Chapter 54 Is the First Emperor Going to Find Me a Wife?

Li Nian said, "Your subject is not yet married!"

The First Emperor looked surprised and asked, "You are actually not married, my lord?"

From the First Emperor's perspective, since Li Nian was already twenty-six, he should have long since taken a wife and had children. After all, by the time he and Li Nian were this age, his eldest son, Fusu, was already capable of reading classical texts.

Moreover, ever since Li Nian arrived in Great Qin, he had been exceedingly polite to the palace maids attending him, never touching them inappropriately or teasing them with frivolous words. This led the First Emperor to believe that Li Nian was pining for his wife back in later generations and unwilling to touch other women.

Therefore, he had never inquired about Li Nian's marital status. To his astonishment, this fellow was still unmarried—effectively a middle-aged bachelor by Great Qin's standards, who would be subject to punishment under Qin law.

Could there be something wrong with this man?

A bizarre thought crossed the First Emperor's mind. To his knowledge, there were those who favored men over women; stories of Lord Longyang and the King of Wei were even recorded in *Strategies of the Warring States*.

Li Nian sighed and said, "It is not that your subject is unwilling to marry, but rather that my hands are completely empty of wealth—how could I dare to mislead a fine woman? In short, your subject was poor in later generations and could not afford a wife!"

The First Emperor asked with curiosity, "Does it take a great deal of wealth to marry a wife in later generations?"

Li Nian nodded. "If a man in later generations wishes to take a wife, he must provide bride-price gifts, a car, and a house. These three items alone can hollow out a man's family savings of many years, and even plunge the man's family into decades of debt. Some women demand even more, requiring far greater expenses!"

Although he did not know the exact figures, from Li Nian's tone the First Emperor knew it was certainly no small sum. He frowned and asked, "Does the woman's family not offer a return gift?"

Li Nian replied, "It depends on the place. In some places, they provide an equivalent dowry, but in most places, they do not."

The First Emperor remarked, "If that is the case, does marrying off a daughter not amount to selling her, and taking a wife not amount to buying one? Does the imperial court in later generations not intervene?"

Marriage involved population numbers and was a matter of state importance. In Great Qin, for instance, women who remained unmarried past the proper age and men who remained unmarried past the proper age were all subjected to penalties.

If everyone refused to marry and wed, how could the population of Great Qin grow, and how could the nation develop?

Before Li Nian could answer, the First Emperor recalled Li Nian mentioning earlier that the Huaxia of later generations had a population of 1.4 billion, and thought to himself that with such a massive population, they perhaps did not need to be as anxious as Great Qin.

Hearing the First Emperor's words, Li Nian fell silent for a moment. It was difficult to explain to the First Emperor that they were actually quite anxious as well, because if things continued this way, there would soon be a shortage of working cattle and horses to drive the nation's machinery.

The First Emperor looked at Li Nian, shifted the conversation, and asked, "Then do you wish to marry, my lord?"

Was the First Emperor genuinely considering bestowing a princess upon him?

Li Nian replied helplessly, "Your subject is also a normal man; how could I not wish to marry? It is simply that in later generations, I truly could not afford it."

The unspoken implication of these words was that while he could not afford a wife in later generations, he was entirely free to marry in Great Qin...

However, the First Emperor did not pick up on the hint. Instead of continuing the topic of marriage, he chatted with Li Nian about other matters of later generations, leaving Li Nian entirely in the dark regarding what the First Emperor was actually thinking.

When the meal concluded, evening had fallen, and lamps were lit one by one within the Zhangtai Palace. In the warm glow of the lamplight, Li Nian continued to explain to the First Emperor the solutions to the problems facing Great Qin.

"The problem of Your Majesty failing to establish an heir in a timely manner seems simple enough to solve on the surface—Your Majesty need only issue a decree establishing a certain prince as the crown prince. Yet what truly troubles Your Majesty is: whom to establish? Which prince is capable of inheriting the grand succession and ruling over this unprecedented empire?"

"This can be seen in the historical records: Your Majesty favored Prince Fusu, yet never formally established him as the crown prince. Your Majesty wished to select the most satisfactory successor for Great Qin, but Prince Fusu failed to completely satisfy Your Majesty."

The First Emperor candidly admitted, "We indeed hold Fusu in high regard. It is a pity that Fusu fails to understand himself, failing to realize that as a prince, he will one day become the master of Great Qin. Furthermore, his temperament is pedantic and foolish. I ask you, how can We rest assured entrusting Great Qin to him?"

With that, the First Emperor looked at Li Nian and posed a question that ordinary ministers would have desperately tried to avoid: "In your view, among all Our sons, who is fit to inherit the grand succession?"

Knowing he could not evade this question, Li Nian had no intention of dodging it. He answered, "Your subject believes that among the current princes, not one is fit to inherit the grand succession."

This was an answer the First Emperor had not anticipated. He had originally expected Li Nian to name Fusu, or Prince Gao, or Prince Jiangluo—any prince except Huhai. He never imagined that Li Nian would think not a single one of them was suitable.

The First Emperor asked, "What if We insist that you choose one?"

Li Nian replied very directly, "Then it would naturally be Prince Fusu. Historical records contain the most accounts of Prince Fusu, and most of them note his benevolent and lenient nature. Under Prince Fusu's governance, Great Qin might not reach its absolute zenith, but neither would it perish in the second generation."

The First Emperor nodded. He also believed that Fusu's leniency and benevolence could prevent Great Qin from perishing in the second generation. He continued, "Since you say 'among the current princes, not one is fit to inherit the grand succession,' does that mean there may be someone in the future whom you deem worthy?"

Li Nian replied, "Human beings are part of all things in this world, and they are also subject to change. Age, environment, and knowledge will all cause a person to change. For instance, are Your Majesty's thoughts from your youth the same as your thoughts today?"

The First Emperor narrowed his eyes, recalling some unpleasant memories.

In his youth, he had been in Handan, where he only wished to live a slightly better life and avoid bullying. How could it compare to today, when he sat high upon the throne, looking down upon the entire world, contemplating how to display his royal might and properly govern Great Qin?

Without waiting for the First Emperor to reply—though silence in itself was a form of answer—Li Nian continued, "The same holds true for Your Majesty's various sons. They, too, can be changed and given the opportunity to grow into the crown prince Your Majesty desires. The reason Prince Fusu clings so stubbornly to benevolent governance and fails to understand Your Majesty is precisely because he has yet to truly understand himself, nor does he comprehend the immense difficulty of governing a nation."

The First Emperor asked, "What method do you propose?"

Li Nian said, "Words are inferior to personal example, and personal example is inferior to environmental influence. The reason Prince Fusu has become what he is today is inextricably linked to the learning and growing environment Your Majesty has provided him. To change Prince Fusu, relying solely on verbal instruction is exceedingly difficult; indeed, it is likely to provoke his resistance."

"In later generations, this is known as 'psychological reactance,' commonly seen between fathers and sons, or masters and disciples."

The First Emperor nodded silently. His situation with Fusu was precisely like this: he could not convince Fusu, and Fusu could not convince him. Even after being reprimanded, Fusu would become even more radical when offering remonstrance the next time. Not only did he fail to change, but his condition worsened, as if he were deliberately opposing him.

"Under such circumstances, if one wishes Prince Fusu to change, he must be removed from his current learning and living environment and placed into another, allowing him to independently reflect and consider whether his previous knowledge and thoughts were correct. Only then will he undergo a transformation."

The idea Li Nian proposed was essentially a Great Qin version of a reality-transformation show, allowing Prince Fusu to personally experience the harsh reality of the common people and the myriad facets of life in Great Qin.

"During this process, Prince Fusu must conceal his identity and not use the title of prince. For someone of Prince Fusu's age, unless he is willing to change of his own accord, making him change is exceptionally difficult."

If Prince Fusu could not recognize his own flaws and perpetually believed he was in the right, then no one could change him—neither the First Emperor nor Li Nian.