My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 837 I Feel Very Lively

"But when the day comes when the emperor needs such etiquette to maintain the most basic order and demonstrate his power, status and rank, the emperor will inevitably be penniless."

"Forget about holding a grand ceremony. When the emperor really needs a large-scale ceremony to help him achieve some political goals, not to mention the nine basic tripods, he can't even get the same drums and banners with the same embroidery patterns."

Prince Yao's eyes were as bright as obsidian. He asked Fusu seriously, "Father, according to what you said, in the face of the times, human power is very small."

Qin II had a stern face as he looked at the distant mountains. He had no idea where the bright red maple leaves of autumn had been blown away, and the mountains were covered with mottled pine trees.

"A great man once told me that in the face of the Great Dao, the power of human heart is negligible. Between heaven and earth, human beings are as insignificant as grains of sand in the desert or drops of water in the ocean."

"I have observed history and the people around me and found that the rise and fall of a country often has a certain correspondence with the joys and sorrows of an individual's fate."

“Wealth is like a dragon, traveling all over the world. Poverty is like a tiger, scaring away all relatives. This is an iron rule for both the country and the family.”

“When a country is strong, all nations come to pay tribute; when a country is weak, everyone can invade, humiliate, plunder and seize it.”

Yao felt a little sad when he heard this. "What my father meant is that now my Qin is strong, so everything is good. But one day my Qin will become weak, and all the good things will turn into bad things."

Qin II: "Yes. So as a king, you only need to do one thing well in the future, which is to make sure that the powerless people can live well and not be bullied, and that the virtues of the rich and powerful are not too bad. There are still some restrictions."

"Dividing the world equally is impossible. That's because human nature is like this. This world will never be fair."

“Only when a country is permanently strong can it avoid being bullied and invaded by foreign races; only when a monarch firmly grasps power and uses it correctly, maintaining the order of this irregular world to the greatest extent possible and making everyone practice goodness and righteousness as much as possible, can the monarch last forever.”

Yao listened to his father's firm tone and could feel that his father had a strong belief in his heart. That belief was the foundation that supported him to where he is today.

But young Yao followed his father's gaze and felt that this bare winter was just like his mood at the moment.

There are mountains one after another, and the peaks are higher than each other.

The endless mountains on the edge of Xianyang are stacked one upon another, just like the tablets arranged in order in the Taimiao, high and low, in an orderly manner.

Yao has the most powerful ancestor on earth. Since his great-grandfather, there has never been a foolish monarch in the Qin royal family.

The only confused monarch Yao knew, he was confined to the cold palace after just a few years of being confused.

My great-grandfather's administration was unpopular and drove away many upright people; my father overthrew my great-grandfather, imprisoned him, and took his place.

This sounds like a natural thing.

But recently he has been studying history and he learned about real historical events. In fact, there are very few people in history who did what his father did, who dared to do so and succeeded.

In most cases, the loser will pay with his life.

If a king makes a mistake, not only will he cause great harm to his subjects, but he will also be beheaded.

Almost every one of his ancestors made the right decisions, but what about his generation?

Yao didn't understand how he would live the rest of his life.

Sometimes, he hoped that his father would be in good health and become a long-lived monarch. When his son grew up, he would pass the throne directly to his son after his death, just like King Xiaowen of Qin, who was emperor for a few years.

How perfect this looks.

But Yao also knew that this idea was ridiculous.

Who knows how his great-grandfather, King Xiaowen of Qin, died?

The palace is always full of struggles, even between father and mother. Although they seem harmonious on the surface, conflicts often occur between the two of them.

Many things in history books are written vaguely, as if they are afraid that people will not be able to see clearly.

For example, Yao was curious about his great-grandfather's biological mother, and why in history the Queen Mother Zhao was moved away and then moved back to the palace.

What kind of people were Queen Mother Xia and Queen Mother Huayang? Why did they each have a thick booklet in history books, but when they were opened, they were all full of traces of deletions and cuts?

In the end, there were no more than a hundred words on the long scroll of bamboo slips.

This is what court life has to deal with.

Adults always say that flowers in a greenhouse cannot withstand wind and rain. In fact, it is because adults create the wind and rain themselves, but they feel ashamed of the wind and rain they created, so they hide it away.

Fusu looked at his son. He looked very sad and didn't have the liveliness that he should have at his age. "What are you thinking about?"

"So, being an emperor means you can't make even the slightest mistake?"

After he finished saying this, the winter wind suddenly roared, and the faces of the father and son were blown by the knife-like cold wind, leaving a thin layer of dust on their faces.

"If someone of my age came to preside over today's sacrificial ceremony, the princes' reactions would be the same. This is very important."

The Second said in a rare gentle tone.

Yao lowered his head and looked at the bricks and stones on the ground. His father was really a humble man, completely different from his grandfather.

My grandfather believed that he was the only one who could do certain things, but my father thought that he was worshipped by everyone just because he stood at the forefront of the times.

According to my father, if he were in this position, his subjects would still worship him.

"Look up. There is something to see on the ground." Qin II pressed Zhengyao's shoulders and asked him to straighten his chest and raise his head.

"What I told you today is what is called human nature. When human nature is reduced to a small level, it becomes right and wrong in the eyes of individuals, good and evil. When it is magnified, it will be reflected in how nations treat each other, and how countries treat each other."

"Everyone worships Confucius, and some people admire Laozi, but I actually think Gaozi is right."

"Gaozi believed that human nature is neither good nor evil."

"He once said that human nature is like a turbulent stream. If it is diverted from the east, it will flow east; if it is diverted from the west, it will flow west. Human nature is neither good nor evil, just as water is neither east nor west.

"Does the water flow east or west? Is there any right or wrong involved? I'm afraid not."

“But whether the water flows east or west is affected by the terrain.

“It’s human nature, too.”

"As long as you are strong, everything around you will be good for you. Women will love you, officials will obey you, and the people will worship you like a god."

"So governing a country is difficult, but it is also very simple. That is to make yourself absolutely strong. Don't think about relying on others. In this world, you can't rely on anyone except yourself."

Yao looked at his father, "My grandfather also said this." Qin Ershi's eyes slightly avoided, then he took Yao's hand and brought him to the incense table to burn incense together, "So, being an emperor is not as difficult as you think."

"Law, magic and power. If you use these three things well, you can subdue your subjects, appease the people and strengthen your country."

The Second said, handing the incense to Yao, "Come, do it again as you did today."

Yao looked at his father, took out his chubby white hand from his long sleeves, then picked up the incense and went through the same process as Qin II's sacrificial ceremony in the morning.

Although the princes were invited to leave one after another, the ministers were still watching from the sidelines.

Feng Jie looked at this scene and smiled with all his white teeth showing.

Feng Quji looked at Qin II with a serious expression. The empire had been peaceful recently, thanks to the emperor's good governance. But he always felt that since the emperor ascended the throne, the entire Feng family seemed to have become a cushion under the emperor's buttocks.

When the emperor was happy, he would sit on this cushion; when the emperor was unhappy, he would not sit on this cushion.

Although he was the highest executive officer of the empire and possessed supreme authority and honors, to be honest, he did not feel that the emperor trusted him much.

Feng Xiang was a very astute man. He was the first to sense that the prince had the mindset and actions to rebel.

However, his intelligence also made him realize that after the Second Emperor ascended the throne, although the Feng family nominally became the most powerful family in the Qin Dynasty, in reality, it was a cover-up for Qin Second Emperor to use to deceive his trusted ministers.

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As the left prime minister, he became more and more like a hollow shell in the court.

Whenever officials in the court had problems, they would go to Zhang Cang and Meng Tian.

The emperor would rather let these two people be busy than let himself take care of any affairs.

The policy of governing by doing nothing is actually the most brilliant policy in the world.

Because he deprived his ministers of the opportunity to seize power.

The emperor gave the people a rest and let them farm and weave well. The more they planted, the more they would gain, and the less they planted, the less they would gain.

Also because of this idea of ​​governing by inaction and the policy of giving the people rest, the emperor rarely gave orders to the prime minister.

Unfortunately, the exercise of power can only be achieved with the help of real things; without reasons, there will naturally be no power.

Qin II played the power very clearly.

Feng Quji looked at the emperor leading his son to burn incense on the high platform, Chunyu Yue was instructing them at the side, the brothers Meng Tian and Meng Yi were standing by, and there were also Guan Fu, Xiahou Ying, and Lu Ze.

Meng Yi was very brave and took the initiative to come forward and tease Prince Yao. Of course, the main reason for his bravery was that he was trusted and respected by two generations of emperors.

Meng Yi was very curious about Prince Yao. Why did this kid not feel any satisfaction, pride or happiness when seeing so many people surrounding him? Instead, his eyebrows drooped slightly and he looked depressed?

How can this be described as a child?

When the current emperor was the crown prince, he looked at everything as if it was nothing new and looked down upon; however, the crown prince Hengyang at that time was also very proud and would often brag.

But Prince Yao remained silent.

He refused to say a single word and looked as shy as a woman; but he also had a cold face.

"I don't know who the prince got this temper from."

The second generation was also very curious. Why did this kid look less and less like him the more he looked at him?

"Prince, what kind of person do you think you are?" Meng Yi asked again.

A group of adults surrounded Yao, and dozens of eyes looked over at him.

Yao was surrounded by a wall of people. He raised his head, looked at Fusu, and then looked at the domineering minister Meng Yi. He said expressionlessly, "I think I am lively."

Meng Yi's eyes widened, "You call this lively?"

Yao looked at Meng Yi, and then no matter how Meng Yi chattered and asked questions, he remained silent.

His eyes looked as if he had not woken up yet, but his obsidian eyes were as beautiful as stars in the sky.

Every time Fusu saw Yao's face, he felt that he would be a man of great achievements in the future.

The ministers around him looked at Yao first, then at the emperor. It seemed as if something had gone wrong, but it was hard to say...

Feng Quji stood aside and watched these people gathered together, talking and laughing. They looked very happy, but he did not go forward.

In fact, Feng Quji has been feeling extremely uncomfortable recently.

He had already noticed that the real power in his hands was slowly being divided. On the surface, Zhang Cang was the most likely to cause trouble, but in reality, the emperor had quietly given all the power to Meng Tian.

Although the Meng family was small, each of them was very capable. Meng Tian alone had more than a dozen commanders who were personally recommended and promoted by him.

Recently, the emperor secretly allocated military funds to him and asked him to be responsible for reorganizing the factory.

In fact, all the factories built in Qin State are state-owned factories, which mainly produce salt, textiles, and manufacturing tools.

Letting Meng Tian be in charge means ensuring absolute order within the factory.

This is the Qin Dynasty, where the morality of the people has basically fallen to a filthy level. Don't overestimate how high the moral standards of these men who don't have enough food to eat and have no place to sleep can be. There is no need to suppress them with absolute force. When they come to such a place, they will do things that are hard to estimate.

We should not underestimate the loyalty of the people of this era to the emperor. The degree of their loyalty to the country, the emperor, and the head of the family is unimaginable.

About eight years ago, riots began to frequently break out in the Guanzhong area.

Experience taught Qin II that he should never overestimate the kindness of the people. The larger the group, the more likely it is to blindly follow others. Once someone shouts, everyone will follow suit and believe.

After all, the Warring States Period had just ended, and everything under state-controlled production was a necessity, so factory management naturally had to be very strict.

Therefore, Fusu specially selected General Meng Tian to handle these matters, and Fusu believed that only the officials under Meng Tian could handle these matters well.

But unfortunately, in Feng Quji's eyes, this was a sign that he had lost the emperor's trust.

Perhaps, the emperor never trusted himself from the beginning to the end.

Because he had once obstructed the prince from returning from the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)