The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

When Heifu was seeing his father-in-law off, Nei Shiteng asked Heifu to get on his carriage and follow him for a few more miles.

Passing by Qishan Pavilion, ten miles east of Yong County, before Heifu got off the carriage, Nei Shiteng suddenly grabbed him and whispered, "Your Majesty's order to let me return east this time is a little unusual!"

This time Nei Shiteng ended his journey with the emperor and returned to Xianyang. Heifu thought there was nothing wrong with it, but who was Nei Shiteng? The old fox immediately smelled something strange.

"Although the law prohibits that 'county officials shall not leave their jurisdiction without reason', matters of accompanying the emperor generally have a beginning and an end. If nothing happened in Xianyang, they should not be temporarily sent back. In my opinion, this move is more like a warning and warning..."

"Warning?"

After all, Heifu was just a small policeman in his previous life. Although he had a vision beyond the times, his political wisdom was not necessarily higher than Ye Teng, who had been immersed in officialdom for decades. He was slightly surprised when he heard this.

"What you mean is that Your Majesty does not approve of this strategy?"

"No, Your Majesty appreciates this strategy, otherwise it would not be me who would be sent back, but you."

Nei Shiteng quickly guessed the crux of the problem: "If I am not mistaken, Your Majesty is suspicious of the purpose of your proposal this time."

Hei Fu said: "My purpose has been clearly stated when I played the game."

Nei Shiteng shook his head: "No, you were the Sima of the other army that conquered Yuzhang in the south of the Yangtze River. You proposed to build Nanchang City and expand the southern border. You even advised Your Majesty that the lands of Shanggan and Cangwu could be divided into border marquises. In the eyes of Your Majesty, you should be the minister who should advocate the southward advance the most."

"But recently, you have gone against your usual behavior and think that the southward advance should be slowed down. Instead, you support the westward expansion that has nothing to do with you. This is beyond Your Majesty's expectations. Afterwards, you will definitely guess why you have such a change? What do you want?"

Before offering his advice, Nei Shi Teng's attention was focused on Hei Fu's foresight and he ignored his purpose. Now that something has happened, Hei Fu can only bite the bullet and tell him the truth.

"To be honest, in addition to thinking that this strategy can indeed consolidate the foundation and open up the land outside Guanxi, I proposed that we should slow down the southward expansion and urgently expand to the west, and I also have some selfish motives. I know that the Five Ridges are difficult to cross and the Yue people are difficult to attack, and I don't want my old soldiers to suffer heavy casualties..."

"Li Dai Tao Jiang, and divert the disaster to the west?"

Nei Shiteng shook his head: "It's much better than those so-called "honest ministers" who speak out directly. You know how to love your old subordinates. They are your comrades and children, and they have a foundation in the local area. It is understandable to be partial to them, but if you let affection prevail over reason, it will become a shackle..."

Hei Fu promised: "Could it be that Your Majesty has noticed my deep meaning?"

"If Your Majesty is dissatisfied with this, he should transfer one of your old subordinates from Yuzhang as a warning. Whether it is me who is used to warn you, this matter should also be related to me."

After thinking for a while, Nei Shiteng suddenly laughed dumbly.

"Your Majesty, don't you think that you are inconsistent and go south in the morning and west in the evening because you are married to my family and I instructed you to do so?"

Indeed, opening up Guanxi will bring Nei Shi Teng a lot of power and opportunities to continue to rise, which is a good thing, but in the eyes of the emperor, this father-in-law and son-in-law are suspected of using public tools to make private profits.

And letting Nei Shi Teng end his entourage and return to Xianyang in advance is a small warning to this move, and it also hints to Hei Fu: have more opinions and don't listen to your father-in-law in everything!

This is really an unexpected disaster. Although it will not affect the whole thing, Hei Fu will still be reused, but the emperor's trust in the father-in-law and son-in-law has declined a little.

The heart of the emperor is really unpredictable. Hei Fu feels a little wronged and unhappy. No wonder people often say: accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger.

However, Nei Shiteng had not stopped thinking about this matter. He suddenly asked: "My son-in-law, when you were a palace attendant beside His Majesty, did you have any grievances with His Majesty's close ministers?"

"What does my father-in-law mean, is there someone around His Majesty who made slanderous remarks?"

As soon as he reminded him, Heifu immediately thought of someone.

"Zhao Gao, the Minister of the Imperial Chariot Office!"

...

Because it was just a guess, Heifu had not yet informed Nei Shiteng about Zhao Gao. On the way back to Yong County, he had been thinking with his eyes closed.

The old man was still the wisest. After Nei Shiteng's unraveling, Heifu had sorted out the course of events: it was originally a good thing, but because of a word from a close minister, the emperor became suspicious, but he did not want to hit Heifu, and let outsiders think that the emperor did not approve of the western expansion, so he let Nei Shiteng take the blame.

This blow was not painful, but it made Heifu feel very uncomfortable.

"What hatred do I have with Zhao Gao? He actually gave me such a rotten medicine!"

Just because Heifu was shocked and glared at Zhao Gao when he heard his name in Chen Ying, what kind of hatred is that? Heifu guessed that Zhao Gao's inexplicable hostility towards him must have other reasons.

"Later, when discussing the title, my memorial happened to be similar to his, which stole Zhao Gao's limelight. After that, although he treated me as usual and stopped to say a few words when we met in the palace, I always felt that he had bad intentions..."

From Zhao Gao's perspective, he probably thought that he was in the dark and Heifu was in the light, but in fact, in Heifu's eyes, Zhao Gao had long been a bright light.

"I suffered a loss once, and there will never be a second time..." Heifu swore secretly.

Before Nei Shi Teng left for the east, his final advice to Hei Fu was that even if he found the person who made the slander, he should not act rashly, because...

"Your Majesty likes to let ministers with different political views compete with each other."

He listed the dispute between Li Xin and Wang Jian in attacking Chu, the secret competition between Wang and Meng, the political struggle between Li Si and Wang Wan, and even the old hatred between Meng Yi and Zhao Gao.

In this way, the ministers would have different opinions and check and balance each other, so they would not collude with each other and deceive their superiors and subordinates, and their struggles would be firmly controlled by the emperor and would not affect the court and state affairs.

Nei Shi Teng was not worried about the slanderer at all, but became happy instead.

"Your Majesty is wise. Although he occasionally uses the power of an emperor, he still listens to advice and is tolerant enough to his subjects. As long as they are not treasonous, even if they lose their troops and humiliate the country like Li Xin, they can still have a good end. This is not comparable to mediocre rulers like Zhao Qian."

"Therefore, it is a good thing that you have enemies in the court! Your Majesty can use you with confidence!"

So Neishiteng asked Heifu not to act rashly. In political struggles, it is difficult to defeat the enemy in one breath. The emperor makes the decision from a high position and will not let any party have an absolute advantage: even though Zhao Gao was sentenced to death by Meng Yi, he was still rescued.

The victory or defeat of life and death is not determined by the ability or morality of both parties, but only by the emperor's heart.

A mature politician will pretend that everything is normal, hide his malice and hatred, and smile and bow to the enemy until he sees an opportunity to make the other party doomed!

Hei Fu followed Nei Shi Teng's advice and returned to Qinian Palace to report. He met Zhao Gao at the palace gate.

"Shao Fu Cheng!" Zhao Gao came over and greeted him from afar with a smile: "Did you send Nei Shi away?"

"Zhongchefu Ling."

Hei Fu also responded with a smile and greeted Zhao Gao, saying that Nei Shi was old and could not stand long journeys. Fortunately, His Majesty let him go back to Xianyang.

Zhao Gao rubbed his old back and said that he was not young anymore. He would leave Yongdi tomorrow and go to Longban, where the transportation was very bad. He was very worried. Hei Fu recommended that he lean on a cushion on his waist when driving for His Majesty...

In the eyes of Lang Wei, who was guarding the palace gate, although the two could not be called friends, they respected each other and talked happily.

But after saying goodbye to Zhao Gao and turning around, Hei Fu's eyes became cold.

"Compared to the old man Neishiteng, I am just a young man in the political arena, not good at these conspiracies and tricks..."

But among the others who recently joined, there was a man named Chen Ping, who called himself Huang Lao, but was good at poisonous schemes! It was Chen Ping's idea to ambush Wei Wuzu Zhoushi a few years ago.

"Zhao Gao, Zhao Gao, I heard that you have always been cautious and honest in your official duties, and I can't find any loopholes, but your brothers and sons-in-law have no loopholes to take advantage of? When I return to Xianyang, even if I can't overthrow you, I can let you know what the consequences of provoking me first are!"

...

After leaving Yong County, Qin Shihuang's huge convoy continued to move westward.

As the slope gradually went up, the originally wide road gradually became a small path that could only accommodate two cars in parallel, and the farmland and villages gradually receded, surrounded by dense forests.

The rugged limestone hills became increasingly steeper. On the third day, they had become a mountain range. Although it was early April, Heifu looked from the foot of the mountain and found that the highest rock peak was still covered with snow, like a gray and white giant, standing here, separating the Neishi and Longxi counties.

A Langguan from Longxi County told Heifu: "Longban has nine turns, and I don't know how high it is. If you want to go up, it will take seven days to cross. The snow on the highest part of the mountain will not thaw until May, so it's still early now."

This is a natural barrier on par with the Shu Road. Fortunately, the road does not need to cross the mountain, but winds westward along the mountain stream. Although the imperial carriage is heavy, there is a road to go.

However, the scenery in front of us is very different from that in Longdong: on the high ridges are patches of low and vigorous birch forests, and there are vast grasslands, like green waves covering the entire Longshan Mountain, and horse herders in simple clothes drive a large group of vigorous and galloping horses.

The four horses pulling Heifu's carriage also became cheerful. They were no longer as obedient as usual and kept neighing. If the driver had not held the six reins tightly, they would have run away and had fun on the grass.

These four animals were newly given by the emperor and are said to come from the grassland "between Wei and Wei".

This is the best and largest natural pasture in Guanxi. In the early Zhou Dynasty, Qin Fuzi once raised horses for the Zhou royal family between Wei and Wei. Because of his outstanding achievements, Feizi was made a vassal by the Zhou emperor...

This is where the Qin people's "dream began". The western tour was originally a journey to find roots. Qin Shihuang also found the grassland where Qin Fuzi was said to have grazed horses. A team of thousands of people set up camp, set up a high altar, and used traditional sacrificial dogs and horses for sacrifices until the night was about to fall.

Coincidentally, on the night when the emperor stayed between Wei and Wei, an unexpected event occurred, which became a great assist for Heifu's "westward expansion" advice and helped Qin Shihuang make up his mind to march west...