If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1360 Another Dream Transmigration
This wasn't the first time Jianglu had experienced a time travel dream.

To be honest, he felt no apprehension at all about starting the time travel again; only anticipation and excitement.

Only after leaving Xianyang and becoming a vassal king with both military and political power in his fiefdom did he realize how lacking in experience and wisdom he had been. And how much he had grown during his reincarnations in his dreams.

It's a complete transformation.

Gaining experience is only one benefit; another is that events experienced in dreams, even if not 100% likely to happen in reality, will at least have some similarities.

The closer one is to Xianyang, the more similar the events and characters in the dream are to those in reality.

This is also why they felt uncomfortable when they saw Hu Hai and Li Si.

Even though I was far away from Xianyang, the details in my dream were not entirely useless.

This was his first time visiting Nanyang County, but after arriving, he became exceptionally familiar with the local customs, topography, and products.

Many of the buildings and neighborhoods are so familiar; I've lived in them for dozens of lifetimes in my dreams.

They even seemed to know a bit about the local people.

When he encountered powerful figures, officials, and even ordinary people in Nanyang, he often felt a sense of familiarity, as if memories from a past life were being awakened.

Therefore, he could confirm that the Grand Tutor's dream-traveling technique was indeed not an illusion.

The Grand Tutor wasn't exaggerating; she truly understood destiny and knew the will of Heaven.

"My fellow emperors, let's travel through time together!"

Hu Hai showed no fear, only excitement. He called out to everyone and was the first to plunge into the dreamlike vortex ahead.

Jiang Lü said modestly, "Brother, you go first."

Fusu was somewhat surprised and apprehensive about his first time traveling through time. As he walked forward, he asked, "After traveling through time, will I be able to contact my brothers directly in my dreams?"

This time it's not a single-player game, but a multiplayer game involving kings, with even Li Si and Feng Quji participating.

However, Li Si and Feng Quji did not create separate game accounts.

They were Hu Hai's "accessories," participating in the "Qin Dynasty Battle Royale Game."

After time travel, the group of "Grand Councilors" still had to follow and assist Hu Hai.

“We probably can’t contact each other directly in dreams, but we can exchange letters. We can ask the Azure Phoenix Messenger to help deliver messages, and we can exchange information within a day,” Jiang Lü said.

Fusu felt somewhat relieved and became the first prince after Huhai to enter the "Dream Reincarnation Channel".

Then came Jiang Lü and his few "accomplices".

Yes, several princes and members of the Ying clan followed him to the Nanyang Kingdom and served as ministers there.

The hereditary system of official positions and stipends before the Qin Dynasty originated from this.

Upon entering the "vortex of reincarnation," Jiang Lu immediately discovered that this dream journey was significantly different from the previous ones.

He had a feeling that he had truly entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Besides his own memories and thoughts being cleansed and reshaped, he also saw countless ghosts in the passage, which were also passing through the reincarnation passage and transforming into real people.

Then a bright light shone before his eyes, and his consciousness "awakened," causing him to sit up in bed.

"This is the Prince of Nanyang's residence, and this is my study's soft couch! I spent the whole night in my study dealing with state affairs, and after meditating and practicing my breathing for a while in the middle of the night, I rested on this soft couch for the night."

Jiang Lu got out of bed and strolled around the Prince's Mansion, finding it no different from the real one.

Flowers, trees, buildings, and people are all the same.

Pick a flower, hold it to your nose and smell it gently; it's just like the real thing. Find an acquaintance who isn't a time traveler and chat with them; their thoughts and behaviors are just like before.

"Second brother, this is simply amazing! Could it be that we've returned to Nanyang?"

Ying Wu, the second younger brother of Jiang Lü, began to look dazed.

Ying Wu and Ying Shusun were brothers of Jiang Lü, sharing the same father and mother, and the three of them were the closest of friends.

When Jiang Lü became the Prince of Nanyang, the other two were not granted titles of nobility, but instead followed Jiang Lü to his post. They also time-traveled together at this time.

There are many other descendants of the Ying clan who share similar identities with them.

If a lonely vassal king were to become king in a distant vassal state, he would surely be deceived and misled by his subordinates and accomplish nothing.

"Grand Tutor's dream-traveling technique is indeed miraculous. It's not surprising that it completely simulates Nanyang at this moment." Ying Shusun reminded him, "You should know that our year-end summary meeting tonight is to deal with the situation in the Central Plains next year."

Everything I'm experiencing now is to gain experience in solving real-world problems, and of course, it should be as close to reality as possible.

Ying Wu patted his head and said, "But we also have new memories of 'this life' in our minds."

Jiang Lü closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said, "This is because the 'future events' we are about to experience cannot completely match the future in reality."

"Dream travel only allows one to gain experience in the grand scheme of things, and incidentally, to understand the Grand Tutor's thoughts and policies."

"What does it mean to 'understand the Grand Tutor's thoughts'?" Ying Wu asked, puzzled.

Jiang Lü smiled faintly and said, "We all spoke at the previous tactical summary meeting."

The Grand Tutor neither affirmed nor denied it, but instead listed all the content we had summarized in a table.

Is the Grand Tutor's insight inferior to ours?
She didn't elaborate, only reminding us that "the struggle for destiny is a struggle for popular support." Was it because she didn't want to guide us?

Ying Wu suddenly realized, "We must have made mistakes and biases. The Grand Tutor didn't point them out immediately because he wanted us to experience them firsthand in the dream world."

The dream world was simulated by her based on the evolution of the days.

The solutions we discover and figure out ourselves will surely meet her expectations.

Jiang Lü nodded slightly. "Immediately send a message to Xingyang, saying 'The Prince of Nanyang has returned to his throne.'"

The message from Lü was relayed to Xingyang, and then a "secret code" was received from Xingyang: the Second Emperor had returned to the throne, and all the princes had returned to their positions.

Jiang Lü understood that everyone had returned to their positions, and they could now proceed with the pre-agreed grand strategy to resolve the rebellion in the Central Plains.

In just two months, the Qin kings, taking advantage of the greater strength and unity of the imperial court, defeated Chen Sheng's six armies one by one.

In the third month, the Eastern Navy Marquis under the command of King Lieyang directly stormed into Chen County and massacred the capital of Zhang Chu.

Chen Sheng attempted to flee eastward but was caught and taken to Xingyang where he was executed by being cut into a thousand pieces.

"Hahaha, this is the power of unity! Even if Chen Sheng has the help of immortals, as long as we brothers work together, we will still be invincible!" Hu Hai and the other princes celebrated their victory with great excitement.

At this moment, even Jiang Lü felt that "the great demon king Chen Sheng was nothing more than this."

Only Fusu felt something was amiss.

He felt that Chen Sheng's generals should not have been killed off, and that Chen County should not have been massacred. He even felt that Chen Sheng did not need to be so cruel.

He tried to persuade his brothers, and their answer was simple: "Brother, we are conducting a time-travel exercise, not just once."

Trying each method once and identifying all the errors is the greatest advantage of 'infinite travel'.

Let's have a good, intense battle first, and then we can revise it if it's not right!

In the fourth month, they destroyed King Jiu of Wei.

In the fifth month, they began to besiege the State of Qi, causing the Tian family to suffer repeated defeats and retreat to the islands in the East China Sea.

Then the Central Plains were destroyed.

Then new heroes rose up, and their numbers grew even larger.

At first, the kings of the Ying clan did not take it seriously, thinking that they were inferior to Chen Sheng.

On their first encounter, those heroes indeed lacked battle experience, yet the Qin kings were unable to defeat them. "It's the Four Friends of Qionglin, the Immortal of the Deer Cauldron, and Wei Boyang who are supporting these rebel kings again," King Lieyang said with a grim expression. "We only destroyed Chen Sheng, not the group of great immortals who supported him."

Now they've switched their support to the new rebel king.

"Why didn't they support Chen Sheng to the end? If they had been willing to put in the effort, Chen Sheng wouldn't have been defeated so quickly," Fusu asked, puzzled.

The kings didn't quite understand either.

The situation then took a sharp turn for the worse. The new rebel king was too powerful, more intelligent, more experienced, more magnanimous, and better at managing his subordinates than Chen Sheng.

In the sixth month, a vassal king of the Ying clan was executed, and his entire clan was exterminated.

Just like when they slaughtered Chen County and Chen Sheng's clan.

By the end of the year, only three or four vassal kings were still struggling to hold on, while Xingyang was surrounded by an army of 500,000, and there was no hope of breaking out.

Six months later, the rebel army broke through Xingyang, killed Hu Hai, and slaughtered all the officials and nobles in the city.

"I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this!" Hu Hai's ghost floated atop Xingyang City, letting out a mournful and furious roar. "A dignified Great Luo Golden Immortal, four of you actually ganged up on a mere mortal like me! Shameless! Unscrupulous! I will die with my eyes wide open in disbelief!"

Then he traveled through time again and arrived at the "Six Paths of Reincarnation Vortex".

A group of dejected Ying clan kings were already waiting there.

"The Four Friends of Qionglin are utterly shameless! The four of them ganged up on me. I had fought my way through the Sixteen Routes of Smoke and Dust, and none of them could rival me. Just when I was about to set things right on my own, a Great Immortal descended upon us! How hateful!"

Even now, Hu Hai still refuses to die in peace.

Jiang Lü had calmed down and advised, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? You only have three years left in your life. Before, you even defeated sixteen rebel kings, and the immortals didn't even come down to meet you."

When the three-year period is almost over, you will have lost your destiny, and killing you will be in accordance with the will of Heaven. They all want to seize this fortune!

It wouldn't take four near-Great Luo Immortals to kill you; they just want to divide up the fortune.

Hu Hai was stunned, his dark face turning pale. "I only have a year and a half left? But I am just a mortal, while they are immortals, almost at the Great Luo level. Don't they have any shame?"

"Don't you read 'The Investiture of the Gods'? The Three Immortal Maidens were beaten to death by the Sage."

Even sages would be enraged and take action, let alone the Four Friends of Qionglin, who are only about to attain the Great Luo realm, several realms below a sage. "King Lieyang said with a blank face.

He also wanted to protest his innocence.

He gathered thirty-six powerful cultivators and finally set up the "Great Sun Golden Crow Small Heavenly Circuit Formation," which allowed him to move freely among the rebel army without being able to withstand a single blow.

Moreover, he wasn't fighting alone; he had an army of 100,000 men by his side.

As a result, the immortal, shameless as ever, used 300,000 rebel troops to set up a strange immortal formation, which slowly wore him down to death.

Li Si said slowly, "Next time you travel through time, you can't be so reckless."

The Grand Tutor's core guiding principle was to win the hearts of the people through benevolent governance, not through violence and bloodshed.

Regardless, the rebels are backed by over a dozen near-Great Luo Immortals, dozens of Golden Immortals, and countless other immortals and deities; we cannot possibly defeat them.

He felt that he was the one who should be the one crying out "injustice" and "discontent".

He has always been conscientious and has never made any mistakes in his position.

As a result, his political achievements seemed to have no effect whatsoever; it was just a group of military leaders indiscriminately hacking and slashing.

It was as if he, the dignified chief of military aircraft, was just a figurehead.

"We must earnestly implement the Grand Tutor's ten years of benevolent governance, obey my commands, and not mess things up!" Li Si solemnly emphasized again before entering the reincarnation channel.

All the kings agreed.

After all, they had personally tried brute force, and it really didn't work.

In the second time travel, everyone cooperated with Li Si to implement ten years of benevolent governance, trying their best not to provoke conflicts. Sure enough, the Xingyang court held out for two more years.

"Benevolent governance can indeed win the hearts of the people, and winning the hearts of the people is indeed useful, but in the end we still have to face the rebel kings Wang Er, Li San, and Hu Si."

They are too strong. Did the Grand Tutor deliberately strengthen them?

Not only do they possess a powerful destiny and have immortals to help them, they've even started to try and win over the hearts and minds of the people, just like we do. Li Si was stunned.

In this game, all the kings obeyed his command, and he felt that he had exerted all his potential and reached the peak of his governance, but he still could not change the overall situation.

Fusu said, "The true emperor chosen by 'Heaven' must have a benevolent heart."

They don't need to learn from us; they will spontaneously extend their benevolence to all under heaven.

To win their hearts and minds, we must be more merciful—genuine merciful, without any ulterior motives.

Feng Quji asked, "What is King Zhao's plan?"

Fusu shook his head and said, "I have no plan, only belief—to learn from the Confucian sages' benevolence, abandon utilitarianism, and truly love the people as my own children."

Li Si felt a bit disgusted by the word "Confucianism," but he had already tried and failed, so he couldn't press the issue further.

In the third time travel, everyone listened to Fusu, who loved the people like his own children. Two years later, Xingyang fell.

"You're not even as good as me!" Li Si laughed.

Fusu frowned, "Kindness alone cannot dispel the resentment in the hearts of the people!"

Li Si stroked his long beard and said slowly, "If the demise of the Qin Dynasty was the will of Heaven, then Heaven began to arrange the destiny decades ago."
How to arrange?

The simplest and most direct method is to arrange for a demon star to descend to earth.

Those demonic stars were born from the resentment of humankind.

The resentment of people in the world is too strong and too much. Just as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gives birth to mountain spirits and monsters, people's resentment and hatred can also give birth to demonic stars.

The reincarnation of the Demon Star is meant to smash the old order and destroy the old world that generates so much resentment.

These kinds of people will not be moved by your kindness.

Nowadays, there are so many rebels in the Central Plains, and each of them has a unique skill, making them truly outstanding individuals.

I don't believe they aren't demons.

Their subordinates, even if not demonic stars, were most likely harmed by my Great Qin in their past lives, reincarnated with resentment and curses. They felt a deep-seated disgust upon seeing officials of my Great Qin.

—Since the Prime Minister knows everything, why did he let the Qin Dynasty fall to this state?

Some of the feudal lords were muttering to themselves.

Li Si also had something to say: It was only after I lost the guardian fairy child that I began to understand the secrets of this matter and learned about the existence of the Demon Star.

When he had a celestial attendant by his side, the great immortal would not take the initiative to discuss the relevant secrets with him, for fear of scaring away his celestial attendant.

Jiang Lü suggested, "Pure benevolence won't work, nor will pure military suppression. Let's compromise. Be ruthless to the rebels, but benevolent to the people."

Li Si nodded slowly, "The degree of difficulty is hard to grasp, and we may have to try it several more times."

So they traveled through it ten more times.

The longest they can persist is six years, and the shortest is two years.

"The effect is indeed good, but it is still difficult to change the overall trend. It is still far from the minimum standard required by the Grand Tutor - ten years of national life."

"What's the reason for this? Have we overlooked something?" Feng Quji asked, puzzled.

Everyone racked their brains but still couldn't find a solution.

“Let’s seek outside help. Let the late King enter the fray. Let them be our ‘personal sages,’” sighed King Fusu of Zhao.

(End of this chapter)