"The world is divided into five categories: the Feng Nei Dian clothes, the Feng Wai Hou clothes, the Hou Wei Bin clothes, the barbarian army clothes, and the Rong Di Huang clothes. The reason why they are distinguished is because of the different situations in the near and far..."
In the thirty-third year of the First Emperor of Qin, in the month of Ji Dong (December), in the mansion of Prince Fusu, Chun Yuyue, who still held the title of doctor, was talking eloquently in front of Fusu.
"The land of Yue is deserted. From the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties onwards, it has not been educated by the Central Plains. It is not that they can be subdued by force or that they can be controlled by force, but because the people of Yue live in the land outside the country and have their hair cut and tattoos.
The people cannot be governed by the laws of the Central Plains on rituals and music, and the land cannot be inhabited by Central Plains people, so it is not worth bothering the Central Plains."
"To gain the land, one must not rely on counties and counties; to attack it, one must not violently take it. I really can't figure it out, why does Your Majesty insist on marching south?"
A few days ago, Qin Shihuang announced his planned conquest to his ministers, which immediately caused an uproar in Xianyang!
After Chunyu Yue heard about this, he complained repeatedly, and the poet Tang Duo also nodded in agreement.
"Although the country is large, if it is warlike, it will perish."
The Mohist family opposed all non-self-defense wars. In the early years, it was for the sake of unification. Therefore, Qin Mocai resisted the pressure of deceiving his master and destroying his ancestors and helped Qin destroy the six countries. After unification, it is time for the world to rest, but wars are still frequent. Before
A few years ago, the emperor's campaign against the Huns was because the Huns posed a threat to the frontiers and even Guanzhong, which was barely reasonable. But now that they are marching south to Baiyue, the Yue people have found a corner and are too busy to fight among themselves. How can they threaten the Central Plains?
Chunyu Yue nodded and said: "Of course, the Book of Changes says: Gaozong attacked Guifang and defeated them in three years." Guifang was a small barbarian; Gaozong was the emperor of the Yin Dynasty. He used Emperor Sheng to attack the small barbarians and conquered them in three years.
, I say that the use of military force is indispensable, how can we be so rash?"
Confucianism and Mohism have always been mortal enemies, but this time, it was rare for them to talk about it together.
Of course, although the emperor decided to attack Canghaijun in the east and the southern expedition, because it was of great importance, he still asked all officials to discuss it, but only among the important officials.
The Confucian doctors have been deprived of the power to discuss politics since they were entrusted with Zen and took the book with them. They were also frightened by the trick of the sorcerers. Whenever the emperor had something to do, the doctors kept silent and did not dare to discuss it.
They have truly become ritual vessels that decorate the courts and temples and have no other use.
Mo Zhe, on the other hand, was pulled by Hei Fu and Zhang Cang. He did not suffer a big blow. He relied on "Xingongxue" to find a new way out and could do some practical things, but he had no say in the government affairs.
The two of them could only place their hopes on Young Master Fusu as usual.
Compared with when he went to the north to supervise the army a few years ago, Fusu was now fully grown. He was very tall, almost taller than Qin Shihuang, but his face was a bit thinner, and there was a bit more worry between his eyebrows, maybe because of it.
There are too many things to worry about, and at a young age, I have some forehead wrinkles.
After Chunyu Yue and Tang Duo finished speaking, Fusu sighed.
"What you both said makes sense, but my father will never listen to these words alone!"
This is a lesson learned from falling down again and again. Over the years, from the time when he first unified the country, to the casting of twelve golden figures, to the ban on Bai Jiayan last year, he has given few advices? But none of them were listened to by Qin Shihuang.
!
At first, he was scolded, but recently, Qin Shihuang didn't even want to see him in person, and the memorials he handed in fell into disarray.
There were also some wise disciples who taught him not to blindly give advice, but to learn from Hu Hai and other young masters, who did not mention political affairs at all, but only asked the emperor about the scenery he saw along the way, and even coquettishly said that he wanted to go with him next time, which greatly comforted the emperor...
…
Of course, the eldest son Fusu could not learn this kind of privilege of a younger son, but he could also greet Qin Shihuang with pleasant remarks and make pleasant remarks.
But Fusu refused.
"My father has twelve sons, more than ten daughters, hundreds of concubines, thousands of ministers and hundreds of millions of people."
"There are many people who care about my father's health and condolences, and there are many people who flatter me about his achievements. But looking at the world, there is no one who can tell the truth to my father..."
He smiled bitterly.
"It's just Fusu, right?"
As the eldest son, there are always some responsibilities that must be shouldered. Others dare not say anything, so he has to shoulder it.
"If Fusu also learns from those people and ignores the facts and only deceives his father for personal gain, let alone whether Fusu can win the favor of his father. If that's the case."
When he was alone, he secretly sighed:
"My father is really a loner..."
"As a son of a human being, Fusu cannot bear to do this!"
Because he couldn't bear it and didn't want to deceive, he had to tell the truth.
But that doesn't mean you have to do it the same way every time.
Fusu is also growing up, and he will learn lessons.
"I won't remonstrate immediately."
After Fusu thought for a long time, he stood up and said: "My father doesn't like to use ancient things to exhort the present. It will only be counterproductive. What my father wants to hear is not just empty words, but real evidence!"
After saying this, Fusu bowed to Chunyu Yue and Tang Duo in the surprised eyes of Chun Yuyue and Tang Duo:
"Fusu has his own plan, but first, I would like to ask these two gentlemen to do two things for me!"
…
After experiencing various things like the Eastern Tour, the enshrinement of Zen, the rebellion, and the trapping of sorcerers, the emperor ordered his ministers to discuss politics, which had become a complete display.
The First Emperor's heart became increasingly arrogant, so no one dared to raise objections anymore. Everyone was speculating on Qin Shihuang's thoughts, probably wanting to conquer Baiyue. So, throughout December, in the Xianyang court,
The ministers rushed to support the southern expedition and listed various reasons to prove the legitimacy of the war.
For example, the South Vietnamese tribe took in the Chu nobles in an attempt to help those Chu people restore the Chu Kingdom. For example, the Great Qin Dynasty sent a friendly envoy caravan to bring the Yue people back to the Central Plains to see the colorful world, but Xiou Jun attacked brazenly. It was also "reported" that Baiyue
Cannibalism, this bad habit must be stopped by civilized Central Plains people.
Amid the support, Qin Shihuang still did not express his attitude directly, but what surprised him was that the young master Fusu, who should have jumped out to oppose it early, attended two consecutive court meetings, but only listened to the comments of others and did not say a word himself.
Although Qin Shihuang was quite unhappy with Fusu, his son's sudden change of gender also made the emperor a little uncomfortable.
It was not until a few days before Meng Chun Zhengshuo that the court meeting was over and the ministers dispersed, and Fusu passed the caller to see the First Emperor.
When he first came back, Qin Shihuang was too angry to see Fusu for his advice. Now that Fusu had been silent for more than half a month, the emperor wanted to know his opinion, so he agreed to visit Fusu in the palace.
On the way into the palace, Fusu could only sigh secretly. It had been two months since Qin Shihuang returned from his inspection tour, and this was the first time he had the opportunity to enter Xianyang Palace. Li Si, Ye Teng and other important ministers had entered the palace more than three or five times.
.
It's also funny. Born in an emperor's family, it is more difficult for father and son to meet than for ordinary monarchs and ministers to meet!
Shaking his head helplessly, Fusu continued to move forward. He did not give advice in public, but only when the father and son were alone together. He also hoped that his heartfelt words would touch the emperor.
Qin Shihuang was still like that. When he saw his youngest son Hu Hai, he often smiled and licked the calf, but he always kept a straight face towards his eldest son Fusu.
It was still awkward when they first met. They were connected by blood, but the father and son didn't know what to talk about. Qin Shihuang asked Fusu sternly what he was doing recently, and Fusu also answered sternly.
Fusu recently got an errand, that is, "Xianyang Jijiu", responsible for supervising the establishment of the school of workers and farmers, and seeking political affairs in his position. He personally visited the construction site, learned about the craftsmanship of the Mohist from Tang Duo, and also learned from it.
When you go to the fields to identify crops, you are no longer the noble man who doesn't distinguish between grains and grains.
Moreover, Fusu was also very interested in the printing technology passed down from Jiaodong, feeling that this technology would not only make official documents more efficient, but could also be used to promote education.
However, he believes that what needs to be printed is not only the laws and regulations, lunar solar terms songs, but also poems, books, rituals and music...
After some awkward questioning, Qin Shihuang's face softened slightly, because what Fu Su had done recently was at least something "useful" in the eyes of the emperor, rather than just a formality.
The atmosphere seems to be more harmonious, but what needs to be said must still be said. If he doesn't say it, he is not Fusu!
"Say it."
Qin Shihuang also seemed to understand the temperament of his eldest son. Seeing that Fusu had stopped talking and hesitated, he said coldly: "I know you have been holding back for a long time, so tell me everything you want to say!"
"Your Majesty, I dared to say so."
Fusu took a deep breath. He had a hunch that although he had made a lot of preparations this time, there was a high possibility that he would still be blamed.
If Ke Shuer's words were not mentioned, he would pretend not to notice them and watch his father become increasingly arrogant, and watch the world slide into the abyss of chaos step by step?
Sure enough, when Fusu opened his mouth, Qin Shihuang's expression darkened.
Fusu was talking about the disasters in various places in recent years...
The Qin Dynasty was too big, with forty counties, and it was impossible for every county to have good weather. Either there was a drought here, or there was a flood. Just after the locust plague was gone, famine came again.
"In the past few years, Taiyuan County has experienced repeated harvest failures. Even the method of compost retting cannot make up for it. The people sold their wives to provide food and clothing. They relied on His Majesty Shi Budeze to save them and save them from death in the ravines."
"The same is true in Chen County. The harvest failed for four consecutive years, and the locust plague occurred again in the fifth year. The livelihood of the people has not been restored."
Qidi has just experienced a great chaos. In addition to the preservation of Jiaodong and the small loss of Langya, Linzi and Jibei have suffered heavy losses. I am afraid that they will not be able to recover as before within five or ten years. In Julu County next to it, the rebels of the heroic Lu Goujian escaped.
Entering the mountains and forests, but not yet calmed down, bandits gathered in Dayeze again between Dongjun and Surabaya, led by a bandit named "Peng Yue".
This is the current situation in the Central Plains, Taiping? It has nothing to do with Taiping!
"But at this juncture, my father has to send his troops to travel thousands of miles, carrying food and clothing, to fight in the north and south!"
After talking about the hidden dangers within the Qin Dynasty, Fusu began to describe the difficulty of conquering Yue.
"I heard that miasma is prevalent in the south. The army has penetrated deep into the country and passed through the deep forests and bamboo groves. There are many vipers, snakes and fierce beasts. In the hot summer season, diseases and epidemics breed. I am afraid that before the battle begins, ten of the soldiers will die. So I conscripted Guandong.
Chivalrous and evil young men, who are worried about danger and danger, will take the opportunity to flee after entering Yue territory. In this way, even if all the Yue people are captured, they will not be able to compensate for the death of those who died."
"The Yue people were born in the south of Yanghan and are familiar with the terrain. If they attack the Yue with their troops, there will be nothing they can do if the Yue people escape into dangerous places in the deep mountains and dense forests. As soon as the army leaves, the Yue people will gather together again. Even if they build cities and strongholds,
We can only leave a large number of soldiers to guard it. Over the years, the soldiers are tired and food is scarce."
"In order to support those soldiers, the Central Plains could only provide hundreds of thousands of civilians, who traveled thousands of miles to provide supplies, so that the men of the Central Plains could not cultivate crops, and the women could not weave.
.At that time, the people will be suffering from the war, and there will be many fleeing. The imperial court will blindly kill, but cannot stop them. If this is the case, thieves in various counties will definitely rise..."
Fusu just wanted to tell his father that as long as he calculated the possible benefits from the conquest, he would find that what was gained in the war was not as much as what was lost.
In order to fight for extra land, the people were allowed to die in vain. Doesn't this make the whole country feel sad?
Destroying a large amount of money to fight for an ungovernable land, and letting tens of thousands of people die in battle just to satisfy the false reputation of "excluding households from the south to the north", is this the need to govern the country?
In his opinion, coveting the name of victory is just a pretense to deceive others!
"Therefore, if there is a bad thing for the soldiers, if one side is anxious, all sides will follow. I am worried that the evil will arise due to unexpected changes, starting from the expedition against Yue. I hope your majesty will be careful!"
After saying this in one breath, Fusu fell to the ground and closed his eyes.
Although there is little hope, he only hopes that his father can listen to his advice for once!
After a long silence, Qin Shihuang spoke.
"Finished?"
"My son, I know everything I know, and I will tell you."
"Tell me everything you know?"
Qin Shihuang sneered: "As a boy sitting in Xianyang, not knowing the world, he began to comment on the pros and cons of the world, and military affairs came. You are still like that. In my opinion, you still get along too much with those Confucian scholars who guide the world in their studies!"
"I am not making assumptions or lying. Every word I say is the truth!"
When other princes and ministers saw that the emperor was angry, they would tremble and prostrate themselves, and admit their mistake on the spot.
But Fusu raised his head and responded bravely: "All officials are aware of the disaster in Chen County in Taiyuan, but they are just reporting the good news to His Majesty rather than the bad news."
"As for Baiyue, in the past month, Fusu asked people to find all the literature and classics mentioning Baiyue for me, and checked them word by word to understand its geography. He also invited Mo Mo who had been to Yuzhang and Limen.
Although it is not as good as visiting people in person, we still know a thing or two and it is definitely not nonsense."
This is what Fusu asked Chun Yuyue and Tang Duo for help.
Qin Shihuang thought that he was pragmatic and not pragmatic, so he learned to do practical things. He thought that his past advice was empty, so he visited him bit by bit, and had a firm mind, and then spoke after proving that his assumptions were correct.
He only hoped that through these preparations and changes, his loyal words would be heard by the emperor.
But Fusu didn't know that in his eyes, the people who needed comforting were the ones the emperor wanted to send to the frontier for consumption!
Fusu wanted to slow down, but the emperor wanted to rush.
Qin Shihuang looked at his young son, who was full of white hair, and then looked at his own gray sideburns and beard in the bronze mirror. Sometimes, he even felt a little jealous.
Can you wait? Can I wait?
Human nature is inherently evil. If you want to quickly cure this world, you can only use heavy laws!
His painstaking efforts to bring peace to the inside through external expansion cannot be appreciated by outsiders, and this kid doesn't understand it at all!
What annoyed the emperor even more was what Fusu said next.
Fusu bowed again and said: "Including the "Southern Campaign" written by Jiaodong Shou at that time, I also stayed up all night and read it three times! The Southern Campaign is not easy, this is also the conclusion drawn from this book. Every line in those words is to advise Your Majesty.
Stop the Southern Expedition. Now all the ministers in the court do not know the dangers of the South, so they blindly support the Southern Expedition. Since Your Majesty feels that Fusu's words are untrue, why not ask what Commander Wei, who is most familiar with the South, thinks of him?"
Fusu believed that anyone who had a careful understanding of the situation in the south would hold the same view as him, not to mention the black husband who used different methods to persuade Qin Shihuang to postpone the southern expedition!
Although several years have passed, Fusu still can't forget what Heifu said to him outside the Jingbian Temple in Yiqucheng, Beidi County:
"Young master, don't you hear the old Qin people in Yongdi have a song, 'I would rather go to the north of the Great Wall to garrison than go to the south of the Yangtze River!' With all due respect, if there is no westward expansion, there will be a southern expedition. What the people of the Central Plains will face by then is not repair.
The road leading to the straight road is not one that can be blocked with a woolen sweater, but Lingnan is filled with smog and water bugs are rampant. I'm afraid ten times more people will die on the roadside..." (See 434
chapter)
The western expansion or the southern expedition was the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few years.
Although Fusu was very dissatisfied with Heifu's speech last year and nailed the captives to Dao, but whether he argued with Li Si and turned the burning of books into repairing books, or he tried every means to make money, wool, and salt wherever he went.
Fusu greatly admired the fact that he made the area under his jurisdiction rich.
He also believed that Heifu would give Qin Shihuang the right advice on the Southern Expedition!
Now that things have happened, the prime minister, the imperial censor, and the nine ministers are all too shy to speak. Perhaps the only one who can dissuade the emperor is Heifu...
But he didn't know that this sentence violated Qin Shihuang's taboo!
"OK."
Qin Shihuang suddenly smiled, but that smile was a little unusual:
"You have read a lot of books, but the situation eight years ago was very different from the situation today. I have personally been to Yuzhang, and what I saw and heard is very different from the "Southern Expedition"."
His smile disappeared and his expression suddenly turned cold.
"I really want to hear what Heifu would say!"
Should we keep pace with the times, or should we fight for the sword?
At this moment, the visitor came in cautiously, interrupting the conflict between father and son.
He glanced at Fusu, bowed to Qin Shihuang, held a volume of memorials in both hands, and raised it high.
"Your Majesty, the letter from Jiaodong County Sheriff has arrived!"