I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Meng Yi and Wang Ben were both stunned.

How could a "villain" who murdered his brother and forced his father to abdicate actually create an unprecedented golden age?

This completely overturned their understanding.

Zhang Ying leaned against the rock and slowly uttered a sentence.

"Speaking of Li Shimin, we must mention something Xunzi said."

"The ruler is like a boat."

"The common people are like water."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

Ying Zheng's brows furrowed even deeper.

Xunzi was Li Si's teacher.

Of course he knew.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard these words, but hearing them from the mouth of this "disciple of the immortals" carried a completely different weight.

Zhang Ying grabbed a handful of potato chips, crunching them loudly.

"The meaning is very simple."

"This world does not belong to you, the emperor, alone; it belongs to everyone in the world."

"If you ensure that the people have enough to eat and wear, and that they have hope for the future, they will support you and treat you like a god."

"If you levy exorbitant taxes and oppress the people, making them miserable and unable to survive, why wouldn't they rise up in rebellion? Why would they wait for the New Year?"

"A good emperor is one who can ensure that all the people in the land have enough to eat and live a good life. Everything else is nonsense."

A deathly silence fell over the cave entrance.

Wang Ben and Meng Yi lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Ying Zheng sat upright, his body motionless, but his heart was in turmoil.

How can we enable all people in the world to live a prosperous life?

He asked himself, could the Qin Dynasty do that now?

He unified the six kingdoms, standardized the written language, the gauge of carts, and the weights and measures, claiming that his achievements surpassed those of the Three Sovereigns and his virtue was superior to that of the Five Emperors.

But were the people of Qin truly wealthy?

The heavy taxes and levies nearly crushed every family.

Every year, each household must send one person to perform corvée labor, repair roads, build palaces, and guard the frontier.

He was more aware than anyone of the devastation the people were in.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Zhang Ying assumed they hadn't understood and changed the example.

"Take Li Shimin for example. In his early years, he was definitely a good emperor."

"Although his methods of gaining power were a bit dirty, he did create the 'Reign of Zhenguan,' which was truly amazing."

This guy has a famous saying: "Three mirrors."

He said, "Using bronze as a mirror, one can straighten one's clothes; using history as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of dynasties; using people as a mirror, one can understand one's gains and losses."

Ying Zheng's breath hitched.

By studying history, we can understand the rise and fall of dynasties.

By taking others as a mirror, we can understand our own gains and losses.

Good! Well said!

This statement contains the key to governing a country!

He couldn't help but speak up: "I have a fourth mirror."

"By looking to the future, we can understand the future direction of the world!"

Zhang Ying rolled her eyes at him and made a "pause" gesture.

"Don't interrupt, let me finish."

Ying Zheng: "..."

Zhang Ying continued, "The 'Mirror of People' he mentioned refers to a minister named Wei Zheng, a formidable figure who ranked fourth among the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion."

"How tough is this guy?"

"Throughout his life, he offered advice to Li Shimin, confronting him more than fifty times to his face, and wrote eleven memorials totaling hundreds of thousands of words, all of which criticized the emperor."

"Several times, he angered Li Shimin to the point of losing face and storming off, but Li Shimin remained calm and chased after him, cursing him."

Meng Yi and Wang Ben were dumbfounded.

To contradict His Majesty to his face?

Chasing after someone and yelling at them?

Is Wei Zheng tired of living? He's gambling with his own head!

Seeing their naive and unsophisticated expressions, Zhang Ying gave another example.

"Once, Li Shimin was reviewing memorials when he secretly played with a fine kite in his sleeve."

"As a result, Wei Zheng came in, and Li Shimin hid the hawk in his sleeve."

"When Wei Zheng learned of this, he deliberately kept Li Shimin occupied with this and that, and kept bringing up his memorials."

"After Wei Zheng left, Li Shimin took out the kite from his sleeve and suffocated it to death."

Ying Zheng snorted coldly after hearing this.

"It's because Li Shimin was timid and afraid of Wei Zheng."

Zhang Ying chuckled.

"Afraid?"

"He's the emperor; killing a minister is easier for him than crushing an ant."

"He didn't kill him because Wei Zheng was right and listening to him would benefit the country."

"One dared to speak, and the other was able to listen; this is how the Reign of Zhenguan came about."

"What a pity," Zhang Ying said, changing the subject.

"After Wei Zheng died, Li Shimin's 'mirror of humanity' shattered."

"The reign of Zhenguan also began to decline."

"No one dared to speak the truth, and he himself gradually stopped listening to others, began to act arbitrarily, and became complacent with the status quo."

"They indulged in singing and dancing all day long, and also engaged in large-scale construction projects, conscripting countless laborers to build palaces and villas."

"Oh, right, he also started pursuing immortality, searching everywhere for alchemists to concoct elixirs."

After Zhang Ying finished speaking, she looked at the three people in front of her and casually asked a question.

"Listen to this, isn't it exactly the same as that Qin Shi Huang?"

Meng Yi and Wang Ben's faces turned pale instantly.

They embarked on massive construction projects, built palaces, and pursued immortality...

This...this is more than just similar, it's like they were made from the same mold!

Ying Zheng's face instantly turned ashen.

Every word was like a red-hot branding iron, searing his heart.

He wanted to argue, but found himself unable to utter a single word.

Zhang Ying, oblivious to the change in atmosphere, continued, "It's a common problem for emperors to want to live forever, so it's understandable."

"But what I despise most about Li Shimin is something else entirely."

"Marriage alliance".

His voice suddenly turned cold.

"Emperor who was revered as the 'Heavenly Khan' by countless foreign tribes actually needed to form a marriage alliance."

"During the more than three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, it engaged in 28 marriage alliances with foreign countries."

Zhang Ying's voice was filled with contempt and anger.

"What kind of bullshit logic is this?"

"If men can't win on the battlefield, are they supposed to pack up their sisters and daughters and hand them over to the enemy in exchange for temporary peace?"

"Those alien races are insatiable ingrates!"

"When you're strong, he kneels down and calls you 'father.' The moment you show weakness, he pounces and bites your throat!"

"Is it human to send a princess of noble birth to such a barbaric land, marry a savage, and never return?

"How pathetic! How lamentable!"

"Clang!"

A clear, resonant sword cry rang out.

Ying Zheng suddenly stood up, his long sword already drawn, its blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"That's enough!"

He roared, his voice echoing across the surrounding area.

"I will never be like Emperor Taizong of Tang, sending my daughter to a foreign land for a political marriage!"

"What the Great Qin wants, it will take itself!"

"If they refuse, I will personally lead a large army, raze their royal court, and take it myself!"

A boundless killing intent and domineering aura erupted from his body, as if to tear the heavens and earth apart.

Zhang Ying was startled by his sudden outburst.

He stood there stunned for a long time before muttering something under his breath.

"Actually, the system of marriage alliances existed as early as the Western Han Dynasty, but it was particularly prevalent in the Tang Dynasty and did not end until the Qing Dynasty."