Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1990: The Seven Stars of Azure Dragon (Thirty-Seven)

Han Fei smiled and said, "Then I won't be polite."

"Your behavior in front of the emperor was too impulsive."

Even though Fusu didn't tell him what happened during the meeting between Fusu and Ying Zheng, Han Fei basically knew it all.

Objectively speaking, if Fusu had not confronted Ying Zheng, the latter might not have been so cruel.

Ying Zheng is a man who responds to soft tactics and not hard ones.

Perhaps he would be happy to see Fusu, who had always been "cowardly", act tougher, but definitely not to the point of being tough in front of him, his father and the emperor.

What's more, the toughness shown by Fusu this time may not be really tough in Ying Zheng's eyes.

In his opinion, Fusu might have been cheated without knowing it, and even helped the other party count money.

No matter what the situation is, Ying Zheng's reaction is nothing more than anger or even angrier.

All of these are undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire.

"Your Highness, you may have your own persistence, your own grievances, and your own ideas that you want to explain, but to the emperor, what others say or even do is not important. What matters is what he thinks."

"Those he does not doubt are undoubtedly loyal subjects, and those he doubts are insects who are disloyal to the empire no matter how sincere they are."

"When the emperor makes a judgment, Your Highness should only follow his wishes."

Fusu was silent for a moment, then replied in a low voice, "I understand what you mean, sir, but I can't just ignore the consequences and push the responsibility onto others."

"My teacher once told me that whoever holds greater power must bear greater responsibility."

"I am the most powerful person in the entire Northland, so naturally I have to bear the responsibility."

Theoretically speaking, Fusu was just a military supervisor, and the only person he could supervise was Meng Tian.

The chief executives of the northern counties could completely pretend that he did not exist - Fusu still had certain jurisdiction before he was exiled.

But in fact, all of Fusu's ideas could be implemented smoothly in the north - things like rebellion that violated taboos might be more troublesome.

On the one hand, this is because of Liusha's infiltration and control over all aspects of the northern region, and on the other hand, it is because of the identity of Prince Fusu.

Although Fusu's possibility of inheriting the throne was basically cut off after he was completely exiled, for local officials, choosing sides had little to do with them.

That is the "privilege" of high-ranking officials in the central court.

Whether to follow the emperor or not has nothing to do with local officials like them, and naturally no one dares to go against a prince - it is impossible for him to become the crown prince, but who can say for sure?

Anyway, the emperor has not yet appointed a crown prince, and has not even shown any sign of having such an idea.

As a prince, Fusu actually governed the north for several years.

This time he was sent to the north, so who can tell what the emperor was thinking?

Maybe I can't get the throne, but what about a fiefdom?
The empire did not follow the Zhou rites of enfeoffment, but in the final analysis, this matter was just a matter of the emperor's words.

As long as the emperor has not officially appointed a crown prince, Fusu will always be the brightest sun in the north.

Han Fei smiled when he heard this, "Your Highness is right, but Gu Xun's words were very impulsive."

The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. There is nothing wrong with this, as power and responsibility are one and the same.

But this is an ideal state.

The reality is, you can think this way, but others may not be willing to do so.

As an emperor, Ying Zheng always acknowledged that he had unlimited power, but he would never say that his responsibilities were also unlimited.

The power belongs to the emperor, and the responsibility belongs to others.

You think it's wrong?
Of course you can think so, and the emperor allows you to think so, but you cannot say it, let alone do it.

Fusu smiled bitterly, not knowing how to respond.

Han Fei was teaching him a lesson, but his words were actually beneficial to him.

Because he is the one in power.

Fusu knew very well that although he seemed to have no control over the Quicksand, in fact, he had the greatest power.

Although Gu Xun is the nominal leader of Liusha and Han Fei is the one who does the real work, if Fusu gives an order, everyone has to listen to him... or everyone will listen to him.

Of course, Fusu's power fundamentally comes from Gu Xun - Gu Xun will ensure that everyone is honest and obedient.

According to conventional logic, it is Gu Xun who holds power, and Fusu is more like a puppet.

But Gu Xun would never interfere with or influence Fusu's will.

Therefore, a more accurate statement would be that Fusu is like a lord who does not directly control the military power, while Gu Xun is like a loyal general who holds the military power, and the lord's will is expressed through the general's military power.

Han Fei laughed at this and continued, "Many people have taught you, including me, and... Senior Brother Fu Nian. You have also met Taoist predecessors. A few years ago, you even studied with Chen Ping and Cao Shen for a period of time."

"But the one who had the greatest influence on you was Gu Xun, your only teacher in name only, who taught you almost nothing other than martial arts."

"You have learned a lot of good things from him, but not the bad things - this is not a compliment to you."

"If you can learn some of his bad habits, it might be more suitable."

This was considered as a slander against Gu Xun, so Fusu could not respond and could only give an awkward but polite smile.

Seeing him like this, Han Fei stopped making up stories about Gu Xun and started talking about Chen Ping instead:

"You should go and learn more from Chen Ping when you have time."

"Which aspect?" Fusu asked curiously.

"Learn from him how mean and malicious he is." Han Fei replied with a grin.

"Uh..." Fusu was choked again. After a few awkward laughs, he said, "Mr. Chen Ping is a nice person."

"That's right." Han Fei nodded with a smile, "If you can see that he is bad, I won't say he is 'evil and evil'."

"That guy looks decent and speaks decently, but if you pour out the evil in his brain, I'm afraid it would be enough to fill a big pond."

"Is there...?" Fusu totally didn't understand why Han Fei made such an evaluation of Chen Ping.

Han Fei gave him an example, "Zhao Gao had previously deployed a large number of Luowang assassins in the north to track down Liusha. Under pressure from the emperor in the north, neither Luowang nor Liusha dared to kill him, but Luowang still lost more than 200 assassins in more than two months."

"How did they do that?" Fusu really didn't know that Luowang had suffered a loss before. "It's not convenient to take action in Liusha, but other forces can." Han Fei explained, "Chen Ping set up a lot of traps for Luowang, who was eager to track down the enemy, and caused them a lot of trouble."

"Is it that simple?" Fusu felt it was a little unreal.

When it comes to conspiracies and tricks, Luo Wang is also an expert at it, and Zhao Gao is an out-and-out old scoundrel. Can misleading traps really bring him such great losses?
"If you had experienced Chen Ping's tricks yourself, you would definitely not say that." Han Fei shrugged. "Zhao Gao is indeed capable, but he has something to ask for. If he has something to ask for, he cannot completely ignore the traps set by Chen Ping, and then he will step into one trap after another."

"The key is that he can only swallow this loss with gritted teeth. Chen Ping didn't give him any handle to vent his anger."

In fact, the force that Chen Ping used the most was the Black Ice Platform.

The existence of the Black Ice Platform is a top secret to Liusha and Luowang as well.

Without Luowang's knowledge, frictions occurred repeatedly between the two sides.

At least a hundred people were killed in Luowang just by Heibingtai.

Luowang had no idea who had done the evil to them, so they could only blame Liusha. However, there was no evidence pointing to Liusha, so they had to suffer the loss in silence.

Heibingtai knew that Liusha was using him as a knife, but they had no evidence to point the finger of truth to Liusha, so they could only swallow their anger.

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Of course, Heibingtai can communicate with Luowang to resolve misunderstandings and thus reduce the losses caused by unnecessary internal friction.

But... they are 'shadows' that do not exist in reality and should not be clearly exposed to anyone.

Even if they are on the same side as Luowang for the time being, they cannot expose themselves to Luowang's eyes, otherwise the emperor will definitely make them pay the price.

Unable to file a complaint or communicate, they could only unwillingly serve as Liusha's borrowed knife to kill people.

The main thing is that they didn't suffer any loss in the process, they were just delayed by Luowang for a while, and it was Luowang that suffered the biggest loss.

But what does the life or death of the people from Luowang have to do with the Black Ice Platform?

The death of one Luowang killer is just a number, the death of ten thousand is also a number, they don't care about Zhao Gao.

"Uh..." Hearing this, Fusu showed a rather complicated smile. However, considering that Chen Ping was also working for Liusha, he still said something for Chen Ping very kindly, "Luowang is our mortal enemy. It is normal for Mr. Chen Ping to be a bit ruthless. It is understandable, understandable."

Han Fei smiled again when he heard this, and added indifferently, "Before Chen Ping returned to the Central Plains, he made some 'insignificant' suggestions to all political forces, big and small, in Yuezhi through various means."

"I think the current domestic situation of Yuezhi has become a mess."

"Ah!?" This news really confused Fusu, "No, why would he deceive the people of Yuezhi?"

"To lure the wolves." Han Fei replied with a chuckle as he made his move.

He then further explained, "Although Meng Tian dealt a heavy blow to the wolf army, the main elite troops of Maodun's headquarters did not suffer a devastating blow and still have the ability to continue to spy on the Central Plains and wait for an opportunity to act."

"If the situation in the empire remains stable, the wolf tribe's surveillance will naturally be meaningless."

"But the reality is that it is clear that the empire cannot remain peaceful any longer."

"Once the situation in the Central Plains becomes completely chaotic, Maodun may take advantage of the situation to rob people. At that time, the first to bear the brunt will be the Quicksand in the north."

"We are attacked from both sides, which is very disadvantageous to us."

"So we have to give Maodun a more worthy target so that he won't consider invading the Central Plains again for the time being."

"So... the Yuezhi Kingdom is the 'target'?" Fusu understood now.

Han Fei nodded. "Yes... Although the Wolf Tribe is still fighting with the Donghu, according to our estimation, the Donghu may not be able to hold out for too long."

"We need to buy ourselves at least three years, or even more time. The Donghu alone is definitely not enough, but adding the Yuezhi Kingdom will be enough."

"But... there's no need to cause trouble for the Yuezhi Kingdom, right? Wouldn't that shorten the time they have to delay the wolf tribe?" Fusu still didn't understand something.

"I said..." Han Fei replied with a subtle smile, "We need to provide the wolf tribe with a target that is more worthy of attack than the Central Plains."

"With our full support, the ruler of Yuezhi not only temporarily stabilized the domestic situation, but also obtained an elite corps."

"Although their political power and military strength are only relatively good, it is enough to cause some trouble to the wolf tribe."

"In order to ensure that the Wolf Tribe will not give up the Yuezhi Kingdom for the time being after the situation in the Central Plains changes, we must weaken it to a certain extent to ensure that it is convenient enough for the Wolf Tribe to enter."

Fusu nodded, as if he understood everything, and then he showed a somewhat embarrassed look, "This is a bit... not very moral?"

Han Fei drank his tea slowly and said, "For an individual, things like benevolence, justice, and morality are indispensable. Otherwise, it is difficult to be called a human being."

"But for a collective entity such as an organization, a force, or a regime, individual rules are not applicable."

"In other words, we have to try to be good people, but quicksand, we just have to maintain a certain limit."

"Although Chen Ping disrupted the situation in Yuezhi that had just stabilized, it was he who stabilized the situation in the first place."

"The damage he caused was far less than the good he provided."

"As for the soldiers that Li Zuoche and Sima Shang trained for the Yuezhi Kingdom, Chen Ping did not move them at all. We also did not take back the supplies that we provided to the Yuezhi Kingdom."

"In general, I can't say I've done them a favor, but at least I don't owe them anything."

Fusu smiled bitterly and did not comment on it.

He is just kind-hearted, not a saint. The reason he raised doubts was because Liusha was cooperating wholeheartedly with the Yuezhi Kingdom not long ago, but turned around and stabbed them in the back. This behavior is difficult to comment on.

If Fusu really wanted to target the Yuezhi Kingdom directly, he wouldn't need any reason.

Just like when the King of Donghu was trapped in the quicksand pit, he fully agreed with it.

A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

Fusu changed the subject and said, "Speaking of the situation in the empire, how do you think it will develop next, Master Han Fei?"

When asking this question, Fusu changed his address to "Master" to indicate that they were just discussing the issue and there was no need to worry about their identities.

Han Fei had no intention of hiding anything, and with Fusu's statement, he spoke even more bluntly:
"To put it bluntly, the reason why the empire can still maintain the most basic stability is almost entirely due to your father's personal prestige and political skills."

"But he was like a rope holding back a mountain that was about to collapse, holding the empire together with his own strength."

"But the mountain that has already fallen off the cliff will eventually fall off the cliff. A rope can't change anything - it will break sooner or later, perhaps being pulled apart by the mountain, or perhaps decaying and breaking on its own."

"Your father is the same, he is stuck in the middle and trying to hold on."

At this point, Han Fei asked a very sensitive and inappropriate question with a smile, "How long do you think your father can hold on like this?"

Combined with what Han Fei just said, his question can be seen as two ways of asking.