Chapter 121

Three Kingdoms world.

Cao Cao sighed: "Zhao Gao's scheme is truly vicious."

"Inciting Hu Hai to exterminate the clan, it eliminates future troubles and leaves Hu Hai utterly isolated, relying solely on Zhao Gao."

"Thus, power falls entirely to the eunuchs; Hu Hai is stupid and greedy, Zhao Gao is wicked and poisonous, they complement each other, ultimately causing the Qin dynasty to perish in the second generation."

Guo Jia said: "Cutting off one's own arms brings pain to kin and joy to enemies."

"Hu Hai's move not only fails to secure his rule, but also chills the hearts of all under heaven, putting subjects in peril, which led to the later Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising."

Liu Bei, anguished and indignant: "Slaughtering kin, exterminating human relations—this is beastly conduct! Zhao Gao is even more deserving of ten thousand deaths! Alas, the First Emperor, heroic all his life, actually has such a wicked son and treacherous minister!"

Zhuge Liang said: "The clan is a bulwark, yet can also bring disaster. But to slaughter them indiscriminately is to destroy one's own foundation."

"Zhao Gao's scheme kills two birds with one stone: it removes potential threats and makes Hu Hai lose all popular support; his heart deserves death."

【2. Tyrannical exploitation, the people cannot make a living.】

Hu Hai inherited his father's mania for construction genes, but only learned the form, not the essence.

He continued massive construction of Afang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum, with corvée and taxes heavier than in Qin Shi Huang's time.

The commoners "wearing ox and horse garments, eating dog and swine food" directly ignited the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising; that phrase "How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage?" was the loudest slap to his theory of noble blood.】

The heavenly screen shifted to a grand and brutal construction scene of Afang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum, with conscripted laborers toiling under whips, corpses piled like mountains.

The people wore ragged clothes and could not fill their stomachs, forming a stark contrast with the palace's luxury.

Finally, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang ignited the beacon fire of uprising in Daze Village; the roar "How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage?" echoed through the clouds.

"Wearing ox and horse garments, eating dog and swine food…… Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising…… How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage……"

Ying Zheng gazed upon the miserable state of those laborers, watched the beacon fire of the uprising, heard the earth-shaking cry, and his heart was greatly shaken.

He built the Great Wall, the chariot roads, and the mausoleums; although he also conscripted the populace, he asked himself it was to consolidate the empire and still had rule of law.

And yet Hu Hai actually intensified it, merely to satisfy his private desires? He drove the people to such a point?

"Scoundrel! Rebellious son!!"

Ying Zheng finally exploded, he sprang to his feet and overturned the imperial desk before him, bamboo slips, brush and ink scattering everywhere.

"I build the mausoleum for my afterlife! I unified weights and measures, constructed the chariot roads, raised the Great Wall—these are foundations for myriad generations!"

"This beast Hu Hai only knows to fleece the people, indulge in extravagance and lust, driving my realm and the myriad commoners to the point of rebellion!"

"How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage…… hahaha, hahaha!"

He laughed bitterly in extreme anger, his laughter filled with sorrowful indignation and self-mockery.

"The Qin dynasty, having expended the vigor of six generations, I swept away the six states and unified all under heaven, yet you produced such a wicked son, prompting the world to ask this question—you are slapping my face, slapping the face of the ancestors of Great Qin!"

The ministers below fell silent like cold cicadas, while the princes and princesses trembled even more.

Hu Hai had already fainted from fright once, then was splashed awake by a eunuch with water; now he lay there like a puddle of mud.

Liu Bang, upon seeing the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising, especially that phrase "How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage?", had a somewhat complex expression.

Those words truly struck him in the heart.

He smacked his lips: "This Hu Hai actually did us old Liu a big favor. Without him driving the commoners to death, there would be no later deeds of the Elder Lord. Still, this speed of ruining the family is truly unprecedented."

Liu Che gave a cold snort: "Water can carry a boat, yet also capsize it. Although the First Emperor was strict, his laws were stern; though the people suffered, order remained."

"Hu Hai intensified exploitation, sucking the marrow from the bones—how could there be no rebellion? Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's single call summoned the world; the foundation of Qin truly perished at Hu Hai's hands."

Li Shimin sighed: "The lesson of Emperor Yang's downfall is still before our eyes. Squandering the people's labor, disregarding their lives—this is the way to invite chaos."

"This Hu Hai is even more violent and tyrannical; his demise is swift, a necessary outcome. (How could kings and marquises be born of a special lineage?) These words rouse the deaf and awaken the dull, serving as a warning to future monarchs!"

Wei Zheng shouted: "Your Majesty! The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is solid, the state is at peace. Qin fell due to the tyranny of the second emperor; our Great Tang should take this as a mirror, reduce levies and taxes, let the people rest—only then can we achieve lasting peace and order!"

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth: "See? This is the result of driving the commoners to death!"

"We rebel because we cannot survive; every time I think of this Hu Hai, he's even more outrageous than Emperor Shun of Yuan! Build palaces? Build tombs? The commoners can't even eat, yet you still build useless things! If you don't rebel, who will?"

Cao Cao commented: "Draining the pond to catch fish—though you get fish this year, there will be none next year."

"Hu Hai only knows to extort, not to nurture; the people's hearts are completely lost, and all under heaven rebel."

"Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were merely the first to raise the alarm; Qin's downfall came from losing the people's hearts, and the one who lost them was Hu Hai."

Liu Bei said: "Whoever wins the people's hearts wins the realm; whoever loses them loses the realm."

"The First Emperor's unification of the six states may have been harsh, but the violence of the second emperor was tenfold worse. The people suffered, rose up with poles—this is heavenly will, and also the people's will."

【3. Pointing at a deer and calling it a horse, reduced to a puppet.】

Zhao Gao led a deer to court, asking what it is.

Hu Hai said it's a deer, Zhao Gao said it's a horse.

Hu Hai actually doubted his own eyesight, summoning the imperial physician for diagnosis.

Netizens' laughing meme: "The ultimate victim of workplace PUA."

Zhao Gao used this to purge dissenters, and Hu Hai utterly became a deaf and blind fool deep within the palace.】

（The famous scene of pointing at a deer and calling it a horse—friends with pictures can show them off. __)✧)

On the heavenly screen, appeared that absurdly extraordinary scene:

In the imperial court, Zhao Gao led a deer and told Hu Hai it was a horse.

Hu Hai doubted, asked the ministers left and right; some remained silent, some echoed Zhao Gao saying it was a horse.

Hu Hai actually began to doubt his own eyes, summoning the imperial physician for diagnosis.

Zhao Gao thus eliminated all ministers who spoke the truth.

"Pointing at a deer and calling it a horse…… the ultimate victim of workplace PUA……"

Ying Zheng watched on the heavenly screen his foolish son being toyed with by Zhao Gao in the palm of his hand, even beginning to doubt his own eyesight.

A feeling of absurd absurdity welled up in his heart, immediately followed by deeper fury and…… a hint of indescribable sorrow.

Is this the emperor of his Great Qin? Toyed with and controlled by a eunuch to such an extent, even losing the most basic cognition and judgment?

The court of Great Qin has become Zhao Gao's one-man hall? Has it become a laughingstock of pointing at a deer and calling it a horse?!

"Zhao Gao!!!"

Ying Zheng squeezed this name out from between his teeth; the killing intent in his voice caused the temperature of the entire Zhangtai Palace to plummet.

"What a case of pointing at a deer and calling it a horse! What a case of power overwhelming court and countryside!"

"My court, my realm, have been so ruined by you, this eunuch dog, and that fool Hu Hai?!"

His gaze like lightning shot toward the Minister of Carriages Zhao Gao, whose face was already ashen and trembling like chaff in a sieve.

Zhao Gao now lay limp on the ground, feces and urine flowing together, unable even to utter a plea for mercy.

He knew he was finished, dying faster and more miserably than his future self on the heavenly curtain.