In the main hall of Xianyang Palace, across the rows of candles from His Majesty, Qin Shihuang posed this question to Fusu.
Every prince and grandson will have a master to teach them knowledge before and after they reach adulthood, and the most important one is "history". Taishi Ling Hu Wujing once told them about the past of Qin State, that period of complicated history, and Fusu naturally
is clear.
"Father, in the past, I was fierce, impetuous, and a simple man. I was restless when I gave birth to a son. The country was plagued by internal and external troubles. The three Jin Dynasties captured the land west of my ancestor, Hexi. The princes were humble and ugly. After Xiaogong succeeded to the throne,
He wanted to conquer the east, restore Duke Mu's old land, and revise Duke Mu's political orders, so he issued an order to recruit talents and make the merchants reform. Naturally, it was to enrich the country and strengthen the army... Xiao Gong used the method of Shang Yang to change customs, so that the people were enriched by the Yin Dynasty and the country was enriched and strengthened. Therefore,
The common people are happy to use it, and the princes are attached to it."
Qin Shihuang nodded: "Well, you only got two points right about making the country rich and its army strong, but there is one more thing you missed."
"That is centralization of power, gathering the power of the whole country and placing it in the hands of the king!"
Qin Shihuang said: "The power system is independent of the king's authority, and it is independent of the princes, concubines, chiefs, and officials. Then there will be cases of Li Gong, Cao Gong, and Jian Gong, and the sons will be killed repeatedly. Let's not talk about Qin's reforms.
The reforms of Wei and Chu were also aimed at attacking the princes and weakening the princes. If they were not eliminated, it would be a poor country and a weak army. Therefore, the purpose of Shang Jun's reforms was to bring the noble prince of Qin to justice and
The clan cannot be a member of the clan unless it has military merits. Only when the power is vested in the king can Qin concentrate on farming and war, and move eastward!"
Fusu nodded, and suddenly realized that Qin Shihuang today was extremely patient and would actually say this to him.
The question came again: "Why do you think the late king Huiwen killed Shang Yang and left his method behind?"
Fusu responded: "I heard that when King Huiwen was the crown prince, he had a rift with Shang Yang. After he succeeded to the throne, the clan resented Shang Yang a lot. Shang Yang fled, and then returned to the fiefdom to rebel. When he failed, he was divided by chariots to favor the Qin state. Everyone said,
He committed suicide by committing suicide..."
"It's that simple?"
Qin Shihuang sneered: "During the reform, Duke Xiao said that if the guests and ministers have the ability to come up with unexpected plans to strengthen Qin, I will respect the officials and divide the land with them. He kept his promise and granted Shang Yang fifteen cities of Shang Land. At this time, Qin's Guanzhong
In this land, small villages and towns are gathered into counties, but there are no more than thirty-one counties... It is just like me granting the entire hometown of Chu State to a certain minister. Do you think the monarch and his ministers can live in peace with each other?"
"Shang Yang consolidated the monarchy for the Qin Dynasty, punished the princes and the clan. After changing the law, he became the largest feudal prince. He was able to compete with the Qin monarch and become an independent prince. At that time, he had only two choices. One was to abandon the feudal town and become an independent prince.
Retreating to old age, the second is death! Even if he has not offended the clan, he is still a man with a treasure!"
Shang Yang, the man who presided over the reform, actually died from the centralization of power that he carefully created for the Qin State.
He was the first Legalist to die and the first "Qin official" to die, but he was by no means the last.
Centralization of power has been the tireless path of the Qin kings in the past dynasties. It started with Duke Xiao of Qin and reached its peak during the reign of King Zhao of Qin. However, it was completely destroyed by Lu Buwei in the next two generations.
The "Zhongfu" from the Wei Kingdom was keen on dividing the monarchy, trying to expand the power of the prime minister and realize joint governance of the court. He advocated in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals": "The world is not the world of one person, but the world of the world."
, and also used the gimmick of a thousand dollars to promote...
Lu Buwei almost succeeded. In those years, the power of the clan and relatives also continued to rise. Seeing that the centuries of centralization of power by the Qin kings were about to be destroyed.
This is also the reason why Qin Shihuang hated him so much.
But at that time, Qin Shihuang read a book, and there was a sentence in it that made him amazed!
"Those who see alone are called wise, and those who listen alone are called wise. Those who can make decisions alone can be the masters of the world!"
This statement is already a step further than Shang Yang's "The Dharma is what the monarch and his ministers practice together; the believer is what the monarch and his ministers stand for together"!
Qin Shihuang seemed to have found a confidant and shouted: "If I can see this person and hang out with him, I will never hate him to the death!"
After Han Fei entered the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang had an in-depth discussion with him and gained a deeper understanding of what "the way of the king" is.
"The art that enables kings to centralize power is Tao. The king is noble alone, and the Tao is noble!"
Unification and dictatorship are the cornerstones of Qin Shihuang's governance. In order to unify, he would never divide his children and insist on the system of prefectures and counties. In order to be dictatorial, he constantly attacked the power of the prime minister. The two prime ministers, Wei and Wang after Changping Lord, were just for sealing
The stamps and beautiful ritual utensils were replaced by Li Si and Feng Quji, who had no dignity as prime ministers, so Qin Shihuang changed them at his request.
Qin Shihuang walked up to him. He was about the same height as Fusu, but after wearing the crown, he appeared taller.
This was the first time in ten years that Qin Shihuang said so much to Fusu.
Because the emperor believed that Fusu in the past did not even have the capacity to know these things...
As for now? Well, in the eyes of all fathers, their sons will always be "useless".
No matter how much we grow.
He shook his head and said: "You have learned to do what I like, read "Han Feizi", and use the things in it to advise you, but you don't even know why I like it! What a waste of time!"
Qin Shihuang was proud and arrogant. His firm will was the direct driving force to unify the world. Without dictatorship, no talents from the Six Kingdoms would have returned to Qin. Without Zheng Guoqu, without dictatorship, there would have been no second attack on Chu.
And he always believed that what he was doing now, whether he was conquering the east or the west or conquering the south or the north, was a decision made from a high position!
And if you want to accomplish this, let alone immortality, you must at least live a long life...
Those officials who have nothing to eat, those noisy families, those short-sighted Guizhou leaders.
What they only care about is the level of honor and wealth, the dispute over the snail's horns, and the food and clothing. How can they understand Zepi's great achievements for all generations?
Resentful, incomprehensible? It doesn’t matter. Those who behave like masters will definitely let the world down; those who have unique concerns will surely be seen by the people. Fools are secretly willing to accomplish things, and those who know are unaware of their infancy. The people cannot be concerned about the beginning.
And success. When it comes to the most virtuous person, he will not be in harmony with the world, and the person who achieves great success will not seek publicity!
What he wants to do is to be a true emperor who is not restricted by anyone, is unique and can do whatever he wants!
There was too much information in today's father-son game. Fusu was a little dazed, but he did not forget his purpose today and excused himself for Xi.
"But this has nothing to do with Father punishing Xi..."
"You still don't understand..."
Qin Shihuang was a little disappointed. He put his hands behind his back and returned to his majesty: "Since you have been telling me the truth, I will deal with Xi according to the law."
Before Fusu could be happy, Qin Shihuang said: "You said that you should be punished for overstepping your duties, but what about the crime of slander?"
In terms of understanding of laws and regulations, how could Fusu be better than Qin Shihuang? That was something he had been playing around with for decades.
Qin Shihuang threw the memorial that made him vomit blood at Fusu's feet and let him read for himself: "Every word of these words is slander!"
After Fusu picked up the memorial and read it, he was also shocked. He was more bold than he imagined...
The crime of defamation is a new crime established a few years ago. Any words or deeds that are detrimental to Qin Shihuang will be regarded as disrespectful and will be severely punished. The lighter ones will be exiled, and the severer ones will be punished!
The emperor is a god, the emperor cannot make mistakes, and the emperor cannot tolerate any criticism, even if it is well-intentioned! If they are allowed to come together, the glittering gilding on the giant's body can be shattered, revealing the mottled patina of the mortal world.
"Fusu, do you understand now?" Qin Shihuang's voice came, so cold-blooded.
"The law is the source of governance. This is true, but there is another sentence behind it. The king is the source of the law!"
Where did the laws of Qin come from? At first, it was the clan system. Later, Shang Yang came to Qin and brought Dharma scriptures. With a little profit and loss, Qin laws came into being. But the laws of Qin were mixed with the will of the monarch. Qin Xiaogong,
King Qin Hui used this to eradicate the princes and kill Shang Yang. King Qin Zhao also used this to kill Bai Qi, cook the rabbit to death, and make Fan Ju lose his head.
Today, the emperor's will is also integrated into the laws. Gan Gang is arbitrary. He can add clauses to the laws at any time if he wants: for speech crimes such as slander, falsehood, and holding a letter, he can also change the service period from one year to three years.
Change the annual oral ceremony from once to ten times.
In that case, will there still be stubborn officials who accuse him of taking the lead in breaking the law?
In that case, when faced with such a law, do they have to obey it?
This is called my law and order, and this is called following the law!
Why does the law need to be changed? Is it to facilitate the country or benefit the people?
No, no, no, it was not changed to make the people's lives in Guizhou better, but to change according to the emperor's great desires.
Qin Shi Huang was very clear about this:
"In the final analysis, the law is just a tool that I use to control the world, just like a weighing stone or Fang Sheng."
"And the officials are just people who are hired to operate the equipment, and they exchange their titles and salaries for their loyalty. They are like the parts on the crossbow machine, which can be replaced at any time."
"You have to understand that among these thousands of people, no one is indispensable."
"It's the same from Prime Minister Li Si to the chief of the pavilion. Even Heifu and Xi are the same!"
Every word made Fusu's ears buzz.
The armor he spent half a year wearing was easily cut open by Qin Shihuang's sharp sword. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he had no way to refute, so he could only bow his head in silence.
But Qin Shi Huang would not let him go.
"Fusu, do you think Xi's memorial is slander?"
Fusu broke out in a cold sweat, saying that it was slander, then he would add insult to injury, and he would probably be executed.
If it is not slander, it means that Fusu also agrees with Xi's words. This question is really difficult to answer...
More difficult words followed.
"Do you think that if I am wrong, I need to admit my mistake like Yao and Shun did?"
"Do you think I can't live forever?"
There is another question that Qin Shihuang did not ask directly.
"Do you think you can't wait any longer now that your wings are full?"
…
Looking at his son in a dilemma, Qin Shi Huang's throat felt itchy and he wanted to cough again.
He really hoped that he would say yes, that was his expectation.
I really hope he says no, that would be reluctance.
The father-son relationship in the royal family is different from that of ordinary Guizhou families, and more like a lion.
Even male lions will have a deep affection for licking their calves, but when the lion cubs grow up day by day, the relationship between the two becomes more sensitive and conflictual. Because the young and strong children will replace their aging selves at any time and become
The leader of the tribe.
Animals are unwilling to give up and will drive children away, let alone humans?
"Fusu...don't dare."
Fusu was at a loss for words. It was not until he faced his father head-on for the first time in his life that he realized that in front of the emperor, he thought he was fully prepared, but he was so vulnerable.
He claims to be thoughtful, but he appears to be extremely shallow.
But he must answer, this question not only determines Xi's life or death.
"If the Marquis of Changnan were here, what would he say?"
In the midst of the lightning and flint, a thought flashed across Fusu's mind, and he bowed to Qin Shihuang:
"Fusu firmly believes that his father can live forever! I am willing to go to Kunlun in the Western Regions to serve as my father and find the motherland of the Western Queen!"
