Diqin Designer

Chapter 417: Past Events Are Over, Zhang Han Returns

This is equivalent to appointing Liu Ji as the governor of the Western Regions. Many of the Qin Dynasty's affairs in the Western Regions in the future will be handled by Liu Ji.

Although the Qin Dynasty's control over the Western Regions is not strong at present, it will definitely be greatly enhanced in the future, especially as the Qin Dynasty is destined to develop towards the countries in the Western Regions as it follows the internationalization path.

The importance of the Western Regions can be imagined, but Your Majesty wants Liu Ji to represent the Qin Dynasty and be stationed in the Western Regions to oversee all affairs in the Western Regions.

I already knew that Your Majesty valued Liu Ji, but I didn't expect that he would value him so much that he entrusted the affairs of the Western Regions to him and appointed him as the first Governor-General of the Western Regions of the Qin Dynasty.

But if you think about it carefully, Liu Ji was indeed suitable as the first governor of the Western Regions. He was on good terms with the princes and nobles of Wusun. It was said that they even competed in urinating distance. The King of Wusun even recognized Liu Ji as his elder brother.

With Liu Ji representing the Qin Dynasty in the Western Regions, there probably wouldn't be any problems with the Wusun people. If he talked to the princes of other states and tribes in the Western Regions a few more times, he might be able to pull those states and tribes onto the Qin Dynasty's warships, which would be very beneficial to the development of the Qin Dynasty in the Western Regions.

This was only one of the reasons why the First Emperor allowed Liu Ji to stay in the Western Regions. Another major reason was that he wanted to see what kind of achievements this Han Emperor Gaozu, who had left his name in history, could make in the Western Regions.

As for whether Liu Ji would rebel if he was released and appointed as the governor of the Western Regions of the Qin Dynasty...

The First Emperor believed that this would not happen, and he was also very confident that even if Liu Jimou had rebellious intentions, he would not be a match for the Qin Dynasty. He was not the First Emperor in history, and the Qin Dynasty was not the Qin Dynasty in history.

Many changes have taken place due to the arrival of this kid Li Nian. If this allows Liu Ji to rebel and succeed, he deserves it!

Since Liu Ji had the ability to found a country and establish a dynasty, it was a waste of his talent to keep him trapped in the country just because of his historical identity as Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Moreover, the First Emperor always had a more appreciative attitude towards Liu Ji. Although he established the Han Dynasty and replaced the Qin Dynasty, even without Liu Ji, the Qin Dynasty would have perished. The fault was not with Liu Ji.

On the contrary, when Liu Ji entered Xianyang, he was willing to accept Ziying's surrender and did not massacre the Qin royal family, which was quite rare. On the other hand, the First Emperor disliked the other person very much.

Therefore, not only did he not want to kill Liu Ji, he also wanted to give Liu Ji a chance to develop, which was why he sent Liu Ji on a diplomatic mission to Wusun.

Although it was impossible to allow the founding emperors and ministers of the Han Dynasty to develop in the Qin Dynasty, he was really curious about what kind of scene these people would create outside the Qin Dynasty.

That’s right, Qin Shi Huang not only wanted Liu Ji to go to the Western Regions to develop, but also would equip him with some civil and military officials to help the Han Dynasty conquer the world and establish the country.

After hearing what the First Emperor said, Liu Ji was extremely excited. Although he had already thought that the Emperor would let him go to the Western Regions again, he could not suppress his excitement after hearing it at this moment, and his admiration and gratitude for the First Emperor reached its peak.

It is because of the Emperor's high regard for him that Liu Ji is where he is today. If it weren't for His Majesty, he would probably still be wandering around and bragging with a bunch of younger brothers in Pei County today, and how could he have the chance to become an important official of the Governor-General?

In the morning he was a young official from Pei County, and in the evening he entered the emperor's palace. In the past he was a playboy from Pei County, and now he is the governor of the four directions of the Great Qin. All this is because of Your Majesty. Your Majesty has shown great kindness to Liu Ji.

This kindness is so great that he can only repay it with loyalty and righteousness, even if he may have to sacrifice his life for this loyalty and righteousness, but what's the harm? He Liu Ji is a man who knows how to repay kindness and is loyal!

Liu Ji knelt on one knee excitedly and said to the First Emperor: "I am willing to guard the Western Regions for your Majesty and handle all matters in the Western Regions for the Qin Dynasty!"

Although this job would require him to leave Xianyang and go to the unfamiliar Western Regions, how could he do great things without making choices? If he wanted to achieve great things, he had to give up some things.

The First Emperor smiled and said, "Good, very good! Liu Qing is worthy of being a minister who helps my country to maintain peace. I will be relieved to have Liu Qing in the Western Regions from now on! Today is a great day for Liu Qing. Let's have a feast first, and then discuss this matter with Liu Qing in detail."

The First Emperor said no more and ordered the banquet to begin. Dishes were served one by one. Because there were so many people coming to Liu Ji's wedding banquet, there was no separate dining system. Instead, many people sat around one table. This was also the reason why Li Nian sat with Ying Shunying and Han Xin.

The dishes served were considered sumptuous for that era, and the chef was a master chef under the guidance of Li Nian from the palace. The taste was also quite good, and both the guests and the hosts enjoyed the wedding banquet very much.

Bringing some food cooking methods from later generations to Daqin is also a major change that Li Nian has brought to Daqin. Already in this era, we must not only integrate into the world, but also make our lives better under permitted conditions.

Li Nian did not keep these food recipes to himself and passed them on. Nowadays, many of the dishes passed down by Li Nian are popular in Xianyang, which greatly enriches the food categories of this era.

After the banquet, the First Emperor and Li Nian left before other guests.

After returning to the palace, Li Nian, Ying Shunying and little Han Xin left, the First Emperor did not deal with government affairs. Instead, he walked outside the Zhangtai Palace and looked out at the boundless world outside the palace, while Meng Yi silently guarded behind him.

Suddenly, the First Emperor asked Meng Yi, "Mr. Meng, how is Zhang Han now?"

Hearing the name "Zhang Han", Meng Yi was slightly startled, and then he replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, Zhang Han is still acting according to your Majesty's words."

After hearing Meng Yi's answer, the First Emperor fell silent.

In fact, how could he not know Zhang Han’s current situation?
He would receive news about Zhang Han regularly, but he had not figured out how to deal with it.

Looking back now, the decision he made at that time was not wrong. Li Nian's background was questionable, and what he said might not be credible. He had to find a place to conduct a pilot test to verify it. However, after he believed Li Nian's background and what he said, sending Zhang Han to conduct a pilot test became a problem.

The entire Qin Dynasty changed under the influence of Li Nian. It was full of vitality and everything was flourishing, but the areas where Zhang Han piloted the project did not change, and thus became out of place.

It is meaningless to continue the pilot verification, and this matter cannot be dragged on for long. It is time to end this old matter.

The First Emperor was silent for a while, then he said, "Call back Zhang Han. He is a rare talent in the Qin Dynasty and should not be buried. As for the counties that have been selected for the pilot program, reduce their taxes for five years as compensation, and find a group of imprisoned officials from prison, and use them as..."

Before the First Emperor finished speaking, Meng Yi already understood what he meant.

This matter was actually a mistake made by His Majesty because he did not trust Master Li Nian, but His Majesty could not directly admit to the world that this was a mistake he made.

You can't tell the people in those counties that various new policies have been implemented outside, reducing sentences and easing laws, and reducing taxes and levies, but you are still operating according to the original Qin laws, with severe punishments and heavy taxes and levies, all because His Majesty the Emperor wants to conduct a pilot project here to verify what Master Li Nian said, right?

The people in these counties will resent your majesty, and it will also affect your majesty's prestige in the world, so someone needs to take the blame for your majesty. Your majesty's choice is to let a group of officials who have committed crimes take the blame, kill them all, and use them as the main culprits to appease the people in these counties.

The whole story of this matter is also quite speechless. Master Li Nian's origins are unknown, and Your Majesty did not dare to trust his words and tried to verify them. It was not wrong, but he did not expect that the changes that Master Li Nian brought to Daqin would be so rapid, which made it difficult for Your Majesty to continue the pilot verification not long after it began.

This pilot verification has also made Your Majesty's situation somewhat awkward. It will definitely not work if it continues. If the pilot verification plan is terminated, Zhang Han will need to be transferred back, the people in these counties will need to be appeased, and a way to cover up the matter will not be able to damage Your Majesty's prestige.

This matter was handled very badly. It was not wrong when it was originally decided, but as it developed, it became a bad thing that is not good for Your Majesty. This matter cannot be delayed any longer.

The First Emperor said, "This matter must be handled by Meng Qing himself. No one else should know about it. Even Li Nian cannot know about it. This matter must be classified as top secret and cannot be unsealed in my lifetime!"

Meng Yi accepted the order respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Seeing Meng Yi accept the order, the First Emperor said, "I want to recall all the princes at the end of this year. What do you think?"

Meng Yi thought for a moment, and then replied: "I think it is feasible. I believe that you all miss your majesty and Xianyang for a long time."

In fact, the method of enfeoffment currently adopted by the Qin Dynasty is very dangerous. Without appointing a crown prince, the princes are enfeoffed in various places. If the First Emperor dies suddenly, the war in the Qin Dynasty will surely reignite, and the princes who have been enfeoffed will probably have their brains beaten into dog brains.

After all, my father has not appointed a crown prince, which means that everyone is competing fairly, and whoever wins will get the throne of the Qin Emperor.

Of course, Prince Hu Hai has been eliminated. Any other prince could have taken that position except Prince Hu Hai.

Thinking of Hu Hai, Meng Yi realized that he seemed to have not heard any news about Prince Hu Hai for a long time, as if there was no such person as Prince Hu Hai in the entire imperial palace.

Thinking of this, Meng Yi was shocked. Could it be that His Majesty had already dealt with Master Hu Hai?
Your Majesty will not take Prince Hu Hai's life directly, but it is very likely that he will be sent out of the palace quietly, change his identity, and imprison him somewhere.

The First Emperor said, "The crown prince has not been decided yet, which is always an unstable matter. Although Li Nian said that I should be able to live another 20 to 30 years with my current health training, the fortune and misfortune of a person's life are not entirely determined by himself. If I leave suddenly, the princes of the various fiefdoms will definitely cause chaos!"

Your Majesty, you yourself know that the current situation of the Qin Dynasty, where there is no crown prince and the princes are enfeoffed in other places, is all due to your survival.

"They are so obedient now because I am still here. Even if they want to, they dare not change..."

At the end, the First Emperor shook his head. Looking at his sons, none of them had ever met his expectations. He also didn't know how much changes had taken place in the year after the enfeoffment, and whether they could satisfy him, especially his eldest son.

Li Nian didn't know what happened that night. On that day, he was ordered by the First Emperor to give a lecture. As for the content of the lecture, he talked about the importance of the Western Regions and the policies that could be adopted in the Western Regions.

The Western Regions are extremely important to Daqin's development plan, and Li Nian believes that some places must be part of Daqin's territory. Naturally, Li Nian must be sent to teach those who will be stationed in the Western Regions.

This is also what many Qin officials have experienced in the past year or so, especially the envoys sent by Qin, who would be trained by Li Nian before departure.

But this time, there was an extra conspicuous name among the people who were going to be taught and trained by him: Zhang Han!

When Li Nian saw this name, he became curious. He was a famous general in the late Qin Dynasty. If Zhang Han hadn't come out to support him, the Qin Dynasty would have most likely perished faster.

But since he arrived in Daqin, he has never seen this person, not even at the ceremony of Qin Shihuang's enthronement. He doesn't know where he went.

It was impossible for the First Emperor to execute him secretly, so he was most likely carrying out a secret mission for the First Emperor. Now that he has returned to Xianyang, he also appears on the list of personnel to be sent to the Western Regions, which means that his mission has been completed.

But what secret mission did he carry out, and why was he sent to the Western Regions? Was it because Liu Ji was to be sent to the Western Regions as governor, so Zhang Han was to supervise?

It makes sense that Liu Ji and Zhang Han would team up, as these two were enemies in the original history, and Zhang Han was eventually defeated by Liu Ji.

As soon as Li Nian entered the hall, everyone who had arrived immediately stood up and saluted to Li Nian: "Greetings, Master!"

After returning the greeting, Li Nian said with a smile: "Everyone, please take a seat. I will call the names later. When you hear your name, please say 'here'!"

Li Nian took out the roster and began to call out names. Among them were people he had already known, such as Liu Ji, Fan Kuai, and Wang Ling, as well as people he was not so familiar with, such as Zhang Han.

As Li Nian called out the names, Zhang Han saw everyone answering "here" one after another. He was puzzled as to why his name was not on the list yet. Was he listed at the end of the list?
His name was not actually at the end of the list, but was rather close to the front. It was just that Li Nian intentionally called out other people's names first and left Zhang Han's name uncalled.

After calling out the names of the others, Li Nian finally called out "Zhang Han". Zhang Han immediately replied respectfully, "Here!"

Following the voice, Li Nian saw a heroic young man sitting on the left side of Liu Ji. He had a tall and strong build, with a square and resolute face. At first glance, he felt that this man was suitable for leading troops into battle.

But in fact, Zhang Han was not only able to lead troops in battle, but was also quite capable in handling political affairs. Before he led troops in battle, he had served as the Shaofu for the Qin Dynasty.

Li Nian smiled and said, "Are you Zhang Han? When I was recruiting officials and craftsmen for the Shaofu in the past, I heard that Shaofu Zhang Han was quite talented. I wanted to recruit you, but you didn't come. I didn't expect to meet you today."

He had met many famous people from the Qin and Han dynasties, but he had never met Zhang Han, who was in the Qin court.

Zhang Han replied respectfully: "Thank you for your kindness, but I have another mission at that time and cannot be recruited by you. Please don't blame me!"

Li Nian did not ask what Zhang Han's mission was. Zhang Han must have been sent out by the First Emperor, but the First Emperor did not tell him, which meant that the First Emperor did not want him to know about this, so he naturally did not ask too much.

If the First Emperor thought he should know, he would naturally tell him. If he insisted on asking when he shouldn't, it would easily lead to his own death. Although he is now more respected and trusted by the First Emperor, the First Emperor should not chop off his head, but it is better for him not to know what the king does not want him to know.

This is the era of feudal dynasties, and the king can decide life and death as he pleases!
(End of this chapter)