Diqin Designer

Chapter 123 Fusu's Plea
Although Ying Zheng specifically said that "no one is allowed to plead for the Xiang family", there were still people who pleaded with Ying Zheng for the Xiang family.

Ying Zheng was walking around in the Zhangtai Palace to exercise his body. It had been more than an hour since he ordered the execution of the Xiang clan.

A guard entered the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Fusu wants to see you!"

Ying Zheng stopped walking, looked at the guard, and said, "Let him in!"

Ying Zheng was not surprised that Fusu would come, but he would be surprised if Fusu did not come.

Soon, Fusu entered the palace and saluted to Ying Zheng: "Fusu greets father!"

Ying Zheng got straight to the point: "Do you want to plead for the Xiang family?"

Fusu said: "I came here for this very matter, please take back your order, father!"

"The Xiang family is a prominent family in the world. Even if they are guilty, the entire family should not be exterminated. If the family is exterminated, other prominent families will be afraid and revolt, which is not conducive to the stability of the world."

Recently, Fusu was very satisfied with his father. All the decrees he issued showed that his father could actually be a benevolent monarch, but he just didn't want to do it in the past.

Look, we are doing quite well now. We have abolished the harsh corporal punishments in the Qin laws, reduced taxes and levies, and promoted new plows, tables and chairs throughout the country to benefit the people.

Today, he suddenly heard that his father had captured the entire Xiang clan and was going to kill them all, regardless of gender, age or status. Fusu could no longer sit still and immediately came over to plead for the Xiang clan.

I finally see some signs that my father is a benevolent monarch. I can't let it be ruined like this. I must try to change my father's decision, even if it may anger him.

Fusu continued, "Instead of punishing the Xiang clan, we should treat them with kindness. When other prominent clans see that Great Qin treats even the Xiang clan of the former Chu State well, they will surely be pleased and submit to Great Qin, and the world will be at peace."

Ying Zheng looked at Fusu and said, "First, do you know why I want to exterminate the Xiang clan?"

"Secondly, there is a deep hatred between our Great Qin and the Xiang clan and other prominent families you mentioned. It cannot be resolved by your words of kindness and favor."

"They were once the princes of the six kingdoms. The Qin conquered the six kingdoms and unified the world. If they are no longer in the same position, how well should they be treated in order to eliminate the hatred?"

"Third, if we follow your advice and treat them with favor, will it be fair to all the meritorious officials of our Great Qin?"

"The Great Qin is what it is today thanks to the efforts of all the ministers. But you allow a group of princes from the six countries who have done nothing for the Great Qin to stand side by side with the ministers. What will the ministers think?"

Fusu was speechless after being asked this question. After thinking for a while, he said, "Father, what you said is very true, but I think it is too much to kill the entire Xiang family. Father, you can kill the main culprit and not implicate others."

This is also the purpose of his coming.

Fusu knew very well that it was impossible to spare the life of the entire Xiang family, and he also did not think that the Xiang family had done nothing wrong and should be pardoned. Although he was merciful, he was not stupid.

He just felt that it was too much to kill so many members of the Xiang family, and wanted his father to kill only the main culprit and not all of them.

"If the Xiang family is wiped out, other prominent families will surely feel the pain of being alone. If they resist the Qin Dynasty in the future, they will only resist to death and there will be no room for maneuver."

"It would be better to keep the women and children of the Xiang clan. This would not only demonstrate the benevolence of my father, but also leave room for our Great Qin and the prominent families in the world." Fusu's words did make sense, and Ying Zheng had also thought about dealing with it this way.

I just thought about the history that Li Nian told me. After he unified the world, he did not settle accounts with the nobles of the six countries too much, allowing them to continue to survive. However, these people eventually rose up against Qin, and Xiang Yu even entered Xianyang and massacred all the Qin royal family members.

He then understood one thing: no matter whether he cleared out the nobles of the six countries or not, as long as the nobles of the six countries were given the opportunity to rise, they would definitely clear out the Qin Dynasty!
Even if he listened to Fusu's advice today and did not exterminate the Xiang clan, but left some members of the Xiang clan alive, the nobles of the other six countries would not think this was a favor, and what would happen in the future would still be the same.

The hatred between the two sides is difficult to reconcile until one side is completely defeated.

If that’s the case, then why did he keep the Xiang family alive?
Moreover, when Xiang Yu massacred Xianyang and wiped out the Qin royal family, why didn't he think of leaving a few people alive? Are there no ignorant children among the Qin royal family?
Yingdu had already surrendered, but was still killed by Xiang Yu, right?
Ying Zheng said: "I have had the same idea as you, but do you think that if I keep the Xiang clan members here, they will be grateful to me?"

"I want to ask you, if the situation between my Qin clan and today's Xiang clan were reversed, how would the Xiang clan treat us?"

After asking these two questions, Ying Zheng's eyes were fixed on Fusu, and heavy pressure fell on Fusu.

Fusu stood there in a daze. He wanted to answer that the Xiang clan would not exterminate them and would leave some of their people alive, but he couldn't say the answer.

Because he himself didn't quite believe the answer.

At least this eldest son was not stupid enough to think that the enemy would let them go!

If Fusu dared to answer that the Xiang family would let them go, no matter how much he liked this eldest son, he would have to really consider kicking him out of the list of candidates for the crown prince.

If such a fool is allowed to ascend the throne of the Qin Dynasty, even if he eliminates the ills of the Qin Dynasty and makes the Qin Dynasty better with the assistance of Li Nian during his lifetime, the Qin Dynasty will still decline in his hands.

The history books of later generations will probably record this sentence: "The First Emperor was the only emperor in the history of the ages, wise and decisive, few in ancient times could compare with him, but the one who made a bad choice of heir and brought chaos to his family was Fusu!"

He didn't want to be remembered for this, but the dynasty history that Li Nian knew lasted for more than two thousand years. Has any emperor ever encountered such a situation?
Seeing Fusu hesitate to answer, Ying Zheng said: "It seems that you already have the answer in your heart, but you don't want to admit it, but this is the fact. If the situation is reversed, the Xiang family will definitely not spare my Great Qin royal family, they will only slaughter the Great Qin royal family!"

Fusu said: "Because in the past, when the situation was reversed, the other side would often be slaughtered. Father should spare the women and children of the Xiang clan at this time. This will set an unprecedented precedent and ensure that if the Qin royal family encounters difficulties with the Xiang clan in the future, they will be protected."

Fusu found the best point among a bunch of blind students, and his words sounded reasonable:

Everyone is killing each other because no one has taken the initiative to spare the other party, so everyone is doing this. But father, you can set a precedent now, show kindness and let the Xiang family go first. In the future, everyone will have a precedent to follow, and this will not happen again.

Ying Zheng couldn't help but feel angry. His eldest son was not really stupid. If he was really stupid, he wouldn't have come up with such an excuse. He was just taught the wrong way.

Restraining his anger, Ying Zheng said, "If you knew why I wanted to exterminate the Xiang clan, you would not say this."

Fusu immediately said, "Then please tell me why I want to kill the Xiang family?"

Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes and said, "If you want to know, then work hard to become the crown prince. If you can't become the crown prince, then you should never know."

(End of this chapter)