Was Qin II Not Fusu

Soon, the group sat around the dining table.

Looking at the table full of delicious dishes, Ying Zheng unconsciously swallowed hard.

The aroma of the food constantly stimulated his taste buds, greatly whetting his appetite.

Not far away, Li Lizhi, Cheng Weiyang, Qin Fei, and Xu Miaoyun set up another table, eating alongside Empress Ma, Empress Zhangsun, Ying Yinman, Little Sizi, and the others.

Qin Ning sat at a table with Jiang Yanran, Qin Shi Huang, and the rest, with Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shimin sitting on either side of Qin Shi Huang.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened a bottle of Maotai and poured a cup for Qin Shi Huang. "Brother Zheng, this is liquor from later generations. It's much stronger than the alcohol from your Qin Dynasty, so drink slowly."

"No matter how strong the liquor is, how strong can it really be?"

Ying Zheng scoffed dismissively. He glanced at the small cup in front of him; with this amount, it wasn't even enough for a single mouthful.

With that said, he directly picked up the cup, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

Immediately after, Ying Zheng felt a burning sensation in his throat, as if a ball of fire had been ignited inside.

"See? I told you this liquor was strong, but you just wouldn't listen."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and continued, "Brother Zheng, how about we forget it? Stop drinking the liquor. There's soda in the fridge over there; you should just have some soda."

"What are you saying? It's just a mere drink, could I really get drunk from this? Come, fill it up!" Ying Zheng said, biting the bullet.

Due to brewing techniques and other factors, the alcohol content of liquor during the Qin Dynasty was not high. Most were only a few degrees, no different from beer, with the highest being only ten degrees.

Compared to modern Maotai, it was basically the equivalent of drinking water.

"As expected of Brother Zheng. Since that's the case, we will accompany you today until we are all drunk." Li Shimin said as he also opened a bottle of Maotai and filled Qin Shi Huang's cup.

The three of them drank cup after cup. In just a short while, they had downed almost an entire bottle of Maotai, and their faces instantly turned red.

Li Shimin was the first who couldn't take it anymore. His face and ears were completely flushed as he called a halt to this meaningless drinking contest and slurred, "Come, come, come, don't just drink the food, eat some liquor."

Ying Zheng picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of food. Although the drunkenness was getting to his head, his mind was still somewhat clear. He looked at Qin Ning and asked, "Mr. Qin, you all just said that my Great Qin perished in its second generation... Is Fusu truly that incompetent?"

"Sigh, Brother Zheng, you are wrongly blaming Fusu for this."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The Second Emperor of Qin was not Fusu, but someone else entirely."

"What?"

Hearing this, Ying Zheng was astonished. "The Second Emperor of Qin was not Fusu? How is that possible? I have cultivated his ways of governing the state since he was young, hiring a group of great Confucian scholars and teachers to instruct him. The heavy burden of the Great Qin will all fall upon his shoulders in the future. How could it not be Fusu?"

Jiang Yanran, who was well-versed in history, spoke up. "As mentioned earlier, in the thirty-seventh year of Ying Zheng, during your fifth eastern inspection tour, you passed away at the Shaqiu Palace. But the most fatal part was that prior to this, due to your superstitious belief in immortality, you were convinced that you would definitely find the way to eternal life. Therefore, before your death, you did not explicitly establish a Crown Prince. Oh, the Great Qin didn't have the term Crown Prince, so it would be the heir apparent."

Hearing these words, Ying Zheng frowned deeply.

Not explicitly establishing an heir apparent meant that the candidate for the next Qin Emperor had not been determined even up to the moment of his death!

This would inevitably trigger turmoil in the imperial court.

"Even if I did not explicitly establish an heir apparent, in my heart, Fusu has always been the first choice for the next Qin Emperor. I would definitely have left behind a posthumous edict before my death, ordering Fusu to take over the Great Qin."

Li Shimin said, "The historical you indeed left behind a posthumous edict, ordering Fusu to immediately rush back to Xianyang. But your mistake was that you entrusted the edict to someone you shouldn't have."

"Zhao Gao!"

Upon hearing this, this name surfaced in Qin Shi Huang's mind, and he blurted it out directly.

During the era of King Zheng of Qin, Zhao Gao was already a capable and trusted aide by his side. By the twenty-sixth year of Ying Zheng, when the world was unified, he had promoted Zhao Gao to the Prefect of the Grand Equipages, primarily responsible for managing the Emperor's carriages and travels.

Although the rank of this position was not high, because it was close to the Emperor, its actual influence was quite significant.

Furthermore, because of his favor and trust, he would often have Zhao Gao draft edicts on his behalf. Could the problem have arisen from here?

"That's right, it was Zhao Gao."

Jiang Yanran nodded. "You fell gravely ill in Shaqiu. Before your passing, you ordered Zhao Gao to draft an edict, summoning your eldest son Fusu back to Xianyang to preside over the funeral affairs, which was essentially establishing his status as the heir."

"However, the Zhao Gao of that time secretly withheld the edict and did not issue it. Simply because his relationship with Fusu was distant, he worried that after Fusu succeeded the throne, his own power and position would not be guaranteed. Meanwhile, Huhai was his student and easy to control, so he decided to support Huhai."

"After your death, Zhao Gao kept the mourning a secret. He persuaded Huhai by saying, 'When the father dies without an edict granting fiefs to his sons, the princes will not have an inch of land.' Later, he roped in Li Si and forged two edicts. One was to establish Huhai as the Crown Prince, and the other was secretly sent to Shangjun, ordering Fusu and Meng Tian to commit suicide under the crimes of 'disloyalty and unfilial conduct.'"

"At that time, Fusu was serving as the army supervisor in Shangjun, assisting the great general Meng Tian in commanding an army of three hundred thousand to guard the borders and build the Great Wall. After receiving the edict, he immediately drew his sword and slit his own throat. Meng Tian suspected treachery and refused to accept the order, so he was imprisoned in Yangzhou and later murdered."

Hearing Jiang Yanran's narration, every word and sentence felt like ten thousand arrows piercing his heart, leaving Qin Shi Huang both sorrowful and enraged.

He was angry that Fusu was actually so pedantic that he chose to commit suicide without even confirming the authenticity of the edict. He was also sorrowful that Fusu's actions were entirely out of blind loyalty and filial piety towards him. What was even more hateful and agonizing was that Li Si and Zhao Gao actually dared to commit treason!

"Speaking of which, it's quite strange. Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song, and Old Zhu, the five of you can all be considered emperors of the ages. But tragically, the five of you couldn't even scrape together a single Crown Prince who could truly inherit the great lineage."

Jiang Yanran continued, "Eldest Young Master Fusu slit his throat due to a forged edict. Emperor Wu of Han's eldest legitimate son, Liu Ju, was also forced to commit suicide due to the 'Disaster of Witchcraft and Gu.' Li Chengqian rebelled, was exiled, and then hanged himself. Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, had his empire directly usurped by his younger brother. Even Zhu Biao, who was hailed as the most secure Crown Prince in history, didn't get to sit on the throne for a single day."

For a moment, everyone present fell silent.

After a long while, Qin Shi Huang finally spoke, "Now that I know history, it means that everything can be changed. Since there is no immortality in the world, once I return, I will definitely establish Fusu as the heir apparent at the first opportunity, to prevent the outcome of my Great Qin perishing in its second generation from happening again."

Jiang Yanran shook her head. "I'm afraid just doing that won't be enough. The Great Qin has far too many problems. I remember historical records stating that Fusu was more than a dozen years older than Princess Yangzi. Now that Yangzi is three years old, Fusu should be around eighteen. You understand his personality better than any of us. If the Great Qin is truly just handed over to him like this..."

Li Shimin said, "That's right, Brother Zheng. Fusu's temperament still needs to be tempered. Otherwise, if you really depart, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for him to shoulder the heavy burden of the Great Qin."

"It does not matter. I do not pass away until the thirty-seventh year of my reign, and it is currently only the twenty-eighth. There are still nine years for him to change his ways. If he remains the same after nine years, I will have no choice but to choose someone else. The eternal foundation of my Great Qin can absolutely not be destroyed simply for the sake of the primogeniture system," Qin Shi Huang said seriously.

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke up, "Brother Zheng, you haven't even met Xu Fu yet. As long as you don't consume those bullshit golden elixirs he refines in the future, you will definitely live even longer. Besides, when we said earlier that there is no true immortality in this world, that wasn't entirely correct."

"What do you mean?" Hearing this, Qin Shi Huang was puzzled.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "Mr. Qin, who stands right before us, is the only true immortal in thousands of years to have actually achieved eternal life. Recently, simply by drinking his immortal tea, Old Zhu and I have felt our bodies improve drastically, as if we had returned to our eighteen-year-old selves."

"In a little while, the two of us will also be following Mr. Qin to learn immortal cultivation. Even if we don't achieve true immortality, living for a few hundred years will be no problem at all. Therefore, Brother Zheng, there is absolutely no need for you to rush the matter of the crown prince."