9: Chapter 9 The True Purpose of Building the Epang Palace

The private soldiers of the Great Qin nobility also turned pale.

The private soldiers of some Qin nobles could number five or six hundred men.

But before this battle-hardened Guanzhong Army, which numbered two hundred thousand, they were all as meek as lambs.

The residences of the civil and military officials of the imperial court were surrounded by heavy troops.

“What exactly is Young Master Fusu trying to do? He's making such a huge scene!”

Xia Wuche stared blankly at the Guanzhong Army, which resembled a swarm of locusts passing through.

An elite squad of the Guanzhong Army, about a hundred men strong, had also surrounded the manor where he and the First Emperor were located.

They were equipped with Qin crossbows, already drawn and loaded.

If anyone dared to break through the perimeter, they would likely be shot into a pincushion.

A large number of Shadow Guards crowded around Ying Zheng to prevent these rebellious Qin soldiers from breaking in.

Their expressions were incredibly solemn.

There were only a hundred of them; even if all five thousand Shadow Guards were gathered together, they could not fight their way out of a siege of two hundred thousand troops.

Zhao Gao was breaking out in a cold sweat.

His entire body was as if it had been soaked in water.

Young Master Fusu, this is too terrifying, creating such a massive disturbance!

In the hundreds of years of Xianyang's history, it had never been surrounded like this!

The residences of Zhao Gao and Li Si were surrounded one after another.

The retainers in Zhao Gao's residence came out of the main gate, just about to brandish their butcher knives to drive back the Qin soldiers besieging the residence, but then they saw the hundred Qin soldiers surrounding them, and behind them, the dark mass of Qin soldiers marching wave after wave, seemingly endless.

They shrank their necks, quickly pretended as if nothing had happened, hid their butcher knives in their robes, and closed the residence gates with feigned composure.

If the Qin Army wanted to surround them, let them; as long as they didn't break in, it was fine.

If they did break in, they could only raise their hands in surrender.

Inside Li Si's residence, Li Si's face was as dark as water.

Fusu could easily pass through Hangu Pass, and the troops Inside the Pass all followed his orders. Even though Li Si was exceptionally brilliant, he couldn't figure out what on earth was going on.

He knew very well that Fusu's purpose in surrounding without attacking was to say: 'Look here, if I wanted to, I could take down every single civil and military official in all of Xianyang.'

Li Si did not panic too much.

He knew very well that Fusu would not kill him.

Besides Fusu's reputation for benevolence, if Fusu wanted to take over the Great Qin Empire and govern Great Qin, he would still need people to do the work.

Otherwise, Fusu would be a commander without an army; with no one to work for him, how would he manage the world?

As the Right Chancellor, his power exceeded that of the Left Chancellor Feng Quji.

His daughter had married the First Emperor's son.

His son had married the First Emperor's daughter.

He and the First Emperor were related by marriage.

He could be considered the number one person beneath the First Emperor.

His students were spread throughout the entire court.

If Fusu wanted to inherit the throne at all, he could not kill him.

Li Si had always played at the highest levels and could understand the thoughts of a clever monarch.

Unless he was matched with a monarch of insufficient intelligence.

Like that idiot Hu Hai.

In history, Li Si never imagined that while his son Li You was on the front lines suppressing the rebel armies, he would tell Hu Hai not to spend all day feasting and drinking—could you damn well put some effort into state affairs! And the whole world is in chaos, yet you want to increase forced labor and start massive construction projects; are you worried there aren't enough people rebelling?!

Regardless, that idiot Hu Hai didn't listen to Li Si's advice; instead, he dragged both Li Si and Li You to Caishikou to be executed by waist-chopping.

In terms of web novels, this would definitely be an 'emotional flow' novel.

I'm working my life away on the front lines to protect the country, and you kill my old man for no reason in the rear? In a heartbeat, I'd turn my spear around and march on Xianyang with the rebel army.

In his heart, Li Si knew that in this political alignment, he had chosen the wrong side.

He was thinking about what bargaining chips he could produce to make Zhao Fusu compromise.

As for hoping that Zhao Fusu's benevolence would mean he wouldn't be punished at all...

Li Si didn't believe it.

Zhao Fusu had made such a huge move this time, leading two hundred thousand troops to surround the residences of Qin's nobles and officials so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.

He must have a scheme, and a grand one at that.

At this point, even if the First Emperor stopped hiding and laid his cards on the table, saying 'I'm not dead yet, I've returned,' it's likely Fusu wouldn't stop.

Instead, Zhao Fusu would advise the First Emperor: 'Give it up, Father; everyone outside is my man!'

Clop, clop, clop...

A carriage drove across the bluestone-paved streets.

The carriage carrying Zhao Fusu and Wang Xia was surrounded by a large number of Qin soldiers.

The roads and houses along the way were all controlled by the Qin Army; no one could get within two hundred paces of Zhao Fusu and Wang Xia.

Deputy General Pang and Wang Xia were tense, their hands tightly gripping their waist sabers to prevent anyone from attacking Zhao Fusu.

To prevent assassination, both Zhao Fusu and Wang Xia wore soft armor for protection.

Ying Zheng stood on high ground, watching the carriage slowly pass by.

There was no anger on his face, only excitement.

Zhao Fusu's methods actually allowed Ying Zheng to see hope for the Great Qin Empire.

Zhao Fusu was younger than him and could also mobilize the great army.

His methods were also so firm.

If he ascended the throne as Emperor, he would certainly not be swayed by his ministers.

Such a person would not become a faint-hearted ruler; there was a high probability he would be a tyrant.

But regardless, it was better than that fool Hu Hai ascending the throne.

After learning of that fool Hu Hai's true administrative capabilities, Ying Zheng was completely disappointed in him.

Some useless people cannot be propped up no matter how you try. Such useless people are truly not fit to be Emperor.

If Hu Hai were allowed to ascend the throne, Ying Zheng felt that even if he were dead, he would have to crawl out of his bronze coffin to object.

After Zhao Fusu reached the center of Xianyang, he took the carriage north along the Zao River.

He saw the Epang Palace, which was still just a foundation, with large logs piled upon it in preparation for construction.

Although it was only a foundation, it was truly massive.

The rammed earth base reached over ten meters high.

The rammed earth base was 1,270 meters long from east to west and 426 meters wide from north to south.

Its planned area reached 15 square kilometers. Anyone who has been to the Forbidden City knows it covers 720,000 square meters; in comparison, the area of Epang Palace was twenty times that of the Forbidden City.

Its main buildings included the Front Hall, the Magnetite Gate, Lanchi Palace, the Heavenly Terrace, the Earth Altar, and Shanglin Park. The Front Hall was its main palace building, covering an area of about 800 mu, equivalent to 90 times the size of a standard football field.

This place was actually not a site for pleasure, as described in 'The Faults of Qin.'

Rather, it was the new political center to be established after Qin destroyed the six states.

Geographically, the palaces of the Great Qin Empire could be divided into the South Palace and the North Palace, separated by the Wei River.

The South Palace complex was primarily used specifically for the Qin monarch's official business, receiving foreign envoys, and seeing off ministers going to war.

Across the ancient Wei River bridge was the North Palace complex.

These were the old palace complexes.

They were the first palaces built after the State of Qin moved to this location.

The first to be built was Xianyang Palace, constructed by Duke Xiao of Qin.

He was the father of the grandfather of the grandfather of Qin Shi Huang.

Xianyang Palace was used for the ministers to hold court sessions, and for the King of Qin and members of the royal family to reside.

Over the course of more than a hundred and forty years, as the royal family grew, the palaces were continuously expanded outward.

There were palace complexes modeled after the six states, and these complexes even had city walls.

There was the Lanchi Palace, where the monarch favored his concubines and bathed.

There were palaces where the Empress Dowager lived, and so on.

By the time of the First Emperor, the palace complexes had expanded south of the ancient Wei River bridge.

The First Emperor felt that since he had destroyed the six states, it would be a bit beneath him to continue using the Xianyang Palace built by his ancestor to hold court with his officials.

Therefore, he conceived the idea of building a super-sized palace, even larger than Xianyang Palace, to hold court sessions with his civil and military officials.

This palace had to be larger and more majestic than Xianyang Palace to represent the face of the unprecedented unified dynasty that was the Great Qin Empire.

Ying Zheng's idea was good, but unfortunately, he died during his fifth eastern tour before Epang Palace was completed.

After Ying Zheng died, Hu Hai also wanted to continue building Epang Palace.

However, at this time, the national strength of Qin no longer allowed for such massive construction projects.

The two Chancellors, Li Si and Feng Quji, intervened most frequently to stop it, which is why they were both killed by Hu Hai.