Chapter 18: Heartbroken
"Why are there so many prisoners?!"
Li Si pointed at the Tingwei prison, which was almost full, and his voice was a little cold.
"Reply, sir."
The jailer looked miserable, as he was unwilling to take in so many prisoners.
"These were sent by the city defense forces. They said these people are suspicious."
Li Si resisted the urge to draw his sword and said with a dark face, "Suspicious? Just suspicious? Where in the Qin law does it say that someone can be arrested if they are suspicious?"
Qin Law is very detailed, covering all aspects of the Qin State. The disadvantage is that it put a series of shackles on the Qin State, but the advantage is that Qin Law is particularly complete and there is no ambiguity.
For example, this kind of presumption of guilt is untenable in the Qin State, and suspicion cannot lead to a conviction.
To a certain extent, Qin's rule of law thought is extremely close to modern times and has many similarities.
"What are you standing there for? Why don't you let him go?"
At Li Si's command, all the jailers breathed a sigh of relief, opened the prison doors one after another, and released all the people captured by the city guards that day.
The Tingwei prison was instantly half empty.
"What nonsense!"
Li Si went out angrily.
"This matter must be reported to Your Majesty. The rule of law is the foundation of the Qin State. How can it be abused?"
After leaving the Supreme Court, the anger on Li Si's stern face disappeared.
He did not call for a carriage to go to the palace, but rushed back home, sat in the hall, and asked his wife to make a pot of tea for him to drink slowly.
Xijun was a general term for wives during the Qin Dynasty.
The tea soup was turbid and salty. The taste of tea in the Qin Dynasty was not that good, but it was a snack that only high-ranking officials could enjoy.
Li Si drank slowly, taking small sips, and sat like this for a quarter of an hour.
He looked at his reflection in the turbid tea and had a conversation with his reflection.
"Li Si, you have become the prime minister of Qin State, you should be content."
The division between civil and military officials in the Qin State was not clear; civil officials could become military generals, and military generals could become civil officials.
Just like Meng Tian, he was a general when he put on armor during wartime, and he resigned from the position of general when there was no war. He also served in positions such as the Xianyang Order.
Shangqing is a general term.
The officials such as the Chief Justice, the Chief Censor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Grain, etc., who had a salary of 2,000 stones in these years, were all called Shangqing.
In the Qin court, there were only two official positions above the Shangqing, one was the prime minister, and the other was the state commander.
The prime minister was the leader of the court, and the commander-in-chief was the highest military leader of the Qin State.
Although their salaries were also two thousand stones, their power was much greater than that of the Shangqing.
In simple terms, the prime minister has the authority to manage all matters in the court, and the national commander has the authority to handle all matters related to war.
Li Si is now the Minister of Justice and one of the senior ministers.
He had never fought in a war, and the studies he had done had nothing to do with warfare. He didn't say he knew nothing about military affairs, but he was almost there.
If he wanted to go further in Qin, the only option was to become the prime minister, but he didn't have the ability to be the national commander.
Tap tap tap
There was a tap on the door.
Who is disturbing me at this moment? Don't you know that I am thinking about something?
Li Si looked up unhappily.
Everyone in the mansion knew that he didn't want anyone to disturb him when he was drinking tea, not even his wife.
This is a habit of Li Si.
The hall door was not closed, and the visitor knocked lightly on the open door.
He had a round, chubby face, and his skin was as smooth as a baby's. He looked at Li Si with a smile , just like Maitreya Buddha.
“It’s you.”
Li Si's anger subsided a little. He took a sip of tea and waved at Maitreya Buddha.
"Brother, come and sit down."
Li Si's junior fellow student walked into the room with a big belly and talked.
"On my way home , I passed by the Court Justice Mansion and thought of saying hello to my senior brother. But when I went in, I found that he was not there. I heard from the officials that my senior brother was furious because Meng Yi had arrested people indiscriminately, and he wanted to go to the palace to ask to see His Majesty and file a complaint. Cang came to see if my senior brother was at the mansion, and he was indeed there."
Li Si took out a teacup and poured half a cup of tea for his junior fellow apprentice.
"Rule of law is the foundation of the Qin Empire. Meng Yi disrupted the law and is cutting off the roots of the Qin Empire. I cannot sit idly by and watch this happen. I am sitting here quietly to think about how to report to Your Majesty. I will go to the Xianyang Palace in a moment."
Looking at his junior brother's sweaty forehead and listening to his heavy breathing, Li Si really wanted to pour the entire pot of tea in his hand on his head.
"Zhang Cang! You are going to die, aren't you? How can you be so obsessed with matters between men and women!"
Zhang Cang wiped the sweat from his hands on his clothes, picked up the tea that Li Si poured for him and took a sip.
The slightly hot tea entered his mouth, passed through his esophagus and flowed into his stomach, bringing a hint of warmth to his body.
He let out a sigh of satisfaction and said with a smile: "You are not a fish, so how do you know the joy of a fish?"
"Don't use that madman's words to fool me!" Li Si's stern face was full of solemnity.
"You are so weak and fat, if you don't keep your essence and yang, and continue to indulge in carnal desires, you will die soon!!"
Zhang Cang is fat, has small eyes, and loves to laugh.
Therefore, other people could not see Zhang Cang's eyes most of the time, because the fat on his face squeezed his eyes, which were often narrowed into slits.
Holding the tea in one hand, Zhang Cang blew gently with his mouth, and then pointed the two slits at his senior brother Li Si.
Although he had a smile on his face, there was no smile in what he said.
" Brother , it's not certain whether you or I will go to see Brother Han Fei first."
Han Fei.
Li Si was heartbroken and felt an intense, inextricable sadness.
He thought he had forgotten this person...
Han Fei, Li Si, and Zhang Cang were all students of Xunzi.
When they were at the Jixia Academy, the three of them had a very good relationship. Han Feixiu was the best in knowledge, followed by Li Si, and Zhang Cang was the worst.
After returning from their studies, Han Fei went to the State of Han, while Li Si and Zhang Cang came to the State of Qin.
In this era, the greatest honor for a scholar is to be given the character "Zi".
For example, Confucius, Laozi, Xunzi, and Mencius are all respectful titles.
It is a great honor to be given the character "Zi" in one's lifetime.
What about Han Fei? Before he was 30 years old, he was already honored as Han Feizi by others.
His work is also called "Han Feizi". After reading it, Ying Zheng instantly became a fan and said, "If I could meet this man and travel with him, I would not regret dying."
Translated, it means that if I had met Han Fei and walked a few steps with him, I would have no regrets if I died now.
The fact that Han Fei was easily given the character "Zi" and was highly valued by the wise and ambitious Qin Shi Huangdi shows how talented and brilliant he was.
For the sake of Han Fei, Ying Zheng deployed troops on the border of South Korea and called out to King An of Han.
"If you don't hand over Han Fei, I will destroy your Korea."
King An of Han did not hesitate and readily handed over Han Fei, and Han Fei went to Qin.
From then on, Han Fei, Li Si and Zhang Cang met in Qin State and served as ministers in the same palace.
A few months later, Li Si and Han Fei had conflicting opinions on whether Qin should destroy Zhao or Han first in order to unify the world.
