Chapter 87: Your Majesty, you can’t just target me?
"What did Lord Chang'an say?" Zhao Gao asked in surprise.
Li Si's writing was a little slow, as if a movie was played at double speed.
From the tone of voice, it seems that Zhao Gao's understanding of Chang'an Jun is not very detailed.
"Brother Zhao seems very surprised." Li Si delivered the sentence very smoothly.
Zhao Gao knew that his questioning words had let Li Si see the flaw, but he couldn't think of any other remedy for a moment.
He could only try to speak naturally: "Indeed, he was able to perfect such a detailed system by himself. Anyone would be amazed by it."
Li Si nodded in agreement and said, "That's true. Chang'an Jun's words are still inspiring to me. It's as if Chang'an Jun has witnessed the future development of the county system with his own eyes. His certainty shocked me. If it weren't for the fact that I came up with this county system after three days of meditation, I would have thought it was Chang'an Jun's idea."
Li Si wrote the last stroke and ended the writing smoothly and effortlessly.
It is said that a person's handwriting reflects his personality, but Li Si's handwriting is completely different from his rigid personality. His handwriting is beautiful and elegant, and can be regarded as a masterpiece of calligraphy.
Li Si blew gently on the bamboo slips to make the ink dry faster.
Then he rolled up the bamboo slips from the right side to the left side and handed them to Zhao Gao, saying apologetically, "Brother Zhao, please help me hold one roll. The bamboo slips are too heavy. It will be very strenuous for me to hold three rolls."
Zhao Gao did not take the bamboo slips handed to him by Li Si, but held the two bamboo slips written by Li Si earlier in his hands.
He looked extremely calm, as if the two bamboo scrolls in his hands, which were as long as an adult's forearm in diameter, were weightless.
"Brother Li uses wisdom and Brother Gao uses strength. These bamboo slips are indeed extremely heavy. Perhaps it won't be long before the Chang'an Palace will have something as light as a cicada's wing to replace the bamboo slips." Zhao Gao said this with an unintentional look, but in fact he meant it.
This time, Li Si did not slow down his movements, nor did his speaking speed change. His stern face made it difficult to tell what he was really thinking.
"Thank you for your advice, Brother Zhao. All my achievements are due to your contribution."
The two of them traveled together, and just as they left Li's house, they were stopped by an official from the Supreme Court.
"Mr. Tingwei, Mr. Tingwei Zheng asks you to return to the Tingwei Mansion as soon as possible to try the case."
Li Si and Zhao Gao both ignored the petty official.
They acted as if they did not hear the clerk's words, bypassed the clerk, and went towards the carriage that had already been parked outside Li's mansion.
Seeing this, the clerk trotted between the two men and the carriage, opened his arms, looked straight at Li Si and repeated, "Mr. Tingwei, Mr. Tingwei Zheng asks you to return to the Tingwei Mansion to try the case as soon as possible."
Zhao Gao smiled slightly and thought that this petty official was quite interesting. He wondered which court official had bewitched him and made him disregard even his own life.
"roll."
Li Si knew what Zhao Gao was thinking when he saw his attitude towards the minor officials.
But he knew that this minor official was born with a stubborn mind and was not a pawn of others in the court, so he said with a stern face: "Has the suspect been caught?"
The clerk's outstretched arms suddenly became weak, and the voice of his answer was much softer than before.
“No.”
"The suspect has not been caught yet. Who do you want me to interrogate? Why don't you go and catch the suspect?"
"only."
Zhao Gao looked at the clerk's back as he ran away.
"At the critical moment of life and death, I can still tell the difference."
Li Siming knew the petty official's temperament, but he still agreed, "Brother Zhao is absolutely right."
In the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice, who was anxiously waiting, was watching over the struggling Left Justice. He finally saw the clerk sent to look for Li Si enter the palace, and his eyes lit up.
"Where is the Lord Tingwei?"
"In the Li Mansion."
Tingwei's eyes went dark and he almost fainted. He held onto the wall of Tingwei's mansion and said with gritted teeth, "The Lord Tingwei is at home, so what are you doing back here?"
The clerk said confidently, "How can we arrest people without suspects? The Minister of Justice said that we should arrest the suspects first."
Arrest the suspect? The commander was your Majesty's brother Ying Chengjiao, and the one who did it was Zhang Han, the doctor-in-chief of the Nine Ministers. Who would dare to arrest these two without your Majesty's order? Ask Li Si if he dares?
"Go back to the Li Mansion! Go and ask the Supreme Court Justice to come again! Forget it, I'll go with you!"
"The Lord Tingwei was no longer in Li's house. When I came back, he was getting on the carriage with a eunuch."
The Chief Justice, who was originally walking in a hurry with a panicked look, suddenly calmed down when he heard the word "eunuch".
In the entire Xianyang city, there was only one place with eunuchs: the Xianyang Palace.
The Tingwei turned around and saw the clerk pointing at the Tingwei Zuojian and said, "Keep an eye on Zuojian. I'm going to look for the Tingwei Lord."
After leaving the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Justice stopped and looked in the direction of the Xianyang Palace. He did not have the slightest intention of looking for Li Si.
Now that Your Majesty has intervened, this case has nothing to do with the Supreme Court.
Zhangtai Palace.
The First Emperor lay on the table, looking at the three scrolls of bamboo slips written by Li Si on the table, and was overjoyed.
"Colorful! This is the real county system! This is the system of the Great Qin that I have in mind!"
The First Emperor did not hide his inner thoughts, his expression of joy was overflowing, he danced with his hands and feet. Judging from his performance, he did not know how to be happy.
"Mr. Li is so talented that even if Guan Zhong or Fan Li were resurrected, they would not be as good as him. Mr. Li's entry into the Qin Empire is a blessing to me and the Qin Empire. Gai Nie, draft an imperial decree to promote Li Si to a higher rank and confer him the title of Prime Minister. Reward him with a fine horse, five thousand gold coins, and a pair of jade discs!"
The First Emperor spoke so quickly and urgently that Li Si had no room to interrupt.
Li Si did not dare to interrupt the First Emperor forcefully, so he could only listen, feeling ashamed for claiming the credit for Ying Chengjiao and heartbroken for not being promoted three levels to become prime minister.
It was not until Gai Nie was about to grind ink and draft an edict that Li Si had a chance to speak. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, this is the merit of Chang'an Jun. I dare not take it away from you."
The First Emperor held Li Si's hands tightly and shook them continuously to show that he valued Li Si. Then he stopped shaking.
"Cheng Jiao?"
"It is Chang'an Jun. "
"Did he tell you all this that you wrote?"
"Ninety-nine percent of what Chang'an Jun said was true. I only played a general role in this."
How come this bastard knows everything? It was clearly me who guided Li Si to come up with the county system, but after looking at these bamboo slips, it seems that this bastard came up with it. This bastard looks like he has seen the county system that has been implemented for more than a thousand years and has been perfected to the extreme.
The First Emperor snorted coldly and said, "What else did that bastard say?"
Li Si bowed and said sincerely, "Your Majesty is wise. Chang'an Jun did have something unfinished. Chang'an Jun said, 'To complete the unfinished business of the court, we can use the name of the Legalists to do something that is not right.' Chang'an Jun is really a genius. I have never seen anyone like Chang'an Jun, I have never known anyone like Chang'an Jun in history, and I have never heard of anyone like Chang'an Jun."
I have never seen anyone as talented as Chang'an Jun in real life. I know of no one as talented as Chang'an Jun in history, and I have never heard of anyone as talented as Chang'an Jun in rumors.
These three sentences by Li Si elevated Ying Chengjiao to a height that simply reached the sky.
Gai Nie looked at Li Si, whose face was rigid, expressionlessly and labeled this court judge, who had the same expressionless face as him, a "dog licker".
Zhao Gao silently kept Li Si's words in mind, intending to polish them and find an opportunity to tell them to the First Emperor later.
The First Emperor did not show any reaction to Li Si's flattery of Ying Chengjiao. He showed great interest in Li Si's words just now speaking for Ying Chengjiao.
Pulling Li Si to sit on both sides of the table, the First Emperor waved to Gai Nie and Zhao Gao, asking them to stop getting in the way.
After driving the two away, the First Emperor sat upright and asked, "Why do you use the name of Legalism to steal the heavens and change the day?"
Li Si didn't dare to keep it a secret - besides, the secret wasn't originally his, he was just a mouthpiece.
"Your Majesty has seen the whole picture of the county system. When the court meeting is held again, I will work together with the Legalists in the court to refute the feudal system with the county system perfected by Chang'an Jun. Your Majesty's implementation of the county system at this time is a move made by the feudal system to be inferior to the county system. The implementation of the county system requires many officials. At this time, I will propose to standardize the assessment standards for local Qin officials - that is, to use the laws and regulations as the first assessment standard. At this point, the ministers will only think that this is a proposal for the county system for the thousand-year development of the Legalists, and will not think that this has anything to do with Your Majesty."
The First Emperor listened to Li Si from the beginning to the end without interrupting him.
After listening, the First Emperor sat there in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Li Si felt a little surprised and a little confused when he did not receive any high praise from the First Emperor.
Naturally, there were many exaggerations in his boasting about Ying Chengjiao just now, but Li Si actually felt that Ying Chengjiao's suggestion was indeed good.
First of all, when the First Emperor was still alive, the disciples of the Legalists worked together to refute the feudal system with the county system, which would have created an established fact - the feudal system was inferior to the county system.
Then the fact that Li Si was the emperor's alias would have a great impact - how could one person come up with such a perfect county system? This was obviously the result of the joint efforts of all the Legalists.
Then Li Si made another requirement: The first assessment criterion for all local Qin officials is the laws and regulations.
This is equivalent to using the Legalist doctrine as a textbook for the Qin State, and it is obviously for the Legalist school's thousand-year development plan.
The benefits of developing a doctrine are higher than enfeoffment of land and kingdoms. This view is now accepted by most people. Isn't it for this reason that Confucianism has been jumping up and down all the time?
Using the development of Legalism as a shield to keep the First Emperor behind, this was the remedy Ying Chengjiao proposed.
This remedy cannot be said to be perfect, but it is definitely feasible.
"What else did Cheng Jiao say?"
The First Emperor came back to his senses and broke the moment of silence.
"Given Cheng Jiao's personality, if he is not present, it means that he is fully confident in his plan. In this case, he usually does not make only one plan in case I disagree."
“Two systems.”
Li Si said without any hesitation, as if he had been waiting for Ying Zheng to ask questions.
Nightfall.
Chang'an Jun Mansion.
In an empty open space, a blazing bonfire dispelled the cold and darkness of the night.
“Two Systems”
Ying Chengjiao spoke as he held a handful of lamb skewers in his hand and flipped them back and forth on his homemade grill.
The charcoal fire in the grill burned quietly, and from time to time a drop of mutton fat dripped down, making a popping sound and emitting an enticing aroma.
There were a total of six figures next to the campfire.
As night fell and the campfire's light had a limited coverage area, it was not possible to illuminate all of the figures clearly, and four of them remained in shadow.
The bonfire only illuminated two people, one was a drunkard in white - Li Mu, the Lord of Zhao Wu'an, and the other was a scholar in blue.
Li Mu held the wine he could never leave behind in his hand. He stretched out his hand and tore open the front of his shirt. He asked the blue-shirted scholar who was writing on his legs, "What is the two systems? I'm asking for Jie Ba."
After Li Mu finished speaking, the blue-shirted scholar nodded slightly at Ying Chengjiao, with the words "seek scientific knowledge" written all over his face.
It seems that the blue-shirted scholar doesn't mind Li Mu's use of the word "stutterer" to address him.
"It means the county system and the feudal system are implemented at the same time, also known as the parallel county-state system. Guanzhong, Bashu, Han, Wei, which are close to Xianyang, implement the county system. And Qi, Chu and other places are divided and given to a capable person, so that this person can suppress nearby."
While Ying Chengjiao was answering, he lavishly used his internal energy to wrap the mutton on the skewer so that each piece of mutton would be heated evenly.
His cheating grilling method is such that even a chef who has been grilling mutton skewers all his life cannot be as delicious as the mutton skewers grilled by Ying Chengjiao. If he had this skill in his previous life, he might have become a small internet celebrity.
The blue-shirted scholar, who was called the stutterer, used his hands as a pen to write continuously on Li Mu's legs.
Seeing this, Ying Chengjiao teased, "Why did the drunkard become the stutterer's mouthpiece today?"
Li Mu said helplessly: "I destroyed a piece of his paper, but he refused to give in, just like those Huns who are addicted to looting."
"My Lord, is it ready?"
A white shadow wearing the same white clothes as Li Mu appeared and landed beside Ying Chengjiao.
Bai Ying appeared very abruptly, he was not among the six people around the campfire. If he was included, there would be seven people at the scene, except Ying Chengjiao.
"Almost. Let's taste it. Hey, I asked you to take one, but you took all of it. What does that mean?"
"Don't be so stingy, my lord. Just roast it again."
The white shadow moved around, and in a moment, everyone present, except Ying Chengjiao, had the delicious lamb skewers in their hands.
Most of the mutton in this era is real mutton, without any technology or hard work, and the meat is delicious.
Everyone ate with relish and enjoyed the delicious food.
"Your Majesty's craftsmanship has become much more advanced, and your martial arts have improved as well?"
"I can eat twenty pounds of meat roasted by your Majesty in one meal."
"Eat slowly, you will never tire of fine food or delicate mince."
Ying Chengjiao said angrily, "You reckless man, your monthly salary is completely gone."
The reckless man quickly cried out: "Everyone has eaten, Your Majesty, you can't just target me."
"You're playing tricks on me?"
At this moment, Jieba finally finished writing on Li Mu's leg. Li Mu said on Jieba's behalf, "The county system is a system of great unification. The King of Qin only needs 20 years to rule before the world will be truly unified. Why did His Majesty propose the county-kingdom system to the King of Qin? It will delay the unification of the world."
"The land of Yan and Zhao is full of generous and tragic people."
In the warm light of the fire, Li Mu and Mang Fu nodded slightly, agreeing with Ying Chengjiao's praise of Yan and Zhao.
"The people of Qi are rich and do not make friends with other countries. The witches of Chu are arrogant and look down on the heroes of the world. The people of Wei are brave and smart but are a burden to their king. The states of the world are different..."
Ying Chengjiao took several kinds of meat skewers this time, including tiger meat, bear meat, rabbit meat... There were a total of fifty or sixty skewers, and he placed them all on the barbecue grill.
While helping the stutterer to solve his problems, he continued his career as a skewer chef.
"Han?"
The young man in blue shirt, who was called a stutterer by Li Mu and Ying Chengjiao but looked more like a mute, uttered a word and interrupted Ying Chengjiao's words.
"Han Feizi came out of Han."
Among the four shadowy figures, one of them laughed.
There was no teasing in that laughter, but it was full of pride and admiration.
The stammerer performed a Confucian thank you gesture to the man, and then continued to stare at Ying Chengjiao with his sharp eyes.
Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, and Wei all have their strengths, but what about Han? What is Han's strength?
Ying Chengjiao was talking without interruption. Judging from his appearance, he didn't even think about it and just spoke without stopping.
"Han has no strengths."
There was a look of dissatisfaction in Jieba's eyes, and he started to write and draw on Li Mu's thigh.
Li Mu stopped the stutterer - this time the stutterer didn't need to write anything, he knew what the stutterer wanted to say.
"Why do you say that, Your Majesty?"
