Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 354

It's impossible for her to give up Yin-Yang techniques: the Moon Goddess betrayed the Eastern Emperor back then for another limit of Yin-Yang techniques.

The chances for Yanfei, Dashao Siming, and the other two women are even smaller. Their relationship with Lu Wei originated from a transaction, and even if they develop some feelings for each other over time, it won't be enough to elevate them to the position of empress.

Xiaomeng glanced at Ji Yan indifferently, unconcerned: the fact that the man she wanted to play with had a wife in name wouldn't affect her Dao heart in any way; it might even make things more exciting...

Lu Wei held absolute authority not only in the imperial court but also in the harem. No one dared to disobey his orders; obedience was the only option.

With the empress's position secured, all issues regarding the coronation ceremony have been resolved; all that remains is for time to pass until the appointed date...

...

"Is Zifang going to Mount Taiyi to cultivate Taoism with Master Chisongzi?"

When Fu Nian found his third junior brother chatting happily with a former Qin imperial censor in the library, he frowned. The reason was not hard to guess: how could a Confucian disciple follow the Daoist school?

Even though Fu Nian held Chi Songzi and Bei Mingzi in high esteem, when it came to matters of the orthodox lineage, that respect was of no importance.

"This humble official, Zhang Cang, pays his respects to Master Fu Nian." Upon seeing the arrival of the head of the Little Sage Manor, the minor official hurriedly bowed. Fu Nian temporarily set aside his thoughts of reprimanding his junior brother and returned the greeting. Then, he suddenly said, "Zhang Cang? I remember you are a disciple of Uncle Xun?"

“Indeed, after completing my apprenticeship, I found a minor official position in Qin to make a living. I didn’t expect Master Fu Nian to still remember me.” Zhang Cang was extremely humble, but as a Confucian disciple, he, like his two fellow disciples Han Fei and Li Si, spent more energy on ‘unorthodox methods’.

Han Fei and Li Si both devoted themselves to Legalism, while Zhang Cang preferred to study arithmetic.

Fu Nian nodded: "Since you come from Xiaoshengxianzhuang, Fu Nian naturally remembers."

"Senior Brother, Senior Brother Zhang Cang is exceptionally talented. Liangzheng intends to introduce him to Prime Minister Lü. If Senior Brother recommends him, it will carry even more weight."

Zhang Liang smiled gently, deliberately ignoring Fu Nian's questions, and told him in detail about Zhang Cang's situation.

His junior brother rarely doubted his judgment of people, and he had heard about Zhang Cang's talent when he was at Xiaoshengxianzhuang, so he readily agreed.

While Zhang Cang was overjoyed, he also knew that the two fellow disciples had something to talk about, so he promptly took his leave.

As soon as he left, Fu Nian's face darkened, and he continued to interrogate Zhang Liang about the situation. Knowing he couldn't escape, Zhang Liang honestly confessed:

"Senior brother, you are overthinking it. Liang and Master Chisongzi are close friends despite their age difference. Liang does intend to learn Taoist classics from him, but he has never thought of going to Taiyi Mountain to join a Taoist sect."

"Have you memorized all the Confucian classics?" Fu Nian said sternly, still dissatisfied with his third junior brother's answer.

"Senior brother~" Zhang Liang gave a wry smile, cupped his hands in a bow, and said sincerely, "Senior brother, do you know why I want to study Taoism?"

“I also want to ask you! The empire is in dire need of rebuilding, and you want to shut yourself away to study Taoism? What kind of logic is that!” Fu Nian naturally knew that his junior brother wanted to leave him a way out, but he did not agree with such behavior.

"Although the empire is in ruins, it will soon recover and develop under the rule of King Qi, and the people will live in peace and prosperity. Whether Liang is an official or not, he will not affect the overall situation."

Zhang Liang knelt down and clasped his hands in a gesture that calmed Fu Nian's anger somewhat: "But what will the King of Qi do after that? I'm sure you know better than Zifang what I'm talking about."

“Zifang was willing to serve the King of Qi in the early days of the empire to solve the immediate crisis, but he was unwilling to be used as a tool for a long time.”

"The empire will surely enjoy long-term peace and stability in the future. Please, senior brother, let Liang focus on his interests from now on. Serving as an official for a long time is not what Liang wants!"

Seeing his junior brother speak so sincerely, Fu Nian couldn't help but clench his fist in his sleeve...

Chapter 460 Finale

Mencius said in the first part of the Book of Mencius: "When one is successful, one should benefit the people; when one is unsuccessful, one should cultivate oneself and make one's virtue known to the world. When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven."

In the past, when the Qin state was in power, Confucian scholars could only deal with matters of etiquette in the court. In addition, the Qin laws were tyrannical and unpopular. Therefore, Fu Nian stayed at Xiaoshengxianzhuang and devoted himself to learning.

While His Highness the King of Qi is not without flaws, he can be called a wise and virtuous ruler. His achievements in eliminating tyranny are comparable to those of Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang. My third junior brother has always been willing to serve Qi and even personally participated in the hard work of revising the Qin law into the Qi law. However, he suddenly had the idea of ​​retiring to the second line before the coronation ceremony, which is really contrary to the Confucian principles!

Not to mention that the trigger was Taoist principles.

Fu Nian felt a surge of anger rising within him, but since it was a joyous day, he forcibly suppressed his displeasure.

He was wearing a neat and exquisite court robe, and he was standing in front of the Chang'an Palace.

Three thousand officials of all ranks from the Great Qi were lined up in several rows. There were only a few people in front of him. As one of the few role models in the world, Fu Nian strictly demanded that he not make the slightest mistake today.

Today is the day His Highness Prince Qi ascends the throne as Emperor!

We can settle this minor matter with my junior brother later.

With a serious expression, Fu Nian quickly got into the right mindset.

The brightness at the edge of the sky gradually spread across the entire sky, and when the long, resounding horn sounded, its stirring and powerful force undoubtedly set the passionate tone for the newly born empire.

The palace gates swung open, and behind burly warriors like Dian Qing and Ji Wushuang, Lu Wei sat upright on the emperor's golden palanquin. His guards were all carefully selected men with physiques resembling those of peasant disciples. Their synchronized movements, accompanied by the faint sound of chime bells, led them past the assembled officials on either side of the palace.

The twelve-beaded crown wouldn't offer much protection for Lu Wei; he could still clearly see the actions and expressions of the three thousand ministers passing by.

But through this crown, the hierarchy was irrevocably established, and from then on, he was the only emperor in the world.

On the high platform, Marquis Guiming, Ying Ziying, held the imperial seal and stood solemnly to the side, awaiting the return of the Qi Emperor to the throne.

This is the third time he has offered the Imperial Seal of the State to another person: the first time was to Zhao Gao, the second time was when he surrendered to the Qi army in the wilderness, and this will be the last time.

However, at this moment, Ying Ziying harbored no resentment: his Qin royal bloodline made him and his family universally hated throughout the land. Only Lu Wei was kind enough to take them in and protect them. If Lu Wei were not there, those who hated the tyrannical Qin and wanted revenge would have skinned the last members of the Ying clan alive.

Therefore, when faced with Lu Wei, who was destroying his own country, Ying Ziying's loyalty was actually among the highest in the court.

Thirty-six skilled martial artists carried the golden palanquin up the red steps, intending to escort His Majesty the Emperor to the main hall according to the itinerary pre-arranged by Shusun Tong. However, a sudden change occurred:

The courtiers watched as Lu Wei, dressed in a golden dragon robe, stood up from his palanquin and, with a flourish of his qi, stepped into the void, gracefully and freely ascending the high platform on his own.

Faced with such reckless and uncivilized behavior, the head of the court, the old prime minister Lü Qing, immediately knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" Following his action, the ministers behind him fell to their knees one after another like dominoes, including the guards carrying the golden palanquin and Shusun Tong, Ying Ziying, and others on the high platform...

Zhang Liang, standing among the kneeling crowd, was not at all surprised by the scene unfolding before him.

"There are three fundamental principles of rites: Heaven and Earth are the source of life; ancestors are the source of lineage; and rulers and teachers are the source of governance. Therefore, rites accord with Heaven above, with Earth below, and honor ancestors and revere rulers and teachers."

Confucian rites and laws were intended to serve the monarch. Although they also strived to bring the monarch under the jurisdiction of the rites, Confucianism would mostly submit to powerful monarchs, especially founding monarchs like Emperor Qi.

In order to strengthen his authority, Emperor Qi would inevitably continue to challenge the established order of etiquette, gradually forcing his ministers to obey...

This was one of the important reasons why Zhang Liang wanted to follow Chisongzi to learn Taoism after the country was stabilized.

Of course, Lu Wei's approach was a common tactic used by monarchs, and Zhang Liang would not criticize it. In fact, he had anticipated this long ago and therefore only wanted to avoid it.

'My senior brother, Fu Nian, also understands the crux of the matter, but he has already realized his duty as a subject.'

With his head bowed, Zhang Liang joined in the shouts of "Long live!" and his resolve became even stronger.

Satisfied with the ministers' reaction, Lu Wei smiled and drew the Sea-Swallowing Sword from his waist. With his other hand, he absorbed the Imperial Seal of the State and used his specially learned sonic technique to try and make his voice resonate in the ears of the three thousand ministers:

"In this great dynasty, the Qin dynasty was once tyrannical, and the people suffered greatly. I, by the mandate of Heaven, assisted the heroes and destroyed Qin to unify the country. Now the people are of one mind, and all life has hope. I dare not refuse, and thus I ascend the throne!"

A gentle breeze rustled the flags, and apart from that, throughout the vast palace and indeed the entire world, there was only one voice!

...

In the past, Qin Shi Huang believed that as emperor, his achievements and mistakes were beyond the judgment of others, and should not be judged by his subordinates. Therefore, he abolished the system of posthumous titles and did not need honorific titles: there was only one emperor in the world, so where could there be an honorific title more honorable than 'emperor' itself?

After Lu Wei ascended the throne, Shusun Tong intentionally followed this principle when formulating the rites, striving to elevate the emperor's dignity to the extreme, which earned the praise of the Qi emperor.

Thus, in the early years of Emperor Qi's reign, the country was rebuilt from ruins, and the restoration of people's livelihood, nominally led by Lü Qing and implemented by Xiao He, began in an orderly manner. In the same year, Xiang Yu, who had been ranked among the hundred marquises, led five thousand cavalrymen to garrison the Great Wall defense line, and often went out to raid wolf tribes and herd sheep.

Over the years, due to the loss of their elite forces and the fact that the children still needed time to grow up, the wolf clan was unable to cope with the situation. Unwilling to flee west to the more remote west, they could only submit to the Central Plains and offer horses, sheep, and beautiful concubines from the Hu people as tribute to the Qi Emperor every year in order to seek peace.

The wolf tribe needed the same amount of time as the Qi Dynasty, so the peace terms were agreed to. However, due to the 'personal actions' of the frontier generals, the Qi cavalry still occasionally went out to plunder, but the frequency was much less, and the wolf tribe tolerated it.

In the fifth year of Emperor Qi's reign, the position of Prime Minister in the imperial court was replaced. At the same time, after completing the remaining construction of Chang'an City, the Mohists and the Gongshu School jointly developed a violent version of the Vermilion Bird mechanical beast that was specially equipped with gunpowder shells. The production line of the regular Vermilion Bird mechanical beast was also put into operation, and a steady stream of flying communication mechanical beasts began to be deployed to various counties and prefectures, operated by specialists trained by the Imperial Academy.

With the Vermilion Bird in flight, communication between remote areas and the central government takes no more than a few days. The Shu and Baiyue regions, which travel south along the road, are no longer separated from the Central Plains, and travel between the Central Plains and Guanzhong is even more convenient.

In the tenth year of Emperor Qi's reign, the Central Plains were flourishing and developing rapidly. The new empire had already outlived the old one. Shusun Tong requested Emperor Qi to perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, but Emperor Qi refused, feeling that his achievements were insufficient.

In the twentieth year of Emperor Qi's reign, after another decade of rapid development, the emperor, now over fifty, finally reluctantly agreed to the repeated requests of his ministers to perform the Fengshan ceremony. He then made an eastern tour to Mount Tai, citing the complete relocation of the wolf tribe and the conquest of the Western Regions by the Qi air force as reasons.

That year, the senior officials in the court who were supposed to retire had all retired, but they still came to watch the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai with canes, as they were still honored by their merits.

General Han Xin and General Xiang Yu were in charge of security. These two men represented two opposing forces in the army and were on opposite sides in the struggle for power. However, when facing His Majesty the Emperor, their arrogant nature remained humble.

After twenty years on the throne, Lu Wei's prestige reached its peak again after the Fengshan ceremony. Everyone knew that His Majesty the Emperor, who showed no signs of gray hair, could reign for at least another twenty years, and no one could cause trouble while His Majesty the Emperor was alive.

But as it turned out, the courtiers underestimated the emperor's inner strength.

In the fiftieth year of Emperor Qi's reign, all the founding heroes of the first generation left, and the prestige in the court was entirely controlled by Lu Wei. The ministers of the second and third generations were all his yes-men, and no one dared to harbor any thoughts of rebellion.

After decades of nationwide development, mechanical engineering has progressed at a rate far exceeding that of the previous three hundred years. Steel chariots and the Vermilion Bird, which has been expanded tenfold, have become the main force for the empire's external expansion. The development of the Central Plains and the South has also reached its fastest pace with the assistance of mechanical beasts, and the empire's population has expanded by leaps and bounds.

The high-yield crop cultivated by farmers was tested for the first time.

After a hundred years of Qi Emperor reigning, Lu Wei, who was finally showing signs of aging, uttered every sigh and raised a finger, which resonated throughout the entire empire.

At this time, the empire's territory extended eastward beyond the inland sea, occupying a long, narrow island; southward into the dense forest, where it built a mirage base; northward to frost and snow; and westward to a great lake.

Within the limits of what mechanical beasts could do, Lu Wei roughly estimated that, thanks to his advanced technology, he had already conquered most of Asia in later generations.

This would be an unprecedented legacy, and during his long reign as emperor, he had long since grown weary of power.

Because he is truly omnipotent, any wish of his can be unconditionally fulfilled. Even if the chasm of desire cannot be filled, Lu Wei, who has everything, does not know what else he can fill.

In the end, he chose to take out the seven Azure Dragon Bronze Boxes.

The box he once wanted to throw away has now become the only secret worth exploring.

Lu Wei casually picked up one of the boxes. The box that had once blocked him because of his bloodline was now easily opened by him... This was only natural. In terms of nobility, even if he was just an orphan in the past, was there anyone more noble than him now?

The object inside the box shone brightly and unfolded before Lu Wei's eyes. It was a jade bead, or perhaps a star in the sky, its gentle light warming him.

The emperor, who possessed everything in his collection, smiled and forcefully invaded the jade bead with his consciousness...

That night, a ray of light descended from the sky upon the Chang'an Palace, which had grown increasingly prosperous over the past century. His Highness the Qi Emperor, revered and feared by all under heaven, ascended the starlight-formed staircase...

The new Donghuang, who succeeded as the leader of the Yin-Yang School, was the first to arrive at the scene. He stared blankly at the painting and muttered to himself:

"Father has become an immortal?"

Final remarks

This book is now finished. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the readers for their continued support and criticism.

This ambitious manga is hardly a good Qin's Moon work. I often think it's terrible. I can shamelessly brag that I managed to finish it, but apart from that, it has few or no merits.

Upon reflection, the main reason for this outcome was that the initial outline was not detailed enough, and it was revised several times along the way. The original plan was to end the story directly with Ying Zheng's death in Sanghai City and the peasant uprising, with a total length of about one million words. However, the final length was 1.3 million words, and the excess part was even worse because it was not in the plan.

The writing is terrible, and later on, because I was so engrossed in playing games, I spent less time figuring out the plot... I, Xiao Mou, hereby swear that I will never again let game addiction delay my writing time!

However, even such a terrible work received support beyond my expectations, which made me feel really sorry for the readers: the book had 500 initial subscriptions, and now, at the end, the average subscriptions are 1100. Such results are not good, but they exceed the value of this book. At first, I just hoped to get 500 average subscriptions to get full attendance bonus.

I have to thank editor Fox for giving me several trendsetting recommendations; otherwise, my average daily subscriptions would definitely have dropped below 1000 by now. When I had 29,000 words, I hadn't signed a contract yet, and I was ready to quit. Luckily, Fox saved me before I could, which allowed me to continue writing.

Without the support of my readers and Fox, I would have had a hard time finishing this, so I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again, even though my writing is really disappointing.