Chapter 60

"And noble rebellion is far more terrifying than commoner rebellion!"

"Commoner rebellion takes ten years to succeed; noble rebellion happens from morning to evening!"

"For no other reason than that they have troops, money, and grain in their hands!"

"The total number of private armies of all the nobles in the world is greater than the number of Great Qin troops. How do you expect His Majesty the Emperor of Great Qin to endure all this?"

"Your Majesty, Zhang Liang has ulterior motives; he is trying to deceive Your Majesty and make Your Majesty do things that will destroy the foundation of our Great Qin!"

"This person must be killed!"

Li Si gnashed his teeth!

Zhang Liang also gnashed his teeth: "Chancellor Li Si, in this world, are there more nobles or more commoners?"

"The private armies in the hands of the Great Qin nobles are many, but can they be more than the commoners of the world?"

"Commoner rebellion takes ten years to succeed—this is not wrong; the reason for all this is that they have no money, no grain, no land, and they don't read, lacking wisdom!"

"But... the immense public grievance is right there; millions of commoners filled with resentment are right there. Do you dare to say there are no people with ulterior motives in this world who will use them?"

"Commoners are stupid, but likewise, they are easy to fool; as long as someone gives them a tiny bit of favor, they dare to sell their lives!"

"And under the gathering of people with intentions, even commoners can overthrow a dynasty!"

"Have you not seen how the Great Shang perished in the past?"

"Correct, the one who destroyed the Great Shang was King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa; he was a noble!"

"But who were the people who executed it?"

"It was the commoners!"

"It was millions of commoners!"

"Under the leadership of King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa, and Jiang Shang, these millions of commoners directly turned into an army. Even if the Great Shang was invincible, what of it? In the face of this powerful numerical strength, it had to instantly turn into dust!"

Li Si said angrily: "Nonsense! Without Jiang Shang and Ji Fa, let alone millions of commoners, even more would just be a rabble!"

"Have you not seen how the invincible Great Zhou declined? King You of Zhou played with the beacon fires to tease the feudal lords, causing the Quanrong to rebel, forcing King Ping of Zhou to move east!"

"Have you not seen who was oppressing the Zhou royal family after it became weak? It was the nobles! It was the feudal lords!"

"Just ask, do the commoners have the guts, do they have the ability to oppress the Zhou royal family?"

"The nobles have it, the scholar-officials have it! From this, it can be seen that noble and scholar-official rebellion is far more terrifying than commoner rebellion!"

Zhang Liang said: "It is precisely because of this that we must weaken the nobles!"

Li Si said angrily: "Do you think the nobles and scholar-officials are fools? Just waiting quietly for you to weaken them?"

"The royal family might have mediocre rulers, but... every generation of the current head of a noble family is carefully selected; how could they be mediocre?"

"To put it bluntly, as long as you dare to test them, they will dare to rebel!"

"You dare to kill one, you dare to kill a nest? Can you kill all the nobles in the world?"

"Not to mention whether you have this ability, even if you did, what of it? If you kill all the nobles, who will dare to work for you in the future?"

"When commoners break the law in the future, who will arrest them? When commoners rebel in the future, who will suppress them? When commoners suffer from disasters in the future and need relief, who will distribute the relief grain?"

"Your Majesty, this Zhang Liang only knows how to talk empty talk and doesn't look at the actual situation; this person must be killed!"

Zhang Liang said angrily:

"Everything must be looked at in terms of operation. If it were really as you said, when the Duke of Zhou established the rites and music for the hundred officials, the hundred officials should have rebelled!"

"When Guan Zhong taxed the land and reduced the levies, the nobles should have rebelled long ago!"

"When Duke Wen of Wei employed people based on talent regardless of background, he should have been pushed down by the nobles long ago!"

"When Mencius said that the people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least, he should have been scolded to death by the nobles long ago! How could he still be placed on a pedestal?"

"His Majesty the Emperor of Great Qin, is this your Great Qin’s Chancellor?"

"His vision is so short-sighted, his selfishness is so heavy; with such a person, how can he hold the position of Chancellor?"

"My grandfather Zhang Kaidi’s vision was far greater than his. With such a Chancellor in Great Qin, your Great Qin will be finished sooner or later!"

"You..."

Li Si gnashed his teeth and scolded Zhang Liang angrily:

"Your Han State perished precisely because it had a Chancellor like your grandfather!"

Zhang Liang scolded angrily: "My grandfather’s state perished, and you will also perish!"

"You are talking nonsense!"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, Zhang Liang should be killed! He must be killed immediately!"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, Li Si is short-sighted and not suitable for the position of Chancellor; change him! Otherwise, Great Qin will surely perish at the hands of this person!"

At this moment, Li Si and Zhang Liang were arguing fiercely!

In his rage, Li Si even stood up again and again, clenched his fists again and again, and was about to hit someone.

And no matter how they argued, Ying Su didn't say a word!

At this very moment, he couldn't help but think of the sentence Ying Zheng said again!

It is hard to be an Emperor!

It is easy to want to be an Emperor; just have a good fate!

It is even harder to want to be a good Emperor!

It is simply impossible to want to be an Emperor praised by everyone!

Indeed!

It is really hard to be an Emperor!

Even wanting to be an ordinary good Emperor is really not that easy!

It’s just... Ying Su didn't expect that Zhang Liang would have such foresight and would actually propose a policy of weakening the nobles to govern the country?

Then why didn't Zhang Liang talk about this policy of governing the country after Liu Bang unified the world?

Oh!

Right!

After Liu Bang unified the world, Zhang Liang saw that Liu Bang might kill the meritorious officials, so he slipped away at the first opportunity, not even giving Liu Bang a chance to kill him!

So, in the war and Liu Bang’s unification of the world, Zhang Liang had a part!

But when it came to governing the country, Zhang Liang had no part.

Zhang Liang’s talent was no longer used after the unification of the world!

Then, was what Zhang Liang and Li Si were arguing about reasonable?

It was reasonable!

What Zhang Liang said was reasonable, and what Li Si said was also reasonable!

Zhang Liang said that public grievance was too heavy and they were thinking of rebellion every moment—this is a fact!

Li Si said that the nobles held troops, horses, money, and grain in their hands, and if you dared to move them, they would dare to rebel—this is also a fact!

Moreover, both of them were talking about practical problems!

So now the problem comes: should he listen to Zhang Liang? Or should he listen to Li Si?

In terms of loyalty, he should listen to Li Si, because Li Si’s loyalty was one hundred percent!

And Zhang Liang’s loyalty was zero!

But as a modern person, who dares to say that Zhang Liang is wrong?

In modern society, there are countless analyses on the internet about the reasons for Great Qin’s collapse in the second generation!

And the most recognized points are the abuse of public labor and the harshness of Qin law!

Some even say that it was just because the First Emperor died early; if the First Emperor had lived a few more years, Great Qin would have collapsed in the first generation!

Does this make sense?

Regardless of whether it makes sense or not, Ying Su feels that Great Qin’s collapse in the second generation should not be blamed solely on Hu Hai and Zhao Gao.

The First Emperor Ying Zheng should take some of the blame!

Then the problem is still the same problem!

Who should he listen to?

At this very moment, Ying Su really has a headache!

Because, if he listens to Zhang Liang, then without a doubt, the Qin State will face an unprecedented chaos!

Such a great chaos, if not handled well... perish?

It wouldn't go as far as perishing!

He has a fierce man like Li Li Yuanba in his hands; no one should think of successfully rebelling against him...

Therefore, it wouldn't go as far as perishing!