In the last years of Yan and Huang, the last emperor Xuanyuan Ming died.

Following the rebellions of Tangzhou, Ba and Shu, Wei in the south of Liangzhou, Qi and Lu in the east also established themselves as kings.

The Yanhuang Dynasty, which existed in name only, in the New Year, that is, in the first month of the first year of the Warring States Period, welcomed Xuanyuan De, a descendant of the Xuanyuan royal family, as the new monarch, and respected the first emperor's concubine Zhou as the queen mother, and ordered King Liang to lead the world's soldiers and horses to the south to quell the chaos. King Liang left his eldest son, Zhou Xian, to assist the new emperor in managing state affairs and arranging the supply of grain and grass, and returned to Liangzhou with his second son Zhou Wu to prepare for quelling the rebellion.

Both Weilu states were wealthy, good at making a living, and had many merchants. Weizhou is too guarded by Weiping, and Luzhou is too guarded by Luda, all of whom are behind the famous door.

Wei Ping is obese, doesn't like business, loves food, and is often proud of it. One year, I heard that there is a Tianshan Mountain in the north of Beiban, there is a snow pond on the mountain, and there are cod in the pool, and my heart is itchy and unbearable, so I did not hesitate to pay 100,000 taels of gold, just to ask for this fish to taste. From time to time, some people ridiculed: "Although the mouth is small, the internal organs are fat." One hundred thousand gold weighs less than a fish." When Wei Ping heard this, he was not angry but happy, thinking that he was the first in the world in terms of food.

And Luzhou Luda, when he was young, he had no characteristics, the two families had a lot of dealings with Wei Ping, he liked martial arts, he was a good beauty, he often took his servants to wander around Luzhou City, saw the rivers and lakes juggling, and he was generous at every turn, recruiting his subordinates. The two took over as the Taishou of the two states before and after, and their personal relationship was deeper.

Luda has a scribe under him, named Lin Zijie, born from the grassroots, his family was poor when he was young, he loved to read, and he had no books to read, and he often climbed the wall of the private school in the town to eavesdrop on his eavesdropping, and Mr. saw that he was studious, so he often lent him books. Lin Zijie's neighbor has a playmate named Eryang, and the two often herd cattle together, and Lin Zijie sits on the back of the cow and reads. The two made an appointment to do something big after they met.

Growing up, both of them had a secret affection for a girl in the same village, the girl's name was Jiang Hua, cute and industrious, and followed the women in the village to do some needlework, so that they could be sold in the town market. The three of them grew up, and everyone was speculating about which family would be blessed to marry Jiang Hua in the future. And Lin Zijie because he likes to read, it is difficult for this village to have a reader, and under the expectations of everyone, the girl's family finally chose Lin Zijie, who is often clean and recites the sage book, and the two families set a wedding date, waiting for the happy event to come.

One day, Jiang Hua went to the street to sell embroidered shoes, because of the good quality and low price, they were sold out quickly, and said hello to a few women in the same company, and was about to go home first, one of the women reminded her: "There is a shop selling cloth in front, the fabric is good, and it is not expensive." After speaking, he looked at the girl who was about to get married. The girl's face was slightly red, and she knew what she meant, according to tradition, when a girl got married, she had to sew her own wedding dress, and after thanking the woman, she left quickly. When I got to the shop that sold cloth, I bought the cloth after asking the price, and when I was about to go out, I didn't want to be seen by the rich man in the town.

Jiang Hua disobeyed, saying that although he was not married, he already had a marriage contract, and the rich man held a grudge, so on the day Jiang Hua and Lin Zijie got married, he put on the groom's dress, ordered someone to forcibly take the bride Jiang Hua away, and colluded with the government to put Lin Zijie in prison. It was a lively wedding day, and in the blink of an eye, one of them was forcibly taken as a concubine, and the other was imprisoned. Jiang Hua seems to be gentle, but her temperament is strong, and after that day, she washed her face with tears, begged the rich man to be accommodating, and let Lin Zijie go. After Lin Ziming was imprisoned, he was ready to leave here, but he was reluctant to Jiang Hua, so he discussed with Eryang, and the two pretended to be subordinates, and saw Jiang Hua, Jiang Hua said: "In my life, I only love you alone, now I am not clean, I don't deserve to be with you, I wanted to die, but my parents need to support me, so I can't die." Now I just hope that you will be safe for the rest of your life, and that you will not have to worry about me anymore. Lin Zijie cried, he didn't want to be bumped into, he went back to show the rich man, the rich man was furious, and took someone to arrest him, in a hurry, Jiang Hua asked Lin Zijie to leave quickly, don't come back. Lin Zijie was reluctant, Jiang Hua said, I know you are a promising person, go to the next career, and then come back to pick me up. Lin Zijie nodded and left with Eryang.

When the two separated, Lin Zijie and Eryang said, "I'm going, I don't know when I'll come back, and my parents will trouble you to take care of it." ”

After a few years, Lin Zijie was adrift and had no fixed place, but after all, he achieved nothing, so he had to return to his hometown in a huff, and saw that his family was in a mess, and the whole village was originally more than a dozen households, but now there are only two or three families left. Since Lin Zijie left, the rich man actually held a grudge, colluded with the government, and forcibly occupied the good land in the village, and the villagers went to the government to complain, but they were all imprisoned, and then the villagers went to Jiang Hua, Jiang Hua went to intercede with the rich man, and was beaten to death by the rich man. Eryang said that he had been waiting for Lin Zijie to come back, and now it seems that Lin Zijie has nothing to do, and after speaking, he took Lin Zijie to Jiang Hua's grave to worship, and said: "I will go to the capital, and if I don't succeed, I won't return to my hometown." ”

So the two parted ways, Lin Zijie drifted all the way, and finally worshiped under Luda's door, because he did things properly, he bowed down to Luda, sang praises at every turn, and won Luda's trust. Lin Zijie sent people to the capital to find Eryang, and by chance, he knew that Eryang was a eunuch in the palace, so the two had little contact.

In the last years of Yanhuang, Lin Zijie received a letter from Eryang and learned that the emperor had died, Lin Zijie thought about it for a while, and went straight to Luda, saying: "Now that the emperor has died, there is no monarch in the world, the lord is eloquent, wise and martial, why do you want to be a king yourself?" ”

When Luda heard this, he was pleasantly surprised, and immediately ordered to call himself King Lu. listened to Lin Zijie's words again, and persuaded Wei Ping to be king together, saying that the two brothers would advance and retreat together.

So the two held an alliance ceremony at the junction of Weilu and Lu states, and at the same time announced to the world, calling themselves King Lu and King Wei, and rewarding their subordinates, each of them promoted to the knighthood. Hearing that King Liang was going south to discuss, the two gathered their subordinates to discuss countermeasures. Lin Zijie looked at everyone and said, "King Liang is coming south, we should resist hard, although King Liang has many soldiers, but we can lure King Liang to the swamp and mud, and then retreat from the enemy in a battle."

King Wei was immediately overjoyed, "This plan is very good, I have 60,000 horses in Weiguo, and I can be a pioneer." ”

King Lu laughed, "Zijie is too worried, I have 80,000 soldiers in Luzhou, each of them is one as ten, and he is only 100,000 horses, and he has come from afar, and we are fighting with them outside the country." As he spoke, he glanced at King Wei next to him, "I'll charge in front of me, and King Wei will help me escort the formation." ”

There were many displeasures among King Wei's subordinates, but King Wei was very happy, and applauded repeatedly, saying that King Lu was benevolent and righteous, defended the country, and acted according to orders.

In the first year of the Warring States Period, the tenth day of the first month, Liang Wangfu, study.

No one could have imagined that in the whole world, the most powerful dignified Liang Wang, the study room is exceptionally simple, a book case, there is nothing else on the case except the four treasures of the study, and there is a sandalwood chair, that's it.

Zhou Rong, the king of Liang, had a gloomy face, and in front of the bookcase stood the eldest son Zhou Xian and the second son Zhou Wu, both of whom looked respectful, especially the eldest prince, with cold sweat on his forehead, and even more frightened. In the palace change a year ago, the housekeeper Zhou Feng was the first, although he was repelled by the Zhang sisters and brothers, but it also made the two of them the end of the strong crossbow, plus Wang Maochun's immediate blow, Li Tieshan easily killed Zhang Zhen, everything was under control, but the old man who appeared in the end disrupted everything, and the queen Zhang and the two princesses escaped. After his father found out, he strictly ordered himself to search secretly and be sure to find them, he knew in his heart that his father did not care about their life and death, he cared about the whereabouts of the jade seal of the country. So the two masters of Li Tieshan and the secret worship palace lady under his command came out. Finally found their hiding place, Zhang was dead, and then the old man surnamed Zhang was also injured, so he ordered Li Tieshan and Gong Niangzi to observe secretly, and finally learned that they had collusion with the north, Zhou Xian thought that when the day of the people from the north, they would definitely bring the jade seal, and then they would snatch it. It's just that to this day, there is still no news, not to mention, Li Tieshan and Gong Niangzi are also missing. When my father asked about this today, he was extremely disappointed in himself.

Liang Wang Zhou Rong knew the thoughts of this eldest son, and when the people from the Tiger Roaring Hall came back to report the situation that day, he knew it clearly. Gong Hongying, the eldest son's secret worship, appeared there that night, it is no coincidence, it must have known the whereabouts of the two princesses for a long time, but Zhou Xian said that after the death of the Zhang family, the whereabouts of the two princesses are unknown? The idea that the eldest son wanted to hide the jade seal was about to come out.

Zhou Rong, the king of Liang, did not say anything, and ordered: "The matter of the two princesses, you continue to search, and you must not fall into the hands of the Northern Han." ”

Zhou Xian breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, father"

King Liang nodded and looked at his second son, Zhou Wu, "How are you preparing for the expedition?" ”

Zhou Wu's expression was serious, "Back to my father, the 100,000 horses of General Chen and General Wang north of the capital have not been mobilized, and in the entire south of the capital, the 20,000 cavalry of the last general and 80,000 elite infantry of Liangzhou have already marched south, and they can reach the Lianglu border within ten days, and in addition, the 30,000 horses of General Qin Ming on the border of Liangqi in the east have not been mobilized. ”

King Liang nodded: "How is the military situation in Qidi?" ”

"Qidi? Didn't we go to fight Lu and defend the country? Zhou Wu obviously couldn't react.

"When did I say I'm going to fight Lu Wei?" King Liang paused for a moment, "When talking about business, how should I call it?" ”

"Yes, King Liang" Zhou Wu's expression tightened, "The world knows that our army is going to attack Lu Wei, and Qi is defenseless"

"Pass the order, 80,000 infantry slowly move forward, 20,000 iron cavalry turn around, secretly enter the border of Liangqi, you and this king take your own soldiers, and immediately go to the Qin Ming army to prepare to cut Qi."

"Yes, King Liang"

"Go down."

Zhou Xian and Zhou Wu glanced at each other, and at the same time turned around and exited the study.

At the door of the study, the old housekeeper Zhou Feng stood at the door, still smiling, Zhou Xian remembered that day when Zhou Feng fought with the Zhang sisters and brothers, his heart moved slightly, and he stepped forward to take Zhou Feng's hand, "Steward Zhou, how is your body?" Thanks to Steward Zhou's help that day, otherwise it would have been a failure."

The old housekeeper smiled and said, "The eldest prince is laughing, everything depends on the plan of the master and the two sons, and he is old and old, so he can't help much." As he spoke, he raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Xian, still smiling.

Zhou Xian also smiled, "Steward Zhou said with a smile, there have been many large and small affairs in the house over the years, thanks to Steward Zhou's hard work, my brothers and I also watched Zhou Lao grow up, if there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely provide for it wholeheartedly." After speaking, he let go and turned around, and turned around and left with Zhou Wu.

Zhou Wu looked back at the old butler and smiled slightly, Zhou Feng saw it, bent down and lowered his head, couldn't see his face clearly, and said goodbye to Zhou Wu.

Zhou Wu also bowed his hand and turned to leave. When the two brothers walked to the gate, someone had already brought two horses, and Zhou Xian said to Zhou Wu, "The march and battle are extremely dangerous, and the second brother must protect your father and take care of yourself." ”

Zhou Wu nodded yes. "Don't worry, eldest brother, I will protect my father no matter what, but the eldest brother is in the court, the people's hearts are complicated, and there are guns and arrows, but you have to be careful."

Zhou Xian said: "Don't worry, your eldest brother is very good at this." ”

When Zhou Wu heard this, he smiled slightly, revealing a mouth full of white teeth, "Really? Is Big Brother really good at it? ”

Zhou Xian's pupils contracted slightly, "What do you mean?" ”

Zhou Wu laughed, "Big brother, don't think too much, I'm just worried about the safety of my eldest brother, after all, this capital city has always killed people without blood, so remind me a little." After saying that, he turned around and got on his horse and left.

Zhou Xian stared closely at the back of Zhou Wu who was riding away, and clenched his fists. Why did his simple-minded brother, who had always given himself that he could only march and fight, suddenly say these words? Someone must have taught him, who is it? Is it the father? No, no, my father still trusts me, and he is the eldest son, so the position of King Liang in the future, or the world, must be his own. It's just, it's just, it's just a father, can you think about it with common sense? Does my father care about these rules? And this younger brother who has always been obedient to himself in his impression, and has nothing to say to him since he was a child, since when did he start to talk less, but also have little intersection in private? What did he mean by saying these words? What are you reminding yourself of? What did his father tell him?

Zhou Xian's mind remembered the smile of the old housekeeper Zhou, the father in the study, and the father-son answer on the night of the palace change:

Everything is small, inheritance first

Pass it to whom? Of course, it is the capable who live in it.

Zhou Xian's heart was anxious, as if there were 10,000 ants on his body, making him numb.

At the beginning of the first year of the Warring States Period, when every family was celebrating the New Year, Zhou Xian felt extremely lonely and cold.