Chapter 41: The First Emperor Reviews the Bamboo Slips (Continued)

Ying Zheng sighed, deciding to observe Li Nian for a little longer to see if he had any good way to set Fusu straight. In any case, he himself was out of ideas, having already tried everything he could possibly think of.

After finishing the bamboo slips from his various sons, Ying Zheng ordered the court officials' bamboo slips to be brought in.

These slips were vastly superior to those of Fusu and Huhai. Not only were they well-reasoned and evidence-based, but the phrasing was also fluent and magnificent, a true delight for Ying Zheng to read.

Ying Zheng carefully read every single minister's slip, personally organizing and recording the suggestions inscribed upon them, noting down the authors' names and adding his own evaluations.

"This Zhao Gao is indeed clever, yet..."

Upon reading Zhao Gao's slip, Ying Zheng shook his head.

Zhao Gao was exceptionally skilled at divining his thoughts. Had he not known the subsequent history, he undoubtedly would have been pleased by this bamboo slip, even fostering the notion that Zhao Gao was a loyal subject.

Yet now, the better the content of Zhao Gao's slip, the more complicated Ying Zheng's feelings became.

Because the more problematic Zhao Gao proved to be, didn't it imply an even greater problem with himself, the one who had allowed Zhao Gao to climb to his current position?

If he had done no wrong, how could such a treacherous villain have been allowed to gain power?

A failure in discerning men and a lapse in employing the right officials—these were faults he could never escape!

Setting aside Zhao Gao's slip and picking up another, Ying Zheng frowned.

This particular bamboo slip urged him to reinstate the feudal enfeoffment system. Glancing at the signature—Wang Wan, the current Chancellor of Great Qin.

Ying Zheng forced himself to read on, discovering that Wang Wan was not advocating for a return to the Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment system, which carved the entire world into principalities of varying sizes. Rather, he argued that lands such as Yan, Qi, and Chu were too distant and difficult to govern, necessitating enfeoffed rulers to garrison and pacify them.

Wang Wan pointed out in his slip that conquering the realm did not equate to truly controlling it. Given the current circumstances, Great Qin was incapable of completely dominating the entire empire; therefore, priorities must be set, and choices had to be made.

Wang Wan's proposal was for Ying Zheng to first secure the core regions under his firm control while temporarily leaving the remote areas unattended—since trying to govern them poorly was useless anyway. It would be better to enfeoff several imperial princes to garrison those regions to fill the political vacuum, and only after digesting the core territories should he turn back to deal with the frontiers.

This was a transitional policy that Great Qin could implement while unable to control the whole realm, entirely different from the enfeoffment desired by Chunyu Yue and his faction.

'In future history, I certainly did not adopt Wang Wan's strategy!'

Ying Zheng knew very well what kind of person he was; even if Wang Wan's proposal possessed undeniable merit, he would never have adopted it.

Moving on to Li Si's bamboo slip, Ying Zheng evaluated: 'As for this man Li Si, his talent may be employed, but his person cannot be trusted. His loyalty is to the sovereign's authority, not to me, nor to Great Qin!'

If Li Si had been truly loyal to him and Great Qin, then according to the history recounted by Li Nian, Li Si ought to have strongly supported Fusu's ascension to the throne. With Li Si's backing, history would most likely have taken a different turn.

Yet the reality was that Li Si did nothing of the sort. Regardless of his reasons for colluding with Zhao Gao and Huhai, it was certain that Li Si was disloyal to him—or rather, disloyal to a dead emperor who no longer held sovereign power.

Ying Zheng could understand Li Si's approach; what use was a dead monarch compared to a living one?

Understanding it, however, did not banish the thorn in his heart. He would continue to utilize Li Si's talent, but he would never place deep trust in him.

After recording the problems pointed out by Li Si and the solutions he proposed, Ying Zheng continued to read the remaining bamboo slips.

The issues highlighted in these slips surprised and perplexed him to some extent.

For instance, some ministers even pointed out in their slips that following the subjugation of the six states, Great Qin's system of military ranks and peerage would inevitably be affected.

Since the court officials were capable of perceiving the flaws of Great Qin, why, in the history described by Li Nian, did Great Qin still perish?

My Great Qin is brimming with talent; as long as these capable individuals are properly employed and their correct remonstrances heeded, Great Qin would surely not have perished in its second generation.

It was entirely the fault of those two scoundrels, Zhao Gao and Huhai, who banished and murdered loyal and upright officials, leaving behind only sycophants who immersed themselves day and night in singing praises. Even if someone occasionally offered correct advice, it was ignored by them.

It costs nothing to squander one's ancestors' estate! The more Ying Zheng thought about it, the angrier he grew, and he issued another decree: "Prince Huhai's conduct is improper, and his heart is unrighteous. He shall be penalized by copying the Classic of Poetry ten more times, to be completed within a strict limit of three months for my inspection!"

However... forcing Huhai to copy the more than three hundred thousand characters of the Classic of Poetry twenty times over—compared to Huhai bringing about the destruction of Great Qin in the second generation, Ying Zheng felt he was being quite merciful.

When Ying Zheng read the bamboo slips jointly submitted by Chunyu Yue, Su Xu, and others, it was the same old Confucian rhetoric, urging him to restore the rites of Zhou, enfeoff the various kings, and practice benevolent government.

He felt a flash of irritation. Could these people not see the dangers of the enfeoffment system? If the rites of Zhou were truly so wonderful, why did Zhou fall?

Yet, upon calming down and reading further, he discovered that the memorials of Chunyu Yue and his associates were not entirely devoid of useful points. Take the matter of establishing an heir, for instance: designating a crown prince early on not only helped consolidate the foundation of the state but also reduced infighting among the imperial princes, sparing the country from futile internal consumption.

Their assertion that current Qin laws were overly harsh also held a grain of truth; Qin law could govern Qin, but it might not necessarily govern the entire empire—even though the examples they cited and the intentions they revealed left Ying Zheng rather displeased.

Having finished reading all the bamboo slips, synthesized the problems and solutions pointed out by the ministers, and compared them with Li Nian's accounts, a smile appeared on Ying Zheng's face. My Great Qin ministers are hardly inferior to that person from future generations, Li Nian!

Staring at the pile of bamboo slips, Ying Zheng pondered for a moment and gave an order: "Have all these bamboo slips transcribed into a duplicate copy and sent to the Six Heroes Palace!"

Inside the Six Heroes Palace, Li Nian was sketching lines on a wooden sphere.

The wooden sphere had been crafted by the artisans of the Wood Bureau specifically for him to make a terrestrial globe. Fearing inaccurate drawings, he had deliberately prepared many spheres.

This particular sphere was already the eighth one. Through the practice provided by the first seven, Li Nian grew increasingly proficient at drawing on the wooden sphere.

Just then, a guard entered to report: "Your Highness, His Majesty has sent someone to deliver a batch of bamboo slips!"

"Bamboo slips?"

Li Nian stopped drawing, somewhat curious as to why the First Emperor was sending him bamboo slips.

Could it be that he was sending historical records and official documents of Great Qin to help him gain a deeper understanding of the empire?

"Bring them in!"

Soon, two piles of bamboo slips were carried into the hall and placed before Li Nian. One pile was small, consisting of only a few dozen scrolls, while the other numbered at least several hundred.

Li Nian picked up a scroll from the smaller pile. The moment he unfurled it, his eyes fell immediately upon the author's name inscribed on the bamboo—Prince Huhai.

'It's actually something written by Huhai. I must see what kind of trash this beast can produce!'

Driven by curiosity, Li Nian read through the bamboo slip, his expression gradually growing bizarre.

The entire text inscribed on the bamboo was filled with hyperbolic praise for the First Emperor. From between the lines, Li Nian summarized a single sentence: My father Ying Zheng is awesome—the greatest awesome figure through the ages, unrivaled in the past and unmatched in the future!

'No wonder he manages to win the First Emperor's favor; when it comes to sucking up, I am far inferior. Why on earth did the First Emperor send Huhai's bamboo slips to me? Is he expecting me to learn from Huhai and lick his boots too?'

Li Nian picked up another bamboo scroll to read, discovering that the author of this one was not Huhai, but Prince Gao—that unfortunate wretch who, fearing his family would be implicated, had voluntarily committed suicide.

Prince Gao's bamboo slip was far more normal. Although it still contained praise for the First Emperor, it was not nearly as blatant as Huhai's, earnestly addressing two questions: If Great Qin were to fall, what would be the cause? And if Great Qin were not to fall, how should the challenges be resolved?