My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 667 Fusu Debt Collection

So at the end of the twelfth lunar month, while Ying Zheng was busy meeting local generals, marquises, county governors and supervisors, Fusu secretly visited someone who was equally busy.

The Prime Minister of the Qin Empire at that time was Feng Quji.

Fusu made the visit in plain clothes and sat in his wife's carriage, so as not to let outsiders know that he had come in person.

When they arrived at the mansion, Feng Wanwan introduced her busy father and invited him to her old room to talk.

After seeing Fusu, Feng Quji broke out in a sweat.

He has had a hard time these days.

You have to know how grand it is to meet the prince, it will take at least a day to receive him. And the annual festival is coming soon, and usually the daughter will come back to see her parents in the official month.

Fusu and Feng Wanwan ignored etiquette and came quietly at this time.

After closing the door, the father-in-law and son-in-law immediately sat down and talked face to face.

Feng Quji felt quite guilty today.

"The prince came to visit privately, trying to conceal his presence. What is his purpose?"

Fusu is not a young man anymore, so he started to keep his father-in-law in suspense. He could see that his father-in-law was very tired these days.

He came to see the Prime Minister of Qin at the busiest time before the end of the year, and was somewhat dissatisfied with Feng Quji's life being too leisurely.

"Zhang Cang is out of prison."

"I've heard about it." Feng Quji paused, frowning, and advised Fusu earnestly, "The Crown Prince is asking for trouble by openly challenging Your Majesty."

Fusu smiled softly, picked up the kettle, and poured a bowl for Feng Quji. This was Feng Mansion, and the tea inside was considered ginseng soup.

"I didn't get into any trouble. What I did was natural and reasonable. I'm just worried that my uncle will get into trouble because of me."

【Father-in-law: uncle. 】

Feng Quji has always been a very gentle and upright person.

He was already extremely angry, with his hands clenched into fists. After hearing Fusu's words, he pounded the table so hard that the soup bowl shook and the tea spilled out.

"Since the prince knows this, he shouldn't do this. Does the prince know how many old officials in the court are waiting to deal with him?"

Fusu did not speak. He knew it, of course, but he also knew very well how the old officials in the court helped Ying Zheng to slowly corrupt the empire.

Facing Feng Quji's disrespect, Fusu remained calm, as if he had anticipated all this before he came.

Fusu slowly held the tea bowl and sipped gently.

"He told me something."

"Your Majesty visited Liangshan Palace and saw the Prime Minister at the foot of the mountain with many carriages and horses. It was so magnificent that it almost overshadowed Your Majesty."

"At that time, my father said, 'The prime minister has so many carriages and horses.' I don't know which prime minister he saw, but the news spread quickly."

"I heard that since then, each prime minister's chariots and horses have been reduced."

Feng Quji listened quietly, his face gradually turning pale.

His hands began to tremble slightly.

Feng Quji, he was actually not afraid of Fusu.

First, he was Fusu's helper and could be regarded as Fusu's political cornerstone; second, he was Fusu's father-in-law, and Fusu and Lady Gan Tang had a good relationship, which was the basis for Feng Quji's pride.

If politics is only about interests, then this game is probably the same as war, not to mention that war is an extension of politics. But the reason why real politics is complicated is that it is mixed with human relationships.

Emotions are something that humans can never get rid of.

But when he heard what Fusu said, Feng Quji began to be afraid.

Feng Quji was not afraid of Fusu, but he was afraid of the First Emperor.

"I heard that after this, my father was furious and said, "Someone leaked my words!"

"Father interrogated everyone one by one, but no one admitted it, so everyone present was killed."

Fusu looked straight at Feng Quji, "Father, why didn't you tell the Prime Minister about this matter in person, but just said it in private? Why did you rather kill so many people than just kill the Prime Minister who was there at the time?"

Feng Quji's eyes flickered for a moment.

"Just a random complaint from my father could reach the prime minister's ears. Just imagine how terrible it must be. I understand my father very well. It is completely understandable that he is very angry."

"What does uncle think?"

Fusu added tea to Feng Quji's bowl again.

The two sat facing each other quietly, each thinking about their own things.

When this incident happened, many people's first thought was that the prime minister had arranged people around Ying Zheng, but Ying Zheng did not go looking for trouble with the prime minister. He just interrogated the people around him first, and killed them all if he could not find out anything.

The key point is why Ying Zheng did not cause trouble for the prime minister.

In the palace, the lives of slaves were worth less than grass. Ying Zheng would build greenhouses to grow precious flowers and plants in winter, but he was extremely ruthless to people.

If they make mistakes of principle, they will have no chance to correct them and will be beheaded on the spot.

Fusu said slowly, "One possibility is that someone is using this incident to deliberately frame the prime minister. Because even if the prime minister really has someone planted next to Ying Zheng, this is a very risky thing. No emperor would allow such a thing to happen. If it is discovered, there will definitely be no good results."

"And if the Prime Minister really wants to plant spies, it must be kept absolutely confidential. How can it be easily discovered unless it is absolutely necessary?"

"How could the Prime Minister be so stupid as to reveal that he had planted spies around the Emperor just because of such a small matter?"

"How could a person who can be the prime minister of Qin, second only to the emperor, make such a low-level mistake?"

Feng Quji did not speak. He was the one with the most chariots and horses, and he was also the one who planted the spies.

After experiencing the ups and downs of prime ministers like Wang Wan and Wei Zhuang who spoke for the people, Feng Quji no longer believed in anything.

Perhaps Ying Zheng had his own charm that once attracted his absolute loyalty.

But when Feng Quji discovered that Ying Zheng regarded himself as a god and everyone else as tools inferior to him, Ying Zheng's status in Feng Quji's mind was no longer lofty.

After Fusu specifically asked him to marry his daughter, Feng Quji became even more worried about the future.

The prince made an extremely wise choice for his throne, but this choice affected the fate of more than 2,000 people in the Feng family.

Feng Quji was caught between the crown prince and the emperor, and was always worried about conflicts between the two.

Placing spies is something he must do.

"What does the prince want to say?" Feng Quji was not afraid either. He still had great value to Ying Zheng. For example, Ying Zheng could unite with him or use his position as prime minister to attack Fusu.

Even though Fusu said these tricks, he was still very confident.

"I think it's more likely that someone wants to frame the Prime Minister, so Father is focusing on interrogating the people around him to see if he can find out who's behind it."

Fusu shook his head and smiled bitterly, "But if we still can't find out the result, we can only kill them all. This will not only eliminate this spy, but also have a great impact on the prime minister or those who want to frame the prime minister."

Feng Quji didn't say anything.

"Good guess."

"I'm not just guessing. I live in the palace. I know what's going on in the palace."

Feng Quji's face turned red.

Now, he knew why the prince came here.

"You are the prime minister of my father, but I am his son. If something goes wrong, you will have to bear more of the responsibility."

Feng Quji cursed in his heart, how dare you say that.

You and your son are at odds, why do you drag me into this? Even if this incident hadn't happened, Ying Zheng would still be angry with Feng Quji. It was because of the father-in-law and son-in-law relationship between Fusu and Feng Quji.

Feng Quji stroked his forehead.

"Prince, the most dangerous thing in this world is politics. Everyone says that fire is dangerous, but in fact, fire is in the open. People can see how big or small the fire is, where it is burning, and how high it is. But water is dangerous."

"A person can see how high the fire is, but it is difficult for him to see how deep the water is by observation. Water is dangerous!"

"Prince, you must know that playing politics is about wading through water, not playing with fire. You never know whether the next step will be life or death. Prince, you are still young, even if you are smart, but sometimes you can't beat experience."

"Prince, please stop. This will be good for everyone. Going to Baiyue to supervise the army is the best choice for Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, Wanwan, the Baiyue soldiers, the common people of this world, and the ministers in the court."

"You are the crown prince, and you will be responsible for protecting the country in the future."

Fusu shook his head, "No. I am the crown prince. From the day I became the crown prince, I will shoulder the responsibility of protecting this country."

"Your Highness, do you mean to continue moving forward?" This is what Feng Quji was most worried about.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. Prime Minister, have you forgotten why you are able to sit in the position of Prime Minister today?"

Fusu no longer beat around the bush with Feng Quji.

He had already made the matter clear to Feng Quji, using the fact that Ying Zheng had killed all the servants around him. Right now, both of them were in danger.

Of course, this was because Fusu put Ying Zheng in a dangerous place.

This is the mystery of the relationship between people. As long as you compete and fight, both sides will lose something. Unless you cooperate, you can win together.

Feng Quji's beard trembled twice. "From the prince's tone, could it be that I got this position because of the prince?"

"Do you still remember the first time I attacked the State of Chu?"

Memories came rushing back, and Feng Quji's face suddenly turned red. He felt ashamed of his arrogance today. Once upon a time, it was he who advised Fusu to withdraw from the battlefield of Chu and return to Qin.

Although this incident did help Fusu and Ying Zheng consolidate their father-son relationship, allowing them to have a "father-son sweet period" that lasted for twelve years, the price was still huge.

"If I had not obeyed you and left, Li Xin's attack on Chu would not have happened."

"If I had not listened to you and left the battlefield of Chu State, do you think that my prestige in the army would be limited to what it is today?"

"If I hadn't listened to you and left Changge, how could my father trust you? You are my uncle."

Feng Quji did let Fusu down in this matter. He asked Fusu to give up in order to become the prime minister. At that time, Fusu refused. It was at that time that Feng Quji felt that Fusu was very weak and that he valued friendship more than interests.

It was not until today that Feng Quji realized that he was wrong.

"The reason why the prince agreed to my request that day was probably because of today."

"I don't have that many calculations."

In fact, the main reason for this was that Fusu was too weak at the time and had little influence in the army. Feng Quji was only a junior official. It would be too easy for Ying Zheng to get rid of him, so Fusu had to be a good boy.

If he had not retreated at that time, Ying Zheng would never have given him the opportunity to go out to fight again, and there would not have been that battle between 400,000 troops and the State of Chu.

That was the most crucial battle, the one that established Fusu's position in the Qin Empire.

As it turned out, what Fusu did at that time was right.

But now, the situation has changed. If Fusu wants to win over Feng Quji, he must take the initiative.

Naturally, he had to bring up this old incident.

"You can't let me, your son-in-law, suffer all the time. How can my uncle bear it?" Fusu looked at Feng Quji with a smile.

Feng Quji's face remained firm and he remained unmoved.

It is too risky to surrender to Fusu.

And this means that what he is going to do next will probably be cursed for eternity.

This is Feng Quji’s weakness. This guy attaches great importance to integrity and reputation.

Fusu looked at Feng Quji and thought to himself, "Why don't I cry in his arms, just like my father did in Wang Jian's arms."

While Fusu was pondering, Feng Quji said to Fusu in all seriousness, "I owed the Crown Prince for that matter. The Crown Prince came to ask for it today, and I, Feng Quji, have nothing to say."

"However, even if you don't ask for favors, they will always be there. Once you ask for favors, we must settle the accounts clearly. The prince came to me today, and he must have something to ask of me."

"As long as the prince's request is not excessive, I, Feng Quji, will do my best. But after this, we no longer owe each other anything."

Feng Quji knew that he couldn't escape today, so he just made things clear.

"it is good."

"it is good."

"it is good."

Fusu said "OK" three times in three tones.

"If I kill Zhao Gao, my father will be furious."

Feng Quji's eyes widened when he heard this. "Prince, you still know this!? Do you know that because of your incident, the Censorate has gone crazy and has dug up all the old accounts. This has destroyed the dignity of His Majesty."

Fusu listened to it with one ear and let it out with the other. "Anyway, after this incident, my father will definitely be angry. I plan to follow your wishes and go to Baiyue."

When Feng Quji heard this, he immediately felt relieved.

"Prince, you are finally awake."

"But, uncle, you have to promise me one thing."

"Go on." Feng Quji felt that as long as Fusu left, his position as prime minister and the lives of his family would be preserved.

"Once I leave this time, my father will certainly strike at my years of hard work in Xianyang. The ministers I promoted and the court officials who benefited from me will probably be eliminated by my father."

"I would like to ask the Prime Minister to be an insider in the court."

After hearing this, Feng Quji was unwilling to agree.

He is in a difficult situation.

He thought that Fusu's succession was the best way. He couldn't imagine such a terrible thing as the prince rebelling.

"There's nothing I can do about this."

Letting Fusu lose his arm was actually a good choice for everyone. Could it be that Feng Quji and some ministers didn't know what Ying Zheng would do to Hengyang Palace and the ministers he promoted after Fusu left?

Of course not, they knew it very well and just acquiesced to it.

They only wanted to protect their own interests, and sacrificing Fusu's temporary interests was completely justified. Besides, the people Fusu promoted and selected were not the sons of powerful officials, but nine out of ten were common people, so Fusu did not seem to represent their interests.

Under such circumstances, everyone naturally expected Ying Zheng to strike at the prince and clip his wings.

When a person is weak, he needs to rely on others to survive. At this time, everyone looks upon him favorably, but then they will bully him from time to time.

But when a person becomes strong, he no longer needs to rely on others and can get rid of others at any time. Such a person will become a thorn in everyone's eyes and a thorn in their flesh.

"My uncle will agree."

Feng Quji laughed, "Prince, you have offended too many people. I can't help you."

"I heard that the emperor wants to abolish the prime minister. In other words, the emperor wants to clip my wings, which includes abolishing your position as prime minister."

Fusu will always remember Feng Quji's expression that day.

He lowered his proud head, feeling embarrassed, fearful, uneasy and panicked. Finally, he raised his head pitifully, begging Fusu with his eyes like a homeless old cat.

"Then what do I do?"

(End of this chapter)