“What?”
Li Si was so scared that he almost jumped out of his skin.
He hastily bowed and said, "Your Majesty...I have no such intention!"
Ying Su smiled, "Then tell me, how does the national strength of our Qin compare to the Great Zhou?"
Li Si answered without any hesitation, "Our Qin army can sweep across the Great Zhou! Even at its peak, the Great Zhou army is no match for our Qin army!"
Ying Su chuckled, "What about the overall national strength?"
“This…”
Li Si was dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long time!
Ying Su's gaze was cold, and he said in a chilling tone, "Speak!"
Li Si directly kowtowed, "Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
Ying Su smiled, "When did I say I was going to kill you?"
Li Si didn't answer, but continued to kowtow and cry out, "Please grant me your forgiveness!"
Ying Su stared at Li Si for a long time, then shook his head, "Tell the truth, and I will forgive you."
However, Li Si remained silent!
Ying Su said, "These words, only you and I know, no third person shall hear them!"
Li Si trembled, "Though our Qin army is far superior to the Zhou army, our overall national strength, such as the livelihood of our people, is not as good as...not even half as good as the Great Zhou at its peak!"
As he spoke, Li Si's body trembled even more violently!
Ying Su chuckled and looked at Li Si, "You're quite bold to speak such truths!"
Li Si managed a smile that was worse than crying!
Yes, the same question, but it depends on who is asking.
If it were Emperor Qin Shi Huang who asked, then without a doubt, Qin would have surpassed Zhou in every aspect!
Though Emperor Qin Shi Huang wouldn't believe this, knowing that Li Si was just flattering him!
But Emperor Qin Shi Huang would be happy to hear such words, so naturally, he wouldn't punish him!
But Ying Su was different!
He didn't know Ying Su before!
He didn't know Ying Su's character!
But in the previous verbal probing, he had already clearly felt Ying Su's desire to hear the truth!
If he dared to distort the facts before Ying Su, Ying Su probably wouldn't spare him!
So, there was no way out, he could only tell the truth.
And after hearing these words, Ying Su didn't blame him, because he knew that Li Si was speaking the truth!
And whenever he thought about this, he couldn't help but sigh!
Yes!
Although the Qin army was powerful, its overall national strength, in terms of people's livelihood, was not as good as the Great Zhou!
In fact, even the statement that it wasn't even half as good as the Great Zhou at its peak was an exaggeration by Li Si.
It couldn't be helped, the Great Zhou, under the rule of Duke of Zhou Ji Dan, had experienced a peak period of nearly two hundred years!
And these two hundred years of peak period had almost allowed the nation, its language, culture, economy, and education to develop well!
At its peak, it even allowed everyone in the nation to have enough to eat!
In fact, because of this, historians later redefined the first great unified dynasty!
That's right!
The first great unified dynasty in Chinese history was not the Qin dynasty!
But the Zhou dynasty!
The Great Zhou was the first great unified dynasty in Chinese history!
Although it was a feudal system!
But based on the level of control that the Zhou King had over the various feudal lords during the Great Zhou's peak period, it could be completely defined as a great unified dynasty!
However, Ying Su was not discouraged!
How many years did it take for the Great Zhou, from defeating the Shang dynasty to Duke of Zhou Ji Dan governing the country, to achieve that kind of situation?
How many years has it been since the King of Qin swept the six kingdoms?
Moreover, can the great unified dynasty truly established by the Qin be compared to that kind of watered-down great unified dynasty?
It's completely different!
So, Ying Su was not discouraged at all.
He would allow the Qin, after Emperor Qin Shi Huang, to enter a period of rapid development!
Speaking of rapid development, Ying Su couldn't help but ask Li Si a question:
“Do you think the Shang Yang Reforms or the Lüshi Chunqiu are the true path to a strong nation?”
At that moment, Ying Su asked.
And speaking of Lüshi Chunqiu, it is impossible to not mention a person who, in Ying Su's eyes, had at least double S-level governing abilities, infinitely close to the SSS-level!
A person who, after three years in the Qin state, caused the deaths of three Qin kings, immediately took over the mess, strengthened the overall national strength of the Qin for ten years, and even made Emperor Qin Shi Huang fearful for ten years! He was a super strong person!
It was he who abolished the head-counting method of rewarding merits!
In fact, Emperor Qin Shi Huang's capital for sweeping the six kingdoms was also partly due to him!
Without him, after the death of Ying Zheng, the Qin state would most likely have fallen into endless internal strife!
He was Lü Buwei!
The author of Lüshi Chunqiu!
And when it came to Lüshi Chunqiu, Li Si's heart couldn't help but tremble slightly, because he had once been a guest of Lü Buwei!
Likewise, it was because of Lü Buwei that he had the opportunity to rise.
However...he was quite critical of some of Lü Buwei's actions!
For example, disrespecting the King of Qin!
Failing to recognize the situation, failing to understand the essential difference between king and subject!
But at the same time, Li Si also strongly agreed with some of Lü Buwei's viewpoints!
He also admired this person's governing strategies very much!
After much thought, he said:
“The essence of the Shang Yang Reforms is to weaken the power of the aristocracy. The power weakened from the aristocrats was transferred to the common people through strict laws and military merit. The common people were then used to counter the aristocracy, making the Qin people all warlike, making the Qin in times of war incredibly strong!”
“My teacher Xun Zi, although a Confucian scholar, believed that human nature is inherently evil and needs to be constrained by strict laws. Therefore, he strongly advocated rule by law!”
“Han Fei believed that law is the foundation of a nation, but how to use the law, and how to publicize it, so that everyone knows and follows the law, is the key! Otherwise, if the king makes laws, but the people don't know the law, then the king's laws are like empty words!”
“But Lüshi Chunqiu is completely different from Legalism. It's not just different from Legalism, it's also different from Daoism, Confucianism, and Mohism, it's different from all of them!”
“In my opinion, Lüshi Chunqiu is more like a collection of the ideas of Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism all together!”
“In the war to unify the six kingdoms, Lüshi Chunqiu believed that the six kingdoms should be gradually consumed, not all at once. If you expand too quickly, it may make people's hearts unstable, leading to chaos and eventually backfiring on the Qin!”
“In terms of governing a country, Lüshi Chunqiu advocates non-action. The king should love the people as his own children, be lenient with the laws, and treat the people with kindness!”
After Li Si finished speaking, he bowed to Ying Su.
Ying Su didn't speak, he just looked at Li Si, "Finished?"
“I…”
Li Si's body trembled slightly, he lowered his head and didn't speak.
Ying Su continued to look at him, he still didn't speak!
Finally, Ying Su nodded:
“I understand!”
“Your Majesty, I…”
Li Si opened his mouth, he wanted to say something, but this time Ying Su didn't give him the chance:
“Everything you wanted to say, everything you could say, you've said!”
“What you wanted to say but haven't said yet, means you're still hesitant!”
“Since you're still hesitant, then don't say it for now!”
“Follow your heart!”
“I…”
Li Si cried, bowing to Ying Su:
“Li Si advocates rule by law! Li Si believes that law is the root of a nation, law is the foundation of a nation! No matter when or where, everyone should be constrained by law, especially now that our Qin has established a great unified dynasty, we should even more unify the law. If there is no law to restrain, then the people of the former kingdoms will do their own thing, and I will do my own thing, how can the nation become a nation? How can the emperor have any authority?”
He shouted, kowtowing fiercely to Ying Su!
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