My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 818 Only One Million Left to Me
"These guys, the Hu people, are even worse than the Nanyue people. The Nanyue people marry brothers and sisters from the same tribe, but the Hu people have no shame at all."

"In the tribe, the practice is father-wife inheritance. When a man dies, his younger brother will marry his widow."

"It's simply appalling. Such a nation is doomed to have no future. How long can a nation that doesn't even care about moral principles and ethics last?"

To the sheep, wolves are brutal and represent evil.

For the people of Qin, the nobles and new bureaucrats of the Qin Empire were an existence that [crushed] and [crushed] them.

But to the Hu people and the Nanyue people, the Qin people were like demons.

The Qin people, relying on a set of things they claimed to be etiquette and laws, always pointed fingers at their marriage and property, using this as an excuse to launch all kinds of criticisms against them.

Before the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains had always been a condescending presence, pointing fingers at foreign barbarians.

This brings us to the story between China and the four barbarians during the Spring and Autumn Period.

Since ancient times, China has shown a very strong and confident side. After inventing the ritual and music system, it waved its fists and feet every day to point fingers at neighboring countries, acting as the "world police" two thousand years ago.

【The word China comes from the Book of Documents. The word China existed before the Spring and Autumn Period. The name China was given by Qin Shihuang.】

In fact, the history of the Spring and Autumn Period is very interesting. At that time, the princes fought for hegemony.

When the Zhou Dynasty was first founded, there were more than a thousand princes in the world.

The Zhou emperor could not directly manage so many princes, so he selected some big countries that supported the royal family and had considerable military power, and made them leaders to command the princes on the emperor's behalf.

It is like the Zhou emperor enfeoffed the princes, and he was the class teacher, managing the students. But the students were naughty and always fighting with each other, and the number of them was increasing. The class teacher began to let the children sitting next to each other choose a capable big brother, that is, the group leader, and the group leader managed the younger brothers, so that the Zhou emperor only had to manage the group leaders.

However, this idea of ​​Emperor Zhou was really useless and did not work at all.

The person who finally rebelled against the class teacher was the group leader he had chosen.

However, under the instruction of Emperor Zhou, the team leader blatantly expanded his authority.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the lives of the princes were much happier than that of the Zhou emperor.

At that time, the leader of the alliance could command dozens or even hundreds of princes, which was very impressive.

People called the leader of this alliance a "hegemon". The princes who plotted to become the leader of this alliance were regarded as "plotting to be a hegemon".

Later on, even the Zhou emperor became weak, and no one obeyed the orders of this "overlord".

The princes of various countries have not heard of the name of "hegemon" for more than a hundred years, and no one has ever thought of "seeking hegemony" and becoming the leader of an alliance.

Since the "hegemon" received the mandate from the Zhou emperor, he could not act arbitrarily and destroy other people's countries or seize other people's land.

All the powerful princes like to destroy other countries and seize other people's land. How could they be willing to accept orders from the Zhou emperor and tie their own hands just for an empty name?

This method of selecting a leader is somewhat ridiculous.

If humans could be animals that could curb their greedy desires even with power and wealth, there would be fewer wars in human history.

Seeing this, some people must be curious.

Isn't it about the conflict between the Qin Dynasty and the Hu people? How did it get dragged into the struggle for hegemony among the princes during the Spring and Autumn Period? Isn't this nonsense?

The struggle for hegemony among the princes has nothing to do with the Hu people.

In fact, this is not the case. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the nobles still had a lot of dignity to show for themselves, especially at the beginning, when war was just a game of house for the nobles.

At that time, Chinese people did not fight against Chinese people.

However, some princes became powerful and wanted to prove their strength, make the surrounding princes submit to them, and prove that they were overlords.

Now that I have strong military power, how can I give it a try?

It's like a child who gets a sword and is eager to test its power, but if he hits his neighbor, he is, after all, the nephew of his own great-grandfather, great-grandmother, brother, or nephew...

If we extrapolate further, hundreds of years ago, they had the same parents.

Since they couldn't do it this time, these hegemons who wanted to dominate the world turned their attention to overseas.

Overseas at that time referred to areas outside China's total territory, which was where the four barbarians lived.

In order to prove their own strength, or to show their justice in certain wars, powerful princes always go to fight the barbarians first to spread Chinese culture. If they win, they will become the overlord and their reputation will spread far and wide, and the people of neighboring countries will also respect them when they see the overlord.

The Qin Dynasty inherited the Pre-Qin Dynasty. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, too much historical accumulation fell on this new soil.

This also means that there has been a change in attitude towards foreigners.

The Qin Empire was quite contemptuous of foreigners and wanted to destroy them.

Although the other person did not provoke me, he has the motive and reason to provoke me, and may develop the ability to really provoke me in the future, so the Hu people are guilty.

This is how the Qin people thought about the problem. Continuing the far-sighted vision of Qin Shihuang, they had no intention of letting the Hu people go.

Meng Tian’s meaning is very simple.

"After all, Nanyue had fought with our Qin State before, and they were badly hurt. Once the Lingqu Canal is built, there will be no problem with the supply of food and grass. The people of Nanyue will be cautious and will never dare to have any improper thoughts about our Qin State again."

"But the Hu people are different. According to some people who have traveled outside the Great Wall, the Hu people plan to advance southward. This is because their cattle and sheep have no grass or water to eat, and the winters in the north are getting colder and colder, so cold that cattle and sheep can freeze to death."

"Under this primitive pressure of survival, I think once the Hu people go south, they will be determined to die. If they don't invade our Great Qin, they will face the danger of extinction."

"Especially at times like this, the Great Qin must be on high alert and prepared for war. We cannot relax at all. The construction of the army must not be sloppy."

"Not only did the national commander come from the State of Wei, but there are also a number of elders in the court who came from the State of Wei. They should know the Wei Wuzu very well. Our Qin State has always had elite soldiers, but unfortunately, with the gradual disintegration of the military merit system, it is difficult to replicate a large number of Qin elite soldiers."

"It would be better to build a group of elite troops using the Wei Wuzu training model. I believe that if we do this, the Xiongnu will never dare to invade in the future."

How could the Second Emperor not understand what Meng Tian meant?

Meng Tian wants to increase military spending for his own army.

Doesn't Fusu want to increase military spending?

Fusu slowly got up from his chair and wandered around the hall.

Around him were bronze lampstands two people tall, which were polished to a shiny finish by herbal water and emitted a faint fragrance.

It was raining and snowing outside. The flying snow mixed with drizzle was like sharp arrows piercing from the sky to the earth, coming fiercely as if taking revenge.

The sky was misty and white, and the ground was covered with rain and snow.

The soldiers in the corridor were shivering with cold. The damp and cold air penetrated into their clothes and trousers. Their clothes were wet before it even rained.

Wearing that cold armor in winter is like putting on a pair of ice shackles for yourself, heavy, cold and bulky.

Meng Tian knew that the emperor was in a difficult situation, but he could not let the emperor implement benevolent policies. If the people did not pay taxes, how could they defend their country when foreign enemies invaded? The meaning of the existence of a country is to use the power entrusted by the people to ensure their safety and rights and stabilize their lives.

A country is a cooperation between people. In Meng Tian's view, there is no such thing as rule.

It's just that generals do generals' work, peasants do peasants' work, scholars write scholars' articles, and merchants sell their goods.

However, this could only be his inner thoughts.

Governing a country, especially a large country, relying on benevolence and charity is often useless. At critical moments, bloody wars are still necessary to solve certain problems.

Although many people think that humans are nobler than animals, when it comes to survival, what humans show for food is often more hideous than what animals show.

So when necessary, someone has to step up and do what needs to be done.

This is the meaning of war.

Meng Tian was not the kind of person who was born for fighting and would not stop until death.

On the contrary, he is the kind of person who has to do things he doesn't want to do for the sake of some existence and some beliefs in his heart.

Everyone knows that Meng Tian is the great general of the empire.

But who would have known that more than ten years ago, Meng Tian at that time just hoped that he could be an honest official of the Qin Dynasty who was incorruptible, law-abiding.

Perhaps what Meng Tian wanted to do at first was to work in the Supreme Court.

What a pity, people have destiny and luck.

Meng Tian and Fusu were walking together in the spacious and warm palace.

Two wisps of smoke floated out of the copper stove, rising and tumbling in the air like a swimming snake, merging and tumbling before dispersing.

When Meng Tian looked at the emperor, he was not thinking of the late emperor, but of himself when he was young.

Meng Tian never thought that his childhood dream of becoming a scholar would eventually be fulfilled perfectly by the current emperor.

When Meng Tian was very young, he saw his father often away from home, and his mother always didn't know who to turn to when something happened at home. After seeing this, Meng Tian vowed to be a good man who would stay at home and protect his mother.

After getting married, he also told his wife that he would stay with him forever.

Not long after he said this, Qin Shihuang took a liking to him and sent him to fight in the war.

Looking back now, I have long since transformed myself into the person I didn't want to be, with all the responsibilities on my shoulders.

The emperor became the person he wanted to be. He relied on strategy to solve problems at home, practiced the ideals of a gentleman, cultivated himself, managed his family, governed the country and brought peace to the world.

Meng Tian studied with Confucian scholars since he was young. He believed that the ideal state of life would be to be an emperor, well-read, well-informed, and able to rule the world with culture.

Therefore, Meng Tian always had a sense of intimacy with Qin II, because Qin II lived the ideal life he expected.

The Second Emperor hovered in the hall for a long time. He could not find a reason to refuse, but he also could not agree to it on the spot.

"You know, I have already started to understand state affairs since I was very young. In my memory, there has not been a single day in the Qin Dynasty when there was no war, and everyone has been serving around the war."

"Everyone is talking about war."

Of course, except for the late Queen Mother, she was a very special person, and she was a dreamlike existence for both Qin Shihuang and himself.

In such a chaotic world, everyone is suffering from the pain of displacement, but there is such a woman who is in the Xianyang Palace and silently provides two men with a peaceful and pure land away from the world.

The emperor paused slightly when he thought of the late empress dowager.

"When I was young, I had such a teacher."

"When I talked to him about the war, he told me this."

"When the world is at peace, the treasury is full of money, and there is absolutely no shortage of military funds and food."

"But when the country faces internal and external troubles and needs money to train and discipline a team, there is often no money left in the treasury."

When Meng Tian heard this, he couldn't help but frown.

In Meng Tian's mind, Qin Shihuang has always been a wise and brave, godlike man.

Even though he was driven off the throne by Fusu, in Meng Tian's mind, the emperor had only made some mistakes that all emperors would make.

Those are not worth mentioning at all.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

In the eyes of loyal ministers like Meng Tian, ​​every move of Qin Shihuang revealed his wisdom. Even if he sometimes killed people in a fit of rage, it was because he was so angry that he had no choice but to do it. It was all the fault of the people who were killed for not doing their job well.

Meng Tian has always believed so.

Until Qin II implicitly told Meng Tian, ​​"Although the Great Qin Empire seems to be at peace now, the state of the treasury corresponds to the state of the country being on the verge of war at any time."

Meng Tian's face turned pale.

To put it bluntly, he came here today just to ask for money.

But as a scholar, he always has to talk about something implicit. Meng Tian liked this style, and he especially liked Fusu, because Fusu had a unique style and had shown the appearance of a kind gentleman since he was a child.

Meng Tian knew that the emperor wanted to use his frugality to inspire his ministers so that they would no longer be arrogant, extravagant and greedy. He also knew that the court officials had always criticized Qin Shihuang for his extravagant spending. Even after Qin Shihuang became the emperor emeritus, they still kept scolding him.

But Meng Tian never felt that there was anything wrong with Qin Shihuang.

Until Qin II confronted him today.

"When the emperor was in power, the empire earned 200 million coins a year, and the treasury spent about 300 million coins."

"Three hundred million? How is that possible? Isn't this more than half?" Meng Tian widened his eyes.

"Why not? The war in South Vietnam, the expansion of the imperial mausoleum, the connection of the Great Wall, the construction of the highway, and the emperor's tour to the east and the construction of the palace. However, 300 million yuan is still not enough."

Meng Tian shook his head. "That's impossible. How can we maintain our business if we keep on being in debt?"

"Improve taxes and crack down on corrupt officials. Local grassroots officials collect taxes and fees." Qin II paused for a moment, "Not only have we spent all the savings from Prime Minister Lu's administration, but by the time I succeeded to the throne, the only money left in the treasury that was not included in the budget was one million."

"There is only one million left for me."

"What can you do with a million dollars? Nothing."

Meng Tian stared at Qin II in a daze. He even said impulsively, "This is impossible. The emperor is not such a person."

Fusu was not polite to Meng Tian, ​​"It has nothing to do with the emperor, it is not important, what is important is that I have one million yuan in my hand now."

(End of this chapter)