The delicate Suzaku bronze lamp burned silently, and the flames occasionally jumped, and the shadows around them trembled. Zhao Gao, who was standing outside the hall, shrank his somewhat rickety body, and subconsciously wanted to hide in the shadow of the bronze pillar.

Zhao Gao has been in this palace for more than thirty years, he is very familiar with every inch of the place, and he has personally wiped every corner with his hands. But every time I look at the bronze Xuanniao that is more than a zhang high outside the hall and symbolizes the supreme authority of King Qin, I always feel uneasy.

He knew that it was not the cold bronze palace that he feared, but the owner of this palace.

Xianyang Palace was built in the period of Qin Xiaogong, and it was the place where the Qin kings lived and handled government affairs. There are dozens of palaces along the long corridor, which is magnificent. The bronze palace with black as the main tone shows the majesty of King Qin all the time, which makes people fearful. But the old First Emperor gradually disliked it, compared to this cold black palace, he preferred the warm Afang Palace next to Weishui.

There are hot springs like jade, and there are beauties of the Six Kingdoms with Yingying Yanyan on the side, and even Zhao Gao began to dislike staying in Xianyang Palace.

This palace has been in use for more than 140 years and has gone through seven generations of Great Qin monarchs. It witnessed the transformation of the Qin State from a small border country to the final unification of the Six Kingdoms, and also witnessed the palace coups and rivalries in the past 140 years.

On the high steps in front of the Jique Palace in the main hall, the cyan stone steps have been imprinted with a strange dark red layer of flowing blood, which cannot be washed off no matter how much they are washed.

Even in the scorching sun, there was still an eerie chill in the huge palace.

The most recent one was the rebellion of Chang Yu sixteen years ago, and Zhao Gao still remembers the scene of the bloody river of Xianyang Palace in that rebellion. couldn't help but shudder, hurriedly gathered his mind, and secretly scolded himself for being troublesome, how did he think of that.

Your Majesty has been receiving that real person for almost an hour, and the time should come out.

"Hahaha, if it's really as the real person says, I will be able to become an immortal one day." There was a burst of laughter in the hall, and Zhao Gao's hanging heart finally let go.

It seems that His Majesty is in a good mood today, and there should be no need to kill people anymore.

Over the years, as he got older, the temper of the First Emperor has become more and more tyrannical, and just a few days ago, he killed dozens of palace people.

Thinking of this, Zhao Gao couldn't help but feel a feeling of sadness in his heart, although he had served His Majesty for more than 20 years and was very pleasing to him, no one could say that one day he would be inexplicably given death.

"Zhao Gao, you dog minion, where did you die?"

The emperor's laughter and scolding came from the hall again, and Zhao Gao hurriedly walked in.

"Quick, quickly bring my map of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains to the real person to see." The First Emperor urged.

It can be seen that the First Emperor is in high spirits today. Since the surrender of Tian Jian, the king of Qi, Zhao Gao has rarely seen the First Emperor feel like this.

Zhao Gao hurriedly ordered a few of his little eunuchs to fetch it, while he stood respectfully on the edge of the collapse.

He looked up at the Taoist who was sitting on the right side of the First Emperor. I saw the humane crown robe, black hair, about forty years old, clean cheeks, two long eyebrows hanging down between the cheeks, looking quite a bit of fairy wind bones, the appearance of a real person.

As if sensing someone peeping, the Taoist turned his head and smiled at Zhao Gao, his eyes were not sharp, but there was a feeling of grabbing people's hearts.

Zhao Gao hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to face it, his heart was awe-inspiring.

A few little eunuchs quickly sent the map of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains.

The huge map of rivers and mountains is spread out to be several zhang wide, and more than a dozen small eunuchs can be spread out side by side. Above is the territory of the empire drawn by the skilled craftsmen of Great Qin for several years, and the existing 37 major counties, great rivers and the Great Wall straight roads are marked on it, which is lifelike and very realistic.

The First Emperor left the collapse, impatiently walked to the map of his empire, stared at it for a long time, and then said quietly: "True person, if it is really as you say, if I take the heavenly opportunity, can I find the traces of the immortals in Penglai, east of the sea?" ”

"Can I really go to the turbidity of the grains and become a real person who coexists with heaven and earth like you?" After speaking, the First Emperor looked at the Taoist, his eyes full of promise.

The Taoist shook his head slightly, stroked his beard lightly; "Your Majesty's words are not entirely true, those who have attained the Tao need the right time, place, and people, all of which are indispensable. I only got rid of the turbidity in my body, so that I was able to prolong my life, but I did not have the opportunity to coexist with heaven and earth. ”

"Your Majesty, you are the true dragon son of heaven, the head of the common people, so what you lack is the right time and place. Penglai is located below the fairy world, since ancient times there is a road to the immortals, there are many immortals to and from the mortal world, this is the geographical advantage. That thing is likely to be the heavenly opportunity that His Majesty needs. ”

The First Emperor nodded, his face full of yearning, and he exclaimed for a long time; "I will do what the real person wishes, and build this road to heaven, and I hope that the real person will not bear me."

After a pause, as if remembering something again, the First Emperor turned to Zhao Gao and asked; "You seem to have said that the prime minister wants to see me, right?"

Zhao Gao replied respectfully; "Back to Your Majesty, the prime minister said that he had something important to ask to see, and he had been waiting outside the palace for half an hour."

"Announce him in, it just so happens that I have something to tell him to do."

"Li Si, you came just in time, I have something to look for you."

The First Emperor rushed down from the dragon couch and grabbed Li Si's hand, which made His Royal Highness Li Si, who was saluting, a little flattered.

In his impression, His Majesty has never been so happy since he unified the Six Kingdoms.

"Look, this is my thousands of miles of country." The First Emperor took Li Si's hand and came to the Jiangshan map, pointed at it and said proudly.

He does have the capital to be proud of, and the territory of the empire is unprecedented. He had power that no monarch had ever had.

"Now, I'm going to make it bigger." The First Emperor grabbed Li Si's hand tightly.

"Baiyue." The First Emperor pointed his finger heavily at the southernmost part of the empire's territory, "I want to turn this place into another land of Great Qin." ”

Li Si was shocked in his heart, looked at the emperor with some incredulity, and lost his voice; "But, Your Majesty, it's just a wild place. Why should we spend so much energy to conquer such a piece of land that has no value? ”

"Hmph." The First Emperor snorted coldly from his nostrils, "Their patriarch refused to worship the Son of Heaven, and refused to allow my Great Qin Shimin to go south according to the checkpoint, which has already angered me. ”

"And." The First Emperor paused, his expression was leisurely, as if he was savoring something with endless aftertaste, and his eyes flashed with a strange look. "An Zhenren has already told me that there is something I need very much, and with it, I will probably be able to live forever and become an immortal."

Li Si turned his head violently and glared angrily at An Qisheng, who was sitting leisurely on the collapse.

Sure enough, it was this person who bewitched His Majesty to do such a ridiculous act.

In the past, there were Lu Sheng, Xu Fu and others, who deceived His Majesty's trust for several years with clever words, and I didn't know what kind of magic this An Qisheng knew, so he could always be by His Majesty's side in just three days, so that His Majesty treated him like a guest.

An Qisheng faced Li Si's angry eyes, but he was not angry, he smiled slightly, and still handled it calmly.

"Your Majesty." Li Si knelt down and lowered his head, he really couldn't bear to watch the empire he had personally helped the First Emperor build be ruined for such a ridiculous decision.

"Weichen thinks it's inappropriate, the land of Lingnan is really a wilderness, and the people are fierce and refuse to accept the king, and the terrain is complicated, if there is no hundreds of thousands of troops, it is impossible to calm down. In addition, the wilderness is inconvenient and the transportation is inconvenient, and if hundreds of thousands of troops go south, it may be difficult to maintain food and grass. And...."

Li Si hesitated, then continued; "Now that the Six Kingdoms have just disappeared, the people's hearts are fluctuating, and the relics of the Six Nations still have great appeal among the people. In the past few years, His Majesty has extensively repaired water conservancy, straight roads, the Great Wall and palaces, and carried out large-scale conscriptions, and the people have been overwhelmed, and there have been many exiles and acts in Kanto. The Xiongnu in the north have defeated Donghu and annexed Aries and Lou Fu, and Tou Manshan Yu is raising troops to peep into the territory of our Great Qin. Although General Meng Tian had defeated the attacks of the Huns several times, the reinforcements, weapons, grain and grass that he had repeatedly asked for from the imperial court had been suppressed by His Majesty. ”

"The minister risked his death to admonish, now that the Kwantung group of thieves has risen, and there is an image of instability on the northern border, when there are such internal and external troubles, it is really not appropriate to mobilize troops and cause trouble in vain."

The smile on the First Emperor's face slowly solidified and receded, and he looked coldly at Li Si who was kneeling on the ground, "Li Si, are you talking about internal and external troubles in my empire?" ”

"I don't dare." Li Si lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and continued; "Your Majesty, these are just diseases of ringworm, as long as we recuperate and slow down forced labor, we can appease the world within a few years. If... If Your Majesty wastes national strength for this so-called absurd reason of becoming an immortal, I am afraid that Great Qin will have an unpredictable number. ”

"Don't you dare?" The First Emperor snorted from his nostrils, "You've already done this!"

The First Emperor still looked coldly at Li Si, who was kneeling on the ground, and did not speak for a long time. An Qisheng still sat quietly on the side, smiling at the two monarchs and ministers of His Royal Highness, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

Li Si only felt that Rumang was on his back, his back was soaked with cold sweat, and he didn't dare to breathe when he knelt on the ground and lowered his head to breathe, he began to regret what he had just said.

After patrolling Lishan five days ago, His Majesty killed dozens of palace people close to him. Although he didn't say the reason, Li Si knew that it was because the emperor saw his frame that day, and he sighed with great pomp. The next day Lees found out, so he reduced the frame attendants. The emperor did not investigate who told Li Si about the palace people around him, but killed them all.

This is His Majesty's warning to him not to try to peek into the imperial power again.

After all, he is old, and he is no longer the high-spirited and heroic young man he was when he appeared on "Exhortation to Expel Customers" more than 20 years ago, he has a family, a job, and more than a dozen children.

The First Emperor looked at Li Si, and the harshness in his eyes gradually subsided. He sighed and said; "Lis, I know your concerns. I have been with you for more than thirty years, and you have been by my side since you were a prince. You should know me best, and I have a reason for doing this. ”

"I can't convince you, just as you can't convince me, all I need now is your obedience. Go down, I will give you a year to prepare, and in the spring of next year, I will ask Daqin's 500,000 army to set foot on the land of Lingnan. ”

After a pause, the First Emperor said, "The inconvenience of the supply of grain and grass you said is indeed a problem, and I will order the Great Sinong to levy another 300,000 laborers to repair the road before the army marches south." Meng Tian's side, you don't have to worry, I gave him 300,000 troops, if he can't even defend against a small Hun, then what else do you want him to do as a general. As for the Kanto prefectures—"

Speaking of this, the first emperor's tone became stern again, "Inform the lieutenant and order the garrisons of each county to fully cooperate with the county guards to suppress the Kou, I will give them a year, if they can't quell the rogues in the governance, the county guards and the county lieutenants will be regarded as complicit in the rebellion, and escort the Xianyang Che Split and the three clans." ”

Seeing that Li Si, who was kneeling on the ground, wanted to say something, the First Emperor turned around and raised his hand to make a silent gesture, and the attendants surrounded him and An Qisheng and walked outside the hall.

Li Si looked at the figure of the First Emperor gradually moving away in a daze, looked at the Wangxian Shovel on his feet and the seven-star crown on his head, and was silent.

Is this still His Majesty, who has known him for many years?

After a long time, Zhao Gaocai, who was waiting on the side, touched Li Si lightly and said softly; "Prime Minister, I think you should go back first, and when Your Majesty figures it out in a few days, maybe he will change his mind."

Back? Li Si shook his head with a wry smile, His Majesty's temper is best understood by himself, and it is impossible to change what he has decided.

"Thank you, Lord Zhao."

Standing up and straightening his clothes, Li Si sighed and left abruptly.

******

Untying the seven-star crown tied to his head, the First Emperor lay on the dragon chair a little tiredly, his body has become more and more exhausted recently, and he will feel tired when he walks around.

Listening to the footsteps coming gently in the distance, his eyelids didn't open and asked, "Is the prime minister already gone?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the prime minister has just left the palace gate."

Zhao Gao bowed and replied, and said: "An Zhenren said that he was going out of the palace to visit his old friends in the history of the lower country, and the old slave came to report to His Majesty to see if he could ........"

The First Emperor nodded, still didn't open his eyes, and said, "In the future, An Zhenren can enter and leave the palace freely, and there is no need to report these small things." ”

"The old slave remembers, so I'll tell An Zhenren." Zhao Gao turned around and was about to leave, when the First Emperor called out to him again.

"Just tell the others to go, you stay and talk to me."

Zhao Gaonuo said and ordered the little eunuch outside the door to do it. Then he walked lightly to the back of the dragon chair and gently helped the First Emperor rub his temples.

"If Your Majesty feels tired, go to Lishan Palace to soak in the hot springs, I heard that there are a few new beauties from Yandi there, all of whom are unusually beautiful."

The First Emperor shook his head, "I'm not interested. ”

Closing his eyes and enjoying Zhao Gao's rubbing, his fingers slowly tapped the armrest, and said with a sigh: "The prime minister is also old, and when I saw him go down just now, his steps were a little staggering." He has been with me for more than thirty years, and he has always done his best, and he is the only minister of the Manchu dynasty who can appreciate my ambition. ”

But now that he's old, his mind isn't as clear as it used to be. Meng Tian asked for reinforcements a few times, don't I know, the 300,000 army is enough, even if Meng Tian is loyal, I can't rest assured.

"Yes." Zhao Gao laughed on the side, and a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"That's why I said that Your Majesty is wise, and sent Fusu Gongzi to the Great Wall to supervise the army, in case the general has the intention of disobeying Your Majesty one day, this is not also Fusu Gongzi is there, and he can't make any waves."

"Two different things." The First Emperor slowly opened his eyes, shook his head and said: "Meng Tianzhen is still very relieved, but that little rabbit cub I can't do anything about him, so I stay in Xianyang and shout every day that I want to reduce taxes and suspend the army." I was annoyed when I saw him, and let him go to the Great Wall to endure hardships, but I didn't know how much effort his father had spent to fight this world. ”

Zhao Gao's face showed a look of disappointment, but he claimed that it was true, and he didn't dare to say more, just focusing on the kung fu of his fingers. After pressing it for a while, the First Emperor also felt a lot refreshed, waved his hand to stop his movements, stood up and stretched his muscles.

"Zhao Gao, how many years have you been with me?"

"Since Your Majesty became the crown prince, the old slave has been following Your Majesty for twenty-eight years."

"It's been twenty-eight years." The First Emperor smiled helplessly, "At that time, I was still a young man full of battles and killings, and I was strong enough to fight a bear. In the blink of an eye, I am getting old, and my body and bones are not as good as before. ”

"Who said Your Majesty is old." Zhao Gao said with a smile, "Your Majesty didn't shoot a leopard in Lishan the day before yesterday, if you change it to a minion, even if ten people can't make it." If anyone dares to say that His Majesty is old, it will be damned, His Majesty will take him up and put him in a leopard and try it. “

The First Emperor laughed and scolded with a smile, "You guy, you just have a powerful mouth, like smeared honey." ”

"But I can't accept the old man, you see, in the past 20 years, I have destroyed the six countries and ruled the world, but my body is slowly unable to keep up with my ambition. Baiyue in the south, Xiongnu in the north, Qiangdi in the west, and places further south and north, I all feel a little powerless. ”

He stood up, walked slowly to the door of the temple, and turned around.

"I know what you say about me in private, saying that I am old and mediocre, right, ignoring state affairs and listening to the words of the scholars, pursuing those illusory and ethereal immortal techniques, I am not wrong." The First Emperor snorted coldly.

Zhao Gao was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately, mourning; "Your Majesty is wronged, how can the old slave have such a big dog guts, dare to say that."

Qin Shi Huang waved his hand, "Get up, I didn't blame you." Looking at the somewhat gloomy sky outside the temple gate, he said faintly for a long time: "Actually, I am afraid. ”

"You are all afraid of me, because I can kill you. But I am also afraid, because I too will be born, old, sick and die. ”

"Neither my father nor my grandfather were long-lived people, and I am indeed afraid."

"But I'm not reconciled." The first emperor's originally somewhat cloudy eyes suddenly burst into light, his fists clenched, and he raised his head to look at the sky,

"I am not reconciled, I want to be an emperor through the ages, not only to be unmatched in the past, but also to be unmatched in future generations. In this world, there are many, many places that I want to conquer, Baiyue in the south is only my first step, Touman in the north, I will sooner or later take off his head to make a night pot, and further south, further north, everything under this sky, I will conquer, I will be the real son of heaven. ”

"Now you know what I'm thinking." He turned around and looked down at Zhao Gao, who was kneeling on the ground. "Even if there is a little hope, I will not let it go, those monks, they ask for money, I give it, I want boys and girls, I also give it, but they still deceived me, so I wiped out their nine clans."

"Fortunately, now I have An Zhenren."

The First Emperor slowly calmed down and let out a long breath. sat back on the dragon chair that belonged to him, and asked condescendingly, "Zhao Gao, do you believe in the art of immortality?" ”

Zhao, who was kneeling on the ground, lowered his head: "The old slave believes." ”

"No, you don't believe it." The First Emperor shook his head and looked at him with a playful smile, "But I believe in it." ”

"If there was a man thirty years ago, when you were a naughty boy, groveling in front of a prisoner in the Proton Mansion in Handan. He told you that you will rule the seven kingdoms with the honor of the Ninety-Five and become the first emperor of the ages. ”

"If the man's appearance hadn't changed a little in the last thirty years. You say it's you, will you believe him? ”

Zhao Gao looked at the First Emperor who was high above, his eyes were already showing a little madness, and he remembered An Qisheng's breathtaking eyes, and the chill in his heart went deep into the bone marrow, and he couldn't help but tremble with fear, knelt on the ground and bowed his head deeply and said in a trembling voice; "Your Majesty is wise, the old slave believes."

Only one sentence flashed through his mind at this moment, a sentence he had seen when he was a young man and copied history books with a scribe.

The country will be in chaos, and there will be demons!

******

Li Si did not leave in a hurry, but went to the Prime Minister's Office not far from the palace.

As soon as he left the palace gate, he didn't go far, and Feng Quji, the right prime minister outside the Hou Wu gate, and others greeted him.

Li Si watched everyone coming, shook his head with a wry smile, and sighed; "Your Majesty can't listen to me at all now, and besides, he also wants us to prepare the grain, grass and supplies of the 500,000 army, and to conquer the land of Baiyue in the south next spring."

"What?" Feng Qu was shocked, his face full of incredulity. "Southern Expedition to Baiyue?"

"I'm going to see Your Majesty."

"Right Minister, let's go back." Li Si said silently behind Feng Quji, his words full of melancholy. "Your Majesty is only thinking about becoming an immortal now, and he doesn't care about anything else."

"Your Majesty is no longer the wise King of Qin in the past, this time the southern expedition to Baiyue is what the warlock said, let Your Majesty send a large army to Lingnan to get something."

Feng Qu quickly turned his head and looked at the empty road after the first emperor left, and was melancholy for a long time, and suddenly paused, and said hatefully: "It's all those demons!" ”

"If I want to be a great Qin, the foundation of the sixth generation, do I have to repeat the footsteps of Shang Zhou."

Li Si hurriedly covered Feng Quji's mouth and said in horror; "Lao Feng, you don't want to live anymore, you dare to say this kind of rebellious words." Looking back at the guards standing in front of them from a distance, the only one standing next to him was Shaofu Zhanghan, who had always been close to Feng Quji, so he was relieved.

said to Zhang Han; "Zhang Shaofu, I don't know why you came to see Your Majesty?"

Zhang Han smiled bitterly and said; "Prime Minister, Xia Guan originally had something important to tell His Majesty, and this year's revenue from the mountain and river salt tax has been reduced by nearly thirty percent because of the four bandits in the Kanto region, so I want to tell Your Majesty to decide, but now it seems, hehe, it seems that there is no need for this."

Lees nodded and said; "There is no need to bother Your Majesty in such matters, Your Majesty has already given instructions. After informing the national lieutenant, the Prime Minister's Office will notify the local government to come forward to clean it up. After a pause, he said; Lord Wei has been seriously ill and bedridden for a long time, Lao Feng, it just so happens that we are going to visit Lord Captain with Zhang Shaofu. After speaking, he grabbed Feng and walked quickly to the outside of the palace.

Zhang Han followed behind the two and walked silently in the path of the bluestone road in the palace. The sky has gradually darkened, the long-standing dark clouds are slowly surging towards the middle of the Qin Palace, the strong wind is blowing the black water Qin flag in the palace, Zhang Han's eyes are all a vast color, and he can't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart.

The northern frontier was unstable, and the thieves were everywhere, but the slowly aging emperor was obsessed with the words of Fang Shi's immortality. The entrepreneurial ministers of the empire have died of old age and illness, first the generals Wang Jian and Wang Ben father and son, and now it is the turn of the Taiwei Wei.

In the newborn empire, there is a dying twilight.

Is this Great Qin's heaven really going to change?