After Zhang Cang left, the First Emperor felt dizzy again and his heart ached unbearably. His attendants helped him into the tent. That night I felt groggy and weak, and my vision was blurry. Li Si advised him to return to Beijing immediately for recuperation. The First Emperor was lying on the couch, looking at the piles of memorials, and said: "It is the duty of the kings of all generations to be diligent in governing affairs. How can I neglect state affairs because of my illness?" Li Si was moved and said: "Your Majesty is absolutely right. , but now the weather has become hot and the road is very bumpy, so you must take care of your dragon body!" The First Emperor was silent for a long time and asked Li Si, "Can you tell me whether Xu Fu can seek the art of immortality?" Li Sicheng said in fear: "Definitely, definitely!" The First Emperor laughed suddenly and said, "You dare to lie to me!" Li Si was so frightened that he quickly knelt down: "I don't dare, I don't dare!" The First Emperor laughed and said, "How can there be any immortality in the world? Technique? Xu Fu is deceiving me!" Li Si was shocked and said: "Since Your Majesty believes that there is no magic in the world, why do you send boys and girls to sea? And why don't you listen to Zhang Cang's advice?" The First Emperor said: "Didn't you hear Haike say that Xu Fu has become the king? Since he has become the king, it means that no one on the island will fight with him. Decades later, won't the vast waters belong to my country of Qin? I can no longer go to sea. This It is in line with the dream of Poseidon to defeat me. But I hope my descendants will complete the battle for supremacy at sea! Zhang Cang advised me to recall the boys and girls. Although it can calm the current public anger, he cannot see the cause outside Liuhe, so Drive him away!"
After hearing this, Li Si was so impressed that he fell to the ground with admiration and said, "Your Majesty's far-sightedness is beyond the reach of this minister!" The First Emperor continued, "I have one more thing that still makes me uneasy." Li Si asked what it was about. The First Emperor said: "Do you still remember? The big storm I encountered in Xiangshan Mountain ten years ago trapped me on the mountain for three days and three nights, and I ordered the sergeants to set fire to the mountain. When I returned to Beijing last year, someone held a piece of The jade was presented to the guards, saying, "Next year the ancestor dragon will die." Isn't this a curse from the gods? What I'm curious about is why this man actually took the piece of jade that was thrown into Dongting Lake. Did he really offend the goddess? Was it the goddess who appeared and used Yubi to curse me? It seems that something unexpected happened to me during this patrol. I have nothing to be afraid of in this life, I am just afraid of death! I want to send someone to Xiangshan to replace me Pray devoutly in the Xiangshan Temple and ask for the goddess's forgiveness!" Li Si thought for a while and said, "Doctor Meng Yi is qualified for this job." The First Emperor called Meng Yi to his side and told him his thoughts. Meng Yi understood the emperor's intention and immediately went to Xiangshan to pray.
A month later, the First Emperor's fleet arrived at Jieshi Village in the Bohai Bay. This is the place where Meng Jiangnu jumped into the sea and died for her love. The Jiangnu tomb rising abruptly from the ground still stands there. It looks particularly special amidst the turbulent blue sea. conspicuous. By this time, the story of Meng Jiangnu had been widely spread throughout Shandong. At this time, the First Emperor saw that some people were still carrying stones to fill the sea under the scorching sun, and their backs had been burned like burnt sweet potatoes. He suddenly felt pity and ordered the people to be released and the reclamation to stop. The First Emperor was particularly moved by Meng Jiang's death as husband and ordered the construction of the "Virgin Temple". The temple site is located on Fenghuang Mountain in the north of Wangfushi Village, 25 miles west of Qiansuo in the southwest of Suizhong County and 13 miles east of Shanhaiguan. The temple still exists today. The First Emperor almost broke down because he missed this martyr girl, so he was not in the mood to continue cruising north, so he took a boat directly south from here, landed at the northern end of Jibei County, and headed south to prepare for Dongjun.
The First Emperor was in a very bad mood and felt dizzy all the way. When the car came to Pingyuan County, the First Emperor's condition worsened. Li Si suggested passing Pingyuanjin, taking the four counties of Julu, Handan, Shangdang, and Hedong, and passing Pubanjin in a straight line back to Xianyang. The distance is short and cut. The First Emperor agreed and insisted on walking to the Sand Dune Palace. He could no longer take the car, so he moved into the palace. That night, the First Emperor had another dream, dreaming that King Zhao Wuling summoned him back. After the emperor woke up, he thought to himself: King Zhao Wuling died here, and he probably died. The next day, he called Prime Minister Li Si and Zhongche Ling Zhao Gao to his side and said, "There are many unforeseen events during this tour. I'm afraid I will die soon! Do you know why I didn't establish an heir as soon as possible?" Li Si said, "God's will is unpredictable. , Your Majesty, why are you doing this?" The First Emperor said word by word: "I was worried that I would repeat the mistakes of King Wuling of Zhao, so I did not have an heir. Among my sons, Fusu, although virtuous, lacked experience, so I Let him go outside to accumulate experience and increase his knowledge. Now that I am dying, I am afraid that I will not be able to return to Xianyang. You should quickly pass on my edict and ask the eldest son Fusu to hand over the military power to Meng Tian and rush to Xianyang as soon as possible to preside over me. After hearing this, Li Si and Zhao Gao were shocked and immediately followed the emperor's wishes. Li Si wrote the edict and Zhao Gao stamped it with his seal. The emperor asked Zhao Gao to take it out and send someone to Shangjun as soon as possible. Zhao Gao walked out of the palace with the edict and stood at the entrance of the palace, hesitating in his heart. He looked at the edict, put it quietly in his sleeve, and walked towards his mansion.
Zhao Gao returned to his mansion, thinking hard and guessing about the emperor's condition: Did the emperor really die soon as he said? He also summoned the imperial doctor to ask how the emperor's condition was. The imperial doctor replied that the emperor's pulse was very weak, and he was afraid that he would die overnight. When Zhao Gao heard this, he was very shocked, but he kept it secret. After sending away the imperial doctor, he hid the edict and did not send it out again.
The next day, the First Emperor seemed to have recovered from his illness. He was able to sit up on his own and even ate something. In the afternoon, he said to Li Si: "The Prime Minister is ten times more talented than Fu Su. After my death, you must assist him well. Fu Su is a virtuous and filial man, but he is too benevolent and weak, and may be incompetent. I hope the Prime Minister can give full play to his abilities." , Lu Zhicai, try their best to assist me, I can rest assured under Jiuquan!" Li Sicheng said fearfully: "Your Majesty is eating as usual, nothing will happen to you, why do you want to arrange funeral arrangements?" As he said this, tears burst down his face. The First Emperor said, "The Prime Minister must not forget the words 'Hu Ye is the one who destroyed Qin'!" Li Sidao said, "The prophecy of Tianlu is nonsense. Your Majesty, please don't worry too much about this."
After the First Emperor finished speaking, he lay down in a daze. He recalled many things in the past, such as his mother, his father, and his father, as well as their difficult experiences as hostages in Zhao State. Later, they ventured back to the country, and their father was After becoming the king of Qin, he took over the throne. Also, they eliminated Lao Ai, seized military power, and fought until the sky was dark to unify the world. As the First Emperor thought about it, two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks. Li Si looked at the emperor, as if he knew what he was thinking, so he knelt in front of him and cried: "Your Majesty, don't worry! I thought that in the five hundred years from when King Ping moved the capital to the present, it was you who exerted the remaining power of your sixth life and worked hard to become stronger. , unified the Liuhe; it was you who created the grand cause of unifying the world; it was you who established the new situation of counties and counties. You are the first true emperor since the beginning of the world! Your merits will be remembered forever! Immortal!" The First Emperor let out a long breath, as if he understood the pertinent evaluation of his life. He also knew that these were Li Si's words from the bottom of his heart, and he felt great relief and satisfaction. He passed out after a while, and in the dead of night that night, this great human king passed away forever. He died at the age of fifty. Li Bai wrote a poem that appropriately evaluated his life:
The king of Qin swept Liuhe, what a majestic sight! Swing your sword to cut through the floating clouds, and all the princes will come to the west.
The clear judgment comes from the apocalypse, and the roughness leads to the talents. Withdraw the troops and cast the golden man, and open Han Valley due to the east
Ming Gong Kuaiji Ridge, galloping to look at Langye Terrace. Seven hundred thousand prisoners were sentenced to Tulishan Kuma.
I still want to take the elixir, but my confusion makes my heart sad. Continuously shooting at sea fish, the long whale is facing Cui Wei.
The forehead and nose resemble the Five Mountains, making waves and spraying clouds and thunder. The mane covers the blue sky, how can we see Penglai?
Xu Fu carries Qin's daughter, when will the boat return? But under the three springs, a golden coffin was buried with cold ashes.
The First Emperor died suddenly, and both Li Si and Zhao Gao were panicked. At this time, there were several eunuchs around, but no one else. Li Si said to the eunuchs: "Whoever dares to leak the news tonight will be executed immediately!" Several eunuchs were so frightened that they sweated profusely. Li Si then said to Zhao Gao: "The emperor died abroad and did not appoint a prince in advance. Now Fusu is far away in Shangjun and cannot reach Xianyang in a short time. Once the news of your majesty's death spreads, the princes will probably compete for the throne. Among the six kingdoms, People may also rebel. Now only if the funeral is kept secret, the country can avoid disaster." Zhao Gao agreed: "The Prime Minister is right, we must keep the secret and never leak what happened tonight!" The two took the body. Put it in the palace, let a few eunuchs guard the palace gate, and all affairs will proceed as usual.
That night, Zhao Gao came to his residence, thought hard, and finally hatched a shocking conspiracy. He secretly made up his mind to put this shocking conspiracy into action.
The night is already very deep, and people who have worked hard all day have quietly fallen asleep. The quiet and deep night sky is still full of stars, and occasionally some long-tailed meteors streak across the sky. The earth is also sleeping, the five famous mountains stand peacefully and silently in the cool night breeze, and the winding rivers flow leisurely and heartily on the earth. Everything in the world is normal, and there is nothing abnormal because of Qin Shihuang's banquet. .
