My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 608 A Headwind
"It depends on what my father thinks. The land of Qi and Lu is not very stable right now."

Meng Tian and Meng Yi looked at each other. As the saying goes, a bystander sees more clearly than an involved party. It was obvious that Ying Zheng was getting cocky after having established an unprecedented achievement.

Many policies and orders are issued without any basis.

Like, a drunken decision.

"I'm afraid these decrees will undermine the dignity of His Majesty the Emperor." Meng Tian's words were already subtle enough.

Fusu looked at Meng Tian and Meng Yi. I guess these two people wouldn't also want him to go back and advise Ying Zheng.

The main reason is that Fusu is not strong enough now, and he had been naughty to Ying Zheng before. If he goes back to persuade him now, wouldn't it be like saying that his orders were wrong and he was asking for trouble?
In fact, Fusu is now thinking about how to restore Ying Zheng's favor to him.

Because he felt from Li Xin's feedback that Ying Zheng was somewhat obsessed.

In this situation, the best strategy is to grow slowly. If you confront Ying Zheng head-on, wouldn't that be the same path that Prince Fusu took in history?

Many people think that "advise" is a good word.

This is just a different perspective. The minister felt that he was advising the king; but Fusu was also a monarch, and he understood too well how the minister felt after advising him.

For the king, the ministers' "advice" is actually teaching the "king" how to do things.

This is human nature.

As the leader of a group, he has to give orders to his ministers and listen to his ministers' instructions. How can the leader feel comfortable?

It would be the same no matter who comes.

This is why everyone said that Ying Zheng was wise and intelligent. Because Ying Zheng really absorbed a wide range of opinions.

And now, Ying Zheng no longer intends to listen to others telling him how to do things.

That's how it is.

His position as crown prince was not easy to come by, and the talented people under his command were also gathered with great effort. They have just started to get used to each other and become familiar with each other.

Why are you singing a different tune at this time?

Be careful or you may end up with nothing.

Fusu told Meng Tian, ​​"Now that things have come to this, what can we do?"

"In this world, no one can make His Majesty the Emperor withdraw the orders that have been issued to various places."

In fact, the brothers Meng Tian and Meng Yi, like all the other ministers in the court, felt that Fusu was the only person who could advise Ying Zheng.

Their minds are always stuck in the golden age of the Qin Dynasty, and they believe that Fusu is the most beloved, capable, and trusted son of Ying Zheng.

They believed that the Emperor would listen to what the Crown Prince said.

It’s a pity that Ying Zheng is not Zhu Yuanzhang.

Fusu is not the real Zhu Biao either.

On the eve of the establishment of the Qin Empire, which was the golden heyday of the Qin vassal state, Ying Zheng and Fusu did have common goals, they had interests in each other, and they achieved mutual success.

But now, the situation has changed. Ying Zheng no longer needs Fusu to do anything for him.

Now there are two choices before Fusu: either go back to Xianyang and become the crown prince, or prepare for war outside and go back to fight Ying Zheng.

So when they heard Fusu's refusal, the Meng brothers felt disappointed.

Zhang Cang considered Fusu's point of view. If the prince went back to advise him now, he would only be reprimanded. This would be detrimental to the prince's reputation.

"The Crown Prince was ordered to pacify the Qi and Lu regions, and it has only just begun to show some results. Now is the time for spring ploughing, and manpower is needed everywhere. This is the time for the Crown Prince to stay in Linzi and encourage everyone to farm."

"The First Emperor has issued a decree. What can the Crown Prince do if he returns? It is better to let the Crown Prince stay in Linzi to continue his unfinished business."

Before one thing is resolved, another one arises.

Meng Tian asked Fusu, "What should we do with the scholars in the Prince's Jixia Academy? Do we have to support them forever? The cost and expenses of supporting these scholars are really high."

"I will draft a memorial and submit it to Xianyang, and wait for your decision."

Fusu also wanted to use the memorial to the emperor to find out what Ying Zheng thought of him.

The Meng brothers were a little disappointed when they saw Fusu's reaction. The prince's behavior was not what a loyal minister would do.

After bidding farewell to Fusu, the Meng brothers returned to their own rooms, and Meng Yi couldn't help feeling a little worried.

"Even the Crown Prince doesn't think he can persuade His Majesty. Then no one can persuade His Majesty anymore."

Meng Yi also advised Ying Zheng, but later found out that the Emperor only listened to the advice selectively and just did his job. You can advise when necessary, but don't hold out hope for the result.

Meng Tian couldn't help but sigh:
"Duke Huan of Qi became the hegemon of the vassal states because he listened to the advice of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya when he was young. Unfortunately, in his later years, Duke Huan of Qi became arrogant and listened to the slander of villains such as Yi Ya and Diao Shu, which eventually led to Qi falling into the hands of villains and causing chaos."

"In his early years, King Wuling of Zhao was a famous monarch. But in his later years, he was immersed in the achievements he had made in his early years and was self-righteous, which put the State of Zhao in a dangerous situation."

"Could it be that no matter who sits in that position, they can't escape this rule?"

There is a hidden meaning in these words.

The fate of Duke Huan of Qi and King Wuling of Zhao was already determined, but Meng Tian hinted that Ying Zheng would also follow this path in the future.

Then the result couldn't be worse.

Meng Yi was inevitably shocked. "Brother, it's too early to say such things. His Majesty the Emperor is just excited for the moment. Anyone else would be unable to extricate themselves from such an achievement of unifying the world. His Majesty the Emperor will wake up sooner or later."

"hope so."

Facts have proved that Meng Tian had a long-term vision.
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However, Li Xin was arranged to drink, but he could not enjoy it to his heart's content, as he had many things to tell Fusu.

Unable to sleep in the evening, he came to see Fusu again.

"Prince, you really should go back and take a look. The current atmosphere in Xianyang City is very different from the past. Extravagance is prevalent. Even I can't stand it."

"My father always said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Luxury is often the beginning of disaster."

"Not only that, the atmosphere in the court is different now. Even in the palace, a group of sorcerers have come. In the palace and the government, there are more and more people who do nothing but talk nonsense and say nice things. There are fewer and fewer people who say unpleasant things and speak the truth."

"The censors all expressed their feelings, all because the Emperor dismissed the Prime Minister."

Fusu felt something was not right.

He found that Li Xin dared to speak ill of Ying Zheng in front of him openly, not because he did not respect Ying Zheng enough; but because in his world, everyone was talking about what Ying Zheng did.

It was just because Fusu was in Linzi City that he was unaware of these things.

"Has the situation really gotten this serious? Once a gentleman is cowardly and retreats, a villain will push his way even further. A gentleman is harmonious but not identical, and is a friend but not a party. A villain will inevitably gather together and form a party, and then attack those who are different. Once Prime Minister Wan leaves, the court will inevitably begin to fall into chaos."

Li Xin nodded, "What the prince said is correct. They just saw that Prime Minister Wan left, so they have nothing to worry about."

The two drank some more wine, and Fusu thought about sending Li Xin away overnight. If they continued to talk like this, he would only lose his title of marquis, but he would lose his empire.

Li Xin saw that when Fusu met him, he did not keep anyone to serve him, which showed that he trusted him very much.

He took the opportunity to pull the mat, took the dustpan, came to Fusu and knelt down.

He performed the ceremony very piously, as if he was bowing to his ancestors and gods.

"Prince, do you still mean what you said last time?"

Fusu had to hold the wine cup in his hand for a moment in the air, "General, what is it that you are referring to?"

"I also have the potential to become a local lord." Li Xin came closer and asked seriously.

Li Xin, who used to have eyes as sharp as lightning and was awe-inspiring, also revealed his greedy side when faced with the possible throne of a prince.

Because of greed, the eyes are no longer clear.

But of course, people like Li Xin definitely have a bottom line. At least Fusu doesn't believe that Li Xin is a person who would go against Ying Zheng for the position of a vassal king. Who knows what he is planning?

"It depends on your majesty's will." Li Xin shouted immediately after hearing this. "Your majesty, you cannot divide the fiefs. Everyone is watching you now."

"Everyone? How many of you want me to go back?"

"At least half of the ministers are looking forward to it."

Fusu now understood the meaning of the saying "A tall tree attracts the wind".

Although Fusu had previously wanted to use the ministers' desire for fiefdoms to compete with Ying Zheng, he could not obstruct the establishment of the imperial system.

Assuming that he took advantage of this opportunity and overthrew Ying Zheng, and took the throne himself, he would still have to implement the parallel system of counties and kingdoms in a roundabout way, and finally reduce the power of the vassal kings. Then when would the imperial system be established?

Right now is not a good time.

And as a son, he had no reason to oppose his father.

Fusu shook his head. "Then I shouldn't go back. As the son of His Majesty, how can I help the ministers to go against His Majesty at this time?"

When Li Xin heard this, he was very impressed.

"That's exactly what I admire about the Crown Prince. He won't do anything treasonous just for his own benefit. The Crown Prince will give up such a great opportunity today and be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. In the future, he will definitely be a man who keeps his word and does what he says."

"I offer you a title, Your Highness."

Li Xin was worried that Fusu, who looked like a decent person, might actually be a beast in human clothing. Since the last time Fusu talked to him, Li Xin realized that the prince had many hidden tricks.

Li Xin was afraid that the prince would rebel and he would suffer as well.

Now, in the eyes of people all over the world, Li Xin is regarded as Prince Hengyang’s right-hand man on the battlefield.

Outsiders said that he and the prince were in tune with each other.

Now Li Xin no longer has these worries. As long as the crown prince does not rebel, he will be able to become the emperor in the future. And he will also be able to be favored by the crown prince in the future.

Fusu was naturally shocked and didn't know how he managed to drink the wine that Li Xin offered him.

This Li Xin, he came all the way here to test me with this.

After getting the answer he wanted, Li Xin happily left Linzi and went to garrison Liaoxi County.

But after Li Xin was sent away, soon, the five officials Yang Miao and others came to Qi and Lu to guard the border and also came to pay a visit to Fusu.

Fusu naturally entertained them all according to etiquette.

Yang Miao and Li Xin had completely different ideas. Li Xin did not want Fusu to rebel because it would make him feel embarrassed. But Yang Miao was afraid that Fusu had no intention of rebelling.

Because of this, he and other generals would be in long-term loss and pain, and would have to watch Ying Zheng rule the world alone.

When Ying Zheng was doing his best to stop the feudal system from being reversed and to establish the imperial system, it was these generals with great military achievements who he offended.

Once upon a time, their names made people all over the world tremble in fear, but after they helped Ying Zheng gain the world, Ying Zheng turned against them.

It was extremely unwise for Ying Zheng to drive Wang Wan away.

Ying Zheng didn't think so much at first. Firstly, Wang Wan had different political views from him and could no longer be his top leader, so Ying Zheng naturally had to replace him. Secondly, Wang Wan was indeed very old, but his temper was very stubborn. No matter how Ying Zheng scolded him, he would not give up until he reached the Yellow River.

Ying Zheng just wanted to get rid of Wang Wan as soon as possible so that he could implement his own cause of governing the country.

Wang Wan did not have a high enough perspective on this point. In Wang Wan's eyes, Ying Zheng was just selfish, greedy and arrogant, so he established the emperor system and implemented the county system throughout the country.

However, what Ying Zheng and Li Si saw were countless troubles after the establishment of the feudal system.

Didn't the later Liu Dynasty verify that the views of Ying Zheng and Li Si were correct?

However, to outsiders, the conflict between Ying Zheng and Wang Wan was that Ying Zheng, who was ungrateful and ruthless, unilaterally bullied the kind and just Wang Wan.

The generals only think about themselves and their descendants, and they don't consider the long-term interests of the empire or even the country.

So when the generals saw Ying Zheng drive Wang Wan away, they were very upset. They thought Ying Zheng was killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, so that those who advocated the establishment of feudal fiefdoms would be quiet.

In fact, Ying Zheng had no intention of abandoning his work. If he really wanted to do that, Yang Micong and others would have died.

Ying Zheng was in a very dilemma. He wanted to be a person who did not treat his meritorious officials unfairly, but he did not want his descendants to be killed by the princes. He also did not want the world he had worked so hard to unify to be divided again.

This resulted in all the ministers being dissatisfied and leaving Xianyang quietly as ordered.

But in fact, every minister hated Ying Zheng. The duck that had already been eaten was pulled out by Ying Zheng. Everyone hoped that all the duck meat would go into his stomach, so that he would not die of fullness first.

Moreover, Ying Zheng seemed to be in a very contradictory and panicked state, so much so that he made more than one mistake at the founding ceremony.

During the following months of his rule, he began to implement an unprecedented high-pressure policy, using harsh laws and severe punishments to enhance his authority.

Anyone who disobeys and does not follow Ying Zheng's wishes will be killed by Ying Zheng.

This extreme move made the officials see that Ying Zheng was extremely anxious. They were all members of a startup group, and they all knew that the worst thing to do was to be impatient. Ying Zheng committed all the taboos at once, and those who did not benefit from Ying Zheng were secretly happy.

In this situation, when he was on his way to take up his post, he met Fusu, the future emperor of the empire, namely Qin II.

Yang Miao couldn't help but sow discord between them. He hoped to see the father and son kill each other. Even if he couldn't gain any benefit, it was better than the current life where Ying Zheng was the only one in power.

The other generals also had their own ulterior motives.

In fact, most of the ministers and generals in the court were like Li Si. They fought for the interests of themselves and their families. People like Liao who had a broad mind were rare.

It's just that their talents are not as great as Li Si's, not to mention his literary talent. So Li Si seems to be a treacherous minister. In fact, other people also helped the tyrants in adversity, but they are not well-known because of their small reputation.

After seeing his ministers change their previous respectful attitude towards Ying Zheng, Fusu couldn't help but wonder, "What will happen to the people under my command when they face the same situation in the future?"

In addition, if I rebel, I am afraid that I will be caught by the oriole behind me. After all, since Ying Zheng had "crossed the river and destroyed the bridge" before, these ministers would make new decisions based on their existing experience - such as stabbing me in the back.

It's just that in the new era, those who only fight for the interests of themselves and their families should leave the stage of history. Otherwise, who will protect the interests of the common people?

When a country has a great goal that represents the common interests of all people, it is naturally unprecedentedly united. But once the goal is achieved, the spirit of unity will dissipate, and political struggles will first appear at the top level of the country, and a new round of competition will begin for each other's interests.

This is history, repeating itself over and over again.
-
At the banquet, Yang Miocong deliberately said to Fusu, "Your Majesty's prestige is indeed no less than that of the Emperor."

After hearing this, all the generals stopped drinking and just sat upright. Some of them stroked their beards and looked at Fusu quietly.

"General Yang probably can't hold his liquor well. He's drunk after just two glasses of wine and is now talking nonsense. Your father has established an unparalleled legacy. His virtue is higher than that of the Three Sovereigns and his achievements are greater than those of the Five Emperors. This is an indisputable fact."

"The person with the greatest contribution in this world is only His Majesty the Emperor."

Yang Miao's face suddenly turned from red to white and then to blue.

At the banquet, everyone saw that Yang Miao had behaved himself after being scolded, and everyone else also changed their attitude towards Fusu.

Fortunately, Li Xin had already told Fusu a lot about the situation in Xianyang, which allowed Fusu to be mentally prepared before meeting Yang Miao.

Faced with Yang Micong's provocation, Fusu did not give him any face at all.

Yang Miao originally wanted to sow discord between father and son, so that the Emperor would hear these words and become dissatisfied with the Prince, thus starting an internal struggle. However, he ended up losing face in front of Fusu first.

He did not receive Fusu's courtesy, felt bored, and left in shame at night with his tail between his legs.

Other generals and ministers did not dare to do it again.
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But at this time, Zhang Cang, who came from a Confucian background, began to feel anxious because he supported Wang Wan's approach.

He felt that this was not the time for him to remain silent.

So Zhang Cang took the initiative to pull Fusu aside and said, "Prince, do you and the king have the same opinion on this issue of enfeoffment?"

"I am just a prince, a minister, not a king or a prime minister. Does my opinion matter? This is Linzi City now. Do your job well and don't get involved in the arguments of the court officials."

Fusu said this with a stern face.

Just like that, after being given a cold shoulder, Zhang Cang left in disappointment.

"If this doesn't support feudal fiefdoms, then it means it supports the county system. Speaking of which, the county system is the most beneficial to the prince. How could I be so confused as to ask the prince about such a thing?"

Zhang Cang returned to the house and talked to himself.

(End of this chapter)