"Silence! You dare to roar openly in this court without my orders! What do you take me for? Huh? I am not King You of Zhou, and you are not Marquis Shen!"
The First Emperor suddenly shouted loudly.
Immediately, the entire imperial court, where the Zongzheng faction had just been criticizing Li Lin, shut their foul mouths.
Marquis Shen.
King You of Zhou.
What does this mean?
This is a serious warning!
Who doesn't know what outrageous things Marquis Shen did during the reign of King You of Zhou?
In other words.
It was Marquis Shen who triggered the Quanrong Rebellion in the Western Zhou Dynasty, leading to the downfall of the Western Zhou.
History has always been very wary of this.
Folk tales often use the story of "lighting the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords" to embellish the truth.
But what is the reality?
In reality, it was a power struggle between King You of Zhou and Marquis Shen. King You of Zhou deposed the crown prince in order to weaken Marquis Shen's power in the royal family and consolidate his own position.
He failed.
He died and his country perished.
That time and that moment are just like this moment.
What a shrewd old fox Zongzheng Yinglin is!
I heard the unspoken meaning.
He was immediately terrified and knelt on the ground, motionless like a hibernating turtle.
Your Majesty is putting me on the hot seat!
A single sentence, yet so deadly and psychologically damaging—it's truly ruthless. It seems Your Majesty's sharpness is still as formidable as ever.
Even the Imperial Clan Head dared not continue to act so aggressively.
The other underlings naturally calmed down as well.
"Minister Li, continue what you were saying. They won't interrupt you. As long as I'm here, the sky won't fall. Do you understand?"
"Your Majesty understands!"
Li Lin nodded, deeply moved by the First Emperor's actions in protecting him at this time.
As the saying goes, a ruler treats his ministers as national treasures.
Your subject will certainly treat you as a national hero!
However, he understood the First Emperor's concerns.
The First Emperor did not want to be remembered with infamy, as evidenced by his actions during the war to unify the six kingdoms.
He wanted to leave behind his unique achievements and a world-renowned image of a perfect person in history, so he did not kill the remnants of the six states, nor did he kill the meritorious class.
Perhaps he believed that if Fusu were to ascend the throne normally after his death, the pitfalls he left behind would not pose a significant obstacle to Fusu, but would instead allow Fusu to quickly establish his reputation in the early stages.
Unfortunately, he never imagined that people could change.
Today's loyal ministers in the court may become tomorrow's traitors who collude with outsiders to overthrow the country.
Human nature!
The human heart is the most unpredictable thing.
Whoever wins the hearts of the people will control the world and become the ruler.
"Since Your Majesty has so many concerns, then let this humble subject bear the infamy. Killing one person is killing, killing a group is killing—killing a group that hinders society, killing a group that wants to turn back the clock of history, killing a group of thieves who want to bring ruin upon the poor—so what if I, Li Lin, am burdened with this blame? If Your Majesty won't kill, I will. If Your Majesty is hesitant, I won't! Reputation, humph, what's reputation worth? When Cao Cao killed Kong Rong, did he ever consider that his reputation would be vilified by Confucian scholars for thousands of years?"
That brat...
What is he going to do?
Could it be that he intends to target my former ministers?
That brat has misunderstood me. I have no intention of protecting my reputation whatsoever. I'm just afraid that if I were to take action against them and then suddenly pass away due to health reasons, it would be difficult for Fusu to control the situation after he ascends the throne.
I have never been one to indulge others in pursuit of a perfect reputation!
I am very pragmatic, but since you have misunderstood, then let you do it. When Fusu returns to Xianyang, I will be at ease with you, you brat, by his side to teach him!
You little rascal, you're not one to suffer a loss easily.
By the way, that silly girl Manyin still doesn't know you're alive, right? She fainted from fright earlier. Oh, that poor, silly girl...
The First Emperor was somewhat taken aback. He had never imagined that Li Lin would misunderstand him so deeply, which prompted him to reflect on his situation.
"In the past, when Shang Yang reformed the laws, he was brutally torn apart by chariots by the people of Qin. Although Shang Yang died, his descendants continued to uphold his laws, which is why the Qin Dynasty unified the world and the six states submitted! I ask you, the Minister of the Imperial Clan who just righteously rebuked me, why did you Qin people do this? Hmm?"
"this......"
"You used someone else's methods and even drove them to their death. You old Qin people are truly glorious! Is this the backlash you old Qin people have suffered? Huh? You are truly shameless! Utterly shameless!"
"you......"
The poor old Imperial Clan Minister wanted to reprimand him, but found that the First Emperor was looking at him sideways.
He naturally couldn't lash out.
However, the feeling of having someone point fingers at you and bring up those dirty things from the past, kicking you in the most vulnerable spot, is truly an incredibly unpleasant experience.
"Today, the situation of our Great Qin is not what it used to be. The six states that once coveted Guanzhong and Great Qin have been destroyed without a second thought. As a result, Great Qin's territory is unprecedentedly powerful, its power structure is unprecedentedly complex, and its population is unprecedentedly large. However, the laws of Shang Yang are no longer sufficient to support such a Great Qin. If we do not reform and change the laws, we will inevitably follow in the footsteps of the six states."
Li Lin paused for a moment and then continued, "Fortunately, His Majesty is not an ordinary person. He has discovered the drawbacks of Shang Yang's laws, he has seen the divisions among the lower classes, and he has seen the unprecedented increase in contradictions in Qin society. Therefore, he has appointed me to preside over the reforms and to serve as the Prime Minister of Qin. But since ancient times, reforms have always affected the interests of some people!"
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