Diqin Designer

Chapter 436 Fusu Knows History

Li Nian and Fu Su were still talking late into the night, and the other princes were also unable to sleep. In one of the palace rooms, Lü Zhi and Prince Gao were still awake.

Gongzi Gao excitedly said to Lü Zhi, "It's wonderful that my elder brother is safe and sound. But he has changed so much; when I saw him tonight, I almost didn't recognize him..."

Empress Lü listened quietly to Prince Gao's words, silently thinking to herself, "Perhaps only you, my husband, truly wish for Brother Fusu to be safe and sound. The others probably wish for him to disappear without a trace."

"I remember when I was little, my older brother took good care of me..."

Prince Gao began to tell Lü Zhi about his childhood. Although Lü Zhi had heard it many times before, she listened quietly.

Doesn't her husband know that Fusu has returned safely? Will it be even more difficult for these young masters to become the crown prince?

Moreover, His Majesty did not call the other princes, but only Fusu and Li Nian. It is very likely that he was telling Fusu and Li Nian something special, and perhaps he has already decided on the position of crown prince.

After Gongzi Gao finished speaking, Lü Zhi asked, "Husband, aren't you worried that His Majesty's summoning of Brother Fusu and Brother-in-law Li Nian tonight might be related to the position of Crown Prince?"

Gongzi Gao smiled nonchalantly, "Perhaps. It's up to Father Emperor to decide which brother to appoint as heir; I will simply follow his orders."

Hearing this, Lü Zhi sighed inwardly. With her husband's personality, she was afraid he would not be able to win the position of crown prince. But then she thought that this was not bad either. Although her husband did not have much ambition, he loved her and their child very much.

Perhaps after he becomes the crown prince, he may not treat her and her son the same way he does now. Her current husband is already quite good; at least Lü Zhi is very satisfied.

Compared to the more easygoing Prince Gao and Lü Zhi, some princes were not so sure about it. Why hadn't Fusu disappeared and returned safely?

But they only dared to complain in their hearts or to their confidants, and dared not do anything at all. The First Emperor's "education" for them was too "good", so "good" that even when Zhao Gao and Hu Hai's knives were about to cut their necks, they dared not fight back.

Historically, the First Emperor was a major failure in educating his sons. None of his sons were any good under his tutelage. Not to mention Fusu and Huhai, even if the other sons couldn't defeat Huhai and Zhao Gao when they were facing their executioners, they would still have to struggle if they were clearly being targeted.

There weren't many like Gongzi Gao and Gongzi Jianglu, yet they were all slaughtered like chickens by Huhai and Zhao Gao!

Compared to the first emperor, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Hongwu were much better. At least their children were well-educated, and even if they lost their crown prince, their other sons were still capable.

Although Liu Fuling died young, his performance during his reign was quite wise; Li Zhi was the sixth son, and he used his wife to deal with his uncle, a master of politics, but he never expected his wife to have such great ambitions; Zhu Di is even more so, as evidenced by his original temple name "Taizong".

In contrast, none of the First Emperor's sons, including Fusu, were of any use. He had quite a few sons, and it's impossible to say that all of them were of poor quality. There must have been a reason for the First Emperor's poor education.

The princes were not asleep, nor was the First Emperor himself. He leaned against the spacious couch, not summoning any of his concubines to his bedchamber. He was still thinking about the matter of establishing an heir apparent. Although he favored Fusu, could Fusu really shoulder this heavy responsibility?
At the same time, he was also considering whether to make Fusu aware of history before Fusu became the crown prince, or after Fusu became the crown prince.

Informing Fusu beforehand would help determine whether he was suitable to be the Crown Prince of Qin, but it would compromise secrecy; informing Fusu afterward would further enhance secrecy, but it would again hinder a clear assessment of his suitability.

On the third day after Fusu returned to Xianyang, the First Emperor summoned all the princes to Zhangtai Palace. Without beating around the bush, he went straight to the point: "I have called you here today because I have a test for you to take."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately perked up. Even Prince Gao, who did not have much ambition for the position of crown prince, became alert. His father was clearly going to use the exam to evaluate them and use it as a reference for choosing an heir.

The First Emperor pointed to the tables and chairs already set out in the hall and said, "Please take your seats. The exam papers will be distributed shortly, and you must finish answering them before lunch!"

After saying this, the First Emperor ignored his sons and began to deal with state affairs. He no longer needed to supervise the examinations, as his sons dared not cheat under his watchful eye. Moreover, Meng Yi, along with eunuchs and guards, were also present in the palace.

Soon, the examination papers were distributed by the palace eunuchs. Fusu glanced at the examination paper in his hand. The examination paper was written in simplified characters, not Qin seal script.

This test paper is designed to assess their familiarity with JianShu. If any of you are not familiar with JianShu, you will have trouble even understanding the questions, let alone answering them.

However, Fusu was not among them. The living conditions in that place were not as comfortable as in Xianyang, the food and drink were not as good, and the entertainment was not as abundant. But it was precisely because of this that Fusu was able to calm down and think and study.

During his year or so there, he became quite familiar with JianShu through self-study and practice.

Compared to the scripts of the seven former states, the simplified script, being more neat, easier to understand, and easier to write, was bound to replace the other scripts and become the common script of the Qin Dynasty. As the crown prince of a country, how could he not understand his own script? What kind of crown prince is he if he can't even understand his own country's script!
Those brothers who were enfeoffed in the provinces were in much better condition than Fusu. They could get all kinds of help from Xianyang. If they were willing, it would be impossible for them to be unfamiliar with the bamboo slips.

This simple method can be used to filter out those who, after being enfeoffed to local areas, have become too far removed from the world and haven't properly learned and understood the situation.

The method is simple, but very effective!
Fusu read through the exam questions and found them quite interesting. They mainly focused on policies for governing the country, but also included questions on investigating things and arithmetic.

This was another challenge for those who hadn't studied physics and mathematics in detail. However, because he was interested in many of Li Nian's views and wanted to ask Li Nian for advice after returning to Xianyang, he made a special effort to learn about them. Although he didn't study them in depth, he was much better than his brothers.

A thought suddenly occurred to Fusu: 'Could this be a test prepared specifically for him by his father, to make his ascension to the throne of Qin more legitimate?'

But Fusu immediately dismissed the idea. Based on his understanding of his father, even if he liked him very much, it was unlikely that his father would prepare a special exam for him. His father was inclined to make him the heir apparent, but it was not a done deal and everything was subject to change.

The reason why the test paper will include questions on physics and arithmetic is that the future development of the Great Qin is closely related to these two things. If the crown prince of the Great Qin does not understand these things, how can he lead the Great Qin well?

Li Nian mentioned that he still has shortcomings in this area. The Qin Dynasty will be different from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties. As the crown prince of the Qin Dynasty and the future emperor, he needs to learn and understand even more.

After pondering for a while, Fusu began to answer the questions. The questions on governance included both domestic governance and foreign policies, covering everything from large prefectures to small counties, including education, finance and taxation, military affairs, and other aspects.

Some of these questions he had pondered himself, while others he had discussed with Li Nian during their late-night talks, allowing Fusu to answer quite smoothly. However, during the process of answering the questions, Fusu also discovered some of his own shortcomings. When answering questions about local governance, he was very adept because of his experience, but when faced with practical issues outside of local areas, he felt that his answers were empty talk and not practical.

He gained a deeper understanding of Li Nian's words, "Prince Fusu still has many shortcomings and needs more experience." Li Nian was saying that he lacked experience in these areas, and he indeed needed to gain experience at the prefectural level and in the army to make up for his deficiencies.

Learning and figuring things out on your own, or being taught by others, is still not enough; you still need to have practical experience yourself.

This is also part of the Emperor's assessment. This test paper reveals the true talent and ability of these people in governing the country.

With the First Emperor's announcement, "The exam is over!", all the princes, whether they wanted to or not, whether they had finished answering the questions or not, stopped writing. They did not have the courage to disobey the First Emperor's decree and continue answering the questions.

Some people had calm expressions, making it impossible to tell how well they answered; others looked dejected and distressed, clearly having answered unsatisfactorily. They knew this exam was crucial for the selection of the heir apparent, and if they didn't do well, their hopes of becoming the heir apparent were slim.

The Emperor's sudden test caught them off guard. If they had known that the Emperor would test them, they would have prepared in advance. Why did this happen?

But Fusu felt that this was something his father had done on purpose. If they were made to prepare, how could his father assess their true abilities? It would also serve as a warning to them, reminding them to be prepared in advance for any eventuality.

All the exam papers were collected by the eunuchs and brought to the First Emperor's desk. The First Emperor did not look at them immediately, but said to his sons, "You may all leave!"

After the princes withdrew, the First Emperor picked up the examination papers and began to grade them. The best answer was naturally given to Fusu, followed by Prince Gao, Prince Jianglu, and other princes who had diligently governed their respective fiefdoms. As for those princes who had not diligently governed their fiefdoms, their answers were clearly revealed in their examination papers.

Prince Gao's answering ability was second only to Fusu's. After a moment's thought, the First Emperor understood why. Although his son was not as talented as Fusu, the daughter-in-law he had betrothed to him was very capable. She was the first empress in Chinese history.

This also shows that when Prince Gao was handling government affairs in his fiefdom, his daughter-in-law was most likely involved in devising strategies for him.

On the night the exam ended, Meng Yi appeared in Fusu's palace and asked Fusu to go to Zhangtai Palace again. Upon seeing Meng Yi, Fusu realized that tonight was his father's final test of whether he could become the crown prince of Qin.

But no matter what kind of assessment it is, Fusu is prepared. Even if his father does not ultimately choose him as the crown prince, he will do his best to fight for it!
Fusu prepared himself mentally and followed Meng Yi to Zhangtai Palace again, where he saw his father, the emperor, sitting high on the throne, just as he had when he returned to Xianyang to pay homage.

Upon his arrival, the First Emperor said, "Sit!"

After Fusu sat down as ordered, the First Emperor's gaze fell directly on Fusu, and he calmly asked, "Do you really want to become the Crown Prince of Qin?"

Fusu's tone was calm yet firm: "Your subject wishes to be the Crown Prince of Great Qin!"

The First Emperor then asked, "Do you know what it means to become the Crown Prince of Qin?"

Fusu nodded emphatically and said earnestly, "I will shoulder the weight of the nation, inherit the aspirations of past kings, and pave the way for the future of Qin, making it even stronger. This is a weighty responsibility, not a trivial matter!"

The First Emperor did not comment on Fusu's answer, but asked again, "Then do you know your shortcomings?"

Fusu said, "I know some things. If there is anything I have not noticed, please point it out, Father. I lack experience and only know the surface of many things, not the inside. Many of my ideas on governing the country are unrealistic. My brother-in-law said that I still need more experience, and that is indeed the case..."

Fusu explained the shortcomings he recognized, and the First Emperor nodded and said, "Having shortcomings is not terrible; what is terrible is not being able to recognize them, and even more terrible is knowing your shortcomings but not correcting them. It is a good thing that you know you have shortcomings!"

At this point, the First Emperor suddenly changed the subject and asked, "If one of your brothers were to commit a heinous act that would bring disaster to the Qin Dynasty and to the rest of your brothers in the future, how would you deal with it?"

Fusu believed that the First Emperor was testing him to see if he would protect his own brothers and whether his temperament was still as lenient as before. He said, "I will deal with it according to the law, and I will not show favoritism!"

The First Emperor stared at Fusu for a long while before saying, "Since you want to become the crown prince, I will give you a chance!"

Ultimately, the First Emperor decided to let Fusu know some of the history before he became the crown prince, so that he could decide for himself whether he wanted to become the crown prince of Qin.

As the First Emperor spoke, Meng Yi presented a scroll to Fusu. Fusu was puzzled; what was written on it?
Just as he was about to open it to read, he heard the First Emperor's voice again: "Once the arrow is released, there is no turning back. You'd better think carefully about whether you want to read this secret scroll."

Upon hearing the First Emperor's words, Fusu paused for only a few seconds before firmly declaring, "Your subject is willing to see!"

If he hadn't had such a firm resolve, his father probably wouldn't have approved him as the Crown Prince of Qin.

Fusu opened the secret scroll, and then he was stunned. His originally calm expression turned to surprise. It wasn't that his mental state was inadequate, but rather that the information recorded inside was beyond his comprehension.

What does it mean that "In the 37th year of King Zheng of Qin, on the day of Bingyin in the seventh month, the First Emperor died at the Shaqiu Platform"?
What does it mean that Zhao Gao, Hu Hai, and Li Si conspired to forge an imperial edict, allowing Hu Hai to inherit the throne, accusing him of being an unfilial son and Meng Tian of being disloyal ministers, and forcing them to commit suicide?

The crucial point is that he and Meng Tian actually followed this false edict!

Are Fusu and Meng Tian, ​​as recorded in this secret document, two donkeys who just obeyed the imperial edict and committed suicide? Even if it is a real edict, it should be verified.

But after careful consideration, Fusu realized that if it were the old him, he would have actually obeyed this false edict. As long as he committed suicide, Meng Tian would have no choice but to follow suit. And if he didn't die, Meng Tian wouldn't commit suicide either.

As he continued reading, the contents of the secret scroll made Fusu's already dark face even darker, and his expression became extremely unpleasant. That scoundrel Huhai not only drove him and Meng Tian to their deaths, but also conspired with Zhao Gao to kill his other younger brothers and sisters.

(End of this chapter)