My father, Li Shimin, requests Your Majesty to become the Retired Emperor.

Although Xu Hui didn't say it explicitly, Li Shimin could understand what she meant.

Last time, Empress Zhangsun asked Li Shimin to spare Yin Hongzhi, but Li Shimin felt that Empress Zhangsun did not care about him and refused in a fit of anger.

Xu Hui hooked her arm around Li Shimin's neck, her breath sweet as orchids: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, being an emperor has never been easy, especially to be a wise and benevolent ruler, which is even more difficult."

Without a broad mind and an inclusive spirit, it would be impossible.

And you truly deserve to be called a wise and benevolent ruler.

In my humble opinion, you surpass any emperor in history, including Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han.

No one can resist praise, and Li Shimin was no exception.

Li Shimin smiled slightly: "My dear consort, aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

Xu Hui stood up, placed her hands in front of her abdomen, and paced back and forth in the hall: "Your Majesty, what I said is not an exaggeration at all."

Although Ying Zheng unified the six kingdoms, the Qin Dynasty only lasted two generations.

On the surface, the Qin Dynasty fell at the hands of Huhai, but does Ying Zheng himself bear no responsibility?

He is probably more responsible than Hu Hai.

Li Shimin picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip: "Oh, what responsibilities did Ying Zheng have?"

"Firstly, he adopted Li Si's suggestion and established the prefecture-county system."

"What do you mean? Does it mean that establishing the prefecture-county system was wrong?"

"Establishing the prefecture-county system is certainly the right thing to do, but there is a saying that goes too far and is as bad as not going far enough. Everything should be done gradually."

Ying Zheng was too idealistic.

He established the prefecture-county system.

His son had no fiefdom, and when the world fell into chaos, no one came to his aid.

Isn't this a very sad thing?

Liu Bang didn't do it that way.

Liu Bang combined the enfeoffment system with the prefecture-county system. He established the prefecture-county system around the capital and adopted the enfeoffment system for remote areas, sending his sons and nephews to guard the local areas.

Combining the two systems allows us to leverage their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses.

Li Shimin nodded: "What you said seems to make some sense."

Secondly, Ying Zheng also bears a great deal of responsibility in the education of the princes.

The teacher he chose for Hu Hai was Zhao Gao, who was in charge of criminal justice and was known for his dark, treacherous, cunning, and ruthless nature.

With a teacher like that, what kind of good students can be produced?

If Ying Zheng had carefully selected teachers for each prince, Huhai wouldn't have turned out that way.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was moved, thinking to himself how many good teachers he had chosen for Li Chengqian.

However, in the end, Li Chenggan still went against him, forcing him to depose him and issue a kill order.

Does this mean I don't value the education of my princes?

"Thirdly, it is also very important that Ying Zheng did not establish an empress during his lifetime."

"If the empress were still alive, even if Ying Zheng died, the situation would not be in great chaos."

In fact, Li Shimin also largely agreed with this point.

Because the empress is still of paramount importance to a country.

The Empress not only managed the inner palace and served as a model for the nation, but also stabilized the situation in the court at crucial moments.

This prevented those treacherous officials from having the opportunity to carry out their schemes.

Fourth, when Qin Shi Huang was alive, he did not announce to the world that he had officially appointed Fusu as the crown prince.

If he had made Fusu the crown prince much earlier, and everyone in the world knew it, how could Li Si and Zhao Gao have forged an imperial edict to change the crown prince to Huhai?