I will make Qin Shi Huang immortal in the Great Qin Dynasty.

A picture appeared in Fusu's mind.

A burly man, nine feet tall, carrying a long sword, followed by three thousand disciples, walked through the gates of a certain country's capital.

The burly man stood at the city gate and shouted in a booming voice, "I am Confucius from Lu, here to spread the ideas of benevolent governance. Are you willing to listen?"

The captain of the guards at the city gate, looking at Confucius's muscular physique and the three thousand equally burly disciples behind him, swallowed hard and said respectfully, "Please come in, Sage Confucius. His Majesty is already waiting in the hall."

Fusu shook his head, trying to shake the image out of his mind.

But the image seemed to have taken root, firmly embedded in the depths of his consciousness, and he couldn't shake it off no matter what.

"Impossible..." he murmured, his voice much softer than before, "Impossible..."

Qin Tian did not press him any further.

He knew that it takes time for a person's beliefs to crumble, and saying too much would only backfire.

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the hall before settling on Li Si.

"Prime Minister," Qin Tian said in a relaxed, conversational tone, "if you encountered a Confucius like this, would you dare disobey his 'quotations'?"

Li Si had not expected the Grand Tutor to suddenly call on him.

He paused for a moment, then quickly recovered and bowed, saying, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. If I were to encounter someone like Confucius, I would certainly listen attentively and dare not be the slightest bit presumptuous."

His tone was perfectly controlled, possessing both the humor of a master comedian and the necessary propriety.

The atmosphere in the hall eased slightly because of this answer, and a few ministers unconsciously curled the corners of their mouths.

Qin Tian then asked several ministers, and Wang Ben's answer was the loudest: "This humble general has encountered a Confucius like him, and is completely convinced. I will listen to whatever he says!"

Meng Yi smiled and echoed, "There's a reason why such sayings have been passed down through the ages."

Qin Tian turned around and spread his hands towards Fusu: "See? It's precisely because Confucius was portrayed this way that his sayings have been passed down. If you don't listen to his principles, he'll beat you until you do. Once you're convinced, you listen; and once you listen, the principles are passed down. What's this called? This is called winning people over with virtue."

Fusu stood there blankly, as if his bones had been removed.

The image of a gentle and refined scholar that he had cultivated in his mind for over a decade collapsed at that moment.

Instead, a burly man, nine feet tall with muscles that vaguely resembled the character "德" (virtue), was grinning at him with his huge fist raised, his smile carrying a gentle tone that seemed to say, "Little Fu, would you like to hear my understanding of benevolent governance?"

The image sent shivers down his spine.

Seeing his expression, Qin Tian knew that the time was almost right.

He didn't continue bringing up Confucius, but instead changed to a serious tone, shifting the topic from jokes to real matters.

"Fusu, given your status and position, you should not be so engrossed in a single school of thought."

Qin Tian's voice turned serious, and the carefree smile vanished from his face. "What is your duty? It is to ensure the people of Qin have enough to eat, to let them live in peace and prosperity, to strive to develop Qin and make this country better and better. Not to argue about which school of thought is more superior or correct."

Fusu was slightly taken aback and looked up at Qin Tian.

"Any single doctrine has its limitations."

Qin Tian continued, "Whether it's Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, Taoism, or any other school of thought, they are just different perspectives on the world."

"The world is so vast that no single doctrine can fully explain or guide it. We should take its essence and discard its dross."

"Anything that benefits the development of Qin should be adopted and used; anything that benefits the people of Qin should be vigorously promoted. We shouldn't confine ourselves to a particular doctrine, seeing things as either/or."

Fusu's Adam's apple bobbed up and down slowly. He opened his mouth but didn't speak.

Qin Tian looked at him, his voice softening slightly: "Your advice to His Majesty to treat the people well and allow them to rest was correct. But have you considered that if His Majesty hadn't unified the world, ended the division, and brought China back to unity, who would you be talking to about 'treating the people well'? With several countries constantly fighting each other, how could the people live in peace and prosperity?"

Fusu's eyes twitched.

He had only seen his father's harshness, the burning of books and burying of scholars alive, and the heavy corvée labor and taxes.

However, he did not carefully consider that without the premise of his father unifying the world, the Confucianism he advocated would lose its fertile ground for implementation.

His ideas were more like those of someone who had already established a stable and prosperous era, and it was precisely his father who had laid the foundation for him.

"Your Majesty unified the six kingdoms, ending centuries of division in China and freeing the people from the suffering of war. The Great Wall was built to defend against the Xiongnu, preventing the people of the north from being plundered year after year. Highways were constructed to maintain the rule of Qin, ensuring that government orders reached every corner of the land. The written language was standardized, the width of cart axles was unified, and weights and measures were standardized, uniting the people of Qin into a cohesive whole, rather than a scattered mess."

Qin Tian finished speaking in one breath, then his gaze returned to Fusu's face, his tone unusually solemn: "His Majesty's achievements are unprecedented. You should understand His Majesty's intentions; he is doing this for the sake of all the people of the world."

On his throne, Ying Zheng's gaze fell on Qin Tian, ​​a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

Fusu remained silent for a long time, then slowly turned around, bowed respectfully to Ying Zheng on the throne, and said in an unprecedentedly sincere tone, "Fusu misunderstood Father Emperor before. Please forgive me, Father Emperor."

Ying Zheng said gently, "Between father and son, there are no misunderstandings."

Fusu straightened up, and the stubbornness buried deep in his heart finally relaxed a little at this moment.

He glanced at Qin Tian, ​​his gaze carrying a complex emotion. It contained both deep thought and digestion of the Grand Preceptor's words, as well as a lingering sense of powerlessness regarding the explanation of that "sounding words."

He didn't say anything more, but simply returned to the queue and stood quietly, as if he wanted to carefully understand those words and feelings in his heart.

But not long after, Fusu stepped forward again, this time with a more earnest gaze, and said to Ying Zheng, "Father, since the Grand Preceptor says that governing a country requires 'taking the essence and discarding the dross,' I dare to suggest that the corvée labor of the Qin people is too arduous. When I was in Shangjun, I saw with my own eyes that every year, laborers were conscripted to build the Great Wall, roads, and palaces. The able-bodied men in the people's families would be away for months or even years, leaving fields barren and the elderly and children unattended. I implore Father to order a reduction in corvée labor so that the people can rest and recuperate."

Looking at Fusu's earnest face, Ying Zheng slowly spoke: "A month ago, I accompanied the Imperial Advisor to various parts of the world, where we found many high-yield crops. Rice, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes have already been planted around Xianyang. Within a few years, they will be available throughout the entire Qin Dynasty. At that time, the people of Qin will no longer go hungry."

Fusu's eyes widened slightly.

He had just been worried that his father would refuse him on the grounds of building the Great Wall and the imperial road, but he did not expect that his father would not only not refuse him, but would also think further ahead and lay the groundwork for reducing corvée labor on the basis of high-yield crops.

Ying Zheng continued, "I am now cultivating the art of immortality, and time is no longer a constraint. Those things that used to be urgent are no longer pressing. I have plenty of time. Therefore, I have decided to halt the construction of the imperial mausoleum and release hundreds of thousands of people to return home. Fusu will go and announce this."

Fusu was stunned.

He bowed deeply, his voice trembling with barely concealed excitement: "Your subject obeys. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great favor."

"However," Ying Zheng's tone turned slightly somber, "the construction of the Great Wall cannot be stopped. The threat of the Xiongnu is too great; the people of the north suffer from plunder every year. If the Xiongnu are not kept beyond the pass, the people of my Great Qin will never live in peace."

Fusu's heart skipped a beat, but Ying Zheng's next words put his mind at ease: "We can slow down the construction, reduce the number of laborers conscripted, and extend the construction period, giving the people time to catch their breath. Once Qin has accumulated enough strength to eliminate the Xiongnu, we can stop the construction of the Great Wall."

When Ying Zheng uttered the words "annihilate the Xiongnu," they carried an undeniable force.

He was stating a decision that had already been made: the Qin Dynasty would surely destroy the Xiongnu, just as the Qin Dynasty would surely unify the world.

Fusu bowed slightly, his voice solemn: "Father is wise."

Li Si stepped out from the ranks, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty's action is beneficial to the country and the people; I second that proposal."

Wang Jian also bowed and said, "Your Majesty's vision is truly admirable."

Meng Wu, Meng Yi, Wang Ben, Feng Quji, Wei Liao, and other civil and military officials emerged one after another from the hall, bowing and clasping their hands in greeting. Their voices echoed throughout the main hall of Zhangtai Palace.

"Your Majesty is wise."

"Your Majesty is wise."