Sky Curtain: A Review of Historical Foes and the Secrets of Ministers

Ying Zheng frowned slightly at his cowardly appearance, then uttered a startling question: "In that case, what do you think if I were to appoint you as a centurion in the army?"

Upon hearing this, Li Si, who was standing to the side, suddenly raised his head, his face full of shock.

A "hundred general" is, as the name suggests, an officer who commands a hundred men.

It may not sound like a high-ranking official position, but in the intricate war machine of the Qin Dynasty, the conditions for promotion to this position are extremely demanding!

According to Qin law, one had to actually behead a sufficient number of enemy soldiers on the battlefield in order to accumulate military merit and be promoted.

Those who could become generals were all veterans who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; they were the elite of the elite in the army.

If one is promoted to the rank of 500 Lords, then one will be qualified to have one's own personal guard.

This strict twenty-rank military merit system was the foundation of Qin's conquest of the six states, and it was an ironclad rule personally established by His Majesty.

Now, His Majesty is actually going to break the rules he himself set just because of a sentence on the sky, and directly parachute a civil official with no military achievements into hundreds of generals.

Zhang Han was stunned for a moment, standing there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

He's someone who's used to wielding a ruler all his life, and you expect him to take up a Qin sword and chop people up?

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Li Si was the first to react, quickly stepping forward and bowing to earnestly dissuade him, "Your Majesty, while the matter of the celestial canopy is indeed mysterious and unpredictable, the Qin Dynasty's military merit system is the cornerstone of the nation, and it must not be touched lightly!"

"If we were to send a civil official who has yet to achieve any merit to lead the army, I fear the soldiers would be dissatisfied, and it would violate the authority of Qin law!"

"I know," Ying Zheng calmly interrupted Li Si.

"I just want to see if what's said in the sky is true or false. And whether Zhang Han truly possesses the qualities of a great general."

Ying Zheng suddenly stood up and braced his hands on the long table.

"If what Tianmu says is true, then I should actually thank Tianmu!"

"As long as I am alive, it doesn't matter if he is Liu Bang, Li Bang, or Zhang Bang. It doesn't matter if he is a military genius or a tyrant."

"Anyone with talent will only be a weapon in my hand, used to expand my territory!"

"But what if this is just a hoax perpetrated by a sorcerer..."

Ying Zheng's face instantly filled with ferocity and murderous intent. "Then I don't mind letting Wang Jian don his armor once again and lead my Qin cavalry to trample the land and wipe out these charlatans!"

Absolutely domineering, this is the true emperor of all time, what is the Heavenly Curtain?

So what if they're gods? If they can be used, then let's use them to contribute to the Qin Dynasty's hegemony.

Anyone who dares to obstruct the Great Qin will be crushed.

Ying Zheng turned his head away, giving Zhang Han no chance to argue, his tone firm.

"Zhang Han, listen up! I'm assigning you one hundred palace guards from Xianyang. Head to the training grounds outside the city immediately! Train hard! If you don't improve, I'll hold you responsible!"

"Your subject... Your subject... Yes!" Zhang Han accepted the life-or-death decree with a trembling voice, almost on the verge of tears.

Li Si watched from the side, opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words.

He knew the emperor before him all too well.

This is Qin Shi Huang, who established the strictest set of rules in the world, yet he himself was never bound by any of them.

He was willing to break the rules at any time as long as it made Qin stronger.

Li Si and Zhang Han left, looking dazed.

Before long, a series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

"Fusu greets Your Majesty."

Fusu, dressed in an elegant long robe, sat down properly at the long table.

His back was very straight, but if you looked closely, you could see that his hands, which were tucked into his sleeves, were trembling slightly.

Ying Zheng was quietly examining his eldest son, on whom he had placed the most high hopes.

"You've arrived."

"Your subject is here." Fusu lowered his head even further.

"You saw and heard the words on the sky and the words spoken by Zhao Tuo, who called himself the Martial Emperor of Nanyue, right?"

Ying Zheng got straight to the point, without any beating around the bush.

"Your Majesty...I saw it." Fusu's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Ying Zheng straightened up slightly. "The last person to succeed to the throne was Huhai. Not only that, but the glorious Qin Dynasty that I established after unifying the world actually perished in just the second generation?"

At this point, Ying Zheng suddenly tilted his head back and burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahahaha!" The laughter was tinged with violence.

"Don't you have anything to say about this?" The laughter stopped abruptly, and Ying Zheng's gaze pierced Fusu like a sharp sword.

Fusu's face was ashen. The first thought that flashed through his mind was not to question the authenticity of the sky, but to fall into deep self-doubt.

Why was it Hu Hai, that good-for-nothing who was ignorant and only knew how to follow Zhao Gao around, fighting dogs and walking birds?

There's only one reason: my father was utterly disappointed in me.

Fusu's mind began to flash wildly back to his conflicts with his father over the years.

His father had executed a Taoist priest, and he had tried to persuade him to stop, which angered his father.

My father built the Great Wall and conscripted laborers, and I talked about benevolent governance and love for the people, which once again angered the emperor... It must be so.

It must be my so-called "womanly compassion" that made my father think I was completely incapable of controlling this vast empire and suppressing the remnants of the six kingdoms. That's why my father passed the throne to Huhai before his death.

It is my incompetence that caused me to lose the Qin kingdom.

"Your subject, Your subject..." Fusu suddenly slammed his head heavily against the ground, his voice even more choked.

Looking at his eldest son, who was blaming himself again, a hint of surprise flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes.

If it were any other day, upon hearing Fusu's cowardly words of self-reflection, Ying Zheng would have kicked him in anger and cursed him for having no backbone.

Surprisingly, this time, Ying Zheng wasn't angry at all.

"Do you think that I was disappointed in you, so I deposed you and installed Huhai instead?" Ying Zheng leaned forward slightly.

Fusu lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise his head, only weeping.

Ying Zheng sneered inwardly, "Fool."

The entire court, and even those in later generations on the celestial stage, all felt that I had been blind to have chosen Huhai.

However, only Ying Zheng himself knew best that this was utterly ridiculous.

Who was Ying Zheng? How could he not know what kind of person Hu Hai was?

The Qin Dynasty's empire, its laws, and its million-strong army—if these were handed over to a fool, chaos would surely ensue within three years.

Although Fusu was somewhat soft-hearted and constantly quoted Confucianism and Mencius, which annoyed many people, he was well-regarded as a virtuous man by the court officials and the common people.

Even if I am old and my eyesight is failing, even if I am dissatisfied with your benevolent rule, I would never entrust the vast empire of Qin to a good-for-nothing who only knows how to eat, drink, and be merry!

Ying Zheng secretly vowed in his heart that his brain had never been squeezed by a door.

However, since it was not I who voluntarily abdicated the throne, and the heavens were adamant that the Qin Dynasty was destroyed by Huhai, what exactly happened in between?

Could it be that I died suddenly without leaving a will?