Ying Fusu

"Gentlemen, perhaps there are many things you find difficult to say."

"Then I, this old man with half my neck in the ground, will defy the world's condemnation..."

Understanding Fusu's unspoken meaning, the hall fell into a brief silence.

Then, it was the eldest among them, and the one who should have stood up the most, that broke the silence in the air, Right Chancellor Feng Quji.

Then Feng Quji uttered these words, which drew sighs and a hint of self-consciousness from the crowd.

As for Feng Quji, he shook his head with a wry smile and let out a soft sigh.

"Since the Zhou royal family moved west, the various powerful states under heaven have been constantly fighting and attacking each other."

"During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, which lasted for more than four hundred years, there were thirty-six regicides and fifty-two states that perished; the number of feudal lords who fled and could not protect their states was countless."

"There were instances of ministers usurping power, such as Cui Zhu murdering his ruler, the Tian family usurping the throne of Qi, and the three families dividing Jin."

"There were also empresses and relatives who disrupted the government and damaged the foundation of the country."

...

"Going back further, there was King Zhou of Shang, who was bewitched by the enchantress Daji, leading to the downfall of the Shang dynasty;"

"More recently, there was King You of Zhou who, in order to make Bao Si smile, did not hesitate to light the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords, which led to his death, the fall of the city, and the relocation of the Zhou dynasty to the east."

"Duke Zhuang of Zheng defeated Duan at Yan, which was also due to the wickedness of his concubines, leading to internal strife within the family."

"In the Qin Dynasty, similar incidents were not uncommon..."

……

Ultimately, it was a taboo topic, and even with his sense of responsibility and courage, Feng Quji couldn't help but feel his heart race.

But in the end, the Qin Dynasty had a prime minister;

He paused briefly, took a deep breath, and forcefully calmed his racing heart.

Looking up at the head of the table, Fusu's face remained calm and composed, always revealing a gentle demeanor.

Finally, she pursed her lips, nodded, and spoke again.

"Initially, it was Empress Dowager Xuan of King Huiwen: Lady Mi."

"Over the years, it's not that no one has talked about it, or at least not that no one has thought about it, both inside and outside the court."

"Empress Dowager Huiwenxuan has made many contributions to our Great Qin."

"King Wu died because of the Zhou tripod, and the ancestral temple and the state were in imminent danger. It was Empress Dowager Xuan who turned the tide and saved the dynasty from collapse."

"But as the saying goes: merit is merit, and fault is fault."

"The fact that Empress Dowager Xuan made contributions to the Qin Dynasty does not mean that her mistakes can be ignored."

"Empress Dowager Xuan, in particular, appointed her cousin Wei Ran as prime minister and enfeoffed Wei Ran as a marquis and Mi Rong as a ruler, in order to seize power and disrupt the government."

"If it weren't for King Zhaoxiang's patience and his ability to wait for decades, outliving the Empress Dowager Xuan's clan, our Great Qin would probably have become a wedding dress for the Chu people a hundred years ago..."

...

"Then came Empress Dowager Huayang, wife of King Xiaowen."

"—First, during the reign of King Xiaowen, Prince Xi and King Zhuangxiang vied for the throne, and Empress Dowager Huayang wavered, leading to turmoil in the state."

"Later, during the reign of King Zhuangxiang, Prince Chengjiao vied for the throne with the First Emperor, and Empress Dowager Huayang repeatedly considered establishing a different successor."

"Even on his deathbed, King Zhuangxiang orchestrated the Huayang Palace Coup, intending to force him to pass the throne to his son, Prince Chengjiao, instead of the First Emperor..."

"—Please don't look at this old man like that, everyone."

"There are gods watching over us!"

"Does this mean we can pretend these things never happened just because we don't say anything?"

As he spoke, Feng Quji slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall with an air of composure.

After everyone looked at each other, glancing at Feng Quji and then at Fusu in the main seat, they finally lowered their heads with complicated expressions. Only then did Feng Quji let out a long sigh of relief.

"The calamities caused by Empress Dowager Huayang have far-reaching consequences."

"Forgive this old minister for speaking disrespectfully—Your Majesty's birth mother, Empress Dowager Mi, was never formally appointed empress by the First Emperor for one reason: the precedent of the Huayang Palace Incident served as a cautionary tale."

"Secondly, the kinship between Empress Dowager Mi and Empress Dowager Huayang was something that the First Emperor resented for the rest of his life..."

"—Our Great Qin has for generations intermarried with the former royal family of Chu: the Xiong clan of the Mi surname."

"As a result, all the kings and nobles of my Great Qin Dynasty came from the Mi clan."

"But looking back, the 'Empress Mi' of our Qin Dynasty were truly..."

...

"well……"

"Empress Dowager Huayang, and then Empress Dowager Zhao of the First Emperor."

"—I will refrain from speaking further to avoid using the name of the First Emperor."

"However, Your Majesty and all the gentlemen should already be aware of this, so there is no need for me to elaborate."

"In short, the trouble caused by the Empress Dowager and the Qi family has a long history and has repeatedly disrupted the Qin state."

"Even the First Emperor, with his grand ambitions, was unwilling to establish an empress throughout his life—and even dared not establish a crown prince early on."

"What I fear is precisely the calamity posed by the Empress Dowager and her relatives, which has repeatedly shaken the foundations of our Great Qin Dynasty over the past century..."

In his last sentence, Feng Quji spoke earnestly, even conveying a sense of deep sorrow and profound meaning.

As for Empress Dowager Zhao, whom Feng Quji can skip, as Feng Quji said, there is no need to elaborate.

Who hasn't heard of the Wheel King?

What about Lao Ai, giant penis, the First Emperor's stepfather, and all that...?

However, with Feng Quji listing these events one by one, the previously somewhat vague thoughts of the people in the hall have undoubtedly become incredibly clear.

—Over the past century, the Qin Dynasty has suffered greatly at the hands of the Hou clan.

Whether it's a queen or an empress dowager, there are very few who are truly docile.

Ultimately, it all boils down to what Fusu subtly mentioned at the very beginning of the discussion: the Empress Dowager has the power to appoint an Empress and bestow titles upon the Crown Prince.

Although it was only theoretical power, and not even a formally established power in the Qin Dynasty, it was still power nonetheless.

The core issue discussed at today's small meeting is how to handle the current state of Chinese civilization and the privileges bestowed upon the Empress Dowager.

From the perspective of Fusu, the time traveler, the issue is much broader.

—How should we treat the Empress Dowager and her relatives, this special group, at this juncture in time, before the calamities of the Empress Dowager and her relatives have ravaged Chinese history?

Historically, the power of the imperial relatives (后戚) arose starting from the Han Dynasty.

From the time Empress Lü Zhi enfeoffed all members of the Lü clan as kings and marquises, the scourge of maternal relatives permeated almost the entire two-thousand-year feudal history of China.

For example, Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who smashed a corner of the Imperial Seal of the State in anger when faced with her younger brother Wang Mang who usurped the throne at the end of the Western Han Dynasty.

For example, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rebellion of the Ten Attendants was triggered, and He Jin, the powerful general and relative of the emperor who was responsible for the downfall of the Han Dynasty, and Empress Dowager He, the mother of the young emperor Liu Bian and sister of He Jin, were also involved.

For example, during the Jin Dynasty, Empress Jia Nanfeng usurped power, which led to the War of the Eight Princes and further to the Five Barbarian Invasions.

Another example is the historical turning point from the Tang Dynasty's peak to its decline, exemplified by the deaths of Yang Yuhuan and Yang Guozhong, siblings, at the Mawei Slope Incident.

There's also the Song Dynasty's infamous Empress Li Fengniang, and the Ming Dynasty's infamous Empress Sun Ruowei...

And so on, and so forth.

Even in the Qing Dynasty, which explicitly established a system prohibiting the empress dowager from interfering in politics, a treacherous and disastrous Empress Dowager Cixi still emerged.

Judging from all this, it is no exaggeration to say that the Rebellion of the Empress Dowager's Relatives was almost the most inescapable poison in China's two thousand years of feudal history.

Whenever there is a great calamity of dynastic change and national upheaval, the figures of the Empress Dowager and her relatives always appear under the wheels of history.

From this perspective, Fusu, standing at the starting point of history—or rather, feudal history—should have removed this malignant tumor from Chinese civilization in advance.

But Fusu knew that the wisdom of Chinese civilization would not allow a useless and malignant system to remain standing after countless dynastic changes.

A truly malignant system cannot be sustained into the next dynasty.

If a previous dynasty was brought down by a malignant system, the next dynasty will certainly learn from the lesson to avoid repeating the same mistake.

The fact that Qi could become an "evergreen" and "undying" force throughout China's two thousand years of feudal history can only mean that it was not a purely malignant tumor.

As for why I say that...

"What Prime Minister Feng said contained much disrespect for the former kings and queens of past dynasties."

"But that makes sense."

After Feng Quji finished speaking, no one in the hall spoke.

In the end, it was Fusu who stood up from the imperial bed, put his hands behind his back, and sighed deeply.

"There are indeed many precedents of relatives of the emperor causing trouble."

"However, even so, none of the former kings of our Great Qin—or even the former states—have ever explicitly prohibited the empress's relatives from holding power."

"Do you gentlemen know why?"

As he asked the question, Fusu slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the faces of everyone in the hall.

Before long, everyone whose gaze had been swept over by Fusu had given their own opinions.

As the saying goes: A country cannot be without a ruler for a single day.

"To avoid a situation where the country is leaderless and unable to support a new ruler in the event of an accident involving the monarch, there is a saying that a crown prince should be established early to secure the ancestral temples, the state, and the hearts of the people."

The first to speak was Meng Tian, ​​the Emperor's Grand Tutor and General-in-Chief.

"Even so, it still cannot guarantee that if the monarch dies unexpectedly, the country will have a clear heir to the throne."

"—Emperor Qin Shi Huang, for example, never appointed a crown prince."

"Furthermore, even if there is a crown prince, he may still be a young and weak ruler who is unable to rule personally, posing a risk that power may fall into the hands of foreign ministers."

"—Just like the First Emperor, when he first became the King of Qin, he was still under the age of twenty and did not hold power. Instead, the power was held by the Empress Dowager Zhao and Prime Minister Lü."

"Therefore, granting the Empress Dowager the power to appoint the crown prince is to ensure the continuation of the ancestral temples and the state when necessary—such as when the monarch dies unexpectedly and no clear successor has been chosen."

"Only the wives of former kings and emperors would be willing to hold power on behalf of their children and take care of the country until the young and weak ruler comes of age and then returns power to the ruler."

...

"The same applies to maternal relatives."

"—Empress Dowager, being a woman, though possessing great righteousness, also had many limitations."

"At this time, someone is needed to help the Empress Dowager and temporarily take power on behalf of the young and weak emperor."

"Outsiders cannot be trusted, so naturally, the Empress Dowager's relatives, namely the maternal uncles of the young and weak emperor, can be trusted."

"This is also the origin of the terms 'Empress' and 'relatives'."

At this point, Meng Tian, ​​who had been looking down with furrowed brows and unfocused gaze, raised his head slightly and symbolically gestured towards Feng Quji.

"As Feng Xiang just said: Empress Dowager Mi was able to protect the ancestral temple and support King Zhaoxiang during the crisis, thanks to her maternal relatives, King Zhaoxiang's two maternal uncles."

"—It was through the appointment of Wei Ran as prime minister and Mi Rong as ruler that Empress Dowager Xuan was able to intimidate the court and consolidate the state."

"But as time went on, Empress Dowager Xuan became attached to power, and Wei Ran and Mi Rong became arrogant because of their favor, which led to the empress's relatives seizing power and causing chaos in the government."

...

"From this perspective, the Empress Dowager is like a double-edged dagger."

"Success was due to his relatives, and failure was also due to his relatives."

"—In times of crisis, the support of relatives and powerful families is indispensable in protecting the ancestral temple;"

"But after the crisis, the relatives who supported the ancestral temple will inevitably become the new 'crisis' or 'hidden danger'."

Meng Tian's words drew nods of agreement from everyone in the hall.

Even Fusu looked on with a deep sense of agreement.

As soon as Meng Tian finished speaking, the physician Meng Yi followed closely behind.

"During the reign of the First Emperor, I had the opportunity to discuss and present memorials to him on this matter on several occasions."

"At that time, all I could think about was that foreign ministers were not entirely untrustworthy—at least I had a clear conscience and would never be detrimental to the Qin state."

Upon hearing my words, the First Emperor merely smiled wistfully and said: "Even if the two sons of the Meng family were trustworthy, how many Meng Yis are there in the whole world?"

"How can a ruler—especially a young and weak one—distinguish between a loyal minister like the Second Prince of Meng and a member of the Tian family who usurped the throne of Qi or the three families that divided Jin?"

"As for the relatives of the empress, whether they are loyal or treacherous, they are ultimately the maternal relatives of the young and weak monarch, and are connected by blood."

"While not entirely trustworthy, they are far better than foreign officials who are neither relatives nor acquaintances."

……

The Meng brothers' words clearly explained the significance of the term "imperial relatives" in China's two-thousand-year feudal history.

In short: to avoid a situation where "a young and weak ruler is deceived by an old and powerful minister" during the transfer of power, it is necessary to retain this safety lock called "the empress dowager temporarily ruling".

The logic is similar to this: since a young and weak ruler is unable to govern personally, he will always be bullied.

I'd rather be bullied by my own mother than by outsiders.

No matter how much she bullies you, she's still your mother, and there's always a limit.

Furthermore, since the Empress Dowager was a woman, there was no possibility of her plotting to usurp the throne.

—At least before a certain female emperor surnamed Wu, everyone thought it was impossible.

In this way, the empress dowager, who could not usurp the throne due to her gender and would not usurp the throne from her own son due to her bloodline, thus ensuring the smooth transfer of power to the greatest extent, became an evergreen tree and an unshakeable figure in China's two thousand years of feudal history.

Even with negative examples like Empress Lü and Empress Wu Zetian, later Chinese emperors still couldn't completely abandon the empress dowager as a safety net and guardian of power transitions.

The maternal relatives, on the other hand, were the tentacles, or arms, that helped the empress dowager consolidate power and temporarily hold power for her son.

yes;

Over time, the empress dowager may become addicted to power and unwilling to return it to the emperor.

The maternal relatives are also likely to become increasingly unruly and arrogant, and may even become a destabilizing factor for the country.

But all of this is predicated on the fact that the power transition that could have potentially destroyed the ancestral temples and the state was successfully navigated with the combined efforts of the Empress Dowager and her relatives.

This is like two poisons, one of which is acute and will kill you instantly with no chance of recovery;

One is a chronic condition that can cause death if ingested, but there is a cure.

The concept of "relative relatives" represents the slow poison that Chinese civilization had to choose when faced with the age-old problem of "transfer of power."

Let's just get through this first.

Let's complete the handover of power first.

Forget about puppets—he's still the emperor, he still has the title of emperor, doesn't he?

In the future, they may very well be able to stage a comeback, regain power, and even revive the dynasty.

But if there were no blood relatives to protect the young and weak ruler, then let alone the future—the country might perish right before our eyes!