After meeting the King of Wei Wei, Duan Ganyin, Tian An and Gongyang Ping returned to the Duan Gan family's mansion.

That night, Tian An said to Meng Zhong at a banquet at Duan Gan's mansion: "The king is still hesitating whether to send troops to help South Korea."

After hearing this, Meng Zhong felt incredible and asked in confusion: "I heard that the Qin State sent troops to attack South Korea this time, causing huge losses to South Korea. Why is the King of Wei still hesitating whether to help South Korea?"

According to Meng Zhong's knowledge from Song Lei a few days ago that "Qin general Bai Qi conquered the new city of South Korea", it seems that South Korea just lost a city, and it is no big deal, but in fact, the new city is extremely important to South Korea.

As the name suggests, this new city is a newly built city in South Korea over the years. It is located on the west side of Yishui and is a military fortress built to protect Yique. It is no exaggeration to say that the construction of this city is to resist the invasion of the Qin army.

But no one expected that this new city, which was built with countless manpower and material resources, was easily conquered by Bai Qi, an unknown general who emerged from somewhere in Qin. The new city has now become a bridgehead for Qin to attack South Korea. If the new city cannot be recaptured, Yique will not be able to lose it. Once Yique is lost, half of South Korea's territory may be swallowed up by Qin.

However, under this situation, King of Wei was still hesitating whether to send troops to aid South Korea? What was the promised Wei and Han to join forces to fight against Qin?

Seeing Meng Zhong's face full of confusion, Tian An explained the reason. It turned out that the Qin general "Sima Cuo" attacked Wei's "Fán (Fán, Xiangcheng) City" last year. When Wei asked Han for help, Han did not send troops to rescue him, so that Wei did not have time to rescue Wucheng, resulting in the latter being captured by Sima Cuo.

Because of this, when Han asked for help from Wei, King Wei was quite hesitant, wondering whether he should have caused losses to Han Dynasty.

After all, war will inevitably lead to death, and it will inevitably consume a lot of food and pensions.

"The lips are gone and the teeth are cold. Doesn't the King of Wei understand this?" Meng Zhong said with a frown.

Tian An smiled and comforted her, "A Zhong, it's fine to say this in front of me, don't talk nonsense outside." As he said that, he stroked his beard and smiled, "You don't have to worry. Although the king is still hesitating, there are many people in the Wei Kingdom who have long-term visions. Most of the ministers in the court advocate rescue of South Korea, including Tian Wen... Today, I went to see the king with my brother Duan Gan and uncle Gongyang. On the way back, I met Xiwu and entered the palace. Oh, you may not know Xiwu. This person is Gongsun Xi, the younger brother of Xishou Gongsun Yan, and is now the general of my Wei Kingdom.... The king summoned Xiwu, probably to ask about the rescue of South Korea, so you don't have to worry."

After hearing this, Meng Zhong felt relieved and nodded slightly.

Immediately, he asked Tian An and others and said, "Uncle Master, when I was in Song State, I heard that Wei and Han have always advanced and retreated together, but now from what I see, it seems that the relationship between the two countries is not close..."

"You are right." Duan Ganyin nodded from the side and immediately explained the reason.

It turns out that the two countries of Wei and Han advance and retreat together refer to the two old monarchs of the two countries when they were reigned, namely, Wei Si, King Xiang of Wei and King Xiang of Han Cang of Han Xiang of Han.

Wei Si, King Xiang of Wei, and his father, Wei Hui of Wei, will not evaluate whether he is a famous king. However, when facing Qin, both father and son have a strong backbone. Therefore, even though Zhang Yi repeatedly forced Wei with the power of Qin, King Hui of Wei had to dismiss Ai Xiang Huishi and appointed Zhang Yi as Prime Minister of Wei, it is undeniable that King Hui of Wei was unwilling to surrender to Qin. Once he saw that there was hope of defeating Qin, he immediately expelled Zhang Yi and appointed Gongsun Yan as Prime Minister of Wei.

The same is true for his son Wei Xiang, King Wei Si.

As well as Han Weihou Han Kang and Han Xiangwang Han Cang, the two generations of Wei and Han Han, a total of four kings, even when facing the powerful Qin State, they were still unwilling to surrender.

However, when Tian Zhang, a famous general of Qi State, led the army of Qi, Wei and Han Kingdom to attack Qin, both King Xiang of Wei and King Xiang of Wei passed away. Later, King Wei of Wei, who succeeded to the throne, lacked communication with King Han Jiu, the reason was that the former inherited Han was the crown prince Han Ying, not Han Jiu.

Han Cang, King Xiang of Han, had three sons, the eldest son was Ying, namely Prince Ying, the second son was Xunli, and the youngest son was Han Ju. [ps: Han Fei, the son of Gongzi Xunli.]

But a few years ago, Prince Ying unfortunately died. Considering that Prince Lice was born from a concubine, that is, the concubine was born to her concubine, and that the prince was also a proton in Chu State at that time, the prime minister of the Korean Kingdom, Zhonggao (Hangao), supported Han Jiu as the king of Han, and was the current King of Han.

Under the arrangement of the fathers of both sides, Wei King Wei and Prince Han Ying had always had contacts and had a lot of friendship, but Wei King did not know much about Han Ju, and he was quite suspicious of the sudden death of Prince Han Ying, suspected that Han Ju secretly plotted to murder his brother. At this point, the relationship between Wei and Han gradually became cold.

So the army of Wei and Han often operated together on the Qin border to show Qin's determination to resolutely fight against Qin. However, after King Shin and King Ju of Wei succeeded to the throne, the army of Wei and Han almost never acted together. It may be that Qin saw a flaw in this matter, so Qin brazenly launched a war.

"So something like this happened during this period."

Meng Zhong suddenly realized.

In the end, just as Tian An and Duan Ganyin predicted, Wei King Wei finally decided to send troops to aid South Korea. After all, he was not a foolish monarch who did not know the truth that his lips were dead, not to mention that most of the ministers in the Wei Dynasty supported the rescue of South Korea, so it was a foregone conclusion that rescued South Korea and attacked Qin.

A few days later, King of Wei appointed Xiwu, that is, Gongsun Xi, as the general who rescued Han and attacked Qin, and ordered the latter to prepare immediately. After the spring of the New Year, he immediately led his army to South Korea.

During this period, Duan Ganyin and Tian An also took Meng Zhong to invite King Wei Wei to meet King Wei.

King Wei was still a little surprised about Meng Zhong. After all, Duan Gan Yin and Tian An mentioned to him that Meng Zhong had served as the guard Sima of Zhao Zhufu when he was in Zhao State, and later assisted Zhao Gongzizhang in the attack on the royal family. Although he was defeated, he could serve as the guard Sima of Zhao Zhufu. King Wei also felt that Meng Zhong must have something extraordinary.

The only problem is that this son offended the prime minister Tian Wen.

Yes, Xue Gong Tian Wen was a sensible figure in the world, especially after Tian Wen promoted the "Qi, Wei and Han to attack Qin" and sent Tian Zhang to break through the Hangu Pass of Qin in one fell swoop, the Central Plains countries paid attention to him as much as Zhang Yi of that year.

Under such circumstances, Xue Gong Tian Wen was humiliated when he was sent to Zhao State. Five hundred swordsmen were killed by a Sima who was beside Zhao Master's father. This incident had already reached the Wei State and the King of Wei's ears.

This is also one of the main reasons why Tian Wen hates Meng Zhong deeply, because too many people have learned about this.

To be fair, there is no disgust towards Meng Zhong and Wei Wang. Even though Meng Zhong helped the "traitor" Prince Zhao Zhang attack the royal family when he was in Zhao State. After all, the so-called Sand Dune Palace Change in Zhao State, anyone with discerning eyes actually understands what is going on. Rather than saying that Prince Zhao Zhang raised an army to rebel, Zhao's father tacitly agreed to do so.

Therefore, strictly speaking, Meng Zhong was not a rebellious person. At most, he just followed the orders of Zhao Zhufu.

King Wei of Zhao was still very respectful to Zhao Yong, the father of Zhao State of Zhao, because he knew that his grandfather, Wei Hui, King Wei, Wei Yu, was targeting Zhao State for the rest of his life because of Zhao State's father Zhao Suhou, Zhao Yu, the father of King Wei, Wei Si, and was also targeting Zhao State because he was afraid of Zhao State.

However, Zhao State still withstood the pressure and replaced Wei State as the most powerful country in the Three Jins. Although later favored Wu Wa, deposed the crown prince Zhao Zhang, and the final Sandu Palace change made King Wei realize that even a hero like Zhao Master's Father was confused, this did not hinder the respect of King Wei to Zhao Master's Father.

This young man named Meng Zhong was actually attracted by Zhao Zhufu and became the guard Sima next to Zhao Zhufu, which made King Wei also curious and expectant about Meng Zhong.

The question is how to arrange this teenager?

Yes, Meng Zhong wanted to serve in the Wei State, but King Wei naturally agreed. The question was what kind of official position should be granted to the young man so that it would not cause disgust from the prime minister Tian Wen.

King Wei really had a headache about this.

If the position is high, the prime minister Tian Wen may feel dissatisfied. After all, except Qin State, Meng Zhong is the person who offended Tian Wen the most. But if the position is low, Wei Wang Shi believes that Duan Ganyin, Tian An, Gongyang Ping and others will feel dissatisfied. Whether Meng Zhong will feel dissatisfied. Duan Ganyin, Tian An, Gongyang Ping and others are just the teachers who once taught him Wei Shi's studies and are also the great sage of his Wei State. Of course, Wei Wang Shi also has to take care of the emotions of these wise ministers.

Finally, when he learned that Meng Zhong was interested in participating in this war in Wei State to rescue South Korea, King of Wei appointed Meng Zhong as the Central Doctor and sent the latter to Gongsun Xi's army, obviously preparing to throw this problem to Gongsun Xi.

It is worth mentioning that the Zhongdafu is an official position, not a military position. In general, if it is changed to a military position year-on-year, it is probably between "Superior (Second) Sima" and "Second Commander". The former is the deputy general of the army Sima, while the latter is the chief officer who is in charge of 2,500 soldiers, and the subordinate generals of the army Sima and the subordinate generals of the army Sima. [ps: In history, there were also Zhongdafu or the lower doctor who is in charge of tens of thousands of troops, but it is rare.]

Duan Ganyin and Tian An were quite satisfied with the title given to Meng Zhong by King of Wei. After all, the middle doctor was already a normal doctor-level official, and he was the lower minister. Considering that Meng Zhong is only eighteen years old and is not yet weak, Duan Ganyin and Tian An were quite satisfied with this.

As for Meng Zhong himself, he didn't have much thought about the position of Zhongdafu. After all, this was just a short title and no fief. In comparison, he cared more about what kind of military position Gongsun Xi would give him and how many soldiers he would give him.

Within two days after returning to Duan Gan's mansion, Meng Zhong learned something from Duan Gan Chong, that is, Tian Wen invited Gongsun Xi to his mansion for a banquet.

Meng Zhong couldn't help but have some concerns and asked Duan Ganyin, "Uncle Master, is Tian Wen and Xi Wu quite in love?"

As if seeing through Meng Zhong's thoughts, Duan Ganyin smiled and comforted: "Are you worried that Tian Wen would use Xiwu to suppress you? Haha, you can rest assured about this matter. Although Gongsun Xi is close to Tian Wen, he does not have the courage to suppress you, just because behind you are my Duan Gan family and the entire Xihe Confucianism!"

Immediately, Duan Ganyin sent his son Duan Ganchong to invite Gongsun Xi to the house for a banquet in order to recommend Meng Zhong to Gongsun Xi.

As expected, although Duan Gan's family has always been quite low-key in Wei State, even if they were generals like Gongsun Xi, they would not dare not give Duan Gan's face. After being invited, they came to Duan Gan's house as promised the next day.

After warmly entertaining Gongsun Xi, Duan Ganyin and Tian An came forward in person and introduced Meng Zhong to Gongsun Xi.

At that time, Duan Ganyin pointed at Meng Zhong and smiled and said to Gongsun Xi: "This son's name is Meng Zhong, who is a disciple of Mengzi, Zhuangzi and Huizi. Jidao and Confucianism are the masters of the academic masters of the three families. This time he defected to our Wei Kingdom and wanted to listen to Xiwu's tent, hoping that Xiwu would take care of him."

Compared with foreign forces like Xue Gongtian Wen, Duan Gan and even the Confucians of Xihe were the local forces of the Wei State. How dare Gongsun Xi refuse?

I immediately agreed with confidence.

However, although he agreed simply, he actually felt a headache.

Because after he went to Tian Wen's house to attend a banquet, he heard Tian Wen mention Meng Zhong indifferently, and mentioned that this young man who had offended him in Zhao State is now trying to become an official in Wei State.

Gongsun Xi is not stupid. Although Tian Wen didn't ask him to do anything from beginning to end, how could he not guess the reason when Tian Wen mentioned Meng Zhong, a young man who offended him for no reason?

But just as King Wei also felt a headache, although Xue Gongtian Wen Gongsun Xi could not afford to offend Duan Gan, the young man Meng Zhong, and the entire Xihe Confucian scholar, could not afford to offend him.

After Gongsun Xi said goodbye and left, Meng Zhong frowned and said to Duan Ganyin and Tian An: "Tian Wen seems to have mentioned me to Xiwu."

Duan Ganyin and Tian An were surprised when they heard this and asked in confusion: "How can you see it?"

Meng Zhong frowned and said, "Xiwu is the younger brother of Xishou Gongsun Yan. According to my teacher Zhuang Master Zhuang, his brother Gongsun Yan and Huizi were quite close to each other. But today, Xiwu heard that I was taken over by Zhuang Master Zhuang as a disciple of Huizi and was close to Hui Anyi, and he did not mention the friendship between Huizi and his brother Gongsun Yan at all. It can be seen that he did not want to have too much contact with me...With the two uncles recommended it on their behalf, Xiwu still did this, which shows that he already knew the grudges between Tian Wen and me, and it is very likely that Tian Wen had already hinted in front of him."

Upon hearing this, Duan Ganyin and Tian An looked at each other, secretly surprised at Meng Zhong's keenness.

"It's okay."

Duan Ganyin stroked his beard and comforted: "Even if this is the case, he will never dare to target you deliberately."

Meng Zhong nodded after hearing this. After learning about the influence of Duan Gan family and the entire Xihe Confucianism in the Wei State, he was not worried that Gongsun Xi would think that Xue Gongtian Wen's relationship was targeted.

But on the other hand, it became unlikely that he would want to get closer to Gongsun Xi.

From Gongsun Xi's attitude today, we can see that this person does not want to have anything to do with him Meng Zhong.

"Let's take a step by step."

Meng Zhong thought secretly.

After that, Meng Zhong still lived in Duan Gan's mansion, waiting for Gongsun Xi to send someone to send news.

During this period, Meng Zhong wrote letters to his family, Zhuangzi and two teachers, Mencius, and practiced his martial arts with Meng Hu, Le Yi and others, and the rest was to talk about academics with Tian An and other great scholars of the Confucianism in Xihe.

It has to be said that Meng Zhong’s understanding of Confucian scholarship is actually limited to the ideological propositions of the Analects of Confucius and Mencius. However, the ideological academics of Confucian scholars of Xihe mainly originated from Zixia and Tian Zifang’s teacher Zigong. Therefore, in front of Duan Ganyin, Tian An and others, Meng Zhong not only did not have a good understanding of Confucianism, but was quite ignorant.

Duan Ganyin and Tian An were not surprised. After all, Meng Zhong's Confucian scholarship belonged to the Meng and Confucian school, and its source was the Confucian orthodox represented by Zeng Zi. It did not have much contact with the Confucian school of Xihe Zixia for a long time, and they belonged to the well water and did not interfere with the river water. Therefore, it is not surprising that Meng Zhong did not know the Confucian thought of Zixia.

Therefore, Duan Ganyin and Tian An communicated with Meng Zhong, which gave Meng Zhong a comprehensive understanding of Zixia Zhishu.

What distinguishes Zixia Confucianism most from Confucian orthodox is that it focuses on "managing the world and using it", that is, serving the king, keeping pace with the times, and comprehensively cultivating talents useful to the country, which is inconsistent with the Confucian orthodox proposition at that time. [ps: The Confucianism at that time still wanted the king to cater to them, so Mencius saw that King Xuan of Qi just used him as a golden signboard to attract talents, and resolutely abandoned the senior officials and returned to Professor Zou State to teach his disciples, and refused to aggravate himself; while Zixia Confucianism chose to cater to the king and serve the king, which is also the reason why Zixia Confucianism gradually evolved into Confucian orthodox later.]

It is actually not bad to serve the king. At least compared with the orthodox Confucian Mencius, the Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confucian Confuci

By the way, it is precisely because it serves the king that the Confucians of Xihe rarely recruit civilian disciples. Because Wei Wenhou was worried that the talents trained by the Confucians of Xihe would not be used by Wei, but instead became disciples of Wei. Therefore, since Zixia's disciple Duan Ganmu, Wei Wenhou asked Duan Ganmu to mainly teach the nobles of the Wei State, which is also the reason why Duan Gan was able to teach the disciples of the Wei State in the future.

When it comes to the "profit and use of the world", it has to be said that this Confucian thought is very mixed, as if any useful academic will be absorbed, so that later some people said that Zixia's Confucianism is closer to the Legalists. [ps: The "to use what you learn" proposed by Xunzi is actually the ideological proposition of Zixia's Confucianism, and Xunzi himself is Zixia's re-transmitted disciple, and he himself also taught two Legalists, Li Si and Han Fei, so it is not wrong to say that Zixia's Confucianism's thoughts are close to those of the Legalists.]

It is worth mentioning that the Confucianism of Zixia is different from Confucian orthodoxy, which is also because Zixia proposed the "art of the king using power" when he taught Wei Wenhou. He advocated that as a king, one should understand the art of power and learn lessons from history. This is quite similar to the Legalists' observation and use power, and it is also the reason why Confucian orthodoxy at that time believed that Zixia's Confucianism was a "heretic".

"Well……"

Hearing this, Gongsun Xi was speechless.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong asked in surprise: "Huh? Isn't it a Wu Zu?"

『This kid…』

Gongsun Xi glanced at Meng Zhong deeply and immediately realized the difficulty of this son.

As Meng Zhong guessed, Gongsun Xi originally planned to allocate some troops to Meng Zhong and send Meng Zhong to a safe place to garrison, so that Meng Zhong would not encounter danger or give him the opportunity to make meritorious contributions. He would give merits to Meng Zhong after the war. In this way, Duan Gan and Tian Wen would not offend him.

Unexpectedly, this kid was so keen that he needed 2,500 Wei Wu soldiers at one's mouth, which made Gongsun Xi a little embarrassed.

Considering that the Duan Gan family was behind this son, Gongsun Xi did not dare to offend him, and said with a smile: "Of course it's Wu Zun!... The little brother is the recommended person by Duan Gan family, and a brave general who has experienced many battles. How could I be lazy?"

As he said that, he ordered the allocation of 2,500 Wei Wushang to Meng Zhong and ordered Meng Zhong to take over the army immediately.

『…It seems that it is quite difficult for me to make contributions in this battle."

When leaving Gongsun Xi's commanding tent, Meng Zhong turned around and looked at Gongsun Xi in the tent, and thought to himself.
Chapter completed!