Diqin Designer

Chapter 152: Imperial Family Reform, Granting Marriage to Li Nian

The reason why he did not give the titles of King of Qi, Chu, Yan, etc., but instead gave them titles such as King of Langya, King of Changsha, and King of Jiujiang, was also intentional by Ying Zheng.

Although he had to bear the consequences of the division, he still showed disgust and aversion towards it.

After much difficulty, the six kingdoms were finally conquered, and now the King of Qi and the King of Chu have been enfeoffed...

Wouldn't that be slapping yourself in the face?

He also wanted to make his intention clear to all the ministers and princes. Although you have been granted fiefs by me, you must remember that I do not want the kings of the six kingdoms to appear again.

After listening to Ying Zheng's division of fiefs, everyone keenly discovered that there were three people who had not been given a fief: the first was Li Nian; the second was Prince Fusu; and the third was Prince Hu Hai.

It was understandable that Prince Hu Hai was not given a title because he was young, but it was strange that Prince Fusu and Li Nian were not given titles.

In their opinion, among all the princes of the Great Qin, only these two are most likely to be valued by His Majesty and be appointed as the crown prince, but there can only be one crown prince, which means that one of them should be enfeoffed away.

However, the current situation is that neither Li Nian nor Prince Fusu have been granted fiefs.

Could it be that Your Majesty liked these two at the same time and that is why he kept them together in Xianyang to let them compete?
Looking at the two parties involved, Prince Fusu had a calm expression on his face, and Li Nian was still fiddling with the strange object, as if they didn't care at all that His Majesty had granted fiefs to the other princes but not to them.

This made everyone even more puzzled. Why aren't these two in a hurry?

At this time, Ying Zheng issued another decree: "From today on, all members of the Qin royal family, in addition to being included in the royal family for military service and meritorious service, can also be included in the royal family for their meritorious service in local governance. However, all members of the royal family must start from the county and township..."

This was Ying Zheng's reform of the royal family. In the past, the restrictions on the royal family were too strict, resulting in the royal family of Qin having no sense of existence.

Ying Zheng took into account the history told by Li Nian, that after Hu Hai came to power, he and Zhao Gao did evil things, and no one in the Qin Dynasty could stop them. It would have been fine if it was Hu Hai, but the key point was that after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled, the whole world rebelled, and except for Zhang Han, no one in the Qin Dynasty could turn the tide.

One of the reasons is that the Qin royal family is too weak!
Although a weak royal family can make the royal power sitting on the throne more stable, without the support of the royal family, the royal power will be more vulnerable to threats from ministers and other parties.

Although the royal family will threaten the royal power when it becomes powerful, and may even be more threatening than ministers and rebels, they all have the same ancestors. Even if the throne is seized by someone from the royal family, it will only be a case of the meat rotting in the pot, and the pot will not be smashed by the others.

After much deliberation and weighing the pros and cons, Ying Zheng finally decided to reform the policy towards the royal family, so that the royal family would have a certain amount of power. They would not have to have no sense of existence like they do now. When they are beaten to Xianyang, they can only wait to be slaughtered like lambs, and their life and death depend on others.

Although he has now eliminated the Xiang clan in advance, who can guarantee that there will not be another Chen Yu or Wang Yu in the future?
After discussing with Li Nian, Ying Zheng set the current royal family reform policy: relax the restrictions on royal family members, not only can they be officials, but they can also do business, farm, and work...

But Ying Zheng also eliminated many of the preferential treatments given to royal family members after they were included in the clan system.

This is actually a disguised way of making joining the clan less attractive, allowing the Qin royal family to humble themselves, go to more places and more industries, and gradually become more common people.

Although not all members of the Qin royal family today have the talent of a national hero, almost all of them can read and write. This alone makes them better than 99% of the people in the world today.

Now Daqin lacks officials, but due to the restrictions on royal family members, these literate royal family members are almost useless. It is really a waste. It would be better to broaden some channels so that they can contribute to Daqin and the world.

Ying Zheng also thought that instead of restricting them to death and doing nothing, it would be better to send them to local places to serve as officials. If they do well, they can also be made marquises and ministers, and become important officials in the court. After hearing Ying Zheng's royal family reform policy, all the ministers were shocked and felt heavy in their hearts. One minister immediately wanted to come forward and explain the pros and cons:

Your Majesty is confused. How can you relax the restrictions on the royal family?

We must never allow them to return to the court!
Some ministers were truly concerned about the Qin Dynasty and Ying Zheng, and felt that the return of the royal family would do more harm than good, but some ministers were concerned about their own power.

There is only so much power at court, and if the royal family returns to power, wouldn't that be tantamount to taking away the power in their hands?

However, thinking that today was the ceremony for His Majesty to be crowned emperor, the ministers who wanted to advise him backed off.

Today is not a good day for advice.

Many ministers secretly thought: His Majesty must have already made this plan, but just like the previous plan of enfeoffment of the princes, he kept it secret and announced it only today, in order to prevent them from making any suggestions and let the matter become a foregone conclusion.

Unlike the ministers who were in a heavy mood and reluctant to give in, the Qin royal family members who had been silent all became happy at this moment and quickly knelt down to express their gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

After they were untied, they could finally do something. Although they had to start as officials from the county and township, it was better than staying in Xianyang without achieving anything and waiting to die all their lives.

They finally waited for it, and His Majesty finally understood that they were a family and that they were indispensable in governing the world.

No matter how talented those ministers are, can they guarantee their loyalty?

Ying Zheng soothed the excited Qin royal family members with a few words, and then said: "I have many happy events today, but there is one thing I still need to mention. Li Nian, I believe you all know it?"

Li Nian looked confused. I am just a happy cameraman. Why did the First Emperor suddenly mention me?
When others heard Ying Zheng mention Li Nian, they all became serious and wondered in their hearts: His Majesty suddenly mentioned Li Nian. Could it be that he wants to choose a crown prince?
Thinking of this, all the princes, ministers, and royal family members of the Qin Dynasty... couldn't help but hold their breath.

Today is not only the day when the king will be crowned emperor, but also the day when the next king of Qin will be decided?
Only the young girl standing with Ying Zheng's other concubines and daughters had slightly red cheeks. She knew that her father was probably going to talk about her marriage and wanted to marry her to Li Nian. However, judging from the man's reaction, it seemed that he did not know that she would be his wife.

Ying Zheng added: "Although Li Nian is young, he is a great talent for me. You have all seen his talent and ability. He is unprecedented in ancient times and unparalleled in the world."

"Li Nian!"

Ying Zheng shouted. Although he didn't know what the First Emperor wanted to do, Li Nian still bowed respectfully and said, "I am here!"

Many people keenly noticed that Li Nian used the word "minister" instead of "son minister".

Could it be that Li Nian is not the Majesty's son as they thought?

What Ying Zheng said next confirmed their guess. Without beating around the bush, the First Emperor said directly: "I want to grant you a marriage. I want to marry my daughter Shunying to you. Are you willing?"

Hearing this, everyone was suddenly enlightened, and then shocked. This Li Nian was really not the son of His Majesty, but he was too favored by His Majesty. Although he was a minister, he wore the clothes of a young master, and now he wanted to marry his daughter to him...

(End of this chapter)