An old man of this age would have to be held in high esteem in ordinary people's homes.
Even an emperor would have to treat such an old man with great courtesy, and someone like Ying Zheng who wanted to live forever would be even less willing to commit such a crime.
Zhang Liang pointed out Xunzi's old age, which was the most correct approach.
It's useless to talk to Ying Zheng about anything else, just this.
But what he said next was clearly dissing Zhao Gao.
Chunyu Yue was already very old. It was normal for him to faint after taking two steps. Then it was even more normal for my uncle, who was older and tired to talk nonsense.
Since the emperor recognized the former statement, it would be best if he also recognized the latter statement.
These words were almost provocative and were obviously not conducive to Zhang Liang's purpose of exonerating Xunzi, but he still said it.
Fu Nian, who had always been steady, had no intention of making amends for him. He just stood up with Yan Lu and bowed to the emperor to apologize.
Obviously, even Fu Nian was not willing to bow to the emperor anymore.
Now that Master Xun has taken the lead in expressing his attitude, the younger generations also have their own ideas, and this is what they mean.
Ying Zheng had a sullen face, his eyes passed over the three Fu Nian brothers one by one, and he was silent for a long time.
………………
At dusk that day, a stream of light fell into Xianyang City without anyone noticing.
Immediately afterwards, the Imperial Master's Mansion welcomed its owner back.
However, Gu Xun did not stay in the mansion - there is no one in the Imperial Prefect's mansion now.
All the Jingshao and others who usually lived here were gone. At this time, there were only two ancient relatives in Xianyang - Zi Nu and Mrs. Mingzhu.
The former usually stays in her Zilan Pavilion, while the latter likes to stay in Anxiang Pavilion.
Gu Xun simply changed into his regular clothes and headed towards the Zilanxuan boat on the Weishui River - it was almost night, and Zinu usually stayed on the boat at this time.
Along the way, Gu Xun did not avoid anyone, and openly announced to everyone that he had returned to Xianyang.
And the news of his return immediately began to spread in all directions at a speed several times faster than he could walk.
At this time, there were basically no important figures in Xianyang, but there were still many middle- and high-level officials and dignitaries in the empire.
They were also the ones paying attention to Gu Xun's return.
These people don't know much important information, but they like to be smart enough to judge the situation and make decisions based on it.
Strictly speaking, their attention to Gu Xun at this time can be regarded as the follow-up to Fusu's banishment from the capital.
There are many truly loyal people among the officials of the empire. They have selfish motives in supporting the eldest son Fusu to become the crown prince, but more importantly they sincerely feel that Fusu is more suitable for the position of crown prince and they are dedicated to the empire.
But more people just want to take advantage of the establishment of a reserve army - in this matter, Qin State has a good example.
Now that the eldest son has lost power, and rumors of discord between Gu Xun and the emperor have begun to spread, these former loyal supporters of the eldest son's faction will inevitably have other thoughts.
However, Gu Xun has not fallen after all, and the Meng clan, who have made great achievements in war, obviously show no signs of giving up on their eldest son. These grassroots are also hesitant when they waver.
They are eager to find out more information from Guxun to make a choice they think is beneficial.
Gu Xun definitely had no interest in talking to them. He allowed the prying eyes of interested people to arrive and arrived at the bank of the Weishui River in a short time.
Compared with the famous Qinhuai River in later generations, the current Jingwei River is obviously not lively enough - mainly because these two rivers themselves are not suitable for looking for flowers and willows, and the comfort level is slightly worse.
However, after Zi Nu developed it, many people are still willing to come here to enjoy a completely different taste from those on land.
However, it was not yet dark at this time, and there were no lights on the boat on the river, which meant that it was not open, and there were not many people.
Gu looked for the largest painting boat on the river. He did not take the boat that picked up passengers at the pier on the shore. He jumped directly. He crossed the river as lightly as a bird flapping its wings and landed lightly on the painting boat.
The people on the boat obviously knew Gu Xun, and they didn't see any panic. They were all quiet and didn't speak. They just bowed and saluted to Gu Xun.
Gu Xun waved his hand as a signal, and then hurriedly walked into the cabin.
As Gu Xun expected, the purple woman is indeed here now.
As soon as he entered Zi Nu's room, Gu Xun saw her sitting cross-legged in front of the dressing table, adjusting her makeup.
Seeing this, Gu Xun took the initiative to step forward and help her comb her hair. At the same time, he looked through the mirror at his lover who had been with him for many years.
Like Yan Lingji and others, time has not left many traces on Zi Nu's face. Everything is just like it was when Gu Xun and her first met.
Zi Nu also looked at Gu Xun behind her through the mirror, and spoke first with a smile:
"The person who came earlier hurriedly reported that you were back suddenly, but in the blink of an eye, the person actually appeared."
"Why, the Imperial Master's Office can't find anyone?"
Gu Xun helped her put her hair up and replied with a wry smile, "Should I ask you this?"
"Don't say anything about what Concubine Yan and the others did, you don't know anything about it."
Zi Nu's eyebrows turned, showing off her charm, and she replied with a smile, "It turns out that this is what the Imperial Master is thinking about."
"Are you willing to say it?" Gu Xun helped her put in the hairpin and fixed the purple hair, took half a step back and asked with a smile.
Zi Nu stood up and turned to face Gu Xun. She chuckled and replied, "They don't want to tell you, but I can't be unsociable."
A complicated light flashed in Gu Xun's eyes, but he didn't mind it on his face:
"If you don't want to say it, don't say it. It's time to talk about something serious."
"What's the business?" Zi Nu asked calmly.
"It's time for us to leave." Gu Xun sat on Zi Nu's bed and said with a serious expression, "It's time to move your Zi Lan Pavilion and Ming Zhu's Anxiang Pavilion."
"Leave now?" Zinu's face suddenly changed when she heard this, and her attitude was no longer frivolous.
Gu Xun smiled at her, "Why, do you still want to wait until the end to leave?"
"Besides, you have so many people under your command. You can't just leave immediately if you want to. You'd better make preparations in advance."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Within three months, evacuate all those who should be evacuated."
Zi Nu looked at Gu Xun and asked, "It's difficult to conceal this movement. Aren't you afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will completely break with you?"
"The imperial regulations do not stipulate that officials' families must live in Xianyang, nor do they stipulate that business people are not allowed to leave Xianyang." Gu Xun didn't care about this and replied calmly, "If the emperor is dissatisfied, he can evacuate me.
all official positions."
"It seems that the rumors are true. You and the emperor really had a big quarrel?" Zi Nu didn't care about this anymore, and was more willing to take the opportunity to gossip.
Gu Xun rolled his eyes, "What do you think?"
Zi Nu smiled and ended the topic.
She is one of the few people who knows Gu Xun best in the world, so she naturally knows that it is impossible for him to really quarrel with Ying Zheng. At most, there will be a dispute. The question just now was just a habit of teasing her man.
"You came back just to remind us that we should withdraw?" Zi Nu asked, changing the subject, "Is it enough to just send a message back about this matter?"
"On the one hand, I am dealing with trivial matters here in Xianyang. On the other hand, I am too lazy to pay attention to Sanghai's affairs and want to avoid Jingjing." Gu Xun looked blankly and replied lightly.
"The matter of Songhai... They are also in Songhai, you don't want to take care of this matter anymore?" Zinu asked with an unclear look, her eyes darkened.
Gu Xun leaned back and lay on the bed, closed his eyes and responded, "So what if you want to take care of it? Which of you is willing to let me intervene?"
"If you want to take care of it, there's always a way." Zi Nu's eyes lowered lower and lower, as if she was about to close her eyes, and she replied softly.
"No, I have no choice." Gu Xun replied in a very strong tone, "There are some things that I can forcefully intervene in, but there are some things that it will be useless even if I intervene."
"You will not give up until the moment of complete failure."
"..." Zi Nu was silent for a moment, then changed the subject and asked, "Over Songhai, the mirage may set sail at any time, do you not care about it?"
"The mirage can't be left for now." Gu Xun replied firmly.
"Is there something wrong with the boat?" Zi Nu asked in surprise.
"There is a problem in the sea." Gu Xun replied with a smile, "There is a problem in the East China Sea that is waiting for the Yin Yang family to deal with."
"If this problem is not solved, I'm afraid the ship won't be able to sail far."
"What kind of trouble can there be in the sea?" Zi Nu became even more confused about this topic.
She didn't know much about the sea. At most, she occasionally heard that Gu Xun mentioned that his quicksand fleet encountered various problems at sea and sank. But can those troubles still affect the mirage?
Although she had never seen the legendary giant ship that cost the empire ten years of manpower and material resources, she had heard more than one person mention its scale.
In her opinion, that thing can't be called a boat.
What kind of trouble could something like this get into at sea?
The most dangerous thing is the storm, but the storm is just a kind of weather and not the normal state of the sea. It can only block the mirage for a day or two at most.
"It's a big trouble." Gu Xun replied with a smile, "But I think the Yin Yang family will have a way to solve it, but they don't know it yet."
"Selling it out?" Zi Nu was naturally unwilling to see that Gu Xun refused to reveal the truth.
Gu Xun lay there and raised his arms and waved, "You will naturally know the whole story in a few days. It would be boring to know this kind of thing."
"You are the uncle, you have the final say." Zi Nu didn't force herself after hearing this.
Gu Xunze turned over and fell asleep directly:
"I'm asleep, you should be busy."
Zi Nu was stunned when she heard this, and stepped forward to see that Gu Xun had fallen asleep.
"I had a good sleep." Seeing this, Zi Nu couldn't help shaking her head and laughing. Then she put out the candle she had just lit and left the room.
………………
While Gu was looking for a boat to sleep at night, another big earthquake broke out in Songhai.
It was almost evening, and Ying Zheng's motorcade left Xiaoshengxian Village. Immediately afterwards, a piece of gossip began to spread in Songhai City - a conflict broke out between the emperor and Xiaoshengxian Village, and the two sides broke up unhappy.
This information immediately detonated the calm that Songhai had barely maintained and caused an uproar.
No one understood why Xiaoshengxian Village had a conflict with the emperor.
Local officials don't understand, the people don't understand, and even other factions of Confucianism don't understand.
From the perspective of those who do not know enough about the inside story, Confucianism emphasizes loyalty to the emperor, and it is impossible to have a direct conflict with the emperor under any circumstances.
In the eyes of those who knew more about it, this was even more unbelievable - they all knew that Fu Nian had personally supported the imperial court some time ago, and had vague intentions of competing with other Confucian factions.
How come they were working with the emperor again in the blink of an eye?
It wasn't until another piece of gossip spread that everyone's doubts were solved - the book-burning order made everyone understand what Little Saint Xianzhuang had done.
If it were them, they would be loyal to the emperor if they didn't assassinate the emperor on the spot.
What followed was an even bigger storm.
The previously rumored conflict between the emperor and Xiaoshengxian Village caused more panic among the local people.
They were afraid that the emperor's attack on Xiaoshengxian Village would affect them.
Now almost everyone is anxious.
The common people didn't think much of it, but their simple ideas made them think that it would be a pity to burn a good book.
As for the various schools of thought, it goes without saying.
The local officials in Songhai were also very dissatisfied with this - they didn't care whether they burned books or not, as it would not affect their current prosperous life.
But the book-burning order definitely needs them to implement it and advance it.
This matter is not only troublesome, but also dangerous - if the people of various schools of thought can't defeat the emperor, why can't they defeat them?
It would be a big loss if he was angered and lost his life.
Of course, it won't work if you don't implement it, as it will easily be liquidated by the emperor.
It would not be wrong to say that no one was happy about the Book Burning Order.
Some anti-Qin forces are still very happy.
They didn't care at all whether the private collection of books was burned, they just wanted to watch the empire's demise accelerate - they wanted to add more fire to all the empire's decrees, and it would be best to completely burn the empire to ashes on the same day.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, whether it is the accelerationists of the anti-Qin forces or the opposition, as enemies of the empire, they cannot stand up to resist the emperor's will.
The one who really spoke out immediately must be, and could only be, the local leader in the Qilu area - Confucianism.
Without waiting even one night, under the leadership of Chun Yuyue and other Confucian doctorates, Confucian scholars in the entire Songhai area began to protest, demanding that the emperor abandon this ridiculous order.
Ying Zheng was also a happy person. As soon as the Confucian side called out, he officially passed the book-burning order and officially issued it to the world.
Once this is implemented, it means that the Book Burning Order has officially become a basic policy system of the empire, and the people of the world must obey and cooperate.
Of course, this is a big job, and it doesn’t mean that he can just start burning books there after he orders it.
Now he is notifying all county officials to start preparing for the execution of the book burning order. When the mirage is completed, he will officially proceed with the book burning.
This naturally led to a fierce counterattack by Songhai Confucian scholars, but unfortunately the Confucian scholars had no power or military strength. Facing Ying Zheng's domineering behavior, they could only write a letter of protest under the leadership of several doctoral officers.
Then they couldn't even enter the gate of the General's Mansion.
The emperor's cold response further stimulated the emotions of the Confucian scholars.
All in all, in the eyes of many people, the Confucian scholars gathered in the city had the intention of directly attacking the General's Mansion and killing the Dog Emperor.
Of course, whether they actually take action or not is another matter.
Confucian scholars...can't say that they don't have martial ethics, it just depends on the situation.
When facing the emperor as a ‘king’, they really have no martial virtues.
At least until the book-burning order is actually implemented, the chance of them rebelling is very low.