Chapter Fourteen: How Should I Reward Fusu?
“Oh?” Emperor Qin Shi Huang cast a surprised glance at Li Si, thinking to himself, You noticed it too. Yet on the surface, he feigned disinterest and asked, “Then tell me, what is so good about this thing?”
Li Si’s mind raced swiftly. Suddenly, he recalled some strange tales Xu Fu had once told him, as well as some ghostly stories mentioned by Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng.
Thus, Li Si’s eyes brightened as he said, “Your Majesty, spirits and gods are always unfathomable, and there are no shortage of vengeful ghosts and fierce phantoms.”
“I have heard that vengeful spirits fear loud noises.”
“Especially the thunder from the heavens, which is said to suppress these evil entities!”
“If we were to use the heavenly thunder created by Prince Fusu as firecrackers to honor the gods, wouldn’t that be a powerful weapon against these malevolent spirits?”
Qin Shi Huang looked at Li Si deeply and nodded, “Hmm, hearing it put that way, this thing isn’t entirely useless; it does have some merit.”
“Yes, exactly!” Li Si hastily agreed.
He deliberately avoided mentioning the other functions of the heavenly thunder, only emphasizing its use as firecrackers to honor the gods. That way, the heavenly thunder would seem like a trivial, dispensable item.
While Li Si was scheming thus, Qin Shi Huang frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, “If the Chancellor finds it useful, then Su’er has indeed contributed merit.”
“Now, how should I reward him?”
Ah?
Li Si was momentarily stunned; this was not the outcome he had intended.
He had spoken so much precisely to conceal the true power of the heavenly thunder, aiming to diminish its value and thus make Qin Shi Huang underestimate Fusu.
How did the conversation suddenly turn into a reward for Fusu?
Li Si was at a loss.
The next moment, Li Si slapped himself across the face.
Then he quickly followed up, “This is but a minor matter; it doesn’t really require a reward, does it?”
Upon hearing this, Qin Shi Huang immediately grew displeased, stopping in his tracks to look at Li Si. “Chancellor, that’s not quite right!”
“You are a leading figure of the Legalist school; merits and faults, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined!”
“Haven’t you always emphasized these principles?”
“If Fusu is guilty, I punish him!”
“Now that Fusu has merit, should I not reward him?”
Li Si widened his eyes, about to slap himself again, but smiled as he said, “Your Majesty is correct; merits must be rewarded, faults punished, errors corrected, and achievements rewarded!”
“Deserved rewards, deserved indeed!!”
...
Yangcheng.
Among the many farmlands cultivated by numerous farmers, a petty official approached.
He looked at everyone arrogantly and declared, “Wages are being distributed, wages are being distributed.”
Everyone’s faces lit up with hope as they looked his way.
The official pointed to the crops in the fields and said, “This year’s harvest was poor; your wages will be cut by thirty percent!”
At this, the joy on everyone’s faces froze.
The official then pointed to all those present and said, “You have consumed twenty percent on food and drink!”
“Of the remaining fifty percent, forty percent must be paid in taxes!”
“So according to the employment contract, each person will only receive ten percent of the wages!”
Smack!
Chen Sheng slammed his hoe hard onto the ground, wiped the sweat from his brow with a white handkerchief, and cursed softly, “Damn it, is there any way for people to live anymore?”
“Working day and night, yet only receiving ten percent of the wages!”
“This world is truly fucked!”
...
At that moment, an old farmer approached immediately and advised, “Little Chen, don’t speak recklessly!”
“If anyone with ill intent hears you, you might find yourself in trouble.”
Chen Sheng glanced at the old farmer, his anger simmering as he said, “Old Chen, I just can’t understand. If I spend my whole life working like this, barely able to fill my belly, what’s the point of living?”
“I’ve made up my mind; I’m going to join the army!”
“I’m going to take a gamble!”
The old farmer looked at the vigorous and upright young man Chen Sheng and nodded, “Joining the army is good; it’s better than wasting your whole life here doing nothing!”
“Little Chen, while you’re young, do what you want to do. Don’t end up like me, old and unable to do anything.”
Chen Sheng nodded, eyes filled with hope. “Old Chen, if one day I soar high and succeed, I will take care of you in your old age!”
Saying this with great spirit, Chen Sheng strode toward the distant fields.
Old Chen watched Chen Sheng’s retreating figure, eyes brimming with blessing.
This boy is no ordinary pond fish!
He will surely achieve great things in the future...
“Chen Sheng!!”
Chen Sheng, who had just reached the edge of the field, was startled and turned around in surprise.
There stood the squad leader responsible for their household, accompanied by two imperial guards, pointing as he introduced, “This is Chen Sheng!”
The two guards narrowed their eyes and barked sharply, “Seize him!”
Suddenly, soldiers behind the guards rushed forward and pinned Chen Sheng to the ground.
Chen Sheng shouted loudly, “Sir, sir, I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Why are you arresting me?”
One guard immediately shackled Chen Sheng, speaking harshly, “Do you not know whether you’ve done wrong or not?”
Chen Sheng was dumbfounded!
How could he possibly know?
He had only thought of it but hadn’t acted yet!
How could they have found out already?
While Chen Sheng was puzzled, a young man also shackled nearby smiled and said, “Officer, officer, if you say I’m guilty, then I’m guilty!”
“I, Wu Guang, will not argue!”
“We are subjects of the Great Qin, protected by its laws, and naturally must abide by its judgments.”
The young man spoke while nodding and bowing obsequiously.
The guard nodded approvingly, “Hmm, good attitude. We’ll make sure your journey is less harsh.”
Hearing this, the young man praised even more earnestly, “Officer, rest assured, whatever you say, I will obey.”
“Cooperate fully, completely!”
“You can ask around; I, Wu Guang, am a good man from the surrounding villages. Never committed a crime, never even killed a chicken!”
The guard nodded again, glanced coldly at the still defiant Chen Sheng, and snorted, “Learn from him!”
“You behave yourself. On this trip back to the capital, we’ll make sure you suffer less.”
Chen Sheng’s eyes grew even more bewildered upon hearing the capital.
Not only was Chen Sheng confused about why they had been arrested, but Wu Guang was equally baffled, and even the guards who captured them could not explain the reason clearly.
Thus, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang met prematurely and were escorted to the capital together.
...
Xianyang Palace.
Events unfolding over several days had begun to spiral out of control.
Helpless, Zhao Gao seized the opportunity during Hu Hai’s law lessons to meet with him.
Hu Hai had been restless these days.
Especially after hearing that Fusu had not been severely punished and seemed to have stirred up quite a commotion, gradually diminishing the severity of his crime.
Hu Hai was furious.
So much so that two days ago, he accidentally killed a palace maid.
The matter was highly secret; Fu Wangcai spent a great deal of money to handle it and suppress the incident forcefully.
Upon learning this, Zhao Gao’s expression changed drastically.
At a time like this, such an incident was clearly providing the enemy with an opportunity.
Zhao Gao began to harbor resentment toward Hu Hai, so his law lessons became exceedingly harsh.
Finally, Zhao Gao looked at Hu Hai and sighed, “Paper cannot cover fire forever!”
Hu Hai’s expression shifted slightly.
Zhao Gao thought for a moment and said, “I teach Your Highness the law so that you may reflect daily and know what you should and should not do.”
“If you cannot even learn this, how can you achieve greatness in the future?”
Hu Hai immediately stood, performing a disciple’s salute, “Please continue to teach me!”
Zhao Gao sighed, “According to the law, palace maids and guards fraternizing is a capital offense.”
“You find a guard to take the blame!”
Excitement flashed in Hu Hai’s eyes, and he nodded quickly, “Teacher, you are indeed farsighted.”
“If this matter is investigated and Father learns of it, he will not suspect, and it can be used to punish Fusu for fraternizing with Consort Li, which is a capital offense!”
“It’s like killing two birds with one stone!”
Zhao Gao nodded, “Well taught, young master.”
Hu Hai pondered and then said, “Teacher, so far our plan has only taken one step. Should we proceed to the next phase...?”
Zhao Gao actually did not want to continue.
Fusu’s conduct had frightened him.
But after so many years of plotting, to abandon the plan now out of fear would cause widespread dissatisfaction.
Especially from the sly Li Si!
Zhao Gao realized that if Li Si turned against him, and those allies who stood with Li Si no longer trusted him, he would soon be scapegoated.
So Zhao Gao nodded, a cruel gleam flashing in his eyes, “It’s time to move to the second step.”
Hu Hai was overjoyed.
Though young, his temperament was truly cruel.
Hearing that his brother was about to be trapped and eliminated by him, he danced with excitement.
After a while, Zhao Gao saw Hu Hai’s enthusiasm wane slightly and reminded him, “Fusu mentioned bringing Chen Sheng and Wu Guang back to the capital.”
“These two must have some grudge with Fusu.”
“If so, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I think we should rescue these two.”
“If conditions allow and it’s done covertly enough, we can simply say these two never existed!”
Zhao Gao paused and nodded, “Exactly, these two do not exist.”
“Thus, the things Fusu spoke of will be like rootless floating weeds—no one will believe them.”
Hu Hai realized the crux of the matter and immediately nodded, “Teacher, rest assured, I will have it done.”
Zhao Gao nodded in return and gave Hu Hai a deep bow, “Your Highness, today’s lesson ends here.”
“I must return to attend to His Majesty.”
“Please take care, Teacher!” Hu Hai personally escorted Zhao Gao out of the palace.
...