The birth of Zhao He, for the Zhao State that is in the midst of vigorous reform, can be said to have injected a clear spring, so that the tense Zhao people finally have a chance to breathe. Although Zhao Yong did not show special concern for this son, he could not stop the congratulations of the ministers. Of course, everyone knows that unless there is an accident, the candidate for the next King Zhao will definitely not be this kid.

The reason why it is said that the people of Zhao State were able to breathe was because Zhao State's reforms encountered considerable trouble in the implementation of reforms. And the root of the trouble is the question of the whereabouts of the officials.

Zhao Yong's active promotion of the system of the central government doing addition and local subtraction cannot be said to be wrong, but he ignored the most fundamental point, that is, the politics of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were actually just a political game of the aristocracy, whether it was addition or subtraction, it was just the distribution of interests among family members among the nobles.

To take the simplest example, the original intention of Zhao Yong's political system was to take back the power into his own hands, so he required that the appointment and dismissal of officials must be approved by himself, but he had no choice for the candidates recommended by the officials, at best it was only a decision. Zhao Yong can only decide mechanically who will be the county guard in the following counties, because he can't nominate candidates, or in other words, he doesn't know who to promote.

It is precisely because of this that even the officials in the county are nothing more than the spokespersons elected by the local powerful nobles, and no one will let go of this opportunity to strengthen their family power. As a result, the relationship between various counties and counties is intertwined, and it is not uncommon for the families of Handan to be disconnected. More often than not, it was the generals and retainers of a certain minister who acted as local bureaucrats. For example, Li Dui is from Zhao Cheng's disciples, no matter whether his previous identity is Bai Ding or not, as long as he wants to continue to mix in the officialdom, he must listen to Zhao Cheng's words.

Of course, reducing the number of local officials can naturally reduce the burden on the state, but it has no effect on the impact of the powerful aristocracy.

Even so, the cries of the local officials are one after another, and yes, it is so difficult to spit back the fat in the mouth. Zhao Yong also realized that this was another trouble created by traversal thinking. If the bureaucracy is compared to a pond, then rectifying the bureaucracy is equivalent to draining the water and injecting it with new living water. However, what he is doing now is only draining the water, but the living water, the new bureaucratic members, has no source, this is not the time when the imperial examination system is in vogue in later generations, let alone the era when the civil service system was implemented, his behavior is tantamount to self-defeating, and of course it is not accepted by everyone.

Zhao Bao and Zhao Cheng also approached Zhao Yong many times to advise and discuss because of this matter, but Zhao Yong clearly knew that if he admitted his mistake, then his authority would inevitably be hit, and if he wanted to implement new laws and regulations in the future, he would definitely be resisted and opposed. Even all the laws that had been put in place before him would be overturned, which he could not accept. However, if it is wrong and it is forced to do so without change, the result may be as the lieutenant said: death and annihilation.

In a dilemma, Zhao He was born. Zhao Yong finally found an excuse to delay the reform of the bureaucracy in the name of celebrating the birth of the new son. Who, Dan also, that is, the meaning of bearing. Zhao Yong named this newly-born son, in addition to the poem, he can also feel the sigh of the bitterness in his heart that no one can share.

However, the antagonistic relationship between Zhao Yong and the nobles became clearer and clearer, and when Le Yi and the lieutenants gave him advice, they used war to divert the contradictions. It was also at this time that a messenger quietly came to Zhao State, allowing Zhao Yong to find an outlet for contradictions.

"Chenglingjun came all the way to Handan to meet the widow, I don't know what happened?"

On the Hanyuan Palace, Zhao Yong and Le Yi were sitting in a precarious position, looking at Cheng Lingjun, who was also sitting upright, but his eyes couldn't hide his thoughts, it was obvious that this person had ulterior motives.

"I am entrusted by the king of my family to congratulate the king on the new son, I believe that Zhao will definitely be able to strengthen Ruosi under the leadership of King Zhao."

Cheng Lingjun didn't lie, he was indeed entrusted by the heir of the King of Wei to come to Zhao to congratulate. Wei Wanghei's idea is very practical, and it is an unchanging national policy to continue to oppose Zhao, but the two countries must maintain a superficial harmony. Now that Qin and Zhao have formed an alliance, there will be no major battles between Qin and Zhao for the time being. At this time, what Wei had to do was to stabilize Zhao without being attacked by Zhao. At the same time, continue to stir up relations between Qin and Zhao and strengthen the Qin-Wei alliance, which is a later story.

After Cheng Lingjun knew that Wei had this idea, he also knew that King Wei was in the way of face and didn't know who to send, so he volunteered to take on this drudgery.

Cheng Lingjun was so enthusiastic, and he was not worried about being humiliated in front of Zhao Yong, so he naturally asked for something else.

"King Wei has a heart, and the widow still understands it. The three families of Han, Zhao, and Wei originated from the Jin Kingdom, so they naturally had to pay attention to the same qi and branches. This time, the king of Wei congratulated the widow, which shows that the king of Wei still has a good respect for the widow. After Zhao Yong finished speaking, he ordered the White Tiger Hall to be responsible for selecting some gifts to return to King Wei.

"The king's intentions, the little envoy must convey it on his behalf. But..."Cheng Lingjun glanced up at Zhao Yong, who raised his eyebrows and asked, "Can the envoy have something to say?" ”

Cheng Lingjun thought to himself, he had already reached this point, what else was there to hide, his heart was horizontal, he saluted with both hands, and said loudly to Zhao Yong: "The little envoy still has one more matter, and he wants to discuss it with King Zhao." ”

Everyone glanced at each other, thinking that this guy was finally no longer hiding, so they cheered up one by one and waited for Cheng Lingjun's answer.

"Everyone here, all of them are my Zhao Yongneng ministers, what does the King of Wei want, but the envoy said that it is okay, there is no need to be taboo." Zhao Yong encouraged, and he also wanted to know what Cheng Lingjun was selling.

"Yes." He said with a heart, "The little envoy is here to Handan." In addition to conveying the congratulations of the King of Wei, he also conveyed the request of one person, hoping that Zhao Guo would support him. ”

Zhao Yong pondered for a while, "What does King Wei have to ask the widow?" ”

"No, it's not King Wei, but someone else." Cheng Lingjun responded eagerly.

"Someone else?"

Cheng Lingjun's words surprised everyone present, but they didn't expect this Cheng Lingjun to have another purpose. Moreover, is he preparing to betray the King of Wei?

"Yes. This person is not someone else, but the prince of my Wei State, Zheng. ”

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked!

"The prince's meaning is to hope that the king of Zhao can support him to become the prime minister of Wei. In return, he would facilitate an alliance between Wei and Zhao, with the king of Zhao as his honor. ”

Cheng Lingjun was really not shocked, and before everyone could recover his strength, he threw out another piece of news that made everyone messy: The prince wants to be the prime minister of Wei, is this possible?

"This matter is a big matter, not to mention that Zhao Guo has no intention of interfering in the affairs of other countries, and the envoy's words are very abrupt." Zhao Yong said meaningfully, looking at Cheng Lingjun, trying to see that he was really an invitation, not a trap.

"This matter is by no means a whim of the prince, but the result of careful consideration, and please think twice about it."

When everyone saw that his expression did not seem to be fake, they began to think in their hearts, is it such a good thing?

"Although the crown prince has great prestige, he lacks experience in government affairs, and if he becomes a minister, I am afraid that he will not be able to serve the country. What's more, the Wei State is full of talents, why does the prince have to grab the position of prime minister? ”

Cheng Lingjun hesitated for a while, gritted his teeth and said: "It's not a secret, although the Wei State is full of talents, since the death of Xiang Bang Tian Xu, only three people can take over the position of Xiang Bang. ”

"Gongsun Yan, Tian Wen, and, Zhang Yi." The lieutenant said calmly.

This time it was Cheng Lingjun's turn to be surprised, he had indeed heard of the name of the lieutenant before, but he didn't expect that this person's talent would be so unexpected. However, it was soon relieved that there were many people in the Wei State who could not display their talents in the Wei State, and there were not many lieutenants.

"Not bad." Cheng Lingjun said, "Since Tian Yu's death, these three have been the ones with the highest voice for the position of Xiangbang. And the reason why the prince wants to become the prime minister of Wei is also because of the identities of these three. ”

Speaking of this, everyone will understand what it means.

Those who want to invite Zhang Yi to come back and become Xiangbang naturally represent some of the people in Wei who are close to Qin. Zhang Yi had previously been a minister in the Wei state, and that was also the best period for Qin and Wei relations. This group of people wanted Zhang Yi to come back, and the purpose was to get on the chariot of the Qin State and go on a rampage.

If Tian Wen is invited to be a prime minister, he is naturally a person close to the Qi country. Tian Wengang came to Wei when he first came, and it was recommended by Gongsun Yan as a proof to ensure the relationship between Qi and Wei. However, later, in the Battle of Pushui, Qi and Wei completely broke off relations, and Tian Wen naturally ran back to Qi in disgrace. These people wanted to invite him back, the purpose was to repair the relationship between Qi and Wei and ensure that Wei would not be attacked by Qi in the short term.

And those who want to invite Gongsun Yan to come back to succeed Xiangbang are even more clear: to join forces to resist Qin. This may be one of the few ministers of Wei who is still insisting, Gongsun Yan, as the idol and leader of the joint resistance against Qin, if he can come back at this time, take advantage of the weakness of Qin, and organize a coalition to attack Qin again, he may not be able to win in one battle, in that case, the humiliation that Wei has suffered in recent years can be shamed together.

The position of a prime minister shows the officialdom factions of Wei State clearly. And this is also the biggest headache for Wei Wanghei. As a monarch, he is naturally not willing to become a puppet of the Qin State, nor does he want to form an alliance with the sworn enemy, but decides the outcome through war, so Zhang Yi and Tian Wen, he does not want the two to become Xiangbang, otherwise, one is inclined to the Qin State and the other is inclined to the Qi State, which are intolerable to the Wei State. And Gongsun Yan, King Wei's hatred for him can be said to be incalculable, because he can't forget it for a long time, and once swore to tell King Wei that he would definitely be able to win against Qin, but as a result, the alliance of the Five Nations not only did not break through Hangu Pass, but was also pursued by Yu Lijian for hundreds of miles, which made the heir of King Wei who had just succeeded to the throne lose face at that time, and since then, he really has no respect for Gongsun Yan. This time, someone asked him to come back and become Xiangbang, and the heir of King Wei naturally disagreed.

But if you don't choose one of these three people, who should be replaced by the Xiangbang of Wei?

"The prince's request is very simple, he hopes that Zhao will support him to become the prime minister of Wei, and in return, Wei is willing to form an alliance with Zhao and advance and retreat together!" Cheng Lingjun said conclusively.

In history, this prince is not called politics, forgive me for not finding the official history information, this name is from the wild history, but this story is from the "Warring States Policy".

(End of chapter)