In the past thirty years, he had received countless memorials, many of which contained admonitions, but most of them were oblique. For example, Li Si's "Book of Remonstrance to Chase Guests" laid out the facts and slowly reasoned with him.
But there has never been a memorial that criticized him from beginning to end: You did something wrong and lost your way as a king!
"If it conforms to the festival and does not conform to the deed, it is considered trustworthy; if it is weighed by a weighing stone, it is considered equal."
This old pharaoh from the countryside probably copied too many documents and wrote dryly. He was not as literary as Li Si, nor was he like Mao Jiao, who always got to the point of the topic and was extremely verbose.
But at the beginning of his article, he used the metaphor of weighing rice and the talismans that every Qin person had to do every day: the law is the talisman and the weighing stone, and Qin Shihuang is the person who controls them.
Therefore, the monarch is the source of law and government, just like the benchmark for measuring time, and the people are like the shadow of this benchmark. If the benchmark is upright, then the shadow will also be upright. If the benchmark is crooked, the shadow will also be crooked.
And Xi then told Qin Shihuang in a long speech: Your benchmark has been completely bent!
"Before the unification, Your Majesty was still able to promote talents and officials without greed for profit. Everything was determined by the law. Then the officials and the people also worked hard and were happy when they heard about the war. They worked together as one, were loyal and faithful, and were careful about the way of the subjects."
But now, Your Majesty, what are you doing?
Xi pointed out the fallacy that Emperor Qin Shi Huang had made over the years: "Your Majesty used his strength and wisdom in the wrong place. He thought that people could really live forever and pursued immortality blindly. He first trusted the magicians Fang and gave them a lot of money to refine silk.
Make pills, and plan to take a boat to the Fairy Island regardless of the risk."
"If the monarch likes to be skewed and upside down, then the ministers and officials will take the opportunity to follow the evil and evil, and the officials will do what your Majesty wants, and they will fabricate gods and auspiciousness everywhere."
"In the end, it was discovered that they were just a group of swindlers. They all deceived them in anger, but His Majesty did not give up and was obsessed with finding the Queen Mother of the West. He sent 100,000 people to build a road to the Western Regions, and one-third of the money from the Young Mansion
, were all spent on it, and the remaining two-thirds were also spent in Lishan and Afang."
"Not only that, your Majesty is rich all over the world, but he doesn't think that all this is the treasure of the people. He often builds large-scale construction projects, overhauls palaces and temples, pays more and more, pays more and more taxes, and the corvee is endless every year. The monarch is passionate
If they are greedy for money and gain, then the ministers and officials will take the opportunity to take more and give less, so as to exploit the people without limit. The head of Guizhou in the world is suppressed and has no chance to breathe. In the land of Shandong, groups of thieves are everywhere, and in the border areas
, I don’t know how many soldiers are fleeing, so the officials govern the country and ruin it.”
To sum up, there is only one sentence: "The king is the source of the officials and the people; if the source is clear, the flow will be clear, and if the source is turbid, the flow will be turbid."
What is good at the top must be bad at the bottom. The reason why the government is corrupt lies in you, Your Majesty!
Xi finally said: "The emperor's injustice is the most serious matter in the world, but all the ministers are silently accepting their promises and obeying blindly. Although the ministers are in a low position, they cannot know it and say nothing. If I don't say anything about it, what more can I say? So today I risk it.
I will be loyal to the end and hope that Your Majesty can change his mind and clear up his roots. If this can be done, it will be a blessing to the Qin Ancestral Temple, the country, the country, and the people of the world."
The last person who dared to criticize Qin Shihuang in this way was named Gao Jianli.
The emperor finished reading the memorial, but after reading it, his face turned red and his ears were hot, and he was so angry that he vomited half a liter of blood on the spot!
"This is Heifu, the person Mao Jiao recommended to the capital? This Anlu Jingman dares to say that I am a crook?"
After regaining his breath, the irritable Qin Shihuang became furious. His first reaction was to arrest the old official and kill him!
But when Xizhen was arrested and put into Tingwei Prison, Qin Shihuang hesitated again. He suppressed his anger and read the memorial twice more. He was furious at one moment and thoughtful at the other...
Until today, Zhao Gao's younger brother Zhao Cheng came to report to the Zhonglang Hu Ling who was in charge of the palace, saying that the eldest son Fusu requested an audience.
"I knew he would come."
Qin Shihuang put down the memorial, remained calm, and asked the visitor to announce that the young master had entered the palace.
He knew very well that in the eyes of Xi, Mao Jiao, Meng Yi, and even Meng Tian, he had been doing wrong things in recent years, and Fusu was the person who could remedy the "mistakes" in the future.
The emperor's anger turned into a cold evil fire in his heart.
"I will be the bad guy, and you will be the good guy, right?"
But the fact is that it’s not that easy to be a bad person, and the reputation of a good person is not that easy to earn!
"I want to see how you plead for this person!"
The emperor sat high on his couch, while Prince Fusu was introduced into the palace by Zhao Cheng and his visitors.
Qin Shihuang did not ask everyone to leave, and the palace maids and waiters waited at the door tremblingly. The emperor was in a bad mood today, and could only pray that there would be no conflict between father and son later.
Qin Shihuang's temperament became more and more surly. In the past six months, every few days in the palace, several eunuchs and maids who should not be seen or heard should disappear and vanish from the world. It was really terrible for the young master Fusu Tiao to visit them at this time.
When Fusu was young, he looked very much like his mother, Concubine Mi. But now that he was in his thirties, he had a beard, and the Chu-style aristocratic air he showed in his gestures always reminded Qin Shihuang of one person: Lord Changping...
However, after all, Qin Shihuang had not seen Fusu for two months since he began to keep his whereabouts mysterious, and Hu Hai was always with him.
He bowed in a formal manner, before and after approaching, Fusu bowed down five steps away:
"Fusu came here today to plead with my father to punish someone!"
He did not shout anything like "The Lord Ming is a straight minister, congratulations to my father for getting a straight minister", but it was beyond Qin Shihuang's expectations.
"Oh? Who offended the eldest son, who has always been kind and kind, who do you want to punish?"
Fusu raised his head and looked at his father, whom he had not seen for several months: "It's the Censor of the Censor's Mansion, happy!"
…
"Your Majesty assigns ministers positions based on their talents, and seeks results according to the duties of the ministers. If the results are consistent with the ministers' duties, and if the ministers are in line with the ideas, they will be rewarded; if the results are not in line with the ministers, if the ministers are not in line with the ideas, they will be punished."
Fusu explained why he believed Xi must be punished:
"Fusu heard that Han Zhaohou was sleeping during the day, and he was attended by two servants. One was Dian Guan, who was responsible for wearing his hat; the other Dian Yi was responsible for dressing up. Dian Guan saw that Han Zhaohou was cold while sleeping, so he covered him with clothes.
Later, Han Zhaohou woke up and asked who had built it. He replied: Dian Guan. So Han Zhaohou punished both Dian Guan and Dian Yi."
"Dian Yi is punished because he neglected his duties; Dian Guan is punished because he exceeded his duties."
"Now, as the imperial censor, Xi is supposed to be inspecting the officials, but instead he is doing the job of admonishing the officials and doctors. He is giving remonstrances to His Majesty. No matter what he says is reasonable or not, the harm of invading officials is worse than Han.
Therefore, joy should be punished!"
Qin Shihuang said calmly: "Then how should I be punished?"
Fu Su said: "Laws and regulations have their own rules. Those who are in a minor position will be deprived of their positions, and those who are in a serious position will be banished from a distant place."
"No matter what, the sin of joy will not lead to death, right?"
Qin Shihuang saw that Fusu was retreating in order to advance, which was completely different from his previous strong remonstrance.
Qin Shihuang shook his head and said: "This is a quote from "Er Handles". Have you started watching "Han Feizi"?"
"yes."
"Didn't you always refuse in the past? Didn't you always hate what Han Fei said, thinking that it was hypocrisy and playing conspiracy and power, which was unbecoming of a gentleman and extremely despised?"
Fusu said: "Young Master Fusu was busy at that time. Later I found out that what Han Feizi talked about was not only skills, but also Dharma and power. Fusu also found a conversation between him and his father in the treasury..."
My conversation with Han Fei? That happened a long time ago, right?
Qin Shihuang closed his eyes and recalled the interesting but difficult conversation. It was interesting because what Han Fei said was almost completely consistent with what Qin Shihuang wanted, but it was difficult because Han Fei was a stammer.
"I almost forgot, what did I say to him?"
Fusu said: "My father once discussed the pros and cons of laws with Han Fei, and finally asked him, is it okay for the monarch to use Shen Buhai's laws, while the government implements Shang Yang's laws?"
"Han Fei's answer is that Shen Buhai's skills are not perfect enough. He once said: 'Do not go beyond the scope of your authority when doing things, and do not say anything beyond your authority even if you know about it.' Doing things without going beyond the scope of authority can be said to be abiding by one's duties.
; Knowing but not telling is not reporting a crime, which is contrary to the law. The Lord sees with the eyes of a country’s officials and people, so he sees most clearly; he hears with the ears of a country’s officials and people, so he hears most clearly
.If everyone, obstructing their authority, knows about it but refuses to tell it, then whose ears and eyes can the monarch pretend to be?"
"Now Xi is just telling his father what he heard and saw. How can he kill his own eyes and ears?"
"This is what is said in the "Dharma"."
Qin Shihuang smiled and said: "You have read a lot. You must have also read "Speaking of Difficulties", otherwise why would you suddenly learn to retreat in order to advance?"
"Han Fei's writing is good, but it is difficult to explain. Therefore, those who advise and talk about it must not ignore the owner of my likes and dislikes before speaking. Fusu, have you also begun to think about my likes and dislikes, and then persuade them?
After all, you still want me to live happily."
Fusu bowed again: "I don't dare, but my father once told me that legalism is the basis of governance. Legalism is the foundation of the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, for my father, magicians can be trapped and Confucians can be expelled.
The Mohists can be sparse and those who promote excellence can be punished, but only legal officials, especially such loyal and diligent legal officials, cannot be killed hastily!"
"Furthermore, my father only commended Xi Xi a few years ago and promoted him to Xianyang as an official. If he were to kill him on the basis of crimes, I am afraid that people in the world will say that my father, Ye Gong, loves dragons..."
Qin Shihuang looked at Fusu up and down as if he didn't know him.
He has really changed. He no longer has the naive comments of the past, and no longer has the idiots to contradict him. His words have become more reasonable and well-founded. This is also the first time in half a year that he has spoken out, right?
Is it because you became a father and started to become more stable and mature?
Fusu's marriage was not a prominent one. He and Sun, the daughter of Duke He, had been married six years ago. They were a loving couple. Now, their second child has been born.
Or, you can take responsibility for yourself and realize something after your death.
Two years ago, Qin Shihuang was angry and helped Su become a remonstrator, and kicked him to Liaodong to lead troops and conquer Haidong. He experienced hardships and learned a lot from one of Qin Shihuang's most respected generals.
It’s not easy, the little featherless house sparrow can finally fly.
But in the eyes of Qin Shihuang, this little eagle with few hairs was flapping its wings, trying to teach an eagle to fly. It was so childish and ridiculous!
"From the moment I killed Han Fei, I was already Mr. Ye..."
What dissatisfied Qin Shihuang the most was that Fusu completely confused one thing!
He put the cart before the horse and did not understand the true meaning of the way of kings!
Fusu tried to persuade him again, but Qin Shihuang interrupted him.
"And you are wrong, Fusu."
Qin Shihuang's face darkened, he stood up, his tall body, illuminated by lamps and candles, cast a huge shadow, completely covering Fusu!
"Since the reform of Duke Xiao in the Great Qin Dynasty, the first to die and the most to die are not the strategists, nor the Confucian scholars, nor the Mohists or magicians. It is precisely this group of legalists and these Qin officials!"
