Diqin Designer

Chapter 429 Father and Son (Fusu 3.0)

After staying in that damn place for more than a year, he finally realized that there was a difference between what he thought the people were and what the people actually were. The people would not be governed by him as he thought. If he did not know the true sentiments of the people, even if he had good intentions, it would end up being a bad thing.

It is difficult to know the in-depth of many things if you have not personally examined and experienced them, just by listening to what others say or your own imagination. The saying in "Han Feizi" that "a prime minister must come from the prefectures and counties, and a brave general must start from the ranks of the soldiers" is indeed true.

If he can become the ruler of the Qin Dynasty in the future, he must implement this rule. He must not allow the civil and military officials of the Qin Dynasty to become officials who do things based on their own opinions and thoughts without considering the actual situation. This will be greatly harmful to the Qin Dynasty.

I just don't know what my father's attitude towards me is now...

At this moment, he also understood how much his father doted on him. The position of crown prince had been left vacant, and it seemed that the emperor did not want to appoint a crown prince, but in fact, he had been keeping it for him, waiting for him to realize his mistake, and then give the position to him. Otherwise, why would he leave it vacant and not give it to other brothers?

He has always been the one that his father wanted to appoint as the crown prince of the Qin Dynasty, but he has always disappointed his father. Thinking of all the times when he had contradicted his father, the sturdy man in the car shook his head and then sighed. He was really young and energetic, immature and stubborn.

He had the same temperament as his father, stubborn. Once he made up his mind about something, ten oxen would not be able to change it unless something major happened. That's why he did it anyway even though he knew that certain things would annoy his father.

But now, he was willing to admit that he lost in this battle between father and son!
Of course, he did not think that the system that Daqin had originally insisted on was completely correct. He believed that the system had no merits. If the original system was completely correct, Daqin would not have undergone so many changes in the past two years.

Compared with the Qin Dynasty two years ago, the current Qin Dynasty is no longer so harsh and sharp, but has hidden its edge and become much gentler. This is the direction he is willing to see, and this is the Qin Dynasty he has imagined!
The carriage slowly carried the strong man to Xianyang. The other carriages were not loaded with gold, silver or treasures, but his experiences as a Qin official for more than a year, as well as some local specialties.

"Brave men, we have arrived in Xianyang!"

The Qin soldiers outside reminded the sturdy man in the carriage, but the title of "strong man" made the man shake his head, but he did not blame the Qin soldiers.

First, these Qin soldiers did not know his identity and were ordered to escort him to Xianyang; second, his current appearance and physique were indeed quite strong, and even if his former acquaintances saw him, they might not dare to recognize him for a while.

Upon hearing that they had arrived in Xianyang, he put down the book in his hand, opened the curtain of the carriage and looked outside. In fact, they had not yet entered Xianyang City, but had just arrived outside the city.

Compared to when he left, the city gate had obviously changed, with more gates opened to facilitate people to enter and exit faster. Now there are many people entering and leaving Xianyang. If it remains unchanged, it will be very time-consuming. In addition, it is quite inconvenient for soldiers, carriages, merchants, travelers, civilians, and foreigners to pass through the same gate. It is better to make some distinction.

They now entered a special gate and were soon allowed into the city. After entering the city, the man stopped reading and looked at everything in the city with great interest.

"There are more shops and foreigners here than a year ago. I remember that the houses here were not like this before. When Gao was a child, I brought him here. I wonder if Gao has returned to Xianyang this year?"

When the carriage passed a certain street, a trace of nostalgia flashed in the man's eyes. Things were no longer the same, and the people in his memory should have changed as well, just like himself. To be honest, he himself never thought that he would become like this!
"Since my father has summoned me back, he will also summon Gao, Jianglu and others. I wonder if Hu Hai has grown taller, and how Shunying and others are doing? According to the official newspaper, Gao already has a son named Heng. If Gao returns to Xianyang, he will definitely bring Heng back. What gift should I give him?"

The man was thinking in the car. Although the place where he was was remote, there were official newspapers sent to him every month so that they, the local Qin soldiers, could know what was happening in the Qin Dynasty. It was from these newspapers that the Hanzi learned that the King of Langya had a son.

Over the past year, his father had hardly paid any attention to him, given him no support, and sent him no news. If the Qin soldiers had not come to pick him up this time, he would have thought that he had been forgotten by his father long ago, or that his father intended to let him spend the rest of his life as a local official.

'If the emperor calls me and my brothers back, he might want to decide on the position of crown prince...' After the man had this thought, he shook his head. He was still looking forward to the position of crown prince, because only by sitting on that seat could he show his talents and put into practice what he had learned.

But if his father wanted other brothers to take the throne of crown prince, he would not be too persistent in seeking it. His father had given him too many opportunities in the past, but he had not cherished them. It was only right that he should lose them now.

As long as his father and his brother who became the crown prince allowed him to continue serving as a local official, that would be fine.

The carriage traveled all the way to the imperial city, and the man was called over by the First Emperor without even taking a bath or changing his clothes.

In the Zhangtai Palace, father and son met again after almost two years of separation. Although the First Emperor had already known from the secret letter that his eldest son had become darker and stronger, seeing him with his own eyes still made him a little surprised. Is this rough man really my eldest son Fusu?
That dark and rough skin, that clean but patched coarse cloth, that not fat but strong physique, if you tell people that this is the eldest son of the empire, who would believe it?

This is clearly a young, rough man who has been doing heavy farm work for a long time!

But if you look closely, you can still tell that this is his eldest son Fusu.

Not only has his appearance changed, but his spirit has also changed compared to more than a year ago. His eyes are bright and shining. Although I came to see him immediately after a long journey, he did not look tired at all. Instead, he looked full of energy, and his temperament was more calm and resolute.

When father and son met in the past, he always felt that his eldest son was stubborn and unwilling to accept him, which was also the main reason why the gap between father and son became wider and wider.

How could a person with such a stubborn personality like him tolerate someone who is very similar to him and is as stubborn as him? What's more, in his eyes, this person's stubbornness is wrong.

But this time, he no longer felt that kind of stubbornness and defiance from his eldest son, but respect and understanding.

Fusu knelt respectfully and bowed to the First Emperor: "Your son Fusu greets you, father. I was ignorant in the past and caused you trouble!"

This sentence not only surprised the First Emperor, but also Meng Yi in the hall. His eldest son actually bowed his head on his own initiative. It seemed that the effect of changing his surname and name and going to the local area for training was surprisingly good.

The First Emperor said, "Stand up! So, you admit defeat in our agreement?"

In front of his father, Fusu did not hide anything and frankly admitted: "I lost! After going to the people, I realized how shallow my previous thoughts were. It is difficult to rule the world with passion and self-righteousness. Fortunately, the emperor did not listen to my advice, otherwise it would be a disaster!"

The strong man version of Fusu continued: "This time when I went to the people, I realized that it is not easy to govern a place, let alone govern the Qin Dynasty. I thought I had the talent to govern a country, but after losing my status as a prince and becoming a Qin soldier, it is also very difficult to govern a place!"

"In the past, I thought I knew a lot of 'truths', but I didn't understand that those 'truths' were not necessarily in line with reality. Otherwise, no matter how good the 'truths' were, they would just be empty talk, not only useless, but harmful. All 'truths' should be in line with reality!" The First Emperor said, "Li Nian also said something similar, 'Practice is the only criterion for testing truth!'"

After hearing this, the strong man Fusu pondered it in his heart, then nodded in agreement and said, "That's right. Although this statement is simple, it contains great meaning!"

If Li Nian was here and heard the conversation between the father and son, he would definitely say, "I didn't say that. Don't talk nonsense. Don't spread rumors. That's not what I said!"

The First Emperor asked again: "What do you think of Confucianism now?"

Fusu replied calmly: "The idea is good, the purpose is good, but it is not practical. Not to mention that the world is changing, the country is changing, and people are changing, even the Confucian law has never taken into account the reality of the people. If you want to force it, either the country will change, or the Confucian law will change."

"'National reform' means to transform the country into a country that is suitable for Confucian law, and 'Confucian law change' means to make Confucian law become a law suitable for the country."

This eldest son of his went to the people to seek enlightenment and indeed realized something. He not only reflected on his past, but also deeply reflected on the Confucianism.

The First Emperor asked meaningfully: "Which do you think is better, the former or the latter?"

Fusu had obviously thought about this question a long time ago, and said: "I cannot judge which one is better, because it has never happened before, so I dare not speak rashly."

After hearing Fusu's answer, the First Emperor appeared calm and steady like an old emperor, but inwardly he nodded in approval: his eldest son had indeed made progress, and the method proposed by Li Nian was really effective.

The First Emperor's question was a trap. No matter which answer was good, it would be wrong. Moreover, he wanted to see Fusu's real answer, not an answer that Fusu deliberately gave against his will to please him.

Seeing that the First Emperor did not interrupt, Fusu continued: "From what I see, the former is almost impossible to achieve. How many changes would be needed to transform a country into one that is suitable for Confucianism? All things in the world are like the water of a river, always moving forward, and Confucianism..."

Fusu paused and said something he would not have said before: "There are many things that are behind the times. If we let the country change because of them, it will actually make the country regress!"

The Zhou Dynasty that Confucius missed had already passed, but he still wanted to restore the Zhou rituals. That was reversing history, going from the past to the future.

Fusu then elaborated on his thoughts: "As for the latter, it seems good to change the Confucian law to suit the country, but is the changed Confucian law still a Confucian law? Will it really benefit the country? Perhaps the Confucian law, which was originally meant to be good, will turn into an evil law."

It is quite good that he can think of so many things without knowing what will happen in the future, but this is also because of Li Nian. If it were in history, Fusu would not have had these thoughts.

But Li Nian brought changes to the Qin Dynasty, and the various schools of thought were also affected and changed, making Fusu know and hear more advanced than in history, and breaking out of some historical limitations that should have existed.

The First Emperor said: "So, since you think the former is not feasible and the latter is not acceptable, how do you think the Confucian way should be reformed to be useful?"

Fusu said: "I think Confucianism can be used to teach people to be kind and to teach them etiquette. Confucianism's many teachings on how to behave in society are very useful!"

The First Emperor nodded and asked, "What do you think about governing a country and governing the people?"

Based on his personal experience as a Qin official in the local area, Fusu calmly replied: "We should know where the benefits of the country lie and match them with the actual situation of the people, and then we can govern!"

At this point, Fusu sighed and said, "This is where my biggest mistake was. I didn't know the real situation of the people and the interests of the country, so I thought what I thought was useful to the people and beneficial to the country!"

After listening to Fusu's talk, the First Emperor thought of Fusu's experience in the local area as recorded in the secret letter. As a prince of the Qin Dynasty, he was beaten up by local people without being able to reveal his identity, and some people even deliberately bullied him.

The reason why he has his current physique may be that he was beaten up in the local area, but the First Emperor was not dissatisfied with Fusu's rough and strong physique, because it was healthy!
"Who knows that what I think is quite different from what the people think? What I think is a good policy may not be so in the eyes of the people. Conversely, what I think is a bad policy may not be so in the eyes of the people. In order to implement a good policy, we need to understand the actual situation of the people, and..."

Thinking of his experiences in the local area, Fusu added: "The people are not necessarily good. Even if there are good policies and laws, they must be enforced sometimes. Just being kind and generous cannot convince the people. Therefore, the country must have strict laws and strong regulations!"

This is also a truth that Fusu realized: a country must have strict laws. This "strictness" does not mean harshness and cruelty, but when the people commit evil deeds, there are laws to punish them accordingly, rather than letting them go.

Of course, he still felt that the original harsh and cruel laws of the Qin Dynasty were not desirable, but laws must exist and must ensure that criminals could be punished.

The reason why he couldn't get anywhere in that damn place at the beginning and was considered weak and vulnerable by the locals and deliberately bullied him was that the local laws were not strictly enforced and his fist power could not intimidate the locals.

Otherwise, why did the locals fear other Qin officials but not him?

Because other Qin officials would use physical means to convince the local people, but as for what he said about "benevolence", "righteousness", "propriety" and "faith", the local people were not willing to listen.

Therefore, he later changed his working style. The locals no longer dared to treat him the way they did at the beginning. Instead, they were very respectful of him and were willing to cooperate with him.

When he was in a good temper, the locals did not take him seriously and looked down on him. But when he became strong and started to use violence, the locals took him seriously instead.

It was also at that time that Fusu understood that violence was necessary to govern the country well. Benevolence, righteousness, truth, goodness and beauty are good things, but good things may not necessarily make people obedient. Sometimes they have to be enforced, and to enforce them, violence has to be used.

He also understood at that time the intention of the First Emperor to send him to the local area. Governing a country is not as simple as you think, and what you believe in will not work.

(End of this chapter)