The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 656 I want to offer sacrifices to the heavens and beg for mercy (please give me monthly tickets at the end of the month~)

After Ying Zheng finished saying this, all the ministers below were instantly shocked, especially those who were born in Zhao. Their faces turned pale as paper.

If what the king said was true, would anyone in Zhao be able to survive after all these disasters in the past nine years? This thought was swirling wildly in everyone's mind.

In an instant, a minister from Zhao fell to the ground with a "thump", knelt on his knees, and moved forward with difficulty, trembling, and then kowtowed heavily, with his forehead hitting the ground with a dull sound.

The voice was shrill, and she cried out in tears: "Your Majesty! The people of Zhao are all loyal to the Holy King. Now they are all Qin people, your Majesty's subjects. They will never have any second thoughts! Your Majesty, please understand! Your Majesty, please understand!"

The voice echoed in the empty court, full of fear and pleading.

The action of this Zhao official was like a domino. Immediately afterwards, many Zhao officials came out one after another, all of them looked panicked and shouted their loyalty. At this moment, in this tense situation, the only thing they should do was to show their loyalty first.

Now that things have come to this, it is always right to express your loyalty first.

Some people really believed what Ying Zheng said and were terrified in their hearts, worried about themselves and the land of Zhao.

More people are wondering whether Ying Zheng wants to use this as an excuse to attack the Zhao people?
Even deposed?

Could it be that the people of Zhao have really committed some major taboo recently?

Although the people of Zhao were not so willing to integrate into the Qin Dynasty, and some of them were indeed somewhat unwilling, it was not to the point where they would be punished by heaven, right?

At this moment, Lü Buwei strode out of the line. He first bowed respectfully to Ying Zheng, his movements steady and dignified.

Then, Lu Buwei turned around abruptly, his eyes piercing, and shouted at the crying ministers: "Enough! How can you be so disrespectful in front of the emperor?!"

His voice was loud and clear, resounding like a huge bell in the court, shocking everyone. Then, he sternly rebuked: "Loyalty or disloyalty, is it up to you to decide? How dare you question the will of heaven!"

Seeing this, Zhong Cang was not to be outdone and shouted angrily: "Since the king accepted the three kingdoms, only the people of Zhao have received the most grace. Moreover, Qin and Zhao are one family, but only the people of Zhao are the most reluctant to integrate into the Qin Dynasty, and they always have split hearts. Such ungratefulness and ignorance of destiny, even if the heavens punish them, they deserve it!"

Zhong Cang's words were even more intense.

Under the successive rebukes from the two prime ministers, the rest of the ministers also jumped out to impeach the Zhao ministers.

The people of Chu, Han and Yan were especially excited.

In any case, let's beat the fallen dog first.

The scholars of Zhao have always been treated well in the court because the king wants to eliminate the hatred between the two countries and make Zhao more harmoniously integrated into Qin. In addition, with the presence of the queen, the scholars of Zhao have occupied considerable power in the court. Now it seems that the king has become very impatient with these shameless people.

If they are defeated, everyone will be able to get a bigger share of the court's interests.

The Chu people were excited because they thought that with such a destiny, why would the queen continue to be the mother of the country?
They thought to themselves: If the queen goes down, then it must be our Lady Yunmeng who will go up! Let's wait and see. If the queen is unstable, impeach her immediately! Let the Queen of Zhao step down with the will of heaven!

As for the Han and Yan people, they naturally rushed to seize the opportunity to show their loyalty. They rushed to speak, and their words were sincere, fearing that they would fall behind others. They hoped to take this opportunity to leave a good impression in Ying Zheng's heart, and they must not be like the Zhao people!
For a moment, the entire court was in chaos, with people talking at the same time, and quarrels and discussions rising one after another.

Seeing this, Ying Zheng slowly raised his hand and gently patted the dragon table, making a crisp "pa pa" sound. Then, he coughed lightly. Although the sound was not loud, it had an invisible power. In just a few breaths, the whole hall returned to silence.

"Most of the people in Zhao are still willing to integrate into the Qin Dynasty and become one family. It's just that a small group of people with evil intentions have implicated everyone. It's not the fault of all the people." Ying Zheng spoke slowly, his voice steady and powerful, and gave a qualitative assessment.

When many Zhao officials heard this, they hurriedly stepped forward and bowed down as if they had been pardoned, shouting "The emperor is wise".

"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty governs the people with virtue, and the people are all touched by your kindness. How could you have any evil intentions? It's just that a few evil thieves have deceived some people. Most of the people are innocent. As long as we eliminate a few of the leading evil thieves, we can return to peace!"

When Zhong Cang heard this, he immediately stood up again, his eyes wide open, and shouted angrily: "Tolerating evil will lead to chaos!"

"If you can stop a crime but don't, that's indulgence. If you see that evil can be stopped but don't stop it, that's the evil of tolerance. If you should stop a crime and have enough power to stop it, but don't do it, that's indulgence."

"How can ordinary people not know that there are people with evil intentions, but they do not stop them and just stand by and watch. Now they are punished by God. How can they be innocent?"

Ying Zheng was silent for a moment, then sighed:
"Things have developed to this point. God is personally to blame. I feel guilty. It is because of my poor leadership and poor education that I have incurred the wrath of God. This disaster is my fault."

When the ministers heard this, they knelt down hurriedly. Lü Buwei was the first to say, "No matter how many mistakes we made, they are all our fault. Your Majesty is a virtuous man, and the people are all grateful for your kindness. It is our lack of virtue and ability that has failed to educate the people. This is all our fault!" Wei Zhuang also hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty is a virtuous man, and it hurts the people. However, the black bird said that the heaven blames the ignorant and foolish people, the stupid people, and the people with evil intentions. There are evil thieves in Zhao who have evil intentions. They have brought this upon themselves and have reaped the fruits of their own actions. It is not Your Majesty's fault."

"Today's fate has been determined, and it cannot be changed by human power. The punishment of heaven on Zhao is not the king's fault. Good fortune and disaster come from no door, but only from people themselves. This is what the people of Zhao deserve. Please do not blame yourself."

Ying Zheng waved his hand, his expression gentle but majestic: "In this world, there is no longer any distinction between Zhao people, Han people, and Yan people. There are only Qin people."

He glanced at his ministers and said slowly, "I am the Son of Heaven, and all the people are my subjects. I am the father of all the people in the world. Now that God is punishing me, how can I just ignore it and watch my people suffer? Even suffer heavy casualties?"

"If this is the case, how can I be a father to all the people in the world? Is there any father in the world who would watch his son suffer a disaster?"

"I am the Son of Heaven. I ask Heaven to revoke its decision on this matter. Heaven is merciful. As long as the people of Zhao sincerely integrate into the Qin Empire, Heaven will surely forgive them."

Ying Zheng's tone was firm and unquestionable: "Prime Minister, you will personally take care of the matters concerning the sacrifice to heaven. Three days later, I will offer sacrifices to heaven by the Wei River and plead for the people of Zhao!"

"During these three days, I will bathe, change clothes, abstain from meat and food, stay alone and meditate, and wait for the sacrifice!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Buwei immediately prostrated himself on the ground and said respectfully, "Your Majesty is a saint! Since you inherited the throne, you have taken benevolence as the guiding principle and virtue as the guide, setting an example for the world, like the warm spring sun, spreading across the world and benefiting all people. You have reduced punishments and simplified laws, cared for the people's suffering, and valued harmony. Now you are even more tolerant of the people, forgiving past grudges, being magnanimous and loving, and personally asking God for forgiveness for the common people. Even the saintly kings of ancient times are not as good as your Majesty!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will prepare the heaven sacrifice for you."

For a moment, all the ministers bowed down, and the sound of praise was endless, echoing in the hall for a long time.

Ying Zheng nodded gently and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister. Please do it as soon as possible."

Lu Buwei took the order and hurried with Feng Chang to take care of the arrangements for offering sacrifices to heaven.

Although Lu Buwei had no idea what Ying Zheng wanted to do, he had to do this job well.

He thought to himself: God's punishment can't be real, right?
Ying Zheng turned around and returned to the ancestral temple, preparing to live alone and meditate, waiting for the day of offering sacrifices to heaven.

What happened in the court today spread quickly throughout Xianyang as if it had wings. And with the publication of the official newspaper, the news spread like a surging tide to the entire Qin Dynasty.

Since Qin Shi Huang invented paper and printing, official newspapers, which are crucial for controlling public opinion, were naturally invented immediately.

Communicate the central government’s policies and orders, maintain notification order, convey political information, disseminate culture, guide thoughts, guide public opinion, and circulate information.

It can greatly deepen the central government's control and guidance over local governments. This thing is so useful that Ying Zheng would definitely not want it.

It was not just the Qin Dynasty. After the printing and papermaking were liberalized, other countries immediately followed suit. Everyone was not stupid and would definitely use anything that was useful.

Just like now, everything that happened in the court today was spreading rapidly in Daqin, and under Ying Zheng's unsparing promotion, it was spreading rapidly to the whole world.

Now all the ministers are openly praising Ying Zheng's benevolence and generosity, but in fact, everyone thinks differently.

Even though Ying Zheng already had convincing evidence of divine favor and had performed incredibly well, there were still only a few people who completely believed what he said, and the majority of people were half-believing and half-doubting.

More people think that Ying Zheng has other plans.

Many of them thought that Ying Zheng wanted to deceive people by saying that there was a great disaster, but after offering sacrifices to heaven he said that the disaster was gone, and then used this to win people's hearts and promote the integration of the people of Zhao into the Qin Dynasty.

It is also possible that he was dissatisfied with the attitude of the people of Zhao and wanted to punish the officials and people of Zhao, or even to purge them and teach them a lesson.
Want to depose the queen.

Everyone's thoughts were complicated and all kinds of speculations emerged one after another. Many people scoffed at what Ying Zheng said today.

Many people secretly laughed in their hearts: How ridiculous, nine years of disaster? Since the beginning of the world, there has never been a disaster for nine consecutive years! And nine different disasters took turns to strike, how is this possible?

Ying Zheng saw all of this clearly, but he didn't care.

His goal is to completely push himself to the supreme position of God and become the true incarnation of God on earth. Only in this way can his will be thoroughly implemented!
What Ying Zheng wants is to be able to thoroughly implement all his will!
I am the world!

(End of this chapter)