My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 839: The Dignity of Being a Subject
However, the strong are not afraid of these things at all.

The reason why the strong are strong is because they have an extraordinary inner determination, keen insight, meticulous thinking, and super execution ability.

They enjoy the game.

In fact, everyone is in the same big dye vat, everyone is crawling in this unfair dirty puddle. Some people can dance with shackles, while others cry bitterly at their shackles.

People always like to point fingers from a moral high ground. If a person does something bad, outsiders will usually deny everything about him.

But in fact, no matter what we say or comment on, these people who did bad things and still have their names in history are really capable.

If an ordinary greedy villain met Qin II, he would be so happy that he would be at a loss as to what to do when he heard that Qin II asked him to manage the emperor's private treasury.

This is like Qin Ershi finding a mouse to look after his rice jar.

But Zhang Han was not like this. He knew that he was greedy and was able to control his greed.

Almost everyone in this world is greedy, but there are not many people who can satisfy their greed and control the degree of their greed.

Among the three dukes and nine ministers of the empire, which one is simple?

Feng Quji had heard the news and knew that the emperor was now targeting Zhang Han. How could Zhang Han not be aware of this?

No one would think that Zhang Han took on this task without knowing the situation, or that Zhang Han thought the emperor was kind to him, covered up his minor mistakes, and continued to trust him.

What a pity, Zhang Han is not such a simple-minded person at all.

After Zhang Han realized that the emperor was very angry about his behavior and intended to eat him alive and suck his blood, he first analyzed his current situation and then made it clear that he did not want to retire and go home to fish.

He did plan to retreat behind the scenes at the beginning. After all, betraying his former master was disgusting. But as time went on, he found that he simply couldn't do it.

Damn it, Zhang Han still wants to continue playing this game.

Because he still wanted to gain military merit, he hoped to become a general, and then be granted a title of nobility, or even a title of a vassal lord.

His childhood dream was almost coming true.

Now Qin II has promulgated new rules for the promotion of military generals and is actively building up the army, while the princes are respectful on the surface but secretly have their own ulterior motives; most importantly, Qin II is carrying out major reforms, and there will be many opportunities and places to employ people in the future.

Zhang Han was confident that he could provide more value to Qin II.

Qin II was so smart that he didn't kill himself to vent his anger. It can be seen that although he found his own minor shortcomings unbearable, he still recognized his own abilities.

Zhang Han chose to continue dancing with shackles on. He liked this job which allowed him to use his abilities.

So three days after he took over the job of managing Qin II's private treasury, he deposited a sum of money into Qin II's treasury. The amount was neither too much nor too little, exactly five million coins.

This is equivalent to quietly paying back the money proactively, filling the gap without anyone noticing, and letting His Majesty the Emperor calm down.

Afterwards, Zhang Han prepared to report to Qin II on the progress of the construction of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, and even on the material preparations for Qin II to order the production of the Terracotta Warriors.

He hoped that he could see the emperor make good use of his strengths and prevent the young emperor from being angry about this matter.

Unexpectedly, Qin II had no time to deal with him.

Zhang Han was banished to the cold palace.

The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang was a huge project. Zhang Han was asked to manage more than 200,000 prisoners, a number comparable to that of an army. He was also responsible for the supply of money and materials for the country's civil engineering projects, and was in charge of people and money. It is no exaggeration to say that Zhang Han was the second in command of the empire.

However, Qin II did not give Zhang Han the opportunity to appear in front of him.

In fact, it was because Fusu had long been accustomed to the behavior of his ministers.

None of the ministers were stupid, and they were all very brave, daring enough to play the game of putting a knife to their necks with him.

Fusu knew that since Zhang Han dared to come and ask to see him, he must have thought of a good way to exonerate himself.

This kind of drama was very common in the Xianyang Palace.

All the ministers were eloquent and good at arguing. Basically, as long as the emperor met the ministers in person, it meant that they won and the emperor lost.

So the clever Qin II chose to stay away from the clever Zhang Han.

The main thing is that everyone knows that Zhang Han came to see him at this time, he must be asking for mercy for himself.

Fusu wanted everyone to know that it was not so easy to get away with corruption.

The effect of closing the door and not seeing each other was amazing.

There was a Madam Lu in the Xianyang Palace who specialized in dealing with all kinds of corruption.

Soon, Qin II closed the door to Zhang Han again. This trend in the palace spread to the court. Without Qin II issuing any special decree, the three dukes and nine ministers no longer dared to touch things recklessly.

Zhang Cang served as the Grand Minister of Agriculture. This newly created official position had appeared many times in the history of the Zhou Dynasty. Just by hearing the title, one can know that this was a high-ranking official with real power.

Si Nong is in charge of agriculture. The Qin State emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce. Such a high-ranking official position, let alone the Nine Ministers, its status has surpassed the Three Dukes.

In addition, with the trust of Qin II and the help of ministers such as Wang Wan, Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Meng Yi, no one in the court dared to say a word against Zhang Cang for a while.

Everyone felt that the Qin Dynasty was about to change.

Recently, the rich kids in Xianyang city have been dressing very low-key when going out.

The rules of this world are actually quite interesting. Power is from the bottom up, but the spread of customs and habits is only effective from the top down.

People admire power and wealth. In their eyes, the frugality of an old farmer is not a virtue, but a necessity of life. However, if an official or a wealthy person is frugal, it becomes a virtue.

People around the old farmer will not be moved by his frugal behavior, but will only sympathize with him, and will not learn to emulate him.
But if the emperor does this or the highest official of a prefecture does this, the officials under him will be moved and do the same spontaneously.

This is a very interesting phenomenon in human society.

But it is very easy to use.

Since ancient times, deep love cannot be retained, only routines can win people's hearts.

Things like establishing good habits are not something that can be done by the subordinates taking the lead, but rather by the high-level officials of the empire taking the lead themselves. Only then can they lead others to improve their behavior, and then lead the entire society to get rid of certain bad habits.

The empire was indeed progressing bit by bit, and the thoughts and attitudes of the officials were also changing subtly.

Qin II's reforms were getting better and better. It seemed that he did not do anything drastic, but everyone could feel the speed of change and the direction of development of the empire.

Applying human nature and using wisdom to govern the country, governing the country will be like going with the flow.

However, Qin II made a lot of money. Not only did he win the hearts of the people, but he also showed off at the conference of princes, making these princes intimidated by his power.

But Zhang Han remained the same. Most of the foreign officials were like Feng Quji and became more and more wary of Zhang Han.

Zhang Han provided Qin II with money for the conference of princes, but Qin II has not agreed to meet him privately so far.

How could Zhang Han not be angry?

It means to say something clear and explicit in public so that Emperor Qin II can hear it.

Zhang Han not only complained, but also found Feng Quji, who thought that Qin II was ungrateful like him.

It’s a pity that Feng Quji ignored Zhang Han.

This confused the ministers standing behind Feng Quji and Zhang Han. Feng Quji's attitude affected half of the court.

As the nominally most honorable left prime minister in the empire, his words and deeds, like those of Qin II, were watched closely by people.

However, Feng Quji had no intention of expressing his dissatisfaction with Qin II just because of his temporary estrangement from him.

First of all, Feng Quji was a very old-fashioned gentleman from the Warring States Period, and he knew very well what the bottom line of being a subject was.

When it is time to stand up and advise the king, he will not back down.

Right now the king just doesn't give him power for the time being. If he betrays the king because of this, then he is not still a human being.

It was because of Qin II that the Feng family had such a brilliant achievement today. Qin II had given the Feng family so many honors and opportunities, but now that they were only temporarily alienated, he was expressing his dissatisfaction with the king. What kind of person was he?
Moreover, Feng Quji was the prime minister, and only his ministers had to follow his orders and confront the king. There was no right for the ministers to take advantage of the gap between him and the king and use him as a gun.

Zhang Han thinks too little of me.

Feng Quji was unwilling to pay any attention to Zhang Han at all, thinking that he was a person with ugly eating habits and who paid little attention to etiquette and face.

Now that you have reached this position, you must pay more attention to your dignity and establish your own authority.

Zhang Han, however, still acted like a minor official, only thinking about his own petty gains.

Feng Quji ignored Zhang Han, but Zhang Han's words of dissatisfaction were heard by everyone.

What Ji Bu hated most was going to the capital. He felt he was not able to cope with it every time he came.

This time he was just a little slow to react and stood behind Zhang Han and other ministers. However, while he was listening to someone speak, Zhang Han said these words.

All the ministers fell silent and looked at Zhang Han intently.

With so many people involved, the big scenes basically involve the emperor and the three dukes and nine ministers.

The other officials shortened their necks one by one, wishing they could hide their heads in their clothes.

If nothing unexpected happens, someone will have an accident.

Everyone knows that Zhang Han has been targeted by Qin II this year.

Qin II just glanced at Zhang Han, then calmly took his son's hand and walked into Wangyi Palace.

Just after dealing with and entertaining those foreign wolves, the dog at home became restless and barked non-stop.

However, Qin II did not take Zhang Han's provocation seriously. He would wait until he came back to deal with this man who was unwilling to change with the times.

Being unhappy because of Zhang Han's words would only waste the day.

The fact that Qin II did not lose his temper in court disappointed his ministers. Deep down, they all hoped that Qin II would roar on the spot.

Like his father.

Unfortunately not.

The ministers slowly withdrew one by one.

Watching the figures of the ministers disappear in the green mist, Yao couldn't help but ask Fusu, "Why did Zhang Han say that just now? I think he was deliberately trying to anger his father and the emperor."

The Second simply smiled calmly, "Only incompetent people can roar. It shows that he hasn't had a good time these days."

Of course, Zhang Han did not have a good life. The emperor's attitude towards him made the people under him become like wild horses that had broken free from their reins, unwilling to be bound by him any longer.

Zhang Han wanted to be the general, and the soldiers under his command wanted to take Zhang Han's position.

This is how the world is, everyone longs for something they can't get.

Zhang Han was plagued by internal and external troubles, his liver was overheated, he had ulcers in his mouth and tongue, and he suffered from minor ailments every day.

"Is there no trust between the king and his subjects? Why do people always say things that are different from what they do?"

Yao asked Fusu two questions in a row, causing the father to fall into reminiscence for a moment.

Once upon a time, these two questions also made him feel very confused when he was young.

“You ask good questions.”

"There is definitely trust between the king and his subjects. It's just that that trust is not what you think it is."

"There are too many incredible things in this world. As I said before, don't just look at the surface of things."

“Some people may seem nice to you, but they are actually smiling but they are actually hiding a knife. Some people may seem mean to you, but they may not necessarily hurt you.”

"Think about it, if someone really wants to hurt you, would they steal your money and even say hello to you?"

Yao shook his head, then he nodded and said, "I think I understand something."

For Yao, the first audience with the princes was enough to make him remember it for the rest of his life.

Perhaps it was because his father was not so powerful at that time, there were still many problems within the empire, and too many people were able to give his father a hard time, so he was left a deep impression.

At the subsequent meeting of princes, both princes and ministers behaved like parrots kept at home, and they would say whatever their master said.

Qin II looked at the backs of his ministers and said with emotion,

“Most people are busy all their lives just to make themselves more sober. This world is so snobbish, so cold and so ruthless.”

"Qin is strong, and all the princes have come as scheduled. I am the Son of Heaven, so all the princes respect me with all their might."

"And if I were to switch places with those ministers, I would be respectful to them."

"You have to understand what is true and what is false."

"If you always stay on the surface of things, you will eventually taste the bitter fruit."

"As the heir to the empire, you must understand what really drove these princes to come to Xianyang from afar, and why these princes are so respectful to me."

"People are only the owners of power, not the representatives of power. The ministers respect the power, not the people."

“People who have been in high positions for too long tend to forget this and think they are power itself.”

"Once we forget this, we will bring terrible consequences to ourselves and disaster to the country."

"When you have power, you have everything. Once you lose power, you have nothing."

Qin II looked at Yao and said, "You can forget everything I taught you today. But you must remember this one."

Now Yao can only look up to Qin II.

Perhaps because he was too young, he could not see any hope, because he only felt endless pressure.

My father is a man who appears to be gentle on the surface, but in fact he has a very strong desire for control.

You can only feel this by being close to him.

(End of this chapter)