"Hahaha, Minister Li, you have finally cleared up my doubts today. I have always been puzzled as to why the other six states did not follow Confucianism. Even when Mencius repeatedly advised King Hui of Wei, he ignored him. Now I understand. It turns out that they, like me, believe that Confucianism is hypocritical, full of empty talk but doing nothing of substance."
"Indeed, the common flaw of Confucianism lies in hypocrisy, even empty talk. Your Majesty is indeed insightful. I once studied the classics of various schools of thought under my tutor, but I disliked Confucianism the only one. Later, my tutor said that Confucianism is not about substance, but about appearance. The substance is like an empty shell, and anything can be filled into it. Therefore, my reforms are based on this principle: Confucianism on the outside, Legalism on the inside, sagehood on the outside, and kingship on the inside!"
"Outwardly Confucian, inwardly Legalist? Outwardly a sage, inwardly a king?"
Fusu felt his brain was not working properly. He wanted to refute his father's prejudice against Confucianism, but he was at a loss for words.
Chunyu Yue and the others didn't know where to begin.
The others were even worse.
"I see, I understand now."
The First Emperor nodded. He was well aware of the reforms that Li Lin had been working on lately, and he had always believed that Li Lin was a successor of the Taoist school.
Now he realizes he was wrong.
Li Lin is probably a disciple of Guiguzi.
A student of the legendary Guiguzi.
"We will set aside the issues of Confucianism and Legalism for the time being. The pacification of Chu is an urgent matter. As far as I know, they have been making preparations for this for a month. Ministers, do you still want to debate here? It's a waste of time and a missed opportunity."
"We dare not!"
"Your Majesty, I recommend someone from the Construction Department who can certainly replace Zhang Han!"
"who?"
"The Distance of Ink".
"Oh, so it's him. He was originally from the Construction Bureau. If he replaces Zhang Han, there shouldn't be any problems. I approve. Also, you can call upon Han Xin, Zhang Liang, and others."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Li Lin looked grateful and then steered the conversation toward the details of the full implementation of the reforms.
The First Emperor was engrossed in the conversation with him, while the other ministers offered righteous and eloquent rebuttals.
Only Fusu and Chunyu Dao, along with other Confucian disciples, did not listen to a single word.
It seemed that the questions Li Lin had just asked were haunting them like a nightmare, causing them great pain.
One hour later.
The morning court session has ended.
The officials left the palace with smiles on their faces.
It seems that most of them are not interested in this rebellion in Chu, and some even think that it is less important than which concubine they will sleep with tonight.
But for Li Lin, it was a huge deal.
A rebellion broke out in the Chu region.
King Huai of Chu, Xiong Xin, actually launched an uprising in Dazexiang.
Where is Dazexiang?
It's above the Huai River, next to Chen County.
It was more than a dozen counties away from the Chu homeland.
But he chose to launch an uprising in Dazexiang.
The intricacies involved are probably not simple.
He finished the morning court session and dared not delay.
He hurriedly brought Ying Ziying to the imperial prison, released Han Xin, Zhang Liang, Long Er, Long San and others, and told them to return to the Prime Minister's residence to rest and prepare for the expedition the next morning.
"Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu, are you still sleeping? Wake up, wake up!"
"Who the hell is it? I'm locked up here, why the hell are you making a fuss?"
Xiang Yu opened his extremely tired eyes and saw the face of the man he remembered most, the man he hated most and wanted to kill.
"Xiang Yu, you're awake! That's wonderful!"
Li Lin hurriedly instructed Ying Ziying to open Xiang Yu's cell, and under the protection of the guards, he walked to Xiang Yu's side.
He leaned closer and said, "There has been a rebellion in Chu. I have been ordered to lead an expedition to Chu to quell the rebellion."
"What? The Chu region has already rebelled? Impossible, absolutely impossible! Who would be so foolish as to rebel now?"
Xiang Yu remained indifferent.
"It's true. The leader is called Xiong Xin. You know him, right?"
"It's him!"
Xiang Yu's face immediately fell. "Why did you betray us so soon? That dog emperor isn't even dead yet..."
"How dare you!"
Ying Ziying suddenly drew his sword, his face contorted with rage, intending to stab him to death.
"Don't kill him. He's a remnant of the Chu state, so it's normal for him to say a few disrespectful things. I have a great use for him!"
"promise!"
"Xiang Yu, I need your help. You and your uncle Xiang Liang are very prestigious in Chu. I hope you can assist me in quelling the rebellion and reduce the amount of bloodshed. I guarantee that only the ringleaders will be executed, and innocent civilians will not be killed. What do you say?"
"This... let me discuss it with my uncle."
"Alright, Ziying, open Xiang Liang's cell and let the uncle and nephew communicate!"
"promise!"
Li Lin immediately agreed to Xiang Yu's request.
He knew that the grudges between Qin and Chu were too deep, and the people of Chu did not recognize themselves as Qin people from the bottom of their hearts.
Nothing more.
Because Zhang Yi in history completely deceived King Huai of Chu.
Furthermore, King Huai of Chu was deeply loved by the people, so when King Huai was deceived, it was as if they had been deceived, and they harbored great resentment towards the State of Qin.
Later, although Wang Jian conquered the State of Chu in war.
However, they failed to break through the Chu people's psychological defenses.
As the saying goes, conquering a city is inferior to conquering a mind.
Xiang Yu did not do as well as Liu Bang in this regard.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
