General Qin

The main reason why Zhao Tuo sought pleasure in collecting books and making figurines in the underground palace was actually to downplay the sadness that he was building a mausoleum for the emperor and that the emperor was about to die.

The effect was not bad. After Zhao Tuo's energy was distracted by these matters, he was indeed in a good mood for several months.

However, in August, news from the palace broke his guard.

"The emperor...fainted?"

Zhao Tuo was in the Shaofu workshop at the time, watching the craftsmen painting the Great Qin Star Destroyer. When he received the news from Prince Fusu's order, he felt dizzy and his heart was pounding.

"I will enter the palace immediately."

He handed over the affairs to the Shaofu Prime Minister Zhang Cang and hurried to the Qin Palace.

Because Prince Fusu was in charge of major affairs, order in the palace was maintained very well, but there was a depressing atmosphere both inside and outside.

Zhao Tuo felt his heart clenched tightly, fearing that he would not be able to see the emperor for the last time.

Fortunately, God opened his eyes.

When Zhao Tuo rushed to the palace out of breath, he found that the emperor had woken up.

"I'm fine, I'm just dizzy for a moment. Fusu asked you to come over, it's really unnecessary."

The First Emperor was lying on the couch, his face a little pale. When he saw Zhao Tuo coming in, he couldn't help but complain.

Fusu cried beside him and said: "When I heard that my father had fainted, I suddenly felt that the sky was falling and the earth was falling. I was confused. The first thing I thought of was the Marquis of Zhenguo."

"Hmph, things like this can mess up your mind. How will you be the supreme person in the world in the future?"

The First Emperor glared at his son, but there was no anger in his words.

Looking at Fusu with tears streaming down his face and Zhao Tuo with a worried face, he felt happy in his heart.

What a sick old man naturally wants in his heart is to be surrounded by his children and take good care of him.

Seeing that the First Emperor was fine and could teach Fusu a lesson, Zhao Tuo felt relieved, but then he felt uneasy.

Although the First Emperor came to his senses, his sudden fainting meant that there was a serious problem with his body.

Now I have escaped disaster, but once this is opened, I don’t know what will happen in the future.

The First Emperor had just woken up and did not want to say much. After saying a few words, he asked Zhao Tuo and Fusu to leave. He wanted to be quiet.

Just when Zhao Tuo was about to leave.

The First Emperor stopped him again: "Young Master, how is the construction of the Lishan Emperor's Mausoleum going? Are all the matters completed?"

Zhao Tuo trembled and replied: "Your Majesty, the overall construction of the Lishan Emperor's Mausoleum has been completed, and the Young Mansion is firing all kinds of terracotta warriors and mausoleum utensils."

"Well done, go down."

"only."

Zhao Tuo bowed to the emperor again, turned and left.

The emperor's question made him even more worried.

Your Majesty, do you feel it already?

…

Just as Zhao Tuo had worried, with the first syncope, the First Emperor's body, which was already plagued by pain, began to go downhill at a very fast speed.

The emperor looked haggard, wasted away day by day, and his legs and feet became more and more inconvenient. By September, he could no longer walk more than a hundred steps.

Even people who are not familiar with medical skills know that this supreme emperor is approaching the end of his life step by step.

Fusu and Zhao Tuo became increasingly worried and affected by sadness.

Prime Minister Wang Wan on the right, Prime Minister Li Si on the left, and imperial censor Feng Quji, together with the ministers in the court, wrote a letter asking the emperor to send people to pray at the mountains and rivers to pray for the blessings of the gods and prolong the emperor's life.

The First Emperor agreed.

He sent Meng Yi, whom he trusted, and appointed him as Shangqing, to the famous mountains in the world to pray and offer sacrifices in order to extend his life.

Zhao Tuo saw it in his eyes and sighed in his heart.

At this point, medicine is useless and all one can do is pray to the gods.

The only thing Zhao Tuo could do was probably to try his best to build the first emperor's residence after his death in the last period of time, so that the king could lie down comfortably in the underground palace.

In the last few days of September, in the afternoon, an envoy came to the Zhenguo Hou Mansion and issued an edict to Zhao Tuo to enter the palace to meet the saint.

It's just that the meeting place was not in the emperor's palace, but at Tianbaotai, which was twelve feet high.

This platform is large and gorgeous, with a small palace on it, surrounded by trees and beautiful scenery. It was the place where the First Emperor relaxed his mood on weekdays.

The First Emperor was standing on the edge of the high platform, leaning on the fence and looking into the distance. The Minister ordered Zhao Gao to stand beside him carefully.

"Your Majesty, Zhao Tuo, pays homage to your Majesty."

Zhao Tuo stepped forward and saluted.

The First Emperor looked back, nodded, and asked Zhao Gao to step aside, saying that he wanted to chat with Zhao Tuo alone.

After a while, only the First Emperor and Zhao Tuo were left on the Tianbao Platform.

"Your Majesty, it's windy here."

Zhao Tuo said softly that the emperor looked good today. Although he was a little thin, he looked in good spirits.

The First Emperor hummed: "How strong is the wind? This little wind is nothing. I have never seen any storms in my life. The wind here is worse than the top of Mount Tai in the past...ahem...far worse."

Seeing the emperor coughing, Zhao Tuo silently stood where Zhao Gao was just now.

This is the upper wind, and he uses his body to shield the emperor.

The First Emperor saw it and said nothing, turning his head to look at the scenery in the distance.

"Do you know what I asked you to do today?"

"I don't know."

"I'm dying."

The First Emperor's voice was calm.

Zhao Tuo's breath was instantly blocked in his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

The First Emperor hated others talking about death.

The entire Qin Palace, including Prince Fusu, Shangshu Ling Zhao Gao, imperial physician Ling Xia Wuji, etc., did not dare to mention things that would happen a hundred years later in front of him.

Now he said it in front of Zhao Tuo in an understatement, which was very shocking.

Zhao Tuo lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "I hope to spend more time with Your Majesty."

The First Emperor smiled, looked up to the sky and said: "The three emperors and five emperors in ancient times, Xia Yu, Shang Tang, and even Zhou Wen and Wu, all made great achievements in the world. However, when the end came, they all left the world, allowed their bodies to rot, and eventually turned into dust."

"I used my own body to raise troops to put an end to the riots. Thanks to the spirit of the ancestral temple, the six kings fell asleep and the world was at peace. I defeated the Xiongnu in the north, merged with the Yuezhi in the west, swallowed Korea in the east, captured Baiyue in the south, and barbarians from all directions. They are all captives of the Qin Dynasty. I conquered the six kingdoms and conquered the four barbarians. These achievements are so great that they can be said to be unprecedented!"

"I worshiped the heaven at Mount Tai, and Liang Fu meditated on the ground, praying to the gods of heaven and earth. I thought that I would be loved by heaven, that I would be different from the sages and emperors of ancient times, that I would be able to gain immortality, and that I would govern the people for heaven and earth, and that I would be like the great Qin Dynasty. Let’s live forever together!”

"But I couldn't find an immortal, I couldn't cultivate an immortal, and I was plagued by illness. As of today, I understand what Xun Qing meant when he said that heaven's behavior is always constant, and it will not survive for Yao, nor will it perish for Jie."

The First Emperor sighed quietly: "Since people have life and death, and I cannot avoid it, there is nothing to be unwilling to do."

Zhao Tuo was quite surprised.

The First Emperor, who spent his whole life seeking immortality and cultivating immortals, and longed for immortality, looked away from life and death in the last period of his life.

He responded: "What your Majesty said is true. The life and death of human beings have been determined by God. We just need to let nature take its course, act in accordance with God, and do what we do without any regrets."

"No regrets...what regrets do I have?"

The First Emperor whispered: "I have taken the matter of life and death lightly. However, there are many regrets. At least in my opinion, today's Great Qin is not enough."

At this point, the withered face of the First Emperor suddenly burst into life, and light bloomed in his eyes.

"In the west, the small state of Wusun robbed and killed my Daqin caravan, and they should be punished. Wang Liyan said that the Wusun people were cunning and avoided our Qin army without fighting, so they were not destroyed for a long time. I can't witness Wusun Kunmo hanging his head in Xianyang. I can't It is a pity to witness our great Qin marching into the vast land of the Western Regions with our own eyes."

"In the north, there are still remnants of the Huns north of the Yin Mountains, and there are remnants of the Donghu outside Liaodong. It is a pity that I cannot destroy them all in one fell swoop and submit them all to the Rong and Di tribes."

"To the east, there is a letter from the governor of Rizhao County, saying that in the southeast of Rizhao, there is an archipelago about a hundred miles across the sea, which is suspected to be the legendary Yingzhou Fairy Mountain. Although I don't believe in the theory of Yingzhou, I have ordered the boat master to go and explore it. , it takes a long time to go back and forth, and we can't get the news from there. This is three regrets."

"As for the south... Baiyue has been taken, but I still want body poison."

The First Emperor sighed sadly and expressed his fourth regret.

This was the feeling he often had when he sat in the palace and looked at the map of the world's territories.

If you don't know about those places, forget it. Since the First Emperor has known through various channels that there is a vast and fertile Western Region to the west of the Qin Dynasty, a territory to the south that is not inferior to that of Zhu Xia, and the north and east also have their own scenery.

How could he endure his heart full of domineering and conquering desires?

This is actually one of the reasons why he desires immortality.

How could he be willing to die before the entire territory of the world was conquered?

"I like what you said in the main hall back then. There should be only one country in the world, Da Qin, and there should only be one king! I only wish that Da Qin can become the only country in the world, and that the land illuminated by the sun and the moon is Da Qin. territory!"

Such a grand vision and those four regrets made Zhao Tuo sweat on his forehead.

He whispered: "Your Majesty's wish is indeed a great undertaking. It cannot be completed by one generation. This matter should be done by future generations."

The First Emperor nodded silently, and Zhao Tuo's words brought him back to reality.

"You're right, that's not something I should worry about anymore, but I want to see it."

"Zhao Tuo, after I leave, you and Fusu should imitate me on this stage and make a golden man, and look out at the world from here. If my soul gets tired of staying in the underground palace, or when it comes to Here, take a look at what the country of Great Qin looks like."

Speaking of this, the First Emperor seemed to have remembered something bad.

He glared at Zhao Tuo and said, "You must do this well and not cut corners for me like the twelve golden men back then. This golden man must be as tall as me!"

The first emperor's solemn instructions made Zhao Tuo dumbfounded.

Twelve golden people?

This happened many years ago. Fortunately, the emperor still remembered this matter. If he hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten it.

Zhao Tuo said: "Your Majesty's instructions, I will bear them in mind."

The First Emperor nodded, then suddenly stared at him and asked: "You, Zhao Tuo, are still young, you have been awarded the title of Marquis, and your merits are among the best in the world. I wonder what other ideas you have in the future?"

Zhao Tuo understood what the emperor meant. He looked solemn and bowed down: "The heaven and the earth can be used as a guide, and the sun and the moon can be used as a guide. Zhao Tuo is only willing to assist the emperor in the future. In this life, he will be a Qin general and Qin minister. He will devote his whole life to the Qin Dynasty. already!"

Seeing Zhao Tuo solemnly swearing an oath, the First Emperor showed a happy smile.

"Very good, I saw you right. Come to me and take a look at the scenery of Xianyang with me."

Zhao Tuo stood up and walked obediently to the side of the First Emperor.

He followed the First Emperor and looked towards the Qin Palace below the stage and towards Xianyang in the distance.

The view is broad, and it feels like climbing a mountain and looking down at the world.

Just tears slipped down the corners of Zhao Tuo's eyes.

The sky is filled with red clouds and the Golden Crow is slanting to the west.

He saw that the sun was setting.

…

After the Tianbaotai Incident, the First Emperor quickly announced a piece of news that surprised the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty.

Fengchang, the leader of the Nine Ministers, was released as a county guard. Wang Wan, the right prime minister, was transferred to Fengchang, and his original position was taken over by Zhao Tuo, the Marquis of Zhenguo.

The appointment came suddenly, and both Wang Wan and Feng Chang were stunned.

The First Emperor's promise to Zhao Tuo was finally fulfilled.

No one can say anything about this, because the world belongs to the emperor, and they are just the emperor's ministers. The emperor can appoint them however he wants.

Not to mention that Zhao Tuo, the Marquis of Zhenguo, is more than enough to be the right prime minister, regardless of his meritorious service or title.

Wang Wan could only hand over the position bitterly, handing over all government affairs and powers to the new right prime minister Zhao Tuo.

The whole court congratulated Zhao Tuo on becoming prime minister, and even the left prime minister Li Si personally visited Zhao Tuo in order to close relations.

Zhao Tuo didn't feel much joy in his heart.

Such an appointment by the First Emperor proved that his end was approaching.

Sure enough, in the next few days, the First Emperor fainted and woke up sometimes, and his complexion deteriorated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In this New Year of the Qin calendar, few ministers in the court could celebrate the New Year with peace of mind, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the depths of the Qin Palace.

At dusk on the ninth day of October, the First Emperor suddenly sent for Zhao Tuo, Li Si, Fusu and others.

He was lying on the couch, his complexion was different from his usual weakness, and was actually a little rosy.

When Zhao Tuo saw it, his eyes turned red and his hands and feet trembled.

The emperor's appearance may have brought him back to his former glory.

Fusu was crying next to him. He was a benevolent and filial person, and he had a father-son affection for the emperor in addition to being a monarch and his ministers. At this moment, he only felt a tearing pain in his heart.

Li Si also fell down in front of the First Emperor's couch, crying.

After the fall of Lu Buwei, he served the emperor for nearly thirty years, watching the monarch go from being energetic in his early twenties to being calm and domineering in his thirties, and then to ascending to the top of the world and becoming the supreme king of all people.

After thirty years of getting along, how could there be no feelings between the monarch and his ministers?

"alright."

The First Emperor looked at the three of them calmly, especially smiled at Li Si and said: "I heard that there is a god named Da Siming in Chu, who controls people's life, death and longevity. Although Qin does not have such a god, there is still a god who controls all things. It can be seen that life and death are destined by God, and now I am just following God’s orders, so there is nothing to cry about.”

Li Si said tremblingly: "The Qin Dynasty cannot do without your Majesty."

Fusu cried and said, "I can't bear to leave my father. I am willing to die in my father's place."

After hearing this, the First Emperor's expression suddenly changed and he scolded Fusu: "You are talking nonsense. You are the heir of Qin. When I leave, you will be the second emperor of Qin. How can an emperor do this?" The attitude of a child. Fusu, remember, from now on, you are never allowed to cry again. If you dare to disobey my order, you will be disloyal and unfilial!"

Fusu stretched out his hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of his eyes, nodded and said, "My father taught me that my son must never cry again."

"Remember, you will be the emperor in the future, you will be the king of the world, and you will be the true supreme!"

After the First Emperor looked at Fusu and nodded in agreement, he spoke a little loosely and said: "Although the hidden dangers in the Qin State today have not been eliminated, there are good ministers and strong generals in the court to assist you. You should listen to the words of the two prime ministers. Govern this country well.”

"My son, I know."

Fusu solemnly agreed.

Zhao Tuo and Li Si next to him immediately expressed their attitude that they would assist the prince well.

The First Emperor looked pleased.

Fusu, although this son was bewitched by Chu people when he was young, he also had a stubborn temper and often contradicted him, which made him feel unhappy.

But fortunately, Zhao Tuo helped guide him. After the Qin State destroyed Chu, Fusu whipped Xiong Qihou, and he was completely free from the influence of the Chu people. After subsequent training in military supervision and government affairs, he became a qualified heir. Jun.

The Prime Minister Zhao Tuo on the right is Fusu's brother-in-law, and the Prime Minister Li Si on the left is Fusu's father-in-law. Under this relationship, Fusu's throne will be as stable as Mount Tai, and there will be no trouble in the transfer of power in Qin, which reassures the emperor.

His eyes passed over Fusu's face and looked at Zhao Tuo beside him.

Looking at Zhao Tuo, who had red eyes and was sobbing uncontrollably, the First Emperor had mixed feelings in his heart.

"I was abandoned by my father when I was young. I was left in the Kingdom of Zhao and endured all kinds of humiliation."

"I returned to Qin when I was nine, but my father died and my mother wanted Lao Ai instead of me."

"Lu Buwei relies on his power to suppress me."

"My brother betrayed me."

"Fan Yuqi rebelled and fled."

"Yan Dan sent Jing Ke to assassinate me."

"Xiong Qi betrayed my trust for the sake of his country."

Father, mother, father-in-law, younger brother, general, friend, elder...

The First Emperor experienced betrayal by countless people in his life. He lived in intrigues for the first half of his life, thinking that everyone in the world was like this.

Until the young man appeared in front of me.

The First Emperor looked at Zhao Tuo, and the scene in the Xianyang Hall in the past appeared in his mind for an unknown number of times.

The king and the boy.

We know each other at first sight and we will see each other in the end.

There is no betrayal, only warmth and trust.

In the second half of his life, the First Emperor truly had a feeling called warmth.

"I have Zhao Tuo, and I will have no regrets in this life."

He said with a smile.

Then he closed his eyes.

The king of the world closed his eyes forever.

In October, the thirty-eighth year of Qin Shihuang.

Qin Shihuang died in Xianyang Palace.

No more tonight. There are only a few chapters left in the follow-up. I will tie up the threads buried earlier and then conclude.