How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 714

Preparing for the Unification War

Yang Chen certainly wouldn’t stay in this era forever. His mission was to help King Qin [Ying Zheng, later known as the First Emperor of China] unify the six states and prevent him from using live people for burial. After completing the mission, he would definitely return to modern life.

Therefore, he could be the Prime Minister, but he had to make it clear how long he could do it, so that Ying Zheng would have an idea.

“Thank you for your kindness, Brother Zheng. Then I won’t stand on ceremony. I will temporarily serve as the Prime Minister of Qin. But I don’t intend to be the Prime Minister of Qin forever. As long as you are here, I will be here. When you pass on in the future, I will leave too,” Yang Chen said.

Ying Zheng was only 21 years old at this time. At that age, death felt very far away, so he naturally wouldn’t dwell on immortality and had a relatively open-minded attitude towards death.

Therefore, Ying Zheng immediately said, “Haha… No problem! Sir, you will be my, Ying Zheng’s, Prime Minister. Haha…”

The civil and military officials quickly congratulated Yang Chen, taking the opportunity to say some flattering things to attract Yang Chen’s attention.

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Fellow colleagues, you don’t need to be so polite. Our shared goal is to help Brother Zheng eliminate the other six states with one heart and one mind. You don’t need to flatter me. I am fair and impartial. I won’t promote you just because you say nice things, nor will I deliberately make things difficult for you just because you don’t say nice things.”

The civil and military officials nodded with a smile. They hoped that Yang Chen was telling the truth, not just saying it.

Ying Zheng said with a smile, “I believe that with Mr. Yang as Prime Minister, my Qin will soon be able to unify the six states. Now, I want to talk about a very important matter. Lu Buwei [former Prime Minister of Qin] colluded with Lao Ai [a supposed eunuch who had an affair with the Queen Mother], but I acknowledge that he has made great contributions to Qin, so I don’t want to use cruel punishment on him, nor do I want to exterminate his three generations of relatives. I want to give him a cup of poisoned wine and let him depart with dignity. What do you ministers think?”

Many officials in the court were promoted by Lu Buwei, and some officials had inextricable connections with Lu Buwei.

Hearing that Ying Zheng wanted to kill Lu Buwei, they naturally stood up to object immediately.

“Your Majesty also said just now that the Prime Minister has made great contributions to Qin. If Your Majesty kills him, it will inevitably make others feel that serving in Qin is a very dangerous thing. Even if you become the Prime Minister, even if you make great contributions to Qin, you will not escape death. Then who would dare to serve Your Majesty in the future?”

“Lao Ai is indeed a retainer of the Prime Minister, but after Lao Ai became the Marquis of Changxin, he didn’t even pay attention to the Prime Minister. Everyone has seen how tense their relationship is. Even if the Prime Minister has something to do with Lao Ai, he will definitely not support Lao Ai’s rebellion. If Lao Ai’s rebellion succeeds, the Prime Minister will definitely not have a good end. He can’t possibly not understand this, so how could he support Lao Ai’s rebellion?”

“If Your Majesty can spare the Prime Minister’s life, everyone will think that Your Majesty is a wise king, and more people with lofty ideals will come to serve Your Majesty. This is better than killing a Prime Minister who is no longer a threat.”

…

Ying Zheng immediately said, “Many of you ministers were promoted by Lu Buwei, so it’s not surprising that you speak for him. I can understand. But this is the court, and I hope you ministers will focus on national affairs and not mix in personal feelings. I need to let everyone know that I am a person who is fair in rewards and punishments. If you have merit, I can ennoble you as a marquis or appoint you as a prime minister. If you break the law, no matter how high your position is, I will still punish you according to the law. If we can’t govern the country according to the law, but rely on emotions, then what hope is there for this country? If you have a good relationship with me, it’s okay even if you break the law. If you have a bad relationship with me, you will be punished if you break the law. Is that still the law? Is that still the country? Am I still me?”

*Brother Zheng is Brother Zheng,* Yang Chen thought, *there is no need to worry that he can’t handle these ministers.*

After being reprimanded by Ying Zheng, the ministers did not dare to speak.

Then Ying Zheng continued, “I want to give Lu Buwei poisonous wine. Who agrees? Who opposes?”

Things have already reached this point. If anyone still opposes at this time, it means that person is not loyal to Ying Zheng, but only loyal to Lu Buwei. Those who should be dismissed will be dismissed, and those who should be killed will be killed. It is absolutely impossible to keep them in the court.

No one who can stand here is a fool. They know what the consequences will be if they express their opposition again.

“I think what Your Majesty said is right. The country should be governed with clear rewards and punishments.”

“That’s right! The prince should be punished the same as the common people if he violates the law. This is the most correct approach, and the people of the world will believe that my Qin is a fair and legal country.”

“It is a blessing for my Qin that Your Majesty has such awareness, and it will soon be a blessing for the people of the world.”

“Haha…”

If Lu Buwei saw this scene, he would probably curse at those ministers who had once received his favor.

Ying Zheng asked with a smile, “Prime Minister, do you have anything to say?”

“No! Immediately send someone to deliver poisonous wine to Lu Buwei. Also, tell Lu Buwei and his family that Brother Zheng will treat his family well,” Yang Chen said.

Ying Zheng nodded and immediately ordered according to Yang Chen’s instructions.

At this time, in Lu Buwei’s mansion.

Lu Buwei had already received the news that Ying Yu and others had been beheaded, Lao Ai had been torn apart by five horses [a brutal form of execution] and his three generations of relatives had been exterminated, and the Queen Mother had also been sent to Yongyang Palace. He knew that it would soon be his turn, because Ying Zheng wanted to take full control of the government, and he was also one of the core members who had to be purged. However, he couldn’t guess whether Ying Zheng would kill him or send him to the frontier.

Lu Buwei called his family together and said, “I have a premonition that my end is near. Before I die, I will definitely beg the King to spare you. You must live honestly in the future and don’t be too ostentatious.”

As soon as they heard this, the Lu family burst into tears.

Lu Buwei was also in tears, but crying was useless at this point. Who told him to have an unhealthy relationship with Zhao Ji [the Queen Mother]? Who made Lao Ai his retainer? Who told him to tarnish Ying Zheng’s dignity as a man?

After a while, Wang Ben came with dozens of fully armed soldiers, carrying Ying Zheng’s handwritten edict.

Wang Ben came to deliver the order with fully armed soldiers. Lu Buwei knew his fate. If he dared not to depart with dignity, these dozens of soldiers would help him depart with dignity, and might even implicate his family.

“Your Majesty has a handwritten edict and a wooden box for the Prime Minister. Your Majesty specifically ordered that only the Prime Minister can read it. After reading it, burn the edict,” Wang Ben said.

Two soldiers behind Wang Ben delivered the handwritten edict and the wooden box, carefully placing them on the table next to Lu Buwei.

“Prime Minister, please read it quickly. We will be guarding outside, giving the Prime Minister only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Hoping that the Prime Minister will not make things difficult for us,” Wang Ben said.

Wang Ben took the soldiers out and closed the door. They all drew their swords and surrounded the house. Wang Ben professionally lit an incense stick, and then he watched the incense burn.

Lu Buwei carefully opened the wooden box a little and saw a cup of wine inside. He immediately understood, and then he smiled in relief.

Lu Buwei asked his wife and children to change him into new clothes, took one last look at his entire family, and then went into the bedroom alone with the handwritten edict and the wooden box.

Lu Buwei opened the handwritten edict and read it carefully. Ying Zheng thanked Lu Buwei for his help to their family, and also affirmed Lu Buwei’s contribution to Qin. At the same time, he also emphasized his mistakes. Merit is merit, and fault is fault. He received rewards when he made contributions, and he should also be punished for making mistakes. As long as he drank the poisonous wine, Ying Zheng guaranteed the safety of his entire family. As long as Ying Zheng lived, his entire family could continue to enjoy their current life and treatment. Finally, Ying Zheng also emphasized that if Lu Buwei did not cooperate, his entire family would be implicated, and he hoped that he would not be confused.

“Hahahaha… Hahahaha… Hahahahaha…”

Lu Buwei laughed loudly in the bedroom, and the family members outside the door were all confused.

After a burst of laughter, Lu Buwei brought a brazier and burned the bamboo slips. After the bamboo slips were burned to ashes, he smiled and opened the wooden box, took out the poisonous wine inside.

“Lu Buwei, thank you for Your Majesty’s grace!” Lu Buwei shouted with all his strength, just to let Wang Ben, who was guarding outside, hear him.

Then Lu Buwei picked up the poisonous wine and drank it all in one gulp. Then he straightened his clothes and hat and lay on the bed, silently waiting for death to come.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn quickly passed, Wang Ben led the soldiers who had already drawn their swords in, and the Lu family quickly made way. One of the soldiers stepped forward and pushed open the door, Wang Ben walked directly in and came to the bedside.

At this time, the poison was taking effect, and Lu Buwei kept spitting blood from his mouth, and his body was convulsing, which looked very uncomfortable. Wang Ben turned his back and waved his hand to signal the soldiers to turn their backs as well. After all, Lu Buwei was also a figure, so don’t look at his miserable appearance at the end.

The Lu family wanted to come in to see the situation, but they were stopped by the soldiers with their swords.

Wang Ben said loudly, “Please wait a moment, everyone. After we leave, you can come in. We are doing things according to His Majesty’s orders, please don’t make things difficult for us.”

After a while, Lu Buwei completely lost his breath.

The accompanying imperial physician stepped forward to check and confirmed that Lu Buwei had died of poisoning.

Wang Ben nodded and left with the soldiers. As soon as they walked out of the house, the Lu family burst into tears.

Life is like this. When you are in the limelight, you are really in the limelight. When you are liquidated, you are really miserable. The only thing you can do is to enjoy the limelight when you are in the limelight, and accept any ending calmly when you are liquidated.

At this time, Ying Zheng was studying the defense maps of the six countries with Yang Chen, Wang Jian, Meng Wu, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, Li Si and other civil and military officials. Wang Ben came to report alone.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, it is done!”

Ying Zheng was stunned for a moment, and there was obvious discomfort between his brows, but he quickly said with a smile, “Well, come over and study.”

Wang Ben quickly walked over and sat behind his father, Wang Jian.

“Now let the Prime Minister talk about how we should fight, who to fight first, and who to fight later. Let’s all refer to it together, and then express our own opinions. Prime Minister, come on,” Ying Zheng said with a smile.

Yang Chen nodded and spoke according to the information he had prepared.

“According to my understanding, Qin is currently the strongest, followed by Chu, then Zhao, then Qi, Wei, Yan, and Han. If we directly attack the weak countries and annex them, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance of Zhao and Chu. If they join forces from the north and south, it will be really difficult for us to win. If we directly attack the powerful Chu, it will obviously put us in a protracted war. If we can’t win for a while, Zhao will definitely take the opportunity to attack us. Moreover, even if we win, our strength will definitely be greatly damaged, and it will be impossible to launch another war against other countries in a short period of time. Therefore, we will attack Zhao first. There are two reasons. First, Qin and Zhao have been at war for many years, and it is very common for us to occupy Zhao’s cities. Other countries will not interfere. Second, we will first weaken Zhao’s strength, and then use the power of the whole country to launch a war to destroy Zhao. As long as we eat Zhao, which ranks third, Chu will have no chance to join forces with a strong country, and it will be easy to eat it later.”

At this time, Meng Wu said, “We have been fighting with Zhao for so many years and haven’t been able to defeat them. What if we get into a protracted war with them again?”

Yang Chen replied, “No! According to my understanding, every time Zhao loses a city to Qin, it will attack Yan the following year to seize the city. Therefore, counting the days, Zhao should launch a war against Yan again. We will immediately prepare food, grass, and military equipment. When Zhao and Yan start fighting, we will launch a war against Zhao under the pretext of protecting Yan and opposing Zhao’s invasion, and occupy Nanyang and other places near Qin. When the war between Zhao and Yan ends, we will use the power of the whole country to launch a war to destroy Zhao.”

Ying Zheng said, “What the Prime Minister said is very true. We will attack Zhao first.”

Yang Chen said with a smile, “In order to ensure that Brother Zheng unifies the six countries as soon as possible, I will go back to my hometown and bring more guns to form a commando camp. Brother Zheng, your top priority is to prepare enough food and grass to ensure that the soldiers are well-fed. With the commando camp I formed to help you, we can destroy Zhao in at most a month.”

Ying Zheng laughed happily and said, “Thank you, Prime Minister. I will strictly follow what the Prime Minister said and prepare enough food and grass.”

“As long as the commando camp is formed, we don’t need to use any tricks at all. We can just push all the way. Whoever we fight, we will destroy,” Yang Chen said.

Ying Zheng laughed happily again. He had never been so happy in his life.

At this time, Wang Jian said, “I heard that the 30-man squad formed by the Prime Minister killed all 3,000 retainers of Lao Ai. I went to Lishan Barracks at that time and didn’t see what the scene was like with my own eyes. I wonder if the Prime Minister can let them perform for me to see how powerful it is?”

Yang Chen nodded and said, “I’m going back to my hometown to prepare more weapons, so let them train with the remaining ammunition for the generals and adults to see. Let’s go to the training ground!”

A group of people came to the training ground.

The soldiers prepared more than 10 wild boars wearing armor and placed them more than 30 meters away. After all the soldiers left, the 30-man gun team launched an attack on the more than 10 wild boars.

“Da da da da…”

Only a burst of gunfire was heard, and the wild boars were frightened and scattered everywhere. Some unlucky wild boars were hit by bullets, some fell immediately, and some fell after running a few steps. Soon, more than a dozen fierce wild boars were all killed.

Wang Jian and others quickly ran over to check. The armor on these wild boars was pierced, and the bullets broke through the armor and then broke through the thick wild boar skin, deeply penetrating into the wild boar’s flesh.

“Such a small thing, how can it have such great power?” Wang Jian said in shock.

“The wound doesn’t look big, why are they all dead?” Wang Ben said.

Meng Tian also said, “Yes, I also feel that the wound is not big, how can they all be dead? I have suffered wounds that are much bigger than this, and I am still alive and well.”

Yang Chen said with a smile, “The injuries suffered by you generals can only be called skin injuries. Even arrow wounds, because they are blocked by armor, the part that enters your body will not be too much, so they can still be called skin injuries. But these bullets are different. They directly enter the body and form a local explosion effect. You see that the outside is just a small hole, but in fact, it has already exploded inside, and the internal organs are shattered. You can now dissect this pig to see the injuries inside and you will know.”

No sooner said than done, Wang Ben immediately brought a knife and personally dissected the wild boar. As Yang Chen said, the part where the bullet stayed had exploded, the meat had turned into minced meat, and the blood vessels had burst into slag.

“The appearance doesn’t look like there is a big problem, but I didn’t expect it to be like this inside. Such a small thing, how can it have such great power? Wild boars are still like this, if it hits a person, they will definitely not survive. Prime Minister, where is your hometown? How can there be such powerful weapons!” Wang Jian asked.

Yang Chen said with a smile, “My home is in a very far place. After the six countries are destroyed, I will tell everyone. I will go back to buy more weapons later. If I can form a commando camp of a thousand people, let alone the six countries, I can conquer the six realms [referring to the realms of Heaven, Asura, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost, and Hell in Buddhist cosmology].”

“Hahaha…”

In the evening, Ying Zheng hosted a banquet to entertain all those who had contributed to the suppression of Lao Ai and Ying Yu’s rebellion.

Yang Chen made the greatest contribution and received the admiration and praise of everyone, including Ying Zheng.

The food in this era is really unpalatable. It is almost the taste of the food itself. The vegetables have a grassy smell, and the meat has a fishy smell. As a person who is used to modern food, Yang Chen is really not used to the food here.

After the banquet, Ying Zheng pulled Yang Chen to the garden rest area.

Ying Zheng said with a smile, “Prime Minister, I still want you to stay in my chambers tonight.”

Yang Chen quickly said, “Brother Zheng, don’t mess around. You should go to sleep with the Queen or concubine. You are going to be the emperor, how can you guarantee that the country will have successors if you don’t have more children?”

“Having children can be done at any time. I can also take the time to have children during my lunch break, so there is no rush. I just want to sleep with the Prime Minister and listen to you talk about airplanes and cannons,” Ying Zheng said with a smile.

*Damn it, I still have to coax the First Emperor to sleep. Who can I reason with?*

“Okay, okay, hurry up and wash up and lie down, I’ll tell you about the South Heaven Gate project 2000 years later,” Yang Chen said.

As soon as Ying Zheng heard this, he was happy and hurriedly called the palace maids to serve him and Yang Chen to wash and undress, and then lay on the bed waiting for Yang Chen to go up and tell him stories.

In this situation, Yang Chen couldn’t help but sigh secretly in his heart: *”Alas… The First Emperor of all ages is now waiting for my favor like a little daughter-in-law, no one would dare to believe it if I told them. Haha…”*