Xianyang City.

Although the faces of many Qin ministers looked very calm, it must be admitted that this hall was filled with an indescribable tense atmosphere at this moment.

Yes, even a while ago, Li Mu chased Wang Di all the way to Jingyang, which is only a day's journey away from Xianyang, and there has never been such a tension in this hall.

Because the monarchs and ministers of the Qin State at that time knew very well in their hearts that no matter how good Li Mu was, he would not be able to capture Xianyang with more than 20,000 cavalry.

But now that Hangu Pass has been lost, Lian Po has come.

When Lian Po came, the situation was completely different.

You must know that Lian Po has an army of 100,000 under his command, and this is still an elite army that has just broken through Chen Cheng, the capital of Chu State.

Lü Buwei's voice echoed in the hall: "Prince, now, you must, immediately, and immediately negotiate peace with the people of Zhao Guo, otherwise, once the soldiers of Zhao Guoren come to Xianyang City, then Xianyang is in danger, and Great Qin is in danger!" ”

Lü Buwei's words swept through the entire hall like a thunderbolt, making all the ministers of the Qin State look sideways.

To be honest, almost all the ministers of the Qin State present looked down on Lü Buwei in their hearts.

This is not to say that Lü Buwei's talent is insufficient, in fact, since he became the domestic history of Qin, Lü Buwei's talent has been recognized by the entire Qin State political arena, and it belongs to a very good one.

The reason why he looks down on Lü Buwei is entirely because of his businessman background.

Is the status of a merchant low in this era?

To be honest, it seems to be very low, but it is actually not low.

In "Historical Records: The Biography of the Goods and Colonies", it was said: "The son of a daughter will not die in the city." This does not refer to the sons of princes, but to the sons of large merchants whose fortunes are equivalent to a thousand eridium of gold, and who are not usually dragged to the door of the vegetable market and beheaded for breaking the law.

He also said, "The hustle and bustle of the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit." "The husband uses the poor to seek wealth, the farmer is not as good as the worker, the worker is not as good as the business, and the embroidery is not as good as the city." It shows how developed the commercial activities in the Central Plains countries were at that time, and how deeply people realized the truth of "if you want to get rich, do business".

This was the first era in Chinese history when "laughing at the poor and not laughing at prostitutes".

In this era, there were countless merchants in the big cities of the Central Plains such as Handan, Taoyi, Linzi, Luoyi, etc., and the rich such as Lü Buwei even had the name of "Sufeng", that is, the so-called "now there is no rank and Lu Feng, Jueyi enters, and the pleasure is compared with it." ”

Although a wealthy merchant like Lü Buwei was not a prince, he enjoyed almost the same things as princes.

The rise of the merchants may not be bad news for the peasants and artisans, at least there is another way out when the peasants and artisans really can't survive.

But for the ruling class "scholars" of this era, it was completely different.

Shinong industry and commerce, here Shi refers to a very broad concept, which can refer to both the scholars of the poor family and the nobles of the high family.

Once the merchants rose, they naturally hoped to gain power through their wealth, which caused unease and hostility among the "shi" class.

In the eyes of the scholars, the great way of the merchants caused the peasants and workers to unsettle their jobs, and it was an act that weakened the power of the state and made the merchants' pockets bulge, and it was something that must be spurned.

And for the Qin State, which governed the country with Legalist thoughts, merchants were even more unwelcome.

The principle of Qin's military merit system is very simple, that is, the only way out is to give civilians the only way out to fight on the battlefield and earn military merits.

If the businessmen are popular, it is equivalent to giving the civilians another way out, and the civilians can make money as long as they work for the merchants, and why do they go to the battlefield with their heads up?

Therefore, Qin's suppression of merchants was the most severe, and the discrimination against merchants was also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

This is also the most fundamental reason why the rule of the Qin Dynasty is ultimately unsustainable, absolute freedom cannot be achieved in any era, but in any era, the commoners should not have only one choice.

The reason why Lu Buwei couldn't open the situation in Xianyang under the dual identity of marrying Yangquan Jun Michen and being the prince's teacher is actually related to his businessman identity.

This discrimination manifests itself in another way.

Today's Qin State has vaguely formed a pattern of the three giants of Mi Chen, Cai Ze, and Lü Buwei, if Mi Chen or Cai Ze speaks, then except for the other two who are also giants, the remaining ministers of the Qin State basically dare not intervene.

But as soon as Lü Buwei spoke, dissent immediately appeared.

A minister of the Qin State stood up and said to Lü Buwei: "Wei Wei said this, I won't take it." Thinking that Wu Anjun has now taken all the land of Hedong County, Zhao Jun has no power to fight back when he is passively beaten in Hedong County, and the level of Zhao Jun is not as good as Er'er. As long as Wu Anjun leads the troops back to rescue Guanzhong, then the siege of Guanzhong will be solved, so why should he ask for peace with the king of Zhao? ”

Lu Buwei took a closer look and found that this guy turned out to be someone under Qi Chen, so he immediately sneered and said:

"Most of the Zhao army led by Pang Xuan in Hedong County are county soldiers and people, and it is natural that they can't resist the Great Qin Lion. However, the 100,000 soldiers and horses led by Lian Po are all out-and-out elites, and they have never been defeated in the Quartet for several years, supplemented by Li Mu's 20,000 iron cavalry, and it is difficult for anyone to compete with them in the world. Moreover, Wu Anjun was defeated by Lian Po a few years ago, and Ru An knew that this battle would definitely be won? ”

Lü Buwei's eloquent remarks were reasonable, and there were war examples as evidence in front of him, so the other party was immediately speechless, and he could only retreat.

Mi Chen, who was on the side, finally couldn't hold it back, and said in a deep voice: "Wei Wei's words are exaggerated. Thinking that Zhao State is now blatantly invading Guanzhong, it is the unrighteous division. Wu Anjun is now leading the army back with the power of a great victory, and with the support of the Chinese fathers and elders, he will definitely win under the will of the people. ”

"People's hearts?" When Lu Buwei heard this, he sneered and said, "Yangquanjun, in the past, there were more than a thousand founding countries in the Zhou Dynasty, but now there are only seven countries left. Are all the kings of these destroyed countries unpopular with the people? If Great Qin has no advantage of armor and cannot defeat Zhao in military battles, even if he wins the hearts of the people, what is the use? ”

The two of them quarreled with each other, and immediately argued in the main hall.

Obviously, the relationship between the two people, who were previously political allies, has completely deteriorated.

Zhao Zichu, the young crown prince of the Qin State, sat on the main seat, looking at the two important ministers of the Qin State who were arguing fiercely in front of him, and a trace of impatience flashed on his face.

From Zi Chu's point of view, of course, he was more inclined to listen to Lü Buwei's advice and negotiate peace with the people of Qin.

But he also knew very well that Yangquan Jun Michen was his uncle, and secondly, he was the prime minister of the Qin State and had a decisive influence, and his opinions could not be ignored.

Zi Chu coughed, knocked heavily on the table in front of him, stopped the argument between Lu Buwei and Mi Chen, and then turned his head to another important minister of the Qin State who had not yet spoken: "Gang Chengjun, what do you want?" ”

Cai Ze, who was named by name, stood up unhurriedly, saluted Zi Chu, and then said: "Prince, in the opinion of the ministers, in fact, the words of Yangquan Jun and Wei Wei have merits. ”

"Oh?" Zi Chu raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised in his heart.

You must know that before this, Cai Ze was actually very incompatible with Mi Chen, so Zichu named Cai Ze to open his mouth, which was somewhat hoping that Cai Ze could help Lu Buwei.

But now Cai Ze actually put on a posture that makes sense on both sides, which is very interesting.

Zi Chu opened his mouth and asked, "I don't know what Gang Chengjun means by this?" ”

Cai Ze Zhengse said: "The minister thinks that the prince might as well order Wu Anjun to send troops back to help and fight with the people of Zhao." If you can win it, then it is the best. If the battle cannot be won, with Wu Anjun's ability, he will not be defeated, and then consider the matter of peace with Zhao Guo. I wonder what the prince thinks? ”

Of course, Cai Ze also has his own considerations.

Judging from the current situation, the Wang Di recommended by Cai Ze has been abolished, so Bai Qi has become the object that Cai Ze cannot offend, otherwise Bai Qi and Mi Chen will join forces if Cai Ze's life will be very sad.

So at this time, Cai Ze naturally would not risk angering Bai Qi to persuade Zichu and Zhao Guo to negotiate peace.

But Cai Ze didn't want to offend Lu Buwei, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Lu Buwei was Zichu's most relied on confidant, and offending Lu Buwei was tantamount to offending Zichu.

So Cai Ze's plan not to offend both sides was naturally released.

Zi Chu frowned and thought for a while, and then spoke: "What do you think of Gang Chengjun's plan? ”

Mi Chen immediately said: "Prince, the minister has no opinion. ”

Lu Buwei glanced at Mi Chen, and said after a while: "Prince, the minister has no opinion." ”

Zi Chu nodded and said, "Since this is the case, then quickly send someone to Hedong to pass on my order to Wu Anjun, and order him to quickly rate the army back to Xianyang!" ”