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In the evening, about half an hour after Meng Zhong said goodbye to Zhao Wanghe and left, Zhao Xiangfeiyi came to the palace and asked to see Zhao Wanghe.

In fact, Fei Yi didn't have anything important, he just wanted to understand the process of Zhao Wanghe's contact with Meng Zhong - although he was optimistic about Meng Zhong, he was not defenseless, after all, Meng Zhong was still from Zhao's father's side.

So after seeing Zhao Wanghe, Fei Yi asked with a smile: "The old minister met the letter period, and I heard the letter period say that today, the general Meng Zhong was led to the side hall, and he also retreated, I don't know what to talk about?" ”

Zhao Wang He trusted Fei Yi the most, and when he heard the latter's question, he explained to him one by one: "At the beginning, I talked about your changes, and Meng Qing thought that my Zhao State must also implement reforms, and only in this way can we overtake Qi and catch up with Qin." ”

"Chaoqi to catch up with Qin?"

Fei Yi stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then nodded slightly and said, "It's a good statement, but ...... Does he think that I, Zhao Guo, have the conditions to change the law now? He shook his head again with a little wistfulness.

As mentioned above, in fact, Feiyi also hopes that Zhao will implement a comprehensive reform to make up for the loopholes and hidden dangers left in the reform of "Hufu Cavalry and Shooting", but unfortunately, Zhao's internal strife is too serious and does not have the conditions for implementing reforms.

And Zhao Wanghe obviously knew this, and seeing Fei Yi's melancholy expression, he brought up the most important point in Meng Zhong's conversation with him: "Therefore, Meng Qing suggested that the widow try to reconcile with Zhao's master. ”

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Fei Yi was stunned, and then asked curiously, "Does he have any good plans?" ”

Seeing this, Zhao Wang He told Fei Yi about Meng Zhong's suggestion, that is, to try to make Zhao's master father "satisfied", not just a title of "master father".

"This ......"

After listening to Zhao Wanghe's words, Fei Yi carefully analyzed Meng Zhong's original intention of making this suggestion.

If someone else made this suggestion, Fei Yi would most likely doubt the "threat" of this suggestion - that is, whether Zhao Zhufu's side wanted to gradually seize power in this name, but since Meng Zhong mentioned it, Fei Yi had some trust in it, not to mention, Meng Zhong's suggestion to "satisfy Zhao Zhufu" was mostly material and vanity and convenient satisfaction, as for real power, Meng Zhong suggested "satisfying Zhao Zhufu under the premise of Zhao Wanghe's approval", in other words, that is, the "instrument" and "name" are still in the hands of Zhao Wanghe.

"Vessel" refers to ritual vessels, which by extension are the king's ceremonial guards, including travel, sacrifices, funerals, and so on.

And "name" refers to the power of the king to canonize the princes of his vassals.

"Zuo Chuan" once said, "Only the instrument and the name, not the dummy", that is, as a monarch, everything can be given to others, but only the power of the instrument and the canonization of the vassals and the title of the prince cannot be lent to others, otherwise the king will lose his status.

Take Zhou Tianzi as an example, when the Jin State dominated the Central Plains, the Zhou State was already weakened and even inferior to the vassal states, but why was it as strong as the Jin State and did not dare to replace the Zhou State? It is because Zhou Tianzi's prestige is still retained.

I once remembered that a certain monarch of the Jin Kingdom wanted to be buried in the specifications of the Son of Heaven after his death, so he sent an envoy to plead with the Zhou royal family.

At that time, the strength of the Zhou royal family was not comparable to that of the Jin State at all, but the reigning Zhou Tianzi said, you can do whatever you want, but I will not give you permission.

In the end, the monarch of the Jin Kingdom was buried according to the specifications of the princes. [PS: The author forgot who it was, anyway, it was a Jin monarch who made a great contribution to the Zhou State. 】

Without the permission of Zhou Tianzi, the monarch who was as strong as the Jin State did not dare to overstep it, and after that, he did not dare to have any vassal states—except for the Zheng State—to offend the Zhou State, and this was the power of the "instrument".

This is a positive example, and the negative example is the "three families divided into Jin", after the three families were divided, Wei, Han, and Zhao stole the "anti-ministers" of the Jin State, and finally all got the recognition of the Zhou royal family and canonized as princes.

As for the example of "name", there are too many, since ancient times, the king has lost his status, all of which started from the loss of "name", not to mention, just say that Zhao's father, he passed on to Zhao Wanghe, that is, he gave Zhao Wanghe the right to "canonize his courtiers", and what is the result? As a result, Zhao's father was constantly marginalized.

That's why "Zuo Chuan" has this warning and reminder: only the instrument and the name, no dummies.

And now, since Meng Zhong did not ask Zhao Wang He to return the "instrument" and "name" to Master Zhao's father, then this matter is still negotiable, after all, Fei Yi does not want to be an enemy of Lord Zhao's father.

The question is, can King Zhao reconcile with Lord Zhao's father? You must know that among the father and son, there is also an Anyang Jun Zhao Zhang.

But try it, and it's okay after all.

But before that, Fei Yi first had to ask King Zhao one thing: "Your Majesty, do you think Meng Zhong is credible?" …… Don't care that the old minister recommended this person to you, you have to make your own judgment. ”

"Meng Qing ......"

Zhao Wanghe carefully recalled the process of his conversation with Meng Zhong, and finally, he nodded: "He once spoke bluntly in front of the widow, saying that he would not betray the master father, he dared to tell the widow the truth in his heart, and believed that he was an honest person...... The oligarchy thinks it is credible. ”

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Fei Yi's wrinkled face: "Then you can work with him." ”

Zhao Wanghe nodded heavily.

At the same time, Meng Zhong had also returned to Master Zhao's father.

When he first arrived at the palace where Master Zhao's father lived, Meng Zhong happened to meet Que Guanzi and Pang Xuan's master and apprentice coming out of the palace.

"Crane Guanzi, Brother Pang Xuan."

Meng Zhong took the lead in giving the salute.

"It turned out to be a little friend." Crane Guanzi looked at Meng Zhong with a smile, he seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything, just said goodbye to Meng Zhong.

As for Pang Xuan, he told Meng Zhong one thing before leaving: "I named the five thousand soldiers under my command the 'Tan Guard' army. ”

After saying that, he followed the crane and left.

"Tan Wei?"

Looking at Pang Xuan's departing back, recalling his eyes with a faint hint of competition, Meng Zhong was also a little helpless in his heart.

Although he had never been to Xindu, he had also heard Master Zhao mention that the two largest and most famous buildings in Xindu were the "Xin Palace" and the other was the "Tantai", that is, in order to show his subjects the decision of "words must be believed and deeds must be fruitful", Zhao Chenghou built the Xin Palace and Tantai in Xindu.

And now, Meng Zhong named his 500 soldiers "Xinwei", and Pang Xuan named his 5,000 soldiers "Tan Wei", which obviously meant to compete with him.

As for the reason, it was nothing more than the fact that Meng Zhong led 500 Xinwei to attack the camp at night, which made the arrogant Pang Xuan have a little idea of "competing with each other".

"It's a tiring reputation......

Meng Zhong sighed with emotion, because the relationship with Pang Xuan was quite good before, and before going to the Qi State, the two of them also discussed the art of war many times.

Seeing Crane Guanzi and Pang Xuan disappear from his sight, Meng Zhong shook his head, and after nodding as a greeting to several Xinwei soldiers guarding outside the palace, he turned around and walked into the palace.

At this time, in the front hall of this palace, Master Zhao was sitting behind a low table with his chin in one hand, and when he noticed Meng Zhong walking into the hall, he smiled drunkenly and said, "Boy, are you back?" ”

Meng Zhong sniffed the pungent smell of wine in the hall and said, "Master Zhao, have you drunk a lot of wine with Que Guanzi today?" ”

"Huh."

Master Zhao waved his hand a little impatiently, and then explained: "Drink to make fun, just drink a little more, don't spoil the fun." ”

As he was talking, a eunuch and two palace maids came out from the depths of the hall, and the eunuch at the head said respectfully: "Master Zhao, Mu Tang is ready." ”

"Good!" Drunkenly, Master Zhao struggled to stand up, and at the same time beckoned Meng Zhong: "Meng Zhong, come, help me." ”

Meng Zhong secretly shook his head helplessly, and helped Master Zhao to the bath deep in the hall.

After a while, Master Zhao took off his clothes with the assistance of the two palace maids, stepped into the pool, and sat comfortably in the warm pool, even making a few comfortable sounds in his mouth.

Mu Tang, to put it bluntly, is a bath, whether it can relieve hangover Meng Zhong is not clear, but as far as he knows, Master Zhao's favorite is to take a bath after drinking, which is said to be the most comfortable - Meng Zhong has not tried it, because he is very worried about whether he will drown in the pool after getting drunk.

"What are you still doing in a daze?"

After soaking for about a dozen breaths, Master Zhao's father saw that Meng Zhong was still standing by the bath, so he beckoned the latter to take a bath together.

To be honest, Meng Zhong was actually quite resistant to taking a bath with an elder, but since Master Zhao had spoken, he had no other way.

After a while, after Meng Zhong also soaked himself in the pool, Master Zhao leaned his head on the edge of the pool, closed his eyes, and asked with a little drunkenness: "I heard that today, you went to the main hall to see Zhao He again?" ”

"Yes."

"What did you talk about? …… Or is it your experience of attacking Qi Camp at night? He can't hear enough? ”

"Nope." Meng Zhong shook his head and said, "Today, I talked to your lord about some changes in the law of various countries. ”

"Change?"

Master Zhao opened his eyes, raised his head and glanced at Meng Zhong, then returned to his original lying position, and said lazily: "My son, is he reading the laws and regulations of various countries?" Hmm, that's good...... As you can see, how well does he know the laws and regulations of the countries? ”

"In my opinion, Your Excellency has a deep understanding of the laws and regulations of various countries."

"Oh." Master Zhao didn't seem interested in this, and then asked, "Did you talk about anything else?" I still remember, Fei Yi invited you to his house last night, right? You're only one of you...... What's the matter, does he even want to woo my newly cultivated people? ”

In his last sentence, there was a faint dissatisfaction.

"How do you answer that?"

Meng Zhong thought about it, and simply admitted the matter: "Yes, the fat minister wants me to assist the king." ”

Hearing this, Master Zhao opened his eyes again, and asked pretending not to care, "Then how did you answer?" ”

"I will not betray Master Zhao. …… That's how I replied to the king and the fat minister. Meng Zhong said very bluntly.

Master Zhao turned his head sideways and glanced at Meng Zhong, but seeing Meng Zhong's face full of sincerity, he laughed and said, "I just asked casually, you don't have to take it too seriously." …… Even Feiyi came to woo you, which proves more and more that I look at people. ”

"Don't you have to take it too seriously?"

Thinking back to Pang Xuan, who had just left this palace, Meng Zhong didn't really believe in Lord Zhao's words.

He is self-aware, although Master Zhao values him, but he may not have to be him.

There are some things that he can do with Meng Zhong, and Pang Xuan can also do it, not to mention that Pang Xuan also has his teacher Guan Guanzi by his side, and the weight of the master and apprentice in the heart of Master Zhao will not be inferior to him Meng Zhong.