Ying Fusu

"Winning at prostitution".

"A good name."

On his way back to the Empress's Palace from Xuande Hall, Fusu couldn't help but sigh as he recalled his wife and children whom he had just seen.

—In the stereotypes of later generations, "嫖" (piao) is closely associated with the word "娼" (chang), and is an absolutely derogatory verb.

But in the Qin Dynasty today, and even in the ancient China of the next two thousand years, "prostitution" has never been a derogatory term.

Instead, it signifies lightness, speed, and agility.

Furthermore, the pronunciation is also different—the derogatory verb known to later generations is pronounced in the second tone: piáo;

In ancient China, the more commonly used positive adjective was pronounced with the first tone: piāo.

For example, decades later, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wen of Han, the infamous Princess Guantao, was named Liu Piao.

Later, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Huo Qubing, the Marquis of Champion who became famous in later generations, was also appointed as "Piaoyao Colonel".

The fact that the original owner of the house named his eldest son "Piao" shows the high expectations that Prince Fusu had for his son.

It was just a coincidence that a name that sounded pleasant and positive in this era sounded vulgar to later generations.

Just like Fusu's great-uncle: King Wu of Qin, Ying Dang.

What a wonderful word "荡" (dàng) – originally meaning vast and flat, it is used to describe a person who is open and honest.

The fact that it happened to be associated with the surname "Ying" led to ambiguity due to its homophony...

"Did you hear what the Empress said just now?"

As he strolled along the palace path, his casual remark immediately sent a chill down the spine of the eunuch accompanying Fusu from the side and behind.

Not daring to delay for even a moment, she quickly stepped forward, bowing her head deeply: "This servant...this maid dared not have overheard..."

As he spoke, the eunuch's teeth were chattering and his back was trembling violently.

His panicked expression, as if facing imminent disaster, caused Fusu to stop in his tracks and sigh helplessly.

—Perhaps it's because he consumed too many "elixirs," leading to a progressively worsening of his heavy metal poisoning.

Over the years, especially in the last year or two, the First Emperor's temperament has become increasingly irritable and easily angered.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace, and even the concubines around the First Emperor, all served him with trepidation and utmost care.

They were terrified that a single word, action, or even a certain expression or glance might anger the First Emperor and bring about their own demise.

Over time, even though the First Emperor is no longer in power and the Second Emperor Fusu is on the throne, psychological inertia is still inevitable.

Furthermore, even the former Prince Fusu was not considered an easy person to deal with by these eunuchs.

—It wasn't because Fusu also had a bad temper, and would often beat, scold, or even beat eunuchs to death.

Rather, it was because Fusu was "upright" to an extreme degree that he loathed the eunuchs who were "surviving executions."

Later generations often say that eunuchs and palace eunuchs are mostly incapable of helping people achieve their goals, but they are adept at accomplishing evil deeds.

In the context of the Qin Dynasty today, it would be: eunuchs might not be good at pleasing their masters, but they were already masters of how not to incur their masters' dislike.

As for Fusu specifically, it means: stay as far away as possible!

It's best not to appear within Fusu's line of sight!

The same was true of Prince Fusu in the past, and it is also true of the current Second Emperor Fusu.

Especially just now, Fusu's opening line, "Did you hear what we were talking about?"—clearly sounded like he was looking for trouble and an excuse to punish someone!

No wonder the eunuch was so terrified that his soul left his body.

"I'm asking you: Have there truly been criticisms in the palace recently regarding the appointment of an empress?"

Realizing that the eunuch before him was frightened, Fusu could only do his best to put on a relatively kind expression.

These words finally put the eunuch at ease.

She looked up with some suspicion, quickly glancing at Fusu's expression;

Seeing that there was no anger or resentment on Fusu's face, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied, "Indeed."

"Most of them were the concubines and consorts of the First Emperor, who would mention them to those around them in their spare time."

"But outside the palace—I've heard that many officials and ministers in the court have quite a few complaints."

"Especially..."

"Uh... especially during the reign of the First Emperor, when Confucian scholars and doctors were largely neglected..."

……

In the end, the eunuch seemed to have exhausted all his courage, and once again lowered his head deeply with a slight tremor.

Before the eunuch, Fusu stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the palace path, slightly nodding, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"As an eunuch in the palace, you must not inquire about matters outside the palace, or even matters of the court."

His words, though somewhat serious, were not harsh, and finally made the eunuch unable to hold back any longer. He hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.

"This servant...this servant knows her crime..."

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty..."

Fusu simply nodded slightly: "Stand up and speak."

The eunuch dared not hesitate and hurriedly got up, wishing he could pierce his chest with his chin.

"What's your name?"

"In what year did you enter the palace?"

The eunuch answered the two questions immediately without hesitation.

"In the spring of the fifty-sixth year of King Zhaoxiang's reign, he entered the palace in the late summer."

"Shortly after entering the palace, King Zhaoxiang died, and King Xiaowen ascended the throne. The servants were sent to serve Empress Dowager Huayang."

"When Empress Dowager Huayang first summoned me, a little sparrow happened to land in front of the palace."

"Fortunately, Empress Dowager Huayang bestowed upon me a name, which is Xia Que..."

As Xia Que finished speaking, Fu Su nodded slightly: "Xia Que."

"That sounds festive."

Having said that, the footsteps that had stopped on the palace path began to pulsate again, and Xia Que hurriedly followed.

"Tell me about the situation in the palace."

"What are the salaries and allowances of the eunuchs and their female relatives? Where do they come from for their food, clothing, and other necessities?"

As he asked the question, Fusu's steps became increasingly gentle, merely maintaining a symbolic gait.

Seeing that Fusu wanted to learn about the palace's order, Xia Que finally breathed a sigh of relief and quietly began to organize her thoughts.

As for Fusu, he mentally opened his notebook, fully prepared to absorb the information.

—Time travelers are not always omniscient and omnipotent.

Especially in historical periods like the Qin Dynasty, which only lasted two generations and left extremely limited historical records, it is impossible for a time traveler to be "omniscient".

Moreover, Fusu was not a history major, and his understanding of Qin was not much greater than that of the general public more than two thousand years later.

For details like these that historians haven't explored much about, or even mentioned at all, one can only actively seek out information about them.

Of course, Fusu could extract the vast majority of information from the original owner's memories.

Unfortunately, the original owner's memories did not contain this information about the internal order and ecology of the palace.

—It seems that Prince Fusu did not notice these things, nor did he need to.

"In response to Your Majesty."

After a brief pause to choose his words, the summer sparrow's reply finally reached Fusu's ears.

"The palace eunuchs were generally divided into four ranks."

"The highest rank is that of the Eunuch Director, who oversees all the eunuchs in the palace, and whose rank is equivalent to two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

"Usually there is only one person in charge, and occasionally there are left and right commanders, but only in special circumstances."

"Back then, when Lao Ai launched his rebellion, the First Emperor established the Left and Right Eunuchs' Office to purge the treacherous eunuchs and collaborators within the palace..."

...

"Under the eunuch order, there is one Grand Secretary and three assistant Grand Secretaries, who are in charge of receiving guests and ceremonial duties in the inner court."

"The rank of Zhongshu Yezheling is equivalent to that of a thousand shi (a unit of grain measure), and the rank of Cheng is equivalent to a thousand shi."

"Those of the same rank as the Zhongshu Yezhe Ling and Cheng were the Shangshu Ling and Cheng, who were in charge of receiving, sending and presenting documents; the Zhongche Shu Ling and Cheng, who accompanied the emperor; and the Yongxiang Ling, who was in charge of disciplining eunuchs and maids."

"The positions of Minister and Assistant Minister, and the positions of Chief and Assistant Minister of the Imperial Carriage Office, were not exclusively held by eunuchs; occasionally, officials from outside the court also held these positions..."

While speaking, Xia Que carefully observed her footing, maintaining a proper distance from Fu Su.

At the same time, he did not forget to use his peripheral vision to observe Fusu's expression from time to time.

Seeing that Fusu remained silent and only nodded repeatedly, Xia Que continued, "Among the above positions, the highest-ranking eunuch, the second and third-ranking Zhongshu Yezhe Ling and Cheng, Shangshu Ling and Cheng, and Yongxiang Ling all belong to the Shaofu and are subordinate to each other."

"Only the Chief and Assistant Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Master of the Palace."

"There is one magistrate and one assistant magistrate. The magistrate's salary is 600 shi, and the assistant magistrate's salary is 400 shi."

...

"The third level of officials below the various departments are the fourth level: the Yellow Gate Attendants, the Painters' Studio, the Jade Hall, etc."

"These names are like the swords and shields, bows and crossbows, and armored officers in the army—they simply indicate where this eunuch serves."

"Without rank, without salary."

"Besides food and lodging, we can only rely on the master's favor."

Upon hearing this, Fusu, who had been listening silently all along, finally raised his hand gently, interrupting Xia Que's long and detailed explanation.

"No salary?"

Xia Que bowed in response: "No salary."

"The reason why eunuchs enter the palace after being castrated is precisely because they have no official rank or salary, but they have food, clothing, and shelter, so they won't starve or freeze to death."

"Most people who are not destitute and starving will not be castrated to enter the palace."

"—Firstly, it would bring shame upon our ancestors and make us despised as eunuchs left over from the saw and knives."

"Secondly, the process of castration is a matter of life and death."

"Of the three who are cleansed, only one will survive with a mangled body."

"And the older one gets, the harder it is to survive after castration..."

...

Hearing this firsthand information—from the victim himself—Fusu couldn't help but purse his lips slightly.

After a moment's thought, he secretly made a mental note of the matter: to reorganize the palace eunuch system and to provide a salary for the lowest-ranking "unranked" eunuchs.

Even a meager amount of grain, less than a hundred bushels—even twenty bushels or ten bushels a year—is better than nothing.

After all, the imperial palace is a forbidden area, and anything that happens there is never a trivial matter.

Such a crucial place is being run by a group of people who do not receive wages and are physically and mentally disabled, which makes Fusu feel uneasy.

To put it bluntly: how easy is it to bribe eunuchs who are provided with food and lodging, and at most a robe or two, but who do not receive a salary?

Let's not even talk about hefty bribes—a nice word, a feigned attitude of "respect," might just be enough to make these unfortunate people eagerly rush to risk their lives.

Furthermore, it's the same old story: the First Emperor's unification of China was short-lived;

There are too many things that haven't been sorted out, and too many institutions that haven't been established.

For more than two thousand years afterward, the founding emperors of each dynasty still had to put in a lot of effort to eliminate the ills of the previous dynasty and create a new look for their own.

However, the First Emperor was not only the founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty, but also the founding emperor of Chinese civilization!

When Emperor Gaozu of Han first established the Han dynasty, he could discuss with his ministers: "The Qin dynasty was so tyrannical; we cannot continue like that."

The Tang dynasty, having seized power from the Sui dynasty, could also righteously declare to the world: the Grand Canal will not be built!

Goguryeo is no longer fighting!

People will no longer have to suffer!

Then, without batting an eye, he used the newly repaired Sui-Tang Grand Canal to stride confidently into a glorious and prosperous era.

But the First Emperor could not.

No one told the First Emperor: which dynasty made what mistake, and we must avoid it.

No one told the First Emperor what a unified feudal dynasty should look like.

The First Emperor could only figure it out by trial and error.

He spent his entire life trying to figure out that the Zhou dynasty's policy of enfeoffing all the feudal lords was wrong.

If the Qin Dynasty wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Zhou Dynasty, it should abolish the feudal system and implement the prefecture-county system...

"It seems that the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty really had to be a time traveler."

"Only a second-generation emperor, who transmigrated from the future and brought with him the experience of successes and failures of two thousand years of feudal history in China, can save the Qin Dynasty..."

Thinking this to himself, Fusu took another deep breath and continued to ask, "The maidservant, is it probably the same?"

Then Xia Que nodded slightly, and then, as if remembering something, slowly shook her head.

"Generally similar."

"But they are not entirely the same."

...

"The lowest-ranking maids, like the lowest-ranking eunuchs, received no salary or rank, and only sought to make a living."

"Those with some power are mostly female officials in charge of serving the concubines and mistresses in the harem."

"At most four hundred shi, and the actual salary is even lower—twenty shi per month, two hundred and forty shi per year."

"But unlike eunuchs, they can only perform their duties dutifully."

"Most of the palace maids harbor the ambition to rise to the top and become the mistress of a palace..."

Xia Que's words were not cryptic, and Fu Su immediately understood.

—Soaring to great heights, he naturally gained the emperor's favor.

Entering the palace meant giving birth to an imperial heir and receiving the titles of concubine or imperial consort. From then on, she was no longer considered a maid and became an imperial princess, which is equivalent to a concubine.

Similar situations occurred in subsequent dynasties.

It's quite common for an emperor to drink too much horse urine and then casually push aside a maid he finds pleasing to the eye.

Among them, there are even exceptional cases where a single shot struck the soul, thus changing the course of Chinese history.

For example, Liu Heng, the fourth son of Emperor Gaozu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Han, was born to Bo, a beautiful concubine of Wei Bao, after Emperor Gaozu defeated Wei Bao.

Centuries later, Liu Xiu, the great mage who made the "time traveler" Wang Mang exclaim that he was a devil, was the ancestor of Liu Fa, the Prince of Changsha, who was also the son of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, who had a one-night stand with Tang Ji, a maid of Lady Cheng, after drinking.

Fusu had no intention of changing this matter—it wouldn't matter even if he did.

Future generations will eventually be driven by lust and take pleasure in the palace maids.

What Fusu was truly concerned about was the imperial harem system, which resurfaced in the original owner's memory after Xia Que mentioned it.

The First Emperor never appointed an empress during his lifetime.

Naturally, the harem system of the Qin Dynasty was not reformed into a new system that conformed to the "Great Qin".

Now, Fusu has brazenly violated the ancestral rules and set a precedent for the Qin emperors and even the emperors of China to establish an empress.

Next, naturally, came the establishment of a complete system for the imperial harem, starting with the empress and descending to her consorts.

The simultaneous clarification of the eunuchs within the palace and the women of the harem can be seen as Fusu firing the first shot of reform from within the palace itself.

After that, the focus should shift from the inside out, towards the outer court.