Qin Official

"The most ruthless king?"

After Prince Gao left, Qin Shihuang thought about these four words, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became.

A king should be lonely and proud, why should he pity the king? This is disrespectful. In this world, the person who least needs pity and sympathy is the monarch!

Qin Shihuang always remembered something his grandmother, the Queen Mother Huayang, once told him.

"The blood of the royal family is cold, what they say is false, what they do cannot be blasphemed, and what they say is insulting. Don't feel sorry for yourself, but look at the world!"

The Queen Mother Huayang said that these were the words left by Qin Shihuang’s great-grandfather, King Qin Zhaoxiang, who laid the foundation for the unification of the Qin Dynasty.

Although Qin Shihuang felt that he was much greater than King Zhao, he also recognized this sentence.

"Yes, as a member of the royal family, my son should obviously have his eyes on the world. How can he be limited to the happiness of ordinary children?"

However, Qin Shihuang believed that after Fusu, Gongzi Gao was the most suitable successor, but he evaded this responsibility.

"Gao, could it be that you regard this honor as a shackles?"

Many years ago, when Qin Shihuang and Han Fei were discussing Shen Buhai's knowledge, Han Fei said something about Shen Zi.

"My destiny is to use the world as a shackle!"

In someone's words, it is: "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight!"

In the world, this is the golden shackles that presses on the emperor. It looks rich and glorious, but in fact, once you put it on, you will have to die!

Then, pass this heavy shackles to the next generation.

Looking at it this way, it really looks like a family curse, with blessings and misfortunes interdependent.

The only way to escape is for the emperors of Xia, Shang and Zhou to have their destiny changed by others and have this golden shackle taken away from them.

Qin Shihuang has always held the world in his arms, although he only regarded it as his own personal property and forgot about all the living beings that make up the world.

Thinking about it this way, Qin Shihuang could guess what Gongzi Gao was thinking, but he only felt...

"Great foolishness is like wisdom!"

He cursed bitterly: "You don't want to take on responsibilities, but want to be a happy young master? I am still here. When you come in, I will give you food and when you go out, you will ride. You can be given the clothes of the imperial palace, and you can ride the horse in the stable. You Where do you think this came from? With no power and no fiefdom, I’m afraid that by then, I will experience the difficulties of life!”

Maybe, one day, someone will put a sword to his neck.

If you don’t have the power, can you sleep peacefully?

You can't even see this clearly. The young master is indeed not qualified to take over this "shackles"!

"If Fusu had never betrayed me..."

To this day, Qin Shihuang also has a trace of regret. He regrets that his eldest son, who he has trained for more than ten years, has not been established for a long time and was eventually destroyed. He had to hastily pick up the shortest among the remaining ten sons and choose the one who is okay. .

Only when you lose it can you know how precious it is.

But Qin Shihuang knew that he did not have much time, and Uncle Gui was urging him to make a decision quickly.

…

The next day, after summoning the princes, Qin Shihuang asked Zong Zheng to come and ask him to send someone to check. What have the princes been doing recently?

Zongzheng reported one by one that the young master Jianglu who married the daughter of Jizi North Korea was having a party with his two brothers and having a good time. The other young masters were either going out to play ice, or were staying behind closed doors, or were thinking about something. Prepare for the start of spring.

Although there is no enfeoffment, they are all the emperor's sons, and they are given money every month, so they live a happy life.

Finally, it was the turn of the twenty-year-old son Hu Hai, but they learned that he had been going to the Xing Temple in the west of the city to offer sacrifices in the past few days...

"Xingshen?" Qin Shihuang thought of something.

The so-called Xing Shen, also known as the Road God, is one of the "Five Sacrifice". In the Central Plains etiquette, he is the chief god in December and mainly prays for smooth travel.

Hearing that Hu Hai had also cast a sacrificial inscription in the Xing Temple, Qin Shihuang was thoughtful and asked someone to bring the sacrificial inscription secretly.

Zong Zheng was very fast. After the prayer was delivered, Qin Shihuang showed a rare smile as soon as he opened it.

Hu Hai was indeed praying to the gods for Qin Shihuang's southern tour, hoping that his father's trip would go smoothly.

Turning to the second page, Qin Shihuang stood up.

But he saw that it was written in blood: "Hu Hai wishes to lose twenty years of his life and add twenty years to his father's life! Let his father meet the Queen Mother of the West, live forever, and rule the Qin Dynasty forever!"

"This is my son Shangxiao..."

Qin Shi Huang had always loved Hu Hai, but after being heartbroken by Fu Su and Gongzi Gao, he now felt a sense of warmth that he had not seen for a long time.

When he turned to the last page of the prayer, his eyebrows raised even more.

"If not, Hu Hai is willing to inherit his father's legacy! Show his father's majesty! Accept the shackles of the world and make the Qin Dynasty last forever!"

After a long time, Qin Shihuang closed the prayer and sighed:

"Hu Hai, he has grown up too."

…

Qin Shihuang didn't know that the reason why Hu Hai suddenly "grew up" was due to a conversation between Hu Hai and Zhao Gao a few days ago.

Hu Hai is twenty years old this year, and has a soft beard growing out of his chin. Among all his brothers, he looks the most like the First Emperor when he was young. It's just that he doesn't sit upright and serious like his father. Instead, he sits on the couch with his feet crossed.

For him, etiquette and laws are all illusions, and his own comfort is the most important thing.

There was still a trace of doubt in Hu Hai's eyes.

"Master, are you really good at what you taught me? Being an heir and succeeding to the throne of the emperor is not my original intention..."

Zhao Gao hung his disabled left hand and sat opposite Hu Hai with a smile on his face.

"The old servant has taught the young master for five years, so he naturally knows what the young master's original intention is."

He recalled Hu Hai's original words at the banquet two years ago.

"Young Master said frankly to Your Majesty that life in this world is like riding a six-horse express train through a gap, and it is fleeting. The Young Master does not ask for anything. He just hopes that while he is alive, he can exhaust all the tastes of his ears and eyes, and enjoy all the desires of his heart. Wait until the day your life span is exhausted!"

That's right, Hu Hai's dream is to be a useless person waiting to die!

"Of course."

Hu Hai smiled and held up his hands: "Master still understands me, so Hu Hai doesn't want to be an emperor."

He shook his head and said: "My father likes Han Feizi, and my master asked me to read more. I saw a saying from it."

"Han Fei said that when Yao ruled the world, his palace was only three feet high, the beams were made of uncut oak rafters, and the roof was made of untrimmed thatch. Even those who traveled against the country were better than this. He wore linen. Wearing brown clothes, cooking with brown rice, making wild vegetable and mugwort leaf soup, eating from earthen pots and drinking water from earthen bowls, this kind of life is not as good as being in a prison gate."

"And Xia Yu was not much better. In order to control the flood, his thighs were so thin that there was no flesh. His calves were soaked in water for a long time, and the hair fell off. His hands and feet were covered with thick calluses, and his face was dark. In the end, he died of exhaustion and was buried in Kuaiji. This is not the emperor, he is clearly a prisoner and a subordinate."

Hu Hai, who loved peace and enjoyment, rejected this with all his face: "Being the emperor is such a hard thing, so I don't want to do it."

Zhao Gao laughed and said, "My lord, lord, don't listen to Han Fei's lies. That was in ancient times. Things have changed with time. Being an emperor has long been unnecessary."

"Don't you see that your Majesty is the emperor, and every time he destroys the princes, he writes about his palace and builds it in Xianyang Beiban and Shanglin Nanyuan. In the entire Guanzhong, the palaces, houses, roads and Zhou Pavilions belong to each other, and all the princes, beauties, bells and drums are filled into it. How is it? Extravagant and rich? Eating leopard fetuses, drinking fine wine, using elephant chopsticks for chopsticks, rhinoceros jade cups, and even lychees brought back from Lingnan to taste. There are also countless rare things. The good girl Zheng Wei brought them from all around. The whole world is devoted to one person..."

Hu Hai looked envious, but he also had his own opinions:

"So what? Although my father built all the palaces in Guanzhong, it was all in order to wait for the Queen Mother of the West who didn't know when she would come. He didn't have any leisure to enjoy. The beauties from the palaces of the Six Kingdoms, for the longest time, had been there for more than ten years. I can’t see my father, so as for the delicacies, my father only tastes them briefly.”

Hu Hai sighed: "Compared with them, my father is more interested in the documents and memorials. He reviews them late at night every day, for years and months, until he coughs up blood and faints. This is really a shackles on the world. I don't want this heavy shackles to weigh me down." On top of me, it’s crushing me to death!”

Young Master Gao wants to avoid the danger brought by the throne, but Hu Hai wants to avoid responsibility.

Zhao Gao shook his head and said: "Why does one have to support this shackles by one person? That's because Your Majesty is too conscientious and takes the whole world's affairs into his hands. If the young master succeeds, there is no need to do this. Wouldn't you hear the saying 'Through the arch and rule' ?”

Hu Hai became interested: "How to rule by hanging the arch?"

Zhao Gao said: "However, now that the world is unified and the world is flat, where can there be major events that matter life and death like in the past? Most of them are locust plagues in one place, floods in one place, and some thieves in one place. .”

"There is no need for the emperor to deal with these matters personally. The emperor just nods his head and stamps his seal. In this way, the shackles are supported by his ministers, the emperor hangs down his clothes and hands them over, and the world is ruled. You can still enjoy your pleasures. The world is so big that you can travel as much as you want. The treasures of Kyushu can be delivered to you with just one sentence. You can enjoy the beautiful women and beautiful voices in all counties and counties... Grant your ambitions and desires, and enjoy the world forever. And it’s harmless, this is what a young master should do.”

Hu Hai still had a trace of hesitation. He was not stupid. He knew that once he took this step, he would never be able to look back!

And once it fails, the end may be even worse than Fusu's.

Seeing this, Zhao Gao decided to use his trump card and forced Hu Hai to the edge of the cliff.

He suddenly smiled and said: "Does the young master know Lord Chang'an?"

…

"The younger brother of the emperor, the father of the child, Chang'an Jun Chengyu, I naturally know him."

When Hu Hai was born, Chang'an Jun Chengqi had rebelled against Qin and went to Zhao, but his relationship with Ziying was not bad, and he had heard about this unlucky uncle.

Zhao Gao shook his head: "I'm not talking about Qin's Chang'an Lord, but Zhao's Chang'an Lord, the youngest son of King Zhao Hui and Queen Zhao Wei..."

He talked eloquently:

"Zhao Changan's name is Mingyue."

"He was the apple of Empress Dowager Zhao's eye. She loved him very much. She granted him a sacred place and gave her many important weapons. But sixty years ago, when Qin attacked Zhao, Zhao asked Qi for help. The King of Qi demanded that Lord Chang'an must be used as a hostage by Zhao! Empress Wei was reluctant at first. Accepting Chulong's advice, she sent someone to send Lord Chang'an to Qi. The Qi army left, but the Qin army retreated..."

"That's it."

Hu Hai remembered that Zhao Gao once said that he was not stupid by nature, so he continued Zhao Gao's words: "At that time, Chu Long told Empress Zhao Wei that the descendants of King Zhao, and even the sons and grandsons of princes, those who can be rich for three generations are almost No, if you are near, you will be in trouble, and if you are far away, you will be harmed by your descendants. Why? It is not that the descendants of the master are necessarily bad, but because they are respected but have no merit, they are generous but have no hard work, and they carry many heavy weapons... …”

"Therefore, the son of the master, the relative of flesh and blood, cannot rely on unworthy respect and unearned service to maintain the weight of gold and jade for a long time..."

Hu Hai's voice became smaller and smaller, and he somewhat understood what Zhao Gao meant.

Once the sons, princes, and grandsons of the Zhao Kingdom and the princes lost the protection of their parents, they lost their source of wealth and could only live on their fiefs. Even their fiefs would be deprived of them. Within a few generations, they would become common people farming the land.

What's more, Qin has no nationality or enfeoffment without meritorious service. The emperor is rich in the world, but all the disciples are just like men. Once the mountains collapsed, Hu Hai himself didn't even have a large fiefdom. How could he live a happy life in the future?

He had no skills, so he could only slowly sell off his property and lend money to make ends meet. If he spent too much money, he would probably end up like Yao and Yu, where he was even worse than a gatekeeper or a concubine!

Hu Hai shuddered and touched the priceless jade he was wearing on his waist. This was the best Khotan Kunlun jade selected by Qin Shihuang and given to him.

Once his father is gone, will he lose everything?

"Master, I..."

"Master, do you understand?" Zhao Gao took another step closer.

"I understand, but..."

Hu Hai was still a little reluctant:

"If I were to gain seniority like Fusu and supervise the army, I would be able to make some contributions to the country..."

"Does serving the country guarantee long-lasting wealth?"

Zhao Gao interrupted him and sneered: "Master, do you know what happened to Zhao Changan Jun Zhao Mingyue?"

"Huh? Down there? The bottom is gone!?"

Hu Hai was a little startled. The story Chu Long told about the Queen Mother Zhao stopped abruptly when Lord Chang'an came to Qi State as a hostage, and there was no follow-up.

"Let the old servant tell the young master."

Zhao Gao sighed: "Chang'an Jun has meritorious service. After returning to the country, Zhao Wei died a few years later, but in July of that year..."

"His brother, King Zhao Xiaocheng, was so jealous of Lord Chang'an that he poisoned him and killed him. After Lord Chang'an died, his fiefdom was taken away, and the princes became common people. They died at a young age, and their land was owned by farmers. , it’s for those who do business, it’s for those who live in other countries, and it’s for those who have been reclusive and low-ranking officials for generations!”

Zhao Gao gritted his teeth as he spoke: "I dare to ask, Sir, Lord Chang'an was killed by his brother even though he had done great service to the country. How could he avoid this tragic situation?"

Hu Hai subconsciously replied: "He has to become the king himself..."

"That's right!"

Zhao Gao raised his palm and praised: "Chang'an Lord must be the King of Zhao and hold the ax to avoid death! If he becomes the King of Zhao! Everything will be different!"

After finishing his long sigh, Zhao Gao said:

"Back to the present, now that Fu Su has run away, what will happen if the young master does not fight for the position of heir and falls into the hands of other young masters? You must know that the one your majesty loves the most is you, young master!"

Human nature is evil, evil. This is what Hu Hai has been taught since childhood. Both Qin Shihuang and Zhao Gao have instilled this in him.

Hu Hai's teeth were trembling: "They will hate me just like King Zhao Xiaocheng hates Lord Chang'an, or even..."

Master Zhao made a comparison:

"Yes, it will even kill the young master!"

"The emperor can kill whoever he wants. At that time, it will be either a glass of poisoned wine or a dagger. The young master has no way to resist and can only wait to be killed!"

Zhao Gao said cheerfully: "I dare to ask, if the master's life span ends with swords and axes, and no one will live anymore, how can he exhaust the tastes of his ears and eyes, and enjoy the desires of his heart? Master, what should you do?"

After being brainwashed by Zhao Gao for so long, Hu Hai's thoughts have already followed the night owl. He clenched his fists and said:

"I can only fight and be the emperor myself!"

"Great kindness!"

Zhao Gao's tone was cold and he continued to instill his ideas in Hu Hai's ears.

"There is no family ties in the Tian family. As a prince, there are only winners and losers. The winner gets everything and the loser loses everything. They are left to be eaten by mermaids. There is no middle way to choose from!"

Hu Hai nodded, and then he and Zhao Gao made a plan to go to the temple to offer prayers.

But before Zhao Gao left, Hu Hai suddenly remembered something and asked Zhao Gao:

"I have never heard anyone tell you about Zhao Changan's ending. How did Master...know about it?"

Zhao Gao bowed to Hu Hai, lowered his eyebrows, and the smile reappeared on his face, but with a hint of pain.

"Because Zhao Gao is the grandson of Lord Zhao Changan!"

…

A few days later, because he heard from Zhao Gao that Qin Shihuang summoned another prince to the palace the night before, Hu Hai, who was restless in the mansion, finally waited for Qin Shihuang's edict.

"The emperor went on a hunting trip and sent his eighteenth son Hu Hai to follow him to support the army!"

…

ps: Four thousand chapters, a bit late.