Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 337

The Net of Justice has countless unexpected methods to subdue a prisoner...

"Li Si really intends to rebel!"

With a loud bang, Hu Hai, looking furious, flung away the evidence of the Li Si family's rebellion presented by Zhao Gao and slammed it onto the table. The servants from the Prime Minister's mansion who had come to "inform" were all startled by the loud noise, falling face-first to the ground, trembling all over.

"Your Majesty, I have arrested Li Si and am sending men to obtain more conclusive evidence from him."

Zhao Gao smiled slightly as he lowered his head and reported to Hu Hai.

Zhao Gao admired Li Xiangguo's talent, but unfortunately, he wouldn't side with the Luo Wang organization. In addition, there was no time left, and there was no extra time for internal power struggles, so he could only quickly resolve the matter by force.

"Interrogate him! I want to hear him confess his crimes personally once he speaks!" Hu Hai, still not satisfied, continued to overturn the table. He stood up, feeling disgusted by these annoying and irritating matters, and wanted to go to the inner palace through the side door to find some amusement.

Yan Le, who was guarding the door, seized the opportunity and suddenly entered the hall, kneeling down and saying, "Your Majesty, the Right Chancellor Feng Quji and General Feng Jie request an audience... They say they have come for Li Si."

"I won't see them!" Hu Hai, already furious, was filled with hostility at the arrival of the two Fengs and didn't even turn around: "Zhao Gao, you go and handle this!"

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Zhao Gao bowed deeply, quite satisfied with his arrangement.

Feng Quji and Feng Jie, descendants of Feng Ting who once offered Shangdang to the State of Zhao, thus igniting the Battle of Changping, now held considerable prestige in the Qin court, second only to a few ministers such as Li Si and Meng Tian during the reign of the First Emperor.

Unfortunately, they were never trusted by Hu Hai. To get rid of these two people, all that was needed was to take advantage of the aftermath of the Li Si case.

Both Fengs were upright and honest. It wouldn't take much effort to frame them; they would drive themselves to their own demise!

As expected, when Feng Quji and Feng Jie learned that they were to be punished, they cried out, "Generals and ministers should not be humiliated," and took the initiative to draw their swords and commit suicide, allowing Zhao Gao to easily sentence the two to commit suicide out of fear of punishment for colluding with Li Si.

Besides the two who committed suicide, there was another person passing by at the palace gate who witnessed everything.

Overwhelmed with grief for his country and his people, Ziying still had to smile and appease Zhao Gao in order to carry out his plans...

...

"Xingyang has fallen. The Qi army will definitely set up camp in Caoyang next. Hangu Pass is the last barrier in Guanzhong. The three of you must not be complacent."

The negotiations between Zhao Cheng and the State of Qi regarding Hangu Pass failed to yield results. During this time, the other side also consolidated its deployment in Xingyang and Aocang. Judging from their military formations, they were definitely going to launch a strong attack on Guanzhong.

Looking at Zhao Yi, Zhou Zhang, and Wu Chen in front of him, Zhao Cheng instructed them to guard the pass and not to attack, before preparing to return to Xianyang.

There's no need to negotiate with the State of Qi anymore.

After Li Si, this obstacle blocking his way, was dealt with, Zhao Gao ascended to the position of prime minister without any further hindrance.

For Luo Wang, the higher one's position, the more closely one needs to monitor those below. Since Zhao Gao, an outsider, has limited trust, he needs his own younger brother to keep an eye on his officials.

"Yes, sir!" The three men who had become the garrison commanders of Hangu Pass were all of higher rank than Zhao Cheng, who was a commoner, yet they had no choice but to bow and scrape before him.

After all, given his status, he would likely soon become a high-ranking official in Xianyang, holding the rank of one of the Nine Ministers.

"The Great Wall Legion that is retreating south will soon come to your aid. You only need to hold out for a month or so."

Because of the heavy responsibility, Zhao Cheng repeatedly reminded Zhao Yi and others.

The garrison at Hangu Pass is indeed short-handed and can only rely on the city walls to hold out, but once the 300,000-strong Great Wall army arrives, everything will be alright...

"Hangu Pass is truly the most dangerous place in terms of mountains and rivers."

After the Qi army arrived at Caoyang, the King of Qi personally led his armored troops to inspect Hangu Pass from afar. The tall and precipitous city walls were indeed enough to inspire despair at first glance.

Faced with such a 'military fortress', individual strength is truly insignificant; it seems that the only option to open the city gates is a direct assault.

In the past, famous generals such as Lian Po, Zhao She, and Wei Wuji all failed at Hangu Pass, sighing in despair. The only general from Qi, Kuang Zhang, who had ever conquered Hangu Pass, spent three years gathering the elite forces of Qi, Han, and Wei.

With Hangu Pass now undefended, the Qi army, relying on the mechanical beasts of the Mohist and Gongshu families, will certainly launch a fierce attack without taking three years, but it will still take several months. By then, waiting for the Great Wall army to arrive as reinforcements will be extremely difficult.

To achieve a swift victory, the only option was to strike from within Hangu Pass. Zhou Wen's willingness to sacrifice his arm to infiltrate and plant a pawn for the peasant faction in advance.

However, before using this piece, Lu Wei wanted to start by targeting Zhao Yi.

And, that person in Guanzhong...

------

Outside the Lishan Mausoleum, Tian Guang, with his white hair and beard, evaded the Qin soldiers who were overseeing the construction and found an opportunity to have a secret talk with several muscular laborers.

Such an opportunity would never have existed a year ago, but now, with most of the Qin troops guarding Mount Li transferred to support Hangu Pass, the remaining Qin troops have inevitably become lax in their defenses, which has given the convicts the opportunity to collude.

"Boss Tian, ​​is there any news from outside?"

A burly man looked at Tian Guang expectantly.

"The Qi army arrived in Xingyang a dozen days ago and will soon reach Hangu Pass."

It was not easy for Tian Guang to contact the outside world from Lishan. There was a serious lag in receiving messages. This was mainly because Tian Guang had very few people he could trust in Guanzhong. He had to sneak out at night to do many things himself.

But Tian Guang knew very well what he needed to do right now.

"It seems His Highness Prince Qi is putting a lot of pressure on the tyrannical Qin. I've been slacking off for quite a while today and haven't been caught." Another burly man rubbed his hands together, also excited about Tian Guang's news, and unconsciously added a tone of admiration when mentioning Lu Wei.

These convicts from Lishan were ignorant and unaware of the general trend of the world, but they were particularly adept at scheming to improve their own lives.

They would rather be lazy than do any extra work.

If they could get more food, they could easily betray their comrades and report them to the Qin army.

The difficulty of managing 700,000 convicts is unimaginable, as is the difficulty of planning their uprising.

The most effective way to win over these people is through benefits, and these benefits must be immediately attainable. The vast majority of them don't think too far ahead, and you could even say they're unaware of the need to think too far ahead.

This was no challenge for Tian Guang. As a former leader of the peasant chivalrous family, he had spent decades navigating the world of martial arts and was adept at dealing with ignorant commoners and hooligans.

Tian Guang worked here for five years after the fall of Chu, and returned to manage the area after the death of the First Emperor. The only people he could trust in Lishan were the six people in front of him.

These people all had a blood feud with the Qin state, and they also shared a common hobby: martial arts.

For Tian Guang, satisfying such a hobby was too easy; he didn't even need to use the farming techniques that would harm the interests of the farmers.

"Brother Tian, ​​shouldn't we put our plan into action and cooperate with His Highness Prince Qi's actions?" The only short convict among the six asked with a chuckle.

Upon hearing this, the others all looked at Tian Guang, anticipating his answer.

They initially obeyed Boss Tian because he was of noble character and could teach them, people of lowly birth and criminals, martial arts.

Not long ago, after learning that Boss Tian had actually managed to contact His Highness Prince Qi, the leader of the rebel army, and given that the guards at Mount Li had indeed been reduced considerably, and that no one knew whether their fate would be the same as that of the inner-level craftsmen of Mount Li, who would be executed... even the most ignorant among them couldn't help but have certain thoughts surface in their minds.

They were so ignorant that they didn't even know how difficult the task they were about to undertake was.

"Indeed, if we can instigate an uprising in Lishan, march straight from Guanzhong to Hangu Pass, and welcome His Highness Prince Qi into the pass, future glory and wealth will be trivial matters!"

An uprising is not so simple, but Tian Guang knew that explaining the complexities to these convicts was useless.

It's better to directly appeal to emotions; that might increase the chances of success.

Even if it fails and an uprising is impossible, then let's just have a chaotic riot. With 700,000 convicts running amok, it won't be easy for Guanzhong to suppress them!

Chapter 428 Instigating Rebellion

Rumors began to circulate among the convicts of Lishan.

"Once the First Emperor's mausoleum is completed, the Qin army will execute all convicts as funerary sacrifices to ensure that no one reveals the structure of the imperial tomb."

The rumor that 700,000 people were executed at once is too far-fetched: most of the laborers here were just manual laborers, unlike the craftsmen who were familiar with the underground palace's structure, and they were mostly concentrated on the outer layer, too far from the main palace.

It would have been far more worthwhile to transfer these people to other places to do labor than to execute them.

But who can expect these laborers, who have been oppressed their whole lives, to think so much?

They could personally experience the severity and brutality of the Qin laws, and they could also witness the Second Emperor ordering the First Emperor's concubines to be buried alive with him, as well as the forced burial of artisans.

If people believe that the emperor of this empire is capable of such a thing, then with just a little provocation, the rumors will quickly spread throughout the entire Lishan Mausoleum area!

The unrest among the troops could not be concealed. Upon learning the news, Sima Xin, the commander of the Qin army, immediately suspected that someone was taking advantage of the situation. He had the ability to follow the clues, but he lacked the means to execute the mastermind...

As a former member of the Shadow Guard, the Shadow Guard was completely abolished by the newly enthroned Second Emperor after serving under two commanders, Zhang Han and Meng Yi.

The emperor only needed to create a trap; the remaining members of the Shadow Guard mostly met with unfortunate ends...

Sima Xin was lucky. Because he stayed in Xianyang for a long time and did not have a direct conflict with the Luo Wang, he escaped the death penalty for participating in Meng Yi's rebellion. Therefore, after the Shadow Guard was abolished, he was only demoted to Lishan as a supervisor.

"At present, the defense of Lishan is lax and short of soldiers. If an uprising occurs, we may both be killed here."

Sima Xin urgently summoned Dong Yi, who had suffered a similar fate.

"Why not issue a proclamation to reassure the people..." Dong Yi was the protagonist of the idiom "writing truthfully," a descendant of Dong Hu, the Grand Historian of Jin. He possessed some of his ancestor's integrity, but not much...

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing these convicts were not the type to reason with, so Dong Yi changed his approach: "Why not arrest some violent convicts and punish them according to the law, as a deterrent?"

The only options left for them were to reward them with money or threaten them with severe punishment. Both of them were low-ranking officers who had been demoted, so they had no money to reward them. They could only scare the convicts first and then send someone to report to Xianyang urgently.

When Dong Yi arrived, the first thing he saw was Sima Xin facing the window, looking hesitant. He assumed Sima Xin was flustered and at a loss, so he offered advice to comfort his colleague.

“Xianyang only has 50,000 troops. They have to protect the palace. How could they have the spare strength to help you and me…” Sima Xin shook his head.

His attitude immediately made Dong Yi realize that he already had a plan and had only called him over to persuade him to join.

The reason for the previous hesitation was...

"Then what is your opinion?" Dong Yi gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist with his right hand, carefully examining the furnishings in the room, and asked solemnly. This action did not fall into Sima Xin's eyes, but the latter did not take it seriously and continued: "You and I are both former subordinates of General Zhang Han, and we are not favored by Zhao Gao. Our only fate in this life is either to build a mausoleum at Lishan or to build roads in the north. There is no future to speak of."

"Moreover, if a rebellion really breaks out at Mount Li this time, even if we manage to escape, Zhao Gao will surely execute us for dereliction of duty..."

“That’s true, but what can we do…” Dong Yi silently lowered his right hand and asked with a sigh.

Even if one can disregard wealth and status, who can disregard life, or even the lives of their family and clan...?

Therefore, he deliberately ignored Sima Xin's veiled disloyalty to the empire.

"The current empire has lost all its lands in the six states of Shandong, the King of Qi outside the pass has already brought his troops to the foot of Hangu Pass, and Ren Xiao's 200,000-strong army in the southern Chu region has been completely wiped out. It can be said that we are at a critical moment of life and death."

Sima Xin gradually revealed his true intentions: "Although His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, real power is entirely in the hands of the villain Zhao Gao. In recent days, he has also murdered Chancellor Li Si, Feng Quji, and General Feng Jie. He is acting perversely and bringing disaster to the world!"

"With such a traitor in power, even with the fortified Hangu Pass, it will be difficult to safeguard the empire. If we do not make changes, we may have to meet the First Emperor before such a rebellious minister."

"..." Dong Yi remained silent. Sima Xin's purpose in saying so much was merely to emphasize the current predicament of the two, without explicitly stating a way to survive.

Although the other party has already subtly expressed some meaning...

Seeing his prolonged silence, Sima Xin pressed on: "Instead of dying a cowardly death, why don't we lead the Lishan army and the convicts to surrender to His Highness Prince Qi, welcome him into the pass, and then follow him into Xianyang, asking His Highness to execute Zhao Gao? If His Majesty the First Emperor were alive, he would surely praise us!"

"King Qi is far beyond the pass, and you and I are of too little power. How can we communicate and express our loyalty?"

Dong Yi understood what was going on and pretended to be stupid, cooperating with Sima Xin's performance.

The reason why the other party is so familiar with things outside Hangu Pass can only be...

But so what? The two of them are indeed on the verge of death, and they cannot give up any hope of survival!