DLERB -Chapter 63 Chancellor, Your Plan Will Kill Half the People, and the Other Half Will Rebel!

Wood shavings were still floating in the air.

The enormous wooden map board had been snapped in two from the middle and lay across the ground.

Like the severed past of Great Qin.

Everyone kept their heads lowered, not daring to look at Ying Zheng.

Ying Teng was slumped on the ground, trembling like a sieve. From beneath him came a foul, urinous stench.

He had wet himself.

Ying Zheng did not even glance at him.

Those eyes, burning like fire, swept across the entire hall.

Finally, they landed on Ying Ziye.

The fire softened into warm water.

“Ahem.”

Ying Ziye cleared his throat, breaking the dead silence.

He clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the piece of parchment with the question written on it.

He bent down, picked it up, and dusted it off.

Then he raised the paper and looked at the group of pale-faced nobles.

A pure, innocent smile appeared on his face.

“Anyone else want to answer?”

“If you get it right, I’ll admit you’re correct.”

Humiliation.

This was outright humiliation!

A group of ministers and nobles in their thirties, forties, even fifties.

They had been completely silenced by an eight-year-old child with a single question.

Ying Teng lowered his head even further, wishing he could dig a hole in the ground and hide.

The other nobles had also turned into timid quails.

At that moment—

“This minister is willing to try.”

Li Si stepped forward.

He had no choice but to stand out.

He was the head of all officials, the Chancellor of Great Qin.

If even he remained silent, then the dignity of the imperial court would truly be trampled under the feet of a child, beyond recovery.

Ying Zheng glanced at him but said nothing, taking it as permission.

Li Si straightened his robes and walked up to the parchment.

He read it slowly and carefully.

Every character was examined repeatedly in his mind.

After a long moment, he raised his head and bowed toward Ying Zheng.

“Your Majesty, I believe this matter should be handled in three steps.”

His voice had regained its usual steadiness.

“First, appeasement.”

“Immediately allocate grain from the state granaries, set up porridge stalls, and ensure the refugees have food to stabilize public sentiment.”

“Second, intimidation.”

“The local prefect should personally lead three hundred soldiers and execute the ringleaders as a warning to others, to strike fear into troublemakers!”

“Third, redistribution.”

“Forcibly order wealthy households to contribute grain, with the government issuing IOUs to be repaid double after the autumn harvest. At the same time, relocate the refugees to neighboring commanderies to share the burden.”

After he finished speaking—

A number of officials were quietly nodding.

As expected of the Chancellor.

There was appeasement, deterrence, and a practical solution.

Although the methods were harsh, it truly was the most workable plan at the moment.

This was real governance.

After speaking, Li Si himself also let out a small sigh of relief.

He looked toward Ying Zheng with a faintly evaluative expression.

Your Highness, this is the method of a ruler.

Not child’s play.

However—

Ying Ziye merely listened.

After Li Si finished, he shook his head.

Very lightly, very slowly.

As if rejecting something insignificant.

“Chancellor Li Si.”

Ying Ziye spoke, his voice still soft and childish.

“Your method won’t work.”

Li Si froze.

“Why won’t it work?”

“Because your plan will turn Hedong Commandery into a river of blood.”

Ying Ziye looked at him, his large eyes full of seriousness.

“There are only a thousand shi of grain in the state granaries, but there are a hundred thousand mouths. Even one bite per person is not enough. The porridge stalls will be emptied on the first day.”

“If you execute the ringleaders, the starving people will tear your three hundred soldiers apart along with them.”

“If you force wealthy households to give grain, they may comply today—but tomorrow they will band together and rebel.”

“If you relocate refugees to neighboring commanderies, those commanderies will immediately seal their borders. Then both regions’ people, fighting for survival, will go to war.”

With every sentence Ying Ziye spoke, Li Si’s face turned paler.

By the time he finished, Li Si’s back was already completely soaked in cold sweat.

Every possibility Ying Ziye pointed out—was like a precise blade striking the weakest joints of his plan.

The governance strategy he was so proud of had become full of holes, like a joke before this eight-year-old child.

He felt as if he were standing naked in front of him.

All his thoughts were seen through completely.

“Then… in Your Highness’s view, what should be done?”

Li Si’s voice was dry and hoarse.

He bent slightly for the first time, adopting a posture of consultation.

Ying Ziye smiled.

“Simple.”

He held up four chubby fingers.

“Four words.”

“Work-relief through labor.”

“Work-relief through labor?”

What does this mean?

Li Si did not understand.

Wang Jian did not understand.

Ying Zheng did not understand either.

Seeing their confused expressions, Ying Ziye explained:

“Let those starving people go to work.”

“Doesn’t Hedong Commandery rely on the Yellow River? Doesn’t it suffer floods every year?”

“We issue a proclamation through the governor: the imperial court is going to repair dikes and dig canals.”

“Anyone who comes to work gets one day’s ration for one day’s labor—full meals guaranteed!”

“Once the people hear they can get food, will they still gather outside the governor’s office to cause trouble?”

“No. They will rush to the construction sites instead.”

“Once they have work and food, will they still listen to instigation and rebel?”

“No. Anyone who tries to stop them from earning food will be the first they beat to death.”

“We send tens of thousands of people to build the embankments. Once the embankments are finished, the locust disaster will have passed, and farmland can be cultivated again. Not only do we save lives, we also get a hundred-year-use flood control dam for free.”

“As for the wealthy families hoarding grain—”

Ying Ziye chuckled, like a little fox.

“They’ll see that we are distributing food to the people and don’t need to buy from them at all. All the grain they’ve hoarded will start to rot if it sits too long.”

“At that point, are we begging them to sell grain?”

“No.”

“It will be them—crying and begging us—to buy their grain!”

His words were clear and simple.

No complicated terminology at all.

But to Li Si, Wang Jian, and Meng Yi, it felt like thunder crashing in their minds.

Thud!

Li Si dropped straight to his knees.

He was not frightened, nor forced.

He prostrated himself completely before Ying Ziye.

“Your Highness’s talent exceeds this minister’s by a hundredfold! I submit in total admiration!”

What a terrifying scheme this was!

Not a single soldier used. Not a single coin spent.

Yet it turned a certain death crisis into a living solution.

And in doing so, it solved every problem at once:

Relief for disaster victims, stability for the people, infrastructure built, and corrupt merchants suppressed.

One move, four outcomes!

Was this even something a human could think of?

This was a divine strategy!

Wang Jian also finally understood.

He stared at Ying Ziye, utterly shaken.

“This is military strategy applied to governance!”

“Defeating enemies without fighting! Your Highness is truly extraordinary!”

Ying Zheng stood there.

He looked at the small figure.

That little face still wore a proud, satisfied smile.

The admiration, shock, and indulgence in his eyes all slowly transformed into something else.

Reverence.

Yes—reverence.

For the first time, he felt a trace of reverence toward his own son.

“Good!”

Ying Zheng clapped his hands suddenly.

“What a fine ‘work-relief through labor’!”

He strode forward and lifted Ying Ziye into his arms, placing him directly on his shoulders.

This was an unprecedented honor.

“Pass down my decree!”

Ying Zheng’s voice rang through the hall.

“From this day forward, my ninth son Ying Ziye shall be Regent Prince and Regent of Great Qin!”

“All affairs concerning the ‘Recruitment Hall’ shall be handled entirely by the Crown Prince Regent!”

“Relief efforts in Hedong Commandery shall also follow the Crown Prince’s plan and be implemented immediately!”

“Whoever dares to disobey, will be executed without mercy!”

……

On the road back to Xianyang Palace.

A group of former noble officials gathered together, looking utterly lost.

Ying Teng had changed into clean trousers, but his face looked worse than if his father had died.

“It’s over…”

“Everything is over…”

An old minister muttered to himself.

“With the imperial examinations, will our noble titles even be passed down to our descendants?”

“Those mud-legged commoners will soon climb over our heads and shit on us!”

“We cannot just sit and wait for death! Absolutely not!” Ying Teng gritted his teeth.

A vicious light flashed in his eyes.

“We still have one last chance!”

“Prince Fusu!”

He lowered his voice.

“The Eldest Prince, stationed in the northern frontier, has a reputation for virtue and is devoted to Confucian ideals of benevolence and righteousness!”

“He will never tolerate an eight-year-old brat acting so recklessly and shaking the foundations of the state!”

“We will immediately write a letter and invite the Eldest Prince back to court!”

“To set everything right!”

On the other side.

Ying Zheng’s imperial carriage slowly came to a stop.

Ying Ziye was about to return to his own small carriage.

The curtain lifted.

Ying Zheng sat inside and beckoned him.

“Ziye, come up.”

“Ride in the same carriage as your father.”

Ying Ziye froze for a moment, then climbed in.

This was the first time he had ever shared a carriage with Ying Zheng.

The curtain slowly fell.

It shut out all probing gazes from outside.

Inside the spacious carriage, father and son sat facing each other.

The atmosphere turned subtly delicate.