"After a long while, Meng Yi finally replied: 'To the King, Your Majesty, I believe this person's words to be true!'"
"Speak up!"
Meng Yi said, "Firstly, this person appeared in the royal palace and has never had any contact with Prince Fusu or the Prime Minister of the Central Carriage Bureau. Manager Guo and those eunuchs and palace girls wouldn't have shared such information with him. How could he have known about Prince Fusu and Prince Huai?'"
"Secondly, the things he said are coherent and make sense, not like making up stories to frame Prince Huai and the Prime Minister of the Central Carriage Bureau. Thirdly, these strange objects, such as this mobile phone and charging pack, are extraordinary and cannot be made by any of the seven countries."
Ying Zheng said, "Perhaps he knew it before he left and had prepared the fabrications?"
Meng Yi nodded: "Your Majesty is right. There is indeed a possibility of that. But why did he mention the potato matter? If the potato yield is true, it would make our Great Qin even more prosperous and flourishing. If he were hostile to Great Qin, he would never have revealed the matter of the potatoes."
Ying Zheng said, "The matter of potatoes is also one person's word, and it is unknown whether it is true or not. We will wait and see. If he dares to deceive me, I will have my own way of dealing with it!"
After saying this, Ying Zheng added, "Today's matter should not be told to outsiders. If I find out that anyone has leaked the secret, I will punish them by destroying their three families!"
The words were spoken calmly, but they sent a shiver through Meng Yi and the guards in the hall. They quickly replied, "Your Majesty, please be assured. We would rather die than leak a single word!"
Ying Zheng nodded, picked up the bamboo slips that had been rolled up earlier, and stared at the names on them calmly, giving an order: "Find Prince Huai, the Prime Minister of the Central Carriage Bureau Zhao Gao, the Imperial Prefect Li Si, and the Doctor Chun Yu..."
Ying Zheng believed that a person would not suddenly change, even if they concealed themselves the best beforehand, there would be traces left behind.
Just like how Huai-he had always been a responsible, considerate, and compliant child in front of him, but after ascending the throne, who knew he would be so cruel.
This cruel personality was not developed overnight; there must be traces in daily life. However, Huai-he skillfully covered it up, and Ying Zheng failed to notice it.
Take Zhao Gao for example. He was as loyal and obedient as a dog in front of him, doing whatever he ordered, whether it was to go east or catch fish.
Little did he know that after his death, this cunning creature actually turned against its master, conspired with Li Si and Huai-he to fabricate his will, and even staged the farce of pointing at a deer and calling it a horse in the court of the Great Qin Dynasty.
This arrogant and presumptuous behavior was definitely not formed overnight!
He wanted to investigate the slightest traces of these people now, to judge whether they had the possibility of doing what Li Nan said after his death.
As long as it is determined that there is a possibility, without needing conclusive evidence, he will dispose of these people.
As for how to deal with mistakes in this way?
It is what it is. It's just the loss of a son and some ministers. As long as it removes the threats to his Great Qin, why not do it?
After issuing the edict, Ying Zheng looked out the palace doors. It was already afternoon, and he had called Li Nian in the morning. He said, "Meng, would you like to accompany me for a walk outside?"
Meng Yi was taken aback. "Your Majesty, where would you like to go for a walk?"
However, since the king invited him, the always loyal Meng Yi how could he refuse? He immediately said, "I am willing to accompany the king!"
Under the escort of Meng Yi and a group of guards, Ying Zheng walked out of the palace. It was said that he was going for a walk, but in reality, he was just moving around within the palace.
After not walking far, Meng Yi guessed what the king was up to: "In this direction, Your Majesty is going to visit Prince Fusu?"
Meng Yi understood that although Li Nian's words could not prove their truth or falsehood, they still had a significant impact on the king, making him feel indebted to Prince Fusu. This is because in the history Li Nian described, Prince Fusu's death had a part of the reason on the king's side.
If it were not for the king's order for Prince Fusu to go to Shangjun and leave the king's side, he would not have been assassinated by Huai-he, Zhao Gao, and Li Si.
If it were not for Huai-he's ascension to the throne instead of Fusu, and if Fusu had smoothly taken over the throne, Great Qin may not have fallen into decline in just two generations...
As they walked, they had already reached the palace where Fusu lived.
Fusu had been waiting outside the palace. Seeing Ying Zheng approaching, he immediately performed a grand bow and kowtowed, "Fusu greets his father!"
Fusu means "tree" and comes from the poem "Shanyou" in the "Zhengfeng" section of the "Qinshui" collection of the "Song Shifu".
In the mountains there is a banyan tree, and in the lowlands there are lotus blossoms. I do not see Zidu, but I see the mad fool.
In the mountains there is a pierced pine, and in the marshes there is a swimming dragon. I do not see Zichong, but I see the cunning youth.
To give his son the name "Fusu", Ying Zheng hoped that the child would grow strong and robust like trees, becoming a fine man.
However, expectations are just that - expectations. Fusu did not grow up as Ying Zheng had hoped, or at least not entirely as he had hoped. This caused some disappointment in Ying Zheng, especially as Fusu grew older and began to form his own ideas.
As a result, there was a rift between the father and son.
Fusu had both respect and dissatisfaction towards his father. He respected his father's strength, which pushed the Qin Empire to its peak and achieved what the ancestors of the Qin had always wanted. However, he was dissatisfied with his father's lack of compassion.
In Fusu's view, the world should be governed with benevolence. While it is acceptable to kill during governance, it should not be as ruthless or cruel as his father's killings.
The use of brute force can only hold people in awe for a moment. To achieve long-term stability and peace, benevolent governance is necessary, but many of his father's actions ran counter to the benevolent governance that Fusu envisioned.
Knowing that his father had been dissatisfied with him, Fusu had stopped visiting him frequently long ago. Therefore, when he received the news that his father had come, he was both surprised and overjoyed.
Looking at his eldest son, whom he had once placed great hope in and still did not wish to give up, Ying Zheng calmly said: "Rise up! What books have you been reading lately?"
Fusu got up from the ground and replied, "Lately, I've been reading the 'Mencius'!"
This answer made Ying Zheng look at Fusu again, and he asked faintly, "Do you have any gains?"
Fusu did not notice the change in Ying Zheng's tone and nodded, "I have gained a lot, especially the words 'Those who follow the path of righteousness are aided by many, while those who go astray receive little assistance' struck me deeply."
Ying Zheng asked, "Then, do you think Great Qin is 'aided by many when following the path of righteousness' or 'receives little assistance when going astray'?"
Fusu was stunned and did not know how to answer.
Because according to the 'Mencius', Qin is clearly the minority assisting.
The other six states are all enemies of Great Qin. It's not a minority assisting when it's one against six, is it?
Then the question arises. According to the words of 'Mencius': "Those who follow the path of righteousness are aided by many, while those who go astray receive little assistance. When little assistance reaches its limit, relatives will turn against them; when aided by many reaches its limit, the whole world will follow them. Following the path of righteousness and attacking relatives who have turned against them is why a gentleman would not go to war, but if he does, he must win." That is, those who go astray should be defeated.
However, the fact is that Great Qin, the minority assisting, defeated the six states and unified the world. This creates a contradiction with the theory of "those who follow the path of righteousness are aided by many, while those who go astray receive little assistance."
Seeing Fusu stunned and not speaking, Ying Zheng added: "The Confucian way of thinking would not have been useful if it were truly effective. Why would Confucius and Mencius travel around the world and advocate for rulers?"
Fusu wanted to refute, but he found that it was difficult to do so because what Ying Zheng said was the truth. Confucius and Mencius had a difficult life, and their theories were not paid much attention by many monarchs.
Ying Zheng continued, "Confucius and Mencius, while good at teaching students, are not skilled in governing the state."
The meaning of this statement is very clear. While Confucius and Mencius are good at using words to argue and teaching, governing the state is something they are not good at.
