In the mid-spring month of the 33rd year of Qin Shi Huang (February), the affairs of the southern expedition and the northern war have been decided, and Li You, the Sanchuan Shou, finally left Xianyang and returned to Luoyang.

"Sanchuan is the gateway to Guanzhong, the throat of the world, the most important thing, as a county guard, the responsibility is not small, all affairs must be cautious, otherwise, not only will you be blamed, but even implicated in the family."

Li Si's instructions seemed tireless, and Li Youwei said yes, but before leaving, he still couldn't hold back and asked his father that question.

"Father, what is the purpose of Your Majesty's order to make Gongzi Fusu the main general and conquer the sea?"

In the past few days, the government and the opposition have been shocked by this appointment, and everyone is speculating about Qin Shi Huang's intentions, and Li You is not the only one who finds it difficult to understand this.

Li Si glanced at his son, and there was no need to hide it: "Your Majesty is preparing for what happened after death......

Li You was shocked: "After death, Your Majesty ...... him"

Li Si said: "Although Your Majesty has a minor illness, at least for a few years, there should be no major problems." ”

Li You breathed a sigh of relief: "Then why do you have to arrange it like this?" ”

Li Si shook his head helplessly: "It's just a rainy day." ”

Li You was a little strange: "Didn't Your Majesty want to live forever, so he hasn't established an heir for a long time?" Why is it ...... now?"

Li Si sneered: "Do you believe it?" Do you believe that Your Majesty can live forever? ”

Li Youne was speechless, and Li Si unceremoniously pierced this layer of window paper: "Who believes in this matter except for His Majesty himself?" ”

In the final analysis, Li Si, like his master Xun Qing and his brothers Han Fei and Zhang Cang, are staunch "atheists" who believe in the power of human beings, but scoff at the power of ghosts and gods.

"Father, that's unspeakable."

Li You looked out of the study with some humility, this sentence was amazing, but there were only two fathers and sons in the study, and even the female dependents and slaves were all branched out, so they could open the field window and speak brightly.

Indeed, since that group of magicians were pitted, they still believe that the emperor can get immortal medicine and immortality, I'm afraid only Qin Shi Huang himself is left, right?

The ministers all knew in their hearts that the day when the sun would set in the west, it was only a matter of time before the emperor died. Spending a lot of manpower and material resources to pursue the ethereal immortality, after all, the bamboo basket was empty, and the ministers did not dare to object, just to let His Majesty have a head.

Even Prime Minister Li Si didn't believe that the emperor could be immortal, not to mention, Li Si learned from some sources that the emperor's health has not been very good recently......

Perhaps, even Qin Shi Huang realized this and doubted his "Mandate of Heaven", he re-examined his sons and began to think, if he didn't survive to the day when he found the Western Queen Mother State and obtained the elixir of immortality, who should he let inherit the huge empire?

For special reasons, Qin Shi Huang did not set up a queen and did not have a son-in-law, so that the eldest son Fusu is undoubtedly the most qualified contender for the position of the crown prince.

But Fusu also has disadvantages: his mother's family is a relative of Chu, and Changping Jun, who betrayed the emperor, is Fusu's maternal uncle. He prefers the words of a hundred schools, which deviates from Qin's unwavering basic national policy for a hundred years. He did not please the emperor, and several admonishments angered Qin Shi Huang.

At the same time, the other sons gradually came of age, Gongzi Gao was proficient in music, and Gongzi Jiang Lu had the name of filial piety, and even the youngest son Hu Hai, who was most favored by the emperor, was 16 years old and began to be arranged by Qin Shi Huang to follow Zhao Gao, who had a broken hand and was no longer able to drive.

The position of the prince is vacant, Fusu may no longer be the only candidate, and the minds of the ministers began to liven up, just because the emperor is strong, no one dares to gang up and openly engage in Kowloon to seize the heir.

And now, Qin Shi Huang suddenly announced Fusu as the chief general of the Eastern Expedition, which immediately added another layer of fog to the already complicated battle for storage positions!

Li You said tentatively: "My father once told me that the prince is not a general, this is the unwritten rule of the princes since the Spring and Autumn Period......"

Hundreds of years ago, Jin Xiangong suddenly sent the crown prince Shensheng to command the army to attack the Dongshan Gaoluo clan, which caused an uproar in the Jin court.

At that time, Jin Dafu Rick admonished: "The prince is a person who worships Sheji, is in charge of the barn grain, and never leaves the monarch's side and night, so it is called a mound." The monarch is observed, and there are rules to follow. Following the monarch to go out on the expedition is called the Fu Army, and guarding the country in the country is called the prison country, which is an ancient system. ”

Either to supervise the country, or to supervise the army, this is also the basic function of the prince, the country can not be without a monarch for a day, if the current monarch has a problem, the prince must be ready to ascend the throne at any time, otherwise, it will cause chaos.

In this case, it is not the prince's job to lead the army to go out, the army is dangerous, if the prince is damaged, it will be a loss for the country, in case something happens to the monarch when he goes out on the expedition, and he can't come back in time to succeed to the throne, it is also a big trouble.

If you go out to win a big victory and return, the monarch will not be rewarded, the prince is already the prince of the country, and if he goes further, isn't he the monarch? And if it returns in vain, it will be reproached by the monarch and despised by the people, and it will be a disaster from then on.

This is the origin of "whether the heir of the king is suitable for a handsome teacher", and after the Spring and Autumn Period, it was also followed by the Seven Kingdoms.

If you know this, and force your prince to lead the army, you are either confused for the monarch, or you are learning

Jin Xiangong released a signal to the outside world: "I want to abolish the long and young!" ”

The most typical example is Shen, the crown prince of King Wei Hui, who once led his troops as a crown prince, but was defeated in the Battle of Maling and captured by Qi Sun Bin. Although he was redeemed by Wei afterwards, because of this defeat, the crown prince Shen lost the opportunity to inherit, and instead let his younger brother get the throne.

But Lees shook his head.

"Everything is just speculation, what His Majesty's intentions are, even the father can't understand it."

Han Fei said that the Tao is invisible, and it is used in the unknowable. This means that the most important thing for a monarch is that his heart cannot be seen through by his subordinates, and his intentions cannot be guessed by his subordinates.

Qin Shi Huang is a very particular emperor who pays attention to power and power, although he loves and hates clearly, but whenever there is something, he does not express his position first, let the ministers talk about it, and observe their attitude. On key issues, such as the position of the prince, he will not show his heart to anyone!

Although in Li You's view, Fusu was sent as a general, which was a sign that he had completely lost his favor, but on the other hand, this was not the emperor's attention and trial to Fusu?

Li Si said to the key: "Fusu is only a prince, not a prince, and the rules of the heir of the king are not suitable for the handsome teacher, which is invalid for him." ”

With the general Yang Duanhe as the assistant, Jiaodong Shou Heifu as the logistics, with 30,000 people, forced the North Korean to pay tribute, and then wiped out a small city-state, it seems to be easy, and there is nothing dangerous, it is simply a credit to Fusu. As long as the emperor is willing, he can use this as a ladder to make Fusu the crown prince.

But it is also possible that the emperor is to keep Fusu far away, so that he will never return, and after the end of this battle, another edict will be issued to let Fusu guard the border and not return to Xianyang......

King Wuling of Zhao did this, let the prince Zhao Zhang lead the army to crusade against Zhongshan Kingdom, and after returning to China, in the name of meritorious service, Gongzi Zhang was named the acting monarch, rushed to the remote Daijun, vacated the position of the prince, and let the youngest son be the prince.

So in the final analysis, is this the prelude to Qin Shi Huang's desire to emulate Jin Xiangong and King Zhao Wuling, and abolish Chang Liyu? Or did he deliberately give Fusu a chance to pave the way for himself to punish treason and accumulate fame? Even with Li Si's intelligence, it is still uncertain.

"No matter what, father, my family has to plan early......"

Li Si shook his head: "You do your job well, and you can't mix it up!" ”

If you guess the emperor's intentions wrong, jump out early, and find that the result is just the opposite, it will be embarrassing.

Although it was decided that the Li family would never be involved in the dispute between the princes, after sending his son's carriage and horses away, standing in front of the empty gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Si still couldn't help but sigh.

He remembered the excitement of his seventieth birthday.

He set up a banquet at home, civil and military officials came to toast and congratulate, thousands of carriages and horses in front of the door, Qin Shi Huang also issued an edict to encourage, and Li Si's men are all princesses of Qin, and their daughters are married to the Qin clan, this kind of trust and glory, civil and military officials, who can compare to him?

That day was the peak of Li Si's career in this life, and now the prosperity is gone, but the scene of that day is still vivid.

Li Si couldn't help but sigh: "Xun Qing once said to me that things are forbidden to flourish. I, Li Si, were originally a commoner in Shangcai, a common man in the streets and alleys, but His Majesty promoted me to such a high position. Nowadays, the position of a minister and a person who is not above Li Si can be said to be rich and glorious to the extreme. ”

"However, the extremes of things decay, and when things have passed the extreme, they will begin to decline...... Now Your Majesty doesn't know how many years to live, the position of the prince is vacant, the emperor's heart is unpredictable, and I don't know where the future will be! ”

Once a son of heaven and a courtier, this is a simple truth. Li Si knew that he seemed to be under one person and above ten thousand people, but all the power and wealth were given by the emperor.

If you can give, you can take it! In the Qin Dynasty, where the monarchy was supreme, this was all just a matter of the emperor's words!

Once the mountain collapsed and the second emperor ascended the throne, he Li Si was like a kind of literature, a rabbit died and a dog cooked? Or like Zhang Yi and Gan Mao, they were expelled tragically? Or like Qi Tianying, can he continue to be in power? I don't know.

The more unpredictable it is, the more I don't understand it, the more dazed and frightened I am, this has become the right prime minister of the empire, Li Si, the biggest demon!

The old Li Si looked up to the sky and asked secretly.

"If there really is such a day, how should my power and the wealth of the Li family continue?"

……

In March, the news of Fusu as a general and crusading against Canghaijun brought a big shock to Xianyang, and then spread to Jiaodong County by the sea.

In Heifu's mansion, after receiving Ye Teng's letter, Heifu was also chatting with his wife about the matter, and made an analysis similar to that of Li Si's father and son.

"What is Your Majesty's intention? The concubine is a female stream, I really can't understand it. ”

Even though Ye Zijin was smart, the emperor still stunned her by letting Fusu be the main general, and Heifu was the operation of the supervising army.

Heifu slapped his palms and smiled: "I understand." ”