, nor because the Lord of Chen was so wise, but purely because they both felt that they had great talents and that helping a weak country become stronger could better demonstrate their talents.
The Jiang family believed that all the lands of the royal families should be taken back and redistributed.
It is not about distributing the land to the common people, but about distributing the common people to the land.
The man surnamed Zhao believed that the fundamental reason why the State of Chen was weak was that it did not have a strong enough army. He thought that they should focus on farming and fighting.
When there is no war, young men stay at home to farm, and when there is a war, they can immediately go to the battlefield to fight.
Although they had many ideas, Ye Zhou felt that this was the best idea for each of them.
The land today is privately owned land, and nominally all belongs to the Marquis of Chen, but just like all the vassal states belong to the Emperor of Zhou, only a fool would believe it.
The princes all had their own fiefdoms, and all the output from their fiefdoms belonged to them, which was actually a country within a country.
The Jiangs believed that this kind of private ownership was the reason why all the noble families and royal clans were against the Lord of Chen and were unwilling to serve the country - because they were already local emperors, so what would happen even if they went a step further?
If being loyal does not bring any benefits, how many people can remain loyal?
The man surnamed Zhao believed that the problem with the State of Chen was that it had too few soldiers and weak horses, and that it would be impossible to change this situation in a short period of time.
Since we can't rely on quality, we can only rely on quantity. Other countries provide 10,000 soldiers and Chen State provides 20,000. If the people are not enough, we will spend money to buy slaves.
We may not win the war, but we must have the momentum to let other countries know that the soldiers of Chen are not afraid of death. If anyone dares to attack, Chen will lose 800 enemies even if it loses 1,000 of its own.
To put it bluntly, it was a suicide attack.
Although these ideas are indeed extreme, Ye Zhou feels that they are not entirely unreasonable.
After observing them for a few days, Ye Zhou recommended these two people to Chen Hou.
Lord Chen did not ask any further questions, perhaps because he trusted Ye Zhou so much that he quickly made these two people officials of high rank who could attend court meetings and discuss state affairs.
These two people also addressed Ye Zhou as teacher, and did not call him prime minister.
Ye Zhou also discovered that in the eyes of others, these two people were in the same camp as him.
With these two examples, the scholars living in the house purchased by Ye Zhou worked even harder.
Ye Zhou went there once every three days. Every time he went there, the scholars were talking loudly, their voices so loud that they seemed to break through the sky.
Not only these scholars who had been accepted by him, but scholars from the entire State of Chen were now pouring into Linzi - they had no way to get there before, because they were poor, so they had no money to become his disciples, and no one recommended them.
Now that Ye Zhou recommended two scholars without charging a penny, how could they not go crazy?
Since there are people like Ye Zhou who can recruit talents for Lord Chen and save them the time for advancement, they certainly won't miss this opportunity.
·
"Mom, I'm leaving." The young scholar, wearing straw sandals and carrying a bag, rushed out of the room to see the old woman off and said, "If I can stay in Linzi, I will take you there to enjoy a good life. If the prime minister doesn't value me, I will come back, take care of you until the end of your life, marry a wife, and have a bunch of children."
The old woman looked at her son with tears in her eyes. She nodded and said, "Son, be careful when you go out. I know that you are ambitious. Your Majesty will surely see your talent. I will wait here until you send someone to pick me up!"
The scholar looked at his mother. He took a deep breath, turned around, knelt down in front of the old woman, and kowtowed three times. He stopped only after his forehead bled. He looked up at the woman and said, "Mom, I will never let you down. One day, I will make sure everyone in the world knows my name!"
The old man’s voice trembled: “My son, go.”
The scholar stood up, and this time he did not look back, but walked forward step by step.
He had no money, no horse or cow to travel by, so he could only walk to Linzi on his own two feet and in his straw sandals.
In Linzi, there was someone waiting for him.
That person must be waiting for him.
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