While Qin Yang and Li Zhao were galloping on the "straight road", in the general shogunate in the center of the Jiuyuan Qin army camp, the general Meng Tian, who was still energetic despite his gray hair and beard, was reading a letter sent by his brother Meng Yi.
A top secret "letter home".
This letter from home was received a few days ago, but the meaning is very obscure. Even a person as sharp as Meng Tian has been thinking about it for several days. The letter is written like this: "I have been ordered by the emperor to pray for the mountains and rivers to return to Xianyang.
At present, the overall situation of the country is in good order, and the troops of Longxi Marquis Li Xin are marching eastward. His Majesty the Emperor is tired from the cold and tired, so he may rest for a while in Langye, and then continue his large hunting tour. His Majesty's large hunting tour is about to return to the country, or he may turn west and head south.
Go straight back to Qinzhong, or cross the river and go north to inspect the Great Wall. Brother, I should always pay attention to it with the emperor's eldest son."
At first glance, there is no doubt that this is an ordinary letter from home. But the more Meng Tian read it, the more he felt something was wrong. The more he read it, the more he felt that Meng Yi wanted to tell him something. So, Meng Tian read this abrupt and vague "letter home" over and over again.
", today he finally smelled an unusual smell.
Meng Yi was the official of Langzhongling. It can be said that any major orders of the First Emperor had to go through Meng Yi's hands. Now Meng Yi was sent back to Xianyang by the First Emperor. What does this mean? Li Xin, the Marquis of Longxi, has been guarding Longxi to prevent the Xiongnu. Why did he go eastward?
?If there is no order from the First Emperor, who can mobilize the movement? Did the First Emperor really just feel the cold occasionally? According to what the letter said, the emperor might go north to Jiuyuan, and why?
From Meng Tian's point of view, there is only one direction for all this: the First Emperor did not catch the cold occasionally, but was in a very serious condition, and he was already arranging major events in the court. The First Emperor sent Meng Yi back to Xianyang, and also transferred Li Xin
The purpose of returning to Xianyang was to stabilize the court and prepare for unexpected emergencies. As for why the First Emperor wanted to go north to Jiuyuan, Meng Tian had the clearest idea, that is, the First Emperor wanted to appoint Fusu as the heir apparent.
Although Meng Tian understood Meng Yi's strange letter home, he was still worried.
Meng Tian's worry was not caused by the foreigners, but by the changes in the eldest son Fusu. When Fusu was participating in politics in Xianyang, he was demoted to Shangjun by Qin Shihuang because he opposed the implementation of policies such as "burning books and humiliating Confucian scholars" and "respecting the law and stringing ministers".
Supervise Mengtian's army. After Fusu returned to the Jiuyuan army, he no longer had the excitement and excitement he had before, nor the courage and sharpness he had when he returned to Xianyang to participate in politics. The resolute, brave and trustworthy Fusu seemed to
He disappeared inexplicably. What Meng Tian and the soldiers saw was a Fusu who lived in seclusion, was depressed all day long, and was indifferent to military and political affairs.
On several occasions, Meng Tian deliberately sent Sima of the Chinese Army to report to Fusu the difficulties in building the Great Wall and to report another attack on the Xiongnu's plan to enter the country, or to ask the Supervisory Army to inspect and encourage the people, or to ask the Supervisory Army to supervise the soldiers. But Fusu failed every time.
When I was studying at my desk, I would say lightly every time: "On all military and political matters, you must obey the general's orders." After saying that, he never looked up again.
Meng Tian knew Fusu's heartache, but could not explain it clearly. Fusu returned to Xianyang to participate in politics, but not only failed to realize Meng Tian's expectation of establishing a prince, but he left the country again and went north. Meng Tian suddenly felt an unprecedentedly heavy pressure. At that time,
Both the government and the public in the empire vaguely regarded brothers Meng Tian and Meng Yi and the eldest son of the emperor Fusu as the same party. In fact, Fusu and the Meng brothers were indeed of the same mind in terms of the anti-restoration strategy and the political views of world governance by the people. Li Si, Yao Jia Feng
Jie Dunwei and others were staunch advocates of anti-restoration with an iron fist and rule of law. From the perspective of people in Shandong, these were the two parties in the imperial temple, with Li Si and Meng Tian each as the axis.
Meng Tian hated such judgments because he knew very well that the crux of the political differences lay in the consistency of strategies between the emperor and Li Si and other ministers, which turned the country's governance after unification into a rigid rule of law that did not tolerate any changes. Fundamentally,
Rather than saying that the emperor accepted the strategy of Li Si and others, it is better to say that Li Si and others upheld the emperor's wishes and proposed this strategy. After all, the real pillar of a unified empire is the emperor, not Prime Minister Li Si and Feng Quji, let alone
Yao Jia, Feng Jie and Dunwei. The emperor is superior to the past and the present, and the emperor's power cannot be threatened by anyone. Can you say that such an important long-term policy is just the emperor's acceptance of the ministers' ideas without the emperor's will and decision?
Only because of this, the rejection of Fusu's political views was also the rejection of the Meng brothers' political views. In more than thirty years of hard work with the emperor, the first major political disagreement made Meng Tian deeply uneasy and made Meng Tian deeply uneasy.
Meng Tian fell into a dilemma.
The concerns during this period are that they will inevitably involve the emperor, the great politics of restoring the empire, and even the way to establish a prince. All of these are topics that are difficult to explain clearly. Even though Meng Tian's mind is as clear as a mirror,
I am also afraid that the more I talk about it, the more unclear it becomes. After all, Meng Tian must not only firmly safeguard the emperor, but also fully support Fusu. He can neither give up the lenient policy concept he and Fusu agreed on, nor deny the emperor's iron-fisted anti-restoration policy.
Therefore, Meng Tian saw Fusu getting depressed day by day, but could not find any words to comfort Fusu.
Meng Tian has always regarded Fusu as the best candidate for the imperial prince. Among the dozen or so princes of the First Emperor, Fusu was second to none in terms of talent and courage, and no one could compare with him in terms of mind and power. More
What's more, Meng Tian wholeheartedly supported Fusu's lenient thoughts. What Meng Tian never expected was that behind Fusu's perseverance, he was so fragile, and would succumb to a single blow. A character like Fusu's
How could he shoulder the heavy responsibility of the entire empire with his unique characteristics? However, apart from Fusu, Meng Tian really could not find a more suitable candidate for the crown prince.
Meng Tian can guarantee that he can treat the country with a public heart, but he cannot guarantee that the ministers and princes of the entire empire will be as unselfish as himself. After all, few people can resist the huge temptation of power. Now that the First Emperor is seriously ill, if the First Emperor is on patrol
If something unexpected happens during the hunt, and the position of the crown prince is not yet clear, there are really too many variables. Meng Tian is familiar with the history of various countries. Once such a chaotic situation is not managed well, it will often lead to brothers fighting for power.
Bloody tragedy.
Meng Tian is very clear about the current situation in the empire. Inside, there are nobles from the old six kingdoms stirring up troubles and plotting for restoration, and outside there are Huns and barbarians who are eyeing them. Not to mention that the power of the empire has fallen into the hands of evil people, even if they continue to govern the country harshly.
If things go out of control, the future of the empire will no longer be clear. Once things get out of control, the eternal foundation that I and a group of veterans have created by assisting the First Emperor for more than thirty years may disappear like water.
Thinking of this, Meng Tian felt chills running down his spine. He felt that the most important thing for him now was to persuade Fusu to cheer up again. Only if Fusu could successfully take over the power of the empire could the empire have hope for the future.
Meng Tian did not hesitate again. The next moment, he went straight to Fusu's prison camp.