A fire broke out in the State Guesthouse, and the scene was so chaotic that the lieutenant in charge of the Imperial Guard was even personally inspected.
But fortunately, no major problems occurred. Except for a few buildings that were burned to ashes, nothing happened to the envoys from Yan. The envoys and deputy envoys, as well as the national gifts presented to the King of Qin, were all intact.
If we talk about losses, I am afraid that one of the mission's charioteers died in the chaos.
Zhao Tuo came back carrying Qi Yang's head.
After Jing Ke finished talking with Meng Yu and saw Zhao Tuo coming back, his tense heart relaxed.
"I followed him all the way and found that he was running near a certain government office. The situation was so urgent that I had no time to ask, so I had to kill him first."
Zhao Tuo explained in a low voice.
Jing Ke nodded. It didn't matter what Qiyang knew. What mattered was that he was dead and Zhao Tuo was back.
"Tomorrow will still go as planned."
"only."
Zhao Tuo agreed.
The date chosen by the King of Qin cannot be changed. The meeting of the Yan envoy has been announced to the world. As long as nothing happens to the Yan envoy and the treasure, even if all the buildings in the pedestrian hall are burned, the date will not be changed.
…
The King of Qin wanted to annex the world. Although Han and Zhao had been destroyed, Chu was still strong and Qi was rich, so there were still many difficulties on the road to unification.
Therefore, the King of Qin publicized Yan's request for peace this time, intending to show Qin's majesty and kindness to the surrendered countries, so as to divide Qi and Chu.
Sometimes appropriate gentle diplomacy can play a much greater role than blind war. If it can make a big country willingly surrender, it will be more useful than a million-strong army.
Therefore, the Qin State prepared the most solemn etiquette in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Nine Guest Ceremony.
The nine guests are: Gong, Hou, Bo, Zi, Nan, Gu, Qing, Dafu, Shi.
It can also be seen from the first four ranks of nobility that this is a etiquette that can only be used by the emperor. It was originally the highest etiquette for the emperor of Zhou to receive the princes of the world during the dynasty meeting.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, although many princes and overlords had arrogant intentions, they would still be more or less scrupulous and give face to the Zhou royal family and would not be so arrogant.
It is a pity that it is now the end of the Warring States Period, and the Emperor Zhou has been destroyed, so there will be no scruples at all in using such etiquette.
When the King of Qin received the Yan envoy, he used the nine-guest etiquette. In fact, he was declaring that he was about to become the common ruler of the world, so that the kings of Yan, Wei, Chu, and Qi could understand the current situation clearly.
Today's Great Qin is no longer the country of Rong and Di that was despised by the princes.
In the early morning, the bells of Xianyang Palace rang loudly.
The fifth official, Meng Yu, led the honor guard to the embassy in person and solemnly welcomed the two envoys from the State of Yan.
"Phew...it's finally started."
Zhao Tuo took a deep breath and saw Jing Ke boarding the messenger's chariot without changing his expression. He also straightened his luxurious dark clothes, straightened out the gold hook belt around his waist, stepped onto his messenger's auxiliary chariot, and immediately
Under that eight-foot umbrella.
A guard of honor of five hundred people surrounded the Yan State delegation, and drove out of the building and entered Xianyang Avenue.
The people of Xianyang, who had already heard about Yan Guo's gift, all waited on both sides of the street early to see the rare excitement.
"Envoy Yan, look at Envoy Yan!"
"Look, the deputy envoy of Yan State in the rear car, how can he be so young?"
"Yes, his appearance is only 50/60, but he can actually be the deputy envoy of a country at his age. I think he must be a descendant of a wealthy family in the Yan Kingdom."
There were bursts of noise and discussion in his ears, and Zhao Tuo closed his eyes.
Take a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked calm and had a faint smile on his lips.
The convoy traveled all the way, crossed the Hengqiao, entered the north bank of the Weishui River, and arrived at the south gate of the Xianyang Palace.
"Sir, deputy envoy, please get out of the car."
Meng Yu had a smile on his face. He had a high official crown and a faint scent of incense on his body today, and he acted very solemnly.
Zhao Tuo followed Jing Ke out of the car, and under the guidance of Meng Yu, walked to the palace gate.
Here they handed over their swords.
Right Prime Minister Chang Pingjun and a group of civil servants have been waiting here for a long time.
Changping Jun has a typical Chu appearance. He is about forty years old, with a white face and short beard. He is about seven feet five inches tall and looks quite delicate.
As a die-hard supporter of the current King of Qin, he is also a blood relative.
After the death of Lu Buwei, Lord Changping has always been the right prime minister of the Qin State. He can be said to have overwhelming power in the government and the public, and is far incomparable to the other left prime minister Wei Zhuang.
Generally speaking, to welcome envoys from the princes, it is not necessary for someone of the prime minister's level to take action.
However, since the King of Qin used the nine-guest ceremony, he naturally strived to use the highest standards in everything to show the solemnity of receiving the Yan envoys.
After the handover between the two parties was completed, and after a brief salute and greetings, Lord Changping extended his hand to invite you: "Your Majesty and the ministers have long wanted to see your grace, please go first."
Jing Ke smiled faintly, cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, please come first."
Lord Changping said again: "Your Majesty is an envoy of the State of Yan. Those who come are guests, so please go first."
"The Prime Minister should go first."
Jing Ke declined again.
Zhao Tuo looked at them with a strange expression as they declined each other. It was not until the two of them made three concessions in accordance with the ancient etiquette that everyone moved forward.
Zhao Tuo thought of his previous life, when he was still young, his relatives gave out lucky money, and he had to refuse it several times before accepting it according to his parents' wishes.
"Take it."
"No, no, no."
"Hurry up and take it."
The gift of resignation is indeed a Chinese tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years.
Zhao Tuo followed Jing Ke. In front of him was the Xianyang Palace, which was as majestic as a palace in heaven. It was majestic and had a kingly look.
Especially the group of warriors under the palace who were all wearing black armor and heavy helmets.
They are almost all eight feet tall, holding long halberds, axes, and daggers on their waists. They stand solemnly on both sides of Danqi, like a black forest, and their majestic power is intimidating.
These are the attendants of Lang Wei under the command of Lang Zhongling. They are all senior bureaucrats or children of noble families, and their quality is very high.
Zhao Tuo was secretly speechless. Fortunately, these guards could only stand guard outside the palace. If King Qin in the palace had such guards, let alone an assassination, they would be seeking death if they dared to take action.
The so-called assassins, in front of these well-equipped armored warriors, are just paper dolls that can die with just one slash.
"Two envoys, please bring the national gifts and accompany me to see the king."
Lord Changping smiled slightly and led the two of them up the stone steps in front of the palace.
Before Jing Ke stepped onto the stone steps, he looked back at Zhao Tuo with a faint smile on his face.
When you get here, you can't talk and make noise at will
He could only express with his eyes to comfort Zhao Tuo and not to be nervous.
Zhao Tuo smiled and followed Jing Ke up the stone steps.
The high stone steps in front of the temple are also called Bi or Dan Bi.
The so-called "Your Majesty" means exactly this.
Historically, Qin Wuyang arrived at Danbi's place. Because he was afraid of the majesty of the Qin Palace, his expression suddenly changed, which aroused the attention of the ministers standing in front of the palace. He finally stopped there and did not help Jing Ke complete the feat of assassinating Qin.
Now, Zhao Tuo has arrived at the place where Qin Wuyang changes color.
With a faint smile on his face, he walked by calmly and followed Jing Ke towards the main hall.
There, the high and mighty king is waiting for them.
About the Prime Minister of Qin.
According to the unearthed "Seventeenth Year of the Prime Minister Qi, Zhuang Ge", it can be known that the Qin King's seventeenth year of the Prime Minister was Qi (suspected to be Lord Changping) and Wei Zhuang.
"Twenty-six years of Langya stone carving" records the Prime Minister Wei Lin (Zhuang) and the Prime Minister Wang Wan.
Now is the 20th year of King Qin, and Lord Changping has not yet left, so the prime minister arrangement of the 17th year is still used. After Lord Changping passed away, Wei Zhuang was promoted to Prime Minister of the Right, and Wang Wan became Prime Minister of the Left.