The morning breeze was cool and the sultry weather was temporarily blown away. Outside the Hanyuan Hall of Weiyang Palace, Zhao Heng, with his head hair tied in a bun, and wearing a new dress embroidered with a mysterious bird cloud pattern, was among the attendants, full of anxiety and excitement.

This year, Zhao Heng was six years old.

The big cauldron outside the gate of the hall was burning with spices, and the brightly armored Yulin guards straightened their backs and stood proudly holding their halberds. The breeze was blowing, and above their heads fluttered the flag of the state of Zhao, with the burning sun black bird painted on it.

Everything is so solemn and solemn. This is another ceremony that Zhao Heng participated in after the establishment of the Zhao Kingdom. Although he didn't understand what it meant, he could vaguely sense that the ceremony he was going to attend this time was very important, and it seemed that he was the protagonist...

He remembered that night, when he was falling asleep, his mother suddenly walked into his bedroom, holding him and crying. Zhao Heng wiped away tears for his mother after being woken up.

"Will you cry when you're happy?" Zhao Heng was puzzled. Before he had time to think clearly about the question, he was surrounded by a group of palace maids, who measured his body and gave him new clothes. When the new clothes were finished, the ceremony would follow And here it is.

Now, he is standing here, inside and outside the palace, countless pairs of eyes are looking at him, benevolent, malicious, or emotionally complicated.

Under the focus of these eyes, Zhao Heng did not show weakness. He tried to stand up straight, trying to show the maturity that a six-year-old child did not have, as if everything in front of him was already commonplace.

But in fact, he had goosebumps all over his hands. Children are sensitive. Although they have practiced many times before, Zhao Heng will still feel a little bit of fear when things come to an end. He wants to turn around and escape, run back to Changxin Palace, and grab his mother's clothes to ask for help.

"Young Master." Just when he was at a loss, a gentle voice rang out, and an official in a crimson court uniform squatted down in front of him: "Young Master will follow me in later, don't look back. "

It was Ling Zixia, the patron, who was close to Zhao Heng's father. Zhao Heng was no stranger to him, and his gentle gaze made people feel at ease.

So Zhao Heng clenched his fists, and the eyes behind him were still there, but there seemed to be more eyes from his mother's expectation, so that Zhao Heng could overcome his fear, try to keep up with Zixia's pace, and walk forward under the guard of honor guards. , without looking around, let alone looking back.

The audience ordered Zixia to be responsible for guiding Zhao Heng today. He walked slowly forward at a very slow pace. Not only did he ensure that the route he was walking was straight, he also had to put his peripheral vision on the son Heng behind him to guide him. Move forward to prevent him from stumbling.

The more than 100 steps outside the hall went well, but when he arrived at the door of the hall, a threshold appeared in front of Zhao Heng.

The ceremonial officer in the palace said to Zhao Heng a long time ago: "Young son Gongsun, high officials, and scholars do not follow the threshold when entering or leaving the monarch's gate." However, don't step on it with your feet.

The function of the threshold is the boundary between inside and outside. At the same time, it is also a reflection of the master's identity. As the main hall of the prince's palace, the threshold of the Hanyuan Hall is a bit too high for a six-year-old child...

Zixia turned to look again, trying to encourage Zhao Heng to move forward, but what he didn't know was that for Zhao Heng, the most terrifying thing was not this threshold, but the situation after the threshold...

He looked around, and the hall was full of tall bodies, bloated court clothes, swaying jade pendants, and a pair of eyes.

Xiangbang Dong Anyu's old-fashioned eyes, Tian Ben's scrutinizing eyes, Qin's young master's eyes full of envy... These more and closer eyes are all looking directly at Zhao Heng, it seems that they have been looking forward to it for a long time now. I just want to see him from the inside out...

Zhao Heng's footsteps stagnated again, hesitant to enter, until he saw his father's eyes.

Zhao Wuxi sat on the monarch's couch at the other end of the hall. His long dark hair was twisted into a delicate bun, which was secured by the monarch's crown. Today, his black pupils were extremely solemn, and he didn't look like the one who would be there. In front of the furnace in the snowy night, holding Zhao Heng in his arms, the person who narrated in detail the fables such as "Kuafu Chasing the Sun" and "The Dead Sheep Mend the Prison". He has taken off the face of a loving father and put on the mask of the monarch of Zhao.

But through that layer of jade, Zhao Heng could still feel that his father was expecting him to continue moving forward. Under his majestic eyes, there was encouragement and encouragement...

"Don't let your father down." This was what his mother had told him countless times, so Zhao Heng was agitated, lifted his dark clothes, and walked sideways, although he was a little clumsy, he didn't make any trouble at all!

...

Seeing that Zhao Heng walked over the threshold of the hall without any danger, the small figure slowly walked towards him, came to his throne, bowed down to the north, and his behavior was correct, Zhao Wuxi breathed a long sigh of relief.

Don't look at his solemn face, but in fact he is as nervous as Zhao Heng. Seeing his son's short walk of more than 100 steps is no easier than his painstaking efforts to seize the prince's position step by step.

But Wu Xie was also relieved that his son did not let him down. This may be a key step for him to leave his mother's arms and turn from a child into a dignified son of Zhao Guo. After he took it, he suddenly became enlightened!

Zhao Wuxi smiled and motioned for Zhao Heng to come forward.

After his son came to his side, Zhao Wuxi looked at him carefully again. After all, it was taught by a lady like Le Lingzi. Not only did she have a mother's delicacy in her appearance, she was meticulous in her clothes and hair, and her manners were decent. There was still a trace of grievance in his eyes, he was only a six-year-old after all.

At this moment, the musicians in the hall also began to play music, ding ding dong dong chime bells, the music had a light and happy melody, and the music speech said:

"Lin's toe, Master Zhenzhen, Yu Linxi.

Lin Zhiding, Zhenzhengong's surname, Yu Lin Xi.

The horns of Lin, Zhenzhengong clan, Yu Lin Xi! "

For a time, the bells in the hall were all chiming, and the piano was leisurely. The performance of "Zhou Nan. Lin's Toe" was finished, which immediately aroused applause from all the ministers. They praised each other, and then congratulated Zhao Hou Wuxi, who was sitting high on the monarch's couch. Said: "Your Majesty's son is like a unicorn, majestic and majestic!"

"Good!" Zhao Wuxi also pulled Zhao Heng, pointed at him with relief, and said to the courtiers: "This is a widowhood, the son of Zhenzhen, and Zhao Bang will be rejuvenated!"

...

In fact, Zhao Wuxi made today's choice after careful consideration.

It is a constant value orientation of the Chinese people to have prosperous branches and leaves, and a family full of descendants. The folk is to inherit blood, raise children and prevent old age, and the family of princes and doctors is for the continuity of the clan, and the property of the state is inherited.

But having too many sons is not necessarily a good thing. Which son to inherit the family business often becomes a big trouble for the previous generation.

People's lifespan is limited. As a father, Zhao Wuxi has worked hard for more than ten years and has built a large area of ​​the country. It is inevitable to consider this issue.

He now has a total of three sons. The "Zizhang" in the Song state is an illegitimate child, and can only survive by saying that "the mysterious bird fell from the egg and was born without pregnancy". In addition, he is still in swaddling clothes, basically with the state of Zhao. The inheritance has nothing to do with it. As for the other two, they are the eldest son Zhao Cao and the first son Zhao Heng.

Throughout the previous history, the inheritance system of the Shang Dynasty was that the father died and the son succeeded, supplemented by the brother and the brother. It was not until the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty that Zhou Gong made rituals and music, and the eldest son succession system was strictly implemented.

Therefore, regardless of the four aristocratic ranks of the emperor, princes, high officials, and scholars, those who inherit property and positions must be the eldest son of the direct wife; "Establish a direct descendant to be long rather than to be virtuous, and to establish a son to be noble rather than to be long." Compared with the commercial system, this inheritance system effectively avoided the chaos caused by the fraternal wall, thus maintaining the majesty of the monarchy and the stability of the state.

It can be said that the eldest son inheritance system is the key to the maintenance of the Zhou Dynasty patriarchal system to this day. Since then, except for the occasional "one continuation and one continuation" in the state of Lu, and the occasional "brother and brotherhood" in the state of Song, all countries have inherited it according to this basic law. A hundred years ago, when Duke Huan of Qi summoned the feudal lords to meet in Kuiqiu, he also made a covenant saying: "It is not filial to be punished, and there is no way to get a son, and no one can take a concubine as a wife." The non-eldest son is the heir.

But Duke Huan of Qi himself did not abide by this covenant. His wives, Wang Ji, Xu Ying and Cai Ji, did not have children. In addition, there are six others who are "like madams", but each of them has a son. According to the principle of no direct succession, Duke Huan of Qi had already made the son Zhao as the crown prince, but he later regretted it, favored Wei Ji, and promised to make her son Wu Wu. Stupid prince.

This ambiguous attitude towards the successor directly led to the fact that when Duke Huan of Qi fell ill, the five sons in the country opposed the son Zhao's succession and attacked and killed each other. These unworthy descendants have been beaten to the core, and even Duke Huan of Qi has no time to collect his corpse. When the civil war is over, the maggots have already crawled out of the door with full food and drink...

Similarly, Duke Xian of Jin abolished the crown prince Shen Sheng and replaced him with a concubine, which led to continuous civil strife in Jin.

Zhao Wuxi did not intend to repeat the mistakes of the two self-proclaimed "Yingrui" monarchs.

"I don't want to be Duke Huan of Qi, and Duke Xian of Jin... I don't want to be Zhao Xiangzi in history."

The fog of history obscured the truth, so Zhao Wuxi didn't know what was the reason for Zhao Xiangzi in history to give up his five biological sons, but he was very fond of Zhao Zhouqing, the son of his elder brother Bo Lu. After the three families were divided into Jin, Zhao Xiangzi sealed Zhao Zhou in Daidi and called him "Daichengjun", a posture given to him by dividing the country.

After Zhao Zhou's early death, Zhao Xiangzi did not give up, and appointed Zhao Huan, the grandson of Bo Lu, as the heir of the Zhao family. This time and time again, not only was his five sons very dissatisfied, but even Zhao Yang's youngest son Zhao Jia had an idea. After Zhao Xiangzi died, his younger brother Zhao Jia expelled Zhao Huan and established himself as the monarch, known as Zhao Huanzi. Huanzi also died more than ten years after he took the throne. The Zhao clan said: "It was not Zhao Xiangzi's idea to be the king of Zhao Huanzi." So everyone killed Zhao Huanzi's son together, and then welcomed Zhao Huan back and established him as the emperor. King, this is Zhao Xianzi.

So the royal family of Zhao has nothing to do with Zhao Xiangzi...

Originally, when the three families were divided into Jin, the Zhao clan was the strongest, and Wei and Han had to look up to him. However, after the turmoil of the Zhao clan for more than ten years, Wei Wenhou of the Wei clan took the lead in completing the reform and caught up. Wei State replaced Zhao State as the head of the Three Jin Dynasty, so that in the early Warring States Period, Zhao was always Wei's younger brother, and the country's power also declined.

What Zhao Xiangzi was thinking, Zhao Wuxi is not known, but he combined his past and present life, he felt that the position of the prince was ambiguous, and it was a big taboo for the prince, because the preference for women was easier to keep. The location even confuses state affairs with boudoir tastes.

So Zhao Wuxi decided to establish the prince early. Hugh must leave the position of the domestic prince vacant, make the courtiers uneasy, and don't let those with ulterior motives give birth to unreasonable thoughts.

Besides, although Zhao Xiangzi's body has a good life for 40 or 50 years in history, if he is good at recuperating from the prime of life, don't indulge in women and wine, I'm afraid he can live longer. But just like what Zhao Wuxi said to Le Lingzi, no one can tell what will happen when you go on an expedition. King Zhao of Chu is a good example. No matter how ambitious you are, you can't match your carelessness.

As a prudent person, Zhao Wuxi always likes to prepare things thoroughly before taking the next step. In case of an accident, he does not hope that his great fortune will be as deadly as Alexander the Great.

According to the orthodox theory, Zhao Cao is old, but his mother is Bo Mi, a concubine, Zhao Heng is a little bit younger, but he is the son of the eight classics.

But Zhao Wuxi wouldn't just do things according to the etiquette, he also had to take into account the abilities and future development of his two sons.

"Aman..." Thinking of this son, Zhao Wuxi shook his head helplessly, with a hint of apology in his eyes.

As the eldest son without a shirt, Zhao Cao enjoyed his father's love in the first few years of his birth. Until the rebellion of Liuqing and Zhao Yang's death, Zhao Wuxi had to sit in Hebei and couldn't take care of Lu, so he let the young Zhao Cao go to Lu to be a "zhengqing", with the heart of An Lushi. Seven years have passed since then, and the number of times the father and son have met can be counted by one hand. The last time they met, he came to congratulate his father on being listed as a prince.

Zhao Cao was already a teenager in his teens. He was tall and thin, and Zhao Wuxi almost didn't recognize him as his son. Because of the long-term separation, the relationship between this son and Zhao Wuxi was somewhat raw. In the absence of fatherly love, he had a timid character, and because of his weak physique, he was not very interested in bowing horses.

But what made Zhao Wuxi unhappy was that he was too benevolent, honest and sincere.

In January, Zhao Wuxi asked Zhao Cao to ask the question, and found that he had a good grasp of etiquette, music and poetry~lightnovelpub.net~ But there are many elements of "soft benevolence and good Confucianism" in his words. At that time, he reprimanded: "After Nagao Tao, the Zhao clan established a country with its own system, which was originally mixed with etiquette and law, but why is it pure morality!?"

...

ps: Encyclopedia fixed the year of Zhao Xiangzi's death in 425 BC. This year was calculated based on the year of Zhao Xiangzi's reign in "Historical Records. Zhao Shijia". However, before that, Shiji extended the time of Zhao Jianzi's death. After 18 years (Zuo Yang said that Zhao Yang died in 476 BC, but Shi Ji mistakenly recorded it as 458 BC).

In this way, in the historical records, "Xiangzi died thirty-three years ago", it should be 443 BC, which is the exact year of Zhao Xiangzi's death. It should also be the same year that Zhao Huanzi seized the throne. It can be used as evidence in the "Bamboo Book Chronicle": "For ten and a half years of Jin Jinggong, Zhao Huanzi will meet the doctors of the [all] lords to form an alliance with Yueling Yin and Song." The eleventh year of King Jinggong was 441 years ago, so it can be seen that Zhao Xiangzi died at this time.

Therefore, in the novel, Zhao Wuxi's life and death are set as: 519 BC - 443 BC.

The above refers to Qian Mu's "An Examination and Identification of the Years of the Pre-Qin Zhuzi", the third chapter, and the year of Zhao Jianzi's death. There is only one chapter tonight.

(To be continued.)