"PS: Well, the length of this ending...... I haven't had time to explain a lot of things, and my mood is a little complicated, so I'll write a postscript and talk about it later."

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In the spring of April, Meng Zhong and his wife Mur Leyan went to Mengyi in the Song Kingdom to worship the teacher Zhuangzi.

In front of the teacher's grave, Meng Zhong said to Le Yan with emotion: "...... When the master was dying, he specially instructed me not to build a tomb for him, but to put his body in the wild, and I thought about it for a long time, but finally went against the teacher's wishes......"

Hearing this, Le Yan covered her lips with her sleeves and asked in surprise, "Is there such a thing?" ”

"yes." Meng Zhong said with emotion: "The master said at the time that the violent corpse in the wild was just eaten by an eagle; And buried in a coffin is also inevitably eaten by insects and ants...... How partial is it to take the food of the eagle and give it to the insects and ants? ”

Le Yan was stunned for a long time with wide eyes, and then said with a strange expression: "Having said that, can ...... Master Zhuangzi's thoughts are really difficult for ordinary people to understand......"

Meng Zhong smiled slightly, and recalled the scene when Master Zhuang passed away.

After the death of Zhuangfuzi in Mencius, compared with the mourning of all the Confucian disciples when Mencius passed away, Zhuangziju did not have such sadness, mainly because Taoism is different from Confucianism.

Just like Zhuangzi said at the time, after his death, he just reclassified the essence of heaven and earth into heaven and earth, and there was no 'Zhuang Zhou' at first, and then it no longer existed.

At that time, Meng Zhong, Meng Sui, Hua Hu and other disciples couldn't cry or laugh, they never thought that even at this sad moment, their teacher was ready to teach them a lesson.

At this moment, there were several sounds of horses' hooves in the distance, and Meng Zhong turned his head to look, and saw a burly man about thirty years old hurrying on a war horse.

I saw this burly man come to Meng Zhong and salute with his hand: "Meng Wu has seen uncle and uncle. ”

Meng Zhong smiled slightly and said, "Meng Wu, I corresponded with your father a few days ago, and I learned that in recent years, I have relied on you to entrust someone to take care of your master's mausoleum, and I have worked hard for you. ”

It turned out that the burly man in front of him was the son of his brother Meng Ao, Meng Wu.

After hearing Meng Zhong's words, Meng Wu said with a smile: "Uncle, what are you talking about?" Master Zhuang is my uncle's teacher, and he is the benefactor of my Meng clan. And if I didn't have my uncle, I'm afraid that my Meng clan would have lost their hometown in the war of Qi against the Song State, or they could only survive under the brutal King Min of Qi...... Uncle, this time you are going back to Mengyi and are you going to live in the township for a few days? I have sent a messenger to my father......"

"This ...... I won't stay long. Meng Zhong thought for a moment and said, "I still have some things on hand...... In a few days, I will go to Zhao Guo and his party......"

"Zhao Guo?"

Meng Wu was stunned and said puzzled: "The little nephew has only paid attention to Qi and Chu in Shangqiu all these years, and has not paid attention to Zhao State, has something happened to Zhao State?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong said with a smile: "I heard, I heard that in the past two years, you have helped the Song State defeat the Qi State and the Chu State many times, and I was still communicating with your father a few days ago, and when I and your father are old in the future, I will recommend you to be the great Sima ...... of the Song State."

"This ...... The little nephew didn't dare to hope. ”

"What is there that you dare not hope for? After the death of Uncle Meng Zhi, the Song Kingdom has almost relied on your father and son to fight against Qi and Chu over the years, in comparison, my big Sima is purely a name...... Haha, as for what you said about the changes in Zhao Guo......"

Meng Zhong stroked his beard, frowned, and said, "Actually, strictly speaking, it is not the change of the Zhao State, but the change of the Qin State...... Do you know that the crown prince of Qin has been working as a proton in Wei all these years? ”

"Yes, I know."

"Last year, the prince of Qin unfortunately died of illness, the Qin side was furious, and I fought another battle with the Wei state, after the war, the Qin state welcomed back the Anguo monarch Yingzhu as a proton from the Zhao state, and made him the crown prince...... The DPRK and China speculate that this incident may ease the relations between Qin and Zhao, and even promote the re-alliance between Qin and Zhao? ”

"Qin and Zhao are allied again?" Meng Wu asked in surprise: "As far as I know, didn't the Qin State still send troops to attack the Zhao State two years ago, and the Zhao State seems to have sent Ma Fujun Zhao Hao to meet ......."

Meng Zhong nodded and said, "Having said that, An Guojun Yingzhu has lived in the Zhao State for many years, and he was named the crown prince, which may be possible to ease the relationship between Qin and Zhao and make the Zhao State fall to the Qin State again...... You know, Zhao has vacillated between Qin and Wei over the years, and the King of Wei has long lost his patience, if Zhao forms an alliance with Qin again this time, I am afraid that King Wei will order me to crusade against Zhao. ”

"I see." Meng Wu suddenly realized.

In the next few days, Meng Zhong stayed temporarily in Mengyi and accompanied Le Yan to worship his mother-in-law, who had long passed away.

A few days later, Meng Zhong ordered his retinue to send Le Yan back to Wuyangyi, and he embarked on a journey to Zhao with several retinues.

At this time, Zhao Wanghe had died a few years ago, and he was succeeded by the crown prince Zhao Dan, or now called Zhao Wangdan.

Speaking of which, Zhao Dan was not the eldest son, and the throne of Zhao should not have been inherited by Zhao Dan, but because the plague was rampant in Zhao for a year, the crown prince Zhao Kui unfortunately contracted the plague and died, so King Zhao He made Zhao Dan the crown prince.

In addition to Zhao Wanghe, Fei You, Zhao Xi, Zhao Ben, Fengyangjun Li Dui, Yanganjun Li Ji father and son, including Zhao Hao, who defected to Zhao State a few years ago, also passed away one after another, and Lian Po actually became the person Meng Zhong had the most friendship with in Zhao State except for Le Yi.

When he arrived in Handan, Zhao State, Zhao Sheng, the prime minister of Zhao State, had already been waiting outside the city gate for a long time.

Different from when he first met Zhao Sheng, Zhao Sheng at this time, because he had been assisting his brother and nephew for many years and complained physically, and he was able to go out of the city to greet Meng Zhong in person, which can be described as very face-saving.

Of course, with Meng Zhong's reputation and status, he is indeed qualified to let Zhao Sheng personally go out of the city to greet him.

On the same day, Meng Zhong was in Zhao Sheng's mansion, and Zhao Sheng talked about the Qin State issue, in general, the results were not large, compared to Meng Zhong's hope to make Zhao Guo firm 'Lianwei to resist Qin's position, Zhao Sheng always Gu Zuoyan him, unwilling to give a promise in person.

Of course, from Zhao Sheng's standpoint, he certainly would not want Zhao to become a vassal of Wei, even if Wei has gradually increased in momentum over the years with the help of Song and Han, and has gradually replaced the status of Qi back then, and is known as the most powerful two forces in the world along with Qin.

In addition to being disappointed, in view of the invitation letter received from Lian Po before, Meng Zhong decided to go to Jinyang to talk to Lian Po about this matter, after all, Lian Po was a general who advocated fighting against the Qin State, and he had fought against the Qin State many times over the years, and fought against the younger generals of the Qin State such as Wang Yu, Wang Ling, Hu Yang, Yingyi and so on.

However, before that, Meng Zhong was going to Bairen County first and visited the descendants of Yang Anjun Li Ji.

Yang Anjun Li Ji is the son of Fengyangjun Li Dui, after Li Dui lost power in Zhao State, Li Ji and the Li family gradually lost their status in Zhao State, when Li Ji listened to his father's deathbed advice, and made good friends with Meng Zhong, and was one of the few courtiers in Zhao State who firmly advocated 'Lian Wei to resist Qin' - perhaps Zhao Wang He also looked at this relationship, and did not settle accounts with the Li family.

But unfortunately, after Li Ji's death, the Li family inevitably declined, so Li Ji's descendants went to Qin to join Li Ji's second son Li Ke.

Li Ke's grandson, Li Xingzu, served as a general of the Qin State who attacked the Zhao State more than ten years ago.

Until two years ago, Li Ji's descendant, Li Tan, who served as the imperial historian in the Qin State, returned to the Zhao State and was worshiped by the King of Zhao as the Marquis of Bairen.

And this Bai Ren Hou Li Tan is the son of Li Xing.

A day later, Meng Zhong arrived in Bairen County, about 80 miles northeast of Handan.

Knowing that Meng Zhong came to visit, Li Tan, the marquis of Bairen, was flattered and hurriedly led his fourth son Li Ji out of the city accordingly.

It is worth mentioning that although Li Tan is slightly younger than Meng Zhong, in terms of seniority, the two are too different.

You must know that although Meng Zhong was the same age as Li Ji's son Li Ke, he was the same generation as Li Dui and Li Ji's father and son, and Li Tan was Li Ji's great-great-great-great-grandson, and there was a full four generations in the middle.

"Why don't you choose to stay in the Qin State and choose to return to the Zhao State?"

During the conversation with Li Tan, Meng Zhong asked the latter.

Li Tan sighed and said, "Although the Qin State treats my Li family well, the Zhao State is the ancestral land of my Li family after all...... If there had been a choice, the ancestors would not have defected to the Qin State back then......"

According to Li Tan, he had four sons, among which the eldest son Li Chong, the second son Li Bian, and the third son Li Zhao were all now married in the Qin State, so he returned to the Zhao State with his fourth son Li Ji, hoping to restore the Li family of the Zhao State.

Subsequently, Li Tan also summoned his fourth son, Li Ji, Li Ji's son and his grandson Li Mu, and ordered his father and son to meet Meng Zhong.

During the banquet, Meng Zhong chatted with Li Tan's ancestors and grandchildren about the things between him and Li Dui, Li Ji's father and son, and Li Tan's ancestors and grandchildren didn't know how to answer, so they simply listened honestly.

The next day, when Meng Zhong decided to say goodbye to the Li family and was about to go to Jinyang to rush to Lian Po's invitation, he saw Li Tan's grandson Li Mu running in front of him and pleaded: "In the early years, when the boy's family was in the Qin State, I heard many times that only the Marquis of Yun could stop Wu Anjun in this world. ”

Meng Zhong was very surprised when he heard this, and turned his head to look at Li Tan, Li Ji and his son, Li Tan and his son were surprised and quickly shook their heads, saying that this was definitely not their instruction.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong asked the young Li Mudao: "You want me to teach you, why?" ”

Li Mu Zhengse said: "Naturally, it is to serve the country in the future." ”

"Serve the country? Does it refer to Zhao Guo? Meng Zhong asked in surprise: "You have three uncles who are officials in the Qin State, even if the Zhao State is destroyed by the Qin State in the future, your family will not be persecuted by the Qin State, why do you want to serve the Zhao State?" ”

The young Li Mu Zhengse said: "Zhao Guo is the root of my Li family, my ancestors were forced to defect to Qin State, and now the king of Zhao has a large number of them, allowing me to return to China, and named my grandfather as the Marquis of Bairen, so that my family has restored the identity of Zhao people, since it is Zhao people, it should serve Zhao State." ”

Seeing that Li Mu was young but had great ambitions, and his answers were fluent, Meng Zhong found it quite interesting.

After thinking about it, he said to Li Mu: "I won't accept you as a disciple, how much you can learn by my side depends on yourself, if you think it's okay, you can follow me." ”

Hearing this, not only Li Mu felt happy, but Li Tan and Li Ji's father and son were also pleasantly surprised.

After all, this person in front of him is Marquis Mengzhong!

He was the most feared general of the Central Plains countries in the Qin State.

On the same day, Li Tan and his son warmly retained Meng Zhong and once again instructed the kitchen in the mansion to prepare sumptuous wine and food as a celebration.

The next day, the young Li Mu packed his bags, said goodbye to his grandfather and parents, and followed Meng Zhong back to Handan.

Because his schedule was free, he took the opportunity to go back to the post house to pack his bags, and Meng Zhong simply took Li Mu to take a casual stroll in Handan City.

When he got tired of shopping, Meng Zhong found a wine shop.

Given that this liquor shop looked ordinary and even a little shabby, Li Mu asked in surprise, "Marquis Yun...... No, teacher, will you come to this kind of liquor store too? ”

Meng Zhong smiled and asked, "Why can't I come?" ”

"No......" Li Mu shook his head and said, "I thought that most people of your status were ...... of fine clothes and food."

Meng Zhong said with a smile when he heard this: "You know that I am a military general, right? With the title of the general army and the general on the Qin side, how many of them are clothed and fed? …… Those noble sons with fine clothes and fine food can't win the sincere support of the soldiers. ”

Li Mu nodded thoughtfully.

After a while, when he was full of wine and food, Li Mu asked Meng Zhongdao again: "Teacher, with your status and status, you will not appear in Zhao State for no reason, since you appeared in Zhao State, it must be something happened to Zhao State, right?" ”

Meng Zhong thought about it and felt that it was not a secret of any importance, so he explained to Li Mu: "Last year, the crown prince of Qin died of illness in Wei State, and Qin State welcomed Yingzhu from Zhao State as the crown prince, and sent Yingzhu's son 'Ying Yiren' to stay in Zhao State as a proton, although the relationship between Qin and Zhao has been tense in the past two years, but this incident may ease the relationship between Qin and Zhao......

Meng Zhong was explaining to Li Mu, and suddenly out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone next to him looking at this side, as if he was eavesdropping on what he was saying, and he immediately frowned and looked over.

The drinker next to him seemed to be a businessman, looking like he was about thirty years old, dressed in bright clothes, and seemed to be a wealthy businessman.

Probably noticing that Meng Zhong frowned and looked over, the merchant hurriedly apologized, "Forgive your sins." It wasn't that I was eavesdropping on purpose, but I accidentally heard it, and I felt a little concerned, so I listened carefully to a few more words...... If there is any offense to the father-in-law, please forgive the father-in-law. ”

"Uncle?"

Meng Zhong muttered a few words with a strange expression, then looked the person up and down a few times, and asked casually, "What do you call your feet?" ”

The businessman replied: "Dissatisfied with concealing the old man, after the people of Puyang who defended the country, the Lu family, his name is not Wei, and he went to Zhao this time, he came for business......

『Lü Buwei ......』

Meng Zhong muttered two sentences, and then said to Na Lu Buwei with great interest: "You are a businessman, but you are also interested in world affairs?" Or can you and other businessmen find business opportunities in it? ”

Lu Buwei said with a smile: "In the downstream, the business is just to make a living, not the original intention. Don't hide it from the old man, in fact, the wish under is to pay homage to the marquis. ”

At the end, he seemed to feel a little embarrassed and laughed a little embarrassed.

But to his surprise, the old man in front of him didn't smile, the other party just looked at him seriously, and immediately asked: "Today's countries, most of the merchants practice lightly, and the businessmen want to pay homage to the prime minister, which is not easy to ......."

"There is a way to do things by man." Lu Buwei said with a smile: "I listen to the old man's words, An Guojun has been canonized as the crown prince by the King of Qin, the prince is the Qin monarch in the future, and the crown prince will also need to be canonized after succeeding to the throne, if I marry the son of An Guojun at this moment, and An Guojun will become the king of Qin in the future, and the son I married also happened to be made the prince, although he was born in a businessman, or he can also enter and exit the temple of Qin." Speaking of this, he got up and said to Meng Zhong: "I heard that when An Guojun left Zhao and returned to Qin, he left his son Yiren to replace Zhao as a proton. ”

With that, he settled the money with the owner of the liquor store and hurriedly disappeared into the street outside the liquor store.

At this time, the young Li Mu couldn't help but say: "This person thinks too much...... I don't know how to evaluate it, how can there be so many coincidental things in the world? It's a fool's dream. ”

Meng Zhong picked up the wine bowl and took a sip of the slightly sour wine, and then couldn't help but glance at the direction in which the merchant had left.

"But it sounds ...... It's doable, isn't it? Although it may be a 1 in 10,000 chance ......"

"How is that possible?" Li Mu said with a strange expression.

Meng Zhong smiled slightly when he heard this, and he didn't bother to argue with a teenager.

He just had a hunch that maybe that young merchant named Lü Buwei would really be able to preempt his seemingly ridiculous and ridiculous plan in the future, and be a merchant and a prominent minister in the Qin State.

Suddenly, Meng Zhong shook his head with a smile.

Also, that's in the future, and what does it have to do with him, who has been called the old man?

I have to say that because of his relationship with Mengzhong, the Qin State has not been able to set foot in Hangu Pass so far; But on the other hand, because of Bai Qi's relationship, Meng Zhong has not been able to completely defeat the Qin State so far, and completely remove the biggest obstacle to the Wei State's hegemony of the Central Plains.

And now, although Bai Qi is getting old, but the Qin State has also emerged a steady stream of outstanding generals such as Wang Yi, Wang Ling, Hu Yang, Ying Yi and other young generations, the momentum of the Qin State is getting stronger and stronger, maybe he Meng Zhong should also train some young people to fight against those young Qin generals.

"Let's go, boy, go to Jinyang and take you to meet your general of Zhao State."

"I know, Jinyang is quite honest. …… As far as the kid knows, this Jin Yang Shou seems to have been a defeated soldier under the teacher? ”

"Huh." Meng Zhong smiled, noncommittal or noncommittal.

Lian Po?

It's not just Lian Po, how many of the generals who have fought against him so far have the ability to remain undefeated?

"Teacher, if I learn your art of war, will I be able to make the Qin State fearful in the future?"

"Hehe, of course! At that time, the Qin State will also be afraid of you...... Li Mu's prestige. ”