Since Zheng Hao was so confident, the advisors who liked to flatter naturally boasted brainlessly. They had the same unfounded confidence as Zheng Hao.
Or rather, they had never seen the combination of Qiguan Rang and Sun Wen. They did not have a concrete understanding of how scary these two people were.
The advisors who were not willing to flatter naturally did not think highly of Zheng Hao's idea.
Didn't Zheng Hao check his opponent's achievements before asking a tiger for its skin?
Needless to say, Qiguan Rang did not have a strong presence, but if the things he had done were to be shown, it would be extremely frightening.
What about Sun Wen?
Sun Wen's presence was much stronger than Qiguan Rang's. Let's not talk about the unlucky people in the North borderline first. Let's talk about a more recent example — Jiang Pengji had caused Nie Liang's halberd to sink into the sand, and Sun Wen had contributed a lot. Which fool would treat Sun Wen as an ordinary old man when he schemed against the enemy without batting an eyelid? The combat power of these two people added together was not as simple as one plus one.
However, no gambler was willing to listen to words that were not beneficial to them.
Zheng Hao was that gambler, confident that he could bite off a large piece of meat from the hands of the banker who was cheating.
Anyone with a discerning eye would know that Zheng Hao, the fat sheep, was about to be slaughtered by the banker, but the gamblers who placed their bets did not think so.
Anyone who prevented them from placing their bets was an enemy who prevented them from getting rich overnight!
Therefore, the suggestions of a few advisors who were rational were thrown to the back of Zheng Hao's mind.
The advisors' suggestions did not cause much of a splash when they had more people against fewer people.
When Zheng Hao tasted the sweetness of the bet, he cared even less about the advisors' "honest words that were unpleasant to the ear."
"Haha — it's rare to see a brat like Nie Qing speak softly …"
Zheng Hao placed Nie Qing's letter upside down on the table. He stroked his beard and revealed a somewhat carefree and proud smile.
When Nie Qing's father, Nie Liang, was still alive, Zheng Hao was always afraid that Nie Liang would settle accounts with him. For so many years, he lived with fear and trepidation. In order to curry favor with Nie Liang, he even used a roundabout foreign policy to curry favor with Nie Liang's relatives, such as Nie Qing.
In terms of age, he was a full ten years older than Nie Liang.
In terms of seniority, he was one generation higher than Nie Liang, the same generation as Nie Liang's father, and Nie Qing's grandfather.
A few years ago, at Nie Qing's wedding, he had sent a large gift to Nie Qing, but he had received two replies.
One was a normal thank-you letter. The writing was very official, and it was obvious that someone else had copied it on his behalf. There was no sincerity in it at all.
The other was Nie Qing's personal reply, but the contents made Zheng Hao so angry that his face turned ashen.
In the letter, Nie Qing tactfully pointed out that Zheng Hao, as a county magistrate of a small place, should focus on the livelihood of the people and benefit the people. He should not plunder the wealth of the people to fill his own pockets. Following that, he converted the generous gifts that Zheng Hao had sent into silver and confiscated it.
When Zheng Hao found out about Nie Qing's actions, he was instantly enraged and secretly cursed Nie Qing for being a hypocrite.
Why was he scolding her like that?
Nie Qing's father, Nie Liang, was a ruthless person who would even kill his own family. In order to develop his influence and fight for power in the Nie family, his hands were not clean at all. The things he did were much more ruthless and dark than Zheng Hao. As Nie Qing's father, since Nie Liang was such a righteous gentleman, righteous as the wind, shouldn't he be the first to slap his father in the face? In the end, Zheng Hao was ridiculed by the other party.
Comparing Nie Liang and himself, and then looking at Nie Qing's "hypocritical" actions, Zheng Hao bore a grudge against Nie Qing.
He had sent a generous gift, but had been scolded by the groom that the gift had not come from a proper source.
Now that the tables had turned, Zheng Hao was elated.
After his mockery, he picked up the flipped letter again and read each word carefully, as if savoring that wonderful taste.
"General, will Nie Qing's side detect it?"
Zheng Hao asked in response, "Detect what? So what if he does? Without Nie Liang's protection, without Wei Yong's schemes, Nie Qing is just a puppy that has not been weaned. So what if he barks at people, can he bite me to death when he's fierce? "
In other words, Zheng Hao did not think much of Nie Qing.
The equipment that Nie Liang had left for Nie Qing before his death had been stripped clean by Jiang Pengji. What kind of storm could this fierce puppy do?
The advisor said worriedly, "Nie Qing is not a threat, but if he reveals the fact that General is secretly conspiring with Liu Xi …"
There was also a chain of contempt between the gentry.
Because Zhongzhao was once the strongest of the five countries, the gentry also had an inexplicable sense of superiority.
Dongqing was in the middle and lower reaches of the chain of contempt. Their attitude towards Jiang Pengji was neutral and repulsive. In addition, Jiang Pengji had killed so many of Nie Liang's elites and generals. Most of those generals were inextricably linked to the gentry of Zhongzhao. New hatred and old hatred naturally made them even more disgusted.
To put it lightly, Zheng Hao's actions were helping an outsider.
To put it more seriously, Zheng Hao was a traitor who had committed treason and would be collectively targeted by the gentry of Zhongzhao.
It was not that Zheng Hao had not considered it, but in the face of benefits, what was a crisis worth?
Furthermore —
"Hmph, don't worry. Nie Qing won't say anything because he has no evidence," Zheng Hao said confidently. "This child that Nie Liang gave birth to really doesn't look like his son. Nie Qing does things by the book and is very dumb. Without solid evidence, he won't casually slander others. I have been very careful in my cooperation with the people from Dongqing and did not leave any traces. Even if Nie Qing wants to reprimand me, he can't … "
The advisor said, "Nie Qing's temperament is indeed …"
It was not that Nie Qing was too naive, but his thinking was different from the feudal lords in troubled times. He was more of a "gentleman."
If Nie Qing had been born in the prosperous times, it would have been a matter of time before he became a famous scholar with the name of "righteousness and righteousness."
It could only be said that Nie Qing was born at the wrong time. He should not have been born in troubled times.
The advisor suggested that Nie Qing strike first and gain the upper hand. He should take the lead and label the disrespectful Zheng Hao as a traitor.
He could use the method of borrowing others' strength to make Zheng Hao a target and let others attack him. He could use this to curb Zheng Hao's momentum.
Regardless of whether Zheng Hao had really committed treason or not, it would at least teach him a lesson and let him know how to restrain his arrogance. Nie Qing was indecisive.
He had his own thoughts.
"It would be fine if Zheng Hao is not wrongly accused. If he is wrongly accused, it will inevitably affect the confidence of the alliance." Nie Qing sighed. "Ever since the battle of Zhan Jiang Pass, everyone's expression has changed at the mention of Liu Xi and they have lost the confidence to resist. It was not easy to restore some morale. If we slander the alliance now for colluding with the enemy, I don't know what others will think … it will be hard to avoid panic, and the people's hearts that have gathered will scatter like a plate of loose sand. "
The advisor's thoughts were more radical. The focus of his thoughts was on how to suppress and curb Zheng Hao's momentum and arrogance. He did not think much about the possibility of slander. Nie Qing's focus was on the "irreversible consequences of accidentally slandering Zheng Hao."
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