After returning to the crown prince's palace, I asked the crown prince's servant Zhang Shu to go find Li Si and bring back a copy of the documents related to the Ying Yue case. Zhang Shu used to be my chamberlain. After the Fuliang Palace was renamed the Crown Prince's Palace, he was promoted to the Crown Prince. He usually helped me sort out documents, books and the like.
After hearing my instructions, Zhang Shu quickly walked towards the Prime Minister's Mansion without asking any questions. Although the Prime Minister's Mansion is not far from Xianyang Palace, Xianyang Palace is relatively large, so Zhang Shu did not return until about two hours.
As expected, Li Si didn't ask me what I wanted this for. He just asked Zhang Shu to write it down and bring it to me.
I looked through the files, and there were officials, Guizhou chiefs, children of aristocratic families like Ying Yue, and ordinary people like Le and Xi who didn't even have a complete name, who were truly unknown.
There were a lot of files, but I read them bit by bit, imagining what each person in them would be like. They committed a crime. If they were in the future, I would definitely not sympathize with them, but here, I don’t know what to say. More than three hundred lives were lost like this? Not including those family members, neighbors, and friends who were implicated by these more than 300 people, whose lives were ended in this way.
Qin's laws are harsh and Qin's government is tyrannical! I thought about the conversation with Ying Zheng that night again. Can a person's duality be so severe?
While I was lost in thought, Lan'er came in with a cup of tea, bowed slightly and said: "Your Highness, please have some tea. The weather is getting colder. Do you want to add some clothes for you?" She has gradually become accustomed to my method of drinking tea. You know I don't like to drink boiled tea, but I like this kind of tea that looks just like plain water.
Lan'er said, putting down the tea and standing aside.
"Lan'er." I knelt down in front of the low table and called her.
Lan'er saluted and said, "Your Highness, my servant is here."
I pointed to the seat cushion opposite, smiled slightly and said, "Sit down and talk with me."
Lan'er said hurriedly: "Your Highness, I don't dare."
Looking at Lan'er, who lowered her head even further, I smiled and said, "It's okay, I just want to chat with you. Since I fell into the water, my memory is not very good and I rarely go out, so I am more familiar with you. "
Lan'er raised her head and glanced at me, then lowered her head and said, "Your Highness, there is a difference between superiority and inferiority. Now that Your Highness is the crown prince, you should keep a distance from lowly people like us."
Seeing Lan'er lowering her head, I suddenly felt a chill coming over me, and a sense of loneliness surged into my heart like a tide. I don't know if it was because of the sadness of those who were being taken to the execution ground, or because I couldn't feel the pain in this inexplicable Qin Dynasty. Feeling a hint of warmth, even the girl standing in front of me, I am not sure whether she is real or fake.
Lan'er saw that I hadn't spoken for a long time, raised her head and looked at me secretly, met my eyes, and quickly lowered her head.
I stood up and walked toward the door, Lan'er following silently behind me.
There is only one pine tree in the yard, and a row of flowers and plants planted beside the wall. There are very few plants and trees planted in Xianyang Palace. These were planted after Fusu asked Yingzheng many times. After the frost, all the flowers and plants have withered, and it is hard to tell what species they are.
"What kind of flowers are growing on the wall?" I asked.
Lan'er's voice sounded from behind: "It's His Highness's favorite orchid."
"It's a pity that it has withered."
"...it will bloom again in the spring."
I turned around and looked at Lan'er carefully: "Lan'er, I forgot your name?"
Lan'er still didn't raise her head: "Your Highness, my name is Lan'er."
She didn’t even have a name. I silently thought about how many people in this era don’t have names.
I can imagine that Lan'er may be the descendant of an unnamed woman and a person named Le and Xi. Because the family could not afford to eat, or their family members died of hard labor under a certain section of the Great Wall. He had no choice but to come to this cold palace city, without any friends, and it was difficult to move around.
I walked towards the seat and said, "Bring me a cup of hot tea."
In the following days, no one mentioned Ying Yue again, and the court meeting was peaceful. Everyone was preparing for Ying Zheng's fifth eastward tour.
The Lieutenant's Office was responsible for preparing the emperor's security guard;
General Zuo Zhongcheng is responsible for repairing the emperor's palaces along the way, building bridges when encountering water, and opening roads across mountains; General Right Zhongcheng has rushed to Chengshan to repair large ships for the emperor to hunt dragon fish;
There are more than a dozen departments in the Shaofu, including the Imperial Palace Order, the Clothing Order, the Crown Order, etc., which are responsible for taking care of the emperor's food and daily life;
Zhisu Neishi was responsible for the allocation of food and fodder for the emperor's travels;
There are also a lot of people like Taishi Ling, Imperial Physician Ling, etc. who have to be busy with the emperor's travel for about ten days.
In addition, various ministers participating in the Eastern Tour were also very busy. Every time Ying Zheng goes out on patrol, he spends a huge amount of manpower and material resources. The longer the journey, the more complicated the route, the more things need to be considered, and these will eventually be passed on to the people.
Just talking about the renovation of the palace, it is impossible for Zuo Zhongcheng to follow all the craftsmen and civilians needed. Even if people can follow, the required wood, stone and other building materials cannot be transported that far. Allocate corvee labor to local counties.
Therefore, every time we visited a place, a large number of local people had to be recruited to repair the palace. If there was no palace built before in the local area, the county offices and county offices had to be renovated and converted into the emperor's palace.
After the emperor left, the original style and function could not be restored. Instead, it was retained as a permanent palace. The local area needed to be repaired and maintained frequently, which brought a huge burden to the local area.
After ten days of preparation, in late November, all preparations were finally completed. Although it was already winter, Ying Zheng did not change his mind at all. After receiving Li Si's prepared report, Ying Zheng prepared to start his fifth tour of the world without hesitation.
What surprised me was that Ying Zheng left me, Feng Quji, and Li Si behind after the morning court session the day before departure.
After following Ying Zheng to the Sihai Palace, Ying Zheng turned around and asked Li Si to wait outside the palace, and only took Feng Ququ and me into the palace. Li Si said yes and waited outside the hall.
Entering the palace, Ying Zheng didn't sit down. He took the lead and said to me: "Tomorrow I will set out for an eastward tour. Fusu, you stay in Xianyang to supervise the construction of Afang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum. You can gradually familiarize yourself with Feng Quji on political affairs." While you are away from Xianyang, you can discuss small matters with Feng Quji, and if you are undecided on major matters, please bring them to me."
Then he turned to look at Feng Quji: "The prime minister should teach the prince more about how to handle political affairs, and affairs in the court will remain as usual."
Ying Zheng often took Li Si with him when he went on tours, while Feng Quji, as the right prime minister, stayed in Xianyang to take charge. He had already experienced it during the previous tours, so he did not hesitate at the moment: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty, I will keep it in mind."
Ying Zheng waved his hand and said, "Step back and let Li Si come in."
After Feng Quji saluted, he turned around and exited the Sihai Palace, and Li Si walked in afterwards.
Ying Zheng said to Li Si and me, "When I change my clothes, you two will follow me out of the palace." After that, he walked to the back hall.
Li Si and I looked at each other and saw the doubt in each other's eyes. We raised our hands and saluted, "Yes."
