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Ziqiu County, with its beautiful scenery and superior geographical location, was an important place where Qin Shihuang stayed during his tours.

Ziqiu County is located in the eastern Henan Plain. It has been a transportation fortress since ancient times. It connects to the Yangtze River and Huai River in the south, Qi and Lu in the north, and the coast in the east. Since ancient times, it has been a place where merchants and literati gather.

The Qin Emperor's palace was located there. It was transformed from Yingqiu, the capital of Qi State. Yingqiu was originally a place of good feng shui. After the Qin Emperor's careful construction, the palace became even more magnificent.

The Zi River runs through the city, giving it a graceful and elegant aura. The capital of Qi State was once prosperous, with frequent exchanges of envoys from various countries, merchants and people.

The palace has a unique architectural style, with the features of the ancient capital of Qi State and the grand style of the Qin Emperor. The palace walls are high and the city walls are thick. The buildings in the palace are well-arranged, and the courtyards are deep and full of flowers and trees.

Linxing Palace.

The hall is magnificent, with exquisite wall carvings and paintings, and the sound of stringed instruments and bamboo instruments is endless.

Qin Shi Huang was wearing a black dragon robe, sitting on the dragon throne, his eyes swept over the ministers of the palace, his eyes were majestic but wise. The civil and military officials of the palace were divided into two rows, sitting upright.

In the spacious open space of the palace, a group of singing girls in light green silk robes were dancing to the rhythm of stringed instruments. Their graceful dancing moves were a feast for the eyes.

There was a glimmer of admiration in Qin Shi Huang's eyes, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, he picked up a dagger and cut off a slice of meat from the basin, picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Alas! Such a vulgar way of eating really undermines the dignity of an emperor!"

The doctors below the stairs shook their heads at Ying Zheng's "rude" eating habits, but with Chunyu Yue as a lesson, they could only sigh and lament the decline of morals.

Doctor Fusheng turned around and saw that Li Si was also like this, and sighed again: "We still have such a vulgar prime minister, how can we behave in front of the emperor?!"

"Sima Xin...Sima Xin!"

Li Si, who was far away from the group of doctors, naturally could not hear their complaints. He turned around and looked around, then waved to the official at the end.

Sima Xin, surnamed Cheng, was a descendant of Sima and Cheng Boxiu, a chief historian of the Qin Dynasty, and a native of Xiayang, Qin State (now south of Hancheng, Shaanxi). At that time, he was just a prison official in Liyang. He was brought along on Ying Zheng's eastern tour, and only then did he have the opportunity to meet the emperor, but he could only sit at the last seat and watch from afar.

Well, it has nothing to do with Sima Yi in the Three Kingdoms period.

"My Lord, you called me?"

Sima Xin seemed to have not expected that the Prime Minister would summon him. His eyes widened, feeling flattered.

Li Si nodded: "Come here!"

Sima Xin bowed and saluted, then said anxiously, "Your Majesty, I am of low rank, I dare not!"

Looking at Ying Zheng who was enjoying the singing and dancing, Li Si said with a smile: "I asked you to come here just to drink and eat meat, come on, come quickly!"

After carefully looking at Ying Zheng sitting on the dragon throne and hesitating for a while, Sima Xin unzipped his sleeves, trotted all the way to Li Si's side, and secretly glanced at Qin Shihuang again. Seeing that he didn't seem to notice, or didn't take it to heart, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Kneeling beside Li Si, he said respectfully:
"grown ups?"

Li Si smiled, picked up the knife in his hand and cut the meat in the basin, and said, "There is a Chu man named Xiang Liang. I heard he is in Xianyang?"

“Ah?!…This?”

Sima Xin's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't Xiang Liang the son of Xiang Yan whom he had captured and released not long ago? Suppressing his panic, he whispered, "I'll get someone to check right away!"

"Don't be so anxious!"

Li Si smiled and waved his hand, saying calmly: "These princes and nobles of the six countries are a nuisance if they are kept here. He is still in Xianyang, find him and kill him!"

"I understand, I understand!"

Looking at Li Si's expression, Sima Xin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Li Si probably didn't know that he had ever interacted with Xiang Liang, but he was still a little uneasy in his heart.

"Lis!"

"exist!"

Hearing Ying Zheng's voice, Li Si immediately responded, turned around, and saw Ying Zheng waving at him. He hurriedly rolled up his sleeves and trotted up the steps.

"Old rules..."

When Li Si ran to him, Qin Shi Huang handed him a piece of fat meat and said, "Fat one!"

Li Si bent down, took the fat meat with both hands, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Ying Zheng waved his hand and said, "Just eat here, the thin ones are mine!"

"promise!"

Li Si knelt in front of the table with a smile on his face and started eating the fat.

Yi Huawei, who was standing aside, opened his eyes and glanced at Li Si. How come this guy is still as thin as a monkey when he eats fatty meat every day?
At this moment, a minister came out from the table and bowed:

"My First Emperor's achievements in civil and military affairs are unmatched. At that time, the Qin territory was only a thousand miles long. Thanks to your Majesty's divine wisdom and wisdom, you have pacified the country and exiled the barbarians. Wherever the sun and the moon shine, everyone is submissive. Everyone is at peace and there is no danger of war. This will be passed down through the ages. Since ancient times, no one has been able to match your majesty's prestige and virtue. Our Great Qin will last for thousands of years and our country will be forever secure!"

Hearing this flattery, Ying Zheng was delighted: "Haha~, Zhou Qingchen said it well!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Humph~ They are just flatterers!"

A cold snort sounded in the hall, and Ying Zheng frowned immediately.

Li Si stood up and looked around at the ministers, and shouted, "Who is down there who dares to offend the emperor?!"

Frightened by Li Si's sudden shout, the dancers stopped dancing and knelt on the ground.

"Doctor Fusheng, meet the emperor!"

A thin old man about fifty years old stood up and saluted towards Ying Zheng in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.

"Go away, go away!"

Yi Huawei glanced at Ying Zheng, looked at his stern face, waved his long sleeves at the dancers below, and then stood aside with his hands hanging down.

Glancing at Fu Sheng, he thought to himself: There are still Confucians these days who are not afraid of death. Glancing at Fu Sheng, Ying Zheng suppressed his displeasure and said calmly: "Isn't what he said right?"

Fu Sheng bowed and said: "How can the eternal existence of our Great Qin rely on such flattering officials?"

Ying Zheng said expressionlessly: "Then what do you rely on?"

"The size and weight of a tripod depends on the virtue of the holder, not on the tripod itself. In the past, when the Xia Dynasty was virtuous, they drew pictures of mountains and rivers in the distance, and cast a tripod with bronze tribute from the local areas. They cast all kinds of things in the world on the tripod, so that the people would know the gods and evil. Therefore, when the people entered the mountains, forests and swamps, they would not encounter unpleasant things, and evil spirits would not cause trouble. Therefore, the upper and lower levels could coordinate with each other to receive the blessing of heaven.

When Xia Jie was incompetent, the tripod was moved to the Shang Dynasty, where it lasted for 600 years. When Shang Zhou was cruel, the tripod was moved to the Zhou Dynasty. If one is morally upright, the tripod may be small but actually very heavy. If one is treacherous and chaotic, no matter how big the tripod is, it is actually very light.

Looking at Qin Shi Huang's gradually turning pale face, Fu Sheng made up his mind and continued:
"Duke Ling of Jin did not act as a ruler should. He imposed heavy taxes to build his palace. He shot people with slingshots from a high platform and amused himself by watching them dodge the bullets. The cook killed bear paws before they were cooked, put the bodies in baskets, and ordered women to carry them through the court. Shi Ji advised Duke Ling of Jin: Everyone makes mistakes, but there is nothing better than being able to correct them! The poem says: Everything has a beginning, but few can have an end. If this is the case, then those who can correct their mistakes are virtuous. If a ruler can have an end, then the country will be solid. Not only the ministers rely on him. It is also said: If there is a vacancy in the position of the emperor, Zhongshanfu will fill it. If the king can correct his mistakes, the position will not be abolished!..."

Listening to Ying Zheng's heavy breathing, Yi Huawei was really afraid that Ying Zheng would be angry to death. Fu Sheng was so bold that he dared to satirize Ying Zheng openly.

Duke Ling of Jin was killed by Zhao Dun because of his cruelty, and the officials did not protect the monarch, but they actually covered for Zhao Dun and handed him a knife...

Li Si shouted angrily, interrupting Fu Sheng's speech: "How dare you, Fu Sheng! How dare you speak so arrogantly in front of His Majesty? You are speaking nonsense! Why don't you apologize to His Majesty the Emperor!!"

As a legalist, Li Si hated two types of people the most: Confucianists and knights-errant. He wished they would all die. Now, in order to balance the court and academia, Qin Shi Huang allowed Confucianists to become doctors, and the legalists could not easily touch them. But before there was Chunyu Yue, and now there is Fu Sheng, which can be regarded as a Confucian's death. If Li Si did not take this opportunity to step on them, he would not be called Li Si.

Just when Li Si was thinking about how to bury the Confucian scholars together.

"boom!"

After drinking the wine in the cup, he glanced at the group of doctors who were eager to try. Ying Zheng threw the jade cup heavily on the table, stood up and said, "That's enough for today! Let's go!"

After looking at Yi Huawei, Ying Zheng turned and walked out of the hall.

…………

After being summoned, Yi Huawei looked at the time and estimated that Ying Zheng had almost vented his anger, so he followed the usher towards the Qin Emperor's bedroom.

The palace had been completely silent for a long time, but inside this forbidden area, there was a hint of busyness in the silence. Yi Huawei saw several visitors coming in and out with bamboo scrolls in their arms. These were memorials sent in by various counties.

Qin Shi Huang's habit was not to rest until he had finished his government affairs for the day, even when he was on his eastern tour. It was past midnight now, and ordinary people had already had several dreams. Who would have thought that their emperor was still working hard at his desk?

Qin Shi Huang's short life span was not only due to his long-term consumption of cinnabar, but also to his overwork. He worked day and night on state affairs, and his daily routine was very irregular. He often worked until late at night, and sometimes even stayed up all night to handle government affairs. He slept an average of four to five hours. Thanks to his good foundation, Qin Shi Huang was able to live to the age of fifty.

"Lord Zhao, His Majesty is waiting for you."

Entering the bedroom, the eunuch on duty looked at Yi Huawei and gently rolled up the hanging curtain with cat-like movements. Yi Huawei nodded slightly to express his gratitude to the eunuch, then bent down and walked into the depths of the bedroom.

In the bedroom, a faint fragrance permeated the air, which was emitted by the incense sprayed from the beast furnace. The fragrance was not pungent, but gave people a soothing feeling, making people calm.

Yi Huawei walked slowly through the wide hall. Behind the screen, Qin Shi Huang had taken off his crown and was wearing dark clothes. He was sitting behind a desk. He looked focused and deep, as if he was completely immersed in the world of flipping through the bamboo slips. His fingers slid gently on the bamboo slips.

Beside Qin Shi Huang, two palace maids were serving him quietly. This silent service made the entire hall seem unusually spacious and quiet.

The usher led Yi Huawei to the imperial court and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Chariot Officer Zhao Gao has arrived!"

"Zhao Gao pays respect to His Majesty!"

Yi Huawei bowed slightly and saluted.

Ying Zheng sat in front of the imperial desk, with a scroll of bamboo slips spread out in front of him. His eyes were focused, examining every line and every word on the slips, as if he was carefully savoring the meaning contained in them. His fingers gently slid across the slips.

After finishing reading one scroll, Ying Zheng leaned over, dipped his pen in ink, and began to write on another scroll. After writing his comments, Ying Zheng raised his head, looked at Yi Huawei, nodded slightly, and then waved his hand gently, indicating that Yi Huawei did not need to be polite.

Qin Shihuang seemed extremely serious when he was working, either frowning or nodding, so much so that for a long time he forgot the existence of Yi Huawei beside him.

Qin Shihuang didn't say anything, and Yi Huawei could only stand there and watch. Yi Huawei knew that Qin Shihuang hated having his work interrupted.

Only after he finished writing the instructions and had no more work to do did Qin Shi Huang raise his head and speak coldly:

"I ordered you to search for the Confucian scholars and Taoist priests who were discussing state affairs. How is it going now?"

Listening to Ying Zheng's tone, Yi Huawei knew that the Emperor of Qin had lost patience with the Confucian scholars. Fu Sheng himself was not afraid of death, and he also dragged others down.

The Qin Dynasty had unified the country, and through the standardization of wheel gauges and writing systems, it was possible for all regions to communicate. However, the unification of ideology had just begun, and it was too early to achieve "the same flow of the nine states and the same customs in the six directions". In the vast six kingdoms with a population of more than 20 million, very few people identified themselves as Qin people.

The territory was unified, but the people's hearts were not. The gap between Qin and the six kingdoms still existed. Some scholars in Guandong even regarded Qin as an enemy, and the movement to restore the country was also brewing in secret.

The assassinations of Jing Ke and Gao Jianli, the fear of the people when he went on tour, the difficult-to-suppress bandit activities in various places, and the undercurrent of restorationists, all showed that his world did not seem so stable.

How to solve this problem? This was the most important thing in Qin Shi Huang's mind after expelling the Huns. Qin was no longer a vassal state in the western corner, but a unified dynasty. Integrating the newly conquered areas in the east was the top priority.

Violent suppression alone is unlikely to have a good effect. Fortunately, Xunzi proposed a good solution to this problem: In ancient times, King Tang of Shang started his career in Haodi, and King Wu of Zhou started his career in Haodi. Both of them were only a few hundred miles in radius, but they were able to annex the world and make the princes pay tribute to them. There was no other reason, but they were able to unite the people!
Xunzi also said: "To unite the scholars is to use rituals, and to unite the people is to use politics; when rituals are cultivated, the scholars are obedient, and when politics is peaceful, the people are at peace!"

After a few years, Qin Shihuang also realized that if he could not get the Guandong scholars to work for him, the parachuted Qin officials would have no way to govern the people. It was obviously not enough to just rely on a decree. The identification of ideas needed to be subtle and silent.

The Legalist Qin officials who had a stern face and strictly abided by the law all day long were obviously not good at doing these jobs. On the contrary, the Confucian scholars were very suitable. Although there were good and bad people among this group of people, it had to be admitted that they were good at education.

Therefore, Qin Shi Huang decided to start with "ritual" and sent more than 70 Confucian scholars from Guandong to Xianyang to serve as doctors for consultation.

Unexpectedly, Qin Shihuang's disgust for Confucian scholars began with the Fengshan Ceremony at Mount Tai.

Regarding the Fengshan ceremony, these Confucian scholars actually had different ideas. After discussing for a long time, they could not come up with a unified opinion. Some Confucian scholars even put forward unrealistic ideas such as "In ancient times, kings wrapped the wheels of the Fengshan ceremony with cattails so as not to damage the soil, rocks and plants on the mountain. The mats used for sweeping the floor and offering sacrifices were all made of grass."

It was easy to use straw mats for sacrifices, but how could it be possible to climb mountains without harming the soil, rocks, and plants? Therefore, Emperor Qin Shihuang thought that what the Confucian scholars said was difficult to implement in practice, so he demoted the Confucian scholars and did not allow them to go up the mountain. He ordered the opening of a road from the southern foot of Mount Tai to the peak.

Later, in the debate over whether to implement the county system or the feudal system, Confucians favored the past over the present and advocated the restoration of the feudal system. This was contrary to Qin Shihuang's idea of ​​centralization, thus arousing Qin Shihuang's anger.

Then, the alchemist Xu Fu deceived the Emperor of Qin with 800 boys and girls and went abroad, never to return. After Lu Sheng deceived the Emperor of Qin, he was afraid of being punished for not seeking medicine, so he spread his dissatisfaction with the Emperor and slandered him. The Emperor of Qin was furious and immediately sent people to search for the alchemist Lu Sheng. But by chance, the Confucian scholars in Xianyang were still discussing this matter in private, so the rumor spread more and more, and more and more versions were spread.

Qin Shi Huang saw that this was unacceptable and that his reputation would be ruined by these Confucian scholars, so he issued an imperial decree to arrest the Confucian scholars who discussed this matter. These Confucian scholars who had been arrested reported others to seek justice, and finally confessed more than 460 people, who were eventually killed in Xianyang for defamation. This matter was originally caused by the alchemists, but Qin Shi Huang wanted to vent his anger, and the Confucian scholars' talkativeness made him even more disgusted with them, so he killed nearly 500 Confucian scholars in a rage.

All these incidents, together with Fu Sheng's advice today, became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Confucian scholars.

(End of this chapter)