Ying Fusu

Time passed day by day.

From late August, the First Emperor's coffin was brought back to Xianyang by Fusu, and was buried in the Lishan Mausoleum at the end of the month.

Then, as Fusu gradually adapted to his new identity as the "Second Emperor," it was already the end of September in the blink of an eye.

The year-end is approaching, and the change of reign title is imminent.

Despite being fluent in grammar and increasingly adapting to his new identity, the Second Emperor Fusu became slightly nervous before the end of the year.

"The first year of the new reign title..."

"Should we change it?"

"Is it... possible that we're being too eager to seize power?"

The central palace of Xianyang Palace is a side hall where Fusu conducted his daily work.

Then Fusu was seen sitting sideways on the imperial couch at the head of the hall, his gaze following the wide-open sliding door on the side of the hall, looking out at the sky.

With a casual remark, he drew a glance from the Meng brothers beside him, and they each let out a soft sigh.

—When Qin swept across the six kingdoms and unified the world, it effectively ended the rule of the Zhou dynasty and ushered in the Qin era for Chinese civilization.

However, the Qin Dynasty showed absolutely no respect for Zong Zhou, who was considered a "senior".

The best example of this attitude is that the current Qin Dynasty does not recognize the world or the state at all, and follows the Zhou Dynasty as its successor.

Therefore, in order to demonstrate the political stance that "Qin's rule did not originate from Zhou," almost everything related to Zhou rites and systems would be instinctively rejected by the current Qin Dynasty.

Did the Zhou dynasty extensively implement the enfeoffment system and establish numerous feudal lords?

Our Great Qin Dynasty implemented the prefecture-county system and centralized power!

Did the Zhou dynasty govern the country with rites and prioritize benevolence and filial piety?

Our Great Qin Dynasty governs the country by law and values ​​rules!

The same applies to the transfer of power.

—The Zhou dynasty emphasized that "a country cannot be without a ruler for a single day," and the succession of power was designed to be seamless.

As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Qin Dynasty maintained a very distinctive way of transferring power.

Take Fusu's father and grandfather as examples.

Forty-one years ago, Fusu's great-grandfather, King Zhaoxiang of Qin [Ying Ji], passed away;

Fusu's great-grandfather, King Xiaowen of Qin (Ying Zhu), succeeded to the throne.

However, before succeeding to the throne of Qin, King Xiaowen Ying Zhu first observed a year of mourning for the deceased King Zhaoxiang.

During that year, the Qin state had no king.

Only Prince Yingzhu, who was observing mourning for the late king as the crown prince, was able to do so.

Forty years ago, after the mourning period ended, Prince Yingzhu successfully ascended the throne, becoming King Xiaowen of Qin.

What is truly lamentable is that King Xiaowen, Ying Zhu, who observed a full year of mourning for his late king after his death, only sat on the throne of Qin for three days before passing away, following King Zhaoxiang in death.

Thus, Fusu's grandfather, King Zhuangxiang (Ying Yiren), ascended the throne.

Similarly, he first observed a year of mourning for the late king as the crown prince;

He ascended the throne after the mourning period was over, and sat on the throne of Qin for two years before following his predecessor in death.

In this way, within just four years, the Qin Dynasty lost three generations of rulers: Zhaoxiang, Xiaowen, and Zhuangxiang.

The ruler sitting on the throne of Qin changed from King Zhaoxiang [Ying Ji], who was over seventy years old and his great-grandfather, to King Qin [Ying Zheng], who was only twelve years old and his great-grandson.

Qin King Zheng, who was enthroned before reaching adulthood, also could not escape the tradition of "observing a year of mourning for his father before ascending the throne"—he observed mourning for his father at the age of twelve, and only truly ascended the throne as King of Qin at the age of thirteen...

Therefore, according to the usual system of the Qin Dynasty, Fusu, the second emperor, would have to observe a year of mourning for the first emperor before he could ascend the throne.

After all, even the First Emperor was not exempt from the custom of observing mourning for his deceased father, so there is no reason why Fusu would not need to observe mourning for the First Emperor.

Of course, this is only in theory.

A country cannot be without a ruler for a single day—especially the unified Qin Dynasty, the principle of which was understood by everyone inside and outside the court.

Fusu brought back the First Emperor's coffin and then naturally inherited the throne, and no one in the court or outside the court dared to cause trouble.

However, even though there was no conflict in the court, Fusu could not pretend that it didn't exist, so he completely disregarded this long-standing "ancestral rule".

To observe filial piety for one's father?

Obviously not—the conditions simply don't allow it.

However, we cannot completely go against this rule and disregard it.

Even if one has to go against the rules, one should still be careful and keep a low profile, trying not to let the world's attention be focused on the fact that "the second emperor has ascended the throne before observing mourning."

Clearly, the change of reign title in the first year was in serious conflict with Fusu's desire to "remain in power in a low-key manner".

That's the logic.

"But just as a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, a new ruler must also change the era name to the first year, right?"

"The First Emperor passed away this autumn."

"If Your Majesty does not change the era name, then the history books will record: In the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor, the Emperor died at Shaqiu; in the thirty-eighth year of the First Emperor, the Second Emperor did this and that..."

"Wouldn't this just make things even more chaotic?"

As Meng Tian spoke, he glanced at his younger brother Meng Yi and passed the conversation on as well.

Meng Yi frowned and pondered for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "Compared to the completeness of the Zhou rites, the Qin rites are ultimately not complete."

"After unifying the country, the First Emperor died only eleven years later. He didn't have time to make arrangements for many things, let alone establish a system."

"To put it kindly, Your Majesty can make decisions on matters that the First Emperor did not decide."

"To put it bluntly—even the First Emperor couldn't decide on this matter, so it probably won't be easy for Your Majesty to decide on it either."

After saying this, Meng Yi frowned, lowered his head, and pondered for a moment.

Then he nodded heavily: "Both are harmful, so choose the lesser one."

"Your Majesty, the reign title must be changed to the first year."

"And observing mourning and observing mourning—as the saying goes: the laws differed in three generations, and the rites differed in five generations."

"The Qin state of the past is not the Qin state of today."

"The laws that Qin used and followed in the past are not the laws that Qin must follow now."

After Meng Yi's meticulous reasoning, Meng Tian, ​​Feng Quji, and Feng Jie finally showed expressions of deep agreement.

They then nodded: "That's true."

Whether the second emperor of Qin should observe mourning for his predecessor, as previous Qin kings had done, remains to be discussed.

"However, the establishment of a new emperor and the change of the era name to the first year are matters that cannot be discussed."

"—In the first year of the new reign, the whole world heard that the ruler of the state had changed."

"Your Majesty must not hesitate on this matter."

Seeing that the important ministers were discussing the pros and cons one after another, and quickly laid out the stakes, Fusu hesitated briefly before finally nodding slowly.

"In that case, let us change the era name to Year 1."

"Regarding the national mourning for the First Emperor—I was unable to observe the full mourning period for my father, the entire nation should at least observe a year of mourning."

"Then I will wait until the eighth month of autumn in the first year of my reign to end the national mourning period."

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone in the hall nodded in unison and silently bowed in agreement.

After discussing the insignificant 'minor issues,' we moved on to the truly important ones.

"I have already established an empress to preside over the imperial harem."

"However, the position of Crown Prince remains undecided."

"Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?"

During the conversation, Fusu's gaze was mainly focused on Feng Quji and Feng Jie, whom he was not so familiar with.

Under Fusu's gaze, the two Fengs exchanged a brief glance, then lowered their heads, lost in a prolonged state of confusion.