The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 157 Mother Helps You

Chapter 157 Mother Helps You
Lü Buwei was afraid that his disciples did not realize the seriousness of the problem, so he decided to use Zheng State to control the floods, and hurriedly added:

“Sir, you need to know that when the number of people doing the work increases from 10,000 to 100,000, the actual number of participants is not simply increased tenfold.

“If you want to build a canal for Qin, Zheng will also need 100,000 people to do the work, and the actual number of participants will be close to 300,000.

"Because the food for 100,000 people needs to be transported from other places, Guanzhong alone cannot supply it, so it can be said that the whole country of Qin has to gather its strength.

"If Zheng State wants to control the floods in this way, the annual expenditure will be greater than the Battle of Changping.

"You may think Buwei is boastful.

"The Battle of Changping involved more than 400,000 men, more than 100,000 men compared to the 300,000 men who fought to control the flood. How could it be that the cost was smaller?
"Because there were no battles every day in Changping, most of the time the Qin and Zhao armies were in a stalemate. The cost of a stalemate is far less than that of a war, but flood control is something that needs to be done every day, and there is no time to rest.

"When the water was controlled, the Qin State started a long-lasting war with the world.

"During the period of flood control, our Qin State has no spare energy to do other things. If we seal ourselves off in the Central Plains, we will lose many opportunities.

“Even if there have been no major incidents in the flood control efforts over the years, the Central Plains nations can rest and recuperate.

"When our country is about to succeed in flood control, human disasters will surely come, and all nations will unite to attack us.

"My Qin is not the Song, and my king is not Duke Xiang of Song, who is known for his benevolence and righteousness. My Qin is known as a country of tigers and wolves, and my king is known as a king of tigers and wolves. No country would want my Qin to be stronger.

"The success of Qin's Guanzhong flood control has increased its national strength, which means that other countries have weakened.

"Those who can send troops will attack, and those who cannot will provide food. The scene of the five countries attacking Qi will be repeated in Qin. We must stop controlling the floods and prepare for the battle.

“It would be OK if we can finish the work in three to five months, and then we can come back to control the floods.

"But what if the war is not over and dragged into a long war like Changping or Handan?
“The land had been neglected for a long time, and it grew naturally, with flowers and grass blooming in the muddy fields. The previous water control efforts were in vain.

"The invading country does not need to defeat us, as long as it can hold back our Qin army, all the efforts of these years will be wasted.

"Three hundred thousand strong laborers and the food consumed in the past few years have all sunk into the East China Sea. You must know that there will be no output before the flood control is completed.

"Even if there is no human disaster, what about natural disasters?

"During the flood control period, if a disaster occurs and grain production decreases, can the Qin State, which has invested everything in flood control, hold out?

"It's difficult.

"Why did Zhao lose the Battle of Changping? Because Ma Fuzi, who replaced Lian Po, was eager to fight a decisive battle.

"Why was Ma Fuzi so eager to fight? Or why did Zhao want to replace the famous general Lian Po with Ma Fuzi who was eager to fight but had no record of success?

"Because Zhao's logistics supply can't hold up, the food supply is insufficient.

"Bu Wei has said before that the battle against heaven and earth in flood control is even more serious than that in Changping.

"King Yu succeeded in controlling the flood because he mobilized all the people in the world and there were no external enemies around.

"My Qin State does not have this condition. The eyes of other countries are all on Qin State, especially... South Korea."

Lu Buwei glanced at the door of the back room where Ji Yaoyao entered, tilted his neck and raised his voice:

“Everything I said before is based on the premise that Zheng State sincerely helps Qin State.

“If Zheng Guo had second thoughts, he only needed to make a mistake by a millimeter when digging the canal at the beginning, and the whole canal would be a thousand miles away after it was dug through, and the flood control would still end in failure.

"Buwei knows that you value friendship the most, but there are not many people like you in this world, so please think twice before you act.

"Don't be persuaded by his words just because you feel sorry for Zheng Guo!"

"It was my fault that I was not considerate enough. Master, please go back first." Ying Chengjiao sent Lu Buwei out of the palace with a wry smile.

He returned to the palace with a bitter face.

I saw my mother with a gentle face, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

The boy no longer thought his mother was a fool, and explained with a wry smile:
"The commander was really talking about Zheng Guo, not mother. Mother, please don't..."

Ji Yaoyao put a finger on her son's mouth, picked him up with a smile, and rocked him gently like when he was a child, teasing him while saying:

"It's good enough as long as you love your mother.

"Other people can think whatever they want and say whatever they want. They are not my children."

The boy lowered his eyebrows, hugged his mother's neck, and lay on her shoulders, feeling a little depressed:

"Mom."

Ji Yaoyao noticed her son's mood, her heart tightened, and her words became gentler:
"here I am."

"Today I realized how naive I was. Huang Shigong and the teacher were right."

"Why do you say that?"

"Collecting night incense will reduce the country's prestige, brewing wine will reduce grain production, and mobilizing the entire country to repair the canal has just told me the dangers... None of the measures I proposed are good, no wonder no one paid attention to me..."

"Then did my Jiaoer make these suggestions in order to weaken the Qin State?"

"No. Night fragrance can increase food production, high-concentration wine can cure diseases and save lives, and repairing the canal..." The boy's voice became lower and lower: "If it can be repaired, it must be a good thing..."

"That's it. My son was only six years old at that time. While other children were still playing, we were thinking and making suggestions for a strong country."

Ji Yaoyao gently propped up her son's head with her shoulder, and her heart ached as she looked at his flattened mouth.

She gently scratched her son's nose and blinked:
"We are still young, so it doesn't matter if we are a little immature. It means well. Besides, we understand everything at the age of seven."

She held her young son under her arms, lifted him up high, and tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling like stars:

"We are the smartest. Which child can become a prime minister at the age of seven? Only we can.

"Not only can we be the first, we have already been the first four and will soon be the fifth.

"If you feel tired..."

Ji Yaoyao, who was only 24 years old after the New Year and had been a mother for seven years, but still a young girl in terms of age, gently embraced her son in her arms:

"Just stay with mom, okay?

“We don’t think about anything, we don’t care about anything, just like last year.

“You design beautiful clothes and makeup for my mother.

"We play mahjong and billiards every day, happily, isn't it?"

Ying Chengjiao was silent for a moment, and shook his little head buried in his mother's arms:

"If I had grown up earlier, and my grandfather knew that I could defeat Qin, he would not have placed his hopes solely on my father, and he would not have died...

"When I left Qin, I walked to the East Palace but didn't go in."

Ji Yaoyao used a little more force to hug her trembling son, and felt a rapidly spreading warmth in her lower abdomen.

She knew that her clothes were wet.

The vision in those beautiful eyes began to blur, and the crystal clear eyes were about to drip.

She sniffed and heard her son's somewhat distorted voice, trying to remain calm:

"If Qin doesn't unify the world, I won't be able to see my father."

She pursed her lips and hugged him tighter, as if she was hugging her world.

"Don't blame my son, don't blame my son, don't blame my son..." Her voice was tearful.

Drops of crystal water fell, leaving circles of wet marks on the luxurious clothes.

According to the Qin calendar, her son was only seven years old.

Her son Qiaoer doesn't even want the throne of King Qin, so why should he fight for the Qin kingdom?
Half an hour later.

Ying Chengjiao was lying on his mother's bed, asleep with a frown on his face.

Ji Yaoyao sat on the edge of the bed and wiped the tears from her son's face with a towel soaked in warm water.

She put down the towel, covered her son with a quilt, gently smoothed his brows, and kissed him on the face.

"My son, what do you want to do? Mother will help you." Her eyebrows were curved and her smile was as gentle as water.

Ying Chengjiao slept very well.

When he woke up, the palace was still dark, and the light coming through the window was unclear. "Mother!" he shouted.

He didn't know why he called his mother, he just wanted to call her.

The back room door was pushed open.

The boy looked up.

It wasn’t his mother, but his teacher Bai Wuxia.

The girl approached, her pretty face slightly cold and fragile, and suddenly said:
"Mother is here, what is it that you are calling for?"

The young man who was taken advantage of was angry and snorted, his eyes rolling around the girl's slightly heaving chest:

"Feed milk!"

The girl was embarrassed and annoyed, and she slapped her apprentice on the head:
"Eat your head!"

The two of them were playing together.

As the boy moved his body, his thoughts calmed down and the matter of flood control was put on hold for the time being.

“Let me go right now! Otherwise you’ll be dead when my mother comes back! Be careful or I’ll strip you naked and tie you up!” The young man, who was pinned to the bed with his arms tied behind his back and unable to move, threatened.

"Bah! Pervert! My wife would never be as shameless as you!" the girl shouted.

She said so, but she knew in her heart that given the lady's doting on her son, the threat might not be false.

She was slightly annoyed, but still did not let go of her apprentice.

The lady left not long ago and can't come back for a while.

East Sea Palace.

A table and three chairs.

Ji Yaoyao sat on one of the two lower chairs, playing with a gold seal that was two fingers long and wide, and one finger thick.

When the gold seal is turned over to the side with words, if you keep it on for a long time, you can see the four words "South Korea Prime Minister".

Han Fei, the master of Donghai Palace, who was sitting in the lower seat, was writing.

Han Wangran, who was sitting in the upper seat, yawned and said to the noble Ji Yaoyao:
"Yaoyao, can you please stop playing? You're making me dizzy.

"You dragged me here to find Fei early in the morning, but left Fei to make plans alone.

"You don't have a speech impediment, so why don't you speak?"

Ji Yaoyao grasped the seal of the Prime Minister and gently threw it on the table.

The little seal rolled in front of Han Wangran with a clang. The moment it stopped, Ji Yaoyao's clear voice rang out:
"Zhang Ping is dead, centralize power!"

Han Fei paused and looked up at his cousin. What she said coincided with what he had written.

"I also know how to centralize power. The power of prime minister has always been held by the Zhang family, but it is finally vacated." Han Wangran sighed.

He did not hear the rustling sound of the pen tip scratching the bamboo slips. He turned his head to look at Han Fei and found that Han Fei had indeed stopped writing.

"Have you finished writing?" Han Wangran said as he went to take the bamboo slips in front of Han Fei.

Han Fei blocked King Han's hand with his arm and handed the unfinished bamboo slips to Ji Yaoyao.

Han Wangran's face froze for a moment. He mechanically looked at Han Fei, and then at Ji Yaoyao who had already set her eyes on the bamboo slips.

This situation has happened more than once or twice.

Whenever the three of them discussed matters in private, Han Fei, who had graduated from the Jixia Academy, and Ji Yaoyao, who had returned from the State of Qin, were very disrespectful to the King of Han, who was born and raised in the State of Han, and often isolated him.

"I'm not as smart as you, but I'm the king!" Han Wangran pointed at his face and said, "Can you respect me a little? Can you bring me along when you discuss things? Who has the final say in Korea?"

Han Fei had a speech impediment and did not speak. He smiled and pointed at Han Wangran to express his respect.

Ji Yaoyao...had no reaction at all, she was absorbed in reading the bamboo slips.

"Yaoyao, Yaoyao!" Han Wangran shouted twice.

Seeing that his cousin still had no reaction, he reached out to grab the bamboo slips written by Han Fei.

"What are you doing?!" Ji Yaoyao pressed the bamboo slips with her palm, extremely impatient.

The words are all connected together, which looks really ugly. I really should teach my son to use punctuation marks more frequently.

"Can you show some respect to me, brother?"

"I dragged the king to Donghai Palace early in the morning. Is that not respectful enough to the king?" Ji Yaoyao lowered her head and continued to read the words: "After Han Fei and I discussed, the king thought that the plan was not working, so he went to discuss it with the ministers. The process, which is laborious, is left to us. The king only needs to wait for the result and make the final decision."

Han Wangran looked dull, he also wanted to feel a sense of participation...

After a while, Ji Yaoyao finished reading what Han Fei wrote.

He threw the bamboo slips to Han Wangran and said to Han Fei:

“Brother and Yaoyao think similarly, but there is one difference.

"Brother wants to appoint Junior Brother Li Si as Prime Minister, but Yaoyao thinks this is not a good idea."

Han Fei picked up his pen and wrote:

[Although Li Si is not well-known, his ability is definitely not inferior to mine. ]

Ji Yaoyao looked at it and shook her head:
"I don't doubt Li Si's ability. The person you recommended must be an extraordinary person.

"I think what Korea lacks now is not a prime minister, but a king."

Han Wangran, who was reading the unfinished bamboo slips written by Han Fei, raised his head and looked at the bold sister expressionlessly.

Korea lacks a king? What is he?
Han Fei concentrated and uttered a word:
"right?"

The only time he spoke a word was when he didn't stutter.

"That's right!" Ji Yaoyao nodded: "Instead of finding an outsider as prime minister and taking back some of the prime minister's power, it's better not to have a prime minister at all and take back the power that was usurped by the Zhang family with interest! Turn the prime minister's power into the power of the monarch!"

Han Wangran finally understood what his cousin meant. It turned out that she was not rebelling against him, but helping him to centralize power.

In Zhang Kaidi, Zhang Ping and his son served as prime ministers of Han for five generations, and they usurped too much power that should have belonged to the king.

He didn't react immediately, but this time he spoke out immediately:
"No! At least a puppet should be appointed as prime minister!
"If I don't appoint a prime minister, the ministers will know that I want to reduce their power and will unite to resist me. This..."

As soon as he began to speak, he heard a rustling sound.

Before he could finish his words, the rustling sound stopped.

Han Fei pushed the newly written bamboo slips in front of Ji Yaoyao, and also pushed back what King Han was about to say.

【When the power of the prime minister falls into someone else's hands, there will always be smart people who can see it. 】

[There will always be fools who are provoked and assassins are sent to assassinate him. ]

[Are you sure you want your son to take this risk? ]

"Everything, for Korea." Ji Yaoyao's eyes were firm.

"Great!" Han Fei gave his cousin a thumbs up and praised her sincerely.

Han Wangran: “…”

Judging from the situation, my cousins should have finished the discussion and reached a consensus.

But...what is the result...how come he doesn't know...

The king turned his head to look at his cousin.