Chapter 67

The moment those words left his lips, Zhang Liang and Li Si were utterly thrown into chaos.

Even Facing Ying Su felt his scalp prickle with numbness!

What does Kill Xiao He mean by this?

In the first year after the First Emperor swept through the six states and unified the world, the entire Great Qin's population still stood at thirty-six million!

Bear in mind, this was the very first year after the Great Qin swept through the six states and unified the world; by all rights, this period should have been when the Great Qin's population was at its lowest!

Yet, the facts were exactly the opposite!

Eleven years after the First Emperor swept through the six states and unified the world, the entire Great Qin's population had not only failed to grow, but had actually decreased by two million?

That was two million fewer than before the sweeping of the six states!

If two million people were lost during wartime, that could be understood!

But one must know... this was an era of peace; aside from the mobilization of five hundred thousand troops for the three campaigns against the Southern Yue, all other times were years without war!

In an era without war, over eleven years, the Great Qin actually lost two million people?

These words made Facing Ying Su's scalp prickle with numbness!

Li Si was even more utterly shocked; he turned to Kill Xiao He and said, "You... you didn't misread this, did you? Is... is all of this true?"

Li Si was profoundly shocked; although all this fell under the Prime Minister's jurisdiction, he and Feng Quji had divided responsibilities!

He, Li Si, was in charge of penal laws and, together with the Grand Physician Li Tan, supervised all officials!

Feng Quji was in charge of Qian Liang, population, as well as land and fields!

Their duties were different, and each managed his own affairs!

Who would have expected such a situation to arise!

Kill Xiao He also seemed to realize the gravity of the matter; he hurriedly knelt and said:

"All of this consists of figures compiled over the years by the Great Qin's Grain Administrator; I merely glanced at them and dare not be too certain. We can retrieve the relevant archives now!"

Having spoken, he immediately rose to his feet.

Li Si hurriedly stopped him, waving his hand toward him: "No need! No need!"

"I can still trust Kill Xiao He's character!"

He spoke these words; although he said he trusted Kill Xiao He, his main reason was to prevent Zhang Liang from being proven wrong.

And regardless of their thoughts, Facing Ying Su's eyebrows were tightly furrowed!

And in that moment, he finally made his decision!

After pondering for a long while, he spoke:

"The Epang Palace is to cease construction immediately!"

"The Great Wall is to be temporarily halted!"

"And since we are no longer repairing the Great Wall, the Xiongnu must be attacked; otherwise, chaos in the north will become extremely severe!"

"In that case, the primary state policy of our Great Qin after halting the construction of the Great Wall and the Epang Palace shall be to attack the Xiongnu!"

"And this campaign is not merely to defeat the Xiongnu, but to annihilate them!"

As Facing Ying Su spoke these words, everyone was shocked at that moment!

Annihilate the Xiongnu?

To annihilate the Xiongnu—what a monumental undertaking!

Even when the First Emperor swept through the six states, he could not conquer the Xiongnu!

It was not only the First Emperor who could not conquer the Xiongnu; throughout all dynasties, no one has ever truly annihilated the Xiongnu!

Even King Zhao Wuling, with his horseback riding and archery in Hu clothing, crippled the Xiongnu but still failed to annihilate them!

This is not because the Xiongnu people are so formidable!

It is because the grasslands are too vast!

Moreover, the Xiongnu people's horses run far too fast!

With vast grasslands and horses that run so fast, how difficult is it to annihilate them?

And now, Facing Ying Su actually intends to annihilate the Xiongnu?

Zhang Liang and Kill Xiao He were all stunned!

However, on this matter, Li Si did not hesitate in the slightest; he immediately knelt and said:

"Your subject firmly supports this!"

He spoke these words; at first, he had firmly opposed halting the Great Wall's construction because the Great Wall held immense significance!

But now, because of building the Great Wall, the Epang Palace, the First Emperor's Mausoleum, and the Dujiangyan, the Great Qin has already lost two million people; how could he still dare to persist?

Furthermore, Facing Ying Su's words were clear and explicit: the Great Wall is merely temporarily halted!

That means it will be built again later!

As for when to build it, it should be after the campaign against the Xiongnu?

But... if the Xiongnu are already defeated, what need is there for the Great Wall?

Li Si did not understand!

But... regarding the attack on the Xiongnu, he was supportive!

As for whether they can win?

Li Si was not worried at all; after all, Facing Ying Su now had Li Yuanba, such a mighty figure!

Moreover, they are currently searching for saltpeter mines to manufacture cannons!

With cannons plus Li Yuanba, a hundred Xiongnu would not be enough for him to fight!

Besides that, attacking the Xiongnu offers Facing Ying Su another benefit!

That is, it can increase his prestige!

You must understand, those are the Xiongnu!

Since the Zhou Dynasty, the Xiongnu have always been a great scourge upon the many Central Plains kingdoms!

And if Ying Su could bring down the Xiongnu, who have plagued us for over a thousand years, how towering would his prestige become?

I'm afraid it would be no less than that of the First Emperor!

After all, across all dynasties, truly no one has ever been able to destroy the Xiongnu!

And if Ying Su were to accomplish this feat!

Then his merits, his prestige…

Li Si thought it through in his heart, immensely stirred!

Ying Su went on:

"As for lenient penal laws and the nobility paying taxes, this matter cannot be rushed—it requires deliberation!"

"Listen clearly: right now, what we are discussing is not whether to implement lenient penal laws and have the nobility pay taxes!"

"But rather how to carry out lenient penal laws and the nobility paying taxes!"

"Precisely how to proceed so that lenient penal laws and the nobility paying taxes will not trigger chaos—or, at the very least, trigger the smallest possible chaos!"

He spoke, and the moment those words left his mouth, Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Li Si were once again stunned.

They were shocked that Ying Su truly intended to do this!

You must understand, this is a reform!

And since Shang Yang's reforms, aside from the First Emperor, how many people have dared to truly carry out a reform?

The First Emperor also carried out reforms?

That's right!

Unifying the realm, abolishing the feudal enfeoffment system, establishing the Junxian system, standardizing the script, standardizing the cart axles, unifying weights and measures! These were tremendous reforms!

And at this very moment, the reform Ying Su intends to undertake is even greater than that one!

Because… he means to touch the millennia-old rule that the nobility pays no taxes!

Without a doubt, this is cutting into the nobility's cake!

In Zhang Liang's view, this was even harder than unifying the realm!

Because, the hearts of men!

The wealth of the realm is all in the nobility's hands—to cut into their cake, how easy could that possibly be?

For over a thousand years, only Zhou Gongdan achieved somewhat notable results on this front.

Wei Wenhou, Shang Yang, Guan Zhong, Wei Wei Wuji—none of them did it thoroughly enough!

And Ying Su intends to do exactly that—to completely carve up the nobility's cake!

Yet admiration aside, Zhang Liang could not help but begin pondering how exactly to carry it out!