Ying Fusu

The emperor arrived at the camp below the low hill, and imperial guards and border troops patrolled back and forth.

Every soldier had a white cloth strip tied around their forehead, waist, and even on the sword and halberd in their hand.

At the very center of the camp, all the officials and ministers accompanying the emperor were dressed in mourning clothes. Under the professional guidance of the officials in charge of the Imperial Household Department, they carried the First Emperor's body out of the dragon carriage piled with salted fish.

The coffin and mourning clothes that should have been prepared were all limited by objective conditions, so we had to settle for second best.

The coffin was made from locally sourced wood, felled from a nearby maple forest, and simply constructed.

As for mourning clothes, the only expedient measure was the black robe and crimson skirt that the First Emperor had carried on his eastern tour.

The impact of the First Emperor's death has gradually been accepted by those who accompanied him.

On the low hill outside the camp, looking at the scene below and recalling Fusu's question, Li Si's puzzled expression deepened.

"Please forgive my intrusion, young master."

"—For some reason, I feel that you seem to be worried about things that are too far away these days."

"On the contrary, what you should be most concerned about right now—the funeral arrangements for the First Emperor and your own ascension to the throne—does not seem to be of much importance to you?"

Such a remark slightly dispelled the silence that permeated the air.

When Fusu turned his head in response to the sound and looked at him with a hint of doubt, Li Si took a deep breath and his expression became slightly serious.

"As far as you are concerned, the Sand Dune Incident was ultimately a close call but without real danger."

"Although the First Emperor's will did not explicitly establish an heir, the situation was already entirely in the prince's control, and no one could stop him from becoming emperor."

"—In terms of righteousness, the young master is the eldest of the late emperor's sons and should be established as the heir from birth."

"In terms of reputation for virtue—ten princes like Hu Hai cannot compare to the widely renowned prince Fusu."

"In addition, he held military power and had control over the overall situation, and was also in charge of the funeral arrangements according to the First Emperor's will."

"Young master, what is there to worry about?"

As he spoke, Li Si couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly, crossed his arms over his stomach, and sighed softly.

"Now that things have come to this, there are some things I'm not afraid to say, even if it might displease you, young master."

"—Your Highness's current situation and predicament are things that neither I nor Zhao Gao dared to imagine back then."

...

"At that time, Zhao Gao and I only thought that by forging an imperial edict to force the prince to commit suicide, we could remove the obstacles for Prince Huhai."

"Then forge an imperial edict to support Prince Huhai as the new emperor, and return to Xianyang as soon as possible to hold a funeral for the First Emperor, and then offer sacrifices to the ancestors and temples, so that Prince Huhai can ascend the throne as the Second Emperor of Qin."

"Once Prince Huhai ascends the throne, the overall situation will be settled."

"What can public opinion, gossip, or criticism do to Qin Er Shi (Hu Hai), who has already ascended the throne and reigns supreme?"

At this point, a rare and natural confidence and arrogance appeared on Li Si's face.

His face, which had been ashen and listless for several days, now showed a strange gleam.

"Now, with righteousness, reputation, military power, and the overall situation firmly in our grasp, there is no way the prince's ascension to the throne will go wrong."

"Young master, what is there to worry about?"

"—Does the young master truly believe in the Confucian saying: 'Public opinion is a fearsome thing'?"

"Do they really believe that utterly ridiculous saying: 'It is easier to dam a river than to silence the people's mouths'?"

"Oh……"

"If that is indeed the case, then young master, I'm afraid you've been irredeemably bewitched by Confucius's disciples and followers."

...

"So-called opinions and criticisms are nothing more than the barking of lowly commoners or incompetent people for things they cannot understand."

"The First Emperor adopted his ministers' suggestions and promulgated the Law on Possessing Books and established the crime of slander to prohibit people from criticizing state affairs. This is the reason why."

Why is that?

"--Those who are not in a position but presume to comment on its affairs are truly foolish and mislead the public, undermining the very foundation of the nation."

"Those who serve the people do not need to understand the country's policies and systems; they only need to follow orders."

"The wisest people in the world have already become high-ranking officials and ministers of the country, and there is no need for ordinary people in the countryside to think about the right or wrong of national policies and systems."

His eloquent speech made Li Si radiant and full of energy.

Even my back, which had been hunched over all this time, has straightened up without me even realizing it.

At this moment, Li Si showed no signs of the weariness and dejection one would expect from a guilty and dying man.

The opposite is like a national hero, speaking eloquently and freely before the emperor;

The emperor was speechless and completely convinced.

Unfortunately, this was still just wishful thinking on Li Si's part.

Fusu was neither able nor could he be rendered speechless and convinced by Li Si's outrageous remarks.

It is even less likely that he would be shortsighted enough to be satisfied with the throne just because of Li Si's words.

—The idea that Qin only lasted two generations was, in Li Si's eyes, just a dream, or even a deduction orchestrated by Fusu to create an air of mystery.

But Fusu knew very well that it was a real historical event.

What if Fusu did nothing but replace Huhai as the Second Emperor of Qin?

Then, that history that later generations deeply regret will be reenacted exactly as it was on this timeline.

About a year later, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang raised their arms and shouted in Dazexiang: "The Second Emperor Fusu was tyrannical and should not have been enthroned!"

Two years later, the Overlord will burn his boats at the gates of Julu City and break the backbone of the Qin Dynasty in one fell swoop!

Then, it should have been Liu Bang entering Xianyang first, with Fusu holding a jade disc in his mouth, bowing his head and surrendering...

"Prime Minister Li still didn't understand: why the Qin Dynasty perished after only two generations in that dream."

Li Si was engrossed in his fantasy of "presenting the flaws to the face of the enemy" when Fusu's leisurely words suddenly broke the atmosphere.

Turning to the side, following the sound, one sees Fusu with his hands behind his back, gazing down at the hill.

Looking towards the neighboring camp—and towards that simple coffin, a hint of regret occasionally flashed in his eyes.

"In that dream, the root cause of the Qin Dynasty's demise after only two generations lay in the Sand Dune Incident."

"It originated from the second emperor of my Great Qin Dynasty, whose ascension to the throne was illegitimate."

"Therefore, it gave the people of the world—and the remnants of the six states—an excuse to raise an army and rebel."

...

"Indeed, just as Minister Li said."

"In that dream, the people of the world rose up against the Qin Dynasty. The most fundamental reason was that the poor and common people could no longer make a living."

"Even when life became unbearable—undoubtedly a case of 'officials forcing the people to rebel'—the people of the world still dared not rise up in the name of 'anti-Qin'."

"Yet we still dare not call ourselves: Qin Wudao."

"They only dared to be evasive and vague, saying: 'The Second Emperor, Hu Hai, was tyrannical and should not have been established.'"

At this point, Fusu let out a long sigh and turned to the side.

His gaze toward Li Si was filled with unwavering certainty, as well as resentment toward the Qin Left Chancellor before him.

"They dare not rebel against Qin."

Even when they rebelled, they only dared to lie and say: "The uprising is to seek justice for Prince Fusu."

"Not only did they not dare to 'oppose Qin,' they even claimed that they would help our Great Qin to restore order."

...

"They wouldn't have dared to rebel against Qin."

"It was Li Xiang and Zhao Gao who gave them the pretext of 'helping Qin' to carry out anti-Qin activities."

"Li Xiang and Zhao Gao handed them a knife."

"The First Emperor had grand ambitions and was eager for quick success, so taxes and corvée labor were heavy, and the people of the world suffered terribly."

"But it won't come to that in the end."

"If it weren't for this knife, my Great Qin wouldn't have fallen into chaos and rebellion just one year after the First Emperor's death."

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1.

The black robe and crimson skirt, the most prestigious color combination in the imperial robes, were the formal attire worn by the Qin Emperor on official occasions.

Xuan Yi – Xuan color, that is, a black upper garment or robe with a reddish tinge.

Crimson skirt – Crimson color, which is a light crimson lower garment between red and yellow, similar to a skirt.