Chapter 988: Untitled

Su Fan and Zhang Liang do not have a very deep understanding of the specific situation within the Great Qin. However, both are clear that a massive Empire is inevitably riddled with contradictions, and even within the Empire, there must certainly be strife.

It is just that previously, there was a brilliant and ambitious monarch suppressing things, so the internal contradictions of the Empire were not exposed.

Yet, once this monarch were to suddenly meet with an accident, then the Empire's contradictions, lacking a powerful force to suppress them, would erupt all at once.

What would the consequences be like then?

Both of them can guess, or perhaps they don't even need to guess.

Su Fan has seen it all.

Looking throughout history, the collapse of a dynasty has a great deal to do with internal contradictions; in the vast majority of cases, dynasties are not destroyed by external enemies.

But if the internal contradictions were not so great, even if the external enemies were strong, it would still be difficult.

The Great Qin is exactly like this: beset by internal and external troubles, and then with Qin Er Shi being a man without ability, it ultimately perished in the second generation.

Many dynasties are like this.

The most obvious is the Great Ming; it perished due to external enemies, with Chongzhen being forced to death by the Rebel Army, but the Great Ming perished because of Ye Zhupi.

Yet in reality, if the Great Ming's internal contradictions had not been so severe, Ye Zhupi alone would not have been an opponent; even if Ye Zhupi's army could make the Ming Army flee in disarray, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, and they could have been worn down to death.

Chongzhen never placed much importance on Ye Zhupi, because at the time, they always believed that the threat from outside the pass was not as great as Li Zicheng.

Even Ye Zhupi themselves thought this way; their constant idea was to enter the pass, loot a fortune, and then retreat.

In the end, it was only after they moved into the Forbidden City and suddenly discovered that the giant that was the Great Ming had already fallen ill beyond cure, that they, under the instigation of Han civil officials, secured the Zhongyuan.

It was at that time that the interior of the Great Ming was still riddled with contradictions; one can imagine how dangerous the internal contradictions of an Empire are.

And the primary task of a monarch is to handle these contradictions.

Some monarchs suppress them directly; while they are on the throne, any contradiction appears insignificant. Such monarchs are the likes of the Qin Emperor, Han Wu, Tang Zong, and Song Zu.

Other monarchs choose to shift or balance internal contradictions when dealing with them; such monarchs can be considered rulers who maintain the status quo.

Of course, those who ultimately cannot handle the contradictions are some of the fallen rulers, or monarchs whose kingdoms are on the verge of collapse.

In this world, that First Emperor is truly a hero of his generation; the Great Qin being able to unify the world, aside from the brilliant ambitions of the successive Qin Kings, is also due to this person's ability.

If he were to suddenly meet with an accident as in history, then the Great Qin would be in danger.

It is not to say that the Great Qin rests entirely on this First Emperor alone, but at the very least, the current Great Qin truly cannot do without him.

The Great Qin's unification of the world was much more difficult than in history.

After all, in this world, the various states existed for too long, and their historical foundations are far beyond what history can compare to.

And the population is even more so; the more people there are, the more difficult it is in terms of governance.

Previously, after the Great Qin unified the world, it was only a military unification; the lands of the Six States only submitted on the surface.

In their hearts, they did not have much of an idea of a Great Unification.

Even in history it was like this; this is why, although history criticizes Ying Zheng as a tyrant, it still regards him as the model of an Emperor—the praises like "Qin Emperor, Han Wu" and "Emperor Through the Ages."

It is entirely because he truly and concretely pushed for a Great Unification.

Otherwise, the later Huaxia would likely have been like the European Union.

For such an achievement, no one can surpass the Emperor Through the Ages.

In the Mythical World, this First Emperor is as he was in history, but after hundreds or thousands of years, he still has been unable to completely unify the hearts of the world.

If not for the fact that Su Fan previously brought out later agricultural knowledge, causing food production to greatly increase.

With the hearts of the local commoners beginning to be appeased, I fear this Great Qin would have long since been turned upside down by those Six Kingdoms Remnants.

However, even so, the Great Qin is still full of crises.

Especially the quantitative tribulation, which cannot be avoided; this tribulation for the Great Qin is extremely difficult.

Without that Emperor Through the Ages, the Great Qin would likely collapse once again.

"Does the Heavenly Court really dare to make a move against that First Emperor?"

According to the news brought by Zhang Liang, Su Fan and he feel more and more that a major problem has occurred in Xianyang City, and it is very likely related to that First Emperor.

There is no help for it; although the current Great Qin has certain differences from history, the situation is still very similar.

There are internal contradictions; the Empire's internal contradictions have existed for a long time. Among the Great Qin's internal nobility, the power of the Xuan Taihou and the Chu faction has always been very strong.

And the Lao Qin side is riddled with contradictions with the Chu faction and even the Six States faction.

Even back then, this First Emperor was almost toppled; later, after the First Emperor obtained real power, the blow he dealt to the Chu faction was also enormous.

The current Chu faction, after being suppressed, has suffered heavy losses, but still possesses great power.

After the Great Qin unified the world, it gathered many people from the Six States, and even some nobles; today, there is much chaos within the court and the wild.

It is only by relying on the First Emperor's powerful pressure that no one dares to run wild.

But once the First Emperor dies, the court and the wild will inevitably be shaken, falling into chaos, and various ambitious people will also rise in the chaos.

At that time, Xianyang City will be in chaos, and it will immediately expand to the entire Great Qin.

In terms of external enemies, the Rebel Army in various places will also swarm up, and the Heavenly Court behind the Rebel Army will even less likely let go of this good opportunity.

They will firmly press the Great Qin down.

Therefore, the key to the Great Qin is that First Emperor; if the First Emperor does not die, the great ship that is the Great Qin will sail toward the bright shore, and this ship will become larger and more stable as it sails.

But once the First Emperor, this helmsman, dies suddenly, this unprecedented great ship will also immediately fall apart.

Many people are clear about this situation.

And the Great Qin's First Emperor, in the Mythical World, does not have any issues with lifespan.

In this world, there is no broken rule that monarchs cannot cultivate or cannot attain longevity.

Even if the Heavenly Court has this idea, the dynasties of Jiuzhou will not follow it; even the Great Zhou, which has always submitted to the Heavenly Court, would not agree.

Are you kidding? Mortals cultivate the Tao for the sake of immortality; if mortals all have this thought, then the monarch who possesses supreme power would not want longevity?

It is just that it is relatively difficult for a monarch to cultivate the Tao; after all, cultivating the Tao generally requires a quiet environment for pure cultivation, while a monarch needs to handle state affairs and face the corruption of various powers, so cultivation is riddled with difficulties.

But that does not mean a monarch cannot cultivate.

From the ancient era, which of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors was not a powerhouse; even for Heavenly Sovereign Fuxi, before his Merit descended and before he merged with the memories of his past life, his cultivation and strength were already extremely formidable.